#so much terrible stuff is going on everywhere but this is just a fountain of joy thank god for that!!!!

[onetoknowone]

last saturday i went to a taylor swift party here in berlin. they played nothing but full-length original taylor songs. the vibe was pure happiness. it was once more bewildering to me how my secret taylor obsession from when i was in 7th grade 15 years ago has turned into this mega hype with my irl friends that i made during all these years participating. i had so many flashbacks to when i first heard these songs, at school, in my first car, moving to the city, little moments during my relationships etc. there was actual crying on the dancefloor lol. i used to be such an unhappy teen clinging to my fearless cd and the growth i felt in all of my body dancing with hundreds of people to ybwm in this incredible phase of my life was just... everything

[enriquemzn262]

Whenever you hear about modern day Rome, you both picture AND are sold the idea of ancient buildings like the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the varios arches that still remain, the site of the Circus Maximus, the ruins of the many, many temples and buildings from the Roman Forum, and sometimes some more modern stuff like the Trevi Fountain or the whole Vatican state inside Rome.

But what you never think of, what barely gets mentioned, let alone promoted, is the impressive-looking Victor Emmanuel II Monument.

And I think there are three main reasons for it:

It's a derivate architectural work that just copies the glory of ancient Rome in a way that seems like it's trying to overtake it, making it seem tacky and obnoxiously brash, especially since it's right next door the Roman Forum and it's majestic ruins.

For it to be built, a good number of priceless ancient ruins of Rome had to be completely demolished and removed from the site, in a way helping feed the narrative that it was meant to outshine ancient Rome.

It was finished and inaugurated by none other than Benito Mussolini, becoming a symbol of his short-lived fascist regime, something the building hasn't been able to completely shake off.

I visited Rome 3 years ago, deciding to go completely blind in order to be as surprised as possible, something that worked magnificently when I accidentally walked into both Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, so I can say I was honestly in shock when I stumbled upon the VEM, since I had quite literally never heard from it before.

It's actually a really cool building once you actually get to visit it, especially since you can actually walk into it, giving you a pretty neat view of the Roman Forum once you reach the top, but man whenever I remember my trip to Rome, I always forget about it, the fucking trash we saw everywhere and the terrible tram line we had to use to move between the hotel and the city center were much more memorable!

[berrymeter]

okay i hadn’t heard of the secret route but i watched a playthrough and wow scarring! just slowly and deliberately traumatizing noelle my favorite character and breaking the key plot elements of the game. and i never would have noticed because it requires such specific parameters! wild and horrible. and yeah the two knights chess allegory makes a+ sense! although it’s probably not a matter of good knight bad knight since player character AS EVIDENCED BY SECRET ROUTE can also suck and be bad.. i wonder what other knight’s motivations are and how they interact with pacifist and genocide routes. would that be them slashing the tires in the end then? i mean so much goes over my head because i barely remember chapter 1 and i care more about susie and noelle talking about their feelings than any plot related foreshadowing. and there’s a million easter eggs everywhere that i’ll never know i didn’t find. just how toby intended.

oh honestly i liked chapter 1’s soundtrack better it felt more memorable! but chapter 2’s was fuller i think. the car parts are just how traffic is in my city so 😌 and spamton in my route was just a creepy little computer man so imagine me seeing ppl talk abt his tortured backstory and motivations. like Please I Do Not Care LMAO as queen would say. i’d rather fucking rouxls kaard be the next sexyman at least he’s an idiot and has better legs!! -tt

RIGHT it's so specific!! it was found via datamining which makes sense bc how the fuck else would you find this snfkjsdhfj. literallyyy terrible -_-

and berdly dying... although i have a theory he might be stuck between existence & nonexistence (or like a coma) in a fucked up way bc the enemies were *frozen* and didn't necessarily die like what if they were unthawed? (i know it's thawed. but unthawed is dear to me) but also the fountain being sealed implies the characters that were frozen there stopped existing as characters since this specific dark world would've disappeared the way lancer's did. i'm also pretty sure in this world monsters still fade into dust upon dying bc when you go to the cemetery and talk to the priest he tells you they buried a hammer in his father's grave which implies they don't have anything else to bury? but anyway i don't like this :)

AND YEAH i was wondering what the implications were then if you do Abuse Simulator route. i don't think we know enough atm to really say though :( pains me bc iiii hate having questions left unanswered sndkjfdgh and it prob will take at least two years before we get the next chapters. ough. i wish i were u ansdkjfhd i'm just dying to know these things ahhh... although i also just want casual little happiness for my besties i don't play toby fox games solely for the Normal bits HJKSDHFK

NO YEAH THE TRAFFIC PARTS ARE... me when i have an appointment and not a single fucking car will let me pass <3 i hate it here ppl in the countryside were nicer. also that's fair ahdsjkdfh chapter 1 didn't really mark me though, i have a lot more tracks from chapter 2 on my playlist :pensive: (too lazy to add the actual emoji i'm on computer LMAO)

i actually kinda like spamton! the fact that his secret boss theme directly takes leitmotifs from power of neo & dummy! feels Important somehow. he also has mettaton neo's body at that point which hmmm but also WHERE IS THE METTS OF TONS GIVE HIM BACK TONBY. as for his backstory & stuff it's... idk it makes me really sad nskdjfndsh those games evoke a lot of compassion in me bc i'm a fool (i don't even hate the king of spades!! hello!!!) so here we are. i don't want rouxls to be the next sexyman though. he IS a silly guy but i don't want people to turn him into a character people don't want to see online like a lot of people feel about sans :( he's my funnyguy...

spamton being a sexyman fits bc sexyman isn't a qualification you want your favourite character to have UNLESS you're into sexymen DHQSJKFHSKJ i think he fits the bill perfectly. he also has a fucked up speech pattern that's honestly fun to me and the "now's your chance to be a big shot" will Not exit my brain which...? typical of a sexyman methinks. rouxls can just be a beloved idiot. also on the better legs i HOPE u mean spamton's normal not-mettaton legs Or Else..... /j

[tartagliaxx]

i too dont know shit about skating colleges, but i have more facts

Monstadt: They have so much air conditioning and heating like your hair is always in the goddamn air because of the force of the heating/air conditioners. They also have a lot of drinking parties, Diluc being the bartender usually and Kaeya being the loud drunk person

Liyue: The amount of paperwork you have to do basically on a daily basis is terrible. Yanfei is one of the main organizers of the events theyu have. They also have really good food, and their lighting is perfection, its the best out of the campus, its always working (unlike Inazumas) and the lighting is very photogenic

Inazuma: Power outages. And every single time it rains or storms, the power will go out no matter how light the storm was. One day, Aether was walking in the area and the power goes out and he starts panics, Beidou and Kazuha just sigh, "dont worry, you'll get used to it."

Sumeru: They have vines and plants everywhere. They have a courtyard in the middle with a shit ton of plants and they also have a huge greenhouse. The plants are also very well taken somehow, and they grow vegetables and fruits in the greenhouse :D Sometimes you'll see some people chilling in the greenhouse just eating apples at 4am

Fontaine: They have the cleanest water out of the building, all the drinking water fountains have very clean and filtered water, its never dirty. They also have a water fountain (the waterfall ones) in the lobby of their section.

Natlan: Heating goes brrrrr They have barbecues often in the kitchen and in their courtyard. They also have an outdoor kitchen where people can do those fire tricks on the grill/stove

Sneznaya: AC goes brrrr. Always cold. Once you enter their practice skating rink, you'll see your breath very clearly. They also eat a lot of fish and other seafood.

(ill just name myself cold anon here) - cold anon

OH. OH BIG BRAIN. since they are technically diff clubs, there’s deffo some tension but when other colleges come, they all act like ‘you can be rude to them because only WE can be rude to each other.’ like, sure they’ll mock the inazuman’s for their shitty electricity but sumeru members are always willing to offer their rink like that one time ayaka was going to participate in a championship and she cant practice well enough w the lights flickering on and off like a murderer’s about to pop out in any second. ye… just them sharing facilities bc yknow.. only each other can beat each other. oh and liyue’s deffo everyone’s hub. like their rink would be up in the mountains so everyone can just mind their own business. when they’re taking pics for forms and stuff, they climb all the way up to do it there. the more outgoing people hang around mondstadt and ‘party’ during weekends and after competitions, right before they go home, they all drop by natlan to celebrate and they grill meat bc they probs wont need to be so strict w their diet for a while. sigh, love <3 oh and aether and lumine are an ice dance pair and they’re transferees and they’re looking around trying to figure out which club to join so they have participation rights w every club for the time being 👀

also, welcome cold anon!!

[barbasbodaciousbeard]

IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE, LET THEM GO: PART 9

Summary: Since starting with SVU, Sonny hadn’t kept much terribly close to the chest. The squad knew about his family, growing up on Staten Island, the classes at Fordham. What was hidden was why he didn’t date. Sonny Carisi was also separated from his childhood sweetheart, a separation neither ever took to divorce. They had the same haunts. They’d grown up neighbors. Their paths crossed every few months, and divorce talks would turn into reminiscing would turn into a night spent together, sometimes sex sometimes just talking until the early morning. It always ended with one of them waking up alone however. How will that change when the squad finds out?

Pairings: Sonny Carisi x Original Character

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8

A/N: Ayyy, they’re in New Orleans, a place I know well enough to write about.

November 2015

“Tor, where are you draggin’ me?” Sonny laughed, hand in Victoria’s as they made their way through Jackson Square. It was almost eerie past midnight.

“You said you were hungry! We’re a block away from something I think you’ll like.”

“Doll, we’re in New Orleans. We’re always a block from something I’ll like.” What he liked was seeing her so in her element. The city had a soul more like hers, and seeing her pull him through the streets made him feel like he was a teenager with a crush again instead of a man celebrating his thirtieth birthday with his wife. They’d just dropped their bags in the hotel after their flight. She’d found them a place steps from Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral, and in the night, her cheeks were flushed pink from the wind coming off of the Mississippi River and excitement. 

“There’s no line at Cafe du Monde at one in the morning,” she grinned, giving an exaggerated flourish. “Louisiana zeppoli sound good? Beignets.”

“You get me.” They sat at the little metal table, and he looked out at the empty square. When they’d come so long ago, her mother had gotten a friend to lend her their apartment, and the pair had taken the trolley to the zoo or aquarium or museum during the day. This trip, he was excited to go to bars and hear live music and have cocktails. Come back to a hotel where they could order room service. He was determined to make another trip to the zoo as well. The pictures from before showed two lanky teenagers pretending they didn’t like each other. Now they’d been together a decade plus.

“You got a little messy,” she grinned, Sonny having exhaled at the wrong time. Powdered sugar was everywhere, but the broad smile as he ate was perfect. Victoria took a picture of Sonny with his crinkled eyes and dimpled grin, covered in powdered sugar with a beignet in front of him. He polished it off, paying before he leaned to kiss her as she laughed. He tasted like airport coffee, pastry, and sugar as he pulled her close on the street outside.

“You know, it’s officially the second now. You’re thirty!”

“I guess I am,” he chuckled, kissing her again.

“Happy birthday, cher. I guess you oughta get me back to the hotel so we can celebrate…” His goofy grin turned wicked as he pulled her down St. Ann’s Street to the hotel, scooping her up bridal style when they got to their hallway. Victoria squealed, slipping the key from her bag to unlock the door for him and he kicked it closed behind them. He woke with her wrapped around him and sun from the courtyard filtering in. Thirty was going to be much better, he could already tell. When she woke, she felt his fingers tracing her spine, and she curled closer into him. 

“Mornin’ handsome.” She always developed an accent when she was around southerners. Her mom had given her a little twang, but the Louisiana accent was thick now, and he loved it. 

“Mornin’ doll. You sleep okay?”

“You tired me out.” He was rewarded with a crooked grin, and Sonny kissed her softly and pulled her close again. “Happy birthday. What do you want to do today?”

“Order breakfast in? Maybe go to the zoo?”

“You want to go to the zoo?”

“Yeah. It was what we did last time when I realized I had a crush on you. Could be good before we go to dinner and that burlesque show.”

“It’s going to be perfect,” she grinned. “Anything you wanna do. All day.”

“Anything?” The impish smile was back, and they didn’t have breakfast for another couple of hours. Watching Sonny as they made their way to the zoo, she grinned, arms wrapping around his waist. 

“You’re cute.”

“Am I?” 

“Yeah. I like how excited you get about things.”

“Is that why you call me a puppy so often?”

“A little,” she chuckled, buying their tickets and leading him in. 

“Better than a lanky noodle,” he grinned, arms around her waist as they watched the flamingos near the entrance. Whenever they planned to take this vacation, he hadn’t really anticipated how nice it would be to have a whole swath of the country between him and all the dark things he dealt with at work. In the city, he would pass places that brought a case to mind easily, even if he wasn’t really thinking about it. They’d walk by a bar and some part of his brain noted that was where the vic in the case last year was assaulted. In New Orleans, he knew there was still crime. He could even guess dangerous spots. But, he didn’t have names and faces and stories. Instead, he had the old independent bookstore with no air conditioning he’d followed Victoria through, the humidity and heat making him sweat straight through his t-shirt. Here, there was the little area he’d sat and stared as Victoria watched the orangutans with a broad grin. They’d definitely be stopping there. And he was excited for the Louisiana Swamp portion. Those were the two he had the strongest memory of. As if she knew, Victoria took his hand, tugging him towards the fountain and to the roman candy wagon just before the path to the monkeys.

“I almost forgot about this,” he chuckled, fishing a dollar from his pocket. “We goin’ chocolate and vanilla?”

“Duh.” She took the long sticks of what was basically taffy wrapped in wax paper gladly. It was as stretchy and messy as he remembered, and they walked happily, pinching off pieces and passing it back and forth. Between the orangutans and gorillas was the same wooden seating area, and they sat. 

“Y’know, I think this is where I realized I was in love with you,” he said, leaning back against the tree trunk that grew in the middle. “You were watching the baby orangutan. Got so excited when they told you his name and stuff. And then you were telling everybody that came after the zookeeper left everything like you were the new tour guide. I remember looking at ya in the sun in that flowery spaghetti strap dress and all your hair up and this big smile and knowing it was gonna be you.”

“Really?” she asked, head tilted as he nodded. Now she was in one of his pullovers tucked into jeans, bundled up from the breeze. It was twelve years later, and she was just as perfect in the sun. She leaned to kiss him sweetly, staying close. “Wanna know something?”

“What?”

“I realized I loved you in the swamp part. You were so excited, and I remember already realizing I liked you. Then there’s that statue of the swamp monster? The rugaru when you turn the corner? We were there and a kid ran the corner ahead of his mom and got scared. He started crying and got embarrassed and you just sat down and told him the rugaru scared you too and hung out the minute for his mom to catch up. Knew it then I wanted you forever.”

“We’re real disgusting, aren’t we?”

“Just a little,” she smiled, kissing him again. It was nice to sit in the sun beside him, taking turns pointing out when there was activity in each enclosure. Sonny still smiled just like he did when they were teenagers, but he was more relaxed now that she had him this far from the city. His shoulders carried less tension and his smile always reached his eyes. They’d be taking a yearly vacation from here on out. They needed the time away from the city.

“If your mom had raised you here, our lives would be so different,” he mused as they leaned against the railing in the swamp portion. They took turns looking into the green of the swamp water to point out alligators floating along. 

“I’d be a swamp witch.” Her voice was serious enough Sonny couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped him. 

“And I’d probably have ended up a priest.”

“Good and evil. Are we an unholy union then?”

“Nah. Told ya before, doll. Preordained by the big guy. Might not have found you when I was five. But you’d have ended up stuck with me any way.”

“It means the world to me how strongly you believe that. I ever told you? Even when we were separated, I knew we wouldn’t get divorced, but I’d get scared we couldn’t fix it.”

“Me too. But we’re here. I get to start my thirties with ya. And we’ll have babies and grandbabies and great grandbabies.”

“We will. And short term? We’ll have a lot more trips. Get more breaks.”

“I’d like that a lot. It’s nice being way out here. Wanna do it more.”

They made their way to the hotel in time to shower before dinner and to make it to the bar putting on the burlesque show in time for drinks. Early on, Victoria had figured out Sonny was a sucker for old school burlesque. She’d done a boudoir shoot for him done up with all the vintage trimmings, and one night, she’d convinced him to attend a burlesque show at home, one with a live band. That, he’d liked. There was a bar on Canal Street, Burgundy, that had a local burlesque troupe perform on the weekends. The place was sultry when they walked in, all deep velvets and a glittering chandelier. She’d kissed his cheek, going to powder her nose before she ordered. They’d dressed up, and Sonny leaned against the counter waiting to order. 

“This seat taken?” asked a petite brunette, and he didn’t think anything of it.

“Nah. I’m going to a table.”

“You’re not from around here, are ya?”

“Visiting from New York,” he shrugged, still watching the bartender. 

“And here I was hoping you’d be a local. It’s a shame I’ll only see you tonight.”

“Yeah. It’s the only night they got the show. Came for my birthday.”

“Well, happy birthday.” The bartender stopped, and he ordered two drinks, the champagne one with rose water he knew Victoria would like and whatever the specialty was with whiskey for himself. 

“That for me?” she asked, and the way she tilted her head told him he was an idiot. He suddenly took in the way she was leaning towards him, eyes going wide. Luckily, he could see Victoria in the background, and she chuckled as he caught her eye. One thing he was grateful for was the fact she knew he could be dumb. He looked at women, sure. Victoria looked at men sometimes. That didn’t matter because they had no interest in doing anything with anybody else. He didn’t, however, tend to realize the eyes a woman was giving him. 

“It’s for me,” Victoria smiled, wrapping an arm around Sonny’s waist easily and resting the hand with her wedding ring on his chest.

“Sorry. I didn’t realize…” Victoria just gave her a smile and a nod, taking her drink gratefully and following Sonny to their table. His cheeks were pink and Victoria couldn’t help but laugh as she slid beside him on the booth side of the table facing the stage. 

“Tor, I had no clue,” he said like she was terribly upset. She cared just enough to wrap the territorial arm around him, but not enough to scold him. Hell, it was endearing. “I wouldn’t ever wanna flirt with anybody but you so sometimes I miss it.”

“Dom, I’m not mad. You’re hot as hell, and it’s really sweet how clueless you are. Not your fault other women notice the hot part.”

“Shuddup,” he muttered, ears turning red now. “You don’t notice when guys flirt with you either.”

“I do too!”

“Nah. The guy at the zoo? The one that was friendly until I showed up? Doll, he had been checkin’ you out.”

“What? No. He just wanted to know where the food was.”

“Oh? That’s why he was standing outside the ordering window when he asked you that?”

“Shit.” Sonny laughed, slipping an arm around her. 

“It’s okay. I kind of like showing up like ‘Yeah, she’s hot. And she’s my wife.’” 

“I like doing the same to you.”

“Love you, Tor.”

“And I love you, Dom. Happy birthday.”

Tags: @cycat4077​ @fear-less-write-more​

[brideofcthulhu10]

Hey guys I'm gonna be out and about today but before I go out to town I thought I leave you with some little Laddie Headcanons! A special thank you to my co-writer @imlostinsantacarla !

Laddie Headcanons

Unfortunately, Laddie was a part of a home in which a divorce was in the process of being filed. There was an immense amount of tension in the family dynamic whilst his father and mother sought to gain custody of him individually as they were in the midst of a messy breakup. The young child’s grandparents were aiding his father in filing for custody over him as his mother was hell bent on having sole custody without any visitation rights.

It’s well known that Laddie’s face was on a milk carton in the movie, with the word ‘MISSING’ written above it. This is just primarily speculation, of course. However, why else would two parents who didn't care about their child put up missing person’s posters everywhere? It’s certainly obvious that his parents were deeply troubled and affected by their son going missing, in conjunction with being apprehensive over his safety as they had no idea where he was.

Whilst his father was attempting to gain custody of him with his grandparents' help, Laddie’s mother lost him one night whilst on the BoardWalk too busy getting drunk at a bar, which is how and where the boys found him. He was all on his lonesome, wandering the BoardWalk terrified. The sight sincerely pulled on their heart strings. Seeing a little kid lost in the dead of night searching for his mother desperately just did not sit well with them.

Armed with the knowledge that their fellow sister Star was having second thoughts over their lifestyle, David immediately took the initiative to coax Laddie into drinking his blood and turning into one of them. This was not only to provide the child with a home, but also a strategy put in place to keep Star close and have her fully commit to their way of life as vampires. After all, girls love kids, don’t they? Surely her maternal or big sisterly instincts would kick in and provide her with the drive to become a caring figure for the young boy whilst solidifying her place in their group. She’d already agreed to the terms, there was no backing out now!

The other boys come to a conclusion of agreement that this is the best option as they cared about Star immensely, least enough to put up a fight when she was considering leaving, and they could not just let a poor boy stay out on the streets with nothing. There was a high likelihood of him getting kidnapped, murdered or something far, far worse whilst he was out there on his own. So they made the collective decision to take him under their wings and into their home, promising him that he would always remain safe with them.

Graciously, as if it were a match truly made in Heaven, Laddie and Star got on swell. The wee boy clung onto her desperately as she truly did remind him of his own mother and how she once was when she was with his dad. Star also bears a resemblance to his mother physically, ensuring that Laddie would bond with her much easier. The boys could not have been more happier and celebrated their success.

And thus it was settled! The boys took Laddie to the hotel and turned him, buttering him up a little in order over the next several to gain his trust and comfort.

"So, Laddie, you like it here?” David smirked at the young boy sat on the edge of the fountain in the hotel.

“Yeah it’s super cool!” He beamed enthusiastically, dangling his little legs off the edge and swinging them back and forth, they barely even hit the ground.

"Would you stay forever?" David pressed further, blonde brow quirked up in intrigue.

"Can I?!" Laddie exclaimed with an enormous grin plastered on his childish countenance.

"Hell yeah little dude! We even have a pretty, cool big sister for you!" Paul interjected just as happily, patting the tiny guy on the shoulder.

"Really?!"

"Mhm," Dwayne added, "and you can play every night."

"And you can eat as much as you want without getting sick, dude!" Marko declared.

"So, Laddie, what do you say?" David asked, head cocked to the side as he watched the little runts eyes float from face to face.

He sits still for a moment... "Hell yeah!"

The guys cheered excitedly, Marko handing David some fancy looking bottle, who in turn passed it to Laddie. "All you gotta do now, is drink this."

"It smells funny. What is it?"

"Old grape juice."

All the while, when Laddie is missing, his mother is struck with excruciating bouts of grief and shame, and attempts to get herself into a better space. Overcoming the worry and guilt that she feels over losing her son through alcohol, drugs, whatever it was that had caused her to lose her son on the BoardWalk that night, is an incredible challenge. She felt she had let her son down as well as her previous marriage. It only spurs on Laddie’s father to find him and gain total custody of the boy.

Living with four rambunctious teenage boys is a handful in itself, so it’s not a wonder that Laddie swears like a sailor, a terrible habit he picked up from the boys. Yet his one sister attempted profusely to set a better example for him. David and Paul find it hilarious that Laddie has a filthy potty mouth, whereas Dwayne and Star aren’t a fan of his newfound language.

“Hey, watch your language, bud.” Dwayne states sternly, chocolate orbs glowering into Laddie’s smaller ones.

“Pussy!” Paul bursts out in between a false coughing fit.

Laddie truly adores reading comic books frequently. In fact, the Frog brothers knew Laddie far before they knew the Emerson’s, they just didn’t acknowledge the kid all that much since he was far younger than them. This was especially since they were far too engrossed in blabbering about vampires, their investment in their own stuff made it impossible for them to give an ounce of attention to him. In their eyes he was always just the little twerp that stood on his tiptoes at the counter in their parents store, sprinkling dollar bills on top of a fat stack of mad magazine, Batman, and secretly some horror comics stuffed underneath the other ones he’d picked out.

“ 'Scuse me, can I get these," Laddie inquired politely, his eyes peering up at the two brothers behind the counter arguing over what the best way to waste a vampire was.

“Uh, yeah sure kid, whatever.” Alan stated fervently, his eyes still plastered on his brother's brooding gaze.

Edgar stuffed them into a plastic bag without sparing the kid a glance. “$15.75.”

“Okay.” Laddie stated in defeat before scooting over a wadded up ball of a $20 bill onto the counter before collecting his change and leaving with his head hung low.

Laddie is still a sucker for comics and wants new ones on a constant basis, it’s certainly something that aids him in passing the time at the hotel. Yet Paul’s adamant that he isn’t going to pay those dorks at the comic book store a single cent from his pocket. And David is a master at mental illusions, so there is one hell of a team to concoct a way to steal comic books. Neither Paul nor David feel any shame in it. David will create the illusion that Paul is walking by the store, only to actually be stealing a stack of comics to keep the poor kid happy.

Star and her inability to part with her human nature and high morals, is never too thrilled about the entire ordeal of stealing comics for Laddie. Laddie sees nothing wrong with it and only responds with utter enthusiasm at how awesome Paul is because Paul can do whatever he wants! This leads to Laddie following in the footsteps of the other boys, believing that he can both take and have whatever he wants, whenever he wants it no matter if there’s real life consequences involved because he can use his gifts (with training from David) to acquire all of his desires.

It’s also a common occurrence for Laddie to experience homesickness; after all, he misses his parents dearly because even though they weren’t the most astounding or perfection parents, they were still his parents. When this occurs, he’ll often seek out Dwayne or Star for comfort, sitting beside them, perched into their sides. They will attentively listen to him, reminding him of how much they themselves and the other boys love him and how they aren’t going anywhere. They all will be together forever. They’d even let him know that his parents and grandparents still love him too, even if he has a new family now.

Laddie unfortunately had to learn the hard way not to go to David about this specific predicament, because whenever he did, David would unintentionally guilt trip the kid about missing his parents. It wasn’t something he meant to do, it was just that David had never really had a home or a family that cared about him, his world before being a vampire was a dog eat dog world. You had to fend for yourself and choose your family. Even then he’d seen people get chewed out for trusting the wrong folks. So there’s a huge disconnection between the pair when it comes to familial things.

Whereas Marko and Paul will do things that will take Laddie’s mind right off of the down parts of being a missing child. They’ll happily play with him, get him his favorite food, read comics with him, steal said comics from the comic book store, maybe even let him help them tinker on their bikes, blast some gnarly music, you name it! They’re prepared to go all out in helping him feel happier where he is in the present and understand that he has a place with them.

Now, as for Laddie’s tantrums… well, every child has them. Usually they tend to be pretty humorous to Paul, Marko and David- that is until something happens to their precious stuff. To be fair he is an eight year old boy, of course he wants to mess with Paul’s Walkman or Marko’s bike keys! Paul nearly had an aneurysm when he saw Laddie accidentally ripped his mint condition 1965 Playboy Magazine.

"Dude who the fuck- my fuckin- WHAT THE FUCK MAN?!"

Laddie, who had been a bit spoilt from months of pampering from a group of enabling teenagers, showed minimal signs of remorse. "They were ugly anyway, she hand on granny panties or something."

Dwayne had to step in and hold Paul back from wringing the kids neck out like a wet dish towel!  "Dude, Paul he's a kid"

"I will eat you, you little turd!"

Once again, David cracks up frequently until Laddie begins to delve into his stuff also. It all began when he wanted to go for a ride and David being the more lazy member of the group had turned him down, especially in a much firmer tone the second time around. So what did the little shit do? Hide all of their keys to their bikes.

"Dude, where are my fuckin' keys," Paul hissed, digging through the cave like a tornado went through the damn thing. 

"Yours too?" Marko exclaimed his question, settling down the couch he had lifted onto the ground. “Mine vanished.”

David chuckled to himself, that was until he patted his pocket where his precious motorcycle keys had suddenly proved to be void of its contents. "Alright which one of you assholes stole my keys?!"

However that confrontation ignited an inferno of a tantrum from the small boy, who was so used to suddenly getting his way and now he was faced with the harsh reality of being told no. The boys should have really thought twice of enabling an eight year old boy! A fit from a kid can get ugly real quick, yet it’s a whole different story when that kid is an emotional half vampire that flips tables and screams at such a volume and octave that glass cracks. Star tends to primarily be a softer disciplinarian, she isn’t fond of the idea of yelling or smacking him, she’s much too gentle for that. Dwayne on the other hand, while preferring to approach things along the placid route, feels that sometimes it’s a necessary evil- while David just straight up thinks that a good smack on the mouth ought to settle him down.

Laddie is a thorn in their asses when he’s bored out of his mind, and the boys learned rather harshly and swiftly that having a little brother was not as fun as the Brady Bunch had it appear. This kid got into all their stuff, no matter how fool proof they made it, the kid always found a way! He would follow them excessively around the cave like a lost puppy, tell them the same story for HOURS on end, ask far too many questions that Marko would just blank the kid out with his music, only for Laddie to talk even louder! It was more than evident that the child had little concern over the fact that they were killers, he’d still happily pester them until they vamped out. In fact, he went out of his way to do that! The crazy little shit…

Laddie would climb on top of one of the many dust caked couches in the hotel right next to where David was reading and peek over his shoulder to get a noseful of whatever he was focused on. "Whatcha reading?" Laddie asked innocently, chin resting on the blonde vampires shoulder.

"....War and peace." David grumbled irately.

"What's that? It's big! It looks boring! Why are the words so tiny? What's it about? Who's the hero? Who's your favorite hero? Mine's batman! Well, I like Iron Man too but Batman has all the gadgets and stuff, and I like his cape but I guess you don't need a cape to be cool, but I like the cape anyway- I like Superman's cuz it's red, red's my favorite color. What's your favorite color? Well I mean red's super cool- oh but black! Black is really cool, i guess you probably like black too huh? I mean you wear it all the time, but really maybe it's cuz-" he had blabbered all of that out in one go without so much as a breath in between his sentences! And David selfishly wondered what the repercussions were on if he flew the kid onto a random cliff and left him there for several hours. He knew it probably couldn’t be good, but it was worth a try if he was ever going to catch a break and get this book finished! Not to mention the countless times that Paul’s thrown into the mix of things, David can’t stomach it and leaves the room because he can’t handle two obnoxious chatter boxes all at once. Star yelled at him once for hypnotizing Laddie to fall asleep because he wouldn't stop talking about Batman and Robin.

It’s obvious that Laddie tends to ride with Dwayne, and it’s because Dwayne is capable of ensuring that Laddie stays in one piece. If the kid had his way and rode with Paul… let’s just say that Laddie would be smeared road kill! And frankly, none of the other vampires trust Paul with the kid. Last time he rode with Paul, he was nearly flung forward when he went off of a steep ramp. Star almost slapped the smirk straight off of Paul’s face! Even Marko thought it was a bad move of Paul’s. So, it was a collective decision - minus Paul’s whining and bitching, in conjunction with Laddie’s pouting - that Laddie rode with Dwayne from now on.

When the boys were killed off one by one, Laddie was the only one who was saddened by this, because he had formed genuine bonds with his older brothers and even though they weren’t perfect, they’d kept their word to him and kept him safe. He was going to miss Paul and Marko playing with him and teaching him cool stuff about bikes and rock n’ roll. He’d even miss David and the way the man got irritated whenever he flitted about him. But the one he was surely going to miss the most was obviously Dwayne. Dwayne was like the older brother that Laddie had dreamed of ever since he was a kid. Dwayne had taken him under his wing and ensured that no one messed with him. He listened to him whenever he was homesick and was always super patient with him and just all around compassionate. Out of all of the boys, Laddie related to him the most. And now he was gone. Though each boy held a special place in his heart. As he left the Emmerson residence, he didn’t have the stomach to look at their dead bodies as he sniffled on his way out, tears streaming down his face. Although they hadn’t been the best to Star and sometimes weren’t the kindest to him, he knew that they had loved the pair of them and deep down, Laddie would always love them.

After the entire ordeal, Laddie decided he’d set foot on finding his parents again and sadly left Star behind. She reminded him a lot of the boys and she would always have a special place in his heart. Before he left he hugged the life out of her, staining her gypsy purple skirt with his tears as he thanked her for loving him and taking such good care of him. He promised her that he’d never forget her and he hoped she never would forget him. Star was heartbroken but also knew that it was best for Laddie to return to his parents and live his life out normally. She hoped he’d grow up to be everything wonderful in life and she assured him that he would remain important and ever present in her gentle heart. A long way down the line they met each other again and embraced like close siblings that hadn’t seen each other in centuries. They were much older now and wiser.

But back to the present, Laddie stumbled upon his mother on the BoardWalk that night, as though it were a miracle. The woman looked strikingly similar to Star, she was the woman that he had remembered from earlier on in his childhood, and he was truly overcome with joy. He got to see his father again which made him happy also. Although his parents couldn’t work things out, they managed to come to a steady agreement that they would have equal joint custody of Laddie, which was something that made things easier on him to adjust back to ordinary life. However, whilst he was missing, his beloved grandparents passed away, never having lost hope in Laddie being alive and returning home someday. Laddie missed them dearly but he adjusted as best as he could to his brand new life. He was never really the same after being with the boys and Star and losing them all, his parents were aware of the change but Laddie never discussed what had happened to him, only responding in vague statements or exclamations.

Somehow though, he found a way to keep in touch with Star, Michael, Lucy, Sam and the Frog brothers. They were all connected through these twisted and sad chain of events, and his bonds with them only deepened as he got older. Even Though they had remained adrift in life, Star, Sam, Lucy and Michael showed up for Laddie's graduation when he finally got through high school. Even still he remained in Santa Carla up until his graduation dinner out with the Emmersons, Star and even the Frog Brothers had shown up. Wandering for a moment on his own, his pace slowed until he came to a haunting stop.

Just beyond the tilt-a whirl, outside the arcade, he swore, parked on the boardwalk he could see a group of biker boys. As the 80s peeled away into the wild teenage rebellion of the 90s, their styles had altered. A blonde still sported a wild lion's mane, another had messy curls grown out. The platinum blonde one was the first to alert the other three of Laddie's gaze. The four grunge rockers sported bizarrely skeletal motorcycles, laughing with each other, now carrying mischievous smiles. Before he could even confirm the haunting visage of said familiar faces they vanished in a flurry of roaring engines. The last to leave looked at him with dark, haunting brown eyes. He could see under the guy's leather jacket and torn up Nirvana t-shirt jagged scar tissue around each of his limbs faded into bronze skin. They just looked at each other for what felt like a lifetime, and a wave of chills trickled down his back. The raven haired biker smirked at him, no malice in his grin. Only a soft farewell, proud even. And then he was gone. Laddie managed to take a deep breath in, silently turning on his heel to return to Star and Michael at the diner. When he got home he was applying to a few out of city colleges, somewhere away from his past.

[ghost-in-the-stalls]

Neil Josten's Playlist Part 6 - For Himself

Masterpost and link to the playlist in its entirety here

A lot of the songs Neil keeps are just for him. Sometimes you need to be in your feelings a bit and music is the only place you're comfortable doing that.

2. Shrike - Hozier

After he initially found Hozier, this boy didn’t listen to anything else for weeks straight if he could help it. Shrike I think is just a song that he loves the sound of. Pretty much the only thing we know in canon about Neil’s music taste is that he doesn’t like loud music. Which is incredibly vague and generalizing. To me, that tells me that Neil maybe is actually someone who tends to pay most attention to and by most effected by the sound of a song than the theme or lyrics or genre or anything. If he doesn’t like the sound, he doesn’t like the song. But a sound that appeals to him? Oh boy, he won’t be able to let it go. Shrike is like that for him. It’s gentle and smooth and I imagine he doesn’t pay too much attention to the lyrics or meaning. He just lets himself get lost in the sound.

11. Best Part - Daniel Caesar & H.E.R.

Not too much to say about this. It’s soft and beautiful and smooth, and I think Neil would greatly appreciate the sound. It’s a bit too soft for him to associate with Andrew, but he doesn’t need the association to enjoy it. Neil listens to it on his morning runs when the sun is only just rising and the world is still moving slowly. But he also listens to it on slower mornings when Andrew convinces him to forgo the morning run in favor of breakfast and coffee on the couch with the cats.

17. Dreams - Fleetwood Mac

Like some others on this list, this is a song that catches Neil wholly for its sound. Like the title, listening to this song feels a little like getting lost in a dream. There's just something very soft about it, and those are the kinds of songs that catches Neil's attention. He likes that he's found something he can get lost in for a time without losing himself.

27. Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright

As incredible of a song this is, the origin of Neil's connection to it isn't anything super emotional. The foxes made him watch Shrek. He became very attached to this song and would listen to it on repeat for weeks afterwards. They all got so sick of it. His aux cord privileges were revoked. Matt doesn't need to start CRYING while he's DRIVING Neil, THANK YOU.

As for his connection to it, a big trend I'm seeing in the stuff that I think Neil listens to is that a lot of it is very emotional. Sad songs, moving melodies, beautiful ballads. I think Neil listens to music to help him feel his emotions - like really feel them. He's so good at compartmentalizing and shoving everything down and away (as per the trauma of running for the better half of his life), I think listening to emotional music - like really listening to it all - as a means of getting in touch with the emotions he's always shoving aside would be a great coping mechanism for him. To that degree songs like this just strike a cord with Neil, even if there isn't any parallel to draw between the lyrics and his own life. A song is a package of emotion that Neil can hear and unpack and process at his own pace while retaining a safe degree of separation.

30. Obstacles - Syd Matters

Not a whole lot to say about this one. Neil finds it somehow - either through one of his foxes or just on his own - and he finds it incredibly calming. He keeps it close. It makes him hopeful even on days when he can't bring himself to look in the mirror. The steady melody and repeating words help him get lost in something other than his own thoughts.

35. Ashes On Your Eyes - Deb Talan

This is one Neil found on his own. It doesn't remind him of any of his foxes, though, or his mother. It's one of the few songs he has just for himself. It serves as a reminder that he's going to be okay. He has a great support system, but sometimes he likes to find comfort in himself just to prove that he can still do it. Songs like this keep him going on those days where he doesn't want to bring his problems to others.

37. Rivers and Roads - The Head and the Heart

This is one Neil gets his hands on in his final year at Palmetto, but it isn't just about Andrew for him (like most of the others from this year). This one is about all his foxes - his family. It's about how lonely he feels even when he has a whole group of people he lives and plays and interacts with on a daily basis. They aren't his people; his people are scattered everywhere. He only learned how to be a real person after he met them. Now he needs to learn to do it on his own. There's a special kind of pain that comes when he thinks of how much he misses each of them.

39. Unsteady - Ambassador X

This song is one Neil thinks of often when he's having bad days. He'll still always end up having some days where he doesn't feel like a real person, and on those days it can be hard to ground himself - to keep from floating away and giving up on everything he's built to run back to being nothing. What helps him most on those days is not being alone. It takes him a long time, though, to learn how to communicate what his needs are on those days. It's pretty lucky that Andrew can read him so well, but during the years when they aren't living together it becomes very hard for Neil to find the words to ask for help. This song helps him with that. The chorus is so short and to-the-point but is still such a bare-bones lay of emotion and need that it centers Neil enough to realize that he doesn't need to explain himself or mince his words when he's asking for help. He just needs to ask.

42. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) - Green Day

The downside to having the music taste that Neil does is that sometimes he latches onto something that is apparently a bit cheesy or overplayed, and the foxes gladly tease him for liking it unironically. This is definitely one of those songs. It doesn't matter to him that it was basically everyone's 8th grade graduation song (he didn't get one of those anyway, Matt.) He listens to this and thinks of the passage of time and how hard it's going to be when his foxes are scattered all over the country while he's stuck alone in Palmetto. But they'll be happy, and he'll be happy soon enough after that. They'll all move forward but it doesn't mean they'll lose each other (he has to repeat that to himself on bad nights).

The completely serious way he listens to this song is funny to the foxes at first, but Nicky is the first to break down crying when it stops being funny. He's also the only one to break down crying, but that doesn't mean the others don't get emotional too. ("Jesus, Neil, you got a whole team of collegiate athletes getting emotional over the time-of-your-life song. How much more of a fucking weirdo enigma can you be??" -Andrew at some point probably)

47. Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.

Neil has some pretty intense, pretty specific trauma. Plenty of people in the world have experienced terrible things and it isn't a competition. Neil knows this. However, he's also painfully aware that he's someone who pulled the right numbers in the shit lottery. Sometimes it helps to hear this song.

He knows that maybe his own life experiences were not anything close to what the songwriter had in mind, but it still helps. It helps to remember that he isn't the only person in the world who has terrible days. It even helps to know that people outside of the foxes have bad days. It helps to find a way to feel connected to the larger population of the world. It's a definite new thing for him - feeling like he's allowed to belong in the world - but it's very comforting at times.

54. Lights Up - Harry Styles

((I wish I could remember who made a post once saying this was a very Neil song because that was how I first heard it and I wish I could credit that person. Alas, it was over a year ago when I first read the books and didn't recognize any usernames yet :/ if anyone knows who that is lmk!!))

There are a lot of things Neil doesn't know about himself. There are a lot of things from freshman year and before that he still feels some level of guilt for. But ultimately he doesn't regret a single choice he's made. There are a whole lot of things he's still figuring out about his life. He heard this song and really vibed with the sound and what it was saying. Not much more to say than that. He's found himself in a light that he's happy to stay and figure himself out in.

66. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles

Mary was a bit of a Beatles fan. There were several of their songs she'd play on their long drives when they weren't being immediately tailed.

This wasn't one of them. She skipped this one, every single time. Neil fully understands why. For all the indulgence she gave herself in the music she listened to, this one seemed to cross a line she couldn't handle.

Now Neil listens to it on morning runs and good days. And he lets himself feel okay.

71. Fall on Me - R.E.M.

Neil's had plenty of people trying to hurt him throughout his life. He's never really gotten help from people he was supposed to get it from. And now he has a whole family of people who have experienced similar abandonment.

Sometimes that pisses him off.

Sometimes he just really wishes the world was a softer place. Andrew would say it's dumb to wish, especially for something like that. And he'd be right. But it doesn't stop Neil from thinking it sometimes.

73. Hat and Feet - Fountains of Wayne

Sometimes you're just beaten down and worn out. Just once in a while, Neil wants to let himself feel this without feeling terrible and lost for it. This song helps with that.

Sometimes you're just a hat and feet, and that's okay.

[casikototmblr]

Are We Lost? - Pre Cult Kai.

Summary: Reader goes on a spontaneous road trip with Kai but things don't quite go to plan.

A/N: Inspired by a prompt by @clean-prompts​. I’ve re-watched Cult again so that explains the imagines, lol.

Word count : 1,320.

Baby...C'mon, wake up! I made breakfast and stuff." Kai spoke softly as he entered the sun-lit room, armed with a tray full to the brim of pancakes stacked with a fountain of golden maple syrup poured on top and orange juice galore. He waited patiently for a couple of seconds, struggling to keep the tray full of delicious food balanced. Despite his failed attempt to wake you up, Kai placed the tray of food on the bedside table and got into bed beside you; his arm quickly found its way to your waist and pulled you closer to him as Kai started making quick work of planting soft kisses on the soft skin of your neck. You began to stir as the smell of the pancakes filled up your lungs and the soft kisses on your neck sent goosebumps everywhere on your body.

"D-Do I smell pancakes?" You asked half-asleep as you turned around to face Kai. You opened your eyes to look up at him before planting a soft kiss on his lips. 

"Mhm, I woke up a while ago and thought I'd make some pancakes for you," Kai replied as you slowly sat yourself up in the bed, readjusting the bedsheets as you did so. Kai grabbed the tray from the bedside table and waited for you to get comfy before placing the tray of food gently on your lap. You studied the food as you swiftly picked up the cutlery and began to tuck into the fluffy pancakes. 

"Thank you, baby." You spoke softly to Kai as he got out of bed and made his way to the wardrobe. You watched him as he opened the wooden door of the wardrobe and grabbed out a pair of jeans and a white top.

"I was thinking we could go on a road trip, I have a place in mind," Kai stated as you dipped a chunk of pancake in the maple syrup before eating it.

"I thought you were spending the day running errands for your Dad." You responded as you took a sip of the sweetish orange juice. Kai began to get undressed, changing out of his old frat shirt and into the shirt he picked from the wardrobe.

"Yeah that was the plan but..he's in one of his 'asshole' moods according to Mom, which doesn't make a change to how he normally is." Kai quickly answered with a scoff as he slipped into his jeans as you dipped the last piece of pancake on the plate in the last of the syrup and ate it. 

"Mhm, fair enough but don't you think he'll mind?" You asked softly as you got up and walked over to Kai. Kai enclosed his arms around you, pulling you into a firm hug as you looked up at him, running your fingers through his hair. 

"I suppose but it wouldn't make a difference anyway, besides we haven't done anything together in a while," Kai said as you cupped his face in your hands and looked in his soft brown eyes. 

"Okay, I'll get changed into something and then we can get going to where it is you'd like to take me." You suggested. Kai gave you a soft kiss on your lips, you kissed him back leaving the kiss to linger for a little while. 

TIME SKIP - 1 HOUR LATER.

You pulled the straps of the black slip dress onto the tops of your bare shoulders as you examined the dress in the mirror. Normally you'd wear the dress with a shirt underneath but today was far too hot for that. You grabbed your favourite pair of shoes and slipped them on as you gave yourself one final look in the mirror making sure everything was okay before you left the bedroom and ran downstairs to find Kai. 

"Kai?" You asked as you grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen. You walked outside to the front of your house to where Kai was.

"Hey baby," Kai replied as you walked over to the open boot of the truck. Kai stopped putting the bags in the boot as he looked you up and down, his mouth pretty much wide open. He might as well be drooling at this point. 

"You look really...Wow...beautiful." Kai added as he lifted the flap on the boot up. 

"Thanks baby, we ready to go?" You suggested as you sorted your dress out. 

Kai agreed as he double-checked the boot before getting in the driver's side. You quickly followed and got in the passenger side.

Within a couple of minutes, the truck was in motion. 

TIME SKIP - 3 HOURS LATER.

"Kai, it's okay if we're lost." You told Kai as you passed the same green sign for the third time in a row. You knew you were lost but Kai just didn't want to admit it.

"We're not lost, I swear." Kai insisted again for the third time. "I know where I'm going baby," Kai continued as he pulled over on the side of the road. You clutched his hand that was on the gear stick.

"Babe...Are we lost?" You asked yet again as you rubbed the top of his hand with your thumb. 

"No! I know exactly where we are...I think." Kai stated as he looked over at you. "Just two secs babe," Kai added as he got out of the truck, leaving the door open behind him. He strolled to the back of the truck and looked around, you watched him in the wing mirror with a confused look on your face. He quickly stepped back and got back in the car.

"Okay, fine. We are lost." Kai finally admitted, throwing his hands in defeat in the air. 

"Oh okay..." You replied as you watched Kai place his head and hands on the steering wheel and sigh. 

"I'm sorry baby..." Kai mumbled as he looked over at you in defeat. "Today's gone terrible." He added weakly as he buried his face in his hands.

"It hasn't at all, I promise. There has to be a gas station somewhere around here, why don't we go get some snacks and chill out in the back for a little while?" You added as you placed your hand on Kai's back softly.

"Ok, okay. It's better than nothing." Kai replied as he put the keys back in the ignition and started the car. You two, after 20 minutes of driving, eventually found a little shabby gas station with a broken sign. You and Kai ventured into the gas station and spent more than what a reasonable human being would normally spend on snacks. You came out with all sorts: a dozen Twinkie bars, at least 3 different flavours of Hershey bars, more than 2 packs of Jolly Ranchers and a 6 pack of assorted crisps. You took your 30$ worth of food, which was definitely a rip-off according to Kai, back to the truck as you both hopped into the open boot. You took the blankets and pillows from the back of the truck and pulled them through the now-open partition window and arranged the blankets and pillows so you and Kai could relax and get fat together. 

You laid down in Kai's arm as the sun began to set, the sky blending into an array of beautiful colours in front of you to see. Kai kissed the top of your head.

"I'm sorry about today," Kai said softly as you moved the empty Twinkie wrappers. 

"You've got nothing to be sorry for, this has been one of the best days ever!" You exclaimed, hoping to reassure Kai.

"Really?" He asked as you looked at him intently. You nodded as you gave him a kiss.

"The best day of my life..."

[alchemist-shizun]

Anagnorisis

(AU belongs to @pistachiolan​. Check the notes for more info!)

ἁναγνώρισις: Sudden and unexpected recognizing of the identity of a character in tragedies or other written works, which often determines the turning point in a story. (Latin: Agnitio)

Merry super extra late Christmas aaand at this point this can count as a happy new year gift? I've been literally working on this since last decade, this is some dedication. I hope you like it Lan!! Lov u

Read on Ao3!

Word Count: 3,812

Characters: Roman, Virgil (Patton and Logan are mentioned), Thomas

Pairing(s): pre-Prinxiety

Warning(s): Migraine (and its symptoms), implied mind control, self-harm, crying, implied panic attack, some metaphors might be a bit graphic, please tell me if I missed anything!

Summary: Roman couldn't remember exactly when all of that had started. What he was sure of was that as soon as it begun, all the happenings before became … hazy. He would start to forget specks of time, details, people. And then came the headaches.

Song used: Once Upon A Dream from Sleeping Beauty

A/N: I now have Once Upon a Dream stuck in my head. I like to call this "let me just take all the creative liberties I can get and distort everything about the plot". Okay I have no clue if this is at all the idea you had in mind so I improvised thanks to the lyrics, I hope this isn't too far off? Either way, enjoy the angst and these two pining boys cause I sure as hell had a good time. To all my regular readers: you have no idea what’s coming. (Don’t forget to check out @pistachiolan’s profile for their fantastically marvellous au which you can find in their blog under the #TsCultAu tag) The poem Roman recites is a rough translation I did of Catullus's 48th carmen (had a book of his poems and ended up using my fav ofc). The narrated parts in cursive are either thoughts or past events, the parts in cursive and bold are the song lyrics.

✾

❝I'm in love with a fairytale, even though it hurts.

Cause I don't care if I lose my mind,

I'm already cursed ❞

I know you!

A hand flew to Roman's face, which was contorting with unwelcome pain he hadn't seen coming, before he could even register it was his own.

His fingers pressed on a spot between his eyes and the bridge of his nose, his skin wrinkled around them and he had to steady himself against the rocky wall that led to the dungeons.

The dungeons.

Roman attempted to take a look at the stairs he was on: he was met with a flash, or maybe they were multiple flashes, attacking his vision like sharp blades diving into your skin numerous times, one right after the other.

He was blinded.

Eyes closed again, a whimper came out of his mouth; his free hand found its way to his forehead, getting warmer by the second along with his face, then it slid through his hair, barely able to feel its texture.

Too much of a recurring sensation.

Roman couldn't remember exactly when all of that had started. What he was sure of was that as soon as it begun, all the happenings before became … hazy. He would start to forget specks of time, details, people.

And then came the headaches. When he forced himself to remember or clear the discordance in his memories, pain would come.

Oh, come on Roman, his head would reprimand, didn't you learn by now you shouldn't do that?

Headaches turned into fully-fledged migraines.

And hallucinations.

At least that was what he called them. He would be certain of events that had never taken place.

For instance, dungeons.

Roman had been walking down the path leading to them when his mind started to drift away: it happened the same way you look at an object and a memory hits you before its meaning.

For some reason, he remembered being there with Virgil in the past, they had conversations about carvings in the back of the furthest cell, which became the symbol of a legend kids told to scare each other.

It was insane.

Insane his mind could ever fathom the possibility of interacting with Virgil.

Sure, his distress towards Virgil had diminished the more he'd been around without causing any trouble or suspicion, but a memory was a memory. They had yet to have a serious conversation that wasn't necessary, a memory meant they had already spent time alone together as if they had been childhood friends.

Doubt came in, but there had never been solid proof of Virgil himself being up to something, so he had decided to drop that theory.

Roman fell down, but didn't rise up like he usually did in conflicts.

The pulsing in his head made him nauseous; everything was spinning, even the void he was met with once his eyes were closed.

His arms went over his head, trying to shield it from any other malevolent deity that had decided to plague him.

It just all felt so real.

As if he had known Virgil all along.

I walked with you once upon a dream.

Months, months and still no sign of defeat.

Now, who the hell was thinking that messing up with Roman's brain was a fun activity to spend time with?

Even his subconscious had to shove him further down the hole confusion had created: his dreams often displayed all too familiar situations, all too familiar events he knew he had been in, but with that one particular difference in them.

Virgil was present in every single one of them.

It made him lose his mind, so much that he was barely able to bear his sight anymore. He'd feel somewhat embarrassment, he'd turn away after a single glance, as if he had gotten burnt by it.

And then he'd never tear his gaze off of him because, gods of the Empyrean, that boy had to be up to something or else he had no idea where to begin to look for clues.

What a terrible mistake.

Instead, he ended up with the image of Virgil constantly occupying his mind, everywhere he went to, there wouldn't be a moment where his thoughts wouldn't drift away from his task and focus on him.

Daydreaming and migraines became one, distinguished only by the type of pain they caused. Emotional and physical.

Overthinking was his main daily pastime.

And what if his mind was actually trying to tell him something? Dreams often had meanings, so what was his subconscious up to exactly?

That was Roman's train of thought upon waking up from one of those fated dreams, the pounding in his head a visitor who had now become a close friend.

Only thing he was sure of, was that what he had to concentrate on was the fact that it involved Virgil. He tried to recall all of his past hallucinations, all the fake memories, trying to connect the dots between them.

If only he had Logan's skills, he would've had cleared it up in a second. Of course, this one thought was something he was never going to admit and that he would have willingly taken to his grave.

Going into detail was a mess, all the events that had displayed in his mind or in front of his eyes had no correlation whatsoever; so he started looking at the big picture, put labels onto what he remembered.

Those memories. They were all … happy. Carefree little quotidian life bites.

And he felt serene, something that had to be ruined by the massive physical pain. His thoughts told him to stay in those memories, to hold onto them the longest he could, to endure the constant aching so he could stay that additional moment.

It was another him, another Roman who was desperately trying to catch his past and bring it back to himself.

Present Roman wouldn't have been able to perceive that conclusion.

Actually, present Roman was currently losing his mind.

Because just what if what he hadn't realized by then was exactly what he had been focusing on all along?

Feelings. Feelings for someone who had been infesting his thoughts ever since he had arrived.

I know you!

Roman was a knight walking around the village in a busy afternoon at the marketplace. One turn towards a figure in front of a stand, a few feet away, and he switched to distressed knight mode.

« You've got to be kidding me. »

Virgil kept himself from jumping in surprise and faced the owner of the voice right behind him. A single infuriating eyebrow was raised in confusion.

« Pardon me if I dare to show up and get Patton the stuff he needs. » everything was accompanied by a whispered “geez” and an eye-roll.

Again, infuriating.

« That's not- ugh, you're always putting words in my mouth! » Roman watched as Virgil started to walk away.

But he didn't sense the bitterness left in the boy's chest, the one he felt every single time their conversations resulted into senseless bickering.

Then, it happened again.

Virgil stood next to the fountain and Roman's head started spinning.

The way the sun rays hit the water, glimmering in delight, the sparkles that reflected onto Virgil's clothes, the sound it made when he quickly passed a hand through the small cascade.

Dumbfounded, the knight approached him again, searching the scene with his eyes for even the smallest clue to prove him either right or wrong, he simply wanted to get it over with.

Of course, the other noticed his staring. « Like what you see? » Virgil jokingly asked, a hint of sarcasm never leaving his voice.

Yeah, I'm trying to figure that out. Roman stayed silent for another second.

« Are you going to walk back? »

« I don't have a carriage, I apologize. »

He sighed and wondered if he really was considering having feelings for such a … a-

Virgil chuckled right after, ducking his head toward his hand, which shielded his smile.

Gosh, he was gorgeous.

Roman fought a peculiar instinct to pull the hand away and let the whole world be blessed by such a sight. And maybe it was the first time he had smiled like that in his presence, maybe it was the first time after so long of not being able to do that.

Maybe it wasn't the first time at all and Virgil was simply a master at hiding it when Roman wasn't looking. When he didn't want him to realize the truth that could've hurt both of them in brutal ways.

« Well, » Roman snapped back to reality, trying to ignore the headache at best. « It just so happens that I have a horse. » he gestured to the beginning of the plaza.

« No, you don't. » a cryptic expression crossed Virgil's face.

« Wha- » Roman turned just that much to notice that, yes, his horse had definitely freed himself and was now on the loose around the village. « Oh my gods. Oh- Oh my gods. » his hands flew to his hair. « Nope. No. Absolutely unreal. This isn't happening. »

« Dramatic much? » Virgil approached the broken ladder still tied to a fence and started examining it.

« What are you doing? »

« Helping you. »

Roman was getting drunk by all the deja vus he had been getting that day.

Virgil showed him the direction in which the horse had run away, judging by what was left of the ladder. « He might be in his favourite spot. »

« Favourite spot? » his words felt almost slurred, like he had cotton in his mouth.

The other pretended he didn't notice how odd his behaviour had been for the past week. « You don't remember your horse's own routine? »

Roman didn't even know he had one.

After some sighs and an incredulous conversation, they reached a clearing in the woods, where the horse was promptly considering whether or not to swiftly jump and reach one of the fruits on the trees.

« Samson! Really, running off like that on me? »

The animal happily trotted towards them, resting his face against Roman's hand before facing Virgil and surprisingly nuzzling his cheek. For some reason, Samson had always taken a liking into Virgil, which had made it really difficult to interact with the boy in the past.

It was as if Virgil had been his best friend before he was Roman's.

Like he had known him for as long as they did too.

The headache hit his forehead once more.

The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam.

Relax time, Patton had called it.

Stressful weeks had been pestering Roman, Virgil and Logan, all for different reasons, yet there never seemed to be time to catch some breath.

Patton had insisted some untroubled hours at night, sat around a little welcoming fire, would have helped their constant stiffness.

So there they were, watching flames try to reach the sky and fail with every attempt.

Oddly enough, their conversations were … simple. Nothing too heavy, no bickering or sarcasm, some jokes but not an overbearing amount.

Roman had his eyes fixated on the fire.

The voices started to drift away from his hearing and everything became muffled as he zoned out, leaving space for the familiar buzzing of nightly insects.

« Earth to Roman, did the gods finally take you away? »

Of course he was sitting next to Virgil.

Of course his whispering would bring his attention back despite having ignored any other louder noise.

He turned his head slightly, his head was resting in his crossed arms on his knees.

« I wish. » he let it out before he could stop himself.

Virgil simply chuckled. « Same, but I don't think Pat would be too happy with that. » And some others, too.

He faced the fire and let its light reflect in his eyes.

Roman believed he could see the stars. « Mhm. »

Virgil seemed to ponder something, reflect on a decision; he could have stayed silent, he could have simply not indulged in a certain matter any further, because that would have costed his life. But he needed proof.

And so he spoke.

« You'll be fine, princey. None hates you here. »

There it was again. Virgil made his best not to immediately check his reaction, but he could see from the corner of his eye how Roman was already raising a hand to his head.

Okay, he thought, something is up.

He bit his lip and ignored the anguished feelings rising in his chest.

Yet I know it's true the visions are seldom all they seem.

Where did that even come from? Why did he call him that, why did it feel so normal as if he'd been used to it his entire life?

What was happening?

Why was his heart beating so fast as he replayed the scene in his head? With Virgil's eyes glimmering against the sky and that smile hidden in the dark.

Who dared to send him so deep in the admiration zone to forget about the continuous pain he was subjecting himself to while being around Virgil so much?

When exactly did he sign the “I will dedicate my existence to destroy myself in order to be around such a human” contract?

To think that months prior he would have called him monster.

Then again, what a peculiar word it was. A mixture or positive and negative meanings, it was the extraordinary, a prodigy, a miracle. That incredible thing that also presented itself as a heinous atrocity.

And it had devoured his mind.

Here he was, now, countless migraines after, finally accepting his feelings because he was at the last stop before having that nightmare finally end.

Except it didn't.

Except non-existent memories of him and Virgil in a past he had never experienced came back to him at once and stronger than before. He couldn't almost breathe and he had no idea where he was going.

But he needed to find Thomas.

Last resort, as they say. A literal deity would have solved the problem in the blink of an eye.

Right.

Thomas had a weird twinkle in his eyes when Roman explained how often he had been getting the headaches and what was the recurrent situation the dreams displayed.

He made him sit down somewhere … he was too clouded by the pain to understand where he was exactly.

« I perfectly know what's going on. » Thomas had reassured him. « Trust in me, everything will be alright soon. »

Yet, when he placed his hands above Roman's head and he closed his eyes not to be blinded by an all too familiar glow, “alright” would have been the last thing he would have felt.

Or it wouldn't have been a word at all, because with the persistent twisting and turning and deleting and reforming of his thoughts and memories in his mind, there was no way he believed there could have existed anything else but pain in the world.

Roman didn't even have the strength to scream anymore.

And it was agonizing. Dangerously agonizing, as he fell to his knees and couldn't even feel the touch of his own hands vehemently pressing on his eyes, strong enough to push them far back into his eye sockets.

Maybe he was actually shrieking so loud his hearing had failed him long before.

His fingers dug onto the sides of his face and fell down on his cheeks, the nails traced red paths down both of them, white bits of dead skin left by them crossed paths with bitter tears that were somehow able to escape the limit his palms put.

« Everything will be alright. » Thomas had repeated while he nonchalantly destroyed the poor boy's mind. « You don't need him. »

That was the downfall of his discernment.

« I'll fix it for you. »

But if I know you,

When the blinding light ceased to hit his face, Roman's entire body plunged into the pavement for a split second, before immediately scrambling back to his feet.

His vision was back, the headache was gone.

But the confusion …

The thoughts that were now forming into his mind. Those were the doleful sting of skin thrown carelessly into flames: just as the skin burned and turned into an ashen damaged substance, so Roman's memories were filled with blank gaps and eroded by the flames of Thomas's power.

« I need- » he stormed out of the room without ever completing the line.

What he needed was actual reassurance.

If before his memories only conflicted with each other, now Roman felt like his whole life he had lived an illusion.

Gods, what was even true at that point?

So, he needed.

He needed answers, confirmations, he needed to feel authenticity.

Roman knocked on a door.

When Virgil opened it, he was met with the sight of a dishevelled and devastated boy, with red on his cheeks and in his eyes. This boy suppressed a sob, barely able to keep his lips from trembling.

« Are you even real? »

It was the exact same feeling as having a crowbar hitting his teeth: insanely painful and impossible to bear.

Followed by colossal quantities of resentment.

Virgil moved carefully, he let Roman in before closing the door behind them and let him sit on a chair in his room. In a second, he was already at the knight's side with a glass of water placed on the desk next to them. Eyes wide with concern, trying to fight the angered shaking of his hands.

He knew it all. That was just the confirmation. Yet, he couldn't talk, only help. Which was the first priority at the moment: care for Roman.

« What happened? » nothing. « Are you hurt anywhere? » still nothing.

His lips contorted with concern; Virgil watched the other try to steady his breath, looking around the room to see if he could still distinguish whether or not he was hallucinating.

Roman raised his arms and pulled Virgil close to him. It felt real. He buried his face in his chest, and still felt real. The tears wetting Virgil's shirt were real.

Real, real, real.

You're real, Roman. He's real. Your feelings are real.

He held him closer.

I know what you'll do.

How long Virgil had denied everything in favour of his safety.

And anyway, as soon as he was back, Roman had instantly hated him, who could even blame him for suppressing the truth?

Then things changed. He had noticed the alterations in Roman's demeanour, the loss in his focus, how disoriented he had started to become.

Townspeople constantly told him to pray to the gods, go visit Thomas for some “blessings”.

Yeah, right.

Virgil's heavy knot contorted in his stomach at the sole thought.

Instead of burdening himself even more, he passed a hand through Roman's hair, maybe embracing him with his other arm a little too tightly.

His feelings blossomed at once again, so much harder than before, as if he had bottled them up for so much time that they exploded simultaneously at the first display of affection he received.

Too long he had waited for something as simple as a hug. And there was only one to blame.

Roman wasn't even able to talk, he didn't want to move and face his issues, there was no way he would have wished to speak up about anything that had happened.

He felt damaged. He barely knew his identity at all and Virgil's presence was so grounding that he would have stayed in his arms forever.

Which Virgil would have gladly accepted.

« Can you tell me a place? » Virgil lowered at his level so he could look him in the eyes. « Somewhere safe, a comforting space? »

Roman sniffed one last time before being finally able to respond.

« The Black Lake. »

You'll love me at once.

Seeing someone calm down on the spot, with the breathing evening out nicely, was a rather cathartic experience, Virgil's own tight chest could finally be released from the grip of anxiety.

The two were sitting by the limit of the Lake, which was enlightened by the moonbeams.

« Follow me now. » Virgil called for Roman's attention. « Focus on the water. »

Roman did as instructed.

« What's your name? »

Grounding exercises.

« Roman Kingsley. »

« How old are you? »

« 22. »

Virgil waited for Roman to take a deep breath.

« What's your title? »

« I'm a knight. »

What is the name of your brothe- « Tell me the name of one of your friends. »

« You. Virgil. »

How can you even exist?

Virgil tried to hide a wide smile at best, while his heart jumped happily.

« Where do you live? »

« In this village. »

« Where are you now? »

« At the lake in the forest. » Roman took more breaths with his eyes closed. « You're with me. You're a friend, I think? I don't know it's all so confusing- »

« It's okay, let's talk about something else. » Virgil let the silence sink in purposefully, so the other could regain his focus.

He watched as Roman moved closer to the water and immersed his hand in it, pushing the water away in vain.

« Can you tell me something you learnt by heart? »

Roman didn't take his eyes off of the water.

He seemed to think about it for a second. « If someone, Juventius, would let me kiss your honey-like eyes to the bitter end, » the steady movement of his hand was almost hypnotizing. « I'd kiss them three hundred thousand times; never will I feel like I'm satisfied, » he raised his hand and stared at the drops falling back into the lake, creating the chaos that mirrored the one in his head. « Not even if the harvest of our kissing were to be thicker than the dried ears of corn. »

Virgil snapped back to reality when he felt Roman's head rest on his shoulder, his eyes closed again, but this time they weren't squeezed shut with pain.

« Thank you. » he whispered.

And, for once, nothing was wrong.

✾

« Want to know why this is my favorite place? »

In another memory, in another past, Virgil had turned to Roman with a small but expectant smile. « Why? »

« No matter how many times I come here, » Roman had returned the smile, holding so many more things he was never going to be able to tell him. « You're always here with me. »

The way you did once upon a dream.

[xmagicxshopx]

☕ Deeply Poisoned ☕

Genre: Greek Mythology, Fantasy, Romance, Angst Rating: M (Smut) Warnings: Jungkook being a manipulative man in love, smut Pairing: hades!jungkook x persephone!reader Notes: This is a Greek Mythology AU based on the story of Hades and Persephone. Not idol!jungkook. Single quote marks ‘ ‘ are for thoughts and double “ “ are for talking. Additional Notes: Please understand this is fiction and therefore the real BTS members would never act this way. Okay. Happy reading! Also, please don’t think that Hades “poisoned” Persephone at the very end. Poison doesn’t always have to mean killing. There’s no death in this one shot. I can promise you.

Tagging: @justbangtanandjams @lizardsocial

Summary: Kiss me on the lips, a secret just between the two of us. Deeply poisoned by the jail of you. I cannot worship anyone but you and I knew the grail was poisoned but I drank it anyway.

MASTERLIST , HADES!JIMIN , HADES!TAEHYUNG

“Your tea, sir.”

“Thank you, Theseus. You are dismissed.”

Hades watched his most faithful servant exit with an elegant bow of respect and soon left him with no other company but his bride. Yes....his beautiful, gorgeous bride-to-be. His future wife. Oh how stunning she looked there laying across the chaise lounge; staring into the fire and watching the flames do their heated dance.

“Be careful, love, that frown may not come undone if it stays for too long. A smile suits you way better.”

Of course all he was met with was silence. The smile formed by his lips was a small one but full of amusement. You were going to make an excellent queen of the underworld. Should he ever need to step down, he had no doubt you would be the perfect successor. He could practically smell your rage as you laid there looking stone faced. Some would say you looked bored but Hades knew better.

“We have a wedding to plan, my love. Have some tea and let us discuss the arrangements.”

Again, silence. Not that he expected anything less. It was no secret that you had came down here against your will. Kidnapped as you had called it. One day you would see that this was meant to be. This was where you belonged; next to him on the throne as the queen of the underworld.

“Persephone, my love, sulking will get you nowhere. You could become a mute but you will still stand at the alter and become my wife.”

His voice left no room for argument but it still held a soft and loving tone. Only Hades could pull that off. It was called tough love and he was darn good at it. You were the love of his life and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind. He would do whatever was necessary to keep you by his side; whether you liked it or not.

“Please, have some tea.”

“I’m not thirsty.”

“At least she speaks.”

“You aren’t giving me a choice, Hades.”

“Because I’m already giving you the best choice.”

By this time, you had at least turned your head to glance over at the male across from you. He was lounging in one of the huge, well-cushioned armchairs with a grand winged back. The deep burgundy color of the fabric went amazingly well with the shiny black leather of the chaise lounge you were laying across.

You despised him. You loathed him. He had taken you away from everything you loved. Your family, your friends, your home. Everything. It had been almost a month now and things weren’t any better. You didn’t feel any less sad or empty.

Thank god he had given you your own room. However, he claimed it was only because they had yet to become husband and wife. Once the wedding was over and the marriage was official, you would be moving into his room and sleeping with him in his bed. The mere thought disgusted you.

And yet, despite it all, despite the fact that he had kidnapped you and was keeping you trapped down here against your will......he had treated you with nothing but kindness. He had given you space which shocked you most of all. Space to come and go as you pleased. You could eat and drink whatever you liked and was free to roam the courtyard gardens. He claimed he had put in the gardens just for you.

You’d never forget the first time he took you to see them.....

TWO WEEKS AGO.....

“Okay, here we are.”

You felt him stop behind you so that he could carefully remove his hands from over your eyes so as not to mess with your makeup. It was odd having female servants who were actually demons doing your hair and makeup every morning. Blinking at the sudden brightness of the outside, you took in the sight before you.

Flowers, they were everywhere. Fountains carefully sculpted; water pouring out and all around them. A cobblestone path that branched out like a grand labyrinth. You had to admit, the sight was breathtaking. Naturally, given who your mother was, you loved flowers. You loved spending your time in the flower fields picking the wild blooms.

“I didn’t know flowers could exist in Hell.”

“They don’t. I um.....”

You looked over as he was now standing beside you and what shocked you the most was the sheepish smile on his face. He rubbed nervously at the back of his head; messing up his once perfectly coiffed hair. If you hadn’t already known who he was, you would have never guessed he was actually the king of the underworld.

“I had some servants sneak up to Earth and swipe some stuff. I’ve had them working on this ever since I saw you in my dreams.”

“You----You what?”

“Yes. You came to me in a dream, my beautiful Persephone. You were there and from that point on, I knew where fate was taking me. I needed you down here with me. Living with me as my wife and queen.”

He was a lot more composed now compared to a few second ago. No longer the sheepish, shy male and back to being the suave devil king. He turned his attention from you to back at the courtyard before continuing calmly,

“I had my people working countless hours on perfecting this courtyard. I knew how much you loved flowers; watching you countless times frolicking in the fields.”

“I don’t frolic.”

You heard his sudden snort of amusement and it would seem even he wasn’t expecting that sound because he quickly covered his mouth in slight embarrassment. Hades, the most evil man of all, had just snorted. Meanwhile, you stood there with your arms folded and a small but loud pout on your face.

“No offense, beautiful, but you definitely frolic.”

THE PRESENT......

That was the first moment you thought Hades might actually have a heart. So you had attempted to plead with him. Begged him to let you go. That if he truly loved you the way he claimed he did, that he would let you go and return you to Earth. But you had no such luck. He just kept insisting that you would grow to love it here just as the flowers did.

Suddenly, he was standing up and your dark, hollow eyes followed him. With curiosity slowly filling said eyes, you watched him as he sauntered over to you only to plop down on the floor so that his face was mere inches from yours as your head was comfortably positioned on the lounge’s armrest. He grinned cheekily at you only for you to scoff which lead him to chuckle softly.

“You’re cute when you’re grumpy.”

“You’d look cute beheaded and dismembered.”

“Dang, babe. Keep talking dirty to me. I’m loving it.”

He full-on laughed when you lightly hit him over the head with your hand. Why you hadn’t truly decked him confused even yourself. Perhaps you figured there was no point? Or maybe it was something else. You didn’t quite understand it.

“So I was thinking black for the color.”

“It’s a wedding, Hades.”

“Yeah but it’s a wedding in the Underworld. We’re supposed to be all dark, spooky and evil down here. Black is like our official color.”

You rolled your eyes as he fabricated a small journal along with a quill and a bottle of ink. Apparently he was going to take notes of their planning. You had to admit, Hades may be an evil man, but he was an elegant and sophisticated one. His penmanship was astounding and you wished you could learn how to read and write. It was like he could sense your troubles as he stopped writing and turned to glance at you.

“You okay, my flower?”

“Ye-Yeah. I’m fine.”

“You’re a terrible liar, Persephone. But I trust you’ll tell me when you’re ready.”

You remained silent as he went back to what he was doing. His perfect scrawl started to fill the pages but you couldn’t understand a single word of it. It all looked like a bunch of symbols to you as you laid there; watching over his shoulder. Irritation gripped and ate away at you before you finally confessed with a tone of defeat,

“I don’t know how to read or write.”

The sounds of quill scratching against paper suddenly came to a halt and you could feel the heat creeping up your neck and trying to spread over your cheeks. The tips of your ears were burning by the time he had turned around a bit to glance over at you. Surprisingly enough, there was a warm smile of understanding on his face.

“Was that it? Oh, sweetheart. That’s nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of. Lots of folk don’t know how to read or write because they’ve never had a reason to.”

Hades may be the king of evil, but you were his weakness. The one thing that made him soft. Seeing you there laying across his lounge looking all bashful melted his heart. You were so adorable and precious and you were all his. No one was going to take you away from him. Not now, not ever. Smiling and shifting to where he had set the quill in the ink bottle and set the book aside, he rested his chin on the edge of the lounge and said softly,

“If you’ll have me, I would consider it not only a joy, but a great honor to be the one that teaches you how to read and write. If you’re interested in learning, of course.”

The silence that followed seemed to drag out while you laid there pondering your options. On one hand, you really did want to learn. However, it nearly made you sick to think that he would be the one to teach you. Then again....aside from all the horrible things he’s done and what he does for a living.....he really has been nothing but kind to you. And he seems like he’d make a pretty decent teacher.

“Just so you know, this changes nothing. You’re still the dirt bag who kidnapped me and is holding me captive down here against my will.”

You hated how his warm chuckles made your heart flutter. He wasn’t supposed to be doing this to you. He wasn’t supposed to have this effect on you. You were supposed to hate his guts; his very existence.

Furthermore, why did he have to look so handsome? Sitting there all decked in black with that very form fitting turtleneck that showcased his firm chest and broad shoulders. And those ripped skinny jeans that made his thighs look like freaking tree trunks. It was when you began to wonder what it would be like to sit on his lap that you brought your thoughts to a screeching halt. Perfect timing, too.

“Babe? You okay?”

“Yeah. So um-----Where do we start with this whole reading and writing stuff?”

With a soft bark of laughter, he picked the journal back up along with the quill and ink bottle. Patting the spot next to him, you silently obeyed and slid off the lounge to sit beside him. With both your backs against the edge of the lounge, it was then that he finally answered your question.

“I figured we could start with the reading. I’ll write and you read. But first we have to learn the alphabet.”

Seemed simple enough. You watched him as he started writing random symbols on an empty page of the journal. With you being on his right side and him being right handed, sometimes your shoulders would touch and every time it left your skin tingling beneath the fabric of your dress. But that wasn’t all.

As he wrote down what you presumed to be the basic alphabet, his foot would occasionally bump yours. At first you just thought it was an innocent accident or maybe his foot would move whenever he was concentrating. But after awhile, you discovered he was being playful and so you took your bare foot and shoved his sock covered foot back. He chuckled and you couldn’t stop yourself from asking,

“Is the all feared and powerful Hades seriously playing footsie right now?”

“Yes he is. What of it???”

“Oh my god. You’re such a man child.”

You playfully roll your eyes and he just laughed even more. It was amazing how this man was supposed to be the most feared above all and yet here he was acting like a big kid who liked picking on other kids on the playground. Then again, you supposed you’d rather have that than him torturing you. Things could definitely be worse for you right now.

“So let’s start with the first letter.”

And so there the two of you sat on the rug covered floor of the living room with your backs propped up against the edge of the chaise lounge. He would introduce each letter to you one at a time in the proper order. He explained the various sounds each letter could possibly make when used in a sentence. Never in a million years would you have guessed that the devil himself would be the one to teach you how to read.

“There’s actually a library in here, you know. Once you get the hang of it, we can read together. I bet you’ll love all the cheesy, mushy, gooey romance novels.”

“Oh yeah? Let me guess----You go for all the murder mystery novels?”

“Hey----Murder mysteries are the best. Don’t knock it till you try it.”

You playfully stuck your tongue out at him only for him to do the same. Anyone who was on the outside looking in would have thought the both of you to be big kids but it was still a comical and perhaps even heart-warming sight to see. Just two people sitting together spending time not wanting to rip each other’s throats out. It was kind of nice.

So the lessons continued. Once you felt pretty comfortable with the alphabet, he moved on to some pretty basic words. Mostly three letter words so as not to overwhelm you. He was a great teacher, you’d give him that much. He held all the perfect traits of a leader and you could understand now why he was the king.

“What’s this word?”

“Um......I know it starts with S.....”

“Ah......I think the last letter is......Hades!”

You were a blushing mess when you suddenly figured out what word he was trying to spell for you. Extremely flustered, you tried to shove him but of course he never budged. Thankfully you hadn’t knocked over the small bottle of ink in the process of your attempt to get him as far away from you as possible.

“You’re so gross. Sex? Really?”

“Hey. At least you’re learning how to read, right?”

“Typical male.”

“You can’t blame me. It’s obviously going to be on my mind with all this talk about our wedding. Because we both know what happens once the wedding is over.”

With your arms folded and still quite flustered, you glanced over only to see him wiggling his eyebrows in a greasy manner. That was something else you despised. His eyebrow game was strong. Really strong. Was it possible to be attracted to someone’s eyebrows??? Because as much as you didn’t want to admit it, you were fascinated with his.

“Again----You’re so gross.”

“Speaking of our wedding, we should probably get back to planning that, huh?”

The initial response was to recoil back to the lounge and resume your silent treatment. However, had he really given you a reason to do such a thing? No. Well yes and no. Could you really forgive him for taking you away from everything and everyone you know and love? Could you really just let that go? Could you picture yourself standing next to this evil man for the rest of your days?

And why the hell did the idea of having sex with him set your core on fire???

“What do you say, we have Theseus make us a fresh batch of tea along with those small shortbread cookies that you won’t admit you love and we can talk about our wedding. For real this time.”

“Do you always have to get that jab in there? How do you know whether or not I like Theseus’ shortbread cookies?”

“Because I have eyes and ears everywhere and he told me you loved them?”

“He ratted me out!?!?”

Hades let his head fall back and as he smiled through his laughter, you could see his crows feet trying to show and his bunny teeth were on full display despite staring at his side profile. What bothered you the most was how torn you were between decking him a new shiner or kissing that dumb smile off his face. With a huff of annoyance and your lips forming a pout, you mumbled in defeat,

“Whatever. Just get me those stupid cookies and your stupid tea.”

“That’s my girl. I knew you’d see things my way.”

“Why I outta!-----”

But before you could follow through with any kind of feeble threat, the male had snapped his fingers and within seconds, his favorite servant was back and at attention.

“Yes, sir?”

“Theseus, it would seem my beautiful flower and I got caught up in wedding planning and the tea has run cold. Could you please brew us a fresh batch. Oh----And could we get a plate of those shortbread cookies you make? Per my flower’s request.”

“Of course, sir.”

When the male servant had left, you couldn’t help but look over at your soon-to-be husband and it dawned on you......

“Why do you treat him so much better than the rest of your servants? You treat everyone else like crap but you treat him like a real person. Why is that?”

It surprised you how silent he was. Or perhaps he was just mulling over how to properly answer your question. Heck, maybe even Hades himself had asked that question a few times here and there. Setting the journal down in his lap, he put the quill back in the ink bottle and pushed everything to the side so that it wasn’t in the way. Turning so that he was now more turned towards you, he smiled softly; warmly even.

“Because he’s faithful. He does what I tell him to. His death......was an unfair one. So I took mercy on him. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mafia. He was their butler. Got shot right between the eyes. Died instantly. He didn’t deserve such a fate but it was a fate he chose. He knew what he was getting into when he took that job. But still......”

“So that’s why he’s down here? Because he chose the mafia?”

“Pretty much.”

You found yourself staring at him. There he goes again. The big bad evil Hades whom was supposed to torture people for a living, and granted he did, but here he was looking like a young man who carried more weight on his shoulders than anyone could imagine. You watched him pick at random fibers in the rug you both were sitting on; the awkwardness practically radiating off of him.

This was a rare side of him, though. Or was it? Was this the same man who had took you to the courtyard gardens? The same man who sheepishly confessed he had his people grow a whole garden just for you. There was definitely more to the lord of the underworld aside from his bad reputation. Just when you were about to reach out for his hand, Theseus came through the doors and you nearly jumped out of your skin.

“Your tea and cookies, sir and madame.”

“Thanks, buddy. Take the rest of the evening off, okay?”

“As you wish, sir.”

Just as the servant was about to head for the doors, you piped up and said with a pointed finger,

“You! I’ll deal with you later, tattletale.”

However, all this got you was a soft chuckle from the male sitting next to you and a small smile of amusement from the servant. After giving you an elegant bow, he went for the double doors and just as he was about to close them behind him, he said in his smooth voice,

“Of course, madame.”

With the doors now closed and leaving just the two of you, Hades and his chuckles grew a bit in volume before he said in thick amusement,

“Babe, I think that threatening tone of yours needs some work.”

“Oh shut it. You know how I like my tea, right?”

“Absolutely. Get your pretty self comfortable again and I’ll fetch it for you.”

While you were plopping yourself back onto the black leather chaise lounge, you watched him carefully as he prepared the two cups of tea. How could a person look so fine when all they were doing was pouring liquid into cups and adding lumps of sweetener??? Soon enough, he was carefully walking over to you with a steaming cup perched on a matching saucer.

“Your tea, my love.”

“Thank you.”

His eyebrows, darn those eyebrows, shot up in surprise and that bunny smile was back as he asked in a clearly teasing tone; now pouring and doctoring up his own cup of tea,

“I get a thank you? To what do I owe this pleasant mood you’re suddenly in, hmm?”

“Oh shut up.”

“Well that didn’t last long.”

While you carefully blew on the steaming liquid to help try and cool it faster, you noticed out of the corner of your eye how the male had picked up his items off the floor and was now scooting his huge, winged back hair over to you so that you both could be comfortable while you worked.

It was a bit surreal now to think that you were finally accepting fate. Is that what you were doing here as you allowed him to start back up with the wedding plans? Would some people call it giving in? Did this acceptance make you a quitter? Did it even matter at this point???

“So I was thinking if you’re not entirely a fan of black, then you can pick one color to go with it. How does that sound?”

“Deal. Let me think......Hmm.......”

You sipped at your tea now that it was cooled down enough to where it wouldn’t burn your tongue. Taking notice of how this tea tasted a bit different from the blends you’ve had before, you tried to think of what color you could possibly want for this wedding. And then it hit you.

“This color.”

The male turned his attention away from the journal where the tip of the quill was poised and ready to write down whatever color you wished. You were pointing to the deep burgundy of the fabric that his chair was made out of. While he was curious, it made sense to you. Call yourself cheesy, but it made sense in your mind.

This room was where you finally accepted your fate. Where you accepted him and his world. In this very room where the furniture was black and burgundy. Those were going to be your wedding colors.

You still weren’t entirely happy about it, but what else could you really do? Escaping was obviously out of the question and it wasn’t like he had dragged you down here to torture you. In fact, as you had been thinking about over and over all evening, he has treated you with nothing but kindness and his own twisted form of love.

“Burgundy it is. Good choice, my flower.”

The planning continued as the both of you enjoyed the tea and cookies. Dang. You really were a sucker for those shortbread delights. Within 20 or so minutes, you both had agreed on colors, location, and vows. The ceremony would be held out back in the courtyard gardens and the both of you would write your own vows.

“You’re not gonna fill yours with all the ways you’d like to kill me, are you?”

After taking a moment to dramatically hum in thought while taking another sip of your tea, you acted like you were really thinking about it as you stared up towards the ceiling.

“I might throw in a couple here and there.”

“You’re so mean to me. I feel like this relationship is one-sided.”

“You don’t say?”

You tried your best to keep up the smooth and suave facade but it honestly didn’t last but only a couple seconds before you were softly snorting and laughing; his own noises of amusement mixing well with yours.

It was then that you took notice of......how warm you were. Not the fuzzy kind either. In fact, you were starting to break out in a light sweat. Balancing your saucer and cup with one hand, you used the other to lightly fan at your face. Looking over, you could see the male was starting to get a bit warm too; a slight sheen of sweat reflecting off the light from the flames of the fireplace. He had to be dying in that turtleneck.

Now that you were looking him up and down.....something wasn’t right here. Something was wrong. Your body was on fire and you itched to touch him; wanting nothing more than to rid him of those ridiculously tight clothes and feel him up. You wanted to know what lay beneath the fabric. Was he truly sculptured like the greek god he was? You looked up and locked eyes with him. He was starting to breathe a bit heavier just as you were; his eyes dark as coal.

“Hades.......what’s in this tea?”

“Does it matter?”

Silence presumed but only for a small second as the two of you played a battle to see who could undress who with their eyes the fastest. And within the following seconds, all hell broke loose.......no pun intended.

“Get over here, flower.”

Sounds of fine china clinking and clattering filled the silence as you both scrambled to put your cups of tea aside, shortbread crumbs went flying and soon enough you were straddling his waist as he sat there in the huge armchair. Lust filled his eyes as he stared into your own darkened orbs.

“Good girl. Now undress me. It’s bloody boiling in here.”

“You’re the one who chose to where a turtleneck in Hell.”

“Pipe it down, woman, and just do as I say.”

Pouting, you nonetheless did as you were told and watched him lift his arms so that you could work on getting the form fitting garment off of him. With the article of clothing now on the floor, you took a moment to feast your eyes on the man in front of you. Wow. Yeah. He was built. Definitely built.

“Don’t get distracted, baby. Keep going.”

Huffing in annoyance at his silly demands, you moved off of him so that you could take care of his belt buckle. Making quick work of it, you soon had him raising his hips so that you could tug down his jeans and boxers all at once. Okay now you were just drooling. It was like standing in a buffet line.

Where did you start? Muscle, there was so much muscle. It was all you could do not to sink your teeth into his bicep or his thigh. His collarbones didn’t look too bad either. Your eyes traveling further down, you appreciated his perfectly toned abs and that v-line. Dear god. With your eye on the prize, you took notice of his erection. He looked absolutely delicious. You could feel yourself salivating and tried to pull yourself together. Noticing his smug smirk, you grumbled,

“Now what?”

“Let me show you.”

Again with the whole magic show. Not before rolling your eyes, you soon watched him raise his hand and with a crisp snap of his fingers, you heard soft rustling sounds behind you. Turning around with knitted eyebrows and a facial expression of curiosity, you were met with a sight that had you raising an eyebrow.

“I think you’re the one who reads cheesy romance novels.”

“You’re such a mood killer, babe. I’m trying to be romantic here.”

In front of the firelit hearth was a sight right out of a romance novel. Pillows stacked upon pillows and cozy cotton sheets all spread out. To the side, there was a small dish of strawberries next to a dish of chocolate sauce. Just as you were about to make another snarky comment, you felt his arms wrap around you in a back hug. A shiver ran down your body when he started kissing at the shell of your ear and whispered,

“I’m trying to be romantic because tonight I’m going to make love to my beautiful bride-to-be. And while I’m showing her just how much I love her.......”

He paused so he could let both his hands fan out across your stomach before finishing in a sultry but loving tone,

“I’m gonna fill her with a baby. Our baby.”

And then it all made sense to you.

“I’m never drinking your baby-making tea again. Tell Theseus to throw that shit out.”

His lips had been busying themselves with planting soft, gentle butterfly kisses to the skin of your neck when you said that. So naturally when he snorted in amusement, it tickled and caused you to giggle and try and squirm away from him. With another kiss to your neck, he chuckled and spoke casually,

“Oh come on. You love my baby-making tea and you know it. Now get your pretty ass out of that dress and lay down for me. And spread those legs nice and wide. I wanna see all of my gorgeous flower.”

Fortunately for him, you were growing just as impatient if not more than he was. With your dress and undergarments off in a flash, you made sure your hips swayed as you walked over to the cozy space in front of the fireplace. Carefully laying down, you took a moment to swipe a strawberry and dipped it in chocolate.

God, Hades was in his own sinful version of Heaven right now. There laid his future wife, his queen, and hopefully after tonight, the mother of his children. Laying there in all her beautiful naked glory sucking purposefully on a chocolate covered strawberry.

“You’re evil, baby girl. Absolutely evil. That’s supposed to be my job.”

“Yeah, well, I’m trying to learn from the best. I figure since I’m going to be queen and all.”

He moved to where he was crouching down and crawling on top of you; his face now nuzzling your bosom. You took a sharp intake of air upon feeling his lips press more of those soft, tender kisses to your heated skin. Lapping at one of your now very perky buds, he made direct eye contact with you before saying against your skin,

“That’s right, baby. You’re going to be my queen who helps me rule this land with an iron fist. Show no mercy.”

And then everything happened so sudden. You let out a small cry of surprise when you watched him wrap his lips around your nipple; sucking slow but rough. Your back arched on it’s own and your head pressed harder into the pillows. It would appear your nipples were a weak spot of yours. Something Hades no doubt took mental note of.

Not wanting the other breast to feel neglected, he used his large, warm hand and started to massage your other mound. In between sucking, licking, and nibbling, he began to talk his praises of what he hoped your future body would look like.

“I can’t wait to see you swollen and full. These babies full of milk for our little monster. You’re going to be positively radiant. Glowing. A sparkling diamond in the deepest, darkest pits of Hell. And you’re all mine. You hear me, beautiful? You’re all mine.”

You had been laying there basking in the pleasure he was bestowing upon you with your body bowing and your hands in his hair trying to push his face further into your chest. You yelped softly in mild pain and surprise when you felt him gently bite down on your nipple and heard him say with a soft growl,

“Say it.”

“I’m all yours!”

“Good girl. Now----Do you need prepped or are you already soaked for me?”

“I’m dripping. Please. No more teasing. You can love me and be all romantic later. I just need you in me now. This heat is killing me.”

Chuckling, he planted a few more kisses to your breasts before reaching up for your face. First he kissed your chin, then along your jawline. Feather-like touches soon moved to your cheeks and the tip of your nose. Upon landing a kiss to your lips, he allowed his forehead to rest against yours before whispering against your lips,

“Oh my beautiful flower......I will never stop loving you. Never.”

That’s when you felt him align himself with your drenched entrance. You were pretty sure things were about to get messy but you couldn’t care less. What you were more focused on was how careful he was being with you. It was as if he were handling glass. Perhaps Hades only weakness.......really was you.

“Tell me if it starts to hurt, okay?”

“Okay.”

The softness behind your own voice surprised you. Were you possibly growing soft for this guy? Yeah. Probably. Let’s be honest......he included chocolate sauce. The quickest way to a woman’s heart is chocolate. That’s a given fact of life right there. And so as he slowly started to guide himself past your folds, you wrapped your arms around him and started to plant soft kisses to his face. Chuckling in between his shaky breaths, he said with a smile,

“Aren’t I supposed to be the one comforting you? This is your first time, right? I don’t want to break you, darling.”

“I’m fine, Hades. Just relax. I promise I’ll tell you if it hurts.”

Nodding despite the clouds of uncertainty swirling in his onyx orbs, he continued to move. The both of you gasp when you felt the bulbous tip of his length slide in past your wet folds. You had to admit, he had some weight to him. He was hard as a rock and larger than you initially thought. But you had no doubt that once you got used to the stretch, his girth would feel like sinful bliss.

And yeah. It hurt. It more than hurt. You felt like you were being split in two down there. But with soft words of encouragement from both parties, he was finally able to fill you to the hilt. In fact, another synced gasp filled the space between you when you felt him bottoming out inside you. God it hurt. You tried to fight back the whimpers of pain; not wanting to look like a wimp.

But to your surprise, Hades never once poked fun at you for it. Never once called you a baby or even played a pussy pun. In fact, he was busying himself by peppering your face with more butterfly kisses. His warm hands soothingly rubbing your hips to try and help distract you from the pain. Whispering sweet nothings in your ear.

“You’re doing so good, baby girl. Taking me like a true champion. You were made for me, beautiful. Don’t worry. The pain will soon pass.”

And he was right. About half of that. The pain did eventually subside but it could have happened a lot sooner than it really did. Taking deep breaths to help calm your racing heart, you moved to where your nails were gently digging into the meat of his back and you wrapped your legs around his waist. Breathlessly, you spoke,

“Move. I’m okay. Please move.”

“Okay, my love. It’s okay. Just keep breathing and I promise you it’ll start to feel wonderful. Like nothing you’ve ever experienced before.”

Boy he wasn’t kidding. Sure it felt like hell at first, but soon it started to feel like you couldn’t get enough. Perhaps that’s what this whole thing was about. Finding out that Hell wasn’t such a bad place. That it didn’t have to be Hell at all. Perhaps, maybe, just maybe, there was a little bit of Heaven in Hell too.

“Does this feel good, baby? You feel amazing. So tight and warm around my cock. Taking me like a good girl. Ah---god so tight.”

“Faster! Harder! Please! I want more! I need more!”

You were like a feline in heat. His little sex kitten. Oh how he knew you were made for him in every way. The two of you fitting together like perfect puzzle pieces. Not wanting to deny his queen of her needs, he picked up his pace but he could tell you needed more. Something a little extra. And that was when his hand slithered between your sweaty bodies and found your sensitive bundle of nerves.

“Oh my god! Hades!”

“Yes, beautiful. Keep saying my name. Shout it. Scream it loud enough for the whole castle to hear. Let all of Hell know who’s making you feel this good.”

He could tell you were getting much closer. But he still hadn’t found that special spot he was looking for. If he could just get that perfect angle to where you were seeing stars, then he’d be happy. He knew instantly when he found it, too. You practically cried out in pleasure and your walls tried to squeeze the life out of him; causing him to grunt as he kept hitting that spot over and over.

“That’s it, my flower. Feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Yes! Feels so good! Don’t stop! Please!”

He hissed as he felt your nails dig deeper into his back; now basically clawing at the flesh. That was gonna leave a mark but he honestly couldn’t care less. He wanted you to mark him up. To mark your territory as you deemed fit and he would do the same with you. Leaning down, he started to do exactly that as he turned your neck into a star map.

You were close and so was he. He could tell from the way your walls were starting to spasm around him. Dear god you felt so good around him. If it wasn’t for wanting to wait on you, he’d have came a good few minutes ago. But he was waiting. Because this was about love but it was more than love. He wanted to create a family. Right here, right now.

“Come on, beautiful. Give me a baby. Boy, girl, twins, triplets. Doesn’t matter. I’ll be happy no matter what. Now cum. Cum for me, Persephone.”

Hearing your name and the way he talked about wanting a family with you, it was enough to send you over the edge. And just as Hades had planned and timed it, he breached your womb and made sure to spill every last drop of his load into you. He could only hope for the best. That you both enjoyed yourself and wanted the same things he wanted.

As you both laid there with him still deep inside you, because there was no way he was letting a single drop slip out, you took time to catch your breath. You had never felt anything like this before. He was right. This was definitely a first for you. Then again, you had always been the innocent flower that was supposed to wait till marriage. Finding your dream guy and getting married under the sunset and all that cheesy horse shit.

Guess you must have a thing for bad guys.

“So um.......you want another cup of tea?”

And I knew the grail was poisoned but I drank it anyway

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

Asoue AU where everyone is ghosts but they don’t realise it

Violet: Drowned in TWW.

Klaus: Killed himself by accident in TMM

Sunny: Got bitten by the mamba du mal in TRR

None of the three siblings remember much of this. Violet and Klaus say they remember how afraid they were that Sunny was dying but then she was fine when Violet and Klaus came home from the lake... only that Klaus says he remembers it as he came back alone... and then his sisters met him at the lumbermill where he thought he would die. All three of them are then sent to Prufrock by Mr. Poe. Mr. Poe is also dead, and occasionally drops random hints about it, but he is too clueless to explain himself twice.

Olaf died in TBB. How he died I have yet to come up with, but it involved the Baudelaires. He is pissed at them and haunts them for it.

All three Quagmires died in the fire. While Quigley spends his time haunting the tunnels until he realises, Duncan and Isadora are sent to Prufrock. Both them and the Baudelaires don’t really feel... welcome there. They think it’s because they are orphans, but it’s actually because everyone else in the school died there, and the Quagmires and Baudelaires only went there afterwards.

It’s not until the Baudelaires are taken away from Prufrock that the notice a sign nearby. The sign says ”School closed down since 1936”. They ask Mr. Poe about it and he just casually says ”Oh, didn’t you hear about that school? Prufrock Preporatory School closed down in 1936 when all the students and faculty got poisoned.”

Of course the Baudelaires are very confused because they were just there?? And they notice after this that each building they leave change. Either it suddenly gets an entire new look, or it’s completely broken and shut down.

Duncan and Isadora realise they are ghosts as they are kidnapped. Isadora notices she can slide out of the cage and is like ”wtf??”. They try to tell the Baudelaires about it, but the Baudelaires don’t really believe it. It’s too hard for them to swallow at that point. Anyway, even if the Quagmires managed to escape the cage, Olaf still finds them and stuffs them into the fountain.

What’s funny about TVV is that none of the villagers are dead. They are instead hella afraid because they hear voices everywhere, especially shoutings from the fountain. The Baudelaires, who realise none of the villagers seem to see them, they take action and rescue the Quagmires from the fountain.

Here follows a path where all five children go to Heimlich Hospital, that burned down in 1960 but they don’t discover that until later. A thing everyone have been able to do is hover, because they are ghosts. Now is the first time the Baudelaires question it. The Quagmires, who has realised they are dead, instead focus on finding a file about it. Well, Olaf the Ghost arrived and chases them out of the Hospital

Finally, at TCC, the Baudelaires really understand that they are dead. Madame Lulu in this is a woman who can speak with spirits, and so, every time someone says something, she claims that a spirit has said something.

Violet: If we are ghosts... how did we die?

Lulu: Spirit asks if we are ghosts, how did we die... Lulu sees multiple tradgedies. A snake bite. A drown in the lake. An accident with the woodcutter. A mysterious fire...

*Olaf comes in*

Lulu: ...and a very mad man who’s life got taken away by what he claims is three children’s fault.

In TSS, they meet Quigley, and happy reunion for the triplets yadda yadda yadda. Anyway, Quigley tells them that he realised he was dead when he found the Snow scouts actually was a group of dead kids who died falling down the mountain when they took the wrong turn once. Quigley tells them that he knows a way for them to finally find peace and stop being ghosts.

They go to the Queequeg. Fiona and Widdershit are ghosts who seem to replay scenes a lot. Widdershit got mad one night and opened the lid to the submarine, drowning him and Fiona. The submarine was found by people later and got fixed up, but the ghosts are still there. While no one can see the ”alive” people in the submarine, Fiona tells them stories about how her stepfather has shouted and screamed at them to leave his submarine!

Anyway, they learn by her that to find peace, they have to go to the Hotel Denoument to have a trial, where they one by one tells the audience about how they died and how they feel about it. The Bauds and Quags tell Fiona to come with them, because obviously she can’t stay with this mad guy who is her stepfather. Fiona agrees, but she has a hard time going away. She feels like she has to go back to the submarine, because that’s where she died and that’s where she has been placed. But she bits her lip and follows them all the way through.

It’s weird, because as soon as they arrive at the hotel, people are already inside getting ready for them to tell their story. It’s because the Denouments have devoted their afterlife to help ghosts find peace, so they are always ready.

Anyway, as the children one by one tells about how they died, they are just getting ready to leave in peace, when Olaf bursts through the door. He growls and tells them that these kids are not allowed to get eternal peace because they killed him. The Denouments, who knew Olaf before, basically says ”Lol you got murdered by three children?”

Since the Quagmires and Fiona had nothing to do with Olaf’s death, they are sent away earlier. However, they are very worried now for the Baudelaires and doesn’t really want to go away now, but the Bauds assure them that they will be right behind them, and this will only take a minute.

Olaf starts to go on and on about how terrible the Baudelaires are. He is then about to tell them how he died... when he realises... he has forgotten how he died.

The Denouments are like ”K then bye, you’re not allowed to go on if you don’t remember your death”.

So the Baudelaires are finally sent away for peace. They wake up on an island, where Fiona and the Quags greet them. Sadly, their parents aren’t there, because according to someone on this island, all people can’t be sent to the same places, or it would be too crowded. But apparently both the Quagmire parents and and the Baudelaire parents have been sent to the same place.

The ghosts have found peace now.

[mervinamoonishere]

Courage

It's valentine's day at Hogwarts. And Rowan is very nervous.

In her hands, she holds what must be the most important piece of paper she has ever had to carry; except for maybe, her potions class notes that she almost forgot to review right before a test so she had to pick them up from class to her dorm and it was stressful and not relevant right now.

She's walking through the corridors with no real path, looking like quite the fool and feeling quite foolish whenever she'd peek through another corridor or an ajar door, or anywhere where a human could fit because truth be told she was looking for a human. A certain fair-haired girl with slanted gold eyes. Sorta hard to miss but Rowan's not a good thrower so she misses every damn time.

Mervina Moon is nowhere to be found. Rowan's been wandering the school like a lost puppy looking for her owner; which is a quite terrible metaphor, Mervina would never treat her like an animal but alas her mind isn't wired correctly today, no time to tire herself in trying to find 'perfect metaphors' for her current situations.

So, she's holding a card on valentine's day and she's searching for somebody. She's confessing feelings for somebody. The somebody is Mervina.

And Merlin's beard, she's nervous! So horribly nervous that the sound of shaking paper is slowly driving her mad but she can't will her hands to stop quivering.

Oh god, why did she think this was a good idea? Well, she's got no clue! Her brain hasn't been quite the same after Mervina's, well, sudden existence; she's lost sense, she's losing focus in class, she's always making tea now! She didn't do that before. She doesn't even like tea that much, it's Mervina that does.

In the middle of the dungeons' main corridor, she halts rather dramatically. She questions, 'Can you blame yourself, Rowan?'

It's sorta hard to not admire Mervina's calm nature, especially when Merula (quite childishly, might she add) confronted her all those years ago and all Merv did was alleviate the situation, to throw water into the fire to try to extinguish it. And right after, in potions class, oh how lost she was! She felt like she didn't understand much with Snape's glare-y attitude (and the whole bulbadox powder incident). All it took was a simple glance at Rowan and Mervina was already on her tail, discussing the techniques and answering all of Rowan's 27 questions - yes she counted - with a smile and patience.

She would always push Rowan behind her with an arm outstretched, protecting her from Merula, Peeves, literally any vaguely menacing magical creature, a falling student that one time (she did feel bad that her first instinct was to push Rowan away rather than helping the poor guy but Rowan just kind had a heart attack for completely platonic reasons).

And in year 3, when Rowan felt so left out and worthless compared to Mervina's new friends, everything fixed itself just as soon as it started because Mervina is ridiculously in tune with emotions, and if it weren't for Mervina's unshed tears, this wouldn't even be happening and not even friends they could be called.

Plus, how could Rowan forget all the stupid stuff Merv does. Mocking Snape right in his class, badly, even making Merula lose her composure. That one time Rowan had her wet hair all over her face, making her look, and she quotes 'Like a bloody Bloody Mary, Rowan! What the fuck, I almost peed myself- Stop laughing!'. That's her personal favorite, she's never forgetting that one.

Their everyday hugs. They're just... perfect. And warm.

Also that time they almost kissed in flying class. That was- yeah. She just lost balance when Merv came to her and they kinda sorta almost bumped heads and kissed. Yeah. That happened.

She's beet red by the time she's close to the courtyard, and she hugs her little card closer to her chest, her heart parkouring all over her ribcage like an emotionally traumatized teenager, with parental issues, that just needs a hobby to get away from their toxic domestic environments. Mervina has her version of rambling and Rowan always listens and she almost tripped on a ridiculously small rock, honestly, she should watch where she's going instead of talking to herself about Mervina and not talk to her about her. 

Ah yes, eloquence.

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

If it had been any other day of the year, she'd be the laugh of the school. Luckily it's valentine's day, so carrying around a bouquet doesn't look as outrageous as it should.

Mervina had thought long and hard about this. Rowan has always been easier to get close to, she's affectionate, caring, and just lovely. Merula is very different. She couldn't even begin to think about giving Merula anything on valentine's day. She settled on just being friendly and hoping she'd get the hint. She's still not sure if she did but she looked embarrassed enough, so. She must've gotten something. 

Now, Rowan, she knew what to get. Flowers were always a favorite of Rowan, being a huge nerd of their meanings and such. It's perfect! She didn't even spend hours researching flower meanings and avoiding roses like the plague since Rowan doesn't like them, losing countless hours and money buying them only to then worry about them rotting when the day did come.

Was it worth it? Well, she doesn't know. The flowers are cute and all but if Rowan doesn't reciprocate her feelings then... what was she going to do?

It didn't help that everybody kept pairing up Merv with her two crushes. With Rowan is 'You guys are so cute!' and with Merula is 'Your chemistry is ridiculous!' and it would worsen whenever they'd hear them; Rowan got so embarrassed Merv feared she was uncomfortable, and Merula got so angry she feared there was no chemistry at all, just hate.

So, it poses the question: 'Does Rowan like her back, or are they just friends? Does she blush because she's flustered or incredibly embarrassed?'

For such a colorful bouquet, Merv did look like a storming cloud walking around the training grounds. She's never felt so lost, not in this sense anyway.

It's just- Rowan's so friendly, always so kind. She's a true friend, through and through. Right from the start, no matter what acclaimed weirdness she always talked about, Rowan's so easy to talk to and so eager. She's smart, stupid smart. Trouble with words? Ask Rowan, she sure will know something. Problem in charms class? Or maybe transfiguration? Well, guess what? Rowan Khanna exists! Thank goodness for that.

Her tie's always messy, no matter how many times she's taught Rowan how to do it. And when she's excited she flails her arms around, her robe sleeves flapping everywhere.

Oh and that time they almost kissed during flying class. Rowan never mentions it. Merv's too cowardly to do it either. It just sits there, like a big smug elephant in the room.

By the time she reaches the courtyard, it's sunset, which is stupidly romantic and as Mervina turns around to leave she spots familiar dark locks.

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

By this time, they're in their fourth year. They're not adults in any way but they're not children either. Still, the moment they even get a glimpse of each other, they hide their presents behind their backs, a comical action, almost cartoonish. Both girls looked like startled stoats, eyes like saucers. Only the birds broke the silence, and the fountain of the courtyard gave a pleasant sound to the atmosphere.

A minute passes and they open their mouths.

"Alright, I have something for you-"

"Fancy seeing you here, because-"

Oops. Not expecting that. How awkward. "Rowan, you can-"

"Please go first-"

They trade sighs before Mervina wears the pants. "We'll both do it on three, 'kay?" With Rowan's nod (albeit she's shaking all over), Merv counts down.

three, two, one

There are sounds of shuffling, neither of the girls really knowing of what since both idiots have their eyes closed. They open their eyes and process what's in front of them. Rowan's little pink card; Mervina's vibrant bouquet. Amidst their stupidness, they flush and laugh their asses off until their bellies ache. Oh, how embarrassing. What was there to worry about? Nothing! All that fussing for nothing.

The gifts switch places. Rowan's card is rosy, with lots of scribbled hearts and scratched out words because Rowan's rambling extends to her writing too; and Mervina's flowers were an odd bunch, but beautiful, with peonies, gilliflowers, buttercups, gerbera daisies, carnations, and sunflowers, Rowan's favorite flower.

Warmth weights on their chests for a while, admiring their presents like rare jewels. (Ugh, lovesick fools.)

With some courage, Rowan stands on her tippy toes and plants a peck on Mervina's cheek. Which was unexpected, and all Merv can do is hide behind her little card, red as a tomato until she breaks out laughing, Rowan not too far behind.

~~~~~~~~~~

Just finished it. This has been sitting on my drafts for a wEEK. Welp enjoy it cause it’s cute

[0utofspellslots]

Lettering tutoral, kindof

Heya! This one is terribly overdue, but here's to you @glacierkato​ ! and the request you made in January

Let's do some lettering :)

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert by a long way. I did not even study the right way, but I did discover what works for me... kinda? So I'm more than happy to share my methods :))

1. Lines

In general lettering is all about lineweight, making it perfect for chumps like me who refuse to learn properly. This will defenetly help improve your understanding of lineweight across all your work. Lineweight is all about using both the thick and the thin lines in your work to make shapes and lines more interesting. Lineweight usually is all about pen pressure. Low pen pressure results in thin lines, high penpressure results in thick lines. There is ofcourse much more than just thick and thin. you can vary in all shapes and sizes by varying pressure.

The traditional way of handlettering uses smooth strokes and a variation of up stroke and downstroke to achieve marvelous and elegant shapes and lines. Up stroke is a thin line, having little pressure on your pen as you move it up. Downstroke is heavy, putting lots of pressure on the pen as you move it down.

This might sound like a lot of practive to master... and it is. As you can see in my example I barely did it right. You might be familiar with this way of practicing lines over and over. lettering is something you probably practiced in grade school when learning to write cursive. Remember those exersices where you needed to mimic letter shape time and time again to get it consistent? That's the key to learning up stroke and down stroke. I was and still am very bad at those, but you can get fancy practice sheets everywhere nowadays by googeling “lettering practice sheet” You can also easily make your own, Youtube is also filled to the brim with tutorials just search “Handlettering” and off you go!

Keep that practice part in mind if you are really commited to learning lettering. You'll need to practice lots of repetitions. However there are multiple "hacks" to get the same effects without countless hours of practice, ways that don't use up and down stroke to achieve line variation. This is what I use... ‘cus I’m impatient... I'll get to that later

2. Materials

Anything you have.

You don't need expensive materials to start lettering. I started out with one (1) sharpie. Heck you can achieve similar results with sidewalk chalk or even paint. ANY. THING. YOU. HAVE.

Not to say there are not A METRIC TON of different and cool materials availible to try and experiment with!! That's the fun part:) What's cool is now that there is a lettering craze happening, my local dollar store regularly sells cheap knockoffs that are perfect for me to try and mess around with.

I'll discuss a few tools here, or you can skip this section and get down to the nitty gritty.

Pen

Plain, pure and honest pen, pencil,- heck even ballpoint. These all share one thing. You can't vary linethickness with them, but you can mimic thick and thin lines. boom. life: hacked.

Brush pens / dip pens: The traditional art way of getting the pen pressure thing

drawing tablet: Uses settings to calculate your en pressure, use a brush that eables pen pressure and boom, you got yourself a digital brush.

WHAAAAAT? Yes you can absolutely use the lineweight on your drawing tablet to practice and create up-and downstroke. Bonus is you can download any effect in a brush format. con is... you need to learn to control your tablet and that takes practice and time...

Chisel tipped pens: Fancier dudes for cool lettering effects. Has a flat edge and when you turn the brush you’ll get thick and thin strokes.

As for inks, anything and everything. Go digital, use fountain pen inks, indian ink, alcohol markers, water color, anything your heart desires <3

3. Methods

handlettering

Basically you apply the correct forms here, study the type of letters (or font) you want to letter and practice the correct form, using those up- and down strokes to vary lineweight. I used red lines below to indicate me trying to figure out the movement of the strokes in this type. Again there are loads of tutorials availible on youtube, just search “handlettering tutorial” and off you go! I was in a rush and did not practice nearly enough hahaha

faux lettering

Here’s my “fake it ‘till you make it” trick. Do I look like someone who has the patience to learn lettering?? .... well...maybe? But I didn’t, that’s the point! I don’t know why, but I never had enough attention to learn the classic forms of drawing... uuh oops?

You basically use the sketch and fill method and copy the pretty forms that your heart demands so. Like this:

4. Embelishments

My favorite part. Some of you may know I'm a goblin when it comes down to adding little petty details, my eyes see shineys and I gotta draw them, so I like this part most >:)

Here reference is key as well. I love taking inspiration from illuminated manuscripts or look up plants and stuff. And then I just add ‘em >:)

After sketching, color add details, rinse and repeat untill satisfied or frustrated

5. Reference Material and Link List

So here's my linklist of reference I use when lettering. I have a whole pinterest board with collected works from which I draw inspiration

Font inspiration: https://nl.pinterest.com/a3811/inspiration/typography/

Pattern inspiration: https://nl.pinterest.com/a3811/inspiration/tatoos-and-patterns/

DaFont.com or any other font site like fontsquirrel or 10001fonts for inspiration and complete fonts to use, sorted by type and appearance and usually with an input box to geneerate sample text. Perfect for inspiration and practice.

That’s it! Hope this helps someone. Message me if you want me to go into detail on something. I tried to keep this brief.

6. Bonus step: Shitpost. Thanks for reading!

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

Rewatching Gorizilla

RADIANT. CAREFREE. DREAMY. ADRIEN. THE FRAGRANCE.

Me using MS Paint to draw stuff

AHAHAH ! 😹

Adrien sneaks out while “playing the piano” so often I’m surprised they don’t just watch him directly

This is the only perfume that matters and if you have ever worn any other perfume in your life you will be blocked and reported immediately

(Also the fact that there are feathers everywhere?? Poor boy must have been sneezing like crazy when filming this)

Her arm is so long

Wayhem’s outfit is so knockoff if you look at it carefully lol

First of all either Wayhem spells his own name like that for ~the aesthetic~ or the writers just don’t care, second of all I’m glad he’s fluent in Latin apparently

Oh and the Gorilla’s fuel tank is half empty in case you wanted to know

He’s trying to hide himself with his collar akjdfhskjdfhksd poor thing

WHERE WAS HE CARRYING THIS???

Huh I never noticed the Ron Weasley kid has red eyes

This little kid is just a recolour of Manon, right down to the clothes, and quite honestly is a little terrifying

The police and fire engine are chasing him too

PRAYDRIEN. THE FRAGRANCE

This guy has a Chat Noir shirt, I need one of those omg

This makes a pretty good reaction image

Good thing there was no water in the fountain, huh?

ADRIEN HIDING BEHIND MARINETTE IS SUPER ADORABLE

This guy’s fluent in Latin too

I love how Gabriel doesn’t even care that Adrien has a “girlfriend”

This screencap is exactly what the world looked like back when Pokemon Go was still popular and everyone was happy... I miss it

GIRL SQUAD!!! well except Alix

Oh so that’s that random background character’s name. Jean Tretiens

yOU DRIVE LIKE A MANIAC

He winks at Marinette so often in this show I swear

“Mystery mousekatool! It’s a secret tool that will help us later!”

This Gamer flashback from another angle is adorable but I can’t get over the robots casually beating each other up in the background

You can’t call yourself a TRUE fan of Adrien unless you speak Latin

August and one of his mums are chasing Adrien too adkfjhskdhfksjdhfkj

I feel so bad for this poor man, look at the Fear in his eyes

Found Jean Duparc, he’s an Adri-stalker too

I am highly disappointed that he didn’t even do a transformation dance, he just stood there smh

In the phone call (in both French and English dub) Gabe calls Adrien a “14 year old” BUT it’s stated multiple times in the show that these kids are in troisième which means that in Bubbler (Adrien’s bday episode) he really should have been turning 15, like Alix in Timebreaker?? I know this show has no chronology and time doesn’t mean anything anyway but I’m just gonna believe that Gabe doesn’t even know how old his son is

This is so sad alexa play despacito

I love their disguises and I love their conversation here and I love how adorable they are and ahhhbfskdbfsk I just love them???

Audrey is that you?

In Mr Bean’s Holiday there was this guy called Carson Clay who made a really pretentious movie about himself and for some reason this reminds me of it and I don’t even know why

Oh, so he immediately recognizes a giant blue King Kong monster as his bodyguard, but doesn’t recognize Ladybug as Marinette even though they look literally the same??

Me too when Adrien is in danger

Wayhem’s already wearing Adrien’s real shirt before they swap shirts in the disguise part later... don’t you just love those animation errors

This is so funny for some reason, like does Hawk Moth ever think his plans through, ever, even once

THIS IS SO HARDCORE, Ladybug never ceases to amaze me??? (also this is literally the ML mobile game)

someone: “If Ladybug told you to jump off a building would y--”

Adrien, immediately: ^

Dude you can’t just AKUMATIZE PEOPLE CLOSE TO YOUR SON and then be surprised when he ends up in mortal danger

Wayhem running around to catch Adrien is sweet, but look at that guy in the middle with his arms crossed, he just doesn’t even care

YESSSSS THIS IS WHAT I’M HERE FOR

I AM ALSO HERE FOR WAYHEM PROTECTING ADRIEN

“Uh excuse me I’M Adrien’s official protector actually”

“YOOOOUUU SHALL NOT PAAASSSS!!!” - Gandalf Wayhem, 2018

“RADIANT. CAREFREE. DREAMY. ADRIEN. THE FRAGRANCE!!” he says, while spraying a perfume bottle that actually says “Gabriel” on it (well okay to be fair it probably says Adrien near the top of the bottle... but it doesn’t say Gabriel on the bottles in the ad?? in other words I pay too much attention to things that don’t matter)

I love it when she carries him like that, it’s so sweeeeeet

Awwww look how he blushes when she says she trusts Chat Noir! Honestly that makes the rift in the Syren episode even funnier tho

He was sweating omg

Fakedrien!!! They proper swapped clothes and everything

He’s just sitting there, contemplating life... I love this guy, I really do

Wayhem beheaded his Adrien cutout and is carrying its severed decapitated head under his arm just casually

Can I just talk about Gayhem Wayhem’s character development for a second? He started off a creepy insensitive stalker but then he not only protected Adrien and helped save the day, he also realized Adrien was uncomfortable and apologized for his earlier behaviour?? I LOVE HIM

They’re still right there waiting for her omg, the levels of solidarity the Girl Squad show is just overwhelming

HEY HEY STOP BEING ALL MANIPULATIVE AND GUILT-TRIPPY, YOU ARE A TERRIBLE FATHER AND I’M ADOPTING ADRIEN MYSELF SO THERE

Well Gabe has a ring too, how do you know that YOU YOURSELF aren’t Chat Noir huh???

Also he’s sitting on the remote

OOOHOOOHOHOOO I can’t wait to find out what all THIS is

[dailydoseofidiocy-blog]

Input:THREE

Hey. Sorry, it’s been like two weeks or something, I couldn't really find time to write for a little bit. So, last time I wrote, I said I’d talk about my homecoming this year that also doubled as Will and I’s one year anniversary. So, it started out quite nice actually. Will and Tyler had gotten to the park that we were going to take pictures at before we went to dinner before the dance; Tyler's mom tagged along as well. My mom and I walked over to the fountain where Will and Tyler were since she also had wanted to take pictures. We waited like a half an hour for Jamie to get there, but it was okay because we made sure that we had had enough time in the first place. The three of us also joked about it and I took pictures of Tyler while he was pretending to have his arm around a ghost and we captioned it “When your date is late to pictures”, and they were as if he was telling a joke and laughing which was really funny and quite nice. Once she had finally gotten there, her mom and older sister came as well to take pictures and help with posing. We all had some fun walking around the park and taking pictures together. Messing around and messing with each other, looking back, it was quite blissful. Then the four of us went to dinner with Jamie's mom and sister because they drove us and Jamie's cousin worked at the restaurant that we were going to and would be the one serving us. We met up with our friend who I will call Mers, he was pretty cool. While we were all sitting at the table talking and making fun of each other, I sent a video of Will to Tyler that I had taken while we were home alone at his house. I was lying on the couch looking over the edge where Will was lying and I blew into his ear which always made him squirm which I thought was adorable. Will obviously knew that I had sent something to Tyler since only him and I were laughing about it and it made him kind of mad, but I was a little dumb and when I said it was nothing it was just something dumb and he said it was alright and I believed him. Then he had acted as if he was fine for the rest of the time that we were at the restaurant. We then all went to the dance, minus Mers because we just had felt bad that he was left out so we had invited him to dinner. We waited in line with our ID’s, since they doubled as our tickets, and went into the dance. Will had kind of not been talking by this point but I brushed it off not really noticing it much. The dance started at 7 and it was maybe 7:10-15 by the time we got into line, so it was maybe 2:20-25 by the time we had gotten in. We put our stuff in the bags that they had sitting in the cafeteria for us and Jamie and I put our shoes in them as well. And we walked into the gym together, we went to somewhat of the back but not completely so we’d still be with the crowd. Jamie and Tyler were having fun and dancing so of course, I wanted to dance and tried to get Will to dance with me since we were at a dance. He seemed to not want to really do anything and I pegged it as he has some anxiety with crowds so maybe he’s just not really into it. So I tried harder and took his hands and was messing around, trying to talk and looking at him while he seemed to be looking everywhere but at me. And it made me feel like complete shit. Yet I still tried to dance with him so we could have fun and took his hands in mine and started moving them back and forth when he all of a sudden started to sort of aggressively doing what I was doing which got really annoying and I still tried to slow him down and make it more smooth. Yet he still seemed to never look at me or even try to talk to me. While I asked if he was alright about three times throughout this, and each time he said he was fine. I then got really upset and started to tear up but I obviously didn’t want anyone to see so I texted my friend if she would meet me outside but I realized she didn’t have her phone with her so she didn’t see it for a while; it was 7:36 when I looked at my phone. Though I am grateful that as I walked out the gym doors I saw my friend, who I will call Marie, and pulled her aside when she said hi and explained what was happening while trying not to cry. And she asked if I had wanted to go and join her and her group of friends which I gratefully said yes to because it seemed to be exactly what I had needed. So I danced with them and a few other of my friends, almost forgetting about how much of a terrible time I had been having before, almost. Then Tyler and Jamie came up to me saying that Will was looking for me and that I need to go dance with him because it was kind of rude that I had just left him. And I’d agree if he hadn’t been making me feel like shit the whole time and make me run out crying. Which is what I told them, but then Jamie was like, “Just go talk to him then”. So I did. And, in the loud gym with everyone, we talked and I said how it made me feel and how I ran out of the gym almost crying. He then explained how I made him feel with talking to Tyler and not telling him what it was about, which Tyler ended up showing him anyways to make him feel better. We stood there, at homecoming, yelling at each other. The funny thing is, while we were in the middle of screaming at each other, my friend danced up to us and saw we were yelling and danced away. I am a stubborn person yet I realized, from a rational perspective, and in the middle of it, thinking how I’d feel if the roles were switched, I admitted to being in the wrong so we’d stop yelling. I apologized and he mumbled an apology which I could tell was forced but I’d take what I could get because I knew that it would not be much more from him at this point. We then danced to the slow song that was playing together. Which I know seems like a complete 180 after everything that happened at this point, but what else could I do. Anyways, tonight was out One Year as well. I hadn't brought his gift with me for fear of something happening to it. I had painted him a picture, since I like to draw, of two hands holding each other, and I loved it because it meant so much to me as well. I gave it to him before one of my games since it was a home game and I had my backpack with me. He was getting out of his marching band practice when I saw him walking outside, behind the gym, and called his name and told him to wait for a second while I grabbed it. I ran and got it and gave it to him, he said he loved it and we kissed. The dance was Saturday night, the day I gave him the gift was Tuesday. And I had not heard of the gift that I would receive. I painted a picture because I could not afford anything and it was the best I could do. I also wrote him a small paragraph that morning. I got nothing for two weeks, with word that he still had not ordered it, they still had not “reordered it” when it had apparently not gon through the first time. All I had gotten was a stuffed animal that looked like it had come from a children's arcade. It made me feel horrible and was the last straw. I broke up with him the Friday, two weeks after homecoming. I’ll tell you about that later though because I didn't realize how long this one was getting I am so sorry lol. Bye for now.

[thaiteastacey]

Traveling abroad while pregnant: 6 months pregnant all through Morocco and Turkey

So a little overview about this post

 I will be going over tips and my experiences traveling while 6 months pregnanct (I came back to Miami at 28 weeks and 2 days pregnant) I was traveling for a little over a month. Please also see your doctor before traveling while pregnant or taking certain things I took—each pregnancy is different.

 At the start of my pregnancy and well into the 5th month I kept throwing up pretty bad and well you can check those post to get a glimpse of how I felt! Thankfully I felt better a week before my flight so here’s some tips I recommend

 Wear compression socks! 

 This was a life saver for me because I get cramps really fast and the flight was extremely long from Miami to Istanbul. 

 Bring an empty thermos bottle! 

 Also another life saver for me (basically everything was but this was extra important!) i filled up my bottle at the Miami airport at one of their water fountains. 

 Drink lots of water while on the plane

 My doctor also recommended I drink lots of water in the plane to get up and pee as often as I can in order to prevent blood clots.

 Bring a travel pillow

 So I started getting sleepy around my fourth month of pregnancy and my head swung pretty bad in my car so I knew I needed a pillow plus you will use it if you are going on long road trips.

 Don’t forget Imodium (or anti diarrheal pills) 

 I get pretty sick when I get food poisoning and I definitely did not want to risk it. My doctor didn’t tell me about this but I asked her and she said it was okay for me to take while pregnant. She also said if it lasted longer and I got really bad to go get an IV at a hospital asap. I ended up using 1 pill when I went to the beach in Kenitra. We had breakfast there and it was a cheap restaurant so bad idea! I wasn’t the only one to get sick. I brought two boxes of pills so I had enough to share.

 Do not drink ice or from the faucet/ tap water. 

 The doctor did tell me this so I had to keep buying bottled water. Also this is where your thermos comes in handy. In morocco it was hard for me to find cold water especially down south (not ice but cold). The thermos will keep your water cool unlike plastic bottles. Just fill it with any cold bottles you buy. Also always make sure the bottles are brand new because some restaurants will fill them with tap.

 Bring extra underwear/pads

 So one new pregnancy symptom I got while in morocco was that I started to pee if I sneezed to hard or coughed! And sometimes it was ALOT! Pretty embarrassing but also if you are traveling cross country it’s bad when you have to change your underwear multiple times a day. I ended up buying underwear here but they weren’t that comfortable so do not forget.

 Bring sanitizer and wet wipes

 After going to the bathroom or just interacting with people or eating with your hands (before or after) try to always clean your hands/phone/items you touch often in order to prevent sickness. In Morocco lots of dishes are eaten with ones hands and it’s pretty easy to dirty your hands. Also don’t expect much from the restrooms. They have some old style restrooms that are basically a hole in the floor and no lie I kept getting piss splashing on my feet. Wet wipe came in handy because sometimes there’s no running water and most of the time no soap. Bring your own tissue if you need it.

  Bring comfortable bras 

 I brought 1 regular bra and 2 stretchy nursing bras. I don’t plan on coming back while pregnant or traveling for this long anywhere but just in case! I would recommend to bring more.

 Bring Tylenol 

 I used it a few times since in the start of my trip I did so much walking I was in extreme pain (lower back and legs). I also used it before arriving to the Sahara since I was really sick.

  Bring a copy of your marriage certificate 

 I honestly thought this was a bunch of nonsense when I heard that a hotel was asking for this. After all I am not from here and my husband already has citizenship in the US so why right?! But apparently I saw it on trip advisor and I probably missed it I my morocco travel book if not they really need to update.

I was fortunate to have my mother in law find mine and send us a photo. It really didn’t matter that I was pregnant and showing (little bump but still). 

 Buy fruit/snacks for later

 I didn’t each much during my pregnancy but I would wake up starving and having cookies/ fruit to calm me down was the best. The best snacks for the heat are nuts, cookies, and dates. I had a bunch of green bananas that browned in a few hours in the desert, hours....

 Don’t push yourself too hard

 I ended up pushing myself pretty hard with all the walking the first few days (11+ miles) and I started to get pain in my uterus area. Then I got a cold right before our road trip to the south of morocco. I went on a little hike but being extremely sick and pregnant didn’t help. We went later to Marrakech and I walked even more in the heat. Thankfully my hotel was wonderful and my stay there was the best. I took a day to rest up and left out seeing much of Marrakech to stay and rest but my health and the baby is first. 

 Do not go into pools/ hammams/ bath houses that look dirty

 I went to a hot spring that was extremely dirty and gross. Also I didn’t get in because that water was too hot but also think twice to not risk any vaginal infection it’s best to skip that. While there some women were advising me to not be in there because of the baby and my doctor also told me no but it wasn’t that hot for me. Also in my moms country they rinse people with COLD almost ice water so I got cold water and rinsed. Once I started to feel like it was enough I left. Don’t stay until you can’t. The one I went to wasn’t that hot at all since it was more like a medicinal water thing instead of an actual hammam. 

 Bring sneakers that are for walking with grip 

 Many places in morocco do not have the best side walks and especially the old towns can be slippery. So think of comfort and grip before fashion.

 Bring a belly support

 The road can get very bumpy in the car and it made my uterus HURT. Unfortunately I must have taken mine out of my luggage before I came but I know it would have been useful.

   Other tips I wish I would have known/taken:

   Be careful with medication here

  Even throat spray. I bought one and it made my heart rate go up. My husband thought it would be fine because Google says so but I never asked my doctor about it. Plus careful when buying headache medication here because it has penicillin (I’m allergic to that!). I went on to buy alcohol (scotch/whiskey mix) to gargle for my throat which made it better but either way it was a little too late and had to suffer with a stuffy nose, terrible cough, mucus in my lungs, and headache for around 5 days.

 Bring Vick’s and cough drops

 I couldn’t find Vick’s anywhere and when I wanted to buy it on Sunday everyone was closed. Strange for a Muslim country to close things on Sunday but either way that’s how it is so I never got my Vick’s. Vick’s will come in handy just in case you start getting sick it can help open your nasal way. 

 Don’t be cheap with your food

 What’s cheap to Americans isn’t the same thing as people living in Morocco. One family member tried to save us a bit of cash by taking us to a cheap breakfast place but it was 1 really bad tasting and 2 it gave everyone diarrhea. So make sure you use google or trip advisor or if you are in a area that doesn’t really have that just make sure your cups are clean and just see if the place looks dirty/flys on the food etc.

One thing I didn’t mind was honey bees all over my food. In many places you will see this. A honey bee isn’t dirty like a fly and i never got sick from them (i ate pastries/cookies that had been stood on honey bees and I was okay). If you want to stick to more fancier places it’s good too but sometimes you will get hungry on long road trips and those places are usually no where in sight for miles.

  How my trip went:

 Overall my trip has gone well so far minus getting really sick. And no I would never travel abroad for this long while pregnant. If you want to see only some of Morocco or anywhere for a short time and don’t plan on road trips I think it would be fine. Take into consideration the roads, the long hours etc if you are going to try and see the more natural parts of it too. 

 All the walking and the camel ride I had was uncomfortable for my belly as well as scary because I did not want to fall and going down the sand dunes with the camel was terrifying. I also wanted to have more fun and go up the sand dunes and take those cute pictures like some people on instagram do with their partners but I was so exhausted it was really hard to do anything. I basically crawled up with all 4 plus my husband pushing my butt to get up the dune. Then to sleep it was so hot in the rooms I slept outside on a sofa but my back was in even more pain. 

 At Askchour there are 3 waterfalls and I made it past the 2nd one and returned back to it to relax because the third one was another hour hiking. So again don’t push yourself too hard but remember you probably won’t be able to see everything you thought you would compared to if you weren’t pregnant (or sick or both). I wasn’t sick at this hike but I knew I still had to go back down and it was blazing hot. 

 I still have a few days left in Morocco (still sick) and then I will be heading to Turkey for 6 days. Remember that your partner has to be in this to the fullest and try to put on the shoes you are in. My husband was extremely helpful carrying basically all of my stuff everywhere and holding a back pack with my 40oz water and all the items I needed. He also needed to be extremely patient with me since I am holding our child! I needed constant food breaks, pee breaks, and belly massages/ back rubs. Also he had to slow down and wait for me to be able to catch up to certain areas or he would just not go if I couldn’t make it.  Your partner also has to remember that this will affect his vacation too and he has to be okay with that for it to work.