#the Horde sings lullabies to their babies

[canibalistic-brownie]

Catra has a really pretty singing voice, but only a select few heard it when she was growing up in the horde. She mostly sang in the shower when she was alone or with only Adora which was, decidedly, not often in the common showers. Lonnie once heard it when she snuck in, but Catra hissed at her and threatened her life over it and she only tells Rogelio and he doesn’t really believe her so it doesn’t go far.

When the war is over and she hold Adora at night alone in Adora’s- their room, she tangles her hands in her hair and scratches Adora’s scalp and hums little tunes to her to help her sleep. The melody is usually the same, a little floaty tune that sits well across her range. Adora tries to stay awake to hear more but it always puts her to sleep.

When Glimmer starts to sleep in their room as well she’s startled by the sound. She’s holding Adora and Catra is holding her and she feels the rumble of her lower range against her back. There’s no words but it’s very clearly meant to be a song. She says nothing that night, just listens to the most intimate part of Catra and drifts away but it stays on her mind for the next few weeks.

“Will you sing the words for me?” Glimmer asks finally, months after she begins sleeping in their bed. She’s not there every night, but on nights when she is she is always curious about the song. Catra is sitting up and Adora and Glimmer are spooning between her legs, using her as a pillow. They’re not sleeping, just cuddling, but Catra is already humming so it just comes to Glimmer to ask.

Her humming stops and a blush rises to her cheeks as she looks down at her girls. Both of them have maxed out on the puppy dog eyes at the question and it’s hard to resist.

“I… maybe another time.” Glimmer huffs but she cuddles back into Catra’s leg again all the same.

It’s late that same night and Glimmer and Adora are almost asleep when she begins her humming again.

“In the still, of the night. Are you still, feeling alright? You’re feeling alright.”

Adora and Glimmer both tense and listen intently to the sound of their lullaby coming from behind them.

“In the still, of your mind. Are you still, putting up a fight? Just tell me that I’m right.”

The song continues and Adora’s chest is clinched, her muscles tense with excitement. Glimmer on the other hand is completely relaxed listening to Catra’s voice.

“I handled you like broken porcelain, but really I'm the one that's delicate. I handled you like broken porcelain, but maybe I'm the one that's breaking.”

The last verse has Glimmer gripping to Adora’s night shirt as she hears the words leaving Catra’s lips. Something about it just hurts her, hearing how she’s feeling.

“Baby, lay your head down. Baby, I’m only in your dreams now.”

As she finishes the final chorus and goes back to humming, her girls roll over and turn the tides to hold her instead.

It doesn’t put them to sleep tonight but Adora thinks that she would miss sleep more often if it meant hearing Catra sing to her more often.

[insomniac-jay]

Moonlight Harmony

Full Name: Utako Mochihara (nee Yorutori)

Hero Alias: Harmonic Hero - Moonlight Harmony

Age: 30

Gender: Female (Cis, She/Her)

Nationality: Japan

Ethnicity: Black/Vietnamese/Japanese

Occupation: Pro Hero

Affiliation(s): Midnight Cuckoos (Formerly), The Harpies

Description:

Design notes:

The stars in her hair are hereditary and are meant to maximize the effect of her Quirk along with the moon on her forehead.

Vitiligo because yes.

Blue dots under her eyes serve an unknown purpose (for now).

Personality: Elegant and refined, one would think that Utako was too good for a profession like heroics; but she cares little for what others think of her career choices. Besides, she got into heroics for her own reasons and her own reasons alone. She is very composed and collected, keeping her cool in almost any situation.

Being the eldest of her triplet sisters, Utako is a natural born team leader. Leading with poise and strength, making her an inspiration to her teammates, she is effective in her tactics and firm in her decisions. She is never hesitant in her leadership.

Utako will always (or always try to) make time for her kids. Outside of heroics, her family is her priority. She tends to dote on and baby her kids but it's all out of love.

Primary Quirk: Lullaby

An Emitter type Quirk that allows her to sing a soothing lullaby and anyone who hears it will be put into a deep slumber.

Secondary Quirk: Moonstone Wings

An Mutation Quirk that allows her to generate a pair of butterfly or moth esque wings covered in moonstones at will. She can make these wings disappear and reappear at will as well.

Family:

Dinh Hoang Nguyen (Father)

Otome Yorutori (Mother)

Kyoko Yorutori | Death Tune (Triplet sister)

Otochi Yorutori | Scream (Triplet sister)

Yoippari Mochihara (Son)

Tsuhito Mochihara (Son)

Nakidori Mochihara (Daughter)

Paired with: Ushio Mochihara | Gozu

@floof-ghostie @calciumcryptid @s0ursop @opalofoctober @elflynns-horde-of-stuff @pizzolisnacks @peachyblkdemonslayer

[maresyluna]

Antoinette: Hard Day’s Work

Fog rolled over the land where strange noises reigned in the early morning. Tired footsteps pressed against the dirt and tiny rocks beneath their feet as they moved down the path toward the village ahead. They were waiting for her, for sure, but they were hiding behind closed windows and locked doors, fearful that the woman they had hired may have failed, or worse yet, had been manipulated by the creatures they feared. And yet, here she was, walking back to the village, holding a moist bag, which she was ready to simply start dragging because she was too tired. 

The small woman, Antoinette, looked at what looked like the outline of the village through that fog and she took a deep breath. Ever since she parted ways with her partner in hopes of finding better jobs and monetary outcomes, she felt as if she had been getting the worse jobs out of the two. In the past two days alone, she had to fight wild animals and the occasional Horde warrior who managed to see her. The warriors she could handle, but the animals were sick, covered in fungi and diseases. That was her line. The worst part was that those animals were not naturally sick, but rather inflicted by someone and their cruel view of magic. Antoinette had dealt with witches before, but these people she found were beyond the magic users she was used to. She fought not only their magic, but the manipulations they cast on others and her as well. But she did was she was paid to do, and at the end of the job, she travelled to a small village where she had rented a room. 

Locking the door, the small woman removed her helmet and released her long pink hair. She shuffled her tired feet to the bed and climbed up on it. Cursing her height, she finally settled in bed and placed her head on the pillow, closing her eyes as the flashbacks rushed back to her. “Damn it,” she muttered, and she opened her eyes once more. She opened her small hand and took the earpiece she was holding on to into her ear. Pushing the button, she called out, “Panther?” 

There was silence for a moment. Antoinette sighed and she covered her eyes with her hand for a moment. Then she heard a man’s voice on the other side, “Monkey?” She smiled widely. She hated that name at the beginning but when he pointed out to her how often she climbed up on him to see over tall spaces, she began to accept it. At least from him alone. 

“Hi, baby,” she said softly. 

“How did it go? You sound tired.”

“Next time, you’re taking the hard jobs.”

He laughed softly. “Hopefully we’ll be working together again soon. Was it that bad?”

“Bad doesn’t even begin to explain everything I saw the past two days. I may go find you after this, France. I do have one more job lined up, but this place is horrid.”

“You can always come home, baby girl.”

“I know. The money’s not too bad, but I’m exhausted. How’s your cousin?”

“Moping as usual. We found a village that needed spiritual guidance, or whatever the hell they want to call it, so he ’s helping for donations. I completed two jobs today, so we’ll be fine when you come back.”

Antoinette chuckled. “Alright. I need to sleep. Sing me a song.”

A chuckle was heard on the other side of the communicator. “You’re safe, you know.”

“Just one song.”

The male voice began to sing a soft lullaby in darnassian. It was enough for Antoinette to close her eyes without fear, and then slowly fall asleep. 

“Toni?” He asked gently. There was no response. “Goodnight, my little one. I love you.”

[nny11writes]

For we will raise you, in safety and peace

Okay, tumblr ate the first attempt at this post, hopefully it doesn’t devour this one as well! Here’s the deal, I can’t seem to figure out a good ending for this fic to save my life and I don’t want it to languish in the pile of unfinished wips. So I’m going to post what I have here on tumblr to at least get it out there somewhere. If anyone has suggestions for an ending I am all ears! HUGE shoutout to @venn364 for helping me figure this fic out to this point and for helping me Horde-ify hush a by baby! 

Rating: Teen (for some cursing) Category: F/F/F Relationship(s): Glitradora (Glimmer/Catra/Adora) Characters:  Glimmer, Catra, Adora Warnings: None apply, this is a fluff fic Additional Tags: Multiple PoVs, fluff, happy fic, happy ending, crushes, idiots in love, dorks in love, young children, Catra deals with the curse of being cute, Adora is a massive dork but what else is new, Glimmer tries to flex on her crushes by singing, lullaby, hush a by baby, post war, post canon Summary: During the post-war reconstruction of Plumeria, Glimmer volunteers herself and voluntells her crushes to take care of the local children to keep them out from under foot. She just, didn’t expect the Horde to require childcare as part of their regular duties and rotation. Or Three Sapphics watch one another interacting with young children and go, “Well guess I’m somehow more in love, cool cool cool.”

Adora and Catra looked at one another and shrugged. “Yeah okay.”

Glimmer was relieved, don’t get her wrong, but that was…not exactly what she’d expected. “Just like that? That simple?”

It wasn’t like she’d expected them to just hop on board with her, even if she’d wanted this to all pan out.

Catra rolled her eyes, a bit too theatrically thanks, before answering, “Well, I mean, sucks to be doing Cadet chores again, but, whatever. Just a buncha kids.”

“I feel like I’m missing something,” Glimmer grumbled, rubbing a hand at her neck. “You’re not trying to act too cool, and you’re not freaking out enough.”

They shared another confused look before Adora spoke up. “I mean, why would I? We’ve done a bunch of rounds at the Infant Pods, more than our fair share in fact.” That last part she said with a pointed look at her oldest friend.

Catra stretched lazily, “I will not apologize.”

“Point is, we can do this. It’s pretty simple over all, especially with you there as a third!” 

Glimmer laughed, “Wait. Hang on, seriously? I’ve never babysat before but you two have?”

“Really? Weird. But, uh, yeah. Everyone in the Horde has some child rearing experience, it’s literally part of your Cadet chores and rotation.”

The galaxy must be on it’s side right now. The Horde, the EVIL Horde, had enforced babysitting chores. “Why?”

Adora shrugged, “Well someone has to make sure they’re clean and fed, doing their homework-”

“Not destroying property or getting in dangerous situations before we could send them to the meat grinder-”

“Keeping them out from underfoot, and getting their energy out too.”

“Also the whole, sometimes babies just die when you don’t, like, hold them enough thing. ...What? Did you think Hordak was at the Pods rocking them to sleep?” Catra laughed.

It certainly was an image. Glimmer giggled as she pictured Hordak overwhelmed by a literal wave of babies. “No, I just never thought about it I guess. You’ll have to teach me.”

They both grinned and Glimmer felt her heart skip a beat. It was, look, don’t judge, it was a really, really good look on them, okay? 

It only took a few minutes to arrive at the temporary nursery Perfuma had set up. While Plumeria was still being cleaned up, she’d wanted a safe place for the children to go, and only needed a few extra hands to help as she pulled her subjects to help redesign their homes. Not that she’d put it like that. Something about syncing their harmonies while reconnecting with their innermost roots? The point was that Glimmer had offered to help mostly to help and partially to avoid another extremely long and boring meeting, but one teleporting queen with no childcare experience was not ideal. Perfuma had been the one to suggest Catra and Adora, seeing as the reconstruction really relied more on Perfuma regrowing the homes in this particular space.

So, they were working with what they had. And apparently that meant Horde soldiers. Experienced Horde soldiers who knew what to do with kids. Weird!

~

When they arrived, it was chaos.

Catra couldn’t help the small grimace she wore, she’d never been fond of IPD. Kids are loud, they don’t have boundaries or respect for other’s boundaries either. She doesn’t know how many times some toddler or Junior Cadet had petted her or pulled her tail and ears with their mysteriously sticky little hands while covered in snot. But she could also say that the one good thing about it was, without fail, some baby was going to think you were the hottest shit ever. And it had done wonders for her low self esteem as a Cadet to know that she’d always collect a gaggle of kids who everyone claimed were impossible to handle doing exactly what she wanted.

It had actually been kind of hilarious out in the Crimson Waste to use some of the tactics she’d learned in the IP against grown gangsters and thugs.

Catra could also say that the very next best thing about it was watching Adora either slowly unravel into a total mess or watching Adora get all the other kids under her thumb. Not that Adora would think of it like that, the goody two shoes, but kids seemed to naturally either love the blonde or desire nothing more than to destroy her. 

Especially at the time, Catra could relate.

She was actually kind of interested to do this now just to see Adora go at it again.

And also Glimmer apparently had no experience with kids and Catra would kill to watch that skiff wreck. No, ugh, she had promised to help hadn’t she? Alright, no watching that skiff wreck unless it happened before she could intervene.

She snickered a little as, just like she used to, Adora gave the attention claps that none of these particular kids would know. Embarrassingly, the old rhythm still made Catra’s back straighten a hair just thanks to the amount of times she’d heard it. 

Adora’s voice rang loud and clear across the little fenced in area, “Atten-shun!”

The kids mostly stopped, but Catra had a feeling that was due to an adult shouting and not out of their training. Did rebellion kids have training? They had to get some kind of education for sure. Huh. Probably should look into that, like, now that it was post war and all.

“Hello, salutations, and greetings!” Adora started her old spiel as if she’d never stopped, putting on her ‘force captain’ voice which was almost a mockery more than anything else. Not that Adora realized that. “I am Adora, this is Catra, and this is Glimmer. Today we will be watching, caring, sharing, and not botching a wonderful day of enrichment with you. Starting now we will do our very best to educate, captivate, and celebrate without need to castigate! It is time to have fun and run, uh, under the sun! Can I get a hoo-ra?”

The part about their newly acquired sun was a nice touch, Catra mental gave Adora extra points for finally having learned to change it on the fly. Catra weakly lifted a fist to mutter ‘hoo-ra’ with a few confused kids. Oof. Rough, but not unexpected. These ankle biters hadn’t been trained to respond promptly and loudly to Horde commands.

Yet it still had about the same effect. The children were already split down the middle looking at Adora like she was a complete idiot or like she was the best thing ever. Soon more of them would think she was the best thing ever than not, kids loved Adora’s canned speech. It always got a few laughs. Kids were easily entertained by someone clearly putting on a show and rhyming. 

Adora put on an over the top look of bewilderment, putting her fists on her hips in some sort of quasi-power pose before asking, “What kind of hoo-ra was that? I want you to shout from deep in your lungs, you won’t sound dumb when it’s all in good fun! Now can I get a HOO-RA?”

Catra gave a slightly more enthusiastic call, and was delighted when Glimmer gamely screamed her head off and then blushed as the kids stared at her, because they had still not shouted. Alright, this had already paid off! Nothing better that watching Glimmer blush like that.

Adora was smiling warmly at the queen, that was always a good look on her. “I SAID HOO-RA!”

This time they managed to get most of the brats on board. A whole army of kids no taller than her waist who were thrilled to scream, a few even did it more than once. It was kind of nostalgic.

“THAT’S what I call a call! I am floored by this horde-” Adora’s eyes widened in panic as she tried to pivot her pre-written speech for a second time. “-o-of wards! Floored! I am floored!”

Aaaand twice was one too many alterations. As much fun as it would be to watch Adora fall apart over it, Catra knew it was mean. And she was trying to, you know, to be less mean.

“Ca-Adora,” wow this was harder than she’d thought. She hadn’t almost called Adora a Cadet in years. “Will be working with any of you who’d like to play a singing and marching game. Line up in front of Adora if you want to join.”

Catra grabbed Glimmer’s hand to pull her forward, which really was only for the benefit of getting to hold Glimmer’s hand. “Anyone who does not want to play a game can join us, we will be taking care of the infants so it’ll be quieter.”

She was not surprised when most of the children flocked to play. There were always a few quiet ones or nervous ones who would hang back, and she was counting on it. Sure enough four kids shuffled their way instead of towards Adora, who was already sorting her little platoon into rank and file, teaching them a quick sound off to learn their names.

Catra motioned between her and Glimmer, “You know our names, what are yours?” The kids shifted awkwardly, looking at one another to start. Catra smirked. “If you don’t want to say I will give you a nickname. For instance, this is now Sparkles.”

Glimmer glared at her, but Catra didn’t stop or let her get a word in edgewise. She pointed at the first kid with glasses, “You can be Specs, short for specification.” A bold faced lie if she’d ever told one. “Stripes, I like your shirt!” Less of a lie. “Flower Power just like Princess Perfuma,” she nodded to the boy with a flower crown. The last kid was nervously shifting hoof to hoof, “And Two Step you got some fancy looking moves.”

“And what do you all think we should call Catra?” Glimmer asked, grinning evilly, as if the kids wouldn’t just suggest kitty or fluffy or whiskers. Maybe tails if someone was feeling creative.

“Kitty!”

Catra chuckled, it was like clockwork. “How about Big Cat? It’s cooler than Kitty!” They nodded gamely to the change. “Cool. Now, does anyone want to help me with the babies? We just need to hold them.”

That was how Catra found herself leaning back against a tree with an infant sleeping on her chest after she’d situated Glimmer and the quartet. All while snickering at some of the concerned looks being shot their way as Adora got the platoon marching and singing. If they weren’t gonna get their asses in gear to manage all the hyper kids, then they could suck it up. Besides, it wasn’t even that intense of a song.

“I think that learning is cool!” The kids echoed after Adora. “Which is why I will stay in school!”

It was schlocky and dorky, if she’d been over there she’d have died of embarrassment already.

Still, Catra couldn’t help but melt a little as Adora exaggerated a high march and then kids behind her did basically whatever they wanted as she marched them around the nursery. It was nice. Even if it made Adora look really dumb, it also made her look happy.  Something Catra hadn’t seen a lot of from her in years. Oh no, she was getting mushy about this now? 

Disgusting. She needed a distraction stat.

“Anyone have a good story?” Catra asked and after a beat of silence, promptly ignored the kids as they started almost talking over each other to tell something about their day or who knows what. Thankfully Glimmer seemed interested even if a little stiff and awkward. Catra was grateful that her fur hid a sudden blush as she watched Glimmer holding a baby and being enthusiastically engaged in the kids' stories. 

Wow. 

She gets away from the Horde for less than a year, and now she’s getting sappy over Sparkles. 

Gross.

~

Adora, of course, had a plan. A good one with details and everything! 

She was using her patented IPPA (thankfully, things had to be going pretty bad for her to resort to Infant Pod Plan B) and so far things had gone well. She’d taught her platoon to march, even got them to make up some rhymes to sing for it (even if she’d had to backtrack after one of the boys said ‘butts’ and everyone then started to just scream sentences with little sense ending with ‘butts’). After a bit of that she got them doing some basic exercise with her. Jumping jacks and running, she’d then start a game of charge and was already wincing in sympathy pains as some of the kids hurled themselves full speed at the enemy team only to fold in half around their linked arms. Still, the point was to give them free reign here to lose their minds and wear out their bodies a little in preparation for a well earned nap or quiet play time.

After making sure that Catra had eyes on her group, Adora left to hunt down water for everyone, and maybe spent a little time making heart eyes across the field.

Catra, despite what she thought, was pretty good with kids. Especially little infants. Between her fluff, heat, and purrs she was an instant baby soother. Adora would know, she was once the only big baby that Catra would soothe the same way. When they’d been younger, Catra used to lose her temper during IPD, but the older they got the more she’d pull it together. There had always been something heartwarming about watching Catra sit down with a kid who was upset and listen to them intently. 

Then there was Glimmer. Gosh, she’d been so nervous going in, but seemed to be quickly becoming a favorite. Because Glimmer always listened to people, no matter their age, and her high energy responses appeared to be winning her fans. The more she integrated with the kids, the more she relaxed too. And there was something absolutely mind blowing about watching her bounce a little baby in her arms, while gasping in genuine delight at something a kid had scribbled into the dirt with a stick.

Adora didn’t even blush, didn’t feel a lick of shame as she quietly got affirmation that yes, girls.

“Ew,” one of the kids snickered after finishing their water, looking right at her before making a face. 

She smiled, shrugging and offered her best, worldly advice. “Girls are great.”

“Ew.” They repeated before giggling and skipping away to their friends.

Whether they eventually agreed with her, liked boys instead, like everyone, or even no one, Adora felt very assured in her assessment of wow girls pretty, so she let it slide.

Later, standing at the barrel and handing out gourds of water or helping kids re-apply their protective balms (the sun was nice, but the sun could apparently burn you which was insane), she did another check. Taking note of any particularly worn out kids to send over to Catra’s group, and was very pleased that no one seemed to be really injured. Man, this was way easier than manhandling Recruits who were about to be Junior Cadets. Maybe she could do this more often? Without all the jockeying for power and praise it was actually fun.

After another thirty minutes whizzed by according to her internal clock, Adora decided it was time to start her platoon’s cool down for water and snacks. Maybe a nap after that. It was all smooth sailing!

Adora managed to make eye contact with Catra, flashing a quick few hand signs they’d made up when they were eight and almost lived in the pods between Adora’s clumsiness and Catra’s random bursts of high energy. Catra nodded, both hands occupied as she bottle fed one of the infants, and Adora almost died. First of cuteness, because Catra was looking so cute! But also from laughter because Glimmer’s tongue was sticking out between her teeth in concentration as she carefully fed another infant. And also because she looked super cute doing it!

What a sight! It took her another minute to realize she was just standing there staring at them with a horrifically soft smile on her face. And Catra was staring back with an equally mortifying soft look. And Glimmer was now looking between them with her own embarrassingly tender look. 

So this is how I die, public affection.

For some reason this was the thing that set her off. Blushing as red as her jacket, Adora pivoted around to call the platoon to get some snacks and more water. Which, considering most of them were either still singing or making up marching songs, took a little bit to organize.

~

The snack and water break had been decently timed, they had just finished burping the last of the babies when Adora called all the kids over. Catra waited with Glimmer until everyone else had something to eat, before mingling as best she could. It was more second nature to keep her head on a swivel, making sure no kids were making a jailbreak and no one was beating someone else’s face in. Although that probably wasn’t a concern on the Rebellion side. Maybe she’d have to rescue a kid from suffocating under a bunch of hugs? 

She shrugged and got a gourd of water, barely finishing it before Two Step tugged at her hand. They’d only gotten more energetic the longer they’d been helping, so she wasn’t even surprised when they asked, "Can I pet your fluff!?"

Catra sighed heavily. This is what she got for wearing a crop top around children. She turned to look at the Two Step and smiled as best she could while also dying inside. If she didn’t let it happen following her own rules, many kids would simply find a way to make it happen anyways. Better to get it out of the way and without sticky hands. Seriously what do kids even do that makes their hands that sticky? "Sure, but only if I can touch your antlers, they look fuzzy."

They almost stabbed her in the stomach with said nubbly antlers in their excitement, apparently oblivious for at least a moment about how fragile they were. Two Step was still wiggling around the way they had the whole afternoon as they rushed to explain, "They are! They’re new and growing in bigger and my dad says that someday they’ll be HUGE like his!"

She ran a few fingers carefully along the warm velvet and nodded, it was softer than she’d actually expected it to be, and it almost seemed like she could feel the blood pumping in them? Or maybe her brain was messing with her? Either way, weird. "Neat. Your turn kiddo."

Catra did her best to not groan in annoyance when the girl simply leaned forward to rub her face on the fluffiest part of her belly.

"You said pet."

"I am petting!"

"Petting is done with your hands, not your face."

"Says who?"

Well shit, had her there. “...alright, well played.”

She glared as the trademark a high pitched whistling sound of cooing alerted her to Glimmer and Adora looking at her with hearts in their eyes and sparkles around their faces. Not literally, but she could picture it. The traitors. She could see Glimmer mouthing the words so cute and groaned. She was not cute! Ugh!

“Okay, I think that’s enough.”

Two Step grumbled but let go. “Thanks!” And with that they skipped away to hang out with the other kids. 

Oh yeah, definitely time to put the kids down for a nap if they could.

~

It had taken longer that Glimmer expected to calm down the kids. A small handful of them went tearing off around the field cackling like loons as Catra easily loped after them on all fours. Which of course resulted in more kids wanting to get chased for some reason, shrieking in delight each time Catra put on a hair more speed to tap their arms or legs. Eventually even they were exhausted and fell panting into the grass for Adora and her to watch while Catra continued herding. It was adorable and Glimmer was never, ever gonna let her live down her afternoon of being a sheep dog. If only Bow or Entrapta were here to take a picture!

Glimmer reluctantly left her post of watching and jeering at ‘Big Cat’ to help Adora get the youngest ones situated and sleeping rolls or blankets laid out. For the ones who refused to take a nap (whether because they weren’t tired or wanted to pretend they weren’t tired), Glimmer asked around to find a few decks of cards for them to use. She wrangled a promise from each group to be quiet so their friends could sleep, and by the time she’d finished that it was tempting to take her own nap.

Adora was efficiently sorting kids into sleeping spaces, and Glimmer smiled a bit at the way she let pairs and groups just pile up together. Having seen the impossible looking ways Adora and Catra could be found tangled up after a nap, she felt pretty confident that they knew what they were doing.

When Catra finally arrived with the last two kids, both of whom she carried under her arms as they giggled, Glimmer was grateful for the chance to relax a little with her friends. She nudged Adora’s side as they passed and whispered, “Maybe afterwards you can use She-Ra? You know, give them a climbing gym or swing them around.”

Adora blinked rapidly before breaking out in a huge grin and did a little over the top flexing before they made their way over to sit with Catra. And for a few minutes they sat in a peaceful silence, enjoying the sounds of the forest and leaning against one another. 

“Pssst,” Stripes rolled over to look at them, making huge puppy dog eyes before asking, “Sing us a lullaby?”

Glimmer’s eyes sparkled as she turned to watch Adora and Catra apparently debate the issue, because hello! Getting to hear them sing lullabies! They rapidly signed back and forth, faces squashing and stretching as they added emphasis to the conversation before they turned and nodded.

“Okay,” Adora said softly, “but you can’t laugh, we only know Horde songs.”

“The Horde had songs?” A little boy asked, popping up from his blanket with a huge smile.

“Yeah we did. To be fair, they’re not uh,” Adora faltered and quickly looked at Catra, which to be fair Glimmer hadn’t considered that the songs they knew might be inappropriate. She quickly decided that she also didn’t really care.

“Adults probably wouldn’t like them here.” Catra supplied with a mischievous grin, apparently knowing that the kids would all be desperate to hear them now.

“Catra!” Adora hissed in what was probably supposed to be a whisper.

“I want to hear!” Glimmer added fuel to the fire and snickered at the look of betrayal on Adora’s face. “What? I do!”

She threw her arms in the air before huffing in her fake annoyed voice, “Fine, I’ll sing a song!”

There was a moment before Adora shakily started to sing both a very familiar tune set to very different lyrics.

Hush-a-bye baby, your crying will cease For we will raise you, in safety and peace If the walls crumble, there’s no need to bawl We’ll burn the villains, princess and all

Glimmer sputtered, accidentally ending it before it even started, not just because the lullaby included a line about burning rebellion citizens to death including princesses. But also because her mother used to sing this to her! “Wait, wait, wait, that’s- that’s not how that song goes!”

“Wha- yes it is!” Adora huffed, arms crossing as she blushed, “I said you couldn’t be mean!”

“First of all, you said I couldn’t laugh and I didn’t! Secondly,” Glimmer cleared her throat to sing her version. She’d always loved singing, even took lessons when she was younger before deciding she’d rather do it for fun. But what was the point of being able to sing flawlessly under pressure if not to flex on your crushes?

Rock-a-bye baby, thy cradle is green; Father's a nobleman, mother's a queen; And Buckley’s a washer, who wears a gold ring; And Tambour’s a drummer, who drums for the king.

Not that she got any further than Adora did before being interrupted as well.

“Ew, it’s all princessy!” Catra jeered playfully getting a few giggles from the kids.

“Uh, yeah, my mom sang it to me when I was a baby!”

“Gross. Ours is better!”

Adora laughed nervously, apparently unsure what to do as their play fight went down in front of a room full of impressionable children. Which, really, was her own fault for not expecting it.

Glimmer puffed up and leaned forward, tapping Catra on the nose just to be a brat before issuing the challenge she knew would get results. “Prove it!”

Ah, the good old stand by of “prove it”, as equally effective as a double dog dare!

So Catra, looking genuinely affronted, took a breath and sang in a wholly and unfairly good voice.

Hush-a-bye baby, your crying will cease For we will raise you, in safety and peace If the walls crumble, there’s no need to bawl We’ll burn the villains, princess and all

Baby is drowsing, valiant and brave With Hordak’s power, disorder we’ll stave Though cadet’s sleeping, her dreams we all share For order and harmony’s, our duty to bear

Hush-a-bye baby, do not you fear Never mind, baby, your squad is right here Strong little fingers, but eyes must shut tight Stay sound asleep now, until morning’s light

“People sang to you as babies about Hordak’s power and burning people?” Glimmer asked, both perplexed at the Horde-ified version and slightly disturbed. No wonder some of their soldiers bought the Evil Horde’s propaganda if this was what they were taught from the cradle!

“Glimmer, I love you, and I say this with as much respect as I can,” Catra said without an ounce of respect in her body or soul, “We grew up in the Fright Zone under the eyes of commanding officers of the Evil Horde. What did you think they sang to us about?”

Well shit, had her there.

[wolfsspectre]

the nowhere king's lullaby: an analysis

so i was thinking about the nowhere king's lullaby and its origin and i have a theory and some headcanons

initially, i thought it was probably created by centaurs who were fleeing the minotaur armies. the first line, "hush now, hide all you little ones" sounds like the kind of urgent warning a centaur parent might whisper to their children while trying to avoid being detected by minotaurs.

the reason i thought it originated in centaurworld, specifically, is because we hear the plantaurs singing it first, and later the cattaurs, and because of the lines "the middle of nowhere / singing and laughter will die." singing and laughter, to this point, have been a staple of centaurworld and virtually nonexistent in the bummer world.

except, the lullaby can't have existed only in centaurworld, because horse recognizes it when we first hear it in centaurworld.

now, maybe the woman introduced the lullaby when she came to centaurworld; there's a lot of her backstory that we never see and it's certainly possible, but i'm not sure i get the impression from her that she'd be going around teaching this song to refugees. i figure that after the break-up she was fairly reclusive.

however, there is another reason that both centaurs and bummer world denizens might be familiar with the same song, even after the portals are closed between the worlds. the lullaby came from the minotaurs.

the minotaurs are controlled by the nowhere king, but the specifics of how the nowhere king exercises this control are unclear. are they thralls, trapped in the "dreamless sleep" and darkness of the nowhere king's mind? or do they want to serve him? is there a sense of kinship among them all, as creatures that belong neither to centaurworld nor the bummer world? the nowhere king wanted to create a family, and maybe the minotaurs do view themselves this way.

personally, i'm inclined to think of them closer to the captive thrall side of the spectrum, but as we see with bayden and stabby, they do retain some sense of individual identity, rather than being simply drones or puppets. and i started thinking about minotaurs, lost in dreamless sleep, still sitting around their campfires and singing this lullaby, this warning, this eulogy.

reading the first half of the lullaby from this perspective, the lyrics come from minotaur soldiers remembering who they were before and what was done to them.

the first line "hush now, hide all you little ones" is from when they were, themselves, refugees hiding their children from the invading hordes. (we see wammawink left alone, and the opening narration from horse reveals that she was also left an orphan. when elktaur first tested the key on a rutabagataur, it created a human baby and a rutabaga; i don't think the minotaurs were as interested in taking children as they were in abducting adults that could be transformed into adult, battle-ready minotaur warriors. i wonder how many people gave themselves over to the minotaurs to protect their children.)

which then brings us to the second line, "rush now, into the middle of nowhere" - i read this as coming from refugees/captives entering the in-between where "singing and laughter will die" to be made into minotaurs and fall into the dreamless sleep which follows the nowhere king, to be enveloped by his darkness.

but (*glittercats voice* ooh plot twist!) then there's the second half of the lullaby:

quiet, crawl through the in-between silent, secretive feeling of fearsome hatred that reaches the skies

this doesn't sound like it's coming from captives or minotaurs. why would they need to be quiet in the in-between? what would they know of a silent, secretive hatred? this half of the lullaby is obviously about elktaur, and the shame and internalized hatred he held for centaurs, represented by the light of the portals between the worlds reaching into the sky as an ever-present symbol of both the social and literal rifts between humans and centaurs.

this part of the lullaby, i think, is the remnant of elk within the nowhere king. this small, uncorrupted memory of who he once was, who must remain quiet and hide lest he be consumed by his own darkness.

and the final lines, "you will bring joy to the nowhere king / when he sees the light leaving your eyes" become a sorrowful admission to the refugees, to the minotaurs, to all the nowhere king's victims that his only joy now lies in snuffing out their lives.

and this recontextualizes the whole song yet again. given the connection between elk & the nowhere king and the nowhere king & the minotaurs, i wonder if elk composed the entire lullaby, and the minotaurs learned it through their shared connection to the nowhere king's mind. i wonder if elk meant it as a warning, and perhaps a type of apology.

[arjuna-vallabha]

In the years leading upto the Battle of Plassey , Bengal was going through some extremely tough times . Accounts by contemporary writers describes vividly the problems faced by the common man .  This was a period when the East India company was gaining more political power . The true ruling class , the Nawab of Bengal and his aides immersed themselves in luxury and debauchery . On the other hand infamous zamindaars such as Devi Singha made life miserable for the common folk . And then there was famines , epidemics , droughts and inability to pay taxes . But still the people fought on with a smile on their lips . But even that seemed to disappear with the onset of Maratha raids into Bengal in mid 18th century . The “bargee” attacks , as they became popularly known , was so devastating and horrifying that they have been permanently etched in Bengali memory in form of lullaby songs . Even today bengali mothers lull their babies to sleep singing “ Sleep fast my child , for the bargees are coming ! The bulbul birds have eaten all crops , how are we going to pay taxes ? “But who were these ‘bargees’ ?The word bargee is thought to derive from Persian ‘Baargee’ which denoted a cavalry soldier . The other type of  cavalry men used to be called Shiledaars . The government used to provide horses and weaponry to the baargees . The shiledaars on the other hand had to source these themselves . In those times , the sultans of Ahmednagar developed the art of sudden stealth attacks , which came to be known as ‘baargeer-giri’ . This mode of guerrilla warfare was effective and gained massive popularity all throughout the Deccan , including Maharashtra . In the year 1740 Alivardi Khan defeated and killed his master and the then Nawab of Bengal , Sarafaraz Khan and himself sat on the throne of Bengal . But the brother in law of Sarfaraz , Naib Nazeem of Orissa Rustam Jung turned against Alivardi to avenge the wrong done to his brother . Alivardi defeated Rustam Jung and dethroned him from his Orissa office . In retaliation , Rustam Jung went to Nagpur  and sought the help of Raghuji Bhonsle , the then ruler of the region . Raghuji Bhonsle’s Diwan , Bhaskar Kolhatkar AKA Bhaskar Pandit launched an attack on Bengal with all his might . The raids continued for a period spanning 9 years and according to contemporary Dutch estimates , four lakh people died in the bloodbath . It devastated the economy of Bengal and created a period of anarchy and terror . The bargees gradually approached uptill the capital at Murshidabad and sacked the city and plundered the houses of the rich . The Britishers of East India Company on the other hand became anxious about a possible attack on the emerging prosperous city of Calcutta , their main hub . To deter any attack , they began digging a giant moat around the entire town . Luckily the bargees did not attack Calcutta and the work on the moat was discarded midway . The moat was eventually filled up in 1890s and made into upper and lower circular roads ( Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose road & Acharya Prafulla Chandra road presently ) A certain poet named Gangaram composed a poetry describing the affairs of the bargee raids in his book called “Maharashtra Puran” . Parts of it describe the horrors faced by civilians in those times – “ They round up everyone and loot their gold and silver . They cut off the hands of some . To others they cut off the nose and the ears . For the rest they simply chop off their heads . The pretty ladies they take away and tie them up . Then they take turns to rape until they start crying to be spared . The set the homes of the rich on fire and destroy all the temples of Vishnu . They tie up their captives , fold up their hands and kick on their chest with their heavy boots . Those who have money give it to them and escape death . Those who don’t have money have no other option other than to surrender to death . The Brahmins flee with their sacred books under their arms ! The goldsmiths flee with their measuring insruments . The shopkeepers flee with their wares . The metal workers flee with their copper and brass . The blaksmiths flee along with earthen pot makers . The fishermen flee with their nets . Rich men’s wives unaccustomed to walking flee with loads over their heads ! The khetris and the rajputs also flee in fear dropping their swords . The gosais and the mohants of temples flee on palanquins . The Mughals , sayeds and sheikhs also flee in terror hearing of the bargees . The pregnant women are forced to deliver their child along roadways . “None managed to escape the wrath of the bargees. Numerous temples of Bengal were looted and plundered . Fables narrate how the iconic neem wood deity of Dhameshwar Gouranga ( Chaitanya mahaprabhu ) , worshipped by Bishnupriya ( Consort of Mahaprabhu himself ) also had to be buried for quite a few years to save him from the bargee raids! Such lawlessness continued for almost 9 years . In the end , the nawab of Bengal entered into a pact of truce with the bargees conceding Orissa to them on the condition that they would never return to Bengal . During such tumultuous times , the bargees reached upto the capital of the Malla dynasty kings – Bishnupur . Mallas have been a dominant power in that part of the state for more than a 1000 years ! When the bargees approached , the people panicked and started praying to the presiding deity of the town , Madanmohan . It is said that during this time people saw Madanmohan manifest and rush into battlefield ! He lifted up a giant iron cannon and started firing into the bargee hordes that were trying to enter the city . The cannon would later get the name ‘Dala-mardana’ or “destroyer of hordes” and can still be seen in Bishnupur . Madanmohan successfully defeated the bargees and protected his devotees . This tale has been narrated for centuries in Bishnupur and has become one of the popular religious folklores of Bengal .  But this Madanmohan is not originally a deity of Bishnupur . He is said to have been brought to Bishnupur from elsewhere by Malla king Bir Hambir .One source opines that Madanmohan originally resided at the ShriPaat Chaatraa of Srirampore . This was the residence of Kashishwar Pandita , one of the associates of Chaitanya . Bir Hambir brought Madanmohan to his kingdom and after installing a new deity of Radharani beside him , honoured him with the status of ‘Nagar devata’ of Bishnupur . The entire story raises some fundamental questions and doubts – The first question is , if the marathas are considered the champions of Hinduism and viewed largely as upholders of indian valour , why did they plunder and loot the Bengali temples  ?! The second question that may arise is , did Madanmohan indeed manifest and do this impossible act ? In order to answer this , one must understand that history is never unidimensional and one pointed as we tend to think . History has many complex layers . As the saying goes – “ history is written by victors “ . If we twist it slightly it would be safe to say that history is written by the privileged . Or perhaps , History is most often written with an agenda ! Therefore history , by its very nature , can never be complete nor foolproof . We tend to overlook the fact that in history two opposing ideas can also be true simultaneously . Therefore , every Brahmin need not be a tyrant evil oppressor nor every low caste an oppressed . Every deity taken away from a temple may not amount to a sacrilege and dishonour of hinduism . Taj mahal is not a name changed hindu shaivite temple . Gyan Vapi is not a mosque built on virgin soil . A thousand such historical over simplifications or agenda driven narratives have done more damage to true history than good . It is very necessary to have an open mind while discussing such a tricky subject as ‘bargee attack’ . I will lay down some points which will provide the readers with food for thought . But it is upto them to interpret why the bargees did what they did .1 – Bhaskar pandit organised a full fledged Bengali styled Durgotsav in Dainhaat of Bardhaman district . New pratima was built , new chandi mandap temple constructed and  thousands of sacrificial animals were brought in and grand preparations were begun . But in the night of MahaNavami , Alivardi Khan sent a message of truce and took Bhaskar Pandit into confidence and had him killed . The puja remained  unfinished . Even today ruins of the chandi mandap can be seen at Dainhaat . Understandably , Bhaskar pandit was not anti bengali or anti hindu per se and he embraced Bengali customs and culture . In this context it is worth remembering that the cult deity of Marathas , Tulja Bhawani ( from whom legend says Chatrapati Shivaji received his sword ) is also an image of Mahishamardini . Presumably , the marathas quickly saw the sameness in the rituals and ideas and were glad to adapt . 2- Just like the Mughal army had hindus in their ranks or the british indian army was largely constituted of the Indian soldiers , in the same way the bargees also had men of all castes and religions in their ranks . They even had large battalions of muslim men . It would be unfair to expect that the Islamic bargees would be respectful towards bengali idolators and their practices . 3- human ethics and moral values have underwent massive changes in recent times .  In ancient times , we did not have human rights commission , supreme court or the like . Survival of the fittest was the mantra for the times . In an event of attack it was normal for the army to indulge in plunder and loot . The rulers unofficially allowed their men to have a free hand in ‘exploits of war’ after a hard earned victory . This was a sort of incentive for the men ! Remember in those days warfare had more to do with brute strength and direct combat than with intelligence as it has become nowadays after advent of computer controlled war machinery ! During such post war plunders , rape , looting , rampage and selling humans into slavery became the norm .This was true for the entire world throught history !4 – The temples in Bengal which harbour tales of bargee attacks are mostly vaishnavaite shrines , namely Radha Krishna or Gouranga ( Chaitanya ) temples . Both these divinities would have been unknown to the Marathas whose own brand of Vaishnavism were centered around Vithhal , Rukmini and Satyabhama  . It is possible that unknown gods attracted more wrath .5- But interestingly the marathas were also one of the chief patrons of the Puri Jagannath temple . The hati vesha or Gaja vesha of Jagannath was directly due to Maratha influence over Jagannatha cult .  The  form of Jagannatha too would have been largely unknown to the marathas . That being said , they would have definitely been aqquianted with the tirtha mahatmya of Puri and the name of Jagannath from the puranas and scriptures . 6- In all probabilities Bhaskar Pandit did receive some support from the local hindu populace . The records of his durgotsav mentions throngs of villagers coming to participate in his puja . Presumably , there was both an element of fear and awe working amongst the masses . 7- It is hard to answer whether Madanmohan manifested in form or not , from a point of view of history . Such things are matters of faith and are best left untouched by history ( or even historians ) . However if we introspect purely from a historical perspective some hypothetical probabilities may be suggested . In hindu society when a man narrowly escapes a danger , he often attributes his miraculous escape to the mercy and compassion of his cherished deity . Its common for such a bhakta to say – “ I got saved due to intervention or madanmohan “ . It is very much possible that the Malla dynasty kings who ruled over a jungle infested tricky terrain and whose subjects largely comprised of martial races and tribes , overrun the bargees by their military strength and the pious king attributed the win to the mercy of Madanmohan . In due course of time this popular way of saying aqquired more realistic and literal connotations and became etched in collective memory as madanmohan manifesting in person ! Just a “what if” …. but worth a thought nonetheless !8 – It is also possible that the bargees themselves chose not to attack the malla kings , who in any case had been famous as champions of Hinduism for the last 1000 years . I have laid out the points to contemplate on . It is upto you to draw the final conclusion . History is never straightforward . All we can do is record and mention the loose ends . If the ends meet , well and fine . If they do not , it is best to be honest and admit that history is unclear thereafter  , rather than to try make them meet by force and end up projecting a personal political or sociological agenda unto history . But even after so much , the people of Bishnupur could not keep their beloved Madanmohan in their town . Malla Raja Chaitanya Singha got into a financial debacle and had to take a loan of a thefty sum of money from rich zamindar businessman Gokul Mitra of Calcutta . By this time , the sun had already began to set on the glories of Malla dynasty and Calcutta had begun to emerge as the next economic and political capital of India . In exchange of the money , Chaitanya Singha mortgaged his nagar devata Madanmohan to Gokul Mitra . When Malla king was unable to return the money back in due time ,  Madanmohan was left back at disposal of Gokul who went to build him a grand new temple . Even today visitors to Kumartuli in Calcutta can see the grand temple of madanmohan built in typical greaco roman neoclassical colonial style . At Bishnupur a replica deity was installed which also got stolen a few decades back . A second replica of Madanmohan is presently housed in the original temple back at bishnupur . So did Madanmohan really manifest ? Well, the eyes of a rationalist seek out different things from the eyes of an artist . To an artist , his divine manifestation is of much more importance because it has ‘rasa’ . It has the power to soothe the mind and senses from the drudgery of daily monotonous existence . To the artist , the supernatural is more appealing than the natural . But then again it is the ‘natural’ that gives birth to the ‘supernatural’ .  In this painting I have strived to bridge the gap between the two with the string of bhakti . Jay Madanmohan .

Text an art by Halley Goswami

[percedurza]

I HAVE ALREADY SPOKE ON LENGTH ABOUT THE PRINCE OF EGYPT BUT NOT THE WHOLE THING ONLY THE PLAGUES AND MOSTLY PASSOVER. I JUST WATCHED THE FULL MOVIE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE I WAS A KID IM GONNA TALK ABOUT IT AGAIN BECAUSE IT WAS SO GOOD. OKAY.

okay let me first say that i was in tears within the first ten minutes of the movie. deliver us was so powerful and heartbreaking i cried BEFORE THE TEN MINUTE MARK. yeah.

when moses' mother sang her final lullaby to her son and pushed him downstream in that (blessed and very fortunate) basket my heart hurt. i cried with her. that was the last time she would ever see her baby.

when his sister sang her prayer for her baby brother, wishing for him to come back to deliver them as well, that just drove the nail in harder.

in a later scene before the banquet you can hear moses humming that last lullaby and since deliver us was just maybe ten minutes prior you remember it and realize he really did keep that final song.

and the banquet oh yeah ramesses gets appointed this big title? and he names moses as the grand architect

and theres this captured hebrew lady brought in for ramesses but shes fierce (i would be too, she was captured and brought to the people she hates the most) and so ramesses orders her to be brought to moses' chambers instead

moses goes to his chambers and suprise! she escaped! moses chases after and sees her sneaking out with her camel and distracts some guards so she wont get caught and once the guards are gone he goes after her again aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand

miriam (moses' sister) meeting him in the city streets and recognizing him, telling him he's her family and him shutting her down and calling her a slave.... it hurt. when she hums that lullaby and he RECOGNIZES and then rushes back home to have a dream about that day he was sent away (in beautiful animation designed to look like the hieroglyphs on his wall) its all so painful to watch him be forced out of nowhere to realize his life is a LIE because hes not a true prince of egypt, he's born of the slaves, and then his father the pharaoh justifies the order to slaughter innocent babies by saying "they were just slaves" and OUGH

moses kills a man. unintentional but he killed a man while trying to stop him from beating a slave. oops.

he cant live with this so he runs away into the desert. theres this scene where he collapses to the ground and sheds all of the jewelry and adornments from his life as royalty but as he takes off the ring ramesses gives him, he looks at it. and slowly puts it back on. because no matter what, he still loves his brother, and he always will.

moses falls into a well. yeah. chases off some ruffians and then basically faints and falls in. these girls the ruffians were harassing started pulling him out and SURPRISE SURPRISE the captured lady from the banquet is there and she drops him back in when she recognizes him and walks away all smug and her name is tzipporah! just an fyi (very pretty name love it)

moses basically gets adopted into the group of hebrews and moses says something about not ever having done anything of worth and so tzipporah's father jethro sings a little tune to him!

through heavens eyes is a masterpiece. i really dont know what else to say also i want jethro to be my dad hes so nice

aaanyway moses and tzipporah get married during the through heavens eyes montage! i just think thats nice

OKAY now juicy stuff the BURNING BUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the scene in which moses encounter the burning bush and god.

god claims that he has seen his people (the hebrew slaves) suffering and cannot stand for it any longer, so he wishes to send moses as a sort of ambassador of god

and moses doesnt think hes worthy of being god's messenger, which god quickly shuts up by pointing out how he's kind of, like, GOD

and he teaches moses those big old words, "LET MY PEOPLE GO" wahoo!!!!!!

he rushes home to tell tzipporah, and shes like "but ur just one dude" and hes like "well i kinda have to also the hebrews are suffering in slavery so :////"

tzipporah and moses head on over to meet ramesses and theyre all excited to see each other and then moses is like "behold the power of god!!!!!!" and his staff becomes a snake. pretty gnarly if i do say so myself

and then the high priests are like "ok" and start basically performing and rapping the names of the egyptian gods at moses in response i really dont know how to describe it but its basically a whole lotta smoke and mirrors. not actual miracles

moses talks to ramesses and asks him to let his people go, and instead doubles the slave's workload. the slaves basically hate moses now because yeah he technically is the reason theyre getting pushed harder and even his own brother aaron seems to loathe him. miriam talks to moses and he sees ramesses' ship gliding down the nile nearby

he calls out to ramesses and he just sends his guards after him. and so moses brings the staff down and turns the river to blood.

THEN THE REST OF THE PLAGUES ENSUE!!!

theres this specific part of the plagues scene in which ramesses stands between two statues of egyptian gods and glances at them as if to ask why the fuck arent they doing anything about the LITERAL hellfire and general havoc being brought down on the city. just thought that was a really cool detail.

AND OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH passover. i really shouldnt get excited about talking about an event that killed a whole heck ton of kids but its like fnaf at this point who cares ANYWAY THE DEAD KIDS

i already talked about the passover scene but what i didnt include (i think) is how when god's spirit or whatever idk enters the palace, it passes over a statue of ramesses and you just think, oh fuck wait RAMESSES HAD A SON.

and sure enough, that son is dead. moses walks in as ramesses pulls a sheet over his sons dead body and ramesses finally, after all of the plagues, tells moses he can take the hebrews and leave.

as moses walks away you can see ramesses glare at moses because he may have said he was done but. hes not. of course.

moses and the hebrews are leaving with yet another beautiful musical sequence (when you believe) and you can see the hordes of former slaves walking to the sea.

AAND just like i said RAMESSES WASNT FINISHED! he brings a whole bunch of soldiers on horseback and chases the hebrews, and god literally rains fire on them again this time in the form of a flaming tornado that sweeps across the sand, making a big old wall of fire that the egyptian soldiers cant get through

which gives moses the time to do the famous parting of the sea. he brings that staff down in the water and DOES GODS WONDERS!!! yay!!!

watching them walk on the seabed was beautiful. with some lightning strikes you could see the silhouette of some kind of shark swimming in the water (looked it up there are sometimes whale sharks in the red sea this is accurate)

and the fire tornado recedes into the earth, the fire fades, the soldiers chase on at ramesses' orders. the water sweeps them away just as the hebrews make it to the other side and it later cuts back to ramesses, alone on the rocky shore, screaming out at moses. hes completely alone, soldiers presumably dead, and no family to speak of. his side of the sea is cloudy and gloomy, still stormy, but when it jumps back to the hebrews in celebration, the sun shines bright and happy. the hebrews are free.

the movie ends with moses walking down the mountain sinai, ten commandments in hand, while the last snippet of deliver us plays once again.

only one other movie has evoked this much of this kind of emotion in me.(the one movie is klaus LMAO klaus made me ugly cry) there was not a single second of watching this that i didnt have goosebumps.

the movie itself just looks pretty. all of the characters have unique and neat designs. (its also nice to see a movie with only poc in it like im just saying)

the musical scores and numbers are so expertly made. my favorite has to be deliver us but through heavens eyes is a very close second. through heavens eyes made me feel better about myself, in a way. the entire movie was like some healing experience.

all in all, this is an S tier movie, and i BEG BEG BEG anyone who hasn't seen it to watch it. just pirate it or something (i did lol watched it on an illegal streaming site)

if you're not religious and havent seen it, think of it as a chance to learn more about abrahamic faiths. if you are religious and havent seen it, well hey! here you go!!

[glitradora-family]

Did Adora, Catra, and/or Glimmer sing lullabies to their children? If so, what kinda songs would they have sung?

Hush now my baby, be still love don’t cry...

Jk but - I’m sure that Glimmer has some songs traditional to Bright Moon she knows from her childhood that Angella sung to her ;-; She would def teach those to Adora and Catra. I can’t imagine that the Horde had any for them to learn growing up (and even if Shadow Weaver had sung to Adora, I’m sure those aren’t songs Adora would remember with fondness or want to give to her children).

Instead I think it would be sweet if Adora and Catra had little rhymes that they had made up for each other in the fright zone that they turned into lullabies :’) Little odd, childish ditties about warding away storms or how the dark or cold isn’t that scary and bad at all that they sung to baby Cora together alone at first - then taught to Glimmer later on (when she’d shared some silly songs of her own). Glimmer treasures them ofc :’)

And naturally I imagine Catra just makes a lot of noises for the kids- rumbling purrs, soft merrps, and nuzzles to calm them and let them instinctively know they’re loved :’’) No matter how hard one of the kids is crying, if Catra lays down and holds them to her chest and just purrs they’ll be out in five minutes, guaranteed. 

[wayfaringauthorofficial]

The voice that used

to sing you lullabies

roars and wails as you

squirm,

anything to end the pain.

Anything to bring a ray of light

into this endless array of darkness.

""

I gave you my life.

I sang a thousand lullabies,

told a million lies.

All to see you smile.

All to call your arms home.

""

Baby, I think I’ve doomed myself

to collapse into you forever more.

But wasn’t it you

who said we belonged together,

you and me, intertwined

for some piece of forever?

Wasn’t it you

who looked at me,

a girl with hordes of demons

and a mess of a life,

and decided to make me your home?

Wasn’t it you

who made this mess we live in?

-Oh, what a mess you made.

[sailorglimmer]

Angel Standing By

Frosta has a nightmare and looks for Glimmer, who is with the Best Friend Squad. They decide to go to sleep with her, and Glimmer sings her a lullaby Angella used to sing her to help her sleep.

The lullaby/song is Angel Standing By sang by Jewel

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

“She always saves people when she’s visiting a place. Is like, her thing” Catra made fun “That’s why I love her”

Bow and Glimmer let out a “aww” that made Catra realize she had said that outloud. Adora laughed.

“Prove that she does love She Ra too.”

They shared a laugh, but it became nothing when they felt the presence of someone else with them in the kitchen. They turned around, finding a sleepy Frosta with teary eyes looking around. Glimmer was the first to react, walking to her.

“Frosta, what’s wrong?” she asked, not having to do much to get on her eye level.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were here with everyone” she whispered “I...its nothing. I will just wake up Perfuma”

“Hey, no, it’s okay. You don’t have to go” Glimmer said, taking her hands.

Catra knew that look Frosta had in her eyes. She thought about staying silent, but when she saw the confusion in Bow's eyes and the worry in everyone else’s, she decided to talk. “Was it a bad dream? I have those all the time.”

Catra knew she wasn’t Frosta’s favorite person, but it did look like that was exactly what was happening. Glimmer gave the youngest a soft smile. Sometimes, she also has nightmares when she slept alone, or in another place that wasn’t her bed. Adora could also understand that after all that had happened with the Horde and Horde Prime.

“We all get those,” Glimmer Frosta’s hands “Want to talk about it? Or do you want me to help you back to sleep?”

Frosta thought about it for a moment. Her red cheeks let them know she was embarrassed. She then shrugged her shoulders “I...I just want to sleep.”

Adora looked at Bow, and he nodded to his friend. “Maybe you would like to sleep in another room?”

“We can go to my room” Glimmer said “If you want, we will stay with you. My mom...she used to sing to me when I had nightmares. I could try it if you want.”

Frosta was still ashamed, but she nodded in response. It had happened the first time when she slept at Perfuma’s home, and she and Scorpia had slept with her so it didn’t happen again.

The Best Friend Squad looked at each other, and then went to Glimmer, who teleported them to her room. Adora went to turn on one of the lights so they could see the stairs of Glimmer’s bed.

“Maybe we can go with the others” said Adora “Or sleep down here. Catra doesn’t enjoy how high your bed is.”

Glimmer laughed softly “Sure, whatever you want. Do you want to go to my bed, Frosta?”

“Um...won’t I fall? It looks...really high” the ice queen said, biting her lips with nervousness.

“Nonsense! Come, I will go with you” Bow said, taking Frosta’s hand to help her go up the stairs. This immediately made Catra look for Glimmer’s eyes and give her a funny smile. Glimmer just teleported to her bed; she really didn’t want to accidentally blurt out that they had kissed just like an hour before.

When she got to the bed, she looked down to Catra and Adora making themselves comfortable in her long bed-like chair where the two of them ironically fit perfectly. She threw a blanket for them, as they had enough pillows. She then looked at Frosta, who shyly sat at Glimmer’s bed. She smiled at her, palming besides her.

“You don’t have to be ashamed. We are practically sisters now.” she said, seeing her eyes open with excitement.

“Really?” she went closer to Glimmer “I just...I never sleep away from home. It makes me...have nightmares.”

“Well, you don’t have nothing to worry about here. We will stay with you all night.” Bow said, throwing himself just besides Glimmer.

Glimmer nodded, then using one of the blankets to cover Frosta, and then gave one to Bow with a silly smile on her face.

“I want you to cover me too!” he said, and not only did he laugh but everyone else did too. Glimmer rolled her eyes “Glimmer! That’s not fair. I am your best friend.” he said, teasing her.

Her cheeks became red as apples “Shut up” she said, rolling her eyes before covering him with the blanket too.

He smiled, hugging her and Frosta together. “Now let’s sleep, little ones”

“Bow, shut up” Catra said out loud, making him laugh.

Frosta snuggled closer to Glimmer, which made the latest feel...odd. In a good way. She really saw Frosta as a little sister, and even though she had turned thirteen, she was still a kid that lost her parents at a young age and got a whole kingdom too. She saw so much of herself in Frosta, and she wanted to protect her and care for her in every way she could.

Everything became silent for some minutes, but Frosta eventually opened her eyes to look at Glimmer.

“Glimmer, I can’t sleep” she whispered, believing everyone else was already asleep.

“Want me to sing for you? She whispered back. Frosta laughed softly but then she nodded

“I have never heard you sing.”

“I don’t do it often, but when I was little and I had bad dreams, my mom would sing to me.” she said, smiling just remembering that. “I just know that lullaby, so I’m sorry if it's a little...well I don’t know.”

“My dad used to sing for me too” Frosta said “I would like it”

Glimmer nodded. She took a deep breath, before humming to remember the rhythm of the lullaby. Frosta looked with attention to her, waiting.

“All through the night...I will be watching you…”she began in a soft voice, caressing Frosta’s hair just like Angella used to do to her. “And all through the night I will be standing over you…”

Catra and Adora looked at each other when hearing her. Neither of them had actually heard Glimmer sing before, and she didn’t sound bad. Adora smiled, pulling Catra closer to her.

And through the bad dreams

I’ll be right there baby…

Catra closed her eyes, just letting herself be held by Adora. The blonde girl smiled, because one day that had seemed like something she would never have again, and now she had Catra in her arms. She could protect her forever from every bad dream, from the world. She could love her everyday, forever.

Holding your hand

Telling you everything’s gonna be alright

When you cry

I’ll be there baby

Frosta began closing her eyes, getting close to Glimmer, who suddenly felt really nostalgic. Just by her side, Bow was looking at her with a smile on his face; he was so in love with her. And now he would never stop thinking about how she would sing to their kids one day, and he would be the happiest man alive. Maybe he was precipitating himself, but he really wanted that. He could see that kind of future, even when they literally had just kissed for the first time.

Telling you

You’re never nothing less than beautiful

Glimmer closed her eyes tightly, imagining her mother singing on the other side of the bed, when everything felt like it would be okay. Like when she didn’t know she had everything she would ever want. When she didn’t know how much things would change, and how much she would miss her.

Nonetheless, she would always be her angel. She would always be taking care of her, and now, she could do the same with someone else.

“So don’t you worry ...I’m your angel standing by” she finished, with a broken voice that Frosta didn’t notice as she fell asleep. Glimmer smiled softly, then leaning her head to look at Bow. “I can feel you looking at me”

“I think I love you a little too much” he whispered, wiping the tears on her face.

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

Scene from Chapter 9 of my story Learning Love. Read More here:

https://sailorglimmer.tumblr.com/post/619309694789599232/learning-love-chapter-1-sailorglimmer-she-ra

[secret-engima]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww😍 I melted into a puddle of Happy. The interactions between Pretty Song and Cor are just soooo rasoidjjdjjuciiauufiog@&&@&&%%hdjjdhidiiid!!!! 🥰 IgnisFelicis

AREN’T THEY?????? *smashes cup* hAVE ANOTHER

-Cor was over the moon when he found out his wife was pregnant with their child. He was also terrified that he would be a terrible dad, but Regis talks him down from that. Cor reads ALL the childcare books. All of them. Then he read somewhere that babies can hear things in the womb and come to recognize voices and songs and stuff and that’s all the excuse he needs to gently sing to his wife’s growing baby bump all through the pregnancy. He sings a few things, but most of the time he sings Penny Whistle, the song his own mother used to sing to him.

-Cor cries when she’s born. She’s so TINY and FRAGILE and what if he BREAKS HER? Are the callouses on his hands painful to her delicate skin? Halp.

-Finding her again after years of thinking she’s dead is- it’s like holding her for the first time, but also so much more painful. She’s so THIN and dirty and scared (of him, of him and that hurts so badly). But then he sings and he can see recognition flood her eyes and she’s- she’s still skittish of him, still wary, but she lets him stay. She lets him follow.

-Slowly, she lets him in.

-The night Pretty Song takes his hand as they walk in the dark with the horde (and isn’t that a novel experience, to walk among daemons unharmed) Cor feels like his lungs have been punched out.

-Once she trusts him again, Cor discovers his daughter is a cuddler. She is ... very touch-starved and WANTS it badly. Will hold hands or hug or climb on him at a moment’s notice like she does the daemons. Will happily curl up in his lap or on his chest when they’re at a Haven and sleep there because Warm and Safe.

-Father-daughter duets. Nuff said.

-No actually check that Imma say more. Father-Daughter duets that make the daemons around them dance for the joy they feel in the pair. Duets where they trade off verses that get increasingly silly and end up laughing at the silliness of the words or slow duets that only end when Pretty Song falls asleep on Cor’s shoulder, leaving him to gently rumble out a lullaby on his own.

[kayluhoh]

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these songs, or she ra and the princesses of power. 

You don't have to read this. It was just fun for me to do.

Songs that make me think of Catradora.

Milk & Honey - Jessarae

I imagine this song as the music of the future looking back on the past. “Slow chariot lay me down oh she's coming to set me free and oh I was lost, now I'm found the spirit will move in me.” this lyric encapsulates this perfectly. Even after Adora saves Catra from the ship, she still has a lot to work on. Adora is there and helps to set her free of her self deprecating thoughts. To put the cherry on top, she’s with the girl she’s always wanted.

Butterfly’s Repose - Zabawa

    I imagine this song as more of a lullaby that they both receive at one point, in the first verse, “You don't have to speak. Don't need to talk to me. Baby, I already know.” This lyric strikes me, Catra and Adora really do know each other, so I’d imagine they both have trauma from the war and from growing up the fright zone with Shadow Weaver. When one or the other gets flashbacks, I imagine the other already knows the reason behind it. Secondly, the lyric, “The shadows in your head. They've got you down again. Got you feeling low. But it's time to rest now. Let it all melt now. Wipe your tears.” makes me imagine them holding one another in bed trying to sleep. both of their self-doubt being soothed by one another. Thirdly, the lyric “The future's looking bleak Your will to live is weak But, honey, hold on for me,” reminds me of the time Catra almost died on the ship as well as the kissing scene. They both saved each other because they needed each other. Finally the lyric in the chorus, “Stay right here I'll stay here with you, my dear,” is self-explanatory. The word stay is said so many times in this show because they kept leaving each other. Now that they have each other it’s hard to even think about leaving, reminding one another that they’ll stay too is so important.

I Go Crazy- Orla Gartland

    I Imagine this song pre kiss, season five, more specifically when Catra leaves with Melog. The first verse, “I've got no clue what you're thinking. You move your hand away from mine. Shifty eyes and indecisions. Why does this happen every time?” this is what must be going through Catras head when she says “Adora doesn’t want me, not like I want her,” because Adora is choosing everyone else above herself It makes Catra question what the hell goes through Adora’s head. Secondly, the lyric in the chorus, “Three words, two hearts, one maybe. Say something before I go crazy now. And my tears, your tears, don't phase me. Say something before I go crazy now,” makes me imagine Catra screaming this to the void, she’s loved Adora for so long, and now she is wondering if she’s too late. Finally the lyric in the bridge “But I'm still so devoted to you, it scares me,” captures Catra’s mentality so well, Catra is not one to follow others, but for Adora she makes an exception. This must be so scary for Catra, to let someone take the lead. Even after leaving for so long, she trusts Adora so much and that must be terrifying.

Soldier, Poet, King - The Oh Hellos

    This song is just fun, I just like to think of Adora as the soldier and Catra as the poet in a medieval AU and then they fall in love ok bye.

It’s Alright - Mother Mother

    I can’t find a better way to explain this as a Catradora song besides telling you that Adora is singing the Chorus and Catra is sing the verses, then singing the chorus at the end with her.

Safe & Sound - Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars

    Alright this one will be a little more detailed. The first line of the song, “I remember tears streaming down your face, When I said I'll never let you go,” reminds me of the childhood scene when Adora tells Catra, “You look out for me and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other,” *chefs kiss*. Next, the singular line, “When all those shadows almost killed your light,” Should immediately make you think of Shadow Weaver and everything she did to Catra and Adora. It seemed like their entire childhood was spent protecting each other from her. Next, the lyrics, “I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone," But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight” this lyric makes me feel like Adora acknowledges that she left Catra, but Catra forgives her for it and wants to leave it in the past. The lyrics “The war outside our door keeps raging on,” also encapsulates the war between Etheria and The Horde, but also the war between Catra and Adora. They both still have a lot to work on before everything can be close to perfect. Finally the chorus, “Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound,” is a lullaby for Catra from Adora in my mind. They’re together now, and Adora is not gonna let Catra go as long as she can help it.

In the Name of Love - Martin Garrix, Bebe Rexha

    The entire first verse of this song screams Catradora to me. “If I told you this was only gonna hurt If I warned you that the fire's gonna burn Would you walk in? Would you let me do it first? Do it all in the name of love Would you let me lead you even when you're blind? In the darkness, in the middle of the night In the silence, when there's no one by your side Would you call in the name of love?” there’s a lot to unpack here, but mostly this first verse is about trust. Catra spent so long in distrust and pain, she’s going to have to learn how to trust people again. This is Adora asking if Catra would let Adora take care of her, lead her, and help her because she loves her. I feel like this is something Catra would struggle with. Finally, the lyric, “When there's madness, when there's poison in your head. When the sadness leaves you broken in your bed, I will hold you in the depths of your despair,” speaks volumes. it’s all about the two recovering from everything healing themselves and healing each other. Love is the root of healing and trust. The love is there but it’s going to take a lot of work and practice to heal and to trust, but they are both there for each other.  

Let me know if you want more of these! They were fun!

[flamingbluepanda]

I love thinking about the cluster having a million kids like;

Daniela loving being a mother, loving every child she has, not knowing weather a kid is hernando’s or lito’s.

Literally, it becomes a running joke that when a particular kid is being bad, Lito will turn to hernando and say “that one is yours, definately”

Amanita not really wanting to get pregnant, and besides, Nomi can’t anyway, but they both really really want a kid, so Capheus helps them adopt poor kids in Nairobi

Riley offers to carry a kid for Nomi and Amanita but they say no, albeit respectfully

Mun being the best husband when sun gets pregnant and respecting her wish to only have one maybe two kids

Rajan keeping his promise to Kala and telling the children about her fainting at the wedding- only he tells them clearly that it was Wolfgang who caused her to faint.

Wolfgang crying the first time his kids call him Vatti.

Riley being terrified of having children of her own, but doing it anyway

One of hernando’s kids needs glasses and feels horrible about it, so hernando does silly things with his glasses to get the kid to smile and Lito HAS to kiss him

(“That one can be yours today, hernando”)

(Seriously, Daniela Lito And Hernando have an absolute horde of children)

Capheus making sure to take every page out of his mother’s book when it comes to parenting

Jela and Felix being the best uncles

Bug babysitting Nomi and Amanita’s kids!

Diego being a godfather

Diego holding Riley’s hand when she’s in labor because “will’s on his way, promise”

Diego absolutely SPOILING his godson or daughter

Nomi’s mother making approximately one (1) comment about how adopted kids aren’t part of the family and EVERYONE going tf off

Riley singing lullabies, the rest of the cluster singing them.

Everyone freaking out the first time a kid sniffles

Giant cluster birthday parties

Rajan doting on Kala while pregnant- and Wolfgang, because shit, two of his four cluster sisters are pregnant right now and he feels it

Lito and Hernando panicking EVERY TIME Daniela goes into labor

“Papa, papi, this is your 6th kid!”

Will holding a baby girl, crying his eyes out, buying her every nice thing under the sun and thanking Riley for this miracle

The kids calling another member of the cluster when their parents are being irritating

“Mom, mom says no- but I already asked her! You are so my mom, Arent you?”

The kids communicating and being penpals and understanding that they collectively have like, 20 parents.

And then, suddenly, they start forming their own clusters.

[turtletotem]

Flashes

Carol/Maria fic, “missing scene” style! About 1100 words.

.

Monica had not wanted to go to bed, had refused to even hear of it unless Auntie Carol tucked her in, read her a story, brought her water, sang her a lullaby.

"Child, you are eleven years old, you do not need a bedtime story," Maria tried to say, but Vers—Carol, her name was Carol—was happy to do it. Her only worry was that she didn't remember any Earth songs well enough to sing them all the way through. Monica's lullaby ended up being a Kree timekeeping chant. She didn't seem to mind; she fell asleep halfway through it.

Afterward, instead of joining the intense conversation Fury and the Skrulls seemed to be having in the dining room, Carol went outside. She sat down on the porch steps, looking up at the stars, as humidity settled onto her skin and some kind of nocturnal insect—hordes of them, it sounded like—sang in the woods around them.

"Crickets," Carol said, hearing Maria open the door and step toward her across the porch. How did she know Maria's steps? How did she know what crickets were?

"Yep," Maria said, sitting down next to her. "They sound beautiful out there. Not so beautiful when there's one in the house with you."

Carol closed her eyes and listened. Maria's arm brushed hers as she shifted position.

"Have I ever been to Louisiana before?" Carol asked.

"No. You grew up in New England," Maria said.

New England. The words brought an impression of chilly rain, grey streets, red leaves.

"The Air Force moved you to Florida," Maria continued, "and then California. I grew up here, but I didn't visit much while I was serving. Family didn't approve of… a lot of things." Carol glanced at her sideways; Maria was staring out into the darkness, her mouth tight. "So we weren't close then. But after you died, I… I needed them. I needed to come home."

Carol watched the sadness in her face, remembered a flash of something—Maria crying, wiping her face, hanging up on her mother. Remembered her own arms around Maria, tight, protective, hair against her cheek.

Here and now, their arms were still touching.

Carol swallowed. "Maria. Some of the flashes I see when I think of you…" Her voice failed. She had to clear her throat and start over. "I know we were friends, best friends, but were we… Were we…"

"Yeah," Maria whispered, her smile shy and uncertain. "We were. You couldn't talk about it then, either. Said you didn't want labels and b.s. like that." She rolled her eyes, indulgent. "Not that we coulda told anyone anyway, we'd have been drummed out of the Air Force."

They were together. They were. Carol had had someone like Maria, warm and kind and solid and beautiful, and then she'd died on her. And come back… like this, different, not remembering. How could she forget someone like Maria? "I'm sorry." Her voice came out as a croak. "I'm so sorry. I never would have left you on purpose." She'd been taken, taken away and lied to—

"I know that, honey!" Maria slid an arm around Carol's shoulders, hesitantly at first, then tightly when Carol leaned into the embrace. "I'm just so happy you're alive! Hell, even if we all die tomorrow, I'm glad you didn't die that day. I'm glad you got to have a few more years. The universe is a much poorer place without you in it. Trust me, I know."

Carol couldn't speak. She hid her face in Maria's shoulder, where the smell of engine grease, hair lotion, and Maria's skin was a shock of familiarity, tied to a thousand memories that danced just beyond the reach of her conscious mind. This had been her favorite smell in the whole world. It still was.

"Have you been okay?" Maria asked, shaky. "Have you been happy, with them?"

Carol hesitated. "Yes. I guess. Kree culture isn't the most warm and cuddly, especially Star Force, but… I had my commander, my team." She grimaced, pulling back to rub her face as if it hurt. It didn't; the pain was deeper than that. "Right now I don't want to think about how much they knew. But they were good to me, in their way. I've learned things from them, and I didn't hate my life. I was okay." Anger flared, and she felt her fist thump against the wooden porch. "But I knew things were missing. I knew! I knew there was supposed to be more! I had dreams, all the time—nightmares, but sometimes they weren't nightmares, sometimes they were… you. You and Monica. You and beer and dancing and flying. Home."

"Home." Maria pulled Carol's hand off the porch's edge, laced their fingers together. Pressed Carol's knuckle to her lips. "What is it that you see, in the flashes, that made you ask about… us? What do you remember?"

"A lot of little things." Carol couldn't look away from their entwined hands. "One… big thing. A tent, red and yellow. On a mountain, looking out over this beautiful lake, stone peaks and trees. The air felt so clean there. And cold, but you were warm..." Carol felt her face flush; unable to finish, she bit her lip and looked away.

Beside her, Maria made a sound—a laugh that snagged on its way out, threatening to become a sob. Only in that laugh, a glimpse of happiness in the place where the pain parted, could Carol really see how much all this shock and confusion was hurting Maria. "Our first kiss," Maria said. "You're remembering our first kiss. We were camping in Yosemite. You remember!"

"I wish I remembered more," Carol said. "More of kissing you. There's so much I've lost."

"Hmm." Maria smiled, shyly playful. "I might have some replacements available?"

"Oh," Carol said, blinking. "That would be great."

And it was great, warm and solid and beautiful like Maria, soft and sweet and gentle—when was the last time she had felt anything gentle?

She wasn't sure how long it took them to hear Fury clearing his throat on the porch behind them.

"When you're, uh, done here," he said, one eyebrow raised, "we have a plan we need your input on."

"Sure. Be right there," Carol said, and didn't move, watching Fury steadily until he backed away and went inside.

Maria was laughing, head against Carol's shoulder. "Yep. It's you."

"It's me." Carol tipped her chin up and kissed her one last time. "I guess we do have to go inside. Got a day to save and all that. Can't expect the menfolk to handle it alone."

Maria laughed again. "Higher further faster, baby."

They went inside holding hands, and among the things Carol had forgotten was how it felt to smile like this, a smile that seemed to take up her whole body, too big for her to hold, a rush that rivaled flying.

Higher further faster.

[nerdwaifuu]

Antique

Here’s a little something I wrote for a contest on Amino.

« Papa, papa! Can you tell us the story again? Puh-lease?~» A young girl begged before being sent from the couch to her bedroom for the night.

« Yeah dad, tell us about the music box, » The girl’s older, twin brothers said in unison.

« Alright alright. Hold your horses kiddos. Let me get the darn thing. » The father got the old music box. It was an old, small, dark wooden box; a faded yin-yang symbol with dragons in each side was painted on the lid with gold and black paint. When the lid was lifted, an old lullaby began to play and some items could be seen inside; a folded up piece of paper, an engagement ring, a wedding ring, a silver dog tag with the name ‘Luna Hord’ on it. The kids have seen the items many times in old photos and have read the awkward love letters tightly folded with a picture of a young woman chatting with a younger version of their father by a railing of a ship; both wore green soldier uniforms and armor.

“Alright, let’s begin...”

After a long night of dancing and food, the newly wed couple immediately crashed into the back of their pickup truck to stare at the not-so-clear night sky in their pajamas. It looked like it was going to rain, but the couple didn’t care. As long as it wasn’t stormy, everything was fine.

“Sooo...” the man turned his head toward his wife, having his long, brown, nearly ginger hair get in his face. “How does it feel to be Mrs. Bounty now?”

With a happy sigh, his wife answered, “Great, as long as you don’t call me ‘Mrs. Bounty’ all the time. Just sounds weird coming from you, Ronin.”

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t dare, Lulu.” Luna groaned at the nickname. Ronin couldn’t help but smirk. “You know you love it.”

“You know I don’t... Roonon.”

He rolled his eyes and turned his head back towards the sky. “Oh no, a nickname. I’m quaking,” Ronin teased without chuckling, but he lost it when he felt a hard jab hit his arm. Immediately, he heard Luna start giggling uncontrollably. Between her giggles, he could hear her try to apologize. They continued their laughing fits until they heard a car pull up next to them. Ronin immediately stopped, but it took a bit for Luna to come to the end of her fit. Once done, Ronin’s two eyes traded looks of confusion with Luna. Why would anybody be out so late?

Sitting up, Ronin saw it was his mother’s car that sat with them in their driveway. When she came out of the car, Ronin asked, «Hey Mom, whatcha doin’ here? »

Before she could answer, rain drops landed on each of their heads, slowly dropping from the cloud more rapidly. Ronin’s mother cursed under her breath while motioning toward the house. Nodding, he turned to look at Luna, who was now sitting up as well. She was looking at the sky with a childish grin and wonder in her eyes, allowing the rain to land on her olive skin. She has seen rain before from the inside of her family’s humongous home, but her parents said it was immature and not « lady-like » to go out to play in the rain, so she never had the sensation of rain dripping down her cheeks and the joy of jumping into puddles or singing in the rain. She only got to experience being outside in the rain once she was a soldier, but she had a mission to focus on. This would be the first time she could stand in the rain happily. Maybe later they could come back out for a bit if the weather doesn’t get worse.

Before exiting the back of the truck, Ronin tossed the house keys to his mother so she no longer had to suffer in the rain and nudged Luna to indicate it was time to go inside. With slight disappointment, Luna nodded and waited for Ronin to get out first to help her carefully drop to the ground; however, when he went to help her, Luna soon found herself being carried bridal style.

« When I said I needed help, I didn’t mean like this. » Luna retorted.

« Figured you wanted to give your feet a break. »

« I am still able to walk. » Luna slightly shifted in Ronin’s arms, sighing. « Besides, I want to get some more steps in before I not able to move around as much... » She glanced down at her stomach. The small baby bump was not noticeable under her baggy hoodie that she definitely did not steal from Ronin.

« You still have a couple months. You can still do a bunch of walking between now and then, but again, your feet need a break after all that dancing. »

Luna shook her head. « Right. All that slow waltzing and ballroom... »

« In high heels... and for a couple hours straight, » Ronin reminded her as he carried her into the house.

« Uhuh. After years of walking in those pieces of shit and going to those god damn parties since I was a literal child, I basically grew a tolerance to those little devils. »

« Language! » The two heard Ronin’s mother call out from the kitchen. Both let out a small laugh before Ronin said, « Yeah, says the lovely angel who was complaining on the way home about her feet hurting. »

He smirked as Luna sighed in defeat. She knew he was right about that, but her feet were fine now; however, there was no need to continue quarreling about such a silly thing.

Once Luna was set carefully on the couch, Ronin’s mother struggled to slowly and carefully carry three wine glasses, two with a red wine and the third with water.

“Let me help.” Ronin went over to grab the water and one of the wine filled glasses, and he handed Luna the water glass as she mouthed the words ‘thank you’ before taking a sip.

“You really took your time to get in here. I have no clue how you enjoy standing out there in the rain,” Ronin’s mother sighed. “You get drenched and end up feeling cold and clamy and you could get sick, which isn’t a good thing for you dear. If Ronin wasn’t my son, I wouldn’t be persistent on keeping him from looking like a wet dog, but you dear can’t be getting sick,” she rambled on, clearly speaking only to Luna as if Ronin wasn’t there.

He threw in a quick ‘excuse me?’ before Luna reassured, “Don’t worry Mary. I’m not reckless like a certain someone.” She shot a quick smirk at Ronin, who rolled his eyes as the two women giggled.

“I feel attacked,” He mumbled.

“True. At least he’s not as reckless as someone else...” Mary trailed off and looked at the decreasing red liquid in her glass. Ronin knew exactly who she was thinking about.

“Anyway, speaking of this someone... I have a little something-something for y’all,” Mary exclaimed happily as she scrambled for her purse. From the purse, she grabbed out a small wrapped gift and handed it to Luna. She let out another ‘thank you’ as she ripped the paper off like a child on her birthday. Under the shiny red paper was a wooden box, with a yin-yang with dragons inside the symbols hand painted in fading gold and black on the lid. Ronin and Mary remained silent as Luna examined the box. She mouthed the word ‘wow’ as she felt the polished wood and looked at the design. Her eyes lit up as music danced into her ears when she opened the lid. She felt like a child on Christmas. The box was beautiful. The calming lullaby reminded her of the lullabies her nanny sang to her when she was younger.

Although Luna grew up in a world where everything was given to her on a golden platter and she has always been given gifts that were way out of anyone’s normal price range, she adored this box. This was the type of gifts she always wanted; something full of love instead of riches.

“I love it! Thank you so much Mary!” Luna exclaimed as she got up to hug Mary.

“Anytime my dear,” She said as Luna went back to sit down. “I would’ve given this to you at the ceremony, but I couldn’t find it since I had packed it away, hoping to never to see it again... but I had to keep the tradition up.”

“Tradition?” Luna asked curiously.

“My family has been passing this thing down for who knows how long. It’s the go-to wedding gift. My grandparents on my dad’s side gave it to Mom and him when they got married,” Ronin swiftly answered before Mary could get a word in.

“Well it’s beautiful, I don’t understand why you would pack this up...” Ronin and Mary traded looks of what could only be described as pain.

“Well... uh...” Mary bit her lip, looking for the words to say.

“When I mean dad, I don’t mean Tom...” Ronin uttered. Tom was his step father. He was sweetest man that could’ve walked the planet. The man they were speaking of was the complete opposite of Tom. Ronin’s biological father was lying, cheating, abusive piece of shit. He was a man that Ronin did not want to become in the slightest, but any chance of him following his father’s footsteps worried him for what was to come. Any mention of him sent a chill down Ronin’s spine despite him always thinking of his actions when he found out that he was going to be a father; however, his life would have to be a absolute mess to do what his father did; be a part of gangs, constantly stealing, crime, getting himself into deep debt, drinking, violence, and probably much more that Mary wouldn’t dare bring up to Tom or Ronin.

Ronin could remember when his father was killed when Ronin was only 11. Fortunately he was out of his life 3 years earlier. When that happened, Ronin remembered that the music box disappeared from the shelf, but he never asked what happened to it. Now, it sat in Luna’s hands.

She stared down at the box with regret in her eyes. “I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ronin reassured her, wrapping his arm around her. “It’s a thing of the past. That man shouldn’t be associated with this anymore.” He gave her a kiss on the forehead, making her smile. Mary couldn’t help but smile too.

“Yeah, that a- butthole is a thing of the past. He’s gone and should be forgotten. We bigger things ahead of us, like a honeymoon and my future grandchildren.”

The three chatted through the night. With the music from the music box and the rain outside, Luna dozed into a deep sleep in Ronin’s arms, which was a que for Mary to decide it was time to go.

With a congratulations and a goodnight, Mary dissappeared into the rainy night. Smiling, Ronin closed his eyes and fell asleep to the rain and the music.

“Alright, time for bed.”

The story was finished for tonight, only to be retold the next night. Ronin of course left out details related to his father since there was no need for his story to be passed down any further.

His children protested, but was soon convinced to go to their rooms and go to bed. After tucking them into bed, Ronin set went into the small living room and set the music box on the shelf where it belonged. It was one of the only antiques he had in his house since all the others were in his shop; he wouldn’t dare sell this to anyone, even if they did offer a billion dollars for it.

A sad look was in his uncovered eye as he looked longingly at the box. He wished that he still contact with his mother and not have her angry at him. He wished that he could undo everything he did. He wished that she was still here beside him to watch her children grow up.

“I miss you Lulu.”

[hetalia-tlw]

Hetalia: The Lost World Part 17

~Asia, 4,000 Years Ago~                                                                                                                  

China was walking around in the newly formed part of Asia and with him was a little Japan. "Brother where are we going?" asked Japan in a sweet kid voice. "To see where this part of my country leads to, aru" said China. "Okay then" said Japan as followed along side China. After walking they soon discover that they reached to a new place, much to China's surprise. They kept walking till they came across a shrine where they saw a woman with long black hair.

Both China and his little brother came closer till they noticed that the woman was holding two babies in her arms. China and Japan went behind the bushes to get even more closer to the woman, till they stopped when she started to sing a lullaby, yet in a different language that's not familiar to China's. The woman had a nice and a soft voice while she sang, which made China calm for a bit. The woman stopped before bringing both the babies close to her just to make sure they were asleep. The woman then carefully placed her babies on a blanket that was made out of silk, before turning around to notice China staring at her. China than came out of the bushes and slowly walked up to her, before the woman screamed and backed away from him.

"너 누구야!? 너는 나에게 무엇을 원 하나 (Who are you!? What do you want from me)?" asked the woman who was scared to death. "Easy there, I'm going to hurt you, aru" said China before walking towards her. "내 괴물이 아니야 (Stay away from me, you monster)!" yelled the woman. "I'm not a monster and I mean you no harm, aru" said China before seeing Japan who was in front of the babies. Japan picked one of them up and carefully hold it in his arms. "Japan, what're you doing, aru?" asked China.

"Nothing, I'm just hording a baby. Rook at it brother, isn't it adorable?" asked Japan while the baby was starting to relax in his arms. The woman then laughs leaving China with a confused expression. "Excuse me miss, did you just laugh, aru?" asked China as the mysterious woman stopped only to give him a smile. "Of course I did. I never thought that someone would pick up one of my precious babies and be gentle with them" said the woman with an accent. "You can talk in a different language?" asked Japan. "Why yes I can. I can speak in your languages and my own which is called Korean" said the woman.

"Korean? Big brother, do you know what that is?" asked Japan. "I really don't know. It could be like your Japanese but only different, aru" said China. "Are you sure? It kind of sounds rike Chinese to me" said Japan. "Did you say that both of you are brothers? If you're wondering who I am, I'm Gojoseon" said Gojoseon. "We are brothers, but I'm Japan's older brother and I'm China by the way, aru" said China. "It's a pleasure to meet you" said Gojoseon with a smile.

"Are you a new country?" asked Japan. "I'm not really sure, the last time I checked was that I heard about some guy who plans on conquering all of Asia" said Gojoseon. "Do you mean Mongolia, aru?" asked China. "Oh him, I thought you were him" said Gojoseon. "Nonsense, we don't even look alike, aru" said China before Gojoseon chuckles. "Oh Japan, I can see that Im Yong Soo has taken a liking in you" said Gojoseon.

"Is that his name? That's not bad at all. Who's the other baby, aru?" asked China. "Oh, I gave birth to him first before his brother came along after him. I'm still working on his name though" said Gojoseon. "Don't worry I'll help you name him, aru" said China. "Thank you very much. One more thing: if anything happens to me, would you please take care of both of my beautiful children for me?" asked Gojoseon. "I don't think anything bad would happen to you. But if it happens Japan and I will take good care of them, aru" said China. "Okay then. Thanks for your support" said Gojoseon.

~Mongolian Empire, Years Later~  

"I knew I shouldn't took over Gojoseon's land and had her killed, aru" said China who was in chains along sided with an older Japan. "You had no choice brother, she was going to be conquered by Mongoria anytime soon or she might of been kirred by you-know-who" said Japan as he felt the chains were getting tighter around his wrists. "True, but we did made a promise to take good care of her two sons for her, aru" said China. "I know. But Mongoria just had to show up and ruin everything" said Japan. "Yeah and he ordered his men to give us tattoos on our backs, aru" said China while thinking back to the pain of his tattoo. "Do you mean Izerumi?" asked Japan before winching in pain due to his tattoo.

"Izerumi? What is that exactly, aru?" asked China. "It's a word that I created myself, when I punish criminals in my country" said Japan. "Oh right. You did mention that your people perform this, aru" said China. "Yep, they sure do and it looks very painfur to say the reast" said Japan. "Yeah, I sure bet it does. But why off all people, we were first, aru?" asked China. "It's because Mongoria hates us" said Japan. "Well that's a good way to put it, aru" said China.

~Meanwhile With Mongolia~

"Would you stop screaming! It will only go faster if you just hold still and stop crying!" yelled Mongolia. Mongolia was proud of himself for getting back at both China and Japan, who foolishly walked into his trap and both gave them tattoos as a form of torture. He was know giving Im Yong Soo a back tattoo before starting one on his older brother. "Now listen here you little brat, you're just weak and pathetic as your own mother. How could you expect to face life as a man if you can't handle a simple art protect on your back?" asked Mongolia as the man who doing the tattoo was finish with his work. Yong Soo was shaking after his tattoo was done and his checks were soaked with his tears, before his older brother was forcefully brought into the room. His brother was fighting Mongolia's men, before one of them chains him up to something heavy just to hold him down.

They then started to hold him down as the guy started to work on his art, by jabbing ink onto his ink with sharp needles. As soon as the needles made contact with his skin, Yong Soo's brother started to scream so loud it made echoes off the walls. "Please stop it! Quit hurting my brother!" yelled Yong Soo. "Oh really now? Why would you think that? I thought you were bad once the guy placed those needles into your skin, but look at your brother he's even worse" said Mongolia with a devilish smirk on his face. Once Yong Soo heard what Mongolia said to him, he couldn't save his brother. He only watched him trying to move around but couldn't and only heard nothing but screams of pain.

~The Age Of Early Europe, Many Years Later~

Yong Soo was seen traveling with Iyong ju throughout Asia till they came to a stop to look at the waterfall. "Brother, what are we doing here?" asked Yong Soo as his brother was done refilling the water supply. "I'm not sure. I just followed what other path there was and it looks like we ended up in a new land" said Iyong ju. "How can that be? I thought a capital wasn't suppose to be exploring" said Yong Soo.

"Brother, what did I tell you about myself? I'm a part of you and I'm technically your northern part" said Iyong ju. After hearing this Yong Soo, offered to collect firewood and help set up the shelter for the night. While getting more firewood with his brother they encountered a beautiful woman with long brown hair that flows gently behind her. "I never thought Germania and Ancient Rome found more recruits to defeat me" said the woman with a thick English accent. "No, we're not recruits. We came from the Asian homeland and we come in peace" said Yong Soo. "Oh, that's a relief. Who are you then?" asked the woman.

"I'm Iyong ju and this is my little brother, Yong Soo" said Iyong ju. "Actually, he's my capital" said Yong Soo before getting a glare from his own brother. "How interesting. I'm the great and legendary empire known as Britannia" said Britannia as she takes out a sword from her right side. "Nice to meet you too" said Yong Soo with a warming smile. "Thanks. You boys seem to be getting use to the English language, I might need to teach you a couple of things" said Britannia. "Things like what?" asked Iyong ju with concern in his eyes. "You'll see for yourselves" said Britannia.

~The Early Days Of Great Britain~

After years of being taught on how to be a proper gentleman mixed with learning the real English, Iyong ju and Yong Soo were called by Britannia. "You made it just in time" said Britannia as she motioned both the Korean brothers to sit down and have some tea (in a proper fashion). "Brit- I mean Ms. Britannia, we got your message and we wonder why you called us" said Iyong ju firmly as Britannia stopped sipping from her teacup. "The reason why I called you two is that I want to show you something" said Britannia. "What is it?" asked Yong Soo who looked eager to see what it is. "Oi! Guard, can you be a dear and come over here?" asked Britannia as one of the nearest guards jumped in surprise before coming towards her.

"Yes, milady? What can I do for you on this fine day?" said the guard. "Enough with the flirting already! I want to you to bring him in" said Britannia as the guard straighten. "As you wish" said the guard before leaving the room. "What does mother want now?" shouted a voice. "My young boy, your mother called you for apart of her special surprise" said another voice. The guard from before came back into the room.

"Milady, your staff is dealing with an issue and we wish to hear what you're planning to do" said the guard. "I'll tell you want I'm planning to do and that is if you allow me to see him" said Britannia before getting up and following the guard out the door. A few minutes later, Britannia came back into the room along wither a small boy with her hair color and uhh... large eyebrows. "Mother, I told you that I don't want be involved and that I want to go play" said boy with such attitude in a thick English accent. "Arthur, that's not how you treat a lady and your own mother. I want you to act like a proper young man and respect my guests on this day" said Britannia without noticing Arthur rolling his eyes. "Boys, I want you to meet my firstborn son Arthur also known as Great Britain or England for short" said Britannia as Arthur stared at Yong Soo first before his eyes landed on Iyong ju.

Yong Soo gave Arthur a smile as Iyong ju gave him a small wave, which made Arthur hide under the table. "Arthur! I told you countless times to not hide under furniture or any large object" said Britannia as Arthur whimpered. Iyong ju heard Arthur whimper and went under the table to see him crying. "Hey there little fella, why are you crying?" asked Iyong ju as Arthur looked at Jason. "Go away" said Arthur before turning his head around. "I'm not going to hurt you, I'm just wondering why you're crying" explained Iyong ju.

"I'm not crying! I'm Great Britain and I don't cry" said Arthur. "Well to me, you're crying" said Iyong ju. "Why are you even talking to me? Aren't you from Asia and related to the people there?" asked Arthur. "Well, my brother and I are from Asia; however, we aren't related to the many people there" said Iyong ju. "Than who are you related to?" asked Arthur. "Well it's kind of a long yet awkward story. But, I'll only tell you if you promise to follow out from under this table and into the kitchen" said Iyong ju before lifting his head up till he hit his head.

Arthur than laughed as he heard Iyong ju murmuring a small 'ow'.  When they both entered the kitchen, Iyong ju was telling Arthur about himself and his brothers while cooking something. Arthur was very eager into helping cook something with Iyong ju, he wanted to put the eggs in which Iyong ju told him how to. Iyong ju than showed Arthur how to mix the eggs along with the butter and flour, but Arthur almost had a heart attack when hearing France's voice. However, Iyong ju made France get out of the kitchen and told Arthur many ways to ignore a person even if they are annoying.

~The Time Of The United Kingdom, 18th Century~

After years had passed, there were many changes. The first change was that Germania, Ancient Rome, and all of the other empires had dissolved over the years. Arthur hoped that Britannia would stay with him, but she told him that she'll have to go so he can form his own country. It had been years since Arthur heard those words and after awhile he had discovered that Britannia dissolved as well. Arthur didn't know Britannia was gone after he came home to show her his progress, only to notice she wasn't there. Luckily, Iyong ju and Yong Soo were with him and helped him with his issues.

It wasn't till, Yong Soo was given a message and left Europe to head back to Asia, where China and Japan waits for his return. When Yong Soo left, Iyong ju stayed with Arthur as they continued their adventures. Years passed as Iyong ju gotten a few happy moments with Arthur. The first moment was him meeting Alfred and Matthew, after they were found by France and Iceland. Iyong ju helped Arthur into raising both Alfred and Matthew while teaching them how to read and write.

Iyong ju often hears from his brothers, but mainly Yong Soo about what's happening in Asia. The only thing that had Iyong ju shocked and worried was the fact that, Japan grew more independent and when China confronts him, their brotherly relationship came to an end. Speaking of independence, Alfred has been rebelling against Arthur and wanted to leave Europe which made Arthur's heart break. Iyong ju wanted to help, but a little part tells him that he does, he will never get a happy result with it. Iyong ju was called by England and before goes into the room, Iyong ju takes a deep breathe before entering. Once he entered, he noticed England was looking at the portraits on the wall.

Iyong ju walks more into the room, as Arthur slowly turns around to face him. "Ah Iyong ju, I'm glad you could make it" said Arthur while giving off a smile. Arthur then comes over to two chairs and sat down on one of them. Iyong ju saw this and went over to sit down, not wanting to be rude. "Arthur, what do want to talk about?" asked Iyong ju while trying to get comfortable. "Well many things I suppose, but the real reason is just to simply talk about Alfred" said Arthur as his smile goes away.

"What about him?" asked Iyong ju who grew concerned. "Well... he... uhhh... is like rebelling against me" said Arthur while fiddling his hands in a nervous way. "Rebelling? Arthur, what did you do to him?" asked Iyong ju with a stern tone. "Nothing! Whenever I try to reason with him and correct him, he usually yells at me" said Arthur. "It's called being a teenager. He's just going through some things" said Iyong ju not losing his stern tone. "Really? Iyong ju, can you do me a favor?" asked Arthur.

"Sure I can. What is it?" asked Iyong ju as Arthur shifted in his seat. "Can you at least check up of him for me? The reason why is that, he ignores my existence whenever I go near him" said Arthur before Iyong ju got up and walked towards the doors. Before Iyong ju opened them, he turned around to face Arthur. "So... do you want me to check up on Matthew as well?" asked Iyong ju. "Sure thing. As long as you talk to Alfred for me" said Arthur before Iyong ju opened the doors and left the room to find Alfred. Iyong ju searched for Alfred and I'm not joking nor I'm not kidding.

Iyong ju pretty much turned all of England upside down in order to find Alfred, he wondered why Alfred was so hard to find even though he was so loud that anyone can hear from miles away. Iyong ju stopped and think, till he realized that he was put into Alfred's shoes, than he'll probably be discussing about his independence. Iyong ju soon found Alfred at a bar, where he saw him in the back talking about the New World. "And then we get onto this boat and sail all the way to here" said Alfred while showing some of the people where "here" was on a large map. Alfred soon looked up to see Iyong ju and boy was he so happy. "Dude, you're here! Hey guys, meet my second caretaker that was talking about earlier" said Alfred as everyone looked to see Jason who waved a small hello sign to them.

"Well aren't you good looking. I'm flattered that you're not compared to the bloody personification of this country" said a man who walked to Iyong ju with a warming smile. "Dude, this is George Washington and he's helping me lead my independence" said Alfred with a smile. "Nice to meet you, kind sir" said Iyong ju while shaking hands with George Washington. "Okay then, Iyong ju what brings you here?" asked Alfred. Iyong ju thought for moment and realized that Alfred isn't that much of a rebel. "Uhh... nothing really. I just wanted to tell that I'm kind of proud of your actions" said Iyong ju which made Alfred smile even more.

"Really dude? That's so cool of you to say that! I'm glad that you're not like Arthur who is trying to stop my dream pride" said Alfred. "Alfred, I wish you luck on your independence" said Iyong ju before leaving. On the way out Iyong ju heard the words "Thanks! I'll will!", before leaving the bar. As Iyong ju soon goes back outside, he decides to look for Matthew. Iyong ju finds him at the shore and to his surprise, he noticed that France was there. "Hey Matthew" said Iyong ju as Matthew looked up to see him and he came over to Iyong ju. "I-Iyong ju, what are you doing here?" asked Matthew in his sweet yet soft voice.

"I was going to ask you the same question as well" said Iyong ju. "I-Iyong ju, is A-Arthur mad at us?" asked Matthew as Iyong ju realized it was both Alfred and him. "No, he isn't. He's just worried that's it" said Iyong ju. "W-Worried about what?" asked Matthew before Iyong ju came down to face him at his own level. "Arthur is just upset, that Alfred announced his independence" said Iyong ju. "I-Is the New World a scary place?" asked Matthew. "No it's not. Matthew, before you get on that ship with Alfred, don't forget that I raised you" said Iyong ju. "Was it France that found me?" asked Matthew. "That was only when you were a baby. Once you get to the New World, you will be protected by Alfred" said Iyong ju before ruffling Matthew's hair up as Matthew smiled.  

~Present Day~

"Wake up dude, wake up" said America who was shaking Iyong ju. Iyong ju felt this and opened his eyes to see America. "Alfred, what are you doing?" asked Iyong ju before yawning. "I was trying to wake you up" said America as Iyong ju looked at time, it read 11:30 p.m. "Wake me up? It's already nighttime and it's almost midnight" said Iyong ju. "Oh it is? My bad, but you were asleep before we arrived" said America.

"Arrived where exactly?" asked Iyong ju before rubbing his eyes. "We're in Wisconsin, right now. Tomorrow morning, we are going to have breakfast and then we are going to continue our journey up to Canada" said America. "So where are we suppose to be at for beds?" asked Iyong ju. "At the most popular hotel in America" said America while smiling. Iyong ju looked at widow to see a hotel along with a fancy neon glowing sign and let out a small sigh. "I thought the hotels at Disney World were suppose to be fancy and there even more expensive than this" said Iyong ju before getting out of the car and went inside the hotel with America. After getting a hotel room and a card, America went back outside to get more of his stuff. Iyong ju lays down on one of the beds and stares up at the ceiling. "How could we be in Wisconsin? Weren't we just in Michigan like a few hours ago? Was I really asleep for that long?" asked Iyong ju while trying remember what he did last.

~Flashback~

In Detroit, America was showing Iyong ju the whole entire town. "Uhh... Alfred, are you really sure you can't just show anything else besides Detroit?" asked Iyong ju. "Not really. Detroit is the most largest town in the state, while Michigan itself is the tenth most popular state in my country" said America with a smile. "I think you mean that Michigan is the tenth most populous state in your country and it was formerly ranked as the eighth back in 2010" said Iyong ju as America's smile slowly faded away. "Where did you get the information from?" asked America. "While we were in Washington D.C, I found the information in the database" said Iyong ju.

"They actually allowed it? But why exactly?" asked America who was shocked. "I was curious, Alfred. Besides they normally wouldn't allow random people to look at the database" said Iyong ju. "Well that explains why I'm never allowed to go anywhere that involves top secret information" said America. "Do they usually allow you to see the information?" asked Iyong ju. "Not really, but sometimes. But I'm guessing that they are trying to protect me because I'm the personification" said America. Soon after the tour, America took Iyong ju to a bar which featured a karaoke machine and the two did duets together all night long.

~Flashback Ends~

"I can't believe I had a drinking game with America that involves karaoke in it" said Iyong ju as he rethinks back to the memory. America then comes back to the room while holding a tape in his hand, before Iyong ju looked up and saw it. "Oh Iyong, look what I found" said America before holding up the tape. "What is it?" asked Iyong ju with a concern in his voice. "It's a tape" said America with a smile. "I know it's a tape, but what's on it?" asked Iyong ju.

"Oh, it contains footage on our duets back in Detroit" said America. "Wait a minute... did you actually had someone video tape us while we were doing karaoke?" asked Iyong ju. "Yeah, just to see how cool we were" said America before putting the tape in a VHS player that was hooked up to the tv. The tape shows both Iyong ju and America doing covers on Timber, Life is a Highway, Uptown Funk, It's Tricky, Believer, and Staylin' Alive while Iyong ju swears to himself that it wasn't even him who agreed to any of America's ideas.

~Meanwhile With Al~

Al was driving throughout the route to Canada on a motorcycle that he stole from a biker gang back in Duluth. He had to find a more comfortable ride other than a traveling bus and he managed to find a motorcycle that was more his style. Al can still remember finding the motorcycle and the guy who owned it.

~Flashback Again, But In Al's POV~  

Al was riding with a bunch of people on a bus that was traveling to Duluth and mostly Al was spending some his hard earn cash. "God, I hate people and I hate buses. But mainly I hate both so..." said Al before noticing kids on the bus. "Oh yeah, I forgot that I'm not suppose to be swearing around children" whispered Al as he rethinks back to what Oliver taught him in his youth. 'Damn you cupcake loving bastard, for teaching me in my early days. But I'm kind of grateful for you on teaching me how to rebel like a mother[beep]er for my own independence' thought Al as he watched the kids playing with each other while messing around, as their parents try to calm them down. Al smiles to himself without anyone noticing, while he thinks back to his happiest memories with Matt and the other 2Ps before the Great War. After awhile when everyone was asleep, Al got off at the bus stop which was across from a bar.

Al noticed a line of motorcycles that were parked as sign of a motorcycle gang was hanging out. Al went over to the bar and to the motorcycles to look at them. Soon Al's eyes met with a motorcycle that stood out the most to him, as he went over it. "What a badass looking bike, which I can't wait to steal. But the keys to this bad boy isn't even in the ignition, so where could those keys be?" asked Al before realizing that the keys are inside the bar. Al then went up to the bar and looked at one of the windows to see the person with the keys who was playing at a pool table with three of his biker buddies. Al then went inside the bar, as nobody looked up and he got down on the floor and crawled quietly on the floor till he reached to the pool table and grabbed the keys from the guy, who didn't seem to be noticing what's around him or in this case what's below him.

After getting the keys, Al crawled his way to the bathroom to see if he got the right set of keys and to his surprise he got the right keys. Al then came out of the bathroom and walked his way to the exit, believing that he could get away before the guy noticed that his keys are gone. Once Al made it to the door, he stopped in his tracks while hearing "Hey, where did this bubble wand come from?" Al turned around to see the guy who owns the motorcycle that Al was going to steal was holding a bubble wand in his hand. Al realizes that it was the same bubble wand that he stole from a kid on that same bus he was on before. "Ya'll know the rules" said the guy before snapping his fingers.

"All bubble blowers will be beaten senseless under the given circumstances of the bar" said all the gang members and all the workers of the bar. "Good job on rememberin'. Now, which one you owns these bubble wand?" asked the same guy who happens to be the leader. "Uhh... sir it could be a false alarm, so you could be-" before one the gang members could finish his sentence he got a beer bottle thrown at him. "Did I stay ya could talk, Marcus?" asked the leader as Marcus was recovering from the impact. "No, sir" said Marcus while trying not to show any signs of disrespect. "Well if anyone isn't goin' to come clean, then it's time for us to get the bubble blower to come out clean. DJ Skull, it's time for the test" said the leader as Al looked at the corner to see a DJ giving the thumbs up before setting up a record player.

"As DJ Skull is settin' up the record player and sound system, I want everyone to line up. That's an order!" yelled the leader as everyone (including Al) lined up in a straight line only facing the leader. "Alright DJ Skull, start playin' the record" said the leader as DJ Skull pressed the play button and soon the song "Highway to Hell" started to come from the speakers. 'Oh s***! Of all songs they had to play this one' thought Al while trying to hold in the feeling of singing to the song. "Nobody could ever resist into not singin' along to this song" said the leader while walking down the line to see if anyone while start singing to it. The leader comes to a guy who coughs, before the guy sees his leader and begins to panic. "Aha! You're the bubble blower!" said the leader while pointing at the guy.

"No, you're wrong! I only coughed, I swear!" said the guy before leader continued down the line, while not say anything else to him. It wasn't long till the leader reached to Al who was sweating so badly. "Come on buddy, just come out clean" said the leader with a chuckle before Al punched him in the face, causing the leader to get pushed back as everyone grasped in shock. "Oops... did I just punched you?" asked Al in a sweet tone. "Why ya little bastard... ya can't punch me in the face like that" said the leader while his hand was still covering his face. "At least I didn't break your nose or anything" said Al still maintaining his sweet tone. "Ya did break somethin' and that's my nose!" yelled the leader before moving his hand to reveal his nose that appears to be dripping blood.

"Sorry about that. I didn't know what came over me" said Al. "That's it! Get 'em, boys" said the leader as his entire gang came out to Al. However, Al was much faster than everyone and with amazing speed and reflexes, he managed to defeat a whole entire biker gang for about under 5-10 minutes. "That was a fine fight, I must say. But unfortunately, I can't waste my valid time for another playdate" said Al before leaving the bar and took off on the leader's motorcycle.

~Flashback Ends~

Al continues through the open highway to the border line of Canada and America, where he notices that nobody else on driving on the same road as him. It wasn't long till he reached to the crossing line, where he comes up to one of the toll booths to get into Canada. When he got up to pay the fee or in this case scare the living hell out of the officer, to his surprise he encountered Vladimir. "Are you heading inside the borders of Canada, da?" asked Vladimir with a small smirk on his face. "You sure bet I am. Aren't you supposed to be in Moscow?" asked Al. "Well I was, but I wanted to do my own thing. My 1P can wait till another day" said Vladimir before he got on the back of the motorcycle. Once Vladimir was on the motorcycle, the booth's toll arm went up and they both drove down the road to meet up with Matt in Toronto.