#whether the theatre was being used for an event or i never stopped to just LISTEN

[yellowcrumpet]

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So was anyone going to tell me ARR’s “Answers” theme is playing as background music at the Amphitheatre in Gridania or was i just supposed to find out myself playing on my Elezen character?

[pendarling]

The Town Theatre

Hero had to keep themselves level-headed as they watched the portrayal of their hero persona up on stage. They didn't think the town would actually take it this far, considering they were the only hero to save the citizens from Villain. Clearly, it didn't deter the townsfolk from writing a reconstruction of the events they saw into a play.

So when Hero sat down excited to view the story from the citizen's perspective, their jaw could not drop any lower.

"Oh, Villain, I know our love can't be understood," the actor that played them leaned up against the supposed version of Villain, their faces only mere centimetres apart. "But I'll do anything to be with you."

"I don't care, my love. They won't stop us."

Hero internally cringed, but looking around them, the audience silently watched with awe. Was this honestly how they saw Villain and them whenever they fought? Or were they so blinded by fantasy that it blurred the lines for them?

Hero would never act like this in a million years. Sure, there was occasional banter, but never to a romantic degree.

The crowd clapped as soon as the actors on stage kissed. They wanted to leave so badly, but curiosity kept them seated. They paid good money for their seat, and they would not waste it just not to see this through. Their hand went up to their mouth as the show kept going. They might have to barf sooner rather than later.

Hero had to wonder, however, if they could even make their appearances the same again; knowing what they know now, their interactions with Villain would have to change by force. It was the only way to stop people from making further assumptions about their relations. Besides, this was supposed to be a strictly work-related exchange, nothing beyond it.

As the play progressed, it kept getting worse. Eventually, Hero opted for a break; maybe a walk outside would do the trick. They stood from the chair and walked up the aisle to the double doors. By the time they had gotten out, the sun had just started to set.

They sat on the sidewalk's edge and stared into the sky, reeling from the dramatic play.

What were they even supposed to make of it?

"Crazy people…" They slowly shook their head in disbelief and numbly began walking back home. They would likely never recover from this again and probably refrain from fighting Villain in public spaces any longer. The risks were too high, and they didn't need the distraction.

It hadn't even been three minutes until the loud ringing of their phone went off, and as they checked their phone, it alerted them to a nearby police station in trouble. Hero worked with the police force, so for them to warn Hero directly meant trouble was up, and by the look of the locations, it was directly behind the theatre they left.

"Are you serious?" They mumbled and tapped on the screen. Villain was up to no good again and, as usual, had made their grand entrance by blowing up an entire row of police vehicles. Hero wasn't sure why Villain did the things that they did. Maybe it was for a form of satisfaction; the majority of the issues they've been causing were pointless and never led up to anything more remarkable than it.

Hero reflected on the chances of being caught out in the public's view again, especially after promising themselves a change of pace. They couldn't mull on it any longer, though; it was better to deal with it now and confront Villain about their actions. Hero spun on their heels and turned back around; whether they would be embarrassed or not was out of the question.

~~~ MASTERLIST

[grimm-rider]

Entry 27

Before I get into more recent events, a few more important things I missed in my last entry. Because a hell of a lot’s happened.

After we killed the Crone Queen in the library and another that had Numerian missiles, Elvanna’s new threat rather than our own families was to Nadya’s family. So we hurried to the little village where we’d left them and joined Nadya in a fight against another Crone Queen and her minions. In which Nadya’s kids threw dung on the winter witches from hiding while we rained death from above on the rooftops. It was great. Now Nadya’s back and helping with the resistance, and her kids have made a little spy network. Because no one ever suspects the children. This was entirely the kids’ idea, by the way. We didn’t just decide to send kids out to gather intel for us. But they’re quite good at it.

After saving Nadya’s family we met with the Heralds of Summer’s Dawn, who judged Peanut, and with Nestian’s help decided to forgive him for the mistakes he’d made in disbanding them. Now they’re going to help us too. Although they revealed to us that a circus was coming to town run by a man from Keisuke’s universe. Someone apparently deeply connected to Nestian’s family, and in a very bad way. He would have to be stopped, because his existence in this world was throwing all of the followers of Gozra’s powers into chaos.

After that is when we saved Greta, and then I spoke to Keisuke in the Nonagon.

Then we killed a Crone Queen at the theatre, saved a bunch of people, and got the horde of a dragon. This was just before we met the plant man and sprung Cesseer from jail. This is also where I lost Roscoe and took control of a mouthy piece of shit demilich I’ve been calling Walter. Walter is currently in time out in my bag of holding because he wasn’t very discerning with where he aimed his Wail of the Banshee in combat and he hit Greta. And then he said she shouldn’t have been in the way. So he’s staying in the bag until further notice. Possibly forever. I might look into how to destroy demiliches and enlist Edeya’s help to destroy him (I suspect it will involve positive energy). We’ll see how spiteful I’m feeling in a few days.

Anyways before Walter fucked up and got himself banned from experiencing anything but the void of the Bag of Holding, I asked him how one becomes a lich. Because it seemed like the most straightforward way for a necromancer to gain immortality at the time. The demilich told me that the final step in the ritual is usually some form of sacrifice. And it’s generally crossing a line so horrible there’s no going back.

I’ve never been one to shy away from lines, so this didn���t deter me from looking into it further later. But we’ll get to that.

I made a Demiplane, for our group’s privacy and safety, and also for my own personal use in the future. It is called Grimm Labyrinthus. It’s not so intricate magically as the Nonagon—not being set up on top of the Eon Pit and all—but I still think I’ve made a rather clever wonder all the same. I won’t be committing its secrets to paper. But I will say the Labyrinth part in the name is quite literal if you don’t know where you are meant to go within it.

After we finished the jailbreak and got a wonderful rest in my new home, we decided to deal with the nasty little clown infestation in town. It was time to shut down the circus that had apparently haunted Nestian’s family for two generations.

We fought through various twisted fey while Jairess channeled Gozreh, determining whether they would agree with Nestian’s balance or the ringmaster’s chaos in nature.

Nestian came out victorious. In a final desperate moment the ringmaster tried to cheat. Jairess stopped him by summoning the spirit of a powerful archdruid from the past.

It was Nestian’s father.

Nestian and his father put an end of whatever this dark chapter of their family history was.

I don’t really get what happened next, but from how Nestian and Peanut talked, it sounds like Nestian got a chance to talk to his father afterwards. His expression is hard to read generally, but he definitely looked happy after that.

…

Miracle can do a lot of things. Bringing back the dead without a body should be entirely within the realm of possibility. I don’t know if him being from another universe might make things more difficult, but…

Keisuke killed him. I could undo it.

Nestian deserves to have his entire family.

Honestly Aenland does, too. But I feel more cautious about broaching that topic given how sensitive the subject is for him. Maybe just healing his mother, though…?

If I could do it, why shouldn’t I?

But that’s for later. Elvanna is already threatening to kill our families. Probably better not to give her more targets for the time being.

And that about catches us up. To last night, when I wrote my previous journal entry.

See, after the circus was done with, I still had two uses of Miracle left for the day. So I decided to make use of them. I used them both to cast the spell Legend Lore. Once on an Iron Flask we’d found, to discover what creature was held within it. And once on myself. To learn once and for all what my path to lichdom was.

The spirits I called on for Legend Lore whispered to me, and I saw a vision.

I was in the House of Murder. It was me, but changed. It was me, but so beautiful, and so powerful. I can still see it in my mind’s eye and my heart aches that it will never be a reality.

Because next to me was a second figure. Their visage changed, flickering between familiar faces. Aenland, Nestian, Edeya…Greta…

No matter which face the figure wore, it was slumped before me. With a knife in their back. Killed at their height, their life cut short during their crowning achievement.

That is the line.

I could laugh if I didn’t just want to fucking break something.

The line that was staring me in the face this entire time. The one I said even months ago I wasn’t strong enough to cross. And my resolve has only weakened since then.

This is a cruel joke. The height of power that a necromancer can get, just out of reach. I can see it. It would be so easy to reach out and take it. To make that beautiful vision a reality.

And yet it would not be easy at all. It would be torturous. I would sooner cut out my own heart than harm Greta. And even if I had the resolve to kill one of the others…I would still lose her. She cares about the others, just as I do. If I killed one of them for power, I wouldn’t lose just one of them. I would lose all of them. There would be no forgiveness or understanding for that betrayal. Nor should there be.

So the only way to gain the one thing I need to remain outside of the Boneyard’s grasp would lose me everything else. What would be the point of beauty and power and immortality if I’m alone?

Fuck. These assholes really have changed me. I don’t even know when it happened. When did I quit only relying on myself—only trusting myself—and start putting them before even my own ambitions? I can’t pinpoint a single moment, a flip of the switch between not caring and caring. Somewhere the gradient smeared, with such subtly it’s hard to say when it changed from black to grey, and my priorities shifted from gaining the things I want, to protecting what I already have—those in my circle who somehow became precious to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I still want power and immortality. I’ll just have to find a way that doesn’t involve sacrificing my companions. Others have found the secrets of immortality before me. And I’m going to get mythic power one way or another. So…it should be possible. It must be possible.

It just won’t be as easy as a single death at the right time and place.

It’s almost enough to make me want to wish my damn emotions away, so I could reach for what I want unimpeded. But then I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my final reward. Power and immortality and no ability to feel pride in making it that far, no ability to feel joy in having bested Pharasma’s game of life and death…it would be a hollow victory, just as pointless in the end as ending up alone with my emotions intact would be.

Is that it, then? Is that the joke Pharasma’s played on the world? Either die and face her judgement, or get an empty self-defeating victory in immortality?

That can’t be right. I refuse to believe that’s right. There must be a way to gain immortality that doesn’t defeat the purpose. Maybe not the way Baba Yaga gained it, maybe not lichdom, but that power has to be out there somewhere.

Mythic power will be my first step towards it. Maybe it will even be my key to unlocking it.

Anyways. I’ve waxed poetic about how fucking awful the universe is for snatching away the thing I want most enough, I think.

I tried to take my mind off it by making a little personal trek to Abbadon to fetch Roscoe. Then I returned to the clocktower and slept off my sour mood. With Greta there. She didn’t even have to ask what was wrong. She just acknowledged that something *was* wrong, then shifted into her wolf form and curled up with me. It helped. Having her there. It hurt, like a dagger through my own heart. But it also helped. Her presence reaffirmed that I didn’t want to lose her—not for anything.

The next day we had a surprise visit from Ratibor, our good old mortal incarnation of Kostchtchie. He told us that Baba Yaga gave him something to give to Jadrenka—it was a note for 2 weeks paid time off. A bit perplexing, but given that Baba Yaga works about fifteen steps ahead of the rest of us I’m sure it’ll make sense when the time comes.

Seeing as Baba Yaga was clearly telling us where to go next, we put our current plans on hold (a trip to the bathhouse to kill the Crone Queen shacked up there), and instead teleported back to Ioberia. For the first time in 4000 years, technically.

We had one other detour first, though. To the roof of the clocktower, because we heard Wuso scream, and had a second surprise visit for the day—from Calistria herself.

I forgot to mention when I talked about the theatre. Calistria was in the audience, in disguise. Still absolutely radiating sexual energy. Hottest god in the pantheon indeed.

This time she was not disguised. She appeared before Wuso in all her glory.

And she stripped Wuso of her power, before telling the rest of us that this was the second of three times we’d be meeting. Then the elven goddess disappeared, leaving Wuso at the edge of the clocktower, absolutely shattered.

The others tried to comfort her. I said nothing. I had no words of comfort to give. They all tried to reassure her that it would be ok, or that maybe this was just a test.

I wanted to say that sometimes gods are fickle. Gods are so much more powerful than us, that there is no way they see the world the way that we do. There is no way to know what Wuso did that made Calistria do this. It could be any little thing. It could be nothing at all. When you have power, the powerless are your toys to play with.

But the others were trying to hard to draw her back from the edge. So I said nothing.

Before Calistria had told us before she left that we should take Wuso to Ioberia with her. Because she would need a distraction from ‘a bad breakup’.

The others interpreted this as a test for Wuso, something she would have to face to get her powers back. Maybe it is. Calistria must have said it for a reason. Or maybe Wuso has a destiny not tied to Calistria, and she is setting her on that path—whether she likes it or not.

Aenland asked Wuso if that was what *she* wanted to do—regardless of what Calistria said. Wuso agreed, she wanted to come with us. So we teleported, once again, to Ioberia.

We appeared on top of the Maiden Statue, and immediately met a strange gun wielding man with red tinted glasses, who killed the riddle tree when it sent berserk after he answered the stupid riddle we’ve heard four times now correctly. It was going to eat Aenland, who had climbed into its mouth—again. Not that Aenland was likely in any danger, that tree was maybe dangerous when we came here 4000 years ago, but we have grown in power exponentially since then.

The fact this man answered the riddle, however, also implies he knew the previous Black Rider. By name, not just by title.

He introduced himself as Indrid Cold. The man Keisuke had warned me about. The one he’d suggested I kill on sight. I did not do as he suggested—primarily because this man had a sense of power about him that gave me reason to pause. I have the distinct feeling I would not be capable of killing Indrid Cold alone—nor do I think my companions would be willing to take up arms against him on Keisuke’s behalf.

So instead I simply kept my guard up, incase the man had any ill-intent. He claimed that he wanted to come with us into Artrosa because it had certain defenses that would target the strongest in the party with their worst memories. He’d seen visions of the worst ways this could go wrong. So he wished to join us so that it would specifically target him and none of us by default as he without a hint of uncertainty said he was the most powerful one here.

Aenland claimed if we’d gone in alone we all knew it would target him. I am in severe disagreement on that matter. And if it had pulled from my memories, there was as much chance as not that it could pull something I don’t even remember, so it wouldn’t be particularly personal.

Regardless, there was little choice but to agree to let this man come with us.

As we prepared to enter Artrosa for the fourth time, Indrid pulled me aside. He said that he’d seen—with whatever future sight he has—that I did not trust him due to Keisuke’s warnings in most possible futures. He said he would not try to convince me with words, since I knew better than most how words can be twisted to one’s own benefit. Instead he would let his actions speak for him.

I told him that was all fine and good, but until then he would have to forgive me if I was going to be cautious until he had sufficiently proven himself trustworthy. He agreed that he expected no less.

So long as we have an understanding.

After that we delved into Artrosa proper. As we reached the bottom of the stairs, Indrid seemed rather offput. He said something was wrong. The room we entered was not what he’d seen in his visions.

We had entered a familiar room with a gazebo in the center. Many spectral figures of Jadrenka as the mother, maiden, and crone stood to the sides. And under the gazebo, just as we’d first met her, bull and all, was Jadrenka.

The bull was not disguised a gorgon waiting to kill us this time at least.

We approached, and spoke to Jadrenka. Radibor almost barreled her over in a hug. He told her he had something for her, but she said to wait until the end to give it to her, as the events to unfold might affect things.

Apparently being back here had returned Jadrenka’s memories. At least, the ones she hadn’t already been getting back on her own. She had taken up the position of warden again. Because Artrosa needed a warden, and her mother was dead. She thanked us for not making her warden so many years before—she was aware of how poorly that would have gone. But she believed that now she had a way around the things that had deteriorated her mental state the first time around.

Baba Yaga made the rules, and Baba Yaga was indisposed at the moment. Which meant she had time to make some new rules.

Risky business. But I feel like if she plays her cards right Baba Yaga will respect the hustle. It’s all about doing it in a way that impresses her, instead of insulting her.

For now, however, she was the warden, and we needed to get into the Eon Pit, so that meant she needed to test us. She told us she’d love to bend the rules and just let us through, but given that bending the rules in the past was part of what had made things go bad the first time around, she wasn’t going to play that game again, even to help us kill a Crone Queen who was doing a fucked up ritual in the Eon Pit.

So she split us into two groups. Ratibor would look after Wuso and face a trial through one passage, while the rest of us faced a different trial based on Indrid’s memories through a different passage.

We entered the door with Indrid’s visage on it.

The first place we appeared was at a bridge. A young Indrid—just a teen at most—was running to the bridge, yelling for the people to get away, they were in danger.

He was too late.

The bridge collapsed, and dozens of people fell with it. The air of death was palpable.

Two men in clergy robes turned to him. They had faces very much like the adult Indrid we have met, sans the glasses.

One of the men accused him of causing this. The child tried to argue that he’d merely seen it, but the man only accused him more violently of being a blight who brings misfortune. The people around him were forming into a mob, and they began to chase the child. Into the woods. Into the dark.

Heartless. They were going to string up a child for trying to warn them of danger. If this weren’t just a memory, I would kill them myself. Show them what a real monster looks like as they die in agony.

Instead, the bridge was completely consumed by a storm of darkness. I recognized a dangerous haunt, which if allowed to grow would begin trying to feed off the souls of any of my companions not warded by my Oracle’s Vessel. And myself and those who were warded would still be struck by bolts of lightning, so not even we were truly safe from it.

This was too dangerous to not take seriously. So I called on my most powerful magic, using a miracle to turn my negative energy positive for just long enough to cast a Mass Cure Critical Wounds.

It burned. It burned like reaching into the sun. Like the fires of the Hells. From my finger tips up to my elbows, with how powerful the positive energy had been. But it got the job done. The storm visibly weakened. I shouted to Edeya that we needed positive energy—and not Heal, because it would be immune to that. Unfortunately, given the power of that particular spell.

Edeya dropped a healing spell on it, and then I felt some of the power of the Black Rider revitalize me as Aenland sent me some of his power—allowing me the split second I needed to cast another miracle and hit the storm a second time with even more positive energy. Everything burned. I could barely feel my hands. But the storm burned with me.

Indrid finished it off with a healing spell of his own. Which seemed fitting, I suppose.

The scene faded back to the regular collapsed bridge. The two clergymen walked away, back towards a nearby town. And I got the sense that the child had escaped his pursuers.

After, we walked down the same path the two men had walked. Time seemed to speed up. Seasons passed. Plants began to wither. Strange, twisted fruit grew from the trees. The town grew poor—except for the church, which grew opulent.

We found ourselves at the church door. There was an attack. Indrid had returned to reap his vengeance.

We threw open the door.

Inside were angels made of roiling magma, human clergy, and Indrid’s brother. The head of the clergy, wearing his weight in gold while those in the village starved.

Jadrenka warned us that this would not be the fight as Indrid truly remembered it—it was warped by his feelings, by how he perceived the events.

We fought. Indrid shot his brother with enough bullets to fell any normal man—but he was clearly no normal man this time. His wounds were healing rapidly.

Then a massive hammer smashed through the stained glass behind him, and a colossal angelic being slugged Aenland with it.

He’s making a habit out of this.

One of the clergy tried to heal Indrid’s brother, but Nevra interrupted his spell with a well-placed spear swing. Cesseer did the same to one of the angels.

A member of the clergy stepped away from Nevra to avoid her spear, and cast Implosion on Indrid. Much like when I boneshatter something to death and just crunch all the bones into each other, his body tried to fold into itself. It looked painful.

What a shame.

I decided to clear out some of the trash and give my companions some breathing room to deal with the actual threats. One Wail of the Banshee later: all of the clergy and most of the angels were dead. Talsune finished off another angel that was attacking Roscoe (I did not just get him back to have him be destroyed by a gods-damned angel, thank you very much).

Then Roscoe took four shots at the massive angelic being—and actually managed to paralyze it. Clearly getting a little training on his own in Abbadon just killing hordes of Daemons non-stop did him some good.

I missed Roscoe. Baykoks are the best undead pets. I think I will find a way to get more and guard Grimm Labyrinthus with them. Maybe Baba Yaga will let me poach some from the fortress in the Dancing Hut…

A thought for another day.

Aenland executed Indrid’s brother—who was apparently healing so fast because he was a gods-damned Void Yai Oni.

And I finished off the massive angelic being, burning it with Firestorm, then forcing it to its knees with Boneshaker, the massive immortal creature kneeling before us—as it should—until its spine snapped and it fell limp.

The memory went back to play out how things had actually happened. Indrid shot the head of the clergy—not dead, just incapacitated. Then he strung a noose around his neck, and threw him out the window. Both to kill him and to show the town that the tyrant was dead.

He expected accolades. He expected the town to finally not see him as a monster. His brother had been at the heart of all their problems, surly they would be grateful for his demise.

Instead, when he looked out the window, the people he saw below were more terrified than ever.

Backing away from the window, Indrid transformed. Revealing that he is some sort of werebat. Which explains the clicking noises he makes, before shooting and just at regular intervals when moving about. It seems to be to make up for his apparent lack of sight—he must use echolocation.

He fled, leaving the town behind. For good this time, I suspect.

I’ve seen more about Indrid now, and yet I understand him less, I think. He went and got his revenge on the man who caused much of his grief, but he didn’t feel satisfied. He felt worse. He wanted the people in the town to accept him, even though it was the people in the town who also treated him like a monster. If it were me, I’d have wanted to burn the entire town to the ground, not just the church. What those people think doesn’t matter. But what they did was vile and deserves some recompense.

But Indrid doesn’t seem to think so, even though he’s the one who experienced it first-hand. He doesn’t seem to think the revenge was worth it, even if it was deserved. I don’t understand that thought process. Not at all. Even if those people were ungrateful, he removed a parasite from their town.

The next memory didn’t shed any more light on things. It was a puzzle room. Inside was a strange android man who may or may not have been a figment of Indrid’s memories. The way he answered when Indrid asked was…questionable. It felt like there was more to him that met the eye. But it was impossible to puzzle out what from the things he said and the way he acted. It felt like he was toying with us. Like this was just an amusing pastime for him.

Except when I said something about having ripped out a few people’s hearts. That seemed to make him drop the façade for a moment. It seemed he didn’t like that particular comment. Not like it’s been anyone who didn’t deserve it. I’m not going to start feeling bad for ripping out Rasputin’s heart anytime soon.

Anyways, we worked out the puzzles. Not always in the intended manner (I used my Spirit Walk ability to go through the wall of a puzzle we were apparently meant to cast Silence on to make a painting disappear. But none of us had Silence, and we didn’t know this Ulong fellow would be willing to cast spells on our behalf until after the fact.)

The final door opened, and Ulong gave Indrid a small slip of paper before disappearing. I have no idea what that was about. It certainly gave no further insight into this Mr. Cold.

With all the important memories witnessed, Jadrenka asked Indrid, essentially, who he was. Indrid basically said he was just a little werebat trying to make his way in the world, and help people along the way.

So he’s like Nestian. Just a person who lives life as it comes to them and helps people as he sees they need help. Not striving for some greater ambition. Not seeking anything. Just living life.

I don’t know how anyone can live like that. It feels so…stagnant. It sounds like just…living, without a purpose. I don’t get how people can just exist, and not reach, and strive, and try to grow and become more. How do they not get bored just living? Just taking what life throws at them and helping people as they see people who need help.

It sounds awful.

I understand this Indrid Cold less now that I have seen his memories than I did when he was merely a mystery. At the very least, I think the only reason he’s a threat to Keisuke is the same reason Nestian would be. Because Keisuke is not a good person, and he does harm where it will benefit him, and they are both people who protect others.

I’m under no illusions about the sort of person Keisuke is. I’m not some blind fool who thinks there’s some good hidden inside him that my friends could nurture out if they just tried.

The thing is…if the others hadn’t met me when they did, and we met in Whitethrone instead of them meeting Keisuke there, they would have reacted to me back then exactly how they had Keisuke. They only care about me now because they got to know me. They only overlook some of places where I don’t even try to match my morals with theirs because we have known each other for so long, and they trust me. As I trust them.

If they had met me at any other time, they would have tried to kill me. No question in my mind, that is how it would have happened.

And so…I have difficulty feeling particularly enthusiastic about turning my magic against Keisuke. I see who I was—or who I could have been, perhaps. I see the others turning their blades on me. Perhaps it even feels like a stepping stone. If they go through with killing Keisuke, will they quit overlooking some of the things they’ve overlooked from me for so long, and start insisting I conform to their morals? Writing it, it sounds like paranoia. But it feels like a reality.

Anyways…anyways.

Jadrenka returned us from the illusory past. Now we found ourselves in the chamber Indrid has originally seen in his vision, the one he’d been expecting us to find when we first entered Artrosa.

Jadrenka would open the way to the Eon Pit, so that we could slay another Crone Queen, stop whatever ritual they were conducting, and fix the Nonagon.

When our preparations were complete, we followed Jadrenka through the doors that stood before us.

We followed her through halls that showed so many images of many Jadrenkas, leading many groups. Over and over a thousand times over. As with many things in the Eon Pit, it was hard to look at. And True Seeing didn’t make it any better—it was reality, not an illusion.

At last we made it to the end of the tunnel, and found a Crone Queen and her Winter Witches upon a giant floating snowflake. The ritual she was preforming was clearly a modified variation of the one Jadrenka herself had preformed last time we were here.

The one she’d been using to summon Kostchtchie.

The Crone Queen mocked us that we were too late.

In a rip through the fabric of reality, an emaciated white dragon’s claw reached through into the Eon Pit. It grabbed the Crone Queen…and crushed her in a single swift, violent movement.

The grotesque dragon stepped through, followed by familiar centaurs. And another far-too familiar form.

Kostchtchie, in the flesh. The Demon Lord of Frost Giants.

He saw us and bellowed in rage.

It would seem 4000 years had not dulled his memories—or his hatred.

He was not bound on the opposite end of a ritual this time. This time the fight was real. We were facing down the Demon Lord Kostchtchie in earnest.

[the-fiction-witch]

Why Wait Till Tomorrow

Media The Maze Runner AU

Character: Newt 

Couple: Newt x Reader

Rating Cute

Concept: A World Run By Wicked

My black boots seemed to echo through the dark cobblestones streets, the sound of it echoing off rock and steel. The sky that loomed over me was the constant grey, having never once seen anything else.

I kept my breaths steady as I walked making sure not to draw attention to myself.

As much as you can try, you can't be invisible. It's whether or not you get noticed.

I felt my watch vibrate slightly on my wrist. I didn't need to look at it, I knew what it meant. A moment later the sharp sound erupted.

From every lamppost and street sign sat metal speakers they whined and crackled slightly as they always did before the song began.

‘All Hail Wicked.

In Her Beauty.

In Her Times of trial

and success.

All Hail to Wicked

and the spark high above us all

bringing us songs and shade from the sun. All Hail to Wicked

blessed are we to be with her.

All Hail to Wicked

Let her reign forever more.’

I hated the damn song.

It played from these speakers twice a day, more on holidays and events.

Everyone knew it.

Everyone sang it.

The original recording of the song was done so many years ago the original singer was long dead, even if her voice was still hauntingly plaid.

The echo of the song filled the air as everyone sang it in perfect time and perfect tune.

But I suppose they had to, from as early as you could speak you'd be taught it and I'd heard stories of people being whisked away to the isle for daring to ignore the song, there was a tale on the print a year or so ago that told of a man who forgot a line one day, his ankles were broken by the enforcers and this was reported in the print as a good thing, enforcement was praised and the man because a social pariah.

I hurried myself heading down the street past the Langford theatre where the man himself stood. I didn't say a word to him and he said none to me.

Simply moving over to stand with me, walking in line with our boots and words hidden by the loud song.

"Ya ready for this?" Vince asks

"As I'll ever be" I told him "news on Minho?"

"Not a word since last Cresent" he says "gave up y/n. He's dead. Or worse."

"I hope he's dead" I told him as we walked soon enough snuck in an alley I spotted the red mop of hair a shock to his black outfit of jeans and a long button down. We didn't say a word to him and he didn't to us but he joined us.

I picked up the pace knowing we didn't have long, they were on the last verse the further we went more people in black we came across and all of them joined our walk so by the time we reached the corner of new Oxford Street we had a crowd of At least fifty people just as the song was on its last few lines.

"We'll hang back. Wait for the cue" Vince spoke up

"Understood" I nodded

"Make some fireworks y/n" Harriet smirked handing me the large metal hammer from his bag

I took it and headed down Oxford Street as the song ended.

As always there was a moment of silence after the song of everyone thinking, it was meant to be a moment for those lost, those forgotten, but most just froze in fear of what would happen if they didn't. People stood around the little wooden framed shops, mostly women in pastel dresses and men in suits and ties. Frozen. Stopped. As if someone had pressed pause on them. Stood like robots waiting for it to be over.

The speakers hissed in the silence, the slight sound of whirring coming from the many cameras who zoomed and searched each person. I made sure I saw one making unbroken eye contact with its lense.

And in the silence I screamed hearing my voice echo through the streets, in this quiet my voice could likely have been heard for miles.

"Shut Down The Spark!"

And I swung the heavy metal hammer as hard as I could and let it go. It made contact with the glass window of a bakery shop immediately shattering the glass, sending the broken shards tumbling to the floor.

For a moment not a soul moved but everyone looked at me.

One scream erupted from a woman in a yellow dress and soon enough every woman was screaming running to the arms of men who pulled them in to protect them.

But I could feel the vibrations through the cobblestones and second's later I was followed by everyone we had gathered on the walk making any left run, as fast as they could to the underground to get away from us.

Everyone breaking windows, smashing lights, pulling cameras down all while chanting as Loud as possible

'Shut down the spark! Shut down the spark!'

I grabbed a sledgehammer off a young girl near the back and joined of course, heading over to the camera I had made the contact with going as close to it as I physically could meer inches from the lense.

I took my trademark panic purple lipstick from my pocket drawing an X or a kiss on the lens with the lipstick, before backing away blowing the camera a kiss and then smacking it with my sledgehammer so hard it shattered into pieces that scattered across the street.

"Bots!" I heard Harriet yell from the end of the street and indeed there was a crowd of enforcers at the end of the street, everyone formed a line a marched giving them no choice but to do the same leaving us at a standoff

'Shut down the spark! Shut down the spark!" We shouted as loud as possible

And one voice rose from the enforcer's line

"Stop this. Turn yourselves in. You do this willingly, you will not be harmed"

"Screw the bots! Screw the bots! Screw the bots!" Everyone cheered

"This is your last chance, come willingly or face the consequences" he warned

Not a soul moved holding our line strong

"Alright. You had your chance" he says and immediately in his word they began to attack and of course we thought back making sure they didn't get anybody for too long but there was just too many of them.

I felt someone grab my wrist and pulled me through the crowd our the back of our line and I saw it was Vince

"What the hell!"

"y/n go."

"No. I have to stay I-"

"y/n! Go. Lead everyone back"

"You lead them back I'll stay"

"We don't have time to argue!" He yelled as many began running away too "we just lost Minho. I'm not losing you to"

"Fine" I to run many who could get away following me, everyone doing our best to avoid detection, going to the little places we all knew, I made it to the tracks on West Street so I held the door making sure everyone got down into the tunnel. Until I spotted an enforcer on our trial "shit"

"Come quickly!" The last girl urged

"You go. I'll lose him"

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about me." I told her quickly shutting and locking the door, I got his attention and bolted as fast as I could leaving him to chase after me "what have I got myself in for" I sighed as I ran making sure to get onto the track streets were it was harder to run hard for me but worse for him, I knew I couldn't run all the way to the border and everyone would have shut the tunnels off by now.

But luckily I saw parked up on the side of the road still on its track a little blue moped unfortunately it has a rider.

"Hey, weird little question. But could you give me a ride?" I smiled as nicely as I could as I approached.

And the rider turned to see me.

They were as thin as a rake, blue and white lace up canvas shoes with hearts drawn on them, right blue skinny jeans with a withered old grey belt, a long sleeve white shirt with a pastel blue button down over it half unbuttoned, his white Moto jacket over him too and his white open face helmet in hand, he had a freshly cut mess of light blonde hair with brown roots to match his brows and eyes, which to mention were fairly wide as the sound of someone speaking to him his helmet gripped tightly in his skinny fingers as he too looked me up and down noticing my every detail

"Uuuuuhh- h- hi" he stuttered moving his leg over to this side of his bike so he could sit facing me "you uuhh you wanted what sorry?" He asks shaking himself from his head

"I was just wondering if you'd mind giving me a ride home, if it isn't too much trouble" I cooed as innocently as I could attempting to sound as sweet as I could

"Oh uhh no, no not at all" he smiled getting up sitting his helmet on the bike offering his left hand where his watch sat for a moment. I held my breath, better test than any I could do at home I guess. I moved my hand over his own letting his watch scan mine and mine scan his immediately his alerted with a little happy bell and I exhaled in relief checking my own "no trouble at all...y/n" he says having to check it for my name

"Thanks, Uhhh" I said as his hadn't actually come up on mine, I need to fix that

"Newt. It's tricky I know" he smiled clearly scrolling through my file but acting like he wasn't before quickly returning his focus "I don't have an extra helmet I'm afraid but I'll drive carefully I promise" he smiled "where are we going exactly? The address hasn't shown up" He asks pointing to his watch

"Ohh I moved recently,”

“Oh, yeah they take forever to update don’t they”

“Yeah, just to circle nine if you can I need to see someone"

"Circle nine? No problem, I was heading that way anyway" he smiled, climbing back on his bike and offering me the front seat with a tap or two.

So I climbed on immediately noticing an enforcer at the end of the road clearly keeping his eye out for anything unusual I did my best to get comfortable on the little moped and also not look suspicious as Newt for his helmet on and put his arms around me to reach the handles staring it up, electric of course so no engine sound and the moped slowly moved down the track not to inline a small child's roller coaster slowly going down the streets following his on-screen instructions for directions

"So what takes you to circle nine then?" He asks

"Ohh visiting my sister" I lied "you?"

"Aww that's nice, said I'd drop my dad his dinner off while he's at work" he shrugs

"That's kind of you"

"Well I'll be moved out soon might as well do them as many favours as I can while I'm still here" he explained

"Found yourself a place then?"

"No, not yet. Got to find a girl first" he chuckled "got my eye on this lovely little place over in circle two"

"Circle two. Expensive up there"

"There not too bad with my discount" he shrugs and soon enough we arrived at the worse place in circle nine we could have arrived at, the enforcers office "I'll drop his stuff off then I'll drop you home y/n" he smiled climbing off the moped "just a moment" he smiled taking my hand giving it a soft kiss before he went to the doors scanning himself in with his watches screen. I was undeniably nervous. Any of these enforcers could know who I was. Honestly I'm surprised Newt didn't recognize me. I thought about just taking the moped and bolting but it was synced to his watch so it was turned off till he got back and syncing it to mine would take too much time not to mention the obvious stupidity of the idea, of stealing a moped parked Infront of the enforcers office

Soon enough Newt returned climbing back on the bike "all done. Now you direct me" he says starting it up again, I have him directions mostly making him go around in circles getting him lost near the end of circle nine he did try chatting with me nothing important just mindless chatter

"Stop here. I need to check the Address I think" I lied as we pulled into a small off street with no cameras in sight

"No problem take your time I don't have to be home for another hour or so" he smiled

"I uhh I don't know what's going on maybe her address isn't coming up right in here" I laid fiddling with my watch

"Maybe." He says "uhh y/n?" He says slipping his helmet off

"Yeah?" I asked waiting for some people to wander past the end of the road turning to sit on the side of the moped but he took my hand softly making me a little confused

"I'm sorry, but I had to be sure… I saw on your profile you're well…" he blushed making me hold my breath "Not taken" he blushed and I sighed in relief trying not to giggle well this is a good distraction

"You looked?"

"I did. I'm sorry I just couldn't believe it to be true when I first saw it. I checked twice. I can't help thinking this was… a chance meeting of fate. And I admit you're very beautiful" he smiled "I uhh I don't have work tomorrow, did you maybe wanna go out maybe take a nice walk In Melrose park?" He suggested

"That sounds very nice. But why wait till tomorrow" I cooed nuzzling close to his neck stroking his shirt, I could feel and hear his heart beating fast, his breaths sharp as he eagerly glanced down at me

"Uuuuuuuuuuughh-" he gasped melting into the tiny touch of my skin against him "y/n…" he sighed happily his eyes rolling back into his head

God you'd think I was doing something serious to him all I'm doing his nuzzling at his neck and kinda poking him

He glanced at my lips clearly egar to kiss them I went along with it allowing him to get get inches before I grabbed his shirt and pushed him as hard as I could onto the cobblestones

"Oww!" He complained in shock,

I synced the moped to my watch and quickly pulled out the speed Inhibitor

"What are you doing y/n?" He asks very confusedly Still laid on the floor confused

"Thanks for the ride Newt" I smirked blowing him a kiss before rushing off as fast as the little moped would go much faster now without the inhibitor the screen going crazy trying to stop me but I ignored it getting out of circle nine and even circle ten even if it didn't like leaving the tracks at the end of circle ten.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 25, part one

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Holy crap, Episode 25! We’re halfway through! *Cue Bon Jovi*

Hunt Invitation

After taking a nice long break to watch Word of Honor pick lotus pods, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli return to stressing over the shitshow that is the post-Sunshot cultivation world. Jin Zixuan has come to invite them to the Phoenix Mountain Hunt, with a special invitation from his mother to Jiang Yanli. Jiang Cheng reacts to this in a mature and reasonable manner, while Wei Wuxian...doesn't.

On the surface, Jiang Cheng has matured in recent months; much more than Wei Wuxian, with his secret burdens, has. But it's only on the surface, as we'll see later in the episode, when Jiang Cheng's insecurity will take the reins.

Jin Zixuan is adorably pleased by Jiang Yanli's acceptance of the invitation. Wei Wuxian is less pleased, but sort of tries to suck it up. 

Jin Zixuan kind of undercuts the romance of his errand by asking Wei Wuxian for the Yin tiger amulet as soon as Jiang Yanli is out of earshot. 

As always, Jin Zixuan makes an impression by being the best Jin currently in existence, but the Jins are terrible. JZX is working to advance his dad's ambitions, and as such he is currently Wei Wuxian's enemy.  

(more after the cut)

Opening Ceremonies

There's a bunch of cultivators arranged for the opening ceremony. Later someone will say that this is more than 5 thousand people. Ok, sure.

As I've said before, it's best to think of it like a theatre production and assume the other 4,900 people are offstage or, you know, painted on the backdrop.  

The young lead cultivators from the four main clans are standing together. Nie Huaisang is trying out some new body armor.

The clan leaders are seated up on the stage, along with Jin Furen and Jiang Yanli. Unfortunately Jin Furen doesn't seem to have a personal name that I can discover. Her title Fūrén ( 夫人)  means she's the primary wife of the head of the family, according to this excellent meta. 

So “Madame Jin” is a decent translation...if you're French?  I feel like instead of English subtitles including borrowed words from French (”Marquis” in NIH), Greek (”Water of Lethe” in WOH), and other European languages, we could try borrowing Chinese words instead. Jin Zixuan's mom is titled, not named, Jin Furen. Since we don’t know her actual name, I'll call her that and abbreviate it JFR.

Wei Wuxian's childishness continues at the opening of the hunt, as does Jiang Yanli's encouragement of his childishness. I know she's had a rough couple of years, and it's understandable to want to baby her little brother out of a sense of nostalgia. But it's not good for him, and she shouldn't do it; she should encourage him to be more mature, just as she does with Jiang Cheng.

War Crimes Contest

Jin Guangyao says they're going to have an archery competition, and they're going to liven it up by endangering some prisoners. These prisoners are Wens in Wen cultivator uniforms, meaning they're not the noncombatants that were being hunted down earlier. But they’re still helpless people in chains. 

There are three different reactions when the Wen prisoners are brought out.  All the Jins are pleased, or neutral. All of the Jiangs, including Wei Wuxian, are upset.

The Nies and the Lans, what we see of them, are a little shocked, but not obviously upset. Based on those reactions, it seems like this is a maneuver that in-world is considered shocking and cruel, but not necessarily unethical or immoral.  Shocking, cruel displays of power are pretty normal in this world; remember when Wen Chao lit a Lan cultivator on fire just to say hello, and nobody complained? 

This whole scenario, of course, has been designed to provoke Wei Wuxian. One major goal of this event, and the whole reason for wanting Wei Wuxian to come,  is to get the Yin Tiger amulet.  Making him lose his shit in front of 100 5000 cultivators is a good step toward compelling him to hand the amulet over.  

We see Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli both signaling Wei Wuxian to keep it together, and he takes a step back and tries to chill.  

Meanwhile, Jin Zixuan seems annoyed by all this, and goes to take a shot at it, making it clear from his demeanor that this is easy and JGY is making a show of nothing. 

He hovers in the air and makes a perfect shot, pleasing most of the crowd and impressing Jiang Yanli. 

Then his cousin Jin Zixun taunts the crowd, challenging anyone to do better.  This presents a bit of a problem for Wei Wuxian. For the sake of the Wen prisoners, Wei Wuxian should just take this taunting and let the contest end, if no-one else is willing to take a shot. But for the sake of the Jiang Clan’s status, and his continued control of the Yin Tiger amulet, he needs to put the Jins in their place.  

Every Day is Blindfold Day

This moral dilemma is resolved with an abrupt tonal shift, where the humanitarian concerns of all parties seem to vanish. Wei Wuxian flirts embarrassingly with Lan Wangji and then goes as far over the top in besting Jin Zixuan as it's possible to go.

The flirting hits differently, incidentally, when you edit Jiang Cheng's annoyed reaction out of it: 

Lan Wangji doesn't seem embarrassed by Wei Wuxian's request, despite it happening in front of 100 5000 of their fellow cultivators. He looks Wei Wuxian straight in the eye for longer than necessary before turning away; it’s not exactly stern disapproval. We’ll get very used to this look, in Wei Wuxian’s second life. 

Fortunately, Wei Wuxian carries a blindfold with him wherever he goes, (gifset here), and he is such a good cultivator he can hit 5 parallel targets simultaneously without even holding his bow straight or tightening the string.

(OP fixed the angle of the bow for this gif, which is why everyone is standing on a hill in the background).

Everyone is pleased by this shot except Jins Guangyao and Zixun; even the Jin cultivators are clapping, and Madame Jin is presumably this happy any time Jin Guangyao’s plans go wrong.

With that they start the hunt. Jin Zixun challenges Wei Wuxian to do the whole hunt blindfolded. Wei Wuxian agrees, but the censorship committee said no, apparently, so we don’t get to see that.

Flute Hunting

We do get to see Wei Wuxian luring monsters into his nets by being too sexy for his robe, too sexy for his robe, and playing the flute.  

We also get to see Jiang cultivators looking puzzled while random monster roars happen in the woods around them. We do not get to see any monsters, which is probably just as well.

Jiang Cheng is annoyed and concerned, muttering "I told you not to overdo it" which means he didn't, you know, tell Wei Wuxian NOT to do this, just not to do it quite so well. Jiang Cheng knows what Wei Wuxian’s abilities are and he is making use of him, as he should, but he doesn’t have the courage of his convictions. 

Tree Confession

Wei Wuxian sees Lan Wangji and starts to say hi, but then he has a desaturated flashback to Lan Xichen telling him to back off, so he stops himself.  But then Lan Wangji comes over to talk to him.

Lan Wangji starts off talking to him about his latest anti-resentment musical discoveries, and Wei Wuxian pushes back, even calling him Lan Wangji, but gently.  Wei Wuxian asks "who am I to you?" and Lan Wangji turns the question right back at him, then waits a looooooong time, eyes downcast, while Wei Wuxian thinks of a serious answer.

Wei Wuxian says "I used to treat you as my zhījǐ" --which, as we’ve discussed before, is variously translated soulmate, confidant, intimate friend--with a strong meaning of "the person who truly knows me." Lan Wangji says "I still am." Coming from Lan Wangji, who NEVER says how he feels about Wei Wuxian or about anything, really, this sounds a lot like a confession of love. 

It definitely takes the form, visually, of a love confession, as Lan Wangji speaks, then gazes at Wei Wuxian while he waits for a reply.  Wei Wuxian's reply is this:

I don't think Wei Wuxian is oblivious (I'm speaking strictly of CQL, not MZDS, as always with these posts; they are different works). I think he loves Lan Wangji back, and knows it. But Chenqing and everything it represents are between them.

Lan Wangji is quite literally NOT his zhījǐ any more, because he doesn't truly know Wei Wuxian right now. He loves him desperately, but he doesn't know about his core, and hasn't accepted his cultivation method.  So Wei Wuxian answers his confession by showing him Chenqing, effectively declining to accept his still-conditional love.

Snake Measuring

Next we get terrible hetero courtship in the form of Jin Zixuan finding snake discharge on the ground and talking to Jiang Yanli about comparative snake measuring. Seriously: that is the actual conversation that they are having.

Jin Zixuan boasts for a bit, and then awkwardly tries to ask Jiang Yanli on a date. When she turns him down he gets mad, because he's a typical heterosexual dude even though he's secretly a delightful person...very, very secretly. Jiang Yanli, for her part, can't string a fucking sentence together to save her life whenever he's around, so she's not helping their mutual understanding. 

Lan Wangji attempts to hold Wei Wuxian back from beating Jin Zixuan’s ass yet again, but eventually JYL wants to leave, JZX tells her to wait, and WWX intervenes. Why doesn't Jiang Yanli have a maid or Jiang cultivator with her while she's on a date, incidentally? These kids are confused about whether they're doing feudal patriarchy or whether they're doing modern social life.

Jin vs. Jiang

Wei Wuxian jumps in between Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan, which JZX objects to. Jin Zixuan has no fucking business objecting and Wei Wuxian is 100% right, at this point. As soon as WWX shows up JZX should hand her off to her Shidi, bow, and leave her the fuck alone. Instead, he draws his sword on Wei Wuxian, and kind of on Jiang Yanli since she's right behind Wei Wuxian.  Fortunately, Lan Wangji blocks him. 

This instantly blows up into a Jiang-Jin Clan conflict, with Jiang Cheng unfortunately absent since he let his unmarried sister go off in the woods alone with the son of the Cultivaton world's most famous lecher. It looks like it’s a personal conflict, but since Jin Zixuan already told Wei Wuxian directly that Jin Guangshan wants his amulet, any arguments between them are part of a larger power struggle. 

Cousin Jin Zixun comes running up to start shit. Wei Wuxian pretends--I am SURE he's pretending--not to know who he is. The dude hassles Wei Wuxian every time he sees him; Wei Wuxian is a troll, and right now CJXZ is butting in to something that doesn't concern him. Rather than argue, Wei Wuxian insults him by telling him he’s not memorable.

Jin Furen shows up with several maids and cultivator dudes in tow, which is the proper way for a highborn woman to wander around in the woods. She also brings Clan Leader Yao, because if it's Wei Wuxian Blaming Hours, Yao is going to be there.  

I initially found the deep friendship between superhot Yi Zuyuan and dumpy Jin Furen implausible, but then I remembered that my lifelong bestie is a smokin' hot redhead with impeccable fashion sense, while I am a roly-poly nerd.  Friends don’t always match. Also, Jin Furen's actress, Hu Xiaoting, looks like this: 

...so she is actually hot in real life. Not as hot as Zhang Jingtong (who plays Yu Ziyuan) but literally nobody is as hot as Zhang Jingtong. Don't @ me, you know I'm right.

This is a heck of a long scene, so we’ll pick it up in part two! 

Soundtrack: Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi

Writing prompt: Newly-divorced, cold-hearted CEO Yu Ziyuan buys an apartment next door to newly-divorced, warm-hearted pastry chef ...uhh let's call her Jin Dàngāo (蛋糕), sure. She can name her business after herself. 

They discover their daughter & son are in the same college class, and so they meet up over coffee....several times...trying to matchmake their hopeless, hapless kids, while bonding over their own terrible (former) taste in husbands. Who will Cupid strike first, the kids or the moms?

[gottawriteanegoortwo]

Dilliam: Running Away Makes Matters Worse

In Who Killed Markiplier?, William made it his mission to avoid Damien once they had their argument. They do not have a one-on-one conversation after that. It got me thinking - surely that’s not the only time William ran away from problems instead of talking about them properly. What if, instead of a yearning period, Dilliam started with William trying to run from it?

Word Count: 1,134

-

Damien had accepted that he had fallen for William. It was something he had struggled to come to terms with, but ultimately decided that he would try to do something about it. Or rather, he would have… If William hadn’t been avoiding him for months now.

When they were in a group? There was nothing wrong. Everything was fine and dandy. But it quickly came to Damien's attention that if the pair had to be left alone, William was fumbling over his words to find an excuse to leave. Mark didn't think anything was off. Celine questioned whether Damien was overthinking matters. Eventually, he stopped asking. William never turned tail when stuck alone with either of them.

Damien tried to find a middle ground and encourage William to stay, even going as far as straight-up asking William to accompany him on a walk in the park, followed by drinks in the hope that he could use it as a chance to tell William how he felt. But it never worked. William would always find a flimsy excuse to refuse and flee.

-

It was Friday night at the Grand Theatre. Mark had invited Damien and William to a performance he was in, with Celine to join them once she returned from socialising with friends. The three men merrily chatted in the lobby, sharing jokes and stories from recent days. It was just like old times. But when Mark apologised as he departed to the backstage area to get ready, the illusion popped like a bubble.

Damien skimmed through the program that was left, only managing to mentally count to twelve before William's shuffling grew too hard to ignore.

"Something wrong?" asked Damien calmly, as though he didn't know what was about to happen.

"You know… I'm starved. Absolutely famished. I think I'm going to pop over to the bar for a quick bite to eat." 

"You told Mark and I that you had a massive lunch that you were still recovering from. Try again."

"I'm pretty sure I know how hungry I am, Damien."

"Mhmm." His eyes lowered to the programme again. "Yet when Mark made the offer of buying snacks with our drinks before he left, you declined."

"Because I wasn't hungry then. Anyone could see that." Someone rose to their feet, but it wasn't William. Instead, it was Damien. He closed the programme and placed it on the table.

“If we’re going to make obvious statements, then I shall do you a favour and leave so you can stop lying to me. I can go to the show tomorrow night instead." He snatched his cane and turned to go.

"Damien, why are you being so immature right now?"

"Oh. I see how it is. You can act as childish as you want when you leave and it’s fine. Yet when I decide to leave, I’m accused of being the immature one?” William tried to object, but Damien continued, "No. You don't get to try and spew whatever ridiculous excuse comes to mind. Don't think I haven't noticed your swift departure every time we're left alone. Suddenly needing some air after returning from an outdoor event, running for a restroom and staying there for twenty minutes, forgetting where you left your coat when it was hanging up by the door, even now when you want to order snacks when you said you weren't hungry. I know you don't want to be in my company but you have no excuse to avoid me for good. Instead, you do what you always do and immaturely run away from your problems." He placed the tip of the cane on the floor and leaned against it. "Then I shall give you the excuse you’ve wanted to never be stuck alone with me. Fuck it. You clearly don't like me, so what have I got to lose? I'm in love with you, Colonel. It's why I've been trying to spend time with you alone despite your infuriating immaturity."

It was unsurprising to have no reaction from William. It only made something in Damien’s gut as he realised he was right all along - the man he loved could barely tolerate him. The bandage had been ripped off; there was no point wasting time here anymore.

"Then I shall make my leave. I know when I'm not wanted. Good night." The grip on the cane turned his knuckles white as Damien stormed off. A tiny part of him hoped it would play out like in a play or novel. William would jump to his feet and grab Damien's sleeve. He would admit he was scared and that he loved the politician too. There would be apologies and forgiveness, and all would be well.

But this was real life. No such thing happened, and Damien did not want to even risk looking over his shoulder when he knew he was on the verge of tears. The only thing that stopped him from immediately hurrying off was Celine. She had reached the theatre as he exited the building and was quick to hurry over.

"Damien? What's the matter? Where are you going?"

"I'm going home. Pass my apologies to Mark… I don't feel well." He shrugged her hand off his shoulder as he dejectedly walked away.

-

Inside, Celine found William still sitting, slouched forward with his eyes on his drink as he contemplated getting it refilled. He watched the ice bobbing on the surface. Celine’s arrival had him look up for only a moment, before it returned to his glass.

"Before you ask, I didn't do anything." William's gruff voice made the words difficult to catch when he mumbled.

"You must have done something. Damien has been looking forward to this all week. He was nearly in tears outside." Celine's expression was steeled, ready to fight the Colonel if necessary.

“You don’t understand. I didn’t do anything. I tried to leave when we were alone, but instead he told me he loved me and I - I didn't do anything. I thought his feelings toward me were only platonic. I didn't think he-"

"Wait. So you have been avoiding Damien?"

"What was I supposed to do? I didn't think he'd care about someone like me - oh, don't give me that look, Celine. It’s not like you knew about this." His glass was abruptly snatched and slammed into the table. Then, a fistful of his jacket was taken in her slim hand as she roughly pulled it up, forcing him to look at her.

"Only that I don't want Mark to wonder why none of his friends stayed to support him, we are going to that show. After that, I am dragging your ass to Damien's home so you can clean up your mess. Understood?"

"He's not going to want to talk to-"

"Understood?"

“Fine.”

--

Part Two: You Have To Stop Running

[svnaslove]

flustered.

summary: y/n trying to get s/o flustered

genre: fluff + suggestive

characters: akaashi keiji, kenma kozume

part II | part III

it very lowkey kinda pissed you off

he could always make you such a stuttering mess, even after dating for about 5 months now, akaashi can make you blush and flustered whenever he pleased

you had made so many attempts lately to try to see even the slightest of a tint on his cheeks but it just never worked?? IS HE HUMAN??

it was not a question of whether he loved you, he told you and showed just how much he loved you everyday, you knew how much he loved you

but you just wanted to nudge him a lil to see him stutter just once

so you started racking that brain

akaashi didn’t really do much PDA, it’s not that he didn’t feel comfortable with it really since you guys would do it a lil here and there, it was more like he just didn’t think much to do it since you two were always together anyways, how you are always cuddled up in private

so you just assumed this was your best shot at flustering him since it’s not something he was used to

ngl you’re not used to it either but you were willing to sacrifice whatever just to be able to tease him

you had waited for the perfect time, you were sat in the bleachers of the gym, watching the volleyball practice develop

you intently watched as the practice match went on of the Fukurodani team split in half, one half on one side of the court and the other half in the other

even though you watched his every move, you held back on your cheering, even though you cheered loudly every time you saw Keiji play 

this is how it was going to start

you were going to confuse him a bit, he wasn’t a whiner but you could tell that deep down he was getting a little whiny to not hear his s/o’s yells and yips of love for the setter

the match had ended, concluding the practice for the day

you half jogged over to Akaashi who was still surrounded by his teammates, a huge smile branded on your face.

“you did amazing baby!” you yipped to Akaashi who smiled softly. 

“thank you, you were kinda quiet today though, why weren’t you cheering?” he pouted slightly, you could tell that the way you held back on his best moments had downed him a little. you almost felt a little guilty but you had to go on with your plan.

you raised your voice slightly higher than the rest of the team, a tone where it wasn’t too loud, but it wasn’t too quiet either, one where everyone would hear the soft voice and not think you were doing it on purpose.

you looked down and up and your finger curled around the band of Akaashi’s volleyball shorts and tugged so he became closer to you. you already felt him start to stiffen at the sudden difference in your movement.

“i was being kinda quiet and had dialed back on the cheering because uhm... im a little needy Keiji” you said looking up at him, trying to look as innocent as possible.

Akaashi’s expression went from a pout, to a confused expression to panic as your words settled in and he understood what they meant. when he realized that you had said it just loud enough for the rest of the team to hear you and that you two were a little too close and your index finger was still tangled around his band of his shorts he immediately turned red.

“woah, get it Akaashi!” yelled Konoha laughing at the state of his setter, how his calm and cool demeanor had totally been shattered and now instead his face was fully covered by a deep blush and his eyes were widened at the embarassment. the team mates around him started chuckling slightly.

“hEY HEY HEY, AKAASHI IS GETTING SOME TONIGHT”

i don’t even have to tell you who said that.

you know who said that.

and that was the final straw of Akaashi’s panic.

He grabbed your wrist, tugging your hands from his volleyball shorts and speed walked as fast as he could to get yourself and himself out of that gym as soon as possible.

“y/n w-why did you d-do that” he asked stuttering over himself.

this was a sight to behold, you had never thought you could get Akaashi to loose his cool that much.

“Awee sorry baby i’ve just never seen you get flustered.” you replied feeling a tinge of guilt at his current state, wrapping your arms around him.

“what do you mean you never see me get flustered?” he asked confused.

now it was your turn to be confused, you looked up at him with your head tilted to the side.

“babe, i get flustered by you like ten million times a day, im just better at hiding it then you” he laughed at your bewildered look.

“you do ?!?$@%$#*”

okay okay, you’ve seen him get blushy one (1) time, and that’s it

but you just could never get over the pretty sight of him shying away from you and you were always dying to see it again, it was just so cute

so your started thinking

what can i do to kenma’s eyes to pay his upmost attention to me just enough to get him blushy again?

it clicked

you were always just wearing hella baggy clothes

no matter where you went, to the store, uni, hanging out with friends, shopping, the theatre, at home

always

since you and kenma just started dating you realized he had never really seen you without your baggy clothes and with just tighter fitting clothes

it’s not that you were insecure of your body, you just felt more comfy with baggy clothes, but it was fun to wear fitting clothes here and there

so one day you and kenma were going to go out together on a little date, just walking around and have a little lunch

one thing was already working out, kenma never brought his games when you two were going out together, so you knew getting his attention wouldn’t be hard at all

you chose to wear a frilly and cute sundress, it was light blue and it synched in at your waist, it truly enunciated your features and your curves

even yourself, as you looked in the mirror was in awe at how nice your body was since you had forgotten because you always wore those baggy clothes

you and Kenma were to meet each other in front of the water fountain in downtown. you stood there waiting for him, making sure to have arrived a little early to be there before him. you stood excitedly to get his reaction. 

you peaked, looking around all the people walking by when you noticed the familiar stature of none other than your boyfriend. he hadn’t seen you yet, since he was still kinda far.

you watched where his eyes travelled around all of the people and then his eyes laid on you. baby wasn’t used to you wearing fitting clothes and he had to take a double take to make sure it was you SFJSLDKJ

his eyes lit up when he saw your face and then dazed down to your dress, “you look so good baby🥺” 

he was getting closer and closer towards you when he finally got right in front of you, and then it really hit him.

“thank you kenma :)”

his eyes were avoiding your gaze and he started fidgeting with his fingers a little bit. 

“ken, are you okay?” you asked a little worriedly.

your voice sent a jump through him and it was the cherry on top, Kenma’s face turned a deep red and all he could do was just stare at you.

“uhm, you just look really pretty” he mumbled, still looking down

your heart literally melted. he was so cute T-T

you reached for his hand and went on tippy toes a little and gave him a kiss on his cheek, “thank you baby” (kenma is like 5′7 and idk ab u but das kinda tOLL, maybe im just short fml)

you two started walking together to the little greek cafe for lunch that was around the corner holding hands and the entire time kenma was just so out of it (poor boi)

you two sat down at the tables that were outside after ordering and you two were just talking to each other and enjoying each others company.

you loved watching the way Kenma’s eyes would light up when he started talking about volleyball or about a new game that he was excited for. it made you so happy.

a wind started blowing and your napkin flew and landed next to Kenma, before he could reach for it for you you were already up and reaching.

and let me tell you.

you thought kenma was a mess before?

you thought wrong.

being your clumsy self you forgot you were wearing a whole dress.

and you just leaned down to get it and the angle that Kenma was leant down gave him the perfect view and your entire ass was on display, your cheeky, lacy underwear inches from his face.

KENMA NEARLY FELL OFF HIS CHAIR LFJDSLK

he was so stiff and he just looked straight ahead, his face was so red and the tint was now starting to reach for his ears.

you stood back up and sat on your chair parallel to his not knowing what the hell just happened.

“Kenma what happened to you?” 

“i- uh...uhm,, y-you, im sorry”

“huh?”

“w-when you leaned down, y-your,, umm”

you finally realized what he was trying to say and now it was your turn to get flustered.

“KLFJLSKD KENMA IM SO SORRY OH MY GOD, I DIDN’T MEAN TO DO THAT, IM SORRY I FORGOT THAT I WAS WEARING THIS FJDKLSF”

you freaked out and you were so embarrassed, to make matters worse, Kuroo just happened to have been walking by the very front of the cafe and witnessed the whole thing

WHAT A SMALL FUCKING WORLD HUH

“Kenma, you dog” Kuroo smirked.

Both of you jumped on your seats and turned to see the captain of the Nekoma team, smirking at you two and the events that had prevailed.

“i was just walking by and noticed you two so i came to say hi but i think it’s best to leave you two alone” Kuroo winked walking away leaving you two just sitting there both short-circuited.

Error 404

y/n.exe has stopped functioning

kenma.exe has stopped functioning

this whole plan had slapped you across the face.

both you and Kenma were both so flustered that for the rest of the day you two would blush just looking at each other.

ahh mon ami, young love.

[snowspryte15]

Thoughts on Cruella

Let me ask you a question:Have you noticed the increase in stories about making villains more relatable to us, and even giving them something that seemed to be lacking in all the fairytales we all know so well?

Something like humanity?

Here’s the thing: no one is truly born evil, and to quote a line from Once Upon A Time, “Evil isn’t born; it’s made.” Perhaps the baddies were actually good people who were capable of being happy, finding love, and living their best lives. But unfortunately, a chain of events or even people who wronged them would lead them down a dark path that is often very hard to come back from.  In other words, the stories and characters we know isn’t always black and white. (See what I did there?) You can say whatever you want about making villains relatable or even showing sympathy to them, but I stand by my humble opinion that the updated version of the fairytales and stories we grew up not only gives us a glimpse into the heroes and making them more like us, but also the villains because their more than just the 2D stock characters we grew up with over the years. In other words, it gives everyone more DEPTH.  The same is true for Cruella. I realize many of you are starting to (if you aren’t already) get tired of films making the villains more relatable or even giving us a villain to show sympathy for. And I get that. But let me ask you this: is the world we see today always black and white to you? Should it always has to be good vs. evil when there are layers underneath the goodness and the evil that’s in this world? Should we automatically assume that all of the bad things that happen on the news are caused by bad people? I think you know the answer to this: no. We’re all capable of being good people, no matter what society tells us.  But the fact that we’re all born to be originals and not copies of another individual but being told that we have to be “perfect” or “thin” or “beautiful” or “handsome” or any of those labels is what draws people to the dark side, and that includes giving into power, greed, malice, and hatred. And here’s something else to think about - we’re always told by those around us, whether that’s our loved ones or complete strangers, to hide what makes us unique or even brilliant because it may not sit well with everyone. That’s another reason why some people go towards the dark side. And on another level, they use what makes them unique to stand out in not-so pleasant ways, instilling fear into others by what they say and do.  Both cases aren’t right, not by a long shot. Now do you see why not everything is black and white? It’s hard to take the animated films we grew up and breathe new life into them while keeping these thoughts in mind. Especially if we were taught at an early age who’s good and who’s evil, and that the baddies aren’t deserving of our sympathy or even redemption. I don’t know who exactly started this tradition of taking the fairytales, animated classics, and other stories we all grew up with and add more dimension and humanity to each of the characters, including the villains. But I’m glad they did. It gives us something to think about and makes us see that we have a little bit of evil inside of us. I may be in the minority when I say this, but movies and shows like Once Upon A Time, Maleficent, Ever After High, Descendants, and Cruella fascinate me because it allows me the chance to see how capable the villains are to being good people and their external and internal struggles to keep the goodness in their lives while navigating through all of the bad things and people that come into their lives which sets a course towards their villainous nature.

At least take into consideration the hard work the authors, screenwriters, and creators put into formulating the question “what if...” and how much fun they have breathing new life into these characters we grew up with and how much of ourselves we can see in the villains, no matter how much we try to deny it. There, I said it. I may once again be in the minority when I say this (it seems to be a theme lately on Tumbr, which is quite sad), but I enjoyed Cruella immensely. The acting, the costume designs, the hair and makeup, the songs... It was just bloody brilliant. Both Emmas - Emma Stone and Emma Thompson - played their parts extremely well. Ms. Stone navigating through her internal battle to be a good person while facing a conflict with the bad side was a wonderful site to see. And Ms. Thompson, I mean, come on. She’s just fantastic all the way around. To play a narcissist isn’t easy, but she makes it look so simple and enjoyable. I commend both of their performances in this film. And let’s not forget the rest of the cast - Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Emily Beechan, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Mark Strong, Kayvan Novak, Jamie Demetriou, Andrew Leung, and John McCrea - such an outstanding ensemble! In the theatre, you know a show is fantastic because of its ensemble. The same applies in the movies as well. They may not get recognized as much as Emma Stone or Emma Thompson, but it was such a joy seeing these talented performers play their parts well, and the depth they played at was a joy to watch. Let’s talk about the costumes, hair, and makeup. This film better get awards for all of those areas (or at least nominations) because the designs and styles were truly epic. It’s hard to get the fashion of the times right without extensive research and a little bit of creativity and imagination thrown in for good measure. But Jenny Beavan and Nadia Stacey deserve all of the praise and accolades for rocking out the 1970s with boldness and some pretty wicked designs. I’ve noticed skimming on here the discontent many of you have for portraying Cruella as being a villain we should have sympathy for, especially since she wanted to skin Dalmatians for a coat. That alone should be cause for her to not be worth an ounce of sympathy, and I understand that. As an animal lover myself, I’m inclined to agree with you. But I’m going to let you in on one spoiler that I ask you take into consideration: no Dalmatian dogs were killed or skinned in this movie. I repeat: no Dalmatian dogs were killed or skinned in this movie. And here’s something else I want you to be on the lookout for should you decide to watch this film. During the end credits, there is a special message out there for those of you who are thinking about owning a dog: “Every dog deserves a loving home. If you’re ready for the commitment of pet ownership, please consider visiting your local animal rescue to find the right pet for you.” That message alone speaks as to how far we’ve come in society, and here’s why. Whenever we see movies or TV shows that feature dogs and cats, particularly puppies and kittens, we tend to rush out right away and getting them because they’re so adorable. But when they grow up, we tend to let them go and leave them in some unpleasant places. And organizations like PETA beseeched the film and the company to take a stand and use their voice to encourage adoption of pets in shelters and rescue centers and not pet stores. Apparently, the film and the company listened because they put this message during the end credits. Well done. I may not be able to convince you to go see this movie or give it another chance if you already saw it, nor should I try. But I do want you to take into consideration the amount of updated versions of the stories we all know and love, and how much the authors, screenwriters, and other creative types are bringing in humanity and depth to these characters. We’re not 2D characters like the heroes, heroines, and villains are often seen as in the original stories, so why should they be treated and seen as such for generations to come? We’re more complex and layered than seen in fairytales and animated movies. Also, I don’t think these stories where the authors give villains a chance to experience goodness before they became bad or even blurring the lines between good and evil are going away. It allows us as human beings to see and try understand that we’re all capable of being good, but it’s the events and people who come into our lives that shake things up and even brings questions of whether we’re truly good or evil that sets us down a path we alone can walk. And more importantly, it gives us as the audience a chance to see a little bit of ourselves in these characters, even if you don’t relate to the villains at all.  I suggest you stop griping about the rise in updated versions of the films, TV series, and book series of the original classics and accept that they are here to stay. I’m not saying you should read or watch them if they’re not your cup of tea, but at least try to understand that things were NEVER always black and white, especially where fairytales, animated films, and even more stories are concerned. At least try to understand that part, okay? Is that too much to ask? I’m not here to change your mind. I realize I can’t do that. So many of you are so set in your ways and opinions, and all I can do is pray for you. But I am here to share with you my thoughts on Cruella and how the updated versions of these stories are here to stay, whether you like it or not. And I’m also here to try to help you see that these stories allow us to see a little bit of ourselves in these characters we grew up with, even if it’s through a new set of eyes. You are welcome to disagree with me, or even not say anything at all. But all I ask is that you be respectful of my opinions and what I have to say. I will not tolerate any hate speech or disrespectful language. You do that, and I will block you. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything. It’s that simple, and yet it’s so hard, especially on Tumblr. I hope I didn’t take up too much of your time.

[ythmir-writes]

Fictober 2020, Day 08

Prompt: “i’m not doing that again” Fandom: Ikemen Sengoku Feat: Mitsuhide Akechi Audience/Tags: general / none apply

I do not believe in luck.

It demeaned our efforts. Belittled the work put into moving the pieces of the board into the right places to spring into action at precise moments. An ally is an ally only because of effort and work – whether it entailed persuasion or bribery or sheer force of will – it did not matter. An opportunity becomes manifest on because of the same principles. And victory is, more often than not, simply preparation born fruit.

Lord Nobunaga may call upon luck as if it were a weapon, something he could wield on a whim, but only precisely because he was Lord Nobunaga. He is allowed such by the gods. The rest of us do not have that.

I am not complaining about Lord Nobunga’s luck. Far from it. His luck is the Oda’s luck, and in turn mine to take advantage of. And even our Lord is not so foolish to say that our victories so far have been only that. He knows how much Hideyoshi and I have toiled for them; right and left hand moving so he could cleave down our enemies just a little bit easier, so he could stampede through the warring states just with a little less opposition.

No, I am not complaining about Lord Nobunaga’s luck.

What I am saying, without bias whatsoever, is that when six Takeda soldiers opened the dungeon doors and pushed a bruised and muddied Hideyoshi Toyotomi into my cell to join me, that was luck.

The best for them.

The worst for me.

A bleeding lip, a bruise on one cheek, and a dirty bandage wrapping around what looked like the wound I had seen Kenshin dealt him when all this had started. Apart from that, Hideyoshi looked none the worse for wear – which were good tidings of course – but my plan had been constructed with Hideyoshi leading the vanguard to this very castle like a force of nature. Not with Hideyoshi being placed in said castle’s dungeons with me.

I am rarely rendered speechless but the sight of him before me and not racing to deliver very important intel to Lord Nobunaga was quite the shock. Which quickly gave way to frustration.

“So,” I started, unable to separate my feelings from my voice.

Hideyoshi refused to look me in the eye. A first, really. Hideyoshi had never missed an opportunity to stare me down before. He sat down on the only cot and began re-bandaging his wound as if he were alone in the cell.

I leaned back against the opposite wall. “Found it difficult to retreat without me in tow again?”

Hideyoshi had done this before. Too many times, in fact. Foiling my plans, (usually unknowingly, sometimes deliberately) because he had thought it to be for our best interest that he came charging back to rescue me when I had very clearly explained I could manage it on my own. I had always thought it was because we were both generals that Hideyoshi refused to relent to my words even in the battlefield. I had realized, as the event repeated itself too often for my taste, that it all had been because he was worried.

Worried.

Hideyoshi respected me as a warlord. He just did not trust me enough to wield my gun and my own sword.

“Is your silence your admission to the charges against you?”

“Lay it off, Mitsuhide,” Hideyoshi mumbled.

“Why, Hideyoshi, I almost thought they’d cut your tongue,” I answered, not without venom. “Did you even listen to me when I explained why you needed to go back? Or did you conveniently forget again?”

“I did.”

“To which? Conveniently forgetting?”

“Gods damn you – I always listen to you.”

“Then why are you here?”

“You say that like I waltzed into this dungeon on purpose!” Hideyoshi scowled, gesturing to himself. “I did listen. I did go and run as you planned,” then in a lower breath, “Even if it was a very stupid plan.”

“It was so the Takeda would not advance – as they probably already have with you here,” I snapped. “You’re the one they need out there. Not me.”

“You say that as if you don’t matter in the battlefield.”

“Any other day I would have preened at this compliment,” I said. “But the point has always been you’re better liked by them which makes your presence more invaluable than mine.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. My frustration was at the tipping point but even at my best I doubted I could land a blow on Hideyoshi. “You don’t need me there. They need you.”

Hideyoshi visibly stiffened, stared at me as if he had something to say, but then returned all his concentration to wrapping the dirty bandage around his arm. At least it looked like the wound was no longer bleeding. Or infected. I would have offered my own haori to be shredded for the purpose but I had lost it somewhere between our burning base camp and being dragged into enemy lands.

A moment passed. Several. And still, I could not let my anger go. I had taken a gamble. Hideyoshi was meant to benefit from it. And yet here he was with me.

“Must have been hard to just keep running.” I added, sarcasm dripping from my words. “To just keep moving as I told you. Repeatedly.”

Hideyoshi exhaled. Loudly. And glared.

I glared back.

“The rains didn’t stop,” Hideyoshi finally said. “They took us by surprise the day after, by the lake.”

I could picture the theatre’s map as clearly as if it were laid out in-between us. What he told me only frustrated me more. “I told you to use the mountain roads.”

“Blocked.” Hideyoshi offered a weak shrug. “And what roads there were available were already too dangerous given the rain.”

“The dirt roads, then?”

“Blocked.”

“The village we scouted?”

“Burned. To the ground.”

I narrowed my eyes. “They hounded you.” A statement, because it was apparent.

“Persistently.” Hideyoshi shook his head. “I know those forests like the back of my hand but they had us at every turn. It was as if they had scouts just waiting for the horses to appear. I lost ten men just by sending them ahead to clear the path.”

I pressed my lips together, letting the frustration and anger melt away as Hideyoshi continued to tell me a detailed account of what had happened to him since I had purposely let myself be captured to secure their escape.

Luck, I thought. Useugi were lucky.

Or –

Or, they were, very obviously, communicating with someone who knew. Who could tell them where Hideyoshi was, where he had been, where he would be headed. As the thought came to me, I gave Hideyoshi a look. Wondered if he would be able to tell. Wondered if I wanted him to come to terms to it on his own.

From the dark look he was giving me, he seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Another wave of anger passed through me as a series of what ifs and could haves raced for my attention. I would eventually find the source of this inconvenience, but only eventually. Not now, locked up as we were in the deepest pits of Kasugayama territory.

As I waved away the possibilities in my head, I could not help myself but say, “Ten men and you didn’t even manage to send the spy to die?”

Hideyoshi stared at the ground again.

I had plenty more barbed quips, plenty more to berate Hideyoshi with all night long if it meant at least some of my own exasperation could be eased. However, a forlorn look had come over Hideyoshi, a heaviness around his shoulders as he leaned on his good arm.

So I stopped.

It was a look I rarely saw on him; a look that I had often prayed he would not have to carry more than was necessary.

“They’re good, I will give them that,” I then said, thinking out loud. When I prayed for silence the next time I would be with Hideyoshi, I had not meant it would be when he looked so distraught. “Having worked so long in your House and not once raising suspicion.”

“I trusted those men with my life,” Hideyoshi’s voice was barely a whisper.

I did not believe in luck.

But I did believe in how its absence often hurt. And those who have turned coats will be made to experience that hurt. “We will deal with them,” I promised him.

Hideyoshi nodded, but his thoughts seemed so far away.

I had expected anger. I had expected resentment. I had expected something akin to wildfire when I imagined Hideyoshi dealing with the thought of betrayal from his own men.

Yet there was none of that and I could not blame him for his apparent shock. Out of all of us, Hideyoshi had always been the most trusting, despite his overprotectiveness and zealousness. A trait everyone in Oda may outwardly spurn – his nagging being the prime target – but it endeared him to all. You cannot find a soul Hideyoshi has not charmed, in a way.

I realized I did not like seeing that side of him chipped away.

“I’m not doing that again,” Hideyoshi suddenly then said.

I rose from my thoughts. “Following my orders? You’ve never really followed through, honestly.”

“Leaving you behind.” Hideyoshi was resolute. “Not when even the men we’ve fought with all these times could turn on us like that. You need someone to watch your back.”

My answer was almost a scoff. “Are we forgetting a tiny but very important detail here?” I gestured at myself.

“I know exactly who you are, which is why I’m never leaving you alone from now on.” He answered firmly, as if my response had settled a point with himself. I did my best not to pry even as a ghost of a smile graced Hideyoshi’s lips. From where I sat, it almost looked a challenge. “Mark my words, Mitsuhide. You’re not leaving this dungeon without me.”

I shrugged.

Silence again. There was only so much a pair of prisoners could talk about in a cell without being overheard. The walls had ears, even when pairs of feet could not be seen standing guard.

And so, Hideyoshi and I sat, contemplating. Him, thinking whatever thoughts he have on betrayal so callously revealed. I, with my own thoughts of revenge for him, for us, for the Oda, counting down the hours all the while.

My thoughts drifted to our allies. I thought of Kyubei, whom I had instructed to go to Lord Nobunaga should Hideyoshi fail to, with the ill news. I thought of how Ieyasu would probably react at the news, him rolling his eyes and Mitsunari offering a quip that would not help. I thought of how Masamune would be eager to take over the vanguard to rescue us. I thought of our dear chatelaine and how they would be worried I had missed the mark.

By the time Hideyoshi finally managed to sleep, the moon’s light was long gone. When I was certain he would not stir awake, I allowed myself to finally look at him again.

Hideyoshi may not have suspected betrayal before this, not from his own people, but I watched for it in every turn, every corner, from every smile from someone’s lips, from every blade seemingly sheathed. I was the one who had been tasked the prune the hedges from unwanted thorns. I was the flame to burn the moths. Yet it had been my own reliance on Hideyoshi’s good senses and instincts that had led to this.

I should have watched better. I should have protected him better.

Next time, I will.

[cristalknife]

Kadam Week 2021 Day 1 ~ Do You Want To Be A Pirate?

So this is me trying to not start something on a platform only to post solely somewhere else aka AO3 and ff.net  you can find the complete list of Kadam Week 2021 prompts and you might find more stories on the Kadam Week 2021 AO3 collection

That said, the fist prompt was Puzzles and Games. And what represents better both than a treasure hunt? So here we go, I present to you Do You Want To Be A Pirate?

All the student body was abuzz, the annual treasure hunt was to be announced soon, it was always a great event. Mainly because the winner of the event earned a full booklet of backstage passes. Sixteen of them, completely blank to be used at the winner discretion during the current theatre season.

No limits were imposed on how the passes were to be used, be in a single show with a large group or even touring all the shows solo. The catch was that if multiple shows were to be watched by a group of two people up, the winner had to be there for each show.

Those booklets were the courtesy of Alumni working in the field. And to be honest it was a fun event for the faculty as well to create the set of riddles and clues needed to reach the destination.

It was supposed to be a moment of fun,  but at the same time given the kind of prize, it was not meant to be effortless.

However to the faculty disappointment, the individuals only rule with no cooperation allowed present in the previous editions, resulted in no winners for the past couple of years.

After consulting the sponsor, it was decided that for this year students could sign up as pairs.

But if the students decided to sign up as pair, then both the winners would have to be present each time they were to use the passes.

And apparently that wasn’t a condition that some were comfortable with, while others like Kurt were actually overjoyed.

Once he heard of the treasure hunt, he went out searching for Adam, barely containing his elation and desire to share the news.

Upon finding his boyfriend, Kurt was barely able to contain his excitement and he launched himself into Adam's arm sure he'd be caught.

Adam grinned and kissed Kurt back, holding him securely before saying "Hellu Love, what got you so excited?"

Kurt chuckled and as soon as his feet touched the floor once more he raised the flier and pointed to the fine prints "They mentioned a change in the rules and on this year’s event people can sign up as pairs. The catch is that both need to be present when using the passes, so you're game signing up with me?"

Adam raised an eyebrow curious before reading the flier aloud "The Annual Treasure Hunt? Is that what got you so excited? Except for my freshman year, I don't recall any of those events actually ever having winners"

Erika came up from the side and quipped "Three years ago was the last time someone won, but it was again one of the last seniors graduating. After that batch left, no one ever figured out the clues, I'm surprised the faculty still does it"

Kurt shrugged "Well the prize makes very much sense for the school, I mean blank passes for the backstage of current productions? That sounds interesting, and sixteen of them would actually mean we could all go together as a group and still have two spares for the winning team to get another show, or split between two productions..."

Kurt speech had most of the Apples smiling and send to their favourite freshie an adoring look.

Adam still amazed by his boyfriend asked softly "So you suggest a common effort and register more than one team, and then Apples parties at my place, where we could all chill out and talk about our days?"

JJ quipped up "Only if that involved baked goods from both our favourite bakers, because Adam ma man, I love your cookies but gimme Kurt's  casserole and salty cupcakes any time, and I could even fight you off and offer my hand in marriage for having those every day"

Kurt snorted and swatted away playfully JJ's offered hand "You are not even remotely bi-curious, If I wanted to live with an overgrown kid who'd stay with me for my cooking I'd simply invite my brother to move in with me"

Everyone around chuckled at that and JJ pouted mockingly offended "Are you insinuating I'm not man enough for you?"

Adam then stepped in smirking "More like implying that all the main male leads in his life are already cast, and you dear friend can only be the occasional torn in our butt, one that comes every now and then to offer his company in exchange for delicious food..."

Grinning like a cheshire cat JJ quipped back "Well we all know that the good ones are all gay, unavailable or happily being both together"

Everyone broke down in giggles and with resolute nods each claimed a partner. The divide and conquer idea Kurt had was very intriguing, and the thought of getting the upper hand on an event that even the Perks couldn't get their way by popularity alone, or that no one else won for the past couple of years had its allure…

Especially given the mixed composition of techies and performers in their group.

Seeing Kurt smiling radiantly was something each member of the Apples enjoyed and cherished.

Especially since the big fallout, or as it was known amongst them, the great purge of the toxic influx in Kurt's life.

Also known as the day when Miss fallen out Diva Berry left the loft in a huff and Kurt and his roommate Santana took the storming out literally and changed the key of the padlock.

Sending all of Berry’s stuff back to the temporary storage place two blocks away from bushwick, with a 3 days grace period and a week paid with Berry's part of the deposit.

Kurt himself was just very happy to be surrounded by friends who supported him as much as he supported them.

Being with Adam and being friends with all the members of the Adam's Apples, had given him a perspective he never knew he desperately needed, and it also lowered his tolerance for taking crap by those who were supposed to be on his side.

Kurt was not secretly very excited by the prospect of looking forward to something in his life that could be just fun and despite being officially a competition. He was still able to live it as an adventure, to be shared with his boyfriend and all their friends as well.

As they walked away from the registration boot and reading the first clue ‘Every adventure needs a captain to sail for the treasure island’

Kurt giggle when Adam playfully whispered in his ear "Aye aye captain let's get our sea legs on"

Kurt nodded and they made it to the costume department through the back corridors, not wanting to tip off the other not Apples participants, while their friends instead received simply a gentle reminded in their text chat, that all hearties were to meet at rehearsal later in the week same place same time.

Indeed their guess was correct when they found the next clue stating ‘Never forget those who came before you’

Kurt and Adam took the chance to grab a quick lunch as they discussed the clue. Adam was the first one to attempt to solve it "If we are thinking about the school that would send us to the hall of fame"

Kurt nodded slowly but tapped his finger against his lips "But what if it's a more general outlook? We are learning to get into an industry that broadens beyond the limits of the school and its social circles, even if those are still important"

Adam hummed softly mulling over it "So you're suggesting more like the library?"

Kurt nodded "I'm just unsure whether we are supposed to search in the history section itself or go more for the history of Broadway and theatre section"

Adam nodded slowly "there's no rule about not searching blindly both"

Kurt chuckled and nodded as well, after finishing his cup he raised an eyebrow in silent question and received a simple nod in response.

Once in the library, Adam was the one to take over the history of Broadway and the theatre section while Kurt went through the History books.

It took a while but finally Adam was successful and found a piece of plasticised parchment with what appeared half of the final clue.

The mention of a second half made him frown, but with nothing else to be found there, he simply took a picture of it with his phone.

He then placed the clue back inside the book and the book back on the shelf before going to find Kurt, hoping his got lucky and found the second half.

"Did you get anything?"

Kurt shook his head a little put off "No absolutely nothing, you?"

Adam nodded "Yeah I found something but it's only half of the final clue"

Kurt frowned confused "Guess it's time to start some baking then hmmm?"

Adam smiled and leaned forward to give Kurt a small peck on his cheek trying to stop the frowning "We could do directly at my place and then make an evening out of it"

The offer, as Adam hoped, brought a smile on Kurt's face as he replied coyly "I'd love that, are you offering just the evening or it could turn into a sleepover"

Adam grinned and moved so that he could kiss those cheeky lips, when he was almost where he wanted to be, he breathed quickly "We'll swing by the loft if there's something you absolutely need for tomorrow classes"

He then proceeded to thoroughly kiss his boyfriend.

After classes ended for the day, Kurt sent a message to their chat group informing everyone that it was baking time in the afternoon

Adam raised an eyebrow curiously at the message and Kurt shrugged stating simply "That way we can be sure basically everyone will show up with something to contribute, just before or around dinner time, and then the meeting will become a movie night"

Adam snorted because indeed knowing their friends that was what would most likely happen, "It wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I offered to make an evening out of it darling"

Kurt grinned, mischief gleaming clearly in his eyes "That's why I raised your offer to a sleepover instead..."

And true to Kurt's expectations, that evening all the Apples who didn't have to work, appeared at Adam's doorstep with offerings for the shared evening meal.

Of course those who had worked demanded a do-over with double baked goodies of their faves as personal share...

Once everyone was seated around, Paul, who paired up with JJ for the treasure hunt, asked "How was your hunt we've only found half of the final clue"

Kurt wrinkled his nose "we reached only half of the final clue as well care to see if we've all found the same half or if we lucked out?"

Adam took off his phone and started to read aloud "Congratulation adventurers, you're holding half of the treasure map holding the clue for the final answer you will have to give to someone to receive your treasure, think back on the steps you took to find this and then go and find the last missing piece"

JJ jumped up from his seat exclaiming excitedly "Yes we've got both!"

Paul shook his head smiling and took off his own phone reading "Congratulation adventurers, you're holding half of the treasure map holding the clue to figure out who is the officer that you'll need to impress with the answer that you still need to find to receive your treasure, think back on the steps you took to find this and then go and find the last missing piece"

Everyone was suddenly buzzing with unrestrained excitement when Kurt asked pragmatically "So how are we going to tackle this? Reading both clues together and then split between them or focusing the attention on a single one?"

Adam suggested swiftly "We could actually read them both and then see how to tackle the easier one first"

When everyone nodded Paul continued reading their clue "You might go to Central Park Or catch a show on Broadway...  Where in the world would you be to get to these by subway? Twice... I mean the answer is New York clearly but how does that help us identify who to give our final answer to?"

General groaning raised from around the room when Erika cut in "Adam what is your clue?"

Adam complied and read it for everyone perusal "What show is next in this pattern: A Chorus Line, Into the Woods, Bat Boy, Pacific Overtures, Little Women, Damn Yankees, Camelot, The Pajama Game, Children of Eden. As a hint, there is more than one show that correctly works, but one show fits more ‘perfectly’ than any others.”

Adam raised his phone to let everyone seeing the picture and commented

“As a side note there's only one blank line but its length doesn't seem indicative as it was formatted to look good rather than give a hint on the last name, or at least that’s what it looks like to me"

And everyone had to nod at that consideration at that point Chris' groan was the loudest "I don't get yall, neither of those is any more clear than mat moss paint..."

Kurt sniggered but offered a plate with Chris' favourite cookies on it "It's ok, we can work it out together so any ideas?"

Matt who had been quiet this far asked Kurt speculatively "You already have an idea for at least one of them don't you?"

Kurt looked taken aback and blushed getting himself busy with the food "Nothing solid.."

At that point Adam walked behind Kurt and wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist as he pressed himself against his boyfriend "It's ok Love, you don't have to be right to speak your mind, we are here brainstorming there's no judging with us"

JJ quipped teasingly "I mean we'll obviously judge and tease you till the end of times for getting flustered the first time we took you out for blow jobs, but for this… I mean you're all going to hearing the suggestion my gorilla brain comes up with"

Chris snorted and quipped teasingly "Given what gets spawned out of your mouth I thought you would have said instead that yours is like a pig’s brain."

Matt joined in to the teasing, shaking his head as he grinned salaciously and wiggling his eyebrows "Nah a pig's brain is too big we are talking mouse if everything is in proportion."

Kurt coughed at the double meaning implied in that sentence, he feared JJ would take it badly. But he was once again surprised when JJ put theatrically one hand on his cheek, the other on his chest clearly mimicking a delightful surprise "Oh Matt, my darling why didn't you said that before… All this time you were checking me out  because you wanted some of my sweet sweet love, comma hear lemme give ya some sugar baby"

Everyone erupted in laugher and Matt maturely threw his napkin aiming for JJ's face "You wish man, you wish"

JJ pouted "Harsh dude, harsh, you could have at least throw your cupcake with the napkin"

Kurt sent a levelled glare to both boys "If anyone dares to throw our delicious baked food not only they will stay for the cleanup, but they will be banned to get more baked goodies for the next month"

A single "Ouch" escaped Matt's lips before he silenced himself and raised his arms in surrender.

Paul swatted the back of JJ's head "Don't upset daddy, or I'm so going to gag you next time we are all in the same room to prevent that from happening, I rather enjoy our baked goodies"

Erika quipped at Paul "Which is why you shouldn't save JJ from himself, let him dig his own grave, more goodies for us... Kurt had not said anything about lowering the amount of baked goodies, only put a ban on who can access them"

Chris chuckled and offered their fist to Erika, as they said grinning "Well said girl well said"

Erika smiled brilliantly and bumped the fist and then both made an explosion motion as they both retreated their arms.

Kurt raised an eyebrow at being addressed as daddy, but  Adam just held him a little closer and mouthed later.

So Kurt took the handle of the situation and started sharing his idea hoping for the current teasing to come to a natural rest "well I was thinking on Paul and JJ's clue... What if we need to take that final twice literally? As in the correct answer is New York, New York"

Erika's eyes shone brighter "Like the Scorsese's movie?"

Kurt nodded "Yes that's also the name of the most known song from that movie, so New York New York could be the solution"

Paul pondered and then said "Well if we are talking about a movie would that mean that we are to talk with the dean of the drama department?"

Kurt bit his lips and then he continued explaining his thoughts "I was thinking more about the fact it might refer to the song, which then in turn would make Madam T be the one to speak with, given that she's the dean of vocal performance. And with the movie being also a musical maybe the singing component is more pronounced and would lead to her instead of Mr Keller?"

Adam then said serenely "Once we figure out the answer we could even decide to split and each team going to both of them with the solution."

Murmurs of agreement run through the room until Matt stated "So now we just have to figure out what that list of musicals have in common?"

JJ scratched his head before raising and grabbing few more cupcakes to munch on "Do you think that the fact they cross two centuries means anything?"

Chris promptly opened Adam's computer and pulled up the wikipedia pages of all the listed musicals before shaking their head "Nope they are not in chronological order so it’s not that"

Paul then quipped "And that wouldn't make any sense, the additional hint says that there's only one answer that would fit perfectly... it's not like there's only one new musical coming out every single year"

Erika asked then "I am not familiar with all the titles but are they really all musicals?"

Adam answered "Yeah all of those listed are musicals, so maybe we need to check on the songs?"

Matt then wondered aloud "What if it's something all the songs have? Maybe there's a matching title or a recurring theme?"

Kurt took out his phone and looked around and said "well there's seven of us and nine titles maybe we could each open the list and check them side by side?"

JJ grinned and took out his phone as well "That's a great idea"

Kurt started listing all the songs of chorus line, Matt went on with the ones from into the woods,  JJ giggled like a maniac as he read the bat boy's list. Paul read on the Pacific Overtures and Erika listed the ones from Little Women.

When Adam, who was reading from the Damn Yankees, reached the song titled Six months, Chris exclaimed excited while raising a finger silently asking for a moment "Holy moley I think we got something going here"

Everyone turned, waiting for more explanation that Chris promptly provided "Each of those musicals has a song with a number in their titles" and then they pointed to Kurt who quickly caught up and said "One" and then each proceeded in order Matt said "It takes two", JJ said excited "Three Bedroom House "

Paul grinned starting to see the path as he said "Four Black Dragons"

Erika was grinning madly as she said "Five forever"

Then JJ still super hyped by having discovered the key to decode the clue he asked Chris "So what are the others?"

Chris smirked and started prattling "In Camelot we have ‘The Seven Deadly Virtues’, The Pajama Game has a song called  ‘7½ Cents’ while the Children of Eden has ‘A Piece of Eight’”

Kurt hummed softly and considered aloud "So we have nine musicals mentioned but the last number is eight... What if they had already given us the answer and it's literally Nine?"

Adam whistled impressed "That actually makes so much sense..."

Paul groaned "And if you explain it like that it seems so obvious too"

Erika shrugged "All riddles once explained make so much sense that you usually feel stupid for not reasoning it out before... That's why they are considered brain teasers"

Chris who in the meantime checked out Kurt's suggestion finally quipped triumphantly "That's it guys, we have a winner the answer is indeed Nine, which has a song called guess what?”

Chuckling everyone said at once “Nine"

JJ then scratched his head and then asked "So now we are only unsure on who we need to tell our answer to?"

Paul quipped happily “Me says Adam and Kurt follow Kurt’s reasoning, we follow ours, that way if our suspicion is correct and Kurt is right it’ll be them and not us having a private date… No offence man but I’d really prefer not having my girlfriend gutting me for going out on a date with you”

JJ snorted before sounding almost genuinely upset “Harsh man, harsh”

Paul patted JJ shoulder when Kurt asked confused “But what about the others?”

Matt answered smiling “Kurt you four are the only ones who got to the final clue, I personally wouldn’t like to try to get the prize knowing I barely got to the second one.”

Chris and Erika nodded as well confirming they felt the same way.

Kurt felt relieved that he wasn’t taking advantage of his friends. With everything sorted out, everyone else left leaving just Kurt and Adam alone.

After they settled down Kurt turned to Adam, with a questioning look on his face before asking “Is now later? Do I get to know what the daddy comment was about?”

Adam chuckled softly “Nothing bad Love, I can assure you that, you know that I’m considered the mother hen of the group right?”

Kurt hummed softly nodding as he snuggled closer to Adam who then continued “And well you’re too sweet and kind to all the Apples to be considered a father, but still we are together and we both tend to take care of them so…”

Kurt chuckled and finished shaking his head “So I’m daddy… Not sure how to feel about having so many kids that are all older than me”

They both sniggered at that.

The next day, when they went talking with Madam Tibideaux, they discovered that indeed Kurt’s reasoning was correct, and they got out of her office with the prize and matching grins. ~The End~

[mojofun]

Not My Type (Sirius Black x Reader)

Hello earthlings :) This is an entry for This is an entry for a writing challenge I’m taking part in, launched by the wonderful @obsessedwithrandomthings​ for getting 500 followers; congrats again :) The prompt I chose this time was <<You look so good in my shirt>>. I can just imagine our dear Sirius using lame one-liners when flirting with girls, and this is the result. P.S. I’ve been listening to Motionless in White lately, so this thing is packed with lyrics references. Besides, Sirius looks like the kind of guy who would totally dig that style of music so I thought “why not?” I hope you enjoy it!

Gif not mine, credits to @snuffles-padfoot07

<<Remus?>>

No answer

<<Remus. Remus Lupin>>

Still silence

<<Remus John Lupin>>

Still no reply

<<Moony. Moony, Moony, Moony->>

<<WHAT?!>> The taller Marauder ultimately snapped, turning to glare at his bespectacled friend; said friend acted like nothing happened, simply holding up a slip of paper

<<Do you think Lily will like it?>>

Sighing, Remus gave the poem a skim before rolling his eyes

<<Won’t you give the poor girl a moment of reprieve, James?>>

<<Cmon, help a friend in need!>>

<<Why me?>>

<<You always has a way with words>>

A snort came from the opposite side of the room

<<And yet, he still got no date>>

Remus scowled

<<Prongs, why don’t you ask Padfoot then? Merlin knows Y/N loves his idiotic pickup lines>>

Sirius acknowledged the hit, rising from his bed and walking toward his two mates with a strut. Once there, he took James’s poem and read it, nodding in approval

<<Go for it, pal>>

<<What about you, oh great master of poetry?>> Moony teased, still miffed about Sirius’s jab <<How will you annoy your muse today?>>

The shorter male chuckled, smirking mischievously

<<Don’t worry, Moony. I’m very well-prepared>>

<<That’s exactly what worries me>>

              _______

<<Y/N! Y/N!>>

Sirius greeted the H/C girl who’d just walked in the class with her friends. As soon as she saw him, she groaned

<<Oh no>>

<<Come sit by me!>>

Another H/N patted her back soothingly while she face-palmed

<<I think I already know what my boggart’s gonna look like>>

<<Oh love, come on! You don’t need to be afraid of me!>>

<<I’m not scared: now that I think about it, you look like my boggart after I’ve cast Riddiculus>> The female deadpanned.

Sirius was stumped.

Beside him, Janes cackled

<<Your girl’s got sass, Padfoot>>

The other guy could only nod, watching as his crush took a seat as far as possible from him- or tried to: thanks to his distraction, all the other spots were occupied.

That meant she was sitting in the next desk. 

Y/N hoped that she’d successfully quelled the Gryffindor’s idiotic onslaught.

Well, she did... Just for a little while though

<<Such a sharp tongue for someone so pretty, doll>>

<<I also own very sharp blades, Black>> The girl countered, glaring at him <<Do not tempt me>>

<<I knew you couldn’t resist!>> He cackled

<<Yes, my killing instincts are very strong right now>>

The quaint theatre was interrupted by the arrival of Professor Silvanus Kettleburn, who immediately gave dispositions for the class

<<Very well. Today, you will work in pairs>>

The sentence every student dreaded, especially poor Y/N.

It seemed luck was not on her side that day because, when the professor announced her partner, she was faced with a smug Sirius, grinning from ear to ear

<<You know, my therapist says I’m afraid of commitment. Wanna help me prove em wrong?>>

<<Interesting. I’ve never wanted to commit more>>

<<Really?>>

<<Yes; a murder>> The E/C-eyed student walked away from him, heading toward the fire crab the professor had assigned them

<<Ready to give up, Padfoot?>>

<<Never>>

<<I don’t know whether to commend you on your tenacity or call you foolish>> Remus commented

<<She’s made of fire, but I can handle it. And no, James; I’m not talking about the crab>>

              _______

<<No no no no. Stop right there>>

<<What?>>

<<You need to chop those before feeding the crab>>

<<Oh>>

<<Give them to me>>

Sirius nodded, handing her the food and watching her cut it, slowly and precisely

<<Where have you been all my life?>>

<<Hiding from you>> Y/N replied coolly.

The boy cackled

<<You’re smart, funny, pretty, and you’ve got an insane amount of sass. You’re everything I’m looking for in a girl>>

<<Wow, I’m so lucky>>

It would have been impossible to ignore the sarcasm lacing her words, but Sirius didn’t acknowledge it

<<Would you want to go watch a movie with me this weekend?>>

<<I’ve already seen it>>

<<How can you know?>>

<<You’re asking me out again: I’ve already lived this horror enough to last me a lifetime>>

The older Black brother laughed, shaking his head in amusement

<<Alright, let me try again>>

<<Please no>>

<<Can I take you out on Saturday?>>

<<Sorry, I’m having a headache this weekend>>

<<What?>>

<<Leftovers from the one you’re giving me now>>

But you->>

<<Bitch you’d give a fucking aspirin a headache>> She growled.

Once again, Sirius was at a loss for words. Not only had Y/N just used two swear words in a sentence, but he knew he’d already heard those words somewhere...

<<Wait a second. You listen to Motionless In White?>>

He cried out. The female snorted

<<Are you kidding me? They’re one of my favourite bands>>

<<I like them too>>

Finally, the tension between them seemed to dissipate. Finally, Sirius’s smile was not a smug grin but a real, happy smile.

Finally, Y/N smiled genuinely back at him.

How cliché would it be to say that they felt like they were the only ones in the world at the moment?

(Fire crab aside)

And yet, that exactly how they felt.

It was so exhilarating that Sirius just had to try again

<<Y/N?>>

<<Yes?>>

<<I know the only words that you have for me are give up and get out>> The girl chuckled, prompting him to continue <<but I’m here to stay, forever and always>>

She laughed more. It was not sarcastic or mirthless but a true, joyous laugh

<<You know, you’re not so bad once I get past the smug act>>

<<I feel like that’s the biggest compliment you ever paid me>>

<<You’re probably right, but don’t get ahead of yourself. My killing instinct are not raging right now: let’s keep it that way, shall we?>>

<<I’m ready to bleed to make amends>> He joked. The young woman cachinnated, shoving him playfully

<<You idiot. You’re making it hard not to like you>>

<<That was my objective>>

<<Continue on this road and you might just achieve it>>

<<I will. Besides, I know better than to tease you when you’re chopping stuff with a knife; you warned me>>

Y/N cackled one more time, shaking her head in amusement.

It was an incredibly welcome turn of events.

              _______

Later that day, the two students sat together for lunch in the Great Hall, discussing anything that came to mind. Mostly their favourite bands.

The more they found out they had similar tastes the more engaged they became.

It was quite a sight. It surely left Remus and James gobsmacked: they would have never thought Y/N would actually want to be with Sirius. Didn’t he annoy her as much as James did Lily, with his dumb pickup lines?

Apparently not.

Their surprise grew even more when their friend suddenly asked her on a date- nothing new there.

They’d enjoyed endless attempts by Padfoot to win the heart of the smart and beautiful H/N.

Her answer, on the other hand, was something entirely unexpected

<<Yes, Sirius: I will go on a date with you>>

The black-haired Marauder offered her a huge smile, making her laugh

<<Thank you, darling. You won’t regret it>>

<<I certainly hope not>>

<<I’ll even make sure the place I take you to has sharp knives, so you’ll know what to do if I get too annoying, alright?>>

The girl laughed so hard that tears fell from her eyes

<<You’re an idiot>>

<<Duly noted. But doesn’t this idiot deserve a kiss?>>

Remus and James half expected Y/N’s smile to turn into a frown, and for her to smack him in the face.

Instead, against all odds, she giggled and pulled him closer, pecking his cheek

<<I finally managed to break the cycle>> Sirius beamed. Y/N snorted

<<Not entirely: you’re still an idiot>>

              _______

Idiot or not, the date went so well that they went on a second one, and a third, a fourth... And so on, until they officially became a couple.

Which meant Remus, James and Peter had to deal with their best friend and his girlfriend sucking faces and being all lovey-dovey- though they were sure those two only did it to piss them off.

Well, they’d learnt how to deal with it, as long as it was just holding hands and kissing- making out, actually.

But none of them was ready to find the two of them in bed together in their dorm room

<<What the->>

<<Ah!>> Y/N startled, waking Sirius

<<For crying out loud, guys, won’t you ever knock?>>

The poor friends just stood there, red in the faces while Padfoot rubbed sleep out of his eyes.

Once he’d had enough, he shouted

<<Well, why are you still standing there? Get out, we need to change!>>

Not even Death-Eaters after them would have made the three boys run so fast.

The female chuckled, standing up and smoothing our her boyfriend’s shirt that she was wearing like a dress.

The boy in question stared at her adoringly, pulling her closer

<<You look so good in my shirt>>

He fully expected her to blush, but she smirked and replied cheekily

<<I look even better out of it>>

The wink that came immediately after threw him for a loop

<<Y/N...>>

<<Yes, dear?>>

<<... That’s such a lame pickup line>>

<<Yeah... I stole the idea from you, along with your shirt>>

<<And my heart>> Sirius played along

<<... Just like that, the lame throne is yours again>>

<<But that makes you the queen of lame>> He pointed out.

She didn’t know what to reply to that, so she swatted him on the chest.

He gasped in horror

<<You said you’d never hurt me>>

His joke made her laugh.

When she calmed down enough, she teased

<<You’d still give a fucking aspirin a headache>>

<<Oh, are you an aspirin?>> For old times’ sake, he decided to throw in another lame pickup line <<I’d love to take you every 4-6 hours>>

<<Isn’t that too much for you?>> She teased. He chuckled and pulled her in his lap, pecking her cheek

<<You are too much for me, but I’m never letting you go>>

Despite the light atmosphere, those words held a promise of forever, and they both wanted that.

Their lips met and their hands held the other close.

Once again, as cliché as it may sound, they felt like the only two people in the world

              ___Extra____

Outside the door Remus, James and Peter stood still, looking at each other in confusion and embarrassment

<<How long do you think it will take?>>

<<Well, Wormtail, I don’t know much about Padfoot’s prowess in bed but->>

<<I’m not talking about that, James>> The shorter Marauder spluttered.

Remus sighed

<<That was probably the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me. And that’s saying something, taking into account I hang out with you three>>

James cackled

<<Oh, Moony, you wouldn’t->>

<<I have a question>> Peter piped up again

<<What would that be?>>

<<Why are we still standing here?>>

<<Oh, right. We should come back later>>

<<Better yet, let’s change our house>> Remus groused <<Merlin knows I’m never going back there>>

After some silence, James spoke again

<<Hey, Moony, do you think if I used those pickup lines on Lily, she would->>

Professor McGonagall spent the whole day wondering if the incredibly loud sound she heard in the morning was actually a scream, and where it had come from

[earnestly-endlessly]

Could you please rec cherik fics where they still have powers but being mutant is well accepted? (Kind of like the Daycare Verse by brillingspoons) THANK U SO MUCH YOURE INCREDIBLE

Hi anon, of course I have a list for you. I am so sorry for the delay. I have been super busy lately with work and home renovations, but I’m back and I have a looong list for you. Now, the nature of x-men as a parallel of the very real fight of minority groups for civil rights makes it pretty hard to find fics where everyone accepts mutants.That’s actually why I love the x-men, because they represent the fight of those who are ostracised. So, some of these might have some social commentary, but the main focus does not lie there. Also, if you love the Daycare Verse check out pocky_slash’s fics (who actually wrote the majority of the Daycare Verse). 

------

Cherik ´Still Have Powers Modern AU´ Fic Recs

irreconcilable differences (make for surprisingly good bedfellows) – pocky_slash

Summary: Tonight on The Evening Report with Malcolm Stevens, noted geneticist and mutant equality proponent Dr. Charles Xavier faces off with the infamous mutant rights activist Magneto in a live televised debate over the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act.

(At least, if they can stop flirting long enough to stay on topic.)

Words and Pictures – pocky_slash

Summary: When Lorna's powers manifest early, Charles Xavier's mutant picture books are the perfect teaching tool. Erik just hadn't expected the author to be so young. Or attractive. Or available.

For the Record – endingthemes

Summary: As prominent figures in the mutant rights movement, activists Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr are pretty much household names. When a romance scandal between them breaks, their celebrity reaches new heights, and though the increased exposure is great, there’s a big problem -- the two of them are just friends.

Too bad no one believes them.

Runs in the Family – Anonysquirrel (chibirisuchan)

Summary: Alex knew his own reputation. Hell, he'd started some of his own reputation, because it kept some of the smarter thugs off his back. Everyone knew Alex's reputation. There was no way Hank didn't know his reputation, but he'd brought Alex into a house with some really expensive things and a lot of innocent little kids and his too-friendly, too-harmless dad.

But clearly Hank hadn't told his family anything about Alex, just like he hadn't told Alex anything about his family. At least, not about the brain-breaking parts of his family.

"I didn't know where to start," Hank said, for the dozenth time.

Featuring mpreg!Charles in a Kiss The Cook apron, overprotective!Erik in wet black leather, and baked goods. Lots and lots of baked goods.

(Another segment of this series is posted under the Cookie Cutter fic collection - thanks again, Takmarierah!)

Impulse Decisions – listerinezero

Summary: Erik wakes up in Las Vegas with a hell of a hangover, a telepath in his bed, and a ring on his finger. Now what?

You Show Me Yours - endingthemes

Summary: When Erik receives nudes in the middle of the night from an unknown number, he's confused and mildly amused. He doesn't expect it to turn into an actual conversation...with feelings.

As if that's not baffling enough, his friend's brother ends up crashing at his place, further complicating everything.

Some Such Place (The Big Screen Classics Remix) - Pocky_Slash

Summary: Erik's spent the last eighteen months having lengthy socio-political conversations and casual sex with Charles Xavier after seeing Monday matinees at a dingy little independent movie theatre in the Village. That doesn't mean they're friends. Or that Erik should have any say in what Charles is going to do with his future.

(At least, that's what Erik keeps telling himself.)

Into Your Tar, Honey  - tomato_greens

Summary: Really, Alex doesn’t know why he’s in the damn class.

(Or, the one in which Charles teaches an online Introduction to Biology course, and Alex reads more than he expected to.)

Heli Cases - Black_Betty

Summary: "Heli Cases" is a program on PBS whose aim is to educate on the rapidly increasing occurrence of genetic mutation in the general populous by breaking the complex science down into palatable, easy to digest pieces.

It is also the only thing that helps Erik get his fussy daughter to fall asleep.

(Featuring Dadneto, baby Lorna and the struggles of single fatherhood, and Charles as the host of a late night show about genetics.)

Bound - FuryRed

Summary: Is there anything worse than someone else’s wedding? Well, perhaps your sister’s wedding- where the groom just has to invite his boss and that man just happens to be your ex-boyfriend; a person you had an extremely passionate and tumultuous relationship with that ended badly.

Charles hadn’t seen Erik for a year by the time Raven had told him about the wedding. He wasn’t looking forward to the occasion, particularly when Raven explained that they would be celebrating the event with a two-week extravaganza at a luxury hotel, meaning that Charles would be forced to spend a whole fortnight with the man who he’d given everything to; the man who had ultimately broken his heart…

An Exercise in Frustration – ikeracity

Summary: Erik Lehnsherr's latest critically-acclaimed film Shame features a full-frontal nudity scene. His long-suffering husband Charles is really very peeved about it.

Eyes on Fire - Black_Betty

Summary: Every once in a while, fashion tycoon Emma Frost invites her favourite male models over to entertain her. And by "entertain", I mean she makes them have kinky consensual sex in front of her....Emma never touches herself when she watches, but she always has a glass of wine with her. Emma likes it best when they eventually forget that she's watching.

Charles and Erik meet each other through Emma...

(I've taken some liberties with the prompt, but all the sex is still there, and it's wholly consensual...and gradually, becomes more than just sex...)

Order Up - ikeracity

Summary: Charles has a terrible habit of multitasking, and that is probably why he absentmindedly tells the pizza man that he loves him when hanging up.

Then the pizza man says it back. And Charles is pretty much smitten from there.

Some Assembly Required - manic_intent

Summary: "Alex and Hank were two teenagers who frequently fight in school. One fight got so bad that the principal called in their fathers (as both came from single-parent families)/ guardians for a conference. This was how Charles and Erik meet."

Limited Release - rageprufrock

Summary: When Alex Summers broke out of supermax to rescue his stupid kid brother, he had no idea it was going to be so fucking complicated.

Math Reasons – pearl_o, pocky_slash

Summary: "Mom says Erik always knows what he wants, it just sometimes takes him a little while to actually realize it," Ruth said.

Charles fell in love with Erik the first night they met, the first week of freshman year. Two years of friendship, adventures, arguments, hijinks, secrets, and summer visits later, Erik is starting to catch up.

It’s kind of our whole thing – pearl_o, pocky_slash

Summary: After two years of best friendship, Charles and Erik thought they knew everything there was to know about each other. They're surprised, then, when their first summer as a couple reveals that they have a lot to learn about each other and themselves.

PART 2 of Math Reasons

A Nice Boy (The Family Matters Edition) – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik's not sure whether the problem is that he doesn't want his parents to meet Charles or that he doesn't want Charles to meet his parents. Either way, he never invites Charles to brunch. Why should he? It's not like they're dating.

apple season – pocky_slash

Summary: "You know," Charles says while they're sitting around the kitchen table reading the paper, "You should take Anya apple picking."

"Don't you mean 'we?'" Erik responds. The silence that follows is enough to make him re-examine his own apple picking memories a little more closely. Uneven ground littered with apples, tree roots, holes, and narrow passage between rows of orchard trees. "Oh," he says.

rooms/shares – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik is single, working a cube job he hates, letting his master's degree in mutant studies collect dust, and living on his best friend's couch. When she kicks him out, he's forced to trawl Craigslist for the least-offensive rooming option within his meagre budget. He never expects a response from the persnickety, high maintenance ad he replies to as a joke, but it's possible this too-nice apartment and mysteriously absent roommate might be the answer to all four of his problems.

Continue firm and constant – aesc

Summary: Moira hasn't seen her old partner in saving the world from threats human and intergalactic, Erik Lehnsherr, for a few years. When she finally does see him again, she finds a man different from the one who's been with her down in the dark and the dirt and the blood... or maybe he isn't so different after all.

Tough little baby telepath – aesc, pearl_o

Five Part Series

Summary: Teenage telepath Charles Xavier takes a job as a consultant, working with prickly police detective Erik Lehnsherr. Charles is used to being on his own and taking care of himself; he has no reason to think that his relationship with this stern, icy man is going to change any of that.

Frosted hearts – aesc, palalife

Summary: Emma Frost has 99 problems, but a date ain't one. Specifically, she has no time to play the dating game--which is fine with her, because she'd much rather run it instead. From a set of sleek, silver and white offices on Fifth Avenue and with her trusty, stylish, and silent partner Janos Quested, Emma has built Frosted Hearts into New York City's premiere dating service, built on the principle that money, and a sufficiently rigorous psionic scan, can, in fact, buy you love.

Somewhere in Frosted Hearts's server is one Charles Xavier, genius and geneticist, with the kind of nicely-starched good looks that sell well on brochures for New England prep schools. He's also a telepath who's decided to give up pursuing serious relationships and instead spend his thirties doing what he should have done as a teenager: have a lot of sex with random people. Fortunately for him, Erik Lehnsherr, metallokinetic and engineering executive, has absolutely no time in his heart or his schedule for anything more serious than... well, absolutely nothing romantic at all.

Mercy of the Fallen (the AirDrop Security Update 2.0) – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik Lehnsherr feels defined by his past sins and after years of acting against his own moral compass, he's finally struck out on his own. He's his own boss now, and determined to work hard to help the mutant community and make up for years of doing someone else's dirty work.

Complicating this is Charles Xavier, mutant advocate, genetics professor, unfairly attractive telepath, and owner of the coffee shop below Erik's office. Erik may not think he deserves to be a part of the community he's thrown himself into helping, but Charles has other ideas on the matter, and he's determined to do everything in his power to make Erik see himself as a force for good.

you follow and i’ll lead – pearl_o, pocky_slash

Summary: When Charles discovers how frustrated and self-conscious his best friend Erik is about his ignorance about sex, he's eager to volunteer to help teach him and practice. Charles might not have any more direct experience than Erik, but he does have a telepath's mind full of accidentally picked-up fantasies and memories, as well as knowledge of a few dirty books - and more importantly, he's been madly in love with Erik for years. This seems like a brilliant, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that he can't pass up.

Now he just needs to manage to keep his feelings in check, and not ruin their friendship forever.

Snail Mail – pocky_slash

Summary: Alex isn't thrilled when his boss, Erik, starts sending him to hand deliver notes to Erik's husband up at the university--that is, until he sees the Professor's hot new TA, and suddenly, the notes can't come fast enough. If only Alex could work up the guts to ask him out....

this is life (and everything’s all right) – pocky_slash

Summary: Edie Lehnsherr came into Charles' life long before he ever heard Erik Lehnsherr's name, and her death left a gaping hole in the lives of everyone in Charles' family. As the first Purim without her approaches, he begins to get creative in his efforts to bring everyone out of their grief. Kitchen creativity, however, is not quite his strength....

Watching the Detectives – Clocks

Summary: Detectives Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr are good friends and colleagues. However, when they go undercover at a Christmas party to nab a prime suspect, Erik keeps reminding himself to stay professional and ignore feelings of unexpected jealousy.

Student/Teacher Relations – PoorMedea

Summary: As a TA, Charles knows he can't get involved in all his students' lives. He needs to keep professional boundaries, to make sure that he's an authority figure. But when he accidentally finds out how complicated Erik Lehnsherr's home life is, he suddenly finds that distance hard to maintain.

Fill for the prompt: Erik is the teen dad of adorable baby!Lorna. I just want teen!Erik being a dad, with adorable interactions between him and his baby. Angst is good too since there's always going to be some in such situations, but mainly I want to see teen dad Erik being an awesome dad who loves the hell out of his daughter despite whatever else may be going on.

Conspiracy of Kisses – Alaceron

Summary: Seven-year-old Erik needs to keep his telepathic best friend Charles from finding out that he wants to kiss him. But that's okay, because he has a plan - he'll put on a tinfoil hat.

Favorite Mistake – endingthemes

Summary: Charles Xavier doesn’t think anything of it when he sneaks out without even saying goodbye to his latest one-night stand. What he doesn’t expect is to walk into his new position in the Xavier Industries marketing department and find that his latest hook-up is now his new boss.

Never Take Biology for Granite – ikeracity, pangea

Summary: Charles is an internet celebrity who garners his fame from posting educational, in-depth videos about a different animal every week, though for some reason his viewers are always more interested in his sex life with his geologist husband, Erik, who happens to frown heavily upon all living things.

Except for Charles, of course, whom he's missed these past couple days while attending a geologic convention--though considering the subject material of Charles' newest video, he's wishing he would've stayed away longer.

This Is Not Comedy – baehj2915

Summary: Written for amarriageoftrueminds' prompt for a Cherik version of Louis CK's tangent about the fuckability of Ewan McGregor.

Naturally the similarities end there. I made this about Erik's full on public lust-filled gay revelation, and the chaos that spirals from there.

Snowed In – dedkake

Summary: Charles and Erik have a one night stand, but a blizzard traps them in Erik's apartment afterward.

[ilovelollipopx]

HC with Jhin (SFW and NSFW) where despite him being cruel to others he is very caring, soft and over protective of his lover fem!reader

Because i really enjoyed writing previous requests and matchups for you this will be the first Hc request finished for the day

SFW

-In His eyes he sees everyone else as guinea pigs and insects, all predictable, they had the same patterns and reactions. But you my dear portrayed those patterns in a very authentic way, a way which inspired him. Not inspiring him to elevate you into a much better work of art. No. 

-He wanted to relish in such beauty that was rare in such a lifetime. So he’ll transform anyone into a living art piece if they dare so mess with you. Just so they could get a glimpse of what they could truly be, although they are nothing compared to you.

-They don't get to experience the awe-inspiring feeling that overtakes him when you two are together. So it is wise for them to quickly divulge themselves in some task if they are in his path.

-While he is off transforming those cruelly wronged by civilization into much more, he’ll leave you in his manor and wherever it is doesn’t matter for wherever you desire to stay is where you'll be. As well, of course, the finest handmaidens to take care of your every need, and they know the consequences if they don’t carry it out..

- As if anyone would even think about using you to get to him, they’ll be met with a very untimely end.

-Those precious moments where you’re caught in such an innocent act, or curiosity that was so misplaced yet on alert at times.

- Whenever he did divulge in frivolous activities with you whether it was a simple walk around Ionia or going to a nearby theatre he was always rewarded with just your presence

-He is always patient and understanding with his significant other, never getting impatient or daring to leave them strung up like one of his works of art- no that wouldn’t be a very gentleman thing to do to someone who resembled an angel in his eyes.

-Only soft and gentle touches would be left on your skin, a caress of your cheek as eyes studied how you leaned into his touch or the way your arm interlocks with his during a stroll.

-It brings him into a mindset of how you must have been disguised as some sort of goddess, of course, how could one be so perfectly flawed in such a world.

- Yet despite your simplistic nature, there were such engaging activities you did when it came to art, alas not the same as his work, but the moment you ever let him paint your enchanting radiance will be the day he is truly awed, and no one could ever be farther astonishing than you.

NSFW

- The thought alone of defiling such beauty, of tasting those plump lips of yours, relishing in the warmth of such lush skin. It gave him such exhilarating excitement, contrary to that he restricts himself.

- If you ever do in any moment hint that you give consent to such sensual act of intimacy, he won’t just rush such an exotic event, no he must prepare of a setting you deserve to be presented to you

- You’ll be prepped of course, maids and servant’s helping you prepare, a soothing bath will be filled in a matter of minutes just the right temperature to your liking, Jhin will want this to be perfect, take it as a spa day

- Be prepared to have your questions unanswered about his whereabouts and what you were getting ready for, though that creative mindset of yours can figure it out

-You wouldn’t see him for the rest of the evening, by the time you return to your quarters which you likely weren’t allowed in after Jhin left, adorned in nothing but the finest Ionian silk robe the land could offer you’ll be shooed back into your sleeping chambers

- The sight presented to you is that of rose petals and tealight candles, in front of you a pathway of rose petals and candles on the outside of them lead to the bed, it was the only area that was lit in the room other than two large candles on the bedside tables

-Your robe would sway as you walked down the path the lush feeling of petals beneath your feet and the warmth of candles merely brushing against your ankles set you in a certain stimulating mood

- Though as you reached the bed there was a single pink rose lying on the plush blanket, as you reached to pick up and inhale its sweet sickly scent, your hair was moved to the side as a face nuzzled itself into your neck, a single breath was all you released in surprise to the feeling

- “My darling the scent of a mere flower leaves a faint smell unlike your’s” a familiar voice speaks

-You know who it is, yet just his voice sends a chill of excitement down your back, the edge he gave as you waited for his next movement, his next touch is what you longed for.

- A Hand-glazed over your shoulder pushing off your robe on inside, exposing your naked shoulder, it felt as if a gust of wind had moved your robe yet the windows were closed and no sign of air entering could be noticed

- In a matter of seconds, cool lips were placed upon your exposed skin, suckling slowly as if it were a dessert one could just not get enough of, an intoxicating scent that one became obsessed with, those same hands slipped around your waist pulling you closer into his frame, his other hands slipped off the other side of your robe leaving everything from your neck to shoulders exposed, stopping only at your upper back is when he began to trace invisible patterns all the while still teasing you

-Your attempts to muffle and sound of desire and enjoyment will only cause him to desire you much more how naive of you, however, you would look much more dazzling beneath him, waiting for him to ravish your body

- And so he spun you around and gently lifted you up bridal style before placing you down softly against the red sheets when you looked up finally getting  a good look at his appearance, Jhin’s mask was discarded and what exposed was truly a sight for sore eyes his dark brown locks were slicked back and the scar on his right eye that you just couldn’t help but reach and trace your finger over it

-Your lavish touch was just too overwhelming for him, from now on tonight he was going to bed a divine goddess, the only one worthy of seeing him as he is.

- “Tonight is the night that I bloom but in the light of a goddess”

Tried my best for this one and forgive me on the nsfw part I was running on 1 and a half cups of coffee haha hope you enjoy!

[drjackandmissjo]

it’s nice to have a friend

previous chapter --- chapter 7 --- next chapter

feysand masterlist

“Call my bluff, Call you ‘babe’“

It had been a fairly long day for Feyre. She had to organise a new collection for her gallery, dealing with things like catering for the event and security and insurances on the pieces that had to be exposed. Her assistant Ressina was searching for two more artworks, since two of her own paintings that she was supposed to showcase had been just bought.

The website Azriel had built for her gallery had been a complete success since the opening day, through it Feyre had managed to sell almost all of her creations and many of those that she presented through the gallery itself, reaching the proper audience even outside of Prythian. Paying for international shipping was her new most hated activity, but she couldn't complain.

In the few years since she had graduated and started business for herself, she had made a name for herself. Her junior and last year of university had given her the opportunity to internship in one of the best art museums in Velaris, where she learnt the importance of good displays and how to haggle the right price for each piece. During that time she mostly painted for commissions, which she continued to take now, five years later, with the only difference being that now a 'Feyre A.N.' costed much more than in her early days. Even those she created freely, out of her own heart's desires, were being sold at fairly high prices with a surprisingly high rate.

So now she had to look and scout for new artists to display, considering the current shortage of her own artworks. It all brought a whole new sense of responsibility to Feyre and a whole lot of paperwork she wasn't particularly fond of. She was everyday grateful of her choice of hiring an assistant, even if at the beginning she was a bit sceptical.

Thankfully, Velaris was the best place in the entire world to be an artist, a safe haven: the city had an entire neighborhood, the Rainbow, fully inhabited by writers and sculptors and poets and painters, with several theatres and galleries and museums. Feyre had chosen to open shop there, in one of the main streets and it had been a glorious success since the inauguration. The artists that made the community had welcomed her warmly and with open arms, helping her get on her own feet at the start with their support, and now she was repaying them in kind, offering opportunities to anyone who might need them.

Her originally rented space now fully belonged to her, having been bought two years after the opening with the money her hard work brought. She had fallen in love with the locale in an heartbeat, as she walked the Rainbow hand in hand with her boyfriend as he helped her carry back to her place bags full of paint and canvases. Feyre had stopped dead in her tracks, as if called by it, declaring it the perfect spot. Rhys had laughed at her and kissed the top of her head, telling her how she should take the number of the owner and contact them to see if she could rent. Being fresh out of college meant she didn't have enough funds to do more, but one day, Rhys had said, it could've been hers.

The old lady who owned the space had been ecstatic with her call and heard her ideas with interest. The rent was decent, given the great metrage and locations, but the place was new and needed little to no modifications, and thus 'Starfall ' gallery was born.

When her clock chimed, telling her the time, she slowly rose from her chair, stretching her sore back. The new tattoo she had gotten three weeks prior on her spine still hadn't healed fully, causing her some wincing that her husband was constantly worried of. The long piece was a masterpiece on its own, the longline depicting the different lunar phases she had drawn herself.

Deciding to call it a day, she gathered her stuff and closed the lights, locking the door on her way out. Despite it being mid-October, the weather was still pleasantly warm even during the evening, and Feyre enjoyed walking alongside of the Sidra quietly as the wind quietly messed her hair. She and Rhys had bought a townhouse on the other side of the river before their wedding, close enough to be able to walk to their respective workplaces, she to the Rainbow while he went back to the university, teaching English poetry and drama, as he had chosen that specific minor on his senior year.

Although they had a similar commute, the different paths had Rhys always beat her to the rush home and he started usually dinner, as she was downright cursed with her cooking inhabilities. Even helping in the kitchen was something she did carefully, her and her husband both weary of the outcomes. The only thing she could do safely from 'scratch' was to heat up soup.

A wicked plan began to outline itself in her mind. It had been awhile since she had humoured her husband, both too focused on their respective works. She moved in the upstair bedroom they shared, removing her proper attire to slip into a severely more comfortable pair of leggings and a worn out t-shirt, covered in blue paint of every shade. " This is gonna be fun" she thought, delighted in the possible turn of events as she rang up his favourite Chinese restaurant to order take-out to be delivered.

And then she set to 'work'.

***

As soon as she felt the front door open, Feyre moved swiftly to rotate the timer on the oven and made it set off immediately. She knew Rhys had heard the little series of noises that signaled the end of a cooking process. He usually would discard his keys on the small table that decorated their tiny foyer as soon as the door closed behind him, but this time he was stalling.

Probably debating whether to retreat back outside in case the kitchen exploded or not.

The problem wasn't that she was a bad cook perse. Feyre never had much time playing around the stove growing up, thankfully for them Elain was the chef of the household. She had learnt the basics, how to boil water for instant cheap ramen noodles and how to heat up frozen pre-cooked stuff in the microwave of the communal kitchen of her dorm on her first month in Velaris, with Alis patiently telling her what to do to survive in case there was an emergency. During the years she had tried a little more, once she moved with Amren and Mor and had a kitchen at her disposal without limitations.

Her first attempt at scrambling eggs for breakfast set the fire alarm off and she had to explain to an exasperated fireman that the house wasn't on fire. That earned her a wary look from her roommates, but considering that neither of them had any luck with cooking, no one spoke of it for the following week.

Her second one brought a weird texture of a pasture looking like brown instead of the expected yellow, completely stuck at the bottom of the pan. Not burnt, simply attached there and impossible to remove. She then went to buy a new set, throwing the mystery pan immediately in the trash.

Cassin was with her for her third trial, to guide her into the mystical art he had mastered, and made her solemnly swear to never, ever , again touch a kitchen utensil if not with the sole purpose to eat with it, and even then he had some serious doubts about letting her anywhere near anything inside a kitchen. She wasn't allowed to be there unsupervised, he had said, scared shitless.

So the problem wasn't inside her cooking abilities, since she made the best sandwiches out of anyone in the Inner Circle, but rather her rotten luck an inability not to burn anything that involved heat or patience to be made.

A smile appeared on Feyre's lips as she suppressed a series of giggles that were threatening to rise up, imagining the face her husband was surely making. The sounds from the foyer told her two things: the door had been closed and remained unlocked, ready to aid in their escape from a fire that Rhysand thought undoubtedly might happen any minute, and her husband was taking his time through his routine, as if a minimal change in the air might've triggered the self destruction of their home.

"Darling?" he called for her as he made his way through the open space of the living room to reach for the kitchen, cautiously stopping before properly entering the room and setting off something.

Feyre immediately turned around, her light brown hair neatly folded in a messy bun swinging to the side and promptly losing some strands that fell into her face. She found him leaning against the doorframe, seemingly relaxed were it not for the fact he was hiding his hands inside the pockets of his black pants. Her genuine smile seemed to ease his stance and Rhys took the opportunity to move towards her. She turned back at the task at hand as he walked past the island, using her knife to cut an apple into tiny slices. His arms came to encircle her, effectively pinning her against the counter, and she leaned back, resting her head on his chest.

"How was work today?" she asked, warmth radiating through her as he bent down to place a soft kiss to the top of her head. For someone who thought the stove might explode at any minute, he was incredibly calm with the whole ordeal.

"The usual" he shrugged "some kid had the audacity to groan when I told them we would soon start with Shakespeare's Sonnets!"

One of the many things she utterly loved about him was how passionate he was for his job, for the curriculum he got to teach each class. Overall, his favourite subject was Shakespeare, on whom he did his dissertation which got him the place at the University. He still kept on writing, publishing mostly the new researches his department did, and he worked with all his heart.

Feyre shook her head slightly, "Kids this day have no respect." Then, in afterthought, she added "Are you going to downplay the whole homoerotic full blown text like our old prof did?"

"Are you crazy? That's the best part!" His grip tightened around her as she set the knife down, wiping her hands on a nearby handchendief. "I'm thinking about letting those freshmans do their winter final paper on who they actually thought Good Ol' Willy was shagging."

"Professor Carver might object." she said, turning in his arms and now facing him, her back against the cold material of the counter.

"Who do you think I got the idea from? That man wants nothing more than to gossip, even if it's 500 years old stuff."

"Remember how he was somehow the first person outside our Inner Circle to know we were dating when we came back?" They both laughed at the memory, noses brushing softly as they were both content to remain there.

"How was your day?" he asked, his breath caressing her neck gently.

"Too much paperwork. But I sold that Springtime painting we both didn't like to probably the most horrible and rude woman ever."

The woman had truly been a demon: she had stormed in as if she owned the place, demanding attention. Ressina had been patient and listened to her raging nonsense as best as she could, but couldn't do much herself. Feyre then went into her aid: she had past experience dealing with bad customers from when she used to be a waitress in high school, yet this woman took the cake. lanthe Spring, as she had proudly introduced herself as if she was the most important person in the world, was looking for a present for her husband, she had told her while raising the most preposterous ring to ever been made. The green gems looked more like a torture device than a wedding ring, but Feyre didn't usually judge. After an entire hour looking at the catalogue, her eyes had set on one of the paintings Feyre had done way back in her freshman year. She had finally gotten the approval from the art department to sell the early works she had done during her period there and the majority had either already been sold or she had gifted to her family and friends. That was the last one to remain in Feyre's possession, probably the laziest work she had ever done: the colours well dull, the motif unclear; despite it showing a green and flowery scenery, it resembled much more a dead nature. She hadn't been in the best mindset when the work had come to life, her constant fights with Tamlin causing an artist block on all her works, yet the woman had been ecstatic, claiming it reminded her of her own husband.

Feyre didn't make the connection until she saw the checkbook, yet no feeling came to her, good nor bad. She would've liked to know his reaction at seeing her painting though, just to get some sick and twisted satisfaction at how she was thriving with only her 'hobby' . "But I got a nice cut from that, so dinner's on me!" she finished lightly, pulling herself from her daydream.

"I know exactly what you're doing, Feyre Darling." he hummed from her neck, as he drew his lips across the skin. Suddenly she was finding it hard to concentrate. "I have no idea of what you're talking about, Rhysand."

He pulled back abruptly, moving their bodies till she was now leaning against the empty and clean kitchen island. "Your attempt at scaring me almost worked, you know?" he whispered against her ear, moving to nibble at the soft flesh, "But next time make a little mess with some flour all around if you want to truly give me a heart attack."

"But you see," she started, trying to sort her foggy thoughts as the world narrowed to where his lips were against her neck once more, "I'd have to take you to the ER then and that's too much work, babe." She was breathless, sick of the attention her neck was getting. Hands plunged in his hair, positioning him flush against her as her lips claimed his, his own hands roaming freely under her T-shirt.

He suddenly pulled away slightly, eyes never leaving hers and not bothering to remove his hands from where they rested on her back, slowly working the clasps of her bra. "Not to mention you don't even know where to find most things that aren't downright edible without preparation in our pantry, am I correct?"

She brought him back down in an instant, "Arrogant prick" she murmured against his lips as she began to undo the button of his shirt, their hips moving in sync as their lips.

He hoisted her up on the island counter in one swift move as she took the shirt off of his shoulders, caressing the inky swirls of his traditional lilynian tattoo that adorned his upper torso. He immediately returned the favour, removing her tee and bra in one swipe, moving his attention fully to the newly exposed skin, biting and nipping there. Her grip on his hair became iron as his hands darthed southward, his own wedding band cold against her feverish skin as his mouth drew circles around her breast. He began to slowly slid off her leggings, never once removing his mouth from her, when the doorbell rang.

A string of colourful profanities that could've rivaled a sailor's entire vocabulary made its way out of Feyre's mouth as her husband merely laughed at their interrupted moment.

"I've ordered Chinese" was the only non-curse Feyre spoke as she jumped of the counter, grabbing her t-shirt to answer the door at least decent.

"I was indeed promised dinner" Rhys said, not bothering to cover himself as his wife paid for the food.

"I still got you there for a second, didn't l?" she asked, walking back to the kitchen carrying two bags.

Rhys kissed her cheek sweetly, "Always, my Darling."

[svftheartcd]

* maris racal, cis woman + she/her  | you know marisol flores, right? they’re twenty-one, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, their whole life? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to let’s get married by bleachers like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole windows filled with plants, rolled up sleeves of an oversized sweater, and believing in love at first sight thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is march 10th, so they’re a pisces, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( kennedy, 21, cst, she/her ) 

hello hello i’m kennedy and i’m super excited to be here!!! i apologize if this intro is a little messy, i’ve never been good at them. i have a pinterest board for her here !!

 *ryan bergara vc* with that being said... let’s get into it

background

for as long as she could remember, marisol’s parents were never happy. it was clear to everyone around that the two no longer loved each other ( if they ever did ). classic case of staying together for the kid. not that they were really around often enough for it to make much of a difference. her mother would leave for weeks at a time, only vaguely saying that she had work when pressed on it. her father at least tried to be there for her whenever he could but those times were rare. he worked as an architect in the next city over and worked long hours (and suspiciously seemed to stay even later whenever her mother was home).

marisol was often left in the care of the elderly woman who lived next door. a nice woman named irene with an incredible garden in her backyard. or at least, it was incredible to little marisol. these times at her neighbor’s home introduced marisol to her love of plants and just nature in general. she would spend hours helping irene with her garden, learning everything about the plants within it in the process. for her tenth birthday, she was gifted a book on how to identify wild plants and a blank journal. irene would take marisol out every weekend to identify (and sometimes collect) wild plants in the area and would help her record her ‘findings’ in said journal. soon enough, it was filled with drawings of plants (that slowly got better and better over time) and marisol’s observations about them. these formative experiences would be what eventually leads her to study botany.

marisol was very desperate for her mother’s approval growing up. she had herself convinced for a long time that the reason her mother was never home was because of her. that she just wasn’t good enough for her to bother being home. so she worked harder in school and strived to get the best grades. she got involved in various clubs and programs offered at her school, including theatre. but no matter what she did or how hard she worked, nothing seemed to work. 

marisol’s parents would finally divorce when she was sixteen. her mother would stay with a friend during the divorce proceedings. she would take marisol out to eat or to a museum every few weeks but that was about all marisol saw of her during that time. then. as soon as the divorce was finalized, she just left. marisol would still see her over the years although usually on holidays or special occasions. despite all of this, she still holds her mother in high regard and remains just as desperate for her approval as she was when she was a child. every time she comes into town, marisol is spending every minute she can with her.

marisol’s relationship with her father improved after her mother’s departure. seeing the effect everything had on his daughter, he began working less and spending more time at home. he encouraged her to continue her extracurriculars and made sure he was there for every school event. and while she doesn’t live with him anymore, she still talks to him regularly and goes to his house every sunday to have dinner.

personality

very positive! always tries to see the best in people even if everything tells her that she shouldn’t, she strongly believes that everyone has some good in them. has probably gotten her into trouble a few times tbh

hopeless romantic. definitely believes in love at first sight but like obviously not for everyone (gestures at her parents). she just believes that it does happen for some people and think it’s just beautiful when it does. loves love!  has honestly gotten a lot of her expectations for love and relationships from movies and tv shows so they’re a little skewed.

can be a little shy when you first meet her but it honestly doesn’t take a lot to get her talking. and if you get her talking about something she’s passionate about? good luck getting her to stop. she just has a lot of thoughts and feelings.

people pleaser. she just wants people to like her. often puts other people’s needs and feelings before her own. honestly has a really hard time when someone doesn’t like her and will go out of her way to try to make them like her. 

she’s sensitive, it is honestly really easy to make her cry. whether they’re happy tears, sad tears, angry tears, etc. has definitely cried over the stupidest things too like a commercial for dog food or a silly meme.

fun facts

is currently going to the local community college... would have gone to the state college but she’s not super comfortable with driving long distances yet and she’d like to improve her gpa a bit first

her favorite movie is the princess bride <3 she used to watch it like once a week in high school yes she had a problem

is unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your outlook idk) a musical theatre kid.... hadestown is her favorite. she listens to it when she’s feeling sad.... also when she’s feeling happy. honestly she just listens to it a lot.

she’s recently gotten into flower pressing and is just having a blast with it! has briefly considered opening an etsy store for it but isn’t sure yet. 

favorite video game of all time is stardew valley. which isn’t saying much because she doesn’t play a lot of video games but still. she absolutely adores everything about it, seems to encompass most of her interests which she thinks is just great

has a lot of plants scattered around her place and yes, they all have names. is looking into getting a venus fly trap bc she thinks they’re neat...

works as a barista at kahlo’s!

bisexual <3

wanted connections

roommate(s) - roommates are always cool! must be okay with her plants... she has a lot of them honestly

best friend!!! everyone needs a best friend... i like the idea of them just being like the Exact opposite of her but honestly down for anything...

friends - just give her some friends... she is a very sweet girl ok she treats her friends very nicely.

crushes?? mayhaps?? - mutual... unrequited... whatever i just like crush plots they’re cute

exes maybe? reasons for not working out can be anything... angst always welcome but i do like a good ‘used to date but are just now good friends’ idk

other people who go to the community college ofc... uhhh coworkers... regulars at kahlo’s.... fellow plant lovers.... honestly open for anything and everything!!!

[missmentelle]

So I’ve seen a bit floating around online about how this pandemic qualifies as a collective trauma and I wondered if you could speak to that. I don’t feel traumatized—I mean I’m self isolating in an apartment and it sucks and I don’t love worrying about food and my fam and friends, but is that the same thing as trauma? How would I tell? I already have depression and anxiety so that isn’t really new to me. Idk I just feel guilty going “oh I’m traumatized” when I have it pretty good, actually

A collective trauma is not just a grouping of individual traumas, and not everyone who lives through a collective trauma will be traumatized by it. When we talk about “collective trauma”, we’re talking about the ways that groups understand, process and remember that trauma as a whole, on a group level, and how that trauma becomes a part of collective identity. What defines a group trauma is not post-traumatic symptoms or individual experience, but the way that we as a group talk about that trauma, create art and traditions to commemorate that trauma, and tell our children about that trauma. You don’t personally need to live through a collective trauma in order to be a part of it; the vast majority of Jewish people alive today did not personally live through the Holocaust, but that event remains in their culture as a collective trauma that continues to play a part in their Jewish identities. Likewise, the vast majority of ethnically German people alive today did not participate in the Holocaust, but they still participate in collective trauma by finding ways to come to terms with their history and move forward with the knowledge that that is a part of their collective identity.

The idea of collective trauma is that, even if your own individual experience was outside of the norm or “easier” than most, you can still dial into the collective experience by being part of the group it happened to. The event as a whole was “yours”, as a group, and it’s meaningful to you. Those of us who aren’t Rwandan can learn about the Rwandan genocide in academic terms, by reading history books or even speaking directly to people who survived it, but it’s not “yours”. You can have sympathy for the victims and think that it’s a terrible thing that should never have happened, but it’s not your trauma. It doesn’t have personal meaning to you - it’s just a thing that happened in history. Rwandans born after 1994 have no lived experience of the genocide, but they do share in the collective trauma; the genocide is a direct part of their family’s personal story, and they have to come to terms with not only the role that their own family might have played in the genocide as victim, perpetrator or both, but they have to come to terms with what it means for Rwanda that such a terrible thing happened there. They walk past physical memorials, they see disfigured survivors with missing limbs, and consume poems and books and songs about what happened. Whether you were someone who personally survived and was injured in the genocide or whether your connection is more indirect doesn’t matter - the collective trauma is the group’s experience as a whole. 

A collective trauma does not have to be something that occurred on a national or international scale, like a genocide or world war. Collective trauma can occur on a much smaller, more localized scale. The students who survived the Stoneman Douglas school shooting are part of a collective trauma, as are the community members who lived in Parkland at that time; whether they were students who actually survived taking a bullet or just concerned community members whose view of their hometown was shattered by the event, they were part of a collective trauma that developed around that event. My hometown lost four boys when their hockey team’s bus crashed into a semi-trailer two years ago - that event was a collective trauma for my hometown, and for the people outside our hometown who knew those boys and their teammates. An event does not have to be famous to form a collective trauma, and you don’t need to be right at the center of it to identify with that collective trauma - the trauma exists independently of any one person. 

This pandemic certainly qualifies as a collective trauma because it has disrupted the lives of nearly everyone on earth, in a variety of different ways. The vast, vast majority of us won’t actually be traumatized by this pandemic in a clinical sense - most people will find the disruption annoying and kind of scary, but they won’t have nightmares and flashbacks for years after it ends - but they are still a part of the collective trauma. Everyone who survives this pandemic is probably going to be weird about physical contact and cleanliness and crowded spaces for a very long time to come - that’s collective trauma. It’s going to take a very long time for people to start seeing things like movie theatres and concerts and public transit as totally “safe” again, and stop worrying about the possibility that they may get some kind of infection. We might stop shaking hands entirely, and a lot of office jobs might permanently shift to a work-from-home model. Tourism in NYC may suffer for years, and it might take a really long time for the city to shake off the notion that it is a “dirty” and “infected” place. All of that is collective trauma. Even if you aren’t currently on the front lines of an emergency room or facing imminent financial ruin from losing your job, you’re still probably going to feel a little uneasy in crowded places and get upset if your coworker comes to work sick for years to come after all this is over, and that’s still part of the trauma. It’s about the way that our society changes after something catastrophic happens, and it will affect all of us, even if we had a relatively easy few months sitting at home binging Netflix. 

Hope this helps!

Miss Mentelle