#// answer their questions honestly ingrid

[girlgenius1111]

unhappy reunions

sol runs into her parents after the copa de la reina final no warnings.

--------

“Solstråle?” 

You froze. You knew that voice, knew it well. Your mother normally didn’t call you by the nickname Ingrid had given you, and that almost surprised you more than her surprise appearance.The noisy cafe still existed around you, but when you turned around, that was all forgotten. 

“Mamma?” You whispered, instinctually taking a step backwards from the woman in front of you. 

It made sense; you should have known better than to expect your parents to miss one of perfect, perfect Ingrid’s important games. 

“Hei, kjære.” Your dad said gently. He had his hand on your mom’s elbow, holding her back from taking a step closer. It wasn’t as jarring to see him, but your body had been plunged into panic the moment you’d seen your mothers’ face. 

“I-.... I can’t,” you mumbled, backing up until your back hit the door. The last thing you saw before you turned to leave was a heartbroken expression on your mom’s face. As if she was upset you wouldn’t talk to her. You were confused, overwhelmed, and so, so upset. 

You booked it back to the hotel. As fast as you could, walking as quickly as would be socially acceptable. You’d forgotten the coffee you’d ordered, which you only realized as you got in the elevator at the hotel. You were kind of torn on whether to head to your room, or to Ingrid and Mapi’s. They’d probably still be asleep; the celebrations had gone late the night before, and you wanted them to rest, to really soak in the victory. 

But honestly, you weren’t sure you’d be able to calm yourself down, and you knew your sister could. You made a decision that you wouldn’t have a few months ago, maybe even a few weeks ago, stopping in front of your sister’s door rather than your own. You chose company over self pity, and comfort over punishing yourself. And it felt wrong. 

Mapi answered the door. “Good morning Sol!” She said cheerily, stepping aside to let you in the room. The bathroom door was closed and you could hear the shower running, which explained where your sister was. 

“Hi.” You said, your voice much shakier and quieter than normal. 

“You okay?” Mapi asked, shutting the door and giving you a concerned look. 

“Yeah.” The lie was instinctual. “No, actually. No. I… I went to get coffee.” 

Mapi looked at your empty hands, raising an eyebrow in question. 

“I saw my mom. She- both of them. My mom and my dad, they were in the coffee shop I went to. And I saw them.” You looked away from Mapi as you spoke, staring down at your hands. They were trembling. 

“Sol,” Mapi sighed and reached out for your hand, though you stepped backwards, shaking your head at her. 

“Please don’t touch me.” You whispered, pressing the heels of your palms tightly against your eyes. You felt so unsettled, so uncomfortable. Suddenly, Zaragoza didn’t feel safe, you didn’t feel safe. You wanted to go home, or maybe you just wanted to hide yourself somewhere quiet and far, far away from anyone else. 

Mapi stood for a minute, not sure what to do. You’d never refused a hug from her before and though she realized that you coming to their room as opposed to hiding away in your own room was a step forward, everything about your body language was screaming that you were miles away, back in Norway. Norway, where you didn’t feel loved or noticed. Where you shied away from hugs because you weren’t used to getting them. Mapi heard the shower turn off and wasn’t sure whether or not to be glad. Ingrid might be overwhelming for you, as it seemed like you were already overwhelmed, but Ingrid could sometimes get through to you in a way that only she could. 

“Okay, Sol. Everything is fine, cariño.” She tried to soothe. 

“No! No, everything isn’t fine. They aren’t supposed to be here, I don’t want to see her. Are they here to take me back? I don’t want to go back. I want to go home, to Barcelona. I want to go home Mapi, please.”

“You aren’t going back and you don't have to see anyone, nena.” Mapi promised, stepping closer with her hands raised slightly in the air. “Tell me what to do, tell me how I can help.” 

“I don’t know, I don’t know.” All you could do was shake your head back and forth, trying to keep yourself in the present. 

“Okay, Sol, just breathe. Just breathe for me.” Mapi soothed, taking a slight step forwards. It didn’t seem like you were hearing her. It didn’t even seem like you were in the room with her. 

“Mom, please please don’t send me away. I want to stay here with you. Please mom, please.” You sobbed. Your head hurt from crying, from going back and forth in circles with your mother. 

“You are going, and that is final.” Your mother said firmly. She didn’t really seem to see your tears, or how upset you were.  

You looked towards your dad, who couldn’t meet your eyes. “Dad, please. I don’t want to go. I’ll be better, I promise, just please,” 

Your father opened his mouth, as if to reply, but your mother beat him to it. “Enough. We are not changing our minds.”

You wiped a few tears away. “How can you do this to me?”

“Do this to you?” She repeated incredulously. “I’m always the bad guy with you. No matter how much I do, nothing is ever enough. You are ungrateful. You are only capable of thinking of yourself. This is not the kind of person I raised you to be. You say that you are anxious and depressed. I think you’re lying, and I am sick and tired of your excuses for this poor behavior. It is a miracle your sister is even willing to take you in. I am sure she has no idea what she’s getting herself into. You will go to Spain, and you will learn what it's like to not have someone do everything for you. And until you learn that, do not bother coming back here. I do not want to see your face again until you have cleaned up your act.” 

The room fell silent as your mother took a step back, a flicker of emotion flashing across her face. Your dad still wouldn’t look at you. If he had, he would have seen that the tears had stopped. You stood, looking like you’d been struck. In that moment, you hated yourself as much as your mother seemed to. Even if you didn’t understand why she felt that way. You were pretty sure it was warranted. 

“I am sorry for yelling. I just get so frustrated with you sometimes, and I don’t know what else to do.” She stepped closer, stopping when you took a step back. “We are doing this because we care about you.” 

It was always because they cared about you. Never because they loved you. Your mother had stopped saying love a long time ago, around the time you’d started acting out. You wondered if you’d ever hear it again. From anyone. 

“Sol, I need you to breathe.” Mapi said, bringing you out of your thoughts. You raised your head to look at her, and she almost cried herself at the downright haunted look on your face. The next second, you were practically lunging towards her, a broken sob falling from your lips. 

“I want Ingrid.” You choked out, pressing your face into Mapi’s shoulder. She nodded quickly, arms holding you securely to her, even as you trembled violently. 

“Ingrid,” Mapi called.

“One second.” Ingrid replied, not hearing the urgency in her girlfriend’s tone. 

When Ingrid walked out of the bathroom, clean and dressed in the clothes she was intending on wearing to the airport, she stopped in her tracks. Mapi was holding you close against her, shushing you quietly, and you were sobbing. 

“María? Solstråle? What-?” 

Mapi just shook her head, waving Ingrid to come closer. Your sister crossed the room quickly, filled with confusion and worry as she saw the state you were in. When you didn’t seem like you were going to explain anytime soon, Ingrid looked again to Mapi. 

“She saw your parents. They’re here, in Zaragoza, she saw them in a coffee shop.” 

Ingrid felt fury rise in her, but she pushed it aside, softly stroking over your hair with her hand. “Sol, I’m so sorry.” 

Once you felt your sister’s hand on your head, you turned around, falling into Ingrid. You squeezed her tighter than you ever had before, the only thought in your head that you did not want to go back. 

“Ingrid, don’t let them take me.” You sobbed. 

“Elskling, I am not letting anyone take you anywhere . You are staying with me, okay? I promise you.”  

Ingrid had seen you upset before. Really upset. Nothing came close to this, though. It felt like just when she thought she understood how much damage your parents had done on you, something else would happen that told her it was far worse than she'd been thinking. 

And at the worst possible moment, the door flew open and Patri and Pina’s loud voices filled the room, before they fell completely silent. They froze in the doorway, realizing that they had walked in on a full breakdown from you. They’d heard from Ingrid and Mapi that you’d been struggling. Until now, it had been hard to fit that information into the image they had of you. Smiley quiet Sol. 

Neither of them knew what had happened to get you to this point, cradled against your sister, sobbing so hard they weren’t even sure you knew they were there. 

“Out.” Mapi said harshly, moving to block your trembling form. She’d never snapped like this to her teammates, and though they had already been on their way out of the room, they moved faster.

“Sorry, Mapi.” Patri said quietly, yanking Pina out of the room quickly and shutting the door behind them. 

“What-?” Pina began. 

“I don’t know. Whoever hurt her enough to be like that… I don’t understand. She’s such a good kid.” 

“If Mapi ever goes to jail for murder, we’ll know who she went after.” 

Patri nodded her agreement. 

Back inside the room, you had stopped crying, save for the occasional sniffle. Ingrid almost preferred the crying to the completely blank look that had washed over your face. 

“Sol,”

“Pina and Patri?”

“They won’t say anything to anyone, and they won’t make fun of you, Sol. Not for this.” Mapi promised. 

“Okay. Good. I need to pack.” You said stiffly, stepping away from the comfort of your sister, and turning to walk out of the room. 

“No, Sol. No. Stop for a second. We cannot pretend that didn't just happen.” Mapi cut in. A flicker of surprise flashed across your face, as Mapi was normally the one to encourage Ingrid to let you take things at your own pace. 

You looked between her and your sister, wondering how you could explain it in a way that made sense to them. “ I can’t think about this any more before we go home. I just need to go home. Please.” 

For once, Mapi looked conflicted while your sister nodded instantly. She understood. You hated unfamiliar places. You were introverted that way, while Mapi was very much the opposite. There was never a feeling of complete safety when you and Ingrid were away from home, and she understood why you didn’t want to deal with this now, here. Not when you were only a few hours from being home. 

“Okay. I get that. I am not leaving you alone right now, though. We still have a few hours until we have to go, so take Mapi with you to finish packing, and then go find me coffee.” 

You nodded weakly, moving only once Mapi had given you a kind smile and began to lead you out of the room. 

Ingrid waited until the door had shut behind you both before she grabbed her phone from her pocket, and clicked on a contact she hadn’t even looked at in a while. 

-------

She was doing the right thing. That’s what Ingrid told herself. It had nothing to do with the desperate wish to see her parents, even if she was so furious with them she couldn’t put it into words. She missed her mom, and she had for a while. Ingrid was doing this for you, though; she was putting you first. 

When she entered the bar in the lobby of the hotel, she saw her parents instantly. They were sitting at a small table in the corner of the bright room, conversing quietly. Her father kept shaking his head, and her mother seemed to be insisting on something. 

Making her way over to the table, Ingrid schooled her features and took a deep breath. 

“Hi.” She said neutrally, taking the open seat at the table without really looking at either of her parents. 

“Ingrid.” Her mom said happily. “I’ve missed you so much.” 

Your sister dug her nails into her palm. Think of Sol. Think of what they have done.

“I’m not here to chat. I am here to tell you to stay away from Sol. She isn’t ready to see either of you right now. I didn’t realize I had to be specific in my request for you both to not come to the final, but you’ve crossed the line here. You had no idea how upset Sol is.”  

“Ingrid, we didn’t mean to run into her. We just came to see you play. It was completely coincidental, our flight back home leaves this evening.” Her dad explained. 

“You told us what Sol needed, and we want to respect that. But we have really missed you, and you’ve had such an incredible season. We just wanted to see you play.” Her mom chimed in. 

“And what about Sol? Have you missed her?” Ingrid asked bitingly. 

“Of course we have. I know we… I messed up. I made a lot of mistakes. I wasn’t well, Ingrid, but I’m doing better now and I want-”

“Sol is not going back to Norway.” Ingrid snapped. 

Her mother nodded instantly. “I know. I want your sister to be happy, and it seems like she is. The best place for her is with you, I understand that. I don’t get to be upset that she doesn’t want to come home, not when I’m the reason she had to leave in the first place. I want to apologize to her, Ingrid. Not today, but maybe we can come to Barcelona? And we can talk to her.” 

The suspicion on Ingrid’s face said enough. Her mother knew then that what she had broken was not fixable. Her relationship with you may not even be salvageable, and her one with Ingrid was broken. Potentially beyond repair. 

“I don’t know. I’ll talk to her when we’re home to see if she wants to do that.” 

“Okay. Whatever you think is best, Ingrid.” 

The table fell into silence before your father spoke, his voice oddly choked up. “How is she?” 

Your sister’s eyes flickered to your fathers before she answered, trying to gauge his sincerity. “She’s okay. She’s doing better. It’s not perfect, but she’s happier. We got her a dog, and she’s making friends. Her and Mapi are… crazy together, but it’s fun. She’s going to be okay, I think.”

Your father gave Ingrid a watery smile, blinking hard. 

“Ingrid, I want to say I’m sorry to you, too.” Your mother said after a minute.

 Ingrid glared at her. “For what? I am happy to have Sol here, I love her. She isn’t a burden to me.”

Her mother flinched, wiping a tear off her cheek. “That’s not what I meant. I… she’s doing better, and that is because of you. Because you are doing an incredible job with her. I am sorry because what I have done has understandably pushed you away from me. And it isn’t fair for Sol not to have had an attentive mother, but it isn’t fair for you either, to lose me too. It’s my fault, and I’m sorry. I miss you, kjære. I love and  miss you both, but I understand.” 

Ingrid stared out the window for a moment, willing herself not to start sobbing. “Thank you for apologizing.” She said finally. “I miss you too, but that doesn’t change anything. Sol needs me, and she is my priority. She hasn’t been yours in a long time, but she is mine and I will do whatever she needs me to do. Even if that means not seeing you both.” 

Both your parents nodded solemnly. “We understand, Ingrid. Really, we do.”

Ingrid nodded, biting her lip hard to keep from crying. God, she wished Mapi was here right now. 

“Okay. You should get back to your sister. We’re so proud of you, Ingrid. We’ll be cheering you on in the champions league final, and if Sol decides to hear me out, you know how to reach me. I love you, darling.” Her mother said, standing and pressing a kiss to Ingrid’s head, before she walked away from the table. She, too, was trying to keep it together, for her daughter’s sake. 

Your father rose and gently patted her cheek. “I love you, kiddo. Fly safe.” 

“I love you too.” She whispered, but both her parents were too far away by now to hear her.

She couldn’t stop the tears from dripping down her face as she headed for the elevator. She wiped furiously at them, but they fell all the same. 

The elevator opened up in front of her, and she was met with a very concerned Frido. 

“Hey. Mapi told me you were meeting your parents, and I… oh, Ingrid.” Frido sighed. At the sight of Frido, Ingrid had stopped trying to fight it, stepping in closer and letting out a heart wrenching sob. Frido tugged Ingrid back into the elevator with her, carefully wrapping her best friend in a tight hug. 

“I know, I know. It really sucks.” Frido whispered, clicking the button for your sister’s floor. “You’re doing the right thing for your sister, though, and I’m really proud of you, Ing.” 

Your sister wished she could find it within herself to feel proud, but the only feeling she had was that she really just wanted a hug from her mom. And more than that, she wanted to go back in time and erase all the hurt from your life. She wished things could just be fixed but she knew they couldn’t be, not quickly, maybe not at all. And that was something she was going to have to live with.

-------

You seemed weighed down with despair when Ingrid arrived back in her room. And distracted, finishing the final touches of packing Mapi’s suitcase. Mapi hated packing, and you loved it, so there was no confusion on Ingrid’s part as to why this was occurring. What was a bit alarming for her, though, was that you didn’t even seem to notice the tear tracks on Ingrid’s face, even though you looked right at her. You were an observant person, and not noticing how upset your sister was spoke volumes towards how poorly you were handling this. 

Mapi didn’t miss it, though. Of course not. She glanced up, seeing her girlfriend’s face, her brow instantly furrowing in concern. Ingrid refused to meet her eyes, terrified that she’d start crying again, but this time in front of you. 

“Hey, Sol? Can you go up to Frido’s room and see if I left my book there?” Mapi asked. 

You nodded absentmindedly, walking right past your sister and out the door. 

“Come here, princesa,” Mapi sighed, allowing Ingrid to fall into her arms and bury her face in Mapi’s t-shirt. She just held the Norwegian for a few minutes, every so often pressing a kiss to the side of Ingrid’s head. Mapi made sure to thread her fingers through Ingrid’s thick hair, as she always did when it was down, scratching gently at her scalp. Ingrid tried to focus on the smell of Mapi overwhelming her, instead of any of the one million emotions she was feeling. “Did it not go well?’

“No, it went okay. Good, actually. They’re both completely aware that this is their fault, and they aren’t going to try to make Sol go back to Norway. It was just hard. I miss them, and I know I shouldn’t-”

“Hey, no. There is no should or shouldn’t when it comes to how you feel, mi amor. You can miss them and be angry at them all at the same time. And missing them doesn’t mean you love your sister any less. Okay?”

“Okay.” Ingrid nodded, trying to muster a smile for her girlfriend. “Thanks for sending Frido down, I was kind of a mess.” 

Mapi just flashed a smile at the Norwegian, gently kissing her cheek. “I love you.” She said softly. 

Ingrid wilted slightly, overcome, as she usually was, at how ridiculously perfect her beautiful girlfriend was. “I love you too, María.” 

-------

Ingrid and Mapi had left you alone in the airport for five minutes, going in search of coffee before Ingrid went on a killing spree of some kind. And it was in that short period of time that Patri and Pina very suddenly appeared on either side of you, flopping into the open seats next to you. 

You regarded them warily, trying to figure out if they were going to say something about it or not. 

“If we have to kill someone for you, we will.” Claudia said matter of factly. “More importantly, though, Mapi is going to fall asleep on that plane. And you are going to write something on her forehead.” 

“Am I?” You asked, a hint of a smile playing on your lips. 

“You are. I am thinking something along the lines of… I love my girlfriend?” Patri suggested. 

“Single and ready to mingle.” Pina countered. 

“Heterosexual.” 

“World’s biggest simp.” 

“Loser.” 

“Little bitch.”

All three of you were giggling at this point, attracting the attention of a few of your sister’s teammates sitting nearby. Among them, Esmee. She was a quiet girl, incredibly kind and also fond of your sister. Esmee was shy, and as such, the words that came out of her mouth were completely unexpected. 

“#1 Real Madrid Fan.” She suggested, a small smirk on her face. 

You fell off your seat, tears forming in your eyes as you pictured both Mapi’s reaction to that being written on her forehead, and at Esmee being the one who had come up with it. 

You didn’t notice Ingrid and Mapi watching on from a few feet away, having stopped in their tracks at the sound of your laughter. 

“I didn’t think I’d see her smile for a few days at least.” Ingrid murmured. 

“Me either. Thank god for the two biggest imbeciles on the planet.” Mapi said with a roll of her eyes. 

“No, not imbeciles. They saw she was upset earlier, and they knew what they were doing just now.” Ingrid said softly, exchanging a look with Patri. The young captain sent Ingrid a huge grin and a sly thumbs up. 

Mapi got a slightly mushy look on her face. “My favorite imbeciles.” She decided. 

Ingrid laughed, shaking her head. She knew very well that Pina and Patri would be right back to being Mapi’s least favorite imbeciles. Just as soon as Ingrid helped them draw on her girlfriend’s face. 

--------

“I don’t even like penises.” Mapi grumbled, dragging her bag through the door. “Stupid thing to draw.” 

You and Ingrid choked back laughter. “No one gets a penis drawn on them because they LIKE penises Mapi.” 

“You are on my list Engen.” Mapi sneered, her face cheering up greatly as Bagheera ran to greet her. 

“Hey, just be glad Alexia stopped them from putting it on your forehead.” You giggled. 

Ingrid turned to you, wide eyed, while Mapi whipped around, her jaw dropping. “Ingrid said SHE stopped them from doing that!” 

You dodged the wack Ingrid tried to land on your arm, laughing even harder. “Nah, Ingrid was pro penis on the forehead. Alexia was too, until she realized there’d be cameras when we got off the plane, and she changed her mind.” 

The Spaniard frowned down at the large drawing on her forearm, before her glare turned to you. “Oh, just wait, Engen. You’ll regret this.” 

A scandalized look appeared on your face. “Me?! It was Pina and Patri.” 

“They will pay too, pequeña, don’t worry. You’ll all pay.” 

You rolled your eyes at the Spaniard’s dramatics, but your amusement completely disappeared when Ingrid rested a hand on your shoulder and turned you towards her. 

“Can we talk for a sec, Sol?” 

Worry clouded your face as you nodded, allowing Ingrid to lead you into the living room. She wanted to be honest with you, tell you what had happened as soon as she could. You both were home now, and she knew you’d be upset if she kept her conversation with her parents from you for any longer. 

Taking a seat on the couch next to Ingrid, you turned expectantly to Mapi. Ingrid never had an important conversation with you without her girlfriend there as a buffer. 

“I am going to get the dog.” Mapi said, giving you a reassuring smile before she headed back out the door with Scout’s leash in hand. 

“Ingrid, I didn’t really want to talk about-”

“I talked to mom and dad.” Ingrid interrupted, wincing slightly at the panic and hurt that flashed across your face. 

“Oh.” You mumbled. 

“I just wanted to tell them to leave you alone, sweetheart. We didn’t talk for very long. They just said that they want you to be happy. Mom was really… apologetic. And she said that she wanted to talk to you. I told her that it was up to you, whether or not you wanted to talk to her.”

“Oh.” You repeated. Ingrid couldn’t get a read on how you were feeling. Overwhelmingly, it seemed to her like you were anxious, so she reached out and took your hand. “Mom wants me to go back to Norway?”

“No, Sol. She wants you to be happy. And you’re happier here than you ever were in Norway. I think she just wants to talk. To apologize.” 

“Oh. Okay.” You paused, trying to slow your pounding heart. You didn’t have to go back. “Do you- do you want me to talk to her?” You asked insecurely, eyeing your sister with apprehension. 

Ingrid shook her head again, running a hand through her hair. “Solstråle, I want you to do what you want to do. I want you to decide what will be best for you. Don’t think about me, Sol. Think about you.” 

She spoke so earnestly, you had a hard time figuring out which thing she really did want. But the more you thought about it, the clearer it became. 

Ingrid had always been close with your parents. The last few months must have been really hard for her, barely speaking to them at all. Ingrid probably wanted you to make up with them, so that she could do the same. Even if you didn’t go back to Norway. You could put your family back together again. That was what Ingrid wanted. 

You opened your mouth to tell her you’d talk to your mom, before you slammed it shut again. 

Ingrid had also said she wanted you to choose what was best for you. And if you were sure about anything, it was that you weren’t ready to talk to your mom, not yet. It didn't come naturally to you, putting yourself first and making a decision that would be best for you, and not for the people around you. BUt you felt you owed it to your sister to be honest. To do what she was asking. Ingrid had done so much for you the last few months. She just wanted you to be happy. And you wanted to be happy, too. More than anything. 

“I… I’m not ready yet. I don’t want to talk to her. Maybe in a few months, but not… not now.” You said quietly. You didn’t seem confident in your decision at all, but Ingrid understood what that insecurity was really about. 

“Okay, Sol. Whatever you want sweetheart. Whatever makes you happiest.” 

You looked up at her, tears welling in your eyes. “Really?” 

Ingrid exhaled sharply, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. “Really.” 

You nodded your head, before leaning in towards Ingrid. She hugged you tight. 

“I’m really proud of you, Sol. Really proud.” 

You squeezed her tighter. You were proud of you, too.

------- :)

[isan0rt]

You know, when you consider Azure Moon as a self-contained narrative, the use of ‘unanswered questions’ and ambiguity as a reinforcement of the themes of the route are really effective. I honestly think having the route not address the Slithers was the best narrative choice IntSys could possibly have made given the themes of Azure Moon.

Like. The developers didn’t really expect people to actually play all the routes; they designed the game so ‘everyone would have a different experience.’ As a result, all the routes have very different themes and scopes. Azure Moon is the tightest, most character-driven narrative despite not being the shortest route.

And Azure Moon is about grief.

Grief hangs over the entire route; except for Mercedes, every single one of the Blue Lions is haunted by the Tragedy of Duscur and the unanswered questions surrounding it. Felix loses his brother directly, and his worldview and best friend to the aftermath. Ingrid loses her fiance, but also her sense of security; without Glenn, her people may starve, and her personal future is now uncertain. Sylvain and Glenn were the same age, so we can assume they were friends, though his loss is less direct; Sylvain is surrounded by people broken by loss, including his own father. Annette’s father leaves her family in disgrace over being unable to stop the tragedy. Ashe loses his foster brother to the aftermath; and later his foster father as well. 

Dimitri and Dedue lose everything.

All of them spend the whole route wanting to find answers and some kind of closure for this event. It drives the entire narrative for all of the Lions actually from Faerghus. Mercedes, meanwhile, stands as an outside observer to that tragedy - but she is also dealing with her own personal tragedy and unanswered questions about her brother, and that drives her during Azure Moon.

And the thing about grief is that sometimes you never get closure. But you still have to move on, anyway.

That’s the whole point of Azure Moon. Dimitri has to move on. All the Lions have to move on. 

Mercedes cannot regain her brother, whether you find out his identity or not in the route. She has to move on anyway. Dimitri cannot reconcile with his family, not with Rufus (Did Dimitri kill him? We the viewer can never really know for sure) and not with Edelgard. He never finds out whether Patricia wanted to kill his father, or whether she loved Dimitri at all (and we the viewer don’t, either). He has to move on anyway. The Lions never find out the cause of the tragedy.

They have to move on anyway.

Involving the Slithers at that point would not only add a bunch of last-minute narrative complications that aren’t necessary in Azure Moon, it would undermine the emotional impact of the route (in much the same way the last map of Verdant Wind does, honestly). The themes of Azure Moon not only don’t need to answer the question of the Slithers; not answering that question is the point. Bringing up the Slithers at that point would take all the air out of the personal drama the route takes its entire runtime addressing.

Dimitri hesitates at the end. He stops, and tries to look back, and Byleth stops him. He has to move on. He can’t keep looking back at Duscur. He’s got to walk forward. 

And that means leaving his questions unanswered. 

[pridelessdaydreamer]

“Quite the far walk,” he says bluntly, before shrugging off the notion—Linhardt’s idea of a sleepless remedy was never to exhaust himself anyway. Whatever Ingrid chose to do couldn’t exactly be compared to Hevring’s method of sleep induction.

Also, Linhardt is just sleepy by default.

“Wait, what–? Why do I have to help? Surely, you can handle that yourself, can’t you?” (Not to mention that Linhardt wasn’t incredibly interested nor well-versed in the art of hiding horses, winged or otherwise.) “If anything, I’d be more likely to slow you down. We’re both well aware of my weak constitution, yes?”

Further, Linhardt just wasn’t the most interested in putting in more effort after she’d already wandered all the way out here. A huff. “No, I have no interest in experimenting on it either. Ignoring the fact that I don't have any tools with me to test it with, further observation would do better to determine just what exactly requires further investigation—so even if I wanted to, now wouldn’t be the best time.”

As for the comment on there being more to Ingrid than liking horses, they have no response.

A sigh, drawn out and exhausted by all the walking already done—“Be honest, how much voice do I have in this matter actually? Like, if I say no and walk away, are you going to stop me?” He wouldn’t be surprised if so, especially based off of what he’s heard/seen of the girl. (It wasn’t much, granted, and certainly, he internalized very little of it, but it made an impression nonetheless and that was what mattered.)

“How out of the question is it for me to simply brainstorm a place to hide the horse, tell you how to get there, and then go back to the monastery unbothered?” It’s an honest proposition, though he suspects he already knows the answer. “Thinking is something that doesn’t bother me too much—it’s doing that’s out of the question.”

Apterous

[laugtherhyena]

If Levi is alive, would Ingrid help him learns to play the piano whether he stop by travelling from escaping the horrors??

Unfortunately Levi and every other termina contestant except for Daan and Karin are dead in the Au/scenario Ingrid comes from, they were the sole survivors of termina and stuck around each other afterwards. You can read about that mess here in care you haven't seen the work this fankid originated from.

But to answer your question, honestly? If the two of them meet i think they'd get along pretty well, they're both a little awkward and coming from messy homes maybe they could vent to one another and stuff. Ingrid would be super excited to teach him how to play because she loves the piano a lot, tho refrains from going on long rambles about the instrument out of thinking people would just get bored ("Oh.. Silly me, you're here to listen to the music, not my voice..")

So if Levi asked her to teach him more about it there is no universe in which she'd say no, haha

[four-loose-screws]

Could you possibly translate the Yuri/Ingrid ending in Azure Moon?

It seems English somewhat gutted the ending by making it seem like Yuri had to *convince* Dimitri to build orphanages in the slums, while machine translation (yes ik, not reliable) tells me it says Yuri worked with Dimitri to make it happen. Also English seems to have omitted the fact that Ingrid visited the slums to help out.

Could you potentially clear this up?

It's so unfortunate that I didn't get to answer this one sooner, because it's a good question! I love when even people who know little to no Japanese can pick up on when something seems to be off in localization, and do a basic investigation themselves! It's like you can tell, even without knowledge of the original Japanese, that a different writer dropped their own scene in the middle of someone else's story.

And no worries on using a machine translation for a rough idea - I gotta be fair and say that it's gotten way better over my years in the fan translation world. In particular I remember one day several years back, when I read that Google was revamping their Japanese translator, and when it went live... it was like flipping a light switch. In short, Google translate went from just translating word-by-word, to gaining an honestly impressive ability to understand longer phrases and some context.

Anyway, to the actual question at hand!

I don't have any notes to add, honestly. The machine translation gave you exactly the right impression. While sometimes a small factoid will have to be removed from a character ending in English due to word limits, this one did make those couple of distinct differences. I don't think they had to save space in this case, so it's anyone's guess as to exactly why.

And a note for context - these changes are only in the Azure Moon ending. The Ingrid / Yuri ending for the other routes is translated pretty directly.

See my translation, with the localization side-by-side, under the cut!

Japanese:

蒼月の章

戦後、イングリットは家を飛び出して王都に参じ、王家に騎士として仕えた。一方でユーリスは、王国西部の暗黒街へ消え、それきり歴史の表舞台に姿を現すことはなかった。

だが、後世に残ったある王国騎士の手記にはユーリスがファーガス王と通じて施療院や孤児院の設立に尽力したことや、イングリットが彼を手伝うため、何度となく城下の貧民街を訪れていたことなどが記されている。

一説には、彼らは第一線を退いた後、二人で宿場を開いたともいわれており、その料理は幅広い身分の人々から人気を集めたとか。

My Rough Translation:

Azure Moon

After the war, Ingrid flew home, went to the capital, and served as a knight to the royal family. Yuri, on the other hand, disappeared to the underworld of the western Kingdom, and after that, never once appeared on the front stage of history.

However, in the memoirs left behind by a certain knight of the Holy Kingdom, it was recorded that through communication with the King of Faerghus, Yuri worked tirelessly to found establishments such as medical clinics and orphanages; and to aid him, Ingrid visited the slums of the castle town on many occasions, and so on.

According to one rumor, after they left the frontlines, they opened and operated a post station* together, where the cooking was famous among a wide variety of people.

Localization:

Yuri disappeared into the underworld of the western Kingdom and faded away into obscurity. The only account of him after that comes from a Kingdom knight's journal, uncovered many decades later, which tells of Yuri's efforts to win the king's support for an orphanage and medical clinic to be built in the slums of the castle town. It is believed that the journal belonged to Ingrid, who had declined to rule House Galatea in order to serve House Blaiddyd as a knight. According to local rumor, Ingrid eventually retired from knighthood to become the owner of an inn. There, it is said that she and the man she wrote about cooked dishes loved by rich and poor alike.

Japanese:

蒼月以外の章

イングリットはガラテア領の存続を嘆願し、その新たな領主となった。かつて家を出奔した彼女に向けられる民の目は、始めこそ冷ややかではあったが、統治は意外にも円滑に進んだ。城下の、特に貧しい人々が、進んで政策に協力する姿勢を見せたのだ。それを知ったイングリットは城下へと赴き、そこで城下の民をまとめていたユーリスと再会する。

民の協力あって、ガラテア領は着実に発展を遂げていく。多忙な領主の癒やしとなったのは、人々に祝福されて伴侶となったユーリスの存在と、彼の作る手料理だったいう。

My Rough Translation:

Paths other than Azure Moon

Ingrid petitioned to inherit the Galatea territory, and became its new ruler. The eyes of the people on her, as one who had previously abandoned her house, were cold at first, but aside from her rule, everything progressed smoothly. She saw the people in the castle town, especially the lower class, side and cooperate with her ongoing policies. Knowing that, she went to the castle town, and there reunited with Yuri, who had unified the people living there.

With the people’s cooperation, the Galatea territory achieved steady development. It is said that what became the relaxation of its busy ruler was Yuri’s presence, who, with the people’s blessing had become her spouse, and the home cooking he made.

Localization:

When Galatea territory was seized, Ingrid argued strongly for the preservation of its borders. Her request was granted, and she was appointed to rule. Though, since she had previously abandoned her noble house, she was not well accepted by the people. Despite this, she found that the commonfolk carried out her policies with unexpected enthusiasm and efficiency. She soon discovered that it was Yuri who had convinced them of her wisdom. The two were reunited and eventually married, and under their stewardship, Galatea territory flourished. It is said that, after a busy day of governance, Ingrid yearned for nothing more than a home-cooked meal prepared by her husband.

* See exactly what a ‘post station’ was in Japan here - link.

[mj0702]

Good morning writer , sorry not putting pressure on you or anything when can we expect the next part? You can update it anytime you want. I think the anons just want an angry ingrid and Alexia being done with mapi and bb. I can totally see mapi being a figure to bb who will help her in overcoming grief that she is going through. She is not so sympathetic or overbearing and just goes with the flow. Though I love your idea of mapi and bb going somewhere(Pina and patri included) where they can't find her and just casually returning after making the adults have a temporary panic attack. Love your writing ❤️

Good morning anon

I'll be totally honest with (all) of you... I haven't started pt.8 - I got distracted by another part (camp) soooooo... this might take a while 😅 I promise to get it out as soon as possible but I can't really give you a time frame since I honestly get distracted in my own chapters and then need to find a way back to the original plan 😅 (ask @valewosomtb for my constant moaning about my own writing)

and IF I really put all your amazing ideas into that chapter that's gonna be a looooong one 🤣

I'm really sorry I can't answer your question about when it's out but I promise I try to get it done quickly ❤️

[windflowerofskellige]

(sorry for my bad english) Don't you think that the quest "A Matter of Life and Death" united those who benefit from Radovid's death? Morvran Voorhis, Marie-Louise La Valette (she was just in the company of Morvran), Dijkstra and a certain friend of Morvran (Roche?) and Ingrid Vegelbud herself (after all, because of Radovid's decree, her son leaves the house and is in danger). These are just my thoughts, sorry if this fact is obvious.

No problem! I'm glad to see you in my inbox no matter your proficiency! See the answer your question, if I've understood correctly, is yes but no. Mostly because I am of the firm opinion that some of these characters would not benefit from Radovid's death. In particular Dijkstra and Morvran politically do not benefit from Radovid's death. Morvran because in doing so it opens the door for the Empress Ciri ending and thus takes his right to the throne itself making him Emperor Consort rather than Emperor fully, he benefits more from Radovid winning the war and Nilfgaard turning on Emhyr. Dijkstra also doesn't benefit from Radovid's death, and in RoS is acting out of character. I've mentioned many times on this blog I think realistically the only reason he comes back from Zerrikania is to try and keep tabs on Radovid. Realistically he more likely wants back into Radovid's court and is doing his crime syndicate role in Novigrad to aid Radovid's interests in gaining control of Novigrad for the war. Maria Louisa and Ingrid Vegelbud DO benefit from Radovid's death. Maria Louisa herself can directly be traced back to Nilfgaard and thus Foltest's death. Fittingly she is in neutral territory that is not controlled by Redania nor Nilfgaard for this exact reason. Radovid would treat her harshly, as he does all other traitors. Ingrid benefits due to her connections to Maria Louisa and Nilfgaard as well as her son's involvement in Alchemy.

Roche is complicated because his entire reasoning in Reason of State is... flawed? but if we take that he actually thinks that Nilfgaard would be forgiving of Temeria and allow the province some semblance of sovereignty then he also benefits from it. However the introduction to Radovid through Roche seems to imply he's been working directly with the King and his commentary on "something's not right" when entering the chess club seems to be an attempt at deceiving Geralt (which he does in TW2 occasionally so he's not above it). Because the Temerian camp is right next to the Vegelbud Residence I personally think that Roche was tasked with keeping an eye on them due to their connections with Maria Louisa and as such indirect connections with Nilfgaard. I don't honestly get where you might be inclined to believe Roche is a friend of Morvran? Unless I've mistaken something. Mostly because we have no indication in game they've interacted. I wouldn't put it past him though! Anyways, yes, A Matter of Life and Death does unite some people who would benefit from Radovid's death. Most pointedly Triss Merigold, Maria Louisa, and Ingrid Vegelbud. But not all of those you mention benefit from Radovid's death.

Triss's involvement is huge because we know Triss's relationship with Philippa Eilhart and that relationship also means she's likely in on the plot to kill Radovid even though we don't see her in Reason of State. Thus you can look at her involvement in A Matter of Life and Death as both a means for staking out the political landscape, as a favour to Ingrid, and as her working for Philippa. I don't personally enjoy Dijkstra's involvement in Triss's storyline in the Witcher 3 because it feels very out of character especially since he would know she's on Philippa's leash and he has a personal grudge against Philippa and not only that Triss's storyline condones and romanticises rape and abuse to an extreme degree I'm personally a fan of. A Matter of Life and Death however would've been a better starting point for Reason of State due to the fact that it gathers quite a few people who would've realistically wanted Radovid dead and easily can loop Philippa back in and reveal she's been orchestrating this (though not necessary would be in character.)

[nightofnyx8]

Yaaay! I get to ask you about writing 😁

Okay, here are my questions 💕 and 🎬

Thank you!

💕 What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Ironically, it's my royai deathfic. It broke my heart to write, but I don't think I've ever written anything more beautiful to me. It's very bittersweet and dear to my heart. you feel like home

I don't have a favorite twiyor one I've written yet, although the Woman in Red was very fun to write, there were specific people in mind I wrote it for (including you lol) where I couldn't wait to see their reactions. These Beautiful Lies We Tell Ourselves is also just a huge passion project and I'm looking forward to start working on it again!

🎬 If a movie or show were based on your fic, which fic would you choose and who would you fancast?

Oh, the Woman in Red, why not :) Oh goodness, I don't think I could pinpoint a specific actor/actress to play Twilight and Yor. I honestly wouldn't care who they were as long as they had the chemistry. I really do love that old-time "golden age of hollywood" those actors and actresses had. One of my favorite cinema kiss scenes is from a film called Notorious, made by Alfred Hitchcock in 1946. In those days, on-screen kisses couldn't be more than 3 seconds. So Hitchcock had Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman kiss many, many times as they walked about the room and talked and held each other. I think it's one of the most romantic scenes of all time and it's very twiyor to me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu8JASfWb6A

Although as for Vito Cohen, I think Michele Marrone would make a good match :) He's gotta play someone handsome yet completely dispicable.

thank you for the ask! these were fun to answer!

from the fanfic asks

[missxnsuppxrt]

@s-pecialist asked: “when’s the last time you ate?”

Ingrid glanced up from her computer screen and blinked at Leon for a few moments while her eyes adjusted. When had he come in? She didn’t hear him. She looked back down at her work and started typing again. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to,” she said half jokingly.

Truth is, she wasn’t sure. She’d been working on this string of code for a while, and she had a tendency to get hung up on finishing things before stopping to do things like eat or sleep. She’d gone a whole day and a half before without eating or leaving her desk. That had been during Leon’s Spain mission. She’d spent the majority of that time in a panic trying to reestablish the connection after someone there hijacked their comms connection. 

“Honestly? Don’t know. What day is it?” she asked, glancing at Leon briefly before looking back at her screen again.

[treatian]

The Chronicles of the Dark One: Domestic Battles

Chapter 55: A Trying Night

What Merlin had no doubt seen as a failsafe to keep Nimue attached to the dagger, in the end provided quite an interesting twist for him. He'd need to sacrifice the heart of someone who knew him before he was cursed. It made sense. Crushing hearts for spells was all about making a sacrifice. To return to a life of freedom, he had to be willing to sacrifice part of that old life. That would probably give pause to anyone looking to do what he wanted to do, just as the heart of the thing loved most had once given Regina pause for a fraction of a second.

He'd been alive a very long time, which made that list exceedingly short. The Red Fairy and the Black Fairy, obviously. But of course, neither of those fairies would prove to be any easier to lay his hands on than the Blue Fairy currently running around Storybrooke. Lucky for him, there was currently one other person in this world capable of fulfilling the requirement quite easily. And he wouldn't mourn them.

Captain Hook. The man who had been his own personal villain since before he'd been that kind of villain. Oh, and easy it would be, indeed. Would there be planning necessary? Surely. Recent events aside, it wasn't an ordinary day that he sought out alone time with the Captain. And though he'd gone to great lengths to keep their current time together under wraps, if he continued to behave in such a way, people would surely notice. Which meant he'd either need a hell of a story or he'd have to sneak up on him alone to do the deed. Of course, he wouldn't have to worry about killing the pirate, not right away. But once he controlled Hook's heart, the rest would come easily.

That thought alone had him walking over to the library that night with a smile on his face. Fuck, he nearly skipped there in joy! However, given the somber situation at hand, he made sure there was a frown plastered on his face before he stepped into the library and found Belle still hunched over books.

"Another night in your temple of knowledge?" he questioned, looking her over.

She glanced up at him with a mix of frustration and sorrow. "Would you mind? With everything happening with Emma-"

"Not at all," he shook his head before she could finish her sentence.

Last night, he'd minded. A week ago, he would have minded. Hell, a week ago he'd have told her she needed to be a little more selfish about drawing boundaries and returned with her to their house. But at the moment when his own head was spinning with plans and preparation, he realized that the busier and more ragged she was at a time like this, the better. Belle was a clever woman with a laser focus to detail. The less she could apply that focus to detail to him, the better it would be. And not just for him, of course. But potentially for both of them and Henry in the long run.

"And…have-have you heard anything? About Emma?" she asked eagerly.

"I've heard nothing, one way or the other," he answered honestly, only to see her face fall as she returned to the work of tending her space.

Her space. Not their space. Suddenly, the sea of books between them felt like it stretched on and on for miles, a distance that not even his magic could conquer. Today had been long. And busier than he'd expected. Certainly, far more adventurous than he'd planned on. He'd hoped that after what occurred earlier, the way he'd helped, the advice he'd given might further close the gap that he felt growing between them, radiating from the other side of the table.

But it hadn't.

Time and patience. His instinct told him that would be the key. After all this was over, after he was separated from the dagger, after Ingrid was stopped, after Hook was dead, things would go back to the way they'd been. Time would knit that gap closed. If only he could be patient. And get them both out of their separate spaces and into something a little more shared…

"Come, let's leave the day behind, shall we?" he offered, moving closer and extending a hand to her.

She looked at the books strewn out before her, her heart obviously wanting to remain, but fortunately, her body gave in. She nodded and took his hand to let him lead them up to the apartment, but their arrival was short-lived. They'd only just gotten into the bedroom and pulled out a change of clothes before a ringing filled the room, and Belle dove for her phone.

"Emma?" she asked eagerly, making his stomach twist into knots. It had been a long day for both of them. The circles under Belle's eyes suggested that she needed sleep, and yet he knew that if it was Emma on the other end of that phone, the chances that she'd retire the way he wanted her to were slim.

But before he could question who it was or what they needed, before he could insist that she needed her rest, she grabbed her coat and keys. "It's only Mary Margaret, I'll be back in a minute!" she hollered as she closed the door behind him. It had happened so quickly he didn't have the opportunity to object. And seeing her slip out of the apartment as quickly as she did had him turning back to the bed he stood beside, waiting for her. The events of the morning replayed in his mind, making his heart hammer all over again. First, she slipped out of his arms, then ran out of the apartment, next thing he knew she might…

He shook his head and turned his attention back to turning down the bed and preparing for her return. He was being ridiculous. Just as ridiculous as he'd been this morning. Ridiculous and controlling. She wasn't a pet; she was a person. This morning she'd adjusted to make herself more comfortable, it was a fluke. When she got back, they'd talk. He'd hold her like he always did, and she'd sleep in his arms as she always did. He'd see that this morning was simply an anomaly.

And as for leaving him now, it was Mary Margaret; she'd be back in a minute, just like she promised with-

A baby?!

There was a noise in the hall outside the apartment door, something dragging, and he had only just made it to the door to investigate when she walked in with a baby, an armful of bags, and something dragging along behind her. He stared open-mouthed at the sight for a moment before his brain put two and two together and realized that she'd been talking to Mary Margaret before she left. The baby...it must have been Neal.

"Of all the things I ever expected you to bring home from work, I can honestly say I never thought that would be one of them."

"They still can't find Emma," she informed him as he stepped forward to remove some of the bags from her shoulder so she could rock the infant. "They went out to look for her, and I-we get to babysit for the night."

She needed rest, and instead, what she got was a child that he had no doubt was still not sleeping through the night…

"Fantastic…" he muttered. It was going to be a long night.

Sharing his precious time with Belle with baby Neal certainly hadn't been something he'd expected or hoped for. He'd wanted to talk to her. He'd wanted some alone time with her, to reassure himself and her that they could work through whatever this thing that was coming between them was. That no matter what the trial or the emergency they could remain unbroken. Neal wasn't what he expected or hoped for, but he supposed in a way, at least in the end, the child did provide that for them both in unexpected ways.

As with most babies, Neal didn't want to sleep. Though Belle had set up some kind of portable crib Mary Margaret had given her, the source of the mysterious dragging sounds, the child wailed and wailed. A bottle didn't stop him, Belle walking with him around the living room didn't stop it, and after two hours of her apologizing, insisting she be the one to handle it and promising that she'd get him calmed down, he finally slipped out of the bed and joined her.

"Give him here," he insisted with as much fervor as she'd been insisting she be the one to handle this responsibility. An hour ago, he'd been happy to let her try, happy to tell himself that Mary Margaret had asked her to take care of the baby, and she had volunteered; therefore, it should fall on her. But he was a Dark One who didn't need sleep, and without her by his side, there was little point in lying in that bed, going over and over plans in his head that he could be working on instead of feeling lazy as he waited for her. He had magic; he could put the child to sleep and fix this in an instant.

But Belle looked him over skeptically, holding Neal even closer to her chest as she considered something. "No magic," she stated in a warning tone as if she'd just read his mind.

Well, that idea went right out the window. But still, he found himself rolling his eyes and taking the baby from her arms anyway. The Dark One would have needed magic, Rumpelstiltskin on the other hand…

"I don't need it. I have had my fair share of putting a crying infant to sleep before I was the Dark One."

In fact, the way he nestled the babe against his chest exactly as he had Baelfire hundreds of years ago was practically muscle memory. Hell, he hadn't even told himself to start dancing on the balls of his feet with him when he started doing it, his good leg taking most of the weight just because that was how he knew how to do it. It was the same with offering the boy his pinky finger to hold in his little grasp so he could bring it to his mouth and suck. There were just some things a parent learned they couldn't forget. The tricks to experience blissful quiet...that was one of them.

"There now, that's better," he whispered as Belle stared at him, her mouth gapping open in shock. Only a few quiet moments later Neal finally dropped off into sleep. Belle scoured the bags Mary Margaret left them with and found a pacifier that he deftly exchanged for his pinky before setting him in the crib and taking Belle back to bed with him.

That should have been the end of it. Exhausted as she was, the second she changed into her nightgown and rolled into him, he knew she should have drifted off quickly and put this entire day behind her. But she was almost as difficult to get to sleep as Neal.

For nearly an hour, he stroked her back, counted her breaths, and measured her heartbeat. Every minute he expected would be the minute that she would fall to sleep and he might follow after her, but it took nearly another hour for her to get there. And the fact that she hadn't gone to sleep as easily as she usually did was enough to set him on edge. Maybe he wasn't the only one worried about the fact that she'd rolled away from him. Maybe it was on her mind just as it was on his mind. He didn't know if that was good or bad, only that he was not fond of this fear that it stoked within him.

Far earlier than was normal for her, too early for them to ever know if she would have rolled away again, Neal stirred to life quickly with a moan and then a wail, instantly waking Belle with a jerk. She had a bleary-eyed moment of confusion before she bounded off the bed and sprinted to the crib like a first-time parent on pins and needles, fearful that every little scream was death itself. After determining that he was not, in fact, dying, she retrieved a bottle.

He rose from the bed, recognizing that though it was early, the day had clearly begun. No matter how much he wanted to drag her back to bed, no matter how much he knew she needed sleep, after last night, the last thing he wanted was more time to lie awake in that bed. Perhaps the best thing he could do for her now was make sure she got her other needs met.

With that in mind, he showered and dressed quickly, returning to the living room moments later to find her attempting to burp the child. Without a word, he grabbed a tea towel from the kitchen, threw it over his shoulder, then took Neal from her and settled him into the familiar position. A couple of hops, a few firm pats, and…done.

"How do you do that so fast?" Belle questioned with exhaustion in her voice. She hadn't even had time to get back to the bedroom before he'd completed the task.

"Here, I believe the phrase is 'it's like riding a bike,'" he commented as he repositioned the child so he could get him back to sleep. She looked almost disappointed at that answer, and as he thought the word "amateur" playfully to himself, he made a point to file away that look of disappointment. Someday, when Hook was dead, when he was free of the dagger, when Ingrid was defeated, when they had a child of their own…it would be important for him to realize that he had a head start in parenting that she did not. Just as it would be important for him to remember not to be too cocky about that head start. Obviously, whatever method of parenting he'd used hadn't been all that successful. On that depressing note, he motioned her in the direction of the bathroom.

"Take your shower. Get ready for work. He'll go to sleep in a few moments anyway."

She nodded and twisted her hands almost nervously in front of her before she moved around him and-

Before she moved past him, she stood on tiptoe and tugged on his arm so she could kiss him. Swiftly, of course, so as not to disturb the baby she gazed at now. But he felt a blush creep into his cheeks, and his heart raced all the same.

"I love you," she whispered with a smile.

He felt a shower of relief pour over him at the words. Perhaps they hadn't stayed in bed long enough to know whether or not she would have rolled away from him, but pulling him in closer to kiss him and remind him that she loved him…that was a reassurance all on its own.

"I love you too," he smiled back. "Go ahead and get ready."

An awkward sleepless night with an infant hadn't been the original plan, but perhaps it wasn't the worst thing that could have happened to them either.

[girlgenius1111]

promises

part 2 to behave. sol makes some questionable decisions. mapi comes to her rescue. ingrid comes home. ft. someone special.

Your arm was broken, and you hadn’t gotten drunk in months. Of course, the two main reasons you had for sneaking out could definitely be construed as two reasons not to sneak out as well. But Ingrid was out of town only until the following afternoon, and Mapi slept like the dead. It was a perfect opportunity, the only opportunity you’d have for many more weeks to come. And besides, you were 18. You weren’t breaking any laws. 

You’d been invited to a party, too, which wasn’t an opportunity you wanted to waste. You hadn’t assimilated to school very well. It was a nightmarish hell, honestly, but in the past few weeks you’d made a few casual acquaintances. They weren’t in any of your classes, and you didn't know them very well, but it was a good start.  

You slipped out the front door at around 1, promising Scout you’d be back soon, and began the few blocks’ walk to where the party was. You were excited. 

------

You didn’t like this. It was unclear what was so unsettling, maybe it was the fact that everything had changed so dramatically since the last time you’d been drunk. Maybe it was because, now, you cared very much about disappointing the people in charge of you. There was also the tiny detail that you’d had way too much. Your tolerance had evidently gone down in the past several months, but you hadn’t really thought about that until it was too late. 

Either way, you just really weren’t feeling the party. It reminded you too much of being back in Norway. How you felt then… you hadn’t really realized how bad it was until you were out of there, and doing much better. The taste of tequila on your tongue was a very visceral reminder of that time. 

It tasted like loneliness. It tasted like you hated everyone, yourself most of all. It tasted like you didn’t care much whether you got home safely, or got home at all. Like you were completely meaningless, and you always would be. You were scared, honestly, just wanted to go home. You headed out the back slider, leaving behind the noise of the party, and fell into one of the patio chairs. You couldn’t walk straight, your mind was completely cloudy, and you were having a hard time stringing any coherent thoughts together. You wanted to go home, but there was no way for you to get there; you definitely couldn’t walk. And even as drunk as you were, you knew ubering home in the middle of the night, by yourself, completely wasted, was a horrible idea. 

You were considering your options when your phone ringing interrupted your thoughts. Mapi was calling you. Fuck. You had no choice but the answer. She had your location. The only way you would have gotten away with this in the first place would have been if she hadn’t woken up. Now, though. You were completely screwed. You did your best to sound as sober as possible when you answered the phone.

“Hi Mapi.” You said cautiously. 

“Nena. Are you coming home soon?” Mapi asked calmly. 

“W-what?” You slurred back, blinking hard in an attempt to clear your mind. 

“You snuck out a couple of hours ago, and now it is almost 3am. So. Are you coming home soon, or should I come get you?”

“You knew I snuck out?” You asked dumbly. 

“Yes, nena. Now, where are you? Are you drunk?” 

“No.” 

You could feel Mapi roll her eyes. “Liar. I am coming to get you.”

The wind picked up a bit, and you shivered, suddenly feeling very cold, and very alone out in the dark. “Mapi?”

“Sí?” 

“Can you stay on the phone?”

And just like that, Mapi’s tone switched from annoyed and slightly amused, to full of concern. “Sí, I’m right here. What is going on? Are you safe? Are you with anyone?” 

You looked back through the sliding door, the party still in full swing. You weren’t alone, really, but you weren’t… with anyone. And for some reason, maybe because you were having memory after memory of feeling very similarly in Norway, you didn’t feel quite safe. 

“There’s a party inside. I’m outside. By myself. Can you come fast? I don’t feel good.” 

“I’m on my way, mi sol.” Mapi promised, and you knew without her saying it that she would go as fast as she could. 

------

She should have stepped in sooner. She should have stopped you the minute you’d snuck out the front door, or at the very least, followed you to where you went. 

She’d been awake, scrolling on her phone. Sleeping was always a bit more difficult without Ingrid there with her, so though it was later than usual for her to be up, it wasn’t completely unheard of. You were quiet as you left, but Mapi had accidentally picked up your phone earlier in the evening, and seen a text containing an address in it. The Spaniard was young once, too, and she knew pretty much instantly what was going on. She half hoped that you’d just ask about going, but as she was reminded often, your parents had done their damage. You’d snuck out instead. 

The thing was, Mapi honestly didn’t care very much that you wanted to go out. It was slightly worrying that you’d felt the need to sneak out, but she understood. The rules were different now than when you’d been in Norway, and it was clear to her that you were still getting used to that. 

You didn’t sound good on the phone, though, and she couldn’t help the worry that filled her as she sped towards the house your location was displaying. It wasn’t just that you were hammered. You sounded… far away. You sounded like the Sol she met when you first arrived. Cold, terrified, closed off, and desperately sad. Mapi didn’t like hearing you like that, and now she really wished that she would have stopped you from leaving the house earlier. 

There hadn’t been a peep over the phone for a few minutes as Mapi neared the house. “Hey, nena? You with me?” 

“Mm hmm.” You hummed, your attention fixed on the sky above you. It was funny, how all the stars could be the same in Barcelona as they were in Norway, yet everything else could be so drastically different. 

“I’m in front. Can you walk out to me, or should I come back and get you?” She was thrilled that you’d made friends enough to go to a party, and she didn’t want to embarrass you if she didn’t have to. 

“‘Can walk,” You mumbled, standing up from the chair, taking a step forward, and promptly falling face first to the ground. Mapi heard the racket, and was out of her car and running to you before you could get a word out. “Mapi, I fell,” you whined over the phone, completely oblivious to the fact that the Spaniard was sprinting in your direction. 

“Idiota.” Mapi mumbled, arriving at your side and bending down to inspect your face. 

“Mapiiiiii,” you sang, eyes halfway closed as you grinned up at the other girl.

“Ay dios mio.” Mapi sighed. You were worse off than she’d thought. “Did you hit your head when you fell?” 

“No, but I hurt my knee, look,” you said sadly, pointing down to a very small scrape. 

“Alright, let’s get you home and I’ll take care-”

“Excuse me, who are you?” A girl asked, stepping out onto the patio, looking between you and Mapi. “Sol, do you know that girl?” 

“I am her… Mapi.” Mapi said, internally rolling her eyes at herself. 

“She’s my Mapi!” You said enthusiastically, somehow hopping to your feet with a bit of agility, and leaning heavily against your sister's girlfriend. “She’s my sister Ingrid’s Mapi, her name is girlfriend.” You slurred. 

The girl just blinked, looking confused. “I am her sister’s girlfriend, María. She called me. I’m going to take her home now.” 

The girl’s expression cleared. “Oh, got it. Thanks for coming, Sol, see you monday.” 

“Byeeeeeeeee.”

“Have a good night.” Mapi said kindly. She appreciated that the girl hadn’t let some stranger abduct you from her patio. She began the arduous journey of practically carrying you back to the car. Once you were in the front seat, she turned the light on above you tilted your face towards her. 

“Nena, open your eyes.” She instructed. You did, opening your eyes ridiculously wide, until they began watering. She just wanted to make sure you hadn’t been drugged or anything, given how out of it you were. Your pupils looked normal, and she decided you had just had way too much to drink.“Okay, you can let your eyes be normal now.” 

They fell back into the half lidded state they were in before, and you sagged into the seat. Mapi bit back a smile. Now that you were safe, she was slightly amused at Drunk Sol. You were funny. 

She’d noticed something though, and as she buckled your seatbelt around you, she asked a question she knew you’d probably avoid answering if you’d been sober. 

“Nena, do the kids at school call you Sol?” 

Mapi had been under the impression that you went by your real name at school, as much as you hated it. Ingrid and Mapi almost exclusively called you Solstråle or Sol, now, just out of habit, but she hadn’t realized you’d made the change at school, too. 

“Yup.” You said, head turned towards her, though your eyes remained shut. 

“Why?” She wondered. She was just curious, honestly. Not only had she not known that you’d had friends at school, you hadn’t mentioned talking to anyone enough to come out of your shell, and tell them something different to call you. 

“I like it better.” 

“Oh.” Mapi said. 

“I like Sol. It’s pretty. And you picked it.” You attempted to poke Mapi’s nose, missed, and hit her cheek, though you continued on like nothing had happened. “And my mom never called me that. It’s a happy name.” 

Mapi blinked at you, before she cleared her throat. “Well, I’m glad you like it.” She said softly, before she shut your car door, and walked around to her side. And if she wiped a few tears away as she did so, that was no one’s business. 

-------

“That STINGS!” You shouted, sitting up out of what Mapi thought was a light sleep, yanking your leg away from her. She’d been trying to disinfect your knee, taking advantage of the fact that you’d collapsed onto the sofa the minute you made it into the house. 

“Sorry, Sol, I’m just cleaning it.” Mapi said, stifling a laugh at the absolutely betrayed look on your face. 

“You SCRAPED MY KNEE!” You insisted, a huge frown on your face. 

“Sol, you scraped your knee, when you fell down earlier. Now let me put a bandaid on.” 

“I didn’t fall, you fell.” You grumbled, though you extended your leg back out to her. “Mapi?” 

“Hmm?”

“Why is my arm wearing a blue condom?” You asked, dead serious, holding up your cast and inspecting it thoughtfully. Mapi bit her lip, trying in vain not to laugh at you, knowing you wouldn’t appreciate it in this state. 

“It’s not a condom, Sol, it’s a cast. You broke your arm.” 

“Oh.” You sat for a moment, watching as Mapi very carefully ensured the bandaid was correctly placed on your knee. “Are there condoms for lesbians?”

God save her. Mapi looked up at you, trying to tell if you were being serious. Your face was completely blank. No. No. She wasn’t doing this now. She was quite sure you’d had sex education, and even if you hadn’t, she’d make Ingrid do it when you were sober. “We can talk about condoms tomorrow. You’re going to bed now.” 

“If there are lesbian condoms, I’m in trouble, because I’ve never used one and I’m a lesbian.” You continued, before sitting up with a gasp. “Oh GOD. Am I pregnant?” 

Now, Mapi really wished she had stopped you from sneaking out. She wished she’d locked you in your room for the night, honestly. 

“Sol, you are not pregnant. Lesbians can’t get each other pregnant.” She explained, lifting you off the couch and into her arms. You were silent as she walked up the stairs, you curled up against her, until you sniffled quietly. She looked down, seeing tears in your eyes, and hurriedly placed you on your bed. “Hey, what’s wrong?” She asked gently, wiping away a stray tear. 

“That’s so sad.” You cried. 

“What is?” Mapi asked, bewildered. 

“That lesbians can’t get each other pregnant. It’s not fair.” 

“Sol, did you not know lesbians couldn’t get each other pregnant?” The Spaniard asked exasperatedly, really starting to doubt the sex education program at your school. 

“No. I just didn’t think about it until now and it’s so sad.” You mumbled, flopping back onto your bed. “‘Cause lesbians are the best.” 

Mapi flopped down onto the bed next to you, rolling her eyes when Scout picked his head up to glare at her. Of course. Now the dog woke up. “It is sad.” She agreed, thinking it was the easiest way to end the conversation. You didn’t respond, though and she looked over to find you already asleep. 

Thank god.

-------

When you wandered down the stairs at 10 the next morning, Mapi was glad to see that you looked relatively… fine. Not hungover at all, which was absurd considering the state you’d been in the night before. 

“Good morning, Solstråle.” She said, smirking when you looked at her with a furrowed brow. 

“Morning.” You mumbled back, throwing yourself dramatically onto the couch.

“How are you feeling?” 

“Just tired.” 

“You aren’t hungover?” 

“I don’t really get hungover.” You said absentmindedly, scrolling on your phone, only looking up when Mapi didn’t say anything. “What?” 

She looked surprised and kind of annoyed. “You don’t get hungover?” 

“Nope!” You said cheerfully. “Probably a young person thing.” Turning back to your phone, you jumped when a pillow thwacked you in the face. 

“I am young.” Mapi grumbled. You just laughed. “You will not be laughing when Ingrid finds out you snuck out to get drunk.” 

You sat bolt upright, staring at her with your jaw dropped. “You’re going to tell on me?” 

And though she’d said it mostly as a joke, she’d been serious, and she was surprised you hadn’t known that. She told Ingrid everything. She couldn’t keep this from her. “Sol, you had to have known I’d tell her.” 

“You knew I left and you didn’t say anything! This is your fault!”

“My fault?” Mapi laughed. “I wasn’t going to tell her if you snuck back in, but you were so drunk I had to come get you. So. I’m telling Ingrid.”

You studied her for a minute. “I don’t think you will.” 

“Oh you don’t? And why not?” Mapi said, grinning. 

“Because if you tell Ingrid, I am sure Alexia would love to know that you gave her hermanita a tattoo behind her back.” 

The smile fell from Mapi’s face as she stared at you in horror. “You wouldn’t.” 

You smirked. “I would.” 

“Sol, you promised you would not tell. This is not just about me, this is about Fresa too, and you cannot…”

You began to tune Mapi out at the name. Fresa. The day you’d met her had been… a rough one. You’d argued with Ingrid about Camila, and she’d left the house before you could make up. Camila had been together a week, and Ingrid was far from happy. You were left stressed in your room, worried that Ingrid was going to return and take back every nice thing she’d said over the past week or so. It had been a bad day, yes but you still remembered meeting Alexia’s little sister, very clearly. 

-------

A soft knock on your door had you looking up from the school work you were struggling over. 

“Come in.” 

Mapi popped her head in the door. “Can we talk for a sec?” 

You stiffened, though your face was completely blank. “Okay. Did I do something wrong?” You asked quietly. You were always more withdrawn after an argument with your sister. Mapi didn’t say anything about the fact that your cheeks were tearstained, or how you regarded her a bit frightfully. You did so many things frightfully, even now, even still. 

“No, no, not at all. I just have a favor to ask you.” You nodded for her to continue. “Alexia’s younger sister is coming over today for a tattoo, while Ingrid is gone. And I really, really need you not to tell Ingrid about it. Or Alexia. Or anyone.” 

You were a bit stunned by the fact that Mapi would trust you with a secret like this. No one had trusted you with… anything in a really long time. Things were different, you reminded yourself. “Okay .I won't tell.” 

Mapi looked at you for a minute, maybe surprised at how easily you’d agreed. “I don’t mean to make you keep secrets from Ingrid, it’s just that-”

“It’s fine, Mapi. Ingrid won’t think to ask me about it, so it’s not really lying anyway.”

Mapi was  aware that she was probably crossing a boundary by asking you not to tell Ingrid about this, but Fresa was practically an adult, had a good head on her shoulders, and honestly, she needed someone to show her some love. Mapi knew she wasn’t doing something bad, which is how she justified asking you to keep the secret. Fresa needed her sisters, but they weren’t paying attention, and she was tired of trying to get it. So, if Fresa wanted a tattoo from Mapi, then she’d get one. And honestly? Mapi didn’t feel bad about keeping it a secret from Alexia. She was pretty frustrated with the midfielder at the moment, but she could only fix the relationship between sisters one at a time. 

“Okay. Thanks, kid.” She said, giving you a small smile. You smiled back at her, just a bit, but it was more than Mapi normally got, so she took it. 

------

When Mapi had said Alexia’s sister was coming over today when Ingrid was shopping, you’d been much too focused on Mapi trusting you to really process what she’d said. Though it all came rushing back to you when you wandered down the stairs, responding to a text from Camila. She had just invited herself to the next home match and told you she didn’t want to sit with Mapi. You were trying to figure out what to say, because honestly, you liked sitting with Mapi at Ingrid’s games, even if she talked a lot; it was endearing. You had just decided to agree to Camila’s request when Mapi caught your attention. 

“Oh, Solstråle,” Mapi said excitedly. You looked up at her in surprise, your eyes flicking over to the other girl in your house. She was looking at you with a smile on her face, as if she’d just been joking around with Mapi. She had that Putellas aura, one that completely projected confidence. It intimidated you, and you faltered, unsure what to do, or say to this mysterious, beautiful girl. You didn’t want to lounge in the living room anymore, waiting for Ingrid to get home so you could apologize and see if she was still mad. You wanted to go back to your room where it was safe and there were no strangers. “This is Ingrid’s hermana, Solstråle,” Mapi introduced, giving you an encouraging smile. 

You took a minute step backwards, slightly panicked. You forgot you had social anxiety, sometimes, especially when you went so long without meeting new people, and being expected to talk to anyone other than Ingrid and Mapi. The pretty girl smiled, and your brain fell empty for a second. 

If she was beautiful before she smiled she was… otherworldly when she did. She was warm and happy and so… light. She was overflowing with love, and you could tell from just a few seconds of being in her presence. 

“Solstråle, this is Alexia’s sister, Fresa.” Mapi continued, pretending that you weren’t acting like a complete weirdo. You still couldn’t talk, your mouth suddenly very dry, and Mapi sighed a bit. That sent you reeling because normally, Mapi was so careful not to ever let you think she was disappointed in something you did. 

She really just wanted you both to be friends, and felt like she was blowing the introduction, but you felt like you needed to get out of there before you made even more of a fool of yourself. 

“You can say hi Sol she does not bite! Actually you-” 

You interrupted Mapi, hastily greeting Fresa in what was probably very poor, and very quiet spanish. Then, you made it even worse, somehow, by turning on your heel and making a break for it. Back to your room where it was safe. 

Mapi apologized later for putting you on the spot with a new person, and you’d apologized for acting like you’d never spoken to another human being in your life before. Mapi casually asked if you wanted her to get Fresa’s number from Alexia, so you both could be friends, but you’d declined. 

You didn’t need friends. Definitely not pretty friends that made you nervous, especially when there was absolutely, positively no way she’d like you back. Or even that she liked girls. What were the odds all three Putellas sister’s were lesbians? It seemed unlikely to you, and you tried to push Fresa out of your head as the weeks passed. You focused on Camila, and then you focused on anything but Camila. Fresa always… stayed in the background, though. Always a thought. Always there. 

-------

You blushed at the memory, at how insanely shy and awkward you’d been. You honestly weren’t really looking to share that story with anyone, let alone Alexia, who was one of the coolest people you'd ever encountered. 

“Alright, I won’t tell anyone. I did promise.” You stated, before you grew serious. “But please don’t tell Ingrid, Mapi. It is never ever going to happen again, I felt so weird yesterday, it wasn’t fun at all. It was a one time thing.”

“What, you are never going to drink again?” Mapi asked, distracted and now slightly concerned. 

You decided to be honest, because vulnerability couldn’t be worse than Ingrid yelling at you. It would come close. But it wouldn't be worse. “No, I just…I realized I don’t need to do that anymore, blackout every weekend. When I used to do it before, in Norway, I was trying to forget. I was running away from my problems. I don’t need to do that anymore, I don’t want to.” 

“Oh.” Mapi said carefully, recognizing the weight of what you’d just admitted to her. “Okay. Fine. I won’t tell Ingrid. If you promise to stop taking pictures of me sleeping next to Scout, because they are not representative of our relationship. We do not like each other. We just happen to fall asleep in the same spot sometimes.”

You threw your head back and laughed. “Sure, Mapi. If that’s what you want.”

------

Ingrid hated ubering home from the airport. It took forever, the drivers were never very good, and she much preferred her girlfriend to come to the airport and greet her with a warm hug. However, Ingrid couldn’t miss the opportunity to surprise you both upon her arrival home. It had been a tough couple days for you, she knew. You were an emotional mess after the hospital, though you pretended not to be, and you hated not being able to do your normal activities. So, when Ingrid realized she could catch a flight in the morning as opposed to the afternoon, she jumped at it. She missed her girls, and seeing you both sooner was worth the hassle. 

You and Mapi had ensured the house was spotless. Early on in the break, you’d suggested making slime. Mapi had agreed, and it went about as well as could be expected. The dining room floor was now bare, the rug that normally lived there was nowhere to be found. Other than that, though, the house was clean, and Scout had gotten a bath, courtesy of Mapi due to the cast on your arm. That went about as could be expected, too. 

After cleaning, you’d slumped onto the couch grumpily. Mapi knew you were bummed about your hand. You were such an active person, always moving around, always doing something outside. Now, though, you needed to rest your very broken arm, which meant that you were stuck inside with Mapi. You were grouchy and short tempered, but the Spaniard was doing her best to keep you occupied. 

Both of you were too wrapped up in the intense round of mario kart you were playing to notice the car pull into the drive, or hear your sister approach with her suitcase. You could only play with one hand and the thumb of your broken hand, so Mapi promised to only do the same. As soon as you began to beat her, though, she began to cheat, sneakily using both her hands on the controller, much to your frustration. 

Ingrid felt a pang of worry flash through her when she heard a raised voice as she unlocked the front door. She knew what your mood had been like, and she was worried you were arguing with Mapi. You’d never yelled at her girlfriend before, but you’d definitely yelled at Ingrid. 

“I swear to god María, I am going to throw this at your head,” you shouted. 

Ingrid fumbled with her keys in her haste to get the door open. 

“I am not cheating!” Mapi defended. “You are seeing things, pequeña, I thought it was your arm that was b-”

Her voice cut off as Ingrid swung the door open, a small smile on her face as she’d realized what the argument was about. 

“Ingrid?” You and Mapi said, completely in unison. Scout hopped off the couch, trotting over to his second favorite person, eagerly sniffing at her legs. Ingrid petted him, her attention still on the two of you, frozen on the couch. The rainbow road music still played in the background, and it was truly a comical sight. You had been attempting to kick Mapi’s controller out of her hands, and she was trying to cover your eyes. 

“Ingrid!” Mapi said again, launching off the couch to almost tackle her girlfriend in a hug. 

“Hi my love,” Ingrid murmured, hugging Mapi back rather tightly. 

“I’m so glad you’re home.” Mapi whispered. “She’s scary when she’s grumpy.” 

“I heard that.” You said, frowning at the Spaniard. Ingrid was surprised when you yanked on the back of Mapi’s shirt, pulling her away from your sister, and took her place. The hug you gave your sister was fierce and if Ingrid had been wondering if you’d missed her, she no longer did. 

“Hi sweetheart,” she said, squeezing you tight. 

“Hi.” You mumbled. “Missed you.” 

“I missed you too, Solstråle.” Ingrid said with a smile, taking your cast into her hands as she pulled back. 

“How is your hand? How are you? Are you doing okay?” She asked worriedly, and you nodded, though you really appreciated how much she cared. 

“It’s fine, really. Mapi was… Mapi was really helpful. Couldn’t have done it without her.” You glanced at her, before turning back to your sister, changing the subject. “Blank canvas for you to sign.” You grinned. Ingrid returned that smile and dragged you into the kitchen without further ado. She completely disregarded her duffel bag by the door, and left her backpack on as if she couldn’t be bothered with it before she signed your cast. 

“Can I sign when you’re done?” Mapi asked eagerly. 

“When I’m done, yes,” Ingrid sighed, though she was endlessly entertained by her girlfriend’s impatience. Mapi was like you in that sense. 

Ingrid found a sharpie in the drawer, carefully grabbing your cast in her hands, instructing you to close your eyes. 

‘du er favorittpersonen min selv når du faller love, ingrid’

When she was done, she told you to open your eyes, and you did so eagerly, looking down at what she’d written. You weren’t expecting tears to flood your vision, but they did. ‘You’re my favorite person, even when you fall.’ It felt like it had more than one meaning. Ingrid would always love you. Regardless of your mistakes. 

You smiled at her through your tears, throwing your arms around her again in a tight hug. She caught you easily, enjoying the moment. 

“Ahem. MY TURN.” Mapi said impatiently, causing both you and Ingrid to break into laughter. You let Mapi sign, then, even though she wrote so big it took up half the cast. Ingrid just watched, enjoying the sight of her little family. It was very perfect. 

-----

:)

send! your! sol! thoughts! and let me know what you thought of this one 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

[casspurrjoybell-17]

Hart and Hunter - Chapter 16 - Part 2

*Warning Adult Content*

Julian Hart

With the more relaxed atmosphere, new questions rise in my mind. 

I still can't wrap my head around the fact I have a great-uncle who looks young enough to be my brother and I haven't even begun to process what he'd told me about my Fae ancestry but the mystery of Lagrange seems mundane by comparison. 

"I've been thinking," I say, drawing even with Halloran as we approach the place where he and I had discovered the cavern.

"Let's say you're right and Rhiannon came through the portal here but you said portals in the 'underworld' are hard to find, while on this side, they don't change. If Lagrange was her target, it seems too coincidental that he'd have a shop right above the one she found." 

"I see your point," he allows.

"And I've been pondering the same thing. Honestly, I don't know, which is why we're here."

"The runes are strange, too," I say.

"What do they mean and who were they for?" 

"That I can answer," Halloran says.

"Your scholarly wolf is correct, more or less. The one in the thrift shop means 'Hart' and 'beware' while the one in Lagrange's means 'ha Lárán' or 'Halloran' if you will and 'so it is done.' Runes are cryptic, even among Fae;but I think the messages were meant for other Shifters other targets and not for us. The first tells them why she's here, vengeance for her lover and perhaps for her son. The second tells them who seeks it."

 "So, a calling card." 

"More or less." 

"Do you think she'd talk to us? To me?" I ask.

"I mean... It's been, what? Almost sixty years since she was banished. Couldn't she be pardoned and allowed home after all this time? If she stops murdering people, I mean." 

Halloran winces.

"I don't think you quite comprehend the scope and severity of her crimes, Julian."

He lowers his voice, perhaps conscious of Dane and Ingrid's presence.

"She slaughtered an entire innocent Wolf-pack and jeopardized a fragile peace. However tragic her own tale, the choices she made were her own and she bears the responsibility. Besides, as you say, it's been nigh on sixty years. Sixty years in the underworld is no picnic. I'd be surprised if she's even sane at this point. So don't put too much stock in the meaning of runes." 

I fall silent again as the seeds of his words sprout new questions in my mind. 

How would Dane's family feel if they knew just whose grandson he'd mated with?

And was it right for me to stand at his side and 'claim' land where my own ancestor had spilled Wolf's blood?

Despite my commitment to support him, he'd told me the ritual required a full moon, so we had another ten days to think it through. 

My thoughts are interrupted as we reach the place where Halloran and I had moved the bricks and all eight of us crowd about the opening, peering in.

"I've only brought spelunking equipment for two," Halloran says.

"Anyone have experience caving?" 

"I do," Ingrid says, raising her hand and then wincing as her nails scrape the vaulted ceiling overhead.

"I went caving with friends last summer." 

"You did?" Dane asks skeptically and Ingrid sticks her tongue out at him.

"Anyone else?" Halloran offers, half hopefully but Ingrid remains the only eager volunteer. 

He sighs.

"Very well. The two of us will explore the lower cavern. The rest of you record as much as you can up here, take pictures and notes, whatever. We want a detailed map of the place, if possible." 

We disperse in groups of three... Chloe, Ian and Sam head back the way we'd come while Grace, Dane and I forge on into the dark. 

Without the added spice of fear, the tunnels quickly lose their air of intrigue and before long, I'm tired and bored with the cold brick passageways. 

It's obvious they align with the streets above, with branches leading to the historic buildings on the block.

Some are dead ends... things have changed since the tunnels were built but some lead to trap doors like the one in Lagrange's shop. 

Oddly, we can't open any of them from this side. 

"So, this grandma thief is running around, right?" Grace posits.

"Breaking into shops and stealing crap, looking for a Shifter. Okay but how does she get down the tunnel and conceal it from the top? Basic rule of true crime... you can't kill yourself and bury yourself, too." 

I laugh but to my surprise, Dane takes the question seriously. 

"That's a good point," he says.

"I wonder..." 

A scream cuts him off and we freeze, listening.

"Was that...?"

"Ingrid," Dane confirms.

"I'd know that ear-piercer anywhere." 

“Shit.” 

As one, the three of us turn and make our back down the tunnel as quickly as we can. 

At the cavern, we find Halloran helping Ingrid over the lip of the chasm and I breathe a sigh of relief.

Both appear unharmed. 

"What happened?" Dane asks, as Ingrid unclips herself from the ropes. 

Ingrid shakes her head and points toward the circular hole at her back.

"See for yourself." 

I advance, Dane at my side and the two of us shine twin beams down on the black water a dozen meters below. 

A pale shape catches the light, and I bite back a gasp.

"Holy shit," Grace breathes over my shoulder, giving voice to my thoughts.

"Is that... a body?" 

"Yes," Halloran confirms grimly.

"And unless I'm very much mistaken, it's the body of Jeffrey Lagrange."

[cigvrettedvet]

although paul cared for all his patients and he wanted to help them, he had a soft spot for ingrid. he saw a part of himself in her which made him care a little more. for obvious reasons, paul wasn't allowed to have favorites. it brought in all sorts of unprofessional feelings that shouldn't be there. and yet . . . "my biggest regret in life? you really went in for the kill, didn't you?" paul lightly chuckles. still, he knew he had to answer the question honestly. "i guess it'd have to be not doing everything i wanted to. once i became a therapist, i sort of neglected my own personal needs. i've devoted my life to helping others." and yet he doesn't know how to help himself, how ironic. "which i enjoy, of course. sometimes i just wish i could've done the same for myself, that's all." he chuckles once more, hoping to lighten the air after he unintentionally ruined the once jovial mood.

“we’re all the better for it then.” ingrid mused with a pleasant smile. she knew he had other patients, probably even ones that scheduled more appointments than she did, but there was a secret hope within her that she was his favorite patient. whenever that thought came to mind, she had to force herself to stop it. it was incredibly inappropriate and incredibly unlikely. when she stepped out of his office after every session, she had to believe he never gave her a second thought until it was time for another, just for her own sanity. at least paul was willing to play along with her game. “hmm, okay, my absolute worst…” though the worst, inappropriate things instantly came to mind, she knew not to voice any of them aloud, so she tried for something neutral: “what’s your biggest regret in your life?” she decided on, thinking about her regret over her career choice.

[mapileonxputellas]

Best Christmas Present (Alexia Putellas x Reader)

Loved this Christmas one! Please send in anymore Christmas ideas... Requests 1, 2 and 3. 3k words x

“Final question for Y/N before we move onto Alexia.”

The joys of being the vice-captain of Barcelona meant joining Alexia for the press conference before the final game of the year. It felt like the middle of the night as you pulled up at the training session, hours before the training session all to face the questions of the media.

Having Alexia with you made it bearable, the two of you having been in a relationship for over four years now. The 7am wake up didn’t feel too bad when you were greeted with the love of your life in your shared home with Nala asleep at your feet.

“Y/N, how would you assess the season so far and what plans have you got for the Christmas break?”

A seemingly meaningless question to probably everyone in the room but one that brought up a touchy subject for yourself.

“In terms of the season so far I am pleased with both my own performance and the team overall but we know we cannot rest on that going into the new year. We’re more determined than ever to keep that unbeaten record in the league and reach the Champions League final again. We miss Alexia and others on the pitch at times but we’re trying to find alternative ways to break teams down effectively.” You answered, feeling your heart almost beat out of your chest as you thought about the second part of your answer. “I’m going to take the Christmas break to rest up and recharge ready for the new year in Spain.”

Out of all the things you loved about being Australian, the distance between there and your now home in Spain was not one of them. Christmas had never been an issue before, with the long break in the league you usually had time to travel there and back but this year the league structure meant that wouldn’t be possible and your parents’ health problems meant they couldn’t make the reverse journey.

“So you’re not travelling to Australia?”

“Sadly not.”

A simple answer but saying it out loud every time made it more real for you. Feeling a little nudge of your feat you slightly turned your head to find Alexia almost assessing you, making sure you weren’t going to breakdown so you sent her a weak smile accompanied by your blurry eyes.

Her smile immediately dropped noticing your mood and slightly scooted her chair over so her hand could grasp your own and draw patterns on your hand to calm you down.

The rest of the press conference was a blur for you, just focusing on the hand connected to your own and vaguely listening to Alexia. All you could think about was the new-found reality that you would be celebrating Christmas alone this year. This was your favourite holiday and it wouldn’t be the same on your own with no-one to celebrate with. This time the final question was a blessing as you quickly thanked the media before shuffling out of your seat.

You could feel Alexia’s eyes on you as you walked out the door but you didn’t have any time to talk about what had happened as you were thrust into a full changing room ready for the training session.

“Here come the love birds.” Claudia shouted as you entered. Trying to distract yourself you went straight over to your cubby between Ana and Jana. “Can’t even keep your hands off each other for twenty minutes.”

“Leave them alone.” Ana defended you. “They’re just in love.”

“What are you talking about anyway?” You questioned, quickly trying to change into the training gear.

“Let’s just say you weren’t as subtle as you thought you were.” Jana teased as you sat down. The young girl had spent a lot of time with both you and Alexia and often referred to you as her team mum.

“What?”

“Alexia getting handsy.” Mapi interrupted her. “You should see twitter honestly it’s like you’ve got married never mind just held hands in a press conference.”

“I thought it was cute.” Ingrid added. “Don’t listen to them.”

“I always preferred your girlfriend Mapi.”

“Right back at ya.”

Just as you finished tying your boot laces a hand came and rested on your knee before your girlfriend came into your vision, kneeling down in front of you. Her glances around the room gave away that she was waiting for the room to clear before she spoke.

“Are you ok?” She whispered. “Why didn’t you tell me….”

“Can we do this later? Please.” You almost begged, not wanting to get upset and then have to go out into the cold.

“Promise you’ll talk to me later.”

“I promise.” You replied, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Thank you for back there.”

“Anything for you.”

….

You avoided the conversation for as long as you possible could by busying yourself around other people. Offering to give Jana a lift home who lived round the corner from you both, taking the longest shower possible and busying yourself with making tea before you sat down together for dinner, ready to face the music.

The silence was overwhelming as you both sat down, twirling the pasta round your fork as you avoided eye contact. Slowly making your way through the meal.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Alexia broke the silence.

“It’s complicated Alexia.”

“What’s complicated for me is the fact that you didn’t want to tell me.”

“There’s nothing you can do though, your family is here and mine’s not.” You wiped away the sole tear that was slowly trickling down your face. “I thought they were going to come here but then with their latest problems the health insurance wouldn’t cover them. But it’s fine, I’ve got everything I need here and we can celebrate together the day after.”

This time though it was Alexia who was confused. “What?”

“It’s fine at least you’ll get two Christmases.”

“Babe take a step back, I’m not letting you spend Christmas day alone.”

“I mean what other choice do I have?”

“Spend it with us.” She reached over to grab your hand. “My mum always cooks enough for the whole village and she loves you.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because that’s your family Ale.”

Well and truly before this year you’d never even had the option of celebrating Christmas together with the distance between you all. “They’re your family too and before you ask whether they’d be OK with it, my mum will be just worried the whole day if she knows you’re spending the day alone.”

“I feel like I’d be intruding.”

“I promise you wouldn’t be, this past year you’ve been a rock to me and my family and we owe you this at least.”

“You don’t owe me anything Ale.”

“I do, you gave up so much of your time watching me playing football, all those nights you stayed with me in hospital and then you’ve been the brunt of all my mood swings.”

“I did it because I love you.”

“And I love you so let me do this for you now.” Ale slipped out of her seat before gently sitting on your lap. “You know one day we’ll have both our families together, little ones running around and we won’t be the guests anymore. Consider this the first step in that, I don’t want to spend Christmas apart from you any longer, I’ve done that for four years and that’s long enough.”

“You’re a good persuader Miss Putellas.” She was getting to you and the smirk on her face said she knew that as her fingers gently dragged back and forth on your exposed collar bone.

“Please, I won’t be able to celebrate if I know you’re here all alone.”

“I’m calling your mum tomorrow and double checking this is alright with her.”

“Is that a yes?”

Reaching up you gently grabbed her chin to draw your eyes together. “Yes Ale, I’d love to spend Christmas with you.” The only way to seal the deal was with a kiss which you almost immediately pulled away from as a thought came into your head. “I need a full list of who will be there so I can add them to the Christmas present list.”

“Babe I’ve already started just putting both our names on them.”

“Really?”

“Well the shit ones I just put your names on.”

“Very funny.”

Moments like these cemented how much you loved the woman on your lap, throughout all the moments her newfound fame had given her she was still your Ale. As your lips gently caressed each other’s you thought of the perfect way to thank her for all of this to truly show how much you loved her and thankfully you knew exactly how you could do that.

….

Christmas with the Putellas family was definitely an experience. You knew how much Eli loved being a host and that showed on Christmas day.

From the beginning you were made to feel just as much a part of the family as Alba and Alexia: from the stocking embroidered with your name on to the heap of presents for you. It almost made you emotional thinking about the family that you had gained from your love for the Spaniard.

The day however only grew from there with family member after family member being welcomed into the house. Even though you had met everyone before it was still quite overwhelming so you tried to help Eli as much as possible in the kitchen. Cooking was definitely your other passion away from football and it helped you to forget about all the craziness going in the other room.

“How is my favourite daughter finding today?” Eli asked as she wrapped an arm around your shoulder before dropping down into a whisper. “Have you got a plan yet?”

Before you could even answer though another voice piped in. “Wow mama you could at least pretend not to have favourites.”

You loved Alba like a sister and you knew she was only joking, further shown as she joined you in a group hug. “Alba is just jealous.”

“No me and Alexia always knew you was the favourite. Alexia sent me to get you by the way, we’re playing games with the children.”

“Tell her I’m helping mama.”

“No you go.” Eli almost pushed you out, giving you her best authoritative look. “You’ve helped me more than enough today.”

“I’ll be back.” You promised.

The living room was far from the quiet serenity of the kitchen, both the sofas were filled with extended family, children were scattered across the carpet playing all sorts of different games and you found your girlfriend on the armchair trying to work out the latest game they wanted to play. You couldn’t help but watch as she tried to answer the questions of her young cousins all whilst looking incredible in the black blazer set she’d settled on, a stark contrast to your red dress. Your thoughts were interrupted though as Alba bumped your shoulder knocking you out of the daydream.

“Having a bit of trouble there.” You teased taking a seat on the arm of the chair. “These are supposed to be for children you know.”

“Shut up.” With one arm still holding onto the instructions the other tugged your waist causing you to slide down the arm of the chair onto her lap. You couldn’t help but press a kiss to the top of her head as she still tried to wrap her mind around the game.

“How about I do the next game?” You announced getting the attention of all the kids. “Count to twenty and I’ll be back.”

Scrambling to go to your backs you left in Alexia’s old room you found the parcel in your overnight bag ready for this exact scenario. Coming empty handed was never an option for you.

“Here it is.” You announced getting everyone’s attention. “Who wants to play pass the parcel?”

Your suggestion was met with a round of cheers as everyone got into a circle to include all the adults on the sofas. Taking a seat on the floor you were ready to start when one of Alexia’s cousins, Ana, sat down on your lap. Your arms instantly wrapped around the young girl as you started the music, each time letting the girl pass the parcel on to Alexia.

“Why did you not sit with me?” Alexia asked Ana dangling her hand over the chair to tickle the girl, pouting to feign her hurt.  

“Want Auntie Y/N.” Even just her calling you Auntie made your heart skip a beat, you couldn’t believe how lucky you were to now call these people your family.

“Yeah Auntie Ale.” You teased sticking your tongue out.

“She’s my favourite too.” Ale admitted to the little girl, faking a whisper. “Don’t tell her than though.”

“Secret.” The little girl whispered, thinking this was a real secret even though you could obviously hear both of them.

“Yeah keep it a secret.”

“What are you two talking about?” You asked gaining the attention of Ana who simply curled back into your lap.

“Nothing.” She answered. “Love you.”

“I love you too.”

Alexia couldn’t help but just look the at the two of you together. Your attention split between a conversation with her uncle and trying to soothe the girl in your lap.

“You’re so whipped.” Alba whispered teasingly into her sister’s ear. “Stop staring.”

“Shut up Alba.”

…..

Your moment didn’t come till after the meal had finished and everyone was still sat around talking. Alexia was curled up on the chair next to you, both of your hands intertwined on your lap as you mixed with everyone. But the box in your bag upstairs could no longer be ignored and now felt like the moment.

“I’m just nipping to the bathroom,” You whispered to Ale before slipping out the room.

Quickly refreshing yourself in the bathroom before retrieving the little box hidden in your overnight bag. You’ve played in front of nearly one hundred thousand people in your career but this is the most nervous you’ve felt before.

You couldn’t stop your hands from shaking as you slowly made your way into the dining room again. Stopping behind Ale’s chair your hands rested on her shoulders as you cleared your throat to gain the attention of the room, all eyes suddenly focused on you.

“Sorry for interrupting all your conversations but I just wanted to say something in front of you all. Firstly I want to thank you for today, you’ve all welcomed me into your family and took me in as one of your own. To Eli, thank you for being an amazing host and for the amazing food.”

“Which you helped with.” She pointed out. “We’ve all loved having you here, plus Ale would have spent the whole day being miserable without you.”

“Whining even more than usual.” Alba teased her sister.

“As you all know I’ve been with Ale for more than four years now and they’ve been the best of my life.” You started, Alexia turning to face you. “We’ve been through more struggles than anyone will know, with injuries and the pressures of being who we are but we’ve always had each other and I know I wouldn’t have come this far without you by my side.”

“What’s all this for?” Alexia asked.

You ignored her question to continue. “You’re my best friend. I love everything about you even when you keep me awake snoring at night or when you burn my toast in the morning. You’re always the first to offer to give me a massage after a match, you always remember my green tea in the morning but more than that you make me feel more loved than I’ve ever felt before.”

The realisation of what was slowly happening was dawning on Alexia as tears streamed down her face.

“I’d love nothing more than to have the rest of my life to continue to show you how much you mean to me and stand by your side to share every moment together.” You said, slowly getting down on one knee, opening the box to reveal the ring you’d chosen. “So Alexia Putellas Segura, will you do me the greatest honour and be my wife?”

“Yes, yes of course I will.” Immediately shooting out of her chair she wasted no time in gathering you in her arms, spinning you around in the air. “I love you so much.” She whispered, planting you back down on the floor to kiss you.

“I love you too. I hope you like the ring.”

“It’s perfect. Everything you choose is perfect.” Taking the simple but elegant diamond ring in your hand you slid it onto her finger like a glove.

It’s only then that you realise you’re not alone in the room, both of your eyes immediately turning to Eli and Alba. Tears uncontrollable streaming down their faces as they gathered you in a group hug.

“I’m so happy for you both.” Eli whispered, kissing both of your heads. “No-one deserves this more than you two.”

“You’re both made for each other.” Alba added, first hugging you as Eli took Alexia in her arms. “That ring as well, wow.”

“You should thank Eli for that as well.” You admitted as you swapped to get your hug from Eli. “I can’t take all the credit for that.”

“You knew?”  Alexia turned to the both of you.

“Y/N came to me a few months ago and asked for my permission which I of course gave her. I didn’t know she as planning on doing it tonight though.”

“It just felt right.” You admitted. “All your family here and we both love Christmas. Of course I’d love to have met your father and ask him but I felt this was only right.”

That again set Alexia off as the tears started again. “I love you.”

“I love you too my fiancée.” Bringing her into your arms the cheers started as you sealed it with another kiss. “Forever.”

“Forever with you.”

[stillhavetodothat]

Replaying Nancy Drew without Cheating - Part 7: The Haunted Carousel

Ah, yes, a game that I rarely even think about when considering the Nancy Drew universe as a whole. I didn’t even know Ingrid Corey’s name was Ingrid Corey when I first sat down to play this game. I didn’t remember Miles the Magnificent Memory Machine. In fact, this is having me question if I have ever actually finished the game in the first place, because aside from who the culprit was, I didn’t remember a thing about that ending. The last scene was just a lot of clicking around in blind hope, trying not to die. Unfortunately, this meant that I got to see a whole lot of this face.

Honestly, thank god I didn’t ever finish this one as a kid, because that face would have given me more nightmares than Joseph’s in FIN (and that already scared me shitless enough).

But anyway. CAR. And not cheating when playing it. I was able to move through the story pretty quickly, without getting stuck, until I had to play the harmonica for MtMM. I played those 6 notes over and over again, and he kept telling me to try again. I was getting ready to throw my laptop in a rage. Eventually when I went away, talked to some other people, and returned, I was able to replay the 6 notes and he finally accepted the answer. This had to have either been a bug, or it was set up in such a way that I couldn’t move on to solving the riddle unless I had had another conversation first? I don’t know. Either way, that was maybe the most frustrating moment in my entire journey so far, and the one I was most willing to risk my no-cheating streak for. BUT ALAS, I prevailed!

Some thoughts about this game:

1. Why does the location suck so bad? This game is about a theme park, but you can only go to a few attractions inside the park, a couple stuffy offices, and the butt-ugly hotel room across the street. Herein starts the trend of games where very little wandering takes place. Obviously other games have maps with marked locations on them, but they also have an entire museum, an entire soap opera set, or a huge forest and underground tunnels to explore. Idk, this game felt slightly claustrophobic to me for some reason. And I would have loved to be able to wander through the park itself to feel a little bit more immersed. Missed opportunity.

I will say that this hotel room captures the feel of New Jersey perfectly, though.

2. For a game whose namesake is a “haunted carousel,” we see very little haunting and honestly very little carousel. Half the game is running around solving convoluted riddles for a helpless Joy, and the other is doing Ingrid’s job for her, leaving very little time for much else.

3. Speaking of Ingrid, why on earth is an engineer asking me, an 18-year-old stranger, to fix circuitry and program software updates? And some of her passive aggressive comments (”It isn’t exactly rocket science,” “He’s not exactly a mechanical genius,” and “You can check in the binder if it’s too cryptic for you”) made her a VERY unpleasant suspect. Being a park engineer is YOUR job, girl, not mine. However, she IS the most beautiful suspect in the games so far. LOOK at her bone structure.

4. For some reason, I remember the burning-down-the-hotel thing as an explosion, where you get to see the entire hotel get engulfed in violent flames as you stand outside in horror. I mean, getting the call from Paula Santos is good and all, but it was disappointing when I was gearing up to see some serious destruction (I even left the iron on, on purpose, just to see it).

5. I felt like Nancy was particularly annoying in this game. She hears Harlan is an ex-con, and immediately tries to get him fired over it (extremely anti-woke of her...why have I never realized how terrible she really is?). Instead of ordering a soft drink with her burger, she ordered a tall glass of milk (barf). Half the time she pronounces carousel “carouSEL,” which irked me for no reason at all. Obviously Joy and Ingrid were battling for the Most Annoying Character award this game, but seems like Nancy decided to throw her hat in the ring, too.

6. I was about to shit all over Nancy for being a hude nerd and thinking finding a book on carousels was “cool,” but then I read it and was actually enthralled. I even read some tidbits of information to my fiance, and he was also fascinated, and even asked some follow-up questions (very detective of him!). So I will apologize to Nancy for that, but only that!

7. The first game where Nancy has a cell phone! Hilarious that she has to pull out her blank notepad and a pencil for every single impromptu call, but at least we are spared running back to a specific room just to make a phone call. AND, we get to answer phone calls in this game, too, not just make them! So futuristic.

8. This is also the first game where you have to actually get information from one of your regular phone contacts (Bess, George, Ned) in order to move forward in the game. I have been generally avoiding calling any of those contacts throughout these play-throughs, since it is mostly just recapping stuff I’ve already done. This left me racking my brain trying to remember where we are supposed to learn about shorthand to translate the Glory note, thinking it was in a book somewhere, when really it really required a phone call to Bess all along.

9. This is also the first playthrough of this game where I actually got to mention the Poppy Dada piece to Elliott, and hear him say that she thinks he is hot (she ain’t wrong). I love discovering new experiences in older games, and love when games make references to games that preceded them.

10. This picture of Mike DeSalle and K.J. Perris is the best part of the game, hands down. The hair! The mustache! The crossed eyes! The awkward holding of the jewelry!

11. Not to brag or anything, but I managed to beat Barnacle Blast the first time through. Not sure how this is even possible, since I have been dreading that very game since I started STFD. I must be getting more dexterous in my old age.

I know I just bitched about CAR for several paragraphs there, but I did enjoy playing it. The ending was actually really great, and it made sense when you think about other clues that were pointing to it the entire game (the fact that Elliott kept calling me “Nance” was suspicious on its own - you can never trust anyone who gets too friendly. See: Lisa, Joe). This is Nancy Drew, so any and every game is a treat for me. Even if I have complaints.

Never been so excited to get out of New Jersey. Onward and upwards to the PNW, and one of my favorite games of all time!

[fireemblems24]

Azure Gleam - Ch 4

This route has been a wild ride so far. And we're only on chapter 4.

STORY

Time-Skip look now. I love most of the Blue Lions redesigns.

I thinking Dimitri's definitely going to get a new story line because at this point there's no way we go back to AM. Which is exactly what I wanted. So far only Edelgard's just getting a repeat, but still not sure how much not having TWSITD around will change things.

OFC, Dimitri's arc could still be about him going bad and redemption, but like, please, no. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE it in AM, but it just . . . wouldn't make sense here? Not while he has responsibilities as a king, some answers about Duscur, and a good support system. I just think unless something changes, that would be OOC.

Felix, being respectful? What is this?

PLEASE PROTECT RHEA. OMG. Please pick Rhea, please.

I love how this NPC noble is wearing an armored helmet among all these unique designs lamo. I'm guessing that his opinion is wrong. Which means not helping Rhea is wrong. PLEASE.

Ohhh, so Edelgard putting a corrupt as shit noble in charge of her religious propaganda machine is backfiring. Hell yes. Love how people in the Kingdom are side-eying that "move."

I love all the political discussion going into this. And love the point of how Dimitri can't just turn on his allies without losing face. It's something Edelgard never even considered after accepting the church's help with the coup.

And yessss bringing up that they'll just become the Empire's lackeys. Plus, we know Edelgard want's all of Fodlan and not just the church.

Yuck, imagine replacing Rhea with Count Varley. God, am I glad this decision of hers is biting her in the ass here.

Love that we mentioned taxation here too.

Haha, Felix's tone here. Asking the hard question. Do we accept the central church or accept Imperial rule? Faerghus deserves its sovereignty. No more shilling Imperialism in my game.

Haha, I think I saw the line everyone uses for bad takes. But Dimitri is just spitting facts here. All those violent revolutions are just teenage fantasies that almost never turn out. Slow and steady change is the only permanent change, and you can't have lasting change without having something solid it's sitting on.

That said, I'm so, so glad we're seeing Dimitri and a king and his politics.

YES, we protecting Rhea!

Shez's power getting addressed in this route is amazing. And that it matters so much to her that Dimitri's not disturbed by it.

Also entertained by the difference here between Shez with Claude and Shez with Dimitri, where with Claude she was ready to leave, and here she's already putting trust in Dimitri. Honestly don't remember with Edelgard.

So in Edelgard's route, we attack refugees. In Dimitri's we protect. Seems right. I mean, I know it's more complicated than that, but still.

CAMP

"Rodrigue is now playable" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

YESSSSS. OMG. Like, I knew, but still 😭😭😭😭😭

And Annette is back! Ah!!!

Oh, Rodrigue has supports with Felix, Dimitri, and . . . Ingrid? You know, that makes sense with Glenn and all. I seriously cannot WAIT to unlock those. Especially his with Felix. Like, what is this world I'm living in that Rodrigue is playable and gets supports with Felix?

Mercedes looks so pretty.

KINGDOM LORE. Let's go!!!! Fuck, yeah, Kingdom's got the good wine. Time to visit Ifan.

"Former Kleiman territory" - you love to see it.

Love that the Kingdom is taking in war refugees.

Is Gustave eventually playable? Or is he staying behind to watch over the Kingdom? That would make sense, but that would be a bummer. I may be like one of 5 people who actually like Gilbert.

WAITTTTT - hold up - is that . . . a Duscur general in Dimitri's army???? I LOVE this detail.

Dimitri arranging marriages between happy couples and ones that weaken his enemies? He working hard.

Rodrigue mentioned a wife. Let's go. Someone has a mom.

Ingrid is just, so pretty.

Dedue, my beloved. I love how he says he's staying with Dimitri and not returning to Duscur. Like, I want him to vacation there, but my shipping heart fluttered at that.

Dimitri's voice is so pleasant. And I love his new design too.

Ok, though, I gotta stand in the middle of the two NPCs sword fighting though. They just keep beheading Shez, lamo.

OMG, Felix and Rodrigue's practice dialogue. 😂

I love Dedue's and Dimitri's too.

LAMO, Dedue and Dimitri already achieved C support. I'm betting there's only conversations for the ones with the three dots over them though. Still seems right Dedue and Dimitri was my first unlocked support.

I REALLY want to use Rodrigue, but the upcoming map is all axes 😭

SIDE BATTLE/STORY

I'm bringing Rodrigue anyways. I don't care. Rodrigue, my beloved.

Dimitri MVP. Deserved, to be honest. Though, OMG, I got to play as Rodrigue. 😊

I still don't get why Edelgard targets Rhea as a bigger problem than Thales.

So, we're going to fight Petra, hunh. I have a sneaking suspicion she'll be recruitable since she seems more anti-Empire than she was in Houses.

You know, I'm not as worried about unlocking every support in this route, since I know this is the one I'm most likely to replay.

OMG Rodrigue told Felix to feed Shez and called him peckish. 😂🤣👌 That is top-tier dad behavior. God, I love the Lions. The others didn't interact like that with this part.

I finally get to give Dimitri flowers now. 😊😊😊

OMG Felix & Rodrigue's dining dialogue 🤣😂 I am LIVING for this Rodrigue constantly tweaking Felix. He acting like such a - such a DAD.

SHEZ & ASHE C SUPPORT

Oh course it starts with a book, lol. It's Ashe.

Shez's mysterious adoptive mom brought up again. Was she TWSITD? And put Arvel inside Shez? It's Patricia. Isn't it?

Glad there's an in-universe explanation for Shez knowing this stuff.

Aw, Lonato taught Ashe how to read.

Of course mystery mom is gone, lamo.

SHEZ & SYLVAIN C SUPPORT

Shez mentioning Dimitri and Felix in this support really makes them feel like a family.

I like how some of these are low-key about Shez. Makes it seem pretty natural. Like people curious about Shez rather than just going over to tell them his/her story.

Ohh, cool, Sylvain is interested in Shez's sword as a way to make Crests less important for defense.

Her threat to tell Ingrid about Sylvain's flirting 😊😊😊 did the other houses mention each other that much and I missed it? Or does this really make the Blue Lions seem so close.

SHEZ & DEDUE C SUPPORT

It's interesting that Dedue doesn't trust Shez. I like how that seems more natural. Plus it seems like a healthy amount. Like he's weary because Shez is mysteriously powerful and close to Dimitri, but still trusts Dimitri's judgement.

Dimitri needing all the help he can get. Very true.

I also love how this is pretty much about Dimitri somewhat.

LAMO, Shez is like I'll kill whoever Dimitri wants as long as he keeps paying me. Good for Shez.

It would be really interesting to compare how Dedue mistrusts someone getting close to Dimitri compared to how Hubert reacts to the same with Edelgard.

SHEZ & DIMITRI C SUPPORT

Almost all of Dimitri's possible A supports are men lamo

He's built a wall around himself since he killed his uncle 😭😭 Not surprised.

I just love how much Dedue and Rodrigue are teaming up to fix Duscur.

What is Dimitri up too? And good for Shez to call Dimitri out for lecturing someone for not taking a break.

Man, he's really not built for war. Beating himself up so much for casualties. It's nice, though, at least SOMEONE is acknowledging the innocent lives lost during war.

I love how complicated his thought processes are too. He acknowledges that he has to look like he approves it all to keep people supporting him. It's nice seeing a character actually have to work for that and talk about how rather than everyone just magically following them.

And regular Dimitri saying it's his burden to bear alone. Sounds about right.

FELIX & RODRIGUE C SUPPORT

OMGOMGOMG I'm not ready.

Felix, "How did you know?" My brother in Sothis he held this job way longer than you did, lamo. I love Felix.

Rodrigue be like, I visited all of them to resolve the issue. But you can't do that because we're at war.

Felix "Are you expecting me to fail?" He's to touchy. I love him.

Oh, boy, here comes Glenn. I mean, you knew this was coming. It needed to happen. I cannot wait to see the resolution to this.

Poor Rodrigue can't even mention his dead son around Felix 😭😭.

THIS, though, THIS is why the Blue Lions are soooooooo good. The supports with Shez are all nice so far, but I just love the complicated conflicts they have. The deep, messed up, but still so strong relationships they all have. And I'm so, so, so glad Rodrigue finally gets to really join in with supports.

MAIN BATTLE

This is where we get to team up with Rhea, right??

Mercie is such a drug.

Annette is so short next to Dimitri. 😭😭

Felix being all humph. Lamo.

Sylvain and Ingrid being serious, Annette and Ashe and Mercie just happy to see each other.

Dimitri's ready to throw down to protect Faerghus and its citizens. I'm glad, because Edelgard sees them as something she needs to mow over. It's so nice seeing someone look out for them so fiercely. IDK, maybe I feel for them because I'm so BL biased by now, or it's also probably because I'm originally from a super cold area and always just feel such an affinity for the "cold Northern fantasy world."

Persuade Petra!!! Yes, we're rescuing her from the country that's keeping her hostage.

Got Hapi, guys!

Feels good saving Seteth. He's #1 husbando of his game easy.

So, there's no enemies left, but Seteth and Catherine just keep pacing back and forth and won't evacuate. This is really frustrating.

I don't know what to do. So I just reset. Not going to lie. This killed my interest playing this right now.

Oh, thank God, it worked the second time. I looked it up online after this, and I'm not the only one who had this problem.

Hubert showed up, and I defeated him. Like old time.

Petra is now playable. Hapi is now playable. Hell, yeah.

STORY

King Dimitri sounds so good. Not going to lie.

Look at that, Dimitri remembering how Rhea helped him.

So if Knights of Serios are under my command, does that mean I get Seteth and Catherine next?

I love how they're bringing up how Faerghus lacks resources. It really gives them the underdog feeling. They try so hard to do that for the Empire too, but it always just fails.

So this is the same conversation between Shez and Arval about Jeralt and Byleth.

Cornelia aiding the Western lords. So that means we'll get to fight her again. Good.

Typical Dimitri saying he'll bear the weight of the Kingdom's sins and kill people to defend them. Good for Rodrigue for telling Dimitri not to hate himself too much.

Oh, extra Felix stuff. Felix smiling because Dimitri's upset. Great, Felix. But it seems he's just trying to get Dimitri to take a nap.

Dimitri - no. You're not just a "bloody demon of revenge." Dimitri. Stop.

But it seems Dimitri's guiding goal is protecting Faerghus, but still wrestling with the whole I'm out for revenge and I'm taking responsibility for literally everything and hate myself because everyone who dies because Edelgard started a war is my fault.

Dimitri 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I like this though, it feels balanced, like having everyone around him and having the Kingdom to protect is giving him something else to think about and keep him more stable.

"It does the heart good to see our people smile. " DIMITRI STOP.

Just noticed Shez wasn't there. Nice, feels less shoehorned that they aren't in every conversation, even when it doesn't make sense.

Claude stuff now. So this will probably be a shortened version of what I saw in GW. Yep, Lorenz worrying about his Dad. Literally the exact same.

That's right you failed to capture Rhea. Suck it, Edelgard.

I love Edelgard's unfailing confidence in Hubert, despite him constantly failing and retreating non-stop.

Oh, talking about Petra and Brigid. I like this, that recruiting actually matters unlike in Houses.

"War with the Kingdom is neigh impossible at this point," girlllll, didn't you expect to fight for 5 years. I sure as hell doubt you only meant Rhea, unless you truly suck lamo.

So the Count Rowe stuff again.

XXX