#❛ ✧ ┊ this world will end in ruin. self promo.

[clarafell]

Can you fight against the curse of this world?

Let the curtain rise on tonight's dream—

ENTER THE LABYRINTH.

[dreadbornesaint]

General (1/2)

[darcytaylor]

“If somebody is close to a situation, they should have other friends that are close to the situation, they don't need to come onto social media to talk about it…”

100% agree. And anonymous people/fan behavior aside, I think this is why so many are annoyed/mad at Luke’s friends because they’re not looking out for his best interest or protecting his privacy. They post things that hint he’s with them and sometimes what’s happening in real time.

He doesn’t post much on social as it is, and yes some fans I’m sure make him want to be on social less, but his friend group is not helping. They seem like a very self-serving group and that makes me sad for Luke. Especially because he and Rory have been friends for so long.

The only person who seems to be protecting and being respectful of Luke is Nicola. Deleting nasty comments about him on her posts and even swapping out a pic she posted on her insta story to avoid more speculation about the Polaroid in her phone.

And the contrast between Luke and Nicola is she has this incredibly supportive friend group who protect her at all costs. Even throwing some shade when necessary lol.

Luke needs to surround himself with better people if he’s going to have any chance of a long career. His current group are going to ruin things for him and he doesn’t deserve that.

I know he’s done some questionable things like not promo BS3 online as much as others have but for someone who isn’t online much, it’s probably not always top of mind. Especially after doing so much live promo for months.

Anyway, just want to give my two cents. I wish nothing for the best for Luke and I think if he surrounds himself with more people like Nicola and her friends, he’ll be a big success in whatever he does. And that includes if he’s active on social or not :)

Friends are a tricky subject, because while I can look in on Luke and his core group of friends (you know the ones), I can obviously see some questionable things (like not caring about his privacy at all), but I also don’t truly know their motives or who they are as people. 

I’ve had 2 people in my life (who I had been friends with for years) that I had to cut out of my life. This wasn’t an overnight process though. It was a process of accessing situations, forgiving them, then continuing the cycle. It took me a while to even realize that there was a cycle, and that it was a cycle of my own doing.

(I have realized as I have gotten older that it's okay to drop people, but I also realize that it is never an easy thing to do)

My situation brings me to thinking that the friends aren’t solely to blame, because Luke is the one that is friends with them at the end of the day. He has chosen to stick it out with them, and let situations happen that they know fans will see. I am also sure that some things were done unintentionally and the thought process wasn’t about the fans. I like to give the benefit of the doubt sometimes.

Luke and his friends know that fans follow the group (this was even before season 3) to catch a glimpse of Luke. There should be more care regarding the optics and digital footprint that they are all bringing to the world/fanbase. Because when they post about Luke (even a hand or a leg), they are adding it to the fanbase and making it public. 

(I also think everybody should stop following these people, it’s not like any of them are doing anything of importance - that sounds mean but it’s honest)

Nicola said in her Harper’s Bazaar: Life Lessons interview, “surround yourself with people you want to be like”. It seems simple but can also be hard to do depending on where you are in life. Nicola knows who she wants to be, so she knows who to surround herself with. 

With friends you always want to give them the benefit of the doubt, you want to help them in bad and good situations, and it’s easy to look at things with rose coloured glasses in friendships (in any type of relationship really). This is especially true if you are kind, or empathetic. 

I’m sure that Luke has talked with his management and they have informed him of how things are being perceived by the public. I’m sure Luke had an idea even before a conversation had happened. Now we just have to trust that Luke understands his situation and makes the changes necessary (if he wants to) to continue to grow his career. 

[gracefullou]

been a Larry cause of fanfiction, and honestly, I've come to totally despise Harry. I need someone to make me disbelieve in the Larry masterposts. please help

I'm so sorry, i can't help you with that. I have no energy to debunk larry masterposts and all the lies that have been told by larries over the years. What I can tell you though is that Louis has explicitly said that Larry is not real. And real or not, it has always been harmful to Louis both professionally and personally. Just look at the harassment his family faces on a daily basis by larries fishing for their silly "proofs". What awful things they allow themselves to post about a literal child. In any case, all those "proofs" or let's say "moments" are from a decade ago give or take a year or two. There hasn't been a positive indicator that these two are even in contact for years now. Louis' principles are worlds apart from that man's (yes, opposites attract but there has to be commun beliefs and ethics. Hello, greedy fuckers?). Also, think about it rationally. In 2019, when Louis was f*cked over and was barely even allowed to release his debut album (after YEARS of fighting for it) with zero promo whatsoever by Sony while they were doing everything to promote that man, do you really think it's possible to just sleep on the fact that your "husband" or partner or whatever tf larries believe is partners and friends even with the same people trying to ruin your career (that man is literally besties with Rob Stringer. He had lunch with him in 2019 two days after fizzy's death, recorded his album at his house, sang happy birthday to his daughter at his concert and sat with him at the scammys)? No wonder larries thought of every shadow they saw at that man's concerts in his first tour as Louis, they clearly think he's a doormat who has no self-esteem or even a little respect and devotion towards his profession (no matter how many times he proved them wrong with both actions and words). Like they really think Louis would kiss a man who called his late mother "someone's mom" in the mouth and continue to have a happy relationship with him 💀. Louis is clearly not fond of that man anymore. He's always polite and answers with his never ending grace and generosity when asked about him (mainly bc he cherishes the 1D legacy too much to ever shit on one of its members) but the difference in his statements and the way he speaks about him compared to 2017 is very obvious and so telling. Just recently, larries were celebrating both of them being at the Euros final when there hasn't been any pics of them together 💀. I repeat, two ex-bandmembers were at the same event at the same time but didn't meet eachother (there's no way they met and no one took a pic). What does that say? If they were "married" wouldn't the obvious choice be to meet eachother, or if "management wouldn't allow that and since apparently both Louis and that man chose signaling to larries as their purpose in life💀" wouldn't the obvious choice be for that man to take a step back and just not go since Louis is the big football fan? It's clear they don't talk to eachother AT ALL, probably for years now 😌. Whether there was a romantic relationship or not before i can't tell but 2019 forward, it's obvious that 100% there's no relatioship of any kind there. Probably, no contact at all (remmember Euphoria 😬). Lastly, anon. Even if larry was real (which is not), you don't have to support that man if you don't like him anymore. I hate the notion that if you love louis, you have to support the other people around him inculding his non-existent husband.

[themerlinrewrite]

au where edwin survives

cause edwin, even though he was pretty violent, wasn't really wrong to feel the way he did. the show framed him as a villain when really, he was just someone whose life had been ruined by the magic ban. the show actually does this a lot - portraying sorcerers as the villains - which doesn't really make sense, considering the whole point is magic isn't evil.

if edwin survived, it would be an amazing chance for character development. edwin, who is well versed in magic (especially healing magic), could teach merlin how to control it better than gaius can, since gaius is rusty when it comes to magic. gaius, too, can try to be more proactive in protecting sorcerers - in a remedy to cure all ills, it is hinted that gaius learned his lesson, but his development is kinda halted when edwin dies (as edwin is declared 'the villain' rather than the morally grey character - or more accurately, human - he is).

also, edwin's character totally didn't want to take over camelot. i have no idea where that twist came from at the end of the episode. i think, most of the time, edwin was being completely genuine about his personality - he was just lying about why he was in camelot. edwin, overall, just wants to live in a world where his parents could have survived. merlin, although he's pretty bonkers, would be able to sympathize with this (i mean... he doesn't like the magic ban either). even if he didn't, merlin was young in that episode. he hadn't killed many people yet, and sure as hell wouldn't have done it without thinking, like he did in the show.

totally not self promo time: if you like the sound of this you should read the sixth chapter of the merlin rewrite, which is linked on my tumblr page.............................

[blasphemous-lies-and-deceit]

WIP Snippet Game!

I was tagged by @tardis-stowaway with the words fire, table, fresh, peace, and hand. Thanks for the tag!!

Fire- From Wednesday in the Archives, which is a crossover fic I promised my beta like two years ago, I swear I'll work on that next I swear "Yes, I brought that up." Of course he had. "He's still not taking the threat seriously." In fact, Elias had all but implied that his gracious approval of changing the fire suppression system meant that Jon wasn't allowed to protest more changes in the Archives. "We'll just have to be more careful. Continue stocking fire extinguishers. Be judicious about squishing any that make their way inside." And stop thinking about how they were getting in, and what the source of them was, and everything else that they portended.

Table- From the next chapter of The Whispering and the Reckoning (still technically a WIP!): Michael was finishing off Gerry's helping of alfredo, having devoured his own serving faster than he'd ever seen anyone eat a plate of pasta, when someone else sat down at their table across from them. To Gerry's complete and utter horror, it was a business major. He vaguely recognized him from the fae studies class, where he sat near the front and was the perfect student, always dressed impeccably, devastatingly handsome, and asking all the right questions. Gerry was pretty sure his surname was Banks, and he had no idea what in the hells he was doing at their table. 

Fresh- From one of the many MANY potential chapters in my Words I Thought I'd Never Speak file- a NSFW one if I ever get around to completing it Honestly, his first real sleepover had been in the Archives, with Michael. Both of them fresh from the dead, or close to it, huddled together in the Institute basement because there was nowhere else to go. Just the two of them, talking quietly about Gertrude and Eric and Jon, their Archivist, and what was happening to him. Despite everything, despite their worries and the strangeness of their situations, it had been almost stupidly cliche, like a parody of a sleepover. They'd braided each other's hair, talked about their secret and not so secret crushes, and fallen asleep together, curled up around each other on that damn air mattress. It hadn't been perfect, but it had been so damn better than anything else he could imagine.

Peace- Also from The Whispering and the Reckoning, but the more WIP-y part of it: The table's focus thankfully shifted to Barker and Crew's summer courses, and Michael softened again at his side, his hand loose and easy in Gerry's. It tore at his heart that the fragile life they enjoyed there was coming to an end, and soon. As much as he hated Oxford, it was where they were together without question. Out in the real world it would be so much more complicated. Gerry didn't want to ruin the peace of it with the approaching future.

Hand- from the Jon/Michael Distortion fic I really want to write: Jon shuddered. It was far too close and it's hands were so sharp. "I suppose…it's when you allow it," he whispered. "I am here by your mercy, after all."

My Words: Hide, walk, flavor, fabric, and ultimate

My Tag-ees: @beholdme, @ollieofthebeholder, @magnetarmadda, @pitviperofdoom and literally anyone else don't be shy shamelessly self-promo your wips please

[zalia]

So many excellent recs <3

I'm going to throw in a few of my faves!

Zeteram has written some really fun fics, mostly featuring Saint and Osiris. I'm particularly fond of Seventh Front which has Saint helping Osiris return to himself after the Battle of Six Fronts takes a hell of a toll on him.

Gileonnen writes some of the most gorgeous prose I have ever read. They are incredibly adept at exploring aspects of what it means to be known by someone, recovery from trauma, and some sex scenes which are genuinely deep and fascinating looks into character psychology. A Heresy of Thread follows Saint and osiris when Osiris returns from Neomuna wielding strand - what does it mean to Saint for him to use the Darkness, and how has Osiris changed?

Cthonical writes a variety of pairings, but I love this Caiatl/Zavala fic To Let Lips Do As Hands Do, with the two of them having to figure out interspecies courtship! Also Reignition which has Shaxx helping Saint and a recovering Osiris safely work towards being physically intimate with each other again.

@makoredeyes writes some really fun fic with Felwinter, Timur, and Osiris at the Iron Temple! Seeing the relationships between them grow, the trust develop is an absolute delight! And if you want some heartbreak and intrigue, I recommend Isochronism where The Iron Lords go to retrieve SIVA and all is not as it seems.

Katsu has such a sharp eye for character and fascinating interactions (and titles gdi!) and To Hear With Eyes is a fantastic characterful look at Felwinter and Shaxx navigating what might be a relationship. Katsu writes such a great Shaxx.

And for self promo, I'm ZaliaChimera and I write mainly Osiris-centric stuff especially poking at his way of looking at the world and my headcanon of him being very neurodivergent. Kink as therapy. And apparently grief because damn I have used that tag a lot. I'm particularly fond of Lineage set in Season of the Seraph, with Osiris and Rasputin speaking about Felwinter, and also Forged in Wrath and Ruin, in which Osiris's confrontation with Xivu Arath ends a little differently, and when he doesn't return, Saint goes to the Tangled Shore to investigate.

thinking about ao3 comment culture and you know what, although I love complaining about it and Have Things To Say, I also want to do something about it. so imma just make it a rule to comment on a few fics every week. feel free to throw me destiny fic recs, your own fics, or smth.

[somewhens]

tags 01 .

[clarafell]

𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐕𝐄.        

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.

an independent retelling of HOMURA AKEMI from the PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA franchise. written and adored by ophelia. please give this post a  ♡ and  or  ↻  ( preferred ) if  you  would like to interact!

[humcnster-blog]

RADICAL !! -- jackson coyote davis, aka jak, is here, and ready to fuckin’, uh, drink beer !! actually, he’s more of a pina colada guy. and TOTALLY a monster, duh !! why are you saying he looks EXACTLY like a human ? haven’t you ever heard of HUMAN SYNDROME, dude !?  don’t worry, no humans here !! absolutely none !! zippo !! just some punk with a CAPITAL p, legally registered as a doppelgänger, because he DEFINITELY is one !! let’s ROCK, dudes !!

if you wanna interact with this selective and private total mess of an INDIE MONSTER PROM OC, reblog / like this post !! thanks a BUNCH !! ( personals, please don't interact !! )

[sourlemons262]

I know no one asked for my opinion on this discourse but I’m gonna butt in anyway xD.

I’m sure we can all agree that whoever Matthew’s love interest is, they have to be someone who matches his energy—quirky, silly, flamboyant, etc. We’ve already seen that someone like Cordelia, who prefers order and to be settled, would not work in a relationship with Matthew. Because of that, i would also like Matthew to end up with a girl, mainly because of the interesting gender dynamics and societal roles that could be explored through the pairing, something that I wished Cassie touched a little bit more on in TLH.

Let’s say Matthew meets his love interest on his voyage abroad and it’s also another traveling Shadowhunter. While it would be nice to see another male Shadowhunter fill that role, I’d argue that making the character a woman adds so much more to the dynamic, mainly because of the gender roles expected of women back then.

Women in this era, especially unmarried women, didn’t travel around the world, have an apartment, talk loud, or draw any attention to themselves. Matthew, as a man, can do all of these things with ease, but I’d just love to see a badass girl in this era do that too! Yes, we can argue that Shadowhunter society is more progressive than mundane society at that time, but misogyny permeates everywhere. I’d love to see Matthew look at a girl who society says is “improper” and fall unapologetically head-over-heels. Plus feminist!Matthew is hot AF xD.

I feel like Cassie could’ve touched on this more in TLH. I mean, the reason that Cordelia had to get married to James was because of the fucked-up double standard of male and female sexuality (James would’ve been fine, but Cordelia was ruined for spending the night with him). In COT, Cordelia says that people would treat her and Matthew differently for running off to Paris together, but we never really see any consequences of that. Plus, the secret of James and Cordelia’s marriage is never revealed, further perpetuating that awful double standard forever. Cordelia deserves to show the Enclave the consequences their misogyny had on her! I feel like we could explore something similar with the relationship dynamic highlighted earlier with Matthew and his love interest.

(On another note, I’d also love if Matthew’s love interest also had their heart broken from a previous relationship/thought they were in love with someone else. Not only does it allow Matthew and his love interest to understand each other better, but its also very rare for the first person you ever date to be “the one”. I want both of them to realize that even though they might not be each others’ “firsts”, they will be each others’ “lasts”. 😊)

(And on another another note, I hate to self promo my fic but if you want a gander of the type of person I think Matthew would be great with, check out my fanfic, Every Saint Has a Past, Every Sinner Has a Future.)

"he (matthew) had no obvious romantic pairing"

why did she say it like that??? does this mean we already met matthew's romantic intrest for the novella? (maybe Esme? or Eugenia?)

[ingravinoveritas]

While I'm wary to an extent of season 3 potentially ruining the whole Staged thing (I always worry when things I liked get sequels), I disagree that the M/D chemistry was the only thing keeping it afloat. I was actually struck with how clever & well made it was, & genuinely funny. I can't remember any current 'comedy' thing that made such an impression on me exactly because of how it was written. So I don't agree with your view (as it seems) of Simon as some sort of leech/creative nothing.

Hi, Anon! Well thank you for writing in to share your thoughts. I do appreciate it very much, and am glad to hear other points of view.

So, it seems that I may not have been completely clear in what I was trying to convey in this post, with my thoughts about the news of season 3. I don’t think that Simon is a creative nothing, not at all. I do, however, think Staged was something that came out of a very specific set of circumstances. It’s important for us to remember that, as well as the fact that there was a lot of privilege within those circumstances that enabled the show to be made.

The world had already changed after the first series came out, and has now changed even more with the impending release of the third series. Michael and David are out of their homes, busy working. It is difficult then, in my opinion, to recreate that moment in time, especially when the limits were already being pushed with the second series. The guest stars in S2 were evidence of that, as it seemed like Simon was trying to fill the airtime by distracting from what was missing, and so I do worry that it will be a similar situation in the third season.

That is not to say that the writing was or is all terrible. Far from it, in fact! There were plenty of lines in both seasons 1 and 2 that made me laugh out loud, particularly because of how Michael and David delivered them and played off each other. The cleverness of the writing shone because of them and their reactions to some very silly situations. But whenever they weren’t on screen, the show would drag.

It was noticeable in the first season, and then extremely apparent in the second series. But what really threw it into sharp relief was how awkward the scenes were with the women (Georgia/AL/Lucy), though it’s anyone’s guess whether that was due to the acting (of one person in particular) or the writing. Simon got self-referential as well by having a scene where the women poke fun at his writing skills...but it doesn’t excuse the fact that he cannot write for female characters, and did not seem to know what to do when Michael and David weren’t on screen.

(I will actually give Simon a bit of credit, to that end, because Staged is obviously his Michael/David fanfic, and the fact that he doesn’t seem really committed to including Georgia and AL in it just makes him one of us. Haha.)

But yes...I feel like the limits of the show were already really pushed with the second series. It will be difficult to not rehash material from the first two seasons--which has already started with the promo photo of AL and GT having Georgia wearing socks with AL’s “happy breasts” drawing on it--and there is level of meta that just becomes cringey and annoying instead of funny after a while. I think we were on our way there with S2 and now may fully be there with S3.

Ultimately, I think Staged did fill a void when there was no other comedy being produced, and it did help many of us to cope with an unprecedented time in our living history. But keeping it going also runs the risk of making the show a continual reminder of a period in time that most people would like to forget. (I always think of  Michael in particular, who really seemed to be in a place of depression two years ago that was only alleviated when he was filming with David.)

I love that people have enjoyed and are enjoying the show so much, by all means. But I still think it’s important to look at Staged critically and to think about what it was that made it work--the writing, and Michael and David to bring that writing to life.

I hope this helps to explain my position better, Anon. Thanks for writing in! x

[ask-anarky]

as someone who wasn’t there for all that, I’d love to know more about the whole situation with kaos

Whoo boy, yeah thats a question she wouldn't answer.

It was two very long and heavy hitting arcs in the spider discord rp channels

(Promo for the discord x btw)

Effectively Gwen was captured, stabbed in the back by Kingpin a once close friend. And was experimented upon by Dr Warren Miles.

During this time she had a child, Kaos a symbiote that promptly ripped apart its cage, bonded with Gwen and internalised the bleakest most cynical and misanthropic version of her beliefs. Twisting them from killing can be justified against oppression to, the world is inherently bad and death is a mercy.

It was not a good bond for either party.

The Cluster (the discords pet name for the spider team) investigated her absence and found her location in two labs. Split up they took both at once.

One held Anarky who was promptly whisked away into a tube to the mysterious subsystem, while Gwens lab was.. barely intact.

See kaos was an infant, tortured and twisted by the circumstance of his birth but still a child. He was lashing out in self defence. Gwen stayed bonded to try and convince him otherwise. So they remained in the ruin of the lab, talking.

Cue the spiders who bust in, assume the worst and torch him with a flamethrower, horribly wounding Kaos and nearly killing Gwen.

Some other things happen but the short is he disappeared. Gwen went AWOL, wiping her memory of the trauma and the absence of Anarky and 451 went dark.

A few months later the spiders are called back in by a distress signal from Gwen's old A.I who is being salvaged by the resistance for Intel in Gwens absence. Now led by the Charismatic Vox, a man who wants very dearly to see Carlton drake dead.

The spiders follow his plans, fighting bad guys and infiltrating the subsystem, the abandoned subways of new york, now a high tech mag-rail system designed for ferrying supplies and staff between LF buildings.

They use this to get inside the tower and split once more, one half going to Dr Warren's lab for Anarky, the others helping Vox reach the top office.

Once there Vox reveals himself to be Kaos and tried to kill them, he fails, the spiders get away with Anarky and Gwen gets her memories back by bonding with her girlfriend once more.

An unsatisfying ending that leaves more questions than answers, just how I like it.

Oh and Drake got away.

[sokkagatekeeper]

iroh dies au??? that sounds interesting

oh anon 😭 let me tell you. it’s a somewhat edgy zukka fic (kinda gen ngl) that i have planned in which iroh dies and zuko is angry at the world and sokka, ever the strategist, is like, “i can use this actually”. i’m not even sure i’m going to finish it </3 but like i’ll do my best. here’s the summary and a snippet bc #self promo so true

“The Chase” takes an unexpected turn when General Iroh dies at the hand of his niece in a foreign land, with no titles or lands and with only his nephew to pay him respects.

Zuko is about to break at any moment now. These people, the Fire Nation takes and burns and never looks back, and he knows it was always going to end like this. The quest for his honor, for his father’s approval, for his home, all in nothing.

And Sokka is clever, he’s smart. He knows a firebender on their team, a grieving, tired, confused and furious firebending prince on their team could mean a significant advantage in the battles to come, only if Sokka plays his cards right.

Finally, Zuko looks away from the flames. His voice is stone-cold but his eyes give everything away — the anger and the pain and the confusion and the need to defend himself, to protect himself. “You’re playing a game on me.”

Sokka gives him an easy grin, and an amused sigh that lands almost like a chuckle.

“I’m playing a game with you. There’s a difference.”

Zuko practically cuts him off with a, “What’s the fucking diffence, then?”

“I can tell you if you just stop interrupting me,” Sokka says, and waits.

Zuko looks tense, as if he’s aware he’s losing control of the situation, or wondering if he ever had it in the first place. He breathes and calms himself, as if he’s also aware he won’t get anything out of Sokka being defensive. Sokka wonders if he has played this game before.

“Well?” Zuko says, his voice rough. “What is it?”

Sokka snaps out of the analysis of Zuko’s facial expressions that give everything away. “You’re angry, right?” he begins. “Like, so angry, one can see it from a mile away. So I was wondering, who are you angry at?”

“My sister,” Zuko says with no hesitation. Less convinced, “My father.” And finally, “Everyone.”

Sokka hums and peeks at the remaining fire. It’s a cold night in the desert, but the town’s ruins are enough to shelter them from the wind.

His fingers toy with one of Katara’s hairties, he bites the inside of his cheek, and softer than before, less demanding, he says, “I don’t know about every one, but I know I can help you with the first two. What we’re trying to do is no secret, defeating the Fire Nation and all that. And I believe our interests can... intertwine, at some point.” Then, he adds, “If we make them.”

Zuko eyes him askance, but he also nods and swallows. Unsure, he confesses, “I— Like you said. Before. I think they’re... hurting people. Here, in the Earth Kingdom.” Sokka resists the urge to roll his eyes, or at least tries to, because Zuko’s face hardens. His voice is small, though, “I don’t care. I don’t. I just... had a few questions for my uncle. And now— he’s gone.” He pauses, and his next words trembling with rage almost give Sokka chills, “I want her to pay.”

And there it is. The window of opportunity.

Sokka shifts closer to Zuko, puts on his best comforting voice. “I think that I can help you collect that debt.” And Zuko, who is smarter than he seems, waits. Sokka smirks, now secure in his words, “And you can help me get you there.”

[snowbellewells]

Self-Promo Sunday: “A Cottage by the Sea”

Good news, shipmates!! There’s a reason I am promo-ing this fic this Sunday. I finally have a new (and rather lengthy) update for this long neglected fic ready to go tomorrow. It’s been such a while though that I felt like I should tease it a bit and put the story back in peoples’ memories - as well as post easy links to the previous chapters. To those who have been waiting, I am truly sorry. After this, there should only be one more part, more of an epilogue really, so you shouldn’t have too much more waiting in store...

(Also always, a HUGE thank you to @searchingwardrobes for the stunning fic cover art!  And to @kmomof4 and the @cssns20 for patience as this story stretched out so long, and for the reblogs and recognition.)

Summary: Princess Emma has always been drawn to the shores of Misthaven, where the sea meets the sand near her parents’ castle. When an unknown boy washes up on the beach, with eyes as fathomless and blue as the waters that brought him to her, he soon becomes Emma’s best friend, her partner in crime, and her other half.  But the tides give and the tides take away, and as her blue-eyed boy sails in her father’s navy and risks all in defense of those who made him family, unexpected danger and challenge will try to tear them apart, and might well show him just where he came from that day he first appeared to her from the sea…

Previous chapters here on Tumblr: Prologue  Part One  Part Two  Part Three  Part Four

Previous chapters on AO3: Prologue     Part One    Part Two    Part Three    Part Four

And, as promised, a bit of a teaser for the tomorrow’s update... ;)

“...No sooner had Emma been able to swallow hard in a throat suddenly parched with apprehension, her fingers clenched in the material of Killian’s sleeve, above all else determined she wouldn’t let him be taken from her again, when everything around them went horribly, unnaturally still. The waves, the wind, all their surroundings silently seeming to hold their breath before chaos broke loose. For one last moment, she and her lieutenant fixed their eyes on each other; wordlessly swearing to see each other on the other side, whether or not it was within their power to follow through on such a promise. Then he turned to face his sire - if one could truly be made to believe that the monstrous captain towering over them at the prow of the other ship could have had any connection to the true and honorable man Killian had become. Intending to remain at his back, to do whatever she could to help him fight and keep them afloat, Emma straightened her shoulders and stiffened her spine as they waited and watched.

Sound and fury returned to the world around them as the accursed captain reached the very helm of his ship, bringing him fully into view as his low, malevolent chuckle at their show of resolve seemed to set the waves crashing and churning once more. “Oh ho, Killian, you’ve brought your intended to our long-awaited reunion, have you? Not particularly well-advised, but she is a pretty wench. I supposed I can see why you’d be loath to leave her behind.”

Killian’s frown deepend, the muscle in his jaw working as he bit down on his anger. Those eyes that she usually likened to the brilliance of a summer sky or the blue of his beloved ocean were instead lit with the pale fire of the hottest of flames at Davy’s callous words. “Hardly,” he clipped in a low growl. “I had no intention of meeting you at all. And I’ll not have you getting anywhere near Emma.”

“Is that so?” Davy snarled, his own temper seeming to erupt at his offspring’s defiance. “We’ll just see about that!”

The waves their little boat floated upon suddenly seemed propelled forward, rising on a towering crest of water as if drawn to Davy’s hand. Skilled a sailor as Killian was, there was no steering them anywhere else when the very elements were turned against them. The air seemed to quiver just as Emma found herself doing, as they came face-to-face with the accursed being. The boards of the vessel beneath their feet groaned and creaked as the frothing sea bearing it seemed ready to dash it to kindling. The air whistled and howled, whipping her hair against her face until she was nearly blinded. And yet, she saw the horrifying shade who faced them, the dark cloud of obsession clouding eyes which might once have been clear and striking as the sons he claimed as his own. He stood taller than the average man, seeming even larger with the wild hair and wide-brimmed, ostentatiously old-fashioned hat atop his head. All his dress was from a more ornate and bygone age, and yet looked gone to ruin rather than impressive; almost mildewed, or perhaps it was a growth of some sort of moss or coral upon his apparel after so long within the sea. Beyond the visible appearance however, the aura of evil power practically radiated from his being, and Emma felt herself draw back before even realizing she had done so.

Pleased with the nightmare impression he never failed to make, Davy Jones chortled in maniacal glee. “Oh yes, I see you there, Princess. Try not to fret overmuch. No matter how brave, they always cower before me in the end.”

She wanted to contradict his words, to call back that Killian wasn’t afraid and that she believed in him, but Emma found her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth, speechless and unable to react other than to stare, frozen, until with one last murderous crow, Davy cackled, “You’re both in my clutches, and no hope to escape. Look your last on the world above...”

Tagging a few who might be interested... @cssns @jennjenn615 @kmomof4 @searchingwardrobes @whimsicallyenchantedrose @laschatzi @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @spartanguard @therooksshiningknight @optomisticgirl @tiganasummertree @linda8084 @lfh1226-linda @jrob64 @stahlop @elizabeethan @donteattheappleshook @winterbaby89 @resident-of-storybrooke @darkcolinodonorgasm @thislassishooked @xsajx @drowned-dreamer @thisonesatellite @shireness-says @aloha-4-ever​ @ultraluckycatnd​

[princessmadafu]

37 bleedin’ pages!

I have condensed them for you and left out most of the bits that the nasty evil British Press have already covered. Feel free to skip any boring bits.

Dax Shepard: Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert's Experts on Expert. I'm Dan Shepard. I'm joined by Monica Mouse.

Monica Padman: Hi.

[...]

There follows some heavy marketing of towels and stuff...

DS: Now please enjoy Prince Harry. We are supported by Brookelinen. My favourite hotel quality sheets to get into and writhe around in the nude. [...] They're impeccable. They're decadent, they're soft, they're absorbent. Brookelinen was started to create beautiful high quality home essentials that don't cost an arm and a leg. They're so confident in their product, they come with a 365 day warranty. So give yourself that comfort refresh you deserve and get it for less. Go to Brookelinen.com and use promo code 'expert' to get $20 off with a minimum purchase of $100. That's Brookelinen.com and enter promo code 'expert' for $20 off with a minimum purchase of $100. That's Brookelinen.com, promo code 'expert'.

Pretty ironic really, as Harry wades into fake news and how advertising algorithms are ruining us...

DS:...It's like the algorithms on the internet. You can't compete with that, a human.

PH: You can't if you have the awareness of what it's doing to you. And the fact that it's learning, which is scary. And advertising has been going on for hundreds of years, but done really responsibly. The difference here is targeted ads. If ads have always worked for companies, you can put on the TV, you can walk away, you can come back, your involvement is switching on switching off or changing the channel. Whereas now with algorithms is there, it's just feeding your habits. And it's also reading through your emails and everything else. So it's getting to know you, like, it gets to know the decisions you're gonna make before you make them, then it creates this echo chamber of no pushback, of no context of nothing. It's just perpetuating and feeding the bias and the habits that you already have inside of you, which is terrible.[...]

Harry needs to learn about AdBlock and Ghostery and VPNs and Tor and DuckDuckGo and Smartpage and all the other clever little ways the computer-literate have of ridding their lives of unwanted advertising. I haven't seen an ad in years. The only person feeding my habits is me. It’s called personal responsibility. Maybe Harry still needs a Nanny but most grown-ups don’t. Oh wait, I forgot, the “Meghan&Harry Show” fans are all kids.

PH: [...] It's a computer. It's like, who wrote the algorithms? You guys did? Probably all male and all white.

Oooh, let's be sexist and racist, Harry! Did you ever hear of these women or are they too scary?

https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2012/05/mothers-technology-10-women-who-invented-and-innovated-tech

Then they discuss Naked Vegas (this guy Dax has a thing about nudity) and Harry in Afghanistan. And discuss a calendar of naked men that DS and MP put together - their favourite male bodies. What a good job it's only gloating over naked male bodies and not naked female bodies. It's apparently acceptable, for some reason. Harry doesn't know who the guys are.

DS: Monica makes this for me every year and it's a calendar of all my favourite bodies of friends.

MP: And they're all men.

DS: They're all men.

MP: And they're all gorgeous bodies.

[...]

And is Harry nervous talking about mental health? He shouldn't be, he's been banging on about it for years.

PH: Yeah. Was I nervous? No. Not so much nervous. But I guess on this particular subject around mental health. Yeah. For me, it's always a, unfortunately, today's world is quite a sensitive subject, not just for the people who are sharing. But ultimately, the subject matter itself has to be handled with care. [...] It ends up getting weaponized by certain people.

Weaponised by certain people? Like him and Markle, for instance. Neither of 'em has any talent so they weaponise their mental health. Big big mental health bombs loaded with word salad to lob at their own families and cause huge distress. Not nice, Harry.

PH: That's how I've always felt when it comes to projection. I mean, hatred is a form of projection, right? [...] We're not born to hate people. So it manifests itself over a period of time. And of course, it can come from unresolved pain, or being hurt continually, as a young kid or through adult life. But ultimately, there's a source to it. There's a reason why you want to hate somebody else.

Like his dad, his brother...

PH: And actually have some compassion for them. Which is really hard when you're on the receiving end of this, like, just vile, toxic abuse. But the reality is, is you say, flip it. [...] Every single one of us wherever we are, wherever we come from, there will always try and find some way to be able to mask the actual feeling and be able to try and make us feel different to how we are actually feeling, perhaps having a feeling. Right, because so many people are just numb to it. That was a huge part of the beginning of my life, which was like, I rejected. I said, there's nothing wrong with me. I'm fine.

And now he's moved on to promoting his new mental health stuff with Oprah, The Me You Can't See...

PH: So if you are making that conscious decision to say: You know what, it's not self serving, but I want to share my story. I'm being asked to share my story to hopefully help someone or loads of other people. I'm probably going to get trolled. I'm probably going to get attacked by the same people that were doing anyway. If I'm willing to make that decision, surely that comes from a place of courage rather than weakness?

Or possibly naivety. Harry is only wanted for his money-making title and royal status; he has no mental health qualifications, he's not a mental health professional, he's not an expert, all he brings to the table is the glamour of being a prince of the BRF. Which he quite clearly hates. Markle is lining her pockets from their self-indulgent mental health whinge fest and he's too dim to see it. There follows the bit about the spectrum of upbringing that the press is covering nicely so I can skip the next few pages - the bits where Harry says he doesn't see that talking about his own issues is complaining, and “it's the job, right”, how he never wanted the job of being royal, and his therapy and how “massively self-critical” he is (yet still can't see that he's not being honest with himself), ooh and sharing his hatred of the British press - that's a good bit, let's skip to page 18:

PH I think the biggest issue for me was that being born into it, you inherit the risk, you inherit the risk that comes with it, you inherit every element of it without choice. And because of the way that the UK media are, they feel an ownership over you. Literally like a full on ownership. And then they give the impression to some of their, well, most of the readers, that that is the case. But I think it's a really dangerous place to be if you don't have a choice, but then, of course, then people quite rightly will turn around and go. So what if you didn't have a choice? It was privilege? [...] Page Six of the New York Post, they took pictures of my son being picked up from school on his first day [...] But I guess my point is the way that I look at it, especially now living here one hour outside LA. Like it's a feeding frenzy here. We spent the first three and a half months living at Tyler Perry's house. You let us stay. And the helicopter helicopters, the drones the paparazzi cutting the fence like it was madness. And people out there -Their response was, Well, what do you expect if you live in LA? It's like, Okay, well, first of all, we didn't mean to live in LA. This is like a staging area before we try and find a house. And secondly, how sad that if you live in LA and you're well known figure, you just have to accept it. The first security we had, I said, Well, where's the safest place? Inside. Just because I'm a well known person, you can't go outside anymore. [...] it's really, really sad. And of course, their argument is - the paparazzi and everybody else - is like all if you're in the public space, then it's absolutely fine for us to do it. So what is our human right as an individual and as a family, you're saying that if the moment we step foot out of our house, that it's open season and free game? What? Because of public interest?. There's no public interest in you taking your kids for a walk down the beach. Nothing...

And on and on it goes... He should've stayed in the UK then. The Cambridges are managing very nicely, thank you. They take their kids for walks on the beach, and we'd never seen them until they released their anniversary video the other week. Harry's clearly envious of William; Harry's mad wife is vitriolically envious of Catherine. Oh and I’m pretty sure it’s the mad wife who keeps phoning her go-to paps when she needs to be in the news again.

PH: [...] I believe we live in an age now where you've got certain elements of the media redefining to us what privacy means. There's a massive conflict of interest. And then you've got social media platforms, trying to redefine what free speech means. Why - I wonder why you're doing that. And again - so this has been happening for 15 years now. And we're living in this world where we've almost like all the laws have been completely flipped by the very people that need them flipped so they can make more money and they can capitalise off our pain, grief, and this sort of general self destructive mode that's happening at the moment [...]

He doesn't get how hypocritical this is, does he? The Markles are the ones capitalising on their grief, pain and the rest of it. And no-one would be interested in them without the royal bits because they have nothing else to offer. Failed actress and used-to-be-a-soldier wrapped up in festering bitterness.

Blah, blah... went shopping in a supermarket... saw lots of chewing gum... blah, blah... Archie on the back of his bicycle... girls want to be princesses... You don't need to be a princess, you can create the life that will be better than any princess or it's something along those lines... she said she expected [the press] to be fair... Pages and pages of how he hates the British press...

PH: [...] And especially when you can't defend yourself so yes, I think when you marry into it, especially when it's one Princess Diana's sons there is a certain amount of 'okay what I'm actually letting myself in for?' But very few people actually know - apart from the Brits - how toxic that element of the of the UK press is.[...]

We're up to page 24 now, if you're still with me. Oh here it is, Harry's unconscious bias... What’s the betting the mad wife has scripted this bit for him?

PH: [...] So going back to the whole sort of travelling around the Commonwealth, I thought I knew, right, having been able to travel that much and meet so many and such a diverse group of people. I thought I understood life. Especially bearing in mind most of the countries I was going to were, most of the communities are going to were people of colour. But then I was really shocked once I started doing therapy. And that bubble was burst. And I started doing my own work, really - a lot of work - and started to uncover and understand more about unconscious bias. And I was like, wow, I thought since I screwed up when I was younger, and then did the work. I thought I then knew. But I didn't. And I still don't fully know. It's like a constant working progress. And every single one of us has it. [...] Everyone has biases, of all sorts. But I think it's a really important point, especially now, after everything's happened in the last year and a half, like the world is changing, the younger generation are driving it. And you've got to like a multi-racial, cultural sort of movement happening, which has never happened before. But unconscious bias is the way that I understand it, is, again, it's not something that's wrong with you. Right? And you don't have to be defensive about it. That's the thing. No one's blaming you. But the moment that you acknowledge that you do have unconscious bias, what are you going to do about it? Because if you choose to do nothing you're continuing to fuel the problem, which means that you're then heading towards racism. Whereas unconscious bias is actually something that is inherent, unfortunately, in every single one of us. But that it is possible to educate yourself to be more aware of the problems and therefore be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Markle's got him well-trained on this one, hasn't she. I wonder if he's read anything critical of the unconscious bias movement, or just repeating what he's been told to. Oh and then he goes off about being in the army...

PH: I loved it. I love wearing the same uniform as everybody else. I love being treated the same. I love the expectation of if you want to get that job, or you want that promotion, or you want to finish this race, it's all on you. There's no special treatment, you're not going to get any help. If anything, you're probably going to get treated the opposite because everyone thinks that you've had an easy life. And everyone's always helped you get to where you are.

But...but...but, Harry wasn't treated the same, there was special treatment, he was helped to get to where he was. He scraped a couple of poor quality A Levels and got admitted to Sandhurst because he's a prince. Good old Wikipedia says:

In June 2003, Harry completed his education at Eton with two A-Levels,[22] achieving a grade B in art and D in geography, having decided to drop history of art after AS level.[23] He has been described as "a top tier athlete", having played competitive polo and rugby union.[24] One of Harry's former teachers, Sarah Forsyth, has asserted that Harry was a "weak student" and that staff at Eton conspired to help him cheat on examinations.[25][26] Both Eton and Harry denied the claims.[25][27] While a tribunal made no ruling on the cheating claim, it "accepted the prince had received help in preparing his A-level 'expressive' project, which he needed to pass to secure his place at Sandhurst."[25][28]

PH: And then suddenly, like - while I was at school, I hated exams. And I promised myself I'd never do exams again. Then I joined the army of which is full of exams. I still promised myself I'm never gonna do it and then I end up flying Apache [...]

Gods, it's getting boring. Even the interviewers are zoning out. Still ten pages to go. Wish I hadn't started this, I could be out weeding. Weather's nice, not too windy... Do I deserve a quick G&T yet?

PH: Or worse, was they turn around and say, right, because last week, you're out the front. This week, you got to carry his bergan, I'm like - what, 30 extra pounds? Nooo. But it was, it was the most normalising experience or job that I could have ever hoped for. And then going to Afghanistan twice [...] And someone said to me very recently, from the moment that you're born into today's world, life is trauma, so the sooner that we actually acknowledge that but but [...]

A-a-a-a-and he's back on the mental health thing, PTSD or PTSI,

PH: Post Traumatic Stress Injury is like: Well, that makes sense, because I just saw my mate get blown out. But the other piece of this is, what we need to remember is, the lot of the recruiting that we do in the UK, comes from certain cities and certain homes, where there's childhood trauma. So what we collectively have already got inside of us, the trigger of seeing something happen in Iraq, Afghanistan can be the trigger. So everyone goes: Oh, it's because they were on operations, and because they saw their makeup blown up. It's like, no. [...] So that's what I've been working on for years, for the last five years, which is like, and it started in therapy of like, I don't want to lose this thing, because I think it's, I feel so connected to my mum. [...]

They move on to parenting, which the press is rubbing its hands over... Harry blaming everyone but himself and his saintly mother - Charles, HMTQ, PP... "They f*ck you up, your mum and dad". But not the mum bit. He can't push his mum off her pedestal.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48419/this-be-the-verse if you don't know Larkin's poetry. How much more? Nearly there. Monica loves The Crown and doesn't realise it's fictitious.

DS: [...]Well, Harry, I've really really liked talking to you. You're very charming. You're very intelligent. You're handsome, and I can't wait to see your torso.

MP: Thank you so much for coming.

DS: So I just want to remind everyone that May 21 on Apple Plus, you should check out Oprah and Prince Harry's 'The Me You Can't See'. I have to imagine it's similar to her book, which I just read, which is absolutely incredible 'What happened to you?' So everyone should check out 'The me you can't see' on Apple plus May 21.

And still Harry won't shut up... Shut up, shut up. Cut his mic. You don't have to read this last bit, they've already wound up the interview...He still won’t shut up.

PH: Yeah, we're moving from the physical to the emotional, right, physically. At the beginning of this pandemic, people were panicking. And there was that fight or flight like, ahh what do we do like lockdown, survival? Yeah. And now that the vaccines have been sort of, we're getting to the point where more and more people are being vaccinated, we're now in the emotional phase of what I read in the New York Times article was called languishing, which is really interesting. It's like the is the middle child between flourishing and depression. You just feel flat, and it's not depressed. It's definitely not flourishing. You lack the energy and the will, the motivation, all that kind of stuff. Because you're kind of sitting there going - Well, what happens next? And I think it's really important that we talk about languishing. And it was coined by someone I can't remember who but I think it was the journalist who wrote the story was Adam Grant. No, he didn't come up with it. Someone else came up with him, he wrote this, the most amazing article about languishing and the fact that how important it is to be able to talk about it because - look when it comes to mental health, we need to realise and accept that every single one of us have mental health. There's varying degrees, as we said, you've got the mental illness, and then you've got the sort of the awareness and the work that you can put in, like, Where do you want to be that we shouldn't just sit there and go: Oh, mental illness is once we are literally on the floor crawling around in the foetal position needing help. But for me, I don't think I need therapy anymore. But I wanted. And when I say therapy, I mean, actual therapy, sitting down having a discussion with someone. But I also mean like, nature, like going for walks, like throwing the ball for my dog down the beach and stuff like that. There are certain things around the world that are free, some you have to pay for, but ultimately go searching for the things that make you feel good about yourself. Like that's the key to life, get rid of the bad stuff, get rid of the hate, and just focus on the good. And your whole life turns around from that. I hate this idea. And I was one of them. I fell for it. Right? I didn't acknowledge that clearly what happened to me when I was 12 years old, losing my mom and all the other pieces that happened, the traumatic experiences that happened to me since then, I didn't acknowledge them, when perhaps - maybe I need to deal with this because if I don't, how the hell am I going to be a decent father to my son and my daughter? Like that awareness, I didn't have then. But again, we've got what - 40 experts as part of this series, and the Surgeon General, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, she's absolutely fantastic. And she was talking about this concept of mental health being sort of public health, right. Because the services are so limited. There's not enough money. The problem is actually immense. How can we all help each other rather than this: 'Oh, once I'm broken, or once I'm suffering, I have to go here.' And there's not enough rooms or spaces for the amount of people or the for the need, when actually you can get ahead of it, and work on the prevention by sharing and being more vulnerable with each other, and being able to process this grief or this loss, or this trauma that every single one of us have experienced and will experience. So anyone who's sitting there going: 'I don't have a problem, and I never will have a problem.' Well, you probably are already contributing to the problem, because you probably got your blinkers on, you probably created your own echo chambers. So I think it's a that, that's certainly what I've experienced for my own process, my own journey, my family and my friends and everybody else is. Anyone who thinks, oh, we're fine. You're the one who's like, willing to talk about it. It's like, yeah, I'm willing to talk about it and talking about it. And the financial element as well. We're pouring money into on the downsteam, when it's like, Can we just focus upstream? Yeah, we focus on one thing, like to me listen to Oprah was what was one of the reasons that this whole thing started was two of the biggest issues that we're facing in today's world, I think, is the climate crisis, and mental health. And they're both intrinsically linked. Basically if we neglect our collective wellbeing, then we're screwed. Basically, because we can't look after ourselves. We can't look after each other. We can't look after each other, we can't look after this home that we all inhabit. So it's all part of the same thing.

DS: Prince Harry, I don't say this lightly. I love you. Thanks for coming. This was great.

M: Thank you so much.

PH: Thank you very much.

Wish I'd done my weeding.