#(spoiler alert: in the eyes of the law she is not)

[dolliels]

I’VE BECOME THE FIANCÉ OF THE VILLAIN?! pt 2

synopsis: going to bed after reading a horribly self indulgent romance novel, you seemed to wake up as an extra of the series. what stories will unfold while on a mission to find a way out?

author’s note: ik i said there would be more romance but i lied i got carried away and wrote too much and so i divided the sections as equally as i could make it without making it end too clumsily.

[one] [two] [three] [four] [epilogue]

it's been about two days since you housed leona from his injury. damn, he slept like a log.

you had been sleeping on the couch ever since you decided to carry this absolute wall of a man into your bed, so you spent most days lounging around.

the first night leona came into your store, you frowned. you've read in the novel that leona is an unstoppable, powerful and consuming being. there was no reason for him to be so gosh darn injured.

then you thought back to when roselia and leona first started falling in love. You had to constantly remind yourself that this novel was not realistic at all and terribly self indulgent. of course there was some stupid reason as to why leona would end up like this.

you already had the gist of the idea.

the thing is, the kingscholar family's royal ties weren't exactly held up by blood alone. there was some string magic that bounded the current king to be worthy of leading the kingdom.

leona stubbornly believed that the magic was false, thinking that his brother had no true leadership at all, just charming and handsome (just how charming is king falena anyway? you almost shed tears looking at just leona. how much would you evaporate if you saw the king?)

so, he took a trip to an ancient cavern where a dragon guarded a book containing some of the most powerful answers in the world, including the truth to all magic. leona really wanted to see if his brother's claim to the throne was true at all, wanting to use it as a way to get one step closer to the throne.

(the dragon was in fact, prince malleus of the briar valley kingdom. he was roselia's second love interest. but only because roselia went to find the book for herself, encountering him along the way. you, however, had no interest in meeting the briar prince. roselia eventually convinced malleus to let her take a peek at a book and spoiler alert: nothing about reality transmigration was there. that was how roselia decided that she would just live in this world forever.)

however, something was extremely odd.

the dragon, far more powerful than leona, beat him almost to a pulp (embarrassingly, haha!) and leona scurried away and snuck into the castle once more, into the arms of roselia, where she sat and took care of him (she couldn't try to get the maids to do it– she didn't have the heart to tell anyone of leona's plans. the transmigrated roselia in the novel still viewed leona as an OC after all, and had an attachment to him, no matter how insignificant the story was to her.)

so the question is: why the hell are you the one taking care of him? where is the hell is roselia??

you placed a cold towel over his forehead (he had a really high fever– probably a cold from walking in the rain. he got sick in the novel too.) you sighed. you also wondered what motivated leona to walk into your bookstore instead of anywhere else. he's seen you only once.

up until the evening, leona was sound asleep, soft snoring being heard in the background as you kept track of all the books you've sold so far on a piece of paper. owning a bookstore is little more complicated than you thought.

your eyes shot up when you heard a distant grumble. leona was waking up.

you instinctively brought leona to your home instead of calling for authorities, so you never really thought about what would happen when leona was conscious again. your mind started overflowing with consequences. you didn't know the law system in this world very well, and only skimmed through some books you've had about it.

"w… what…?"

leona touched his own forehead, feeling the soft cold towel cover his head. he took it off and slowly sat up, finally noticing your presence.

"where am i?"

instead of scared or surprised, leona just looked confused and really frustrated. the overthinking getting to you, you prompted to answer straight away.

"you're in my room. uhm. you've been asleep for nearly three days."

"what…?"

he scanned your bedroom, then at you.

"oh. you're the bookseller."

-

having leona kingscholar in your living room wasn't something you had on your bucket list today, but you didn't seem to mind.

leona adjusted quickly. although he didn't thank you for your efforts, or try to explain himself of who he is and how he ended up here, it was better than going on a rampage and punishing you via death. you knew that if things pissed him off, leona would make sure it goes bad for the other party from simply the flick of his hand. this meant you weren't such a bad host.

his entire left arm was wrapped up in bandages, still soaked from some of the dried up blood (you were intending to change but now that he's awake, you're not sure if you should)

he sat at your round dining table. you placed a hot english muffin stuffed with bacon and cheese (it was the only warm food you were able to make. coming into this world, you oddly developed an obsession with english muffins…)

without a word, or any thank yous, leona snatched it from the plate and ate it with no complaints. I mean, as long the food isn't that bad, right?

being a bookstore owner, you had stacks of books lying around the house, including the dining table. leona was silently flipping through one of them. wuthering heights, it read. he kept frowning as he skimmed over the pages. it looked like he'd read it a hundred times before already.

you slowly sat yourself across the table, fiddling your hands together as you watched leona eat and read, unbothered.

"uhm… your highness?"

there was no reply, but his ears flicked and he subtly lowered his book down. his eyes weren't gliding across the pages anymore.

"how long… how long are you planning to stay here?"

"does that matter? you work for me, so there should be no issue with housing me for an undetermined period of time"

you sighed. what a bitch. you pretended to laugh nervously.

"alright… uhm. anything else you need?"

"more of these." leona said waving the book at you.

"more emily brontë? i mean i could–"

"wuthering heights is her only novel, you dumbass, i meant more of this genre. i thought you read?"

oh he's a pretentious dick!

the next day, you ran shop like usual. leona, ungratefully so, snoozed away in your bed and ate all the meat you had left in stock. you were barely able to create a balanced meal with some left over ham you stashed away for emergencies. it seems like you have to go grocery shopping tomorrow…

leona seemed to be devouring one book after another. he was a fast reader, and seemed to be rummaging over piles and piles of books in nearly just one day. that seemed a little (very) impossible. you just shrugged and assumed he was skipping through them because he was bored.

dinner was entirely silent. you still had a lot of questions, especially with how the story isn't going as planned.

you watched leona just push away his plate and walk up to your room (again) in which you assume he's planning to snooze away again. he surprisingly sleeps a lot, it was never mentioned in the novel.

"so?"

you turn around to see leona look down at you halfway up the stairs.

"huh?"

"aren't you coming?"

"why?"

leona just glared and pointed at the bandaged arm.

"oh! right! I'll just get my medical kit–"

-

"so… uhm… you highness…" you started, as you slowly started unwrapping the bandages. the injury was pretty hard, cuts everywhere, dried blood cover nearly his entire arm, a piece of skin completely gone… it was truly a sight to look at.

leona yawned widely before replying; "what?"

"how… how did this even happen?"

he just stared off into the distance. "take a wild, wild guess."

"a fight?"

"bingo."

you sighed. well that was probably it. it didn't seem like leona wanted to explain further, and you didn't want to pry. you knew the reason anyway. it's just that the uncomfortable silence was murdering you in half.

"i'm not good at taking care of injuries… i really do think you should go back to the palace and get medical treatment. i heard the royal doctors are good!"

"pish posh." leona replied. "they're going to go on about how i need to be inside and i'm gonna be caged in the palace again for an entire week."

you shrugged. "well maybe your fiancé? I don't think my medical skills can match up to even the higher class…" there was no reason for you to say this, but you were prying in. so far, you've had absolutely no mention of roselia anywhere. you decided that it was best to get the information from the source alone.

"fiancé? i don't have a fiancé. what are you talking about?"

you felt your blood run cold.

"oh! nothing! i must've gotten the words confused… i meant friends! yeah. your friends could help, right?"

leona scoffed. "no."

as you slowly patched up leona's injury, you bit your lip. leona doesn't have a fiancé…?

that completely ruins the trajectory of the story.

you had two options: the universe where roselia transmigrated into the novel, or the universe where no one but you transmigrated, except leona still had a completely helpless fiancé that he kills eventually. the universe you were in… doesn't make sense.

does that mean you have no way of going home…?

no. you shake your head. just focus on the present and good things will come your way.

"ouch. watch it."

leona glared at you as you jabbed an injury too hard.

"i'm… uh… sorry."

he rolls his eyes and looks back at you. since you were tending to his injury, you were able to see his face even more up close. you probably would've actually shed a tear, except leona was being so unlikeable that despite his good looks rubbing in your face, you could only scowl.

"what's with that face?"

"nothing… just thinking about how a thank you for hosting you these past few days would be nice."

"what?" leona snorted.

"i-" you tightly wrapped the bandage on leona's arm. his face didn't change but you could see a jolt of movement in his ears. "have been watching over you-" another tight pull. "and feeding you-" leona winced.

"but not a single acknowledgement is there!" you huffed. "i'm sorry your highness, but even people of the noble class should know how to have some gratitude. i don't mind housing you in my place forever if i have to, just a simple thank you would've worked."

leona stared at you, wide eyed for a second, rubbing his injured arm, probably from the hot pressure against it. you do admit you've been pulling the bandages way tighter than you should've.

he then lets out a laugh.

"no one has ever spoken to me like that before! haha, you really have no comprehension of what i am capable of, are you?"

in all honesty, you did not. you did know that leona was merciless, cold and unforgiving. but the novel spent 90% of its entire story just talking about the better half of him when he fell in love, so, no, you really didn't. nor did you care. you still had a hard time viewing leona so highly, even if you had been constantly reminding yourself to call leona "your highness" (blegh…)

"I guess not…" you mumbled, looking down.

"could I at least get a thank you…?"

leona huffed. "there's nothing to be thankful for. the food is lousy, the house is small, this bed is too stiff and there's way too many books scattered all around to move around comfortably."

hah… this bitch…

you breathed in and out deeply, calming yourself. you needed to be composed, you couldn't risk getting on leona's bad side for now. you have no idea where roselia is, meaning there is no other alternative way for you to get out of this world.

your hope was diminishing the longer you were here…

"sorry." you replied quietly, standing up to leave. the idea that you couldn't possibly go home now put you in a sour mood. it seemed like leona felt the shift in vibe and went silent himself as you walked out the door.

"by the way, the food is lousy because you keep eating all the good food."

you shut the door.

-

the next morning, you ran shop as per usual. you didn't bother checking up on the prince, you assumed he was fine. and there were more urgent matters.

flipping through your collection of books on transmigration, you sighed.

there was options of weird chants and rituals you could do to go back home, but that meant you had to have done already in the first place, so that a checkpoint is saved between two worlds. you, however, passed out on your bed with your phone open to the novel on one hand and your other in a bag of chips. that's probably not how you came here… right? honestly, if desperation got to the best of you, you'd probably do it.

you felt movement behind you, as a certain someone comfortably sat himself beside you.

"oh, the store and the house are connected. didn't know that."

you rolled your eyes out of leona's sight.

leona glanced at the books you had stacked on the table. "transmigration? you want to leave this world or something?"

"if it means leaving you, then precisely." you snapped. then blinked.

"oh wait- im sorry-"

leona snorted. "yeah, yeah. whatever."

you coughed awkwardly. "people come into the store pretty often, your highness. are you sure you want to be seen? you are a recognizable prince after all. you should just go back inside." you said, trying to get him to go away so you can focus.

"nah. i don't care."

you scooted closer to you as he skimmed through your list of research. you tried to hide the paper away but he just leaned in closer, your shoulders touching.

"wow… rituals and stuff. you sure you know what reality you want to go to?"

you huffed. "no. this is just for fun."

leona shrugged. "alright."

ding

the doorbell to the bookstore rang again and you looked up.

"welcome-"

two men in armor walked up to you, squishing past these tiny book shelves.

"hello." said a tall man with white, gruffed hair.

"hi…?"

"we're the royal guards."

"yeah… i thought so."

"don't mind him" said the shorter, blonder one beside him. "it's his first day here. anywho, we're looking for prince leona." he shoved a drawing of leona to your face. "have you see him?"

you turned to your side to find that leona was gone. actually, he still there, just under the table.

"uhmmmm… errrr…"

you felt a pinch on your leg.

trying to keep your composure, you smiled. "no. I haven't. I'll contact you guys when I have, though!"

the guards nodded in understanding and left.

you finally looked down to see leona.

"what the fuck was that???"

leona shrugged. "i've been gone for days. they're probably looking for me."

"then… shouldn't you be going home?"

"no." leona leaned against the table. "i don't want to."

you heard another customer walk in.

"okay mr prince, you should go back into before someone recognizes you." you hissed, pushing him away.

leona proceeded to walk back inside your house, as you closed the door. you felt a little nervous, like you were hiding a criminal.

the drawing of leona did make you laugh a little, though. he looked dead and pissed off, really capturing what he looks like on a day-to-day basis.

TO BE CONTINUED..

a.n: 2 more chapters and a prologue to go.. 😩 anyone whose really into the story i love you and hopefully you can survive the next 3 days because i’m trying to survive too

[slutouttanowhere]

Paring: Roman Reigns x Sabrina Richards™️

Warnings: none

Word count: 1420

a/n: So apparently y’all wanted a whole story, and originally I said I would only keep it going if Roman retained. Spoiler alert, sadly he did not. BUT I can’t let it go out like that, The Tribal Chief reign was one of the greatest in modern day Wwe history thus far. So, Gemini Moon: Chapter 1. Sabrina Richards is my oc that o created, I have my main characters pinned to my post. Like, reblog and leave comments. Throw the ones up one last time for our Tribal Chief ☝🏽❤️

I couldn’t stand by and watch Seth, and Cody get beat on by The Bloodline any longer, by the time I got out there, Seth, Jimmy, and Jey were laid out, outside the ring. Cody was being hounded on by Roman in the corner, I ran around their side of the ring. I tugged on Roman’s large arm as hard as I could to stop him, he reared back his fist, but froze when she saw me. I rolled Cody out the way; then I turned to Roman with my hands up pleading with him to leave Seth, and my brother in law, Cody, alone. He cracked up in laughter, his perfect, white teeth shining under the stadium lights. As quickly as his smile appeared, it left.

“Who do you think you are? Thinking you can step in here with The Tribal Chief.” Roman backed me into the corner of the ring. It hadn’t occurred to me when I came out here to try and pull him off Cody that I’d have to face The Tribal Chief. There was no way you thought you could overpower him, so I used the one thing in my arsenal I knew he wouldn’t resist. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, I pulled him into me, and smashed my lips into his. At first stunned he grabbed hold of my shoulders, but to my surprise, he leaned into me. I was so wrapped up in the softness of his lips, and the way he held me so closely, I almost forgot that I was supposed to be using this as a distraction.

That was until I was being ripped away, “What the hell are you doing!” Cody shouted at me, I could feel my face heat up out of embarrassment. He looked at me with wide eyes, his sky blue irises piercing through me. I looked back at Roman who was still shocked, stood right where I left him, his hand touching his lips. His eyes watching me, desire reflecting within them, and sending a chill down my spine. Everything in my soul told me to run, Jimmy and Jey were dragging themselves back into the ring, and when Roman took a step forward I automatically made a break for it. Cody grabbed Seth by the shoulders, and he clumsily stood to his feet. His eyes found mine, and his face morphed into a confused expression. They followed my lead as we retreated up the ramp.

“You never should have come out here! What if you got hurt, Brandi would have my head on a platter!” Cody fussed at me, I wasn’t hearing anything he was saying. My eyes remained on Roman who was now leaning over the top rope, and seemingly fighting himself not to chase me. I could still feel his warm lips on mine, I could still smell the hint of spearmint from his hair, and the phantom touch of his strong hands around my waist. The Tribal Chief had left his mark on me tonight.

When we finally got to the back, Cody and Seth pulled me to the side. A disappointed expression written across Cody’s face, he stood with his hands on his hips, and his head hung like a disapproving father. “Why in the hell, were you out there?” Seth asked, he still held the back of his neck where Jey kicked the shit out of him. I didn’t answer, I didn’t wanna have this conversation with Seth around, he would just laugh at me.

“Go on, tell him Sabrina…why were you out there.” Cody encouraged, my eyes found interest with the ground, and my fingers twisted together anxiously.

“I was just trying to help, I couldn’t stand by and watch you guys get rocked like that.” I tried to explain, for a moment I had Seth sold at least, and that was until Roman, and his Congo line of cousins came trotting in. Unlike Jimmy, Jey, and Solo, Roman wasn’t breaking a sweat. His hair was still neatly tied back in a tight bun, and his clothes looked fresh like he just walked out the house. Perfection.

“If by help you mean tried to get a taste of the Tribal Chief for free? Then yea, you definitely helped Sabrina.” He gloated, Paul Haymen stifled a giggle from behind Roman’s broad shoulders. Seth gasped dramatically, then slowly pivoted from Roman to me, then from me to Roman and back? I rolled my eyes, Cody hadn’t said anything, but he kept his gaze trained on the Royal Samoa tribe in front of us.

“You kissed him?” Seth finally asked out loud, as if the thought of me even looking at Roman in any kind of way disgusted him. I could feel my face heat up in embarrassment, I didn’t even have an argument, not a sensible one anyway.

Roman chucked deeply, his head lowered, then looking back up to me, his eyes darkened. Cody tensed up, at the same time Jimmy, Jey, and Solo stood at attention. “As pretty as you are, you try that again…” He trailed off, the corner of his mouth curling upward into a menacing smile, then said, “well, you know what they say?” He paused again, and even now Roman had us hanging on his every word. “Fuck around, and find out.” He growled out, he took a threatening step forward, and so did Seth. Cody pushed me by gingerly, his lips pressed together forming a line, an attempt to control his emotions. The boys had already gotten in trouble once for brawling in the back.

“If I may make a comment my Tribal Chief?” Paul Haymen cut in, Roman nodded his head in agreement without taking his intense site off me. “Might be wise of you, to reconsider who you do business with Sabrina Richards. I’ve done my research, and if it’s one thing I know about you, it’s that you’ve got an immaculate track record of working with losers.” He grinned his trademark grin, and in never wanted to lay hands on a man so badly before.

“In other words, you need to come on over here and get you some of this Tribal Chief money.” Roman said bluntly, his eyes danced playfully, and his band of goons really seemed to have found that funny.

“Are you done yet?” Seth asked, a bored expression on his face; though if anyone knew Seth, they’d know he’s ready to pop off at a moment's notice. He was never interested in doing much talking.

Roman’s face scrunched up in disgust, he glanced around at his team, “the funny man thinks he can rush me, hmm.” He scuffed, then his eyes found mine as I stood meekly behind Cody, and Seth. “Tribal Chief money babygirl.” He reiterated, then flashed me a bright smile, and when he looked upon Cody for the last time, he just laughed at him. He signaled for his council, and then left the three of us standing dumbfounded.

As soon as Roman was out of sight, Seth whipped around to me, “you kissed him!” He was on the verge of having a fit, and honestly I’m surprised how he just hasn’t up and fainted all these years. The way Seth described how I make him feel is something close to retirement every week. It’s not my fault I stress him out.

“I was trying to help!” I squeeked, we began to bicker, and Cody tried to break us up.

“I said enough!” He shouted, stepping between us, and as if enough people weren’t staring at us, I was sure the whole back crew tonight had their eyes on us. Cody pressed his palms together, more than likely praying he isn’t the one to croak out right now. He let out a defeated breath, “let’s just, go on back to the locker room while we still have some dignity. And you Sabrina, should be thinking of ways to get your head back on straight on the walk back.” Cody spared me one last glance, then turned and walked off leading the way to our shared locker room.

“Ouuu, looks like somebody upset grandpa.” Seth teased, then danced off in the same direction of Cody. I restrained myself from slapping the back of his head, and followed behind with my head held down. Though the moment had long passed, Roman’s words reverberated in the back of my mind. “Come on over here, and get you some of this Tribal Chief money.”

[gimmeurmoneyagh]

𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐀 - 𝟎:𝟎𝟑

❝𝟏𝟔𝟎𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭❞

- Cleo De Nile

“OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!“

“NYAH?! The heck is this!?“ Grim frowned.

A half-red, half-black collor appeared around Grim’s neck, Grim tried to claw at it to make it get off.

“Laws of the Queen of Hearts: Number 23 ’One shall never bring a cat into a festival’!“ He glared at you now, you were about to walk over and curse his entire bloodline when Riddle began to speak again.

“You being a cat means you’ve broken the rule. I shall have you leave at once!“

“I’m not a cat!“ Grim cried, “I’ll burn this collar right up and... EH! I can’t use my fire!“

Riddle giggled but tried to pass it off as a chuckle (spoiler alert it did not convince anyone) to Grim’s misfortune, “Hmph! You won’t be using any magic until I remove the collar. Just like an ordinary cat.“

“Wh-what?! I’m not some pet!“ Grim tried to retort.

“Don’t worry I’d never keep a pet like you“ Riddle sneered. “I’ll take it off when you get thrown out anyway.“

Azul butted into the conversation wearing a saccharine smile, “Wonderful as ever. Any and all magic gets sealed by your unique magic, Riddle. I want it..- *cough* No. I would never want that cast on me.“ He nervously chuckled.

’Real smooth’ you thought, frowning a bit when that failure of a person, Crowley decided to reprimand you (for what? you never make any mistakes you’re practically perfect!)

“You must do something about this, (Name)! It is your familiar!“ He scowled. “Maybe properly discipli-“

“It’s not mine,“ You gritt your teeth in anger, you wanted out of this weirdo school. You missed Ghoulia and her doing your homework. 😢

“It’s not yours...?“ he pursed his lips, as you shook your head for a ’no’.

“Yeah, If I’m supposed to be ’magicless’ how am I supposed to have a familiar?“ You asked, motioning for him to answer.

“Ehhh..“ He tugged at his coat and coughed into his hand, “My apologies! Anyway, let’s get it out of the school. And as I am gracious we won’t cook it into a stew. My my, truly my kindess is boundless!“ He smiled.

’boundless my ass’ 

“Someone help please!“ at those words the entire crowd shuffled and went farther from him.

And honestly, same.

“GYAH! LET ME GO!“ Grim shrieked, still clawing at the collar “I am- I’m going to become the greatest mage ever!!“

Two boys were pushed into the open and forced to through Grim out of the ceremony.

’How annoying’ you curled your lips downwards, eyeing Grim with distate. It was deserved as he was annoying and even almost burned you! You took immense satisfaction at his shouts (were you beefing with an animal? yes. do you care? no)

“W-we may have had a bit of trouble along the way but this bring the entrance ceremony to a close!“ Crowley loud ahh voice snapping you out of your thoughts. 

“Housewardens, please show the new students back to the dorms!“ He said, putting his hands on his hips and looking into space as if he was delivering a great speech.

He looked down at the students again before pausing, “...hmm? Now that I think about it, I don’t see the dorm leader of Diasomnia, Mr. Draconia anywhere.“

“That’s no different from usual, is it?“ the were-lion(? you still weren’t sure) snarked.

“Whaat? Did nobody tell him about the ceremo....“

You tuned out and just looked around the room, you were busy looking at some cutie with white hair and purplish eyes when someone with a deep voice spoke up (LOUDLY! VERY LOUDLY! [it wasn’t it really wasn’t])

“It seems I was correct“ people still talk like that? 

“I thought he might come but Malleus really didn’t“ you turned your head to the direction of the voice and...

Draculaura?! She’s here too?

Wait no that was a boy.

But uhm... why was he so fucking short. No short people-hate but you did not expect that voice to come out of that.

You liked his hair though.

“It seems the invitation ’never arrived’ again...“ He lamented.

Not being invited? hah. Could never happen to you. (you miss monster high, even if you’ve only been gone for probably an hour)

“My dearest apologies. I promise we didn’t intend to exclude you“ said Azul, putting a hand on his chest. (he seemed fake)

“His aura makes it hard for us to approach him.“ Riddle defended himself (and the others ig).

Meanwhile you went back to looking at the cutie with white hair again.

“It’s fine. Members of Diasomnia can come follow me. I just hope this doesn’t upset him...“

That was a weird interaction. 

You were standing blinking wide eyed wondering what just happened when- “Then (Name), I’m terribly sorry about this but..-“

“You’re making me leave? Yeah I figured“ (you really didn’t but you would rather die then admit that)

“*ahem* Correct! Those without any talent for magic cannot be allowed to attend class here“ You shrugged at that you didn’t really care about this place and if you were gone for too long that bitch Torelai might steal your spot as fearleading captain.

“However there is no need to worry. The dark mirror will send you directly back from whence you came from“ He motioned his hands toward the big mirror.

You smiled a bit at that one, who knew a clown could actually make people smile!

“Enter the gate and picture your home clearly in mind...“

“Oh Dark Mirror! Guide this one back to the place she belongs!“  He belloed raising his hands ip

At that you scrunch your eye-lids tight causing some of those color/light spots. You thought of the sea Lagoona’s family came from, the normie town near Monster High, your room. Your room filled with clothes, posters, and burn books. You thought of your jewels and all your credit and debit cards. You missed your money already. And all your friends even Clawdeen’s annoying little sister. Uhhhh... Growleen. Yeah her.

You even crossed your fingers and spoke an old egyptian chant for luck. (you however didn’t notice someone jolting in surprise at the chant)

“........“

Crowley looked around (probably embarrased) “Oh... Uh once more. Oh Dark Mirror! Guide thi-“ 

“It is nowhere“ 

That’s a lie. You wanted to go already. ☹️☹️☹️.

“Eh?“ Crowley looked shocked “The place she belongs is nowhere in this world... It does not exist“

What?! Now you were shocked, you were standing hunched over mouth open and your eye was twitching. This wasn’t in (whatever Monster High world is called)?! And apparently (whatever Monster High world is called) doesn’t exist here either?!

Where the fuck were you?! You missed your ghoulfriends...

“What did you say? That is unbelievable! Hmm, well, the unbelievable has been on parade today.“ Crowley hummed, putting stroking his chin again.

Meanwhile you were having an existential breakdown, iconically.

“This is the first time it’s ever happened since I became headmaster, what should be..“ Crowley’s sockets narrowed. “Where exactly did you come from?“

“Are you dumb? I told you earlier Monster High, which is located in (wherever the fuck Monster High world is called)“ you stood straight up at the attention being brought back to you. Even if you were scared you had to make good impressions because you didn’t have daddy’s money anymore.

“I’ve never heard of such a place“ Crowley admitted. Yeah, you were absolutely screwed. 

“I have a general grasp of where all the students came from but I’ve never even heard that name before. Let us do some research in the library.“ 

And with a swish of his cloak he quickly motioned for you to follow him.

[thegamingcatmom]

Instinct (Tanya Denali x fem reader)

Right so, how do yall think single!Tanya would react if she just kinda...stumbled upon the one, completely unexpected? One would think if you got a cousin who's able to see the future then surely they would've given you a lil heads-up, so you wouldn't make an absolute fool out of yourself.

Spoiler alert: Alice did not give her a lil heads-up.

However-

Before we dive deeper I feel like it should be mentioned our girl´s been existing for a millenium, doing pretty damn good without someone constantly breathing down her neck, tyvm. It´s not like she couldn´t have someone constantly breathing down her neck, puh-leeze. Girl could have anyone she desires and we all know it. She knows it.

Besides, it´s not like she´s been entirely on her own when it comes to physical matters. There´s been flings and ONSs and perhaps she´s even tried to be exclusive with someone here and there - I wouldn´t call it "relationship" though. I can´t see Tanya Denali binding herself to just any mortal. She´d never put her family in harm´s way simply because she couldn´t keep her hands to herself-

...like someone else did.

(No, I do not consider Bella to be Edward´s mate. She is his singer, that´s different.)

As open-minded and free-spirited as the Denalis are, they´d never go against the laws of the Volturi. Tanya will make personally sure they won´t.

However, one can´t deny that this world could get quite...lonesome, especially when one has been living for as long as the sisters have. I don´t think Tanya would ever openly admit it, but she was lonely. She was yearning for something more than the occasional fling or ONS.

That´s how this whole thing with Edward started. He was a vampire, he was single, he was there. That´s all this was, imo. All of it combined seemed like the perfect match and seeing how our girl got people probably tripping over themselves to fulfill her every wish, surely this time wouldn´t be any different-

...Except, it was different. Eddy didn´t bite - that was a first. Something Tanya wasn´t used to, perhaps - hence why she was so hellbent on making things work between them. Our girl loves a good challenge.

(Human!Tanya in today´s day and age would be a total Daddy´s girl - used to getting her way and never been told "No". Yall can´t convince me otherwise.)

I´ve said it before: Tanya is a woman who will go after what she´s set her eyes on with everything she´s got. And what she´s set her eyes on wasn´t necessarily Edward himself, but rather what he represented - an end to her solitude.

Well, it didn´t work out in the end - obviously. But that craving for something more persisted. Enter-

"You", a husky voice almost breathed to your left, causing you to startle slightly before turning to take a look at the blonde wom-

...bombshell of a woman, who was currently staring at you like she´s never seen another human being in her life. Or perhaps you got something on your face.

In any case, that unblinking stare was quite unnerving.

"Uh...hey? Can I help you?" That came out a tad bit more aggressive than you intended but, in your defense, it´s been a long day.

You´ve only just had time to sit down and unwind after having packed up your whole life and shiped it here, to Alaska - your new home. Or, well, what you hoped would become your new home, in time. You´ve always struggled with adjusting to changes and this one was huge, but more than that: necessary. You wouldn´t have made it otherwise, of that you were certain.

So, here you were now - trying to enjoy some well-deserved me time in this little coffee shop you found when you were taking your first stroll through the quaint town of Fairbanks.

...Emphasis on trying, because that woman was still staring at you. She still hasn´t blinked yet. You don´t think any part of her has moved since she came to stand before you like a bearer of bad news. Honestly? You were starting to believe it. Something about this situation - about her - just felt off.

The exasperation that was steadily creeping up on you increased tenfold when some other blonde bimbo approaches, eyes laser-focused on your weird altercation, wearing a smile that showed way too much teeth-

Ugh.

'Can´t one enjoy their overpriced and incredibly stale coffee in peace? Goddammit-'

Off to a good start...

As for our proud coven leader?

Tanya had been suffering this...itch for the past couple of days. She hadn´t been able to make sense of it, hadn´t been able to figure out why she was experiencing it in the first place. All she could focus on was how utterly distracting it was, how much of a power it held over her - making her stumble through this town in search of its source. It was driving her mad.

That near magnetic pull seemed to have reached its peak today, the force of it almost bringing her down to her knees. Her eyes were wide open, but she wasn´t seeing. She pushed through the haze, body on autopilot, blindly following wherever instinct seemed to lead her. She was close - so close she could nearly taste it-

The jingling of a bell registered somewhere within her, sounding out rather dull though; nothing more than a background noise. She took in her surroundings - warm afternoon sunlight filtering through the windows, soft chatter and laughter floating through the air, the clinking of cups and the gentle hum of the espresso machine, the woman sitting on a bar chair across from her-

All of a sudden, the haze cleared and a wave of contentment washed over her. At the same time, everything around her seemed to fade until the only thing left to focus on was-

"You"

She entirely ceased to function for a hot second before remembering she was out in the open where she was supposed to human.

"Uh...hey? Can I help you?"

Right now, she couldn´t care less about what she was supposed to do.

She´s puffing up in an instant, like it´s instinct - absolutely ready to slay, to charm, to impress. She's Tanya Denali, for crying out loud. She will not be rendered useless by a human-

No matter how absolutely stunning that human is and how much she longs to be with that human from now on until the end of time because it's meant to be-

No.

Tanya Denali will not be rendered useless. She's the one who renders others useless. So that human woman, currently emitting an absolutely mouthwatering smell, had better get ready to be swept off her feet-

...Except, said human looked anything but. In fact, the woman looked quite unimpressed, just about done with stuff. Not that the vampiress minded much. She knew how wary humans could get in their presence. It happens almost unconsciously, like it´s instinct - a natural response when faced with an apex predator.

'A mere delay of what is to come. Of what is meant to be.'

Just as the coven leader prepared to flash a megawatt smile, which would surely seal the deal-

"Hey Tanyaaa! Who´s your friend?" She didn´t have to face her sister to know she was smiling like a cat that got the canary - she could hear it in her voice.

"Kate", she managed through gritted teeth. "Shouldn´t you be with Irina? Take care of those...shipments?"

'And quit being a massive pain in my a-'

"Nope", her sister replied bluntly. "It´s all taken care of. Carmen and Eleazar got back from their-"

Her sister´s eyes darted to her companion for a brief moment, much too swift to be perceived by the human eye.

"...Trip a lot earlier than expected. They were so kind to fill in for me, told me to go and check up on my dearest sister instead. Y´know, since the last few days have been quite-"

"Katrina", she whipped around to face her sister when it seemed like the spew of unnecessary information wasn´t going to stop anytime soon. Honestly-

"Don´t you have other things to do? Other places to be?" Her eyebrows raised so high it felt like they nearly met her hairline.

She loves her sister, but Kate has this irritating quality of showing herself when she really wasn´t needed nor wanted. It´s entirely on purpose, of course. Her younger sister does so love pushing buttons and testing limits, especially hers.

"...Nope."

Never before in her life had the urge to strangle her sister been this appealing. That cursed smirk-

"Oh...by the way sis-", her left eye was starting to twitch. "I´m not as well-versed as you are when it comes to canoodling with une madame, but I´m pretty sure that´s not how you do it." A pointed look was thrown over her shoulder, head nodding at the human woman still sitting-

...Who used to sit in front of her. She was right there just seconds ago!

'Nonononono-'

Her eyes frantically scanned the establishment, ears straining to detect that angelic voice, nose going crazy trying to catch a whiff of-

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

The little coffee shop went dead silent then, all eyes turned to her, looking at her like she´s completely lost it. Even her sister shot her a look that was free of mirth and mischief for once.

She had to get out of here.

She turned on her heel, blonde curls bouncing as she marched out of the shop, Kate not far behind. It took a mere few seconds until both of them were standing on the sidewalk in front of the facility, but it´s been the longest few seconds of her life.

The urge to break character, to drop this wretched human facade - if only for a moment - so she could-

"Tan...what´s going on?" Eyes roamed up and down her body, taking in her frenzied state. "What just happened in there?"

A hand slowly reached for her, hesitating for the briefest of moments before it came to rest on her shoulder. As if Kate didn´t wish to accidently spook her, as though her sister were dealing with a wild animal.

Honestly? She didn't quite understand, herself. Now that this woman was no longer in her vicinity, that god-awful itch returned. Only this time, it was made so much worse by that mouthwatering smell which seemed to linger in every facet of her being. It made her feel light-headed; she had great difficulty stringing together a coherent thought.

For the first time in over a millennium, she felt drunk.

It was addicting-

"...Tan? Tany-hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Hands grabbed her before she could storm off again. She wasn´t sure where to, exactly. She moved on autopilot, led by a force greater than anything she´s faced in life.

"Will you please tell me what's going on? What's the matter? Is it that woman from before?" That got her listening. "Are you...are you mad at me or something?"

'Oh...'

...What?

Kate must´ve taken her confused silence as an affirmation. "Come on sis, don´t be like that. I´m sorry, okay? I´m sorry for thwarting your plans of getting into that woman´s pants. But Tan...there´s more where she came from. You´re gonna have your hands full in no time, I´m sure-"

The rational part of her recognized her sister was trying to cheer her up by being her usual impish self. Had she not been as preoccupied as she was in this moment, she might´ve even appreciated it.

However, the primal part of her that seemed to continuously gain the upper hand as time went on did not appreciate it. On the contrary - it roared and snapped its teeth at the implication she would make do with any other ever again-

"-emember? You were so furious at me because she´s had you in a limbo for weeks. I know you have a thing for prudes, but I still think I did you a favor. Some of them just aren´t worth the trouble, if you ask me. Why suffer blue balls when you can have any other-"

As Kate continued her dive into past affairs, she could feel something inside of her snapping.

"She´s NOT just any woman, Kate! So don´t you dare talk about her like she´s merely a way to pass time!" Her sister had the decency to look mildly guilty, at least. More than that though, she looked just as confused as Tanya felt.

"...Okay?" There was that look again. Like she´s lost it. She couldn´t blame her. None of them had ever experienced it...until now.

She ran a hand through her curls in exasperation. "Kate, I...I think...I-"

Gods, what was this woman doing to her?

Hands reached for her again, cradling her upper arms like she was made of porcelain. "Tanya...calm, it´s okay." Kate soothed. "I´d ask you to take a deep breath for me, but that´d kinda be in vain, don´t you think?"

Trust her sister to make light of just about any situation. It´s a trait she both curses and cherishes.

"Honestly though...what´s going on? You´re starting to scare me, sis."

Well-

'That makes two of us.'

Yes, this new development did scare her - immensely so. But at the same time, she´s never felt so overcome with purpose and meaning; like everything makes sense now.

In all of her undead existence, she´s never felt so alive.

She couldn´t explain it, even if she tried - one has to experience it to understand. If she had to put a name to it, however-

"Kate..." Her sister took note of her ever-growing smile with a mix of uncertainty and anticipation. Had it still been necessary for her to take a breath, she would have refused to release it in that moment. Tanya was sure of it.

"I think...I think I´ve found my mate."

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

A/N: Well, that kinda escalated. I´m glad it did though, lel.

[thekingwhereitallends]

Tekken 8 Theory and Personal Opinion on Reina *Spoiler Alert*

I theorize Reina is partial clone of Kazuya and if you don't find this to be plausible then just look at this...

This red scar-shaped thing on her upper half does remind me of Kazuya's scar on his chest.

She also has purple skin like Kazuya and her wings look quite similar to True Devil Kazuya's in Tekken 7. Her eyes are also of the same color in devil form apparently.

Yeah,Reina is Mishima's "lab rat". One thing i am sure of is that Reina is gonna be like the most powerful character in Tekken 9 and that's gonna piss of alot of fans,that includes me if the story is poorly written.

I like the concept of Reina's character and it's unfair to slander her for bossy attitude as we see Kazuya with the same trait. The only problem is that many people don't like the idea of having a newbie disrespecting legendary characters who have earned their status and been fleshed out.

Majority of fandom grew up with Kazuya and Jin(other iconic characters such as Paul,Law, Nina,King,Lee,etc). Don't blame them if they get mad once Reina all of a sudden starts insulting some of beloved figures without having a proper buildup and showcasing her true might.

Mind you i am still not sure if i love,like,dislike or hate Reina. There is mixed feelings. But since i am a fair judge, i will wait for her to be developed.

[demons-and-demigods]

Demons and Demigods Part One: The Beginning

Sally is Mary's younger sister. I wanted her to be a Winchester but I also wanted her to have grown up hunting more, so. Mary wanted to escape the hunting life and so did Sally. As soon as she turned eighteen, Sally moved to NYC and changed her name from Campbell to Jackson and went no contact with her entire family except for Mary. 

Sally and Mary were super close growing up and even once they lived so far apart, they still kept in contact. Sally came and visited Mary and John for the births of Dean and Sam and she was so excited to be an aunt and she was so happy for her sister. But one night, a few months after Sam was born and Sally had returned to New York, Mary called her in the middle of the night crying and told Sally about her deal, she begged Sally to look out for her boys. Sally promised to try. 

Mary died. 

John and the boys disappeared and Sally tried to reach out and she tried to find them, but John refused to answer her calls and she always seemed to be one step behind. 

Then, nearly a year after Mary had died, John appeared at the doorstep of Sally’s shitty apartment, Dean and Sam nowhere to be seen, and told her he was hunting down whatever had killed Mary because he knew it wasn’t some gas leak, he knows what he saw, and he saw his wife burning on the ceiling of Sammy’s nursery with her stomach slashed open. 

Sally tries to ask where her nephews are but John keeps dodging her questions and refusing to answer her. He disappears again and she tries to keep tabs on him, she does, but anywhere she manages to track him to, there’s never any mention of two little boys with him and she starts to think that maybe her nephews are dead. (Spoiler: they’re not. When Sally learns just how shitty their childhoods were, she hunts down and murders John ^-^) 

Sally mourns her nephews and curses her brother-in-law and prays that Mary can forgive her for breaking her promise. 

Eventually, she tries to move on with her life, and she meets a handsome stranger and falls in love because she knows that he’s a god, and she was taught that all gods are cruel, capricious monsters who need to be killed but Poseidon is nothing like that, nothing like she’d been raised to believe and before long she has a little blessing of her own. 

She uses what she knows from growing up a hunter to try and keep Percy safe for as long as she can. 

She marries Gabe and makes sure she has iron and silver and salt in the house at all times and she has a go bag ready to go for both her and Percy. 

He turns twelve. He is dragged into the demigod world and Sally always knew this day was coming but that doesn’t make this any easier. She already lost her sister and her nephews, she doesn’t think she would be able to survive losing her son, too. 

Percy is thirteen and Gabe is dead and their lives are better and then one day Sally gets an alert from a search algorithm she had long given up on that a Samuel Winchester was enrolled in Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. 

She wanted to reach out, but she had never told Percy about her sister or nephews and she had no idea if Sam knew she existed. She doubted John would have talked about her and Dean had probably been too young to remember her. So she didn’t try and contact him, but she did keep an eye on him and how he was doing. 

Four years later, Percy has survived the Great Prophecy and beaten Kronos. (“Mom, when did you learn how to fire a shotgun?” “About ten seconds ago,” she lied. She felt bad lying to her son, but his life was dangerous enough with just the Greek world to worry about, he didn’t need to worry about everything else that was out there. From what she knew, the Greeks were pretty strict about not mixing pantheons, so she hoped that he would never run into any other kind of monster.) He’s sixteen and traumatized but healing and he has her, and Annabeth, and Grover, and all his other friends from Camp. Sam is twenty-two and about to graduate from Stanford as Valedictorian and continue into law school. She sees pictures of him online on Stanford’s website and years books and he has Mary’s smile and John’s nose and she couldn’t be prouder of him even if he doesn’t even know she exists. 

Sally has her baby boy, safe and by her side as he heals from fighting a war too young, she has Paul, a wonderful, loving husband that takes care of her and Percy, and she knows that Sam is alive and doing well, free from whatever hell John must have raised him and Dean in, and while she wishes she knew for certain that Dean was alive and okay as well, she was happy with what she had. 

But then Percy goes missing. 

Annabeth Iris Messages her to tell her that Percy has gone missing from his cabin at Camp, the one place he is supposed to be safe, and they’ve been looking for him for almost a week now but there’s been no sign and the gods aren’t answering anyone’s prayers and Mr. D was called back to Olympus and Annabeth is so sorry but she doesn’t know what to do and Sally deserved to know that her son was missing. 

Later that day, she reads a news article from California and learns that Sam’s girlfriend died in a fire exactly like Mary did.

Next up: First Written Scene <3

[theofficialpresidentofmars]

been thinking about a less serious totally campy 2000-2010s teen movie adaptation of Hamlet in my spare time (female lead Hamlet and not word-for-word... bite me) after listening to Nirvana's Nevermind on repeat and it was all coming together up until Act 3 Scene 2: The Mousetrap.

Now this one's an interesting one, as seeing as there aren't many travelling actor troupes around these days, often modern takes tend to modernise this performance, with Ethan Hawke's Hamlet utilising the art of indie film and perhaps my all-time favourite take on it, Ryan North's To Be Or Not To Be A Choosable Adventure Book that has Claudius play a Choose Your Own Adventure book within the Choose Your Own Adventure book (spoiler alert- he chooses the kill-your-brother path). In this way I am a fan of when the play-within-a-play is changed to suit the medium of adaptation, but I wasn't really feeling a movie for the characterisation vibes I was going for.

Until I had possibly the greatest idea ever. While travelling theatre troupes that perform edited renditions of well known plays just out and about are less common, there's another and often more mobile theatre form, close to my heart, that could be utilised to fit this scene well: comedy improv.

Hamlet, hearing word her old theatre group is back in town, inviting her mother and uncle along to an improv night, with a secret plan to reveal her uncle's guilt through the art of theatresports.

It'll probably go either one of two ways: she pulls aside her old teammate, asks for a favour- she knows that it's improv, and the whole point is that it's Not planned ahead, but if just this once she could get a certain scene to play out in front of her parents. and while reluctant, they agree, and on the night, announce a game of New Choice, asking Hamlet to be their caller.

It goes a little something like this:

'I shall now pour the deadly poison down his throat-'

'New Choice!'

'Into his eyes-'

'New Choice!'

'Into his ears!'

'Wow, that's crazy. Poisoned by his own brother. Would be a real shame if he were to go and marry his wife now, wouldn't it be, Claudius?'

Alternatively, instead of asking to rig a game (which is a cardinal sin anyway), Hamlet asks if she can join them for a special round, like old times. She offers to write for a game of Typewriter. Her teammate agrees, then jokingly implies that she's grown rusty, asking if she remembers the most important rule of improv. Rolling her eyes, of course she remembers to yes-and, she says.

She does not yes-and.

She flat out refuses the first two offers from the audience on the ask of 'interesting relationship between two people' until her plant Horatio eventually pipes up with 'wife and brother-in-law', she prefaces her scene with a lengthy disclaimer that it may cover some morbid topics but they shouldn't bother anyone (unless they have something to hide), and proceeds to run the scene with an iron fist, shutting down any offers that don't suit her purpose. Her teammate is making plans to chew her out afterwards when she shuts down their fifth offer to do ANYTHING but keep talking about how great a wife they are and how much they're not going to cheat etc etc. Eventually they get somewhere, and someone's getting poisoned, but then a bell rings and they get the '30 seconds, wrap it up' (about time, the pacing's gone to shit). but instead of wrapping it up in any manner that might salvage the scene, Hamlet takes it as an invitation to suddenly start typing quicker than normal, like she HAS to get all these words out before her time is up, and is ignoring everyone to go on this tangent about the king's death and how the brother takes the throne and she's just started to talk about how he marries the late king's wife (bit weird innit) when her uncle stands up and storms out of the room.

Anyway it would just be fun, methinks.

[jadedrrose]

The Silent Reaver - Ch. Two

You spend the next day preparing for your mission, thinking about the endless possibilities for when you reunite with Law.

Other Chapters Can Be Found Here

Warnings: mentions of weapons, also spoilers for Punk Hazard/Dressrosa, if you’re not there yet. I hope there are no mistakes hahalol

Two days wasn’t much time to prepare for an entire mission that required you leaving Dressrosa for the next foreseeable future.

You spent most of your first day pondering over how you’d deal with things. You had to go over every possibility, thinking things through from the start and accounting for anything that could go wrong. How would you make your entrance? Silently sneak inside the supposedly abandoned laboratory, not alerting anybody to your presence until you felt ready? Or would you need to announce to at least- what was his name? Something C… reminded me of salad? Oh! -Caesar Clown that you’d arrived? Or just make it known to everybody on the island that you were now there too? 

That sounded foolish. The best option in your mind was to quietly get inside, get a look at things before talking to Caesar. Then you had to consider that Law was there, most likely also sneaking around, searching for whatever he was looking for. Something about a substance called S-A-D? Regardless, if you wanted to try avoiding him at the beginning, you would have to be very careful; knowing what the pirate was capable of.

Your guilty pleasure for the last couple years had been keeping intel on him. Almost nobody knew about this secret, Baby 5 and Violet being the only two people to have knowledge about it. Violet was always kind toward you and you had no doubt that your secret would always be safe with her. Baby 5, on the other hand, you had to do a little bribing to keep her silent after she’d caught you sneaking off with a wanted poster last year. She was easily convinced though, always wanting to please everyone around her.

You’d always felt so shameful about it though. Even if you excuse your actions by telling yourself that this was simple research should he ever plan something against your family, deep down you knew that the childish feelings you still felt toward him all these years later was the real reason. His two most recent wanted posters were kept on your desk, along with any newspapers that mentioned him. The one announcing his Warlord status, the Rocky Port Incident paper, anything you could find. Everything that served as a reminder that the boy you’d loved thirteen years ago was still alive and thriving as a man now.

Knowing your feelings would rise through the barrier within your mind as soon as you saw him again was bothering you, truthfully. It would make your task incredibly difficult. Especially if I have to kill him…

That thought alone brought tears to your eyes. You’d watched as he struggled with knowing he’d be dead within two years. Watched as Corazon whisked him away from Doflamingo’s cruel hands and saved his life. Even if you were younger then, you still realized how significant that was to Law. And for you to be the one to take all of that away from him?

You hadn’t realized you’d started crying, feeling your knees growing weak and body heavy, you gracefully fell to the cold stone floor, letting your hands cover your face as you cried into them. You didn’t want to kill Law. You couldn’t.

A sharp knock on the door ripped you away from the terror on your mind. You rose to your feet, wiping away the tears and taking in a deep breath as you cracked it open, getting a glimpse at who was on the other side.

All you could see was slivers of a white dress and dark curly hair, but you knew right away that it was Violet- no, Viola. She’d recently requested that you specifically could call her by her true name, as she was one of the few who knew your’s.

“Y/n, are you alright? I heard crying, and became worried…”

You opened the door up more, enough so that she’d be able to slip inside. As soon as she was, you shut the door quickly and felt her arms wrap around you, being pulled into a warm and comforting embrace.

“I’m sorry… was I being that loud?” You started to apologize, “I shouldn’t have been, I must’ve scared-”

“Shh, don’t worry about it. I heard about your mission and figured it would be difficult for you, so I came down this way. I suppose I was correct about it being difficult, though.”

You nodded, pulling away from the hug. “I’m just worried about meeting him again…”

Viola gave you a warm smile, taking your hand to sit you down on your bed. She took a spot next to you, and allowed her hand to rest on top of yours, her thumb rubbing sweet circles into your skin. “Well, I never met him so there isn’t much I can say about him. But based on what you’ve told me, I think he’d be understanding of your situation… should you decide to switch sides.”

You gasped, looking at the woman beside you with wide eyes. “Viola! Don’t even joke about that, you know I can’t leave this family.”

She let out a light-hearted chuckle, shaking her head and closing her eyes for a very brief moment, all before looking back at you. “Y/n. I know how you feel about him, and you know that I know that you and I aren’t happy with our situation. Not only would I not judge you, I’d keep you covered so that the young master doesn’t find out.”

“You mean that?” you wondered, folding your hands in your lap and looking down. “You’d be okay if I… left?” 

She nodded, a smile spreading across her toned skin. “Of course.”

You hummed, before shrugging. “Well, I can’t say for certain that I want to… but it’s nice knowing you’d have my back.”

“Sure thing. So… what are you most worried about?” she asked, crossing her legs and leaning back on her arms.

“I dunno,” you answered honestly. “I’m scared of meeting him, since I don’t know how he’ll react… let alone how I will.”

“Hmm, let’s think it through, then? Let’s say he’s shocked, but happy.”

You scoffed, a light laugh escaping your lips, “I don’t think I’d be able to tell if he were happy. Law didn’t ever look happy.”

Viola rolled her eyes, “Okay… then how about all signs point to him being happy. What would you do then?”

You really didn’t know what to say to that. What would you do? What if he didn’t even recognize you? Or if any mutual feelings were gone, so you would then be stuck in a weird one-sided love? Or going down an entirely different route, what if he hated you?

“I g-guess… I’d just try talking to him… normally?”

Viola nodded, crossing her arms and sitting up now, “And maybe he’s upset?”

“If he were upset, then I’d probably just cry,” you huffed, moving to lean your head on your arms. “Because it would mean I’d have to kill him.”

“Not necessarily,” Viola disagreed, “You could just… not complete the mission?”

“And then what? Never return? We both know Monet is already there supervising things for the SMILEs. She’d call someone to get me.”

“I think, based on the information I know, that Law would understand your situation and help you. He’d be more upset with Doflamingo than with you.”

“I don’t know that for sure, so how can you? You’ve never met him.”

Viola just laughed, though, giving you a charming grin. “Y/n… You’re overthinking things.”

–

And overthink things you did, indeed. After that conversation, your mind just continued to spiral down all possible scenarios. Evening came and went, and soon, you realized you only had a few hours to pack and then sleep before departing for Punk Hazard.

There wasn’t room to bring much with you. You packed a couple outfits, non-perishable snacks and other necessities. You were thankful that all of your artillery could be worn so that you wouldn’t have to compromise space in your bag for them. 

Looking over your room, you scanned each and every object for anything that you might need, or perhaps want while away. 

Your eyes ended up landing on a particular drawer of your desk, one that you rarely ever opened. Memories flooded back into your mind as you thought of what resided in the drawer, and with a deep breath, you gathered your strength to open it.

Two items lay against the wood of the drawer’s interior. Two pieces of jewelry, both having significant meaning to you. A locket necklace, and a hand-crafted one made from junk. 

The locket had been from your mother before she died. Inside of it was a tiny photograph of your family, huddled up beneath a tree on a nice summer evening. It was the one item you had when you were adopted into your current family.

The other piece, the necklace made from junk, held a different meaning. With delicate hands, you picked it up and held it in your palm, looking it over as a small smile broke out on your lips. You fondly remembered the day it was given to you.

—

It had been a few days before Law disappeared along with Corazon. You’d been sitting by yourself, mindlessly playing with a pistol. Considering much of Spider Miles consisted of scraps and other junk, nobody ever cared that you’d been using things as your targets for practicing your aim. 

You loaded the gun before putting your hands in position, taking aim at a large pipe that you’d stuck a piece of paper to. On the paper was a poorly drawn face, meant to be your ‘victim’ for practice. You shot once, missing the eyes that hardly resemble real ones by a couple inches. Swearing, you mentally scold yourself for not hitting between the eyes. You get ready to shoot again, but were quickly stopped by someone approaching from behind.

“Y/n.”

You felt yourself freeze, a strange warmth overtaking your body as you lowered the gun. Slowly, you turned to greet the person who’d interrupted your training. 

“Law?” Your heart beat faster as you said his name, and you felt as though you were going to puke. What an odd feeling it was.

“I… have something for you,” the boy meekly informed you, holding out something wrapped in an old piece of paper. 

You approached him, taking the supposed gift out of his hands with the one that wasn’t holding your gun. Realizing you needed both hands, you quickly set the gun down on a crate nearby. Unwrapping it, a necklace made out of scraps was revealed to you. For someone who had virtually no necklace-making skills, it looked nice. There were two chains connected together, one silver and one gold. You figured he hadn’t been able to find just one that was long enough. On the end of it were some gemstone pieces clearly taken from smashed items, all strung together with some wire.

“A necklace?” You breathed, shyly looking up at Law.

He nodded, scratching the back of his neck as he started explaining. “The other day when you told me about your locket… I decided to make it. Since you like necklaces, I guess…”

You smiled, appreciating his effort to make you something. “Thank you… I love it,” you expressed your gratitude, putting it around your neck. “How’s it look?”

The way Law looked at you had your strange feelings intensifying, your stomach feeling like it was doing backflips within you. His ears were tinted red now, the only thing giving away what he really felt. “It’s nice… you look pr- it looks… pretty.”

You giggled, taking a step forward to hug your companion. 

—

A thought came to you, allowing you to zone back in as the memory faded out. If Law cared for you enough to make you a necklace back then, did you really have any reason to doubt that he’d welcome reuniting with you? Looking back on it as an adult, it was quite obvious the little crushes you’d both had for each other was a mutual thing. Perhaps now he wouldn’t feel that way, but there was no reason for him to have ill intentions toward you. That gave your mind some ease, at the very least.

Deciding that you wanted to take it with you, you put the necklace around your neck while your locket went inside your bag, as you were afraid of it being damaged from wear. 

In the small vanity mirror on your desk, you looked it over and your smile couldn’t help but grow a bit. Yes, it did kind of look like shit, but that’s what made it so special. It was made from garbage into something beautiful for you, and could you really expect a twelve year-old boy to be capable of gathering expensive materials to make you something fancy-looking?

Your eyes then trailed away from your reflection in the mirror down to the wanted poster still laid out on your desk. A part of you couldn’t believe that the boy you’d had a crush on as a preteen had grown to be the man in the photo; that he was the same person who’d liked you enough to make you a necklace, just because he’d felt like it.

What would you do when meeting him again? It was a thought that plagued your mind repeatedly all day long, to a point that you were certain you’d be dreaming about it tonight. That was, if you were even able to sleep, feeling so nervous that you couldn’t be sure if sleeping was doable at the moment.

But your body said otherwise, as you let out a yawn, feeling tired despite your mind that ran wild with thought, awake as ever. You stretched and looked over your belongings one more time, before deciding you had everything you needed. With another yawn, you fell backwards into your bed, curling up underneath the warm covers and, to your surprise, fell asleep with ease.

[maybe-boys-do-love]

So related to the news about Thailand today, I want to detail a thing i noticed when writing a longer piece about Boston on Only Friends, because I think especially watching as foreigners, we can forget or ignore some really cool subtextual commentary that's happening in the QL shows we're watching.

We learn a couple episodes in that Boston's dad is running for office. When we first meet Boston's dad, Nick is working on his campaign flyer, which reads among other slogans, "Give me a chance to improve." (Thanks to @thaisongsengsub for the translation). Boston enters the scene wearing a graphic tee that says 1998. In 1998, the Thai Rak Thai party was founded in Thailand by Thaksin Shinawatra, who would become the first democratically elected prime minister of Thailand to serve a full term in 2001. According to the Guardian article where much of my info's coming from, he "introduced a universal healthcare scheme, village funds to stimulate growth, as well as policies to boost entrepreneurship and help the country recover from the Asian financial crisis. He also presided over the repayment of the debt Thailand owed to the IMF ahead of schedule."

In 2006 Thaksin Shinawatra was deposed by a military coup and his party was outlawed. Only Friends spoiler alert: Just as Boston lives in exile from his friend group and from Thailand by the series' end, Shinawatra would live in self-imposed exile beginning in 2008 and lasting fifteen years to avoid legal charges. Interestingly the former prime minister returned for the first time the same month that Only Friends premiered, August of 2023 (upon his return he was promptly put into custody).

A new incarnation of this populist neoliberal party formed after the dissolution of Thai Rak Thai, the People's Power Party, followed by Pheu Thai Party when the PPP was dissolved. Shinawatra's younger sister, Yingluck Sinawatra, would take on leadership of the party and become the Thailands first female prime minister from 2011-2014, when her tenure was also ended by the courts and a military coup from which she fled to exile. The party is currently being run by Shinawatra's daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

The Move Forward Party, a more progressive Thai party, that was dissolved by the courts yesterday had previously been part of a coalition in Parliament with the Pheu Thai Party but decided to not vote for its candidate for Prime Minister after the PTP decided to include more conservative parties that supported the military junta in its coalition also in August of 2023 (you know, the period Only Friends was being written), as reported by Bangkok Post. All this is to say that there were a lot of politics in Thailand happening around the time of Only Friends.

For those willing to observe Jane Austen's "fine brush strokes" that she uses to offer portraits of romance, you'll find observations that would've otherwise been censored on slavery, the military, estate law, and most obviously, marriage law and female citizenship. Thai BL series don't have to be as explicit as Not Me to comment on political affairs. In fact, because of the political situation some of their commentaries require a deft touch like the one we see in Only Friends. I don't want to say exactly how I think Only Friends interprets the political situation it hints at here. Hopefully you can at least see that this idea of improvement, inclusion, and exile is as tied to the concept of friendship on Only Friends as it is to Thai politics. I only want to recommend that you watch for how QLs address class, political actors, geopolitics, and condemnation more broadly because to my eyes, they are doing some of the most subtle but radical commentary happening in any contemporary media, which I won't say makes them better or worse, but goddamn does it make them interesting.

[the-ghost-bird]

OC's from The Taste Of Our Blood:

Yaroslav Volkov: First of the family to become a mercenary. Born and raised in the US. Russian father, australian mother. Looks mostly like his mother, though he has his father's eyes. Learned russian, sambo, and wrestling with his father. He entered the military hoping to find brotherhood and a sense of belonging but instead found the darker side of himself. Was subjected to experimentation, which left him with nothing but emotional scars. After leaving the military, he got into the mercenary business, where he became known as one of the best. After a couple of years, he sought out an old lover, Margot, and found out she had been hiding a child from him.

Margot Hawthorne: Dealt with depressive psychosis from a young age but managed to survive long enough to get into Law school. Dreamt of being a judge. She had an on and off relationship with Yaroslav for many years. One day, he confesses that he entered the merc business and, thinking about her own safety, Margot dumped him. Despite loving Yaroslav, she promised herself that she would never let her emotions make her act irrationally, and that promise led her to ending what they had. Months later, she finds out she's pregnant and moves across the country to restart her life. Loving mother, too soft for her own good. Years later, Yaroslav finds her and their daughter, Lyra. He becomes enraged when he realizes she had been hiding his child, and after a huge fight, Yaroslav took Lyra from Margot and disappeared. Margot, who already had a history of mental illness, became severely affected by this. She slowly became and alcoholic, and after 5 years of her daughter's disappearance, she commits suicide in a drunken haze.

Lyra aka Dima Volkov: Born Lyra Hawthorne, her name was changed after her father took possession of her at age 8. Looks too much like her father, more than she's comfortable with. After taking her away from her mother, Yaroslav brought her to Russia and raised her for a couple of years in an isolated cabin, leaving only for jobs. Lyra/Dima has a love-hate relationship with her father. Despite kidnapping her, he was a good father. He listened to her, knew how to discipline her properly, taught her how to fight, hunt, cook, shoot, etc. But Lyra also knew that her father was manipulative and much of his love was a way of making sure she'd stay with him even after she grows into an independent adult. Lyra cant bring herself to care; her mother is a foggy memory and her father was all she had for years. Yaroslav raises Lyra for the merc business. She becomes a skilled fighter and assassin and accompanies her father during jobs until she turns 25 and "leaves" after a fight.

Ezra Albiar: A couple years older than Lyra. Started working as a kill for hire at a young age. Had the talent but not the training, not until he came across Yaroslav. When he met him, Yaroslav had just fought Lyra, and impulsively took Ezra under his wing as an apprentice. When Lyra finds out her father took someone in to train, she becomes enraged. Takes a couple years for her to accept Ezra, and when she finally does, it doesn't take long for her to fall in love with him.

Dahak Volkov: Lyra and Ezra's daughter. She was unlucky enough to inherit some of grandma Margot's mental illness. Would be diagnosed with high functioning sociopathy and psychosis if she ever went to a psychiatrist. Spoiler alert: She doesn't. The psychosis is minor, it's not severe enough to need medication but it definitely flares up every once in a while with stress. Just as ruthless as her mother and as talented as her father, but enjoys killing more than both of them combined. Don't ever let her get close to you with a knife.

[tragedy-peanut-gallery]

Okay I know like two people liked the one post about my bg3 characters but FUCK IT!! I’m posting them anyways for those two people!!! (And for myself cause these are my enrichment hours tee-hee 🤭)

Got some sweet sweet lore under the cut for em too >:) (a bit of a spoiler alert for the Dark Urge so….. yuh-)

Okay so this first one’s name is Dahlia and she’s from my first ever playthrough of the game. I based her off one of my old dnd characters and she was supposed to be this disney princess-esque character who’s super sweet and polite and charming- only for me to realize that there’s almost no polite options in game 💀 so she’s more neutral good but a bit of a bitch with enough rizz to convince a demon to kts so…. That’s kinda neat, ig. Her whole story is that she’s a runaway noble who abandoned her siblings because she wanted to pursue a career in puppetry instead of being in some stinky betrothal and then got yoinked by the nautiloid so decided that Cool, I’m An Adventurer Now. Of course she’s romancing Karlach cause that’s my wife <3 unfortunately tho I didn’t like what was going on in that playthrough cause again, it was my first time I had no clue what I was doing, so Dahlia has been abandoned in the saves until I have enough strength to restart with her some other time rip sweet princess :(

This second one is Pearl, my current tav playthrough! She’s not a tiefling, believe it or not, I just had a mod that let any race have horns so she’s just a kinda fucked up half elf. Girlie’s chaotic good in the sense that she does the right things sometimes, mostly if she can make a profit while doing it, honestly she was supposed to be a criminal but I messed up during character creation so she’s an acolyte so…. Idk, her story’s that she was on the path of becoming a criminal so her parents sent her off to a temple to straighten her out but she just ended up running off and becoming a cool city bounty hunter (and learning abt religion which is RICH cause she’s a fucking dumbass and int’s her dump stat) Was planning on making her the Superslut run character who sleeps with everyone but she only successfully slept with lae’zel before falling head over heels and simping for wyll, so she’s getting a silly lil fairytale romance, good for her <3

Third one’s Clover, my durge, my sopping wet sad lil rat that I found in the dumpster. She’s just a plain ol human who’s trying her darndest to be a Lawful Good Person™️ but whoopsies! She’s a dark urge person and has to constantly resist her endless bloodlust! Ngl she was a pretty bad person pre-tadpole (which is a given cause…. Bhaalspawn), but ever since she has her memory wiped she’s become convinced that Actually, I Am A Good Paladin! The weird happy feeling she gets when killing people is because she has a strong sense of justice guys, she promises!!! Currently she’s romancing Shadowheart and trying her best to convince her friends to do the Right Thing, and she’s severely fighting violent thoughts every time they point out that she does bad things sometimes *cough* ALFIRA *cough*. It’s okay when she does tho cause she has very big sad eyes and cries and feels guilty after doing a bad thing!!

[wonderlandleighleigh]

26 pages of fic in retaliation of the spoilers. So spoiler alert for the season 5 spoilers that have come out.

September, 1989

“Mama, no.” 

Midge wrinkles her nose. “What do you mean, ‘Mama, no,’ what is that supposed to mean?” 

Esther huffs as she follows her mother around the kitchen. “You can’t cook for twenty-six people, it’s too many!” 

“Please, I’ve cooked for armies!” 

“Real armies?” Eden asks, her ears perking up as she watches her partner chase Midge around. 

“Armies of comics,” Midge shrugs at her daughter-in-law. “Armies of musicians. Hungry entertainers, mostly.” 

“So not even as well-behaved as soldiers,” Eden jokes as she lifts her son up from the floor and snuggles the toddler. 

“Not nearly,” Midge responds.

“It’s too many people,” Esther presses. “Get it catered.” 

“God, no.” 

“Mama.” 

“Esther.” 

“You shouldn’t have to bust your ass in the kitchen all day,” Esther argues. “You just got home from a tour, don’t you want to relax?” 

“How long have we known each other?” Midge asks. 

Esther blinks. “You gave birth to me.” 

“And you’re how old?” 

“Mama.” 

“You’re thirty-one,” Midge answers for her. “Which means you’ve had thirty-one years to realize that relaxing is not my thing.” 

“But-” 

“It’s very sweet of you to worry, Honey,” Midge smiles, wrapping an arm around her daughter. “Really, I love you for being concerned, but the best way to decompress from two months on tour is to make a shitload of food that will eventually kill you all, and then force-feed it to you while I criticize all your choices.” 

“Seems like she’s dead set,” Eden comments. 

“I once cooked for two hundred people at Uncle Shy’s house for an album release party,” Midge tells them as she gets to work. “Monica fired the caterers five hours before the party started and then locked herself in the master bathroom, and I get this completely panicked phone call from Shy, begging me to come and do…something with the truck-load of food the caterers left because it was already paid for. So it’s me, Jerome, Bonnie and Gordon in the kitchen, while Shy, Lenny and Carly are trying to coax Monica out of the bathroom, and the only thing that did it was some cocaine someone had brought to the party..” 

Eden blinks as silence blankets the kitchen, before she turns to Esther. “Sometimes your mother tells these stories and I don’t know if they’re true or not.” 

“Ask Lenny, all true. I was six months’ pregnant with Lily at the time.” 

“I was very tempted by that cocaine, by the way,” Lenny says as he wanders in, lifting little Joshy from Eden’s arms. “I talked myself out of it by pretending if I did cocaine, it would somehow hurt the baby Midge was pregnant with.” 

Eden blinks again. “That’s…weird.” 

“And effective.” 

“Esther thinks we should have Rosh Hashanah catered,” Midge tells her husband.

He gives his stepdaughter a confused look. “It’s too late to get it catered now.” 

Esther rolls her eyes. “You’re comedy legends, I’m pretty sure if you snapped your fingers real hard someone would come running to cater Lenny Bruce and Midge Maisel’s Rosh Hashanah dinner.” 

“Why would we do that?” Lenny asks, still confused.

“Give it up, Babe,” Eden chuckles. “They’re never gonna outsource dinner.” 

“Especially since cooking keeps me out of the same room as your father for as long as possible,” Midge adds. 

“You could have just…not invited him,” Esther points out. 

“No, I can’t.” 

“Yes, you can.” 

“Nope! He’s still family. He sucks - that’s what the kids are saying now, right? Sucks?” 

“Sucks,” Lenny agrees. 

Midge nods confidently before turning back to Esther. “He sucks, but he’s still family, so he gets the invite.” 

“He could just decline,” Lenny points out. “And he never does.” 

“Well, someone has to bring Zeyde,” Esther points out.

“Lan and Charlie are in town, Lan could bring Moishe,” Midge says. 

“This keeps getting more hopeless,” Esther comments. 

“Mama is going a little crazy, Joshy,” Lenny tells the toddler in his arms, bouncing him a little. 

Esther sighs and takes her son from his arms. “I come by it honestly.” 

***** 

Ethen steps into his mother and stepfather’s home, leading his wife and two children inside from the breezy weather. 

It’s a large brownstone in the Village, decorated with a tasteful mix of built-in wood accents and bright colors. A perfect blend of both of the people who own the house. 

These days, even though all of the kids have moved out, both Ethan’s grandmother Rose, and Zelda, the family’s former housekeeper, call this place home, though Zelda is out for the evening.

Ethan had been worried once everyone left the nest, it would just be his parents rattling around this big place, but he’s heartened, knowing that they’re able to take care of a few of the more elderly members of the family, though Susie still refuses to give up her lavish, custom interior uptown apartment. 

“I worked hard for this,” she told him when the subject came up over drinks. “I’m not ready to call quits on it. The bathtub is too fucking good and the exact height for me to get into.” 

Fair enough.

“Okay, team,” Ethan says, turning to his family. “You know the drill: If you’ve got the shpilkes, go run out in the garden, but don’t pull up Pop-pop’s flowers. Be nice to your cousins, and for the love of God, please do not kick Papa Joel this time?” 

“That was my fault,” Julia chimes in. “He insinuated your mother was a slut, so I told Noah to kick him.” 

Ethan blinks and thinks that over. “That’s fair. But no kicking tonight, okay?” 

Noah nods dutifully as Norah goes running down the hall for the kitchen. 

“Softa, Softa!” she squeaks, and Ethan hears his mother’s voice as she showers the little girl with affection. 

“Here we go,” he mutters, lifting Noah over his shoulder and heading for the kitchen. “You gotta stop telling our kids to kick people.” 

“What else are they for?” Julia jokes. “It’s not like we can cook them and eat them.” 

“Why not?” Ethan asks.

“Don’t eat me!” Noah shouts. 

“Ethan, stop threatening to cannibalize your son,” Rose’s voice admonishes from behind them.

He swings around and grins at his grandmother. It’s odd to see her at this age, in her eighties, but she’s definitely still her. Certainly she’s slowed down, but she’s still sharp. 

“Hi, Gramma,” Ethan grins, kissing her cheek. “Ready for the chaos?” 

“As I’ll ever be,” Rose responds, letting herself be kissed. “Hello, Julia. I love your hair today.” 

“Aw, thanks, Rose,” Julia beams. “You look nice, too.” 

“I,” Rose tells them, lifting her chin, “am old.” 

“And still gorgeous,” Lenny says, peeking out of the kitchen. “Everybody in to say hello.” 

Ethan grins and heads past Lenny, straight to his mother, kissing her cheek. “Hey, Ma.” 

“My boys!” Midge chirps, kissing both Ethan and then Noah. “How was the drive?” 

“Fine,” Ethan shrugs. “Nothing to write home about.” 

“Hi, Gramma,” Esther grins, hugging Rose. “How are you?” 

“Old,” she tells her a little forlornly, before lifting Joshy out of her arms. “But this makes me feel better.” 

“Hi, Rose,” Eden says, getting to her feet. 

“Eden,” Rose nods coolly. “So nice to see you.” 

Ethan watches the interaction closely without comment, knowing that Esther’s coming out had been a little fraught at first. While most of the family hadn’t batted much of an eye (Lan came out a year earlier after all), Rose had been more than a little shocked. Though Midge had been quick to point out that there were stories of Abe dating a man back in the day. 

“It was the twenties!” Rose had countered. 

“Well, now it’s the eighties and your granddaughter is dating a woman,” Midge had shot back. “Get over it.” 

Ethan’s never seen Esther cry quite that hard.

“So we’re currently missing…almost everyone,” Julia points out, looking around the room after getting a cheek kiss from Lenny. 

“My God,” Lenny marvels, turning to Midge playfully. “I wonder where all of them could have learned this horrific lack of punctuality.” 

“Keep it up, you don’t get any challah,” she shoots back, making Ethan, Esther, Julia and Eden hoot teasingly. 

“Dad’s in trouble,” Esther sing-songs. 

Midge shakes her head, amused. In the old apartment, Ethan knows she would have shooed everyone out, because it was too small, but the brownstone has an enormous kitchen, perfect for this kind of gathering, and he can’t say he minds. 

“So, Chaim and Rachela have Bram of course, and they’re bringing Astrid,” Midge tells them. “Joel is bringing Moishe. Mei and Lan and Charlie are all coming together. Ella had a piano lesson, so Kitty said they’d be running a little late…Lily is always late, but I’m hoping that the new boyfriend will be a good influence.” 

“Have you met him yet?” Esther asks, looking intrigued. 

“I haven’t,” Midge admits. “Lenny has. He surprised her with lunch at the lab a couple of weeks ago, and he was there.” 

“Tall, Jewish, named Benj,” Lenny tells them. “Seemed nice. Some kinda chemist or some such.” 

Ethan tilts his head at his stepfather. “Oh, you hate him.” 

“No.”

“A little.” 

“...Maybe a little.” 

“You’re Lily’s father,” Rose points out. “Of course you hate the man she’s seeing.” 

“Abe loved me,” Lenny points out.

“Abe was going through a midlife crisis when he met you,” Rose counters. 

“In any case,” Midge chimes in. “That leaves Susie.” She turns to Ethan. “Where is Susie?” 

“At the Gaslight to check out a new act,” Ethan tells her. 

“In the afternoon?” Midge asks, baffled. 

Ethan shrugs. “She said she’d be along.” 

“Okay! Then I’m gonna get going here. The challahs are nearly done.” She whirls around as everyone starts to lunge for the oven. “Don’t you dare.” 

They all looked chastened as they back away.

***** 

“Are you sure we shouldn’t use the front door?” Benj asks as he follows Lily through the garden gate and towards the back door.

She blinks back at him, tilting her head. “Why would we do that?” 

“Because it’s polite,” Benj points out. 

Lily thinks about that. She’s never really thought about it, having spent her life since moving with her parents to this brownstone using the garden entrance to be able to check her father’s flowers and herbs before heading inside. 

“But I lived here,” Lily tells him. 

“You don’t now,” Benj shrugs. “I mean- don’t get me wrong. This garden is amazing. Did you do this?” 

“My dad,” Lily says. “He used to work on a farm when he was young. Most people don’t know he’s got a green thumb.” 

“Cool,” Benj grins. 

“You still want to use the front door,” Lily surmises. 

“...It feels like they might like me more if I use the front door,” he admits sheepishly. “I want to make a good impression.” 

“Fastest way to the front door is going through the garden door, down the hall and out the front door,” Lily tells him. 

“Wait, what?” 

“Come on.” 

***** 

Midge frowns as she hears the garden door open and close. She leans out of the kitchen, spotting her daughter and who she assumes is the boyfriend heading for the front door. 

“Lily?” 

“We’re not here yet!” she calls back. “Benj wants to use the front door!” 

Midge’s frown deepens as Lenny joins her at the doorway.

“You know,” he muses. “When she was first born, I never could have predicted that our genetics would mix quite that way.” 

Midge giggles a little. “Fun, though.” 

They watch as the front door opens and Lily and Benj step inside.

“We’re here! And we used the front door!” Lily calls. “Please be nice to my boyfriend!” 

Midge tries hard not to laugh as she steps out and hugs her youngest child. “Hi, Sweetie.” 

“Hi, Mama. This is Benj. He’s polite.” 

Midge smiles understandingly at Benj. “Hi. Nice to meet you. Welcome. For future reference, we all expect Lily to come in through the garden. No front doors necessary when you’re with her.” 

He grins sheepishly as they shake hands. “Good to know.” 

***** 

Moishe Maisel has lived a big, long life. He has seen war and death and life and good business and bad business and very bad business, and joy and heartache, and great things and stupid things, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and everything that comes with the highs and lows of living.

But for all of his experience, he still doesn’t really understand his only son.

“You could date, you know,” he says as they walk up the sidewalk towards the Weissman/Bruce brownstone. “Find someone.” 

“So could you,” Joel shoots back.

“What do I wanna date for?” Moishe asks. “There’s not another Shirley out there.” 

Joel huffs out a breath as he stops in front of the large house, looking up at it pensively. “You know, we could just get some deli and go home.” 

“Why would we do that?” Moishe asks. “Miriam’s cooking a feast, she always does.” 

“It’s just-” he blows out a breath. “Why do I keep doing this to myself?” 

Moishe wrinkles his nose. “Doing what? Going to family dinners? Seeing your children and grandchildren?” 

“Going to Midge’s house.” 

“Because she’s the only one with enough space to host everyone.” 

Joel shrugs helplessly. “Well, maybe next year it could just be us and Ethan and his family.” 

“Ethan hates you,” Moishe reminds him.

“Esther’s then.” 

“Eden hates you.” 

“Well, then Lan!” 

“Lan is never here, lives with your second ex-wife, and you still can’t get over your farkakte feelings about his boyfriend.” 

Joel throws up his arms in frustration. “Fine! I fucked things up thirty years ago and everybody still thinks I’m an asshole, and now every time I come here for a holiday or a family get-together, no one lets me forget it!” 

Moishe stares at his son for a long moment and he thinks about trying to be supportive. About trying to give him advice and how all of that advice has fallen on deaf ears for decades. 

Instead, he opens the gate and walks up the pathway to the porch. “Lenny’s azaleas are really poppin’ this year!”

Behind him, he knows Joel is rolling his eyes, but following him.

***** 

Esther beams as she opens the door on her grandfather. “Zeyde!” 

She hugs the older man tightly, kissing his cheek. 

“Oh, my sweet little Esther, you look good!” Moishe tells her, rubbing her arms. “Where’s my great-grandson? I have a candy for him.” 

“Zeyde…” 

Moishe wanders past her, on the lookout for said great-grandchild, as Joel steps in.

“Pop, hi,” Esther says, kissing his cheek awkwardly. 

“Hey, Sweetie. Things devolve into chaos yet?” 

“No, everything is fine,” Esther tells him, a little confused. 

“Lenny must be out of town,” Joel tries to joke.

“...No, he’s in the garden with Ethan and Julia and Lily and her new boyfriend…” 

“...Right.” 

She leads him back into the kitchen, where her mother is still cooking while Eden and Rose keep her company.

Eden lifts an unimpressed eyebrow at Esther’s father. “Joel.” 

“Hi, Eden. Doin’ good?” 

“Sure.” 

“Hi, Joel,” Midge says politely as she keeps working.

“Midge.” 

“Look who I found!” Moishe crows as he shuffles into the kitchen, carrying Joshy and flanked by Noah and Norah. 

“Hey!” Joel smiles, hugging the kids. “Look at you guys!” 

“The kinder look good,” Moishe agrees, before smiling at the assembled group. “Hello, Miriam. Rosie, Eden.” 

Eden grins at him. “Hi, Moishe. How’s the retirement community?” 

He shuffles over and takes a seat with her at the kitchen island. “You would not believe the mishegas these nuts get up to.” 

“Ooooh, geriatric gossip,” Midge teases. “Let’s hear it.” 

Esther glances back at her father as Moishe begins to regale them with his tales. “Pop, why don’t you take the twins out back to run around?” 

“I’m good,” Joel tells her. “Really, Es, it’s fine.” 

“I mean, you’re lying, but okay.” 

“Esther.” 

She shrugs, and starts to respond, when the front door opens and closes again.

“Hellooooo!” 

She’s not terribly proud of losing interest in her father’s discomfort, but the sound of her beloved older sister’s voice after not having seen her for a while tends to send her reeling back into her childhood. “Kitty!” 

She finds herself barrelling out of the kitchen and back to the front door, hugging Kitty tightly. 

Kitty giggles, hugging her back. “Oooh, there she is! Hi!”

 “Hi!” Esther responds against her shoulder. “Hi, hi, hi.” 

“Aunt Es!” Ella squeaks from behind them and Esther lets go of Kitty to hoist the five-year-old into her arms. 

“Look at this beautiful rock star,” Esther says, kissing the little girl’s cheek. “How was piano?” 

“Fun,” Ella tells her, giggling. 

“Hey, Esther,” Daniel says as he helps Kitty out of her coat.

“Hi, Daniel, good to see you,” Esther grins. “Everyone is here except Lan and Mei and Charlie, and Aunt Astrid, Chaim and Rachela and Bram.” 

“Thank god we’re not the last ones here,” Kitty huffs. “Remember the last time?” she asks her husband. “Rose stared daggers right into my soul.” 

“Your soul, what about mine?” Daniel jokes. “She cornered me in the kitchen and gave me an entire lecture on punctuality.” 

“Which is hilarious because Mama has never been on time for one thing in her whole life, including her second wedding, and Lily’s birth,” Esther adds, making them all laugh.

“Uh-oh, did I miss a joke?” Lenny asks as he steps into the foyer. 

Ella squeaks and wiggles down from Esther’s arms. “Pop-Pop!!” 

Lenny chuckles as he scoops her up, kissing her firmly on the cheek. “There she is!” 

“Pop-Pop, I have so much to tell you!” Ella says. 

“Okay, before you regale Pop-Pop with stories of piano lessons and kindergarten,” Kitty laughs, leaning forward to hug her father. “Hi, Daddy.” 

“Hey, Kit,” Lenny says, hugging her as he still holds Ella. “Hi, Daniel.” 

“Hey, Dad,” Daniel responds, grinning. “How are things looking so far?” 

“Same old. Lily brought her boyfriend.” 

Kitty gasps and turns to Esther. “How is he? Is he cute? Is he nice? Do we need to grab Ethan and talk about where to hide the body?” 

“Okay, first of all,” Esther laughs. “He’s cute, and he seems very nice, and second of all, Lily is very capable of hiding her own bodies.” 

“What? No, she’s not, she’s a little baby and we need to protect her.” 

“She’s twenty-four.”

“Exactly!”  

“You know you’re the daughter of two criminals, when…” Esther teases, making everyone laugh again.

“That funny bone is wasted in the courtroom,” Lenny tells her. “Quit and get a writing gig.” 

“Never,” Esther smirks. 

Lenny shakes his head before turning back to his granddaughter. “Tell Pop-Pop all about your adventures!” 

Kitty smiles and wraps her arms around Esther. “And you tell me about yours. How is Eden? How is Joshy?” 

Esther beams at her sister and tells her.

***** 

Eventually, the rest of the family show up, with Lan showering his nieces and nephews in hugs and praise for how grown-up they all look, and Mei latches herself onto Midge in the kitchen as she cooks. 

“So? How is LA?” 

“It’s wonderful,” Mei tells her as she sits down. “Really, Midge. The sun and the food…I keep getting asked to guest lecture and write guest articles. It’s heaven.” 

Midge beams at her. “It’s nice to see you happy.” 

"You and Lenny should move to LA."

Midge scoffs, laughing. "God, no. Lenny hates it there for a wide range of reasons. And we love New York."

Mei rolls her eyes. "Yes, but it would get you away from you-know-who."

"I'm not going to let him scare me into moving across the country, away from my children and my life," Midge says firmly. "He's the miserable one. He can move to LA."

Mei laughs. "Hell, no, you keep him."

Midge sighs heavily and turns to her, taking a seat at the island across from her. "He's been getting more unhappy by the week."

Mei shrugs. "He fucked up two marriages and alienated all three of his children. He lost the club in the seventies to a gambling addiction and he drank his way through the first five years of the eighties, until he realized he wouldn't be able to see his grandchildren if he didn't get his shit together. So color me not shocked."

"I know," Midge says quietly. "I just- feel bad, I guess. He hates that I moved on. He never lets me forget it."

"Then maybe it's time to cut it off," Mei suggests. "This is your house and your life. Ethan and Esther are grown. If they want to spend time with their father, you don't have to be a part of that…I bet Lenny would be relieved."

"I'm pretty sure Lenny stopped acknowledging Joel's existence sometime in 1976." 

"Ooh, good for Lenny."

"Good for Lenny what?" the man in question asks as he steps in with Ella on his hip. 

Midge gasps. "A grandbaby!" she chirps, lifting the little blonde into a hug. 

Mei kisses Lenny's cheek in greeting. "We were talking about how you keep forgetting Joel exists."

"Who?" Lenny jokes with a hand to his mouth. "Oh, him. Yeah he tried to start a fist fight with Ethan that one time after stowing cocaine in our closet, and I thought 'nope,' so now I just ignore him aggressively."

"God, what an awful night," Midge says, snuggling Ella. 

"It was awful," Mei agrees. "But a lot has changed for the better."

Midge smiles and kisses Ella's temple before setting her down. "Go play, sweetie."

She does, and Midge turns back to Mei and Lenny. “Mei thinks we need to stop inviting Joel to the house.” 

“She’s right,” Lenny nods firmly. “I know you feel bad for him, Midge. But he’s not your responsibility.” 

She nods slowly, thinking that over. “I guess - I guess I just never thought about not trying to help him.” 

“I know,” Lenny tells her, taking her hand. “But it might be time to finally start.” 

“No might,” Mei interjects. “Definitely.” 

****

"Ethan."

"Pop."

Susie watches the father-son interaction with its cold overtones and sighs. "You two ever gonna bury that hatchet?"

"You know?" Ethan ponders. "I'm good." 

"Fucksake," Susie grumbles. 

Noah giggles. "Fucksake!"

Susie nods. "Exactly, kid."

"Jesus, Susie!" Joel cries. 

"He's not here, we're Jewish," Ethan comments before turning to his son. "What'd we say?"

Noah pouts guiltily. "No bad f bombs."

Ethan nods, satisfied. "That's right."

"You are an excellent parent," Susie praises him. 

Ethan nods. "Damn right I am."

*****

Dinner is, of course, incredible. 

While Lily is very good with plants and even animals, the culinary arts have eluded her for most of her life. 

She’s very good at boiling rice in chicken stock and adding some cheese and a little hot sauce, but beyond that, it all feels a little nebulous. 

Her mother, however, is magical in the kitchen, and tonight’s feast is no exception. 

“Mama, everything looks amazing,” she tells her mother, smiling up at the woman. 

Midge beams at her. “Well, dig in.” 

Everyone does, and Lily smiles, turning to Benj. 

“I’m really glad you’re Jewish so I don’t have to explain all the food to you,” she tells him happily. “And you won’t get weird about it.” 

Benj smiles back at her, obviously amused and a little charmed. “Well, I’m glad to eat all of it. It looks incredible. My father isn’t much of a cook.” 

“Your mother isn’t around?” Julia asks curiously as they pass food around the table.

“Ah…no. She uh…she left us when I was little, so it was always just my father and me,” Benj explains with a sheepish grin.

Lily nudges him gently and grins at him. “You wanna share mine? She’s a little crazy, but she does make a mean brisket.” 

Benj laughs and kisses her cheek, before digging into the food. 

***** 

Ethan finds his mother prepping coffee and dessert in the kitchen and wordlessly starts to lend a hand, pouring cups before starting a fresh pot. 

“How you doing, kid?” Midge asks as she slices up the apple cake. 

“Ah, y’know. Happy to see everybody. Most everybody.”

“Your dad getting you down?” Midge frowns. 

“Same as always,” Ethan shrugs. “Shit never changes with him, even though we all keep moving on. Lily’s new boyfriend. The rest of us have kids and jobs…you and Lenny keep working and changing. Even Susie.” 

Midge grins warmly. “The Friar’s Club has been bothering Susie again. They want to roast the shit out of her.” 

“Is it my birthday already?” Ethan jokes.

“You tell me, I can’t remember what we decided your birthday actually is anymore,” Midge chuckles softly and hands him a piece of cake. “Your favorite.” 

Ethan grins and takes the plate, taking a bite. “Mmm. You still got it. You should host a cooking show, like the Frugal Gourmet or something.” 

She waves a dismissive hand. “I’d get thrown off the air for my terribly scandalous stories.” 

“We pitch it to HBO.” 

“With the porn?” Midge laughs. 

“Ah, you’ve shown your boobs to an audience before,” Ethan jokes. 

“God, I so wish I could still ground you,” Midge tells him, laughing harder. 

He nudges her and eats more cake. “Hey everybody! Coffee!! Cake!!” 

***** 

Esther lounges on a lawn chair in the garden, eating some honey cake as Lenny sits in the one next to her, sipping on a cup of coffee. 

“You know what I’ve been thinking about?” Esther asks, considering her cake. 

“Hm?” 

“The day we met,” Esther tells him. “It’s one of my first, full memories. I must have been…three? Four? And you came over for dinner - the whole family was there - and for some reason you were sitting next to me.” 

Lenny grins at her fondly. “I remember. I cut up your chicken for you.” 

“You did. And you poured me some juice.” She smiles. “And I remember you looked at me like…I mattered to you. Even though we hadn’t ever met before and you were a stranger. You cared.” 

Lenny thinks about that for a long moment, sighing softly. “You were Midge’s, and she’s always mattered to me. So you mattered, too. And I was really missing Kitty. Missing being a dad. It felt good to stretch those dad muscles, even though you weren’t technically mine.” 

Lan wanders over then, a bottle of whiskey in his hands. “I’m the fun fairy,” he announces as he dribbles a little into Lenny’s mug. 

Esther gasps and lifts her own mug from the ground. “Me, me!” 

Lan pours some into hers as well, before sitting on the grass in front of them. “Are we having serious conversations?” 

“Nah, just talking about old times,” Lenny chuckles, sipping his coffee. “Just the right amount. Good pour.” 

Esther sips her own. “How is Charlie holding up?” 

“He is hanging out with Julia, looking at old family photos,” Lan tells him, taking a sip of the whiskey. “Which he loves. And I love him for it, but also? I was not that cute of a baby.” 

“An enormous lie and we all know it,” Lenny points at him. “Astrid!” 

“Yes!” Astrid calls from across the grass, sitting with Chaim and Kitty. 

“Wasn’t Lan the cutest fucking baby!” 

“The absolute most adorable!” Astrid calls back. “He had the chubbiest little cheeks and the tiniest little tush!” 

Lan shakes his head. “Oh, my god.” 

Esther giggles and offers him some cake, which he readily takes a bite of. “Seen Dad?” 

“Sitting on the front porch alone,” Lan says. “I tried to talk to him but he got weird.” 

“I think he’s turning into a weird old man,” Esther says, fretting. 

“Well, yes,” Lan agrees. “He’s been heading that way for like a decade.” 

“Is it weird that I’m worried about it?” Esther asks. 

“No,” Lenny tells her, reaching out to pat her hand. “He’s your dad. You’re supposed to worry about him. God knows Kitty and Lily worry about me sometimes. It’s just part of the deal. But at the end of the day, he’s a grown man. He has to figure out his own shit, no matter how much you wanna help him out.” 

“Yeah, you’ve got a two-year-old already,” Lan jokes. “You don’t need another.” 

Esther nods. “I know you’re right. I guess I just wish things were less bad with him.” 

“We all wish that,” Lan commiserates. “But we have each other.” 

“Fun fairy!” Chaim calls, lifting his mug. “Refill!” 

“Oops, that’s my cue,” Lan grins, hopping to his feet. “Fun fairy is back on the clock!” 

Lenny chuckles softly and shakes his head. “You kids are a fucking delight.” 

Esther nods, lifting her mug. “Yes, we are.” 

***** 

Kitty helps Rachela, Ethan and Eden put all the kids to bed in the “kids room.” 

Midge had had it redecorated with four built-in bunk beds. It’s stylish but fun at the same time, giving the kids an entire room all their own to sleep over in. 

“Truly, this would have been Bubbe Shirley’s dream, having this kind of room,” Ethan comments with a chuckle. 

“I heard she was an incredible grandmother,” Eden comments as she settles Joshy into a bottom bunk. 

“The best,” Kitty says. “It didn’t matter to her that Lily, Chaim and I weren’t really her grandkids. She lumped us all in together with Ethan, Esther and Lan. We were a set and she refused to break it up.” 

“That’s so sweet,” Rachela says as she settles Bram into another bottom bunk. “I feel so lucky to have been taken in by this big, crazy family.” 

“It hasn’t always been easy,” Ethan tells her. “Y’know. With my parents divorcing early, and everything that happened after. Things were rough for a long time.” He shifts Norah into the top bunch and then settles Noah down underneath. 

“Every family has its problems,” Eden shrugs. 

Kitty settles Ella into the last bottom bunk, unable to really reach the top. “Ours has quite a few. The breakups, drugs, overly healthy egos, run-ins with the law, near-accidental deaths, the CIA popping up every now and then.” 

“Believe me, when Chaim’s father died, the Company came knocking on Astrid’s door multiple times,” Rachela tells them. “Looking for things they thought were there in the house.” 

“They did something similar after Papa Abe died,” Ethan comments. “He worked for Bell Labs for a second and they had to come around and make sure he hadn’t kept anything.” 

“Daddy’s been raided by the cops a few times,” Kitty comments. “It's stressful."

Eden nods. "This family is weird as hell."

They all laugh quietly before stepping out of the room. 

*****

Midge finds him on the front stoop.

"There's coffee."

"So?" Joel snaps as he takes a pull from his cigarette. 

"I was asking if you wanted any," she clarifies. "Lan is running around with a bottle of whiskey, jazzing it up for people,” she smiles, amused. "He's calling himself the fun fairy."

"Just what every father wants to hear about their son," he mutters to himself. 

Midge narrows her eyes. "I thought you were fine with Lan's sexuality."

Joel looks back at her, deeply annoyed. "Maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm tired of being fine with all the bullshit that gets thrown at me. Lan and Esther making crazy choices-"

"You think it's a ch-"

"Mei running away from me, Ethan avoiding me, you staying with your pet junkie. Maybe I don't wanna be fine anymore, Midge." 

She stares at him for a long moment, tilting her head and really, truly seeing him for the first time in a long time.

She'd always wondered, had they stayed together, if he would have been different. 

She knows the answer is no. He'd still be discontented and angry and taking it out on her. 

She doesn't think about the next words that leave her lips. 

"I am so grateful you cheated and left," Midge tells him. "Because if I had to deal with this every fucking day, I don't know what I would do."

Joel stares at her in silence for a long time. Ten years ago that would have stung him much more than it does now. 

He takes another drag. "Go fuck yourself, Midge."

She closes the door quietly, and when she turns around, Susie is standing there. 

"Lock the door," the shorter woman tells her. 

"He can just go around the garden," Midge points out. 

"Yeah, and he'll be doing the walk of shame past his ex's husband and a bunch of family members to get back in. Lock it." 

Midge does and Susie puts an arm around her. 

"Let's break out the good booze," Susie says. "That whiskey Lan has is like lighter fluid."

Midge chuckles. "He's still young, his system can take it."

*****

It somehow usually winds up being the six of them and a joint. 

"How is this so smooth?" Kitty marvels as she passes it to Ethan. 

"LA pot is the best," Lan explains. "And nobody checked my bag at the airport."

"Our gain," Lily says as Ethan passes it to her. "Dinner was nice."

Chaim nods in agreement. "Dinner was nice. Been a while. Benj seems like a good guy."

"He is," Lily nods. "He thinks I'm pretty and smart."

"You are pretty and smart," Esther tells her. "You look happy."

"You know? I am," Lily nods. "It feels nice."

Ethan kisses the top of her head and looks out the garden gate, frowning. "Is that-?" 

"Pop trudging through the gate even though he was at the front door?" Lan supplies. "Yes it is."

"Is something wrong with the front door?" Lily calls. "Benj likes the front door."

Joel stops, obviously caught out. "Your mother locked me out," he admits. 

"Because you acted like a douche canoe?" Chaim supplies. 

The rest of them giggle helplessly. 

"Oh my God, where did that even come from?" Kitty asks as she and Esther lean on each other for support as they laugh. 

"An intern at the Times," Chaim supplies. "It sounds good, right? Just rolls right off the tongue!"

Joel shakes his head, looking to the sky. "You kids. You have no respect for your elders. You just do whatever the fuck you want and fuck everyone else."

Esther takes the joint, pulling a long toke. "We learned from the best, Pop. Nobody does selfish asshole quite as expertly as you."

"God, weed makes you articulate," Lan praises her. 

"I once wrote an entire essay on the first amendment while on acid," Esther tells him. "My ass got an A plus." 

"You think you're so funny," Joel grouses. 

"We don't, actually," Ethan shrugs. "Growing up in a house with professional comedians, you learn real quick if you're funny. We just know how to banter." 

"You and I need to have a discussion," Joel tells his oldest. 

"Now? Like right now? Because I'm really stoned, and you're not going to like what I have to say," Ethan tells him. 

"He wouldn't like what you have to say sober, either," Lily points out. 

"Stay outta this, Lily," Joel snaps. 

She gasps loudly. "Good God, I exist to Joel Maisel, he knows my name and everything! It only took twenty-four years! We should celebrate, pass the pot back." 

Mei steps out of the house, wandering over and eyeing the six of them. "Having fun, I see."

"Joel knows my name!" Lily chirps as she coughs. 

The others giggle as covertly as they can. 

"We raised a passel of assholes," Joel tells his second wife. 

Mei shrugs. "An entertaining passel of assholes. Come inside. Leave them be." 

"Bye Pop, love you Pop, don't be mean to anyone inside, Pop!" Lan calls. He takes the joint as he's ignored. "That man hates that I'm gay."

"Hate is probably too strong a word," Kitty says soothingly. "I think he just doesn't get it."

Lan pouts and it earns him a hug from the oldest of his sisters. 

"He doesn't get me, either," Esther commiserates. "And my wife is Korean, so that's an extra layer of 'holy shit, Esther did what?'" 

Kitty wraps her other arm around her. "You both are living your lives and making yourselves happy. That's really important stuff. And the rest of the family gets it. Even Moishe just shrugs his shoulders and ignores that it's not what he's used to."

"Besides, Pop is sixty years old and he still has no idea what he wants," Ethan shrugs as he takes another hit. "He left his wife and kids after only four years, messed up a bunch of relationships, gambled away an entire nightclub and then hid half a brick of cocaine in the house of a recovering drug addict. You're really gonna listen to him?" 

Lan and Lily turn to Ethan, looking confused. 

"Sorry, what?" Lan asks. 

"Joel did what?" Lily says at the same time. 

"Oops," Kitty mutters. 

"I don't know this story, either," Chaim chimes in. "Joel hid drugs here?" 

Ethan sighs heavily and sits back. “It was a little over ten years ago, now. It was right before he gambled the club away. He was turning a blind eye to dealers who had started hanging out late into the night, and some big dealer tasked him with hiding half a brick…he didn’t want it at the club where Archie could find it, so he brought it to family dinner and stashed it in a closet here…Susie was staying over…she goes to get a towel…” 

“And she finds a fuck-ton of blow,” Lan surmises. “Fuck.” 

“She thought it was Daddy’s,” Kitty chimes in. “They had a huge fight about it.” 

“And when it came out that it was Pop’s,” Esther adds, “Ethan punched him in the face.” 

The group goes quiet after that. 

“How are none of us career criminals?” Chaim ponders. 

“I think we’re too dumb,” Lily tells him. “I mean, we’re all booksmart, but I don’t think we have the cold calculating brains for real crime.” 

Lan nods solemnly in agreement. “I’m a terrible mob prince.” 

They all giggle.

***** 

Eden really likes her mother-in-law.

She’d been a little worried, Midge being a big name in comedy, that she’d be kind of a dick. And sometimes she can be, but mostly, when she’s at home and not on stage, she’s just a mom, and now a grandmother.

It helps that her reaction to Esther coming out had been ‘As long as you still give me at least one grandchild, what do I care about the gender of the person you go to bed with every night? Now eat some babka.’ 

And even better, Midge genuinely likes Eden. They have real, meaningful conversations when they visit, and Eden is showered with affection every time they see each other, almost as much as Esther is. 

It’s late now, Esther is outside with her siblings (probably playing bad kid), and Eden is helping Midge with the dishes. 

“So Lenny comes over one morning,” Midge tells her, continuing a delightful story about their family. “And he’s holding an entire gift basket of muffins, sent to him by Carl Reiner as a ‘please tighten up this Dick Van Dyke Show script, I’m dying’ bribe, and a bag of freshly roasted coffee beans in a big paper bag.” 

Eden chuckles as she dries a big cast iron pan. 

“I open the door, he says ‘Good morning, Sweetheart. One of these muffins probably has a laxative in it, wanna figure out which?’” 

Eden laughs fully at that, shaking her head. “Where did the beans come from?” 

“The beans,” Midge tells her, “were from a short little Jewish man named Irving Kramer who lived in a tiny basement apartment in Harlem. He roasted his own coffee beans and sold them for a little quick cash and sometimes drugs.” Midge hands the younger woman another pot to dry. “I have been all over the world, and I tell you, it was the best coffee I’ve ever had.” 

“Maybe it was who you were sharing it with?” Eden offers with a shrug. 

Midge grins at her and nudges her gently. “Eden, turning into a softy.” 

“No.” 

“A little.” 

“Maybe motherhood has made me a little more squishy,” Eden shrugs. “And Esther. That helps.” 

Midge nods in understanding. “I know who I would be without my family. I don’t like to think about it very much, but I know exactly who that person is, and it’s- well, it’s not pretty. So I understand.” 

Eden regards her mother-in-law thoughtfully, imagining a lonely, famous old woman, wandering around a much larger home than this by herself. With only her accolades to keep her company. 

“There any more cake?” Lenny asks as he steps into the kitchen and kisses Midge’s cheek before patting Eden’s arm affectionately. 

“On the island,” Midge tells him. “Sweet tooth finally rearing its head?” 

He nods as he slices himself a piece of honey cake. “Seems so. It’s probably the whiskey and the smell of the pot smoke from the garden.” 

“I can tell them to quit it if it’s bothering you,” Eden offers. 

He waves her off good-naturedly. “I’ll live. I miss it some days, but not enough to indulge, and the occasional almost-contact high is pleasant enough.” He takes a bite and breathes out a sigh of satisfaction. “Mm. You guys see Joel come in through the garden door?” 

“I locked him out the front,” Midge explains. “Susie’s idea.” 

Lenny chuckles.

 Midge turns to him, smiling a little. “We should take a vacation soon.” 

“Yeah?” Lenny ponders, his eyebrows lifting. “Where to this time?” 

Midge shrugs thoughtfully. “Maybe back to Miami.” 

“Good memories,” he beams. “I’m in. You wanna leave tomorrow or what?” 

“You have a gig tomorrow,” Midge reminds him. 

“Rats. We’ll figure it out.” 

“What happened in Miami?” Julia asks as she wanders into the kitchen and steals a bite of Lenny’s cake. 

“Oh, this is good and romantic, you’ll like this one,” Midge tells her, gesturing for both women to have a seat. “I was on tour with Shy Baldwin.” 

“And I was living in a crummy motel by the water,” Lenny chimes in. 

“And one day, I’m sitting at the bar of the Fontainebleau, writing dick jokes…” 

**** 

Eventually, the night winds down completely and people start heading out. 

Esther, Kitty and their families are staying over, as well as Susie, but everyone else is heading home, or in Lan, Charlie and Mei’s case, their hotel. 

Lenny hugs all the kids and sleepy grandkids, saying his goodbyes. As he gets older, the end of the night feels like it gets harder every time. Maybe one day, it will be the last time he says goodbye to these people he adores so much.

“Stop looking so maudlin,” Lily chides him playfully as they hug. “Yom Kippur is in like two weeks, and we’ll all be back to eat another big, over-the-top meal.” 

“Yes, I know, but I miss you when you’re not here,” he admits. “I like when all the kinder are together.” 

“Even when we’re ready to eat each other out of hunger?” Chaim asks as he hefts Bram into his arms. 

“Especially then, it’s a free show,” Lenny jokes. 

“Time for us to go, too,” Moishe says as he shuffles to the door, hugging and kissing on his way. “I will be here with bells on for Yom Kippur.” He eyes his six grandchildren. “Can all of you behave for Yom Kippur?” 

“Yes, Zeyde,” they chorus, earning chuckles and soft laughs from their partners. 

Midge kisses all of the kids and grandkids too, waving them off, and Joel wanders out after Moishe. She stands up a little straighter and smoothes out her dress. “Goodnight, Joel.” 

He nods silently before disappearing down the front steps, and she sighs softly as Lenny settles his hands on her upper arms comfortingly.

“Maybe he doesn’t come to Yom Kippur,” Lenny offers. “Maybe Ethan goes to get Moishe and Joel just…does his own thing.” 

“Please, fuck, that sounds like a dream,” Susie groans. 

Ella giggles sleepily from Daniel’s arms. “Fuck.” 

Lenny lets out a short, sharp laugh, and closes the front door. 

END

[ricardian-werewolf]

8: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

(Yes, Spoiler alert! A CROSSOVER!) Ao3 Link

Summary:

Nikolai explains finally how he took the crown, and dominik begins to unravel that there are layers to him that not even he as his lover knows of. Deep in Dva Stolba, a miracle occurs that shatters all of the plans anyone has.

Scene clip below the cut:

“Careful, Dominik. They also happened to secure my throne. Well, one of them did…” Nikolai’s fingers snapped, and the tent’s flaps were pulled wide to admit six figures;

The first was a boy with slicked back black hair, sharp eyes and a face made seemingly of marble. At his elbow - she was that small - was a suli girl with dark eyes and a gaze that made Dominik shrink back in his seat. Looming over the boy’s shoulder was a gangly Zemeni fellow armed with two pearl-handled revolvers and a jaunty top hat. At His elbow was a boy with freckles, ginger hair and goggles perched on his forehead. He looked about 15, and skittish. 

Dominik’s gaze focused in on the other two, a hulking Fjerdan glaring daggers at Dominik, and at his side a red-kefta clad woman with red hair. She swayed uneasily on her feet, and clung limply to the Fjerdan’s arm. Dominik had a vague memory of seeing this girl before, and then he remembered Kermazin with a jolt of fear.

“Easy,” Nikolai cooed, and settled back on his chair. It seemed like now any seat he sat upon was a throne. He radiated such power that Dominik was inclined to wonder What these teenagers had done to afford his brother and lover such a boon. So, he stirred his coffee, added a costly spoonful of sugar, and opened his mouth.

“How?”

Nikolai leaned forward, and flashed his teeth.

“Jurda Parem.”

Dominik’s brow quirked up in curiosity. 

“It’s a stimulant. The Fjerdans have been experimenting with it on Grisha. It’s highly , dangerously addictive.” Nikolai’s gaze softened as he glanced at the Grisha on the Fjerdan’s arm, and he clicked his tongue. He’d burned the parem the moment Matthais had told him - after swearing fealty to this new Opjer king.

Oh, yes.

Nikolai had killed Rasmus, and taken the throne. He had used the Black Protocol’s chaos to crown himself King, and inspire a revolt amongst the Drüskelle. Two Years of working with the common people as a nobleman had earned their favor, and with a new crop of Drüskelle coming in to replace the old guard, Nikolai’s word was law. 

“I made it my first edict that the Parem experimentation would stop instantly.” 

“What about Jarl Brum and the entirety of Fjerdan society?!” Dominik hissed. 

Nikolai’s face turned stony. He waved his hand to dismiss the guards and these teens, but then hesitated. 

His gaze turned back to Dominik, and he sighed. The two years of exile seemed to press down on him in that moment more than they had in weeks. Pulling his hands through his blonde hair, Nikolai pressed his palms to his eyes, and sighed deeply. A sick feeling wormed its way into Dominik’s gut. 

“It took a lot of work. Being inserted into Fjerdan society as an adult raised partially by Baba Anya, made for this to be one of the rudest awakenings I’ve experienced. And I’ve had some pretty rude awakenings.” Nikolai’s grin cracked and he peered down at the map. 

“I had to repress…” He fluttered his hands nervously and patted down his pockets for something. Dominik instinctively pulled out a fountain pen and tossed it to him. Nikolai grinned, stuck the barrel in between his teeth and gnawed on it. 

“-myself. Every part of myself. Fjerdan society before I got on the throne was so… masculine that the suppression isn’t even suppression, it’s socially acceptable. And yes, I know-” He glared at Dominik’s serious face. “Installing a new societal system into an already existing system is grounds for mistrust, disaster, and so on. But, beneath that veneer, by being one with the people, I found less so pockets of resistance, but the breakdown of monoliths. Ravka, and for good reason, sees Fjerda as a fundamentally singular thing: backwards. While militaristically light years ahead of us, they’re backwards in their social perceptions. At first glance. Under the surface, there’s radicals, centrists, and Jarl Brum alikes who want to march Fjerda to endless war. That’s why the Fjerdan law forces the noble families to compete for the throne. However, over the last… two centuries or so, it’s been cornered by the Grimjers.”

[simizzy-writes]

Hey there, I hope you’re doing well! I really love Sanguine Rose and its sequel. You’re so talented!

May I request a Law x fem!reader where Law is being imprisoned and violently interrogated to give up reader’s location because she is one of Shanks’s children and the WG wants to use her to control the Yonko, please? The WG knows Law knows about her because they’ve fucked.shit.up (tm) publicly a few times now. Law refuses to give her up and when she (with Luffy and co.) come to rescue him she demands to know why he didn’t give her secret up (spoiler alert: because he has Big Boy Feelings for her). Maybe (if you want, no pressure) Shanks later finds a way to contact Law to thank him for helping keep reader safe? Thank you so much!!

thank you for being so sweet and patient 💕💕 i had fun writing this one! ngl, i lowkey think that a father-in-law/son-in-law dynamic between Shanks and Law is PERFECTION

Pairing: Trafalgar D. Water Law x Fem!Reader

Warnings: none. just fluff.

A/N: no but really - shanks and law being father-in-law and son-in-law?? wouldn't that be great?? idk why?? help -

It wasn’t that he thought that he was going to die. No, it wasn’t that.

It was more like that he, deep down, knew that however this ended, Law would have to tell you. He wasn’t prophetic, but his gut feelings were rarely wrong. He’d have to come clean about his feelings, wouldn’t he?

The beatings were nothing. The blood dripping into his eyes was an inconvenience. The way his lungs burnt with each breath was just a minor discomfort. He felt weak because of the seastone chains. Not because of any other reason. None whatsoever. 

Despite his agony, Law smiled. The satisfaction he felt as his interrogators grew more and more frustrated - even desperate - was delicious to him. Let these World Government dogs whimper and beg. It suited them.

And really, they were begging at this point. But no matter what they did, Law wasn’t going to tell them a damn thing. 

“This is a waste of time,” he told them. “If you think that using [Name] as leverage will get Shanks to do what you want, well…Only the World Government could come up with a stupid idea like that.”

He winced as he was struck once more. Blood filled his mouth, and curiously, he didn’t mind it so much.

But before another word could be uttered, the room came crashing down. Stone and dust filled the air, and all hell broke loose. 

“Oi, Traffy!”

“Straw-Hat-ya?”

And there, in all of his chaotic glory, stood Luffy. A blinding light shone behind him as he laughed. Using his abilities, he used one arm to grab Law, and used the other to reach for the ceiling. Or, rather, what was left of it. 

The speed in which Luffy flung himself and Law into the air made the latter’s head spin. 

“Why are you here?” Law questioned.

With a beaming smile that could shame the sun, Luffy replied, “[Name] asked for our help. She said that you were being tortured because they wanted to get to Shanks.”

“You knew that she was his daughter?”

Luffy looked down at him in bewilderment as he landed the both of them amongst the other Straw Hats. “Yeah. Didn’t you? I thought that everyone knew that.”

“You’re only saying that because you grew up with her! Nobody knows that, Luffy,” cried Usopp. “Why did they even want Law in the first place? How does he know [Name]?”

Law grit his teeth as he sat helpless amongst the Straw Hats. It would seem that they fought hard, each other showing signs of a battle. He set his jaw, unwilling to offer an explanation to the sniper.

“Because Law and I have history.”

You were the source of those words as you emerged from some obscured source in his peripheral. You approached Law, kneeling down to release him of his chains. A wave of strength coursed through his veins - the tell tale sign that he was in full control of his powers again. 

You smiled at him weakly, feeling ashamed that he had suffered so thoroughly just because he knew you. “Law - “

“Whatever you’re going to say, don’t,” he said. “I didn’t tell them anything, so you shouldn’t worry.”

“I was afraid,” you whispered. “I didn’t want you to hurt because of me. I wanted to turn myself over to them. They’re foolish for believing there was even a hint of a chance at their plan working. Father would never - “

“Stop,” Law breathed. “If you handed yourself over to these animals, they would have tortured you. Just like they did to me. Don’t make me think about that.”

“Don’t try to take my regret from me,” you countered. “My heart aches seeing you like this, Law. It breaks knowing that it’s because of me.’

It was Zoro who interrupted the both of you. 

“If you two love-birds are done, let’s get out of here. We still need to fight our way out of here.”

—

You watched the sunset together often as Law recovered, and on the evening when it was time to say your goodbyes, you found yourself hesitant to do so. But Law had plans for the future, and so did you. No matter how deeply you wished for the two of you to be together, it wasn’t quite the right time.

“Do you remember when we met?” you asked. 

“Of course I do.”

The memory played out before the two of you like an invisible play, each element of the story unique to their respective points of view. It was a fond memory for you both.

Law stared out towards the horizon, gray eyes focused and undiscerning. You wondered if you would ever know the inner workings of his soul. Perhaps, one day, he would let you in. Together, you would map out each other’s scars and hearts and relish in each other’s beauty. 

You had reached for his hand, and he hadn’t pulled away. He looked at you, carefully memorizing every detail of your face. He pressed it upon his memory, promising himself that he would never forget it. Maybe, just maybe, you could understand what he was feeling right now. And whether it was coincidence or some hidden talent of yours, you had squeezed his hand affectionately, and smiled. It seemed like yes, you did understand. 

Together with you was where he wanted to be, always.

—

The town market was busy. He strolled about aimlessly, only stopping to visit briefly with his crew members who had questions about what they needed to stock up on. There was little to interest Law here, so he decided to walk further into town. But as he passed a nondescript merchant, he found his attention piquing curiously. 

The merchant was waving him over vigorously, a wide grin on his face. 

“Hey, you! Yeah, you! Captain of the Heart Pirates! I got something for ya.”

Cautiously, Law approached. He glared at the man sternly, grip tightening on his nodachi. “What could you possibly have for me?”

The merchant held out a large bottle of sake. The bottle was beautiful, and Law recognized the name on the bottle. This brand of sake could easily go for a million berry, so why was the merchant insisting that he take it?

“There’s a card that I’m supposed to give you, too,” explained the merchant. The man produced said card, and pushed it into Law’s hands. “There! Now shoo, I’ve got customers!”

Law eyed the bottle and card in his hands. Perhaps it was better to investigate this away from the busy streets of the market. So, deciding to bring them back to his office on the Polar Tang, he made his way back to the yellow submarine. 

Once he was in the privacy of his room, Law placed the bottle on his desk, and he sat down in his chair to read the card. In careful script, he read:

To the Good Doctor –

Thank you for protecting my darling dove.

Have a drink on me.

–Shanks

P.S. You’ll make a fine son-in-law! I approve!

A smirk pulled at Law’s lips. He tapped the card against his fingers, gray eyes looking back towards the bottle. 

“Cheers, Emperor.”

[smolvenger]

Used Goods, Part Two

Summary: You are betrothed to marry your dear Prince Hal. But you are informed of a law that says that the woman who marries the prince or king must be chaste or else you are committing treason. That is unless someone tells the Prince before the marriage. This forces you to go to your beloved and confess how you were sexually assaulted as a child. How will he react? Is your engagement now over?

Warnings: Discussions of Past Sexual Abuse, Some Angst around the middle but lots of Fluffy and Hurt/Comfort Moments. . Discussions of marriage, and a bit of mild violence at the end. Spoiler Alert: Hal respects women.

A/N: Hi guys! The inspiration for this was that I was reading about Catherine Howard, the fifth of the six wives of Henry VIII, and how it was because of the Law of Contract, that she was not a virgin when she married the king (in addition to her allegedly wanting to commit adultery) that she was executed. So it gets...cathartic and dramatic. The actual assault is never portrayed but discussed.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm on a huge Tom Hiddleston kick so I HAVE to write something with my personal favorite (non-Loki) character of his, my boy/Babygirl Prince Hal. This is super indulgent hurt/comfort and fluff, so enjoy!

“Y/N, are you in danger? Are you being threatened?” he asked, placing a hand on your shoulder.

“No, I am not…” you responded.

“Are you sick?”

“No, it’s only…I just…I just found out…your father’s advisor, Warwick, he just visited me.”

“Oh, Warwick! The wisest, good fellow. He always defends me before father when I need it most,” Hal commented.

You sat down on a chair in front of the crackling fire. Hal looked back at you.

“What is it, my love- you’re trembling!”

Looking down, your hands were shaking. Your lips were quivering yet no sound came out.

“ And what about the…the Law of Contract. Did he…what did he say to you?”

He sat down on the chair near you. His brows furrowed and there was a darkness in his eyes. Dear God, he was going to get angry, you feared. But it had to be over with. You crossed your arms over, slumping in your chair.

“He only reminded me of it. He said I cannot be an unchaste woman and marry you. But…Henry…Henry, Hal, Harry I…”

The words wanted to come out of you…but it was not quite there. You saw his grip on his knee begin to clutch.

“Y/N…we are alone. You are safe, you can tell me.” He assured you.

“Henry…I won’t be entering this marriage a virgin…” you confessed.

You saw the expression on his face had only changed with his eyebrows raising.

“So you”

The words came out of you, the most important detail of it all.

“But it wasn’t my choice!” you cried.

He froze. There was silence except for the fire. You put a hand over your mouth and backed deeper into the chair.

“You mean…”

Then it went alight, his blue eyes blinked and then went big. His beautiful face turned stark white. He walked up to you. You wondered what he would do- strike you? Chide you? Break you off at the spot.

You flinched a little when his hand went up, but you realized it was to touch yours. He knelt to you as you sat on the chair, in front of the fire.

“My lady…when did this happen?” he asked kindly.

So, his anger earlier was not at you, thank goodness! But there was a seriousness in him.

“I…I was a child. Nine years old, I think…I don’t remember my age exactly…”

“What do you remember? Can you tell me?” he asked.

“I can…I remember…some…”

You looked into the fire. Maybe not looking at him would make talking about it easier.

“It was an Easter gathering. My family was around. So many cousins and children and grandchildren…so many in such a big house, no one would notice if two grandchildren slipped away to play…”

Your heart began to pick up speed. The words couldn’t be formed. Yet Henry’s squeeze of hands gave you strength. It made you turn, look him in the eye, and recount what happened.

“He…my cousin he…he was then a youth, an adolescent…he took me to one of the guest rooms. Then he asked me…asked me to take off my clothes. At first, I said no and then I stopped. I was curious. I wanted to know what would happen. He made me feel special, chosen, lucky- so I said I changed my mind and yes. So, I did. And then he took off his clothes…he took me on the bed and…”

They were stuttering out of you, like a babbling brook trying to ease its way from a crack in the wall.

“I didn’t…I didn’t know what was going on. Finally, I remember crying at the end. I felt his…his…his manhood, you know. Then I begged him at last, crying, to stop…and he stopped. We redressed. He ordered me not to tell anyone…”

“And did you?” he asked.

You felt the touch of his hand on your face, and you turned to look at him. Now tears were welting in your eyes.

“I told my parents and my brother…”

“And what did they do?” Hal asked.

“He was banned from the house for a few months…then all continued as normal. They said he cried and felt guilty and that relieved him of the guilt apparently. He enters our house and prances freely like any other guest. He is married now- the most beautiful, kind, bright lady. I don’t have the heart to tell her. IF anyone else in the family knew, they pretend like it never happened…”

Hal got up; he paced the room briefly. Then with great force he went to the wall and slammed a fist against it, huffing out in frustration. The noise made you jump. You dropped your head into your hands to cry, steadying your breath. He returned to you.

“Which cousin of yours did it?” he asked.

You cupped his ear and whispered a name. You looked up a few of his golden curls were undone. His eyes were large and he ungritted his teeth when he looked at you.

“Henry…go ahead. Let me go. Set me free. That’s the law.”

With ragged breathing, you began to slip the ring off your finger.

“I am not fit to be your wife, princess, much less your queen. That’s what it says. I committed treason against you- you, my dearest gift from heaven, the love of my life- long before I even met you. And I will not be the one who betrays or ruins you.”

Tears went down your cheeks and you did your best to stay still, somewhat calm. You held the ring and offered it to him. His face was white and his jaw was tight.

“So go ahead, Henry- I won’t mind. It is what it is. End the betrothal.”

There was a pause. Silence again.

Then he went up to you and embraced you. He smelled of the horses he liked to ride in the mornings, but you didn’t mind at all. It was all-encompassing and warm. You let yourself relax into it.

“I won’t,” you heard him say.

He then knelt again and put the ring back onto your finger.

You let out a little gasp and then with it let the tears break into your voice. Your face scrunched. You leaned into him. You buried it into the redness of his leather jacket. He didn’t care for any stains it got despite its beauty. You hugged him tight, and he even rocked you a little. You let yourself cry heavier into him, and you felt his hand on his back.

Hal knew of rape, especially from war stories. He was raised to be a warrior as well as a prince. Once he even told his Eastcheap friends one night that during those wars, virginities could be purchased cheaply. That the threat of rape to village women would motivate any defiant town to surrender its gates to an army in a second.

You might as well be one of those village women.

Yet, how little did he think! How foolish he was! Guilt tightened his throat as he felt you shake with crying in his embrace.

How he had yet to not only gain his lady’s trust…but to hear of this. He didn’t think of those “virginities” as real women, real people. He didn’t think what they would go through and live beyond that hour of terror. That it would haunt them all their lives and torment them if they did not die that moment. That every day there were wars being fought and raged over women’s bodies…and that even the most beloved, respected, and treasured, wonderful woman in the world, you…

Those women were just more of you, and more to cry in front of fireplaces in their fiancé’s arms. And that was if they survived! To think if only he had been around to protect you! Had he failed you already?

God Above, he would not fail you again. Not now or ever.

“You won’t?” you repeated his words.

“I won’t. Y/N, I’m going to marry you, no matter what.”

You blinked rapidly.

“But the law…”

“Fie the law- I am the Prince of Wales, and soon the King of England…”

He released the hug, clutching both of your hands.

“Why must we submit to strict, unnecessary laws when we are kings? Rulers? Why should we be old-fashioned when we can make rules of our own? I say…when we are on the throne, we shall make our own laws, our own rules as we want them…” he boasted.

He swallowed. You wiped a few tears with your sleeve.

“I’m a traitor according to the law…” you pointed out.

“It wasn’t your own decision…how can an innocent child know?! All the more reason…I will make sure the law doesn’t touch you. And anyone who says otherwise…I’ll take care of him. Exile at least sounds wise,” Hal pointed out.

He released your hands. You folded them in front of you, eyes dipping to the stone floor beneath you.

“But Hal…I’m spoiled goods…”

He shook his head.

“No! Don’t you dare call that about yourself! There is nothing spoiled or damaged about you…”

He touched your chin and then pressed his forehead to yours.

“You’re a brave woman, Y/N…” he praised quietly.

“I’m not a soldier or a knight, I don’t fight with swords like you…” you denied.

“You just told The Prince of Wales a dark secret that in the wrong hands could have gotten you arrested or worse! And…when we are married, that blessed, blessed day…we will have to learn all about each other. What is good…and what is bad, what is secret, shameful. You gave me your weakness, your shame and…chose to confide in me…and Y/N…”

His own eyes began blinking with tears.

“It makes me even prouder that I’ll be your husband…”

You smiled, the tears starting to dry. You even held onto his arms. Then you began to shake, looking at him.

“Oh, my dear Hal…I was so terrified!” you confessed.

You broke again into sobs, sinking onto the floor. He went down and embraced you again, putting a light touch on your back and whispering assurances.

“It’s alright, you’re safe, my beautiful girl, you’ll always be safe with me…you’re safe, my lamb, you’re safe...”

You pulled away to wipe your tears. He again clutched your hands. His nostrils flared and his eyes steeled.

“I swear to you…I will never hurt or betray you. I will never force you into my bed or lay a hand on you when you do not want It or know of it. I will never take advantage of you as my wife to inflict my will on you…spurn me from your bed, tell me no, lie that you are sick- strike me hard and scream, even! And I will go away…” he promised.

You began to blink.

“But…you’re the-“

“Yet here when you are with me, I am your servant, Y/N! Make me your servant and I will be content.”

He reached down to kiss your hand, just as he did when you agreed to marry him. He looked back up at you. He then cupped your cheek.

“My poor, brave lady…where your family once spurned and hurt you, here- in my family, you will be the most loved. Where once you were the most ignored, here the most listened to. And once the most hurt, here the safest and respected of all.”

You cupped his face, smooth and cold. Sweetly, you gave him a small kiss on his lips and the last embrace after.

“Hal…thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He led you to stand up. You cleared up what tears you had left and smoothed your gown.

“I have this meeting for another hour. I’ll ask the servants to bring you a drink…you could live here in the palace with us from now on if you would like. I’m sure as long as we’re in separate rooms until the wedding, your family and mine would approve.”

You nodded.

“Yes, I would.”

“My father adores you. He will be thrilled.”

He took your hand again and then began to walk you to the door.

“You must dine with me and my brothers tonight. They’ll make you smile. And I must tell you- my father and brothers plan on playing their little game of dice and this later afternoon. Usually, I’d be away but today…we both will join them. Though I must warn you- my brother, John, is far too good at it and wins every time. I’ll ask him to go easy on you.”

You smiled.

“I would love that,” you said.

“I must finish this meeting, but I will make sure there is always a guard by you and a servant to bring you anything you could want from the kitchen…”

He led you out. Thankfully, no snooping lord was at the door minus the guarding knights. Those lords were chatting among themselves in that large stone hallway.

“I shall look forward to it, my lord” you answered demurely, aware that you were now not alone.

He gestured for a knight to step by.

“Stay by the lady. Attend to her today. And bring one of the castle maids to fetch a cup of sack for her today…see she is not left alone until I am with her in an hours’ time.”

He turned to you.

“When I return, would you like to visit the gardens, my lady?” he offered.

“I would, my lord. I will see you then,” you said.

You exchanged polite bows and curtsies as goodbye.

Gesturing the lords to return, Hal vanished behind the doors with the other lords. But little did they know that beneath the chair, their prince had his hands curled into fists.

“One more thing gentleman, I must know of the address of a certain gentleman…” The Prince announced.

“How come?” asked one.

“He hasn’t paid his taxes” the Hal lied.

When the worries of the crown got too much to him, the King could not sleep. That night was no different. He paced about the hall, his footsteps echoing the halls away from the peaceful lute music. Letting out a sigh, he decided the best way to pass the time of night and to get his mind off, was to begin to pick and prepare for the room where you, his dear future daughter-in-law would be staying. It would be a pleasant change perhaps. Since Hal suggested it at dinner with approval, he might as well begin the work. He arose a few servants to pick a place, have blankets cleaned, and to pick a rug perhaps you would like.

He didn’t notice his rebellious son sneak out of the castle, cloaked and armed with a dagger, and march into the stables. The white stallion was his usual favorite, but the prince Hal chose the black horse. That would not stick out in the night. He wanted no warning.

He galloped straight there. His high status permitting a smooth ride with no stops from any guards.

Hal arrived right at the address he knew of. Keeping the cloak over his face, he knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” a female voice asked from inside.

“Stay there, I shall see to them…” a male voice replied near her.

The door opened and the man inside- the cousin Y/N spoke of- looked up to see the cloaked figure.

“Who goes there at this late hour at night? Are you a messenger?” he asked.

“Step outside. Close the door.”

The cousin did.

“What do you want, eh?” he asked, head tilting.

Two hands reached from the cloak and pulled down the hood. It was the red, fuming face of England’s Prince, Lord, and Sovereign.

The Cousin’s jaw dropped. He backed a step, arms in front of him to keep from falling.

“Why- it’s…your grace!”

As he stepped back one foot to attempt to bow, it was interrupted as The Prince’s fist reached forward, grabbing his collar and the other went over his mouth.

Hal dragged the Cousin to the shadow of the house, pinned him to the wall, and punched him right in the face. He let out an “AHH!”

“Did you assault her grace, The Princess of Wales?”

“She…she isn’t married yet…she’s not a princess…” The Cousin replied.

Hal slammed him against the wall with his fists, he then curled him closer to his face.

“She is to me and now tell me!”

The cousin’s face turned white except for the blood from his lip.

“You forced the young Princess of Wales- my wife- to unspeakable acts reserved between man and wife- did you not?” Hal asked.

Blubbering, the man trembled out a weak “…yes…but I was a youth!”

“You were old enough to know better!” Hal retorted.

“I’ve repented-“

It was interrupted by another punch to his ear.

“Do not speak of your repentance as you walk about guiltless!”

Hal caught his breath. He should kill the man as he stood, perhaps. But not without great consequences for himself. Perhaps he could deal with some angry in-laws, but if the Chief Justice could throw him in prison once, perhaps he would do it again.

He didn’t think if he saw this man again that he could restrain himself as much as here.

“From now on, you are not allowed in this kingdom. And if you are ever seen within ten feet of her person, I will order you to be executed on the spot…” Hal threatened.

“Jesu, beheaded!?” the cousin cried.

“No- noblemen are beheaded. You deserve to be shot at with my arrows and have them dragged across your stomach until your intestines spill about!” Hal raged.

The Cousin began to shake.

“Gather your things and flee before I lose what mercy I have in my heart. This is your Prince’s command- do you understand!” he barked.

“Yes!”

The prince threw him into the mud. He then placed a boot onto the cousin’s chest and spoke from above like an avenging male fury.

“I will see you tomorrow at this hour and see if it is done, and if not…”

He opened his cloak to flash the dagger.

“I will slit your throat. I will tell other thieves did it…” he hissed.

The cousin nodded.

“I will report this!”

“And then I’ll tell your wife what you did!” Hal argued.

The Cousin let out a gasp, his air making fog into the coldness of that wintry air of the night.

“Now leave- I never wish to see your disgusting face again!” Hal spat, removing his boot.

The cousin scrambled back into the house. The prince returned to his horse and rode back home.

That morning, you returned with a few royal servants and your family to bring some of your possessions. There was already word that a room for you was ready and that it was time already.

“It’s here, I have been told” a knight explained as he escorted you through.

As you were allowed into the room, you noticed two sights- one was Prince Hal with some wildflowers. The second was more extraordinary. Hal’s father, King Henry, was curled up asleep on the bed, in a fetal position. His gray robes around him. Your jaw dropped.

“My lord, wha-“

He raised a finger to his lips.

“He hasn’t slept this well in ages…let him…”

He gently led everyone out.

He greeted you by kneeling down and pecking your hand politely. A gesture usually reserved for servants to royalty, but the most powerful young man in the country reserved it for you.

“My lord, your skin beneath your eyes seems dark…have you not been sleeping well too? Were you up late as your father?” you asked.

He shrugged it off and grinned.

“I had some business to take care of. But my lady, here- a gift for you. I ask you to accept it!”

He handed you the flowers. With a little gasp, you accepted, bringing them to your nose for their fresh scent.

“They’re lovely, thank you dearly, my lord!” you cooed.

“Anything for my darling lady.”

[rosiewitchescottage]

The Chosen S4 - Finale

Some theories based on what we've been given.

Spoilers aplenty, so continued below.

Joseph of Arimathea - Yusuf's been a front runner throughout. But I think we can be pretty much certain now.

Even were a new character to be introduced in S5, why else would so much have been invested in Yusuf?

We even have his father as a family friend of Lazarus, sitting Shiva with Martha and Mary when Jesus arrived. He witnessed Lazarus coming out from the tomb.

And he was there to see Little Sister Mary anoint Jesus with priceless oil.

Which provides a segue into

Judas and Shmuel - "I have a bad feeling about this."

I suspect that these two will be working rather closer than is healthy, somewhere between the supporters of Jesus and those plotting his death.

No. I don't think that either wants Jesus dead. But they're so caught up in their own idea of what should be happening.

Judas believes in Jesus' Messianic status. But he completely misunderstands what it means, and is increasingly frantic to see it go the way he thinks it ought to.

Shmuel wants to believe. He's spoken with Jesus, prayed with Jesus and knows that there's something extraordinary about him.

But he's so hung up on the Letter of The Law that he can't see any other way than strict, unerring adherence.

Like Judas and many others, he believes that Messiah will defeat Rome, so that Israel can lead the world to God.

Both so close yet so far.

My theory is that they will plot to get Jesus to The Sanhedrin to force his hand.

Shmuel has heard Caiaphas (?) and Co saying that they will have to get Rome to dispose of Jesus.

So Shmuel and Judas will get Jesus to The Sanhedrin, so he will have to go face to face with and directly oppose Rome.

We know how that's going to go. 😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥

Joanna and Claudia - As Jesus rides towards Jerusalem on his colt, with the all important bridle in place, and The City is preparing to welcome him.

Joanna burns her final bridge, jumping from her husband's carriage to joyously join the crowds.

There's an unspoken understanding between herself and Claudia, that following Jesus will give them both the Faith that has the Jewish people making the arduous journey to Jerusalem to worship and celebrate.

Joanna has taken that first step, after all she was already distanced from her husband.

Claudia is another matter. I wonder if she will disguise herself to go and see Jesus enter the city?

She's already been dreaming of him, but she hasn't seen him in the flesh yet.

The fact that we learned of her dreams back in S3.

That makes me think that she might see that he is the man from her dreams, earlier than when he comes to trial before her husband.

If she sees him as soon as he is entering Jerusalem. Then we'll have the whole of Holy Week in S5 for the poor woman to wrestle with her knowledge.

She's heard Herod and her husband talking about Jesus. She knows that The Sanhedrin have him in their sights.

She has 'A Bad Feeling' about where it's all heading. And I wonder what it'll mean for her relationship with her husband?

The Centurion at The Cross - How they're keeping us guessing about this!

Will be be introduced to us at the start of S5?

With this rapturous procession about to enter The City. Pilate's troops will have to be on high alert for trouble.

And, of course there will be their centurions in charge of them.

I suspect we will be getting to know the soldiers who will be performing the gruesome work of The Passion. There's the flogging, crowning with thorns, driving Jesus along Via Dolorosa to The Crucifixion at Golgotha. 😥😥😥😥😥

(One hopes that they won't be the drunken,maniacally giggling cariacatures that we had in The Passion of The Christ. 🙄🙄🙄)

This said. I can still see possible ways for Atticus and Gaius to be at least involved.

Atticus has completely terrified Pilate by letting his cocky, self assured face drop, to show a man who's seen, with his own two eyes, things that he just can't explain away.

He's seen a Zealot have his sica thrown into the river, but kneel and pledge his service to the man who disarmed him.

A man whose crippled brother now walks and dances on his own two feet.

He's seen a man walking on the storm tossed Sea of Galilee.

And he's seen a man mourned as dead for four days, walk out of his tomb alive and well.

Atticus is frantic to find out what's happening, how, why and what it means for Rome.

Could he be there to hear Jesus speak words of forgiveness for the soldiers crucifying him, tell a guilty, repentant criminal that they will be together in Paradise, make sure his Eema will be protected, in the midst of his own agony?

Will this convince him that at least The Kingdom Jesus speaks of is not one Of This World?

Gaius is now being treated as a friend in Capernaum. All our Galilean Chums heading towards Jerusalem are asking if he and his family will be coming along too, seeing as most of Capernaum will be out of town.

Having his duties as Praetor, Gaius politely declines, but asks for his thanks to be passed onto Jesus and 'Shalom, Shalom' to Simon Peter and Matthew.

But what if he and his wife have a change of mind? Things are quiet and peaceful in town, Gaius can leave orders for what needs doing.

This is their perfect change to see this all so important city and The Temple.

Little do they know what they'd be present to witness.