#........ I also forgot stone ring heck

[creativesplat]

Do you have any head cannons for Alfred, Alear, Etie, and Veyle?

Thank you for the ask! :)

Alear: 

Has a massive scar where Sombron fatally wounded her, it occasionally still twinges, particularly when she’s stressed 

Likes almost every food under the sun. She's not the biggest fan of meat for breakfast, but aside from that, she isn't fussed. She loves practically everything.

She sometimes has nice dreams about children playing with her, or a sweet woman talking to her. These are vague half-heard things from her time asleep, like Queen Eve keeping her company when Lumera wasn't able to, or Alfred playing make-believe beside her bed when he was too poorly to go outside.

She never fully understands why the corrupted scare her so much.

Is the biggest sommie lover ever. She’s the sort of person to carry round photos of him and show them to everyone and then herself. She loves Sommie. So. Much.

Sleeps with Sommie on her bed when she’s frightened, or feels like she’s going to have nightmares 

She hates cooking but can. Like. Sort of. It’s bland and kind of meh, but at least it’s not what Alfred cooks. 

Sleepy. Always sleepy. Just a very tired bean. 

Only exercises and trains out of necessity, if she had it her way, she would do less of it. She is not the biggest exercise fan 

Slowly gains a few more memories after the war ends

The nightmares she gets are mainly memories that she repressed or half-forgot 

Enjoys playing with Veyle’s hair. She sometimes does haircare days with Seadall, Celine, and Veyle. 

She hated her red hair at first, but tries to start liking it, after Veyle mentioned struggling with accepting her Fell heritage. 

Plays the piano and sings well, that and polishing weapons and jewellery are some of her favourite hobbies 

If she was in a modern au she would be a bit of a gamer

Alfred: 

Literally a menace of a brother. Has stolen Celine’s makeup, hair kit, and perfume before, but also buys her the best teas ever so, she doesn’t complain (too much!) 

When he was sick as a child he cuddled Sommie a lot (because his family visited the Somniel and Lumera was a family friend)

Very fussy eater, he only eats ‘healthy’ food, and also crepes on occasion. He does like crepes. 

The WORST cook ever. Absolutely disgusting. 0/10 never let him cook

Picked up the flute to strengthen his lung capacity, and has become rather good at playing

He didn’t have many friends as a child, because he spent long stretches of it bed ridden, so he would play imagination games with Alear the Dragon princess, and Alfred the cool-and-strong prince. Most of them involved playing tag together but sometimes he would imagine them battling against evil armies (there was always a bad wizard who caused sicknesses in those) 

As a child he needed mobility aids, and particularly liked his wheel-chair (which he used with a hobby-horse sometimes) and later in life, when he had attacks of his illness, he had to use mobility aids again

Like the Pinterest of the Somniel. If Rosado is ever art-blocked he’ll just go and sketch Alfred 

He’s canonically a very handsome guy (Sharina’s intro etc) but he’s fairly oblivious to it. 

With such muscular retainers, and people like Seadall around, he can sometimes feel quite insecure 

Etie: 

Buff as heck. I don’t care about the character model. She’s ripped

Quite intense as a gym friend. She and Alfred sometimes egg each other on too much, and Boucheron has to step in to make sure they don’t hurt themselves via overexercising 

She has given Alfred food poisoning before with one of her ‘muscle stimulants’ 

Can jog for longer than Alfred. He is very jealous. 

She can almost lift the same weight as Boucheron, if she really pushes herself, and is working up to beating him in deadlifts 

Veyle: 

She keeps pieces of Alear’s dragon stone with her always, and eventually makes some of them into two rings, so she and Alear can always be connected 

Her spice tolerance is higher than anyone in the army

She doesn’t like milk or cream that much 

She needs her hair trimmed a lot, but mainly the black bits. She gets a lot of split ends. 

She really likes swimming, and is regularly at the pool 

Plays tactical RPGs with Robin and Lucina’s emblems. 

Sometimes imagines what life would have been like growing up with Lumera as her mother and Alear as her big sister.

[vampthropologist]

Ultimate Luck 🍀 Nagito Komaeda

Here’s my Nagito HC design! Full details under cut because I wrote a LOT

EDIT: I forgot to add that he’s autistic

HC Details/Additions:

Intersex- Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (basically mostly feminine body with undeveloped masculine reproductive system and a feminine reproductive system coexisting)

Raised female, but transitioned as young teen. Has not had too surgery, has a small chest and no dysphoria about them but might get it just out of convenience.

Genderfluid transmasc (neoboy usually)

Gay

Ectomorph - Meaning he is extremely lean with little muscle mass. He could eat as much as he wants but his body struggles keeping the wait. It doesn’t help that he simply doesn’t eat that much, to the point of sometimes only eating once a day (Much to everyone’s dismay)

Small chest, slightly larger hips and butt, little muscle, and sickly skinny

Can‘t catch a tan to save his life, but also doesn’t sunburn very easily. He might get some freckles though! They just fade when he’s not outside constantly.

Has asthma, though it’s not as bad as it could be because he took immunotherapy as a kid which helped with allergies. He forgets his inhaler a lot.

Autistic- He stims with his hands a lot, and rubs his patches (different textures). He also verbally stims, but he masks that most. In my opinion, most of his existing personality already aligns with someone with autism, but I won’t go into detail. (Also yes I am projecting with this diagnosis a tad bit but I do not care)

He’s the same height, just wears platform boots on top of that so he’s taller now.

Dry, fluffy, curly hair- He might have ringlets if it wasn’t so dry and sick. It gets bleached by the sun on top of the sickness so it’s extra pale. He probably bleached it at some point just for the heck of it. Point is, he has hair damage

Peircings- Right eyebrow, multiple on ears, used to have nose and bellybutton piercings

Eyes- there‘s no definite pupil how I drew them. This doesnt mean he has eye problems, though I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s to show he has a carefree look most of the time. He also has pale eyes too, which means they are sensitive to light and he would wear sunglasses if he cared about his eye health. Also he wears eyeliner, though it’s nothing special, just a wing or outline. He has under eye bags, whether they’re from his allergies (asthma) or lack of sleep is a mystery.

Injuries- he hurts himself often, so he has a lot of bandages. Usually he has bandages on his fingers, even though he might only have scabs. He doesn’t want to pick the scabs, and he thinks they look cute. The bandage on his neck is from a burn and the one on his nose is a cut. He also has messed up cuticles from biting his nails when younger a lot (another reason for bandaging them).

Hands- bandages from injuries, nail polish (he likes to paint them different colors, and when he starts biting his nails again he puts the bad tasting one on to stop himself, also his nails are very chipped), rings, usually up and in motion to emphasize his speech (he talks with his hands). He also writes reminders on his hands or arm sometimes. He’s ambidextrous.

Jewlery- various necklaces, bracelets, and rings from his travels. He has a belt chain and collects cute charms too. He also has a dog tag with his name on it, though a small corner broke off. He has clover and skull charms, some cuter ribbons and animal shapes (notably a dog one that he doesn’t take out too often) and an intersex charm for pride. He collects bangles, pearls, beads, kandi, and any type of chain or bracelet he can get his hands on. He also has rings on his fingers when they don’t have bandages, usually simpler bands and no stones. He has a ring from his parents on the same chain as his dog tag, but that’s one of the only ones he owns with stones. He wears a choker, and has a belt chain instead of a wallet chain.

Clothing- it’s the same, but the jacket and pants are more ripped up. His sleeves aren’t ripped either, but he has patches on his jacket and pants now. He especially likes the clover one on his right knee. He has patches from his travels as souvenirs, like locations, concerts, or shapes that symbolize something to him.

Shoes- They’re calf-high platforms with chunky bottoms. Lace-ups with scuff marks, but Special because he doodles on them when he gets bored (a lot of things about talents and hope on them, but also daily reminders for himself).

[prbni]

Dramione Headcanons/Prompts

(Note:Might update the post and tags according to the requirement)

A 15 y/o Scorpius Malfoy accidentally stumbles upon a pensive of his father, that contains the memories of a certain witch he had feelings for before he met Scorp's mother. Seeing the loneliness and despair that has fallen upon his father after the death of his mother Astoria, Scorpius decides to use the prohibited Time-Turner to change the courses of the past.

But this meant two things: he'd never be able to experience the love and warmth of his mother and....he probably would cease to exist.

"This is madness Scorp!" Albus shouted angrily. " Uncle Ron and Auntie Mione are happily married. They have loved each other for ages. And this also means,Rose wouldn't exist as well. Do you really intend to do this over the one-sided crush that your father had on Auntie Mione once upon a time?!"

Basically, Albus trying to convince him in all possible ways that this is a bad idea.

Cue to Ron and Hermione arguing at the backyard of Harry-Ginny's house. They even forgot to cast Silencing Charm. Hence,everyone including the kids heard their argument.

"Oh,stop behaving like you're the only one who has been compromising in this marriage!!! Did I tell you to give up your position in the Ministry of Magic? No!" Ron yelled. " Why are you even bringing this up?! I never said it was your fault or anything!"Hermione tried to reason. "BECAUSE I'M TIRED. TIRED OF EVERYONE PRETENDING LIKE YOU HAVE DONE ME A FAVOR BY MARRYING ME WHEN IT IS THE OPPOSITE!!!" "Wh-what do you mean?"Hermione asked meekly. Ron scoffed. "Your parents are gone,Hermione. If we didn't take you into the Burrow, you wouldn't have anywhere to go. You needed us. You needed me." Hermione looked like she was trying to process the words that Ron just said. Or maybe, she was just trying to convince herself that Ron is capable of saying something like this. It's just Ron being in a foul mood. He definitely doesn't mean it."Ron let's talk about this tomorrow, okay?" Hermione tried to calm herself down. "Harry and Ginny are probably waiting for us in the dining table."

"Why? Can't face the truth?" Ron sneered. "If you were sensible enough Ronald, we'd be having this conversation at our own home,with a Silencing Charm on and without children listening to this," Hermione retorted while hinting towards Albus and Scorpius behind them,who were looking warily back and forth between the older duo. It took a while before Ron realised what she meant and grudgingly complied to go inside the house.

Scorpius gave Albus a if-this-is-what-you-mean-by-them-being-a-happy-couple look.

"Well,older couples fight. My parents fight as well. Uncle Ron is a bit aggressive,you know. But they have been like this for years.Also we don't know what actually happened between them.See,Aunty Mione didn't even fight him back," defended Albus."She didn't fight back because she knew we were listening,Al. And I don't know but this sounded more like defamation than argument." Albus sighed loudly,aware that there's no point in arguing. "So, you're still keen on getting Mr.Malfoy and Auntie Granger together in the past?" he asked instead.

"I think now I'm even more keen on getting them together,"Scorpius replied with a slight grin.

Yule Ball AU: Draco is awed when Hermione descends downstairs.

His expressions form into a scowl when he witnesses Ron and Hermione's encounter,and it pisses him off to no end when he sees her crying.

"Pathetic shite really. Ruined the whole festive mood" he mutters to himself. Even all the purring and cooing of Pansy Parkinson beside him couldn't fix his mood."Well that's what she gets for gushing over Weaselby of all possible blokes. Even Longbottom or Potter would know better than making her cry at the Ball. Seems like Weasley lacks in everything,even courting manners. But well,what do I care?"

"Enough to disturb others' sleep through your late night self-indulgent altercations" a voice drawled in beside his bed.

"Seriously,mate. Try to sleep or let others sleep. This was a long,tiring day and we have a tournament ahead,"Theo grumbled from under the covers while Draco shot a glare at this direction.

Another Time Travel fic. This time it's Hermione and Draco going back to time for their own purposes but getting entangled in the middle as they decide to help each other out before returning to the original timeline.

"Be wise before you hold my hand,Granger" Draco said. "I'm not just offering you for a dance. I'm offering you for a lifetime with me. Once you accept this, you're never returning to Weasley."

If Hermione didn't know better what Draco looks like and sounds like when he's joking,she'd almost think this was just one of his attempts at flirting. But one look at his eyes and the intonation of his words sent her shivers.

"That's not how time traveling works,Malfoy. We aren't supposed to end up together. That's not why we're here,"she explained.

"It's okay,Granger. You can just tell me you don't want this,"he chuckled bitterly. "For if you did, you wouldn't care what happens and what's supposed to happen. You'd just join me without excuses."

"I'm not making excuses,Draco. I'm a mother as well. If I mess here in this timeline, they'd be gone there in the future,"seethed Hermione.

One of the common tropes here: Compulsory Marriage under Marriage Law post-war. Here, Hermione is literally fighting with the Ministry to prevent her marriage with Draco. While Draco reluctantly agreed to the marriage since this was the only way to save himself from landing into Azkaban, Hermione had a huge outburst.

"Minister,are you seriously telling me I have to marry this git?" Hermione scoffed in disbelief. "Now now Granger. That's not the way to refer to your future husband," Draco drawled in. She almost forgot Kingsley called both of them to talk about their compatibility in terms of marriage. "Quite rich coming from someone that called me filthy mudblood the entire time he'd known me".That seemed to shut Draco up. The Minister in the question coughed a bit to grab their attention. "Hermione, I'm sorry,okay? I tried talking with the other ministers about this. But nobody including myself seem to come up with a solution better than this." "Granger, don't act like this is a punishment only for you. If choices or circumstances were any better, I'd rather do a dirty dance with goblins of the Gringotts than showing up here and talk about the prospect of marriage....or whatever this is," Draco said in an annoyed tone."Serves you right for all the horrid things you were part of," Hermione replied to him and then turned to Shacklebolt, " I understand why and how this is a punishment to him. But this is a punishment to me as well. And what am I being punished for?"she almost cried out. Draco visibly flinched a bit. "Ever since I stepped into the Wizarding World, almost everyone has taken a knack of making a point to me that I'll never be good enough to belong here. So, I studied.I learnt as much as possible,more than anyone else and tried to dedicate myself to whatever it takes to make a perfect witch. Then, Voldemort returned. Second Wizarding War came along. Everyone talks about what or who has been lost who has made sacrifices but does anyone know I had to take it to myself to wipe out my parents' memories of me and drive them away because the Wizarding World cannot provide them with protection?!"Her eyes were glistened and voice became hoarse. "Hermione,you have to know I'm sorry and thankful-" "No,Minister. I'm not holding anyone accountable for what became of my parents. That's completely my own doing.What I'm trying to understand is after everything I've seen and been through, why am I to be hitched against my own volition to this rotten scum of a Deatheater?!" "Ex.Death. Eater,"Draco said in a dangerously low voice. "You have all the reasons to hate me,Granger. But don't carelessly throw around words like you know me. Despite all the hatred and animosity over the years, I tried to warn you during the Triwizard tournament. I didn't want you to end up at the Manor and I definitely didn't want this!"he shrieked pointing at her forearm where that eight-lettered word was curved in forever. "I didn't want this either," he said in a softer tone,pointing at his own forearm and own scar this time. "So,you see. I'm not the good guy that you'd want as your husband. But I'm not as evil as you expect me to be either." Draco's eyes held nothing but honesty and sincerity which took Hermione aback. "Have you said your piece?" she asked with a renewed vigor to which Draco nodded.

"I'd submit my wand and all magical articles to your office tomorrow,Minister. And return to the Muggle world for good. I shall take your leave now." With that she stomped out of the room without even sparing the other two wizards a glance or letting them speak.

Draco's boggart wasn't his father's disappointment in him. Heck it wasn't even the Dark Lord himself. His boggart was a certain Muggleborn witch crying and writhing in pain on the stone cold floor of the Manor,her screams ringing through the Manor walls tortured by his own aunt while he stands there like a coward, doing nothing,not even looking at her.

After being able to successfully able to restore her parents' memories using the Memory Charm,ever-so-curious Hermione Granger tries it on herself. What she didn't expect was an overwhelming rush of memories consisting of a certain very familiar blonde with very unfamiliar moments between them. Shock,surprise,sadness and anger crashed down on her altogether. Did anyone else know? Had he obliviated himself as well?

She knew accepting a dare from Weasley Twins meant trouble. Yet,when they called her a scaredy cat for trying to back down from the bet,she lunged into it. Even if that meant she had to stalk Draco Malfoy the annoying ferret for a week while disillusioning herself. What she didn't realise was that the thing that started as a dare would become habit while being thrust into a totally different perspective of what the-boy-who-made-her-school-life-hell really was.

She was tired of being called ‘boring’ and ‘no fun’. The one time she decided to pull on a prank was on someone no one would expect. Draco Malfoy. So,when an accident happens while concucting the Love Potion and the cauldron explodes,Hermione falls in love with her forever nemesis. Or should I say, pretends to fall in love with him.Draco Malfoy was already having a hard time accomplishing the task he was assigned with. A bushy headed witch being all sappy and clingy was the last thing he needed at the moment.

[inexchangeforyoursoul]

doing math for incoming coop session be like “bone dust and all estus I can manage: check. where did I even pick you up but w/e aka life ring: check. i don’t wanna go over 10k soul memory: check, I’m on 9930. mugenmonkey says my levels cost 7375 thus far, I also bought the falconer boots at 1200, and spent another 1200 at Melentia for a bomb that I did not end up using and Lenigrast’s Key, which makes it... 9775??? the heck... am I miss--- oOOOOH leftovers gotcha”

[prettywarriors]

Fate The Winx Commentary

Good morning internet! Today is the drop of Winx: Riverdale edition! I sure hope you're ready for my aggressive and unnecessary commentary, because it is coming for you either way!

The netflix landing page lets us know:

Fate The Winx Saga

6 episodes, 48-53 minutes each

"Genres: Fantasy TV Shows, Teen TV Shows, Italian TV Shows"

"This show is: Emotional"

As mentioned elsewhere, my Winx knowledge is limited, so I will be coming into this fairly fresh and will try to be unbiased. As I have seen trailers, the keyword here is Try.

Episode 1

'To the Waters and the Wild'

CW: Animal Death, Swears, Implied Child Death, Blood, Implied Teen Sex, Burns, Weed, Fatphobia, Whatever the term pussie falls under

Episode 1 TL;DR: We meet everyone, learn their dynamics, have the basics of the magic system beat into us, meet our monsters, and name drop Harry Potter. Standard first episode stuff.

I do want it on record before we start that I got about halfway into the first season of Riverdale, and the first season of Netflix Sabrina. They were, well, bland and boring imo? I did get through a few seasons of Teen Wolf, but that's because it was capable of Fun and Jokes. My current expectations are a few unintentionally funny lines, maybe some almost decent magic effects, and because it's 2021, one whole gay character (I did hear one of the boys (there are boys?) is bi, but also an asshole so I'm hoping for some wlw)

TV-MA LANGUAGE AND SMOKING OH FUCKING BOY Almost full moon (waxing) in opening shot- I Will be tracking moon inconsistencies if it keeps showing up that is a pet peeve but hey look a bunch of sheep That's a good start (it's ominous though. don't hurt the sheep) Swears count: Feckin' 2 Mystical portal barrier. Oh yeah s5 of the magicians is on netflix now WELP THOSE ARE SHEEP GUTS RIGHT OUT THE GATE HUH For CW it's up a tree, and the dripping blood is a good warning of what's about to be seen :( oh and then the man who was looking for the sheep dies offscreen save for a spray of blood. THIS ISN'T YOUR CHILD'S WINX CLUB it seems to say. I assume. How much blood was in the original winx because this is already at least a full cup. (Also the monster noises for whatever was chasing the man (werewolf it was a werewolf trailers are bad guys) were not very good)

Opening credit scene is 5-6 different blooming elemental wings. They're pretty, but it's unclear if the last one is secret 6th member wings (because the second to last ones are fire which is the main character's element right?) so maybe we'll get a late 6th addition? (I am in I.T. please give me the most relatable character you cowards)

KIDS IN THE CORNER BY AMBER VAN DAY PLAYING I like where they shot this but that might just be european woods pretty. The opening location was nice and mossy save for the sheep blood Fancy big stone school establishing shots (it's nice, and huge) and we land on a red head who seems less than pleased to be here Courtyard shot of... whatever the name of the replacment plant girl is, holding a tray of various potted plants for an older man (father? first day of school send off maybe?) Aisha(?) walks by, not talking to anyone, Stella(?) is taking Magical!Selfies with at least 3 other girls, Musa(?) has a suitcase and headphones and smiles at a passing girl Oh boy a boy with a pocketknife doing little tricks with it! Nothing says edgy like an actual knife edge. Gonna take this moment to point out I have some level of face blindness and while the girls all look fairly different from one another, if there is more than one tall blonde white boy as I fear there may be, I WILL NOT be able to tell them apart. Not through maliciousness, just general incompetence, so anything I say about the boy characters (I want to say they're the knights to the girl's faeries? is that right? this whole thing smacks of gender) should be taken with a heap of salt I've come to accept tv just. displaying text messages on screen as a storytelling method. It's never my favorite but it just Is a modern story element. Also Bloom needs to meet stella at the alfea gates Alfea I presume is the school- does the name mean something? It sure feels like the word elf and therefore fae but I don't feel like googling anything this early in Oh look two more blondish tall white boys. Pocketknife was wearing something else i think, one guy has a brown jacket and pink shirt (bad combo), the other looks old even by tv highschool/college standards and his jacket has a jock vibe. Jock jacket also has an earring? Is this the bi character who is an asshole? From this one second of him, only in profile, I will assume yes, he is an asshole I like Bloom's backpack Pink shirt looks at Bloom from across the quad. I am already tired of this romance Cool he walks up to someone he has identified as lost, and is 'impressed with [her] confidence in the face of complete ignorance' COMING OUT OF THE GATE WITH A NEGG HUH PINKY He even states he wasn't offering help Then Why Are You Talking To Her Jackass Subs are going with the fairy spelling, and Bloom confirms she is a fairy and we confirm this is College. Unless this is a european thing where they call schools different things. I think that's just for public and private? And maybe just england? I'm American all they teach us is 1492-ww1 over and over for like. 10 years sorry Rest of the World 'What Realm are you from?' 'California' Speaking of ameri-centric, I'm gonna Guess that original Winx, the italian cartoon, didn't have their main character be from cali usa? I am presuming this is a side effect of making this property for a more global distribution than I'm guessing winx was originally conceived as back in the early 00s The Otherworld. I assume this is the fairy realm and whatnot? And the magic school. Seems to be located behind a magical barrier in the earth realm?? If that's right it seems weird if basically everyone who goes to the school is from the otherworld Pinky doubles down on his rudeness but in a Fun and Cute way because :/ and the Specialist hall is Very Pretty, oh and there's a fairy hall. Are specialists the boy...things? magi knights? bros of the blade? guys who wear those 'here come a special boy' sneakers from that one comic? Stella sees this conversation which is great because they drop the term mansplain. why would otherworlders know that term even??? Edgey(?) sees Pinky and they hug it out Stella knows Americans are the type to wander off so I guess there's a lot of inter-world connections?

Miss Dowling- is this teacher going to be like the pedo in riverdale who got *checks notes* killed off by one of multiple serial killers later on? Dowling is the headmistress, gotta keep the otherworld a secret from earthers, time and place for portal making. all standard fantasy stuff so far, nothing to make this stand out Stella has a gateway ring, and frankly isn't too nice? all the backgrounders clothing is Bland and very normal 7 realms of the otherworld, Solaria is where Alfea is, i like magic globe Incase you forgot this was a modern tale, people update their insta stories here. 'I was kindof bummed I didn't see a single pair of wings' YOU AND ME BOTH BLOOM 'We had wings in the past, transformation was lost, tinkerbell was an air fairy' This is either a cop out for your glittery cowardice, or a set up for the main girls re-finding transformation magic later. I did like the Tink bit Bloom is a fire fairy and the subtext of this conversation is that bloom's magic did Something bad. I hope it was burn down her old school's gym a la buffy movie I like miss Dowling but in the I wouldn't Be Surprised if you turned out to be Evil way, and I guess Alfea is a very privileged upper crust school. What types of college do normal fairies go to then huh? damn privileged fairies 'our students have gone on to do amazing things like re-discover long lost magics' We Get It. You will give me Wings, but Only If I'm Patient Dowling throws a jab at Bloom about power control, but I like her necklace so It's Fine

Bloom video calls her parents while unpacking in the dorm, which may have come pre-fit with a heck ton of board games? Love it. Or new plant girl brought them along with her many plants Stella has a fancy mirror and lots of jewelry and fashion photos and makeup, Musa has a laptop and apparently not much else, gotta get those establishing personalities down I guess 'Ladies of the Flies honey don't be sexist' Bloom's dad for feminist of the year (these jokes are bad but i guess we can call it a dad joke as justification) Asiha gives Bloom a look and saves her from the call with her parents- yay friendship step one achieved Blooms parents think she's in the alps because magic secrets and what not Aisha asks bloom if she's never read harry potter and I guess Bloom is a potterhead (that's the term right?). Is this self awareness that all magical school fantasy series have the same basic bricks?  Bloom is a ravenclaw sometimes slytherin, Aisha is a Gryffindor Stella is changing because she's the fashion one and has a fun pastel rainbow skirt, and uses magic to make a real aggressive lamp. She's also a mentor (maybe older than the others by a bit?) I am assuming Stella here is something along the lines of a diplomats daughter the way she talks about appearances. She better get down and dirty later on to show her growth about how some things are more important than looks yada yada Fairy magic powered by strong emotions, i am waiting for bloom's backstory to be movie x-men rogue style tragedy Terra! Which. Of course is the Plant Fairy's name. Stella is a little mean to her about the plants and she takes it with a smile and some subtle snark back using classic literature Oh that's fun Terra points out the name-plant thing, and name drops her cousin Flora. That's. The one they replaced with Terra right? Terra's dad works in the greenhouse at the school which explains earlier (and her mum is named rose) Stella is indeed a second year and Musa's eyes change for. Lie detecting magic? and loves her headphones (Overstimulation?) Aisha wants somewhere to swim and we cut to a 'pond' by specialist training. Assuming she wants to sim because she's a water fairy, why Don't they have a pool? also this pond looks. Unpleasant for swimming

Girl specialist! Does that mean we have boy fairies? Boys. Fighting. Talking about girls. All gingers are nuts. Thanks edgelord AMAZING SHAGS THOUGH 'I didn't realize your hand was a red-head' it's not truly edge if we don't talk about sex every 10 minutes Subtitles earlier only said boy 1 boy 2 but now pinky or edgy is Riv Edgy smokes weed, and pinky is a big brother figure to him, and the head? of the special boys doesn't like edgy. Me neither older guy Bit of swordplay, more girls, every specialist has black training outfits, very military Pinky is Sky who is son of Guy of Place. an important lad. without context this is meaningless to me There's a giggly boy who laughs at the idea of a war in the future and gets a talking to. I suspect this boy will be re-occurring enough to die- he has those tertiary character elements with his intro and such (and he's black so I am prepared for your standard racist murder choices) Burned Ones exist outside the barrier, which makes me wonder if dead shepard was in the otherworld? There was nothing establishing that he was in any type of Other place but :/ Oh look edgey is having a smoke cross the barrier while we learn about the creatures that live beyond it. Time to find out these creatures no one young has ever seen are still kicking Specialist leader had to kill his own pa after a burned one got him. They also. Used a shotgun when trying to fight it. Do specialists even have powers or are they just good with weapons? Edgey finds the shepards corpse. Mostly blood 'it's been 16 years since the last sighting' 'Rosalind killed all the burned ones' ahh magical creature genocide hey when is abarat 4 coming out. and is rosalind hot?

School, gossip, Aisha and Musa are snarking at Tera for thinking the guy died of natural causes because we need to have these characters not actually like each other to make it stand out when they do Aisha talks about how she eats a lot and if she didn't swim she'd be massive and we cut to the plus sized tera looking uncomfortable are we really doing this? Tera points out that Musa was ignoring her earlier and it's all just uncomfortable and not great character conflict (but I thought I saw Musa holding an honest to god ipod? it's blue but it could be a phone case. Her hand is in the way) tera and dad interaction is nice, i'm also convinced they couldn't afford more than 3 magic adults

Girl with braids and metal in her hair! There were witches in winx right? Like 3 minor antagonist girls? I assume this is one of them. Because she has alternative fashion and is therefore evil /s Beatrix. Names in this series leave something to be desired (that something is subtly. I get it, they're carry overs from a series for a younger audience, she-ra had the same issue, but i can still poke fun) Swear count: Arsehole 2 Bollocks 1 Shit 1 She's a weird ass kissing with clearly ulterior motives

Bloom is Studying and her notebook is just FAIRY MAGIC POWER = EMOTIONS LOVE FEAR? HARTED? FIRE FAIRY CONTROL? in case you weren't paying attention Oh a flashback already to the magic triggering event? Her mother had pointed out she's an introvert, and past!Bloom doesn't Party. She goes Antiquing and is a Weird Loner (her 'basic bitch' of a mom's words) Swear count: Bitch 1 Bad daughter count: 1 Bad mother count: 1 Magic glowy eyes for Bloom: 1

Bloom Hates Parties and asks Pinky I mean Sky where she can be Away from People and he fears he'll be Mansplaing to her to. vague that it's dangerous outside instead of saying 'hey there's monsters and someone was just killed by possible one of them stay in the barrier' Stella wants to talk to Sky because they have History. I did hear there was a love triangle between these three. I am bored and everyone at this party is a nosey bitch who is watching their tense conversation. Also Something? Happens when Stella gets upset [mystical warbling] Random magic effects in the (very pretty) forest Bloom is trying to practice her magic on her own, and to do that she's gotta look at sad teen pics. And look, her burnt bedroom from her first power usage The fire magic is pretty good. I think fire is like. the opposite of water when it comes to cg where it almost always looks pretty good, while I swear i've seen the actual ocean look like a shitty render Magic out of control, bloom can't control her emotions, Aisha can stop her with water magic which makes some nice steam Bloom is angry at aisha for saving her. So far 3 of the 5 girls are abrasive at best remember when people made characters likeable? Swear count: Shit 1 (but it doubles as the literal meaning because of flooded toilets) Swear count: Bitch 1 Ass 1 Taking away your teen's door is. Really shitty. Not almost burn down your house worthy but damn cheerleader mom I do not understand sleep shirts with buttons. That seems painful if you lie the wrong way? Her mom was seriously burnt by first magic usage that's a backstory Shit count +1 Main character aspect time: dormant fairy blood line? awfully strong magic for that. baby who died day after it was born and now she's here? ...I was going to say changeling thanks aisha A Barbaric practice loving hints at long term world lore Hell is a bad word for kids!! Cutting to headmistress and her secret passage after finding out bloom is secret pureblood? this really is a harry potter thing

edgelord offers giggly some booze, and says pussies twice because he's Edgey and does peer pressure Tera calls him out and knows he's a sad nerd in disguise not a 'badass' and he says she's 'three people in disguise' because fatphobia shit +1 arehole +1 tera. chokes out edgelord with a vine because she's had enough of this shit. good for her edgelord is Riv, and he lived

OBLIGATORY GOOGLE SEARCH FOR THE TERM CHANGELING REMEMBER BELLA'S VAMPIRE GOOGLE GOD I LOVE TEEN FANTASY AND THEIR INSTANCE ON GOOGLING COMMON FANTASY TERMS OH hey the lamp bloom brought with her is the one she was fixing at home that's a nice touch Stella bonds with Bloom about homesickness, and the takes a selfie Musa is a mind fairy. So she. Is a telepath with purple eye magic? Oh there's types of 'connections' Memory, thought (others but i am cut off from the lore) Stella did Something to someone who Talked To Her Man last year and now lent Bloom her teleportation ring to send her some because miss mentor really cares more about her shitty man then helping the girls she's in charge of First World- earth Old Cemetery? Very Sexy. and bloom sweetie don't leave a mystical gateway open, and how will you explain to your parents how you're back so fast Wait she's only 16? SO this really is some european college where that's a funny way of saying High School Fire guilt, bad feelings about life shattering revelations, better connection with mother. I gotta say I have low expectations of this show carrying the family connection through the rest of this. That conversation felt more like a Hey We Made These Movements Onto Other Stuff Now

Lighting choices are interesting, with green, orange and purple for creepy warehouse. THE Creepy Warehouse where she would sleep without her parent's knowledge wow right that GIRL DROPS THE DAMN RING AT THE FIRST SIGN OF burned one looked more alien than werewolf-y here Decent Horror movie looks, and dude stole her ring. Rude. Saved by the headmistress, and tera/aisha/musa are here to great her Stella can't be here though because she has to greet a half naked freshly showered sky because life is suffering and producers insist people like to see teens half naked (who. Who?) shit +1 and she dumped him. pity part of one and using it to try to get your bone on. HEY A SONG I KNOW. IT'S WHATSITCALLED FROM THE BAYONETTA COMMERCIALS WAY BACK WHEN. in for the kill la roux. I do wish netflix would either commit to telling you what song was playing or didn't tell you at all

Riv offers Beatrix a hit from his joint because what Is a Bad Kid hasn't changed in like 70 years Blowing pot smoke into someone's mouth isn't as sexy as ya'll seem to think it is Musa has cute sleep socks with little pom poms, and I love Tera's floral jammies Tera offers a bluetooth speaker so they can listen to music together Musa also calls out Tera's fake happiness this is the good shit character interaction i live for Musa Empath Mind Fairy 'somber indie music'

If you kill a burned one in the human world Something? Extra bad happens? So the headmistress knows Bloom's a changeling, and ohhh that's the last time a burned one was spotted. Is Rosalind the famed Monster Slayer the birth mother of Bloom? Tera text flirts with Giggly who IS NAMED DANE and has a thing for. Sky? Riv? I told you these boys all look the same to me so if it's a half naked pic on fairy insta i'm out of context clues. Crymeariv is the insta name that answers that. Is this the slow burn enemies to lover mlm i can't finish this sentence i don't care riv is a dick Stella and Sky are in a bed and she doesn't seem to have a top on so Implied sexy times? MYSTERIOUS HOODED AND ROBED FIGURE CROSSES THROUGH THE BARRIAR AND SHOOTS THE BURNED ONE WITH LIGHTNING MAGIC OH IT'S beatrix

alt-J – Adeline as an ending song

[srbachchan]

DAY 4451

Jalsa, Mumbai                       May 14,  2020                      Thu 11:27 PM

Birthday  EF - Brinda Shah ..  Pawan Randhawa .. Friday, May 15 .. and our wishes go out to the birthdays of the two .. may you remain safe in these times and be happy .. .. love from the Ef

Old times of the past times .. remembrances of the School times .. moments of the lasting times .. of class mates and dormitories .. of theatre plays and farewell concerts .. of singing ditties .. of humour among all .. of a recapture of the events of the year .. of still knowing the moments that went by then in 1956-58 .. names , pet names, and the happiest days of our lives ..

..a picture from the School records .. the School play of 1957 .. The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol .. I played the Mayor of the city .. this picture is after the play finished and our Principal the Rev R C Llewelyn , the tall collared on the right reading the results of the Best Actor Kendal Cup results .. and  .. yooo hooo .. its moi .. and I am dumbfounded and cannot move .. Ma and Babuji in the audience .. especially come up to see me during our Founders Week .. 

find me .. found me .. our Drama teacher Mr Berry the tall figure right in the middle .. well just behind him with a smile on my face .. uniformed ..

moment of pride for Parents .. when you achieve they are filled with a most peculiar emotion .. its tears and happiness .. happens often .. see a film where you appreciate your sons work and you cannot speak for quite a while .. just choked with emotion .. the Hall is Milman Hall , named after an important contributor to the School .. the Hall where we held all our theatre and farewell concerts .. where the odd film was shown on an 8mm projector .. where we all recovered when the flu of 1957 hit the nation and the world .. the Hall where our prize distribution took place .. the Hall where we were instructed at the prize giving ceremony to look into the face of the dignitary giving the award .. the Hall where on the class of ‘58 get together after 50 years , yours truly is made the Chief Guest and does what he has been witnessing when in School as a student ... time and life brings so many changes and challenges ..

.. and this new challenge .. looms large now .. a DIGITAL release ..

.. Amazon Prime .. June 12, world wide release .. 200 plus country’s .. a first for many reasons .. a situation that cannot be altered .. theatres opening could take time .. or not open at all .. uncertainty .. 4 complete films in line for release .. must do in this year .. contracts severe .. finances and other contractual obligations need consideration .. not just my films there are other artists too .. they also need to space out their films .. recovery of investment .. cannot take forever .. if the digital price is amicable then they go for it .. it is the future .. the option to release in theatres later always open .. that contained in the terms .. so yes in time there could be theatre  release as well .. others wait for the results of digital release to make decisions on their films .. will find out by June 12, 2020 .. some complain why on Amazon only and not of Netflix .. but the deal has been struck with Amazon .. so Amazon .. cant have two different distributors of the same film in the same city .. yes imagery is reduced to the mobile or TV screen .. but most of the stuff these days is seen thus is it not .. patience then .. a few more days and we shall see ..

gosh !!!  almost started putting down the words of our School farewell song :

“ a few more days and we shall be .. rejoicing at our liberty .. and when the moment comes to scram .. we’ll trundle down to Kathgodam .. “

‘then the bells will ring .. and the boys will sing .. as the boxes are being taken away ..

‘and the girls will cry .. as we bid them goodbye .. and we wish them a happy holiday ..’

Goodness ... never ever imagined that I would remember the words of the singing .. that was 1956 .. its 2020 now .. 64 years .. !!! 64 .. thats a life time !!

brought to tune by our Vice Principal Mr Thomson, and written by him too .. he would also write the farewell ditties too .. a compilation of all the events that had taken place and were of some importance .. put together in a humorous manner .. and the students involved in that moment had to come up and sing their portions on stage .. such fun .. still remember my lines ..

the matter was somewhat .. err.. dubious .. breaking bounds .. the girls sister school had come for a picnic on the hill above Sherwood, on Dorothy Seat .. thats the name of that location on the hill, at the edge of a spur, where a young girl named Dorothy used to sit and paint the Himalayas that could be seen from there  .. she fell over tragically and died and the Hill was named after her ..

So some of us enterprising Lotharios during our lunch break broke bounds, stealthily went out from behind the School up the Hill to simply get a glimpse of the girls and return in time before the bell rang for class .. as we were negotiating some bushes on reaching the top of the location, one of us saw a Teacher of the girls School, coming across in our direction .. we , thinking that she had noticed us panicked and scrambled down the hill, in some velocity, making a lot of noise in the rubble and stones that came our way  .. the Teacher we came to know later had not actually seen us but was coming to pick up a pullover of one of the girls which was lying close to or vantage point .. but because of the scramble she reported the matter to our Principal who at dinner when the entire School sits for their meal in one Hall , came and announced that some boys had been seen going up to Dorothy Seat and to own up and stand up .. all of us stood up, much to our embarrassment .. for the rest of the School boys had not known of or escapade .. 

It was 6 of the best for us .. 6 cuts of the cane , from the Principal, a Tennis Blue from Cambridge or Oxford .. had a most devastating forehand .. we were taken into a side room in his office as was the drill with all these cases and were given the cane .. a wheel barrow lay in one corner, we were made to bend down and hold the handles so our posteriors were nice and tight .. and then .. whack .. 6 cuts from the well oiled bamboo canes safely kept in a separate drawer .. dark black bruises, lines of the cuts, would appear on our backsides despite the frantic rubbing to ease the pain, we would indulge in .. the morning baths were a site for us all .. for the entire dormitory bathed together under showers in a line and the rest of the guys would giggle and laugh at our black bruised stripes on the skin of our behinds .. !!!!

ahhhhh .. the happiest days of our lives ..

oh  .. heck .. so .. forgot to mention what was written for us in the concert .. there was a piano ditty played by Mr Thomson .. and each of us that had a verse written for us came up on the stage in rhythm and said our line and went back .. mine and another co artist that broke bounds with me had this . .. after the description of the event that took place was sung out in tune , ours was ..: like a culmination of what we did on that day and what the end result was .. of getting caught and being punished .. so we had to sing :

‘we’re now confirmed misogynists, and worthy of the name .. we’d rather run a thousand miles than meet a blooming dame ..’

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

the innocence of those times and the factor of fun and enjoyment even in the most adverse conditions .. not a care, not a concern .. never again to be relived .. which is why they be the happiest days of our life !!

Amitabh Bachchan

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 194

194

Lance knew better than to turn to sex for emotional comfort, he told himself he did, and he still let himself get swept away by Keith’s overwhelming desire to confirm he was loved... and loved a lot.

Cuddled together, the emotional exhaustion had Keith falling asleep in his arms. The position uncomfortable for Lance, but he didn’t have it in his heart to move Keith. He loved him. He loved the soft puffs of breath that tickled his stomach. He loved the long dark strands of hair that had escaped Keith’s ponytail. He loved his warmth. He loved that this ego and Keith’s seemed to understand that they were crazy about each other, despite the clash in their scents. He’d never ever thought a vampire could love a werewolf. Not with the long going open hostility... but he loved Keith. Heck. His stubbornness over a proposal so soon into dating had faded. Keith could propose with a piece of used dental floss and fluff from under the bed and he’d still be over the moon.

Tolerating the pain in his hips, and his need for the bathroom, as long as he could, Lance had to move Keith off of him. His boyfriend trying to grab him as Lance moved his hand away and kissed his forehead

“Bathroom break”

Keith huffed unhappy about it. So terribly cute. Being a werewolf was wasted on his boyfriend. Not when he was an octopus when it came to cuddles

“I’ll be back in a moment”

Huffing, Keith let his arm drop, Lance escaping and grabbing his phone as he went.

Calling Shiro was a spare of the moment decision. He didn’t want to alarm him in the middle of the night, but he also wanted to give him the heads up on what they were doing. Sending a text first, he was done in the bathroom by the time his phone started ringing. Anxiety sent his stomach dropping. He hated how things were between him and Shiro. He’d said some cruel things, Shiro had said some cruel things. They both messed up, yet he seemed to be stuck on fear mode when talking to Keith’s brother. Sliding his thumb across the screen, Lance took a deep breath before moving his phone to his ear

“Lance?”

Oh god. He couldn’t go back now

“H-hey... Shiro. Sorry if you were sleeping”

“It’s the middle of the night”

Shiro sounded like he’d definitely been sleeping

“Sorry. Keith’s asleep and I wanted to give you the heads up. We’re going to visit his dad’s grave today. I thought I’d let you know in case he didn’t want to talk, or didn’t answer in chat”

“I thought you would have gone yesterday”

There was a kind of blame in Shiro’s voice... Lance didn’t blame him

“We were both tired, so we had a lazy day to let Keith build up to it”

“Okay. I see”

Well. This was awkward

“Yeah. We actually met a man who knew Keith’s dad and it rattled him. We didn’t tell him that he was talking to Keith, but this town wants to forget that fire and it’s hard on him”

“Of course it’s hard on him”

Shit. There was no reason for tears and yet his eyes were getting watery

“I’m sorry for calling. I just wanted to let you know what was going on. I’ll leave you to go back to sleep”

Shiro sighed deeply. There was no way he could know he’d upset Lance

“Is he okay. Is he eating?”

“Yeah. Yeah. He’s been eating, he hasn’t gotten angry or stormed off. He was a bit emotional tonight. Oh, can you bring some of his camera equipment? I think it’ll be a good distraction. We’re going to get a copy of the council records on the fire... so I want him to have something else to think about”

A stupid sniffle escaped. He wanted happiness for Keith...

“Lance...”

Nope. He had to hang up. He was going to start crying if he stayed on the phone

“I’m sorry, Shiro. I... have to go... I’m sorry”

Cutting the call as Shiro tried to reply, Lance left his phone in the bathroom. He didn’t want to go into the day in a down mood. Then again, he’d thought the same thing the previously and... well, ugh. He’d had fun with Keith, acting like they were children again. With Blue, having a sandpit at home wouldn’t work, but his mind was already planning a future family holiday to the beach where he’d bully Keith into making sandcastles with him. He’d have someone twin sit so he and Keith could have a proper day being dumb at the beach, then come home slightly sunburnt, and regretting things, but at the same time not because they’d had a lot of fun. Keith was his whole future. As Coran would say, they were soulmates. He really would gift Keith his whole being just to be lucky enough to call him his.

Crawling back into bed, Keith instantly drew him close for snuggling. Their positions now switched with Keith laying on his back and Lance laying half on top of him where he could fit. Yeah. He wanted to marry this guy... One day he’d marry the heck out of him, and Keith would marry the heck out of his right back.

*

Keith didn’t try to hide his anxious mood as they got ready for the day ahead. He knew Lance was anxious as the vampire had tried to clean the hotel room, grumping that there was no vacuum cleaner to do the floors with. Sullen over breakfast, Lance covered for him. Smiling and thanking the waitress that brought their breakfast, smoothing things over while Keith sat slouched and glared at the world.

All too soon they were headed to the cemetery, Keith not really remembering the drive despite being the driver. Parking in the parking lot, his whole body shook. He wanted to flee. They were so close and he hated how much he wanted to flee. This was his dad. He shouldn’t have been as nervous as he was, but all of this left just as shaken as he’d been to learn to Lance was pregnant. His dad knew about the creatures of the night, and now he was turning up at his grave as one of those creatures.

Lance didn’t push him. He undid his belt, but waited until Keith was so cranky at himself for his cowardice and made a move of his own, before climbing out the bronco. The cemetery wasn’t like the one in Garrison. There were more weeds than grass. Sand skirted the edges of the area, with a few very old trees in place. It felt lonely. Not a place people would want to visit... and he’d left his dad laying there for all those years... Somehow it’d been easier to say goodbye to Mami than it was to face his dad. Mami being gone hadn’t been real until he’d seen her grave. There was no denying the proof thrust onto him. Moving to take his hand, Lance squeezed softly to tell him he was there for him. Keith wanted to pull his hand away, not feeling he deserved support after leaving his dad alone. Hearing the police officer from the previous night describe how much his father loved him had shaken him. Reminded him dangerous it was to fall in love. How freak accidents happened every day and the ones you loved were stolen away unfairly.

Wandering through the cemetery, it smelt... unnerving. Lance’s death scent was the kind of scent he wanted to roll in. The scent of the cemetery should have been the same. There was so much death there, which was logical, but this was a cold death. A fine layer of goosebumps covered his skin as he tried not to read the names of the people they passed. His dad should have been buried somewhere nice. Somewhere like in Platt with its rolling green lawns, or in Garrison where there was no chance of his resting place being disturbed. When Lance came to a stop, Keith didn’t get why until his eyes met the gravestone. His heart doing a flip as he realised just who they’d finally found.

“Jeong” “Joe” Steven Kogane”

The word seemed glaring almost on his senses. His dad was right there and he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to say. Under his birthday and date of death read “A hero taken back to heaven”. No “beloved father of Keith”. No mention of him at all. Erased from his father’s grave felt as if his whole existence had been erased. He was “beloved”. He’d loved Keith and Keith loved him.

“Babe”

“I’m not there”

Lance tugged him close, Keith shaking

“Hey. Hey, it’s okay”

“I’m not there...”

“As unpleasant as it is, babe, and this is going to sound hard, but with no money to pay for the grave, I’m sure his friends put in for it. Some places charge a hundred dollars for each lead letter”

Pushing Lance away, his boyfriend stumbled but saved himself. Keith was mad Lance could reduce this to money, even if he was right

“So it’s okay for me to not be in there! I’m his son! I’m his son and they don’t even care! They forgot me! And you don’t care!”

Lance shot him a wounded look, taking a few deep breaths as he rubbed his stomach. He’d scared him. He’d scared him and he knew it. Why had he pushed him? That behaviour wasn’t okay... He was such a moron

“It’s not that I don’t care... I care. I love you and I care. You dad loved and he cared. We don’t know what they were thinking, but they were hurting too. You had your dad torn away from you. They had their friend torn away from them. I think it’s nice that they gave him a proper stone when he was laid to rest. People these days are so self centred it’s not something you’d expect to see. Anyway, you haven’t even introduced yourself to your dad, babe”

Keith flicked his gaze from Lance back to his father’s grave. He was showing his dad the wrong side of him... but he felt stupid standing there. He wanted Lance to take the initiative and introduce both of them... yet... He couldn’t keep running away

“Uh... um... Hi... dad... it’s me, Keith. I don’t know what to say. He’s not here...”

Lance moved back to his side

“You don’t have to say what you want to say out loud. Jeong... Joe... I’m Lance. I’m a vampire and I have the honour of dating your son Keith. He’s a total handful, but he’s a good man. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’re here. I wish I could have met you. You’re going to be a grandfather to twins. Krolia’s excited about it all. Yes, she and Keith found each other again... I know you didn’t want to leave him, but I promise to love him as long as we both live. To make him happy. And to stay by his side for the rest of our lives. You fathered an amazing man...”

See. Lance was a million times better at this than him. Keith’s heart going funny as Lance sounded like he was all but proposing in front of his father

“Babe, you don’t have to be afraid of your father. He may not be here in spirit, but he’s always a part of you. You should tell him about you. And next time we come, we’ll bring flowers and tidy his grave up properly. Fuck... I was going to bring him a photo of the twins... Shit... I swore in front of your dad”

Keith mentally rolled his eyes at Lance swearing in front of his father... twice. That was more something he would do. He guessed he could try something more... He couldn’t really disappoint his father any more than he already had by pushing Lance

“Uh... yeah... Um... Lance is my boyfriend and he’s carrying my twins... and I... I’m a werewolf. Shiro... uh, he’s like my adopted brother without the paperwork, he um, had to have me turned to save my life... um... Lance... makes me really happy. I know you’d be disappointed that I... um... pushed him. I’m disappointed in myself too... I... I’m no good at this”

“Babe, you’re doing fine. You’re doing more than fine. You’re doing good. Do you want me to give you a moment?”

Keith shook his head. He couldn’t face this alone. He felt dumb and left alone would only make him storm off angry at himself

“No. Stay... please”

“Sure. You can tell him anything you want to say, but don’t... don’t feel like you have to rush into telling him everything. Your dad would be so happy to see you. He loved you and he was proud of you. That’s the important thing. And now we know where he is, we can come back and visit. We’ll bring the twins, and I’ll tell them about him. And you’ll tell them about him. Just because they’re gone, doesn’t mean we don’t love our parents any less. I miss Mami every single day. Whenever I need advice, it’s still imprinted on me to turn to her. It’s okay to not be okay about seeing your dad again, especially when life was so mean as to take him away when you were so young. But, babe. You’re not alone. I’m here. I know how much you have to say. You’ve said it all to me. It’s okay to tell him you love him and miss him”

If only it was that simple. He felt so unbelievably stupid. His dad wasn’t there. He couldn’t tell him face to face. He didn’t even know if they’d recovered a body...

“I don’t... I’m...”

“Babe, hey. You’re not stupid”

Keith ducked his head. He hadn’t realised he’d been venting out loud

“It doesn’t feel like he’s here”

“I know. I think humans starting erecting grave markers not only to show that someone was once alive, but to give you somewhere to go to talk to that person you miss. It’s like looking at picture and asking them “What do you think I should do?”. The picture can’t reply, but you think about that person when you’re looking at it. I know you have very few memories of your father. I know and it sucks. I’m hoping we can learn more by looking at the council records. I want you to know him. He wants you to know him. The time you spent together wasn’t wasted... that’s... kind of why I questioned that cop. I want you to know whatever there’s to know about your dad... and it was clear to everyone around at the time that you and your dad were tight. That he loved you. That he’d done all he could to be happy and make you safe and loved”

Keith of old wouldn’t have been convinced. He still wasn’t sure he was convinced and Lance wasn’t simply telling him what he wanted to hear. Yet, this pregnancy had changed him. He adored the twins. He already knew he’d do absolutely everything and anything for them. He never wanted them to feel the pain he’d gone through. He didn’t want them to be scared to ask for the things they wanted or needed. He didn’t want them not knowing him... Lance would tell them all about him, should something ever happen to him. He knew that. He’d spent so long angry that his father had left him. So many years were wasted with nowhere to direct that anger into anything other than destruction. But... if his father felt as he did, then he had been loved. He’d been loved and wanted. The last thing his father would have wanted was to leave him behind. Somehow he’d managed to survive, to survive long enough to meet the best man he could hope for to spend the rest of his life with. He wasn’t the same man who’d pulled a gun on Lance. The idea of it still made him feel like a total douche canoe. His father might not have approved... but maybe... maybe he didn’t need his approval... because Lance made him happy. He made him grateful to be alive in this world.

“I really love you, babe. I’m sorry I pushed you away. That was really uncool of me. You didn’t deserve it”

Lance immediately shook his head

“No. I’m okay. You’re all messed up inside and that’s understandable”

“It might be understandable, but that doesn’t make it okay. I love you. I love being with you... I... don’t want to hurt you. I want... to be the kind of boyfriend you’re proud of”

“Babe, you always make me proud. Even on the days you can’t find it in you to like, or even love yourself, I love you. I’m proud to be your boyfriend, and I’m thankful that I’m here with you, to meet your dad. I think he truly would have been proud of you. You’re hot headed and reckless, and you’re still grieving everything, but you’re so strong. You’re a good man. And the man I want to spend every day with for the rest of my life. I want to make you happy. I want to be the one who makes you laugh and smile. I want to shout out to the whole damn world that you’re mine. I wanna have kids and grow old ... older... with you. I wanna be there for the good and the bad and be your family as long as we both shall live”

Keith blushed. Lance shouldn’t be so kind and quick with his praise, his ego was lapping it all up, and he could almost feel it swelling inside of him in the literal sense of the word.

“I’ll never get used to you praising me when I’ve done nothing”

“You don’t have to do anything. You being you is all I could ever want”

Again, what Lance was saying was sounding dangerously close to a proposal. Keith knew he was overthinking things. Lance wanted to date for a while before considering making it all official on paper. He could wait. His ego might not be happy, but their love wasn’t any less without a ring on Lance’s pretty little finger. With his boyfriend’s praise, he could stand before his dad... maybe finally feeling a little less stupid about trying to talk to a grave stone than he had before. Holding Lance’s hand, he shook his head, trying to shake off his earlier stupidity

“Dad, this is Lance. He’s a vampire and I love him. We’re a family... we might not be the perfect family, especially when you think about everything, but he’s perfect to me. He... he’s... really all sorts of amazing. Mum... uh, um... Krolia... I met her again. She’s... weird. But I guess that’s okay... I... um, didn’t have the best life before, but things are better than they’ve ever been. I used to be into photography, but... um... lately I’ve been into Lance. Um... my brother, Shiro... I think you’d like him... he and his partner Curtis are going to come meet you... mum had worked. She’s still with Blade. We didn’t really get along but that’s better now... next time we come, we’ll clean up your grave... I still... can’t believe you’re right in front of me”

Lance let out a hum as Keith mentioned cleaning his dad’s grave. Keith automatically jumping to conclusions, and that conclusion was that Lance was thinking something

“What is it?”

“Huh?”

Scrunching his brow, Lance cocked his head at him

“You hummed...”

“Oh. I was thinking we should ask the council if we’re allowed to put up a little fence and make it look nice”

Where was Lance building this fence? And what did that have to do with his father’s grave?

“You want to build a fence?”

“Not a “fence” fence. But like a little border and we could put in a couple of cacti to give it some colour. I was just thinking it would be nice to show his resting place some love”

You could take the vampire out of the... something witty and to do with handyman antics, but you couldn’t take them out of the vampire

“Babe, you don’t have to do that”

“I want to. I want to make it look nice, so everyone knows he’s loved. And when the twins come, they’ll know it’s their grandfather’s grave and that he would have loved them very much”

“Wait... this is too much”

“Sorry. Sometimes I go off in my own head, which you know. I don’t mean to sound like I’m pressuring you. I mean, it is making an assumption and stuff. I just thought it’d be nice to come back to”

“You... want to come back?”

“He’s your dad. I think I’m going to make it a thing... but only if it’s okay with you”

They’d only just found his father again. This was a bit too much for him right now

“Can I think about it?”

“Of course. Sorry, I’m being overbearing. Okay. In the future I think it’d be nice to put something here, but for now we’ll pick up some nice flowers to bring back”

“Yeah. That’d be nice... I don’t even know where to start...”

Lance wanted to track down as much about his father as he could. It still felt kind of weird that Lance cared and wanted him to know about his dad... then again, Mami had filled Lance with so much love that Lance probably couldn’t help himself

“Then we’ll figure things out together. I’m sorry, I’ve got to sit for a bit. Will you be okay with having a few moments alone?”

Keith blinked. Then realised Lance wasn’t simply blushing, he was getting sunburnt...

“Yeah. I... I feel better about talking to him”

“You take your time. I’ll be waiting in the car. Please don’t rush because of me”

“I won’t... I mean, maybe a little”

Lance bumped him with his elbow

“Don’t be mean to your dad. He’s waited all this time. Make sure you have a good talk with him. I mean, how am I supposed to tell Mami I made you fuss too much? She’d kick my arse”

“Yeah. She would. I won’t be too long... because we’re coming back... right?”

“Yeah, babe. We’ll be back so many times he’ll be sick of us. I love you”

“I love you, too”

Lance left him with a kiss on the cheek. Keith needing a few moments to steady himself, before deciding maybe he could start with the easy stuff then work up to the really painful parts of his past. His dad loved him... he loved him and he had so much to tell him.

[hateswifi]

Rising from the Ashes: Of Graduation and Growth

So this is Part Thirteen here is to my Master List and Part Twelve.

——————————————

Marinette started growing after her first commission with the help of Diana, Lucky Spot became a headquarters for Nette's clothes. She did originals for celebrities only really unless asked for a special event such as a wedding and only for a good price and she couldn't be swamped in commission. Bruce offered her a small part of Wayne Enterprises as a factor because she was using all earth-friendly material and was good publicity. She, at first, refused but unable to keep up with demands accepted Bruce's offer. There was a public announcement and signing of the contract between Wayne Enterprises and Nette, but being dead, she sent Diana as her representative to sign for her. She was well known throughout America and Asia with popularity moving towards Europe. She was getting better known as Nette even more popular than MDC had ever been.

This made knowing Nette a perfect lie for Lila without Marinette around to try and expose her, little did Lila know her Castle of Lies would soon fall. That's how the announcement of a field trip to Gotham happened a couple of weeks before graduation; they were to leave the day of graduation. This is the field trip plan she had come up with before she 'died', but Lila took credit for it all because she became Class President after Marinette's death. Chloe and Adrien didn't bother to pay attention to where the group was going. They didn't realize or care where the class was going because they were leaving to go on tour from graduation. Well first they were going to visit Marinette she was going to reveal herself soon, after coming up with a cover story if she was ever asked about her 'death'.

Adrien graduated valedictorian, which Lila cried about due to it being unfair with her 'disability', Alya threw a fit for her 'bestie'. There was nothing they could change though because Gabriel would have the school board's heads. After the graduation caps been thrown and pictures had been taken, the 4 Outlaws travel to see their dear friend once again, little did they know the class would soon be following them the next day. Lila spread more lies about knowing the Wayne family and her childhood sweetheart Damian along with her best friend Nette.

Back in Gotham with Marinette, she was getting ready for the release of the line 'Butterfly' and the gala that was to follow the next day. Her friends were coming to watch the release and they offered to model because they inspired most of the outfits. She had been spending extra time at Wayne Enterprises, one so Damian didn't murder anyone --a lot was going on-- and two to monitor the production to be released. All the outfits in the actual show were handmaid by Marinette and would be auctioned off at the end to give to a charity.

There was a mix of excited chatter on the plan with the class."I can't wait to get that interview with your boyfriend," Alya exclaimed. oblivious to how irritated the Italian girl had become. "Also I can't believe you managed to get us a tour of Wayne Enterprises, which now includes Nette's factory, along with her fashion show AND the gala. Maybe you can get me an interview with Nette being her best friend. Also, is Damian asking you to the gala?"

"I worked extra hard to get us this trip. Something our old Class President couldn't do. I don't think my Damiboo will do an interview he is shy, so I don't know if we'll be able to see him. I don’t know if he’s taking me to the gala, he’s shy," Lila lied, crossing her arms letting a tear fall. "I still can't believe they had the nerve to tell me I am not in first class."

"Ya girl, I can't believe they would treat, Ladybug's best friend, Jagged Stone's niece, and Damian's Wayne's girlfriend that way." Alya huffed. "Hey, you should ask Damian to sue because you've been treated so badly."

"I'll ask him when I see him," Lila said, putting in headphones while thinking to herself. 'Maybe if I sleep I won't have to deal with this obnoxious girl.'

The plane ride lasted eight hours, which Lila had to listen to Alya babble, about only god know what. When they had gotten outside it was raining and the class tried to hail a taxi.

"Lila. I thought you made plans for how we would travel," Ms. Bustier asked, trying to sound nice through gritted teeth. A car drove by and splashed Lila and Alya, the girls shrieked getting covered in the dirty street water.

"I swear I did," Lila explained, now dripping in the water she started to cry. "They must have been some mistake, they must have canceled on me."

"It's fine Lila, the hotel isn't too far right?" Alya comforted rubbing the top of her back.

"It's about a three-mile walk from here," Lila whimpered between tears.

"We can walk, right Ms. Bustier?" Alya said, hugging the poor Italian.

"I suppose, but Lila you have to make accommodations for tomorrow's tour," Ms. Bustier said as she got the kids to follow her.

Luka was looking out the window of the Outlaw’s limo when he saw his sister's unfortunate class. "Guys! look. Pullover," Luka said looking away from the window.

"Who's there?" Chloe asks moving towards where Luka had been looking. Before Chloe could argue with Luka's decision, he was opening the door.

"You guys need a ride," Luka asked, looking specifically on his sister, they hadn't been on good terms since he had been kicked from Kitty Section.

"Why would we want to hang out with bullies like you!?" Alya exclaimed as Lila was about to accept the offer.

"Juleka are you staying warm and dry?" Luka asked, ignoring Alya.

"She is fine," Alya cut in again.

"It's fine Alya, they're trying to make up for their mistakes," Lila said, stepping forward with her bag following behind her.

"Ya know what," Chloe says, angrily. "We are not bullies and you're all in for a surprise."

"How many of you want a ride from us 'bullies'?" Kagami asks.

"If you're good with Adrien and Luka, you're good in my book," Juleka says, pushing past her classmates and got into the limo. Alix and Kim get in the dry limo while everyone else agreed with Lila, the liar, walk to the hotel in the cold rain.

As the limo drove away Lila started crying, "That was supposed to be our limo, they must have bribed the company to give it to them."

"Those bastards!" Alya screamed and stormed faster towards the hotel.

Back in the limo "So you guys know the truth about Lila's lie?" Kagami asks leaning into the seat.

"Yes, we've known for a while, but couldn't do anything in school," Kim says.

"But now since we've graduated we're done putting up with her bull," Alix huffs, crossing her arms.

"Besides we know Marinette planned this trip and there's no way that we're going to let her work go to waste by Lila's lies," Juleka says, putting her head on her brother's shoulder.

"We're actually on our way to see her," Adrien says sleepily into Kagami's shoulder.

"What... What do you mean?" Kim asks sitting forwards.

"Ignore him," Kagami says, elbowing him.

"No is she alive? We thought she.... she well ya know," Alix said.

"Nah she just moved," Adrien said with a big yawn.

"Shut your boyfriend up Gami," Chloe said harshly.

"She's alive?!!" Juleka said whipping her head forward.

"You can't say anything. She came here for a reason, heck she probably forgot about your trip or she would've had Damian, her boyfriend, cancel the tours," Luka said, shaking his head.

"She's alive, but why did she leave?" Kim asks heartbroken.

"It was kind of a rash decision on her, but she is our friend and we were supporting her," Chloe explains.

"She'll probably explain everything if you run into her at the factory. If not we'll explain everything later," Luka said, looking out the window.

"Looks like this is your destination," Kagami said, looking down at her ringing phone. "Hey, Mar. Yes, we're on our way. We got stuck in traffic we'll be there soon." Luka started opening the door for the group to exit as Gami hung up. "Jagged is waiting for us. She wants to go through fittings before dinner tonight."

"Well sorry this was cut short, but we'll see you soon," Luka said through the open window after he closed the door.

"You may go," Chloe said to the driver. Luka put up the window as the small group headed into the hotel. The Outlaws decided not to tell Marinette about her class and their field trip because she didn't need any more stress.

————————————————————

Tag list (Open):

@northernbluetongue @melhuney @ladysblackcat @sturchling @otaku4312 @g-arya @smolplantmum @bluefyoto94 @echpr @moonlightstar64 @thesunanditsangel @cutechip @heaven428 @elmokingkong @kass-is-weird @niza13149 @urbanpineapplefarmer @ginamarie1512 @chocolatecatstheron @iggy-of-fans @crazylittlemunchkin @komatsuna-yuki @weird-pale-blonde-person @ellerahs @sinnamonroill @daminett4life @queenmj10 @indecisive-mess-named-me @reyna-avila-ramirez-alreanaldo @lizziejay @random-posts-and-stuff @purplesundaze

[bellygunnr]

Sundae Sunday

Mega Man Commission for @eliptly . If you like what you see, I also have a Ko-Fi available.

Remnants of the lab disaster still clung to Omega Zero’s armor in the form of thin paint scratches and mysterious stains. His companion was equally slightly disheveled, their fluffy hair frizzy and unkempt from furiously attempting to correct said disaster. Omega was holding their sleeve in his massive hands, trying to awkwardly scrub out a stain while they walked, head bowed with remorse.

“It’s not that bad, Omega,” Sorrel hums. “Really! We’ve had worse! And it’s not your fault.”

Omega makes a low sound in that back of his throat, disbelieving.

“Don’t be like that. You’ll just have to help install the new machine when we get it.”

That seemed fair. Omega nods once, slipping his hands away from Sorrel’s billowy sleeve and into their palm, linking their fingers together. Their shoulders bumped into each other about every other step, but neither moved to put any distance between them. The city was crowded this time of day, after all-- it was best to stick together.

It was also very warm. The sun was low in the sky but with the city’s artificial habitat, in addition to the sheer amount of bodies, temperatures were erring on the far side of pleasant-- for Omega, at least. He pries at the collar of his red vest, noting the slightly oily sheen of sweat already gathering on his black metal skin.

“There’s a new ice cream parlor in town,” Sorrel says. “Want to go there…?”

Hurriedly, Omega shakes his head. After today, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle new environments. In any case, he had already been daydreaming about their usual place. It was a tiny ice cream truck that lurked on the outskirts of town square, splashed with bright pink and yellow. Despite its distance, it was often busy, but Sorrel and he were friends of the owner.

Not that they used that to their advantage very often, but still.

“Then we won’t,” Sorrel says easily.

Immediately, he relaxes, settling back down beside Sorrel. He runs his free hand through the curly strands of hair hanging over his shoulder, fidgeting with it while taking in their surroundings. Most reploids and humans gave them a wide berth, but Omega waved at anyone who looked too long, even offering a shy smile. Sorrel walked too fast for him to see their reactions, though.

The smooth stone underneath was gradually fading into decorative cobblestone as they approached the center of the city. Omega cocks his head this way and that to parse all the various sounds and voices, ensuring that no one was following them while selectively tuning out more abrasive noises. Focusing on the gentle breeze tugging on Sorrel’s jacket helped ground him.

Calmer now, Omega squeezes Sorrel’s hand until they squeeze back. The scent of fried food is making him hungry, but he knows better than to try running off. Well, he knows better now. Still, if he saw someone with a corn dog, he was going to mow them down regardless of his hard-earned manners.

“Almost there!”

Omega nods. He could tell, as they were already on the opposite end of the plaza. They were walking on the fringes of a flowing stream of people all laden with different armors and a variety of burdens. Shopping bags, strollers, food, tools…

A lot had changed. But for the better.

Sorrel starts to tug him across the street and Omega dutifully follows, loping forward with enough restraint to not bowl them over. The yellow and purple umbrellas of their select ice cream truck were already visible, but so were the out-of-place piles of rubble and stone. He forgot why some of the city was still in ruins, just that it was, and that they made good places to hide.

“Wanna get us a table and I’ll get our ice cream, Omega?”

Sorrel beams down at Omega as they pose the question, swinging their arms back and forth. They don’t release their hands until Omega pulls away first, as much confirmation as he’s ever going to get from his silent other.

Omega drops to all fours and picks his way across the warm concrete. Many of the shaded tables were taken up by families and friends. Most were reploids, if the scent of citrus was any indicator, but he resolutely ignored them in favor of weaving his way to the furthest ring of tables. He leaps atop the first empty one he sees.

He rocks back onto the balls of his boots and crouches there like a gargoyle, scowling at any curious faces that dare to look his way. From here, he can pick out Sorrel’s mane of hair and purple robes. They’re sticking out their tongue in concentration, balancing a monstrous ice cream sundae in their arms. Omega doesn’t relax until Sorrel is firmly in place at their table, alongside the dairy creation for two.

The ice cream sundae is more elaborate than normal. A castle-like construction of three ice cream towers, sliced strawberries form intricate rings, chased by chocolate drizzle and uneven smatterings of peanut. Two giant spoons jut out of the dish, but Omega is tempted to forgo it in favor of just taking a bite out of the top.

“I know what you’re thinking-- Sorrel, what the heck did you order? But I didn’t do this! They made it for us and wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Sorrel says. “Hey, mouth away. Take this spoon.”

Omega accepts the spoon with a grumble. He settles down across from Sorrel, curled up neatly on the top of the table. He stares expectantly down at his companion until he takes the first bite-- scooping off one of the strawberry points and popping it into his mouth.

Satisfied at the wordless delight on Sorrel’s face, Omega takes his own spoonful, gouging out a section of strawberry slices and vanilla ice cream. The ice cream is thicker than normal, with a more potent vanilla flavor. He blinks slowly at Sorrel.

They stay like that for a while, just silently eating ice cream. The air is cooler here, beset by both a quicker breeze and the various umbrellas shading them. Somehow, the crowd around them has thinned, leaving Omega feeling less choked.

“It’s not your fault,” Sorrel says, breaking their comfortable silence.

Omega ducks his head, trying to hide behind his gold curls.

“I’m serious. Mistakes happen, ‘mega. Especially in a lab!”

He slowly lowers his spoon, peeking out at Sorrel. Despite the reassurances, he was still apprehensive.

“Besides, we needed a new one of those anyway. That one was decades old and showing its age. Hey, you can eat the scraps.”

Oh. Omega looks down at the sundae critically. He did like eating things and that machine was full of rare materials… He glances back up, staring at Sorrel questioningly.

“I promise, Omega. You’re not in trouble and you’re not going to be punished. And yes, you can eat the scraps.”

Content with that answer, finally, Omega leans back and sits up taller. He starts to meticulously load his spoon with strawberries and chocolate, creating a very select bite that he then thrusts at Sorrel’s chin, rumbling in the back of his throat.

Sorrel takes the bite with a laugh, smiling brilliantly around the spoon.

[thebibliomancer]

Song of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 12

Song of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because I guess we’re going to Ha’rar now? Unless Kylan finds something super cool in that book he checked out from the Aughra Library.

Last times in book: Kylan, Naia, Tavra, and Gurjin visited Aughra on High Hill to enlist her help in warning all Gelfling about the Skeksis. She’s less than helpful. But she does let Kylan take a random book he picked up.

Chapter 12

Kylan reads a fun story about a flute, Gurjin splits the party

The disappointed Gelfs stop to camp and Kylan reads the heck out of the book. He reads so hard that he decides to write just for a change of pace.

To give his mind a break, he prepared his own scrolls and worked on the day’s record, recalling as many details as he could before the memories faded. In his journal, the memory of the orrery could be preserved forever. Their journey there could be smoothed over. Their interaction with Aughra could be just a stumble on their path to ultimate success. All it would take were more chapters to show that this dark disappointment was not the end, but just some dimmer part in the middle. Maybe it was better that way.

No, Kylan decided mid-etching, it is better. No maybes about it.

And so he wrote it into the diary that way to make sure that any future readers would understand it to be so.

Good attitude, Kylan!

Disappointing episodes in your life just contrast more with the cool stuff, clearly.

That said, I wonder what happens to Kylan’s journal when all is said and done in these books. That’d be a good loose end to pick up.

Naia and Gurjin head off in opposite directions to go catch dinner, because sibling rivalry.

Kylan gets back to book and Tavra makes small talk while tying up a laundry line super good.

“Found anything yet? I’ve never seen a Gelfling read so studiously, even among those who could.”

“I’ll probably never be a warrior like everyone else in my clan, but I might as well hone the few skills I have.”

Kylan tries to follow suit by praising her sweet knot tying skills but she just agrees that she has skills with which to pay the bills and then wanders off into the wood, leaving Kylan alone at the campsite.

As the suns set, Kylan continues reading the old book. Which is a disorganized experience. The book is all jumbled up with little apparent rhyme or reason. It’ll jump from recording a feast at a village to a detailed study of the biology of a suri-wing including diagrams. And its in several languages, of which Gelfling is just one.

But Kylan finds a passage that at least puts a name to the writer.

Mother forgot my name today.

I had to remind her: “Raunip. Raunip, Mother!”

I cried, “The name you gave me!”

How could she forget?”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Raunip!

Aughra’s son!

Talk about drawing stuff from Creation Myths!

I think most people reading this post know his deal and also maybe its going to be a plot twist in this book where his journal has become a hot topic.

She has been consumed with the heavens. The heavens, and the shard, buried deep underground. She will not admit that neither above nor below will heal this sickness. Only we of Thra can be the antidote; and to heal our world, we must purge it of those outsiders who have taken our heart captive.

Good ol’ Raunip and his pretty xenophobic tendencies actually.

Kylan gets so into reading the book that he forgets that he was reading it for a reason. But he comes to a passage that brings him to his sense.

“The song of the Heart of Thra can sing the hollow bone from the bell-bird wing.”

That is so close to a title drop. Its just super close.

The passage talks about a Gelfling called Gyr the Song Teller who crafted a firca (a forked flute, like the one Jen has) from the forked bone of a bell-bird’s wing. Then Gyr the Song Teller played on this firca in the Caves of Grot.

Playing this special firca caused the words to every song Gyr knew to be dream-etched across the walls. And the Grottan Gelfling protected the songs, and the other lore of the Gelfling people.

Hey, keepers of the lore isn’t a bad clan hat to have!

The story smacks of the fantastical to Kylan since dream-etching is a painstaking and slow process and the bell-birds long extinct. He considers that the story is a mythologization of the invention of writing.

But what if it were real?

He feels like it could be real.

He decides to tell Naia about this. It could be the random hope they were hoping for.

After dark, Naia and Gurjin return, and have a fish measuring contest. Since Tavra is still gone, Kylan shows Naia and Gurjin the story.

“It was used to do a hundred dream-etchings at once in the Caves of Grot. Gyr the Song Teller did it just by playing the firca. The music echoes through the cave and etched the words on all the stone it touched.”

“Is this a song, or truth?” Naia asked. “If it’s true... Kylan, could you use such a thing to write our warning about the Skeksis? We wouldn’t have to do it one message at a time, we could do so many at once. So many the Skeksis wouldn’t be able to stop every one.”

Isn’t there still the problem of most Gelfling being illiterate? I guess maybe you could do it in pictures. I’m pretty sure dream-etching can do pictures.

That said, the firca of Gyr the Song Teller is a pretty cool magic artifact for the setting, huh?

Cool bard from ages ago made a flute out of a bird and it lets you write multiple things at a time. It’s not the one ring of power or Mjolnir but it feels like it fits well with the setting.

The book says the firca was left with the Grottan and there’s an entrance to the Caves of Grot not too far from where they are. Its a pretty convenient thing, really.

Although Gurjin is wondering whether the Grottan are even still around.

They’re even more reclusive than the Drenchen, and are practically considered a myth themselves.

There’s no solid evidence that the firca (or the Grottan) are real but Kylan decides to trust his gut like Naia taught him.

“It’s possible the bone firca doesn’t actually exist, but maybe Aughra knows better. Maybe she sent the book with us for that reason... Or maybe it has nothing to do with Aughra. Either way, I just have the feeling that we should go. I wish i had more proof, but the feeling is all I have.”

Naia agrees that they should go.

So I guess Naia isn’t going to Ha’rar after all! She may never go there at this rate, ha.

This is putting me in mind of playing a game like Skyrim and just getting way sidetracked with all the sidequests. Can’t go to the throat of the world, there’s a magic flute in a cave, you understand.

Anyway, Naia and Gurjin have come to another decision as well.

They’re going to split the party!

Dangit, I like having Gurjin around!

But Naia raises the point that if the Skeksis are going to be coming after them both for their twin goo, there’s no sense in making it easier for them by having them in the same place. She just wants Kylan’s opinion on it.

Kaylan [sic] felt touched that she sought his opinion at all, even if he hardly knew what the say after being ambushed with their bold plan.

Kylan asks where Gurjin would go and Naia says he’d go back to the Sog where he can hide with family and recover with Momdra Laesid’s super healing. And not stated but the Skeksis have pretty much never been to the Sog and probably won’t start now if they can help it.

It’s hard to traverse on foot, as Tavra found out.

Plus also, if the Skeksis are chasing after Rian, they’ll be heading to Ha’rar, pretty much the opposite direction of the Sog.

And Gurjin’s familiar enough with the Dark Wood that he can travel through it and avoid the Skeksis. Naia will even send Neech with him to help him out.

Good plan, twins!

Kinda bummed still that we’re losing Gurjin and Neech to this good plan.

For a while, I thought it was going to be a rad journey with Rian, Naia, and Kylan. Then Rian ditched and Tavra and Gurjin showed up. Now its going to be Naia, Tavra, and Kylan which is also a hilarious grouping.

The reason why they don’t want Tavra to know is that she’s going to kick up such a fuss. But if Gurjin is gone before she knows it, she’ll have to choose between chasing Gurjin or chasing Rian and Rian is going to Ha’rar where Tavra wants to go too.

“She’ll be mad we didn’t have her approval, but I think you’re right, and maybe she’ll understand once it’s done. If Gurjin can get back to Sog, then at least someone will have made contact with the Drenchen.”

Gurjin and Naia nodded in unison.

“I’ll leave tonight, when it’s my watch,” he said. He extended his hand, and Kylan took it. “It was very good to meet you, Kylan the Song Teller. I’m glad my sister met you.”

Aww!

And hey, good additional point! Gurjin can start spreading some truth treason against the Skeksis.

Great plan, twins!

Tavra returns and Kylan feels nervous having to keep all these secrets from her but feels more like its her he’s nervous about more than the lying or obfuscation. There’s something just off about her and Kylan hopes that there’s some cure in Ha’rar for what the Skeksis did to her.

*cough* spiders

Anyway.

... she sat on the far side of the fire and began weaving her damp hair into a braid. In the firelight, her single earring cast sparkles on her pale neck, and Kylan wished he could find the right words to untangle whatever caused the animosity radiating from her. If only there were a song that could touch her heart, the way one had touched Rian’s -- but not every problem could be solved with a song.

Lies.

Also, earring still making me super suspicious.

Kylan anxieties himself to sleep worrying whether the future truly is immutable and whether Tavra will arrest them for treason for letting Gurjin sneak off but is woken up by Gurjin putting a hand on his shoulder and dreamfasting with him before he sneaks away.

Until we meet again, brother Kylan. Be safe.

Awwwwwwwww! Best friends!

[descendantofthesparrow]

Abandoned - part 2 - harry hook x mals sister! reader

@marvelfanatic004

Could you possibly do a story about reader being Mal’s sister and pregnant with Harry’s baby during D3 and Mal doesn’t know when she says she’s going to shut the barrier? With lots of reader and Harry fluff!

Harry grunted as he blocked a heavy swing from a knight, he was getting exhausted quickly, the only thing keeping him going was the thought of (y/n) and their baby.

Harry noticed Carlos’ sword get launched away from him, so he leaped toward him and blocked a hit, guarding Carlos’ as he ran for his sword.

Harry dodged another swing, rolling away and slamming his sword into the knights back, it buckled and stumbled onto the floor.

Harry panted as he quickly stood and dodged another attack, nodding to gil as the blonde boy blocked an attack coming at him.

The knights stopped suddenly, green and purple magic shadowing over the metal.

Mal and uma overloaded audreys magic, and harry sagged in relief as the knights fell to the floor.

Reaching up to his neck, he ghosted over his matching promise ring to (y/n)s, hoping she was safe.

All of a sudden mal gasped and Harry turned to see a translucent figure of Audrey, smirking deviously at mal with….with…with (y/n) laying at her feet, glaring up at her, eyes glowing bright (e/c).

“what's wrong pixie~ worried over your sister? Let's hope you can figure out where I am in time to get her back and oh~ by the way, you might want to save your soon to be niece too”

Harry's heart stopped, n-niece? He was going to have a daughter?!...and Audrey was threatening both of his girls.

Harry growls storming up to the vision, seeing audreys eyes widen slightly and taking a small step back.

“you let them go now! Or I swear on Odin ill rip yer heart out!”

He saw (y/n)s eyes crinkle in a smile, while he heard mal go ‘what the fuck’ Audrey sneered, regaining her composure

“oh, you’re her baby daddy, what she do to get you to sleep with her, whore out?”

“SHUT” Harry roared out, glaring with all his might to kill Audrey through the magic vison “THE FUCK UP, YEH KNOW NOTHING ABOUT US, SO JUST KEEP YER MOUTH SHUT!”

Audrey rolled her eyes, but he could see the fear lying beneath the brown orbs.

“whatever, you have till midnight to get her back, any later and she's gone”

Audrey and (y/n)s form faded away, (y/n) locking eyes with harry for a split second, confidence in her glowing (e/c) eyes.

‘I have faith’

He heard uma and mal taking in the back of his mind, but he didn’t care, whirling around he snarled at mal.

“where is she keeping (y/n)?!”

Mal blinked surprised before glaring back, her eyes glowing green, but it didn’t affect him, he would piss off hades to get (y/n) back.

“I don’t know!! and why are you so concerned?! She's my sister!”

“yeah!” harry got in mals face, holding his hook only inches away from her throat, seething “the sister that ye ABANDONED! YOU LEFT ‘ER THERE TO ROT, WHILE YEH GOT FRESH FOOD AND SUNLIGHT, YOU LEFT ‘ER ALONE AND STARVING, SHES YER SISTER AND YOU JUST LEFT ‘ER THERE!”

Mals' eyes flickered but she stood strong.

“you haven’t answered my question why are you so concerned?!”

Harry breathed heavily, not willing to give that information to mal before evie spoke up in a firm voice.

“because he loves her mal, isn’t it obvious?”

Mals jaw dropped, her eyes dulling in surprise, “i-you-she-what?”

Uma groaned “they've been together since before that shitty cotillion, after you!” uma pointed at mal, glaring “just left her on the isle, I bet you didn’t even think about her, you were just so happy with the fresh food and fluffy pillows, that you forgot your own sister was still on the isle, rotten food and rocks for pillows”

Uma scoffed, walking out of the knight's museum, brushing mals shoulder harshly “some sister you are, and you call yourself a hero”

Harry closed his eyes, gaining control of himself before turning to evie, knowing she would respond better to his questions.

“where is (y/n)” evie sighed, shaking her head solemnly

“I wish I knew, but I have no clue, Audrey could have her anywhere”

Harry slumped his shoulder, feeling his eyes burn “I have teh get ‘er back, they are all I have”

Evie quirked her brow “they?”

Harry swallowed harshly, nodding “aye, they, (y/n) and…and our baby”

Evie's eyes widened, jaw-dropping “shes pregnant?”

Harry nodded, eyes floating away from the blue-haired seamstress before she squealed making harry jump.

“OMG congrats you two! Oh my god! Oh, I wish I had tried even harder to convince mal to let you and (y/n) off! But god, I don’t know why she refused!”

Harry stopped, looking to evie once more, rage settling in his mind again.

“what.”

----

You shivered as both the cold night air brushed against your exposed skin but calmed as fire bubbled beneath it, it was weird. anyway waking up to princess Audrey holding your mother's staff was also baffling, and as soon as she pressed the dragons eye to your cheek, you felt burning magma erupt within you.

You magic awakened, and the dragons eye sensed that drawing away from Audrey and seeping towards you, Audreys power was slowly slipping away, though, for some reason, she thought the ember was feeding her more magic, thinking that the feeling of less magic was her getting used to the feeling of it, not draining.

Your ears picked up on the sound of footsteps below the tower, normally, you wouldn’t have been able to hear that kinda stuff, but ever since the dragons eye made contact with you, it was as if your senses were kicked up to 15.

“she lied to us, she lied to us uma, and-and (y/n) is still missing, and it's almost midnight! How are we-“

“harry please calm down, well find her, even if it’s the last thing we do”

“we better, I can't lose her, i-I love her”

Audrey cackled as she let out shots of pink lightning, you heard the scramble of limbs on the courtyard, another set of heavily booted footsteps coming running in.

Mal.

Audrey picked you up by your arm, you grunted in pain as she did so, her nails digging into your skin.

“oh, lover boy~”

Looking down, you saw harry wide-eyed and afraid, looking up at you.

“its midnight~”

Harry screamed out a no as Audrey conjured a dagger and slashed into your side, making you scream out in pain, pleading for her to stop.

“HAHAHAHA!”

You felt the magma beneath your skin bubble and rush through your skin, you felt your teeth sharpen, your skin crack and heat up.

Audrey yelp in pain, releasing your arm, staring at the burnt palm of her hand.

“ah! wha-“

Audrey stared into your glowing (e/c) eyes, scales edging around them, wings, large black wings that shined with blue, the seemed to be on fire.

Your pupil was sharpened and angular, your breath heavy as steam hissed from your mouth.

“m-monster!” Audrey screamed, you snarled and a burst of fire blew Harry, Uma, and Mal off their feet. Harry quickly stood back up, his eyes widened as a large (e/c), gold and red dragon toward over a terrified Audrey, who was desperately reaching for the scepter, harry ran forward, snatching it from the ground, and running towards the dragon

“(y/n)!” he screamed, the dragon turned to him, giving a low rumble, and lowing its head, steam and smoke billowed around him.

“its okay love” he shakily pressed his hand onto the dragon's muzzle, its eyes closed happily, seeming to purr “you can turn back now, I don’t think she's gonna do anything else, considering you’re a lot bigger than the pixie”

The dragon chuffed, and it gave a soft glow as it shrank and slowly returned to human size, (y/n) taking its place.

She gave a tired smile as she stumbled toward him, humming happily as she collapsed on him and he wrapped his arms around her.

“I've got yeh love”

“holy fuck (y/n)” harry scowled as mal spoke up, turning to see a wide-eyed mal staring at the destroyed tower, which luckily had no one in it.

(y/n) gave a mumble, before passing out in Harry's arms.

Harry sighed, lifting (y/n) in a bridal position, handing the scepter to mal as he walked away.

“im gonna go take a nap, don’t disturb us”

Uma gazed across the courtyard, scorches of fire and broken stone spread about it.

She gave a low whistle, (y/n) could turn into a dragon, a powerful one at that.

And a heck of a more powerful one than mal that’s for sure.

One thing was for sure in the case of mal.

As she stared at the defeated Audrey and the destroyed tower.

She regretted abandoning her sister, she would have been a powerful ally.

---the end---

[epicstuckyficrecs]

Weekly Recap | November 11-17

Complete

Fix Me (I’ve Been Broken) by deadto27/ @deadto27​ (Modern AU | 7K | Teen): Bucky's tap starts leaking. Steve comes to fix it. Bucky swoons. He starts breaking things so Steve will fix them. To be honest, it's not the best plan he's ever had.

💙 a road less traveled by Claudia_flies/ @claudia-flies, cyclamental art (cyclamental), maichan, zilia (2012 Alternate Timeline | 75K | Explicit): Steve wakes up on the cold stone floor of the foyer. He scrambles up; there’s glass shards everywhere and they crunch under his gloved hands. People are staring, holding themselves back. They must have seen the fight, must have seen two of him. His own voice rings in his head. “Bucky is alive!”

The Past Can Rest in Peace by dixons_mama (TFA | 3K | Explicit): Behind the scenes of that Smithsonian film, and what happened after.

💙 rather be a lover than a fighter (found peace in your violence) by voxofthevoid/ @voxofthevoid​ (Post-Endgame | 4K | Explicit): The dust has settled, and the world is healing. Men are too.

EXHALE by GlitterCake20 (Post-Endgame | 1,5K | General): “Listen, I’ve loved you for an entire lifetime." Steve tells him what they both already know, "I'm ready to go fifty more. But only you and I, just like this. Together. I won't do it any other way."

we're trying for something that's already found us by GlitterCake20 (Shrunkyclunks, Soulmates AU | 3,6K | Mature): Steve straddles his bike, he's about to start it and wallow on the ride home about yet another soulmate-less day, when he hears it. "Goddamn, baby boy, take a ride on this." in which you hear your soulmate's thoughts when they see you for the first time.

I'll hold on a little tighter (maybe you'll stay the night) by GlitterCake20 (Modern AU | 10K | Explicit): "No strings. I ain't got time for strings." Steve murmurs. Bucky nods helplessly. "Be discreet." Steve continues kissing his neck and talking, now also rubbing and squeezing his thigh. "Condoms, always. Back out anytime you want. And sweetheart—" "Hm?" Bucky hums in a delirious daze as Steve works all the way down to his collarbone and bites, making Bucky jolt forward. "I like it rough, don't do it any other way. If that ain't your thing, we gotta call it off right now."

💙 should auld acquaintance be forgot (will you kiss me in the morning light?) by VenusMonstrosa (Modern AU, New Year’s Eve | 3,8K | Explicit): The man quirks an eyebrow and delicately removes the cigarette from his mouth, turning to blow the smoke downwind. “I’ll leave you to it. Let me just finish up and get out of your way.” “You can-- I mean-- Well, I don’t live here,” Steve states rather obviously. “You can stay. It’s your roof, I guess.”

💙 eggshell by spqr (Soulmates AU | 7K | Teen): Bucky’s born with "Are you the stripper?" on his ass, because of course he is.

at first chance i'd take the bed warmed by the body by spacebuck/ @spacebuck​ (Shrunkyclunks, Youtuber AU | 8K | Explicit): The one where Bucky's a youtuber who solves puzzles on camera, and Steve's smitten and horny.

blood orange by brideofquiet (ABO AU | 4,5K | Explicit): It’s a game, always. Chase me, take me, remind me I’m yours.

💙 Why you so mad, when you could be GLAAD? by verzacefatale/ @verzacefatale (Modern AU | 7K | Teen): Steve takes his hands off Bucky, but before he can cross his arms to stop from touching Bucky again, they grab Steve’s hand and squeeze. Steve feels everything around him stop and crystallize into that one perfect moment where all five-feet-ten-inches-in-boots of Bucky is smiling up at him through heavy-lidded eyes and a layer of fake eyelashes, with a twist to their mouth like maybe they do find Steve interesting, and it’s all he wants to know.

💙 bit warm, but that don't mean i'm on fire by notlucy/ @notlucy​ (BDSM AU | 9,5K | Explicit): Nobody puts Bucky in a corner. (Part 5 of 💙 Give a Little, Take a Little)

WIP

A Company Man by mambo/ @whtaft​ (Modern AU | 1/16 | 5K | Explicit): No matter what it is, the truth is the same: Steve Rogers is in love with Bucky Barnes, a married man.

💙 Fan the Flame by Avaaricious/ @fannishflightsoffancy​ (Shrunkyclunks | 29/? | 276K | Mature): AKA the "I thought you were a dude-bro and meant to swipe left on Tinder but I slipped. We matched and now I'm stuck talking to you" AU

Re-read

💙 (series) Stop interrupting my grinding by rohkeutta/ @rohkeutta​ (Shrunkyclunks | 6 works | 33K | Mature): A.ka the notorious Bitch series.

💙 From Hydra with Love by insomnia1999 (Spies AU | 21K | Mature): Captain Steve Rogers is one of the best spies in the world - a marksman, a martial artist, an expert in strategy and tactics. There's not a lot he can't handle. Heck, he's even saved the world once or twice. So why does every run in with the mysterious Winter Soldier leave him feeling like the Bond Girl?

[the-second-circle-ffxiv]

Common ground

It started like any other, very early morning in Ishgard - with the exception there was a little bit of thin mist hovering above the ground. Also, the complete silence was broken by constant clatter coming from a certain viera's high heels, while she marched along the silent streets. "I don't believe this", Silke muttered to herself while heading towards the Blacksoul manor. "I can't focking believe this." She had clenched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth. The damn package Lareine had left into her apartment and which Silke had found had contained none other than the godsforsaken dress Silke had been dreaming of since she had seen a mannequin wearing it in a display window on the day before they started to sell it. It was the latest fashion: a turquoise green - and her absolute favorite hue too - long dress with puff sleeves, lace decorations, crystal pendant and everything, including also a soft, dark blue cloak. Silke had known at the first glimpse this delicacy had been something she would never be able to afford, and in low spirits had been leering at other people scurrying around and wearing it while looking fabulous. And now she miraculously had one. It also fit her like a glove. It was without a doubt the fanciest and best fitting attire she had ever owned. This was also the first day Silke had gone out while wearing it, and she was sorry for all those poor bastards who weren't there witnessing this majestic apparition flying by. Silke's first reaction after opening the package had been pure dismay. Then the tears had come. She had managed to hold them back almost for a month, but apparently this had been too much. Lareine certainly knew her the best, perhaps even better than Asagi - at least in some things. Namely, Silke hadn't told Lareine about wanting the dress. They hadn't even been talking back then. After crying for a while Silke had started to giggle in disbelief while thinking about the price she had seen in the display window. Lareine had probably burned all of her money into this attempt of hers to make amends. Silke wasn't the sort of person one could steer by bribes but still she couldn't have denied this had impressed her no matter how hard she had tried. Well, it wouldn't hurt if she gave Lareine at least an opportunity to explain herself while not being intoxicated, Silke thought while walking. And the explanation had better be a good one.

Before she actually noticed it she was already standing in front of the estate. To her surprise Silke noticed she was nervous. She wasn't sure was it more because she and Lareine hadn't met in weeks, or because this was the first time she came here alone. Before this it had always been with Lareine, or her and Arsene. Suddenly Silke felt like an intruder. The estate - not to mention its master - was very grim and repulsive, although usually Silke was drawn to and liked dark but elegant things. Silke walked through the garden to the front door, grabbed the doorknocker and smashed it three times. For a moment it was completely silent. Then she heard heavy, leisurely steps approaching inside. That wasn't Arsene, she thought. He was usually almost or completely silent. The thick, wooden door opened with a lazy creak and a moment later Silke was looking at Varg, who was dressed in white blouse, black vest and formal trousers. The only thing that broke the carefully polished whole was his hair he probably hadn't done anything else to except hastily trying to sweep it back before opening the door. He seemed bored, and stared at Silke with narrowed eyes, like he would've just found a cockroach from the floor and was wondering what to do with it. The fock was his problem as well? Silke had never been rude to him or anything. In fact, they hadn't had any negative interactions with each other and still Blacksoul seemed to loathe her. The sudden spike of annoyance drove her trepidation away, and Silke opened her mouth to blurt out something snarky just for the sake of it. However, before she had uttered even a sound, Varg stepped aside, leaving the door open, turned around and said to someone Silke couldn't see: "It is for you." Iris dropped a half-finished toast back onto plate with a soft 'thud' as she heard Varg's voice from the hallway. The fock someone wanted of her? Had she forgot a shift at work? No. The Second Circle was closed today. For some reason, Asagi had started to keep the place closed for three nights a week. It didn't bother Iris, though. Considering the fact she didn't have to pay the rent, she still made a decent amount of gil. With a drawn out sigh, she forced herself up from a comfy, upholstered chair, wrapping a black dressing gown tighter around her matching, laced lingerie, and made her way to the hallway. "...Ya have ani fockin' idea what time it is? If dis is some...", Iris never got to finish her sentence as her gaze locked on the creature standing in the open doorway. Iris felt like someone had just dropped a huge, cold stone into her stomach. And soon the stone shattered, giving birth to a swarm of blue butterflies that filled her, sending a shiver up her spine and making her head swirl. For a short moment she could do nothing but stare at Silke, her mouth slightly ajar, and taking support of the door frame, as she felt like she could pass out. "...Am... Am I a heckin' dreamin' 'ere...?” she tried to gather herself. "S... Silke? You... Fockin' 'ell, you... look smokin' hot..." Iris couldn't move her eyes from the girl. She had thought the dress would fit her former friend, but never had an idea just how good it would look on her. If this was a dream, she never wanted to wake up again. "Uhhh... I was... just 'aving tea. Ya... care to sit down with mi? J... Just tea ya know?" she waved her hand towards the kitchen. "...Just... sit down for a moment, okai? I need to explain a lot of shite... A lot..." Meanwhile Silke was still standing in the doorway, keeping her hands behind her back and squeezing them together so hard her knuckles were probably bone white. Her uneasy gaze was bouncing between Lareine, the marble floor, Varg, the door frame, the dark, wooden roof, then Lareine again and so on. It sure was a strange as heck feeling when one wanted to both embrace someone and never let go, and punch their teeth into their throat at the same time. Without showing any kind of emotion Varg casually loitered back into the kitchen. Silke could hear a couple of faint chinks, and soon he walked out of there, holding a fresh cup of black coffee with a thin trail of steam rising from it, and disappeared into the corridor leading upstairs, leaving the two vieras alone. Not wanting to let a somewhat awkward silence to continue for too long, Silke released her hands, feeling her blood starting to circulate in them again, and closed the heavy, wooden door behind her. She followed Lareine into the kitchen and sat opposite of her spot on a chair that had already been pulled from under the table. It was warm. Silke's first instinctive reaction was to lower her gaze onto the table, and she noticed there was some bread crumbs or something there. "Did I interrupt your breakfast?" she asked in a polite tone. Iris made her way to the stove, pouring herself some leftovers coffee, and started to prepare a cup of tea for Silke. “Ya aint interruptin’ shite, Silke...”, she muttered, her back turned to the other. “...I heckin’ missed ya.” The whole situation felt so fragile. Like a soap bubble, ready to break at any moment, and to be carried away with the wind. Silke's words had kept ringing in Iris' head - stronger than ever during the last three weeks. Do not ever touch me again. A scent of herbal tea with ginger filled the air, as Iris made her way to the table, carrying two cups. She placed the tea in front of Silke, before walking around the table and taking a seat from the opposite side. For just a fleeting moment, the whole room was silent like a wintry grave, except for the clinking of Silke’s spoon against the edge of her cup. “...I dunno where to even start... I'm sorry. The whole shite was a royal fock-up from mi...”, Iris started. While talking, she kept her gaze down in her coffee. This was hard enough on its own. Just seeing Silke's face there, in front of her. No. Iris felt she would break if she looked the girl in the eye. “...Was about to get ya dat book I... ya know. But I have no fockin’ idea what the name was. My memory of dat evening... It's like someone just splattered black paint all over it. I dunno if I even paid much attention to the name... Aniway. Ya just... gimme the name of the book, and I'll get ya a new one from mi next paycheck... Okai?” During a couple of weeks, Iris had gone through her head a thousand times what she would say if she ever met her friend again. And now that the girl was right there, she felt like someone had taken her brain out and replaced it with pillow stuffings. "...I cut mi medication back then, ya know... I'm back on it now, but... Yeah. Since dat, everythin' just went down a fockin' shitslide..." And without even thinking Iris told everything she could remember to Silke. She laid everything on the table before her. About the night at Sakuya’s place, and Tora, trying to take her through the night without the medical dose. And how that had ultimately led to Iris almost sleeping with the feral forcibly. She told about Sakuya, finding the two from her bed, sheets soaked with blood. And how that had led into a fight, and Sakuya almost stabbing Iris before Tora stopped her. She told Silke about the night when she got back to Ishgard, how she got thrown out by Varg, and all the way to the moment when she found her way to Silke’s doorsteps. Silke quietly sipped her tea while Lareine talked. Part of her had been expecting the similar kind of shite like during that morning a few weeks ago with some miserable excuse toppings, and she had even thought beforehand some equally sharp answers to them. But to her surprise the situation had taken almost a completely different direction from the start. She couldn't help but to listen with wide eyes while Lareine told her about the mess with Sakuya and Tora. Silke had met them only for a couple of times briefly and didn't know those two well, but based on what she knew, they were chill folks. A bit weird ones, but in a good way. Just the kind both Lareine and Silke had high possibilities to get along with. People like that were rare treasures, since Silke was more than painfully aware she and Lareine - and especially Lareine - didn't get easily along just with anyone. And now Lareine had blown it, too. “...I dunno whut the heck got into mi... The thin’s I said", Iris went on. "Fock, I dunno how I could throw such shite on ya... It just ‘appened! And the kiss... Fock’s sake, dat will never ‘appen again... I promise! I just...” Finally Iris raised her gaze to Silke, biting her lip, eyes gleaming with tears she tried to hold back. Silke tried her best to keep her own feelings in check, but she was extremely relieved there had been something else behind Lareine's behavior than just being drunk. Silke had always thought the ancient proverb of drunks 'I didn't mean it, I was drunk', wasn't valid. Since alcohol messed up functions of the frontal lobe, drunkenness actually made people more honest. That's why Silke took the words of drunkards to her heart. “...I just felt miserable... Been fockin’ bottlin’ up mi feelin’s for ya for heckin’ years... And the whole thin’ just blew up onto mi face... On yer face!” Iris sighed frustratedly and wiped a single stray tear onto her dressing gown's sleeve. Meanwhile Silke quickly put her cup back on the table and yanked her hands into her lap so that they wouldn't be shaking on the table for all to see. “...I fockin’ love ya, Silke... And I know I focked it all up big time... But... Can ya, like ever... in dat cute head of yer, even think about forgivin’ mi? I know its fockin’ lot to ask, but... Could we at least... like... heckin' try to build somethin' back? I cant live without ya, Silke...” After Iris finished her story, there was a long silence. Finally Silke cleared her throat and forced herself to speak. She thought she owed some explanations to Lareine as well, about something else, from the time they had even met. "Back when I was a kid, I used to wonder why monks and priests dedicated their life to their faith and retreated into some desolate monasteries in the mountains", she started silently. Immediately she had to clear her throat again. It felt like there would've been some lump. "During my teenage years in Kugane I found out I was gifted in channeling aether. It was a mindblowing experience for me." Silke made an instinctive silly face accompanied by a gesture with her hands portraying like her head would've exploded and brain splattered all over the place. Then she remembered the situation she was in and lowered her hands into her lap again. "Before that day, I had managed whatever tasks I had done only averagely. I had never been truly skillful at anything. I don't know have you ever experienced anything like it, Lareine... discovering your true calling." There was still some tea left at the bottom of her cup. It'd be shame if such a good tea went to waste just because she had forgotten how to swallow, Silke thought. "My family members have always been very supportive, and I'm so, so grateful to them...", Silke continued after a short while. "But pretty much everyone else - both my so called friends and romantic interests - have been against it. 'Are you reading again, Silke? You're so boring, have fun sometimes! You have lessons again, Silke? We haven't focked this week even once, just cancel them! You wanna follow your dream, Silke? But what about meee?'" she imitated in a mocking tone dripping with bitterness. She had to take a very deep, long breath before she went on: "I was so angry at them... part of me still is. But after it had happened multiple times I also realized perhaps it wasn't fair of me to expect anyone to spend their time with a bookworm who hardly has any time or interest in the things most of other people prefer. So... I decided I would never again give anyone a reason to blame me for being cold or heartless for following my path, feeling my lifeblood in my veins..." During talking Silke had been mostly just staring at the table, her cup or her hands. She grabbed the cup again and gulped the leftover tea down, hoping it would've been something more potent. She had read from somewhere mind was actually so powerful it could become drunk without alcohol if one believed in it strongly enough. It didn't work now, though. At least not fast enough. She should've probably started telling her brain she was drinking booze since they had started talking with Lareine. "You saying you love me, Lareine... I'm humbled by your words. And... so flattered it almost makes me speechless. But I could probably never give you what you want from me... As much as I care about you... so much I could maybe call it even love of some kind... and I would absolutely want to keep you in my life no matter how this conversation will end... but it still doesn't make me want to stray off my course." At that moment Silke could've otherwise been like an archetype of a fancy looking portrait made of some revered noble. She was sitting straight, hands squeezed together on the table in front of her, wearing her expensive dress, and her long, straight, ash black hair tied in a loose bun. Her voice was stable and formal like she would've currently been in a job interview. But this paintinglike whole was broken by a slow flow of tears. Iris kept the gaze of her purple eyes nailed to Silke, as the girl told her story. She knew about Silke's old lovers. What they had been after. How Silke had been unable to live up to their expectations, and in the end, always got left with her books and spells. Was Silke right though? Had she been right all along? Maybe she had noticed all Iris' attempts to get close to her, and had kept offering cold shoulder to protect Iris from a let down. Damn girl thought she knew better what Iris needed. Bullshite. She took a sip of coffee, sniffing her nose at it. For some reason, the coffee had suddenly started to taste so bitter on her tongue. "Stop with da Lareine-crap, Silke... It's Iris. Its startin' to...", but before she got any further, she noticed Silke's tears. The tears on those pale cheeks were like a raging river for the flames of her frustration, putting them out in a heartbeat. Without thinking, Iris got up, walking around the table and searching for a tissue from the pocket of her dressing gown. She cursed in her mind as she came to a conclusion both her pockets were empty. Silke couldn't help but to frown slightly at the remark about the name. She wiped her eyes on the back of her hand, not giving a damn did it make her look like a panda bear with all her smeared make-up or not. The Iris thing was still partly a mystery to her. Silke had heard some people calling Lareine Iris sometimes, but she had thought it was a nickname they had given her. However, at times it seemed like a hot potato and Silke had never found a proper moment to ask about it. And mostly she had just forgotten the whole thing until it popped up again later. With a couple of quick steps, Iris suddenly made her way to the stove, picking up a towel from the hangar, and walking back to her friend.

Do not ever touch me again. Iris dropped the towel on the table, in front of Silke, before taking a step away from the girl, and leaning onto the table. Didn't Lareine like her own name? Silke thought to herself. She knew Varg had given it to her. Or was the name itself fine but Lareine just didn't like it because she didn't like the one who had given it to her? Or did it have something to do with her odd shifts? Silke's thoughts were interrupted by a towel that was dropped in front of her. She grabbed it and wiped her face, more thoroughly this time. "...Heck... I'm sorry, Silke... I do love ya... I fockin' love ya more than anythin' I have ever loved. And its scarin' the livin' shite outta mi. Yer all I 'ave been able to think durin’ these past weeks. And...", she sighed deeply, tapping the surface of the table with her long nails. "...However dis ends, I too want to keep ya in mi life. Abso-fockin'-lutely! And 'onestly? Why the heck ya keep thinkin' I'm tryin' to get ya stray off ya course? Haven't I fockin' supported ya durin' these years we have known? Not heckin' once I have told ya to drop yer classes and be with mi. Have I?" Sitting this close to Silke made her blood burn, like a dragon's breath. Like someone had drawn out her blood and replaced it with molten iron. Tears on Silke's cheeks made it just worse. Oh, how much Iris wanted to wrap her arms around this beautiful creature, and never let go. Protect her from all the heart-ache and poison-dripping words the girl got from people. But could she protect Silke from herself? The idea terrified her to the core, where the emptiness was lurking, ready to be set free. Ready to consume everything good and beautiful Iris had laid her hands on. And like speaking of a demon, called by her thoughts, the emptiness rose its head. A fleeting thought. To lift Silke on this very table, and rise her up to the heavens. Fill the emptiness just for a moment. Iris swept the thought on side, like it was an annoying insect, trying to get into her drink. The 'ell is wrong with me?

"I... think I might 'ave burned our heckin' loveboat on dat evenin' at yer place, huh? I kinda thought so. And 'onestly? I did not expect ya to just forgive me... Heck, I'm glad over mi head ya even came. At least let me tell ya I'm sorry. If we... can build somethin' out of this... Even an echo of whut we had. It would be...", Iris felt salty tears burning her eyes, and she had to work hard to hold them back. She couldn't cry now. Not now. Silke needed her. "...But tell mi this... okai? Ya have like... Whut? Six? Seven bells a day in dat class of yer? Mages 'ave relationships. Whut the heck is keeping ya from havin' one? Fock's sake, people have careers, Silke! And still dey have love-life. Heck, some might even have couple of kids! How come all yer time goes into studyin'? And... I'm not 'ere keepin' ya from followin' yer dreams! Nor strayin' ya away from yer path.. But really? Ya gotta 'ave somethin' else in life... A fockin' relationship is no full time job... Don't ya ever feel like ya just want someone to wake up next to ya in tha mornin'? Be dere when ya get home... Fockin' worship dat form of yer! Don't get mi wrong, but always when ya talk about damn relationships, it's like yer talking about some fockin' chore! Dats somethin' I will never get in ya... But ya may be right though! Maybe we were never made for each other in more wais than friends..." As the words left Iris' lips, she felt like they ripped a part of her soul with them, and scattered it into the wind. She felt the emptiness' low growl deep in the depths of her heart. "No, you haven't told me to relinquish anything, ever", Silke admitted, sniffed and put the towel back on the table. "Not even once... And for that I was very grateful. That's why I felt so happy around you. ...Until the last time we met." There was a short pause. "According to what you said to me back then I understood you've been just keeping up a facade, pretending to accept me, but in reality you had been hecking frustrated all the time. And that it took a couple of years and a few bottles of booze for you to gather courage to say it straight to my face." Silke also knew more than well other mages had relationships and whatnot. And it felt like everyone would've been constantly pointing out she should as well. Heck, she wasn't even certain did she want to. So far she had been trying out things mostly because she had been told to, not of her own volition. It wasn't only romance, but other aspects of life as well. Silke had been purely horrified when people of her age or younger had been saying they 'felt like settling down' and then got pregnant or married. Or worse: both! She felt like a caged cardinal craving to take off and disappear into the limitless blue, but was constantly told to stay in her cage. Because it was good for her. Because it was appropriate. Because others thought she should. It all made her so frustrated, baffled and furious before all, wanting to flap her wings and peck the bars even harder, not giving a damn about her pretty plumage wearing off of all the struggling and revealing blood, tendons and flesh beneath. What a useless, weak body and mind of a bird, she shuddered at the mental image. A demon or dragon would've fit her better. Like the great Hraesvelgr and Nidhogg. Oh, what magnificent creatures. Silke shook her head, forcing her thoughts back into the moment. "Haa, you are kinda right... about the chore thing", Silke explained after the silence had gone on for long enough without her noticing. "At least partly. And for gods' sake don't get me wrong! I do enjoy the company of other people. But for some reason I... don't seem to crave for it as much as most. It often feels like... there wouldn't be enough hours in a day for me. Like... I feel like I've just gotten started with some interesting transmutation or experiment or an old scroll and gotten all pumped up, like yesss this is the stuff, and then I notice it's already four in the focking morning and I should've gone to sleep hours ago, and should be at a lecture at eight. And then some time ago one of my professors noticed me either sitting in the library or using the chemistry class long after everyone else had left and offered me a part time job in their service, saying I could 'put all of that enthusiasm into a good use and earn some gil while at it.' And of course I accepted! She could've as well shown me a jam-filled doughnut with thick frosting and lots of sprinkles and asked me do I want it or not. And I was like 'No good ma'am I definitely don't want your delicious looking doughnut that smells like ambrosia from the heavens! Just hand it over!'" When Silke noticed she had started to get worked up again, she took another deep breath and cast a glance to a partly withered sunflower on the other side of the kitchen window. It was a stained glass window, very pretty, and looked very expensive. Silke tried to make sense of the patterns and what they presented. "Then at some point, after sedating my curiosity, I get an urge to go somewhere and meet people... and then I of course just go, and usually it's really fun. But when the urge to leave emerges, I rather go while I'm still in high spirits, and not trying to stay there just for the sake of staying, and being only half present. It seems like... others see it as rude I don't meet them so often, or that I don't stay for as long as they'd want, but I think it'd be even more rude towards my companions if I didn't give them my full attention and live my time with them to the fullest." Silke slowly turned her gaze from the window back to Lareine. "I'm terribly sorry, I started to babble again", she hissed while grimacing. "What I'm trying to say is... I've seen... many times... the way you want to live your life, La... Iris. You remind me of a shooting star or comet, roaming its way through the sphere and shining brightly, attracting attention and admiration. Meanwhile I'm some distant star twinkling leisurely in the horizon, just above the trees, and one would need a telescope to see it properly. As much as I don't like it, our preferences seem to be like fire and ice, godsdamnit! It's a bad omen!" "What the fock, Silke?" Iris couldn't help herself. "Yer not a distant, meaningless, piece of shite-star somewhere in the heckin' horizon! Yer the damn brightest star dere is for mi! All the time, after I came to Ishgard... Damn, I guess maybe even before dat... I 'ave felt like I'm walkin' in a dark, swampy forest with no wai out! Not until I met ya, Silke!" without even noticing it, Iris had taken a step closer to her friend, now standing only a step away. "...Yer mi guiding fockin’ light in this shitefest we call life! Ya shine down on mi, and help mi keep goin’! But if ya leave mi now... Whut do ya think it will do for mi? I’ll be damn lost in the darkness again! Don't ya dare to call yerself some useless fart-star in mi company ever again... Okai?” What was this girl even thinking? Silke had always had low self-esteem in all other areas, except her magic. In which her pride was clear. Maybe that was why Iris somewhere deep inside... some part of her disliked Silke’s magic. Magic took everything from her. Iris hated all the people who pecked at Silke for how she was... what she did. If she knew she could get away with it, without causing Silke any trouble, Iris would've gotten rid of every damn arsepluck who dared to say bad things about this goddess among women... And almost as much as Iris hated the people making Silke’s life hell, she hated the girl doing it to herself. “And I told ya already!” Iris turned around, bending over, leaning her elbows onto the table and bringing her head on the same level with Silke’s. “...I dropped mi medicine back den! It... I dunno whut I was sayin’! But whutever it was, it was not true... Ya really think, I would ‘ave just... heckin’ bottled it all up for two years? Tell mi... Would ya waste yer time on someone ya think is just frustratin’ company? Hold up a damn facade for such person? Dats fockin’ waste of time!" Quite many people seem to be doing it, actually, Silke was tempted to say in her most annoying, know-it-all tone, but she bit her tongue. "Yeah, yer right about bein' frustrated, though...", Iris continued. "I might have thought about it time to ‘ime... Especially when ya fell asleep on mi...  How do ya think it made mi feel? How it made mi look?” She let out a shivering sigh, shaking her head. “And whut the heck is dis mumbo-jumbo about bad omens? ‘ow are we a bad omen? We... We are made for eachother, Silke! I love ya, sweetie! ‘ow can dat be a bad omen in ani way? A... And ya just... Ya just said ya love me, ‘aight? So... I... I dont see whut’s the matter! I just want ya to be damn part of mi life, Silke...” As Iris talked, she could almost feel Silke’s breath on her face. Feel the faint scent of a flowery perfume. The emptiness inside her fought, tearing it’s shackles, and Iris had to close her eyes for just a moment, to keep it in check. “... And I got a job and everythin' ya know! I'm really doin' mi fockin' best! ...I just hope we could get even something back... Of whut we had before all dis..." Her fight against the tears seemed to be falling for a loss, as they started to run freely, messing her dark makeup, and painting dark lines onto her pale cheeks. "...I heckin' love ya, Silke..." Silke lowered her reddish eyes from Lareine to her own hands again and started wringing them compulsively. What the heck was Lareine babbling about? They usually understood each other perfectly, but sometimes this happened. They had a language barrier or something between them. Silke had just announced she wanted to keep Lareine in her life and Lareine was already talking about Silke 'leaving' her. Or was this about that inexplicable concept of being 'just friends' again? Silke had never understood it. She didn't have any ranks for the people precious to her. They were all equally important, just in different ways. To her, there was no being 'just' something. "Once again I'm flattered you've thought of me so highly, and that I've been able to be of help to you. But do you have any idea what kind of contract you'd want to scrawl your name on, princess?" Silke almost whispered. "Let's imagine for a moment we'd live together, okay? I would leave very early for school or work, and return very late in most days. We would see each other only slightly more often than nowadays", she started to list. "You sleep with every second person you find attractive. I couldn't care less about such things. I've done it for a few times only to please my partners. It's like housework - a necessary evil - and even more boring than housework to be honest...", she couldn't help but to roll her eyes. Silke's gaze wandered around the table and fixated on her empty cup. There was some skillfully painted, pink and white roses on it, and the cup's handle and rim were gilded. She couldn't help but wonder about the possible ratio of materials to get such a perfectly balanced hue. "As you know already, I'm striving to become an archmage, and alongside that, an alchemist", Silke continued after a short while. No more tears were coming out and she noticed her voice was saturated with perseverance and finality like always while talking about the subject. "If they call me in the middle of night... or party or dinner or whatever and there's some emergency or major breakthrough, I'll most probably be going. If they need someone to test a new portal or check stability levels of a tear in the rift, I'll be the first one volunteering. If there's demons, voidsents or extremely powerful, magical beasts causing trouble... well, you know how it goes: I will be there." Silke turned her head slightly towards Lareine, but didn't look at her directly, just from the corner of her eye. "Is that truly what you want in your life... Iris?" Suddenly Iris started to regret she ever corrected the name. When they were talking about love earlier, Silke repeating Lareine’s name over and over again had made Iris feel so miserable. Almost like her beloved was confessing her love to another woman, right there under her very eyes. But now? As things had started to take turn to the south again, it would've been so much easier to take all hits while hiding behind the mask of unsuspecting Lareine. Iris felt like she was swimming in a bottomless lake. And every sentence Silke weaved, every word leaving those pretty, thin lips of hers, felt like a creature of the deeps, grabbing Iris’ leg and pulling her down under. She tried to fight back, gasp for air, but it was no use, and soon she would just give up. Sink into the deep dark embrace of nothing. “No...”, the words left Iris’ lips, without her even noticing it. She straightened her back, and staggered to the stove. Her head was spinning. A numb hand took a grip of the teapot and filled it with fresh water, placing it on the stove. Flames in the fireplace were slowly withering away and dying, so she picked up a couple of logs, throwing them into the fireplace to keep the flames alive. Deep down Iris hoped she could do the same for her own, withering heart. The silence in the room was like that of funerals, and that's how Iris felt. A funeral. She was about to bury something very dear to her. Put it into rest. After a while that felt like an eternity in purgatory, the boiling of water broke the silence. Iris moved the pot off the stove, reached for a bottle of rum, and a tiny jar of honey, mixing them into two fresh cups, and filling to the brim with boiling hot water. She walked up to Silke, placing the cup in front of her before returning to her own chair with hers. “Ya will always be pickin’ yer damn archmage dreams over mi, huh?”, she noted while taking a sip. The steaming, hot drink burned her mouth, but it was better than the feeling of emptiness inside her. “...Don't ya get mi wrong, sweetie. I'm heckin’ proud of ya. Yer gonna be the most kick-ass fockin’ archmage dey have ever seen from ‘ere to far East. And damn I wanna be dere to see tha faces of yer fellow students, when dey see it. After all dey ‘ave said about ya... And ‘ey, maybe I dont ‘ave to use Mori’s portals animore den. I don't trust the portals of dat lass in the slightest...” Taking another sip, Iris placed the cup onto the dark, wooden table, returning her gaze to her friend. “Ya just... try to heckin’ understand how dis feels to mi. I ‘ave been fockin’ eartips deep in love with ya for damn two years. And now? It’s just kinda all shatterin’ in pieces in front of mi. Like dat damn painted glass window I broke on dat night. I... I feel like bein’ a damn child again. ‘ave I told ya about mi mom, Silke? She... was a useless dreamer-type, fillin’ mi head with stories about lands like those from fairytales dat waited for us outside of tha forest. And silly me even believed those words. ...Then we came to Limsa Lominsa. And instead of my fantasy fairyland, I got a stinkin’ city, full of cut-throats and rapists... Mi damn world just fell apart.” Iris’ lips curled into a smile of a kind. “...Ya know whut I promised to miself back den? While burnin’ mi mom’s corpse? To never let anyone fill mi head with shite of fairytales ever again. And for the fockin’ past two years... I ‘ave done it miself. The apple sure doesn't drop far from the damn tree...” Iris emptied her cup with one single gulp, feeling the rum burning its way down her throat. “I'm heckin’ sorry, Silke. I don't wanna lose ya. Maybe our damn lovestory was not written in the stars after all... But I still love ya, gal. And if I can't compete with ya silly dreams... Damn... I’ll be dere to cheer for ya, when ya make dose dreams reality!” A warm smile on Iris’ lips, hid behind the emptiness pulsated and growled, and finally broke its shackles. Silke tried her best to think about something extremely annoying and cling to it with all her might to prevent her flow of tears she could feel pounding behind her eyes like roaring waves against a dam that was about to break. She would've so much wished Lareine to agree, but deep down she knew it wouldn't have been fair. If Silke had tried adapting to live the wild life Lareine was after, it would've been like a fish trying to climb a tree. And if Lareine for her part had shut herself into libraries or ancient tombs and ruins, or Silke's silent apartment with Laurence, she would've eventually felt as caged as Silke currently did with generally everything. "If you want to put it that way", Silke agreed silently. If she wasn't able to have both, magick would be her choice, now and forever. "I am trying to understand. I think I even do to some extent. And I truly do wish I could give you what you seek because I want for your happiness. But I don't think I have it in me. I wouldn't want it to go to the point we desperately tried to mix our fire and ice just because it seems nice on the outside and eventually ended up hating each other for it." At least they were no longer at sixes and sevens. That alone eased the giant vortex beneath her calm surface at least some. Like Lareine, Silke also emptied her cup with one go, not caring although it made her feel like she was swallowing lava. Feeling like she didn't have anything to say anymore Silke glanced absent-mindedly outside. It had gotten really foggy. Then she turned to look at the clock sitting on a cupboard nearby. "I think I should go", Silke stated formally, and calmly stood up. "Not for work or school this time, though. It's my laundry room turn soon and I have only an hour to wash almost my entire wardrobe. Hahah!" She let out an awkward laugh and bowed politely immediately after. "Thank you for the tea, Iris. It was absolutely delicious. See you around!" I must get out, she thought to herself. I must get out right now.

Silke was able to get past Lareine before she saw Silke's face starting to twist, but before Silke got out of the kitchen, she almost collided with Varg, who had returned from upstairs, his hands full of an empty cup and briefcase, and this time with tidied hair. Silke wasn't fast enough to hide her facial expression, which made the old au ra give her a long, curious look. "Excuse me", Silke almost whispered, not lowering her wavering gaze from his chilly, black eyes, but in her mind she added a sarcastic 'wink wink nudge nudge.' His only answer was a slight frown and a calm step aside so that she could pass. This felt so wrong, Iris thought while watching Silke getting up and leaving. So wrong. Deep down Iris knew this would be for the best for both of them. Like Silke had said, trying to mix fire and ice would never end well. Still, she could not look at her friend’s back as she was walking out of the room. Silke was acting... weirdly? "Silke!" Iris shouted after the girl. But as the other didn’t pay any mind to her voice, she quickly rushed around the table and towards her friend. Usually Iris had an excellent balance. She had been honing it for years on the streets of Limsa Lominsa. Yet now, her foot got stuck around a leg of the chair that was pulled out, and the slippery marble flooring did the rest. With her hands flailing, she tried to regain her balance, but it was no use at this point. With a loud crash from a falling chair, and a series of colorful curses, Iris fell on the floor, just barely missing Varg, who had just walked in, looking annoyed. Without wasting any time, she jumped back on her feet and took a couple of quick steps, reaching her friend just before she reached towards the door. Do not ever touch me again... Do not ever touch me again... Do not ever touch me again... SHUT THE FOCK UP!! Iris wrapped her arms gently around Silke from behind. The hold was light like butterfly’s wings, and Silke could've easily walked out of it if she had wanted to. Iris buried her face into Silke’s long, velvety hair, inhaling her scent. The familiar scent of flowers, ink and parchment felt so good. Like someone pulling Iris out of a freezing water and wrapping her into a blanket. It felt like home. With one arm around Silke’s chest, and another around her neck, crossing in front her, Iris could feel Silke holding tears. So this was why she was acting so weird? Iris was about to say something about it, but decided not to. She would let Silke have her tears. The girl had cried enough. After just a fleeting moment of standing there, Iris rose her chin, whispering softly into Silke’s long ear. “...Let mi walk ya ‘ome, okai? Just... Just gimme a moment to dress up. I can help ya with dose laundry of yer, okai? We’ll get it done in no time, the two of us? Yes?” While talking Iris brushed the back of her index finger up on Silke’s jawline. “I cant just let ya walk awai from mi like dat, Silke. Let mi give ya a ‘and. I ‘ave a day-off and all dat shite. Got nothin’ to do aniway...” Lareine's careful hug made Silke accidentally vibrate, but instead of dashing out through the half opened door, she had frozen on the spot, held by her own hand squeezing the metallic doorknob. It felt icy to touch, but Silke used it as an anchor to hold herself together. It had been embarrassing enough to weep - multiple times even - in front of Lareine, who was the only one apart from Silke's family members who had ever seen her cry. But even more humiliating it would've been in front of strangers or people Silke didn't care about. Although Blacksoul seemed to care equally little about the two vieras and their personal mess, just his presence in the next room was enough for Silke to remain as stoic as she possibly could. First she had interrupted their breakfast and now she was blocking the doorway with her carcass so that he couldn't leave for work. She painstakingly lifted her free hand and grabbed Lareine's arm she was holding around Silke's neck, squeezing it almost equally hard as her other hand had clung on the doorknob. If the place had been more appropriate, Silke could've just stood there forever. Though she wasn't quite sure what exactly was it that prevented her from running: surprise, bliss or horror. Another awkward laughter - a bit more authentic this time - escaped her lips. "If that's how you truly want to spend your day off, who am I to forbid you, princess?" Silke asked in a somewhat swollen voice. "I just hate housework. If I was some rich bastard who had enough gil to wipe their arse with it, I'd gladly pay for someone to take care of that stuff for me." “... Either dat, or ya could juust... leech yer wai into a manor wid butler, ya know?” Iris closed her eyes just for a moment. Silke’s tight grip holding her arm was like that of a valkyrie, rising a fatally injured warrior from the mud and blood, carrying her on the other side. Iris felt peace. For the emptiness inside though, the touch was like an iron maiden. Shutting its doors around it, draining its strength away. Iris could still hear the growling through that metallic face, frozen in a calm expression, but as long as Silke was holding onto her, she felt like the doors would stay closed tight. Silke half accidentally let out another laughter - aghast this time. "You kidding me, right?" she splurged, lowering her voice into a whisper. "The miasma in here is just -" She bit her tongue again before she could finish the sentence. Asagi and Blacksoul weren't on best terms with each other, and Silke had decided that despite her hanging out with Lareine and Arsene, she'd make sure she at least wouldn't be the one throwing fireballs into a powder keg. She had actually been trying somewhat to extinguish the flames, because she was tired of both Asagi and Varg's disapproval of her just because she was Asagi's sister and Lareine's friend. After a moment Iris pulled her arm away gently, taking a step back. “...Just a moment, sweetie... I will be back before ya know it!” And with those words, she rushed upstairs, her long dressing gown flowing like a cape after her. Meanwhile Lareine was getting dressed upstairs, Silke was wringing her hands behind her back again, trying to recover from her and Lareine's recent conversation and to come up with some superficial and boring subjects for small talk just in case. It transpired she didn't need them. Not a long after, Iris hurried back downstairs, now fully dressed in a leather jacket, a top with skull pattern, tight leather pants and a pair of ankle boots. “Blacksoul! I'm goin’ out! May stay over night, I dunno... No drinkin’! Promise!" she yelped at the old au ra while passing the kitchen door on her way back to Silke. “Righto! I'm ready!” Iris hurried to her friend's side, quickly hooking her arm with the other’s. “Have ya eaten, by tha way? Because I can almost bet mi next paycheck ya have not... So dat in mind, lets take a 'urn through Jeweled Crozier and get sum food stuff, okai? I’ll make a dinner for ya after we are done wid tha laundry shite! Hm?” Iris felt Silke’s tension while their arms were locked together. Her friend had been through so much. All the things Silke had said kept running through her head, but for now? Silke was all that mattered. Whatever happened, Iris would make sure this beautiful girl, who was like a ghost from the eastern legends, would never have to cry because of her. Ever again. "I've eaten only some instant ramen last night", Silke answered when they had already walked out of the estate. Immediately after she furrowed in disbelief. "...You? Dinner? You mean... You can actually cook something and not just boil water?" The thick fog soon swallowed the two vieras. If some citizen had been within hearing distance, they wouldn't have seen a thing, but had only heard some extremely loud chatter and banter somewhere from the whiteness.

With @lareine-kira​ :3c

[winterrose42]

Tagged by: @brittleconscience Thanks for tagging me! I never really get sent these things so it threw me off a bit, but it looks fun so let's do it!

Nickname: nobody but my extended family has ever tried giving me a nickname. My real name is not something I feel needs to be shortened especially since the only reason they do it is because they think my reall name is ridiculous, so I refuse nicknames on all accounts. I use WinterRose as my online name though so I guess that could be it?

Real Name: segways are weird, anyway. My real life name is Pandora.

Zodiac: before this I didnt know there was a difference in astral signs (sun, moon, rising, ect) so it was interesting to look up. I'm still not sure I understand it but I dug a bit and my sun sign is Virgo while my moon sign is Pisces.

Currently Reading: Paperback-If There be Thorns by V.C. Andrews. AO3 Wips-so many but the main ones right now are The Voice by andrhars, Innerworks by Prplzorua and 'til Death Do Us Part (and that moment cant come soon enough) by princessoftheives (@hylianfury on tumblr). Completed works: What Makes a Hero by Selphie Kinneas 175 on fanfiction.net and The Glass Gemstone by HJ_Fotemr on AO3. ...I read so much fanfiction.

Fave Music and Groups: So. Much. Music. How do I pick? Muse, Queens of the Stone Age, anything Mark Lanegan and anything Thomas Sanders creates is a staple. Um...other than that I'm not really picky with music, I pretty much listen to anything, but when my anxiety's bad I like music with a lot of instrumental layers because I can pick apart all the different pieces to shut my brain up a little. I also really love musicals so theres those too. Currently I'm obsessed with Elizaveta's Dreamer (those high notes, ooooh) and I Do Adore by Mindy Gledhill because it's cute and happy.

Sports: I dont really watch sports but in school I loved playing them in gym! My favorite was street hockey and kickball.

Other Blogs: I post art and my current WIP on my side blog @paper-and-whiskers

Get Asks?- I dont get them often on either blog, but as long as they arent inappropriate I always answer them and they're always welcome!

Blogs I Follow: 860

Tumblr crush: *insert that's a trap gif here*

Lucky Number: 7 and 9

What Am I Wearing- ...what the hell but also meh what the hell. At the moment boxers, a Breath of the Wild tshirt, a hand-modified space and skull jacket and iridescent skeleton hand burretts. Clearly the epitome of fashion.

Dream Vacation: It would depend on if I was going with someone or not. If I was with someone anywhere we could hang out in peace and not have to worry about anything would be nice. By myself honestly either holed up in my house with no future social engagements or being allowed to hike through some woods to explore would be amazing.

Dream car: anything that works, preferably with low mileage. (I think that's a good thing with cars, not really sure). Honestly though, I wouldnt do it, but I've always had a vision of getting a huge hillbilly truck bc the image of me, a five foot one inch obvious nerd hopping down from some monster of a road roller is hilarious to me.

Fave food: CAKE!!! Any desert really, but cake all the way. My favorite comfort food however is instant mashed potatoes with butter or seasoned butter noodles.

Drink of Choice: Forever the sleep deprived insomniac I live for anything caffeine, but usually I only drink water and apple juice when it's in the house. These three, they are the liquid of the gods.

Instrument: I've been picking up and putting down guitar for years now, I dont quite have the finger coordination yet and I'm not good at self teaching so i still suck. I can sing though and love doing so. I used to play a bit of piano but I was self taught with that too and havent touched one for years so I probably forgot everything.

Language: English. I'm trying to learn ASL and I took a year of Spanish in high school but heck if I remember anything.

Celeb crush: Daniel Radcliff and Elijah Wood have been my crushes since I was little XD Awkwafina is a recent one.

Random Fact: I'm allergic to any and all metal. My skin will eat through rings and rust necklace chains. I didnt realize this until I worked at an industrial chem plant where industrial grade metal mixtures were used for plating and my hands and arms broke out in an itchy rash that would occasionally burst open and bleed. Since working there the allergy only got worse and now all my jewelry has to be replaced with string because otherwise it doesn't last.

I'm not really sure about tagging people so I'm only doing it with people I notice interact with my blog the most, with a couple exceptions. Sorry in advance if I bother you!

Only if you want!: @animatedtrash4 @edgykoalagod @young-and-depressed-me @grievous-doodles @jtem @dontforgetoctober3rd @lunapics @hylianfury @chained-to-the-mirror

[teaboot]

Ask Game)! (NOTE: Sorry @trashpandatreasures I'm answering like 6 years late but the important thing is I got it)

rule 1: always post the rules

rule 2: answer the questions from the person who tagged you and write 11 of your own

rule 3: tag 10 people and link them to the post

rule 4: actually tell the people you tagged them

Trashpandatreasures’s Questions

1- Who was the first person you met via tumblr? Uhhh it's been like 7 years I have no idea

2- Cats or Dogs? Cats and large dogs. I do not like tiny dogs.

3- Which element do you think you represent? Water, Earth, Air, or Fire? Uh... probably earth? I know it's not particularly elegant but I love art and basically everything I use is some kind of mineral pigment, metal, stone, clay, etc, so it really fits my needs best.

4- What is one talent you wish you had? A talent? I don't know, I'm fairly good at pretty much everything I've ever liked or had interest in... I suppose it would be fun to try acting? I'm very bad at anything make-believe, I get too nervous. Or maybe some form of gymnastics or martial art, I really admire people who can do those sorts of things.

5- What colour eyes do you think are most attractive? I have... never seen ugly eyes before. I kind of like every eye color. Blue is always pretty, and hazel and green and black, but mine are brown and I love brown eyes, too. I think maybe brown.

6- Favourite movie? Ohhhh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. I love watching Ella Enchanted when I'm sick at home. Also Night At The Museum! And Princess Diaries.

7- Feelings towards Moffat? Jesus Christ this is an old ask

8- Biggest Fear? Squandering the opportunities I have to experience life and communicate my love for the people I share it with.

9- How many pillows do you have on your bed? Two.

10- The last time you felt completely lost? September 2018. I got trapped in a mall for six hours and couldn't find the exit.

11- All time favourite book? OOOOH Pendragon chronicles, Eragon, Cirque Du Freak, Harry Potter, Inkheart, the Percy Jackson series, Goosebumps books, The Chronicles of Narnia, the Fablehaven series, The Mortal Instruments series, the trilogy of The Golden Compass, The Lord Of The Rings, Alana the Lioness series, the Artemis Fowl series, the CHERUB series, the Alex Rider series, the Leven Thumps series, and oh, dear... the book.where that girl finds out she's an autumn fairy but her wings are flower petals? And that one with the changeling who finds out she's a troll. And the group of kids who come together and find out they all have superpowers? Oh, oh! And the one where that boy gets shrunk down by a witch and slowly turns to plastic, and saves the other plastic people by feeding them carrots. And The Legend of Drizzt, but only until it gets sad.

It's funny, I can't pick just one, and I can still close my eyes and see all the books on order in my old high school library, the way it used to be. Cirque cu freak on the lower far right by the tables on the right hand side, the ones about vampires all together in a clump on the low middle left on the left hand side, center row... GLASS, the thickest book on the fourth shelf, far right. FEED was a good one, just under that. Oh, and to the left was Hunger, I think? The series about those kids trapped in a city under a dome without any adults? That one was so good! And turn around, second from the floor, scan right... there, the girl whose brothers turned into swans, and she knit shirts from stinging nettles to turn them back. I loved that one, it was so sad.

I forgot how much I could remember. Thank you for bringing it back

My Questions

1. What's YOUR favourite book?

2. If you were a mythical or legendary creature, what do you think you would be, realistically?

3. What are the three creepiest animals you can think of?

4. What's the scariest urban legend you know?

5. Is there a superpower you DON'T want?

6. If you could choose between living under the sea and living in space, which would you pick?

7. If you could have any life at all, right now, no limitations, what life would you live? What would it look like

8. What is your greatest struggle?

9. What's your favourite kind of weather?

10. If you were a diety, what would be your domain?

Tagged people!!!

@melancholysage @ultra-strawberry-lemondae @joker-ace @pocketfullofpoetry @mage-hecked @skoni-tsigaweska @itsagifnotagif @teapotsahoy @dr-dendritic-trees @amuseoffire

[bonebreakjack]

Red Boy Shadow World        Chapter:Daisy

Judai hibiki is starting his first year at Duel Academy, while he knew he wasn't the most normal person in the world, this school is whole other league of weirdness! Judai with his friends are gonna have to battle against teachers, fellow students, and even people who really shouldn't be on school property but here they are nonetheless.

Wait they have to fight Shadow duelists, vengeful duel monsters, an the forces of evil on top of that?!?!?! Sheesh these kids wont be able to catch a break! This can also be red on fanfiction and AO3 under the same names!

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“Judai!”

A never ending void of bright soft colors surround him once more, is this what it felt like to be in a kaleidoscope? His body light, like swimming in zero gravity; a weightless feeling that made him feel as if he was nothing but dust in the air. He was literally at the mercy of the forces around him.

It was amazing!

 He kicked his foot out and let out a huff of joy as he was sent spinning in place.  Moving his body as if he was swimming in a pool, he careened across the space. This would be more fun if he had someone with hi- a pair of shadowed wings sailed passed him in a series of quick sharp motions. His eyes trying to keep up with the wings, they never strayed far from him but not getting close to him either, as if teasing him to try and catch them. 

“Oi Judai!”

A wide smile spread across his face as he kicked off after the shadowy wings laughing as they kept putting themselves in his reach. Just close enough for him to touch, and then pulling away at the last second. A long game of tag that seemed to have no end in sight, a distorted warm laughter filling his ears making his heart feel full and feather light.

“Judai it’s time to wake up!”

And then darkness.

Judai hit the ground hard, coughing as sand and dust filled his lungs. He rubbed at his eyes to get the tiny grains of particles irritating them out. He kept quickly turning his head looking for the wings from earlier hoping for some help.  But there was no light here to help him, none at all―it smelled musty and felt cold like being in a haunted house during the school festivals. The weightlessness  gone making his body feels heavy instead as he walked across rough stone and sand. 

Chills shook his body and fear choked his voice, unable to call out for the wings. He continued walking in hopes he either finds them or a way out of here. It felt suffocating being here, a disgusting feeling of being watched quickening his pace but the area felt endless. How long was he gonna be here in the dark? Is anyone coming to get him? No, No one is coming to get him, there is no one left to find him anymore. He’s trapped, trapped, trapped, and has been trapped for so long.

Damn those priests, damn the Pharaoh! For taking his home, for taking his body, for taking his heart! Damn the feathered wings which kept him from being whole!

LET ME OUT!!!! I DON’T WANT TO BE HERE IN THIS DARKNESS ANYMORE.

Judai collapse as feelings of hatred, and malice filled him; making him ill from how it seemed to oozed into him slowly like slow running lava. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream!

He wanted to hurt somebody…..He wanted to be WHOLE.

 A horrid scream of pain rang in his head as a blinding light burned itself into his vision.

“JUDAI WE’RE GONNA BE LATE!”

A scream trapped in his throat as he ungracefully fell out of bed. His face planting into the ground, his brain rebooting from the sensation of smooth hardwood floor. He bumped straight into his desk and his blaring alarm clock hit him on the way down from the initial hit. Well if he wasn’t already awake. 

The nausea that had filled him seem to vanish, what was that strange dream? He never felt like that before.  So trapped, so hurt, so angry. He curled the blanket around him tighter hoping it could ward away the chills of fear that still seem to have a hold on him. A soft touch like wings seem to shake his hair and caress his cheek and he leaned into it, thankful for the distraction. Glimpsing at concerned orange and teal as well as gold, his body finally started to relax.

Wanting a distraction he took his surprisingly still ringing alarm into his hand, confused as to WHY, it was ringing. 7:30? Why the heck would he set his alarm so early? He graduated….already…..

…….

“SHIT”

“Judai get up we’re late! We’re super late for the airport! Why did we set the clocks this late!?!? FUCK”

Judai ran out of the bedroom like dragons were nipping at his heels, his clothes and luggage in hand. Chucking the suitcase and duffel bag over the staircase to land on the couch, he sprinted to the bathroom to get ready. A blur of dark red and black passed him out of said bathroom ruffling his hair, muttering dark curses and slamming into their own room. 

Frantically he pulled off his pajamas and into his clothes he was going to wear on the plane. His toothbrush nearly choking him as he forgot to take it out as he was changing.  A duo of laughter reached his ears but he ignored them in favor of rinsing out his mouth.  

He practically flew downstairs and caught the bread aimed at him from his frantic elder sister. Her appearance a little frazzled from the stress of having to plan how they were gonna make it to their flight with their very late wake up call. It would have been comical, if he also wasn’t in the same boat! Adjusting his backpack and checking one last time to see his decks are secured, he hopped over to her putting on his socks and trying not to choke on his breakfast.

“Mihori wha tha heck arrr wey goin cu do?!*GULP* Are we even gonna make it?” Quickly checking over to see if all their suitcases were accounted for. Judai decided to make sure everything in the house was ready for their departure. He doesn’t know how long it will be before he can come back home with his sisters schedule and work at the campus. 

“*Gulp* I think so if we break like every speeding law to get there, problem is Miho isn’t here yet and is. Not. Answering. Her. Phone!!” Gritting her teeth in frustration  she pulled on her long black locks of hair as if the slight pain would give her a solution. She shoved another piece of bread in her mouth huffing. Judai bit his lip as she saw her cheeks puff like a chipmunk from the way she kept stuffing her mouth. Unable to help himself he started laughing, her confused expression only making it worse. He hands her water to ensure she doesn’t choke, she drained it in relief. Midori’s lips quirked some of the frustration slipping out knowing she must be a sight. 

It was so normal, he felt like they were getting better at that as of late. Since Koyo’s not- shaking his hair and biting his lip pretending he was just making fun of Midori, he didn’t want her to see his face knowing the good mood will be ruined.

Judai wished he didn’t feel the lack of presence of a third person who should be there too.

The doorbell rang through the house causing them to freeze their necks nearly snapping as their faces swivel to the door, a young woman with periwinkle hair and a small carefree smile gracing her face walked through the door humming. 

“Good morning Little Judai, Mi-chan!” 

“MIHO!” ripped out of Midori’s mouth as she launched herself at her friend nearly running Judai over in her haste to either hug or murder the other woman.

“Miho is happy to see you both ready! Miho has drinks and snacks for you to take on your trip!” The casual nonchalant way she was talking to them only made their previous stress returned. This was not the time to chit-chat, didn’t she know the time?!? Judai stopped himself short though as he and Midori looked outside the door that was still open to see the barely peeking light of dawn hitting the street. Miho, bless her, finally took note of their confused tired faces and took pity on them.

“OH that is right! Miho had forgotten to tell you but Miho didn’t want to deal with you you both waking up late again. That really is a terrible habit, Miho recommends breaking it. So she set your clocks back two hours so we could leave on time~” Clasping her hands together in apology she smiled brightly at them as Judai felt himself slide to the floor, at the corner of his eyes Midori ended on her knees as she stared at her friend the look on her face clearly contemplating murder as the cheery woman’s explanation finally hit them.

They stressed for nothing. They were actually on time. Will make their plane trip with snacks too boot, all it did was cost them some sleep and maybe a few years shaved off their lives.

“Pfffttt!”

Judai couldn’t help it! He ended up falling backwards he was laughing so hard; his sister following once the relief finally took hold of her. Miho started to laugh too but he got the feeling she didn’t know why they were laughing, that was fine. Miho got them up and hurried them into the car, repeating that they need to get a move on. 

Pushing the last case into the car he turned back to his house, the one he’s nearly been in his whole life and couldn’t help but feel a little sad. It’s gonna be a long while before he can come home….a long while before he gets to visit his brother too. Feeling phantom hands on his shoulders and a slow growing chorus of voices encouraging him, he smiles and enters the car ready to take the next step in his life.

And then come back home to show how much he’s grown as a duelist to Koyo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This story is something I've been thinking of for a while and is mostly fueled by me wanting more focus on the friendship and bonds all these kids share, as well as the various side and minor characters we see in cannon(I fuckin love em okay they're all good kids) as well as connect various plots together and put some head cannons in X3. I appreciate feedback on how to improve its been a while since I wrote and I'm a bit rusty! This series is also a mash up of both the manga and the anime's worlds/plots!Also nearly every character here is from either the manga or animes, I try to avoid OC's as much as I can as I am not confident enough to incorporate them as more than background characters yet.I don't own anything! I just like playing with these worlds~