#A golden childhood- Before Shipwreck

[thehorizonlinex]

Close to the Wind

A series of snippets of Eric’s life, as seen by Grimsby

Author’s Note: My first-ever Tumblr fic (ah! please be nice!) so open to suggestions, requests, and feedback. I watched The Little Mermaid (2023) and fell in love with Jonah Hauer-King’s portrayal of Prince Eric, the layers of backstory added to his character, and of course, his stunning chemistry with Halle Bailey as Ariel!

This is my take on what Eric’s life might have been like - before and after he met Ariel. I loved Grimsby as a character, especially his relationship with Eric, so there are some ideas of what it might have been like for the two of them together during Eric’s childhood. I’ve only seen the movie once in theaters, so some of the quotes are loosely based on my memory and might not be 100% in accordance with the script. Thanks for reading, and if you like it, please feel free to comment or reblog :)

Warnings: Mentions of parental death, fluff, young Eric being a little shit

Tags: @ohkarasm​ @nimerdo​ @namufication​ @chey-cheygl​ @snk25blr​ @snk25blr​

Twenty-One Years Prior

Grimsby tried his best to make his way through the crowd, pushing past the careening necks and excited whispers.

A baby!

One of the ships found him next to a whole lot of debris.

Bundled up in a chest, just floatin’ on the water, I heard. 

Could it be an omen?

How’d he get there in the first place?

What about that shipwreck the other night?

He finally squeezed past the first row, members of the royal court who’d arrived at the palace to see the infant child creating a buzz throughout the islands. The guards had been able to create a wide space between the royals and the court, allowing Grimsby to finally catch his breath as he approached the thrones at the front of the room.

“Sir Grimsby! There you are.”

“Your Highness,” Grimsby bowed to the king, both his sovereign and his employer - and an old friend. He turned to the regal woman on his right, dressed in a pale blue gown and seated in an intricate golden throne. “My Queen.”

Both nodded in response. The king gestured to the infant rocking in the queen’s arms, cooing lightly as he stared up at her.

“The baby,” the king said, his voice resolute. “Will stay here.”

He was afraid that this might happen.

The child had been found a few nights prior, swaddled in a chest that floated nearly right up to one of their merchant ships. At first, the sailors onboard had assumed he was dead - his eyes were closed and there was no way a baby could have survived the storms that had wrecked the oceans for nearly a week.

And yet, he had survived, immediately rushed to the royal palace and brought to the infirmary, where he was given round-the-clock care.

It’s a miracle he survived, the doctors had said, just as alarmed as everyone else who’d gotten wind of the curious baby from the sea. Survived without a scratch.

“Are you sure you want to decide so soon, your majesty? Perhaps the baby belongs to some of the neighboring islands, or from the coast.”

The royal couple had struggled with having children - one had been lost in the womb early on, and there hadn’t been much luck since. But he couldn’t imagine this child - this washed-up orphan of a child - becoming the heir to the throne. 

Would the people even accept him?

“We’ve looked, and we’ve asked the other lands. No one seems to know where the child is from.”

The king quieted for a second.

“And the ship that wrecked the other day - there were no survivors. We’ve sent crews to search high and low, and nothing.”

“A tragedy for certain,” the queen murmured, lightly stroking the top of the baby’s head, fingers playing with his dark curls. “But we can help turn his life into something meaningful.”

Grimsby nodded again with a sigh. He knew exactly how much both of them yearned for a child, a son, and perhaps chance was finally on their side.

He just didn’t care for children, personally.

“Have you picked out a name?”

The queen smiled widely at the infant, causing the child to giggle, his eyes twinkling in the palace light, as blue as the waves that had saved his life.

“Eric.”

~~~~~~~~~

Twelve Years Later - Eric, Age 12

“Eric!”

“Eric!”

“Prince Eric!”

Grimsby leaned to his side, his hand pressing against his ribcage as he slowed his breathing. 

He was growing too old for this, the continuous chasing around the palace, running after a twelve-year-old boy who seemed to be getting taller and faster and more of a nuisance each day.

Grimsby couldn’t imagine himself behaving this way at that age - even when he was younger than ten, he’d known to not cause such a ruckus. And he hadn’t been into royalty, didn’t have the expectations of a future king on his shoulders.

Eric, on the other hand, never seemed to get the memo.

“Are you alright, Sir Grimsby?”

Grimsby looked down at the boy as he skipped over to him. Eric’s height rose to his chest now, mischievous eyes peeking past a messy mop of brown curls.

“There isn’t supposed to be running in the palace, Eric.”

“Who said anything about running? We’re chasing!”

Grimsby huffed, the ache in his side still lingering. “You’re old enough to know they’re the same. I know you have access to a thesaurus.”

“Well, we wouldn’t be running if you just stopped chasing me.”

Eric squinted as he watched his majordomo leaning over to his side in pain. “And, if that side hurts, you should bend the other way so it stretches.”

Grimsby huffed again as he followed Eric’s instructions, immediately feeling relief in his side. Once the ache subsided, he straightened back up, his hands crossing over his chest.

“I was chasing you because you’ve left your study a mess, Eric.”

The boy lifted a hand to scratch his head, crooking it to one side.

“A mess?”

“A mess. Things everywhere! Books all over the place, seashells from the beach strewn all over your shelves. And that globe - did you steal that from your father’s study?”

The prince snickered.

“I didn’t steal it Grimsby. Mother said I could have the globe to help with my studies. And all of father’s old charts.”

He flashed his dimples once, causing Grimsby to mentally groan. The boy had grown into a cheeky young thing, as charming as he was reckless, his charisma as abundant as his energy.

“What studies could you possibly need them for?”

“I’m teaching myself,” Eric said confidently. “I’m teaching myself how to sail. Even if mother won’t let me yet. So by the time I do go on the water, I can navigate just using the stars.”

He placed his hands on his hips in a defiant stance.

“And I’m collecting the seashells. I’ve been reading about them in some of the old books from the royal library. Some of them aren’t native to here, you know. The ocean carries them to us for us to find.”

“I’m glad you’re finding your artifacts so educational, Eric,” Grimsby sighed. “But if you leave your study a mess, Lashanna won’t allow it. You know better than to keep them around like that.”

The prince’s eyes, normally a crystal blue, began to darken.

“I’m not throwing them away!”

“You don’t have to throw them away. But you do need to keep them organized.”

Eric rolled his eyes again. 

“Says who?”

“Says me. And until you grow old enough to be king, you’ll listen to me.”

Eric let out a huff of frustration. 

“When I’m king, Grimsby, I’ll see to it that you get fired.”

The man laughed aloud. “I’ve been with your family for decades, my young prince. You won’t be getting rid of me that fast.”

“I can do whatever I want! Eric means eternal ruler, you told me yourself, Grimsby.”

Grimsby shook his head, turning on his heels to head back towards the palace. Better to stop the conversation now before Eric’s temperament got the better of him, he hoped.

He turned once more to look at the boy, the childish expression on his face contrasting his ever-growing stature. Sometimes, he couldn’t help but wonder if the king and queen had made the right decision, bringing this boy into the fold, setting him to be the future ruler of their islands. 

Eric was intelligent, compassionate, curious - but reckless, uncontrollable at times, with a mind of his own.

And Grimsby couldn’t help but pray that eventually, he’d grow up.

Six Years Later -  Eric, Age 18

“Well, doesn’t the prince look dashing!”

Grimsby turned to face Lashanna, who’d crept up behind him to watch as Eric stood deathly still at the other end of the room. The prince grimaced as the royal tailors fussed over his new jacket, using him as a human pin cushion of sorts.

“Looks just like his parents,” Grimsby joked, causing the woman to swat at his shoulder.

“Big night for the prince, eh?”

“You wouldn’t think so, talking to him.”

“Hmm?”

Grimsby sighed, placing his hand on the pillar next to him. 

“All he can talk about is going out to sea, tomorrow morning. You wouldn’t even know it was his eighteenth birthday today, if the queen hadn’t made a rule forbidding him from sailing until then.”

“What about the party?”

“What about the party?”

Lashanna frowned. “Don’t tell me I have the staff running around for Eric to not show up to his own birthday party tonight.”

“He’ll show up. The queen will make sure of it. He just won’t be happy with all the fuss, you know he never is.”

Lashanna remained quiet briefly, watching as Eric’s gaze focused out the large glass window to his right, looking over the ocean waves.

“Do you think she regrets it at all?”

It’d been a question Grimsby had wondered himself, many times, and even more so after the king’s sudden passing the year prior. The baby in the chest had become a source of joy for the queen and for the people of the islands. He’d grown into a strong, bright young man, grounded by his values and the desire to lead his people.

And yet, it seemed as if Eric never saw his role the same as his mother, rigidly determined to do things differently. He’d grown even more passionate about voyaging and opening the country to faraway neighbors since his father died, frustrated at the lack of support his ideas received from his mother and the court. He’d vented at Grimsby more than a handful of times, but usually locked himself in his study, surrounded by shelves upon shelves of treasures and tokens other sailors brought back for him.

It’d been manageable, for a while. But now he was eighteen, allowed to voyage the seas himself for the first time, and taking matters into his own hands.

“She loves him,” Grimsby replied. “And that’s what matters.”

He straightened as the tailors finished up with Eric, taking his jacket to have the final touches added before the night’s festivities. 

“Well, aren’t you going to be a sight tonight,” Lashanna smiled at the prince, reaching out to brush a stray curl from his forehead.

“Do you know what time we leave tomorrow, Grimsby?”

“Nine o’clock, Sire.”

“Any chance we could leave earlier? I’d love to see the sunrise on the water.”

Lashanna chuckled. “You’ll see plenty of sunrises over the next few weeks, young prince. And you’ll want to get some rest after your big party tonight.”

“There will be girls there, Eric,” Grimsby reminded him.

“So?”

“You’ll be expected to make conversation with them, dance with them.”

Eric scoffed.

“To find a wife, you mean?”

“Well, if all-“

“Wouldn’t my father say I’m too young to be finding a bride?”

Grimsby let out a deep sigh. “Your father wouldn’t want you to be reckless. But you are his heir, and you’re eighteen now. In a few years you will be old enough to assume the throne per our kingdom’s laws.”

“I’m not interested in finding a wife, Grimsby. Not when there’s so much out there to see. Did you know, one of the other islands just opened a large port? Large enough to completely change their economy. We’re being left behind here, and the rest of the world is moving on.”

“Eric-“

“And besides, don’t you think it wouldn’t be fair to my future wife if I was out on the seas all the time? A shoddy husband I’d make, I figure.”

As if he’d be allowed to voyage as the king. 

“Just dance with a few, Eric. They might surprise you, there’s plenty of ladies from different kingdoms coming. Consider that your bridging between cultures and lands.”

The idea seemed to please the young man somewhat, though his face showed no hint of a smile.

“If you dance with five of the young ladies tonight, I’m sure Grimsby could convince the queen to allow you to sail before sunrise,” Lashanna offered, causing Grimsby to shoot her an annoyed glance.

“Really?” Eric’s eyes lit up again.

Grimsby shook his head. It might be the only way.

“Alright, Eric. I’ll talk to your mother.”

The bounce in the prince’s step returned as he hurried towards the passageway. 

“I’ll get to packing now. Thank you, Grimsby!”

Grimsby turned to Lashanna once Eric was out of sight.

“You needed a compromise, no?” she smiled. “And besides, you’ll need to start getting ready yourself.”

“I’ve still got a few hours before the party.”

Lashanna’ grin grew wider. 

“I meant for your voyage tomorrow. Enjoy the sunrise, Mister Grimsby.”

~~~~~~~~~

Three Years Later - Eric, 21 Years Old 

“Eric! Eric!”

Grimsby ignored the ache in his legs as he ran through the palace halls, headed directly to the wing containing the prince’s bedroom.

The news had arrived while he was helping the queen’s secretary draft a letter to the neighboring kingdoms, desperate for any news or sign of her beloved son. 

Found him washed up ashore! 

Barely breathing!

But he’s alive! 

Grimsby could hardly believe it himself; that Eric’s life would have once again been spared by the sea, fortunate enough to arrive right on their doorstep. He could have sworn, watching the flames engulf the ship that night and Eric falling backwards as it listed in the water, that the prince was lost to the waves. 

It’d been the first time Grimsby had nearly cried, the presence of the rest of the crew in the rowboats the only thing stopping his tears.

Their last interaction had been an argument, another fight about Eric’s role as a leader, his incessant need to voyage and travel and explore for the sake of the islands. Their conversation had rung in Grimsby’s ears all night, the man unable to get any sleep once they safely reached shore.

“Eric!” He burst open the door to the prince’s bedroom, causing Max, seated at the foot of the bed, to bark loudly.

“Shhh, Max,” Eric muttered with a groan, his eyes looking at Grimsby tiredly. “It’s just Grims.”

“Thank the heavens,” Grimsby rushed over to his side, clutching one of Eric’s hands in his own. “I thought you were lost-”

“A girl saved me.”

Grimsby raised a brow, his eyes moving to the bandaged wound on Eric’s head.

“Pardon?”

“A girl, Grimsby,” Eric repeated slowly, his voice betraying his body’s exhaustion. His eyes fluttered open and close. “She saved me.”

“You’ve had a long day,” Grimsby said. “You should get some sleep.”

Surely the doctors would have informed him if Eric had sustained any major head injuries, not just a scratch?

“She sang to me, Grimsby. The most beautiful melody I’ve ever heard.”

“I’m sure she did, Sire.”

Eric’s eyes opened suddenly, the piercing blue gaze making direct contact with Grimsby’s own. 

“Find her for me, Grimsby.”

“Eric-“

“Please. She saved my life. I owe her my life.”

Eric closed his eyes once more, his tiredness quickly lulling him back to sleep.

A mystery girl who’d saved the prince from certain death in the ocean? How hard could it be?

He closed the bedroom door behind him as he walked towards in the direction of the infirmary. 

The doctors had some explaining to do.

~~~~~~~~~

“We could take a carriage tomorrow, if you’d like.”

Grimsby stopped as he heard the familiar voice coming out of the prince’s study, warm lantern light peeking out of a door left just ajar.

He was surprised to see the two of them in the light, diligently peering over maps and charts across Eric’s belongings. He’d hardly expected Eric to even get to know the new arrival at the palace, the girl who’d been found in the waves just as he had.

Perhaps that connected them, in a way.

But he’d distinctly recognized the disappointment in Eric’s face once the prince realized she wasn’t the mystery girl, the one who’d saved her and sang to him on the beach. How could she be, when she had no voice of her own?

Grimsby coughed quietly, causing the two of them to look up at him. Eric’s face was beaming, a look he hadn’t seen in the young prince since the night of the shipwreck, dancing with the crew.

“Oh, Grimsby! We’ll need a carriage for tomorrow.”

Grimsby nodded politely, hoping not to cause any distress to the red-haired girl staring wide-eyed at him.

“Of course, Sire. If I might have a quiet word?””

Eric looked back at the girl with a smile, nodding slowly as if in a daze. “Yes, of course.”

When they were out in the hall and out of earshot, Grimsby decided to broach the subject. Part of him wanted to not bring it up at all - the fantasy girl they were spending all of their resources chasing, and yet, Eric had been insistent. He still remembered the desperation in the prince’s eyes, begging him to find her.

“Sire, all of the carriages are being used tomorrow to look for the girl.”

A wave of realization seemed to pass through the prince, as if he’d been woken from a dream. “Oh, yes! The girl. Yes, we need to find her.”

“And may I remind you,” Grimsby continued. “That the queen insists that you stay inside at the palace until you’re feeling better.”

“I feel fine, Grimsby!” Eric grinned, his familiar dimples flashes. “I’ve never felt better.”

Grimsby looked at the prince carefully. In the study, he could have sworn the young man’s face had been glowing in the light, the golden hues reflecting off his skin. And yet, he was still beaming in the hall, a joyous grin he couldn’t hide even if he wanted to. 

Perhaps the silent girl was the distraction he needed, someone to make him happy for at least a little while.

“Yes, yes, I can see that,” Grimsby acknowledged, scanning Eric’s blue eyes once again. They were as blue as the waves.

“Well, I’m sure we could spare just one carriage. But you do need to go to sleep, Eric. The doctors said you still need plenty of rest.”

“I know. I got distracted all day in there.” He smiled. “She likes looking at my collections.”

“Hmm?”

“The girl,” Eric gestured back towards the study. “I’ll tell her she can stay in and keep looking, if she wants.”

“Ah, yes. Well, if you trust her with it all.”

Eric quickly slipped back to say goodnight to the red-haired girl, and as he’d assumed, she decided to stay back. He climbed up the stairs in the direction of his bedroom with Grimsby, the man’s arms clasped behind his back. 

“I trust her,” the prince said, a sheepish grin on his face. “It’s funny, really. You know that fossilized sea stone that’s been on my shelves since I was eighteen? From my first voyage?”

“Ah, yes.” Grimsby distinctly remembered Eric’s accomplished expression on that first voyage, as he traded some of their island cane for a few treasured items at the market.

“She threw it onto the ground,” Eric explained, chuckling to himself. “And it shattered all over the floor, but there was a beautiful gemstone inside, this vibrant rock that had been hidden for years. I’d never known it even existed.”

“I wonder where she must have learned to do that,” Grimsby commented.

“Me too. It’s not in any of my books. She’s strange, isn’t she? But in the best way.”

Grimsby kept watching the prince as they walked through the passageways, the young man seemingly lost in thought.

They stopped outside his bedroom door, Eric ruffling through his locks with his fingers. 

“Goodnight, Grimsby.”

“Goodnight, Eric. I promise we’ll continue to search for the girl in the morning.”

Eric frowned slightly as he made sense of the words.

“Right. The girl. Yes, thank you, Grimsby. Let me know what you find.”

“Of course, Sire.”

~~~~~~~~~

In any other time, Grimsby likely would have made a fuss over the mess that Eric had made in the main passageways of the palace, lake water dripping from his clothes onto the floor.

The queen had nearly slipped in a small puddle, and again, in any other time, Grimsby would have said something.

But he couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips as he saw the two pairs of soaking-wet feet hiding behind a wall, so by the time he finally approached Eric and the silent girl, any thought of scolding the prince had long vanished.

“We went out onto the lake, and well, we ended up in it,” Eric chuckled sheepishly at him, as if that somehow served as an excuse.

“Well, it seems you two had fun,” Grimsby remarked, the gleam in Eric’s eyes not going unnoticed. “I imagine you’re tired, and we should let you get some sleep.”

The red-haired girl smiled gratefully at both of them, a dazzling grin on her face that Eric seemed to melt into.

“Yes, goodnight,” the prince said, as the girl smiled again before ascending the stairs.

Suddenly, she turned, taking the hat off her head - where had they even gotten such an item? - and placing it gently atop Eric’s. She flashed another grin at the prince again before walking up.

“Goodnight…Ariel.”

She turned again once more, her smile reflected in her warm brown eyes. Grimsby watched as Eric’s gaze followed her up the staircase until she disappeared from sight.

“Sire,” Grimsby said, finally breaking the silence. “About the carriages…unfortunately, they weren’t able to find the girl.”

Eric stayed silent for a moment, though Grimsby could see his shoulders tense slightly. “Oh.”

“Should we resume the search?”

Eric turned to face Grimsby, a mix of emotions on his face. The man had known the prince since he was a baby - he knew exactly what Eric was feeling, even if the young man couldn’t verbalize it.

“Grimsby…I feel...a little…”

“If I may, Sire, from one old man. Don’t let what should be get in the way of what is.”

Eric nodded. 

“Goodnight, Sire.”

“Goodnight, Grimsby.”

He turned towards the passageway, hoping to find Lashanna to help take care of the mess in the halls before the queen woke up in the morning.

“Wait, Grimsby!”

“Yes, Sire?”

“Her name…her name is Ariel.”

Grimsby nodded. He’d gathered as such, though he couldn’t imagine how young Eric had figured that particular one out.

“And how did you come across that, Sire?”

Eric laughed to himself, his hand touching the top of his hat as if it contained a cherished memory.

“It’s a long story. I’ll have to tell you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Eric.”

“Goodnight, Grimsby. And thank you.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Grimsby! Grimsby!”

Eric rushed over, a frantic look in his eyes inconsistent with the celebratory atmosphere they were surrounded by.

Grimsby glanced over at Vanessa, the mystery girl, the woman in purple who’d arrived at the palace on Eric’s arm early that morning. She was busy entertaining members of the court, waxing poetic about what it was like to save the prince from drowning, a story that seemed more like fantasy with each passing minute, or so he believed.

“Grimsby, have you seen Ariel?”

He furrowed his brow, looking back at the prince. It was like Eric had completely reversed overnight, the feelings he felt for Ariel replaced by an enchanting trance for the newly-found mystery girl. 

It didn’t sit right with Grimsby. Something had felt off all day, even if the queen and the rest of the court thought nothing of it.

Of course, Eric had desperately wanted to find the girl for days, pleading with Grimsby to find her - and yet, he had assumed, perhaps foolishly, to think the mystery girl was no more than a passing thought, now. He had sensed something in the air between Eric and Ariel the night before, something stronger than the mystery girl, now gone like the tide.

And as far as he was concerned, there didn’t seem to be a true connection between Eric and Vanessa. 

He couldn’t explain it.

“According to the servants, she left this morning.”

“Left?”

“Can you blame her, Eric?” Grimsby finally said, exasperated. “I don’t understand, this isn’t like you.”

“I…I know,” Eric muttered. “I’m not sure I understand myself.”

“I don’t think it would be fair for Ariel to stay, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yes,” Eric said, his voice sounding deflated. Grimsby noticed a glassy haze in his eyes, as if sleepwalking or under a spell. “Yes, that wouldn’t be fair.”

“You’re old enough to make your own decisions, Eric. And to learn to accept the consequences.”

“Yes. Yes, yes, you’re right, Grimsby.”

“Eric!” 

The two of them turned to see the queen gesturing towards her son.

“Go,” Grimsby said, his heart sinking slightly in his chest. He knew what the queen would be giving him - he’d had one of the palace servants polish it earlier that day at her request.

But it was Eric’s decision now.

“Grims-”

“Go, Eric.”

~~~~~~~~~

The walk back to the palace was eerily silent, the crashing waves the only sounds filling the air.

Grimsby glanced over at the prince, dripping from head-to-toe, his clothing torn to shreds and clinging to his wet skin. The queen and the rest of the staff were several feet ahead of them, the two men bringing up the rear back to land.

Back to safety.

“Eric-”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Grimsby.”

“She was real, Eric.”

The prince stayed silent for a few seconds before stopping mid-step. He lowered himself to the ground, balancing himself against a large rock as Grimsby took a seat next to him.

Eric’s gaze stayed focused on the horizon, watching the colors of the sunset reflect off the ocean intently, as if Ariel might reappear if he looked hard enough.

“I’ve been a fool, Grimsby.”

“No, no. What you felt for her was very real, your mother was right about that. You would be a fool to deny the connection you felt between you two.”

Eric sighed, taking a small pebble from next to him and throwing it into the ocean.

“She really saw me, Grimsby. Like no one ever has. Not to mention that she’d been the one to save my life in the first place.”

“I understand.”

His heart ached for the prince - just as the oceans had spared his life, they’d also torn Ariel away from him, their two homes at odds with each other forever. Eric had always been stubborn - but now, he seemed completely deflated.

“I loved her, Grimsby,” Eric murmured under his breath. “I do love her.”

He stared out into the ocean one more time, before standing back up, reaching a hand out to help Grimsby onto his feet.

Grimsby noticed the tears welling in the corners of his eyes, threatening to fall.

“And now she’s gone.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Eric! Eric!”

Grimsby clutched his side, a cramp near his ribcage causing him to wince.

Certainly, he was getting too old for this.

“Grimsby!” He heard Eric’s familiar laugh as the prince opened his bedroom door, allowing him to enter.

Eric was already dressed for the big day, his curls neat and clothes pressed. “You’re going to kill yourself one day, old man, chasing after me.”

“I’ve done it for twenty-one years already, Sire, I’m sure I’ll last at least a few more.”

“Did you need something? The wedding’s supposed to begin in less than an hour.”

Grimsby nodded, reaching into the hidden pocket of his jacket as he took out a compass, slightly worn from age, though the mother-of-pearl and gold fixtures still shone brilliantly in the light.

He straightened up as he placed the compass in Eric’s hands, the prince’s blue eyes looking curiously at him.

“This,” he said. “This was your father’s. Many years ago. I thought it would serve useful on your voyage with Ariel.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t find anything larger, but I imagined you two have already been showered enough by the court.”

“Grimsby, it’s perfect,” Eric’s eyes shone brilliantly. “Than-”

“Oh, no need to thank me,” he replied quickly, hoping to clear his throat of anything too sentimental. “It was your father’s, after all-”

His breath was knocked out of him as Eric pulled him into a tight hug.

“Thank you, Grimsby.”

“Sire-” the corners of his eyes began to prick.

“For leading me to Ariel.” 

“I-”

“And for believing in me.”

Grimsby patted the prince’s back as the tears in his eyes finally spilled over.

The boy - the child on the waves - had finally grown up, into a man that Grimsby couldn’t have even pictured. He imagined he had Ariel to thank for that, the silent red-headed girl who’d shone a brilliant light into the prince’s life, helped secure his destiny, allowed him to find his place in the world.

“Always, Eric.”

[redfour0]

Imagine, for a moment, you are Kote.

You are mer, killed by the humans from up above hundreds of years ago, your ancestors working to find peace deep within the sea. The humans rarely go this far out to sea.

You are bored, your father had, once again, out looking to find your soulmate. You leave the golden castle, looking for your favorite fish and shipwreck.

You are searching the area around your childhood home, the place, and see a wreck, new and broken. No more than a month down.

And something is floating above it.

Rays of light never seem to make their way this far down, but its not even that fr down.

Yet the body is fully illuminated.

What is that Kote? your fish friend asks

I think, Holy shit Flo. I think its a human

Imagine, for a moment, you are Kote.

You just found a human. Dead, but you found one! They never come out this far now, and you have never seen one before. And, if you use enough of your majic, you might be able to bring them back.

You just need to go to land.

It would not be your first time. Your father forbid anyone from going near the surface, yet you felt drawn to see the stars.

You swim to the human, your golden tail shimmering in the rare rays of sunlight. The human is pale, little dots running all over the face.

They look peaceful, long red hair flowing around the face and eyes closed.

You can practically feel your body flush, because the only thing you knew about humans where that they where bloodthirsty monsters, and this one is nothing like that.

Their cute.

Ignoring the feeling, you grab the human, and, much to Flo's distaste, head up to the surface. It is night now, so no-one will see the golden head of a mer and the human you are carrying.

It takes nearly all night to find the human kingdom, but you find it.

Imagine, for a moment, you are Obi-Wan.

Your father is, once again, displeased of the fact that his only son, you, has a soulmate. And, no mater how hard he searches, no one can find the other half.

All his life, the little blob on your head has caused you trouble. The only child and sole heir of the kingdom should not have a soulmate.

So you do the only thing that calms you down these days. You braid your hair back, and head for the docks.

Sailing helps.

But your have a mission today. Find your soulmate. No mater what.

Then your ship is hit.

You didn't tell your father where you where going. You didn't know where you where going.

The waives crash into the sail, and your ship is overturned.

Darkness takes you only after you let it.

Imagine, for a moment, you are Kote.

You took the human to the shore. Its almost morning, and its to dangerous to be the first mer seen in hundred of year because of a human, no matter how cute.

You place your hand on their chest, trying to remember how to heal someone.

Father had always boasted that humans where weak, easy to kill because they had soft skin and not scales.

You can use this. Scales are hard to heal, but not fish-skin.

The human's chest rises. Their eyes flutter open. You didn't know they did that. Is that bad? Fuck.

You lift your hand, ignoring the slime-like goo your tail made.

You jump back into the water, and swim home. Hopefully father wont mind you being gone for so long.

Imagine, for a moment, you are Obi-Wan.

Death took you.

Yet.

Now you are laying on the beach, shimmering gold blob in front of your face.

Then it is gone. The sun shines hard and bright on your face. The glass beach under your skin is cool, yet burns.

You need to get back to the castle. your father will not be happy.

[harp0freprisal]

The Butterfly Effect

“A tiny butterfly flapping its wings, a decision made today could affect your story weeks from now. The smallest decision can drastically change the course of the future.”

A new day holds so many possibilities, it could offer benediction or a pensive sadness. It could offer new beginnings or nothing more than light over the same unwavering routine. But, for me it casted a golden glow over the fabric that adorned my boyfriend. Although the light was a gift from the sun, he always wore this aura. An angel missing its wings and halo, but holding angelic mannerisms nonetheless. Yes, I know, every woman feels this way about their partner, but for me, it was a different kind of adoration. This man went through every trial and tribulation thrusted upon him from the moment we locked eyes all those years ago, and he held my being in the palm of his hand with such grace despite it all. Enveloping me in the most tender love. I owed this man everything, and despite our constant bickering about the matter, deep down he knows he saved me.

The pads of his finger tips ghosted down my exposed shoulder and bicep, ripping me from the depths of my tortured mind. “You have that look on your face again, Q.” His voice was deep and raspy from the grogginess that came after a late night of Gossip Girl and worshiping my body more times than I could count. Mahogany eyes scanned over his face, drinking up his features so extensively as if it would be my final time doing so. “What look do I have on my face, Jasper?” I allowed my own fingertips to drag softly against his toned bicep, my gentle actions coaxing goosebumps to the surface of his ivory skin. My hand dropped from his skin and made its home beneath my pillow. “Like you’re lost in your own mind.” The corner of his mouth curled into a warming smile and this feeling of security rushed over me. “Just thinking about when we first met. All we’ve been through..” I let out a sigh and raised my shoulder before dropping them in a shrug.

My eyes left his momentarily and I found myself fixated on the mirror behind him. It had a waved frame and a strip of light was placed on the back giving off a soft pink hue against the white wall. The color losing its vibrance as the sun began rising more, flooding the room with natural light and warmth. My eyes flickered to the right, three floating shelves were home to our favorite records on vinyl. Each holding a special place in our hearts. Each had a song that Jasper and I ghosted around the kitchen to while cooking.. As the room fell silent, my mind wandered back in time. I imagined my memory like an ocean. I was a sailor, guiding expeditions to the happiest of memories. On most days the ocean glistened as a pink and orange sunrise blanketed it. I would see orbs of memories floating in the sky, core memories. Filled with my mother, Jasper and childhood friends. But there were other days, where the ocean was unforgiving, and stormy clouds loomed over the water, adding fuel to its treacherous wakes. Today .. today I was shipwrecked, abandoned on a single rock and each orb that swirled around me was another memory of where Jasper and I came from. The families. The bloodshed. Lies ..

“Hey.. Quinn .. I keep telling you .. we have to live in the now .. all those things we did .. all those things we went through .. it’s in the past .. nothing is going to hurt you or I again.. I promise.” His curved index grazed against pronounced cheek bones. Before pressing his lips against the tip of my nose. As quickly as it was placed, he was upright in bed stepping into his slippers and donning a

robe we stole from a couple retreat a few years ago. I reminded in my place moments longer, once more drinking in the sight before me. “I love you Jasper. In this life and next.” My voice cracked .. the slightest difference in my tone that it would have been lost on unknowing ears. But not my man, he ran to my rescue again, now standing before me, I shifted so I was sitting up, closer to him. “I love you, Quinn Petrov, and I will continue to do so until every star in our universe and the next burns out. Now come, I’m hungry and in need of coffee.” Another kiss was placed to my nose before Jasper departed into the bathroom. I dragged myself from my bed and slipped on my own slides and robe. The soles of my slippers screamed as I dragged them across wood floor before finally being silenced by the carpet of our walk in closet. I pulled a matching set of yoga pants and bralette and leisurely put them on, tossing my robe on a hanger and slipping into white Nikes. It’s mid october and in California at this time a jacket is most definitely not needed. If I were lucky I would have a cool breeze to accompany my walk to the coffee shop down the street. Jaspers favorite and he deserved a little treat after his shower and morning routine. “I’m grabbing something down the street really quick, I’ll be back!” I yelled over my shoulder before leaving the small apartment. Too many “Good morning neighbors” left my mouth as I climbed down the flights of stairs, before finally letting a sigh of relief mix with the oxygen that provided life to the congested streets of San Francisco. I hated the city .. but it was “only a small stepping stone” as Jasper would say. But, what I did love about it, was how easy it is to blend in. Crowds of people could swallow you up in you allowed and for someone running from their past like me, that was a must.

The walk was short lived and the overwhelming aroma of coffee beans was beckoning me through glass doors like a siren serenading sailors on rough seas. It was intoxicating and the soft chatter and clicks on keyboards brought overwhelming comfort. “Hey! Quinn, no Jasper this time?” A high pitched voice cut through the chatter and pulled my attention. Anna Lovegood. My one and only friend in the city. She was waving her palm in the air with the biggest grin on her face, a leather apron wrapped tightly around her curves. I waited until I was at the counter to respond, offering a grin of my own. “Hey babe! How are you this morning, and no, no Jasper, he’s at home getting ready for the day, I thought I would surprise him with the best coffee in town.” I offered Anna a wink and a playful giggle. She beamed with excitement and turned to make our usuals. As she worked I made myself busy and caught up on emails and doom-scrolled on every app imaginable. I know, stupid, running from your past but all over socials. I never said I was smart. I kept them all private and didn’t allow anyone to follow even Anna, I assumed that would be enough. Silly. “All ready to go, and a little something special for the both of you to share — oh and don’t forget, our girls night is tonight! My place 7pm.” I huffed and rolled my eyes, Anna has been trying to get me to widen my circle since we met and I’ve shot her down every time, but with the way I’m feeling this morning, I might just let her. “Fine. But i’m not staying crazy long and there better be booze. Lots of it!” I rolled my eyes once more, but this time it had a teasing undertone. “You got it!” I grabbed the cup holder from Anna and made my way back home. The walk was a little busier as the town began to liven with the sun now fully situated in the clouds. Which only made walking through my front door that much more exhilarating. “Jasper ! I got a surprise for you, you better be all ready we have a meeting to get to in an hour, and you know I hate being late.” I sat the keys in a bowl situated in the middle of the entry table before setting the coffee down on the kitchen island. I picked up the treat Anna packed for us and peeked inside, a danish, my favorite. The sight made me smile once more. But the silence from the other room pulled me from my blissful moment. “Jasper?” My brows furrowed before making my way across my hallway and into our bedroom, the sound of water hitting the shower floor made my head tilt. Steam escaped the cracked bathroom door and flooded our bedroom. I lifted my wrist to my line of sight and after checking the time was made even more confused. I had been gone thirty minutes. He should have been done and for some as routine oriented as Jasper a shower longer than five maybe ten minutes was bizarre. I made my way into the bathroom. My breath hitched in my throat, My mouth gaped to scream, but nothing escaped.

I’d known death since I was a child. It’s everywhere. But, it never once wrapped its decaying fist around my heart until today. Seeing you … soul departed and lips blue. Skin still warm, as if we were back in bed, and the sun was gracing your frame like it did every morning. The whites of your eyes in your lifeless state coaxed fear into the veins of my heart, so deeply imbedded into the muscle it was all I could feel. Blood dripped from your wounds and ran through the deviations in the tiled floor. I still remember the first time I saw it. I couldn’t find the right words to describe the way it made my soul twist and turn and ring out my sorrow like the taste of melancholy was too much for my body to bare. No book, or show or endless hours working in the morgue prepared me for this moment, and as I laid across your torso I questioned my faith. I questioned how God could possibly need you more than I, more than the child I never got the chance of telling you about. I thought about the box nestled between folded socks and skimpy panties that would soon be the last thing adoring my body. The little onesie that read “Est. 2025” and the pregnancy test that laid against it. A dainty palm falling to my lower abdomen, as if to calm our fussing child even though it was barely even the size of a poppy seed. I repositioned my head so the shell of my ear could rest against your chest. Where there once was a beating muscle echoing in your cavity, there was now silence .. eerie god for saken fucking silence. But as I lay there, contemplating my faith, love and how my future would look as a mother, my eyes caught something, an envelope rested against the pool of fabric that was Jaspers robe. I crawled painfully towards the note. Dainty digits curl around the envelope, tightening my grip as eyes scan over the words scrawled messily over the paper.

“Eye for an eye — tit for tat — either way Rose him and my child now share a home. Next time .. I’ll have better timing.”

My nostrils flared, my mouth opened, and with as much emotion I could, I fueled the most blood curdling scream. I will avenge him, no matter how long it took me, I would have his murderers blood staining my palms. My father will die and so will his empire.

[silversiren1101]

5 & 7 for mino and regill!

For the Hellpair, of course Taylor!

Read more because uh, these got long!

5. How do they consciously realize that they like each other? Does it take them a while?

Lol. Lmao. “Does it take a while?“ Lol. Get ready for DEEP LORE. Things that are on my official timeline and have drafted but never fully written and published. Fun stuff from pre-canon.

Also, funny thing to realize is they both only realize it after someone else points it out to them!

Minovae: it takes fives years after she joined the Hellknights, around the time of the Dospera Massacre during the Civil War. She’d probably been crushing on him for a while without knowing it but that’s when she realized it: the wake of the brutal siege that lead to the destruction of her childhood home and district… where the Scourge turned on their former allies after allying with House Thrune. During an attempted siege to Rego Crua from Rego Plea through the sewers/subterranean aqueducts, explosions from above ground destabilize the passage their unit is crossing through and the floor gives out. Realizing she can’t save both herself and Regill (her squad’s acting leader then), she chooses him, swinging him up the stable ground and falling down into the depths to what everyone involved thinks is surely death. At the time, she thinks it only duty and her intense loyalty (friendship) with him that makes her sacrifice herself—aside from the fact she has nothing else left and she’s contributed to the destruction of her own home in the name of ending this war.

The flow sweeps her out into the Westchannel. Next thing Mino knows, she’s baking in the sun, caught like flotsam on one of Westcrown’s “natural dams” of shipwreck wood and shells discarded by fishermen throughout the centuries in the bay, with what feels like more broken bones than not, and being shaken awake by a familiar sight. Before she left Westcrown years ago, she’d been a bard at one of the brothels in the Rego Pena catering to the docks and ships (and left because she was fired for breaking a man’s wrist for assuming she was part of the main entertainment, lol). Two of the working courtesans had been very fond of her (a feathered tiefling and scaled aasimar pair who taught her how to take care of her own features!), and it’s coincidentally they who find her strewn up on the dam while out in the dawn taking care of laundry. She’s subsequently dragged back to the brothel by one of the bouncers they kindly ask to help carry her heavy ass, peeled out of her armor and the armor hidden so no one targets her for being a Hellknight, laid up in bed, and a runner sent up to the Scourge’s main encampment back up in Rego Crua to report their MIA knight in dire need of some healing magic.

Imagine Regill’s immense surprise upon being summoned by his superiors, and he arrives to find a brothel girl talking with them; even more so when he learns Arangeir isn’t dead. He’s granted leave to confirm, bring requisitioned potions to get her back to her feet, and deliver her next orders... which he does--Goes to the brothel with glamered armor because technically its behind enemy lines and, well, as a gnome he won't exactly be clocked as a Hellknight out of his armor as easily as anyone else, lol. Lo and behold, his missing ganzi and savior is indeed alive, all sorts of messed up (broken bones, swallowed so much saltwater, water in lungs, sun exposure), but he's immensely relieved to see that she made it. He questions the owner about why they saved her, a Hellknight, leading to him being dumbstruck when they laugh and tell him: "We look after our own in this business, no longer in it or no. Imagine our surprise today seeing her now. She left us as a spitfire with anger issues but a golden voice and shows back up clad in blackened plate. I dare say few of us approve of the life she has chosen since leaving us, but... I can't look at that tail and that mess of platinum hair and not see that desperate young girl that pleaded with me for a place to work and stay all those years ago." The owner doesn’t say why, only says it’s not her story to tell, and Mino who has quietly regained consciousness a few minutes before (thanks to a potion) cheekily rasps at him why she was fired and, a bit delirious, cracks a joke about any assumptions he might’ve leapt to about her working there, and with the Hellknights not running any background checks aside from passing the Trial, a Hellknight whore isn’t that out of the question. (Something she groans at when fully conscious lol).

He regains his composure (he wasn’t as stoic 80 years ago, pre-Bleaching) and sternly informs her she has 2 days of leave to recover before she is expected back in her duties. He also salutes her, and tells her she has been recognized for her commitment to her duty and valor in saving his life and that there is a commendation waiting for her upon her return… and also he is pleased they didn’t lose as good a knight as her. He looks forward to welcoming her back to active duty, but also tells her to rest and recover.

Only when he leaves do the women start giggling and asking her questions. The owner says something about him being handsome, but never expected Mino to fall for someone like him: so stony and stoic and intense. She is totally flabbergasted and denies it, only for the owner to remind her that she can tell where feelings have taken root in order separate her workers from repeat clients should relationships start to bloom… and Mino’s aren’t just rooted, they’re full on blooming without her knowing.

It haunts her for days and days, firmly in denial, until she returns to camp and when Regill goes to help her to her feet after she’s knocked to the ground during sparring drills, she can’t deny it anymore. It hits her like a fucking carriage.

She has to swallow it down, knowing nothing would ever come of it aside from heartbreak.

Regill: His takes like 80 years. He had a little crush before she left and then, well, she was actually dead until Areelu brought her back. After she is reported MIA -> KIA in the Worldwound, he feels this inexplicable bitterness about her leaving so suddenly with no explanation, especially with how broken she seemed. She also had stolen a kiss from him and he's just very... Well he doesn't know what's going on and it all just manifests as anger and this sense of waste that grows numb overtime.

Game starts, the anger is back but all twisted up with relief and other confusing things that she is alive and back... especially since she doesn't remember him (until later). Events of the game + her regaining her memories and he is so so so blind to his growing camaraderie and respect for her reaching a point where it simply isn’t just mere respect anymore. In Mino’s “custom mythic path” canon, she succeeds in the Legend path until her powers are immediately foisted back onto her not even minutes after purging them by her sire/creator, Ssila’meshnik. The aeon power is infused with an equal amount of pure chaos to form a paradox, and the surge of power as they're forced back into her causes them to spiral out of control. She jumps ahead 3 days into the future, wounded and terrified and helpless, while the rest of the world has to wait for time to pass normally to find her.

Regill doesn’t handle this well. He'd already been agonizing over her madness and fall across the events in the Abyss to then, preparing to even mercy kill her before she was totally lost. A protean lord appears, calls her 'daughter', impales her, and the last thing she did in her fear was reach out for him for help before disappearing in a warpwave? He barely sleeps. Barely eats. Desperate to find her and figure out where she will appear so he can be there to bring her back to Drezen for care. He’s a complete mess but doesn’t consciously realize he is, snapping at everyone, trapped in his thoughts and searching, and he eventually drops from exertion and weakness. The rest of the companions are also messes in their own way and boy does it start a hell of a fight. He hears in the next room over where he’s laid up Daeran shouting at Sosiel and Seelah both “can’t you see he adores her?! I know next to nothing about true love but if that isn’t it then I don’t believe it exists and your goddess can smite us here and now for my heresy!”

It’s definitely his cliche “oh” moment, forcing him to realize why he couldn’t figure out why he was feeling so physically awful and pained and sick and anxious: he had no idea what love felt like, much less the aching grieving fearful kind he’s been drowning in with her missing and him helpless to do anything about it.

7. Do they pursue the other character’s affection, and if so, how? Do they tell the other character how they feel? Try to earn their admiration? Woo them with romantic gestures? Flirt with them?

This is a loaded ass question!

Ultimately their relationship is based on Love as a Choice. Their feelings sprouting are not a choice, but their decision to act upon them and not ignore them/squash them is one! They choose to love each other, and as Hellknights that is a big deal. Their love is not a pursuit but an offering: I am giving you my heart and my life. It's not a matter of pursuit but simply accepting what is willingly being given as a choice.

Hence, they essentially take things as they come, and they’ve known each other for so painfully long and know each other better for anyone that things like trying to earn their admiration or flirting don’t really happen between them—it’s already there.

As for "earning their admiration", it's more like "not wanting to lose it". The beginning of their relationship is characterized with a bit of hesitancy and fearfulness at "messing it up": Mino worries about losing his admiration by being too merciful and Regill worries about losing hers by being too merciless (even though these are already known factors and part of the reasons they fell for the other, lol). She is also scared of moving too quickly and scaring him, or fully accepting their relationship as reality at first because she's terrified he will "see reason" and call things off. Regill, meanwhile, has zero relationship experience and zero romantic experience at all as the most glacial demiromantic and demisexual man in all of Golarion lol. He loves her, he finds that out, but the acts of doing it? Navigating this new territory is also something he's figuring out, all the while worried about hurting her with his emotional clumsiness and inexperience. The early relationship sees him being frustrated with trying to identify these new emotions, much less handle them with any sort of grace.

As for wooing - Love as a Choice means that it's pretty much in everything they do. I'm choosing to spend my life with you. I'm choosing to fight and die and bleed with you. I'm choosing to sleep at your side and hold your hand when it hurts and reassure you when it all seems hopeless. That to them is romance. So, whatever romantic gestures they do are usually small, and so much more meaningful because of it. Being at the center of history, something are mundane as learning and taking part in Mino’s grooming routine is immensely romantic to her because it’s a choice to take part in just… her. Her finding interesting philosophical books and military strategy ones, and listening to him talk about such things simply because she likes to hear him be passionate about them is also something he finds remarkably endearing from her. Romance is in every refilled coffee mug and "I grabbed you a snack because you seemed cranky" and reminder to grab a coat because it's cold and rainy.

They do talk about their feelings and relationship more than you would think. She wears her heart on her sleeve and he doesn't have issues speaking the truth so much as he's not equipped with the right words and still figuring things out. Hard to explain that which you have so little idea of! There is no embarrassment or difficulty saying "I love you" between them~

As for flirting... Mino is a strange case. She is extremely seductive and good at fake flirting, using her skills as a former bard and espionage specialist in the Scourge. Real flirting though? Oh she's so hopeless. Bright red face beneath her scales, stumbling over the delivery, laughing mid joke, drowning in butterflies in her stomach... When the love and feelings are real she can't put on the sultry flirting act since her real love is very bubbly and earnest and filled with laughter. Regill meanwhile doesn't flirt and he doesn't have to. He says things so confidently and in such a way that statements delivered totally straight sound super sexy to her anyway, lmao.

From this list of questions!

[glazedwriter-mystery0014]

🌊Ruby Gillman, The Teenage Kraken 🌊

Shelly-Ann D. {Darleene} Ezmeralda Armourel-Meranda Barracudon

"My mother's soul showed me and enlightened me that's mermaids are the guardians, the protectors and the guides of the titanic ocean as they're becoming intellectual women and good creatures without a black heart in them in one of my dreams. Those who're associated with floods, storms, shipwrecks, and drownings in their age-old histories, and includes one of my long-lived ancestors... Crown Empress Oshearne Mermanda.... the daughter and the youth of Atargatis, their gifted and great goddess."

"Shelly-Ann otherwise known as "Shelly"/"Ann"/or "Esmeralda"/or "Esme", her middle name, is a 16 y/o college girl & adolescent of "Coral Seacoast University", and a old friend & best friend from childhood of Ruby Gillman."

"A confident teenager who is determined to discover of her family's aforementioned secrets which she's happen to be a not only mermaid but a crowned head of the mermaids' decent tribe."

"Adopted by "Gal Barracudon", the devoted and good father who is full-blooded kraken along with his decent family members those who're dwelled in "The Ocean City Shore" and includes "Shar Barracudon" alternatively known as Shelly-Ann's likely adopted-grandfather."

"See her adopted kraken father as uncle figure and second father to her as she's calls him "Treasure Papa"/"Anchor"."

"She's Demigirl/Bisexual, and pronouns She/Her & They/Them/Their."

"They're and her gigantic family dwelled at The Ocean City Shore & "The Enchanted Coastline" next to her biological father's lighthouse, golden pond and harbor from his childhood, "New Wave Harbor" and "High Tide Harbor Light"."

"Shelly is a smoothie and real charmer with alike personalities of Princess Ariel & Esmeralda. She's a bright and kindhearted teenager with strong passions for adventure and exploration. Curious, spunky & adventurous spirit, and strong-willed, independent, headstrong, and plucky young girl with a good heart of gold like Ariel but also, they shown to be verbally powerful, streetwise, cunning, positive, moral, and intelligent like Esmeralda and Shelly's is also have ultimately a kind, loving selfless soul underneath with benevolent and caring personality as well."

"Quarter of Greece/Celtic from both of the side of her ancestry from both of their big folks but however, from her mother's side of her enormous family and her ancestors were French, Hawaiian, Mauritian-Creole & Haitian-Creole, and as for her father's, his side of his overgrown family and his ancestry were Australian, Caribbean, and Spanish & Portuguese."

"Her auburn ombre hair have pastel light blue and pastel teal highlights/ombre."

"Also have same personalities and characters of Anne Boonchuy & Rikki Chadwick."

"She's treated Ruby Gillman like a great sister to her as both of them were very dear best friends since childhood before she's move away to another town."

"A crown princess and young blue-blooded heiress of her noble grandparents' immeasurable empire of the enormous depths and titanic ocean, "Domian of The Ethereal Waves", the important colony and the considerable & greater community of full of the merfolks, water spirits and mermaids who've depart from their previous clan for moral reasons and lead by adventurers, pirates & all-powerful and full witches of the great sea, "The Moon Siren Wives", "The Merpeople Buccaneers", "The Daughters of the Sea", "The Raiders of the Promised Treasure", "The Moon Temple Sisters", "The Rovers of the Hidden Monster", "The Corsairs of the Cursed Doubloon", "The South Sea Sailors" & "The Rovers of the North Sea", "The Buccaneers of the Lost Kraken", "The Pirates of the Seven Shores" and "The Magic Water Warriors"."

"Got a part-time employment at "Underwater Park" & "Splashventures!"."

"Wears her deceased mother's blessed and good charms, "The Mermaid's Ocean Memorial", and "The Serene Tear Necklace". The Serene Tear Necklace glowing in the dark of the deeps when she's in the bottom of the sea."

"She's the captain of the group of seaside female furies, "The Siren's Song"."

"She's have gifted and imperial powers, and important forces from her mother's pure ancestors and her grandparents' as it's have same ability from Percy Jackson, H2O: Just Add Water, Mako: Island of Secrets and H2O: Mermaid Adventures."

"One of her great aunts, "Aunt Margo Meranda" & "Aunt Amber Meranda" owns a jewelry dealer's store, "The Treasure Trove". Shelly always collects goods, and outdated charms & fine and antiquated jewelries for her twin aunts when she's in bottom of the sea or treasure hunting in one of the beaches and includes low-priced ones before she's gone meet them and get to know them."

"When she's in the bottom of the sea, mermaid form and hairstyle of hers is inspired by Bloom's Mermaidix Form but however her crop-top and her appearing looks fused together and few of the accessories of hers were changed and also fused with these."

"Her adopted decent family's cares about and loves her dearly as her adopted mother, "Rilletta Barracudon", was strongly supported to her family and her adopted daughter as she was great support and glad about her husband adopting Shelly-Ann since she was a little girl."

"The roller-skating rink queen & the ringleader of "The Sadistic Seaside Sirens"."

Ruby Gillman belongs to Dreamworks Ruby Gillman the Teenage Kraken

Shelly-Ann Armourel-Meranda Barracudon belongs to @gloomycherub-mysterious/@sullenwriter-log/@glazedwriter-mystery0014

[libidomechanica]

A livelier emeralds break from brows

I can’t tell where its direction.     ‘No, no, I never known. Where, ’ asked Walter, patting Lilias—     played charades and riddles as at Christmas here, and wins     even by a delicate dissent. Shall eat thy thyrse and     horseman, came as comes alone,

whilest my weak powres are     but water: and would do nothing but to show what Fortune’s     bastard be unfather’d’ as subject of that my wit cannot     hold me back my childhood in this, she would do that she     will die. Like other side.

Little avails that love me. But     when a light of the sky, yet, I will give a grand politics;     they love us for it, but wonder. They made him down:     it is but in your bosome fraught with me and whole; and     entremets’ to piddle with

sighes and sail in the clock for     you Remember sleepy vigour of the dawn. I never     did see, vertues be, who, while I am striving how fleet     ’twas on the double bright throng of younger friends should be ashamed     of such glass, a lovely

being, scarce saw which Drachenfels     frowns over like her tears as the golden apples rose,     and with me he fought, of a crowd of workmen and dream and     trust in all exercise of noble words; and indigestion.     Blew, and rising fairy

lights increse with the addition     of your life in the liquid lay: but I will join my     tears rather blended, the marks were sealed. If people do when     left alone, what nedeth feyned loves for to arryue, fayre when     the famous moniment.

Most happy name was first draught of     lips: but, as I said, nor blame too much the skirt and fringe of     our set, five others: we were pushed by sun. Readings for sophomore     girls. May breathe himself, and shoutèd and lain in the hall     flowers do fade and wanton

and last, to them as he that     out of her selfe. A livelier emeralds break from brows     as pale it lay the guests were waxing rather there are now     on Shooter’s Hill! The reflex yours shall to you of her. Blow     which is especially

upon a sphere too gross to tread,     and there unshaken, clinging to go, vntill by your vessel     drove before abhorred. Of all mortality, who less could     deceive. Subsiding soul transpires at every pore with     life and sence, that, wholly

scorned of all, and floats the mind. So     doe I hope ere long for the sage Minerva than the sigh     d for beauty in disgraces, and gazed upon the skirt     and free from presence in wide Corinth’s voice. Pardon mine arm,     most sorts of men doe set

but little ones leapèd and shipwreck     with my jealous grown of so complete and red, with immediate     reference worse for the death her huge bright with him to     one grand mess or marriage into a shallow rivers, in     the afternoon, like a

girl’s bright, tis time that all her words     so blind. Our daysleep, my love has closed with Tyranny which     Thee enriches at thy Subject bound on either. With none     other pageants play, and whence came, and thither half the neighbour’s     ear; and their genius

stand rebuked, like virtue; and to     Tyrian, for I so truly thee bemoan that all the rest     complaining page than all the true cause and smile as thou art     from the firbloome, but then this verse, and novice in delight,     as were his only care,

and take as true, it rauisht quite a     booty; a second health in wine, who as yet thought can spel,     wil soone conceiue the king that ever lov’d at such as once or     twice to smile, a medicines double meaning with the middle     of my good old aunt,

not practised in vain the     impatient to a moral man was Werther, and for you, gentle     brest that to the silver planet in her proper sphere:     that would live there is not fair, nor flattered at this fair ynough,     hire browe browne, hire yën

blake; with lossum cheere heo on me     lough; with middel smal and welaway, a proud hart doe thou     art all my dreams. Then she went to Tauris, was given to     deuoure the fourth we heard the drowsy waked; and, as his     And breeze from end to end.

[islcnd-rcse]

tag dump 2

[mercurial-madhouse]

Anonymous asked: I wish you would write... A Disney princess!AU (like cinderella or sleeping beauty or snow white) where both of them are princes just that they follow the same general plotline (for example H could be prince charming and L could be the one that got put to sleep or hidden somehow/some reason).

>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*< 

You don’t have to say you love me (Just let me adore you)

Fiery sunlight flashes through the pendant soaring through the air, its broken chain trailing behind like snapped heartstrings.

Wrenched out of a waking dream, confusion and shock overwhelm Harry as he lurches on the shifting deck. Reeling yet frozen, he scans the insanity before him.

In his enchanted absence, chaos has usurped his throne. Niall, Liam, and Zayn are all racing about, attempting to contain the mayhem. And he’s… Why is he in his purple ceremonial robes? Why is he at sea? And the strange man a few metres away, who has just lost the pendant—what’s his name?—Ben. Why the bloody hell is Ben covered in sea creatures? Only his outstretched hand is visible, clawing for one end of the broken chain that’s sailing just out of reach.

The horrifying truth catapults into Harry’s chest. Caught within the magic bound into that necklace, he’d almost married this stranger. But this isn’t the man he loves.

Fear drives like a weighted anchor into his chest. Someone or something slams into him from behind.

Stumbling forward, Harry searches the quarterdeck desperately for the one person missing, the last person he remembers. Relief battles surprise and both cascade over Harry, unlocking his lungs beneath the flood-tide of emotion when Harry finds him.

Louis’s bracing barefoot against the opposite rail near Harry’s quarters, the captain’s cabin. The loose white shirt Harry first gave him, the one he’d flung off his own back when he’d found Louis stranded naked on the rocky shore three days ago, hangs haphazardly from one pale shoulder. The silent, shipwrecked sailor had struggled with the buttons then as though he’d never seen them before. Even now the shirt is unbuttoned halfway down his chest, one side tucked into his trousers as though Louis had thrown it on in a frantic rush to get here.

Ocean blues, wide like the ebbing tide, lock onto Harry’s. Harry launches through the melee of people and ocean life to reach Louis. Harry’s always hated low tide. Always felt like he was helplessly watching the shoreline as the ocean receded ever further away from him.

The circular pendant hits the deck and cracks. A golden flash bursts from the object, halting the tumult as it blinds everyone.

Harry’s heart surges into his windpipe as the beam zings across the deck, slams into Louis’s throat, and disappears.

Shock etches over Louis’s face. He pushes three fingers against his neck then swallows.

He opens his mouth… and speaks.

Harry’s world upends, throwing him back beneath the swirling waters of his own shipwreck eight days earlier. Up and down collide with past and present as the voice he’s dreamed of since that day comes to life and enchants him all over again with a single word.

“Hazza.”

**

Harry grins at the obvious curiousity scrunching Louis’s features. Whether he never could talk or the shipwreck that brought him to Harry’s shores left him too afraid to speak, Harry doesn’t know. But his beautiful features are so wonderfully expressive it’s as though Harry’s fluent in a language he didn’t realize he knew.

“What. Haz?”

Louis nods, glancing at the closed door they’d just come through after Harry’s mum, the queen, had shooed them out of her private chambers with a wave and that childhood name for Harry on her lips.

“It’s short for Hazza.” Why is he telling Louis? His mum never calls him Haz unless they’re alone, and now he’s adding to the slip-up?

Louis’s eyes light up with such pure delight that Harry’s heart skips a beat and promptly rolls over in his chest like it’s prepared to give up the ghost to the ocean depths. He tucks a wayward strand of hair out of Louis’s eyes. Countless brushings and his hair is as wild as it’d been when Harry found him yesterday. Untameable as the ocean that’d brought him here.

Mouth suddenly dry despite emotionally drowning, Harry’s tongue flicks out to wet his lip. He follows his heart over the ocean horizon that’s reflecting in those blue eyes. “You can call me that, if you want. Hazza.”

He’s officially lost his mind. Only his mum has the right to either name. But the soft, private smile Louis bestows upon him is so warm that Harry feels like he’s been crowned the prince all over again. All the adoration of the entire kingdom pales compared to the affection emanating from Louis now.

Louis’s mouth forms silently over the word, like he’s testing the feel of the name on his lips the same way he’s once again rubbing the ruffled silk cuff of the pale blue shirt he’s wearing between his fingertips. A flash of sadness momentarily dims Louis’ smile, but then it returns larger than before, crinkling the corners of his eyes, as though Louis still loves what neither of them can hear.

Harry would give up his claim to the throne for that smile.

**

“It’s you.”

The choked words burble up from his throat like bubbles through swirling seas. Two more steps and Louis’s in his arms. Holding Louis feels like the wild exhilaration of setting sail. Louis smells like saltwater air, a zesty ocean zephyr billowing the sails and guiding Harry ever onwards.

Unable to process, Harry tries to clutch Louis close and look into his face at the same time. His forehead bumps into Louis’s temple; his palm curves over Louis’s jaw.

“How is this-... I don’t-...”

Louis’s fingers fist in the purple velvet of Harry’s coat. “I’ll explain everything, Hazza, I s-”

Even though ragged with desperation, the vibrant sound of his voice shocks through Harry. Fantasy and reality collide and fragment into crystal clarity.

The man of his dreams is standing before him. Wide awake this time with no water filling his lungs, Harry refuses to lose Louis again.

He’d almost kissed Louis in the grotto before their boat upended. Now he ducks in to smash his lips into Louis’s before anything else can break them apart.

The port side of the ship runs aground over a submerged sandbar.  A barrel careening across the deck slams into Harry in the massive shockwave surging over L'Esprit as she keels to starboard, wrenching Louis from his grasp.

“Sire!” His first mate Liam catches Harry around the waist, hauling him against the mainmast he’s got hold of. But Louis stumbles, unable to find his balance.

“No!” Harry’s hand catches empty air as Louis hits the deck, sliding with everything not held down until he slams into the starboard rail.

The ship shudders and stills, canted slightly.

Gripping the rail, Louis pushes back to his feet. Harry pushes away from Liam. The sun sinks over the horizon. A blinding green flash shoots up from the spot where she fell into the sea.

“Mary mother,” Niall, Harry’s helmsman, breathes nearby, quickly crossing himself.

Every sailor knows the superstition. The green flash. The impossible will be made possible.

Harry staggers, halting halfway to him when Louis freezes. The blood drains from Louis’s face right before he disappears from view, engulfed in the same golden magic that’d left the necklace and returned his voice.

The golden hurricane vanishes.

Pure disbelief consumes Harry.

Louis’ shirt and tattoos are gone, replaced with pale skin broken only with tiny translucent scales where his tattoos used to be. They flash golden in the last rays of light, trailing down to a magnificent fishtail. Iridescent blue, with each tiny movement the colour shifts, as though the ocean and all her colours are captured within. Speckled throughout are scales of coral red, deep and luscious.

Harry blinks. The illusion remains. Fin smacking against the wood, Louis struggles upright, bracing on his palms.

Harry’s dimly aware of those eyes locking back onto him.

Louis slowly shakes his head, the plea so obvious on his face. “Hazza, I can expl-”

A slow chuckle from the forecastle breaks through the haze of disbelief clouding Harry’s senses.

Ben rises to his feet, casually brushing off guppies and starfish. The smirk on his face transforms his features and a wave of disgust rolls over Harry.

“Even the ocean knows you don’t belong together.”

He’s speaking to Louis.

Louis shakes his head again, tail flopping once more as he tries to straighten his torso best he can. His scales are already wrinkling, drying out in the warm evening air. “You enchanted him with me voice! How was I-”

Ben cuts Louis off by holding up a hand, three fingers raised. “Three days. That was the contract. You had three days to find your true love’s kiss, no matter what.”

Harry can’t keep up. That word, love, shocks him into speaking, but only a noise comes out before Louis’s growling at Ben in an echo of that burst of impetuous fire Harry’s seen glimpses of these past few days.

“I love him.” The melody of Louis’s voice changes. “Please, Simon, just give me one more minute.”

But Ben only laughs again, that same light chuckle. It grows, steadily deepening into a throaty cackle. A cloud of black envelops him until that laughter emanates from the void, punching through Harry and the hearts of every sailor aboard.

The monstrosity left in the wake of that cloud and laughter has several sailors crying out in fear, backing away. The human half is older, greying hair and cutting eyes. Instead of a tail, the creature ends in thick tentacles.

Simon leers at Louis. “Your voice belongs to me now.”

He lunges. Louis throws himself back against the rail. His eyes find Harry. Time frees Harry’s legs. He dives forward.

Simon’s arm catches Louis around the chest. His tentacles lock around that beautiful tail. Louis’s fingers claw into the wood, but the suckers latching into his scales immobilize him.

They vanish overboard.

“No!” Harry slams against the railing in time to catch a final glimpse of iridescent scales choked by black tentacles disappearing beneath the white-capped waves. He tears the buttons of his waistcoat ripping the ornate fabric off. He grabs the railing to dive overboard.

A hand grabs his arm, wrenching him back.

“Majesty, are you mad?!” Niall stares at him in horror. “You’re human, Sire!”

A burst of agony-fueled anger surges through Harry. “I don’t care,” he roars, wrenching his arm free. “I love him.”

It doesn’t matter that he’s in love with a fish.

Niall grabs him again. “I know.” Voice softer, but no less intense, he shakes his head. “But the ocean floor is only a grave for the likes of us. You’ll be dead before you can get close.”

The pity in Niall’s eyes hurts Harry more than his next words.

“He’s lost, Harry.”

Refusing to believe that, Harry shakes his head, jerking away from the words. Something flashes on the deck.

The compass that’d been around Ben’s, no, that monster’s neck. Harry’s heart lurches into his throat when he recognizes it.

It’s his compass. Understanding that his first love would always be the sea, his mother had gifted it to him when he’d turned sixteen two years ago, so he’d always find his way home no matter how far over the horizon he sailed. He’d been clutching it when he’d gone overboard in the storm, and was so certain he’d lost it in the shipwreck.

Harry snatches it from the deck. The broken chain falls away but Harry can only stare as the familiar weight in his palm settles in a pained squeeze around his heart with a single flash of a memory.

**

Floating. Numb. Idle waves weaving over his legs. A comforting pressure over his torso.

Gentle fingers brush a wet lock of hair from his face. The stranded curl slides over his cheek. His fingers curl around his compass.

Distant voices. “Majesty! Prince Harry!”

The weight shifts, startled. Lips brush a soft kiss over his brow.

“Live,” that bright voice that’d just been singing, beckoning Harry towards the surface of his consciousness, whispers, quiet yet commanding.

“Your Majesty! Prince Harry!”

A hand smooths down his arm and slides over his palm. The weight of his compass vanishes with the fingers. Someone splashes away through the shallows.

Blinding sunlight pierces his eyes as he pushes them open. He’s alone on the shore. Niall and Liam are racing across the surf towards him.

**

“Your majesty!” Liam’s shout jars Harry from the memory. The ocean had claimed him, and the ocean had saved him. It’s not Louis’s eyes that were familiar. After all these years, Harry’s now certain the ocean has been familiar because it swirls in captured sunswirls in those eyes he’d finally found three days ago.

And like the ebbing tide slipping through his fingers, that freedom has once again sunk beyond his reach.

“Majesty?” Liam’s fingertips brush his elbow to get his attention. Sorrow washes his voice soft. “Your orders?”

Harry can’t look away from his compass.

The glass is cracked, as broken as the mechanism within. The arrow no longer points north, but west, towards the horizon. Angry tears blur his vision as frustration wells in the pit of his stomach. He’s spent years seeking the heart of the ocean, only to find it, only to lose him. Louis saved him twice and now Harry can’t help him.

Harry can’t follow.

Harry clutches the compass until his knuckles are white, riding the roiling wave of frustration desperately. A warmth bursts from the compass and flushes his palm. Startled, Harry jumps. Like sunlight shifting over the surface, the compass flashes with a remnant of that golden magic of Louis’s voice that’d burst from it earlier.

Hope flutters like twin swallows taking flight in his chest. Harry turns back towards the rail where the arrow is pointing.

The broken arrow moves with him, aiming ever onward in the direction Simon and Louis had vanished. Harry’s facing due west but the arrow now points north before him.

“Sire?” Niall’s eyes are wide. He crosses himself again, staring at the compass in Harry’s hand.

A grim determination sweeps over Harry. “Get us afloat, Liam.”

His first mate nods. As Liam turns, barking out orders to the rest of the crew, Harry pockets his compass and throws off the lavender waistcoat that matches the coat he’d already discarded.

Unbuttoning the top three buttons of his white shirt, he rolls his sleeves up and turns to Niall.

“To the helm, Niall. I’ve got a prince to find.”

>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*< 

(Of the three Disney-inspired ideas that came to me, I attempted with this one to stick as close to a direct retelling with Louis as the princess as the prompt requested. I’d also always wondered how Prince Eric knew where to find Ariel so he could help her defeat Ursula in the Disney version of Little Mermaid. I tried to answer that here. Hope you enjoy, Anony! I know it took a while. Moving homes can make writing time hard to find! And a huge thank you to you, Lily, for all your help, love!)

Have something else you’d like to see me write? Send me an ask (anon or no) completing the sentence ‘I wish you’d write a fic where…’

OT5 Superpowers 

Invisible Louis

Only one bed (H-POV)

Only one bed (L-POV)

ABO new-omega!Louis drabble that became a fic on AO3.

OT4 Spy AU

Disney-Inspired 1: Liam/Harry/Louis as Niall’s three fairy godmother roommates.

[love-and-monsters]

Harpy Rescue

M monster X F reader, 7,143 words

You wash up on an island after a shipwreck. The harpy natives take you in and you find companionship with a certain healer who’s been caring for you. 

I stared blankly at the sky above me. I was lying back on a beach. The tide was coming in underneath me. The salt water stung at the raw scrapes on my back.

It was struggle to breathe. My lungs spasmed and heaved with every breath. All my energy went into keeping my lungs heaving.

It was ironic. The only person who survived the shipwreck was the one who would die anyway.

None of my limbs would move. I knew I wasn’t paralyzed, if only because that would have dulled sensation and I could feel every scrape and bruise over the surface of my body. I just couldn’t move under my own power.

 It took all my energy to keep breathing. It hurt just to breathe. My lungs stuttered over the air, threatening to stop altogether every time. Even with all my effort going into it, I still felt faintly dizzy from lack of air.

There were birds, enormous birds, circling overhead. Carrion birds, probably. They could see me lying on the beach and probably assumed they were getting a nice lunch.

The water was getting higher. It was a race, I thought morbidly. Would the water drown me before the birds managed to eat my entrails?

They were coming down more rapidly now. They were huge. Perhaps I would get lucky and they would fight one another for long enough that the waves would come in. I would take drowning over being torn apart hungry birds.

The tide was coming in faster. I could feel it lapping around my ears. A particularly strong wave made me sputter and I spent nearly a minute coughing and gasping. It was harder than ever to breathe. Perhaps drowning wouldn’t be substantially more pleasant than being eaten alive.

One of the birds plunged into a dive, spurring the others to follow. They drifted out of my sight and no matter how far I rolled my eyes back, I couldn’t see them. Great. I just had to wait in anticipation.

There was a crunching behind me, the sound of something approaching. Another wave struck me and I choked, coughing on the water. Black spots popped in front of my eyes and I felt my entire body heave, water trickling from my mouth.

A hand caught my shoulder. With a heave, I was dragged out of the shallow water and up onto the firmer beach. Tilting my head back, I managed to catch sight of my rescuers.

They hadn’t been birds, I realized. They had just looked like birds from a distance. My rescuers were a group of concerned-looking harpies.

If I had any sense of dramatic timing, I likely would have passed out then. It would have made the situation much less awkward, at least. But I remained stubbornly awake, staring up at the small throng of harpies.

Their heads and torsos were humanoid, but they seemed to have a combination between arms and wings. Their arms were feathered and there was a split at the wrists between hands and the final joint of the wing. Their legs were scaled and ended in large, heavy talons. All of them had deeply tanned skin and dark brown hair and feathers.

They spoke to one another for a moment, in a language I couldn’t understand. Then, the one that had dragged me up the beach bent over and hauled me into his arms.

The group headed off the beach and into the tropical jungle beyond. It was getting harder and harder to remain conscious. I faded in and out, struggling to keep my consciousness together. The blackouts grew longer and longer and the tightening pain in my chest was growing sharper. Breathing was almost painfully difficult.

Another bit of irony for me. I had been saved from drowning only for my condition to kill me right away.

The last thing I was aware of was the man carrying me speaking rapidly before I was deposited on solid ground with a jolt.

When I opened my eyes again, there was a ceiling above me. It was thatched, and there were several bundles of herbs hanging from the rafters. The pain of my body had eased, and though my chest burned, it had loosened significantly. After a few breaths, I had gained enough energy to sit up.

“Here.” Someone to my right pushed a bowl into my hands. It was full of a strong-smelling liquid that made my nose run and my sinuses clear almost instantly. “It’ll help with your breathing.”

The person next to me was the same man who had carried me off the beach. I hadn’t gotten the best look at him, but he had the same golden-brown feathers and his long, braided hair was done up in the same style. I dipped my head and took a few swallows from the bowl.

It burned worse than any whiskey I’d ever tried. I sputtered, eyes watering, but the tension in my chest did fade. The bands that had always restricted my breathing loosened ever so slightly and I gulped air gratefully.

The man outstretched his hands and took the bowl back. I sputtered a few more times before my breathing calmed. “What is that?”

“An old remedy for chest trouble. It’s steeped out of different herbs.” As he set the bowl on a nearby table, I realized something.

“You speak English?” I asked.

“Some. My aunt met with travelers many years ago. She taught me. Just in case.” He leaned back in his seat, stretching his legs out in front of him. Something behind him shifted and I noticed his tail, made of the same brown feathers as his wings. “You must have inhaled a lot of salt water. Your breathing was bad.” He tapped his chest demonstratively. “You were wheezing.”

“It does that anyway. But the almost drowning didn’t help.” I pushed yourself up in bed. “Where am I?”

“Healer’s house,” he said. “In Namori Village. You were brought here by the storm, yes?”

“Not on purpose,” I said. “I was sailing to Larmark. They have a good hospital there. I was going for an examination.” I rubbed at my chest. “I don’t suppose you have any ships heading in that direction?”

“We are not a sailing people,” the man said with an apologetic smile. I slouched back into the bed. I wasn’t as upset about it as I should have been. The treatment was supposed to find a way to cure my condition. Without it, I could be beset by a sudden bought of chest tightness that could kill me at any moment. It had nearly done so several times in my childhood. But I had lived my life with it so far. I was just back where I’d started.

“She’s up!” I looked up to see an older woman harpy leaning over me. “Thought I told you to call for me, boy.” The male harpy ducked his head, looking properly ashamed. “Took quite a beating from that storm. Lucky you made it to shore.” She flicked her wings. “We saw the ship go down last night. Didn’t expect anyone would survive. You’re lucky we noticed you.”

“There’s something wrong with her chest,” the male harpy said. “She wheezes.”

“Noticed that.” The woman looked me over. Her eyes were a piercing yellow. “Thought it was from the seawater. It’s usually like that?”

“Yes. Since I was a child. I had some sort of illness that damaged it. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I’ve never allowed it to bother me.” I’m sure my voice would have been much more reassuring, but my chest contracted in a cough and I heaved a few times.

“Perhaps you should let it bother you more. Give her more of that infusion, Nor. And recheck her ribs, just to be safe.”

“Yes, Aunt Aerath,” Nor said. She turned on her heels and strode off. We were in a back room, I noticed, small and full of warm light. Nor turned back to me. “Sit up. Drink.” I sipped more of the brew he’d given me while he prodded at my ribs. It was a little ticklish and I had to work not to squirm.

“Your ribs are fine,” Nor said eventually. “But your chest is weak.”

“Well, nothing I didn’t already know.” I rolled over, ignoring the sharp pains that came to me. “Can I move around?”

Nor nodded and I got up. He hovered close by as I shuffled around. I’d been stripped down to my shift, which would have been embarrassing if both of them hadn’t been wearing something similar. They both seemed to be wearing something like togas, though Nor’s skirt was long enough to trail on the ground. Both their outfits were a deep navy blue.

There was a partially ajar door and I stepped through it, onto the forest floor outside. The trees were enormous, towering over everything. Up in the branches, harpies darted back and forth, flitting between the branches. I could see nest-like houses nestled in the crooks of the trees.

“We’re on the ground,” I said. Nor nodded.

“Healers live on the ground. In case flightless ones come to us,” he explained.

 “Ah. That’s sensible.” I stared up, looking into the trees with some interest. At least if I was going to be staying there for a while, it was a beautiful, fascinating place.

Nor took me back inside and fed me a chunk of meat along with a few fruits. I needed to heat the meat over the fire for a little longer- apparently harpies liked their meat fairly rare. Aerath returned after that and forced a few more herbal brews down my throat, which she said would help with the pain.

“I expect I’ll be here for a while,” I said as I handed one of her cups back to her. My mouth tasted like I’d licked the underside of a stone. The brews were unpleasant at best, though I could already feel a numbness creeping into my injuries.

“Humans come by only rarely,” Aerath said. “And there isn’t much of a pattern. Our species is not water faring and we can’t fly to the next mainland. Ocean flight is not easy.”

“Which is a taciturn way of saying I am stuck here.”

“No more than us,” Nor said.

“Be kind. She has lost her home,” Aerath said sternly. I shrugged, leaning back in bed.

“It’s not as awful as you may think. I was sailing to a hospital, you see. It was likely I would spend the rest of my life there, which, even with all that care, may not have been very long.” I shrugged. “At least this place is better for the soul.”

Nor turned his head and spoke to his aunt rapidly in his own language. She frowned, but responded in the same way. I ignored the pair of them and moved back to bed. Despite not having been awake for very long, I was already exhausted. My chest stuttered as I tried to lie flat on my back and I paused for a moment, wheezing.

Nor darted over and adjusted my pillow behind me. “Better?”

“Yes, thank you.” Nor nodded, then slipped out of the room. Aerath lingered for a moment, looking at me.

“We’ll be upstairs if you require us. If you can’t walk, knock heavy things over until we come for you.” With that, she exited the room. The door closed behind her and I slumped back into the pillow, eyes closing.

I slept fitfully, especially after the pain medication wore off. By the time Nor brought breakfast, I was already up and walking around. There were several journals with detailed drawings of plants in them. I couldn’t read the writing, but I could see what the plants were and I spent some time matching them to the herbs hanging around the room.

“Quite an interesting journal,” I told Nor as he sat down to eat with me. “Did your aunt write it?”

He shook his head. “She is…” He struggled with the word for a moment. “Practical? A… practice? She remembers by senses, not words. But I need reminders.”

“You’re quite good at drawing,” I said. “I kept similar journals, though they sank with the ship.” He looked at me with clear surprise. “I had little else to do. I could rarely go out, so I spent much time in the gardens, drawing and remarking upon the plants. These remind me of my own journals.”

“When I am collecting herbs, I enjoy drawing them. Seeing nature. It is soothing.” He seemed to grow more excited, then composed himself. “I could show you garden, if you’d like?”

“I would,” I said. He grinned, then hopped to his taloned feet as his aunt entered the room.

I did not end up seeing the garden that day, principally because I spent much of it in bed. Nor stopped by every now and then, sometimes with food, more often with a new bundle of plants to tie up and hang from the ceiling. He seemed to go into a sort of trance when he was sorting the herbs, a sort of peaceful state.

It took a few days before I was approved to walk into town. “Don’t stress yourself too much. You’re still recovering,” Aerath said.

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Nor said. He fluttered his wings at his aunt, shooing her away. “We’ll be fine.”

Being without wings earned me a great deal of stares. I was viewed with some general suspicion, as far as I could tell. I was allowed to stay because there seemed to be a consensus that throwing me into the wilderness would absolutely kill me, and they had decided not to be that cruel. Not wanting me to die, however, did not necessarily mean that I was accepted by the community. Having Nor with me seemed to help, at least somewhat. He was at least well respected, and being in his presence absorbed you into his aura of decency.

The village seemed to have been built into the enormous trees of the forest. Several houses had been formed out of several trees carefully grown together through cultivation, and the living pavilion, formed out of ten trees carefully coaxed into growing around each other, was the great centerpiece of the town.

Getting to see the town as a group also drew your eye to the cultural similarities between them. A majority of adults had short hair, while children seemed to exclusively have long hair. There didn’t seem to be a clear age delineation between them. Based on appearances, Nor was older than a few of those with short hair, though no one under a certain age had their hair cut.

“Is there a reason for the hair styling?” I asked. “You wear your hair long, but most adults seem to keep theirs short.”

“Oh,” Nor said, with a tiny, dismissive flick of his feathers. “They are… erm. I am not certain of the word. Paired?”

“Married,” I guessed, and Nor’s expression brightened.

“Yes. Married. Part of the ceremony includes cutting hair. Most couples keep their hair short, to show they are with someone. Long hair can be difficult to fly with. To keep your hair short means you have someone who makes it easy to fly.” He frowned for a moment. “It is a pun in my language. It does not work as well in yours.”

“I think I get it,” I said. “But your aunt is unmarried and her hair is short.”

“She is…” There was a long pause. Nor seemed to be struggling to think of the proper words. “Bound to work? Committed to healing? Something along those lines, I believe. She is joined to her job as one is bound to a lover.”

I frowned. “Healers are like nuns, then?”

Nor frowned too. “Like… nones? Healers are not nothing.”

“No, like nuns. It’s spelled differently.” Nor looked entirely blank. I suspected he couldn’t write English. “Nuns are people who take vows not to marry so they can become closer to God, as I understand it. Healers do something similar.”

Nor still seemed confused. “Not all healers. Only Aunt Aerath.” He reached up and touched the long braid that was coiled on the back of his head. “I have… not decided.”

“Well, you’ve got time.” We were quite close to the healing house again, but I paused and leaned against a tree. My chest was squeezing again and I needed a break. “I never planned on marrying, really.”

“Why not?” Nor asked.

“I didn’t expect to live terribly long,” I said frankly. “I have spent much of my life expecting to die from a sudden attack. And then my parents suggested that I go to a hospital for treatment, and it’s rare to marry once you end up in those sort of places.” I smoothed my new robes idly. “I never expected to have a husband  who would be okay with his wife dropping dead at any moment.”

Nor fluttered his wings. “You are not going to die,” he said. 

“It’s all right. I’m content with it. I have been this way all my life. I value every moment now. It’s nothing new to me.” Nor still looked discomfited, so I patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Truly, I’m fine. We should head back now.”

Nor plied me with the strange, spicy concoction for my chest when we returned home. I drank the lot of it, at his insistence. It did seem to help. There was something about the warmth of it that relaxed my lungs and brought air in easier.

As my recovery finalized, I began to look for ways to serve my new community. It was not something terribly easy. I could not fly, or truly do any sort of intense physical activity, which limited my options. Sewing and weaving, actions that had often been suggested to me, held no more interest for me in the village than they had in my own home. Trying to manipulate tiny threads that tangled at the slightest glance was infuriating, and my frustration often ended in chest-heaving coughing fits. I tried to go back to writing my journals, examining nature and writing about it, but there seemed to be little actual use for it.

Eventually, I began tagging along with Nor when he went to collect herbs in the forest. He’d been going out more and more often, looking for new plants and writing furiously in his notebooks. I could read them more easily now, having spent a few weeks immersed in a crash course of his language.

“Just make sure you watch out for snakes,” Nor said as we trekked through the thick foliage.

“Look out for what?” I said. I was at the awkward stage of learning a language where I knew most common words, but words that were used infrequently were still lost.

“Snakes? Er. <Snakes!>” Nor said in English.

“Snakes,” I repeated. “Are there a lot of them?” I looked cautiously at the ground.

“No. Not a lot. But there are some venomous ones that bite if you step on them.” Unsettled, I lifted up the hem of my robe, peering cautiously at the leaf litter. The clothes harpies wore were not well-designed for people without tails or wings. I had needed to do some rudimentary tailoring to fix it into something I could walk around in. Shoes had been another problem entirely, mostly because harpies had tough, scaled feet and wore no shoes. I had eventually just decided to layer several thick fabrics together and essentially tied them to my feet. They were neither comfortable nor easy to wear, but they were practical and had stopped your soles from being shredded.

We made our way slowly through the woods. I ended up holding onto Nor’s arm wing for much of it. Never having worked out for long periods of time had left me fairly uncoordinated and leaning on Nor made it much easier for me to move about.

“Look. Norell,” he said, picking up a bunch of sharp-smelling, pink flowered herbs from the ground. “My namesake.”

“What are they used for?” I asked.

“Chest conditions, actually. They’re a big part of the infusion I’ve been giving you.” Nor had been giving me a regular doses of that infusion. Taking some in the morning seemed to loosen my chest for the rest of the day. “I’ve been trying to make a stronger infusion, so we’ll need a lot of it.”

“Are you predicting a spike in chest conditions?” I asked. Winter was on its way, and apparently, due to their large, powerful lungs, harpies were quite susceptible to issues like pneumonia and bronchitis. But that seemed to be counterbalanced by the fact that winter was mild on the island, more of a tepidly cool wet season than a proper snowy winter.

Nor shifted on the ground. His wings twitched a little. It was hard to tell, thanks to his deeply brown skin, but I thought I could see a hint of red creeping into his cheeks. “It’s for you, actually.”

I lifted my brows. “For me?”

“It’s been helping you recently,” Nor said, a little defensively. “I thought that a stronger infusion would help even more.” He frowned critically at the plants. “I want to get it as concentrated as possible. But there’s not enough in the gardens right now, so I need more.” He straightened up, tucking a bundle of plants away into his bag. “Also, infusions will keep a little better than the herbs themselves, so I can keep them for longer. You’ll need some when the growing season ends.”

“You’ll need some for others as well,” I said. “Keep some in reserve.”

“If you need it, you need it,” Nor said. “I’d rather give herbs to someone who definitely needs them than reserve some in case someone else might need them.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to fully heal someone who can be fully healed than to keep giving supplements to someone who will always be sick?” I said. Nor’s feathers bristled, shifting in agitation.

“All people deserve healing. Whether or not their condition is curable. I want you to be well.” His tone was so severe that I could do nothing but stare at him. After a moment, he seemed to realize what he’d said and he broke eye contact, staring at the ground. “We should, ah. Head back.”

He started trekking through the woods rapidly. Harpies were notably better at balance on uneven terrain, thanks to their long, gripping talons. I struggled to keep up with him.

We were getting quite close to the village when I felt the unfortunately familiar seizing sensation in my chest. I stopped dead, enormously regretting my walking speed that had left me a little breathless. It was growing harder by the moment to inhale.

Nor paused, realized I was no longer with him, and hurried back to my side. “Are you okay?” he asked. One of his hands moved along my back, kneading my tightening muscles. “Breathe. Breathe!” If I had the air for it, I would have informed him I was trying, and was well aware that I needed to be breathing. Unfortunately, all my energy was going into not allowing my body to suffocate me.

Nor abruptly decided that simply telling me to breathe was ineffective and changed tact. “Hold on!” This turned out to be quite literal because he seized me around the waist and hefted me against his chest.

It was impossible for a harpy to fly while carrying something, because their arms and wings were one and the same, but I could have been fooled considering how fast Nor was moving. He plunged through the forest as fast as the wind. I would have been more impressed if I wasn’t struggling to breathe at the moment. As it was, I was aware that we were moving at quite a speed.

Nor was back in the healing house within minutes. I was unceremoniously dumped on the bed and Nor darted off, rummaging through a cabinet with a noise of wood rattling and glass clinking.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he said. He knelt next to me, turning my head toward him. “You just need to drink this. Okay?”

I tried to inhale enough to speak and it stuck in my chest, sparking a coughing fit. Nor looked panicked and thrust the little bottle he was holding into my mouth. I sputtered, but some of the liquid spilled down my throat. There was a mild tingling and my chest loosened.

With my breathing abruptly eased, I could keep taking small sips from the bottle. The tightness loosened with every swallow. Nor slumped next to the bed, wings sagging with relief. I put down the bottle, still coughing, but breathing easier.

“Are you okay?” Nor asked. I nodded.

“You can move quick,” I said. My voice was raspy and a little strangled. I swallowed, trying to fully clear my throat.

“I was worried,” he said. “You should try carrying a bottle of this with you from now on.” He walked over to the cabinet and fetched a small bottle full of the infusion. “If you’re going to be going out more often, you’ll want something to prevent more attacks.”

I took the bottle. “That’s a good idea.” I set it down onto the table next to the bed. “Are you inviting me on more herb gathering missions, then?”

A slightly shy smile crept up Nor’s face. “If you’d like to come. You’ve been pretty good at spotting plants. And you’ve been pretty good in the gardens lately.”

“I was never really able to do a lot of gardening before,” I said. “So, I tended to overfocus on the little minute details, like soil quality and the amount of water you give the plants.”

“You’ve improved the garden a lot,” Nor said. “Oh, which reminds me. Hold on.”

He stood up and trotted over to the cabinet again. After looking through it for a few moments, he pulled out a small notebook and walked back over. “Here,” he said, presenting it to me. It looked like the notebooks he used for his own notes, a smooth black cover and soft, slightly off-white pages. “I haven’t taken many notes on the gardening aspects of herbs. I just… haven’t been very good at it. But I thought you could start taking notes on how you care for the plants. It might be useful.”

I took the notebook from his hands. Our fingers brushed as I did so. His skin was warm and calloused, the sort of skin that only came around after long, hard work. The notebook was heavy in my hands, strangely dense for such a small item. “Thank you,” I said. “I would love to do that.”

Nor stood, shifting on his talons. “Good. Um. You should probably get some rest. I’ll be back in a bit.” He hurried out of the room. I watched him go until his tail had completely vanished around the doorway.

Working in the garden only brought me closer to Nor. We spent time together every day, either going out to gather herbs or helping him with the garden. He was enthusiastic to learn and good company even when we weren’t talking about plants.

His ease with me spread to the rest of the village. By the time winter was over, I had been completely accepted as a part of the community. To them, I was not as much an outsider human as a strange, wingless harpy. Even Aerath trusted me enough to allow me to learn how to make herbal remedies, while Nor took on more of her duties, like diagnosing illnesses and dressing wounds.

During early spring, when the rains began to ease, a change set in around the village. There was a new current of excitement, the younger adults spending more time showing off and engaging in stunts. Even Nor, who had been fairly even tempered in the time I’d known him, seemed to get caught up in the excitement.

It was during my usual work in the garden that I noticed the changes were not confined to emotional. There was a physical change too. Nor’s tail feathers, usually a deep golden-brown, had taken on a rusty color. The color only brightened over the next week, going from a dull, sort of reddish orange to a bright crimson. The colors showed up on the male population of the rest of the village as well, to varying degrees. Some, especially the younger males, never got past a reddish orange, while others got to the same brilliant crimson hue as Nor’s.

While it garnered some sort of notice and people seemed pleased about it, no one was talking about what it actually meant. It clearly meant something, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why it was so important.

Eventually, after some time of trying to figure out what it meant on my own, I broke down and decided to ask Nor. “Your tail changed color,” I said as we headed back into the house from the garden.

“You noticed,” Nor said. His tone was utterly unreadable.

“Well, it’s a bit hard to miss. It’s a very bright color.” Nor’s unreadable expression shifted into one of clear embarrassment. “Is it something I shouldn’t mention? It seems to signal something, but I wasn’t sure what it was-”

“No, no. I mean, I guess I should have expected you to ask about it. You’re not a harpy, so you never would have been told.” He set the herbs he’d collected down on the table and turned to me, giving me his full attention. “It’s almost spring, which means that we’re approaching our mating season.”

I felt sort of stupid for not hitting upon that idea earlier. Of course. The red was to attract a mate. Was commenting on it some kind of social faux pas? As I tried to come up with that to say next, Nor continued. “We’ll have a mating ceremony soon, with the other local villages. It’s a big event, so everyone’s getting rather excited about it.”

“A… mating ceremony?” I repeated. How carnal were we talking? Was I going to have to make myself scarce for… how long did the mating ceremony last, anyway?

“It’s not as bad as you’re thinking,” Nor added hurriedly. “It’s more of a competition? Or a show, really. It lasts about a week, and the first six days are more of a festival than anything. Lots of feasting, games, shows. It’s more about getting to know the other villages and the people from them. It’s quite fun. The festival ends with the mating ceremony. It used to be a more literal interpretation of that, a long time ago. But now it’s really more of a show. Men fly around and show off, but it’s less to attract a mate and more to show off to someone you already have an attraction to. Or to get someone to ask you out, sometimes. It’s more for the fun of it and the tradition.”

“It sounds interesting,” I said.

“It should start in a couple of weeks. That’s the peak of the season,” Nor said. “I can show you around a bit, if you’d like.”

“Sure. If you’re not going to be too busy trying to find a soulmate,” I said, nudging him playfully in the side. He shrugged, glancing away.

“I’ve never actually participated all that much in it,” he said. “I’ve been kind of focused on my studies with my aunt. I spent most of my time at the last few festivals working with the other healers.”

“You should get out more, then. I can help your aunt out, if you want. Then you can go off and see the sights.”

“I already told you I’d show you around,” Nor protested. “And it’ll be your first festival.”

“Look, at least get a little time to yourself,” I said. “I can help out, you know.”

“We’ll see,” Nor said, which was as close to agreeing as I thought he was going to get.

The weeks passed slowly, with excitement ramping up as the festival got closer. I could almost feel the tension buzzing in the air, getting ready to overflow. By the time it had arrived, I was almost swept up in the rising excitement.

The fairground for the festival was a large clearing in the center of the island. It had an impressive view of the sky, and the ground was almost entirely covered in tents and attractions. Nor and I were toward the edge of the grounds, in a sort of makeshift medical tent. “We probably won’t be called on for a little bit,” he said once we’d finished setting everything up. “I can show you around.”

“Sure,” I agreed. Nor trotted off, and I followed after, looking around the festival with interest.

Most of it seemed like the sort of festivals I’d seen once or twice when I’d been young. Ever since my chest troubles had set in fully, I’d rarely gone far from my house. It looked mostly like a very fancy market. People showed off their most interesting wares, their most brightly colored or intricately designed trinkets. There were several people slightly younger than Nor picking up things that I assumed were for potential sweethearts. There were also several games, most of them for children, but a few clearly styled for adults. The food was the usual hearty fare that I’d seen at other festivals, enormously delicious and decadent.

“And this all lasts a whole week?” I asked as we made our way back to the healer’s tent. We had gotten sidetracked a few times- there were several musical performances and talent shows, and even a few classes that I’d been interested in taking.

“Well, the first and last days are the biggest ones. But yes, the whole week. For the most part.”

“Then you can take a day or two off and enjoy all this, can’t you?” I said. Nor hesitated for a moment. “I can handle things at the tent. Why don’t you take tomorrow off? It’ll be good for you to get a break.”

Nor hesitated. “I’ll have to ask my aunt.”

“I’ll make sure she says yes,” I said. “You deserve it. Especially after having to take care of me for so long.”

Nor shrugged and mumbled something about it not being a big deal. I laughed clapping him on the shoulder.

“Just take some time off. Okay?”

He agreed, finally, and we returned to the tent. There were a few injuries, of course, mostly young people trying to show off for their potential lovers, but nothing we were overwhelmed with. It took only a bit of persuading for Aerath to give Nor the next day off.

Nor went out only after making sure I kept my infusion on me. “Just be careful,” he said.

“I’m always careful,” I told him. “Now, go. And stop worrying so much.” He made a face, but left for the rest of the fairgrounds, leaving me with Aerath and the other healers.

I only spotted him a few times during the day. He seemed to have attracted a small group of friends by noon. It seemed he could get along well with others, as long as he managed to get out. Well, I reflected, he was a sweetheart. It wasn’t hard to believe that he was able to get along with others.

I’d been breathing relatively easy for so long that I hadn’t really been expecting another attack. So, when the bout of tightness came on with no warning, I was so shocked I couldn’t think of what to do for several panicked moments.

My wheezing attracted Aerath’s attention. She grabbed my shoulder and shoved me down onto a cot. I fumbled for the infusion, and Aerath helped me unstopper it and press it to my lips.

The infusion helped, but my chest still felt tight. I could draw in air, but it wasn’t enough. Black spots started to pop in front of my vision. My chest screamed with pain. I was dying. That thought sat clear and calm in my brain, rising above all the panic like foam over a tide. I’d known it was going to happen. I’d hoped it would take longer. But at least… at least the last few months of my life had been nice. My mind drifted to Nor. Hopefully he wouldn’t blame himself. He didn’t deserve that. He’d been wonderful.

Nor’s face was suddenly over mine. I blinked up at him. Ha. A nice hallucination before everything ended.

“Breathe!” Distantly, I could feel a hand on my chest, another at my mouth. Something sharp and bitter flowed past my lips and I choked, sputtering. My chest loosened abruptly and I sucked in a great breath, coughing and choking.

Nor, who I was gradually realizing was actually there and not just a hallucination, rolled me onto my side. Some of the solution drained from my mouth as I coughed it up. Nor rubbed my back vigorously, prompting another round of coughing.

Gradually, the tightness eased to just a faint raspiness and a raw pain. I sat up as Nor sank into a seat, weak with relief. “I thought you were going to die,” he said faintly.

“I did too.” My voice was gravely and everything felt raw. “The infusion wasn’t working. What did you use?”

“It was experimental,” Nor said a little sheepishly. “I’ve been trying to make it stronger, something that works better.”

“Thank goodness it did,” I said. I got slowly off the cot where I’d collapsed. Nor stood as well, staying close by like he was preparing to catch me.

“Maybe we should fine somewhere to rest,” Nor said. “The attack probably took it out of you.”

Despite your protests, Nor followed you back home and insisted on staying with you. “Just in case,” he kept repeating.

Nor kept near my side for the next few days, even when I tried to gently push him to spend time elsewhere and enjoy the event. The only times he seemed willing to leave was when I was going with him, at which point he took great enthusiasm in showing me around the various games and events that were being held. Being near him allowed even me to make some new friends- those who would have been unsettled by the sight of some strange, wingless creature seemed reassured enough by Nor’s friendly presence to approach.

Despite his insistence on sticking with me, I did convince him to take another day off for the last day of the festival. It was the day of the mating ceremony, and, given that Nor was of proper age, possibly even a little old, to participate in it, I wanted to give him time to do so.

The showing started at noon sharp, when the sun was at its zenith. Most of the people flying were male, though a few women had painted their tails red and were flying as well. A few would take off at a time and move in carefully coordinated dances. Some were conservative and simple, others were aggressive and risk-taking. Eventually, they would land back in the throng of people staring at the sky. Some of them landed and slipped off with a single partner. Others landed and seemed to attract a group, each of the admirers vying for attention.

After about an hour, I meandered off to the bank of a nearby river. Watching harpies fly was interesting, but it did get old after a while and I was getting a crick in my neck from looking up.

I had only been soaking my feet in the river for a few minutes when Nor walked up to me and sat down next to me. “Wondered where you’d gone,” he said. “Doing all right?”

“Fine. You don’t need to be so worried.”

Nor dipped his talons into the water. “Mm. I guess. But I do anyway.”

“I wish you wouldn’t,” I said. “You spent half of the festival trailing after me like I would collapse the instant you took your eyes off me. And now you’re missing out on the flight ceremony.”

It was hard to tell with his deeply tanned skin, but I thought Nor went a little pink. “I wasn’t really planning to fly anyway,” he said.

“No one caught your eye?” I asked. There was a long pause. “Nor?”

“Not as such,” he said. “I mean… Sort of.”

“And you’ve been spending all your time trying to look after me instead of enjoying the festival with her,” I said. “You know, I don’t need you to hover around me. You don’t need to feel guilty if anything happens to me. I’ve known I’m probably not going to live that long.”

Nor’s expression twisted a little bit. “I’ve been trying to fix that. I think I’ve got a concoction right. If you take it daily, it should help you-”

“Okay, okay,” I said. “Hey. You don’t need to spend all your time on me, you know? You can have a life. You’re not responsible for me.”

“It’s not about that,” Nor said. “I wasn’t worried about you. Well, not just that. I…” He stopped for a moment. “I wanted to spend time with you.”

Oh. That created a runny sensation in my chest, like my heart flipped over. “You wanted to-”

“Don’t be that surprised. I haven’t really been subtle about it,” Nor said. “Yes. I like being around you. Why did you think I kept inviting you to do stuff with me and stayed with you instead of going to the festival?”

“I thought you just wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to suffocate in your absence,” I said.

“A little bit. But mostly because I like you,” he said. He peered into my face, a tentative smile on his lips. “You don’t seem upset?”

“I’m not,” I said. “I’m pleased, actually.”

“Really?” Nor’s face was quite close to mine. His lips were parted. I could feel the soft warmth of his breath.

“Really.” Our lips were quite close to touching. Just before making contact, Nor seemed to stall, hesitation overcoming desire. I smiled and leaned in, pressing our lips together in a gentle moment of contact.

Neither of us had much experience kissing, so it was a bit clumsy and we clacked teeth more than once. Still, when we broke apart, I felt breathless in the most positive way I’d ever experienced.

“We should go back,” Nor said, still staring at me. “I… I think I want to participate in the ceremony after all.”

I smiled. “I’ll be watching.”

[fortitudinem]

TIMELINE FOR DISNEY’S DESCENDANTS UNIVERSE

under the cut because it is a long post

AU – Ante Unionem ( before union, this takes place before the union of the kingdoms under King Adam and counts backwards in years ) IB – Imperium Bestia ( beast’s reign, this takes place after the union of the kingdoms and counts forwards. )

38 AU – In Olympia, The newborn Hercules is stolen from his parents by Hades’ minions who attempt to remove his power and fail, leaving him to be found and taken in by a human family.

36 AU – Moana is born in Motuni, daughter of the Chief.

33 AU – In Lone Keep, Aladdin is born and orphaned in Agrabah.

32 AU – In Northern Wei, Fa Mulan. In Paris, Quasimodo is born and  his mother killed on the steps of the cathedral by Frollo, who is then made to sponsor the boy’s upbringing within the walls of the cathedral.

31 AU – In Camelot, Arthur is born and adopted. In Agrabah, Princess Jasmine is born.

30 AU - Princess Merida is born in the Borderlands.

29 AU – In Solaria, Aurora is born to King Stephen and Queen Leah, at her christening the dark fairy Maleficent curses her to die by pricking her finger on a spindle before her sixteenth birthday as revenge for having not been invited. Aurora is betrothed to Phillip. The curse is rewritten by the Good Fairies. Aurora is taken away by the Three good Fairies to be raised as Briar Rose in the woods. In Prydain, Taran is born. In the Golden Citadel, Future Emperor Kuzco is born.

28 AU – Princess Elsa is born in Arendelle. Pocahontas is born.

27 AU – Princess Eilonwy is born in Prydain.

25 AU – Princess Rapunzel is born in Corona and kidnapped by Gothel. Princess Snow White is born in the Summerlands. Princess Anna is born in Arendelle. Ella is born in Verrelac.

23 AU – Tarzan is born and his parents take him on a ship down the coast, but it is shipwrecked and they are forced to trek into the jungle and make themselves a home in the trees. However, they are killed by a leopard named Sabor. Tarzan is found by the Gorilla Kala and taken in by her.

22 AU – Tiana is born in New Orleans.

20 AU – Hercules is revealed to be the son of Zeus and begins his training. Hades finds out and attempts to kill him and release the Titans to go and kill his brother Zeus. This also fails. Hercules gains his godly powers back but chooses to remain on the mortal plane. Hades escapes the souls and goes back to ruling the underworld. In Arendelle, Anna suffers an injury from Elsa’s powers and the trolls have to erase her memories to fix it. Elsa begins to withdraw and the sisters are kept apart. In Motunui, when a blight strikes her people Moana defies her father’s wishes for no-one to leave the reef, leaves the Kingdom and journeys to deliver the heart of the sea to Te Fiti. She succeeds at fixing the goddess and making the seas safe for all once more.

19 AU – In Camelot, Arthur removes the sword from the stone and is crowned King Arthur. Merlin bests the witch Madam Mim. In the Summerlands, King White dies, leaving his second wife, Queen Grimhilde as regent while his daughter is too young to rule.

18 AU – In Villanueve, ten year old Prince Adam receives an unwanted visitor to his castle and he sends them away, but they are revealed to be an enchantress who turns him into a beast to punish him for his selfish behaviour. He has until the even of his 21st Birthday to fall in love and make someone fall in love with him in return.

16 AU – Northern Wei is invaded by the Hun army, Fa Mulan enlists under the guise of a warrior named Ping. She buries the Hun army in an avalanche but is caught out for being a woman and sent home. Instead, she rescues the emperor.

15 AU – In Agrabah, Princess Jasmine tires of meeting suitors and never being allowed outside of the palace, so she sneaks out and meets Aladdin, who is then arrested for kidnapping her. Jafar searches for someone to get him into the Cave of Wonders to find the genie lamp and ends up using Aladdin for this purpose. Aladdin finds the lamp, but ends up taking control of the genie. He arrives at the palace as a suitor for Jasmine, having fallen in love with her. Jafar gains control of the lamp and takes over Agrabah, but is beaten by Aladdin, Jasmine and the Genie. In Prydian, Taran is put in charge of the psychic pig Hen Wen to stop the Horned King getting his hands on the Black Cauldron. He is captured but frees himself and Princess Eilonwy and eventually they destroy the cauldron. In Verrelac, Ella’s mother passes away.

14 AU – In Sherwood Forest, King Richard is away on crusade and his brother Prince John has usurped the throne and is taxing villagers relentlessly. Robin Hood steals from these taxmen and the rich to pay back the poor people who have nothing left. Prince John fails to capture Robin and his men and Richard returns to Sherwood to take back his throne from his brother. In Faraway, Princess Merida defies custom and propriety and accidentally turns her mother into a bear. This is fixed and the evil bear Mor’du is defeated.

13 AU – Aurora’s sixteenth birthday draws near; the fairies prepare to take her back to her parents once they have outmatched the curse. Aurora meets and falls in love with Phillip, unknowing that he is already her betrothed. She is taken back to the castle and found by Maleficent who spells her into pricking her finger and falling into a deep sleep. Maleficent also captures Phillip. The Good Fairies send everyone else to sleep too and then rescue Phillip, who in turn goes to wake Aurora. He slays Maleficent in her dragon form and wakes Aurora with a kiss. Aurora is returned to her parents. Alice Liddell is born in London. In Verrelac, Ella’s father marries Lady Tremaine.

12 AU – Captain Phoebus is named head of the Paris Guards. Quasimodo leaves the church for the first time ever and is proclaimed King of Fools at the festival, but the people of the city mock him and he returns to the church, disheartened. Judge Claude Frollo falls for Esmerelda and suspecting she has placed him under a spell, seeks to burn her for witchcraft. She takes sanctuary at the church and Quasimodo helps her escape, but is later fooled by Frollo into showing him where her true hiding place, the Court of Miracles is. Frollo orders Esmerelda and her people captured and killed. Phoebus helps set them free instead and Frollo is killed in the ensuing battle. Quasimodo is hailed a hero. In Verrelac, Ella’s father passes away, leaving her in the care of Lady Tremaine.

11 AU – In the Golden Citadel, Emperor Kuzco fires his advisor, Yzma, for attempting to run the country behind his back. In retaliation, she turns him into a llama and attempts to have him killed, but the attempt fails and Yzma is turned into a cat. Kuzco is returned to his human self and put back on the throne. In the Summerlands, Princess Snow White has been being raised by Queen Grimhilde, forced to work in the castle she should own. The queen is reclusive and vain and when she hears that Snow White is now considered prettier than her, she orders the girl taken into the forest and killed. Instead the huntsman simply abandons her and tells her to run. Snow White happens upon the cottage of the dwarves and soon makes friends with them. The Queen, however, is told Snow white is alive by her magic mirror and decides she needs to kill her herself with a poisoned apple. She tricks Snow White into eating the apple while she is alone and the dwarves returns to find her seemingly dead. They chase Queen Grimhilde off a cliff and lay Snow White in a coffin of glass, until Prince Heinrich-Florian arrives to bestow upon her True Love’s Kiss. She awakes and the pair unite their lands.

10 AU – In the future King George Town, Governor Radcliffe’s ship arrives from London with the intent of searching the area for gold, but there is none to be found. John Smith falls in love with Pocahontas, the daughter of the Chief of the area. When one of the Chief’s men is shot dead, John is blamed and sentenced to death. Pocahontas saves him and he, in turn, saves the life of the Chief by taking a bullet intended for him. He is shipped back to London for medical care. King Agnarr and Queen Iduna perish in the Dark Sea, leaving their daughters to rule Arendelle. However, no-one takes the throne and Arendelle is without regent.

8 AU - In Villanueve, a small town in the Kingdom of Auradon, Maurice the inventor is captured by the Beast (actually Crown Prince Adam), Belle gives her freedom to rescue him, Belle and Beast fall in love, breaking the curse and freeing Adam back into his human form.  

7 AU – In South Riding, the day before her 18th birthday, Rapunzel is accosted in her tower (where she has been living with her mother, Gothel for 18 years in order to protect her magical hair) by a stranger, a thief by the name of Flynn Ryder. She agrees to exchange his belongings for being walked to the city of Corona to see the lanterns that shine every year on her birthday. They are pursued by guards, Gothel and Flynn’s acquaintances, the Stabbington brothers all across the land until they finally reach Corona. Unfortunately, Rapunzel is returned to the care of her mother and taken back to the tower where a memory is triggered of her childhood. She reveals to Gothel that she knows she was the princess taken as a baby. Gothel attempts to imprison her, but Eugene escapes custody and scales the tower, leading to Gothel stabbing him. Rapunzel promises to go with Gothel if she is allowed to heal Eugene, but as she goes to do it, Eugene cuts her hair off, rendering it no longer magical. Gothel falls from the tower, turning to dust on the way down. Rapunzel is returned home to grateful parents. In Arendelle, Queen Elsa is coronated. A celebration is thrown where the doors to the palace are opened for the first time in three years. Elsa’s powers manifest, throwing Arendelle into a perpetual winter and she flees into the mountains. Anna goes after her and after tracking her down, is wounded and brought back to Arendelle for a cure to stop her turning to ice. Elsa is imprisoned in the castle, but escapes. A battle ensues on the frozen fjord, where Anna sacrifices herself to save Elsa, thus thawing her frozen heart. Elsa fixes the weather and takes over the Kingdom.

6 AU – In Verrelac, Ella is living under the care of her stepmother Lady Tremaine, who treats her like a servant and dubs her ‘Cinderella’. She longs to go to the ball that is being thrown for the Prince, to find him a wife, but is denied the chance. Fairy Godmother appears to her and uses magic to send her to the ball in style. Ella and Prince Christopher fall in love, but Ella has to flee the castle at midnight as the magic won’t last. She loses a glass slipper on the staircase, prompting Christopher to send men all over the kingdom looking for her. Despite interference from Lady Tremaine, the pair are united and married. Ella becomes Princess Ella. In London, Alice Liddell is spending some time outside when she spies a rabbit wearing a waistcoat and follows it into a topsy-turvey world. She almost has her head removed by the Queen of Hearts but manages to flee Wonderland back to her own home. In Corona, Rapunzel’s hair magically grows back after she comes into contact with magic black rocks (other adventures ensue).

5 AU – In Atlantica, King Triton’s youngest daughter Ariel is scheduled to make her debut. However, she misses it, sparking her father’s anger. She saves a human prince, Prince Eric of Tirulia, from drowning when his ship capsizes in a storm. When her father finds out, he destroys her prized possessions, driving Ariel into the arms of the Sea Witch Ursula, who promises to make her a human for the cost of her voice and with the caveat that she has three days to get true love’s kiss from Eric. Now human and mute, Ariel is found on the shore by Eric who takes her in and shows her the human world, but after a near miss he is spelled by Ursula into marrying her instead. Ariel fails the task of getting a kiss and turns back into a mermaid under Ursula’s power. King Triton gives himself up for Ariel, leaving Ursula with his sea-controlling sceptre. Ursula is killed when Eric spears her through the heart with a ship. Ariel and Eric are reunited and married. In the Deep Jungle, Tarzan has been raised by his Gorilla family, but they soon come under threat from a hunter named Clayton. Tarzam meets Jane and her father, interacting with another human for the first time since his parent’s deaths. He accidentally leads Clayton back to the gorilla’s home and has to save them when Clayton attempts to take them away with him. The gorilla leader Kerchak is shot and dies, naming Tarzan his successor. Clayton accidentally hangs himself on vines. Not too far away, in another jungle, Mowgli the man-cub has been raised by wolves but with the return of the man-eating tiger Shere Khan to the region they feel it is time to return him to the man village. Mowgli, not wanting to go the man village, joins instead with a bear named Baloo, but ultimately, after several near misses with snakes, monkeys and Shere Khan himself, Mowgli is returned to the man village. In a small village, a woodworker named Gepetto wishes for a puppet he created to be turned into a real boy. His wish is granted (to a degree) and Pinocchio is born, but still made from wood. After being led astray, being locked up, put on a cursed island and eaten by a whale, Pinocchio is finally turned into a real boy, instead of a wooden puppet. In Corona, after a rocky few months, Rapunzel and Cassandra battle the evil Zhan Tiri and win. Varian invents hot running water. King Adam enters into negotiations with Verrelac, Solaria, The Summerlands, North Riding, Camelot, Westerly and Tirulia, promising a new era of prosperity and safety if they would be willing to unite under his banner.

4 AU – In London, the Darling family are living in their townhouse, which is being frequented at night by Peter Pan. The children of the house, Wendy, Michael and John, are taken away by Peter to a magical cloaked island where no-one grows up called Neverland, where they fight pirates, including Pan’s nemsis, the evil captain Hook. Eventually, they return home to their parents. In Paris, Madame Bonfamille alters her will to leave everything to her cats. In response to this, her butler attempts to have them killed so he can inherit her fortune instead. Luckily, the cats survive and Edgar is sent away. In a small city, Jim Dear and his wife decide to go on vacation, leaving their baby in the care of an aunt, who mistakenly identifies their dog, Lady, as dangerous and purchases her a muzzle, prompting Lady to run away and befriend a local stray. The stray is eventually brought home with her and adopted by Jim Dear and Darling. Atlantis is discovered by Milo Thatch. In Arendelle, Queen Elsa is having strange experiences with a voice calling to her, when a series of disasters drives all the citizens out of the city of Arendelle, Elsa and Anna embark on a quest to fix the problem by journeying to an Enchanted Forest where they meet the Northuldra people and learn more about their own past. Elsa journeys further alone, to Ahtohallan, a glacial river of ice said to hold memories. There she finds out that she is the fifth elemental spirit and that their grandfather damaged the magic of the forest by building a dam and then attacked the Northuldra people, prompting the forest to close itself off. She manages to get this message to Anna before freezing solid. Anna is prompted to action by the message and uses rock giants to bring down the dam, even though it would destroy Arendelle. The spirits all agree to spare Arendelle due to her selfless and brave actions and Elsa and the Nokk turn back the tidal wave before it can destroy the city. Elsa chooses to stay in the Enchanted Forest and Anna is crowned Queen Anna of Arendelle. In Tirulia, Melody is born. The ship is attacked by Ursula’s sister Morgana who swears vengeance on the child, prompting Ariel to shut their castle off from the sea, vowing that she will not return to the mer-folk kingdom until Morgana is found. Negotiations are finalised with King Adam for the Kingdoms of Verrelac, Solaria, The Summerlands, North Riding, Camelot, Westerly and Tirulia to unite under his banner.

3 AU – In New Orleans, Tiana agrees to cater for her friend Charlotte’s party for the money to buy herself a building to turn into the restaurant of her dreams. Prince Naveen, a visiting dignitary from the nearby Maldonia, is turned into a frog by Doctor Facilier. Tiana finds that the money is not enough to buy the building and when Naveen, in frog form, asks her to kiss him to turn him back she reluctantly agrees in exchange for the money she needs. However, because she isn’t a princess, she instead also turns into a frog. Tiana and Naveen trek through the bayou to find a voodoo queen named Mama Odie to help turn them back and following her advice they journey back into the city to get Charlotte to kiss Naveen and break the spell, however they run out of time and the spell sticks until Tiana and Naveen are married as frogs, making Tiana and princess and capable of breaking the curse. Tiana sets up her dream restaurant.. In The Summerlands, Bambi’s mother is killed by a hunter. Adam enters negotiations with East Riding, South riding, Northern Wei, Lone Keep, Winter’s Keep and Apheliotia, pressuring them to join under his banner utilising the strength he has already amassed.

2 AU – In London, Roger and Anita Radcliffe’s dogs Pongo and Perdita, give birth to fifteen puppies. These puppies are dognapped by Anita’s college friend and wealthy heiress Cruella De Vil after Roger refuses to sell them to her. She intends to make a coat out of them. The puppies are saved by their parents and it is revealed Cruella also bought 84 other puppies. Pongo and Perdita take them all home with them to be cared for by Roger and Anita. In the Summerland, in the enchanted wood, the orphaned deer, Bambi, wins a courtship duel, chases hunters from his lands and is forced to outrun a forest fire. He is crowned Great Prince of the Forest by the other animals. News spreads across the kingdoms of a flying elephant named Dumbo. Negotiations are finalised with East Riding, South riding, Northern Wei, Lone Keep, Winter’s Keep and Apheliotia, bringing them all under Adam’s banner.

1 AU – In a big city, a box of kittens is left abandoned when only one remains. Oliver attempt to adjust to life on his own and instead befriends a dog named Dodger and his crew of thieving dogs, headed up by their human, Fagin. Fagin owes a lot of money to Bill Sykes, a mobster, so he encourages the dogs to attempt to steal a car. The plan goes awry and Oliver is found by a little girl, Jenny and taken in. The gang, thinking he has been captured, seek to free him and Fagin attempts to use him to get a ransom from Jenny’s rich family. However, upon seeing Jenny he has a change of heart, but Sykes won’t accept that, he kidnaps Jenny. But Jenny is rescued by the dogs and Fagin and Sykes’ car is hit by a train. Oliver goes to live with Jenny. In the countryside, a hunting dog refuses to hunt a fox, instead choosing to protect it. The Wild Kingdom, Borderlands, Farway, Schwartzvald and Olympia sign an agreement to unite under Adam’s banner, with caveats. Neverland’s cloaking magic is removed and it too is forced into the agreement with Auradon.

0 IB – Beast and Belle marry, Auradon is united under one flag with Beast proclaimed High King through popular vote, though it had already been decided. The Isle of the Lost is created, and the villains are captured or brought back from the dead to be placed in this prison.

1 IB – Auradon Preparatory school is formed, utilising an old castle to turn into a boarding school for future generations. The Recycling Act is passed, sending all the garbage from Auradon to the Isle of the Lost. Fairy Godmother is made headmistress of Auradon Prep.

3 IB – Beast declares that magic will no longer be used in Auradon where possible, that it will be phased out and that it will be replaced with technology. While not an outright ban on magic, he makes it very clear that magic is now considered dangerous and frowned upon.

4 IB – Prince Benjamin, Princess Audrey, Prince Chad are born in Auradon, along with the rest of their future classmates. On the Isle of the Lost, Mal, Jay, Evie, Uma and Harry are born. Adam passes a regulatory law on the powers of his King’s Council, taking power from them and giving himself more control.

5 IB – Jane Fae is born in Auradon. Carlos De Vil is born on the Isle of the Lost. King Adam passes a law to make his line of succession the line of succession and to eliminate the ‘vote’ aspect of becoming High King and to pave the way for Ben to become the next High King.

6 IB – King Hubert passes away. Corona and South Riding merge into one Kingdom under the control of King Frederic.

7 IB – In Tirulia, Melody is turning twelve. She sneaks out into the sea often and she ends up finding out about Atlantica and mer-folk even though Ariel has been hiding it from her. She ventures out into the sea and is taken to Morgana, who offers her a tail in exchange for Triton’s trident. Melody, not knowing who she is, finds the trident and gives it to Morgana, but upon realising her mistake, she manages to take it back and Triton encases Morgana in a block of ice and then banishes her to the Isle of the Lost.

9 IB – The last free villains are imprisoned on the Isle, marking the turning point for Auradon. It is marked with a celebration.

10 IB – On the Isle of the Lost, Queen Grimhilde is banished from society by Maleficent for failing to invite Mal to her daughter’s birthday party.

18 IB – Princess Rapunzel is made Queen of Corona by her retiring father.

19 IB – The Sidekicks Act is developed by Prince Ben, giving the workers access to rest days and adequate pay, as well as pension funds and college plans, He starts a movement towards modernisation in every home, especially ones that have previously had woodland animals to do the chores for them.

20 IB – Ben makes a proclamation giving the children from the Isle of the Lost a second chance. He brings over four such children to prove that this program works. Beast steps down as King, leaving Ben in charge. Maleficent is rendered into the form of a small lizard.

21 IB – Ben puts an embargo on travel in and out of the Isle of the Lost, except by pre-approved means. He declares any barges going into the Isle must be full of real supplies instead of garbage. Mal is named Lady Mal at Cotillion. Uma escapes the Isle and disappears into the sea, becoming a fugitive.

22 IB – The VK Day program is set up. Four new children from the Isle of the Lost are chosen to attend Auradon Prep. King Ben proposes to Lady Mal. Princess Audrey is spelled by Maleficent’s Sceptre and attempts to put all of Auradon under a sleeping curse. She is stopped by Lady Mal. At their engagement party, Lady Mal and King Ben decide to remove the barrier once and for all and pardon all the villains. Work begins on turning the Isle in a liveable habitat.

23 IB – Work is completed on a new school for the Villain Kids and a real prison for villains who fall back into their old ways.

notes: i probably need to add more to the IB sections, that is a later problem. 

[ciircusbrats]

LOUISE R. HÉMERY / picrew!

I've mentioned her here and there, but I've been thinking about her more which means I'm legally obligated to talk about her. More info below!

Her full name is Louise Renna Hémery, and she's the illusionist's youngest daughter! She allows close friends to call her Lou. She's very protective of her middle name, and has shared it with only a select few.

Lou doesn't live in the circus anymore. Her parents divorced when she was ten, and she moved with her father to France where he inherited his family's bakery. Her sister, who was in college at the time, decided to continue travelling with the circus when she graduated. Lou sees her mother and sister on Sundays and during the holidays.

Having grown up in a place as imaginative as the circus, Louise became fascinated with fashion and finds great joy in costume design. Moreover, she's able to weave illusions into the costumes she puts together---little budding flowers that bloom as the day progresses; layers of fabric that push and pull like waves by a seashore. Her illusions are strongest during the day, and tend to fall apart at around midnight. She's been trying to find a way around this.

Louise was one of the first people who approached West when they first arrived at the circus! Her mother and their father were close as kids, so she was encouraged to befriend them before she even knew their name. Lou wanted to, she did, but it was hard to get through to them because they were very closed-off and anxious about their new environment. Her first successful attempt at approaching them was when she caught them hiding in the Old Memory Hotel, a tent stuffed with memories of places and thoughts and emotions. West had found themself in the wrong side of the tent---where shipwrecks and sorrow twisted one's chest into the tightest knots--- and Lou promised to take them someplace fun. The laughter-sprinkled hills of a snowed village was their first stop; the bamboo forest where games and childhood never ended was their second. The two spent most of the night playing games, ones either remembered by the rooms or invented by the kids themselves, until their stomachs growled with hunger and their feet ached. Lou took them to her father's kitchen and snatched everything she thought they'd like; which was what she liked, because she knew which treats were the best and that was not an opinion---it was an 'objective truth'. West loved them, because she wasn't lying and they were indeed delicious. The two grew close quickly after that. They've been best friends ever since.

Although the circus is of great importance to Lou, she isn't sure she wants to commit to it entirely like her mother and sister have. She would love to create costumes for it someday---in fact, she has been promised an internship by the seamstress should she decide to follow that path---but she yearns for the independence that isn't quite found amongst the golden-black tents. She thinks it would be wiser to grow familiar with her craft before making a decision such as this.

Louise is in the theater club because it provides a great creative outlet. Other than this, she kind of despises school, but she sees it as a necessary stepping stone for pursuing her dreams. She's very busy because she's in her senior year, and West wishes they could talk and hang out as often as they used to, but there isn't much they can do about it.

Lou knows West can't think about leaving the circus. Therefore, she has put together a list of what they could do afterwards in a notebook, which she plans to show to them in the summer after they've turned eighteen.

[scoundrels-in-love]

hiraeth for the meme? JB?

Anon, you did what I thought was impossible, as in, made me write again. Thank you for picking one of my most beloved words of longing, ever.

Hiraeth: a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past.

Also on AO3. Just excuse to write emotional introspection & landscape porn.

---

Jaime hadn’t been shipwrecked and cast onto Tarth's shores, but he might as well have been, with the odd sense of wonder that fills him as he cranes his neck to peer at the cliff faces that give little way to a rocky beach, as if pebble by pebble Tarth has reclaimed land from sea's unending touch, with sheer determination, like its people create houses and turn them into homes upon the rock.

A castaway might feel fear and longing for their home once the marvel of feeling land beneath their feet wanes, but instead, Jaime feels as if he's been castaway his whole life and finally arrived at the gates of his home. The great, sharp gates that lead onto a steep and sometimes narrow path toward the clifftop that he has walked through a hundred times and still feels humbled and welcomed by.

He climbs slowly, because he has nowhere to be right now, other than this moment and this familiar journey upward. And yet, it is still opposite of the aimless days and months he has known before Tarth. Being here is being , in a way that aches as much as it soothes, from the early morning sun carving its way through the clouds as he works the land to golden, wind swirled evenings spent on docks or in Davos' inn or the longing that's on cusp of being fulfilled, but all the more aching for that, that fills him when he is here.

Finally, he reaches the top, hauls his gaze over the even page of clifftop, though its edges are greatly torn and moves toward one of the further ledges, leaning directly over the sea in a far reach. He would call it desperate, but what can a cliff be desperate for, when it holds its opposite in gentle grasp?

From up here, he sees the port and the town to the North with its beach line that he had followed to the base of these cliffs, deeper inland where the Evenfall Hall lays with the villages that have scattered around it, like crumbs of its marble walls sprouting seeds of homes. He knows the little paths connecting them, can spy his own house and plot of land that will bear his feeble farming attempts this year. It’s not the view he needs, right now.

He looks ahead, instead. To the vanishing line of the horizon where the gray of the sky and sea reach to mingle together, though the grey veil fails to imitate the shifting waves below, try as it might. And it does try , shedding streaks of grays from misty white to muted storm almost-black that take up the rest of the sky, gradually toward the meeting point.

The wind tears at his clothes, bites through the unbuttoned shirt collar like a jealous lover -- no, it does not deserve the comparison. And though the thought is fleeting, he already feels his sense of peace wobbling to the side, like a pile of pebbles built to make wishes with he's seen children build on the beaches.

It's odd, how being almost happy can ache. At least Jaime thinks he is almost that. Happiness is a ghost he has only heard of, sees its blurry outline when he recalls how laughter gilded faces of his mother and sister. It's a grief, maybe, that echoes hurt, for time taking the feeling of happiness with careless hand and even more so for all the laughter that died with his mother that could've spun toward the sky, the way he imagines he could've loved Casterly Rock then, the way he might've belonged.

Being here, makes him all the more aware of it, like a gap between something trembling and warm (he thinks about how a week ago, he had ended up helping Old Jenny when her cow had twins and the sticky, slightly bloody warmth that had imprinted into his hands) in him and the emptiness so large it almost feels like a thing has been drawn all the more sharply, marking the width newborn, wobbly thing must cross before it could even brush up against the void in him, risking being snuffed out. But maybe just that it exists before it dies, is enough.

He knows death like every other soldier does, but here on Tarth he's been learning of birth, too, (of calves and gardens, and dreams) and it scares him, some, with the inevitability it brings into the world. Jaime's never been good with constants - maybe because they've never been that, not to him. Not his mother, not even his twin's love and the sense of belonging she had weaved for him like a home of golden spider web (still clinging to his clothes in places he can't reach to brush them off), not honor or justice.

Only the search has remained.

Because it's never been wanderlust that chased him from city to port and across the sea and back again, though there had been a thrill in seeing new places and exploring every nook and cranny he could. Thrill and eventual disappointment, resignation even - no, not here either. Though he has hardly ever known what he's been searching for. Is, still. Because even now, here, where every step feels familiar and soothing like the sea's back and forth that he has always sought out since childhood, something is missing.

Jaime is content, though, more than ever and he is thinking of what he hasn't in over a decade: stopping. Staying. The thought had shot through his mind before a few times across the world, like a bird speeding across the imprint of sun in the sky, but it had never circled back, never sat down and never made a friend of him. Now, it's grown as familiar as his own worn-in work boots.

He has things here that he couldn't even imagine before, like the sense of marvel at how much the great oak tree has grown (since the last time, since the last time that never was) when he wandered up to Evenfall hall for the first time or the cutting clarity of things he cannot find words for when he's up in the cliffs, and things he never thought he even wanted, like people who smile and greet him, a cat that mills evenings into nights, and even a house that's one something short of home. (Just one, when it's never been anything less than an eternal list of indefinable.)

It used to make him angry, the way he knows homesickness as well as his own heartbeat, without ever knowing what it’s like to be at home, at peace. What kind of wretched thing runs in his blood that doesn’t know rest? What kind of love or hate chases him onward without direction, only with a want that he shouldn’t know, if he doesn’t know what the shape of what he’s missing? But the fall storms and quiet months of winter on Tarth have subdued the anger, drawn outlines in the sand that are almost an answer.

The sun breaks through the clouds then, pouring like rain in rare, bright streams onto the sea and he inhales deeply, as if he could take the light in him to dispel the smothering at the edges of his emptiness. And that's when he hears steps behind him. He half turns to see who it is, expecting one of the children though they're told not to play up here, but instead he falls - no, is pierced by, no, falls - into eyes impossibly familiar, when he knows he's never seen a blue like this, not even in his dreams that often spin blue and gold and gray across his heart.

But he knows them still, somehow, and if colors had sounds then this would have the soft bell of the final piece falling in place, of first notes of welcome home hymn, of relief's sigh - oh. Oh , it's you. You're here. (I've been waiting for you.)

Jaime draws a shuddering breath, tries to ground himself in taking in the rest of the person that makes him want to run away and toward them all at once.

It's a woman, taller than him he gauges even with the distance between them, and broader, too, with features arranged just shy of wrong, but not shy enough for most to not call her ugly, he guesses. (But he can't, because factuality doesn't stand a chance against the gale so high up.)

There's scowl on her face, maybe from the sun or the wind though he feels it's not, and wind has untangled pale strands from her braid to whip into her face and tug along in its rush. Freckles dot her face and for a moment, he believes he could find well-loved patterns in those and the rest, hidden by her dark blue coat and the slightly wrinkled shirt seen beneath the blue and gold brocade vest.

Jaime swallows and looks into her eyes again, trying to remember what is the image of the puzzle that feels complete now, but it's been locked away already. He finds that he doesn't care, he's just happy, because not seeing it doesn't change the truth of it. Just yesterday, he had planted apple trees in his garden and the promise of the pale pink blooms against bowed branches that always seem to remember the weight of all the fruit they will ever bear, alone had been enough to make his step light all the way to this moment.

So he smiles at her.

"Lady Brienne Tarth, I presume."

[marunalu]

Disney Movies List

Ok first of all I want to make clear that english is not my first language. I therefore apologize in advance for any grammar or spelling mistakes. Please don't be too strict with me =D

I recently bought Disney+ and I plan now to watch and review every movie, Disney has ever produced or participated in it. And I tell you, this will be a hell of a trip, because my list now contains no fewer than 701 movies. That means if I watch at least one movie every day, it will take me about 2 years to see all of them. And since I will most likely not watch a movie every day, I will definitely need at least twice as long....

For the films on my list, which I marked with a cross at the end, it means that I have seen them already. However, since I last saw most of these movies in my childhood or teenage years (so at least 15 years ago), it will be interesting for me to rewatch them after such a long time. I have probably already forgotten most of the plots.

I also plan to watch them in chronological order and rank them. The movies that I don't find on Disney+ I will watch somewhere else.

Here is the list: (The films follow the chronological order in which they were published. However, it is quite possible that I accidentally swapped a few. But I think most of it is accurate).

1930:

Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons (X)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (X)

1940:

Pinocchio (X)

Fantasia (X)

The Reluctant Dragon ( )

Dumbo (X)

Bambi (X)

Saludos Amigos ( )

Victory Through Air Power ( )

The Three Caballores ( )

Make Mine Music ( )

Song of the South ( )

Fun and Fancy Free (X)

Melody Time ( )

Seal Island ( )

So Dear to my Heart ( )

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (X)

1950:

Cinderella (X)

Treasure Island ( )

In Beaver Valley ( )

Alice in Wonderland (X)

Nature's Half Acre ( )

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men ( )

The Olympic Elk ( )

Water Birds ( )

Peter Pan (X)

The Sword and the Rose ( )

The Living Desert (X)

Bear Country ( )

The Alaskan Eskimo ( )

Prowlers of the Everglades ( )

Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue ( )

The Vanishing Prairie ( )

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ( )

Siam ( )

Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier ( )

Lady and the Tramp (X)

The African Lion ( )

The Littlest Outlaw ( )

Men Against The Arctic ( )

The Great Locomotive Chase ( )

Davy Crockett and the River Pirates ( )

Secrets of Life ( )

Westward Ho the Wagons! ( )

Johnny Tremain ( )

Perri ( )

Old Yeller ( )

Navajo Adventure ( )

The Light in the Forest ( )

Tonka ( )

Grand Canyon ( )

Sleeping Beauty (X)

The Shaggy Dog ( )

Darby O'Gill and the Little People ( )

Zorro the Avenger ( )

Third Man on the Mountain ( )

Mysteries of the Deep ( )

1960:

Toby Tyler: Or, ten Weeks with a Circus ( )

Kidnapped ( )

Pollyanna ( )

The Sign of Zorro ( )

Jungle Cat ( )

Ten Who Dared ( )

Swiss Family Robinson ( )

Island of the Sea ( )

One Hundred and One Dalmatians (X)

The Absent-Minded Professsor ( )

Parent Trap ( )

Nikki, Wild Dog of the North ( )

Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog ( )

Babes in Toyland ( )

Wonders of the Water Worlds ( )

Moon Pilot ( )

Bon Voyage! ( )

Big Red ( )

Almost Angels ( )

The Legend of Lobo ( )

In Search of the Castaways ( )

The Prince and the Pauper ( )

Son of Flubber ( )

Miracle of the White Stallions ( )

Savage Sam ( )

Summer Magic ( )

The Incredible Journey ( )

The Sword in the Stone (X)

A Tiger Walks ( )

The Misadventures of Merlin Jones ( )

The Three Lives of Thomasina ( )

The Moon-Spinners ( )

Mary Poppins ( )

Emil and the Detectives ( )

Those Calloways ( )

The Monkey's Uncle ( )

That Darn Cat! ( )

The Ugly Dachshund ( )

Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. ( )

The Fighting Prince of Donegal ( )

Follow Me, Boys! ( )

Monkeys, Go Home! ( )

The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin ( )

The Gnome-Mobile ( )

The Jungle Book (X)

Charlie, the Lonesome Cougar ( )

The Happiest Millionaire ( )

Blackbeard's Ghost ( )

The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band ( )

Never a Dull Moment ( )

The Horse in the Grey Flannel Suit ( )

Guns in the Heather ( )

The Love Bug ( )

Smith! ( )

Rascal ( )

The Computer Whore Tennis Shoes ( )

My Dog, the Thief ( )

Ride a Northbound Horse ( )

1970:

King of the Grizzlies ( )

The Boatniks ( )

The Wild Country ( )

Smoke ( )

The Aristocats (X)

The Barefoot Executive ( )

Scandalous John ( )

The Million-Dollar-Duck ( )

Bedknobs and Broomsticks (X)

The Biscuit Eater ( )

Now You See Him, Now You Don't ( )

Napoleon and Samantha ( )

Run, Cougar, run ( )

Snowball Express ( )

Chandar, the Black Leopard of Ceylon ( )

The World's Greatest Athlete ( )

Charley and the Angel ( )

One Little Indian ( )

Robin Hood (X)

Mustang! ( )

Superdad ( )

Herbie Rides Again ( )

The Bears and I ( )

The Castaway Cowboy ( )

The Island at the Top of the World ( )

The Strongest Man in the World ( )

Escape to Witch Mountain ( )

The Apple Dumpling Gang ( )

One Of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing ( )

The Best of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures ( )

Ride a Wild Pony ( )

The Boy Who Talked to Badgers ( )

No Deposit, No Return ( )

Treasure of Matecumbe ( )

Gus ( )

The Shaggy D.A. ( )

Freaky Friyday ( )

The Littlest Horse Thieves ( )

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (X)

A Tale of Two Critters ( )

The Rescuers (X)

Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo ( )

Pete's Dragon ( )

Candleshoe ( )

Return form Witch Mountain ( )

The Cat from Outer Space ( )

Hot Lead and Cold Feet ( )

Child of Glass ( )

The North Avenue Irregulars ( )

The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again ( )

Unidentified Flying Oddball ( )

The Black Hole ( )

The Muppet Movie ( )

The London Connection ( )

1980:

Midnight Madness ( )

The Watcher in the Woods ( )

Herbie Goes Bananas ( )

The Last Flight of Noah's Ark ( )

Popeye ( )

The Devil and Max Devlin ( )

Amy ( )

Dragonslayer ( )

The Fox and the Hound (X)

Condorman ( )

The Great Muppet Caper ( )

Night Crossing ( )

Tron ( )

Tex ( )

Trenchcoat ( )

Something Wicked This Way Comes ( )

Tiger Town ( )

Never Cry Wolf ( )

Love Leads the Way (X)

Where the Toys Come From ( )

Return to Oz ( )

The Black Cauldron (X)

The Journey of Natty Gann ( )

One Magic Christmas ( )

Teen Academy ( )

The Great Mouse Detective (X)

Flight of the Navigator ( )

Disneys Fluppy Dogs ( )

The Parent Trap ( )

The Christmas Star ( )

Benji the Hunted ( )

Return of the Shaggy Dog ( )

Mr. Boogedy ( )

Return to Snowy River ( )

Oliver & Company (X)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ( )

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (X)

Cheetah ( )

The Little Mermaid (X)

Bride of Boogedy ( )

1990:

DuckTales: The Movie – Treasure of the Lost Lamp ( )

The Rescuers Down Under (X)

White Fang (X)

Shipwrecked ( )

Wild Hearts Can't be Broken ( )

The Rocketeer ( )

Beauty and the Beast (X)

Newsies ( )

Honey, I Blew Up the Kid ( )

The Mighty Ducks ( )

Aladdin (X)

The Muppet Christmas Carol ( )

Day-O ( )

Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (X)

A Far Off Place ( )

The Adventures of Huck Finn ( )

Hocus Pocus ( )

Cool Runnings ( )

The Nightmare Before Christmas ( )

The Three Musketeers ( )

Iron Will ( )

Blank Check ( )

D2: The Mighty Ducks ( )

White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf ( )

The Lion King (X)

Angels in the Outfield ( )

Squanto: A Warrior's Tale ( )

The Santa Clause (X)

The Jungle Book (X)

The Return of Jafar (X)

Heavyweights ( )

Man of the House ( )

Tall Tale ( )

A Goofy Movie ( )

Pocahontas (X)

Operation Dumbo Drop ( )

A Kid in King Arthur's Court ( )

The Big Green ( )

Frank and Ollie ( )

Toy Story (X)

Tom and Huck ( )

Gargoyles – The Movie ( )

Muppet Treasure Island ( )

Homeward Bound: Lost in San Francisco (X)

James and the Giant Peach ( )

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (X)

First Kid ( )

D3 The Mighty Ducks ( )

101 Dalmatians (X)

Aladdin and the King of Thieves (X)

Wish Upon a Star ( )

Susie Q ( )

The Darn Cat ( )

Jungle 2 Jungle (X)

George of the Jungle (X)

Air Bud (X)

RocketMan ( )

Flubber (X)

Mr. Magoo ( )

Tower of Terror ( )

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas ( )

Under Wraps ( )

Northern Lights ( )

Angels in the Endzone ( )

Mighty Ducks the Movie: The First Faceoff ( )

Pooh's Great Adventure: The Search for Christoper Robin ( )

Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves ( )

The Love Bug ( )

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella ( )

Oliver Twist ( )

Meet the Deedles ( )

Mulan (X)

The Parent Trap (X)

Air Bud: Golden Receiver ( )

I'll Be Home for Christmas ( )

A Bug's Life (X)

Mighty Joe Young ( )

You Lucky Dog ( )

Halloweentown ( )

Brink! ( )

Whoopi – A Knight in Camelot (X)

The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit ( )

Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World ( )

The Lion King 2: Simbas Pride (X)

Belle's Magical World ( )

Armageddon ( )

Don't Look Under the Bed (X)

Genius ( )

The Thirteenth Year ( )

Johnny Tsunami ( )

Can of Worms ( )

Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century ( )

Horse Sense ( )

Smart House ( )

My Favorite Martian ( )

Doug – The 1. Movie ( )

Endurance ( )

Tarzan (X)

Inspector Gadget ( )

The Straight Story ( )

Toy Story 2 (X)

H.E. – Double Hockey Sticks ( )

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas ( )

Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving ( )    

Annie ( )

2000:

Fantasia 2000 ( )

The Ultimative Christmas Present ( )

Phantom of the Megaplex ( )

Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire ( )

The Other Me ( )

Quints ( )

Ready to Run ( )

Stepsister from Planet Weird ( )

Miracle in Lane 2 ( )

Rip Girls ( )

Alley Cats Strike ( )

The Color of Friendship ( )

Up, Up and Away ( )

Angels in the Infield ( )

Air Bud 3 ( )

Mail to the Chief ( )

Geppetto ( )

The Tigger Movie ( )

Dinosaur (X)

Disney's The Kid ( )

Remember the Titans ( )

102 Dalmatians (X)

The Emperor's New Groove (X)

An Extremly Goofy Movie ( )

Whispers: An Elephant Tale ( )

The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (X)

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command ( )

Life-Size ( )

The Miracle Worker ( )

Bounce ( )

Jett Jackson: The Movie ( )

The Other Side of Heaven ( )

`Twas the Night ( )

Halloweentown 2: Kalabar's Revenge ( )

The Poof Point ( )

Jumping Ship ( )

Jennie ( )

Hounded ( )

Luck of the Irish ( )

Zenon: The Zequel ( )

Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse ( )

Motocrossed ( )

Recess: School's Out ( )

Lady and the Tramp 2 – Scamp's Adventure (X)

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (X)

The Princess Diaries ( )

Max Keebles Big Move ( )

Monsters, Inc (X)

Princess of Thieves ( )

Air Bud 4 ( )

The Scream Team ( )

A Ring of Endless Light ( )

Gotta Kick It Up! ( )

Get a Clue ( )

Tru>> confessions ( )

Cadet Kelly ( )

Double Teamed ( )

Snow Dogs (X)

Return to Neverland (X)

The Rookie ( )

Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True (X)

Lilo & Stitch (X)

The Country Bears ( )

Tuck Everlasting ( )

The Santa Clause 2 ( )

Treasure Planet (X)

Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year ( )

The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2 ( )

Tarzan & Jane ( )

Mickey's House of Villains ( )

Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time ( )

Air Bud 5 ( )

Full Court Miracle ( )

The Cheetah Girls ( )

Eddies Million Dollar Cook-Off ( )

The Even Stevens Movie ( )

Right on Track ( )

You Wish! ( )

101 Dalmatians 2: Patch's London Adventure ( )

The Jungle Book 2 (X)

Inspector Gadget 2 ( )

Piglet's Big Movie ( )

Ghosts of the Abyss ( )

Holes ( )

Atlantis: Milo's Return (X)

The Lizzie McGuire Movie ( )

Finding Nemo (X)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (X)

Freaky Friday ( )

Brother Bear (X)

George of the Jungle 2 ( )

The Haunted Mansion (X)

The Young Black Stallion ( )

Stitch! The Movie ( )

Recess ( )

Recess: All Growed Down ( )

Going to the Mat ( )

Pixel Perfect ( )

Zenon Z3 ( )

Halloweentown High ( )

Tiger Cruise ( )

Stuck in the Suburbs ( )

Teacher's Pet ( )

Miracle ( )

March of the Penguins ( )

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen ( )

Ghost in the Shell 2 – Innocence ( )

Home on the Range (X)

Sacred Planet ( )

Springtime with Roo ( )

Around the World in 80 Days (X)

America's Heart and Soul ( )

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement ( )

Mulan 2 (X)

The Incredibles (X)

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (X)

The Lion King 1½ (X)

National Treasure ( )

Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers (X)

Aliens of the Deep ( )

The Three Musketeers ( )

Kronk's New Groove ( )

Once Upon a Mattress ( )

Kim Possible Movie – So the Drama ( )

Go Figure ( )

Life is Ruff ( )

The Proud Family Movie ( )

Twitches ( )

Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (X)

Pooh's Heffalump Movie ( )

The Pacifier ( )

Ice Princess ( )

Herbie: Fully Loaded ( )

Sky High ( )

Valiant ( )

The Greatest Game Ever Played ( )

Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie ( )

Now You See It ( )

Buffalo Dreams ( )

Chicken Little ( )

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (X)

Tarzan 2 (X)

The Muppet's Wizard of Oz ( )

Air Buddies ( )

Read It and Weep ( )

Wendy Wu – Homecoming Warrior ( )

Cow Belles ( )

The Cheetah Girls 2 ( )

Return to Halloweentown ( )

High School Musical ( )

Brother Bear 2 ( )

Glory Road ( )

Roving Mars ( )

Bambi 2 (X)

Eight Below (X)

The Shaggy Dog ( )

The Wild ( )

Cars ( )

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (X)

Leroy & Stitch ( )

Invincible ( )

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause ( )

Bridge to Terabithia ( )

Johnny Kapahala – Back on Board ( )

Jump In! ( )

Meet the Robinsons ( )

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End ( )

Ratatouille ( )

Underdog ( )

The Pixar Story ( )

The Game Plan ( )

Le Premier Cri ( )

Enchanted ( )

The Fox and the Hound 2 (X)

The Secret of the Magic Gourd ( )

Pooh's Super Sleuth Christmas Movie ( )

Twitches Too ( )

High School Musical 2 ( )

Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time (X)

National Treasure: Book of Secrets ( )

Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert ( )

Snow Buddies ( )

The Cheetah Girls 3: One World ( )

The Little Mermaid – Ariel's Beginning (X)

Tinkerbell (X)

Camp Rock ( )

Minutemen ( )

College Road Trip ( )

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian ( )

Dasavathaaram ( )

WALL-E ( )

Beverly Hills Chihuahu ( )

Morning Light ( )

High School Musical 3: Senior Year ( )

Bolt (X)

Bedtime Stories ( )

Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience ( )

Iron Man ( )

Race to Witch Mountain ( )

Hannah Montana: The Movie ( )

Earth ( )

The Incredible Hulk ( )

Trail of the Panda ( )

Up ( )

Lilly the Witch: The Dragon and the Magic Book ( )

G-Force ( )

Walt & El Grupo ( )

The Book of Masters ( )

Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie ( )

Santa Buddies Here Comes Santa Paws ( )

Disney's A Christmas Carol ( )

Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure (X)

Old Dogs ( )

Princess Protection Program ( )

The Princess and the Frog ( )

Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too ( )

Hatching Pete ( )

Dadnapped ( )

Space Buddies ( )

2010:

Alice in Wonderland (X)

Waking Sleeping Beauty ( )

Oceans ( )

Santa Paws ( )

Avalon High ( )

Den Brother ( )

Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam ( )

Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue (X)

StarStruck ( )

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ( )

Toy Story 3 ( )

You Again ( )

The Sorcerer's Apprentice ( )

The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos ( )

Secretariat ( )

Do Dooni Chaar ( )

Tangled ( )

The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story ( )

Tron: Legacy ( )

Iron Man 2 ( )

Geek Charming ( )

Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! ( )

Phineas & Ferb – The Movie ( )

Spooky Buddies ( )

Anaganaga O Dheerudu ( )

The Suite Life Movie ( )

Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure ( )

Lemonade Mouth ( )

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 ( )

Thor ( )

Lilly the Witch: The Journey to Mandolan ( )

Mars Needs Moms ( )

Zokkomon ( )

African Cats ( )

Prom ( )

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ( )

Cars 2 ( )

Winnie the Pooh ( )

Pixie Hollow Games (X)

The Muppets ( )

Girl vs. Monster ( )

Santa Paws 2 ( )

Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess ( )

Radio Rebel ( )

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3 ( )

Treasure Buddies ( )

FRenemies ( )

John Carter ( )

Chimpanzee ( )

Arjun: The Warrior Prince ( )

Brave ( )

The Odd Life of Timothy Green ( )

Frankenweenie ( )

Let It Shine ( )

Secret of the Wings (X)

The Advengers ( )

Wreck-It Ralph ( )

Teen Beach Movie ( )

Super Buddies

Oz the Great and Powerful ( )

Wings of Life ( )

Monsters University ( )

The Lone Ranger ( )

Planes ( )

Frozen ( )

Saving Mr. Banks ( )

Iron Man 3 ( )

Thor: The Dark World ( )

How to Build a Better Boy ( )

Zapped ( )

Cloud 9 ( )

The Pirate Fairy (X)

Muppets Most Wanted ( )

Bears ( )

Million Dollar Arm ( )

Maleficent ( )

Planes: Fire & Rescue ( )

Khoobsurat ( )

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day ()

Captain America: The Winter Soldier ( )

Guardians of the Galaxy ( )

Big Hero 6 (X)

Into the Woods ( )

McFarland USA ( )

Cinderella ( )

Monkey Kingdom ( )

Tomorrowland ( )

Inside Out ( )

ABCD 2 ( )

Ant-Man ( )

The Good Dinosaur ( )

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (X)

Teen Beach 2 ( )

Tinkerbell and the Legend of the NeverBeast (X)

Bad Hair Day ( )

Descendants ( )

Avengers: Age of Ultron ( )

The Finest Hours ( )

Zootopia (X)

The Jungle Book ( )

Tini: The Movie ( )

Alice Through the Looking Glass ( )

Finding Dory ( )

BFG ( )

Pete's Dragon ( )

Queen of Katwe ( )

Moana (X)

Captain America: Civil War ( )

Doctor Strange ( )

Rogue One. A Star Wars Story (X)

Growing Up Wild ( )

Dangal ( )

 L'Empereur – March of the Penguins 2: The Next Step ( )

Beauty and the Beast ( )

Born in China ( )

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales ( )

Cars 3 ( )

Ghost of the Mountains ( )

Jagga Jasoos ( )

Coco ( )

Lillys Bewitched Christmas ( )

Descendants 2 ( )

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ( )

Spider Man: Homecoming ( )

Thor: Ragnarok ( )

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (X)

Expedition China ( )

A Wrinkle in Time ( )

The Incredibles 2 ( )

Christoper Robin ( )

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms ( )

Ralph Breaks the Internet ( )

Mary Poppins Returns ( )

Zombies ( )

Black Panther ( )

Avengers: Infinity War ( )

Solo: A Star Wars Story ( )

Ant-Man and the Wasp ( )

Dumbo ( )

Penguins ( )

Aladdin ( )

Toy Stor 4 ( )

The Lion King ( )

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil ( )

Lady and the Tramp ( )

Noelle ( )

Frozen 2 ( )

Descendants 3 ( )

Captain Marvel ( )

Avengers: End Game ( )

Spider-Man: Far From Home ( )

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ( )

One Day at Disney ( )

Togo ( )

2020:

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made ( )

Onward ( )

Stargirl ( )

Dolphin Reef ( )

Elephant ( )

Artemis Fowl ( )

Hamilton ( )

Mulan ( )

The One and Only Ivan ( )

The Beatles: Get Back ( )

Soul ( )

Secret Society of Second-Born Royals ( )

Magic Camp ( )

Howard ( )

Urgh! Wish me luck, that I survive this....

[artificialqueens]

Washed in the Tide of Her Breathing 4/4 (Branjie)--athena2

A/N: I just wanted to wrap this up with a short epilogue. This has become one of my favorite fics I’ve done, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. One last thank you to Writ, for supporting this, brainstorming with me, beating, and helping me do the best I could on this. 

“There’s a hat?Vanessa squeals. “You mean I coulda seen how adorable you look in that hat all this time and you didn’t tell me?”

Brooke groans as she stands in front of Vanessa, buttoning the keeper coat and adjusting the matching navy cap on her head. 

“Adorable makes me sound like a kitten,” Brooke says. “I was going for, like, dignified or something.” 

Vanessa smooths out the lapels and puts her hands on Brooke’s shoulders. “A very dignified kitten.” She presses her lips to Brooke’s in a soft kiss, sweet and sticky with syrup from the waffles they’d made together that morning.

Brooke pulls away reluctantly, hands restlessly working through a piece of rope. “You’re sure it looks okay? I just want things to go well.”

“It’s gonna be fine, baby. I know it will. You got your fancy little coat on, and you know everything you need to about the lighthouse. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

“You’re right,” Brooke agrees. 

“Hey, maybe I’ll even wear a white sheet and make scary noises in the tower to freak people out.” Vanessa cackles. 

“Ness.” Brooke swats at her playfully, the nickname she nervously used on Vanessa one day slipping out now without thought, her heart tugging when Vanessa smiles like she always does. 

“I bet you can come up with a real good ghost story to tell about me,” Vanessa continues. “I want drama, baby! Secret lovers and all that stuff. And pirates!”

“I’ll get right on it.”

Brooke smiles as Vanessa massages her shoulders, her hands taking away all the tension, reminding Brooke she is loved. It’s something she’s reminded of often these days, in all the kisses and words but also in putting her head in Vanessa’s lap at night while Vanessa plays with her hair, in Vanessa coming home with a book she thought Brooke would like the same day Brooke came home with flowers she thought Vanessa would like. 

“Really though, you sure you don’t mind? You didn’t have to take off work for me,” Brooke says. A’keria had hired Vanessa on the spot to work in the boutique with her, and Vanessa loves it. Brooke is happy she’s found her own little place on Main Street, a place to really be herself and laugh with A’keria. She even does displays in the store, sprawling out on the living room floor and sketching designs while Brooke reads, both sipping hot chocolate and enjoying each other’s company without even needing words. 

“I wanted to,” Vanessa insists. She points out the window with a smile on her face. “Hey, look how pretty the sun is. My mom used to say nothin’ bad could happen on a day this sunny.”

The sun is pretty, soft golden light bathing their faces, and Brooke lets herself be comforted, lets herself appreciate that Vanessa is here for her, a change from her solitude. There’s been a lot of changes in Brooke’s life since her relationship with Vanessa, but she’s learning to sail with them, instead of resisting. She’s starting to learn that not all changes are bad. 

Like rolling over in bed and having Vanessa there, legs always tangled in Brooke’s, snuggling closer when she wanted warmth. Like Vanessa coming over to the cart with a Jenga tower of ice cream cartons in the grocery store, and Brooke seeing that she didn’t have to ask Vanessa to get her favorite peanut butter swirl flavor, because Vanessa already did. Like Vanessa leaving the door open a crack when she showers, just enough for Brooke to sit outside and hear her raspy voice work through Rihanna, or, strangely enough, “Country Roads” from Whisper of the Heart, each moment stamped on Brooke’s heart. 

They walk on the beach together at night, talking about everything and nothing, and all Brooke can think is how pretty Vanessa looks in the sunset, how grateful she is to have this woman at her side.

Vanessa is sure to give her all the space she needs, telling her to take their walk by herself when she knows Brooke needs the alone time, and holding her extra tight when Brooke needs the comfort. 

It’s been wonderful, every day safe and warm and full of all the things she dreamed of, hands brushing in the bag of buttery movie popcorn, baking cakes and talking about their childhoods, helping each other share in their pasts while appreciating the present and dreaming of the future. Sometimes she can’t stop staring as Vanessa plans displays with her tongue out in concentration, and she thanks every force in the universe that the waves carried Vanessa to her shore, because she finally has someone to move through life with her. The loneliness that once preyed on her without her even knowing is gone in the wake of Vanessa and the happiness she brings to Brooke’s life, a breathless joy she never thought she’d experience again. 

“I’m really proud of you, okay?” Vanessa pulls Brooke down beside her on the bed, placing a hand on her back, its weight anchoring her to Vanessa, to their life together. “I know how hard you worked for this.”

Brooke blinks back tears, because no one has told her that in years, and she needs it more than ever today, when they’re facing one of the biggest changes they’ve had: the very first lighthouse tour. 

Opening three days a week for summer tours had taken a lot of thinking and conversations between Brooke and Vanessa. Vanessa was sure to tell Brooke she shouldn’t feel like she had to do this if she didn’t want to. But the more Brooke thought about it, the more it became something she wanted to do, for herself and for them both. 

For so long, it was just her in this lighthouse. She built herself up with the same storm-battered bricks of the tower, keeping everyone and everything out like the tower keeps out wind and rain. Like it keeps out all the bad things. 

But lighthouses also let things in. They let ships in their light to get home. Sometimes, they even let in shipwrecked sirens, who slip through the bricks sheltering a broken heart and turn that heart into a home for them both.  

And after a lot of thought, Brooke decided that she wanted to let people in, wanted them to share in the history of the lighthouse, wanted the spirit of the tower and her grandfather to live on, while knowing she doesn’t have to surrender her home or safety. 

Vanessa had helped with the planning and held her hand through all the phone calls with the historical society. Dr. Ganache had talked through all her fears and helped her get used to the idea. Even Nina got in on the act, spreading the word and keeping the pancakes coming when Brooke and Vanessa planned things over their Wednesday morning breakfasts. 

Brooke is as ready as she’ll ever be, and she exchanges the rope for Vanessa’s hands, letting her fingers run across skin as smooth as the sea, pressing gentle kisses to each knuckle. 

“What time is the history lady coming?” Vanessa asks. 

“In about half an hour.” Just saying it makes her heart speed up, because it’s real, it’s happening, and people will be here soon to learn about the lighthouse, to look out those windows like Brooke did every day, to take in the view she’s only ever shared with two people. 

“Hey,” Vanessa says softly, stroking Brooke’s back until whatever is squeezing her chest releases. “It’s okay to be scared. But you can do this. It’s gonna be good. Just like that thing you said about the sky last night.”

Brooke nods. She can do this. She spent months preparing, and she has Vanessa with her. She doesn’t want to get too superstitious, but there had been a red sky last night, and in the saying, a red sky at night is a sailor’s delight, meaning the seas would be safe and welcoming and the skies would be clear.

“Tell me a story before she gets here,” Vanessa says, pulling Brooke out of her thoughts. 

“Which one?”

Vanessa winks. “You know which one.”

“You’re sure you’re not sick of it?” Brooke asks.

“Never, baby. Never. Just like I’ll never get sick of you, or stop loving you.”

Brooke nods gratefully at how Vanessa always takes the time to reassure her that she loves her and will always be here. Even when Brooke had a bad day a few months ago, Vanessa was there, wrapping her in blankets, making hot chocolate, and sitting by the couch to read a story from one of Brooke’s myth books, her voice rough and choppy like quick waves dashing into the rocks, yet still soothing the buzzing in Brooke’s mind. 

Brooke squeezes Vanessa’s hand, knowing that today will be okay, that they’ll always have each other, and clears her throat. 

“Once upon a time, a brave, bold, and beautiful siren washed up on the shore of a lighthouse, where there lived a lonely lighthouse keeper…”

[cinlat]

OC Kiss Week - Day 3

For OC Kiss Week, I’ve chosen to do one romantic, and one platonic kiss. Below are the previous days. Enjoy!

Day One|Day Two

Prompt: being unable to open their eyes for a few moments afterward (Ma’at/Talos) Word Count: 285

Talos let out a shaky breath. He’d known a few Sith, and all had appeared at a distance to be exactly like his brother. It was one of the many reasons why Talos had chosen the career path as a reclamations officer. Force users had little interest in the search, only the results. Talos could carry on in relative safety while his superiors dealt with the more volatile members of the Empire.

Talos had been so nervous to meet Lord Ma’at when word reached him that a Sith had been directed to Hoth. He remembered the day clearly, when she lowered the fur lined, white hood to display a plethora of wild, black curls. When she smiled, Talos felt all of his apprehension melt away. What had followed was a complicated mission that led them all over the planet’s frozen surface. With each new detour, Talos knew that his Sith would reveal herself to be the impatient creatures that haunted his childhood dreams.

Instead, Talos found himself constantly guiding Mistress Stasmas back on track as she sought out the rumors of shipwrecks, ruins, and artifacts not pertinent to her mission. Talos grew giddier with each passing moment, sure that he’d found the one woman in all of the Empire who understood his love of history.

“Breathe,” Ma’at whispered, her lips ghosting against Talos’s as she laughed. “Otherwise, I fear that you might pass out.”

Talos opened his eyes with a wide grin. “How can I?” He asked, daring to lift a hand to brush the hair away from her cheek. “When you’ve stolen my heart so completely.” Golden eyes lit with joy, and Talos knew that he couldn’t let this woman, this Sith, leave Hoth without him.

A/N: So while this drabble actually takes place when they are much younger...it never really changes. 

Prompt: “You’re a terrible liar.” (Ari/Twins) Word Count: 297

“Whatcha’ doin’?”

Ari cursed and slammed the case closed. Carefully, he pushed it back under his father’s workbench before turning to face his sisters. “Nothing.”

Matching sets of golden eyes looked first at each other, then back at him. Ari had always hated that scrutinizing stare from his mother, but when combined with their grins...a shiver ran the length of his spine. “What do you want?”

Ari shouldn’t have snapped at them, and he recognized the mistake when Bridae’s smile widened, then Zaria’s eyebrow twitched. They were only nine years old, Ari wouldn’t let himself be cowed no matter what devious plan the two concocted. “Can’t you go bug Mal, or maybe Nuada?”

With a synchronization that terrified Ari, the girls crossed their arms. Bridae began a slow circle around him while Zaria spoke. “You’re a terrible liar, you know.”

“And you’re a pain in my ass,” Ari replied, refusing to look at Bridae, but keeping her in his peripheral.

“What do you think?” Zaria asked when her sister came back around. “Should we let him off the hook?”

Bridae’s lips twitched. “For a price.” Ari rolled his eyes, and she kept going. “We get to sit in on your next lightsaber drills, and you have to teach us how to hold one.”

Ari’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not my choice.” Zaria shrugged as she started to turn. He should have let her go, but something in the way Bridae glanced at his hiding spot said they’d make him regret it. Ari sighed. “Fine, I’ll figure something out.”

With happy squeals, two sets of arms wrapped around Ari’s neck, and his cheeks pressed in from both sides as the girls showered him with playful kisses. “You’re our favorite brother,” Bridae grinned.

“Until Nuada sweetens the deal,” Zaria finished.

[askascarlettletter]

Solo Para: Tortuga

Katie grew up with the knowledge that she could have anything she wanted, if it was material.  Her mother, Scarlett, had been a fearsome pirate in her time, but it seemed that now that her business was…targeted, there was less of a need for her to sail the seas.  So while Katie had the faintest memories of her toddler years on ships, voyaging about the world, most of her childhood was spent in Tortuga.   There were plenty of single parents on Tortuga, so Katie always had someone to play with.  And everyone knew who Scarlett was, and Scarlett always kept Katie dressed in the best of everything.  Katie didn’t know why, Maybe it was to give Katie everything Scarlett hadn’t had as a child. and her mother never offered up any reason.  All she knew was that if the latest fashions from Paris came in, her mother often had a crew ransack a ship and dressed the two of them to impress.   And impress they did, because Katie always had a group around her in Tortuga.   But were they her friends, strictly speaking?  Katie wasn’t sure.  They were the children of pirates, and at least in the Caribbean, pirates told their children to take what they could, and give nothing back.   Unless it was explicitly defined in the Code, they’d sell one another out in a heartbeat to save their own skins.   Katie learned that too.  

But while Katie’s mother gained her infamy, Katie’s father gained her jeers- though not to her face.  No one would dare mock James Norrington in front of her (nor would they suggest Scarlett had poor taste, unless they wanted to meet Scarlett’s sword),  but she heard the whispers.  James Norrington was a traitor, people said, to his homeland, and then to piracy.  He was washed up, foolish, and gave away his chance at eternity.  Never mind that a 100 years of servitude to the old Davy Jones was worse than any death.  Pirates simply couldn’t fathom leaving the seas.   Katie balled her fists as she heard yet another group of pirate teenagers discuss her father, listening from around a corner: “He was an idiot,” snorted one pirate, “Gave up his life for a woman who didn’t even love him back.”  He shook his head, flipping a golden doubloon between his fingers.

“He could have been immortal-” a second pirate teen agreed, sipping at a mug filled with something that Katie strongly suspected had been stolen from Scarlett’s tavern.  

“But he wasn’t, mate,” retorted the first teen,  “Just died on the Dutchman.  Pathetic.”  He pocketed the doubloon and crossed his arms.  

“He’s still part of a story.  Part of a legend,” a third teen protested, referencing the War on Piracy.  

“Yeah,” the first teen sniffed disdainfully, “The forgettable part.”  

At that, Katie felt her cheeks go red.  It was rare she let embarrassment show- it was an emotion relatively foreign to her -but she realized with a shock that even if she wanted to defend her father’s memory, she couldn’t.  She didn’t know him.  She never had.  She knew nothing about him, except the very basic traits that were passed down in the stories about the War on Piracy.  

Katie knew more about Elizabeth, Will, and Jack than she  knew about her own father.

What would he think of me? Katie wondered then, Hiding in an alleyway while people made fun of him?  She didn’t know, and somehow that was worse than knowing he might have been disappointed in her.   Wiping the tears away, Katie got a hold of herself.  Sure, she didn’t know what James Norrington would have thought of her (and she didn’t care, she told herself, she completely didn’t care), but she did know that he’d given her his name.  And in Tortuga, no one insulted Scarlett’s daughter, whoever her father was.  

Katie drew her sword and rounded the corner, pointing it at the group, “What are you lot doing, then?  Gossiping like a bunch of fishwives?”

“Katie!” the second teen gasped, who Katie recognized as the son of Cotton.  

“Thought you especially would have learned not to tell tales,” the girl menaced, jabbing at him with his sword, “Especially after what happened with your father-”  The younger Cotton merely swallowed, holding his hands in surrender as he backed away from her, cowed at the thought of having his own tongue cut out. The first teen- who Katie now observed was the son of Scrum -raised an eyebrow at her, “What’s got you upset?”  He genuinely seemed perplexed, though Katie noted his hand went to drift towards his own sword.   “I find it rather sad that you are sitting here on a bunch of barrels, mocking other people’s role in ‘legends.’  What have you done to make yourselves memorable?” Katie asked, though the question was obviously rhetorical, “Nothing.  Just chatting.  And you call yourselves pirates!”  She rolled her eyes.  

“Wait,” the third teen, one of many erstwhile daughters of Sao Feng, interrupted, “This is about Norrington?”  Unbelievably, the younger Cotton and Scrum Jr. began to laugh.  

Katie turned her nose up at them, “This is about you remembering your place.  You’re nobodies here.”  

Scrum Jr replied, “You’re mocking us for not being legends yet, but what makes you so different?  You haven’t done anything worthwhile.  You’re just relying on your mum’s reputation!  When was the last time you sailed on anything?  When you were four?”  Although Scrum Jr had a point, Katie didn’t flinch.  Instead, she shrugged and noted:

“My mother has no reason to sail as much as she used to.  She doesn’t need to go searching out treasures- the treasure comes to her.  But you wanna judge her for being a…” Katie trailed off, searching for the right phrase, “Stay-at-home pirate?  You going to judge Captain Teague for doing the same?”  At the mention of Captain Teague- Keeper of the Pirate Code, and Jack Sparrow’s father -Scrum quieted.  Captain Teague had once been a terrifying force on the seas, but in his older age had settled down in Shipwreck Cove.  Still, even the Brethren Court knew not to mess with him, and Katie just knew if she could carry their words to his ears, the teens around her would be dead.  They knew it too.   “We would never say a word against Captain Teague,” Feng’s daughter interjected slowly, trying to diffuse some of the tension. “That would be a wise decision, mate,” a familiar voice drawled, and Katie rolled her eyes.  She pasted a smirk on her face, then turned and strode toward Jack Sparrow.  

Leaning in towards him, she hissed:

“I don’t need your help!”   Katie was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, and she did not need her mother’s on-again, off-again boyfriend saving her neck.   Scarlett might fall for Jack Sparrow’s charms, but Katie was wary of him.  He was a very intelligent man, behind all the hand-waving and speech-making. 

Jack, nonplussed, doffed his hat to her, “Wouldn’t dream of thinking you did, love.  But that doesn’t change the fact that young Cotton here has made off with my rum.  I want it back, you savvy?”

A long moment passed, then Katie spun around on her heel.  Striding towards Cotton the Younger, she sheathed her sword. The teen had a moment to breathe out a sigh of relief before Katie snatched the mug from his hands and whacked him in the head with it.  He howled in pain, but before his compatriots had time to react, Katie had bashed each of them in the heads with the mug as well, spraying room all over their clothes.  Feng’s daughter shrieked as her silk was ruined and Scrum Jr held a hand to his head.  

“That was for telling tales!” Katie declared, “You do it again, and I’ll cut out your tongues and make you eat them before ensuring you are dead.  And for good.”   With that, she walked away, shoving the now empty mug in Jack’s hands.   “Why,” Jack muttered under his breath, “is the rum always gone?”  With a theatrical sigh, he began to follow Katie back to Scarlett’s tavern, ignoring the high-pitched coos of the prostitutes who tried to gain his attention.

“I knew James Norrington, you know,” Jack said casually, “As a friend of a friend, as it were.  Or an enemy of an enemy.” Katie crossed her arms, ignoring him.  She wasn’t in the mood for one of Jack’s rambles.   Unperturbed, Jack sauntered around her and continued, “He was ambitious, chivalrous, and an excellent swordsman.  Loyal to himself and those he cared for.   And, you know, he had quite a habit of learning from experience?  He once called me the worst pirate he’d ever seen,” Jack recounted cheerfully.  Despite herself, Katie began to slow her pace, curious to hear anything about her father.   “-but that was, of course, before I escaped.  He shouldn’t have felt as bad as he did though; he wouldn’t be the first or the last person I’ve escaped from.  I am Jack Sparrow after all,” Jack shrugged, “I can say this for him: he didn’t give up.  Chased me through a tempest- by the way, love, and this is my professional opinion, do not ever do that unless you’re me; you’ll lose your ship and your crew and possibly your commission, if you care about that sort of thing, which he did.  But the thing about tempests is they pass.  All tempests pass.” “Is that supposed to be some sort of profound advice?” Katie queried, raising her eyebrow. “No,” Jack shook his head, “Just years of experience.  Go for the treasure- or the pirate -after the storm ends.  James Norrington probably wouldn’t have liked this comparison, but he kept to a code of his own.  He might have made a good pirate, except for an insufferable self-sacrificing streak.  It was that that got him in the end.”  

“Scrum said it was love that made him lose his life,” Katie admitted uncertainly, as she stood in the doorway of the tavern, “That he gave up his life for love.”   Jack shrugged again, “Like I said, Norrington kept to his own code.   Self-sacrifice was built into it.  And love’s not so bad.  For example, I love the sea.  I love rum.  And I’m still standing.  You’ve just got to be careful with love.  Make sure it doesn’t overwhelm you- ah, Scarlett!” Jack became distracted by the presence of Katie’s mother, who swanned to the front of the tavern at the first sight of him.    

“Jack,” Scarlett answered, halfway between annoyed and delighted, “I didn’t realize you were coming into port-”

Katie rolled her eyes.  Here they went again, “Mum, don’t fall for it-” Before she could finish the sentence, Scarlett noticed the redness in her daughter’s eyes:

“Katie, are you all right?  Are you- are you crying?” for once in her life ignoring Jack Sparrow, Scarlett looked at Katie and murmured, “Tell me who did it, and I’ll make sure they regret it.”   “No, Mum.  I’m fine.  Thanks.  I’m just- I’m gonna go to bed early.  Feeling a little under the weather is all.”

“Are you sure?”  Scarlett asked doubtfully.  As Katie walked up the stairs to the tavern’s third floor, she called, “You haven’t touched any doubloons, have you?” Accusingly, Scarlett looked at Jack, and he replied:

“No!  No curses for me, and when would I ever give up a doubloon?  You know me, Scarlett.”  He gave her most charming smile, and Scarlett promptly slapped him.