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atamascolily · 1 month ago

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Lily liveblogs: Thunderbolt Fantasy Final Movie

This is a 90-minute highlight reel from what should have been an entire fifth season, and while it's chock-full of Crowing Moments of Awesome, the pacing is so intense that there's little time to appreciate them before we're rushing onto the next thing.

Am I happy we got this movie? Yes. Will I forever mourn what could have been? Also yes.

Full confession: I knew what happened going in thanks to summaries posted by @fujimusume and others. However, I wanted to reserve judgement until I'd had a chance to see the movie for myself, which was ultimately a good call--I ended up liking it far more than I had initially thought.

That said, I think if I hadn't had the last 3 months to process it, I would have been emotionally devastated, especially since the movie basically dumps everything all at once with very little pause for reflection.

that said, I need to watch this movie again, so this is just a list of of-the-cuff thoughts rather than anything more coherent

Dan Fei delivers exposition, hahaha

Juan Can Yun gets his spear back! Unfortunately, the whole "Dan clan style hybridization" subplot that I wanted never really develops (boo! it was right there!!) but at least we get our lancer back. Dan Fei knows better than to send her husband out into battle with a handicap.

I love the demon castle so much!!! The worldbuilding is a little vague, but I am interpreting it as the Demon King building his castle on a creature (possibly a sleeping demon god?) and then Azi pops in the Lang battery + the seals to charge it up and away we go!

do you think the Demon King realizes Azi has his own agenda or what

love how Shang spends the first portion of the movie just running around hitting things with an axe and showing up 15 minutes late with Starbucks a Shen Hui Mo Xie lol

hey there, Divine Swarm puppets! We thought you were dead! And they are, but I still love them.

I feel like the Azi/Chao Feng battle is proof of the whole "heretical sorcery is the same as demonic arts" bit.

I gasped when all 3 of Azi's swords merged into one BIG sword, lol

Lie's "strange bedfellows"/"the enemy of my enemy is my friend" pivot is so funny

thematically, I really love the juxtaposition of Azi and Locust vs Lang and Chao Feng, and the mutual theme of children defying what their parents want for them

Chao Feng's death was genuinely moving, I wish we'd had a little more time with that

LANG WU YAO PHOENIX RESURRECTION, LET'S FUCKING GO~~~

I was wondering how Lang was going to fight now that his weapon is human, but apparently Lie just tosses him an arm and it transforms into a sword???? Okay, I guess that works???

also love the way Lie uses his pipa strings, first to restrain Azi, and then as a way for Lang to play them to use his sonic magic to attack Azi - so good

Lang's rejection of Azi was also a tearjerker, I'm so proud of him.

I did want to see Demon God Lang and/or more of Hot Sexy Demon Lang from S4, but no luck, sigh.

that whole arc turned out very differently than I thought, and I'm okay with it (although I still think my original ideas were interesting and plausible)

Lie Mo Xian is so funny and over the top, I love him.

you can also see the moment Shang recognizes him when he hands him the Scrying Mirror... he knows

this movie is also really hobbled by cutting Lin's demon realm intrigue plots in S4... there are hints of it in the way he uses the demon nobles to haunt Achaenus, but it all feels a little out of nowhere.

great reuse of demon noble puppets, that scene was genuinely disturbing in a gothic haunting way, A+

LIN XUE YA LOUNGING SEXILY ON THE THRONE slkajfslkgjfadlgkjdf

the character poem immediately on the heels of this was just icing on the cake

THANK YOU PILI FOR GIVING ME THIS

actually, every scene with Lin and the Demon King was explicitly catering to me, so thanks for that

the way they move, as a battle of equals and opposites!!!! so pretty! AAAAH

(I was right, the Demon King's pipe is also a sword, because of course it is!)

also Lin's "hi, Sir Shang!" and little wave when Shang turns up in the middle of the fight--S-tier flirting and best possible reveal.

Shang being like "Wtf, I'm so done" and walking out was great, too

The Demon King trying to absorb Lin was fantastic, as well as Lin pulling the same "you thought you were fighting me, but I was actually behind you the whole time" trick that Mami uses against Homura in Rebellion

you know, I had "Lin using Night of Mourning" on my wishlist, but I didn't think I'd actually get it!! Lin/Night of Mourning is the real ship here, hahaha.

the battle against the demons is kind of a letdown after all that buildup, RIP

I also wanted to see the castle fight

pretty sure the hanjiao were created by the demons and/or domesticated and the "wild" ones we see are ferals, not that the show ever mentions it. But how else to explain why the hanjiao are working with demons rather than attacking them, come on.

JuanFei battle power couple, my beloved.

so surprised Bo Yan Hou survived this movie, holy crap

Locust turning up and showing his face in public was so strange. Tian Ming gets sidelined explicitly so she won't give the game away, sigh.

also no demon gods are released in the end, COME ON

Locust takes all the holy swords (but not the bad ones, come on!) and turns into a Kamen Rider villain

Shang vs. Locust was great, actually. I gasped when the sky started splitting and Locust had no clue.

BAI LIAN DEUS EX MACHINA? Bai Lian as alt-Susu confirmed???

(same theme and character poem, even)

I knew the swords would go back by the end, but Locust getting isekai'd to the Piliverse and losing his powers along with them is poetic justice

Shang leaping across the abyss to the Demon King's palace was EPIC

My prediction that Lin would fake his death came true in the best way possible, hahahaha

Shang recognizing him through the disguise... perfection.

everything about that scene fed my shipper heart.

love Lang's outfit post-time skip

I don't love the time travel ending twist, so I'm ignoring it. Way to make things weird, Urobuchi.

I was so sad when I heard that Shang ends up traveling alone, but that last scene was so moving, and my shipper heart was so fed by their previous interactions, that I'm assuming this is a brief moment of peace before Lin turns up again.

This movie is far from perfect, sometimes from rushed pacing and sometimes from Urobuchi's decisions (some of which might have landed better with more space in the story) BUT the parts that land work so well and are catered so explicitly to my tastes that it's hard to be too mad about the disappointments (I say after 3 months of grieving).

Overall, I can live with the movie as it stands, but my plan going forward is to take what I like and ignore/change the rest in fanworks, like you do. and also watch it again because I know I missed a lot.

#thunderbolt fantasy #wuxia fantasy puppet epic #lily liveblogs

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selenacosmic · 7 months ago

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A heartfelt surprise.(1/2)

birthday special. Pt.1

Dawn began approaching, becoming more apparent by the orange tainted sky engulfing the blue horizon, a clear distinction for the end of the night and the beginning of a brand new day in Kai. The air was chilly as snow began falling, creating a beautiful white cover on top of the garden, usually colorful with flowers, was now colorlessly icy. Fast footsteps approached the kitchen, small legs carrying the excitement of the twins, the moment they slid the door open, a sweet scent took over and guided them to…

“Children? You two have never woken up this early before. Are you that excited for today?” I was in the middle of my attempt, attempt, to make a birthday cake for the love of my life, who should still be asleep in bed.

Tugging at the hem of my kimono, both twins were looking with bright eyes at what I was making. On one side, a boy that took after my hair color and eyes, yet had the same face as his father, Oujiro. The most energetic and playful soul in Tsutsujigasake castle. On the other side, a girl that took after Shingen’s hair color and grey eyes, as adorable as she was charming and charismatic, Himeko.

“Mama, you said that today is a very special day for papa, we have to start celebrating now!” Oujiro must have woken up his sister early today just to start celebrating their father’s birthday, it surprises me that she isn’t grumpy.

“I did, and you two have a very important role for today. But you two must be very sneaky, just like Sasuke is.” For the moment, I put aside the cooking tools, having them tugging at my clothes would only end in disaster while trying to cook.

“See? I told you we shouldn’t have ran! What if dad woke up?” Himeko shot a glare at Oujiro, a small pout on her face. It was at times like these that I wish I could pinch their faces, but for now, stop the conflict, Selena!

“Alright, no need to be angry. I am sure your father won’t wake up yet, after all he hasn’t come looking for us.” Although even if shingen did suspect of our surprise, I doubt that he would want to ruin it, just to consider our feelings. “Your uncles will be helping you with your task, but you must work together to make your father extra happy.”

With a proud grin, Oujiro puts his hands on his waist while stuffing his chest “I will make sure everything is perfect, mama! I won’t let uncle kenshin make trouble this time.” He looked so determined that i couldn’t help but smile, last year we almost couldn’t hold a party because of kenshin wanting to spar with Shingen every time he said anything about the presents, all while saying that his present was the end of his sword.

Luckily, he wouldn’t do anything dangerous knowing that there are children around, Kenshin has gotten better in dealing with kids ever since the twins were born, so he was more careful now.

Himeko crosses her arms while smiling, a motivated expression on her face “You are too slow, I have made a list on everything that dad will like!”

“Well, look at you two multitaskers! I guess i don’t have anything to worry about anything this year! Just remember, anything that might be too difficult or dangerous to do, you two should ask your uncles’ assistance with.” Just in case, I asked Sasuke and Yukimura to keep a constant eye on them. While the children were determined, they also thought they could do certain things alone, it would be better to have more than one adult to ensure they don’t do anything they shouldn’t do.

“Okay!” Both seemed very excited to plan their father’s birthday, I wanted to let them feel included during the planning this year so that they weren’t left out, I could see how eager they were to surprise shingen.

While the children talked about what they needed to do for the banquet that night, I shifted my gaze towards what I was baking, feeling a bit lost. It’s not that it’s impossible to bake a cake, but it was very difficult without the convenience and proper materials. I was trying to come up with a different idea, but that was not going how I wanted.

Once the sun lighted up all the sky, It was certain that Shingen would be up and looking around for us, and i can’t let him see the preparations. The plan was, after baking something (at this point it didn’t even need to be a cake) and then take him for a date in town. While we are out, the others will prepare everything so that we would come back for a whole party waiting for shingen. Maybe… i could stack dangos in a pyramid or… maybe manju? It technically is a small cake, i could stack them together to make up for the lack of a proper modern cake.

I had already baked all his favorites, dango, chestnut buns, sweet bean paste, sweet gelatin… maybe tons of manju built up in a tower should do.

—————

By the time I was done, the children had already taken a few sweets under the guise of just taste testing and ran out of the kitchen to go distract shingen from coming in the kitchen in case he was already up. Meaning that I need to have the maids take care of the sweets while I go and change, he would obviously be able to tell that I was cooking for his party. I carefully sneaked out of the kitchen, making my way through the corridors until I could reach the bathhouse. For my luck, I didn’t stumble into shingen on my way there.

The moment I was out of the bathhouse, however…

I felt two, strong arms pulling me against a wall— I mean, chest. Even though I was surprised, there was no denying who it was, my arms wrapped around his torso as tightly as possible. I had had trouble waking up way earlier than him just so that i could start baking his sweets, his arms are just too comfortable to move away from.

“I have been looking for you, my sneaky goddess.” His voice was warm and filled me with joy just from being near him. “My arms became cold without you there, i thought my heart was going to freeze in this snowy weather.”

“You exaggerate, though it was pretty difficult leaving your side…” just the possibility of burying my face against his chest while snuggling gave me all the energy I needed and made waking up early worth it.

“I saw the children running around the hallways, but they wouldn’t tell me what they were doing. Am I to believe that I should expect something today?” That smile he gave me made me want to give it all away to him.

Aha! I know that look, he was trying to charm his way into finding out our plans. Well, two can play this game. “I don’t know, maybe they are excited that their uncles are visiting.” I gave him my best mischievous grin, over time I had started joining him in these games of teasing that he would start.

“Is that so? Yuki does enjoy playing with them.” In our hug, his face began getting closer to my neck, my body shivered when I felt his breath against my shoulder. His lips were only grazing at my skin yet it pulled quite the reaction from me. “Hmm… chestnut buns, I knew there was a sweet scent in the air.”

Eh? How did he even figure that out? I made sure to take a long bath just so that no sweet scent lingered on me… was he just that good at guessing? It was hard to concentrate and think when he was giving soft kisses over my neck now. They weren’t intense enough to leave a love mark, but i could feel the lingering warmth there. No, maybe another trick? Well, i wouldn’t let myself fall for it.

“Looks like someone is hungry, did you eat your breakfast already? You shouldn’t have any buns unless you want to get scolded by Yukimura.” I hoped that i could distract him from finding out what I did, at least until the banquet for that night.

“As long as I have my angel of luck with me, yuki won’t be finding out.” Before he could deepen his kisses over my neck, we both heard someone clearing their throat from behind shingen.

“I won’t be finding out about what?” Yukimura was tapping his foot as if to show his impatience. “Just how many times have I told you two to go find a room instead of doing this in the middle of the hallway?”

It was during times like these that i would both be grateful and want to strangle Yukimura, for one he was able to interrupt before things escalated and all of our plans were threw out the window, but at the same time I was enjoying those kisses…

“Yuki… you really know how to ruin a man’s pleasure.” A bit dejected but with a smile on his face, shingen pulled away, keeping only one arm around my waist as he turned around to look at his vassal.

I knew that this was Yukimura’s way of reminding me of our plans, which is why I needed to focus more. First, I have to take him out of the castle for a date.

“Now that you mention, it would be nice if we could go out on a date! With work, it has been impossible for us to go out.” I looked at Shingen excitedly, this was also the perfect opportunity for us to have some privacy.

“A date sounds just perfect for the today, though I worry about not taking the children.” He is the sweetest, almost all of our dates to town, we would make sure to take the twins together, making it a big family outing.

“Do you guys not understand the concept of ‘get a room’? You are just going to a more exposed place…. Don’t worry, we can look after them, it has been a while since I spent time with the twins. I heard that Yoshimoto also has some souvenirs for them” Yukimura spoke with a smile when mentioning Oujiro and Himeko. Great, Yukimura was doing just as we planned, today it was just me and shingen for the this date and then the children would be able the surprise him with the party.

“How considerate of you, Yuki. I can’t turn this opportunity to have my celestial maiden all to myself.” He moved closer so that his lips were closer to my ear, his voice lower. “That means i won’t need to hold back on flirting.”

“Shingen! Alright, l-let’s go get ready for our date before Yukimura scold us more.” I giggled with a blush forming on my cheeks, gently pushing him away with me so that we could go to our room.

—————

Once we both were finally ready, we were set to leave for our date, though we had to get dressed separately just so that no “change of plans” occurred. He was dressed up before I was, I took a bit longer because I wanted to try a new kimono that I requested from the seamstress, I wanted something special for Shingen’s birthday after all. Once I met up with him at the entrance of the castle, he froze immediately upon looking at me.

“I must be envied by all men in this world, for I have witnessed a goddess descending I front of me.” He walked closer, making me feel a bit bashful at his sweet words.

“Let them be jealous, then. Because this goddess is taking you to a special date.” I quickly took his hand, gently tugging on it so that we could walk together.

“How lucky I am to have a goddess accompanying me, I should make every moment of this worthwhile.” His large hand engulfed mine in his, making me feel warm all over with just that physical contact. Something told me that our date promised a lot of fun!

—————

Meanwhile, as the two figures walked out for their date in town, the castle could finally start the preparations without worrying about shingen finding out, maids and vassals were running around the halls while receiving the orders from the main organizers of the party… the twins.

“Do you think they can handle this part? It isn’t too difficult but they might feel overwhelmed.” Sasuke said while looking at Oujiro and Himeko, who were checking and then double checking the list the little girl was holding. Sasuke was in charge of ensuring that the castle would be safe and properly guarded while everyone celebrated Shingen’s birthday.

“If they take after their parents, I think both are more than capable.” Yukimura seemed more confident about the kids’ abilities. He was in charge of carrying heavy weight objects that the twins couldn’t possibly carry and setting them up in the room for the banquet.

“Selena did say that they have been getting more responsible lately, perhaps that’s what happens when you are one of Shingen’s children.” Yoshimoto fanned himself lightly while taking a break, he was mostly in charge of the decoration according to Himeko, who asked for his assistance in making the room the party would take place beautiful.

“It isn’t just because of shingen, if it wasn’t for that woman, that idiot would still be a mess.” Kenshin drank tea from his cup, which he had to choose instead of sake considering that the twins were nearby. He was in charge of providing more food for the banquet and the best drinks (of course, the children would be only allowed tea or water).

Each warlord received orders from the twins on what they should do, to which they all complied. Seeing the twins growing up to be so similar to their parents spread a warm, mutual feeling among the warlords, a certainty that their future was bright.

To be continued…

#ikemen sengoku #ikesen #ikemen sengoku shingen #ikesen shingen

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dragon-susceptible · 1 month ago

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Different Path Taken Update

I'm too lazy to check the chapter number. I really should number them in my document. I got another chapter done. I know I've been really quiet; I'm sorry. At first I was just tired from switching from a night shift to a dawn shift at work, but then someone I know passed away in an awful accident and it shook me all to hell. I'll be okay, but it was . . . rough to try and write anything in this fandom; The Dragon Prince has always been more of a happy comfort fandom for me, not where I go to vent-write, so. The grief definitely still slipped into this chapter a little bit, but hopefully it's still good.

Villads had only mentioned the possibility of a storm after they boarded. Callisto must have said something to imply their urgency before they got there, because though he cautioned them, the blind captain really didn’t seem to expect any answer other than Runaan’s curt “If you think it possible, we risk it.”

This suited Callum well enough. He was still wrestling with Claudia and Soren’s betrayal, and Claudia’s thoughtless cruelty in particular. On top of that, now that they were moving again it was harder to forget that he no longer had access to sky magic with the loss of the primal stone. The connection he had felt to that energy had been so powerful, it was almost like losing a part of himself.

He knew it was ridiculous. The elves had been not unkind about telling him so, not in so many words. It still left him feeling weak and broken, especially when followed up by being carried on a man’s back for two days of running.

His legs and shoulders ached from helping to hold himself up, and no amount of Runaan’s stoicism could hide the way the elf moved more slowly as if he too was aching from the effort, and that only added to Callum’s feelings of guilt and helplessness.

At the moment, the elves were all up on the deck with Ezran, Zym, and Bait, and he remained down in the hold. The letter King Harrow had written him seemed to burn in his mind in the bottom of his bag, even the memory of his stepfather tainted by how he had received it. If only he hadn’t dropped it at the castle; then Claudia wouldn’t have been the one to pick it up, then he wouldn’t have received this last remnant of him from someone who had gone on to hurt Callum and Ezran so badly.

He wondered a little if this was how Rayla felt about her parents. If the ache in his chest from his friends’ betrayal echoed a little bit of what she felt for what her parents had done. She didn’t seem to feel the same taint towards Zym as he felt towards Harrow’s letter.

Maybe he wouldn’t either, after he read it. Reading his father’s words had always made him feel better; maybe this would be the same?

At least it hadn’t been a shock. He was grateful to Runaan, in a strange way, for how the elf had not tried to hide the king’s death from them. How strangely honest the assassin had always been with him and with Ezran, even about the hard things. He didn’t talk down to them like some adults still did, especially about things that were important to them.

He had pulled out the letter before he really thought about it, and began to read.

Dear Callum,

It read, and his eyes stung already, recognizing Harrow’s handwriting, noticing distantly the affection in the king’s very beginning.

Over the years there have been moments when I let there be a distance between us. Because I’m your stepfather, I was trying to give you the space to love your real father, even after he passed away. Now I wonder if I should have held you closer. I wonder if showing you how much I loved you would have been okay and would not have disrespected your relationship with him. He was always in favor of my affection for you, but our grief brought a distance where perhaps it should have brought a deeper connection.

Callum, I know I’m not your birth father. But in my eyes and in my heart, you are my son. I see myself in you, am proud of you, and I love you unconditionally.

He had to stop again to breathe through it, wiping tears from his eyes. He had always known that his mother married King Harrow before his father’s passing, that the three of them had an agreement of shared affection and she was married to them both. He had lost his father and mother within about a year of each other, and it had left him floundering. He had clung harder to his mother at first, only to lose her so quickly, and Harrow had withdrawn in what Callum now recognized was his own grief.

He had loved them as much as Callum did, albeit differently. Perhaps even differently between them. He didn’t . . . talk about Callum’s father much. No one really did anymore, except Aunt Amaya. Callum guessed a common born poet was far less important to most people than the former Crownguard and Queen Sarai.

As I write this, the sun is setting while Moonshadow assassins prepare to end my life. A few months ago, I took my revenge on Xadia. Tonight, it is their turn. I may not have long, so I’m forced to ask myself: What can I pass on to my sons in the time I have left? In this letter, I will share with you a lie, a wish, and a secret.

What could he mean?

Ram was well aware he was staring. He didn’t particularly care, either. There were two targets of his interest, and only one of them could see him, so he focused his stare on Villads. Callisto would surely have called him out if he focused on her.

How did they know each other? As far as he knew, Callisto hadn’t done that many coastline missions, certainly not on this side of the border. Admittedly, he hadn’t done that many either; there often wasn’t a reason for Moonshadow assassins to get involved with anything offshore. The Tidebound and water dragons ruled the seas and kept their politics fairly well away from everyone else.

Callisto seemed remarkably relaxed with the situation, was the thing. She’d even had Ram drop the illusion around her once they left the shoreline. The bird, which had a remarkable vocabulary that led Ram to suspect it was a Xadian bird, had not commented but he had the terribly uncomfortable feeling that it could. If it chose to. For some reason, though, it wasn’t.

Villads was a baffling personage, too. How was a completely blind human managing a vessel like this with only a seeing eye bird for assistance? He seemed to have an almost magical connection to the sea and wind around them. The other humans also seemed rather venomous towards him, their journey to his docking station littered with rude mutters and strange, disapproving looks.

Andromeda hopped up next to him and bumped her shoulder against his. “What’s wrong?” She asked bluntly.

“Villads.” Ram grunted, not seeing the point in keeping it from her. “Doesn’t it strike you as odd how . . . aggressive the other humans at port were towards him? And how relaxed Callisto is with him?”

Andromeda hummed and squinted up at the sky before laying her ears back against the sunlight and looking back down at the deck. “I don’t know,” She said eventually. “Callisto has been working for longer than either of us. She said she met him on a previous mission. Perhaps the other humans’ prejudice against him is strange, but it seems to work in our favor - they’re less than interested in us.”

“Does it?” Ram pointed out. “What about the welcome he’ll get on the other side of the Bay? Are we certain we’ll be safe?”

“We won’t be safe anywhere this side of the border, the identity of our captain hardly matters for that. We won’t be docking in a port, Runaan already made that explicitly clear. We’ll be rowing ashore somewhere secluded.” Andromeda soothed him, reaching over towards his head.

Recognizing the pause for what it was, Ram huffed through his nose but leaned over towards her to grant quiet permission for her to ruffle his hair. He had cut it short after his mother’s death as a show of his personal grief, and it wasn’t quite long enough to braid again yet, but he did somewhat miss the show of affection it offered. So. Letting her pet him to soothe his nerves.

He slightly regretted not offering - or asking - to braid his father’s hair before he’d left, but it had felt awkward with his own messy mop still too short to return the favor.

Andromeda wasn’t really a motherly figure to him, their ages were too close together, but he supposed she was something like an older sister he’d never had. It took effort not to just lean into her body and let her cuddle him like a snuggle toy in front of the sun itself on the deck of this bloody pirate ship. “Andromeda.” He whined when she wouldn’t let up scratching his scalp.

She was audibly grinning when she replied. “Do you really want me to stop?” She teased very gently. “It seems to be helping.”

He made a discontented noise and she thankfully stopped with a final ruffle to his messy hair. He bumped his shoulder against hers apologetically and continued with his concerns. “It’s not just Villads and his . . .” He gestured vaguely at where the pirate had blatantly fallen asleep while piloting the ship. “It’s Callisto. She seems to trust him - perhaps more than she even trusts us. Why? She doesn’t trust anyone easily. Skor and Runaan had to earn it. So why this random human pirate?”

Ram kept his voice low so as not to get Callisto’s attention, but when he gestured at her he realized she was really not going to notice. For once all of her sharp focus seemed zeroed in on Skor and the children played some sort of game on the deck. She seemed . . . terribly fond of the children for how much she avoided them back in the Silvergrove, and he said as much, adding that to his list and concluding, “Isn’t it just a bit strange?”

Andromeda was chewing her lower lip a bit when he looked over at her helplessly. She took a deep, slow breath and sighed. “I don’t know that it is,” She said gently. “Do you really think she trusts him, Ram? Or does she simply not care what he thinks? She trusts us, but she cares far more than I think your or Rayla realize about what we all think of her. She does not have that care for this human, and thus she is less . . . tense about interacting with him, even though she trusts him less. Because, as you said, she does not trust easily. But he does not know who she really is. We do.”

Ram tilted his head as he mulled that over, his brows furrowing deeply as he did so. It was an expression he’d inherited or learned from his mother, and he was carefully not thinking about why she was suddenly so present in his mind. “I don’t understand how one can be more relaxed with someone they don’t trust than someone they do.” He finally said bluntly.

Andromeda tilted her head back thoughtfully and her tone was intrigued when she replied. “Are you more relaxed with me or with your father?” She asked mildly. “And I mean relaxed in letting yourself be fully who you are, not simply comfortable.”

Ram opened his mouth to answer and found he had no argument for her point. Despite his father’s reassurances, he didn’t embrace himself fully with him as he did with the other assassins. He was comfortable in his childhood hollow, always felt safe and relaxed to just be . . . but the version of himself that he brought to that home was not the fully self-assured assassin he brought to Andromeda.

“I see your point.” He said reluctantly after shutting his mouth with a click.

Andromeda bumped his shoulder with hers. “It’s fair of you to get confused. Callisto can be . . . difficult to understand.” She bit her lip visibly as she watched the other elves and Ram detected a note of something deeper in her tone and followed her gaze.

Callisto had joined in on a new game Skor was playing with the children, though admittedly she seemed to be prioritizing the baby dragon they were all entirely too fond of after only a few days. Ram had been trying to hold his own heart back, knowing they would be leaving the young dragon with his mother at the end of this quest - and that was the best possible outcome of all this.

“What is it for you?” He asked when Andromeda failed to elaborate. She looked at him with a curious quirk of her brow and he shrugged, feigning carelessness with his eyes still fixed on her out of the corners. “You sound as though there is something about them that you struggle to understand as well. What is it for you?”

Pursing her lips, Andromeda tried to give him a little glare for poking, but she sighed and relented to telling him anyway. “They don’t stay close to people outside of the Guild for fear of leaving them behind. I understand it . . . to a point.” She chewed her lip for a moment, eyes wandering off across the water as she considered how to go on, before adding, softer, “Sirius made a similar choice after our father died, and left training as an assassin so that our mother would not have to lose us all. I remember how much we grieved, I remember . . . so I understand why they don’t wish to inflict that suffering on other people. But I cannot imagine being so . . . comfortable just withholding my affection entirely. Being so alone.”

“She seems happy with it.” Ram glanced at her again. “Most of the time, anyway.”

“She can be happy with it, I’m glad she is,” Andromeda agreed, and smiled faintly when Ram looked at her. “I just . . . don’t understand loving people the way she does, enjoying company and children and affection as she does, and being so comfortable being alone.”

She was wiggling in her seat, and through the nose-blinding salt of the ocean, they were sitting close enough that Ram could smell the shift in her scent that had her breathing through her teeth and leaning her head back with her eyes closed. Her heat had her more instinctual urges bright to the forefront, and she was unsettled about something.

Ram suspected it had something to do with the talking about being alone. No one - well, almost no one - liked to be completely alone during breeding season. Even those who weren’t consciously interested in breeding or children tended to prefer some form of closeness. He had been doing his best since Andromeda’s heat made itself known back at the Nexus and he’d heard her whining from her room, and it had helped. But even considering being left as alone as Callisto preferred to be -

Ram bit back a whine of his own, cringing at even considering how that must feel. He still took his own heats at home with his father, having no mate to lean on, and to be denied that comfort and company -

He slid an arm around Andromeda without prompting and didn’t bother talking about it, just snuggling her close and letting her scent that she wasn’t alone.

Andromeda’s shoulders twitched in what felt like an amused snort, but she accepted the cuddles without a complaint. Ram felt irrationally grateful for it, unsure how to even take gratitude being directed at him for supporting her in such a basic familial comfort.

#the dragon prince #fic: different path taken #moonshadow assassins #tdp callum #tdp ram #tdp andromeda #fic update #my fics #my writing #different paths AU #different path update

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imperatorcaesaraugustus · 1 year ago

Text

we come now to that most special time of the week, the time or ThoughtD: Thoughts on HotD. today we look at season 2 episode 7

my favorite way to have a conversation is on a beach shouting at each other from 50 feet away

"my father is no one of consequence" how long do you plan on keeping that fact a secret, Addam?

"under the sheets and in the woodpiles" i see we're taking this idea away from Jace (or away from mushroom, depending on what source you believe) and giving it to Mysaria

also, woodpiles? i get sheets, but why woodpiles, specifically?

Addam putting in his 2 weeks with Corlys because he got hired at a new job as Dragonrider

Corlys just saying "well done" instead of "i'm proud of you" or "i care about you, son" or "i can't believe you're a dragonrider now that's incredible"

Muppet Tully's dialogue inside with Daemon sounds off to me, like they re-dubbed it over or something

i really like this Tully lad. masterful politician

some people have expressed boredom with Daemon's continuing situation at Harrenhal. those people are wrong, this is great

this whole dynamic between Larys and Aegon is nowhere in the book, but it makes so much sense as an addition and i love it

Alyn saying "I am of salt and sea" couldn't possibly be foreshadowing for something, could it? wait... is it? how far chronologically is this show going to continue? will there be time to pay that off?

"I'm going to bed" "um, when are we going back to the castle?" "oh, maybe never" nightmare camping trip for this poor kingsguard

oops Rhaenyra, it seems you've uncovered Jace's bastard trauma!

"if lowborn have dragons, it takes away my best claim for the throne" yeah, huh, it's almost like the power of kings is based solely on the arbitrary withholding of power from vast swaths of the population. a point that would have been made even more strongly if you hadn't cut Nettles from the show

Mysaria's agent looking very... inconspicuous... in that bright red cloak

"oh, you know, i'd definitely love to claim a dragon, it's just, oof, my leg's been acting up" love this man

"nah, do it though" love this man's mates

Hugh is Saera's son? that's so cool!

okay, for those unfamiliar, Saera Targaryen was one of King Jahaerys' daughters, aunt to King Viserys. she was involved in a scandal where she was sleeping with like three different minor lords, so Jahaerys sent her off to become a septa. she escaped and ran off to Essos, where she became a sex worker in one of the free cities (i think Lys? or maybe it was Volantis?). super interesting character, love that she's being referenced here

i... i have no idea what to make of what Alicent is doing

the dragonkeepers are going on strike

Vermithor looming out of the darkness is so cool. i love his design, too. it's very asymmetrical

at first i thought Rhaenyra was straight-up leaving. turns out she was moving up to the balcony, but still

holy fuck that went badly. like, obviously most of these people weren't going to succeed, but damn

Ulf just running off into the caves where the dragons live as if there's not going to be more dragons in there

i'm not as big a fan of Silverwing's design, but it is distinctive which i appreciate. this will be relevant in the next scene where i immediately recognized her very triangular head

Ulf gets a dragon and immediately goes to the worst place he possibly could have gone, King's Landing

all in all, another episode i really liked. can't wait to see what comes next week

#house of the dragon #hotd #hotd season 2 #hotd spoilers #house of the dragon spoilers #hotd 2x07 #ThoughtD

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skyward-floored · 5 months ago

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Ok, so like I said this was super self indulgent because I was just feeling overall bad (I still kind of am but we’re powering through it lol), so it probably isn’t all that interesting but oh well haha. I figure the timeline isn’t quite right, I feel like Volga first started interacting with Link after the Triforce was stolen by Ganondorf, but I couldn’t reconcile Power not knowing Ganon’s back but still interacting with Link’s family lol, so whatever I guess 🥲

Anyway, here you go <3

Link sat at the edge of camp, hugging himself.

He didn’t belong here anymore. He knew that. The war was over, and he had lingered long enough. He needed to seek out Lana and return home, having overstayed his welcome. He seemed and felt useless at this point – for heaven’s sake, his friend had been captured and poisoned and Link hadn’t been able to get to him in time. The Hero of Warriors’ own parents had saved him, and Link had arrived too late, only tracking down some of the traitors and eliminating them. It felt like a pitiful compensation in comparison to actually ensuring the captain had never been hurt in the first place.

Glancing back at the camp, he wondered if he should at least check on the princess, who had been quite upset with the ordeal. He felt obligated to do so. He’d hardly spent any time around her, unsure what to make of the young woman. He’d had time to observe her, of course, but she was very busy with her duties and hardly was anywhere near him. She seemed a capable warrior, which made him feel… oddly proud. But it just… didn’t seem right, downright terrifying to speak with her, for her to even get a hint of who he actually was in relation to her. Of course, watching his successor struggle with being abandoned by his own parents had made Link only feel a hundred times guiltier about avoiding the princess, but…

He just needed to leave. The war was over. He was overstaying his welcome. Even Lana had left, departing almost immediately after Cia’s defeat. Link hadn’t followed her right then because he’d waited to see the others off first, the children he’d grown fond of. And he’d wanted to make sure the captain was okay.

But it had been several weeks now. He knew he was just stalling, overstaying his welcome, getting in the way, and clearly being useless.

Back to business as usual, he supposed.

Link hugged himself even more tightly, burying his face into his knees. The captain was recovering, safe in his parents’ care. He wanted to check on him one last time, but that would likely attract too much attention – the captain was basically fully recovered, if a little fatigued, and Link was certain Impa, at the very least, was hovering worriedly over her son. If Link left now there would be no fuss. The entourage was headed back to the castle anyway, preparing to celebrate their victory in the war. No one would know he left, and no one would care. It was best this way.

Sighing, he rose, feeling his body grow heavier with each step. It shouldn’t take too long to get to Lana, who likely had returned to either the Lost Woods or the Valley of Seers. That was roughly a week’s walk from here. It would give him time to himself.

The woods became darker as he went, and he lit a torch to guide his way.

Honestly, though, why was it so dark? The sun still had some rays left the last time he’d checked.

Link rubbed his cheek halfheartedly, barely registering the sting, feeling numb. He didn’t want to leave, to go back to…

He shook his head. He needed to get over it. The goddesses were merciful in granting him this purpose briefly, another war to be useful in, another means to protect Hyrule, one more rush of freedom and adrenaline, one last fight for a dying weapon.

Perhaps he should just end it in these woods. But he had to be sure no monsters had gone to his land, he had to be sure his queen and their heir were safe. He may be a terrible person, but he wasn’t a monster. Not… not yet, he didn’t think.

The next day it was even darker, and he couldn’t quite help but be a little grumpy at the lousy weather. Why had it gotten so bleak? It was as if nature itself were mourning with him.

Link rubbed his cheek again, fingers tracing over his old scar, and then he stopped dead in his tracks. Slowly, he moved his fingers into the firelight, eyes widening as he saw sticky blood shining on his hand.

His wound had been bothering him for weeks now, but it had been on and off, a lingering sensation compared to…

Wait… his scar… hadn’t stung this much before. And it had certainly never bled.

Link swallowed, feeling dread fill his stomach, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Whirling, he reached for his sword, but a hand grabbed him before he could get to it. Link struggled against the impossibly strong person, a dark silhouette towering over him in the dull light of the torch before Link dropped it entirely in his struggle.

The figure stepped forward, gold jewelry reflecting the flames, eyes glowing, red hair dull in the darkness, matching the blood on his fingers.

Link felt his heart freeze. “You—you—”

He’d—he couldn’t be here! He’d sealed him away! Hemisi, Zelda, Link, they’d all—

Link let out a strangled cry, trying desperately to free himself from the monster’s grip. A golden glow caught his eye, lighting up the area far more than his torch, and Ganondorf pulled him closer. Fear gripped at him, fear and dread and anger, an unquenchable outrage that despite everything he’d sacrificed this man was still here—

“Link,” Ganondorf rumbled quietly. His eyes looked Link over form top to bottom, and the young warrior felt the fear return tenfold, mind instantly recalling his capture during the war, the pain and torture and terror and betrayal. But the Gerudo king’s grip, while firm, didn’t lead to any blow or attack. Instead, he said softly, “You’ve lost weight, boy. What have they done to you?”

What have—how dare he—

The golden glow finally registered in Link’s mind, and he gasped. It couldn’t be it couldn’t be the others had it!!

“What did you do to them?!” He hissed, terrified and enraged, heart screaming to kill this man and check on the princess and her hero. How had—he’d only been gone for about a day, how—

“Still fighting against me, are you?” Ganondorf huffed, seeming amused rather than angered, which was such a far cry from the beast Link had seen last that it nearly felt like he was speaking to a different person entirely. “It’s too late, Link. And I won’t make the same mistake again, I promise you that.”

What mistake? What was he—how did he have the Triforce—were the captain and the princess—goddesses, was Link this foolish, this idiotic and neglectful in his duties, how had he messed up so horribly?!

Tears involuntarily stung in his eyes, fear and self loathing and an overwhelming hopelessness overcoming him. But he had to fight back, he had to, he would never just let such a monster rampage on Hyrule, he—

Ganondorf released his wrist, throwing him off balance, but he held the young hero’s face in his hands carefully, gently, oh so gently. “With the power of the goddesses on my side, no one can stop me… not even you, my child.”

Link didn’t know what to make of any of this, how to register what was happening, how he could even fight him with no Master Sword and the Triforce glowing on his enemy’s hand. But a chill started to surround him, seeping into his mind and heart and bones and making him shiver. He squeezed his eyes shut, crying openly, and he felt Ganondorf pull him closer, warm arms encircling him.

It’s okay, child. You’re safe with me, remember? We’re going to go home now. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I won’t let anyone take you from me.

Why… how was he hearing… his voice… but…

“I’ll handle Hyrule,” Ganondorf whispered as Link shivered in his embrace. “All you have to do is rest, child. You look like you need it.”

But… but that didn’t seem right…

The ice wrapped around his heart, and Link gasped at the intensity of it, the pain. Ganondorf’s hand ran through his hair, pushing the ice away. But it left him strangely numb, and addled, and suddenly Link didn’t know where in the world he was anymore.

Glancing up, he just saw a familiar face watching him, and he clutched the man’s tunic, disoriented and terrified.

“Go to sleep,” Ganondorf commanded, and Link melted into his father figure’s hug, feeling safe for the first time in years as the darkness swallowed them both.

well first of all, don’t even worry about the timeline being off Skye, I still don’t have it all worked out for hdw anyway so it’s not a huge deal sbdjddbbs

second of all:

DSODDHGHDVDHDGSSBSJSVSH

NOOOOOOOO POWER AUGH

how dare you say this isn’t all that interesting it’s VERY INTERESTING AUGH POWER BABY NOOOOOOO GANONDORF HOW DARE YOU

That last line especially hit hard, “feeling safe for the first time in years as the darkness swallowed them both” HHHHHBDHDGSH OW. POWERRRRRRR 😭😭😭

#I love this thank you so much for sharing it <333 #answers from the floor #Skyloftian nutcase my beloved #fic #hero of power #hdw au #wait OH NO #IS LINK AND EVERYONE GOING TO HAVE TO FIGHT HIM #OH NOOOOO

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the-resident-gay · 1 year ago

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top 5 fable ships go

I don't know ship names very well so please forgive me

I've also decided to do 5 platonic and 5 romantic because yes

ROMANTIC

5. Wetbird- I am a proud Icarus POV main and I enjoy a healthy bit of Vens POV as well. There is something about this ship that just feels very right to me and also they both have experience with Fable so I feel like they'd have this ability when something might set the other off with trauma and stuff

4. Ghaae- The OG polycule on the server and they can do no wrong in my eyes. They support each other so nicely and its just wonderful.

3. Isla/Enderian- The momssss. I love them sm for so many reasons. Enderian being protective of Isla and only soft for her is mmmmm/pos

2. Ocie/Centross- you guys I love them. I love them so much. They are so similar and I love them so much and they're just mmmmmmm/vpos. How to I explain the love I have for these two.

Wolftross- I hold them in my little hands. As a Centross POV main(until the cathedral, ofc), watching this relationship form was one of my favorite things ever. From the castle back to spawn to s3, I love this ship with my whole heart.

PLATONIC

5. Rae/Wolf(Nightingstar?)- Okay so I love these two as a duo, and the cast can do what the cast wants to do with their characters. Now, with that being said- something about them becoming romantic didn't and still doesn't sit right with me. I can totally see the two in a QPR, they have a great dynamic as partners, but I just prefer them as a platonic ship.

4. Ari/Momboo- I have seen like three posts about them as partners and I hold them in my hands. The sun/moon imagery. The potential for nicknames. They would be wonderful QPPs.

3. End duo- They're such close friends. They are always there for each other. I hold them in my hands.

2. Ghosty/Momboo- LOTW and the guy she revived. The everlasting friendship. Their beauty as a duo. They are so good you guys I don't know how to sell this please just trust me on it.

Prison duo- I could go on for so long about why these two are the perfect platonic relationship in my eyes. They have similar trauma, saw each other at their worsts, when through so much shit and came out as best friends. Icarus taking off their jacket, which they don't do often, in front of Centross. Icarus letting Centross give them a tattoo. Icarus barely fighting Centross when he took off their gloves. Centross showing up on Icarus' doorstep with a skulk injury. Centross fighting Fable for Icarus. Them, everyone.

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gracexthoughts · 1 year ago

Text

of violent delights chap 16

too sweet

7 june 1996

Euphemia’s POV

We made it back to the hospital wing last night in the nick of time and the discovery that Sirius had escaped sent Snape into a conniption. I won’t deny it was slightly amusing; while Snape tends to be nicer to me than Harry, he’s still a prick. Pomfrey let Harry, Hermione, Ron and I leave the hospital wing at noon this afternoon, although most of the students are at Hogsmeade for the last trip before the train leaves tomorrow.

Exhausted, I’ve chosen to rest instead of going to Hogsmeade. We may have gone to bed around eleven last night, but I added about 3 extra hours to my life so I feel like I stayed up most of the night but first, Harry and I decide to pay a visit to Lupin. His office door is open and as we enter, I notice most of his things have already been packed. “Hello Mia, Harry,” Lupin says before he turns to see us, “I saw you coming,” he smiles and motions to the Maruader’s Map open on his desk. He has more scrapes across his face and he looks terribly pale. “I’ve looked worse.”

“You’ve been sacked?” Harry asks, looking around.

“No, I’ve resigned. Professor Snape let slip the nature of my condition and I feel its best to get ahead. At this point, the outcome is inevitable.” Lupin sighs, taking books from the shelf behind his desk and into a case.

“That’s not fair! You didn’t hurt anyone! Maybe Dumbledore-”

“Dumbldore has already risked enough on my behalf,” Lupin interrupts me, raising a hand to stop me. “By this time tomorrow, owls will start arriving with angry letters from parents. Like I said, it is inevitable. It’s alright, let’s just say I’m used to it.”

“Doesn’t make it fair,” I sigh. “You’ll come live with us, won’t you? Now that Sirius can’t, we have the room.”

“I will visit, I promise, but I won’t stay. I have my own place in London and you don’t need a guardian anymore, Mia.” Lupin moves around the desk and leans against it to face us. “I’m quite proud of the two of you and how much you learned this year. Tell me about your Patronuses.”

Harry and I tell him what happened, both times, and what forms our charms took. “Our father, his animagus form was a stag wasn’t it?” Harry asks at the end of his story.

“Yes, that’s why we called him Prongs,” Lupin says, smiling faintly at the memory. He stands suddenly, as if just remembering something important, and moves back around his desk and hands harry back his Invisibility Cloak. “I brought this back from the Shack this morning. And, since I am no longer your teacher, I feel no guilt about giving this back to you as well,” he says motioning to the map. “I dare say that James would be very disappointed if his children never found any of the secret passages in the castle.” We all chuckle at that.

“None of it made any difference,” Harry says sadly, looking down at the cloak in his hands, “Pettigrew got away and Sirius-”

“Is alive. That makes all the difference in the world,” Lupin implores, looking very deeply into Harry’s eyes as he places a hand on his shoulder. “You did a very noble thing, stopping us from killing Peter. Your parents would have most certainly done the same, and Sirius may not be absolved but he is free. And the two of you are certain of his innocence. That, for now, is enough… Now, I must say goodbye. Send me an owl once you are settled in your apartment, okay?” Lupin asks, handing me a small piece of parchment with an address scribbled on it.

“I will,” I nod, smiling up at my godfather and he nods, picking up his suitcase and his walking stick but before he does, he turns to the map still on his desk and, with a flick of his wand, mutters “Mischief Managed,” with a nostalgic smile and leaves the office and the classroom, leaving Harry and I in his office in silence, just the two of us once again.

✦

Mattheo’s POV

I step into the already raging party, instantly hit with loud music and flashing lights, the air is thick with warmth and smoke as a majority of the student body celebrates the end of the school year. I push through the crowd until I see Theo, Enzo, Elladora and Astoria and make my way towards them.

“Hey mate, finally decided to stop moping and join the party?” Theo chuckles, lightly smacking my shoulder.

“Shut up,” I grumble and take the liquor bottle that he’s holding and take a swig.

“Why were you moping, Mattheo?” Astoria asks from the arm of the chair to my left.

“He got stood up by the princess last night,” Enzo says sitting down next to her, his comment making Theo chuckle. Enzo and Theo had been the unfortunate two that were still in the common room when I finally came back last night and I told them everything which I am now severely regretting.

“You planned a date with her?” Elladora cries, disgust on her face.

“No!” I growl, reaching around Astoria to smack the top of Enzo’s head. “We were supposed to have rounds. She bailed and I am not moping.”

Ella watches me for a moment before stepping closer and leaning up to whisper in my ear, “When she breaks your heart don’t come crying to me.” And with that, she shoves past me and further into the party.

“For the record, I think the two of you would be great together, Matt,” Astoria says, squeezing my hand for a moment.

“Yeah, The Girl Who Lived and the Heir of the Dark Lord. Common sense pairing really; what could go wrong?” Enzo mutters behind his drink, earning another smack but from Astoria this time.

“Why should that matter? The war is over and your father’s gone, isn’t he?”

“I need a drink. Feel free to stop discussing my life,” I grumble and turn away from my friends, their laughter following me. I push through the crowd towards the back wall of the room where the drink table is and at it, I see a familiar figure making a drink.

“Well, well, well, look who I found,” I say lowly in her ear, startling her and she turns to face me.

“Hey! You scared the shit outta me!” Mia says, her face lighting up with a large smile.

“Hey Princess,” I say with a small smile. She’s wearing lightly distressed jeans and a tight and cropped green shirt which makes her auburn hair look more vibrant; all this to say she looks fucking hot. “You look great,” I say, resisting the urge to tell her how good she looks in green and how lovely she’d look wrapped up in the dark green sheets of my dorm bed.

“Thanks,” she says, her cheeks flushing as she tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. “Hey listen, I’m so sorry about last night,” Mia says earnestly, “The whole thing was so much more complicated and insane than I ever could have guessed and I couldn’t get away. I’m sorry.” Her green eyes are wide and honest and all the bitterness that has sat in my chest the last 24 hours melts away.

“‘S’arlight, Mia. No big deal,” I say with a shrug, hoping I’m hiding the disappointment I felt last night.

“I’m even more sorry that my brother interrupted us yesterday,” she says, picking up the drink she had been making and taking a sip.

“We do seem to get interrupted a lot, don’t we?” I chuckle, pouring myself a cup of Firewhiskey. I tell myself that us getting interrupted is for the best but still everytime I’m left wondering what would have happened if we were left alone for another minute or twenty. “So, what happened last night that was such a mess?”

“Ugh, Godric,” she sighs with a chuckle. “It’s a very long story but it involved a secret tunnel, a werewolf, a rat, a dog and several dementors.”

“Bloody hell, what did you get yourself into this time?” I chuckle, eyes wide and Mia laughs.

“A mess for sure,” she laughs. “But it ended up being for the best, I think.”

“You didn’t have anything to do with the runaway hippogriff and Sirius Black escaping, did you princess?” I ask, stepping closer, and very intrigued at hearing her story.

“That’s preposterous!” She exclaims, sarcastically scandalized.

“Salazar, it’s a party, Potter, not school. Who actually speaks like that?” I tease.

“Huh, and here I was starting to think you liked the way I talk,” she fires back without a moment’s hesitation, her eyes flicking to my lips only for a moment.

“Hey, Mia, there you are. You said you’d be right back and I got worried. Everything okay here?” One of the Weasley twins asks, his eyes boring into me as I step back from Mia and he wraps an arm around her. Mia’s shoulders tense slightly as irritation flickers in her eyes for a split second.

“Peachy,” I deadpan, returning his gaze as I take a long sip of my drink. Interrupted, again.

“Hey, Freddie, Matt and I were just talking. Do you need a drink?” Mia says and I suppress a smile at Mia using my nickname so casually in front of Fred because it seems to cause him to bristle. Fred raises an eyebrow and looks back to me, his arm still around Mia’s shoulders casually, the sight twisting my gut into a knot.

“Oh yeah? Sure, I’ll take a drink,” he says, not taking his eyes off me as he grabs an alcoholic Butterbeer bottle but it seems like he’s had quite a few already.

“Yeah, Freddie. No need for a guard dog,” I sneer, leaning back against the table, my gaze not leaving Fred’s, jealousy raging in my stomach and chest. Fred stiffens, his jaw ticking, as Mia moves out from under her arm.

“Okay, unnecessary,” she snaps at me before looking back to Weasley. “Can the two of you cool it with whatever macho-testosterone-filled-pissing contest you’ve had going all year? Unless you’d rather go to the bathroom and measure them just to finally settle it all?” Mia snarks. “Mattheo and I are friends now, I told you that earlier, so there’s no need to be protective,” she says to Fred before turning to me, ”and there’s no need to be defensive.” She looks between the two of us, daring one of us to defy her.

“Mia, how can you be friendly with him? His father-”

“I am very aware, Fred, and if I, of all people, can move past it then certainly you can as well!” Mia fires back, interrupting Fred.

“I don’t need you to defend me, princess,” I bite out, my gut twisting more and more every time Mia looks at him. Mia turns to me, hurt hiding behind her eyes and I immediately regret saying it.

“Hey, don’t talk to her like that!” Fred snaps, reaching out to push me back but I swing on instrict, my fist connecting with his face, and force him to stumble back.

“Stop!” Mia cries, stepping between us as a crowd forms a circle around us. Mia pulls Fred’s hand away from his face, nothing bleeding but he’ll take a shiner home tomorrow. Fred pushes Mia behind him, her much smaller frame easy for him to push back as he comes to get in my face, using the inch of height he has on me to his advantage.

“You leave her alone. She has enough trouble in her life without you adding more,” he says lowly to me, trying to be threatening but, to me, the pranksters of Hogwarts are just clowns.

“Back up, Weasley, or I’ll send you home to your mummy in a box,” But I don’t get a chance to make good on my threat as Mia wrenches Fred back by his arm and starts shouting at him how she’s not a helpless damsel in distress and she doesn’t need him to protect her from anyone but I stop listening and stalk through the crowd and out of the party.

At the back of the room, there's a slightly hidden staircase that leads up to the boat house and the lake. I take the stairs two at a time, no longer in the mood for parties or people, and take a deep breath as the warm night air hits my face and enters my lungs. She’s too good for you. She’s better off without you in her life, the voice in my head reminds me, souring my mood further as I reach for a cigarette. I try to spark my lighter but it refuses to light, out of fuel, and angrily I chuck it into the water of the Black Lake, sending ripples across the otherwise still waters as I sit on the edge of the ancient dock.

I sigh, looking down at the unlit cigarette in my hand and try to snap the fingers of my free hand, desperately hoping to produce a flame long enough to spark. After a few tries, I manage it; a small but steady flame at my fingertips, the warmth dancing along my skin but not burning, and I inhale the smoke into my lungs and let the flame extinguish. The waning moon shines brightly on the surface of the lake and the hum of insects and birds and creatures fills my ears, slowly draining the angry blaze in my chest to smoldering embers.

I don’t know how long I sit here, smoking and staring at the water and thinking about Mia; the physical manifestation of all I want in the world and everything I can’t have. Of course the first girl I want more than one night with is her. She’s too good, too sweet, too gentle for the likes of me. Men like me don’t get the girl, they don’t get happy endings, they don’t get what they want and I hate myself for allowing my heart to convince my brain that I could have all that. I take a final drag of my cigarette and flick the roach into the water, sending more ripples across the surface as it floats away with my hope.

“That’s littering, you know?” A voice pulls me from the dark depths of my own mind and I turn my head to see Mia standing by the stairs.

“Gonna give me detention? Get a head start on next year?” I ask dryly, turning back to look out at the water. I hear Mia’s footsteps across the wooden dock until she appears in my peripheral and sits next to me at the edge of the dock.

“I’m really sorry about Fred. He’s drunk and he’s being stupid and protective and a jerk. He shouldn’t have brought up your dad, you don’t deserve that, I’m sorry,’’ she says, her voice soft and gentle.

“‘S fine,” I grumble, resisting the urge to look at her.

“No it’s not. He was totally out of line, that’s not okay,” she implores. When I don’t respond, she reaches out, placing her hand on my knee and setting me on fire, but I can’t give in to it, I can’t, so I pull away and stand up.

“I’m used to it. It’s whatever. Have a good summer, Potter,” I force myself to say, sparing one glance at her beautiful face clouded in hurt, before I tear my eyes away and start back towards the party.

“So that’s it?” Her voice rings out, stopping me in my tracks against my will. “The year is over and you’re just going to go back to hating me? Pretend that nothing happened this year? That something didn’t change between us? That there’s nothing here? You’re just gonna run away because you’re scared?” Hurt clouds her voice, changing it from the clear, sweet, tempting sound I’m so used to and I turn around to face her. She’s standing now, her back to the water and her hair blowing out behind her in the gentle breeze, her eyes dark in the low light but confusion shines in them. Even with her face in shadows and her features contorted by pain, she’s still the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.

“I’m not scared,” I manage to say, my fists clenched at my side.

“Then why are you acting like this? C’mon Mattheo, we’ve been towing this line for months and you’re going to just walk away? Try and make me think it's all been in my head?” She asks, moving to close some of the distance between us.

“Mia,” I breathe out, her magnetic field threatening to pull me in the closer she gets to me.

“No. Say it. Tell me it's all in my head,” she implores, looking up at me pleadingly, like I am her last life line.

“Stop.”

“I'll stop if you can look me in the eyes and tell me its all in my head...You can’t say it, can you?” She asks, now a mere breath away from me, her perfume invading my senses and it takes all of my crumpling willpower to not reach out and touch her. “You’re many things, Mattheo Riddle, but you are not a liar. Not to me. You can’t say it because you know it's not true. You’ve felt it too.”

“I’m not a good man, Mia,” I say, my voice rough. “I’m not a good person and I’m not going to pretend I am because running around pretending you are a good person is worse than just accepting you aren't one. I’m not good for you; everything I touch I break and I don’t want to break you.”

“I think you are a good person. I’ve seen it, I know it. You’re just afraid to show anyone because you think it makes you weak but it doesn’t!”

“I’m not afraid of anything,” I snap.

“Fine, then prove it!” She says so loudly it echoes over the water for a moment. We stand there for a moment completely still, our eyes locked and our breath uneven. I want nothing more than to close the distance between us but I don’t because she’s right. I am scared. I’m scared because there is no way this works out well. I’m not a good man and I’m not a good partner and she deserves the world and I could never give it to her. “Why are you so bloody stubborn?” She breathes out, shaking her head slightly before she takes a step forward and, cupping my face in her hands, presses her lips to mine and my world explodes.

All my willpower crumples under her touch and I give in; my hands find the bare skin of her waist, pulling her body closer to mine, as our lips move in tandem. All I’m aware of is her; her lips, the way she smells and tastes, and the feel of her body pressed against mine. The world could implode around us and I wouldn’t notice, all my senses are consumed with her. Her hands are in my hair, tangling with my curls and I pull her impossibly closer as my hands clutch her to me desperately; one still on the bare skin of her waist and the other on her cheek, wrapped up in strands of her hair that is as soft as I’ve always thought it looked. I kiss her like the world is ending, like a starved man who hasn’t eaten in years, like kissing her could absolve me of all the darkness in my soul and make me anew.

She pulls away slightly after a moment, both of us breathless, and I’m in awe of her like this: her lips swollen, hair tousled and pupils dilated. “Matt,” she says breathlessly and I lean back in, capturing her lips once more. I step her backwards until her back is pressed against the wall of the boathouse, eliciting a small gasp from Mia’s mouth as her bare skin collides with the cool glass. I smirk against her lips, pressing further into her body as I deepen the kiss, taking advantage of her gasp. My body takes over, no longer thinking through my actions or their consequences, and I just feel. All that exists to me in this moment is us and for once I’m not the son of the Dark Lord and she’s not The Girl Who Lived. We are just Mattheo and Euphemia, Matt and Mia, and right now that is more than enough.

a/n; ahhhh!!!

yes this is named after too sweet by hozier bc its sooooo mattheo riddle coded and fit really well and I was listening to it while i wrote this. also this gif makes me literally feral so enjoy ;)

one more chapter to go in PoA year and then we get to move on to GoF so yay!

taglist; @purplegardenwhispers @somethingswiftandstyles @weasleyreidstyles @mayamonroem @girlbooklover555 @stxrszurzolo @abaker74

#harry potter #harry potter fandom #harry potter fanfiction #matteo riddle #hogwarts #hogwarts oc #hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry #hp fanfic #wizarding world #hogwarts houses #mattheo riddle fanfic #mattheo riddle fluff #mattheo riddle imagine #mattheo riddle smut #mattheo riddle #matty riddle #of violent delight

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imzadi-caskett-huddy · 1 year ago

Text

It Started With a Kiss (7/?)

Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed the story thus far! I’m so glad most of you seem to be enjoying it!

As stated at the conclusion of the last chapter, I am skipping the episode “Slice of Death” because even though I’ve watched it twice within the last week, there is absolutely nothing I can find in that episode to use as a springboard for a chapter. Plus Castle and Beckett are in a good place right now, so I don’t need a filler chapter. But, the good news is that means I am now on “The Dead Pool” which has so many things I can use! This episode is heavy on dialogue from the episode…however, I did try to put my own spin on it. And, of course, I added some scenes!

The episode originally aired on April 11, so that means it’s about 2 weeks after the events of the last chapter.

I still don’t own Castle…

xxxxx

“Alex, so glad you made it,” Castle gave the slightly younger man a smile. “Alex Conrad, meet Detective Beckett. Detective Beckett, Alex Conrad, my protege,” he introduced the two proudly.

Beckett smiled and extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Alex took her hand with a charming grin. “It’s a real pleasure, Detective. I have read Heat Wave and Naked Heat so many times, I feel like I know you. The piercing intelligence, the self-assured beauty…”

“Oh, um…thank you. But most of what Castle writes is just…fiction,” she blushed slightly. “So what were you saying about the steroids?”

“Well nothing, really,” Alex started. “I was just looking at the board and I noticed that this swimmer kid, he’s caught between two worlds. Now, if I were writing the story, the steroids would just be a red herring and the real killer would be someone from the old neighborhood. Uh, yeah, but that’s just me. Clearly, I’m new at this.”

Castle gave his protege a sympathetic smile. “Alex, don’t worry. It takes years of experience,” he stated, fully expecting Beckett to laugh off his theory the way she so frequently did some of his own.

“No. No, you’re right. We don’t have any proof that this has anything to do with the steroids. We’ve just been assuming. We do need to look into Zack’s old neighborhood,” Beckett agreed with him.

Castle couldn’t believe it. “Seriously?” Was he...was he building theory with her?

“I was helpful?” Alex asked with a proud smile.

“Yes. Yes, you were,” Beckett smiled.

Castle tried not to let his reaction to Beckett’s praise of Alex show. “Yes, but you probably have lots of questions, so we should get going.” He needed to get Alex out of here and away from Beckett. This was absolutely not the way he’d pictured their meeting going, especially when Beckett had seemed against it earlier.

Alex, however, was still focused on Beckett. “Hey, uh, if it’s not overstepping, just in the interest of keeping it real, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions for the case I’m coming up with for Seriously Dead.”

Castle couldn’t help but clench his jaw. He wanted to state that yes, yes it was very much overstepping as Beckett handed Alex her business card.

“Why don’t you give me a call when the two of you are done,” she suggested.

Alex seemed to pick up on Castle’s vibes and turned to glance at him. “I mean, if it’s okay with you.”

Beckett glanced at him as well, and Castle did his best to clear his face. “Why wouldn’t it be ok?” he answered with a fake smile and chuckle.

“Okay,” Beckett nodded.

“Okay,” Alex grinned, taking a few steps backward with his eyes still on Beckett before finally turning around as he and Castle left.

It was very much not okay.

xxxxx

“It’s so not okay!” Castle insisted as he sat with his mother and daughter in the loft. “After everything I’ve done for him, he goes and tries to steal my muse,” he pouted.

Alexis couldn’t help but giggle. “Muse thievery. What’s the punishment for that? Five to ten in mythology jail?” she teased her dad.

Martha laughed as well, but she quickly noticed Castle was legitimately upset…or maybe worried…about this development, so her teasing and laughter faded.

“Yes. You laugh. Go ahead. Laugh all you want. But now I finally know what Obi-Wan Kenobi felt like when Vader turned on him.”

“No…” Alexis continued to tease, but Martha simply studied her son.

“I should’ve seen this coming. Do you know what they’re calling him down at Black Pawn Publishing?”

“Alex Conrad?” Alexis smirked.

“The next Richard Castle,” he stated.

“Oh,” Martha sympathized. This was a double whammy for him, she realized. This was professional jealousy as well as old-fashioned jealousy over Beckett. Poor kid.

“Yes. I thought it was a compliment, but no. He’s trying to replace me,” he insisted.

“What are you going to do?” Martha asked curiously, trying to get a feel for exactly which type of advice Castle was more in need of hearing.

“I am going onto RichardCastle.net. I am going to remove my glowing review of Dead Serious and replace it with cover art for Heat Rises. That ungrateful little weasel,” he grabbed his laptop, carrying out his actions as he spoke. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to make him feel better.

Alexis rolled her eyes. “Dad, did you ever think that maybe you’re overreacting a teensy bit?” she pointed out. “Did you ever think that maybe he admires you so much that spending time with Beckett is to understand you better?” she arched an eyebrow as she hit him with her logical argument.

Castle just stared at her. “Don’t confuse me with your reasonableness.”

“I’m just saying, maybe he’s not the nefarious muse-snatcher you think he is. Maybe you should give him a chance,” she kissed his cheek and patted his shoulder lovingly before heading upstairs.

Castle sighed and looked at his mother. “Do you think she’s right?”

Martha lightly patted his hand. “It’s not about what I think, kiddo, it’s about what you think,” she told him. “What are you more worried about–that he might be trying to replace you at Black Pawn, or that he might be trying to replace you with Beckett?” she asked. The look she saw in his eyes answered her question. “Richard…” she started.

“It’s just…” he started, rubbing his face. “Beckett and I are in a good place. There’s finally no one else in either of our lives but each other…and just my luck, a younger version of me comes swooping in, trying to steal her away before she’s even mine to lose,” he closed his laptop and rested his hands on top of it.

“And you accuse me of being over dramatic,” Martha shook her head. “Really…Richard…give Katherine a little credit. She is not the type of woman to suggest she shares your feelings and then ask you to wait for her if she’s going to jump into the arms of the first handsome, younger man who comes along,” she told him seriously.

“I know…I know. It’s stupid,” he agreed with a sigh. “I trust her, I do. It’s just…you didn’t see the way he looked at her…like some kind of love-struck puppy,” he breathed deeply. “I trust her. It’s him I don’t trust.”

Martha simply shot him an unbelieving look. “What exactly is it you think is going to happen, Richard?” she asked pointedly.

Castle made a face and clenched his fists slightly. “They were supposed to discuss his case for his book…probably over dinner. Or drinks,” he stated, suddenly not sure which idea bothered him more–the idea that Alex was out to dinner with Beckett, or that Alex was sharing drinks with her.

“And you think his motives are…less than professional?”

“Yes!” he answered quickly.

“And you’re worried that he’s going to trick her, is that it?”

“Yes!” He answered again quickly, but realizing what that answer implied, he immediately shook his head. “No…I don’t…I don’t know.”

Martha gave a soft laugh. “Let me tell you something, kiddo. Women aren’t as easily tricked as you men like to think we are. If Alex Conrad’s motives are more salacious than professional, Katherine is going to know. And there is no doubt in my mind that she can take care of herself, no matter his motives. We learn early on how to deal with men who are far more interested in us than we are in them.”

Castle studied his mother for a moment. “Thank you, Mother. I think.” He was still unsure of exactly what to make of her words.

“Anytime, kiddo.”

xxxxx

Castle managed to feel pretty good about Alex Conrad’s evening with Beckett thanks to his mother the following morning. She was right; Beckett wasn’t the type of woman to ask him to wait for her and then jump right to another man. She’d insinuated that she shared his feelings…told him they were on the same page even. She wouldn’t just change her mind because some up-and-coming writer showed up to shadow her.

“Morning,” he greeted her with a smile, reaching over the basket of muffins to place her cup of coffee on her desk. “Oh…muffins,” he grabbed one.

Beckett returned his smile and grabbed the cup he’d given her. “Yeah, Alex Conrad sent them to me,” she replied, leaning back in her chair slightly and taking a sip of the coffee as she studied his reaction. Surely he wasn’t…jealous?

Castle made a face at the mention of the other writer, immediately dropping the muffin back to the basket. “Alex.” He picked up the card sticking out of the basket. “Thanks for last night,” he read, shoving the card back into the basket and clenching his jaw. “So you two went out last night.”

Beckett arched an eyebrow, slightly amused…because he was jealous. “Yeah. We talked about procedure,” she answered, finally leaning forward to place the coffee back on her desk.

“Oh…so nothing…special,” he commented, studying her for a reaction that would give something, anything away to him about whatever had happened during their evening together.

She shrugged as though it were nothing. “I don’t know…he said he was going to use it all in his next book. He said next time he wants to talk about cases,” she answered simply, focusing on the paperwork on her desk. She was hoping to give him the impression that Alex Conrad didn’t really interest her. Although she found his jealousy slightly amusing, it wasn’t warranted. She’d asked him to wait for her…the last thing she was trying to do was make him jealous.

Castle’s eyes widened. “Next time?”

Beckett looked up from her paperwork to meet his eyes. “Yeah, next time,” she answered, straightening in her chair slightly.

“I thought you weren’t interested in another writer asking you questions,” he pointed out, reminding her of her earlier disapproval of the idea of even having to meet Alex Conrad.

“I thought you wanted me to be nice to him and let him ask me some questions,” she countered, arching an eyebrow.

“I did, but…” he started, only to have Beckett interrupt him.

“This is me being nice and letting him ask me some questions. As a favor to you,” she pointed out.

“Remind me not to ask for any more favors,” he murmured under his breath.

Beckett’s eyes narrowed slightly, trying to discern what exactly he’d said, but Ryan came over with some information on their victim, and her attention was redirected.

xxxxx

“Kate, you ready?” Alex Conrad asked, striding into the bullpen.

Castle made a face. Kate? He was calling her Kate? He flashed back to early October when another man had shown up in the precinct bullpen calling her Kate. The reminder of the first time he met Josh in this same place twisted his stomach, even though Josh was no longer an issue. And who was Alex to call her Kate anyway? He should call her Detective or Beckett…definitely not Kate.

Then he remembered the way she’d giggled…not laughed, but giggled…earlier that afternoon at Conrad’s text. She never giggled at his texts. In fact, he was relatively sure he’d never heard her giggle at all. Laugh, yes…he’d made her laugh plenty. But not giggle. He had to stop this, if for no other reason than his own sanity.

“Yes. Just let me get my purse,” Beckett answered with a friendly smile.

Once she was gone, Castle looked at Conrad. “So…you two are going out again tonight?”

Alex grinned. “What can I say? She’s a wealth of information. You’re lucky to have her.”

That was probably the first thing Alex Conrad had said since he arrived that Castle found he could legitimately agree with. “Yeah. Yeah, I am,” he smiled slightly. But he knew he was lucky to have her for so many other reasons than simply because she was a wealth of information. He hadn’t wanted or needed that from her for a long time. “Too bad about tonight, though.”

“Too bad how?” Alex asked, his curiosity piqued.

“Well, it’s poker night. Lehane and Connelly are in town. I thought you might want to join us, but if you have plans…” he trailed off with a shrug.

“No way. You’re…you’re inviting me to your mystery writer’s poker night?” Alex asked, clearly in

awe.

Castle offered him a smile. “Come on…you’re a mystery writer now, right?”

“Yeah, but those guys are legendary. I mean, those guys…”

Castle chuckled. “Yeah, they are. But if you’re unavailable,” he shrugged again as he began to walk away. He was sure this would get Alex to blow off his evening with Beckett. No way would he turn down this once-in-a-lifetime offer.

Alex thought about it for a moment. “Woah…wait, wait, wait,” he finally decided. When Castle turned around, he gave the older writer a smile. “Just…hang on a second,” he turned to go find Beckett and ask for a raincheck.

Castle smirked smugly. “Oh yeah, they are gonna love you.” This was perfect…so perfect it even surprised himself at how perfect it was. This would kill two birds with one stone–it got him away from Beckett and it would knock the younger man down a few pegs. It felt like sweet revenge to Castle.

xxxxx

“You know, it’s ironic,” Castle started, watching as Beckett worked on taking down the murder board. “The one man Zack thought he could trust, his mentor, turned out to be his killer.”

She paused and raised an eyebrow. “Speaking of mentor, I heard that you guys were pretty hard on Conrad last night.”

“Hard on him?” Castle asked with a chuckle. “No, no. It was just a little friendly hazing.”

Beckett’s eyebrows arched a little higher. “Hazing, huh? To hear him describe it, it sounds like someone was trying to teach him a lesson,” she stated pointedly, wondering if Castle would actually admit it or not.

“What? Why…why would I want to do that?” he asked innocently.

She tugged her lower lip between her teeth for a moment. “Because you didn’t want him to spend time with me,” she finally stated once she realized he wouldn’t admit it himself.

“That is completely…”

Beckett interrupted him, “True.”

Castle thought about it for a moment but finally sighed. “Yes. Fine. It’s true. I’m jealous. There, I

said it,” he started. “I want you all to myself, and to have you spending time with another writer, that upsets me. And if…if that makes me petty, so be it. Guilty as charged.” Though he hoped she would be understanding about it and not be upset with him.

She chewed on her lower lip for a moment before offering him a small smile. “I actually kind of think it’s sweet,” she admitted softly, nudging his shoulder playfully.

“You…you do?” he asked. He hadn’t been expecting that reaction. He was pretty sure she hadn’t thought the jealousy he’d felt toward Josh was very sweet.

“I do,” she nodded. “And that’s why you don’t have to worry about me hanging around with Conrad anymore. From now on, I’m a one writer girl,” she promised, giving him a genuine smile.

Castle couldn’t help the grin that spread across his features at her promise. He felt like literally jumping for joy, and, had he not been in the middle of the precinct with her standing directly in front of him, he probably would have. She was reassuring him, promising him, she was just his; she didn’t want anyone else. His mother had been right, though he wasn’t sure whether or not he’d ever admit that to her.

For now, though, he just needed to tamp down his excitement and play it cool. At least until he was alone and could squee like a fangirl. “I do feel kind of bad. He is my mentee, after all. He really didn’t do anything wrong,” he commented.

“Other than spending time with me, you mean,” she teased him with a smirk. “I wouldn’t feel too bad, Castle.”

Before he could ask what she meant by that, Conrad, Ryan, and Espo walked by Beckett’s desk on their way out, explaining that they were taking the writer to Riker’s for research.

“It was nice to meet you, Alex,” Kate smiled and extended her hand.

Alex took it with a grin. “You too, Detective,” he stated before heading toward the elevator with Ryan.

“So, a dude can be a muse, right? It’s not…weird…or anything?” Espo asked them.

Castle kept a straight face, shaking his head. “No, it’s not weird.”

“No…” Beckett shook her head as well.

“Nah,” Espo agreed, hurrying after Ryan and Conrad.

Once the elevator doors had closed, both Castle and Beckett laughed. “It’s a little weird,” Castle stated.

“Yeah,” she agreed, looking at him with a smile.

He was quiet for a moment. “Thank you,” he told her genuinely.

“Always,” she smiled, her eyes holding his for a moment as she used their word. She went to work boxing up the case files, remaining silent until she placed the lid on the box. “So…you want to grab dinner? I’ll let you ask me questions about procedure and cases,” she offered with a playful smile.

He chuckled at her offer. “How about just dinner?” he suggested. “Remy’s?”

She grinned, getting her things together at her desk. “Remy’s,” she agreed.

Castle grabbed her coat off the back of her chair and helped her into it. “Do you need to take care of the box tonight? I can carry it for you,” he offered.

She shook her head. “No, I’ll get it in the morning,” she told him, leading the way to the elevator. She smiled as she felt his presence quickly beside her, not behind her as he usually was. And when the elevator doors closed, she turned to him. “Was your jealousy purely professional?” she asked him curiously.

“What?” he asked, shaking his head. He hadn’t expected that particular question.

“Conrad. Did you want to teach him a lesson because you thought he was trying to steal your muse, or because you thought he was trying to steal me?”

“I…I, uh…” Castle stumbled over his words, wishing the elevator would move faster. He wasn’t sure what kind of answer he was supposed to give her, and he certainly didn’t want to give the wrong one. If he said he was jealous on more than a professional level, would she assume he didn’t trust her? Or would she think that was sweet too?

Beckett studied him silently, watching his face as he seemingly went over his options. “I asked you to give me time, Castle. That wasn’t so I could go date other guys,” she finally let him off the hook. “I thought I made it clear a couple of weeks ago when I said we were on the same page, that the next guy I dated would be you,” she stated. The elevator doors opened then, and she stepped out heading for the exit, leaving him completely stunned behind her.

He was still staring after her when she reached the exit door. It wasn’t until she turned and shot him a look that he realized he needed to move and get his brain to recover. “You do…I mean…

you did…I trust you…” he fumbled his words as he caught up with her outside the precinct. “It’s just…you guys went out…and then he sent you muffins…and then you giggled at his text messages…and then he called you Kate…” he began trying to explain.

“That’s because my name is Kate,” she laughed softly. “Lots of people call me Kate.”

“Not professionally,” Castle countered seriously.

She stopped walking and placed her hand on his arm. “Hey…it wasn’t like that,” she promised him softly. “Everything was professional, Castle. I made it clear, that’s all it was.”

“Oh…so…so he didn’t try…”

She chuckled. “Oh no, he did.” Seeing his face, she offered him a smile. “He asked if I was single,” she explained, wanting to make sure his overactive imagination didn’t think Alex had tried anything more physical on her.

“And what did you tell him?” he couldn’t help but ask. Because technically, she was single.

“That I was unavailable,” she answered, looping her arm through his and giving him a gentle tug as they resumed their walk towards Remy’s. “Like I said…I’m a one writer girl.”

“Oh…” was all he could manage to get out. She was telling men she wasn’t available…because of him.

She couldn’t help but smile slightly at his reaction. “It’s true,” she shrugged. “But it would be nice if my writer could come up with more than a one-syllable response,” she teased.

He swallowed hard. “Your…your writer?” She’d caught him off guard again.

“Aren’t you?” she arched an eyebrow in his direction as they stopped at a crosswalk.

“Yes!” he answered almost before the words were even out of her mouth. “I mean…yes, I’ll be your writer,” he tried again, sounding more controlled this time. “If that’s what you want.”

“That’s what I want,” she gave him a shy smile as she met his eyes.

“Me too,” he returned her smile. The two were so caught up in each other’s gaze they didn’t realize the crosswalk signal had changed until they felt everyone moving around them.

xxxxx

After their dinner at Remy’s, he’d hailed them a cab to take her back to her apartment. She’d told

him she wasn’t on call that night, so she would just leave her unit at the precinct since she wouldn’t need it until the following day.

“Castle, I’m a cop. I’ve got a gun. I can get myself home without any issues,” she tried to insist as a cab pulled up to the curb.

He opened the door to let her get in first, giving her a smile. “I don’t doubt that, Beckett. However, my mother raised a gentleman, and as such, I cannot in good conscience simply put you in a cab and send you on your way,” he stated, sliding in next to her and giving the driver the cross streets of her apartment building.

She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hide the smile. “Well I would hate to disappoint Martha,” she told him.

“Please don’t. I will never hear the end of it,” he said, only halfway joking. “And I do mean never.”

She laughed and swatted his arm playfully. “Stop it. Your mother is amazing.”

“Maybe she should come live with you,” he teased her with a chuckle.

“I have a one-bedroom apartment, Castle,” she laughed.

He sighed. “I guess she stays at the loft.”

She rolled her eyes again, shaking her head. “I’m sure it’s not nearly as bad as you’re making it sound.”

“No…no, it’s not,” he agreed with a smile. “Mother is pretty amazing. Just…don’t ever tell her I told you that.”

She smiled and gently squeezed his arm. “Your secret is safe with me,” she promised.

Traffic wasn’t bad considering the time of night it was, and a few minutes later, the cab was turning the corner in front of her apartment building. Castle handed the driver $20 and got out, offering his hand to Beckett to help her out as well.

“You don’t have to walk me up. Just take this cab and go home.”

He shook his head. “My mother taught me to walk a lady all the way to her door.”

She shook her head and motioned for him to follow her inside her building. Once they stepped off the elevator on her floor, he followed her to her door. She unlocked it and opened it slightly,

turning to face him from the doorway before stepping inside. “I’d ask you in for a glass of wine…or even coffee…but I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she admitted to him softly, her eyes meeting his. She knew if she invited him in, he wouldn’t leave until the next morning…and she wasn’t ready for that yet.

He shook his head slightly and offered her a smile. “It’s okay,” he promised. He wasn’t expecting anything. In fact, beginning with her promise at the precinct that she would be a one writer girl, the evening had been much more than he could have hoped for with her. “Goodnight, Kate,” he said softly after a moment.

Just as he turned to go, she reached out and grabbed the opening of his jacket and tugged him back to her, quickly covering his mouth with hers. The kiss wasn’t deep, and it wasn’t long. She held him close long enough to trace his lips with her tongue, just enough to get a taste of him, give him a taste of her, before pulling away and releasing him. “Goodnight Castle,” she breathed, giving him a last smile before stepping inside her apartment and closing the door behind her.

Castle stood staring at her closed door, completely dazed. She’d kissed him. No alcohol involved, no being committed to another man, no other excuses or obstacles…just her kissing him. He ran his tongue across his lips and smiled at the taste of her. He finally took a step away from her door and headed down the hallway back to the elevator and found himself thinking: Best. Kiss. Ever.

xxxxx

I sincerely hope you liked this one! I know it was heavy on dialogue from the show, but I love the episode, and I wanted to make it my own. I definitely gave you guys some original goods, though!

And I know some of you expressed the hope that I wouldn’t have Castle be jealous of Conrad. I’m sorry, I’m sure I disappointed you. But I wanted to touch on it because it was such an important part of the episode…and it was totally my springboard into the Castle and Beckett stuff.

Next up…LA! That’s gonna be a fun one, as you can all probably imagine which scene I’m definitely including!

As always, I look forward to your comments for those of you who feel so inclined!

#castle #caskett #kate beckett #richard castle #castle fanfiction

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localfanbaselurker · 1 year ago

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First time watching Voltron: Legendary Defender and documenting my thoughts

This is Season 4

S1-2 | S3 | S5 | S6 | S7 | S8 |

———————————————————————

Pre-Season 4 Thoughts

-> Keith joining the blades is going to be a huge plot device, I feel

-> PLEASE for the love of CHRIST let that poor little girl find her brother and father. If they are dead dreamworks better be ready to catch these hands

->I’ve heard people claim this is the “last good season”, but i stay strong 💪 and will watch till the end

->wouldn’t the paladin switch not make sense now? Cus shiro is back as the black paladin and it makes no sense for Lance to be red like it originally had? If anything, he should’ve gone back to blue, and Allura to red, because Allura is very accepting/encouraging of shiro’s role as leader. I guess they didn’t wanna do it all over again. But I digress 🤷‍♀️

->im gonna miss my Pookie (🤍❤️🤍)

Post-S4

->do they do this every two seasons?? Have an epic battle where they have a big preparation and say it’ll 100% end the war but it doesn’t and something crazy happens after they win and it sets up the next season??

->FUCK YEAH PIDGE GOT HER BROTHER BACK IM SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP 💪💪🔥🔥‼️‼️‼️🙏🙏🙏🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

->^genuinely cried so hard during this scene. would’ve cried more if I wasn’t recovering from the initial shock.

->^cried during this one too, but it was happy tears. I could actually just do a whole reaction post to this episode alone. (if you want me to js say so in the rbs/replies)

->the callback to s1! “color-coded of course, because what are we? animals?” AHHH! I’m going insane I love these siblings sooooo much

->okay I’ll stop gushing over them now

->^only valid reaction to meeting Allura. Homegirl is beauty incarnate

->I LIED. im not sorry im never shutting up about them. SHE SHOWS HIM AROUND THE CASTLE AND TELLS HIM EVERYTHING AND EVERY DETAIL AND SHES SO EXCITED CUS SHE JUST GOT HER BRO BACK AND IS JUST RAMBLING ABOUT HER NEW HOME AND ALL THE COOL STUFF SHES BEEN DOING AND HES JUST LISTENING AND IS SUPER EXCITED WITH HER AND ITS SOOOO AMAZING AND ADORABLE AND I COULD DIE

->AND THEN HE TELLS HER HOW THEIR DAD WOULD BE SO PROUD IM DYING IM LITERALLY DEAD STOP.

->AND AND AND THEY WERE ALL WORKING TOGETHER W HUNK TO MAKE THE GALRA TRACKER THING AND THEY WERE BEING SO COOL WITH EACH OTHER AND BEING NERDS TOGETHER AND AND AND AJEUWNDUWJEBEURBDGWUDKAODHD

->okay. ive calmed down. i am normal and can be trusted to simply watch a show.

->^Get his ass, Zarkon. I needed his smug ass to be humbled so bad. Only time I will agree w Zarkon fr.

->i do NOT like Lotor. Can you guys tell already??

->THE SCENE WHERE THEY TRIED TO GET MILKSHAKES AND WERE SHOCKED TO FIND OUT THAT YOU NEED TO MILK A COW STOP.✋ 😭. My high-score on the giggle-meter went up by 300%

->bro I SWEAR shiro looks different. there’s just something about him. the hair gets a pass cus how good of a haircut can you give yourself in space, yk? but that nose scar is definitely a different shade #notmyrodrickshiro

->THE VOLTRON SHOW.

->^Just. That entire episode. It’s getting a whole post actually I need to yap about it.

->^her armor is colored in a way which makes it look both pink and red while making it look like a trick of the light in a way to symbolize that she is acting as keith yet while being a paladin herself and that being unknown in the public eye and showing how they have to cover that up, any suspicion being thrown as a trick of the light. Oh vld animators ily 🫶

->on another note tho why do they always draw lance and shiro to have 30 pounds of ass. what.

->loved when those lesbians decided to take down lotor. Queen shit 💋 we stan 🙇‍♀️🙏

->Lotor is so stupid and pathetic and annoyingly smug and sus and admiral-zhao-y and I hate him but he’s SOOO FREAKING HOT and I can’t hate him completely because he’s so attractive but that just makes me wanna hate him more. He’s a walking red flag but the flag is heart-shaped and honestly idk what to do w that.

->^WHAT. stop. honestly that’s the real reason he was banned from the empire my ass would not want that fucking FREAK within a 30 light year radius of me either

-> while s3 was the klance season, s4 is apparently the allurance season, they have a lot of sweet moments. (granted all started by lance but still, you can almost see allura swooning)

->^pookie. what are you doing… pookie.. no. stop. i don’t like where this is going…

->^POOKIE NO. STOP. ✋ STOP. SAY SIKE RN.

->^oh thank fuck for Lotor.

->^^wait what. why Lotor.

->^^^heartbreaking: worst person you know doesn’t something good for once.

->he definitely wants something out of this. I don’t trust him.

These are thoughts I’ve had compiled for some time now. I will continue to post my thoughts on the tag “laura’s first vld”

I finished this season on 06/30/24. I am on S5E3 as of today (07/06/24)

#laura’s first vld #voltron #voltron legendary defender #vld #holt siblings my beloveds 🤍💚🧡🤍#people should talk about them more I love them already it’s literally been like 2 episodes of them interacting #klance and allurance are like kataang and zutara i fear #meanwhile keillura fans are like zukaang and shallura (yes laura found a new ship!) is like zukka #I love comparing this show to atla and lok #it’s like a love triangle (aka love corner) but instead of the girl it’s lance #do you guys think ill reignite a ship war genuine question I don’t want that to happen #but i digress #you guys should tell me if you’re excited about something I could “react” to btw #like “oh boy I can’t wait till you get to <xyz> episode”

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elliethecat · 3 months ago

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Say the Wrong Thing (SidLink): Chapter 6

TW: alcohol, hangovers, and injuries

Medoh, Naboris, and Rudania. The last three Divine Beasts were eventually freed by Link. He was still occasionally thinking about the prince, although it was more of an afterthought. The prince was nothing right then, Link had to save Princess Zelda.

The castle loomed over Link. This was as deadly as his adventure would get; Guardians, malice, monsters, the whole lot. Link knew he could die, but he went into the castle anyway. Monster after monster, injury after injury. Pain faced Link as he trudged through the castle. He was alone, he was hurt, and he was tired. He couldn't rest for a moment in this hostile environment, nor could he even if he left because he needed to save Zelda.

It was a grueling battle, but Link was able to eventually save Zelda from the Calamity's grasp. Link had killed Dark Beast Ganon upon his horse Epona, and somehow Epona was totally fine. Link's condition was worse as this point; the malice from Ganon worsened his injury from Waterblight Ganon. He also acquired more, smaller injuries from Ganon's malice. The only things on Link's mind were that Zelda was saved and that he needed to visit Sidon.

It took a bit for Zelda to get used to everything, but once she did she instantly saw that Link was injured badly.

"Link! I'm so glad to see you, but you're hurt!" Zelda cried.

"I know," Link signed. "I know just the person to go to. We need to go to Zora's Domain."

"Why?"

"You'll see. There's a Zora who can heal pretty much all of the injuries I got."

"I... Okay, Link. I'll guide Epona; you should try and rest."

The two got on Epona and set off to Zora's Domain. Link tried his best to wrap up his wounds while riding Epona with Zelda, though it was mildly difficult because he was riding a horse.

"Thank you for saving me, Link," Zelda murmured.

"What else was I supposed to do? I'm the hero," Link mumbled back.

"That's true; you're my hero. You're my… knight in shining armor, as my father would say."

"You're sounding like a lovesick fool, Zelda."

"Who said I wasn't?"

"I hope you're joking."

"I am, don't worry."

Zelda and Link both laughed.

"You do know I'm a lesbian, right Link?" Zelda laughed.

"I totally knew that," Link joked. "Obviously I didn't, Zelda. That's nice to know, though. The last time I checked I was aroace."

"You better not tell anyone that; you'll break so many hearts like that!"

"Ha ha, very funny, Zelda."

"I'm proud of my sense of humor."

It took a bit, but they eventually got to the gates of Zora's Domain. Zelda found a place to put Epona, and they walked into the Domain. Link grabbed Zelda's hand and dragged her along with him as he went to find Sidon.

Sidon was talking with Bazz by the sleeping pools when he spotted Link. The Prince's face glowed like a thousand suns when he saw Link.

"Link! Link you are back!" Sidon exclaimed. "I have missed you so much!"

Sidon hugged Link tightly and nuzzled the knight's forehead with his crest. Sidon's hug was tight and knocked the wind out of Link, but the knight didn't really mind. Once Sidon set Link back on the ground but before he could start ranting to the knight, Link cleared his throat.

"Sidon, I'm happy to see you but I need you to heal me." Link informed the prince.

"Oh, I shall get right to it!" Sidon exclaimed.

Sidon began healing every wound Link had on him, though just like the last time, it took a while to heal the malice on him. While Sidon was healing Link's wounds, Link and Zelda talked and joked together. Sidon was able to hear Link say Zelda's name and obviously concluded that she was Zelda. Once Link was fully healed, Link hugged Sidon, got some paper and a pencil from his pocket, wrote something down, and gave it to Sidon.

"Thank you," Link said gratefully. "Here's my address in Hateno Village! Zelda doesn't really have any place to stay so she and I are going to go to my house in Hateno. Please stay in contact."

"Of course," Sidon promised. "I'll stay in touch with you."

Link gave Sidon one last hug and then he and Zelda went to get Epona and left with her.

Sidon sat with Bazz and looked at him with a frown.

"Bazz, I think Link and Zelda might be dating, as they're going to live together…" Sidon mumbled.

"You're being crazy; they're probably just friends," Bazz consoled.

"They seem so happy together; I doubt Link would be as happy as they are with Zelda if they were with me…"

"I think they would be happy with you, Sidon."

"If you think so…"

"Come on, it's getting late. Want to go hang out with me some more?"

"Sure, why not?"

Bazz and Sidon went to Bazz's guard chamber together, and Sidon found the alcohol Bazz had in his room. It had been about a month or so since Sidon had alcohol; Sidon only drank once a month at most. Sidon took a drink of the wine, and then another. He tried to space the drinks out a bit, but he eventually became drunk. Bazz was stuck holding Sidon in his arms and talking to his drunk boyfriend or queerplationic partner.

"Baaaazzzzzz…" Sidon mumbled.

"Yes, my prince?" Bazz questioned.

"You're pretty…"

"Thank you, my prince. You are pretty as well."

"No like… you're really pretty…"

"Ah, thank you, my prince. You are really pretty as well."

Sidon began playing with Bazz's head-tail, mumbled a few more nondescript phrases, nuzzled Bazz's neck, and fell asleep. Bazz laughed to himself, smiled, and softly patted Sidon's head. Sidon wasn't the worst to be around when he was drunk, but it definitely made the Zora Prince more affectionate.

It was already really late when Link and Zelda began to leave Zora's Domain, so they just decided to go to the inn and sleep there.

The next day, Link and Zelda woke up and walked out of the inn.

"We should go say goodbye to Sidon again," Link suggested.

"Sure, that would be nice," Zelda agreed.

The two went searching for Sidon all throughout the domain, and they eventually found him in his office. Link carefully opened the door and saw Sidon trying to write something but was obviously in pain.

"Hey, Sidon," Link whispered. "Is everything alright? Zelda and I just wanted to say goodbye."

"I just drank too much last night…" Sidon confessed. "I have a headache, I feel weak, I feel tired… I just feel like garbage."

"I'm so sorry; would you like Zelda and I to leave?"

"No, no, it is fine…"

"Sidon, it's obvious that you need rest. Come on, where's your room?"

"Third door on the left."

"Okay, come on."

Link took Sidon's hand and dragged him over to his room. Link walked into Sidon's sleeping pool with him and cuddled up close to him.

"I'll explore the Domain more; you two have a good rest," Zelda laughed.

"Have fun, Zel," Link replied.

"Thank you, Link."

"Of course."

Sidon was already fast asleep; he must've needed the rest. Link wasn't that tired, so he just stayed awake while holding the sleeping prince in his arms. Even though Link didn't think he liked Sidon, there was a certain… je ne sais quoi about the prince that he couldn't put his finger on. He was kind, pretty, helpful, selfless, et cetera. Sidon was everything Link could want in a partner, and he found himself falling for the prince as well.

"I have something to tell you when you wake up, sleepy guy," Link whispered as to not wake Sidon up. "That is if I remember to."

#Say the Wrong Thing‚ a SidLink fic #tw alcohol #tw hangovers #tw violence #legend of zelda #loz #zora #tears of the kingdom #sidlink #sidon x link #botw link #god i love sidlink #lesbian Zelda 🗣🔥🔥🔥

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eatingthroughthedas · 4 months ago

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Transcription under the cut

Dear Mum,

It's me, Devon! I’m all grown up now—or, well, more grown up than before. You always said I was too much like a child for my own good, and given the number of times you caught me daydreaming about going off on some grand adventure instead of sweeping the floors, I will grudgingly admit that you probably-probably-had a point. But guess what? I finally went on an adventure! A big one! Just like the Hero of Ferelden!

Okay, well, maybe not exactly like the Hero of Ferelden. But I did travel across Thedas! From Ferelden to Orlais, to Rivain, to even Tevinter. Plus, everything in between. It was a long journey, Mum. Weeks and weeks on the road, with the occasional bandit or beast. You'd probably have hated it, but, by Andraste, I loved every second of it! The sights! The sounds! The food.

Oh yes, the food. The reason why I set out on this journey to begin with. I know that I wasn't particularly adept in the kitchen the last time we saw each other. And, yes, I do remember that I nearly set Castle Cousland aflame with my first attempt at a stew. But I am pleased to inform you that I have been practicing extensively, and I think that, if the position still existed, I could take up your mantle as the Cousland family's cook. Granted, I doubt I would be able to fill your shoes completely; no one could manage such an impossible task. But I like to tell myself that I still would be able to make you proud.

And that takes me back to this journey and the all-important question of why. Why did spend the last year traveling from one end of Thedas to the other, sampling whatever local cuisine Icould get my hands on, even dishes that were downright strange? You're probably thinking that it's because the Hero of Ferelden ate it at some point— yes, that's certainly part of it, though I'll have you know that I tracked down foods enjoyed by the Champion of Kirkwall and the Inquisitor as well! Not to mention all of their companions. But the truth is, Mum, throughout all of this, you were right there with them at the forefront of my mind. Because when I thought of ways to honor you, I kept coming back to the most important lesson you taught me:

Love through tood.

Every time I left your kitchen with a warm, full belly, I felt your love for me. And though I can’t do the same for you anymore, I can fill this book. I can stuff it full of difterent recipes, dishes you've probably never even heard of, and think of you with each new entry. Because, you see, Mum, underneath all that childlike excitement, the dreams of adventure and heroism, I'm still very much your child. And I always will be.

Thank you for everything, Mum. I can't wait to share this book and the lesson that inspired it with the rest of the world.

Love, Devon

#dragon age tastes of thedas

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abhainnwhump · 1 year ago

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IMYM Chapter 33: Better Late Than Never: Ribbon

(Content warnings: Drowning, torture, mouth gore, near character death)

<- Previous Chapter || Masterlist || Next Chapter ->

The second Ribbon teleported into his room, he ducked and hid under his blankets.

He tried to calm down his shivering and remind himself that yes, he was safe! He picked up as many stuffed animals as he could and hugged them to his chest. He wasn’t there, but he could hear the faint blastsof Gaster Blasters and the shing of bones and knives. Or that was all in his head, his messy, dumb little head.

I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die. Ribbon’s thoughts raced. Why are they going through so much effort to take me away? Why does Dream hate me so much? Did I do something wrong? I can’t go back, not into that scary hospital . . .

No, Nightmare would never let him be kidnapped and tormented again, he said it himself.

Ribbon clutched Nightmare’s oversized jacket tighter. It smelled like him, apple cider, and it was cozy. Ribbon knew that though as he was the one who made it. He kicked his high heels off and laid the chain of flowers aside. He hoped he could still wear it later, once they defeated Dream and could celebrate.

To distract himself, he played with Sprinkles, the bunny plush he took from Epictale. It was one of his favorites, the teddy bear Nightmare gave him. The second was the very first plush he had in his collection. He named it Lumi. It was even one of the animals he painted on his wall.

Ribbon tilted the heads and messed with the paws of his stuffed animals. “Am I overreacting? Is Nightmare going to be okay? Is he in danger? Oh no oh no . .” Ribbon rubbed his bunny’s arms against his cheek to pretend it was hugging him. Ribbon nuzzled, but he couldn’t stop worrying about Nightmare, Horror, Killer, and himself. Ribbon closed his eyes. If he went to sleep, it would all be over by the time he woke up! It was a perfect plan! He tried his best to drift off. He managed to half-sleep for ten, maybe fifteen minutes.

The doll thought he heard footsteps, but that wasn’t possible. There was no one else here! Was Nightmare back already? But it sounded too frantic. Nightmare could be nervous and wanted to get to him quickly.

The doll looked up as a skeleton with a purple jacket broke into his room. He panted with his eye sockets closed. He opened them to reveal a glowing purple eye. He looked around and groaned. “Ugh . . . not this weird ass room again-”

Epic noticed Ribbon cuddled up on his bed. Ribbon scampered backward, muffling a scream. Panic made him forget his battle training. He struggled between deciding to fight or to hide. Epic did a double take and grinned a serial killer smile. “Oh, hey bruh. Aren’t you supposed to be getting married right now?”

“Yeah, N- Nighty hid me from the bad guys. We’re married!” Ribbon’s voice trembled. He stood up and walked to the side of the room with his parasol. He took a deep breath. Pretend Nightmare was here and he was watching, he was going to be proud . . . Ribbon had to protect him and the castle. “Why are you here?”

“I was breaking in with Cross to get that contract Nightmare put you under! Then Killer came out of nowhere and told Cross he ‘just wanted to talk’. Cross told me to run and we argued and then he pushed me out. I didn’t want to end up here, bruh.” Epic stood up. His hand glided to his belt, but then he paused. A smug look covered his face. “I’m not going to hurt you, put the parasol down.”

“No!” Ribbon didn’t know what he meant by serum. His hand reached up to touch his ruby necklace. He had a bad feeling about that. But Killer was here? He had a backup! Ribbon relaxed a bit. Epic turned around as he heard knives clashing in the hallway. He sighed and offered his hand to Ribbon.

“Look, bruh. I don’t know what’s going on in your head right now and I get you don’t trust me. But this is also seriously messed up. The other guys and I are getting you out of here and to some much-needed therapy. This whole doll and mind control nonsense is finally going to be over.” As Epic spoke, he inched toward the door until he entered the hallway. The battle sounds grew louder. Glass shattered.

“Liar!” Ribbon followed him out into the hall and stood in a dainty battle stance. He stood with one foot in front of the above and Blossom on his shoulder. “You have to think I’m dumb if I’m going to believe that! Well, I am kinda dumb, but you know what I mean! I’m not leaving my husband and I don’t need therapy!”

Epic shrugged, looking more baffled than angry. “Bruh, have you seen yourself lately? Yeah, you do.” He paused. “Hey, that reminds me . . . remember about a year ago when we were playing ‘never have I ever’ and we made that bet? Before all of this happened?”

Ribbon had no idea what he was talking about. He tried to think of what Epic did with him a tear ago, but he didn’t know. At least when it was Dream, Blue, or Error, he knew a little bit. Nightmare never talked about Epic, so he wasn’t worth remembering. “No.”

“That sucks. We were supposed to do this in my AU, but in case you forgot, you and your hentai husband destroyed it. And want to know something else?” He dug into his jacket, took out something yellow and red, then tossed it to him—a squeaky chicken. Ribbon gave it a squeeze. Then Epic grabbed another one for himself and held it out like a sword.

“You still owe me a rubber chicken battle.”

Despite his fear, the doll couldn’t help but giggle. This was so silly! There was no-

Epic slammed the chicken into his chest with the force of a karate kick. Stumbling, Ribbon coughed up stuffing. Why did this guy keep hitting his energy box?

“What? Can’t handle a fight without the octopus?” Epic squeaked the chicken. He charged at him and jumped up, smacking Ribbon in the face with the rubber chicken. It made a loud caw.

Ribbon knew it was breaking the rules, but they weren’t Nightmare’s rules so they didn’t matter. He dropped the rubber chicken and picked up his parasol, which he dropped when he was hit. He twirled with the weapon in his hand and rammed Blossom’s point at Epic, but it hit the wall instead. Oopsies.

“Come on! You’re not even a good sport anymore, bruh!” Epic kept dodging as Ribbon kept stabbing. He ended up hitting him in the shoulder and Epic hissed. His chicken slid a bit from his hand for a moment before he retightened his grip on it.

Ribbon stumbled as he finally landed the hit. Epic hissed and pulled the point out of his shoulder. He stayed light on his feet and moved to hit him again with Blossom.

Epic leaped back and fired a Gaster Blaster at Ribbon. The doll leaped to avoid the beam. He took a moment to regain his breath. Epic kicked him in the face. Ribbon stumbled, coughing up white fluff. His boot was dirty, Nightmare wasn’t going to be happy that his makeup was ruined.

Ribbon solution was to run, he knew the castle better than Epic did. Epic chased after him and teleported in front of his path. Ribbon twisted around and ran to a different hallway. All of the training Nightmare gave him about running in heels paid off. He managed to get away and not trip on his dress. The intruder grunted as he ran. “Calm down, you brainwashed bruh!”

Ribbon bounced awkwardly as he almost tripped on a curve. He said he was doing good too early, or it was too much nasty pride. Ribbon stopped as he came across a different battle. Killer threw knives at Cross, who parried all of them with his dual daggers. But what if Nightmare couldn’t get in and-

“Ribbon!”

Sharp bones surrounded the doll, keeping him in a little cage. No, cage wasn’t the right word, that meant he was being punished. This was more like a safe space. Ribbon put his hands on the sides, not even trying to escape. He looked behind him at Epic. Cross and him in the same place . . . that was scary and dangerous.

“There you are, finally!” Killer shouted over the violence.

Ribbon squealed in his space. Epic shot a massive bone through his train and pinned him to the ground. He pulled the bone with one arm and reached his other arm out for the stronger skeleton. He had to let go to pull his string. “Help me! He’s going to kill me!”

“Bruh, didja listen to a single word I said? You’re not going to die! If anyone is going to bite the bullet here, it’s going to end up being Killer!”

Cross didn’t pay attention to him and sliced Killer’s face. Epic ducked down and dropped a kick to his ankles. Killer tripped but didn’t fall. He stomped on Epic’s exposed hand, holding a knife over his head. Epic rolled to dodge each knife slash, getting part of his trench coat chopped in the process. Ribbon shivered in the spot. Where was Nightmare? He should’ve been here by now! He wanted Nightmare! He wanted his love and protection, he could’ve taken both of them down by now. Ribbon glanced between the three, feeling useless.

“Get off of him!” Cross slammed Killer into the wall with his telekinesis. Ribbon tensed up, but he also got angry. They hurt part of his family! Ribbon focused on the bone and kept pulling it, trying to yank it out of the floor and his dress.

Killer chuckled and launched a field of bones at them. When Epic jumped back, Ribbon snuck up on him with Blossom. Cross tried to go in for the kill, which made Killer grin. Killer fought Epic with much more effort than Cross. Ribbon remembered what Killer told him at the chapel and it all made sense. Ribbon didn’t scream because his pullstring ran out. Epic’s glowing purple eye flashed at him as he stabbed him right above the soul. Epic covered his chest and screamed. Ribbon took his chance when he threw Epic off and stabbed him again. Aw, he had to clean Blossom later. Killer saw what he was doing and decided to help. He fired a Gaster Blaster at Cross to distract him and shot knives at Epic. He dodged most of them, but not the one that stabbed him through the soul and made him collapse.

“EPIC! Fuck, get up!” Cross blocked another one of Killer’s attacks. Cross picked up Epic and held his limp body in his arms. He snapped his finger and teleported away. Ribbon trembled once he left, did he really manage to fight back? Without Nightmare?

He helped Killer stand up and he hugged him, grateful for someone he trusted. Killer pet his head. “Thanks. Boss sent me after you. He’s pretty angry about all this. If Epic hurt you, I’m dead.”

“He- he didn’t hurt me. I’m just scared.” Ribbon wiped his dirty face off with his sleeve, getting it dirty too. He touched the spot where Epic hit him with the rubber chicken. "Well, maybe he damaged my energy box, I don't know . . ."

"Aw, damn it," Killer said. "I'll tell boss that he hurt you before I came and saved your life, but you gotta back me up."

"I will! Promise!" Ribbon nodded and Killer ruffled his head, making him giggle. Killer tilted his head, listening for Cross. He walked into one of the rooms with a window and peered out. Cross ran through a tunnel at the bottom of the castle.

Killer grabbed him. "Hold on one sec, I'm gonna shortcut the shortcut." Killer snapped his fingers and teleported to the castle gardens, next to the lake. Nightmare didn't like him around this place because he was always worried he was going to fall in.

"Error! For the love of Asgore, where are you?" Cross swore under his breath. He crouched down and covered Epic's injury to heal him. His soul hovered above his chest. Blossom left a nasty gash in the middle of it. Was it wrong to feel a teeny tiny bit of guilt?

Killer didn't even try to sneak up and attacked right away. Ribbon wasn't ready. Cross created a shield of bones around him as he kept trying to heal Epic. Killer teleported inside the bones. He eyed something poking out of Epic's jacket, a syringe and a sheet of paper. Ribbon had no idea what the syringe was for, but he recognized his contract. Nightmare wanted that!

"That's Nightmare's!' Ribbon pointed out. Cross didn't seem to care. Even Nightmare's scariest moments didn't compare to the glare Cross gave him right now.

"I can't believe you." Cross charged at him with his daggers. He had to leave Epic and his bleeding chest alone in the grass. Killer dashed around Cross, leaving small cuts all around his body. Cross's clothes were already so ripped up that it seemed like nothing changed. Cross summoned a massive Gaster Blaster and jumped on it. He fired it at Killer with the same fire burning in his eye lights. The flames burned down a long X-shaped path of trees and flowers. Ribbon yipped in fear, almost stumbling into the lake by accident. Cross's guard armor looked like it almost glowed purple.

"ERROR! CORE!" Cross screamed into the sky. His soul was wrapped in blue magic and Killer zipped him around the grassy area. He bashed and bonked into every surface like a basketball. Once he stopped, he was covered in bruises and scars, but he didn't give up. He looked even angrier as he wiped purple blood off his face.

Killer pulled him close. "My offer's still open if you wanna give up."

Cross tried to stab him in the face, but due to the awkward position of his arm. He couldn't go far and it ended up swinging in the air more than anything. He kicked Killer's knees, trying to knock them out and make them trip. Ribbon stayed far away from the fight. He ran along the path, trying to return to the castle. Killer was strong, Killer could do this. But something made him stop.

Cross screamed and used his telekinesis to trap Ribbon in a bubble. He threw him in the air and off to the side. Ribbon screamed and kicked mid-air before slamming into the lake. He kicked and flailed his arms to get to the surface, but sparks flew out. Ribbon sunk deeper into the lake. Water leaked through the ball joints on his body. This was exactly what Dust warned him about. Where was Killer? Why wasn't he there to save him? Ribbon's vision flickered as his eyes sparked. The hand he reached up for help fell. It felt like his mechanical organs were going to explode. His vision went dark as he sank into the dark blue lake. At least it was pretty . . . sorry Nightmare.

A hand reached out into the dark, but Ribbon already fell asleep.

==============================================================================

Ribbon wasn't sure what happened next, he was knocked out and confused. He remembered . . . drowning, that was right! Cross pushed him into the lake and Ribbon started to die. He looked around the room and recognized it as the medical room. He was wrapped in a thick blanket and his entire body hurt like it was lit on fire. His wedding dress and jacket were gone and he wore a dry fluffy nightgown. His vision was still blurry. He found Lumi lying by his side in the blanket and Ribbon weakly held it. The ball-jointed openings on his body were all wrapped in tight bandages.

Nightmare sat on the bed next to him, reading a novel. He looked sleepy. Ribbon made small noises, whatever he was able to do since he didn't have the energy to pull his string. Nightmare heard it immediately and moved to Ribbon's side, holding his hand. "Ribbon! Oh my sweet little doll, how do you feel? Don't move."

Nightmare tightened the blanket around him and pressed his head against his. Nightmare pushed Ribbon aside so he could hold him. His tendrils wrapped around him and Nightmare showered him with kisses. "You need to thank Dust the next time you see him, he saved your life. We've been draining the water out of you for about thirty-six hours now. Oh, my poor baby. I'm so sorry I wasn't there when you needed me. It seems every time I leave you, even for a minute, you're hurt. I believed you would be safe here."

Ribbon squirmed in bed, trying to reach his pullstring. Nightmare pinned his arms down when he cuddled him. Ribbon tried to point at it so he could talk. Nightmare pulled it for him and Ribbon sighed. "Thirty-six hours? Does that mean I missed the wedding?"

He was excited for the dancing and the cake and having a romantic evening! Then he screwed it up because he was too slow to stop Cross. Nightmare nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. You missed the ceremony and it was me and the Murder Time Trio. Don't feel too upset, there were plenty of leftovers. You must be hungry, would you like me to bring you some of the lamb?"

Ribbon nodded. It looked amazing when the delivery people brought it. "Yes please! Can I have some of the cake too?"

"Of course. Whatever you want, my wife, I'll get it for you." Nightmare got out of bed. Before he left, he paused with a chuckle. "I almost forgot the best part. The Star Sanses, Cross, Epic, and Core won't be bothering you anymore, they're in the dungeon. Horror found Core in the castle. They broke some of the ballroom, but it's fixable. I was waiting until you woke up for Cross to receive his punishment. I thought you would enjoy watching and receiving revenge."

Ribbon's head peeked up. "Really? Can I watch?"

"That's what I was hoping you would say. Would you like to eat first or after you see Cross?"

"I can wait to eat." Ribbon tried to sit up, but his head ached. He coughed up a bit of water, still not a hundred percent out of his system. Nightmare didn't mind helping though and scooped Ribbon up in his arms, taking the blanket off. He carried him carefully out of the medical room. Ribbon wouldn't have minded falling asleep again with Nightmare rocking him. "When I drowned . . . did I destroy my dress?"

Nightmare shook his head. "You soaked it, and my jacket. Both of those items can be dried. I don't care about your clothes, Ribbon. Just you." Nightmare peered down and looked bashful. "But you are to make up the lost night to me by putting that dress back on and dancing with me. I would say in the ballroom, but that's under repair, so wait until the honeymoon."

“I promise, I'll dance for you. I can sing for you too . . ." Ribbon smiled at the thoughts. He could sing for Nightmare too. Nightmare carried Ribbon down the steps of the dungeon, not struggling a step. Ribbon listened to the faint sound of arguing. He recognized Error's voice above all else. His friend was back.

Nightmare walked into a different room though, the private torture chamber. Cross sat in a chair, tied up and furious, but also confused. The gag in his mouth kept him from saying much, but Ribbon assumed he was mad at Killer. Killer seemed disappointed at Cross's confusion, whatever they were talking about. Nightmare sat down on the floor nearby and sat Ribbon on his lap.

Cross's eye sockets widened in shock. Killer ripped his gag off and made him cough. "Ink? I thought you drowned."

“He almost drowned. Or more accurately, you almost drowned him." Nightmare pat Ribbon's head as spoke as if he was a perfect pet cat.

"I didn't know he was weak to water! How was I supposed to know that? I was trying to distract Killer by making him chase after-"

"I don't care if it was an accident, you attempted to kill my wife. Now you're paying the consequences of attempting to kill him. Along for betraying me, dating my brother, and making Killer sob for a week straight. You changed and ruined everything."

Killer shot Nightmare a narrowed look.

Nightmare ignored him. Ribbon's head drifted to the side, but he kept smiling at Cross. “I already know what I want to do with you." Nightmare snapped his fingers.

He summoned two clamps, one to hold each side of his mouth open. He also summoned a mini saw. Ribbon oohed. Nightmare handed the tools to Killer with his tendrils. "Killer, do you remember the jaw kill we used on Fellswap Mettaton years ago?"

A flash of doubt crossed Killer's face, but then he looked at Cross and it turned into jealousy. He grinned. "Yeah, that was one of my favorite kills! Top five at the least. That's what Cross deserves?"

“What the hell are you guys talking about? What's a jaw kill?" Cross pulled at his chains, but the Anti-magic effects were strong.

"You'll find out. You're experiencing the set up, but not the death. Don't worry, traitor." Nightmare nodded toward Killer. He grabbed both clamps and walked closer to Cross. Nightmare leaned down by Ribbon's head. "If this scares you too much, tell me and I'll shield you, okay, sweetie pie?" Ribbon nodded.

Killer strapped the devices onto Cross. The metal pried his mouth open and he struggled to close it. He thrashed as he tried to pull the device off. Killer snickered. "I take back what I said earlier, you still look hot when you're helpless. Sucks you still don't want me."

Killer flipped the saw in his hand and hit the hinge of Cross's jawbone. He sawed back and forth, making Cross scream. The clamps kept him from closing his mouth. Killer didn't saw it all the way off, only enough so there was a tiny hinge on each. Cross's eyes turned into pinpricks. The violence scared Ribbon, but it also made him smile. Cross was never going to hurt any of them ever again!

Once both sides were sawed and Cross was in a daze, Killer stuck his hand under his jawbone. He put the other one on the side of Cross's head. In one quick swoop, Killer twisted Cross's head with a punch and a snap that echoed around the room. That, and Cross's screams of pain, were the only sounds. His blood-stained lower jaw flew across the room and hit the wall. Cross looked down at his mouth the best he could. His entire jaw was gone. His thrashing got worse.

Nightmare held the jawbone in his tendril and looked it over. "You had an excellent skull shape, shame you had to ruin it. I'll keep this on my office wall, sound fair?"

Cross tried to scream, but without his missing jaw and tongue, he couldn't say anything. He toppled and the chair fell with him, making him land harshly on the ground and knocking him out. Ribbon clapped and Nightmare laughed.

He deserved it, it was fair!

(Before Nightmare and Ribbon made it into the dungeon, Killer sang some parody of "Meant to Be Yours" from Heathers the Musical. Something about killing Epic and/or Dream and turning the Omega Timeline into Vietnam. Cross is sitting there like "what the fuck")

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