#Although it's hard with the twins call him a hypocrite all the time

[maidenofthecloud]

so i was rewatching the first season of lego monkie kid and i saw this scene again

So I came up with a theory /headcanon (maybe the future au) what if rumble and savage aren't normal clones, what if they're not even clones, and what if they're a mix of monkey clones and sun wukong's powers that mk stole,

What are my reasons for thinking that might be the case

To start with savage's face and rumble looks like a mix of Monkey King and macaque

If rumble and savage appear there's no way they're macaque clones (if that's what they are) we've already seen what macaque clones look like.

creating rumble and savage with the help of lady bone demon or she could have made them, to create perfect soldiers for their plans.

Except that they were nothing as they had planned them to be, at first they acted like nothing more than normal clones who were obedient and servile, the problems started when they began to develop their own personalities they began to hate being called clones or weapons and called themselves their own person. They even developed a fascination with the Monkey King. It all culminated in their confinement when macaco caught them trying to escape.

Rumble and savage will appear perhaps in season 7 as antagonists.

I thought it would be great that when everything goes well for macaque starts wanting to be a good person. The twins seem to remind him of the mistakes of his past,

Macaque tries to get rid of the twins peacefully, secretly not wanting to face the fact that they are people and thing worse. The children he create just to be used as weapons

But at some point he has no other way to face his mistakes and understand he was wrong to try to be a better person.

Gain his redemption.

[ninjakk]

A friend who, unfortunately, likes JC defended him a lot to me when I was first watching the donghua then read the novels. Perfectly honest, I thought he was a loser but my friend kept defending him for being able to pull the Jiang sect together after the LP massacre but...I don't know? Did he really? wasn't it more WWX's reputation that pulled the sect up and high? Is JC actually a good leader? I have trouble seeing that

Hi anon 😊

Ah yes, I have been there as well unfortunately!

Although I was respectful of their opinion, it seems we no longer talk haha 😆 Perhaps it was something to do with the time they claimed JC hunting down and torturing innocent people who used guidao was "just a baseless rumour" - to which I casually responded with proof it was certainly not a rumour. I mean, JC literally encouraged JL to kill them and feed them to his dog for a start 😂 I don't think that was a joke in the slightest lmao. Honestly, I didn't expect them to take offence at the evidence proving otherwise, since we enjoyed discussing the novel and debating such things anyway! But, hey-ho!

Hmm, the whole "restoring the Jiang sect to its former glory" debate is a major source of discourse between MDZS fans! I mean, JC did join forces with the Twin Jades of Lan and launch a surprise attack on the Wens in order to secure their confiscated swords. Which I have to say, I always found so hypocritical and two faced of him to do... You know, considering he not only unjustly blamed LWJ for everything that happened to LP, but even wished WWX had left him and JZX to die in the cave prior to the attack as well! And he calls WWX shameless...

But even so, JC seems to have worked hard in the three months WWX was missing. Attacking the Wens supervisory offices and hunting down WC alongside LWJ and the respective cultivators under their command. Even WWX praised his efforts when they were all reunited. So credit where credit is due, I guess.

That being said, it works both ways! WWX's efforts should not be ignored either - which I often find the case whenever JC is praised for his accomplishments regarding the Jiang sect. WWXs new cultivation path is what helped them gain an upper hand during the Sunshot campaign, he garnered much praise and admiration during the war - it was only in the aftermath that people began to turn against him, especially seeing the obvious lack of loyalty or protection from JC. But WWXs guidao most certainly helped rebuild the sect's reputation and enticed new disciples as well. JC even gave his blessing for WWX to showcase his cultivation during the Mount Baifeng night-hunt, in order to recruit even more disciples! So I agree with you, WWX's new cultivation path was one of the driving forces in helping elevate the sect to its former glory, perhaps even beyond.

As for whether JC is a good sect leader? Honestly? No.

Evidence would suggest otherwise, in my opinion. Some like to pretend JC is the beloved sect leader of Yunmeng - but that's far from the case. He's made the sect less approachable, closed its doors to the public and scared away those seeking help on matters he doesn't deem worthy of his attention.

The general public seem frightened of him because of his awful personality and the fact they have witnessed him torturing innocent people. His own disciples seem to feel like they have to walk on eggshells around him and be careful of his famous temper. He seems more focused on pushing JL beyond his limits and imposing his own insecurities on the poor kid than actually helping others with their problems. When he's not doing that, he's off hunting down his latest unsuspecting victims to torture and do god knows what to!

So no, I don't consider him to be a particularly good sect leader, his priorities do not align with what I (or I would assume most others) would consider as such. A great leader is able to get along with others and inspire their disciples. They should also be able to secure backing from the general public by being present and approachable when issues arise.

Let's put it this way - LWJ was given the title 'Hanguang-jun' a title befitting of how the public perceive him, righteous and willing to help others. JC also has a title, that of 'Sandu Shengshou', which is in relation to a Buddhist saying regarding the three poisons - the root of all turmoil. Certainly not a good public image to have! Even the general tone of anyone talking about him isn't overly respectful - people rarely call him by his courtesy name unless they are addressing him directly. Otherwise, it's his birth name, which of course, is highly disrespectful unless you are very familiar with said person. MXTX made a deliberate choice for the public to call him 'Jiang Cheng' instead, so it is certainly significant and shows us that he is not well respected or liked by the general public and even other cultivators! This is in the first few chapters as well! All in order to set the tone of how JC is perceived. I mean, even the narrator (which is of course a stand alone entity/person and not WWX as many wrongly assume) calls him JC instead 😂

Overall, I think JC did put effort into building his sect up again, but WWX certainly deserves equal credit for that as well. That being said, it doesn't alter the fact he's not a very good leader in the sense I would consider, and I think that's been made more than apparent in the text as well.

[dontbotherwiththepronunciation]

I know that it’s not clear whether Jeyne Poole was crushing on Robb or Theon, and even though, when shipping, I like to believe it was Theon, I would prefer to think it was both. Because, to me, it would be very funny if Jeyne Poole had her own Margaery Tyrell-type of curse.

If Jeyne Poole ever crushes on you, you will at some point suffer greatly and end up looking very fucked up.

The intensity of the crush will also determine how fucked up you end up looking!

Beric Dondarrion? She wanted to marry him the minute she saw him. Used to be handsome and dashing and now he looks like a zombi, is missing an eye, has lost half of his hair and has huge scars around his neck and cranium!

Theon Greyjoy? She considered him handsome and simped by watching him play in the yard and now he is suffering from malnutrition! Has lost most of his teeth, three fingers, three toes, his hair is white and brittle like that of an old man and he hasn’t been allowed to bathe in 7 months!

Robb Stark? Good looking fellaw favoring the Tully side of his family whom she looked at a few times with slight romantic interest. Due to the crush being mild, it was only his corpse that got disfigured, but still! they cut his head off to sew that of his wolf’s on his body!

If she at some point crushes on Jon, I want to see him start to disfigure too. Make him look like Ghost. Give him white hair, a bunch of scars and red eyes.

This is all obviously meant as a joke, but I do think it is interesting how Jeyne Poole was presented to the viewers as Sansa‘s shallow sidekick (calling Arya “Horseface”, the mean nicknames to the twins at King’s Landing, being afraid of Jalabhar Xho due to his appearance) during the first three books only to then be shown as an extremely humane person by recognizing Theon and thus offering him humanity.

I used to ship Theon/Jeyne really hard when I first read ADWD (and as of now, it’s a conflicting guilty pleasure), but it always amused me seeing how different her fandom-characterization was depending on whom the focus of the story was.

In Sansa focused stuff she is usually the less-pretty, snarky (often more vulgar) best friend. (À la Robb & Theon)

In Arya focused fics she takes a more antagonistic role, although she is never “evil”, just a minor bully. (À la Jon & Theon)

And then with Theon focused stuff she is practically a saint! Even when Theon is characterized as more snarky than he usually is in post-Ramsay fics, she is always portrayed as extremely patient, caring, tender, gentle, etc.

And mostly, she is also vaguely ignorant. Rarely have I seen fanfics where she is confronted with Theon’s past actions, and in the few cases she is then she immediately becomes wise and forgiving and is as understanding as most of the Theon-loving-readers are.

This is not meant as a critique to those who write her in that way (I’d be a huge hypocrite, as said, that ship is the conflicting guilty pleasure), but I would love to see a different reaction. I would love see her frightened. I would love to see her appalled and disgusted. (And after that initial reaction, and maybe some time where they have a bit of emotional distance, she can become wise and forgiving and all that too while still being bitter every now and then about him, you know, having threatened to hang Beth, whom she was apparently friends with, killing two innocent kids AND PASSING THEM AS HIGHBORN LORDS OF WINTERFELL, offering Palla to be raped BY RAMSAY, and overall just bringing a bunch of murderous pirates to what used to be her home)

Anyway, I think this all shows:

1. How much of her characterization is derived from Theon.

2. How Theon might unconsciously see her (his one act of heroism)

3. How little we actually know of her.

“Compassionate”, “able to see the humanity in Theon, even after his Reek transformation”

Yes! But really?

How much of the “compassionate” trait is her true self and how much of it is just a valid reaction to the terrible circumstances she has been put in?

When she is trying to get him to run away with her she says something among the lines of “they say he hurt you”, which indicates that she might have already known Theon was there and what had happened to him, before she even saw him.

She might have not recognized him were it not for that prior knowledge.

And her wanting to run away with him probably isn’t because she is into him. It’s because she wants to run away.

They are not friends. They are co-victims.

So, consistent-cannony traits of Jeyne Poole:

She likes sweets (lemon cakes, strawberry pie)

She doesn’t like violence (remember the tourney in King’s Landing?)

She has a thing for older guys, redheads or possibly both (Theon, Robb, Beric)

Is she compassionate? I’d like to believe so. I think what she’s been through since we last saw her making fun of others appearance can drastically change her vision of the world through a very sad and undeserved manner.

Jeyne Poole might have been mean and shallow but people don’t deserve to be flogged, sold into prostitution at age 12 and then also be married off to Medieval-themed-Bubba Sawyer and Hannibal Lecters’ love child because of possibly being a mean and shallow preteen. Most preteens are mean and shallow.

Is she genuine in her affections for Theon?

Yes! She is 14. She is not a master manipulator. I think she has some form of positive attachement to him. But the reasons behind that affection can be a little twisted, although that wouldn’t be her fault.

And with this I want to expand on what I meant with the “his one act of heroism”

Part of what has made me feel conflicted by Theon/Jeyne as a ship (still guilty! Very guilty!) is how he thinks of her.

He victim-blames her, complains about her crying (she has a lot of reasons to cry!), he even damns her during TWOW, but this is all internal. From the very beginning his actions towards her are surprisingly tender and very gentle. The only exception I can think of when the tones in his internal and external treatment of her are inverted is during TWOW when he says “Jeyne Poole is the next thing to a whore” but then follows with “he meant no hurt to her”, which sounds heartbreakingly remorseful as you read it.

In most works focusing on TheonJeyne, both through a platonic or romantic lens, fluff and hurt/comfort are some of the most used tropes, with angst being a close second.

14-year-old-me loved those. 21-year-old-me still loves those very dearly, but also thinks there is a third more macabre option to be explored and I’m eagerly waiting for that option.

@/nosafeanchorage and @/brideoffires made some well-explained and extensive comparisons between the TheonJeyne dynamic and the ViserysDaenerys dynamic (here, here and here) and personally, I think there could even be a few parallels between the LittlefingerSansa dynamic too. (Fake identity, Littlefinger intending to hand Sansa to Harry in order to make her marry the heir- Theon handing Jeyne (against their will) to Ramsay in order to make him marry the heir, the girls don’t know of some of the viler acts of the guys who are “helping” them, at some point the men dreamed of marrying someone who was close to the girls (Petyr-Cat) (Theon-Sansa))

Of course, the TheonJeyne dynamic significantly differs from those two in the facts that Theon is (somewhat) genuinely interested in her well-being simply because she is a fellow human being, and not because he is lusting for the scared girl he acts as some sort of twisted protector for, and that he also doesn’t hold any real power over her like Viserys/Littlefinger held/holds over Daenerys/Sansa.

But I do think, that Theon isn’t beyond taking emotional advantage of her.

Should he survive past the Theon TWOW preview-chapter and also remain in company of Jeyne, I think it could be easy for this 14-year-old girl with no house, no name, no family, no identity, to see Theon as her winged knight. Not necessarily through a romantic lens (I doubt it, but it might be possible too. She’s 14. 14 year olds have weird crushes and she in a horrible mental state), but simply out of dependence.

The only other person we know of who Jeyne is/was close with is Sansa, who has no idea what happened to her, and Jeyne also probably has no idea what happened to Sansa.

Theon is her ride or die as Jeyne Poole.

Theon is her only friend.

Theon.

This is dangerous.

Theon is my favorite character. I made this idiot one of my favorites when I first read him kicking that head like a college student would and then I made him my all time favorite during ACOK! I’ve been rooting for this guy since I was 13!

Me, talking to my dad on the way to the hospital after reading Theon V, ACOK for the first time in my life back in 2014:

I believe he is capable of good. I believe in him. I want him to make good choices and be a good person. I want him to succeed in life. I want him to have healthy, mutually loving relationships with Asha, Wex and Dagmer! I want him to eventually become friends with Qarl and Tris and Hagen’s daughter! I want him to reencounter Patrek, Barbrey and Bran and have emotionally cathartic reunions!

I WANT HIM AND JEYNE TO HAVE A BOND THAT IS COMPLEX BUT POSITIVE AND AFFECTIONATE!!!

I want him to be loved and cherished. I want him to be seen as capable of doing good and as deserving of being good to.

But that’s what I want him to be. Not who he currently is.

Currently, he is an enemy of the state! Which state? Pretty much all states! Everyone hates him! Last we heard of him he was chained to a wall while people were planning his execution. Preferably, they wanted him to be burned alive. The only people who canonically and explicitly have some positive-affection for him are his mom, who he hasn’t seen in 11 years, his sister, whom the relationship with is already kind of messed up, Dagmer Cleftjaw who might not even be alive, maaaaybe Wex Pyke and fucking Jeyne Poole, who has no one else in this world!

Jeyne Poole, who might not even know of all the things he is hated for.

Jeyne Poole, who in her desperate plea for help offered to become his wife or whore and for him to become her man.

Jeyne Poole, who strokes his cheek and smiles and says “you saved me” like some lovelorn maiden in a song.

Jeyne Poole, who used to watch him play in the yard and thought he was handsome.

Jeyne Poole, who could easily begin to idolize him.

Now, I don’t think Theon would use that for nefarious purposes like Littlefinger or Viserys do/did. But I can imagine he might need the emotional support and someone who actually sees him as a good person deserving of good things. Even if he thinks he is not. And I can imagine he would maybe hide some things and semi-unconsciously manipulate this girl a bit due to the fear of losing such. With manipulate I mean:

- not letting ANYONE know who she really is

- remarking on her lack of importance as Jeyne Poole

- the unusual tenderness

Until now all these things have been done with the best of intentions. Theon genuinely wanted to protect her and get her away from Ramsay and he is very probably right about how poorly people would treat her if they knew of her true identity. I believe that, if going by the stuff I wrote prior, this can all still be part of his intentions.

I believe he can also be motivated by the somewhat-selfish need of having someone who believes in him and doesn’t see him as a despicable person (bonus points if he can also hold some sort of power over that person,even if it’s just of the emotional sort).

I believe both of these things can coexist without being mutually exclusive. People are complicated and this guy has a lot of issues.

[writer-akihiko]

Hello!

Ikemen sé request

the warlords realizing that Mc is very popular with their soldiers. Sending love letters and stuff.

IkeSen Boys + Popular!MC

This was so cute ahhh although I'm sorry if it's a little short, there's a lot of Ikemen to get through. Thank you and I hope you like this work!

Nobunaga Oda

Nobunaga thought it was quite odd that there were a lot of presents delivered to you... Which he didn't gift...

After some digging, he found out that you had garnered some popularity after a campaign

He was dumbfounded at the idea that other men could be attracted to you

He didn't quite like that, but being the person he is he did tell you his thoughts

You insisted that you wanted to keep some gifts to distribute to your maids. He agreed, but he just buys better gifts for you anyway

He's not as jealous as you'd expect, since the man is also a bit egotistical when it comes to himself and your feelings for him

"Oh... Nobunaga..." You wanted to laugh at how childish he was but it wouldn't be in the right taste.

You stopped your giggling when Nobunaga muttered, "I could transfer whoever sent those gifts to you away..."

"At least let me keep some!"

He silenced you with a quick kiss. "Whatever you like from the pile, I'll purchase better ones from the merchants."

Hideyoshi Toyotomi

He doesn't want to admit that he's jealous, but he is. He unknowingly calls out the soldier that was about to gift you a present in an oh so convenient timing…

He doesn't take it to such extremes, he still respects the other soldiers. Although, he found it quite tempting from time to time to not bring you along for some campaigns

In this case, he wished that Nobunaga hadn't demanded such things of you. He really does appreciate your skills on the field, but he doesn't like that he can't control how much attention you're getting

He only realises it once someone points it out to him, or when someone sends you a letter. Letters are an absolute no from him

"Lord Hideyoshi, what should I do with these letters for YN?"

"Burn them."

"Lord Hideyoshi, what should I do with these letters from the townswomen?"

"Oh, send them to my office-"

YN smacked Hideyoshi up in the head. "You hypocrite."

Mitsunari Ishida

Mitsunari did notice that you gained a lot of attention, but he knew that it was only from your good merits and character

In no way did he ever thought it was romantic, until Mitsuhide pointed it out

He wasn't sure how to feel about it. Sure, he was happy that a lot of people thought you were a wonderful person

However a small inkling of him wanted to keep it to himself

Seeing the multitude of gifts for you, the guilt hit him hard. What if you wanted gifts all along?

"YN, do you like it when those soldiers give you gifts?" He asked, as you opened another gift that consisted of a bunch of fabrics.

"I do appreciate it," You admitted. "But I don't plan to keep them for long. I share any snacks with the maids and fabrics with the seamstresses. Why?"

He didn't reply, except for the blush that bloomed on his cheeks.

You pecked his cheek, understanding what he meant. "You have no reason to be jealous, my sweet angel."

Mitsuhide Akechi

Not a lot of people can read him, and he uses that to his advantage. He sneaks up on those who had planned to give you gifts, and instead direct their attention to another maid or townswoman

In the end, with this strategy, you don't receive much gifts from soldiers. This doesn't work on his fellow warlords however

With you, he doesn't hide his frown when people like Shingen or Masamune send you gifts

He doesn't care for what reason it was for, the gift shall not be touched by you

"Mitsuhide? Have you seen a package from Masamune? He sent some really pretty Oshu fabrics for me…"

He sipped on his bland concoction of tea. "Why my dear, I wonder where it could be…"

You sighed. "You gave it away didn't you? Now I have to write to Masamune- Ah!"

Before you could continue any thoughts, your charming kitsune sweeped you up in his arms, smiling coyly at you. "Write to him? I'm afraid my jealousy won't allow that YN… I'd certainly be interested in writing my thoughts of you on your body…"

Ieyasu Tokugawa

Ieyasu surprisingly doesn't notice any traffic of gifts to you. It might be due to the fact that he publicly ban any gifters from his estate…

You still manage to get some from soldiers passing by or Ieyasu's fellow warlords gifting you as a token of appreciation

Only when you bring the gift home is when he realises how popular you are. He doesn't initially care, but similarly to Hideyoshi, he gets rid of any letters

He doesn't burn them, but he moreso stages it so you'd see adorable Wasabi chewing on the papers

"Hey Ieyasu? Oh-" You dropped to your knees, seeing Wasabi with some paper in its mouth once again. "Wasabi, you should know better than to chew on my letters! Ha… Looks like I have to apologise later on."

"Do you even remember the soldier that gave you the letter?" He looked up from his work to ask you.

You pouted. "No… But I'm sure I can ask around!"

He patted you head. "Don't waste your time on that. The maids should be done with dinner now. Let's go and eat."

Masamune Date

He notices your popularity early on, but he's not too bothered about it. In fact, he shows off that you and him are in a relationship

It might be a 'rubbing salt in wound' move but he doesn't care. He has a thrill of seeing some of his jealous subordinates, which he trusts that it is in all good favour

With the way he approached it, most admired you in a non-romantic way, and for those few that actually do, Masamune opts for a duel as a 'wholesome' way to solve the solution

The duels end up with him winning, and the challenger often with some pointers from Masamune during fighting

You wiped off Masamune's sweat from his brow, wondering why he suddenly went up to that random soldier. "Did something happen?"

"Didn't he give you that gift earlier?" He asked, confused. He put up a good fight, although he'd probably have to answer to Hideyoshi since the boy was under his army…

You shook your head. "It wasn't. He has a twin, and the twin is working under Mitsunari…"

Masamune stood up, groaning. "Looks like I have another duel YN. I'll be back by dinner!"

"H-Hoi! Masamune!"

Kenshin Uesugi

Jealousy plus Uesugi Kenshin equals disaster in Kasugayama Castle

Kenshin was shocked when he saw the servants carrying the presents in, specifically addressed to 'Princess YN'

No one could stop him from drawing his sword and rushing to the training grounds, where every poor soldier who passed by was forced to duel him

Yukimura and Sasuke were already battered from the multiple duels they had to face. You pitied the poor souls, so you sent some of your maids to heal up the soldiers that faced his wrath

Holding one of your many bunny children, you walked up to your soon-to-be husband, smiling at him. "Kenshin my dear, we should be on our way to our stroll…"

He tugged off the upper part of his kimono, his torso and upper body dripping with sweat from the fights. "I'll be with you YN, I just need to cool off. I shouldn't dirty you with my sweat."

For as much as you wanted to be proper, you couldn't help but stare at your perfectly sculpted fiance. "T-Take you time my dear."

Sasuke Sarutobi

For the many things he was dense about, this was not one of them. He saw the way some of the Nokizaru looked at you

He of course told them off, but he still had an inkling that some didn't get the memo

Within whatever wisdom he had left, he somehow consulted Kenshin on how to resolve this, which ended up Sasuke battling about half of the Nokizaru

You had no words on why half the men were injured and why your boyfriend was bruised as well. Initially you thought it was from some dispute, but Yukimura so kindly filled you in

You tightened the bandage around Sasuke's arm, giving a disappointed look to the group of ninja. "What do you have to say for yourselves?"

"We're sorry Princess YN."

"And what do you have to say, Sarutobi Sasuke?" You huffed.

"I won't go to Kenshin for romantic advice."

"Good."

Shingen Takeda

He is not oblivious to your charms, as well as the way other people were attracted to your charms

He'd be lying if he said he weren't jealous. Of course he was, but he didn't plan to do anything malicious to whoever sent you gifts

They were free to waste their money and/or time, it wasn't his business. He'd however, make it clear that you were taken

He's not above doting you in public, and sneaking kisses in the markets or kissing you as the rain goes by. He's very calm about it, since he sees the way you were attracted to him

"S-Shingen! We're going to a war council!" You patted his face away from your own, as the much taller man held you in his embrace.

"Embarrassed Princess?" He teased, giving you his sweetest smile reserved just for you. "But we've done many affectionate things in public…" "People will see!"

He kissed your cheek. "Let them see how in love we are."

Yukimura Sanada

He is another victim of Kenshin's not-so great love advice, hesitating to pick up his spear at anyone who sent you glances. Well… it was Kenshin's advice… and no way he'd risk getting teased by Shingen by asking him!

He then opted for a silent jealous strategy, keeping you by him and covering you with his body everytime he felt someone looking at you

You wondered why he was acting so odd, after all, you just wanted to go on a nice stroll with Yuki and Muramasa

Luckily, to Yuki's benefit, Muramasa is a good wolf who knows to rip apart any letters that come to you or hound after any men that look at you the wrong way

"Is it just me, or is Muramasa a little more energetic than usual?" You asked your boyfriend as you folded your kimono underneath you to sit on the impromptu picnic blanket.

Yuki shook his head, handing you over the basket of food. "He's probably just excited to see us… I think…" He said, as Muramasa runs off into the bushes with what he could see was a paper in his mouth.

Kennyo

Kennyo doesn't really know what to do with this information. He's quite unsure if you wanted the attention or not

He thought the issue didn't need to be brought to your attention, as most of those around you are most likely his subordinates

He could… simply remind them of the holistic teachings that was preached to them

It does a good effect, as most quickly dispelled any sort of romantic attraction

He doesn't mind his subordinates admiring you out of respect, as he thinks you deserve such respect for your deeds

You clapped your hands after hearing your boyfriend's sermons. "You impress me every time my beloved," You said, pecking him on the cheek. "I'm always in awe when you deliver your preachings."

He shied away from you, "My dear, you praise me so…" He couldn’t stop repeating those praises over and over in his head, wanting to pen down the exact words you said. "Thank you YN."

[five-rivers]

Stars Aligned Chapter 3

(Please do not ask when the next chapter will be, I do not know. Links to AO3/FFN will be included in reblog.)

.

Here’s the thing. The very, very, stupid thing. Despite all his planning for this trip, Danny had no idea what his birth family looked like. Presumably, they also had no idea what he looked like.

As much as Danny would like to blame this on a wizardly aversion to the internet and photographs, he couldn’t. Danny could have sent them a picture of himself through the mail at any time. Even if wizard mail involved owls for some unexplained reason. But he didn’t. Because he was dumb.

And his equally dumb wizard family had also failed to send any pictures.

What were they thinking? Did they assume they’d somehow recognize each other on sight? Was that a wizard thing? Did they expect to spontaneously develop blood-relative telepathy? Was that a thing?

Danny did not know what to expect. He honestly didn’t know enough about wizards.

The end result was that Danny was standing in the middle of the wizarding world’s equivalent of an airport, which involved way more open fires than could possibly be safe, and people stepping into those open fires, which, again, could not possibly be safe. Of course, Danny had done it, as uncomfortable as it was for his core, and anything that used internal combustion was technically also using fire as a means of transportation, so Danny might have been a bit of a hypocrite, but still.

But, back to his dilemma. He, a dumb teenager, could be expected to do dumb, thoughtless things and make easily avoidable mistakes. It was basically a requirement. His actual family, who probably could have realized the error, didn’t want him to go and could be forgiven for any oversight. But dumb wizard birth family had at least one semi-competent adult in it. Supposedly.

Despite himself, his desire to kidnap his brother increased. Even though it would most likely cause an international incident.

He sighed. Maybe he should just follow the crowd and see if anyone stopped him. After all wizards might have magic blood-relative detection something or other.

He trudged along, pulling his trundle suitcase behind him. Silver lining was that whatever happened, he didn’t have to spend hours in a metal tube breathing recycled air. Silver lining. Silver lining. Silver—

Ah. Hm.

Danny blinked at his name written in large letters on a square of poster paper. His first and middle names, that is, and his bio-family’s last name.

He was highlytempted to turn around and go back home, but there was his twin, holding the card and looking fragile and hopeful, standing next to a tall woman with greying black hair.

He sighed. He was doing this, then.

“Hi,” he said, “you must be Draco. I’m Danny. And, uh, you must be Narcissa Malfoy?” He sort of held his hand out, feeling awkward.

“You can call me mother, Deneb,” said Narcissa. She sounded slightly tearful.

“It good to meet you, Deneb. Er. Danny.” Draco’s eyes flitted up to his mother.

“Yeah, um. Please don’t take this the wrong way, Mrs. Malfoy, but I don’t actually know you. And I’ve got a mom.”

“Yet,” interjected Draco. “You don’t know mother yet. That’s what this visit is about, right?”

“Right,” said Danny. “I’m… really looking forward to it.”

Draco looked relieved. “Excellent. Well, then, Looky can get your luggage and we can floo home.”

A very small, rather wizened person stepped out from behind Draco’s legs.

Okay. Danny had questions.

.

Danny did not particularly care for the answers to his questions.

.

Draco didn’t know why his twin had stopped talking to him before they’d even gotten home. He had, to some degree, expected rough spots. Merlin knew his family didn’t get along perfectly. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t hoped he and his twin would have a special connection. That they would mesh.

That… wasn’t happening. In fact, this was rather… awkward. Painful, almost.

He thought back to what they had been talking about. He didn’t think he’d said anything particularly objectionable. Had he hit on some chip on the shoulder those squibs had inculcated in him? Well, he thought, rather shamefacedly, he shouldn’t think of them like that. They hadn’t been the ones to abandon Deneb – Danny – just for not being immediately magical.

“Right,” he said, as Danny stepped (jumped, looking slightly disturbed) out of the fire. “Let me show you your room. We’ve had the house elves clean it out.”

Something on Danny’s face went dark, but he visibly controlled himself. “Thank you,” he said. “And, um, thank you, Looky. For your help.”

Draco frowned. He was confused, and he didn’t like feeling confused. He knew muggles didn’t have house elves, of course, but still. The concept wasn’t that hard to understand, was it? Although, it was possible Danny had never come across house elves at all, even second or third hand.

He supposed they might be unsettling if they were the first magical creature one came across. Ugh. He’d never tried to put himself in the position of someone learning about magic for the first time. Why would he? That was mudblood business, and he’d never associate with one of those.

But Danny was in that position, just about.

That meant it was Draco’s job to help Danny understand.

.

Danny was hoping he was misunderstanding something and that wizards did not, in fact, practice slavery.

This seemed to be a forlorn hope.

“So,” said Draco clasping his hands behind his back in the doorway of ‘Danny’s’ room, “er, house elves. You’ve probably not seen them before.”

“Can’t really say so, no.”

“Probably the first magical creatures you’ve seen.”

“Um,” said Danny. “Also no. I did have to go get a wand and stuff, and you’ve got to go to a wizard town to do that. I saw a bunch of different stuff there.” He didn’t really want to explain the ghosts, but… “Also, my parents study ghosts.”

“You mean, your adopted parents.”

“My parents, yes.”

“I didn’t know squibs could see ghosts. Well, they never seemed to have any trouble with it, so…” He shrugged.

“I… see.”

Danny doubted it, somehow. “But you were saying? About house elves?” Benefit of the doubt, he reminded himself.

“They’re servants,” said Draco. “Magically bound to serve certain families.”

“Magically bound,” repeated Danny, liking this less and less.

“Yes, it’s very old magic. An ancient agreement between our race and theirs, and the individual families and the house elves in question.”

“They can’t, like, opt out or anything?”

“That would defeat the point.”

“Okay,” said Danny. “So… Do they get, you know, paid at all?”

“Of course not,” said Draco.

Danny closed his eyes. “Okay. Um. Draco.” How to put this in a way that wouldn’t immediately alienate him. “Isn’t that slavery?”

“No,” said Draco, immediately. “They want to serve.”

“Well, they might say that to you, but human slaves used to say the same thing, because they’d get in trouble if they didn’t.”

Draco opened his mouth, closed it, and then said, confidently, “It isn’t like that.”

“Are you sure?”

“They aren’t human. They want to do this.”

Danny was no stranger to dealing with inhuman mindsets (but he most definitely did not have one himself). Even so…

“I think my point still stands. Like, are there very many house elves in this situation?”

“I don’t know,” said Draco. “I suppose so. Most families of substance and breeding have at least one.”

“Okay. Ah. Look. I’m not even sure where to start with this. Slavery is bad, right? We can agree on that.”

An annoyed expression passed over Draco’s face. “Yes, we can. That’s a given. But that’s for humans—"

“Great. Let’s start there. It’s bad for any human, right? Even, like, no-majs, or stupid humans, or—”

“Muggles,” corrected Draco. “No-maj is the American term.”

“When in Rome, I guess, sure. Muggles, then.”

“Yeah,” said Draco, uncomfortably crossing his arms.

Oh, Ancients, there was something there. Which Danny should have expected, given his birth father, whom he had yet to meet, threw him out of the house literally at birth.

Wizard supremacist weirdos corrupting his poor twin brother.

“Then what makes house elves so different?”

“Like I said, they want to do this. It’s in their nature. You wouldn’t, I don’t know, decide a dog was unhealthy because it barked instead of meowed, would you?” He spread his hands in frustration.

“I’ll give you that, but Looky looked actively afraid of you. And what was she even dressed in? That can’t be comfortable.”

“Giving them real clothes would free them – only if it’s their master, which in this case is Father.” He shifted slightly. “Except for Looky, I suppose, who is technicallymine. Great Aunt—Oh, you won’t know her. Why do you even care?”

“Why do I care about other people suffering? But otherthan that, what’s the difference between a house elf and a human servant? Like, would you treat a human servant like that? If you were a servant, wouldn’t you want to be treated with respect, even if being a servant was all you’d ever wanted?”

“But I’m not a servant.”

“But if you were. Can’t you just try to imagine it? A little? Please?”

“I… fine. But don’t bring this up to Mother and Father. They wouldn’t be pleased.”

“Okay. Deal.”

“Deal,” agreed Draco. “So. Do you like your room?”

Danny looked around. “Yeah, actually. It’s nice. Bit different from what I have at home, but, yeah. Good, um. Good floors. And wallpaper. And, um. Do all wizard paintings move like that?” He genuinely hadn’t noticed until just now, intent on the house elf problem.

“Yeah,” said Draco, seemingly relieved at the more normal topic. “It’s an enchantment on the canvas and paint.”

“Seems like it’d be hard to work with,” observed Danny.

“Well, the spell isn’t finished until after the actual painting part is done. At least, that’s my understanding.”

“I see, that would be easier.”

Silence.

“Would you like to see the peacocks?”

“Sure, why not?”

.

It took a bit of time to get bundled up in coats (cloaks in Draco’s case) because it was cold outside, but once they did…

“Wow. They’re albino peacocks.”

“Yes.”

“Wild.”

“No, they’re quite tame.”

“Oh, it’s, um, it’s an idiom. Like cool. Or wicked, I guess? Do British people use that?”

“I’ve heard some people use it. But Mother and Father are… not particularly enamored of slang.”

“Right,” said Danny. “I’ll remember that.”

They continued walking through the garden, towards the pond. Danny tried not to dwell on how much labor it would take to keep the grounds here so pristine.

“What do you do for fun in America?” asked Draco, out of nowhere.

Danny blinked. “Different people do different things,” he said. “Uh, a lot of things I usually do won’t work here because of the whole magic and electricity not getting along well thing. Have you ever heard about video games?”

“No,” said Draco. “Is it anything like quidditch?”

“I have only the loosest of understandings of what that is. It’s that broom sport, right? The one where you fly?”

Draco looked scandalized. “… Yes,” he said, finally. “I’m going to have to teach you how to use a broom before you have to go back to America.”

“The flying type of broom?” asked Danny, teasingly. Sure, he already could fly, but whatever.

“Merlin, yes.” Draco rolled his eyes. “I’m part of my house’s quidditch team. Letting you leave without some understanding of the rules would be a crime.”

“Draco, are you a jock?” asked Danny. “What is this world coming to. Related to a jock.” He shook his head dramatically. “I’ll never live it down.”

Draco nudged him slightly. “I’m not a meathead beater, at least,” he said. “I’m the team seeker.”

“I have no idea what that means.”

Draco’s smile slowly slid off his face.

“What?” said Danny.

“It’s just… you should. You should have grown up here, with family, as part of this world.”

“I did grow up with family,” said Danny. “Just not direct blood relatives. It kind of sucks that we didn’t get the chance to grow up together, but, like, I’m not really impressedby your parents so far.”

“Mother was very upset when she heard what Father did.”

“Sure, but she also kind of ditched us as soon as we got back here.”

“She has a delicate constitution? I’m sure she’s just trying to decide how to act… giving you space to make you feel more comfortable?”

Danny shrugged. “Well, we’ll see what happens. I’m going to be here until the end of the break, after all.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to Hogwarts, just for the rest of the school year? I’m sure they’ll be better than any alternative in America, when it comes to catching you up. Father has friends on the board of governors and the Ministry Department of Educational Oversight. It would be easy for you to go.”

“My friends are all back home,” said Danny, “and magic or not, what I really want to do with my life is become an astronaut, and I need ‘muggle’ grades and school for that.”

“A what now?”

“An astronaut?”

Surely, Draco had just misheard him.

“Is that some sort of muggle thing, then?”

“I- Do you not know what an astronaut is?” asked Danny, flabbergasted. “Really?”

Draco’s eyebrows were furrowed. “No, I don’t.”

“How about cosmonauts? Do you know about them?”

“No,” said Draco. “Is this related to the Argonauts, somehow? That Greek thing?”

“No,” said Danny. “I mean, the root word – But no. Not the same thing at all. How do I even… Do you know what outer space is?”

“Astronomy is a class at Hogwarts.”

“Not a very good one,” said Danny, “if you don’t know what an astronaut is. I think I’d die.”

“It’s a very good class. Hogwarts is the best wizarding school in Europe. And I know what outer space is. It’s the space up above the atmosphere, where the planets and stars are, and stuff.”

“Okay. I mean. I’m not trying to make you feel bad or anything,” reassured Danny, sensing that he had ruffled some feathers. “I’m just… an astronomy class should teach about astronauts. Astronauts are people who’ve been to space. Outer space.”

“That’s rubbish,” said Draco. “You can’t go to space.”

Danny refrained from informing Draco that he had, in fact, been to space. “Well, I want to go to space,” said Danny, “and other people have been there.”

“No one’s been to space,” said Draco. “Unless maybe someone apparated there by mistake, but how would you even do that?”

“I don’t know what apparating is,” said Danny. “Some kind of teleportation?”

Both of them stared at each other, each one probably at a loss for words regarding the other’s ignorance of things they themselves considered common knowledge.

“Yeah, more or less,” said Draco, finally. “But you can’t get to space. It’s impossible.”

“It isn’t. There are people up there right now,” said Danny. “On the International Space Station. Which is… it’s sort of a little house. In space.”

“There’s no air up there.”

“They bring the air with them.”

“Wouldn’t it explode?”

“They figured out how to make it so it wouldn’t explode. It’s very, um. Sturdy. Rigid. The space station is airtight.”

“And you’re saying that there are muggles in it. In space. Outer space. Right now.”

“As we speak. I mean, I guess some of them could be secret wizards, but considering your reaction, I’m doubting it.”

“Muggles. In space.”

“Yeah. We made it to the moon, too. But that was—”

“The moon?”

“Yeah?”

“In the sky?”

“That, uh.” He looked up, as if expecting to see the moon despite the thick cloud cover. “Yeah. The moon.”

“You’re telling me,” said Draco, in a hushed voice, “that there are muggles on the moon. Right now. As we speak.”

“No, that was before we were born,” said Danny.

“What.”

“Yeah, some people went, but it was really expensive, so they haven’t been back. Which I think is silly, because can you imagine the scientific advancements we could have made? The resources we could have brought back?”

“The moon.”

“You seem really hung up on this. Are you okay?”

“You- That- The moon. And muggles in space?”

“Yeah,” said Danny. He rubbed the back of his neck. “So, you see why I need to go back. I’m sure Hogwarts is great and all, but I really want to be an astronaut.”

“Can you see them through a telescope?”

“See what?”

“The muggles in space.”

“On a clear night, sure, if you know where to look.” Before the Accident (the Big One, the Unaliving, the Green Flash, the Knockoff Origin Story), Danny usually checked the internet for the times the ISS passed overhead. But he’d developed a ghost power that gave him a pretty good sense of where anything in the sky was, so long as he concentrated for a few minutes. “It orbits the Earth every ninety minutes or so, although it doesn’t always catch the light enough to see properly. You can actually see a lot of satellites.”

“There are more of these things?” hissed Draco.

“Not with people on them.”

“I’m getting my telescope,” declared Draco, starting to stride back to the house.

“We won’t be able to see anything now,” said Danny.

“It’s enchanted to see through cloud cover and ignore non-reflected sunlight. It’s top of the line.”

Danny had never wanted a physical object so much in his entire life.

“What? What? Magic can do that?”

[katatty]

Recap: Pleasantview Round 5 (Summer)

The romance of Spring certainly went to a few heads in Pleasantview - the suburb is in the midst of quite the baby boom. But now Summer is here, and school is out! Parents are scrambling to sort out childcare, teenagers are reveling in their freedom, and with the sun shining, the mood in the neighbourhood is pretty great.

But are the families as happy as they seem? Or are some on the brink of collapse? What secrets lurk in their hearts?

The round began with newcomers Tiffany Sampson and Kevin Beare getting settled in. They adopted a puppy, got new jobs, and got to know the neighbours.

Then as Tiffany finished her first day of work in the Education career, she learned she was already pregnant!

They had a quick, slightly rushed wedding before the baby arrived.

Baby Harvey was born, but it already looks like she might be expecting again.

The round ended on a happy note, with the couple already nicely established as a family in town with a few friends!

The Dreamer family started out just as well, but things quickly started to deteriorate.

Due to a combination of bad mental health, recurring nightmares and possible haunting, Brandi Broke isn’t in a good place. Her relationship with Darren suffers for it, too.

Meanwhile Cassandra’s marriage with Don is falling apart, and Darren can’t help being sympathetic. Perhaps a little too much so.

Mia Broke, obsessed with the paranormal, gets herself abducted by aliens, much to her mom’s dismay.

She’s also eager to discuss her theories about the spooky sounds in their yard, but Brandi shuts it down.

Mia goes on a date with Benedick Monty, but it’s kind of a mixed bag.

Back home, Mia and Darren eventually talk about the possible hauntings at home. He admits to her seeing Darleen’s ghost, from time to time.

Brandi also opens up to Mia about her father, Skip.

And Mia is vindicated to finally some ghosts herself!

I played the Lotharios next since I was interested in what was going on with Cassandra.

Cassandra and Don’s relationship has had its ups and downs - neither of them has been 100% faithful, but they’re dealing with it. Maybe? Between raising the twins and focusing on their careers there hasn’t been a ton of time for marriage counselling.

Don’s been feeling a bit isolated, recently. Outside of his family and his coworkers, he doesn’t really have a lot of friends. That’s been deliberate, to an extent. The fewer people around him, the fewer temptations to stray outside of the marriage.

For the most part, it’s been working. But a chance meeting with Nina Caliente has him feeling… confused.

The kids are doing fine, the parents not so much.

She’s always in low aspiration, lately, ever since her Dad passed away. It’s been hard getting on her feet since then, and Don going on about needing “me time” doesn’t help. She needs his support right now more than ever! Why doesn’t he get that?

They don’t talk about it, but both of them are feeling very alone, and starting to lose faith in each other...

Meanwhile, the boys age up. Bernado’s a popularity sim and Cassimiro’s knowledge.

Eventually, things in the marriage finally explode and Cassandra tells Don about Darren, trying to get a rise out of him.

Don immediately retaliates by woohooing with Sharon Wirth on a grocery-run.

After a cool-off day, they agree to break things off, and Don moves out.

He moves in, temporarily, with Bella. Who is insistant that he and Cassie try and patch things up!

He’s more interested in exploring new options, though.

Bella is devestated to lose her job as a party guest.

Meanwhile Oliver Goth (Dina and Mortimer’s son) gets his first kiss with Ariel Capp! Later he goes on a date with Tommy Ottomas, too.

At one of Bella’s parties, Cassandra and Don keep things civil, but Cassandra evidently isn’t doing well.

Bella goes on a date with Gilbert Jacquet. It’s not really all that serious between them, and Bella still misses Mortimer dreadfully, but Gilbert is charming and handsome enough to take her mind of her worries.

Things with Bella and Don also seem to be getting a little heavy, and Don concludes he needs to move out before things cross a line. Bella reluctantly agrees, it’s obvious her plan to get him and Cassie back together hasn’t worked

Don moves to Strangetown!

Next up are the Ramaswami family, a nice breath of fresh air after all the drama.

Priya befriends some of the other mothers in town, becoming especially close to Kaylynn.

And baby Ravi gows into maybe the coolest toddler ever?

Sanjay survives a near death experience.

And Priya finds out she’s expecting again!

Divorced once and with the girls having just graduated college, Daniel Pleasant didn’t expect to be engaged again with a kid on the way as he approached retirement age, doing it all over again. He’s far from unhappy about it, though. Mary Sue always had an independent streak, but Kaylynn adores him. Maybe it’s a bit selfish, but it feels so good to be needed.

Kaylynn knows some people in the neighbourhood look down on her, think her naive, call her a homewrecker… that’s fine. If they worked as a cleaner for years and years maybe they’d consider packing it in and settling into an easy life, too. What’s wrong with wanting to be taken care of?

Notably (and much to my horror) during the Pleasant round, Brandi and John start up their affair again.

Kaylynn finally gives birth, to a baby boy they call Jeffery Pleasant, after Daniel’s father. Daniel’s really pleased!

Jennifer’s eager to meet her new nephew. She and Kaylynn get off to a rocky start, but eventually start to bond.

She’s closest friends with Brandi Broke, though. The two have become inseperable, with Brandi visiting all the time.

Daniel invites both of the girls over to meet their little brother, but Angela is the only twin who shows. Whether that’s because they have a better relationship, or because Lilith was just busy is anyone’s guess.

Then it turns out Kaylynn’s pregnant again already?

Kaylynn and Daniel tie the knot!

Nina and Don also reconcile at the wedding.

Kaylynn gives birth to another baby boy, Luke!

And Jeff ages upp!

Daniel ages up, too. It’s finally time for him to retire, soon...

Daniel’s definitely a bit of a dirty old man, but Kaylynn doesn’t seem entirely oblivious to that side of him, and figures as long as she keeps his needs met they should be fine. We’ll see if that holds up.

Then it was time to catch up with the Shoreharts, who moved here form Widespot for a fresh start.

A retired chef, Sandy’s enjoying her retirement a lot more than she ever enjoyed being a stay at home mom. Granted, all this free time has her a little restless, but it’s nothing a bit of time outdoors and excercise can’t fix. She hopes.

They were honestly pretty chill! Rhett’s taken to the whole marriage thing suprisingly well, for a romance sim. Turns out, as long as he’s getting lovin’ on a regular basis he doesn’t really care if it’s with one woman or several. It’s never boring with Sandy, and he intends to keep her as happy as he can for the rest of her days. That’ll show her shit-heel of an ex-husband.

Mostly they just spend a lot of time with family.

Sandy’s very generious with the backrubs, but nothing goes too far.

Mimi is definitely at least a little anxious about her parents’ marriage though, because she spends some of the round reading up on Couple’s Councelling.

Then it’s time for her to age up! She grows into a rather cute romance sim.

Then at the party the house of cards starts to crumble, as Sandy gives her ex-husband Hamilton a kiss, right in front of Mimi and Rocky.

Mimi agrees not to tell her Dad, but isn’t happy. She spends a lot of time out of the house.

With Sandy keeping her indescretion quiet, I’m not sure what they have in store in the future!

Regardless, next are the Ramirez family.

Tessa’s spent a lot of time looking afte rthe baby and she’s sick of it! So she spends some time Downtown with friends.

She later takes Bernardo on a date, although he’s not sure if he likes her as more than a friend. Bernardo likes the idea of falling in love with Tessa, who he’s always admired! But he’s a little hesitant at the same time, especially with his parents’ divorce still being so recent.

Checo has a bit of a wandering eye, but mostly he keeps himself in check.

Checo might be a bit of a flirt, but at least he’s not a hypocrite. When Lisa was dancing with Skye he didn’t even bat an eye. Or maybe he just doesn’t see an old man as much of a threat…

Ugh, God, I forgot this happened

Baby Sofia grew up super cute!

Anyway, that’s all from them!

The Oldies weren’t too eventful, mostly just focused on hobbies!

They did finally meet Mary’Sue’s new partner, which went... poorly.

But they did have a nice meeting with their grandaughter later, and a fun night out!

Then it was the Burbs! John’s recent indescretions with Brandi aside, things seemed to be going well.

At least, until he made out with Coral Oldie :/

Oblivious to thins, Jennifer was starting to trust John again.

They had dinner with Jen’s brother Dan and his new wife...

And Jennifer discovered she was pregnant again!

Lucy headed away for college...

And baby James grew up, leaving the Burb round complete and Pleasantview all done & dusted!

[yikesharringrove]

Show Pony

Chapter 4: Summertime

Read on ao3

-

“See and this is my girl Patsy. She’s the smallest of the three, but she’s strong as all get out.” 

Steve gestured to the horse, brushing his hand down her long nose. She was a beautiful dark brown, her coat sleek and obviously well-kept. Steve said he washed and brushed his horses each night, keeping them free of flies and dirt. 

Steve’s three horses were together in the little paddock, grazing on the sparse grass. There was a large oil drum filled with water in the paddock for them, and a trough filled with hay and horse feed. 

Steve had brought a bag with them out to the paddock, and he whistled through his teeth, all three horses gathering around him at the fence. June used her nose to bump Steve on the side of the head. 

He smiled at her, one a’ those real sunshiney ones he had, and kissed her between the eyes.

He dug through the bag, pulling out a few apples, a pocket knife, and a Tupperware container filled with various pills. 

Billy simply watched as he cut one of the apples in half, digging out small pockets in the meat of the apple and meticulously inserting the pills. He repeated the exact same procedure with the other half of the apple and offered the first half to June. 

She crunched it happily, the second half of the apple going to Loretta, a beautiful dappled horse with a dark-colored nose. 

Each horse got three apple halves with the correct combination of pills. 

“They each get supplements twice a day. We get the hay locally every place we stop, and depending on where the hay is grown, it can lack nutrition they need. Plus, traveling horses can get digestive problems from working hard and not having a lot of grazing opportunities. I wanna keep my girls healthy, you know?”

Loretta had wandered away after Steve set the bag on the ground, huffing as she realized apple time was over. June stayed with Steve, softly knocking her nose into his head and shoulder, making Steve laugh brightly and pet her neck. 

Patsy stayed in front of Billy, and he felt like she could see into his fucking soul. Her brown eyes were huge as she appraised him, almost as if she was trying to suss out if he was good enough for her Steve. 

“You can pet her, if you like. All my girls have been raised with us since they were foals, so they’re real touchy. Loretta pretends she’s too cool for it.” Loretta, as if hearing Steve say her name, gave another huff from the other side of the paddock. “Yeah! I’m talkin’ ‘bout you, Letty. We all know you’re a softy!” Steve grinned at Billy after calling out towards her, like they were sharing a joke. 

Billy couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from pulling up. 

He smiled a lot around Steve. 

He looked back towards Patsy and mimicked the way Steve pet June, keeping his hands gentle and soft as he brushed down the length of her nose. 

Her hair was so soft, and she felt like warm velvet underneath his hand. 

“I’ve never been this close to a horse before,” Billy said softly, not taking his eyes off Patsy and the way his hands brushed down her strong neck. 

“I love horses. Always have.” Steve had wrapped his arms around June’s thick neck, his cheek smushed to her as he looked at Billy. It was cute. Everything Steve did was cute. “Not to sound like a horse girl in a Lifetime movie, but they’re just so great. Sometimes it seems like they know everything.”

“Yeah, they’re real human.” Billy thinks it was all in the eyes. The huge, deep brown eyes. 

Billy had really come to appreciate brown eyes in the last two weeks. 

“June was born when I was nearly six. I’ve been riding her since I was seven or so. There weren’t a lot of kids around so she was kinda my best friend. Which. Sounds totally lame.” Steve’s cheeks went pink, and he hugged June tighter. 

“How long have you had the others?”

“I’ve had Patsy for seven years. Loretta’s the newest. I just started training her for the event last summer, although I’ve had her for a while. Horses are considered fully grown when they’re five, so we don’t make them do events before then. It can be bad for their backs if you start riding them too young.” Steve absentmindedly stroked down June’s neck. “I try to keep my girls healthy and safe. If you really take care of them, they can live to be about forty, although they shouldn’t do rodeo events past fifteen-ish.”

Billy did quick math in his head. 

“So, what do you think you’ll do with June when she retires?” 

Steve looked out past June over to Loretta when she was trotting about the paddock. 

“I always kinda had this dream. Like when I get tired of all this, of opening a ranch for old rodeo horses. Ones that are too old or sick to do events. I would take care of them and give them good food and exercise and stuff so they could have a happy retirement. Some rodeo horses are sold to people for, like, personal riding use, but they’re event trained, and usually aren���t great for, like, leisure riding, and people get mad. So, yeah. Retirement village for horses.” He buried his face into June’s neck, and Billy could see the tips of his ears were flaming in embarrassment. 

“I think that’s sweet.” He really did. “Hell, you said a well taken care of horse can live for twenty years past retirement, might as well treat ‘em right.” 

Steve pulled his face out of June’s neck and beamed at Billy. 

Billy’s hand trembled slightly and stuttered over Patsy’s neck. 

“I take each girl out for some exercise every day, you wanna help me? We can just walk ‘em.” He looked so hopeful, like all he really wanted was for Billy to hang out with his horses for the rest of the day. 

And lucky for him, Billy had already called out of work for the evening, and didn’t tell his dad about it. 

“Let’s do it.”

 Billy stood back as Steve got June ready, smoothly slipping a halter over her face, attaching a soft rope lead to the ring on the left side of her nose. 

He opened the paddock, raising one hand towards Patsy to keep her where she stood while he gently led June out, wrapping the rope lead once around his hand and holding it tightly. 

Billy walked next to Steve, June on Steve’s other side as they began making their way to the edge of the fairgrounds, passing the large spread of campers and R.V.s. 

The fairground was out in the boonies, outside of the San Diego city limits, and there was a significant amount of sprawling flatlands and hills, covered in emerald grass. 

June trotted happily along, tossing her head and bumping into Steve’s shoulder, making him giggle and throw Billy gleeful looks at her behavior. 

“Tell me something,” Steve said as they began moving downhill, guiding June on a long walk around the area.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Something about you. Something I don’t know.” 

Billy cast around in his brain. 

There’s a lot Steve didn’t know about him. 

And for good reason, too. 

He didn’t want Steve to know about that shit. 

About the way his father hates him for no other reason than who he is. 

The way his mother only calls him twice a year and posts on Facebook every other day about her new husband and their twin toddlers and their perfect life in Oregon. 

“When I was, like, eight or nine, I watched Almost Famous, and I just fucking loved everything about it. It made me wanna be in a band so bad. I mean, they’re like a family, all going on tour. It’s so idyllic to me. That’s, like, my retirement horse dream. Make it in a band. We don’t gotta be that famous, or anything, just, like, make it .”

Steve gave him one of those soft smiles of his, and slipped his hand so naturally into Billy’s.

“I’ve never seen that movie.”

Billy gasped dramatically, swinging their hands between them.

“Oh, Stevie, we gotta see it. I don’t even care, I’m gonna make you fuckin’ love it. You’re just like Penny Lane, actually. Kind of a wanderer. Free spirit.”

Steve’s eyes were bright, and they looked gold in the late afternoon sun. 

“Is that your favorite movie? Almost Famous ?”

“Yeah. Probably.” It definitely was, but he could let himself geek out over it later. He’s resolved to make Steve watch it with him, and he could be a little lame nerd kid over it then. “What’s your favorite movie? And if you say Black Beauty, I’m running away from you.”

Steve looked at him sheepishly.

“It’s not Black Beauty, but, I mean, it’s Spirit.”

“That animated one?” Billy thinks he’s seen it once or twice when he was a kid. He remembers his dad calling it propaganda. 

“Yeah. I mean, I just thought it was really beautifully done. It’s kinda hypocritical, since it’s about, like, freedom and stuff, and a rodeo is totally the opposite of that, but. I don’t know. I just like it.”

“We’ll watch that one, too, then. Favorite movie double feature.”

“I would like that,” Steve said softly, taking his gaze from Billy back over to June. Steve never made much eye contact, and constantly dragged his sight somewhere else when he was embarrassed. 

“Maybe I could come to your place. Hang out with you.”

Billy’s whole body went cold. 

It was like the temperature had dropped forty degrees, freezing and shattering the perfect warm bubble around them. Like the soft winds stopped making the grass and sparse trees whisper in its wake. Like Billy was trapped in a freezing block of his own panic. 

“No.” 

Steve stopped in his tracks, and Billy clutched his hand to stop him from slipping it out of his grip. 

“Sorry, I, that was really rude.” He stared at June’s front left hoof. “My dad. He doesn’t like. He hates that I. He’s a homophobe. If I-if he even thought that you, that we were, he would-”

“Hey, Bill, it’s okay. I’m, I understand.” Steve pulled their hands up to press them against his chest, brushing his thumb over Billy’s hand. “You don’t have to explain, if you don’t want. I’m sorry for suggesting it.”

“You didn’t know,” Billy said gruffly.

“And I’m not upset. Promise.”

Billy chanced a look up at Steve’s face. 

He was giving him a tiny smile, his chin tilted slightly down to give Billy the most sincere look he could possibly manage with those big earnest horse eyes of his. 

Billy leaned forward, pressing the softest of little kisses to that tiny smile. It was the only way he could think to let Steve know he was alright. No hard feelings. 

They kept walking June mostly in silence, bringing her on a big loop of the lush field. 

“My dad doesn’t really like that I’m bi,” Steve spoke unprompted, but it was clear he meant it as a response to their last conversation. “He told me when I came out to him that I’m just young and trying to be rebellious and acting out sexually and I’ll settle down with a nice girl once I’ve gotten it out of my system. I got so mad. I was fourteen. I once heard him and my mom talking about therapy. Like, you know. Therapy .”

Conversion therapy. 

Fuck. 

“Did they ever go through with it?”

“Nah. My mom told him that was fucked up and that whatever’s going on with me will work itself out. Now we just don’t talk about it.”

“She kinda had your back, that’s pretty cool.”

Billy told his mom he liked guys about two months before she left. She just told him not to tell his dad. 

“Yeah. Ignoring it is better than the alternative, I guess.”

Billy chewed on the inside of his cheek. 

They were still holding hands, despite their palms getting sweaty from being pressed together in this heat.

It was kinda gross. 

Billy never wanted to let go.

“I never even told my dad. He’s so clear about his feelings about. Stuff like that. He’s ex-military, and all that comes with it. Super conservative. Religious conservative, even. So he’s pretty much against everything.”

“So, that’s why you wanna move out so soon? Not to pry, or whatever.”

“Yeah. It sucks having to hide fundamental pieces of who you are from your family. The people that are supposed to love you, but instead tell you to change your shirt before you leave the house because you look like a queer.”

He left out the parts about the backhand slap and the much more aggressive wording that actually spelled out that interaction a few days ago. 

Billy had left his house feeling all kindsa cut up and pissed off and fucked Steve as hard as he could on the small table in the airstream, making the whole trailer shake and creak, just barely covering the sounds of Steve’s moans and cries. 

It was a good way to work out all that rage. 

There was something nice about stickin’ it to his dad by stickin’ it in Steve. 

They began the climb up the slight hill back to the paddock. 

“I’m sorry, Bill. I know I don’t get it, but I’m just. I’m sorry.”

“Me too.”

He wasn’t sorry for his father’s behavior. 

He was sorry for how his father has shaped him. 

How sometimes he was selfish and angry and closed-off. 

How he could get mean and snarl and attack before asking questions. 

But most of all, he was sorry that he was scared. 

Too scared to follow Steve to the ends of the Earth, like he was absolutely fuckin’ dying to. To live in these perfect few weeks together forever. 

Too scared to let go of their time together. So terrified that when their moments are finished, he’ll miss this happiness and peace so much he’ll wither into nothing. 

So terrified that this is the last time he’ll ever feel like this. Feel like there’s something good and worthwhile and beautiful inside of him. 

So terrified that the rage will eat away at that beautiful thing until there’s nothing left. 

Steve pulled his hands out of Billy’s when they reached the paddock, and he gave Billy a gentle smile, his eyes catching the sun in a way that made every warm summer afternoon wiggle its way into Billy’s heart. The cascade of fearful thoughts stopped in Billy’s brain, and he let himself watch as Steve pet June softly, removing her halter when she was safely in the paddock once again.

Steve placed a different one on Loretta, bringing her out of the paddock next. 

Loretta kept them walking a little faster, kicking her hooves up and making Billy laugh in the way she seemed to prance through the grass. 

She took off in a gallop, Steve jogging along next to her, the lead wrapped once around his hand again, and Billy could hear his laughter on the summer air. 

Loretta was full of energy, whinnying and braying all the time as she and Steve looped around the soft grasses. 

Billy cut up the hill, moving closer towards the fairgrounds and taking a seat on the ground. He crossed his legs in front of him, leaning to rest his elbows on his thighs, propping his chin up with his hand.

The grass was impossibly soft underneath him, and Steve was smiling so wide, pretending to swing dance with Loretta, using the lead as if it was the arm of his partner, spinning himself underneath it. 

There was a fat bumblebee buzzing around near Billy’s knee, landing on the tiny wildflowers sprinkled in the grass, wiggling itself in the pollen. 

It was fucking. 

Idyllic. 

Like something from one a’ those horse girl movies Steve no doubt loved more than anything. 

The sun was moving slowly through the sky.

He could just barely hear the announcer’s voice, echoing from the speakers in the event arena. 

And he wished, for some time, that this was his life. Traveling with Steve. Spending warm summer days sitting in the grass while Steve exercised his beloved horses. Nothing weighing on him but what they should do for dinner that night. Whether or not Max and her little rodeo friend Elle needed some extra cash for food. 

He let himself flop back in the grass, spreading his arms and legs out and watching the clouds roll by, sparse as they were. 

He hates to say it. He really does. But this is the happiest he thinks he’s ever been. 

Which is just. Sad. And dangerous. And not what he needs in this time-stamped little fling with someone he barely knows, despite how much he feels like their souls may be connected, or other shit the old poetry books stashed under his bed might wax and wane about. 

He tried to memorize everything about this moment. How Steve squinted in the bright light, the corners of his eyes crinkling just like they did when he smiled. The way the sun warmed his skin, almost as much as Steve’s touch warmed him up. 

Everything about these two weeks has been so perfect, it’s genuinely heartbreaking. 

All Billy wants is to cling onto Steve, and cling onto the month for-fucking-ever. 

He barely noticed the sound of hooves approaching him, and he grinned at Steve when he dropped to his knees next to Billy’s chest, his face tinged red, his brow slightly sweaty. 

Loretta leaned her head down to sniff at Billy’s forehead, and Billy made Steve laugh when he went cross-eyed to watch her dark nose twitch.

His laugh made something inside Billy keel over and die. 

Time is ticking down on how long he’ll get to hear that perfect sound. That lovely music of Steve’s happiness. 

“You ready for Patsy?” 

Loretta bumped Billy once on the head and moved to graze some of the grass next to Steve’s hip. 

“Yeah,” he said. 

He meant I’ll miss this too much when it’s gone.

[alexiethymia]

five and his siblings

or me back to my overanalyzing bs or five as a convenient mouthpiece for why I love the other siblings through their dynamic. If you expect this to be coherent, HA! anyway, moving on. 

five and luther: I need them to be twins like in the comic so bad. See in the beginning, you could contrast them as luther being the most loyal (to their Father) and Five possibly being the most rebellious. Dutiful son vs. li’l sh*t. The most lawful good and moral vs. lawful neutral amoral. But see Five is as loyal as Luther, only it’s towards their family and not Reginald (and that’s also interesting to me, if Five considers ‘Dad’ and ‘Mom’ part of the ‘family’ he’s desperate to save. Hard to say for sure since we don’t really get interactions with him and ‘Mom’. Meanwhile, he refers to Pogo as a family friend). 

And then that contrast between the first two episodes of Season 1 and Season 2. In S1, Luther just wants to help Five. and Five doesn’t want him to (understandably because he’s still reeling from the trauma), while in S2 it’s Five asking for help from Luther and Luther refusing. You also have Luther learning how to ‘fight dirty’. 

But see, it matters that Luther is the one Five eventually turns to first after Diego was a bust. And eventually, Luther proves worthy of that trust. Luther is also the one he asks for help when he’s facing his paradox psychosis. I like that trustworthiness and steadiness that is Luther, and how Luther was the assigned leader, but Five somehow becomes their figurative leader in gathering everyone together and getting things done. 

five and diego: They’re always such a fun duo. I think it’s because Diego is probably the second most like Five. I’ve said it before, but I think they’re the tsunderes of the family, the most outwardly hostile and snarky, and yet the most violently overprotective of the others. I like how they now have the Commission in common, and despite it being the end of the world, they make a competition out of it! 

It was hilariously hypocritical for Five to say that the Commission wouldn’t hire Diego because he has an ‘obstinate nature’ when HE IS EXACTLY LIKE THAT. Despite all their similarities, they’re still foils in that Diego is a social extrovert while Five is a murderous introvert. I mean you can see that in the way they solved problems at the Commission. Five plotted and blew stuff up. Diego joined the Resistance and ended up making up a secret handshake in less than an hour? Arguably, as much as I love Five, Diego’s way was more effective. 

This trio is also pretty fun. Like Klaus said, because of their competitive and aggressive personalities, they have to bro it out a couple of times. I like to think that Five is harsher with the both of them as compared to the rest of their siblings (he’s obviously softer on Vanya, and he seems softer with Klaus too) because he considers them his equals as protectors of the family. 

five and allison: I’ve mentioned my favorite five and allison moments already in a previous post, but honestly we were robbed in s2! Well, I guess it’s a hint that the ONLY time anything went smoothly in S2 was when Five picked up Allison, and by extension Klaus. Ugh, we got the mopey lovesick trio with Luther, Diego, and Vanya. Why couldn’t we get interactions with the other trio? That would’ve been so much fun, I think.

Anyway, although this is only head canon, I think the only other sibling Five considers as a competent adult would be Allison. If they partnered up, with their combined smarts, they could get so much done! 

five and klaus: They’re seemingly the most different. Klaus is the most open with everything, and Five is just this closed armadillo. Klaus is sexy trash and Five is the man with the plan. But that scene between them in Season 1 Episode 2 was just brilliant. They’re both guile heroes, and Klaus is creative in a way Five can sometimes appreciate. We know Five can smile, like his murder smiles, and even sincerely because of his family members, but, and despite it being an acting failure once, I like how Klaus can genuinely make him laugh, even when he’s trying not to.

More than that, Klaus said it best, the both of them are addicts. I think Klaus is becoming more well-adjusted lately. I actually think when they finally evade the apocalypse for good and things are back to normal, Klaus is the best person to help Five live a normal life.

In the original script, Five said Vanya and Klaus were the only ones among the siblings he trusted. I really wanted to know why. I mean he still says he trusts Vanya in the show and goes to Klaus after Vanya for assistance with his scheme at Meditech, but I wonder what was behind the choice to have Five say he trusted Klaus, the family’s ‘basket case’, over the other seemingly more ‘responsible’ members. 

five and ben: We have even less interactions with Five and Ben, than with Five and Allison. That is a travesty that has to be remedied in s3. Again, the hints we have are intriguing, like how Five calls Ben’s name after Vanya’s in the apocalypse, and how he was the only one to ask Klaus if Ben came back with them in their time travel. 

five and vanya: I need a whole separate post about these two because they just give me too much feels. I will say this though. I just find it so interesting how two seemingly polar opposites could end up such good friends (based on the hints we’ve been given) - the rebellious and brilliant one with the ordinary wallflower - but then I realized, they probably got along so well because of how alike they are. 

Besides being arguably the most powerful in their family, and being introverts to boot, based on what we saw of Vanya’s history, she was probably the most rebellious among the Hargreeves children and not Five. I just really love their dynamic in both s1 and s2.

[zelenacat]

When We Were Young- An Obitine Story- Chapter 17

After meeting the new government officials personally and sending them off to do their jobs, much of Satine’s time was spent with the Corruption Committee. It began with mandatory inspections, questionnaires, wage increases, and tighter import laws. At the end of every day, the Duchess found herself exhausted.

“How are you little ones,” she asked her stomach, cradling the now noticeable lump, “we’ve had quite the day haven’t we?”

A knock came at the door and Khaami got up to get it.

“It’s Hera.” 

The door opened and the nurse stepped inside, hauling a large bag with her. Khaami shut the door and locked it.

“I know it may look like a lot, Your Grace,” Hera set her bag down, “but there are many tests we have yet to run.”

“Such as?”

“You may need vitamins,” Hera looked up, a bottle in each hand, “and certainly calcium pills.”

The Duchess relented and lay back against her pillows. Parna pulled down her covers. 

“How have you been feeling lately?” the nurse asked, approaching Satine with a stethoscope.

“Tired mostly,” the Duchess answered, “although I have been trying to get my rest.”

Hera listened and placed her stethoscope on Satine’s stomach, waiting. 

“Everything sounds good,” she smiled, “but I did bring the portable ultrasound just in case.”

As the blurry images of two blob-like shapes became vaguely recognizable as human, the Duchess swallowed hard.

“Satine?” Parna questioned.

“I haven’t called Ben in a while,” she confessed, “and I still haven’t told him.”

Hera looked up, “I take it Ben is the father?”

“Yes,” Khaami answered for Satine, “and he has quite the high-profile job.”

“Dear me,” Hera seemed to want to ask something, but then thought better of it, “I assume it’s best the less I know.”

“Yes,” Satine nodded, “but I will tell you that I love him.”

“I wouldn’t think anything else, Your Grace.”

The Duchess smiled at that, at least there were some who knew her true character.

“Just to be safe,” Hera stood, “I suggest you take vitamins and calcium pills, prenatal pills would be too risky I think.”

“I agree,” Satine nodded, “but I appreciate your help, I want my girls to be healthy.”

“I’m sure they will be.” Hera grinned.

Khaami helped the nurse to the door while Parna changed Satine into her nightdress.

“How is the status of the birth basement?” Satine asked, feeling weird even to call it that.

“Almost ready,” Khaami answered, “we have towels, blankets, numbing shots, diapers, but Oiyo still needs a new battery.”

“Perhaps Hera could be of help.” Satine suggested.

“Yes,” the Duchess nodded, “enlist her on that.”

“I am still worried about the falsified documents,” Parna confessed, “are you sure we’re untraceable?”

“Let’s begin withdrawing some of my personal funds,” Satine instructed, “we’ll pay upfront.”

Khaami stood, “I will go speak with Hera.”

Parna grabbed Satine’s comm.

“I suggest you call your Jedi.”

Satine swallowed, “I hardly know what I’ll say.”

“Conversation will flow naturally,” Parna smiled, “I can tell he cares for you.”

The Duchess nodded, grateful for her lady, then dismissed Parna.

Satine pressed a button, “Ben?”

No response.

“Obi?”

The third time, Satine succeeded.

“Hello, darling,” Obi-Wan’s voice was slightly strained, “it’s been a while.”

Satine was not fooled, “What’s happening, Obi?”

“We’re recovering after a battle.”

“Don't tell me they put you on the front lines again,” Satine frowned, “you just recovered.”

“I made for a good patient.” Obi-Wan replied.

Satine sighed, “You need your rest, Ben.”

“I can’t,” Obi-Wan swallowed, “I can't sleep when I dream of you.”

The Duchess found herself at a loss for words. Obi-Wan turned on his holo-figure and Satine could physically see his worry.

“Love?”

Satine turned her holo-figure on, “You’re such a romantic, Ben.”

Obi-Wan actually laughed at that.

“Do you know when you’ll be coming home?” Satine asked hopefully.

“Not as long as we thought I think,” Obi-Wan smiled, “I should be relieved in about two or three months.”

The Duchess’ face fell.

“Satine?”

“That’s still a long time, Obi.” she whimpered.

“I can only hope that it’ll be sooner,” the Jedi replied, “I think of you all the time.”

“You’re often on my mind as well.” Satine confessed.

“And how are politics now,” Obi-Wan asked, “any corruption arrests?”

“We’ve had a handful in the past two months,” Satine nodded, “though I still worry for my government.”

“If anyone can pull her system through this,” the jedi winked, “it's you, Satine.”

“I appreciate your kind words, Ben.”

A moment of sad silence filtered into the conversation and Satine drew in a breath.

“Obi-Wan?”

“Yes?” The Jedi sounded concerned.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Ah yes, your medical situation?”

The way he said it, Satine wondered if he already knew.

“Ben,” tears welled in Satine’s eyes, “I was afraid, so I kept putting off telling you, but-”

“Satine,” Obi-Wan’s voice grew quiet, “are you-”

“Yes,” the Duchess sobbed, “five whole months.”

It was a long time before Obi-Wan spoke again.

“Ben, Ben, please answer me.”

“I thought you were sick,” the Jedi’s voice quivered, “I thought you were being stubborn.”

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Satine,” Obi-Wan suddenly dropped a mask over himself, Satine could see it through the hologram, “but are your duties overwhelming you?”

“No,” Satine shook her head, “please don’t be mad at me, Ben, I didn’t know what to do and what would happen.”

“You obviously want to keep the baby-”

“Obi-”

“So who will raise it?”

“Them,” Satine corrected, “twin girls.”

Obi-Wan sighed.

“And there’s another thing,” Satine bit her lip, “I’ve been lying to you for nearly eighteen years.”

The Jedi’s brow furrowed, “What?”

“Ben,” the Duchess swallowed, “there are other children.”

Obi-Wan froze, his mouth half-open in shock.

“Four others.”

“You’ve lied to me,” Obi-Wan repeated, “for this long?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

It came out as a whisper, that’s what broke Satine.

“My enemies would’ve claimed I wasn’t Mandalorian and they would've never accepted you as my spouse. And now, I fear they’ll call me a Republic Sympathizer and a hypocrite.”

“You are,” Obi-Wan crossed his arms, “you can’t promote neutrality if you have ties to one side.”

“Padme knows,” Satine argued, “and she’s been ever so helpful.”

Obi-Wan leaned back in shock, “Anakin knows, and Quinlan too.”

“They’ve met the children, they knew immediately.”

The Jedi was mad. Satine could see it.

“I have children, six children,” he asked, “and yet I was the last one to know.”

“Ben-”

Obi-Wan was aghast, “Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to compromise your morals.” Satine frowned.

“Morals? Morals! Satine, these are my children!”

“Being a Jedi means everything to you, Obi,” Satine sighed, “I fell in love with the chivalrous knight in you, you would’ve been a completely different person had you left the Order because of me.”

“So you thought about it,” Obi-Wan was suddenly far away, “you thought about saying the word?”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t.”

Satine swallowed, she didn’t know how to respond.

Obi-Wan scoffed, “Do you even love me?”

“Ben-”

“No, Satine,” Obi-Wan’s rage finally boiled over, “you made a decision without me, one that affected both of us, and you made the wrong choice.”

“Obi-Wan-”

“You lied to me,” growled the Jedi, tears in his eyes, “I could’ve been a father.”

“You are a father.”

Obi-Wan went silent.

“Do the children know.”

“Yes, I’ll ask if they’d meet with you.”

“I should’ve known them their whole lives,” Obi-Wan balled his fists, “and now I have to meet them like some stranger.”

“Ben-”

“Don’t call me that!”

Satine grew stiff, “Forgive me, Master Kenobi.”

Obi-Wan shook his head.

“I won’t contact you until I’ve returned, Duchess, and then it will only be to meet my children.”

He hung up. He hung up on her. Satine screamed.

”Your Grace!” 

The door burst open, Jaym and Gorg came in, their eyes widened when they came to rest on her stomach.”

“Get my ladies, Jaym,” the Duchess ordered, “and Gorg, go to the Med Ward and ask for Nurse Hera.”

The guards bowed, shutting the door behind them. As soon as the door slammed, Satine burst into tears. Throwing herself back on her mattress, the Duchess pounded her fists on the bed until her cohort arrived.

“Satine,” Khaami gasped, trying to restrain her, “you’re going to be alright.”

“Please,” Parna grabbed Satine’s thrashing legs, “I’m sure he didn’t mean whatever he said.”

Hera began calmly singing to Satine in Mando’a, gently rubbing her thumb on Satine’s palm.

“He said,” the Duchess gasped, “he said he wanted nothing to do with me.”

Parna sighed, “Satine, I think he’s just mad.”

“I had no choice,” the Duchess yelled, “it had to be a secret!”

“Sh,” Khaami brushed Satine’s hair from her eyes, “all will be well.”

“How do you know that?” Satine accused.

Khaami explained, “He’s always been very devoted to you-”

“And when he met you again,” Parna added, “the spark rekindled.”

“You are the mother of his children, Your Grace,” Hera handed Satine a tissue, “you two are bound for life.”

That brought tears to Satine’s eyes, “Ben doesn’t say things lightly.”

“But what did he say exactly?” Parna asked.

“He said the next time he contacted me,” Satine sniffed, “would be only to meet the children.”

A silence fell.

“Well,” Hera handed Satine another tissue, “you have some time right?”

“When I was eighteen I bore him twins,” Satine confessed, “And at twenty I did so again.”

Hera was aghast.

“How-”

“My ladies and a medical droid,” Satine explained, looking to Khaami, “Khaami was there.”

The lady nodded, “Her Grace was very strong.”

“But,” Hera stuttered, “but the birth certificates?”

“We have the real ones,” Parna answered, “they’re hidden.”

There were many things Hera could’ve said or done at that moment, this, Satine was certain of, but what the nurse said was kind.

“I’m so sorry, Satine.”

With a sigh, the Duchess lay back down.

“Let me just check your heartbeat,” Hera stood, going to her bag, “just in case.”

Everything was physically fine with her, but Satine knew Jaym and Gorg would need answers.

“My guards,” Satine turned to Khaami, “have them come in, Hera will stand guard.”

Gorg and Jaym were shocked, so shocked, in fact, that they’re eyes nearly bulged from their sockets when they did a double take of their Duchess.

“Did,” Gorg stuttered, “is this because-”

Jaym was much less confused, “It was the Jedi, wasn’t it?”

“No one can know,” Satine stated firmly, “I will allow no jokes, no snide comments, and certainly no illusions to my romantic acquaintances. Do you understand?”

The guards looked at each other.

“Do you understand?” Satine repeated.

The guards saluted, “Yes, Your Grace.”

“Now,” Satine straightened, “I want you to grant Master Kenobi’s personal shuttle access to all of Mandalorian space.”

“Kenobi,” Jaym’s eyes went wide, “I told you it was Kenobi!”

“Kriffing Kenobi,” Gorg gasped, “the Jedi poster boy?”

Satine raised an eyebrow, “What did I just say?”

Jaym swallowed, “No jokes, snide comments, or romantic allusions of any kind.”

“Correct.”

Gorg sighed before he bowed, “We shall do as Your Grace has ordered.”

Satine’s gaze softened, “Thank you.”

Hera came in as the guards left and collected her bag.

“Sleep well, Satine,” she instructed, “you need your rest.”

“I will.”

Parna said nothing, but hugged the Duchess instead.

“Thank you.” Satine whispered.

“We’re right down the hall if you need anything.” Khaami reiterated.

Satine nodded, and then she was left with her feelings. After an hour, she realized she couldn’t sleep and grabbed her comm. She sent the same message to Mara, Tristan, Tyra (who now had a comm of her own), and Korkie. They likely wouldn’t see it till the morning, but Satine needed it off her conscious that she wasn’t hiding her children from their father.

The Duchess hardly slept at all that night. Some time around 2:30 her body crashed and her eyes refused to open, but she didn’t feel refreshed in the morning when Khaami gently nudged her.

“We let you sleep a little later,” she began, “but there is an urgent matter the council needs you for.”

Groaning, Satine rolled over. She could hear Parna in her closet pulling out clothes.

“Please, Your Grace,” Khaami continued, “it’s about the war.”

“I hate war.” Satine whined, sitting up.

“That’s a good girl,” Khaami rubbed Satine’s back, “now let’s get you ready, you have a big day ahead.”

The corset was painful, as it generally was, but it made the Duchess sit straighter in her throne. She was facing the ruling council and some of the clan heads that lived nearby. Satine felt that her usual uniform of purple and blue was too plain for such a gathering.

The new Prime Minister was actually an old one, Jaru Djarin had never liked Almec, he’d always rubbed her the wrong way. So after his four years were up, Jaru ran against him. Due to obvious reasons, she won.

“Do forgive us for meeting early, Your Grace,” the Prime Minister began, “but the head of the Trade Federation contacted me and specifically expressed displeasure in our situation. He would like to meet and discuss new terms.”

Satine smiled, “This is a good reason for meeting early.”

That was met with a few chuckles.

“We shall most graciously accept the Trade Master’s visit,” Satine decided, “did he give any dates that he’s available?”

And so it was decided, the Trade Master would be arriving in three days. There was much to do. Waldie and her seamstresses worked late to add stiff linings into many of Satine’s dresses. Though none knew why. Satine oversaw the menu and preparations for public appearances. It was also decided that the Trade Master and his delegation would be housed down the hall from Satine, Parna and Khaami would sleep in Satine’s parlor. The Duchess also made a friendly call to her dearest acquaintance, Senator Amidala of Naboo, who had much to say on the Trade Federation and their past dealings.

“Interesting,” Satine nodded, “thank you for your help, Padme.”

“Of course, oh,” Padme paused, “and congratulations.”

“What for?” Satine asked.

“Obi-Wan is being traded for Master Fisto in two months,” Padme suddenly became worried, “I thought you knew.”

A heartbeat passed.

“When did he find out?”

“Anakin mentioned it yesterday afternoon,” the Senator gasped, “Satine, did you and Obi-Wan get in a fight?”

“I told him about the children,” Satine confessed, “and naturally he’s not happy.”

Padme sighed, “I’m sorry, Satine.”

“It’s good to know,” the Duchess tried not to sound hurt, “if he chooses he might attend the birth.”

“He might.” agreed Padme.

After a moment of still silence, Satine thanked Padme for her call and hung up. She cried for a little bit, then went to try on her refurbished dresses.

“These are quite snug.” observed one of the seamstresses.

“They should be,” Waldie replied, “that’s how Her Grace likes it.”

“But Lady Waldie,” another seamstress took out a measuring tape, “these dresses shouldn’t be tight.”

Waldie glanced at Satine, “I don’t see how we did something wrong if Her Grace enjoys the dresses.”

“I do,” Satine said earnestly, “that’s why I ask you to touch them up so often.”

“Work on dresses for the Ladies Khaami and Parna,” Waldie instructed, “I will finish the Duchess’ dress.”

Satine nodded, grateful to the seamstress.

“There are rumors, Your Grace,” Waldie whispered, “that you are expecting.”

The Duchess frowned, “I should start leaving trails of fake blood everywhere.”

Waldie snorted, “I suggest you allow the Duke of Sundari to understudy your work with the Trade Master.”

“It will set everyone straight.” Satine agreed.

Parna giggled and the Duchess turned her head.

“I feel like a princess.” the Lady twirled.

Satine’s mind went to her daughters, the nearly grown ones, they should be princesses. A wave of sadness flowed over the Duchess, she wished her children could be where they should be, could claim their birthrights. Unfortunately, if anyone found out about their father…

“Duchess?”

Satine looked up, “Hm?”

“Your advisors are looking for you.”

“Ah, yes,” Satine straightened, “the security for public appearances.”

Gorg and Jaym were Satine’s top protectors, to be with her always. Now that they knew, it was important that she keep them close to her if they had any questions, or if she was kidnapped. Satine tried not to think about the latter.

“Hello?”

“Hi Headmistress Gren,” Satine smiled even though the woman couldn’t see her, “this is the Duchess Satine.”

“It’s good to hear from you, Your Grace,” the headmistress pleasantly intoned, “your nephew has been doing very well in his classes.”

“That’s good to hear,” Satine’s pride decided, “speaking of which, can Korkie be excused for the next three days, I would like him to be here for the Trade Master’s visit.”

“Of course, Your Grace,” the headmistress agreed, “I always enjoy it when a student gets government experience.”

Satine thanked the headmistress for her time and asked if Korkie could be sent home early.

“Of course, Your Grace,” Headmistress Gren appraised, “you should see him within the hour.”

“Thank you.”

The Duchess smiled to herself, Korkie disliked his fittings, this would be fun. The Duke of Sundari groaned when they approached the sewing rooms.

“Lady Mother,” he whispered, quite agitated, “I can’t stand still for that long.”

“It’ll be quick,” Satine assured, “and if you’re good, you can help me taste the deserts.”

Korkie glowed, “Wonderful.”

In the meantime, Satine instructed Parna to fetch a jar of blueberries and a knife from the kitchen while she and Khaami looked for excess hair brushes.

“Why are we doing this again?” Parna asked.

“To quell the maid’s suspicions,” Satine answered, “I’ve heard they’re worried about the lack of bloody material in my trash cans and laundry.”

Parna grinned, “So we’re going to make fake blood.”

“Blueberries were an excellent choice, Your Grace,” Khaami winked, “how clever you are!”

Satine laughed, “I feel like we’re ancient witches mixing a potion.”

Parna snorted. Khaami grabbed a bowl.

“Okay,” the lady began, “put a bunch of blueberries into this bowl and smash them.”

Satine giggled like a little girl as she took her hairbrush and smashed the blueberries. 

“We need to make sure this is thick enough,”Parna added, “how do we do that?”

Khaami grinned, “My mother-in-law once thickened strawberry compote with cornstarch and water, I bet that would work as well.”

Satine nodded, “Get some.”

They finished smashing the blueberries as Khaami returned. 

“Let’s strain the liquid from the berries,” Parna suggested, turning to Satine, “I’ll hold the bowl if you hold your hands out.”

And so they did, it was messy and fun, Satine even got to lick the leftover berry juice from her hands.

“How proper, Satine.” Parna teased.

Then Khaami added cornstarch to the mixture and filled the jar a quarter full of water.

“Now,” Khaami smiled wickedly, “we drop some of our berries into the mixture.”

Once their job was done, the women conferred and decided their potion needed to be redder. 

“We could put some of my blood in.” Satine suggested.

Parna frowned.

“It would have to be somewhere hidden by your dress,” Khaami agreed, “perhaps your leg?”

So a small slit was made in the Duchess’ leg and added to the foul solution.

“Tomorrow morning we’ll put some on your sheets,” Parna decided, “and some on the back of your nightgown.”

Satine giggled, “That will be fun.”

After cleaning up, the Duchess took the Duke of Sundari down to the kitchens, where they would taste desserts. Korkie was smiling so bright Satine was beginning to wonder if he already had eaten some chocolate.

“Lady,” the Duke burst, “Lady Aunt?”

“Yes?” Satine took a bite of her macaroon.

“I think I have a girlfriend.”

Satine began to cough. Korkie laughed.

“Remember when those exchange students from Cerea came?”

“She’s Cerean?” Satine asked.

“Yes, she likes to draw and we traded numbers,” Korkie said excitedly, “and we’ve been talking ever since.”

“That was two months ago!”

Korkie looked down, shy, “She just asked me to be her boyfriend.”

“Korkyrach Kryze!”

The Duke flinched at the Duchess’ giddy tone.

“Tell me her name!”

“Kara Adi.”

“Pretty,” Satine remarked, “surname?”

“Mundi.”

The Duchess paused for a moment, that name rang a bell.

Satine gasped, “I know her mother, Shea, she was the Cerean representative on trade many years ago!”

“Yeah,” Korkie nodded, “her mother’s retired now.”

The Duchess could not be more pleased.

“So,” Korkie took a bite of cake, “what’s new in your life, Auntie?”

[rainbowpacifiers]

Twin Kingdoms (A3! Event story) - Chapter 4

The first day of rehearsals is under way. Some actors struggle more with their portrayals than others. Meanwhile, Haruto contemplates the meaning of continuing work as an actor. 

Chapter 3 | Index | Chapter 5

Reni: We will now begin the read-through. Izumi: (We finally have the first day of rehearsals... The atmosphere is different from usual, so I'm a little nervous.) Haruto: "Father...I am so sorry." Shift: "Where are you going at this hour?" Haruto: "--Why are you here?" Shift: "We have been together since birth. At the very least, I know what you're thinking. Running away won't solve anything." Haruto: "I know that. But my existence creates an idle conflict." Izumi: (Haruto-kun is a little stiff. Shift-kun has grasped Lutz perfectly.) Tasuku: "Tch, that pighead! His brains are fossilising with old age." Azami: "Whatever the circumstances may be, you are going too far, Master Gilbert." Tasuku: "Now while the people are impoverished, it's ridiculous to have a war with North Aria. Neither the high officials nor my father are staring reality in the face." Azami: "It seems we cannot avoid the beginning of a war." Izumi: (Just as you'd expect from Tasuku-san. He does it in a majestic manner. Azami-kun must be a bit nervous because of this atmosphere.)

Reni: ...Hm. With that, we've read through it once. Reni: First, Haruto: I want the spirit you had during the audition. Reni: This might be a read-through, but you're trying too hard to say your lines beautifully. Haruto: --Yes. I'm sorry. Reni: Shift should show the intimacy with Cain. Be more conscious of the fact that you've been by his side as his foster brother since childhood. Shift: O~kay. Reni: Tasuku, the balance between Gilbert's princeliness and his vehemence is good. Keep it up. Tasuku: Yes. Reni: I think it would be better if Izumida's Sasha showed a bit more of his devoted manner in the midst of his hypocritical courtesy. Azami: 'kay. Reni: Do you have anything to add? Izumi: Ah, yes! Erm... Izumi: (Being focused on in the middle of this serious mood is making me nervous too...) Izumi: During the scene when Cain reveals his identity to Gilbert, it weighed on my mind that Cain's feelings weren't really conveyed. Izumi: Because I feel that this is an important scene where the emotions of the two shift, I would like a clearer presentation.  Reni: True, I felt the same way. Haruto, how do you interpret this scene? Haruto: --Eh, erm, this is, that... Reni: What about Tasuku? Tasuku: For Gilbert, I think he may sway between the impression of a prince of an enemy country that he's had for many years and the image of a Cain to whom he felt a sort of closeness. Reni: Hm, that's right. Haruto, think it over a little until the next time. Haruto: --yes. Troupe member A: That's Tasuku-san for you. Troupe member B: He hasn't changed since his time at GOD Troupe. Haruto: .....

Shift: Here is the dressing room of the common room and over there are the changing rooms. Though I think you've been here before. Azami: No, yours is bigger than our theatre, and I wouldn't remember it after one time, so this is a big help. Shift: Well, if you identify even just this area, you shouldn't be in any trouble. Azami: Oh, that's true. Should we get something to eat on the way home? Shift: Ah, today is kind of... Azami: I see. I'll go ahead then. Shift: Okay, see you.

Haruto: ....Sigh. Shift: Haruto-san. Haruto: Uwah! Shift: Your surprise is too extreme. Haruto: Don't just show up out of the blue! Shift: I was standing there for a long time though. Haruto: Your presence is too weak! Shift: There you go again~. Calling the presence of GOD Troupe's top actor weak~. Haruto: Seriously, your self-esteem is too high, it's annoying. Shift: Let's get something to eat. Haruto: Pass. I'm tired; I want to go home early. Shift: If you're going to eat after coming home anyway, we should do it together. A quick meal is fine, so if you wish, let's go to your place to eat together! Haruto: You are the only one I will absolutely not bring home. Shift: Eeeh~, fine, croquette udon then. Haruto: How do you come to that conclusion!?

Haruto: Haah.... Shift: Oh, would you have preferred the kitsune udon? Haruto: That's not it at all. Shift: Today's first rehearsal was fun, wasn't it? Haruto: How. Shift: You know, how Reni-san's instructions have changed too and all. Haruto: Yeah... now, he often asks the actors for their opinions. Shift: What we want to express, how we're interpreting it and such. Shift: It's really fun when a new form is created by combining your own opinion and Reni-san's interpretation. Shift: And he also teaches you what might be good in order to express your own interpretation! Haruto: Although until now, we were required to be something like dolls that were completely devoted in order to embody Reni-san's ideals. Haruto: Now, Reni-san looks like he has fun too. Shift: Are you not having fun, Haruto-san? Haruto: That's not it. It's just that it feels different. Haruto: (Because of the wall so far, I stopped daring to do my own interpretation until the first day.) Haruto: (From now on, I not only have to comply with Reni-san's requests, but will also be asked for my own thoughts...) Haruto: (Precisely because I'm required to do a 180-degree change, the switchover is rather difficult.) Haruto: (Though he, who is like a sponge, just adapts in no time and is enjoying himself.) Shift: Is there something? Haruto: No. Shift: Speaking of different feelings, I'm happy I get to perform with Azami, but it feels weird after all. Shift: Because he's kind of like a relative I've been with since forever, I should say it's sort of embarrassing, I guess? Haruto: The fans will compare us to the actors from their troupe, so absolutely do not let your guard down. Shift: I know that. Shift: But just as I thought, Tasuku-san is amazing. Like, his interpretation and such are perfect. Shift: Reni-san, too, really praised him from day one. Haruto: ——. Shift: We're not going to lose, right? Haruto: That's why I was thinking of returning home early and reading through the script to prepare for tomorrow. Shift: Eh, but your lines already perfect, aren't they? Shift: Isn't it fine if you just believe in the interpretation that simply sprang up in your mind, without reading through the script and thinking it over again and again? Haruto: You--! Haruto: (There are those who can do that without hesitation and those who can't!) Shift: What is it? Haruto: It's nothing! Shift: Weren't you able to do an interpretation of Cain during the audition properly, Haruto-san? Shift: I'm practicing with the image of that Cain with those improvised lines in mind, you know. Haruto: (Back then, my head was full with thoughts of being chosen because I wanted to confront Tasuku one more time.) Haruto: (Also, there was also the envy I felt toward Shift next to me, who did his improvised lines first and without a hitch.) Haruto: (I felt the same thing from Shift, who was discovered by Reni-san just like Tasuku was, as I have felt with Tasuku. Something I can never have myself...) Haruto: (When I took a risk and made lines from those desperate feelings which I noticed in that place, I was able to snatch up the lead role.) Haruto: (And if I think that I shouldn't be excited, it's because of that shameful sight of that first of day of rehearsals.) Haruto: (After all, I...) Haruto: Don't you ever have these moments when you become afraid of continuing as an actor? Shift: Huh? Afraid how? Haruto: Like not attaining success, or suffering setbacks and such. Shift: Hm... well, I am thinking of succeeding as an actor and wanting my family to have an easy life, but if I can't do that, then yeah, I feel scared... Shift: Since I was promoted to a regular troupe member, the stage performance fee and the royalties from the merchandise goods have been steadily increasing, which has helped my household budget. Shift: To be honest, I don't think I'm very worried about the current situation. Haruto: ....so it's like that in your case. Shift: On the contrary, if it's something other than a financial matter for the actor, what else would be the cause for failure? Haruto: ...Something like fear that you might not be the "real thing"? Shift: The "real thing"? Shift: So no one but "really good" people should act?  Haruto: No, that's not it. Haruto: It's just that, as long as you're acting, anyone would think that they probably have real talent and that they want to be acknowledged. Haruto: But the reality isn't like that. If someone is chosen to be the lead, someone else is not. Haruto: There are only a small number of "real deals" that are acknowledged by a lot of people. Haruto: If you know that you're not one of those handfuls, you'd normally become scared, right? Haruto: As a "fake" that will soon be replaced by another actor, should I cling to acting? Or give up on being an actor?... Shift: But if you continue, you might become the real thing one day. Haruto: ——. Haruto: (In any case...you're already one of the people on that side. I can tell by looking at you when you are on stage.) Haruto: (Though it's not like I can say that to your face.) Haruto: (Supposing I can never become the real deal... what would be the meaning of me still continuing with acting?)  Haruto: (Just what am I continuing as an actor for?...) Shift: You will definitely be just fine. I acknowledge you. Haruto: Even if you do... Shift: So let's do our best together from now on too. At the reborn GOD Troupe! Haruto: I'm tellin' ya not to just call us reborn as ya please!

_______________

Chapter 3 | Index | Chapter 5

[emiisanxious]

Hello, how about a Mociet “blep” I need my daily fluff dose 💛🥰💙

@mira-moon

Soooo this is a short story before the drabble. HOW do someone write Fluff?! Like like I can do comfort but OMG, I never tried to write JUST Fluff. Soooo here is the thing: I tried and I think it’s a decent fluff dose. I might try it again if the chance appear.

PLEASE, with all my heart, let me know how you liked it, because it would help with my self-confidence in write it.

TW: Alcohol drinks mentions but they don’t get drunk is just for scene. Can be read in the start as a small angst, also cry mention because I could LOL.

Relationship: Moceit.

Characters: Patton and Janus.

Mentions Names: Virgil (3), Remus (2), Roman (2) and Logan (2).

Deceit wasn't sure when it started, one day, Patton would appear in his room with a pink liquid in a bottle, sit down in the chair and stare at him for a few minutes. Before he started to talk. "You know, sometimes I wonder if Remus and Virgil are better than Logan and Roman."

That definitely got him by surprise as he chuckles. "Why you say that?" He knew that lying or trying to deceive the father figure won't help, and honestly, he felt like he could say truths for once. "I think Logan and Roman are far better than Remus and Virgil. At least you can wake up without been greet by slimes around your room." Janus laughed at that as he makes a wine bottle to appear and pour it into a glass.

"That is true." Morality agreed as he drinks from his bottle. "But at least you don't have someone to hear someone lecturing or bringing facts about everything, every day, all the time. Don't get me wrong, I do love my kiddos, but sometimes... They are just too much."

The lying side got concerned about that, sure all the sides could be too much, but he wasn't expecting Patton from all of them to be the one complaining about it. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, okay no. Do you know how I try not to show any sadness or bad feelings? Well, that is... I just. Can I just..." The baby blue side was at loss with his words.

"Sure. I don't mind." Janus said gently without malice, he knew how hard was for Patton to trust someone and he was honored to be the one.

That is how it started their Wednesday nights because Friday Patton would be with the lights side for movies. Morality would appear with something to drink and they would talk, sometimes, they would just cuddle and laugh about something weird that one of the twins did. Other times, Deceit would hold the other tight and talking comfort words while Patton cried.

That is how they started that friend relationship, although the lying side wasn't sure when or where his feelings changed to a more lovely one. When did he start to wait hopefully for Wednesday, when he wished to pass more time with Morality? But he knew, he knew very well that he shouldn't. He was just a friend if you can call it that, so he shut his feelings.

Yeah, he is a big hypocrite he knows that. For someone who is all for self-care, sure shutting his feelings for the other side was an idiot.

On one of those nights, Patton was shy, he could say that he was anxious even and Janus was frowning but he waited. Waited for the other to start talking. "Jan... I want to say something... But... Can you promise that no matter what I say, we will keep this?" Morality was playing with his cardigan as he wasn't looking at the other side, he wasn't holding a bottle this time.

"Of course." Even with the reassurance, the silence stretched but Deceit wasn't in a hurry, as he just waited there in silence.

"I think... No... I know... I have fallen in love with you." The father figure was a bit scared and he didn't give any time for the other talk. "I'm sorry! You don't need to... to... Return the feelings I just... I love you. And..."

Janus was in shock as he moves, letting his glass on the table as he moves a gloved hand over Patton's lips. He felt warm, surprise but he was happy, happy that the feelings he let it hiding for so long was returned and he just needed to say it. "I... Loooove you too..." His tone was weird as he tried to say it, emotionless, like a robot. "Let me try again."

Deceit took a breathe as he tries again and again saying that he loves Patton, but every time he tried it would sound emotionless or sarcastic. He couldn't say like a normal person that he loved the other and Morality seemed to notice it, as he was placing his hand over his lips. "I will understand. Tell me the way you are comfortable."

Janus was pouting, but he complied. "I hate you. I can see my life without you been so more easy and good. I don't want to pass the rest of it with you." It sounded way more lovely and all the emotions he has been repressing as he says that.

Patton wasn't hurt by that, in reality, he was smiling with so much joy and happiness as he hugs the other side. "I love you too. I can see my life with you been so more easy and good as well! I want to pass the rest of it with you too! I feel like we make each other better."

Deceit relaxed at the touch, hugging the other, as he closes his eyes. Moving a bit to look at Patton frowning. "You little trickster! Since when were you able to read me?! I thought only Virgil could do it!"

Morality was chuckling and showing his tongue like a cat, just the tip letting it hanging in there.

"You little trickster!" Janus was confused by that, still frowning.

Patton was now laughing and bleping at the other not answering him.

[princesssarisa]

Assorted thoughts on “Little Women”

 In no particular order.

*I’m glad I waited this long to read the original, unabridged novel. If I had read it as a teen or a preteen, I just might have followed countless girl readers’ example of having a crush on Laurie and being angry that Jo doesn’t marry him. Reading it now, I’m able to see him as the well-rounded, likable yet flawed character he is, not just as a girl’s prize, and realize that while he and Jo have a beautiful friendship, they wouldn’t have worked as a couple. The canon pairings of Jo/Friedrich and Amy/Laurie are the right ones.

*About the controversial issue of the characters’ ambitions... None of the young leads achieve their childhood dreams in the end; Alcott’s intended message was clearly  “We don’t always achieve our dreams, but life can still be happy in ways we never expected.” That’s all well and good. But apart from Meg’s gender-neutral dream of being rich, the characters’ “castles in the air” are all in defiance of their expected gender roles: Jo wants to be a famous author and Amy a famous artist, two fields normally reserved for men, while Laurie wants to be a composer instead of going into his grandfather’s business. And all three of their endings are distinctly more gender-conforming: Jo becomes a schoolmistress, Amy becomes a society lady, both become wives and mothers, and Laurie goes into business “like a man.” I think it’s fair for modern readers to be disappointed by that conformity, even while appreciating the realistic message about childhood dreams. Those feelings aren’t mutually exclusive. For modern audiences, I think the standard adaptational change of Jo publishing her own version of Little Women at the end (instead of 20 years later in the last sequel) is a good change.

*About Jo needing to control her temper... I understand why this annoys some feminists. So often women are expected to suppress all anger and never stand up for themselves. Maybe it is problematic that role model Marmee explicitly never shows her anger, but only purses her lips and leaves the room. But personally, I think it’s presented in a healthy, gender-neutral way. Jo’s anger isn’t a problem because it’s “unseemly” or “unfeminine,” but because it can lead her to do cruel things to others. The mistake that teaches her the lesson in “Jo Meets Appolyon,” letting Amy skate on the thin ice, isn’t a loud, aggressive act of rage, but a cold, silent act (or rather inaction) of spite. Besides “control your temper” doesn’t mean “never stand up for yourself.” The book has several examples of women calmly yet firmly calling out other people’s bad behavior (most often Laurie’s ^–^) and it’s portrayed as entirely right. And though it’s tempting to be annoyed by Mr. March putting his finger to his lips when he sees his wife starting to get angry, it’s also a nice subversion of gender stereotypes to see a marriage where the husband is gentler by nature than his wife and is a calming influence on her. Stereotypical couples are the other way around.

*As a person on the autism spectrum, I relate strongly to Beth. I fully embrace the headcanon that Beth herself is autistic and that Lizzie Alcott might have been diagnosed as such if she had lived today. So it hurts a little to see other readers call Beth “boring,” “annoying,” a “doormat” and “the worst of the sisters.” Although she is idealized because she was Alcott’s tribute to her dead little sister, she’s not the cardboard cutout of bland feminine virtue she’s so often been stereotyped as being. It’s clear from the start that Beth isn’t “normal,” either by our standards or by past ones. Her crippling shyness isn’t just “sweet Victorian modesty,” but portrayed as a real flaw that she struggles to overcome. She’s been homeschooled because as a child her social anxiety made regular school unbearable for her. She still plays with dolls, believes in Santa Claus and has imaginary friends at age 13. She has no desire to get married, or to have any kind of career, or ever to leave her parents’ house. And because of all this, she clearly has a low opinion of herself: hence she tells Jo that she was never meant to live long, because she would never have been anything but “stupid little Beth, trotting about at home.” But the narrative belies her words. In both of her illnesses, so many people rally around her and reveal how much they love her and how valuable her quiet kindness has been in their lives. Ultimately she dies in peace because she realizes her life hasn’t been worthless after all. With my own social struggles, my tendency to be “younger than my years,” and my own desire to have a quiet life close to my family instead of going out into the big, overwhelming world and doing big, overwhelming things, I find her storyline beautiful, because it gives me hope that my life is just as valuable as anyone else’s.

*I also relate to Jo, as so many readers do. The result is that I’m of two minds of the chapters “Calls” and “Consequences.” On the one hand, there’s no doubt that Jo is at fault in those chapters and does more-or-less deserves to lose the trip to Europe. She’s genuinely, purposefully rude to her aunts and to the other people they visit and she humiliates Amy and harms her social life – at the subsequent fair, the Chesters ban Amy from the art table because Jo insulted them. Plus the only reason why she has to join Amy in the calls in the first place is because she promised she would, so it’s hypocritical of her to whine about it. But on the other hand, I do empathize with Jo. With my own my social difficulties, I relate to her hating formal occasions where she has to dress up, mind her manners, make small talk about topics that don’t interest her with people she dislikes, and always be “agreeable” and “docile.” For Jo and for so many of us, it’s so hard to be that way, yet it’s the mold that all women were expected to stuff themselves into in the 19th century and to an extent still are today. Amy is lucky that she enjoys playing that social game and that it comes naturally to her. So it’s easy to sympathize with Jo’s envy when Amy is chosen to go to Europe, to feel as if Amy is rewarded for her social conformity while Jo is punished for failing to conform, and to feel as if the message is that all girls should conform like Amy. Fortunately, the book as a whole doesn’t send that message: even Amy achieves her ultimate happiness by letting herself be a bit more like Jo and call Laurie out on his laziness and apathy, when back in “Calls” she had argued that a lady should never show disapproval to a man.

*I don’t understand why some commentators think the chapter “On the Shelf” is so horribly sexist. Well, actually, I do. It’s tempting to find fault with John for being “jealous” that Meg is focusing more on their babies than on him and for “neglecting” Meg and spending carefree evenings out while she slaves away with the twins. And for Meg to be told by her mother that this is her own fault for “neglecting her duty to her husband” understandably rankles some feminists. But I honestly don’t think there’s any real problem. Meg genuinely neglects John and overtaxes herself by devoting every waking minute to the twins and letting neither John nor anyone else help her, because she’s afraid that otherwise she’ll be a bad mother. John isn’t jealous of the babies, he understandably feels ignored and useless. Nor (despite what some critics think) does he cheat on Meg, or want to. He just goes to a friend’s house rather than sit alone at home; Meg’s fear that his eye is roving to Mrs. Scott is just a product of her own stress. The resolution is arguably just the opposite of sexist: Meg finally lets John take an equal share of child-rearing duties, lets Hannah babysit often so they can both have time for themselves too, and steps out of her domestic sphere to share talks with John about politics, literature, etc. By the end of the chapter, their marriage is more egalitarian than ever.

*I’d like to read a fanfic where Jo meets Rodolfo from La Bohéme. I wouldn’t ship them, since they’re even more “too much alike” than Jo and Laurie are, but I’d like to see them meet. They’re both lively, passionate, temperamental ENFP writers, whose minds are full of “castles in the air” (they both use that exact phrase), yet whose lives both turn out differently than they had hoped, although Jo’s outcome is much happier. Both also adore a sweet, gentle, sickly young girl (Jo’s sister Beth/Rodolfo’s love interest Mimí) whose death they both regard as the end of their own youth. Furthermore, both of their authors modeled them after themselves. Jo is more down-to-earth than Rodolfo, though, and I’m not sure if they’d be friends or hate each other – Jo would definitely be indignant to learn how Rodolfo emotionally abused and broke up with Mimí because he couldn’t bear to watch her die, when she herself nursed Beth day and night through both of her illnesses and never left her side. But it would be an interesting meeting.

@fairychamber, @thatvermilionflycatcher

[seokiloquy]

Mind Boggling Pt 2 - Miya Atsumu

Soulmate AU: At particular times (Once a year/ certain age/ hours/ or randomly) soulmates swap bodies for some time. (Specifics vary from story to story but I love this au wholeheartedly)

You guys wanted a part two and I forgot. Manga spoilers ahead.

Word Count: 2K

Pt 1 | Pt 2

It was loud in the gym. The Black Jackals were split into two teams in the centre court of their official gym. Coaches Foster and Sato were at the side of the court. Foster stood atop the metal platform attached to the nets pole, whistle in mouth, ready to make calls for the scrimmage. Sato held a pen and binder, taking notes as he wandered along the sides of the court listening whenever Headcoach Foster had something to add from his higher viewpoint.

A point went to the B team and the blue and yellow ball rolled under the net. It weaved between the various players’ feet, to Atsumu who was waving in a silent request. Scooping the ball into his arms and making his way to the backline. He turned around, twisting the ball in his hands for a moment, before becoming still. The team waited for a moment, expecting him to start his ritualistic steps in preparation for one of his jump serves.

"Tsum-Tsum, if you don't serve the ball goes to the other team."

"I know, but I can't!"

The player’s head tilted and shoulders slumped forward. “What do you mean you can’t? You’re a volleyball player.”

Atsumu glared at the freshly snow bleached player, "Damn it, Koutarou. I don't know how to serve. How do you expect me to do anything?"

The wing spiker wore a blank look, eyes unfocused as he stared past the blond’s head at the gym's white wall. His eyebrows and jaw began to push in opposite directions. Flopping his head over his shoulder he waved over to the team's coach, who looked a bit more than peeved that the practice match wasn't progressing.

"Hey, coach! (Y/N)'s here!"

Still holding the ball you sent the older man a meek wave. His head drooped. After taking a quick look at the binder in his assistant’s arm he called over you and one of the players on the other side of the net. Once both of you got to Foster’s side he yelled at the team to keep playing. You quickly tossed the ball to Koutarou.

"Okay, Sakusa. For now, until the end of practice, you're going to join coach Sato and teach (L/N) how to play. Luckily due to Miya's muscle memory, it'll hopefully be easier than teaching an absolute amateur. So get to it."

Foster silently asked Sato for his binder and pen to continue notes as he was gone. The younger coach handed it over with no complaints and set forward in the direction of one of the other courts in the large room. Kiyoomi gave you a nod. You watched as the dark-haired player bent his wrists so his fingers touched the bruised inside of his arm. They cracked, making you wince. Looking away from the flexible joints of Atsumu’s teammate, you gave a final look towards the other players before following the silent man and coach to begin your individual practice.

Sato had made a quick stop to the side of the room where his bag seemed to be and pulled out another folder. It was smaller in size, probably meant to be used as a backup copy or just had information that didn't have to be altered over time. He also grabbed a ball from the square basket and gave it an underhand toss to Kiyoomi. 

“So, (L/N). This is a bit new, isn’t it?” Sato laughed, “well as you should know, Miya plays in the setter position. Meaning he is usually the second player to handle the ball. He is a well-rounded player but his best strengths relate to his strategy and sense for the game. He-”

“Coach Sato?” You interjected, receiving a quick hum and look of approval from the man. “As much as I enjoy hearing your praises for my boyfriend, I already know most of this.”

The coach nodded quickly, “Right, right. You’re absolutely right. You’ve probably watched him play for years.”

The man fumbled over his words. It made you laugh but elicited no reaction from Kiyoomi, who was rubbing his hands together.

“It’s alright, but it might be better to get started before practice ends.”

Sato nodded and set down the black folder. You noticed that it had the BJ’s logo and player stats printed on the front. “Let’s start with bumping then.”

Practice progressed for a bit over an hour until Foster yelled at everyone to hit the showers because we ‘all smelled like fat pigs after a run through a mud pile mixed with onions.’ Throughout the available time, you had managed to get bumping down rather easily, and although you could execute on a lot of the other skills needed to play, you didn’t have the same game sense that Atsumu had to put any strength behind your movements. You were slow. Getting to the ball was easy (until they sent an ace serve your way), you quickly learned every movent and how to complete it (until you had to move fast and tripped), and you understood the rules (until they asked you what they were.) You were doing great.

Home felt like a safe haven in comparison to the cold gym of the Black Jackals training facility. You couldn’t wait to walk into your house and crash onto the deep couch that sat in the middle of the living room. Getting out of Atsumu’s car to walk up to the front door of the house was a chore. Tired arms and legs make it hard to pull out his key and get the door unlocked, but relaxing on the couch would be worth it.

Your body was already on the couch, eating away at a large pizza. The tv was on, playing compilations of volleyball moves and techniques from various angles and teams.

“Tsumu. Please stop using my body to pig out on food. I need to be healthy too.”

Hearing Atsumu whine through your own mouth made you cringe, it always sounded higher than you were used to.

“It’s our body (Y/N)! Let’s enjoy it.”

Letting out an amused scoff, you dropped his sports bag next to the plush couch before flopping onto it, next to him. You grabbed a slice and took a large bite before he could stop you.

“Hey don’t do that! I need to stay healthy!”

“So do I, you hypocrite!’ You took another bit before lightly slapping your body’s hand away.

A moment of silence passed and both of your bodies settled back into the couch.

“So, practice?”

You sighed, taking another bite, “You’re going to need to teach me how to play, should the switch happen during a game.”

He smiled, “Really?”

Letting out a low groan (which you were happy to hear as it came out of Atsumu’s mouth), “I don’t want it, though. Today was enough.”

“Nope. Coach’s orders. Come on, we’re getting started.”

As he jumped up from his seat, the large shirt you were wearing rolled upward, exposing a small line of your stomach. You glared for a moment, it has been a while since you’ve exercised. At least you wouldn’t be feeling the pain at the moment, maybe tomorrow when you got switched off. That wasn’t what had caught your eye though.

“Tsumu, did you take my bra off?

The morning following that late-night practice in the backyard you told Atsumu that he had to work out whenever he was in your body. You were sore, extremely so, but at least Atsumu could push himself and you’d only need to deal with the after-effects. He wasn’t a fan of the idea though, preferring his original plans to lounge and eat junk all the time. A quick glare and glance got him to agree. 

Learning volleyball was harder in your own body, it had gotten easier over time, but you still didn’t like having to work extra. Atsumu would often make it unbearable with his boasting.

“Come on. You love me.”

“Maybe so, but I’m not making you a giant onigiri.”

“Come on, Samu!”

The second twin chuckled before sliding a regular sized snack your way. Despite the disappointing size of the rice ball, you smiled thankfully. It was your favourite kind. 

“Shouldn’t you be in the stands watching the game?”

You waved a hand dismissively as you pulled your bit away from the tasty rise ball. You wanted to take another bit right there.

“Ah, there’s a tv right there, and I wanted to give you and your workers some company. And besides,” you took another bite, “He won’t even know I’m- Fuck.”

“Bring it to me!”

Off your fingertips, the ball soared through the air. Directly in your line of sight, you watched its direction get interrupted by the carrot-headed wing spiker. Shoyo, bubbly as ever, landed from his towering jump and bounded toward you to give you a high five.

“Tsumu! Great toss!”

“Thank you Shoyo, but it’s not Tsumu.”

The stadium was loud, too loud. You had spent the majority of the final set with Osamu, eating food and watching the live broadcast going on through the rim of the stadium. Getting back into position for the other team’s serve, you gave a quick thought to what Atsumu might be thinking. You couldn’t dwell on his likely dejected attitude for long though because in under a second that ball was flying right over your head and into Inunaki’s arms.

Hopping on your toes you made a quick sidestep to get underneath the rapidly falling ball. You listened for the squeaking footsteps behind you. Tilting your head back while looking up, your fingers made contact with the ball. They bent, creating a cushion and with a light flick of the wrist and push from the tips of Atsumu’s fingers, you sent the ball flying into Koutarou’s palm.

It went out.

Sighing, you sent him an apologetic wave to which he pouted. 

Rallys were stressful. But after a couple of minutes and an amazing spike from Kiyoomi, you had been rotated into serving. 

You breathed in deeply, spinning the ball in the palm of your hand. The chant’s of the Black Jackal’s fans roared behind you, lifting your fist in the air, you copied Atsumu’s movement’s and waited for them to go silent.

There was a loud yell.

“Do it (Y/N)!”

Atsumu, I swear to god.

Flipping a look over your shoulder, you saw your own body jumping around at the edge of the bleachers. Atsumu seemed to be in his own world, forgetting all the rules he set up for himself in the game until one of the band members told him to quiet down. None of the fans should be able to recognize you immediately. Romance isn’t used to advertise sports. But knowing the dedication of some people, it wouldn’t take long for them to realize the predicament both of you were in. Most people’s soulmate type was common knowledge, especially celebrities. 

You didn’t have time for this. Sending a glare Atsumu’s way, you quickly began your serve. It was weak for a pro, and people definitely noticed, but it got the job done.

27-25.

After the game, when Atsumu found out outside the change rooms, you berated him. Mildly amused glares were sent between the two of you. When you tried to get into the change room he held you back.

“You did a good job for your first game.”

You huffed, “That’s a lie. You’re just trying to not let me wash your sweaty body in the showers with the rest of the team.”

The inability to hold down a blush was something you struggled with and had learned to dampen over time. Seeing it happen from Atsumu’s perspective was entertaining, though. 

This isn’t great but oh well. 30 minutes after writing this I gave myself light bangs. - Bacon

Posted: 02/07/2020

[kabhi-haath-pakad-k-tu-mera]

We Can (Un)Do It

In which there is a marriage law which needs to be undone. Drinny, post-war.

It’s not hard, for anyone, to note that the war has drained Draco Malfoy. Drained him of the pride he had once had, drained his family of the prestige they had once held. Drained a young boy of the youth he had had. 

Even so, to Ginevra Weasley, it’s painfully obvious. She knows what he was like before the war—who he truly was. She had loved that person, held him, seen him. She had seen him struggle through the war too, pretending to be a Death Eater for the sake of his mother’s life when in reality he was, like anyone else, just another student caught in the crossfire. She knew, better than anyone, how much bravery it had taken for him to change sides in the battle, to go against Voldemort despite his fear for his mother’s life. But he had done it. And he had done a lot more. He had nursed students back to health, rescued them from the preying Carrow twins and from the ruthless prefects. 

In her eyes, he is as much a hero as anyone else. If he had had a real choice, she knows he would have chosen to fight with them. He was just a victim of circumstances, like so many people around them. But that doesn't stop people from treating him and other Slytherins like shit. Cursing them when they are off-guard, flooding their dormitory, calling them slurs. It makes Ginny’s blood boil. But Draco doesn't do anything about it, just bears it all with a blank face, never wavering. 

Never wavering except when he catches her looking at him at breakfast in the Great Hall, asking him silently about the bruise on his chin; except when she leaves the Gryffindor table to go eat with him; except when she glares down everyone who as much as looks at him wrong. Then his face has the slightest flicker of emotion—something warm akin to a smile. She knows he dislikes her defending him, but she also knows that if she doesn't, she will one day wake up to the news of his death.   

___________________

That morning he enters the Great Hall looking particularly pale—pronounced bags under his eyes, and a particularly nastly looking gash on his cheek. It looks raw and recent—although no blood is flowing from it—as if it has been treated, but couldn't be glamoured. They love giving him scars that can't be hidden, that take a long time to heal. It makes her sick. 

“Oh, I bet he loves that, another tattoo to go with his mark,” someone down the Gryffindor table snickers, and a bunch of fourth and fifth years burst into laughter. 

Ginny cannot quite make out who it is that had said it, but she stiffens quite suddenly, gripping her fork tightly in one hand, the other reflexively reaching for her wand. Neville catches her eye from across her, looking just as livid as she feels. Luna nudges her foot from beside her however, a warning—she has already been in far too many altercations this year, and it’s only the end of September. 

She gets up suddenly enough that a bunch of people look in her direction and quieten down, but a lot of them keep going until Hermione—Head Girl, of course—screams at them, red hot anger pouring into her voice, “Detention, Smith. For the rest of the year. Move. It.”

Ginny ignores the looks she gets as she steps away from the Gryffindor table to go to the Slytherin table—curious glances, subtle smirks, gaping mouths and contemptuous glares. The table is a lot quieter than the others, almost entirely silent except for the sound of cutlery. They make room around Draco when she approaches, almost out of reflex. They are used to her sitting between them now. Not entirely comfortable, no, but used to it. 

Her and Draco don't talk while he eats, but the question she wants to ask is mutually understood. It's also mutually known, although grudgingly, that he is not going to answer it. She asks it anyway once they have left the Great Hall.

“Who?”

“It doesn't matter.”

She stops walking for a moment, closing her eyes in exasperation. Draco stops a few steps ahead. 

“Draco ... ” she starts, then stops, sighing. She walks up to him instead, taking his hand in her own and nearly dragging him into an empty classroom. She dimly notes that it's the out-of-use Transfiguration classroom on the third floor. 

She leans against the door once she’s closed it, looking at Draco who is leaning on a desk, a finger gently feeling about the scar. She moves towards him slowly, stopping once she is standing inches away from him and he is looking right at her, eyes soft. He leans his head towards her as she reaches up to inspect the wound, red and angry and hot, stretching from the middle of his left cheek down to his jawline.

“You should go see Madame Pomphrey instead of patching them up yourself,” she says, voice quiet. “She’s always helped students.”

Draco hums but doesn't reply. Ginny takes her hand away from his face and instead takes his own, thumb brushing gently over it, and he finally heaves a soft sigh and relaxes, his stiff demeanour ebbing. Neither move or speak for a few moments before he says, “You need to stop sitting at the Slytherin table.”

Ginny closes her eyes for a moment, bracing herself for the argument to follow. The one they have been having ever since school had restarted, ever since she had declared that she wasn't going to hide what they were anymore, not from Hogwarts, not from her family, not from the world. It’s almost a ritual at this point.

“No,” she says, opening her eyes. “No, I don't. It’s them. They need to start treating people like people.”

“Gin ...” he sighs, freeing his hand and rubbing his face, mindful of his injury. “You can't put yourself in the line of fire like this. I can't let you.”

“And I can't let you be walked over by everyone. Especially since you refuse to do anything about it.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” he says, exasperation written on his face, “it’s got a political aspect now, you don't understand! The Wizarding World of Britain is watching all your moves. You can't be seen fraternizing with the enemy. Nor can Granger and Longbottom and Lovegood. All of you need to stop.”

“You are not the enemy, Draco. You were with us all along. And the other Slytherins … Daphne and Millicent and Terence … they didn't have a choice either. They had nowhere to go. They were students like anyone else." She purses her lips. "It's hypocritical to not treat the Slytherin students like the other students, who were just trying to get by the war like any other from Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw or Gryffindor." 

Draco scoffs lightly, looking down at his hands. "Slytherins have never been treated the way the others have. And we liked it too, until the war. It's been a given for too long that Slytherins are different, and we've never tried to change it. We made our bed," he lifts his head to look at her, and finds that her honey-brown eyes are glowing in the filtered light coming from the windows. "Now we have to lie in it."

Ginny shakes her head as chatter and footsteps rise in the corridor outside the classroom. Draco lifts his hand to check the time. “The first class is about to start,” he says, “we should get going. It’ll take a while to get down to the Dungeons.”

___________________

They are grouped in four to a table for the double potions class. Professor Slughorn is mindful enough of his students’ plight that he only ever groups the Slytherin students together. It's even better that there are only four of them.  

Ginny herself is with Hermione, Jones, and Smith—a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor from her year. She glares at Smith as he takes his seat at the table, perfectly aware of how Hermione is also giving him a seething look and how Jones looks acutely uncomfortable being caught between them. Smith ignores them the best of his ability as they set about making their Amortentia. 

It's only when she whiffs the familiar smell of parchment and cologne from her cauldron that she is convinced that her potion is complete. Suddenly the entire classroom smells like Draco, even though he is at the opposite end of the class. She smiles when he looks up at her, as if they were sharing a secret. She only looks away when Hermione nudges her foot, mirth in her eyes, and motions towards professor Slughorn, who is standing before her equally amused. Someone beside her scoffs but she ignores it.

When they are packing up after the class, she hears the scoff again, followed by a blur of brown hair coming within her line of sight. 

“You would do well to stay away from Death Eaters and Slytherins, Ginny,” Smith says seriously even as she ignores him. “You can't be fraternizing with the dark side. You never know when they might turn on you.” She finally turns around and glares, but Smith remains unfazed, continuing in a somewhat mysterious tone, “besides, things are changing. You don't know what might happen.”

She doesn't stop glaring until he has left the class, and it's only her and Hermione left, Draco having left for his Ancient Runes class. 

“Don't pay him mind Ginny,” Hermione says to her as she gathers the rest of Ginny’s parchment and puts them in her bag. “He’s an idiot.” She looks at the empty doorway. “An entitled idiot.”

___________________

“I talked to Percy today,” Hermione says as she settles in her bed, curtains drawn open so that Ginny can see her with her book in her lap. She has her own room, being Head Girl, but she prefers being with other people around.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I wanted to know about the workings of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and he mentioned something that I found a bit … worrying?”

Ginny turns away from the mirror and looks at her inquiringly. “It’s about a law,” Hermione continues quietly, “a law about marriage.” 

“About marriage?” Ginny frowns, as a quiet node of worry grows in her belly. She has heard about those before. The last one had been imposed right after the first Wizarding War, to repopulate the Wizarding World. Her mum used to talk about how arbitrary it was, and how glad she was she had married Dad before the law had come out. 

Hermione nods. “Percy said they have been developing the law for a while now. Their official reasoning is to “Keep the Wizarding World alive and to end the House disparities, seeing the attacks on people from pureblood families.” She grimaces. “He told me to warn others about it,” she pauses, then sighs deeply. “The Ministry is going to be making the  matches this time. Anyone who doesn't follow might be persecuted.”  

Ginny drops the hairbrush she had been holding, sinking into her bed. Ministry matches. End disparities. Persecution. Fuck. She turns to Hermione slowly, breathing heavily through her mouth. 

“Oh, Ginny,” Hemione sighs softly, making her way over to her, “I’m so sorry. I know you and Draco …” Ginny belatedly realizes that she is trembling. Hermione wraps her arms around her. 

___________________

Ginny doesn't sleep that night. This isn't unusual—sleeplessness is an old friend—but the thought of the Marriage law sends her deeper and deeper into angst. She could be married to anyone. Anyone. That person had a very high chance of not being Draco. She doesn't think she could bear it—not after everything they've been through together, not after how he was her last link to sanity throughout last year. It takes all she has to stifle her almost-sobs. It hurts. Her head hurts from trying not to cry.

She hadn't thought she would get married so young. She had hoped to wait it out until she was in her late-twenties, until she had a stable life, a stable career. She had, at the very least, hoped to have the choice. To have a say in it. But the Ministry wants children. She doesn't want children—not so soon. She’s a child herself!

It's finally around three in the morning that she decides to get out of bed. She doesn't know where she is going, really, but she wants—needs—to move about. To do something. It's about quarter of an hour later that hse finds herself in the library, perusing bookshelves on Magical Laws. Creature Laws; Criminal Laws; Civil Laws; Marriage Laws. Her hand trembles as she pulls the books out from the shelf, sets them down on the floor, and sits down beside them herself.

“Lumos.”

___________________

“Ginny, where have you been?” Hermione calls out to her from where she is seated on the Gryffindor table, Luna beside her. Ginny sits down across from her, pouring herself milk as she looks at her friends curiously. There is a strange sort of worry on their face. Belatedly she notes the copy of Daily Prophet lying on the table, front page up, showing the face of a ministry employee, and a loud headline below it. The hall is unusually abuzz. She had thought it would be a few days before it comes out, maybe give her more time to research … but now … 

"It's here," Hermione says to her, but Ginny isn't listening. She is looking instead towards the table at the far end of the hall, at the boy with pale skin and blonde hair who is looking back at her with the same look of worry that is being reflected across the student body.

“We’ll get the letters anytime now,” Luna says, and it startles Ginny to hear the worry in it. It’s too soon, too much. Far too much for her to take. She gets up and all but runs outside, Hermione’s call ringing after her. 

She winds up on the banks of the lake, in a rocky part shielded from direct view. She needs to think. Her head is hurting again. She needs to get away from all of this, from everything. Maybe this is a nightmare. She just needs to wake up. Wake up! 

“Hey,” a voice calls from behind her, soft and hoarse, and she doesn't have to turn around to know that it's Draco. She doesn't respond—her voice is too heavy. 

He grimaces and sits beside her, hand reaching out and taking hers. He looks at her with an uncertain expression as she wipes her face with her other hand. She doesn't know what to say, and she doesn't think he does either. He removes a copy of the prophet from his robes, setting it on the ground before her. She looks away.

“I don't want to read it,”  she says.

“They are going to send the matches. We have until the end of the year to get married, until we turn nineteen to conceive.” 

Ginny bites her lip, breathing in deeply. She swallows. “I know. Hermione told me.”

She looks away from him, staring instead at the clear blue waters of the lake and the errant fishes swimming through it. It's a nice day—clear, calm, sunny—everything opposite to what she feels. Draco’s thumb rubs abstract notings against her hand, and their fingers are entwined. They fit perfectly against one another. They are perfect for one another. But they want to take away this too—take away love. The thought finally breaks her resolve, tears falling from her eyes hot and fast, and she is sobbing.

“Oh, Gin,” Draco mumbles against the top of her head as he draws her towards him, and she cries out her frustration while he rubs familiar patterns on her back.

___________________

It's during lunch that the letters arrive, in a flurry of hundreds of owls swooping before years fifth to eighth. 

Ginny is not at lunch, nor is Draco. They haven't strayed from their spot for the past few hours, although it feels to Ginny like a lifetime. She tenses up as she sees the parliament enter the great hall, eyes focusing on the two that are flying right towards them. Draco tightens his hold on her, not that he needs to—her nails are digging into his palms. 

The two owls swoop before them with a flourish, hooting softly at them. When the two receivers don't move to take their letters, one of them pecks at Ginny's hand indignantly. Draco reaches out with a trembling hand to undo the strings and retrieve the envelopes with the ministry seal on it, although neither try to open them.

The owls fly away, in a flurry of brown feathers, still hooting, as the two teenagers look at the desolate envelopes lying on the ground. It would be easy to burn them, Ginny thinks. Easy to burn them to ashes and never find out. Maybe they should just run away. Away from everything where they can have peace and quiet and each other. The envelopes, however, open by themselves when a few minutes have passed, and their contents fly neatly to the respective receivers hovering near them until they are literally in their face. 

"Let's just get it done with," Draco says, "get it done with so that we can accept our sentence."

Ginny takes the letter with a sigh.

' … will need to marry by the end of the year 1999 …'

'... must conceive by the year 2000 …'

'... Failure to comply will result in snapping of wand …'

'... ministry has decided that you are to partner with Seamus Finnigan, half-blood, Gryffindor, year eight.'

She stares at the letter for a moment, then two, then three, before she whips out her wand and sets it on fire.

Seamus. Seamus Finnigan. She doesn't know if she should laugh or cry. She can only imagine his plight. Poor boy.

Draco's letter has drifted to the ground and he is staring at it without actually looking. 

"Seamus Finnigan," Ginny says carefully, and Draco lifts his head to look at her. He hesitates a moment before he says, "Luna Lovegood."

Ginny shuts her eyes for a moment, then lets out a mirthless laugh. 

"This is a joke," she says finally, "a joke. Both of them are gay! Luna could never … poor Seamus. He and Dean are in love and the Ministry had to come along and ruin it. Ruin it all."

She doesn't notice the tears that have begun rolling down her face again until Draco wipes them off. 

"We …" he starts, then stops. "There has to be something we can do … some way we can stop this. It makes no sense! There must be a contradictory law or—" 

"There isn't." 

Draco stops mid-sentence, looking at her with eyebrows raised. 

"I looked through the books in the library; I tried summoning more books; I asked Hermione, there's nothing anywhere." She looks up at him. "There's nothing we can do." 

She looks away again, drawing away from Draco as she gets up. "We'll have to submit to our sentence, like you said." 

"Gin." He looks up at her in alarm, eyes wide, tone scared.

She bites her lip to stop more tears from coming. She needs to leave. Now. 

"Gin, no!" 

Draco's hand on her wrist prevents her from leaving, and deep down she is glad. She cannot lie to herself. She could never leave him this way. He turns her around so that she is facing him, a hand grasping her shoulder, the other cupping her face, and his eyes are shining. 

"We'll do something. There are more books on laws in my family library, and Hogwarts doesn't have too much on laws anyway. It must be based on some old laws … all laws have contradictions. And no one could possibly be happy about this." He takes a deep breath. "We can do this, Gin, just—" he swallows. " Just don't leave me." 

She closes her eyes, all but falling onto him. 

“I could never.” 

___________________

  The school seems to be moping at every turn that Ginny takes. Only rarely does she find a happy face. No one is happy. No one was prepared for this. Hermione looks up when she enters the dorm, and the two girls take a single moment to acknowledge the puffy eyes and tear tracks. 

Ginny sits at the edge of Hermione’s bed. “Seamus.” 

Hermione stares for a moment, then shakes her head. “Mclaggen.” she sighs. “I’ve been hiding from him.” she tries to laugh, but it comes out watery.  “I had wanted a career, you know. Not children at the age of nineteen. And not with Mclaggen. That damned Ministry—” she doesn't bother finishing the sentence—she doesn't have to. Everyone is thinking it. “I should just disappear to the Muggle world,” she sighs, “somewhere far away … Australia? Live in a small town. Work in a library. Sounds nice, doesn't it?” she turns to look at Ginny. 

She nods. It does.“I was with Draco,” Ginny says, picking on a loose thread in Hermione’s comforter. Hermione hums. “He said we can overthrow the law. There are always contradictory laws … and the ministry can't impose something like this on us if we are all against it anyway …”

“What are you suggesting?” 

“Draco is having his mum send some books from their family library. We need your help, drafting a contradiction, a petition. If it comes to it, a rebellion.”

“Any action against the law can result in Azkaban, Ginny.”

Ginny scoffs. “The life they are imposing on us is no less than Azkaban either. And anyway,” she looks up, “we are war heroes. They can't go against us.”

Hermione looks into Ginny’s flashing eyes. Slowly, her lips curl up in a smirk.

___________________

    The Ministry’s Wizarding Marriage (Amendment) Act 1998 Scrapped,                                            Wizarding World rejoices.  

                                        - by Jeremy Fuller

The Ministry on wednesday announced the scrapping of the Marriage Law enacted last month. This move came up as a result of the efforts of War heroes Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, and Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley opposing the law. Draco Malfoy had presented the contradicting bill from his seat in Wizengamot which was backed up by big powers of the Ministry. The law had been very unpopular with the majority of the populace, and had resulted in many disagreements between the ministry and the people. it's believed that the Minister had been threatened with an uprising by the Chosen One—Harry Potter—himself. 

The Law was criticized by many intellectuals and members of the Wizengamot as insensitive, sexist, and homophobic. Healers from St. Mungo’s had criticized it as an added burden to a barely recovering society. “It would have hurt the people already suffering from the effects of the war even more (for the full interview with Healer Grahams, turn to page 8).

The Wizarding World is celebrating  the scrapping of the law in the Diagon Alley. The students of Hogwarts are also reported to be very happy (for full article, turn to page 4). 

[complete-mess]

I’ve already said it before but Ophelia 2019 is awful in so many ways and here’s just some of them. I’m going on the basis that this is an adaption of the play so if you didn’t read the play it probably won’t make sense

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, my main problem with this adaption is they turn Ophelia into the personification of ‘I’m not like other girls’ archetype. The film separates Ophelia from all the other female characters. Ophelia has no female friends amongst the other ladies in waiting ‘cause they’re all bitches who just don’t understand me.’ Can we please, in all types of media, allow women to be friends??? It’s not that fucking hard. 

The film as a whole tries to make characters either good or bad, heroes or villains, which is just.......why. Like Hamlet’s entire character is oh so good until he refuses to go with Ophelia in the last 15 minutes of the movie. Hamlet kills Ophelia’s father and is like ‘Ophelia forgive me’ in passing and Ophelia is just like k???? and seemingly all good after that. Like am i just supposed to equate play Hamlet who when killing Polonius is like ‘ Thou wretched rash intruding fool, farewell, i took thee for thy better’ and shows absolute no empathy or remorse for his actions to movie Hamlet who is just oh so sorry.....nah just nah

They completely changed Claudius’ character for no reason and made him into a macho aggressive man. Claudius in the play is compared to King Hamlet a lot. King Hamlet was almost always at war which is shown by ghost Hamlet appearing in his ‘war like form’. Claudius isn’t obsessed with war the same way K.Hamlet was. He’s more of a political king (if that makes sense). In the second scene of the play Claudius decides to contact the king of Norway to tell him to get a hold on Fortinbras rather than going straight to war. Also Claudius is crafty, cunning and sneaky. He’s not all that aggressive. He rarely gets angry in the play. If anything he manipulates others anger for his own use (see Laertes). I think making Claudius this big tough man was a stupid mistake. It’s cringey and is yet another archetype which undermines the more complex characters Shakespeare wrote.

I really didn’t like how they rewrote or interpreted Ophelia and Hamlet’s relationship. It was just .....bad. Ophelia and Hamlet get married in secret which completely disregards one of the many reasons Ophelia goes mad in the end of the play ‘Before you tumbled me you promised me to wed’. It’s implied in the play that Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship was a sexual one. Given the time period the loss of Ophelia’s ‘chaste treasure’ (virginity) would have been societal suicide. Ophelia becomes a ‘fallen woman’ and her life prospects are instantly diminished. By adding in the fact that Ophelia and Hamlet are actually married it takes away her nuances.

I didn’t like Gertrude either (just assume i hate how every character was written in this version). Although I will say this comes from how I saw Gertrude in the play. In the play it’s never stated how Gertrude came to marry Claudius. Were they having an affair whilst King Hamlet was still alive? Did Gertrude see the coup Claudius was planning and realise the only way for Hamlet to ever sit on the throne was to marry Claudius? Was Gertrude just as power hungry as Claudius and couldn’t stand not being queen? Did Gertrude have a hand in the murder of King Hamlet? It’s ambiguous, strategic opacity and all that. I personally saw Gertrude as  conniving. She saw Claudius coup and wanted to remain in power. I don’t think she had a hand in King Hamlets death and I don’t think she did it for Hamlet. I will say I can respect the way they wrote Gertrude’s character even if it wasn’t how I liked (personal preference and all that). However I hated her at the end of the play.

The end of the play was just.......unusual if anything. In the play Hamlet is the last to kick the bucket. He has his little talk to Horatio about Fortinbras and then dies. I don’t understand why in this version they chose to kill Hamlet first??? If my memory serves me right the deaths went as follows, Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius and then Hamlet. Hamlet and Laertes sword fight was good enough (except it’s technically a fencing match but thats just me being pedantic). My only issue is Laertes doesn’t have this moment where he realises he’s been manipulated by Claudius and apologises to Hamlet (I don’t think he needs to apologise to Hamlet because Hamlet’s a dick but I wanted to see how he was used). Also I know Gertrude killing Claudius was supposed to be this big feminist moment but I just wasn’t gone in it. I also wasn’t gone in the idea of Gertrude purposefully drinking the poison. I guess it was supposed to be Gertrude atoning for her sins but if anything I thought it was her taking the easy way out. It’s not a necessarily bad end, I just didn’t like it personally.

I don’t think I need to explain why having a Gertrude twin was stupid

I’ve already talked about Ophelia’s characterisation but Imma do it again, just cause. In my eyes Ophelia is the victim of the play. As a women she is mostly powerless (in this time period). I like play Ophelia. She’s doesn’t have power, she can be quite passive, she’s arguably ‘weak’. But she’s extremely resilient. She arguably has to deal with the most shit in this play. Her father forces her to break up her relationship with Hamlet. The breaking up of their relationship causes Hamlet to treat her shitty. He publicly humiliates her during the play Murder of Gonzago. He literally kills her father and shows no empathy towards her, at all (which is highly hypocritical considering his motivation throughout the entire play is to get revenge for his fathers murder). Overwhelmed with everything, she goes mad and finally freely expresses herself. It feels....cathartic in a way . Ophelia deserves to go mad, she’s earned the right. I also think it was one of the more emotional parts of the plays. Like we have all of Hamlets soliloquies which are undoubtably emotional. But it’s different with Ophelia. For me at least, when reading the play or watching it you......kinda forget about Ophelia. So much other shit is happening and you’re focused on that. But then you suddenly see Ophelia go mad and you realise all the shitty things that happened to her. It’s a moment where both the audience and the characters realise the damage done to Ophelia’s psyche. I hate how this movie just took that away with Ophelia pretending to go mad. The movie pushes the narrative that Ophelia isn’t weak, she’s strong, she could never go mad. But...... why does she need to be strong. If Ophelia was as weak as everyone thinks she was, she would have become as corrupt and power hungry as everyone else in the play. She remains morally good and if thats what you call weak, I’ll happily be weak any day of the week

Feel free to disagree. Also before someone says it, I’m aware this isn’t necessarily an adaption of the play but an adaption of the a book based on the play. But I think if they wanted to separate it this much from the original text they should have distinguished it more. Change the names or something. The names Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius and Ophelia are synonymous with the Shakespeare play. They must have known people would assume it was adaption and I’m sure they used that to promote the film

[perseusky]

Prophecy In The Stars

Movie: Narnia

Pairing: None yet, maybe a peter x reader

Summary: Feeling nostalgic, you went to your, newly bought, Disney+. Searching through seas of different and familiar movies, but only stopping at one. Narnia, the movie you and your family desperately adore. Having many good memories with the movie, you decided to play it. Only for your vision to fade to black. Awaken by the sound of children voices, and hands shaking your shoulders. Voices compelling you to be awoken, you groggily open your eyes to see, familiar yet, unknown faces, and a different world not your own. A journey awaits, and a strong blade to be held, a war to win. And a prophecy to complete.

“How dare she!” You yelled, throwing your book bag onto your small twin size bed. The old bed creaking from the sudden weight. Frustratingly running your fingers through your hair, down your face, stretching down your eyes and lips in anger. Than plopping on your bed, making it shake with a threatening rattle.

“HEY! What’s going on up there!” Yelled the voice of your mother. You could clearly hear that she was tired and in desperate need of relaxation. And not wanting to awaken a demon, you quickly apologized. “SORRY MOTHER! Nothings wrong!”

Heaving a sigh, you thought about what you could do with your problem. Either lay around and not do anything about it, or just relax and watch a movie.

You chose the latter obviously. Quickly running over to your desk, that stood next to your wardrobe, and getting your laptop. Flipping it open, and going to Disney+.

You searched through many old and nostalgic movies, yet you couldn’t find the right one yet. Searching for a bit longer, still nothing.

Until you suddenly got an idea of a movie you’ve been itching to watch for years! Swiftly moving the mouse onto the search bar and typing in the specific movie you desperately wanted to watch to finally rid yourself of school and stress.

Practically screeching when you found the perfect movie, and immediately pressing on it. You were so excited that you started to bounce around in place and staring around the room in anticipation as the movie loaded; but what you didn’t notice was the, now, swirling black hole coming from your screen, inch by inch, getting bigger.

Not up until the very last minute, did your pea for brains finally comprehend what was in front of you, and how potentially dangerous and extremely weird it was. Alas, when you tried to move away from it, something grabbed your leg, quickly pulling you into its dark abyss without much complaint, and being unable to yell loud enough to be heard over the loud movie your mother was watching.

The last thing you saw looking back at your room once more with tears swelling in your eyes, was that your mother would be alone, and how dearly you didn’t want that to happen since she’d probably think you left her like your father did. When he found out she was pregnant with you.

Finally accepting that you weren’t getting out of this, you let yourself fall, and you fell deep into the hole where you couldn’t see your room anymore and only a black and big abyss. Feeling as if you were losing conscious, you closed your eyes willingly and tiredly after trying to fight this thing.

You’ll have to deal with this whole situation after you get a good rest, because right now, you could practically sleep through an alien invasion.

__________________________________________

“My dear child! Please wake up! PLEASE!”

Snapping open your eyes, you were blinded by raging lights and you could feel your ears combust from all the loud and fearful noises. Your mind was completely out of it, resulting in your eye sight being blurry and only being able to see the outlines of fires and silhouettes.

This scared you beyond belief. It was like something your never experienced before. Your lungs contracted against your frantic commands. Your body practically having a mind of it’s own, and it horrified you! It felt as if you looked into the snake demon in the eyes herself, and became a mere statue. Isolated, yet still being able to feel, hear, smell. It was complete torture.

Until a harsh sting had erupted on your right cheek. It soon after left a dull ringing In your ear. Your cheek had now turned a bright rosy red, implanted with a hand print of the one who had slapped you. The pain shot through your entire body, down to the tip of your toes, and all the way to the top of your head. It was enough force to make your eyes tear up a bit.

And just enough for you to get out of your stupor, having been thinking before you got slapped; although now that train of thoughts had disappeared. You looked around angrily, searching for the person that had the audacity to touch you in such a way, only a mother could!

You angled your head towards the guilty person who had just slapped you across the cheek. Yes it was for a good reason, and yes you should be grateful since you now knew you were in a dangerous situation, but you still couldn’t let up the fact that they had to SLAP YOU! They could’ve pinched you! Although you knew that wouldn’t be enough to get you out of it.

You looked at the person at fault, who had looked down. Possibly from the fact that they had realized it wasn’t the right thing they should’ve done, especially in a situation like this one. There were practically bombs going off everywhere! And one could even hit them from above.

(Y/n) had soon finally realized, that maybe she was taking this a bit too harshly, and should not blame this person. For they had given her a safe place, away from this war she had found herself in, right after she was sucked into that black ho-

‘Wait a tick, WHERE THE FLIPPITY FLAPS AM I?!’, you hysterically thought as your incomputable brain cells had the AMAZING idea to look at the people who had saved you. So, you did, only to be left with a hanging mouth, and eyes as huge as dinner plates.

In front of you, were the so called, sons of Adam, and daughters of Eve. The Kings and Queens Of Narnia. The hero’s, and children, you looked up to when you were a smol lil bean. (Uwu u wer so cute)

There was a pregnant silence that had taken over the small cabin. Even the bombs had stopped, and that’s what had made the silence even more eerie. It was as if time had stopped, it’d had frozen, and you were the only one that was capable of moving. Well, not up until Edmund had started to wave a hand across your face. “I think she’s a bit thick, pretty, but thick in the head.”, he had said with a taunting smirk.

Even in a situation, where he should be scared and crying, like he was in the movie, he had the audacity to call you thick. Now you remembered all the times of back then when you used to get mad at Edmund for selling out aslan and his sibling to that witch. You were practically seething on your couch when he did it for food. Your parents had to stop and hold you down before you could damage the tv thinking it would hurt Edmund. Yes, you may be a hypocrite since you’d sell anyone out for anything, JUST for food, but who wouldn’t???

“Oh, I’m thick? Why thank you for noticing! I’ve been doing two squats a day, squating low to get to the bottom of the refrigerator, all the way to the top to get my snacks. It has its advantages.”, you had answered with a knowing smirk. And you had received the reaction you had wanted from the little asshole, a bright red hue, across his ears, and down his neck. He practically glowed!

Although, the moment was ruined by a shock wave hitting the ground hard. You had tipped over by the sheer force it was giving out, and fell on peter. Not that you minded. You looked up at him, and into his eyes. He was already looking at you, with wide eyes, and a blush adorned on his already rosy cheeks. Giving him a thankful smile and a quite ‘thank you’, you got back on your two feet and stood awkwardly next to each other.

“So, anyone wanna play ‘who’s gonna die first?’.”, you had recived ludicrous and surprised faces at the suggestion. The cabin was once again awkwardly and filled with silence.

“Tough crowd”....

__________________________________________

“Alright, so you’re going to be taken in by a man who was generous enough to take care of all of you until the war has ended. Do not give him any trouble, or more than he already has for taking care of all of you. Especially you (y/n).”, Mrs. Pevensi had given you a point stare. To others, she’d seem a bit strict, but to you, you could tell she had said it dripping with amusement.

“Of course i will cause him troubl-, I meannnnn.”, chuckling to yourself at your “mistake”. Which had earned you another pointed look. Although this one seemed real.

Breaking the silence with a groan, you had accepted your fate and had pledged, like a Girl Scout, to Mrs. Pevensi that you wouldn’t cause any trouble to the old man.

What she didn’t know was that behind your back, was your pointer and middle finger crossed over each other, and out of her sight. You had to contain your smile when you saw peter looking at you with a smile of his own, having seen your crossed fingers and had known what it meant.

“Bye my dears!”, their mother looked at them sadly.

The train had started moving, and the siblings had deflated in their seats. Lucy looked up at peter sadly, “Will mummy be ok?” Having looked up from your conversation with Susan, you also stared at peter, awaiting his answer. When he had yet to say something, you had decided to speak up for him, since you could see Lucy becoming even sadder when she saw that her brother couldn’t answer.

“It’s alright Lucy. I’m sure she’s fine! Besides, you have us don’t you?”, soon receiving a small and innocent smile from the small girl, which had made your insides flutter and your cheeks to turn a beautiful light pink. You just wanted to squeeze the poor girl to death, UGH!

“Everything will be fine.”, peter reassured once more, looking up at you from his lap, where his hands had been neatly folded. He smiled at you, a smile that melted your heart, and made all the bad thoughts and memories in your head immediately vanish. His eyes were a deep and beautiful blue, that if they were hit by the sum, they’d look like a tropical ocean. You just wanted to jump in and swim in them for all eternity.

The same went for peter. He had fallen, and he’d fallen hard. He just loved the way she laughed so freely and carelessly, as if there was no war. As if there was only good in the world. And oh god, those beautiful and full pink/nude lips of hers, oh how soft they looked. He’d imagined many times How’d they feel on his. Or when he’d look at her hair, such lucious and curly/wavy/straight/shaved hair. That practically shined in the sun and looked so soft, that if he touched it, he’d never want to let go.

“PETER!”, shouted out a boyish voice right next to the daydreaming and love struck boy. Peter had to hold onto the train seat to steady himself from the shocking noise and having to comprehend what was happening. Turning towards the voice ready to fight for his siblings if needed, only to be hit in the face with his suitcase. “We’re here you idiot!”, Edmund, oh how he wanted to punch that boys face. But than it dawned on him, was he day dreaming for THAT long? He looked around to see if it wasn’t another stupid joke, and it certainly wasn’t, since he was the only one in the cart left. Everyone else was already outside and on the carriage that seemed to be for them.

Peter quickly grabbed his bag without any hesitation and ran out the train, jumping at the last step. He continued to jog all the ay over to the carriage where he was met with another smirk of the girl he adored. The mischievous look in her eyes as she had looked him over, head to toe, made his body feel as if he was shot by an electric bult. Oh and how his heart swelled. “Are you listening to me boy!?”, he once again was yelled at, which was caused, again, by day dreaming.

Peter looked at the new and unfamiliar woman who had just yelled at him, seeing that she had wrinkles all over her face, and practically radiated an aura of strictness and power. Something and someone he didn’t want to mess with. “Y-Yes ma’am.”, peter responded quickly with well learned manners.

“Good, now hurry up, we can’t keep the Professor waiting!” She said in an annoyingly shrill voice, that was already giving you a head ache. You rolled your eyes at her, but than looking over at peter and watching as he lifted his, seemingly heavy, suit case without breaking a sweat.

Biting your lip, you looked at his arms, and thought of some unholy things you could do with those strong and beautiful biceps.

“Oh, I’m gonna enjoy this.”, you had said to yourself as the carriage finally started to move, slowly, but surely moving. And you were right, you are gonna enjoy it, and you’ll make sure of it.

Tell me whatcha think in the comment, and if I should make a part 2.