#Anne is a good cousin/older sister figure

[himariafton]

~Creepypastas AU Friendships/Relationship~

Note: Sorry I Couldn't Think Of More Ideas & Was Trying To Think Of Some, If You Have Any Ideas Please Send Ideas In My Asks But Please Remember To Keep To The Rules•

Slenderman: A Father Figure To All His Proxies,Finds JTK,Ben Drowned & Masky Sometimes Annoying For Their Hobby Of Annoying Him For Some Unknown Reason

JeffTheKiller: Night Terrors Childhood Friend/Older Brother/Uncle Figure & NinaTheKillers Boyfriend Because Yes Their Only 1 Year Age Different In My AU Check My Creepypasta Age Post To Understand Why Down Below

NinaTheKiller: Like An Older Sister Figure To Night Terror,Best Friends /W Clockwork,A Close Friend /w Bloody Rose & Currently Dating JTK

Ticci Toby: Like A Father Figure Towards Night Terror,A Loving Husband /w Bloody Rose,Close Friends /w Ben Drowned Masky & Hoodie

Ben Drowned: Gaming Buddies /w Ticci Toby,Close Friends /w Night Terror & Ticci Toby, He Views Bloody Rose Like A Motherly Figure Due To Her Motherly Like Personality

Nurse Ann: Finds JTK Annoying Especially When He Doesn’t Leave Her Clinic When Asked. . .Best Friends /w Bloody Rose & Appreciations Bloody Rose Taking Time To Help Her In The Clinic In Slendermans Manor Out Of Her Busy Schedule & Chill Around Night Terror & Finds Her An Adorable Little Poltergeist{In A Non Ship Type Way}

Bloody Rose{OC} The Eldest Cousin Of Night Terror But Acts Like A Mother Figure Towards Other Proxies That Are Younger Then Her But Treats Them Different Depending On Their Ages Under 13 Gets Less Harsh Punishments/Displin But She Acts Harsher & Becomes Maximum Asian Mum Like In Those That Are Older Then 13 Knowing They Can Handle It Better,Best Friends Are: Clockwork, NinaTheKiller & Nurse Ann,She Views Slenderman As Her Fatherly Figure,JeffTheKiller Is A Childhood Friend Of Night Terror While Ticci Toby Is One,Of Her Husbands

Night Terror{Child OC}: Views Bloody Rose As Her Motherly Figure & NTK As Her Older Sister Figure,A Bit Shy/Unsure About Her Oppion Towards TicciToby But Is Aware He's Trying His Best To Gain Night Terrors Trust & Gain A Bond /w Her,Her Childhold Best Friend Is JTK As They Grew Up Together Until The Beans Death. . .

Masky: Close Frirnds /W Ticci Toby,Gets Along Well /w Hoodie,Is Rebellious Towards Slenderman Sometimes But Does Sometimes Love & Chrish Slenderman Like His Own Father Just Choses To Be Deficult & Rebellious Sometimes,

Hoodie: Pretty Chill /w Night Terror Gets Along Well With Bloody Rose Almost Like Siblings,Finds Maskys Shinanigans Annoying But He's Tollarable As A Friend,Views Slenderman Like A Father Figure, Ticci Toby & Clockwork Are Good Friends & Pretty Chill To Hang Around

Clockwork: Finds NTK,Bloody Rose,Ticci Toby & Hoodie Pretty Chill Friends Even Tho NTK Her Best Friend Can Be Annoying Sometimes But She's Still Tollarable,A Sisterly Figure Towards Night Terror,Slenderman Is Very Fatherly Like When He Wants To Be,Slenderman Can Be Strick But Fair Sometimes When He Has To Be!

[m00nz-writes]

Here's the thing about Dead Woman Walking... (m00nz rambling again)

If while you're reading it for the first few chapters (the third chapter will be released later today because I am currently working on editing it) and it feels like that there's a familial feeling between all of the Creeps (EXCEPT FOR THAT LOVABLE BASTARD JEFF), it's because that's how it's supposed to feel.

One of the biggest plot points for Edna is the fact that her parents still love her so dearly, but she knows she'll never be able to be with them again because of who she is and what she does. It's supposed to fucking hurt and I always try my best to help the reader feel what my characters are feeling, so that when they do something not entirely good (like in my story Subhuman when Alexander tells Erica to die because she unintentionally kills his uncle, or Blackened Angel when Alyssa is bitching everyone out because she has too much on her shoulders) that you can see and understand why they do what they do.

Edna isn't a "good" person. Yes, she targets only exclusively bad people to kill, but that doesn't mean what she does is good. She does also commit other crimes like theft, credit card fraud, and impersonating government officials and cops. She's morally grey at best. And so because she can't be with her parents, she finds family in her fellow Creeps.

She views Slender as a father figure (bc let's be real, Slendy is basically the dad of the CRPs. I don't care about canon, we write our own destinies here bitch), and Toby as a little brother. Clockwork is that cunty cousin everyone fucking loves and y'all for sure take "walks" during family gatherings (*wink wink nudge nudge*(I MEAN WEED)) and Kate is the not fully mentally stable older sister but we're happy to have her around anyways because she's a bad bitch and also serves cunt. Nurse Ann is the sweet auntie everyone loves and Nina (BECAUSE YES SHE'S A PROXY TOO. I DON'T MAKE THE RULES (actually i do lmao)) is that badass kinda cringy sister that we still love and cherish because she'll tell you shit straight up and be like "tf you crying for hoe?" in the sweetest tone ever. Literal queen shit.

Is it any shock that Edie ends up at the Slender mansion despite not being a proxy? Like, excuse me! She has her whole fucking family there, bitch. (and yes, Sally and Lazari live at the mansion too due to them being children)

[roadtogracelandx45]

Royals part 1

Masterlist

*this is it going to be cannon complaint, most everyone will end up living in books 4-7. I don't agree with anything that JK Rowling has said. Just like playing in her world a bit.*

0.01

I've never seen a diamond in the flesh

Amos Diggory scrubbed his hand over his jaw again as he made his way into his house, he could hear his children’s laughter come from the backyard and his heart sank deeper into his stomach

Celeste was back, she had been in Egypt with the Weasley family visiting Bill, the oldest son, as a reward for her passing grades in all of her classes. Cedric, her older brother, got a new broom.

He had hoped that she would have spent the night with Ginny again before coming home but he supposed after spending a week and a half with them after spending all school year, she needed a break. He didn’t want to break this news, he didn’t want to destroy everything both Celeste and Cedric knew.

“Amos, dear? What’s wrong?” His wife Anne asked as she came out of the house. “He has escaped from Azkaban.” “Who? Sirius? That’s not possible.”

“It is possible, they don’t know how he did it but he’s out. And they are worried he is going after both Celeste and Harry.”

“He doesn’t know about her. Aurora was positive about that.”

Aurora was Amos’s little sister who had a heated relationship with Sirius Black, a relationship that had resulted in Celeste and later Aurora’s death.

“We can’t be sure of that.”

The laughter grew and a quaffle flew up to the tip of the house the younger Diggory sibling darted up and caught it before dropping back down.

“They are putting extra protections on Harry and insisting on it for her until school starts. Mad-Eye suggested Tonks.”

Nypmhdora Tonks had been at Hogwarts when their children were in their second year and she had forged a friendship with them. Cedric on the Quidditch field and Celeste in detention. She also happened to be Celeste’s cousin. The hope was that having her around would ease the new rules' tension and sting.

“We will have to talk to her first, I don’t want this being sprung and throwing her for a loop.”

Amos nodded before calling back to his children to come inside, that they had something they needed to talk about.

***

The Diggory siblings were the exact opposite of each other, Cedric was tall, serious, and blonde and Celeste was tiny, with dark hair, and was a troublemaker. Her lists of detentions, many of which were with the Weasley Twins and Lee Jordan, spoke for itself.

But they balanced each other out. Good and bad, ying and yang. And they were both fiercely protective of each other.

“Hullo Dad,” Celeste grinned, her gray eyes lighting up in excitement as she approached him. The two weeks she had been in Egypt cast a healthy golden glow on her skin and hair. It was like being there had been a good reset for her. From what McGonnall had written home to them about was her having night terrors and a series of health issues that they were assured that Madame Pomfrey could handle.

“Hullo love.” Amos returned as he hugged her, “ Enjoy your trip?” Celeste blabbed for a moment about it and the necklace that Bill had helped pick out for her, even holding it out to show him.

“We have to talk about something.’

“Oh?” It was Cedric who spoke from the kitchen doorway. “You heard about Sirius Black breaking out Azabkan right?”

Celeste nodded her head, “One of the guys Bill works with brought a poster over to us. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked like they had seen a ghost when they saw it. They herded us all together. We couldn’t figure out why.”

“We can tell you why.”

Amos said glancing over at his wife and then back at Celeste who now had Cedric standing by her. “He is your father.” Deciding to say it like ripping off a band-aid would be best but the look of pure confusion and heartbreak on Celeste’s face made him regret it. “But, but you are my father.” She started confused. “It’s a long story.” “We have nothing but time Dad.” Cedric spoke, “Tell us everything from the start.”

“Maybe we should sit down.’ Anne commented giving her son a look to help Celeste over to the couch. It would be easier to take if she was sitting down. “No just tell me the truth.” The young girl shook her head, she was afraid that even with Cedric’s help she wouldn’t be able to move.”My sister Aurora was two years behind me. In the same year as James Potter and his friends.”

The last name Potter rang clearly in both Celeste and Cedric’s head, Harry Potter was two years below them and the Weasley twins and was best friends with the twins’ younger brother Ron. The two of them were almost like Celeste and the twins getting into trouble whether it was on purpose or not. And he was also the boy who lived, the boy who defeated the greatest dark wizard of their time as a baby. If you asked Celeste it was too much pressure to put on a boy especially one that had grown up in the Muggle World.

“Aurora like you was in Gryffindor and was especially good at getting out of trouble. And she was fast friends with James, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. And later on Lily.” Amos shook his head, Celeste didn’t need the whole long gorry story, he knew that Aurora had recorded it in her diary and Celeste could go digging for answers if she really wanted to, “When she was about your age is when she started dating Sirius.”

“They were almost as infamous as James and Lily.” Anne cut in to give her husband a break, “They were together up until James and Lily had to go into hiding. Sirius thought it would be best if your mother came to stay with us. She found out about you while she was here with us.”

Cedric gripped his sister’s elbow in his hand, out of his own anger and confusion. He was surprised and hurt that his parents kept this from her and from Celeste. The one person who deserved to know the most.

“And then you know what happened with James and Lily getting killed,” Amos said after he put his glasses back on, he had taken them off to clean them and rub his eyes, he had always dreaded doing this. He had hoped and prayed that he didn’t have to ever tell her but luck wasn’t on their side and she had to know. And it was breaking their hearts, “And Harry being raised with his Muggle relatives.”

There was a flash of anger in Celeste’s grey eyes as she pulled her elbow out of her brother’s grip, “Relatives that mistreat him and told him nothing of our world or his parents.”

The Diggory girl had felt very protective of the Potter boy after seeing him for the first time on the platform to board the Hogwarts Express, the protective feeling grew the more she got to know him. She had saved her pocket money and bought him something for Christmas and his birthday the following year.

No one ever deserved to be treated like that.

And no one deserved to be lied to like she had been all of her life. “May I be excused?” She asked after several long moments, she was afraid that she would lose her composure and start sobbing. She was lost and confused and there were only two people other than her brother that she trusted at this point and that would be the twins, unfortunately, they were still in Egypt but she could write to them and they could reply when they could.

Amos nodded his head numbly watching as she fled up the stairs and slammed the door shut, he didn’t blame her for being upset, he would be too. “I will go and talk to her,” Cedric commented after swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, she needed someone on her side. Someone who was lied to just like she was, and was almost as hurt as she was.

[46ten]

Amos Blanchard also states that AH's mother was American (and his father English, when most were careful to make the distinction of Scottish), so I don't think accuracy of AH's origins was of much importance to him. Nor, I think we can safely assume, did he think it would be important to his 1830s readers. I

Now it was important to come from a good family - how would one learn virtue and honor unless through the conduct of one's family? A reprobate father would have reprobate sons. This is why I suspect AH carefully shielded the facts around his mother's divorce and illegality of his parent's 'marriage," as it was a "blemish," a "delicacy," that reflected poorly on his character, as a gentleman - though it seems highly likely just from his correspondence that he at least shared this fact with Philip Schuyler and Elizabeth S. Hamilton, in addition to William Jackson (in the letter meant for McHenry). I also think he would have been indignant about being described as an orphan until he actually became one (in 1799) - I don't think we can trace in his correspondence or the memories of his friends that AH's perception was ever that his father had abandoned him - I don't even know where that comes from, except for, as below, it makes for a good story.

I agree with the speculation that Blanchard may have mixed up a story about Anne Mitchell, as she may have been somewhat well known, and he could have mistaken her for American (See post here 46ten — “My sister-in-law flying under the guillotine... (tumblr.com) ) Allan McLane Hamilton has got to be wrong (he's wrong about other stuff, too) - considering Mitchell definitely spent time with Elizabeth Hamilton in both the 1780s and 1790s, it's very likely AH spent time with her, too.

There's a lot of misogyny underlying the AH insecurity narrative, much of it based around an imagined deep feeling of anger and bitterness towards his mother that 1) he never expressed in correspondence; 2) his sons (JC Hamilton and JA Hamilton) never wrote that their father felt. It makes for a good story when it's more challenging to explain the idea of the gentleman code and the state of manners in the late 18th century Anglo-American world for an audience that is unfamiliar with those concepts.

From young adulthood on, AH maintained that he was born in 1757 in Nevis - his Columbia College schoolmates confirmed that he stated 1757 was his year of birth - and I guess everyone just accepted Nevis, too. Edward Stevens could have corrected anyone, but obviously maintained it was Nevis, too. There's no contemporaneous account linking AH to Nevis, though. However, he also couldn't just claim whatever in isolation - he had worked for a NYC merchant company, he knew people from St. Croix and the West Indies (not just Edward Stevens) and they knew him (and Philip Schuyler and lots of others who traded with Caribbean merchants), Monroe's wife is the niece of Cruger's former business partner, AH's cousins - grandsons of the Ann Faucette Lytton who was Rachel's sister - also make their way to the states and one hangs out with AH in NYC and clearly meets some of his friends. But it was certainly a good point of propaganda for his opponents to NOT have AH's mother and father around to attest to his family status that made him deserving of being considered a well-born gentleman, and certainly a good hit to call him a bastard. But his familial background really wasn't a mystery AH seemed to be hiding, as though he even could have - as some 20th-21st century biographers make it out to be. Now when one figures out why older (white, male) historians want to tell a story like that instead of the facts, well, one can start to grasp a whole lot more about American myth-making.

And Rachel's definitely dead in 1768 or thereabouts. There is a record of Peter Lavien settling the estate in 1769 - no record of whether he saw his two half-brothers while in St. Croix (if the other half-brother was even in St. Croix - James Jr is the REAL mystery - WTF happened to him?).

ETA: I'll just give it away, and write that a good part of this effort by (old, white, male) historians, besides just wanting to tell a cuter story, is trying to not let people in on the idea that the 'Founders' lived under a very different code than we do, where one's familial connections were critically important to the notion of status, which was connected to virtue and honor, and that many of the 'Founders' maintained that one should be 'well-born' in order to play a role in politics and be considered of service to society. See here: 46ten — Gentlemen Revolutionaries (tumblr.com) Part of American myth-making and maintenance of the status quo is that the 'Founders' need to be like us, so that we don't really question the systems and institutions they put in place and whether they are or should be applicable to our notions of governance and society. I'll also thrown in the caveat that the more scholarly, not for public consumption the historian is, the closer they'll get to these truths. But the myth-maker historians writing for the public are often just writing a bunch of B.S.

Since you are a purveyor of odd Hamilton takes... Came across this in American Military Biography (1830) by Amos Blanchard:

I had assumed the "orphan Alex" narrative was there from the start (and maybe this is just a very badly researched book), but that made me wonder when that actually became the default version of the story.

(Also how can you be an orphan with a living parent anyway...?)

I love my curated collection of odd Hamilton takes...some of them are printed out on a dart board so I can skewer them to hell along with the corresponding historian's picture but the ones I agree with are 100% accurate and concrete facts.

And thank you so much for sharing, this is really interesting! My first thought was maybe Blanchard was thinking of Ann Mitchell, Hamilton's cousin. She lived in America for several years, may have been his major benefactor, and he singled her out in his final letters, entreating Betsey to treat her well.

From a quick search it seems unlikely she accompanied him here (Allan McLane Hamilton thought they never met in America), but perhaps the knowledge of a maternal figure helping Ham was public at the time, and the author rolled with "mother"? I stumbled on a paper from 1952, "Alexander Hamilton: The Fact and Fiction of His Early Years" by Larson that addresses the popular myth that Hamilton received help from two friendly aunts; apparently there was an aunt Ann Lytton who died before all of this, separate from the actual helper: Ann Lytton Venton Mitchell, Hamilton's cousin. Not sure how far back that mixup goes, but maybe this author heard about this mother who was actually an aunt who was actually a cousin through the grapevine. Christ.

This did get me thinking about how I've never dug into Rachel's death because it seems like such a concrete incident. There is the 1768 probate court transaction available on founders online for anyone looking for easy access but now I'm having a second hand existential crisis. Maybe Hamilton was actually chilling with his very alive mother who is so confused rn.

I also assumed the orphan narrative thing was present from the start. From what I know, the "lacks good parentage, native land, and money" aspect was always subtly present (which is in itself honestly misleading but makes sense since he's beefing with the elite elite) but maybe not the "all alone in the world with nobody to help him" aspect.

I'm considering the various examples of people being shady, like Jefferson writing that Ham is a man who "from the moment at which history can stoop to notice him, is a tissue of machinations against the liberty of the country which has not only recieved and given him bread, but heaped it’s honors on his head". This was a letter to Washington of all people, so maybe this indicates that there was some general understanding of Hamilton's background as lacking that allowed him to say all this even in consideration of his frustrations. Newspapers alluded to it. In 1800: "And you might find yourselves equally mistaken, in supposing, that the mode of your descent from a dubious father, in an English island would be no bar in this country to the pretensions to the Presidency."

So clearly there's some aspect of the lowborn narrative peeking through, but I think it would make sense for people to believe & say that he came from questionable, middling backgrounds, but still not see him as an orphan. His childhood wasn't good or stable by any means, but he still had some support from family and benefactors going for him in America. And he never let go of his deadbeat dad for all the good that did him so he probably didn't refer to himself as an orphan, right? He didn't even like people thinking of him as lower-class, ("I have better pretensions than most of those who in this Country plume themselves on Ancestry") so I'm sure he didn't embrace the Charles Dickens characterization.

I dunno, maybe it's later historians who dug into Ham's insecurities, feelings of isolation expressed in certain letters, and his elusive background to complete the orphan narrative.

If anything, I suppose this further shows just how far back ambiguities about Hamilton's origins go. Blanchard also claims that Hamilton was born on St. Croix, and apparently there's some modern speculation that he wasn't even born on Nevis. 1830 isn't too far off from Hamilton's death; what book/person did Blanchard consult, if he even did, for this info? I also know that Adams referred to Hamilton as the "Scottish Creolian of Nevis", so Adams must've heard from a different source that Ham wasn't originally from St. Croix. So confusing.

But anyways, thank you so much for sharing this with me - I'm so bad at finding old resources, and I would've never learned that some doofus wrote about Hamilton with - gasp - a nondead parental figure.

Hope you're having a great day! :)

[societal-hazard-thingy]

K Howard death day hcs because we have 10 days left :)

1. Her mental breakdown song for febuary 13th is There's No Love in February by The Orion Experience

2. In the days leading up to it she withdraws from everyone but Anne

3. Anne doesn't let Kat lock herself up in her room alone like the first year being back.

4. Kat and Anne host regular one on one Dance parties to the songs of Kat's choice

5. Kat is a pet fiend with no self control, her two pups and one cat for kit-kat just kinda curl up and cuddle her and get extra over-protective

[hannahhook7744]

Betrayal Is Something You Never Forget (Prologue);

Summary; In which Gwaine wasn't completely honest with Merlin about his heritage and the others all find out exactly why he hates royalty so much.

Trigger warnings include; Death (adult and maybe child), implied/mentioned Child abuse, swearing, magic,(implied?) Self-hatred, alcoholism, unhealthy coping mechanisms, witch hunting, dark themes, headcanons, alterations to canon, adaptions of fairy tales, crossovers, piracy and witch craft, and LGBTQ+ themes. Don't like, don't read.

🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔

MERLIN: Right. What is it with you and nobles?

GWAINE: Oh, nothing. My father was a knight in Caerleon's army. He died in battle, leaving my mother penniless. And when she went to the King for help, he turned her away.

MERLIN: You didn't know him?

GWAINE:Just some stories I've been told.

MERLIN: Yeah, I know how that feels.

🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔🗡⚔

Gwaine remembered that day well and he was sure that Merlin did as well. After all, it would have been shocking for him to hear. But little did Merlin know that he had lied when he told him that. At least partially.

Because while Gwaine was telling the truth about his father being a knight, he wasn't telling the truth about him dying and his reasoning for hating nobles. Because Gwaine didn't want to tell Merlin-- sweet, sweet Merlin who had already seen so much bad in the world--  about the darkest parts of his life.

He didn't want his first and only true friend to know that he was the son of disgraced knight Brennan Jones or that he was the grandson of 4 pirates, a possible witch, and a technical desertie. Didn't want him to know that he came from a family of pirates and nobles. People who found out about his family always judged him.

And while he didn't think Merlin would, he didn't want to put him in the position of having to choose between him and Arthur, if Arthur ever were to find out and expose the truth. So Gwaine figured that if he lied, then Merlin wouldn't even think about choosing him because he'd be too angry and betrayed to.

He didn't want to be responsible for Merlin giving up his new home and his job and friends. He didn't want to ruin his friend's life. He was sure he had ruined enough of the people he cared about's lives already.

Because he was the son of disgraced knight Brennan Jones and Portal Hopper Alice Jones. The grandson of James Flint, Thomas Hamilton, Miranda Barlow, Mary Read, Anne Bonny, and John "Calico Jack" Rackham. Great nephew of Davy Jones. Cousin of Romeo Montague, Benvolio Montague, and Jack Sparrow.

His family was big and cursed. They took what they wanted and did what they had to, to save their own asses despite what his mother tried to instill in them. They hurt people, went to jail, spent their lives on the run, or got screwed over and died young or died horrible deaths. And those closest to them always seemed to get hurt. And Gwaine just...hated it...

Because his mother had raised him and his 5 siblings better than that, even though she had died when he was only 12. And even though she herself wasn't entirely perfect. But hey, when you're raised by three pirates with nearly 10 siblings how close to perfect can one be expected to get?

God knows that Gwaine couldn't judge. He had actually had a parent with a hyperfocused consensus on being a good, law abiding citizen and had still turned out a screw up. A drunk. A vagabond. A womanizer. A crappy knight. A parent's worst nightmare. Everything his mother had tried so desperately to avoid him becoming.

He seriously doubted that she'd be impressed. Then again, knowing his mother, she probably wouldn't be surprised or hold it against him. He had been a little menace when he was younger. Running around town, causing trouble. Pulling pranks. Getting into fights. Stealing. Fighting with his siblings.. including his literal toddler brother... Teasing his older sister about how camelot's knights were coming for her.

Gwaine winced in shame everytime he thought about it. Because despite being a knight of Camelot, he didn't agree with their laws and views on magic. He couldn't. He and his sister might not have gotten along and she might have been a bit mean but he didn't think that she was evil. That her magic was evil. That every magic user was evil. Because it just went against everything he was taught growing up and what he had seen while on the road.

And looking back, he regretted every single joke he had made about Camelot coming for his sister. Because those 'jokes' weren't funny. They were mean and vile words of a foolish, angry child who didn't realize just how terrifying Camelot could be when it came to magic users. Mean and vile words of a child who had been angry that they had, had to move everytime someone had seen his sister use magic and took it out on her despite her having no say. Words of a child who didn't realize just how horrible he was being until his sister was gone and it was too late.

Gwaine would take it back if he could. He'd take alot of things back if he could. He'd do alot of things differently if he could, actually. He'd help his mom take care of his two younger brothers. He'd be nicer to his sister and not fight with his brothers as often. He'd stay home and take care of his mother, and not leave her home alone with only his youngest brother as company. He'd take his siblings and run. If only he could turn back time.

But he couldn't and would forever be left to deal with the consequences of his younger self's actions. As well as his family legacy. Alone. Because he'd never tell Merlin the truth unless he was telling a large group of people the truth at the same time, which he'd never do unless he had to or felt comfortable enough to. Which would never happen because he was never able to stay in one place for too long. Which was fine by him.

Because he didn't need anyone.....

And no one ever needed or wanted him.

Until they did.

[takaraphoenix]

ONCE UPON A TIME/DESCENDANTS FAMILY TREES

I’ve had these laying around for so long, but I figured why not post them after all. I love the way OUaT and Descendants lines up so well, what with the majority of Disney characters on Descendants not being cast/present. With some additional headcanons.

Keeping Elle from Descendants as the Eric/Ariel kid (wish she’d gotten more of a role though). Mal now got an older sister in OUaT’s Lilith!

I like the idea that Freddie, Celia and Uma are siblings, what with China Anne having been the voice actress for Freddie and then being recast by her sister (who serves as faceclaim for Freddie here). Uma’s missing a father, Freddie and Celia are missing a mom. It’s a match made in heaven!

Headcanon that Evie’s full name is Evelyn and that she’s the daughter of Regina/Robin.

I’ve come across the fancast of Olivia Holt for CJ Hook before and I think it is on point. Her and Harry would be the kids of Killian/Emma.

Ben is the youngest of three kids and the son of Rumpel/Belle.

I never liked that OUaT ignored Wonderland and how much that set Anastasia up as Cinderella’s stepsister, so I decided to retcon her back into the family tree. So Cindy has three stepsisters now and Dizzy is the daughter of Will/Anastasia, cousin of Chad.

I know Doug’s dad is mentioned to be Dopey, but... I took the liberty of giving the one dwarf with an actual love interest this kid instead. Jane’s dad is never mentioned and I’ve always thought the Blue Fairy and Merlin would be a good match. I liked the Cruella/Isaac on OUaT so a version of him would be my pick as Carlos’ father. And Jay always looked and behaved more like Aladdin than Jafar and never displayed any magic despite his “father” being one of the greatest sorcerers, so I always had the headcanon that Jafar actually stole the son of Aladdin/Jasmine, making him the brother of Aziz (who I still think is a shame that they cut). Also headcanon that Jay’s full name is Jamil.

[stopcryingsomuchlittlegirl]

"I-I knew that." Ophelia huffed under her breath. She rolled her eyes despite the way her cheeks flared. She definitely had not known there were two sets of showers. Perhaps she should have though, it seemed common sense. Instead of skinking into her embarrassment though, Ophelia picked up her pace jogging slightly in her haste to get back to the castle. She knew David would be waiting to hear the details. He also would be preparing to try out for Hufflepuff's house team sometime soon and would want to know as much about tryouts as possible.

As to be expected, David was rushing down the stairs to greet them. A smile split Ophelia's face as she rushed forward, the two cousins talking over each other for a moment until Ophelia finally shut up, bouncing from one foot to another in her excitement. She thought the tryouts had gone pretty much as good as they could, and she knew when she told David about what happened to Danny he'd have a good laugh. His question about showers though had Ophelia sombering slightly and her bouncing slowed to swaying, blue eyes dropping to the stone floor as she avoided the question.

"Bits and pits?" Ophelia repeated with a wicked grin, peering at Danny. Davie had told her all about that particular conversation with Auntie Anne and Auntie Ember and it always served to make Danny groan at the memory.

Her own version of 'bits and pits' hadn't been as traumatic. Her mother had told her she needed to start wearing deodorant and showering at least once a day as "part of becoming a woman is becoming smellier'. Eveleen would then simply expand on the conversation every time something puberty-related came up, like when she needed to start wearing bras, or the most recent one about periods. Ophelia shuttered at the memory. That one had been a bit more. . .er. . .explicit than the others she'd say. But still, she hadn't felt an ounce of the embarrassment Danny and David had it seemed.

"What, she gave you the password?!" Ophelia gasped in disbelief. Ophelia had begged her sister for the password since Delia had made captain, but unfortunately how badly Ophelia wanted access to the bathrooms made it far more fun for her sister to taunt Ophelia with the fact she had something her little sister didn't.

"Figures, you are the favorite after all." Ophelia huffed with another roll of her eyes. For whatever reason, Danny had always been a favorite of her older sister's. Which meant Danny got the cool hand-me-downs while Ophelia got the teasing.

"So you aren't going?" David asked with a quirked eyebrow and a knowing grin. Ophelia wouldn't miss out on a chance to go crazy with bubble potions in the Prefects' bathroom.

"Uh'course not," The Gryffindor snorted. "We'll meet you at the Borris Statue." With that, Ophelia turned with a new pep in her step as she and Danny headed back to Gryffindor.

"You did great by the way." Ophelia told him genuinely as they walked back. Her eyes weren't on Danny, instead staring ahead as she spoke freely to him, one of the only ones she was truly comfortable with. Sometimes she could be awkward and stutter, or shy and say nothing at all, but that nervous energy social situations usually filled her with didn't exist between her Danny and David.

"Even when you blocked me in the end, that was a fast reaction. Like, really fast. You could probably make first string." She spared him a look now, a flash of her gap-toothed smile and crinkled blue eyes in an effort to show her sincerity. She wasn't so sure about herself. She didn't dare hope for first string, but she felt confident she wasn't the worst at tryouts.

Once at Gryffindor, the Fat Lady swing open for them happily before Ophelia was skipping up the stairs, two at a time.

"Don't leave without me!" Ophelia called down to Danny before disappearing at the top of the stairs. Ophelia rushed through the motions of grabbing a new set of clothes, a bathing suit, and her shower caddy before moving onto the showers. She washed up quickly, most of the time being spent getting the feathers out of her tangled mess of dark locks. They weren't quite the same dark curls her mother had, but her hair was much thicker and wavier than her father's, their genes having had come together to express some sort of in-between hair type in their daughter. Once her hair was detangled and feather-free, she finally got out and dried off.

Ophelia pulled on her bathing suit, a simple baby pink one-piece covered in white polka dots with straps that tied in cute bows over her shoulders. It was to the Gryffindor's dismay the suit that was her favorite and served her well the past two years did not fit as comfortably as she remembered. It pinched uncomfortably across her chest, armpits, and under her ass. Ophelia marched with her towel, caddy, and clothes to the mirrors to inspect further.

With newly placed on glasses, her dismay grew at the sight of her body in what now was no longer her favorite swimsuit. There was more flesh on her chest and hips than she remembered being there the last time she'd wore her swim suit about two months ago. Was she gaining weight? Was it puberty? The witched frowned at her reflection, turning to see her behind was peeking out more as well. Ophelia felt her chest tighten as self-loathing darkened her thoughts. She hated this doughy unfamiliar body, she hated how fast it changed. Wasn't puberty supposed to make her look pretty? This new flesh didn't make her look soft and feminine like her mother or strong and healthy like Delia, it just made her feel horrible.

Ophelia quickly pulled on her baggy pink Hello Kitty sweatpants and matching sweater and grabbed her stuff. She moved away from the mirror as fast as she could. She stopped by her room to grab a towel and knickers for after. She looked quickly to see if she had packed a different swimsuit, but like she thought, she'd only bought one. She couldn't even ask to borrow Cordelia's either because then she'd know Danny told.

It doesn't matter, Ophelia tried to tell herself as she slipped on some slipped. She descended the staircase to the common room much more somberly than she had gone up, kit bouncing off her back with each step. Her hair, still very wet hung down her back, ends brushing the butt she did not want to think about. She didn't greet Danny as she approached, just simply stopping beside him and making eye contact to confirm she was ready to go.

It was clear by the deep frown on her face and furrowed brows that she was in a mood. Something that was becoming more and more commonplace for the budding adolescent.

The Try-Outs

“You ready for this Stonefyre?”

It was a bright October morning, just enough of a chill in the air to make it nice for a comfortable hoodie without overheating like they might have several weeks ago in early September. School had begun the same as always, but along with it came the fact that, like always, this year’s third years were taking on more of a workload than they had previously. New classes introduced on top of all their core required ones but also more opportunities for things than they had had before. Like Quidditch. It was rare for anyone under the third year to get chosen for the team and if they were, they were typically on the second string of back-up players for if a game ran too long or someone got too injured to continue which was always a real possibility. There had been plenty of excitement as well as nerves running wild in the Gryffindor third year dorms the night before with the knowledge that the team’s try-outs were starting in the morning. Not every single third year would be trying out, of course, but a fair few of them planned on it and their friends had built them up with anticipation. Currently, the wind was blowing just enough to kick up slightly long honey blonde locks and dark curls, pink ribbons dancing as several of the third years made their way down the well trodden path that led to the Quidditch pitch. A pair of identical green-eyed boys and a slightly smaller brunette girl sticking close enough together that their shoulders would bump into one another without any kind of thought to it. They had always been connected in a way, first by family and age, and then through a friendship that had simply grown as they had. It was Danny who had spoken, a bit of a crooked but otherwise nervous grin on his face as he bumped his elbow gently into Ophelia’s shoulder. They were both Gryffindors, trying out together, and while they hadn’t exactly always gotten along very well and Danny still got a great deal of fun picking on her, they were definitely friends, especially when it came down to such important things like this. Their third was their shared cousin, David, sunny and bright as he bounced along with encouraging words, his smile reassuring as he told them over and over how well they were going to do. Being in Hufflepuff, he technically wasn’t supposed to be attending the Gryffindor tryouts so no possible team secrets would be given away to a different house. He would most likely have to say goodbye once they reached the pitch, but Danny and Ophelia would still have each other if things went south.

The closer they got to the pitch the more Danny’s stomach began to swirl with uncomfortable anxiety. He knew that if he wanted on the team, then he had to try out for it like everybody else. He had been reassured over the summer by Ophelia’s older sister Cordelia who was currently a sixth year on the team and had been since her second year, which was rare, that he was going to do just fine. They had practiced together plenty over the summer with each other and with their shared aunt who was a professional Beater. Ophelia had joined them, but she was aiming more for a Chaser position, her body small enough to whip under and over and through other people with more ease than someone taller would have, able to squish herself down closer to her broom. It was a good skill to have and Auntie Ember had worked with her just as much, trying her best to make her feel more sure of herself. Now, the day of reckoning had come and whatever result they got… well, it would be a yes or a no. They could always try out again next year when they were older if they didn’t make it on this year. More practice, more perseverance and determination to do better the second time. Danny was worried, already knowing that there were several other students who had their eye on the open Beater position he was aiming for. Ophelia would also have her work cut out for her, so even though he was smiling at her as he asked if she was ready, underneath it was nervousness swimming in his eyes. He knew his friend would also be feeling the same, because even if she tried not to show it too often, all three of them knew she was as soft and squishy as a marshmallow on the inside.

As they reached the entrance to the pitch, David waved goodbye, saying that he’d be back around lunch to see how things were going. Try outs could take most of the day depending on how many people were there and what kind of plays the captain had decided to run them through in order to locate the best players. There would be about an hour break around noon for lunch and then back to business. As the day went on, people would be cut out based on skill, leaving only the most promising prospects battling it out until either enough people had been cut or it was time for dinner and the captain would convene with the rest of the players already on the team to discuss who would be the best fit. A sheet would be hung up in the common room within a few days, letting them know who got what, both first and second strings and then, if need be, a third back up if anything happened to the others. Usually they were only needed if someone had been injured severely enough to be unable to play but even then, with magic and their fantastic matron, most of those kinds of things tended to be fairly easy to fix with a potion or spell and a good night’s rest.

Stepping out onto the pitch, his broomstick over his shoulder, Danny found that there were at least two dozen other people here waiting for things to get started. They were chattering, some wishing each other good luck, others glaring from one group at another as if daring them to even try to beat them. A need to prove themselves, to show what they were really made of, tended to be a common trait among Gryffindor house, but so was friendly competition. Danny stayed close to Ophelia as they joined several of the other third years who were feeling ballsy enough to give it a go. He didn’t speak to any of them aside, giving a simple head nod of acknowledgment considering he shared a dorm with most of these guys. He wasn’t super friendly with them, but he didn’t tend to be a dick either, kind of keeping to himself. It was easier that way, not getting close to anyone and simply sticking with his family. With the people who already knew and weren’t going to start asking questions if they noticed that something seemed to be up with him. Like why he would sometimes miss classes for a couple of days without getting in trouble for skipping and no amount of asking ever did anyone any good. Danny certainly wasn’t going to be telling them, and neither were Danny or Ophelia or any of her siblings. Even her little brother who had just begun his first year hadn’t spilled the truth when it had been brought up in conversation. It simply just was and while it felt ‘unfair’ that he got away with it, none of the professors seemed to think anything of it either.

“They’re all just as nervous.” Danny whispered, leaning in to tell Ophelia without anyone else really overhearing him. He could hear several conversations going on all at once, honing in on one and then another, until the noise died down as the captain finally came out of the locker room followed by the remaining members of last year’s team. Cordelia’s red hair was easy to spot, always kind of wild and as unruly as she tended to be. Danny’s nerves lessened ever so slightly. While Cordelia was hard on him when they were training, she was also someone he could rely on to tell things to him honestly without worrying about protecting his feelings.

“We’re going to start with just a few basic drills to test how well you all do on a broom and then move on to the separate positions. After lunch, we’ll scrimmage.” The captain announced, holding up her clipboard. “Let’s start with Reed, Patterson, O’Connell, Stonefyre, and Thomas. This end of the pitch, we’re going to send your through some obstacles but you won’t know what they are until you get to them. The rest of you lot need to go sit in the locker room so you can’t cheat, I’ll call you each out by group as we proceed.”

Danny looked at Ophelia who seemed to be momentarily frozen in place. He reached out, giving a tug on one of her pigtails, not as hard as he might have when they were five but definitely enough to get her attention and a mild look of irritation. He smiled, just a little, finding the familiarness soothing. “Good luck.”

[bqstqnbruin]

Always be my plus one - part 2

Ok I know that I should use a different gif for each part but I'm not going to. But here's part 2! It's longer than the first part so have fun.

People to thank who are amazing and I owe my whole life to even though I'm probably forgetting someone because I'm the worst: @zinka8 (I CAN FINALLY TAG YOU) @hockeywocs @calgarycanuck @chara-hugs @justjosty anyone who sent in an anon and again I'm forgetting someone so if you helped me with this and I forgot, yell at me.

But here we go! This is about 9k words, and, fun fact, this is also my 5,000th post on this blog, so that's exciting!

Hope you like it!

Read part 1 here!

Series masterlist --------------------------------

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day

New Year’s Eve is the last day of the Georgian calendar year, marked with celebrations that last well into the next day. Huge parties take place around the world, one of the most notable being the ball dropping in Times Square in New York City, marking the new year for the eastern coast of the United States, televised with Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve hosted by Ryan Seacrest. This special each year includes a packed Times Square, performances, interviews, and general excitement to put whatever happened in the past year behind them. Likewise, in Canada, the CBC has hosted a similar countdown special since 2017, including live music and coverage of festivities in each of the provinces and timezones the country spans.

New Year’s Day is the first day of the Georgian calendar year, again marked with celebrations. In the United States, various parades take place, including the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, or the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In addition, various sporting events take place as well, including the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, the Outback Bowl in Tampa Bay, Florida, the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California, and the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, all post-season college football games, and the National Hockey League's outdoor game, the Winter Classic, typical showcasing a major regional rivalry. The day typically includes people already failing at keeping up with their New Year’s resolutions, whatever it was they promised to do every day of the year (such as working out, flossing, getting more sleep) already not going well.

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

December 27, 2021

Lucy had insisted Anne go with her to the mall to go shopping when she found out that she was going to a New Year’s Eve party with Tyson’s teammates. Once her older sister found out that Anne’s ‘mystery man’ was a professional hockey player, she went practically bat shit trying to figure out more information about the two of them since Anne had yet to tell her anything.

If only she knew there was nothing to tell.

“Come on, what about this?” Lucy asks, holding up a dress. Anne wasn't sure that it would go past her butt, not to mention the open back and the plunging neckline. Lucy had to know that Anne would never, on any occasion, wear a dress like that. It would look good on Lucy, and Lucy would be comfortable in it, but not Anne.

“No,” Anne tells her, continuing to look through the rack for anything that had more fabric to it than what Lucy was offering her. There was nothing wrong with the dresses, really, and Lucy was normally pretty good about picking things out that Anne would actually like, but something about this being a dress for what sort of was, sort of wasn’t a date with a guy she spilled her coffee all over was making her more nervous than she needed to me.

“But it’s for your man. On New Year’s Eve. It doesn’t hurt to look a little sexy,” Lucy begs, making sure to add a little shoulder shimmy at the word ‘sexy’ for emphasis.

‘He’s not my man,’ Anne wanted to say. But she wasn’t about to spill that secret before Lucy even met him. It would be easier to just tell them they broke up by Valentine’s Day. “Tyson wouldn’t want me to wear anything that would make me uncomfortable,” she lets out instead.

Lucy sighs, pulling out dress after dress to show to Anne. “Ok, how about this: what color do you want to wear and how long do you want it to be?” Anne shrugs, not having thought about it in the slightest. “Well what’s Tyson wearing? Are you matching with him?”

“I don’t think so?”

“Annie!” Lucy practically screams the nickname her family decided they were going to call her, a few of the other store patrons turning to glare at Lucy’s outburst. “How do you not know what your boyfriend is wearing to a Colorado Avalanche New Year’s Eve party?”

'Not my boyfriend' she thought. “I don’t dress him. Do you know what Jason is going to wear for every party?”

Rolling her eyes, she holds up another dress that Anne turns down. “Well, since I’ve known my man since we were in diapers, I know his style, and therefore, know what he could potentially wear before I tell him what he’s going to wear.”

Anne lets out a sigh, wandering away from her sister while she continues to go through what seemed to be endless rows of dresses. Part of Anne wished she was like her sister: lucky enough to find a man that she would love forever when she was young, never having to worry about anything. The other part of Anne wished her family wasn’t so annoying about her finding a man, wishing that Sebby didn’t steal her phone and see Tyson’s name, and that their mom hadn’t come down and jumped to conclusions before she had a chance to defend herself.

“Hey,” Lucy comes up to Anne, “Why don’t we grab some food and then try a different store.” Anne nods, Lucy linking her arm in her sisters before taking her out of the store. “Have you met any of Tyson’s teammates before? I mean, you have to mean a lot to him if he’s bringing around the guys he spends the most time with.”

“He’s told me a little bit about all of them, but I haven’t met them yet.”

“You know this is big, then, right?” Lucy says, finding a line at the food court for them to order from.

Even if Lucy hadn’t picked a place that Anne wasn’t too fond of, her words made Anne lose her appetite. As far as she knew, Anne’s family thought they were dating, which they weren’t, while Tyson’s teammates thought they were friends, which they were. That’s what they had agreed to. They just needed to make it to New Year’s Day and then this would all be over.

Lucy keeps talking, rattling off information about Tyson’s teammates that Anne was sure she had found on their Wikipedia pages, Lucy’s ‘top of her class,’ ‘photographic memory’ coming out while Anne stayed silent.

“Look, Anne,” Lucy says once she gets the food she ordered for both of them, “if he likes you enough to bring you around his teammates, that’s a good thing. Think of it like Jason asking me to go to his soccer games when we were freshmen. He wants you to be at something important for him.”

“I’m not worried about that,” Anne shrugs, “I’m worried about bringing him into the belly of the beast the next afternoon.”

“Why, because you’ll be hungover and Ma and Dad haven’t seen you that way yet?” Lucy asks, smiling with her fork between her teeth.

Throwing her head back and groaning, Anne starts, “No. Ideally, we’ll still be drunk and calling you or Matthew to come to pick us up. Remember what Mom was like when I introduced you all to Andy?”

“Well, yeah, it was hate at first sight. And she was right to feel that way, obviously. If you think Tyson is the ‘one,’ then you’ll be fine.”

Anne chokes on the fries she was picking at when Lucy says that. “The ‘one’? Please. I wouldn’t know if he was the ‘one’ at this point. Right now, he’s my ‘plus one' at best.”

Lucy shrugs, a sly smile on her face as the two of them continue to eat in silence.

The two of them venture to another store, Anne not having high hopes in finding a dress, knowing that she was going to have to resort to wearing something old that probably wouldn’t be very ‘New Year’s Eve’ themed, or borrow something from Lucy, who, albeit having great style, definitely didn’t have anything that she would want to wear. Maybe she could call Stephanie or her cousin Lauren and see if they could pity her enough to let her borrow something.

Lucy went to the dress rack, Anne just wandered around the store. At this point, she didn’t even care if she found a dress; a long shirt would be just fine. She was nowhere near her sister or the dresses, but she saw something out of place, a skirt and sleeves peeking out in the middle of pant legs. She picked up the dress, solid black, which would probably fit her like a glove, off the shoulder. A black choker, which she had, and a nice pair of heels would make the dress perfect. And it was even on sale. Someone had probably put it there in order to hide it, but Anne didn’t know that for a fact, so could she really feel bad about wearing it?

She practically ran through the store to find her sister, grabbing her by the arm to the dressing room despite the stack of dresses on Lucy’s arm that were probably going to end up back on the rack or in Lucy’s own closet.

Anne looked at herself in the mirror, excited for the first time for Tyson to see her on New Year’s Eve wearing something like that. The two had been talking nonstop, but Anne had made it clear they were friends and that she wasn’t looking for anything. If something came along, she would know it, and honestly, she didn’t know it with Tyson.

But picturing him seeing her in the dress gave her a glimmer of hope that it was Tyson, even if he wasn’t the ‘one’ like Lucy had been badgering her about earlier.

“Hey, Annie, come on!” Lucy snaps Anne out of her fantasy, banging on the door to show her, “Jason texted me that he and the girls are going to be home in an hour with dinner so you can’t take all day.”

“You really think putting on this dress is going to take an hour?” Anne huffs, opening the door from the dressing room stall.

“Well, it depends on how many dresses you try,” Lucy starts, cutting herself off when she sees her sister in the dress. “Oh, Anne.”

“You like it?” she asks, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks. It was a simple dress, knit and insignificant. She had no idea why she was so excited about it.

“I do,” Lucy says, coming up behind Anne and resting her chin on her sister’s shoulder as the two of them admire Anne in the mirror. “And you know who else is going to love it? Tyson.”

Anne took in a deep breath, Lucy rubbing her back between her shoulders before she let her get changed back into her clothes. ‘Tyson was going to love it.’ Anne hoped so.

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

December 31, 2021

Tyson said he was going to be at Anne’s place at 9:15 to pick her up and drop off stuff at her place to stay over. Since they were going to be together all night, it was easier if Tyson stayed with Anne after the party before needing to drive to Anne’s uncle’s house the next afternoon.

But it was 9:30, and Anne was sitting on her couch, waiting for the boy who was supposed to fake being her boyfriend tomorrow to show up to take her to a party with a bunch of people who had no idea who she was or that this scenario was going to be happening the next day.

How did Anne end up like this? What if he didn’t show up? Why did she let her mom and siblings take over the conversation about her life and let them believe that Tyson was her boyfriend? And why did he agree to it?

Anne gets snapped out of her downward spiral of thoughts by her phone ringing, Tyson calling to hopefully tell her that he was waiting to be let in. “You said you were going to be here at 9:15,” she answers, not letting Tyson say anything.

“Well, traffic,” he explains, “It’s New Year’s Eve and I didn’t want to speed, either, and end up getting pulled over for that. Can you come let me in? It’s cold.”

Anne gets up from her couch, venturing downstairs in the slippers she was keeping on until the last minute. The heels Lucy had let her borrow weren’t uncomfortable, but she wasn’t about to wear them around her apartment building if she didn’t have to. She spots Tyson sitting on the couches in the lobby, going up to him. He was looking down at his phone, but seeing him made her heart race. He had on a white button-down with the top two buttons undone, a black jacket, and black pants on. She goes up to him, resting her hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

Tyson looks up, unable to find the words when he sees Anne. He stands up, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Anne sees this and lets out a small laugh. “Are you ok?” she asks, her nerves of seeing him dissipate while he acts like this.

“You’re,” he starts, letting out a breath as he looks her up and down. He shakes his head, a lazy smile on his face. “You’re beautiful.”

Anne laughs, grabbing his bag for him and leading him back upstairs to her apartment. “You’re not too bad yourself.”

“You know,” Tyson starts when the two of them get to her door, “pretending to be your boyfriend really isn’t going to be that difficult.”

“Yeah,” Anne scoffs, putting down Tyson’s bag with a thud by the couch, “and if you keep flirting with me like you mean it, then they’ll really believe you.” Anne’s back was turned to Tyson, so she didn’t see the look on his face, him biting his lip at her words that she thought he was just pretending. “You’re staying over for a night, what the hell could you have brought with you?” she asks him.

Tyson clears his throat, still not over Anne’s little dig about him pretending to flirt with her. He’s been flirting with her since they met, has she really not noticed? “Uh, you didn’t tell me how formal or casual this is at your uncle’s so I just packed a few options.”

“Huh, I never pegged you for a fashionista,” Anne teases, putting on her shoes and coat as Tyson orders the Uber to take them to the venue.

“Apparently you’re never going to peg me at all,” Tyson mumbles, not loud enough for Anne to hear.

“Sorry?”

“Uh, the Uber will be here in a few minutes so we should get downstairs,” he tries to save himself.

“But,” Anne says, locking her door and following Tyson back down to the lobby, “You can pretty much wear anything to Uncle Vince’s house as long as it isn’t a Juventus shirt.”

“Juventus?”

“That’s Napoli’s biggest rival. It would be like me wearing, I don’t know,” Anne says as they both get into the car that had pulled up, “a Red Wings or a Wild shirt to something for you guys.”

Tyson can’t help but smile, even though he knows it’s probably meaningless. Anne had made it clear that the two of them were just friends. But what if, “you like hockey?”

Anne shrugs, looking out the window as they drove into the city. “I don’t hate it, but I couldn’t tell you much about it. I’m more of a basketball girl, honestly.” Tyson scoffs, Anne turning to him. She had a smile on her face, trying to hide the slight insult she felt by the noise he made. “What?”

“Hockey is clearly better.”

“You’re just biased.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong,” he teases her, reaching over and nudging her arm. His hand lingers on her arm for a little bit, not really thinking about Anne’s noticeable settling into his touch. “Um,” he clears his throat, taking his arm back and praying that it was dark enough that Anne couldn’t see the red on his face, “What are your teams?”

“Men’s are the Nuggets, of course, women are the Seattle Storm, and college I go for UConn.”

“Did you go there?”

Anne shakes her head, Tyson admiring the way her hair framed her face, thankful that she was looking out the window instead of at him. “Nope, I went to CU Denver. My dad’s other brother, Johnny, went to UConn, and when I was born, that was around the start of the women’s dynasty that they have. When my dad was away on trips and mom was working, he and Aunt Lisa would watch the four of us and always have the UConn games on. I fell in love with Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Maya Moore, Stephanie Dolson. I grew up wanting to play basketball and be like them, so I played basketball.”

“Did you in college?”

“No,” Anne laughs, looking at the building they were pulling up to. “I played until high school, and was definitely not good enough to play in college. I still love it, though.”

Tyson smiles at her, getting out of the car and rushing to the other side to help her out, linking his arm in hers to escort her in. “I love that,” he whispers to her, walking in and thankful that he had Anne on his arm that night.

The guys weren’t necessarily on his case about finding someone the way it seemed like Anne’s parents were, but that didn’t stop the chirping about him never having a girlfriend for as long as he was on the team. They knew she was his friend, but, hey, it was better than nothing.

Anne had no idea where Tyson took her, not recognizing the building they had walked into, but she was speechless at the sight of the grand ballroom, the lighting just dim enough that she couldn’t help but feel at peace, the noise from Tyson’s teammates and their families taking that away and leaving her overwhelmed. Tyson had slipped away to hang up their coats and grab drinks, leaving Anne to fend for herself for the time being.

She knew they weren’t late by any means but based on the sobriety, or lack thereof, that everyone was displaying, an outsider would think that Tyson and Anne had shown up hours late, everyone seemingly on at least their third drink of the night, if not more. Anne worked her way to the side of the room, giving herself a good view of the bar where Tyson was, hoping that he could find her after he was done chatting with whoever it was that had his attention.

“You look almost too comfortable for someone just watching everyone on the side. Who are you here with?” someone interrupts her thoughts. She snaps her attention to the mystery man standing next to her, leaning against the wall and looking out at the crowd as they danced and sang, drank and had fun. He was the same height as Tyson, just about, probably not that much younger but the rosiness on his cheeks made him look years younger than both her and Tyson.

“I’m here with Tyson,” she tells him, waving to the guy who was supposed to be by her side that night.

“You’re the girl who spilled her coffee on him when we went to the hospital for the charity event,” Rosy Boy laughs.

Anne scoffs, “I wish that wasn’t my legacy, but here we are.”

The two of them stand and watch everyone, laughing as some of the kids pretend to chase around the adults, one of them catching someone by the leg as the man pretended to fall down. “That’s our captain, Gabe,” Rosy Boy tells her, “being chased by Naylah, Nazem’s daughter.”

“So, Gabe, Nazem, Tyson,” Anne says, pointing at the only three men of the Avalanche that she knew, “You?”

“Cale Makar.”

“Anne DeFormicola.”

Cale smiles at her, turning his body so he was facing her directly. “A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Anne could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks, thankful that her hair was down to cover the red that she knew had appeared on her ears. “Uh, are you and Tyson together?” Cale asks, his voice shaking as he prayed he didn’t make the mistake of flirting with one of his teammate’s girls.

“No,” Anne tells him, “We’re just friends.”

Cale lets out a sigh of relief. “Good, I, uh,” he stammers, Anne’s confused look making him nervous despite the smile that was on her face, “I mean, good, good for me. You? Us? I don’t know what I’m saying.”

The two of them laugh together, Anne seeing Tyson out of the corner of her eye. He didn’t look particularly thrilled as he watched her and Cale talking, the distance between them shrinking as the conversation proceeded.

Before she knew it, Tyson was by her side, a glass of wine in hand for her that he practically thrust in her hand. “So, how’s Cale treating you?” Tyson asks, not hiding the discontent he felt seeing Anne and Cale so obviously flirting.

Anne watches Tyson down his drink, a little too fast for her liking, especially considering Cale was obviously uncomfortable by what his teammate was doing in that moment. “Very well, we were having a good conversation.” Anne sips her wine, Cale mumbling something and slipping away. “What was that about?”

“I want you to be careful?” Tyson says as if it were obvious, even though he was lying. He didn’t want to have to see Anne flirting with his teammate all night.

“Of who, Cale? Didn’t you tell me he was the human equivalent of a puppy?” Tyson rolls his eyes, looking over to the bar and already wishing he had more to drink before having this conversation. “What’s the worst he’s going to do? Bite my ankles? Bark when he wants to go play outside?”

“Ok, you’re being mean.”

“And you’re being ridiculous.” Anne studies his face, the way he bit his lip as he tried to find his words. “You remind me of Sebby.”

“Your little brother?” Tyson asks, not really wanting to be compared to him.

“He’s really protective of me. We’re all protective of each other, but he’s especially protective of me. You’re probably the same way with Kacey, right?”

Tyson swallows hard, nodding. “Yeah.” He wasn’t even just friend-zoned: he was sibling-zoned.

“You just don’t want me to get hurt,” Anne reasons, already finishing her wine. It’s not like it was that much in the glass. “I think if anyone was going to hurt me, it wouldn’t be Cale.”

The two of them stand there, watching Tyson’s teammates dancing as the music changed to something more upbeat. On the nearest table, Tyson put down his and Anne’s empty glasses, extending his hand out to Anne in a bid to lead her to the dance floor. Anne hesitates, not really too fond of dancing, but then Tyson smiled at her, raising his eyebrows, and for whatever reason, she felt like she had to go with him.

His hand found the small of her back, holding her close enough that they could still talk over the blaring from the music, his other hand in hers as he tried to get her to move to the rhythm of the song. It’s not that Anne was uncoordinated, but she just wasn’t that great with dancing. “I would have thought you were better at this,” Tyson teases her, looking down at their feet as Anne steps on for what he thought was the fourth time.

“I will gladly go back to my place against the wall and watch you make a fool out of yourself by yourself instead,” she jokes, rolling her eyes as Tyson spins her around.

He pulls her in closer than before, the music changing to a slower song. “I don’t think you want to do that,” Tyson tells her, his forehead pressed against hers. He could kiss her right now if she let him. This was technically their second date, if they considered the coffee place their first. And Tyson did. He didn’t know why he wanted this girl in front of him so badly so fast, but there was just something about her that he had to be with her.

Before Anne could say anything, she feels someone tapping on her shoulder. Pulling away from Tyson, she sees Cale standing there, his hands in his pockets, looking down at his feet. His entire face was red, clearly nervous, as he started, “Uh, sorry, but I was wondering if I could dance with Anne?”

Anne smiles at him, looking over at Tyson to signal that she wanted to. Cale was adorable, and something about him left Anne unable to say no to him. Tyson gives a sad smile, releasing Anne from his grasp. “I’m going to go get another drink,” he says, leaving his date and teammate alone to be closer than they were before. He couldn’t be with a girl that didn’t want to be with him, he thought, downing the drink he got probably too fast. At least tomorrow he could pretend that the two of them were together, pretending that he was hers and she was his.

But for now, he had to watch Anne smiling and staring at Cale, his teammate holding her so close that Tyson wanted nothing more than to be Cale.

Tyson had his back against the bar, watching Cale and Anne dance and have fun when JT came up to him. “Didn’t you bring a date?” JT was the only one Tyson had told about the fake dating plan between him and Anne.

“Yep.”

“She in the bathroom?”

“She’s dancing with Cale,” Tyson says, raising what he thinks was his third drink in their direction. He was praying that they couldn’t get any closer than they were now, but the way Anne was smiling, he knew that was what she wanted.

JT looks between Anne and Cale together and Tyson’s near angry expression as he took another sip of his drink. “Oh, I get it,” JT realizes, Tyson side-eyeing his friend. “You like her, and now you’re seeing her with Cale and you’re jealous.”

Tyson could feel himself start to panic. He did like her, but he wasn’t about to let everyone know that. “No,” he lies, JT scoffing at him. He hated that he knew him so well. “Maybe.”

“Well, then why aren’t you the one dancing with her?” JT asks, Tyson watching Anne throw her head back laughing, Cale burying his head in her shoulder, a smile just as big as hers on his face.

“She wanted to dance with him. What was I going to do, say ‘no?’

“Yes.”

“No,” he rebuts, signaling the bartender for yet another drink. “At least I can pretend to date her around her family,” he shrugs.

“Yeah, until she pretends to dump you because she’s really dating Cale.”

“Maybe in the new year you should try to be more helpful instead of whatever you are now,” Tyson snaps. “Sorry,” he mumbles into the fresh drink he was bringing to his lips, planning on downing it as fast as he got it. If he had to watch Anne dancing with Cale, he might as well be drunk so he can’t remember it in the morning.

“It’s almost midnight,” Cale whispers to Anne.

“Yeah,” she smirks, having a feeling she knew where this was going, especially judging by the way his grip tightened around her waist.

“Uh,” he clears his throat, getting nervous about what he wanted to ask her. “Who are you kissing at midnight?"

Anne can’t help but smile, his innocence endearing to her. Tyson and JT were still watching the two of them dance even though Anne and Cale were too focused on each other to notice. “I think it depends on your answer,” she flirts.

“I was kind of hoping it would be you,” he tells her.

Anne laughs, “Yeah, I got that,” she tells him, running her hand through his hair at the nape of his neck, sending a chill down his spine. “I was hoping it would be you, too,” she tells him, closing her eyes with their foreheads pressed against each other. She almost wished she had spilled her coffee on Cale instead of Tyson, not needing to pretend to date him tomorrow and instead just date Cale and date him for real. It might have been the alcohol or the night that was making her feel this way, but Cale was not a hard guy to like.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” Tyson mumbles, not wanting to see Anne and Cale anymore, setting his drink down and leaving the room before JT could protest.

Soon after, everyone began their countdown to midnight, chanting while Anne and Cale stayed silent.

Anne knew Cale wanted to kiss her before the countdown was over. He was hovering against her lips as soon as someone yelled ‘ten!’ She didn’t know what it was about him, but she was ready to kiss him, not waiting for everyone to get past ‘five’ before she connected with him for a second, already wanting more as soon as they started.

Cale pulled away fast, smiling, moving his hands from her waist to cup her face, kissing her as soon as everyone around them was screaming ‘Happy New Year!’ When they finally pulled away, Cale’s entire face was red, and Anne knew that there was some color on her cheeks, too. Kissing Cale was something else, but something was missing. She just couldn’t put her finger on it.

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

January 1, 2022

Anne and Cale danced a little longer, some of the guys and their families starting to leave.

“I think I have to go find Tyson,” Anne tells Cale, realizing she hadn’t seen the boy she came with for the better part of an hour.

“Uh, wait,” Cale says as Anne starts to pull away, Anne stopping as Cale smiles at her. He puts on her jaw, tilting her head up to kiss her again. “Can I see you again?”

Anne smiles, biting her lip. “I’d like that. But I really have to find Tyson.”

The two of them start walking around, trying to locate their lost boy. “Are you coming back with us?”

“Us?”

“Tys and I live in the same building,” Cale explains, part of him wanting to ask Anne to go home with him.

Before he can, Anne starts, “No, Tyson is staying at my place tonight. We have something tomorrow. Today,” she corrects herself.

“Oh, ok. Well, then, can I get your number?”

“When we find Tyson because he has the ticket for our coats and my phone is in my coat,” she explains, regretting giving everything to Tyson.

“Anne!” they hear someone yell, turning around to see Tyson stumbling over despite JT trying to help him up. Anne hadn’t told him not to get very drunk out of caution for having to deal with her family in a few hours, but now she was regretting forgetting.

“How much did he drink?” Anne panics, slinging Tyson's free arm around her shoulder.

“When I got to him he was already on four and I think he had at least three more while I was with him. I couldn’t tell you what he had on his own,” JT explains, the four of them getting their stuff and trying to get out while Tyson could barely walk.

Tyson mumbles something, trying to lean his head against Anne’s shoulder while they walked, despite the three-inch height difference that would have been bigger had Anne not been wearing heels. JT asks him to repeat it while he orders and Uber to get Tyson and Anne home. “Anne’s so pretty,” Tyson says, practically screaming it in Anne’s ear.

“Thank you, Tyson,” she says, trying to be as sweet as she could despite her anger she felt for him getting this drunk.

Tyson keeps babbling incoherently, none of them wanting to try to figure out what he was saying while they were waiting in their Ubers.

“Hey, Anne, hand me your phone,” JT asks, trying to reach out to her with his free hand while also making sure Tyson didn’t fall over or fall on Anne. She does as he asks, Cale standing there wondering why he didn’t just do that in the first place. “Text me when you two get back to your place and let me know how he is before you leave for your Uncle’s.”

“Yeah, of course,” Anne says, not even thinking about how he would have known where the two of you were going later.

Before Cale can ask for Anne’s phone, the Uber for her and Tyson pulls up. “Are you sure you’re good to get him back?” Cale asks her while JT gets Tyson in the car safely.

Anne nods, putting her hand on Cale’s bicep to reassure him. “Yeah, he should sober up enough to walk with just me during the drive back. Thank you, though,” she says, giving him a quick kiss before climbing into the car.

“I wish it was me,” Tyson slurs, his head on Anne’s shoulder as the Uber pulls away.

“What’s that, Tyson?” Anne asks.

“I wish it was me that was kissing you.”

Anne looks at him, his eyes closed as he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. “When?”

“At midnight. I wanted to kiss you at midnight. I just hope you didn’t kiss Cale. That would make me sad,” he says, letting out a yawn.

Before Anne could say anything to respond, Tyson was asleep, leaving her alone with her thoughts, and the Uber driver probably hoping they remembered this to tell their friends in the morning. Why would he have wanted to kiss her? They were just friends. They had both made it very clear that everything they were doing was just out of friendship because they both needed someone to be there for the other and just pretend they were something they were not.

This wasn’t going to be like one of those ‘fake dating’ tropes that Anne had read in books when she was a teenager or in rom coms. Those weren’t real life. That didn’t happen.

Anne gets Tyson up to her apartment, surprised that she was able to drag him out of the Uber and balance him long enough that he didn’t fall over and take her with him to the ground. She practically threw him onto her bed, getting him in position so no matter what happened he would be fine. He was asleep almost immediately, a soft snore coming from his lips.

Anne pulls out her phone to text JT that his teammate was asleep, getting herself ready to go sleep on the couch.

The next morning, Anne woke up to Tyson sitting at her kitchen table, already having helped himself to a cup of coffee. “You look like you’re feeling great,” Anne commented, Tyson clearly hungover from the night before.

“Why did I wake up in your bed and not your couch?” Tyson asked.

Anne shrugs, fixing herself a cup of coffee to join him. “You’re my guest and the couch isn’t the most comfortable thing to fall asleep on if you aren’t used to it.”

“You are?”

“I’ve fallen asleep plenty of times while I was reading on that couch,” Anne tells him, wishing she had something to offer him to eat. “Uh, when we get to my uncle’s house, there’s going to be a ton of food so if we didn’t eat now, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.”

Tyson nods, looking down at his coffee. He wished that he didn’t have to pretend to be Anne’s boyfriend. He already wanted to be more, but Cale was already closer to that in one night than Tyson was in how many weeks. “What do I need to know about your family before I meet them?”

Anne starts rambling about her family: her grandparents moved back to New York which was where they grew up so she hasn’t seen them in a while because they’re too old to make the trip out here and she hasn’t had time to make the trip to see them. They were going to her Uncle Vince’s house, her dad’s older brother. He has three kids, Michael, Emily, and Spencer, all of them dating someone. Then there’s Uncle Johnny, her dad’s younger brother, who has two kids, Lauren and Landon, and three grandkids from Lauren: Christopher, Lydia, and Henry.

Tyson didn’t even know if he was going to remember everything she was saying; from the food that Johnny brings just for Landon because of allergies, or the food that was designated as ‘the kid's food’ which was absolutely off-limits unless you were under the age of five years old. The Sam Adams’ beer is only meant for Aunt Lisa and Aunt Laura unless they offer it to you, but the wine is a free for all because it’s guaranteed that everyone of age brought their own bottle anyway, including Anne.

“Wait, but I don’t have a bottle,” Tyson asks, both of them getting up to get ready.

Anne smiles at him, going into one of her cabinets. “You want white or red?” she asks, holding up two bottles. “Because, as you know, I’m partial to red.”

Tyson laughs, taking the bottle of white wine from her, not even sure if he should be drinking anything given the night before. He was just lucky he somehow didn't feel worse despite how much he had. “I knew you were my kind of girl.”

They stand there for a second, neither of them sure how to react or what to do. “We should go get ready,” Anne says, bringing the bottles over to where she kept her keys so she wouldn’t forget them.

She retreats to her room, leaving Tyson to get ready out in the open of the rest of her apartment. That wasn’t a moment they just had in her kitchen, she tells herself. She puts on a pair of jeans, trying to find a shirt suitable enough for her mom to not nag her about, finally settling on a sweater that she was almost sure was Lucy’s that she stole a few months ago.

“Hey, Anne,” she hears Tyson calling her. “Someone’s calling you.”

An unknown number flashed on her screen in Tyson's hand, her forgetting she left the phone by the couch. Normally an unsaved contact was something that she wouldn’t answer, but the Calgary area code, for no reason whatsoever, told her that she had to answer it. “Hello?”

“Anne? It’s Cale. Sorry, I got your number from JT.”

Anne smiles, looking at Tyson who could hear his teammate's voice just loud enough that it made him upset. Tyson’s words from the night before rang through Anne’s mind as she finally answered him back, “Hey, no, it’s fine. What’s up?” Anne goes back into her room to finish getting ready, putting Cale on speaker as she does.

“I just wanted to check on you. And Tyson, I mean, that you were ok with him last night.”

Anne laughs at his nerves, the same ones that came through when they were first talking last night that she was thankful had faded as time went on. “Yeah, we’re fine. We’re getting ready to head out, though.”

“Any idea what time you would be done? I was wondering if you wanted to grab dinner tonight?”

She could hear his voice shaking, wishing that she could say yes. “I can’t tonight, but maybe another time?”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” he says, both of them saying goodbye as Anne grabs what she needs to head out.

“You ready?” she asks Tyson. He looked good, a simple black button-down he had paired with jeans. Why did he have to look good? Tyson nods, grabbing the wine while Anne grabbed her keys.

The two of them drive in silence, her phone plugged into her car with Cale and JT’s contacts popping up on the screen on her center console as they were texting her. “I’m glad you got along with some of the guys last night,” Tyson tells her, finally breaking the silence between them.

“Yeah, me too. Especially since someone seemed to enjoy the bar more than anything else,” she teases.

“Hey, the bartender was attractive, and giving free drinks, what was I supposed to do?”

Anne laughs, knowing that wasn’t the real reason he was there the entire night. She didn’t know what that reason was, but it wasn’t because of the looks of the person giving Tyson drinks. “What do you remember from last night?”

Tyson hesitates, really not sure what to answer. “I remember the drinks and you were dancing with Cale at some point.”

“You remember none of the Uber drive back?”

He almost did. He knew he had fallen on Anne’s shoulder, but he didn’t remember getting into the car with her. He wasn’t even sure that Anne was the one that got him in the car. “Not really, no.”

“Ok,” Anne says, partially thankful for that. She wasn’t sure she would want to relive the part of the night, nor did she think Tyson would either.

She pulls up to her uncle’s house, already seeing Lucy’s car and her cousin Spencer's sitting in the driveway. “Ready to enter the belly of the beast?” she asks him, patting his thigh as a sign of encouragement.

Tyson looks out to the house, seeing someone standing in the doorway waiting for them to get out of the car. “We’ve gotta start acting like a couple, now, don’t we?” he says, leaning closer to her across the center console.

Anne rolls her eyes, knowing that he wanted a kiss or something, anything to show Aunt Laura that Tyson was actually her boyfriend. She does kiss him, sweet and slow. Tyson was sure if they weren’t being watched, he would have gone for more, but knowing he couldn’t was killing him. He had to make the most of the time he had with Anne’s family.

When Anne pulled away, she reached up to Tysons face, grazing her thumb along his beard as his hand connected with hers. She didn’t know why, but she kissed him again, their foreheads pressed together as they sat there in her car. It was different kissing him compared to Cale. A good different, and like last night, she couldn't put her finger on why. She almost forgot where they were, startled by Aunt Laura knocking on her window.

Anne’s face had to be bright red, embarrassed that her aunt saw whatever moment, real or fake or whatever that was, while sitting in the driveway of her house. She greets her aunt as she gets out of the car, handing her the two bottles of wine.

“You must be Tyson!” she says, more excited than Anne thought she would be. “Teresa’s told us so much about you, come in, come in,” she gestures. Anne was sure that she would have dragged him in by the collar of his shirt if she didn’t have the wine in her hands already.

Tyson looks at Anne, confused. “I have no idea what my mom could have said to her,” Anne says. Tyson shrugs, grabbing Anne’s hand as she leads him into the house.

Lucy comes running up as soon as Anne steps through the door, a baby that couldn’t be more than a year old in her arms. “Hey there, Hazel,” Anne coos, taking her goddaughter from her sister. Hazel reaches out, grabbing Anne’s hair as Anne winces at the slight pain from the baby’s pull. “This is Tyson.”

“Hi, pretty girl,” Tyson says, Hazel reaching out, squirming to get away from Anne and into Tyson’s arms. “Is it ok if I hold her?” he asks Lucy, waiting for her to nod before Anne passes her off to him.

Lucy pulls her sister aside, a silly grin on her face. “He’s perfect,” she gushes, “Look at him!” Tyson was bouncing Hazel up and down, Hazel shrieking with glee with him.

“He’s not perfect,” Anne says, “but he might be close.” The sisters laugh, Lucy hugging Anne from behind while they continue to watch Anne’s ‘boyfriend’ interact with Lucy’s youngest daughter. Anne wasn’t even sure if she was really pretending as the rest of her family came into her uncle’s house.

Teresa was practically attached to Tyson the entire time, as were Skylar and Harper once Tyson started playing with them. Literally, Tyson was walking around Uncle Vince’s house with Skylar and Harper clinging to each of his legs. Tyson was the center of attention, Anne wishing that it wasn’t because everyone was just finally excited that Anne found a man.

“What do you think of him?” Anne asks Sebby, the two of them watching Tyson and Matthew talking as if there was no one else was in the room. She had heard ‘touchdown’ and ‘linebacker’ come up in conversation, meaning Matthew was going on a rant about the Broncos, something that he did way too often.

Sebby looks him up and down, pursing his lips while he thought about it. “I’m not sure I trust him.”

“Oh, come on,” Anne whines.

“He’s an athlete. And a professional one, at that,” Sebby throws his hands up in defense. Growing up, Sebby was the only one who didn’t really like sports, feeling they were a waste of time when he could be doing something like reading or studying. Sports were only relevant when his siblings were involved, otherwise, he hated them.

“Give him a chance. Please?” Anne begs, not even sure if it were necessary. “He’s not Andy.”

Sebby narrows his eyes at his sister, jumping slightly as Tyson and Matthew start laughing. “Why didn’t you mention him before Christmas?”

“If you remember, I didn’t mention him at Christmas, you did,” Anne scolds him, trying to figure out what story to tell her brother. “And, it was still new. I didn’t want to say anything if it wasn’t going to be something.”

“Is it?”

“Maybe. I think so,” Anne lies. At least, she thought she was lying.

Tyson comes over to Anne while she was talking with Sebby about his upcoming semester, his last one before he graduated from college and hopefully entered law school. He wraps his arms around her, kissing her cheek before resting his chin on her shoulder. “You think I could steal her for a second?” he asks.

Sebby narrows his eyes, Tyson a little thrown off by her brother’s reaction. “Sure.”

Tyson brings Anne into another room, praying that no one would walk in on them. “We didn’t talk about anything we could say to your family about how we met,” he brings up.

“I was planning on deferring that to you since I normally can’t get a word in otherwise,” she admits, even though she hadn’t thought about it before.

“That’s not fair,” Tyson says, looking over Anne’s shoulder to see someone in her family looking at the two of them. “Your family is watching.”

Anne follows Tyson’s gaze, turning and waving at Landon and Lauren. She reaches up and puts her hand on Tyson’s cheek, Tyson taking it with his own and kissing the palm of her hand. “When you see how I get pushed aside at dinner, you’ll understand why it’s fair.”

The two of them continue talking about how they were going to go on with the rest of the day, Anne telling Tyson she was fine with everything he had done so far and really didn’t care if he kept doing it. Anne, not wanting to tell Tyson, liked what he was doing. It felt right for some reason. Was Tyson right that it should have been the two of them kissing at midnight and not her and Cale?

Tyson’s drunken confession from the night before was still ringing in her mind when everyone got called to sit down for dinner. Tyson was still, unsurprisingly, the center of attention. His hand was on Anne’s thigh for most of dinner, Lucy’s eyes never leaving as Anne rested her’s in his. The usual rounds of conversation started, asking Lucy about her medical practice, Jason about Andersen’s, his restaurant that bore his family’s name, Matthew and Steph about work at United, Sebby about how he was feeling going into this last semester of college.

Then the conversation was supposed to turn to Anne, normally swamped with questions about Anne’s lack of love life. Instead, of course, the conversation turned to Tyson.

“How did you two meet?” Teresa asks, giving a smug look to her daughter, “Anne hasn’t told us anything about you.”

Tyson hesitates, figuring Anne wouldn’t want her family knowing they met when she spilled her coffee on him. “I was out with some of my teammates after practice one day,” he starts, hoping that whatever was about to come out of his mouth was good enough. “We were at a coffee shop, and I saw Anne there grabbing something before her shift at the hospital. I saw her smile at the barista when she thanked him for taking her order and,” he looks at her, taking Anne and putting it on the table for her family to see. “Something about that smile of hers I just knew I had to talk to her. I needed her in my life and I’m happy she’s in it.”

He kisses the side of her head, whispering, “we have to remember that story now,” against her skin. When he pulls away, Anne smiles at him, signaling that she would. There was no way she could forget that honestly. Why was pretending to like him so easy?

The conversation stays on him for a little longer, Anne never being asked anything. Finally, Emily stands up with Jimmy, saying they had an announcement. “We’re engaged!” she squeals, holding up her left hand with the ring that she either just put on, or no one noticed as the family congratulated her. Jimmy had proposed at midnight, down on one knee right as whoever they were with said ‘Happy New Year!’

“Another wedding!” Teresa yells, Tony rolling his eyes next to her. He didn’t hate weddings, he hated his wife’s need to spend an extravagant amount of money on a new dress and presents for the couple every time. “And then maybe we’ll have one for Anne in the next year, too, oh Tony we’ll get to plan another wedding.”

“Mom!” Anne scolds, Tyson’s face getting bright red. “That ringing in your ears is not wedding bells.”

The rest of the dinner goes on fine, Anne and her siblings off in one of the rooms while their spouses and Tyson were nowhere to be found.

“I think Tyson’s scared of me,” Lucy says, examining her nails.

“He might just be intimidated by you, Signoria Perfezione,” Anne teases her with the nickname Lucy got when she was little, her need for order prevalent from a young age.

“Yeah, he said that Anne told him how smart you were and he didn’t want to feel stupid around you,” Matthew points out.

“Well, shouldn’t he be intimidated by Anne?” Sebby asks.

“I know you’re trying to compliment me, but your tone says otherwise,” Anne says. “Why don’t you like him?”

The three of them look at their youngest siblings. “There’s something off,” he starts, Anne feeling her heart start to race. “He’s like borderline pretending to be with you.”

“Come on, man, you’re paranoid,” Matthew scoffs, Lucy agreeing.

“I mean,” Sebby explains, “He looks at Anne like he wants to be with her, not like he actually is with her.”

“You’re just over analyzing. We’re together. Probably more together than you and Collins are,” Anne fires back, part of her hating that she was lying to her siblings, the other part of her wondering how much of it was a lie.

Sebby shrugs, “Well yeah, because we broke up.” Anne’s jaw drops, Matthew raises his eyebrows in shock, Lucy the only one to scream and actually make a verbal acknowledgment of what he just said. “Yeah, the other night. She finally blew up over the whole, ‘I don’t want to move to Boston or California,’ thing and said if I wasn’t willing to move to be with her then I wasn’t good enough for her.”

“Oh, I don’t like that,” Anne says.

"Why didn't you tell us," Lucy asks.

"I see how they act about Anne never being with someone," he says, Anne glaring at him. "I'll just find someone in law school and not say anything unless they ask. Plus, I don’t want to be that far away from you guys. Why would I stay with someone who wants me to do that?” he admits.

“Aw, you do like us!” Lucy teases him, her and Matthew tackling him in a hug while Sebby yells for them to get off, yelling louder when Anne joins in.

“Hey, um,” Tyson interrupts, “Sorry, you’re having a moment.”

“No, no, what’s up?” Anne breaks off, going over to him.

“Your aunt said dessert is out,” he tells them, or, rather, tells Anne with her siblings in earshot.

“See, you’re delusional,” Lucy tells Sebby as they walk past Anne and Tyson into the next room.

Tyson looks at her confused, waiting for an explanation. “I think Sebby’s catching on to us pretending,” she shrugs, really not that worried. She and Tyson could talk later about how long this would go on, and if anyone in the family were to find out that it was fake, Sebby would be the one to keep it quiet.

She goes into the next room, leaving Tyson there by himself. “Yeah, pretending,” he says to himself.

[blackdiamondwrites127]

The Royal House of Trastámara (Redux)

So since the Trastámara family has become even more complete with the addition of Juan, I figured I'd make redo of this post! So here are the daughters and son of the Royal House of Trastámara.

Link to original post

Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal

The eldest child of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille, Isabella was named after her mother and became the heir presumptive to the Crown of Castille after her mother took the throne from her uncle Henry IV of Castille. She was betrothed and married to Prince Afonso, heir and only son of John II of Portugal. Her marriage with the prince was a happy one but unfortunately, Afonso died due to a riding accident and Isabella vowed never to marry again. Until six years later, after the death of John II of Portugal, his brother, Manuel I of Portugal, usurped the throne and asked for Isabella's hand in marriage. Her parents offered Maria's hand instead out of respect to Isabella's wishes to never marry again but Manuel refused. Eventually, she married him and became queen consort of Portugal. She later gave birth to her only son, Miguel de Paz, Prince of Portugal, and due to her poor health and constant travelling during the later stages of her pregnancy, she died within an hour of her son's birth.

In her second life, Isabella owns and works in her own music shop located just below her flat. She sometimes fills in for Maria on the drums whenever she's sick and just generally enjoys the simple things in her second life. She's grown to be very passive due in this life and can be quite sarcastic at times which may come off as rude but she means well. However, bad mouth her younger sister she'll go after you.

Isabella Trastámara belongs to @lexartsstuff.

John, Prince of Asturias

was the only son of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon who survived to adulthood. John was born in Seville in 1478 to the sovereigns of Castile, Isabella I and Ferdinand II. John's birth helped consolidate Isabella's position as sovereign as she had given birth to a legitimate male heir. At the time of his birth, he had one elder sister Isabella; his younger sisters were Joanna, Maria, and Catherine. During his early years, Isabella and Ferdinand came to plan a double alliance with Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, for the marriage of his children, Archduke Philip the Handsome and Archduchess Margaret of Austria. On 20 January 1495 in Antwerp, a preliminary alliance, which included a wedding of Prince John with Maximilian's daughter was agreed. Similarly, Maximilian's son Philip and John's sister Joanna were to be married. Joanna left Spain to marry Philip the Handsome in late 1496. Philip's sister, Margaret of Austria, aged 18, married John on April 3 the following year in Burgos Cathedral. It was a good marriage and John was devoted to Margaret. On 4 October 1497, a messenger came to John's parents and informed them that their son lay dangerously ill in Salamanca. He and his wife Margaret had arrived a week earlier, on the way to the wedding of his older sister in Portugal. Ferdinand was with his son as John died in the arms of his former tutor Fray Diego Deza. Two months later, on December 8, the Princess of Asturias gave birth to their only child, a stillborn girl.

When he was reincarnated, he found that he was blind in one eye but that didn’t stop him from having the time of his life. He’s very fun loving, happy, energetic and a bit oblivious at times. He’s married to Margaret of Austria, who he calls Maggie. He works as a costume designer for SIX the musical, mainly so he can see his baby sister more. He now goes by Juan rather than John as a ay to stay in touch with his spanish roots.

Juan Trastámara belongs to @weirdbutdecentart100.

Joanna of Castille, Queen of Castille and Aragon

The second eldest daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille. Known historically as 'Joanna the Mad' or 'Juana la Loca' in spanish, she was Queen of Castille and Queen of Aragon. Modern Spain evolved from the union of these two kingdoms. Joanna was married by arrangement to Philip the Handsome, Archduke of Austria of the House of Habsburg. Following the deaths of her brother, John, Prince of Asturia, her elder sister Isabella, and her nephew Miguel, Joanna became the heir presumtive to the crowns of Castile and Aragon. When her mother died, Joanna became Queen of Castile. Her father proclaimed himself Governor and Administrator of Castile. Despite being the ruling Queen of Castile, Joanna had little effect on national policy during her reign as she was declared insane and imprisoned in the Royal Convent of Santa Clars in Tordesillas under the orders of her father, who ruled as regent until his death, when she inherited his kingdom as well. When her son Charles I ruled as king, she was nominally co-monarch but remained imprisoned until her death.

In her second life, Joanna or Juana as she preferred to be called, came back a troubled teen. In her misfortune, she was taken in by a very religious and abusive family. The father, named Fernando, would often lock her up in a dark room whenever she had mental breakdowns which are usually bouts of painful laughter. She finally escaped the house and was homeless for years until she found her youngest sister, Catalina. Catalina helped her by housing her until she got back on her feet and got the help she needed for her mental wellbeing.

Juana 'la loca' Trastámara belongs to @ellielovesdrawing.

Maria of Aragon, Queen of Portugal

The third eldest daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille. After the untimely death of her older sister, she married her husband Manuel I of Portugal and replaced her as queen of Portugal. As a queen, she wasn't that involved in politics at all and her focus consists mainly of religious teachings, sewing and child rearing. Although, she is sometimes credited for convincing her husband into acts of 'mercy' whenever he flew into a fit of rage. During her marriage and reign as queen, she gave birth to ten children. Eight of whom reached to adulthood. She was constantly pregnant most of her adult life. Only having a few months in between pregnancies and giving birth to her tenth child caused her untimely demise.

Reincarnated into the modern world, Maria woke as a young woman in her early twenties. She's a laid back woman and loves the experience of a good party or a night at a club. She's not as religious as she was in her past life. Not atheistic per se. She'll go to church if she feels like it and even wears a rosary bracelet as some sort of connection to her religion was raised and taught in. She has a friend with benefits that she has fun with weekly. She is 100% childfree in her second life because ten pregnancies in her past life was way more than enough for her. Despite being childfree, she still adores children so she had applied for uni and took up an education course. Graduating after four years and landing her first teaching job at a private academy where Hal and his siblings and cousins go to. That was where she reunited with Catalina during a PTA meeting and the two sisters have never been happier to meet again in their second lives. They then set up a meeting where she reunites with their older sisters, Isabella and Juana.

Maria Trastámara belongs to yours truly.

Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England

The youngest daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille. Catherine was three years old when she was betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the English throne. They married but Arthur died five months later. She was the first known female ambassador in European history. Catherine subsequently married Arthur's younger brother, Henry VIII. For six months, she served as regent of England while Henry VIII was in France. In 1525, Henry VIII was infatuated with Anne Boleyn and dissatisfied that his marriage to her had produced no surviving sons, leaving their daughter, the future Mary I of England, as heir presumptive at a time when there was no established precedent for a woman on the throne. He sought to have their marriage annulled, setting in motion a chain of events that led to England's schism with the Catholic Church. When Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage, Henry defied him by assuming supremacy over religious matters. Their marriage was consequently declared invalid and Henry married Anne on the judgement of clergy in England, without reference to the pope. Catherine refused to accept Henry as supreme head of the Church in England and considered herself the king's rightful wife and queen, attracting much popular sympathy. Despite this, she was acknowledged only as dowager princess of Wales by Henry. After being banished from court by Henry, she lived out the remainder of her life at Kimbolton Castle, and died of cancer.

In her second life, Catherine or Catalina as she prefers to be called to avoid confusion with the other C/Katherines, found herself in a house with her ex husband's five other wives. Tensions were high on the first few months, especially between her and Anne Boleyn but the six soon got things settled and managed to create a family dynamic within their shared home. They created a musical about their stories and garnered quite the success. She mostly acts as the head matriarch of the house. Making sure that everyone was alright and knew not to cause any trouble that might get them hurt. The addition of their children being reincarnated made her even more attentive, caring and loving to her new found family.

[acrossthewavesoftime]

17, 18, and 12 for the historical figure asks! :)

Alrighty! Thanks for the asks! :)

17) Did your favorite historical figure have a favorite place such as a home, a city, etc?

Answering for Samuel Graves, I would definitively say it was Hembury Fort House. It was where he was arguably happiest as it was not only the manifestation of his success in his chosen profession (bought and enlarged after he made a pretty penny in prize money in the Caribbean), it was also the centre of the family life he enjoyed very much. His nephew Thomas and his family and later, the newly-wed Simcoes moved into houses in the area too, wanting to stay close by.

As the house is still around, take a look around google maps, there are a lot of pictures taken in the vincinity or directly from the house (now a home for the elderly specialising in dementia patients) and the surrounding landscape is just beautiful!

18) What were their family relations like? Did they have any children or a partner? Did they have a good childhood? How were their relationships with their parents? Were there any parental figures in their life?

Really, really good actually (buckle up, this is going to be long)! The Graves' were close-knit, pretty egalitarian and non-judgemental. He had three older brothers and a sister who's presumed to have been younger than him, and a host of other relatives, of whom he was closest with his cousins Thomas (The Chesapeake Bay Guy), William (a MP and a lawyer) and their sister Ann; he had first gone to sea under their father, his uncle.

Little is known about his childhood, though it has to be assumed he had to grow up quickly as he, uncommon for a fourth son, inherited the family estate in Ireland as a young teen when his father died. I have the feeling that judging from his relationships with the children in his adult life, he was heavily impacted by losing his father, yet also that his profound respect for women might originate from having spent a good-sized chunk of his formative years alone with his mother.

He was married two times, first to Elizabeth Sedgwick (1729-1767), and secondly to Margaret Spinckes (1728-1808).

Given he didn't talk much and always looked a bit gloomy, he appears to have needed a little hand with the ladies, which he got from his mate and wingman John Simcoe, who very likely introduced him to his first wife. His second wife Margaret he may have met through similar common acquaintances, possibly the Montagu-family, to whom Margaret was related.

Margaret proved to be the love of his life, and he enjoyed being involved in helping raise her orphaned niece Elizabeth, to whom he became the paternal figure she had never had. He really liked kids, but never had any of his own, which I think was a huge issue for him to come to terms with. Beside Elizabeth, he kind of took her best friend under his wing who had a rather underwhelming home life and was particularly involved in helping raise his godson John Graves Simcoe. He was very close with his nephews, too, and didn't care about the fact that his brother Thomas' sons were illegitimate. Later, in 1772, his grandniece Mary completed the mix- Mary and Elizabeth, her senior by a decade, remained firm friends for life. He appears to have been a tad too lenient and indulgent though at times.

He had previously tried to get Elizabeth and his nephew Richard to fall in love with another, which failed spectacularly but was overjoyed when she and John Graves Simcoe fell in love, and probably was the one who had no problem letting the two go on their unchaperoned excursions- Margaret Graves was decidedly less thrilled about that.

At his death, he had built a rather surprisingly big family for himself- proving that although he was professionally renowned for being a ruffian, rude and a rather unpleasant character, there was a much softer core to the old sea-dog.

12) If you could describe them in one word, what would that word be?

Huh, that's a tough one. I'll take the easy way out, though I think the implications of this word carry more meaning than any other single-word choice:

Himself.

[ask-the-barkerverse]

MLP Headcanon Dump

Just realized that I never bothered to post this on here. Heads up, this is a VERY long post.

Svengallop's parents are Charity Kindheart and Bracer Britches. The two had a brief affair, but never officially dated and Sven was an accident. Charity loved her son, but passed away due to illness when he was a teenager, so Sven was sent to live with his father who never wanted him. This has a lot to do with Svengallop's attitude as an adult.

All pure blooded draconequui are able to become pregnant or impregnate a partner, regardless of gender.

Wind Rider is a womanizer and serial adulterer with several illegitimate children, including Helia, Lighting Dust and Cloudy Daze among others.

There are some ponies who eat meat, such as fish, pork and chicken (eating beef and venison would be considered immoral since bovines and deer in Equestria are sentient). It's not particularly common and is actually considered gross by the majority, not unlike humans who eat insects. Equestria also has plenty of vegan alternatives that exist in our world, such as tofu and artificial meat.

The comic arc "Siege of the Crystal Empire" was actually just a fanfic written by Mina the dragon.

Tree Hugger is a member of the Hooffield Family. She ran away from home as a teen because she was sick of the constant fighting with the McColts. After running away she ended up joining a hippie commune, which is how she became the mare she is today.

Ocellus is the daughter of Queen Chrysalis. She will be queen of Thorax's hive after he is gone.

It is a tradition in Equestria for nurses to add 'heart' to the end of their names once they graduate nursing school. For example, Nurse Redheart's birth name is Redlove and Nurse Sweetheart is Sweetcream. This is in honor of Nurse Cureheart, the nurse credited for curing Celestia's broken heart after Luna's banishment.

The baby brother Hoops mentions in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" is actually Spiral Notepad, who is now a trans filly.

Yaks speak Equestrian (aka English) so badly only because they have their own language and Equestrian is foreign to them.

The Kirin are thought to be the result of Asian unicorns interbreeding with dragons, but this has never been proven.

Derpy Hooves and Dinky Doo are mother and daughter, with Dinky having been born to Derpy when she was still in her teens. (I know it's an old headcanon, but I'll always have a soft spot for it.)

Quibble Pants is a natural blonde.

Derpy Hooves' real name is Ditzy Doo. "Derpy" was a childhood nickname that just kinda stuck.

Derpy has an eye condition called strabismus, hence the crooked eyes.

Crackle is a pseudodragon, a species of lizard that disguise themselves as dragons. Despite having twice as many limbs and gems growing out of them, they are accepted by dragons as one of their own.

Flash Sentry and Spearhead are brothers and are both descended from a pony that escaped the Crystal Empire during King Sombra's reign.

Sunset Shimmer and Sunburst are cousins.

Discord created Poison Joke.

Toe Tapper and Torch Song are the parents of Coco Pommel.

Hoity Toity is part mule, hence the long ears.

Celestia was born with an all-pink mane and tail and would have gained more shades of orange and yellow as she grew, but she instead gained hues of green and blue when she took over Luna's duty of raising the moon after Nightmare Moon's banishment.

Wind Sprint's original father died in a sports-related accident, which is why Clear Sky found comfort and common ground with Quibble Pants who was able to distract her from sports for a while. Unfortunately, as we all know from the episode, this had no effect on Wind Sprint's persistent love for sports.

Celestia was technically the first pony who managed to pull off a sonic rainboom, but it wasn't the same as Rainbow Dash's since she lacked the colors of a proper rainbow. Over time it was forgotten, but Celestia's "rainboom" was the basis of the sonic rainboom being a myth in the first place.

Pinkie Pie and Applejack's respective families are both descended from the children of Chancellor Puddinghead and Smart Cookie.

Orchard Blossom is an actual Apple family member that Big Mac was impersonating in "Brotherhooves Social".

Rainbow Blaze (the rainbow-maned stallion from "Games Ponies Play" who was confirmed is not Rainbow Dash's father) is Rainbow Dash's older brother.

The final alternate future seen in "The Cutie Remark-Part 2" where Equestria is nothing but an apocalyptic wasteland is a result of Daybreaker coming to life and burning everything to the ground into pure ash. It got so bad that it ultimately left Daybreaker with no kingdom to rule anymore. (As horrifying as it sounds, the dirt that Twilight and Starlight were standing on in that scene included the ashes of hundreds of dead ponies.)

Pear Butter and Bright Mac were killed by Timberwolves on a day trip. Sadly, Granny Smith considers herself responsible for this as she forgot to warn them about the Timberwolves that day. As a result, this is also why Applejack is so good at fighting them off.

Due to their godlike status, Celestia and Luna are the only immortal alicorns. Ordinary royalty like Twilight Sparkle, Cadance, and Flurry Heart have longer lifespans than normal ponies but can still die of old age.

Screwball is the daughter of Nurse Sweetheart and her eyes only become swirly when she's exposed to Poison Joke. The effect it has on her is that it makes her see weird stuff and she used to be addicted to it, but ended up quitting altogether as the last time she used it (around the time Discord returned) caused her to see some pretty nightmarish imagery.

The episode "Yakety Sax" was just a bad fever dream Pinkie Pie had after eating too much Yak cuisine one day.

All the changelings in Thorax's hive are siblings born from the same queen. Changelings do not interbreed with members of their own hive, though they may form family units with their siblings and adopt grubs to raise, hence the family of changelings Ocellus was seen with in "Hearths Warming Club".

Whoa Nelly's real name is Jelly Nelly Bean. Her large size is the result of a very rare pituitary disorder.

Fluttershy's human world counterpart is a vegan.

Aunt and Uncle Orange are both parental figures to Babs Seed. Whether they're her biological or adoptive parents in still unknown.

The hippocampus (aka the seaponies from the 2017 movie) once existed as a separate race, but are believed to have been driven to extinction because of the Sirens, who destroyed their homes, depleted their food sources, and even directly preyed on them. This was of course before Queen Novo fled into the sea and formed the seaponies we know from the 2017 movie.

Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood had Scootaloo later in life as they didn't really plan to have a foal, hence why they're such thoughtless parents.

Mane Allgood is actually a cousin of Daring Do.

Bulk Biceps is Featherweight's biological father. He was formerly married to an abusive, neglectful, and alcoholic wife, resulting in a divorce and Bulk and Featherweight moving to Ponyville and leaving her for good.

Cheese Sandwich is the younger brother of Marine Sandwich. The real reason he ran away from home and stumbled into Ponyville by chance is because he wanted to get away from his psychotic older sister. (Based off of this.)

Cheese Sandwich and Mudbriar are cousins.

Limestone Pie's talent is mixing drinks.

Burnt Oak is the father of the pony versions of Timber Spruce and Gloriosa Daisy.

Rumble is a trans colt.

Granny Smith's real name is Maria Ann Smith, or "Annie Smith" for short.

Fluttershy is the oldest of the Man Six, while Pinkie Pie is the youngest.

Trixie's full name is actually Bellatrix Lulamoon. She prefers to go by Trixie as it's easier to remember.

Tempest Shadow didn't receive her cutie mark until she was an adult, AFTER the events of the MLP movie where she started using her horn to make fireworks.

The draconequus were once a race of creatures that went to war against ponykind after their prince (aka Discord) was turned to stone. The war resulted in many of them being wiped out and it's currently unknown if any besides Discord still exist today.

Kirin shed and regrow their horns once a year, similar to deer antlers. Shed kirin horns make a powerful ingredient in potions.

[kiarcheo]

Cousin Trap

Can read on Ao3 here

Anne Boleyn and Catalina Aragon have a lot of things in common. Among those, they are both smart, accomplished women, they both dated the same man, Henry Tudor, and they absolutely loathe each other. These are all things they are both aware of. But there is another matter that connects them and that they don’t know anything about: they both love to death their younger cousins....and said cousins are dating.

For months Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr had been unaware of the fact themselves.

How was Cathy supposed to even start to suspect that the Annie her girlfriend always talked about with nothing but pure love was ‘that Boleyn girl’ - and yes, she hears it in her mind in the same tone Catalina usually spits it out?

How was Kat supposed to connect Cathy’s Lina, the cousin who used to teach her Spanish swearwords when she was a kid and is now almost a maternal figure to her, with ‘Catherine, that massive *insert chosen insult of the day*’ Anne still complains about, even if it has been years since they have last seen each other?

‘And you know, it’s funny. Because her surname is literally Aragon and she is from there.’

Kat abruptly stops laughing along with Cathy. ‘Aragon? Your...Lina is Catherine Aragon?’

‘Catalina.’ Cathy corrects her. ‘It annoys her when people use the English version. That’s not her name.’ She stops. She heard it so many times that she could repeat Lina’s spiel word by word, but that’s probably not the point. ‘But yes? Why?’

‘Annie. My cousin,’ Cathy nods to show she is following. Of course she knows who Annie is. She met her. Scarily smart and scarily funny, once you get over her being scarily protective of Kat. Not that Cathy faults her for it. ‘Anne Boleyn.’

‘What?’

‘My cousin is Anne Boleyn.’ Kat repeats, much to Cathy’s horror, who had been hoping she had misunderstood.

---

‘So, let me see if I got it right.’ Anna looks at her two friends. ‘Your cousins, the ones who are basically your big sisters slash mother figures and would totally kill for you, hate each other.’

Cathy and Kat nod.

‘And they don’t know you are dating? Even if you have been together for…what is it? Four years?’

‘Yes.’

‘How is that even possible?’ That’s the part Anna is most confused about.

‘Well, they never met.’

‘Yes, but they met you!’ Anna gestures to them. She remembers Kat stressing out about meeting Cathy’s Lina for the first time, worrying that she would not make a good impression on someone who was so important for her girlfriend. And she also remembers Cathy telling her about her meeting with Anne and the shovel talk she got. Hell, Anna has met Anne herself!

‘Yes. And they know about Annie and Lina.’

‘Not about that Boleyn girl and Catherine Aragon.’ Cathy picks up Kat's explanation.

‘What about photos?’ Just from her armchair Anna can see at least four pictures on the shelves with Anne and Kat, Cathy and Catalina, and even one of both her friends with Anne.

‘We hide them.’ That had not been a problem until they had moved in together, but once they took that step and they had their first visit...that’s what they did.

‘And you don’t plan to tell them?’

‘Nope.’

‘How is this even going to work? Won't they meet at a certain point?’

‘We alternate for the holidays and stuff. One time at Lina’s, one at Anne’s. Or with them, anyway. No reason for them to meet.’

‘So what? You’re going to wait until your wedding day and have them see each other there?’

‘We discussed it and we feel no need to get married, so...’

Anna shakes her head. Unbelievable.

---

‘You!’ A twin exclamation. Had their hands not been loaded with bags, they would have totally pointed the finger at each other.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘What are you doing here?

‘I asked first.’

If Anne wants to do this in the middle of the street, Catalina will not back down. ‘Visiting family, not that you’d know anything about that.’

Anne ignores the low blow. Her fraught relationship with her family has always been a sore spot, and Catalina knows it very well.

‘What do you think you’re doing?’ Catalina stops her from ringing the bell, covering it with her hand.

‘Old age getting to you?’ Anne hits back, Catalina’s age – specifically her being older than Henry and consequently also than Anne – being one of the excuses he had used to dump her for Anne. ‘What do you think?’ before adding, ‘Hoping to be saved from having to breath the same air as you for much longer.’

‘You got the wrong house.’

‘And how do you know that?’

‘This is where I’m going.’

‘Impossible. This is where I am going.’

’My cousin lives here.’

‘My cousin lives here.’

They glare at each other.

‘Let’s settle it.’ Anne rings the doorbell.

‘Eager to be proven wrong, aren’t you?’ Catalina scoffs. ‘Let's hear it.  What would your cousin’s name be?’

‘What’s yours?’

They stare at each other silently as if challenging the other to speak first. Tension builds as the standoff continues.

‘Catherine.’

‘Katherine.’

They say at the same time, then stiffen. Is it all a big joke for the other? Is she taking the mick? They look ready to attack when they have a light-bulb moment. Realisation dawns.

‘No!’

‘Sorry, it took me so long, I’m not feeling my best-’ the door opens fully, ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Oh querida,’ Catalina breaths out. Cathy looks...rough. ‘Let me in, don’t stand there in the cold.’ She gently pushes her way in, ignoring how Anne follows her and focusing on Cathy. ‘Have you been to the doctor? Have you been eating? Let me whip up something for you.’ She doesn’t really wait for a reply, moving towards the living room, Cathy trailing behind her wordlessly, shocked and exhausted. ‘How is Kat?’

Right then a scratchy voice calls out. ‘Cathy?’

That seems to jolt Anne out of whatever trance she was in. In three quick steps she is by Catalina’s side and trying to enter the room first.

‘Who was at the door?’ The question is barely finished when the coughing starts, the cocoon on the couch from where the voice came from convulsing. Then a pale face with flushed cheeks from the effort emerges.

‘Katie!’ Anne is immediately by her side.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘That seems to be the question of the hour.’ Catalina mutters while watching, almost captivated, Anne taking Kat’s face in her hands, tilting it up, and resting her cheek on her forehead. ‘Still got a fever. Have you been throwing up? Have you taken anything? Do you want me to run to the pharmacy? Cathy, you need anything?’

‘Annie.’ Kat blinks up at her. ‘Slow down.’

‘Right. Sorry.’ Anne sits back on her haunches.

Cathy joins Kat on the couch, Kat wordlessly lifting the blanket and wrapping Cathy in.

‘That would look adorable if you both didn’t look so terrible.’

‘I haven’t looked at a mirror in forever, but if I look half as bad as I feel...I have no doubts.’ Kat comments.

‘Why are you here?’ Cathy is too tired and sick to care about politeness. Besides, that’s the good thing about close family, isn’t it? No need to sugar-coat and maintain a polite façade when you feel like crap.

‘You call, telling me that you’re both violently sick and you expect what? For me to just stay home knowing there is no one to help you here because all your friends left for the break and you’re in no state to help each other?’

‘As much as I hate to agree with her,’ Anne reaches up to brush some hair away from Kat’s clammy face. ‘You know I’d drop anything if you needed me. And in this case, I already had the days off anyway...’

‘You’re going to get sick too.’

Anne smiles at her cousin’s thoughtfulness. ‘That’s a risk I’m willing to run.’

Catalina clearly agrees, as she puts on the kettle and puts together some light sandwiches after Cathy mentions it’s time for them to take their medicines.

As they are all sitting down having tea, Anne broaches the subject. ‘When were you thinking of telling me about...her?’ She sends a dirty look towards Catalina, who doesn’t hesitate to return it.

Still, they don’t miss the look Cathy and Kat exchange. And the silence is telling enough.

‘So, what? What was the plan? Wait until your wedding day for me to see her showing up at the reception?’

‘I will totally walk Kat down the aisle or whatever they decide to do.’

‘Marriage is not really in the plans, so...not really?’ Cathy says at the same time.

Anne turns to her, hard look in her eyes. ‘Why not? Kat not good enough for you?’

‘Because we talked about it and marriage is not a thing we see in our future.’ Kat stops her before she can get riled up on her behalf…absolutely unnecessarily.

Anne gives a begrudging nod. Overprotectiveness aside, it's not completely surprising considering their family’s history. Still, they will be revisiting the topic, once Kat is better.

‘Don’t get me wrong,’ Cathy hesitantly starts after they had been sitting for a while, ‘I’m not kicking you out or anything. You can stay as long as you want. Both of you. But before we get too dozy from the medicine...where are you staying?’ They have learned the hard way that what they are taking hit them both quite strongly. They found stuff in weird places they didn’t remember having put them in. Which is way better that waking up on the bathroom floor, presumably after one of them threw up but without remembering who was the one who got sick, bodies hurting even more from sleeping in a weird position on a cold, hard floor.

‘Here?’ Anne and Catalina look at each other as they say the same thing at the same time. They narrow their eyes in challenge.

‘You know we’re always happy to have you here,’ both had stayed over before, ‘but do you remember that there is just one guest room, right?’

‘She can sleep on the couch.’ Anne beats Catalina to the punch.

‘You can sleep on the couch!’ Catalina rebuts.

‘Why? Your old back can’t take it?’ Anne snipes. ‘If you admit so, I might be generous enough to leave you the bed.’

Kat’s coughing fit, albeit involuntarily, comes at the perfect moment.

‘Actually,’ Cathy takes advantage of the interruption as she rubs Kat's back, ‘you can’t use the couch, I’m afraid.’ She grimaces, whether it is because of what she is saying or because her girlfriend is currently trying to hack up a lung not clear. ‘If one of us is up at night, to avoid waking the other, we move out here. But if one of you is sleeping here...’

‘Of course.’ ‘You don’t have to apologise.’ Both women reassure her.

‘So either one of you stays and the other stays at a hotel-’

‘Her.’

‘Not me.’

They glare at each other.

‘Or you can share the room. It’s a queen size bed, as you know.’

---

‘Cathy?’

They had retired to their room, medicine having its predicted effect, leaving the older women to settle down in the guest room. And probably take over the house and everything else, if their bickering about groceries and cleaning is any indication.

‘We don’t really use the couch.’ Kat points out. They are out cold at night, the power of drugs. So far they have only woke up for coughing fits or to throw up… which tends to wake the other, and they would not have it any other way. And at that point they prefer to stay together, cuddling in bed and waiting for sleep to come...they are both sick anyway, not like it can get any worse.

‘I know.’

‘Then why?’ Kat looks adorably confused in her drowsiness.

‘So they’ll be forced to get along.’

‘Or kill each other.’

‘But that would make us sad, and they know it, so they won’t.’

Kat nods. That sounds reasonable. Then she squints at Cathy. ‘Are you...cousin trapping them? You know, like The Parent Trap movie but with cousin because they are our cousins?’

Cathy smiles dopily at the over explanation. Kat tends to ramble when she is tired.

‘Or trope-ing them.’

‘What?’

‘You know, there was only one bed. Or,’ Kat’s scrunched up face lets her know she is not following her, so Cathy continues, ‘and they were roommates.’

The response is automatic, no need to even engage the brain. ‘Oh my God! They were roommates!’

[riddlegecko]

A brief rundown of each of my OCS so that y'all have context for my occasional OC posts

Francesca "Frankie" Falkenrath

The drama coach at Everett High (and freelance piano teacher) who survived an attempt on her life by her ex-boyfriend Jason, but only because a wandering spirit entered her body as her own soul tried to leave, putting her in an odd half-dead state where her soul is "off-center" and other ghosts can enter her body as they so please. Her own soul is now locked in a battle for control of it's own body with several other ghosts. Despite her unfortunate situation, she remains hard-working and optimistic.

Damien Hall

A cheerful local veterinarian, and Frankie's boyfriend of nearly seven years. Humble, sweet, and funny, if a bit of a doormat thanks to his constant willingness to put the needs of others before his own.

Det. Shiloh Hawthorne

A detective of the dead (or "dead-tective", if you will) and former Reaper assigned to investigate Frankie after her status in the Afterlife is listed as "Uncertain", as opposed to "Dead" or "Alive". Despite his frightening appearance and initially stoic demeanor, he's really a total softie once you get to know him. A lover of animals, music, and human culture in general who DESPERATELY craves a genuine friendship.

Det. Chester "Chess" Murdoch

A local private detective who solves minor cases with his twin sister Abigail as a part of the "Murdoch & Murdoch" detective duo, who gets roped into assisting Shiloh with Frankie's case. Fast-talking and eccentric, with a rather flowery vocabulary to boot. Despite his quirks, he's still a VERY competent detective, and would gladly take a bullet for his sister.

Det. Abigail "Abby" Murdoch

The older and more straight-laced of Dagwood Hill's "Murdoch & Murdoch" detective duo. Despite her more serious personality, she's not above her brother's certain brand of quirkiness, and has her own moments of eccentricity. Just as strong a detective as Chess, and is fiercely protective of her "baby brother".

Jason Fitzpatrick

The P.E. teacher at Everett High, who briefly dated Frankie after ending his marriage with his high school sweetheart Christina. A crass and abrasive man who only ever softens around his preteen son (from his marriage with Christina) Skylar, or his dog Rusty. Attempted to murder Frankie when she wouldn't get back with him several years later, but ended up with a gnarly facial scar and a 30-to-life prison sentence.

Skylar Fitzpatrick

The 11 year old son of Jason and Christina. Emotional, empathetic, artistic, and supernaturally inclined. In that, he can see and communicate with ghosts, even when they're NOT possessing someone, or (in Frankie's unusual case) currently in control of their host body. A sweet, yet very lonely boy who struggles to comes to terms with the fact that his family is broken.

Victoria Waterford

A successful local hairdresser (well, I say "local", but she's from Pittsburgh), and Frankie's best friend and former roommate. A smart and charismatic woman, with a strong passion for her work. She has a girlfriend, but I'm still trying to figure out her name and her role in the story, so please bear with me.

Christina Baxter

A kind yet tough local librarian, Jason's ex-wife, and Skylar's mother. Her son's high empathy was pretty much inherited from her, shown best by the fact that she went out of her way to befriend Frankie after the (at the time) naive young drama coach assistant ended her toxic relationship with Jason. Despite how rough her life has been, she remains strong for her friends and family, and will NOT let anyone pity her.

Xavier Lewis-Hall

Damien's ambitious, outgoing, and musically-talented preteen cousin. He used to get piano lessons from Frankie, which is how Frankie ended up meeting Damien in the first place. So you have him to thank for that. Dreams of becoming a famous musical theatre composer, and will not hesitate to tell you about his MANY ideas if you ask him. An amicable kid who manages to become Skylar's first non-ghost friend in YEARS, and forms a surprising bond with Shiloh over their shared love of music.

Robin Barrows

A teenage non-binary (she/her and they/them) piano student of Frankie's with a bit of a reputation around Dagwood Hill for being a troublemaker who likes to stir shit with local law enforcement. A good kid once you get to know them, but struggles in school thanks to her undiagnosed dyslexia, and has some anger issues. Frankie's just about the only teacher at Everett High who doesn't see her as a lazy problem child, and thus, she's the only teacher that Robin actually LIKES.

Hunter V. Luzzatto

The cynical and sarcastic ghost of a street guitarist who froze to death on the streets of Dagwood Hill during a particularly harsh Winter, and one of the ghosts attempting to take control of Frankie's body. He says his reasoning for doing so is so he can "experience the three biggest pleasures of life again". Meaning, eating food, having sex, and playing his guitar. You'll know he's in control when the room turns inexplicably cold. Despite his cynical outlook, dark sense of humor, and his beef with Shiloh, he has a soft spot for Skylar.

Mary Ann Fleisher

The ghost of a little girl from the 1930's who unfortunately passed after getting lost in the woods outside Dagwood Hill. After wandering the woods as a lost spirit for decades, she entered Frankie's body by complete accident, and wants nothing more than to get out and see her parents in the Afterlife. Timid and prone to tears, she's not in control of Frankie's body often, but it's always obvious when she is. If Frankie's shying away from everyone and speaking in a VERY small and scared voice, Mary Ann is in control.

Lucille Dagwood

The ghost of the long-deceased founder of Dagwood Hill, and one of the ghosts attempting to take control of Frankie's body. She believes that her beloved town has gone to shit, and wants to regain control of it. She's very stern and cold, able to shut anyone up with nothing more than a good old-fashioned death glare. It's never readily apparent when she's in control of Frankie's body, but once she speaks, you'll know.

[kurlyfrasier]

A Treat For Darcy

Darcy x Lizzy

Synopsis: Darcy knows something Lizzy doesn’t

Warnings: adorable fluff

Word Count: ...not very long lol

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy was starting to get concerned. His wife of nearly four years was several weeks with child and she had yet to tell him. He knew the signs, had watched his mother go through a difficult time when she was with child. She had the worst symptoms when she was carrying Georgiana. Not only did he remember how difficult it was for her, but he had read several books on the matter the moment he and Elizabeth returned to Pemberley after their honeymoon- just in case.

They had also been cooped up inside for almost a week now due to rain. It seemed the constant downpour would not abate and Elizabeth loathed being stuck indoors for more than a day. She would go stir crazy. Yet, stir crazy she had not yet done. Quiet and complacent she had been, possibly despondent, he wasn’t sure. She had always been full of life and mischief, constantly teasing him, but for the past several days the woman he loved had not argued about a tiny thing that entire week. Not when he suggested cards -which she didn’t enjoy very much- or when he suggested a walk down their hall of arts for the hundredth time. Not even when he would grab a bite off her favorite plate of treats. She had always been extra protective of her strawberry tarts.

Yet, here Darcy was, eating his third strawberry tart as he sat on the settee next to his Elizabeth, pretending to read while keeping a close eye on her. He did not want to lose her like he had his mother. He couldn’t bear it.

Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy was bored, and slightly concerned. Georgiana was visiting her now favorite cousin, Anne de Bourgh. Since the passing of Lady Catherine de Bourgh -the doctor said she was shocked to death after she heard of WIlliam’s marriage to her- the two young ladies became practically inseparable. So much so, wherever one was you were bound to see the other. Thankfully, after her mother’s passing, Anne had gained strength and vitality. She had become the woman she was always meant to be and all it took were a few walks out of doors and a best friend. She was happy for her and Georgiana. Sad about the price their friendship had come from, and a little worried about what the two ladies would scheme during this year’s Season in London with the ton. Not that anyone had figured out who was responsible for the last two years worth of Season mishaps. The two ladies seemed to be especially good at acting. She almost giggled. Instead, she sighed. She missed them both terribly, and her family -even Mama. It had been several months since she had even seen her dearest sister, Jane.

Jane who was mother to her two favorite children and according to her last letter, a third was on the way. She sighed again. It had been nearly four years and she had yet to be with child. Soon she was afraid her William wouldn’t want her anymore, or worse, suggest something outrageous; a mistress to bear his child, for example. The thought made her queasy, something happening quite often of late, as she chanced a glance toward her husband who seemed to be happily munching on another strawberry tart he had specifically ordered for her. Elizabeth supposed she should grab one before he ate them all, but couldn’t seem to make herself reach for one.

Another sigh. If only she were- wait. She sat up straighter. How long had it been since her last cycle? She wondered as her hand moved over her lower stomach.

“Are you feeling alright, my dear?” William asked the moment he noticed her hand on her abdomen. How he wished to hold his hand there as well. To kiss his child! If only she would tell him she was with child. He wondered, again, why she had yet to tell him the good news.

“I am fine. Just a little tired, is all.” It wasn’t a complete lie. She had been quite tired recently. Before the rain had started, even. What was she going to do if Darcy were to ask for a mistress to have their child?

No. Not their child. His child that she would help raise. She didn’t understand. Her mother had no qualms having children. Five daughters, in fact. So, why hadn’t she been with child yet? And should she be the one to bring up a mistress? Neither of them were getting older. Maybe she could find one that looked similar to her. Then she could at least pretend the child might be hers. 

It was no use. She dipped her head into her hands with a heavy sigh. She wouldn’t be able to handle another woman being with Darcy. She couldn’t.

Oh, bother. And now she was going to cry. She had been doing a lot of that lately.

“Are you sure you’re feeling well, Elizabeth?” WIlliam whispered, stroking her back to soothe her. It had always helped before, but now it was making the tears come faster as she choked out a sob. “Should I call for the doctor?”

Oh dash it all.

“I don’t want you to get a mistress.” There. She had said it.

“A mistr-” William put an arm under her legs and one around her waist before lifting her onto his lap. She immediately curled into him, tears still streaming down her face. It broke his heart. “Why in the world would you think I would ever want a mistress?”

“That’s what men do when their wife is barren, isn’t it? So he can have an heir,” she whispered, barely audible. She did not enjoy talking about her failure at producing an heir. And an heir is what Pemberley needed. She sniffed and wiped away her tears only for more to stream down her face.

“Oh my dearest, sweetest Elizabeth,” he stroked her hair, kissing the top of her head as he held her tighter. “I would never betray you like that-”

“But you need an heir,” she choked out, upsetting herself more with his unreasonableness. He knew he needed an heir and yet here he was, comforting her.

“Pemberley is entailed to Georgiana if I have no heir,” he told her. “Maybe we should call for the doctor.”

“Why?” Elizabeth snapped her head up. “To send me to the madhouse?”

“No,” William rocked her side to side before admitting what he thought she had already known. “Because you are with child.”

“I am wha- How would you know?” She moved to stand, but the infuriating man only tightened his hold on her. Sometimes he seemed to be made of immovable iron.

“I’ve read about it,” he paused, “and you are presenting with the same signs my mother did when she was carrying Georgiana.”

That got Elizabeth’s attention. Her tears stopped as she stilled in his arms.

“I am?”

William nodded. 

She stared in awe at her husband. How could a man possibly know more about his wife than she herself knew? Was she really with child? 

“Maybe you should call for the doctor, WIlliam,” she stated, still in shock.

~~~~~~~~~~~

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[nikelykke]

&&. announcing her royal highness, ( nike lykke glücksburg ), the ( 26 ) year old ( crown princess ) of ( greece ). she is often confused with ( olivia culpo ). some say that she is ( prejudiced & prideful ), but she is actually ( level-headed & loyal ).

it’s not nai-key, it’s knee-khe. she will correct you if you don’t pronounce it right. nike (TM) ruined her life.

nike has never been easy to handle. her parents, her tutors, her nannies, they all struggled from time to time. christos and ann-charlotta glücksburg had themselves to blame for it though and the people they employed most definitely pointed a finger at the couple. christos liked being a father when it was convenient, he was terrible at being strict and often failed to understand the logic of children — or rather, the lack of logic. ann-charlotta on the other hand was too progressive for her own good and tried the latest parenting tips and tricks that definitely did not work. little princess nike was a menace.

what did keep her in check was her role in the family. the family business was everything and she wanted to excel at being a princess. when she was in front of the cameras she tried to be the most intelligent version of herself. it was all a competition she had with herself. she also looked up to her older sister maia ( #rip ) who sort of did her best to keep nike in check. maia and io, the older sisters, were closer to parental figures that their actual parents. at least for nike. maia and io got a slightly different upbringing since they were good ten years older and the future stars of the show. maia especially, as the future queen of greece, spent more time with their father.

her sense of duty did not wash out the worst parts of her. the short fuse, the disobedience, and an inability to take accountability. she sealed her fate when she made her private english teacher snap and quit her job. that was when her parents decided her personality needed a fix. nike was not going to mature in athens. 

they sent her to copenhagen where she stayed with her uncle frederik and cousins. copenhagen because 1) her uncle didn’t mind having her there, 2) her uncle’s wife most certainly knew how to handle her ( much better than ann-charlotta ), and 3) ann-charlotta wanted her to become fluent in danish. 

against all odds, nike actually enjoyed her life in copenhagen. so much that after she had finished her studies at a danish gymnasium, she applied to the university of copenhagen. she returned to greece after getting her bachelour’s degree and started working on her master’s at the university of athens.

she had just gotten her master’s when she got engaged to viveka and figured she’d make it work... the engagement ended up falling apart. nike struggled for a while with the humiliation and the sense of failure that had come with it. 

her relationship with her parents was quite shallow: she was angry at them for a very long time. the anger died with time and as she matured she understood their point of view — understanding it didn’t take away the feeling of abandonment though. unfortunately they passed away ( cause of death: idk, i’ll figure it later if it matters ) before she really had the opportunity to come to terms with everything.

nike’s personality is really something. it’s a difficult personality for starters. a fact. she is one of those people who are hot and cold, sometimes she’s as affectionate as it gets and sometimes she’s hard as rock even to those she cares about. she tends to appear confident: she’s very comfortable in her skin, and can easily argue to no end. she trusts her abilities. things that she can work on and measure in some way bring her confidence.

 but she does not believe in her personality. if she wants to befriend someone, she thinks has to act. she has to behave in a way that’s not 100% natural to her. she rather fakes her personality and gets rejected than acts like herself and gets rejected --- the latter would mean that she really is the problem. what would she do then ? she recognizes the many flaws she has but has a hard time working on them, she pretty much self-sabotages constantly. nike sometimes goes ‘wow, i really shouldn’t be so mean’ but when she’s in a social situation where she doesn’t give a shit about the people, she let’s her words flow freely. no filter. if someone gets on her nerves she will be mean and she won’t feel bad about it — what she will feel bad about is that she quite enjoys the destructive power her words sometimes have. it’s very difficult to have a conscience and never listening to it when it matters.

nike is as loyal as it gets though, if someone earns her trust and respect, she’ll go to hell and back for them. she likes feeling needed: it’s one form of acceptance. 

she doesn’t have anything against andrés perse but... she definitely doesn’t think he has a place at the greek court. he’s a fucking himbo for god’s sake ! nike never saw what maia saw in him. other than the nice face and body but let’s be real when he opens his mouth, nike would rather listen to a scratched record on repeat. she adored leda though. nike and io are determined to kick andrés off the throne and replace him with io who actually bears the name glücksburg. leda can ascend the throne when she’s not pooping into a diaper.