#Any suggestions to which horse should be hers because i went through the whole list on database and i didn't find anything that would

[cmentary-drive]

OC name reveal - Lola :P

[sasa-gay-yo]

Maybe (Levi Ackerman x Female!Reader)

Request / Summary: I was wondering if you could write about female y/n being taller than Levi (he's 5'2" and y/n is 5'7"). Sharp, rational mind, she's the new quartermaster and in charge of the supplies... she was asked to cut unnecessary orders. So she terminates the tea supply contract... Levi's not happy and confronts her about it. It takes several arguments to convince her to conclude a new tea supply contract... VERY annoying... but damn, he likes her wit.

Timeline: Season 1 - 2 ish 

Warnings: some swearin’

Art Credits: AoT (I think?)

“Budgets are very important to adhere to when you’re trying to fight against a never-ending force of titans, Captain Levi. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do.” You sing-songed those last words, finding happiness in the sheer annoyance that graced his face after. This was power.

“And who gave you the order to cut my tea supply?” His hands turned into fists, keeping his distance so he didn’t have to stare up at you. You noticed this and made sure to take a few steps forward to look down at him. On an everyday basis, you were below him in rank, but this situation made you feel so powerful. Erwin had approved this budget right in front of him, so it was funny to see him so upset over his precious tea that he, himself signed away.

“I did. Does your tea have the same ability to feed the entirety of the Scouts for an extra week? No, it does not. It was either bread from all, or tea for one. I think we all will appreciate your sacrifice, Captain.” He grit his teeth and you could see, physically, how irritate he was with you. While it was a bit scary, your new status as quartermaster made your training sessions almost disappear with how busy you’d become. He couldn’t discipline you if you weren’t able to be present. 

Also, it wasn’t like your decision was wrong. If he went to Commander Erwin to talk about it, he’d probably say the same thing. He definitely knew that. That’s why he was spending so much time here arguing with you, rather than going directly to the higher ups. You smirked at that thought.

“You were asked to cut unnecessary orders, Cadet. The tea supply is a necessity.” You held up your clipboard to his face and he glared at the paper as you used your pencil to explain to him the budget.

“Your tea supply cost the same amount as three bags of flour and yeast. As I said before, food is a necessity, Captain. I can’t, in good conscious, let my fellow comrades go hungry while you have a cup of tea every night. Also, it’s Quartermaster (Y/L/N) now, hence the ability for me to cut your tea supply from the shop in Mitras. If you’re able to find me a cheaper and closer shop to buy from, then all means… Captain.” He didn’t like the way you sneered his name and he wanted to make you run laps out in the hot sun instead of standing under this tent causing him mental anguish, yet he couldn’t think of an argument against yours. He just wanted his tea. No, he needed his tea. The caffeine was what allowed him to stay up and not fall into his nightmare’s grasp. The caffeine was what allowed him to function after a night of no sleep. He needed to convince you to put that back on the list, even if that meant the brats didn’t have bread for a week.

“You’re dismissed, Cadet,” he said, walking away from where he came to find you. You laughed at his actions when you thought he couldn’t hear you, seeing how ridiculous the Captain was acting after not getting his specific and expensive artisan teas. You saved so much money from cutting the export taxes alone, that it was worth the little grumpy short man and maybe a few more laps around HQ. However, you would apologize to the new cadets who were definitely going to get the brunt of his anger. If it got really bad, you could just give him a bit of your “commoner’s” tea.

The next time he confronted you was two days later at dinner. You didn’t know he was behind you, but you were telling the new cadets all about Captain Levi’s attitude. They were complaining how harsh he was towards them, and the older Scouts, like yourself, were all recollecting stories of your first time meeting the Captain.

“The first time I interacted with Captain Levi, I flirted with him and shorty made me run laps until sunset. He was probably just flustered, you know. Captain Shorty doesn’t know how to react to pretty women, I guess.” You didn’t notice the kids freeze up when they saw who approached behind you. You just kept on going, probably digging yourself in a bigger and bigger hole as Levi stood behind you, arms crossed and ever so irritated.

“One time when he was disciplining me I reac-”

“Quartermaster (Y/L/N), unless you want to run laps again till sunrise, I suggest you stop telling such ludicrous stories to the new cadets.” You smirked, turning around with the cup of tea you had in your hand. You’d taken the liberty of using your own stash, as a drinker of the liquid yourself, and now you were going to flaunt it in front of him. You took a sip before talking back. 

“Captain Levi, I didn’t see you there! Do you want to talk about your tea supplies with me? I have a meeting with Commander Erwin next week about next months orders…” You trailed off, sipping at your tea, but not hiding your smirk. You now had something over the Captain that was worth far too much for him to annoy you or dish out a punishment. He knew that. If he made you run into the sunset, the tea was going with you. There would be no mention of it at your next meeting with Erwin. Gripping his fists behind his back, he made sure his face was that normal, annoying look when glancing at you out of the corner of his eye.

“No, (Y/L/N), I just came here to tell you that I do, in fact, know how to handle pretty women. That’s why I made you run. Have a nice dinner.” The new cadets snickered behind you as you gripped the teacup hard. 

Oh no, forget about dangling it in front of his head. There was no way you were going to let him have it after he insulted you in front of everyone like that. You turned around and glared at Jean who was laughing the loudest out of the others. That tea was gone now.

You let him know it, too.

As you were walking out of the Mess Hall, you made an effort to stop at the officer’s table in front of the Commander. He smiled up at you while Levi’s glared was evident to your left.

“Commander, do you have time tomorrow or the next day to push up the supply meeting? I think that with the winter coming soon, shipping lines are going to be cut off by impending snow. Ordering a week earlier would be most beneficial, especially since our supplies are already dwindling.” Erwin agreed with you, noting that this foresight is why he assigned you to the position that was vacated by the other Quartermaster (who was killed by a titan).

“I can meet with you tomorrow after lunch, Quartermaster (Y/L/N). Just come to my office!” You smiled back at him and turned your attention to Levi. As you walked by, you mumbled something under your breath, but you knew he heard you. Payback was served to the cocky man you hated ever since you stepped foot on the Scout HQ grounds.

“You’re never getting your tea back, Levi.”

And at the meeting with Erwin, you did just that. He agreed with your plans completely, signing off on it without any protests. You would be excused from training the next day, and would be riding into Trost to set up the order with Reeve’s Company. You might even make a day out of it, needing a fresh haircut and maybe a relaxing stroll through Trost. Then, Erwin called out to you before you could walk out through his office door.

“Oh, by the way, (Y/F/N), Captain Levi will be personally accompanying you to Trost tomorrow.”

-       

You hadn’t talked at all. You just sat next to each other in the cart while the horses pulled you along towards Trost. He made you do all the work too. You hitched up both horses, tied them to the cart, and you were now holding the reigns to make sure they stayed on the pebbled path. He just sat there the whole time is his normal position, one leg up and blank expression. It made you extremely annoyed and he could feel the anger radiate off of you as he sat, which made him smirk. Getting the upper hand on you was one thing that Levi found recently brought him joy.

“Permission to speak freely, Captain?” You had enough. He wasn’t shocked at your request, but he wasn’t sure he’d let that upper hand go. If you said something out of line, he’d jump at the chance to punish you… but he allowed it because he was curious. Besides, he was excited to see what useless insults left your lips today.

“Permission granted.”

“Why the fuck are you here?” It almost surprised him, the tongue you had on you, but he also knew the cadets you were friends with. You’d even taken some of the new ones under your wing, Jean and Connie. Levi has punished them various times for their filthy mouths, and he’s heard it millions of times, but never towards him. You should feel honored that he let you say that to him.

“I just wanted to take a trip, Cadet. Besides, a woman shouldn’t be travelling by herself in a world like this.” You gave him an annoyed look and rolled your eyes. Again, you should feel honored he’s gracing you like this. If any cadet did that to him, he’d kick them off the cart right away and discipline them. Again, he was just curious.

“I thought you didn’t give a damn that I was a woman, Levi.” He put his arms behind his head, closing his eyes. You were making this too easy for him. It was when your anger got the best of you that your insults were sloppy and uncalculated. He’d also made the same assessment when it came to your fighting. Perhaps that’s why he’d always insult you before fighting drills, knowing he could get the upper hand. Still, it was going to an easy day for him if you acted like this. 

“With a mouth like that, how could I consider you one, (Y/F/N)?” You scoffed, but a thought popped into your head. He said speak freely, so you were going to do just that. You couldn’t let him win, not when you were going to be stuck with him all day.

“With height like that, how could I consider you a man, Shorty?” You felt him freeze next to you, now instantly regretting his permission. You knew how bad he wanted to kick you, and the tone of his voice hardened.

“Permission rescinded. Say something like that again and you’ll be locked up for insubordination and be punished.”

“You know I don’t mind punishment, Captain. Especially with you.” He scoffed, closing his eyes again and making sure that you didn’t see his flush. How nasty was this woman he was sitting next to? You just laughed at his reaction. When you were a new cadet, you gained the brunt of Levi’s punishments, simply because you didn’t give him the legitimacy the others did.

Everyday, you would find some way to make your presence his problem. At first, it was openly flirting in front of him, trying to get some reaction, only to be punished by running or cleaning. Next, it was besting your partners, just so you would have to fight him. Levi usually didn’t struggle to fight with new cadets, but you would give him a run for his money. You never won, but you’d get so devilishly close that you knew it slowly frustrated him. The last thing would be questioning his orders, which he hated the most. While you knew to never do it out in the field, it was fair game during training. Why should we hold our ODM gear this way when you don’t, Captain? I don’t think that’s the best formation, Captain, why did you choose that? He would physically punish you then, which gave you fuel. Perhaps it was the way he led others with insult, or the fact everyone bowed to him without question that pushed you to never listen. Slowly and surely, you were wreaking havoc in his mind, but nothing permanent to really stick it to him.

Then, you were given the Quartermaster position by Commander Erwin. As insubordinate you would be to Levi, you knew who and when to rub up to others. Besides, you liked the other officers. Erwin discovered your experience with supply work and inventory at your family restaurant, so he put the job up to you. When you saw that Captain Levi had personally requested to break the rules and order five personal items instead of one, you knew it was your turn to punish him. You didn’t know how much joy it would bring you to erase the tea order off of the inventory chart until he came marching into the supply tent.

“You would be a better soldier if you listened to authority, Cadet.” It seemed the only way he could recover with you was to insult you back into submission. His voice was softer then, calmer and more composed: normal. To you, he seemed to be more serious, but it made you roll your eyes again. You didn’t care if he caught you.

“I am a good soldier, Captain. You don’t put worth on my fighting skills, but on my ability to listen to you.”

“If you listened, you would be an officer by now.” Levi knew you were a good soldier. You would rush out on the field and sacrifice your life or horse or swords for any comrade, regardless how they treated you at dinner the other day. The only time you would listen to Levi without question was on the field, too, and you would execute his shouts with speed and precision. He knew that the new cadets looked up to you, too, after saving many of their assess on the first expedition with Erwin’s new formation. If only you were the same off, then you would be on Levi’s Squad at least, if not in the officers’ cabinet.

You knew that too. You heard the others’ praise your skills and critique your behavior. You wouldn’t let anyone tell you what to do unless they had legitimacy in your mind. Erwin was amazing at strategy and kind to anyone, Hange was extremely intelligent and didn’t care who you were, and Miche was just soft and wouldn’t hurt a fly unless they threatened his squad. Levi was an amazing soldier, but it seemed that was the only thing he had. You didn’t give appreciation to those with bullied others with their brawn.

“I don’t want to be an officer, Captain. Quartermaster is the farthest I’ll go.” He frowned, knowing that one day you’d probably be promoted due to someone’s death. Maybe even his. You had to have known that.

“Why?”

“Papers please! Where in Trost are you- OH! Captain Levi!” The Garrison member bowed only once, seeing Levi’s annoyed face as he cut him off. You handed the papers, smiling, and was permitted into the district, turning right away to get to Reeve’s. You had no intention of answering his question, and he didn’t press anymore as the horses galloped up to the depot. When you hopped out, you smiled at all the workers, knowing they’d give you some extra supplies if you buttered up to them. It worked last time, but you were alone last time.

“Flegel! How are you today?” He looked directly at Levi, not even caring that you just greeted him. You just rolled your eyes again at the two and went to work, picking up the things on the list and signing. Levi didn’t get out to help once, he just sat in the cart, looking down at you like you were an ant. At one point, you stood next to the cart, noting that you were almost equal to his sitting height. You straightened up to make sure he realized it too. 

“I thought you came here to help, Captain.” He scoffed and sent another glare at Flegel who was shouting at some worker.

“I thought the Commander was clear in that I’d be accompanying you. I have no intention of doing heavy lifting.” You leaned back on the edge of the wood, marking off the rush supplies they put in the cart. The only thing that was left was the heavy bags of flour that three people needed to carry. You wondered if Levi would order you to go back right away, or he’d let you go off and do errands of your own.

“You’re right, he didn’t say. You probably couldn’t carry any of these things either, they’re a bit heavy… Captain.” Before he could say something back, hearing your insults, Flegel couldn’t help but join in. He’d told you on your previous supply run that he disliked the short man more than anyone in Trost and it stemmed from an apparent mess up and fight over Levi’s tea order. Go figure.

“Some of these packages are taller than you, Captain Levi. We can’t have our strongest soldier getting hurt by some wood, can we?” His question was directed at you, hoping you would jump in and support him, but after feeling the anger radiating off of Levi behind you, you knew it was better to not indulge him. Flegel was the easier target in this situation.

“I’ve never seen you carry any packages, Shorty.” He paused in his tracks, now noting that your insults were not on his side. They’d never be on his side. You stood up to your full height, trying to tower over Flegel as you handed him the list to sign. He was mumbling something under his breath, and you wouldn’t let him breath.

“What was that? Speak up, I can’t hear you from up here, Flegel.” With that, he walked away without saying goodbye, and your smile was the largest Levi had seen it. In fact, Levi was also satisfied with the way you put the fat boy in his place. Only a little bit surprised, though, that you defended him after insulting him yourself. It seemed to put him in a better mood and he even offered to buy lunch to take back.

You took the cart outside of Trost, letting the horses rest and eat in a meadow before the heavy ride back. Levi and you were on the grass eating, him leaning against a tree. He’d bought pork buns and you noted that it seemed to be his favorite food. You noticed his change in mood, which was probably the reason he’d bought you the buns, but didn’t press it. You also realized this was probably the first time you’d talk to him at length without getting reprimanded or into a fight.

“Is that fat boy always like that?” You huffed in laughter at the nickname he’d given Flegel.

“No, usually he tries to get me to eat dinner with him and I always deny.” Levi could imagine it in his head. If the way you acted in front of him was restrained, he wondered what you would say to the boy once you were all alone. Maybe he’d come again just so he could witness you insulting someone other than him. He had to admit, it was funny, and he wondered if that’s what it looked like to others as well.

“How do you deny him?” This answer might get rid of his good mood.

“I tell him I don’t go out with men shorter than me.” He just rolled his eyes and took another bite. Of course that was your answer. You’d do something daily to remind Levi that you were taller than him.

“Why did you come again? You could’ve saved yourself the time and insults.” You looked up at him from your seat on the grass, having eaten all the buns. He was a slow eater.

“To get my tea back. I saw it in the Reeve’s storage room. What a waste.” You laid back on the grass, looking up at the sky. It was getting colder, and you could tell by the heaviness of the clouds that your prediction on early snow was going to be correct.

“All officers get only one personal item per request. Erwin’s is a leather-bound journal, Hange’s is glassware for experiments, and yours, if we list them all off, are cleaning supplies, tea, a new broom, extra milk, and a fresh linen shirt. When I went to Erwin about it, he just told me to get rid of the most expensive thing and let you have the rest. If anything, yell at him, and stop bothering me about it.”

“I don’t need the linen shirt. Take that off and give me back the tea.” You laughed at him again, and it made him pull back the annoying look. His good mood was quickly leaving.

“Your tea supply is equal in price to the cleaning supplies, broom, and linen shirt. I can only let you have the extra milk and tea. We’re in the middle of a famine and supply shortage, Levi.”

“Captain,” he warned you, and you knew the mood of your previous conversation had flew out the window. You sat up, giving him your best glare. He wasn’t thinking rationally about this at all.

“Look, Captain. I’m given only a specific amount of money per month and have to balance out needs over wants. The Scouts need food, water, and winter clothes, that’s without question. Then, because you’re an officer, you’re supposed to get one thing with the excess money. Even the Commander has given up his leather-bound journal this month because of the recent inflation, and we weren’t about to have any left-over money for budge room. Like I said, it was either your tea or the Scout’s necessities which you also use. Even so, you’re still getting an unequal four other items. For someone who’s so stuck on me following the rules, you really like to use your position to break them.” He looked like he was going to kick you right then and there. You were at the perfect height for him to do it, too.

“I need the tea.” He crossed his arms, trying to forget what you just said. He knew he was being selfish, but it was never a problem before, or rather, the previous Quartermaster was afraid to call him out on it. Maybe that’s why Erwin promoted you out of the blue, knowing you weren’t afraid to tell him.

“So, you want me to cancel the orders for cleaning supplies, the broom, the shirt, and the milk?” You saw his jaw clench. No, he didn’t want to lose those either.

“I use the tea so I can recover from lack of sleep.”

“And if you didn’t drink the volume of tea you did, you would be able to sleep. You seem to be doing just fine without it.” You gestured your hand towards him, and his eyes followed.

“Do you know why I don’t sleep, Cadet?” His voice was lower now, and it made you draw back your hand, thinking he’d probably attack that first. You’d seen him some nights when you couldn’t sleep, just sitting alone in the mess hall drinking a cup or two. Seeing his state at night, dark eyes and dark circles, you didn’t feel like it was morally right to bother him then. It always had a dark tone, whenever you looked at him at night. His head was always hanging low and his hand had a death grip on the teacup. You had an idea why he didn’t sleep.

“Is it nightmares, Captain?” You saw his hand grip the last bun hard, his movements stopping. You knew you’d gotten the right answer, but he wasn’t actually looking for you to answer. Now, he’d had to brace himself for whatever words came out of your mouth next. Were you going to call him weak? Laugh at his pain? He wouldn’t put it past you, yet you just sighed.

“If you can find me someone in Trost, I can set up a contract with them. The tea’s export tax sends the budget over. It would also be better if you permanently got rid of one thing. You could steal a broom from the supply closet, no one but me will notice.” Levi didn’t buy it.

“And then you’ll report it to Erwin again? Announce it to the cadets that I’m stealing from the closet?” You could hear the anger in his words. Who did he think you where? Sure, you’d make fun of him for other things, but not for something he couldn’t control. He could control being an asshole, but not his nightmares.

“No, I won’t, but if you keep protesting my goodwill, the deal’s off the table, Captain.” You stood up to get the horses ready to leave. He still found it annoying that his tea supply hinged on your favor, but this deal seemed much more open than the last.

It took him another month to show up in the supply room as you were auditing. The weather had gotten extremely cold, always being able to see your breath as you went outside, and you knew that it had to be a special occasion for Levi to come outside since he hated the cold. When you turned around to see him, his eyes were bloodshot, and the black circles were the thing most evident on his face. Since the blizzards came, there was no training or expeditions, so you hadn’t seen him for a while, and you wondered what he’d gone through to look like this. Was it the nightmares?

“I found somewhere in Trost that is up to my standard. Here.” His voice was tight was he thrust the contract into your hands. The signature was empty, waiting for you to put your name down, but you were about to ruin his day even more. The blizzard was eating up supplies like crazy, and firewood was quickly running out. Unable to go out and cut down trees, the supply closet’s surplus was bring used up hourly. Moreover, a group of mice had gotten in and eaten through food and clothing, causing you to make this random audit to see the damage. There wasn’t going to be any leftover money this time for him to bargain a tea contract. You almost felt guilty for having to tell him this after personally giving him the option.

“I’m sorry, Captain.” Levi noted this was the first time you’d apologized to him, but he didn’t want to take it. The nightmares got worse as the sun faded from the sky earlier and earlier. He’d run out of all the tea he could find, and now he was forced to fall asleep and wake up in a cold sweat at three or four in the morning, just to stare at the wall before he fell asleep again. When he had tea, he could get up and drink it, not afraid to fall asleep again. He needed tea, any tea.

“I’ll give up everything like you said.” You almost dropped the pencil when he said that. You’d never seen him so desperate for something and you wanted to give it to him so bad, but it was something that couldn’t be done. Not this month. No officer would be getting their personal requests.

“I’m sorry, Levi, I can’t. Not this month. No one is getting their personal requests because of the mice mishap and the snow. I-I can try next month?” He just sighed and ripped he contract out of your hands.

“Nevermind. Forget what I said.” You wanted to stop him from walking away to see if you could work it out, but he was too quick. His cape swished in the winter wind as you watched him walk back to the castle, only to be submerged in the white snow. You felt guilty that you couldn’t give him what he wanted. He was suffering, and you could see it on his face too. He probably thought you were denying him the tea just to see him suffer even more. The next few days he snapped so easily at everyone that your daily insubordination completely stopped. You would just stare at him in the mess hall, willing him with your eyes to come back and talk to you. He never looked back at you, but he knew you were staring.

“You have to get the audit done by the end of this week. It seems we’ll only have a day window for you to get to Trost and back before a big storm comes again. Can you do that with the budget?” You looked down at the list of items you procured, only for Erwin to tell you that the budget was cut down again by the Royal Government. You’d have only a day to rethink the items needed.

“Yes Commander, I can redo the budget tonight.”

It took hours to do, but you did it. Instead of outright buying new jackets, you pushed back the spring supply, and just ordered patches to be sewed on. Then, you go to work figuring out how you were going to do it. If you allotted certain funds to different types of flour, cheaper versions, and you were able to receive beans instead of meat, you could get protein without the added shipping and cooling costs. As soon as you got to the number you needed, you let out a shout that echoed through the empty mess hall. Finally!

“What are you doing up, brat?” You seized up, turning around to see him, this time in pajamas and tossed hair. He looked even worse than the other day when he came to see you.

“I could say the same to you.” You didn’t add your usual insult at the end, knowing he wouldn’t be able to stand it. It looked like he was already fighting some other demons.

“Oh, you know, slowly dying of exhaustion thanks to the Quartermaster. Nothing new.” You held in the urge to roll your eyes at him, knowing what you’d just written down on the order sheet. He wouldn’t be saying that soon. If you stayed in this room, you would probably revert back to your old ways and start a fight with him. You’d only be able to do that after the shipment came in the next two weeks. Oh, how you longed for the day you could insult him in front of the cadets at training again. 

“I’ll leave you then, Captain.” His eyes seemed to light up a bit as you started to get up from the bench. He also noticed how your attitude towards him changed after your trip to Trost. Although there weren’t training sessions for you to sass him at, you would bow to him in the hallways and not talk back when he said something to egg you on at dinner. Sometimes he would catch himself missing it; discipling you just to hear your new insults the next day. While it was annoying to no end, it was refreshing. He needed to be refreshed.

“What, no snarky comment? You wouldn’t let me say something to you like that before, (Y/F/N).” You knew what he was trying to do, but you also knew the dangerous line you walked on. He was looking for something to punish you for, perhaps. Now that he knew he wasn’t getting tea, he had nothing to lose and a person he usually takes his frustrations out on right in front of him.

“No, Captain. I have to deliver this to the Commander.” You walked past the door and he grabbed your arm, making sure you didn’t leave. You looked into his eyes and for the first time in your Scouting career, you were scared of what would happen next. 

“I can give it to him for you.” He looked down at the paper and you pulled it back so he couldn’t see what was on it. His bad attitude was going to ruin your surprise. He took this action as your anger. 

“No, Captain. It’s fine, go get some rest.” His hand didn’t leave your arm and you glared down at it. His grip was starting to hurt and that smirk on his face was getting really annoying. 

“I can’t get rest, Miss. Quartermaster, because of you.” You ripped your arm out of his grasp and his smirk grew. There it was. That’s what he was looking for. You knew you’d lost the game of keeping in your temper. 

“If you keep acting like this, pretty soon you be able to walk either, Captain. Now if you’ll excuse me!” When walking to Erwin’s office, you almost erased that tea order right off the list, but you held yourself back. When Erwin went over the list to approve it, you saw him smirk over the last item, and maybe, just maybe, that made all the trouble you just went through worth it. 

“He finally convinced you?” It was the first time you’d crossed your arms in front of the Commander, but it just made him laugh. He was happy you finally obliged Levi because he was almost to his wits end hearing the Captain complain about your new appointment. Hopefully, next week, he would have a happier, more alive Captain.

“No, he was just too annoying to handle anymore, Commander. I pray he won’t notice that I took off everything else he ordered, because then we’ll be back to square one.” Erwin nodded and signed the paper, making you take a breath of relief. You could go to bed and sleep in tomorrow before you’d put in the order.

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate having a tea supply back, (Y/F/N).” You just sighed and dismissed yourself to your quarters. When walking to the showers, you saw the glow of a candle still coming from the mess hall. Levi was sitting there, drinking something, scowling down at the table. It was the same scene you’d seen over and over.

You threw the small package you had at him, narrowly missing his head. He grabbed the paper, snapping his head to look at his attacker. When he saw it was you, his smirk increased. He guessed it was too tempting not to come back and torment him. At least it was something to do.

“Since the Commander even complained about your whining, you can have the rest of my tea. It’s probably not up to your high standard, Captain, but I don’t think you’re in the position to choose.”

“And I don’t think you’re in a position to have that tone with me, Cadet.” You just rolled your eyes, having a mutual understanding that he wasn’t actually going to do anything to you tonight. He saw the clothes and towel you had in your hands, and you saw how tired he was. If anything, you should be telling him to go to bed again, but you knew that he’s probably afraid to fall asleep. The tea would help tide him over till the next delivery.

“It’s Quartermaster. I swear, even if I get promoted, you’ll still call me cadet.” You turned to walk to the showers, but his next insult disappeared at your statement.

“Why don’t you want to be promoted?” He asked you outside of Trost, and you didn’t answer him. It bothered him a bit, but not enough to ask you until now. You were a perfect candidate for a leadership position in Erwin’s eyes, and Levi knew that. He just wanted to know your reasonings, that’s all.

“I don’t want to have to be in meetings with your sorry ass, Captain.” He glared at the back of your head, and you could feel it as you walked away. He even thought about throwing the tea sachet back at you, but it was too precious. He had a terrible nightmare, so he was not very excited to fall back asleep, and you basically gave him a cure all. If he was smart, he could use this tea for at least a week and maybe take a personal trip to Trost and get more. Either way, he was grateful for your change in attitude towards him, even if you’d still sass him around HQ with your words. He’d take that over nightmares. He even dismissed the idea of punishing you tomorrow for swearing at him. 

Once the shipment of supplies came in the next week and you handed everyone their rations, you had your sights set on Captain Levi’s office. You knew he had a meeting with Erwin in the afternoon, and it would be easy to sneak into his office and leave the box of tea on his desk. Once you got inside, you decided to leave him a note. One last thing to piss him off before he’d see you at dinner. You’d give him a smug look all night, too, maybe even going to sit at the officer’s table and pretend to talk to Hange. No, you weren’t giving him this tea to make a point, but you still wanted him to know he’d have to be thankful to you for once. Maybe you’d even make a visit during his nightly mess hall tea break, just to emphasize your point.

Shortie,

Remember that night you bruised my arm? This is what I was doing. I expect you to bow at my feet during dinner, but it shouldn’t be hard since you’re already close to the ground.

You’re Welcome,

Quartermaster (Y/L/N)

When he found it, he smirked at the note, opening the box to see the tea he requested from the company in Trost. The note was annoying, but he couldn’t stop staring at your handwriting. You were fucking annoying too, but he couldn’t stop staring at you during dinner either, sipping a cup of tea. You’d chosen the perfect spot in front of Hange, making it easy for him to look at your features. Little did you know, he was enjoying your presence while you were trying to rub into Levi that you saved him.

“Hange, you have no idea how hard it was to get everything ordered within budget. I stayed up till three trying to figure out the math!”

“If you had half a brain, then maybe you wouldn’t have had to stay up that late, Quartermaster.” Your gaze snapped to him, glaring, but not missing the fact he called you your proper title for once.

“If I remember correctly, you were up too, Captain.” 

Hange cut in, making sure that both of you atoned for how annoying you were. Every time you two were together, the constant bickering made others listening develop a headache.

“If I remember correctly, I found you two flirting in the mess hall!” She made sure to yell that out loud so that the other cadets looked at the scene she created. Everyone heard her loud and clear and Levi was about to kill her. How dare she make such accusations?! 

“As if!” You crossed your arms, glaring back at Levi.

“Flirt with her?!” Hange could feel the animosity between you two, but she also noticed how red both of your faces had become.

“He’s the most annoying person I’ve ever met!”

“I am?! Have you heard yourself speak, (Y/F/N)?” You stood up, huffing in anger.

“I don’t date men shorter than me.” 

“And I don’t date stuck up brats.” You gripped both of your fists and realized that if you stayed any longer, your face would get incredibly red and you’d have to throw hands with Hange, so you left with everyone watching you. Levi was now in recovery mode, glaring at all of the cadets so they would turn away in fear.

“How can you not see how annoying she is, Hange?” He took another sip of the tea that you had given him. Maybe, he’d grown to prefer whatever brew you gave him that night in the mess hall. It was minty. He liked mint. 

“Mhm, Levi, sure.”

Maybe, he’d have to catch your annoying ass later tonight and ask you to order whatever personal blend you’d given him.

“Don’t look at me like that, four-eyes. Go oogle at some titans.”

Maybe, he’d catch you and start another little fight about the tea order, or force you to tell him why you didn’t want to be an officer.

“Oh, like you were “oogling” at (Y/F/N) tonight?”

Maybe.

xx this one took a LONG time to write haha I hope you like eet xx

[une-nuit-pour-se-souvenir]

Jon Snow = Rhaegal

This is a sibling post to this. It works precisely in the same way.

When she opened it, she found piles of the finest velvets and damasks   the Free Cities could produce … and resting on top, nestled in the soft cloth, three huge eggs.  (...) One egg was a deep green, with burnished bronze flecks that came and went depending on how Dany turned it.

Hypothesis: Jon Snow = Rhaegal

If Aegon = Viserys, then Jon = Rhaegal.

Other thing to note is the bronze is a metal important in the north, for example the crown of the kings of winter was made of bronze. The egg has a duplicitious nature, things appear and disappear depending on how Danerys looks at it.

The green one shall be Rhaegal, for my valiant brother who died on the green banks of the Trident.

Like Aegon = Viserion post, what Rhaegar die for exactly? Robert’s Rebellion was fuelled by Aerys being a crazy loon, but in specific Rhaegar’s death came at Robert’s hands, who killed him for “kidnapping” Lyanna Stark.

"The Others take your honor!" Robert swore. "What did any Targaryen ever know of honor? Go down into your crypt and ask Lyanna about the dragon's honor!"

"You avenged Lyanna at the Trident," Ned said, halting beside the king. Promise me, Ned, she had whispered.

"That did not bring her back." Robert looked away, off into the grey distance. "The gods be damned. It was a hollow victory they gave me. A crown … it was the girl I prayed them for. Your sister, safe … and mine again, as she was meant to be. I ask you, Ned, what good is it to wear a crown? The gods mock the prayers of kings and cowherds alike."

(his face... HIS FACE...)

Like Aegon = Viserion post, all these aspects are also present in House of Undying visions.

three fires must you light . . . one for life and one for death and one to love (...) Viserys screamed as the molten gold ran down his cheeks and filled his mouth. A tall lord with copper skin and silver-gold hair stood beneath the banner of a fiery stallion, a burning city behind him. Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman's name. . . three treasons will you know . . . once for blood and once for gold and once for love . . .(...) Her silver was trotting through the grass, to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars. A corpse stood at the prow of a ship,  eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly. A blue flower  grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness. .  . . mother of dragons, bride of fire . . .

There’s the love of a woman, since Rhaegar dies whispering a woman’s name, then there’s the result of that love, Jon represented as a blue flower (Lyanna’s favourite) on the Wall (where he spends most of the narrative. Fits.

Considering the trichotomy Rhaegar / Rhaegal / Jon applies to the third stanza of the first and the third groups, it’s natural to apply it to the second stanza, so somehow must fit, so in the end we have. “three fires must you light . . . (...) one to love (...) Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman's name. . . “ and “three mounts must you ride (...) one to love (...) From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire. . . (...) and “three treasons will you know . . . once for gold (...) A blue flower  grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness. . ."

Applying the same logic to the trichotomy Viserys / Viserion / Aegon, we then have. “three fires must you light . . . (...) one for death (...) A tall lord with copper skin and silver-gold hair stood beneath the banner of a fiery stallion, a burning city behind him.“ and “three mounts must you ride (...) one to dread (...) A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd. (...) and “three treasons will you know . . . once for gold (...) A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly."

Like Aegon = Viserion post, I said the conclusion of all that Viserys being crowned with a “golden crown” by Drogo, Viserion named after him, and Aegon echoing in that specific’s dragon subtext was Danerys feels betrayed by Aegon crowning himself king of the Iron Throne, then she burns King’s Landing as a response.

Similarly, the conclusion for all this Rhaegar dying for the woman he loved, Rhaegal being named after him, and Jon echoing in that specific’s dragon subtext is Danerys is betrayed by Jon loving another. In the show, Jon Snow loved his sisters, that’s why he betrayed her and killed her. So... it fits, though the types of love aren’t the same. *shifts eyes*

It’s worth noting that applying this logic to the first stanza of the three groups, we get Danerys / Drogon. Three heads has the dragon.

----

What else? All of Rhaegal’s mentions are listed below... and some of them fit what we saw in the show.

A CLASH OF KINGS

The green one shall be Rhaegal, for my valiant brother who died on the green banks of the Trident. 

We all know Rhaegar’s story. In broad strokes, he was “born in grief” while others died around him, something happened as a young child which made him decide to become a warrior despite not being fit for it, he’s melancholy by nature and goes to Harrenhal to brood, is fond of wearing black to battle, he’s in love with a Stark (in Jon’s case, only platonically, *suuure... rolls eyes*) and let hundreds die for her sake, etc etc. Like Viserys isn’t Aegon, Rhaegar isn’t Jon... but you know..

"Your hair is coming back, Khaleesi," Jhiqui said as she scraped sand off her back.(...) Dothraki men wore their hair in long oiled braids, and cut them only when defeated. Perhaps I should do the same, she thought, to remind them that Drogo's strength lives within me now. Khal Drogo had died with his hair uncut, a boast few men could make.

Across the tent, Rhaegal unfolded green wings to flap and flutter a half foot before thumping to the carpet. When he landed, his tail lashed back and forth in fury, and he raised his head and screamed. If I had wings, I would want to fly too, Dany thought. The Targaryens of old had ridden upon dragonback when they went to war. (ACOK ~ Danerys I)

Danerys thinking of her defeated hair and of Drogo’s undefeated hair, followed by Rhaegal screaming and Targaryens fighting in wars, suggests Danerys will be defeated by Jon but not in battle. This is what happened in the show, Jon defeated Danerys but not in battle. Some thing between Rhaegal and a braid had already been alluded to in AGOT (see at the very end of this post).

"Then I grieve for you, Dragonmother, and for bleeding Westeros, bereft of its rightful king."

Beneath Dany's gentle fingers, green Rhaegal stared at the stranger with eyes of molten gold. When his mouth opened, his teeth gleamed like black needles. (ACOK ~ Danerys II)

The (ship!) captain laments Viserys’ death, who was the rightful king of Westeros, then Rhaegal basically bares his teeth like a dog or... a wolf.. ready to attack. I once thought this was just a pun on Jon being the rightful king of Westeros, but it might be the case that Danerys kills Aegon, who’s the rightful king of Westeros, with Jon taking offence on his behalf.

It’s also worth noting Danerys is being “nice” to Rhaegal as she’s touching him with “gentle fingers”, while he’s the one being aggressive and baring his teeth. We’ll see this pattern of her being nice and soft with him (except for ONE notable occasion), but he’s always a bitch to her, many times.

"A dream delayed, no more." Dany's tight silver collar was chafing against her throat. She unfastened it and flung it aside. The collar was set with an enchanted amethyst that Xaro swore would ward her against all poisons. The Pureborn were notorious for offering poisoned wine to those they thought dangerous, but they had not given Dany so much as a cup of water. They never saw me for a queen, she thought bitterly. I was only an afternoon's amusement, a horse girl with a curious pet.

Rhaegal hissed and dug sharp black claws into her bare shoulder as Dany stretched out a hand for the wine. Wincing, she shifted him to her other shoulder, where he could claw her gown instead of her skin. She was garbed after the Qartheen fashion. Xaro had warned her that the Enthroned would never listen to a Dothraki, so she had taken care to go before them in flowing green samite with one breast bared, silvered sandals on her feet, with a belt of black-and-white pearls about her waist. For all the help they offered, I could have gone naked. Perhaps I should have. She drank deep. (ACOK ~ Danerys III)

Like in Aegon = Viserys, where the talk of poison was mentioned, here it shows up once more (it will appear one more time). I do think this is plenty of suggestion that someone from #TeamAegon is most likely going to attempt to poison Danerys, just like Varys tried in the show.

Danerys realises they never saw her as queen, just an amusement with a curious pet, which is followed by Rhaegal hurting her by sinking his claws into her skin. The subtext is interesting, because the former is what political!Jon was based on (Jon never seeing Danerys as worthy of being queen, but using her for the dragons), while the latter is basically what happened in the show (Jon killed Danerys with a knife). Some malicious stabbing is definetly occuring, whether she dies or not... maybe. I’m still holding on to my girl Arya to come through.

Also worth noting, there’s a whole description of Qartheen fashion of one bared breast, but she thinks she might have gone naked instead. In the show, Danerys is delusional enough to try to rekindle her relationship with Jon after blowing up KL and he entertained it to distract her, before stabbing her. Then I remember Littlefinger’s quote "When you find yourself in bed with an ugly woman, the best thing to do is close your eyes and get on with it. (...) Waiting won't make the maid any prettier. Kiss her and be done with it. (...) A steel kiss." I didn’t think that Danita begging for her nephew’s cock while he kills her couldn’t be topped, but doing it while thinking they’ll do the nasty...

I have become the most splendid beggar in the world, but a beggar all the same. She hated it, as her brother must have. (....) I have something Viserys never had. I have the dragons. The dragons are all the difference.

She stroked Rhaegal. The green dragon closed his teeth around the meat of her hand and nipped hard. (...) Aggo guarded on her other side, while Rakharo rode behind the procession, watching the faces in the crowd for any sign of danger. Ser Jorah she had left behind today, to guard her other dragons; the exile knight had been opposed to this folly from the start. He distrusts everyone, she reflected, and perhaps for good reason.

As Dany lifted her goblet to drink, Rhaegal sniffed at the wine and drew his head back, hissing. "Your dragon has a good nose." Xaro wiped his lips. "The wine is ordinary. It is said that across the Jade Sea they make a golden vintage so fine that one sip makes all other wines taste like vinegar. Let us take my pleasure barge and go in search of it, you and I.”

"The Arbor makes the best wine in the world," Dany declared. Lord Redwyne had fought for her father against the Usurper, she remembered, one of the few to remain true to the last. Will he fight for me as well?  (...) I mean to sail to Westeros, and drink the wine of vengeance from the skull of the Usurper." She scratched Rhaegal under one eye, and his jade-green wings unfolded for a moment, stirring the still air in the palanquin.

A single perfect tear ran down the cheek of Xaro Xhoan Daxos. "Will nothing turn you from this madness?"

Danerys thinks of how she’s superior to Viserys, she has dragons while he has not, followed by Rhaegal attacking her. It happens once more a few paragraphs down. Danerys says she will kill the usurper and Rhaegal is basically raising his hackles. Again, the subtext of Danerys killing Aegon because she doesn’t think he’s a real dragon like she is, but then Jon taking offence on his behalf and attacking her shows up.

Interestingly, in the same segment Danerys thinks how Viserys was known as the beggar king, but as we also know from the Aegon = Viserion post, Viserion does what Viserys could not, Viserys begged (even though he said the dragon doesn’t beg) while Aegon refuses to beg for Danerys’ help (” Why should I go running to my aunt as if I were a beggar?”) and goes on his own.

Also interestingly, after Rhaegal attacks Danerys, she looks outside to watch her bloodriders protecting her and thinking Jorah distrusts everyone with good reason. But Rhaegal is inside of her palanquin with her, the bloodriders won’t protect her against the dragon. In the show, Jon was allowed inside the Red Keep past her Unsullied / Dothraki guards, then attacked her.

There’s also yet another mentioned of foul wine. Danerys’ was almost killed in AGOT with poisoned wine. In the show, Varys tried to kill her with poisoned wine (which was one of his suggestions when Robert was brainstorming how to get rid of her). She mentions the Redwynes and what loyalty they have. At this point, Redwynes are Tyrell loyal.

In the show, Varys backs Danerys (instead of Aegon) and Oleanna (who is a Redwyne!) allies with Danerys to get revenge on Cersei (in theory, she has Aegon’s role). Whatever conodrum D&D made to compensate for Aegon being slashed off, we have elements in common here. Varys (#TeamAegon) and poison as well as wine and the Redwynes (in specific, Oleanna).

Drogon was curled up beneath her arm, as hot as a stone that has soaked all day in the blazing sun. Rhaegal and Viserion were fighting over a scrap of meat,  buffeting each other with their wings as smoke hissed from their  nostrils. (ACOK ~ Danerys III)  

Like said in Aegon = Viserion post, Aegon and Jon, fighting over something (most likely north versus south). This happens while Drogon (Danerys) soaks beneath the sun (Slaver’s  Bay, Volantis, you know beyond the narrow sea). Speculation for book only, most likely Jon and Aegon will naturally clash in TWOW / ADOS, while Danerys is terrorising elsewhere.

A STORM OF SWORDS

Viserion's scales were the color of fresh cream, his horns, wing bones, and spinal crest a dark gold that flashed bright as metal in the sun. Rhaegal was made of the green of summer and the bronze of fall. They soared above the ships in wide circles, higher and higher, each trying to climb above the other.

Dragons always preferred to attack from above, Dany had learned. Should either get between the other and the sun, he would fold his wings and dive screaming, and they would tumble from the sky locked together in a tangled scaly ball, jaws snapping and tails lashing. The first time they had done it, she feared that they meant to kill each other, but it was only sport. No sooner would they splash into the sea than they would break apart and rise again, shrieking and hissing, the salt water steaming off them as their wings clawed at the air. Drogon was aloft as well, though not in sight; he would be miles ahead, or miles behind, hunting. (ASOS ~ Danerys I)

Same sentiment as above. Aegon and Jon fight each other, with the added bonus that it isn’t very serious (or not “permanent” enemies), while Danerys is doing something else elsewhere.

Rhaegal and Viserion were the size of small dogs, Drogon only a  little larger, and any dog would have out-weighed them; they were all  wings and neck and tail, lighter than they looked. And so Daenerys  Targaryen must rely on wood and wind and canvas to bear her home. (ASOS ~ Danerys I)

Like said in Aegon = Viserion post, most likely, just flavour test. Could indicate Danerys’ forces will outmatch Jon and Aegon separately though. In the show, this fit for #TeamJon. And now that I think of it, also fit #TeamCersei (who’s filling for Aegon’s role).

She took a chunk of salt pork out of the bowl in her lap and held it up for her dragons to see. All three of them eyed it hungrily. Rhaegal spread green wings and stirred the air, and Viserion's neck swayed back and forth like a long pale snake's as he followed the movement of her hand. "Drogon," Dany said softly, "dracarys." And she tossed the pork in the air.

Drogon moved quicker than a striking cobra. Flame roared from his mouth, orange and scarlet and black, searing the meat before it began to fall. As his sharp black teeth snapped shut around it, Rhaegal's head darted close, as if to steal the prize from his brother's jaws, but Drogon swallowed and screamed, and the smaller green dragon could only hiss in frustration.

"Stop that, Rhaegal," Dany said in annoyance, giving his head a swat. "You had the last one. I'll have no greedy dragons." She smiled at Ser Jorah. "I won't need to char their meat over a brazier any longer."    

"So I see. Dracarys?"

All three dragons turned their heads at the sound of that word, and Viserion  let loose with a blast of pale gold flame that made Ser Jorah take a  hasty step backward. Dany giggled. "Be careful with that word, ser, or  they're like to singe your beard off. It means 'dragonfire' in High  Valyrian. I wanted to choose a command that no one was like to utter by  chance." (ASOS ~ Danerys I)  

All three dragons are eager to fight. “three heads has the dragon”. The Dance of Dragons II. Other things to note. Danerys hits Rhaegal for being greedy. I cannot believe she hit him. Like... he’s just a baby. :(

"The warlocks in Qarth told you that you would be betrayed three times,"  the exile knight reminded her, as Viserion and Rhaegal began to snap  and claw at each other.   (ASOS ~ Danerys I)    

Like said in the Aegon = Viserion post, Aegon and Jon, fighting over something. It’s likely they’ll fight as a north  faction versus south faction. Either against each other for the land, or against Danerys to defend each of their factions. Either way, these must be the root of their betrayals. This is speculation for book only, for TWOW / ADOS.

Dany had commanded that the top be removed, so her three dragons might be chained to the platform. Irri and Jhiqui rode with them, to try and keep them calm. Yet Viserion's tail lashed back and forth, and smoke rose angry from his nostrils. Rhaegal could sense something wrong as well. Thrice he tried to take wing, only to be pulled down by the heavy chain in Jhiqui's hand. Drogon coiled into a ball, wings and tail tucked tight. Only his eyes remained to tell that he was not asleep. (ASOS ~ Danerys III)    

Viserion and Rhaegal (Aegon and Jon) know something is wrong. Drogon (Danerys) doesn’t give a shit. This is the same chapter Danerys burns Astapor sooo... not a good look for Daniella.

Drogon flew almost lazily at Kraznys, black wings beating. As he gave  the slaver another taste of fire, Irri and Jhiqui unchained Viserion  and Rhaegal, and suddenly there were three dragons in the air. (ASOS ~ Danerys III)    

Like said in the Aegon = Viserion post, a three way battle  “the dragon has three heads”. The Dance of Dragons II.

(there’s a bunch of Rhaegal references already covered in Aegon = Viserion post, fast-forward to the next not covered one).

Daario is right, I shouldn't have banished him. I should have kept him, or I should have killed him. She played at being a queen, yet sometimes she still felt like a scared little girl. Viserys always said what a dolt I was. Was he truly mad? She closed the book. She could still recall Ser Jorah, if she wished. Or send Daario to kill him.

Dany fled from the choice, out onto the terrace. She found Rhaegal asleep beside the pool, a green and bronze coil basking in the sun. Drogon was perched up atop the pyramid, in the place where the huge bronze harpy had stood before she had commanded it to be pulled down. He spread his wings and roared when he spied her. There was no sign of Viserion, but when she went to the parapet and scanned the horizon she saw pale wings in the far distance, sweeping above the river. He is hunting. They grow bolder every day. Yet it still made her anxious when they flew too far away. One day one of them may not return, she thought.

This one was actually covered before, one of many Viserion turns away from Danerys, paralleling Aegon’s choice of not going to Danerys and invading Westeros on his own. However, what I didn’t notice the first time because this isn’t a proper meta, just dumping thoughts, This is the narrative block of Danerys finding out of Jorah’s betrayal (what she thinks is one anyway). Twice poignant!

Rhaegal is asleep beside a pool, Drogon is atop a pyramid where a harpy once stood, and Viserion is hunting in the distance. Obviously, distance doesn’t matter. These are stand-ins for Jon and Winterfell (the godswood pool... that’s an interesting place for the betrayal for platonic love to be in :)...) and Aegon attacking Westerons, while Danerys is still beyond the narrow sea. If this lecture is correct, she’s reaaally coming very late to Westeros.

A DANCE OF DRAGONS

Almost the whole shtick was already covered in the Aegon = Viserion post. Things to note: Rhaegal is aggressive towards Danerys and towards those that hurt his brother.

Once, not long ago, he had ridden on her shoulder, his tail coiled round her arm. Once she had fed him morsels of charred meat from her own hand. He had been the first chained up. Daenerys had led him to the pit herself and shut him up inside with several oxen. Once he had gorged himself he grew drowsy. They had chained him whilst he slept.

Rhaegal had been harder. Perhaps he could hear his brother raging in the pit, despite the walls of brick and stone between them. In the end, they had to cover him with a net of heavy iron chain as he basked on her terrace, and he fought so fiercely that it had taken three days to carry him down the servants' steps, twisting and snapping. Six men had been burned in the struggle. (ADWD ~ Danerys II)

Jonnathan Snowflake died went to the gym and flexes hard. I’m kidding.

The subtext suggests it’s more difficult to subdue Jon than Aegon. Or better, it suggests Danerys actually tricked Aegon into submission with some kind of tempting offer, while Jon had to submitted by force. For example, it would make sense if Danerys offered an alliance to Aegon and he accepted but then never followed through (like Astapor or Yunkai). While Jon wouldn’t be swayed, so he was forced to do it. Not quite it went in the show, when Cersei (Aegon) was the one that refused to yeld, while Jon... well that trainwreck. It could be that Jon was also playing some of Aegon’s (maculine) role.

The rain had drowned the worst of the fires, but wisps of smoke still rose from the smoldering ruin that had been the pyramid of Hazkar, and the great black pyramid of Yherizan where Rhaegal had made his lair hulked in the gloom like a fat woman bedecked with glowing orange jewels. (...) The only Meereenese the dragons had slain since Harghaz the Hero had been the slavers foolish enough to object when Rhaegal attempted to make his lair atop the pyramid of Hazkar. (...)  He wondered where Rhaegal was. Thus far the green dragon had shown himself to be more dangerous than the white.     (ADWD ~ The Queen’s Hand)

A dragon on top of a pyramid = king. It could be Winterfell / North sure, but this came AFTER Rhaegal killed Quentyn on Viserion’s behalf. Such it could be King’s Landing. I’d always though Jon would very briefly be king at the end, until he abdicated in favour of Bran to avoid another war, as nobody wanted those Targs on the throne. Doesn’t fit with the punish part though.

It’s also worth noting that once again, the subtext plants the idea that Jon is more dangerous than Aegon. As a final note, Rhaegal making his lair hulked in the gloom like “a fat woman bedecked in flowing orange jewels” is very Smaug of him. <3

----

Now, for bonus, the eggs proper. Not Rhaegal, but his green egg features in an important scene, just after Danerys hits Viserys for the first time.

"I am the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, not some grass-stained savage with bells in his hair," Viserys spat back at her. (...) His fingers dug into her arm painfully and for an instant Dany felt like a child again, quailing in the face of his rage. She reached out with her other hand and grabbed the first thing she touched, the belt she'd hoped to give him, a heavy chain of ornate bronze medallions. She swung it with all her strength.

It caught him full in the face. Viserys let go of her. Blood ran down his cheek where the edge of one of the medallions had sliced it open. "You are the one who forgets himself," Dany said to him. "Didn't you learn anything that day in the grass? Leave me now, before I summon my khas to drag you out. And pray that Khal Drogo does not hear of this, or he will cut open your belly and feed you your own entrails." (...) Drops of his blood had spattered the beautiful sandsilk cloak.  (...) "Please, bring me one of the dragon's eggs."

Irri fetched the egg with the deep green shell, bronze flecks shining amid its scales as she turned it in her small hands. Dany curled up on her side, pulling the sandsilk cloak across her and cradling the egg in the hollow between her swollen belly and small, tender breasts. (...) She was lying there, holding the egg, when she felt the child move within her … as if he were reaching out, brother to brother, blood to blood. "You are the dragon," Dany whispered to him, "the true dragon. I know it. I know it." And she smiled, and went to sleep dreaming of home. (AGOT ~ Danerys IV)

Like in Aegon = Viserys post, I said that there is evidence for Jon taking offence over Danerys trying to usurp his brother Aegon. We can see that reflected in this scene. I once thought the whole thing was about Danerys’ trying to usurp Jon (I thought the visions were more complex than what they were), but right now I’m thinking that is about Danerys’ usurping Aegon (and / or his cousins) and Jon taking offence over it.

In this case, Danerys gets Viserys some clothing offers. Viserys doesn’t take her offer well and rages against it, saying he’s the king. The two fight and Danerys reaches for the belt and uses it like a whip, drawing blood from his cheek and staining the cloak. Danerys then covers herself and the green egg with the bloodstained cloak and saying that Viserys isn’t the dragon, Rhaego (Drogon) is, and dreams of home.

Let’s recap how Viserion is taken prisoner, which is basically the same steps as the Danerys and Viserys fight above. Danerys tricks Viserion by baiting him with a meaty offer, then he rages on the pit when he realises the truth. Much later, Quentyn tries to subdue Viserion with a whip and someone draws blood from his neck. Moving forward, Danerys says unborn Rhaego is the true dragon, which implies she believes that Viserys isn’t. You know, the reason why Danerys says once Viserys is murdered by Drogo. So, this all fits with the subtext of Danerys killing Aegon because he was crowned king.

Then Danerys covers herself and the green egg with the sandsilk cloak, but note that this cloak is stained with Viserys’ blood. Then she dreams of home, which in Danerys’ chapters ALWAYS means Danerys burning King’s Landing (I made a post about this before, it’s somewhere). All it was missing from the Danerys and Viserys fight versus Viserion taken prisoner is Rhaegal killing Quentyn for the affront against his brother. However, Rhaegal is in this scene too, inside his egg beneath the bloodied cloak. It’s “missing” Viserion though... or is it?

Dany gave the silver over to the slaves for grooming and entered her tent. It was cool and dim beneath the silk. As she let the door flap close behind her, Dany saw a finger of dusty red light reach out to touch her dragon's eggs across the tent. For an instant a thousand droplets of scarlet flame swam before her eyes. (AGOT ~ Danerys III)

The Usurper has woken the dragon now, she told herself … and her eyes went to the dragon's eggs resting in their nest of dark velvet. The shifting lamplight limned their stony scales, and shimmering motes of jade and scarlet and gold swam in the air around them, like courtiers around a king. (...) Cradling the egg with both hands, she carried it to the fire and pushed it down amongst the burning coals. The black scales seemed to glow as they drank the heat. Flames licked against the stone with small red tongues. Dany placed the other two eggs beside the black one in the fire. As she stepped back from the brazier, the breath trembled in her throat. She watched until the coals had turned to ashes. (AGOT ~ Danerys VI)   

The Dance of Dragons between the three Targaryens might feature in the three egg mentions described above. It’s worth noting the first features Danerys returning home (”entered her tent”) and a red door (”the door flap close behind her, a finger of dusty red light”). In Danerys’ chapters, either always means burning King’s Landing (”a thousand droplets of scarlet flame swam before her eyes”).

"Yes?" the maegi asked. "What is it you wish, Khaleesi?"

"Bring me … egg … dragon's egg … please …" Her lashes turned to lead, and she was too weary to hold them up.

When she woke the third time, a shaft of golden sunlight was pouring through the smoke hole of the tent, and her arms were wrapped around a dragon's egg. It was the pale one, its scales the color of butter cream, veined with whorls of gold and bronze, and Dany could feel the heat of it. Beneath her bedsilks, a fine sheen of perspiration covered her bare skin. Dragondew, she thought. Her fingers trailed lightly across the surface of the shell, tracing the wisps of gold, and deep in the stone she felt something twist and stretch in response. (AGOT ~ Danerys IX)

Danerys doesn’t want her child or Drogo, her first thoughts are the eggs. This is quite telling where her priorities lie. Regardless, Danerys just miscarried Rhaego and the egg chosen ot be there is... Viserion’s. There’s Rhaego in the sandsilk sequence after all and this link between Rhaego and Viserion is suggest a third time in...

She climbed the pyre herself to place the eggs around her sun-and-stars. The black beside his heart, under his arm. The green beside his head, his braid coiled around it. The cream-and-gold down between his legs.(AGOT ~ Danerys X)

Danerys’ places Egg!Drogon besides Drogo’s heart and the dragon was named after the man, so Drogo’s blood sacrifice awakened Drogon. Danerys’ places Egg!Viserion at Drogo’s loins, who produced... that’s right, Rhaego, so Rhaego’s blood sacrifice awakened Viserion. Danerys’ thought Rhaego was “the true dragon”, not Viserys... and that’s how she justified killing him. But Rhaego’s blood sacrifice awakened Viserion, the dragon that is symbolic of Aegon, whom she’ll kill for not believing he’s a true dragon.

Also, Danerys’ places Egg!Rhaegal next to Drogo’s head with his braid around it, the symbol of his undefeated status (congruent with ACOK mentioned somewhere above), so Mirri Maz Duur’s sacrifice awakened Rhaegal. Danerys’ thought she was using Mirri Maz Duur, teaching her a lesson... but the dragon the maegi’s blood awakened, is also the dragon that is symbolic of the man that kills Danerys.

Narrative vengence served (very) cold.

[hectabdr]

Dragon Raja IV - Chapters 13 - 15 + epilogue (Abridged)

Hi everyone, sorry for taking so long to post the last part, I had a lot of work this week.

BTW, since it's over, I put the whole novel summary on a PDF document, which you can download from here.

Previous Chapters

Chapter 13

The nurse at the mental hospital couldn't believe her eyes when Luminous came back and requested to be admitted in his old room. He asked for his usual injection and went back to his not-so-favorite video game level.

In his vision, he kept accelerating far away form the swarm of death servitors, everything went according to plan and they still had lots of time to spare. He made many excuses to Nono in an attempt to justify his incredible performance, in the radio, there was a very strange song, Luminous recognized it, the name was "Daily Growing" by the folk group Altan, it was the same song that Johann and his father heard before they ran into Odin.

Nono was confused, Luminous just seemed to know way too many things. He knew about the damaged tire, about every safe route, the reach of the Nibelungen and the presence of a small, strange building hiding in the distance. It was the Media Asia Group building, according to Finger, this is the place where Nono found Chu Tianjiao's home. If this was a Nibelungen, an exact copy of the room should be there as well, still intact.

There was nothing surprising about the small place, but that was intentional. A person like Tianjiao was probably trained against people with skills like Nono's, so there had to be a secret compartment or a hidden door. He lifted the bed and there it was!

Mr Chu managed to create an underground bunker for himself. There was a bigger, more comfortable bed, a record player with Elvis Presley's discs and leather jackets. Luminous wanted to be more like this stylish man every second he spent there.

He noticed a bunch of pictures hanging from a string. Tianjiao spend a lot of time making copies of photographs from his family, but he wasn't in them, there was another man next to his wife and his son, but he used chemicals to erase him from the images. He also wrote small phrases dedicated to his wife in the back of the photos, like:

"This is the first year since you left me, you look good"

"This is the third year, you're getting fat"

"Fifth year, I don't have time to think of you anymore"

"Sixth year. ...but I still miss you".

The rest of the walls were filled with images and documents connected by red strings. Multiple events were listed in them, including the fall of Black Swan Bay in 1991 and the Greenland incident from November 7, 2002. These events related to dragon sightings and awakenings all led to a specific incident: The resurrection of the Black king Nidhogg. Even to the other dragon overlords, Nidhogg is a god-like existence, and its words are taken as prophecies. Chu Tianjiao was the city's watchman, he came to that place with a special purpose, but he mistakenly fell in love with a young dancer. They got married and had a child, they were happy, but he knew very well that he couldn't give them a peaceful life, so he signed the divorce papers and watched her take Johann away and marry a different man. While that family went to amusement parks and movie theaters, Tianjiao stayed on his underground room thinking about the fate of mankind.

Luminous memorized as much as he could from Tianjiao's investigation and went back with Nono, he kept driving and they entered the empty city, the lights were still on and the amusement park shined like a neon show.

- I always wanted to be in a Nibelungen, but I didn't expect it to be like this.

- How did you think it would be?

- Distorted, scary, definitely not this beautiful.

They looked up and they saw Odin, standing on top of the clock tower, Nono raised a gun and pointed at him but Luminous held it down, telling her not to disturb him, they kept driving silently and the god didn't notice their presence.

Luminous took her to a shopping mall, where they entered a department store and he gave her a dry change of clothes. This was still strange to her, he already knew her size, he never stopped looking at his watch and somehow he also picked an outfit that she liked (a pair of burgundy sports trousers and a fleece hoodie).

He gave her a cup of hot coffee and he suggested they waited on an empty movie theater while they waited for help.

Nono waited uncomfortable in front of the screen, Luminous picked up a random movie from the projector room, it was Wall·E, the second film roll to be exact, so the film started from the halfway point. The movie slowly relaxed her and she started chewing popcorn while they waited.

- I've been here before, haven't I?.

This was the theater where she rescued him from a failed love confession to Wenwen, before taking him to sign his Cassell admission papers. Actually, Luminous was watching Wall·E with his fellow literature club members. All of these were deliberate choices, he only picked the second half of the movie because they didn't have enough time to watch it from the start.

- You have been here, you have experienced all the things we are experiencing now and I have lived this moment many times.

Nono was a profiler, it wasn't that easy to trick her, so he admitted the truth. At 12:00am, Nono was going to die, like every other time.

- This dream will become a reality. I have repeatedly entered this dream just to find a way to save you, but I couldn't find it.

- If you can't find a way to save me, why don't you save yourself instead?

- My senior brother said that he always regretted leaving his father here alone, that feeling of regret is so terrible, it made him want to go back and die right there.

- Don't say such disgusting things, if this is really my end I will accept it.

The answer became obvious, the only way to escape this Nibelungen was for one person to stay behind and die. As the movie reached its climax, a spear broke through the screen, Nono didn't move, Luminous didn't move.

- No, senior sister, this will not be you end, it will be mine.

Chapter 14

Luminous opened his eyes, it was still a quiet summer night, he slid a small knife that he bought at the convenience store and ripped the straitjacket open. The hospital personnel were resting in different rooms so he sneaked out with ease.

His last attempt was the 108th, none of them managed to give him the perfect ending that he desperately chased. The old man with the tricycle was waiting for him outside, Luminous got on the small bike and drove away. The security guard couldn't believe it when he saw the same tricycle pass by for a third time that night, straight into the elevated road.

Luminous reached the old Asia Group building, now flooded and filled with rubble and mud. He managed to find the secret door and found the insides half-submerged as well, but not everything was ruined, he located a small metal suitcase in the corner that was filled with multiple weapons, including a revolver, a tactical shotgun and a Uzi submachine gun.

All seemed to indicate that this equipment came directly from Cassell College, an academy that never bothered to mention Tianjiao's existence.

In his way out, he picked one of the photographs that managed to survive the flood, it portrayed a family of three. Johann was probably five years old and his expression was as emotionless as usual, his robot face wasn't the result of some traumatic event after all, it came with him from the moment he was born. In the corner, Tianjiao wrote some words as well: "Stay like this, not crying, just looking into the distance".

This arsenal was strong, but insignificant in front of a being like Odin. Ming·Z·Lu showed up to offer one last gift.

Something for nothing, 50% fusion.

Luminous was familiar with that sensation, his nerves burned and the depths of his mind seemed to be cracked open, the pain was bigger than any human can endure, but once it was over, there was a feeling of euphoria, a need to fight. His senses increased immensely, he could now distinguish every single drop in the middle of the rainfall. This usually costed him a full quarter of his life but now it was... Free?

He finally heard the distorted noises of the death servitors, it sounded like the crying of babies. The wall of water and wind that protected Odin became visible, the black figure mounted an eight legged horse. He was in the Nibelungen again, this time he didn't plan to turn around.

Luminous approached them and parked the tricycle next to the Maybach, he stood in front of Odin and the god stayed silent. The words "You are finally here" were not uttered this time, he was right, Odin was waiting for Nono, but he didn't bring her this time, Luminous's presence was meaningless to his rival.

Odin kept staring at the end of the road, waiting for Chen Motong to appear and show her face.

- This is the right way to start the game, my senior sister is not here, only you and me, only one of us can leave this place alive!

He was vey happy, he finally played the god. He slowly grabbed a spear rocket launcher from the tricycle, the little devil was as reliable as always. The servitors immediately recognized the destructive potential of the weapon and tried to disperse, but Luminous opened fire first and scattered their shadowy remains on the road.

He saw his face in a puddle, the crazy expression of Ming·Z was now his own, like every other time they fused, it felt like this was his true nature. Weapon after weapon he ran out of ammo, some servitors sneaked behind him and sliced his torso with their claws, if it wasn't for the bulletproof vest that Tianjiao left in his suitcase, Mingfei would have died already.

A shot of his last gun, a M500 revolver finally broke one of the servitor's masks. He hadn't seen one of those faces since his mission in Japan, their skin was covered in scales and their teeth were long and alien-shaped. Odin gave them black robes and masks to use them as his personal servants. Odin was definitely different to every other dragon king he had faced before, they were all savage and aggressive, but this one was stoic and dressed like a figure of mythology, unless...

That was it! Odin wasn't a dragon disguised as a mythical character, Odin, the myth himself has been a dragon all along. The secret party had misread norse mythology, now it was clear that it narrated the history of the dragon clan and it was written by the dragons themselves. Every god was in fact a dragon king, in those myths, the main antagonist of Nidhogg was Odin. This god had already foreseen the coming of the end of the world, the so-called twilight of the gods, where the world tree would wither.

The suppressed Nidhogg will rise in the air, ready for revenge, it will destroy everything and ruin the kingdom of the gods. Therefore, Odin prepared himself for this battle, ordering the Valkyrie goddesses to gather the heroes's souls and place them in the Hall of Valor to assist him in resisting the black dragon. If the norse myths are indeed dragon history, the hall of valor must represent a place filled with countless dragon cocoons and embryos waiting to be awakened.

This information, this great secret was about to be buried there with him if he didn't survive this battle. Nono was probably packing, ready to leave with Finger and go back to Cassell, for whatever reason Odin needed her, she would be out of his reach, he just needed to endure and Odin was still as invincible as ever. Making a deal with Ming·Z was inadmissible, giving the little devil enough power to materialize could bring an immeasurable catastrophe. The boy appeared in front of him.

- Brother, you finally asked to see me, do you want to... Shake my hand?

The multitude of servitors overwhelmed him, he contemplated dying there, it wouldn't be so bad, just very lonely. With a loud bang! the strongest servitor flew out and fell motionless on the mud.

A red BYD car swiftly parked next to him, a hand came out of the window and shot the three closest servitors, that was Finger, of course it was him!

- Drive faster! Why the fuck are you here?

- What do I know? I was eating dumplings with your aunt and the hospital called to tell me you were gone!

Finger placed a tracking device on Luminous just like he did with Nono and saw his trace disappearing in the highway, so he went to investigate and entered the Nibelungen by accident.

- Don't get confused by my F-Rank rating, I started as an A-rank, remember?

Flammel tasked Finger with helping Luminous to prove Johann's existence, he didn't remember the young hybrid either, but he trusted Anjou, and Anjou believed in the importance of Luminous more than anyone. Not everyone on Cassell gave up on him after all.

- Don't drive away, we can't escape!

- I thought you told me to drive faster!

- Yes I did, but I meant towards Odin!

The servitors quickly realized what they were intending to do, so they formed a barrier in front of their master. Finger pressed a button on the car and one mini-gun came out of each side of the vehicle.

- The equipment department makes phones that double as grenades, you think they can't make 007's car?

The gatling guns opened fire on the crowd of servitors, effectively cleaning the way. Finger put the car on self destruct mode and got ready to jump out, Luminous got on the roof, aiming his knife at Odin. The car hit Odin's water barrier and exploded, the shockwave soared into the sky, filled with flames. Luminous jumped and managed to pass through, and with a swift move, he pierced through Odin with the blade, just like Tianjiao attempted to do many years before.

Every servitor stopped their movements, Odin's scores started dropping down immediately and his body got split in two. There had to be something wrong with that, there's no way he would fall to his death so easily. Luminous took the god's skull and removed the mask, under it, the face of a death servitor greeted him instead, the others started crying and laughing at them. Odin's only goal is Nono, it had always been Nono, this was a trap and he was already on his way to get her.

Chapter 15

Nono was sitting next to Su Xiaoyan's bed, peeling an apple. The woman happily ate the bonbons that Nono brought for her as a gift.

- Nono, how is your mother doing?

- She's fine, she's still working and always asks me when I'll get married but I just don't tell her.

Nono had to make up that story, but at that moment she really felt like Xiaoyan's niece. She checked the woman's medical records, apparently the doctors thought she was schizophrenic and amnesiac, as long as Nono played her role well, the medical personnel would think Xiaoyan's amnesia made her forget about her relative.

Because Nono brought Bonbons, Xiaoyan recognized her immediately and happily accepted her gift.

She had been there since her son's death, she lost track of time, to the point where she felt like she had been there for three or four months, when in reality, seven years had passed. Not many people visited her in that time, her husband would take her home for a few days every now and then, but those events became less and less usual. Of course, Nono was there for a reason, without Tianjiao's apartment, her only remaining clue was Johann's mother, but the woman wasn't very open about her life. Nono's ability allowed her to put puzzles together, but Xiaojiao kept messing up the pieces.

- Did your former husband treat you well?

- He couldn't make enough money and he was very unmotivated, playing foolish all day long, I had enough of him!

- But he's handsome, and he's probably still breaking hearts.

- How do you know that he's handsome? You haven't seen him before.

- Of course I have, I remember hugging my uncle!

- Come on, do you really think I'm that broken? I know I don't have a niece.

- Then why didn't you tell the doctor?

- Because you're so pretty, and I like to chat with pretty girls, there's no one else here to chat with me, and you don't look like a bad person either.

Nono was genuinely surprised, so she declared her intentions straight on, she wanted to know more about Chu Tianjiao, but his ex-wife didn't seem to know a lot about him either, he would constantly lie about his past and alternate between multiple versions of the story.

- Sometimes he told me that he was a great spy, and that he came here to complete a task, and I believed him, without a clue of his salesman-like nature!

- And you still married him?

- He was handsome, and I was young.

Xiaoyan didn't express any regret in divorcing him, she'd rather be with someone she could rely on, but there was something else she could not explain.

- But he seems to have left something behind with me, a very important thing, I just can't remember it.

- What is it?

- I said I can't remember it, I've been thinking about it for a very long time.

- What kind of thing?

- A very important thing, I must find it, it would be very bad if I didn't.

A burst of cold wind opened the windows and made them shiver, Nono stood up and went to close them but she noticed something strange, the flowers on the outside were all withered, black petals flew through the room, she closed the window as fast as she could, something bad had happened and the air outside smelled of death.

She took out a desert eagle from her bag and stopped Xiaoyan from screaming, the woman relied on her intuition to understand that Nono wasn't going to hurt her. The place was silent and the lights flickered, the instinctive feeling of being alert that came from true isolation soon got a hold of her. She and Xiaoyan got out of the room, door after door, every doctor and every patient had disappeared.

The rain and the wind rapidly eroded the building. The day was finally here, she had never been in a Nibelungen before, she once regretted not being able to experience it, now Nibelungen came to see her. She didn't knew wether to be nervous or excited.

- Someone, someone is coming. Su Xiaoyan's voice trembled slightly.

The sound of footsteps made an echo in the building, those weren't human steps, that sounded like a few horses were coming their way. The storm, the Nibelungen, the steed, the rider, it seemed to be an ancient king who came with a strong breath of death, and the flowers in the garden withered in front of him. Nono remembered him, she saw his silhouette in the reflection of the glass when she went to Tianjiao's apartment.

The rider didn't seem to know where Xiaoyan's room was and he was checking them one by one. They ran towards the elevator, the rider was on the first floor so they needed to get to the top as fast as they could without the sound of their steps giving away their position. Behind them, the fluorescent lights went out one by one. Nono finally saw the reflection of the elevator's door in a mirror, but when its doors opened, the light of Odin's flames came out.

They ran in the other direction and soon reached the stairs, they ran down but it didn't matter, they were trapped on an endless loop. She shot at the creature but the bullets melted before touching the god's armor. They kept running and Nono kept shooting back but it wasn't buying them any more time, temperatures were rising and there was no way out.

Odin wasn't even in a hurry to reach them, Nono took Xiaoyan in her arms and ran across a hallway, enduring the terrible heat of the floor. She tried to get out through a window, but after opening the curtains she noticed that the whole world outside had changed and she was greeted by the sight of a roman pantheon.

Nono suddenly fell silent, she helped Xiaoyan to sit down on a bench and put her boots on the woman's feet. She noticed something, she was crying, she was remembering.

- There might be a way for you to get out of here by yourself, now tell me, what did Tianjiao left for you exactly?

- It's... A child. I had a son with him, his name is Johann Chu, I can't find my son... I can't find my son!

Xiaoyan was holding a pillow in her arms, the doctor said that she would put this pillow in her belly every morning and happily declare that she was pregnant. Nono took it from her hands and threw it away.

- Since you have a clear memory of him, you don't need this anymore, you will find your son, although I don't know where.

In this world, those who are not lunatics are the ones who were deceived. Luminous and Su Xiaoyan were the craziest because of their link to Johann Chu, to the truth. His mother's mental disorder was not there because she had lost a son seven years ago, a certain god wanted to modify her memory of him and she was resisting. She tied the little pillow to her back because a child is only safe in his mother's body, she sensed that someone was going to hurt her boy, so she wanted to feel like she could protect him.

Nono pushed Xiaoyan into a cubicle next to the ward and told her to keep the door closed until someone came to rescue her. She took Finger's GPS device out of her bag and broke it, expecting Luminous and Finger to arrive there after seeing her signal disappear. Odin arrived, his flames evaporated the strong currents of water and stood in front of her, Nono kept two knives on her back and a desert eagle in each hand.

- Odin!

The creature and his lance were impossible not to identify, the god actually exists.

- You are finally here.

He slowly raised Gungir and a faint white thread appeared, connecting the tip of the spear and Nono's heart. She thought his goal was Xiaoyan, due to her connection to Johann, but she was wrong, Odin's goal was her and only her. No wonder Luminous threw her down in the library, he probably had a foreboding of her death for some reason and tried to save her, his eyes showed a constant state of panic.

She didn't believe him and they put him on a psychiatric institution. She really wanted to tell him that she was sorry, because she had underestimated him.

She had always tried to be there for Luminous, she couldn't deny that she saw a lot of herself in him, this obsession with taking care of her sidekick was so prevalent because she knew how it was like to be powerless, lost and defenseless, but in the most critical moment, she had failed him.

Nono vaguely heard a song, a duet about a father and his daughter, it was coming from somewhere, along with the noise of a car engine. Luminous was coming, that song came from the radio, but how could she hear him? It didn't matter, she felt him presence and she believed it.

- Luminous! Don't you fucking dare to come here!

Nono shot every bullet she had left and they melted on Odin's presence. The lance was thrown and suddenly, the Maybach smashed through the wall, its lights illuminated Nono's eyes. She smiled, the moment she saw him, the cartridge of her gun was empty. The lance had already started its course and Luminous could only see her lips moving:

- I'm sorry

- Ming·Z·Lu! Luminous roared, time slowed down in his eyes

- The little one is here! Ming·Z smiled, Since I promised my brother that I'd try everything!

Come out! Golden saint cloth of the zodiac!, Phase shift armor!, Fierce fist! Seven-fold ring of the blazing sky!, Absolute domain AT Field!.

Every time he yelled a strange name, Luminous froze for a moment, these strange spells were taken directly from anime shows, they were weapons that lined up in front of Odin's lance, even a nuclear explosion could be rejected by them.

- What are you doing?

- I don't really know what tricks would work so I'm doing all of them!

Ming·Z kept casting spells, the speed of the lance was indeed affected but it never stopped nor it changed its trajectory.

- Hurry up brother, run!

Nono tried to yell, telling Luminous to stay away, but her mouth moved too slowly. Luminous ran past Odin and past the lance. The seven-fold ring was the strongest defense against projectiles, every time the Gungir lance pierced through a layer, it made a loud noise. Nono dropped the empty gun, she didn't have the strength to wield her knives. The spear hadn't arrived yet, and she was already like a lamb crucified on an altar.

Gungir hit the final defense, the sound was almost glass shattering.

- I couldn't stop it, even with the last layer. Give her a hug, kiss her! This is going to be your last chance! I'll buy as much time as possible for you!

Ming·Z made another barrier but the lance broke it, the little devil's hands were splashed with blood and they stained his bow tie, but he didn't care and looked at his side as an indifferent Luminous passed by and stood in front of Nono. He never managed to change the events, just the scenery. Gungir pierced through Ming·Z's chest.

- Brother, I tried my best

- It's ok, I'm here as well.

Luminous wasn't going to hug or kiss Nono, he was there to take her place. He could clearly feel his heart being cut open. The spear hadn't even touched his skin and his body had begun to carbonize and turn black, showing a rare struggle, burning it inch by inch.

- No! No! No! Nono struggled to stand up and pull the lance away from him.

- Don't come near me!

The lance tried to go through him, but it only managed to pin him against the wall. Nono shivered slightly and tears slowly ran down her face, but she didn't realize that she was crying. She always wanted him to grow up and go his own way, to use any advantage she might have over him to push him forward, but now the person who was crying on the floor was her.

- Senior sister, are you okay? It's okay.

Luminous raised his head, half of his head and body were carbonized, the cracks at the end of his lips extended all the way to the roots of his ears. He was really happy, because he finally managed to achieve his goal. He didn't want to live with the regret of losing her, he had seen Johann's own regret already.

Odin wasn't pleased, the god roared as he realized he had missed his chance. Luminous whispered:

- Ming·Z·Lu...

- Brother, I am here, you really found a method to stop the lance!

- In this world, only a monster can stop a monster, and I am the biggest monster in the world...

- Yes, you are the biggest monster in the world, brother! You are awesome! Then, are you ready to make the last deal? I can't do much against the lance, but I can take care of the monster behind it, the little devil is good at this dirty work!

Luminous stared at him and asked for two conditions:

- Kill Odin, but also take Nono back to safety.

- Alright but hurry up! That guy is almost here!

Sleipnir's eight legs made a thunderous sound, the dragon subspecies that Odin mounted carried its master into the room. Luminous raised his blood-soaked hand and gave the little devil a high-five. Ming·Z's figure suddenly appeared in the night sky, this time he stopped laughing and opened his arms. He looked like a suspended cross.

- Something for nothing, 100% fusion.

He breathed deeply, as if he wanted to inhale all of the world's air into his lungs. Sharp bone spurs protruded from his body and he was covered in black scales. Huge black wings sprung from his back and he took flight, diving down, his image poured into Luminous's body.

The carbonized skin quickly peeled off, he experienced musculoskeletal growth and deformation and the sound of a glacier cracking was heard across the hospital.

The black wings were opened and Gungir was ejected from his chest. Sleipnir couldn't move a single inch closer to them, because Luminous placed his hand on the horse's chest. Nono stared blankly at him, because she couldn't tell if the monster in front of her was a friend or an enemy, but Luminous stared back at her.

- Sister, don't be afraid, as long as I live, you'll be fine.

After two years, Chen Motong saw the devil that rescued her from the bottom of the Three Gorges Dam once again. She remembered how he held her, his childlike fear and his voice.

Don't die, don't die, don't die... Don't Die!

- So it was you...

But Luminous didn't hear those words at all, he rushed to Odin, at the flash of lightning, the monsters that had been in conflict with each other so many times, leaving countless disasters, clashed once again, and the claws and the sword stained the place red and black.

They roared, they fought, a war between kings that can only be ended by death.

Epilogue

On the elevated road, Finger stopped for a moment to catch his breath. This guy is usually slacking and his posture is erratic. The death servitors are struggling to even reach his clothes.

There should be half a marathon left before he can lose them, however, the physical strength of those things is almost unlimited.

Seeing him stop, a group of servitors suddenly became excited and the baby-like cries they made reached the heavens. A girl in a black outfit and a gauze mask appeared in front of him, a ninja.

- How did you know I was here?

- I have a radar for pretty girls... Can you handle that many servitors?

Mai Sakatoku drew two small blades.

- Those are too many, I'm specialized in assassination, not group combat. It's a pity that the other two girls are not here...

- Then I hope I can help.

He had a sword in his hand, the mirror-like Murasame suddenly turned black, the black blade light soon extended all the way to his body and the rain around it evaporated. Mai was surprised by the brutality of the sword, but Finger remained indifferent.

- What kind of sword is that?

- Murasame, have you never heard of the Dragon Slayer of Fire? Then you are really kind, but a bit ignorant, my friend!

After saying that, he jumped and cut off the elevated road.

[lilacandladybugs]

hey since youre talking about christianity, i was wondering if you could answer a question ive been curious about. if god cares about people and if jesus died for our sins, then why does hell exist? and if god cares about us then why did he let so much bad stuff happened in his name, and even cause it, like with the noah’s arch story?

sorry if any of this is wrong ive never read the bible, but ive had bad experiences with christianity in the past and the way you talk about it seems much nicer than the way i know it

I don’t think I can answer this question in a way that doesn’t come across as pretentious or like I’m asking for an argument or just being straight up unsatisfying. But I just am going to try anyway because i'm hoping that maybe this will be comforting or helpful to someone. I’m sorry if this is offensive I am really trying my best, please take this all in the best possible way and be gracious with me 

The thing about this ask is that it’s actually a bunch of different questions, and since each of them individually is really hard to answer so I’m going to narrow it down to just one ( im sorry ;-; ) . The one I’ve thought about the most is “Why does God let bad things happen if he loves us?”

When this question first really occurred to me, I was already a believer. So I was already pretty convinced that God exists logically, from the perspective of history, philosophy, science, and my personal experience. I believed in the /existence/ of the God who is represented in the scriptures. (I doubt anyone wants it but I can give you a list of resources if you want to look into any of that.) The struggle for me was whether or not all that evidence held true in the face of this moral dilemma; the problem of evil in the presence of a loving God.

But I just couldn’t turn my back on the concept of a moral grounding in God. I had a philosophy professor tell me that people are mortal and so we shouldn’t grieve them like they’re immortal, that grief is a choice, and that trauma is a choice. I respected her so much, but I just couldn’t accept that. There’s nothing more unsettling to me than suggesting that cruelty and death and suffering are only wrong because you think they are, and not because they’re violating sacred ancient laws. My friends dying, people hurting me, that isn’t just in my head. It’s /real/. They’re really dead, and it really matters. People really did something wrong when they hurt me, and it isn’t my fault for being hurt. It’s their fault for being cruel. And their cruelty is objectively morally wrong.

I realized that if I became an atheist I would have to accept the fact that there isn’t /objectively/ any difference between right and wrong. There isn’t any theoretical “right way” that the world should be. But to me, there is a right way it should be. There is a right way and it was lost because of sin.

It was I guess comforting that Christianity provided the premises I needed to ask a question like this. Evil exists. And love exists. So how can God exist? What a comforting question, in a way. To get to grieve, to be angry, to wonder what’s going on, to want things to be different. It was validating i guess

Don’t get me wrong i was FURIOUS i was so angry. I was so angry and so conflicted I kind of thought I might just like rip apart at my seams but I just felt caught between a rock and a hard place to be either abandoned by God or to not even be able to think about my experiences in a way that felt coherent.

He showed up though. I remember swearing at him, and laying up at night thinking he wasn’t there, I told him I wouldn’t have to have trauma if he would’ve stepped in, that my friends wouldn’t be dead, that he let it happen to me, that he just /witnessed/ it. And man idk he just showed up. He showed up every time. I almost walked away like five times that summer. And every time he sent someone, there was always someone that showed up and talked to me like out of nowhere. Or music, or scripture, or something someone said in passing. 

The night that it was really bad was when I realized that the only person who could save me was God and I cried out to him, and I just idk I’ve never been so desperate. I went to church the next day against my will and the sermon felt like it was written for me specifically. I cried through the whole thing.

If God is goodness, then how can I say he isn’t with me and around me constantly? In the sunrise and sunset, in the stars, in flowers, and in kind words. In sermons. In friends and family. In all the coincidences that stopped me from becoming an atheist, all of the answered prayers and the impossibilities. That’s why my side blog is called @in-the-whisper. Because I felt him there, even though it hurt, he was with me in the quiet and in the silence, in his whisper in a thousand different ways.

I was posed this question by someone who was there for me in one of those moments where I almost walked away from God, “Is sufficiency abundant?” I guess I thought it was. Where was God? In the peace that surpasses understanding. In the knowledge that everything is finished, that he died for us, that he didn’t abandon us. That whatever terrible things happen, he was willing to take all of the consequences for that onto himself in the person of Jesus. That one day he will set things right, even though it isn’t right right now. 

It comes down to the Gospel (good news, core story of the Christian faith); humanity actively chose to walk away from God in an act of rebellion. We had free will because God created us tenderly to be in a loving relationship with him, and loving relationships must be based on free will and they must be two way. So he let us walk away from him, and away from the sustainer of life our bodies break, our world crumbles, and we die. In order to bridge that gap, he chose to die in our place, so that we could re enter that free will relationship with him if we so choose. He died on the cross, descended into hell, and then in three days he rose from the grave, defeating death. And one day he will return on a white horse to rescue us and to take the world back as his own. If I believed that to be true, then I believed in the greatest intervention in human history that has ever occurred. The God of the Bible isn’t a distant God, "God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him." 1 John 4:9 He did the unthinkable for us.

Living in light of the gospel helped me to understand the way that God is present in my life, my present, past, and in my future. It gave me peace. When Horatio G. Spafford’s two daughters and wife died in a shipwreck, he wrote this,

“When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul." 

“Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control: that Christ has regarded my helpless estate and has shed His own blood for my soul.

“My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

“And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight The clouds be rolled back as a scroll The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend Even so, it is well with my soul!

“It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.”

I don’t have an answer for your question. What I know is that I am willing to rest in the knowledge of my personal experiences and my research that God exists, that he is loving, and that he is powerful, just, and wise. Even the winds and the seas obey him, the mountains are like pebbles to him, thunder rolls at the sound of his voice. He had thought before time began, he gave all knowledge and all wisdom to us. 

Why do bad things happen also brings up the question, why do good things happen? Who do we have to thank when we get up in the morning and can see or hear or move or are alive in general? Why are we so blessed as to have two days and not just one? Where do mornings and complexity and beauty and wonder come from? They come from him. Not because we need it, but because he wants to give it to us. Enjoyment, existence, love, laughter, thought, beauty, heartbreak. The world is just as beautiful as it is terrible, and why should it be beautiful? Because he wants it to be that way.

God is so patient. He is so patient and kind and powerful, and he wants to hear your questions. Some of them, like this one, are in my opinion something that you have to talk to him about directly. He gives us thought and logic and reason and wisdom, and he asks for us to engage him. He will answer.

If any believers are reading this, I want you to know that it is enough to cry out to him in pain. It is enough to want to want to believe in him. He would so much rather hear from you in your anger than never hear from you at all. Seek him out, he will find you. He will chase after you.

I bet that he would chase after me, bet my life on it. I might not know the answer, but I am confident enough in what I do know that I’m willing to bet my existence that God will come true on his promises, that he will deliver me, that everything will be okay, that he is bigger than my trauma, and that he will hold me.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,     neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,     so are my ways higher than your ways     and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow     come down from heaven, and do not return to it     without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish,     so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:     It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire     and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 12 You will go out in joy     and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills     will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field     will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,     and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown,     for an everlasting sign,     that will endure forever.” Isaiah 55:8-13

And I’m holding him to that promise.

[cloviaglade]

THE CRIMSON FLOWER ROUTE CORPORATE UNION AU

Yeah it came to me in a dream shared it with a friend and she said I should inflict it on the world so here we go

Warning: It's super long but I broke it up into chunks

(note not all members of the house fall into the categories listed also I'm not the best with corporate terms and positions. Also this was made for fun and isn't that serious)

The houses

The Black eagles generally were in accounting or sales. They dealt with a lot of the customers firsthand and were considered expendable

Blue lions where mostly in HR or IT

Golden deer mostly worked in maintenance and public relations.

Staff and church members are members of the board. Flayn has her position on the board despite her age because nepotism

The Seiros Co:

It's a large company that provide a large array of services and products that promote physical and emotional well-being. The company started out with good intentions but soon became a corporate monster

The company provides a host of benefits to its employees including on site housing, on site restraunts, on site pools gyms ect. They even have the best insurance on the planet. They even have horse therapy.

However they have to pay premiums on the health insurance, their rent is docted from their pay, they have to pay for on-site facilities, and those living on site are heavily encouraged to work overtime.

a lot of this is justified by cover every single health expense and days of for minor colds. Many employees seek mental health care more often than they seek physical care.

The on site living conditions vary heavily. Most are just a small white room with a single bed and a dresser. No visitors after certain hours and forget about outside visitors. However rumors are spreading that the board members have spacious luxury apartments.

The pay without all the benefits is not a wage you could live off of. But with the rent for these rooms doct from your pay you couldn't reasonably save up for different arrangements.

The strike begins:

Edelguard was finally fed up watching her team struggling. She hears constantly about how her workers are not making enough. How they have to scrape because they needed new clothes or shoes. Or worse how Petra wasn't able to support her sick grandfather

She hired a lawyer Hubert to look into information about their contracts and compare everything to labor laws. She needed to know how much of this was legal and if there was anything to be done about it.

Huberts lawfirm dealt with several lawsuits in the past. They are considered ruthless in court however media painted them out to be money hungry and demented

As expected, it was legal (mostly due to lack of regulation for these types of benefits) but really unfair, So Hubert suggested a strike. His firm would handle all the legal matters as they prepared a lawsuit and to unionize.

Edelguard was careful to organize it in private. Nothing was emailed. Nothing to tract them. Flyers were handwritten and posted in the dorms inviting members to secret meeting on slow hours.

Roles

What everyone did on the day of the strike/position they were in the office.

Black eagles

Edalguard: head of sales- she got everyone in her department and many others in different departments to simply stop working for the day when she commanded everyone to stop working via megaphone. She suck in hubert and went to a private meeting room to set up a list of demands.

Hubert: head of Vestra lawfirm- he snuck past security with the help of Edelguard. He brought a laptop and a phone with Hotspot so he could video call the rest of his attorneys from inside the conference room. Once the strike was in full swing he toured the place with Edelguard gathering evidence.

Ferdinand: senior sale manager has the highest customer satisfaction - when the strike was well underway he sent a mass email to everyone in every department including the CEO and founder herself in a very professional tone about how there is a strike. Lornez replied immediately and they when to the breakroom to enjoy tea while on the clock.

Lindhart: IT software specialist - first thing he did was turn off all the bans on websites. Everyone could go on whatever website they wanted to. He left the download blocker up and other safety precautions in place. Others could looks at memes and scroll through social media ect. He then returns to his dorm and takes a paid nap.

Caspar: manager in accounting slow but very accurate and a real team player - he hated the no pets policy with a burning passion so he let all the stray and feral cats that hang around the building in through one of the side doors. They stayed mostly on the ground floor and a few made a mess under the desks. He played with the strays with a few of his co-workers.

Bernadette: customer service rep. - she hated the calls filled with angry people. She clocked out, disconnected he phone, ran into her dorm and screamed into her pillow until calm. Once she calmed down enough she did some embroidery.

Dorothea: sales representative- has the highest upsale rate - she gets into her car and just leaves. She is still clocked in. Nobody knows where she went. Some say she met with a lover, others say she went on a binge. Nobody really knows.

Petra: bilingual sales rep. - she signed her phone off and immediately called up her family overseas. She proceeded to catch up and talk with her family for hours. She rarely got to speak with them due to the difference in timezones.

Blue lions

Dimitri: head of IT - he doesn't actually know much about IT and has little intrest in it. He got the job because his dad recommended him. With the outside website ban lifted and the lost of control of his department he frantically tried to get everything under control

Dedue: cyber security and protocol educator - although the bans are lifted he is still concerned about a cyber attack. He is frantically try to restore the ban but it seems like lindhart deleted the code.

Felix: hardware specialists - he was the one who should've been promoted into Dimitri's position and is a bit smug about how everything is falling apart in front of his boss. He bypasses the download blocker and plays minecraft on the company computer. Dimitri is too busy to notice that felix isn't helping.

Sylvain: HR rep. - he knew from the start that working conditions were shit. He was tired of trying to raise moral by doing everything but paying the employees more, giving them time off, and reasonable working hours. He went to the break room where Ferdinand and Lornez were having tea and ate a bunch of the snacks the company was reselling at super high prices then faxed a picture of his ass and balls to rhea herself as a letter of resignation.

Ashe: new hire in IT - was called down to the first floor to replace a keyboard a cat peed on. Found caspar was the reason the cats were let in. Caspar then persuaded him to play with the cats instead of shooing them out. 3 hours later he completely forgot about the strike and clocked out per usual. He completely forgot about the strike

Mercedes: head of HR - she meets with the board and discussed what to do about the strikers. They can't force them to go home since everyone striking lives on site and has every right to be there. No significant damages is being done to property. The only loss is from those not working (and a keyboard covered in cat piss and $35 worth of snacks) Mercedes is forced to find a way to get them to stop but in a way that doesn't really change anything. She leaves the meeting when it is over clocks out and returns to her modest house she calls out sick for the next couple of months.

Annette: HR rep - she tries to stop the chaos on the floor and to convince everyone to return to work. She is ignored. She wanted to ask for a megaphone to help gain attention but edelguard took the one from HR and the person with the key to one in the event closet is striking as well. She runs around in a paint trying to answer emails and settle everyone down.

Ingrid: IT helpline rep - helping Dimitri reset the ban on outside websites is above her pay grade. She at least know some of the terminology and the basics. She manages to set up a very basic blocker but it didn't block whole domains just the homepage of every website she could think of that's wasn't appropriate for work. Logging into the site allowed you to bypass the block. Ingrid feels like she will be fired for not being able to do more

Golden deer:

Claude: event planner - noticing that there was no work happening he finally decided it was time to actually do his job. He dipped into those sweet event funds and ordered as many pizza's as he could from every pizza join that could deliver. He busted out the sport balls and got employees to clear some room for flag football on the 3rd floor. He got Hilda to organize games of hide and go seek in floors 4 and 5. All games and activities were not officially approved but followed all guidelines.

Hilda: claudes assistant - organized games on the 4th and 5th floors. The cubicle although uniform made excellent hiding spaces and the food plaza just got rid of the old tables and chairs awaiting delivery of new ones so there was a ton of space to run around. Hidia had to jump between floors pretty often which was a workout all on its own but it was worth it to see everyone smile at work for once.

Lornez: head of advertising - he was tired of writing jingles and stupid commercials for the company. He wasn't aware of the strike until he got the email from Ferdinand. He offered to treat him to some tea he brought from home. They had a lovely talk and watched Sylvain stress eat. He tried to talk Sylvain out of resigning but failed.

Raphael: pizza delivery guy - he thought it was a joke at first since they never delivered pizza to the Serios Co but was persuaded by Claude. He got stopped at the front by the front desk clerk who was ordered not to allow any deliveries. Soon more pizza guys showed up and some of them where not as nice as Raphael. He eventually got in and successfully delivered his pizza.

Ignatz: accountant - he wanted no part of this and tried to work despite being on the 3rd floor. He doesn't have any PTO and is frantically trying to get his absence approved because he cannot work under these conditions. He got walled in with desks and chairs and hand to crawl his way out to try to find someone in HR to help him but found their office empty. Worst day of work ever.

Lysithia: Intern- hopes to join the advertising department - She needs this job for school credits so finding out that her boss told her to take the day off because of strike she immediately thought of her record. Lorenz assured her that she would get credit as long as he had any say in it. She played a round of hide and go seek before studying in Lornez's office

Marianne: customer service rep.- she heard the rumors and on the day of the strike she freaked out and when to have a panic attack in her car. She was on lunch technically but she took a 3 hour lunch. She came back in clocked out and decided to try that horse therapy.

Leonnie: pizza delivery guy (not nice) - she knows the customer didn't care that the order took so long to complete and was very understanding that the 30mins or less delivery time but seriously! 50 PIZZAS!! She had to stretch and press dough at top speed for like 45 mins then she burnt her hand while boxing some of the pizza's and she had to deliver all of it to this company just outside of town and now the person at the front door is insisting that the pizza was ordered by mistake oh no! Not today! You will take the pizza and you will pay for it and tip 25%.

Church

Rhea: CEO and founder - she honestly believes her practices are helping the community. She doesn't realize that she doesn't give her employees much choice. She thinks her employees are ungrateful.

Seteth: president - also believes the company is doing the best they can. He knows the dorms are small and brand but they house 78.364% of their employees and they all see a doctor at least 3 times a month. He hates that he has difficulty finding a balance between competitive prices, compensating workers, and turning a profit.

Flayn: secretary - she saw the fun going on in the 5th floor while on her lunch and thought it was organized by staff and didn't connect it as part of the strike.

Catherine: front desk - tried to turn away all the delivery drivers but more kept coming. She kept getting calls from upper management about the social media platforms and tried frantically to get in to make a statement but had little luck. She gave up when Leonnie demanded payment and let all the delivery people in.

Shamir: social media manager- she originally attended the meetings as a mole but soon learned that her fellow employees hardships. She drafted huge posts on every platform exposing the truth, changed all the passwords then took a vacation during the strike.

Hanneman: chief operational officer - he is calling and emailing the IT department about the bans every moment he can. He organized the meeting as soon as the strikers got rowdy.

Manuela: chief financial officer - although she is worried about the finances she has also been pressing about where to cut the budget first. Horse therapy is ridiculous! They own the whole ranch and are responsible for the upkeep of every horse. And all the horses are carefully hand selected and trained too. It's too much nobody uses the horse therapy because nobody has the time off to go to horse therapy!

Alois: Chairman - his title is mostly empty. He joined the strikers in a game of flag football scored a touchdown. Then went back to work as usual. Didn't check his emails about the strike since he only checks them in the morning when he first comes into work.

Gilbert: treasurer - he puts business first. Doesn't know his daughter works for the same company. Was friends with Dimitri's father. He is stressing about how the company will recover financially. He is the reason for the pay cuts so they can fund most of the benefits.

Cyrill: gopher - he gets paid minimum wage and lives on site. He considers himself lucky that he can drive the company car to go pick up office supplies from the store. He was homeless before he got a job at Seiros and feels like he is important.

Results

Since several members of the board were caught participating in strike activities the hubert and his firm counted them at strikers and used this in court.

The dorms were not considered responsible accommodations saying that prisoners in jail cells at least have their own toilet.

The news when crazy with the posts on social media. The account never replied to any dms or comments. When called they said a rogue employee posted them falsely because she was being fired.

Rhea was forced to pay a lawsuit that gave all dormitory workers an allowance of $1000 for rent for life. Even if they choose to leave the company.

Dimitri was fired for not actually having any training. Felix was promoted to the head of IT and everyone respects him.

Rhea looses her company. And most of her assets. She kept the therapy horse ranch and manages that for a living.

With the entire company now belonging to her since everyone above her resigned she made a ton of changes making the company more normal. She pays a fair livable wage to every employee. She repurposed the dorms into offices or solitary break rooms.

Huberts firm gets rebranded as a honest firm that wants to help the little guys. He later goes on to help other corporations unionize.

[gamerwoo]

[Tales from the Pack] Minghao: Find Our Way (Part Four)

Characters: Minghao x female reader

Genre/warnings: werewolf au, fantasy, fluff

Word count: 1,596

Summary: You already knew who you were meant to be with and how your life was supposed to go. The only thing keeping you and the life you were destined to lead apart was the fact you were blind. At least, for now, you could meet him in your dreams.

Tag list: @choiminjae0325​ @heolykpop​ @fullsun-donghyuck​ @yoonbabe-d​ @exuwu​ @lets-get-1t​ @vintageot5​​ @sehunnies-hunnie96​ @childfmoonn​​ @wobwobkpop​​ @henloimawierdobye​​ @dirinast​​ @hhhhwww7​​ @joshwoah​​ @wreckedbytae​​ @salty-for-suga​​ @janellxu​​ @doyouknowkpopp​ @xu-miseo​ (if you wanna be added please send an ask or a dm!!)

Unable to tag: @uglyratlmao @birthday-prinxess @sooooofrench

a/n: things in bold are in mandarin

Previous | Next | Find Our Way Masterlist

You were sitting pretty comfortably on Soonyoung’s back as you listened to the sounds of the dead leaves and twigs crunching under their feet. At first, Chan carried you, but Seokmin decided that they should take turns so nobody got tired out. So then you were with Seokmin for a little while, who pretended to be a horse at first just to make you giggle. And now, you were on the back of one of the alphas, who enjoyed chatting to you as much as you enjoyed chatting in general – what else was there for you to do?

“Won’t your neighbor miss you?” Soonyoung wondered when you mentioned the girl who took care of you. “She’ll know you’re missing.”

“No, I think she considered me a burden,” you admitted with a shrug. “She had a boyfriend she would rather be off with.”

“How much longer until we’re home?” Jooyeon wondered quietly, sticking close to whichever werewolf you were being escorted by -- you thought that was very sweet that she wanted to be close to you. You did feel a little of an attachment to her since she had put so much trust in you when she was afraid of her mate.

“A few hours,” Seungcheol replied. “Why, are you tired?”

“Sort of,” she told him, which was understandable since they’d been walking for a few hours already. “I’ll be fine.”

“I can carry--”

“I don’t want you to be even more tired,” she told him.

It was cute that she cared about Seungcheol’s well being, too. She’d definitely come a long way.

You always wanted nothing more than to help the pack you belonged to, just because you liked to help and feel useful. Knowing you helped somebody always made you feel better, but it was rare anybody ever let you help considering you couldn’t see. With the pack, though, your strange power came to good use. You had a hand in helping Jooyeon and Seungcheol become closer.

Through your dreams, you’d gotten a lot closer with Jooyeon, too. You were one of the only people able to calm her down back then. You felt very close to her despite knowing her for not nearly as long as you knew most of the pack. You spoke to her more frequently other than your mate. She was like your best friend now.

“_____?” Chan spoke up.

You hummed in reply, letting your chin rest on Soonyoung’s shoulder.

“Is your hearing as good as ours?” he wondered.

“No,” you laughed softly. “It’s better than most peoples but it’s definitely not on a supernatural level. Why?”

“Because you’re half werewolf, and you got the special werewolf gene passed down to you. …How come you get a power but a lot of werewolves don’t?”

“Actually, some werewolves don’t get their power right away. It can take years, sometimes. But it does usually come around while they’re body is younger -- between the time they actually become a werewolf and their twenties, I believe. After that mark, it is rare to get a power.”

“None of us are twenty anymore,” Jeonghan scoffed.

“No, I mean your body’s age, not your actual age.”

You heard Seokmin gasp, “There’s hope for me!”

You giggled softly at his excitement, “It’s actually not as rare to have a power as you’d think it is. I heard of a werewolf nearby that can control fire.”

“Whoa, really?” Soonyoung asked, sounding absolutely amazed. “I want to meet him.”

“There’s also rumors he has a twin brother who controls water,” you continued, recalling what you’d heard from eavesdropping on the front porch. Guards typically walked by and would chit-chat on the corner of your street. “I believe they belong to a small pack made of only special wolves, but I’ve only heard bits and pieces. Besides, nobody has ever gotten close enough to them to observe the others.”

“You know quite a lot, _____,” Jeonghan told you with amusement in his tone. “You’re a smart girl.”

You grinned proudly, happy your hearing finally came to good use – you couldn’t tell any of this information to anybody else, “Thank you!”

“The less talking there is, the faster we’ll get back,” Jihoon sighed, sounding a bit annoyed.

“You need to lighten up,” Soonyoung told him.

You giggled softly, “Yeah, lighten up, Jihoon!”

And you swore you heard him chuckle.

-

After all that running around, the wolves desperately needed showers. Minghao was the last to go, walking out of the bathroom in new clothes and a towel draped over his shoulders as he continued to dry the excess moisture from his hair.

Truthfully, their activities in the yard just made them miss their missing brothers. Soonyoung and Seokmin were always two of the most excited to get outside and run around, so it was odd not having that extra energy there. But at least Minghao had his mind taken off of things for a little bit.

But now there were other things to be worried about on top of everything else. The sun had set, the night sky full of stars, and there was no sign of the search party or Jooyeon. The pack was growing more and more anxious, but nobody knew what to do. Should they go looking for them? Should they stay put?

“It would be good if we had Soonyoung’s power,” Junhui was saying as Minghao entered the kitchen in search of food. He hadn’t eaten all day – other than that one pancake – because of his nerves. “He could get information with--”

“Minghao!” Joshua cut off Junhui when he noticed the younger wolf enter. “Whose power do you have currently?”

Minghao shrugged, trying his best to channel Soonyoung’s powers, but nothing happened, “Not the one we need.”

“Chan’s, maybe?” Junhui suggested with a shrug.

“No, I’ve been moving normally all day,” Minghao sighed. “I don’t have anything useful to us right now. Probably Cheol’s. Or Shua’s, actually. I think he’s the last person I touched.”

“Well, maybe we could--” Joshua suddenly stopped mid-sentence, perking up like he heard something. “Do you hear that, too?”

The two wolves stopped and listened before they were able to pick up footsteps in the forest that were coming toward the den. Joshua nodded his head to the hallway, silently telling them they should go check out what it was.

As the three wolves went for the door, Joshua told Minghao to stay inside with everybody else, just in case it was some of the guards from town. So Minghao went and perched himself on the arm of the couch, keeping his eyes trained on the door.

“Why are you sitting like you have a stick in your ass?” Seungkwan asked.

Danbi smiled a bit at his comment, but kept her laughter to herself.

“Junhui and Josh heard something,” he explained. “They went to investigate.”

“Maybe they found Jooyeon,” Wonwoo shrugged.

“Or maybe it’s the guards,” Hansol reminded them.

The living room sat in silence as they strained to hear for any noise. Eventually, though, they could hear excited talking coming closer to the den. The tension from the room melted, and everybody visibly relaxed.

The group waited for the search party to come back into the house, but Minghao suddenly felt his heart rate pick up. He stood from the arm of the couch to go to the door, and the whole world froze.

Being set on the floor by Jeonghan and handed your cane by Seokmin, was you. Your almost white eyes stared at the floor as you concentrated on all the commotion around you. You didn’t even know he was only halfway down the hallway.

“_____…” your name fell from his lips in a sigh of disbelief, gaining your attention.

Your head snapped up as all the talking stopped, “Minghao?”

You heard his footsteps as he rushed up to you, and you were suddenly being lifted up by strong, warm arms around your waist. As soon as you were in his embrace, you got emotional, tears filling your eyes as you took in his touch, his scent, his everything. You’d only imagined this moment to finally happen, and it didn’t even seem real. It felt too good to be real.

Minghao just held you in his arms, your legs wrapping around him as you hugged him just as tightly. His face buried in your hair, letting the scent of purely you fill his nose so he’d never forget it. He was smiling and quietly laughing and crying all at once, and he didn’t care if the pack was watching because he’d never felt happier. His world finally felt complete having his mate in his arms. He refused to ever let you go.

“I love you,” you told him quietly in your native tongue, your words muffled by his shoulder as your tears stained his fresh shirt.

“I love you,” he hummed in the same language, his chest vibrating with elation and content. His inner wolf couldn’t be more happy. “I can’t believe I have you in my arms.”

He pulled back enough to cup your cheek, and finally – finally – bring your lips to his. The kiss was slow and sweet, but had a passion and neediness behind it. Neither of you ever thought you’d see each other, yet it was finally happening. This kiss was long overdue.

The pack was watching, you were crying, Minghao was crying, and you were miles from the only place familiar to you, but none of that mattered.

You were home. That was all that mattered.

[tsuki-chibi]

Marinette March Day 4: Dough

Read the fic on AO3: Under My Umbrella

--------

Adrien was standing, much to Marinette's surprise, in the rain. The photographer and everyone clustered around him was safely underneath a canopy, but apparently they had decided not to grant poor Adrien that luxury. Even from where she was standing, Marinette could tell that his hair and clothing were soaked. It had to be uncomfortable - and frankly she was a little surprised that Gabriel Agreste was willing to allow his designs to get wet - but you would never have known Adrien’s discomfort from how smoothly he was following the photographer's directions.

"That's it, Adrien! You are the spaghetti! Be the dough!" Vincent shouted. "You are the very thing upon which the bowl of pasta is built!"

"What does that even mean?" Marinette muttered, baffled. Whatever it was, Adrien was evidently doing it perfectly as Vincent finally gave a loud exclamation and kissed his fingers.

"Perfect! Now, we must have Sofia on stage!" Vincent called out.

Adrien moved aside as a very beautiful girl took his place, heading back towards a temporary tent. Marinette skirted the crowd and managed to catch the Gorilla's eye; he was standing guard alongside the barriers. The Gorilla gave her a measuring look before nodding and beckoning her forward. She whispered her thanks as she slipped under the barrier and hurried towards the tent, clutching Adrien's jucice in her hand - though considering he was out in the rain, she reflected that she probably should've brought him something warm instead.

"Adrien?" Marinette called, letting her umbrella fall as she stepped into the tent.

"Marinette? Is that you?" Adrien said, sounding at once puzzled and pleased. "I'm back here."

She followed the sound of his voice and emerged into a small space that was crammed full of clothing. Adrien was sitting on a chair with a towel over his head, scrubbing at his hair. He let the towel fall as she grew near and smiled at her.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," Marinette said, her heartrate quickening in spite of her best effort's to stay calm. She was letting Adrien go, she reminded herself. She had no other choice. Just because he wasn't with Kagami anymore didn't mean anything. Adrien was in love with someone. Even if Marinette had apparently jumped to the wrong conclusion by thinking that it was Kagami, she wasn't wrong about that part.

"What are you doing here?" Adrien asked, cocking his head. "Not that I mind when you visit me on shoots, but it's a miserable day to be out."

"I was having juice with Kagami. We thought you could use some," Marinette said, indicating the cup she held. "It's passionfruit-orange."

Adrien beamed. "Wow, thanks! That sounds delicious." He stretched out a hand. Marinette swallowed as their fingers brushed when she handed him the cup. Suddenly, the space felt entirely too small.

"Wet!" she blurted out.

"Huh?" Adrien said, blinking.

"Wet. You're - you're really wet," she said. "Why?"

Fortunately, Adrien was too kind to answer with the obvious. He sipped his juice and then said, "My father decided to take advantage of the elements. His latest theme is based around negative emotions. This outfit is supposed to represent grief, and he thought that the rain would give the whole thing the perfect edge."

"Negative emotions?" Marinette repeated, making a face. "In light of what happened not that long ago, isn't that kind of... um... tacky?"

"Tell me about it," Adrien said with a grimace. "It feels like he's trying to capitilize on people's trauma. I hate it." He plucked gloomily at the hem of his wet shirt. "But I don't have much choice. I guess I'm just glad he didn't want me in the sex outfit."

Marinette choked on her own saliva. "S-sex outfit?!" she wheezed.

"Yeah, it's a whole big thing based off the seven sins," Adrien replied. "Uh… are you okay?"

"Fine. I'm f-fine," Marinette stuttered, forcibly wrenching her brain away from any images of Adrien and sex. She definitely didn't need to be thinking about that, particularly when all she could think about seemed to be Adrien in black leather and bearing a terrifying ressemblance to Chat Noir.

Adrien shot her an odd look, but shrugged. "Anyway... I was kind of hoping the photo shoot would be canceled today. I could've used a chance to sleep in. But I guess it's just as well. Better real rain than standing underneath a hose while they try to make it look like rain."

Marinette stared at him for a moment.

"What?" Adrien said.

"Nothing. I'm just mentally crossing model off my list of potential future occupations. I don't think I could put myself through everything that you do," she said.

"You get used to it," Adrien said with a shrug and a thin smile, and her heart went out to him. Because Adrien had never been given a choice about getting used to it; his father had decided that Adrien was going to be a model, and so a model Adrien was. It would be like if her own parents decided she was going to be a baker and refused to let her be a designer.

“I guess,” Marinette said finally, unable to think of anything else to say. She glanced around and found herself looking at a nearby rack of clothing. Now that she knew the inspiration behind the line was Hawkmoth’s akumas, everything looked garish and – dare she think it – tacky.

“I’ll be done here soon,” Adrien said. “Do you have any plans today?”

“Not really. I should go home and do some homework. Maybe take a nap.” Yeah right. As though that was going to happen.

“Would you maybe wanna grab some lunch? My treat.”

Marinette’s head snapped around so fast that she heard her neck crack. Adrien had dropped his gaze and was staring at the ground, one hand rubbing at the back of his neck. She had long ago figured out that he only did that when he was nervous… which meant that he was nervous right now. Adrien had asked her to lunch and was nervous about it. Holy shit.

She must have been quiet too long, because Tikki jabbed her in the thigh. Marinette jumped and stammered out, “S-sure!”

“Great. I won’t be much longer if you don’t mind hanging around.” Adrien smiled and stood up. He glanced in the mirror and straightened his hair.

“Not at all,” Marinette said, a little dazedly.

“Okay. Be right back.” He squeezed past her and left, which was good because Marinette’s knees were feeling a bit weak. She toddled over and sank down into the chair Adrien had vacated.

“Oh my god, Marinette! Adrien asked you out!” Tikki squealed, poking her head out of the purse. “That’s amazing!”

“It’s – it’s –”

“It’s?” Tikki prompted, flying up in front of Marinette’s face.

“Horrible!” Marinette exclaimed.

Tikki blinked. “Come again?”

“Tikki! What does this mean? Kagami said Adrien is in love with someone else. Who could that be? Is he using me to get over his mystery girl?” Marinette hissed.

“Maybe it means Adrien is in love with you,” Tikki said gently.

It was Marinette’s turn to blink. Then she gave a shaky laugh. “What? No. No! That can’t be right. Adrien isn’t in love with me. He can’t be. Because –”

“Because you’re falling in love with Chat Noir.”

“Exactly,” Marinette said, then choked. “Wh-what?! No!”

“Marinette, I have no idea what you’re so upset about,” Tikki said.

“Adrien told someone who I am!” Marinette said, fighting to keep her voice low. “Remember? In the alternate timeline where Chat Blanc happened, Adrien figured out who I was because of that present and told someone.” And oh, how her heart had hurt when she’d figured that out. That had definitely put some cracks in the fantasy of Adrien that she’d built up in her head.

“Of course.” Tikki frowned intently. “But Marinette, that didn’t technically happen. You can’t blame Adrien for something that he never did, right?”

“I… I guess,” Marinette said, a little surprised. She had fully expected Tikki, who was so adamant that Ladybug’s identity remain a secret, to agree with her.

“All you’d have to do is make extra sure that Adrien doesn’t figure out who you are, but that would be a lot easier if you’re dating him. You could give him presents as you, not have to worry about getting into his bedroom to leave them!” Tikki went on.

“But… Tikki, I don’t want to have to hide who I am forever,” Marinette said, wringing her hands together. “If I marry someone, I want to be able to tell them the truth.”

Tikki gave her an exasperated look. “Adrien asked you out on one date, Marinette. He didn’t ask for your hand in marriage! Stop putting the cart before the horse. You and Chat Noir could defeat Hawkmoth at any point. It could happen long before you ever get serious with someone.”

“That’s true,” Marinette said slowly. “So… you think I should go?”

“Absolutely. Unless…” Tikki’s expression turned sly. “You’ve got a cat-shaped reason not to go.”

“Seriously?” Marinette said, frowning at her. She still wasn’t sure, but it was not for the reason that Tikki was suggesting. She just didn’t want to get caught up between Adrien and his mystery girl.

Then again, she didn’t even know for sure that this was a date. Adrien might have offered to pay, but that was just the way he was: he had plenty of money, whereas he knew his friends didn’t. Maybe this was just something between friends. Marinette nodded to herself. Of course, that had to be the reason. And Adrien had just been nervous because he and Marinette didn’t usually hang out alone – and when they did, Marinette usually made a complete fool of herself.

Well, not today. She was going to make sure this was the best damn lunch of Adrien’s life!

[dustedmagazine]

Listed: Nick Jonah Davis

Photo Credit: Andy Joskowski

Nick Jonah Davis lives in Derbyshire, England, which is a place where evidence of older editions of England is always easy to find. Successive eras likewise coincide in his music. Davis plays acoustic and electric guitars, drawing on both American and English folk and instrumental traditions. He has worked with like-minded folk, such as C. Joynes and Sharron Kraus, and is also an established guitar teacher and provider of therapeutic musical interventions. He’s been recording the occasional solo record since 2009, and in 2016, Dusted’s Bill Meyer had this to say about House of Dragons: “the Nottingham-based guitarist isn’t living in bifurcations of the past, and he isn’t asking us to either. Rather, he invites the listener into a world bounded by the resonance of his tunings and the vividness of his evolving melodies.” Thread Recordings is about to release a swell new LP, When the Sun Came, and Davis has compiled a list of sounds made by some of his favorite associates.

Even for solo guitarists, music is a collaborative, social thing. For this list I’ve picked some music by artists that I’ve collaborated, recorded or gigged with over the last decade or so. Members of the NJD home team.

Kogumaza — “Ursids”

WAAT048 Split 7" w/Hookworms by Kogumaza

When I lived in Nottingham, Kogumaza were my favorite band in town. They play deep, droning riff-based cosmic guitar music which draws on their backgrounds playing with local heroes like Lords, Rattle and Bob Tilton. They’ve also done their homework, having sat in with heavy hitters like Glenn Branca, Damo Suzuki and Boredoms. This tune was recorded in Nottingham, with Nathan Bell of Lungfish sitting in on bass. I was the assistant engineer on this session, and remember getting a pleasing headful of Katy Brown’s kick drum as we set up the mics. Mind-manifesting stuff.

Ex-Easter Island Head — “Large Electric Ensemble Third Movement”

Large Electric Ensemble by Ex-Easter Island Head

Liverpool’s Ex-Easter Island Head are a revelation. They repurpose electric guitars through a variety of extended techniques, with unprecedented, nourishing results. I was lucky enough to play a couple of shows as a member of their Large Electric Ensemble, a 12-guitar band powered by 1 drummer and multiple Arts Council pizzas. I learned a lot from them in terms of playing guitar with craftily-deployed allen keys and bolts. Living proof that people can and do make genuinely beautiful, ground-breaking music without being all precious and up themselves about it. Good lads.

C Joynes and the Furlong Bray — “Sang Kancil”

The Borametz Tree by C Joynes & The Furlong Bray

Joynes and I have been fellow travelers in the solo guitar realm for many years now. We’ve probably seen more of each other’s gigs than anyone else alive. I was really pleased to be invited into the making of the Borametz Tree album. Not exactly sure how you’d describe my role on that project, but it involved some bass playing, some refereeing and, in the case of this piece, heading into my cellar with Nathan Mann to process some sounds through my echo units. I really love this bizarre, swirling piece of music. It defies description and I really can’t see how it could have happened under any circumstances. Power to the Furlong Bray.

Jim Ghedi — “Bramley Moor”

A Hymn For Ancient Land by Jim Ghedi

Jim popped up a few years ago, around the same time as Toby Hay, and has been a sure source of decent sounds ever since. Jim’s initial, masterful solo guitar work has bloomed out into an exploration of both traditional folk and his own songwriting. Having sat right next to him when we played together in my village a couple of years ago, I can confirm that he has a huge, resonant chest voice. Luckily, he always commits to his guitar just as fully, as you can hear on this jaunty instrumental on which I played some weissenborn. Nathan Mann pops up again playing percussion on this one, small world…

Cath and Phil Tyler — “King Henry”

The Ox and the Ax by Cath and Phil Tyler

I first met Cath and Phil at the legendary Sin Eater festival, a 3-day weekend of fine underground music and excellent ale at an isolated pub in Shropshire. Almost everyone on this list played there actually. This is folk music as it should be played, plain and flinty with a complete focus on the song. Understatement goes a long way in this music and, I suspect because of this, Phil is one of the most criminally under-rated guitarists around. There’s a little part of me that lives for Cath’s jaw harp break at the end of this one.

Toby Hay — “Now in a Minute”

New Music For The 12 String Guitar by Toby Hay

Toby has a special place in my heart for lining me up an annual show in a cafe at the wonderful Green Man festival for the past several years, meaning my family could go for free. Here’s a near-perfect example of a miniature acoustic study from his album New Music for the 12 String Guitar. The guitar in question was custom-built for Toby by Roger Bucknall of Fylde guitars. Fylde put out the word that a label was looking for a young guitarist to make a record on a custom-built Fylde that they would commission, and I immediately suggested Toby. He rose to the occasion. Reckon he owes me a handmade guitar though; I’ll give him a nudge one of these days.

The Horse Loom — “Silver Ribbon”

The Horse Loom by The Horse Loom

Steve Malley played in post-punk bands back in the day, gigging alongside the likes of Fugazi. He later picked up a Fylde guitar and went down an acoustic rabbit hole where his love of British folk and flamenco come to the fore. The DIY-or-die roots of his playing flash an occasional fin. After we met I persuaded him to come down to Nottingham and let me record his first album in First Love studio. He did the whole thing in a day and it’s awesome. This is my favorite instrumental from that collection.

Sharron Kraus — “Sorrow’s Arrow”

Joy's Reflection is Sorrow by Sharron Kraus

I started playing shows with Sharron as we were both UK artists on the Tompkins Square label at the time, so it kind of made sense. She’s a bit of an institution in psych-folk circles and eventually I began playing on her records and at live shows, which has been a real joy. This tune features some heavy drones and an occasional splish of my lap steel. It’s classic Kraus — mournful, insightful, immersive. If you want to hear someone with a bigger brain than yours talking about the weirder side of life, check out her Preternatural Investigations podcast.

Haress — “Wind the Bobbin”

Haress by HARESS

Haress is centered around the twin electric guitar work of Liz Still and David Hand. Located in downright gorgeous rural Shropshire, they ran the Sin Eater Festival and still put out essential music on Lancashire and Somerset Records. I reckon they’ve helped me out more than anyone over the years, releasing House of Dragons on vinyl and always setting me up a show when I need one. This gorgeous piece features Nathan Bell again, this time on trumpet. Those Nathans do get around.

Burd Ellen — “Chi-Mi-Bhuam”

Chi Mi Bhuam by Burd Ellen

I first saw Debbie Armour singing with Alasdair Roberts, a good start. When I went up to play in Glasgow in 2018, I asked if she’d like to open up my show at the Glad Café, which she did, alone except for a borrowed harmonium. I was mesmerized, I think everyone was. Too good for a support slot. Here’s a Gaelic vocal piece which demonstrates exactly who we’re dealing with here, a profoundly talented and committed artist with a lifelong immersion in traditional music, using it as a springboard into something entirely her own.

[paradisobound]

Follow You Home

Summary: Dan and Phil are neighbours who are there for each other whenever they need help. When Phil breaks his ankle, Dan helps him take care of his dog, and their friendship begins to grow to something more.

Word Count: 5.2k 

Warnings: None 

Written With @dayevsphil for the @phanfictionevents Collab Fic Event! 

A/N: we had a lot of fun writing this and we hope you'll like it too!

[Read on Ao3]

Dan is kind of an expert at procrastination. The deadline for this article is approaching at a steady, unrelenting pace, which means that it's the perfect time to clean out his refrigerator.

He's sitting on the cool tile in his pants and an old hoodie, sorting condiments by use-by dates, when his phone rings.

Most people don't bother to call him - it's easier to reach him by text or email, although he's also been known to ignore those until they go away - so he's a bit confused by the noise until it clicks in his mind. He digs in his hoodie pockets for his phone and if he grins at the caller ID, there's nobody here to see him except a very dubious bottle of mustard.

"Phil," he says, trying to sound casual and not like he jumps every time his neighbour calls.

"Hey, Dan," Phil's lovely, sweet voice comes through the line. He also sounds weirdly sheepish, which isn't unusual for him. "I've got kind of a weird favour to ask."

"Do you need a boost to your unlocked window again?" Dan asks. He's having a staring contest with the mustard, unsure if he should make any sudden movements to throw it out.

Phil laughs, and Dan feels a little smug about it. "No. Actually - okay. I did need that. But that was a few hours ago, and I thought I could get myself up there, and - anyway. I don't have as much upper body strength or coordination as I thought I did. Can you maybe, uh, walk Buffy for the next four to six weeks?"

"You know I love that dog," Dan says slowly. "But why? Did you fall off the building?"

"Yeah," says Phil. "And I broke my ankle."

Oof. Dan knows that Phil isn't exactly the most balanced guy in the world, but it still makes Dan wince to think about him getting himself hurt.

"Alright, I'll be over in like half an hour," Dan offers, decisively putting the mustard in his bin. "I'm sure she's buzzing by now, yeah?"

"Yeah," Phil laughs. He sounds relieved, like he thinks Dan would have said no to hanging out with a cute dog for money. "It'll feel weird because I'm, like, home, but I can't take her out myself."

Every time Dan has taken care of Buffy for short or extended periods, it's been because Phil is out of town. He vacations with his family a lot and travels for business every once in a while and Dan, well... works from home and could always use the extra income and the puppy cuddles.

Plus, it helps that Phil is one of the most attractive and funny people Dan has had the pleasure of meeting.

"Don't worry," Dan says. "I'm here to help."

“Oh thank you!” Phil exhales. “Actually, do you think you could take her for a walk right now? She’s a bit restless and I can’t…”

“Say no more! I’ll be right over.”

Dan hangs up, pressing end on his phone and washing his hands of whatever ended up being sticky on the outside of that mustard. He goes to brush his hands off on his legs when he suddenly remembers he's just in his pants.

Looking down at his legs, he figures that while he and Phil could be considered close or even bros, that didn’t mean that they were on the same page about Dan showing up to Phil’s in just his pants. Of course, a secret part of Dan wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to that scenario, but that’s something that’s stored deep inside Dan’s brain for another day.

He grabs the first pair of joggers that he sees on his floor and pulls them on and adjusts the waistband. He hesitates for a moment, debating if he should change his hoodie but then decides that it’s just a hoodie and it’ll be fine.

He grabs his phone from the kitchen counter and his keys from the stand next to the door and heads out down the hall.

Phil’s second-floor flat is right down the hall from Dan’s, which makes it convenient in most cases when they both needed help with the whole climbing through unlocked windows thing. But it also is nice when Phil went away because it means Dan doesn't technically have to leave to go and dog-sit Buffy.

He knocks on the door and then cringes to himself with the fact that Phil probably hasn’t learnt how to navigate yet with his broken ankle and—

The door opens and Dan tries to hide the blush that creeps over his face every time he comes face to face with beautiful blue eyes and stark black hair. Except that black hair is looking a little brown and Dan feels his cheeks heat up even more because how could a man already so attractive become even more attractive? Is that even possible?

His thoughts are interrupted by the bounding of chestnut fur leaping towards the door. Buffy is a big dog—well, she's a labradoodle—but she is very energetic and more than friendly. She's the sweetest puppy Dan’s ever met.

Phil’s leaning on a set of crutches and Dan sees the complete relief on Phil’s face now that they’ve both comprehended the situation.

“Buffy didn’t like being stuck here while I was at A&E so she’s very eager to go out for a walk,” Phil says, hobbling back from the door to make his way over to grab her lead.

Dan just watches and bends down, giving Buffy a few quick rubs before he decides he should help Phil with that. He stands back up straight and helps Phil detangle her lead and then he takes it back to the prancing pupper and hooks her on.

“I can take her to the park for a bit to let her run around?” Dan asks, already being dragged a bit by the over-energetic dog.

Phil nods. “That would be great!”

Dan’s turning back to lead Buffy down the hall when Phil speaks up again. “Hey, Dan?”

Dan turns around and looks back at him. “Yeah?”

“I really appreciate this, you know? I really don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t know you.”

Something resonates deep inside Dan and he struggles to keep back the giddy feelings in his chest as he just smiles and Phil smiles back, shutting the door.

Buffy is extremely eager to go for a walk. Dan isn't exactly a small person, and he still feels like he's being yanked down the stairs by a small horse. He laughs and half-jogs after her once they reach the pavement. He gets out of breath quickly and has to keep pulling her for frequent stops, but she doesn't seem to mind now that they've got some forward momentum.

The dog park isn't very busy at this time of day, when the majority of people are at work and their dogs are at home waiting for them to come home, so Dan lets Buffy off her leash and chases her around to try and get the zoomies out of her.

Buffy is a big girl with a ton of energy, and Dan has to lie down in the grass to catch his breath more than once. She thinks this is all a part of the game every time and licks all over his face until he's giggling and getting back up.

Sometimes Dan thinks about getting a dog, because his flat gets kind of lonely sometimes and the routine of going outside and actually getting exercise can only be good for him, but then again, he's already got Buffy. A small, secret part of Dan has domestic fantasies locked away in the back of his mind, where he gets to hang out with Buffy all day while her dad's at work. The sheer idea of Phil coming home to them every night and beaming at them like they're the best things to ever happen to him is honestly more salacious than Dan's filthiest fantasies.

Eventually, Dan's lungs and legs are protesting far too much for him to keep tiring Buffy out. He takes her back to their building, both of them panting the whole way.

Dan hesitates in front of Phil's door. He doesn't want to make Phil hobble over again, but it feels weird to just let himself in as well… Dan could overthink this for a long time if left to his own devices, just standing in the hallway like a weirdo, but Buffy is having none of that.

She whines and scratches at the door, and Dan makes the decision to just open it for her. She bounds inside when he lets her off the lead and he pauses again before following her inside.

"We're back," he calls through the flat. He hangs Buffy's lead up on the coat rack and toes off his shoes. "I'm just gonna get her a treat, alright?"

"Er, yeah, of course," Phil's voice comes from the direction of the kitchen, and Dan starts moving towards it like he's been magnetized. When he gets there, he's startled into a laugh. Phil is leaning against the counter, a crutch under one arm and a mug in his free hand. He looks alarmed as he watches Buffy go to her water bowl, like he's afraid she's gonna jump on him.

"She should be too tired to tackle you, at least for a little bit," Dan laughs. He grabs a couple of treats from the top of the fridge and makes Buffy sit and shake paw for them. "Good girl," he coos, scratching behind her ears.

"The best," Phil says, looking relieved when Buffy settles for licking the hand on his crutch and going to lie down.

"Mind if I also get a water?" Dan asks, feeling equal parts awkward and giddy. He never really comes back to Phil being here when he dogsits, so this is different.

Phil smiles and shakes his head. "Make yourself at home. I have to get dinner on the go, soon, but…" He trails off, gesturing with his half-empty mug at the cast on his foot. "It was annoying enough to make coffee. I've got no idea how to do any of this without, like, falling over or breaking something."

"You could order in," Dan suggests, and then laughs at the state of Phil's fridge. "And you might need to, mate, you've got nothing here."

"I know," Phil says. He grimaces a bit. "Not looking forward to grocery shopping."

"Well, why don't you leave me a list," says Dan, "and I'll pick up some stuff for you when I go tomorrow?"

The way Phil's face lights up with a sort of sheepish gratitude warms Dan to his core.

"That'd be really nice of you," Phil says, sounding so sincere about it that Dan is tempted to crack a joke and break the moment. Phil sets his mug down and starts patting around his pockets for his phone before he can. "What do you like on your pizza? You should stay."

Dan definitely wants that. He wants to sit on Phil's sofa and eat Domino's and watch a series that's new to both of them so that maybe he has another excuse to keep coming around. Dan is maybe a little pathetic over this guy.

Unfortunately, Dan is also very aware that he's sweaty and a little dirty from rolling around in the grass with Buffy.

"I like pretty much anything," says Dan, setting his water bottle on the counter. "Lots of different dips, please. I'm gonna go take a shower while you order if that's cool, I'm fucking rank from the park."

"Oh, yeah, sure," Phil grins. Then his expression turns mournful as he looks down at himself again. "That's… another thing I'm not sure how to accomplish."

Dan mumbles something that might be English words and hightails it out of the flat before he does something very stupid, like offer to help Phil with that, too. It's not until he's standing on the other side of his own door that he realises he left his shoes in Phil's entryway.

--

Dan feels too awkward to go and get his shoes from Phil’s flat so it takes him a little over a day before he does. And even then, it’s because Phil texted him about taking Buffy on another run—Dan doesn’t call it a walk anymore because Buffy literally makes him run.

So, Dan does what any awkward person would do when they left their only gym shoes at their neighbors flat and they need them. He walks barefoot to said flat and waits with his socks stepped onto a seemingly wet front entry mat.

Dan knocks on the door and after just a moment, Phil opens it open with same big smile on his face and an excited Buffy on his heels.

“You left your—”

“I left my—”

Phil lets out a chuckle and it briefly cools the heat that is definitely seeping up Dan’s cheeks now as they both attempted to say the same thing. God, this made him want to actually crawl into a hole in the floor.

“You left your shoes here,” Phil says still chuckling. “Buffy found the left one and thought it would be fun to drag it around by the shoestring.”

Dan winced and forced out a laugh. “Yeah, sorry about that. I don’t know why I walked out and didn’t even notice I wasn’t wearing any shoes.”

“Well you’re also not wearing any right now so maybe your subconscious is telling you something.”

Dan let out a proper laugh this time as he pointed a finger at Phil. “Listen, I…”

He’s stopped by the sound of other voices coming down the hallway and he suddenly feels weird standing outside of Phil’s door in a pair of joggers and a jumper with no shoes.

Phil moves out the way, as best as he can anyway with Buffy right behind him and his crutches making it difficult. Dan shuts the door behind them and notices his shoes sitting perfectly paired next to Phil’s own and his heart does a slight flip as he realizes that he actually kind of likes the way that that looks.

He picks up his shoes and slips them on as Phil is struggling to get the lead clipped on Buffy’s collar. Dan reaches out to help when he manages to get it hooked and Buffy is now running to the door.

“Guess this is my cue.” Dan laughs and Phil nods.

“I know I’ve already said this but thank you again, Dan! It does mean a lot!”

Dan smiles and looks down at his shoes just happens to notice the small signs of a bite mark on his left shoelace.

—

Two weeks pass with this new system in place while Phil is healing. Dan still comes over to Phil’s every day and he still takes Buffy out on a walk. Her energy was still the same and every day, Dan walked back slightly dirty with a layer of sweat.

Phil said that in two more weeks, the doctor told him he would be able to start wearing a boot on his foot and he seemed extremely glad for that from what Dan can tell.

Phil didn’t look like he was exactly happy being cooped up so much and the past few days, Buffy has even taken up to whimpering and pushing her head into Phil’s hip to get him out the door. But Phil’s lack of mobility makes it not possible for Phil to even walk a bit of the way to the park because his crutches leave him so exhausted.

Dan feels bad. And he wishes he had more that he could do to help.

He knows that Phil is an introvert, like himself, so he’s surprised by how many times Phil tries to get him to stay and hang out. Dan only caves a couple of times, because he hates being around Phil when he’s gross from the run, but Phil seems to be getting more and more desperate for someone to just sit and watch Bake Off with him while he can’t work. Dan makes up excuses most of the time, but it’s getting as hard to say no to Phil as it is to say no to Buffy.

“Dan,” Phil says when Dan and Buffy come back from their morning walk. “Hey, what are you doing today?”

“I have an article to write,” Dan says automatically. He holds up his laptop bag as evidence.

Phil’s face falls, even with Buffy licking his hand, and he nods. “Oh, okay. Sure. Just… if you wanted to, you could work here. It kind of sucks to only have Buffy to talk to all day, you know?”

Well, great. Now Dan feels even worse.

“Alright,” Dan says, following Buffy into the narrow entryway of Phil’s flat. They’re all standing very close together for a long moment, and then Buffy barks at both of them and runs off to the kitchen to wait for her treat.

“Sorry, I know you’re busy with work,” Phil says, sheepish. He looks like he’d be scratching the back of his neck if he didn’t need both hands to balance his crutches.

Dan is really, really not busy, but he’s been telling Phil that he is for two weeks now, so… he nods and pulls an exaggerated face. “A little, but I really don’t mind hanging out with Buffy.” Phil still looks vaguely sad, and that just shouldn’t be allowed. He’s way too handsome for that, all Dan ever wants to see him do is smile. He adds, “And I like hanging with you, too.”

Phil’s whole face brightens up, and Dan knows he’s made the right call.

And then that is part of their routine as well, Dan hanging out in Phil’s flat for a few hours every day. It's nice, because it's all that Dan ever wants to be doing, but it's also nerve-wracking - how is he supposed to keep hiding his stupid crush like this?

It's a good thing Phil is so oblivious.

But at the same time, it’s not. Because Dan can be a bit of a wuss when it comes to letting his feelings out. It’s how it took him nearly three months of pining to eventually to ask his prior ex for their number.

They work together in silence inside Phil’s flat. Phil is busy doing his own work on his laptop while Dan is on his own on the couch adjacent to Phil. Buffy is off in the corner of the living room on her bed taking a nap, snoring away with her legs twitching every so often. It makes Dan smile when he watches her for a bit.

“See something good on your computer?”

Dan snaps out of his trance and turns his head to Phil who is staring at him with a smile.

Dan shakes his head. “No, I was just watching Buffy sleep.”

Dan realizes how creepy that is after the world leave his mouth and he worries that they came off as weird. So he waits on baited breath as Phil lets out a sigh and turns his head towards the sleeping pup. “When I first got her, she slept in bed with me and it made me feel calm.”

Dan bit his lip, warm feelings coursing through his veins.

“I liked having a warm body to sleep next to,” Phil continued. “I don’t know, she just made me feel really safe. And it felt really nice to not be alone for once.”

“I’m sorry.”

Phil shrugs and lets out a smirk. “Don’t worry about it.” Phil says. “It’s definitely a me thing and I shouldn’t be involving you in my problems.”

Dan quickly shakes his head. “No, it’s nothing like that at all.” He pauses. “I really like hanging out with you, Phil. And I’m not just saying this because you have a cute dog.” Phil lets out a laugh and Dan snorts too. “But you were one of the first people I met when I moved here.”

“You were too.” Phil says. “I had just moved here from Manchester and I didn’t know a single person around here. And just to think that we got to know each other over the balcony incident of 2016.”

Dan lets out a loud laugh as he remembers how he came back from the store one day to see Phil attempting to get into his flat via the balcony. Dan had never laughed so hard in his life as he helped Phil out to get back inside. It was also during this time that Dan had seen just how attractive Phil really was.

“Dan?” Phil interrupts Dan’s thoughts and Dan turns his head.

“Yeah?”

“When I get my boot on in a week, can I--” Dan’s heart starts racing and Dan waits as Phil hesitates before finally saying, “Can I take you out to dinner?”

Dan feels his cheeks heat up and blush creep over his skin as he nods and smiles in agreement.

--

Phil gets his boot just a week later to wear for the next few weeks while his ankle finishes healing. Dan had asked him about his mobility level with it and Phil had assured that the doctor told him that he could take short walks but not over do it.

Dan had taken to going over to Phil’s every day to just sit and talk with him and play with Buffy. They haven't mentioned the ‘dinner’ since Phil had asked him but Dan still holds onto the hope that Phil meant it.

Dan wants nothing more than to be able to finally go on a date with Phil. At least, he hopes that's what Phil meant, because if he just wanted to take Dan to dinner as a thank-you then Dan is going to fling himself off the nearest bridge.

It's a few days after Phil gets the boot on that Dan receives a text. He's lying in bed and grinning at his ceiling because Phil wants to know if he's free tonight. Dan is always free when it's Phil asking, if he's honest.

Getting ready for the day is difficult. Dan changes his mind on an outfit roughly a dozen times, because Phil has only ever really seen him in his comfy 'house' and 'walking' clothes, and Dan's got a whole closet full of too-expensive things he rarely wears. He tries some of it on before he gets lazy and just holds things up against his body to the mirror. He plays the coin toss of washing his hair, hoping that when it dries and has product in it won't look like a frizzy mess.

The last time Dan went on a date was before he moved to London, so he's a little bit rusty with it all.

Dan leaves it until the last possible minute to get dressed after getting lost in a Reddit cave, and he ends up just grabbing from the stuff he'd laid out before at random. The wide neck on this jumper used to bother him, but he thinks it looks nice now. His ripped jeans feel tighter than usual around his legs, but he doesn't know if that's because they shrunk in the wash last time or because running around after a dog twice a day is actually good exercise. Maybe they'll be more difficult to take off later, but he likes the visual effect of it.

He manages to shove his clown feet into some sneakers just as someone knocks on his door. He does one last once-over in the mirror before taking a couple deep breaths and going to answer it.

"Hey," Dan breathes, feeling his mouth stretch into a wide grin.

Any worry that this isn't a date is swept away, because Phil looks really good. He's got his shirt buttoned up all the way and his brown hair has actual product in it for the first time in weeks.

Phil beams right back at Dan. "Hi!" he chirps. Dan feels gratified by the way his gorgeous eyes look Dan's outfit over. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," says Dan. He steps out into the hallway, a thrill going through his whole body when Phil doesn't take a step back to let him lock the door. They aren't touching, but Dan can feel Phil's body heat like they're about to be, and he's sure that he's blushing like an idiot when he turns back around.

Phil's smile widens, but he doesn't draw attention to whatever's going on on Dan's face. "Let's go," he says, "I got us an Uber and I'm still getting used to this boot."

--

There are a couple of awkward moments with the boot, like getting in and out of the car, because Phil is a naturally clumsy person and the depth perception with his own limbs isn't great either. Dan is there to help him, though, steadying Phil with a hand to his arm and feeling his stomach flutter whenever Phil smiles at him.

"You've got, like, three left feet," Dan giggles, holding Phil's elbow to guide him through the restaurant. The hostess is being accommodating now, but if Phil keeps knocking into other people's chairs, Dan is sure her attitude will change.

"Guess I'll just need to keep holding on to you, then," Phil grins, a little sheepish.

Dan blushes and steadies him the best that he can before they get to the booth and he helps Phil sit down. In hindsight, Dan feels like he should have asked the hostess to get them a table. But Phil is sitting quite comfortably in the booth with no apparent mind towards his own leg sticking out to the side a bit so Dan doesn’t bother her anymore.

The waitress makes her way over and offers them each some wine and they both take a glass of it before she asks if they wanted any water as well.

It’s awkward, and Dan’s not even going to try and say otherwise. Their feet are hitting each other under the table and Phil just tried to put his napkin on his lap but has now thrown it on the floor. Dan tries so hard to keep his composure, but as he sees Phil attempt to bend down and reach for it without totally jarring his foot up and kicking the table was actually a bit funny. So he stifles a laugh.

“Do you know what you’re going to get?” Phil speaks up now that he’s managed to grab the cloth napkin again and fold it over his lap.

Dan is still looking down at the menu and he bites his lip in concentration as he tries to decide what to get. “I’m not sure.”

“You can get whatever you want,” Phil said. “I’ll pay.”

Oh, this was a proper date then.

Dan set down the menu and he looked at Phil who was staring at him with a blush and a smile. “You don’t have to do that.”

Phil just shook his head, clearly not taking no for an answer.

The waitress came over and Dan ended up ordering a prawn spaghetti dish while Phil got a specialty pizza that Dan didn’t catch the name of. As they sipped on their wine and waited for the order, Dan found himself looking at Phil.

Phil was just so attractive and the fact that Dan was actually on a date with him was making his heart swell a bit. He found himself feeling floaty, his chest feeling hot but his stomach feeling fluttery. He loved it. It reminded him of when he had crushes as a teenager, except now he freely expresses them.

“I want to thank you again for helping me with Buffy.”

Dan rolls his eyes. “You’ve already thanked me enough, Phil.” He says with a playful tone. “You don’t have to keep thanking me for something that I genuinely enjoyed.”

“I know she can be a handful but she keeps me company,” Phil says. “She keeps me on my toes.”

“Not right now she doesn’t.” Dan jokes.

Phil’s eyes crinkle as he lets out a laugh and his tongue does the little thing that Dan has noticed it does when Phil is genuinely laughing, which is poking out of his teeth.

They continue having mindless conversations about Buffy and work and life in general. They don’t get too deep or too personal.

When their food comes, they barely speak as their starving stomachs protest more than their mouths and they both hungrily consume their food. When they’re both done, Phil asks for the tab and then he pays without Dan getting a single say in the matter, and then they get ready to leave.

Walking back out of the restaurant isn’t nearly as hard as walking in and they get outside to an Uber already waiting for them. Dan helps Phil get inside again and they sit next to each other the entire ride back to their flats. But this time, Phil’s hand makes it way over the seat and touches Dan’s with the lightest of touches and Dan turns over his palm and lets Phil put their hands together.

It’s such a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but Dan feels genuinely happy and content in that moment.

They take the lift up to their flats and as they stop outside of Phil’s, their hands still connected, Dan feels a bit of sadness crest in his chest as he realizes he was going to have to say goodbye to him for the night.

He knows it shouldn’t be this hard. They live nearly across the hall from each other. But for some reason, that short distance feels like oceans tonight and it’s weighing heavy on Dan’s chest.

Dan goes to say goodbye and dislodge their hands from each other, but as he goes to do so, Phil leans in and presses a kiss to his cheek. It’s nothing big, but it’s enough for Dan to feel himself blush. Phil pulls back after the quick peck and just smiles.

“I’d love to do this again sometime if you’d like?”

Dan quickly nods. “Me too. I really would too.”

They part ways and Dan walks back to his flat with his shoulders a bit slumped and his chest a bit heavy. But his cheek still feels the tingle of Phil’s kiss and when he shuts the door to his flat, he reaches up and feels the space that Phil had pressed his lips to.

He gets out of his clothes and into a pair of joggers and an old uni hoodie and is laying down on his couch when his phone buzzes and he looks down at the screen and sees a message from Phil.

Buffy misses you :( maybe we can have a sleepover?

Dan doesn’t need to be told twice as he rushes out the door of his flat with his toothbrush in hand and is greeted by Buffy and Phil in the doorway. And as he steps inside, he knows for a fact that this time is different than any other time he’s come over before.

[stahlop]

Once Upon a Time 2x19 “Lacey” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x11 1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 2x01 2x02 2x03 2x04 2x05 2x06 2x07 2x08 2x09 2x10 2x11 2x12 2x13 2x14 2x15 2x16 2x17 2x18

Ok, so, I’m now remembering why I felt season two wasn’t so great originally. Greg and Tamara. I love both the actors (I mean, Ethan Embry as Greg was brilliant in Empire Records and Sonequa Martin-Green as Tamara I loved on The Walking Dead (RIP Sasha). But now that Cora is gone I feel like the rest of this season is almost being tacked on unless something big is about to happen. Both Regina and Gold are struggling between being good and evil, neither of whom are trying to be good for themselves but for other people. We also got another fairy tale character in a flashback who I hope becomes more significant in the future.

Summary: Belle ‘regains’ her memories as a barfly named, Lacey, and Gold tries to win her heart. Regina discovers that Neal is Henry’s father and suspects that Emma is hiding something from her. In the EF, Robin Hood tries to steal a wand from Rumplestiltskin and gets tortured for his actions, but Belle frees him, despite what consequences it may bring.

Opening: Robin Hood shooting an arrow.

New Characters:

Robin Hood: I know we technically don’t find out his name until almost the end of the episode, but it’s pretty obvious from the moment we meet him who he is, so let’s not pretend we don’t know who he is. He breaks into Rumplestiltskin’s castle to steal a wand. First off, he’s cocky as hell if he thinks he can break into the Dark One’s castle without him finding out. True that it’s the middle of the night, but Robin Hood has got some balls. He’s also dumb as hell if he thinks an arrow to the chest will kill him. Did he not do any research about Rumplestiltskin and the fact that he’s immortal? Robin seems very surprised that the arrow from his magic bow that can hit any target didn’t kill Rumplestiltskin. I’m very surprised that Rumplestiltskin decides to torture Robin instead of kill him right on the spot. Gaston came to fight for Belle and Rumplestiltskin turned him into a rose which killed him right on the spot, yet Robin is just getting tortured (ok, it’s still bad, but killing him outright would have seemed the more obvious choice)? Belle goes in to rescue him. He’s strung up by his wrists, and for the amount of blood Rumplestiltskin had on him (and the apparently other aprons that needed washed), Robin has very little blood on him. I expected him to be disemboweled or cut to shreds at least. Robin is afraid that Belle will get punished for letting him out, but Belle won’t leave because she’s afraid of going back on her deal with him. Robin is waiting for a Marian who is sick. He heals her with the wand he stole, and she’s pregnant. They run off when Rumplestiltskin fires an arrow at them but ‘misses’. I’m assuming we’re going to see Robin and Marian again and that’s why Robin didn’t die in this episode.

Sheriff of Nottingham/Keith: In the EF he seems to be a drunk (as evidenced from him having a hard time getting off his horse and his flask). He’s delighted that Rumplestiltskin has a beef with Robin Hood, but he also knows that Rumplestiltskin likes to make deals, so he has one for him. Idiot. Don’t go making deals with him when you don’t have to. He tries to get Belle for the night, but Rumplestiltskin says she’s not for sale. He attempts an hour, then twenty minutes. You’re not doing much to help your cause here Nottingham. Rumplestiltskin pretends to think about it, but then steals Nottingham’s tongue and tells him he tells him what he wants to know and he’ll get his tongue back. Nottingham agrees. We learn that Robin Hood ruined Nottingham, stole his woman, and made him the laughing stock of Nottingham (and this is where we learn he’s the Sheriff of Nottingham, also, I’m thinking making him a laughing stock wasn’t very hard). He also tells us that the thief is in Sherwood Forest. And if you still aren’t sure who our thief is, he tells us his name is Robin Hood.

I don’t think we ever get Nottingham’s SB name, but the credits list him as Keith, so that will be easier than calling him Nottingham here as well. We first see Keith hitting on Lacey in the bar and he is an A number one creep. He tells her he’s had his eye on her for a while. Now that we know that he wanted to make a deal for her back in the EF, this is even more creepy. She blows him off pretty quickly though. But apparently she kept in touch with him or got his number because she leaves her date with Gold to go make out with him behind Granny’s. Ew. When Gold grabs him off of Lacey he snivels that he didn’t know she was here with Gold and runs off. Keith later goes to apologize again to Gold, because he didn’t realize they were still together. Gold informs him that they aren’t together, so Keith assumes everything is okay between them then, and tries to shake Gold’s hand. Of course, this is when Gold decides that he’s tired of doing the right thing and takes Keith’s tongue again so no one can hear him scream while he beats the crap out of him.

Character Observations:

Belle/Lacey: We are back to right after Belle is taken to Rumplestiltskin’s castle after agreeing to be his maid in Skin Deep. It might be one or two days after she went to work for him, and the chipped cup scene should have happened at some point here, because she was still in her gold dress, and Rumplestiltskin gave her the list of what she had to do in the castle. She is crying because he’s locked her in a dungeon. Rumplestiltskin complains about the noise and gives her a pillow. Belle thinks she can finally sleep because she’ll be more comfortable, but he really gave it to her to muffle her crying.  Then Robin Hood breaks in and is captured and tortured by Rumplestiltskin. Belle is horrified at what Rumplestiltskin is doing, especially because all he tried to steal is a wand. Rumplestiltskin says the thief tried to steal from him. And you get skinned alive if you steal from the Dark One. Belle says no one knows that. Rumplestiltskin says they will now and leaves. Really, no one knows that bad things would happen if you steal from the Dark One? I’d think that was just common knowledge. So Rumplestiltskin leaves and Belle takes the opportunity to free Robin. He wants her to come with him, but she made a deal with Rumplestiltskin and won’t go back on it. She’s putting her kingdom before herself. She’s not afraid that Rumplestiltskin will kill her for freeing the prisoner? She’s known him for about two days at this point. Belle is reading a book when Rumplestiltskin goes to torture Robin Hood again and finds him missing. Belle admits to letting him go because she doesn’t think he deserves to die. Rumplestiltskin tells her she reads too many books (where’s the lie?). She talks about seeing the good in him and he only wanted to escape with his life, but Rumplestiltskin shows her the empty wand holder. Belle, always thinking the best, says he must have needed the wand for something. Rumplestiltskin says that people who steal magic never have good intentions. Belle still doesn’t like that answer so she counters with you never know what’s in a person’s heart until you get to know them. Rumplestiltskin is going to find Robin, kill him with his own bow, make Belle watch, and make her clean it up. Belle finally looks frightened. In the carriage to find Robin Hood, Rumplestiltskin is worried because he’s losing track of the thief, Belle suggests giving up and going home, but Rumplestiltskin can’t let him get away because of his reputation. Belle thinks letting people know he’s not such a beast is a good thing. She asks him why he didn’t kill her for letting the prisoner go. He claims it’s because good help is hard to find. She tries to convince him that he’s a good man underneath and not so dark and yada yada yada, all the things we always hear her say about him and he’s never going to change Belle! Honestly, I wonder if Emilie DeRavin just stopped looking at her scripts because she just says the same thing in every single episode. Ugh! There’s a difference between finding the man behind the beast and just being a fucking psychopath who likes power and killing people. But I digress. Eventually she agrees that he’s dark, because Rumplestiltskin won’t even give her an inch about being a better person. They come across the Sheriff of Nottingham who wants a night with Belle in exchange for information. Belle looks shocked but doesn’t seem worried that Rumplestiltskin will sell her for information. Walking in the forest, Belle tells Rumplestiltskin she won’t stand by and watch him kill a man. Rumplestiltskin reminds her that’s the whole point of him bringing her with him. They find Robin and he’s healing a woman who is sick with the wand. Belle is truly happy that he didn’t use it for power or evil, and that she was right about not knowing what’s in someone’s heart. Rumplestiltskin pushes Belle into the ground so she can’t get away? I’m not sure why he does this, because it doesn’t stop Belle from continuing to talk or from seeing that the woman is pregnant. Belle doesn’t think he’s the type of man to leave a child fatherless. Oh plot contrivance, just the one thing that will make Rumplestiltskin not kill Robin Hood. He fires a warning shot instead. Belle asks what happened and he claims to have missed, but she knows she got to him because any arrow fired from that bow always hits its target.  Belle’s delivery of the line about the bow is the best. It’s the only time I’ve seen her be sarcastic. Be more sarcastic Belle. She hugs him for sparing Robin’s life. When they return to the castle, Rumplestiltskin shows Belle the library. He claims it’s just another room for her to clean, but she sees through his facade. She tells him he’s not who she thought he was, and she’s glad.

We don’t really know much about Belle’s Lacey persona. We know she is the complete opposite of Belle. She’s loud, a flirt, and boasts a wardrobe similar to cursed Ruby’s. She likes her alcohol and she’s an expert pool player. She also likes hair bands (as evidenced by her knowledge of Van Halen). She agrees to go out on a date with Gold, but apparently she only does it to be nice, and had hoped that he was a little more like the rumors about him (that he wasn’t a good guy). She doesn’t even feel bad that she caught him making out with Nottingham while they were on a date together. But she’s much more into him once she catches him beating the crap out of Nottingham. They go through the same dialogue they went through as Belle, where he’s not who he thought she was, but she’s glad. And he tells her he is darker.

Rumplestiltskin/Gold: So Rumplestiltskin is pretty much an ass through most of this episode. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before, but he’s just taken in Belle and he’s already annoyed with her crying and she’s already having to clean up blood soaked aprons. He leaves the castle in the middle of torturing Robin Hood for some reason, and when he gets back, Belle has freed the prisoner. Now, from what we’ve seen of Rumplestiltskin in the past, this is not usually his MO. Usually he just kills the person forthright. So why the show? Is it so Belle knows exactly who she is dealing with? Or does he really want to send a message through Robin? I honestly doubt that anyone would steal from Rumplestiltskin without a good reason. Belle makes it seem like no one knows what he would do if someone stole from him, but considering he’s the DARK ONE, I think they’d get the picture. So Rumplestiltskin decides to hunt down Robin Hood, kill him with his own bow, and make Belle watch since she’s the reason he escaped. Belle keeps trying to wear him down the whole trip, talking about how there’s good in him and he can change, but Rumplestiltskin has been evil for so long that he’s not buying what she’s selling. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t pull out her tongue just to shut her up and I don’t feel that he has any particular feelings for her at this point. He honestly just wants the company. At least he was smart enough not to make a deal with Nottingham for Belle. When they finally do catch up with Robin Hood, Belle convinces him not to kill him because his wife is pregnant, and he couldn’t leave a father childless. Oh look, it’s the one thing that will make Rumplestiltskin have feelings. He shoots the arrow and ‘misses’. Belle is surprised when he decides not to go after Robin Hood, but Rumplestiltskin decides he’s not worth the effort. Belle sarcastically reminds him about the bow but Rumplestiltskin pushes it off as the bow losing his magic and suddenly Belle is right there in his space and he’s a little lovestruck. Belle hugs him and he seems really confused. Probably also that he’s not used to human contact, it’s been awhile since Cora. And as Belle turns away he looks at her with this school boy longing, as if he can’t quite believe what just happened. Belle asks if he’s coming and he gives a shy little smile while picking up his quiver and it would be so cute if it wasn’t Rumplestiltskin and we didn’t already know he’s an asshole and he’s never going to change. Rumplestiltskin ends up showing Belle the library. She thinks it’s a sweet gesture, he tells her that it’s just another room to clean. She takes his hand, he’s shocked by the touching again, and she tells him that she was wrong about him. No, she really wasn’t. He still tortured a man just that morning!

Gold, on the other hand, is having feelings of guilt. He has a dream that it’s Henry’s birthday and he essentially kills him in front of his family because of the prophecy. He startles awake about that. Gold is watching Neal and Henry pretend sword fight at the park. Regina comes by and wonders why Gold’s son is playing with Henry. Gold gleefully informs her that Neal is Henry’s father. Regina thinks Gold planned this, but Gold chalks it up to fate. Regina plays on his fears by telling Gold that none of them will accept him as a doting grandfather. Gold thinks he can do it, but Regina reminds him that darkness always wins out for him. If his own son couldn’t bring out the good in him, who will? And that would be Belle, but Belle still doesn’t know who she is yet. He goes to visit her in the hospital. She’s surprised to see him because the last time they spoke in The Miller’s Daughter he was about to die. She’s glad he’s okay though. She’s finally come to terms that they may have been together in the past. Gold is happy that she’s accepted that. She tells him she remembers him healing her, and it sounds like he’s going to pass it off as meds and what not, but he does tell her it will make sense when her memories come back. Belle wants Gold to help her regain her memories. He agrees as long as she helps him bring out the best in him again. He goes to get her discharged. By the time he comes back, Belle is gone and there is just a matchbook for The Rabbit Hole left behind. He heads to the bar and finds Belle there, except she is no longer Belle, she now thinks her name is Lacey, and she’s essentially a barfly. Gold is very confused as to how Belle turned into Lacey. He goes to see Regina who he accuses of giving Belle false memories, but Regina reminds him that she crossed the town line, so she just jump started Belle’s cursed memories. Regina mocks Gold by saying he won’t kill her to get real Belle’s memories, because he’s on his best behavior for his son. They discuss true love’s kiss as a way to break Belle’s cursed memories, but Regina doesn’t think Lacey will go for Gold. Regina is incredibly calm through this whole exchange, while Gold is getting more and more enraged. So Gold does something that no one expected, he goes to David for help. He wants to know how under the curse David Nolan won Mary Margaret’s heart. David doesn’t want to help because of the whole Gold getting Mary Margaret to help kill Cora thing. But Gold reminds them it was basically a kill or be killed situation. Gold is fine with David not helping, but he let’s David know he’ll owe him a favor if he helps him win Belle/Lacey. David tells Gold that there was still a sliver of Snow and Charming inside their cursed personas, so Gold needs to remind Lacey of the man she fell in love with. Gold goes back to The Rabbit Hole with David as his wingman (the whole situation is hilarious) to try and woo Lacey. He immediately tries to go after Keith for flirting with Lacey, but David stops him. He goes to talk to Lacey but she starts talking about Van Halen and Gold has no idea what to do. He complains to David that they have nothing in common but David tells him he just needs to find a way in. He asks her out and she mentions that she’s heard rumors about him. People are scared of him, he tells her not to let that deter her. They make a date for Granny’s. On the date, Gold is extremely nervous. He orders burgers and iced tea for both of them (Belle’s favorites), but Lacey would rather have chicken parmesan and a bottle of wine. She thinks Gold is a classy guy despite everything she’s heard about him (being ruthless and sometimes people get hurt). Gold says he’s a simple shop owner and procurer of hard to find objects. He says people believe the worst in him but he wants her to believe the best in him. Lacey says she doesn’t see the man that the rumors depict. Gold takes that as a compliment. Lacey says the line about not knowing what’s truly in someone’s heart and Gold gets so flustered that he spills his iced tea on her. She goes to clean herself up and Gold’s practically patting himself on the back. The food arrives and Lacey still isn’t back. Gold catches her making out with Keith behind the diner. Lacey pretty much tells him that she only went out with him to be nice, but she’s not nice, Gold is nice (ha!). Gold tries to get things back on track by saying that’s what she always loved about him, and Lacey gets pissed off because she is not Belle. Gold finally realizes that he can’t get Belle back. Gold runs into Keith again, who apologizes, but Gold’s done. He has no one to be good for anymore (um, are we not even trying to redeem ourselves for Neal anymore?), so he starts beating the crap out of Keith. Lacey sees this and is enthralled. She likes the bad side of Gold, the one everyone talks about. She wants to date this Gold, and Gold is just happy to be with someone who looks like Belle, but lets his dark side out to play. Because that’s not creepy or anything.

Emma: She is shown the bean fields by her parents and doesn’t know if she wants to go back to the Enchanted Forest with everyone. Mary Margaret apparently has changed her mind and wants to go so she can put the whole Cora debacle behind her. Also, I love the whole exchange between Anton and Emma, that they’re actual friends. I’d forgotten that she didn’t even know he was in town because she was in New York. Emma realizes that David and Mary Margaret didn’t tell her about the beans because they want to go back. They tell her they want her and Henry to come too, but Emma insists that this realm is her home. David tells her it’s been nothing but cruel to her and she could get her happy ending in the EF. Emma’s not so sure. Emma’s at the docks looking at the storybook when Regina interrupts her. She’s upset that Emma didn’t tell her about Gold being Henry’s grandfather. Emma reminds her that she was too busy trying to keep Regina and Cora from killing her whole family. Regina continues to insult Neal and Emma until Emma tells her to stop worrying about everyone else and start focusing on being the person Henry wants her to be before he’s gone for good. Regina wants to know what Emma means by that. Emma tries to play it off as just a figure of speech and that there’s not a scheme out to get Regina, but she doesn’t believe her. Emma is not a good liar at all. Later on Neal brings a sleeping Henry home. She asks Neal if he ever considered going back to the EF. He’s not interested. Emma and Neal discuss who Storybrooke might not be safe from since August doesn’t remember anything as Pinocchio. Neal tells her she’ll figure it out because she doesn’t stop until she finds what she’s looking for.

Regina: She’s all about doling out the insults to Gold and feeling sorry for herself in this episode. She’s shocked and angered to find out Neal is Henry’s father. She insists that Gold had to know as he procured Henry for her. She doesn’t believe it’s a coincidence. Gold informs her that it’s just fate. Regina’s probably just thinking that now she has another rival for her affections for Henry. Regina tells Gold they’ll never accept him because he covets darkness over everything else. Gold tells Regina she doesn’t know him. She knows him well enough. She ends with the scathing insult that if he couldn’t change for his son, who will he change for. Hey pot, meet kettle. Regina goes to visit Belle. I have no idea why she does this, just to mess with Gold apparently. Because she knows Belle is the only person who can make Gold a better person? Whatever. She picks up a matchbook off the floor and tells Belle she must have dropped it. It causes Belle to get somewhat hypnotized and ‘regain’ her memories. Gold confronts Regina in her office about Belle’s memories. Regina tries to blame it on him since he gave her the curse in the first place, she just jogged the cursed memories out. Gold wants her to fix it, but she can’t because she crossed the town line. Regina mocks him about not killing her because Neal is in town. She continues to mock him about ways to win Lacey over. She is overly calm in this scene whereas Gold keeps getting angrier and angrier. She wishes him luck as he storms out. Regina confronts Emma about Neal being Henry’s father and Emma not telling her. Emma reminds her that she and Cora were trying to kill her family. So I see we’re back to selfish Regina and it’s all about her again. She’s upset about Neal still being in town. Emma says he wants to spend time with Henry. Regina says neither Emma nor Neal wanted to be with Henry the first 10 years of his life. Again, Regina seems to have no compunction about the fact that because of her curse, Emma had no choice but to give up Henry because of how she’d been raised. But sure, let’s just blame Emma and Neal for their circumstances. Emma makes a comment about Regina becoming the person Henry wants her to be before it’s too late. Regina realizes this might mean something, despite Emma blowing it off and trying to placate Regina. She vows to figure it out. Regina later notices the Charming’s bringing all the dwarves back from somewhere and uses magic to find the bean fields. She has a mix of anger and joy on her face when she finds them and realizes what they are.

Tamara/Greg: Greg has made a map of all the places he’s seen magic in SB (do they not realize the whole town is magic?). Tamara asks Greg if he’s had any luck with finding his dad. Greg says no, but he’s sure he’s in town somewhere. He asks Tamara about the package. She says it was too big so it’s just outside the town line. They’ll get it at night. That night Tamara pulls into town with a moving trailer hitched to a car. They finally reveal that the package is a person, and oh look, there’s Hook, foiled again. How many times has he been bested now? Maybe I should keep a running list.

Questions:

Why is Belle still in the hospital? Could her father not bring her home while she was recovering? Or couldn’t someone just bring her to her apartment behind the library that she’s been living in?

Why is Belle always in full makeup? Did she bring her makeup kit over with her to be Rumplestiltskin’s maid? 

How does Robin Hood not know the Dark One is immortal?

What is up with Emma and Mary Margaret’s matching hats? That hat seems way out of character for Emma.

They were able to grow a whole vineyard of beans from one clipping? Do we just have amazing soil in this realm considering it’s been maybe a week since they got back from New York and the beans are almost ready?

Why are Tamara and Greg referring to Hook as the package when they are alone? Do they think someone is listening in on them?

Where did Belle get a book from when she didn’t know about the library yet? Did she bring her own books with her? I’m pretty sure she didn’t get to bring anything with her.

How did Belle not notice the wand was missing? She was sitting right next to it!

Where did Lacey get her ‘Lacey’ clothes? They wouldn’t have been in Belle’s wardrobe. Does Lacey have an apartment somewhere that was waiting for her if Regina had ever freed her during the curse?

What is up with Rumplestiltskin’s accent in this episode? It is all over the place.

Why is Regina still mayor? Wasn’t she asked to leave during Lady of the Lake? Did she just resume office again when she was being evil with her mother?

Where did the Lacey persona come from? Lacey didn’t exist during the curse. Belle didn’t have any memories of anything during the curse except being in the mental ward. So was her cursed persona just waiting to be activated like David’s in The Shepherd just in case Regina decided to let her go free?

Why does Gold say for the first time ever he’ll owe David a favor? Does he mean for the first time ever he’ll specifically owe David a favor? Because in Welcome to Storybrooke he did Mary Margaret a favor for saving his life, so it’s not the first time he owes anyone a favor. The wording of it just sounds off.

Since when does Granny’s table have tablecloths? Is this the night dining decor for dates? Do a lot of people come out for dates to Granny’s? Are there no other restaurants in town?

When did Lacey contact Keith? Did she randomly run into him at Granny’s when she was in the restroom, or was she running off and just ran into him outside?

Who does Lacey think Belle is? Does she realize that she was Belle and she just thinks her real memories came back? Or does she think Belle is someone else entirely? Shouldn’t she be a little more freaked out that everyone thinks she’s someone named Belle and she can’t remember that part of her life?

Neal mentions that Pinocchio is cooler than August because he steals less of his money. Did he tell Emma that August stole the $20,000 that was meant for her?

How was Tamara planning on getting the moving trailer inside the town if August was supposed to have left town with her car in Selfless, Brave, and True? And is Greg’s car fixed now?  It was in pretty bad shape after his accident.

Did Hook never have to pee or eat or drink water in the back of that moving trailer. That’s been there for at least two days since Tamara arrived in town.

Observations:

There are 11 candles on Henry’s birthday cake in Gold’s dream, even though Henry is already 11 and he’d be 12 on his next birthday.

Poor Belle, she’s always in a dungeon of some kind. In this episode that is where Rumplestiltskin has her, she was in Regina’s dungeon for years, and then she was in the basement during the entire curse.

The wand that Robin steals is the same wand in Gold’s dream that Henry picks out. It is also the same wand that he stole from Cinderella’s fairy godmother in The Price of Gold.

The bow that Robin Hood has, that always hits its target, is the same bow that Rumplestiltskin gives Snow in Heart of Darkness to go kill the Evil Queen.

Regina triggers Lacey’s memories the same way she triggered David’s in The Shepherd.

Lacey is playing pool with Mr. Clarke, the only other townsperson who has reverted back to their cursed persona.

I counted at least 3 times that the word beast was used to describe Rumplestiltskin: Rumple uses it when he gives Belle the pillow, Belle uses it when talking to Robin Hood, and she uses it again when Rumple questions what people would think of him if he let Robin Hood go.

Don Juan was nothing before he made a deal with Rumplestiltskin.

Emma is looking at a picture of her parents when they were pregnant with her in her nursery in the storybook.

Timeline Issues:

The wand that Robin Hood steals from Rumplestiltskin is the same wand that he killed Cinderella’s fairy godmother for in The Price of Gold, except that doesn’t happen until around the same time as Snow and Charming’s courtship. Snow and Charming are already married when they attend Cinderella’s wedding and we know she and Snow are also pregnant around the same time because in Storybrooke, Ashley was ready to pop out her baby. But we also know that after Belle left Rumplestiltskin’s castle, she was held captive for at least 2 ½ years because of the markings on the wall that we saw in Queen of Hearts. So I have to assume that he procured the wand, Robin Hood stole it,  Robin gave it back to the fairies, and then Rumplestiltskin killed the fairy godmother to get it back. Otherwise, it makes no sense why he had the wand at this point in time before he killed the fairy godmother.

So, Gold goes to get Belle discharged from the hospital. Regina comes in and ‘triggers’ Belle’s memories. By the time Gold comes back, Belle is gone. He picks up the matchbook and decides to go see if she’s there. So, let’s say this whole thing takes an hour from Gold going to get Belle discharged (because seriously, how long could it really take?) to Gold going to The Rabbit Hole to look for her. In that time, she’s managed to a) find clothes, b) find money to buy (several) drinks, c) introduce herself and get friendly with the bartender enough so that he recognizes her from Gold’s description, and d) has already started hustling Mr. Clarke at pool.

All in all, not a huge fan of this episode. Though I am glad to see Hook back. But having to take orders from Greg and Tamara seems beneath even him. So Gold is dark again because Belle is the only one who can make him good, even though Neal is there and probably willing to have a relationship if he’s seen his father change. What was the point of the curse if Gold was going to give up on Neal so easily?! And Regina has reverted to her backhanded comments. She was definitely more season one Regina than we’ve seen all season. Lacey doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. She’s just an excuse for Gold to be who he’s always been without the guilt. Hopefully, a cure will be found soon, although, will Gold want it is the question. And will somebody please tell me what Greg and Tamara are up too? So far all they’re doing is annoying me and I want them off my screen.

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

@searchingwardrobes​ @thisonesatellite​ @justbecauseyoubelievesomething​ @laschatzi​ @profdanglaisstuff​ @mariakov81​​ @lfh1226-linda​

[truthsuniversallyacknowledged]

Now I’ve Stopped Crying: Why The Game of Thrones Ending Sucked

I needed this to exist and it didn’t. So here it is, in no particular order: 

1. Violation of its own rules 

Westeros was loosely based off of Medieval/Renaissance Europe - the filming locations were exclusively European, and all manner of cultural ‘identifiers’ - clothing, political system, ethnicity of the actors/characters - followed that of Medieval Europe. The Red Wedding is based off a real Italian wedding, Jaime and Cersei resemble Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia, a real set of incestuous aristocratic siblings, while Sansa and Joffrey also have their naming equivalents in the same family - Lucrezia’s brother, Gioffre, and his wife, Sancia. The High Sparrow is also similar to Savonarola, a religious fanatic in late Renaissance Italy, Braavos has clear parallels with Venice - I could easily continue. 

Naturally, there were cultural ideas from Medieval Europe which were clearly established in Game Of Thrones - the divine right of kings, bastardry, and discrimination towards women, foreigners, and various other minority groups - including the disabled. By pretending that Bran would have been keenly accepted not only by the aristocracy, but by the average peasant in Westeros, the plot is suddenly ignoring the framework within which the show has been operating. Throughout the show, there were two aspects a king had to have; either he could take the throne by force, requiring a large army or perhaps dragons, or he needed to be born in line - the right to the throne which has paramount to the entire series. One thing is ultimately clear; Bran as the King is jarringly wrong.

2. Compromising of characters

One thing Game of Thrones did exceptionally well is nailing politics; by the end of the series viewers had a clear understanding of the motives and principles of every character. But the ending D&D wanted would never have been allowed to happen with our set of characters around (perhaps this should have been a red flag that it wasn’t a good idea!) and so we watched as characters we’d known for years suddenly forgot who they were. Daenerys wanted to break the wheel and end suffering, and she sacrificed enormously because she wasn’t willing to take her dragons and burn the place down because that’s not the person she wanted to be - until the writers wanted her to be. I could have accepted that u-turn in character arc - if it was the only one. Jaime, after being almost killed by Cersei, finally, finally decided he’d had enough and made the choice to go to Brienne, which was the culmination of seasons and seasons of him slowly improving as a person and agonising over his feelings for cersei and his own identity. And then he just went “nah”. The Northerners, regarded for their strong loyalty, let Jon wander off into the wilderness and readily accept Sansa as their new ruler. Despite earlier reminiscing on her father’s words regarding how “the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives”, Arya decides to... be a lone wolf. on a boat.

But I’m barely getting started. Tyrion, a cunning political mastermind, not only became dumb as dog shit, but, having first-hand knowledge of the treatment of disabled individuals in Westeros, despite any ability they might have (not that Bran demonstrated ANY ability to lead well through the whole series - but I’ll get to that), he somehow didn’t see any problem with this plan. (Side note: if right to the throne and being disabled don’t matter, why couldn’t Tyrion be king?) 

Sam. Sam takes the whole goddamn cake. He is the one who discovers Jon’s parentage, and with a FULL UNDERSTANDING of how important it is. And he has watched Jon demonstrate bravery and courage and leadership time and time again - he is his best friend and strongest advocate. And so, when the time comes for him to fight for Jon: he suggests democracy? and then lets Bran take over without so much as a word in Jon’s defense? Pathetic. And so, so, wrong. 

3. “Who Has a Better Story than Bran the Broken?”

I could name a few. hundred.  We have been watching a series that clearly followed Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, and a long list of other political players, artistocratic families and usurpers - but from the very beginning, we have followed those two, always. To suggest that the entire direction of the series was some great practical joke, designed only for an oh-so-shocking plot twist, is so utterly contemptuous of us, their loyal audience. It’s also absurdly disrespectful to the story itself, which deserved a real ending. 

4, When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die. 

Jon did neither. His end was a total cop-out - D&D didn’t want to kill him, but him winning would have been too predictable, so they formed a sheepish way out that they seemed to think was good enough. They were wrong. 

And as for Bran? He wasn’t. even. playing.

But this is a symptom of the biggest issue with this whole ending; avoiding predictability was more important to the writers than ending the story well. Having spent years and years watching an intricate story as it followed out its natural path, in accordance to the guiding principles of each character and they world in which they live, it’s no surprise that some audience members were bound to predict the ending. But we loved game of thrones not just for its plot twists, but also for its witty dialogue, deep and fascinating characters, and consistently captivating story - this ending had a whole lotta shock, and not much of anything else. 

5. Bran didn’t deserve it 

I already touched on why Bran would never have been accepted and how totally inconsistent his takeover was with, well, everything. But Bran isn’t at all kingly - he hasn’t demonstrated leadership of any kind, hasn’t participated in the politics of the kingdom yet still has no understanding of the everyday person, and also displays no compassion or empathy, particularly towards Meera.  He also didn’t see anything wrong with taking the throne from Jon, who not only deserved it according to the show’s framework but also deserved it in the eyes of the audience because he was, simply put, a good leader and a good person. 

We also never really got an explanation as to why Bran was Bran again - and i thought the Three Eyed Raven couldn’t take titles. This whole ending really doesn’t stand up to even mild scrutiny - evidence of the lack of thought which ruined one of the greatest shows of all time. 

6. What was the goddamn point? 

Why couldn’t Gendry be King? Or Tyrion? Why did it matter at all that Jon was Targaryen, or the rightful heir? Why did we bother watching Daenerys scheme for season after season if she was going to burn King’s landing anyway? Why did Melisandre bother to bring Jon back to life if he wasn’t going to be significant in killing the Night King or taking the throne? What the hell was the point of the white horse? 

7. An end to the post (hopefully I did a better job than they did)

I felt compelled to write this because I have yet to cease encountering people who think that this disgrace disguised as an ending was okay. And it truly upsets me that it was such a disservice to what was a truly fabulous show. 

But the last reason that this ending sucked has a silver lining; it was widlly wrong, and most of us knew it instinctively - before we really analysed it and argued about it (and it my case, composed overly long posts about it). And we knew it instinctively because we know this story - and maybe, like me, you weren’t sure what exactly to expect, but you knew it wasn’t this. We know this story, and we know the true ending - even if it’s only in our hearts. 

[wackygoofball]

Can you tell us why you’re so positive? I’m having a hard time imagining any positive scenario with Jaime being dead now but I wasn’t wondering what you’re hoping for in the last episode that we can hope for

Well, my positivity comes from the very fact that no matter what, I have an awesome fandom experience. I made the most amazing friends with whom I now share connections reaching beyond the shipping material of my choice, JB. I’ve had and continue to have illuminating and interesting discussions, share in crazy theories, make fun edits and enjoy my wacky life. I never had that until I was guided to the beacon of hope of the JB fandom, and now that I am a part of it, I wouldn’t want to miss a single thing.

So I don’t really see why I would be feeling negatively? Why I would lose all hope, fall into despair, curl in on myself ino a tiny wacky ball, and never dip my toes into the JB fandom again… I can’t see it because I have those things and literally no one other than myself can take them away from me again.

It’s actually the exact opposite for me. I may have come to the fandom because of JB, but I stayed for the whole package. I stayed for the social and emotional connections I made with fellow shippers. I stayed for the debates, not just about JB but all kinds of things. I stayed for the fun and the fanfic, for the gift challenges and roundrobins, for the fanvids and latenight chats.

And so I continue to stay for my friends, I continue to stay for what we canonically have and what can otherwise be explored within the realms of fanon, fanfiction, fanart, and the like.

Because, to me, being part of the JB fandom grew to be so much more than being a fan of Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth, it was becoming a part of a community I don’t want to lose ever again.

But now, I guess your question is more aimed towards what gives me hope for show *canon* turning out satisfactory for JB in any so such way, considering the current… brick odds. Since that post turned out longer than it should (it’s currently 3.00 a.m. and I should be sleeping… so please excuse additonal rambling), I will put this below the cut:

I mean… let’s go through the scenarios from worst case to best case (at least some, there are too many variants to list, really), but for the sake of the argument, let’s roll with the following selection:

1) Even if show canon now ends with Jaime having died last episode and that being the end of it, I have all the opportunity in the world to read and write fix it fanfic and theorize about those what ifs canon would then have left unexplored. So I don’t see why I would be angsting about it. I’ve been to other fandoms before, I shipped pairings I either knew would never become canon or was iffed about when they did not. However, that then leaves me with the sometimes hard but productive task of going back over my earlier theories and see where I went wrong, perhaps, in my analyses to draw the wrong conclusions, where I may have led my shipper goggles distort the source material too much. That can be a kind of painful experience, but it can also be greatly rewarding as it can help me sharpen my views for future analyses of other source materials I may come to enjoy. However, even if we stick to the in-canon expectations here. JB have made love to each other, more than once. They had a beautiful journey together and unless Bran sets it all back in time and we start over somewhere else, no one can take that away from us ever again. And that is amazing.

2) A more hopeful scenario: Jaime still stays dead but either through Tyrion or Bran we at least get the in-canon acknowledgement that Jaime *was* in love with Brienne and also went off to King’s Landing to protect her. Imagine, for instance, a scenario whereby he was being told that Brienne bears his child now. Jaime may have felt like he was a danger to that child (considering the Bronn situation) and/or may have found himself unworthy of that kind of life and may have wished to remove himself from the equation. He may even have been pushed into it by Bran in a number of ways. That would at least give us some kind of closure. It may stil hurt as hell, but the one thing that lies in the air in the narrative at present is that neither Jaime nor Tyrion, in any fashion, addressed his relationship with Brienne. Tyrion didn’t even bring it up during their conversation in the tent, which I would have fully expected as the show bothered to have Tyrion in the know about Jaime’s relationship with Brienne. Why didn’t he ask him something along the lines of “Why do you want to die with Cersei now? You had something good there with Brienne, it made you happy. Why did you just leave that behind?” But no such conversaion took place. Why? I don’t know. I remain puzzled about it. And that is where I am curious to know whether there is something else to that other than “we didn’t have the time to address that” or “we forgot/didn’t bother” storytelling-wise.

3) Jaime may still die but he is not dead as per status of episode 5. He will die of the injuries, but not until Brienne held him in her arms (”to die in the arms of the woman I love” as opposed to holding his sister in what I truly found a way of him acting like a brother to her who was trying to console a hysteric woman who knew she was close to dying and became younger and younger inside her mind the deeper they went). Still all the more tragic, still would suck ass for Brienne as she would have the Renly scenario almost exactly as before, but she held Jaime before he died. They made love before that. So this may at least be the acknowledgement that by the end of the day, Jaime and she had something true, but that circumstances kept them apart and that Jaime would have liked to stay with her in another life, if only life hadn’t made him make certain choices that led down this road.

Now we dig into the really more hopeful scenarios that suggest he is not dead. There are reasons that support this thesis (I don’t call authority to them as, per Occam’s razor, the simplest solutions are ofentimes those that hold the greatest truth). So again, I am not holding my breath for any of those options, all that is to say is that the options *exist*. That is not to fall into hopeful hyping, only to be disappointed if it does not come around, but plainly pointing out arguments that support the thesis.

Reasons that may be used in support of the hypothesis:

a) the show’s really outdone itself to stick a letter to Jaime’s back reading “dead man walking”: Brienne assumed he’d ride to KL to die with his sister, Tyrion said he’d die, Jaime said he’d die, Euron said he’s the one who killed Jaime Lannister, Cersei saw his wounds and kind of implied “you ded”, and then bricks ex machina. Like. Say it one time, foreshadowing, perhaps. Say it two times to make sure. But 4 fuckin’ times is like beating us with a stick.

b) This show has had characters survive despite greater injuries, and now I am not even pointing to Jonesus or Daenerys being fireproof in the show. Remember how Arya got stabbed repeatedly, fell into the water and bled out fast and still she did fine and later on did parkour with the Waif and killed her? Good times. Jon, even after the Julius Caesar stabbination, had it a lot of times when he he should have been dead of injuries and/or pneumonia (see Suicide Squad Beyond the Wall). Arya had buildings drop on her and fire spew at her the whole episode and she got the pale horse showing he the way out (I still hope the horse is Jaqen H’ghar). Tyrion had a ship’s mast drop on him and he did not die. List goes on and on and on. Also, Euron brought a long ice pick to a sword fight. Dude may have missed some major arteries, is all I’m saying.

c) Speaking of injuries, what was the point of having him gravely injured, for what looked and sounded like at least 1 collapsed lung and his kidneys likely looking like a pincushion? The guy still made it all the way up to the map room and then all the way down again without breaking down just once. While Cersei had a sudden unexpected surge of caring for the dude she sent an assassin after not long ago (seriously, let’s never forget that tidbit), the blood on his shirt was not as much as I would have expected from the injuries he’s received. But more to the point: Why have him so gravely injured if the upshot was, all along, he gets there, they get trapped, and then they die together. Why go through the lengths of having Jaime so greatly injured if there is no pay off for him dying of those injuries? Why is it then death by bricks? Why the overkill? I find it odd, is all.

d) There was no single verbal or otherwise recognition by either Jaime or Tyrion about the JB relationship. There was no “tell her I am sorry” or “Could you send her a raven on my behalf?” Nothing. They didn’t even mention her.

e) Jaime seemed awfully jumpy with his reasoning for being there. First he says the odds are even and Cersei may win, implying that he’d want to support Cersei against Daenerys in some way, or rather, keep damage at a minimum by trying to ensure his sister doesn’t pull anything that puts the people in danger. Then Tyrion goes on about how Daenerys will win and Cersei will die. Jaime switches back to Tyrion’s (and Brienne’s) suggestion of him wanting to die by Cersei’s side, which is contrary to his first statement. Then Tyrion points to the people. He says he doesn’t care. Which directly contradicts what he did to save the people of King’s Landing when he slew Aerys. For the sake of that argument, let’s just never forget that Jaime Lannister is one of those characters who builds on “say one thing, mean the other” many, many times. Why am I to assume that there is no hint of that in this cryptic converstaion he’s having with his brother?

f) Why does Tyrion try to get a promise out of Jaime to get Cersei and himself out of KL with the boat? Why does he make him swear? Shouldn’t pointing out the opportunity be enough to convince Jaime to go with it?

g) Others have theorized about it before, I also came back to it. There still is the BATB trope that JB have been following *a lot*. And by that I mean their trajectories were largely reliant on it. Now of course, just because characters are inspired by a trope doesn’t mean the author/writer is obligated to continue it till the very end, but it’s odd how we’ve been following almost all beats, only to stop at what would now be the fakeout death of Beast for Beast to be reborn.

h) Outside of what’s going on within the show’s narrative - NCW’s been all kinds of excited about his arc in season 8, and he’s expressed frustration before, which nearly always related to Jaime staying with his sister for longer than is necessary. This scenario, as it stands right now… does that sound like something NCW would be totally hyped about? I don’t really know. Also, the guy’s been seemingly gagged by HBO in some basement full of free T-shirts since there are no goodbye interviews as we have seen them for Conleth, Pilou and Lena. We only got a couple of instagram posts, but other than that? Am I the only one getting the “Jon Snow is totally dead, guys!” vibes? Perhaps to throw us off, but again, it is something that would support the hypothesis.

i) While we now got a MUCH darker Daenerys *ahem*, and it may well be that she will be wiped off the slate next episode, but that’s another topic… isn’t it AWFULLY neat how that basically removed “all the bad guys” from the narrative? Gregor dead, Euron dead, Qyburn dead, Cersei dead (furthermore, look at all the other baddies we put in the ground, and even those with redemption like Theon are now biting the dust). And then we have Jaime. A character who’s been hated by most for what he did to Bran and for the incesting, a character who continued to be hated by many parts of the viewership based on that, no matter the deeds he did thereafter. The point being, it seems awfully convenient if all the “good guys” lived and all the “bad guys” of varying degrees were to die. GRRM aimed for that bit of dramatic fantasy realism where we have morally gray characters, some grayer than others. Odd enough that this would leave much of the so-perceived morally more or less sound members of the clan right where they are. If I were writing such a thing, I’d keep some of those ambivalent characters, if only to show that the good vs. bad dichotomy does not hold in the real world and that in the real world, sometimes, do not only good guys die but also not-always-good-guys live.

j) What was Jaime’s plan? While he came back to “I am the stupidest Lannister”, Jaime is… not. He outsmarted Tyrion in terms of battle tactics. He is a gifted commander. He certainly is not as dumb as Cersei claimed him to be as she herself was not always the brightest pebble with an evil T’Pol haircut. He’s covered his hand with the glove when he rode away from King’s Landing at the end of season 7. He covered it again until he came back into King’s Landing and then took it off, for what it seems in the hope to use it as a VIP card to get the soldiers’ attention and thus entry into the Red Keep. That means he was in possession of the glove by the time he was captured by Daenerys’s forces. Why would he not wear it, then? Did he want to be caught? Why would he? Was he told by someone with the power of foresight that he needed to be there, that he needed to learn what signal was to be given (the bells) in order to give order to have them ring? We don’t know if he gave the order, but it’s not unlikely. Did he have a plan he didn’t let on even in front of his brother? Was there information Jaime protected and was that the reason why he seemed somewhat off? Who knows. Only the next episode will tell.

k) We are still due some kind of a reaction from Brienne.

l) Where the fuck is Widow’s Wail?

m) Why did the show bother giving us JB making love and playing house if the entire idea was to have him run back to his sister and just die by bricks? Why wait with this till the very last episode, to make it, for all it seems, the literal FINAL big bang of the series?

n) There is something to be said about how realism is not just “everyone dies and all is terrible”. Right now… everything is. We are in worst case scenario land for basically everyone. Jon became complicit in a mass murder, he could not prevent what Jaime did when he slew Aerys before he could nuke the city. Daenerys… committed a mass murder (she lost everyone safe for angry Greyworm and and is now a Queen of the Ashes). Cersei was cast down. Jaime coudln’t make his happiness with Brienne, for all it seems. Varys, for now, it seems, is proven right in that he hoped to be proven wrong and that shit would not go down like it did. Tormund won’t ever get his Emobear back. Bran is an emotional vegetable. Arya just had houses drop on her. Sandor died in fire, aka his worst enemy. Sansa may just have helped put Jon and/or Arya in danger if Daenerys continues to be crazypants. Hundreds and thousands of people got burned, injured, raped, murdered, kabloomed. Tyrion may just have lost his entire family, may still face the wrath of his Queen and continues to be kind of a stupid idiot. This is not some balanced kind of scenario of good and bad, this is just… bad.

o) If we only consider POV characters from the books, there are only three pairings where they are both major POV characters, the three Jays: JC, JD, and JB. And of those two… two are varying degrees of incest, as Varys would otherwise point out to you, and the other barely left the ground before bricks came raining from the sky. The point being… am I to believe that no single 2-POV-romance has any kind of a future? I find it odd.

The list could probably be longer but I am getting tired here. Suffice to say there are a number of reasons that *support* such a hypothesis.

Back on target of scenarios that give me hope - the Jaime lives somehow edition:

4) We may still be in for a Branception. He may pull back time and try to right things (he may also turn out the ultimate villain whose only goal, from the beginning, was to obtain the IT for all we know). He may have seen the worst case scenario unfold as we saw it now, and we may go back to him trying to make it right this time. But those are scenarios that involve a kind of mojo that continues to leave me far too baffled to dive into further. Suffice to say, he may have his hands in that somehow. 

5) Suppose both of them survive somehow. Further imagine a scene of someone waking up on a boat, blinded for a moment, only to come around and look at a very scowling Brienne of Tarth, only to realize that yup, we are seeing things through Jaime’s eyes. And as he turns around he sees a dishevelled but alive sister in the boat, and a very pissed off sellsword turned assassin who complains about how he did not sign up for nearly getting buried alive in those tunnels if not for that warrior woman forcing him to wait out there and pull Jaime and Cersei to safety in the skulls or whatever else when it mattered. Evidently, this would have to be followed by some kind of trial for Cersei as she remains a shitshow of a person who held a city hostage, kabloomed a sept because she could and smirkily drank wine while doing so and gettting helluva murderboners over this. AKA her ending with Jaime still sounds to me as far too nice for a woman who’s done so much horrible when there was no need for it and did nothing really other than supposedly being pregnant with a child (will continue to believe that it is/was a tumor until I’m proven otherwise… even then I will stick to it because history parallels are awesome!) to deserve a “nice” and somewhat comforting exit with her brother by her side, without a single sign of acknowledgement of her being a shitshow of a person. Anyway, that leads too far astray. The point remains on the idea that I wouldn’t even exclude Cersei living at least for a longer while (end of episode 6), but ultimately proving that Jiame will outlive her (as was kind of hinted at by the book’s weirwood dream).

6) Since we have Davos and Tyrion in place as well as a body that conveniently is deposited near the Red Keep now and maches in height and so and such, and since Daenerys would not want to see Jaime Lannister alive right now… how about the good old switch game? Demolish Euron’s dead face a bit more, cut off a hand, stick the golden one on, maybe crispy him a bit more and present that to Daenerys. Would she ask questions beyond that? The point being, I can perfectly see a scenario whereby Jaime will emerge from the rubble (either by sheer luck or by having dived or been pulled into one of the dragon skulls) or will be pulled ou of it, and everyone has to be quick to get rid of him to hide him from Daenerys’s wrath. Off into a boat and let him be brought somewhere to heal and live a silent life where nobody knows what became of him. Tarth is supposed to be beautiful around the season, hm? 

7) Brienne pulls Jaime from the rubble. He explains himself to her, believing he is about to die, just that he isn’t. Maybe he will ogle at her, going on about how Bran even told him how he was destined to die and how there was no future beyond (for him). Only for Brienne to drop it on him that there is, if he decides to live at last because sure as hell she won’t be taking care of a kid they both made and have responsibility to. Perhaps Jaime recognizing that Bran hinted at that the baby he was referring to was not Cersei’s (if there is) but Brienne’s. And that all that needed to happen so he could be reborn.

8) Jaime being the one to ring the bells becoming some kind of unsung hero alongside Brienne if she has any part in getting rid of the current usurper. Imagine Brienne badass-single-handedly getting rid of the living nuke aka dragon.

9) In a scneario whereby Jon offs Daenerys or Daenerys offs off to Essos and Jon does not push the claim… and if we hopefully overlook Gendry because the guy should not be assigned manager jobs he does no have the expertise for (*eye roll*) - I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Gendry but he is by no means a politician or anything close to it… just briefly imagine of the reborn Jaime Lannister, the former Kingslayer, suddenly being confronted with the reality that he is heir to the Iron Throne. Just for funsies. Hm?

10) All ends with Jaime waking up next to Brienne, dozing in bed with their ten kids sleeping in the other rooms of Evenfall Hall, going like “Brienne, honey, I just had the shittiest dream ever.” And then the two cuddle.

Yeah no, for real now though. I can spin myself more scenarios than that, all of which bear hope in some capacity, both within the canon as well as how I have set up my shipping habits. Which means I basically feel invincible right now. The worst that can happen is that I am dissatisfied with how their arcs will conclude, in which case I still have my community and fanfic to fix it. If it ends tragically but at least with recognition of feelings for one another, I will be sad but satisfied. If Jaime survives at least long enough to see Brienne one more time, I will cry like a baby but I will be okay because it will make clear where his heart was at last. and how it will always be hers. If it’s one of the more and most positive scenarios, I will be a happy customer and may gloat more than I should.

My most basic hope is that we get coherence where I currently find myself confused as to where the narrative is heading. There are things I don’t understand or can’t currently, based on the limited information we have, make sense of. I would hope for the show to clear up that much.

My more elaborate hope is that we get the confirmation of their mutual feelings for one another. That can go a multitude of ways, as outlined above, but that’s something I would really want/need to feel like their arcs came full circle, even if Jaime winds up dead.

My HYPE hopes are of course the rebirth scenarios. I don’ find them unlikely, but I don’t hold my breath for them to happen. If they do, I am happy. If they don’t, I won’t be disappointed enough to be sadder than I ought to be. I will try my best to use it as inspiration for fanart, fanfic, and editing.

So yeah… how can I go wrong? How can I be anything but hopeful? I hope for the best, accept the worst if it comes, and simply go on with my fandom life because that is the important aspect about it for me personally. I have amazing friends in this fandom and I can look back on years of one of the best shipping rides I ever undertook. We are canon in every sense of the term and that can’t be taken away from us (as someone once said so elegantly: you can’t unfuck someone). So my hopes are that I simply get to go on enjoying my fandom life in this fandom, then waiting for the books and taking the liberty to dissect the narrative in the light of its full context instead of only ever theorizing based on limited information. My hope is to continue to have awesome, inspiring, and productive discussions and theories and headcanons.

Those are my hopes, and I don’t see how they will ever be disappointed, no matter what may happen in the show next week, or in the infinity and beyond it will take for GRRM to finish those books. And I think that’s not just wishful thinking because the power to remain hopeful actually lies with me. I am the master of my shipping experience, of my fandom life, and as such, I can have all the positivity no matter the canon outcomes.

So yeah, I am a happy Wacky right now and I will continue to be.

And I do hope that some of that positivity will reach you, anon, and anyone else currently feeling like… a bunch of bricks are raining down on them. Sorry, I have to cut back on those puns, I know.

Anyway. To close now.

I am hopeful because I put my hope in my fandom experience, and in that way I cannot possibly lose - and anyone who decides to follow down the same path, you can’t lose either! So how about we continue to win together? I’d very much like that.

[cameronspecial]

True Love Can’t Be Bought (Ch.2)

Pairing: Ceo!Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: When (Y/N) (Y/L/N) needed a job to help pay off university debt; she did not expect to be working for the Hollands or that the eldest son would fall in love with her.

Word Count: 1645

Warning: Language

Chapter 1| Chapter 2

Ever since (Y/N) started working for the Hollands two weeks ago, Tom could not stop thinking about her. The way she would twirl her hair when she was concentrating, how she would scrunch up her cute nose when making Paddy’s schedule, and how she would giggle when someone made a joke. Tom needed a plan to get her to be his because that is all he needed at the moment, so at the moment Tom, Sam, Harry, and Harrison were coming up with a plan to win her over. “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, so maybe you should buy her a jewelry set. Maybe even a new phone with a diamond phone case?” Sam suggests. “That’s a great idea. I mean what girl can say no to my charm,” Tom says in a cocky manner. “Yeah, she totally didn’t turn you down over the past two weeks. You know what else you should do. You should make a gift basket of stuff, but the basket is a Tesla. You can fill the car with a bunch of other expensive stuff,” Harry adds while sitting back on the couch. “That worked on Bethany, so it should work on any other girl. Make sure (Y/N) is on the driveway at 7:00 p.m.,” Tom states as he runs off to get the whole gift together. Harrison sat on the couch wanting to tell his best friend that this was not going to work, but once Tom got an idea, he would do anything to see it through.  That’s why he was the son that inherited the company at such a young age.

“What’s going on Harrison? Why do I have to go on the drive way? You know it’s my alone time right now,” (Y/N) complains to Haz. “Would you just be quiet and follow me,” Harrison demands. Over the past two weeks (Y/N) and Harrison have become really close friends. Harrison wasn’t really like Tom, he partied and slept with women, but not as much as Tom. Plus, he didn’t continuously hit on her, so it was easier to have a nice conversation with him. The two walked out of the door and what the young adult saw was a big shock. On the drive way was a nice blue Tesla filled with expensive stuff, like a new phone, a 30K diamond jewelry set, etc. The car had a big bow on it with a banner that said: Are you Cinderella? Cause’ I see that dress coming off at midnight. What made it even worse was that Tom stood near the car with a huge smile on his face, him thinking it was a great idea and that this was surely going to get him a date. When Harrison saw the pick-up-line he couldn’t help, but feel extremely bad for his best friend. He knew that pick-up-line would normally work on a girl at the club, but he also knew it would not work on (Y/N) or on any girl actually looking for a relationship. Tom, however, did not know that it would not work because he was never really a relationship man. “So what do you say? Would you go on a date with me?” Tom asks as he walks over to (Y/N). He wore an expansive suit and was dressed to the nines, which made (Y/N) feel underdressed and uncomfortable because she has never seen such nice clothes.

“Really, Tom? Why in the world would you think that I would suddenly want to go on a date with you because bought me a bunch of stuff? Buying stuff won’t just change your personality. All you are is a rich boy who can’t keep it in his pants. I don’t want any of it take it back. Who do you think I am, a sugar baby, an escort, or maybe a hooker? Just leave me alone, I am here to do my job!” (Y/N) yells as she storms off again into the mansion. “What did I do wrong?” Tom questions his best friend. “Let’s start with the fact that this was never the best idea, then go into the fact that the pick-up-line makes it look like all you want is sex,” Harrison explains to his clueless friend. “Well now I need a drink. Let’s go to a club,” Tom says as he motioned for the maids to get rid of the car and stuff. The two boys got in the car and Tom drove them to the club. All he wanted to do was clear his head.

At the club, Tom drank a lot of beer while Harrison sat at a table making sure he didn’t do anything stupid. Harrison wanted to help Tom get (Y/N), he wanted to make him happy, but it was hard when Tom wouldn’t listen to anyone with a good idea and when he did not know how a relationship worked. Harrison knew it was a bad idea to be at the club, especially if Tom wanted to lock down only one girl, because when Tom was at a club every girl was attracted to him, like two oppositely charged atoms. Harrison saw a short red headed girl approach Tom, Harrison could have helped Tom, but there was no point. Tom was drunk off his ass and needed to get off, (Y/N) certainly wasn’t going to help him with that sort of problem. Before he knew it Harrison was driving home alone while Tom went home with the red head.

The next morning, (Y/N) made her way over to Tom and Harrison’s flat in order to get something that Paddy left there. She knocked on the door and found that Harrison was the only person home. “Let me guess, you and Tom went to a club, got really drunk, and then Tom went home with another girl last night,” (Y/N) asks her friend. “Yeah, I got Paddy’s book on the counter,” Harrison replies, handing the book to her. “Well, not a surprised! I just got to go to the bathroom, and I’ll get going,” (Y/N) tells the man as she goes to the bathroom. Tom walked into his flat and saw Harrison sitting at on the couch on his phone. “That girl last night was really great. Her bj was the absolute best. She completely made me forget about (Y/N). It’s really what I needed to get a little relief. Red heads have always been the best,” Tom brags as he sits beside Harrison. Harrison knew this was not going to go well and he tried to stop Tom, but the man was not the smartest at the moment. The bathroom door opened and he knew that all hell is going to break loose on Tom.

“I can’t believe you! Buy me into going on a date with you, then when I say no, you just go and fuck another girl. Really shows me how much I mean to you. Well, let me tell you a little something Tom, you little dive. True love can’t be bought! So stop trying to pay me like a hooker,” (Y/N) rants as she shoves her finger on his chest. “Okay, I am sorry. I’ll try to change. I promise. You really mean a lot to me,” Tom begs, really wanting to go on a date with (Y/N). “I’m going to do something really stupid of me and forgive you because I think everyone deserves a second chance. That doesn’t mean that I will go on a date with you, but maybe we could be friends,” she negotiates with him. “Friends would be great,” Tom says as he walks (Y/N) out the door. Tom closes the door and looks at Harrison, “I don’t want to be just friends with her. She is my dream girl. She is educated, good with kids, smart, nice, and beautiful. I just want a chance, so I am going to need to change my act and I need your help,” Tom declares.

(Y/N) gets back to the Holland mansion and gives Paddy the book. “(Y/N), do you want to go horseback riding with me,” Paddy asks shyly. “That sounds great Paddy! Why don’t you go get the horses ready and I’ll come,” she tells him. They went for a ride and they had the best time together, Paddy really hoped that (Y/N) would go on a date with Tom because she is good for him. At that moment, Paddy knew that he needed to help Tom out because let’s face it Tom needed it.

During (Y/N) free time, Paddy called his brother over to help him out. “Okay, so (Y/N) told me yesterday about this date she is going on tomorrow, so I was thinking maybe you could go and see what the other guy does. Maybe get some tips,” Paddy informs his brother. “What! How can she go on a date with another man?” Tom shouts getting a little jealous of the other man. “Well she is not your property, so she can do what she wants Tom,” Paddy tries to reasons with him. “Well, maybe I’ll just go over and make sure she does not have a nice time. Then there will be no second date and I can swoop in,” Tom plans out in his head, not really paying attention to his younger brother. “Tom, you shouldn’t do that! If you do it and she finds out, she will be furious with you. Please, I am begging you to listen to me. Just come tomorrow with me and we can just observe what he does that she likes,” Paddy tries to suggest, but it was too late. Tom was not paying any attention because he was already coming up with a plan to ruin their date. Paddy should have just kept quiet and Tom really should have just listen to what Paddy was really saying.

Permanent Tag List:

@embrace-themagic​ @whereartthouwakanda​

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@upsidedownparker @greenarrowed* @tmrhollandkay @petersunderroos @shilohrudd98

*I don’t know if tumblr is not letting me tag you or if I got the username wrong, sorry. 

[nickelkeep]

“It’s like I’m like you!”

“No, you’re not.”

Warning - spoilers for Seasons 13 and 14, specifically Season 14, Episode 7, Unhuman Nature. I’ll tag as such, but please skip if you haven’t watched and don’t want spoilers.

I was watching @intelligentshipper​‘s newest video. (You should really go check out her vids if you haven’t yet).

As I was watching the video, she used that scene, and obviously, it hit me again. As I go on this post, let me remind everyone that I see all three - Sam, Cas, and Dean - as Jack’s Dads. But I will be focusing on Dean as that’s who this interaction is with.

As most of you recall, this interaction is from 14.07, Unhuman Nature. Jack’s dying and he wants to experience life as human would before his very short life span is over. He has three dads to choose from:

Cas: His chosen father, who is an Angel, and while has had plenty of experience with humans and as a human temporarily, won’t be able to give him the full experience he wants. Simple choice not to choose, carrying on.

Sam: His emotional father. I say this in the best, and strongest way possible. This is not to demean Sam, as I think it’s one of his best traits, and Goddess knows how much I love Sam. However, Sam isn’t the best choice for this either. He’s too wrapped up in trying to protect Jack. He’s been in books, he’s been with Rowena researching, he’s been living for Jack to survive. Not to live. While Jack loves Sam, asking him to do this would destroy Sam, because he’s asking him to give up. He can’t do that to him.

Dean: His reluctant father. I hear some of you now. “But Nickel! We see how he’s been with Jack! The whole episode shows how much he cares.” Well no shit. That’s the point of this episode. To show that Dean overcame his reluctance to be a father. Again. Remember, this is the third (fourth if you count the shifter baby) child on the show that he has a significant link to. And technically, you can throw Claire and Krissy on this list too. And Sam if you want to go THAT far back. I believe 90-95% of the fan base will agree that Dean is good with kids. He was raised to be a caregiver and a nurturer. But he’s had shit luck with all of them. Remember:

Emma: Killed by Sam. Ben (and Lisa): Memory Erased by Cas after shit went down with Crowley. Shifter Baby: Taken back by the Alpha Shifter (probably for the best, as they would have been raised as a hunter if they stayed with the Campbells) Claire and Krissy: Became Hunters - not the life Dean wanted for them

In his own eyes, Dean messed up the lives of the kids he cared for. Even though he can keep an eye on Claire and Krissy, he wanted them out of the lifestyle so bad.

So here comes Jack. We see a young adult on the screen, but in reality, he’s still only 18ish months old. Thanks to being a nephilim, He was able to skip the basic life lessons - walking, talking, etc. - but he’s still in need of learning how to be an angel and a human.

Now, I’m not going to go into the very beginning of Jack and Dean’s relationship, that’s been beaten like a dead horse. However, even after Cas’ return, the build up to becoming one of Jack’s dads was a slow burn and building of a strong foundation. Which brings me to why it took so long for Dean to do it. John Winchester’s A+ Parenting Skills.

John Winchester practically beat it into Dean’s head that he is a screw up, and would screw everything up. When the Shtriga almost got Sam? He never let Dean forget it. He made Dean go after it how many years later? When Sam ran away, who was the one who beaten? Not Sam. (Not that i’m suggesting Sam should have been beaten, Chuck, that came out wrong.) When all Dean did was put his heart and soul into caring for his brother, he was constantly told he was doing it wrong. He stole to feed his brother, and he was abandoned in jail. It’s no wonder he probably thinks he can’t take care of a kid.

Now he has a superpowered kid who doesn’t know how to be an angel or a human. As I already mentioned above, Jack has Cas to teach him how to be an angel, Sam to teach him how to be smart, so it’s natural that Dean has to be the one to teach him how to be human.

And in Unhuman Nature, Dean lets him do the things that he wants to experience, so he can be a human. He takes him to get burgers. He teaches him to drive. He lets him drink underaged (really, really underaged). They go fishing. He lets him be a kid. A kid who gets to enjoy time with his dad. Something that he wanted all along from Dean, who was too wounded and too scared to see.

And it’s why the line “It’s like I’m like you...” it so resonant. Sweet Nougat, Dean will protect you from going through what he went through. He doesn’t want you to be like him. He knows that you are in the body of a young adult, but that you are still just a child timewise. And you know what? Jack will get to go on hunts, and help out on TFW 2.0. But by his own choice. Dean will not force him to do any of it. And there’s the simplest reason why.

“No. You’re not.”

[mrschangrettawrites]

Hell Hath No Fury

Summary: You had been betrayed for the last fucking time

Pairings: Tommy Shelby x Reader (formerly), Tommy Shelby x Grace (mentioned), Luca Changretta x Reader (main)

Words: 1531

Notes: Spoilers for season four, female reader, I should be working on other things but instead I’m doing this. Drag me. I highly highly highly recommend installing the InteractiveFics extension from the Chrome store if you can. To add your name and last name simply install the extension, then click ‘Need to replace something other than Y/N?’ and in the value bar put Name and put your name in the Replace With bar, then click change! And be sure to tick Store this replacement so that you don’t have to do it every time.

I also want to say thank you all so much for the love and support that all of you have shown for this story! It really was unexpected and so so appreciated, honestly it has made me all the more motivated to get these out! I hope you all enjoy!

Tagging: @timeless-flogging @decaffeinatedeaglefart @goghadventuring @sophspark @possiblyafangirl @buckybarnesisalittleshit @aya-fay if you would like to be tagged in future chapters just send in a message!

One//Two//Three

CHAPTER FOUR

It had taken what felt like forever to calm down Curly, and assure him that despite the gunshots, you were perfectly safe. The Italian that had been sent after you had managed to escape, which was partly true, and left him to tend to Diamond and her broken stall. Although you had given him some shreds of truth, you still felt bad for lying to Curly. He was a good sort, odd, but good, and always gentle with the horses.

Matteo had been able to sneak back to his car while you distracted Curly and you met him two blocks away where he proceeded to drive you to the hotel where he and his brothers were staying. The ride was silent and tense, and you kept one hand on your gun the whole way, but you had a feeling that Matteo would see this through. If nothing else, delivering the wife of Thomas Shelby to the head of the Changretta family would certainly be an accomplishment.

A talk with Luca Changretta was all you wanted, and although Matteo had been suspicious, it was better than the alternative. As a show of good faith you even gave him back his gun, which had surprised him. You didn’t know what he was expecting, but you had feeling that it wasn’t this.

You had never been to the Inkberrow Hotel, and you were somewhat impressed with it and the implication that the Changrettas had plenty of money to spend. Growing up the way you did, any sign of wealth impressed you, even after all the money Tommy had gained in recent years.

Before you could see Luca Changretta your presence had to be explained, which Matteo did on his own. You weren’t entirely sure that this wasn’t all together foolish, but you didn’t say.

After a few minutes and a surprising lack of raised voices, Matteo came back out into the hall. “He’ll see you.” And that was good enough.

The first thing you noticed was how big the room was. It seemed to be the same size as your mum’s living room, bigger even, and you couldn’t help the internal rise of an eyebrow. The second thing you noticed was Luca Changretta.

He was taller than you had expected him to be, taller than Arthur, and he had the same commanding presence your mum could muster at the tip of a hat. And he was very handsome, with his black hair slicked back and a strong profile that added to the general air of intimidation. A part of you felt bad for noticing, you were married after all. But Tommy had done far worse, and your idea was far worse than finding another man infinitely more attractive than your husband.

Luca Changretta smiled, and you immediately felt as if you were staring at an apex predator. “Mrs Shelby,” he said, the words falling from his mouth as languid as a cat. A big one maybe. “My brother tells me you wish to talk to me.”

“Name.” You said. Hearing the name ‘Shelby’ made your skin crawl. “I would prefer it if you called me that, Mr Changretta.”

There was the smallest hint of surprise on Luca Changretta’s face before he smiled again. “In that case, please call me Luca.” He sat behind the large desk at the center of the room, pulling out a toothpick from his pocket and putting it in his mouth. “So, what is it you wish to discuss?”

“I want to help you.”

The idea had only been half formed when you had first spoken to Matteo, but the time it had taken to be able to talk to Luca had allowed it to grow, like a creeping vine, wrapping itself around your heart.

To your surprise, Luca laughed. “You want to help.” He said, before glancing at Matteo. “She wants to help.” He chuckled, rolling the toothpick from end of his mouth to the other. “That is a very kind offer Name, but you’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you.”

“I didn’t expect you to.” You said. “Which is why I’m going to tell you about Polly.”

For a brief moment, there was a flicker of apprehension on Luca’s face and you saw him look over at Matteo again. “What about her?” He asked slowly.

“Tommy knows about the double cross. The whole thing had been his idea.”

That had changed the atmosphere. It became heavier and you could feel the tension, yet somehow you were unbothered.

You had been apprehensive of the whole idea at first, too many things could go wrong and you weren’t keen on the idea of putting Polly in danger. But none of that mattered now.

“Is that so.” Luca slowly rose, making his way around the desk. “Why are you telling me this?” He leaned back against the desk, almost sitting on it. “You’re married to Thomas Shelby after all, why do you want to help us?”

“Because he’s a right bastard.” You weren’t any mood to sugar coat things, and you figured honesty would be the best course of action in this situation. “He’s cheated on me for the second time and this time he got the girl pregnant. He can fucking rot for all I care.”

There was a brief silence, but it was broken when Luca laughed, looking back at Matteo. “L'inferno non ha furia.” He said, more than a little amused.

“You haven’t begun to see my fury.”

Luca raised an eyebrow, grinning so widely you wondered if he was holding back another laugh. “You speak Italian.” “My grandmother was from Sicily.” You clarified. “She immigrated here after marrying an Englishman.” Your grandmother had never said much about Sicily, in fact she rarely spoke at all, and when she did it was always in Italian, which meant your mum and later you had to learn how to speak it. It wasn’t something you talked about much either, mostly because no one ever really asked and you never found it important or interesting enough to mention. It was the worst during the war, your mum refused to speak Italian outside the home out of fear that someone would mistake her for an Italian spy. She didn’t feel comfortable enough to let the language leave her door again until 1922.

“Well, that explains it.” Luca said. “My father always said that Sicilian women are more dangerous than guns.”

A sudden air of sadness came over the room, as Luca went from playful and pensive, and you found yourself feeling empathetic towards him.

“I’m sorry about your dad.” You said softly. “He never should’ve died.”

What you really thought was that none of this, the vendetta, the deaths, needed to happen. The only reason why it was happening was because Lizzie had fallen in love with Angel Changretta, a development that you had supported. You had been furious with Tommy when he tried to interfere, after all it was none of his business who Lizzie saw. John had married Esme which left Lizzie to pursue whatever man she wanted. Now you felt that a part of you better understood why he had done that.

“Thank you.” Luca gave you what appeared to be a genuine smile and a part of you felt warmer for it. “So, Polly has been playing me has she?”

“Yes.” You said, pulling yourself back into the moment. “She went to Tommy after she got your letter and they came up with the plan together. She would give you a time and place to go after Tommy and set up an ambush. None of you know Small Heath all that well and Tommy planned on using that to his advantage.”

“You realize that this means Polly is back on my list.” Luca said, raising a brow. “Doesn’t that bother you?”

“She knew about the pregnancy.” You said, still stinging from that particular betrayal. “As far as I’m concerned she’s as bad as Thomas. But, you don’t need to kill her. Or Thomas.”

Luca took the toothpick out of his mouth, rolling it between his fingers. “Then what do you suggest?”

“Take everything else from them.” You said. “As far as I’m concerned, death is too quick and too good for them. But if you take away what they have, the business the money the empire, that’s a much slower death. A more painful one, and it’ll hurt Tommy the most. He’s always wanted power, so how better to punish him than to take it away?”

There was a pause as Luca appeared to be thinking your suggestion over. He looked up at you with an expression you couldn’t read, the corners of his mouth twitching. “It’s a shame Mr Shelby doesn’t know how to be loyal to his wife.” He mused. “It seems he’s lost a valuable ally.” He stood up straight, putting the toothpick back in his mouth. “Thank you for your help Name, I’ll contact you if I need to.”

You didn’t ask how he would do that, you just assumed that like Tommy and other gangsters, he would find a way. “Have a good day Luca.” You said.

“Oh, I’m sure I will.”

Translation: L'inferno non ha furia-Hell hath no fury (according to google translate)