#DEEPER. fuck. anyway holy crap is it cute

[un-pearable]

not me getting genuinely emotional over the pixel art in lego ninjago battles

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

RWBY V08E05 - Amity

Amity! A return to the adventures of RWB? With no Penny sadly. I doubt we'll get so many visual puns again but who knows, maybe they'll make friends with Whitley or at least have a cordial chat with him without killing each other. I have no idea, so let's do this!

Wow, great start. Poor Pietro, got copypasted there with no regard for his feelings.

I'm very glad I was wrong about no Penny.. Even if every second she's on screen increases the chances of something bad happening to her.

Why does the HUD look like someone used the wand from photoshop to extract it from a white background?

Wait, are they going to blow up the Dust to launch amity into space?

Penny is right, that doesn't seem like a good idea but it's also incredibly in-character for the show. Now even caves are a gun.

Someone at Rooster Teeth really likes the idea of little old ladies riding huge robots, and honestly? Can't disagree.

hmmmmmmmm not a big fan of pietro at the moment

oof, my heart

Maria continues to be the voice of wisdom. Sadly, I doubt Pietro is going to listen to her.

In the original tale Pinocchio ends up learning by making bad choice after bad choice. Penny doesn't seem to have that much in common with her inspiration but if she hasn't ever been able to make a choice at all, would it be surprising if the first time she makes a choice it ends up being a bad one? It wouldn't surprise me if this is setting her up to fly away from Amity (against Pietro's wishes) once she notices something went wrong with everyone else (making her vulnerable)

Welp.

look at that poor girl

Aaaa, that's the same expression she used when Ruby said Penny was still the Protector of Mantle. "my feelings don't matter, conceal, don't feel, don't let them kn— wait, never mind

but yeah, she's used to putting everyone ahead of her (because as a robot she supposedly doesn't know better, there's a reason that was her first thought when she was talking with Winter in last season)

aw poop

Cinder was moving so fast she left her shadow behind.

Great deranged expression and voice though. Did she bring both Neo and Emerald or just the latter?

Penny yes

Hey, 9 blades! For a second I thought they wouldn't remember that she lost one.

no, no, no, time for what? aaaaa

Now that we have more context, Cinder using her own experiences to know where to hurt people is * chef kiss *

Intentional reference to the PvP fight?

okay, I didn't expect badass Maria to actually fight using her robot but I blame my own lack of imagination

now I'm hyped, it also gives something the other two something to do.

I think the main problem here for the good guys is that if Pietro gets threatened there's no way Penny is not going to surrender. Although, maybe he gets kidnapped? That'd make him get "swallowed" by a whale... hm. Another possibility is that they threaten Pietro and Penny gets hacked "just in time"

you can't lie to me, subtitles, I know she was going to say bitch

lol at crashing the entire ship into maria to get her out of the way

bad mistake to hurt one of Penny's friends in front of her

Did anyone give a job to poor Emerald? I can almost see Cinder telling Neo to distract people while in the ship with Emerald sitting in the back seat trying to get noticed.

C'mon Neo, leave the old lady alone

…of course she wouldn't leave her alone, she's Neo, she likes playing with her victims

I wonder if Neo has a deeper plan than "killing this old lady while looking like her protege would be incredibly cruel and extra and therefore worth doing"

If the drifting was an accident, where did Emerald go?

waiting for the RWBY shmup

I understand why she's leaving Amity (to prevent their fight from destroying it by accident) but leaving Pietro alone feels like a bad idea.

…this HUD is a lot cleaner, I don't get it, it should be the same png overlay

anyway, took the screenshot to write "wow, Cinder is actually capable of thinking through her rage these days, good for her" but now that I think about it, I'm not sure if she's ever been fooled.

booo

I wanted more evil Ruby

Also, I'm literally loling at Maria yoda-ing Neo.

ah yes, neo, so graceful

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

mmmmmmm

mmm

oof, looks like that was a direct hit. And the worst part is that the second James hacks into Penny, I assume it'll will work that way. Probably her worst nightmare.

Yeah, no, this worked for spiderman because his nemesis wasn't right in front of him.

I like the idea of this shot but for some reason the execution looks weird. Maybe it's just awkward positioning, it's hard to tell the angles.

lmao

* cough *

I mean, yeah, saw that coming.

For a second I thought she was melting her face but then I remembered the one reason Cinder has that arm.

I'm going to need a diagram to know what Emerald was doing.

Yessss, no need for swords if you can make your own

I really need to know what she was doing inside because right now it feels like that was the worst excuse ever to get her out of the fight until the last possible second (and maybe make it another reference to PvP when Ruby exits the corridor?)

Did she finally see Pietro?

Emerald has so much faith in Cinder, sigh

I wonder if before the end of the show Neo will get to stab someone with her umbrella. Maybe it could even be Cinder

First time she gets knocked out?

Cinder with a long spear only means one thing. Someone is getting stabbed

Huh.

I hadn't thought about this until now but before this second I'd have said Emerald's semblance shouldn't work on Penny. Like, what part is she affecting to make Penny see the duplicates? But I guess it does work, somehow. Maybe reality gets processed through Aura.

Fire spear vs laser, who wins?

Giant laser wins

Glad that Penny is confirmed as the most powerful character in the show.

Poor Emerald, two lines this episode and they are both "CINDER"

Damn, she looks done with their crap.

And now she looks absolutely feral. Loving this.

I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. If she gets hacked now, Cinder still wins. She wouldn't get the maiden powers but at least she'd stop the transmission.

aaaaa

Emerald breaks my heart. So much love for someone who couldn't give a hoot about her.

At least Cinder seems to know her place with Salem, but I can't tell if she started like Emerald and got her love beaten down or if she just had different priorities after getting saved from what seemed similar circumstances.

Ah, Neo. Now to add to her resume that she beat a granny only because she got distracted.

oh, shut up, Pietro

Is this it? Is this where Penny "rebels"?

Even after all that fight, I think this is the best animation of the episode so far. It conveys so much resignation and annoyance.

I think this is the first time this season RWBY makes me teary-eyed. She finally said it!

This is too cute for this world.

Remember when I said that hug with Ruby felt like a goodbye? Well, this is much worse.

Wooo, she succeeded! (I hope, they did mention the message was a couple of minutes long)

But I'm also even more worried now because it feels like the one last thing she had to do.

They are back!

I wonder if the one character I miss the most will also get a shot.

Pensive Whitley? more likely than you think

He has a lot of potential, especially now that Salem -> Cinder -> Emerald are a thing, making cyclical abuse more of an explicit theme. Not sure if there's enough time to do him justice though, considering he's not much of a character.

"we don't want to reveal Vacuo yet, what do we do?" "put them in the desert"

Yessss, Ilia got a cameo!

Are they pulling her back from voiceless purgatory?

Holy shit, wow, really didn't expect to see her.

Literally a pet. I wonder where the hound falls in the hierarchy

...why is she so happy? She's not supposed to be happy!!

siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh

yeah

was expecting this

Poor guy, I wonder if this is the first news he gets from her daughters.

Taiyang made me realize they didn't show Yang's team. Huh.

Oh, fuck you rooster teeth.

Fuck oofffff (RT, not you, Pietro)

Is Winter end up doing the right thing? She's obviously affected by seeing Penny's sword there.

Also, I wonder if her new armor is just that or if it's a bracing system to help her move so soon after getting beat. But I guess that wouldn't be necessary if her aura helped her heal.

Hopefully, if Watts escapes and tries to get everyone else to help (since I doubt he can beat all the guards on his own), Qrow shows he learned his lesson about trusting the enemy.

ah, there you go

Okay, this is an amazing reveal. Is Salem transforming Mantle into another land of darkness? Because that'd definitely explain why she was so unworried about the broadcast.

What a way to end the episode. A brief moment of hope completely destroyed, twice.

Penny has been raising so many death flags that her inevitable hacking lacked some impact. I'm still sad (and annoyed at RT for poor Penny being a magnet for suffering) but Watts being Watts maybe he did a bad job just to prevent Atlas to escape? And Penny seemed able to resist? aaaah, I don't know. Now that the hacking finally happened all the foreshadowing is over, anything could happen.

The worst part of the hack is that it modified Penny's thoughts. It wasn't a complete takeover, like with Pietro, it was a lot more insidious. Literally making true what Cinder told her. Ugh.

Looking back at the screenshots, wow, a lot of the episode was just them fighting, but there were some fun moments, like Maria kicking Neo's ass.

Very curious about where it's going. Both the Penny plot (there's absolutely no way hacked Penny doesn't fight Ruby, there's probably a rule written in the universe about having mind-controlled people fight their loved ones) and the river of Grimm which was an excellent secondary gut punch. Really, loved that reveal. "You thought things were bad? lol"

I think that's all for now, until next time!

[everything-laito]

Never expected the Laito vs Shin CD to be this deep on Laito’s side. Hi, I’m back at it again with another long rant.

Hiiii! It’s Corn here, with a long awaited analysis of the Laito vs Shin drama cd! 

I didn’t expect to like this pairing as much as I did, but honestly Shin’s abrasiveness brought more out of Laito than I expected. Maybe it’s also the combination of Laito struggling to keep himself restrained. 

If you wanna hear my shitpost 2 am reactions to this, here’s the link. I go back now and realize I forgot some stuff in my notes to put in there, but oh well haha. If you want me to release the ones I forgot let me know lololol, my 2 am ramblings are pretty funny in hindsight. Thank you to @/dialovers-translations for providing the translations to these CDs! If you want to check the CD out for yourself, here it is. And as always, if you want to add anything, feel free to! Huge analysis under the cut :)

So the CD starts off with Laito and Yui. They’re in public somewhere and Laito’s being… Laito. But he’s trying to be quiet which was off putting for me at first. Anyways, this takes place right after the Lost Eden ending. I will admit I haven’t played Lost Eden or has seen the translations yet (I like playing the games as I do) but I do know that in in some endings the Sakamakis (and Mukamis???? I think??? Not sure) inherit daddy ketchup’s power. (I think it’s all of them that do in their endings but correct me if I’m wrong). 

So we know that Laito doesn’t like violence from him saying it multiple times in past games, drama cds, etc. He also mentioned in Haunted Dark Bridal that he doesn’t like family politics and has no interest in having the throne/Karl’s power. So, safe to assume from the start he doesn’t like having this power. And oh boy he is NOT having it. 

In my notes of the first track I made a quip of that Laito’s been kind of a “wannabe romantic.” I know that’s not the best way to describe it, but he’s like “human girls like this right?” or “this is what you do in a relationship, right?” (And he either puts his own twist on it or it ends up being More Blood’s vampire ending). So in this he holds your hand, no tricks, no nothing. I know this is a result of Rejet’s writing change after HDB, but also I think it’s some development on Laito’s end too (either way, it’s cute as hell). I honestly took this as him trying to distract himself from the power he now has; one that he never wanted in the first place. And we know Laito: master of distracting himself from his own issues and other people. 

Laito: “Fufu…You’re shaking~ In that case, should we just dive down from here while I hold you in my arms? …We’ll reach the ground in no time, but it might be reaaaaaally scary.”

Laito: “I’m not going to jump down. After all, I’ve decided I won’t use these powers no matter what.”

Although it takes some deeper knowledge of Laito, he definitely is using the ol “making fun of things I’m insecure about = coping mechanism” plenty of people like to do. He’s teasing himself; making a little quip of it and then kinda turning serious, yet still remaining his “~playful Laito façade~” self. In my notes I say that I’m glad Rejet stuck by with Laito’s whole “I have no interest in these powers” kinda thing. I also think that it scares him, on top of the fact that he just doesn’t give a shit. Or him having the “I don’t give a shit” attitude is a cover up for that fear? We’re gonna go deeper into that, my fellow sinners. 

Before I get into that, I just wanted to point out yet another quote that follows the ones that I put. 

Laito: “Don’t look so puzzled. This is the human world, isn’t it? It would be odd. There’s no hidden meaning behind it. That’s all.”

I liked my note in response to this quote: “H A H don’t be so DAFT, Laito, you’re the KING of double meanings. I know this is a liiiieeeeee” and man, I gotta agree with my cryptid self. He’s using the fact that it’s the human world as an excuse for him to not use his powers. Which…. Is a valid excuse. But this is also Laito we’re talking about. And he just sucked your blood in public. And moaned. I can see right through you man. Laito without double meanings is just…. He can’t exist. There’s no way. Sure he’s developed but if he’s still sticking with his façade from time to time, it’s a safe assumption; deductively. 

As for Laito fearing his powers, it really starts to prove itself by Track 02. Shin finds him, attacks him with wolves, and Laito STILL doesn’t use his powers, even in self defense. For a man that has 0 self restraint typically,,,,,, he really can restrain himself for the most specific things. This further supports my claim that Laito’s scared of himself with these powers. He’s also just really dedicated to his morals, whether they’re falsified morals he created himself in self defense, or ones that go deep to his core (oh shit, another analysis idea???). 

Then… Laito got angry, and attacked Shin in the process (this happens in track 04. Shin steals Yui in track 03). Again, I know I just said he’s pretty dedicated to his morals. But it’s an oddly human thing to do; breaking your morals once in a while to achieve something. We’ve all done it at least once in our lives. Then Laito beats himself up over letting his angry emotions get to him. And we get such a moving scene.

Laito: “Ah…Fuck…! Why…! Why!? Why did I let myself fall for such an easy taunt!? …Bitch-chan? I’m weird, right now, aren’t I? Because of that guy’s powers…Aren’t I going crazy?”

Laito: “…!? I…I’ve been composed this whole time. Yet…Why do you tell me such a thing!? Just as I thought…You also think that I’m becoming weird! If not, you wouldn’t look at me with those eyes!”

Laito: “Don’t touch me…!! If you touch me…You’ll be corrupted as well.”

Laito: “Fufufu…Ahaha…! I’m not corrupted? No, haven’t you experienced it first-hand? That man’s sullied blood and powers are flowing through this body of mine. Even though I don’t need them…! Even though I never wished for them…! Why…!? Why did I have to get these things forced upon me!? Fuck!”

I know that Japanese doesn’t technically have swear words like we do. He says 「くそ」 (“kuso”) which is an interjection that describes something that’s outrageous. Which is why it gets translated into “damn!” “Shit!” “Fuck!” Based on the context and aggressiveness. But, Laito rarely ever says 「くそ」, and he said it a LOT in this CD. And that’s what really caught me off guard. 

So, SO much is said in those quotes I cannot even begin to fathom. So let’s break it down. 

Firstly, as I mentioned, He’s beating himself up (as well as gaslighting himself(?) Is that possible?) over breaking his own morals and not wanting to have these powers in the first place. And he uses Karl as a scapegoat, as he (and the other brothers) have a habit of doing. Also, he refers to his powers as “that guy’s powers.” He hasn’t even accepted that they’re his, and that’s also what’s really sad.

Then the second line. “I’ve been composed this whole time.” Well we, as Laito fans, know that what we usually see Laito is a façade. But this, right now, is raw Laito, baby. He then kinda gets a paranoia of some sort, trying to read your eyes (which is most likely sympathetic, not thinking he’s weird) in order to blame it on someone, or continuing to gaslight himself. And the third line… Wow that hit hard for me in the feels. You know how Laito usually says he wants to corrupt you? Steal your innocence? (Again, projection, from what Cordelia made him feel). This also further supports the notion that Laito doesn’t think that highly of himself (well, people who have some type of superiority complex do. And he definitely does, sometimes on Ayato levels) and also the fact that he still keeps that façade up. Probably to protect these inner feelings. Again, his statement about his composure says as much. 

It’s then implied that Yui tries to comfort him, saying that he’s not corrupted. He continues to not listen to her and kinda say his bottled up feelings. God that last quote, and the way he says it,,,, ugh god it’s so heartbreaking. As we previously knew, he didn’t want these powers at all. He never wanted to be in any part of Karlheinz’s games. He just wanted to live the way he wants to (even if it is,,,, an unhealthy mindset to live in). He says it in such a fearful and tragic way. Again, he’s afraid of himself with these powers. He’s trying to build back up his facade or adjust it in any way that he can to avoid it, but right now, it’s too much for him. 

Laito: “Bitch-chan, you see. As long as she has someone to make her feel good, she will make do with anyone. …Power does not matter. That’s what being a ‘Bitch-chan’ is all about, isn’t it?”

Shin: “Che! You’re just spouting random crap! You won’t deceive me.”

Laito: “Heh…There, there…Don’t glare at me like that..We’ve come all the way up here…It would be foolish to waste our time talking about power dynamics. Let’s enjoy ourselves…I don’t care about complicated stuff. To me, this is everything.”

I actually said something coherent enough in my 2 am notes in response to this to pretty much put it in here verbatim: 

Damn, this boy really just wants to vibe and avoid responsibility (I mean, don’t we all Laito) but he just has to face it. I kinda realize through this drama cd that Laito just… doesn’t wanna face complexity too. He doesn’t, never has. Violence is too complicated, getting involved with Cordelia and Ayato’s relationship by standing up for Ayato as a kid is too complicated, getting on Cordelia’s “good side” (which is uh,,,, awful) is too complicated. 

Putting up that whole perverted façade in order to hide from his own feelings; holy shit idk how I didn’t notice this blatantly before. I didn’t know it would take Shin to make me realize this. Laito never asked for any of this happening to him (none of the boys really did; at least for their pasts). Goddamn, when I try to look at the overly complex stuff, I miss the simple shit so easily. People in real life try to escape like this––using sex and pleasure––just like Laito. 

(Can’t believe I said that at 2 am omg) But, to add onto that, the whole “That’s what being a ‘Bitch-chan’ is all about, isn’t it?” Has SO much meaning to it. First of all, it’s a question. Which raises uncertainty about a subject. This subject is what being a ‘Bitch-chan’ is. It’s phrased in a desperate way that this is Laito’s way to ask you to help. And that’s huge. Also, I think it’s Laito’s way of saying to not judge him right now, and to still accept him for who he is. If he really thought that Yui was that “loose” of a woman with no standards, he wouldn’t have cared to say this, or implied his purpose: which is wanting to make Yui feel good. Which, I think in Laito terms, means “wanting to make Yui happy.” And he wants to continue to be there with her through this double meaning. And wow. That’s,,,,pretty poetic.

Last note; I know that Shin even said or implied (I’m too lazy to go back to the direct quote) that he was like “bruh get over yourself, these are your powers now, get used to it” (which set Laito off I believe). And going in, I didn’t think I’d get much out of this duo in terms of development, but WOW, there’s a chock full of stuff. 

If you’ve made it this far, congrats! Holy crap I think this is longer than the Hilde analysis. 

Thanks for reading as always! -Corn

[thepandapopo]

Absolute Truths

This idea wormed its way into my head and for the life of me I couldn’t get it out.

This oneshot is a little longer than the stuff I usually write (a whopping 8539 words), but I loved every minute of it. I tried editing it to the best of my ability, but honestly I suck at that. No beta, we die like Glenn. #SorryNotSorry #TooSoon ?

Please note this is non canon. The time frame for this is sometime after the Battle of Gronder post time skip and it is a mash up of the GD and BL routes (ie. Dimitri joins Claude and is no longer crazy; Rodrigue still dies. RIP).

Cross posted to ao3.

Pairing: Sylvain x Felix

Warnings: mentions of child abuse and PTSD

Synopsis:

When Felix and Sylvain get hit with a dark magic spell that reverts them back to children, the Resistance Army gets a deeper look into their bond and learn 5 absolute truths that form the foundation of their relationship.

OR

5 undeniable facts of Sylvain and Felix’s relationship.

Word Count: 8539

“Felix!”

Fuck. Sylvain loses sight of him for only a minute but that is all the enemy needs to overwhelm the already bombarded swordmaster.

Pulling the reigns sharply to the left, the Paladin charges across the battlefield, skewering any unfortunate enemies that dare block his way, the lance of ruin glowing like a beacon of fury despite the thick coating of blood on it. The air is heavy with the smell of smoke and dark magic, making it hard to breathe and blurring the red head’s vision. Regardless, Sylvain presses on; determined to get to his best friend in time before the group of mages over the hill finish casting… whatever ominous looking spell they are aiming at Felix.

“Sylvain, get out of here!” Felix shouts angrily, not even pausing his fighting to face the sight of Bella charging her way through the throng with her master astride her.

Shit. Felix cuts down another enemy.

It is never ending. No matter how many falls to his blade, another two enemies take their place. Felix isn’t stupid – he can see the group of mages prepping a dark magic spell in the distance, which makes him even angrier when he spots Sylvain riding to his aid.

Like hell he’ll give his childhood friend another reason to toss himself into harms way. Felix isn’t weak. He doesn’t need protection. And he sure as hell doesn’t want Sylvain to be the one who gets hurt trying to fix his mistakes just because he got a little too cocky and split from the rest of his battalion.

“Fuck.” Felix grunts and pushes his sword hard to disengage the thief that has him in a sword lock. He doesn’t bother to see if he is being pursued and dashes towards Sylvain who is now dismounting a short distance away, Lance of Ruin making quick work of anyone who strays too close for comfort.

Sylvain was undoubtedly within hit range of the spell now. If that idiot insists on being his usual self-sacrificing self, then the least Felix can do is use his own body to shield the older man and take the brunt of the damage.

The tell-tale crackle of magic behind him sets the hair on his nape standing.

Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit.

He isn’t going to make it. Damn Sylvain for being so slow – this is exactly why he keeps telling him to take his training more seriously-!

“Fe!”

The last thing he knows before succumbing to the darkness is a hard chest plate knocking the wind out of him and warm, strong arms that remind him of summers spent with a heart lighter than air.

----

1.       Sylvain always has, and always will protect Felix until the day he dies.

Leonie is one of two on the first shift of babysitting duty.

Undeniably, the orange haired paladin would be the first to admit that she wasn’t the greatest with kids, however there is only so much the tiny, and thankfully unconscious, Fraldarius boy can do given his current predicament.

No one really knows what happened after the enemy spell envelops Felix and Sylvain, the larger of the two curled protectively around his companion as they fall. No one even knows what the spell is.

But what they do know is that now, instead of a regular sized Felix Hugo Fraldarius and Sylvain Jose Gautier, they have a chubby cheeked blue haired cherub and an unfairly-cute-even-as-a-child ginger.

It is in the middle of bemoaning her poor luck at drawing straws when the mini-Felix begins to stir and she feels panic clawing its way up her throat.

“Ngghh…” small, unscarred hands balled into fist come up to rub at bleary amber eyes before they widen almost comically as they take in his surroundings.

“Uhh… hey.” His gaze snaps towards Leonie and she can feel her terror rising with mini Felix’s hysteria, clearly evident by the shiny glaze beginning to cloud his eyes and the fat crocodile tears gathering at the edges of his almond eyes.

“It’s okay, Felix. It’s just me.” She reaches out a hand tentatively in a placating gesture, but quickly withdraws back as young Felix lets out a squeak and scurries as far back into the corner of the bed as he can get, taking his older self’s wool Fraldarius crest blanket with him, as if it could shield him.

“Wh-wh-who are you?” The poor thing is absolutely terrified and damn it, Leonie wants to comfort him, but she is equally as distressed here and this is exactly why she didn’t want to babysit.

“It’s me, Leonie. You don’t… you don’t recognize me?”

It comes out sounding more like a statement than a question.

It’s so painfully obvious that little Felix has no idea who she is.

Which means he doesn’t have his memories.

Which means they are down two of their best generals.

Which means they are well and truly fucked.

So, Leonie does the only thing she can logically think to do.

“Come on,” She says, rising from her bedside chair and reaching for his arm. “We need to go tell Linheartd that the situation is much worse than we had originally thought.” But as soon as her hand wraps around his forearm, Felix screams.

“Oh shi-! Felix! Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you!”

If anything, this just seems to have the opposite effect and the wails increase to near piercing.

Leonie thinks it may be a trick of her mind, and probably her ears because holy crap does little Felix have a set of lungs on him, but she is pretty sure that Felix is screaming out a name.

Specifically, a name belonging to a certain red head that is, the last time she checked anyways, unconscious two doors down from his room and currently being watched over by Caspar.

“Fe!” The door bursts open and suddenly there is chaos.

Was being watched over by Caspar, Leonie amends in her mind.

“Get back here!” The blue haired warrior lunges and swipes his arm out trying to catch mini Sylvain who is slipperier than a fish in water, using his short height to duck between legs and launch himself onto the bed.

“Leave Fe alone!” Honey brown eyes that are so very familiar yet also so different, are glaring holes into Leonie and Caspar, proudly defiant and blazing with determination. Short arms stuffed into the smallest adult shirt they could find on short notice stretch out protectively, completely shielding Felix from sight.

“S-Sylvain,” comes the little sob from behind him and the older boy spares a second to throw a comforting smile behind him. “Don’t worry, Fe. I’ll protect you.” And Goddess, he sounds so genuine and earnest that it makes Leonie wonder what happened to cause their Sylvain to hide behind fake laughs and charming lilts of the tongue.

“Sorry, Leonie.” Caspar is gasping for air like he has just run a marathon. “I tried to keep him in his room but as soon as he heard Felix screaming, he was out faster than I could blink.”

“Ugh. Just go get Ingrid and the Professor.”

----

2.       Sylvain hates himself and his crest, but Felix likes him in spite of it.

A day later finds Ingrid watching over the five year old Felix (“What?! He’s five? But he’s so tiny.” “Don’t let him hear you say that or he’ll cry again.”) and seven year old Sylvain.

“Just stay in this area, okay?” She calls out over the din of raucous laughter echoing throughout the courtyard. “I don’t want you two wandering off and getting into trouble.”

The play wrestling pauses for a brief moment and little Sylvain sticks out a tongue at her.

“We don’t get into trouble! You’re just a party pooper!”

“Yeah! Party pooper!”

Shoving down the urge to smack her childhood friends into the next moon, Ingrid settles for watching with pursed lips as Felix dissolves into giggles, Sylvain’s grabby hands finding purchase in his sides and tickling him relentlessly. The look of such carefree happiness on their faces makes her heart clench and eyes sting.

If Ingrid is being completely honest… she misses this.

She remembers what it was like not carrying around a broken heart for a man buried six feet under, his remains not even whole enough to bring home. Back when she could play wrestle with Fe, Sylvie, and Dima in the dirt and then go to Glenn to kiss her knee better when one of them inevitably accidentally activated their crest and used too much strength, resulting in tears and scrapes and bruises.

It doesn’t do her any good to dwell on the past.

The dead should be left to rest, and the living should move on.

For an emotionally constipated guy, Felix is dead on with his philosophy.

Though she has long come to terms with her betrothed’s death, the small sliver of envy she has for her two oldest friends still lingers in the deepest, darkest recesses of her heart.

They’re lucky that they still have each other, even though they spend half the time bickering and denying their feelings.

“Is that the Gautier boy?”

Two monastery staff members stop beneath the path archway and look with undisguised admiration.

“So handsome at such a young age!”

“And I hear he’s incredibly charming too.”

Ingrid knows that Sylvain and hear them. He has always been keen of hearing, especially when it involves others gossiping about himself, for better or for worse.

Felix takes advantage of Sylvain’s distraction to get the upper hand and rolls on top, completely oblivious to the onlookers.

“If I were his mother, I would have secured him a betrothed as soon as he was tested for a crest.”

A hum of agreement. “Yes. His family is blessed with good looks so it would not be hard to secure an advantageous match. The Gautier line will likely continue on stronger than ever with such a prized heir.”

“Sylvain? Why did you stop?”

Felix is all wide eyes and adorable pouty cheeks, staring confusedly down at his best friend underneath him who has gone strangely silent with a strangled expression.

“Don’t you have duties to attend to?”

The two gossipmongers snap to attention at Ingrid’s sharp tone, her expression clearly telling them to get the hell out of here or risk facing her wrath.

With rushed replies of “yes, sorry miss!” and “our apologies”, they scurry off down the pathway and disappear around the corner.

But unfortunately, the damage is already done.

“Sylvain? What’s wrong? Why are you sad?”

Gently, the older boy extricates himself from Felix’s death grip of a grapple and stands up with his eyes cast downwards. “Sorry, Fe. I… I don’t want to play anymore.”

“What? What do you mean? Where are you going?”

“I’m tired. I want to go back to our room.”

It only takes one look at Sylvain’s expression before Felix is latching his fists into the fabric of Sylvain’s pants with a scowl on his face.

“You’re lying to me. Why are you lying?”

“I’m not lying, Fe! I don’t want to play anymore.”

“We’re best friends aren’t we?”

“Well, yeah, of course we are.”

“Best friends don’t lie to each other.”

Ingrid has patiently watched the exchange between Felix and Sylvain to this very moment, hoping that they can sort out this argument without her intervening like she always did as a child, but through years of experience, she can sense that one of them is about to snap and she would very much like to avoid that.

“You know the only reason we’re best friends is because our parents are friends and we both have crests.”

There it is.

It’s absolutely heart breaking how Sylvain has already learned to self destruct at the tender age of seven. If Miklan were still alive, Ingrid would skewer him a thousand times over for instilling the mantra of ‘you’re not worthy of love’ into Sylvain’s head.

“Hey guys, do you wanna go-“

“You’re a stupid head if that’s what you think.” Felix’s interruption shocks her. His usually bright amber eyes are fixed in a watery glare leveled at the boy opposite him. Right now, Ingrid may as well be invisible for all Felix cares.

“What?”

“You’re a stupid head!”

Sylvain looks absolutely affronted.

“No, I’m not!”

“Yeah, you are!” a few tears have managed to slip beyond the barrier and trail down Felix’s cheeks. “I don’t care that our parents know each other. And I don’t care about any stupid crests.”

Felix marches up to Sylvain with all the anger he can muster in his five year old glory and reaches up to smoosh his cheeks together. “I’d still pick you to be my best friend in the whole wide world because you’re funny and nice and I’m always happier with you than Ingrid or Dima.”

Sylvain can only stand there with his lips parted in round ‘o’ from his cheeks being pushed together and a dazed look in his eye. Felix takes this as a sign to continue his little tirade.

“And I know you’re smart so you should stop being such a stupid head because I don’t care what you think. You’re my best friend and I’ll always pick you over any stupid crest.”

“Fe…”

She recognizes that tone. Ingrid looks away then because she fears that if she doesn’t, the part of her heart that belongs to Glenn might just twist its way into her throat and choke her with envy.

Sylvain is giving Felix that look that she has seen many times throughout their lives whenever she watches her two friends from afar. It’s one that everyone, except for Felix, has seen a million times and knows that to Sylvain, the world around him has fallen away except for one person.

“You’re my best friend, Sylvain. So, don’t lie to me.”

For the first time since the gossipers appeared, Sylvain lets a smile slip through.

“Okay. I promise.”

Felix eyes him warily and searches for any hint of a lie in Sylvain’s expression. Once satisfied, he loops his own pinky around the one outstretched to him.

“Good. Now let’s go play Knights and Bandits!”

Perhaps it is because Felix is always looking ahead that he never sees how Sylvain looks at him like he was the one who hung the stars and moon in his dark sky, illuminating his life with happiness and love.

----

3.       Felix feels so much and Sylvain is the only one who understands him even without words.

A collective sigh echoes throughout the monastery when they find out that mini Felix and mini Sylvain aren’t too picky with their food.

Granted, even as a child, Felix shows a proclivity towards eating meat; but with a little friendly jostling from his best friend, even the youngest Fraldarius son can be convinced to eat his brussel sprouts.

Which is exactly why Claude is so baffled when Felix starts to protest eating during mealtimes.

“What do you mean he won’t eat?”

He’s well aware that he probably sounds like an idiot, if the exasperated look Lorenz is giving him is anything to go by; but they haven’t had any trouble before so it makes absolutely no sense that Felix would start being picky now.

“It’s exactly as I said,” Lorenz frowns. “We were all simply sitting together enjoying a meal, when Felix stopped eating and refused to finish his dinner. I’ve been told this is now the third occurrence in a row that his has happened.”

“Was he full?” Byleth pauses from looking through some supply requests to chime into their conversation. Although she has not outright said anything, Claude knows his love well enough to tell that she is stressed about their current predicament. Felix throwing a silent protest against food is just one more thing to add to her pile of worries that she doesn’t need.

“Don’t worry, Teach,” Claude winks and flashes his signature grin. “I’ll get to the bottom of this. You just worry about securing our supplies for the next moon, yeah?” His chair lets out a deafening screech as it drags across the floor, drowning out any protests their former professor may have and providing Claude the distraction he needs to usher Lorenz out of the room with him.

“Claude, are you sure you know what you are doing?” The doubt rolling off Lorenz would have offended a lesser man, but Claude has spent his life being the underdog and he lets the words bounce harmlessly off him. “Felix is not an enemy to be outsmarted. He is simply a child who only adheres to emotion.”

“I am aware of that, yes.”

“Then why do you look as though you are about to hatch a scheme?”

Because he is.

And although Felix is not an ‘enemy’, per say, doesn’t mean that Claude can’t use his usual tactics of watching and observing his opponent until he has hatched a plot to take them down. Hence, leading to Claude’s current position tucked away in the far corner of the mess hall during the following breakfast.

Even on his off days, Claude is always watching and learning. He knows the favourite foods of all his fellow comrades in arms and he also knows whom everyone’s preferred companion is.

There is very little that escapes his notice, and the Resistance Army leader is confident that he will have a plan by sundown at the very least.

It is a little past 8am when the two children sleepily trudge their way into the dining hall with Bernadetta, their ward for the day, close behind them.

Nothing seems particularly strange or odd when they join the line to retrieve their meal; and nothing remarkable happens either when Bernie leads them to the only empty table left in the middle of the hall.

“Good morning, Bernadetta!” Raphael greets cheerily and shuffles his mountain of food over to join the trio at their table. “Good morning, Felix, Sylvain!”

The little ones mumble back a greeting, but their voices are lost in the din of the morning meal chatter.

So far, so good. Felix is still eating his porridge (albeit with an adorable frown on his face) and talking animatedly about goddess knows what with Sylvain, who occasionally turns to answer a question from the adults.

“Oh, good morning, Bernadetta, Felix, Sylvain!”

Slowly but surely, the table begins to fill as their friends meander into the building in search of food to start their day. Greetings are exchanged and unsurprisingly, Felix and Sylvain garner a lot of attention due to their current forms. Sylvain, ever the chatterbox that he is, fields most of the questions; Whether it is because he is being considerate of his quieter friend or if he simply relishes in the attention is debatable, but Claude cannot help but notice how his eyes constantly dart back towards Felix who grows increasingly frustrated.

“Oh, you’re just too adorable!” Annette’s squeal of delight reaches even Claude’s remote corner and he assumes that the wince he sees from Felix is due to the sheer volume of the orange haired mage. Sylvain, the current object of attention, just flashes her his prize winning smile; his dimples making him look even more endearing than he already is.

The adults gathered around the children don’t even notice that Felix has stopped eating. Nor do they see Sylvain quietly reach below the table to grab Felix’s smaller hand in what looks to be a gesture of comfort.

In fact, it takes another five minutes of cooing and fawning before Raphael, of all people, notices that Felix is now glaring with teary eyes at his bowl of half eaten porridge.

“What’s wrong, little buddy? Not feeling well?”

Immediately the attention shifts to him and the effects are just as disastrous as Claude predicts.

“I’m not hungry.” Some of the porridge finds its way onto the table as Felix pushes his bowl away with such ferocity, Claude is half surprised it doesn’t completely tip over.

“What do you mean you’re not hungry?” Annette frowns. “This is the fourth time you’ve left a meal unfinished. Are you not feeling well? Do you need to go see Mercedes?”

“No. I don’t wanna eat anymore.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay, Felix? We just want to make sure you’re not getting sick.”

“I’m fine.”

It’s a big fat lie and anyone with half a brain can hear the distress and frustration in the blue haired boy’s voice. One lone tear manages to squeeze its way out of Felix’s water logged eyes and that’s all it takes for the table to burst into a flurry.

Claude almost feels bad for Felix as the adults descend on him like a pack of vultures, all of them crowding him and trying to coax the reason for his distress out of him. The Almyran prince has half a mind to go over and rescue his friend in arms from a situation that is probably in his top ten worst fears, but before he can even get out of his seat, Sylvain is already bounding out of his chair with a teary Felix in tow.

Sylvain shouts something about ‘Knights and Bandits’ and they’re out the southern doors before Bernadetta can even process what has happened.

Felix’s half eaten bowl of porridge sits on the table completely forgotten.

----

At lunch, Claude decides to test a hypothesis.

He asks Mercedes and Hilda to sit with the kids at lunch and pay special attention to Felix.

To everyone else, he gives them strict orders to leave their table alone.

Satisfied with how his experiment is set up, Claude finally seats himself back in his observatory spot with his own lunch sitting in front of him.

He’s not expecting amazing results. In fact, he’s not expecting his first hypothesis to be a success at all, but he wants to try it none the less because there is always the possibility that mini Felix fundamentally operates much differently than the Felix that he is used to.

What he doesn’t expect is for Felix to immediately shut down the minute Hilda tries to engage him in some conversation about the games him and Sylvain play in the courtyard.

Today’s lunch special is Daphnel Stew and Claude has it on good authority that it is a favourite of Felix’s (technically Dimitri is a reliable source, right? They were childhood friends after all).

Sylvain tries his best to jump into the conversation and pull some of the attention to himself, but Hilda is every bit as smooth of a talker as Claude is; deftly maneuvering the conversation back to Felix no matter what Sylvain does.

This time, it is Felix that reaches for Sylvain’s hand under the table.

Except instead of just holding Sylvain’s hand, Felix starts to pull at it every time Mercedes or Hilda asks him a question, as if pleading for his friend to save him.

At least Claude could now say for sure that Felix is not, and never was, a fan of being the center of attention.

When the first afternoon bell tolls signaling the end of lunch, Felix’s stew remains uneaten and untouched. On the way out of the hall, Claude looks the other way and pretends not to notice when Sylvain steals an apple from the pantry.

His experiment doesn’t exactly succeed, but he cannot write it off as a failure either. The information gathered from his two observation sessions is plentiful and a solution is forming within his mind even as he makes his way up to the war room to meet Byleth for their afternoon strategy session.

By the time he pushes open the door to his usual haunt, Claude is absolutely certain of two truths.

One, that Sylvain knows Felix better than anyone could ever hope to compare, and two, Felix Fraldarius is incredibly lucky to have an attentive best friend like Sylvain because stars above, does he suck with using his words.

----

When the hour before dinner time rolls around, Claude makes sure to talk to everyone he passes by and give them the order that no one is to approach Felix and Sylvain’s tables at mealtimes anymore. He tells them to pass the word around and it doesn’t take long before the entire monastery is in the know of their Leader’s command.

“Care for company?” Byleth smiles and sets her tray down beside his own without waiting for a reply.

Claude does a quick survey of the area to make sure no one is looking before leaning in to land a quick peck on Byleth’s cheek. Joy flutters in his stomach at her rising blush and he merely laughs and winks at her stuttered protests.

“Check it out,” Claude quickly changes the subject and nods his head over to where Bernadetta sits exhausted with a now cheerful Felix and Sylvain. The latter nodding enthusiastically to their conversation with the occasional laugh and both of their plates near devoid of food.

A tiny rush of pride swells when he sees the relived expression on Byleth’s face.

“Told ya I’d take care of it.”

Underneath the table, he flips his palm facing upward so that he can intertwine his fingers with her searching ones.

“Yes, you did.” The unspoken thanks lingers in the air between them, louder than the constant buzz of activity in the room.

For the first time in a while, the former professor looks more at ease. And Claude, being the shit stirrer that he is, cannot help but toss a little fuel into the fire.

“So… who do you think will wear white at the wedding? Between the two of them, I think Felix is the better choice.”

“What?!”

----

4.       Felix has an unwavering faith and belief in Sylvain that he’s not afraid to stubbornly stand by to the bitter end.

“Annie, are you sure this is a good idea?”

If Mercedes is concerned, then Lysithea is absolutely certain that no, this is most definitely not a good idea.

They are at the part of the training grounds where the various magic users can come to practice and hone their spells. The ground is singed with charred marks from stray thunder and fire spells, the black streaks contrasting starkly with the pale stone underneath. To the side, there is also a sand pit where mages can practice some more destructive flame based spells.

“I’m just a little curious, is all!” Annette whispers back. “I know Sylvain is really good with magic even though he never uses it. He was the one who helped me understand that magic formula that I was stuck on for a week, after all. I was thinking maybe he might show an aptitude for Reason as a child.”

“That’s fine and all; but I’m not really sure how safe it is to teach a child how to conjure a fire spell. That just seems like a recipe for disaster.”

The orange hair mage cannot help but look slightly put out by Lysithea’s comment.

Yes, maybe it wasn’t the safest idea ever… but Annette just really wants to find out the extent of Sylvain’s inherent abilities. Even after she makes him promise to take his training more seriously, she still feels like he is holding back on her when they are paired together.

“What kinda magic are you gonna show us?” Felix is eager and bouncing on his toes. The House Fraldarius specializes in swordplay, not magic, so this is a treat for him and he can barely contain his excitement.

“Oh well, I was thinking we could start off with a basic fire spell!”

“Oooh, fire!”

Annette really hopes that Felix doesn’t have a penchant for pyrotechnics.

As much of a bad idea as this is, Lysithea can’t exactly bring herself to leave them in case something goes terribly wrong. She is the strongest, most advanced Gremory the Resistance Army has; with her around, she’s confident that the worst that could happen would be some singed eyebrows and possibly an impromptu need for a haircut. But even that is an outcome that she is hoping to avoid.

Once the target is set up, Sylvain and Felix eagerly make their way over to the sidelines to watch Annette demonstrate a basic fire spell.

It’s nothing special really. Even the older Felix and Sylvain could probably cast it without much problem, but to their younger versions, the small ball of fire is so grand and spectacular that it warrants oo’s and ah’s and enthusiastic applause.

“Wow! That is so cool! Isn’t that so cool, Sylvain?”

Felix is pulling on Sylvain’s sleeve and the older boy nods emphatically with admiration shining in his eyes.

“Do you think you could do it too?”

Lysithea is startled to hear the question Felix asks Sylvain. Of course, Annette was already planning to ask the Gautier boy to attempt the spell, but that was out of curiosity.

From the shining look on Felix’s face, Lysithea knows that he is asking because in his mind, there is nothing that his smart, talented best friend in the whole wide world cannot do.

“Magic is difficult to learn and takes time. It can take years for some to learn just the basics.” She cuts in before Sylvain can answer.

She doesn’t want Felix to unwittingly trap him with an unrealistic expectation that he cannot meet and she figures it is better to disappoint him now rather than allow the red head to try and then feel guilty when he disappoints his friend.

“Sylvain is smart. I bet Sylvain could do it!”

Felix is pouting in that way that they are all quickly learning means ‘I’m right and you can’t convince me otherwise’.

“I’m sure Sylvain is very smart!” Mercedes agrees and gives the boys her best placating smile. “But I’m not so sure that a person could learn how to cast a Fire spell in one day! Why, it took Annie and I at least a week of practicing before we could do it!”

“Yep, I remember I almost burned my eyebrows off the first time I tried! But I can teach you the basics maybe and then we can bring you here again next time to practice?”

The urge to verbally reprimand the warlock for her relentless pursuit to satisfy her own curiosity rises and Lysithea has to physically clutch her biceps to stop herself from bursting.

Fine. If they were so eager to set themselves down this path, then so be it.

“Yeah!” Felix is literally vibrating with excitement and Sylvain looks nervous but determined to not let his admirer down.

Heaving a sigh, Lysithea moves to settle next to Mercedes who sends her an apologetic smile.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

----

Unsurprisingly, Felix does not do so well with learning the basics.

The diagrams and symbols are a little too much on the side of complex and it becomes apparent rather quickly that there is a reason the Fraldarius men carve through the battlefield with swords instead of magic.

“Aw, it’s okay Fe! You’re still the best with a sword anyways. You don’t need magic!” Sylvain ruffles his hair and smiles. “You’ll always beat me at swordplay.”

The small admission is enough to cheer Felix up and after a bit more nudging from the older boy, he runs off to play around with the wooden practice swords they have on the other side of the training room while Annette and Sylvain continue to work on creating basic magic circles.

It’s only after the third hour and Mercedes has long left to attend to various chores that Lysithea turns to watch Felix go through rather crude sword forms instead.

“You need to spread your feet farther apart.” Using her own foot, she nudges Felix’s left heel to the side to widen his stance. “Try striking again now.”

The wooden sword wobbles a bit in its trajectory, but the swing is undoubtedly much better than before. The sheer delight that lights up in Felix’s eyes almost makes Lysithea laugh out loud because she recognizes it as the same gleam she sees in the older Felix’s eyes when he executes a particularly hard maneuver.

“Why aren’t you watching Sylvain and Annie?”

For a five year old, Felix is incredibly perceptive.

Rather than lie to him, Lysithea opts for honesty because she is sure that’s what older Felix would have wanted.

“I don’t think he’ll succeed.”

Felix frowns. “You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. I know how hard it is to learn magic. I’m sure Sylvain is very intelligent, but it takes a lot of hard work to use Reason.”

“Sylvain can do it. I know he can.”

She sighs and turns a baleful eye down at Felix. “You’re a stubborn one aren’t you.”

“Glenn said that to me too when he didn’t believe me that I could stay up all night waiting for Sylvain.”

“And did you prove him wrong?”

Felix turns to full face her, expression full of gravity.

“Yup.” The dead seriousness of his tone looses Lysithea’s first laugh of the day and she cannot help but be drawn towards this little boy, the same way she was drawn to his older self.

Deigning not to continue a lost conversation, the cake loving Gremory opts to turn back and watch the progress that the other two have made, leaving Felix muttering to himself about his steadfast belief in his best friend.

----

“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got!”

The sun is setting and it is nearly time for dinner by the time Sylvain and Annette break away from Magic and Sorcery: Vol 1. to actually put some practice to the theory they have spent all day studying.

“Now, don’t be too disappointed if you can’t get it.” Annette says while moving out of the way. “You did just learn the basics and it takes a lot of practice!”

Lysithea has not moved from her perch from a nearby bench. She’s still extremely skeptical that Sylvain will manage to do very much at all. Yes, it is true that he had a budding talent for Reason during their academy days, but Sylvain hardly ever applied himself to any of his studies. The professor had to literally force him to attend one on one magic lessons with her before his aptitude for spells finally emerged.

Although, she muses, this younger Sylvain seems to be more enthusiastic to participate in things he was interested in. Even now, the scrunched up look of concentration on his face is indication enough that the Sylvain Lysithea is used to is a much different creature than the one before her currently.

House Ordelia does not really have any established trade routes with the Gautier territory, but the Ordelia heir has heard enough to know that the current Margrave is an arrogant, crest-obsessed prick.

It doesn’t take a prodigy to connect the dots and surmise that Sylvain’s carefree attitude and refusal to apply himself to anything is a product of his father’s suffocating expectations.

Fuck Margrave Gautier.

Maybe Lysithea does want Sylvain to prove her wrong and succeed; then at least he can go back home and light his father’s breeches on fire.

She’s only slightly disappointed when her expectations prove correct and the best Sylvain can conjure is one tiny flicker from a lone flame in his hand. However, it is still much more than she thought Sylvain would be able to do and for that, she is genuinely impressed.

Annette is also very much awestruck with Sylvain’s quick learning and happily informs the boy of this all the way to the dining hall. Sylvain is uncharacteristically quiet as he listens to the older mage praise him, but he is not yet skilled enough in the art of hiding behind a mask and the slight downward tilt of his lips does not go unnoticed.

“You really did an amazing job learning so much in such a short time, Sylvain! Don’t be too disappointed that you couldn’t do it.”

Sylvain gives a weak smile in return, but it is Felix who ultimately responds; one hand clasped tightly in the Gautier’s and the other one balled into a fist.

“Sylvain can do it. Just watch.”

----

Dinner passes without much fanfare and the boys are eventually tucked in for the night. Claude and Byleth have long decided that a full-time night chaperone is no longer necessary; although occasionally, one of their friends will peek into the room in the dead of night before they retire, but very rarely do they find anything wrong that requires their attention. A week has already passed with no incident, so there should be no need to exhaust their soldiers by keeping them up at night.

Except this time, when Petra nudges the door to their room open – being extremely careful not to open it too fast lest the hinges squeak – she does not see any sign of Felix or Sylvain anywhere.

It is the dead of night, but Garreg Mach Monastery blazes alive with a flurry of panic at the toll of the emergency bell.

“You’re absolutely sure no one saw them leave their room?”

Seteth slams his palms on the table and interrogates the night shift guards; his brows furrowed and mind racing a mile a minute.

If the enemy has somehow managed to sneak into Garreg Mach and kidnap the children, then they are well and truly fucked. They may have to abandon their home base or at the very least do an extensive investigation of their current ranks and re-evaluate their current passive defense.

“There were no signs that a struggle was happening.” Petra voices from her place around the war table. “I am having confidence that they left with willingness.”

“Goddess, please keep them safe.” The situation leaves a bad taste in Flayn’s mouth; it is much too reminiscent of when she was kidnapped and although it has been years since the incident, the memories still plague her.

Byleth’s voice leaves no room for discussion, “everyone split up and search the grounds. Most of our facilities are locked up at night so that should help limit the number of places we need to search.”

Everyone dashes out of the room with their orders and branch off at the second floor corridor. Those once belonging to the Black Eagle house comb through the main hall while the former Blue Lion students check all surrounding independent buildings; the Golden Deer fanning out to cover the outdoor grounds of the monastery.

An hour passes. Then another. And another.

Soon it is 3 in the morning and the panic is truly beginning to set in, giving rise to an unsettling fear clawing its way up from the depths of the night.

“Dimitri, Dedue! Have you found anything?” Ingrid pants and skids to a halt just below the stairs to the Sauna; the rest of her Blue Lion classmates run up to join her and debrief their findings.

“Nothing,” Dedue’s tone is flat as usual but his strangled expression is enough to betray his underlying worry. “We have searched all the open buildings and the grounds. There is no sign of them at all.”

Annette is near tears now and Mercedes places a hand on her shoulder, offering her silent support even while she herself is fiddling with her shawl, an attempt to keep her mind occupied before it spirals.

“It’s not like them to run away,” Ashe frowns. “Did anything happen today? Were they acting weird at all?”

“Not really. All we did was practice magic at the training grounds.”

Mercedes frowns. “Perhaps they left something there and went back to retrieve it?”

“The training grounds should be locked at 11PM. No one should be able to get in or out until sunrise.” Dimitri shakes his head.

“Well then we’re clearly running out of ideas here!” Ingrid throws up her hands in frustration and rakes them through her hair which is on the verge of looking like a bird’s nest. “We’ve checked the dining hall and the greenhouse but –“

“Your Majesty.” Dedue’s raised voice cuts Ingrid short and they look over to see the doors to the training grounds swing open slowly with a slight push of the man’s hands. “The doors were not locked as we thought.”

It takes only a heartbeat for them to scramble through the large wooden doors and down the hallway, their rushed footsteps echoing like thunder in the stone corridor.

“Oh Goddess. I smell smoke. Does anyone else smell smoke?” If her heartbeat accelerates any more, Annette is pretty sure she will have a heart attack.

“It’s coming from over there!” Their King leads the charge towards the magical training arena where the smell of smoke is the thickest.

When they burst into the open area, they are prepared for the worst. Weapons are drawn and hands raised with spells on the tips of tongues, but the sight they are greeted with is enough to shock them into stasis.

There in the middle of the sandpit, hunched over and panting hard, albeit with a brilliant grin on his face, is Sylvain. The practice dummy a few feet in front of him is alit with flames, illuminating the room with an orange glow, casting shadows along the stone walls that flicker like a live audience.

And off to the side bundled up in a woolen teal blanket that they all recognize, is a tired, but extremely proud looking Felix Fraldarius staring directly at the newcomers.

“I told you he could do it!”

----

5.       Sylvain has given Felix all the pieces of his fragile, fractured heart, even if he isn’t aware he possesses it.

Although once his greatest secret, Ignatz no longer hides his passion for art from his fellow Resistance Army members.

It’s not uncommon these days for people to find him at random places in the monastery with his art supplies sketching away at preserving a moment in time on blank paper forevermore.

Today, he is sitting on a bench next to a large oak tree, just a stone’s throw away from the main grounds. Beneath the shade and tucked between two large roots lie Sylvain and Felix, both completely tuckered out from their earlier attempts at climbing the towering tree. Sylvain is starfished on the ground with his arms stretched wide; to his left, Felix lays curled away from him with his head pillowed on the outstretched limb.

Sylvain and Felix have been the talk of the monastery for the past week and it is pretty obvious why. It’s not every day that you see two high ranking generals revert back to their child forms. Especially the most notorious bother-me-and-I’ll-bite-your-head-off and if-it-breathes-I’ll-flirt-with-it Generals to boot.

Of course, stories of their shenanigans and troublemaking usually fill the daily meal conversations, but there is one topic that floats above all else; the one that makes the maids in the kitchen giggle and even the burliest of knights crack a smile:

It is clear that even from a young age, Sylvain Jose Gautier and Felix Hugo Fraldarius are absolutely smitten with each other.

The two are inseparable and Ignatz is pretty sure that even a blind man would be able to see the absolute trust and unspoken devotion they have towards each other.

Ignatz has spent the day watching Felix and Sylvain, not just because it’s his turn to babysit, but also because he is fascinated with their bond. He had once thought that the Goddess was the most beautiful thing in the world, but the rawness and purity of their relationship fills him with more piety and awe than any portrait or statue of Sothis ever did.

It is like they are two parts of a well-oiled machine. Where one gives way, the other will step in to fill the gap; whenever Sylvain’s insecurities flare up, Felix is always there to chase the demons away with clumsy words and a physical display of affection, using his own body to ground his best friend and keep him close. Likewise, whenever tears well up in the youngest Fraldarius’ eyes (which is unfortunately quite often), Sylvain is there to wipe away the salty tracks and light up Felix’s heart with a smile warmer and brighter than sunshine.

Ignatz’s original plans were to draw the oak tree and the beautiful meadow of primrose flowers, but it seems that there will be a last minute change in muse.

Taking up his piece of charcoal, he begins the outline of what he thinks will be his fondest work to date.

Ignatz doesn’t know how long he spends sitting on that bench hunched over his sketchbook in silence with only the occasional birdsong floating through the silence. It’s so calm and peaceful that he doesn’t even notice that Sylvain has begun to stir until he looks up to find one of his subjects in a different position.

Leonie had warned him that Sylvain has a tendency towards nightmares. She had discovered that unfortunate fact in the first three days when each time she tip-toed into their room to check up on them, she found Sylvain wide awake with wild terror in his eyes and a sleepy Felix clinging to him comfortingly.

Strangely enough, Sylvain also does not startle awake from his nightmares. Instead, he slowly rouses himself as if from a deep sleep and if it weren’t for the glaze of lingering fear in his eyes, none would be able to tell that he had just woken up from a night terror.

That same glazed look is now flickering rapidly around him as if searching for the shadow of a monster that exists only within his mind.

“Sylvain…?”

Wild brown eyes finally settle on steady molten amber ones.

“Fe.”

“It’s okay, Sylvain. I’m here...”

Felix yawns and shuffles around until he is half wrapped around Sylvain with his left hand settling over Sylvain’s pounding heart.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you…” Small hands curl around the material of Sylvain’s shirt in a death grip. Felix’s loyalty and protectiveness so painfully evident even when the boy himself is half asleep. He manages to cling to the realm of the conscious for a little while longer, until the rapid thump thump thump of Sylvain’s heart slows to a steady lulling rhythm, pulling Felix back down under the veil of sleep.

Ignatz has silently watched this entire exchange and to be honest, he’s not really sure that Sylvain or Felix even remember that he is here with them. He cannot bring himself to make his presence known, so he continues to watch and observe.

He watches as the fear that was once in Sylvain’s eyes slowly recede again, the monsters inside his head vanquished in the company of his best friend. It only takes one more glance at the boy cuddled up to him with a hand protectively hovered over his heart to melt away the chains that bind him to the expectations of the people around him.

Here under this oak tree in a field of blooming young love, there is no crest or Miklan or nobility. There is only Felix and Sylvain.

Sylvain holds onto that truth as he wraps his free arm around the younger boy, tucking him more securely under his chin, letting the cool summer breeze lull him back to a dreamless sleep.

Ignatz pulls out a new page and starts a fresh outline. It takes him a little longer than anticipated to finish his drawing, but he figures it’s not such a bad thing since he likes this new version much better.

Later, as he trails after the now energetic boys back towards the monastery, Ignatz tucks his newest masterpiece securely under his arm, being very careful not to smudge the drawing or crease the paper.

After all, Claude did mention something about a wedding and Ignatz thinks that his drawing will make a fine gift.

----

Bonus: They’re just two idiots in love.

“Go away. Can’t you see I’m trying to enjoy my meal?”

“Aww, don’t be like that, Felix! You know, the younger you was much cuter. Definitely less prickly, too.” Dorothea pokes his cheek and snatches her hand away before Felix can stab it with his steak knife.

It’s been roughly a week since Felix and Sylvain have returned to their normal sizes, the dark magic having run its course and fizzling out without so much as a final spark. To the rest of the Army, this is a joyous occasion as it means that two of their best generals are now back to normal and can command them again. But to the last class of the academy… it is bittersweet.

Of course, they want their friends to return to normal. But that also means that Felix will go back to hissing and spitting with all the fury of a spooked cat and Sylvain will go back to seducing any individual that makes eye contact with him for longer than half a second.

“Better do as he says, Thea. Felix’s looking extra grumpy today and we wouldn’t want you to lose a pretty little finger.” Sylvain winks at her as he sets down his own meal and settles in the seat across from the swordsman.

The opera singer snorts, “right back to the flirting as usual. Save your hollow words for some other girl.”

“Ouch. Give a guy a break! I just recovered from a dark magic spell after all. Doesn’t that warrant some pity?”

“The only pity is that you immediately lost all your innocent and cute appeal when you reverted back to your regular body.”

Felix scowls at them, “if you insist on continuing your flirting, I’ll just eat my meal elsewhere.” He moves to stand but Sylvain is quicker and grabs his wrist, preventing him from moving.

“I’m sorry. I’ll stop. Just stay, okay? Please? For me, Fe?”

Sylvain is looking at Felix with that expression which he knows he cannot resist and Dorothea takes this opportunity to slip away while the two engage in a silent conversation with only their eyes.

“Fine.”

Their meal continues with little fanfare and easy conversation. Around them, their old classmates are scattered in their own little groups and if they notice, none of them mentions anything about how everyone seems to avoid sitting at Felix and Sylvain’s table.

Easy conversation flows into dessert, or more specifically: Felix wordlessly giving Sylvain his peach sorbet and Sylvain beaming a rare genuine smile and promising to join him at the training grounds first thing tomorrow morning.

The sun is slowly dipping below the horizon when Sylvain and Felix gather up their dishes. On their way out of the dining hall, Ignatz stops them with a heartfelt congratulations and a bundled up package that looks suspiciously like one of his works.

“Congratulations? For what?” Artfully tousled red hair shifts as Sylvain tilts his head in confusion and reluctantly accepts the gift.

“O-oh, well Claude just said…”

Dread rises up from the pit of Felix’s stomach. “What did that schemer say this time?”

“…He said that you two were getting married.”

“What?!”

[rochey1010]

Clip 6 S3E2

Ok so context of the clip is that Eliott and Lucas have now arrived at Eliott's. Eliott tells Lucas to make himself at home. He leaves the room as Lucas takes his scarf off and looks at some of his drawings. Eliott comes back with the beer box and 2 seperate bottles. He asks Lucas if he wants to drink. Lucas accepts and they then start conversing. Lucas draws attention to the wall of drawings especially the raccoon. Eliott says that's him but he's gotten better at drawing himself now. Lucas mistakes the raccoon for a badger and teases Eliott having a spirit animal. Eliott says that raccoons are cool and wear a mask.

Lucas now intrigued asks Eliott if he were to draw him, what would he draw him as? Eliott and he stare at each other and then Eliott tells him he's not sure, he'd need to think about it. Lucas then pulls out weed and offers to smoke. Eliott takes it delighted.

So my thoughts about this clip is that out of all the Evaks this is the version where you can't mistake this as just a friendly hangout. I remember watching Evak in OG and seeing how it could be misconstrued early on that Isak could be the one with the crush, as the hangout can really pass for 2 friends chilling with weed and music. But these 2?? Holy crap, from the moment they enter that appartment there is no subtlety, and the flirting is blatant. They give zero fucks about friendship vibes. It's plain as day they want each other. 😏 Everything they say to each other has this underlying sexual tension. Their chemistry is insane. 🔥 We get direct eyefucking and them matching each other every time. It's like watching tennis with the dynamic. One will hit it forward, and then the other will hit it back, each never missing a step. At times Lucas is audacious and confident, and at others Eliott switches with him. 😍 And interestingly the POLARIS symbolism at play here again, as Eliott took Lucas home to his world but it's not dark yet. More like evening is approaching and day is straddling night. So that equality in the dynamic really shows.

I loved that we saw the artistic side of Eliott. Especially the choices the show created for Eliott to debut his art. 🎨 We first saw the very meaningful POLARIS. And now we see the spirit animals and how he represents himself through them. We see the cute but vulnerable raccoon. We see the more cheeky raccoon in the forest climbing the tree happy. We see the more sad raccoon looking lost in a kinda darkness with the very telling harsh line strokes, like a chaotic tormented vibe (La Petite Ceinture bridge/depression). And Eliott hides none of it. It's there on the wall. And it seems to be how he filters his emotions in a safe way. 🙁 Curiously there is also another animal that was never adressed. And when you zoom in the animal looks foreboding and dangerous. The drawing is even different than the cute animal doodles. Eliott's drawn a fox from several angles and it looks emaciated and angry. It's just a theory but i began to think that this was how Eliott represented his bipolar side - the sneaky and feral fox. 😥 His appartment also has a very bachelor-esque bohemian vibe too.

And i adored when Eliott explained why the raccoon?? La raton laveur wears a mask. And then Eliott does the mask motion across his face. This again is a great choice of animal for Eliott to channel. As looking at raccoons for a second: they are nocturnal, intelligent, curious, mischievious, wild at heart, tendency to lash out if feeling threatened or to protect themselves, and have a mask feature that theory says can help with night glare. And i remember the writer Niels did a BTS for insight, ideas and reasons for certain writing themes. And he talked about the Elu spirit animals. And it ended up being one of my favourite things i learned about the season. Because the animal can say so much about the person and what they hide. And when you look at Eliott you understand why he's a raccoon. 🦝 It just fits perfectly personality wise, shame wise, life experience wise and the bipolar symbolism is again amazing. 👏

And drawing animals says so much about how you cope with your feelings. The doodle style cute drawings seem to be a secure way to look deeper into yourself and reveal your fears/insecurities that scare you. I love love that Eliott shows this insight through his art, which is his emotional release when the world ends up being too much. Such great layers for a complex character. 💜

I loved that he brings in the extra beers too cause he wants Lucas to stay longer. 🍻 And then Lucas brings out the weed at the end cause he doesn't wanna leave. 🚬 They both gift each other to keep the night going on. And something that i begin to notice about Lucas is how quickly he goes along with all things Eliott. 🤗 After the initial tease about the raccoon spirit animal and Eliott's cute defense of it. Lucas is genuinely interested and likes Eliott's mind and creativity. He wants to know this guy and is endeared by the things Eliott says and does. And the boy is thirsty as f 💦 because i remember when he dropped that line about Eliott drawing him, my jaw hit the floor. 🤯 Because our isaks aren't this forward, and Lucas is brave and willing. Because not only does he approach eliott first but now he's basically saying "draw me like one of your french girls" and the bitch wiggles his eyebrows 😳 and even Eliott loses his confident composure. Lucas is telling Eliott to think about him, study him, look at him, give him all his attention and think of nothing else but him in that moment. And Eliott rises to the challenge and blatantly eyefucks him 👁👄👁 but we also see his artistic mind because we see his gaze change for a moment to assess Lucas too.

Look, suffice it to say these 2 make eyefucking each other a profession. The entire hang out is crazy desire for each other. 👁👄👁 It's the version where i always saw it as things could escalate a whole lot quicker with them if not for that fated text. They just don't care about hiding their attraction. And they really do end up in their own little bubble away from the world where they are comfortable and themselves. On a cuter note. The little noise Eliott makes when he smells the weed bag is 🥰 Anyway, the night isn't over yet and the best is yet to come. 😋

Song: The Fold & Thomas Geiger - For you

[tessimagines]

Wash Me Clean // Thomas Shelby - Part Three

Pairing: Thomas Shelby x Reader

Summary: (Y/N) finally meets the other members of the Shelby Family and has her very first talk with Arthur. 

Series Masterlist | General Masterlist

Warnings: swearing, fighting and PTSD.

Wordcount: 3.5k

A/N: HOLY CRAP! I am so, so, so, so sorry for the extremely long wait. It’s really not good enough. I’m currently in my last years of high school, which means, unfortunately, that study will have to come before my writing (no matter how much I wish I could write instead!). Anyways, I hope you like this one!

You had never planned on keeping him waiting.

The heels of your boots click on the concrete steps as you clumsily put one in front of the other, blowing the wisps of (h/c) hair that fall around your flushed face. Of all the mornings, you thought to yourself, of course it had to be this one. It always seemed to be the natural order of things. The only morning you accidentally sleep in is the morning you have Thomas Shelby waiting out in the street for you. 

You feel the hem of your long, emerald skirt catch under the sole of your left boot, flinging your body forward and into the wall in front of you. You catch yourself upright, your hands pressed up against the pale cream of the concrete wall. You sigh, talking a long, deep breath in. Get your head straight, (Y/N), you tell yourself, your eyes closed. Don’t make a fool of yourself. Not after coming all this way.

You take one last grounding breath, feeling it settle deep inside your chest and easing the tightness that grip each one of your muscles. And then you turn to face the door, taking the last three steps towards it before pushing it open, your eyes immediately settling on the figure of Thomas Shelby leaning against the stone wall of your apartment building.

He is a picturesque image of calmness, stark against the chaotic brightness of the Small Heath street you both stand on. He slips a tightly rolled cigarette into his mouth, taking a long drag and letting the smoke settle into his lungs. When he breathes it out, his eyes, the colour of a Blue Jay’s feathers, survey the people around him until they finally find their way to you. 

“I’m so sorry about my tardiness,” you mutter, breathless. Despite the calmness of his expression, you can see the tiredness riddled into his features. He seems impartial to your apology, hardly a morsel of annoyance visible on his face.

“Not to worry,” He says, lifting the cigarette to his lips again. When he speaks again, smoke flurries out of his mouth with every word. “How was your morning?”

“Rushed,” you laugh, settling into a fast-paced walk beside him. You feel your fingers go white as they grip the small, fabric tapestry bag in your hands. he leads you down the crowded and dirty street, past the soot-blackened face of the Blacksmith just down the road from your new house. You watch as he dips his bald head at the man beside you, a gesture of respect. But you see the hint of fear that flashes across his eyes, before he quickly shifts them to the ground below him. 

Every man that you both walk past imitates that same nod in Tommy’s direction, each one with a mixture of reverence and anxiety suddenly absorbed into their features. Thomas nods back to them, and it’s only then that they seem to relax, some of the trepidation seeping out of them as their shoulders loosen.

You watch as a plump and red-skinned woman pulls her child out of his path, scolding him with her grip firm on his forearm. An apology seeps from her lips, muttered over and over again until Thomas puts a hand up and shakes his head. She shuffles backwards, only then loosening the claw that is wrapped around her son’s arm. 

You notice their eyes following you two. After they assess that Thomas Shelby has nothing to say to them, they let their eyes trail you in curiosity. You notice a young woman, perhaps only two years younger than you, eye you with a glint of jealousy in the dark brown of her eyes. You have never been looked at that way before, and it leaves a feeling of uneasiness deep inside you. 

“Everybody knows you,” you mutter, tucking the loose strands of hair behind your ear. No matter how tight you do it, they always manage to escape from your updo. 

“Eh?”

“Everyone we walk past nods at you. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you were a celebrity.” You said, watching as yet another man dips his head at Thomas’ passing. Thomas’ eyes flicker over to you, letting a little humph slip from his lips.

“You don’t miss a thing, do you?” You lift your (e/c) eyes to meet his, finding a hint of amusement in their deep blue. You swear there is the slight slant of a smile on the corner of his lips, but he drops it, bringing the cigarette to sit there once again. You smell the intoxicating smell of the tobacco as he blows it out, using his cigarette to point at one of the many townhouses along the street. “It’s just this one here.” 

Thomas takes a small, metal key out of his pocket, the surface of it dull with the years of its use. He inserts it into the door, waits for a click and then pushes it open, holding it just long enough for the two of you to walk in. You allow Tommy to take the burgundy overcoat off of your shoulders and hand it up beside his own on the coat rack beside the door. 

The room you had entered was small but still held the feeling that came with the living quarters of any close-knit family. It seems like a good place for young kids to grow up, and at face value, it was just that. Just another family home, all the furniture and wallpaper beset with years of use and love. But you knew that there was something deeper at play here, it wasn’t just the warm home of a close family.

The footsteps of a clumsy child running downstairs sounded around the room, and within an instant, a young boy no older than eleven was leaping into Tommy’s arms.

“Tommy,” he said, his eyes moving from you to the man who held him. “Who’s this?”

“This is Miss (Y/L/N),” Thomas answered, ruffling the hair on the younger boy’s head. He then turns to you, a warmth in his features at the little boy in his arms. “(Y/N), this is Finn Shelby.”

You smile at the young boy, outstretching a hand towards him. The younger boy gladly took it, the largest of smiles on his face. “Hello, Finn. It’s very nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Finn doesn’t seem able to stop smiling at you. Thomas places him down on the timber floor of the entrance, a laugh on his lips.

“All right, Finn.” He begins, his voice taking a more serious tone. “Now, Miss (Y/L/N) is here to talk with Arthur, okay? So when they are up there, I don’t want you going up and interrupting them. Do you understand me?”

Finn hesitates for a second, a fallen expression on his face. He nods his head despite his disappointment, still looking at Tommy’s face crouched down low in front of him. “Yes, Tommy. I understand.”

“Good Lad.” Thomas stands up and pats his young brother on the back, watching as he scuttles off to play. He then turns back to you, a small smile still playing on his lips.

“He’s cute,” you laugh as he walks back over to you. Tommy just continues to smile, raising his hands at your words.

“He’s my eleven-year-old brother.” There was some resemblance between the two, you had to admit. Despite the large age gap, they clearly look like brothers.

“Speaking of brothers,” you said, your mind flickering to your job again. “Is Arthur here?”

“He should be upstairs,” Thomas replies, pointing up the stairs to your right. “Oh and before you go up, (Y/N). Arthur isn’t the most trusting person. Don’t be surprised if it takes him a few weeks to warm up to you. If he gets upset or angry, you’re best to just let him go.”

“Of course.” You nod and Tommy watches as you make your way up the stairs, looking back down at him as you reached a pine coloured door.  He gives you a reassuring nod before opening his mouth, his blue eyes filled with anticipation.

“Good luck,” he encourages. And with a timid smile in his direction, you open the door and step inside, your eyes immediately falling on a brown-haired and skinny man pacing the room alongside a bookcase.

“John, you home?” Thomas lifts the cap off his head as he peers into the living room of his brother’s house, finding only his four nieces and nephews playing on the floor. 

“Uncle Tommy!” Katie, the oldest shouts, getting up and leaving her doll aside to quickly wrap her arms around him. Tommy places an arm around her before she lets go. “Da’s upstairs with Ma. She’s sick.”

The other children had begun to gather around him, all pushing their way in front of the others to try and give him a hug. Tommy heard the familiar heavy pounds of his brother’s feet on the stairs, rolling the sleeves of his shirt up as he came down. 

“Tommy,” John says, “sorry I was just with Martha. You wanna head off now?” 

“Yeah. There’s business at the Garrison. Jack Ferry’s son wants a job.” Tommy throws John his coat as the kids rush back to their toys. He puts his own on before opening the door of his brother’s house, allowing both of them to step out into the frigid February air of Birmingham. 

“Is Arthur coming?” 

Tommy shakes his head as he adjusts his coat collar. “He’s with Miss (Y/L/N).” 

“Ah, yeah. Almost forgot about her. But you haven’t though, have you, Tommy? Arthur and I bet this is all just a way to get into her--”

“You wanna test me, John? Now just shut up for once in your fucking life and walk.”

“Hello, Arthur, I’m-” You begin, but he huffily cuts you off, not once stopping his pacing.

“Yeah, I know who you are.” His voice is gruff and rough, and you detect what seems like a hint of discontent. His eyes won’t meet yours for more than half a second before he turns around and paces the other way.

You look around uncomfortably at the room and decide on sitting down in one of the oak armchairs in the centre of the room. It’s lined with a thin grey fabric-covered cushion that does nothing for its rigid discomfort. You place your fabric bag down on the floor beside you and motion to the similar chair across from you. “Arthur, would you like to sit down?”

“Look,” Arthur said, whipping around to face you with a finger pointing in your direction. “I know Tommy trusts you but that doesn’t mean I do. I dunno you and Tommy can’t just make me talk to a person I dunno.”

“Do you trust Tommy?” The question takes him by surprise. He pauses, faltering, then straightens up as he begins to answer.

“Yes.”

You smile at him, readjusting your emerald green skirt. “Do you think that behind all of this, Tommy just wants what is best for you?”

Arthur pauses again for a moment, taking your words in. He still seems hesitant and begins to fidget with his cap in his hands, but after a second, he begins to nod his head. “Yeah, yeah I suppose he does.”

It takes him another moment to cross the room and take a seat in the armchair across from you. It’s the first time you are able to get a proper look at his face. His skin is rough, slight stubble sprouting from his jaw and his brown hair is combed towards the back of his head. His face looks as rough and gruff as his voice sounds, a thin brown moustache sitting on the top of his upper lip.

“My name is (Y/N),” you say, despite Arthur already knowing it himself. He doesn’t stop you this time and allows you to go on. “I was a Field Nurse in the war.”

“So I’ve heard,” Arthur responds. He looks incredibly uncomfortable in his seat and shifts around, changing his position. “Where were you at?”

“I worked everywhere. The Marne, the Somme, Verdun, Cambrai. I was even at Meuse-Argonne the day the war ended.” Arthur didn’t speak but his tense expression loosened a little. “Where were you?”

“Gallipoli and then they sent me right off to the Somme.” Arthur was hardly daring to make eye contact and would shift them to the side whenever you tried to meet his eye.

There was silence for a few moments, unsure of what to say to each other. It brought a harsh air to the room and sent Arthur fidgeting in the chair. You weren’t a psychologist, or even a fully trained medical Doctor. What could you say without Arthur closing up and storming off?

“I tended to a few Gallipoli soldiers.” Arthur was looking across at the small, wooden table between the two of you, his eyes focusing on the decanter filled with a deep, amber whisky. He reaches across and grabs it, pulling off the oval lid. He pours two crystal tumblers quarter-way with the alcohol, passing one to you before sitting back down in his seat.

“They said that everything was hopeless in Gallipoli,” you continue after thanking him for the drink. Arthur was downing his in large mouthfuls, hardly flinching at the taste of the undiluted alcohol in his mouth.

“The whole war was bullshit,” Arthur says before noting the word he had let slip from his lips. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have sworn in a woman’s company.”

You let a small laugh pass between you, waving him off. “Don’t worry. I was a nurse, remember? I grew quite used to it during the war.”

Another moment of silence passes between the two of you, Arthur using it to pour himself another drink. His shoulders are stiff and his emotions tightly-wound. He is doing his best to keep you away from the safely-guarded privacy of his memories.

“Did you lose anyone in the war?” You ask, tilting your head as you look up at him. He is now walking around behind his armchair, whisky tumbler in hand. 

“No family,” he said. “But friends. A lot of friends.”

You nod, knowing what that was like all too well. You went into the war with an extra brother and three cousins, and now, none of them were here, lost to the war who didn’t discriminate on who would be missed or not. “Were they tunnelers too?”

“Yeah.” His answers are short and blunt. You need them to be longer, so you could search for the deeper questions to ask. Something that will mix something up inside of him, allowing him to feel as though he can trust you that little bit more.

“Were you there when they… you know?”

“Yeah, a few of ‘em.” You watch him take another large sip of his drink, taking relief in the burning it causes on its way down. “One of ‘em, he got the shakes down in the tunnel and that’s never good. You can’t breathe properly down there and it got to ‘im. He got it real bad and we couldn’t get ‘im out. So I just…”

And then it was if he tore himself from his words, a deep red colour beginning to bloom around his white shirt collar. His drink was no longer in his hand, but slammed down on the desk across from him with considerable force. When he turned to you, you saw burning hot animosity in his eyes.

“Why am I tellin’ you this?” His voice was loud and had a booming effect in the small room. “I don’t know you! Why are you askin’ these questions and trying to get inside my head?!”

“I’m sorry, I-”

“Stop talkin’!” Arthur’s booming voice erupts a dull pain in your ears. “I don’t want you gettin’ in my head anymore!”

He stumbles around the room, bringing his hands to comb through his wax-combed hair. He mumbles to himself, each indistinguishable word a lattice of fury and pain. He clambers out of the crowded room, leaving behind a dense feeling low in your stomach.

You walk over the window and peer out, watching as Arthur Shelby slams the door of his family’s house shut. He continues storming down the street of Small Heath, the cap on his head doing nothing to block the view of the burning furiousness on his face. People jump out of his way, the man hardly giving a look at the people terrified of offending him.

You take another deep breath and pick up your soft cream cardigan sitting on the arm of the armchair. There was no point in staying here a minute longer. So with a huff, you make your way towards the door and open it up, taking the stairs two at a time on your way down.

You didn’t notice the young woman in the drawing room as you walked past her, a small book sitting in her lap and her red cardigan sharp against the deep green of her armchair. She lifts her head from her afternoon reading, an eyebrow-raising as she takes your appearance in and a smirk making its way across her lips. 

“Oh, don’t worry about him.” The words take you by surprise, your head sharply turning towards her voice. The young woman sitting in the armchair was looking up at you, a smile sitting on her thin, pink lips.

“Who are you?” She was clearly a few years younger than yourself, around the age of twenty-three or twenty-four. Her hair was a dark chocolate colour and her eyes were a bright Shelby blue, so similar to the pair Thomas carried with him.

“Ada Shelby,” she says, closing the book in her hands and placing it on the oak table beside her. “Tommy’s sister. You must be Miss (Y/L/N).”

She extends a hand and you take it, a blush rising up to your cheeks. “Please just call me, (Y/N).”

“Will Arthur be alright?” you ask, your eyes flickering out the window. He had disappeared by now, off to wherever the men of Birmingham storm off in an angry rage.

“Oh, he’ll be fine. He will just be off to the Garrison to complain to Tommy or something. Don’t worry about him.” Ada stood up out of her chair and gave you a warm smile. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

Before you knew what she was doing, she had grabbed your hand and led you over to a little table in the middle of the kitchen. It was only once she had placed the tea-pot in front of you that she sat down, the bitter aroma of black tea in the air.

“So,” Ada says, raising her rose-painted teacup to her lips. “You’re the only one that Tommy thinks can help us, eh?”

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Each tick radiating from the clock next to you echoes around the dark, cool room. You imagine that you felt each of them bouncing off your exposed skin, one leg out of the covers and another inside. You feel each tick push you more and more over the edge, closing your eyes as if it would stop the sound coming from the chiming clock hanging up beside your wardrobe. 

It wasn’t the clock. You knew it. It wasn’t homesickness, no place had felt like home since the war had ended anyway. This time it wasn’t even the memories of dying boys in your arms, or the sound of their fatigued and anguished screams rippling through the thin walls of a canvas tent. It was the fucking Shelby family. 

They were stuck on a loop in your head like one of your father’s broken classical records. The thought of Arthur made you want to scream with frustration. The thought of Tommy brought the image of his blue eyes to your head and the nods of people passing him in the street. It was something in those nods, the anxiety of a sudden turn on them that you couldn’t stop thinking about. And then there was Ada, with her tea and her talk. 

She had spoken of the ways the war had changed her brothers. A gruff man’s fits of violence, some so sudden that it was hard for him to remember how he got on top of the person he was punching. The father who had come back to find kids he didn’t know, each ‘Da’ from their lips like a whispered, long-lost memory. And finally, the one who barely slept, and when he did, each second of it was infected by dreams of an enclosing prison of unstable dirt walls around him.

You caught yourself looking over at the god-damned clock again. Each tick marks another second that you lay awake, sleepless. And you knew, that it probably marks another one for Thomas Shelby too.

You get up and smash the clock.

That’s all folks! I hope you liked it. Please let me know what you thought by either making a comment below or dropping something in my inbox.

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[nancywheelxr]

Steve having a panic attack in front of the kids and Dusin being the only one who know what to do :)

They’re back in the woods again because of course they're back in the woods.

Of course.

Where else would they be on goddamn Spring Break? Where the fuck else, really, other than chasing some freaking Upside Down leak creature in the goddamn woods again like it’s 1984 part 2. It’s great, really. Nowhere else Steve would rather be, ‘course not.

Seriously, the woods? Again? Come on, Steve’s pretty sure he’s had nightmares that started exactly like this before– the smell of grass and moss after a thunderstorm, the crunch of leaves under his feet, the sun setting behind them and casting long shadows all around, the heavy weight of the bat on his hand, slick with sweat and mud, the prickling heat of feeling watched from the dark. 

He shudders.

“So, anyway, I’m just saying this isn’t normal,” Mike is still babbling a few paces in front of him. He hasn’t stopped talking since they left his house, but Steve is blaming it on Eleven and Will visiting. Which would be cute and adorable and Steve would have been totally behind it if catching up hadn’t devolved into investigating some freaky cattle murders or whatever in the outskirts of town, which had in turn, somehow, devolved into going into the woods at night like a bunch of morons who are so definitely gonna get murdered. “Cows don’t just drop dead like that, they were bleeding black, it’s weird.”

“I know, I know, and I agree, but it could be some weird disease,” Dustin counters like a mini scientist or something, like he knows what he’s talking and is being totally reasonable, like this whole thing is totally reasonable. “We could be on the verge of a new plague!”

“Oh my god,” Max huffs, stomping a little, “will you two just shut up? It’s been two hours–”

Something creaks somewhere behind them and Steve goes cold. 

It’s just a rabbit. Well. It’s gotta be just a rabbit. Or a deer. It’s fine. Everything’s fine. It’s not like there’s a whole ass tunnel system underneath where some alien monsters from another reality had lived or anything. It’s fine. 

Look, the kids are fine, they haven’t even noticed the noise, what with all the arguing around like crazy people. Okay, yeah, that’s actually not good, they’re definitely too distracted for someone who’s hunting monsters, this can’t be safe– well, nothing about this is safe, he guesses– and apparently, it falls on Steve to keep them alive again and to be honest, that didn’t go too well last time and it involved way too many close calls, Steve is a terrible babysitter, oh my god, they’re so going to get themselves killed and Mrs.Byers and is going to bring him back just to kill him again for getting her son killed, holy shit, this is by far the worst idea they’ve ever had–

Steve coughs, choking on nothing except the way his throat closes up, lungs constricting painfully on his chest by an impossible lack of oxygen, and he can’t breathe, he can’t breathe, why the fuck can’t he breathe? His heart is beating too fast on his ribcage like it’s trying to burst out of there, leave him bleeding on the forest floor to whatever horror movie creature is out there this time, and Steve still can’t breathe, and he can’t think right, his thoughts are looping and jumbling together, but he has a distant, sort of detached realization that he should probably not do this, whatever this is, in front of the kids, so he stumbles to the side, bat falling to the ground, and then stumbles some more until he has to lean on a tree to keep himself upright.

It feels like the world is pressing down on him, the responsibility of keeping the kids safe bearing down on him and his total, obvious inability to get his shit together playing out right there, in front of everyone, because come on, no one else is this fucked up, no one else is still having goddamn nightmares; Nancy has a job in that newspaper and her five year plan seems to be going just fine, and Jonathan is doing great in whatever shithole town he’s living in now, and they both look like collected, proper adults who don’t go around having meltdowns in the middle of the woods– everyone is moving on, bouncing back from the fucked up shit that seems to keep raining down in this town, except for Steve, who’s still knee deep on the shit and doesn’t know how to shake it off him, how to wake up in the morning and pretend he hasn’t seen that thing’s face open up like a fucking flower and show him way too many rows of sharp, bloodstained teeth– 

“Steve?” It’s Will that asks because Will is still a kind of quiet, sweet kid that pays attention to everything around him, and Steve really hopes the kid doesn’t try to touch him because he’s not sure it wouldn’t burn his skin. “What– are you okay?”

“ ‘m fine,” he says, or, he thinks he says it, the word might have come out a bit garbled and slurred, “just– I need. Minute,” he waves a hand, one finger up, “just a minute.”

He hears the leaves and twigs snapping as Will runs off back to his friends and he would have breathed in relief if he could, you know, breathe at all, but his lungs are still not working quite right and his vision is starting to swim, the dirty green and dark brown of the world around him are swirling, tilting off focus and shit, Steve thinks he might be dying after all–

“Holy shit,” Lucas says suddenly, and holy shit alright, Steve hasn’t even heard him approaching, but he hears his freaked out tone perfectly, “are you dying– oh my god, is he like, sick?”

“Oh, fuck,” Max swears, and Steve must be going delirious because he feels a very strong urge to tell her to watch her fucking language, “Dustin was right, we’re all gonna be sick, what do we do? Is he gonna die like the cows? Are we gonna down like the cows?”

“Wait!” Mike rushes, “El, what if he’s really sick, we shouldn’t get too close–”

“But we need to help him,” El, god bless her, argues and Steve can just see her little frown and oh my god, Mrs. Byers would totally kill him if he gets her hurt, “he’s a friend, Mike.”

“He’s not sick,” Dustin huffs, “we would have noticed if he was sick before! It’s just a panic attack, look!”

Panic attack? Yeah, that sounds about right, and Steve would be happy to have a name to pin on his shitty meltdown if he weren't, you know, still feeling like a balloon about to burst.

“What do we do?” Max says, voice rising with her own panic, “what do we do, Dustin? IS IT SERIOUS?”

“OH MY GOD, IS HE STILL GOING TO DIE?”

“YOU GUYS, HE’S STILL RIGHT THERE!”

“SHOULD WE CALL 911?”

“AND SAY WHAT, HEY CAN YOU COME PICK US UP, WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FREAKING WOODS!”

“DO YOU HAVE A BETTER IDEA, SHITHEAD?”

“THAT DOESN’T MAKE YOUR IDEA GOOD! HOW WOULD WE EVEN CALL 911?”

“EVERYONE SHUT UP,” it’s Dustin that yells above everyone else’s yelling and for once, they all fall silent. Steve is still hyperventilating by the tree, but he thinks the bickering is the most normal thing they did all day. “NOT HELPING! Give the man, some space, Jesus!”

There’s shuffling and Steve figures the kids have left to give him some illusion of privacy to do his thing and quit being a pussy, but Dustin seems to have stayed behind. “Steve? It’s okay, dude,” he speaks like Steve is a wounded animal– actually, like Steve is his freaking demodog from last year, “just– hang in there, okay? We’re like, less than twenty minutes from your car. Well, maybe twenty-five, Mike is being a whiny little bitch about it and Max keeps making fun of him, so. But, it’s gonna be super fine, we will be back to the Wheeler’s in time for dinner, I’m pretty sure–”

Dustin keeps talking, and maybe it’s embarrassing, but it, it helps. It’s something to focus on other than the freaky noises coming from deeper into the woods, and Steve thinks he can breathe a little bit now. His chest doesn’t hurt anymore. Dustin keeps talking and Steve keeps breathing and maybe it’s going to be okay, they’re all still alive. Steve fell apart like some shitty ass castle of cards and still, no one died. That’s something.

That’s– he can work with that.

It takes another good ten minutes, but eventually, his legs stop shaking and his grip on the tree relaxes; there are cuts and scratches on the palm of that hand, but it’s fine, it’s cool, he looks at the blood there and thinks I’m here, I’m alive, I’m surviving. 

“Shut the hell up,” he says, kinda hoarse and totally exhausted, and Dustin grins, all bright and happy, and as they made their unsteady way back to the others, Steve ruffles his hair. Thanks.

“You look like crap, man,” you’re welcome.

The forest is still a dark scary place and Steve is still scared shitless someone is going to die on his watch, and it’s not okay, nothing is okay, but for now, he’s still alive, he’s still there, and he can keep breathing, keep surviving and that’s– for now, that can be enough.

[fantasyizlife]

Need Help?

Need Help?

Summary: Tom and Jessa are nothing more than friends/co-workers. Even after a mutual agreement to leave a hot romance behind when they wrapped up the first Spider-man. Jessa and Tom are now on the set of Far From Home and they are anything but far from each other. This one-shot is a steamy game of promise that heats up into old flames exploding for each other.

Warnings: angst, cheating-ish and smut

Word count: 6340

Dear me,

(self journal entry due to extreme boredom and frustration. I need to work this out.)                                                          ��                                      

Being in the limelight was never easy. Making real friends was close to impossible due to the back stabbing so many did just get ahead of you or literally destroy you. Love? Forget about it! As soon as you were spotted with a person, you were immediately labeled and judged, either loved or hated by each others so called fandoms, just for being seen together! Yeah yeah, the rich and famous ask for the spotlight, we are supposed to bow down for our fans right? After all, they are who make or break us! I mean I love my fans, most famous people do. But at what point do they draw a line for themselves? Why are we on Instagram apologizing for being unable to leave our hotel room due to the massive crowds that have become unsafe for us but mainely them? Sorry for my rant, I’m just in my own head trying to sort shit out as I’m dealing with a girly issue and no one to talk to about it because my bff is locked in my ex’s-yet still friends trailer on the streets of New York and due to the crowds lined around the block none of us are going anywhere.

That includes my new almost-boyfriend? He was going to fly in tonight and spend some of my tomorrow off with me. But with crazy fans for blocks, he would be spotted and yet another clue for our fandoms would be dropped and they already had us together, despite our constant denial and countless “just friends” comments. So he opted to stay in Vegas until his next performance that was only in three days. I mean we've been dating for a few months but he refuses to go deeper or past second base, we made it to third base once, but it was a weak moment on his part, (so he said after he stopped us midaction). He says he’s waiting for me to be ready. I didn’t understand until he told me bluntly one night after an award show that we attended an after party with friends including Tom that I had feelings for Tom. Like seriously? Tom? I didn’t even introduce him as an ex when they first met because Tom was a friend, it's all we are! The one and only friend that I had hooked up with a handful of times and hung out with while filming Spiderman, perhaps with a few private moments on the promo tour but we had let it drift apart mutually, as friends. Because while filming that movie, I had met a group of people and we all bonded, they were my age and we wanted to remain good friends, all kinds of relationships crumble in the Hollywood spotlight. Each of us made an effort, celebrating birthdays and holidays. Each of us hosting parties to make sure we could keep this bond alive. Being that I was an original Avenger I was at most of the panels and meet and greets, but nothing ever happened between Tom and me after HOCO. And nothing was happening now. Except the man I wanted/want to build a relationship with isn’t willing to share more of his heart or his body until he deems me safe to fall in love with, and I know he is ready! We women know, am I right?  

I’m on my second mini bottle of Sangria and the drunk me is starting to come out. I’m sitting alone in my room watching the crowd still hanging around the trailer with no end in sight. If I hadn't reserved this quiet space for me to spend some quality time with my...FUCK! What do I even call him? He’s not my boyfriend, but were exclusive to one another. Without a doubt I’m head over heels for him. He’s the perfect guy for me. A small part of me wonders if he’s just waiting for me to get this movie out of the way because my contract with Marvel is up after Avengers 4 and this sequel...wait is “Exclusive” jelly of Tom and me spending time together? NO! Possible? Sure! See this is why I need Zendaya! She can brainstorm with me and help me relax. But she’s trapped and I’m typing at a empty screen...fuck it, I’m going in. It’s that or make myself crazy sitting here trying to figure this out.

Note to self: Your drunk, this isn’t a good ideal but your testing out your bad ideals tonight!

I lock the laptop and call Z as I gather some night clothes, I’ll be lucky to make it inside let alone back out before morning. She answers on the second try as my elevator descends thirty floors. With bottles clinking in my overnight bag, I step into the lobby. I’m instantly blinded by cameras and bombarded with requests of autographs and pictures. Question about Mr. Exclusive and myself. I all but burst into tears and opt for buzzed induced laughter as I press the doors closed and hit my floor number. I had even forgotten she was on the phone.

“Jessa, what's going on? Are you okay?” she yells into the phone getting my attention.

“I just wanted to see you, I need you Z! Hell I just wanted to share my sangria and catch up.” I exhaled my breath as I opened the door to my lonely dark room lit by screen saver of Mr. Exclusives and mines face. I roll my eyes at it and go over to the window to look down at their trailer. I can hear Tom, Harry and Haz laughing, music playing and grown boys making silly bets.

“Wait did you say share sangria?” she laughed into the phone as I whined like a baby at the fun they were having together. “Bitch we are on the way up, that is if you have enough!” she giggled. “And wait, Jess what happened to you and..” I cut her off before I was sucked into misery again.

“I have plenty babes, and I‘m lonely, let’s just say flights are canceled and I need my friends.” She promised me they would be right up and after 30 minutes of fighting the crowd they were all at my door.

The room was filled with laughs, music and familiar warmth as I slowly sipped my fourth bottle. They had my mini bar drained and restocked twice. They were stuck without food or drinks because of the mob so this was paradise to them and they were mine. I heard my phone ringing and seen it was him so I went into the bedroom just to block some of the noise. I knew the second I answered he was buzzing too.

“Hey baby” he smiled so big from his hotel bed. HUH..and no shirt..FML! I smiled goofily at the screen as he called me out for being more than buzzed. I dropped to the bed and looked at him.

“Sounds like you have company?” he smiled so cute it made my heart swell.

“I do, I was really bummed by you not coming so everyone came to see me! Were playing truth or dare next, I swear were such kids at times, the cool kind for sure!” I smiled as he bit his lip. “Don’t do that baby, please don’t do that, especially not now.” I whimpered wishing he was here to kiss. He moaned into his pillow and peeked back up to me. His mood had changed slightly.

“I wouldn’t want to get you hot, not while you have company especially while he’s there.” I questioned him with my eyes and they went wide as I looked at who was in my room...Tom.

“Jess can you please call me when you go to bed, promise me no matter what time it is?” he asked looking kinda pissed. Holy crap, is he serious? He is jelly of Tom! I assured him I would call as we said goodbye.

“I’m sorry, I was just coming in here to tell you it was your turn luv.” Tom stood still and raised his arms in defense. His sweet smile made my tummy flip flop.

“No biggie Tom, he’s um..worried when I’m around you, it’s stupid.” I lied smelling his fucking cologne. I closed my eyes blowing out a breath trying to center my focus.

Tom leaned in so close his warm breath gave me goosebumps and my nipples betrayed me turning hard and aching for his expert touch. “Can’t imagine why Jessa.” he winked at me and left me to go join the others. I had to take a moment.  

I went back to my friends all sitting around the table and at the same time they yelled Jessa’s turn! Just like old times my mood was back on point

“I’m starting easy because I don’t know what tea was spilled while I was away so dare!” I smiled looking to see who’s turn it was. Tom leaned in.

“Smart girl” he said in a tone that made my nipples come alive again. I hid them by crossing my arms and shifting in my seat.

“I know better, truth can be more dangerous with this group, especially while drunk!”

“Dare it is!” Tom declared standing up grabbing my empty bottle “I spin this and you kiss whoever it lands on.” he winked setting it on the table. My eyes widen with fear.

“I..I..I can’t do that Tom, I’m in a..huh..” I couldn’t say the words, it just felt wrong.

“Relax darling, it will be a quick kiss on the cheek. Nothing more, no worries.” he smiled biting his lip hard. I swallowed nervously  as it spun round and round. I was way too nervous as it slowed down so I closed my eyes. Everyone but Tom cheered as it landed on Zendaya. I smirked as she laughed.

“Two can play this game Tom.” I whispered as I got on the table and crawled across it. She shook her head at me and held out her beautiful long arms. She even helped me off the table and onto her lap as she licked her lips brushing my hair away and blocking their view. The music was loud and it wrecked any chance of them hearing us, jokes on them.

“He won’t stop asking about you Jessa, he driving us all crazy.” she whispered tilting my neck for appearance reasons. “He wants to know if your with him and why he didn’t come?” she laughed.

“I want to know who told him I was with Tom in the first place, it wasn’t serious for us. Now it’s cock blocking me.” I frowned.

“Apparently serious enough for him to find out, to someone anyways.” she sighed telling me something I hadn’t thought about. Tom must have told him, who else? But why? I looked at him and she quickly pulled my face to hers kissing me on the lips to shut me up. The guys all laughed per usual as we shared a weird knowing look. She glanced behind me and in the windows reflection I could see Haz staring at us. My eyes bugged out as I mouthed NO WAY!

“Some fires never die doll, we've been creeping all week, and I call dibs on the spare bedroom.” My mouth dropped open as she tapped my ass lightly and told me to move.

I got up looking blown away, but happy for her and him. And now it was my turn and Tom was my target. I sat across from him and asked him truth or dare. I raised my eyebrow for him to challenge me.

“Truth, darling, always truth for you pretty girl.” he cooed making my face heat up at my very personal nickname he only called me when we were intimate.

“Did you tell a certain someone about us Tommy?” I cooed his nickname back making him slightly uncomfortable. His brown eyes closed as he pulled back his long loose brown curls. Then he bit his lip to hide his victory smile before I could rephrase it to my advantage.

“Yes darling, I did tell a certain someone about us, in fact I don’t think I ever stopped, right Haz?”

I got up from the table knowing he won fair and square. I was too drunk to focus on all this.

We popped in a scary movie and all settled in the small living room between bedrooms to watch it. Not even halfway in Harry was falling asleep. Tom told him to go to the second bedroom so we could have more room. Zendaya hit my leg that was draped over hers calling me into action.

“No Harry, take my room, it’s yours and Tom's tonight, your my guest!” I smiled at her.

He shrugged sleepily and headed to bed, not noticing the hell no mood Tom was now sporting. It took Zendaya and Haz ten minutes to depart into the second bedroom. I stretched out on the couch with plenty of room for only two people.  My body froze as I felt Tom move underneath my blanket and shift himself behind me. I closed my eyes as he wrapped his arms around me in a cuddly way. I prayed for the strength to tell him to move back to his side. That strength never came. In fact I pressed my soft body more into his hard one as he kissed my hair and nuzzled my neck. I'm only human, I needed some TLC and this was platonic right? So it was okay, right? I blocked the truth that screamed at me as he squeezed me tighter. Before I knew it the movie was rolling credits and neither one of us were moving for fear of breaking the unspoken agreement. We just needed basic human contact. We weren't wrong for that. Right? I started to close my eyes as his breathing grew heavy in a sleeping rhythm.

I was pulled back to reality as my phone started to ring loudly in the quiet living room. I reached for it underneath the covers finding something harder between Tom's powerful thighs instead. He moaned in response as he handed me my glowing screen filled with a beautiful face. My heart was in my throat as I realized I was supposed to call him before bed and he was probably pacing his hotel room by now. I sat up, my eyes pleading Tom's sleepy eyes to give me privacy and he did without protest as he slipped inside my room and closed the door. I answered his second call on the first ring.

“Hi babe, I'm sorry I didn't call you, we watched a movie and I fell asleep on the couch.” I pouted as his worried brows pinched together even more.

“I can see that Jessa.” he smiled to my relief. “Did they leave you alone all by your beautiful sexy self?” he asked biting his lip giving me that look that said he was in a playful phone sex kind of mood. Fuck, he was honestly so hot, just as much as he was sweet. I wished he was here even more. It was clear he was intoxicated and wanting me in ways he practiced restraint from. This was a time he was willing to slip.

“Actually, I'm not alone sexy, they are asleep in the bedrooms, I'm just being kind.”

He pouted at the thought but quickly brushed it aside. “What's on your mind?” I whispered as he chewed his lip.

“You Jess, and your beautiful lips, I haven't seen you in almost a month, I miss all of you sweetheart, I promise, but tonight...I miss your body so much. Fuck I regret not making love to you. I actually regret it a lot.” he said soft rolling onto his back. “Babe, can we play? I really fucking need you.” he moaned showing me he was naked under his sheets and rock hard.

Between my alcohol fueled blood and my heated craving for him, I was more than willing to play.

“Take your clothes off, please Jessa” he begged as he stroked himself a few times.

Fuck, he was hot...and so was I. He wasn't holding back tonight. I lived to hear him moan my name, he made it sound so beautiful. I pulled my bottoms off and held my panties up for him.

“Humm, let me watch you take the rest off.” I bit my lip and set the phone against the covers as I did as he asked. “Your so beautiful Jessa.” he moaned heavily as I caressed my breast for him. “Touch yourself, and say my name, please baby” he said as his face flushed.

He wasn't very verbal but he always tried for me, I usually had to lead him into it. Tonight we just flowed off one another. I did everything he asked me too and tried to keep it quiet, my headphones were in my bag along with my mini friend so getting release wasn't as easy for me. But I didn't let him know that. I could take care of myself later. As he got closer I whimpered wondering how his big cock would feel inside me. He was very skilled with his hands and mouth, I couldn't wait to see how good he could really make me feel.

“I want you baby, please tell me I can have all of you when I see you next time, my body is crazy wondering what you feel like...please..please, say yes to me.” I begged as he found release. I could tell from his smile as he came down that he was considering it.

“As soon as your away from Tom, how about we give our bodies what they want?” he smiled both sexy and shy. I smiled back as I agreed and we said good night.

I stared at the ceiling trying to unwind my body from not getting its release. A cold shower would have to do. I sat up to grab my shirt from the floor and my bedroom door opened. I knew who it was without looking. I covered my naked body as I met Toms hooded dark gaze. He smiled causing me to shake my head and bite my lip, he had heard it all. He leaned against the wall and I looked anywhere but at him.

“Need help pretty baby?” he asked raising his unruly brow and licking his lips. “Has he really not made love to you yet?” I sighed feeling my body tingle as I exhaled ready to spill the tea.“Have you and him not..like ever?” he asked almost excited by the discovery. My face flushed hot at his sexy tone. “Is it my fault? If it is you should let me make it up to you.”

“Make it up how Tom?” I mumbled as my core heated at the thought.

“I'll make you cum, you won't have to fake it with me either, promise sexy baby”

“Tom I can't, I'm not a cheater, you should know that about me. Even if you were the last.., I..I..just won't.” I sighed laying down and covering my embarrassment.

“Wait, what..?” he said coming closer to me.

“You have to let me help now, I won't touch, I promise.” he pulled the covers off my face and winked at me.

“But how..” I whined covering my eyes with my arm. He pulled the covers down exposing my rock hard nipples. I covered my breasts with my hands and locked eyes with him.

“Just like that pretty baby, do it just like I would.” he said moving the hair away from my face and placing his hand over mine.

“Go slow, feel every inch of your soft skin as you slide lower. Feel your heart race as I bite at your skin.” he watched my hand as I pinched my nipple hard, making a trail with my other hand like he used to before he touched me everywhere and anywhere but where I ached for him to touch.

“Yes pretty baby, listen to your breathing, you can't wait to cum can you?” he said in my ear, his breath on my neck.

“Tommy, I can't..I can't.” I moaned

“Yes you can, it's just you baby.” he encouraged

“That's the problem, I haven't been with anyone since..” I hid my face in the couch “I need my magic wand.” I laughed feeling embarrassed at the name he gave it so long ago.

“Is it here..where? I'll grab it!” he stood up revealing his hard on. I pointed at my room and he went in without further instructions because he's the one who bought it for me with a pillow that had a hidden compartment that was made for hiding toys. He was gone all of 60 seconds. No time to process what we were getting into.

He pulled off his shirt and I grabbed it from him covering my face and to inhale his scent. Wow, I was intoxicated by him and sangria, not sure who had my mind more blown.

“Can we try..with the magic wand first?” he said taking my hand into his and placing it onto my stomach. I shook my head yes with my face hot under his shirt. He pulled it away and I held it with my teeth causing him to laugh.

“Touch yourself Jessa, let me watch.” he begged, coming so close to my face his hair tickled my skin making my nipples painfully harder. I closed my eyes as he pushed the covers all the way off of me, exposing my naked hot skin to the chill in the air. His warm breath made me arch my back as he blew over my breast. His lips touched them as a consequence of my sudden reaction.

“Fuck, sexy baby, don't make me break my promise.” he said pushing my fingers inside me with his hand on mine. His fingers were soaked instantly and he sucked them clean.  

I let out a cry as his palm brushed my sensitive nub and I worked my fingers slowly. He whispered encouraging hot words as the sounds of my moans and wet sex filled the quiet room. He watched me as I hid my face from his. I knew I shouldn't moan his name but I wanted to, it was messing with my task at hand.

“Stop holding back, if I wasn't here what would you be doing Jess?” he said tilting my face to his. This was sensory overload but I couldn't say it, it wouldn't come out. He moved away from my face and I felt the couch dip as he kneeled between my legs.

“Oh shit Tom!” I cried out as he blew his breath on my silky sex. My eyes rolled into my head as his hair brushed my legs.

“Cum Jess, give your kitty what it needs” he moaned hovering above my body. His arms held him just above my stomach, not breaking his promise. “Look at me when you cum beautiful.” he said biting his lip hard.

I stared into his beautiful dark eyes as mine glazed over and his name fell from my lips.

“Fuck, your so beautiful Jessa, he has no idea what he's missing.” he moaned moving lower again. His hair tickled my legs as he leaned down too close to my entrance.

I closed my legs on instinct with his face in between. He smiled as I covered my exposed sex and took my hand away, placing it into his mouth. I watched wide eyed as he now licked my silky sex from my hand. “I want you so bad baby, I wish I could show you just how much, but hopefully I can while keeping my promise.”

Without warning he slipped my magic wand through my folds and rubbed it over my swollen clit. I arched my back pressing it into his hard shirtless chest as he pushed it inside me slowly until he hit my wall. He let out a moan as my breast kept colliding into his chest.  

“Tom..ohhh fuck!” I gasped as he aimed it up and applied pressure to where he knew my g-spot was. Then he hit vibrate as he held it in place. My hips bucked upwards causing his hand to slide across my wet sex. He let out a rough growl and put his legs over my feet to hold me down. He smirked at me as I begged him to fuck me, he knew my body like it still belonged to him. And yeah, perhaps it did.

“Cum for your Tommy, pinch your clit for me baby, I want to watch you explode in my hands.” he moaned as he pulled my hand to meet his.

I did everything he asked and as I felt the wave crash I screamed his name hard as I came. My body went wild as the sounds of my soaked kitty echoed in the room.

Tom didn't give me time to recover as he worked the wand with a quick pace. I tried to push him away but he wasn't having it. I held onto his hand and dug my nails into his flesh as I cried with pleasure into his shirt, trying to block the sounds. He leaned over me and pulled it away from my face as I repeated his name and begged him to fuck me. He put his left hand on the side of my face and held himself up as he worked the toy faster. He looked at every inch of my face and my breast. His attention was everywhere, he was growing frantic as my second orgasm was draining my voice from my lungs. I kissed his strong arm and licked the veins that popped out before I bit down as I exploded again. He blew his breath over my hot sweat soaked body as he held the wand inside me letting me come down. My legs trembled uncontrollably and traveled to my lungs as I tried to steady my breaths.

“Wow.wow.wow. baby, that was amazing, you really haven't been touched since me have you?” he looked at me differently and it made me want to hide.

“I haven't been with anyone since you, I haven't even bothered until..well..him.” I swallowed feeling embarrassed and confused “He refused to be with me until he knew I could give all of me to him, he was..is..intimidated by you Tom.”

He wrapped my wand in his shirt and slipped it under the blankets. I sat up on my elbows looking at his body and seeing how hard he has been working on it. He looked bigger and more defined. My mouth dropped open as he undid his pants and his hard cock peeked out of his boxer briefs.

“I'm sorry, I'm in pain baby..I'll be right back.” he got up quickly and headed towards the bathroom. I didn't think I just acted. I slipped on my panties and went into the bathroom as he started to undress and turned on the shower. I locked the door as he turned around shaking his head no at me.

“I made a promise, I keep my promises Jess.” he said stern pointing at the door.

“Tommy, please just let me help, I’ll keep your promise too.” I pleaded biting my lip hard. His precum was glistening on the tip of his cock. I leaned against the counter and begged him with my eyes. “Please, I even put my panties back on so we still won't be touching, just trust me.” I begged wanting more by the second.  

Tom closed his eyes and fisted his messy hair. When he opened his eyes, they were filled with hunger. He rested his forehead against mine and gripped the counter as the head of his cock rested against his belly. I hooked my fingers into his boxers and pulled him hard against my body. I rocked my hips back and forth as I played with my breasts for him. His tight boxers were soaked in seconds and clung to the thin lace of my panties.  

He looked into my eyes, deciding for himself. I moaned his name as he lifted one leg around his hip and held it there. He was struggling to stay in control. He pulled up my other leg.  

“Fuck I need to be inside you Jessa.” he whimpered.

He rolled more precum around his tip and squeezed tight. I reached down in a lusty haze and he wrapped my arms around his strong neck before removing me off the sink and into the shower. The water was hot but he shielded me from the pain with his body and rested me against the cold tiled wall as he reached to adjust the temp. The water soaked his hair and ran down his face, his long lashes, perfect jawline, thick neck, broad shoulders, pecs that were a hella in shape. He looked up at me and pulled my lip out of my teeth with a smile that melted my heart.

“Your going to make your lip swollen luv, that’s for someone else to do.” he said staring at my mouth. I stuck my tongue out and he ran his thumb over it for a impulsive second or two.

He set me down and I turned around to give him a view of my ass, he let out a moan as I pressed my ass against his bare cock. I worked my hips in circles as he rocked his back and forth in perfect rhythm. He gripped my panties hard and made them ride up into my ass crack. It was the only tiny piece of fabric between us but it was enough to keep his promise, if he pulled any more they would tear right off. I pulled away and he whimpered at the loss of contact.

“Time for you to cum for me Tommy.” I moaned as he gripped his thick cock. I held onto his biceps as he stroked himself slow and tight. “I want to taste you, can I?” I whispered as I reached for the body wash.

He picked me up as I opened it and moved me against the wall. My back arched at the coldness of the tiles and he licked the water from my neck, shit this was getting out of control and fast. I squeezed the soap in between our bodies and it did its own thing as he started to trust his body up and down. I could feel my own orgasm build as he moaned my name between clench teeth and I joined in moaning his name. Our eyes kept finding one anothers as both of us could feel my panties shifting and his cock making contact with my bare sex. He stopped thrusting and I pulled his hair as I adjusted his cock to slide in between my legs, against my skin but not my sex. He moaned my name in approval and picked up the pace. I gripped tighter to him as he sang my name beautifully in my ear, over and over.

“Cum for me one more time Jess, please sexy baby.” he said rubbing his nose against my wet neck. I nodded yes as he pulled my panties away that were pressed against my sex and sent me into a frenzy as he kept his fingers over his thick head. I pushed my foot off the side of the shower and it gave me enough forced weight to spread his fingers, letting the tip slide in. He pulled my hair hard as I exploded on him, his eyes went wide as he felt my hot silk sliding down his hand and cock. “You naughty girl.” he growled.

Tom watched me fall apart and it was his undoing as he squeezed himself tight and jerked his cock faster. I watched his face as he closed his eyes and formed that perfect fucking O as he started to cum all over me and him. The water raced against me as I put some of him in my mouth. His beautiful long lashes opened as he watched me suck my fingers until his taste was absolutely gone. He smiled at me almost shy and my heart did that melting thing again.    

His jaw tightened as he struggled to keep a good grip on my wet body. I held on tighter so he could keep me in his arms a little longer. Shit, this was becoming something else. I could feel it. I wasn’t ready to be let go of. My heart started to hammer as he set me down. He kissed my forehead and held me close letting me know he wasn’t going anywhere just yet. We washed each other up and not in a sexual way. He even removed my panties and tossed them by his on the bathroom floor. He watched me clean my kitty and I felt myself wanting him yet again. I would do whatever he wanted to keep his beautiful eyes on me. I turned around to rinse off and was caught off guard when he pulled me into his arms.

“Will you sleep with me tonight Jessa, please?” he asked kissing my neck sweetly. I shook my head yes and he turned off the water. “Okay give me a few moments, you stay here and lotion up. I’ll be right back my beautiful girl.” he got out scooping up the clothes and grabbing a towel. I heard some grunting and whispering from Tom and Harry in the living room. I brushed my teeth as I processed sleeping alone in a bedroom, behind closed doors! On the couch was one thing! I rinsed out my mouth as he came in with a robe. He frowned at my toothbrush and took it from me. I reached for it too late as he stuck it in his mouth. Eww, I hated that when he did that!

“What, you did it first.” he winked getting it wet and adding toothpaste. I rolled my eyes like old times and headed to the bedroom in search of my phone. I did it without further thought and on my own accord. I sent my now ex exclusive a message that we needed a heart to heart. Tomorrow I would confess I still had feelings for Tom like he’s always already known and I would set him free. I turned my phone on silent and got under the covers to wait for my Tom. He came in quietly and made himself at home as he laid on top of my naked skin. I went into auto pilot and ran my fingers through his damp long curls.

“Thank you and that was amazing by the way.” I whispered as he peeked up at me.

“Jess, don’t thank me. Your the one who is amazing.” he whispered kissing my tummy.

“I’m thanking you because you actually kept your promise.”

“I do that quite a lot, yet people are always surprised.” he smiled than quickly frowned. “Perhaps if I would have been honest with you and not your exclusive, we could of saved each other all this confusion.”

I gasped at his confirmation that he did indeed tell him about us.

“Tom, what did you tell him and why?” He rolled onto his back and pulled me on top of him now. He looked guilty and sorry. “Is it that bad Tom?” he ran his thumb over my lips as he confessed.

“It was the first time we met, when you brought him to Zendaya's birthday party. After I got liquid courage I pulled him aside and asked him if he cared about you. He answered yes in a defensive way and it pissed me off. So I told him if he didn’t care he could leave because I was ready to prove that I already cared for you. Then I was an asshole and told him he better learn how priceless you are, because during the time I had you I wasted it on being to afraid to tell you and I lost you. He let me walk away without saying a word. I think he was ready to punch me. He didn’t leave your side the rest of the party because if he did I was going to just tell you the truth.”

“What’s truth Tom? Tell me now, perhaps it can save more confusion.”

“You were my closest friend. Number one outside of Haz, Jessa. I always wanted you around. Every tour, every comic con, the interviews..then we became whatever we were. I thought we were piecing the puzzle, then we drifted apart.”

“We agreed friendship wouldn’t add pressure to our skyrocketing careers Tom.” I felt my emotions kick up as he wiped my tear. “I didn’t want to lose you all the way.”

“I only agreed because I thought it was my only option to not lose you either way.”

“Tom tell me the truth you told him..” I said closing my eyes bracing myself.     

“I love you Jessa, the truth is I’ve loved you as my friend and just fell deeper in love. I’ve never stopped loving you baby.”

“I love you too Tom and I’m not afraid to keep loving you.”

We drifted off to sleep in eachothers arms, clung to one another like we would never let go.

  Thank you for reading this! If you like what your reading, let me know with a like and reblog. I’m sorry for being gone so long but I’m back and have plenty to share. Happy reading until next time! Hugz!!   

Tagging for singnal boost I’m sorry just a little nervous after a 4 mo hiatus. Let me know if you want removed and I will :) @hazhasmycoffeex3 @uglypastels @cryssilynn18 @frootloop311 @tentarium @celestesteffens @cartwheelandfaceplant @the-claire-bitch-project

[dpargyle]

Stranger Things Season 2 Thoughts

Spoilers (duh)

Also keep in mind I haven’t had a chance to dive into the “Beyond Stranger Things” aftershow on Netflix yet so if they have explained anything on there I don’t know about it yet......

-Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the season.  I was wondering if the Duffer Brothers were gonna be able to pull off something as stylistically enjoyable - nostalgic yet inventive, charming yet thrilling - as the first season - and holy crap they exceeded my doubts!  This was good stuff.  Literally as addictive as their Stranger Things debut

-Having said that I do have a few gripes...

- the biggest of which was Dustin’s midseason subplot with his pet baby dema-dog/gorgon Dart - I’ll get to this later but Dustin is literally my favorite character on the show - and you’ve established for a season and a half now that these kids are super smart nerds/inquisitive types (Dustin foremost among them - he’s the one who is most attentive in science class and the one whose formed the closest bond with their teacher)  Sure, he’s incredibly goofy - but he’s smart.  And now you go and try to tell me he hasn’t figured out this little slimy bastard is from the Upside Down?  C’mon!  It was obvious Dart was a baby demagorgon/dog from the moment he came on screen - why would Dustin think he’s some kinda lizard or amphibian?  He got attached, you might argue - he’s a kid, you might argue - but I call bull - this kid is super smart and I felt that whole subplot was outta character for him...

-Additionally - while I do absolutely love the new additions - especially Max - whose a great character - the whole thing between her and her brother and Lucas wasn’t quite fleshed out enough I think - was the older brother racist? - is that why he said “stop hanging out with that kid Max, people like him only cause trouble!” - cuz originally I was totally convinced he and Max were government spies tasked by Hawkins Lab to ingratiate themselves with the kids to suss out the location of El (also - sidenote - Mike’s a fuckin moron - “Even if I knew where she was I wouldn’t tell you!”  Like ok, kid, I get it but you don’t say that to their faces lol!) - anyway - so I thought Max’s older brother was warning her about these boys’ Upside Down shenanigans - but it turns out he had no idea - so was it just cuz he was racist?  That wasn’t made clear at all to me...

-When Max’s older brother and Steve (I love Steve so much) were fighting at the Byers’ house I seriously thought they were gonna knock over the fridge and then the dead demadog Dustin & Steve had put in there would suddenly flop out and freak the older brother out and that’s how he’d find out about all the supernatural shenanigans going on in Hawkins but it never happened :(

-Eight is such an abusive dick to Eleven - like what the hell why would you recreate an abuser in the mind of someone whose been abused - like you know exactly what it is to be abused - by that very same doctor! - why would you do that to her (cuz that’s all you know I suppose) but still - not ok!

- @justrollinon pointed this out before to me - but omg - Sean Astin’s character Bob was so good (poor Bob!) he plays such a cornball - which is so appropriate seeing as how Sean Astin also played a cornball (the best cornball) for the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy hahaha - he also has that Goonies connection too - which I know the Duffer Brothers discussed with him about - I was so mad when they killed him off though I was like NOOOO HOW COULD YOU???  So unfair!

-Speaking of unfair deaths - I love how they had the whole Barbara subplot and finally showed her funeral at the end - almost as if the Duffer Brothers were reaching out from the screen and grabbing the entire internet by the scruff and going SEEE?  DO YOU SEE? NOBODY FORGOT ABOUT BARB!  SEE SHE’S GOT A FUNERAL AND EVERYTHING - ARE YOU HAPPY?  ARE YOU HAPPY????? - I just thought that was kinda funny hahahaha

-As for Dustin - just like Nancy says at the end - he is my favorite.  Perfect comedic timing.  Enthusiasm.  And then he’s the only one who doesn’t have a girlfriend at the end (other than Steve haha) and I was like aww man I feel you!  Anyway - Dustin is the greatest.

-One last thing - I love how at the end they played ‘Every Breath You Take’ by the Police - cuz I know a lot of people don’t know this and think it’s a love song but it’s totally not - Sting’s even said it himself - it’s a creepy ass stalker song - like he literally wrote it as vengeance against a girl who broke his heart - so she’d hear his voice wherever she went for the rest of her life to remind her how he broke her heart - like it is a deeply fucked up song - and it’s played to be all cute and then you think about it on a deeper level - and you’re like oh yeah, Max keeps calling Lucas a stalker (he totally is) - but then they flip to the Upside Down and the Mindflayer is standing above the Upside Down version of the school and the song is playing - “I’ll be watching youuuuuu” - omg so frikken creepy and amazing and gods I love this show!

[cupcakeshakesnake]

Watching SU for the first time: Season 1 ep7, ep 9~26

(I found it a bit of a bother to write a separate post for every single 11-minute episode, so here’s the first half of Season 1 in general, ep 7 to ep 26. Episode titles will be written in bold italic.)

Bubble Buddies

-Hamster ball?  HAMSTER BALL

-That Onion kid is kinda creepy.

Tiger Millionaire

-Overall a weird episode. That and cute Pearl

Steven’s Lion

-Hey I’ve seen that lion before, isn’t he like a constant character or something?

Arcade Mania

-”Humans find such fascinating ways to waste their time.” ... yep.

-SHE PUNCHED THE FLIPPING MACHINE

-uhhhhhhhhhhhh....  “shake the meat” yeeeeeeeeaaaahhhhh... uhhhhhhhhhh..... uhhhh

-”I’m not crashing into anything!”  Pearl get a driver’s license already if you haven’t got one

-FREAKING AMETHYST CRACKS ME UP EVERY TIME

-”Silver dollar? Useless!”  ...wow.

-Pearl could be a flipping Jedi

-Holy shit Gernet’s addicted XD

-I mean Garnet

-Why do I keep typing Gernet

-Okay, yes and no, she’s hypnotized.

-What are you doing Sapphire

-Or is it Ruby?

Giant Woman

-So has Opal happened before or what?

-That was a rather good song with really stupid lyrics. Steven, stop being so dramatic.

-R.I.P. goat.

-FUCKING AMETHYST PFBHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

-R.I.P. Steven.

-Holy shit??

-WHAT THE F

-OH

-I THOUGHT THOSE WERE THE HANDS OF THE DECEASED

-Spear + whip = bow. Sounds legit.

-Why is Garnet’s hair on smoking

-bug is cute

-stevonnie SPOILERS

So Many Birthdays

-Man, Pearl’s hairstyle was weird back then.

-Garnet would be very good at poker

-What

-THE FUCKING FACES

-FUCKING KAZOOS

-”I think this is why aging makes humans die”

-Please don’t tell me this is how Americans celebrate birthdays

-Onion’s not very innocent (I KNEW IT)

-What even happened

-Did he fucking magically age

-People don’t age that much in 2 hours Pearl

-but what if, one day, Steven really grows old, in like 80 years, and then they really have to tell him goodbye

-So if he feels dead inside would he look like a corpse?

-what the fuck.legs

Lars and the Cool Kids

-Pearl’s police tape killed me.

Onion Trade

-”I lost something -something precious!”  “Your innocence?”

-(whispers evilly) “Thank you”

-I knew Onion was evil. That kid id so creepy.

-STEVEN HOW THE HELL CAN YOU APPROACH A DEMON JUNIOR INCARNATE WITH SUCH A STRAIGHT FACE

-holy shit what is that kid gonna do now

-yep. never trust a kid with no ears and a blank HORRIFYING stare.

-(Idk maybe Steven had to have the Ranger Guy in his possession before he could replicate it)

-holy shit he’s so fucking evil. Steven. Watch out for him. He has a blank terrifying stare. yep. HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE memories.

Steven the Sword Fighter

-Is that Samurai flipping Japanese Darth Maul, with the doubleblade thing.

-Pearl’s hologram animation is somewhat disturbing

-Pearl: *edge mode activate*

-”It’s about waiting carefully for the perfect moment to THRUST”

-HOLY SHIT

-DID SHE GET F-CKING STABBED

-Welp I guess that’s Steven’s innocence lost... or at least some of it anyway

-WE’RE SUPER LUCKY SHE’S NOT HUMAN OR THE SHOW WOULD HAVE GONE UP TO PG15 IN A BLINK

-DID SHE DIEDEDEDED

-So how is the hologram still effective  And how does Amethyst ride on a cloud

-THEY PUT A F-CKING BLANKET OVER THE F-CKING HOLOGRAM  Also, Pearl’s probably gonna go blind if you keep her under the lamp like that.

-the fuck did Amethyst eat  inflation fetish bait

-HOW TF DID SHE SLICE A TREE WITH A BALLOON

-THAT’S SOME WEEPING ANGELS SHIT RIGHT THERE MAN

-STEVEN THAT’S A F-CKING PROGRAM YOU CAN’T ARGUE WITH A ROBOT

-Her clothes changed.

Lion 2: The Movie

-”All Ages” yeah right - DID HE JUST SHIT A MISSILE

-Amethyst just being dramatic

-Okay so there have been a lot of ‘magic gem places’ and the crystal gems have been collecting a lot of those other gems things throughout the episodes. Maybe it leads up to something?

-It was what Connie said, wasn’t it.

-ARMOR DOESN’T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH PEEING WHAT EVEN

-Yep, he’s gonna see explosions all right.

Beach party

-Is that a giant puffer fish

-Ouch.

-Don’t do it STeven

-I thought their outfits were kinda... part of their bodies or something. Yep they could transform their clothing as part of themselves

-Is that black dude’s name Kofi, because I know a friend of my aunt’s from Ghana whose name is also Kofi (Or was it two f’s?)

-Holy shit that escalated fast

-Pearl’s had it in for Amethyst

-Dafuq did they blow it up

Rose’s Room

-Mythril’s from LOTR... Wait no, that one’s spelled with an I.

-That’s golf Pokemon.

-Holy crap that’s creepy

-DONUT HAT

-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH FRYBO *nightmarish flashbacks*

-IT’S A TIME LOOP

-Rose Quartz was messed up, man.

-OMFG I PAUSED AT THE PERFECT MOMENT

Coach Steven

-WTF AMETHYST

-FUCKING AMETHYST

-PEARL CENSORSHIP ACTIVATED

-They woud totally rock a rave party

-HOLY SHIT THAT’S GIGANTIC

-”No way! This is awesome!”  Yeah, if you like getting flattened by falling debris.

-Welp I can do like two or three pushups

-SHE’S SINGING

-”Not because I’m--” what? Jealous? C’mon, just let him be.

-HOW DO YOU EVEN JUMP ROPE LIKE THAT

-uh oh. oh shit.

-Amethyst has anger issues man.

-And maybe Garnet too.

-wait wait wait wait I think Garnet’s like 8 feet tall and Amethyst like 4? 5? SO HOW THE FUCK ARE THEY FORMING A 100 FEET MONSTROSITY TOGETHER THAT DOESN’T ADD UP

Joking Victim

-How the hell are Lars’s clothes not wet

-WHOA DID SOMEONE SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST

-I bet that music video is like an hour long. I’m dying

-But don’t you have to be the manager/boss to fire someone? Is the blond girl in charge of things?

-Steven’s running animation was way too fast.

-THAT’S NOT HOW ANYTHING WORKS

-LOGIC

-And Amethyst eats the lot without blinking an eye.

-DID HE JUST SAY “YOU DICK BAG”

Steven and the Stevens

-This is the episode in which he numbers his clones like Dipper Pines did, right?

-Reminds me of the hourglass room in the Ministry of Magic.

-Speaking of Harry Potter, why does Pearl’s wet hair make her look like pink Snape

-But isn’t that basically like the artifact in the pilot episode

-Attack of the Clones

-Good job Steven, you’ve traumatized yourself.

-I play the violin and I assure you, if the tune stayed true to the animation, all we’d be hearing is one stretched-out violin chord/tone over and over again. And Amethyst’s drum lines would sound a lot simpler, according to the animation.

-”...by watching myself die”

Monster Buddies

-So that’s what happens to the bubbled objects.

-Is that a Pokeball?

-Nah.

-awwww

Hail Satan

-I think Garnet traumatized the centipeedle? Either that or it sensed danger in that water.

-R.I.P. Centipeedle.

An Indirect Kiss

-Ow.

-Manipulative Connie is manipulative.

-I’m not gonna get any worrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (reversed speech)

-WHY IS AMETHYST SPEAKING IN REVERSE

-I SHOULDN’T BE LAUGHING

-Pearl, you have issues.

-Is Rose Quartz some sort of phoenix.

-WHAT THE CRAP

*cries* “Keep going.” And that’s what it feels like to be a Whovian.

-SHE’S LITERALLY CRYING A MOUNTAIN

-I SHOULDN’T BE LAUGHING X2

-HEALING SPIT

-I SHOULDN’T BE LAUGHING X3

Mirror Gem

-I heard stuff gets a bit more serious after ep 26... *braces self*

- STEVEN YOU TRIGGERED PEARL

-Eh, i don't know, it's cracked, it looks broken to me.

-Pearl has OCD?

-Was Lars gonna say 'you little shit' KIDS' SHOW

-"Go get run over somewhere else" PFFFFT

-A SENTIENT MIRROR?!

-Pearl's OCD has been activated.

-O SHIT (that kinda reminda me of when Pearl smacked off Sugilite's goggles)

-#TRIGGERED

-Wait wait wait I think I read in a Wiki that this episode has Lapis Lazuli in it... what if she's locked in there and is sending messages like Tom Riddle’s diary did in HP or something

-"LET ME OUT"

-WHAT'S WITH THE WATER

-I TOLD YOU. I FUCKING TOLD YOU

-I admit that I don't know my geology but what does lapis lazuli have to do with water except being blue

-why is her eyes glazed over

-IS SHE MOSES

-WHAT THE FLIP

-WELL WHAT AN EXCELLENT WAY TO END AN EPISODE

Ocean gem

- Grounding's basically not being able to leave the house, right?

-What

-DID LAPIS TAKE AWAY THE WATER

-Wait if her gem is still damaged, does she have... Problems?

-Oh.

-Jesus, Garnet nust really hate that song.

-SO THAT'S WHERE THE ROLLING GARNET GIF COMES FROM

-See, I told you Pearl could drive really well.

-I TOLD YOU ALL THOSE GEMS WERE LEADING UP TO SOMETHING

-"She said stuff."

-OH SHIT'S GOING DOWN

-Pearl's like oh shit

-But you can't breathe in space...

-Well, at least he didn't directly lick it.

-And I was right about that cracked gem leading to problems, see, the eyes aren't glossed over now. And apparently she has water wings.

-And she just flies off into space, just like that?

-Aren't oceans supposed to be deeper?

-Why do I have a feeling that Lapis is going to be a connection between Steven's lot and Homeworld?