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artist-issues · 2 years ago

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I Saw Wish

And it was the worst animated Disney movie I’ve ever seen. I have to watch it again before I can get into the nitty gritty details. But I don’t need details to sum it up, because my dad actually said it perfectly as we left the theater:

“It was like someone who didn’t really understand Disney movies tried to make a Disney movie.”

Both the form (the technical arts of filmmaking) and the content (the morals, values, and themes of the movie) were totally horrible.

I don’t know who’s fault it was. Jeremy Spears was in the storyboard room and Mark Henn and Eric Goldberg did some 2D animation. But they must have gotten outvoted, or they must not care anymore.

Because holy cow. Here’s some stuff that’s just off the top of my head.

SPOILERS. Not that it matters, because nothing interesting happens in this movie.

The writing? Terrible. Ninety percent of it feels like the characters are filling time with quirky one-liners that are trying too hard to be appealing, then failing, then taking you out of the movie. The jokes aren’t funny. The characters just respond to each other in conversation to check a one-liner box. The other twenty percent is whole conversations repeating tell-don’t-show exposition that has already been covered, usually twice, in previous scenes. Like if in Tangled, every scene had included some variation of Rapunzel saying to friends and enemies alike, “I have to see the floating lights so I’m sneaking to the castle with this thief who wants a mysterious tiara I hid from him. Don’t tell my mother, she’s a bit overprotective!” Over. And over. And over.

The character motivations are way too broad. Asha? Her dream is just “that everybody around me gets to be happy.” That’s it, in a nutshell. No deeper exploration of that. Nobody asks, “why do you care so much?” Nobody tries to convince her she should look out for herself, and then she proves she was right all along. The King? We are told (not shown) that he doesn’t want anyone else’s dreams to be “destroyed.” But he in no believable way expresses that that motivation is still what’s driving him during the movie—what’s driving him is just a plain old lust for power, no nuance.

By the way, the whole premise of the movie? Undercooked. Half-baked concepts strung together with no definitive meaning. Therefore, it’s not believable. Example: The characters act like the wishes are beautiful—well, actually, no, this movie doesn’t know how to show, so there’s not a lot of meaningful acting—the characters just tell us that wishes are “the most beautiful part of someone,” and that’s why it’s worth going through this adventure to give their wishes back to them. But there’s no proof of that in the movie. In fact, it directly kicks it’s own legs out from under that idea, because it has every character who gives up their wish forget that part of themselves. Asha’s grandfather has forgotten his wish, but that doesn’t make him any less “beautiful.” She, and everyone, still treats him like he’s this wonderful old man who deserves the world, who everyone loves…but why is he so appealing? If he “gave up the most beautiful part of him?” The only character who is changed by their lack-of-wish is the Sleepy-analogue character…who is just sleepy, which is described as “boring.” But nobody else who’s given up their wish in the whole kingdom acts like that. It’s just him. Also, the King acts like it’s so important to protect the wishes from destruction. But what does destroying a wish look like? That actually happens to Asha’s mom. Her wish-bubble is broken, literally, and she just says she feels grief. But like. Why? She never remembered it in the first place; it had been missing from her life for years. Also, what the heck is a wish?! It seems to range from broad concepts like “inspire people” to “fly.” Just “fly,” like a bird. The desire to levitate off the ground is the most important, beautiful essence of one background character. Like, what?! But no character ever has the why behind their wish to make us care.

I could go on and on about that point. Like, think about Disney movies that wrote the book on how to make movies about characters with wishes. If Ariel were in Wish, her bubble would look like “dancing and learning and exploring on the Surface with someone who understands her.” But we believe that that is her real, genuine wish, and that it matters to her, because we are shown why being understood is so important to her. Because it’s missing from her life. There’s a scene where she explores a boat alone, and even her best friend doesn’t get excited about it with her. Her dad won’t listen to her point of view. Her siblings don’t ask her about her life even when they think she’s in love. She wants what she wants because of pieces of her life that we are shown.

We are never shown why Asha’s grandfather is obsessed with inspiring people, so we have no reason to believe it, or care whether he gets it or not. We can’t feel disappointed when his wish is said to “never come true,” like we did when Quasimodo was abused by the people he wished to join. We can’t feel elated when he finally “gets” his wish, like we did when Simba smiles on Pride Rock remembering the same way he used to as a cub and claims the crown with a roar. We don’t have anything to hang on to, nothing to relate to, nothing to grasp and feel with the characters. So we don’t feel, because they didn’t put the work in to help us feel. They just say, “the mom’s feeling grief. Feel grief.” And expect us to do the work ourselves. I have to stop harping on this point and move on.

But The main point of the movie is very broad because of that lazy premise, and it’s barely reinforced by any kind of appealing storytelling. If I had to guess, the point would be “Keep wishing for more even when it’s hard.” But the story they told to communicate that meaning was so unimpactful. Asha doesn’t have a dream of her own that’s such hard work to accomplish! (Neither does her grandfather; his wish is “to inspire people.” And at the end, we’re supposed to see him strumming a guitar and believe it’s inspiring? We were never shown how he worked hard to learn how to play the instrument. Or that he carved it with his own hands, or anything like that. So there’s no meaningful demonstration of working hard for it or achieving your wish even if it’s far out of reach.) And nobody except the king is trying to take wishes away from anyone, and he just does it literally, after they voluntarily give them to him, so there’s not even any impactful demonstration of “don’t let anyone tell you your wishes are dumb or unachievable, or stop you from reaching them.” Even when he takes them away, it’s just because they…could, someday, be used to threaten his kingdom in a vague, really unlikely way. There are so many things you could do with “keep wishing for more even when it’s hard.” For instance; you could say the main character has always been afraid to dream (wish for more), because maybe when she was a kid something wonderful almost happened but ended in tragedy, so she keeps her head down and doesn’t want much because if you don’t dream you’ll never be disappointed. She takes no risks, and has to learn that sometimes trying and failing is worth more than slogging through life all self-protective. I mean, the pieces were right there. She has this line about her dad, and how she wished he would get better but then he died. She has lines about how nobody should have to live with grief?? Then that’s never addressed again! It’s just a throwaway emotion-moment with no buildup or follow-through to tie it to and support that main theme.

The compositions of too many shots were so terrible. Characters got cut off in weird places. One shot has Asha dead center, with her grandfather on the left side of the table and her mother on the right, having a family dinner with a super exposition-heavy conversation that is meant to be emotionally charged. But despite everything else being perfectly centered, half of her mother’s body is chopped off. The movie’s shot like someone’s mom who doesn’t understand technology tried to take a video with her phone.

The charm of the art “style” wears off basically immediately. I know what they were going for. I see the sketch lines and watercolor textures. This is maybe the first time Disney ever failed to accomplish a visual “look” that turned out good. Everything looks dull. Muted. De-saturated. Slightly out of focus, but not in a cool Spider-Verse way. The sets or backgrounds are lazy; at no point does the scenery look complete; big, empty, boring spaces that do not create any kind of “stage” for impactful moments. The rendering looks unfinished. When Asha’s hair moves during her belting of the “I Make This Wish” song, it’s bad. It’s unnatural. It flops in a way that doesn’t make sense for the weight of her hair. The most impactful visual moments come from the villain, and they’re moments when he looks way too unhinged for the kind of line he’s saying.

There is no interesting character development. Asha goes from believing everyone is basically good and their wishes deserve the chance to come true , to….that, again. That would be fine, she could be a static character, if she proved contrast-characters wrong, in a believable way. But she never does. Because no other characters argue with her except the King. And it goes no deeper than “everyone’s wishes are basically good and they deserve the chance to make them true” vs. “nuh-uh, because I get to decide what makes them deserving.” The King doesn’t have any kind of interesting development, either. They don’t expand on his tragic backstory—it consists of one drawing of him near a broken boat, and a few images of the corner burned off of his family taoestry. They never say “King Magnifico wished for _____ and it was taken away!” They literally never tell you what his wish or dreams were, or what motivated him to create the whole kingdom that the movie’s premise sits on. So there’s no convincing sense of progression, how he got this way, why he’ll keep going “so far.”

The pacing is weird. It undercuts every moment that could have any kind of emotion behind it. One minute Valentino is suavely bouncing around, then he’s given a two-second beat to blubber with badly-animated tears that he’ll miss Star—then he instantly gets to have another funny one-liner so we forget he might’ve been sad a second ago. We’re clearly supposed to believe that the King and his wife are devoted to each other, and his turning evil was such a big betrayal, but there’s no time and no impactful evidence for us to believe either of those things. And even if we did, the moment he’s defeated and trapped in a mirror, and begs to be let free, the Queen kind of shrugs it off, makes a forgettable one-liner, and tells them to throw him in the dungeon. And he doesn’t look remorseful. And we don’t even get to assume he’s embarrassed or emotionally devastated that he’s come to this—because the last thing he says is “nooo, the dungeon is so smellyyy!” Like this is a half-baked LEGO short that can’t get emotionally deeper than what an actual 3 year-old’s parents might be okay with.

And that’s the worst offense: The movie is not genuine. It works hard for nothing, and it has no vulnerability. It just uses old Disney standbys to pretend to be vulnerable. Have the music swell and the characters gasp and the songs drip emotion when characters are meant to be saying or doing something emotional.

But truthfully, think of all the Disney movies you’ve ever seen with the hardest emotional moments. The sheer joy of Genie when he realizes he’s free. The anguish when Elsa thinks Anna’s been frozen forever, or when Anna thinks she’s dead. The trauma when Simba loses Mufasa. The longing and dreaming of Ariel when she reaches up out of her grotto. The sense of foreboding when Mother Gothel says “fine, now I’m the bad guy” or the heartbreak in Rapunzel’s eyes when she thinks Flynn has abandoned her, or the shame on Aladdin’s face when Jafar reveals he’s a street-rat, or the horror of cruelty when the stepsisters rip up Cinderella’s dress, or Kala’s tears when Tarzan leaves her in the treehouse, or Sarabi’s tears when Simba comes back, or Mulan’s father tossing aside the sword and token of the Emperor to embrace Mulan, or heck, even just Lilo pushing Stitch in the woods and telling him “get out of here.” This movie has no moments like that. It has moments you can tell that the filmmakers wanted to hit like that—but they don’t.

Because no work is put into building them up. You know how much Simba loves Mufasa, because you’ve been watching their chemistry more than any other character all the way up till he dies. You know how much Mulan wants to please her family because she spends all of Act I desperately attempting to do that. You know Quasimodo believes the world below is beautiful and wants them to accept him because he has interesting things like—talking to gargoyles, convincing us that he’s lonely; building a scale model of the townspeople, convincing us that he sees them in a beautiful way and wishes he were beautiful in more ways than one like them, too.

Right down to the facial expressions, none of them are as anguished, happy, sad, excited, silly, in any convincing way like all of Disney’s other movies. Asha’s “low moment” when she’s afraid her “wish” hurt everyone else (still vague on what that wish ever was) lasts two seconds, she’s not crying, she’s barely sitting with slumped shoulders, and her family barely spend two seconds comforting her. They basically just say, “aw, no, it’s not y fault, it’s the king’s.” And she’s like, “yeah okay” and that’s that. It’s like the animators we’re afraid to animate really intimate emotions on the characters’ faces. The voice actors, too.

And the whole movie is peppered with Easter eggs to past Disney movies. But all that does, if you really know Disney beyond the visuals, is make you think of how hollow this movie is in comparison. How much you wish you were watching Cinderella or The Little Mermaid or something with depth and vulnerability instead of Wish.

#I’ll talk more in an organized fashion later #wish #disney’s wish #wish Disney #wish 2023 #critique #spoilers

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anomalyaly · 5 months ago

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I See the Light

CW: NSFW. EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT, MINORS DNI. ALL CHARACTERS ARE 18+ READERS DISCRETION ADVISED

Written for the OHL discord server February NSFW event. Flynn Rider!Sebastian teaches an unnamed FMC!Rapunzel something new.

~3k words

[AO3/Wattpad]

Tags: Tangled!AU, Sebastian Sallow x nameless FMC, first time (for her), fingering (F receiving), oral sex (F receiving and a hint of M receiving), face sitting, masturbation, unprotected vaginal sex, they're in a forest so I guess public sex but nobody is around, fast and hard because I am burdened by the word count limitations

It started out as a harmless prank.

One that involved stealing a crown from the royal palace. It wasn't as if someone with that much money would miss one crown made of enough precious metals, he could bribe anyone and their mother for whatever he wanted with it.

After all, he was the Sebastian Sallow — the greatest known thief in the land.

Everything was going so smoothly, running from the law, until he stumbled upon an odd clearing in the forest, a tall tower in the distance. His unfortunate, or perhaps, very fortunate decision to climb up it is what had gotten him into this situation in the first place, traipsing the forest with an odd girl — a very beautiful girl — but odd nonetheless, who had been mysteriously trapped within the isolated tower.

What made the girl odd was that she kept a suspicious secret about her reasons for being locked away — and the fact that she had hair that was a ridiculous length for that of a normal human being. Hair that had been long enough to stretch from the window to the base of the tower that she resided in.

She had even brandished a frying pan as a weapon. The naivety of this girl. However, she had taken his stolen crown and hidden it away, offering only to return it to him if he agreed to her terms.

Fine. If that's what it took to get it back, Sebastian reluctantly agreed. It shouldn't be too difficult to bring one innocent girl to the kingdom to see some lanterns and return her home in one day, right?

Wrong.

After the girl had several panic attacks upon exiting her tower, they were chased by palace guards and nearly drowned in their attempt to escape. He supposed it was mostly his fault, being a wanted man, but their adventure had nearly cost both of them their lives.

For him, he supposed it was only a matter of time until fate caught up with his misdeeds. But the poor girl was innocent. And he had nearly gotten her killed.

Both of them collapsed on the ground in the forest, deciding to make camp for the night. Exactly twenty-four hours until the lantern festival.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I never meant to — I didn't mean for it to go this far."

He tucked his injured hand behind his back, but she noticed it right away. "You're hurt."

"I'll be fine."

"No," she murmured, pulling it closer to her and wrapping her hair around it, "let me help."

He scoffed, "I highly doubt that — "

He was cut off as she started to sing a cryptic lullaby. He was about to stop her until he noticed that her hair was glowing. And as he pulled his hand away from her hair, her song finished, and the wound was completely healed.

"How did you — "

"My hair," she quickly said, "it...can heal people when I sing. That's why I was...why I had to stay in that tower. To protect it. To protect me."

"You never left? At all?"

The girl shook her head, smiling sheepishly. He studied her carefully, noting the blush on her cheeks glowing in the firelight. He scooted closer to her. "That...must have been lonely."

"Sometimes," she agreed, "but....I read, a lot. I like to think of the characters in my stories as my friends." She grinned. "The romances were my favorite."

"Really?" He was intrigued. "What did you like most about them?"

Her face reddened further. "I...well, when they kissed. I always wondered what it feels like."

"Yeah?" He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I have quite the experience in that area, you know. I could always show you."

He meant it as a joke, somewhat, but she immediately perked up. "You'd do that?"

"What?" Sebastian gaped. "I-I mean...yes, I suppose. If...if that's what you— " He wasn't certain where he was going with this idea. Kissing strangers in pubs was one matter, but her? She was innocent, naive, and inexperienced.

"Yes," she nodded emphatically. "Please. I...I want to know."

He cleared his throat. "Alright then. Just...just follow my lead."

He leaned closer to her and gently cupped her cheek in his hand. "I'm...I'm going to kiss you now."

Her eyes fluttered closed. "I'm ready."

He swallowed, then gently pressed his lips to hers. She didn't move, her nervousness and lack of experience showing, and he guided her as he pulled her closer to him, feeling her soft lips against his. He threaded his fingers through her hair and dared to run his tongue along her lower lip, and she elicited a soft moan.

Oh shit.

He hadn't expected to be turned on this easily. How long had it been since he had last physically been with someone?

She responded a bit too enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around him and pressing herself flush against him. He grabbed her arms and pushed her back slightly.

"W-wait," he said, stopping her mid-kiss. "I...I thought it was just a kiss. Not—" he shook his head.

She tilted her head innocently. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he breathed, attempting to clear his thoughts that were becoming increasingly wild. "You — you can't just respond like that and...and not expect something to happen." He smiled lightly. "I'm only a man, after all. I have...urges."

She furrowed her brows. "Urges?" Then, she brightened in understanding. "Oh! Like...sexual urges."

Sebastian actually blushed. Why did it suddenly seem so dirty when she said it? "Well...yes."

"Teach me."

"What?!"

She held him firmly. "Teach me," she insisted. "I'm only going to be outside of my tower for one more day. I...I want to learn."

"I — " How could he say no? "Are you sure?"

"Yes." She sighed. "You saved my life, and you're taking me to see the lanterns. I want it to be you."

Sebastian took a deep breath. "Alright." If that was what she wanted. She had asked for it, after all. "I'm...I'll go slow, okay? Just...if you feel uncomfortable...."

"Sebastian." She let out a huff.

"Okay! Okay." He gritted his teeth before his lips collided with hers once more, still maintaining the gentleness of their first kiss, but with more fervor, his intent clear.

Her resounding moan vibrated along his lips and sent shivers down his spine. He wasn't inexperienced, but he had certainly never taken a girl's innocence before. It was much easier to go after a quick fuck, a one-night stand to scratch an itch before moving on to his next endeavor — which mostly centered around thievery. Sex was simply an outlet.

This, however, was different.

He ran his hands along her arms and trailed his fingers up her bodice, deftly undoing the lacing on her corset and letting the rest of her dress fall to the ground. His lips left hers, and he planted soft kisses along her neck before pulling back to look at her. "Is this al— "

"Stop asking me if it's alright," she grumbled. "I will tell you if something is wrong."

Right. He had never been so nervous to fuck someone before. It really had been too long.

His hungry gaze roamed over her untouched, bare body. Years in the tower left her skin soft and silky, a stark contrast to his rough and calloused hands. He lightly traced them over her bare breast and smiled as she shivered at his touch.

"Feel good?" He asked. She nodded. He leaned in to whisper in her ear. "I can do things that will feel even better, sweetheart. Just trust me."

He pulled back to undo the buttons on his shirt and shrugged it off, throwing it to the side and wrapping his arms around her once more. He guided her to the soft grass and laid her beneath him as he continued to trail kisses along her delicate skin.

"Let me take care of you," he murmured, and he took one of her peaked nipples in between his lips.

The way she arched her body into his made it even clearer that she had never been touched, every inch of her overly sensitive to his gentle caresses. His fingers danced along her thighs, tracing the freckles along the inside of one before expertly finding her center.

Her form trembled in ecstasy beneath him as he lightly circled her clit, his finger already coated in her slick, preparing her for everything that was to follow. Sebastian was eager to be inside her, his own arousal beginning to peek through his trousers, but he would make sure she was taken care of first.

"That feels — really — really good," she panted, and her fingers dug into his back. He carefully slipped a digit inside of her and gently curled it against the perfect spot, grinning as her hips bucked against his hand.

"Oh!" He could feel her tightening around his finger, knowing she was getting closer to her peak. He wondered if she had ever orgasmed before, if she had ever managed to complete herself on her own, locked in the tower for so many years, or if he would be the first to bring her over the edge.

The thought of it even being a possibility sent a surge of pride through him.

"It's alright, sweetheart," he encouraged, his face pressed into her neck so he could whisper praises into her ear. "Relax and let go. Let me make you feel good." He slipped a second finger inside for good measure.

It sent her over the edge, and when he curled his fingers again, she arched her back and let out a wanton cry. He planted kisses along her neck as she trembled beneath him, working her through her orgasm and murmuring encouragements against her.

"Beautiful," he whispered as he watched her face relax, her eyes heavy-lidded and her body spent. He slid further down her body until his face settled between her legs. He felt her grasp his arm and glanced up at her.

"Wait!" She clutched his arm. "W-what are you doing?"

Sebastian grinned. "Did you think we were done?" He planted a light kiss on her inner thigh. "Oh, no, love. We're just getting started."

He continued to leave a path of kisses from her thigh until he hovered over her core once more. "Just relax, and let me make you feel good."

She chewed on her lower lip nervously, but when she nodded and leaned back again, he leaned forward and pressed his tongue to her center, sliding gracefully along her folds until he felt her melt into his touch. His strong hands gripped her thighs firmly, and he encouraged her to spread herself wider for him.

"Mfph!" She whimpered, worrying her lower lip still between her teeth as she tried to hold back. Sebastian pulled his tongue away, and she groaned at the space he left.

"Nobody is here, darling," he murmured, his warm breath grazing over her. "I want to hear everything. I want to hear how good I make you feel."

"B-but —"

Sebastian tightened his grip on her thigh. "If you go quiet, I'll stop." It wasn't a true threat, as he would never stop if he knew she would let him have her, his own desire growing by the minute.

But she agreed, and when he circled her with his tongue again, she gasped. Her hands flew to his head and tangled themselves in his curls, and he couldn't help himself as he let out a guttural moan, burying himself in her as he fucked her with his mouth. She arched her hips into him, and he silently prayed to whatever powers were out there that, if he were to die, it would be from suffocating himself against her, drowning in her sweetness.

Merlin, how badly he wanted her to ride his face.

He gently pried her hands off of his head and slid his body away from her, almost feeling a bit guilty at her cries of protest. But he wasn't going to let her off that easily. He tugged his trousers off and tossed them haphazardly to the side, somewhere between the thickening forest and wherever his shirt hand ended up, and laid down on the ground.

She furrowed her brows in confusion. "What — "

"Come here," he said, guiding her hips over top of him. "I want you to angle yourself here and...and do what I was doing to you."

The young woman blinked at him. "You mean...sit...here?"

Sebastian bit back a groan at her innocence. "Yes. And you...move along my tongue in whatever way makes you feel good."

She nodded and settled herself on his face. "Like this?"

He wasted no time before getting to work, and he moaned with pride when she rested her weight atop him and ground herself into his mouth. She was so wet, he could feel his face already coated with her juices. Yes, this is most certainly how I wish to die.

She bucked her hips in a ragged movement, and he knew she was already nearing another orgasm. He reached between himself and wrapped his hand around his hardened length, stroking himself desperately to the rhythm she set. His tongue lapped against her as if he was a man starved and she was his final meal.

"Sebastian-! I-I can't — I have to —!"

He pressed his face into her and groaned against her clit, the vibrations dragging her to her climax. She yanked on his curls and rode out the rest of her orgasm, her body shaking with sensitivity. It took everything he had not to lose himself — he was saving that for her.

And oh, he would enjoy every second of being inside her.

She lifted herself off of his face and tried to climb off, but he held her hips in place. "I want you to be able to take the lead."

"But," she blushed, "I don't know what I'm doing."

"That's precisely it." His thumbs traced small circles along her hips. "I'm going to guide you, but I want you to be able to set your own pace. Whatever makes you comfortable. That way — " He quirked a smile at her, "I know for certain you're enjoying it."

And he could enjoy watching her.

He helped position her as she knelt, hovering over his throbbing erection. Sebastian wasn't the patient type, but he knew the reward that awaited him would be worth it. His breath hitched as she traced a line up his length with her delicate fingers.

"Can I...?" she asked shyly, as if voicing the question was more vulgar than what he had just done to her.

He swallowed back a whimper. "P-please."

She stroked his cock once, twice, testing his reaction, and Sebastian was more than willing to give it to her. Her feather-light touches had him wanting more when suddenly, she leaned down and dragged her tongue along it in an experimental lick.

Fuck.

He hadn't realized how sensitive he had gotten from not being touched for so long.

"N-not...not now," he managed, his voice strained.

She glanced up at him, and the sight of her pink lips hovering over the seeping head of his cock tempted him, pleaded with him to thrust into her mouth and coat her tongue. But he wanted something else more.

"I need to be inside you."

She blushed and straddled his hips, and he could feel the heat radiating from her as her wet cunt settled on top of his cock. She nibbled on her lower lip, breathing steadily as she adjusted to the feel of him.

"Take your time, love," he said roughly.

He gasped raggedly as she slowly slipped him inside of her, forcing him to control his urges and allow her time to adjust. She was tight, perfectly fitted around him and he struggled to resist burying himself in her and fucking her until they were both seeing stars.

And then, she sank all the way down, a soft sigh of contentment leaving her lips at the feel of him.

It was almost too much, the way her cunt enveloped him, and as she began to move achingly unhurried, he reactively snapped his hips into hers and released a needy groan.

"That...feels good to you?" She practically breathed the words out.

Sebastian could only manage a nod as his thumbs dug into her thighs. He was too sensitive, too desperate, too touch-starved to control himself.

Thank Merlin she could sense his need.

"Take me," she panted as she rode him, angled just so that her tits bounced in front of his face, carved as perfectly as a Greek statue and yet so supple he couldn't resist pressing his face into them. She let out another soft whimper. "Take me how you want me."

It was his undoing.

He grasped her hips roughly and thrust into her, fast, hard, taking and taking everything he wanted at her command. He was hers, whether she knew it or not, and if she had asked him to, he would have burned the world for her if it meant making this moment last forever.

She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him and tucking her face into his neck, biting and sucking gently at his pulse point as she mimicked what he had taught her, their bodies moving in tandem as he drove himself into her. And when she finally cried out, her body tightening around him as she came, he clumsily followed right after, his rhythm ragged, spilling himself inside and muffling a groan against her long hair that he was certain was still glowing in the middle of the forest.

It was faster than he had planned, yet more powerful than anything he could have imagined. But when he looked at her, their sweaty bodies still clinging to each other on the forest floor, her eyes still closed as she panted against him, it was as if the fog had lifted and everything was clear.

And at last, I see the light.

#minors dni #middle of the night posting and running queue #hogwarts legacy #sebastian sallow #hogwarts legacy smut #sebastian sallow x mc #sebastian sallow x fmc #sebastian sallow smut #sebastian sallow x reader #hogwarts legacy fanfic #hogwarts legacy oneshot #hogwarts legacy au

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writergracethepanda · 5 months ago

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#he needed to make sure his ship sailed before he went looking for his character development <3 #the tyme series #tyme series #Megan morrison #rapunzel #grounded: the adventures of rapunzel #transformed: the perils of the frog prince #prince syrah #writergracethepanda

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theviolettulip · 3 months ago

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Finally finished rerereading & annotating my Grounded copy!! (The story and characters captured me all over again) Here's the key:

And here are pics of it from the side:

This is like *the* key for fic-writing you guys--

@alwaysanovice

#grounded: the adventures of Rapunzel #the tyme series #tyme series #tyme trilogy

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slvt4felix · 1 year ago

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♡ I See the Light ♡

Pairing -> lostprince!felix x thief!reader WC -> ~6,700 words Includes -> tangled!au, violence? (frying pan incident), reader is a criminal, fem!reader, lowkey abusive and manipulative "mother", kidnapping, magic, Bbokari as Pascal Summary -> After stealing a particularly precious item from the King and Queen, the royal guards push you deep into the woods during an exhilarating chase. You stumble across an interesting tower and start to climb, unaware of what you will come across once you reach the inside. Or rather, who you will come across and how this unique person will completely change the trajectory of your life. Author's Note -> I am like the biggest fan of Tangled. It's my all time favorite Disney movie. And when I think of Felix the first thing that comes to mind is sunshine and I feel like he is so Rapunzel coded. So yeah... don't mind that this fic is literally just all my favorite things combined. I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Also this was only supposed to be one part, but I'm slowly starting to realize I'm really bad at writing short stories... so this story will definitely be multiple parts!

Masterlist ♡ Next Part

You pant, desperately trying to catch your breath as your legs move faster than they ever have before. They are starting to ache, along with your feet, your lungs, and just about everywhere else. But you can't stop, not right now. Not with the heavy footsteps just a few feet behind you and horses loud in the distance.

You stole something. Well, technically you have stolen many things, but what can you say? You were an orphan and never given the chance to make money more nobly. And this time, the object was just something you couldn't pass up.

You keep running, eyes trained directly in front of you. You desperately want to look behind you to see how much time you have, see just how much danger you're in, but the adrenaline and fear have you locked in. You won't stop, won't glance back at the angry guards until you manage to get some headway.

Your boot-clad feet heavily trample the ground underneath you, damaging the delicate blades of grass and petals of flowers that seem to multiply by the second. If only you were able to look down, you would notice the nature changing subtly underneath you. The rocky area you were previously in changed into a thick forest, covered in clover and wildflower.

If you weren't in this situation, perhaps you would've taken the moment to admire it. To take in your surroundings, breathing in the beauty of nature. But again, now's not the time. Maybe one day you will have the ability to stop and smell the flowers, but today there are more important matters at hand.

You hear a twig snap behind you and an unsettling crash. You instantly realize it to be a branch in the path that you had just jumped over. Luckily enough, after years of training, running, and stealing you can navigate your way through many terrains if needed. However, it seems like the guards behind you weren't so lucky. You swiftly turn your head and find exactly what you expect. The two burly men who had been hot on your trail now lay on a pile on the grass as the distance grows between you and them. You chuckle a bit to yourself upon realizing they must have dropped like dominos, one tripping with the other landing right on top. At this point, you were thankful for anything that could make you laugh.

Looking back ahead of you, you zone back into your mission. Your body aching to take a breather. You take a sharp turn, long used to getting out of these situations. This route change leads you down a steep hill. You almost tumble all the way down, but thankfully your dark brown boots have enough traction on them to help you safely make your way down. You jump off the last little way because what's escaping without a little extra adventure.

Now being back on the soft flat grass, you take in your surroundings, analyzing to try to make the best choice. The guys weren't likely to stay down for too long, so you have to make a decision and fast. You don't have time to try to get ahead, they would catch up in no time.

You realize you have been running for a while to try to escape the men. You weren't keeping track, but this is about as far as you have ever made it outside the kingdom. Everything looks untouched, giving off the vibes that maybe you shouldn't be here. It's ethereal looking, yet a bit unsettling at how everything seems to be in perfect harmony. The branches on the trees sway harshly in the wind and feels as if you were the one to disturb the peace, your presence entirely unwelcome.

You shake off the thoughts and roll your shoulders a bit. This was not the time for superstitions or paranoia.

'Maybe if those stupid guards hadn't chased me for so long,' you think bitterly. But in reality, you know you can't hold it against them. It's just their job, just like this is yours. It's just the way it is.

Typically you would have everything completely planned out. Especially the escape route. But, there was really no way to prepare for this. You usually don't get caught soon enough to actually get chased.

Panic floods your body as you begin to hear angry voices again. You're running out of time. The goal today was not to go to prison. You sigh angrily realizing there really isn't any simple escape route this time around. Before your brain even processes it, your feet are moving on their own accord, simply in fight or flight mode. But, today seems to be your lucky day and nature seems to be on your side.

You glance behind you after a few steps noticing that the men still hadn't caught up enough for you to be in their vision. In this slight hesitation, your foot catches on a branch growing from the ground likely belonging to one of the beautiful weeping willow trees surrounding you. It appears that the trees have inhabited this place for ages, their roots buried deep into the group and long wispy branches that hide practically everything behind them.

You stumble forward, your arms unable to find anything to grasp. You land harshly on your knees, making you hiss out in pain. You were definitely going to be covered in grass stains after this.

You quickly gather yourself, standing to your feet taking in your new surroundings. You falter a bit, unsteady due to the weight of your backpack making you a bit unbalanced. You must have fallen through into a small cave. The willow's long branches came down to hang in the entrance, blocking anyone from seeing the small hideaway. You're surrounded by rough, cool stone. There's a noticeable temperature difference that provides relief to your damp skin. The sun was beating on you aggressively the whole run, but hey at least it was bright enough out to see in front of you. It was the only reason you were brave enough to do this in broad daylight. Although it was easier to slip away in the dark, sometimes the paths of the kingdom and the forest surrounding can get pretty difficult to navigate after dark.

You hear heavy footsteps coming from the area you had just narrowly managed to escape. They sound pretty scattered, your mind providing you with the image of multiple royal guards rushing into the serene environment. You almost giggle at the thought of them all dressed head to toe in golden armor. A large sun engrained in their chest plate.

You peek slightly through the covering, seeing exactly what you had imagined. They are searching the area hastily in hopes of finding any clues as to which way you went. They look like children playing dress up, some of their spartan-like helmets falling over their eyes when they turn their heads obviously not fitting them properly.

One stalks past the opening, startling you backward. You hold your breath in fear. They may look silly, but that doesn't diminish the fact that they could positively ruin your life if they manage to capture you. You make your way farther into the cave, expecting to run into a rock wall blocking you in. You had planned to just hide it out in here until it was safe to leave, but soon you realize there may be another way to go about it. It seems to not really be a cave like you had initially thought. Rather, it appeared to be a tunnel of some sort. As you continue to walk the light grows dim. Before you know it, you can no longer see more than 2 steps in front of you. You put your arms out trying to feel in front of you. It would suck to run face-first into solid rock.

You bite your lip gently, starting to grow a little nervous at the lack of light and ability to see what's ahead. But you just have to deal with it at this point, anything to put more distance between you and the angry guards.

Soon you spy a light at the end of the tunnel, opposite from where you entered. You no longer hear any yelling or stomping and it gives you hope that maybe on the other side, there would be no one searching for you. They surely would have made it there by now if they could find it, right?

You emerge from the tunnel, eyes squinting as the sun's bright rays abuse your eyes again. When you finally adjust to the new lighting, you look around in amazement. You were somehow in a completely new area, large mountains and hills blocking the place in. It was unlike anything you had ever seen before. You had thought where you had just come from looked untouched, but this right here was actual nature at its finest.

It wouldn't be hard to believe you were the first human to step foot here in ages, the area completely overgrown with plants and animals. Yet, there was one unavoidable thing that proved that theory wrong. Standing high amid the greenery was a tall tower. It appeared nearly ancient, the stone crumbling a bit with vines wrapping their way up the walls.

It's honestly mystical with a stunning waterfall coming from one of the mountains just beyond the tower, painting the scene with a light mist. You notice that as the sun hits the vapor just right it creates little mini rainbows.

"Woah" you whisper. You aren't usually the type of person to talk to yourself, mostly preferring to keep your thoughts in your mind, but at this moment it felt perfectly justified. You spin in a circle, trying to take everything in. You had never really seen anything like this, despite the beautiful architecture the kingdom was made up of. This felt like something out of a fairy tale. Which you were so not used to. You aren't typically the main character. More likely the shady best friend or the villain who never really lives up to their name.

For a minute, you feel like someone else. Like one of the beautiful girls in the books you read who end up with the loves of their lives. Or even the protagonist in a high fantasy novel. At this point, you honestly wouldn't be that surprised if a fairy with sparkling wings flew out in front of you. It didn't even really feel like real life.

You approach the tower, eager to explore what you have found. You make sure to carefully walk across the wood that appears to have been thrown over the stream haphazardly in an attempt at a bridge. It doesn't exactly look stable and you weren't looking to get wet. But it was the only way across and you just had to get a closer look.

Surprisingly, you make it across with no damage and you sigh in relief. The material of your outfit does not feel nice wet. You had learned that the hard way last time you had stolen something.

You scan the perimeter of the tower, shocked at the realization that there is no door. You double-check, a little put-off at the idea, and again find no door. Not even an opening or one that had been covered by the overgrown bushes and flowers that had taken over the landscape.

'Who makes a tower with no entrance?' you question, your stomach turning slightly beginning to get an eerie feeling. It was just a little… odd. But who were you to say how something should be built? You aren't exactly an architect. And maybe things were just built differently back then.

You knew it was ridiculous to try and justify something as weird as this, but you couldn't help your brain trying to connect the dots. But it just doesn't make sense. You take a few steps back, trying to figure out how to approach the situation. The lack of an entrance is disheartening as you were beginning to think maybe you could've stayed here for a while. There was no way you could go back to the villages of the kingdom right now. They would definitely be searching for you. And if you could find an easy way into this place, it would be a nice spot to hide out until everything cools down.

You spot windows near the top of the tower and suddenly you realize, the window directly above you is wide open. That is your chance. You feel around the stone bricks that make up the base of the building hoping you can catch your fingers in the cracks. You manage to get a little bit of a grip, but not much. There's no way you could make it all the way up there by just climbing. None of the rocks jut out enough.

You gasp out, an idea rushing into your head. You reach down where a leather sheath is strapped to your thigh. You carefully grab your dagger out. it was only one, but it could definitely help. You didn't like carrying a knife on you, but it did become really useful sometimes. You didn't use it much, especially not to hurt people. It's more of a just-in-case option. You bring the metal up to your eyes admiring how the afternoon sunlight reflects off it, the handle carefully engrained with beautiful roses.

You would be lying if you said it didn't kind of make you feel like a badass.

You lodge the dagger into the cracks and use it to try and pull yourself up a bit. It was definitely helpful as you thought. You kick your feet against the stone, hoping to find a decent push-off spot. With the traction on your shoes and your leather gloves protecting your hands both providing a bit of grip, this might actually be possible. And at this point, what exactly did you have to lose? It would be such a nice shelter to rest in for the night.

You carefully, make your way up the tower, thankful for the wood that occasionally wraps the bricks giving you a place to catch your breath.

Finally, you manage to make it to the top, your chest heaving slightly and your fingers burning from the pressure. In your haste to pull yourself up the last little bit of the wall and slide through the window, you fail to notice the soft noises coming from inside. There's some shuffling, but you brush it off assuming it's some animal that had also decided to make this place its shelter.

You throw your leg through the window taking a second to sit there and catch your breath. You're straddling the bit of wood framing the window, it's delicately carved and decorated with light purple flowers on the ledge. You take a mental note of them, hoping to admire them later once you're settled.

Deeming yourself steady enough, you pull your other leg through standing up in the large room. As much as you want to take everything in, you first slip your backpack off. Nervous that things had gotten jostled on the way up. You open the buckle and slip the top open. You set the bag gently on the ground, squatting next to it as you pull out a sparkling crown.

You sigh in relief that it was still there, it hadn't fallen out. There wasn't even a singular scratch on it. The feeling of the cool metal weighing heavy in your hands punches a sigh of relief from your lungs.

"Thank God," you whisper to yourself, breaking the gentle silence of the room you entered. You had stolen the crown. It’s why the royal guards were after you. You had entered the castle through the ceiling and stolen the crown, the guards just barely noticing as you were exiting. It was the most valued object in the whole kingdom. The importance of the crown is in how it is associated with the lost prince.

It was the most well-known story in the country and maybe even the whole world. Everyone had been so ecstatic. The Queen and King were having a baby. An heir to take over the throne when they grew old and gray. But, the Queen had grown increasingly sick as the pregnancy progressed. You had been just a baby when all this was happening, but over the years you have heard of the story many times. It was hard not to. It was everywhere you went.

Thankfully, the Queen recovered. They had found a magical flower that had the power to heal her. The baby came soon after and the whole kingdom rejoiced. They had a beautiful baby boy, with golden locks and soft skin. They released a bright lantern into the indigo sky in celebration.

However, everything went wrong that night. The new parents had heard their baby cry in the early hours of the morning but when they got there he was already gone. Never to be seen again. They still hold hope that maybe one day their baby will return home. Even going as far as to hold an annual festival for him and releasing hundreds of floating lanterns into the sky on his birthday. It was honestly a gorgeous sight.

You go to put the crown back into your bag, still nervous to get scratches or fingerprints on it. It was worth a lot of money. A deal you couldn’t pass up. Just as your fingers leave the smooth metal you hear a shuffling noise coming from your side. Your head shoots up looking to discover where the noise is coming from.

You're shocked at the sight that greets you. You stand up, nearly stumbling back at the surprise. There in front of you was… another human? How in the world had he gotten up here? You didn't hear anyone else climb up after you and it's hard to believe someone could do that silently. Did that mean they had already been here when you arrived? Why were they here?

So many questions flood your head that you barely have time to react as an object comes flying toward your head. You quickly duck down, just barely missing the dark metal by an inch. You pop back up, thankfully agile from all your years as a criminal. Once you regain your footing, your eyes take in the sight of a young man standing in front of you. He has probably the lightest blonde hair you have ever seen in your life paired with deep brown eyes. The sun shines on him, making him look as if he was the sun lighting up the room. You're a little taken aback at the sight of him. Typically you are pretty good at reading people, but it seems like you aren't exactly making the best choices today. He doesn't exactly look like the type to try to hit somebody over the head with a heavy frying pan, but here he is sanding with the weapon of choice in his right hand.

He stares back at you while standing in a nervous, defensive stance. But to be fair, you would also be feeling quite uncomfortable if you had tried to take someone's head off and somehow managed to miss.

The stare lasts longer than most people would deem necessary, silence yet again filling the large stone room. Yet, neither of you break it. You're still reeling in shock from the frying pan.

Finally, you gather yourself and question him. "Did you really just try to hit me with a frying pan?" you ask in disbelief. His eyes widen when you speak. He looks more shocked than you feel, which is really saying something. He looks as if he has never interacted with another human before. For a split second, you wonder if maybe you were being too harsh on him.

But before you can get another word in a call sounds from outside.

"Felix, my love, I'm home," a woman yells in the distance. The boy's, who you now assume to be Felix, head shoots to the window in a panic. He turns to you, now looking even more anxious than before.

"You have to go, you have to go like now. She will actually hurt you. Like with more than a frying pan," he whispers as he comes much closer, his voice a surprisingly gravelly tone. You can practically feel the vibrations of it on your skin and you're stunned for a moment, frozen in place. He grabs your wrist, not unkindly, and leads you to the back wall of the room. You watch him carefully as he proceeds to open the door to an armoire, making you wonder what exactly his plan is. He gestures inside and you simply stare at him struggling to comprehend the situation.

"I'm not hiding in your closet," you spit, slightly insulted he would even suggest that.

"Do you want to get killed?" He asks, his tone firmer this time. You can tell he's serious, and your hands start to shake upon realizing how urgent he sounds.

He continues on despite your silence, eager to get you to follow along. "Listen, I don't know who you are or why you're here, but this is really bad timing. I was going talk to her about something important and now... you're here," he starts sounding utterly defeated. He knows explaining the situation to a random stranger likely wasn't going to help, but he was still going to try.

"She doesn't normally listen to me and she definitely won't if she has to deal with you, so just please hide. Just until I can get her to leave. Then I guess I'll figure out what to do," he finishes with a sigh and stares back at you hopefully. You simply nod slowly a little stunned. Felix realizes this is the closest he'll probably get to agreeance and doesn't try to convince you any further.

He grabs your hand gently as you step into the closet, helping you stay stable in the crowded space. You're surrounded by clothes of every color, so many blues and pinks that if you squint hard enough you can practically imagine you're walking into cotton candy.

"Just stay quiet, I'll try to get her to go away," He states quietly. He nods at you reassuringly and it comforts you. You still feel very trapped, but you no longer feel as nervous, rather trusting the man to take care of it for you. You don't know why he hasn't freaked out at you yet, but if he was going to, it probably would've already happened. He shuts the door slowly, dimming the small space. You watch his figure until the last little bit of light can no longer slip through, shutting you off from the room you had just been in.

Thank God you're not claustrophobic.

Once the door is completely shut, you're unable to see anything aside from black for a while, your eyes refusing to adjust to the sudden darkness. However, you listen carefully to everything happening outside the armoire in hopes of getting a better read on everything happening.

You hear Felix shuffling around in the room, obviously cleaning things up and maybe even hiding things considering his fearful reaction to the women's yell. You can hear her shout again from outside, but you can no longer make out what she says. The wood is too thick to depict more than a murmur. But, Felix seems to have heard what she has said. The noises from the room get much louder and rushed. Before suddenly they stop.

You hold your breath in the quiet, anxiously waiting for what comes next.

Felix takes a deep breath, glancing around the room one last time to make sure everything is nice and clean. He had noticed your bag left by the window, the stolen crown peeking out. A little chick, whom Felix had named Bbokari had been poking around next to it making him laugh in adoration of the small creature. He must have hidden when you had broken in, scared of the stranger. But that was to be expected, considering every time mother arrived home, Felix would tell the small chick to hide, pushing him out of sight. Now, Mother wasn't mean or an animal abuser. She had never hurt Bbokari before, but Felix honestly did not want to take that chance. She wasn't exactly a fan of critters or any type of outsider making their way into her tower.

He gives the chick a tiny pat on the head with his index finger, the small bird tweeting happily, before curiously picking up the crown. It shined brightly, the sun catching on the metal as he picked it up.

What in the world? he thinks in confusion. Out of all the things Mother has brought home, this is definitely not something he's seen before. It does, however, remind him of the fairytales he had read as a kid before she had confiscated them in an angry fit. She didn't like when he read about that stuff. It had confused him greatly, as she had never really told him why. So, rather than reading about princesses he was often stuck with books about nature or fiction stories about romance.

The chick pecks at his foot, urgently, trying to remind him of the situation at hand. He snaps out of it quickly putting the crown back in the leather bag. He brings it over to the stairs in the corner. He peels back the one broken step, shoving the bag beneath it. Not even mother knew of this hiding spot. He had to hide the bag, she would ask way too many questions about where that came from. He knows that realistically he should be scared about a stranger practically breaking into the tower. But maybe there's a small part of him that wants to prove himself to his mother. Show her that he really can handle himself. He's turning 18 tomorrow and maybe just maybe now that he's old enough, she'll let him go.

He's had this dream since he was little, to see the floating lights. Every year, they appear on his birthday. Hundreds of bright yellow lights fill the sky, and he cannot seem to figure out why. Either way though, he can't help but feel like they're meant for him. And every year, without fail, he watches them. He looks forward to it all year round, waiting for the day he can see the floating lights gleam again. It's his dream to see them up close in person, but it's starting to seem like it may be simply that- just a dream. How silly of him to think it's something that could actually happen.

Mother becomes very angry anytime he asks to leave the tower, or simply mentions anything about the outside world, but he feels confident this time. She's definitely going to let him go; she has to right? It's his only hope.

"Darling, I'm not getting any younger down here," Mother Gothel yells, sounding exasperated. He quickly picks Bbokari up, hiding him on a ledge behind a curtain, giving him a loving smile before rushing to go help her up.

She had created this tower without a door, purposefully hoping to keep him as far away from the outside and other people as she could. And hell, he couldn't blame her. After all the stories she has told him, he's thankful he's never been exposed to the harshness of the world.

Felix jogs over the window, leaning over the edge, feeling the soft spring breeze blow through his hair.

"Coming Mother!" he yells, adding excitement to his voice. Despite his earlier nervousness, he can't help but be excited whenever she comes home. She often takes long trips, only coming home for days at a time. He'll take any sort of human interaction he can get.

Felix grabs the rope from the wall next to the window, swinging it over the hook hanging down. He throws the rope over, watching his Mother grab it harshly once it hits the ground. Since there is no door, they use a sort of pully system. There's a loop at the bottom of the rope that mother slips her foot into and she holds onto the rope as Felix pulls her the rest of the way up.

It was exhausting, but he's gotten used to it over the years. Luckily, he's gotten a lot stronger over the years. Especially since now that he's older she goes on her trips a lot more. Don't get him wrong, he's thankful, he really is as these trips usually involve getting food or gifts for Felix and her. However, the days can get lonely and fast. There's only so much cleaning, baking, painting, and singing a person can do. It's the reason the walls of the tower are completely covered in different paintings. Some have even been painted over multiple times; he ran out of space long ago. Being home alone for days on end without being able to go outside isn't exactly the dream life some people would think. But he gets it. There are reasons he can't go outside and he must abide to keep himself safe.

So, he pushes the anger and resentment deep inside, painting on his happiest face for her to come home to. He finishes pulling her up and wipes a bead of sweat from his face as she finally steps into the sun-lit room.

She walks over to his bed, placing down her basket and shawl before returning to him. She always looks a bit run down when she comes home, her hair a bit more grey, wrinkles on her forehead, and this haunted look in her eyes. Honestly, it's enough to make him never want to go outside.

The woman caresses Felix's cheek gently, looking into his eyes. He has always loved whenever she was gentle with him, providing love and care, but it's starting to becoming rarer with each passing day.

"Felix, I don't know how you manage to do that day after day, dear," She says softly with a bit of concern.

"It's nothing, Mother," he reassures her, despite how exhausting it truly is. She lets go of him, before he can even finish the sentence, her gaze scanning the rest of the room.

"You keep it so nice and clean in here, it's so nice for Mumsy to come home to," she says, always impressed by the things he manages to get done while she's away. Felix cringes a bit at the statement, knowing he had finished cleaning at barely 7:30 am. It truly was the easiest part of the day. Honestly, the hardest part is always the waiting. Waiting for someone, anyone, to talk to or really just anything to do.

Mother walks over to his mirror that stands near the wall. It's circular and nothing fancy, framed in wood, but she looks at it as if it holds all the answers to life, like it's the most important thing in the world. Sometimes Felix wonders if she loves the mirror more than she loves him, but he quickly pushes that thought down, not wanting it to sour his mood anymore than it already has.

He follows her over to the mirror watching in disdain as she examines her face. Lifting her eyebrows and wincing as the skin drops back down, wrinkled and droopy from her trip. She glances up at him, making eye contact through the reflective glass. In this moment, Felix decides he needs to ask her. He's been waiting all day, or really his whole life, and he really just needs to put it out there.

He opens his mouth ready to admit his dream to her, but he's quickly cut off.

"Felix, my love, would you sing for me?" she asks, and despite her trying to hide it, he can detect the desperation in her voice. He's learned to pick out even the slightest change of tone from her over the years.

Felix's eyes widen, almost comically. How could he have forgotten. It's always the first thing she asks for when she gets back. Of course, she would want him to sing for her. His plan is just going to have to wait for a few more minutes.

He nods repeatedly, rushing off again to grab all the necessary supplies. He places Mothers chair down in the center of the room, before grabbing his flimsy stool, setting it in front of the chair. He sits down quickly, trying to hurry the situation along despite knowing how mother likes to take her time during the process. Going too quickly can become a bit more shocking than refreshing, but today was not the time for relaxation.

Mother finally comes over and takes a seat in her usual chair. She grabs Felix's hands and he can only hope she doesn't feel how sweaty they are. He's so nervous about how the conversation is going to go.

His mind is racing as he opens his mouth to start singing. The words coming with ease, practically muscle memory now with how many times he has sang it for her.

"Flower gleam and glow," he starts, his low voice bouncing off the circular walls. He can see her instantly start to relax as his voice fills the room. It makes Felix feel a bit better, knowing how happy it makes her when he sings. As the song continues, he starts to speed up, again eager to get it over with. Mother's eyes open again in panic, wanting the feeling to last longer.

"Wait-" she starts to say, but Felix has already made it to the ending line. As the song comes to a close, Mother jolts forward practically turning into a new person. Her hair is back to it's usual shiny raven color, a new sense of life brimming from her eyes, and all the wrinkles immediately disappearing from her skin. She's young again, just like she likes to be. He can't blame her, who doesn't wish to be young again.

Normally at this time, Felix would compliment her or tell her how he finds her beautiful before and after, but this time there is something else weighing on his mind. He can only hope that the wood of the closet is thick enough and that he had managed to close the door all the way, knowing sometimes it wouldn't latch completely.

This is the last thing he wants you to find out about. He's terrified you'll turn out to be one of those ruffians and thugs Mother warns him about, wanting to steal him away and use him for his magic.

Oh yeah, Felix has this magical ability where he can heal people with just his touch and voice. He can easily make anyone young again and heal all kinds of wounds. It's why he's in this tower, locked away. It's to keep him safe. Mother doesn't want his power to end up in the wrong hands.

She looks down at Felix in disbelief, not understanding why he is acting this way. He stands up abruptly from the small stool, the same one he has sat in since he was a child, and starts to talk, unable to keep it in anymore.

"Mother, tomorrow is a very special day. Do you know what day it is?" he asks, mouth running a mile a minute. She stands up with him, grabbing his wrist lightly, trying to stop him from pacing around the room. All the energy is making her head spin.

He doesn't even wait a second to let her respond, before reminding her, "It's my birthday!"

"Ah ah ah," she starts, "I distinctly remember that your birthday was last year." Felix tries not to let himself physically deflate at this. She always loves to play games like this.

"That's the funny thing about birthdays, they happen every year," he says gently, not wanting to anger her.

"What is it you want this year? How about those muffins you really liked from that one bakery?" she says, figuring that's what this conversation was about.

"Actually, Mother I was thinking, maybe I could go see the floating lights?" he asks, "The one's that fill the sky every year on my birthday."

At this her gaze immediately darkens, and he realizes that he was right. It's only a dream. It's not something that could come true. He should have known better. She would never let him leave the tower. She's told him this so many times before.

Yet, he couldn't help but try. It's who he is. He's too hopeful and innocent for his own good.

"Felix, you know how I feel about you leaving the tower," she states, her voice a low tone. Felix suppresses a shiver, his body reacting anxiously.

"But Mother-" he starts, hoping to explain himself.

"No buts, they are just stars, Felix, nothing worth putting yourself in danger for," she says, using an argument he had thought of many times.

"They aren't though, I have charted every single star in that sky, and it just doesn't fit. I can't help but feel like they are meant for me."

"Felix, do not argue with me" she says, her volume rising drastically. He knows she can get worked up fast with sensitive topics, but he really wishes she would just listen to him.

"Don't ever ask to leave this tower again," she says sternly as her grip around his wrist tightens harshly. He winces, tears pooling in his eyes, but he doesn't let them fall.

'Don't cry,' he repeats desperately in his head. She would never take him seriously or believe he could handle himself if he cried in front of her.

"Yes, Mother" he says back quietly, knowing there is no use fighting with her. She pats him gently on the head, satisfied with his answer, before moving back over to her basket. She starts to put her things back in their rightful spots, unpacking after her trip.

"Mother-" Felix starts again only to stop as her head aggressively snaps towards him, anger evident on her face.

"Enough about the stars, Felix," she yells in disbelief. Felix shrinks back instinctually. That wasn't even what he was going to say.

"I was actually thinking maybe you could get me more of those special paints you got me a few years ago," he says timidly, trying to come up with something else that she would be more willing to comply with.

"That's a 3-day trip," she sighs out in annoyance.

"I just thought it would be a better idea than... you know," he explains.

"Alright, dear, are you sure you'll be okay?"

"I know I'm safe as long as I'm here," he says back knowing just what she wants to hear. Felix helps as she goes to repack up her stuff, preparing for the long trip ahead of her.

"I love you, my flower," Mother says before she leaves the tower again, climbing down the rope to the soft grass of the outside world.

"I love you more," he says back. It's his usual response, but this time the words feels heavy coming off his tongue, almost as if it doesn't really weigh as truthfully in his heart as it did this morning. Everything just feels wrong.

Bbokari steps out from behind the curtain, chirping at him loudly. It was surprising how loud such a tiny animal could be. Felix walks over to him, gently petting him.

"Everything's going to be okay," he says softly, unsure if he's truly assuring the chick or himself.

A loud snore startles him from the interaction. Bbokari turns his head cutely towards the closet where the noise came from.

Felix sighs bumping his head lightly on the wall above the ledge.

“I don’t want to handle that right,” he says with a chuckle. Bbokari just looks up at him adamantly and Felix knows exactly what the little bird is trying to say. He can’t just keep you in the closet.

Felix rolls his eyes playfully before heading over to the armoire to let you out. However, he does grab his frying pan on the way… just in case.

More parts coming soon!!

#skz #stray kids #skz x reader #lee felix #stray kids x reader #tangled #repunzel #disney #alternate universe #reader insert #fem reader #stray kids felix #felix x reader #slvt4felix

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hannahhook7744 · 2 months ago

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In Their Eyes I See You:

Summary: Hazel and Primrose haunt Gothel in the form of her children. Gothel’s Children: Cassandra. Rapunzel. Ginerva/Ginny. Mason. Glendale. Magnolia/Gigi. Maisey. Trigger warnings: child abuse, mentioned death, mental instability, etc.

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That face.

That wretched, awful, haunting face.

Oh how Esther hated her daughter’s face.

Cassandra had gotten her eyes and her hair color but she’d gotten Primrose’s face; a fact Esther could never forget no matter how hard she tried.

And she’d tried.

And tried. And tried. And tried. And tried. And tried. And tried. And tried.And tried.

And tried—

Esther couldn’t ignore just how similar the faces were.

The round cheeks, the pointed chin, the smooth skin. She even had Primrose’s slightly pointed nose.

Esther couldn’t stand being around that face.

It was a face she never wanted to see again. But it wasn’t as if she could just abandon the girl to starve to death in the woods—the very woods that had taken her sisters from her. Her sisters would never forgive her for doing such a thing.

(Which was laughable because while her sisters were physically here, rotting beneath the floors and ground of the cabin they weren’t really here. Not where it counted anyways).

But then Esther’s Rapunzel flower was taken and used to heal that blasted king’s pregnant wife and her flower was born, and the kingdom guard was chasing her. Chasing her and chasing her to the cabin, and—here was Esther, no. Not Esther’s. Gothel’s chance.

Her chance to be free of that awful face her daughter had.

Esther’s own eyes stared pleadingly at her as Gothel turned and ran with the stolen princess in her arms, never looking back. But at that point, Esther was far too gone to care.

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Primrose was haunting her for abandoning Cassandra, Gothel was sure of it.

She had to be.

Because how else could Rapunzel take after her ‘aunt’ as much as she did?

She had Primrose’s peaches-and-cream complexion, her facial shape, her chin, and her sparkling green eyes, though they didn’t have a shared drop of blood between them—and as if that wasn’t enough, Rapunzel even took her after personality wise.

Primrose had always been the fun sister. The lighthearted sister. The one always ready for adventure and always doomed to be played like a puppet by her emotions.

And Rapunzel was just like her. Right down to how she interacted with who she thought was her mother.

Rapunzel looked at and spoke to her with the same hesitance that Primrose had interacted with their mother when they were kids.

It was maddening.

Gothel couldn't escape the similarities between Rapunzel and Primrose, just like how she couldn't escape the similarities between Primrose and Cassandra's faces.

It wasn't fair.

It wasn't.

Gothel had tried to save Primrose and Hazel. She'd tried and tried, and she'd even killed her own mother to do it so why was she being haunted—

Wasn't it funny how Rapunzel would be Gothel's own downfall like Gothel was her own mother's?

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Ginerva had Hazel’s eyes.

The same large light blue (almost grey, like Gothel's own) eyes that Hazel had once looked at Gothel with so fondly. Only when Ginerva looked at her with those eyes, there was no hint of adoration or warmth in them.

Hazel looked at Gothel with love and Ginny looked at her with pure, unadulterated hatred from the moment she was born.

The ungrateful brat.

Her hair may have been inherited from Gothel herself and Hook (and Gothel’s mother) but those eyes were Hazel’s.

(“My eyes are mine—” Ginny snapped at her with a nasty glare the one time Gothel let that little fact slip. “They are mine.” It was hard to love her daughter when she was so damn argumentative all the time).

Ginny demanded the attention of everyone in the room and had a one track mind like Gothel had when she was growing up. But she was also doomed to be ruled by her emotions like Primrose and moved in a wraithlike manner like Hazel.

She was stubborn like every woman who came before her in her bloodline and demanding like her grandmother.

Ginny was a patchwork of personality traits taken from both Gothel and the other family she never knew she had.

She scowled at her like Gothel once scowled at her own mother and got between Gothel and her siblings like Gothel herself had once gotten in between her siblings and their mother.

Gothel didn't like to think about that.

(The weird sisters were laughing at her now, she was sure of it).

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Rapunzel had grown into a beautiful young woman and an excellent queen.

The people of Corona and Tangleton loved her.

Loved her husband, though he was a no good dirty thief, and loved her five children whose names Gothel couldn't seem to catch.

Rapunzel looked a lot like how Gothel had often imagined Primrose and Hazel looking had they lived past eighteen.

Sparkling green eyes that seemed to sparkle brighter whenever she laughed or smiled.

A glowing peaches-and-cream complexion that turned rosey when she was embarrassed.

High cheekbones and long straight hair that cascaded over her shoulders and danced in the wind.

Rapunzel dressed like Hazel and loved as strongly as Primrose.

And it was clear everytime she appeared on Auradon News Network (ANN) or showed up on an issue of Hero’s Health or Royal Digest.

She loved her children like Gothel imagined Hazel would have loved hers if she had lived long enough to have them. She loved her children like Gothel imagined Primrose loving Gothel's own children.

She held her youngest, a boy that looked terribly similar to his father, as gently as Hazel had held her dolls when they were still young enough to have them.

She picked twigs out of the blonde one's hair like Hazel used to pick twigs out of Gothel's hair.

Rapunzel defended Anxelin (the goth one, the only one who's name Gothel had ever caught due to just how often the tabloids harper on the young girl’s appearance) with the same ferocity Gothel had once defended her sisters but with Primrose’s bubbling temper.

She hugged her oldest two daughters’ in the same way Gothel and her sisters used to hug each other.

It was headache inducing.

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Cassandra had grown into a wonderful young woman—a strong and beautiful one.

She was one of the Captains of the guard and was always traveling from what Gothel could gather from all the magazines and glimpses of her she had caught on tv.

She still had Primrose’s face but now Gothel could see that she was a mix of Gothel and her sisters’ personality wise.

She and Rapunzel bickered like sisters. Like Gothel, Primrose, and Hazel had.

She rolled her eyes at that damned thief who had married Rapunzel just as Gothel did, though it was clear that she was a lot more fond of him than Gothel ever would have. Primrose likely would have been the same.

Cassandra had a son.

His name was Dorian.

She was fiercely protective of him and always referred to him as her son (when she wasn't using his name) whenever he was brought up.

She was no longer soft spoken as she had been as a child (as Hazel had been until her death). Now she was loud and defiant, like Gothel. Like Ginny. Though Gothel doubted her oldest child would appreciate the comparison.

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Mason had Hazel’s sharp cheekbones, while Glendale had Primrose’s soft slightly round cheeks with a mix of Hazel’s (thin) facial shape.

Both boys had Hazel’s large light blue (almost grey) eyes. Mason had Primrose’s complexion while Glendale had Hazel’s lighter, ghost-like pale complexion.

Both boys had Primrose’s thirst for adventure (had become pirates because of it).

Mason had Primrose’s love for nature and Glendale had Gothel’s thirst for knowledge, and Hazel’s curiosity for things long dead whether it be people, civilizations, the ground beneath his feet, or stars far off in the sky.

Mason was rarely ruled by his emotions like Gothel and had an eye for details like Manea, and he wanted out of this life like Primrose had wanted out of the coven life. Though his desire wasn’t due to fear of the power that flowed through their veins.

Glendale was soft spoken like Hazel and knew his siblings like he knew his own mind, always willing to listen to them.

Gothel couldn’t stop seeing her sisters in her sons when they were together. She saw her sisters in the way the boys bickered together, the way they played together. The way they snuck in and out of the house together when they thought Gothel was asleep, and the plans of the future they whispered to one another when they thought no one else was around.

They were the ghosts of her sisters, in a way.

(Maybe Gothel was projecting. Maybe giving them her sisters’ names as middle names hadn’t been such a good idea—).

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Magnolia was Gothel’s mini-me with the exception of her big brown eyes that she had unfortunately inherited from Frollo.

But that was in looks only.

Because personality wise, Magnolia was nothing like her or Frollo.

Magnolia was soft spoken but driven. Creative and lively. Sneaky and emotional.

And unlike her siblings, Magnolia loved Gothel just as strongly as Hazel and Primrose once had. Loved to sit with her as Gothel brushed out her hair and applied her makeup—loved how Gothel was constantly giving her advice on skincare and the best herbs to gather for such things as beauty routines and potions.

She didn’t squirm away from Gothel’s touch or grimace whenever she laughed.

She loved appearing on Skin Deep With Mother Gothel and she was the top of her class in Selfishness 101/Selfies.

She loved her siblings with all her heart and was the only one of Gothel’s children who genuinely still believed that Gothel could be better.

It had been a long time since anyone had believed she could be better.

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Primrose and Hazel haunted Gothel most in the form of Maisey—and surprisingly enough, so did Rapunzel even though the last time Mother Gothel checked, the Queen of Corona was still alive.

She had long, curly black hair with golden streaks that matched the color of Rapunzel’s hair, her father (Roberto)’s tan skin, and her own grey eyes.

She had Primrose’s face and Hazel’s sympathy.

She was soft spoken, a good listener, and painfully shy because of the way Gothel had treated her.

(Something Gothel should probably feel more guilty about).

Maisey’s voice was soft and airy like Hazel’s but her words were that of Primrose’s and her dreams were those of Rapunzel.

She wanted to meet her siblings. Wanted to go outside and see the dead woods that Gothel had walked out of so many years ago—wanted to see the world and the things in it. It made Gothel angry.

She didn’t want Maisey to go out into the world. DIdn’t want her youngest to leave her like her siblings before her had—like Gothel’s own siblings had.

(Primrose had wanted to leave, too—).

Primrose and Hazel hadn’t gotten to grow up and see the world. Hadn’t gotten to live out their dreams or see past seventeen summers. They didn’t get to be free from their mother and happy—Gothel hadn’t gotten to be happy. Why should Maisey be able to?

Why should any of her siblings be able to?

(Eventually Maisey would be found and taken from her. It was inevitable but Gothel wasn’t going to allow it to happen anytime soon. Because it wouldn’t be fair—)

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Cassandra would never know she had her aunt Primrose’s face and her aunts’ fighting spirit.

Rapunzel would never know that she reminded Gothel of her sisters.

Ginny would never know anything about her aunts other than she had Hazel’s eyes.

Mason and Glenn would never know they reminded their mother of their aunts.

Gigi (Not Magnolia, never Magnolia) would never know that her love reminded her mother of her aunts’ or that her mother genuinely loved her back.

And Maisey would never know that she reminded her mother of Rapunzel and her aunts in a way that made Gothel furious.

None of them would ever know that if things had gone differently, they would have had aunts who had loved them and that Rapunzel would have grown up with her family.

(Maybe things were better that way).

#descendants #disney descendants #melissa de la cruz #disney #descendants au #wicked world #disney descendants au #mother knows best #Mother Knows Best: A Tale of the Old Witch #primrose gothel #mother gothel #hazel gothel #ginny gothel #cassandra tangled #gigi gothel #princess rapunzel #one shot #fanfiction

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ripdragonbeans · 7 months ago

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Escape Of The Prince // Rapunzel!Aemond x LannisterFem!OC

Chapter 2: Leissa Lannister

Summary: Leissa Lannister is a noble lady who yearns for adventure and thrives off of adrenaline.

Warnings: none

Leissa’s hair flew behind her as she ran. Unlike her other family members, her hair was dark brown instead of a light blond. Many accused her of being a bastard but no one ever confirmed nor denied it. Leissa, however, did not care one bit.

She cackled with laughter as her brothers struggled to keep up with her. Agile due to her small frame, she dodged rocks and branches with ease. She relished the freedom that came with running. The wind in her hair and the feeling of her feet pounding the ground made her feel one with the earth, one with herself. For once, she did not have to worry about her noble duties to her House or play the role of the perfect daughter.

She made a bet with her brothers that she could reach King's Landing first. Her brothers, being who they are, reluctantly agreed and were now miserably failing. Although Leissa never liked to play into her role as part of a noble House, she knew when and how to play it and she did it well. She has befriended Aegon and Helaena Targaryen and learned where the secret passages were. Aegon and Helaena found Leissa’s tendency to steal and return items entertaining. They never stopped her since they knew she would always bring them back. To them, she always had great stories to tell.

Soon the dirt roads became cobbled stone, a sign that Leissa was near her destination. Stone walls appeared before her, rising high into the sky. They bore the crest of the Targaryen House on banners. Leissa smirked as she made her way down a secret passage on the side of the castle. Instead of immediately walking through the passage, she waited for her brothers to arrive. When they finally did, she could not help but laugh at them again.

“Both of you need to learn how to catch up,” you told them.

“We are only here to make sure you do not get hurt,” Jason mumbled.

Tyland nodded his head in agreement. “You are quite the handful, sister.”

“I know I am,” she said with a smile. “Now, follow me.”

“Do we have a choice?” Complained Tyland.

“It was your choice to follow me.” She shrugged.

The two brothers looked at each other and groaned before following their sister down the passage.

“What are you even looking for?” Asked Jason after a few minutes of walking in silence.

“There is a rumor that Queen Alicent has a glass candle in her possession.” When her brothers looked blankly at her, Leissa rolled her eyes and continued, “It is said to have power to see far away or to communicate with others without the use of ravens. Different colored candles are believed to have different magical properties and this one happens to be blue.” Leissa stopped to look at her brothers. “What makes this one special is that the Queen wants to trade the candle for her son.” A wicked smirk appeared on Leissa’s face.

“And you want to take that opportunity away from her?” Jason asked, astounded.

“No, of course not. I will return it in due time. I am merely curious about the object. It is not something they parade around or allow others to view.”

“Sister, must you do this?” Tyland groaned.

“Unless there is something else you wish for me to steal, then I do not believe so.” Leissa stopped in front of a wall and pressed her hand against it. “Here is the entrance,” she told her brothers. “If you wish to follow me you must heed my instructions and stay close.”

“We refuse to let you out of our sight so it appears we shall do so,” Tyland mumbled.

From the secret passages, Leissa and her brothers emerged in the middle of a servant’s quarters. Quickly and quietly, Leissa led her brothers through the winding hallways and to the room where the glass candle was said to have been kept. She knew it was with the maesters; it was a cherished ritualistic object as well. Luckily, few moments passed before she found what she was looking for.

The glass candle was a vibrant blue. Even unlit, it was beautiful. Leissa rubbed her hands together, excitement pouring through her.

“Keep watching,” she told her brothers.

They nodded and stood by the door.

“If anyone comes in, we will escape through the window. I refuse to leave a bloody trail,” she added.

“And yet you bring a dagger?” Questioned Tyland.

Leissa smirked at him. “I must have some sort of protection when I go on my adventures, brothers.”

Tyland and Jason shared an exasperated look but kept watch nevertheless.

Digging through countless other ceremonial items, Leissa made her way around the Maesters’ chambers. It had to be here somewhere. The Queen would not let it be on display nor would she have placed it so carelessly somewhere. No, Leissa had to be strategic about this. With deft hands, she maneuvered through all the trinkets and baubles, all of them important in some way but not important to her.

Looking around, there was a suspicious cupboard that had some kind of lock on it. It was a dusty, rusty old lock. It looked like it had not been opened for years. Leissa lightly dusted her hand over the lock. It even felt old to the touch, like it might possibly shatter. Smiling, Leissa pulled out her dagger and went to quick work going about to unlock it.

“Do you hear anyone, brothers?” She asked as she worked.

“No one, yet,” replied Jason.

“Good. I should be done soon.”

After a few more picks with the dagger the lock clicked open. Leissa opened the cabinet and there it was. The hidden glass candle. Just like the rumors said, it was a beautiful deep blue. If only she had dragon fire to light it and see its true beauty. Alas, she was not a Targaryen and had no dragon under her claim. Just as Leissa reached for the glass candle, someone tried to open the door.

“Keep them from coming in!” She hissed.

“No, we need to leave, sister,” said Jason. “You got your candle and now we must flee.”

“Fine.” Leissa grabbed the candle and stuck in inside her cloak. Leaping over various items, she made it to the window. “Bar the door then escape this way,” she ordered Jason and Tyland. “You must stay as close behind me as possible.”

With those last words to her brothers, she pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and hauled herself out of the window onto the stone wall. There were little ledges and holes along the wall, making it easy for Leissa to scale it and climb down. Due to her many adventures, Leissa had great skills when it came to escaping potential captors. She only hopped her brothers would follow in her footsteps. Once she was as close to the ground as she liked, she jumped off the wall and proceeded to sprint towards the exit.

A guard appeared in front of her. “Halt!” He yelled at her.

Leissa tried to maneuver around him but two others showed up behind her.

“Reveal yourself,” commanded the first guard. He was a white cloak with dashing dark hair. He had an air of arrogance but you could tell it was well-earned. However, there was a hint of desperation behind his eyes.

“Lady Lannister,” said a familiar voice.

Smirking, Leissa removed her hood and turned around. “Prince Aegon, how lovely to see you.”

Aegon mockingly bowed to her, knowing how much it pisses her off to be proper. “What have we here? A treasure?” He motioned to the candle hidden in her cloak.

“Of course you would like to know. If I told you what it is now there would be no story for later,” she reasoned with him.

The guards lowered their swords, one stunned, another amused. The main guard who stopped Leissa looked at her as though he found gold.

“And what did you attempt to take from us, Lady Leissa Lannister?” The brown haired guard asked.

“Oh this?” Leissa pulled the candle out of her cloak. “I thought this candle was pretty and I wanted to get a better look at it.”

“The glass candle? Quite the choice, Lady,” Aegon smirked.

“And your attempt to leave with it?” the guard questioned.

“I would have returned it,” Leissa said. “Here,” she tossed the candle to the guard. “You can have it back. I think I had a close enough look.”

“That is enough,” said Aegon as he put a hand up. “The lady will now come with me. She returned the candle. All is well now.”

The brown haired guard stepped forward. “Actually, my prince, the queen has been looking for someone to rescue your brother. I think she may be the one.”

“And what makes you say that, Ser Criston?” Aegon asked.

“She managed to enter the castle undetected as well as obtain a precious item from us,” Ser Criston responded. He looked at Leissa with newfound respect. “Anyone who can do that would surely be able to rescue the lost prince.”

Aegon turned to Leissa. “A new adventure for you, perhaps?”

Leissa hummed. “Perhaps,” she repeated. “Before I give my answer, however, you must answer one of mine. Where are my brothers?”

“Ah, yes,” Ser Criston turned his attention to the other guards. “Bring Ser Jason and Ser Tyland here. I am sure they were simply dragged into this by their cunning sister.”

Leissa nodded. “That is correct.”

The guards inclined their heads to Ser Criston before heading off to find the twins. Leissa looked at Aegon and gave him a wink. Today was going so much better than she had anticipated. Aegon had suggested that she attempt to obtain the glass candle but told her if she did it today there would be an even more exciting adventure opportunity. Aegon would not say what it was, but told her that he would show up eventually to support her in this newfound adventure.

“You mentioned something about finding the lost prince, Ser Criston?” Leissa asked.

“Yes, but before we talk more about this…adventure, as Prince Aegon had put it, let us talk to Queen Alicent about the details.”

“Lead the way,” Leissa motioned for Ser Criston to start the walk to Queen Alicent. Following close behind, Leissa asked Aegon, “Was this your plan all along?”

Prince Aegon shrugged. “Not entirely. Helaena helped a little bit. Mother has been becoming more and more anxious as the years have gone by. We want our lost brother back, Leissa, and I do believe that you are the one who will be able to find him and bring him home.”

Although Leissa has been close friends with Prince Aegon and Princess Helaena for many years, they have not expressed this much worry over their lost brother before. In the beginning, she simply thought they did not care so much for him since he has been gone for such a long time. It appears that she had been wrong. Ser Criston had led them to the Small Council Chamber. Not only was Queen Alicent there, but her daughter, Princess Helaena was there as well, sitting at the table. Notably missing, however, was King Viserys.

Queen Alicent immediately stood up. “The King is feeling ill and will not be here,” she said as though she knew the question was going to come up. “But, welcome, Lady Leissa Lannister. It is a pleasure to see you.” She gave her a small smile. “Ser Criston, Prince Aegon, and Princess Helaena have informed me that you may be the best person to bring our son, Prince Aemond, back home.”

“It seems that I may be that person, yes,” Leissa said. Moving to the table she asked, “May I sit?”

Queen Alicent nodded her head. “Please do.”

Once Leissa settled herself in a chair she asked, “Forgive me if my question is too bold, but what happened with previous attempts?”

“Previously, we have found ourselves stopped by my husband’s brother and daughter, Daemon and Rhaenyra. They have two dragons guarding the tower where they keep the Prince and we have yet to break through them.”

Leissa tilted her head. “If they have two dragons and you have not been able to get past them, how do you expect me to? I do not have any dragon, either.”

“That may be the case but you have something that we do not: anonymity. You are only known to us as Lady Lannister but when you are dressed like you are now, in your cloak and tunic and trousers, you are unknown.”

“I am supposed to go alone?”

“Your brothers may accompany you, if you wish. Or Aegon, even.” Queen Alicent nodded towards her eldest son, who nodded back.

“Speaking of my brothers, where are they?”

The doors of the small council chambers opened to reveal Jason and Tyland Lannister.

“We are right here, sister,” said Jason.

Leissa scanned her brothers for any injuries. They looked tired and worn, but no visible injuries. Good.

Queen Alicent spoke up. “Will both of you be joining your sister?”

Leissa quickly turned to the queen. “I do not believe I have agreed to find the prince, yet, your majesty.”

“Ah, yes. I apologize for speaking so quickly. What else would you like to discuss, my dear?” Queen Alicent quickly corrected herself.

“What do I get in return for finding and bringing home the lost prince?”

“The freedom to borrow our most carefully guarded artifacts for your viewing pleasure without all the sneaking around to find and return them.” At Leissa’s opened mouth she nodded, “Yes, Prince Aegon and Princess Helaena have told me all about our missing and returned items throughout the years.”

Leissa sharply turned her head to the siblings and opened her mouth to say something to them but Prince Aegon cut her off.

“Telling her was the only way we convinced her to consider asking you,” he explained.

Huffing, Leissa mumbled under her breath something about keeping secrets. She glanced up at Helaena, about to ask her something, when Helaena’s eyes glazed over. Leissa knew Helaena had visions; she was one of the few who took into account what she says when she has them. After a few moments, Helaena’s eyes came back into focus.

“Beware the brother. There is a fire waiting to be lit.”

Queen Alicent’s jaw tightened. “The brother. Daemon. He must be coming up with something.”

“What of Rhaenyra?” asked Ser Criston. “She was not mentioned but she also holds the lost prince.”

Helaena shook her head. “I do not know. She was not there.”

“Perhaps it means that she will help us,” Queen Alicent wondered openly.

Leissa knew that Queen Alicent and Princess Rhaenyra had some kind of close relationship. It was lost on many but those who paid attention knew that the two cared for each other in some kind of way.

“I do not wish to dwell too much on a vision. It only causes confusion. Let us take what we have been given,” Leissa said. She turned to Helaena and inclined her head. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” Helaena inclined her head back.

Leissa turned her attention to Queen Alicent. “I shall take Aegon with me, if that is okay, my Queen.”

“What of your brothers?” Asked the Queen.

“Jason shall come with me but I shall leave Tyland. He needs to stay and keep watch over things.”

“I am inclined to agree with that plan, Lady Lannister. Ser Criston, do you have any qualms with that?”

“No, my Queen. May I escort Lady Lannister and Prince Aegon as far as I am able to? I would like to accompany them as much as possible.” Ser Criston said. He had always valued Prince Aemond like a son and wanted to be as close to his rescue as possible.

“I will allow that,” agreed the Queen.

Leissa settled her hands on the table in front of her. “So it is settled. I wish to depart as soon as possible. If I am to bring the lost Prince home I wish to do it in a timely manner.”

Queen Alicent gave Leissa a small smile. “Do not be too hasty. You may leave tomorrow morning. Tonight you may stay here in the castle as our guests. You and your brothers need your rest after today’s… adventure, as you put it.”

Blushing, Leissa waved away the comment. “Noble life bores me sometimes. I wish for a life unchained.”

“I understand that feeling very well.”

“I do appreciate the offer of allowing me access to your precious items once I find the lost Prince. If I must be chained to live a noble life the best way to find freedom is to learn.”

“Pft,” Aegon stepped in. “That is not the only way to find freedom. The brothels -”

Ser Criston stopped him. “My prince, that is enough.”

Prince Aegon smirked at the Queen's sworn protector. Leissa could tell it was part of their relationship. It was part of hers with Aegon as well; the constant vulgar jokes.

“Aegon, please,” sighed his mother. “Now is not the time for lewd jokes. Tomorrow morn you shall leave with Jason and Leissa Lannister while being escorted by Ser Criston as far as possible. You must find your lost brother, it is imperative that you do.”

Leissa cocked her head to the side in interest. “Is something supposed to be happening soon, my queen?”

Queen Alicent played with her fingernails, a nervous habit that seemed to run in the family as you've caught Helaena doing the same thing multiple times. “The king may be nearing his end and I would like him to see his sons before he passes.”

The room grew tense.

“He has been sick for quite a long time and maesters seem to be at their end. I believe that perhaps he may be holding out to see the entirety of his family one last time before he passes.”

“‘The entirety of his family?’” repeated Leissa. “Does that not include his eldest daughter and brother as well? The ones we are trying to rescue the lost Prince from?”

Alicent’s jaw tightened at the mention of Rhaenyra. “Yes,” she bit out. “But I am done waiting for them to return my son. They will not willingly return him so we must get him. If the King wants to see them, so be it. But I refuse for my lost son to be forgotten.”

“I understand, my Queen,” replied Leissa. “I just wanted to make sure everything was clear.” She addressed the rest of the room. “Tomorrow morn we shall depart for the Prince.”

“Once again, I thank you, Lady Lannister. As well as you, Ser Jason, Ser Criston, and Prince Aegon. Your dress will not go unrecognized.” She paused to turn her attention to Ser Criston. “You may escort them to their chambers for the night. You will leave at first light.” Nodding, she released everyone from the council meeting.

Leissa once again bowed to the queen once she stood up. “I promise I will do whatever it takes to bring the lost Prince home.” And for once Leissa was not playing a game. She would indeed do whatever necessary to bring the prince back and return him to his family.

#aemond fic #fics by bean #aemond targaryen fic #Aemond #Aemond targaryen #aemond x oc #aemond x lannister!oc #lannister oc #oc #leissa lannister

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