#I LOVED LOVED LOVED THIS VERY BOOK AS A CHILD

[kitkatkitzune]

PRINCESS

Pairing: Kol Mikaelson x Vampire!Reader

Summary: Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline find out the real reason Kol calls his lover princess.

Warnings: Violence I guess, Blood mentioned, Death, A bit of angst, Forced suicide, A lousy king, Age gap between reader and unnamed man she is meant to marry, A scene very obviously inspired by Star Wars (let me know if you catch it), Borderline excessive use of the word ‘princess’ (I fear that was implied by the title), Inaccurate historical depictions, The Mikaelson family being menaces (kinda), Kol being Kol, Caroline being Caroline, Implied Klaroline, Inconsistencies in the tense it’s written in (my bad), A few uses of Y/N

Notes: Let's pretend everyone gets along… for the most part. Kol got turned at nineteen because I said so. Those stars were formatted to be centered originally but they keep going back to the side and I don’t know why, sorry.

Word Count: 4.4k

———————

Present Day

Mystic Falls

For once in Mystic Falls, it’s peaceful. The Mikaelson’s decided that they’d all had enough running around, ripping the town apart, they wanted to relax and have normal lives for a bit. Klaus was the most reluctant of this idea, wanting to run off to create more hybrids but Caroline had asked him to stay, just for a bit before he’d continue his travels. He backed down a bit after that, behaving himself for the first time ever. All his siblings were shocked by this but chose not to taunt him about it. Well, all except for one, Kol. Kol would tease him relentlessly about it, using all the new terms he had learned, his favorite being ‘whipped’.

Oh Kol, your sweet, not so sweet, innocent, not so innocent, Kol. You had met Kol during the 16th century while you were still human. You had fallen hard for the Mikaelson boy but your feelings would mean nothing as you had already been betrothed to another man. The man was much older than you but that did not matter. It didn’t matter that you didn’t love him either, your fate was sealed. You were the only daughter to your parents, only child in fact. Your mother had tried to produce another heir, a boy, but fate would not allow it. Just as Kol would not allow you to marry that man.

You currently sat in the Mystic Grill, snacking on some french fries while you hummed quietly to yourself. Suddenly Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie all crammed into one side of the booth, sitting across from you. They were looking at you with wide eyes. You were in the process of putting a french fry in your mouth and sigh, setting it back onto your plate.

“What—“

Caroline shoves your plate of fries out of the way and slams a book in front of you, frantically pointing at a picture, “This is you? Right?!”

You look at the picture, it was a painting of you. In fact, this particular one was painted by Klaus.

“Yes, that—“

Caroline cuts in, “Is this before you were turned?! All it says is that you mysteriously disappeared at a ball! You’ve gotta tell us about this!”

Your eye twitches a bit, “I’m trying to!”

“Oh… right.”

You look at the picture of the painting again, it’s nothing compared to the original, “Nik actually painted this when he and his family—“

Caroline interrupts. Again. “Nik like, as in Klaus? He painted this? Wait so this was after you were turned? Or was it before?”

“Caroline!” Bonnie and Elena shush her.

“Sorry!” Caroline squeaks out, “I’m just excited…”

You laugh a bit, amused by the blonde's antics, “I’ll start with when I met the Mikaelsons…”

-★-

16th Century

England

“We thank you for welcoming our family into your home.”

Your father nods, holding his head high, still not too sure on the new family who would be staying around for a while. Your mother, on the other hand, had begun to gush over them.

The man continues, “I apologize, I have not properly introduced myself. I am Elijah Mikaelson.”

You watch as Elijah takes your mothers hand and brings it to his lips, she looks as though she is going to faint. You glance at your father who looks like steam is going to come from his ears. You try to suppress a giggle but fail. Your eyes widen when another boy immediately looks at you, you were caught. The heat rises to your face as you shrink back in on yourself. The boy was very attractive, they all were. He had brown hair and eyes to match, which glimmered with mischief. You knew immediately that he’d be one to cause trouble. He smirked at you and tilted his head to the side as he stared at you. You began to chew your lip and look to the ground, unable to meet his gaze any longer.

Your father clears his throat, bringing your mother back from her daydreams of Elijah. Your mother looks at you and grabs your hand, pulling you to stand in front of her.

“This is our daughter, Y/N, she is to be queen.”

The boy with the mischievous eyes raises a brow, “No sons?”

“Mind your tongue, Kol.” Elijah warns his younger brother.

The blonde girl next to who you now know as Kol begins to snicker. Elijah quickly turns his attention to her, “Rebekah.” he warns.

Another man steps up from behind Rebekah and Kol, “I do apologize for my siblings behavior. Kol and Rebekah can be rather… brash. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Klaus.”

He takes your mothers hand and kisses it, she looks as though she is going to faint again.

Your father clears his throat once more and Kol raises a brow, “Are you ill?”

“Kol!” Elijah hisses. Kol simply shrugs.

Your father glares at Kol before choosing to ignore him, addressing the others while simultaneously answering Kol’s question from earlier, “She is to be wed soon.”

You tense up at the mention of your wedding. Something that Kol immediately takes note of.

“We are having a ball in three month‘s time to celebrate, it will be held the night before the wedding! You are all welcome to attend!” your mother quickly offers.

“Oh don’t be ridiculous, my dear. They will certainly have moved on with their travels by then.” your father looks at the Mikaelsons before narrowing his eyes, “Right?”

Kol and Rebekah glance at each other, clearly not impressed by your fathers attempt at intimidation.

Klaus smirks, “Nonsense! We wouldn’t dare miss a ball, would we Elijah?”

Elijah chuckles, “No brother, we would not. You have my word, we will be there, Miss Y/N.”

“Princess Y/N.” your father quickly corrects.

Elijah’s eyes narrow, “My mistake.” he then turns to you, “We will be at your ball, Princess.”

-★-

A week had passed since the Mikaelson family had arrived in your kingdom. You had grown to enjoy Rebekah’s company, laughing along with her as she complained about her brothers. Elijah would offer polite conversation if he saw you and you were scheduled to have Klaus paint your portrait (something your mother was ecstatic about). The only one you hadn’t had much interaction with was Kol. You could see him watching you from afar but he never approached you, though you couldn’t blame him because you never approached him either.

“For a girl that is soon to be wed, you don’t appear to be all that thrilled.“

You jump at the sudden voice and turn to see Kol. He’s smirking at you, “Hello princess.”

What was that saying? Speak of the devil…

You scoff and turn back to look at the trees, watching a squirrel run by. You often came to this spot in the forest to clear your head. It was isolated, just you with nature, and no one knew of it other than you and your mother. Until now that is.

“How did you find me?” you ask quietly.

“Oh! So she does speak!” Kol’s smirk widens.

Sitting up straighter, you clear your throat but before you can speak, Kol interrupts, “Does that run in your family?”

You narrow your eyes, “Does being an overly presumptuous arse run in yours?”

Kol lets out a whistle, “Sharp tongue.”

“Is there something you need, Mister Mikaelson?”

Kol raises a brow, “What I ‘need’ is for you to call me Kol, Mister Mikaelson makes me sound far too much like Elijah… so proper.”

“Then stop calling me princess.”

“Oh I’m sorry I can’t do that, princess. It is your title after all.”

“Very well…” you pause, “Mister Mikaelson.”

Kol chuckles, shaking his head and gestures towards the rock you’re currently sitting on, “Mind if I sit?”

“For some reason, I think you’d sit regardless of my answer.”

He smirks, “Pretty and clever.”

You turn to look away from him, heat rushing to your face. He chuckles a bit at your reaction. The two of you sit in silence for a moment, observing the nature around you. A bunny stops at a tree in front of you two, staring at you both. A smile appears on your face as the creature stares you down. You tilt your head to the side, letting out a small laugh as the bunny copies your actions.

Kol’s attention is not on the bunny though. He is focused solely on you. The way you smile, the way your hair is framing your face, the way your chest rises and falls with each breath, the twinkle in your eye as you watch the animal… just… you. An unfamiliar warmth spreads in his chest, unfamiliar, but nice.

Kol is so distracted by you that he doesn’t even realize that the bunny has run off until you’re waving your hand in front of his face. Kol blinks a few times as you lower your hand, your attention entirely on him as you begin to giggle again. Kol’s face flushes a bit and that warmth begins to spread in his chest again.

You raise a brow at him, “Has something distracted you?”

Kol laughs, shaking his head, “I just… you’re full of such life, you have wit… you’re fierce yet nurturing. And yet, I’ve seen you around with that man who must be at least twice your age and you seem dead. It’s as though you lose everything that makes you, you when you’re with him.”

You chew your lip, tilting your head as though you’re thinking, “Perhaps you are different.”

“A good different?”

“I hope so.”

-★-

Three days later you were sitting at that spot once again when Kol found you. This time, he brought a basket full of treats.

“You cook? Bake?” you ask.

He smiles a bit, raising his hands in mock surrender, “Alright, you’ve got me. I had some help from Rebekah… and I may have stopped at the market on the way here.”

You try to hold your composure but begin to laugh, Kol smiles at this and begins to laugh as well. He sits on the ground in front of you even though you had told him he could sit next to you. He simply wanted to look at you without having to turn his body.

You pick up one of the pastries and take a bite, a few crumbs fall onto your skirt and you don’t notice the few that stick to your lip. Kol does though, he finds it adorable and can’t help it when he sits up straight, bringing his hand up to brush his thumb against your lip. Your eyes widen in shock as you look down at him. Without breaking eye contact, he pulls his hand back and places his thumb in his mouth, sucking the remaining crumbs of pastry away.

Amused by your wide eyes and flushed face he tilts his head to the side, a sly smirk appearing on his face, “What?”

You narrow your eyes at him, “Please stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” he sits up once more, your faces directly in front of each other, only inches between the two of you. Your noses are practically touching…

You will yourself to not break away from his intense gaze, “You’re teasing me.”

“Oh,” he chuckles, amused, “I’d be much too frightened to tease a princess.”

-★-

Kol and you had continued to meet at that spot at least twice a week. No one had known other than maybe his siblings. It was taboo enough for two people of the opposite gender to be left alone if they weren’t married or soon to be. It was even more taboo considering the fact that you were to be married soon, to another man. Not to mention Kol’s obvious flirting and the way you would become flustered just by his gaze alone. Something that your soon to be husband could never do, never make you feel.

Normally, when Kol would find you, you’d be humming a song or spinning in a circle or even just sitting there, watching. Today, though, when Kol arrived, your entire body was shaking. He could hear your sobs as he approached you.

“Princess?” Kol asks softly, sitting next to you.

You looked up at him and Kol’s heart broke at the sight of your tear stained face.

“He’s going to kill me Kol.”

“What?”

“My fiancé… I overheard him speaking with his brother, after we are wed he is going to have me executed. I am simply a means to an end for him, I tried to tell my father but he brushed me off as paranoid and trying to get out of the wedding!”

Kol rests his hand on your cheek, wiping away a tear and for a moment, just a split second you could have sworn you saw the veins beneath his eyes ripple, it must have been your tear filled eyes playing tricks on you. You were certain though, that his eyes became dark. You should have been scared at that look in his eyes but you weren’t. You felt safe.

“Will you trust me?”

When you don’t answer he asks again, differently, “Y/N. Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” you answer without hesitation this time.

“At the ball tomorrow, I’ll take care of everything, okay? I promise that I won’t let him hurt you. I will find you, okay? If I do not then one of my siblings will. If none of us can reach you, I’ll be here, at this spot, waiting for you.”

You nod, bringing your hand up to cup his that currently holds your face.

“I must confess something.”

You tilt your head, urging him to continue.

“I’ve never had any intention of allowing you to marry that man.”

-★-

You were preparing for the ball when there was a knock at your door.

“Come in.” You called out.

Your mother entered the room and dramatically placed her hands over her heart at the sight of you. She rushed over to you, placing her hands on your shoulders, looking at you both in the mirror.

“My little girl, you’re all grown up.”

You smile softly, “Well I think that I still need my mother to help me with my necklace…”

You reach for the necklace that you had planned to wear but you were stopped by your mother. You look at her in the mirror, confused.

“No no, you’ll be wearing this.” she held up a gorgeous necklace, it was bejeweled, specifically with your birthstone.

“Mama…” you say, turning around to face her, touching the necklace as gently as you could, “This is gorgeous, where did you get this?”

She smiles, cupping your cheek, “It was a gift, here, allow me.”

You turn back around and your mother lifts your hair as she clasps the necklace. You reach up to touch the jewels, a small smile on your face. You have a guess as to who the mysterious gifter was and you could only hope you were correct.

She kisses your cheek, “To think, tomorrow you will be married…”

Your mood is dampened at the mention of your marriage. One day closer to your death. You had to trust Kol, that he would help.

The door opened and Rebekah entered, she looked absolutely stunning in her blue gown. Her hair was in an updo that complemented the square neckline of the dress. She freezes at the sight of your mother.

“My apologies, I did not mean to intrude.”

“Nonsense!” your mother exclaims, “I was just telling my lovely daughter how beautiful she looks, I’ll leave you two to talk.” she makes a swift exit out of the room and you chuckle.

Rebekah turns and looks at you, “You do look truly gorgeous.”

“As do you, Rebekah.” you smile softly at her.

The blonde takes your hands in hers, glancing at the door to make sure it’s closed before she turns back to you, “How much has Kol told you about tonight?”

Your brows furrow, “Only that I need to trust him…”

Rebekah sighs, “That fool.”

“Rebekah? What is going on?”

She plasters on a smile, “You needn’t worry darling, we won’t allow anything to happen to you.”

“Where is Kol…?”

Rebekah’s smile falls, “He’s having a chat with your fiancé.”

-★-

You stand with Rebekah, chatting while sipping your drinks. You glance around the room and frown when you realize you still haven’t seen Kol around. You hadn’t seen your fiancé either.

When Kol finally enters the ballroom, he makes his way to Elijah. Elijah takes in Kol’s appearance, checking him for blood stains and when he finds none, he raises a brow.

“I do hope you did not leave a bloody mess behind.”

Kol smiles sweetly, but his words are anything but, “I’d rather choke than have a single sip of that pig's blood.”

Elijah raises a brow and hums, intrigued, “What have you done?”

There’s suddenly a loud crash and a scream, causing everyone to look to the stairs. A maid comes rushing from the room where your fiancé was getting dressed, she goes straight up to your father. Listening in, Kol and Elijah hear the maid tell him that she found your fiancé’s body in the room. Your father’s eyes fall onto you and he beckons you to come to him. Your mother chews her lip, looking absolutely horrified. You excuse yourself from Rebekah and make your way to the stairs. Kol shifts the way he’s standing as though he’s about to make an escape.

“Kol…” Elijah narrows his eyes at his brother, “What did you do to the man?”

“Relax brother… he’s just hanging out.”

-★-

That night you sat on your bed, staring out the window. Your father had forbidden you from leaving the room for any reason. He blamed you for what had happened. Your mother remained downstairs trying to keep the party alive even though the guests of honor were nowhere to be found. You had discarded your gorgeous ball gown to slip into your nightgown. The necklace still rested on your chest, you couldn’t reach the clasp to remove it, you began to fidget with one of the jewels.

The more you stared out the window, the more your room seemed to suffocate you. You brought your hand up to catch the cold, metal latch and unlock the window, allowing the cool air of the night to blow into your room. Then you make a decision you’re sure you’ll regret, you climb out of the window and begin to climb to the ground. Your bare feet freezing when they make contact with the cold rock.

When you hit the ground you immediately start running to the forest, to your spot. You wish you could say that you weren’t surprised to see Kol there, already waiting for you like he had said he would be.

“Princess, I was waiting for you to show up.”

You let out a shaky breath, suddenly aware of the cold air around you. Kol stands and walks over to you, his eyes fall to your chest and you begin to feel self conscious of the fact that you’re in nothing more than a nightgown. He carefully reaches for your necklace, fidgeting with a gem, just as you had done earlier.

“I see you got my gift.”

A small smile finds its way onto your lips, “I knew it was you…” he can’t help but think that your words are referring to more than just the necklace.

He smiles down at you, “I am disappointed that I could not dance with you tonight.”

“You still can.”

He smirks, taking a step back from you before offering you his hand, “Could I have this dance, princess?”

You laugh, doing a small curtsy as you take his hand, “Why of course, Mister Mikaelson.”

Kol pulls you into his arms and you wrap your arms around his neck, taking in his body heat. His hands rest on your waist and you jump a bit at the feeling.

He chuckles, “You must be freezing…”

“Only a bit.” you admit, quietly, “You’re quite warm though, enough for us both.”

You rest your head onto his shoulder and close your eyes, humming. All nice things must come to an end as you hear your fathers booming voice echo throughout the forest. The sound of footsteps stopping right near you. You wait for the shouting but it does not come. Reluctantly you lift your head and find your mother’s wide eyes staring at you.

“Mama…” you begin to pull yourself away from Kol.

She brings a finger to her lips, shushing you as she rushes to pull you into a hug. She pulls away and holds your face in her hands, “You must go. Run.”

“Mama, I—“

She shakes her head, “There is no time to argue,” she looks at Kol, “Your family, you have money?” he nods and she continues, “You will take care of her?” he nods once more.

Your mother swallows hard, “Then go, run far from here and be happy. This life… it is never what you wanted, you want adventure, you want to travel. You do not want to sit and deal with politics… I know how it bores you. It’s killing your soul. I want you to be happy…”

Tears fill your eyes as you pull her into a tight hug, “I love you, mother.”

“I love you too, my daughter.”

She pulls away, tears are in her eyes, “Now go.”

Your father’s voice gets closer and before you know it, Kol has picked you up into his arms and has begun to run, you wrap your arms around his shoulders. You watch over his shoulder as your mother stands still, getting smaller and smaller the farther you get away.

Kol seems to be running at an inhuman speed and you close your eyes not being able to handle the way things speed past you anymore, you feel as though you’ll be sick. Not even a minute later, Kol stops running.

“Kol.” Klaus’ voice warns, “What happened to getting rid of the fiancé and leaving the girl to find a better suitor?”

“She’s coming with us.”

“Kol…” Klaus begins.

“This is not negotiable brother!” Kol fires back.

Rebekah looks at you, curled up in Kol’s arms, practically shaking, “Did you steal her?”

“What?! Do you take me for an uncivilized fool?! She came with me!”

“I’m not judging! I’ve grown to like the girl as well!”

“My mother asked me to go with him…” you finally speak up.

“If she goes back, her father will be even more enraged than he already is. She’s coming with us.”

“Does she know?” Elijah asks, when Kol shakes his head, he sighs.

“She’ll have to kn—“

“I know, Elijah!” Kol snaps, “But now, we must go! The people are looking for her, we need to leave!”

Elijah swallows, “Very well. But we will be discussing this further Kol.”

Klaus throws his hands up, “You’re not serious, are you?”

He gets no verbal response as his siblings begin to run ahead of him. Klaus groans, “You are serious,” rolling his eyes as he reluctantly moves to catch up with the others.

-★-

“Would you turn me?” you ask suddenly, snuggling further into Kol’s chest.

He tenses up, he stops brushing your hair, “Where is this coming from?”

You sit up from his chest, “We’ve been traveling for almost two years now. I’ll be nineteen soon and you’re forever nineteen.”

You bring a hand up to brush the side of his face, forcing him to look at you, “I want to spend forever with you.“

Kol holds his hand over yours, staring into your eyes, “Do you understand what you’re asking of me? You’d have to die… and then you’d wake up like me, a monster. You’ll be thirsty for blood and no matter what you do that thirst will never go away.”

“You’re not a monster, Kol. I know the things you’ve done, and yet you can still be gentle. If I have to die and drink blood to spend the rest of eternity by your side then so be it. I want to stay with you forever.”

“Forever is a long time, princess.”

You laugh, “Perhaps it will be long enough to teach you to quit calling me that!”

It’s Kol’s turn to laugh, he pulls you back into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of your head, “Neverrrr.”

You both lay in silence for a moment, until you look up at him again. He narrows his eyes at you before finally sighing.

“If that is really what you want once you turn nineteen… then I will turn you myself. Just don’t go running to Rebekah or God forbid, Nik.”

-★-

Present Day

Mystic Falls

“Soooo…” Bonnie pauses, “Kol killed your fiancé and you ran off with him?” she then points at your neck, “And you’re still wearing the necklace he got you.”

“Well that’s one way to shorten my story.” You mutter.

Elena laughs a bit at that before raising a brow, “So wait, you knew Kol killed him?”

“It was kind of obvious that Kol had something to do with it, he did tell me he was going to take care of it. I just assumed he had threatened him and it scared the man so bad he took his own life…”

“In reality I simply compelled him to, I never laid a finger on the man.” Kol announces as he slides in the booth to sit next to you.

“Speak of the Devil.” you tease.

Kol looks around for a moment before turning to you, “I don’t see Nik anywhere.”

He wraps his arm around your shoulder and presses a kiss to your cheek, “Hello princess.”

“Hi Mister Mikaelson.”

You then look to the three girls across from you, “How did you even find that picture?”

“School project on the time period. It’s in a few history books.” Elena answers.

You hum in response then look at Kol who slides out of the booth, offering you his hand, “I hope you ladies don’t mind, the princess and I have places to be.”

You roll your eyes at his antics and take his hand, getting about a foot away before you turn back around to look at the three girls, “I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t do your school project on me.”

They all nod and you smile, leaving The Grill, holding Kol’s hand. The three girls sit in silence for a moment, still soaking in all the information they just learned when Caroline suddenly gasps.

“What is it?!” Bonnie asks, looking around, trying to find a threat.

“That’s why he calls her princess!”

“We know, Caroline.” Elena answers, a bit amused.

“Oh…”

[patrik6090]

Assumptionz

@patrik6090 you love the boyfriends

@pennyroyald wack crayon lady

@mariyoursweetheart loves weed

@importantpeachfury Darth Vader of she was a girl

@hawaii-official I feel like they play those online gambling games

@system-of-cats 's minty idk their probably a Kanye/Ye lover

@manicali has arthritis

@plutowhoops drinks lemonade upside down

@groggle wishes they were a cat

@mango-mentally-ill crunches on ice cream as revenge on the cold

@stargazing-with-friends drinks olive oil and vinegar

@ms-macintosh has a love for rotten onions

@aflairforthemelodramaticc likes hot sauce

@half-fey-freak-of-nature is very pretty

@lunaxio killed birds for fun as a child

@f4y3w00d5 would eat a fake apple made of wax thinking it's real

@decaffeinatedcatkitten would drink their Starbucks order with their mose

@sarrinight takes naps in the bathtub

@asqadia-banthen failed a mental disorder to avoid being killed

@eirxair autism

@losairr Autism

@letmeoutofthebasementplease has gone through 4 different orientations

@illusionsignmisdirecti0n hates all types of meat or cheese in food

@weenietickler vegan

@wyfy-meltdown used to be an Internet scammer

@roeldraws out of touch Thursday is his theme song

@the-rat12 autistic

@err0r-404notfound autistic

@saphi-everything autism cat

@ihavehomework2dobutimhereinstead phrat boy

@gobodegoblin wants to be a mechanic irl

@finla cartography Hyperficiation

@pansexualcake9 used to hold opinions they feel great guilt over

@ibuildblasters natural disaster prepare

@vee1021 has spent over 500 total on mobile games

@enbypalsidk spiders hyperfixition

@watercraver loves orange juice

@mayowayo is an alien from the Andromeda Galaxy

@moongasux Irish

@untitled14360 listens to Ksi's thick of it unionically

@kimisbunny loves the classic sonic games so much she Speedrun them

@sunsickle they are totally a poll or RP blog runner they give those vibes, that or secretly a cooking blog

@durdurdurrrb spends hours a day reading irl books

@im-an-anthusiast is German

@transfem-users eats raw meat even raw Chicken

@uwathebestgirl loves bubble guppies

@yuris-redgreen-drink has a phobia of apples

@the-lonely-detective is gay

@sarah-ankh has/had/will have a Egyptian mythology Hyperficiation in highschool

🤹 crocodile fursona

Girlkisser is hyperactive

Puki anon Pikachu

R.S hey that's m e

The webtoon thing?

[lesbiansforboromir]

Here's a more compact review of the War of the Rohirrim film for anyone interested! SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Positives;

The backgrounds were all very beautifully painted and the lighting really elevated the character design and smoothed over the janky animation. Where other aspects of the film fall off, often the background artistry and lighting over all of it still manages to convey a very dramatic and immersive moment to the viewer. It's probably the best part of the film.

The part where Helm's ice-ghost phase is teased was really cool and atmospheric and I got a little thrill of what I'd kind of always been wanting from this film.

Frealaf was pretty lovely (what little we got of him) and I appreciated that his darker skin tone was implicitely associated with his Gondorian heritage. I THINK I appreciate the idea that Frealaf's father was Gondorian, though I wish it had been better utilised.

I also really liked the moment where Helm is about to fight Freca and he gives his crown, signet ring and mantle over to Frealaf in this like... symbolic giving up of his Kingship in this moment where his actions are about to make him unworthy of it.

I appreciated Olwyn existing as an older female character in a purely action based roll.

Helm's voice actor and design were pretty cool, I came around to enjoying how much effort they put into making him extremely imposing.

Hama being a twink who was born to be a bard but forced to be a heroic second prince was a nice touch.

General Targg of Dunland might have been my favourite character, inspite of the fact that I am really curious to know where this organised military of Dunland is for him to reach the rank of 'General' in.

Negatives;

Gurl the racism. See here for more details.

The overall narrative seems to me direly lacking in like... basis. I am lead to believe Hera's journey is about her reclaiming her right to choose her own life for herself. But she is never actually pressured into any choice, nor does it appear that her father ever restricted her freedom in any way. So I don't really see where her choices were actually removed to such a degree. If her desire is to see her choices respected by the men in her life, well that never happens for either Helm nor Wulf, who force her to let them die or to kill them, respectively. It feels like in their rush to censor any negative aspects of Helm they kind of removed the reason Hera is frustrated in the first place, he cant be TOO much of a misogynist etc etc.

This is twisted up within 'gurl the racism' but Wulf's manner and presentation make me FEEL like he is a villain we are supposed to mildly feel for? We see him as a child, we see him struggle with what he's doing, we see his clear desperation and despair and hear him talk about loneliness and suffering... but at the end of the day in the way that it is presented Wulf is fundamentally foul and deluding himself and all his problems appear to be of his own making. In general it is extremely uncomfortable for the 'obsessive stalker' villain to also every now and then say 'I am devastated because of how my dunlending blood has been prejudiced against all my life by your family and the wider rohir society' like... by only him mentioning it but it never being actually acknowledged by anyone else it just comes across so shallow and unsettling.

This is a review from my book-biased perspective so understand it within that lense but still gurl... the lore. What the hell do you mean the eagles speak a language only a wizard can understand? No they can just speak! What do you mean there is A watcher in the water in some undisclosed lake in Rohan somewhere? There is one Watcher and it's name is very specific to the doomed Moria expedition! At least give this new squid fellow a rohir name. Speaking of!!

IS IT SO HARD TO NAME ROHIR CHARACTERS IN..... ROHIRRIC?? OLD ENGLISH IS RIGHT THERE... HERA HAS NO MEANING... THERE ARE SO MANY COOL HISTORICAL ANGLO SAXON PRINCESSES YOU COULD CHOOSE FROM...

Included in the 'gurl, the lore' segment but in need of it's own post so I will try to be brief; (Theoden voice) where was Gondor... when a herd of Mumakil were marched by Haradrim mercenaries across the Anduin, up through the Pelennor, across Calenadhon and over Rohan's southern border... did they sneak by... were they stealth Mumakil, did they have elven cloaks too.

But also Where Was Gondor just in general. Like to the detriment of the actual narrative, opening up plot holes that didn't even need to be there, the fact that Gondor is ALSO supposed to be at war right now is completely ignored and discarded.

THE BATTLE OF EDORAS... TF ARE YOU ALL DOING! Like I know it is kind of hypocritical of me to request sensible war tactics when we're adapting Tolkien, he did not give a good example, but like... where were the horse archers, why are you charging down an infantry-only army, why even be on a horse if you aren't going to use greater mobility to your advantage, this isn't a siege, this is YOUR territory this is an open field!! Come on! AND ANOTHER THING, did we really have to make the victory of the Dunlendings over Edoras so disconnected from their own effort? Like betrayal is fine, but this was also a well supplied and competant force, and that was a major part of their victory. These were matched combatants! Just kind of another way in which the dunlendings were robbed of any cohesive motive, narrative or skill.

To my admittedly untrained eye... the animation sucks? Like it's clunky and janky and you can see the frames transitioning between each other, the movements often feel awkward and a lot of the drawings are just bad! The Eagles are SO stiff, as are the horses which seems like a cardinal sin in the Horse Lord Film. And then I couple that with the multiple completely unnecessary spinning camera shots Hera gets which are annoying, superfluous and a bizarre thing to spend time on when the rest of the film needs so much more care and attention. In general the GULF of difference between how beautiful the backgrounds are vs how bland the character art is is kind of jarring.

Hera's design.... I hate it. Look I know it's anime but DID Hera have to have thigh high boots... did she really... Why is she so pale if she's supposedly riding sleeveless across the vast countryside everyday? Can a single supposedly feminist film about a 'wild' female protagonist let that woman be like... dirty, or not so agonisingly thin, or give her messy or god forbid short hair. At one point when she is grabbed by a troll and hung in the air they linger uncomfortably long on her ass which her costume design is specifically designed to allow for maximum viewing detail.

The designs of the Dunlendings, Haradrim and especially the Mumakil are all so grim. Like I liked Freca's design to a degree, it was more potent with symbolism and patterning and such, but the rest of it is just SO FUCKIN- well they're ugly! and therefore evil! Do you get it? The ugly grey animalistic people are evil! The Mumakil have literal red snake eyes just so you know they're 'evil animals'. I can't take it anymore, at one point the guy who Eomer throws a spear at in the trilogy just... turns up, like it's literally just him down to the facepaint. And speaking of...

SHUT UP ABOUT THE PJ TRILOGY, SHUT UP AB- besties this film's intro plays alongside the ring theme... THE RING MUSICAL THEME!!!!?? Lines from the films are reused so often and so WILDLY outside of their actual context and meaning that it makes me flinch.

There is a plump little fellow called Leif who is the royal Page I think and everytime someone called Freca fat in such a vitriolic way I was like wow... I mean Leif is right there guys!

Overall a 4/10 from me, it is a watcheable but shallow film that I suspect was more of a cynical attempt by Warner Bros to keep their death grip on the rights to the books, since I think they would have expired if they didn't do something with them soon.

[nuttersincorporated]

Some of you have only watched The Muppet Christmas Carol, not read the original story and it shows. I LOVE The Muppet Christmas Carol! It is be far the best movie adaptation of A Christmas Carol but the original story is still superior.

Listen, you can’t compare Scrooge to modern CEOs. He was ALWAYS better than them, even at the start of the story where he’s a jerk. No, Scrooge did not need to see people happy at his death before he was willing to change.

Seriously, the story is public domain and not that long. There are free versions online to read and/or listen to.

The original story does a better job of showing how Scrooge became the man he was and how the Ghosts helped him change for the better.

In the book, young Scrooge was basically abandoned at school by his father, who was a cruel man. He was the only child left at school over Christmas, so never had the chance to celebrate it. He read fairy tales and dreamed of mythical characters.

When old Scrooge saw his younger self alone at Christmas, he thought about a boy who’d been carolling at his door earlier. He wished he’d been kinder to that child.

One year, his younger sister Fran (the one family member who ever truly loved and who he loved) came to pick him up. She said their father had changed for the better and he could come home. His younger self was overjoyed.

Scrooge used to love the Fezziwig Christmas Party. The Ghost of Christmas Past pointed out that it wasn’t a very expensive party but Scrooge said that wasn’t the point. It was kind and fun and… oh, suddenly he wished he could have a word with his own employee.

Scrooge used to love Bell but became more and more money focused so she left him.

When the Ghost of Christmas Present came along. Scrooge learned how wonderful Christmas could be. He saw people being kind, even though they gained nothing from it. He saw people in need and realised he had the power to help them. He had his own cruel words thrown back at him and realised how horrible they were.

When they went to Fred’s Christmas party, Scrooge had a wonderful time. He didn’t even take officen when – in the guessing game – Fred referred to him as an ‘unwanted animal’. He could tell it was all in fun and that Fred was serious when he said he really wished Scrooge would accept his invitation one of these days.

By the time the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come came along, Scrooge had already decided to become a better person.

Scrooge didn’t immediately make the connection between himself and the dead man everyone hated because he assumed that his future self was off somewhere else doing good deeds. He kept looking around for his future self, to see what good he was doing. It was only at the graveyard he realised this was what his future would have been if hadn’t already made the decision to change.

TL;DR the last ghost might be needed for modern CEOs. However, I doubt all three together would make a difference because they are worse than Scrooge. Also, while the last ghost reenforced things, Scrooge had already seen the error of his ways and decided to change.

[syndrossi]

Thinking about Restoration AU (again). What POV would you like to write/or are you just interested in? Well, besides Cersei :D Even for the time of the first book, she can't be called sane. Maybe Jamie? Like you said, in the first book he wasn't in the mood for redemption, but here he meets the ghost of the man he was loyal to and whom he feels he has failed (I tend to think that Rhaegar just didn't want to take a 16 year old boy to battle, so he gave him an important "assignment").

Or maybe Robert's POV during the meeting with the twins? We know that Ned is mentally praying at this time, while Robert may not remember Rhaegar's facial features and his reaction is: ho ho our noble Ned is just a man too, we're not so different.

Or Catelyn? I don't share the fandom's hatred of her, but it would be very interesting to see her thoughts, especially how she tries to recreate the image of a "rival" to Rhaegar: his looks, charming singing, soft demeanor.

Personally, I'm probably most interested in seeing Darmon and Daenerys' POV. With Darmon, it will be both painful and fun - painful because he finds himself in a world where his children aren't around him, dragons are extinct, and the Targaryens have fallen (the story of Rhaegar's death might cause a sudden painful flashback). But watching him terrorize first the people of the valley and then Volantis, who have no idea where the hell the dragon came from or what children this madman is talking about (they're already willing to give him their children just to get rid of him) would be fun.

And for Daenerys I'm just happy, she'll probably be a little scared of Darmon at first (he's a little crazy during their first meeting) but then she'll appreciate him: the fact that there's finally an older family member protecting her from Viserys, and his dragon, and the way he treats her gently (she'll 100% remind Daemon of Rhaegar, only a girl). Or Viserys? In terms of insanity it should be something close to Cersei in the last few books.

Would love to see your thoughts. By the way, have you decided whose POV will be next?

Hmm, it's less for me about POVs and more about certain story events, other than the aforementioned Cersei POV. Like, the Robert meeting the twins is an obvious one, but I don't think I'll write Robert's POV. For that, I'm leaning toward Ned's, especially because he'll get to see little!Jon/Willam staring absolute daggers at Robert, both as in the I HATE YOU sense and the DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY LITTLE BROTHER-DAD sense, but Ned will likely interpret it as "you killed our older brother! 😡" Whereas Rhaegar/Raymar is deer-in-headlights "if I don't move he won't see me" mode.

(Oh, or could THAT be our first Cersei POV? Ehh, I still think Ned, but I can absolutely see Cersei being huffy about Robert going to greet Ned's bastards after he meetings the trueborn ones, viewing it as him rubbing his adultery in her fave, and then she catches a glimpse of Rhaegar and goes why hello yes target acquired ned stark's bastards you say?

Goodness, I hadn't thought about Rhaegar becoming the symbol of the boys' mother to Cat, but he probably would, wouldn't he? Jon and Willam remind her enough of Ned, but she's staring at this dainty-looking child with the long braid, imagining the woman's silver-blond hair and beautiful eyes and quiet demeanor. Did she sing? Is that what drew Ned to her?

Okay, I may have to steal the "Volantis just starts flinging Valyrian-looking children at Daemon in a bid to appease him" bit for Daemon's reign of terror across Essos. 😂 They just round up every child that looks the least bit like him, and even throw in some dark-haired, grey-eyed ones like the other child he mentioned. Daemon is all "wtf am I supposed to do with these?" and they're all "feed them to your dragon if they aren't what you want, please just leave us alone."

I think Dany and Daemon's first meeting will definitely be a Dany POV, so I suppose that's one I'm looking forward to! I still haven't decided the exact timing there. Canonically per the book, her wedding to Drogo has already occurred by now, so either I shift the time so that Daemon can dramatically prevent it, or he rocks up on the Dothraki and starts burning until they give him his kin.

I have not yet decided which POV is next, though that's up after Knight of Stars pt2. (Assuming I don't get sucked into the "Rhaella gets summerhalled" AU I'm very tempted to write first. And we still need the wintery hot springs prompt fill! Lots to write this week.)

[profoundbondfanfic]

More Holiday fic recs!

-Part 3 of 5-

Angel Cookies by noxsoulmate (Explicit, 245k words)

“On Christmas Eve, if you eat Angel Cookies right before bed and then dream of your one true love, he will be your destiny.” The Shurley clan sure believe their old family legend, but not Castiel James – not since he was a pudgy teenager, running down the church aisle on Christmas Day, trying to stop his very handsome and very straight teacher Dean Winchester from marrying someone else. He may be grown-up, well-toned, bestselling Young Adult’s book author “C. S. James” now, but Castiel will never forget that day. And he’ll never fall foolishly in love again, especially not for Dean Winchester. But when the wish for a big family Christmas from his sick father brings him back home, Castiel has to confront his past. And not only that: a letter from a little fan from his home town is weighing heavy on his conscience. Reaching out to a troubled kid might endanger his secret identity. Adding to the problem is the shock of discovering that Dean is the little girl’s father – unattached and hotter than ever. Dean’s smile still makes Castiel melt, but Castiel knows that ship has sailed. The fact that Dean seems to be on board this time, however, doesn’t make it any easier for him.

I Won't Even Wish for Snow by Annie D (scaramouche) (Teen and Up, 6k words)

It’s the third year that Castiel’s spending Christmas with his best friend’s family, and he expects it to be much like the previous two. Then mistletoe happens.

Nine Times We Met (And One Christmas We Parted) by almaasi (Explicit, 58k words)

On the last day of school before Christmas vacation, Mr. Castiel Quinn discovers that one of his young students has smuggled male pornography into the classroom. Upon being told that the photos belong to the boy's uncle, Castiel vows to himself that he will keep the other man's preferences a secret. It's 1947; a man experiencing attraction to another man or fantasising about his sexual touch are transgressive faults, which could potentially result in imprisonment - or worse. But then the uncle walks in. The photos are of him: Dean Winchester, a rogue with an empty pocket and a child to feed. Castiel doesn't know it yet, but his life is never going to be the same again. Years pass between chance meetings, but even though they live their lives apart, Dean and Castiel's story is proof that absence truly does make the heart grow fonder.

One for Each Night by VioletHaze (Explicit, 3k words)

A chance look at a Chanukah display in a shop window takes Dean back a quarter of a century to a childhood memory he thought he’d forgotten. Cas can’t change what happened then, but he finds a way to make sure Dean has a new, happier association with the holiday. Dean knows just how to thank him.

Serendipity by whelvenwings (General audiences, 23k words)

Stuck on opposite sides of the country, Dean and Cas make big sacrifices to be together at a special time of the year. However, when they realise that their joint idea of paying a surprise visit to each other's faraway home has left them still trapped miles away from each other, they have to find some way to meet in the middle - and it has to be before midnight if it's going to be perfect…

T'was the Night Before Christmas by Jacqueline Albright-Beckett (xaandria) (Teen and Up, 1k words)

Surgical tech Dean and vascular surgeon Cas share their first Christmas -- but they've only been together a handful of days.

The Secret Santa of Cubicle Land by followyourenergy (General audiences, 4k words)

Castiel Novak has never loved the workplace Secret Santa tradition, but he loves watching his coworker (and his very straight, secret crush) Dean Winchester’s enthusiastic responses to his daily gifts. Dean is so enthusiastic that he declares he’s going to ask his Secret Santa on a date. They’re both in for a surprise.

where you lead, I will follow by teacass (Fushigi) (General audiences, 6k words)

“Cas,” Dean says. “Light of my life. The sole provider of my happiness. The reason I get up in the morning. The bestest friend I have ever had. Please, give me coffee.” -- Or five Christmas Eves Dean had coffee at Cas' cafe, and one Christmas night he didn't. A small Gilmore Girls AU with coffee, Christmas trees, and first kisses.

[ashyjingles]

"oh, i'll write a fic of jason's time at camp jupiter before the swap! that'll be fun.

"oh, but i need to plan it out really thoroughly. let me make sure i nail down every single detail in the books so i know what canon to abide by.

"and oh, i need to get an accurate depiction of what military bases are like and how being raised as a child soldier would affect someone. let me do some research on that.

"and of course, considering this is all based in roman mythology i need to make sure i have all of the myths accurately recorded so i know what to reference in my writing. it would make for some great parallels and foils, especially ones jason already has connections to. and ive been interested in mythology for a while, may as well take a class at university to make my learning a little more guided because lord knows my adhd ass needs it

"and of course, there's the roman culture that camp jupiter has retained all these years, so i should probably study up on roman history. the rise and fall of rome would be an interesting concept to include given jason's rise to power and subsequent fall as he turns to camp halfblood and more greek ways, especially given the way rome took over greece and its myths. a good flipped reference for jason's character.

"and i should probably get into the mindset of a leader. some self help books would help me understand his thinking process and wouldn't be too bad for my own person, right?

"and one of the reasons i love being a writer is the psychology behind writing all the characters, so a few courses and books on child and adolescent development would be immensely helpful not only to myself, but to my writing and general life as a whole.

"...oh. this project has gotten very large, very fast."

*looks at my hobbit fics where i've done the same thing with the dwarven language system, tolkien's world building, norse culture, political nuances, and royal monarchies.*

"do i... have a problem?"

so about that poll i made about jason's time at camp jupiter.... you folks might be waiting for a good long while for that fic. for the time being though i have books to read! <3

[catboynutsack]

YESSSS I have to share a story now of why this character was so special to me as a young trans masc person. Cuz the typo is relevant.

I had this book as a child, typo and all. And of course, being a child, I took it at face value. Who cares if Star Catcher was a boy? He was pretty, and that's all that mattered to me. He pretty quickly became my favorite, partially because his toy was so pretty and partially because I thought he was the only male pony. I thought it was so cool that he stood out! And I related to him, cuz I was definitely into gender fuckery from a very young age to the point my parents had to sit down and talk to each other about the fact that yeah this kid is some flavour of queer and we're just gonna have to deal with that, even if it's 2001.

So, back to the toy. Growing up with weird gender vibes and having a toy with weird gender vibes because, well, he was a boy who looked like a girl. Kinda like me! When I grew up and was getting rid of my old toys, Star Catcher was the one I planned on keeping since he was my favorite. Sure, his pretty blue wing fabric was tearing revealing the skeleton of the wing, and he was. More than likely a bait pony. But still, he was special, and in a world filled with people who hated me (around 2010) it was a comfort to have a guy who was just like me, even if it's just a piece of molded plastic and tangled messy hair.

I've unfortunately since lost that Starcatcher, as a lot of time has passed and I lost my childhood home after my dad passed away and a lot of my toys disappeared in the move. But still, that memory of comfort, of familiarity, of unstoppable self love and early trans joy I felt... I'll forever love that piece of plastic, and that storybook typo.

[novantinuum]

Reformation ref sheet for an AU Steven (named "Astra") who's been invading my brain since like,, April. It's VERY wide, apologies. There's a lot going on here because this man is incredibly old and has poofed way too many times for varying reasons. (See This post for how I headcanon that Steven can poof and still be considered a hybrid being.)

While I will not talk in huge length about certain aspects of his AU on this blog due to some of it involving strong NSFW themes, there is a ridiculous amount of other lore I've developed over time for Astra, and I love him to death. He is my sad, lonely mans who I metaphorically hurl against the wall like a sticky hand when I need to feel something.

This version of Steven will likely never have any kind of full ass fic or comic made about him. Despite that, I do enjoy sharing some art and fun character lore for him from time to time. So, I might as well finally give followers like... literally ANY context for him. I've had this ref sheet for a while and just have never gotten around to throwing it on here, LOL.

Ridiculously long dump about my guy under the cut.

Subnote, this was supposed to be a quick post but I can't help myself and wrote you a fucking BOOK under the cut because I love my guy so much UWU

(Content warning I guess for like, extremely vague mentions of Steven/Steven later on.)

-

The huge tl;dr of Astra is as follows: he's a version of Steven who exists for SO long that he basically transforms into something of an ancient, lonely god.

He's outlived every single person he once knew as a child, and so as a result is starved for affection. At the same time, being vulnerable is the absolute scariest thing for him and he's really shit at navigating relationships, F.

The guy is THE most powerful living creature in his entire universe by the end, and yet remains a soft-spoken, (generally) benevolent soul. He dedicates himself to acting as caretaker for the vast, populous world he exists within, and to maintain the continuing legacy of Gemkind. A big discovery that occurs in this AU is that Gems are in fact susceptible to entropy over the span of millions of years and will eventually fall "inert," (but not him because of weird hybrid biology stuff he honestly sees as more of a curse than a blessing) so a huge plotline early on in Astra's lifespan is trying to either find a "cure" for this issue or to develop a means by which new generations of Gems can be created without the reinstatement of Kindergartens so Gemkind doesn't overtly go extinct.

-

But, to start... this Steven diverges off a point in canon- this is the timeline where he actually takes up the Diamonds on their offer of the throne in the movie, believing he may have a better chance of heralding true societal change working from the INSIDE rather than stepping away. Because he pours himself so thoroughly into his role on Homeworld and his mind is continuously occupied by this purpose, he never experiences the events SU: Future, nor does he develop his "pink mode" (yet...) or corrupt at all.

However, he's also so engrossed in his work that he's... kind of a shit boyfriend to Connie as years go on. (In that he's not terribly attentive... always super busy... their visits are often cut short, or few and far between.) Their relationship never really goes anywhere as a result, though Connie wants it to. To be fair so does Steven, but he's so scared that everything he's worked so hard to organize and set up in this new era will fall apart if he steps aside from his role for even a moment that he can't allow himself to follow that want.

At some point here he learns he can poof through a complete freak accident, and that's where things really begin to change in this timeline.

It takes a good few months for him to reform, but once he does he's back at it with all his work on Homeworld pretty quick.

The thing is... he doesn't have an innate physical need to eat or drink or sleep anymore, because he now consists of entirely hard light. It mimics human biology to an insane degree, so he COULD do all those things, but he doesn't need them to persist. So... he kinda takes this as an excuse to cut those activities out of his schedule entirely so he can spend more time focused on his duties as a diamond.

Connie is NOT a fan of this, and this leads to some debate and tension within their relationship. That being said, they remain an item...

Up until out of nowhere, Connie dies in an accident on Earth while Steven is off planet in a place where he doesn't have any contact with them for a few days. By the time the Gems are able to get in touch with him, it's far too late to resurrect her.

The kicker? In the autopsy it's discovered that she was a few weeks pregnant when she died.

Steven is emotionally gutted by this... and the thought of what could have been... and poofs.

The guy is understandably destroyed when he comes back in his next form, and his form reflects that- his gem flips as a sort of metaphorical severing from his own humanity.

He spends a long while in a deep depression at the loss of his childhood sweetheart... at the loss of any potential for (as far as he sees) a "normal" human life. There's a part of him that resents the choices he's made to end up in this present, but like, there's still work to be done.

And as the years move on, a LOT of that work is mitigating the growing relations (for better or for worse) between Gems and humans as humanity stretches their legs and reaches out into the stars. Humans kinda get... really aggressive in their expansion though, and quite territorial, and it leads towards some inevitable conflict between them and Gemkind. This time, with them more at fault. Things get so spicy that some groups of humans and Gems go to war.

Steven tries to mitigate one of these situations at the front lines- and gets poofed by a disgruntled Gem, speared straight through the back because she (kinda wrongly) assumed he would take the humans' side due to his ancestral ties to them.

When he reforms this time, he is glowing a perpetual pink. The Gems don't really know what to make of this, but he seems to be in perfectly fine health otherwise, so they assume it's just a normal aspect of this new neutral form.

And while this isn't something Steven has context to figure out until like... billions of years later, what's actually happened is that he's entered a permanent pink mode, pretty much. Guy's just got that much bottled up, unaddressed trauma.

He spends a long time in this form, and over all these thousands of years oversees the slow return to peace between Gems and humans... their marriage as a space age federation... and their deeper exploration of the galaxy. Beyond their home solar systems exist a bounty of alien species they've yet to meet... some friendly, some less so. There's definitely some conflict that crops up amidst the local galactic neighborhood when Gems and humans show up on the playing field here, lol.

But all-in-all, Steven develops a fairly peaceful and predictable routine during this reformation- living more like a Gem than ever before. He's still got the Crystal Gems at his side through all of this, and they are some of his greatest confidants.

And then... without any warning... Gems begin to go inert. Amethyst is among them.

Some of them simply stop reforming after they poof... especially those who were older Gems, or who have been cracked before. Steven and the other Diamonds using their powers together are able to "fix" this at first and "jumpstart" their reformation, but it's just a bandaid of a fix- these Gems will fall inert again pretty soon. And the longer they persist without poofing from alternate causes, the more unstable their form, power, and memory becomes. (Think of this as Gem dementia at its late stages,,, oof.)

The bottom line? Just like organics, Gems aren't immune to the forces of entropy. Sooner or later, their gemstones will decay from the inside out. Stubborn to find a way to save the ones he loves as he watches them slowly deteriorate all around him, Steven dedicates himself to trying to find a cure. But deep down, a part of him recognizes the futility of this. What he believes Gemkind actually needs to do is to develop a means of rebooting Gem incubation that doesn't destroy planets, so they can rebuild their quickly dwindling population and keep their legacy alive.

The big problem with this is that Gems take a SHIT load of energy and resources to properly incubate, so that puzzle will take a long ass time to sort out. There's kinda a lot of chaos that happens during this time. The reality of their own blunt mortality freaks out a bunch of Gems, and Steven has to do damage control with the heads of state for a lot of other alien species.

In the interim, all the Crystal Gems and some of the Diamonds (White is still in the picture, though) end up falling inert. Pearl is the last of the CGs to do so.

Steven is understandably SUPER gutted about this, and poofs yet again. (Lol notice a theme? Poor mans keeps poofing from friggin' anguish. Help him.)

After reforming with barely any changes, it's right back to work for this guy. He and the rest of his team of researchers are unable to find any cure for Gems decaying and falling inert, but they do end up making huge leaps and bounds in other kinds of tech. One of these advances allows Steven to finally deep-scan his own gemstone down to the atomic level to check for decay- this was previously a process that was very invasive, and came at the risk of irreparably damaging a Gem, but not anymore.

He expects to find evidence of the same micro decay that's been slowly eating away at the rest of Gemkind within his OWN diamond, but the thing is...

He just... ISN'T decaying at all? Even though the sheer age of this gemstone itself should suggest otherwise? As it turns out though, his existence as a hybridized being makes him kind of... an anomaly. When he first reformed all those thousands of years ago, all the data within his gem- data that would otherwise be susceptible to decay- was translated into genetic material. DNA that's woven entirely out of hard-light... but, DNA that has also been constantly regenerating itself thanks to a combination of all the intricate biochemistry surrounding the human telomere and his healing powers.

In other words, he is incapable of falling inert from natural causes, like micro decay. He's functionally immortal. Unless someone shatters him (or... heaven forbid... he shatters himself) he simply can't die.

Which, all of a sudden, makes his race to save Gemkind from their quickly approaching extinction all the more personal. Because if he FAILS- then he'll be the very last of Gemkind. There will be no one else left in this world who is even remotely like him. (Humanity has mixed and mingled with the galactic locals so much by now that they're very much unrecognizable from what they once were.)

His spirit is very nearly broken by this discovery, and he is severely tempted to throw all his own principles out the window and just sanction the construction of new Kindergartens again, if only to keep the dwindling Gem populations up and birth new generations. Perhaps surprisingly, it's White Diamond- the last Gem left who Steven actually knew since the very beginning- who urges him to reconsider. To not give up on his own morality, to not revert all the miraculous changes he's worked for these long few million years.

The big shift in the tides is when he discovers the means to jump to alternate timelines, and thus the existence of the greater multiverse. This allows him to gather intel and ideas from a far greater spectrum of sources.

And eventually... it's with the aid of many alt versions of himself from other lines across the multiverse that leads to him finding a suitable, eco-friendly solution to his Gem incubation problem. (This is the aspect of this AU I cannot discuss in length for discretion's sake. Use your imagination. Or don't, I don't care.)

The following two sections, I'll be talking more about the broad thematics than anything else. At this point, know that there are now new batches of Gems being created all the time. Gemkind is no longer at risk of any extinction, but now- like any stable organic species- new Gems are made at the same rate that they fall inert.

So, the BIGGEST thing here with this reformation is that this is overtly where this guy picks up the name "Astra." Why a name change? Well, after White finally went inert, leaving him the last Diamond in existence within this line, it basically just felt... upsetting to him, to continue to go by a name that every person he ever loved used for him. Thus, the new name is overtly a means to distance himself from that past, and from that pain. (It's also a name he chooses while thinking back to a meaningful conversation he had with White, back before she went inert, oOF. I'll probably yell about that at some point in another post.)

So, too, is the lack of any tangible facial features. He HAS a face, but others just can't see it. He subconsciously obscures it from almost everyone's sight as a means of avoiding vulnerability. One might also have noticed by now that this guy's proportions have gotten like, really strange and sorta "stretched out" over time the larger he becomes... and this is intentional, as it's yet another way he's just becoming more inhuman in form, yet another way he's internally separating himself from those humble human origins of his.

But here's the thing, though.

Deep, deep down, to be human and to live a simple human life is basically all he's ever craved. It's everything he feels he's lost forever, with the death of his Connie. And instead, he's kinda stuck in a hellish sunk cost fallacy of his own making, acting as eternal caretaker for this world that- no matter what he does to try and make it a better place- will never quite be PERFECT. Thus, in his mind, even though he's literally fixed Gemkind's BIGGEST problem, he can't Stop. He can't Rest. He simply can't allow himself himself to lay down and Sink Away into the unknown.

And even if he could allow himself to do so, he is so, so scared of walking that path alone.

If he's going to die... he wants that end to be at a lover's side.

How, though, is someone who's basically a god supposed to find anyone in this multiverse with experiences they can remotely relate to?

Well... ultimately, Astra finds that it's far, far easier to build up a close relationship with varying versions of himself than anyone else. He's... kinda trash at it, though. This guy has so much bottled up Gunk in his head and is so starved for any form of affection that he has a habit of throwing WAY too much of himself into the relationships he engages in, and expecting that same level of commitment in return. There's one relationship with an alt Steven he's in for a while that ends up pretty unhealthily co-dependent before it fizzles out, and then another where he assumes the individual is committing to this partnership for the long run, but then no... actually Astra was always pouring more into this dynamic than he was receiving in return.

This second relationship, when it ends, is pretty devastating to him- since it was one that lasted for like, a LONG ass time. Unimaginably long. We're talking billions of years, here.

Uh-oh! And now he's even more distanced from other people. Folks can't even parse his actual chosen name at this point- except he isn't really consciously aware of this for a while?? It's yet another silent cry for help, yet another internal defense mechanism specially intended to keep others from truly getting to know him. Because every time he does... stars. No matter what he does, he keeps getting hurt. Almost everyone he knows and loves is torn from his life eventually... if not by death, then by some form of tragedy... and he's just so, so tired.

He wants literally ANYTHING to change in his life. He craves some new form of purpose. He craves the attention of someone who might love him as passionately as he loves them.

For a while, he almost believes he's found that- in yet another close relationship he forges with an alt version of himself- but while this other Steven does care for him immensely, it's only as a friend. Which kinda kills Astra, because he's like, lost in the sauce levels of In Love with this guy. There's a LOOOOOOT of story I have here with this, oh my god. If I am thinking about this AU I am usually thinking about this Old Man Yaoi. The great bulk of it is very NSFW themed though, so y'all getting the cliff notes.

The MOST important thing to know though, is that Astra both makes intense leaps and strides in once again allowing himself to be vulnerable with this man, and ALSO kinda intensely fucks their whole mutually agreed situationship up. It's messy. I am crying and wailing at these two old dumbasses. Jesus fucking christ.

But then, it's in the aftermath of this whole deal that an individual named Orion comes into the picture.

Orion quite literally falls into Astra's world by complete accident, but it's a very lucky accident- because she is a diamond hybrid version of Connie from another universe who- beyond a few differences- has a strikingly similar history to his. The big difference, though? She never found a means to create new Gems without Kindergartens, so she was the last of just a few thousand Gems who existed in her entire line. Part of a deeply endangered species.

This version of Connie arrives in some very deep mental turmoil, and so Astra does his best to give them a stable home and a place to heal. And while a past version of him might've been tempted to throw way too much of himself into the slow building rapport they have, he's blessedly Learned a thing or two from the past few major relationship experiences he's had... and chooses to like, ease up. Just offer himself as a friend first and foremost, should they care for one. Man learns restraint, lol.

And it's a damn GOOD thing that he does, because out of the genuine friendship they foster, Orion is the one who ultimately falls in love with him first. The relationship that's established here is one that's balanced, a true partnership where they simply make each other better people. It's through Orion's encouragement that Astra eventually reconnects and makes up with that last person he had an intense relationship with, even.

In time, Astra truly grows to thrive with Orion in his life. He becomes a far more open, vulnerable person, someone who feels safe to truly exist as who he is, to bare every complicated, battered facet of his past to those he trusts. While he may have taken the LONG road to get here, he too heals. And as a result...

One day, Astra simply stops glowing entirely. Shrinks down to more reasonable proportions. He stops hovering around on automatic, stops subconsciously scrubbing the memory of his face or name from people's minds. He stops denying his truest, deepest self- the reality that he was born an organic being, and raised as a human.

The burred reality that all he's ever truly wanted since the day his first lover died is to be a father.

To live a quiet, simple life with the people he loves.

For so long it was a mirage of a future he thought he'd never chase down, but for how much he made all the wrong choices the first time around, now he has a second chance.

And so in my brain, that's exactly what happens. Astra and Orion start a family together and continue to act as guardians over this universe for many years to come, until- after they are satisfied with the long life they've lived together, and their children have moved on to start forging their own paths- they eventually pass Beyond at their own will in each other's arms, ending their impossibly long godhood at peace.

I really don't know how to end this post lmafo, so I will simply say: if you somehow read all of this, holy shit you are so brave. Thank you for engaging with my insane ramblings. Have a nice day LOL FUIHSNUFSJG

This man haunts my brain so much I missed two off ramp turns on the highway the other day while thinking about him. Help me.

[everlastingdreams]

The Weeping Monk x Fem!Reader : Forged Of Fire Chapter 27

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Story Summary: Raised under the tiranny of your own family, and forced to steal to earn your keep, you struggle to survive. Born from a Fey mother, and a Manblood father who wanted only sons, you are forced to hide your Fey side. When you are ordered to steal from Father Carden by your half-brother, Cassian, your life spirals out of control and you find yourself at the mercy of the Weeping Monk. The life you knew changes drastically when Cassian betrays you in the cruelest of ways. A trade is made, a promise is broken, and a debt must be paid.

Chapter Title: Oddity

Notes: /

Warnings: Angst. Hurt. Trauma bonding. Intrafamily violence. Depression. Self-harm. Suicidal thoughts. Violence. Torture. Gore. Pining. Trauma. Self-Flagellation. Manipulation. Strong Language. Blood. Misogyny. PTSD. Spicy and smut parts. Slight redemption arc. Lima/Stockholm syndrom-ish. Childhood trauma.

Other warnings: Jealousy. Forced Marriage. Forbidden Love. Romance. Slow-burn. Found Familly-ish. Comfort. Fluff. !SMUT and SPICE!

Word count of this fic: +250K

Chapter:  27/47

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Your head felt heavy against the cold brick wall as you awoke from the slumber they had forced you into. Your arm was hurting and you hoped the wound on it was not bleeding again, they must have dragged you into this freezing cold place. A cold dark cell, surrounded you, the bars a couple of feet away were rusted and by the rain dripping through small holes in the ceiling you could smell the rust.

When you saw who was at the other side of them, you prayed it was a nightmare, or that you were dying and that this was just a delusion. “Father?”

Aldith was reading in your mother’s journal, he had your satchel under his arm. “You brought a lot of misfortune on me, child. Killed my son, betrayed me, and because of your husband’s recent outburst against the Trinity Guard they now have Ravenwick under guard. Because of you, I cannot return home.” He closed the book, came to the bars and stuck his arm through them, he threw the journal at you with force and you had to cover your head to dampen the impact. “Foolish little whore! I was far too gentle with you.”

You grabbed your mother’s journal and stuffed it inside your jacket, a desperate attempt to protect it against him. You saw him take your own journal out of the satchel.

He dropped the satchel to the floor and began to look inside your journal, being careless with the pages, causing tears on multiples ones as he searched through them. “Cassian is death because of you, because of that Weeping Monk. Ravenwick is lost to the Church. You owe me a debt, one you will pay or suffer the consequences.”

You refused to be blamed. “Cassian is dead because neither of you kept your word on the trade with Father Carden, your hunger for coin killed him!”

He snapped the journal shut with his hand and you could barely avoid being hit by it too, it hit the wall just above your head, he kicked the satchel against the bars. “You dare accuse me?” He scoffed. “I heard of what you did the day that the Weeping Monk caused that chaos that happened in the paladin camp, do you think you can use that magic of you now? You were given enough of that flower that I know you will even struggle to walk. You should be very quiet, child.”

He had heard about it, about the green fire that had send the paladins to flee for their lives.

“Where am I?” you gritted out through your teeth angrily.

Aldith found great pleasure in speaking of your fate. “In the castle of the Lord of Morrowstead. He has been waiting for you ever since he gave me the coin. You are his newest novelty. I would expect a visit from him very soon.”

It came out bitter, “You sold me.”

He had no mercy to show. “You were free for the taking now that your husband is dead, you belong to Lord Leoric now.”

The earth was pulled from under your feet, even though you sat on the ground you felt like falling. “What did you just say?”

Aldith had a malicious grin on his face. “The fool tried to stop my men from taking you at the inn, he tried to follow them, they cut his eyes from his skull and burned that Fey child he was with alive.”

Ice ran through your veins, hot tears came over your cheeks but you no longer felt them. A numbness stronger than the effects of the flower had overtaken every inch of you and you no longer heard what Aldith was saying. It no longer mattered what happened next.

        Aldith did not stay for much longer, he must have noticed how you had locked the world out. The only thing you could think of was Percival and Lancelot, how they had been murdered only because they had tried to help. You had not moved since the news had been given so cold and cruelly, and you doubted your legs could carry you now. Guards who wore helmets that covered their heads and faces from harm, stopped at your cell’s door. You wondered how hard it would be to drive a dagger through the space left open for their eyes. They opened the cell door and in stepped a man who was dressed like a noble.

He looked only a few years older than you, short golden hair and a rather uptight look on his face as he studied you. “I am Lord Leoric. Do you know where you are?”

You turned your head away in response to that. Whatever it was that awaited you, you had no energy left to fight it.

Lord Leoric got closer, looking down at your bound wrists. “This castle will be your home from now on. You are a fine specimen.” When no reaction came from you, he continued, “A half-blood and Ash Folk. A rarity. I look forward to seeing what you are like.” He reached out to touch your face, but you recoiled. “No markings… Fascinating.”

He rose up from to ground and spoke to his guards. “It is time to bring her to her quarters. Have her bathe. See to it that she wears clean clothes, we cannot have her looking like she has lived in an inn.”

That vain comment pulled you to the present, you glared up at him. He didn’t seem to care one bit, he was looking at you like an acquired toy.

“I have read all I could find on your kind and unfortunately there was not much, what better way to learn than to observe the species itself.” Lord Leoric beckoned for you to stand. “On your feet. This dungeon will only make you sick and the Ash Folk is rare enough as it is.” His guards pulled you to your feet roughly and he noticed them doing so. “Careful. She is worth her weight in gold and more.”

You were watching it happen with widened eyes, it felt surreal. Were you something he wanted to study? To lock you up and examine you? As they walked you out of the dungeons and on more than three sets of large stairs, you tried to take in your surroundings as much as you could. The place was perfectly clean, there were short pillars with oddities and strange statues in every hallway. The Lord of Morrowstead was a collector of sorts, and you prayed he was not of the insane and cruel kind.

You dug your heels into the carpeted floor. “My husband-”

He had been walking up front and turned as you spoke to him for the first time. “What was that?”

“My husband… I was at the inn with him and a boy.” you swallowed hard. “Is it true that they were killed?”

“That boy is in my dungeons.” he said.

Some broken pieces of your heart put themselves together again. Percival was alive, imprisoned but alive.

Lord Leoric looked at his guards expectantly. “Have we received any word about the Weeping Monk?”

“No, Sir.” One of them answered. “Those sellswords did not speak of the Weeping Monk to us.”

“Strange.” he hummed. “Who told you he was dead?”

“My father.” you felt a spark of hope. “He said his men killed him when he followed them.”

He scoffed. “That would be atrociously foolish. If the Weeping Monk is truly of the Ash Folk, he is worth quite a generous amount to me alive.”

You saw an opportunity to use this to your advantage. “Then you should find out if he’s still alive.”

He looked at one of the guards. “Have a group search for him. Death or alive, bring his corpse if you have to.”

“Yes. Sir.” The guard said, slightly disturbed by his Lord’s odd command.

Maybe there was still hope, maybe this was another one of Aldith’s ways to hurt you. Still, you feared to let that hope truly in. The thought that Lancelot could very well be dead was a thought you could not stand. To miss him, to lose someone like him… no you couldn’t bear the thought.

Lord Leoric began to walk ahead again. “You see, many believe I am unwell. My interest in the oddities of the world unsettles many.”

“What is your intent towards me?” you demanded to know as he came to a halt at a large door.

He was ridiculously casual about it. “The most valuable matters that I collect are kept locked away, as you will be. When I heard of your existence I had a room prepared that will be your home from now on. You will have all you want.”

The reality of the situation hit. He did not intend to treat you in a humane way. “Except my freedom?”

“You are far too interesting to be wandering around freely.” He opened the door and the guard made you follow inside. “A bathing room, table and chairs to eat like the civilized, a comfortable bed. A bench to sit on covered with the softest wool. What more could you want?”

“My freedom.” you deadpanned.

He turned to face you, agitated. “If you believe that I am not able to make you compliant, you are gravely mistaken. I own you.”

Fury burned inside. “I am not your property!”

Lord Leoric looked at one of the guards and gave a nod. The guard came to stand in front of you and struck you with the back of his hand. A shocked gasp fled your lungs.

“There are rules,” he said, watching the guard step back into place, “-that you will follow here. No fleeing, you stay where I tell you to stay. No talking back to me, know your place. Follow my orders, if I tell you to jump, you jump. If I tell you to crawl, you will crawl. Obey my rules and I will let you keep that satchel with the journals. Disobey and I will have you burn them page by page.”

The guards steered you to the bathing room, Lord Leoric followed and pointed to a stack of clothing that were on a chair next to a large wardrobe.

“There are only gowns.” he said. “I do not want to see you in those filthy clothes again. Bathe.”

Your clothes were not filthy, but he was so condescending that there was no reasoning with him. It must have been because they were not like the fancy ones that he himself wore. A Lord who was vain and obsessed with rare things, you doubted you were safe in this place. He would treat you like nothing more than a caged animal to entertain himself with. If you acted compliant, maybe he would be reckless enough to think you would not try to escape. For years you have had to behave like an obedient servant to Aldith and Cassian, you had enough experience to play the part.

With your head down you went to the stack of clothes and picked out a gown at random. “May I wear this, please?”

He picked up on the change in your tone quickly, seeming to approve of it. “No.” he said, then handed you his own choice of gown. “Wear this one.”

Controlling too. Great. Just great. You looked at the large wooden tub that was already filled, it’s steam had filled half of the room.

He used a short dagger to cut the ropes from your wrists, using the dagger again to threaten, “Do as I ask. Bathe.”

Lord Leoric and his guards left the room you were then locked into, trapping you into the golden cage of a madman.

        Bathing was frightening, anyone could have unlocked that door and walked into your quarters. And the area of the bathing room was only seperated from the rest with a thick curtain, not even a door was there to offer some more privacy and certainty. Never had you washed up so fast in your life, and you hoped that Lord would not wish to inspect that you had indeed followed the order. You walked out of the bathing room in the gown, a simple thing but it did show some more cleavage than you had hoped it would. They had taken your weapons from you, and now you couldn’t even wear what you wanted. Your old clothes were hidden under the wardrobe, a precaution in case they would come and take them away. The satchel never left your hip out of fear it’s contents might get lost forever. Just as you were about to sit down on the bed, the door was unlocked and Lord Leoric walked in alone.

“You bathed. Good.” he sounded like he thought it was proper to even demand it of you. A small vial was in his hand and he held it in front of you. “To avoid encountering unnecessary problems.”

That scent… it had been what was on the rag, you could smell it. They were trying to keep your magic sedated.

He saw your reluctance and his tone got cold. “Drink it.”

You tried to keep the anger out of your voice. “You won’t kill me if I don’t.”

“Do you wish to see me release my fury on that child instead if you dare to disobey me? That can be arranged.” he warned. “He will wish Aldith’s sellswords had killed him.”

You were so eager to hit him, to strangle the life out of him because of that threat. But you had to remain docile, if he suspected you were going to try and escape the second the chance was there… Reluctantly you took the vial and began drinking it.

He was watching. “All of it.”

The taste was awful, too bitter on your tongue. Almost did you let him know, but you held back. He took he vial back and inspected it to see if you had drank every single drop of it.

“Aldith is my guest here.” he said, stepping away. “Ravenwick is no longer safe for your family. It will be interesting to learn all about you with his help.”

His help would be of little use, Aldith never bothered to learn who you really were. To him and Cassian you were nothing more than the one they could put all the work and blame on.

“Take a seat.” He gestured to the bed whilst picking up one of the many candles in the room.

You rolled your eyes the second you had turned, and sat on the edge of the bed. He approached you with the candle, handing it to you.

“I was told you can make fire turn green. Show me.” he demanded.

Did he think you just changed the colors of fire? Was he not aware of what those green flames actually were?

“I can’t do it on demand.” you lied.

He did not appreciate that. “Let me inform you that for each time you irritate me, that child will lose one of his fingers. Perhaps that will encourage you to do as I ask.”

You focused your eyes on the carpet, or risked him seeing the murderous intent in them. “I’ll try.”

“Good. Now.” He thought it smart to rush it.

The Hidden were so quiet when you tried to focus on the flame, they could sense how forced you felt. It took some time before the flame of the candle turned a little green.

Lord Leoric stared at it, already impressed with that small change. He took the candle from your hands and watched it until the flame turned back to normal.

“How fascinating!” He was pleased. “Well done. You have earned your meal.”

Earning meals… being held in a place against your will… it was Ravenwick all over again. The only difference was that he would hurt someone else and blame you for it. He even took that candle with him like it was a trophy as he walked out the door. When you heard the lock being turned, you got up from the bed and went to the windows, breaking them would be no problem but the iron bars blocking your exit were. And tying the sheets in the room together, even if you did include the drapes, would not offer enough to climb down to the ground. Escaping would have to happen through the castle and you were not going to leave without Percival. Maybe if you made him think you could be trusted Lord Leoric would let you roam the castle. But then there was Aldith… it would be harder to mislead him and there was a high possibility that he had already warned Lord Leoric about you trying to escape.

The results of the vial were going into effect, the drowsiness began so fast that you barely reached the bed to lie down. As you tried to fight against sleep, you worried about Percival. He was just a boy and they had locked him up in the dungeons. Was he cold? Scared? How cruel could people be to do this and believe it is right… the plant in your blood won and pulled you into sleep’s embrace for the night.

    ~~~♡~~~♡~~~♤~~~♡~~~♡~~~

  The next day had already began strange. Lord Leoric had you bathe in the morning, again. Heavens forbid you tainted his shiny tile floors… it almost made you feel self-conscious but then you remembered that you were just something he had collected and he wanted your appearance to be pristine. Your questions about Percival received only vague answers, it was infuriating. It wasn’t easy to resist using the strap of your satchel to strangle Lord Leoric, but you kept your anger under control by thinking about what could happen to Percival in return. By fulfilling his request the previous night, you were given a meal the next morning. The plate of food and bowls with soup and fruit were anything but little, still you only dared to eat the fruit because you feared they had stuffed more of that plant into the rest. Drinking that vial last night was enough to weaken your body and keep your magic from awakening. If you wanted to get your freedom back, you would have to play it smart.

In the evening Lord Leoric had come to your quarters again, he sat down at the table scribbling away in a journal whilst watching you stand by the window across the large room, it was unnerving.

“Has there been news about Lan-… my husband?” You caught yourself before speaking his name.

He kept writing, unbothered by the question. “Aldith confirmed that his sellswords had to kill him. I still want the body found, anything of the Ash Folk is worth examining.”

You turned away from him, feeling the tears well up in your eyes and your body painfully tensing up from the distress. It couldn’t be true, someone as experienced in battle couldn’t have been defeated by some sellswords. It couldn’t be… “If he is found. I want to see him.”

The request was met with ridicule. “You’d want to see his corpse?”

“Yes.” Was your firm answer.

“We will see.” He sighed and went back to his notes.

You took a step towards him. “And I want to see Percival.”

He didn’t even look up. “No.”

Your patience was running thin. “I demand to see him!”

Lord Leoric stood up from the chair and approached, stopping only a few steps away. “The only one who gets to make demands here is me. You should be glad I don’t leave him to be eaten by the rats.”

You had to take a step back, too tempted to lash out and attack him. “I want to see him.”

He was not to be swayed. “And you will have to wait until I consider you worthy enough to have that as a privilege.”

His eyes landed on your hand, a displeased look on his face. “You did not bathe properly.”

What? Upon looking down at your hand you noticed a small bruise near your thumb. “It’s not dirt, it’s a bruise!”

It did not convince him, his nose scrunched up as if you smelled like manure. “Bathe before you sleep. Otherwise you will ruin the sheets.”

He turned and left the room, but you did hear him command his guards to make sure you bathed again. Your skin would dry out quickly at this rate. To avoid them having to push you into the bathing room, you went there yourself and they closed the door to your quarters when they were positive you were following that order. The last thing you wanted was for them to be ordered to help with this, you didn’t put it past that unscrupulous Lord. The water of the bath was cold this time and you barely did anything more than sit in it, not willing to scrub your skin off for someone who was never pleased. The moment you set foot out from behind that curtain, a few guards were waiting there.

One approached and held out the familiar looking vial, it was filled with the liquid again. “Drink this. Lord Leoric commands it.”

They made sure to watch you drink it, if they hadn’t you would have let at least half of it drip down into your sleeve instead. You even had to shown them, mouth open, that you had indeed swallowed it. There was no chance to spit it out. The foul taste lingered on your tongue for long after they left your ‘fancy’ prison cell again. The tiredness the plant brought upon was not enough to quieten your troubled mind. Poor Percival… was he well? Had they hurt him? Did they even give him food?

You searched that whole space you were trapped in, under the bed and all the furniture, in the hope of finding something useful as a weapon. They had prepared this room well, not a splinter of wood was to be found that could pose as a threat. You kicked one of the chairs, sending it launching into the wall as a frustrated groan freed itself from your lungs. Blocking the door and delaying the next dose of sedation would only put Percival at risk, this castle would be a maze to get through before finding him and precious time would be lost. If you had a weapon, just something small and sharp, you could use it to threaten Lord Leoric with and force him to obey your command.

Your eyes fell on the ceramic jug that held the water to drink and an idea planted itself in your mind. By wrapping the jug in a sheet, you were able to break it without making too much noise. The sharp shards offered an array of improvised weapons and you chose a thin longer piece. The dress offered little ways to hide it. So you tore a small piece of the sheet that you then used to bind the shard around your arm, the sleeve hid it from sight and it was easily accessible this way when it would be needed. Your eyes grew heavy when folding the sheet in a way that would hide it’s ruined stated. Cursing, you crawled into the bed, hating how effective those vials were to keep your strength at a low. You fell asleep seconds after your head touched that pillow, hoping that tomorrow most of that plant would be out of your system.

    ~~~♡~~~♡~~~♤~~~♡~~~♡~~~

  Deep into the night, a dream too vivid to be your imagination was drawing you out of sleep. A continues nudging against your shoulder was irritating you, and then you remembered where you were. Your eyes snapped open and as they adjusted to the darkness, the guard sitting on your bed came into view. Not a second later you had rolled out of bed at the other side and grabbed the first thing you could to defend yourself, a small candle holder. That bastard was quick on his feet and you barely had time to give the warning. “Stay away!”

The copper candle holder would do little damage to his head, considering it was well protected by the helmet, it still didn’t stop you from aiming for his head when he got too close. He blocked your arm, you pulled the shard free from where it was hidden in your sleeve and lashed out at him. In the darkness it was hard to see how he moved, how fast he moved. You felt your arm be grabbed and your back forced against the wall. The shard was stolen from your fingers. He gave you no chance to call out for help as he covered your mouth with his hand, and you doubted much help would be given against one of their own. You struggled against his hold violently, trying multiple times to hit him with your knee and foot.

    ~“Little ember, stop!”~

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[bird--egg]

A little mlpfim AU I made awhile ago that I decided I liked enough to show here. This is the first half of the main six, I'll post the others in a bit. The concept is that their cutie mark concepts are switched around, but I wanted to make them fulfilled with their destinies/jobs, unlike that one episode in the show.

More info about them below the cut:

Twilight Horizon/Twilight Sparkle: Princess Luna's sole student, Twilight Horizon is as secluded and reserved as her mentor. Her interest in the constellations extends to her magic--she is best at spells that use forces of nature, particularly moon/star/night components. Luna has unofficially adopted her, making her an alicorn not because of her skill but because she loves her and wishes for her to be as long-lived as she is.

Twilight has not yet moved to Ponyville.

Rainbow Macaw/ Rainbow Dash: Ponyville's resident bird expert, Rainbow Macaw spends her time training and rehabilitating birds. She is very passionate about her work, often berating those who do not care for their pets, and has an extensive collection of books on avians. Her skills in flight are well known, but Rainbow Macaw prefers to fly a bit slower these days--always mindful about crashing into flying fauna.

Orchard Bloom/ Rarity: Striking out perhaps somewhat foolishly, Orchard Bloom has moved from her home in Canterlot to buy a small orchard in the outskirts of Ponyville. She has been in love with caring for and breeding plants since she visited the royal gardens as a child, and now wishes to peruse her hobby and dream on a larger scale. She may not always be used to dirt, or how long it takes to get from her farm to the village, but she's determined to learn!

[tragicallyuncreative]

Merry Crisis 🎄

Per usual, I am scrambling to get in my minimum volunteer EMT hours this year and because I don’t have kids, I’m happy to pick up holiday shifts and let those with families enjoy their kiddos at home! On till 9 and if call volume is miraculously low (doubtful) will be working on some more Curtis gang holiday drabbles/ chapters. Just returned from a classic holiday 911 call- family gathering/ dinner gone south with drunk brothers fighting and one stabbing the other through the arm with a screwdriver 😬 Surprisingly little blood, stabilized the penetrating object, and hauled ass outta there with brother in handcuffs and patient still swearing revenge as we loaded him in the back. I love the holidays 😂

~ ✨and now… presenting The Outsiders characters as seen through holiday EMS/ ED visits✨

Darry: classic Christmas lights mishap. Slipped off the roof and landed directly on his ankle. Pretty impressive open fracture. Johnny took one look at the bone poking through the skin and puked on the spot. Bonus: Mr. Curtis was very eager to teach the boys about his Jewish heritage and Hanukkah traditions until 7-year-old Darry thought the menorah in his bedroom window looked sad with only 2 candles lit so snuck the box of matches and tried to light all the candles, then pulled the curtain BEHIND THE LIT MENORAH to hide the fact he was using matches without permission. This went about as well as one would expect (this may or may not be based on personal experience 😬)

Two-Bit: tried to deep fry a turkey in a bucket of oil in his backyard to bring to the Curtis’s for their first Christmas without their parents. The resulting explosion was heard throughout the neighborhood. Splash burns to face and arms. Chest was protected by clothing but Two-Bit was extremely upset that is Mickey-in-a-Santa-hat shirt was ruined and would rather have just taken the extra burns to salvage it. ✨real-life call I’ve personally responded to. Family was more concerned with turkey than charred Uncle Dave.

Steve: attempted to run over 12-year-old Ponyboy’s painstakingly built snowman with his new (used) truck. Didn’t wear a seatbelt because why would he. Gunned the engine too hard, jolted forward on impact, face hit the dash, top two teeth went through his bottom lip. 4 stitches needed. Ponyboy laughed his ass off the entire ride there and asked if his freakishly large teeth were now sanded down. ✨real-life call I’ve personally responded to. 10/10 entertainment factor.

Sodapop: frostbite to entire left foot because he forgot to wear a sock inside his snow boots. Couldn’t feel his toes but thought that meant he was just really well-insulated and continued to build his igloo. Mrs. Curtis soaked his foot in warm water for 2 hours until blood flow returned.

Dallas: told a small child in the dime store that Santa wasn’t real. Kid started crying. Kids dad appeared and sucker punched him so hard he was knocked out cold. Woke up on the floor with a black eye, concussion, and people continuing to do their Christmas shopping while stepping around him.

Ponyboy: home alone and forgot about the baked Mac n cheese he was supposed to take out of the oven because he was reading a book. In his defense, the book was really good. Then fell asleep on the couch and woke up an hour later to smoke pouring out of the oven. Opened the oven door, saw flames, and instinctively tossed a glass of water blindly inside. Made it worse so instinctively reached in, pulled out flaming casserole dish, and threw it in the sink. Burns to hands and temporary vision difficulties from steam.

Johnny: decided he totally could be a hockey champion with the proper training. Also has the worst hand-eye coordination known to man. Hit hockey puck so hard that it overshot the goal, bounced off a tree trunk, rebounded, and hit him directly in the face (picture Ross from Friends episode). Broken nose and two chipped teeth.

Lilah Matthews (age 10): decided her tree nut allergy was a personal weakness and could be overcome by sheer willpower. Baked a pecan pie all by herself, proudly took a bite, and blew up like a balloon. Two-Bit panicked, couldn’t remember how to use the epipen, tossed her in the truck, and drove to the hospital at 90 MPH. ✨call I picked up on way back to the station. Car driving like a maniac and flagged us down. Kid told me the Reese’s cup he ate despite deadly peanut allergy was 100% worth it.

Bonus Betty for @fangirl-docintraining : very excited to use the brand new invention of the electric hand mixer to make Mrs. Curtis’s renowned cheesecake recipe. First Christmas dating Darry and determined to make a good impression. Bent down to squint at recipe card while mixing and hair got caught in mixer, causing minor scalp bleeding with chunks of hair ripped out. Forced to adopt a fuck ass Bob™️ haircut and loves it, just wishes acquiring it wasn’t so painful.

Feel free to add on. The potential is great 🤣

[rei-ismyname]

Logan shouldn't be allowed near children

I know that's a loaded title but I stand by it. There's obviously an element of Flanderisation going on but considering his stated reason for opening the Jean Grey school he is far too eager to murder children.

Why TF is he leaping at children, snarling with his claws out? Check out the frothing drool.

For example, in All-New X-Men, the O5 have just been bought to the future by Hank McCoy. He stops teaching his violence through yelling class and heads out the front, leaping at the 16 year olds with his claws out. Not Hank, who brought them there but clearly traumatised children - while screaming like a lunatic of course. Even if he's not trying to kill them, what purpose does terrifying them serve? He clearly IS trying to kill them, though. I'm sure his students would love to see their headmaster butcher confused children in front of them.

Unsurprisingly, he scares the fuck out of them. In part influenced by constant threats of his violence, the O5 steal the X-Jet and flee, explicitly doubting this guy is an X-Man. His thoughts about the 16 year old Jean Grey... No dude, this isn't the Jean you know. She's a child you've tried to kill. Fucking creep.

This one is great. Young Scott has enough going on without this frothing beast advocating for his immediate execution as punishment for his future self's actions. Out front of the school with literally everyone watching. He's using his authority to advocate for slaughtering a child. Thankfully nobody agrees with him, but this is traumatic, terrifying, and affects Scott especially so badly he runs away.

No wonder he freaks out and leaves. Obviously the headmaster of a school should drop what he's doing, not for his wellbeing but to get his bike back. How is he in charge of anyone's wellbeing or moral instruction? He demands absolute obedience while doing nothing to deserve it. It's all about how Logan feels.

Here he is trying to gut a 15 year old Wiccan for having Scarlet Witch vibes, not for the or last time. I'm a little surprised he remained an Avenger after this. When you have knives for hands everyone looks like a pincushion. Except that's not it, because everyone else is a living weapon too and they mostly manage to be somewhat rational.

Why are his claws out here? Is he trying to kill him? What did he expect after threatening and traumatizing him? Snarling and shouting like an animal - isn't he trying to emulate Chuck here?

I can't remember why he's doing this but it's not the first time he's tried to kill Hope. Didn't work then either.

A 16 year old Jean uses a telepathic projection of the Phoenix to aid Wolverine in a fight. He stupidly thinks it's real and straight up tries to kill her. The bad guys get away. Not sure how many times he has to attempt to kill the Phoenix before he understands it's not an appropriate thing to do, nor is it about him. He's more like Sabertooth than he thinks, except he thinks he's in the right and somehow never gets called out. Logan has advanced senses - how is his instinct to straight up kill her instead of investigating further?

We can do better

I think that once Logan reached a certain point of saturation he became static. The lone wolf that's the best there is at what he does, and what he does is behave so unpleasantly it's hard to believe anyone would want to be near him, let alone allow him to run a school. He says 'bub' a lot and he snikts at the drop of a hat while repeating the same interpersonal drama over and over. I see him as a frequent self insert for the worst kind of toxic masculinity yet he's more popular than ever. No judgement if you like him at all, but I think the character deserves better. Somehow he's still a misunderstood loner despite a lot of people knowing him very well - with the amount of teams and books he's in he has the most active social life in 616. It'll never happen but I'd like to see him retire, as there are several Wolverines better than he..

[jedirattail]

my sw watchthrough: The Phantom Menace

I love baby Obi-Wan so much. I'll never forgive them for cutting off his beautiful hair though

Headcanon that force users can only force-run once in their lives and that's why we never see them do that again

I like politics in my star wars, but they really could've gone for something more relevant to the rest of the story than the taxation of trade routes

This started out stronger than I remember. I was enjoying myself through the first act and JarJar even got some laughs out of me

It just slows down so much and gets very goofy during the second act when they're on Tatooine. Not enough Obi-Wan.

"ussa in big doodoo dis time"

The podrace looks and sounds amazing (as much as I don't like the Tatooine stuff)

Qui-Gon isn't really the perfect good guy "what the Jedi are meant to be" that the fandom makes him out to be sometimes. He literally bargains on a slave child's life so he could fix his ship. Still like him him but damn

Obi-Wan's "Why do I sense we've picked up another pathetic life form?" with his little vocal fry? and smirk? he's perfect

It's crazy how much better Coruscant looks in the later movies

But the practical effects in this movie are actually great. Wish they kept more in E2&3

The queen's outfits are so amazing and one of the best parts of the movie

Darth Maul is hot. It's mostly the voice.

Grappling hook guns are goofy as hell

Duel of the Fates is obviously incredible. I don't know much about fight choreography, but Ewan kills it with how he expresses Obi-Wan's emotions through his fighting after Maul kills Qui-Gon. Love Obi-Wan.

Unexplained glowing plasma ball of peace

I really wish Anakin was already a teenager at this point and it wasn't so long before E2. Jake Lloyd was great though and didn't deserve the hate at all

Next is Tales of the Jedi - The Sith Lord, and then I might check out some of the comics and/or books that take place between TPM and AotC (depending on what my library has)

[plinko-mori]

My favourite work from Rintarou Mori was Vita Sexualis. Now (since a long time ago lol) it is Moso <3 in Spanish it is translated as «Ilusiones» that literally means «Illusions» and in some contexts it can mean «Fantasies» I don't know how the work is called officially in English though I'm so sorry

So for everyone to have context about why Mori wrote it, there was this opinion that Rintarou hated and it said something like: ”Japan is a backward, poor and dirty county, plagued by diseases and dominated by barbaric customs, which indiscriminately imported Western customs and techniqued that weakened it, and whose esteemed culture was devastated by the Japanese themselves“. And Rintarou Mori, an author known for not knowing when to shut up, not because he spoke too much, but because when he sees something that he doesn't like, he speaks so freely about it and Natsume knows about it lol

In this short work from 1911, Mori explains his reasons of why that statement is absolutely incorrect, and there's a quote that I love a lot"

“From the time I was born until today, what have I done. I study relentlessly as if someone is whipping me, whipping me constantly. I think I do it to develop myself, to be able to fulfil a task. Maybe a part of this goal can be fulfilled. But it seems to me that what I do is nothing more than playing, like an actor, a role on stage. I feel that beyond the role I play, there must be something more. I feel that I am constantly being whipped and stimulated, so that I have no time to let go. The child who studies, the young man who studies, the civil servant who studies, they all play a role. One day I'll wash my face painted in red and black and get off the stage. I wish to think of myself calmly and see how it is something behind. With these thoughts I continue to play role after role, while the stage manager whips my back. I am sure that this performance is not life. I sense that the something that is behind me is nodding off again and falling asleep. Lately I feel nostalgic for my people; I am like the grasses that float and move with the waves in the distance and continue their undulating movement, and sometimes with the shaking they tremble to the roots, and this does not correspond to the role I play on stage. But this feeling, as soon as I raise my head, is erased”

Mori you wanted to defend your idea why were you doing a conclusion of you being a slave of your own thoughts, reputation and the standards with what people (specially your parents) expected from you also WHY IS THAT SO RELATABLE

The author is so human, traumatized and very much autistic, but it's so realistic and relatable... I don't know if I have analyzed the quote here before, if I have done it I'm so sorry 😭

Anyway Mori and samurais were topics extremely connected. His mother was a descendant of samurais, black is a colour associated with them and to weddings, being seen as a masculine colour in Japan. On the other hand, red in Japan is associated with peace, prosperity of family and even justice only in Kabuki Theater performances!

Kabuki is a genre of traditional Japanese theater, dating all the way back to the Edo Period (1603-1867)

The quote I shared is like less than 4 pages to the end of the work. It helps for reflexion and is one of the few times that the author opens his heart to the reader, where he shares things, but he's doing his maximum effor to show that Japanese and his people aren't weak... Although, it's almost obvious (at least for me) that deep in the inside he's not as strong as he claims to be, he can also be vulnerable, but he can't go back anymore because he already started walking that way to being an author, a doctor, a strong person that not only people hated but even felt afraid of Mori!

Unlike Vita Sexualis, Ilusiones is not a semi-autobiography, it's not a novel or a long book... But it's so deep, so emotional in some parts that at least I felt connected to the author when I read it. Mori's purpose is for you to think like him, to see his point, and he knows how to make sense to people that it can be shocking reading his works

Do you see any of this in BSD? I do. But what about you all?

[deliajackson]

When I reread the saga I tought about it too. I mean, I don't believe she is an awful human being. And I don't like HoO for so many reasons regarding relationships. Like Nico - Percy being reduced to "he is not my tipe" proceeds to ignore the entire importance of their relationship; Hazel - Frank - Percy becoming good friends and after MoA they literally barely interact again; Grover literally disappeared from the story too; whatever the hell Rick did with Percy - Annabeth.

Idk what he wanted to do making Sally pregnant during that saga. And I really believe we should have had a better insight of her. And that was something possible to do due Annabeth's POV. We should have seen her being worried. To see Sally having a mental breakdown with the fact her son - that due a miracle survived the war, was now what? Vanished? Kidnapped? Shouldn't Percy be safe now?

But we don't. We see her later being married and pregnant. This is a little bit odd.

I like to think, as a HC that Sally got pregnant before Percy was gone, and only found about it later on, and Paul was a gentleman, or one of these men who thinks like: Pregnancy = Marriage. It helps that he loves Sally. Or turned to love her on the way. And the entire relationships turned out fine.

Regarding Sally keeping Percy, I can see where it comes from. She was an orphan girl, really young, I believe she was what? 19? When she had him. I can see why she wanted to keep the only family she had, specially if she was afraid Percy could become one of the kids who stays the entire year for his own safety - after all, Poseidon DID explain to her why the camp was the better choice. It was implied in the book. And that was the reason Sally chose to marry Gabe instead. To keep Percy "safe" from monsters, while still being able to be by his side. She just forgot the monster she put inside her house could also hurt him as well.

She had full conscience of what she was doing when she chose Gabe. She didn't marry him not expecting him to be abusive. She married him because he stinks, and since the very beginning Percy said Gabe treated them poorly from the very start point of their lives together.

It was selfish. She knows it. She admits it herself. Even Mr. D on camp during the show is not impressed with her decision to keep a demigod child. Because it is an imprudent and mostly important, selfish decision, which only ends with children being slaughtered.

She also could have lived under the sea, in a palace that would be hers. She could have raised Percy well, still be his side, honestly, she would have been more present in his life that way, since she wouldn't need to be on a full-time job. That was also an option. Poseidon offered that to her.

And she said no. For many understandable reasons. I understand that. But if we get to analyze, she made the worst decision regarding Percy's sake and well-being.

The funny thing is that if it wasn't for that, we wouldn't have the Percy we had.

I really believe that if Percy went to camp half-blood way earlier he would join Luke - since I believed Poseidon wouldn't claim him as fast as he did, specially for Percy's own safety.

And if he lived under the sea, why would Percy ever go to camp half blood, out of his father's domain to deal with Gods? - If we push a little we can still make it happen, I believe. But eitherway, it wouldn't be the same. His self steem for example wouldn't be crippled and I don't believe he would be half as depressed as he was.

Side note: I really wanted to know why Rick is so obsessed with making these sagas while they are all teenagers. It passed six months after the war with Kronos. The entire HoO Saga took what again? Six months? And then ToA happens on the same fucking year and lasts *checks notes* also six months.

I didn't read the Kane Chronicles, CoTG, only WoTG - purely out of spite... But I don't believe Percy was mentioned to be 18 or close of 18? I mean? How many days Rick Riordan believes a year have. Let alone a month. Just let them become young adults.

Unpopular Opinion: Sally Jackson wasn’t a good mother to Percy. She chose to keep him in the mortal world with her when she could have sent him to camp and just asked for access to CHB. It was that easy and she didn’t do it.

She not only put him into danger with monsters, but put him in an actively abusive environment. Not just from Gabe, but her, too. Gabe was verbally abusive and she knew that, if you go back and look at the first book, Gabe is verbally attacking Percy and Sally sees and hears it. She’s not even phased.

Also, she worked a job, leaving Percy alone with an adult who physically abused her, knowing that he at least verbally abused her son. If he felt confident abusing her, a grown woman, then he felt comfortable hitting a child who was left alone with him. I don’t understand her lapse in judgment here. It’s not like she made him promise not to touch Percy, and if she did, then she’s a fool to take a man like Gabe’s or just anyone’s word for it.

She also knew that it was extremely likely that Percy would have ADHD and dyslexia because of him being a demigod and she still chose to make him go to schools in the mortal world, schools who wouldn’t be able to accommodate for him as CHB would be able to. She had to have known that it would be hard for him in the mortal would with his learning disabilities and that he would likely be bullied and discriminated against and yet, she chose not to raise him in a healthy environment where he would learn how to cope with his disabilities in a way that has been finely tuned to kids in his exact situation, but rather to make him go through all the bad things that happen to kids with ADHD and dyslexia.

She manipulated him (telling him that CHB would take him away from her) and bribed him (the coming home with candy after leaving him with Gabe) and gaslit and lied to him (the whole beginning of the TLT) for years and didn’t feel bad about it, assured that somehow, an unstable home with people who don’t want the best for him, but rather themselves and a hostile school environment was better for him than CHB. You know, just the place where demigods are supposed to thrive, where everything is made specifically with demigods in mind.

Sally knew that Percy was the son of Poseidon and was therefore more at risk than most other demigods, she most likely knew about the oath because I see no reason that Poseidon wouldn’t tell her, and yet, she still kept him with her in a toxic home and toxic schools, putting him in danger with monsters (the Gabe plan wasn’t infallible and she hadn’t even tried to do anything or asked Poseidon to supply her with anything until years after Percy was born and therefore already in danger) and subjecting him to all the horrors that come with a bad home life and just the mortal world in general, especially the mortal world of New York City where I used to partially live. And, New York being the place where both camp and Olympus were located had to have meant that there were more monsters there than anywhere else, except maybe San Francisco and Alaska, which just upped the danger for Percy, strong smelling Big Three child,

She didn’t even stop to think that maybe the life she was giving him was better than any life CHB could give him? If he went to CHB, he’d learn how to survive in a world that is actively trying to kill him, he’d learn how not to piss off the gods, he’d be more prepared for the Great Prophecy, he’d grow up knowing that there were people just like him who understood him and would help him. He’s grow up in a safe, nurturing environment that prepared him for the real world outside of the borders, maybe even be assigned a quest and learn what they’re like before being thrown into stopping WWIII.

And if she kept him with her not because she thought she’d give him a better life than camp would, then it would be because of her own selfish and completely irrational reasons. Poseidon told her that Percy should be sent to camp and she was so blinded with her selfishness, her own wants and desires, that she didn’t stop to think that maybe a god who’s had countless other children just like Percy for millennia, that maybe a literal god who is a king and thousand of years old might be right? That he wouldn’t know what would be the best for their child? But she kept Percy with her. Despite everything, she kept him with her, using the excuse that camp would take him away from her. As if mortals can’t be taken into camp as long as they have permission—permission that is granted through like ten words.

I just sincerely don’t understand. You can say that Gabe would stop her from taking Percy to camp, that he had them trapped. She trapped herself, and by extension, Percy, into the marriage and she could have run away at any point to CHB. Do you really think Chiron would have turned her away? That Gabe would have found her in a magically warded camp for the children of gods, one of which she had herself? She was the one who decided that marrying him would be better than sending Percy to CHB when he had already been born. When he encountered his first monster, when Gabe had shown himself to be an abusive person, she should have gone to camp so both Poseidon and her could keep an eye on him in a safe, stable as can be environment.

Now listen, I have a lot of empathy for people in abusive relationships, I’ve been in one myself and I know what it can do to you, how the signs can be missed until it’s too late. But Sally did not choose Gabe because he had manipulated her or because she had fallen in love with him, no. She chose him because he smelled bad. She chose a completely random human to marry and thought that it wouldn’t backfire on her or her son, the person she was allegedly doing it for.

I don’t understand her thought process on this. What could she possibly have thought of camp, of her whole situation that made her make the choices she made? Because I just can’t see it.

The books have shown that Sally can be a good mother to Estelle, to Nico, but the only person she seems incapable of being a good mother to is Percy.

I can see it being a part of the future that Percy and Sally have a falling out of sorts. Estelle is a fully mortal child with a loving father and a loving mother. It would be interesting to see Percy realising that his childhood could have been better, watching Estelle grow up in a healthy environment that his mother actively kept him from.

Paul is cool and all, I don’t really fault him for much other than him rushing his relationship with Sally, whose last marriage was abusive and by association, Percy who is a victim of abuse and very clearly also dealing with other trauma. I do, however, fault Sally for pursuing a relationship like that with a man only two years after she and her son were subjected to abuse by a man in the same exact position. Why would she choose to bring another stepfather into Percy’s life when she knew the other one was at least verbally abusive and when he was in the middle of a freaking war. He didn’t really have the time or the ideal circumstances (to put it lightly) to have to deal with Gabe trauma rearing it’s ugly head when another man walks into her life. She never even really fully discussed it with him? Like it’s never shown in the books that she and Percy had a conversation about Gabe and about Paul, a full, in-depth conversation about their troubles, about what it would mean, and whether or not they should be doing that with a mortal when Percy is a demigod—a demigod from the Big Three who is the centre of a world ending prophecy and the leader of a demigod war with the Titan king, no less. They never sit down and talk with Paul about it, either.

I really don’t mean for this to be a victim blame-y post or anything, but I think that Sally just made some wrong choices and she suffered for them. I blame her for that, for the harm it caused Percy and the fact that she didn’t even wait or examine Gabe to see if he would be a bad person or not. And you can’t tell me that the gods or demigods haven’t found a way for half-bloods’ scents not to be found yet, after thousands of years other than forcing a child into a home with an abusive man. It just doesn’t make sense. There were better options, some of which I already listed.

Not much of what Sally says or does really makes me think she’s a good mother—or even an average one even though the fandom tried really hard to make people think she’s the perfect mom. She does a lot of harmful things and gets away with them because she what? Talks nicely when her words aren’t full of manipulation? When she isn’t lying to her son and leaving him in the dark—something that could literally kill him? Acts nice when she isn’t absent and leaving her son with and abusive man? When she isn’t bribing Percy as a half-assed apology when she does?

I see it a lot in the fandom, fanfic especially where Sally is this perfect mother and perfect person as if she didn’t screw up all the time. As if she and her selfishness and her lack of thinking didn’t traumatise Percy and leave him an abusive home and school environment. People talk so much about her being the perfect mother, her being the ideal when she really isn’t. Yes, she is a victim, but she’s a victim who dragged a child down with her and a victim who didn’t even think of saving herself or her son. And I despise people who don’t try to save themselves, people who don’t think, and people who drag others down with them. Sally Jackson is all three.

TL,DR: Sally made a lot of selfish or straight up stupid parenting choices that blew back on Percy and the fandom needs to hold her more accountable instead of glorifying her and ignoring all of her flaws.