#I do look back at what I've written of fairy tale and want to go back

[rowanisawriter]

Hi hiiii :D for the fic writer asks: 3, 5, 7, and 19!

hiiiii thank you! <3

asks here

3. what’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

sooo.... i haven't published this yet but it IS written so i'm counting it... but my favorite fic is part 2 of battle studies, it's called moratorium and even though it's part 2 of the series, i actually wrote it first and i had so much fun! it inspired the series, it got me writing, it helped me find a method to writing that produced results, i could go on lol love this stupid little story.

5. what’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?

so many ideas that just rot in the wips folder. i have a kinda written cullen/trevelyan bonding over prayer thing that i started writing when i first played dai, and then just abandoned because i had better ideas, so this is basically never being written lol

7. how many ideas for fics do you have right now?

10 🫠 maybe 6 of these will see the light of day if i'm lucky.

19. give us a small teaser from one of your WIPs.

this is from a dao wip that i'll hopefully get back to... it's a string of vignettes following amell called fairy tale.

.

She runs into Cullen after her Harrowing, her body still humming from the Lyrium she took to enter the Fade. His helmet is off, his curly golden hair catching her eye. His cheeks are pink. He stammers out a congratulations. 

Jowan nudges her. “Someone likes you,” he whispers.

“I’m just glad you’re alright,” Cullen says quickly. “You know.”

She raises her chin slightly, high on the glowing success of passing her Harrowing. “Would you have really struck me down if I’d failed?” she asks.

He stammers out a reply about duty. She looks him full in the face, her eyes steadily meeting his for perhaps the first time. Duty, love, sacrifice, words that are too big for her right now. Whatever. It sounds a little romantic anyway, being killed by a man who may love you because he swore an oath to the Maker. She imagines the heartbreak from the split second before he hit her with his sword would feel like something. Like anything.

[fatuismooches]

Could you please write about the Harbingers spending time with the reader on their birthdays? But maybe they send what they did with you as a letter to the Traveler like the in-game feature? :D

♡ 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬' 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 ♡

synopsis: The Traveler naturally expects mail in their inbox whenever the Harbingers' birthdays roll around. However, they didn't expect it to be so... lovey-dovey, and all about you.

includes: all harbingers w/ gn! reader

notes: I've finally finished it! I've been wanting to write something similar to my voice line post for a while, so here it is - the Harbingers sending birthday mail, except they're very down bad for you :3 Includes a letter, a photograph, and attached items with the letter! (Sorry to the Pulcinella fans, I was too lazy to write him in.)

“Home…”

Sender: Pierro

It is my birthday today. Normally, I would have continued on my day as usual, but [Name] had another idea in mind, going so far as to get the Tsaritsa herself to block the door to my office and then dragging me away. It seems they were planning this for a while… The last birthday I celebrated was the year Khaenri’ah fell. What purpose did today serve when my homeland and people were gone? As the years went on, it began to slip my mind and I nearly would have forgotten the date, were it not for [Name]’s question a while ago. I thought nothing of it, but I did not think [Name] would have taken this so seriously.

They knew I would enjoy anything so long as it was with them, yet they had the entire day planned out. Claiming that I needed some fresh air, we walked through the Snezhnayan streets, the normally biting frost a bit warmer than usual. Casual browsing at some new stores that opened up. [Name]’s attempt at starting a snowball fight. And lastly… grocery shopping.

When we got back, they wouldn’t let me help or look. But I could tell from the smell exactly what they were making. It turns out that they managed to make a dish from my home country. I am not sure how they managed to get a hold of this recipe… I must have mentioned it offhandedly and they improvised from there. Of course, it’s not an exact replica, but nonetheless, it tasted delicious. Just for a few minutes, I was taken back to my previous home. That home will never come back, but I have a new one now.

And now the day is almost over. Despite their best efforts to stay awake until the end of the day, they succumbed to their sleepiness, now lying on my lap. They were supposed to read me something they made, but perhaps I’ll find out what that was tomorrow. 

Tomorrow will be back to normal again. But that is alright. I still do not believe I deserve a day like today but, if this is what [Name] desires, then I shall not refuse them again. I’ll look forward to the next birthday just as they do.

Attached Photograph:

A picture is included with the letter that has Pierro and you in it. The Harbinger is seated at a table with a homemade dish in front of him. His giant coat and mask are placed off to the side, revealing scars from long ago. You’re glued to his side, trying to feed him by holding the spoon close to his mouth. Pierro is a grown man, the Traveler thinks, he does not need you to feed him… However, he looks quite content with this arrangement so the blonde won’t question it any further. In fact, he looks as if he’s right at home.

Attached Items:

Ancient Khaenri’ahn Dish [A meal unique to Khaneri’ah that has long been forgotten by the world. Although you clearly struggled to make it due to a lack of experience, even the Traveler can taste how much of your love was put into it.]

Khaenri’ahn Story Book [A book that contains numerous fairy tales and various stories originating from the lost nation, written by none other than Pierro himself, and illustrated by you. Apparently, it was born from you begging him to tell you stories from his home, and eventually, the Harbinger began to write them down so you could read them instead of bothering him so often. However, it made the problem worse as now you bother him to read them to you. How sweet.]

—

“A Day Off.”

Sender: Dottore

[Name] has convinced me to go back to Sumeru with them for a couple of days. I couldn’t care less about this day, but they were adamant about spending the whole day with me, and that they “will not be spending my birthday in a dark gloomy lab again.” 

My research has regrettably halted for a bit, but I suppose this was not a bad idea. This was the first time in many years that either of us had stepped foot back into Sumeru - we had not been back since I was expelled from the Akademiya, besides my segments of course.

[Name] and I trekked the same path we used to walk during our studies at the Akademiya. It was a good spot for studying and conducting experiments without any disturbances - that was until they started following me around. They were a nuisance at first… but eventually, [Name] began to help me deconstruct a variety of machines, which was helpful. And then would laugh at me whenever I ended up breaking them. 

Ever since I met them, [Name] has always said a lot of strange things, but their most recent comment was that they wanted to drink the blue liquid in the vial I carry around. They think it looks… tropical and vibrant. Of course, I refused them. But I had a feeling that if I didn’t provide them with it, they’d try and get it themselves. I was not interested in having to inject an antidote into them, so I came up with a solution.

I know that I am no chef, but this goes outside the realm of cooking. It wasn’t hard to create a sweet drink that would be to [Name]’s liking with the same color. They were more pleased than I thought and demanded that I make it for them more often. I do not care much for nourishment, but perhaps I’ll try my hand at it more often. They have insisted that I send you some, too. So, Traveler, is it to your liking as well? Even if it’s not, I do not care, so don’t bother telling me.

Attached Photograph:

A picture is included with the letter that has Dottore and you in it. Despite how much the Traveler has explored Sumeru, they can’t seem to pinpoint the location where it was taken. It must really be a secret place, just for the two of you. Dottore’s mask is on his lap, revealing crimson eyes and scarred skin. You seem to have fallen asleep on his shoulder, as your eyes are closed, though your mouth seems to be agape, perhaps mumbling some nonsense in your sleep. Dottore’s expression is exasperated, but there is a certain fondness in his eyes, one that the Traveler can’t distinguish, or rather, they refuse to believe it. Did the Kamera have an editing function now? Because surely, the photograph must have been forged or something, because there was no way The Doctor could ever have such a tender look in his eyes… 

Attached Items:

Strange Blue Concoction [Some kind of legitimate drink that’s the same color as the vial Dottore carries around. According to [Name], it is quite delicious, but would any sane person dare to try anything from The Doctor of all people…? Who knows, these two might be trying to poison the blonde.]

Assortment of Ruin Guard Parts [Parts from Ruin Guards Dottore created and assembled himself. A wide variety of parts are here, including Chaos Cores, Circuits, and Devices. Wait… they seem to all be damaged and broken. Hey, did Dottore just send the Traveler his useless parts?!]

—

“Care For A Show?” 

Sender: Columbina

Hello dear Traveler! How are you?~ Today has been such a wonderful day. Why, you ask? Because it’s my birthday of course! ♪ The one day when I have the ability to drag my beloved [Name] wherever I want, with no resistance. Normally they protest for quite a bit, telling me I have a mountain of work to do but, they don’t need to worry their pretty little head about that. ♫ Is it that much of a crime to slack off to spend time with one’s beloved? But oh, that little routine of ours is something that I do cherish.

My dearest [Name] took me to a play. We were among the first to see it, as it was the opening day. You know, they always tell me that as a Harbinger, I should be more conscious of how I present myself. But is it really a problem to sit in their lap instead of my chair? It’s not like anyone can see us all the way up on the balcony seats, hmm? ♬ Moving on though~ The play was quite an interesting story. 

It was of an angel who fell in love with a mere human, despite how taboo it was. When the two were caught, the angel had to decide - would she rather retain their purity and remain in the heavens or fall down, stripped of her divinity to be with her human? Well, if you want to see the ending, you’ll just have to come to Snezhnaya and watch it yourself. ♪ But do tell me Traveler, if you were in a situation like that, what would you choose? … I already know what my choice would be.

Ah, but that show was not even the best part! After that, [Name] put on their own performance for me, just the two of us. It was beautiful of course, the way they convey their choice of art is always worthy of praise. But, they always seem to seek my feedback and criticism… they told me they want to keep improving to make me even more pleased but, how many times do I need to explain to them that I already believe their craft is beautiful? Nevertheless, I do indulge them, if only to satisfy my love. Why don’t you take a look at one of our collaborations, Traveler? It is quite good if I do say so myself. ♫

Attached Photograph:

A picture is included with the letter that has Columbina and you in it. The lighting in the theater is a bit dim, so your figures are a bit faded but, the Traveler can still make out the two of you. The two of you have separate chairs but, Columbina is practically spilling onto yours, her head comfortably resting against your chest. You seem as though this is normal for you, which it probably is. Wait, is Columbina sleeping? It seems she probably got bored during the intermission… That’s why you specifically chose your clothes to double as a blanket for your wife.

Attached Items:

Music Score [A music score composed by both you and Columbina. The two of you performed it perfectly together as a present to your wife. Of course, it’s bound to be mesmerizing considering Columbina’s participation. So hauntingly beautiful, that in fact, it might end your life before you get to the end… is that an exaggeration? Well, it seems like the Traveler will have to take that risk.]

Pair of Tickets [Tickets gifted to the Traveler and Paimon. There’s no name on it or any expiration date, so it can be used to watch a single play in Snezhnaya for free, with the best seats in-house, so pick carefully. These things are quite expensive, so don’t go losing them now! Otherwise, Columbina and [Name] might ban the traveling duo from the theater…]

—

“An Excellent Day.”

Sender: Capitano

Today is my birthday. However, I have never been very adept at celebrating this day. I realize that it is the norm to celebrate one’s birthday, but I have never felt the need to. Though, ever since I became a Harbinger, my recruits have always wished me well today. Unfortunately, when the bolder ones ask me what I have planned, I have nothing interesting to respond with, always prompting them to urge me to do something… In the hallways, I always hear conversations along the lines of even though being a Harbinger is busy, I deserve to do something nice on my birthday. But in reality, it does not bother me at all. Is it really that strange not to do anything on one’s birthday?

When [Name] found out how I normally spend my birthdays, they shared a similar sentiment and promised to make this one “the most eventful and fun and best one I’ve ever had.” They said that since this is our first year together, they need to make my birthday an excellent one. Although I tried to reassure them they needn’t try so hard for me, they were insistent. However, true to their word, I would say my birthday did end up being an excellent one.

One thing about [Name] is they never fail to teach me something new. In this case, they taught me what it means to celebrate a birthday, and I’d say I learned a lot. As stated by them, there is no exact or definite way to celebrate. It is what you make of it. And they, knowing the kind of man I was, chose the activities accordingly. (There were a few mishaps but everything went well for the most part. It is not customary to break a few knives while cutting cake, so I feared that I may have ruined things, but [Name] reassured me it was normal.)

So all in all, today was an excellent day. However, I am faced with a problem now. What should I do when [Name]’s birthday comes? Should I do the same thing they did for me? But would they think that is low effort and unoriginal? I do not wish to disappoint them. Traveler, do you have any ideas? Also, please ask Tartaglia for me as well. The last time I spoke to him, he tried to ask me for a duel.

Attached Photograph:

A picture is included with the letter that has Capitano and you in it. The snowy forest terrain looks as picturesque as ever, but what really draws attention is the man and his lover in the middle. Mostly, the Harbinger who has a squirrel or two perched on him, not to mention the few birds that made their nest in the fluff of his coat. And even some cats? Where did they come from?! Well, it’s best not to question it. It’s rather endearing. Rather, one should question how silent and unmoving the Captain is in an effort to not disturb all the animals. Just ignore the deer in the background waiting for some attention too.

Attached Items:

How To Celebrate Your Birthday Pamphlet [A collaboration between Capitano’s Fan Club and [Name]. The fan club loves you immensely because you help to put their long-awaited plans into action. The numerous activities in this guide (blowing out the candles, feeding each other cake, gift giving, lots of affection, etc) were written out by the club and dutifully carried out by you. There were also birthday punches, but Capitano was confused as to why you were tickling him.]

Capitano and [Name]’s Picture Book [Don’t tell anyone this, but Capitano has a tendency to name all the creatures of the forest near his mansion. At first, he went there to train, but decided against it after seeing all the animals around there, because he doesn’t want to scare them away. What he did not expect was to befriend all of them… you came across him one day talking to them after searching for him. How can he tell them apart? Even you don’t know. But this book is dedicated to all of his animal friends, with pictures taken by you of course. So if the Traveler happens to visit Snezhnaya someday, make sure to be nice to these little guys!]

—

“They’re Annoying…”

Sender: Wanderer

It is that time of year again when my birthday rolls around. You know very well I do not care much for this day, but once again, there are always annoyances at my every turn… Both Lesser Lord Kusanali and [Name] always prove to be a thorn in my side on this day. In the past, I usually spent my birthdays under the sakura trees in Inazuma, visiting [Name]. But, things have changed now. I no longer am who I once was, and my relationship with [Name] is no longer the same. They have forgotten me, and our past together… but Lesser Lord Kusanali has forced us to interact again numerous times, leading to our current relationship. Lesser Lord Kusanali always pats my back, saying that time will lead us back to each other… how irritating. 

Speaking of her being irritating, she decided to tell [Name] that today was my birthday, a horrible decision. Now, they’ve run all over Sumeru looking for me, until they finally found me in the House of Daena. Panting and gasping for air, all I could hear was them sincerely apologizing over and over for not knowing my birthday. They promised they’d get me a late birthday gift, even though I kept repeating that it was unnecessary. Unfortunately, it has always been hard to get things through their thick skull. All I know for sure is that Lesser Lord Kusanali definitely planned this and that she will tease me to no end the next time I see her… 

Still, they dragged me through Sumeru City. According to them, they knew I wouldn’t like anything too fancy, so they brought me to an alleyway. Your typical textbook dark and narrow one. And at the end were… cats. Many of them. [Name] turned to me with a smile and said they bet I didn’t know about this secret kitty haven, and that it was a perfect gift for someone like me. I do wonder if Sumeru’s sun has made them crazy sometimes.

But, this birthday wasn’t as boring as I thought it’d be. So… that’s nice, I guess. Actually, Lesser Lord Kusanali had assigned me a paper to write. A paper on [Name], on my own birthday. She said that she wasn’t going to read or check it, but it was for my sake. How preposterous, right? How would anything like that help me?

But tonight… I feel as though I’ll make some progress on it.

Attached Photograph:

A picture is included with the letter that has Wanderer and you in it. The puppet is at the top of the ladder in the House of Daena, searching for books (most likely forced to by the Dendro Archon), but your figure can be made out at the bottom. You seem to be waving and beckoning him to come down, so he can have a good time with you for his birthday. Wanderer doesn’t seem very excited about it, but… he will always indulge you, the person he can’t deny he loves. Hmm? Why is he using a ladder instead of his Anemo powers? Well, perhaps the puppet doesn’t like drawing attention to himself.

Attached Items:

Essay Concerning Inazuman Society and Politics [An essay Wanderer has written during his time spent in Vahumana. What, did the Traveler really think he’d send the essay he wrote about [Name]? However, Paimon couldn’t make it through the title page, and even the Traveler struggled through it. But, it seems to be your favorite essay of his, considering all the notes you made in it, not to mention the noodles you drew when you got bored… Wanderer probably scolded you for that but, it’s never in bad faith.]

Tricolor Dango [A plate of dango that [Name] brought for Wanderer as a treat. It seems that they are unaware of his dislike of sweet food… But the puppet did not want to hurt their feelings considering the thought and effort they put into his birthday, so he did not decline it.]

—

“A Lavish Tea Party.”

Sender: Sandrone

Unbeknownst to me, [Name] recently had a variety of sweets from Fontaine imported. It seemed like they tinkered with my bots once again, to get them on their side so I would remain in the dark… they can be such a hassle to deal with sometimes. However, this means that their skills are ever improving, as I’ve been improving my Automatons to be much more complex. As expected of my assistant. Speaking of, they’ve also imported some other things that I’ve been wanting for a while. Hopefully, they’re up to standard this time, or they’ll have to be returned. Ugh, I hate dealing with the Ninth whenever that happens…

Though back to the subject, it seems that [Name] has once again needlessly gone out of their way, since today is my date of birth. Although I don’t like being distracted from my research, and I see no need to waste time just because I happened to be born today, this break that [Name] has prepared for me isn’t too bad. I have not attended a proper tea party in far too long. The fools I have for agents can never set it up correctly.

[Name] is not someone who dresses up very often, but they always make the effort to match their attire with mine. Something that other people should learn from, but alas. Though, I wish they did it more often. Not even the most well-crafted doll could match their beauty. Have I told them that? No, they should be smart enough to figure that out by themselves.

Regardless, I must cut this letter short. After this, I want to work on an Automaton with [Name]. I have held off on it because they have expressed interest in it, and since we are together now, it is the perfect time to work on it. I was expecting them to get huffy at me working today, but it seems that they are pleased to work with me. I wonder why.

Attached Photograph:

A picture is included with the letter that has Sandrone and you in it. A wide array of treats and sweets are plated on numerous platters, along with ceramic tea cups waiting to be filled with piping hot tea. The surrounding robots are also fashioned in a similar style as her, perfect attire for the tea party, holding additional trays of desserts. (Can these robots eat too?) You’re pouring your wife her favorite kind of tea as you’ve already set her plate, while she sits patiently with her hands folded. Despite Sandrone’s doll-like features, one can see a small smile on her face.

Attached Items:

Instructions For A Perfect Tea Party [Sandrone’s set of instructions as to how a perfect tea party is conducted. Some of the rules seem nonsensical and impossible to many, which is why no Fatui agent can ever live up to the Harbinger’s expectations, as she will not accept anything less than what she desires. However, you are the only person who has managed to fulfill all the rules to a tee, which is one of the reasons she greatly favors you. Sending this list to the Traveler and Paimon is also her way of saying they are never invited as they will never be able to fulfill the rules in a way that satisfies her… how rude!]

Clockwork Toy of Sandrone [A Harbinger toy from Leschots Clockwork Workshop in Fontaine. They seem to have dabbled in making toys of the Harbingers as they said they would, and who better to start with than the machinery genius herself? Of course, Sandrone can point out numerous flaws with the design and components, and probably criticized it heavily to you, but you still seem to love it, because it’s of her! Unfortunately, your wife doesn’t like that very much… why settle for something inferior when you could have it in much higher quality? So the Harbinger decided to make a toy of herself that lives up to her standard. The Traveler can have the faulty one…]

—

“Another Year Passes…”

Sender: La Signora

In the past, I used to be quite fond of birthdays. In Mondstadt, I would always celebrate it with him every year. But after he died, birthdays left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I never dared think about doing anything on this day ever again. How could I, when he was no longer by my side? But today is my birthday again, and I find myself happy. Why? Because of [Name], the person who taught me how to love again. Admittedly, I pushed away the idea at first. But after some more reflection, I decided it wouldn’t be fair to [Name]. The past is the past, and the present is the present. If [Name] wants to make me feel special on my birthday, then who am I to stop them?

And indeed they did pamper me. They always pamper me but, today it was much more than normal. Breakfast in bed, massages, hair brushing, helping me put on my clothes, opening doors for me, fancy dinner and wine after work. I don’t think there was a single moment where they weren’t trying to do something for me. It gave me a good chuckle, which made them embarrassed. But truly, it made me happy. I had… forgotten what it feels like to be cared for on my birthday. It’s a foreign feeling but, I hope that the foreignness eventually goes away after some time.

However, I must tell them that there’s no need to overexert themselves just because it is my birthday. Although I do enjoy the extra treatment, it does neither of us any good for them to fall asleep before the night is even over. But, that’s okay. There is always next year, yes?

Attached Photograph:

A picture is included with the letter that has Signora and you in it. You are fast asleep on the Fair Lady’s lap, a peaceful expression on your face. A similar one is on Signora’s, as there is no one else around, and she can let her guard down around you. There are a few of her flame moths scattered around the room as well, a few on the two of you. As her blonde hair spills onto your face and body, one can only guess what she is thinking.

Attached Items:

Tea Break Pancakes [Despite Signora’s history with her home nation, it’s said that she still enjoys the cuisine from there. So, you like to cook her food from there whenever you can. It might not be as good as a professional’s but it provides her a taste of home. A taste of your love, which is her favorite flavor.]

Rose [It’s no secret that roses are Signora’s favorite flower. Beautiful yet thorny, alluring yet dangerous. There are many kinds of roses with all sorts of meanings in this world, but you two have been seen exchanging only one kind - a red one. Whatever could it mean?]

—

“Birthdays…”

Sender: Pantalone

When I was a child, birthdays did not mean much to me. After all, how could one focus on their date of birth when it seemed like life was full of nothing but curses and suffering? It was only another day of working to survive. But when I met [Name], they changed that. With them, the day began to have… meaning. Purpose. It wasn’t anything grand, but they made it special, distracting me from another day of poverty. Even with their meager earnings, they never failed to gift me something, even if it was of little to no value, or not the best quality… I cherished it. No one else had ever thought of me so much. When I look back, every time my birthday came around again, my love for them only grew more.

Now that we are adults, my only wish is to repay their kindness and spoil them with as many gifts as they deserve. However, there are a few issues with this. There are times I find myself more disappointed with the world than usual because it has yet to create something that would be a suitable gift that would be on par with my love for my dear [Name]. However, whenever my spouse gifts me something, their thoughtfulness never ceases to amaze me. How is it that they always manage to gift me something wonderful and touching? When I questioned them about this, they raised an eyebrow and gave me a strange look. It seems that I will not learn their secret anytime soon. How unfortunate.

Not to mention, dearest [Name] gets upset when I spend “ludicrous amounts of money” (their words) on them, especially on my birthday, so they’ve “forbidden” me from doing so today. They are rather persistent on this, and their long lectures and expressions are rather amusing, so I’ll indulge them… for now. Do you think they realize I’ll just spend double the amount the next day? Regardless, birthdays are always well spent with [Name], and I plan to enjoy this one fully, just as I have in the past because they are the one who makes my birthday a day worth celebrating.

Attached Photograph:

A picture is included with the letter that has Pantalone and you in it. The two of you are taking a walk in Snezhnaya, browsing stores and the like. Even though it is Pantalone’s birthday, he seems insistent on trying to buy out a few stores for you once again… so in order to prevent him from doing that, you’ve hidden yourself in his coat, stopping him from walking properly. The Harbinger seems rather entertained by your antics and your head popping out of his coat… he should make you do this more often. It’s perfect for head pats.

Attached Items:

Pantalone’s Spare Change [As it is his birthday, Pantalone is feeling more generous than usual, so he is sending a bit of funds to the Traveler. There is no need for any repayment, take it as a symbol of the Fatui’s goodwill. (However, it would do good to proceed with caution… this is the Ninth, after all.) Opening it up, the duo expects to see an average amount of money, but instead are presented with a couple of million Mora… if this is what Pantalone is willing to send to the Traveler, how much does he spend on [Name]?! Paimon doesn’t want to imagine the number!]

[Name]’s Guide to Gift Giving [A piece written by you to detail how you always choose the best gift for Pantalone, unbeknownst to your husband. Opening it up, the Traveler is very curious as to how you manage to win over the Harbinger every time, a man who has everything he could possibly want at his fingertips. But instead, only one sentence is written on the paper - “I don’t know how I do it either.”]

—

“Appreciation.”

Sender: Arlecchino

Birthdays were not very much celebrated in the House of Hearth, especially when the former Knave was around. However, that changed when [Name] came along. Years ago, I still remember when they gifted Lynette her first tea cup set. Freminet, a collection of spare parts that he ended up using to make another clockwork toy. And probably the biggest hassle… gifting little Lyney a white rabbit. However, I do appreciate my lover’s efforts. The children always look forward to their birthdays much more now, some even going as far as to drop hints about their desired gift and give puppy eyes to [Name] when the time rolls around. I have to remind my children not to get greedy, and to be grateful for what they already have…

I also remember the first birthday they gifted me something as well. A part of me expected it, considering the way they behaved, but still, it was an… unfamiliar feeling, to be gifted something. And, it was also the day little Lyney and Lynette presented their first amateur magic show to me. Of course, they had much to improve on, but looking back it was a suitable birthday gift, considering how much I’ve seen the two grow now. Needless to say, I appreciate [Name] very much, for what they have given me and my children.

My birthday has come once more, and [Name] is celebrating it as they always feel the need to. Really, even if they did nothing, I would still appreciate it, considering all they’ve done. The sweets they gathered this time were exceptional, and we had a lovely chat, before taking a walk through Fontaine. They say that the flowers that grow in the wild are always the prettiest, especially the Rainbow Roses.

Ah, last of all, if you could do me a favor, that would be greatly appreciated. You have been in Fontaine for a while now, yes? It would be a great help to me if you could point me to some good operas. [Name] and I have watched many in Snezhnaya, however, we don’t often have the chance to watch any in Fontaine, with our work and all. Thank you. And please, do not bore me or waste my time.

Attached Photograph:

A picture is included with the letter that has Arlecchino and you in it. You two are sitting in a field in Fontaine somewhere, with Rainbow Roses to the side. One of them has been tucked into the Harbinger’s hair, while you seem to be focusing on creating… a flower crown? Despite the pinkness of the rose greatly contrasting with Arlecchino’s whole dark red, black, and white look, she seems to not mind your antics and waits patiently for you to complete your work of art. Of course, as a Fontainian, she knows very well what Rainbow Roses symbolize, and won’t turn down the physical manifestation of your feelings.

Attached Items:

List of Yummy Hidden Gems [A list of great places to buy sweets from in Fontaine, courtesy of [Name], passed on by Arlecchino. Sure, Hotel Debord and Café Lutece do have some excellent sweets, but there are many hidden restaurants and bakeries that provide delicious treats as well! Do stop by and give them a try. Arlecchino favors many of their products. If one needs a similar list for the other nations, do tell.]

Slice of Birthday Cake [An exquisite slice of cake cut from Arlecchino’s birthday cake. She doesn’t care much for the tradition, but [Name] always buys one anyway as an excuse to treat the children from the House to something nice. You know you shouldn’t spoil them so much, but you can’t help it!]

—

“Splash!”

Sender: Tartaglia

Hey comrade! How have you been? Sorry if my handwriting isn’t the best. I sparred with [Name] for my birthday, and they really roughed me up. Not that I mind, I asked them to go all out. Normally they don’t like fighting with me, because they always insist they don’t like hurting me, but they couldn’t say no to me today. You know, I would like to see the two of you fight. It would be an exhilarating experience.

But anyway, after they patched me up, we took a dive in Fontaine’s waters! You know, whenever I visit Liyue, we often go to cool off in Yaoguang Shoal, but Fontaine’s oceans are so much different. The scenery, the terrain, the greenery, the wildlife… good thing I bought them a waterproof Kamera. Speaking of wildlife, [Name] and I befriended a blubberbeast. [Name] instantly fell in love with the creature, and I feel as though they gave a bit too much attention to it, but, seeing them smile is the best gift I could ever ask for. Maybe I should gift them a plushie of it? However, it is a bit amusing that something that looks as defenseless as that could pack such a punch!

Did you know this, Traveler? Apparently, Romaritime Flowers represent loyalty. [Name] gifted me a bouquet which I was initially confused about since I usually give them flowers instead. But after some quick research, these flowers mean unbreaking oaths. It was a bit ironic really, for I should have gifted them instead as I always swore to be loyal to them, my family, and the Tsaritsa, but it was a wonderful gift. Not to mention the delicious meal they prepared. They’ve been busy researching the best Fontaine recipes for me, so I could make them for Teucer and the others back home, but maybe I should just drag them to Snezhnaya so they could do it instead… I never leave anything but empty plates whenever [Name] cooks for me, but they’ve packaged some for you too, Traveler!

Next time we fight at the Golden House, I’ll bring [Name] along too. Do you think you can hold your own against both of us at the same time?

Attached Photograph:

A picture is included with the letter that has Childe and you in it. You two are under the sea, with a Blubberbeast between the two of you. The creature is nudging you while Childe looks on amused. It seems that it’s been begging for some more attention, food, and head pats. Maybe some tummy rubs too. Apparently, you named it Big Cutie, because well… it’s a big cutie! Unfortunately, it seems to have a little bit of a grudge against the Harbinger because he accidentally attacked it.

Attached Items:

[Name]’s Special Macarons [Rainbow Macarons but with a special twist from [Name]. On the top and bottom of the sweet treat are… faces? Very detailed ones too, with colored hair and eyes! Ah, the faces are none other than [Name], Childe, Teucer, and all of his other siblings! Oh, and macarons of Traveler and Paimon were made as well, how kind! Childe says they’re quite delicious, and he is a great cook, so they must be.]

Freshly Caught Fish [Fish caught by Childe. It seems that the two lovers also went fishing after diving a bit, as one knows how much Childe loves to fish. Sadly, your fishing skills still pale in comparison compared to his and you barely caught anything… That’s alright though! No matter how long it takes, he’ll always happily help you hone your skills!]

[sir-adamus]

i've got the blu ray for volume 1 playing and i'm watching the behind the scenes video and Monty explicitly spells out how important collaboration with other creatives was in building RWBY, saying how he wanted to work with Kerry and Miles on it in creating the world and how he mostly gave them broad strokes. and it's mentioned how they all put the show bible together - i'm gonna put the whole transcript for the video under the cut (which i'm having to do myself because no one has uploaded this video anywhere as far as i can tell and there's no fucking subtitles)

Monty Oum [Creator and Director]: It’s the stories I’ve always wanted to tell versus the idea I came up with about, a little over a year ago. And we were talking about doing another show, and I just kind of half-asleep came up with the idea of a color rule for a bunch of characters. The red, white, black and yellow color scheme was something that was very prominent even in my previous work, so I started matching names up, matching ideas up. Also thinking about like, some of the ideas I’d stored up over the years. At some point or another the word ‘RWBY’ came to me.

Monty: Starting the show out originally, I designed the original character, Ruby, as well as going into the other characters. So once I had the first trailer done, and thinking about the rest of the characters for the show, I started bringing in other artists who I had watched for years. People I’d always said “someday I’ll work with them, someday I’ll have them design for me.” And when I was certain about having certain characters, I first contacted an artist I admired and found over DeviantArt. Her name was Ein Lee, she’s actually from Taiwan, and I found her art probably well over five years ago, and just loved her art style, and therefore wanted to incorporate it into my characters. So, I would do rough designs for team RWBY as well as designs for team JNPR, and she would flesh that out to be even further. To the point where eventually I didn’t need to design characters anymore, she started designing a bunch of the rest of the characters down the line.

Monty: The second person I brought on to RWBY was Kerry, because we had just been having conversations about the kind of show we could make. I’d been working with Miles on Season 10. He was writing scenes while I was making scenes, and so the three of us would have a lot of meetings and collaborate on the show to the point where I just started coming up with the broad strokes eventually and they had pretty much written the bulk of the show. Collaboration’s a big deal here, and I tried to include as many people as I can.

Kerry Shawcross [Co-writer]: Right after RvB ended, we wanted to just go straight into RWBY, but that was like right when we were going into commercial season. So we would work our normal hours here. Like 10 to 7-ish, then we would go back to one of our apartments and just start writing.

Miles Luna [Co-writer]: Monty really was enthusiastic about having these characters that may appear really one-dimensional for like the first few scenes that you see them, but the longer you get to know them, you realise “Oh, Yang isn’t just a dumb blonde party girl. She’s a very caring and nurturing girl, that has had to essentially be there for Ruby when she was young.”

Kathleen Zuelch [Producer]: When Monty and Miles and Kerry came to me, and really took me through the story. I started becoming a huge believer, because I’m a big fan of old school, traditional fairy tales, I love the Brothers Grimm, I love all the Snow White, and I love Little Red Riding Hood. I grew up with all of those stories, and the way that they were very clever in creating this whole world that’s kind of making homage to all of these amazing stories really inspired me to get more on board with what they wanted to do with this whole anime show.

Taylor McNee (née Pelto) [Art Director]: The world of RWBY, it looks very familiar. We wanted a blend of very classic looking architecture and clothing and cars, but we’re also mixing in this really kind of futuristic feel, like these little touches of some really futuristic stuff like holograms and things that you wouldn’t find in a classic [inaudible]. And that’s how we’re making this world unique. Our assets have to go through this pipeline of concept, modelling, texturing, and then finally being able to be put into the 3D program. So we start out with the concept and we usually bring that image into Maya, which is the main 3D software that we use. We have to make a 3D model that looks exactly like the concept that we were given, and it’s quite a process. Basically, we’re pushing polys and extruding stuff until we make the perfect shape, then afterwards we have to UV unwrap it, and then lay everything out on a texture sheet and then paint it, and that will put the image on the model. After that we’re basically done with the model and texture, and then we have to give it to the animators. So then we will set it up in Poser so the animators can grab it and use it for their characters.

Gray Haddock [Lead Editor]: There’s a lot of people working on this show, and there’s a lot of different elements in the pipeline. Editorial kinda serves as a hub between all the different departments, so we help all the communication and coordination between all the different pieces of the show, depending on what part of development that they’re in. Editorial’s getting involved way early in the process, we work alongside the director and the writers and the storyboard artists, and we use the scripts to help develop the storyboards and the camera angles for all those boards. So editorial is responsible for building up the moments of any given scene in terms of the timing and what you wanna look at, at any given moment. So we take the script and we help develop the camera angles and how long you wanna linger in a particular camera angle, look at one character or another or the scene as a whole, and the rhythm of the scene in terms of how long is it gonna take to spend on a particular line or when you want the music to come in, things like that. So we build up a set of animatics with the storyboards, and the first pass of all the audio. This is what then is handed off to the animators, so they can know exactly what is in what shot and how long do they have to animate it in a given shot. And once they’re done animating and their shot’s been approved, then their shot goes to the render farm, we get the rendered shot back and we drop it into the timeline for our episode and finesse the cut a little bit if we have to. But for the most part, we’ve done our job right and everything should pretty much be locked in for the most part by the time we’re getting animation.

Kerry: What’s kinda interesting as we’re creating the characters is, we kinda knew what kind of character they’d be. We knew Ruby would act a certain way, we knew Weiss would act a certain way, but we didn’t really know much about them. So we would get to the point where we’d be figuring out plotlines or figuring out dialogue and we’d be like “What would Weiss say here? What would Nora say here?” And then it turned into “Oh well now we know.”

Miles: Obviously we put a lot of thought into Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang before we started writing the dialogue. I remember sitting upstairs and we made a show bible, and we’re starting- we talked about likes, dislikes, personality traits. One of the first things I remember making was “Weiss drinks coffee. Blake drinks tea.”

Kerry: It’s important. It sounds not important at all, but it’s very important. It says so much about them

Miles: But it’s so important. So much about them, also it says nothing about them. It was just like- that’s just what it is.

Monty: I want the show to have resonance with people who are growing up. Cos everyone’s story is the story of kind of becoming who they are. Especially these days when the path of becoming who you are tends to be marginalised with reality. Having done what I’ve done, where I’ve essentially dropped out of high school, started learning this stuff on my own, and therefore land in a position where I get to take the things I was dreaming about when I was growing up and make it real. I tend to get a lot of response from people who are also not sure what they’re meant to become, a lot of them also have the same bright imaginations and with the way the world is, the hardships of what it means to grow up tends to marginalise who you are, and I would hate that to happen to anyone because the future is in creativity and that’s not something you can just manufacture. I actually would like this show to grow up with the people, so unlike most shows where they tend to be ageless or age very slowly, I’d like our fifteen-year-old fans watching fifteen-year-old Ruby, when they’re twenty-five, to be watching twenty-five-year-old Ruby, and to actually have some resonance with the character. Probably one of my favourite types of feedback is to say “I know this person” or “this person is just like me,” and that’s probably one of the best things about coming up with these characters.

[gffa]

You are not only deeply knowledgeable on Star Wars, but also consistently and patiently share that knowledge, even when people seem to intentionally misunderstand you. I admire that about you and I simply wanted to express it. Kudos.

This is really sweet, thank you for such kind words! I will always admit that I am not as kind or as patient as I sometimes wish I were, I'm still human and I have limits like anyone else. But I was thinking about this again the other day and it still holds true: I have often regretted snapping at someone, even when it was fully deserved and justified. I don't like who it makes me. I don't like having to live with that anger in my veins. I have never once regretted being kind to the best of my ability. Even when the other person is an asshole and stays an asshole, I have never looked back and regretted doing my best to be patient and as gentle as I can be. Because it's not about them, seriously. It's about me. It's about the people in the fandom who I do care about and I don't want my snide remarks spilling over onto them, because they don't deserve it. And I'm nowhere near perfect at it, some people probably consistently find me super grating, but I'm at least genuinely trying and I'm okay with that. I've spent a lot of time rubbernecking drama in other fandoms and it has taught me so much about how behavior comes off to outsiders--you can have as much justification for your actions as you want, but if you act like a pill, however justified that might be, a lot of people are just going to go, "Christ, what a pill." All over some ridiculous dumbass space opera fairy tale written by some guy! It's fine to be genuinely invested in things, I love being a Star Wars nerd, but real people have to come before fandom stuff and I think it helps to remember that it's not just you in fandom, but there are a whole lot of people who are going to see the things you post. And yeah I'm annoying as hell, I'm fine with that 😂, but also I'm an annoying person who will shove as many resources and stuff at you as you're interested in reading!!! And I'm very lucky that I've found other people to share that generosity in fandom with me, thank you guys for being really cool to hang out with. You've made these last few weeks in Star Wars fandom really kinda tolerable and that's no small feat!

[shinidamachu]

inukag was born to be shipped by me and I was born to ship inukag as well

For ages now I've been meaning to write about the reasons why I ship Inukag as fervently as I do and @inukag-week felt like the perfect opportunity to indulge myself, so here we go.

I want to start with how aesthetically pleasing they are. From their perfect size difference to the complimentary color scheme of their outfits plus contrasting hair and eye colors, Inuyasha and Kagome just look absolutely good together.

Their character design makes it clear from the get go that they're visually a great match. The association is so strong that the audience becomes unable to picture one without the other, as if they're two halves of the same item. Different, yet unequivocally a team, a pair.

Decades ago, they already had that classic quality to them and I bet they'd never get out of style even decades from now. And the rich lore that surrounds the pairing only adds to that aesthetic: the well, the tree, the beads, the robe, the sword, all of it enhances how iconic they are. Even something as ordinary as star gazing becomes uniquelly theirs.

Futhermore, I just absolutely love the entire concept of it. The subvertion of the fairy tale archetype, the idea of a love that transcends time, of soulmates who actually work on building their bond. Loving each other was both inevitable and a choice they made every single day.

Inuyasha and Kagome were just two teenagers from different worlds — literally and figurativelly — discovering together what love was. This made their relationship very compelling, because the excange between them is insanely substancial.

And their overall dynamic is so wholesome. There was a push and pull, a give and take, that made it fluid rather than static. Every single milestone felt organic and kept the audience thirsting for the next one.

Nothing felt forced or rushed. The slow burn was competently written to showcase their relationship being build on a very strong foundation, consistent in intimacy, mutual trust and acceptance — recurring themes for them and for the story — and so the stages of their bond had such a natural pace, it highlighted how genuine and healthy it was.

Consequently, there are so many aspects of their connection to explore. There's a never ending room for angst and for light hearted moments and you can adopt a more mature perspective or go for comical instead: they manage to be versatile without being generic and to embod the best clichés in fiction without becoming one themselves.

It's hard to think of a trope they couldn't pull off or an alternate universe that doesn't work for them. It gives the fandom plenty of freedom to be creative and to have the best time with it.

Plus, their chemistry was off charts. The romantic tension bleed through every single interaction. Their passion is so strong you could feel it even in scenes that had nothing to do with romance. And they didn't even need to kiss to achieve that level of synchrony.

They were also compatible. Inuyasha and Kagome balance each other quite nicely. Even in a relationship, they still keep their individualities and remain interesting both as characters and as a ship.

The very thing that dooms most pairings — opposite personalities — is precisely what keeps them together. Inuyasha and Kagome are completely different from each other, but they're actually extremely similar where it actually matters: their morals and goals.

And they longer they stay together, challenging one another, growing through trials and tribulations, inadvertently learning what each other's needs are and fulfilling them, easing each other's sorrows, covering each other's backs, saving each other's lives in every possible way, learning each other and learning with one another, the more their dichotomy turns into a duality, because they gain a more nuanced perspective of themselves, of each other and of the world.

It's a level of understanding, closeness and respect incredibly difficult to match. And for Inuyasha and Kagome, no one else even came close.

Another thing is that they're not just complementary to each other, but to the story itself. Their romance enhaces the overall plot. It has a structural placement in the wider narrative, strengthening its core themes and fulfilling the characters individual arcs, ultimately resulting in a more compelling journey.

So many romances are disposable to their own story, but Inukag was detrimental to theirs. Inuyasha and Kagome's interactions served as pivotal points of their respective arcs. Taking only the narrative into consideration, their relationship holds a lot of weight and greatly influenced everyone around it and it tied everything together.

That's why their happy ending felt so satisfying: it feels earned because everything went full cycle. All of that symbolism, all of those parallels paid off. Anything different from what we got would simply lack narrative and thematic cohesion.

And even if they didn't end up together, they could never be circumstancial. There was a real reason why they met, a reason why the fell in love and why they had ever lasting impacts on each other's lives regardless. It wasn't just love for love's sake.

This is what makes them, in my opinion, an epic ship.

BONUS: their soundtrack is lit and their quotes are simply legendary.

[vodika-vibes]

Congratulations on your 650 followers Vodika! I bring you a request. May I please have a fairy tale AU with Jango Fett. Jango is the king of Mandalore and he hires you as his son's caretaker. As you spend more time with Boba and Jango the two of you fall in love with one another and even though you are just a commoner and Jango can have any woman he wants all Jango wants is to marry you and make you his queen.

Once again congratulations Vodika! I look forward to reading all of your requests once they are finished ❤️

Cin Vhetin

Summary: After losing your well-paying career as an in-home nanny due to a lie, you’re forced to move in with your older sister just to make ends meet. You’re about to give up on ever finding another job when your sister brings you an opportunity that you can’t turn down.

Pairing: Jango Fett x F!Reader

Word Count: 2958

Prompt: Fairy Tale AU

Warnings: None

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly

A/N: Alright, I've had this mostly written for days now, I just couldn't get the final section to come out right. But I'm finally happy with it! So I hope you like it!

“I’m home~”

You look up from where you’re putting the finishing touches on tonight's dinner as your sister waltzes into the kitchen, a broad grin on her face. “Welcome back,” You greet tiredly, “You’re in a good mood, Rayne.”

“Of course I am, I got to see my future husband-”

“You mean the one who doesn’t know you exist? That future husband?”

“Hush, stop raining on my parade.” She spins around the kitchen, as though she’s still a teenager and not a woman nearing forty. “Anyway, I saw my beloved. And we had a conversation.”

“Oh?”

“He asked me if I wanted two loaves of bread or if one would be enough for tonight.”

“Sis, that isn’t talking, that’s him doing his job.” You counter with a roll of your eyes, “But continue.”

“It’s a step up.” She huffs as she stops spinning and flings her arms around your shoulders in a tight hug, “But, much more importantly. I signed you up for an interview at the palace tomorrow.”

“You what?!” You spin and glare at her, “An interview for what?”

“Don’t freak out,” She says as she jabs her finger in your face, “I’m doing you a favor.”

“Rayne!”

She rolls her eyes, “As you know, King Jango now has an infant son, and he needs a skilled nanny for Prince Boba. And you, my darling baby sister, are a skilled nanny and governess.” 

“Yeah, aside from the fact that I was fired from my last job.”

“Okay, so you weren’t fired because of anything you did, first of all. Those people lied about you and ruined your reputation, and this is an excellent way to repair that.” Rayne says as she places her hands on her hips, “Also, I know you’re doing your best to get a job and everyone is denying you because of the rumors, but I really think that this is the way to go.”

“If I get denied because of this lie—”

“You won’t,” Rayne reassures. “Your skill speaks for itself. And the King is rumored to be a discerning man.” She places her hands on your shoulders, “Will you go?”

You sigh, “Yeah. Okay.”

She squeals and flings her arms around you, “Oh, you won’t regret this, I know it.” Rayne releases you and claps her hands in front of her face, “Now, your interview is at the end of the day tomorrow, do you have a proper outfit to wear? I know you prefer your tunics, leggings, and boots. But do you have any skirts?”

“You know I don’t.” You say with a sigh, “I have a nice tunic and leggings that I can wear tomorrow. It’ll be fine.” Rayne opens her mouth to say something, but you cut her off, “I know you’re worried, but my clothes will be fine.”

She sighs and folds her arms, “I know, I know. I just…you’ve been so unhappy since you lost your last job. I’ve been worried.”

You make a face, “Well, the rumors weren’t kind to me, Rayne.”

“No, they weren’t.” She takes your hands and squeezes them, “I’ll leave you to your cooking, alright? I need to tend to the garden and then get cleaned up. Call me when dinner is done?”

“I always do.”

Rayne smiles at you and turns to leave the room, and then she pauses and looks at you, “Vod’ika,” you start at the familiar word falling from her lips, “Our buir’e would be proud of the woman you’ve become. I know I am.”

Your face heats and you avert your gaze, “You think so?”

“I know so.” Rayne hurries over to you and presses a light kiss to your temple. “Now, I do have to tend to the garden. Are you good?”

You smile at her, “Yeah. I’m good.” You watch as she leaves the room and then turn your attention back to the meal you’re preparing. You are so lucky that your sister is such an amazing person.  You’re never going to be able to pay her back.

The next day, your sister walks you to the palace, where you join the veritable army of other women who have applied for the position. “Are you sure you don’t want me to wait?” Rayne asks as she tucks some hair out of your face, “I don’t mind.”

“I’m sure. You have better things to do than wait hours for me to finish my interview, Rayne. And I know you have some things you need to do.”

“Well, yes-”

“Don’t worry about me.” You reassure her, “I’ll be okay. I’ve done this before after all.”

Rayne sighs, “Alright. I’ll see you this evening then. I love you.”

“Love you too.” You watch as Rayne hurries into the crowd and you settle back to wait for your turn. You know it’ll be a long wait.

King of Mandalore, Jango Fett, leans back in his chair as the most recent interviewee is escorted from the room. He pinches the bridge of his nose as he tries to stem the growing migraine.

“Well, this is going splendidly,” Miles notes dryly, “Half of those women have never seen a child, and the other half would be bad fits for living in the palace.”

Jango grunts, and then drops his hand, “You heard the woman who claims that children need a firm hand?”

“Oh yes,” Miles’ smile isn’t nice, “I made a note of that.”

“How many more?”

“Just the one,” Miles replies.

“And what do we know about her?”

“She’s quite the talented nanny,” He replies, “Has been caring for children since she was a child, used to Nanny for the Kryze clan.”

Jango lifts his head, “Used to?”

“There were some allegations of inappropriate behavior. Rumors and hearsay, mostly. Though, there are quite a few notes here, from a lot of people, indicating that those rumors and allegations are nothing more than lies.”

“Shocking, someone from the Kryze family lying.”

“Hm, if only we could power your kingdom with sarcasm-” Miles counters, just as sarcastically.

“Yeah, yeah.” Jango glances at the peacefully slumbering Boba, and then looks at Miles, “Well, we might as well get this over with. Call her in.”

Miles nods, once, and leaves the room.

He’s gone for almost five minutes, though Jango knows that’s because Miles is doing his pre-screening. Something that he started after the second woman let slip that she was looking for a title and a crown.

Honestly, he’s never going to get used to these leeches. Being a member of the royal family is hardly worth all that.

He sits up when the door opens, and Miles steps into the room, looking very smug. Trailing behind him is a young woman. Her hair is neatly pulled out of her face, and her clothes are neat, but don’t hang overly loose.

And, unlike most everyone else, her gaze skips right over him to focus on Boba. 

That, by itself, moves her to the top of the list.

“The last applicant, your Majesty,” Miles says with a gesture towards the young woman, and then he bows and leaves the room.

“His name is Boba,” Jango says, “He’s only a couple of weeks old.”

The corners of her lips turn down thoughtfully, “Forgive me for saying so, but having such a young baby around so many people is not safe for him.” 

Jango leans back in his seat, and a small smirk plays on his lips. Negative reputation or not, his estimation of her is going higher and higher. “I haven’t been allowing anyone to hold him.”

“Well, that’s something I suppose.” She finally turns her gaze to him and offers a shallow, but respectful curtsy. “I apologize, then.”

“There’s no need for that.” Jango scans her thoughtfully. She is young, but she looks tired. And her clothes hang on her, as though she’s recently lost a lot of weight. Or the clothes used to belong to someone else. “You were looking out for my son.”

He picks up her resume and motions for her to take a seat, which she does.

“I have your resume here,” He says, “And, honestly, I have a hard time believing that you don’t already have a job. Nannying since you were a teenager. A qualified governess in your own right. You’ve nannied for some very big names over the years. The most recent being the Kryze clan.”

“That’s all accurate, yes.” She replies, though her lips tighten at the mention of her previous employers. 

Jango sets the resume down on the table, “Based on your qualifications, you’re more than qualified for the job.” he says lightly, “But, understand, Boba is my only son. So I have to ask about these rumors-”

She winces and her shoulders curl in on her, “What would you like to know?”

There’s something like resigned defeat in her voice, and Jango finds himself not liking it. “What happened?”

Absently she rolls the hem of her sleeve between her fingers, “I was hired as the Nanny and Governess for Korkir Kryze three months before he was born.” She explains quietly, “I prepared the nursery, made sure that the house had everything it needed, and when he was born, I was the first one to hold him. I don’t think the Duke or the Duchess ever held him.” 

“Go on.”

“I can’t remember a single instance of his parents ever being in the same room as Korkie for longer than it took for a photo op or a meal.” She continues, “When he started talking, he called me mom. The Duchess…” She trails off, “She wasn’t happy about it.” She finally says.

“They fired you.”

“And spread rumors that I was a Noble Hunter and that I tried to seduce the Duke.” She bristles slightly, “I would never. I have enough self-respect to not try and poach from another woman-”

Jango holds up a hand, “Peace.”

She quells, though she still looks very unhappy.

“What happened after you were fired?”

“I moved in with my sister, it’s where I’ve been living.”

Jango nods thoughtfully, “This position comes with a series of rooms in the palace,” He explains, you also get two days off a week, days that you can set. You will be responsible for Boba during the day when I’m working, but you’ll only need to take him in the early mornings, evenings, or at night if I’m indisposed for some reason.”

She blinks at him, “Wait, you mean-?”

He smiles, “The position is yours, we’ll work out the rest of the hard details a bit later.”

“Thank you!”

His smile widens, “Would you like to hold Boba?”

She immediately walks over to the infant and allows Jango to place him in her arms. He watches as she adjusts his weight with the ease of someone who’s been caring for children for a long time.

“Time for the grand tour,” Jango says, “Follow me please.”

You settle into your new routine with ease. King Jango is a fine father and an even better man. He never treats you as if you’re less than him, and he listens to you if you say that there’s something wrong with Boba, or if you note that something needs to be changed.

In the 6 months that you’ve worked for him, you come to realize that you’ve never been as comfortable working for a family as you do when working for the King.

And yes, there is something of a small crush there. But you would never dream of risking your job in the hopes of catching his eye.

At 6 months old, Boba can roll over in both directions, and he babbles, though he still isn’t quite at the talking stage. More importantly, he’s learned stranger anxiety. Luckily, you’re not a stranger and he reaches for you as often as he reaches for his father.

Right now, though, Boba’s asleep in his crib and you’re organizing his nursery.

It’s one of the few nights where Jango isn’t able to put Boba down for the night, though, knowing the King, he’ll pop in as soon as he’s done in his meeting.

And, true to your expectations, half an hour later the nursery door opens. 

The King offers you a tired smile, and then walks over to the crib to peer down at the baby, “How was he today?”

“A little grumpy.” You reply, “But he settled around noon time.”

“That’s good.” You watch as Jango smoothes a curl off of Boba’s forehead, “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to put him down for the night.”

“It happens,” You reply lightly, you slip a couple more diapers into the drawer, and then you glance at him, “It’s been happening a lot these last couple of weeks.” You note, almost absently.

It’s an offer for him to confide in you if he wants.

Jango sighs, “It has, yes.” He falls silent for a moment, “I know I only hired you to take care of Boba, but it’d be nice to have someone to talk to. Someone who’s not involved.”

You finish folding Boba’s clothes and put them in the dresser before you turn to look at him, “I’m always happy to listen, Jango.” You make sure the baby monitor is on, and then follow him out of Boba’s nursery and into Jango’s suites.

You sink onto one of the plush couches as he offers you a glass of juice, before he sits next to you, “The Council, and Miles, are pushing me to get married.” Jango says.

“I wasn’t aware that you had a partner,” You note thoughtfully as you take a sip of the juice and set the cup on the table.

“I don’t. That’s the problem.”

“You’re the King, if you want them to stop just tell them.”

“Sadly, it doesn’t work like that. They have lists of women who might be interested in marrying me, but—” He shakes his head.

“But you’re not interested.”

“I’m not blind, I’m well aware that I could have any noblewoman that I wanted. The problem is that I don’t want any of them.”

“May I ask why not?” You ask, curious.

“Boba.”

You exhale slowly, “Okay, that’s fair.”

“Plus, I have no interest in firing you. And the last thing I want is to put you in another situation like the Kryze situation.”

“That’s kind of you, Jango. But I really shouldn’t be a consideration in this.”

“Why not? You’re basically Boba’s mother at this point.”

You laugh softly, “That’s going to get me in trouble, I know it.”

Jango leans back for a moment, his dark eyes scanning you, “I lied.”

“About?”

“Not wanting any woman specifically.” Jango clarifies, “There’s one woman I’m interested in.”

“Okay, so you should talk to her.”

“I am.”

“Oh. Oh!” Your face heats and you press your hands against your cheeks, “Me. You mean me.”

Jango chuckles softly, though there’s nothing unkind there, “I do mean you.”

“But I’m just a nanny.”

“So? My parents were farmers, it was my adoptive dad who made me King.” Jango shifts on the couch so that his knees are almost touching you, “Boba loves you. And you’ve managed to keep me sane these last six months.”

“I don’t know anything about ruling a kingdom.”

“You don’t have to, that will remain my job.” Jango’s warm fingers brush against your cheek, “Tell me you’re not interested, and I’ll never mention it again.”

You stare at him, “I just…why me?”

“Because you’re you. Because the idea of you not being in my life makes me miserable.” Jango’s fingers slide across your lips.

“People will make assumptions—”

“Let them. So long as we both know the truth,” Jango leans in, his lips hovering just over yours, “You are the one I want. The only one I want.”

A soft sigh falls from your lips, “Jango—”

You’re not able to finish your thought, as his lips catch yours in a gentle, almost chaste, kiss. Your hands come up to lightly press against his cheeks, and then one of your hands slides to card through his curls.

Jango releases a low groan, the kiss deepening as he leans you back, so you’re lying on the couch and he’s supporting his weight on his elbows. He lightly nips your lower lip and then soothes the sore spot with his tongue.

You don’t mean to release the breathy whine at the feel of his teeth against you, but you do, and Jango practically collapses on you with a deep appreciative moan.

His lips move to your throat, and you gasp when he bites down on the sensitive skin located there, intent on leaving a mark.

You know that he would keep going and that you would let him when the baby monitor releases a little noise, and you both still at the sound of Boba waking up. 

He stares down at you, and you blink up at him, “I need to go get him,” You whisper. 

“Yeah.” Jango kisses you one more time, “We’ll have to continue this later. If you want?”

“Well,” You smile at him shyly, “I wouldn’t say no.”

He flashes an eager, and boyish, grin. “I can’t wait,” Jango murmurs as he climbs off of you and allows you to grab the baby monitor to hurry to the nursery.

And, when Jango joins you in the nursery half an hour later and wraps himself around you to watch you take care of Boba, you’re really not surprised. Just like you’re not surprised when his arms slide tightly around your waist and he holds you tightly.

You know that it’ll be a change, being in a relationship with the King. But you find yourself excited about the change, rather than anxious.

[rockybloo]

🌱Beanstalked's Revamped Chapter 1 is OUT🌱

I FINISHED MY MINI PROJECT which means now's a good time to stop being so vague about what I've been up to for the past month or two.

I spent this whole time basically giving the first chapter of Beanstalked a revamp!

"But Rocky, didn't you already redraw the first chapter before?" YOU ARE CORRECT ✨--but to not clog stuff up, I have a more in depth explanation for why I did this under the cut!

I swear this will be the last time I touch the first chapter. I AM AT PEACE NOW! I am also SUPER happy with how everything turned out. I love Beanstalked very much and am constantly trying to do my little fairy tale comic justice.

I originally did redraw the first chapter in 2022 or somewhere around that time range.

I wanted to reboot Beanstalked since I had originally written everything back in highschool and I knew I could do better executing the story. That redrawn chapter sort of winded up acting like a pilot of sorts. And thanks to Glitter and Guilt, I figured out an easier and quicker way of going about coloring and shading characters so I could complete pages waaay faster.

What initially was planned to just be a thing for Glitter and Guilt winded up becoming how I've decided to do all my future comic stuff now.

This is the reason why Chapter 2 looks stylistically different when it comes to rendering compared to the older Chapter 1. PLUS...I really hated how different Jack's hair looked in the original redraw. I also cleaned up and resorted some speech bubbles so dialogue flows a little smoother at points.

SO THAT'S ONE TASK CROSSED OF MY TO-DO LIST!

[the-gayest-sky-kid]

venti birthday art captions ranked by how gay they make him and the traveler sound

2024

The morning sun is pretty pleasant, isn't it? Ehe, you can barely keep your eyes open. Here, come sit with me and enjoy the scent of Cecilias! They'll perk you up. Ah, I lost track of time just chatting with you... Wait just a moment, I'm almost done! You haven't eaten apple pie in a long time, have you? Then I'll make us breakfast today~

2021

Oh, is this apple for me? Haha, that won't do, come share this apple with me. Split it open like this...and you will feel the breeze from the apple core. In some fairy tales, it is written that there is a whole tiny world hidden inside an apple core, and this breeze is a gift from the tiny world. Here, this half is for you. Once you're done eating, let's take a stroll in the tiny little world. But remember to keep it a secret and don't tell anyone else. That's because... you're the only one I want to bring there.

2022

Yahoo~ Look up, I'm here! It's been a long time, my warrior, ready to tell me your new story? Haha, you want to know if it's for my verses? Oh, don't make that face. I just want to hear about your adventures, isn't that reason enough? I want to know more about what you saw on your travels or the lives of others. The most important thing for me is to hear you talk about your own experiences and what you think about them. Come on, come sit next to me. This bottle of aged cider will be enough for us to chat from first dawn of the morning light until the stars cover the sky.

2022 (Web Event)

Paimon: Look, it's the Tone-Deaf Bard! / Venti: Heh, I was just wondering when you two would get here. / Traveler: Venti, it's your birthday today. / Traveler: Do you have any birthday wishes or anything you want to do? / Venti: Mmm... Then stay with me to chat and walk around. If we could go for a drink after, that would be great. / Paimon: These are all pretty normal... I would've thought a god's birthday wishes would have more of that "boom shaka-laka." / Venti: Hehe, that "boom shaka-laka" isn't from what you're doing, but who you're doing it with. / Venti: Right, Traveler?

2023 (Birthday Short)

"Together with you, even apples taste sweeter. But something isn't quite right, it feels like... I'm gonna s—sneeze."

2023

Caught you~! The farther your journey takes you, the less time we have to spend together in Mondstadt. But... I knew I'd run into you today. Quick, just sit down, right here! It's a rare chance, so allow me to croon you a dulcet tune, accompanied by the melody of the water's revelry.

2021 (Birthday Short)

"Paimon's back! Paimon picked a lot of big, fresh apples! Hey, where did the Traveler and Tone-Deaf Bard go?"

2022 (Birthday Short)

"Hey, Tone-Deaf Bard, we've been looking for you! Didn't expect you to be here!" / "Haha, Traveler and Paimon! You guys came just in time. Here, special apple juice made just for you. Try it~" / "Hey! Where's the special apple juice for Paimon!?"

2023 (Web Event)

Traveler: Happy birthday, Venti! / Paimon: Tada— Paimon and the Traveler made this apple cake for you! / Venti: Wow, thank you both! As the greatest bard in the whole world, allow me to put on a special performance for you. / Paimon: Yay! You're the best, Venti! / Venti: I'm just returning the favor. I've been waiting for a chance to perform this ever since the both of you told me all those new stories. Now then, shall we begin? / (Venti begins to perform the new ballad he's written. Paimon lets loose a party popper. The confetti flutters in the air, before gently settling on the floor.) / Venti: Wow, we even have stage effects for the song. / Paimon: Hehe, Paimon prepared this in advance. / Paimon: Wait... Is Paimon going to have to pick up the confetti pieces one by one before we leave? / Venti: Oh, that'll be a breeze. A little gust of wind will make quick work of that. / Traveler: ...So this is the sort of stuff the Anemo Archon uses his elemental powers for, huh? / Venti: Ehe.

2020

The tune you just hummed away, is it one that I oft play? Ah, so it's "Happy Birthday" you were just humming? Then please, continue, and I shall keep strumming! Eh-he!

2024 (Birthday Short) & 2024 (Birthday Calendar)

"Eh, olah! Mosi mita!"

The wind here is mixed with the scent of Cecilias... It feels quite pleasant! Oh, don't be afraid, little one. I've got you. Listen, there seems to be singing coming from a distance...

[forthegothicheroine]

Do you have any gothic novels that you can recommend off the top of your head? Especially to people who want to try their hand at the genre? I've hit a wall in my project and I need to get some fresh inspiration, but I don't know where to start and the book side of tumblr failed me the last time I tried asking them for recs

Hell yeah! I made some old posts for this a while back, but it's good to look at it again with my more recent taste! Let's see...

Classic Gothics

Dracula: The one, the only. Often imitated, never equalled.

Frankenstein: Short, sad and world changing! Can get a little slow at parts, but definitely worth it. (True story, my parents read this to me as a fetus to calm my kicking, so it's part of my personal mythology!)

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward: The most gothic of Lovecraft's work, and possibly my favorite. Novella length, usually found in collections.

The Picture of Dorian Gray: Sinister, sexy, philosophical, with a main character I want to punch in the face!

Carmilla: Another novella, about as lush and swooning as vampire stories get.

The Hound of the Baskervilles: A very readable gothic mystery.

Confessions of a Justified Sinner: This one isn't as action packed, but if you have big religious issues like me, it's incredibly haunting.

The Monk: Like the above, but sleazier and crazier!

Northanger Abbey: A gentle parody of early gothics, starring an adorable proto-goth girl.

The Italian: I'll be honest, I find Anne Radcliffe kind of a slog, but if you liked Northanger Abbey and want to read what Catherine Morland reads, this is probably the most accessible.

A Long Fatal Love Chase: This starts as campy and then takes a plunge into gut-wrenchingly intense. The book Jo March was always trying to write!

The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Another novella, and Stevenson is one of the best writers out there for excitement!

The Werewolf of Paris: Gothic monster as serial killer, still scary today.

Rebecca: The foundation of all gothic romance to come afterwards. A ghost story without a ghost, with an ending that's still debated as happy or sad!

Jane Eyre: The other foundation of all gothic romance to come afterwards. I bounced off the child abuse-heavy beginning a few times, but I'm very glad I finally read to the good stuff!

The Castle of Otranto: Considered the first gothic novel, a goofy b-movie in written form.

Modern-ish Gothics (post-1950 or so)

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein: Fuck the haters, I love this book.

Mexican Gothic: Genuinely scary, genuinely romantic, genuinely creative. A favorite.

Blackwater: A southern gothic saga of a family in a flooded town, whose scion marries a woman who isn't quite human. A whirlwind ride!

A Bloodsmoor Romance: Another family saga, this one northern gothic, with sisters whose lives all go off the rails in different supernatural ways. Give this a try before writing Joyce Carol Oates off entirely!

The Silver Devil: A nasty, problematic bodice ripper where you'll cheer for the heroine to bring the hero down low!

Interview with the Vampire: To be honest again, I'm not super into Anne Rice, but this is a page-turner, and every vampire book that has come after it has had to respond to it in one way or another. Read the next two Vampire Chronicles books if you like it!

A Taste of Blood Wine: My own preferred sexy vampire romance!

The Bloody Chamber: The ultimate dark sexy fairy tale work, accept no substitutes.

Haunted Castles: Contains the brilliant novella Sardonicus, as well as some other campy gothic stories!

A Great and Terrible Beauty: Many millennials were introduced to the gothic genre via this, Fear Street Sagas, or A Series of Unfortunate Events. This is my favorite of the three, though the sequels are a bit of a letdown.

Gormenghast: This series is a throwback to the pseudo-medieval, Otranto-style gothic, but much better. Don't read Titus Alone.

[feefymo]

The Rorchach Effect - Part 1

Jimmy Darling x fem! reader - NSFW • MDNI word count: 2757 author's notes: it was like a multiple birth but here we are. This is my very first attempt of a fanfiction (and it's not written in my native language) but I worked a lot on it and I hope you enjoy it. I tried to keep It simple. After mulling it over I chose to divide the fic in two parts and yes: the smut is in the second part! It's not proofread because I'm a kamikaze, yes. Little curiosity: I was partly inspired by Saltburn and this soundtrack. What else? I'll leave you to read! Be kind, pleaseee! My hashtag is #ficfymo ! summary: Elsa threw a party for Jimmy's birthday but no one knows where he ended up. Fem! Reader POV. warnings: mention of violence, and blood. I think that's it, for now. https://open.spotify.com/intl-it/track/6Huqy9WdEE3rMazEQgajn2?si=2105621ac0044260

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome.

I'm the one they call the Rorschach Woman; my real name is not important.

Do any of you know what vitiligo is? Vitiligo is a disease but in the maternal arms of Elsa Mars, nothing is bad. None of her adopted children are sick: we all have a gift, don't we, Elsa? I had a boundless love for ballet, I was busily studying psychiatry, I was a "prodigy girl" or, at least, I thought I was. Then, the vitiligo showed up. What I thought was my downfall, according to Elsa, represented the true miracle. I gave up dancing; I gave up on my dream of becoming a researcher. I lost the support of my real parents because my appearance had changed but hey! Now I have my own number in Elsa Mars Freak Show. I'm here to enchant you. To let you read the spots on my face. I'm here to interpret your minds. This is my personal test of Rorschach, offered to you, kind audience. A few dollars and you can study me, myself every night but not every night are like this. Tonight I want to tell you a story 'cause today is my best friend's birthday. The brother I've chosen. Tonight, a big party was thrown for him but there's no trace of him. Where did you go, Jimmy Darling?

Let's take a step back.

I've never seen the camp so packed. Never. If all these people showed up for every show, each of us would be filthy rich. I don't understand how it is possible and yet, Elsa must have performed one of her magics. She says she consider Jimmy her blood, so she claimed to organize everything herself. She chose a party theme: "Normal People". She call it "satire", a mockery towards those who are truly considered normal. Some of us believed her, others adapted to avoid getting into trouble. The truth is that, by disguising ourselves according to the canons, we appear even less credible. Grotesque. Ridicolous. I couldn't resist a subtle provocation, so I made my complexion uniform but with the white of French mimes. Like a pierrot. Totally painted in white, I wander around in a champagne dress. I look like a crazy moth until I find the flame. That flame is Jimmy himself, surrounded by a myriad of strangers who urge him to blow out the candles.

- Happy birthday… uhm… -

- Happy birt… Joseph? -

- Jack? John? -

- I think it's Jimmy. -

- Jimmy? Are you sure? -

- JIMMY! -

The music does not cover the murmurs nor the embarrassment that comes down like a curtain. I try to push and elbow to reach my best friend but I can't. He's standing there, nerves to edge: he looks around, clenching his teeth. He seems lost while he's trying to put an unconvinced smile on his Peter Pan face. Once the candles have been blown out, Jimmy disappears in the general disinterest. Nobody cares, the party continues as if nothing had happened, fueling an atmosphere that has nothing normal about it. It's something like a mesmerizing nightmare in the suffused lights that Elsa had placed everywhere. A luminous design that even turns into a labyrinth in the wild meadow near the main event. It should be a modern fairy tale for the privileged who want to escape from the routine. For us, scum, it's an illusion. A utopia, a warning of what we will never achieve but I don't give a fucking damn. Sincerely. If I'm still here it's not because of Elsa nor because I truly appreciate her Cabinet Of Curiosities. I'm still here for my "acquired family" and for the boy who should be the protagonist of the evening which no one cares about.

Driven by the chaos, I search for familiar faces in the dim light until I come across Ethel; she shaved her chin. She is holding a plate with a slice of cake that she has prepared herself and she's standing in the dancing crowd, with a worried and resigned look. We both knows who the cake is for: Ethel has seen his son, maybe talked to him but she won't chase him. I prefer to not disturb her but I don't give up: retreating into a slit of darkness I collide with someone and jump perhaps exaggeratedly. Paul emerges from the darkness, rubbing his side with a grimace. He wears a hideous, gigantic suit to disguise his condition. It makes it look like a sad parallelepiped. Doctor Frankenstein's Creature.

-Paul, sorry! Did I hurt you?! -

-Nah, no biggies! What about you? You're nervous, what's happening? -

-Well, uh, I'm… have you seen Jimmy? I've been looking for him all night. -

- First I saw him with a brunette, she was dragging him towards El-'s tent… hey, that's the one over there! -

But the brunette is not in Jimmy's company: laughing rudely with her friends, she passes by me in a sweet-smelling cloud of glitters. She carries with her a kind of old oil lantern lit on a gesture that makes my blood run cold: cheeky, she twirls a battered glove on her head and, in one breath of Pink Lady, she's already too far away. Even though I would like to, I'm not going to confront her and complicate things because I prefer to follow her steps backwards. An alarm screams wildly inside me and I have to comply with it by launching myself out of the tent. The humidity of the night sticks to my skin, kneading the white paint that I thought was dry. I'm a mess inside and out but it doesn't matter at all.

- JIMMY! - I call, shout and run. I run, run, run like a fugitive. A voice whispers the worst to me and maybe I'm crazy but I can't help it. - JIMMY! - I keep repeating myself but he doesn't answer. The throat burns, the feet go by themselves, swaying dangerously on the heels. I didn't even realize I had ventured onto the lawn until I felt tickles on my ankles. Fräulain Elsa's illuminations invite me to follow their aura like drunken fireflies and I, disaffected, accept. I'm not afraid that Jimmy is dead but, worse, that he's gone. That he left me alone, leaving suddenly and without me. He promised me that if we ever succeeded, we would leave together and one suitcase would be enough to move to Europe. He always kept his promises, he…

I stop, crystallized in the heaviness of the evening. I hear noises scattered throughout the maze of light bulbs: they come from a specific point but they echo and bounce in the air. It sounds like the clumsy moan of an animal that it would be better not to get close to but I obstinately follow the source to the center of the maze. Once I reach my destination I jump somewhere between horror and relief, putting a hand to my mouth so as not to be discovered immediately. Sitting on the ground is Jimmy Darling. Hunched over, he turns his back to me and fiddles with something I don't understand. He is surrounded by objects, some of which I cannot distinguish. There are a few bottles including one of vermouth still sealed, half a lemon, a shirt reduced to a pile of wrinkles in Granada Green, the other glove specially sewn for the party. Some salt, perhaps? The worst aspect, the most dramatic touch, is a pinata hanging over his skull. A lobster-shaped pinata. As I try to figure out whether or not I'm awake, a low, deep growl forces its way into Jimmy's lungs, flaying them with increasing violence. The growl is quickly turning into the pained cry of an already wounded beast. I won't respect his privacy any longer, so I walk over to him and kneel before him.

- JIMMY! JIM, STOP IT! STOP, DAMMIT! - Jimmy was on the verge of cutting off his left hand with a rusty knife but my arrival ruined his plans. He doesn't recognize me right away and his immediate reaction is to turn against me. He is much, much stronger than me but, even if he vehemently chases me away, I attack again in what turns into a blind scuffle. The moment Jim realizes it's really me, he drops his guard groggily. He is no less upset, nor willing to suddenly change his mind but he grabs me by the elbows and pushes me away roughly so that I don't end up hurting myself. Crawling on the ground, he steps back before pulling himself up and staggering but he isn't drunk. He's been drinking but it's not the alcohol that shakes him like this: I recognize the difference, also because I've never seen him in this state. In his big good eyes there is no freshly roasted coffee but boiling petrolium. His expression, a cracked mask of hatred and at the same time authentic desperation, reduced to its core. He trembles in his sweat-soaked undershirt and makes a gesture that he has never deemed necessary in front of me. He hides his hands, trying in vain to put them in his back pockets, like a child caught red-handed. Does he feel reassured by my presence? Is he bothered by it? He's gasping.

Jimmy what… what are you doing? Why?! - I ask him in tears, advancing slowly on my knees. - NO! - he spits out a scream, trying to freeze me in place. - Please… Y/N, no. Enough. That's enough. - I shake my head, I'm confused and I rub my now soaked cheeks. Gray due to the white mixing with the black of the mascara.

- What are you talking about, pleas st-… -

- SHE SCREAMED, Y/N! SHE SCREAMED IN GENUINE TERROR, I TELL YOU!-

- BUT WHO, JAMES?! FOR GOD'S SAKE, WHO?! -

He hates it when I call him James but that seems strangely to appease him. He stares at me like a madman and, in silence, seems to wonder how it is possible that I don't know the circumstances of his delirium but, gradually, lucidity returns and, at the same time, an atrocious sadness. - That… oh, fuck. She was one of the very few people to smile at me and make me sincere wishes. Did she really want to spend time with me… did I fall for it like an idiot? I do not know. It was her! She chose it, I warned her but… - while Jimmy tries to explain, he forgets to hide from me and gesticulates, so I notice a burn on the hand that he was seriously about to cut off. The living flesh fades from red to the paleness of the bladder. Grains of not completely dissolved salt outline the surface like grotesque lace. He must have poured it in. - She took off my glove, alluding to my skills as a pilot but then a heartbreaking scream and… and… I had to let it go. Instead, I tried to calm her down but she…how the fuck is that possible? How did she not know I'm a fucking freak? It was written all over the damn thing! But she knew it. She knew it very well. My attentions were the perfect excuse to defend herself. She called me a monster, a half-man, an abomination and so on, you know, what's new? But then… she burned me with her fucking lantern. You convince yourself that you have a zest, that you are used to it and yet it's not true. And, as with Meep, the day comes when insults are no longer enough. - he doesn't have the courage to look at me but what he says is intimate. Devastating. Shareable. - The bar of wickedness is raised. Of course! That girl wasn't defending herself. She squirted oil on me once, twice, three times. She was torturing me, only stopped because I raised my arms and… the fear came back. She's gone. -

I'm annihilated. Annihilated by what I see and hear, I undergo the hypnosis of Jimmy's pain which soon becomes mine too. His irises are diluted by a sea of ​​tears; suffering makes him unfairly wonderful. In the meantime I have reached him and, from the bottom of my position, I stare at him without embarrassment. I wrap one arm around his knees while the other grabs his good hand and places it on the back of my neck. He wants to take it away, he puts up a feeble resistance but he hears me sobbing and stops immediately. - Yes, Jimmy: her wish was to hurt you. This isn't a party, it's a visit to the slaughterhouse and we are the pigs. As always. - now I hold him with both arms, rubbing my face between his knees. The fabric of his trousers becomes stained white make-up until my skin is almost clean. I raise my head. My face's a palette used between stains that can be washed away and stains that my skin retains.

- Look at me. Are you looking at me? -

- I am. - he says, with the tone of someone who absolutely has to convince you. He hasn't noticed but he's stroking my hair. His eyebrows furrowed and his mouth turned down. -The kindness with which you caress me has never belonged to anyone among the few who have touched me. Not even my mother. - I'm deadly serious. I look at him with watery eyes but it's his tear that rains down my forehead. - Not even to myself. - because I mistreated myself, inflicted physical pain and consequent signatures but he… - If those are really claws, everyone should have them. Maybe they would learn what kindness is. - if I wasn't the one talking to him, he wouldn't believe me. He would mock me, it would be bitter and biting. Instead he fights with the truth that I offer him and stares at me dazed. Almost angry, hunted. The problem is that he believes me, so he picks me up and it's as if he's looking at me for the very first time. His forehead is damp with sweat, so I free his unruly curls before rummaging through my clutch bag. I make sure he follows my gestures and I take out a box of matches: I choose one and place it under the perfect curve of his nose. He flinches but stays as I light the end and, solemnly, set the piñata on fire. While the papier-mâché lobster is devoured by the flames, little by little, melted sweets and chocolate perish in the meadow. Neither of us needs to introduce what's about to happen: just as I stand on tiptoe, he lowers his disheveled head and the tips of our noses meet. It's the last chance to retract before the soft "m" of his upper lip meets my lower lip, dehydrated from makeup. In the first friction there is the disbelief of all the years in which we have not allowed ourselves and then, surrounded by the smell of burning, the kiss intensifies in an unstoppable crescendo. Jimmy wraps his bare arms around my body with the eagerness of someone who must survive. For my part, I let out a moan and cling to his shoulder blades: I realize what I wanted and how much I needed to be satisfied. Jimmy and I share the thrill of the kiss, so much so that he murmurs something incomprehensible against my teeth before parting them with his tongue and searching for mine. He holds my head as if I were water and he was drinking and he doesn't care about the cosmetic taste I have on; his lips turn pale. He slides down my neck without any self-control and I understand that he would take me here, right now. In the midst of the fire. - Wait. - I try to stop him with a deafening smooch. We are out of breath and the air is irrespirable but he stares at me with an imploring look. - How much longer? - he plead. I feel his blood vibrate under his golden skin, between the vertebrae of his broad back. - You have to trust me: I have an idea. - The smoke screen rises towards the sky and us. We… dissolve in the middle.

taglist: @taintandviolent @silverzoomies @doll3tt33 @wh0re43van @fear-is-truth + PLEASE, If you want to be added or I forgot someone, let me know!

[thalialunacy]

[written for the @calaisreno FABULOUS MAY PROMPTS FEST! This is the last one from me, folks. Thanks for being along for the ride. 💋]

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) 31: pride

'End, begin, all the same.' - Aughra, "The Dark Crystal"

The tannoy at the train station nearest Sherlock's parents' house is phlegmatic enough that John almost doesn't catch their names being called.

He exchanges glances with Sherlock over the top of Rosie's head, but the detective is of no real help. 'Fine, then. Let's go at least see what it is.'

Sherlock makes his Calculating Risk face, then nods. 'The odds of it being an assassin are low.'

'Comforting,' John replies dryly as they exit towards the car park. Then he sees what's ahead of them. 'Are you sure?'

Because in the waiting zone is an understated but incredibly expensive car, and there's a well-suited, quietly brick house-like man standing by the driver's side door.

'Fairly,' Sherlock says, mouth twisting. 'He's one of Mycroft's.'

'Not reassuring, really.'

The man assesses them blandly as they approach. 'My only objective is the car hand-off, gents. You're to drive yourselves.'

John shifts Rosie to his other side. 'Yes, erm. Where… To?'

'Dumfries,' the man says shortly, handing a thin dossier to Sherlock. 'Cheers.'

Sherlock watches him go with a scowl. 'If Mycroft could stop being an interfering busybody for one moment-- Oh.'

John glances at his expression, and clearly there's something of note in the dossier--presumably a case--but he has a toddler to wrestle into a car seat. Because of course there's a carseat. Interfering or no, Mycroft is an incredibly detail-oriented busybody.

Sherlock's scowl stays in place as they get underway, and John clears his throat. 'Want me to fire up the old GPS?'

Sherlock looks for a moment like John's vocabulary pains him -- it probably does, John thinks with not a little bit of amusement -- then nods.

This is unusual-- Sherlock likes to show off his navigation skills, and to be fair, John finds them impressive-- so John complies without issue. He pulls open the dossier and scans it for the name of their lodgings, which he puts into his phone absently. 'I've not been to this part of Scotland since I was a kid. There's a triangular castle with a real siege weapon, and--'

He stops. Stares at the phone screen.

"Gretna Green," it declares as their destination.

'I see you've figured out Mycroft's cunning plan,' Sherlock intones.

John lets out an incredulous laugh. 'Is he taking the piss?'

'He's hired us a car which is probably worth more than the one he owns, so I'd say not.'

As if on cue (and that will never not be creepy, John swears) John's phone pings with several texts.

Consider this a hint.

The case is more than adequate, if my brother complains.

Don't let your country, or my mother, down.

MH

John opens his mouth, but Sherlock cuts him off. 'He sent me a similar message.'

'Lovely,' John mutters. 'Well.' He considers. 'The hired house looks like something out of a very brand-conscious fairy tale, so that'll be amusing for Rosie.'

'Grimms tales, maybe,' Sherlock mutters. John's lips quirk.

They're silent for a while, comfortable, listening to Rosie smash plastic toys together in the back-- she's very fond of dinosaurs, particularly the bloodthirsty kind-- and not really watching the countryside go by.

John's scrolling through podcast options on his phone when Sherlock eventually breaks the silence. 'Do you know--' he starts.

'Probably not,' John says easily.

'Gretna Green have actually been very reluctant about relinquishing their old-fashioned image.'

John watches his face. 'Meaning… white?'

Sherlock's mouth quirks. 'Among other things.' He glances at John, who only takes a moment to get the inference.

'Ah, I see. Well.' He considers it, then his risk-loving brain decides for him. He plucks Sherlock's free hand up and presses his lips to one knuckle. 'Feel like upsetting some apple carts?' he asks, smirking.

Sherlock's hand tightens with his answering grin. 'God, yes.'

Fin fuckin finally

[Y'all, I have been to Gretna Green and it's reeeeal heteronormative, despite technically offering same-sex weddings (eg that's literally the only queer-coded picture on the site afaik). I just love the idea of J&S causing chaos there by being extraordinarily traditional while also being two blokes, and, you know, being themselves.]

[aishangotome]

Alfons Sylvatica: [Blind Love] Chapter 25

Chapter 24 Normal Story

♡———♡

If life were a fairy tale, it would be easy to become happy.

Do not listen to evil temptations.

Do not be deceived by convenient illusions.

Then a calm, ordinary, and commonplace happiness awaits.

But - isn't that boring?

Jude: 'Ey, commoner. Catch.

Kate: Huh? Wow, ... a letter?

With 2 days left until the promised 1 month later, in the morning while eating breakfast, an envelope fluttered in front of me.

The culprit who threw it sat down and opened the newspaper without any explanation.

Ellis: Yours was mixed in with Jude's letters.

Kate: Ah, I see, that's what happened.

Alfons: It's rare for Jude to deliver a mixed-up letter instead of turning it into charcoal.

Jude: Throwin' it in the fireplace or on a plate is the same.

Ellis: Who's the letter from?

Kate: Let's see ... from the postmaster.

What was written there when I opened it was -

Kate: "If you're coming back as planned after finishing your work at the palace, you're welcome back" ... that's what it says.

(Come back, huh ...)

The scent of my former daily life wafted from the envelope and letter paper, and I narrowed my eyes.

Kate: It's kind of nostalgic ... It seems like a long time ago that I was delivering mail.

Liam: Are you going back, Kate? To the post office?

Kate: Huh?

Harrison: ... That's Kate's freedom. It's not for us to say anything about it.

Liam: But, Al, you're curious, right?

Alfons: No, not really.

Alfons slowly turns his gaze towards me.

Alfons: Why don't you do what you think is fun, Kate?

Kate: - Yes, of course.

Kate: I'm going to do what I want to do.

-

Victor: Yes, yes, it's well written.

Victor: As expected of Miss Kate, the contents of the report are concrete, detailed, and perfect.

Kate: Thank you, Victor.

Victor: In the beginning, I can feel your eagerness to understand all the cursed people equally.

Victor: From the middle, it gradually turns into a research essay on the mirror curse.

Kate: ... I'm ashamed to say, there's no room for excuses ...

The report I was gradually writing, just like my mind, clearly showed how it was gradually being eroded by Alfons.

Victor: If you give it to Roger, he'll be delighted.

(... Sorry, I actually already "gave" it to him.)

I've shared excerpts from the middle and later parts of the report with Roger.

(I can't tell Victor that I leaked the report to Roger.)

I want to continue having a good relationship with Roger.

His knowledge and research are essential for what I "want to do."

---Isn't that a bribe? You can't say anything about me.

(No. This is just ... an investment in the future, an investment.)

I answer Alfons, who's stirring things up in my head, insincerely.

Victor: Tomorrow is the deadline for the promise I made with you.

Victor: For this month, as per our contract, you kept the secret and recorded their sins.

Victor: If you get through tonight - you're free.

Victor: Can you tell me? How do you intend to live from now on?

Kate: I -

Kate: As a Fairytale Keeper, I want to continue searching for a way to escape Alfons' fate.

Looking up, Victor gently narrowed his eyes.

I remember the day I first saw their eyes shining in the darkness.

I wanted to escape this place, but now I don't want to leave.

Because I found something important that I can only do here.

Victor: ... Why do want to do so?

Kate: Because I don't want to forget a single trace that he carves on me.

Kate: If he dies before me - at that time, I want to say "I will never forget you."

Kate: And if possible, I want those words to be ... not just a convenient illusion.

Kate: I want them to be reality.

The fate of the cursed is absolute.

But - I can't give up without trying.

(Besides ...)

Kate: I'm going to spend my life proving to Alfons, who surely thinks it's absolutely impossible, wrong!

Victor: ...

Kate: If the tragedy turns around, it will become the best comedy, right?

I know it's mostly a gamble.

A big gamble with my life at stake.

If I lose, despair awaits.

(But, I'll surely turn it into a comedy.)

(I won't let him become a stage device for tragedy.)

Victor: ... Escape from fate, huh. ... Yeah.

Victor: That's a wonderful goal. I feel like you can do it.

Victor: You're free. You can go anywhere and do anything.

Victor: When you feel lost, don't forget that we're on your side.

Kate: ... Yes. Thank you.

Victor: Well then, once again - welcome, Kate.

Victor: Let me welcome you to the world of darkness.

-

--On the way back from getting permission to meet the postmaster and submitting my resignation.

Harrison, who accompanied me, asked as he walked a little behind me.

Harrison: Hey ... are you really okay with this?

Kate: With what?

Harrison: I'll tell you because I know ... but Al is probably out in the night town again.

Kate: ... I know.

Even though we're lovers now, it seems Alfons' "rotten private life" continues.

Harrison: You threw away your everyday life and chose a dark path.

Harrison: Is it okay to forgive him?

Kate: ... I -

At that moment, a carriage stopped next to us.

(Wh-what ...!?)

While I was on guard, the carriage door opened ----,

Harrison: ---!

Kate: Kyaaah!?

I was pulled into the carriage by the arm that reached out.

-

(Who, what!? An enemy of the Crown!? A kidnapper!?)

Alfons: Kate, it's me, me.

Kate: Ah, Alfons!?

Before I could be surprised, the carriage starts rattling away.

Kate: Ah, I need to explain to Harrison...!

Alfons: This carriage has the Crown's exclusive exterior, so Harry will probably figure it out.

(I see...)

Realizing I was the only one panicking, I feel a bit dissatisfied and glance at Alfons next to me.

(Oh, he doesn't have that scent today...)

On the nights he goes out, he always has that cloying, twisted scent of nightlife, a symbol of his decadent lifestyle.

**flashback**

Harrison: You chose a dark path, throwing away your everyday life.

Harrison: Can you really forgive that?

**flashback over**

His words from earlier flash through my mind––

--CHOICES--

In that shady room?

Were you out drinking?

Were you giving illusions somewhere?

---------------

Kate: Were you giving illusions somewhere?

Alfons: Well, yes, something like that.

His nonchalant profile makes me push down the frustration in my throat.

As I'm caught in a swirl of conflicting feelings, wanting to question him more but also afraid to touch the subject,

Alfons: ...Does it not bother you?

A straightforward question comes flying from Alfons.

Kate: Well... it would be a lie to say it doesn't bother me at all.

But I can't bring myself to blame him.

(It's not that I'm afraid of being seen as troublesome.)

(Because, I...)

Kate: ...It's because you do those things that I fell for you.

Kate: Whether you're giving illusions in the slums, providing an escape in the back of a tavern,

Kate: Or something else... I don't know,

Kate: But I know there's a kind of pain there that makes you want to offer an escape.

Alfons: ...

(Even without looking, I can see Alfons' dumbfounded expression.)

But it can't be helped.

Kate: It's fine! Ah... but at least...

Kate: Heartfelt kisses, sincere "I love you"s, those kinds of things... please keep them for me alone.

Alfons: ...

Alfons: Then––is it okay for me to do this kind of thing with other people too?

Kate: ...?

Alphonse's palm smoothly slid around my waist as I sat beside him.

Pulled closer, unable to escape, I surrendered to his touch. His hand crawled up my leg, causing my body to jump in surprise.

Alfons: Don't you hate it when I touch anyone other than you?

The hand that was messing up my skirt went from my back to my chest, playing with my clothes.

As I tried to hold back the voice that was about to leak out, he gently bit my ear.

Kate: Hahh, uhh...

Alfons: Hey, Kate.

Alfons: How far would you let me go?

Kate: Ah, ah...

His fingertip nearly entered my underwear, and I couldn't take it anymore, so I raised a white flag.

Kate: ...N-no...

Kate: Of course I don't want that...

Alfons: Hehe, you've finally become honest.

Even though I tried to be an understanding girlfriend, he pulled out my true feelings and made me tear up.

He looked at me like that and gave a troubled smile.

Alfons: I'm afraid I can't stop going out at night. It's my hobby, my pleasure, and my life's work.

Kate: I... I know...

Alfons: Going out drinking, showing illusions... but

Alfons: I want to try to love you properly, so

Alfons: I won't do that with anyone other than you... no kissing, no caressing, no sex.

(I want to believe it but......)

Kate: ... ... It's definitely a lie... ...

Kate: So that I won't suffer again, so that I won't be sad again, that's how you––

Alfons: Ah ha! So that you won't suffer? No way! I don't have that intention at all.

Alfons: ––You're happy, right?

Alfons: I'm yours alone. I only do pleasant things with you.

Kate: ……?

Whether it's "true" or "not true."

Like a coin that keeps spinning, the result is unknown.

Alfons: Even with these words that are unclear whether they are lies or truth, they are engraved in the depths of your heart.

Alfons: You'll surely remember them every time I go out at night.

As if under a spell, Alfons' words are engraved in my head.

Alfons: You might tail me again to see if it's true, right?

Alfons: If you find out it's true, it will be engraved even deeper.

Alfons: That way, you can keep thinking about me forever and ever.

His words enter me.

It's surely another wicked spell that will take root and cause mischief.

Alfons: I don't make love to you properly to make you feel at ease.

Alfons: It's to dig my claws deep into your heart and leave a scar that won't disappear.

Kate: ... ... Uuu... ...

Unable to endure it any longer, tears finally spilled out.

Alfons wiped away the tears with a smile, as if comforting a child.

Alfons: Ah ha, are you scared?

Kate: No...!

Kate: These are... ... tears of joy.

Alfons, who tried to disappear without leaving a trace, is trying to leave deep claw marks.

Because that is the undeniable proof of his love.

Kate: I'm crying... ... because I'm happy.

Alfons: ... ... Then cry more.

His wicked hands touch me, not to test my true feelings this time, but to love me.

Kate: ... ... In a carriage like this... ...

Alfons: You said that before, too.

Alfons: That time, I didn't finish it...

Alfons: ––Today, please make me feel good too.

A sweet and dangerous temptation is poured into my ear.

Even without being shown an illusion, I already...

––I can't resist this voice.

-

We made love in the cramped carriage, unable to even muffle our voices, and drifted off to sleep—

Kate: Hmm...

Alfons: ...Ah, you're finally awake?

As I woke up, Alfons' voice gently fell upon my eyelids.

Alfons: How was it? Was my thigh comfortable to sleep on?

Kate: ...It was...very nice...

Alfons: That's good to hear.

He chuckled and his fingertips gently stroked my hair.

As I slowly sat up, I noticed my blouse was crumpled and falling off.

I hurriedly picked it up to cover myself, but Alfons laughed again, saying, "There's no need to hide now."

Outside, the sky was tinged with pale pink, and the carriage seemed to be parked in front of the Crown Castle entrance.

There was no sign of the coachman.

Alfons, with his back to the window, was faintly outlined by the light, as if the morning sun was blessing him or the darkness was reluctant to let him go.

He was so beautiful that I held my breath and stared, and our eyes gently met.

Alfons: Hey, Kate.

Alfons: I secretly heard what you "want to do"...

(Huh...?)

"I want to keep searching for a way to escape Alfons' fate."

I wonder what he thought of me telling Victor that.

Alfons: Honestly, I thought it was foolish.

Alfons: It's called "fate" because it can't be escaped.

Alfons sighed softly and then smiled serenely.

Alfons: But—I quite like that overly serious side of you.

Kate: ...Don't say "quite," say you like it "a lot."

Alfons: ...

(What...?)

He fell unusually silent at my retort, then gently took my hand.

(Alfons...?)

His gesture was unusually respectful, so I was surprised and lost for words.

Alfons: ...I'm not good with straightforward words of love.

Alfons: I've said "I love you" and "I like you" too many times without meaning it.

Alfons: The moment I say it, it feels like a lie.

Alfons: So—please forgive me with this.

His lips gently touched the back of my hand, like a sacred vow.

Alfons, with his eyes downcast, had a very sincere expression.

If there was such a thing as a true love's kiss in this world, I think this kiss would be it.

Alfons: I will make you supremely happy...and someday, I will make you despair.

There's no guarantee that fate can be changed.

So, for him, this is a love that will lead me to tragedy.

But—.

Kate: ...I will be made supremely happy.

Kate: But I won't despair.

Alfons: ...Honestly.

Alfons: As long as you're laughing in the end, I feel like any tragedy can turn into a comedy.

Kate: Heh, leave it to me.

You can make fun of me all you want.

So, Alfons, please keep smiling happily.

Kate: I'll turn your life, my life, everything into a comedy.

Alfons: Yes, yes.

Alfons: Let's have as much fun as we can, shall we?

-

Mirror, mirror, don't show me convenient dreams.

Even if reality is full of sadness...

Tell me your truth.

Carve it into my heart, my body.

Because I will never let this love become an illusion.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Blind Love: Epilogue

If you’d like to support my translations, feel free to buy me a coffee here! :)

[lostfirefly]

Storybook endings, fairy tales coming true, deep down inside we want to believe they still do

I haven't written for the reader for a long time. Sorry guys. I was a little emotionally exhausted. As always, this fic was not planned and was born here. I had fun writing it, I hope you enjoy it too. The name of the fic was inspired by Buggy's daughter question about love. English isn't my native language, errors may occur. As always, feel free to share your thoughts :)

Buggy and F!Reader - Masterlist is here.

Description: Buggy tells a fairy story to children.

Warnings: Buggy is talking nonsense, fun, Impel Down vibes (woooohooo!)

WC: 5467 (this's the longest fic for the reader I've ever written, haha)

Taglist: @gingernut1314, @operationroots, @buggy-samaaa, @hey-august (i hope you don't mind), @emmiebugz-blog (in case you missed it)

The title is taken from “Ever Ever After” by Carrie Underwood.

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

“Please, Elodie, Oak and Blandina, calm down!” You stood beside one bunk bed and one regular bed and, and tried to put on your son's pajamas. “Bedtime!”

“We don't want to sleep!” With glee, they replied, and showed their tongues.

“Oh my God, you're going to drive me crazy, just like your father!” You watched as the three kids started running around you. 

They were your and Buggy's kids. The oldest was a boy named Oak, he was 8. Buggy named him that because he thought the baby reminded him of a tree trunk in the first few months after birth. Oak was an exact copy of his father. With blue hair, green eyes, a red nose and a bad clown temper. He loved spending evenings with Buggy on the deck, rummaging through papers and maps, and diligently imitated his father in everything. You were incredibly amused by the look of frustration on their faces every time when you wouldn't let them launch the Buggy Ball.

“Where's daddy? We went to his office this afternoon, but he wasn't there.” In unison came the sad voices of two girls.

Elodie and Blandina, two twins, and they were six. You hadn't planned any more children since your first son, but one day, after a successful island robbery and a big party to celebrate it, Buggy didn't hold back and two weeks later you realized you were pregnant. At first, you thought he'd be upset, but he was happy. 

During both of your pregnancies, Buggy read a lot of books, and honestly, you didn't expect that. During your breakfasts and dinners together, he was constantly telling you what he had read in books. If a book mentioned eating a certain fruit for health during pregnancy, this fruit showed up on the ship soon. Buggy stole the baby's crib (okay, he stole everything for the babies). The crew was exhausted by the end of your pregnancy because Buggy kept sending them to islands to get things (beds, toys or anything else) or food he had read about in books. 

He was hoping for the birth of two more boys, whom he planned to raise as the eldest son and then organize a family crime guild, but two girls were born. Buggy jumped with happiness when he saw them and immediately named them Elodie and Blandina. Elodie was also born with blue hair, but she inherited your eye color, she was five minutes older than Blandina, and she was always reminding her sister of that. Blandina had green eyes and your hair color, and a nose like Buggy. And every time Elodie reminded her that she was older, Blandina poked her nose and said she looked more like her father. Unfortunately, all your kids inherited Buggy's personality. 

“Mommy, where's daddy?” Elodie crossed her arms and jumped into the bed. 

“Your dad is busy. He'll be here soon. He has to finish his captain's business, and then he's going to look over the ship to make sure we're safe and come over to say goodnight.” You sat down next to Elodie, and Blandina, with Oak, immediately jumped on the bed, curling up next to you. 

“Daddy doesn't love me. He left his cabin this afternoon and didn't wait for me. I brought him tea, but he wasn't there.” Blandina frowned and buried her forehead in her knees.

“What are you talking about, sweetheart? He loves you very much. Do you know how he'd been waiting for all of you? He used to put his head on my belly every night and talk to you. I'm sure if he knew his sweet Blandina was coming with tea, he would have waited for you.” You nuzzled your daughter's head. 

“Tomorrow, dad promised to show me how to make a bomb! Cool!!” Oak rolled from his back to his buttocks with joy. “I’m so excited!!”

“And daddy promised to get me the most delicious ice cream. He's gonna use his powers and steal me the most delicious ice cream!!!” Elodie showed her tongue to Oak.

“I want ice cream too!” Blandina raised her head and looked at you. “Why won't daddy steal me ice cream?” She started sobbing.

“Because I'm five minutes older than you! He loves me more since he's known me a whole five minutes longer.” Elodie showed her palm with five fingers and tongue again. 

“Elodie, stop it! Daddy loves you all equally!” You said sternly but calmly. 

“Relax, Blandina.” Oak lay on his back, one leg crossed over the other, and started dangling his leg. “Our dad is like superman. He's going to split up and bring us all ice cream.” He put his hands behind his head. “God, that's so cool that he can do that. Why can't I do that? Mom, why didn't you think this through?”

“How was I supposed to think this through?” You rolled her eyes and hugged Blandina tightly.

“Damn! Why is it not hereditary?” Oak gasped and rolled sharply onto his buttocks. “Should I eat that fruit too?” 

“Over my dead body, Oak!” You slapped his head lightly.

“Ouch, why?” He scratched the top of his head. “That's so cool! I'll be like dad!” 

“You won't be able to swim, dummy!” Elodie said in a mocking voice and lightly tapped her brother on the head.

“Yeah, your dad loved it and misses it a lot.” You exhaled sadly.

“Hm.. I didn't think about that. Damn!” Oak lightly punched the knee. “Then I want a coat and a hat like his. And then, when I grow up, I'll gather my own crew and build my own ship. And dad and I will be the most formidable alliance in all the seas.” 

“Of course you will, sweetie!” You kissed your son on the cheek.

“Damn, mom! Stop doing that!” Oak wiped his cheek. “I bet dad doesn't like it, so I don't like it!” 

“Oh, you are so wrong!” You giggled. “Okay, everyone, let's go to bed, I'm going to tell you a story.” You nudged all the kids into their beds, covered the girls and Oak with a blanket, and sat down in a chair. “Okay, listen. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess…”

“Hoooray!! A love story!!” The girls gave each other high-fives. 

“Oh, no! Not about the princess! Ew!” Oak crinkled his face. “Why do I have to listen to these snotty pink stories forever? There was a princess, she sat in a castle, then a prince of unreal beauty came to her, saved her from a dragon, or a witch or another creature, and they had a wedding to a song the birds sang happily to them. Bla-bla! That sucks! I want a normal fairy tale! Tell me a normal fairy tale, mom! About pirates and treasure. Shit!” 

“Oak! Watch your language! There are girls here!” You walked over to his bed and covered him with a second blanket. “I'm going to tell your father ever~!”

You didn't have time to finish the sentence before you heard the nursery door close with a clatter, and the scolding and shuffling of heavy footsteps came from the next room. 

“Dad!!!” Oak jumped up from the bed. 

“Quiet!” You grabbed your son's hand and reached under the bed for the bat with your other hand. 

A few months ago, when Buggy was away from the ship, the vessel was attacked by small-time pirates. They were hoping to find treasure on the Big Top, but they didn't make it in time. Buggy and part of the crew returned just as the pirates from that small ship broke into the nursery. Gangers, along with the part of the crew that missed the attack, quickly went overboard. Buggy screamed at the whole crew all evening, and it took you a lot of effort to calm him down.

“Buggy, is that you?” You shouted toward the other side of the room, holding back your son, who was already ready to run that way. 

“Yes! Do I need to tap our secret code or can I log in already?” A tired, hoarse voice came from behind the door. “Fuck, I'm exhausted!” Buggy piled into the bedroom and flopped into a chair and silently raised his hand, greeting everyone.

“DAD!!!” The girls yelled with glee.

“FINALLY!!” Oak pulled out of your arms and ran onto Buggy's lap. “Mom thought it was bandits again, but I wasn't even scared. At all! I would have protected everyone, like you did then. When I remember how you scattered everyone with your abilities then, and then threw everyone overboard, it gives me goosebumps!! Where have you been? Oh, oh! What are we going to do tomorrow? The bombs? Are you going to show me how to shoot them? And how to throw knives? Oh, I want to learn to read maps like you!” He rubbed your husband's tired body. 

Husband. You've been married for two years. One morning, Buggy decided that after 10 years of a relationship and three children, he needed to propose to you. Buggy called you into the nest, where, to the sound of fireworks and music, he proposed to you. You got married when your daughters were four. The wedding celebration dragged on for two weeks because a wedding to Buggy - implies the flashiest and sometimes strangest wedding ever. He took you to several islands, each of which he threw a ceremony with the brightest fireworks, the biggest noisy party and the biggest cake. And Buggy had an ulterior motive for this: he wanted every person on every island to know that you became his wife.

“Oak, stop torturing your father.” You walked up to your husband's tired body and kissed his head. “Hi! Is everything okay?” You watched him remain silent. “Want some tea?” 

Buggy nodded. 

“I'll get it now.” You kissed him again and walked to the other side of the room.

“So,”  Buggy exhaled and patted his son on the shoulder, “what did my Buggy Gang do today?”

“We played with dolls with mom and helped her cook pasta, but it didn't work out and everything burned.” Blandina said in a very upset voice and was about to cry when she hid under her pink blanket. “I thought you were hungry. I wanted you to have lunch, but I ruined it.”

“So it was you who made this delicious pasta? I don't know, I tried it, and it was tasty.” Buggy took Oak's hand and led him to the bed where Blandina was laying. They both plopped down on the bottom bunk. 

“Really? Did you like it?” She lifted the blanket and looked at Buggy with wide, wet eyes. 

"Of course, my jelly bean!" Buggy patted Blandina and nodded. 

It took you a long time to teach Buggy to answer children like that, because before, and even now, he sometimes doesn’t filter his words. Blandina crawled out from under the blanket, sat on his lap and hugged him tightly. Buggy kissed his daughter on the top of her head. 

“I wanna join you too!!” Elodie looked at Blandina on her father's lap, her brother under his arm, and immediately jumped down to them, settling under Buggy's other arm. 

You came back into the room with a large cup of tea, a box of chocolates and small sandwiches, looked at the family picture and smiled widely. “God, you are so cute. You could be on the cover of the World's Greatest Pirate Family magazine right now.” You put the tray next to the bed and handed the cup of tea to Buggy, “Never in my life did I think I would fall in love with a handsome captain who would take me away with him and then have three beautiful children.”

“Oh, mom, please don't tell me that saccharine story about how you saw dad drunk in torn shoes. Every time it ends with those two in tears!” Oak rolled his eyes and pointed at his sisters. “Crybabies!”

“Hey, buddy! I wasn't wearing torn shoes!” Buggy gently slapped his son on his shoulder and looked at you.

“Are you kidding me, Buggy? I almost saw your socks! Sorry, my dear clown, but I remember very well how you crashed into me drunk, then fell to the ground and almost hit me in my nose.” You sipped your tea and took candy. 

“This is so romantic!” The girls sighed in unison. “Even though daddy almost broke mommy's nose, she helped him up and took him to her house, gave him some tea and treated his wounds. And dad fell in love with mommy, didn't he?” Four round eyes looked at Buggy. 

“Yes, jelly beans, that's how it was.” Buggy shifted his gaze to you and winked. “Your daddy fell under the spell of mommy's kindness and beauty.”

“And then you brought her tea from everywhere. And you still do this. I saw it. I’m smart. Not only that, but I notice everything.” Blandina took each of Buggy's fingers in turn. “It's very romantic. I hope my future husband will do the same.” 

“If he won't do that, Blandina,” Buggy touched the tip of his daughter's nose, “I'll rip his di-.” 

“Buggy!” You quickly pulled him up with a shout. “Choose your words!”

“Noo, not romance again!! Dad, tell us a NORMAL story!!” Oak tugged at Buggy's hand. 

“I don't know, Oak, I'm tired. Maybe tomorrow?” Buggy sipped his tea and exhaled tiredly. 

“Ple-e-ease!!!” All three children begged in unison. 

“You can't get away with it, dad. I wanna hear a story too.” You giggled and settled more comfortably in the chair. 

Buggy looked at your mocking face and shook his head. “Okay. The story.. The story.. Oh, I know! Once upon a time, there lived a girl in a castle..”

“Are you kidding me? What’s the bullshit?” Oak slammed his fist on the bed. 

“Oak! What kind of language is that?!!” You said sternly. “It's all your bad influence, Buggy. I've asked you a hundred times not to swear in front of the kids.” 

“Sorry, my marshmallow.” Buggy shrugged guiltily. “Oh, I know, a great story. Have you ever heard the one about the brilliant and amazing pirate who escaped from prison?”

“COOL!!! PIRATES!!!” Oak rubbed his hands happily and sat comfortably under Buggy's armpit.

Buggy placed his palm on son’s head and cleared his throat. “Once upon a time, a fearless pirate, who was being chased by all the marines in the world, ended up in prison. And he ended up there because he raided an island for a year and scared all the inhabitants.” 

“Didn't he get the doors mixed up?” You giggled, eating candies from the box. 

“I don't know what you're talking about, Y/N. In my story, he scared the whole island.” Buggy pulled the children closer. “And there he was, in one of the scariest multi-level underwater prisons. And since he was a famous pirate whose head was worth a lo-o-ot of money, he was put on the very last level, where the most dashing and respected criminals sat.”

“And I thought he stayed on the first level, where the people were weaker.” You were sipping your tea, kicking your feet a little. 

“I know this story better, Y/N!” Buggy glanced at you and winked. 

“Mom, don't interrupt!” Six upset eyes looked at you. 

“Okay, okay! I'm silent!” You ate five candies and mumbled with your mouth full. “See? I’m eating candies!” 

“Thank you!” Buggy kissed each child on the top of the head. “So. It was a very terrible prison, with the most terrible tortures in the whole wide world.” Buggy theatrically waved his hand through the air.

“Wo-o-o-ow!!” Oak said quietly, rounding his eyes. “And what was the name of this pirate?”

“The name? Hm…” Buggy scratched his head. “Ha! Dokeno.” 

“Do-ke-no…” Oak repeated quietly. “What happened next?”

Buggy watched out of the corner of his eye as Elodie tried to reach for her pink dresser without letting go of his hand. He sighed to himself and sent part of his hand to get her box and handed it to his daughter. Elodie patted Blandina on the shoulder and they both settled down behind him. You tilted your head and saw how the girls took out colorful ribbons, hairpins with ducklings and flowers from the box, and began to braid Buggy's hair.

“Da-a-ad!!” Oak hit his father on the arm. “The story!!”

“Yeah, sorry, buddy.” Buggy hugged his son tightly. “Dokeno was on the sixth level of the prison when he realized he needed to escape the prison.”

“Dad…” Elodie's voice came from behind him as she wove Buggy's pink ribbon into his pigtail. 

“Hm?”

“Dokeno escaped because he was in a hurry to see the woman he loved?” 

Buggy shifted his gaze to Oak, who was begging to tell him no, then shifted his gaze to you and saw you shrug. “Yes, sweetheart. He was in a hurry to see his beloved woman. The most beautiful woman in the world.” Buggy saw Oak roll his eyes and laughed. “As I said, Dokeno was a brave pirate and thanks to his ingenuity, he managed to distract the guards and escape the cell.”

“How did he get out?” Buggy heard Blandina's tiny voice, who was pulling hairpins out of boxes. 

“He just got out because he was amazing.” Buggy reached back slightly and stroked his daughter's head. “Don't get distracted, sweetheart, braid my hair”

“All right, daddy!!”

“Dokeno ran past the cells where the most dangerous criminals sat, paying no attention to them, even though they were begging for help. But Dokeno had to get out of here soon, because at any minute his escape could be reported to Warden Magellan.” Buggy wanted to put the bandana in his pocket, but Oak immediately snatched it out of his hands.

“Ma-gel-lan. Was he scary?” Oak lifted his head slightly, looked at Buggy and tied the bandana on his head.

“Yes, very scary. He was so big, ugly and looked like an overgrown bat. He could let out a purple venom that was very dangerous.” Buggy scratched his cheek. “But suddenly Dokeno saw the Crying Boy in the cell, he was wearing a straw hat, and Dokeno’s heart trembled.” 

“Oh, my God!” You laughed, noticing Buggy's look and putting more candy in your mouth. “I'm silent.” 

“Why was the kid locked in a cell?” Elodie twirled the bundle on Buggy's head. 

“He misbehaved, honey. He took what daddy needed.. I mean, Dokeno needed, and he was punished for it.” Buggy exhaled and glanced at his kids in a row. “Anyway, the boy cried and asked for help getting out, offering a bracelet in return. But it wasn't just a bracelet, it was a treasure map. But Dokeno was ashamed to steal from a sad, lonely little boy.”

“Ashamed? He was a fearsome and formidable pirate.” You said, sipping your tea. 

“I'm telling this story, Y/N. And even evil pirates can be good people sometimes.” Buggy put a finger to his lips, showing you the signal to be silent. “Dokeno released the Crying Boy, and they ran together to the fifth level of the prison, which was called Freezing Hell. Level five was completely covered in ice, so much so that the prisoners were freezing to death and the food was so frozen that it was impossible to eat.”

“But how did Dokeno not freeze to death?” Oak asked, scratching his head, quietly copying his father's movements.

“He was warmed by love, dumbass.” Blandina mumbled, fixing the duckling barrettes in Buggy's hair. 

“Yes, he was warmed by love.” Buggy chuckled. “Suddenly, on the fifth level, Dokeno and the Crying Boy met their future running mate. A man... a candle. Yes, the Candle Man.” 

“Wasn't that on level two?” You licked your fingers after candy, dangling your feet. 

“No, that was on level five, Y/N. And in fact, shut up.” Buggy smacked Oak on the top of his head. “Dokeno, the Crying Boy, and the Candle Man ran to find a way out on level four, and they had to do it as soon as possible, since the loudspeaker announced that the most dangerous and handsome criminal had escaped and was about to break out of a prison that no one had broken out of in twenty years.”

“Wow. Dokeno's a badass.” Oak sighed with admiration. 

“Very badass.” You looked at Buggy and sent him an air kiss. 

“Yeah, he was a cool man. The guards in their room noticed that the prisoners had escaped and were already on level five, and sent part of the team to catch the criminals. They sent wolves to catch fearless Dokeno, the Crying Boy and the Candle Man. The wolves wanted to eat the boy, but Dokeno couldn't let them eat the child and chased the wolves away with just... with a look.” Buggy looked at you and shrugged. He called this technique the Intimidating Look.”

“Wow!  the Intimidating Look! What happened next?” Oak grabbed Buggy's hand, looked at his sisters who continued to braid their father's pigtails, and yawned slightly. 

“After they chased the wolves away, they found the stairs that led to the fourth level of the prison. Aren't you kids sleepy yet?” Buggy asked with hope in his voice.

“No, we're fine.” With glee all kids replied

“Oh, man.” Buggy muttered to himself. 

“I don't wanna sleep either.” You giggled, picking up the box of candy.

Buggy looked at you, narrowing his eyes. “Okay. All three of them went up the stairs to the fourth level of the prison, which was called the Blazing Hell and was also known as the Lake of Blood. On that level, prisoners were forced to jump into a cauldron while several others prisoners were forced to deliver wood to keep the cauldron hot. Warden Magellan, upon learning that the prisoners were making their way higher, sent his mercenaries to level three. Some of the prisoners who threw the logs were in a deal with Magellan, and they tried to stop the brave Dokeno. But he threw everyone into the cauldron with one blow and the wood. To keep out of the blood tank, Dokeno took one of the woods the prisoners were using for the cauldron, and as if on a raft floated it to the other side.”

“And how did he float it on a raft? If it was a blazing he-e-ell. It’s the hell. The raft could have caught fire.” You squinted, looking at your husband.

“He just floated through. Dokeno was almighty, okay? Dokeno, the Candle Man, and the Crying Boy, who by the way was sobbing and hysterical the whole way, got on the raft and swam to the passageway to the third level of the prison, which was called Starvation Hell.”

“Wo-o-oah! Starvation Hell.” Oak whispered, taking sandwiches. 

“Yeah.” Buggy adjusted his bandana on the son’s head. “All the prisoners here, who now look haggard and starved, were formerly formidable pirates with a reward of 50,000,000 or more. Due to the high temperature that rises to the third level from the bottom floor, the prisoners here are on the verge of death with virtually no food or water. But on this level, Dokeno, the Candle Man, and the Crying Boy were waiting by Magellan's companions. Minorhinoceros, Minocoala, and Blugori.” 

“Were they fearsome creatures?” Blandina asked in a frightened voice. “Did they threaten poor Dokeno?” 

“No, no, honey!” Buggy stroked his daughter's head. “They were nice animals. Those Blugori were like... like... like cotton candy. Pink and fluff, and with cute funny faces. They didn't want to work for Magellan because they were good beasts.” Buggy scratched his head. “Dokeno, the Candle Man, and the Crying Boy argued because each had their own rescue tactics. The Boy was scared and wanted to go back to his cell, but fearless Dokeno stopped him. The boy sat on the ground in terror, started crying and accidentally touched one of the slabs with his hand, and all three fell into a trap. A net of Sea Stone lifted them into the air.”

“What’s this?” Oak asked, climbing onto his bed.

“This thing that.. you know.. Made people weak. Even the strongest and most fearless.” Buggy scratched his neck and glanced at the daughters. “The Crying Boy and the Candle Man began to hysterically say that they were going to die. The only one who did not panic was Dokeno. He remembered about the knife in his boot and he cut the mesh, which was not subject to other people, but was subject to the blade from Dokeno's boot, and freed his comrades.”

“Wooow!” Oak whispered.

“We nee more ribbons, Blandina!” Elodie jumped off the bed and ran to the dresser, she grabbed yellow ribbons and sat back.

“Guys, don't you want to sleep yet?” Buggy asked with hope in his voice.

“No, we're fine.” The children and you answered in unison. 

“Mother fuc~!” Buggy rolled his eyes. “Okay, Dokeno was able to persuade Blugori, Minokoala and Minorhinoceros to side with him and help them get to the second level. And when they were close to the passage, more of Magellan's men appeared. The Candle Man turned into wax and tried to stop the guards..”

“What power did that Crying Boy in the hat have?” You asked slyly, looking at your daughters, who were already tying even more ribbons into a bun of hair.

“He had the Power of Crying, okay?” Buggy hissed through the teeth. “Anyway, Minorhino and Minokoala helped the Candle Man to attack the guards, Dokeno fought using his wits, hands and knives in his boots, and the Crying Boy sat in the corner and cried. When the guards were defeated, our heroes moved towards the passage to the second floor. But then the sphinxes appeared.”

You choked on your candy. “Oh my God!”

“Yes, marshmallows, sphinxes. They came running from the second floor, the floor of hellish creatures. Did I mention that Dokeno was fearless?” Buggy watched as you and the kids nodded at the same time. “He was so fearless that he was not afraid to fight the sphinx. He tricked him into the net from which Dokeno had gotten out earlier and lifted the sphinx into the air. Access to the second level was open. Dokeno, the Candle Man, who had already turned back into a man and the Crying Boy, who did not stop crying in the corner, were finally close to leaving the prison. On the second floor, they meet the Basilisk, this is a snake born from a chicken, and a hippopotamus that wanted to devour Dokeno. But they were defeated by the great Dokeno. The hippopotamus crashed into a wall while running after Dokeno, the Candle Man and the Crying Boy.”

“What about the Basilisk?” You asked, taking a sip of tea and eating it with sweets.

“Put this one here with dandelions, Elodie!” Blandina stuck another hairpin into her father's hair. “This will make our dad even more handsome.”

Buggy whispered to you "I'll kill you" with his lips. “The Basilisk.. The Basilisk.. Ha! Dokeno tricked him into one of the empty cells and locked him there, okay?” Buggy scratched his nose. “Anyway, the other prisoners, who were trapped on the second level, were so impressed by the great criminal that they begged Dokeno for help. Dokeno decided that this was his chance to recruit the strongest team and freed all the prisoners who had already fallen to their knees in front of him. They obviously worshiped him for freedom and the chaos created by Dokeno. Did I mention he was a famous pirate?” Buggy looked at his son. 

“Yeah!” Oak nodded. “What happened next?”

“Magellan, having learned that Dokeno had advanced so far, built a wall which was made of his poison, which prevented passage to the first level to the main gate. But Dokeno, with the power of word and thought, managed to destroy the poisonous wall and led his new squad to the exit. At the level one, which was called the Crimson Hell, was one of the hardest battles of Dokeno.”

“But love helped him fight, right, daddy?” Blandina asked in a tiny voice, putting more hairpins on Buggy's hair. “That's better.”

“Yes, honey, love helped him fight.” Buggy cleared his throat. “While the Crying Boy was crying again in the corner, Dokeno, the Candle Man and his new team, captured the guards who were in charge of opening the gates of the greatest prison in the world. Recognizing Dokeno and admiring his courage and fearlessness, they opened the gates without any doubts and allowed everyone to escape. Magellan tried to stop them and even went in pursuit of them, but he failed.” Buggy watched as the girls started yawning and carefully began to lay them out in bed. “Dokeno's team was already waiting for him on the ship. He, along with the rescued criminals who swore to be faithful to him for the rest of their lives, the Candle Man and the Crying Boy, climbed onto the ship. And Dokeno set off in search of new adventures.” Buggy put Oak under the blanket. “That's what he was, Dokeno - a hero among pirates.” Buggy took Elodie's box of hairpins and carefully placed it on the table.

“Dokeno.. a hero among pirates.” Oak muttered, burrowing his nose under the blanket. 

“Dad? Did Dokeno return to his beloved woman? Is he happy now?” Elodie asked, yawning. 

Buggy looked over his shoulder at you and adjusted his daughter's pillow. “Of course he's back. And he found his happy ending with the love of his life.”

“I'm gonna be like you, dad.” Oak said quietly. “See you tomorrow, I love you.”

“We love you, mom and dad. Good night.” The girls could barely wave to you.

“Good night, my jelly beans. Love you all.” Buggy said quietly, covering Elodie with a blanket. 

He came up to you quickly and kissed you in the forehead. “Hi, Y/N.”

“It was hell, not a fairy tale, Buggy.” You tried not to laugh out loud and took his hand.

“I know. But they liked it.” Buggy put his arm around your shoulder and kissed your head. “Sorry, I wanted to leave early, but I had to make sure three times that my family was safe.”

“It's okay.” You looked at the kids, then at Buggy. “We have wonderful children, Dokeno, even though they have taken on your personality. Your genes have proven stronger than mine.” You placed your head on his shoulder.

“I won't even apologize for that, Y/N. Oh! How's the new batch of Buggy doing? When will they be ready?” He gently stroked your round belly. 

“It's only the fourth month, my love, they told me they are fine but still cooking. You'll have to wait a little longer.” You kissed him on his cheek. “How did you even manage to do this again?” 

“I’m the Genius Jester, marshmallow, but you didn't complain that night, right? And that was so-o-o good!” Buggy took your hand. “Come on, you need to rest too.”

“Let's sit on the deck for a bit, please. I wanna spend some time with you, I miss you. ”

“Fine. But I promise, we'll spend the whole day together tomorrow.” Buggy led you out onto the deck, threw his coat over your shoulders and sat you down on a bench. “It's a quiet night tonight. We're going to dock at an island for a couple of days in a few days. I promised to take Oak with me and buy him a hat.” 

“He wants to be like you in everything, even copies your walk.” You adjusted the coat and settled yourself under Buggy’s armpit.  

“Of course, I'm a scary and menacing pira~.” He heard you laugh out loud. “What's so funny, Y/N?” 

“I'm sorry. I’m so sorry.” You wiped away tears of laughter. “Have you seen yourself in the mirror? You have pink, yellow and red ribbons with flowers, and hairpins with ducks and butterflies in your hair. A scary pirate with ducks.” You laid your head on his shoulder. “Oh! We could have a family picnic since we are about to dock. One day we're gonna miss this things. Family evenings, picnics. What do you think about the picnic?”

“If you want, ok. Everything is for you, my beloved marshmallow.” Buggy put his hand on your belly and started gently rubbing it. “I wonder who'll be born? And how many will there be?”

“I love you but I swear to God, clown, if more than one child is born, I'll rip off your manhood and throw it in the water for the first shark that comes along to eat.”

[breelandwalker]

basic witch question: how can i study and research folk magic and historical witchcraft?

I've been trying to search like this: "name of country/place +folk magic" on academic article sites but I haven't found much practical stuff and sometimes I don't find anything.

thank you for your attention

Good question!

The first thing you'll want to do is set aside the idea that you're going to find overt and accurate historical descriptions of witchcraft as we define it today. VERY few people who practiced some form of folk magic would have identified themselves as witches, because up until very recently, it was something you could be arrested, fined, and executed for doing. Even just the suspicion of such was enough to cause panics and widespread paranoia. What you're most likely to find is a collection of folk beliefs ABOUT witches and witchcraft, rather than actual witchcraft practices.

There are plenty of folk magic practices that resemble things we do in modern witchcraft, but they wouldn't have been called witchcraft by the people doing them back in the day. If you nailed a cluster of broomstraw over your door or scattered eggshells in your garden, it wasn't to cast a spell - it was just The Done Thing to keep trouble out of your home and help the crops grow.

Be prepared to find a lot of Christianity blended into the practices you do find. During the Christianization of Europe, new beliefs blended with older ones and created some very interesting regional amalgamations. So you'll often find invocations of saints or the Blessed Virgin, or particular psalms or prayers included as essential parts of certain charms. (It's also worth noting that the recitation of certain prayers was a method of short-term timekeeping, since they didn't exactly have clocks or timers.)

Be prepared also to find a lot of references to the Devil and devil-worship. For several centuries, the idea of witchcraft and demonolatry (consorting with and calling upon demons for power and supernatural aid) was synonymous across much of the Western world. It's very difficult to find a mention of witches in contemporary medieval or renaissance literature that is not immediately accompanied by some mention of devils or demons or familiars. This is a record of the superstitions of the day, NOT the practices of actual witches, no matter what Margaret Murray would have us believe.

To find the folk magic practices, if you can't find them by searching the term outright, study the regional folklore of the place you're interested in. Look particularly for anything to do with healers or spirits or fairies or ghosts or local superstitions. Where you find these, you will find whatever regional protection rituals the country people used to ward off trouble from ethereal beings, and possibly references to other related practices for love or luck.

Naturally, if you go back to classical antiquity (Greeks and Romans) or further, things will look very different. It all depends on the time and place.

It's important to note that most of the books we have which document these beliefs were written during the 19th-20th century spiritualism and occult fads, and while there is an earnest effort in most of them to record things academically from good sources, they should still be taken with a grain of salt.

Here are some titles I've found useful in my studies:

British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (Sikes, 1880)

Culpeper's Complete Herbal and English Physician (Culpeper, 1850 edition)

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (Yeats, 1888)

Magic and Husbandry: The Folk-Lore of Agriculture (Burdick, 1914)

Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics (Folkard, 1884)

The History of Witchcraft and Demonology (Summers, 1926)

The Superstitions of Witchcraft (Williams, 1865)

You can find these and many similar titles on Project Gutenberg or Global Grey Ebooks. (And since they're in the public domain, they're free and legal to download!)

One final note - If you run into anything that mentions "folkish" traditions, bloodlines, or theosophy, put it down and walk away. That direction lies the pipeline to racist hate groups.

Hope this helps!

[return-of-a-space-cowboy]

🧚‍♀️ Anon here!

I have a few Fairytale ideas that I’d like to share to see your opinion on them and if their interesting or not (And some ideas from Movies)

Grim Yandere Tales

Hansel and Gretel (NO incest!): Reader is the mother who takes her children and runs from her abusive husband, with Leone and/or Bruno as the Witch (She adopted her children, who are Giorno, Narancia and maybe Trish)

Aladdin (I think you’ll like this): Reader is the street rat, Diavolo is the Sultan, Giorno and Bruno are visiting Royalty (Who plan to try and free Diavolo’s people either by killing him or taking his throne), Risotto is the sorcerer and Mista is the Genie

Thumbelina: Reader is a small human who was discovered by the Fairy Prince Bruno, only to be seen by Risotto/Doppio who’s either a normal human or a Dark Fae who wants her for himself

Movies

Dracula: Count Risotto and Bruno (With Reader being his fiancée)

Sleepy Hollow: Dio as the Headless Horseman

Corpse Bride: Not sure yet, what do you think?

Jekyll and Hyde: Either Diavolo and Doppio, Bruno and Risotto

Labyrinth: Risotto or Diavolo as the Goblin King

Legend: Diavolo as The Darkness with Doppio as his only way to go out in the sunlight, Reader is the Princess and Giorno is the hero who lives in the forest

I mentioned Diavolo, Bruno and Risotto a lot because there my favorites (It’s hard to stray from them)

I'm sorry I took so long to respond, been really busy lately packing.

I've actually had ideas for thumbelina and and corpse bride for a while now but never managed to get them written down so I'll cover those first

Thumbalina

I was thinking that Bruno would attempt to save darling. Thinking that they were another fae captured by a human. Darling explains the situation. It's revealed they're a fae who'd probably been taken far from their home. Bruno offers to take Darling back with him so they can be where they belong and get a pair of wings. Darling is hesitant on the idea and tells him they need a week to decide.

During that week two things could happen.

Another fae named doppio meets darling. Reader is unaware he's a dark fae, so when he asks them to help him and that he'll return them home straight after they agree non the wiser

Or

Darling is discovered by Risotto after their mother leaves for an emergency and is quickly snatched away. Initially he's looking to sell them for money but soon starts to fall for them and decides to keep them for himself

Corpse bride

Honestly I think Fugo. He was born into a wealthy lifestyle but could not stand the family around him. Believed he'd found love but in reality it was all a set up that lead to his death.

Darling is forced into marrying into wealth but doesn't want to. Tries running away into the forest and comes in possession of the now cursed ring originally meant for that first love that causes him to awaken and subsequently gets trapped in the underworld.

Hansel and Gretel

Ok so reader initially ran and hid away in a town. During this she took in the three. Their upbringings similar to canon. Narancia is 10 and had an eye infection that Darling was trying to earn the money to treat. Giorno and Trish are 8.

After being found by their ex again they run in the forest in night. For what seems like hours they keep going until they find a house with a door wide open and lights on.

They all go inside and call out to the owner but no response. Darling would try to leave but it's evident that the kids are too tired to keep running. So Darling decides to tuck them into one of the beds and wait for the owner to explain, however they fall asleep shortly after.

Now it could be either or a poly situation with both.

Bruno would be more outwardly willing to help while Abbacchio though still helping would be a bit more stern.

Darling wakes up in the morning where they meet the house owner and explain the situation. They're offered the spare bedrooms to stay in. Darling initially refuses the offer as they have to keep running. The kids wake up and it's immediately noticed that narancias eye's swelling has reduced. And that is how Darling would be hooked into staying.

Aladdin

Darling and her family used to be farmers but after harsh heatwaves are left with little to nothing left and Diavolo the newly crowned sultan attempts to arrange a marriage with darling but due to their hatred of the new sultan they refuse. After stealing food from traders they're caught and imprisoned and Risotto confronts them. He explains that he too hates Diavolo and that if darling were to help him retrieve a powerful artifact that he would offer them enough riches to let their family live without working another day in their life when he takes over.

So darling agrees but only if he allows them ownership of a particularly expensive ring he has until he fulfills his end of the deal.

So darling helps Risotto grab the artifact, some old lamp that they don't see any purpose of. As they're about to leave Risotto attempts to help them escape but the floor caves beneath darling and they fall in and he leaves.

Awhile after darling is found by Giorno and Bruno who have ropes to help darling escape and bring them back into town. They reveal they're both royalty from another land who've come to try and establish a trade route. However upon entering town they're meet by Diavolo who quickly has darling arrested, telling them that they're luck they weren't attacked as they have a record of stealing from traders and the like. The lamp being left in the hands of the two.

Dracula

Bruno and darling come to transylvania after receiving a letter from count Nero who wants to relocate to London and help with selling the castle.

They arrive and discuss with the count. Bruno and darling discuss the state of the castle and come to the conclusion that sell to the count will be easy however it'd take some work to clean areas of the castle to get photos good enough to try and convince potential buyers.

They're warned not to leave the bedroom at night however one night darling hears a scream in the night. Bruno is still asleep so they investigate on their own. They encounter Risotto while he's feasting and is pretty much frozen in fear. The next morning Bruno finds that both his fiancee and the count are gone. Bruno investigates only to find a journal written by the count that reveals the truth.

Headless horsemen

(Have not watched sleepy hollow unfortunately)

Darling is an aspiring novelist who moves into a small town after getting inheritance. They hope that the local legends will fuel their inspiration. Locals warn them they shouldn't be outside at nightfall. They investigate one night and grabbed by who the locals refer to as the headless horseman and dragged into the thick fog.

Jekyll and Hyde

Bruno is a detective who is trying to solve a string of crimes connected to a mysterious Diavolo. Darling a close friend to both bruno and Doppio (though doppio and bruno are only acquainted) begins to get stalked and eventually kidnapped. Now Doppio needs to hide them away from investigators as if he doesn't Diavolo vow to ruin their lives.

Labyrinth

I'd probably say Diavolo is best for the role of Jareth. Honestly this one will probably be as close to the movie as it gets from me.

Legend

(Another one I unfortunately haven't see)

Giorno and darling are taking a stroll through the forest when all of a sudden the weather changes to a harsh snow storm and are separated. Darling stumbles across the scene of doppio and the unicorn, hearing what he says to himself they decide to follow the man back to the castle after hearing all that is needed they attempt to leave only to be caught by Doppio.

Originally locked in the dungeon she is eventually moved to a room in the castle and is free to wonder. Given various gifts with letters of proposal until Diavolo decides to meet her in person.

[geode-crystal]

Writeblr Interview tag game!

Wooo thanks for the tag @tildeathiwillwrite this looks like fun!

Open tag for anybody else who wants to answer these :)

Short stories, novels, or poems?

Yes, yes, and yes lol.

I tend to write novel-length things purely because I just... keep going XD I usually get more ideas than a short story allows. I do need to work on keeping things to the point sometimes!

But I have written short stories and one-shots (mostly as responses to promts) and I am very technically a published poet, since a few of my poems were published in a collection thanks to a writing competition back in high school .

What genre do you prefer reading?

Fantasy, full stop. I also love books that play on fairy tales and folklore.

Are you a planner or a write as I go kind of person?

I usually like to have a general idea of where I'm going, and figure the rest out along the way. Sometimes I make full outlines when projects get Really Big.

What music do you listen to while writing?

I either put on one of my incredibly random playlists or go to youtube and look for "relaxing [insert video game here] music." Pokemon soundtracks are actually really nice to write to.

Favorite books/movies?

Soooo many lol.

I'm a big fan of Disney and Pixar movies (as one of my previous posts made pretty obvious lol), particularly the Disney renaissance. Adore The Princess Bride. Love Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Love Studio Ghibli movies, personal favorite being Castle in the Sky. Of course, we have the classic Muppet Treasure Island as well. And I love every version of Scott Pilgrim out there, the movie, Netflix anime, and graphic novels are all amazing.

And for books... oh my gods there are too many to list here, but shout outs to Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland series, the Chrestomanci books by Diana Wynne Jones (as well as Howl's Moving Castle), Raybearer and Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko, and the Hero's Guide series by Christopher Healy. Percy Jackson, too.

A lot of my favorite whump moments come from the good old Deltora Quest series by Emily Rhodda and The Mage of Trelian by Michelle Knudsen.

Any current WIPs?

So many. Too many. I need to escape lol.

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing?

I've based a few characters off of people I know before. Mostly my close friends. One of whom I write with a lot, so we've used each other as inspiration several times lol.

Are you kill happy with your characters?

No no no no no, not at all lolol. It's exactly the opposite. I have so much difficulty permanently killing off characters, to the point that my first novel-length project way back in my first year of high school ended with the villain getting polymorphed into a fish instead of dying. XD

I only do permadeath when it is absolutely necessary for the story. But... well, to quote The Return of Jafar: "You'd be surprised what you could live through."

Coffee or Tea while writing?

Don't usually drink or snack while writing.

Slow or fast writer?

Completely depends on the project, but I would say fairly slow. Especially compared to my writing buddy they're an absolute speed demon lol

If you were in a fantasy world, what would you be?

Depends on the fantasy world, really. Definitely some kind of musician and/or storyteller, like a troubador or something. Maybe some kind of minor nobility, with all the "fun" I've had with the burden of expectations. I would love to have some kind of magic, especially if it's music-based. So..... basically a bard!

I'd also be very likely to be something not fully human, be that an elf or fairy or mermaid... or even a changeling.

Most fav book cliche:

There's a long list! But I really like Found Family stuff, and any time magic comes with A Price.

Least favorite cliche:

Characters getting pointlessly killed off just for the sake of Extra Drama.

Favorite scene to write?

Hurt/comfort, both ends! I especially love anything with added Guilt for one or all parties!

Reason for writing?

To paraphrase Brian David Gilbert: stories come to me in my dreams like a prophet receiving visions from an angry god.

I write because I'm always coming up with different ideas. I write because I was basically designed to study and create stories. Even if I don't physically write anything down, I will always find a way to tell some kind of story, be it just piecing together ideas in my head or through singing Broadway-style songs or even just attempting to draw a character. I write because it's just what I do!