#I don't trust that thing it looks incredibly breakable

[berryesque]

born too late to buy a sewing machine without a touch screen at 19 years old

[astarab1aze]

➥ Shipping Guide: Section 1 - Faith, Furie, Hydre, Kaede, and Loux

Note: All of my muses are complicated and not necessarily rigid adherents to what I'm outlining in this post. Much of the time, they'll be relatively easy to do things with given that a lot of them can manage their work/life balance and/or emotions well enough for them not to impede on any romantic interests (mostly). That being said, however, they are not without their caveats as several of them have the potential to be incredibly toxic by nature, or depending on the plot, and - inevitably - your muses will get swept up in their bullshit if they stick around. It's long, but in alphabetical order and informative, so it should be helpful as a guide when deciding on who to ship with (if that's what you're looking for).

Faith M, 28, chaotic good, cat-shifter, male, homosexual, soft power bottom

high libido, won't be with someone who won't have sex with him often enough

still needs someone to remind them he is worth more than that sometimes

will tend to your every need and ignore his own, from eating to laundry to sex

sunk cost fallacy's himself into staying in toxic/bad situations

focuses exclusively on the person he's with when he's with them

faith is not a difficult person to like, let alone love, usually. he's genuine and sweet and won't hesitate to tease or dote on his partners, smother them in softest affections and maybe a few more climaxes than they know what to do with. he's so so attentive, tender and loving in everything he does for them, often without question. moreover, he quite easily falls in love - easily impressed, easily wooed - but make no mistake, if his trust is broken at any time, it's literally impossible to earn back. knowing this about himself, he chooses never to trust in the first place, which is naturally much easier said than done; even the barest of minimums, something he's not and never has been used to, are enough to tip the scale. his perception of love and romance is almost entirely informed by the life he's lived, and trashy erotic romance novels, so it's distorted, commodified, and still in need of a little work.

i don't want to understate the need for understanding, patience, and affirmation with him. this is incredibly important to him; he wants to be loved and respected, but his perceptions of all of that are behind, so he doesn't really know, quite, what this means. it's important to be careful with him at times, though he isn't so breakable as he used to be.

he tends toward big personalities, mean, mischievous, friendly, powerful, all kinds - just, big ones. eccentricity, if you will, but also the darkness and light he sees in that. he likes complicated people, people that take him, at the same time, no time at all and all the time in the world to figure out, a challenge. he has a variety of physical and sexual preferences that are a bit more vast and nebulous, so appearances do not usually matter to him - it's 95% of the time personality and natural chemistry. he isn't so shallow as to hinge is affections on someone's looks, generally always finding his partners attractive. redheads, brunettes, blonds, salt & pepper, silver fox, hairy, short, big, small, older, Monster, human, etcetc doesn't matter. it's just how he is.

sexually speaking, he is sometimes inordinantly pushy, though this is rooted in insecurity, negative self-esteem, and hints of both jealousy and the territorial behaviors common in shifters. but aside from this, he aims only to please and be pleased, to tangle himself in another person for hours and love, love, love. he's flexible in terms of what exactly happens, rough, gentle, or otherwise, and typically won't complain should a more dominant partner up the ante; but he is, for the most part, very vocal and insistent on what he wants, how he wants to be touched, where it's okay to touch him - very noisy, about this and when his partner's doing a good job. in this vein, he's very loving and attentive as well, and very, very prone to teasing his partners for eternity then giving oral sex. just be aware.

Furie N, 26, neutral good, werewyrm, male, bisexual, soft switch

absolutely not receptive to romantic advances...for a time

proximity, quality time, and a little boundary pushing are key

he will probably never make the first move, otherwise sorta traditional

low & slow sex drive, self-conscious of his anthromorphic parts

anxious, self-sacrificing, opportunistic, stoic, devoted, protective, bashful

furie doesn't have too many preferences aside from being more interested in women than men. ultimately, it's not very important what the gender of his partner is, though there are certain aspects he's attracted to, it just depends on the person: soft, angular, muscular, slender, dark hair, light hair, moral ambiguity, etc. he's not necessarily drawn to anything specific, sort of repressed, suppressing his hopes and desires for the sake of his beliefs - which he has felt less and less connected to over time, despite being an important member of the clergy. he's complicated and somewhat contradictory, less forgiving than he expects others to be, distrustful, opportunistic, and unreasonably cold; protective measures, keeping people at distance so as not to drag anymore people into his mess and end up getting them hurt or worse. it's next to impossible to sway him, so what he needs above all is prolonged proximity and persisitence.

he can be incredibly cold at the start, distant and unfriendly, even rude, and may even do anything he can to avoid a prospective partner, but with time, he slowly but surely becomes very protective in his own ways, and will develop a bit of separation anxiety when the other isn't around. wouldn't go so far as to say he's clingy, but their absence will be felt. constancy is the surest way to provoke a response like this from him, to slowly tangle into and influence his life, change his mind on some things, open him up. and in return, he is fiercely protective, the sort to endlessly pine and establish daily shared habits; unfortunately, there are other obstacles that may impede any progress with him, as he is terrified that by finding new love he will be replacing his ex-fiance, who was tragically killed. this plays a much larger part than you'd think, but we're not here for that.

in terms of sex, he is somewhat traditional and requires the good old fashioned foreplay most of the time in order to really enjoy it. that being said, he tends to tease his partners for hours and will go so far as to edge them, deny them release, and generally build a lot of tension before persuing climax. whatever makes it more intense and fulfilling for both parties. on the other hand, he can be...surprisingly receptive, and honest. open to what his partners want, and what they want to do to him of have him do to them. facing each other is a must for him, handholding too. and a respect for his space & autonomy - no means no, and he can and will revoke his consent if he feels too overwhelmed. however, there are occasions he will only encourage -ahem- bad behavior, if you catch his drift. it's okay to take advantage of him sometimes, depending on who his partner is.

Hydre B, ??, true neutral, divine hydra, male, bisexual, (service) dom

cannot and will not mate with anyone that can permanently die

needs partner to be just as cannibalistic & masochistic as he is

extraordinarily subtle with romance despite his gestures

partners will become visible parts of his constellation

opportunistic, gluttinous, loving in incomprehensible ways, lazy, violent, greedy

hydre's a bit of a can of worms unto himself and is very particular about the sorts of partners he's willing to romance and be romanced by. he will not waste any time trying to woo any humans or mortals, period. there are no exceptions - prospective partners must be divine or some flavor incapable of true death, because much of his affection and love is inherently starved, consumptive. he will literally eat his partners, it's sort of non-negotiable. the reason for this is that he wants to be as close to them as is physically, magically, and emotionally possible, sharing in blood, flesh, and other carnal activities in order to make this explicitly clear. he wants to eat and be eaten, to feel his beloved running through his veins, for them to feel him, and to sort of stew in the mess they create together. simmer in blood, guts, and gore, and heal, snap back into shape as if nothing had ever happened to begin with, and then doing it all over again. or, on occasion, he's just happy to hold his partner in his mouth, a bit like a dog would an egg.

he doesn't really have a 'type' beyond this - as long as his prospective partner is physically capable of handling him, then he's ultimately satisfied. truly, it comes down to whether he can be handled. he doesn't need to be worshipped, praised, prayed to, or anything of the sort - he just needs to be withstood, weathered. earning his affections is a slow process and he won't easily give them up, but when he does, his partners still may not readily know what it is he really feels for them. for this reason, he tends toward intellectual types, those who can parse his gestures and unspoken thoughts for what they are. traveling to places only he has the power to take them, conjuring their heart's desires, showing them grand sights and his home, before it was destroyed, gathering them into his arms and adding them into his constellation- he's sweet, in his own, dramatic nightfolky way, despite his proclivities toward cannibalizing his partners.

Kaede S, 26, chaotic good, sorcerer, male, bisexual, bratty/soft sub

mentally & emotionally hard to manage due to responses to trauma

willing to put up with abuses of all kinds just to feel loved for a moment

mostly resistent to romantic advances, occasionally very receptive

mid-high sex drive, won't be with anyone that won't have sex with him often

affectionate, monogamous, overprotective, reactive, tsundere

kaede is somewhat difficult to romance despite how... open he sometimes is to prospective partners' advances. he isn't above one-night stands or paying for sex, generally tending toward non-committal relationships to prevent distraction from his work - even though genuine long-lasting love is something he desperately wants. his life is dangerous and he doesn't want to unnecessarily drag anyone into his mess, especially given the non-zero chance he could be killed at any time and therefore end up getting his partner hurt as well. he isolates himself to protect others, however naive and self-harming this actually is. so it's difficult to get him to relent long enough for anything to really happen. that being said, it's not always this way and there are times he's very easy to convince. there's no special reason, it would only depend on his mood at the time. but in such cases, he's bashful and cutely enthusiastic, interested and present, hoping for more but not expecting it or even necessarily trying for it (but not saying no to anything either).

he does have particular tastes and is unashamedly shallow about them - if privately so - preferring those with blonde, silver, or white hair and light eyes, toned and maintained physiques, and strength of character with a dash of amorality for flavor. he gravitates toward people who are strong and bright in personality, those who can understand why he is the way he is, trauma and all, who are patient and persevering. he wants to be loved by someone who can meet him at his level and love him despite all the trouble he finds himself in or the frequency with which he disappears. consider him a sort of house cat who went outside once and hasn't been able to return home since. he needs to be properly courted, perhaps even in a traditional sense, and trust is of utmost importance to him. exceptions to this exist however and it's not entirely unlikely for him to have relationships with toxic people, as has been the case before and is something that should be treated with care. he still has some extreme responses to things due to prior traumas, though they are few and far between of late and not super likely to manifest until children aer involved (much anxiety here, he becomes something of a panicky, overprotective helicopter mom).

he's flexible in terms of sexual intimacy, given that he can be rather kinky and accepting of boundary-pushing experiences, masochism, among other things. he's somewhat prone to riding and performing oral, taking charge and throwing some attitude a lot of the time, though he's really mostly a complete pillow prince outside of that. what he wants most is to be shown love that mirrors his own, intense, sweet, and genuine. he wants to be loved, to spend his days with his partners rolling around in bed, ignoring the twist and turn of the world around them. he craves intimacy, comfort, acceptance, someone willing to put in the work to love him. he's receptive to charm and wit, silly jokes and thoughtfulness, and is the type to bring flowers with him to every date as a gift. he will share all his drinks and snacks, and generally seek to touch his partners in some way. he is also earnest and fairly stubborn if he's fallen for someone, sometimes a bit obsessive but most times just- wanting to be with his partners because they're not going to hurt him like everything and everyone else (hopefully).

Loux G, 28, chaotic neutral, fox-shifter, male, bisexual, service switch

needs someone with high libido, no exceptions

the best boyfriend you'll ever have, also the worst person you'll ever know

will probably lie about himself to his partners, forever

changes himself to suit his partners' tastes, depending on the relationship

aims for the 'boring' life, won't change current trajectory for anything less

loux is naturally incredibly flirtatious with just about everyone he meets, so it's not difficult to get something started with him since he's so flexible. he doesn't really have a type per se, but he gravitates toward people with strong personalities and a litany of similar baggage to his own, barring some occasional romances with the mousy 'good girl/boy' types, bears, and dwarves. he likes people who are true to themselves, no matter what kind of people they are, and will seek them out. the only thing he doesn't really like is when prospective partners do certain things or ask certain questions about him that aren't easy for him to answer; prying into his past is sometimes a surefire way to lose him, especially early on, as it isn't something he's comfortable with talking about in any capacity. this doesn't mean he won't ever share - it means he needs time. likewise, he doesn't expect his partners to share every detail about themselves with him and generally won't ask either. not because he doesn't care, but because he sorta kinda feels he already knows the answer, so he chooses instead to comfort them in all the ways he knows how rather than risk bringing them any further distress. this doesn't always work, but it's his preferred approach.

as a boyfriend, loux is honestly one of the best anyone could have. he's attentive, playful, and willing to do anything to prove he loves his partners. he's not afraid of making himself look a complete fool just to get a laugh out of his partners, or to break the law by making use of his magical abilities to show them new sights and take them away to someplace unique and wonderful, or to shower his partners with grand and special expensive gifts, or to pretend to be ignorant or stupid about certain subjects so his partners can be handy or school him. but he's terrible with voicing his feelings, utterly incapable of bringing himself to be selfish in this way. for all his confidence, he's emotionally fragile in strange and complicated ways, sometimes impossible to understand or be careful enough with; partners won't always know right off when they've upset or hurt him, they're sort of the only people who can avoid his more extreme emotions. he just won't express them around them, or will avoid doing so at all costs on a subconscious level. his love is incredibly stubborn however; by no means is it flimsy or easy to break. he is persistent and patient, and does put in real concerted effort to better himself for his partners.

he is also, as we all know, hypersexual on top of an already high libido. trauma related or not ultimately doesn't matter, as the fact remains: he greatly enjoys sex and cannot directly or properly communicate his true feelings, finding it to be good enough middle ground for reciprocal expressions of love. that's what it means to him, to have sex with his partners. i love you, in the intensity of his touch. it's hard to think so, at first, given that such a proclivity toward physical intimacy could come across as shallow and smarmy, but this is how he knows best to show his partners he loves them deeply without having to say it out loud. he attends to every need and will alter the shape and state of his body to suit any fantasy his partners could have, always giving, servicing them. tenderly, roughly, needily, slowly, whatever, doesn't matter. whatever his partners want, he's happy to give. all the time, quite literally. it's not just sex, but physical touch in general he uses to communicate. constantly just touching his partners is both for comfort and a means of reinforcing what he admits through sex; holding hands, running his fingers through their hair, keeping a hand on their hip, ass, thigh, or back, cuddling, hugging, kissing, so on and so forth are musts. he wants to touch his partners all the time, forever, and won't compromise on this.

[witchlingcirce]

I wanted to do a little character analysis for my favourite character …Isabelle Lightwood! I tried my best to cover everything I thought needed to be covered so here we go!!

Personality

Isabelle Lightwood is a very confident woman, she dresses nice and at one point she could’ve even been described as promiscuous. Isabelle can accusingly be vain, and even narcissistic at some points. Isabelle possesses a fiery temper, she at some points during the book would lock herself in her room when things would go wrong. Although Isabelle has her bad traits, she is fiercely loyal to those she loves and cares about and would do anything to keep them out of harm's way.

role in the book

While I don’t know if this is a popular belief, I firmly believe that Isabelle’s original role in the books was her being a contrast to Clary, as the series developed Isabelle later gained a prominent role as someone who learns to love and trust others but at the start, she was a contrast of Clary’s character. Clary was short, insecure, and didn’t dress the best, Clary doesn’t see herself as being gorgeous. While Isabelle is incredibly Tall, confident, stated to have a fantastic style, and Isabelle does see herself as pretty. I think it’s an interesting contrast, as we see in Clary’s point of view earlier, clary seems to dislike Isabelle for these qualities, much because at the time she didn’t have them. Later on in the book Clary starts to see Isabelle’s character more as a friend than someone she should be jealous of, and I think that’s when Isabelle’s character role in the book had begun to change. From simply being a contrast to Clary’s character we see Isabelle go through her hardships and see her develop from that.

Relationships with the other characters

I think Isabelle’s relationship is one of her biggest factors in the book, and I think I should cover everyone she has a relationship with somewhat separately here.

Parents

Isabelle has a loving and very close relationship with her mother, they both deeply care for each other. In Ghosts of the shadow market we see Alec describe Isabelle and Maryse (her mother) having a certain look that they give each other, Alec says he thinks it’s because they're the only girls in the family. When Isabelle has thirteen years old, Maryse told Isabelle that her father was having an affair. “I thought it made me special. I didn’t think about how it might have changed me.” - City of fallen angels. This conversation took a toll on Isabelle, it made Isabelle hold a grudge against her father and also impacted how she felt about love, making her think she couldn’t give her heart away without it being broken “I watch my brothers give their hearts away and I think, don't you know better? Hearts are breakable. And I think even when you heal, you're never what you were before.” - city of fallen angels. Isabelle and her father have long had a bad relationship, as I stated before, Maryse telling Isabelle about her father's affair made Isabelle hold a grudge against him. Throughout the series we never really see him or Isabelle truly getting along, the only time we ever see them even try and solve their problems is in the argument scene in Tales from the shadowhunter academy

Siblings

It’s easy enough to identify Isabelle's feelings for all her brothers, and that’s the fact that she loves them all so dearly and is completely loyal to them. Isabelle liked to date boys her parents wouldn’t approve of just to get attention off Alec, for the fact he was gay so their parents wouldn’t get suspicious. Isabelle and Jace have always had an incredibly loving relationship, Isabelle feels a similar way to Max as she does to all her other siblings, although we never really saw their relationship develop.

Friends

We sort of never see Isabelle interact with a lot of friends but I’m still putting it in here, Isabelle is friends with Aline and Helen and she has a friendly and good relationship with them, even attending Helen's relationship. Isabelle is also good friends with Magnus Bane, there are fun friends and care a lot about each other, especially because of Alec. Clary, now Clary is someone that Isabelle didn’t like at the start of the series. I don’t think ‘hate’ would be the right term but mostly ‘dislike’. Isabelle is jealous of Clary a little bit at the start of the series, while Izzy is mostly a confident woman she still has her insecurities, she was jealous of Clary’s small frame and Clary not being as tall as Izzy. At the start, they didn’t interact as friends but later on in the series their friendship and relationship started to develop into a loving and caring thing going and they did understand each other.

Lovers

I know Izzy had a fling with Meliorn but we never really got much information out of that so I’m just going to have to talk about Simon here. At first, Izzy just saw another boy that people wouldn’t like and that’s mostly the reason that she dated him, later on, we see Isabelle start to care for Simon. For example, at the end of the red scrolls of Magic, we see Isabelle say Simon was becoming one of her favourite boys. Their relationship was going decently until Isabelle found out that Simon had been dating Maia at the same time as Isabelle. Izzy was mad at this, even saying in City of fallen angels that she hated Simon, “Everyone’s off doing some secret thing with the Conclave, and I didn’t want to go, because Simon was going to be there, and I hate him now.” - City of fallen angels. Later on, we see Izzy start to forgive Simon, there’s deleted scene from City of lost souls where Izzy told Simon that the reason why she went to his apartment with Jordan was because she missed him, or something along those lines. “Look, I didn’t come by last night because you’re number six on some list and everyone else is unavailable. I came because ��� I like you. You make me feel better. Maybe it’s something about your face.” - City of lost souls - Chapter 7 Outtake. Simon plays an impactful role in Isabelle’s life, because of Simon the walls Isabelle had built around her heart began to crumble and was letter herself trust someone over then her family.

Major Conflicts

Okay, so I’m going to be talking about two conflicts Isabelle went through In the series.

Max’s death

Isabelle felt as if Max’s death was completely her fault. She locked herself in her room and refused to let anyone in. Isabelle didn’t even go to her brother's funeral, believing his death was completely her fault. I think the way Isabelle grieves is a very interesting thing, we technically only really see Isabelle ‘grieve’ max In the one scene in City of Glass, but later on in Isabelle’s POV we see more of her feelings, and even in some later conversations. Isabelle refuses to call Sebastian Jonathan, she tells Clary that Jonathan was Jace and that she wasn’t going to call someone who killed her brother her other brother's name, it’s heavily implied in a lot of the other scenes that Isabelle wants revenge for Max’s death, of course, we never got a lot of this (as I can remember, I believe we got a scene or two?) and on a similar note, we see that Isabelle has a lot of built up emotions about it, in the city of heavenly fire we see Isabelle yell at her dad, telling him she thinks he’s glad max is dead so that he could finally leave her mother. In tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, we see Izzy tell Simon that sometimes being in Alicante makes her feel closer to Max, while other times it makes her wish it was never there.

Simon’s demon amnesia

Izzy truly had begun to love Simon and finally let her guard down, until at the end of the city of heavenly fire where Simon sacrifices his memories for everyone to get out. We see throughout tales from the shadowhunter academy that Isabelle struggles with this, it was either after he had yelled at Izzy in the academy or when Simon yelled at her other the killer vampire, that Clary Porteled in to tell Simon that Izzy is more fragile then she seems. Even once Simon and Izzy finally ‘make up’ they still struggle to get back into the flow of how things used to be, they of course do end up making up and I want to talk about how different Izzy is once they make up (from what see from simons POV) at the start, it was almost as if Izzy was far away, most the times when we saw her before there make up she seemed a lot angrier, but once they do makeup she seems to have gotten a bit calmer and happier, and I think that is a very cute thing.

Overall Change

Izzy's overall change throughout the series was letting herself trust people who weren’t her family, we see Izzy grow and learn to love those who she might not have in the past. We also see Izzy’s heart begin to change, we see at the start of the series she has walls up, never actually dating anyone seriously and at the end of the series we see that those walls have been completely cut down and that Isabelle can truly love and trust people.

Bonus!

Okay, this is a little silly thing but I was looking through the deleted scene for a specific quote and I found this absolute gem from a deleted scene! “I am so hungover,” she announced, flipped her hair over one shoulder, and stalked off toward Simon’s bedroom. Simon looked over at Jordan, whose eyebrows had risen to his hairline.” IT HILARIOUS! In my opinion…I just thought people should see that….

okay, okay that was my first character analysis I apologise if it’s bad but…there it is! Okay uhm, enjoy? Have a good day.

[maxheadley]

Saturday; Wake Up

Darkness swallowed Timothy. Shadows wallowed in her prepherial vision. A cold draft caressed her skin, causing goosebumps to rise all over her arms and legs. She shuddered unintentionally. Her ears depicted the sound of heavy breathing and water dripping from a faucet on the other side of the dark room. She grasped onto her knee, which unfortunately throbbed painfully, underneath her fingers and against her palm, swollen flesh lay. She vaguely remembered what happened the night before. The one memory she had; was Terra slamming an aluminum silver baseball bat across her face. After that, Timothy blacked out.

Timothy went over the events of the previous day. Everything had been perfect, except the last two hours of her life. Friday was a nightmare came true. She hated Winnie for what she'd done. Why kidnap her? Why intentionally harm her? She frustratedly sighed, reaching for anything she could haul herself up. Exploring the smooth, wall, her fingers brushed a cold, iron bar and immediately launched herself up. She groaned, painfully as she accidentally put pressure on her leg. She decided to call out. Obviously someone else was in the room. Hopefully, someone who could help her.

"Hello? Is anyone else in here? I can hear your breathing." Timothy's voice echoed around the room and she grimaced, hating the way her voice sounded. Desperate and pained. Couple seconds later, her husband's voice hit her ears. He croaked, his throat parched. "Timothy? Where are you?" She heard shuffling and suspected he'd gotten up.

She swallowed the gathering salvia in her mouth and ran a hand through her disheveled hair. "I'm on the other side of the room. I can't walk.." She murmured, limply pushing against the wall.

"Alright, I'll come to you."

Wondering how Harley could possibly find her in the dark, Timothy rubbed her throbbing knee. She depicted his footsteps and the creaking sounds where his feet stepped. She reached out and collided with his chest. "Now, I know it's you." She smiled, even though the darkness concealed her face.

Harley's rough fingers covered her hand and inched closer til their chests brushed. He cupped her cheek with such gentleness Timothy thought he might be thinking she was suspiciously susceptible to being broken. She wasn't that fragile. Goosebumps scattered across her porcelain skin. "Are you okay?" He whispered, his lips close.

"My knee hurts, but otherwise I'm okay." She whispered back, placing her hand on top of where his heart beat like a drum. She could tell his heartbeat was irregular. His heart hardly raced. Panic and worry probably sent anxiety trailing all through him. "Are you?"

She felt his shoulders slump immediately, like the tension had been burned out and replaced by mush. "My head hurts to tell you the truth, other than that minor problem, I am fine. I am worried about what's going to happen to us. Any idea where and why we're here?"

Timothy opened her mouth, intending to respond, but a sudden burst of light sent her recoiling. She covered her eyes. The brightness made her dizzy. She adjusted, although continued to squint. She saw the lights had been switched on and the door swung open revealing two dark silhouettes. Both appeared female.

They both stepped into the light, revealing themselves as Winnie and Terra. Timothy suppressed a growl. If she weren't injured, she'd claw Winnie's eyes out on the spot. She glowered from afar as Harley stood halfway in front of her, protectively. He, too, glowered.

Winnie held a tray in her hands. Assortment of food was scattered all over as well as juice pouch. Terra also had a tray with similar food choices on it. They both wore different types of workout clothes and had their hair in buns. Timothy suspected they dressed comfortably simply because if they were to end up in an altercation with the couple, they wouldn't have problems. Unfortunately, for Timothy, her injury prevented her. Harley stood rigid and his body language told her, he wasn't about to jeopardize the situation and act out. He preferred knowing all the facts and information rather than act a fool. Another reason she trusted him.

"Hello." Harley cleared his throat. His voice strained.

"Hi." Winnie said, almost too cheerily. Her mother shot her a scornful glance. Winnie recoiled, averting her bright eyes to her green Nike's.

Terra sat the tray she carried on a round, old black chipped wooden table and spoke nonchalantly. Her charcoal eyes glancing at the couple. "We came to bring you some food, I presume you're both starved and parched." She also placed Winnie's on the table. Timothy actually happened to be starving, but made no sudden moves to take off the duo's offering of food. Not yet anyway.

"Thank you for the food, but what is going on?" Timothy intercepted Harley's response. He probably would not be respectful, and in any case, that'd not be wise.

Terra quickly responded. "We kidnapped you, brought you to a disclosed location, and plan to help institute a relationship between my Winnie and you guys. If you don't comply, we will use more harmful methods." She had confidence, which Timothy gave her credit for. "And as long as you cooperate nothing dire will happen to you." Winnie added, smiling confidently.

Harley's dark eyebrow raised as did both of Timothy's. Immediate release of thoughts filtered through her mind. She blinked, astonished. "You can't institute a relationship when the subjects are reluctant to comply or give effort." Harley sighed, looking like he deflated.

"And the fact you kidnapped them is worse." Timothy added, sliding down against the wall. Making sure her left leg was straight out to avoid injuring her knee further.

"We weren't planning to harm you, but we will in any case of reluctance." Terra said, glowering at the couple. Her dark eyes strangely alluring. No wonder her husband fell in love. She was incredible.

"What do you want exactly?"

"Winnie is in love with you. She wants a relationship. I'll be happy to oblige and give her whatever she needs/wants."

Timothy and Harley shared an uncomfortable look. She rolled her dark eyes and skewered Winnie. "Wanting a relationship huh? And yet you kidnap us. Good luck in coercing us to do the "falling in love " thing." She air quoted and leaned her head against the wall.

"We'll do what it takes." Winnie said, before the daughter-mother duo departed the room.

Few hours passed, leaving Harley and Timothy staring down at their empty trays. As soon as Winnie and Terra departed, they dug in, like they hadn't ate in moons. Timothy's stomach ached and bloated like a balloon full of helium. She couldn't help but eat every single morsel off her plate neither could Harley. He consumed the heap of food in less than five minutes and fell asleep afterwards. He woke up shortly after though.

"Why don't we pretend?" Timothy suggested promptly.

"Pretend what?"

"To fall in love with her, give her affections and into her affections. We must make her believe we are in order to be let go. We don't have to be captives for very long."

Harley considered Timothy's brilliant idea and pointed out. "Wouldn't that conspicuous? We should act reluctant and then come around. We have to succeed and if we're inconspicuous we will but not the other way around."

"We'll be reluctant for the first part, then slowly give in. We'll get out of here some how. I promise." She planted a swift kiss on his cheek and leaned on his shoulder.

"I believe you." He swallowed hard, thinking.

Winnie sat on a deep red, old sofa. Her short fingers buried in a black, fluffy pillow. She absently plucked at the furry fibers. Her thoughts were overwhelming, disturbing, and distressing. The way Timothy and Harley acted that morning flummoxed her. Why were they not surprised? Did they already suspect Winnie's plot? Or were they expecting Winnie to do something drastic either way? She knew how dramatic she can be. She knew what drastic measure she took, alot of the time she made a scene. Timothy and her husband are imperturbable. Why did they have to act complacent? And logical?

Winnie thought they may plot their own plan or something. She decided trusting them very little. She threw her pillow at the ground and got up. She rounded a corner, entering the kitchen, stepping over the threshold. Smells of spices and meat overwhelmed her. She saw a pot of chicken boiling and a skillet of stirfry cooking on the stove. Her mother leaned against an old bar. Her arms crossed, her dark eyes closed, and her face directed towards the ground naturally. She appeared sleep like, but Winnie knew that wasn't the case. Terra never slept and if she did, she liked pure quietness and alone time. Insomnia had it's claws deep into her mother. Unfortunately.

"Ma.." Winnie said, staring at her hands.

"Yeah, Winnie?"

"Do you think we'll succeed in what we're doing?"

Terra's fluttered open. Her dark eyes landed on her daughter's flushed face. She maneuvered to the skillet, not averting her eyes and picked up a tan wooden spatula. "Honestly.. It depends on how far you're willing to go and how long it takes to break them?" Terra stirred the frying pieces of green and red peppers, satiated mushrooms, and white onion.

"What if they are unbreakable?" Winnie prompted, looking warily uncomfortable. The fact Terra would be willing to break anyone for the sake of Winnie's desires was off putting, yet Terra had secrets and a closet of skeletons which explained her unique support for Winnie. She was just as dangerous if not more.

Terra switched off the burner and turned around, the skillet in her hand and sat it on the bar. She had a devious, baleful grin on her dark face. "Oh, Honey, everyone is breakable. There are people who are repeatedly broken over and over, and remain strong like your father. There are people who pretend they're not broken or breakable, but behind close doors, they break down and show the walls what someone or something else has done to them. There are people who are tough as dragon's skin and are ferocious because they have been broken. That is me. And then there is you, the person who is close to being broken but haven't. You don't let anyone. Everyone is breakable, in some way." Terra touched her daughter's cheek lovingly and met her eyes. "Timothy and Harley will endure pain and suffering til their breaking point. I have no doubt you can be the punisher. You are after all, your mother's daughter."

Winnie blinked, gazing at her mother before she turned and went back to creating the meal. Winnie left the kitchen, not wanting to engage in anymore conversation. Her mother was dark and damaged. No wonder Winnie presented the same. She walked outside, settling on a rotting wooden step, and stared into the abyss of green.

Trees surrounded the cabin, lively, and vibrant. Faint sounds of the city filtered in the air and chirping birds rung. I don't deserve their love, but I will get it. I'll do what it takes. Winnie promised herself. She heard cracking of twigs, she stood up, and saw her father and Tad carrying wood back for the fire tonight. She hoped her heart would steady. Sometimes the woods gave her slight scares. She smiled, seeing her father and Tad. "Hey guys!"

"Hey." Tad winked, his dark green eyes glittering under the weak film of sunshine. Winnie thought for a guy, who liked guys, he was probably one of the most attractive dudes ever. She walked up to him and took a couple logs off his log pile. "How was hunting for wood?" She asked, casually.

"Boring for the most part until I tripped and landed in a mud puddle by the lake. Your dad practically died of laughter. I was so mad, but I ended up laughing and throw mud at him. We had a blast." He put the logs on the triangular stack and gestured to his muddy clothes. His face looked rather pristine. Winnie assumed he used the lake water to wash off his face and hands.

"Sounds like you weren't meant for the nature thing." Winnie air quoted, chuckling at his ruin white t-shirt and yellow jeans. She had to admit the mud brought out his bronze pigmentation.

Tad shrugged, running his hand through his dirty, dark blonde hair. "Not really, but I make the best of it. How's the guests?"

"They're fine. Me and Ma talked to them and brought them food. I assume they ate. We're going to bring them dinner when Ma's finished cooking and talk to them again. Want to come?"

Tad's nonchalant expressed turned bewildered. "I don't know. That's not really my area."

"Come on, you can create more of the story if you knew their thoughts, words, and conditions? It'll be helpful in the long run."

"Fine, but you owe me!"

She rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Three almond joys and starbursts!" He said cheerily, following her up the steps and into the house.

"Done and done."