#I love how her nun persona is fine like I love her a lot she's my baby she has done nothing wrong but Laurentina?

[abyssalhuntersnerd]

Current mood:

[dumplingfaye]

now I told you before reasons why Nacht x Asta was a great ship but now I’m going to tell you why it’s the best ship out of all

(and even if you’re not interested in Nacht x Asta I think you should take the time to read this because it will tell you a lot about you’re ship that you ship)

But then again it’s really long

no I’m not going to name all of the ships because there’s way too many but I will do some ships I’ll give you a reason why I’m not doing them all it’s because all would be for very pacific reasons and I’ll talk about that once I get to Nacht okay so first off we have

Zora x Asta

The reason I don’t like the ship is because it’s for a very pacific reason it’s for a very pacific person and again I’ll talk about that once I get to Nacht but to make it clear to you he hasn’t had that much interaction since his introduction with Asta and that’s the thing this ship it doesn’t even have that much merit to it so yeah no

Asta x Sécre

Same thing very pacific reason and they haven’t had that much interactions since her introduction and if anybody brings up the thing that she was the bird do you think stocking someone is cute now for

Yami x Asta

I can’t exactly go in depth right now but let’s just say I see there relationship like father and son now for the ships I support at least to some extent.

Asta x Noelle

okay so first off I’m not a big fan of this ship because there relationship with each other is more like siblings now why do I think this because it’s clear to me that whenever Noelle does something incredible Asta praises her not in the way that a boyfriend would but more like a big brother if you ignore her attraction towards Asta their relationship with each other is like siblings now you could say oh they’re both so similar so they’re perfect for each other but it’s because they’re similar that they’re like siblings. now similarities in a ship is either bad or incredible in this case it’s okay and if you want a ship about two people who are similar look no further than Yuno & Noelle they are both royalty they both achieve spirit dive they both faced prejudice to some extent in Noelle’s case she faced prejudice from her family but Yuno faced prejudice from his squad and both of them learn to overcome their hate and protect those people when those people needed them the most both have actual motives to stop the dark triad other than protecting the innocent because their parents were killed by them instead of the devil doing it. wind and water are like spiritual elements so they kind of fit each other they both didn’t have control over their magic then they overcome that endeavor and controlled it perfectly in Noelle’s case she literally couldn’t control her magic but when it comes to Yuno. Yuno Couldn’t control Sylph not even mentioning they hold a special place in Asta‘s life in Yuno‘s case he’s Asta’s rival in Noelle’s case she was his fellow newbie and they both experienced their first second and third missions together so yeah They also have those interactions that make them look like the exact same person and they’re both ranked on the most beautiful characters in black clover Noelle’s ranking is 2. and Yuno’s is 1. but that came out long before Nacht was introduced to the series so his number probably drop to 2. as well because of obvious reasons anyhow the point is Yuno and Noelle have so much more similarities than either Asta ship so Now let’s talk about

Asta x Mimosa

(that’s crazy I still have a lot to go because I have a lot to say) okay so this is the one that is more okay than the others I mean it’s not the best and I’ll tell you why once we get to Nacht but let me just say why is this ship in particular is really not toxic I guess okay so Mimosa likes Asta because Asta is Asta to some extent like she fell in love with him when he saved her and Noelle in the dungeon so why do I say she likes him for him because if it was anyone else she would have expected it because if it was Yuno she would have expected it because Yuno has a lot of incredible mana magic or Magna he is a commoner who got into the magic knights so yeah it was because Asta didn’t have any magic that she fell in love with him because even though he didn’t have magic he had a righteous heart protected his allies and would do anything for his friends and as we see her interact with her brother she doesn’t like people who think big of themselves so Asta who talks big but has the strength to back it up is also very modest because after Mimosa saved his life he said thank you I would’ve died without you not even mentioning Asta and Mimosa is a good pair for one another like Asta can save Mimosa and Mimosa can save Asta he can protect her she can protect him both are kind of an airhead one is offensive one is defensive but both can work well with other people Asta works abnormally well with Yuno Yami Finral Nacht Vanessa the list goes on and Mimosa can work well with Noelle Finral Yuno Klaus Zora Kirsch and possibly more but most importantly they both work well with each other (and if anybody brings up Noelle in this debacle just know that Asta and Noelle can only support one another not protect each other) yeah there’s barely anything wrong with the ship that’s why I ship it now for

Noelle x Asta x Mimosa

because Asta is a good boy he doesn’t deserve one wife that and they all work best with each other there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this ship I can totally see a scenario where Asta gives up on Lily and is torn between choosing Noelle or Mimosa so he decides to pick neither one because he’d rather be alone than cause the other pain so they say why don’t you choose both of us and I’ll be like yess ( „-’‿`- „ ) and speaking of Lily

Asta x Lily

it’s Memeable so I ship it because if Noelle and Mimosa say I love you Asta he’ll be like okay but I love a nun now for

Yuno x Asta

okay we’re almost at the end now (I like this ship it isn’t like those other shonen ships between the protagonist and his rival that I usually like to meme about it more than ship it like I was a shipper to all ships in Black clover but now I’m just kind of Yuno x Asta or Nacht x Asta exclusively ) now why do I like Yunoasu why this ship because Yuno acts really gay when it come to Asta and Asta gets jealous of Ril because Ril got to fight Yuno instead of Asta. Asta and Yuno give each other that look whenever they see each other. They work perfectly together Yuno strengthens Asta’s attacks and they’re both kind of like each other antithesis one has magic one has nonexistent magic one is royalty one might be a fallen one (because I think Licita & Asta are Licht and Tetia descendents) they both believe in the other. they both grew up together so it’s just natural to believe that they would want to be with the person who’s been there since they were babies the closest person to them is each other so this ship is incredible so how can Nacht x Asta be better well........

before we get to that

Liebe x Asta

I don’t like the ship because they’re brothers they share the same mom and they might even actually be biologically related so uh yeah NOW FINELY WE’WR HERE

Nacht x Asta

this ship this is........... when it comes to all the others This ship ranks supreme in my book why you may think because if Nacht & Asta We’re in a relationship it will be the type of dynamic where neither of them doesn’t wanna lose each other both worry for one another Asta is a very kind person but just because he’s kind doesn’t mean that people like him to tell the truth when it comes to everyone else barely any of them truly like his true self because when it comes to Zora or Sécre they only like him they would only be in a relationship with him because he was the one who changed them but he was only able to change them because he was strong Yami only took notice of Asta because he was strong if he didn’t have the strength to back it up he would never get into the magic knights no one would take him seriously not his hopes nor his dreams Noelle only fell in love with Asta because he was strong and he encouraged her you could literally replace him with anyone else like Yuno and she would still feel the same for them so yeah she doesn’t love Asta she loves the persona of him a person who is kind strong and tells you you did great when you thought that they were going to make fun of you Mimosa if Asta wasn’t strong she wouldn’t fall in love with him neither would any of the other ships that I didn’t even get to name and I may have praised Yunoasu but honestly it’s kind of a gross ship to because if Yuno wasn’t saved by Asta or if he didn’t grown-up with Asta he would see him as a joke and never take him seriously no matter what and that’s the exact reason why someone like Asta can’t be honest to his friends he hast to keep on smiling constantly hast to be strong because if he’s weak he will be all alone and that’s why I love Liebe & Nacht so much because no matter what they’ll except him Liebe doesn’t care if his brother is strong because as long as he’s kind he’ll care for him more than anyone and Nacht he can except someone who is weak someone who cry’s as long as they’re a good person and that’s not even mentioning the fact that Nacht watched Asta for years and I can only assume it’s because he had that smile a kind personality someone who even though he had no magic kept on training even though he was up against the world up against God’s favorite (Yuno) he never stopped believing he could be the wizard king one day that’s what probably drew him towards Asta he excepted Asta long before anyone in the Black Bulls really did that’s why I ship it because I know Asta would except Nacht and all of his flaws and mistakes Because they would be there for each other because they both gone through a lot so they’re empty to some extent but the person who can put sugar into that jar or fill up the hole in their hearts are each other I constantly think of scenarios where Asta says nobody will except me if I’m weak I have to be strong I can’t cry I have to be strong I’m not allowed to be weak. and Nacht Responding with a hug and says I’ll except you even if the whole world rejects you I’ll except you because I know you except me) And that’s why I ship it because it’s beautiful I love it and even though it will never happen I’ll keep on shipping it until I stop I cannot say that I’ll be a shipper forever because I don’t know what will happen in the future but until then I will be a strong supporter of the ship and I hope you guys could understand ( „T’‿`T„ )

[houseisekai]

House Isekai: A Realm Reborn - Part 3, Thunder Rolls (2 of 2)

House Isekai ARR Masterlist Here

—

Client: Marianne Von Edmund

With Marianne's help, the new House Isekai split off into teams to find this mysterious object and take it down before it becomes too dangerous...

[Tactics - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

Marianne handed Sitri a paper with all the findings her scouts have reported.

(Marianne) "I hope this will be of use to you all."

(Sitri) "It will, thank you, Marianne."

Marianne nodded and smiled.

(Marianne) "Please be careful, I would not like to see any of you come to harm."

(Kazuma) "Eh, don't worry, the kids'll be fine with us!"

Marianne raised an eyebrow, although her smile was still kept.

(Marianne) "With Rean and the others, I can believe that."

(Kazuma) "Hey, who was the group that saved your guys asses plenty of times back then? Mine, that's who!"

(Rean) "Aaaand, don't forget who bailed you out for a lot of those situations."

(Aigis) "It was us."

Kazuma continued to cause a commotion, letting the other groups spectate.

(Jean) "They all seem rather close."

(Lisa) "Reminds you a bit of home, doesn't it?"

Lisa smirked as she turned to Kaeya and Diluc.

Diluc rolled his eyes while Kaeya shrugged.

(Kurt) "I trust Instructor Rean and Towa's guidance, but I am unsure about the other two."

(Juna) "Well, that Aigis lady seems nice enough though, now that I think on it, what CAN those two do?"

(Ash) "Noticed Kazuma has a dagger and a short sword on his belt, but for Aigis...can't tell."

(Altina) "It appears she is like me."

(Juna) "Wait, as in not human?"

Musse turned to the Garreg Mach students.

(Musse) "What do you guys think?"

(Astrid) "Eh? Well, I dunno. I've only heard stories, never seen them in action."

(Helena) "Gets kinda hard to tell what's true."

(Stefan) "I guess today's our lucky day!"

(Elizabeth) "Hmph, if you call having to deal with otherworldy monstrosities lucky!"

(Helena) "Harsh. These people aren't that ugly."

(Elizabeth) "What in the-That is not what I meant and you know it!"

(Kairos) "..."

(Astrid) ? "Kairos? Somethin' up?"

(Kairos) "Huh? Oh, I am fine. It's nothing."

Kairos looked back down, a bit dejected.

(Stefan) "The things Lady Marianne and Sitri say getting you down?"

Kairos raised his voice to object but sighed instead.

(Kairos) "I just cannot believe I let my immaturity get the best of me there. These people are the reason we're here right now, but I cannot shake off how I feel that easily."

(Elizabeth) "I...would be lying if I said I did not feel the same."

Venti and Amber didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it was hard not to considering how loudly they were announcing their feelings to the entire group.

(Venti) "If that's the case, why not get to know us then?"

(Elizabeth and Kairos) "Huh?"

(Amber) "Yeah, this mission looks to be tough, so if we all work together, I'm sure we'll be friends in no time!"

(Kurt) "I would not be opposed to it. Well, considering that we also have no alternatives present as well.'

Meanwhile, the Instructors finally finished their conversation.

(Marianne) "I wish you luck, House Isekai."

(Rean) "Thanks, Marianne. We'll be back as soon as we can."

Marianne bowed and went inside back to her estate, leaving the Instructors to walk back to their groups.

(Towa) "So, what's the plan?"

(Sitri) "I...Hm."

She stopped walking to take a moment to think.

(Sitri) "I think it'd be best if we were to all search together. We have no idea what we'd be up against."

The tone of her voice made it sound like it was more of a suggestion than a command.

(Sothis) "Looks like the group has another one."

(Diluc) "Miss Sitri, was it? If we could speak our mind."

(Sitri) "Huh? O-Oh, Go ahead."

Kazuma leaned over to Rean.

(Kazuma) "She doesn't exactly sound confident for a headmaster."

(Rean) "Being fair, she was just a nun from what we were told by Jeralt."

(Aigis) "Affirmative, she also was very weak and could not leave Garreg Mach often."

(Towa) "...S-So, if that's the case, how is she walking around out here carrying her sword no problem?"

The four stared at her while Diluc was explaining the group's plan.

(Rean) "Lahabrea did mention she was chosen to be resurrected for a reason...Did we ever find out why?"

They were silent.

(Kazuma) "Tch, even dead Those Who Slither are a pain in our ass. We never get straight answers from them"

(Aigis) "Well, that wasn't Those Who Slither, that was Byle-...Er, Lahabrea who did the resurrection himself."

(Towa) "Regardless, I think we should ask this ourselves another time."

(Diluc) "...And so, we think splitting up is the best way to approach this threat."

(Sitri) "Well..."

(Jean) "You have our word that nothing will befall any of your students."

(Kurt) "And mine as well."

(Helena) "To be fair, this would be a good way to know how we all fight considering this is our first assignment together."

(Sitri) "Fair enough...Very well, we shall split into teams.

(Rean) "I think it'd be best to mix and match teams."

(Aigis) "Agreed. Based off initial data, I will configure the teams as follows:

First Team will consist of: Rean, Sitri, Helena, Stefan, Kaeya, Amber, Altina, and Ash.

Second team will consist of: Myself, Kazuma, Astrid, Diluc, Jean, Venti, Kurt, and Juna.

Third team will consist of: Towa, Kairos, Elizabeth, Lisa, and Musse."

(Jean) "No objections from me."

(Ash) "Sounds fine."

(Musse) "Aww, I wanted one with Rean-"

(Rean) "You'll be fine under Towa's command. Besides, she was your homeroom teacher anyway."

(Lisa) "Ouch, shot down."

(Musse) "Doesn't mean I'm giving up!~"

(Lisa) "Oh, I like your attitude, love is such a powerful thing..."

(Towa) "Uh...."

(Elizabeth) "I had some slight objections being put in a group with you, Kairos, but now? I think I am glad to have at least someone familiar..."

(Kairos) "Ugh, the feeling's mutual."

(Rean) "Right then. We'll split up and meet at this point in the map if we don't find anything."

(Kazuma) "How are we gonna keep in contact if shit goes down?"

(Aigis) "Rean and Towa have their Arcus Units, and I believe the students of Garreg Mach have something similar."

(Stefan) "Yes, we were all given a communication crystal upon our entry for Sitri's group."

All the students of Garreg Mach pulled out a small flat crystal that faintly glowed blue.

(Kaeya) "We have our methods then. It's probably best we stop wasting time and get moving."

(Sitri) "Agreed. Everyone, remember to be safe. This may be only our first assignment, but do not underestimate the danger. Your lives could be thrown away if you're careless enough."

Everyone nodded and split up.

(Towa) "Alright, looks like we'll head to the site where it was first spotted. This way everyone."

Towa's group walked down a path deeper into the forest and slowly disappeared from sight of everyone else...

...

===

Doomguy's Base, Present...

Doomguy tapped his foot while listening to the Persona Users give their explanation of what was happening.

Apparently, Ryuji, Ann, Mitsuru, and Naoto fought off a group of hulking green creatures calling themselves "Orks" who came from Fodlan's Crystal Tower.

(Yu) "And that's about the gist of it."

(Yosuke) "Yeah, we weren't close enough to the scene and the news gets everything wrong anyway.."

(Futaba) "Even with my hacking I can't get a full picture, it happened so fast."

(Akihiko) "You still got any idea what's going on in Fodlan right now?"

Doomguy shook his head, and shrugged to the air, indicating for VEGA to speak for him.

(VEGA) "Unfortunately, no. There is too much interference for us to make contact with those currently in. That being the case, they are working to rectify this communication block, hopefully soon."

(Junpei) "So what, we're supposed to twiddle our thumbs and just wait?"

(Yukari) "And what exactly can we do, Stupei? If all of us just jump in guns blazing, who knows how long we'd be trapped, and how Fodlan would react!"

(Makoto) "Our entry and exit wasn't the most graceful after all..."

(Akira) "I have faith in everyone over there. It'll be up to us to keep our home safe."

(Chie) "Hey, who else has responded anyway? Seems not too many of us were able to make it in there."

(VEGA) "You are correct. The only ones to answer the call are yourselves, Rean, Elliot, Laura, Fie, Towa, and Kazuma."

(Morgana) "Anyone else?"

(VEGA) "The Denizens of Nazarick appear to be busy handling their world's politics, but they have acknowledged our call and plan to send whoever is available. The same goes for the remaining members of Class VII."

(Teddie) "Oh, how about Yuki-chan and the others?"

(Fuuka) "The School-Living Club?"

(VEGA) "I'm afraid nothing has been sent our way. Not even an acknowledgement."

(Rise) "I hope they're alright. Their world didn't exactly sound forgiving..."

(Kanji) "It's prolly' best they weren't here anyway. Not sure they'd be much help...Er, wait that sounds bad!"

(VEGA) "Negative. You are objectively correct, in terms of combat at least. Megumi and the School-Living Club were the least active members when it came to fights. Their efforts were focused on helping fleeing civilians and moral support. Neither of which we are sure is needed for Fodlan's current circumstances."

(Ken) "I'm sure everyone's fine. We should be worried less about how they are and more on how the Crystal Tower came to our world to begin with."

(VEGA) "We are currently looking into that as we speak. Please feel free to rest here until then."

The Persona users nodded and tried their best to relax, not knowing what the future would bring...

===

[Stilness of Night - Trails of Cold Steel 3 OST]

A few hours later...

Towa's group kept investigating the points of which the scouts had written on the reports, but they had found nothing.

No trace of any warning shots Marianne mentioned, its like they had completely erased the evidence.

The sun was starting to set, but thankfully it was still bright enough for them to keep looking untroubled.

Lisa was close by with Towa, looking with her and Musse while Kairos and Elizabeth investigated somewhere close by.

(Towa) "Hm...still nothing."

(Musse) "Instructor Towa?"

(Towa) "What is it, Musse?"

(Musse) "If I can ask, why is it that the people of this world hold such hostility against you?"

(Lisa) "I have been rather curious myself. It seems every opportunity those two in particular talk bad about your old group."

Towa looked up and made sure Kairos and Elizabeth was far away enough for her to continue.

(Towa) "Truth be told, our group was a mess. We kept coming in out of nowhere, and forming this massive superpower that threw a wrench into all the world leader's plans for...whatever they were going to do. World Domination? Separation? I have no idea."

Towa's eyes looked down as her expression darkened.

(Towa) "We lost a lot of friends during that war too, they gave their lives for a world they didn't know. But this place is home to us, just as much as it is to them..."

Musse and Lisa looked at each other but didn't say anything else.

Towa was doing her best to keep those memories out of her head. She had to keep a clear mind for this assignment.

Though, being told that their group was the reason a civil war was on the brink again, it didn't sit well in her stomach.

Towa's mind ached, thinking the possibility of losing even more friends to this world, which she was struggling to keep out.

Lisa walked towards Towa, kneeling down and rubbing her head.

(Lisa) "There there...I'm sure they'd understand if you told them. No need to fret."

Towa shot back up, a slight tinge of red as she put her hands on her hat.

(Towa) "ACK!"

(Lisa) "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle."

(Towa) "N-No you're fine, Miss Lisa! I'm just usually used to Rean doing that...Which, now that I say out loud, is kinda weird..."

(Musse) "Hmph, lucky."

(Lisa) "Is it weird? I was under the impression you were a couple with the way you acted."

(Musse) "I'm sure she'd like that!"

Lisa and Musse's smirks were flustering Towa.

(Towa) "T-That's not relevant, Musse! And Miss Lisa, we are NOT a couple!"

(Lisa) "So, you're available then?"

(Towa) "BWUH-WHAT?!"

Lisa failed to hold back a chuckle.

(Lisa) "Relax cutie, I'm just joking...Mostly."

(Towa) "Ugh, please just focus back on the task at hand!"

She began mumbling to herself.

(Towa) "You think I'd be used to this considering how much time I've spent with Angie and Crow..."

Lisa crossed her arms as she turned back to finding any signs of a fight.

(Musse) "...Thanks for doing that, Miss Lisa. I never liked seeing Instructor Towa get that down on herself."

(Lisa) "Figured no one does, from what I've gathered. By the way, have you found anything?"

(Musse) "Not particularly. Though that being said-"

Musse began speaking with Lisa who crouched down next to her, pointing at the trees in front of them.

(Kairos) "This question is only now appearing in my head, how exactly do they fight?"

(Elizabeth) "Now that you point it out, the only real weapon I see is on Musse's back. It appears to be some sort of...staff?"

They stared at the rifle that was strapped onto her, not sure what its function was.

(Kairos) "That makes sense, though it's shaped quite oddly. What's the point of that...lever, I think?"

Squinting at the triggerhair on Musse's rifle, he shook his head and turned to Lisa.

(Kairos) "And her. Everyone else from her group has a visible weapon, but she doesn't. All I see is a book."

(Elizabeth) "She could be a spellcaster, though what kind of magic user dresses like that?"

(Kairos) "Of course you judge them based on clothes."

(Elizabeth) "Oh stuff it! As if you're one to talk to ME about biases!"

Kairos and Elizabeth stood up, glaring daggers at each other.

(Kairos) "Hey, I was talking about their weapons!"

(Elizabeth) "And I'm talking about your little outburst earlier! Do you know how much you embarrassed all of us by-"

The went back and forth a little bit, Musse and Lisa pausing their conversation to listen.

(Musse) "How noisy."

(Lisa) "Well, we didn't find anything over here anyway, we might as well put a pause to it."

Towa watched them head towards Elizabeth and Kairos, and decided to watch what would happen instead of interfering. She knew Musse was a lot smarter than she looked, and Lisa seemed to be the same way.

(Towa) "So this is how Instructor Sara felt."

(Musse) "Is there a problem?"

(Elizabeth) "O-Oh, my apologies! No there isn't any problem."

(Kairos) "If you don't count her mouth as one."

(Elizabeth) "Silence yourself, or so goddess help me, I will silence yours!"

(Lisa) "My my, so feisty! You'll ruin those cute faces if you keep frowning so much."

That snapped Elizabeth and Kairos out of their spat and took them aback.

(Kairos) "C-Cute?"

(Elizabeth) "Feisty?!"

(Musse) "It seems no matter the world, people have the same reactions to these things..."

(Lisa) "It would appear so. It's nice having someone who understands, though."

Lisa and Musse smiled, making Kairos and Elizabeth feel slightly uncomfortable.

(Musse) "But back on topic, did you happen to find anything?"

(Kairos) "No, not really."

The two looked back down to the ground they were examining prior.

It was two trees that had snapped and fell to the ground, but there was no magical energy or weapon marks to indicate it had fell down by unnatural causes.

They were looking at the point where the tree snapped and fell over, hoping to find anything but-

(Elizabeth) "Kairos and I are well versed in magic, but we were unable to find anything that we could detect."

(Musse) "Hm...from what I see, there's nothing there either."

Lisa furrowed her brows as she gently pushed everyone to the side, taking a look herself.

(Kairos) "Miss Lisa?"

(Lisa) "...Instructor."

(Towa) "Huh? What is it?"

(Lisa) "I believe I found something."

(Elizabeth) "Truly?"

Towa walked over to the group and looked at the trees as well.

(Lisa) "I understand why no one has reported anything. This was caused by something from our group's world."

Everyone stood on edge.

(Lisa) "Our world has something we call 'Visions', powers granted to us by the Archons and allows us to attune ourselves to the elements and channel them into our will. Diluc and Amber have Pyro visions, letting them control fire. Kaeya has Cryo, Ice, Venti and Jean have Anemo, Wind. I, have Electro. Electricity."

Lisa rubbed her finger against the tree and looked at her finger.

(Lisa) "And on my hands is a very faint remnants of an Electro attack."

She stood up, grabbing her book.

(Lisa) "A very recent one."

Musse and Towa unsheathed their guns while Kairos and Elizabeth quickly looked around.

(Lisa) "I'm presuming you two cuties also wield magic?"

(Kairos) "Y-Yes. I'm proficient in dark magic skills."

(Elizabeth) "I am most skilled with white magic, but I am able to channel dark as well."

(Lisa) "Good. Because I think I know where our target is at."

Kairos and Elizabeth felt the hairs on their arms raise. The darkness of the forest started to glow with an eerie purple in the distance.

Towa got behind them and pulled out an ARCUS unit, calling Rean.

(Towa) "Rean, I think we found it! I'm sending our coordinates-"

A bolt of lightning shot down and almost hit her, making her scream and almost drop her unit.

(Towa) "AAH!"

(Rean's voice) "Towa?! Towa are you-"

BZZZZZRRRRT!

(Musse) "Target straight ahead!"

The cube slowly floated over to them, shooting out bolts of electricity in random directions.

(Musse) "I believe that first one was the warning shot the scouts were talking about."

(Kairos) "What the hell is that thing?!"

(Lisa) "Hmph. Nothing too dangerous, but still, don't let your guards down. We call it an Electro Hypostasis."

The shapes of the cubes floating around the core slowly shifted around, seemingly ready to change shapes at any time.

(Lisa) "It shapes itself into whatever it wants to attack, so be prepared for anything."

(Elizabeth) "You've fought these abominations before?!"

From Elizabeth's view, Lisa looked more annoyed than anything facing this...thing.

(Lisa) "A few times. They're normally docile until you approach, which makes Marianne's reports a lot more sense considering what's been harassing them."

The Cube seemingly stared at all of them, waiting to see if they would back off.

(Lisa) "I'm afraid my Electro vision isn't going to be as helpful as I'd like, but I won't let that stop me."

She flipped open her book, which began levitating in front of her.

The text in the book began to glow a dark purple as she turned to the group.

(Lisa) "But, I digress. The command is up to you, Instructor Towa."

(Towa) "If we let it go, it could be days before we can find it again, we don't let it slip away!"

Towa loaded her pistol and pointed at the Electro Hypostasis.

(Towa) "Engage the enemy!"

(Musse) "Understood, Instructor!"

(Elizabeth & Kairos) "Yes Ma'am!"

(Lisa) "Got it."

[Twice Stricken - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST]

Musse backed up and pointed her rifle at the Hypostasis, taking the first shot.

The bullet predictably reflected off, and the four cubes flew into the air and into a rhombus shape, all aiming at the team.

Electric missiles shot out of the Hypostasis at speeds equivalent to Musse's and Towa's gun.

Lisa snapped her fingers and a electricity field formed around them, misdirecting the attacks and hitting in random directions.

Kairos and Elizabeth ran to the front, Kairos casting a fireball while Elizabeth had ice spikes form underneath it.

The first fireball caused a small explosion, blowing back some of the trees and scorching the grass while the ice spikes shot into the air and at the core of the Hypostasis, stopping the fire before it spread and piercing the core.

It made no noise of pain, though they could tell they were doing some damage to it.

The cubes quickly flew away from the spikes and towards them.

Towa fired her pistol, all aiming at a singular point the spike had pierced into.

Small bits of electricity chipped off, tho it began flying faster and dodged whatever was shot at it.

Lisa's spells were having no effect on the Hypostasis as it landed behind them.

(Lisa) "Get behind something!"

Musse and Towa dove for cover as more missiles shot out of it, Lisa standing behind a tree to hide from it.

Elizabeth did the same as well, but noticed Kairos wasn't moving.

Kairos stood out in the open still and tried to fire another fireball, but it quickly moved to the side, dodging the fireball as it hit the tree behind the Hypostasis instead.

The Hypostasis aimed at Kairos and shot a singular missile, too fast for him to dodge in time and hit him in the chest and sending him flying back into the tree.

He clenched his teeth in pain as the electricity rattled and sent a painful shock throughout his entire body.

(Elizabeth) "Kairos, you bloody idiot!"

She quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him behind cover before another barrage of missiles hit her.

(Elizabeth) "Why didn't you get into cover?!"

(Kairos) "Ach, thought I could hit it again!"

(Lisa) "It's not sentient enough to think creatively, but it's not stupid enough to fall for that again!"

Her brow furrowed further even more, knowing her spells would do nothing to it.

Musse poked her head out and pulled out her ARCUS unit, letting it analyze the Hypostasis.

(Musse) "Miss Lisa, your advice?"

(Lisa) "Keep hitting it with any elemental attack that isn't Electro-Er, thunder!"

(Musse) "Understood, taking the shot! Kairos, Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth stood out of the way of Musse's barrel as her rifle began glowing a hot red.

Pulling the trigger, a single shot hit the core, making it stagger back and form back into it's cube state.

As miniature cubes shot towards them from the excess electricity, Lisa stepped out to the open and shielded them from the bolts on the ground shooting out.

Towa rushed over to Kairos and loaded another round into her pistol, shooting it into the air.

Kairos suddenly felt the pain in his body slowly fade away and looked to Towa.

(Kairos) "Thank y-"

(Towa) "Do that later, right now they need your help!"

(Musse) "Instructor, get down!"

Towa and Kairos saw the three of them dive out the way.

Instinctually, Kairos grabbed Towa's shoulders and shoved her down to the floor as laser beams shot out and spun across the forest, it spinning rapidly as it vaporized the leaves into smoke.

The trees were getting burnt, but thankfully not chipped enough to topple over, Kairos saw.

Once it was done, Kairos rolled into the open and got on knee, adjusting his glasses as he raised his hand and clenched it.

From the skies above the Hypostasis, a burning rock crashed itself on the Hypostasis, knocking the cubes that formed the laser into pieces as the core stood out in the open.

(Lisa) "It's exposed, attack now!"

Elizabeth stood next to Kairos and swiped her hands downwards, the air forming a sword-like shape and slicing through the core, making it slightly shatter and pieces fall off.

Musse's rifle glowed white as it fired a straight line of ice, going through the core.

Towa did the same as her pistol began to glow several colors, red, then white, then red again.

Lisa made sure to keep an eye on any of the excess electricity in the air, flicking her wrist and deflecting a bolt of lightning without looking at it.

It quickly formed back into shape, and stood for a moment as the shots reflected off it.

(Elizabeth) "What is it doing now?!"

The cubes broke off into smaller ones, forming a giant arrow-shape and-

(Lisa) "To the sides, now!"

Lisa jumped back as the Hypostasis formed into a drill-like shape and began spinning towards them, tearing apart any trees that was in its way.

Towa and Musse ran to the sides while Kairos and Elizabeth ducked as it barreled past them.

The trees it knocked over were falling down left and right, Musse almost getting hit by one.

(Towa) "ABOVE YOU!"

Elizabeth looked up and realized a tree was falling on top of her.

Lisa raised her book and a concentrated spell shot out, the strength of it rushing it forward as it collided into more trees and away from everyone.

When Lisa turned her attention back to the Hypostasis, she realized it had formed two giant walls.

Lisa's eyes widened as she tried to brace herself for the shock, the walls closing on her and the force sending her into a tree.

Lisa's body tumbled onto the floor and out in the open, her vision going in and out from the attack.

(Kairos) "Lisa!"

The Hypostasis began to form it's drill shape again while Kairos and Elizabeth rushed to Lisa's defense, shooting whatever spell they could as it began flying to them.

Musse and Towa tried to help with their guns, but they were having no effect.

As it got closer, Kairos tried to pick up Lisa to move her, joined by Elizabeth as it got dangerously close to tearing through them.

Although there were no trees nearby for it to be a hazard, they still couldn't move fast enough with Lisa in hand to get out of the way safely.

(Familliar boy's voice) "COMING THROUGH KIDS!"

Kairos and Elizabeth were tackled by Kazuma while Aigis got in front of Lisa.

(Aigis) "ATHENA!"

Her Persona appeared in front of the drill, the shield failing to be pierced as Athena raised its hand, and knocked it to the side, toppling trees as it bounced through the ground.

Aigis spun around and gave Lisa a hand, which she grabbed it and was helped up.

Kazuma got up and dusted himself off.

(Elizabeth) "Instructor?"

(Kazuma) "Yeah yeah, you're welcome, now get your asses up, that cube thing will be doing the same!"

Kazuma unsheathed his sword, letting Elizabeth and Kairos get up on their own.

As the Hypostasis was getting up and about to change forms, before the core was shelled off, Jean and Venti jumped from the top of the trees and used their Anemo Visions.

Jean first blew it into the air while Venti summoned a mini tornado, picking up the core and shredding it with the speeds of the wind.

Diluc ignited his sword as he slammed it down into the tornado, setting the wind ablaze with the core still inside.

Kurt and Juna jumped in as the core hit the floor, Kurt's sword dicing it to pieces while Juna used the force of her tonfas to dent it, making electricity shoot out with each strike.

It quickly got itself up with the cubes forming once more, this time shifting into a giant fist.

It swung first into Kurt and Juna, sending them flying back into Towa and Musse.

Then it shapeshifted into a pair of scissors, making the Vision users duck under cover as it almost cut them into two.

It finally formed a giant rectangle, slamming down in front of them and sending them into the air.

As the core revealed itself while the three landed on their feet, Astrid and Kazuma swung their weapons into it, Astrid piercing through it while Kazuma slashed it in half with his sword.

Aigis, Musse, Towa, Elizabeth, and Kairos readied their guns and spells, all opening fire together while Astrid and Kazuma dodged out the way.

The final bullet went through it, the core now full of holes, it began to twitch violently as it split into pieces.

It split into three prisms as the core remained invisible in the center.

(Lisa) "Destroy those prisms!"

Juna switched her tonfas into a gunner mode and pulled the trigger, shooting one prism to tiny pieces.

Aigis's Persona smashed another prism into the floor, completely eradicating any trace of it.

Diluc's flaming sword shot out a bird-like shape, turning the prism into cinders as he made a wide swing.

With the last of the prisms gone, the core began to twitch violently as the group formed together.

Lisa got in front of everyone and held out her hands, casting another field to block out the electricity that exploded into a bright purple, the skies turning from white to a dark gray, then the clouds finally disappearing.

[Words to Believe In - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

Towa's team tried to catch their breath.

(Musse) "Whew, that was close..."

(Towa) "Now I'm reminded why Rean's the combat instructor..."

(Lisa) "Nonsense, you did just fine-...Ugh!"

Lisa fell to one knee, Diluc catching her in time.

(Diluc) "Hey, are you alright?"

(Jean) "You took a bad hit from the looks of it."

Jean looked at her back and saw a bleeding wound, as well from her head.

(Elizabeth) "Miss Lisa, I'm so sorry! If you didn't have to take your at-"

Lisa waved her hand in a dismissive manner, smiling through the pain now the adrenaline was wearing off.

(Lisa) "Don't apologize, cutie. Ol' Lisa will be just fine."

Jean and Diluc slowly helped her up while Venti turned to them.

(Venti) "Honestly, not bad for your first time fighting it!"

(Musse) "Thank you. Without Lisa, I'm not sure what would have happened."

(Kairos) "Yes, we owe much of our victory today to her-"

(Kazuma) "Yadda yadda, stop being so humble. Just accept the compliment and move on. Besides, far as Fodlan kids fighting the unknown go, you two ain't half bad."

(Aigis) "Indeed. We were only able to see snippets of the fight, but despite your differences you came to work together rather well."

(Elizabeth) "Why...T-Thank you Instructors."

(Astrid) "Wow, no love for you Instructor Towa."

(Towa) "Oh come on now, don't make this a competition!"

The group began to back and forth, Astrid moving to Elizabeth and Kairos.

(Astrid) "So, what's your impression of 'em? Kazuma and Venti just argued a lot the entire time. Was pretty funny though."

(Elizabeth) "They're not as uncivilized as I was expecting to be honest."

(Kairos) "Psh, who's judging on character now?"

(Elizabeth) "Shut. Up. Already."

(Astrid) "And now I get to hear you guys argue. Ugh, great."

(Musse) "...Huh, where's Instructor Rean and the others?"

(Everyone) "..."

Towa pulled out her ARCUS unit again.

(Towa) "Rean?"

...

Everyone stiffened when they didn't hear a response.

(Towa) "Rean?!"

===

Rean, Sitri, Helena, Stefan, Kaeya, Amber, Altina, and Ash.

Rean was looking for any signs of an attack before hearing his ARCUS unit go off.

(Towa's Voice) "Rean, I think we found it! I'm sending our coordinates-AAH!"

(Rean) "Towa?! Towa are you-"

BZZZZZRRRRT!

(Sitri) "Did something happen?!"

(Rean) "Yeah, Towa's team found it! She sent us the coordinates so we need to-AAAGH!"

Rean fell to one knee, reaching for his head.

(Altina) "Instructor?!"

(Ash) "The hell's going-DAGH! SHIT!"

Ash stopped moving and reached for his head as well, followed by Altina, then the rest of the group one by one, their heads pounding as their vision suddenly faded to white.

…

…

[Out of Time - Final Fantasy XIV OST]

The inside of the room was glowing a faint blue-white, two green haired individuals walking through them, though one was significantly taller than the other.

(Flayn) "Father, are you sure this is the way?"

Seteth's face scrunched up as he stared at one of the crystals in his hand. The directions it was pointing to was hazy at best.

(Seteth) "No...No Flayn, I am not sure. But we have to try something at least."

Flayn looked behind her, worried.

(Flayn) "Of course..."

They stopped themselves to what appeared to be a massive doorway. Seteth held the stone up to it and the door slowly began to open, light pouring out from the other side.

The two were about to take a step through the door before a shot of electricity bolted over their heads.

Seteth quickly raised the crystal up, and it glowed a bright blue before whatever was shooting at them disappeared.

Inside the crystal was a dark purple fog before it quickly disappeared with a white flash.

(Flayn) "What was that?!"

(Seteth) "Something we weren't looking for. Perhaps the deeper we go into the tower, we'll be able to find it."

Saying nothing else, they looked around as moving platforms shifted around them.

Seteth and Flayn stepped onto them as everything turned into a static mess, slowly fading out of view...

…

[Spiderweb - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

(Towa's voice) "Rean?"

...

(Towa's voice) "Rean?!"

Rean hazily reached for his ARCUS unit, responding to a very concerned Towa.

(Rean) "Agh, we're here!...I think."

Everyone looked at each other, the headache slowly subsiding.

(Kaeya) "What in the world was that?"

(Amber) "Ugh, my head!"

(Altina) "Is...is that supposed to happen naturally?"

(Helena) "Unless we're in extreme stress situations where our physical bodies are pushed to the limit, no."

(Stefan) "And considering we just started our assignment."

Sitri began speaking in her head.

(Sitri) Sothis...?

(Sothis) "Agh, don't worry, I felt it too...Though, wasn't that?-"

(Sitri) Seteth and Flayn...

(Sothis) "Doubt anyone else would know what they saw besides you and Rean."

(Sitri) What were they doing in the Tower, I thought we cleared it by now!

(Sothis) "I have no idea, but we have to tell this to the other instructors."

(Rean) "...And that was the end of that...vision? Or something. I'm still not sure."

(Towa's Voice) "...Understood. Let's meet back up at Marianne's and tell her that we finished the job."

(Rean) "Roger that. And Towa? Good work."

(Towa's voice) "Heh, um...thank you."

Rean hung up the call and motioned for everyone to follow, everyone still out of it from whatever it was they saw.

Later...

(Aigis) "A vision?"

(Kazuma) "Holy shit, Seteth and Flayn are alive?!"

(Sitri) "Possibly? I'm not sure..."

(Rean) "It's still blurry in my head, and I'm sure the others agree."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

(Towa) "We should investigate once we get back, but..."

[Where the Heart is - Final Fantasy XIV OST]

(Towa) "I'm glad we were able to help out, Marianne!"

(Marianne) "Thank you so much for your assistance. As always, you're always rescuing us from dangers."

Marianne smiled and bowed.

(Rean) "Of course. If there's any other troubles, please call upon us to help if you need it."

(Sitri) "Thank you for your kindness."

(Marianne) "And as requested, we have the railroads to take you back to Garreg Mach. It should be a day's trip.

(Juna) "Man, it just feels like went to a different country instead of a world with how familiar it is..."

(Amber) "What's a railroad?"

(Musse) "Oh, you see it's-..."

Class VII and the Knights began engaging in a friendly banter, which gave Kazuma to groan.

(Kazuma) "A train?! Why the hell are we taking a train when we can teleport?!"

Sothis appeared for a brief moment when she made sure no one was looking in their direction.

(Sothis) "We'll explain it later, but for now just shut up and deal with it."

Rean and Towa laughed while Aigis had a smirk.

Kazuma was ready to cuss out Sothis before the students approached them.

(Kairos) "Instructors? I...would like to apologize for my earlier outburst-"

(Rean) "Don't sweat it."

(Kairos) "Huh?"

(Towa) "To be fair, it IS a little strange for a bunch of people to pop out of portals like this and boss you around. But that being said, we are your instructors for a reason!"

(Kazuma) "Some respect goes a long way, kid!"

(Astrid) "You look as old as we do..."

(Kazuma) "And YOU shutting up can go a long way!"

Aigis slapped the back of his head and nodded.

(Aigis) "Apologies for him. Although he is right to some degree. We are happy to be your instructors, no matter what we have done in the past."

(Stefan) "I look forward to your guidance, Instructors!"

(Elizabeth) "As do I. I will make the Blue Lions proud for having me as their chosen!"

(Helena) "Hear that Astrid? You shutting up means they'll like you more."

Astrid gently punched Helena in the shoulder, Helena's expression being deadpan from the delivery to the literal punchline.

(Astrid) "Same goes for you, smartass."

Marianne approached the Garreg Mach students and looked at Kairos.

(Marianne) "You've grown up so much despite the fact it's only been a few years. I hope in the future we can have a moment to talk, so we can catch up!"

(Kairos) "A-As do I Lady- Er, I mean...Marianne."

Marianne's smile made him unable to look at her in the eye and she turned to Sitri.

(Marianne) "It's right this way. Follow me everyone."

And in a few moments, the members of House Isekai stepped onto a train that took them to Garreg Mach, Marianne waving goodbye to everyone...

...

...

...

BING, BING BING BING, BONG!

[Life at Garreg Mach Monastery - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

Today's instructions were done for the day, the doors being opened as students and guards went from position to position.

A good number of students went to their dorms while many others went into the mess hall.

Guards piloted massive Knight mechs out of the hangar and towards the Gates, practicing military drills and simply standing guard for any potential threats.

Kairos, Elizabeth, Astrid, Helena, and Stefan walked out their respective classrooms and towards the Hangar.

(Helena) "Last day of hanging with the Golden Deer...Can't say I'll miss them too much."

(Astrid) "I will a little, I was FINALLY getting used to the schedule!"

Kairos shrugged.

(Kairos) "It's not like we'll never see them again. We're still attending the same Academy."

(Stefan) "I'm a bit sad I can't hang out with my friends as much, but I guess that's the nature of an Officer's academy."

(Elizabeth) "Well think of it this way, we now have a new opportunity to go down in history!...Even though our instructors are those offworlders."

(Helena) "I still can't tell, do you like them or not?"

The banter went back and forth a few more times as they moved to the hangar.

The Imperial soldier in front nodded to them and let them pass.

(Stefan) "Oh, Kairos."

(Kairos) "Hm?"

(Stefan) "Your data from the fight with that...cube thing is recorded on your crystal right?"

(Kairos) "Yeah. What about it?"

(Stefan) "You should send that to the rest of us, so we can see everyone's fighting style."

(Helena) "Oh yeah, we didn't get to fight during that."

(Kairos) "Sure, one second."

Kairos took out his communication crystal and let it connect with Astrid, Stefan, and Helena's.

Stefan nodded and smiled.

(Stefan) "Thanks, I'm pretty excited to see what they can do!"

(Elizabeth) "Soon enough, we'll get to know how they are-"

(Recette's voice) "Yoohoo, over here!"

The five stopped once they saw Recette waving over to them excitedly.

(Tear) "Welcome. Your quarters are now finished."

(Astrid) "Dam-Er, Dang, it's only been like 3 days, and you're already finished?"

(Recette) "Yup! There's nothing that blood, sweat and heckuva lotta gold can't accomplish!"

(Tear) "The wonders of capitalism."

(Helena) "...Capi-what?"

(Tear) "Nevermind. This way, your instructors are currently in a meeting but everyone else is waiting for you in the room.

The five followed Recette and Tear into their barracks into an elevator, going below the hangar and storage floor...

Garreg Mach's Listening Chamber...

(Sitri) "The other team contacted me and let us know their task is done. They're currently on their way back on the railway and should be back within the hour."

(Towa) "It's crazy to know Slayer sent Elliot, Fie, and Laura to us!"

(Rean) "Duvalie being with them is sure going to make her a lot more irritable."

(Kazuma) "She seems like a bitch."

(Towa) "That's putting it lightly..."

(Aigis) "Regardless, it is good to have reinforcements backing us up."

(Rean) "...Valimar, can you confirm signatures of anyone else present in Fodlan?"

Valimar's voice echoed out of his ARCUS unit.

(Valimar) "...Affirmative. It would appear some of the Persona Users are present as well."

(Aigis) "Really?!"

(Valimar) "Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Mitsuru Kirijo, and Naoto Shirogane, according to my scans."

(Kazuma) "How come no one else has reported this?"

(Towa) "Yeah, that is pretty weird..."

(Valimar) "I am still scanning, so I am unable to tell where they are. Analysis would take a day or so."

(Rean) "Just keep us updated Valimar."

(Valimar) "Of course. Speaking of which, it seems Duvalie's group is about to arrive."

(Rean) "Let's go ahead and meet them then."

The instructors nodded and left before Sitri's Crystal began beeping.

(Sitri) "Hold on, I have to take this. I'll be with you soon."

The four left Sitri and Sothis alone as Sitri opened it up, revealing a small reflection of Edelgard.

(Sitri) "Edelgard?"

(Edelgard) "Hello, Sitri. With the official reformation of House Isekai, we would like to assign your tasks for this month, as it was done when we were enrolled."

(Sothis) "So...why are you calling just by yourself?"

(Edelgard) "And that is my next point..."

...

As the train approached the station, Stefan saw Rean and the other instructors meet up with the rest of the group.

(Stefan) "...Even more of the offworlders."

He looked to see no one was watching him, and slowly snuck away from the group.

Everyone was distracted meeting Rean's friends to notice Stefan had disappeared into a corner.

Stefan looked at his crystal and saw the recording of Kairos and Elizabeth fighting the...whatever the hell it was.

Though, he was honestly glad no one was hurt.

He tweaked his communication crystal by turning a dial to the left and pressing in a specific combination with the buttons on it.

And with that, a voice popped up on the other side.

(Distorted Voice) "There are you. Goddess, we thought something happened. Status?"

(Stefan) "I'm fine, don't worry. And something did. House Isekai has returned."

(Distorted Voice) "...Say that again, it sounded like you said House Isekai."

(Stefan) "I did say House Isekai. It's the White Cloud Contingency."

(Distorted Voice) "...Keep your eye on them. And be careful. We all saw what happened to the poor bastards who underestimated them seven years ago."

(Stefan) "Understood. And you all be careful as well."

(Distorted Voice) "Godspeed."

Stefan nodded and hung up. He slowly blended back into the crowd and saw Kairos looking in his direction.

(Kairos) "Hey, there you are!"

(Helena) "That armor slowing you down or something?"

(Astrid) "I told you guys to wait up, he was falling behind!"

(Stefan) "Hah, yeah I got lost. This place is huge!"

(Elizabeth) "Goodness gracious, just speak up Stefan! Anyways, what do you think of Instructor Rean's colleagues?"

(Helena) "...I like that grey-haired one."

(Kairos) "Of course you would."

(Astrid) "T-That orange haired guy, and...and that blue haired lady! So hot...!"

(Kairos) "...What?"

(Astrid) "I-I MEAN-"

The four exchanged jabs with each other, Stefan occasionally throwing in lines as well, but he was far more concerned that the old members alongside new people of House Isekai were coming.

[Lost in Paradise - ALI]

(Stefan) "...Hmph."

He breathed in and out to calm himself.

(Stefan) No matter what happens, even with them here, they can't interfere...Fodlan HAS to be free from this rule!

===

PART 3: ENDED

STANDBY PHASE 1...

Gotta get it homie gotta move it If you gonna do it then, push everything to the side Everybody just talk nobody really do it You should keep a secret until you actually do it No need to double check with someone Use your judgement only, break the walls Let’s do flashy fake More Cool, keep it low, prove them wrong I won’t give up the fight in my life ‘Cause my life is living for love I won’t give up the fight in my life Stand off and groove on time Tokyo prison Going to relight your feelings When times get too rough Night and day are fading Going to relight your feelings There’s no time to explain Gimme your love Access to your love Oh yeah Lost in paradise Night and day are fading out When times getting rough Access to your love Lost in paradise Night and day are fading out Keep on dancing now Hеy hey hеy hey heyeah

[dayasbun]

Opposites - Fezco

Summary: in which rue hooks you up with a drug dealer that takes quite the interest in you. you're known for your soft spoken words and kind personality, and he's known for his drug selling habits and crude outlook on life- but opposites attract right?

Warnings: uh let's see there's bad words? no smut this time around just soft fluffy shiz but next time i'm not promising soft anythin- anyway i literally adored writing this and i just love fez+angus sm like come on y'all i need more fez and angus fics!!! this is 100% for @wakandamama cuz she keeps me supplied with that good good- and by that i mean those good ass fezco fics- anyway i hope y'all angels love reading this as much as i loved writing it :) <3 there are for sure an abundance of more fez fics coming your way- okay i'll shutup now- enjoy!!!!!!

-

Fezco.

Or Fez- that's what Rue called him, and you didn't know much about him. All you knew is that Rue and Gia swore you were 'his type' and that he was an actual drug dealer.

When the girls originally told you that he was a drug dealer you thought it was a joke; but you soon realized it was anything but. Being a drug dealers type isn't exactly what you wanted to hear when coming to visit the Bennett fam, but hey- work with what you got... right?

Your innocent and pure persona didn't match the energy you assumed would come from the Fez you kept hearing about...however, opposites do attract-so you couldn't help but to be just the tiniest bit interested.

The party you and Rue walked into smelled so strongly of weed- you hated it. Alot. Drugs and weed were never your thing, you'd much rather read a book than get high- drinking you could deal with, but you preferred to know what you were doing and not have your mind altered often.

"Come onnnnn- I know he's here I just know it-"

"Rue, the reason we're here is not only to see your little friend Fez, I came to this party to have fun?"

"Y/N you don't smoke or do drugs, you only drink so what's really the definition of fun to you?"

You rolled your eyes walking off, headed to the kitchen for a drink. You didn't want to get drunk, but you wanted a buzz. The kitchen was surprisingly empty, so taking advantage of that you cracked open a new bottle of tequila and took a couple bitter shots. You were a bit of a lightweight, so two shots was your cutoff before beginning to sputter over the edge.

"Pour me some ight?"

You looked up at the face the voice belonged to and your eyes widened.

Now look, you'd seen quite a few men in your lifetime. You had a decent amount of experience, but you didn't sleep around. You had seen all of the blonde douchey men, the sweet brunette boys and the basic men that just didn't care about anything but sex. But this man you were looking up at was- damn. You didn't have any history with redheads but you were most definitely considering a future with one right now- maybe it was the alcohol telling you that but holy shi-

"Mhm, what you want baby?" your confidence boosted out of nowhere...another shot suddenly didn't seem too bad.

"Just a few shots, maybe a cup of the shit so it actually effects me you feel?"

You grabbed a red cup and poured some of the alcoholic drink in it. "What's your name handsome?" you questioned as you handed it to him.

"Fez."

Holy shit- so this was Fez. Drug dealer Fez; but for fucks sake look at him, if you were actually his type like Rue claimed you felt as though it was a blessing straight from God himself.

"I'm Y/N, nice to meet you." you held out your hand and poured another shot for yourself after he shook it.

"So who's your people? I ain't seen you 'round here. I woulda remembered if I had."

"I'm a friend of Rue and Gias, they're like family to me but no blood."

He looked you up and down, making you feel self conscious but also straight up horny...you needed to stop, you really needed to stop. You didn't know for sure if it was him or the alcohol making you feel like this, but above all you were pretty sure it was all him.

"Rue and G? They chill, so you good then?"

"What?"

"Like you not a snitch. You know what I do- I think you know anyway if you tight with Rue."

"That rhymed!" you giggled with a grin. He gave you a confused look but soon softened up and chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it did."

"I won't snitch, i'm not like that..."

"Good baby, good." he took a sip of the drink you poured for him and you almost poured another shot for yourself but refrained. You were tipsy but you weren't drunk- and you didn't want to be drunk.

"So Rue told me I'm your type, was she right?"

Yeah, that was definitely the alcohol talking- you would never ask anything like that.

"Ion know yet, give me a spin."

"A spin...?" you spun around, feeling a bit dizzy in result.

"You cute as hell, i'm not finna lie. But ion even know y-"

"Then get to know me, Fez." you said a bit more seductively than you had planned.

"Nah cuz see I know you drunk. And you fine as hell I'm not even finna play with you, but I can't mess with you when you drunk. Rue said you a lightweight."

"I'm not!" you reassured him "Just tipsy, I know everything that's going on- you're Fez, I'm Y/N and we're at a party that smells way too heavily of weed."

"If you don't like weed you really must hate me then."

"I definitely don't hate you..."

Beards were never really your thing, but god Fez's beard was most definitely past acceptable- it was so perfect on him? Everything on him seemed as though it had been perfectly placed by God to be there.

"We should get outta here. I know some people looking for me and I ain' tryna get you tied all up in some shit you know nun about. Come on."

"Oooh naughty drug dealer," you teased with a grin "Such a bad boy, what are the feds coming for you? Is that it?"

He turned to look at you, and the serious look on his face caused you to wonder if maybe the feds actually were, leading to your grin quickly ceasing.

He kept his arm around your waist so that you stayed close to him, it was almost like he thought you'd slip away if he let you go for a second. As you two made your way through the crowd you saw Rue winking at you in the distance- damnit she probably planned this.

Eventually after a blur of conversation and giggles, you two made it to his house. It smelled just as heavily as weed as the party did- but strangely enough this was different, you barely even noticed.

"Get out them clothes, I know Rue probably made you wear 'em. They don't really look like you, you feel? I got some hoodies and shit you can chill in."

God yes- a man willingly offering his hoodies for you to wear? Was this love or was this a fucking dream? And he was right, Rue had forced you into the skimpy clothing claiming that it made you look 'sexy'. You hated it, but you couldn't disagree with her- you looked hot.

Fez stepped out of the room to let you change, which you found absolutely precious. You were starting to completely sober up from the tad of tipsy you had inflicted on yourself earlier. Once you were in his green hoodie and a pair of sweats that were way too big for you, you opened the door only to find him standing outside of it on his phone.

"Hey, I'm done." you said softly, a small smile playing on your lips. He nodded and walked in kicking the door closed behind him. You two sat on the bed, not too close but not too far.

"You tired or?"

You nodded as your first response "A bit, yes. I drove here this morning and it took a good 6 hours so...yeah."

"Shit 6 hours? Crazy."

"Yeah, and the second I got here the first person I heard about was you."

"Oh for real? Rue tryna help me out." he laughed- a genuine laugh- for the first time and it made you feel weak in the knees, thank god you were sitting down. "Of course lil sis would try to hook me up wit' somebody she see as her big sis."

You nodded looking down at your hands.

"Do I scare you?"

You looked over at him and shook your head rapidly "Not at all."

"You seem a lil bit tense is all."

You shrugged "Maybe it's because i'm tired, maybe I just need to relax."

"Yeah baby, relax." You felt his hands- his big ass hands- on your shoulders. He started moving them at the perfect speed and you felt your stress begin to slowly fade away.

"That's nice..." you groaned a bit as you felt your posture melt into an unflattering position.

Fez grinned and stopped. "I got magic hands on God! Like for real I start massaging and all the bitches just start coming to me-"

You burst out laughing "Oh yeah I'm sure they're running right now!"

He nodded "You know it...I like yo vibe. It's different. You a lil soft but I think we all is sometimes."

"Even you?"

"Nah not m-"

"Does Fezy Wezy get soft sometimes too?"

"Okay you can stop wit' that shit right now for real-" he said seriously but with the goofiest smile on his face. You laughed laying back in the bed and taking in the scent of the sheets that for some reason you liked- a mix of smoke with coffee and some type of old ass man cologne. You felt the bed dip some a few moments later as he lay by you.

"How long you here for?"

"Just a couple weeks, that's the plan anyway."

"The plan? What you implying, you tryna stay longer for me?"

You turned over looking at him "Boy shutup, you haven't even kissed me yet."

"Yeah sorry lil mama but that's not happening."

"What?" you said confused and felt genuinely hurt for a minute.

"Cuz you finna kiss me first. I'm irresistible."

"Jesus Fez-" you laughed shaking your head "Irresistible isn't the word, but the words 'too much' do come to mi-"

He cut you off by pressing his lips against yours, his beard tickling your chin. Your lips moved in perfect harmony for a minute before you two let off.

"So who's irresistible now Mr. Tough Guy?"

"Still me, who's bed we in right now?"

"Shutuppppp!" you laughed. You were so genuinely happy right now, a man hadn't made your face light up with the most gorgeous smile like this in ages.

"So tell me a lil bit about you. You give me a lot of 'Hi! I'm Little Miss Perfect!' vibes- but aye, I'm not one to judge so-"

"Oh god- I wish I could say that you were right but you're not...I don't know I mean...I've had my share of shit I've done, who hasn't? But I just try to stay grounded, never change who I am. I always love seeing the best in people, even when there's not much to see."

"Yeah? What you see in me then."

"I see a genuinely sweet man with a tough exterior. An attractive tough exterior but- that's definitely besides the point."

He chuckled at that, it made you smile.

"I think you're very caring." you continued softly, "I think you worry about others more than yourself. You'd take a bullet for someone you love, I don't know maybe you already have. But I don't think the tough guy that sells drugs that everyone sees is just who you are...there's so much mo- woah okay I am talking way too much-"

He watched you so carefully as you spoke, soaking up every word as though a sponge would with water. "Damn girl, the way you talk got me over here thinking I'm in love or some shit."

You laughed shaking your head "I'm just being completely honest Fez."

"Completely?"

"Completely."

He hummed and closed his eyes "I'm feeling kinda tired. But don't bail on me in the morning, you better be here when I wake up so I can make your fine ass some breakfast."

"If your breakfast is as good as your massages are, I'll most definitely still be here." you taunted as you cuddled into him, your head on his chest as you listened to his heartbeat beat a bit faster than it was supposed to.

"Rumor says the breakfast actually be better- it hits different trust me."

You smiled yet again- probably the billionth time that night. "Go to sleep Fez."

"Ight Ight. Nighty night Lil Miss Perfect."

"That will never be my nickname and I swear to God if you say it again you'll wake up in this bed alone."

"Damn okay! Goodnight Y/N."

"Goodnight Fez."

-

it's 1:48 AM and i just finished this- but wow i have no regrets this is so long i think it's one of the longest i've ever written? not quite sure didn't do a word count but feeling proud and loving angus//fez more and more every damn day :p gn!

[guesswho-mp3]

[ Slim Shackled Wrists ]

Au: joker!kai x reader | Pairing: character x reader | Warning: manipulation, mention of crime/violence, joker!kai being a sexy mf | Rating: 16+ | Word Count: 1.4k

Her newest patient was unceremoniously dumped in his seat, the guard quick to shackle him to the table. Despite the fact that the cuffs provided ample protection from physical interaction on his part; the guard stood directly behind the newest inmate, hawk eyes daring him to move out of line. “Thank you sir, I can take it over from here, you may leave.”

“You sure, lady? It’s not safe to be alone with this guy. I saw what this psycho did on the news, he’s like a mad dog with rabies,” he warned. A high pitched cackle escaped the clown’s maws, the guard’s face quickly morphing into anger, burning red as he raised his hand in retaliation. “Shut up freak,” the order was punctuated with a firm push to the back of his head, resulting in it nearly smacking the table.

She stood up from your chair at the aggravated abuse. “That’s enough! Do not refer to my patient as a freak, he is here to receive professional help. Unless you want me to write a formal complaint against you, I suggest you go.” The guard scoffed but nonetheless turned towards the exit, the jokester snickering and waving as best he could in his restraints, sing songing bye bye.

“Stuck up bitch, don’t say I didn’t warn ya,” he muttered, shaking his head. With one last glance to the duo he shut the door, the resounding clang echoing in the sterile room and she turned to see the eyes of Gotham’s Most Wanted surveying her. The news had only ever managed to get shots of the back of his head when he was on his rampages, and even then they were always blurry from being captured at night.

Sitting across from him, she felt a weird sense of pride being able to be so up close and personal with the man who had the city on the edge of their seats for the past two months. Still despite his misdeeds there was something undeniably alluring about him. With all her years as a shrink, she felt like she was the one needing help this time with the very unprofessional thoughts poisoning her mind. There was a pull in her gut, something that made you want to stick her hand in the fire just to feel the sweet pain of it licking at her fingertips.

His garish orange jumpsuit seemed to devour him, a far cry from the stocky brutes that frequented Arkham, but she could see the faint outline of lean muscle from underneath the fabric. Emerald green hair and tiny flecks of white face paint around his hairline added to his mysterious and twisted persona. Red rimmed eyes, some fresh purple bruising near his jaw, probably from his scuffle with Batman, that brute. Refined nose. Porcelain cheek bones. Two shallow scars extended outward from his plump lips, giving him the appearance of a smile, how cute—

She cleared your throat. “I apologize for the mistreatment, that was uncalled for. Welcome to Arkham Asylum, we’ll just be doing a quick psychiatric evaluation,” she scanned through her notes, noticing a lot of his general information was blank. “It seems you have no name on file, and I hardly think it’s appropriate to refer to you as Joker. May I call you Mr. J?”

“Fine by me darling, call me whatever you like.”

She nodded, failing to ignore his husky tone and the charming way the pet name fell off his lips. Most patients when they arrived at Arkham were frantic, body trembling and eyes shifting, complaining of hearing voices. But he seemed cool and composed. Normal, even. The clinking of his handcuffs ricocheted off the tiled walls.

“Alright Mr. J. Now, why don’t you tell me what you remember about the incident.”

“Remember? Very dangerous proposition, doctor… Yes, very dangerous ahehe. What, do you want my whole life story? My deepest secrets, my darkest desires? Oh I know I have some that will make your toes curl,” he teased.

She brushed off the insinuation despite how much it made her ache and clicked your pen. “Perhaps the reason that landed you in here? Your childhood? Anything you’re willing to discuss,” she said with a reassuring smile.

He stirred, a switch flipped and he started laughing, half crazed at a joke known only to him. “Childhood? Memory? Yes, I suppose memories are a bit like children. Vile little things. A funny thing though, to reminisce. My father owned a gag shop in the East End. Whoopee cushions, hand buzzers, the whole shebang. A real comic that one, he loved to put smiles on people’s faces.”

“He sounds lovely.”

“He was.”

Her face turned into one of concern, giving into the honey trap. “D-Did something happen?”

He shrugged. “It was a rough part of town. With the murder of those billionaires everybody started getting…desperate. Started stealing stuff, murdering people. As if they were going crazy,” his voice took on a fevered lilt at the last word, hurried and frantic. She remembered what it was like back then, the murder of the Kwons seemed to lure out all the from the monsters from Gotham’s underbelly.

“One night somebody broke in. Daddy went downstairs to investigate and got a knife in the back. Mommy dearest was next, she screamed when she saw the body and he held a knife to her neck while she cried for help.”

He was feral, eyes unhinged as if he were being possessed by the killer. “You know what he said to her? As he held the knife to her? Why the frown, doll? You’d be so much prettier with a smile.” He flopped back into the chair like a marionette with its strings cut, wrath replaced by nonchalance.“ He carved a grin into her face while I watched. Then,” he positioned his thumb underneath his throat and pretended to slice it, making a croaking sound.

A wet gasp came from her. She’d heard her fair share of gruesome backstories but there was something about the image of his younger self; an innocent cherub with rosy cheeks and wide eyes having to be a victim to such violence that she absolutely couldn’t bear. She was horrified with the scenario her imagination painted, unaware to how engrossed he was in watching as a single tear cut its path down her cheek. He licked his lips.

Leaning forward, his eyes rounded, angelic innocence adorning his features. “You know you’re very pretty. Like a doll. Hmmm… My little harlequin.” he giggled. ”May I call you Harley?”

Her head hurt from the whiplash but her stomach, attuned to his remarks, fluttered. “I—

He blew a raspberry through his lips, gaze skipping to and fro across the room. “I can’t remember anything after that. But I was alone.”

“Alone?” A feeling she knew all too well. Her father having kicked her out at a young age, suffering constant neglect from the nuns at the orphanage. Even in college she spent your Friday nights hunched over her studies to earn her Masters rather than hanging out with friends, not that she really had any. He recognized the mourning in her cadence and became resigned.

“Not just physically. It was the sort of loneliness where you have no other option than to throw a ball back and forth against the walls of your own mind. Where every thud reverberates in your empty skull,” he wheezed. “I was spiralling, searching for someone to grasp my hand and show me my purpose in this cesspool of a world. But I finally found someone.” He was gazing directly at her now.

“You have?” She questioned, voice soft. Caring. Hopeful.

“Believe me never did I think I would find this person in such a situation. Where once I was a sole performer I finally found my partner to dance with through the chaos. Take the plunge and share my madness. Though… I’m sure you don’t know what I’m talking about, doc,” he wistfully sighed, interested in the view outside the barred window while still watching her in his periphery.

“Actually,” she shuffled in her seat,” I think I do.” She leaned forward, a movement he caught in the corner of his eye, a smile so wide stretching across his face threatening to split it in two. Mask relaxing into a coy expression, he drummed his fingers on the table.

“You feel a special connection with this person. Like they know you for who you truly are. Almost like it’s fate that brought you together.” He snapped his fingers. “Exactly!”

“Almost like… almost like you’d do anything for them.”

He surged forward, face one of predatory anticipation. “Anything?” She nodded, fingers traipsing over his wrists.

He peered down at his hands and howled with laughter, her own giggles matching his. “I think we’re going to have lots of fun, don’t you,” he pushed her glasses up and twiddled her hair, ”Harley?”

[nogreatillusion]

2017, in Media I Adored

Here's a quick roundup of all the best things I watched, read, and listened to this year!

Watch:

Tig -- I don't know why it took me so long to get around to watching this documentary, but it made me so sad and so happy. I really loved it.

The Keepers -- Absolutely couldn't stop watching this docuseries investigating the unsolved murder of a nun in the 60s. So dark and so painful and so fascinating.

The Great British Baking Show -- Finally watched Season 4, which was, of course, lovely as always. It's the kindest, coziest show, most adorable show on television, and will ruin you for all other cooking shows.

The Big Sick -- Funny and tender! Two of my favorite things.

So Sharp -- Ugh I fucking love shows about competitive dance. This one has lots of good petty drama. It's basically the Reality TV version of Bring It On. I get that that's not for everyone.

The OA -- I don't actually binge-watch very many things but I watched this entire season in 1 weekend. Brilliant and strange! I loved it.

Lady Bird -- I've loved Greta Gerwig since I was a wee babe in film school, and I like that she's always pushing to make movies that are honest and unpretentious and heartfelt. Her work is genuine and her characters are earnest and I love that. I also adore Saoirse Ronan and I will watch her do anything, so this was an absolute pleasure.

Are You the One? -- Listen. Don't judge me. This MTV reality show is pure joy and I don't care who knows it. Here's the premise -- 10 men and 10 women are paired by producers, based on interviews and compatibility tests of some sort (doesn't matter, it's whatever). They all move into a house in an exotic locale and are not told who is their "perfect match" in the house. Each week they are given lots of alcohol, occasional theme parties, and silly challenges where they can win dates, and at the end of the week, they must all pair themselves up. They are told how many matches are correct, but not who those matches are. If you've ever played Mastermind, this is basically that, but with booty shorts, tequila shots, and a designated "boom boom room." If they can figure out all the matches in 10 weeks, they split 1 million dollars. I like to play along by making a spreadsheet where I track their guesses and try to figure out the correct matches before they do. It's the best.

Big Little Lies -- I don't really think this story was particularly amazing, but the actors are all so magnetic, it's impossible to look away. I mean, I enjoyed the story, although the twists weren't very surprising, but the real joy here is in watching these women interact and bring their characters to life. Also loved the costuming, the atmosphere, the set design, the music. It was just really beautiful, and walked such a fine line between drama and comedy with real grace.

Read:

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo -- 2017 was the year I really said enough is enough and got my shit cleared out and cleaned up. Ben and I donated bags and bags (like, car-loads!) of clothing, kitchenware, accessories, and miscellany to Goodwill. I was ready for a change, but I knew I needed something to push me over that edge, and this book was exactly the remedy.

Alias, Grace, by Margaret Atwood -- Has Margaret Atwood ever written a bad book? I love her, and all her complicated, introspective female characters.

Lit, by Mary Karr -- I could tell right away that I was going to love this book, so much so that I almost didn't want to begin because then I'd be that much closer to finishing. A frank and frankly lovely memoir of alcoholism, depression, motherhood, and writing.

Women in Clothes, by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, and Leanne Shapton -- A thick and marvelous collection of interviews about personal style and why we wear what we wear. I thought it was brilliant! Such an effortless read, but filled with so much wisdom about the personas we cultivate and the rules we subject ourselves to, consciously or unconsciously.

Universal Harvester, by John Darnielle -- A true enigma. I debated whether or not to include this because I felt let down by the ending, or the absence of one. In the end I decided I like it very much because it puzzled and surprised me, and left me alone to sort things out. Also, one sentence was so utterly, carelessly masterful, it literally made me draw in my breath in shock, and that's certainly worth noting.

Tipping the Velvet, by Sarah Waters -- I loved this story. Sarah Waters is so particularly clever at weaving romantic, dramatic, plots rich with vivid historical details, and sensual love scenes.

Listen:

2017 was the year I got really into podcasts, so I'm going to focus there, and I'll post some music recommendations separately.

Reply All -- I listened to every single episode over the course of only a couple months. There are over 100, so that's a lot. If you haven't listened, the loose theme is The Internet. The hosts (Alex and PJ) and producers usually do some investigating, or they explain twitter memes, or they tell stories. The topics are almost never dry, Alex and PJ are funny and insightful, and they're good at keeping things moving (something that's very important to me in a podcast). It's intelligent, but not pretentious. If you're not sure where to start, I particularly recommend: #1 A Stranger Says I Love You, #27 The Fever, #29 The Takeover, #74 Making Friends, #79 Boy in Photo, #82 Hello, and #102 Long Distance.

S-Town -- Of course, of course. I was so enthralled by this podcast that I brought a speaker into the bathroom with me so that I could keep listening while taking a bath. Beautiful and hear-breaking, and unlike anything else I've heard.

Accused (Season 1) -- I think Serial awakened a particular need in our culture for investigative reporting, and for unraveling the particulars of murder cases. This isn't Serial, but it is very good.

You Made It Weird With Pete Holmes -- I listen to so much You Made It Weird these days that I literally talk about Pete Holmes like he's one of my pals. If you're unfamiliar, Pete is a comedian, but he's also keenly interested in other people, their creativity, and their belief systems. He's silly and open-hearted and very, very good at interviewing. The tone of the podcast really shifts according to who is being interviewed, although there are some constants throughout, and it leans toward humor. The Derek Delgaudio episode was very beautiful and interesting. The Jack Johnson episode was tranquil and tender. The Ana Gasteyer episode gave me an awful fit of the giggles at work. The Phoebe Robinson episode was chill and funny. I still think about the Glen Hansard episode all the time.

[imgilmoregirl]

Hi! Can you write a bad angst family thing? You always write happy endings for the angst.

Oh anon, this fic’s fault is all on you…

This work can also be found on AO3.

Summary: Rumplestiltskin wakes up after the curse to find out that he made the biggest mistakes he could think of.

Notes: Disclaimer: I don’t own Once Upon A Time or any of the characters and storylines in the show. 

Trigger warning for suicide attempt. I never thought I’d write another season 1 AU, but this prompt could only fit it. Sorry for the angst.

His Cursed Soul

Hestood in front of the window, feeling some kind of coldness that had nothing todo with the weather, but with the despair feeling his soul in that moment. Shewas sat on the hospital bed inside there, both wrists wrapped with bandage, herskin twice as pale as it should be, her lips, once plump and pink, now whiteand dry, her eyes lost in an invisible point as her trembling hand disappearedinside the acrylic bassinette to soothe the small creature laid inside there,bundled in white blankets. She looked miserable and his heart thumped painfullyin his chest at the realization that he had caused this.

Slowly,his eyes slid shut, memories of two different lives getting mixed inside hishead, but even though everything seemed confusing, he could still manage todiffer the voices of two cruel men. Rumplestiltskin. Mr. Gold. No matter whichname or skin he used, he had been the coldest bastard in the world with theonly woman who had ever loved him and now this was his punishment: to watchher, weak and hopeless, wishing to be dead and having to force herself towhisper sweet nothings to keep his child quiet.

Whenhe opened his eyes again, he saw that she had pulled the bundle up to her armsand fat tears were now falling from her eyes. A part of him urged to get insidethat room, to comfort her and hug her tight, but as the one to cause her thepain she was feeling now, he knew it was better to watch from distance. Hewondered if she would reject the child later, but then he saw Belle brushingher lips tenderly against the new-born’s forehead, bathing it with her tearsand, for the first time in long, he heard her voice.

“I’msorry,” Belle whispered. “I’m so sorry for what I did. I didn’t meanto hurt you… But now that you’re here, I promise I will never to such a thingagain. You will be the air I breath and the reason my heart beats. I love youmore than anything.”

Thechild’s answer was a wail, a very thin one, which made him think that the poorthing was probably too small and weak. She wasn’t supposed to have given birthnow, it was too soon, but he had heard that when she arrived the hospital,there was no hope for her so all the doctor could try was to save the baby shecarried. But both of them had survived, both were safe and alive and he didn’tunderstand why it felt even worse than facing a death to him. Maybe because heknew that she hated and that the child in her arms was destined to do the same.Just like Baelfire.

Hetook a step back, eyes still fixed on them, but his mind too lost in thememories to really pay attention to what was happening inside that hospitalroom.

Shewas cleaning his house that day – as any other day ever since her father becameunable to pay for the rent with only the money he made at the flower shop –when he came back home, almost exploding with anger after things finally madesense to him. Last night, before she went home she had confessed that she waspregnant and he wasn’t able to say anything immediately, so he let her go andmade sure that he wasn’t there when she arrived that morning to do her job. Butnow that he fully understood the meaning of this, he needed to end this storyas soon as he could.

“Thiscan’t stand,” Gold yelled, storming inside the living room to find herdusting his bookshelves.

“Excuseme?”

Herblue eyes were wide, as if she was slightly scared.

“Youneed to get rid of it,” he lost no time to say. “You can’t have thischild.”

Sheblinked, then released a sound that was something between a gasp and ahumourless chuckle. Her hands dropped to her hips and she lifted her chin,pulling on that petulant attitude that drove him mad at the same time it madehim want to lay her down on the floor and fuck her until she was blind withpleasure.

“I’msorry I didn’t make it clear for you, Mr. Gold, but you don’t have a saying init. It’s my body, my choice,” she stated. “I’ve just told you becauseI thought you had the right to know.”

“You’regoing to ruin your life and my lifeif you keep it,” Gold insisted. “I will pay for the clinic.”

“No.”

Thebrunette gave her back to him so he couldn’t see that she was fighting againsther tears. She loved him, she had told him so a couple of failed time and wasalways snapped at. He said she was young and stupid, that she had no idea ofwhat she truly felt and she hated him for it, but if she couldn’t have him,then at least she would have this. The child he had put inside of her.

“Don’tbe stupid, Lacey, you don’t want it,” he continued. “You can’t eventake care of yourself.”

SuddenlyLacey spun on her heels, throwing the duster at him and letting some of hertears escape her eyes.

“Whodo you think you are to tell me what I can do or not?” She shouted out inanger. “Screw you, Gold. I’ll show you’re wrong.”

Henodded without changing the blank, cold face he had pulled on. Bastard. He didn’t act like this when hewas in need of a blowjob. She was wonderful and independent when it wasconvenient for him, but when it wasn’t then she was a spoiled girl, who knewnothing about life. Lacey was tired of it, she just wanted him to be honestwith himself about what he felt about her and what he wanted, but apparentlytoday wouldn’t be the day it was going to happen.

“Fine,”Gold snapped. “You’re fired.”

“What?”

“Getthe hell out of my house.”

So,she did and she never came back.

Heregretted that day, he did it now as he kept watching her - nursing the babeand still whispering to it - and he did it by the moment he recovered his memorieswhen Emma’s name woke him up. Mr. Gold had vague memories of her walking aroundtown, almost escorted by Ruby Lucas, the only one who hadn’t turned her back toher after she revealed that she was expecting the town’s monster’s child. Herfather threw her out, refused to help her as did he, who pretended she didn’texist and the child swelling her belly wasn’t his.

Backthen he meant every word he said, or at least Gold did. Rumplestiltskin wasn’tless a bastard than him, but wouldn’t have commanded her to make an abortion,to rip his own child from her body. In fact, he would have begged his belovedto let it grow and if she didn’t want to be involved in its life, he would makesure that at least the babe was safe and cared for. He knew how it felt to losta child, he would never want to lose another, but his other persona thoughtotherwise. Gold wanted to inflict that pain to Belle - Lacey as she was calledhere - when she clearly only wished to have her baby in her arms.

Apparently,the details of the child’s conception meant nothing to her, as she traced itsbare arm with a finger as if she was seeing light for the first time in herlife. She was in love with the little thing, he could see and he felt jealous,because she would never love him the way she loved his babe. He was spell-boundedby their image. He could still remember how he had fucked her against the wallat dungeons of his castle. His pleasure had been immense, but he had meant tohurt her to prove to that stupid little maid that nobody could love him and allshe did was to writhe in his arms and reassure him of how much he was wanted.Rumplestiltskin had no mercy, he was rude and forceful and the product of thatnight laid now on her arms, nursing as the woman who had just tried to killherself sang to it.

Mr.Gold was not much different from him, although he was crueller. He had used herin all the ways he wanted, not caring even a bit for what she felt. In thisland, he had learned, numbers mattered a lot, which was why the whole town wasscandalized when they found out about the affair between a young girl whobarely reached the age of nineteen with and old pervert in his late fortieslike him. Gold pretended not to hear the offenses the people made whenever hecrossed paths with them after he threw her out, he missed his little toy, buther attachment to him and the fact that she was willing to birth that child,made him forget her in a few weeks.

“Yourbreathing is so difficult…” Belle murmured from inside the room.“They said your lungs weren’t fully ready yet. It’s my fault, I know, butI want you get strong. I need you toget strong.”

Hereleased a sharp breath. The child was really weak. It could die. If it did, itwould kill her like the wounds in her wrists weren’t able to and if they bothdied, then it would be the end of the small spot of light that still existed inRumplestiltskin’s dark, cursed soul.

Itwas about noon that morning when Mr. Gold made his way to his shop aftercollecting the rent of a few people. The nuns had been his favourite, becausethey didn’t have all of it and he threatened to throw them out of the conventif they didn’t pay him until the weekend. He had a grin on his face and a pairof sunglasses on, leaning heavily against his cane as he walked, enjoying thesunlight, when he heard a shout coming from somewhere behind him and had to turnaround to look at a teary-eyed Ruby Lucas, wearing more clothes than she usedto in a daily basis.

“Areyou happy now?”

“Forgiveme, Ms. Lucas, but I have no idea of what you’re talking about.”

“Lacey,”Ruby choked the name. “She slit her wrists this morning. Because of you,because she still loves you and you ignore her and now she is going to have achild that she can’t take care of!”

Fora brief moment his whole word stopped. Lacey slit her wrists. Stupid girl, whatdid she think that she would won with it? Wasn’t she the one so decided to keepher child and raise it all alone? She certainly should have come to her sensesand realised that was never going to make it on her own.

“Ioffered her a solution, Ms. Lucas, she didn’t want to accept it,” he saidwith a shrug. “I’m sorry that she is dead but she chose it herself.”

“Sheis not dead,” Ruby yelled, but then her eyes fell to the floor and hershoulders shook visibly. “At least she wasn’t when I left the hospital.They are trying to save her baby first.”

Themost selfish part of him wanted them to fail saving the child, because if Laceywas dead, but the babe was alive, then he would have to deal with people comingafter him and trying to make him take care of it, because after all he had madethe stupidity of conceiving it.

“Goodluck for the doctors then,” he said emotionless before turning around andstarting to make his way down the street again, straight to his shop, where he hopedto not be bothered.

“You’resuch a cold-hearted asshole,” Ruby Lucas yelled at him. “You neverdeserved her!”

Yeah, Gold thought, I didn’t.

Stupid, silly girl.

Hehad no idea how long he stayed there, watching Belle tender the baby, but whenhe heard two nurses talking about how she was going to be locked on the asylum –her father had already signed the papers that allowed them to do so – and thebaby was going straight to adoption, he knew he needed to do something to stopit from happening.

Shewas weak, lost lots of blood and the baby was fragile, he heard it from her ownmouth. They were both going to die if they were separated. He dropped his gazeto his cane – a reminder of his past of cowardice – and decided that he couldbe the cold he was one last time if it was to save them both. Rumplestiltskintook a deep breath and swung the hospital room’s door open, startling Belle,who jumped in place and clutched the little bundle closer to her chest.

“Whatare you doing here?” Belle – no, not Belle, Lacey – asked.

“I’veheard about your failed attempt to kill yourself.”

“So,you came here to check if it was true?” She laughed humourlessly. “I’m sorry todisappoint, Mr. Gold, but we are both fine. Now, if you don’t mind please getaway from us before your cold sight can fall over my baby and - God forbit –make something bad happen to him.”

Heswallowed hard, jealously and something else – pain maybe – filling him. Shehad a boy, one that would be a reminder of his failures with Bae forever. Hewas hoping for a girl ever since he woke up from the curse, one that was sweetand innocent like Belle and didn’t have anything of him. But life was full ofdisappointments.

“Him?”

“GideonFrench,” she said. “My son. Nobody else’s.”

Thebabe turned around in her arms, making a soft noise, his tiny hands moving upand the blanket falling a bit to reveal his face. Dark eyes, like his, but asmall little face as angelic as its young mother’s.

“You’regoing to my house. You’ll stay in one of the guest rooms and be as much of asilent ghost as you can,” he defined as coldly as he could. “I’ll proved foryou and him.”

“Idon’t want to.”

“Youdon’t have a saying in this,” Gold said, copying the words she had told him solong ago. “Either you come with me or your sweet father will throw you in theasylum and the child will be given to adoption.”

Sheblinked and there were suddenly fat tears falling down her face as she lifted thebaby up, laying his little hand on her chest, where he had laid his so manytimes before.

“What?”

“I’llbe back tomorrow morning and you can decide.”

Heleft and she cried.

Shehated him and she loved him.

Thenext morning when he came back, she went to his house. But not for herself.Never again for herself.

[almorganfiction]

Up Top - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Kaptured

1 Hour, 32 Minutes

One of the masked figures pointed a razor sharp spear at Gulliver’s neck as the others continued chanting (cha-sam, cha-sam, cha-sam). He cleared his throat overdramatically.

‘Ladies and gentlemen! I am Chief Christopher of the Chasm!’ He paused for his company to give him a brief applause. ‘It looks like we’ve caught ourselves some geese, all ready to cook. Chief Gulliver of the Wingspans what do you have to say for yourself?’ He spoke like a game show host.

‘Not got the foggiest, really,’ Gulliver answered, looking down at the spear.

‘Alright then, should have known from the very start that you’d be a dead end, perhaps your team mates have brought the wisdom with them instead.’ He looked at Maple. ‘Ceri! If you’d be so kind as to point your weapon- are those nun-chucks? They look fan-tastic! Yeah. Just threaten Mr Suit over here.’

One of the masked figures waved makeshift nun-chucks around awkwardly. They were made up of led pipes and a metal chain. Maple didn’t step out of line, but it was more to do with the spear at Gulliver’s throat than the threat of blunt force trauma.

‘So,’ Christopher addressed Maple, ‘I see no feather, you’re not with these guys, are you? I can’t tell what you’re supposed to be. Ah, I bet you’re with the Magicians, you can’t trick me that easily!’ He smiled sinisterly. ‘Making alliances now, are you? You should know that’s not allowed.’

‘No,’ Maple defended himself. ‘I’m actually from-‘

‘He is with us,’ Maggie jumped in. ‘I told him not to keep the feather in his pocket but he didn’t listen. Dropped it down below.’

‘Doesn’t look like a bird to me,’ Christopher murmured suspiciously. ‘Isn’t that your theme?’

‘He’s a penguin, of course,’ Maggie improvised.

‘Oh yeah? What’s your name “penguin”?’

‘He’s named after the sound a penguin makes.’

‘A honk?’

‘Absolutely.’ Maggie cursed herself for thinking a penguin made a whoop sound, which would have made a better name than- ‘Honky. Honky the Penguin.’

‘Well well, I suppose that does make sense. I’m a little disappointed, to be frank, I thought we might have caught you breaking rules,’ Christopher said, the tone of suspicion lifting from his voice. ‘Right then, I don’t think we’ve got anything of interest here, just hand over your goods and-‘

‘Hang on!’ Maple shouted, much to the dismay of his companions. ‘That’s a terrible name! Down below “honky” means-‘ Maple stopped himself suddenly, about six syllables too late.

Chief Christopher raised his eyebrows. ‘Aha!’ he cried, making Gulliver flinch and shield his head. ‘Down below? My ears are not deceiving me, are they? You have brought me something most interesting!’

Maggie glared at Maple.

‘Carl!’ Chief Christopher pointed a finger dramatically at one of the others. ‘We’re taking this further. If you please, take Caitlin and prepare the Pit of Numerous Spikes. Everyone else, round ‘em up!’

Two of the Chasm underlings ran back the way they came, the rest twirled their lassos. Chief Christopher kept his spear at Gulliver’s neck.

A lasso landed around Maple and tightened, tying his arms to his sides. The same happened to Po and Maggie.

‘And, if you could just tie yourself up,’ Christopher said, handing a rope to Gulliver. ‘Then we’ll be ready to go!’

As Gulliver tied himself up, the two Chasm members who had run off came back carrying an child’s paddling pool. They placed it down on the rooftop and threw in a handful of spiky metal objects that Maple vaguely remembered being toys called ‘Jacks’.

‘Here it is folks! The Pit… Of Numerous Spikes!’ Chief Christopher announced, arms stretched out. ‘Now begins the interrogation, we’ll play a game of trivia for it! Loser gets dunked in the pit! Are you ready, folks?’

Christopher beamed at them. Nobody said anything.

‘What’s wrong guys? Not digging the concept? You don’t look scared or excited.’ This wasn’t entirely true, Gulliver alone was both, but the rest were unimpressed.

‘Well,’ Maple said, risking speaking out of turn again. ‘It’s just not that much of a threat, I mean it’ll hurt but… it probably won’t hurt a considerable amount. I stepped on a plug once, that really hurt. Maybe a kiddie pool full of plugs would-‘

‘There is a plug, it’s how they let the water out.’

‘No, an electric plug.’

‘That would electrocute everyone in the pit, though.’

‘Not if there’s not any water- that’s not the point, I’m just saying little spiky toys aren’t much of a-‘

‘Yeah I’m gonna stop you right there and double down a little. How about instead of dunking you in the pool- uh, pit- I just chop off a hand for every wrong answer? (No passes either, I mean seriously, house rules just drag out the game for everyone).’

Maggie gave Maple another lethal glare. Maple was sure that’s what a spider’s eyes would look like if you mashed them all into one pair. He continued speaking anyway, knowing if he kept digging he’d possibly dig a hole deep enough that he could just start a new society of underground people who weren’t trying to cut off anybody’s hands.

‘Well, cutting off our hands doesn’t really fit your theme,’ he advised. ‘Dropping us into something- that does.’

‘What do you mean, exactly?’

‘You’re the Chasm. You drop people into stuff, like chasms.’

‘Chasms?’ Christopher thought for a moment. ‘Oh! No no no, we’re not Chasm with a “C”, we’re Kazzam. With a “K”. Two “Z”s’

The Wingspans broke out in a hushed “ohh” of realisation. Chief Kristopher continued.

‘Did you think this entire time that we were all about dropping people from high places? Wow, now that I think about it, we do that quite a bit. Nah, we’re all about show business. KAZZAM!’ He performed a crude, quite embarrassing jazz hands as he said this.

‘Well, to be fair it was Chief Po that said-‘

Maple’s eyes widened suddenly. The look on Kristopher’s face made it clear to Maple that this time he had dug himself into a cave filled with poisonous snake-bat hybrids.

‘Chief Po?’ Kristopher asked. ‘Now that brings up even more questions.’ He leaned and stared at Maggie. ‘You must be the Chief, then. Seems to me that you’ve been taking the lead.’

Maple glanced at the real Po but he was staring down at his feet, refusing to engage.

‘That’s right,’ Maggie said confidently. ‘What of it?’

‘Oh my good friend, I do believe you know full well what of it!’ Kristopher boomed. ‘Perhaps you should be our contestant for this evening!’

‘It’s not the eve-‘

‘Please! No speaking until you’re ready to answer my questions! Starting now, any wrong moves will lose you an appendage!’

Kristopher theatrically pointed a finger at Maggie, his other hand raised into the air, fingers splayed.

‘Question number uno!’ He pulled his hands in and started reading off an invisible card. ‘True or false: it is against rooftop law to declare a chief who is not the eldest of the gang.’

‘True,’ Maggie answered.

‘Well, judges, what do we think?’ Kristopher turned to the rest of his group. They started clapping.

‘No, you’re supposed to show the placards- ugh, forget it.’ He snapped back into his presenter persona. ‘Congratulations! That is indeed the correct answer! Take a look at the crowd! They love you!’

The other Kazzam members held up placards with green ticks on them.

‘No, no that’s not… that was- that-‘ he groaned quietly and then bounced back into a wide grin. ‘Moving on then! Question numero trois!’

‘That’s not-‘ Maple started, he saw Maggie eye him angrily but couldn’t help himself. ‘Two is “deux”.’

‘Deux?’ Kristopher questioned.

‘Yeah, deux.’

‘Don’t “yeah, duh!” me! You aren’t exactly in a position to be giving attitude!’

‘No, no I was just saying-‘

‘Question number two!’ Kristopher bellowed. ‘Do you have any idea how much trouble the Wingspans will be in when I tell the Market they’re harbouring a Belower!?’

‘Quite a lot,’ Maggie stated through gritted teeth.

‘Quite a lot indeed!’ Kristopher declared, almost abandoning the game-show pretence entirely. ‘Now then, are you ready for the final question? All or nothing!’

‘Yes.’

‘Here it is! Buzzers at the ready, folks!’ He smiled sickly. ‘What, if anything, will the Wingspans give to the Kazzam to keep their dirty little secrets? Try not to dawdle now! Time’s a-wasting!’

There was a long pause. A few seconds dragged out tenfold. ‘You can take our supplies. We’ve got three sacks full of bags.’ Maggie offered.

‘Oof! That’s a wrong answer! We can already take whatever you have. Tell you what, we’ll let you off that one, what else you got?’

‘What do you want? We don’t have anything else.’

‘She’s using a hint, everybody! Let’s see here… how about… you tell us where “Wingspan Alpha Base 1-Omega Colin Position Delta” is situated? No hints this time!’

‘We can’t tell you that. Who knows what you’d do?’

‘Oooh! That’s definitely a wrong answer! Judges, one of you has a sharp enough blade to cut through bone, right?’

‘Fine. Do it. I’m not betraying my gang.’ The situation didn’t seem to phase her. She spoke as if she was telling a fast food employee that there were no straws left.

‘Give it a few centimetres and you might.’

One of the “judges” brought over a rusty axe head.

‘How nasty!’ Chief Kristopher chuckled. ‘Now, untie one of her hands. Let’s say the left, don’t want her completely out of the game!’

‘I’m left handed.’

‘Oh well! I guess this is a bit of a setback, in that case.’

The “judge” loosened the ropes and freed her right hand. She didn’t correct him. He pulled her over to a nearby chimney and rested her hand on it, the wrist just hanging over the edge.

‘Viewers be advised, this is most certainly not going to be pretty. On my command.’

The “judge” raised the axe head about a foot above Maggie’s wrist.

‘Ready.’

Maple turned to Po. He was now looking the complete other way.

‘Set.’

Gulliver had turned pale. His eyes were fixed on Maggie’s arm.

‘Chop!’

[abyssalhuntersnerd]

Sorry if this is a silly question but does specter have a split personality? Because she refers to specter as being another part of herself but her own individual and i am. Sort of confused

You are fine Anon, don't worry!

But that's a really good question, haha. I wouldn't personally say she has a split personality, more so it's just another part of the many that make Specter the person she currently is.

As far as we know, she doesn't necessarily revert back to her nun persona and sometimes does act a little too unhinged and it's suspected she is still "mad" but it could also be because she's trying to replicate her old self for fun and inspiration or she's probably trying to be a little shit. Or she enjoys fighting too much. It could be a lot of things. So no, I wouldn't say she has a split personality. It's just that she's finally accepted that part of herself she refused to for the longest time and has forged her new self out of all them: There's Shark, there's Specter, there's Laurentina- And they all represent certain points and parts of her life that have shaped her to be the person she is now. She is all of them at the same time now because she's learned that: "Oh hey, maybe it's not so bad to accept the freak in me." And that's how Specter the Unchained came to be.

See, we all have certain aspects of ourselves we might have an easier time to accept. Some of us might be really stubborn and refuse to accept the fact we are, some of us might be too heavily dependent on certain things, some of us are too easy to anger. In the process of trying to refuse these parts of ourselves, we might be hindering ourselves more than we should. So being able to learn from our faults and grow as a person because of them, maybe using our negative feelings into something else than hurting ourselves or hell, someone else- We might become the best version of ourselves. Maybe if you learn to control your stubbornness, then you'll have more access to things and might able to see things in a different light. Maybe if you let go of the things that you know are holding you back, then you might be able to experience freedom for the first time. Maybe if you control your anger, maybe then you'll be able to see that people aren't truly against you. Things like that. Stuff like that can also be certain times in our lives, parts of ourselves we had to deal with as time passed.

And this applies to Specter as well. She's accepted her Oripathy, the person she became because of it. Accepted her past and that it might not ever come back but it's still something she is still proud of, accepted that the blood in her is also the same as the Seaborns; something she loathes- And then, her current self. The one who's come to terms with all of those things and saw the beauty in all of them. Just like she tells Amaia, she too in a way is her own sculpture and she has sculpted her best self through the use of her experiences. I adore her mentality so much and I love talking about it because she's so fucking interesting and good god I wished I could see myself the way she does.

I don't know how to explain myself. Haha. I hope this kinda answers your question. XD