#I went to Pearle Vision and honestly I don’t think I’m going back there again

[lunaekalenda]

daddy.

a/n: okay so this is my try to write something more spicy i guess :D i accept criticisms since i'm not really into this and i was just curious to write it :') sorry for your eyes my dears also big thankies to @prada-issues for reading it and give her opinion aaaa please minors do not interact with this post ! to be honest it is based on s4 kirstein what a surprise

your favorite character x fem!reader (warnings and one shot down the read more)

w: use of words like daddy, baby, good girl or bad girl; fingering, voyeurism, exhibitionism, mention of adult videos, male m, oral (male receiving), thigh riding, unprotected sex, slapping

You don't like this tone of pink. Or even this laces. But, after all, he bought this for you. Thinking about you. What other way could you please him more than showing him how good it looked on you?

"Turn around." that were the only words said. He's sitting on his little couch, a glass full of liquor on his right hand. His hair is messy, as if he has run his fingers through it. His elbows are on his knees, his body slightly leaning to the front to have a better view. You turn around. "Slowly, princess, slowly." he asks again. Your feet obey before your brain. Actually, you don't dislike this. Being desired with this intensity. He stretches an arm towards you, taking the little pink skirt he bought, pulling softly to make you go closer to him. Then, his attractiveness shots.

He leans back again, a lazy hand unbuttoning his shirt's neck, long and bony fingers entering the fabric to take the button off. You can smell his liquor and see a couple sweat pearls running down his body, disappearing on his clavicle, still covered by the white shirt. He looks at you in the eyes, a dangerous smile appearing on his lips.

"Are you seeing somehing, baby?" he asks, his hands being even more provocative, how his fingers open a way to the inner part of his clothes to take the little plastic out. His tongue caresses his lips when he takes the last sip. He gets up. "I told you to turn around, but you stood still, looking at me. That isn't what I asked you to do, hm?" he says. You can feel his hands playing on your sides, reaching the skirt. "I guess you need a little punishment." he whispers. You find his eyes, lust and desire reflected on them. You don't want to be punished. You want his praises.

"But I like when you call me good g-" you get interrupted by his deep and lustful laugh.

"Good girls do what Daddy ask them to do, hm? They aren't disobeying girls. So..." he says. His hands sneak into your skirt, finding easily your panties. Just with a little touch, he smiles. "... I guess being a bad girl for me isn't that bad, since you keep disobeying me." he says.

When he asked you to start this type of relationship, you didn't know how turned on you could get just by hearing him call you 'Good Girl'. The dominance aura he has around, the way this fits him as if it was made for him. It makes your legs weak and your pretty cunt squelch around nothing.

He gives a little slap on your butt, still covered with that cute pastel pink skirt. He goes back to his couch, sitting. The way his hand unzip his pants, so lazy and unamused about the situation... You take a fast look to his legs. An important bulge is growing on his underwear. "Kneel here for me, hm?" he asks, showing a place between his legs. You kneel, on the cushion he put for you. He always thinks of those little details. He doesn't want to hurt his loved one.

His hand takes out that pretty cock he has. You lean towards it, but his hand stops you. "No, baby. This is a punishment. You're gonna kneel there and watch how Daddy gets off, okay?" He also takes his phone from his pocket, quickly tipping. You look curious at the back of the phone. Is he chatting?

No.

You recognize what he's watching a second before the first sound. Moans and skin slaps coming from his phone. His hand moves as lazy as all his previous movements, his mouth half open, letting some gasps and sighs escape through his teeth. You always loved his hands and, honestly, they look so good around his shift, giving it slow strokes. You also want to help him, but you find this scene so hot...

While your fingers find the end of the skirt, his eyes look at you from above the screen.

"Don't touch yourself, hm? Daddy din't give you permission to" he says. His voice has a raspy tone that makes your interior tingle and he lets the words out in a whisper, as if he was adverting you. He is adverting you. You don't want more punishments. You want to be his good girl again, the one that gets his praises and caresses and kisses. Your hand fastly goes up again, now resting on his knees. He smiles. "That's it." his sentence is followed by a deep moan he lets out, his hand going a little faster while his phone gets all his attention again. You don't like that. You're supposed to be what makes him hard, not that stupid video. He should be getting off with you. It looks so hot, all hard and gloomy. You don't want more punishments, but Daddy won't be angry if you help him a little, right?

You lean closer to him, his eyes covered by the screen when your tongue gives a little kitten lick to his dick. He lets out a groan. Taking his phone out of his vision, he looks at you.

"I thought you maybe needed some help, Daddy." the way that word leaves your mouth, so smoothly and innocent, turns him a hundred times more. He puts his phone near the glass, on the little crystal table near the couch. His hand leaves his dick, now guiding your head.

"Daddy is dissappointed since you disobeyed me again." he says. He makes the shape of your lips with his thumb, feeling the gloss cape on them.

"But I just wanted to help you." you pout. He takes your jaw quietly. His eyes looking directly at yours. His lips curve on a sweet smile.

"Hm, and you're a really good girl for that. Now, open your mouth and help Daddy, yeah? That's what you wanted to do." his words are a win for you. You get closer, his hand quietly guiding you. "That's right, just like that." his head tilted back and his hand rests on your hair, guiding your movements softly. Your tongue spins around his tip, making him gasp louder, his hips starting an unconscious movement against your mouth, not really hard. "Hm, you're making Daddy feel really good... As the god girl you are." You can help but smile, even with your mouth full. He caresses your cheek. "Come on, baby. I taught you how to make Daddy happy with that cute mouth of yours." You know it. He has taught you how he likes to be sucked, from tongue movements to pace changings. A little bulge appears on your cheek. He caresses it, his tip feeling his thumb outside of your mouth. He takes your head with both hands, softly thrusting into you. You can't help but let him use it. He isn't rude, he knows you only want to help him. He just lets his hips make lazy movements against your mouth. He makes you release it, some spit connecting both of you. He spreads it out of your mouth with his thumb.

"You look so pretty, baby..." he doesn't lie. Your blushed cheeks, teary eyes and plumped lips make you look really beautiful. And knowing that him is the reason makes his cock twitch.

Now you're sitting on his thigh, little movements accompanied by moans while you ride on top of his pants, leaving a little wet patch on them.

"Oh, you're that wet? You even passed from your pantie to my pant." he says. His hand is stroking his shift again, his eyes changing from your pleasure expression to your little hip movement. He groans. "So fucking beautiful." He sneaks his free hand between your underwear and your skin, one king and bony finger reaching your inner. You let out a moan.

"Mmh, it feels good..." you say, moving with more need, wanting to feel his finger deeper. He smiles for you, so attractive.

"Yeah? This feels good?" he asks. He puts a second finger inside. "Than think about how well my cock will feel." he says. You moan louder, feeling his hand stroking again while his fingers play inside you. He takes them both out, a hilo de fluids connecting them to you. "Now, ride Daddy." he says. You look at the wonderful sights you have. His sweating body, only his pants and boxers on, with his cock outside them, hard and ready for you. You stand up and, before getting your price, you wait for him to decide with clothes you should leave on your body. "Take off your panties." he says. You do so, anticipating in your stomach all the pleasure you're gonna feel when he gets buried into you. "Leave the skirt, take off the shirt." he asks. You do so, his lips smiling when he founds you don't use a bra, just how he told you to. "So obedient..." he whispers, attracting you to his lap and sitting you. That way, with his hands moving your hips, you can rub your now naked body against his. A deep moan escapes his mouth. You sigh with satisfaction.

"Can I put it in, Daddy?" the way you beg, the way you call him Daddy makes him want to let you do whatever you want with him. He gets so hard and so weak he could cum just hearing you calling him "Daddy" and moving those cute lashes. He nods, his hands guiding your hips up while you grind down on him slowly. You both let out a moan, your mouth open with pleasure. He puts a finger inside, and you suck it. You suck his finger how he taught you. A groan escapes his throath.

"You're so big, oh, godess." you say. He smiles, an smile full of lust, his hands tangling with yours when you start a slow movement against him.

"You're taking it so well, baby..." he says. "You like to feel Daddy's cock inside you, hm?" His hips go up involuntary, thrusts helping your pace. "You're so tight for me..." that made you squeeze him even more. His head went back, showing you his Adam apple and his neck, exhaling slowly. "Like that."

His hands are on both sides of your hips, some casual slaps whenever he wants you to be faster. Your legs hurt because of the impulse but you don't care. It feels so good. He knows it. That's why he takes you, turning you both around, his arms holding your legs while he accommodates your body on the couch, making easier for him to thrust into you. His hips make lascive noises when they hit you, your hands reaching his neck. You need to hold onto something. You feel dizzy from the pleasure.

"More." you beg. Your voice sounds broke, pure desire on it. He knows you're close, really close, that's why his thrusts take a slower pace, hitting the spots he knows you like, making your eyes roll. "More, more." it sound like an oration now, his body finding yours so slowly you think you're burning in slow burn. You can also hear his gasps, his groans, how he's also enjoying soemthing than only you can bring him.

"You're close, aren't you, baby?" he asks. His voice sounds so sexy like that. You're about to cry, you're feeling so well. Your legs start to tremble and your grip on his hair is stronger. His mouth covers yours on a sweet kiss, his tongue finding yours. He parts under your surprise gaze. "I want to hear every single sound you make when you come." he says. And you give it to him, so gladly.

A reward for making you feel that good.

little tag: @espritmuse <3

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Hiii can I request a oneshot where the other other Shelbys never really approved of Tommy and reader's marriage even though she's nice (idk maybe because she seems like she doesn't fit into their life? or seems naive, whatever reason works tbh) but they start to realize they were wrong when they see how much she cares for him when he's really injured and how happy they are sometimes or just when they see that she's not as weak as she seems. Does that make sense? Idk I just thought about it and I can't write but you don't have to! 🥰

//This was one of my favorite one shots in a while. I had a lot of fun with it so if you ever want a continuation I would LOVE to do so.

            Tommy came in like a storm. “Alright, everyone’s on their best fucking behavior, right now.”

            His family was all sitting in the open part of the betting shop as Tommy had requested that they be there.

            “Why-”

            “No.” Tommy held up a hand to stop John from speaking any further. “No questions. Just do as I say.” He said before going back to the door connecting the shop and Six Watery Lane. He returned arm in arm with a beautiful young woman who had bright eyes and a friendly smile.

            Polly looked a little surprised but was quick to welcome the woman. Tommy, while he’d been in London on business, called his aunt about a woman he’d met. He said she was a socialite daughter of a long line of blue-bloods. But that didn’t concern him. What did was she had a love for charity work, especially regarding orphaned children.

            One night and she’d captured Tommy’s heart. It was quite a remarkable thing. And now he was bringing her to meet his family for the first time.

            “Everyone this is Eve, Eve, this is my family.” Tommy introduced with a tentative tone.

            “How do you do?” She greeted.

            Only four words in and Arthur and John were about to burst out into laughter. The combination of her posh accent with the greeting made them almost doubled over. And they didn’t make it conspicuous either.

            So much that Eve’s face fell and she looked self-conscious.

            Tommy wasted no time whacking John upside the head. “These are me idiot brothers and my aunt, Polly.” He glared at Arthur.

            “It’s good to finally meet you.” Polly stood up to readjust the mood and shook Eve’s hand. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”

            “Oh.” Eve forced a small smile. “Well, thank you. Tommy has spoken very highly of you all

as well.”

            “Might’ve been speaking too soon,” Tommy muttered under his breath. “C’mon. I’ll show you my uncle’s yard.” He took Eve’s hand to lead her out of the shop, throwing his brothers one more deadly glare as they left.

           ~~~~~~~~~~~

            Later, when Eve was freshening up for a night at the Garrison, Tommy went downstairs to tell off Arthur and John.

            “What did I say when I came in?” Tommy snapped.

            “Oh, Tom, c’mon.” Arthur protested.

            “She’s a fucking toff.” John threw a hand up. “You honestly think she belongs ‘round somewhere like here?”

            “You nearly made her cry, you bastards.” He snarled. “She’s a good woman, it doesn’t matter where she’s from.”

            “Yeah, then what happens when you get into trouble and she’s clutching her pearls running back to London,” Arthur replied. “We’re only tryna protect you, Tom.”

            “I don’t care what either of you thinks. But she wants you to like her. So, you both better start acting nicer ‘round her.” He spoke in a threatening tone.

            Arthur sighed seeing how upset his brother was. “Alright, alright. We’ll be nice.”

            “’Long as her family tosses us some money,” John muttered under his breath.

            “Enough.” Tommy hissed as he heard Eve coming down the stairs. He smiled as he saw her wearing a flashy gold dress.

            “I hope I’m not overdressed.” She apparently had taken the Shelby brothers’ reaction to heart and was self-conscious about her appearance and demeanor. Truthfully, she felt out of place in Small Heath. Eve had been raised in the highest echelon of society. For the first seventeen years, she lived in the countryside, where the nearest neighbor was at least a mile away. She had horses and toys, nurses and tutors to raise her, and practically anything else she desired. When she turned eighteen, she began to live part-time in one of her father’s properties in London. It was the first time she’d truly seen poverty and it made her realize her privilege. With her father’s blessing, she began a charity to help build and fund proper orphanages that took care of their children.

            She became of trying not to come off as snobbish. But being in Small Heath, she was hyperaware almost to the point that she came off as shy and awkward.

            “You look beautiful,” Tommy assured her. “The Garrison’s got a bit of a makeover itself so you’ll fit right in.” He linked arms with her and guided her toward the door, away from his brothers to avoid any other contact.

~~~~~~~~~~ 

            The party was in full swing and Eve was starting to feel less out of place. She found Tommy’s friends and family to be amiable and enjoyed their company. Class didn’t really matter when it came to having a good time with plenty of drinks.

            Halfway through the night, Tommy left Eve at a table while he went to get another round of champagne. She decided to take a breather and left the pub. There were a few people mingling outside, talking and having a smoke.

            “Tommy said we made her cry. Fuck’s sake.”

            Eve heard a familiar voice and saw Arthur talking to a woman who Tommy introduced Eve to earlier that night.

            “I didn’t think Tommy would want someone so sensitive.” She replied with a shrug.

            “Maybe he just wants a leg up. Wouldn’t blame him.”

            Eve had heard enough, she went back into the pub and found Tommy waiting for her. He frowned when he saw her face.

            “What’s wrong?”

            She shook her head and tried not to look upset. “Do you mind if I go back to the flat?” Her voice trembled.

            “Ev…what happened?”

            “Please, Tom, I just-I’m tired.” She felt like everyone was looking at her. “Please.”

            “Okay, okay.” He stood up, leaving the champagne flutes on the table. “I’ll get our coats.”

~~~~~~~~~~ 

            Tommy refused to back down. Arthur and John apologized to Eve who accepted the apology with a smile. She said she didn’t care but Tommy still wasn’t happy. His brothers were still doubtful of her and made jabs at her upbringing.

            She couldn’t load a gun. Didn’t know how to drive a car. Didn’t smoke. Asked too many questions about their operation.

            Eve felt like a child, naïve and so out of touch with the way they lived. But her true test of strength came in when a few weeks after she originally visited Small Heath.

            Tommy was ambushed, and a bullet grazed his side. Arthur and John managed to get him to safety, half dragging him back to Watery Lane.

            Polly and Eve were sharing a chat in the parlor when Arthur burst in with his brother hanging off his arm, bleeding a profuse amount. John still had his gun drawn, afraid they had been followed back home.

            Eve, shockingly, didn’t go into a panic. Arthur thought she might’ve become overwhelmed or even faint at the sight of blood. But immediately, she went into a work-like mode.  

            Paired with Polly with Arthur’s strength, they got Tommy onto the table. Eve hurried to get Tommy’s layers off to find the wound. “Get some towels and water.” She ordered the eldest brother in a strong voice he hadn’t heard from her before.

            He didn’t even hesitate, always a soldier he responded to firm direct commands.

            “Ev…” Tommy moaned, his vision spotting.

            “You’re okay.” She said softly. “It’s not too bad, just need to stem the bleeding.” When Arthur returned, she made quick time, disinfecting, washing the wound, and bandaging it tightly. “Doesn’t need stitches.” She reassured Polly and the boys who were watching her with a bit of surprise. Usually, they were the ones who had to put Tommy back together again after an altercation. But she had worked so quickly that there was no need.

            Eve pressed a cold cloth to Tommy’s head and dabbed the sweat from his brow. “Take it easy and rest.” She said softly and kissed his cheek.

            “Where’d you learn to patch up gunshot wounds?” Arthur asked, still unsure of what he’d just witnessed. The posh girl had taken command and very well could’ve saved his brother’s life.

            Eve looked a little shy, tucking a curl behind her ear. “My friends and I all took red cross courses during the war. They enlisted as nurses but-” It felt like a terrible admission to make to a veteran. “My father talked me out of going. I was his only child and he said he couldn’t bear it if anything happened to me.” Her brow wrinkled as she rinsed the bloody cloths in the water basin. “I always regretted it. One of my friends lost her life in France because of a grenade. Every so often I’ll take a course just to make sure my skills haven’t gone rusty.” She smiled weakly. “Especially now that I know Tommy treats everywhere like a battlefield.” She affectionately touched his hand as he was still recovering from the shock of being shot.

            Polly gave John and Arthur a side-glance and a small smirk.

            Arthur cleared his throat. “I s’pose we misjudged you then, Eve. That’s very erm-admirable of you.”

            She smiled; a bit relieved she had proved herself to Tommy’s brothers. “Oh, it’s nothing. It’s good to put some of the things I learned to good use. Although I do hope none of you encounter another bullet.”

            Polly rolled her eyes. “Don’t hold your breath with these three.”

            They shared a chuckle and Tommy began to stir again. He grasped onto Eve’s arm, his head still spinning from the blood loss.

            “Ev?”

            “I’m here.” She sat down beside him and stroked his hair back. “You’re alright.”

            “Yeah, glad the red cross taught you well.” Tommy smiled as he stared up at the ceiling.

            “I told you those classes weren’t for nothing.” She teased him gently, weaving her fingers in with his.

            “Was all her, Tom. Fixed you up good as new.” Arthur chimed in.

            “Yeah, no surprise. She’s good at a lot of things you bastards aren’t.”

            “Oh, Tommy, hush.” Eve scolded.

            “Well, once we teach her how to shoot a gun, I think she’ll be on her way.” John took a seat with a good-natured smile.

            “That’s right.” Arthur tousled John’s hair. “We’ll turn her into a Peaky girl soon ‘nough.”

            Tommy shook his head and closed his eyes to rest a bit. “I like her the way she is now.” He mumbled.

            Eve squeezed his hand. “I’d like to learn how to shoot, though.”  

            Tommy just laughed weakly before nodding off.

[yikesharringrove]

Billy gets turned into a cat because he pissed someone off. Max brings this stray to Steve's house because of Neil. Billy doing all the terrible cat things at first and not letting Steve touch him but warming up to him. Just follows Steve around, learns about them. Then he jsut does the dick cat hing to other people. Keeps sneaking into family video. The curse only breaks when Billy admits to himself how much he cares about Steve.

No monster au I guess? I honestly don’t know anymore but Billy never got possessed.

-

“Hey little dude.”

Steve picked up the little cat. It’s fur was thick and a light color, with big bright blue eyes.

He had found it screaming in the backyard.

It was squirming in his arms as he brought it inside.

“Where’s your home? You have no collar. You’re naked.” He put the cat down in the kitchen, opened a can of tuna for him. The cat sniffed at the tuna, tucking in to it slowly. “Naked cat, what should I name you?” Steve sang at the cat.

It turned it’s big blue eyes on him, looking at him judgmentally.

“Wow. You’re a rude naked cat.” The cat hissed at him. Steve pretended to clutch at a set of pearls, gasping dramatically. “Mind you language in my home, young man.” The cat seemed to roll his eyes at him.

He spent the night playing with the little cat, learning he was kind of an asshole, didn’t really like to play much, and would knock shit off any surface it could get to. (Which was all of them. All surfaces).

But it was nice having something to take care of, and he woke up with the little thing curled into his neck.

-

Billy doesn’t know what the fuck had happened.

He was standing by the Camaro, having a cigarette as Amy Whatever-her-name-is was sucking him off. He had closed her eyes, pretending the soft lips around him belonged to one Steve Harrington when she pulled off him, started yelling at him for not being into her. He had driven her home mad and told her she was a slut.

She had pointed a finger in his face, told him until he got his head out of his ass and admitted how he felt he would be stuck. He didn’t know what the fuck she was on about and told her she was a crazy bitch before peeling outta her driveway.

It was not his finest moment, and he was seething while he drove around.

He decided to take a walk, was chain smoking through Loch Nora when his vision whited out. He felt like he was hurdling through space for hours or maybe seconds before he came to his senses.

As a fucking cat.

He was outside of Steve’s house, and needed help, only to find that Steve was useless, gave him some fucking tuna and said weird shit to him.

The next day he went out for some time, coming home with cat toys, food, and a fucking litter box.

Billy was goddamn appalled.

He was expected to shit in a box and Steve was gonna clean it up.

That is not fucking happening.

-

He had been spending the week with Steve, had so far he had learned Steve Harrington is an adorable fucking weirdo.

He likes to sing at Billy, likes to pick him up, watch tv with the little cat curled on his chest.

He talks a lot, fills up the empty house around with sound, plays music and leaves tvs in different rooms on as he moved through them.

He would laugh at the asshole things Billy did, like pawing at the record player until it turned off when he played music Billy didn’t like.

And Billy learned that Steve didn’t sleep much. He would stay up late, lights flicked on around the house.

The first time Steve had a nightmare, Billy pawed at him, meowing as loud as he could, trying to get Steve back from whatever nightmare he was having.

Steve woke up, looking at Billy before bursting into tears, pulling the little cat close.

Billy purred loudly, trying to help, absolutely hated the way he his chest heaved, the way he curled into himself.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Billy purred louder, didn’t want Steve apologizing.

-

Steve had named the little cat Diablo.

The first few days were spent with the cat hissing and swiping at him, not letting Steve touch him and pushing expensive vases to the floor.

But the little cat seemed to warm up to him, had stopped doing little asshole things and spent most of it’s time following Steve around.

Robin came over after work one Saturday to meet the little fur ball Steve had been cooing about for weeks.

“He’s really cute, Steve.” Diablo did not like Robin, was curled in Steve’s lap, glaring at her. “Even if he hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you. It took him a few days to trust me.” He scratched the little cat behind it’s ears.

“Billy hasn’t been in Family Video in a few weeks.” The cat perked up at her sentence. Steve shifted it over to rub at it’s belly.

“Yeah. I know.” Diablo purred. “I don’t know what to tell you, Rob. I don’t think he feels like that about me.” Diablo twisted around, curling back into Steve’s lap, looking at him intensely, pawing at his chest.

“He flirted with you all summer at Scoops, Dingus.”

“I think he was just being an ass.”

“I know a closet case when I see one, Popeye. Hence why we’re friends.” Diablo stopped pawing at Steve, trotted to sniff at Robin’s knee, looking at her with big eyes.

“I’m not a closet case.”

“You were when we met.” Diablo swatted at her shin, staring at her. “He’s like a little person. He’s so expressive.” Diablo headbutted her knee. She smiled at him before looking back to Steve. “I mean, when I met you, you were fully lying to yourself.”

“I wasn’t really, I mean I always knew I like guys, I just never really acted on it.” Diablo came zooming back to him, batting at him, making little yowling noises.

“You didn’t let yourself act on it.”

“It just didn’t really matter. I like girls and don’t wanna get fucking killed for being a queer.” He picked up the screeching cat, holding him up to eye level. “What’s up with you? Do you hate me because you know I’m queer?” Diablo licked his nose. Steve smiled at him. “I’ll take that as a no.”

-

Steve Harrington liked guys, and by the sounds of it, he liked Billy.

Billy had tried to get as much info outta the two, but it was hard when he couldn’t use actual words.

He had thought Steve and Robin had been dating, had scratched at her a few times, only feeling bad when she waxed poetic about Heather Holloway, and Steve called her a useless lesbian.

But Steve was an option, if he ever figured out how in the fuck he was gonna get back to himself.

He ended up sneaking into Steve’s car when he went to work the next day, screaming at him from the backseat, making Steve jump and swerve a little, swearing as he pulled Billy into his lap.

He brought Billy into work with him, placing him in a cardboard box under the counter so he could reach down and scratch his ears.

“Why’d you bring the little demon?” Robin’s hand was rubbing at his neck.

“He snuck into my car at started fucking screaming at me.” Robin laughed.

“What a little hellbeast.”

Billy sat curled in the box, quiet as he listened to Steve work. He was asleep when the box started shifting.

“What the fuck is this cat doing here?” Billy blinked up to see Keith, Steve’s jackass boss.

“Shit, sorry Keith, He’s mine. He followed me to work today.”

“Jesus, Harrington. You can’t bring your pets in here.” He went to get Billy out of the box. Billy swiped at him, scratching his wrist. “Fuck,  get your asshole cat outta here.” Steve reached in with gentle hands, picking up Billy, hissing and spitting.

“I’m sorry, Keith-”

“Just get out, Harrington. I am so fucking close to firing you.” Billy went still.

Steve rushed out to his car, placing Billy in the passenger seat as he pulled out. Billy made a little noise at him, trying to get in his lap. Steve pushed him away.

“I am hanging on by a fucking thread with Keith. You can’t do that shit.” Billy made a sad sound. Steve sniffed.

“I just, I’m so shit at everything. Robin got me that job, and I almost ruin it all the goddamn time. It’s pretty much the best I can fucking get.” Steve let Billy slowly climb into his lap.

“And just, if I lose this job my dad’ll kick me out, and then I’m really fucked.” Billy pressed his head into Steve’s stomach, nuzzling into him. “Thanks for that. You’re kinda sweet sometimes.” Billy meowed back at him.

-

Steve had another nightmare that night, had curled around Billy and cried into his fur.

Billy had licked softly at his cheeks. The tears there. He wanted Steve to feel safe and happy.

These few weeks living with him, he had learned so much about Steve Harrington, learned that he was weird and sweet and lonely and sad and loud and so much more than Billy ever thought he’d be.

He had come to really care about Steve, maybe even, maybe even love him-

His vision went out again. He couldn’t feel his body anymore as his mind shorted out. His ears were buzzing when he came back to himself, breathing heavily.

“Um, what?” He turned over, saw Steve looking at him with huge eyes. “What the fuck.”

“Hey, Pretty Boy. I was the cat.” Steve shot outta bed.

“What the fuck is going on? What do you mean you were the cat? Why are you naked?” Billy looked down, putting a pillow over his dick.

“I was an asshole to this girl, and she apparently, apparently like cursed me or something, to be a cat. So I was the cat. I was Diablo.”

“And you, were you like, aware of everything that happened while you were a cat?” His face was red, no doubt thinking about all the little things he had shared about himself in the time.

“Oh yeah, Stevie. I know you pretty well now.” Steve flushed even more. “Know you have a crush on me.”

“I, I do not have a, a crush on you.” Billy raised an eyebrow.

“Would you quit lying to me if I told you I had a crush on you?” Steve opened and closed his mouth a few times.

“Uh, maybe. If you, if you said it again.”

Billy stood up, slinking towards Steve, smirking As Steve looked panicked, eyes darting anywhere that wasn’t Billy.

He pulled Steve’s hips, bringing their bodies flush together. He pressed a wet, open-mouthed kiss to his jaw.

“I’ve got a big fucking crush on you, Pretty Boy.”

Steve lunged, connecting their lips together.

“God, me too. I’m, I like you a lot.” He sighed into their kiss, his arms around Billy’s shoulders.

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

Also saw you're doing requests so yay!!. Any chance of jercy bakery au? Love your work sm hope you have a great day ☺☺

My Darling Anon how dare you make me fall more in love with Jercy???????? I squealed when i saw this and then promptly started writing even though i should be studying for my (ironically) Greek Mythology test.

i hope you love it because if i fail at least i know it’ll be worth it :) Also this was honestly supposed to be a quick drabble and it somehow ended up as 1,5K+ words so??? #isanyonesurprisedthough

Masterlist

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

Jason Grace smiled as the birds beside his head chirped and then swiped his phone to cut off the amusing sound. His fiery friend, and co-worker thought it was hilarious to steal his phone and change his alarm tone every few weeks. Usually it was something inane and silly like a cartoon laugh track or just a repeating “It’s time to get up BakerBoi” that gets increasingly louder. He had arrived to work with a scowl on his face only to see the shit-eating grin of Leo Valdez waiting at the door.

Now Jason stumbles out of bed, letting his limbs loosen as he pads softly to the bathroom, feeling cool tile and a winter breeze on his exposed skin. He loves mornings like this, when the world isn’t quite awake, and the sky hasn’t decided what colour it wants to be for the day. He knows in is baker’s bones that it’ll be cold and rainy, but he has time for a morning jog before the world starts crying.

“Good morning boss,” A bright eyed, fidgeting Leo greets as he steps into the bakery.

Jason had been there at seven thirty, pulling down the café chairs and cleaning the counters. He already had a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies and about three different types of muffins in the oven. The bread was waiting for the busy hands of Leo and Hazel who somehow always seemed to make heavenly fluffed, soft rolls and the deliciously crusty baguettes. Hazel jokes that it’s the New Orleans blood that flows through her veins. They’re all half inclined to agree.

“Morning Valdez, I like the alarm this week.” He tosses a grin over his shoulder before going back to his icing ritual. Mix, taste, mix, ice.

“I figured you would old man. Even though i much prefer my ASMR food audio from last week. What’s the specialty today?”

“We need to get beignets out and the pain au chocolats before the breakfast crowd. Also the fruit stuffed pastry twists and the honey bread have to be prepped before we open so we can bring them out hot in time for the brunch crowd. Specialty today is a new thing I’ve been working on. Blue blondie doughnuts with Oreo cream filling and sugar glaze.”

“Gods boss, you tryna give people heart failure?”

“Just trying to insert some sweetness into the world,” He winked.

Before Leo could give an undoubted snarky reply a bubbly head of dark brown curls and glittering eyes popped around the door.

“Goooood morning everyone,”

Jason couldn’t help the smile that graced his face at her cheeriness, “Hello Miss Levesque, glad to see a prettier face around here,”

Leo made a strangled noise of indignation from the other side of the kitchen but didn’t get the chance to voice his offense before the last member of their little group walked in.

“Ah there you are Miss McLean, I do wonder how you arrive with Hazel and still manage to get in after her.”

She gave him an exasperated look, “I have to say goodbye to my girlfriend before I come in Boss. You’re the one who banned couple calls in the bakery.”

“Well maybe if we didn’t have to hear you and Annabeth explicitly planning your night’s activities I wouldn’t have had to do that.”

Piper just rolled her eyes and went to grab her apron and a cloth to wipe down the tables.

"Everyone ready?" He asked, from the door of the kitchen an hour later.

"Ready for the storm boss," They all yelled back, as they did each morning.

"Then let's roll like thunder," He grinned, flinging the doors to Ambrosia Bakery open.

"Oh thank the heavens, I could smell the goodness from here and it was a struggle to keep the drool in," One Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano breathed in deep.

"Good morning my favourite customer," Leo smirked from behind the counter.

"Jason tell your bread boy to stand down before I make him,"

"Is that an invitation?" Dark eyebrows wiggled in amusement.

"That is a threat," She growled.

"Well mark me down as scared and h—"

"Valdez I swear if you finish that sentence I'm putting you on wash-up duty for the next week."

A faint "you got it boss" followed Jason into the kitchen, where he allowed himself to smile. It was an ongoing amusement that Leo flirted with Reyna and in return she came up with increasingly terrifying threats.

"Jason, your sister is here to see you" Hazel said, gently shoving him out the way so she could take over rolling the pastry.

"Get the doughnuts ready for the fryer I'll be back soon, thank you!"

He maneuvered around a blushing Leo who had icing on his nose and a suspicious lipstick stain on his cheek, finally making his way to the confectioners stand.

"What's up loser?" He said by way of greeting.

"Hey you're only allowed to call me that if you come baring nice things." Thalia Grace frowned.

"I am nice things," He pouted.

"Not even on your best day." She snorted, "I want to know if you're coming to the gala this weekend. I need a date to steal extra bread-sticks for me."

"Why can't I just make you bread-sticks and we can sit in your lounge and watch bad reality TV?" He groaned

"Because I have to show face or the sponsors aren't going to sponsor. Besides you need a night out. You're gonna start smelling like bread if you don't take a break."

"It's insulting that you think I wouldn't want to smell like breadsticks."

She laughed at, that ruffling his hair, "Just be ready by seven. You better be wearing a suit."

And with that his sister had grabbed her daily croissant and cappuccino and vanished into the drizzling day.

Before he could make it back to his safe haven beside the ovens and marbled counter-tops a flash of black hair caught his eye.

Turning around he couldn't contain the grin that tugged at his lips; standing by the counter already staring intently at the newest creation was Jason's favourite customer.

"Hello Percy Jackson,"

"Jason," A dazzling smile revealed pearl white teeth and the tiniest dimple on a cheek the color of rich toffee.

"I see you've already found Neptune's Tridoughnut,"

A bright laugh escaped a wickedly beautiful mouth, "Oh I love that. How'd you come up with that one?"

Jason smiled softly, debating whether to tell the owner of the 5-Oceans Conservation Company that he was the muse behind all of his latest creations, hence the variations of green and blue.

Instead, as he did every time Percy asked, he lied, "My sister went to an opening ceremony for a new exhibit at the Education center all about Mythology so I thought I’d offer my services and well, they were a hit."

Piper who was walking past at that exact moment coughed something that sounded suspiciously like "Liar" but with a pointed glare she disappeared behind the counter.

"That sounds great. Guess I'll have to recruit you for all my functions," He winked, a small smirk playing at his lips.

Jason cursed his pale cheeks and hoped the blush he now sported wasn't too noticeable, "What can I get you besides a specialty doughnut?"

"Can I get one banana and walnut muffin, a dozen chic chips, and I'm gonna go see mom this afternoon so maybe a couple of caramel pastry twists and some blueberry muffins?"

"Sure. I guess Estelle is off her carrot cake faze?" He laughed, remembering how Percy had to stop at the bakery twice a week to grab carrot and pecan mini cakes just for his little sister.

"Ugh she's onto wanting fruit in absolutely everything now so my mom has been frantically buying boxes of peaches, strawberries and apples to cut up and send with her for lunch at school." Green eyes rolled in fake annoyance.

"Well if she likes fruit things maybe she should try the raspberry and orange pastry twists?" He pointed to a display stand piled with various pastries coloured by blackberry jam, apricot pieces, kiwi slices and mango syrup.

"I could kiss you right now!" Percy exclaimed rushing towards the display, unaware that the baker was frozen to the spot.

I could kiss you, could kiss you, kiss you, kiss...

Jason's brain had short-circuited, his neurons too busy having a dance party with his hormones to process the world.

I could kiss you.

A lazy, unconscious smile took over his face as he stood there in the middle of his bakery, arms slack, head lolled, and eyes crinkled.

"Jason?" A faraway voice called.

"Jason? Hello?"

And suddenly a hand was waving in front of his vision trying to get his attention.

He pulled himself out of his reverie, blinking back into existence, "Right yes the pastries"

"Didn’t get enough sleep last night?" Percy teased, slugging him softly in the shoulder.

He snorted at the implication, "Unfortunately I'm a bit of a grandfather. Sleep early, rise early."

"Oh guess you like morning activities then,"

He sputtered, head snapping up to stare into twinkling eyes, "N-no, I just meant—"

"I'm kidding Mr BakerMan," That brilliant, bright laugh again, "I know you're a homebody. Your sister likes to tell me how boring you are."

He huffed at that, "We'll see if she gets her pear tarts this weekend."

"Speaking of this weekend," A sly grin played at Percy's mouth, "Are you coming to the gala?"

"Yea," He sighed, "Thalia says she needs me to steal bread-sticks ."

Sea green eyes widened before Percy burst out laughing. In a matter of moments tears were streaming down his face.

If Jason wasn't so smitten with that gorgeous smile and those mischievous eyes he may have been inclined to laugh too. But Percy Jackson was a vision he half believed only his dreams could conjure.

When the laughter had mostly seized Percy wiped his eyes and managed to gasp, "That sounds exactly like something Thalia would ask. When we worked on the marine life project together she always stole the mints from every CEO’s office because she said they had enough money to buy a mint factory, they could afford to replace a single bowl."

"Yep, her life goal is to end capitalism. I swear if it wasn't for Annabeth, Thalia would be walking into office buildings with a sack like some reverse Santa Claus where she steals the office supplies and fruit bowls."

"Well I can't wait to see you stuffing your pockets with bread-sticks on Saturday so I guess I'll see you then," He gave another dazzling smile.

"Yea, and say hello to little Estelle for me. Tell me how she likes the pastries."

"Don't worry I'm sure I'll be back soon with a long list of request."

"Can't wait." He grinned.

Percy chuckled, "Me neither, see you Friday." And then he was gone.

Oh gods, Jason thought, how am I ever gonna survive Percy in a suit?

***

Spoiler alert past-Jason: you didn't.

[dalgikiss]

Catch-22 // h. iwaizumi

index

part 13

Iwaizumi has only ever been truly mad at you twice in your life. 

The first time was way back in your first year. You had to dig deep into your memories if you wanted to find it, burying it under other things that took precedence in your life like your shoe size, Oikawa’s favorite boba drink (taro milk tea with white pearls), the fact that Hanamaki had to have all his pen caps aligned with the label or else he couldn’t write, the way Iwaizumi liked to eat his cereal (he never drinks the milk left over) and Matsukawa’s least favorite exercise (mountain climbers). 

You can’t remember what it had been about, something so trivial it had slipped your mind entirely but you remembered the look on his face. 

Iwaizumi has many facial expressions when he tries to be scary. There’s the regular one that he has when Oikawa decides to do something dumb and must be reprimanded for it, the one he has to give Kyoutani when he decides to act up and the intimidating one that he uses with the rest of the boys when some idiot decides to make a move on you but the one you saw that day? That one was completely different. This one was…

Dangerous

You know danger when you see it, each part of your body telling you to get out of there when he had loomed over you, pure anger and power emitting from his body. Even at the tender age of 15, Iwaizumi was built bigger than you, taller than you, stronger than you and you knew that you never stood a chance against him. 

You remember being too scared to breathe properly, shallow breaths coming out of your mouth because you were terrified of making the wrong move as you warily watch Iwaizumi seethe with anger in front of you. 

Iwaizumi is not explosive. He does not scream or yell or throw things but he does not shut down either. He stands and waits for you to make a wrong move and then he snaps, like a snake does to a mouse. 

You had never felt more like prey in your life under his gaze. 

You remember your heart thudding too loud in your ears when he moved ever the slightest, flinching out his way as fast as possible. 

You remember forcing an apology out of your too-tight throat and dry mouth and Iwaizumi’s hard stare. 

Do you really think I want to hear your apology?

Sorry, sorry

Shut the fuck up and stop saying sorry, you’re not helping anyone

Memories of that night are hazy and you remember only fragments, pieces of what happened. You remember Iwaizumi’s mom opening the door, yellow light from the hallway spilling into his dim bedroom. You remember the sound of your footsteps on the asphalt as you ran home, fingers clutching your shirt so tightly, you had grown numb. You remember your mom asking why you were crying and then your soft pillow hitting your head when you fell asleep. 

It took you over a month to fully come back to Iwaizumi, even after he had apologized for his behavior, looking like a puppy with his tail in between his legs. You spent most of your time around him like a wounded animal, hiding behind Oikawa or Hanamaki when he was near or just fully leaving the room when it was just you and him alone

When you finally relaxed around Iwaizumi again, he had immediately engulfed you in a hug so hard, it sent the both of you tumbling to the floor. His grip never loosened on your shirt, wrinkling it in his grasp as he whispered apologies into the crook of your neck and swore up and down, cross my heart and hope to die that he would never do it to you again and you believed him because he is not a liar. 

Despite the upholding of his promise and your trust in him, you never forgot the way he looked that night, even when you could no longer remember the details. 

The second time he was angry at you was in the empty classroom of Aoba Johsai after class, later that day

x.

Iwaizumi has made up his mind to try and work things out with Ryuoko, no matter what anyone else had been telling him. 

You should have waited longer

She’s staying away from you to help your relationship

He unconsciously made a face at his memories, pressing his pencil into his paper a bit too hard until the tip broke off. How would they know if you actually liked him or not? 

There’s no point in getting his hopes up for nothing. 

“Iwaizumi, is there something about my notes that you don’t like that you have to make that face?”

He blinked when his literature teacher suddenly loomed within his line of vision. He hears the sound of your soft snickering and the teacher’s bushy eyebrows look like they’re dancing with how much they wiggle. 

He whispers an apology and the teacher walks back up to the front of the room, rapping his desk twice and reminding the students they had an exam coming up so there was no time to be angry at the material.

Although he hates to admit it, the sound of your laughter is always comforting to his ears and his shoulders relax against his better judgement. 

x.

His hand encircles her wrist after classes end, gently pulling Ryuoko into the stairwell where students had begun racing down to go home or to clubs. 

The both of them wait, Ryuoko’s nails tapping against her phone screen while Iwaizumi grips the phone in his pocket a little too hard. 

When the sounds inside the school begin to quiet down until there’s only muffled laughter coming from inside the classrooms and coaches barking out instructions from the fields outside that float in through the open windows, Ryuoko finally looks up. 

“Do you have an answer for me?” 

Her tone is condescending almost, as though she was scolding a child. Iwaizumi bites back the wave of irritation at this, reminding himself of what he had initially come to do.

“I do but-”

“If you’re choosing me, there’s no ‘buts’. This conversation is over if you choose your friends”

Ryuoko turns to walk away. Panic rises in Iwaizumi’s throat and he throws himself in front of her, effectively cutting off her getaway.

“Please listen to what I have to say” 

She regards him for a few moments, brown eyes honing in on every detail of his face before taking a step back. “Okay, so talk”

The speech that Iwaizumi had so carefully prepared in class instead of taking notes (he reminded himself he needed to ask a classmate for their copy) died on his tongue when he looked up to meet her eyes. 

“Look I-, I just-, can’t I still hang out with my friends and still be with you?” He rubbed his knuckles underneath his thumb, searching for the right words to say. “I’ve always done everything you’ve asked and a relationship is about two people who trust each other. Don’t you trust me enough to let me hang out with my friends and be with you?”

Feeling a bit more confident in himself, Iwaizumi continued on. “I always do my best so you can trust me and-”

“So you choose your friends?”

Iwaizumi stared at Ryuoko with an astonished look on his face. Did she just ignore everything he said? 

“What the fuck are you talking about? Ryuoko, did you just not hear anything I was saying?” Iwaizumi spluttered, extremely confused at the turn of events. The interaction could almost be considered comedic, if he was an outsider looking in. 

“What I heard was you giving me a long winded explanation over you choosing your friends over me”

“I didn’t even say that! I just wanted to tell you that even though you’re my girlfriend-” he put extra emphasis on the word ‘girlfriend’ in hopes she’d understand what he was trying to say, “- they’re still my friends and that’s all they are”

It almost seems like Ryuoko is on board with Iwaizumi, his little rant beginning to sway her and he internally praises himself until he sees her gaze harden. 

“And what about [surname]? You won’t hang out with her anymore?”

Ah yes, the age old argument was making its comeback. 

“She’s my friend” Iwaizumi almost yells in the empty staircase, his frustration getting the best of him “Don’t you trust me?”

“Not when you’re around her!”

“What does that even mean?” 

Ryuoko took a step closer to him, a glossy nail poking into his blazer. “You honestly can’t tell me that you don’t treat her differently from the rest of your friends” 

His argument dies on his tongue when she says that and she smiles, one that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “You can’t even argue against that”

“Like I said before, choose me or your friends. Let me know when you’ve finally given up on her”

She might as well have just pulled back and thrown a punch in Iwaizumi’s face by saying those words. He stands there in shock even when she walks away from him, the sound of her footsteps echoing in the empty hallway. 

x.

You frantically searched your bag for your keys, haphazardly throwing the contents of your bag onto the steps you were sitting on. Oikawa narrowly avoided a pencil flung in his direction, letting out a yelp of surprise and throwing himself onto Matsukawa, who only caught him with a grunt. 

“Cutie-chan! Watch where you’re throwing your stuff!”

You mumble an apology, shaking your bag in hopes your keys would magically fall out, despite you having already thrown all your belongings out onto the floor. Much to your dismay, only a few pieces of ripped up papers and torn gum wrappers fell out. 

“Looking for something?” Hanamaki asked, an eyebrow raised at the mess you had made around them.

“I can’t find my keys” You groan, throwing your head back and Hanamaki shoots forward so you crash your head onto his palm and not onto the stair behind you. “I’m so screwed if I lose them again! I am not climbing in through the window again”

“Where are your parents?” Hanamaki asks, wrinkling his nose when his hand was beginning to go numb. You smiled sheepishly, pushing yourself back up into a sitting position.

“Went out for a trip”

“Your brother?” 

You sigh, beginning to collect your belongings around you. “He’s at some judo tournament in Tokyo. I’m supposed to meet up with them after my entrance exam”

You crammed the rest of your belongings into various pockets, thanking Oikawa who had silently begun handing you the objects that were just out of reach. Matsukawa watched as you stuffed loose papers and stray pens into your bag, shaking his head silently. “No wonder you can’t find anything”

Crumpling up a piece of paper, you threw it at him, silently cursing your horrible aim when it missed him by a mile. “Be quiet”

“Did you check your classroom? You might’ve dropped it” Hanamaki says, watching you pout animatedly, lower lip jutting out and trembling ever the slightest as you tried to formulate a plan to get back into your house. 

You stare at him blankly. Hanamaki wonders if you‘ve been hit in the head with a volleyball lately with how slow your reactions were. 

“Oh yeah. I’ll go do that now” 

You stood up from the step, Hanamaki sitting up slightly to help you brush away the dirt that had accumulated on the backs of your legs. Hanamaki and Matsukawa wave goodbye, Matsukawa’s hand holding onto the back of Oikawa’s shirt as he tries to go with you, screaming something about it being unsafe to go anywhere alone “you’re too cute for them! You need to be protected- Matsukawa let me go, you’re just going to send [name]-chan to their death like this?”

You tell yourself he’s being overdramatic, just like usual and wave away your friends who promise they’ll still be here waiting for you to come back but there’s this unnerving feeling that’s eating away at your stomach that tells you to take him.

You tell yourself you’re being paranoid, you only need to get your keys and come back. It shouldn’t take anymore than a few minutes. With that, you push open the doors to the school building and ascend up the staircase.

[smallersocksx]

Pokemon Journeys Episode 74 (Ramblings/Review)

Introduction/Background:

I'll be honest I haven't been watching the series as actively since episode 65. That's because the episodic formula they chose to use for the series was honestly starting to grate on me and if you read my post on my issues with the Pokémon Journeys anime. I did bring up one of my issues being the episodic formula.

As time grew on through my issue with the episodic formula and some of the other issues of the series begun to annoy me even more so I needed to take a break. When they announced Dawn would be making an appearance, I knew I had to watch (the one instance where the episodic formula kind of worked in my favour). As Diamond and Pearl was my first game, my favourite anime series and had some of the best story-telling in my opinion. In comparison to Journeys, I think my main issue with the series is the lack of direction and not knowing where the story is going.

That element of surprise might be great for some people and if you’re enjoying the series that’s great too. Personally, I love the story-telling aspect of the Pokémon anime and watching these characters go on their own personal journeys. This is why watching a story-driven series, I want that level of clarity and direction provided by a linear narrative. This is why the episodic formula was starting to grate on me, Journeys is great when they are focusing on furthering a character’s goal or development, my issue lies with the huge gap in between which later results in a huge pacing issue that could easily be resolved if they gave time for certain aspects to be fleshed out more.

However, that isn’t to say Journeys is a bad series. I’ve certainly enjoyed a lot of the episodes and the slice of life aspect the series provides in comparison to earlier series. On the other hand, given that the series is meant to be focusing on travel that can be construed as a negative point as well.

And I've realised as I'm writing this, this may come across as a rant about the series rather than discussing the episode. So, if you're still reading thank you ^o^ But I thought it was necessary to give some background to explain how my opinions have been formed and if you recommend that I re-visit some episodes that’s great too!

So far, I've only seen the episode with some really poor subtitles. So, if I've misinterpreted a scene then you can let me know. But I think I got the gist of most of the episode. If you’ve read some of my other posts, I always try to break down these reviews/ramblings.

The Beginning:

I feel as though this episode is going to end up drawing similarities to the DP episode Sleepless in Pre-Battle. In which, Darkrai causes nightmares and Cresselia is unable to help the town for some reason, I can’t remember the exact reason in the original episode although in this case, it’s obvious as we see Team Rocket’s Matori Matrix attack and injure Cresselia. This sets up, the boys’ side of this DP mini-arc in which they’ll investigate the Darkrai side of the problem and something I greatly appreciated ASH! REFERENCED! HIS! BATTLE! WITH! DARKRAI!!! It was something I greatly appreciated and kind of wished Journeys took the time to reference some of Ash’s other achievements and experiences more often. Give him more of a mentor-ish role like he was to May back in AG. 

Rather than Chloe joining the boys in Sinnoh, originally, she was meant to be going on a trip with her family as the summer holidays had begun. However, those plans immediately went down the gutter as both her parents had work and her brother was joining his friend at summer camp (this is going by really horrible subtitles so I may be entirely wrong). I honestly don’t know if Chloe went to Sinnoh intending to join up with Ash and Goh or just going on a trip by herself. But I really liked the call back to Following a Maiden’s Voyage in which Chloe had packed too much the same as Dawn and her Mum ended up giving her a more appropriate-sized backpack. I think there might have been a Sword and Shield reference in there as well because at the beginning of the game the Mum says the backpack, she gives the player was the one she used for her journey and I think Chloe’s Mum said something amongst those lines. I don’t know I might be grasping at straws.

I loved all the Sinnoh/DP references earlier in the episode and to be honest I was focusing more on the Dawn and Chloe side of the episode rather than the boys (sorry Ash and Goh).

Chloe and Dawn:

Now I’ll be honest, I love Chloe for me personally she’s one of the stronger aspects of the Journeys series. However, in this episode, she annoyed me a little bit. From my point of view, one of the more subtle ways Chloe has developed after catching Eevee was that she learnt to relax and embrace being a kid primarily because of Eevee. This development was highlighted in the Glimwood Tangle episode where Chloe ended up playing with the group of Impidimp. If it had been Chloe from 20 or even 30 episodes before she may have handled that situation completely differently. Whereas, as of late she’s learnt to relax and have fun which at times was something I could have done when I was her age. 

Anyways, I’m going on a tangent once again. I just thought the whole argument with Dawn was rather pointless, I didn’t understand the need to create any conflict when they were getting on perfectly well beforehand. That was kind of my biggest gripe on the girls’ side of the episode. 

On the other hand, they also set up a good opportunity for Chloe to grow which I kind of hope they take. Another issue, I’ve been having with the Journeys anime is that they set up some great plot lines or potential development and fall through on delivery or never act on it. One aspect I loved about episode 63, was that they were setting up an interesting way for Chloe and Eevee to develop or find a goal by meeting other trainers that own an Eeveelution and learn why they chose that particular form. They could have even set up Ash getting in contact with May or Serena to talk to Chloe about Glaceon and Sylveon. But the writers never followed up on the potential storyline after episode 63, which is so frustrating.

This is why I’m hoping with Dawn’s influence Chloe actively begins to at least try things out to learn what is a good fit for her. This was an issue with Serena as well, before discovering Pokémon Performing, she didn’t really actively try out other things like battling as much. Even, Ash gave Contests a go and ended up developing some of his best strategies from those experiences such as the Counter Shield and the Ice Aqua Jet. Considering, Pokémon is an anime targeted towards children, it would be a good message to send, to at least try something once rather than not trying at all.

Climax:

Following their (unnecessary) argument and battle with a sleep-deprived Rhydon, Chloe and Dawn come across the injured Cresselia from the beginning of the episode. Going back to the Rhydon, in the original Darkrai film they did expand on Darkrai causing Pokémon to fall asleep and have nightmares but I can’t recall if the Pokémon were affected in Sleepless Pre-Battle. It was an interesting and small touch that I liked about the episode (also poor Rhydon).

The preview for the next episode shows Chloe calming Cresselia or at least gaining Cresselia’s trust, and it made me think again this might be me just grasping at straws. But perhaps Chloe has some sort of affinity with Psychic-type Pokémon because we had that whole weird vision aspect (that was again never addressed) in the Glimwood Tangle episode where Chloe had that vision of Galarian Ponyta and Rapidash. I don’t know, that’s a theory I just developed that probably won’t pan out.

Conclusion:

All in all, it was a decent episode to come back into for Journeys. If I’m honest if they were promoting the DP remakes, I’m surprised they didn’t try to do anything that focused on the Creation Trio rather than the Lunar Duo however the Creation Trio did play a huge role in the DP films and Dialga and Palkia in the original anime so perhaps they wanted to give more spotlight on the Lunar Duo or even hint at Tobias’ return with Darkrai? 

If I’m completely honest I’m concerned about the pacing for the next episode as this arc is only meant to be two episodes, this episode did do its job of setting things up. In my opinion, it could have been faster in some areas, they could have even shown a Contest in this episode and have Dawn and Chloe meet in that way. Given in the next episode the two groups will meet up and attempt to defend Cresselia from Team Rocket and I don’t think they’ll have much time to show off anything Contest-related which is a shame because Contests were my absolute favourite aspect of the games and anime. 

If this were a three-episode arc maybe they could have used this episode to focus on Chloe and Dawn, next episode focuses more on Ash and Goh finding Darkrai have the groups meet up and then the third episode half-battling and half showing off contests. I don’t know this is just me throwing some ideas out there. As I think Journeys just has a huge issue with pacing for some reason and this episode was sort of slow in some areas and as I mentioned I’m worried the next episode is going to be really rushed.

But overall, it was a decent episode and I’m hoping we’ll get to see the rest of Dawn’s team next episode as I love her Pokémon to bits. Also, Pikachu and Buneary reunion, please!!!

(And I may watch this episode again with proper subtitles)

[fanfoolishness]

And the Crickets Singing

For @dr-harleen-quinzell who suggested Greg and Pearl and stars! Set the night after the episode “Steven’s Birthday.”

***

Crickets chirruped in the blue dark of an August night, their songs a delicate symphony.  Pearl had always appreciated them and their intricate music. Endless summers long ago she and Rose had listened to them together, debating on if the insects’ music contained language or meaning.  Ultimately Rose had decided that the existence of their song was meaning enough. Pearl smiled sadly at the memory. It was Rose all over.

She gazed out at the open space beyond the barn, spying Steven laughing with Connie and Amethyst, Garnet watching approvingly in the distance.  She was grateful Steven was Steven once again. His brief regression yesterday into an infant had been terrifying for all of them, but in typical Steven fashion, he seemed to have shrugged it off.  How did he do it? How did he move past these things so quickly? She wished she knew how to ask him.

She realized there was someone missing.  She traced a perimeter around the barn and found Greg sitting on the roof of his van, looking up at the night sky.  She hesitated, then tapped a gentle knock on the hood.

“Are you all right, Greg?” she asked.

Greg sat up, startled.  “Uh, yeah, yeah. I just needed a minute.”  He swung his legs over the side of the van towards her, but couldn’t seem to meet her eyes.  She immediately regretted having come up to him. Amethyst or Garnet should talk to him instead.  Still, though, she was here now.  

“We’re all glad Steven is back to normal,” Pearl tried.  She crossed her arms, looking at her feet. “He had us all so worried.”

Greg chuckled a little.  “Honestly I wasn’t sure I could do the baby years again.  Steven was a really good baby, but they were still exhausting, and I’m not getting any younger.  Unlike my son, apparently.” He paused. “Want to come up? There’s room. You can see the stars a little better up here.”

Pearl flushed, glad it was dark.  She debated telling him goodbye and returning to the others.  But she looked up at his face, seeing worry and unease written in the set of his mouth and the lines between his brows.

“I do miss the stars,” she said softly, climbing up on top of the roof and sitting down near him.  Her feet swayed out and in, creating a gentle aimless rhythm. “At the temple sometimes I like to watch them from the shore.  I think Rose thought it was foolish of me. She was so glad to be away from them, and here on Earth instead.”

“She never thought you were foolish,” said Greg.  He folded his hands in his lap. Moonlight edged his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, glinting off his head and his graying hair.  “But I know what you mean. She said she loved my songs, but that space wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.” He laughed a little. “She didn’t even understand that expression at first.  She thought it was something to do with broken eggs.”

Pearl giggled before she could help herself.  “Yes, she always went for the silliest explanation possible, didn’t she?”  But thinking of Rose was still so painful. Her memory was an agony throbbing beneath the joys and triumphs, tainted by a jealousy that shamed her, and Pearl fell silent.

“Sometimes I don’t know what we were thinking,” said Greg in a voice so soft she almost didn’t hear him.  She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He had taken his gaze from the stars and back to Steven, spinning in circles with Connie and Amethyst.  Steven was the first to fall down, laughing uproariously and holding his stomach with both hands. Amethyst shapeshifted into a ball and rolled circles around him while Connie jumped up and down.  Garnet seemed to be keeping score in their game.

“What do you mean?”

“How fair were we to Steven, really?”  Greg rested his head in his hands. “He’s scared Connie’s going to grow up without him, and she’s worried too.  I thought I could help her feel better, human to human, so I told her ‘we’ll have to wait and see.’ I guess Steven overheard me and -- that’s what set this whole shapeshifting thing off.”  He swallowed thickly, sniffing. “What if he lives as long as Gems do? What if he doesn’t grow? Pearl, what if he doesn’t fit with humans or Gems?  Rose and I didn’t even think to worry about stuff like this.  And now she’s not even here --”

Pearl fought back a flash of anger, but greater than that was a wave of grief as fresh as ever.  She stifled a sob. “She wanted him so badly,” she whispered. Tears blurred her vision, and she swiped them away with a trembling hand.  “But we don’t know what will happen to him, either. We just -- we’ve been trying our best.”

“I know,” said Greg.  He rubbed at his nose and cleared his throat.  

For a moment, she saw him again as that young human, brash and reckless, who had stolen Rose away.  But the vision faded, and he was Steven’s father once more, worried for his son.  

“It means a lot to me,” he said.  “That he has you guys to help him.”  

A blush warmed her cheeks unexpectedly.  “Oh, but he looks up to you so much,” said Pearl.  “Remember his terrible picture of you and the guitar?  Clearly he idolizes you.”  

Greg laughed.  “Guitar Dad! Aw, man, I loved that drawing.  He’s such a good kid, Pearl.  That’s why this stuff freaks me out.  He doesn’t deserve it.”

“No,” she agreed sadly, “he doesn’t.”

Greg flopped back on his back, his legs dangling over the side of the van.  Pearl carefully laid down near him, the field of stars above them widening.  

“But that’s growing up,” said Greg.  “That’s what Rose said she loved about humans.  That we change.”

“She changed, too.  More than you know,” Pearl murmured.  The stars shone above her, Homeworld’s system twinkling far beyond them.  “I suppose we all have, here on Earth.” Overhead, a comet streaked across the inky black, alight in blue and white.

“Change is... really hard.  It hurts, sometimes.”

“Sometimes, a great deal.”

The cricket song swelled, a wordless chorus in the summer night, and Pearl smelled green grass, raw earth, a hint of autumn as a promise on the breeze.  She closed her eyes, remembering.

“Thanks, Pearl,” said Greg.  “For listening.”

“Oh!” said Pearl.  “Well, I --

“Dad!  Dad, check this out!  Look what I found!” Steven called.  Greg sat up.

“My fatherly duties await,” Greg chuckled.  The lines of worry between his brows seemed to have faded.  “Thanks again.” He slid off down the hood of the van, brushing himself off.  “All right, kiddo, what have we got here?”

Pearl sat up and watched him go, seeing the way Steven’s face glowed with excitement as Greg approached.  He grabbed his father by the hand and led him to his discovery, Connie and Amethyst trailing behind them.  

At the edge of the clearing Garnet caught her eye.  For a moment they gazed at each other. Then Garnet held out her hand, forming a thumbs-up.

Pearl took a deep breath, a trembling smile spreading across her face.  She held out her own hand, thumb pointing up, and the cricket song was sweet in her ears.

[mermaidmafia-official]

{ PART 3: BLOOD GETS IN YOUR EYE }

yinmei’s outfit ref ^^^ w/ ysa’s ‘non-outfit’ ;D

taglist: @bebemoon​ @vampirkaninchen​ @interluxetumbra​ @blubbingbeautifully​

Yinmei hated vampire parties.

Okay, correction: she hated vampire parties when they involved Lord Greggor. Even Chatham, hideous little thing that he was, had more taste than Lord Greggor.

Costumes? Okay, fine. Blood fountains? Overkill, but fine. Drugged mortals? Way overkill, but again, fine.

But fucking werewolves? Being paraded around in silver chains?

Why? Just - why?

As Nessa would say, Yinmei was “too old for this shit”. Wolves were a nuisance at best, and deadly at worst. In Yinmei’s humble opinion, Lord Greggor’s plans for his party were the stupidest thing she’d heard in a long, long time. Alas, he’d invited the entire Bilitis House, and he was sure to give dear Ysa a ton of unnecessary shit if her beloved ‘Granny Zhang’ didn’t show up.

Yinmei gathered with the rest of the Coven in the garden. Ysa was in a spectacular state of undress, with her metal armor chest wrap being the most coherent piece of clothing in her entire costume. Everything else was wispy and diaphanous; white feathers and pearl harness and gold bands around her arms and thigh. Since she was going as Eros, there was even a quiver of arrows.

Yinmei, for her part, had decided to go as Persephone, as a bit of a joke - she was, after all, the one-eyed Granny Zhang (Nessa would call her ‘old-as-dirt’); a far cry from the youthful spring goddess that ventured into the underworld. Her floor-length gown was pomegranate-red, decorated with pale pink roses, and the sleeves left her shoulders and collarbones exposed. Her hair was loose, as she preferred it, and there was a crown of roses perched atop her head, to match her ruby iris.

Yinmei noted that Popelina was also in the garden with them. Ysabelle had told her about the plan for Poppy in advance; although Yinmei didn’t like the thought of putting any of the Coven near Lord Greggor, she had to agree that Ysa’s plan seemed like it’d be a fittingly educational experience for the younger vampire. Probably.

Thank the stars I’m not the Bloodmother of our Coven. I would have lost my patience with that girl and told her to leave years and years ago, Yinmei thought to herself, as she waited for the others to arrive. 

As usual, Amaelia was right by Ysa’s side, the butterfly wings pinned to her back fluttering in the slight breeze. Yinmei sighed to herself, but did not object.

The entire Coven slipped through the planes and into the other side, which happened to be Lord Gregor’s villa, on an island off the coast of Italy. Yinmei tensed, almost immediately, keeping her eyes alert. There was nothing about Lord Greggor that she could honestly say she didn’t hate.

It wasn’t long before they were at the heart of the villa. Some of the other members of their Coven started slipping away, drawn to the drugged mortals and the fountains of blood, but Yinmei stayed by Ysa’s side, both out of habit and out of a desire to keep her friend within her line of sight. 

And, for all that Yinmei didn’t particularly like the fact that Ysa was so infatuated with Amaelia - especially in a time like this - the last thing she wanted was for her friend to be, well, sad. Maybe it was unnecessary, for Yinmei to be so concerned about keeping Amaelia safe when the powerful Bloodmother of the Bilitis House was watching over her too, but as she had always liked to say: better safe than sorry.

And of course, when Ysa pulled Poppy away to go speak with Greggor, it fell to Yinmei to babysit. As always. Yinmei grimaced, but agreed to watch over Amaelia for the time-being.

“Come,” she said brusquely, and took hold of the younger vampire’s wrist. Yinmei was fairly certain that Ysa would want Amaelia far, far away from Lord Greggor, and so she pulled Amaelia along with her until they were near the entrance of the banquet hall, keeping an ironclad grip on Amaelia’s wrist.

“Sit,” she told her, and pointed at one of the only empty chairs. She let go of Amaelia’s wrist to put a hand on her shoulder.

The awful, screeching string ensemble was distracting, as was the smell of spilt blood and hundreds of raving-mad mortals alike (and the vampires who had chosen the perverse hysteria of the banquet hall to gorge themselves on the drugged humans), but Yinmei kept her wits about her. Something felt...off, itching at the back of her mind. It was beyond just being in Greggor’s home, and the bizarre, hellish “entertainment”, and the knowledge that there were (prisoner) wolves around. Something felt off, but strangely, frighteningly…

...familiar?

Yinmei’s blood ran cold.

She instinctively tightened her grip on Amaelia’s shoulder, her nails digging into the freckled vampire’s flesh so hard that Amaelia hissed in pain.

Her Creator was here, at the party. She could feel it.

And, she knew, he could feel her there, too.

Yinmei felt lightheaded. Her missing eye burned, with the ghost of a pain from two millennia ago. He was here, at Lord Greggor’s villa. How? How was he even still standing, after she cut him to pieces and burned the remains?

Stars floated through her vision, and some time later she felt Amaelia wriggle out of her grip. Yinmei let her go.

She didn’t know how long she was like that, dizzy and disoriented, suddenly thrown into the past - he’d liked her feet, her tiny feet that she spent her childhood binding over and over and over again, and he’d thought her so beautiful that he just had to keep a part of her for himself, and heavens above, it’d hurt, it’d hurt, it’d hurt, it’d hurt more than anything else in her long, long life - but the smell of wolves brought her back to the present, and Yinmei finally registered that Amaelia was gone.

Shit. Yinmei ignored the wolves, for now, frantically scanning the crowd for the younger vampire. When she caught sight of her dancing with one of the mortals, well within Ysabelle’s line of vision, she breathed out a sigh of relief and turned her attention back to the wolves being led in silver chains through the hall, tuning out the sound of Greggor’s booming voice grating in her ears.

Greggor’s brides chained them outside, in the courtyard. Yinmei was...uneasy. She didn’t like the way that anything was going, tonight.

I’d best find Ysabelle, she thought to herself, if anything, I still need to talk to her about the wolf at Nessa’s race.

And so Yinmei ignored the itching in her mind that was growing increasingly insistent and pushed herself away from the wall, openly levitating across the floor to keep her trailing skirts from being dirtied by the gore that was littered everywhere.

Greggor’s beady eyes flickered over to her, as she approached. Yinmei plastered a smile onto her face as they went through the usual pleasantries. “Lord Greggor,” she said, through gritted teeth, “I hate to interrupt, but I do think that I am owed at least one dance with my dear Ysabelle.” 

Greggor laughed, and Yinmei tried not to grimace at the sight. He was the most obese thing she’d ever laid eyes on, and she was fairly certain that if he were a mortal, he would have died of heart failure by now. “Lady Zhang. A pleasure, as always. I hope you have enjoyed the party so far,” he said, and then let them go.

“Why did we have to come again?” Yinmei muttered sourly to Ysabelle, once they were a sufficient distance away. “I don’t like anything about this.”

“I wanted to give Lia some fresh air,” Ysa replied. “I thought it would be a safe diversion, but...I am beginning to share your feelings. The Wolves....” 

Yinmei’s glance flitted in the direction of Amaelia, who was now drinking from the mortal she’d started dancing with. Besides the youngest of the bunch, she couldn’t find any of the other vampires in their Coven within their immediate vicinity. 

(Well. Besides Poppy, of course, who was still hand-feeding Greggor chunks of...gore. But, moving on).

Once they had moved to a spot that kept Amaelia well within their field of view, Yinmei held up her hand, a small smile ghosting over her face. “Shall we?”

Ysabelle hummed playfully and took Yinmei’s hand. They fell into step together, easily. Wistfully, Ysa said, “I recall dancing with you like this long ago- Versailles in spring, I think. At a ball like this one, but...I think there was less blood...definitely more clothes.” 

Yinmei laughed fondly, remembering. “Less blood, more clothes,” she agreed, still smiling faintly. “Better music, too,” her eyebrow twitching as a particularly high-pitched note pierced her eardrums. 

She wrinkled her nose. “And not as many dogs around.” Ysa lifted her fingers to delicately touch Yinmei’s throat, then her chin. Yinmei hummed. “Oh, my friend,” Ysa sighed, and then dipped her head to lay her forehead against Yinmei’s shoulder. Yinmei shifted slightly to accommodate her. 

Ysa’s voice was still strangely wistful. “Why does it feel like everything is coming to a close?” 

Yinmei pressed her closer, lightly, and gently ran her fingers through her hair. “Well,” she said, after a moment, “even if the world is ending, I’ll be here.”

And even as she said the words, the itching at the back of her mind reminded her that she would have to deal with him, eventually. She could only hope that it could wait until after the entire thing with the Wolves was over.

Yinmei was quiet for a few minutes, before she murmured, “there’s something you should know, actually. It’s about Nessa.”

Ysa lifted her head, her eyes still half-lidded and elsewhere. “Go on.” 

“There was a Wolf,” Yinmei said, “at her race. Nessa let him participate. I was too far away to realize he was there until after the race had started.”

She paused. “Nessa looked fine, afterwards. And the Wolf was gone. She said that she wouldn’t do it again, but - well. You know her track record.”

Ysa looked up, seemingly summoning strength into her body. “Yet another willful child to worry after,” she muttered. “Nessa and Poppy… they’re going to be the second death of me.” 

Yinmei smiled wryly. “I can only imagine,” she replied as they spun around. “Poppy...you think this’ll get her to change?” And she tilted her head in Lord Greggor’s direction.

The other woman was silent a while, watching Poppy as she grudgingly served Lord Greggor. Then: “I told myself that it might, initially, but it won’t. I think...I may have done this for my own selfish pleasure.” 

Yinmei hummed softly. “I don’t know how you stand her,” she said, matter-of-factly. “She’s proven herself to be very, ah, inconsiderate too many times by now.”

“Devil take her,” Ysa pleaded with the villa floor. “I am attached to her as I am with them all, Zhang. What can I do? I could send her away, but I would certainly hate myself for it. Like it or not, we are the only home she has… What would you do then?” 

Yinmei stroked her thumb over Ysa’s cheekbone in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. “Me, personally? I would have sent her away long ago.” A wry smile twisted over her lips. “But I suppose that’s why I’ve never wanted to be the Bloodmother of a Coven the way that you are.”

They were quiet, for the rest of the song. 

It was a short while later when the itching at the back of her mind - which had subsided, temporarily - started up again. Yinmei ignored it, ignored the possibility of her Creator even being alive, determined to wait until at least after the party was over and they were away from all the Wolves to think about the impending confrontation.

She would deal with it. Later.

---

‘Later’ came much, much sooner than Yinmei anticipated. After Amare made her grand entrance (!!!), Yinmei stayed close to Ysa, and so she was with Ysa when she felt her Creator testing the mental connection that still somehow existed between them, between the Creator and his creation.

Yinmei flinched, openly, at the cold encroaching into her mind. Ysa caught the movement and turned to face her, brow furrowed.

The music was too loud. Yinmei remembered that spring in Versailles, Ysabelle openly defying the fashions of the time and leaving her hair long and loose, like it was right now. Yinmei had worn a white gown, with yards and yards of embroidered silk, hemmed with delicate lace.

“Ysabelle,” Yinmei breathed, and Ysa met her one-eyed gaze.

And then the Wolves came.

---

Later, after all the chaos was settled, after Yinmei had completely forgotten about her Creator - for the time being - the entire Coven was gathered in the garden, again. 

Amaelia was glued to Ysabelle’s side, trembling, blood sprinkled across her delicate butterfly wings like rose petals. Yinmei stood on the other side of Ysabelle, no worse for wear, though she’d lost her flower crown in the ensuing battle and she would probably never be able to wash the gore out of her long skirts. Angelika was three shades paler than usual (frankly, Yinmei hadn’t thought that possible, yet here they were), and Amare...well, Yinmei didn’t know what to make of Amare.

It was Zammurad who finally broke the silence.

“Where’s Poppy?”

[itshansolo]

My review of The Rise of Skywalker

Spoilers aplenty under the cut

I can fully acknowledge that my opinion on this movie is heavily influenced by what I care about in Star Wars. Han and Leia are my favorite characters and I just wanted to feel satisfied with how they ended up. Was it ideal? No. But given the choices made at the beginning of this trilogy, it could have been worse. Number one on the list to satisfy me was the redemption of their son. I had little doubt that Ben would turn back to the light, but I wanted it to be meaningful as well. Falling down a pit never to be seen again was definitely not it. His final act was beautiful and selfless and Adam Driver sold the shit out of it. What a fantastic actor. He did the most with few lines and his entire demeanor changed when Ben left the dark side. A moment that I haven’t seen many people refer to was when he said to Rey “You can’t go back to my mother. Neither can I”. His voice was choked up. In the beginning of the movie, when he touches Vader’s helmet and interferes with Rey’s training, you can see that the visions of Han’s death shook him up and the change in Adam’s facial expression was incredible. The scene with Ben and Han was everything I ever wanted since The Force Awakens. The main reason why people seemed reluctant to accept his redemption was because he killed his father and that baffled me. Han would want him to be redeemed! Both text and subtext showed that he deeply regretted what he did. So yeah. I’m very glad that scene was there. Ben loved his father. Period. So let’s address the elephant in the room. Reylo. It’s no secret that my preferred scenario was for them to be siblings. Back in 2016, I wrote 40 pages on why it could and should happen. But it didn’t and I got over that two years ago. Though I never shipped them per se, I thought there was undeniable chemistry and I never quite got all the pearl-clutching over the concept. It’s fake and in space after all. Everything about them in this movie made me feel things, in no small part thanks to Adam and Daisy’s phenomenal acting. I understand why Reylos wanted Ben to live, but let’s be real. Redemption followed by a life of atonement, though immensely interesting, requires way more time to be told as a story and they were trying to wrap things up. Not to mention it’s the definitive way to bring closure to the Skywalkers, making sure that no future writers will do anything else with the members of the family. Don’t get me wrong, the powers that be didn’t HAVE to end the Skywalker story, but it’s what they wanted. I appreciate that Leia played a role in Ben’s redemption (again, phenomenal acting from Adam), but I don’t quite like how she died. It seemed random. Why did she decide to reach out to him all of a sudden in that particular moment? There was no build up, she just felt weak and dropped dead. If they had showed from the beginning that she was in a fragile state, it could have worked. After a lackluster characterization in The Last Jedi, I finally connected to Rey again. I loved her struggles and her fears. Daisy’s acting was vastly superior this time around. Though her bickering with Poe felt forced, Finn’s relationship with both characters was a highlight. I’m not sold on the dynamic of the trio, but the humor mostly worked, especially from C3PO. He was the MVP of that part of the story. Speaking of Finn, I’m confused as to what his arc in the movie – if we can call it that – was heading towards.  He wanted to tell Rey something, maybe about his Force sensitivity, but it went nowhere. His past as a stormtrooper wasn’t really explored as promised, just briefly addressed in what I suppose was a bonding moment with Jannah. I’m not exactly sure why John Boyega was so satisfied this time around. As for the new characters, they were definitely a miss for me. Jannah and Zorii added very little to the story and General Pryde could have easily been replaced by Hux if Rian hadn’t turned him into a comic relief. Lando’s return was completely neutral. I felt nothing. He was there to deliver smooth one-liners meant to get people cheering. Everything critics have been saying about the pacing is true. There’s absolutely no room to breathe. Some people claim JJ was rushing to overwrite what Rian did and I couldn’t disagree more. There was one particular moment that felt like a middle finger to The Last Jedi and that is Luke catching his lightsaber and saying it should be treated with more respect. Aside from that, the biggest difference between TLJ and TROS is the tone, not the story. Even Rey Palpatine kept the message that Rian was trying to convey: there are things more important than blood. If I’m being quite honest, I much prefer Rey Palpatine to Rey Random, because it at least connects Rey to the previous trilogies. I still don’t like Rey Fauxwalker, but I ran out of fucks to give at this point. So why was everything so rushed? It’s just the nature of the story that JJ tried to tell. He wanted an adventure with the heroes and lots of action and that’s what we got. He’s not a very imaginative man. Although I – to quote Mark Hamill – fundamentally disagree with a lot of Rian Johnson’s decisions, I have much more respect for him as a filmmaker. While I agree with the critics about the pacing, I’m at loss as to why they think there is so much fan service. What the hell are they talking about? Ewoks? Indistinguishable voices from random past Jedi? Like I said before, if anything this movie has the potential to displease practically every fan. Ben dies, Reylo happens, Luke’s role is very brief, Anakin was nowhere in sight and a case could be made that his sacrifice was disregarded. The discourse surrounding this trilogy has poisoned the debate. People are now seeing digs at Rian and fan service everywhere. The most glaring issue with this film – bar none – is Palpatine’s return. He’s back just because. He’s back because Rian didn’t get the memo that if anything was settled from the beginning of this trilogy is that Kylo was not the big bad. So in a way, the biggest problem with this movie wasn’t even its fault. It’s the fault of everyone involved, for not mapping out the story. Once the space battle started, I tuned out. I have no idea what happened there. I’m not sure why Finn and Jannah split from the group and I honestly don’t care. I’m trying to understand why Anakin and Ben weren’t in the final scene with the twins and… I’ve got nothing. I still don’t know where the film ranks in comparison to the others and I won’t know for a while. Overall I think the mixed reactions are fair. As a final random note, I can’t believe Jodie fucking Comer is Rey’s mother!

[hiskniight]

@dansiere said: “ the memories hurt the most, I know. And it will feel like you cannot breathe but... what matters is that you... -- you have to stay on top of it, Connie. ”

          Since Connie had STARTED, more or less LIVING AT the beach house, they started a TRADITION of WATCHING the CHEESIEST MOVIES Connie ( && Greg could find. ) Sometimes she’d set up VOICE CHATS so she && Steven would watch a movie / TV show together, ALONE, in her MAKESHIFT BEDROOM. Tonight it was a BLACK && WHITE MOVIE, but Connie was DAZED && UNABLE to FOCUS ON IT, Connie could NEVER seem to QUIET her MIND, ( or RELAX her body ) sometimes it would get so LOUD, even around Steven, ( SWEET, SOFT, CALM, Steven ) she was always THINKING / PLANNING / WATCHING for THREATS-  always being TWENTY STEPS AHEAD of ANYTHING / EVERYTHING && EVERYONE at all times. 

          She should be STUDYING, honestly, CAUGHT UP on her SUMMER READING &&--- thoughts cut short by a sudden COLD CHILL in the air, the room DRAINED of all COLOR / GROWING into hues of WHITE / GREY / BLACK. The taste of blood FILLED her mouth. No no no no no please- ‘ MY DARLING LITTLE STARLIGHT, ‘ She went STIFF, a TIGHTENING in her shoulders && down her spine, her CONSCIOUSNESS started FLICKERING IN && OUT, SUBMERGING her BRAIN with SINISTER FLASHBACKS / MEMORIES in a NIGHTMARISH kind of SLOW MOTION. A c h i l l TRICKLED DOWN her spine like ice water, a GHOST OF A WHISPER in her ear. ‘ YOU CAN’T HIDE FOREVER. ‘  THIN, BONY FINGERS curl around her shoulders, nails STABBING into tender flesh, breath on the back of her neck as COLD AS DEATH, himself. She’s not here she's not here she's not here ! SNAP OUT OF IT ! 

          Please… Pl- Tears well up in her eyes, BLURRING her vision with a WATERY HAZE, chest TIGHTENING with FOREBODING that SPREADS throughout her body like a FOREST FIRE. && a few, SLUGGISH SECONDS / it seems to LAST an ETERNITY, she’s PARALYZED, ROOTED to the floor. She QUICKLY excused herself, handing the bowl of POPCORN onto Peridot’s lap, standing up on legs made of RUBBER. ❝ Would you like us to pause the movie, Connie ? ❞ Pearl asked. The brunette gave a small wave of her hand. ❝ No, It’s okay. I’ve seen this a million times. ❞

‘ DID YOU HAVE FUN ? ‘ 

          The WORLD is CRUMBLING under her, bits CRACKING, PIECES BREAKING OFF, the EARTH is SWALLOWING her, PANIC / FEAR grips her, RIPPING her beating heart from her chest, blood turns to ICE WATER in her veins. Everything is BEGINNING to sound MUFFLED / DROWNED OUT, VOICES fading, shaking hands- curling fingers into TIGHT balls, digging nail into CALLOUSED PALMS. She makes it into the bathroom before her WORLD is totally SWALLOWED UP, TREMBLING fingers reach for the LIGHT SWITCH, a BURST of DIM LIGHT floods to life, STUDYING herself in the MIRROR, fingers DIGGING into the COLD PORCELAIN of the sink, NAUSEA washes over her. 

‘ THIS LITTLE GAME OF YOURS IS OVER. ‘ 

          BLINDING WHITE LIGHT, room GLOWING, LONG, JET BLACK TALONS, reaching out towards her, only to PLUCK Steven OFF THE GROUND, an ECHOING, SING-SONG VOICE. ‘ IT’S TIME TO COME OUT, PINK. ‘ The echoes of her voice FLOOD her mind, she’s back there, the COLD HANDS of her mentor WRAPPED TIGHTLY around her, fingers against her mouth, nails DIGGING, PAINFULLY into her cheeks. Making her teeth ache with the need to BITE DOWN. Watching HELPLESSLY / PITIFULLY / USELESSLY as his GEM is RIPPED / TORN OUT so easily out of his stomach, his PAINED EXPRESSION, ( a GAPING HOLE, blood spilling onto MARBLE FLOORS && coating PURE WHITE SKIN a DEEP CRIMSON. ) sweat && tears rolling down pale, hollowed cheeks, a SCREAM trapped between CLENCHED teeth. A COLD HORROR ripples through her stomach. 

          Then he’s FALLING FALLING FALLING FALLING, heart POUNDING in her ears. PINK LIGHT washing out the WHITE, ‘ ST- STEVEN ! ‘ His COLD, DYING BODY is heavy in her arms, skin GRAYING && ICE COLD against shaking hands, his BEGGING && PLEADING WHIMPERS, his TEARS STAINING her jacket. THICK, RICH, BLOOD oozing from the gaping hole where his GEM should be. She’ll never FORGET the COPPER TINGE of blood on her tongue, SICKENINGLY DRY, SWEET METALLIC TASTE / SCENT, vile pungency that SMOTHERED her SENSES && SUFFOCATES the air from her lungs. && no amount of HOW MANY TIMES she brushed her teeth / DRINKING MOUTHWASH like it was WATER, it won’t seem to LEAVE. It lingers in her nose, a lump in the back of her throat that she can NEVER swallow down. Had there really been blood ? No. No. He hadn’t bled. Had he ? 

She’s going CRAZY.

          Her eyes were WILD / UNSEEING, && she struggled to hold herself together. ‘ NOW TO DISPOSE OF- ‘ An ANIMALISTIC SCREAM / DISGUSTING, THROAT-SCRAPING SOB, curling a TREMBLING hand into a fist && SMASHING it AGAINST the BATHROOM MIRROR, again again again again-  SHATTERING her GEM, silencing her MOCKING LAUGHTER && SING-SONG VOICE once && for all; a jolt of ADRENALINE surging through her veins. It was better than any HIGH she’d ever EXPERIENCED. Blood FLOODING down her knuckles, broken glass FALLING Like STARS. She STUMBLES BACK, a HITCHED, UGLY sob escapes between CLENCHED TEETH, falling against the wall, the MIRROR was just a SLIP of the LIGHT that was all. Just her stupid MIND PLAYING TRICKS, showing her FLASHES of things she thought she had CONTROL OVER. No, that she DID have control over ! She wasn’t Steven, the gems, Lars... ANYONE. She didn’t FALL APART. The sound of fists THUNDERING DOWN against the THIN WOODEN DOOR, shaking it, ❝ What was that, Connie ? Did you hurt yourself ? ❞ 

          ❝ Unlock the door. We need to get the glass out before it can cause permanent damage. ❞ A MONOTONE VOICE ( Garnet ) spoke through the HAZE of ERRATIC of Pearl, Bismuth && Peridot. Of course, her FUTURE VISION saw a GLIMPSE of what could / would HAPPEN... Did she see she FLASHBACKS ? Shit ! Scrubbing a hand through dark curls, getting blood in her hair, biting the INSIDE of her cheek. ❝ Her hand ?! ❞ A SHRILL / PANICKED voice, shouts over all the other voices, a prickle of IRRITATION crawls under her skin... Pearl. That’s her MOTHERLY TONE, the same one she’s HEARD whenever it INVOLVES Steven. ❝ What happened to her hand ?! ❞ Before the TALLER GEM can open her mouth to REMEASURE Pearl that EVERYTHING IS OKAY. Connie braces herself against the wall, legs SHAKING like she were a NEWBORN LAMB.

          ❝ I’m not going to sat idly by when one of my babies is hurt !! ❞ The PORCELAIN GEM is about to KICK THE DOOR IN, when SUDDENLY it BURST OPEN. Then the panic let loose && she began CLUMSILY RUNNING / PUSHING PAST the gems && YANKING the door open almost HARD ENOUGH to BREAK the front door off its hinges, bare feet against WOODEN FLOORS, chest BURNING, the smell of SALT WATER, tears STINGING her eyes. DROPPING heavily onto the beach, catching her breath as the wet sand crunched beneath her. Fingers CLUTCHING / TWISTING her shirt, HEART threatening to BURST from her ribs. Is she DYING ? Why is her chest so TIGHT ? Dread is CREEPING UP her spine, SQUIRMING between her ribs, making its HOME in her heart. 

          Heat CRAWLS across her skin && a RUSH of UNKNOWN FEELINGS, of something STIRRING to life, like someone LIT a MATCH inside her && FLAMES engulfed her, SWALLOWING her, urgent && molten. SHAME festers in the pit of her stomach. A shaky breath in through her mouth && back out her nose, calm down. It’s okay. Everything passes in a blur. Soon Connie found herself sitting in the sand, watching the tide ROLLING IN. Connie doesn’t REMEMBER how she ENDED UP sitting on the beach, it’s GROWING COLDER / the sun is being SWALLOWED by the sea, the sky BURNING yellow, orange && red. She chooses to IGNORE the footsteps, she already knows who it is.

PEARL.

          SHRUGGING OFF her COMMENT. ( Garnet must have told her... ) She was okay, she was MANAGING, could FUNCTION just fine. She wasn’t going to FALL APART like Steven had. She’s too NUMB / DRAINED to even bother CARING why Pearl is standing there AWKWARDLY, hands FUMBLING in front of her. Almost like she’s WORRIED / FEARFUL that at any MINUTE Connie would JUMP UP && SHATTER her gem like the MIRROR sitting in SHARDS in the sink. ( && EMBEDDED in her knuckles. ) She doesn’t want Pearl’s HELP, her LACKLUSTER ADVICE that Connie’s read from SELF HELP BOOKS. SHUT THE FUCK UP, PEARL ! Is what she wants to say / to SCREAM- lingering on her tongue, between clenched teeth && choking sobs. 

          Begging to be set FREE. But Connie KNOWS she’s NEVER going to let those HORRIBLE, STUPID, TRUTHS crawl from a weakened tongue && TREMBLING lips. ❝ I- ❞ She swallows heavily, shoulders SHAKING. ❝ I’m not Steven. I don’t need to be babied ! ❞ Words are COMING OUT more && more AGGRESSIVELY, more FRANTIC. It's almost SICKENING how the BITTERNESS is SLIPPING IN, invading her heart. Cheeks flushed SCARLET with UNBRIDLED RAGE, teeth CLENCHED && chest HEAVING, gasping breath.

          This SICKENINGLY SWEET, OVERBEARING ( S ) MOTHER. Who was CARING, voice DRIPPING with CONCERN, WIDE, DOE LIKE EYES- shimmering with a NEED to HELP / to PROTECT. Who seemed to want to CODDLE her like a NEWBORN BABY. It leaves a BITTERSWEET TASTE that fills her mouth, like SWALLOWING a HOT BED OF COALS, BURNING her from the INSIDE OUT. She wants to SCREAM. The brunette glare DAGGERS at the gem before turning her ATTENTION back towards the ocean. Biting back the URGE to just start LAUGHING ( or start CRYING ) in her face, JEALOUSY crept up her spine, Steven had gotten the Pearl she should’ve gotten. ( He needed that SIDE OF HER more than you ! You asked for this when you CHOOSE to pick up a sword. ) A LINGERING urge to PUSH HER AWAY && close herself off from those feelings. 

           Because she doesn't know how to handle it, because she NEVER heard those words from Pearl before. ( Steven’s SOFT HEARTED, LOVING Pearl ) so it feels ODD / UNNATURAL / UNCOMFORTABLE when she does, this is WORSE than hearing a  HARSH LECTURE from her ( or her MOTHER ), but this was coming from the mouth of a NICE, CARING Pearl. Her WORDS of RECURRENCE felt like a SLAP across the face now. It sat her TEETH ON EDGE. Connie felt a familiar TWIST of JEALOUSY in her HEART, acid rushed up her throat, this wasn’t the same Pearl who TRAINED her to DIE for the boy she LOVED / the son of a DIAMOND. She was RUTHLESS, COLD, CALCULATED, Pearl / The Renegade would NEVER TALK to Steven THE WAY she SPOKE to her on the SKY ARENA. Had she wanted to think Steven ( Pearl ) was to BLAME ? Was she REALLY that jealous of her BEST FRIEND ? No, of course not… right ? ...Right ?

          Head SWIMMING with an awful ball of anger that sat HEAVILY atop her heart, she was DRUNK ON it. The words ‘ The memories hurt the most, I know. ‘ pounded in her skull as fast as her  rapid / frantic, HEARTBEAT, ‘ But… what matters is that you… — ‘ it just kept REPEATING itself OVER && OVER as every WORD from Pearl CRAWLED under her skin, surged in her veins. This was becoming as close to an APOLOGY Connie knew she’d ever get from Pearl ( from any of the gems. ) ‘ You have to stay on top of it, Connie.’ The hair on the back of her neck rose, mouth dry. Why did she KEEP talking ? She LOVED the SOUND OF her own VOICE, Connie knew Pearl could talk for HOURS ON END without taking a single breath ( not that she needed to breath. ) Hands balled into fists at her sides. ❝ I said I’m fine… I have this… myself under control, what happened in the bathroom was just a slip up. I should probably cut back on the coffee. ❞ She won’t. 

          Yet another L I E gracing her lips. it was GROWING harder each day to DISTINGUISH the LIES from the TRUTH. How would EVERYONE know ? All she does is LIE LIE LIE LIE- LYING to Steven, Pearl, friends, her own PARENTS. LYING TO HERSELF. All fake smiles && forced laughter so no one sees how BROKEN INSIDE she really is. But keep lying. It’s what you're GOOD at. The PHRASE - ‘ I’M FINE. ‘ Turns BITTER, ROTTEN on her tongue, MASHING the words between teeth, swallowing them down a BLEEDING, RAW throat. But over TIME those words STARTED to sound HOLLOW, DEVOID of any MEANING / WORTHLESS words that fall EFFORTLESSLY from lips each time the phrases are SPOKEN to life again.

‘ Are you okay ? ‘

‘ You look tired. Have you been sleeping ? ‘

Or her FAVORITE- ‘ I’m here if you need to talk. ‘ No, you’re NOT !  

          Silence creeps across the two, chocolate hues watch with GLAZED OVER eyes, tears drying on cheeks, CRIMSON DROPLETS roll down her hand && laid on wet sand, the tide SWALLOWS UP the blood, like she never EXISTED, just another drop in THE ENDLESS && vast DEEP BLUE. Glancing up from her bleeding hands, towards the water, waves crashing, tickling her bare feet, soaking the bottom of her shorts. For a SPLIT SECOND Connie’s mind FLICKERS, GLITCHING- taking her back to the SECOND TIME she almost LOST HER LIFE from DROWNING. 

          Oh, how UNFORGIVING the sea ( Lapis ) is / was, the cold, HARSHNESS of it, the salty taste of water filling her lungs / a BUBBLE wrapped around her head. The MEMORY fills her with a SOUR TASTE of DREAD in the back of her throat, a PIN-PRICK of TRANQUILITY lingers in the back of her SKULL- whispering SWEET NOTHINGS like the VOICE of a LOVER. She didn’t see her LIFE FLASH BEFORE HER EYES like how its always described in BOOKS or MOVIES. It was just this LIFELESS, HEAVY WEIGHT was lifted from her shoulders && she could finally BREATHE ( METAPHORICALLY ) for the first time in her life. A inky BLACKNESS, muffled voices && the slowing of her HEART BEAT.

          After all the VEIL between LIFE && DEATH is PAPER THIN, having ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE on that fateful day she PLUMMETED to the BOTTOM of the SEA in a PINK BUBBLE all those years ago. She’s been greeting THE GRIM REAPER with open arms / the two were like OLD FRIENDS. ( waiting / longing with BATED BREATH for his KISS OF DEATH. ) She no longer FEARED it. Feared H I M. It gave her COMFORT knowing the sea would SOMEDAY, once again claim her BODY, cradling her SOUL && taking her HOME. She WISHES those THOUGHTS scared her. ( She still gets this TWINGE of ANXIETY when she has to shower or goes to the pool ) but that DEEP LONGING for the cold embrace of saltwater in her BURNING lungs && WEIGHTLESS FEELING, unburdened by the BATTLEFIELD that is her life. The UNENDING WAR in her BROKEN MIND.

          She WISHED Lapis ( White Diamond / Topaz / Jasper ) had KILLED her, she would have GIVEN her own life for STEVEN. The boy she LOVED so much her HEART ACHES, flutters between her rib cage. && like Pearl with PINK DIAMOND- she would do it without thought for herself. Steven was her life, her EVERYTHING. Her FIRST FRIEND / LOVING BOYFRIEND. ( FOLLOWING in Pearls PATHETIC, CLINGING, FOOTSTEPS with DEEPLY ROOTED NEED for a LOVER who would GIVE themselves up in a HEARTBEAT whether it's to SELFISHLY turn to STARDUST / BECOME A BLACK-HOLE && create a NEW, BRIGHTER STAR CHILD, made from LOVE && TRAGEDY / to self-sacrifice himself to the ENEMY GEMS thinking it's the right thing. PUSHING PUSHING PUSHING PUSHING THEM HER AWAY. Like he ALWAYS DOES ! )

          Keeping her gaze straight, tears simmering in RED RIMMED eyes, mouth set in a TIGHT FROWN. A small hiss through gritted teeth, pulling a slightly bigger shard out. She doesn’t want to talk about it, && doesn't want to think about HER. About any of it. She feels like she’s SUFFOCATING, she’s been DROWNING for years && no one seems to hear her CRIES, her pleading screams. Thrashing && trying to keep herself afloat in an ENDLESS VOID OF NOTHINGNESS, emptiness. So she built a GRAVEYARD inside her GUT, she’s been BURYING the DYING && ROTTING CORPSES of HERSELF in THE DIRT for YEARS. The WEAKNESS, FEAR, LONELINESS, her slowly crumbling MENTAL STATE, everything she deemed unfit to FIGHT by && PROTECT Steven. 

          She needs to be the PERFECT BEST FRIEND / GIRLFRIEND, STRAIGHT A STUDENT, QUIET / OBEDIENT DAUGHTER, PERFECT SWORD FIGHTER. So many DIFFERENT PEOPLE for everyone in her life. ( The one who can SHATTER White Diamond ! ) Needs to be SMARTER, STRONGER, SCARIER. She needs to be what THEY ( he ! ) need her to be. && she’s ready to bury her SOUL for it. COUGHING UP black dirt && swallowing STONES / where no words reach the surface, crying out for HELP even though she's not sure she even WANTS / NEEDS or DESERVES it.

She knows she doesn't.

          With a head FILLED with GHOSTS, parts of herself that refuse to stay BURIED IN THE GROUND, crawling, UGLY, BEGGING, LITTLE THINGS / mouths open in SILENT SCREAMS. Clawing, ripping with BLOODY, BROKEN nails TRYING to rip OPEN her throat && FREE THEMSELVES from this PRISON she’s BUILT in her HEART. ❝ It’s not a big deal, really. ❞ Biting down hard on her bottom lip to STIFLE the sob TRAPPED in her throat, don’t cry ! Don’t you DARE cry ! ❝ I just need to get over myself. It was one little memory, nothing to worry about, Ma’am. ❞ She forces a TIGHT SMILE, a laugh BUBBLES UP from a dry throat, wincing as she pulls the last bit of GLASS from her WOUNDED HAND. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LEAVE IT BE. 

          This STORM has been BUILDING UP inside her for years, on the cusp of her CHILDHOOD she’d been BRANDED with a METAPHORICAL SCARLET LETTER against TENDER SKIN with the ROLE OF ADULTHOOD, while still SEEN / TREATED like a HELPLESS CHILD. && in the AFTERMATH wears her TRAUMA like a NECKLACE of RUSTED CHAINS, wrapped TIGHTLY around a soft throat && slumping shoulders, GROWING heavier with each YEAR. A GALAXY / RAINBOW of bruises peppered her hand && DARK CRUSTED BLOOD RINGED around her knuckles. 

          The LOUD ACHE was COMFORTING && SAFE, Connie UNDERSTOOD IT- the PAIN, the BUDDING ANGER. Flexing her left hand to make sure her fingers weren’t BROKEN. Chocolate hues glance down at the BLOOD STAINED GLASS, with slow, steady fingers, she picks up the bits && stuffs them into her pocket so she can THROW IT away in the beach house. ( Couldn’t risk a SEAGULL getting injured because of her MISTAKE / OUTBURST ) curling inward, pulling, shaking legs to her chest.

          TERRIFIED of opening PANDORA’S BOX && letting all those GHOSTS && ROTTING CORPSES of herself, her TRAUMA out. But it keeps LEAKING OUT through the CRACKS, ( NIGHTMARES, smashing the bathroom mirror, && so much more it HURT her head to even THINK about them ) she’s SCARED that she’ll NEVER be able to UNTANGLE IT, it'll come RUSHING OUT like WATER in an OVERFLOWING SINK. So she keeps PUSHING IT DOWN, filling up that GRAVEYARD. 

          TELL ME IT GETS EASIER ? That she won’t always feel this TIGHTENING IN her chest, PANIC flooding her VEINS when she hears the name WHITE DIAMOND, that even just WALKING around Beach City makes her want to RIP her skin off. That she can’t take a SHOWER without having a PANIC ATTACK for an HOUR… PLEASE SHE NEEDS TO HEAR THAT ! She needs to hear from the ADULTS in her life to say SORRY. SORRY SORRY SORRY- Steven ALWAYS SAYS he’s SORRY, even if it’s not his FAULT ( it’s NEVER his fucking fault ! )

‘ WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU HERE IS FOREVER ! ‘

[atinyidea]

A Promise To The Sea | Ateez | To Sea | Two

TO SEA – TWO

→  2353 words

→ ml | prologue | previous | next

When Jiwoo woke up her eyes opened first, which is in fact what usually happens when one wakes up. Her eyelids fluttered opened, the sight she saw made her groan. She was underneath a window However she didn’t know that since all she saw was the blinding light of the sun shining right in her eyes.

Her groan must have been rather loud because soon enough there were footsteps heard, gradually getting louder as they came nearer. In an effort to not be completely vulnerable while she was disjointed Jiwoo attempted to sit up. 

Attempted because as soon as she tried, lightning strikes of pain wracked through her. Going straight through her shoulder through the left side of her body and cutting out at her knee.

An agonising whimper lifted itself from her lips, her vision becoming black once again as she squeezed her eyes closed and laid back down in pain.

“Hey, it’s okay, just don’t move, yeah? I’ll be right back.” Jiwoo heard a male’s voice. It wasn’t a familiar voice but, in a place, she had no recollection of getting too Jiwoo wondered if any voice would be familiar.

She wondered if he was just waiting for her to wake up so he could leave, or if he just so happened to be there as she woke up. Opening her eyes again, slowly this time to get used to the sun, they focused on her surroundings. Directly above her was an open slanted window, the glass panes were coloured to create a picture, but it was currently swung open, letting a breeze of air flow through the room. The room she was in was made of wood: the ceiling, the floors, the furniture.

Gritting through the pain in her shoulder Jiwoo forced herself to sit upright, taking note of what exactly she had gotten yourself into. She was in the back of the room, the cot she laid on pushed right against the wooden wall. There were two chairs close to the cot, several other cots were scattered around. The room was quite big, she noted. She was also surprised to see she was rocking slightly, a small bobbing motion she wouldn’t have caught if she wasn’t good at catching the smallest of detail. Was she on a boat?

Slung over one of the chairs was the jacket she had bought. Jiwoo looked to herself then. No longer was she wearing her leather trousers, but a pair of linen trousers that had been cut, or ripped, at the mid-thigh. They weren’t hers, the pair she had packed were a grey colour while the ones on her legs were a cream colour. Jiwoo felt confused, as she battled internally with two opposing emotions; anger and relief. Anger that she had been changed by a stranger who was most likely a man  – and a pirate no doubt. Yet she felt relieved that she was alive, that you still had clothes, that she was no longer with her father.

She still wore her own shirt, another thing she was relieved about. A woman’s underwear was confining, a contest that would make one lose their breath if they so much as looked at it. Jiwoo usually went without undergarments for her top half when she went riding, seeing as she wasn't particularly gifted in that area she hadn’t thought it mattered much anyway. Jiwoo wondered what the person who changed her must have thought about that revelation but quickly dispelled the thought, not wanting to imagine it. The shirt was surprisingly still white, only stained red around the shoulder. However, Jiwoo found that the shirt was cut, or rather ripped, around her left shoulder where the joint was wrapped in bandage cloth.

She was astounded as to how well her shirt was still intact and covering her body with a chunk of the arm missing.

Interrupting her thoughts was the opening of a door, scraping across the wooden floor. Through said door entered three people, but only two stayed to make their way towards Jiwoo. And then only one. Jiwoo felt her eyes widen at the sight of a female, a female? as she walked towards her.

“Hello,” she said. “I’m Nagyung. I looked after you while you were asleep.” Her voice was like bells to Jiwoo’s ears, her smile was both warm and kind. Jiwoo felt herself becoming more at ease, even though Nagyung was a complete stranger. “How do you feel? You’ve been asleep for a couple of days now.”

Days? How long were days?

“I feel… sore.” Jiwoo finally revealed, speaking slowly and not once looking away from the woman in front of her.

Nagyung laughed, although it was more like a giggle, coming to sit down next to Jiwoo on the cot. “That’s to be expected. You were shot! Twice.”

Under the sunlight that streamed through the window, Jiwoo could make out Nagyung’s features more clearly. Her hair was light, but now she saw it to be a shade of candyfloss pink instead of the light red she had first assumed. It was out of her face, held in a simple knot Jiwoo noted was made from her own hair - no leather in sight. Jiwoo also noted the sparse scattering of pearls in the knot, shining under the sun before Nagyung turned her face to hers. Her face was small, but her eyes were big, a mix between green and blue, swirling mad like whirlpools had been caught in her irises. Her face was round and as she smiled at Jiwoo, who caught sight of dimples under apple-like cheeks. Jiwoo hadn’t seen many people like Nagyung in all her years of life. While Jiwoo stared, she talked. But she heard none of it, only coming back down to earth as Nagyung disconnected their locked gazes and looked towards the other person in the room. Honestly, Jiwoo would have whined if it weren’t for the name that spilt from her lips as she did.

“Wooyoung says we’re about the same age!”

Wooyoung? The name of her brother? It had to be a coincidence. There was more than one Wooyoung in the world. 

Her heart still skipped a beat.

“Thanks, Nagyungie” His voice sighed, Jiwoo’s eyes snapped to him as he moved forward into a stream of light. His face was exactly as Jiwoo remembered it.

“Wooyoung.”

He only nodded.

“Your face hasn’t changed at all.”

“Yours has.”

“Well, I’m not fourteen anymore.”

“No, you’re not.”

Silence. 

Jiwoo hated silence.

Jiwoo had often wondered how it would be when she saw her brother again. She had never doubted that he was alive until recently, only ever starting to doubt if he cared to come back. However, Jiwoo had never imagined it would be this awkward. She guessed she hardly knew him anymore, and he didn’t know her at all now.

Nagyung looked between the two siblings, patted Jiwoo's non-wounded shoulder before leaving the room. Jiwoo caught the reassuring smile she sent Wooyoung as she paused him, pausing like she wanted to do something more but deciding against it and hurried to leave.

“Why were you in Gilway?”

“It was your birthday. I’d rather not be forced to spend it with our father if it’s all the same to you.”

“I can understand that. But you were in men’s clothes, he called for a kingdom-wide search. You ran.”

Jiwoo chuckled hollowly. “Aren’t you smart.”

“Don’t start.” Wooyoung almost sneered.

“I’m not.”

“Why.”

“Why what?”

He rolled his eyes with a sigh. “Why’d you run away?” He expanded.

“Maybe I was following my brothers’ footsteps.” Her voice was ironic, full of sarcasm.

“Be serious.”

Jiwoo rolled her eyes, not particularly wanting to tell her brother the entire truth. She found she no longer trusted him. “I gave up waiting for you to come back and save me and decided to save myself.”

“-and run into pirates and get shot?” He cut her off, raising an eyebrow.

“It wasn’t like I knew there were pirates in Gilway Wharf!” She exclaimed. “And you’re a pirate too! Aren’t you?”

“That doesn’t matter.” He dismissed.

“Of course, it does.” She argued. “You ran away from a man who was forcing you to raid and murder just to become a pirate were you willingly choose to raid and pillage and murder!”

His voice was raised, “I don’t murder,” but his tone left nothing for the imagination.

“Yeah, okay. Sure, I believe you.”

“You can believe what you want.”

“I will, you don’t get to decide my thoughts, Wooyoung.”

The two siblings relapsed into silence. Maybe Wooyoung had in fact changed. His face was older she noticed, as he shifted slightly and his face was cast in light from the window. His hair was lighter than she remembered, now it looked almost grey. His eyebrows were drawn, a frown shaping his features, a raised piece of skin just above his left eye becoming more prominent. He had scars she’d never seen before. He wore casual clothes, the kind she knew he liked to wear just to spite their father. He wore tight leather pants paired with a loose linen shirt, much like the one Jiwoo herself was wearing. His was open lower down his chest that hers though. Over the top was a leather jacket that had been dyed with a deep blue. He let out a long sigh, moving forward towards her. Almost reflexively, Jiwoo moved back. It wasn’t that she was scared of him per say, more like she was cautious of anyone who approached her. She had enough reason to be.

Wooyiung just sat down on a nearby chair, rubbing his face with his hands once before looking over at his sister. “What? Don’t you trust me?”

“No.” She shot back with no hesitation. “You’re a pirate. I don’t even know you anymore.”

“I’m still the same person.”

“Then earn it again.”

“Earn it? I’m your brother!” He practically shouted, standing up from his seat.

“You left me alone! With that man! For five years!” Jiwoo was shouting now too.

“Alone? That bastard would never be able to touch you! Mother would never allow it.”

“Well, maybe not but our mother is dead so...” She paused, looking away from him, “that kind of defeats your point.” Her voice fell flat, emotionless. 

Wooyoung took a large step towards her, grabbing her shoulders firmly – though not hard enough for it to hurt her – and crouching down so that their eyes were level, face to face. “What?” He asked.

“Mother died four years ago. I guess you never heard about it.”

“How?”

“How do you think? Our father killed our mother, blamed it on her  chambermaid and then made me kill her.”

“What.”

Jiwoo scoffed, moving her shoulders out of his grasp, watching his hands fall to his sides. “Yeah. I became his new toy as soon as you went missing. He made me learn how to use a sword and a gun and then he made me use them.”

“I… I’m sorry.” His voice was low. She replied with a singular scoff.

“What am I even doing here?” She broke, voice slightly cracking. Though, she kept her face expressionless.

“So, you’d rather bleed out to death on the muddy floor in a port town where everyone was going crazy looking for you to return you to the king?”

“No. I’m wondering why your captain cornered me, causing me to get shot, twice, and why one of those other pirates told him to grab me and go before I passed out.”

“How do you even remember that?”

“Nice to know that is what happened?” Jiwoo raised an eyebrow, she wasn’t even sure that was what happened, well now she was. Before he could reply, she continued. “You learn to remember things quickly when you live in hell.”

Silence. Again. Would they ever get over it?

“Just, lay down. Get some rest.” He ordered softly, already walking backwards. “Rest up, we’re in the middle of the ocean anyway, there’s not much you can do.”

And then he was gone. And she was alone, again.

                                    ✦❘༻༺❘✦

As soon as she left, Nagyung felt bad. She knew her mouth could talk without her brain thinking and she might have just ruining Wooyoung’s plan of talking to his sister once again.

She stood, leant against the door she just came from, with her eyes closed as shame filled her being.

Nagyung was still young, and she still let emotions get the best of her sometimes. She hadn’t meant to ruin their reunion.

“Nagyung? Why are you crying?” She heard the voice of her friend and master healer, Kang Yeosang, as he gently laid a hand upon her shoulder. She hadn’t even realised her eyes were leaking.

“I just messed it all up for Wooyoung!” She couldn’t help but wail.

Yeosang frowned, gathering her into his arms.

“He’s going to be so mad at me!”

“He won’t be.” Yeosang patted her back in soothing motions.

Soon enough Nagyung started to calm down however, as voices began to raise from inside the infirmary, her cries started up again.

“Come,” Yeosang commanded softly, pulling her away from the door and toward the other side of the ship, where she could look over the sea. “Let them sort things out. We all knew there was a chance Jiwoo would’ve angry.”

“But Wooyoung wanted t-”

“Wooyoung knew things were going to be different. It’s better to get all the anger out at the beginning instead of it exploding later.” Yeosang cut her off.

Nagyung nodded.

She was about to speak again but was cut off by the sound of a door slamming shut. The two of the switches their gazes over to where Wooyoung has just left the infirmary. He looked at them before taking off towards the crow’s nest on the main mast.

“He hates me!” Nagyung whined again. However, her tears had stopped flowing. Yeosang simply smiled before turning around to lean against the side of the ship, watching the vastness of nothing but the clear blue sea the surrounded them.

“No one could hate you Nagyungie.”

[aweebwrites]

Original Ending

So you guys remember that fic I wrote for Ninjago Valentine's Week? I had to cut it short because mobile but here's the original ending. If you haven't read it, I recommend doing so to understand this since I didn't start from the top. Enjoy!

_______________________

"You wanted to talk?" Zane prompts curiously.

"Yeah..." Cole says, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly before stepping closer, ignoring the frigid water lapping at his hooves. "I kinda wanted to say something a long time ago but I didn't know how to say it, you know?" He says, pulling something out of the small satchel he always carries and lowered himself to his knees, shivering when the cold water lapped at his underbelly but ignoring it in favor of what he held in his hand.

Zane on the other had was still curious but was anticipating now. Was he saying what he hoped he was?

"I talked to Nya during the summer for the best thing I could offer you to not screw this up and well..." Zane lifted himself up on his hands unconsciously, heart pounding as Cole stretched his hand out to him.

Zane gasped softly, seeing the gorgeous pearl in his hand, his eyes widening as his pale cheeks turned light blue with his version of a blush.

"I really like you Zane... More... More than just friends." Cole says, glancing away as his tail flicked anxiously. "And I was hoping you'd let me court you." He says, catching the mer's eyes again, swallowing nervously.

"Cole..." Zane says breathlessly, in awe of the large pearl and at his words. "Of course. Yes." As if there was ever a doubt.

There was no question about it. He had been nursing a crush for the strong stallion with a kind smile and gentle hands since he first met him. He hadn't said anything up until now, despite what Nya told him because he was seen as a monster and he didn't think he could handle the rejection when crush spiraled into love so quickly.

"Really?!" Cole says, baffled yet excited.

"Really." Zane smiled, accepting the pearl and craidling it gently, core warming at the sight of it.

He's never seen any this big before. His webbed hand couldn't fully close over it.

"Great." Cole says with a relieved sigh before grinning wide.

Zane looked up at Cole again and shifted closer, reaching out and tugging him down by the wool vest. Cole flushed, now nose to nose with the beautiful cold water mer.

"May I... Kiss you?" Zane asked softly, learning the term from Nya and seeing it from Jay and Kai.

It seems like a very important part of courting for land creatures so he would like to do the same with his land creature.

"U-um yeah. Sure." Cole got out, face red but anticipation building inside him.

Zane nods once before he closed his eyes and pressed his lips against Cole's.

‘Hot…’ Was Zane's first thought at his first kiss.

Cole was having opposite thoughts but neither minded. Taking the initiative, Cole cupped Zane's cheek and deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding against Zane's longer and smoother one. He tasted so much like cold and ocean and… And Zane. A low crooning sound had Cole pulling back, curious to the sound and where it came from. Instead, he saw Zane with cheeks blue with blush and lips puffy from their kiss.

“Forgive me. I only make that sound when I'm-”

“Wait, you made that sound?” Cole asked, surprised.

Zane nods and Cole… Found he liked it.

“Oh, OK.” Cole nodded as he swiped his thumb against his cheek he still held, smiling warmly once Zane leaned into it. "I know things won't be easy what with me being a centaur and you a mer but I went to this sea witch earlier-"

"You what?!" Zane hissed, flinching back with wide eyes as he almost dropped the pearl.

"I- um... I went to a sea witch..." Cole says, taken aback and confused at Zane's horrified expression.

"Sea witches are not to be trusted Cole! They are tricky and devious beings! Whatever they promised you will come at a cost you may not be able to pay!" Zane says, breathing picking up, worrying for his courted. "What did you ask them to do?" He asked, hoping there was a way out of it.

"I asked her for something that would let me breathe under water so I could be with you there." Cole says quietly and Zane couldn't help but awe at his thoughtfulness.

"Cole... That was thoughtful of you but we could have made it work still. I can breathe air for as long as I'd like. My only concern would be drying out." He says, reaching up and cupped his cheek with his cold, webbed hand, making Cole shiver but lean into it. "You're cold. Let's head inside with the other and we can discuss how to get you out of this." He says as he slithered backwards into the water.

"She was trustworthy though. Even Master Wu trusts her." Cole says as he got up on all fours and began trotting along the coastline as Zane swum in the shallows, head out of the water.

Zane frowned at that. Master Wu is a dragon who can take a more humane form at will. He is almost as old as this world itself and was the one to teach them all about their powers. If he trusted a sea witch then they were trustworthy indeed. But even that didn't soothe Zane's worry.

"What did she give you?" Zane asked instead as he slithered along the coast really.

"Some kind of potion. She says it will only work when it's time. Sadly I didn't get when that time is." Cole huffed, slowing down as he came to the entrance to the cave where Kai left a few feathers in the outside wall to warn anyone who were not friends to stay away.

Phoenix harpies may be extremely rare but every creature knew their beautiful feathers anywhere and knew it meant agony if they trespassed.

"We'll talk more on the inside." Zane says and Cole watched as he slithered into deeper waters before diving under, his white and blue tailfin disappearing soon after.

Cole smiled to himself despite it all and headed inside, lowering his upper half until he got to the main cave that was nice and wide, able to fit them all and more. Inside, the light from outside was reflected inside thanks to the water, showing Kai who was preening Jay's feathers as they talked with Skylor and Nya who were in one of several pools in the cave. A splash alerted them that Zane had arrived and he climbed out of the main pool that lead to the sea into a slightly smaller one that was closer to the group and was easier to keep cool with his powers.

"Do you feel strange now? Or did you then?" Zane continued questioning.

"No. Not at all." Cole says, settling next to his pool, leaning against the edge.

"What's going on there?" Jay asked curiously.

"Cole went to a sea witch and I'm-"

"YOU WHAT?!" The others immediately blurted.

"Wu trusts her! Mistaké's pretty cool!" Cole defended.

"Oh." They all said, relieved.

"If Wu trusts her then it'll be fine." Kai dismissed, adding another blue feather to the small pile he had going.

"Yeah. Remember that time I got sick and set off this wicked storm that torched everything?" Jay asked, ruffling his right arm of feathers Kai was done with.

"How could I forget? One hit the pool and nearly fried me." Nya says drily.

"Yeah, still sorry about that... But! She came over and gave me some stuff to make me better and it worked in a few minutes! No side effect aside from being unable to use my lightning for a few hours." Jay shrugged.

"I suppose..." Zane relented, relaxing and trusting Wu's judgement.

He glanced down on the pearl firmly clutched in hand with a small smile Cole saw- and made him grin like a dork.

"Holy moley pearl!" Nya gasped, peaking over into his pool to see it.

"So you two are finally courting?" Skylor asked, flicking her tail back and forth in the water.

"Ye- finally?" Cole asked her with an arched brow.

"Nya's been telling me about you two for two years now. Honestly I was gonna intervene if you two didn't get together before we have to split up again." Skylor says with a smirk.

"Same." Kai says, running his talons carefully though the shorter feathers along Jay's thighs.

"I was just gonna dare Cole to say something." Jay shrugged.

"... I've been thinking..." Zane says, gaining their attention. "About splitting up. I was thinking... I should stay here." He says and Cole perked all the way up at that.

"And I could stay here too!" Cole says with a grin as he stood up, looking around the large sized cave. "I mean, it's about time I left the herd anyway. Me and my dad don't get along that much and... Well... I want to be anywhere you guys are." He shrugged and Zane fell in love all over again.

He was too precious.

"This is our favorite nest after all..." Kai shrugged.

"Plus the caves go a lot higher. Maybe even Master Wu can hang out here, and even the squirt." Jay suggests.

"It'll be a lot of work fixing this place up more but it'll be worth it in the end..." Nya shrugged.

"I wouldn't mind sticking around either." Skylor says as Nya wrapped her seal skin around her neck after she took it off.

"And with the pools already here and se- cure?!" Cole yelped once the rock below his back hooves gave away, sending him tumbling back into the water despite his desperate grasping of the rock with his front hooves.

"Cole!" His friends' panicked scream of his name was all he heard before there was water over his head and- he had to hold his breath!

He kicked against the water, trying to swim to the top but the current was dragging him further down, out of the water entrance to the cave and further on still. He couldn't surface! He could swim- all Centaurs could- but this current was too strong. He felt clawed hands under his arms trying to pull him up, a second pair holding him under his front hooves and yet another trying to push him up but it was no use. His lungs were on fire! He had to breathe! If he didn't, he'd die! And if he did, the results were the same.

His vision began to blur as his kicks began to lose stamina. He saw panicked blue eyes before a white tail passing by upwards. He couldn't hold his breath any longer... He was going to... Cold lips pressed against his, breathing air into his lungs but it wasn't enough. His lung capacity is greater than a mer's. As soon as his mouth pulled away, he breathed in. The burning stopped at least but now he couldn't feel anything but the feeble working of his throat and lungs, trying to get air still as he we dragged along the current like a ragdoll. He reached out to touch his face once more but somewhere mid stretch, everything went dark.

"Cole! No!" Zane screamed once his eyes went dim and his heartbeat stopped but his scream was nothing but bubbles under the water.

Nya gritted her teeth as she held him still, tears vanishing instantly in the water.

"We're out of the current now. Let's get him to the surface." Skylor says through clicks urgently, not willing to give up.

They can save him. They will! Zane swallowed then nodded, all of them holding a section and swimming up away from where they knew the currant was. When they broke the water, it was to anxious phoenix and storm harpies hovering over the water.

Jay gasped once he realised he wasn't moving, his red rimmed eyes filling with tears.

"Is he?..." Kai whispered, tears threatening to fall.

"We have to get him to shore. Now." Skylor says, even as they swam as fast as they could with him.

They pushed him up onto shore, Kai dropping down and checking his pulse. He gritted his teeth and shook his head.

"No way in hell you're leaving us now Cole!" Kai yelled then began pushing at the torso of his horse half, barely budging it. "Dammit! I'm too light! Zane, Nya-" He stopped once he saw both mers and selkie not too far behind Cole, Nya comforting Zane as Skylor looked at him.

She shook her head and Kai gritted his teeth as he clenched his talons into his palm. Zane pulled away from a sobbing Nya to lean closer to Cole, trembling webbed hand brushing back his long hair from his face. He looked so peaceful. As if he was sleeping. He felt so numb as he gently stroked his pale cheek, not hearing his own anguished sobs over the deafening ringing in his ears but feeling them rock his body. He just got him…

Jay looked down at his best friend miserably, half blinded by his own tears. He was useless. Utterly useless in rescuing him. If he had… If he had… Done something other than spectating then maybe… Maybe… Kai pulled him into his chest, kissing the top of his head as he shook, his breathing heavy between choked off sobs.

“We-” Kai's choked up words died on his tongue once he noticed something. “What’s with that green glow?” He whispered, gaining Jay's attention.

He peeked out from Kai's feathers, at the body of their friend and realised that he was right. There was a weird smokey green glow around him now that turned the skin of his upper half the same green.

“Guys!” Jay yelled, drawing their attention to him.

“What is that?” Skylor asked as she shifted closer.

Nya gasped then.

“He drank a potion from Mistaké! Do you think-”

Her question was answered by Cole suddenly gasping, his instincts sending him to his hooves and out of the shallows, nearly giving Zane a heart attack. Said mer blinked owlishly at his courted, hand over his wildly beating heart as Cole coughed up an unhealthy amount of water from his lungs, his legs wobbling as he did so.

“Cole?!” Kai gasped as the centaur panted heavily, blinking confused.

“K-Kai?” Cole rasped, confused.

Didn't he just…

“Cole!” Jay screeched happily launching himself at his best friend,  wrapping himself around his upper half and digging his talons into his flesh and repeatedly zapping him with his happy electricity.

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Cole hissed and pried him off of him. “Glad to see you too pal but I still have feelings!” He says,  holding him back at arm's length.

“Just checking.” Jay says cheekily then gave him a relieved smile. “I'm just glad you're back, no matter whatever you are now.” He says as Kai collected his mate.

“Yeah. You had us all for a while there.” Kai says with a grin as Cole looked himself over.

“Why am I green?” Cole asked as he looked at his hands then chest and hide.

His hide was still black but with a weird low green glow… He gasped.

“Am I a ghost?! Or a zombie?!” He asked, freaking out.

Nya huffed out a laugh as she leaned against Skylor. Yep. This is their Cole.

“Neither actually.” Zane spoke up, shock finally wearing off.

Cole's eyes instantly locked onto his courted before he approached, not feeling the coldness water at all. Not when he had Zane here, when he had a second chance with him.

“Zane…” Cole whispered as he lowered himself to his knees in the water, reaching down-and-out cupping both of his cheeks.

“Up North… There's a name for what you are now…” Zane whispered, reaching up a webbed hand to cup his cheek as well. “Kelpie.” He murmured, urging himself closer, his other hand tracing the beginnings of gills at the side of his lower half.

“Doesn't matter too much to me. I'm just glad I get a second chance with you.” Cole murmured, leaning down and pressing a kiss against his forehead.

Zane smiled softly, glad too. But after a day like today? He just wanted to curl up and sleep with his beloved.

*****************

Bonus:

“You know, I just realised. I could have tried shocking your heart.” Jay says a week later, perched on the edge of Cole and Zane's shared pool where Cole was getting used to breathing underwater.

“Yeah, no. You still don't have your voltage settings under control.” Cole says with narrow eyes,  switching to air so he could speak. “All you'd do is make it impossible for me to come back.” He huffed, nuzzling Zane's throat where his mark would be when they were ready.

Zane only crooned, wrapping his tail around his front hoof as he pressed closer. That day gave him nightmares still but talking about it like this seems to help.

“Really, thank you for not doing that.” Zane says with a smirk, making Cole and Kai snicker while Jay pouted.

“And you were here when Mistaké came to talk to us. Cole was meant to die that day. There was nothing we could have done to change it.” Nya says, leaning on the edge of her pool and messing up the feathers in Kai's hair below.

It had ate at her how the water currant wouldn't listen to her, despite her being able to control nearly all aspects of water. She accepted it after that explanation. After all, faith was a fickle thing…

“I'm curious about you and Nya.” Kai says to Zane. “You need to stay in cold water and Nya needs to stay in warm. Sure the lake is pretty huge but I don't think it can do both.” He says, looking up at Nya.

“It can't right now but with some new currants and Zane's affinity for ice, it'll be cozy for us both. We can always meet up on the middle for a few hours too.” She shrugged.

“But aren't cold water mers territorial?” Skylor asked as she swung her purple scaled legs back and forth in the water from Nya's pool, her serpent tail doing the same.

“Just as much as your average warm water mer. If food is scarce on the other hand…” Zane says, recalling witnessing death matches over territory with plentiful food.

“It won't come to that. All of the lake is our territory- we made that clear. Even when Wu, Lloyd and whoever else we decide on get here in spring, we'll still have a lot of food to spare. Don't worry about it.” Cole says, pecking Zane's nose the mer promptly wrinkled cutely.

“We made clear? You mean you.” Skylor snorted. “Every squatter was scared speechless seeing a kelpie rise up out of the lake like a demon, flashing fangs and glowing green eyes. Hell, I nearly took off too.” She admits and they chuckled.

“Yeah. If anyone here is territorial, it's you.” Kai grinned.

“Luckily a certain someone just loves that~” Jay cooed and they all laughed at the blushing couple.

Zane smiled despite it though. His pod was unique but he loved them all.

(I love this au so much! You can definitely expect to see more of it popping up! Feel free to drop by in the asks if you have questions! My sleeping schedule is all over so I'll answer them as soon as I see them!)

[the-beautiful-1]

3 Chains O’ Gold

Released August 16, 1994

If you haven’t seen 3 Chains O Gold, I’m going to need you to seek it out immediately because it is one of Prince’s most glorious accomplishments. Released in 1994, it expands on the Love Symbol album and attempts to give us Mayte’s back story, I guess? Either way it’s a real treat, so lets get right to my attempt to break down what’s going in this beautiful mess.

Opening Credits First of all, I wanted to make this not too terribly long and include only events relevant to the plot, but it’s worth noting that the “Warner Reprise Video” is arguably the MOST DATED LOGO IN HISTORY. If this doesn’t scream 1994 at you, I guess you weren’t alive then. If anyone from the future is like “what were the 90s like?” just show them this 10 second clip.

We open with the credits over several clips of what I’m confident is a show on the Paisley Park soundstage, with Prince in a glorious halter top backless jumpsuit, but that’s not important right now - we cut to Princess Mayte in Egypt doing her thing, which I guess is skinny dipping with four nameless women who call her Mai Tai? Either way, full nudity right out of the gate, interspersed with clips of who we find out is her father being stabbed. She holds him as he dies of one stab wound, which I guess you would if no doctor was called. Oh well, dead forever, so she grabs her title 3 Chains O Gold from a vault and we go from Cairo, Egypt, to Minneapolis, Minnesota! Unclear where Mayte is now staying, but it appears to be a small barren room with only candles and a small tv, which is playing Kirstie Alley reporting on a riot in the same alley where conveniently half of Graffiti Bridge takes place.

My Name is Prince The chain hat is here! As is an extended rap from Tony M, while Prince dances atop several cars in an inexplicably damp alley. He’s so stompy! Mayte has apparently seen this on the news and made her way through the crowd to hand him a bedazzled VHS case containing what is revealed to be the actual tape of her performance on That’s Incredible AS AN 8 YEAR OLD. This is problematic at best, but he’s interrupted by Tony M’s insistence that they have a car party to attend to.

Sexy MF The car party turns out to be the members of the NPG playing cards in the smoke filled garage of Paisley Park, and their involvement is that Prince shows up, demands 3 women leave with himself, Tony M and Kirky J, and then ridicules the rest of his band for a little bit. Kind of an asshole, but also… have you seen him in this?? Looking like a real snack. Forgiven. Moving on. My favorite thing about all Prince stories is that it’s like, Prince wants the girl, Prince gets the girl, and this is no different. Prince and his gold gun microphone want Troy Beyer in her pearl cage dress (can you call that a dress?) as they make out in various hotel hallways.  They go to the movies and make out for a bit and engage in some heavy petting, but Troy knows something is up and that there’s someone else (spoiler alert, it’s Mayte), and he responds with a very intent Purple Rain-esque moody stare.

Love 2 the 9s Mayte gets a card slipped under her hotel room door with audition times for the NPG, so I guess Love 2 the 9s is her audition?? But wait, some of the NPG guys are in jail slash Prince’s office at Paisley. This is like… the Hard Times, if the Hard Times had a budget? Anyway it would appear that the audition is a photoshoot, with Prince in the highest of high waisted red pants and an open lace bolero top. Again, he looks DECADENT. I digress. Tony M proceeds to interview Mayte with some inane questions, until she is is finally permitted to make the booty boom. Thank god. Sidebar: her makeup!!!!! So perfectly 90s, complete with a brown lip and thin eyebrows. Perfection.

Morning Papers Cut to the zoo! Why?? I DON’T KNOW. Here’s P and Mayte walking through the zoo hand in hand, being real sweet paired with a song that makes the whole thing problematic, but again, choosing to overlook the whole “why is age more than a number” with a shot of Mayte riding on a carousel. YIKES. Cut to Paisley Park where P is dressed in white pants, white heels, a floor length white trench coat, and a SLEEVELESS PLAID FLANNEL SHIRT unbuttoned all the way down to his waist. This is a GOOD. LOOK. Someone has been working out, and he is eager to show it off. Ugh back to the carousel for some kind of trippy sequence involving Mayte whispering into a mirror in a Blossom hat.

The Max Dramatic cut to footage of what I’m pretty sure is one of the 1993 Radio City Music Hall shows from the Love Symbol tour mixed with some backstage footage and whatever was shot at Paisley. Prince’s ability to create euphamisms and use them like literally anyone else in the world would ever even bother never fails to amuse me. He’d like to “shuffle the cards in that stack!” …. okay. Before or after you drive me/us/Mayte to Tennessee? Anyway I guess this is to show she did indeed get the job? Here’s a picture from one of the Radio City shows because one I can’t get a good screen cap, and two it’s important for.... reasons.

Blue Light I’m not sure whose bedroom we are in, but Prince is sitting there I guess waiting for Kirstie Alley to call so he can hang up on her. You can tell this video was shot later than most of the other footage as his typhoon is really out of control here and reached peak mushroom, but it’s fine since it’s mostly face close ups of him and Mayte as they roll around on a bed while she rejects his advances. Girl. Get your shit together. Also he’s wearing light pink silk pajamas. Or it could just be a regular suit he wears on stage, jury still out, either way it looks comfy af and I’d like one.

I Wanna Melt With U Aw man. Mayte falls asleep, while Prince packs a suitcase with all his essentials for a tour (chains, a chain hat, and one shirt) and sneaks out. This is my favorite thing, omg. So Mayte has fallen into a fitful sleep and is currently having a sexual nightmare about her flirtatious encounter with P that involves a lot of naked ladies distorted in funhouse mirrors and Prince wearing maybe boxer shorts?? Umbros??, a black and white vertical striped robe, and ROLLER SKATES. Not only roller skates, but knee pads as well because even when you are haunting someones dreams in a sexual way, safety first. Oh also flashbacks to dad. There is SO MUCH GOING ON HERE, my god. I would pay good money to be haunted by Prince on roller skates and safety pads in my dreams, I tell you what.

Sweet Baby Mayte wakes up from her nightmare to realize P has left her with a note that says only “Sweet baby don’t cry.” Wait I thought she was in the band, but he went on tour without her? From Minneapolis, to Japan, by train? Unclear. Anyway she packs her bags and stands despondent, weeping on some train tracks for the duration of the song until she hops on a plane back to Egypt to be a princess again.

The Continental Prince arrives by train in Tokyo, where he is visibly distraught and his band starts talking shit about him as they have a pre-show gambling sesh? The Ghost of Mayte shows up to haunt him during soundcheck where he is again very Purple Rain levels of pensive and moody, but NOT IN THE SHOW! The Continental is 3 Chain’s O Gold’s Darling Nikki - overtly sexual, many thrusts incorporated into the dancing, lots of face touching with finger flutters, proving he doesn’t require his main love interests attention, he can get it from anyone anywhere, and they’ll thank him for it. Ok so here we have two seemingly concurrent events happening I think? One is Mayte dancing in Egypt, while Prince gets some in his chain hat. This is legit a porn at this point, wait why does he have a sword??? Anyway so again with the making out and the heavy petting, but right as it gets started, Mayte has been overcome with… I don’t know, but she collapses, and Prince is simultaneously unable to perform sexually. I think to show they are spiritually connected??? Do I GET Prince’s visions now?????? I am so proud.

Damn U Back in Egypt, an old man tells Mayte she looks like a girl he used to bang. Okay. Prince has returned to Paisley Park where he is performing a one man show for a dinner party in the sound stage, I think. Again, a real treat. Black jumpsuit with a white collared shirt & white tie, yes this is a good look. Oh Tommy Barbarella must have gone on a cruise to the Bahamas on the way back, he has some hair wraps and braids now. Ugh that baritone. Damn U, damn me, this song is so good. Here’s a screen shot that could double as his Bar Mitvah photo.

Mayte has received a letter!! It’s the lyrics to Damn U. Her reaction is to go to her dress maker to get a fancy coin dress, and then hop on the next flight to LA, where they will be shooting the 7 music video, but not before there is a 5 minute segment with members of the NPG talking shit about Mayte. No, really. First up is Tony M and his date, who is Mayte? Where did she come from, what did she do? The rest of the NPG is in the gym, also talking shit about her??!! WHY IS THIS INCLUDED. I guess to show he loves her in spite of his entire band hating her? Michael Bland wants to know “What is her purpose, what does she do?” Honestly. What is this doing here. And it goes on for SO LONG!!!

7 Maybe my favorite Prince music video??? So we see past versions of Prince trapped in a time traveling cryogenic tube… The Continental yellow suit is here, the chain hat, the Morning Papers Sleeveless Grunge Shirt, some insane bolero top with a cowboy hat that unfortunately is not seen in its full glory.. each of them is electrocuted to show that he has no past, he has sown all his oats and he is ready to be faithful to Mayte and maybe now she will reciprocate his sexual advances. Also there are seven pairs of TINY CHILDREN PRINCE AND MAYTES WIELDING SWORDS AND COIN DRESSES IT IS VERY ADORABLE!!!! God he’s so intense. Oh and the “one day all 7 will die” is in reference to the 7 men that killed her father, whom he has casually assassinated by his bodyguards as he and Mayte waltz off into the sunset/another smoke filled room at Paisley Park.

End Credits Mayte calls Kirstie Alley to finally grant her long sought after interview with him, which was clearly written by him. Most of her responses are “oh.” I think this is the letter he wrote as her as his press release for why he changed his name? Again, UNCLEAR. Anyway, we’re left with shots of Prince making some kind of business deal in a smoky conference room, and then he ends up signing a contract written in Japanese with the Love Symbol. Dramatic cut to a cemetery, where we see a shallow grave containing the chain hat and the 3 chains o gold.

THAT’S IT! That’s all! Really! Any questions? I HAVE SEVERAL.

[starshineskyandthepowerofrock]

Evening Announcements

Part 10 of Starshine, Sky, and the Power of Rock.

The dreams are getting worse, somehow. This one gets me so bad I hit my head trying to escape my casket. I make it halfway out before reality catches up with me and I sink to the floor, trying to calm down some.

"Is this going to be a nightly thing with you?" a voice hisses from the other side of the room. Gossamer Glade, face lined in moonlight, is sitting up in her own bed. Her lacy eye mask is pushed up to reveal big green eyes that glare at me with pure fury.

I feel around on the nightstand for my CD player. "Can you at least wait 'til I'm wearing a bra before you start getting on my ass?"

Gossamer throws herself back on one of her many silk pillows, her arms above her head in the most dramatic pose I've ever seen. "I don't appreciate having my internal clock thrown off because you can't handle bad dreams. Do you realize I've been getting tired while the sun is up? My body thinks it's nighttime while I'm at school. You're confusing my body and if this keeps up it'll affect my grades."

Ignore her. Ignore her. I rummage through my treasure trove for the right CD. Blood in the Ducts? No he introduced me to that one. Chains on Bone? No he whistled track four all the time...

"But I imagine you're not one to care about grades, are you, vampire?" Gossamer says. "My father says you're doing very poorly in his class."

I could say something right now but... No, keep looking, keep looking... Grave's Dust... Black Morning... No Answers —  What?

The clear jewel case shakes in my hand. A once-blank CD stares back at me, the name No Answers scrawled in marker on plain white in my handwriting. We made this song together. We made a lot of songs together. They'd almost joined the bonfire I'd built for my Band of Darkness uniform but I have this thing about destroying art. Plus I hear the fumes from doing that are dangerous and I didn't need any of the animals near me getting hurt. So I'd settled for leaving them all at home. At least I thought it was all of them.

"This has been the worst month of my life. How am I supposed to spend four years living like this?" Gossamer whines into her pillow.

"The feeling's mutual," I say, finally picking a CD and sliding my earbuds in place.

💙💙💙

Assigned seats make sense in this place. I normally hate them but I get it here. Bands should sit together so all the teachers have, well, sat us together. Mr. Glade basically did this too. Almost.

Alright so first day of the first "Academic Week" was already gonna be a bummer because we get no music classes. Not to mention I wasn't thrilled to meet the guy halfway responsible for the demon spawn I've been forced to room with. But then I finally walked into his class, only to find out my seat was nowhere near anyone else's in my band. I didn't feel like starting a conversation with him so I waited for everyone else to sit and found the only empty seat was all the way in the back. And it had my name on it.

I went up to his desk. "Mr. Glade?"

"Yes?" he asked, his back turned to me.

"I can't sit back there."

He chuckled. "What makes you say that?" he asked, then turned around. His smile snapped into a scowl the moment he'd realized who he was talking to.

"I, uh, have albinism," I said. "It makes my vision real bad. I'm supposed to sit near the front in all my classes-"

"Oh, you're 'supposed to,' are you?"

Instincts told me to stop but I kept going. "Yeah, I put it in my application and they said there'd be accomoda-"

"If your sight is so bad, why don't you wear glasses?"

"I-I'm wearing contacts but they don't fix everythi-"

"Are you giving me attitude?"

"No, I just-"

Gossamer stood up. "Could you stop?"

That's when the whispers came. Eyes on me from the whole class. I turned to Star but she wasn't about to argue with a teacher. So I've been sitting back here ever since and I haven't been able to read a single thing on the board. I also don't have a large-print textbook in here like I'm supposed to. And I'm a slow note-taker so I've only been getting bits and pieces of his rapid fire lectures down. And now I can't make out the quiz right in front of me.

No way he didn't know what he was doing. I'm having a hard time believing kids with 20/20 vision could read this, the print's so small. My eyes dart up for a moment (last time I lifted my head I got accused of cheating) and I look around. Kids are squinting some. A few have to bring the paper closer. But they work through it. At least they can read this.  And of course there's no multiple choice questions because I could have at least guessed on that.

I bring my head closer and closer to the desk until the tip of my nose touches the paper. The words blend together in a mass of spotty black. I still can't tell where one letter ends and the next begins. Alright this is hopeless.

For question one I put, "I'd answer if I knew what this said." For the rest I put, "See question one." I'll get a zero and he'll say it's my fault but we'll both know what's true.

💙💙💙

For the past couple weeks I've been hearing snippets of whispered conversation from the older kids. "Poor First Years." "They don't know what's coming." "Glad that's behind me." "Aw, I thought it was cool!"

I try to listen in every time, but of course they quiet down and scurry away when they notice the vampire's near them. There's been a spike in these whispers lately. Even Star let something slip.

"Dinner can't come soon enough," I'd told her during transition today.

She'd giggled and said, "Honestly, I'm kinda dreading it."

"Why's that?"

She panicked. "Um, no reason!" Then she changed the subject to how to get rid of my dark circles.

Now I can't focus on dinner at all because the older kids keep rubbernecking every First Year that walks by their tables. Odds are I won't get anything out of Star but it's worth a shot.

"Something happening tonight?" I ask her.

Crescent chimes in with, "Yeah, kids keep talking about the First Years. What's going on?"

Star picks at her smoked salmon. "What? What? What are you talking about?" she asks, not looking at either of us.

"I'll take that as a yes," I say.

Crescent leans in. "Spill!"

Before Star can answer a hush falls over the room and is soon replaced by a chorus of "Your Majesty"s. Kids left and right bow and curtsy as Queen Sunshine enters. She nods her head of bright yellow braids, holding a microphone and making her way to the cleared-out center of the room. Following her is a guy holding what looks like a big, old-looking box of some kind. Sunshine taps the mic and clears her throat to make sure everyone's listening. We are.

"Good evening, students," she says.

"Good evening, Your Majesty," everyone says in unison. It's a big change from the usual scattered mumbles I've seen most principals get after saying that.

Sunshine continues. "You may have heard from whispers around, but tonight is a very important night for our First Years."

Everyone was listening before but now the First Years perk up even more. Even Pearl looks up from her lunch and I haven't seen her act like she knows anyone's there since the night I found out her name.

"Now, First Years, I wouldn't be surprised if you were wondering: just how are you supposed to lug around and care for what can be very cumbersome instruments? When the Band of Darkness can attack at any moment, how are you supposed to be ready in time? Even seasoned members of the Band of Light had been wondering the same thing for years, until the innovators in magical technology behind the Soul Key created this." She gestures to the box, which the guy holds up for everyone to see.

Kids are standing, stretching, some are putting their feet on their chairs to get a better look. A merboy nearby says, "That's what this is about!" to his buddy. A catgirl whispers to her band, "I don't see what people are freaking out over, this is awesome!" Crescent bounces in her seat, squealing to herself. So I guess I'm the only one who doesn't know what I'm looking at.

Sunshine smiles. "Yes, yes, I'm sure all of you have been anxious for this moment, and I won't waste your time with formalities." The formalities would have been appreciated if they meant I knew what she's talking about. "Star," Sunshine calls.

Star immediately stands at attention. "Yes, Mama."

"Would you like to demonstrate?" Sunshine asks.

Star barely holds back a squeal as she makes her way to her mother. She unhooks her Soul Key from her skirt and raises it high for everyone to see. Then she slides the key into what I guess is a lock on the box and cranks it a few times. So it's a music box.

The only sound in the room is the tune coming from this box. No one can take their eyes off it, including me because I wanna know why everyone else is so invested.

Then the top of the box cracks open, a brilliant hot pink light spilling out. Star excitedly reaches in and pulls out a midnight blue cassette player accented with pale pink and purple gems and stars. She holds it up and the whole room cheers.

"Congratulations, Star," Sunshine says. "You're one step further in your journey to being a rock star."

Star hugs her mother then happily accepts praise all the way back to her seat, waving, curtsying, blowing kisses and more. I can't imagine what that feels like. Once she's next to me again and Sunshine starts calling bands up, Crescent and I both want a better look at her new cassette player.

"Ohmigoodness," Crescent whispers as more kids get their own sparkly music players. "The Heir to Light's Soul Player is right in front of me! They're gonna put this in a museum one day!"

"What's a Soul Player?" I ask.

Star explains, "Its a magical device that provides you with the instrument you need to fight the Band of Darkness whenever you need." A wide grin lights up her face. "And it gives you a super cute outfit to go with it! I wonder what you guys' will look like." She gasps. "I wonder what mine will look like!" She holds the Soul Player to her chest, probably seeing something real frilly in her mind's eye. "But yeah, you basically need one if you want to call yourself a rock star around here."

Interesting. That sounds like it'd shave off a lot of valuable time getting ready to battle. No wonder the Band of Light was there so fast to save Star and me after we got ourselves in trouble.

Watching kids get their own Soul Players I see they don't only come as cassette players. They can be MP3 players, CD players, a few kids even get small boomboxes, which don't seem very practical. They also come in a rainbow of pastels and sparkles and cute shapes like hearts and stuff. They sure love form over function here, and back home come think of it, but what can you expect from kingdoms run by performers?

Soon it's the rest of our band's turn. Too many eyes bore into me as we make our way up. Gossamer shoves past me and uses her gilded Soul Key first. She pulls out a yellow and green MP3 player from a burst of green light then goes back to sit with her sisters without a word to any of us. Crescent gets a candy colored wireless speaker. Pearl gets a turquoise tablet encrusted with shimmering shells.

Now it's my turn. The room quiets down like they did for Star but for a very different reason. As if I didn't know before, I'm suddenly really aware that I'm the only monster here. Feeling the whole school stare, I unhook my Soul Key from my belt loop with trembling hands. Far off whispers lick the back of my neck. I'm doing something wrong, aren't I? I'm gonna screw this up somehow. I'm wasting their time, how did I even get accepted into this school-

"Ms. Acdalur?" Sunshine says.

"Huh?" I've just been holding the key here in front of the box. The whispers get louder, like bees buzzing, ready to sting. The key slips from my clammy hands and I just barely catch it. Now they're snickering. Stone face. Stone face. Don't show a thing, Sky. Stop shaking, what's wrong with you?

Sunshine leans near me to say in an undertone I hope only I can hear, "What's wrong, hon?"

I shake my head. My voice doesn't work right now.

Sunshine doesn't speak for a second, instead staring at my key. "That's a lovely Soul Key you've got there," she says. "You know, you're the first monster to ever have one. And I'm sure no one would've expected it to be so beautiful. It makes me wonder what your Soul Player will look like."

That's right, I guess it's supposed to reflect my soul or something. I do really like the way my Soul Key looks, which is surprising. I wouldn't really consider anything about me beautiful, let alone my soul. Well, my ex called me beautiful. But she was crazy.

I'm stalling. I guess getting it over with will get everyone's eyes off of me. I hope.

I slide the key in the box's keyhole, and crank the way I've seen everyone else do it. The tune is as long as it's been every time, but this time it feels way longer. Finally, the box cracks open. I'm flashed with a bright pink flash of light that I have to look away from to keep from hurting my eyes. When I'm able to turn back, there's a CD player sitting in the box. It's glossy black, accented with a pastel rainbow spiderweb design. In the middle is a big, translucent, hot pink heart. I reach into the box. It's really warm in there. In fact, I flinch once my fingers touch the Soul Player, because it's pretty hot.

Kids won't stop whispering to each other the whole way back to my seat, and I can only imagine what they're saying.

Star clamors to get a better look at my Soul Player. "Yours is cute, too! They're all so cute!" At least I know someone has something good to say about what just happened.

Once all the First Years have their Soul Players I'm just about ready for dinner to go back to normal, but Sunshine stays put in the center of the room, even after the guy with her leaves and takes the music box with him. I figure she's just there to say some stuff about how it's the next stage of our something something blah blah blah, but she's still standing there even after saying all that. The older kids are back at it with the whispering.

"There is... another announcement for our First Years," Sunshine says tentatively.

We all lean in a bit closer.

"See, we have a little tradition here that's older than anyone in this room. The First Years are sent into Hillside's Serpentine Forest-"

An uproar is sent throughout the First Year tables, which doesn't bode well for whatever's going on in this forest.

Sunshine winces at the response then continues, "You will camp out there overnight-"

An even bigger uproar.

"Okay, yes, I understand your concern," Sunshine says. "When I was your age, I wasn't too thrilled to go through with this either. But I came to understand its importance as a bonding exercise. That's why, ever since I've been in charge, I've updated it to make things a bit easier on you. You will be provided with all the necessary supplies, including your Soul Player for self-defense purposes. If you do not find your way back to the palace after 24 hours, we'll send for you."

Over the chorus of complaining First Years I say to Star, "What's so bad about camping?"

"Yeah, that sounds like fun!" Crescent says.

Star shakes her head. "The Serpentine Forest is not fun, trust me."

I can't get myself too worked up over this, honestly. My family goes camping every year and you don't wanna know the kind of stuff lurking in the woods on the Isle of Isolation. What's the worst this kingdom of pastels and sparkles can throw at me? Granted I've already almost been killed this year... but I survived that, didn't I? Because Star and I make a pretty good team. So we'll be fine.

Sunshine says, "One last thing about that: you and your roommate will be camping in a team of two."

"WHAT?" Gossamer shouts, standing straight up. Her head snaps to me, filled with rage, as if I was the one that decided this.

Suddenly, I'm as upset as everyone else.

[seriouslyblacklikemysoul]

Saudade - Steve Rogers x Reader

Request: Steve Rogers anon here! would you maybe do one where the reader’s grandmother used to be one of his friends before he was frozen, and she has powers so she’s involved with the Avengers, but not like working with them. she attends one of Tony’s parties and Steve thinks she’s her grandmother for a second before he realizes she’s a different person, and from that moment on he’s mesmerized by her? you can make up the rest! Warnings: My English, language, my first Steve fic!! Gifs aren’t mine. Credits to their original owners. Also, Pietro is alive. I don’t care. He is alive. Oh, and your grandmother is called Meredith. I don’t know why, tbh.  Saudade is a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves. Moreover, it often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never return.  “The love that remains” Word Count~3.3k MASTERLIST Pending Requests

His past felt like ages ago. Probably because it was. He had missed out a couple of things, that was for sure. But the truth was, he was missing one person in specific, other than his best friend. A girl. Not just any girl. She was special. She wore flowers in her hair, the cold air blowing against her skin, making him wish that he could just hold her closer. She was different, delicate, elegant, loving and sweet. And she was beautiful. Stunning. And he, just like any other guy, fell for her. But he never learned that she had indeed fallen for him too. Doesn’t it always come down to the love of a woman? 

It had always been difficult but you were always up for the challenge. You had to evolve and excel as everyone kept telling you. You never really took a break from the whole ‘I have to muster my powers and kick ass’ thing but tonight it was an exception. You had powers, you didn’t really want, mainly because they were forcibly given to you by a crazy scientist who worked for HYDRA. That was why you wanted to train and become physically capable of doing what your powers could do. That was how you met them. The Avengers. You had been training with Natasha and Clint, beating the hell out of many punching bags and with Wanda, trying to catch up with your abilities. Speaking modestly, you were good. But you never let that fact get into your head and stop you from becoming better. You knew the others as well, but you had never met Steve. Actually, that was a lie. You felt that you knew him better than you knew yourself. How was that possible? Your grandmother. She had been his friend for as long as she could remember. She had even fallen in love with him at some point, but then he had left and joined the army. The rest was history. She loved and fell in love again, but he always held a special place in her heart. You understood that much. You took a deep breath and entered the Avengers Tower that tonight was packed. You felt like you were entering a club or something and truly wished you were back in the gym, with your sweatpants on. Instead, you were walking in black heels and wearing a lacy, backless and sleeveless, floor length, light champagne pink dress with three strands pearls framing loosely your exposed back. It was beautiful and you were thankful to Pepper. You just felt weird. You weren’t really that kind of girl-in all honesty, it felt like something your grandmother would wear. She was all about dresses and elegance. You favorited jeans and knives. But you didn’t really have a choice. Tony had made it very clear that it was a formal party and nothing less was expected of you. With Pepper’s outfit, Natasha’s makeup skills and Wanda’s hair tricks, you were more than presentable. You tried not to play with your hair- it was a nervous habit of yours- because you would ruin the beautiful waves. ‘Okay, you got this’ you kept repeating over and over again. Once you reached the floor that hosted the main event and stepped inside you froze. Tony had gone big. Even bigger than before and that said something. This was so extra… even if you were talking about Tony Stark. You couldn’t see the walls or much of the decoration because of the dim light but the music that was playing was loud enough for you to not be able to listen to your own thoughts. It wasn’t the kind of music you had been expecting, though. It was soft and melodic and… jazz? What happened to rock? And then it hit you. The reason why Pepper had chosen that very dress, which resembled the vintage style; the reason why Nat had insisted on that bold dark red lipstick and the winged eyeliner; the reason why Wanda had chosen that hairstyle. But then everything seemed to blur; time stilled and your eyes were fixed on a very familiar face and magnetic blue eyes. It was like electricity ran through your veins. “You look spectacular” Pietro told you while his eyes were roaming your figure. That snapped you out of your daydream. You blushed at his obvious flirting. Where was your confidence? You didn’t blush. “You don’t look bad yourself” you answered truthfully. He was a handsome young man and the black, three-piece suit really did make him look ravishing. Especially that silver tie that matched the exact shade of his hair. He wasn’t exactly arrogant, not to you at least. He offered his arm and you took it, sending him a thankful smile. “I’m afraid, you win this time” he admitted as you were approaching the other Avengers. Your eyes took in their outfits. Tony had been serious about this one. “You did listen to me” he commented a bit sarcastic but impressed as well. You wanted to roll your eyes but you stopped yourself. It wasn’t polite. You had manners. You grandmother had taught you well. “It’s nice to see you too, Anthony” you said, calling him by his full name. He hated that and he knew that he was annoying you every time you called him that. “Yeah, whatever. This is Capsicle. Capsicle, this is-” he was cut off. “Meredith?” Steve breathed out. Oh, no. Your eyes went wide for a second. You knew you looked like her but you never understood just how much. “No. Y/N, her granddaughter” you kindly told him as you extended your hand. He didn’t react immediately but when he recollected himself, he grasped your hand in a firm but gentle handshake. For the second time in just a few moments, you felt a jolt of electricity through your body. And you were pretty sure that it was caused by his touch. When you removed your hand, you realized that you had been staring at him as he had been staring at you all that time. If you thought that Pietro looked ravishing, Steve looked enticing, bewitching and tantalizing. He too wore a total black three-piece suit with silky shawl lapels. And his eyes… God save those eyes. “I am sorry ma’am” he apologized and your heart melted when he called you ma’am. You always liked the old-fashioned ways, they were far more polite and … well, romantic. “No need to. I understand” you told him sincerely. He must have been shocked to death. He smiled, obviously relaxed but very intrigued by your presence. You thought that he must have wanted to know about your grandmother but honestly, it wasn’t just that.   “Okay, let’s leave the Capsicle to make a fool of himself, shall we? Here, dear. You’re going to need it to survive this fossil” Tony remarked, every word oozing with sarcasm, as he handed you a Millionaire Cocktail. It was basically, Rum with Gin, apricot brandy and lime juice served in a fancy glass and given its name by the Billionaire. With that, he and Pepper left; Wanda winked at you and dragged an annoyed Pietro with her but as soon as spotted Vision she left him with Clint, Nat flirted with Bruce and Thor was drinking like a mad-man with Sam. “I have heard awfully a lot about you, Steven Grant Rogers” you lightheartedly informed him, leaning against the bar counter and tasting your drink. Surprisingly enough, it was nice. He slightly blushed. The more he was looking at you the more he spotted the differences. You were a bit taller than her. You had a fuller um… chest and more defined curves. He wanted to facepalm. He was being a perv. But he couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering. You had a nice body but you had an extraordinary face. Big, captivating eyes, full, plump lips… “All good things, right?” he joked as he took a sip of his drink. You laughed and it felt genuine. He was nice to talk to. “Quite the opposite, really” you chuckled and your smile sent him a pleasantly warm feeling, making him smile widely. Your whole body was leaning closer and you had to hold back. He was like a magnet, even though he didn’t seem to know. “How is-Is she…?” he trailed off, not knowing how to convey what he wanted to ask you but you got it. After all, it was only natural for him to want to know about his friend. “She passed ten years before you wake up” you quietly told him. His face fell but he expected it. He had lost seventy years. Not seven. “I’m sorry” he said honestly in a small voice. You smiled softly and shook your head. “I should be the one saying that to you” you simply yet truthfully informed him. You didn’t pretend to understand what he had been through but you had your share of losses and you knew how that felt. He took in the brutal honesty of your tone and the soft gaze in your eyes and felt entranced. “And your mother?” he asked again but regretted it when he saw you looking away from him for a second. “She died when I was ten, in a car crash, along with my father” you admitted, hoping that he won’t realize what had truly happened. You were proven wrong. He was clever.   His face fell and his eyes widened in disbelief. “Bucky?” he questioned, his voice dropping an octave. “No, no. Bucky has never hurt me or my family. That person was the Winter Soldier. It’s not the same” you firmly told him. You were aware of the whole Bucky-deal. And you truly believed that Bucky could be ‘saved’. You had been experimented on by HYDRA as well. You knew how that felt like. He didn’t answer. You just sipped your drinks in silence, appreciating the music and trying to relax. You had had a long day and alcohol was helping. He, however, was mesmerized by your demeanor. You were sweet like Meredith but you were fierce as well, stronger in a way. It was something about you that made him want to get to know you. Not because you were her granddaughter but because he truly wanted to … befriend you? Not exactly. The music slowed down and a lot of people-most of them, you hadn’t seen before- started dancing to the rhythm. You were about to make yourself another drink when his voice brought you back to reality. “Would you like to dance?” he asked shyly but seductively. At least, it was to you. You bit your bottom lip. “I don’t know how to” you sheepishly replied and looked down as a blush was very visible. “You don’t have to” he softly explained, taking your hand and leading you in the middle of the room. He was being bossy. In a nice way. In a very nice way.  Authority suited him. He placed his hands around your waist, pulling you closer as you rested yours loosely around his neck. This was one of the most surreal things you had ever done. But hey, here you were, dancing with Steve Rogers, the guy your grandma liked, the guy who had woken up seventy years later, the guy who was Captain America. The guy you found so charismatic.

You had left the party after that dance. You had excused yourself because you couldn’t possibly believe that you sort of liked the same guy your grandma did. You felt guilty, even though you had done nothing wrong. Little did you know, that he felt the exact same way. He didn’t know if he had taken a liking to you because you were you or because you reminded him her. That was three months ago. You were hanging around the Tower more often than not, training with everyone including Steve. That was weird. He would go easy on you, at first. But you had shown him that you could take a hit and throw ten more back. He used to beat your ass up but lately, he struggled and that only meant you were getting stronger. You had talked a couple of times about a numerous of things. He asked you about Meredith, about your life and your ideas. You had told him about your powers something that you thought would freak him out but he was so kind that you felt your heart breaking. You truly liked him and he was off-limits. You hadn’t asked much about him because you didn’t want to pry but he had found himself telling you almost everything. He hadn’t told you about his crush on your grandmother because it would just make everything so much more difficult. He didn’t want to believe that you wouldn’t like him if you had met him back then, but then again, no one did. He didn’t know this, but you had seen him in pictures, being all adorkable. It wasn’t his body that made you like him. It was a bonus but it wasn’t necessary. You were currently in the kitchen. It was 3:26 AM. You hadn’t slept because you kept thinking about him and considering the possibilities. He probably didn’t even like you. “You look so much like her, yet you are nothing alike” he had stated once. And you didn’t know how or what to answer, so you tried to play it cool as you replied: “I’ll take that as a compliment”. Boomerang. “It was meant as one, ma’am”. You had to admit that whenever he was calling you ma’am you were melting. He was such a gentleman and-no… you couldn’t. Were you? You were falling for him, for fuck’s sake. God blessed America, you thought bitterly. You were making hot cocoa with a hint of honey instead of sugar. It was something you had come up with when you were just a child. It reminded of you of serenity. Someone was coughing, trying to make their presence known. You glanced up from your cup. Just your luck. “What’s wrong?” he asked you, concerned. You sent him a tired smile as you shrugged it off. “Everything’s fine” you tried to lie. You really tried but you were worse than him. He raised a questioning eyebrow. You rolled your eyes, finishing your hot cocoa and placing the mug in the sink before giving up. “Can’t sleep” you simply told him. He furrowed his eyebrows. You were too tired for this. He didn’t answer, he just nodded his head, gesturing you to follow him. You debated with yourself. Fuck it, what could go wrong, right? He walked all the way to his room and you were left puzzled. What was the meaning of this? Maybe, since you were tired, you couldn’t understand. Maybe you had interpreted him the wrong way. Or maybe – He opened the door and stepped in, before he turned to you, patiently waiting. His room was bigger than yours but it wasn’t the reason you were left speechless. One of the walls was just glass. You could see everything. The city lights were spreading like lava. It was captivating. Everything seemed to be moving and to be frozen altogether. You found peace in chaos. Slowly you stepped inside, too fascinated by the view. “When I first… woke up, I didn’t know who I was. I wasn’t the person who I used to be, that was for sure. But then I kind of found myself in late night drives without a destination. Just driving through the city. I felt so small and I have to admit that when people look up to you and see this ‘big guy’, feeling small is actually rather appealing” he softly said as he sat down on his bed, eyes glued to the city outside. “There is nothing prettier than a city at 5 AM with its empty streets and cold wind” you whispered but it was loud enough in the stillness of the moment. The lights were brightening up the gloomy night but they were also consumed by it. You could feel the circle of life. “There is” he said under his breath but you heard it. You looked at him only to find his eyes fixed on you. Your heart skipped a beat. He had wooed you since the very first moment. “She talked about you, you know” you kindly said, changing the subject and walking over to him, plopping down beside him. His face softened, a warm smile appeared on his lips. “She would always tell me how stupidly brave you were. But the look on her face told me a different story. She liked you. I think she had a crush on you. Who would blame her?” you finally admitted. He had the right to know. His smile widened but it held a bit of sorrow. You realized why. “You liked her too, didn’t you? Well, who could blame you? She was radiant and elegant, sweet and caring… She had this photo of you… you looked so adorkable and she would always laugh because even though you had become… this, she truly believed that you were the same stupidly brave good guy. And she was right”. You were rambling but he seemed to enjoy it. He even chuckled at the last part but then his eyes pierced yours with such intensity that you wanted to avert your gaze. You couldn’t. “You think I was adorkable?” he questioned you and under any other circumstances it would seem playful but right now it only felt like a burning need to know. You just hummed in agreement because you truly didn’t trust your voice. You were so close to him. His hand was resting on your knee. He smiled and you felt like you could literally die. Unfortunately, you couldn’t keep quiet. “You’ve got a smile that could light up this whole town” you breathed out. Suddenly, you became very much aware of the proximity and the way he kept looking at you, the way he had turned his body towards you, the way his breath was falling on your lips, the way his scent was intoxicating you. You were no longer someone who was trying to save the world, you were just a person who was about to risk a friendship, to say a big ‘screw it’ to everything and just kiss the guy. And you did. You slowly leaned forward and paused for a second or two, giving him time to pull away. He didn’t. When your lips touched his, you understood that to live was a beautiful way to die. It felt right. His soft lips were too gentle upon yours but they were fire. The faint taste of sugar and spice was making it too hard to break apart, even when your lungs were screaming for air. “I am not her” you simply murmured against his lips. You felt the soft smile. “I know” he whispered back. He knew that you weren’t her. At first, he thought he liked you because you looked like someone familiar, someone he liked but he soon realized that it wasn’t the similarity that mesmerized him. That was you. You as for who you truly were. Not you as a clone. You as the sweet and fierce woman, the shy and bold the personality that kicked in whenever you witnessed injustice. You as one of the most enthralling people he had ever met. You as his present and hopefully, his future.

Tags: @kapolisradomthoughts @nadinissavage @orionsirivsblack

[sending-the-message]

I Have the Worst Fucking Roommate in the World by AsDeathBeckons

I know, I know. A lot of you will say I’m being sensational or I’m using hyperbole. But I’m not. I’m really not. This guy is literally going to drive me insane. Allow me to explain.

I met Gordon back when we were kids in elementary school. He was even weird back then. He was small and thin, with big, gray eyes and hair that was never combed. He didn’t have any friends and he always smelled like cheese.

No, he and I didn’t grow closer together over the years; This isn’t one of those stories. I graduated high school and went to a prodigious university for a few semesters before the stress got to me and I dropped out. I returned to town and, because my folks wouldn’t take me back, I had to find a roommate. Well, unfortunately for me, Gordon was looking for one as well. He was living in a two-bedroom house with an attic and a basement, and I figured I wouldn’t have to deal with him much given how much space we both would have in the house.

Everything was okay the first few months, aside from a few things. One, Gordon was the type to use ten different dishes in a single day and never wash them. Like, ever. So I found myself scrubbing ceramic way more often than I should have. Another thing was the fact that Gordon, although private, seemed to take certain liberties just because we were living in “his house.” I once walked into the livingroom, a girl accompanying me, and saw Gordon beating his meat to anime characters. Gordon looked at me, literally made eye contact, and then glanced back at the television, continuing his session. The girl went home in quite a hurry, and I was forced to follow Gordon’s example that night. Gordon also walked around in his underwear, sometimes wearing the same pair three days in a row. I never saw him leave the house, so I had no idea how the hell he was paying his half of the rent. But the worst part? Gordon was a hoarder.

The guy hated to throw anything away. I would come home and find empty McDonald’s cups or UPS boxes that had already been emptied of their contents and left haphazardly on the coffee table. After throwing them out, I would wake up the next day and find the trash can tipped over, with the cups either back on the table, stuffed in the closet, or put in the back of the refrigerator, even though they were empty. This was the case for practically everything Gordon owned; Clothes too small to fit him protruded from under the couch or the closet in the hallway; old papers and binders from as far back as his middle school days were up in the attic, along with who knows what else; broken foosball tables and empty potato chip bags had been tossed into the basement. And, speaking of the basement, the place was so stuffed with random shit that I avoided it altogether. Going down there, or even to the attic, was a health risk.

One day, Gordon and I got into it. I had had a long day at work, and I was looking forward to going home and eating my leftover pulled pork sandwich and drinking a couple beers. I walked into the house to find Gordon sitting on the couch, his hairy feet resting on the coffee table, with my whole six pack of Shiner (he doesn’t even drink) empty next to them, and the leftovers of my pulled pork sandwich on a plate next to him on the couch. I lost it.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, man? We have all that food in there and you decided to eat my shit?”

Gordon looked at me as though I was the one who had offended him. “I didn’t see your name on it. You should leave a note if you don’t want other people eating your food.”

“I have! This isn’t the first time, Gordon! I had a terrible day today-“

“Oh, you didn’t enjoy work? Boohoo, that’s why it’s called work!” Gordon muttered, turning back to the T.V. I was angry, and wasn’t holding back any longer.

“At least I have a job. How the hell do you pay for anything anyway?”

“My mother helps me out, actually, asshole. I find such things as ‘work’ undesirable. Clearly ‘work’ can make people act irrational and childish.”

I would’ve kicked his ass, but a voice in my head told me that it wasn’t the right thing to do. This was his house, after all. I wasn’t trying to get kicked out. I swallowed my curses, stormed to my bedroom, and slammed the door behind me. I went to bed hungry and angry that night.

A few days later, I was doing the dishes and Gordon was holed up in his room. There was a knock on the door, and I turned off the sink, wondering what the hell Gordon had ordered this time. You can imagine my surprise when I found a gorgeous blonde woman standing in the doorway, her gray eyes full of joy and excitement.

“Hi!” she said, and, still dumbfounded, I only stared at her for a few seconds. Those beautiful eyes of hers narrowed and she asked, “Are you okay?”

“Uhh, yeah, of course. Are you looking for someone?”

“Yes, I am. Don’t you remember me? I’m Gordon’s sister, Serena.”

“Serena?” I said aloud, and then it came back to me. Gordon did have a little sister that I remembered distinctly. But she definitely didn’t look like this back then.

“Yeah…can I come in?”

“Sure, yeah, come in.”

Serena went to Gordon’s door and knocked. When there was no response, she returned to the livingroom.

“He must be asleep.”

“No, I doubt it. I think he goes into legit hibernation sometimes. He can go for days in there.”

“Right. He’s been that way ever since our mom died. He’s been so withdrawn emotionally, but the Gordon I know is still in there.”

I would’ve told her that Gordon had been weird his entire life, but decided against it. If I was ever going to have a chance with this beautiful woman, insulting her brother wasn’t the way to go.

“Tell him I came by, will you? I may be able to stop by again on Friday.”

“Yeah, of course. It was good seeing you again, Serena!”

Serena smiled and left the house. I watched her go from the window, then went back to my show. A couple of days later, I found myself dogsitting a friend’s Poodle named Nancy. Nancy was more trouble than she was worth. She shit on the floor less than ten minutes after I brought her back inside from her walk, she chewed a hole through my shoe, and she managed to unplug the microwave and nearly crushed herself with it before I dived down to save for her. My own head aching and stars swimming in my vision, I heard, somewhere far off in the distance, the sound of the basement door creaking. I sat up just in time to see Nancy vanish through a crack in the door.

“No! Nancy, come back, dammit!”

I chased after her, flinging the door open. The Poodle was gone; She had managed to disappear into the sea of shit that didn’t belong that Gordon had accrued. I cursed again and promised Nancy that this might be her last day if she didn’t come back from down there. The little shit ignored me and I was forced to make my way down the rickety flight of stairs. “Nancy! Nancy come here, damn it!”

It really was a maze down there. I could see old toys, rocking chairs, broken dressers, tennis tables, furniture, rusted kitchen appliances, coat racks, and all manners of things down there. The only thing I couldn’t see was Nancy. I stumbled around for a bit before the inevitable happened. I stepped on a rubber duck and slipped, landing flat on my back. Groaning and promising myself that Gordon was going to be paying my hospital bill, I turned over and finally noticed Nancy. She was in a dark corner, beside a broken canoe, chewing on a bone. “There you are, you little shit.”

I stood back up and walked, a little more carefully now, towards the dog.

“Where’d you get that bone Nan…” I trailed off as I caught sight of what was in the canoe. It was a corpse, dressed in a purple dress, white pearls around her neck. She still had hair, though it was all gray now. I was going to scream, but I covered my mouth with my hand. I shouldn’t have been surprised, honestly. Gordon never could get rid of things.