#I’m actually really glad maya made him so unlikeable

[octoir]

my vision’s pretty bad— does that say asor Percy??

"he would not fucking say that" but its about a character being a leftist. he would not fucking believe that

[milk-addicc]

I really liked that post you made about how Capcom feels about Narumitsu. And I'm wondering how do you think they feel about Narumayo? Personally to me it feels like they throw more hints at Narumitsu since with the other one if Takami wanted it to be canon he would of done it at the end of T&T. I also think the team could of made it more obvious in SoJ with Maya's big return but I never really saw the hints but I know I'm biased lol.

oh i’m glad you like my rambles haha;;

ahh... that ship, 

well first, about the whole Takumi “wanting narumitsu to be canon” thing, its not exactly making them canon but have more fanservice leaning heavy towards narumitsu (which was declined by the director(?) who claimed, i sorta agree with, that the game did well even without the narumitsu hinting since in the first game they didn’t have that intention and it was pure coincidence that their relationship was just THAT deep and meaningful which is incredible lmao, Takumi and co managed to slip his warning and still put at least some of the hints in TT tho hhh-). so even then, i doubt the crew actually want the endgame to come so soon hh.

okay, back on topic. what i think about naru//mayo? yea, i’m not keen on that ship personally at all, actually i despise it. like, they first met in the office, in front of their dead loved one, Mia. Maya was 17, Phoenix was 24. you have Maya, who’s supposedly still in HIGH SCHOOL and Phoenix, who has GRADUATED COLLEGE, has a JOB, and most likely has PAID HIS OWN BILLS. from that point alone, it should already feel weird. 

Maya’s an adolescence, a teenager, she just lost her sister and barely grew up, in a way she’s still innocent, notice how she tend to ask random questions and or say things that she thinks makes sense or amusing, she tends to be naive too. its kinda like.. a child.

and Phoenix on the other hand, is a grown man. heck even Maya says he’s an “old fart”, they’re legit aware of their own age gap in game and outright say it. if anything, they both act like self-aware best friends/brother-sister than romantically. even Maya said it herself, she wants to be a good big sister for Pearl and Nick.

now how about we ignore this obvious fact just for a little while and try to see it from only their interactions in-franchise. heres the kicker, you may not see it in game since they only lightly nudges about this ship (usually with Pearl, and was dismissed by Maya right after.), but in some of AA spin off mangas (and from what i heard, one of the stage shows), for some reason, this ship has their own hints despite being completely aware that Maya is a teenager.

but its okay now don’t hold your breaths, 

their “hints” are more of a one-off ish thing, most of the time a gag and not taken seriously, and unlike other ship per say narumitsu, where it actually affects their lives and changed it forever IN-GAME. “i care about Maya and understands her” and “i became an attorney because of you, Edgeworth and i don’t have any regrets” are both literally incomparable, especially given Phoenix and Edgeworth’s history together in-game canon.

anyway, here’s some common arguments i’ve encountered about this particular ship :

“but Phoenix cares about Maya a lot! he literally went through a trial against a hitman and run through a burning bridge for her!”

“Phoenix blushed and goes red when Pearl says he’s Maya’s special someone and he stutters!”

“Well my parents had a huge age gap!"

“well, Maya is 18 in AA2″

“considering Maya is a christmas cake now, Nick better tap that” 

“she’s an adult in AA6 tho”

now lets dissect each of these,

yes, Phoenix cares about Maya a lot he literally did cross a burning bridge for her but people seem to forget that this is the same man who turned his life around, abandon his dreams, study law for four years, and became an attorney to meet one man and willing to defend a girl who looks like his psychotic ex that nearly poisoned him in court. he literally would believe in his clients’s innocence no matter what, he’s by nature would sacrifice anything and even his life for someone. so its normal that he cares about Maya, but is it romantic? i doubt it, he cares about her safety and well being but does it have to be a romantic hint? no, of course not, he’s just very selfless for the people he cares about and Maya has no one to help her but Nick when she’s in trouble, he’s one of few adults she can trust and will help her out.

oh so blushing and stuttering due to embarrassment means having feelings now? and about the stuttering, he literally stutters around Edgeworth a lot lol. i’m starting to feel like people ships naru//mayo not because of their depth but because Pearl said so. Pearl finds them should be together and keep shoving the audience with Nick being “Mystic Maya’s special someone”, well if thats the case, they also explained why this happened, in-game. Pearl grew up very sheltered and among unhealthy marriages she just assumes a girl and a boy together means they’re dating and being “special someones”. she most likely just wants her cousin to be in a happy relationship unlike her parents where her father left both her and her mother but didn’t know any better because she was eight years old.

https://youtu.be/FGAqQkMEKNs?start=674&end=776

now about the parent thing and taking it personal, well my parents too had a huge age-gap of 7 years. but how come is it okay? its because they met when my mum was already a career woman at 26. she’s already an adult when my dad met her. what does this mean? it means my parents were both adults when they’re together, this is why i still like GumMaggey despite their age gap so wide, they first met when Maggey has already had a career, supposedly in her 20′s, she’s a young adult, she can buy alcohol by herself, already knows whats right and wrong and has live life independently, not a still hormonal teenager who depends on one adult figure. did your parents date when your mum is in highschool while your dad is like in his mid 20′s? sorry to hear that.

as for the last three arguments, i don’t even want to touch any of them with a five-foot pole. are you listening to yourself? do you not feel like you’re a creep typing that?

let me give you a benefit of the doubt. yes she’s older and legally an adult, but are you really discrediting the fact they met when Maya was still in highschool? they met and became friends when she’s 17 and he’s 24. sure they barely met during disbarment era, but should that change anything? why should it? how should it? like this?

“Oh this is Maya, i haven’t met her in years but boy she sure has grown up can’t wait to date her since she’s legal now.”

because thats what that argument sounds like, YIKES. 

you know? if they met under a different circumstance and Maya was like 19, i’d let it go. but they didn’t, they met because of a horrible loss, Maya, still in training, 17 lost her big sister and Phoenix, a rookie, at 24 lost his mentor. 

in conclusion, i don’t like naru//mayo at all

pairing them feels like pairing Edgeworth with Kay or Phoenix with Ema, just because they partnered in investigations, make playful jabs at each other, and saved each others’s lives before, people just think they like each other romantically despite their age-gap in first meetings (not to mention Kay sees Edgeworth as somewhat of a father figure, and she’s nearly 18 while Edgeworth is the same age as Phoenix). especially with how Maya, being a zoomer, calls Phoenix an “old fart” and just makes jokes about how so out-of-touch Phoenix is with the modern entertainment.

from observations, i have a huge hunch that almost all of them pair these two because :

1. Maya’s a girl protagonist so its a male protagonist x female protagonist type of deal and despise narumitsu because “yaoi”

2. AA6 she’s an adult so she’s legal which is damn creepy on its own, or last

3. because of Pearl shipping them in game despite being an eight year old and was so sheltered she thought a man and a woman being next to each other means they’re special someones.

either way, i only see them as best friends, sibling-like relationship with self awareness here and there since they tease the audience a lot with their gag “hints” in spin-off mangas and game. 

not only that, it kinda showcase how all male/female bond don’t have to be romantic, they can be just friends or familial and still hang together. another plus for the franchise right after encouraging moving on from ex partners. *glancing at Phoenix//Iris*

and as to the people who pairs this for some odd reasons, sometimes i just want to ask these questions,

“how would you feel if you’re in Phoenix’s shoes? met your mentor’s little sister at age 17 while you’re 24, would you feel romantically interested in this high schooler?” because i don’t, to me anyone 3 years younger than me is like a baby, how would Phoenix feel when Maya’s 7 years younger?

“also... why even? narumitsu and other less questionable pairings are RIGHT THERE in the open!”

but oh well people can like and pair whatever hhh, 

and there you have it, my even longer rambling hahaha sorry;;

Edit : To add the final nail to the coffin, Phoenix outright has said that Maya’s like his kid, like a niece.

Edit 2 : remember that this is simply my personal take, you can somewhat use this to make yourself feel better about your pair nor simply just to hate on the ship itself but do not use this to dictate actual people what to ship and not to ship. 

please don’t be destructive towards others.

[bowenandjohnson]

i'm back again, this time with my isak skam rankings! (since i haven't seen enough of martino in my own opinion, he will not be included! sorry!)

1. cris soto peña, skam españa

cris' season was the first isak season i ever watched, and it's one of the best skam seasons i've ever seen. i feel like something skam spain was always really good at, unlike some other remakes, was doing the research (at least for s1-3. i do love amira naybet and parts of her season, but the later parts of season 4 needed WAY better execution, but i digress) about teens in their respective country. cris felt like her own character, much like isa from nl's first season, and she is one of the only characters in modern media that i can think of that isn't a harmful stereotype of bisexuality. i appreciated that spain's team took the time to research bpd and educate both irene and tamara on that topic while shooting, as my own mother struggles with bpd, and it think it's important to remember that this disorder doesn't define a person. it was so great to see cris grow over her season to a somewhat mature young adult, who knows now how to communicate and put herself out there. cris, as a character, is incredibly powerful, and i can see why a lot of people see themselves in her.

2. matteo florenzi, druck

i recently watched matteo's season this past semester, and honestly? i see a lot of myself in him, especially with his depression. my depression took a turn for the worse during the pandemic, and while i'm better now, skam is one of the reasons why i held on for so long. and like spain, i feel like the druck team also does a good job with connecting with the youth of their country and exploring issues that the original skam did not. david and matteo's relationship was so great to see on screen, and their sex scene was incredibly powerful and not overly sexualized. while i'd argue that some mistakes were made with the handling of some topics and the pacing of the season, i thought it was great how matteo transformed into a lighter person after embracing his own identity. he became more confident, and like cris with joana, made it clear to david that he was going to be there for him and support him, and that he had great friendships with the german boy squad. i hope he's out there living his best life.

3. isak valtersen, skam / shay dixon, skam austin

the reason i put shay and isak together is because they both share the distinction of being created by julie andem. isak is the original iteration, and his story is just as powerful as cris's and matteo's, i felt less of a personal connection with him. however, i do still love him as a character. skam s3 and s4 is where the series really began to have a surety about itself, and i especially liked how tarjei made you feel every inch of isak's self-loathing at first, his internalized homophobia, and how alone he feels, and i appreciated how by the end of the season, he is embraced by his friends, he embraces who he is, and like cris and matteo, he makes sure that even knows he's there for him. it's a beautiful story, and i'm glad he exists!

while shay is a "remake" of the original, i think julie andem created shay to perhaps correct some wrongs with her original series. shay, like megan being the only eva of color, would have been the only isak of color, and shay would have been a lesbian (adding further diversity). shay's season would also have been vastly different than grace and megan's season in my opinion, as shay already was out to tyler, one of her friends, and megan/grace were overtly aware of shay's identity, which led to conflict with them in a season 2 subplot, while tyler also grew closer to grace later on as "green nail polish girl." CAN YOU IMAGINE THE DRAMA? i also would have loved for them to delve into how internalized homophobia intersects with shay's identity as a Black woman in America. while we never got shay's season, she was a trailblazer in her own right, and i like to think the existence of shay might have led to the creation of fatou, a black lesbian german teen in druck's new gen. pour one out for shay dixon, please.

4. robbe ijzermans, wtfock / lucas van der heijden, skam nl

i liked how wtfock and nl built up their isak's relationships with zoe and isa, respectively. they felt like actual friends, instead of just the noora or eva being shoehorned in to fit a plot point from the og. i also just feel like i could be really good friends with both robbe and lucas? they seem both really creative and introverted, like me. they're good boys.

5. lucas lallemant, skam france

lucas is a fine isak, and i feel like this may be the best skam france season in terms of pacing, story, and characterization, but i didn't really connect to him like i did others. while axel is a good actor, i wanted to know more about what it means to be a lgbtq+ teen in france, and i feel like the new gen is tackling that somewhat better with characters like lola, maya, and max. i like his taste in clothing though, i have his romance sweatshirt actually!

anyway, let me know if you want more skam rankings from me, i'd be happy to tackle the rest of the boy squads, girl squads, love interests, etc. just shoot me an ask :)

[fistsandfangs]

this is ours

flufftober - day 6: quicksilver

ao3

A/N: set in this world inverted verse!

To: Magnus, 5:17pm

Hey babe, just got off work and I was thinking we could do Chinese and a movie at your place tonight?

To: Magnus, 5:30pm

I went ahead and ordered Chinese—and I got your favorite because I’m quality boyfriend material. Get back to me soon before it gets cold!

To: Magnus, 5:59pm

Okay, so I thought we had talked through the whole you blowing me off because you’re a warlock thing. Do we need to have another Talk? Because I’m totally down. It can be a Chinese and Talk night if you want.

Also, I’m getting really close to eating your vegetable Lo Mein because it smells amazing…

 Scrolling back through his earlier texts, Alec bit his lip contemplatively. He had been standing at the bottom of the stairs of Magnus’ apartment complex for ten minutes now as he argued back and forth with himself. Maybe Magnus was just busy and didn’t have time for him tonight; Alec certainly didn’t know what all warlocks got up to on an average day. But on the other hand, he had never known a more attentive texter than Magnus. He had thought about calling, but that just felt desperate after all the texts he had sent had gone unanswered. After a calming deep breath, he pushed open the door and headed for the elevator.

As soon as the doors to Magnus’ floor had opened, he saw a small pile of mail sitting just outside the door as if it had been abandoned there. Oddly enough, it lifted his spirits—Magnus very well could be busy working on a potion or a spell or a summoning, too busy to even get his own mail. Or answer the phone.

He rapped three times on the door with his knuckles. “Hey Magnus? It’s me. I don’t know if you—” The door abruptly swung open, but there was no one behind it. “Uh…Magnus?” He tentatively stepped in and was met with the odd smell of burnt sugar and ozone.

From somewhere in the back apothecary, he heard Magnus. “Alexander? I’m back here. Sorry, I’m working on something a bit—ouch—finnicky and I couldn’t come get the door without worrying about contamination.”

Alec froze mid-step. “Contamination? What the hell are you working on?”

“Don’t worry, it’s contained in here. You can come in. Oh, and would you grab my phone from the end table? I think I heard it ring earlier but my hands are a bit…occupied.”

With anxiety percolating in his stomach, Alec scooped up Magnus’ phone and pushed the apothecary door open with his free hand.

The large marble-top table sitting in pride of place had a large glass basin sitting on it, taking up nearly the whole surface and containing a strange viscous liquid that looked oddly metallic with its deep silver coloring. Magnus stood over it, moving his fingers in slow, fluid movements over it as his magic left his hands in serpentine movements. On the wall behind him, a small section of the wall was now charred in a strange sweeping pattern and at first glance, Alec could have sworn there was still a bit of smoke emanating from it.

“Wow.”

Magnus looked up from the basin and gave Alec a smile that made him forget everything he wanted to say. The exhaustion that dulled his expression was unmistakable, but that smile was still the one—the one that gave Alec’s skin feel all tingly and hot. “Hi, Alexander. Was that you calling me earlier? I meant to call you back but…” He waved his hand vaguely at his worktable.

“Well, actually,” Alec handed over the phone, “that was some other poor soul in need of the great Magnus Bane. I was the one who sent the three text messages an hour ago.”

With a furrowed brow, Magnus looked down at the screen and scrolled through his missed messages. “Oh. I am so sorry; I suppose I got more than a little carried away with my work. I should have at least taken a few breaks to—You got Chinese?” His eyes flickered over Alec’s shoulder in search of takeout bags that might be visible in the living room.

With faux-hurt, Alec clutched at his chest. “And here I thought you would be happy to see me.”

Magnus clicked his tongue pityingly and leaned over to press a tender kiss to Alec’s lips. “Of course I am. All the more so because you brought one of my favorites.” Right on cue, his stomach grumbled in discontent. “Yeah, I’m definitely glad you came by. The last thing I ate was my cranberry-orange scone with my coffee.”

“It’s almost 7 o’clock! No wonder you’re so hungry!” Alec grabbed one of his hands and towed him from the apothecary into the kitchen. “Let me just reheat these, they’ve gone a little cold by now.”

Before he could unearth even one takeout container, the whole bag had abruptly become moist with hot steam coming from inside. Magnus smiled modestly. “Nothing a little magic can’t fix.”

“I keep forgetting that.”

Alec grabbed clean plates and utensils while Magnus poured two glasses of chilled wine. With preparations made, they moved into the living room and settled into the opulently soft cushions of the couch. Magnus even flicked a finger towards the stereo, causing it to come to life with the vocal stylings of Nat King Cole.

Magnus moaned appreciatively with his first bite of food. “I am absolutely famished. I really should keep a little something to eat and drink in the apothecary so I don’t unintentionally starve myself.”

“Good thing I’m an overachieving boyfriend, I guess.”

“I’m sorry that I worried you, Alexander.” Magnus’ voice had gone solemn, and he set his chopsticks down carefully before continuing. “And the conversation we had about…me, and what you’re a part of when you’re around me, it is resolved. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t be safe and secure here, when we’re together. That’s why we had the Talk, as you called it.” A shy smile started to warm up his face.

There were so many things Alec wished he could say simply and succinctly, but when he opened his mouth to explain, to say any of them, his mind was full of television static that obscured every intelligent word he had prepared. “My relationships in the past have just been pretty simple, living most of it independently of one another, and this is the first time I’ve found myself in a position of wanting to make promises. I want to have a relationship with a real future for the very first time, and that means being transparent and vulnerable, which I’m still learning how to do.”

Magnus was just looking at him intently with a thoughtful expression, and it didn’t help Alec feel any more confident in what he had managed to put together to explain himself. This precious new thing growing between them felt so fragile in his hands unlike anything he had had before.

Finally, Magnus pressed his warm palm to Alec’s cheek. “You’re new for me too. It’s been…a very long time since I’ve been in a position like this. But I want to be now, with you.”

Alec’s heart thrummed an excited cadence in his chest at his words.

Suddenly, Magnus stood. “I just had a thought, Alexander. Will you come with me to the apothecary?”

Alec raised one quizzical eyebrow, but took the proffered hand.

Magnus pushed the door open with his shoulder and returned to the strange silver liquid. “Come closer, it’s all right.”

Tentatively, Alec stood across from him and peered into the basin. “What is this stuff?”

“Broadly speaking? Mercury. This particular form, however, is called argentum vivum—living silver. Today we call it quicksilver. The ancient Maya are believed to have used it for divination. There are records that date back to the Maya Classic Period, and a few even prior to that.”

“What did they use it for?”

“It was poured in a basin and used as a mirror.” Magnus planted his hands on either side of the table and leaned closer to it. “It was believed that one could see their destiny within it. It takes discipline, but there was a time when I was able to do it for myself. It’s been more than a century, though, and it can be volatile to work with, but that’s why I was…practicing.”

Alec took a small step closer. “Are you talking about scrying?” Upon seeing the inquisitive look on Magnus’ face, he shrugged. “I’m dating a warlock. I did research.”

“Yes, I am. Perhaps it would set your mind at ease to get a glimpse of the future.” Magnus paused, as if contemplating his next words carefully. “Our future.”

He started to summon his magic back to his hands but Alec reached out and intertwined their fingers, allowing it to encircle them instead. “I don’t need it, Magnus. This is ours.”

[valiantly-onward]

The Serpentine War Ch. 12

Chapter 12: The Way Of The Ninja

The camp was buzzing by morning with news of Garmadon’s arrival. For his part, Wu remained holed up with his brother inside the tent, deep in discussion.

“You should see everyone,” Wu told him. “They are a fine Alliance. I’ll have them assembled.”

Garmadon made no protest. Wu quickly sent Haru to gather the Masters, and came back to the tent. He stood in the entryway for a moment, smiling. Overnight, a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He wasn’t doing this alone anymore.

“In honor of your arrival -” Wu began.

Garmadon looked up drily. “Wu -”

“I will give you -”

“Stop.”

“- my firstborn son.”

“Come on.”

Wu thought for a moment. “Or tea. I’ll just get you tea.”

He crossed the floor to his small firepit. He shifted the logs to coax the fire back into being, then hung his teapot on the rack. After it simmered for a while, Wu offered a cup to his brother. “I’m glad you’re here. I couldn’t do this without you. Believe me, I’ve been trying.”

Garmadon accepted the tea and stood. “I know, brother. That’s why I’m here.” He patted Wu’s shoulder and walked out, sipping his drink.

Wu stuck his tongue in his cheek and shook his head as he rose to follow.

Outside, the Alliance had congregated. Pride flared in Wu’s chest at the sight of them. Ray stood off to the left - when had he gotten so tall? - with Maya leaning against his shoulder. Those two had become closer than either realized; only an outsider could see it. They suffered severe familiarity and understanding. Give them a few hundreds years together and they’d be unstoppable.

Garmadon folded his arms, his teacup still in one hand. “So,” he began loudly. “What do we know about the Serpentine?”

The Masters stared at him.

Wu stepped forward. “Alliance, this is my brother, Garmadon. He will be joining us. You answer to him the same as you answer to me.”

Garmadon nodded his thanks to Wu, and asked again, “What do we know about the Serpentine?”

“Ugly!” Acronix shouted.

Laughter rippled through the small gathering.

“That,” Garmadon conceded. “What else? What do we know about them from battle?”

There was pensieve silence. Finally, Maya said, “We’ve never won a battle with Anacondrai. Every other tribe, yes. Not them.”

Garmadon nodded in agreement. “So, naturally, we must find the Anacondrai weakness if we ever hope to defeat the Serpentine.”

The Masters shifted uncomfortably. “But they have no weaknesses,” Vivian called forward.

“I said we must find one,” Garmadon replied. He paused; a look appeared in his eyes that Wu recognized all too well. He continued, “Which is why I’m sneaking into their camp tonight to spy on them.”

Uproar ensued. Wu simply watched as the Masters clamored and argued. It was insane! No one could sneak up on an Anacondrai. The risk spelled certain death, or capture in the very least.

Finally, Haru emerged from the contention with an actual question. “Will you go alone?”

“I could, but I prefer not to.” Garmadon’s eyes flicked back to Wu, for confirmation. Wu carefully nodded his agreement. He hadn’t considered sending spies so close to the Serpentine, but if anyone could pull it off, it was Garmadon.

“Well, then,” Garmadon declared. “I’ll need your stealthiest Masters. The Master of Shadow, perhaps? And you can still turn invisible, can’t you, Master of Light?”

True to his name, Sam Pale looked pale. Nevertheless, he stepped out from between Ray and Dojin. “I saw how you snuck around last night. You got me, uh...what should we call you?”

“Master Garmadon will do.” Garmadon raised his chin. “And the Master of Shadow?”

Lei raised a hand. “You’re crazy, Master Garmadon, but I dig it. I’m coming”

Garmadon nodded. “Good. We’ll convene here at sunset.”

He dropped back beside Wu, which Wu understood as turning over the floor. He stamped his staff. “Very well, everyone. Back to your usual duties, and the sentry schedule. Ray, Maya, I need you to go down to retrieve Lorin from the village. I - we - will give new orders once we know more about the situation. Dismissed.”

The Masters slowly dispersed, Ray and Maya jogging off in the direction of the village. Wu turned to his brother, who watched the Alliance go with deep contemplation.

“You sure you know what you’re doing?” Wu asked.

“Yes,” Garmadon replied, with no room for question in his voice.

“Then I trust you.”

Something flickered in Garmadon’s gaze, fleeting. But it was gone nearly as soon as it arrived. “Thank you, Wu.”

Wu grinned, and deftly swept Garmadon’s tea cup into his own hand. “But three of you, sneaking in after dark? I still don’t like it.”

“Relax, brother,” Garmadon said, already stepping backward into the tent. “I am, after all, a ninja.”

~~~

This mission served multiple purposes.

For one, Garmadon didn’t really need to spy on the Serpentine. He knew their basic strategy in this area, since he’d helped design it. That advantage wouldn’t last long; Chen would surely inform the Anacondrai that Garmadon had switched sides. Still, he didn’t want Wu to know how he’d obtained his prior information. So this mission would cover that.

The other purposes? Exactly what he’d said: learn the Anacondrai weakness. And, as a bonus, begin assessing the Alliance, starting with the Masters of Shadow and Light.

The hills were black as pitch at night. Garmadon was careful to avoid the areas he knew the snakes were, but he couldn’t be sure. And neither Lei nor Sam Pale were as stealthy as their powers had led him to believe.

After Lei tripped over another rock, swearing under her breath, Garmadon pulled to a stop.

“What is it?” Sam Pale asked, creeping up at Garmadon’s shoulder.

It was the Serpentine camp. Garmadon fell into a crouch, and the Masters followed in suit. Here, the hills sloped down into the edge of desert lands. A line of Serpentine guards stretched along the base of a small valley. Garmadon figured there would be more invisible Anacondrai sentries further out. The brightness of the camp torches and firepits seemed a little gaudy and stupid to him, but he soon recognized the problem they presented.

Sam Pale squinted as he tilted his head. “How are we supposed to get close? It’s bright as noon down there. And those guards?”

Garmadon sighed. The Master of Light presented a good point; the light would make it difficult to approach in shadows. But he lacked vision. “And so this becomes a lesson. Come here, both of you.”

They scooted closer. He crouched over their backs, pointing from between them. “You see that big tent down there? It’s casting shadows in every direction from those torches. The shadows aren’t very dark, but they exist. Lei, I want you to stay within those shadows as much as possible. How long can you stay incorporeal?”

“A few minutes,” Lei replied. “Maybe fifteen before I have to come out.”

“Test that limit. You will enter the shadows behind that tent and move from tent to tent. I want you to survey the Anacondrai troops as much as possible. Details, Lei. Meet behind the big tent when you’re done. Go.”

The Master of Shadow nodded. Just like that, her form turned misty and vanished. The shadows around them grew unnaturally long for a moment, in response to her presence; Garmadon knew she was gone when they returned to normal.

Garmadon patted Sam Pale’s shoulder. “You will be opposite Lei. You must stay in the light to turn invisible, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then stay in the light. Your orders are the same as Lei’s. Stay out there for as long as you can, and rendezvous behind the big tent.”

Sam Pale sat up on his haunches, shaking out his long hair. “What are you gonna do - uh, sir?”

“You’ll find me behind that command tent.” Garmadon gestured with his chin. “Go.”

So he did. The Master of Light crept slowly down the hill, the firelight gradually growing, and finally faded into the colorless air.

Garmadon crouched still for a moment in the warm night, whispering a near-silent prayer to his father. Then he slid down the other side of the rock face and let his instincts take over.

How could he have forgotten this? The thrill of this ancient art passed from the First Spinjitzu Master to Garmadon and from Garmadon to hundreds throughout the young history of the world. His own years of ninja training seemed so, so long ago, yet he still remembered every form with perfection.

Thankfully, he didn’t run into any invisible Anacondrai. But he soon realized that there would be no getting to the command tent without passing through that sentry line. So Garmadon chose a Serpentine duo far enough from their brethren that their disappearances might pass unseen.

He rolled soundlessly behind a boulder, then stepped out from behind it.

The Hypnobrai soldiers saw him.

Rather than slowing at their alarm, Garmadon picked up speed. He leapt up when he reached them, grasping one in a headlock and swinging around its shoulders. One strike to the soft spot behind its frill, and the Hypnobrai collapsed. Before it even hit the ground, Garmadon was already springboarding off its shoulders, falling kick-first toward the second soldier. This Hypnobrai swiped with his blade; Garmadon reoriented to avoid the well-placed strike. He hit the ground with a somersault, sprang up, and caught the Hypnobrai’s sword by the hilt as it slid past him. The Serpentine’s slit-eyes dilated, seemingly in slow-motion, as Garmadon yanked the sword to throw the creature off-balance. As it fell past him, he slammed its soft spot.

Two Serpentine down.

As Garmadon considered the fallen, he lamented the absence of an Anacondrai weak point. The Hypnobrai’s ability to induce the minds of others came with a flaw. But the Anacondrai power of invisibility had no downside. There was no way to neuter their abilities because most of those abilities were simply skill. Perhaps that was why the Anacondrai valued honor so much - at least, as much as snakes could. Unlike the other tribes, an Anacondrai couldn’t cheat their way to victory.

Garmadon stepped over the immobile Hypnobrai - it would be a long time before they awoke - and ducked down behind the tent. There were voices inside, marred by hisses and strained tones. Garmadon dared to lift the corner of the flap, just to see what he was dealing with.

Once, he and Wu had been familiar with all the Serpentine generals. Now, it was a scramble to remember even names. There were three Garmadon could see - a Venomari, a Fangpyre, and an Anacondrai.

The Fangpyre Kandoras was the oldest of the generals, two-headed like his father before him, and like his son after him; Fangpyre chiefdoms usually passed through blood, not combat. Kandoras was wise, and, to the Alliance’s benefit, he was reluctant to fight. He’d caused Chen a lot of trouble during the last few weeks.

Then there was Acidicus, the brilliant Venomari general, and Thraask, one of Arcturus’ right-hands, the bloodthirstiest Anacondrai Garmadon had ever met. Chen must’ve moved a lot of pieces around to get him to command this force.

“...enough, Traask,” Kandoras was saying. “These fools think we’re attacking them because of that giant snake roaming the countryside. We have to leave this place before the humans decide we’re too close.”

“It is not our fault if the humans are fools, as you say,” General Traask replied. Unlike Arcturus, he was diminutive for an Anacondrai, but a violent shade of purple graced his scales, glistening in the torchlight. “I assure you, General Arcturus knows what he’s doing.”

Giant snake, Garmadon thought. There was only one person he knew who kept such a creature. Apparently, sorcery wasn’t Clouse’s only means of wreaking havoc.

“We do not doubt the great general has a plan,” Kandoras’ second head continued, silkier than the first. “But are we simply to cast this treaty away?”

Traask clicked his talons together as he turned to the Venomari. “Tell me, General Acidicus, what does the human say?”

Acidicus’ intelligent eyes gleamed. “The human himself admits his people will turn on us.”

“So you see,” Traask declared, his snaky head twisting back toward Kandoras. “We are simply preparing for the inevitable. This treaty is nearly at an end.”

Someone harrumphed in the corner. Garmadon couldn’t see who it was from his vantage, but Traask spun toward the sound, flicking his tail in annoyance. “General Slithraa?”

The name was unfamiliar to Garmadon, which probably meant it was a new general who had recently won a throne through combat.

“Forgive me, my commander,” said a voice in reply. “but you tell us what we already know. My question is simply when we strike and how?”

Kandoras wound his way forward. His first head spoke again. “We object strongly. We cannot attack until the humans attack us. Traask, you of all serpents must understand honor. Your general made an agreement. We did not bring our tribe into this war so we could become cowards.”

Slithraa, still out of sight, chuckled raspily. “If you ask me, you didn’t need this war to become such.”

Kandoras was atop the Hypnobrai in an instant. His two snouts wrinkled fiercely. “Do not speak to me, neonate. Do not forget that your people were the last to join our union.”

Slithraa slid forward, so Garmadon could see him for the first time. The Hypnobrai was big for his age, a wide fan around his head, scales extensively patterned with yellow swirls. In one hand, he bore the golden staff of his people. Each of the Serpentine in the room, with the exception of Traask, also carried one. The antivenom contained in each could dispel the effects of the individual tribes’ abilities - the only such substance that existed in the world. Unfortunately, the Anacondrai staff was in Ouroboros.

“Traask,” Slithraa said, without looking away from Kandoras. “If you do not remove this disgusting pacifist from my sight, I will take my leave, with my army.”

“Now, let us be reasonable.” Traask slithered between them. “We are all Serpentine here. We are all brethren. Kandoras, if you so wish, you may recall your forces back to another camp. But -” He leered at the Fangpyre. “If we are attacked by the humans, I will hold you personally responsible if we fail to repel them. Understood?”

Garmadon figured the old Fangpyre’s pride would keep him from saying no, but whether he was proven right, he never found out. At that moment, Lei emerged from the shadows.

Only Garmadon’s nightmares and years of training kept him from jumping back in alarm and blowing their cover. “Lei -”

“Yeah, sorry,” she whispered, dismissive. Then she seemed to think better of it, and added, “Master Garmadon.”

He shoved a finger to his lips to quiet her. While Lei raised her eyebrows at the unconscious Hypnobrai guards, Garmadon leaned back to the tent flap. It seemed Slithraa and Kandoras had left, for their voices were nowhere to be heard.

“How would you like me to prepare?” Acidicus asked.

“Double the nightly patrol. Send word to General Skalidor and his Constrictai to prepare. Only one can remain.”

“Only one can remain.” There was a shuffling rasp, which meant one of them had slid out the tent door. Garmadon backed away.

“What was that about?” Lei hissed.

Garmadon was beginning to form an answer when shouts exploded from the parallel line of tents. Traask growled angrily from the other side of the tent wall. The hurried sound of scales on rock and dust accompanied a troop of snakes flashing past on the road.

Sam Pale materialized at the dividing line between light and shadows. His long hair looked slightly charred on one side.

“Sam Pale, what did you do?” Garmadon demanded.

Sam Pale flicked a finger at him. “A bit of a funny story, really. They think I’m a peasant though, so what do you say we run before they find out different, eh?”

~~~

Sam Pale and Lei weren’t stealthy, but they were fast.

Garmadon hung back, watching their trail, scuffing it as best he could. He could hear Serpentine hissing in the rocks and calling to each other, but none appeared in the shadows. Even as the Masters slowed, Garmadon snapped at them to keep going. They weren’t out of danger yet.

Garmadon called on some of his power too. He couldn’t do what Lei could, but the darkness did deepen as he raced past. At his command, rocks split in the distance, causing the Serpentine to move in the direction of the sound. Soon, the lights of their Alliance camp appeared over the hills.

Finally, Garmadon allowed the Masters to rest. Sam Pale tromped over to a rock and sprawled himself over the motley, dust-ridden grass. Lei brushed off the front of her purple robes. “Well.” She blew a loose strand of hair from her eyes. “That was a waste.”

“No, Master of Shadow,” Garmadon corrected, combing back his hair with a hand. “We learned something.”

“Which is?”

Garmadon smiled. “The Serpentine are at odds. Not even their generals can agree. Which means…” He looked up at the camp, firelight in his eyes. “They’re vulnerable.”

@greenygreenland

[wellhellsbelles]

hey! i love everything you write and can't wait for the next chapter of ttroywh. i saw you're taking prompts and i was wondering if you could write one i saw in @rickibowen saying that riley and maya go to the bachelor and riley's supposed to fall in love with lucas but falls in love w/ farkle who is the camera man/editor of the show and she always tries to make him laugh by making faces during one on one interviews and so, while lucas and maya fall in love w/ each other

hope you don’t mind me cutting it short! i don’t know much about the bachelor and would’ve liked to expand more but the internet is not good at gleaning info on the process 😅 so here’s my take on as much of that au as i could!

enjoy!

Farkle took the dumb job by chance.

 Well, he did apply for it, but he never thought he’d actually get the job. In all honesty, he figured his small degree in video production wouldn’t end up fruitful, that it was only really a backburner type of deal. He still did believe that—he was going to pursue something in science, that he was adamant of. He just needed . . . a break from it (“Even geniuses need to take care of their mental health,” his mother had told him.) So he pursued videography, something that had become a sort of hobby to him, and when the summer arrived and he needed cash, he figured he’d apply for this job just for kicks.

Farkle never believed he’d end himself up on the set of The Bachelor, not in a million years.

It was sort of surreal, the whole atmosphere that followed such an illustrious television show. Farkle never bought into the appeal of the show, especially since it seemed silly to drag all these girls along just for some pretty boy to tell them they weren’t “the one”. It just seemed cruel, but then again, who was he to judge? He was earning money off of taping their dreams getting crushed, after all.

The first day on set was a barrage of sensory overload—so many voices, faces he needed to commit to memory, an itinerary of equipment he’d be handling . . . there was just so much. He was halfway tempted to run when he started becoming overwhelmed, but he remembered himself, breathing in and out until he’d maintained a sense of calm.

Farkle could do it. He would do it. There was no way he was backing out now.

The preparation for the show was massive, but then the first day of filming arrived right under his nose. Profiles he’d studied of both the bachelor and the ladies he would be choosing from were going to quickly turn to reality, no longer just faces on a page. He knew he wouldn’t be making friends or anything of that ilk, but he did want to at least talk to people, especially since he’d be the one on the other side of the camera for most of the shooting.

Farkle was going to be the main guy they all report to when it’s time to film their confessions, maybe secrets that would be aired on television but no one else on set would know until later. No one but him, which he was well aware was a heavy burden to carry. But then again, it was reality television—who said anything anyone reveal was actually real? The contestants weren’t getting paid for anything, so truth was muddied at best.

But somehow, despite all of this mess being, well, a mess, Farkle could still say he was excited at the prospect of taking part of something big. This was his shot at obtaining a glimpse a slice of a life he’d never experienced before, and he couldn’t wait to see how it all turned out.

 //

 “I can’t believe you talked me into this dumb mess. This is your fault,” Maya groaned from beside Riley as the other girls with them in the limo talked animatedly.

“My fault? How was I supposed to know they’d pick both of us for this show? Besides, you’re the one who submitted your application while we were drunk! You could’ve backed out at anytime and you know it, Hart,” Riley said accusingly. “Besides, we’ll have fun! You need some in your life.”

“I feel like I’m being pimped out by a bunch of white guys to another white guy. I hate this,” Maya slumped down further in her seat. “And they took my phone, too! How am I supposed to entertain myself?”

“Don’t you draw? Just do that. I know you brought your sketchbook,” Riley suggested. Maya shook her head.

“Nope. Not going to happen. I am not advertising my art for the world to see. One of those dumb cameramen are going to sneak up on me and do it without my permission, I just know it.”

“Suit yourself,” Riley shrugged, turning her attention to the rest of the girls in the car. She knew there was a camera in the car with them and that the producers would prefer it if she engaged in conversation about the bachelor, but she’d rather just lay low. She’d try and play it up for them later after she’d seen him up close and personal.

But Maya did have a point. Why was she doing this again? It really was a decision she made on a whim, but unlike Maya, her decision was made completely sober.

The Bachelor had been one of her favorite guilty pleasure shows that she watched over the years, but she had never once entertained the idea of actually becoming a contestant. Perhaps it was when her long-term boyfriend broke up with her that spurred her interest, maybe she just needed something new and this was it. Whatever the case, she had been picked along with her best friend, and wherever Riley went, Maya followed.

She couldn’t be too mad, anyhow—the bachelor they had picked was incredibly handsome.

His name was Lucas Friar, born and raised in Texas. Everything about him sounded like a dream come true, but she kept a smidgeon of skepticism about him just in case the show had encouraged a little truth bending for the sake of appeal. Still, she couldn’t deny that his extensive list of positive qualities all seemed a little too good to be true.

He sounded like a true, southern gentleman, the kind that would meet you at the door and talk to your parents before escorting you out on a date. A lionhearted and loyal friend, the testimonies in his profile had mentioned. A guy who is just so down to earth you can’t help but fall for him. Loves animals of all kinds and is working hard to become a veterinarian. His experience of being raised on a farm spawned his interest in animal care.

If Riley could swoon, she would. She still might, after meeting him.

For the rest of the ride, Riley tried her best to pitch in with the “bachelor talk” the other girls were participating in. She wasn’t too terrible at it, but getting Maya to participate was another thing entirely. Despite making it onto the show and agreeing to be there (Riley told her she didn’t need to say yes to being a contestant! At this point, she’s almost certain Maya agreed for her own personal agenda that Riley’s not privy to), she refuses to play along.

After what felt like an eternity of a car ride, they made it to the mansion they’d be staying at for the duration of their stint on the show. They asked Riley to be the first one out of the limo, something that floored Riley.

First limo, first out—they had a good feeling about Riley, was what that meant. She’d watched enough of The Bachelor to know that the first person to meet the bachelor was important; it was his first impression, the real start of the show, and it meant the producers were rooting for her.

So, no pressure.

Her meeting with Lucas passed by her in a flash, but she had a good feeling about it. He found her slight awkwardness endearing and by just interacting with him, she felt as though there was a certain energy between them. Of course, she’d never been the best at reading situations, but something told her that it was right for her to be on The Bachelor.

After meeting him, she waited in the main room as the other girls got to have their own interaction with Lucas, trying to not feel nervous as they all piled in together. They chatted amongst each other, but Riley couldn’t help but notice Maya hadn’t joined her yet.

Must be the producers, she admonished in her mind.

She wasn’t allowed to keep wondering, however, as a distraction was sent her way. One of the producers walked in, announcing that they were going to start filming confessionals and called Riley up to be the first.

“We just need you to talk about Lucas a little, maybe your experience so far,” he explained as he ushered her off to another room. “Be yourself, but also realize this is television, yeah?”

“So be myself but not really myself?” Riley blurted. The producer nodded.

“Bingo, you’ve got it. Now go in there and kill it.”

With a slight push, Riley entered the confession room, the door closing shut behind her. There was a guy already in there scrawling down notes onto a clipboard, his focus undeterred until the door closing alerted him to her presence.

“Oh, sorry about that,” he muttered, setting the clipboard down. He turned toward her with a slight frown tugging at the corners of his mouth, and Riley couldn’t help but feel bad for him. It seemed less like he was trying to be a professional and more like he didn’t want to be there at all.

“Hey, I know this is a weird request, but what’s your name? I’d like to get to know everyone around here, even if I just last a day,” Riley said. The cameraman’s stormy blue eyes lit up in surprise.

“You want to know my name? No one wants to know my name,” he told her. Now it was Riley’s turn to frown.

No one here wanted to know his name? But he was helping make the show. Was the whole production team for The Bachelor really that callous?

“Well, I do. Here, I’ll start—I’m Riley Matthews,” she beamed, sticking her hand out towards him. He hesitated a moment before enveloping her dainty hand with his, the warmth comforting.

“Farkle Minkus. I’ll be your cameraman for a lot of this run, but mostly just the confessional stuff.”

“Glad to have met you, Farkle.”

After breaking the handshake, it still took Farkle a moment to gain his footing and Riley couldn’t blame him.

“Okay, so you’ll sit at that seat right there,” he gestured in front of him to the empty chair, “And you’ll have to give me a moment to set the lighting right on you and then make sure sound is good.”

Riley did as she was told, waiting patiently in her seat as he shuffled about the room. She observed him scrambling about, heart warming at the awkward way he appeared to be moving. It reminded her of herself when she was anxious.

After a few minutes, Farkle was ready, giving her a countdown to begin.

“Just start talking about your first impression of Lucas, okay?” he instructed.

“Okay,” Riley nodded. She watched in silence as he started the countdown audibly, switching to counting with his fingers when they reached three. Then two, followed by one.

Showtime, she said to herself.

 //

 At the end of the first night, Maya was the first to get a rose. Riley wasn’t surprised one bit—Maya had a sort of charm about her and people couldn’t help but be drawn to her. It always surprised her when that happened, and that night was no exception to the rule. As someone who was also competing, Riley couldn’t help but feel a touch jealous, but more than anything, she was proud of her friend.

Despite Maya receiving the first rose, though, Riley did get quite a bit of time to spend with Lucas. He was shy and reserved, yet cheerful and inviting, and they got along quite well. If Riley was a spectator, she’d bet good money on herself.

But her time outside of filming scenes was spent hanging around Farkle. He didn’t really believe her when she said she wanted to get to know the people working on the show, so she was determined to prove him wrong, especially since she just kept being picked by Lucas. Each day, she’d greet Farkle when she’d spot him by the refreshments table set up for the crew, she’d ask how he was when he was there to film her confessions, and just do her best to cheer him up since he always looked down.

“You know you’re going to get me fired, right?” he asked her one day after they filmed a scene. “You keep making faces at me and I’m trying so hard to not laugh but I swear, Riley.”

“Is it making you laugh?” she said, curious.

“Yes, oh my god! They’re going to have to cut so much of that out not just for your dumb faces, but me interrupting their audio,” he groaned. Riley smiled.

“Good. Then I won’t stop!”

“Relentless, Riley Matthews, that’s what you are. And a pain in my ass.”

Riley liked getting to film The Bachelor, but as the days passed by, she had a feeling it was less because of her wanting to be on the actual show and vying for Lucas’ attention, and more due to the fact that Farkle was there.

And if halfway through the filming process Lucas ended it because he’d picked Maya (and she picked him too, shockingly), Riley couldn’t find it in her to be sad.

She had found Farkle, after all, so really she was the true winner of the game.

[stxphxn-strange]

death doesn’t discriminate

a/n: so when i first started my college au, i came up w a lot of angst and tragedy that i forgot about when i introduced you to it. so here’s my solution: you’re getting angst now! tw for death in this fic, keep that in mind as you read. I’m super proud of this so i hope you read and lmk ur thoughts Tags: @stark-strange-love @ah3m @grumb-lin @ironstrange-chaos @maya-custodios-dionach

“You’re perfect, you know that? You’re the most precious thing in existence.”

His words were met with a content (read: blissed out), sleepy sigh.

“Hey, you good?” Stephen asked, softly ruffling Anthony’s already wildly messy hair.

“Great, but exhausted,” Anthony murmured, pressing his face into the pillow. “You know you tired me out, just let me sleep.”

Stephen smiled and kissed him softly. “Do you want to shower first? Maybe a snack? And then I promise you can rest.”

“And you’ll hold me all night?” Anthony asked, looking up and batting his eyelashes.

“Ugh, you’re impossible!” Stephen scoffed, overcome with love for his boyfriend. “Of course I will.”

All Stephen wanted to do was kiss Anthony senseless and hold him forever, but he couldn’t for a couple of reasons: tomorrow he was leaving on SI business, and someone was knocking on their bedroom door.

During Stephen’s unusually infinitesimal period of reflection Anthony fell asleep, unintentionally forcing Stephen to get out of bed. He tightened his robe as he answered the door, tiredness making his smile more forced than normal. “Rhodey, I’m not going to moderate another debate about almond milk between you and Harold.”

“Stop calling me Harold!” Harry yelled from somewhere down the hall.

Rhodey shook his head. “Oh no, we’re not getting into that again. I was just going to ask if Tones got the PDFs yet.”

“He’s asleep,” Stephen said, a blush creeping onto his face. “Although I need to wake him up again, I can ask or just tell him to text you.”

“That sounds good,” Rhodey replied, a knowing look in his eye. “Just remember: our business trip is only a week, and no wall in this apartment is 100% soundproof.”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “Goodnight, Rhodey.”

He closed the door again, sitting on his bed beside Anthony, who appeared to be falling deeper into sleep.

Stephen sighed, gently shaking one of his shoulders to wake him up. Another restful night filled with banter and love was ahead of them, and Stephen wanted to make the most of it before Anthony left in the morning. Grumpy as he was when he finally woke up, Stephen could tell that Anthony wanted to make the most of the night as well.

++++

“It’s official: I hate goodbyes!” Stephen tried not to convey how upset he actually was.

He did hate goodbyes. He hated that Anthony was leaving for a week, though he never liked to admit how much he actually missed his boyfriend. Stephen would always nod whenever Wong complained that the house was quiet without Anthony, Rhodey, and Harry, but his face always fell when it struck him again that his boyfriend was away.

“Let me ask you something,” Wong began.

“Do I want to know?” Stephen replied, filling the kettle with water.

“I won’t beat around the bush,” Wong said. “Why haven’t either of you proposed yet?”

“Unlike the rest of you, we’re not in a rush,” Stephen quipped. “If I know Ant as well as I think I do, he’s waiting for what he thinks is the perfect moment. I’m doing the same.”

“That’s a load of bullshit,” Wong said.

Looking up from his phone, he continued: “You know, we thought you were going to propose before graduation! I’m already out $300 because of all of the bets I lost to our friends.”

“I don’t think I want to know this either, but who did you bet with?” Stephen asked.

“Carol, Rhodey, all of the Odinson siblings, and Christine,” Wong replied.

“And you all know why I didn’t do it then, yes? As in you didn’t bet $50 with six (6) different people after winter break?” Stephen asked. “Anthony and I talked about it and it just felt too soon after his mother and Howard died.”

“No, I didn’t,” Wong said. “That makes sense, though. We really aren’t trying to rush you.”

“I know you don’t mean it seriously, what in our friend group isn’t dealt with through absurd amounts of teasing?” Stephen asked, rolling his eyes. “But you know what? I think when they come back from the trip might be a good time.”

“Fucking FINALLY!” Wong replied, leaping into the air. “Let’s call Christine right now!”

++++

A few days later, Wong woke up to the sound of one of his housemates frantically opening and closing the kitchen cabinets. He was about to text the housemates’ chat, before he remembered that Stephen was the only other one that was home, the others wouldn’t be back for another three (3) days.

So that left a singular question: why was Stephen, somehow the quietest of the group, slamming cupboard doors?

Wong found his bunny slippers and shuffled down the hallway, locking eyes with a distressed Stephen. “What are you doing?”

“I’m rearranging the kitchen.”

“Why?”

“How many reasons do you want? I don’t know what to do with myself, I’m stressed, and it’s too early to call Anthony although I doubt he’s asleep as it is since he rarely sleeps while traveling, but—”

“You can’t be this nervous to propose, can you?” Wong asked, his tone ignorant and teasing but without malice. “He won’t be back until the end of the week, so you have time to plan and replan everything until you’re happy.”

“I was going to propose when he got back, I was going to ask you to help me plan something nice as a welcome for him and Rhodey and Harry, but... shit I have to go home,” Stephen said. “To my parents’ farm, I mean.”

“Why? Everything okay?” Wong asked.

Stephen ran a hand through his bedhead. He knew he was shaking but didn’t have the energy to care. “My mom isn’t doing well at all. I... Victor needs me.”

“When do you leave?”

“Later this evening. I just need to call Anthony, both to hear his voice and to keep him updated.”

“He’s calling you now,” Wong said, glancing at where Stephen’s phone was vibrating towards the edge of the counter.

He began to make something for breakfast as Stephen picked up the phone.

“You know I love you, but why are you calling so early?” Stephen asked, trying to keep his voice light.

Anthony, sleep deprived and stressed as he was, knew him too well and could immediately tell that something was up. His voice was rough when he spoke, “something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean? Are you okay?” Stephen fretted.

“I’m fine, I meant something’s bothering you. I can hear it in your voice,” Anthony clarified. He sounded like a warm hug that Stephen just wanted to hide in until the end of time, his tone gentle as he asked what was going on.

“I’m just upset, that’s all,” Stephen replied. “Um... Victor called me about an hour ago. He says Mom isn’t... doing too well and he really wants me to go to the farm, at least for his sake. So I’m leaving tonight, just to spend some time there while I can. Apparently a lot of the family is flying out... Vic didn’t go into detail but he said it’s bad.”

Anthony hummed, and Stephen could hear rustling on his end of the line.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“I’m looking for my laptop so I can book a flight,” Anthony said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“No way, I can’t ask you to—”

“Stephen? My darling, my sweet baby boyfriend who can be more obtuse than a triangle?” Anthony interrupted.

Stephen scoffed. “You’re one to talk.”

“My mind is made up,” Anthony said. “I’m sure someone can cover for me, this is a family emergency after all.”

“You...” Stephen’s voice broke. “Anthony...”

Anthony hushed him quietly. “I want to be there for you, and for your family, and I promise you I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Fucking hell,” Stephen whispered, trying to keep himself from sobbing. “Thank you.”

“I just want to support you, Steph,” Anthony replied. “I’m going to have to go wake Pepper up, she should be getting up soon. I just want to brief her before the day starts, but I’ll be free for a bit after I find her if you want to call me back.”

“I might FaceTime you,” Stephen said. “You haven’t even been gone that long and I still miss you like you wouldn’t believe.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Anthony murmured. “I love you.”

“I love you too, tell Pepper I said hi,” Stephen replied.

He put his phone down when the call ended, sighing and running his fingers through his hair.

“Do you want french toast?” Wong asked quietly.

Stephen jumped, forgetting his friend was even in the kitchen. “Yes please. And then I have to go and pack some stuff.”

++++

“Hey guys, I need you to cover for me. I have a flight to Nebraska at 4, it’s a family emergency, Stephen’s mother...”

“Tones what are you still doing here? You need to get there. I’ll help you pack,” Rhodey said.

“I’ll drive. Be ready to leave in no later than two (2) hours,” Harry added. “

Pepper smiled sadly. “You know we’re going to cover your ass no matter what, especially if it has something to do with Stephen. By the way, w—”

“Now is hardly the time to discuss a proposal, Miss Potts!”

++++

“You know, I always liked Anthony better than you,” Victor said. “I think Donna did too, God rest her soul.”

“Alright Vic, enough,” Stephen replied. “I only came home for you, don’t chase me away. Besides, Donna liked me better than you, and that’s all that really matters.”

“I’m telling Dad you said that,” Victor spat, his light tone betraying his words. “You know I’m happy you’re home. And I’m glad you have Anthony.”

“He’s loyal, you know? I tried to tell him not to come, but he insisted. And he was in California for business,” Stephen said, smiling at the mention of his boyfriend.

“You’re going to do something embarrassing once you see him, aren’t you?” Victor scoffed.

“No, I’m just going to hug him,” Stephen replied. “Fuck off Vic, it’s none of your business how I show affection.”

All things considered Stephen didn’t break his word, because he did hug Anthony as soon as they made eye contact. Nobody had to know if there were tears in his eyes when he rested his head on Anthony’s shoulder and held him as if they’d been apart for years.

Victor, impatiently standing a short distance from the couple, cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to rush this reunion, but we should get home now.”

“Since when do you drive?” Anthony teased, giving Victor a short hug. “The last time I saw you—”

“Don’t you dare say I was ‘just a baby!’ I’ve heard that from all of my relatives these past two (2) days,” Victor replied. “And let me address that now: I’m driving so I control the music.”

Victor’s taste in music wasn’t bad, so neither Stephen nor Anthony objected. Plus, they were both exhausted from traveling and the fact that they didn’t sleep very well apart. It was no surprise that Anthony fell asleep on the drive from the airport to the family farm. Stephen thought back to the other day, to the way Anthony soared under his praises and how he fluttered his eyelashes at the end of the night, just before falling asleep. He was trying to be coquettish, but fell asleep before they could trade anymore banter. Stephen had to fight to keep from laughing (it was more like giggling) at how adorable Anthony was.

Tonight, as the moonlight through the car window highlighted his closed eyes and slightly parted lips, Stephen just wanted to cry. It wasn’t a sad kind of cry, it was perhaps relieved. Things would always be okay with Anthony around, and that realization never failed to bring Stephen to tears.

++++

It was the best sleep he’d had in three (3) days, and it came to a sharp end as urgent knocking cut through his dream.

Anthony slipped out of bed, pulling the blankets up around Stephen. No matter how cold he got in the middle of the night, he always kicked the comforter away.

His fond smile at the thought of Stephen’s idiosyncrasies died when he saw the stricken look on Victor’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Anthony asked, immediately placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He’d always seen Victor and Donna as the siblings he never had, and it was very important to Anthony that all of the Strange siblings knew he cared for them. Stephen obviously did, although reminding him never hurt, but the familial bond Anthony had with his siblings was valuable to all parties involved. Understandably, the idea of Victor being this upset troubled him.

“Is Stephen up?” Victor asked. His voice was almost shrill, marching the chaotic background noise from elsewhere in the farmhouse.

Anthony shook his head. “Do I need to wake him up?”

Victor nodded. “And hurry up, we have to go downtown now. Meet me in the kitchen as soon as you can.”

++++

The rest of the Strange family descended upon both the farm and the town after Bev Strange passed. The next few days consisted of funeral arrangements, people running errands, speedrunning the stages of grief, and little to no sleep. There were two (2) points during that week where everything came to a screeching halt, and everyone was just taking on tragedy like a sponge soaks water. The night before Mrs. Strange’s funeral was one of them.

Eugene Strange jogged down the stairs that night, an envelope in one hand and his other clutching his chest.

“Dad you okay?” Stephen asked.

“Completely fine, I’m just running something to your aunt and then I’ll settle in for the night,” Eugene replied.

“Do you want me to take it?” Victor offered. “You don’t look well, you should rest.”

“No, son, I’m okay. A little drive to town can’t hurt,” Eugene said, waving his hand in dismissal of Victor’s offer.

A little drive to town couldn’t hurt on its own, but coupled with a heart attack it was fatal to Eugene.

Stephen was livid when he found out, mostly angry with himself for not going and running the errand. “Why did I let him go?”

Victor was also livid, his anger directed at Stephen for most of the week. “Yeah, why did you?! How can you say you care about our family when you took Donna to the lake that day, AND you let Dad go when he was in no condition to drive? I’m lucky you even came around for me and for Mom, everyone knows all you care about is yourself!”

As the Strange family planned their second funeral of the week, Victor and Stephen didn’t talk much. Victor wasn’t right to be angry with Stephen, which he did eventually realize. Victor was even the one who advocated for Stephen going home and taking care of himself for a few days.

“He’s right, you do deserve to be cared for. Especially now,” Anthony murmured, tracing Stephen’s collarbones. “You’re so strong and selfless, I just want to give you the world, if you’ll let me.”

“You’re too good to me,” Stephen murmured. “Ant, do you know I love you so much it hurts? The fact that we’ve been in each other’s lives for so long and have come so far means so much, and there’s no one else I’d rather go through all of this shit with. You... you’re just everything. I love the way you drown me in praise but catch me when I fall... and—”

“If anyone gets drowned in praises, it’s me from you,” Anthony whispered, as Stephen broke off with a sob. “You’re the one always catching me and keeping me grounded. But that’s what our relationship has always been, you know? I never would have gotten through the things that happened in the past few years without you, and there won’t ever be a moment you won’t have my equal support. I think you’ve been stuck with me since we met and talked about... remind me, with your picture perfect memory, what it was?”

Stephen didn’t reply, only shifting a bit closer to Anthony.

“Steph?” Anthony asked quietly, brushing a soothing hand through his hair.

Stephen snored softly. It wasn’t really a snore, as Stephen didn’t snore, more or less a soft exhale that ghosted over Anthony’s collarbone. Either way, he was asleep.

Anthony smiled sadly and kissed his forehead. “Goodnight Stephen. Get some rest, I promise I’ll always be here.”

++++

“If you need anything, do you swear that you’ll call or text or just fly to New York to see me?” Stephen asked again.

“Stephen, I promise I’m going to be okay,” Victor assured him. “And I will.”

“You don’t need anything else while we’re here?” Stephen asked.

“No, I’m fine!” Victor said, feigning annoyance. “Just go home, and Anthony take care of my hardheaded brother, please.”

“I always do,” Anthony replied, giving Stephen a soft kiss.

“Get your PDA out of my face,” Victor teased. “Have a safe flight. Text me when you’re home.”

“You do the same,” Stephen said firmly.

The events of the past week took their toll on the brothers, and Stephen’s usual fearlessness disappeared. The smallest things rattled him, a routine lurch of the plane almost sending him into a panic attack.

“If we survive this flight, will you marry me?” Stephen asked at the crux of takeoff.

Anthony smiled and hugged him, murmuring, “I thought you’d never ask.”

“I swear I had this whole gesture planned but I don’t want to live another second without asking. A part of me needs this trip to have something of a happy ending, and I was really going to wait until we were home, but I waited long enough to be your boyfriend, I don’t want to wait to be your fiancé,” Stephen rambled.

“I have my own romantic gesture planned too.” Anthony’s voice was low and gravelly from tiredness, and his voice combined with his closeness sent shivers down Stephen’s spine. “You’ll love it, I’ll show you when we’re home.”

“I can’t wait.”

++++

Wong‘s friendly, grumpy face was a nice surprise waiting for them at the airport. “Harry and Rhodey are home, sleeping I think but you never know with them. I figured you’d both be tired, so I’d just come get you and let you sleep on the drive home.”

“You might be a Saint,” Anthony replied, leaning fully against Stephen.

“I’m just a good friend, one who accepts payment in the form of bread,” Wong teased. “Let’s go home.”

Harry was the only one in the kitchen when they got back, Rhodey on the phone w T’challa in his room. He greeted them with a warm: “Hey guys, you okay? I made sandwiches if you’re hungry.”

“My friend, I’m going to take you up on that,” Wong replied, pulling up a stool.

“I’m exhausted, and Ant is too, so we’re going to bed. Text if you need anything, but we’re going to just go pass out,” Stephen said. He didn’t bother waiting for a response, taking Anthony’s hand and leading him to their bedroom.

It was right before they climbed into bed that he got down on his left knee, taking hold of Anthony’s hands.

“There’s no limit to the things I want to say to you, and we both know that I’m never usually short on words but I just need to get my point across now. I might combust if I wait any longer,” Stephen began.

“Ask me,” Anthony murmured breathlessly. “I won’t interrupt again, just go ahead a—”

Stephen frowned as someone, it sounded like Harry, shouted from the kitchen.

The knocking, uncoordinated and loud, only intensified the longer Stephen and Anthony ignored it.

“What?!” Stephen called.

“We need a moderator for another debate about food!” Harry yelled.

“I’m in the middle of proposing!”

[nowis-scales]

Pre-Verdant Wind Endgame Update

An Update on the ol’ Three Houses Verdant Wind playthrough, since I’ve been neglecting documenting my journey properly for a bit:

• My current placement is Ch.20, so I’m only a few chapters away from the last one. It’s kind of a weird thought because I feel like I just hit the timeskip, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will feel well-paced out. In terms of writing, I’m known for being a bit of a stickler for good flow. It’s why all of my fanfics take so long to update! I have to make sure my flow is perfect.

• The fact that they have been giving background information on characters has been so amazing. Learning that Raphael’s sister’s name was Maya and getting to hear about her has made me irrationally happy.

• Also, just generally, holy shit people sleep on Raphael and Leonie. Raphael often gets shoved to the side, and Leonie is treated like her only trait is liking Jeralt, and for me it all just culminates in the question of “so did you like... not do their support conversations, or...?” Seriously. I think Leonie might be one of my favourites in the game so far, and I adore Raph. He’s so sweet!

• The Flame Emperor reveal for some reason gave me “and I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids” vibes. I liked the venom Cherami Leigh had there as Rhea, too. I think I read from someone that in Japanese, Rhea’s actually super calm in that scene. I don’t think I have a preference towards the anger or the calmness, honestly. I think I just liked how smoothly the emotion came across. Plus, I’m a little biased, I’m fond of Cherami as an actress. I haven’t found a performance from her I haven’t enjoyed yet.

• I was really confused as to why Seteth showed up in my house after Chapter 12ish I think? I wasn’t expecting him to just be there after the paralogue, but I definitely wasn’t unhappy. I do like him! I just never use him, because I recruited Bernadetta and Sylvain, so I kinda have a full roster going... 

• I was also confused in the Gronder Field fight because I couldn’t see what people meant about Bernie getting set on fire. Then I remembered Bernie wasn’t on the hill because she was with me. I recruited her. Whatever this proves about me, I don’t know.

• I did end up beating Marianne’s paralogue! It actually wasn’t as hard once I levelled her up a bit and classed her to a Holy Knight. The big thing with her in that paralogue seems to be that she needs a decent amount of power and movement to really get by, so that’s what I’d recommend for anyone else playing it. Using rescue will also probably help you out, but I tried to avoid using Flayn there because it’s kinda easy to kill her. 

• Admittedly, I’m not 100% sure how I feel about the support system. In some ways, I think it’s better that not everybody has that forced S-Support. Oftentimes we were either squeezing a love confession out of two characters who were unlikely to have one, or characters with decent potential might get snubbed because their connection was less apparent to the writers (and unfortunately that still does happen in the case of same sex S-supports in 3H). Having the conversations only go to a certain point is helpful, but at the same time, the inherent romantic undertones of several of the A-supports do make things feel strange. If it weren’t for the fact that I know characters can have only one partner as their paired ending, I would think lots of them were in a polycule. Nothing wrong with that as long as everyone’s comfortable, but because I know they can only have one person in their ending, I find it pretty jarring.

• I think it was interesting that they went to do the fights for breaking into Enbarr and then taking down Edelgard back-to-back. I’m glad they did, honestly, because while I don’t usually like to do two fights next to each other unless I’m grinding, it doesn’t mess with the suspension of disbelief. It would be stupid to break into Enbarr and then just run right back to the Monastery.

• I have still not completed the randomized quest from just after the timeskip. You know, the one I was yelling about with the weeds? Still haven’t gotten any weeds. I think I might just have to give up on it. It’s hilarious that my luck is so good that it’s actually bad.

• The fact that Byleth is praised for having more of a personality than Corrin is the biggest slice of bullshit I have heard from this fanbase in a long time. Byleth is literally designed to be a silent protagonist with nothing going on with them – they even came up with a story reason for why Byleth is such a blank sack of meat! In the kindest way possible, I don’t think most people realize that they are implementing whatever personality they want onto Byleth. Personally, I don’t find anything relatable about being stoic, calm, and not inclined to anyone (until plot happens, of course). I’ve always been the overly enthusiastic and caring type, with a tendency towards nervousness. Trying to relate to Byleth was like trying to relate to the experiences of a cactus. While I definitely don’t think Corrin is the strongest of the modern FE avatars – that award goes to Robin – they still had some things I could understand and relate to. If you’re not the type of person who loves the cool, “I fight for my friends” types like Ike, though, you’re likely to have a hard time relating to Byleth. If you can manage that type of character, then you’re more likely to have present them with a personality of their own.

• Actually, while we’re on the topic of Byleth getting praised for things Corrin got dragged for, the fact that Corrin is still cited as the character who receives the most “player pandering” is ridiculous too. Do a lot of characters like Corrin? Yeah! But most of them who do are deeply traumatized in a way that inclines them specifically towards Corrin. The Nohr siblings cling to each other due to their abusive childhood, the Hoshido siblings all in some capacity seem to suffer from abandonment issues (oldest) and/or attachment issues (youngest), and the official foursome of retainers have also had some sort of abandonment struggle in their past (forced separation from parents, murdered loved ones). While the cast of Three Houses needs therapy and is traumatized too, there is no reason why the inclination moves towards Byleth. Bernadetta feels safe around them just because. Edelgard is obsessed with them just because. Marianne learns to feel better about herself just because. Why are there so many exceptions for Byleth, and so many just without explanation? I don’t hate Byleth by any means, but these two things make my opinion of them lower than it would be otherwise. It kinda sucks that my image of Byleth is tainted by the fanbase’s hypocrisy, but I know I can’t have everything.

• The gameplay overall for 3H has been pretty fun! I love the addition of the Demonic Beasts, as annoying as they are to fight. There’s a charm to having some of your stronger units working to take on the soldiers blocking the path, meanwhile your army’s more intermediate strikeforce works to keep them safe by bringing down the beast. Once you get the hang of it, gameplay with the new additions is fun. The only thing I don’t use is Divine Pulse, but that’s because I’m on Casual and usually when I want to rewind, I want to just plain start over. So I use the old “turn off and start again” trick.

• Edelgard’s death scene was actually pretty good. I must confess that I went out of my way to avoid Edelgard in the academy phase, as I knew how hard the game was going to hit me with the “she’s obessed with you” thing and I wanted to see how wonky it would feel if I didn’t speak to her much. I was right that it’s incredibly awkward in terms of writing when you haven’t spent the time with her, but surprisingly, her death scene still holds up. Good voice acting, animation, and music. My only beef with it is something they have done in FE before, and it’s something I wish they’d stop. If a character is dying, you either let them have a few last breaths after their last lines or you kill them mid-sentence. It’s probably just a personal nitpick, but hearing them get their last word out without struggle and then immediately die just makes me aware of how badly the directors wanted the whole line to be in there. I can totally understand it but I find it so troublesome in the grand scheme of things that I just can’t.

• I also like that in the fight against Edelgard, they tried to make it ambiguous who had the key. Immediately as it told me that, I decided it was Petra and ended up being right. I was kind of sad to kill her though, to be honest. I don’t know her well, but she’s probably one of the Eagles I like more.

• The fight against the Death Knight at Fort Merceus ended up being surprisingly pretty easy. In fact, while I paved the way for most of my army, Nader ended up making it to the Death Knight just as Claude did. He did most of the damage – I’m not kidding, the Death Knight was down to 1 HP – and then Claude took care of the rest. It was a weird fight. They said impregnable a lot leading up to it.

• I understand why they kill Dimitri off-screen at the Gronder Field fight, but I was admittedly a bit disappointed. Again, Salli Saffoti does a good job doing Hilda’s voice for it, but I would have liked to see it animated. It was also nice to have that little rapport with Dedue! If only we could have allied with the Lions a bit more. Everyone always says Claude and Edelgard have similar goals; however, it’s their methods that differ. Claude seems to align himself a bit closer to Dimitri, so I’m usually a bit confused by the idea that Edelgard and Claude would work together. I was spoiled on enough to know her background and story, and even so, I think that her methodology is just a bit too violent for his tastes. But that’s just my two cents.

 Alright. I think that’s about all I can drain out of my brain from the top of my head. With that, I am off to kill the slithers! We’ll see how this goes. Wish me luck!

[rivalsforlife]

i'm holding myself back from asking commentary on almost every scene from the catch up game bc i love so much how you wrote phoenix in that fic!! that said, could u do commentary on the last 2 scenes from the first chapter (party + gumshoe), if that's not too long or on parts of it if it's too much?

Sure thing!! The scenes on their own are already over 2000 words so I’ll put them under a keep reading for everyone’s peace of mind.

Alright let’s start then...

The bachelor party was beyond Phoenix’s expectations. He’d been expecting Edgeworth to be much stingier with the spending, considering his general attitude towards Gumshoe’s salary. But he’d agreed to rent the bar out and pay for one drink for everyone, plus transportation home for those who couldn’t do it themselves. Phoenix… was surprised, actually. He’d known for a long time now that Edgeworth appreciated Gumshoe much more than he let anyone know about, but it was still surprising to see in action.

this paragraph brought to you by My AAI2 Feelings, particularly the parts where Gumshoe really does come through in the investigations, so much that Miles actually gives him a salary raise at the end... it did a great job developing their friendship, I loved it a lot.

(Also I headcanon that after aai2 but possibly before that... every “I’m going to cut your salary!!” that Miles says does not actually result in a salary cut. poor gumshoe can barely feed himself as it is. but Miles can’t be, like... Nice about it so he’s just going to pretend. Gumshoe understands. it’s like an inside joke now.)

And honestly figuring out this whole party scene was such a pain. I still feel like it could be better but I’m not sure how? I just had the goal of “get someone to let it slip that Miles is in love with Phoenix” but then there was the issue of a) who knew Miles well enough to know this, and b) who knew Phoenix well enough to talk about it, and c) what circumstances would let them slip up and say it. The answer was Gumshoe because he can’t resist leaking information to the defense... even when it’s information about his boss’s personal life. oops.

Athena dropped by for a movie night, since Pearls was too young to attend. Phoenix wasn’t worried about them; he was sure they wouldn’t get into any more trouble than he and Maya could at the party.

OOF AWKWARD PARAGRAPH this is a remnant from when I shifted a lot of scenes around in this chapter. I thought it would be cute if Athena and Pearl were friends. And I think there was more to this but then it was distracting from the overall topic so I cut it out... resulting in this.

“Pals!” a familiar voice boomed at the entrance to the bar, and Phoenix soon found himself and Maya swept up in a bone-crushing hug. “I’m so glad you both could make it!”

“Gumshoe!” Maya returned the hug enthusiastically. “It’s been forever, man!”

“Sure has!” Gumshoe released them, allowing Phoenix the opportunity to wheeze and clutch at his ribs, while Gumshoe ruffled Maya’s hair. “Been keeping yourself out of trouble?”

“You know it!”

“Uh, I had several sleepless nights last year suggesting otherwise,” said Phoenix.

“Shut it, Nick.” Maya elbowed him, not helping with the situation with his ribs, and beamed.

a little bit of banter that really just serves as a transition thing. most of the party is actually both “transition scene to indicate that the party did, in fact, happen before I get to the important stuff” and “introduce some important character stuff while I have time to fill”. 

and of course these sleepless nights are in reference to pretty much the whole plot of SOJ... 

One last note that I think Gumshoe probably gives great hugs, if you can survive your ribs potentially being crushed in the process. he doesn’t mean anything by it. he’s big and strong and likes hugs so much he forgets how big and strong he is.

... ps I love Gumshoe

“But congrats, Gumshoe! Seems like just last decade Nick and I were wandering around trying to pass your lunches over to Maggey.”

“God, it’s been that long, hasn’t it?” Phoenix reminisced. It was odd, thinking back on cases he took before he was disbarred, before he became a father to a daughter who wasn’t even with him today.

Gumshoe chuckled. “Guess so, pals. You two’ve really been there since the beginning, huh? Maggey and I wouldn’t be here today without you.”

Phoenix smiled. “Aww, Gumshoe…”

“And that’s why I get to be maid of honor, huh?” asked Maya with a sly grin.

“Maid of honor?!” Phoenix looked to Gumshoe, who didn’t object, before rounding back on his best friend. “You didn’t tell me that!”

“You didn’t ask!” Maya sighed. “If it weren’t for me eating Gumshoe’s beloved bento box in front of Maggey, who knows if we’d be here today?”

“I don’t think that was a deciding factor at any point…”

Gumshoe clapped Phoenix on the shoulder. “Sorry, pal. Would’ve made you the best man, but, y’know… Mr. Edgeworth.”

“Yeah, of course, no hard feelings, pal.”

“What’d I tell you about stealing my trademark, huh, pal?” Gumshoe laughed before stepping back into the bar. “C’mon in, you two.”

REALLY just more awkward transition scenes haha. Maya is the maid of honor in this fic mostly because I went to Maggey’s profile page and she was the only woman listed under the “friends” list... and we don’t know much about Maggey’s personal life. plus more “Miles and Gumshoe friendship” agenda pushing in here!

There were more people there than Phoenix was expecting, and many of them he hadn’t met. Edgeworth had mentioned that he would let Gumshoe select the guest list, but he’d kind of expected this to be people the two of them knew. Or, at least, that Phoenix knew — Edgeworth seemed to recognize more, which was rare, and was currently speaking with someone Phoenix vaguely recognized as an Interpol agent he’d worked with on a few cases back when Phoenix would help him out in Europe.

Ema ran up to them and made small talk before she and Maya got caught up in discussion about some show Phoenix had never heard of, so he wandered off to find someone else to talk with.

And there was… no one, really. Gumshoe and Edgeworth were talking with strangers, and Phoenix didn’t want to butt in on that conversation — he thought he saw Larry lurking about but couldn’t find him right now — and anyone else Phoenix recognized he either hadn’t talked to in years or was sure didn’t recognize him.

Phoenix hadn’t realized just how much his disbarment affected him, in these little ways. He looked out over the crowd of people Gumshoe or Edgeworth spoke to and had no idea who they were. It had been eight years out of touch with the rest of the legal world — eight years to fall behind.

It was… oddly lonely. Eventually it was just Phoenix standing there at the bar with a glass of grape juice in his hand. He was beginning to wish he’d ordered some more euphemistic “grape juice” instead.

You know that feeling when you go to a party and your one (1) friend leaves you and then you have no one to talk to and don’t know what to do -- maybe? That’s kind of the thing. slight Lang cameo in there.

ORIGINALLY Ema and Maya were going to talk about Lana and Mia and kind of hint at some Lanamia stuff in there, but then I thought about it and really why would Phoenix pass up an opportunity to gossip about his boss’s past relationships. 

And this also tries to kind of go for one of the general... “themes” of the fic? More of an exploration into Phoenix’s loneliness/how he copes with not having people around him. RFTA and JFA in particular kind of really entrenched that he Does Not Do Well without people to take care of -- which comes up a lot during this fic. And part of getting to explore those issues is essentially me trying to make Phoenix as alone as possible. ... sorry Phoenix! 

Also in here is a lot of “disbarment should have messed up Phoenix more than DD and SOJ would lead you to believe” -- he essentially spent seven years completely disgraced, it’s unlikely he made a lot of notable legal connections, aside from maybe Miles and Miles’ social circle. He probably missed out on a lot.

The last paragraph there is just referencing the “grape juice” thing - I do believe it is literal grape juice and not an alcohol euphemism, and I believe it was also literal grape juice in the original, so that’s what it ends up being.

“Hey, Niiiick…”

… But Phoenix supposed that just when you’re feeling down, the Butz arrives to drag you down further. “Hey there, Larry.”

Larry slumped against the bar beside him with a sigh, a glass of what definitely wasn’t grape juice in his hand. “Y’know Franzy didn’t even show up to this?”

“I’m not surprised. Being whipped half to death during your own bachelor party isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time, y’know?” In truth, he knew Franziska couldn’t make it down until just a few days before the wedding because of work — or so Edgeworth had told him — though he couldn’t help but wonder if Gumshoe was grateful for it.

Larry muttered something under his breath that sounded like it might’ve been contradicting Phoenix’s last statement, which Phoenix decided he was certainly not going to press further on, before Larry cleared his throat and continued. “But why’re you out here by yourself, Nick? Maya ditched you?”

“No, not at all,” Phoenix lied. “Just… taking in the scenery.”

“... Huh. Never took you for the wallflower type.” Larry frowned. “I mean, we did use to spend school dances in the corner by ourselves… guess some things never change.”

“Please don’t remind me of middle school ever again.”

“I’ll drink to that,” said Larry, who then did. “But I get it, dude. I was kinda hoping for some more excitement here… more ladies…”

“Don’t worry Larry, I’m sure you’ll find someone else to pester tonight,” Phoenix commented dryly.

... enter Larry Butz.

I really did try to explore the relationships of all the important people in Phoenix’s life... Larry though is so insufferable in canon I didn’t really have the heart to fit him in, so he falls out. (Apollo also doesn’t show up much, aside from the bit in chapter 5, that’s because he’s in a different country and I couldn’t come up with much of a role for him.)

And I also do believe that Larry and Phoenix were super unpopular in school. Larry was... Larry, and Phoenix was probably very sensitive up until the Dahlia Incident, and together they had enough unlikable traits that anyone who could spend time with one wouldn’t want to hang out with the other, but the two of them were loyal to each other. It’s my headcanon that Phoenix’s only real close friends throughout his childhood were Larry and Miles, which is part of why he got so attached to Miles to change his career for him.

“Yeah.” Larry’s eyes scanned the crowd before landing on a woman with dark hair in a high ponytail, and his face brightened. Phoenix cringed preemptively.

“Little miss Kay!” Larry called out, as the woman looked their way. “Looking as cute as ever! And more grown up, too…”

Phoenix tensed, suddenly feeling the wrath of hell creeping up behind them.

“Larry Butz,” a deadly voice boomed, “if you go anywhere near her, I will sue you for everything you are worth, little though it may be.”

Larry jumped and spilled half his drink over his jacket. “Geez, Edgey,” he grumbled, scuttling off to find a napkin. Phoenix, hoping it was safe now with the target gone, turned back around to meet the glare of his other childhood friend. “Hey, Edgeworth.”

Larry being gross but more importantly: me pushing the Dadworth agenda! 

“You didn’t have to do that, Mr. Edgeworth,” said the woman with a laugh. “I’m an adult. I know how to effectively break someone’s kneecaps if they bug me.”

Edgeworth raised an eyebrow. “Though I don’t necessarily disapprove, do we need to talk about avoiding criminal records again, young lady?”

“Sheesh, you’re still treating me like a kid,” she huffed, before noticing Phoenix and extending a hand. “Sorry about that! Kay Faraday. I’m Mr. Edgeworth’s assistant.”

Edgeworth gave an exasperated sigh, though Phoenix could detect a note of fondness to it. “You haven’t been my assistant for over ten years, Kay.”

“So you finally admit I was your assistant at some point!”

“Ngrk…”

Phoenix laughed and took her hand. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Phoenix Wright, attorney at law.”

Kay grinned. “Oh, I know! Gummy debriefed me on you, Mr. That Man.”

“Kay,” Edgeworth warned.

“Plus I kept up with the news,” Kay continued, before Phoenix could say anything. “I’m a big fan of your work! Anyone who can take Mr. High-and-Mighty over there down a notch or two is a hero in my book.”

“Ha, I appreciate that.” Usually the first thing people said to Phoenix after saying they saw him on the news was much more negative.

I really still can’t believe Kay would be 27 here. that’s just so weird. she’s permanently seventeen in my mind. --- said by miles, probably

Even though this was supposed to be a fic about Phoenix’s important canon relationships Kay just wormed her way in here. I love her so I didn’t make any particular effort to take her out of this. Plus it gives me the opportunity to write my favourite things: Dadworth, and also Kay bullying Miles.

And yeah the part about people seeing Phoenix on the news is a reference to disbarment... can’t imagine anyone would have had anything particularly nice to say to him, especially those first few years.

“Kay has been assisting some of the prosecutors and myself through some tricky crime scenes lately,” Edgeworth informed him.

“Technically I’m a P.I., but Mr. Edgeworth said they’re really short-staffed these days, so I thought I’d lend him a hand,” Kay elaborated.

“Oh, so I might be running into you at the crime scene someday.”

“Probably!” She grinned. “Though I’m not gonna go easy on you just ‘cause Mr. Edgeworth likes you.”

“Kay.”

“Oh is that Ema over there?” Kay said loudly. “I’ve gotta run, see you around!”

She dashed off. Edgeworth sighed.

At first I made Kay just a straightforward detective, but I changed it pretty last minute. I feel like she’d want to do her own thing, plus this way she can assist from the outside when dealing with Dark Age of the Law Corruption-type stuff. Miles hires her because canon says he was left pretty short-staffed in SOJ. I’m not... totally sure what the laws are regarding private investigators working with police, but this is a fictional universe with fictional laws so I will do what I want.

Aside from that... more Kay making fun of Miles.

“She seems energetic,” Phoenix commented.

“Indeed she is.”

“... Why did she call me ‘Mr. That Man’?”

Edgeworth coughed. “I’ve not the slightest idea,” he said, turning his head to the side. “That aside, this whole affair is going much smoother than I expected, aside from that slight mishap.”

“Yeah, murder’s not really the best way to kick off a bachelor party, huh? Even if it is Larry. But I think we did alright.”

“Indeed.”

As if on cue, a loud cheer rose up from the crowd at the far corner of the bar.

“... Do you smell something?” Phoenix asked, and true to form, the swaying form of Larry crawled on top of a table.

People making fun of That Man is one of my favourite tropes regarding the AAI characters.

I don’t actually know how bachelor parties work, but if anyone can make them into an overly dramatized super wild party... it’s Larry.

Edgeworth groaned and began to storm off, but Phoenix grabbed him by the hand to hold him back. “Edgeworth, it’s a party, let them have their fun.”

“I… suppose so,” Edgeworth relented, but his hand was still tense in Phoenix’s.

Phoenix released him. “C’mon, we can chaperone from a safe distance.”

Edgeworth nodded wordlessly, but Phoenix could sense that same feeling of unease from him again. He opened his mouth to ask about it but a loud shout took up his attention — this was something that could be dealt with later, he thought, as he and Edgeworth rushed over to the scene.

Miles internal monologue: Wright is holding my hand. Wright is holding my hand. Wright is holding my hand writgh is holding my hand wright is holdin g my ha--

Phoenix: uh. edgeworth?

So in this fic... Miles is gradually working up the courage to confess to Phoenix. He finally worked out his own feelings at some point prior to this fic starting but can’t quite admit them yet, so every time Phoenix does anything that can be remotely construed as romantic he just goes “!!!” and it’s probably all he can think about for a week. Poor guy! I’m sure that when he finally confesses all will be well.

Hours later, as the party wound down and various taxis came to take people home, Phoenix found himself crowded in a booth with a tipsy Maya and a drunk, gushing Gumshoe.

“... and I know she’s gonna just be so beautiful, pals, and what if it’s too much?” Gumshoe asked, lying sideways against the table. “What if they don’t let me see her and then the day of the wedding I look’t her and… I die?”

“People have gotten married without dying, Gumshoe,” Phoenix consoled him.

“But they don’t marry Maggey, pal…”

Maya snorted. “With her luck, I wouldn’t be surprised if something like that happened.”

“Hey, don’t tell him that!” Phoenix hissed.

really this wedding should have had way more disaster than I wrote about... probably at least one murder.

“No, no, don’t mention her luck, she’s already so worried,” said Gumshoe. “We’ve checked off every good-luck wedding charm in th’ book… but she still thinks somethin’s gonna go wrong. I love her, I really, really love her, pals…” A far off look crossed his face, and Phoenix wondered if anyone would ever speak of him like that, “... but she worries so much…”

“What’s she worried about?” Maya asked, slumping over against Phoenix’s shoulder.

“Ceremony, reception, if people’re gonna show up, if we’re gonna lose somethin’ important… even ‘s far as the bouquet toss. I told her, if you’re not sure, just toss it in th’ direction of you,” he pointed at Phoenix, “or at Mr. Edgeworth, and maybe it’ll work.”

Phoenix frowned. “Why me?”

Gumshoe let out a burst of hearty laughter. “I’m thinkin’ if you or Mr. Edgeworth catches it, it’ll give ‘im the courage to finally ask you out, pal.”

Maya shot straight up. Phoenix froze. “... What?”

probably not the smoothest way to get to the entire reason why this bachelor party exists, BUT. 

Also it’s implied that Miles DID actually talk to Gumshoe about this at some point. probably Gumshoe caught him pining at a bad time haha.

“Y’know the old tradition, whoever catches it is the next to get married and all…” Gumshoe stared at them for a moment, before his eyes widened and a look of absolute horror crossed his face. “O-Oh! Crap! Pal!”

“Edgeworth wants to ask Nick out?!” Maya shrieked.

“FINALLY! IT’S ABOUT FREAKING TIME!”

originally Gumshoe used a much stronger word than “crap” but idk Gummy doesn’t seem like the type to curse much...? Maybe it’s a stretch haha. also “pal” as an exclamation is my favourite little Gumshoe speech tic

“Shh, shh!” Gumshoe reached over to clamp a hand over her mouth but fell, collapsing on the table. “You heard nothin’ from me, pals, got it? Mr. Edgeworth’s gonna kill me if he finds out… worse, stop funding the wedding…”

Death is one thing but the WEDDING...

And I can’t remember if I mentioned at any point that Miles was also funding the wedding haha but it’s probably also something he wouldn’t want to tell anyone. Gumshoe with his perpetually terrible salary (which is also Miles’ fault) plus Maggey with her inability to hold down a job before being fired in a murder-related incident probably means they don’t have a lot for a nice wedding so Miles offered. secretly and evasively. because he’s a nice person but also doesn’t want anyone to know that.

Maya stared at Phoenix, her mouth agape, as Gumshoe continued mumbling to himself under his breath about the various consequences of Edgeworth’s hypothetical wrath. Phoenix, meanwhile, felt like his brain had short-circuited.

That wasn’t possible. He must have heard Gumshoe wrong. Edgeworth didn’t think of him that way. Edgeworth didn’t think about anyone that way, Phoenix had thought, for the longest time.

Little do you know, Phoenix! 

Touching on the aroace Miles headcanon here because it’s a very valid interpretation of his actions even if it’s not my own...

… Even if Edgeworth had been acting strange lately, even if something in his expression softened when he looked at Phoenix, even if…

No. Phoenix quickly shoved that thought to the back of his mind. There were many things he knew about Edgeworth, and one of those was that Edgeworth saw him as a part-time friend and part-time annoyance, but never a romantic interest of any kind. The thought of it was just… just unbelievable.

Phoenix craned his head around, catching sight of a familiar pink jacket across the room and watched Edgeworth in the middle of some phone call. He would know if Edgeworth was interested in him that way… wouldn’t he?

At first “the back of his mind” was “the overflowing mental trunk of repression” but that seemed a little too on the nose. Just know that’s essentially what he’s doing.

Another thing I wanted to establish throughout the fic was how close Phoenix and Miles are now -- they essentially know each other really well. And thinking about that part in Turnabout Goodbyes where Phoenix declares that “I’m the only one who knows the real Edgeworth”, I kind of interpreted that Phoenix Knowing Things About Edgeworth is an important part of their relationship to him. And the occasions where Miles did surprise him (with some aspect of his personality) weren’t always very good things... realizing he’d turned into a “demon prosecutor”, then the “choosing death” part... it’s a lot of my headcanons running away from me haha. Basically in this fic, Phoenix thinks he knows Edgeworth so well because he’s so close with him so an indication that there’s something about Edgeworth he doesn’t know or has completely wrong kind of... connects to him /not/ being as close to Edgeworth as he thinks he is? Maybe? And being close to him is something very important to Phoenix.

(This is not my personal opinion though haha, people can and will surprise you no matter how well you know them... but this fic is Phoenix’s Relationship Issues: The Fic, so.)

And no one else has mentioned the scenes where it comes up yet so I’ll talk about it here -- a lot of my editing process involved going through the fic and cutting out every instance of Phoenix either talking about him hypothetically being in love with Miles, or of Miles being in love with him. I just ctrl+f “love” and cut out whatever fit the criteria. Phoenix’s interpretation of Miles’ actions up until the end of chapter 5 isn’t exactly that Miles is Capital-L In Love with him, more that it’s like... a little crush? Mayyybe some physical attraction. Misconstrued admiration. Not anything so severe that Miles would willingly initiate a conversation about Feelings. so “He would know if Edgeworth was in love with him” changed to “He would know if Edgeworth was interested in him that way” because part of Phoenix’s issue here is that he can’t actually directly acknowledge the possibility that he’s in love with Miles or that Miles is in love with him. It’s a whole complicated thing I’ll probably talk about in the next commentary I do?

This got long but there’s the end of the chapter! I’ll answer more later...? These take up a lot of time haha.

[jazy3]

Station 19 Finale Thoughts

I decided to watch the season finale of Station 19 to see if I could glean any clues as to what the original finale for this season of Grey’s Anatomy was supposed to look like before COVID-19 forced them to shut production down. I was surprised in that I didn’t find as many clues as I was expecting. I did some research and it turns out that this episode and several previous episodes of Station 19 were originally supposed to have more Grey’s content, but when they were forced to shut production down and it subsequently became clear they would not be able to film the remaining four episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, including the finale, they went back in and edited out the content that no longer made sense without the Grey’s episodes that were supposed to follow.

This helps explain why there aren’t as many clues as fans had hoped for because they edited those scenes out. As it stands, we don’t really get any more information about the characters on Grey’s that we didn’t already know. With the exception of Teddy whose comments imply that she’s looking for forgiveness from someone. I do have some thoughts though so let’s dive in. After a night of partying and drinking the Station 19 crew are called in because of an explosion at the old Pac-North hospital. Everyone is hungover except for Ben who was home with Tuck and Joey because they’re sick. Over at Grey Sloan, Sullivan undergoes surgery to try and alleviate his leg pain.

First off, was anyone else surprised to find out that Pac-North still existed? I thought the hospital was shut down and its employees absorbed into Grey Sloan? WTF? The characters go onto explain that Pac-North is only mostly closed with some departments such as admit, the ER, and radiology still operating on the first three floors. I really hope they address this next season on Grey's because I am confused. Watching Ben razz his co-workers was hilarious. I loved his line about the state they were in made him glad he had to stay home with his sick kids last night.

I loved the scenes with Amelia. I have to give Caterina, the actress who plays her, so much credit because in the last few seasons she has taken Amelia from a character I couldn’t stand to one that I love. I hated the character for a long time, but I love post-tumour Amelia. She’s so strong and she’s come such a long way. I'm glad that she's finally doing well and is mentally stable and is managing her addiction and recovery well. She deserves to be happy. I love that we got to see her using her own experience to help Sullivan with his drug addiction and Andy with her fear.

Dr. Alba, the woman who died trying to save her lymphoma research, made me cry! She wanted so badly to save her research and her specimens in order to save countless lives that even when the firefighters told her they had to evacuate she just couldn’t let it go. I cried watching her die. I’m glad the team was able to save some of her research and her mice so that her work could continue after her death. I love that they got the samples. I bet the Bomb Squad and the other Firefighters were so confused! Haha! Bunch of firefighters coming out of a compromised building with a bunch of samples looking like lab techs. My favourite line of this whole episode was when the team walked out carrying all of the samples, research, and specimens and Maya looked at them confused and said, “Why are we carrying rodents 19?” Too funny!

It was great seeing Meredith! I’ve missed seeing her on my screen. I really like Meredith and Andy's friendship. It's great to see Meredith smile and be happy and be herself again. I’m glad she was able to be there for Andy when she needed her and help give her some clarity. My heart broke for Andy in this episode. Especially when she said that the memories that had come back to her made her think that her mother was so unhappy that she killed herself. I loved Meredith’s line, "Sometimes a breakthrough can look another lot like a breakdown." I also liked that she was able to use her own experience with the memories that came back to her about her mother's pregnancy and Maggie's existence to help Andy through her pain.

Also, they have definitely added more plants to the plant room and I'm calling it. That is too many plants. WTF? That's way too many. How does the hospital have such a large budget for greenery? What the heck? I loved the scene where the police showed up and arrested Chief Dixon! He is going down! I’m so glad. Dixon’s not only corrupt, but his lack of regard for human life is just straight up dangerous. Justice!

We also get to see Maya face some hard truths. In this episode her Dad shows up and she finally sees him for who he truly is: an abuser. I thought they did a good job of showing what a powerful force denial is in the face of abuse and how abusers will change things on a dime and blame others for it to mess with them and get what they want. Maya’s Dad does this to her all episode until she finally sees it and takes action. At the beginning of the episode her shows up at the fire station wanting to talk, but she can’t talk because she’s at work and a call comes in. Then he sees her on the news so he comes to the scene. She hears him call out to her so she comes over to talk to him only for him to tell her to get back to work because he wants to see her in action.

Later on she’s in the middle of talking to the bomb squad when he starts shouting at her from behind the yellow tape. She comes over to talk to him confused and he starts yelling at her for doing her job and playing firefighter while her family is falling apart. She explains that she’s doing her job and he shouldn’t be there. He starts arguing with her and then ducks under the yellow tape and continues yelling. She tries to reason with him, but when that doesn’t work she goes into firefighter mode and tells him he’s a civilian and he needs to get back behind the tape. He screams at her that he won’t be spoken to like that and Maya tells he can either get back behind the tape or she’ll have him removed. He doesn’t move so Maya turns around to go get help and that’s when stuff gets real.

Maya’s Dad grabs her by her ponytail and attempts to assault her in broad daylight. Members of the bomb squad and other firefights see this happening and rush to her aid. They hold him back as he taunts Maya about how she needs big strong men to protect her and how he won her all of those gold medals. In a powerful moment Maya finally sees her Dad for what he is and shouts back that she won those gold medals for herself, unlike him who wins things for other people. Later back at the fire house Maya cuts off her ponytail to remove the reminder and tells Jack that she feels stupid for not seeing what everyone else could see so clearly. He tells her that’s usually how these things go. Their talk inspires her to go apologize to Carina and try to make things work.

I’m glad that Maya apologized to Carina and that they're back together! I love them! They’re so cute. Also, Teddy is standing right there telling Carina to forgive Maya if she loves her which is interesting because this episode was supposed to coincide with the Grey’s Anatomy finale. I wonder who Teddy is talking about here. Is she wishing Owen would forgive her for having an affair with Tom? Is she wishing that Tom would forgive her for sleeping with him and then trying to marry Owen? Or Both? Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait till next season whenever that may be to find out.  

And of course in true Shondaland fashion the most shocking part of all came in the last 10 minutes of the episode. When Andy went to a motel to see her Aunt Sandra and ask her some questions and we found out that her Mom was not in fact dead, but alive. I’m so confused.  My guess was going to be that Andy's parents were going to get divorced and then she died, but it looks like she's alive and well so what the heck? I might actually watch the Season 4 premiere of Station 19 in the fall just to find out what happens with Andy's Mom. Does she know Andy's Dad is dead? Why was she hiding? Was she actually sick? I have questions.

I also have a couple of theories as to how the original finale for Grey’s Anatomy was supposed to go. Clearly, they were supposed to bring the patients from the Pac-North explosion to Grey Sloan for treatment and we know from reports that the original Grey’s finale was supposed to include some kind of explosion which was supposed to take the life of a major character and critically injure several others.

So based on that I have two theories as to how the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy was supposed to go. Theory 1: The firefighters bring the patients from the Pac-North explosion to Grey Sloan for treatment. It turns out one of the people they evacuated was the bomber and that person has a bomb hidden on them that goes off in the ER. Several main characters are caught up in the explosion and the cliff hanger is you don’t know who lives and who dies. In next season’s premiere we find out that one of the main characters died and that several others were critically injured with someone possibly losing the ability to operate. The first half of the season would then showcase the doctors attending this person’s funeral and grieving the loss while working to recover from their injuries and what happened.

Theory 2: The episode starts by creating a false sense of security. The patients from the Pac-North explosion are brought to Grey Sloan for treatment which floods the ER with patients and the doctors there scramble to help everyone. Things are chaotic, but none of the characters lives are in peril until an explosion goes off in one of the upper floors. The Station 19 crew rushes to the scene and together with the bomb squad they determine that whoever set the bombs at Pac-North also planted bombs at Grey Sloan. Either because the hospital has a similar research project that uses embryonic stem cells or something similar or because the bombing was in fact personal against a doctor or researcher that worked at Pac-North and was in the process of transferring to Grey Sloan. The employees struggle to evacuate themselves and their patients and in the process several bombs go off on different floors injuring or trapping several main characters and the cliff hanger and the first half of next season would be the same.

Until next time!

[mcsmmafia]

Round IX of MC:SM Mafia 👥

THE 9TH ROUND OF MAFIA

What you did was go exploring and discovering new worlds, new stories. Yet, you never expected to end up in a place as strange as this.

Endermen… just… endermen everywhere! You have never seen anything comparable! Well, besides the end, but… this was a swamp! Anyhow, there was something in the wind. Something familiar, yet so odd… you just couldn’t put your finger on it.

Luckily, as you made your way through the wetland – constantly looking down on your feet to avoid triggering any of these oversensitive social phobics –, you hit your head right into an entrance door of a big mansion. Oh, it should be well lit in there – and that would mean that you could finally lift your head again! Seriously, your neck started to hurt badly.

So you knocked, and to your relief, someone opened it.

A person, completely covered in black and wearing a big, white pumpkin on their head, was this someone. You could see long, vividly red hair coming out of it. It reminded you of something… wait.

You turned around to glance at the swamp you were in- which was a bad idea.

Thousands of endermen were staring at you, as you stared back… your glance captured by theirs… if you would look away just for one second-

"Here, this pumpkin will shield your eyes from meeting the endermen’s!", the resident yelled and put it right on as you continued to stand there, petrified.

It should’ve helped, but… the endermen… just… continued to… to… stare…

"Alright, are you gonna come inside or what?", the resident asked. But you didn’t dare to move.

So they pulled you inside with force, and closed the door behind you.

"There, you’re safe in here. We have food, we have beds, everything you need. I don’t know myself where all these endermen are coming from, they just started to appear out of nowhere this evening… but anyway, do you happen to have a green flint & steel?"

You had to look out of the window – there it was, still watching you.

"Hellooo… are you listening??"

Those magenta, creepy, soul-eating eyes…

"Hey, I’m talking to you, I need the FLINT & STEEL!"

Even though they were not torturing physically, mentally, you could feel your sanity fading away…

"Urgh, FINE! You try one time to be nice, and this is what you get…"

You shrieked and nearly tripped turning around as you heard footsteps – oh, it was from the stranger… as they walked away… wait. The red hair, the mansion in the swamp- this person must be CASSIE ROSE!!! AND THERE WAS NO ESCAPE!!!

Dear guests, it is time. T

o hide.

BEFORE THEY STEAL YOUR SOUL!

But maybe there’s someone else you shouldn’t have triggered…

~

Story note: Ellegaard finally had managed to craft a command block and after all these years of research and trying, she wanted to try it out so badly – but since the whole wither sturm event, the use of command blocks was banned in her dimension. So, what else to do than visit new dimensions to experiment with her command block!

However, she was really unhappy when she realized that the first world she hopped into was in a swamp, near nightfall… urgh! How she hated these slimes – oh, yes, that’d be the perfect use of her new command block! Just… set the biom to… end… there we go, that should solve the problem!

…Wait, why are suddenly thousands of endermen appearing out of nowhere-

☀ Results of Day 1:

Harper wished everyone a good morning.

🌑 Results of Night 1:

Well, yes, endermen are kinda creepy, but for everyone to be this reticant… they were really overreacting, in Harper’s humble opinion! …Or were they? The more she thought about it, the more unsure she became – and as she peeked outside the window and met an enderman’s eyes, she suddenly was so petrified she couldn’t even move! She loosened from her rigidity when she heard a sardonic meow behind her. Dang it, that darn kitty stayed with her! She tried to pick him up, only for him to leave a quite aching wound on her hands. "Ow! Stupid cat!" Anyway, Winslow being here can’t mean good news, so she stayed alert and ready to fight.

Seriously, though… how rude of everyone! How rude to not answer a simple question, on which CASSIE’s life depended on… Looks like sje had to get the FLINT & STEEL the hard way, so she made her way to the living room and thought about her next action. Not being too glad being all alone, she decided to stake everything on one room: The kitchen. Meanwhile, Winslow would prevent anyone from coming to the entrance hall. It was the perfect plan! …Except that it didn’t work out. Not in the slighest. Dang it!

…Yeah, if anyone caught the wind of Ellegaard’s command block- they would throw them out to deal with them. That could not happen. So she participated in the big silence and sneaked off to the dining room when no one was looking. Luckily, nobody followed her, so she could exhale and… wait, what if someone comes here!? She considered activating a trap, but then again, she didn’t really want to kill someone innocent. But, then again… she needed to defend herself! Although, how would she be able to defend herself when she had to deal with neck tension from sleeping on chairs? And so the decision was made: She would rest well in the bed chamber and deal with all her problems later!

Oh, Gabriel was not scared of no mobs, especially not endermen! But he was kinda intrigued by the idea of just staring at someone the whole night… maybe he should try it for himself? Hopefully Lukas won’t mind if he stared at him for a bit! Lukas sure seemed to be super afraid to sleep in the dark. "You can’t just cover all the windows, it’s the only light source!", they yelled at Stacy. "I can’t sleep without lights on!" Somehow, that did persuade Stacy to not cover up all the windows with books, and Lukas went to sleep, probably very soothed from knowing he won’t have endermen nightmares tonight. He slept through until morning, unlike Gabriel.

Endermen are terrifying, so as soon as night fell, Lukas went to hide in the library and cuddled Dewey to calm his nerves. He was even more terrified when he noticed Stacy trying to cover up all windows with books. "You can’t do that, the windows are our only light sources!", he yelled. "I can’t sleep without lights on!" Somehow, that successfully dissuade Stacy from actually doing it, so Lukas could go to sleep without having to worry about nightmares from those endermen. Yay for him!

Maya liked to act as if she didn’t have any fears, but, to be honest… endermen are super scary! In fact, she was so frightened by them, she couldn’t even move… so she continued to stare outside to the window when everyone else was going to hide somewhere else. When she realized that she was still here, standing in front of the window, she recovered herself and looked around. Oh no, Winslow was here, that’s not good… she should better flee to the attic while she still could! …She thought to herself and headed to the door, but she saw the source of all problem already being in the hallway, waiting to scratch any bypassers. No way she would try to deal with him!

Shudder… endermen are scary, but luckily Stacy had Wink to protect her back. Still, she couldn’t stand to see what was going on outside any longer, so she went somewhere where she could cover the windows with a load of books – the library! Ugh, the nerves of some people. "You can’t just cover all the windows, it’s the only light source!", "I can’t sleep without lights on!" Lukas sure was determined to not let Stacy have some peace, so she tried to keep herself busy brewing potions all night.

☀ Results of Day 2:

Harper thanked the goodness for zero deaths today, then got upset saying Winslow was with her. The grown kitty sneered at her and jumped up on a shelf, where he could watch her undisturbed. Harper considered drawing her stone sword, but revealing that she had a weapon wasn’t worth it for this good-forsaken felinae after all. 😼

Instead, she questioned everyone about their whereabouts. Gabriel and Ellegaard answered, also stating who was with them. Stacy then asked if anyone was with Harper, and Harper confirmed that Maya was with her.

🌒 Results of Night 2:

The kitty didn’t do anything… for now. But will he continue following Harper? Only one way to find out – to the bed chamber! And, look at that, she was alone there… oh, no, nevermind, here comes Maya- Her gladness over Winslow not having followed her quickly faded when she saw Maya’s pumpkin-head. She has been following Harper around it seems, and that could only be a bad sign… or coincidence. Either way, since Harper was pretty tired, she just asked her to not kill her and went to bed. And, to her relief, it turned out to not have been too much to ask for after all!

After the disaster that was the first night, CASSIE was determined to do it better this time around, so she told Winslow to stay put and went back to the living room. Oooh, nice party here! Three traps for three people, she couldn’t have wished for better conditions! Now, she only had to hope that they’ll be good and go to sleep, so CASSIE’s traps could hit… and- they did! Well, one of them, anyway.

Ellegaard wondered if it was a good idea after all to reveal exactly where she had been last night… welp, another problem she would deal with when she crossed that path! For now, though, she figured the best idea was to stay in the entrance hall and observe – no, not the endermen, that was a bad idea. Instead, she stared Winslow into his evil green eyes… and shivered! Looks like he won’t go away! She pondered about how to get away from this fluffy yet deadly little tomcat, but figuring that he won’t let her leave anyway, she concluded that the best thing to do right now was to have a little sleepless slumber party with him. Come here, Winslow! Come huuug!!! She chased after him for the whole night. Darn, he’s fast…!

After the enlightening results from stalking Lukas last night, Gabriel decided to do it again. Maybe if he kept stalking him, he could figure out who he really was! So he followed him to the living room and was surprised to see CASSIE and Stacy there, too. Anyway, back to business! Gabriel sat down and stared into Lukas’s very soul – well, for the first few hours, anyway. Slowly but surely, he had to blink with increasing frequency, and longer, and eventually, he drifted off to sleep… …When he clearly shouldn’t have, as he was awakened not by the first rays of sunlight, but by an heavy anvil dropping right onto his head, squashing him into pieces! Ouch!

Lukas had a good, enderman-free visit to the land of dreams, but as soon as he was awaken by the first rays of sunlight, he remembered why he felt uncomfortable in this world. He nervously awaited the end of the conversations in the entrance hall, and headed to the living room to find several people there too! Even though pumpkin faces surely aren’t as terrifying as those of endermen, Lukas wasn’t exactly glad to have this many people around him, so he snuck away to the hallway and hid there, hugging Dewey and nervously waiting for the sun to rise. Luckily, it eventually did, with nothing happening at all… or so he thought-

Last time, Maya missed her entry and had to bear the consequences – but that would not happen a second time! And because she was pretty tired from last night, she chose the best room to go to: The bed chamber! Oh, of course, Harper had to be there, too… she seemed pretty suspicious of Maya, even asking her ever so kindly to not murder her. …It kinda made Maya feel strong and superior, she liked it! Anyway, she didn’t have any murderous plans for now, so she went to bed and enjoyed the beautifully tender mattress.

Fine, so Stacy guessed that the library was where Lukas wanted to stay, but pillows will probably also do as a window cover, so she went to the living room and – OH C’MON!!! She really didn’t want to have another mindless discussion of "Oh, but I need light!" and "You vampire!", so Stacy skedaddled to the attic instead. Luckily, nobody else was there, so she could save her potion of swiftness, too. And THERE WERE NO WINDOWS! Killing three birds with one stone!!!

Gabriel was hit by a trap and died!

☀ Results of Day 3:

Harper asked everybody around who has got a pet and who hasn’t. Stacy, Ellegaard and CASSIE answered, all three technically honestly – although CASSIE at first claimed to not have a pet, but quickly corrected themself. Harper therefore concluded that Stacy and CASSIE were safe.   Stacy however reminded her that they could be lying. Despite a friendly reminder from the voice from up above that closets don’t lie, nobody used their voting rights. Lukas claimed to have a pet, too, and Stacy vouched for that.

🌓 Results of Night 3:

Welp, three people have claimed to have a pet… and Harper was not one of them. Uh-oh. Anyway, since she couldn’t decide who to put into a closet, she decided to stay extra safe tonight and headed to the attic – and was relieved to note that no one followed her this time! Relieved, she went to sleep. Until next morning…

Ha! Not only did Harper believe CASSIE’s claim even after she quickly rectified it, the guests also didn’t vote anyone into the closet. How gullible they were! With a slight change to her strategy, CASSIE went back to the living room and sent Winslow to stay in the kitchen. And she was alone – which was only for the better! She set off traps in the library, gallery and dining room. And, the next morning…

It’s a bad thing that Ellegaard is among the suspects, but at least she didn’t get stuck into a closet. Well, actually, no one did… which in turn was a bad thing. But she had a plan – if anyone followed her into the bed chamber, she could set off a trap if she didn’t feel comfortable with them. …And oh my, someone did! At first, she was glad about the company, but in the end she didn’t feel safe around someone who cleary wasn’t a pet owner and wouldn’t respond to her, so she fled to the attic. Until next morning…

Okay, this time, Lukas would seek peace in a room where probably nobody would go to, because of the double traps risk – the dining room! But, of course, Stacy was there… and if that wasn’t enough, she immediately went and hugged his cat. Excuse me, Stacy!? – Wink is yelping for attention! Suspicious of Stacy’s behavior, he signaled Dewey to go sleep on her chest and went to sleep himself. Until, suddenly in the middle of the night…

Maya didn’t want to actively admit that she didn’t have a pet – she really hated narrow spaces, and maybe if she didn’t say anything, the others wouldn’t notice she was even there… It actually did seem to have worked, surprisingly. Nobody said anything… so she sneakily followed Ellegaard to the bed chamber, ready to play the silent detective tonight. She will stalk her until she knows her! But when she entered the room, she suddenly had a serious case of absentmindedness and forgot what she wanted to do at all. She spent the whole night trying to remember, until the next morning…

Being well-rested, Stacy figured she would endure the consequences one more time and actively followed Lukas to end up in the dining room with him. It was all for the kitty – yes, Dewey, you’re who she was talking about! Lukas gave her a confused-slightly worried look as she went and hugged his cat – and Wink yelped jealously. He will definitely forgive her, but still – how could she!?! After a good pet, she went to sleep satisfied. Until next morning…

The Last Night

He felt stared at… watched. Lukas suddenly awoke in the middle of the night, panting, as he had a nightmare about endermen chasing and dismantling him. But even the calming essence of Stacy’s dog beneath him wasn’t enough to calm him down… something wasn’t right-

He suddenly felt the urge to turn around and look at the painting of the chicken jockey behind him. It had never scared him as much as in this moment.

And now he knew why.

Where there used to be two empty, black sockets staring at the viewer’s soul, there were suddenly big, red pupils, staring into Lukas’s widened eyes. And then, in the next moment-

He couldn’t see anything, nor hear anything but a beaming sound, nor feel anything but pain as the red dots revealed themselves to be lasers, blinding Lukas and burning his hair, skin and body alive. It was faster than Lukas could even scream.

Wink of course barked as if there was no tomorrow, but the blinding laser light was too bright for Stacy to see. And then, the next morning…  

"Guys, GUYS! Lukas is dead! DEAD-"

"Dead!?"

Harper, Ellegaard and Maya were shocked to hear the news Stacy had told.

"Dead-dead! I heard Wink barking in the middle of the night, there was this bright, red light- I don’t know exactly what happened, but I couldn’t find his drops in the morning, so it must have been a TRAP! All that’s survived is his cat, which I was cuddling this night…", Stacy said and took poor orphan Dewey into her arms. Wink whined sympathetically.

"I can’t believe it… who could do this, and why?! WHY!?, Harper cried. Then, suddenly-

"Oh, c’mon, you know exactly why.", CASSIE said, throwing something shiny in their hand up and down. Actually, it was the Flint & Steel-

"CASSIE!", Stacy screamed, well aware that this could only mean one conclusion. CASSIE must’ve been the one setting off the traps that killed Gabriel and Lukas!

"How could you", she continued, "you soulless monster, you absolute bastard, you never-forgiveable creature-”

"Hey now, listen! When I invited y’all to my mansion, I asked each and everyone of you for the Flint & Steel – completely pacifically, mind you – and no one, not a single person was kind enough to answer a simple question after I’ve just saved y’all from a bunch of endermen. What else should I have done??"

The guests were about to argue back, when suddenly, out of nowhere-

"It’s all my fault", Ellegaard confessed.

"…What?", everyone asked in union.

"It’s my fault those endermen appeared everywhere… I’ll show you how. But first, Cassie, can you crack my pumpkin?"  

"Umm… excuse me?"

"Just do it, please.", Ellegaard asked ever so politely.

Cassie pulled out her diamond axe, slowly approached Ellegaard and awkwardly but gently strikes them right on front.

"Ow – That suffices, thank you…", Ellegaard said as she broke apart the pumpkin pieces and revealed her face – it was Ellegaard!  

"Ellegaard!? What are you doing there-", Maya asked, more than surprised.

"Well, it’s uh, a long story. – But that’s beside the point. I have a little explanation to do. So…", she took a deep breath and revealed what no one had expected.

"So, after years of research and hard work, I have finally managed to craft… this."

She brang out something some of them had never seen before – a real, blinking command block! Everyone gasped at the sight-

"Why’re you all gasping? What is that?", Cassie asked unimpressed.

"It’s a command block", Ellegaard answered. Cassie’s eyes widened.

"But isn’t that-"

"Extremely rare and powerful? Why, yes, it is." She put it on the ground.

"You’re telling me you crafted that!?"  

"I did", Ellegaard proudly responded, quickly followed by a rueful "And that’s the reason why this world is now overflowing with endermen – see, command blocks are forbidden in my world since a certain… incident, so I came to this world, hoping to be able to experiment a bit with it… but it all derailed when I wanted the swamp to end – suddenly, endermen started to spawn everywhere!"

"You set the biome to… the end?", Harper asked surprised. "Well, yeah, I was just trying to – wait… I set the biome to end… to end… to THE end… Oooooh.", Ellie facepalmed herself as the realization sank in. "Now I know what’s going on! Those endermen started spawning because they think it’s their home land!"

"Just set it to the plains or something. Can’t be too hard if you already done it once, right?", Harper suggested.

"Oh my, yes of course- how did I not think of that! Thank you so much!!", Ellegaard said and started typing into the command block.

But before she could finish, Cassie spoke again.

"Enough talking. I’m leaving!"

"Stop right there! We’re still gonna take revenge for Lukas!!", Stacy yelled and ran to grab her arm.

"Let – go – or do I have to resort to more murder!?", Cassie shouted, but Stacy didn’t let go.

"We’ll see who has the upper hand!", Stacy yelled and threw a light blue potion onto Dewey and Wink – was that… a potion of swiftness?

"Wink, Dewey, go and GET HER!"

With that, the two family-friendly pets turned into killing machines and jumped onto Cassie.

"AhhHHHH- Winslow, WINSLOW!", Cassie screamed as she fell onto the floor, dropping her axe and covering her face with her arms.

As called, Winslow appeared – and with him, about one thousand of loudly meowing calico cats. They jumped down from shelves, windows, cabinets – THEY WERE EVERYWHERE! 😼 😼😼😼😼😼😼😼😼

"AHHH! SO MANY EYES! THEY’RE EATING MY SOUL-", Maya freaked out.

"Wink! Dewey! Hang on there-", Stacy wheezed, grabbed Cassie’s diamond axe and swallowed another potion of swiftness. Then, she tried to lift the heavy axe and release it onto Cassie, but Winslow and the thousand other kittys punced onto her, oppressing her by pure weight.

"OWW-", Sea screamed as they all extended their claws and scratched her good. This caused Wink and Dewey to let Cassie be and instead try to help Stacy, but the felinae were too many-

"Good thing I still have THIS-", Cassie said and revealed a bow and arrows, shooting down Harper, Ellegaard and Maya, who where just standing there, watching in terror. Then, she set a big fire in front of them and whistled her cat back.

"Winslow, come here, we’re going home tonight!"

Winslow and the other cats quickly followed, gracefully jumping over the green flames that circumvented Stacy and the others.

"Bye, suckers!"

And with that, the whole mansion and everything burned down. Meanwhile, the sun outside was shining again and endermen started to disappear, like they would on a normal plains biome.

And what happened to the command block, which was inflammable? Well, Cassie didn’t care.

CASSIE has won the game! 👥

[a-walking-fandom-reference]

did this a bit ago and never posted it so

tagged by @acelandonkirby thank youuuu very glad you tagged me i love seeing your revenge stuff and i love this game it’s very fun.

Pick 5 tv shows, then answer the following questions (don’t cheat!)

1. Bojack Horseman

2. Andi Mack

3. Ducktales (2017)

4. Stranger Things

5. Bob’s Burgers

1. Who is your favorite character in 2? (andi mack) Jonah Beck, my babe I love him so much.

2. Who is your favorite character in 1? (bojack horseman) Todd Chavez, of course he’s why I started the show and like he’s a canon ace character and he’s the best soooo.

3. What’s your favorite episode of 4? (stranger things) Season 3 Chapter Seven: The Bite, okay like the Robin coming out scene, just Steve and Robin being the best in general, Alexei being an absolute treasure like he’s so cute when he’s trying out carnival games, also Murray and Alexei so good, and in the end where I get to see all of my children meet up and my actual 1 second of stonathan.

4. What’s your favorite season of 5? (bob’s burgers) hmm this is hard probably season 7 it’s the one I’ve probably watched the most but I also love the new season a lot too.

5. Who’s your favorite couple in 3? (ducktales) Um no one there aren’t really any in general, except daisy and donald are cute obviously

6. Who’s your favorite couple in 2? (andi mack) T.J and Cyrus obviously, one they are adorable and have the cutest relationship build up and the first gay disney couple uh yeah.

7. Least favorite episode of 1? (bojack horseman) um like I’ve said I’ve watched this show a thousand times and I guess the ones I skip the most is s2 ep 11: Escape from LA, it’s just ugh bojack is so gross in it like obviously that’s the point but when I do watch it I have to stop before the end because it makes me sick. Also s3 ep 11: That’s Too Much, Man! because I mean Sarah Lynn’s death so.

8. Favorite episode of 5? (bob’s burgers) oh god there are so many episodes, um it might have to be season 6’s season finale, Glued: Where’s my Bob? most of my favorites all have songs because I love song episodes and this has like the best song ever as well as I love Louise and Bob’s relationship so.

9. Favorite Season of 2? (andi mack) probably season 3 because the most T.J and like I liked the storylines in that season the most

10. How long have you watched 1? (bojack horseman) Since season 3 maybe or like right before season 4 came out

11. How did you become interested in 3? (ducktales) Um when I found out they were doing a reboot I had seen some og Ducktales and I love Donald and the nephews so I got into from the beginning

12. Favorite actor in 4? (stranger things) um i mean maybe david harbour he’s just so iconic but i also love joe keery and maya hawke obviously and wynonia ryder and just all of them.

13. Which do your prefer, 1, 2, or 5? Bojack, I love Andi Mack and Bob’s Burgers a ton but Bojack will always have a special place in my heart and I can always rewatch it.

14. Which have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3? I’ve seen all of both but I’ve rewatched Bojack more then any other show like ever. I rewatch it constantly.

15. If you could be anyone from 4 who would you be? (stranger things) oh boy like I’m most like Robin (was in band, played soccer, dc comics, and muppets fan) , but I have a really strong connection with El and relate to them a lot so one of them I guess.

16. Would a crossover between 3 and 4 work? Ducktales and Stranger Things like not really unless they some how got to do an animated bit and it made sense like in supernatural but probably not they both deal with abnormal occurances so that’s kind of all

17. Pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple? (bojack horseman) this is hard because like none of the characters really work together but I thought about this a lot and like maybe Gina and Diane like I would kind of like to see it.

18. Overall which show has a better storyline, 1 or 3? omg you can’t do this too me ughh my two absolute favorite shows and like ummm i don’t know they both have really good plot lines I mean I guess bojack has more of an overarching theme but that’s just because it’s over and ducktales has that too it’s just not as intense even though it is i don’t know they both have so much character development i can’t choose

19. Which has better theme music, 2 or 4? I mean it’s both very different theme music but soundtrack over all I’d say stranger things but andi mack has some jamming original songs talking about your stuff asher

Tag: (totally do this if you want it’s super fun it’s like the most fun one i’ve ever done!) ps tag me if you do i’d love to see other people do it

[boat-dock]

Chapter 5 of my Hosie fic is officially ready!

took a little longer than expected but I finally finished it

After talking to  Mg and Kaleb, Hope circles back around to the kitchen where she left Josie with very specific instructions. When she enters Josie is finishing pouring an entire tray full of fresh hot coffees.”Coffee’s ready just like you asked.” Josie said picking the tray up and meeting Hope at the door. They wandered down hallways and poked their heads into rooms before they found who they were looking for. They found the sheriff and her kids along with mayor Donovan sitting huddled together, at a corner table. The two girls walked up and sat down to the great surprise of all the people sitting there.

“Good morning,” Hope announced cheerfully,” we brought coffee,” Josie sat the tray on the table and pushed it toward them. Slowly hands moved forward and claimed cups but no one drank they all just stared at them in shock. 

Maya and Ethan took cups first and followed by sheriff Mac then Mayor Donovan who only held the mug but never drank. “Thank you girls,” the sheriff said shakily like she was waiting for the second shoe to drop. Without an invitation, Hope and Josie sat down at the table like nothing at all had happened the night before. 

They both waited with false patience for everyone to drink their coffee so they could move on with their plan,” all right level with me,” the mayor said eyeing the cup,” is this poisoned?” Hope couldn’t blame him for wondering. If she were any other member of her family it would be a real possibility but it was because of said family members that she had Josie spike the coffee with vervain this morning. She was sure that the mayor was already on vervain but as for the sheriff and her family, it was better safe than sorry. 

“What on earth are you talking about uncle Matt?” Josie asked with a smile and a sip of her coffee to prove him wrong.  

Every student on campus that wasn’t a vampire was already on vervain, so Hope didn’t need to worry about them and since she was now an official Original it was easy enough to compel Kaleb and Mg when she met with them this morning, and that only left the humans in attendance. After a short excruciating moment, they all took a sip of their drink. Hope smiled and was about to leave when Caroline appeared behind them.

“Well this is unexpected,” she said eyeing the occupants of the table. She was much more put together this morning then she was when Hope saw her last night, hopefully, her talk with Lizzie had gone well. Realization washed over Hope followed by a dull sense of dread. She had forgotten about Caroline, of course Caroline knew about what had happened last night how could she not.

“Good morning Caroline,” Hope says with a grin,” weird question, is there any chance you’re on vervain right now?”  

“You laced the coffee with vervain?” Matt asked shocked as he stared down into his coffee. 

Hope didn’t answer him, she might have been trying to save his life but that didn’t mean she was happy with him. Forgiving and forgetting was never Hope’s strong point, but that didn’t mean he deserved to die. Caroline seemed to realize why Hope was asking without saying anything and she shook her head no. “well,” Hope started turning her attention back to Caroline,” do you want coffee or compulsion?” 

The twins’ mother made a face clearly unhappy with both options, Hope didn’t like it either but what other choice did they have. “ Compulsion,” she said definitively,” it’s more long term and much less painful.” Hope was no more comfortable compelling Caroline than she was her friends earlier but grudgingly she stood and met Caroline’s eyes. Compulsion was easier than Hope had expected it to be, she thought forcing her will upon others would be harder but apparently not. 

She was very careful with the wording,” you will remember what you learned happened to me last night, but you will not be able to share that information with anyone that doesn’t already know it.” Caroline blinked once, then twice. Then she was back.” glad that’s done. Now there’s only one thing left.”

Hope picked up the last mug of coffee and braced herself. Before she could stop herself, she put the glass to her lips and tried to gulp down the drink. Her throat seized and started to blister as she clamped her hand over mouth forcing the poisoned drink down. While she was choking, Josie grabbed her hand and watched her with worried eyes, she knew this was part of the plan but that didn’t mean that she was prepared for it. 

“Well, now that that’s done,” Hope choked out forcing herself to stand,” If you’ll excuse me I have to go pack.” she left the table alone, only feeling slightly guilty for leaving Josie to answer all the questions. 

She swiftly made her way back to her room and started packing her thing, she wouldn’t need much just a few of her personal belongings and her grimoires, she had another wardrobe at home in New Orleans so she didn’t have to pack up everything every time she moved back and forth. She had just started taking her books off the shelves when there was a loud knock at her door. She opened it with a flick of her wrist to see the twins on the other side. 

“Hey we just wanted to check-in, see if you need help packing or something,” Lizzie said as they walked in. Hope was surprised by the offer, it seemed very unlike Lizzie but she still accepted. 

“Sure,” she answered,” will you leave the door propped open, I have a feeling I’m going to get a lot of visitors today.” and she was right, dozens of people stopped by, some she’d never really even talked to before, to check up on her or to catch a glimpse of the mythical tribrid. For some reason, Hope wasn’t upset by this, she was leaving for who knows how long and it was nice to see everyone before that. They had been doing more talking than packing when Landon and Raphael appeared at her door, timidly knocking on her open door. 

Hope grinned when she saw them but it was Josie who spoke,” Hey guys,” she grinned from the other side of the room where she was flipping through one of Hope’s grimoires. Landon stood in her doorway and didn’t come any further in the room. Things had been tense between them since they broke up weeks ago, but they’d been so busy dealing with the drama of school that they just pushed it aside. The breakup was mutual, both of them had different priorities, Landon’s being discovering his new powers and Hope’s being saving the Saltzmans, and things between them just kinda fell apart. It was hard and she missed being able to talk to him but in the end, Hope was good at being alone.  

“How are you holding up Hope?” Raphael asked. 

“ I’m fine,” Hope repeated for the millionth time,” you know I don’t go down that easy.” the twins chuckled at her joke and Landon gave a weak smile but Raphael just seemed confused. 

“Well since no one will tell me what went on last night I actually wouldn’t know,” Hope swelled with pride at how well her plan was working already and her family isn’t even on campus yet.” so I figured I would come straight to the source and ask,” he stared at her for a moment expecting her to spill everything. When she didn’t he continues,” what happened last night Hope?” 

Hope wouldn’t meet his eyes, she didn’t like keeping secrets from her friends, even when it was necessary she still felt guilty. She didn’t know how to respond and things were just starting to get awkward when another voice spoke up.

“You know, I was wondering the exact same thing,” Marcel was leaning against her door frame grinning at her and Hope was running without even realizing it. She wrapped her arms around his neck with so much force that if he were anyone else he would have stumbled back. It had been so long since she’d seen him, and she hadn’t realized just how much she missed him. His strong arms pulled her closer and she was safe and loved like she was a little girl again, with her family protecting her. 

“You’re early,” she said pulling away from him slightly. 

“And you haven’t packed,” he said looking over her at the disaster that was her room right now. Lizzie had started packing her clothes before Hope had stopped her so now half of her closet was on the floor. Josie was surrounded by spell books on the ground all opened to different pages, and Hope was in the middle of cleaning out her desk when they’d gotten distracted. 

“Well you weren’t supposed to be here till tonight,” she responded waving her hands at all her junk. 

“We caught an earlier flight.” Marcel eyed the two boys in Hope’s room and thankfully they were both smart enough to quickly find their way out before he started asking questions. It’s not that she wasn’t allowed to date, it’s just that they were very protective and always enjoyed scaring off any boy who had the nerve to talk to her. 

Hope purposefully ignored Landon and Raphael as they tucked tail and ran,” where are the others?” she asked getting worried.

“Well Kol and Rebekah are talking to Alaric and Caroline right now,” Hope suppressed the panic in her stomach at that thought,” and Davina is off picking up breakfast. Which means we have a minute to talk without them.” Hope’s eyebrows shoot up and her curiosity was peaked. 

“Can you give us a minute?” she asked the twins apologetically.   

“Of course,” Josie answered as they made thier way to the door,” just don’t leave without saying bye.” they disappeared around the corner as Hope fought to repress the grin on her face. She was already going to have to answer questions about the boys in her room later, she didn’t need to add Josie to that list too. She couldn’t risk that with her, she was one of her best friends and she couldn’t do anything to mess that up. She pushed those thoughts from her mind and turned to face Marcel who was closing the door behind them. 

[monstersandmaw]

Modern orc boy x female reader (nsfw)

Edit which I’m including in all my works after plagiarism and theft has taken place: I do not give my consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted anywhere. They are copyrighted and belong to me.

So this idea came up a few days ago, namely that a big boy in a grey suit was spotted, and it sparked the idea for an orc in a suit. I cannot resist an orc in a suit, and wrote this! He was given the name Dragh by the person who sent in the original ask, and I have their permission to post it and tag them now! So, @slashersheadcannoandimagines I hope you enjoy your idea in a story!

This one hasn’t been previewed on my Patreon, unlike literally all other big stories that get posted on here, because it’s for/inspired by someone on here. I realise it’s also been a while since I’ve posted anything. I’ve been in creative hibernation for a while, but I’m slowly emerging. Anyway, here’s 4.5k words of tattooed orc boy, running a sophisticated vineyard! Featuring satyr bestie, a half-orc half-sister, a blue-haired tiefling, a centaur, and a lilac-skinned goblin, all of whom I need to write stories of their own for one day!

___

“So… my friend runs this gorgeous vineyard out in the country, and they do wine tastings and stuff…”

“Yes,” you said slowly, drawing out the vowel and feeling the slow stretch of a smile creep across your lips and light up the corners of your eyes. Tam was always up for an evening of boozing, and honestly, you weren’t exactly one to say no to fun either.

The satyr grinned, knowing he’d got your attention already. “Well, this friend of mine just so happens to be a really big orc…”

You cocked an eyebrow sky wards and folded your arms. “Male orc, by any chance?”

“How did you guess?” Tam grinned cheekily, his curly, nut brown hair quivering as he laughed and shook his head. His thick, knobbly horns curled tightly around his elongated ears, chunky as ram’s horns, and his hooves danced in amusement. 

Currently he was wearing little more than a soft grey hoodie, his caprine lower half bare, the end of the hoodie just crinkling up over the white flash of his tail, and though you were a little more covered up, you were dressed in similarly casual clothes, lounging on your sofa with a glass of wine in your hand at the end of a working week.

“So, just why are you telling me about this massive male orc who runs a vineyard?” you asked, letting the pale liquid swirl around the glass in your hand.

Tam chuckled and spoke more normally again, leaning back against the sofa cushions and tucking his relatively big hooves up beside him. “Dragh had some kind of fancy hen party booked in for tomorrow, but they cancelled on him last minute. He’d got everything prepped and ready to go, but the wedding is called off, and they cancelled. They lost their deposit, and instead of just cutting his losses there, he’s invited a small group of us over to enjoy it all instead.”

“That’s very nice of him,” you said, frowning.

“Yeah, well, that’s Dragh,” Tam snorted. “He’s always been one to treat his friends…”

“How come you’ve never introduced me before?” you asked. “I mean, we’ve been best friends since Uni, and you’re only now thinking of taking me along - obviously with the intention of setting me up with this orc, I might add - after all this time?”

Tam’s pretty face split into a wicked grin. “You never asked if I knew any handsome orc boys!” he laughed. “Besides, I thought I was your one and only…”

“Tam,” you said seriously. “You are about as gay as I am straight.”

He took a sip of his wine and then mimed stabbing himself through the heart. “Alas, woe is me,” he mock-wailed. “I am consigned once again to the role of gay best friend…”

You simply raised your eyebrow at him again and took a deep draw of your wine.

“Honestly, it never really came up. Anyway, you were with Tomas for so long…” he said, his gaze flickering towards you at the mention of your ex. “I know him through a friend. You know, Seymour?”

“Tiefling, long blue hair, more graceful than God?”

“That’s the one and only,” he said, starting to speak even more quickly than usual as his excitement mounted. “I’ll tell him you said that. Anyway, yeah, I know Dragh through Seymour, who actually knows Dragh’s half-sister better than he knows Dragh himself, and now you’ll know him through me. You are coming with me tomorrow, right?”

“Am I invited?” you asked.

“I’m inviting you…”

“Does he know?”

“Sweetheart, if anyone deserves a day of boozing in a fancy vineyard, it’s you,” he said, tossing you a meaningful glance. Your last relationship had ended badly, well over three months ago, and you still found yourself lamenting the large, minotaur-sized gap in your life, but you’d moved on as best you could. It hadn’t been right, and both of you had seen it coming. Still, that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt to end things.

The next morning you picked Tam and Seymour up and drove them about an hour out into the countryside. Rolling, south-facing hills were sparsely dotted with farmhouses, and as the summer sun climbed, you began to relax a little, leaving the stress of the city behind.

Seymour was tall and almost silent, but he allowed Tam to natter away at him in the back seat while you wound the window down and inhaled great lungfuls of the fresh air. Yes, it was nice to be out of the city. Perhaps you did need a change of scene after all. Dammit, Tam was always right…

You’d picked your nicest summer dress, though you remained perhaps a little self conscious about the curve of your hips and the extra weight you’d put on around the middle in the last six months or so. Taking a deep breath, you decided that you weren’t going to let even that dampen your mood, and as you drew up at the main stone gates of the old vineyard, you caught sight of an engraved slate sign set into the warm, golden stone wall of the vineyard. Garlanded at the base with summer meadow flowers, it read: Three Oaks Vineyard, and through the wide mouth of the entrance gateposts, visible on the hill opposite at the end of the snaking, downward sloping drive, you could see the three ancient oaks that gave the land its name.

“It’s gorgeous here,” you murmured as you drew up five minutes later in the gravel courtyard behind the old farmhouse buildings and cut the engine.

“Yup,” Tam giggled, slithering out and shaking the stiffness out of his compact muscles after being crammed in the back of the car for over an hour. Seymour sighed and stretched, rolling his neck out, his long, cobalt blue hair falling down his back in a thick ponytail. They both had hoofed feet, which was less common for tieflings, though Seymour’s legs were more like those of a deer than Tam’s chunky goat legs, and Seymour’s long tail, leonine hung behind him in a graceful curve like a cat’s, as though balancing him perfectly.

You admired your two lovely friends for just a moment before the door to what was clearly the reception area opened and a half-orc stepped out of the former storage and cellars building, and beamed broadly at the three of you.

“Seymour!” she said, spreading her muscular arms wide. She wore a form-fitting, but not obscenely tight, pencil skirt and a pale, loose-fitting, sleeveless blouse that showed off her gorgeous, strong figure just perfectly. Her skin was a pale, almost apple green, and you saw as she approached that she had a smattering of darker green freckles across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Her plum coloured lipstick set her other minimal makeup off perfectly, and she threw her arms around the elegant tiefling and drew him into a warm, familiar embrace. “So good to see you. I’m so glad you came.”

He turned and waved a hand to introduce you first, and then he turned back to face her and added, “Shell, I believe you already know Tam.”

“Yeah, we’ve met once or twice,” she said. “How are you?”

“Oh, I’m good,” Tam said. “Listen, thanks for letting us take over this failed hen-do or whatever…”

She laughed. “Dragh’s been wanting to do something with just a few friends for a while - this turned out to be the perfect opportunity.”

“So who else is coming?” Tam asked as you all followed her towards the main building, an old French style farmhouse in crumbling sandstone, with sage green shutters flung wide to let in the summer light.

“Maya said she would come,” she said, holding the modern glass door open for you all to file inside. “And Fern too.”

“Perfect,” Tam said, though you knew neither of the names. Seeing this, Tam added with a glance back over his shoulder to you, “Maya is Shell’s girlfriend,” he explained. “A big-ass beautiful centaur, and Fern is a friend of hers, I think?”

The half-orc nodded, but if she said anything after that, you lost it in the white noise that filled your brain at the sight of the orc that was standing  in the reception room beyond.

He wore a pale, silver-grey suit, and a white shirt beneath, unbuttoned just enough to be casual without being obscene, and the tattooed black feathers which you could just glimpse beneath his collar made you want to see the full extent of the artwork immediately. His black hair, perhaps unusually for an orc, was buzzed close above his thick, tapering ears, and cut relatively short over the top, though with enough length to create a soft wave that was just begging to have fingers run through it. There was an attractive flash of white that ran from the middle of his widow’s peak and was swept back over his head as well. He was certainly unusual looking in all the best ways.

He smiled as you entered, and approached you with his enormous hand extended. “Welcome,” he smiled. “I’m so glad you all came.”

You shook his hand - though it might have been more accurate to have said that his hand engulfed yours and you watched it disappear while trying not to let yourself groan aloud. His skin was a deeper olive green than his half-sister’s, but there was a similarity to them about the eyes, namely the warm brown colour and the little crinkle at the corner that hinted at mischief and a cracking-good sense of humour. You introduced yourself and said you hoped he didn’t mind you tagging along.

“Mind?” he chuckled, “Quite the contrary, I assure you,” he said. He had a rich, deep, warm bass voice, and a slight, lyrical accent you couldn’t quite place. “Come through, all of you. I’ve got some welcome drinks and nibbles prepared for you already.”

“A man after my own heart,” Tam grinned, elbowing you in the ribs.

The back of the farmhouse had been converted into a beautiful, glass and steel space. The small, intimate restaurant area had perhaps only four or five tables, and a wall of glass overlooked the sloping lawns of the garden and the vineyard beyond. Your feet faltered as you saw the gorgeous scenery beyond, stuffed full of verdant plants, and while the others headed over to the bar, which was made of a huge, vintage wine barrel and a stunning slab of polished heartwood, you stepped over to the window and gazed out, entranced.

A quiet footstep beside you preceded the appearance of the hulking form of Dragh in the periphery of your vision, and you jumped softly and laughed.

“Sorry,” he chuckled. “Didn’t mean to startle you. Here,” and he held out a glass of sparkling wine in an elegant flute, explaining a little about what it was. He gently chinked his glass against yours, and said quietly, “I’m glad you came along.”

“It’s so beautiful here,” you murmured, and he nodded. “How long have you had the place?”

He took a deep breath and smiled, his conker-brown eyes drifting off towards the sunny horizon. “A long time now,” he said. “I inherited it from parents when I was just eighteen. You can imagine how well a big city orc doing a business degree at university took that…”

You cocked an eyebrow, not wanting to make assumptions.

“Yeah, not well,” he chuckled. “Luckily Shell is older and wiser than me, and I gave her half of the shares of the place, and she took care of it for me til I finished studying. I’ve been working here with her ever since.”

“You’ve clearly put a lot of heart into the place,” you said. Your eyes snagged on a few buildings at the edge of the vineyard, and you nodded at them. “What’s down there?”

He smiled. “Shell’s idea - we needed to diversify a little, so we’ve got guest accommodation too. We do bed and breakfast from Fridays to Mondays.”

“Wow, what a place to stay,” you smiled.

“I’ll show you the cottages on the tour of the grounds in a minute. Come,” he said, stepping back and placing his hand lightly on your back, his huge palm resting politely between your shoulder blades and making you shiver at the warmth of it.

You headed over to the beautiful array of canapes and chatted with the others for a while, but honestly, it was Dragh who held your attention most. You found, interestingly, that his eyes often found their way to your face, and when they did, you found your cheeks heating, but all he would do would be to offer you a gorgeous smile, and continue his conversation politely. Damn though, his shoulders looked incredible in that silvery grey suit, and you could tell his biceps beneath were as solid as stone.

It was only when you realised he was looking at you again, and that everyone else has gone quiet, that you knew you’d zoned out and missed something. “I’m sorry,” you blushed, “I was miles away. What’d I miss?”

Dragh chuckled kindly, eyes twinkling. “I suggested a tour; you ready?”

You nodded, humiliated at your absentminded behaviour, and followed everyone else out into the dry heat of the summer day. Dragh walked beside you as he took you to the various parts of the vineyard, showing you the vines growing, the grapes almost ready for harvesting, and telling you stories of protecting them from late frosts with the help of a local witch in the middle of the night.

You never tired of his beautiful voice and his gentle gestures, and while Seymour and Tam wandered off with Shell to greet the others, you stayed with Dragh in the lower vineyards.

“Let me show you the cottages,” he said. “We redid them not long ago, and I’m really proud of them.”

“Sure, lead the way,” you smiled.

They were indeed gorgeous, with modern, cosy furnishings and white-washed yet warm interiors. Compact log burners promised heat in winter, and the thick stone walls provided welcome shelter from the strong summer sun outside. “I can see why you love them,” you said.

“If you want to stay after today,” he said, “You’re more than welcome. I know said he Seymour was going to drive you back, but if you like, you could stay here and I could drive you tomorrow…”

“Really? But… I… I couldn’t afford to -”

“No,” he laughed, “I wouldn’t ask you to pay for it!” he snorted. “No, I’m offering it to you. My gift.”

“Why?” you blurted, which only made him rumble that deep-chested laugh again.

“Can’t you tell?”

You flushed and he offered you a quiet smile.

“But if it’s too much, I’ll back off. I can be a bit much, I know, but… I like you, and if you go back tonight, I might not get another chance…”

“Chance to what?”

“Flirt with you,” he grinned, his tusks flashing.

“Oh,” and then you began to giggle. “I’m sorry,” you said when he started to look first confused, and then a little hurt. “No, I’m sorry, I’m just… out of practice, clearly. I broke up with my boyfriend about three months ago, and we were together for four years, so… I’m rusty. I’m sorry. I’d like that.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” he said, still smiling. “C’mon. You came here to taste wine, not listen to me bumble my way through flirting with you.”

He steered you back up to the main house, where you all spent the remainder of the afternoon lounging around, laughing, chatting, tasting small glasses of incredible wines, and nibbling local cheeses and handmade snacks. Maya joined you with Shell mid-way through the afternoon, her large, fetlocked hooves clopping on the patio as she moved about. Fern turned out to be a waif of a goblin, with thin limbs, pale lilac skin, and enormous ears and eyes. He grinned cheekily at you though and you liked him instantly.

But it was Dragh who held your attention the most. As the sun began to set, Shell started up a barbecue, and you ate and talked until you felt your eyelids beginning to get heavy. Seymour and Tam said they were going to head back, and asked if you were ready to go, but you blushed and said that Dragh had offered you a bed for the night in one of the cottages.

“Oh did he now?” Tam chuckled quietly as you stood at the edge of the ring of firelight on the patio, the central fire pit casting flickering shadows around the gathered group of mellow friends, new and old. “Good.” The short satyr gave you a hug and tugged Seymour away once they’d said their goodnights.

Maya and Shell slipped away not long after, with Fern practically vanishing into the dusk at their heels, leaving just you and Dragh alone.

“Did you have a good time?” he asked as he checked that the barbecue coals were cool enough to leave.

“I did, thank you.”

“Not too much to drink?” he asked, casting you a sideways glance.

You shook your head. “You paced it perfectly,” you smiled. “And that elderflower cordial that Maya brought was beautiful.”

“She brought it for Seymour because he doesn’t drink, and she didn’t want him to feel left out.”

“I was surprised that he came along when I found out he’s t-total…”

Dragh shrugged and then laughed, “There is more to this place than the wine, you know…?”

You tilted your head up, exposing your neck as you gazed at the summer stars above you, and hummed softly. “Mmm, so I see,” you said.

When you looked back at him, he was staring fixedly at your throat. “Gods,” he murmured. “You’re so beautiful…”

Your lips hitched into a nervous smile, and he set down the wineglass he’d been holding in one hand, and rose gracefully to come and tower over you. He leaned in close, giving you every opportunity to back away or ask him to stop, but when you did nothing but gaze up into his endlessly warm eyes, he closed the distance between you and pressed a kiss to your lips.

He tasted of wine, but then again so did you, and he slid his fingers around to the back of your neck and cupped your head as he kissed you, his eyelids fluttering shut. His lips were firm and confident, but the kiss ended all too soon as he pulled himself upright. He held out his hand to you, and you slid eagerly enough off the wall where you’d been perched, letting him pull you to your feet.

He walked you back down the slope towards the cottage, and at the door he hesitated. He was still wearing that beautiful suit, and you licked your lips as you stepped over the threshold and turned back to face him. “You coming in?” you asked, and he waited just long enough for you to smile again before following you inside.

Dragh nudged you gently against the wall as he kissed you again, his hands roving over your body, savouring the softness of you and moaning beneath the kisses. He shifted his attention and began to kiss down your neck, his tusks digging in almost painfully as he mouthed gently at you.

His hips rocked against yours and you felt how hard he was getting the longer he lavished attention on you. His breath left his lungs in uneven rasps, and he set his hands on your hips and drew back a little to look at you. His pupils were blown wide and he stared at you with glassy eyes. “Tell me you want this,” he growled. “If you don’t want it, I’ll stop, but if I keep going much longer, I might not be able to…” His ears shifted slightly, not being as expressive as a goblin or elf’s, but still showing a little of his uncertainty.

You reached your hand for his rough, if shaven, jawline and caressed his cheek with your thumb. He purred another growl into the quiet space between you, his eyes rolling closed with a groan.

“I want this,” you whispered.

He lost no time in herding you into the bedroom and pressing you down into the bed. He sloughed off his jacket and tossed it over a chair, and you felt the breath leave your chest at the sight of his taut body beneath. Muscles strained attractively against the fabric of his shirt, and as he smiled almost shyly at you, he began to unbutton the shirt. Frustrated, he pulled it over his head, and you gasped audibly when you saw the tattoos beneath.

A massive gryphon stretched from his left pec, over his shoulder, and its inky wings came to rest halfway down his forearms.

“Wow,” you murmured, and he smiled.

“You like it?”

“Yeah. It must have hurt like a bitch though,” you said, glimpsing the ink on his waist too where the gryphon’s taloned hind feet finished. “Turn around?” you asked, and he did, looking back at you over his colossal shoulder, watching you admiring him.

“That’s a sight I could get used to,” he rumbled softly.

“What?” you asked, shuffling up the bed as he turned back around and came to lie down beside you, trailing his fingertips up your leg and making you shiver with a touch light as a spider’s shadow.

Dragh smiled, a slow, lazy, adoring smile, and you bit your lip. “I could get used to you looking at me like that,” he clarified.

“I don’t think I would ever get used to the sight of you though,” you rasped. “You’re gorgeous.”

“Thanks,” he smiled, laughing a deep and genuine laugh. “I work hard…” he went on, kissing your shoulder almost affectionately. “Most folks think orcs are just born looking like this, and yeah,” he added, causally sliding his huge hand beneath the fabric of your dress and enveloping your entire thigh in his grasp, “We have it easier than most do, but…” he parted your legs with a gentle gesture, and you just lay back and let him, finding it hard to concentrate on what he was saying now. “But I do take care of myself.” He lowered his lips to your inner thigh and kissed you. “Let me take care of you now…?” he asked.

You gasped as his tusks dug into your thick thighs, and your head lolled backwards as pleasure swept over your whole body, sliding beneath your skin and setting every inch of you tingling. “Yes!” you whispered, breathing hard.

He had you naked in a matter of seconds, laying you back down tenderly and gazing at you until you nearly barked at him to stop staring. He leaned forwards and cupped your breast in his hand and kneaded it gently, moving his mouth to your nipple and kissing, sucking, and tugging on it until you were almost in tears from how good it felt.

Dragh ran both his hands down your body, leaving your nipples cold and overly sensitive in the cool air of the bedroom, and he sank his flat, orcish nose to your sex and nudged against your throbbing clit before lapping over you with his thick tongue. The sound that escaped him as he tasted you was like no sound you’d ever heard before, and as he returned his attentions to your wet folds, he made it again and again. He circled you and laved his tongue up and down over you until you were giddy and breathless, begging for more.

“Please,” you gasped.

“You want me inside you?” he asked, and you risked a glance down to see just how big he was as he sat up a moment. When you nodded, he grinned. “Gimme a second then.” You turned your head to watch as he drew out a condom and ripped into it. He rolled it slowly down his weeping, thick length, and you groaned as you watched him handling himself. He was huge, as most orcs apparently were, with a thick vein running along the length, and as he turned back to face you, he grinned. “Ready?”

An inarticulate grunt and a nod were all you could manage, but he smiled and lined himself up, rocking his hips teasingly back and forth to stretch you, rubbing the tip of his cock against your clit until you thought you might just come from that alone. Almost, but not quite.

“Please,” you hissed, and he smiled.

“You tell me to stop if I’m too much, ok?” he crooned, bracing one hand beside your head and sliding himself into you. He stretched you gloriously wide, but he didn’t know you’d been in a relationship with a minotaur before this, and were more than used to taking a big cock. Even so, the feel of him left you gasping. “Oh gods, you’re perfect,” he crooned suddenly as he sank all the way in, hilt deep. The girth of his cock stretched you until you thought you might break, but when you bucked upwards into him, he took it as a sign that you were ready, and he began to move his hips again.

He picked up a steady rhythm, growling and grunting with pleasure as his cock filled you and you clenched tightly around him. He shifted his thumb to your clit and stroked you in time with his thrusts, feeling you tightening around him with each pounding heartbeat, until you grabbed his muscular neck and came hard, waves of sparking pleasure sweeping through you.

You came so hard you drew his own orgasm from him, and he emptied into you a moment later with a bellow and a roar that left your ears ringing. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, his consonants slurring, his eyelids heavy with pleasure as he tried to look at you through the daze of his orgasm. “Is this real?” he added a moment later.

You laughed, and he withdrew, rolling onto his back and sorting himself out while you lay there and let your eyes drift closed for a moment. Deep contentment washed through you, and you took a steadying breath. You felt him leave to slip into the bathroom, but were barely aware of him returning. The mattress dipped as he sat on the edge and laid his hand on your thigh. He murmured your name, and you opened your eyes groggily to see him sitting there, now wearing his tight, black boxer briefs again.

“You want me to go?” he asked in a whisper.

You shook your head, and he smiled, climbing into bed beside you and pulling the sheets over both of you.

You drifted off to sleep not long after that, with his body pressed tightly around yours.

___________________________

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[scrapyardboyfriends]

Jenny’s Belated Live Blogging - 9th October 2019

- Well...that was worth watching...or not. Haha. Haven’t really missed much in a week have I? I mean...I have...and yet still, none of it matters. 

- ****Still highly concerned about Meg Johnson**** Does anyone know if she’s okay? All of this writing for Pearl is so strange without her actually being there. 

- Liam and Bernice are amazing. So there was one bright spot of the episode. I’m so sad that Sam Giles is leaving because Cavastock are completely perfect for each other and I’m not sure there’s anyone else to pair Liam up with now that they’ve gone so quirky with him. Who else would even work with him? I wonder when she’s leaving and how they’re going to make this happen because other than giving their big wedding to Sam and Lydia, they’re not exactly moving towards her going. I wonder if they will manage a quick wedding before she leaves or not. Sigh...sad. 

- Also...the brief bit of Andrea I got today, she is way better away from Jamie and Home Farm. 

- I just will never understand the Graham and Kim thing. It doesn’t make any sense and the fact that it’s such a hinderance to him just seems so ridiculous at this point. Also...I weirdly didn’t hate the Graham/Rhona thing. But also, I want Rhona to run as far away as she can. Haha. 

- Harriet and Will are boring as usual. I mean, they’re fine as a background couple but I’m not sure why their scenes were relevant today other than building up this Pearl story that I’m concerned about. 

- The Nate and Moira stuff continues to be absurd. Glad to see I missed nothing other than Pete finding out, which seems meh. I mean they’re still having the EXACT same argument and it’s still pointless and Moira still has no motivation for being with him and I still don’t understand why Nate wants to be with her either. Just....week 43 can’t come soon enough for that story even if I’d also like to delay it forever for Robron reasons. 

- The Kerry/Amy/Tracy/Vanessa story is just...ughh...at this point. This just reminds me of them building in the whole Leyla hits Maya over the head with a rock thing just so they couldn’t testify against her. I mean I know it’s a staple. It happened with Robert and Andy too but at least that was properly dramatic and a decent story. This is a repetitive mess that I just don’t care about anymore if they’re not going to do anything about it properly. I mean...I assume this can’t be it. I assume more people have to find out. But also, it does’t seem like they’re going to send either of them off to prison so...what’s the point?! I mean, the Robert/Andy/Katie/Shooting stuff at least was part of an age old feud. Them calling a truce felt like something bigger than just handwaving. They’d done a lot to each other over the years. This stuff with Tracy/Kerry just seems like an out and there’s no history between any of them anyway. Sigh...I wish it had been Kerry’s exit. And I hate that they’ve made Amy so unlikable now. 

- Anyway....Robron tomorrow! (can only be excited about that for a little longer so it gets a bullet point!)

[kendrixtermina]

Someone finally uploaded a Kingdom Route run with everyone recruited!

So imma be doing a bit of reacting

Kingdom!Ignatz works a bit like Empire!Felix  - He wanted to go his own way unlike what his parents said and is thus following Byleth. In this case it’s of course somewhat less angsty ‘cause the Victors have the means to flee if necessary, unlike Rodrigue who was a prominent leader of the kingdom side of things

In an interesting parallel to how half the cast abandons the kingdom cause it’s a sinking shipload of kamikaze, on the other routes, Raphael complains about the instability and confusing politics of the alliance and how she should probably grab Maya and his grandfather and get them to Garreg Magh. I suppose a lot of people without connections or political accumen must feel this way. the monastery IS light javelin proof, so yeah...Raphael isn’t salty toward Claude himself tho. Then again he has little capacity for salt and in his paralogue it’s kinda shown that he makes a deliberate choice to live a low-salt lifestyle its not just obliviousness, he actively doesnt want grudges or awkwardness in his life

Leonie is also here to babysit Byleth and tells them not to let Dimitri push them around 

Hilda: “The Monastery is a mess. So is Dimitri. I’m only here because Byleth is competent and Holst is annoying“

Dorothea and Bernie have so far gotten identical dialogues to the church route

Lysithea is interesting and kinda morally ambiguous. She says outright that she cares nothing for the kingdom or anything other than a peaceful life for her parents. She wants to get at the slitherers for her own revenge and they’re in the empire so she finds Dimitri’s revenge obsession convenient. Also very ironic cause, are she and Edelgard gonna fight each other because they both want to get at Thales? Very interesting bc vanilla BL doesn’t adress the slitherers that much - of course Lysithea says she has beef with “the empire” and doesn’t elaborate. At the same time Lysithea is MUCH more logical and self aware than most of the kingdom crew bar Sylvain so yeah

actually,  Lysithea, like Felix, has TONS of route specific dialogue. I guess the devs expected those two to get recruited a lot since they are just flat out the strongest students apart from the house leaders. 

The Kingdom is arguably just as infiltrated but Lysithea doesn’t know... and at this point Cornelia’s cooperating with the Empire anyways

General trend of the Alliance recruitees not being all that attached to the Alliance as they hardly knew each other at the start and half of them had nothing to do with politics

Nothing to do with the recruitees, but so THATS what happens if you propose to go to Fhirdiad first. Dimitri is like “You’re supposed to lead the church! Go rescue Rhea!” ...he doesn’t know the whole thing with Byleth being experimented on by Rhea (neither does Byleth at this point) but it is kinda low. Mitya you have no leg to stand on here indeed the main reason I was sympathetic to you last playthrough is that you never ASKED Gilbert & co to put you on the throne and made clear that you’re not interested in that... so following you was on them to an extent. but you don’t get to say “Do your Bishop job” (that Byleth never asked for) if you’re not doing your job cause you’re too busy doing your kamikaze raid. Then again he’s probably too emotional and just plain done with everything rn to see the contradiction/look at this with perspective he’s probably physically incapable of chilling out rn

It just ends with Byleth doing a pointed sadface. daamn Mitya don’t be mean to By-By she still believes in you dude : (  Though it makes sense he’s big on obligation he’s doing this revenge trip because he feels he must. So it’s more a distortion than it really is a contradiction, as far as he’s concerned he IS doing his duty...to the fallen. I guess if you can’t handle him at his “Go be a bishop or something” you don’t deserve him at his “my beloved~” 

Still hurts a bit tho. Especially when Claude, though not without his own agenda, was distinctly a good friend on the topic, “Teach you’re in charge now be more confident~ the church doesnt run you, you run the church”

Before Aillel Dorothea says something about the Kingdom people also looking undecided of where to march, but she also wonders if some fighting/ victory will quell uncertainty 

Also she and mercie are standing next to each other! Ive said before that it’s weird how they don’t rly have a support though they are the two most popular extroverted ppl on the campus... they GOTTA know each other at least on a smalltalk basis

Alois is like “These kingdom ppl dont seem to know what they want... but hey this allow YOU to shine as a leader”... so basically Byleth is running this show but for all that they’re a good field commander and decisive when it comes to immadiate practical problems, as far as big picture direction goes, well, Sothis’ “boulder” quote comes to mind. They just never had big attachments on convictions, the Felix support chain is also salient here. They kinda just did whatever job they were given until they found a bigger cause/purpose after throwing in their lot with one of the lords or the remaining saints.

I wondered how this would play out as the Kingdom route is very kingdom-specific, whereas Claude, Edelgard and the church all have an universal cause for people to get behind. I guess how this plays out is that before Dimitri’s turnaroud there’s the kingdom faction and the Byleth faction and Byleth is kinda trying to run the show as they think Dimitri would if he were at his best

Caspar is still on the more unphazed side but also substantially more phazed than on the church or GD routes, he wasn’t particularly close to Randolph but he’s not unaffected by Dimitri going a tad over the top here - he also has the takeaway that Dimitri probably never trusted him much since he was born in the empire.

Sylvain actually alledges something about Dimitri not socializing much with any Adrestians even back in the academy days if you recruit him on CF so this does not come out of nowhere. Also kinda makes me wish they had a support - theyre both naturals at smashing things but they have very different attitudes towards it. then again i suppose it would go alot like the raphael one

Ferdie recognizes Myrrdin is a strategically better location but as Aegir territory is closeby he wishes we could have invaded through there so he could take it back... Would the citizens want him back tho? After the war its a no-brainer cause he helped end it, the peasants arent going to complain about too much peace and prosperity nor are they gonna feel nostalgic about anyone who started a war with their tax money and then lost it, but if he waltzed into an area that had thus far been far from the frontlines, following his fathers’s exploitative management and 5 years of semi equal rights under edelgard? he might have been welcomed with  pitchforks, through no fault of his own. 

He says something implying hed like to come rescue his relatives implying that some of them are still alive. of course the pm deserves all Edelgard threw at him and then some, but id be curious about Ferdie’s other relatives. His mom probably looks just like him, because he sure didnt get the looks from his dad... or anything else really, apart from the crest and hair color. - though i think the a support with bernadetta implies that shes no longer around

Lorenz bitterly remarking that of course Claude and his dad eventually made peace since they both only serve their own interests. (”So long as their interests are in allignment they will continue to cooperate”)   Says the guy we just rescued from his endeavors in turncoatery. Lorenz you’re pretty opportunistic too, and as for your redeeming features Claude has those too - but of course you’ll never find out in this one. Still, it shows that he’s painfully aware that his father - whom he would have died protecting if we hadn’t spared him - is a villain and a hack

Claude isn’t super trusting and knows that he gets percieved as shifty so he promises people to get them theirs so that they support him out of self interest. No need to take a chace. Of course by the end of this route he WILL take big chance on Dimitri 

That says Lorenz is not SO biased that he can’t tell that Claude might be interested in working with the kingdom army

Lysithea (who surprisingly has TONS of unique dialogue here, and I like that it’s a complex mature plot) is having her doubts and not trusting Dimitri for all that she finds him an useful idiot. By and large you get the sense that many consider Byleth the leader of this operation, she’s glad that Byleth is there to issue sensible orders. She tells Byleth not to tell anyone and worries about what will happen once the empire’s vanquished. No faith in team Kingdom... at all. Understandable of course

Hilda’s dialogue is largely the same as in the church route and at times kinda the same in all routes but I like how she’s like “Claude might’ve looked like a lazy bum but he’s smart! If he says he’s on our side he will defs help!” before the gronder fiasco

A lot of NPCs stir the suspicion here so it stands out how much she totally trusts him like hes any other friend

As with the other routes with the recruitees you get an idea of what’s going on in the other territories such as Lysithea deducing that Judith must be backing Claude in his gambit

One moment you think Lorenz is going to add some somber insightful commentary to the sincerity of Claude’s offer but then he’s like, “Granted Dimitri is much improved. He must be asking us for help cause he trusts ME” XD Like... no friend. You’re almost right but if there’s anyone here he was faith in its Byleth. And then he’s even like, “Well no choice but to save poor Claudesy” On the one hand it shows that there not just pure hate there on the other... lulz. 

apparently one of the first things Dimitri did after getting his act together post gronder is profusely apologize to Caspar for that ugly business with Randolph. Thats a worthwhile detail and i want fanfic of it. Caspar being Caspar he wasnt really keeping a grudge, they’re a warrior clan and they were at war

They had to move out so quickly that Hilda had no time to go shopping in Fhirdiad #Priorities XD

Meanwhile Ignatz, like a normal person,  hopes his folks will be safe

hilda does eventually remember to maybe save her folks and claude but only after making Byleth promise to go on a shopping trip with her. Someone should probably write that fanfic

Someone told me that Ferdinand had some prominent critical lines but it was really just one, and it’s as I suspected actually just a variant of the same “a king can’t be emotional” line he gets in all the routes, this time with the addendum that if he turned around and decided to go rescue the capital, he might be capable of reason/being a decent leader after all.  granted I guess compared to how most of the Kingdom people go along with everything it comes off critical? IDK.

Lysithea misses Rodrigue :( 

Lorenz and Ignatz standing next to each other was a nice touch they have a fairly wholesome friendship

Leonie’s just glad that ol’ Mitya is “back to normal” especially since she’s pretty sure that they don’t have enough soldiers to get to Fort Merceus let alone Enbarr

For obvious reasons, Petra is pretty sympathetic about the whole “retaking Fhirdiad” thing

Seeing Seteth and Catherine so certain that Rhea would want them to save the people of Fhirdiad first when you know that she wouldn’t hesitate to set the place on fire is just...OUCH. Though it does show the goodness in Seteth and Catherine themselves. 

Manuela wishes she could’ve moved her informary to gronder and save a few more peeps :(

It seems like to Leonie, Dimitri will always be just “Dimitri”, King or not. Figures she aaaaalmost adressed even Byleth by name XD You really DO get the sense that he interacted alot with the recruitees

All the house leaders shouldve had more supports. 

If you grabbed hanneman he’ll give you some extra backstory on Cornelia - apparently she was originally from the empire and an eminent scholar whose great work Hanneman was vaguely aware of. I would assume that was still the real cornelia. Judging by the timing it sounds like she might’ve smuggled Patricia out of Adrestia. Assuming both were still original at this point this might present a possibility for why she trusted/vouched for cornelia without being complicit / lend itself to a “she was duped” reading

But it’s still suspicious that she would end up courting the second most powerful man in the land right after number one. 

Some had suggested that Cornelia caused the plague in the first place but the thing is there was a perfectly credible  “mundane” explanation for it (the city’s sewers not being up to date technologically) that theres no reason to doubt

Assuming that all the replacements occurred 14 years before part one when Arundel stopped his donations/ thins being about the time when Cornelia’s personality was noted to have changed completely, that would mean both the “fixing the severs” thing and the soppy story about how Edelgards’ parents met would be real 

AAAA everything to do with patricia is just so ambiguous - if they were longtime friends wouldn’t she have noticed something “off”? Same with her brother actually. Lambert had his own country so its not like there was no one to protect her. 

Ahhh THIS is how lorenz gets iinto the midset for that prissy, hes pissed that Claude dissolved the Alliance and misses it XD

you DO get to call him out for being a turncoat himself tho. particularly hilarious since Byleth just blinks and asks a casual question there

He immediately changes his tune

oh lorenz dear, i love you but you, sir, are WEAK xD

Lysithea as always calls everything and notes how suspicious arundel was alluding to the hrym nightmare also mentioned in her paralogue

She also mentions that he was said to be good and just at one point suggesting that there was a real Volkhard von Arundel at some point. 

if the replacement took place when those donations ceased then Edelgard and Dimitri were 3, 14 years before part 1. Early enough that this could be around the time Patricia left enbarr, if this is when it happened then the romantic tower story might be real assuming that the Arundels were replaced at the same time - whatever arrived in Faerghus recomended patricia for a job so it probably had already happened by then 

Its all so ambiguos tho we can only speculate there are so many possibilities

Ignatz marvels at how Claude managed to minimize damage to Alliance lands throughout the war, as in CF only Deirdru itself got particularly thrashed. Ignatz’ folks are safe and sound! Leave it to him to wonder where Claude might have absconded to. He was always one of the insightful ones but not in the same way as the other clever ones. More intuitive I guess. Cant remember if it was indentical to what you get if you spare Claude on CF (Cue the lets player remarking that Claude is probably stuck in a washing machine somewhere... he hadn’t cleared the Alliance route at that point)

Lol HILDA “And then the whole Alliance descended into chaos...” or actually she is surprised that that DIDNT happen and how orderly Claude managed the dissolution. “But I Guess we’re screwed if Dimitri turns out to be a crazed despot... he’s not gonna go crazy again is he?” You of little faith XD But she says all this in her usual cheery nonserious voice like

this chapter has a lot of unique dialogue actually

Linhardt  impressed that anyone would have the guts to attack Fort Merceus directly and suggests looking for weak spots in the old walls

He shows up guarding it in SS and Vw doesn’t he? Guess he was visiting Caspar or something - or would have been familiar with the place from visiting the Bergliez clan in the past. 

Ferdinand is wowed by Claude bowing out giving him kudos for caring about the peoples wishes. He thinks Edelgard ought to quit at this point and he’s alot harsher on her here than in any of the other routes. (”Not reveryone with noble blood has noble ideals” - Coming from Ferdinand that’s an accusation ) Interestingly at this point hes sticking with Dimitri cause post character developement, lots of ordinary ppl support him at this point and hes popular with the crowds. He’s wholly on the Savior King bandwagon, and maybe that’s why he’s harsher. He’s partial. Says something about him actually, largely good things when you think about it. Dimitri is probably the closest to what Ferdinand’s (and Lorenz’) own beliefs were. He likes the existing order and living in a fancy palace but he thinks the rulers should serve the people.

Its kinda ironic and sad because in ALL the other routes he clearly thinks Dimitri is an idiot and a bad ruler, and says he should be more composed and objective. But Dimitri wasnt at his best there now was he? 

 now ill be sad everytime I get to those “Ferdinand disses Dimitri” lines. They couldve been buds! 

but i dont see this happening in any other route. According to something Sylvain says in cf Dimitri avoided ppl from the empire  at the academy so they wouldnt have cozied up pre-timeskip, and its only the version of Dimitri who has his shit together which appeals to Ferdie as a leader. 

really torn here on the one hand its a nice synergy to see lorenz and especially Ferdinand (who is waaay less arroganz than lorenz) sort of getting to win on their own terms with a ruler that jives with them and their Lawful Good fantasy classic thing. It’s not just a status quo thing its a protectors of the people thing. It’s heroic.  On the other hand it feels like they’re stagnating when they could have had growth. This is basically the same Lorenz and the same Ferdinand we first met except slightly more mature.  Notably lorenz is the same in the church route whereas Ferdie isnt as he still ends up rebelling fleeing and fighting against the empire. It helps that he practically winds up leading the remaining Eagles, albeit under Byleth and Seteth.  

He still gets that line about being kinda sad to see the empire go though he knows there must be an end to the chaos, i think a few lines are different, so, not wholly without doubt

Shamir muses about hoe the three countries were once one and the same, but wonders that even if we put fodlan togethere theres no guarantee that it wouldnt come apart again. i mean there isnt, and wether thats a bad thing would depend a lot on the circumstances but its also possible that theyll get used to being one and forget they wrere ever separate. no one controls the far future... and should they? After all its always possible that someone in the future will have unforseeable circumstances or better ideas

Caspar sighs with relief that they didn’t have to fight his dad, last second worry about him turning up in the capital nonwithstanding... right does he get to live in this? Carpar wonders what’ll happen to him if they win, but he’s not holding down Faerghus so he might not have died the way he did in Silver Snow and Verdant Wind. It’s at least possible that he was captured alive and pardoned somehow. 

Marianne’s adoptive dad sure smelled which way the wind was blowing; He was supporting Claude’s strategy to get the Cloucesters back under controll but sent Marianne to curry favor with the kingdom. Make friends with whoever wins I suppose. Ambitious politician indeed. 

When she doesnt her from him in a while she wonders if he forgot about her but says she wouldnt mind that much because at least she wouldnt have to do any more politics? I distinctly recall that in gd there was something about how they got along better after the timeskip. Sigh. 

she is real glad that Dimitri and claude ended up cooperating in the end

So does Dorothea but then she makes herself sad wishing that Edelgard was also there :( Me too friend, me too.  I think thats the one unique line she gets this route. I like how it’s consistent in the church route she’s also the one who feels the most sad about betraying her, they were pretty close pre timrskip 

as far as leonies concerned Dimitri is still just Dimitri even after taking back his kingdom. i like to think hed appreciate that. its also very typical of leonie. as with the “Caspar gets an apology” thing plenty of the recruitees get lines hinting that theres been more personal interaction between them and dimitri, kinda goes with how ppl in his own house follow him more out of personal loyalty than because they follow his plans like with the other two. hes kinda a very approachable sort of leader, makes the decisions with the group or follows whatever gilbert and Byleth decide, in the other routes theres always a distinct inner circle. Its cool how they incorporated the recruitees into that dynamic. 

Petra is dissapointed that they DIDNT do a sneak attack on fort Merceus contrasting her usual line about how she likes sneak attacks.  Dimitri naps both that an Enbarr head on doesn’t he? The Church has a smaller Army full of peeps who would rather not destroy Enbarr, and Claude agrees with Petra on the sneak attack thing and then Edelgard did that sorta shady but largely very gutsy thing where she didn’t sound the evacuation to restrict Claude’s movements knowing that there was zero danger that he would plow through the civilians (they don’t do this here cause last time they met Dimitri he was not feeling merciful indeed judging by huberts welcome lines and engage quotes he doesnt buy the turnaround), the AM ending narration also suggests that Enbarr wasn’t rebuilt, though Dimitri gave distinct “No pillaging!” orders, so they probably just couldn’t avoid wrecking the buildings and relocated the citizens. 

Ashe also speculates where Claude went. That’s one of the things i like about Ashe he consistently averts out of sight out of mind I particularly always loved how he consistently worried about Dedue. Someone ought to. 

Ingrid interestingly changed her tune here / kinda speaks positively of claude here - in CF she was like “I always though he was creepy”

Then again that was before fighting him I don’t recall If those two dont get the same lines if you spare Claude,  have to go back and check

id like to mention that the lets player put lorenz in the pyjamas/loungewear the whole time as “punishment” for being late to the reunion and poked fun at him throughout.