#I've seen other languages translating it with second son

[micia-posts-stuff]

I'm a bit sad the english translation of the manga decided to go with sy-on boy (scion boy) for Damian's nickname instead of something similar to "second son" (wich wuld be the correct translation of Jinan). I feel like scion doesn't really convey the full implication of second son. He's not only the scion, having to keep up with his family's expectation, but he's also the second son, living in his brother's shadow, so not only trying his best but also having to match his brother's best. "Second son" implies both that he is the son of someone important in the story and that he is the second one, having someone else that he is compared to, "scion" only implies the first thing. It doesn't really matter right now, but I can imagine a future scene where Damian is frustrated trying to reach his brother's level and still being second to him and saying to Anya something on the lines of "even you call me second son", but this woulnd't make much sense in the english translation since they went with scion.

I also remember someone pointing out that he got second place even in the midterm exams, enough for a stella, but still, I don't think it's a coincidence. I feel this stuff will have a big impact on his character in the future.

[meichenxi]

languages, travel, identity, grief

Maybe some of you have heard of Xu Zhimo's Second Farewell to Cambridge (徐志摩 再別康橋 Translation: Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again, by Xu Zhimo | East Asia Student). It's an achingly lovely poem about a Chinese scholar who studied in the UK, and how he left so gently, taking nothing with him as he went. It brought me solace over the last year.

I thought for a very long time about how I felt about having to leave China, and what it felt like to mourn for a future that was never going to mine. I cried. How am I supposed to explain why? I'm not Chinese. I've got no family there, or a childhood to look back on. I couldn't explain it even to myself.

That pain was coupled with a type of uncertainty, a discomfort at myself for feeling so strongly. This feeling was not allowed. It meant - what? Something awful, probably. I was a racist, probably. I should hate myself, probably. Fetishization is the word that gets thrown around for white people and their time spent in East Asia at one end of the spectrum - at the other end it's just seen as embarrassing and deeply, you know, cringe. It's a self-interrogation - why do I feel so sad? Why do I feel this pull so strongly anyway, to a country that's not even mine? Why should it matter so much when I leave? I didn't feel like this grief has any sort of legitimacy. But it has taken from September - eight months after leaving - for me to pick up Chinese again.

I felt, for months, hollow and unsettled and drifting from place to place. I opened my textbook, and closed it again. The memories there were too painful. I'm not going to write about why I had to leave, but it wasn't by choice. I had loved the people in the school, even if it was for a short time. When you have no internet and are training eight hours a day, the days are coloured more sharply: bright and hurtful and wonderful all at once. We had no running water. It was in an abandoned hotel. I miss the monk at the temple door opposite the school, always on time at 6am to open it for our classes. I miss the folk at the local shop who invited me to watch films on their projector; once they killed a chicken for us. I miss the woman in the woods who gave me the chestnuts she had picked. I gave the chestnuts to the cook, and we steamed them and ate them by the lake. He wanted me to marry his son; he wanted it so strongly that he brought me pork, and desserts, and gave me paper, and promised me I could have a jade bracelet, that he would buy me a house. I miss the oldest martial arts teacher, who spoke in such strong dialect I could barely understand him. When I was sad and missing home one night, he told me that I should stay after dinner. In the silence and against the cicadas, he started to play the erhu for me. Later, my friend told me that he hadn't know what to say, how to comfort me; I was a foreigner and a young woman, after all. We had very little in common. But nobody has ever played a piece of music for me like that before.

And I miss X, my best friend there and partner in snack-smuggling crime. She is 19 years old, and a janitor's daughter, and one of the wisest people I have ever met. (She also rides an excellent motorbike, and lent me her hanfu, and we sped through the city giddy with our own daring and trying not to be caught.) We got matching haircuts; she had always wanted to cut her hair like a boy, and was too scared to do it alone. When I left, I told her to stay in touch: she shook her head. She said that some people were meant to know each other for some time, and no more. I think the death of friendship by attrition, by - as Elrond said! - the slow decay of time, is one of the saddest things of all. I deleted Wechat. I don't want to read over the old messages. By having this place - her, and the chestnuts, and the cicadas - as a memory, I can tuck it away it. I can keep it close.

I wrote a poem myself on the plane. That was the last I thought about China, the last thought I let myself have, in eight months. I kept myself away from it. It felt like a wound. And against that hollowness, there was constantly the question: Why should I have any right to miss this place? Who I am there? Why does it matter? We are all different people, wherever we go, and whoever we are with; we wear different skins, large or small. In China I was [...]. She was who I was. That name, that I introduced myself to people with - she was bright and friendly and tried to translate things just so. Everybody who goes as the only foreigner to a place - or the only foreigner that speaks the language - is a little bit self-obsessed. It happens. It's unfortunate, and something to guard against. But it also gives you its own kind of identity in a way: your identity is Foreigner. Your identity is a cultural bridge. Everyone you meet, in a country as friendly and curious as China, has questions about you. You stand with your feet in both worlds, and are not really part of either of them. That identity is easy to slip into, like cool water, like trying on new clothes. It's easier that thinking: who am I outside of that? Where am I going? I don't really know. I don't think anyone really does.

And then the second thing happens. I speak Chinese well, by this point. My accent is there, but it's slight. I am short, and have dark hair, and a generally similar build to many East Asians - so the questions I have got in the last few years have changed. Sometimes people think I have been raised here. Sometimes they think I am ethnically Russian, and nationally Chinese. Sometimes I get asked if I am half Chinese. Usually they know I am a Foreigner, 100% white - but not always. There is a peculiar rush that comes from that acceptance; from feeling the relief, just for fifteen minutes, that you belong. It's not about 'passing', or race-bending, or anything twisted - it's nothing so unnerving as that. It's just the human need to belong. Everyone gets tired of being stared at, after a while. And after a while, you start to think - I wish I understood. I wish they understood. I wish this were easy.

But then the conversation keeps going. You don't know a local word, or you misunderstand. You say something in a strange way, or you make a strange gesture, and the glass shatters, and - there you are again, naked again, exhausted again, explaining yourself again. That's the other half of it. There's solace in the Foreigner identity, because that means that's all you are. You don't have to think about your parents, or whether they worry about you so far from home; of course they do. The Foreigner is good and filial and a wonderful daughter. You can craft her into any shape you like. But it also marks you out again and again, endlessly and again, as Other.

There was a paper published a while ago that showed measures of acceptance of non-natives in native-speaking communities. It highlights a strange, but familiar experience to those who have lived abroad - the people who spoke the language to a medium level felt more accepted and less lonely than those that spoke the language to a high degree. It makes sense, and mirrors what I have found with both Chinese and German. When you speak a little Chinese, you are a wonder - a curiousity! Look at the Western girl go! People are kind, and curious, and will slow down to include you in conversations. You are thrilled with what you can access - all this knowledge, that other people don't have! Look how special you are!

And then you get better. And then you realise, cut by cut, that you will never be one of them. You don't want to be Chinese, per se; but you do want to be accepted. You are happy to be British; but you miss China like a wound, an old one, festering, even when it was never yours. How do you tell your family that you are not grieving a lost romance, a beautiful girl, but a language and a life? That there are words of majesty, of playfulness, that will never be yours? You speak well enough that people no longer bother to dumb things down, or explain them; you sit with your discomfort, smile painted on, because - you know. It's not bad. You understand most of it. And on the edge of that circle, smiling uncertainly, following the vast majority of what is being said, you are not clever enough and not witty enough to keep up with the chengyu, the cultural references, the slang, and the raucous laughter around you erupts, and you don't know what you've missed, and everybody says - she's quiet, that one. Maybe all the foreigners are? And all you are doing is sitting and feeling the distance between You and Them as heavy and as stifled in your chest as an ocean of dark.

So you go back. Back to your people. But when you sit with the other foreigners, you are apart. They laugh; what are these nutters doing? The Chinese don't make any sense. The Chinese do this - they do that. You sit there, and then there is a pressure building in your chest too, a discomfort, the desire to stand up and say - well, actually.

You are responsible for everything the Chinese teachers do, and have to explain things in a way that the students understand - Confucian thought, and Buddhist philosophy, translated in pithy bite-size adages for the West. You have no qualifications for this; everything you assert, you feel unsure. Uncertain. Someone else could explain it better, more nuanced, and you need to do more reading anyway - but here you are, and here they are, and you're the only one. And you do know. Not enough, but enough that their jokes, their pains, make you uncomfortable. You feel the need to defend both parties; to be a diplomat, every second of every day. In turn, when the students come to the teachers with problems, you have to translate their grievances in a way that the Chinese teachers will be sympathetic towards. Once I got asked: why do you never join us after class? Why are you always so quiet when you're not working? As a translator, you are always working. Every time you speak, you are working; what you choose to say, and what you choose to not say, and where you choose to intervene. You are building relationships, and disappearing, and you are becoming invisible, and you're a nothing, and you're everyone and you're nobody and nobody realises you are doing anything more than translating at all.

I wanted to stay. I couldn't have stayed. I wanted to be accepted as one of them. I wanted to be accepted for who I was. That means a foreigner. I wanted to be true to myself, which means that I would always be the Foreigner, which means I would always be apart from them. It is that contrast and juxtaposition which causes the grief. And there was never an ending to it, a resolution, a chance to reconcile myself (in China) with myself (in the UK), because all at once I had to leave. The grief comes most from the second arrow - not the pain of leaving, but the bewilderment of not knowing why I was in pain at all.

It's been eight months. Slowly, as spring comes, I feel like I am on surer ground. I can look at my old books, those painstaking notes, and I could look at new ones too and I'm starting to think, because this is what I tell my students, and maybe there's some truth in it - it's okay if you're not perfect. It's okay if you didn't achieve what you wanted to, and that the language - in its wholeness, and who can ever know that? - will never, not quite, be yours. It's the struggle and the process that means that I will know and understand Chinese in a different way, in my own way, in a slanted-to-reality sort of way, that is a treasure in and of itself. There is beauty in its brokenness too.

And there is sorrow, too. The sorrow that comes with easing yourself into a different life, and it holding you gently for a while. I sat there - I spoke to them. It's not only missing a place; it's missing a person you were, a stage of your life, for a time. It's knowing that a place has reached inside your ribs and taken root there - even if you don't return, you can never fully get rid of that again. You are two people now, with feet straddling two oceans. There are parts of you that loved and suffered and hated and grew in Chinese, not English. You can't explain that. You can't even begin. Sometimes - not often - you are a stranger in your own land. The poets spoke of that. In the age of fast travel, of the weekend break, we have forgotten the ways a place can burrow itself inside you, and find its own home.

It's not the same as the grief that someone Chinese will face. But it's still grief. I have put my life into Chinese. Maybe that is all it takes to grow love.

Now, I turn back to Chinese - as a foreigner, as Melissa, as myself. It's a bittersweet thing. I know that I cannot hold all of it. It will spill out, like the sun, and there is no way I can be that without losing myself and my history and my own green woods. But I think I am ready now. I am surer, and a little steadier on my feet.

[tobiasdrake]

Dragon Ball Daima 01x06 - Lightning

Got: x1 Plane.

Lost: x1 Plane.

Well, that was fast.

*laughs in Daikaioshin*

I could say Beerus or Zeno, but Goku did specify that Kaioshin is the greatest of the "god-like Kaios", not of the gods. Not that he would even know anyway; This is pre-Beerus so he has no way of knowing about gods beyond Kaioshin.

Nonetheless, he's pretty close to right. However, it'd be more accurate to say Kaioshin is the greatest remaining Kaio. There is a seat beyond him. It's just. Vacant.

This is shameless Gohan erasure.

Assuming we're even in-continuity with Super (Which, given the retconning of how Kaioshin and Kibito split, is not guaranteed), Goku hasn't unlocked God forms yet. Ultimate Gohan is the strongest in the universe at this point in time, and the only person who can actually do what Glorio promised the king: Throw hands with Majin Buu and win.

You'd think Kaioshin would know that, since he was there for the whole thing.

These guards interrogating our travelers about Goku's whereabouts is trying to be tense. However, it's hard to sell tension when the only reason anyone seems to be in danger is because Goku's off taking a shit.

We all know he could merc these two guards in five seconds flat if they succeeded in finding him. We've already seen him shitstomp an entire squad of these guys.

Nonetheless, this scene is interesting for the reveal of Panzy's collar beneath her scarf.

They've talked about this before, how all the Third Worlders are collared and can be tracked by them. But there's something really dark and chilling about seeing even the princess forced to wear something like this.

Like "Namekians are actually cross-dimensional beings from another reality who migrated to this universe", "Kaioshin is part of a god-race that's born from tree fruit" is another piece of Toriyama Interview lore finally making its way into the series proper here.

I can't wait to meet the ghost of Dr. Gero's dead son who's inexplicably wandering around Daimakai. :P

You know. This line has me really thinking about Namekians and Kaios/Glinds. We tend to default to masculine pronouns for them because that's what the English translations use.

However, Japanese is frequently a gender-neutral language. It often shuns non-first-person pronouns entirely, preferring to say things like,

Krillin: Goku! We should go spar together! Goku: I would love to spar with Krillin! Krillin: Yeah, it's been so long since I've sparred with Goku and the others. Yamcha: Hey guys, are we sparring? Krillin: Yamcha! Goku came by. Do you want to spar with Goku? Yamcha: Sparring with Goku and Krillin would be great!

In fact, use of pronouns - especially second-person pronouns - can actually make you come across as rude. It can be the equivalent of verbal finger-pointing.

English translations will often insert their own pronouns into the dialogue to sound more naturalistic to English ears. Which means a lot of the pronouns you read or hear in manga and anime are made up by the translators.

It's been a Toriyama Interview plot point for a years now that the Kaios come from a genderless race. But putting a finger on it like this here has me thinking.

I sincerely wonder how much of the gendered language around Namekian and Glind characters in the original manga was actually from the source, and how much was made up in translation?

Like. Namekians have no gender, but the gender they don't have is male. They all use he/him pronouns.

But.

Do they? Or is that just how it got translated into English? Should we have been using They/Them for Namekians and Kaios this whole time?

Very curious now.

That being said, it could honestly go either way. In the same breath that Kaioshin says Glind have no genders....

...he repeatedly genders Arinsu with 彼女 kanojo, the female third-person pronoun and calls her 姉 ane, his older sister. Arinsu is unambiguously gendered with the language he uses, despite bringing up "We don't have genders" as a response to Panzy calling her a woman.

Some real

Panzy: There's that Glind woman too right? Kaioshin: Excuse you, her pronouns are she/her. Panzy: ...that's what I said, though.

energy to this exchange.

Joke's on you, Kaioshin.

You're the only one who has a problem with it. ^_^

His gun is so huge.

Things are finally moving with Glorio now that we know the truth behind who he's really working for.

Makes me wonder what the game plan here is, though. Especially since Glorio thinks he can take Goku, so it's not like they brought Goku here to have him assassinate Gomah so Arinsu could take his throne or something.

The group deliberating the Minotaur's desire to cook and eat them, while also discussing who should fight him? Funny.

That discussion turning from "Glorio should fight him" "No Goku should fight him" into Goku and Glorio stepping outside to fight each other while this poor confused predator just wants to eat?

Priceless. XD This is the best scene that Glorio's participated in yet.

I like the implication that Majin magic isn't something that can be picked up by Ki Sensing. Goku can feel how strong Glorio's ki is, something Glorio himself doesn't know about or understand, but still be surprised by the strength of Glorio's magic because that isn't detectable within his ki signature.

The best part of this fight is the emphasis it pays to Kaioshin sizing up Glorio. He recognizes something in Glorio's magic that threatens to give the game away.

I've been pretty lukewarm on the "Kaioshin investigating Glorio's secret" stuff thus far. Glorio just hasn't been an interesting enough character for me to really invest in his mystery. Finding out who he truly is working for still leaves me pretty meh on the character.

But this whole fight scene, where Kaioshin uses Goku and Glorio's unnecessary pissing contest as a prybar to wrench secrets out of Glorio he didn't realize he was giving away? Perfect.

Bulma tries to get the other ship working and then it doesn't work and fails. And we already know that a Majin is on their way to pick up Bulma and the others so it's not clear if repairing the ship even matters anymore.

It will be interesting to see if something actually comes of this scene or if it's just what I like to call Cashing the Check.

"I have absolutely nothing for these characters to do, I am not ready to advance their story in any way, but I do have some time to kill so it'd be neat if they popped in. Just to say hi and remind the audience that they exist."

That's all I'm expecting this bit to amount to, but we'll see.

Overall, this episode feels like they had one really fucking awesome scene they wanted to write: Goku vs. Glorio, finally showing the full extent of what Glorio is made of and advancing the mystery of Glorio's true agenda.

But needed to stretch it out to an entire episode, and so there's a lot of just faffing about before and after. Some of it's really good faffing about. The Minotaur is hilarious. But it's still faffing about and just counting down the clock until we get to the one important scene.

Far from the best episode we've had, but far from the worst too. And a really fun fight.

[godsofhumanity]

BOOK I | HOMER'S ODYSSEY | LITERATURE REVIEW

SUMMARY: The Olympian gods decide that it's finally time for Odysseus to be freed from Calypso's island where the latter wishes to make Odysseus her husband against his will. Meanwhile, Athena visits Odysseus' son Telemachus in Ithaca and encourages him to first assemble the men of Ithaca and complain about the suitors who plague his house trying to woo his mother Penelope, and second, to prepare himself to travel to Pylos and Sparta in aid of his missing father.

all books / next book

before i break down the chapter, i wanted to make a note about Samuel Butler's translation and some notes he himself gives in his preface.

Butler's translation is in prose which, i think, is easier to read than the original poetic form of the book. this obviously means that some parts of the original translation are lost, but i think that in other places, the prose probably adds to the work. anyhow. if you've read my iliad review, then you know that i am not really concerned with an analysis of the language structure and other technicalities of the Odyssey, but rather, the symbolism and motifs of the text, which don't necessarily require a direct poetic translation to be appreciated.

secondly. i think it's important to understand the geographical context of the Odyssey as it helps us to better appreciate certain character motivations as well as the tediousness of Odysseus' journey.

Butler suggests that the Odyssey revolves around Trapani, Sicily and not actually Ithaca. however, i want to say that that theory doesn't really make sense because Trapani, originally formed during the Bronze Age, was held under Elymian rule (a people originally from Troy in modern-day Turkey) until the First Punic War in the 3rd century BC when the Roman Empire took over.

the Odyssey, likely compiled into a standardised, cohesive narrative by Homer after several prior years of being told as an oral tradition, is suggested to have been formed in the 8th century BC, which is,, obviously, much earlier than the First Punic War.

the map below shows the areas of Greek expansion. note that Trapani sits on the left side of Sicily, and is marked in yellow to show that it wasn't colonised by the Greeks but remained under Elymian rule until the Romans came in. what this means is that it's quite unlikely Homer would have seen Trapani, and even though many of the geographical landmarks described in the Odyssey seem to match with Trapani's landscape, for the remainder of this review, we'll just accept the general idea that modern-day Ithaca, Greece is Odysseus' Ithaca.

so, in saying that, below is a map of Odysseus' journey,, and then below that, a modern map of the world so you can orient yourself.

there was another interesting note by Butler that the Odyssey was actually written by a woman living in Trapani, but i've already gone on a tangent and i haven't even started!!!!!!! so let me skip that and you can look into it on your own time if you're curious :)

now, the last time we heard from Odysseus was during the funeral games for Patroclus... we don't actually read about the sacking of the Troy or Odysseus killing Astyanax or anything like that.. it ends with Hector's funeral and that's it.

annoyingly, the Odyssey continues its "let's-start-in-the-middle-of-the-story" style from the Iliad (the name for this technique is in medias res btw!), and Book I begins with Homer recounting, very briefly, about Odysseus having already left Troy and becoming trapped on Ogygia with Calypso.

then, we come to a familiar scene of the gods meeting together and discussing humans. something i find very interesting is that, on the discussion of men's folly, the gods say that it is mankind's own fault, and then mankind says that "it's all in Zeus' hands".

"See now, how men lay blame upon us gods for what is after all nothing but their own folly." (Zeus to the council of the gods, Book I, the Odyssey)

"...as long as my father was here it was well with us and with the house, but the gods in their displeasure have willed it otherwise..." (Telemachus to Athena, who is disguised as Mentes, Book I, the Odyssey)

obviously, context is important for these two quotes because Zeus is referring to the greed of Aegisthus in lusting over Clytemnestra even though he was explicitly warned by Hermes that he would be killed for doing so,,, and Telemachus is, unknowingly, describing the fact that Helios rightfully punished Odysseus & his crew for eating his cattle thus leading to the first delay in Odysseus' return journey... BUT, even so,, i find this battle between the philosophy of the gods vs. men intriguing. Fate is a real concept for the characters in the Odyssey... can anything be truly freely willed if everything is predetermined to Fate anyhow? idk!

anyways. after Athena leaves the council, she magically transports herself to Ithaca in 2 seconds flat, and takes on the disguise of Mentes, the king of the Taphians. Book I describes:

"Telemachus saw [Athena] long before anyone else did... said he... 'Tell me and tell me true, who you are and where you come from.'" (Telemachus to Mentes, Book I, the Odyssey)

i want to note here that Telemachus observes Mentes first! but he does not know that Mentes is Athena. he recognises her as a stranger, but he does not perceive the divine.

let's go back for a second to the Iliad in Book II when Athena flies from Olympus to the ships of the Achaeans to meet Odysseus:

"Down [Athena] darted from... Olympus, and in a moment she was at the ships of the Achaeans. There she found Odysseus... standing alone... Odysseus knew the voice as that of the goddess." (Book II, the Iliad)

there's no indication that Athena appears in disguise to Odysseus which may be the reason that Odysseus recognises her immediately and Telemachus does not. but i personally feel that this is more an indication of the growth of the respective characters.

in the Iliad, Odysseus is already a seasoned, notable warrior of his own renown. in the Odyssey, Telemachus is still a child in his father's house. he attempts to make himself a master of Ithaca as his father was, but he doesn't do this successfully-- the suitors make a havoc of his house and abuse his hospitality. he doesn't have the control that Odysseus has. he is STILL a child, still finding himself.

therefore, i believe that Telemachus noticing Mentes but not knowing that he is Athena is a symbol of his potential.. that he has the ability to be as great and honourable as his father, but is not yet there. in many ways, i think the Odyssey is as much about Odysseus' journey to reach home as it is about Telemachus journey to leave his home and become a man in his own right.

later in Book I, when Athena departs, this postulate seems to be proven true when Telemachus does end up realising who exactly Mentes is:

"With these words she flew away like a bird into the air, but she had given Telemachus courage... He felt the change, wondered at it, and knew that the stranger had been a god..." (Book I, the Odyssey)

he doesn't pinpoint that it is Athena herself... there's a difference between the earlier quote of Odysseus recognising Athena's voice as that of "the goddess" and not simply "a god" as Telemachus concludes... i don't know what happens in the rest of the book, but it would be interesting to see if Telemachus' perceptions of divinity get better throughout the books.

moving back a bit to the content of Athena's actual speech to Telemachus. her goal here is to encourage Telemachus to get a grip on Odysseus' house and to prepare himself for his father's return.

i think Homer is very explicit in making Telemachus a likeable character to his audience. he leaves no doubts in the reader's mind that, even though Telemachus is having trouble with the suitors now, he is definitely Odysseus' son and will find the strength he needs. this is shown through the comparison of the physical resemblance between Odysseus and Telemachus:

"You are indeed wonderfully like [Odysseus] about the head and eyes..." (Athena as Mentes to Telemachus, Book I, the Odyssey)

in fact, Telemachus' "ascension" to the level of reputability and status that Odysseus has begins with Telemachus' somewhat cold ordering-about of his mother Penelope when she asks the bard to change his song (he was singing about the Trojan War):

"Make up your mind to it and bear it; Odysseus is not the only man who never came back from Troy... Go, then, within the house and busy yourself with your daily duties, your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants; for speech is man's matter, and mine above all others-- for it is I who am master here." (Telemachus to Penelope, Book I, the Odyssey)

i think there are two important parts in the above passage-- 1) Telemachus refers to his father directly by name, and 2) Telemachus refers to himself as the Master of the house.

on the first point, it may be nothing, but i think that Telemachus calling Odysseus by name and not by "Odysseus, my father" hints at Telemachus' distance with Odysseus. keep in mind that Odysseus has been gone more than 10 years. when he was recruited for war, Telemachus was a baby. Telemachus does not KNOW Odysseus.

even with the earlier point about Athena saying Telemachus looks like Odysseus... what would that even mean for a boy who has never even really met his dad?

i sneakily looked ahead at some of the other books and Nestor's son refers to Nestor as "Nestor, my father", and even Telemachus eventually refers to Odysseus as "my father" and not directly by his name. so i think this lapse in the use of "father" on Telemachus' part paired with the coldness of his speech to his mother, telling her essentially to "stop crying about the war, your husband is dead, get over it like everyone else has", shows Telemachus' anger with his father and his estrange-ness. at this point, it is obvious that Odysseus really needs to return RIGHT NOW if he wants even a semblance of a relationship with his family.

the second point about Telemachus calling himself the master of the house needs to, i think, be read in conjunction with the succeeding passage about Telemachus telling off the suitors in his house:

"Then Telemachus spoke... The suitors bit their lips as they heard him, and marveled at the boldness of his speech." (Book I, the Odyssey)

i don't think the suitors would have "marveled at the boldness of his speech" if Telemachus had been firm with them from the very start. no, i think that they are surprised because, previously, Telemachus wasn't very confident about anything at all.

so when Telemachus says "it is I who am master here", i think this is a "sudden" revelation. it suggests that previously, he has been running away from this responsibility. he hasn't been addressing the suitors as he should be. but, now, after meeting the goddess, he is invigorated. he is ready to go forth on his own odyssey and accept his fate.

note further, that when Telemachus berates Penelope for being miserable, in the passages preceding this moment, Telemachus himself was moping about and being miserable.

"Telemachus saw [Athena, disguised as Mentes] long before anyone else did. He was sitting moodily among the suitors thinking about his brave father, and how he would send them flying out of the house..." (Book I, the Odyssey)

this contrast of Telemachus being moody and then berating Penelope (and therefore himself) about being moody, shows his "transfiguration"... the beginning of the character development that we will continue to see in the next books.

FURTHER READING:

context for and structure of the Odyssey (sparknotes)

geographical setting of the Odyssey

[reveriesofawriter]

book rambling don't mind me

the book kept saying anharion was his title... so was that also his name? did his name become a title when the Betrayal happened? does "anharion" translate to Betrayer or is that just what he's known as? was it a mistranslation from the old language? edit: I just reread the part where sarcean said he used to be called something else and now I feel like that's going to give away the whole ~is he the sun prince~ thing

I've seen some theories about the Collar and to what extent it actually controls james and like. as much as it would be less big and exciting to see it this way... what if the Collar is mostly symbolic? bc sarcean can talk people into doing what he wants anyway and james was obviously not immune to the charm (it's magnified for him even) well before will knew anything about himself or his powers so what if the collar was just a way to show other people that anharion belonged to him? but GOD if this moral stronghold of not wanting to manipulate james into kissing him and wanting him to do it of his own free will stops these boys from having a lil smooch for the majority of the third book I will Die

I've also seen people try to draw lines between will/sarcean and james/anharion as far as their past/present personalities and the consensus seems to be that will has a more clear line between himself and sarcean but I saw someone say it was more like intrusive thoughts and I think that's fascinating, also that will is seeing james and not anharion the betrayer when he looks at james but james in every sense is this cocky little asshole (affectionate) who flirts and uses his powers to take advantage of people while anharion in the past wasn't like that sooooo I think will isn't Seeing james as who he is I think he's seeing anharion for who he used to be before he turned against sarcean. which is so interesting when you think about will saying people shouldn't be judged by what they've done but what they can do

the tangled web of who hates who is so messy but I trust violet to, if not outright take will's side, then to convince the others to let him go like banish him or whatever instead of killing him right away (even if james's powers would physically protect him from that I just need violet to believe in him)

I'm still thinking about little 6 year old will setting a rich fucker's clothes on fire bc he laid his hands on a woman who was nice to him, how violet saved his life and he's spent every day after that trying to return the favor including using a newfound power he doesn't know how to control yet to set her free from a cage in another country

can't wait to see how the narratives shift when we get other perspectives on what the past was really like bc from what I can tell sarcean and the lady weren't really In Love they just had a fling one time

on that note I thought will was switched out for the girls somehow when they were kids but elizabeth was told her mother had a son before her and she believes that son is will, which would mean will is both blood of the lady and the dark king, which brings to question who his dad is bc they said it wasn't simon but I don't think his birth was a virgin mary situation, also I know sarcean got around but are will and simon's family related any closer than one ancestor thousands of years ago? is sinclair will's father?

I don't think tom and violet will fight to the death, tom may die in another way tho

what's the fourth kingdom and how does that pay into this? bc the first gate was in england the second was underwater somewhere and the third is in italy so the fourth...? on that note there must be more stewards alive who weren't in the hall when it was torn through, people who either left that life behind, or like cyprian at the beginning who didn't drink from the cup but still follow the lifestyle, or maybe like small covens of stewards who never went to the hall bc they found their own communities elsewhere idk it's just very eurocentric to think everyone from everywhere would meet up in this one place when the whole rest of the world exists

will needs some alone time after all this someone give him a safe place to rest and a hot drink

phillip and visander... and the unicorn....... love triangle of the ages... (I wonder if visander will find his way back into a man's body somehow or if he's stuck looking like katherine forever lol) (realistically. I don't think this man fucked his horse. but. metaphorically? metaphysically? whatever they had was probably as erotically charged as that magic scene right?)

[randomfoggytiger]

Twenty questions for fanfic writers

Thank you for the tags, @baronessblixen, @xxsksxxx, and @slippinmickeys~!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

50 (ooh.)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

47, 807

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The X-Files; and The Beauty and the Beast (1987), once.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

"Mr. Mulder, I Know Something About You"

"No More Paranormal than a Change of Wardrobe"

"Gold"

"The Next Chance"

"Celebration"

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yeppity yep!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Discounting the fics that partially resolve their angst in a second part, I've got to go with "I'm Tired", "What Must a Mother Go Through?", "Latkes", or "Did You Really Have to Bring That Thing?"

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

At least 3/4s of 'em. Today's example will be "Time Passing in Moments” (still has a hold on my fuzzy feelings.)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet-- I've seen it done to others, however.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Smut's not for me~

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

While opposed to crossovers on principle, I've written three-- ironic, I know, namely: my first ever fic Son of Egypt (Prince of Egypt lite), The Hospital Where You Slept (While You Were Sleeping lite), and "I Know You. It’s What I Do." (for @amplifyme, who introduced me to The Beauty and the Beast 1987 and went above and beyond to pass on resources and interest. Incredibly grateful.)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope! Don't expect them to get stolen, either, unless they're multichapter pieces.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope! Not opposed, though.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope! I don't see it happening anytime soon, either, because my irl schedule is all over the place.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

MSR-- objectively, as well as personally.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have an idea blooming about reworking S8 in some way or form-- but there are already so many fics that tackle it from nearly every angle; so, I'll just reread those instead. (That, and I have to finish my S8 meta series; so....)

16. What are your writing strengths?

Pfffft... voice, I believe.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Characterization-- there's a reason I haven't created my own characters when writing, drawing, etc. ;)))

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Not opposed; but I'd have to learn another language first.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Star Wars. Must have been in kindergarten or first grade.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Proud of 'em all-- especially the reception to "Son of Egypt"-- but Bill Scully's POV ("Mr. Mulder, I Know Something About You" series) was such an unexpected... everything. That, and the discussion between Mulder and Scully in "My Religious Convictions Are Hardly the Issue Here" were wound around a POVs I wanted to tackle.

Tagging (if you want~): @welsharcher, @agent-troi, @numinousmysteries, @skelavender, @virtie333, @suitablyaggrieved, @nachosncheeze, @living-in-unreality, @aloysiavirgata, @cecilysass, @leiascully, @pennyserenade, @invidiosa, @settle-down-frohike, @piecesofscully, @thescullyphile, @p34chi, @incidental-ao3, @cock-holliday, @ragnarockz, @frogsmulder, @bakedbakermom, @cutelilcurtain, @dreamingofscully, @freckleslikestars, @amplifyme, @scullys-scalpel, @ghostbustermelanieking, @o6666666, @sigritandtheelves, @contrivedcoincidences6, @two-microscopes, @sixhours, @jessahmewren, @enigmaticdrblockhead, @wexleresque, @danascullysjournal, @seek-its-opposite, @frostbitepandaaaaa, @oohnotvery, @atths--twice, @thatfragilecapricorn30, @storybycorey, and anyone else!

[thelastspeecher]

I’ve seen it pop up here and there but what is the accidental abduction au?

Ooh, I'm glad you asked!

The Accidental Abduction AU is one of my personal favorites, in large part because I feel like it's one of my more original ones.

A month or so after Stan gets kicked out as a teen, he's living in his car, and both he and the Stanleymobile are accidentally abducted by two alien teens playing with their spaceship's tractor beam unsupervised. The accidental abduction isn't discovered until it's too late to return Stan right away, and the aliens won't be back in Earth's solar system for another year, so Stan's basically told that he'll be living with the aliens who accidentally abducted him for a year.

At first, Stan's unhappy, as one would be. But he gradually comes to enjoy his time on the ship and eventually on the alien planet, and decides he wants to stay there. Permanently. After all, the aliens that abducted him (which he dubs the Roswells) are kind and warm and welcoming to him, treating him better than he was sometimes treated by his own family. And on this alien planet, he has a place to stay, some income (he helps out with chores and as a farmhand, because these aliens are farmer aliens), and is far away from all the horrible things that happened to him on Earth.

The aliens are more than happy to have Stan live with them permanently. Stan enrolls in alien school, gets a job working for the planet's intergalactic council, and marries and has children with the daughter of the family. But his happy life on a different planet is disrupted when his estranged twin shows up in an old security drone that was activated when Ford explored a crashed spaceship belonging to the alien species Stan has integrated with.

I have to describe the aliens a bit here. They're super tall (seven feet is considered below average), all sorts of fun colors, and have teeth that basically look like those of an anglerfish. Thin and needlelike and very scary. Their home planet, Kepler-62f (though humans haven't discovered it yet for most of the AU, so it just goes unnamed in stuff I've written), is Earth-like but colder. Stan struggles with the cold a lot. And he dubs the aliens "Frosties" due to their giant stature and fondness for cold.

Stan has to come up with names for the aliens because humans do not have the appropriate vocal cords to pronounce their language. So he's eventually able to fluently understand, read, and write in it, but has to use a translator thing whenever he talks to be understood. To get around this, Stan gives the Roswells, as well as any alien he's in regular contact with, an Earth nickname. The two alien teens that accidentally abducted him were a twin brother and sister that Stan dubs Luke (though it's misheard as Lute) and Angie. The parents of the family, he dubs Merle and Sally.

The only Roswell Stan doesn't give an Earth nickname is the second-youngest son, because he's studying on Earth, and has already come up with one. That alien winds up being none other than the roommate to Stanford Pines.

I think that's about as long of a summary as I'm gonna give; if you want specifics, I'm always down for asks! And here's my tag for this AU on my blog and the tag for it on my writing blog.

[gayhotpriests]

hello hi bursting into your office (ask box) with comically large binders that have papers falling out (so many questions about spanish)

first off, thank you for the post, and the collection of people in the post willing to help out! super duper appreciate it. I can tell when Spanish sounds odd or forced in a fic, but I don't know enough to fix it so- midnightsbuck, you're my only hope.

So, first, could Eddie call Tia Pepa, just Tia? It's a thing in my language to have custom labels for each family member, that are meant to be more affectionate than just, like, Aunt Cassie, so I was wondering if it would carry over okay into just Tia.

Also, I have her calling Eddie, "Editto" and "Mijo", which, I know the second one is technically, my son, but it feels more, like, my kid or kiddo, vibes? idk you tell me if im off here.

3. “You said we were going to the nursery! I came in work clothes!” Eddie protested, but Tia was having none of it. “Sí, yo dije, pero first, brunch! Look how nice Buck is dressed up, que linda!” - This section, I tried blending a bit more Spanish into English, which is something my mom does often with Urdu, so the speech patterns felt right for the language blend.

4. Would Tia Pepa call Buck "Evanito"? I've seen a lot of that, and I can't think of a way to turn 'Buck' into a nickname. Conversely, would it be approriate for Buck to call her Tia Pepa, or is there a more respectful alternative?

5. “Aw, no, mirame, Tia, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.” - Does this work for "look at me" from Eddie?

okay that was so much many apologies - thank you for offering your knowledge!

Hi!!! thank you for coming in, have a seat! it's my pleasure actually, so lets see what we got here💓

1. yes, it is fine for him to just call her tía instead of just saying tía pepa all the time. i personally feel like he wouldn't just call her "pepa" because it's not common to call your older relatives by their first names, you say their "title" first, idk if im making sense. i have met people who do that, but it's not common bc it's seen as disrespectful.

2. and for her to call him eddito- absolutelly. i feel weird when my aunts call my by my outside world nickname hahaha i feel like pepa might call him eddie too (or even have her own nickname for him), though abuela would stick more to eddito. you're right about mijo though, it's not exclusive to parents and their children, aunts and other relatives do also say it.

3. about this little excerpt:

“You said we were going to the nursery! I came in work clothes!” Eddie protested, but Tia was having none of it. “Sí, yo dije, pero first, brunch! Look how nice Buck is dressed up, que linda!”

there's a couple of things! don't forget the possesive, add the his before tía, because tía isn't a name but a title(?) i don't know how to explain it hahah it's like saying "but aunt was having none of it", it doesn't work in english! if you're replacing the noun you have to keep the same grammar rules. in spanish it would be the same too.

the "i said" part, i would translate as "dije eso" (i said that), in spanish we tend to erase the first person pronouns (and pronouns in general when they're kind of redundant bc the conjugation already implies first person), but to only say "dije" doesn't work. and finally, remember words in spanish are gendered, so adjectives end in A or O if you're describing a woman or a man (YES is a big problem for non binary speak). and lindo translates to pretty or cute, so if you're looking for a word that means "handsome" that's guapo. if you're angling for pretty, lindo works just fine! (pero first is a thing in spanglish as far as i know! good on that).

to sum it all up, it would read better like this:

“You said we were going to the nursery! I came in work clothes!” Eddie protested, but his Tía was having none of it. 

“Sí, dije eso, pero first, brunch! Look how nice Buck is dressed up, que lindo!”

4. i have personal beef with Evanito tbh KSDJKSLSJ i'm more of an "Evancito" myself. you add ito/ita to make the diminutive, but when a word ends in a consonant, you add cito/cita. so it makes more sense to me and feels more natural that they'd say evancito. buck is a nickname on itself so i don't think they would change it.

5. finally! on this part:

“Aw, no, mírame, Tia, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.”

one thing you have to know about spanish is that we have like three different ways to say you, the informal, formal and a third form used only in spain hahhaha so the informal tú is used for friends, siblings etc anyone on your same or lower levels of hierarchy(? but you would use the formal usted for people in higher hierarchies, like your boss, teacher, or older relatives. this can also change with trust levels! i say tú to my mom but usted to my aunts, although in some countries they are a lot more traditional and also use the formal version with parents (eddie would say usted to his dad, for example).

so, in this case "mírame" is "look at me" but it's informal, when speaking to his aunt in spanish he'd probably say "míreme" which is the formal conjugation. so it would look like this:

“Aw, no, míreme, Tía, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.”

i hope this all made sense!! i tried not to go too hard on explaining grammar rules but i tend to overexplain all the time ;-; hope this helps and thanks for coming into my office! you're welcome any time<3

[doxypsychlean]

Aegon II Targaryen x reader who is manipulative and uses the motherly love he never got to get her own way. They both love each other but in a toxic yandere kinda way 😂

Wrapped around your finger

Yandere!Aegon ii Targaryen x Yandere!Reader

Headcanons|

Warnings: none? pls tell me if I've missed sth

Thou shan't repost/copy/ translate any of my work or I'll sneak into your home late at night and bite your nose off!

English isn't my first language. I don't proofread. I slap commas wherever I feel they're needed.

A/N: Aegon and Halaena aren't together in this one. It's also pretty sweet, despite their ?yandere? tendencies.

Oh, he really thinks he's that good.

Then you come around.

You, a lady of noble descent and a member of one of the greater houses in Westeros, are also one of his greatest rivals when it comes to having the worst reputation in all the realms.

At first, it's just harmless fun. Nothing too serious.

But then you become a witness to the way his family treats him.

You work your way into his heart and head. I mean, who in their right mind would miss out on the opportunity of being Queen of Westeros one day, amirite?

He bites the bait pretty quickly.

Aegon is obsessed with the way you shower him with affection and love.

He'd be spending most of his time in your arms, begging for you to tell him how much you love, how unfair his mother is to him.

Alicent hates you at first.

The hatred turns to admiration with time, seeing as you gain complete control over her son and mold him to your liking.

But there's more to what she's feeling towards you- fear. With the way things are going, all it would take is for you to snap your fingers and Aegon would kill them all. For you.

You never do, thank the Gods, and for that you have the Queen's utmost respect and gratitude.

She never lays a hand on him again. She doesn't have to, but she's also too scared to do it.

He still drinks, maybe not as much as he did before, but he no longer chases after the servant girls. As if you'd even allow it to happen.

The first time you realize what you feel for him might be actual love, is when you order for some noble lady to be "displaced" from the Red Keep. You didn't like the way she stared at him. Cue, girly losing her eyes for that one.

He was yours and the only way to get him away would be to pull him out of your cold fingers. And you had no intention of dying any time soon.

Aegon rarely goes out of the Red Keep anymore and when he does, you're always with him. The Prince has glued himself to you, whether you like it or not.

On the rare occasions of you two not being present in the castle, golden scales could be seen shimmering high above King's Landing. Sunfyre loves you, the golden beast could feel the strong bond between his rider and you.

Expect lots of expensive gifts- lavish dresses, the rarest perfumes from Essos, jewelry, books, horses, ginormous bouquets of your favorite flowers, commissioned portraits of you two, gold, sweets, etc.

You want it? You'll have it. Simple as that.

He'd never thought of himself as a jealous man, but the second he sees his brother talking to you and you laughing... All Seven Hells break loose.

Aegon turns into a sniveling, whining mess, hands wrapping around you as if his life depends on it.

All the while shooting daggers at Aemond behind your back, daring him to come closer so he could claw his remaining eye out.

Few soft words from you and he's melting.

You love him. He loves you. Everything is more than fine. He completely forgets about Aemond, who's slowly backing away from you two.

You get married not long after. Neither one of your families is brave enough to say a word against the union, seeing as ...

You absolutely never tried to hide it from the public.

You're all over eachother for the most of it.

Both men and women are dropping like flies around you, if they just as much as stared at either of you for a second too long.

Both yours and his family are equally scared and would rather keep away, than try and separate you.

Word spreads around quickly. You're with child.

Aegon's over the moon. You're his. He's yours. Completely.

The prove pops out not long after. Then another. And another.

He would 100% elbow the midwife in the face if she tries to keep him away from you while you're giving birth.

"My Prince, you cannot..."

"Out of my way, you old hag, my wife is in there!"

He was there while you were making them, he has every right to be there while you squeeze them out.

Definitely cries his ass off when he holds your firstborn.

His tunic is discarded quickly as he holds the small bundle close to his bare chest.

Then he wraps one hand around you, almost crushing your neck with how strong he's squeezing you.

Same thing goes down every single time- he storms in, kid comes out, he's bawling his eyes out at the sight.

You pick the dragon eggs for each and every one of them together.

Aegon's just as obsessed with your children, as he is with you.

Gods forbid someone makes one of his little bundles of joy cry...Heads will be flying in all directions, no matter who they belong to.

Not even the Stranger would be able to pull you apart.

Even in death, you'd find a way to be back together.

[charminggirl512]

welcome to charming // chibs telford x oc

Chibs Telford x F!OC

Warnings: 18+, language, talk of sexual assault and violence, slight fatphobia

Word Count: 2,887

A/N: I've finally written the first time that Ellie and Chibs met. Felt good to write the beginning of their story. Gaelic translations will be at the very end. Enjoy!

   I haven't relaxed in two weeks. I don't remember what it was like to not be nauseous and shaking with heart palpitations. I grew up in an extremely stressful family and environment, yet I don't think I've ever been so unable to relax. I prayed that as soon as my plane landed that I would feel some sort of relief, but it's been twenty minutes in a cab and I still can't slow my breathing. 

   The driver stops in front of a large garage and another building surrounded by a fence. I peek and see a giant sign that reads "Teller-Morrow Automotive Repair" which tells me that I'm in the right place. I grab my backpack and small suitcase before paying the driver and thanking him. Once my feet are settled on the pavement, he races away, eager to get to his next job that doesn't involve a strange girl who barely speaks. I don't blame him.

   As I'm walking towards the garage, a group of men on motorcycles pull in and parks before going into the additional building. I barely get a glimpse of their familiar patch, but I'm further assured that I'm in the right place. I've seen McGee's patch enough to know what it looks like, and it finally feels like a piece of home is here. 

"Can I help you, sweetheart? You look lost," A tall woman says as she exits the garage. I should be intimidated by her biker babe clothing and judging stare, but I've faced far worse than her.

"I'm Eleanor Drysdale. I'm looking for Clay Morrow," I answer, and the second she hears my accent her stare relaxes. 

"He's just gone into the clubhouse. You're the girl that McGee sent, aren't you," She asks as she leads me towards the additional building. 

"Aye. He said that I should ask for Clay and that if I can't find him, to ask for Gemma," I answer, feeling my body relax minutely with the knowledge that I was one step closer to safety.

"Well, I'm Gemma. I'm Clay's Old Lady and my son, Jax, is also in the club. You'll be staying at my house, so I'm sure we'll get to know each other well," She says as she places her hand on my arm as I walk past her through the doorway. I try to not jump, but can't help the involuntary reaction of feeling someone else's touch after what happened. 

   She stares at me for a second before the sound of a bunch of men interrupts. There are at least a dozen of them and they all seem to be laughing and talking, most of them with a drink in their hand despite it being just barely noon. A man with long blonde hair comes over and kisses Gemma's cheek before looking me up and down. Despite my worn-out jeans and a black long-sleeve top, he seems to enjoy what he sees. 

"I'm Jax. What's your name, darling?" The drawl of his voice is full of confidence and I can tell that he always gets what he wants. 

"I'm Eleanor, but you can call me Ellie. Is Clay here?" 

   I don't have time to flirt with boys; I need to ensure my safety and make a plan and Jax was standing in the way of that. He just barely hides his look of hurt before pointing over to the bar where a large man is talking to two other men, one with dark curly hair and the other with scars on his cheeks. I nod at Jax, before heading over to him. They stop talking as I approach them, and Clay seems to be annoyed that I've interrupted him. 

"I'm Eleanor Drysdale, Alastair Drysdale's daughter. McGee sent me to you for safety from Jimmy O'Phelan and I would really appreciate it if you could tell me that I'm safe." I do my best to not let my voice crack on the last word, but it's a losing battle. His gaze on me softens and he looks behind me at Gemma.

"You're safe, sweetheart," She says as she comes up next to me and wraps her arm around my shoulder. 

"You're safe. Jimmy doesn't know that you're here and everyone in this club is sworn to secrecy about where you are," Clay adds and it's the straw that breaks the camel's back. 

   The tears that I've been holding in for two weeks fall and I can't control the sobs that come out of my throat. Things go into motion around me and I'm gently pushed into a bar stool with a glass of Jameson and a cigarette and a lighter waiting for me. Gemma rubs up and down my back and the man with the scars stands opposite me behind the bar.

"You're Alastair's girl?" The Scottish accent scares me at first before soothing me. I nod and he continues. "I knew your father. He was a good man and I know that he would want you taken care of. It's gonna be okay, lass. Tha thu sàbhailte an seo."

   With shaky hands, I light the cigarette and allow the smoke to enter my lungs. After a couple of sips of Jameson and the rest of the cigarette, I've calmed down some. My heart has finally stopped trying to escape my chest. 

"Tell us what happened," Gemma says, her voice soft and motherly. I lost my own mother to a bomb when I was eight and haven't been around any sort of nurturing since. 

"I was sixteen when Jimmy first met me. He was working with my father on some gun shipments and took a liking to me. Once I finished school and was eighteen, he started to try to seduce me despite having a wife. I denied him, of course, and my father's power protected me from anything worse. My father was killed and three days later, Jimmy was on my doorstep telling me that I wasn't protected anymore and that I couldn't keep him away. 

   He had his men follow me wherever I went and he tried to kidnap me a handful of times over the past two years but was unsuccessful. The last time that he tried to kidnap me, he also tried to sexually assault me. When I got away from him, he came after me with a knife and cut open my thighs and my arms. I went to McGee for help and he sent me here." 

   You could hear a pin drop, the room was so silent. The Scotsman across the bar seemed to be vibrating with rage, and I was both confused and comforted by a stranger's anger for what happened to me. I left out that the stitches I received from one of McGee's men were poorly done and hurt more than they helped. That wasn't one of my top priorities so it didn't matter to me now. 

"Did you go to the hospital," The Scotsman asks, breaking the silence. 

"I didn't want to risk it. One of McGee's men patched me up," I answer, wondering why that was the part of the story that he decided to fixate on.

"Let me see the stitches." When I don't move to expose myself to him, he continues talking. "I was a medic in the army. Show me the stitches so that I can make sure that there's nothing wrong with them." 

"I'm not going to expose myself to you. I don't even know you," I answer, shocked by his boldness. 

"Lass, infected stitches can kill you. We can go to another room so that no one sees anything, but you're showing me the stitches." The authority that oozes from his voice would turn me on in other circumstances, but right now it just pisses me off. When I don't move from the bar stool, he comes around and throws me over his shoulder. I cry out at the pressure on the stitches and I can almost feel his self-satisfaction.

   Once we're in another room with a large table with a Reaper on it, he closes the door and grabs a bag which he begins unpacking on the table. It's full of medical supplies and he organizes them in a way that must make sense to his mind. 

"Take off your pants," He orders without looking at me and I contemplate fighting him on it, but decide that it would be a waste of energy. 

"Will you at least tell me your name?"

"Chibs." Short and sweet but not his name.

"Your real name." He looks over his shoulder at me, probably surprised that I would further question him. 

"Filip. Filip Telford." 

   I automatically understand his rage earlier. His wife was Fiona, the woman that Jimmy was in an odd marriage with. I'd never met him, but his story was told as a warning to not cross Jimmy. I take a deep breath and pull of my jeans then sit on top of the table in front of him. I avert my eyes away from the stitches, knowing the pain that will fill me when I see them again. 

"Oh, lamb." He's looked at the letters etched into my skin. Now he understands why I didn't want him to see them. 

   The J is a little more ragged than the O. By the time he got to his second initial, I had stopped fighting and had given into his anger. The mental pain of knowing that he literally would be etched in my skin for forever far outweighed the physical pain of the knife in my skin. I had already disliked my large thighs and now I would never be able to look at them again without being forced to relive my trauma. 

"He said that if he couldn't have me, I would have to always have him," I whisper as I wipe the silent tears falling down my face. The stitches are red and angry, but Filip tries to be as gentle as he can as he begins to undo them. 

"Once they heal, you'll hardly notice them. Mine were about as deep as yours are and they took around three months to heal. I don't know how bad your arms are, though," He answers with his eyes laser focused on what he's doing. 

"Why did he do it to you," I ask and almost instantly wish that I hadn't. He surprisingly doesn't get angry at the question, just continues to undo the jagged stitches. 

"He banished me from the IRA and wanted me to live with the knowledge that my wife would never want me again with the scars," He answers, his tone showing no anger. "You know who Fiona is so I'm sure you know the rest of the story." 

"My Uncle Galen told Jimmy where I was hiding from him because he killed my father and wanted to get rid of me so that I wouldn't find out. What he doesn't know is that I watched him shoot my father fifteen times on the steps of Kellan Ashby's church." He looks up at me when I say that. "I've never told anyone that."

   Filip continues to work in silence, undoing the stitches before redoing them. The difference is instantly noticeable; the stitches are tight and even, rather than loose and jagged. I'm grateful that he forced me to do this because hopefully my scars would look better with proper stitches. Once's he's finished, I remove my shirt so that he can fix the ones on my forearm. These read out 'slut' though they don't seem to bother me as much. 

"I want to kill him even more than I already did. How could he do this to a little girl," He says to himself. 

"I'm a woman, not a child," I snap at him and he seems surprised by my bite. 

"I know, lass, I know," He reassures me, guilt in his eyes.

"No one believed me for months that Jimmy was after me. They said that I was doing it for attention and that I was just a little girl with mommy issues. Why would the great Jimmy O'Phelan want the chubby daughter of an IRA King when he could get whoever he wanted?" He stops attending to my wounds to grab my face so that I maintained eye contact with him. 

"Don't ever talk about yourself like that. You're more beautiful than half the women in Ireland and I won't listen to you insult yourself," He tells me with his voice raised. I can't help the blush that rises to me cheeks and pull away from his grip to hide my face from him. 

   He finishes his work in silence and I watch his face the whole time. Though he's definitely older than me, I find myself incredibly attracted to him. His eyes are soft and gentle, his mouth set in a firm frown that almost makes me pity him. The scars enhance his face structure rather than taking away from it, and I find myself more and more enamored with them. I like the sprinkles of gray throughout his hair and beard. His hands are calloused yet gentle, and I find myself watching their every move. I've spent the last year avoiding every man I've come into contact with to protect myself, and now that I'm safe I can't help but fall for the first man that shows me attention. 

   A knock on the door breaks our silence and he looks up at me to make sure that it's okay for them to come in before allowing them in. Gemma walks in with her purse in hand.

"I've got to go home and check on the birds. I've got your suitcase and backpack in my car, so I'll bring them to the house and pick you up later, Ellie." She barely knows me and she's already taking care of me. 

"No need. I'll bring her by on my bike when we finish up here. She needs to go over a few things with Clay," Chibs answers for me. Gemma nods before kissing my forehead and Chibs' cheek and leaving. 

   The rest of the guys take the open door as an invitation to enter what I've figured out to be their room for Church. I spent some time hanging out at SAMBel over the past couple of years, so I'm familiar with how the club works. Clay sits at the head of the table and the rest of them sit in what seems to be their assigned seats. Chibs continues finishing up the stitches as Clay starts talking. 

"Ellie, you'll be staying with me and Gemma for the time being. If we think the Irish are coming for a visit, we'll move you to our cabin with at least two members, but we don't expect that to happen any time soon. You'll be working with Gemma in the garage, doing some office work and just helping around with the club so no one becomes suspicious. Your cover is that you're McGee's adopted daughter and he sent you here because you're thinking about going to school in America." I nod while Clay tells me all of this, absorbing as much information as I can. I'm about to reply when Filip pulls particularly hard on the last stitch.

"Fuck, Filip! Na bi garbh," I hiss at him and he glares up at me. The guys seem to find it funny that I called him Filip, which only makes him glare harder. 

"Bi nad nighean mhath," He answers, which makes me glare back at him. 

"Go fuck yourself." The guys really get a kick out of that, but Filip and I keep glaring at each other.

"I think Chibs has finally met his match," Jax says as he smirks at the two of us. 

   They finish up talking about whatever else they needed to talk about before Clay dismisses everyone. Chibs helps me put my shirt back on since I already put my jeans back on when he finished restitching my thighs. His fingertips graze my waist and goosebumps arise under his touch. Once I'm situated, he puts his hand on my lower back to lead me out of the clubhouse. Jax is climbing on his bike at the same time as Chibs and I are walking to his. 

"Don't be too hard on Chibs, Ellie. He's getting old," Jax teases before speeding off. Chibs ignores him and helps me put a helmet on over my mass of dark curls, making sure that it's clasped properly before putting his own on and climbing on the bike. I settle in behind him and precariously wrap my arms around his waist. There's a good two inches between us and he uses my hands to pull me so that my front is pressed firmly against his back. 

"Hold on tight, little lamb," He says, and I can practically hear the smile in his voice. 

   He speeds off into the afternoon traffic, taking me to Gemma's house. Neither of us know this yet, but this certainly won't be the last time on the back of his bike and it is definitely not the last time that I'm pressed against him like this. 

"Welcome to Charming, lass." 

Gaelic Translations:

Tha thu sàbhailte an seo: You're safe here.

Na bi garbh: Don't be rough.

Bi nad nighean mhath: Be a good girl.

[claymotif]

hi and also hello. may i please hear everything about seia i would like the seia breakdown please and thank you <3

seia breakdown!!!! seia my beloved <3

the short version is that seia is 95% of keldan's impulse control. long version under the cut

okay in my head i picture seia as being from like a mountain village whose primary economy is mining-based. this is almost completely irrelevant to the actual story but i planned out everyone's backstories like three years ago so you're getting it. seia's naturally smaller than most people from these mining villages tend to be but he was also more sick than the average kid (which did not help) so growing up he was sort of on the frail side. that being said there was absolutely zero like "gender role" expectation that he would ever have to work in the quarries, because his culture doesn't really have Gender the way others do, and thus don't have gender roles either; everyone just contributes what they can to make sure the household runs smoothly, which means seia grew up helping out with stuff like finances, gardening/animal tending if he had the energy for it, sewing/mending clothes/weaving, other stuff around the house that's less physical labor. (btw this cultural view of gender is also why seia's nonbinary; he literally just cannot be bothered with translating his experience for others, and the first person who spoke to him in another language assigned him he/him pronouns and seia was like "whatever".)

anyway. there's some imperial/war-related stuff that happens next. crown soldiers show up, "this land belongs to this nation now", and they ship off basically everyone who's still school-aged to boarding schools in the empire proper. (two notes: first, i haven't named like most of the places that are relevant to backstory. yes i've had this wip for years. move on. second, i am assuming you've heard of cultural genocide. that's what's happening here.)

seia ends up rising through the ranks so to speak and gets a lot of attention for his knack for languages. he ends up in service of the crown that kidnapped him (this is probably around age 16 or so), as a translator/interpreter, and after a couple years ends up sold/traded to the highest bidder (melati's father, the king of. yet another name i haven't thought up yet.) they use nicer words than "sold/bought", because "slavery is illegal", but i'm not going to pretend seia had any choice in what's happening.

he does use his essentially-free access to royal libraries to do a LOT of reading, both before and after the trade. he teaches himself a lot of stuff, including More languages and some "applicable" life skills. (read: forgery. he gets terrifyingly good at forging official documents. he doesn't use this until after he joins up with keldan, because he's afraid of what will happen if he gets caught, but with keldan he's a bit of a loose cannon lmao)

also. MOSTLY irrelevant to the story but seia has like one friend, who was the youngest son of the first king seia worked for. they made it work alarmingly well despite the power imbalance thing, and the prince teaches seia how to swordfight. seia later trades that in for a dagger, saying it's more his style, but in a pinch.... absolutely deadly. they keep in touch after seia gets traded off, they write letters to each other in varying languages and use code names. the prince's real name is kazik tho.

also also. working for melati's father and spending like 90% of his free time in the library, seia's seen her before and she's seen him. they've talked more than once and melati would even loosely call him a friend at this point in their lives. being a princess she doesn't really question the exact terms of his employment. it's not really malicious, it's just that in her mind, the palace is kind of the best gig anyone could hope for, and she has a daughter's trust in her father (for now) and believes he'd never hold anyone against their will. and while technically he's not holding seia prisoner, seia has nothing and no one on the outside, and nowhere to go, and a contract a mile long that he doesn't know the exact terms of but surely there's a clause in there about abandoning your post before your term is served (there is. seia ends up breaking it anyway).

anyway. seia meets keldan on a diplomatic trip to okskiy, where keldan lounges around the throne room despite his king's best efforts to get rid of him before the party starts. (this is like almost immediately post-aderyn-breakup btw). seia doesn't get much time off during the actual meeting/negotiations/dinner, but once everyone's drunk and happy seia gets to slip away from his interpreter role, and he and keldan make small talk for a while and seia commits his face to memory because it feels like he's the first (second?) person to ever actually look at seia. it's complicated.

they end up meeting again on seia's "home turf"; keldan's delivering something on behalf of his king, and seia's the only one who speaks a language keldan understands, so they get plenty of more-or-less one-on-one conversation time. call it bonding or whatever. later, keldan's wandering around the castle (read: snooping) and happens upon the king propositioning seia (this is compete chance here. keldan's the only person i know who's obnoxious enough to have even the opportunity to stumble in on this conversation), which seia does not want but can't exactly say no to without risking. yknow. his life.

the king fucks off w/ keldan's arrival (not that keldan understood what was being said exactly but the postures... expressions... yeah) to avoid suspicion (does not work) and keldan's like. "fuck that guy." seia replies "he's my king." keldan says "what if he wasn't though" and then gets to play white knight for seia for about thirty minutes (the time it takes them to get back onto keldan's ship) before keldan really starts to get to know seia and realizes he is WAY out of his depth here.

they're more or less business partners after that. it's weird because seia definitely is not considered part of keldan's "crew", but keldan's operation is able to expand thanks to the breadth of languages seia can speak, seia travels everywhere with keldan + has his own cabins on the ship that he never uses bc he's always in keldan's, they read each other's minds and gaze longingly when the other isn't looking, but if a crewmate asks whether they've slept together keldan is like "why would we do that". they're a hot mess. seia forges like 90% of keldan's documents, whatever he needs (the other 10% are, technically, legal), and literally asks for nothing in return. keldan's always putting gold coins in with the rest of seia's stuff or trying to slip him payment some other way. seia stashes his collection of inks and fancy pens and parchments under keldan's bed.

the really sticky part is that neither of them really talk about their pasts. granted keldan can't talk about his childhood without getting into stuff that would make him sound crazy ("turns out there is stuff below the continents" crazy), but neither of them know where the other is from, they don't communicate w/each other in either person's native language, seia doesn't even know keldan had a partner before him.

keldan's also a bit insane. so he gets all these random ideas for all kinds of things (business, ship repairs/additions, fanciful vacations, you name it) and then seia's the one who filters it down into something doable. half the time seia is then also the one who implements it, whatever it is. keldan will be like "lets do a vacation on one of those waterfall islands" and seia will be like "what if instead we just spend a couple weeks off in okskiy" and then also schedule that time off into their calendar. this is more or less because seia is wayyyy more organized but also a little bit because even tho keldan has the big ideas, he wouldn't actually be into them. he would hate the wet humid nature of the waterfall islands and seia knows that and talks him out of it, and keldan wants seia happy so he agrees readily when seia suggests okskiy instead. they make it work somehow and everyone's like "how have you not broken up yet" and they're like "broken what up?"

so. that's where they're at at the beginning of the story, and then aderyn and melati walk onto their ship as a unit and everyone collectively is like. "what the fuck" for a whole host of different reasons. the plot of sky sea is like 50% character-driven conflict in the sense that while aderyn and keldan are trying to reconcile their old history, aderyn's guilt, and keldan's anger, seia's also insanely jealous but doesn't understand why and almost flat out refuses to talk to keldan about it. aderyn and melati have the whole "we're only in this together because both our lives are in danger" on top of the whole "you said no one would know who you were" "how was i supposed to know that the one person who could possibly still be alive to recognize me would be on this boat" thing. seia and melati have a little bit of a guilt/anger thing happening too; it's sort of "logically i know it wasn't her fault but emotionally i need someone to blame and she should have known something was wrong". keldan and melati are pretty much the only pair NOT fighting, but they do bond over being generally obnoxious and high-maintenance. when aderyn and seia aren't trying to kill each other over extremely minor arguments that are actually metaphors for much bigger issues, they're complaining about "royals. ugh". keldan's crew wants to quit sooooo bad except that they also find the drama highly amusing. one guy on the crew is like 'man i always wanted to be part of a high-speed chase' and boy does he get his wish.

[sincerelyasomebody]

Mama || Leticia "Letty" Cruz

(GIF: @angels-reyes)

A/N: This was created because I've seen some speculation that Letty may not make it to the end of Season 3 (😭🥺). My mind needed something fluffy to combat this and so this piece came about. Apologises for grammatical errors and please let me know if the Spanish translation needs correcting.

Characters/Pairing(s): Letty x Reader (mother-daughter relationship) ▪︎ Coco x Reader (mention) ☆ Mayans MC (brief mention) ▪︎ OCs (receptionist, mother and son duo) 

Summary: Just a mother protecting her daughter. 

Warnings: brief mention of altercation (male and female), description of injuries, fluff, language, nicknames, painkillers (reference to injury) 

Word Count: 1755

- ♤ - ♡ - ◇ - ♧ -

(Y/N) couldn't believe how busy the roads leading to the local high school were. It was a Wednesday, a little after ten and the streets were just packed with cars. She thought it was ridiculous considering people were usually at their jobs and children were in their age appropriate schools. There was no reason for people to be out and about. 

"The light's been green for five seconds!" she yelled and honked her horn, "move!" The driver in front gave her the finger before taking off, "you're so fucking lucky I've got somewhere to be, asshole!" she called out as she drove in the opposite direction. 

When her phone rang during her break, the last person (Y/N) expected to hear from was the receptionist for Santo Padre High School. According to the woman, Leticia (Letty as she was mostly referred to) had been in an altercation with another student and her parents or caregivers were requested to come and meet with the principal. Rachel, the receptionist, mentioned trying to reach her father but going straight to voicemail. With (Y/N) being listed as an emergency contact she was called. 

(Y/N) immediately asked about Letty, but was told that specific details couldn't be discussed over the phone. She found that odd, but accepted it (for the time being) and informed Rachel that she would be there as quickly as she could. After hanging up, she grabbed her belongings and told her manager she had a family emergency to attend to. She was cleared and (Y/N) informed him that she would be taking a week off as well and would keep them updated on her situation. 

From the moment she received the call to the time she pulled up in front of the high school, her thoughts revolved around Letty. Being with Coco for several years allowed (Y/N) to gain some insight to the type of life he had been subjected to. Through a lot of tears, constant reassurance and love (Y/N) was able to break through his tough exterior and get him to believe she was in it for the long haul. When (Y/N) was told by him about his daughter being in a similar environment to what he was in growing up, she demanded him to bring her home.

The second she laid eyes on Letty she saw Coco's features and personality shine through. (Y/N) didn't expect the teenager to respect or trust her right off the bat, but she made sure to let her know that she was here if she needed someone to talk to and gave her space. With every door slam, harsh comment and glare sent her way, (Y/N) continued being herself and showed Letty she wasn't a threat. It was challenging, especially when Coco left on runs, but she pushed through. Eventually the teenager began to accept her father's girlfriend without second guessing her. 

(Y/N) stepped into the main office and found a woman standing beside a teenage boy, who held some paper towels to his nose and had a couple of scratches on his face. She moved closer and realised the pair were towering over Letty who sat in the corner and was looking down at her lap. Clenching her jaw, she strode over to the trio. 

"Get the fuck away from my daughter!" she glared at the duo and turned around to Letty, who was now standing, "mi niña, are you okay?" she kissed her forehead and cupped her cheeks, "Leticia?" 

The teenager nodded, "uh… y-yeah, I'm fine," she went to move (Y/N)'s hands but winced, "completely fine." 

(Y/N)'s eyes widened at the state of Letty's hands. They were most likely bruised and what shocked her even more was that there was no ice-pack beside her seat. The boy clearly had been given assistance, but her baby girl hadn't and that pissed her off.

"Rachel!" she called out and a woman appeared around the corner, "you're the one who called me right?" 

"Yes." 

"And, you said you couldn't go over specific details of what happened over the phone?" 

"That's correct." 

(Y/N) nodded and gestured towards Letty's hands, "well I'm here now and would like an explanation on why my daughter hasn't been treated and that young man has?" When the mother tried to give a reason, she raised a hand in her face, "this doesn't concern you, this conversation is between Rachel and I." 

Rachel gulped and could feel the anger radiating off of (Y/N), "well… uh, he was bleeding and –"

"Were there other staff members present?" she asked and when she was given a nod, she continued, "why couldn't they have provided medical assistance to my daughter?" 

"She… didn't tell us she was hurt, ma'am, she said she was fine so –"

"Bitch do her hands look fine to you?" 

The mother scoffed, "at least we know where your daughter gets her attitude from." 

(Y/N) turned to her, "shut up, nobody asked for your ass to speak," she gestured towards her son, "the reason your son's looking like a fucked up tomato is completely justified I can vouch for that." 

"Are you kidding me?" She shrieked and pointed to his face, "he's most likely got a broken nose and there's scratches on his face!"

"Exactly, be glad my daughter didn't have a screwdriver on her." (Y/N) replied and almost laughed at the disbelief on the woman's face, "your son deserved every scratch, bruise and possible broken bone."

"Excuse me!?" 

(Y/N) ignored her and turned back around to face Rachel, "Letty and I will be leaving now."

"Mrs Fraser hasn't seen –" 

"My main concern right now is my daughter's well-being," she told her, "and you've got my details on file so I'm sure Mrs Fraser can contact me at a later date." 

Rachel spoke again, "please if you'd just –"

"No." 

(Y/N) picked up Letty's bag and walked over to the desk, with Letty trailing behind her. She quickly signed out on the tablet and the pair walked out of the building. Reaching her car, (Y/N) unlocked it and helped Letty into the passenger seat. Closing her door, she rushed to the driver's side and got in. 

She helped Letty buckle up, before buckling herself in, "everything okay, sweets?" 

"Yeah… uh, thanks." was the response she received, before she started up the car and pulled out of the school parking lot while explaining where they were off to next. 

-- ♡ -- ◇ -- 

"He's always talking shit," Letty explained to (Y/N) about the guy in the office, "it was about time someone shut him up." 

"And you were the person to do so?" 

She shrugged her shoulders, "he ran his mouth and then touched me, so I beat his ass." 

"Two for one special?" 

"Pretty much." 

(Y/N) chuckled, "when your hands heal up, we'll ask one of the guys to teach you a few moves in the ring, thankfully your hands are just bruised and not broken." 

"They still hurt like a bitch." 

"You've got another two hours before you can drink some more painkillers." 

"What would've happened if Coco answered the phone?" Letty questioned.

(Y/N) shook her head, "honey, I don't even think I wanna know what would've happened," she noticed the teen wince, "are you okay?" 

"Yes." 

"Are you sure?"

She huffed, "I'm fine, okay? I was fine when you picked me up. I was fine when we went to the doctor's office. I was fine at the grocery store and I was fine the last time you asked me." 

(Y/N) nodded and pulled into their driveway, putting the car in park, "I'm not gonna apologise about asking how you're feeling. I'm just – I just want to make sure you're okay. But, now I'll stop because I can see I'm annoying you." 

"Yeah, you are." 

She chuckled, "okay, I'll stop, but you'll tell –" 

Letty sighed, "yes, I'll tell you. You really take this parenting thing seriously. I mean… you've been referring to me as your daughter all day and I–I'm not. But you defended me –" 

"And I always will." 

" – against Kyle, his mum and even the receptionist. I–I've never had that before. And, even at the doctor's office you made sure I was seen by a female because you knew it'd make me more comfortable." 

"Letty?" 

"You treat me like I'm yours and you called me your daughter and I… I don't know, I just," she took a deep breath, shook her head and looked out of the window.

(Y/N) waited for her to continue, but she didn't. Thinking back on today's events, she realised she had referred to Letty as her own. She had been doing it in her mind for so long and didn't realise she had said it out in the open. Letty had heard her reference and it seemed to make her uncomfortable and that was something she vowed she wouldn't do. 

"When I started dating your dad he told me about the kids he had. He told me that he wasn't involved in their lives because being away from them was for the best. I asked him what would happen if one day a kid reached out and his response was "if they do, they do. I ain't gonna turn them away", (Y/N) spoke up, "and then you reached out, sweetums. You reached out and your dad took that as a sign. From the moment you entered our lives, it's been a whirlwind of emotions. We're not this picture perfect family, but we're our own version. Despite being almost an adult, Coco still views you as his baby girl. And, honestly, I've been viewing you the same way."

Letty sniffed and looked up, "really?" 

"Absolutely, gorgeous. The moment you stepped through that door you became mine as well," (Y/N) pointed at the front door of their home, before turning to her, "but that doesn't matter if you're not okay with it. I'm not trying to force you to be –" 

"I'm Coco's daughter," she cut in and smiled at (Y/N), "and now I'm yours too." 

(Y/N) beamed with joy and unbuckled her seatbelt, and Letty's, reaching over the middle console to bring the teen into her arms. Letty wrapped her arms around (Y/N), breathing in her (scent). The woman chuckled and kissed her cheek, "I love you, baby girl." 

Letty pulled her closer, "I love you too, mama." 

-♤ - ♡ - ◇ - ♧ - 

Spanish Translations: 

Mi niña - my girl / baby girl

[lia-bones]

The night when everything collapses

Remus Lupin x Reader

Summary: It is a full moon night. Remus was gone as always. (Y/N) was alone until she received an unexpected visitor who brought terrible news.

Warnings: Angst, Angst, Angst, Swear words, injuries, dead, murder, tears and grief.

Words: 2154

Author note: I am so sorry. So sorry. Why do I always write angst stories? It was so difficult for me to write that. It always depressed me so much. I wrote it over several days because I always needed a break from the grief.

(English is not my main language. I apologize for all misspellings, grammatical errors, and translation errors.)

not my gif

* * *

It was a restless night. The wind rattled the windows and the moon cast dark shadows in the room. It was pouring, so that large puddles formed on the ground.

The sky was deep black, only now and then the full moon shine through the gaps in the cloud cover. Nobody would be on their feet voluntarily on nights like this. (Y/N) would now prefer to be in her bed, cuddling with her boyfriend, under a thick blanket.

On other nights that wouldn't be a problem at all. But on nights like this it wasn't. Not because of the rain or the storm, but because of the lunar circle. Her boyfriend couldn't be with her on full moon nights, and she couldn't be with him. He would never let that happen. He was infected with lycanthropy as a child. Since then he turned into a werewolf every full moon. Just like today. Usually his friends would be with him but they were all busy.

James was with his wife and one year old son and Sirius and Peter were on missions for the Order. So Remus spent that night alone. But she would wait for him. Just like she always did.

(Y/N) was mixing batter for brownies when there was a knock on the door. Confused, she looked out the window. The moon was still in the sky, so there was no chance Remus would be back. Maybe it was Lily who just wanted to sleep for a few hours without being woken up by Baby Harry. The poor boy was just getting his first teeth and screamed terribly at night.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. No need to rush." she called when there was another knock on the door. This time louder.

She wiped off her hands with a towel and then hurried across the living room to the door.

She held her wand tightly in her hand as she opened the door, ready just in case.

Whoever stood in front of her house made the young woman pause.

Her former Hogwarts teacher, professor mcgonagall, was standing in the open doorway with an expression on her face that made (Y/N)'s hair stand up.

"Miss (Y/L/N). May I come in. I've got news that I can't deliver out here.

The younger woman nodded a little confused and took a few steps to the side to make room for her teacher to enter.

Both women stood facing each other in silence. (Y/N) kneaded her hands and looked at the floor. The behavior of the normally so composed woman, scared her a little.

The older woman looked nervous, her eyes were red and she was breathing hard.

"P .. Professor? ...what is it that you have to tell me?"

The mood in the room was tense. McGonagall didn't look at her at first.

The feeling that something was wrong spread through every fiber of (Y/N) body.

And now that the eyes of the two women met, she noticed that tears were running down the teacher's slightly wrinkled cheeks.

"I have bad news (Y/N). Terrible things have happened."

(Y/N) bit her lip and started breathing hard. She opened her eyes wide and tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

Her mouth go completely dry and she was terrified of what McGonagall was about to tell her.

"Voldemort attacked the Potters. Lily and James ... they ... they are dead."

The statement came in a whisper.

(Y/N) suddenly couldn't breathe. As if all the air had left the room. Tears ran down her cheeks, which had turned a deep red from the lack of air. Her lip had started bleeding from biting too hard.

It couldn't be. What her teacher just told her couldn't be. Lily and James couldn't be dead, she had seen them yesterday.

"Kinds of Miss (Y / L / N). You have to take a deep breath." McGonagall said, placing both hands on the younger woman's shoulders. (Y/N) looked at her with a panicked expression and stammered: "No. No, no, no, no, no. This can not be true. Please, please tell me this is not true. They can't be dead. YThey have to live ... they ... " The older woman cut her off by patting her lightly on the shoulder.

"I wish I was lying. Unfortunately, it's the truth. They were found dead in ther house an hour ago."

(Y/N) Face color went from deep red to pale.

So pale that you could see the blue veins on her neck and face shimmering through the skin. She felt as if someone had kicked her head. McGonagall wasn't lying. Why should she lie about something like that? Two of her best friends were, in deed, dead. She would never see them again. James and Lily, who had just started a family, were no longer with them.

And then it came to (Y/N) mind. The Potter family. James, Lily and Harry. McGonagall hadn't said anything about Harry. What's about Harry?

"What about Harry? Is Harry alive? You didn't say Harry was dead! That means he's alive, right? Or? You bring him here ,right? " she exclaimed furiously and grabbed the woman opposite by the upper arms.

McGonagall released her grip, but still held her hands tightly. A sad smile formed on her face that did not reach her eyes and slowly shook her head.

(Y/N) jerked her hands back and her mouth fell open.

McGonagall pulled her lips in and didn't meet her eyes.

"Yes. Harry is alive. He is fine. He only has a cut on his forehead. But we're not going to bring him here. Dumbledore has decided that Harry will be taken to the Dursley's. Harry is probably safest there, he says. Voldemort may be gone, but you never know what his followers are up to. Nobody will suspect him there. Away from the magic world, with the Muggles." explained Minerva matter-of-factly and folded her arms in front of her body.

(Y/N) was speechless for a moment. The old man couldn't mean that seriously.

"To the Dursleys? Really? That can't be serious! We are his family. He had it better with us than with them. They don't love him. They don't care. Who knows what they're doing to him!" She pleaded and gestured with her arms. The woman opposite took a few steps backwards and looked at the floor in shame.

"You are his family too. They are blood relatives. He's safer with them."

(Y/N) tensed her jaw and bit her cheek until she tasted the metallic taste of blood.

They couldn't mean that seriously. These people had never been interested in Harry before. Harry would be safe with them too.

"Such a crap. He belongs here. To me, Remus and Sirius ... we are ... "

Again she was interrupted by McGonagall, who drew in a sharp breath when she called Sirius' name.

(Y/N) closed her mouth and looked at her inquiringly.

"There's other bad news that I have to deliver. Sirius Black was brought to Azkaban some time ago by the Aurors, which he will never leave again. He was convicted of murdering numerous Muggles and Peter Pettigrew in cold blood.He betrayed us."

(Y/N) slumped. Her knees hit the floor and her hands caught her torso. She felt as if she was about to throw up, but she could only choke dryly.

McGonagall was about to take a few steps towards her again to comfort the young woman when she suddenly hit the floor with her fists and let out a desperate scream.

"FUCKING BULLSHIT. YOU LIE TO ME! THAT CANNOT BE TRUE. FUCKING LIED DIRT SHIT!"

McGonagall stared down at her with wide eyes and made a wry face.

"No Miss (Y/L/N). I'm so sorry. But there is nothing to be done about it."

(Y/N) gasped in response.

"I'll meet Dumbledore in a moment to hand Harry over to his aunt and uncle. Have a seat and calm down, please. Harry will be fine and as soon as he gets to Hogwarts you can see him again. Please, (Y/N). There is nothing we can do now. Calm down, we will send you more information soon.

I ask you to pass the latest events on to Remus as soon as he gets back. I think you can tell him the best. Be there for one another in these difficult time."

The older teacher put a hand on her head for a moment to comfort her and then turned away and left the house.

(Y/N) was left alone.

she sat on the floor and felt her whole body wrapped in cold. The horrible realization that she had lost three of her best friends that night ate into her bones. The lights in the whole house flickered and she felt the magic going crazy inside her. She screamed from the top of her lungs and at that moment several glasses cracked in the club.

She curled up on the floor like a fetus and hugged her legs. The tears furrowed her cheeks and there was a lump the size of a quoffel in her throat.

It hurt so much. Everything hurt so much. It was like her skin was on fire, her bones break like matches and her inside, felt like she'd swallowed acid.

Crying didn't feel like enough for (Y/N), the emotions in her just had to get out.

She pulled herself up and walked into the kitchen on shaky legs.

Her baking ingredients were on the counter as she had left them. She clawed her hands in the sideboard and blinked to get a clear view again.

"Fuck, Shit, damn it!"

With a quick arm movement, she ripped everything off the kitchen counter. Flour, milk and eggs were scattered on the floor and on the walls, with broken glass from the dough bowl in between.

With a heartbreaking sob, (Y/N) fell into the mess.

She lay down on the site and with her arms pulled her legs to her chest as tightly as she could. Splinters pecked her face, but she made no move to change that. At least, the sting reminded her that she was still there and hadn't just dissolved.

Hours passed like seconds and before she even realized it, the door opened and heavy steps shuffled through the house.

"(Y/N), dear. I'm home. Are you awake?" Remus called in a limp voice looking for his girlfriend.

She heard how he came closer, how the footsteps got louder and louder. But she couldn't move, couldn't answer him.

'How am I supposed to tell him? How am I supposed to tell him that his whole family is dead? ' she thought and screwed up her eyes more tightly.

"Hey (Y/N/N), what about the glasses ..." Remus asked as he entered the kitchen, but stopped when he saw his girlfriend lying on the floor.

"Fuck! (Y/N)! Fuck! what the fuck happened?" he exclaimed excitedly, hurried across the kitchen and fell on his knees next to his girlfriend.

Carefully he stroked her cheek and held her hand with the other.

She blinked and looked up at him. His face was pale gray and there were a few new scratches on his face.

She sucked in air through clenched teeth and let it out with a sob.

"(Y/N). Hey love, what happened? Please talk with me." her boyfriend whispered, leaning further down to her.

She sat up and leaned her back against the wall. For a moment she could only stare at him. How was she supposed to tell him something that she knew would hurt him immeasurably?

Just as he opened his mouth again to say something, she said in a scratchy voice: "Something bad has happened."

Confused, he drew his eyebrows together and brushed the last glass of residue off her cheek.

She opened her mouth again to continue speaking, but only brought out a hoarse croak.

She couldn't look at him. We didn't want to see the pain in his eyes when she was about to ram a Methaforic knife into his chest.

"Hey look at me. It won't be that bad. Everything will be fine."

She looked back at him and instantly tears began to gather in her eyes again.

'No. It was worse. Much worse.'

"Remus, sit down." she whispered and took his hands as he did as he was told.

Her throat went dry and she started shaking all over.

"I do not know how I should begin. I don't want to say it. That would only make it more real...."

[yesttoheaven]

I SEE YOU – chapter III

pairing – arthur fleck x female!reader

wc – 2.6k

warnings – just fluff and a little bit of angst

English is not my first language. I am getting help from google translator and he is not always a good ally, so I apologize for any typos or grammar errors.

Y/N – your name

Y/L/N – your last name

🔴 chapter one. chapter two. chapter three.

The actress looked around, enjoying the apartment where Arthur lived with his mother. The place was small, very different from what she was used to, but this simplicity was nostalgic and reminded her of her childhood; when everything seemed simple, despite the difficulties.

Unfortunately Arthur was still at work, but Penny assured her that he would be back soon and added that Y/N could wait for him. At first Brian didn't approve of this idea, considering that the actress was going to an important dinner tonight, but he should know that it’s impossible to say no to her puppy eyes. Now Brian is probably driving to Misty's house, ready to take her to Y/N's apartment, exactly as they agreed the day before. The only difference would be the absence of the actress, but this would be justified with: "She's at Angelina's." Although the plan was apparently perfect, leaving her alone with practically unknown people was worrisome. Y/N's safety was his responsibility. If something happened to her, Brian would never forgive himself, but she stated with all the letters that she would stay inside the apartment, waiting for him with Arthur and Penny. And they were not bad people.

Y/N didn't like to involve Brian in this web of lies, but Misty knew how to be stifling when she wanted to. Visiting Arthur was not illegal, but she didn't see it that way. In her conception, to be friends with Y/N Y/N/L you need to have a bank account with many zeros after the comma.

Placing her manager at the bottom of her thoughts, Y/N's eyes fell on the small table next to the couch she was on. A few magazines were spread out and a shy smile crossed her lips. She would probably never get used to it.

Noticing the young woman's interest in magazines, Penny said:

"This actress is so graceful."

"You think? I hear only bad things about her." Y/N replied, taking one of the magazines and placing it next to her face, reproducing the cover.

When the realization reached Arthur's mother, she looked at Y/N with wide eyes, thinking it was a mirage caused by the effects of the medicines she used daily. When she opened the door and found the woman on the other side, Penny didn't imagine that Y/N was Y/N Y/L/N, the same woman who is in all these magazines.

"That was my first cover... six years have passed and I'm still nervous on camera." The actress smiled, leaving the magazine with the other copies.

"You need to excuse me, I'm too old for that... I watch your movies with my son and I was unable to recognize you."

"It's all right, these photos are usually a little bit manipulated. Maybe that's why you didn't recognize me."

The conversation continued pleasantly between them. Penny Fleck didn't feel like she was talking to one of Gotham's biggest actresses; Y/N seemed to be just a nice neighbor, the one who always shows up for a visit at the end of the day. They only knew each other for a few minutes, but it didn't matter, Penny was comfortable, sharing with her a little bit of his life with Arthur, or Happy as she used to call her son. The actress considered this point intriguing, because when she met Arthur, sadness was the only thing that existed on his face like a second skin, but maybe she was just impressed.

...

Every day was exactly the same for Arthur. He went to work, spent the day spinning his sign in front of a store or visited sick children in hospitals – this was his favorite; Carnival loved to bring joy to them. The time to return home represented some relief for the clown. This meant that his co-workers would have to wait for the next day to continue making fun of him. Arthur would always be a joke for everyone.

Tired for another exhausting day at work – or just being who he is – all Arthur wanted at that moment was to relax by smoking a cigarette. Dragging himself out of the elevator, he made his way to his old apartment and took the keys out of his pocket to open the door. He warned that he was back, but his mother did not respond. Arthur suspected she was asleep, but as soon as he put his feet in the living room, his body froze.

The likelihood of them seeing each other again was one in a million, but here she was, surprising him once again. There was no plausible explanation for what he was feeling at the moment. Accelerated heart. Sweaty palms. And the most sincere smile of his entire life. Arthur was genuinely happy. Seeing the actress again was enough to erase all his problems. Y/N was like a breath of fresh air to his lungs. There was something about her, something that you notice from a long distance, but that Arthur can't put into words.

"Happy, your friend was waiting for you." Penny broke the silence, bringing them to reality again.

With a smile, Y/N stood up, running her hands over the dress she wore. She approached the man and greeted him in her soft voice:

"Hi, Arthur. How've you been?" Surprised by her own courage, she touched his shoulder and left a kiss on his cheek.

Arthur felt his cheeks turn into two tomatoes and he automatically looked at the ground, hiding a shy smile in the corner of his lips. But knowing that she was waiting for an answer, he took a deep breath, looking at her again and saying:

"Hey, I'm... I'm good. How about you?"

"I couldn’t be better. I hope I'm not bothering you, your mom said I could stay to wait for you."

"Don't say that, you never bother, dear! Now I'm going to leave you two alone so you can talk." The woman tried to get up and Arthur quickly moved to stand beside her, helping Penny back to the bedroom.

It was easy to see how much he loves his mother.

A few minutes later, Arthur was back in the living room, looking a little nervous about the situation. It was possible to state that the actress felt the same way, remembering the reason that brought her to the other side of the city. She didn't want to say anything in front of Penny, but now she could and the words were stuck in her throat.

"I don't know where to start... I'm so sorry for the way you were treated. They couldn't have done that to you, Arthur."

"How d-did you know?"

"Brian talked to the receptionist..." She said, biting her lower lip in an attempt to control herself, but that was not enough. "I'm so mad at Susan! Who does she think she is to treat you that way?"

"Don't be m-mad at her because of me... It's okay, I'm used to it." Arthur replied, trying to reassure the actress. The last thing he wanted to do was be responsible for erasing her smile, but his words made Y/N even more concerned.

"What are you saying?"

"My life is... different from yours." He murmured, shaking his shoulders as if it didn't matter, but the sad expression on his face showed just the opposite. "I d-don't want to bother you with my stupid problems. This is not worth your time."

"But I have all the time in the world to hear you. Please tell me..." Y/N insisted, still trying to understand what he meant by 'I'm used to it'.

Susan had compared Arthur to a criminal; someone dangerous. She judged him by his appearance. His actions. His somewhat confused way of speaking. No. This is not normal. This is not something that Arthur should just 'get used to'.

"C-Can I get you something to drink?" He asked, shifting the focus of the conversation in the blink of an eye. Just a few more words and he could feel the laughter in the back of his throat, begging to leave. And that was not what he wanted.

"But..." The actress tried again, but acknowledged it was time to stop. She showed one of her beautiful smiles and that was enough to warm the man's heart. "Water, please."

Following Arthur into the kitchen, she stood by the door, watching him. Arthur was not a bad person – and he wasn't a criminal either, as Susan thought. Y/N just wanted to have the opportunity to get to know him better. It was as if the man still has his face paint on; as if he were still Carnival and she desperately wanted to meet the man hiding behind the paint, but Y/N understood that invading his space was not the best way to achieve this.

"Oh, thanks!" She thanked him, holding the cup and drinking, as they walked back to the living room. Pointing to the magazines, she fired: "These magazines are old... Are you a collector or something?"

"Not exactly... It was a few months ago, this guy was throwing the magazines in the trash because nobody wanted to buy, but he sold it to me for half the price..." Arthur's eyes widened when he realized what he had said. He scratched the back of his neck, completely embarrassed, but the actress just started laughing.

"It's okay, Arthur. I like your sincerity." She added, finding the situation funny. "But tell me, what is your favorite?"

The man pointed to the third magazine without thinking twice. Unlike the others, this cover was focused only on Y/N's angelic face. She was holding a white rose; the petals of the flower touching her lips painted in bright red.

"You have the most beautiful smile I've ever seen in my life." He thought aloud, making her blush with his sincere words.

Y/N was constantly praised. Men and women. Different ages. Nationalities. Some were adorable, others completely depraved, but no one was able to make her feel what she was feeling right now.

Arthur was surprised at himself. This trust was not constant in his life, but close to her, it was as if he wanted to try. It was easy, because he was just telling the truth. Her smile was beautiful.

"So... what is this?" After a few minutes of silence, she asked, pointing again at the small table in the center of the living room.

"Oh, this is my journal!" The man picked up his journal and sat down next to her on the couch. "My therapist forced me to have one. I write my thoughts, some new jokes and other things..."

"I love jokes, but I need to confess that clowns are not my point."

"Don't you like clowns?" Arthur was not angry with her, in fact he thought it was funny. "How is this possible?"

"Don't judge me! It's nothing personal... I don't hate them completely, i just get a little nervous." Y/N started to laugh, being accompanied by him. When the laughter stopped, she said: "Now the million dollar question... What did you think of 'Midnight Seduction'? But you need to promise me that you will be honest with your criticism, right?"

The man shook his head in agreement.

"So I can start by saying that the ending was not as I expected, she died..." Arthur knew it was just a fictional death, but Y/N's flawless performance took that scene to another level. He was paralyzed by her talent. Y/N was definitely born to shine. Her filmography was rich.

"My Diana..." The actress spoke fondly about the character, remembering the day she read the script for the first time. Nobody was expecting this. "I like to imagine that she had a second chance. No prostitution. No drugs. Without HIV. And with someone by your side to love."

"This is a good ending, I like it... Rosalind was the only person who cared about her."

"Oh, did you notice?" Y/N asked, leaving the glass of water on the table. "I mentioned this in an interview, but the next day everyone was distorting my words!"

"It's just... love. What's wrong with that?"

"Unfortunately some people will never understand what love is."

Looking at Y/N and Arthur, it was possible to see that they were opposite poles. Their lives were completely different, but it was intriguing how they always found a connection. Time passed quickly, but they were still involved in a long conversation. Y/N loved to hear the man tell about his work as a clown – obviously he didn't mention the bad side. The actress told about NGOs, some trips around the globe and the preparation to play her characters. Each character was a new challenge and Arthur found it fascinating that she lived several lives in just one.

When the conversation followed a delicate path, Y/N considered changing this path, but she gave up and stood up, walking around the living room with a nostalgic smile growing on her lips. Arthur watched a few interviews, but hearing the actress speak directly to him about her childhood in Narrows was different. She lived in a simple house with her mother and brother. The situation was not easy, they did not have much money. Today her mother and brother are living in France, enjoying a wonderful life because of Y/N and her promising career. She missed them. She talked to them on the phone every day, but that was her best decision. Gotham has become a hostile, completely violent city, but it was in the middle of this violent city that her life changed...

"I was working at a restaurant in the downtown when Misty saw me in that hideous uniform..." Y/N couldn't help but laugh. "She said I was too pretty to clean shitty toilets, but cleaning shitty toilets was what puts money on the table at the end of the month... So she said she had an indecent proposal for me. I figured she would offer me a job at a nightclub... I probably would have accepted it. I was desperate to help my family, but she asked if i would like to be famous... A simple answer, "yes" and see how I look six years later. That horrible uniform became the most expensive designer dresses in the world, my mom has a beautiful house and everything she deserves, my little brother is having all the support for his studies and that girl with dreams turned into a famous actress, but..."

Unhappy.

Y/N completed in her mind, she was not strong enough to say that. She was also not ungrateful. Misty turned the girl's life into a fairy tale, but at the same time it took her life. In six years, she never had a break. Her manager was always bringing her a new job. The actress knew this was important for her career, but she didn't have time for anything other than work. She didn't have time to visit her own family. She was stuck.

Arthur heard someone knock on the door, but he kept his eyes on Y/N. The woman was in absolute silence and close to tears. Her smile was gone. She was suffering in front of him and he didn't know what to do to get this pain out of her.

"You should check this out." She murmured and at first he didn't react, but when the person knocked on the door again, Arthur stood up.

The actress took advantage of the moment to compose herself, trying to normalize her breathing, but when she heard that voice, her body just froze. The next minute the redhead appeared in the living room holding her Prada bag and looking at everything with an expression of disgust, but when she saw Y/N, she said:

"Mon cher, why didn't you tell me you wanted to visit your new friend? You know you don't have to lie to me."

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

a/n – likes and reblogs are appreciated but honestly I’d love to know what you all think of this one. really hope you enjoy it and thank you soooo much for reading ♡

[queenieloveswriting]

The Fool and Her Temperance

Before your parents split, you lived in the outerbanks,with your mum and dad, close to your cousin ,john b. Not long after Big John, your dad's brother, died your mum and dad split, your dad stayed in outer banks to watch over his brothers son and keep his steady job, your mum however took you back to her home country Italy, and you lived in a small but cosy house near your grandparents. Not having a choice as a 7 year old you had to leave outer banks behind. When you got older your mum let you have your dad's number and then eventually you got your cousins, and began to get extremely close.

John and your dad simultaneously kept you up to date on the news and gossip of the outer banks, you'd call each other and it became your Sunday night ritual. Being a call or facetime you'd talk about school, you talked him through a grieving process and eventually settled for his reason to not believe until there is physical evidence. You barely know his friends other than jj whose number you also had, but they knew the name ‘Luna D’Angelo.

It was a Sunday night and you'd just, finally, convinced your mother to let you visit your dad for the summer and soak in the sun while she moved for a promotion during the month in Portland, of all places. You are just about to call john and tell him the news. School was literally out as of Friday and you were sure he was partying like he told you he'd be on Saturday, which is why he called you earlier. After updating your dad, who you also talked to every Friday night after school, You got to john 

After repetitive buzzing he finally picked up, you heard some staticky music and slightly tipsy John b 

“Heyyy Luna you okay we calleddd yesterdayyy i thinkkkk”

“Heyy john yeah we did sorry i just had some really good news i wanted to tell you but i can ring you tomorrow if its better”

“Don't be silllyyy I've only had a few anyways, I'll remember what is it, please don't tell me your pregnant because uncle joe’ll be pisseddd” he chuckled

“No oh my god I just wanted to say that my mum gave me the all clear and I’m coming to live with dad for the summer and maybe longer i don't know but yeah”

The line went silent 

“WOOOHOOO she coming Back GUYS DID YOU HEAR THAT LUNA D’ANGELO IS COMING FOR THE SUMMER "he shouted 

“Woah man stop shouting "you heard from the other line

“Jj bro my cousin you remember my cousin Luna she just told me yeah that she's coming back for the summer and maybe longer if her mum lets her brooo this is going to be the best summer ever lulu I've missed you”

“Wait really bro as in uncle joe’s Luna?”he asked 

“Duh bro the only Luna we know dumbass you wanna say hi”

“What do you mean bro she's not here or is she waiting wha--?”

“She on the phone,ohhh actually you speak to her for a second I'm getting looks from over there”

“Oh wait John its fin--”

Next thing you heard was some shuffling and a deeper voice fill your speaker phone

“Luna you there? "he asked

“Shit yeah hey jj I was about to go anyways but well now you know I’m finally going to meet you and the guys well and girl but”

“yeah you areee” he slurred 

“Anyways I'll see you in about a week j”

“Soon beautiful gunna have the best summer, finally going to a legendary obx party "he laughed, tipsy

“Sounds good jay I'll see you soon bye "you hung up

after finally hanging up on the phone you mentally facepalmed yourself for being so awkward, you went to bed 

A slow week went by, and you had finally arrived in the outerbanks.Stepping of the boating docks you searched the crowd for you dad. Once you spotted him holding a sign that said “bentornato la mia bella figlia”welcoming you back in your second, most used language,italian.Running into your dad's arms,you both had a little cry eventually getting settled into a cosy shack. After catching up with your dad you told him about you and john b becoming close once he gave you his number. Deciding you should surprise him with his arrival, Your dad drove you in his pick up to a block away from the chateau you remember you uncle calling it.

Walking up to the porch you heard voices coming from the dock, followed by their matured bodies coming in from a boat, scrapping your original plan once you saw your cousin, you just screamed running to the completely oblivious family member

“Johnnnn I’m back” you giggled still running

.Catching his attention he turned around running towards you in complete shock “holy fucking shit your here I thought it was tomorrow "he shouted suffocating you with a hug ”oh my god john b i missed you “you giggled and he sent you a watery laugh in return "I wasn't expecting you back soon  wow you look so different from the scrawny little 7 year old in uncle joe’s photos "he cooed

Before you could argue you were aware of the three people sending you confused glares. The only girl there, assuming it was kiara not having seen pictured to put name to face, coughed. ”someone wanna tell me what the fucks going on “she addressed earning john to roll his eyes at the over sassed girl, who had looked slightly jealous ”Kie this is Luna D’Angelo uncle joes daughter I’ve mentioned her she's my cousin, I might have forgot to tell them you were coming “her attitude dropped when she realised it was you “ohmygod ”she physically facepalmed, causing you to laugh "I had no idea you were coming the fuck john dumbass ”she elbowed him walking towards giving you a hug. ”Nice to finally meet you and put a face to name, speaking of you are fucking gorgeous the fuck ”she giggled walking  back to the boys wo still hadn't said anything, causing you to break the silence "so that makes you pope "you pointed to the buff dark skinned boy who nodded ”yeah that's me Luna I had no idea you were coming he's useless” he stated walking up to you with a quick hug “that he is "you turned round to finally face the blonde who had a cheeky smirk on his face shamelessly checking you out you rolled your eyes. Facing him you looked up too him finally seeing what he looked like ,defiantly exceeding “cute", you opened you arms and he came towards you, similarly to john b engulfing you and spinning you in a quick hug “its crazy actually hearing you and seeing you in real life "he teased still hugging you. Aware of the confused gases from the rest you backed out of the hug, missing the slight disappointment on jj’s face. Rolling your eyes at his comment, you looked up into his mischievous eyes and innocently winked taking a second take on his Greek-caved body “I know good to finally see what you guys all look like definitely not what I was expecting though". Turning around to the others who’d been oddly silent "so what's now guys "you asked everyone "well we were just about to go to kiara family's restaurant and grab some free food you wanna come? "John b asked. Following your cousin who was walking down the dock you made conversation with kiara about her Restaurant and how they finally got paper straws, being an environmentalist, you enjoyed discussing this.

When you finally got to the wreck you had made and surprisingly gotten close quite quickly you had conversations with all of them except jj, who was next. After discussing what you think happened to bodies after you die with pope, what was cuter a bottlenose dolphin or a harbour seals with kiara, dolphins winning the argument, and just life with john b how he is coping with  everything including his dad, you wondered what you'd talk about with jj, having brief text conversations with him on the phone you don't know him that well however being the only one you'd actually heard from and the stories about him from john b had been quite funny an intrigued you on the boys with an adrenaline addiction.

Once you sat down ,purposefully next to jj, pope and john b in front of you and kiara walking around helping her dad close up.

“So jj ”you turned facing him "I hear you are quite the adrenaline junkie, correct? "you sassed .Smirking he replied “quite the risk taker princess why’d you ask”

“Well you see now you might have a bit of competition because in Italy I am known as principessa pazza translating to crazy princess so you better be watching yourself blondie” you teased "what's got you that rep princess crazy "he joked. Laughing at his tone you pulled out your phone to a video collage you friends in Italy made of all the things you'd done from surfing to vine swinging. Passing him the phone you studied his priceless face watching yourself, internally hoping he's not judging your body in your bikinis and just watching what you were actually doing “damn Luna that's so sick where are you in this one", he asked scrolling the the clip of you surfing doing a perfect spin in the waves ”oh there, that's actually really funny story you wanna hear? "you asked to which he nodded “so basically me and a bunch of my guy friends, because no girls wanna get there hand dirty over there "you laugh intaking a breath “we had a 4 hour trek to get there and not having a car we had to walk to the mains and hitch hike and walk for about an hour and a half to actually get there with our boards to because we had no money to pay for rentals it was difficult I remember having to sit in the back of this guys car and my friend Ricco say in the front and there was only space for two in the back so i had to sit on Ryan's lap and put my feet on Angelo’s lap so we could have our boards on the floor, anyways once we finally got there and i got the feeling in my legs back we surfed for hours the beach was so busy and we found this beautiful cove which is in the video and the waves were so much better ,best waves I've ever surfed, we all slept on the sand around a makeshift fire from my lighter and so i had to sleep in my bikini them in their shorts because we didn't want to go home covered in sand and anyways after about 6 hours we found our way home, I didn't realise my mum would be back but the 3 weeks of no phone or tv and grounding was totally worth it, and that is what happened in tuscany,italy,ragazzo Biondo "you took a deep breath reliving the memory for a short period of time. "your mum was always a bit melodramatic Lu “your cousins chimed in. You were oblivious to the fact they had been listening to you relive your memories. Rolling you eyed you nodded “want to hear melodramatic she found out that when i was grounded the boys still came through my window and we all were still hanging out when she told me I couldn't and I was grounded for the end of the  month and she took my door off "you rolled your eyes at one of your mums various punishment “why do you think I want to live with dad "you joked.

“Wait so you are moving back? I thought it was only the summer "pope questioned earning a glare from john 

“I am staying for the summer but I was going to ask my dad eventually if I enjoy it here if he wouldn't mind it it would take my mum loads of convincing though but I think I can convince her if I kept my grades solid and got a job  could probably ’be trusted” ”you and john both rolled your eyes at the comment

“So that means there is a 50/50 chance you could be staying? "john asked hopeful

“Most likely cuz I mean id say more 75 no/25 yes but whatever floats your boat ”“I hope you do it'd be so cool to have you here and plus i think your dad would love that, we talk about you a lot, he misses you "he sighed you sent him a smile

“So what do you all do round here, any adventures? "you smirked

John b rolled his eyes but continued to answer your question “its pretty chill and well the same we go out on the boat swim or fish for a bit come home and probably to a kegger on the beach get wasted fight with kooks the usually” he stated "that doesn't sound too bad could surf all day, one question though "you asked and john b hit you with ‘shoot’ "the fuck is a kook? ”you asked earning snickers from the group and an in depth conversation with the boys about the rich snobs on the other side of the island.

Checking your phone it was almost 10:00 and you figured you should probably head home. Saying your goodbyes jj offered to walk you home. Insisting you and your dad lived a block away from his anyway, which was true.

When you arrived at your front door you turned to him and thanked h for walking you home 

“Honestly it's no problem I just wanted to talk to you like one on one for a bit you know, it's good to put a face to Luna and i honestly really hope you can stay longer, we could get used to having you around "he said causing your face to slightly flush at the complement “thanks jay that mean a lot rea-”you were cut off by your dad opening the door “ahh right on time Luna, jj how you doing boy "he asked causing you to look between then a few times in confusion “yeah I'm good sir just walking Luna home we had food at the wreck with the others "he answered your dad “thank you for feeding her son I do my shop tomorrow and was worried "you dad laughed “it's fine anyways I better go before john b locks up or I'll be sleeping on the porch "he said "wait I thought you were going back you yours and that's why you walked here ”jj chuckled "not going back to mine tonight me and john b are going to go out tomorrow so it's just easier if i sleep there "he answered looking up to your dad sending a playful wink to you “goodnight guys catch you tomorrow lulu "he waved off "night jj ”followed by “night son" your dad replied.

When you got in you caught up with your dad for the night and headed to bed looking forward to your full day out tomorrow on the boat with everyone

Tagged-

@sguymon21

A/N 🤷🏽got boredddd,,name and kind of themed on the two tarot cards ‘the fool’ and ‘the temperance’ putting in a summary on my masterlist for the meanings of it . Let me know if you wanna be tagged and if you liked it. Feel free to message me always wanna make some frienddddddss,,thanks for the love on my other fics if your interested here’s my masterlist

[space-australia-stories]

I always see posts about how awesome humans are in pretty much every way. But lately I've been wondering what would happen if an alien met someone, say, wheelchair bound, or missing a limb. How would aliens, or an alien captain for that matter, handle seeing one of these unstoppable humans that's been crippled, maybe even since birth? I bet it'd be a bit of a trip.

I’m sure an alien race wouldn’t be unfamiliar with birth defects or deformities. Oh, I just thought of something! It’s not really what you asked for but it’s neat, I think. (sorry this answer is so late, I hope you’re still here!)

Imagine some alien being born with a disability. In their society, any sort of disability or deformity renders you pretty much useless in the eyes of the government. Those born with disabilities or who acquire them usually work the worst of the worst jobs and are payed next to nothing. Keep reading to see a more in-depth story.

Aro was always considered the outsider. As a young hatchling, he was not allowed to attend school with his more abled peers. Instead, he learned with the other Rejects. Rejects of different age groups all shared one teacher, who had to split her time between all of them. As such, their education was severely lacking when compared to the more privileged children. He was barred from entering university when the time came because he was deemed unfit due to his disability.

He found his first prosthetic in a waste bin. It was broken and uncomfortable, but it allowed him to finally apply for a job in a factory as a sanitary worker. He worked long hours on his feet, and his wages were miserable. At the end of each day, his hips would hurt from the height difference between his real and prosthetic legs, and he had bruises and blisters where his prosthetic fit incorrectly against his skin. 

Aro’s biggest dream as a hatchling had been to become an engineer for the Federation, but given his disability, he was not allowed anywhere near the Space Center. He had always been interesting in tinkering and mechanics, and used his natural skills in those areas to repair his prosthetic, but once he started working, he was unable to pursue his passion. Aro had given up on that dream long ago, but when rumors started spreading through the factory that a group of Federation warships were coming to resupply on their planet, Aro couldn’t help the fantasies that flooded his mind. He dreamed of spending his days in a ship’s interior, unaware of the heat, where he would get to know and work with the mechanisms that made those beautiful ships run.

As the day of the resupply drew closer, Aro began to hear whispers of an all-Terran crew on one of the warships. The Terrans were highly regarded throughout the Federation as being practically unstoppable. They were amazing healers, and would run head-first into danger with no regard for their health. It was scary to think that nothing would slow them down. Aro had never met one before, but it was hard to imagine that such an intense race of creatures would have any place for a Reject like him. Upon hearing that a crew of them would be with the Federation warships, Aro became increasingly nervous about their visit. The ships would visit his factory for much needed parts, and Aro regretfully decided to take the day off. The Terrans would be disgusted to see a Reject like himself, and he wanted his planet to give them the best first impression as possible. He had wanted to see the warships, but, he did not want to shame his people.

On the day of the resupply, just as Aro was leaving the factory, he passed by a large group talking in hushed tones. They silenced when he approached, but not before he caught someone finish, “-captain is a Reject.”

This thought was met with disbelief and shock rippling through the crowd. Someone in the center spoke up. “A Terran? Not possible. They would not allow their reputation to be tarnished in that way.” He looked pointedly at Aro, who had slowed his walk so as hear the conversation better. At the other’s glance, Aro turned his eyes down and walked away, his mind swimming.

A Reject Terran? And a captain, no less. Aro could not believe his ears. Like his coworker said, the Terrans would never allow a Reject to hold such a highly respected position.

Lost in his thoughts, Aro must have made a wrong turn somewhere, and when he realized where he was, it was already too late. Somehow, he had ended up in the hangar, where the Federation warships were already docked. The hangar crew were already running around cleaning the ships and running maintenance checklists, preparing for their relaunch at the end of the day. Aro’s heart was beating in his chest. He knew he shouldn’t be here, but he couldn’t help himself from stepping further into the hangar. He had never seen a Federation ship up close before, and he was in awe of the beauty of the large warships in front of him.

No one seemed to notice him approach the closest one from the back. He reached up reverently to touch to cool metal of the thrusters. He did not notice when someone came up behind him.

“Beautiful, isn’t she?” Aro jumped and yanked his hand away at hearing the choppy voice, obviously spoken through a translator.

Sure enough, when he turned around, there was a Terran with a translator wrapped in front of his mouth. He was sitting in a chair with large wheels. Was he tired? And why did the chair need wheels? Only then did Aro notice that the man was wearing a Federation captain’s uniform.

How does one act around a captain? Aro did not know. Should he bow, as is customary when speaking to an Elder? Hastily, he bent at the waste and lowered his eyes in submission. He cleared his throat and bunched his fists to keep his hands from shaking.

“S-sir, I apologize. I did not see you behind me.” He swallowed the lump forming in his throat, and shifted his weight to conceal his crude prosthetic. The captain would be furious to find out a Reject was allowed near his ship. He spoke again without lifting his eyes. “The ship is beautiful, Sir,” he confirmed quietly, but meaning every world.

The captain chuckled, which surprised Aro enough that he looked up at the Terran. He had a warm smile on his face, but had not gotten up from his chair to return Aro’s bow. “There’s no need to bow, son,” he said, which caused Aro to cringe in embarrassment and stand up hesitantly.

“Your people are awfully fond of that,” the captain continued, “but a simple handshake will do.”

He extended his hand, and it was obvious that he intended for Aro to do the same. Aro was unfamiliar with Terran customs, and did not know what to do after that. Luckily, the captain completed the gesture by grasping Aro’s hand in his and jostling it firmly up and down once before letting go. He still did not stand from his chair. 

“What’s your name, son? Are you interested in the ship?” asked the captain.

Aro’s nerves were going haywire. He remembered what the others in the factory had said. The captain is a Reject. Could this be him?

“M-my name is Aro, Sir,” Aro stuttered.

It took a moment for the captain to respond while he waited for the translator to convert Aro’s words into the Terran language. Finally, he smiled. “Nice to meet you, Aro. My name is Captain Brewster, but most people just call me Brew.”

Aro caught a hint of the Terran language just seconds before the translator said them. It was more breathy and less harsh than his. It lacked the hard clicks and stops that made his language difficult for others to learn. In that moment, he desperately wished to know Terran.

The captain continued. “So how long have you worked here, Aro?”

“Three years, Sir.”

“Any interest in space travel?”

The question threw him off. Aro could not think of why Captain Brewster would ask something like that.

Luckily, the captain explained. “You seem to like my ship.”

“Y-yes, Sir. I do like engineering.” Aro looked away shyly.

Captain Brewster smiled again. “Would you like to see something? Follow me.”

Without waiting for an answer the captain started moving around the back side of his warship. Aro watched him grab the wheels of his chair and push down, which moved him forward. He followed slowly, attempting to hide his limp. Captain Brewster wheeled up and into the ship and Aro followed after the captain urged him that it was alright. The captain guided him to the side of the ship near the hatch switch. The metal wall in this area was etched with hundreds of markings in languages that Aro did not recognize.

“Whenever we fly to a new planet,” the captain explained, “I like to get a message from a planet native carved right here, so that every time we go out, I am reminded of all the people we’re fighting for.”

Aro nodded along, studying the scrawlings that covered nearly half the wall.

“Would you like to write something here?” the captain asked bluntly.

Aro startled back, and his eyes went wide. “S-sir, I could not. It would not be right,” he apologized.

The captain tilted his head in confusion. “Why not?”

Here it was. Aro would have to reveal his undesireable condition to the captain. He could not ignore a question from a Federation captain.

“I-I have a condition, Sir.” Aro’s voice got quieter as he spoke. “I was born with no right leg. I am a Reject. I am unfit to even be talking with you now. I apologize for disrespecting you so.” He bowed again in an attempt to hide the tears welling in his eyes.

“A Reject? Aro, I promise you, you are anything but disrespectful. Now stand up.”

Aro did as he was told, and found that Captain Brewster had moved his chair closer to him.

“If I am correct, a Reject is your peoples’ term for someone with a disability, yes?”

Aro only nodded. He could not find his voice.

“And this makes you less of a person than others?” Aro nodded, now terrified of where this was going.

To his surprise, the captain reached up and placed his hand on Aro’s shoulder. He looked into his eyes as he spoke next. “That’s bullsh*t. If that’s what your people think of guys like me, then you’re wrong.”

Realizing what he said, he added hastily, “I apologize, Aro.” He moved away from Aro and folded his hands in your lap. “I’ve worked hard to get to where I am today. I don’t like that people like me are denied from pursuing their dreams just because of a stupid disability. And people like you.” Captain Brewster was looking at Aro directly in the eyes, expecting a response.

Aro blinked, then asked hesitantly, “S-sir? If I may ask, a-are you a Reject?”

The captain nodded. “But I don’t like that word. It’s demeaning.”

Aro worried that he angered the captain, but he looked more sad than anything else.

“Aro, would you like to be an engineer?”

Aro was unprepared for the blunt question. He thought his dream was dead, but at the captains words, he knew he was still just as passionate as ever.

“Yes, Sir,” he said, more confidently than anything he said before.

Captain Brewster smiled knowingly. “Why don’t you write something here.” He gestured to the wall. “I’ll see what I can do.” The captain winked and wheeled away.

Aro stood in shock, not knowing what to do. After a moment, he heard the hangar crew shouting outside, and knew that the warships were preparing to leave. Pulling a screwdriver from a pocket in his pants, he scratched a short message into the wall and hurried out of the hangar, just in time to see this ships take off.

He spent many restless nights mulling over his strange conversation with Captain Brewster and thinking about what it might mean. Weeks passed and soon, Aro had all but forgotten the conversation. The captain was just being polite. He probably couldn’t wait to be away from Aro as soon as possible.

Then one day, after coming home from a particularly grueling day at work, Aro noticed a thick green envelope poking out of his mailbox. When he opened it, several papers and a photo fell out. The photo was of Aro’s message on Captain Brewster’s ship, which Aro found confusing. He set it aside to read the letter, and his heart rate increased the more he read.

TO ARO —- OF THE PLANET WINOA

We are pleased to announce your summons to the FEDERATION SPACE CENTER OF TERRA in preparation of your enrollment at the Intergalactic University’s College of Engineering. We have reviewed your profile, and find you to be a perfect candidate for the Intergalactic Trade Scholarship, which provides qualifying students from all over the universe with the opportunity to study their fields of passion, all expenses paid by the Federation. Included in this summons is a more in-depth description of the Intergalactic Trade Scholarship, as well as a ticket to Terra, for the date of MAY 13, 2576..

Sincerely,

Ursula Moody

Academic Advisor

IU College of Engineering

Aro looked again at the photo, and on the back, a short note was written sloppily in Aro’s own language. 

Aro, I pulled some strings and got you into IU! I could see the passion in your eyes, and I would have beat myself up if I didn’t help you out somehow. Call me at (123) 456-7890 when you get to Terra so we can meet up!

                                                      - Captain James “Brew” Brewster

P.S. I loved your note. “Mistakes are just happy accidents. Our meeting was no mistake, but it was happy nonetheless.” Very Bob Ross of you.

Aro did not know who this Bob Ross was, but he assumed it was a Terran compliment.

He could not believe it. His dream of becoming a Federation engineer was finally coming true, and he could not wait to start.