#Ocean king 2 win

[zarnzarn]

1/2/3/4

reverse Odyssey au where polites is still on the ships when Poseidon arrives, and that last bit is enough to push Odysseus to beg him to stop, to spare the men he spent ten long years fighting hard and bitter to save. 593 men is no less amount after all, not for a small island like Ithaca, only three generations old. he'll do anything, anything at all, blind him, torture him, kill him- just let his men go; they were not the ones to blame.

Poseidon considers, staring down at the king with the odd grey eyes that he knew the origin of. Athena would be furious, after all- so why not take away the one thing her favoured pet was known for?

the crew rushes towards their captain, their king, as shouting emerges from the other boats, as he hits the deck convulsing, grasping at his throat. the cries of his men rend the air as his legs melt into oceanspray, remerging as a fish's tail, Odysseus gasping for air wildly, his tongue a mess of mangled flesh on the main deck, unable to talk or breathe.

they have no choice but to pick him up and tip him into the sea, and they watch in horror as he falls beneath the waves and with a flick of the tail, disappears.

six hundred men chase their king down, following the odd silver glint that appears once in a while above the blue water, following the strange cursed monster that Elepnor sees when he falls drunk into the ocean one day. follow him all the way back to Ithaca, where the people gather on the shore to cheer their arrival.

telemachus is all of ten and untameable at the return of his father's ships, running past the guards and the priests to the dock, where the soldiers and heroes are all setting down the ramps, strangely quiet, unsmiling in the face of ten years of gore and bloodshed being done. Penelope catches up to him, laughing as she cranes her head up, scanning the ships to see which one- which one had-

she only has to time to see euroluchus' shame-filled tears and polites guilty devastation, feeling her heart slowly sink to the ground, when there's suddenly a splash and an outburst of screams and propped up on the dock is a man with a fish's tail and familiar curls and razor-sharp teeth and eyes that are solid grey. the soldiers cry out in horror and thunder down the ramps to them as the monster reaches out- and Penelope can't do anything, frozen, as it reaches out and places a webbed hand with deadly claws on her son's cheek, caressing almost; and her breath catches when it looks back up to her, and she knows the face as well as her own, knows the grief and fear and knows it is her husband-

Then the pounding footsteps from the closest ships and the guards behind reach them, and Penelope only has time enough to scream to stay their weapons, already shoving Telemachus behind her and reaching out to shield off any spears or arrows from battle-strung men who'd shoot first and ask questions later-

Instead she only feels the brush of cold skin under his fingertips for the briefest of moments and then she's caught up in a fisher's net, tangled and alone. More nets are thrown, men crying out for their captain with desperation and fear, Polites running straight past her and leaping off the dock to swim after him-

But her husband is a descendant of Hermes, and Odysseus is gone.

Penelope listens to the story that night and does not cry, sitting straight-backed in the face of her family sobbing around her, of the five hundred and ninety-three men staring at her with grief and guilt alike, of being the only widow in the kingdom. Pets Telemachus' wild hair and remembers his father's, and thinks.

"You have told me much," She says finally. "But I'm still to hear a single, solid plan."

The room rustles as all the heads swing to her.

"Plan?" Eurylochus says finally. Anger burns as soon she looks to him, but she pushes it down firmly- rage will not win her anything.

"Yes. A plan," she says, "To bring my husband back home."

Telemachus unfolds at her feet and stares up at her with a hopeful grin, echoed slowly on the faces of the men around the room. Penelope smiles back.

"My husband spent ten years fighting for his people to make it back home," She proclaims. "Let's wait at least that long before we give up on him, yes?"

The answering cheer shakes the walls of the palace and echoes through the streets of Ithaca.

[ladykailitha]

Never Hold Back Your Step... Part 12

Welcome back to another addition of Dustin being absolutely chaotic as fuck and Robin inserts herself into a dangerous situation because she has to out sass an eighth grader.

This story really is nearing in the end of season 3, and I don't think this story will go for much longer than that. So it will probably be the next story I finish.

What this means is that soon I'll be starting up "The Hellfire Erotic Club" as I am already two chapters into sugar baby!Steve and sugar daddy!Eddie so that one is next on the docket. And as it sounds, it absolutely will be mature. It might even be my first explicit story I've written. So let me know if you want to be kept off the list for that one.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

~

Things mellowed out with Robin at work. She still had the YOU RULE/YOU SUCK board, but at least wasn’t throwing out snide comments and sneering glances every two seconds so Steve absolutely counted that as a win.

And he continued to flirt badly. The worst was when Eddie and Jeff had stopped by after touring the music store.

“It’s the hat,” Steve said with moue. “It’s ruining my best feature.”

Robin snorted. “Your best feature? You don’t have one.”

Steve rolled his eyes and took off the hat. “My hair is my best feature, of course. I was the Hair in school, after all.” He threw it off the side and did a mocking shimmy with his shoulders before heading to register to greet a group of giggling girls.

“Hello, ladies,” he said smoothly. “My name is Steve and I’ll be your captain on this journey on the ocean of flavor. What can I get you today?” And then to really sell it. He winked.

The girls as he expected were completely turned off and hurried to get away as soon as possible. But hey at least Jeff got the number of one of the girls. So yay, gay wingman for the win! Or whatever.

Eddie came loping up to the counter, Jeff close on his heels. “That has got to be the most depressing thing I have ever had the misfortune to witness.”

“Seriously dude,” Jeff said with a wince. “Your mojo must have got up and went. Holy shit.”

Steve just pursed his lips and waved vaguely in Eddie’s direction. Eddie and Jeff giggled, but Robin frowned in confusion.

“Why does Munson being here affect your flirting?” she asked. “Because from what I’ve seen it doesn’t matter if he’s here or not, your flirting is always bad.”

He just shrugged. “Maybe the PTA is right and Eddie can cast evil spells and cursed me.”

Eddie wiggled his fingers at her, but she just rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. If he could cast spells Mrs. O’Donnell would be dead by now.”

The three boys cackled.

“Or maybe,” Jeff said seriously, “the girls remember Stevie here hanging out with us freaks and geeks last year and think he’s suddenly beneath him. You know, now that he’s not King Steve anymore?”

Robin’s mouth open and closed like a fish before she snapped it shut with an audible click. She blushed a dark red and was grateful that a mother with her two young sons came in just then so she could avoid the awkwardness that followed.

“I’m off in five minutes,” Steve said, “if you two want to wait around?”

Eddie and Jeff shared a glance and then Eddie nodded. “Sure, we could hang out for a bit.”

“Yeah,” Jeff said with a half shrug. “I don’t have anything to do today.”

Steve moved off to the side to start scooping the lady’s order. He gave each of the kids a cone and the sundae to the mom. Then he tossed the scooper into the warm water they kept nearby to keep the scooper clean. He walked to the back and returned within seconds.

Just then the power went out. Steve sighed and went over to the light switch. He flipped it up and down.

“That didn’t work two days ago,” Robin hissed. “And it’s not going to work now.”

Eddie peered at Steve through the dark. “This happened a couple of days ago, too?”

“It’s because of how hot it is outside,” Steve said. “Which makes the AC run overtime and it blows the breaker.” He sounded like he was repeating something someone else said as he continued to flip the switch and then the lights came back on. Just as Steve was about to leave again, Dustin came running up to Steve, skidding to a stop when he saw Robin, Eddie, and Jeff standing there.

“Hey, guys,” he said with a strained smile on his face. “Can I talk to Steve for a moment? I won’t take up much of his time. I promise.”

That got Steve’s hackles up. He turned to Eddie and begged him with his eyes to understand what this meant. Eddie tilted his head to the side for a moment, before his mouth formed an ‘O’.

“Jeff and I will be at Suncoast Video,” he said, “we’ll be there when you’re done.”

Jeff blinked at him for a moment trying to decide if it was the worth the fight. Then he shrugged and followed Eddie away from the strange tableau behind them.

Robin eyed them suspiciously as the two boys went to go sit down.

“What’s up, bud?” Steve asked, a nervous chill sliding down his spine. Please don’t be the Upside Down. Please don’t be the Upside Down. Please don’t be the Upside Down.

“So because my ma doesn’t want me racking up her phone bill calling Suzie,” he said, “I put up, with a little help from Lucas, Will, and Mike, a communications tower so we could talk.”

Because of course they did. They were geniuses when it came to building that kind of shit, but not so much in why they shouldn’t.

“And there was this weird Russian transmission,” Dustin explained hurriedly. “I don’t want to show you the recording yet, not with so many people around. But I can I meet up at your place later tonight?”

Steve was about to turn the kid down. After all, he had tried the hero racket and it blew. All he got for his troubles was ringing in his ears and the biggest break up of his life.

“Just think, if we solve this then we can be celebrated for exposing a Communist plot!” he exclaimed. “We could be American heroes, Steve!”

Oh. That did sound nice. There was no chance of him putting his body on the line for a recording in Russia after all. “Sure thing, bud.”

~

There was no keeping the stupid little transmission from Eddie or Robin. The first one wasn’t a surprise, really. Eddie was attached to Steve’s hip like he’d always been right there. Robin was more of a shock, to be honest. She just inserted herself where she didn’t belong on sheer sass alone.

Because Dustin had all the tact of a bull in a china shop, he had been whining about not being able to translate the message. When suddenly the window to the back slid open with a slam.

“You do know you’re in public, right?” she huffed. “If you’re trying to being sneaky about it, you’re failing miserably.”

Dustin rolled his eyes. “Like you’re so smart.”

Robin raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “And how many languages do you speak, dork?”

Eddie and Steve shared a glance, then tried to stifle a laugh, Steve by biting his lip and Eddie by shoving his hair in front of his face.

“Two!” Dustin huffed, puffing out his chest. “Binary and English.”

“Binary doesn’t count,” Robin said, rolling her eyes. “You can’t ‘speak’ it. I speak French, Spanish, and Italian. That’s four.”

Dustin crossed his arms. “Does to and besides I didn’t hear Russian on that list.”

She tilted her head and smirked. “And how do you even know it’s Russian?”

Dustin’s jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes bulged out of his head.

“Just because it sounds ‘Russian’,” Robin said, using air quotes around the word Russian, “doesn’t mean it’s not some other Slavic language.”

Dustin’s bottom lip quivered. “And how many Slavic languages are there?”

Her grin turned feral and she leaned on the counter, looking him dead in the eye. “Eighteen if you don’t count the different dialects for each region, then you’re looking at something closer to twenty-five.”

“There’s no way there’s that many!” Dustin cried.

Steve bumped his shoulder into his. “Why don’t you let her hear it? What’s the worst thing that could happen? That she doesn’t recognize the language? It’d be no different from where we are now.”

“Come on, Dusty,” Eddie implored. “Or do I have to tell Suzie that you think girls aren’t as smart as boys?”

Dustin turned to glare at the older teen. “That’s a low blow, man.”

He looked over at Robin who was eyeing him expectantly and sighed. “Fine, here.” He handed her the portable tape deck and sat back to watch.

The message came through the small device and Robin listened to the whole thing, before rewinding it and playing it again.

“So what do you think?” Dustin asked after her third listen through. “Is it Russian?”

“Oh yeah,” she said with a smirk. “And probably in code.”

But before Dustin could answer, Eddie leaned on the front counter. He had been watching Steve the whole time Robin had been listening to the recording. When she got to the end, Steve would frown. Even with half of a banana stuffed in his cheeks like a chipmunk.

“What’s on your mind, Stevie?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

“There’s something about the music,” he muttered, tapping his fingers and humming the tune.

Dustin huffed. “Can you please pay attention to the important part, Steve? The apparently secret coded message in Russian?”

Steve shoved the rest of the banana in his mouth and chewed silently. He swallowed roughly and asked Robin to play the music again.

“Steve!” Dustin snapped. “What did I just say?”

Eddie glared at him. “Shut it, kid.” And Eddie began to listen to the music, too. Then Steve and Eddie made eye contact as they both got it at the same time.

Steve grabbed Dustin’s wrist and dragged him out of the ice cream shop, Eddie fast on their heels. They reached the Merry-Go-Round and Steve tried to pull out a couple of quarters but they fell to the ground. He bent to pick them up, but Eddie shoved a couple of quarters from his pocket into Steve’s hands.

Steve put the quarters into the Merry-Go-Round, while Eddie and Dustin stood by. Eddie smiled, smug and Dustin stood there, glowering at Steve, arms crossed.

The carousel roared to life. And then music started.

Dustin’s jaw dropped. “Wait, what?”

Steve and Eddie shared a grin.

“That’s the music from the recording!” he continued. “How did you recognize it?”

Eddie laughed.

“Because I hear it at least two or three times a shift,” Steve said, putting his hands on his hips. “It’s hard to miss because it’s so loud and so close to Scoops Ahoy.”

Dustin frowned and pouted because he had thought that Steve was just being his usual spacy self. But he actually figured it out.

As the three of them walked back to the ice cream shop, he said, “All that tells us is that Russians like carousels.”

Steve and Eddie shared a glance over his head.

“That’s an Indiana Flyer carousel,” Steve said slowly. “As in they only make them in Indiana.”

Dustin stopped short and his eyes widened in fear. “Does that mean they’re here in the state?”

Eddie shook his head. “Worse than that, Dusty. I’m pretty sure they’re here in the mall.”

Steve’s heart sank. He had been hoping that they would be able to solve this without getting directly involved, but that had just flown away like a startled butterfly.

Now all he had to do was convince himself that the Russians weren’t in Hawkins for the gateways to the Upside Down.

It was going to be a tough sell and he knew deep down it was never going to stick.

There were Russians in Hawkins and they were most likely here for Hell.

~

Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

Tag List: FIVE SLOTS REMAINING!

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @kultiras

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @justforthedead89 @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @blondie1006

5- @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @angels-of-hades

7- @mugloversonly @y4r3luv @greeniebean911 @birbsauce @acingthecounts

8- @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars @ravenfrog @dreamercec @sadisticaltarts

9- @clockworkballerina @bluelightsinthevoid @blcksh33p1987 @i-go-pink-in-the-night @mamafaithful

[witlesswitnesstm]

I am a firm Marvin Gardens BPD/NPD truther, so here’s all my evidence.

This is a very long post, so buckle up.

• Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Let’s go through the symptoms he shows, shall we?

- Has unreasonably high sense of self importance, and requires constant admiration:

Marvin, especially as a child, exhibits a large amount of grandiosity. This is most evident in How Marvin eats his breakfast and My Highschool Sweetheart.

He thinks of himself as above the maid staff and he constantly threatens/accuses them. Then he’s given the role of Columbus, and highly identifies with him to the point where he claims he *is* Columbus. That he’s this grand explorer, who’s the king of the ocean. He believes he’s powerful because of the role.

Then as an adult, Marvin has a constant need for adoration. He needs people (like Whizzer and Trina) to love and want him in songs like Thrill of first love and This had better come to a stop. That might even be a reason he got with Trina in the first place. He wanted to feel needed, without the responsibility of having to love back.

Not to mention the line “Kid. Be my son.” In Father to son. He wants Jason to fulfill the role as his son (and subsequently love him), not really acknowledging he’s his own person. But he still deeply cares about Jason, and wants him to succeed, he just does it through the only lense he understands; himself. Also, I noticed that Marvin literally moves the chess board aside and makes Jason face him during that song, even though he clearly doesn’t want to.

- Believes they deserve special privileges or treatment:

The R of Ms. Goldberg shows Marvin is obsessed with getting what he wants, for no other reason besides the fact that he wants it. It’s also implied that he didn’t even necessarily have the acting skills required to be Columbus, Ms. Goldberg just conceded because he kept pestering her. He believed he deserved it, so he got it.

- Make achievements and talents bigger than they actually are:

Again, Marvin obsessed over being a star actor. He also consistently exaggerates his intelligence with lines like “I can read her like a book” in How Marvin eats his breakfast and “I'm not so rich but hell I'm smart.” In This had better come to a stop.

In I never wanted to love you, Marvin also claims that he’s in demand, when he’s most likely not and is just trying to cover for his ego.

- Preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, brilliance

Oh wow. Ok, so we all know about the metaphor for games at this point. Marvin loves winning, he literally says it’s everything to him. He also says that he wants it all multiple times which is just, really driving home the point that he craves success and power over everything else.

Marvin is also characterized as being rich, which again emphasizes his need for success. I’m thinking he climbed the corporate ladder for the sole objective of looking like he’s successful.

Side note, I think the reason he never acknowledges how rich he is might be because he’s ashamed of being a trust fund baby. He had a whole maid staff as a kid, so it’s implied his parents had mad stacks. He might’ve sought success outside his parents’ money so that it was his own accomplishment, not his family’s.

I want to touch on My chance to survive the night, specifically the line “I played a game. She was as cute as a dime and couldn't spell. I asked her to spell my name. That's it for girls.” Marvin has a history of using games as a basis for breaking up with people because of his insecurity, even before Chess game. He gets a lot better with this in act 2, and this is evident in the racquetball matches. He seems a little unconfident, but he’s not devastated by it in the way he would be before.

I’ve mentioned this in a separate post, but The r of Ms. Goldberg can also be interpreted as a fantasy for power, since Marvin isn’t actually interested in having sex with Ms. Goldberg, and instead just wants to have control over her.

- Is critical and looks down on people they feel aren’t important:

Marvin consistently ignores his sweetheart even when she begs for his attention. When she tries to tell him she’s a person, he calls her ridiculous.

Marvin also just generally acted out as a child because he considered everyone as beneath him.

This trait is especially highlighted In Tight Knit family reprise, where he just straight up talks shit about Mendel, not being able to believe that Trina can love him. It’s also shown in Marvin hits Trina, that he dislikes her platitudes and expects substance from her, and then goes on to again beg for admiration with the line “How could you ever deny what we had?”

- Expects others to do what they ask without question:

This is best shown in This had better come to a stop and Chess game. Marvin expects Whizzer to play the housewife, while not acknowledging that he’s his own person.

This is also displayed in Tight Knit family, where he expects everyone to go along with his perfect vision of what a family should be.

- Has an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others:

This is most clear with Sweetheart and Trina. As I’ve said, Marvin blatantly ignores sweetheart’s attempts to love him, and completely disregards her. I want to note how he does this in favor of being attached to Ms. Goldberg and playing Columbus which are his power fantasies, essentially.

This trait is also shown in Breakfast over Sugar when Marvin basically tells Trina to shut up and that she’ll get over it when she’s having a a pretty expected emotional outburst to him divorcing her. He completely disregards her feelings, showing no empathy to her.

- Acts arrogantly:

This can just be interpreted as confidence but Marvin says that he loves being himself multiple times over the course of In trousers.

• Borderline Personality Disorder

- A strong fear of abandonment:

This ties into Marvin’s need for admiration, but he constantly asks others for validation, and even doesn’t want Trina to find new partners because he interprets it as abandonment of his family.

There’s also the workshop version of This had better come to a stop, which is all about how Marvin is terrified that Whizzer’s going to leave him again in act 2, but he tries to bury all those feelings down so that he doesn’t appear needy. One of the lines is “I sit here and slowly rot. Wait for Whizzer, wait for answers, and get none.” Which just really nails down this point.

There’s also Unlikely lovers, when Marvin refuses to leave Whizzer’s side in the hospital.

- A pattern of unstable, intense relationships:

I’m sure we all know where this is going.

Marvin has a lot of opinions about Trina. He says that he thinks she’s perfect in I have a family, but that at the same time, he says that he hates her in I swear I won’t ever again.

His wants are contradictory. He wanted Trina to leave him alone when he divorced her, but couldn’t accept that she married Mendel. Also, he fights with Trina consistently, even throughout Act 2.

Onto Whizzer, their relationship is driven solely by chaotic passion. Their relationship is *built* on fighting and making up with hate sex.

Whizzer has no idea how to feel about Marvin because of how unstable he is. Marvin can be gentle, but he expects everything to go his way. He’s affectionate but highly judgemental. (Then again, so is Whizzer.)

- Quick changes in how they view themself:

This is best shown in Your Lips and Me reprise. Marvin goes from hating who he was and what he did to Ms. Goldberg to having a whole ass victory song about how he loves being himself.

This might be sarcasm, but Marvin is also self deprecating in Tight knit family reprise, with the lyric “I'm too damn peeved, self-absorbed, self-deceived. Who knows?”

- Periods of stress related paranoia and loss of contact with reality

This is a stretch, but Marvin’s exes always hovering around him in In trousers might be paranoia about his past manifesting itself. This is especially clear in I can’t sleep and Your lips and Me reprise where they physically interact with him, preventing him from sleeping or reminding him of his past.

- Impulsive/risky behavior:

Bro got multiple STDs, presumably from unsafe sex. Also, it’s implied that he also got HIV after Whizzer.

Hitting Trina could also be seen as impulsive behavior.

- Wide mood swings:

This is where Marvin’s giddy seizures comes in. He has periods of extreme laughter and giddiness, sporadically.

- Inappropriate levels of anger

Marvin hits Trina. I mean, what else do I have to say? This whole song is about Marvin’s anger taking over his actions and causing physical harm because of it. He also shows inappropriate anger when he brings out Whizzer’s belongings after the Chess game.

Ok Jesus Christ that was a lot of words. Keep in mind that these are just my headcanons and you’re allowed to interpret Marvin in any way you want.

Also I don’t have these disorders myself and I’m not a professional psychologist or anything so let me know if I got some things wrong. I just care way too much about the Marvin Trilogy and I’m also interested in becoming a psychologist.

[midnightmusings06]

Valentine’s Headcanons- SDV Bachelor Edition Pt. 2

summary: What the sdv bachelors would do for you on Valentine’s Day!

pairing: sdv bachelors x gender neutral farmer 

category: fluff

word count: 865

a/n: these are inspired by some of the heart events + personal headcanons <3 and a continuation of my previous post!

Alex:

Alex knocks on your door early Valentine‘s morning, a small hand picked bouquet of flowers clutched in his hand and a blush tinting his cheeks.

“Happy Valentine’s Day! I know it’s early but I thought maybe I could take you for a walk this morning?” He puts an arm behind his head, looking a little nervous.

The two of you enjoy a peaceful morning beach walk, his hand clutched in yours, as the cool ocean water washes over your feet.

As you walk, you find several beautiful shells, handing them to Alex to put in his pockets as you walk.

“Darling just what do you intend to do with all these shells?”

“They’re for keepsakes of course!” You grin, placing more shells in his pocket.

He rolls his eyes, but you know he’s only teasing you.

When you return back to your house, you decide to make ice cream together, despite it being quite cold outside.

The two of you make a huge mess of cream and sugar, but it’s all worth it when you spoon feed each other your homemade creation.

The weather clears for a bit, so Alex proposes playing football together, which results in the football hitting you in the head due to your lack of hand eye coordination. 

“Y/n! Are you alright? I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to hurt you!” He rushes to your side, and while it only hurts momentarily, he treats you as though you’ve suffered a grave injury.

He wraps you up in his hoodie, now devoid of your shells which now lay on your counter, as you holds you from behind on your couch, threading his fingers through your hair as the two of you eventually fall asleep.

Shane:

You hadn’t expected Shane to do anything special for Valentine’s Day, as he’d expressed discontent with the idea of the holiday before, claiming it was “just another Hallmark holiday”.

You also hadn’t expected Shane to invite you to his place for, in his words, “a special movie night”. 

When you arrive, you find his room clad with comfy blankets and pillows, where you sit next to him on his bed, making yourself cozy.

“Before I show you my surprise, I have a gift for you.” 

He pulls out two matching sets of pajamas, covered in blue chickens.

After you put your pajamas on, he leads you to sit on the bed as he connects his laptop to his mini tv.

A small film montage begins to play, as he nestles up next to you, laying his head in your lap.

Clips from dates and candid photos and shots he took when you weren’t looking, stitched together with your favorite song playing in the background.

You comb your fingers through his hair, tears beginning to brim in your eyes watching this film made of love.

The film ends, and Shane looks up at you, a small smile on his face, “Do you like it? I know it’s kinda cheesy but I thought-Mmph!” 

You cut him off, connecting your lips with his in a tender embrace, moving in tandem.

“I love it darling, it’s perfect.” You smile down at him.

“Thank you, for always staying by my side. I know I don’t deserve you, but thank you. I love you with all my being.” He whispers, a sweet utterance kept between the two of you.

Sam:

Sam made sure to give you an idea of his plans several days before Valentine’s Day, telling you brimming with excitement, 

“It’s gonna be the perfect day! We’re gonna go to Stardrop for an epic gaming sesh, you should wear your comfiest pajamas because why not! Oh and bring blankets, snacks and all the good vibes to my place! I can’t wait!”

You show up at Sam’s house that morning wearing your favorite pajamas, with your favorite candy and blanket in hand, where he greets you in his own pajamas.

You walk to Stardrop Saloon together, and compete in several rounds of Junimo Kart, Journey of the Prairie King, and pool.

“Ugh not again! You win y/n,” Sam sighs, having lost another round of pool against you.

Throwing your hands up in victory, you exclaim, “Victory is mine once again! Have you finally given up yet?” 

He pouts, until you wrap him in a big hug.

After heading back to his house after a few more rounds of arcade games, you walk into his room which is completely decked out in pillows, and a small pillow fort sits in the middle of the room, battery operated lights haphazardly strung about them.

“Tada! What do you think? I worked all night last night to make it, but then I fell asleep and it fell apart, so I had to rebuild it this morning!” He rambles, a small blush growing on his cheeks.

He grabs your hand, leading you into the small fort, where your snacks and blankets await for maximum comfort.

He moved his family’s tv to his room for the occasion, where he had a stack of the best 90s and 80s movies you two loved ready to watch. 

Eventually, the two of you fell asleep watching The Breakfast Club, wrapped in each other’s warm embrace. 

[fandoms-writings]

Okokok so this could be for knight bucky 👀

(if reader is like a queen or princess), Bucky is in charge of your safety, he's always near and one day he escorts you to the gardens for a walk and him and reader are alone and he's so tempted to grab your hand!!!! It's aching to know what it's like to feel your skin against his (hand scene from Pride and prejudice iykyk🤭)

carrot you genius

i definitely followed this prompt pretty loosely and it kinda took on a form of it's own but i hope you enjoy it <3

Yes, Your Grace

Part 2 | Series Masterlist

Pairing: Knight!Bucky x Queen!Reader

Word Count: 1.7K

Warnings: a little bit of angst, but that's honestly about it.

You never lasted too long at galas, especially when they weren't in your own kingdom. 

Not having the familiarity of your staff. The smell of salt in the air as the ocean breeze washed in through your open corridor. The certain click of your shoes against the marble floors. It was all yours and safe and commonplace. 

Being in someone else's kingdom, at an event where everyone wants a chance to dance with the unwed queen was exhausting. You almost never left the dance floor with how many suitors were trying to win you over, to take the seat of King next to you. You never enjoyed any of them though. You knew they were just in it for the title, the power. Most of them not believing you should be able to rule on your own. That it was sacrilege that you still remained unwed. 

But you put on a brave face, a large fake smile to appease them and to keep the peace. If you didn't provoke them, it gave them no reason to storm your castle's walls. 

The exhaustion was evident on your face as James watched you from the sidelines. He was to have eyes on you at all times, especially since you weren't in your own home. He was your protector, hand picked by your father before he passed to be your personal knight until you relieved him or reassigned him. You had yet to do either in the five years he'd been by your side. 

His armor clinked as he made his way to you, mindful not to bump into anyone with the bulky metal. Expertly moving through the sea of royals, he paced his steps with the musicians playing in the corner - he'd practiced this dance with you too many times to count. You'd wanted a partner to brush up on your skills and you'd asked him one day during your breakfast. That was the closest he'd ever been to you for that long.

Your dance partner spun you out from their arm and towards James, who gave you a knowing look when you spotted him. He smirked at the pleading in your eyes and quickened his pace, stopping next to you. 

"Pardon me, Lord Wilson, I was wondering if I could steal her grace for a moment," He requested, the tone in his voice really leaving no room for argument. He watched as you curtsied and the lord bowed to you before you turned and grabbed James's elbow, allowing him to lead you outside. 

"I thought you might like a breath of fresh air," He leaned down a bit so you could hear his whispers as you passed other attendants. "I could tell you weren't enjoying the way Lord Wilson was spinning you around the floor. 

The noise that left your lips was a mix between a scoff and a laugh and it pulled James lips into a smile as he looked down at you. 

Your hand slipped from his elbow and he let you walk just a step in front of him. You glanced over your shoulder, "I appreciate the concern, as always, Sir James." 

"I thought we discussed this," He started, following you as you wandered the gardens that, in his opinion, could never rival your own, "I requested you not to call me James."

"You did," You smirked, stopping at a stone railing that overlooked the small pond as you turned to face him entirely, leaning against the stone, "but I do love seeing you in a fit over it." 

"I'd hardly call me reminding her highness of my request a fit," He chuckled as he stood just out of reach, which you took notice of. You always did. 

"Why are you standing over there," you asked, your smile slipping, "I won't bite." 

He gave you an easy smile, soaking in your attention, basking in it. 

It wasn't that you never gave it to him or that you were stingy with it. In fact, it was quite the opposite. You were always speaking with him. He accompanied you everywhere you went, so why wouldn't you? What kind of queen would you be if you didn't speak with your personal knight at all while he protected you? 

You two had grown close over the years, your relationship becoming more of one between friends rather than one of subordinate and superior. And James didn't mind one bit. He'd never tell anyone, for risk of being reassigned away from you, but he loved you. 

He was in love with you. 

He had been for years and it was one of the many reasons that he was so persistent about protecting you, even when you told him to get some rest - he'd just sit on the floor outside your chamber doors those nights. You started having Steve switch with him at night so he could sleep too, but he'd only sleep for a handful of hours and get washed up before coming back to switch again. 

You held your hand out to him, waiting for his gloved fingers to gently grasp yours. He did so, but at the expense of the tug in his chest. 

In all his years of serving you, he'd never touched you. He always made sure something was between the two of you, his gloves, your fur coat, something. 

It wasn't that he didn't want to touch you, he was actually dying to do so. He dreamed of the day that he could feel your skin against his, but he didn't want to taint your perfectly smooth complexion with his dirtied callouses. You deserved someone with a softer touch than his own. You deserved someone's hands who hadn't been covered in blood and dirt and grime and sin. 

He let you guide him to stand next to you, waiting for you to drop his hand, but you continued to hold on to it, absently fiddling with the leather covering his skin. God, what he wouldn't do to be able to actually hold your hand. To brush elbows. To feel your fingers on his arm as he led you around town. 

"Jamie?" He glanced up from your fingers to see you staring at the still water of the pond. 

"Yes, your highness?" 

It was a moment before you responded, but you didn't look over at him. Instead, you gazed down at the stone under your fingertips, scratching your nail along its surface - something he knew you did when you were nervous. 

"Do you think they're right?" If he hadn't been waiting with baited breath, he would've missed the question with how quiet you were. He figured you didn't want anyone else hearing your conversation so he dipped his head lower towards your ear. 

"What about?" 

"About me," You glanced up at him then, causing his heart to almost leap out of his chest. He'd never been close like this. Close enough to speak in hushed tones, sure, but never enough to see the details in your irises, the individual lashes that brushed against your cheeks when you blinked. "Do you agree that I'm some - some mad woman to not be married? To not have a husband to do the ruling while I give him heirs?" 

"Well," he started, testing the waters and giving your fingers a gentle squeeze, "I guess that depends on why you have yet to wed someone." 

You were silent at that as you refused to look away, but you squoze his fingers back, gripping his hand as you pulled it closer to you. 

He wanted to pull away from you, surely this close proximity would bring more talk about you to the other royals. Someone of your standing shouldn't be this close to him, holding his hand, noses almost touching. 

Yet, here you were. 

"I fear someone may already have my heart," You stated, glancing between his eyes. A pit formed in his chest and he had to ignore the ache as he steadied his breathing. 

Of course you had your eye on someone. With as many potential suitors as you had, how could you not already have a certain person in mind? But that left the question - why hadn't you wed them yet? Surely, whoever had caught your eye would be pleased to wed you. Who wouldn't was the better question. 

"Why haven't you wed them yet, your grace?" He gruffly asked, swallowing down the sudden surge of emotion in his throat. He was your personal knight - he couldn't let something like this break him down. Especially when you were not within your own palace walls. He had to remain calm and collected, at least until you retired for the evening. Then he could let the cracks spread until morning. 

You tipped your head down to look at his chest as you placed your free hand over the armor there, your nails gently tapping against the metal. "That's a sensitive conversation that shouldn't be held outside of our home walls, don't you think?" 

You looked back up at him, almost craning your neck with your proximity. He nodded, dazed at how your voice sounded when you said 'our home.' It wasn't the first time you'd referred to it like that, you did both live there. But there was something about the way your voice lightened when you said it. Like it was lifting a weight off your chest saying you wanted to tell him your secret. And though he may not be ready to hear who'd stolen your affections, a sense of pride filled him. You trusted him enough to tell him this secret of yours. 

And even if he wasn't ready to hear it, he'd protect that secret with his life if need be. Because it'd be for you.

He nodded, muttering a word of agreement and you smiled, but it lingered longer than usual. The corners of your mouth stayed lifted as you pried your gaze from his and released his hand, turning back to the path. You took a couple steps away before looking back over your shoulder at him, your smile ever-present. 

"Let us go home, shall we?" You asked. 

He shoved his nerves down as far as they'd go, steeling himself in preparation for your secret, and nodded once.

"Yes, your grace." He stepped away from the pond to follow you to the waiting carriage. 

He knew the time would come when you'd find a proper suitor, he couldn't expect you to stay unwed forever. 

He just didn't expect it to hurt as much as it did.

[cuttyclowngirl]

Daima EP.5 (Spoiler) Review/theories

• While Panzy's eye color means nothing in regards to her lineage, she does come from an important lineage as some of us suspected. Panzy, princess of machine otakus. Glorio not immediately recognizing her by name or appearance likely implies either 3rd world demons aren't interested in the royal family in general or Panzy's very existence is somewhat restricted to those who live/work at her castle. Could it be that she never actually received a collar as a result of that? Is that why she wears the scarf?

• Glorio very clearly doesn't want anyone outside of Goku's circle to join in regardless of any help they can offer. (Not part of Dr Arinsu's plan?) No choice now. Panzy's a helpful mechanic.

• Glorio did in fact speak to King Kadan, who did not in fact request that Glorio seek out those who defeated Majin Buu; implying that Glorio "snuck" into King Gohma's castle & gathered intel on Goku & crew in episode 1 before being "sent out" by King Kadan. Even a 3rd world demon who does "work" in the 1st world shouldn't be able to get anywhere near the castle of THE SUPREME KING of the DEMON REALM. He was let in. Dr Arinsu popped up unannounced in episode 1 & Glorio just happened to be spying behind a pillar? Nah.

• The 3rd demon world being the biggest, (yet worst off) world in the entire realm might just maybe imply worlds 1&2 have slightly lower gravity, but probably not.

• King Kadan is a man of seemingly righteous anger (Glorio describes him as an uncivilized Mafia boss) who wants to get rid of King Gohma & somehow assume the throne of Supreme King. For "peace". Is that actually possible? Was he perhaps promised that position by a manipulator in the shadows? (Dr Arinsu?) Panzy said her father "only steals from criminals & only kills bad people", which is usually a set up for a heartbreaking reveal that'll leave Panzy in tears. Or it could be nothing.

• Apparently those awful collars even function as tracking devices.

• They even have onigiri in the Demon Realm. Cute. Implies demon rice fields & unique demon ocean seaweed.

• Panzy has a knife she hasn't used yet. Judging from all that courtyard soldier training going on at her castle, she probably picked up a few moves from watching & learning.

• It was nice hearing Goku introduce himself with both his names. His interactions with Panzy are cute so far, as I'd hoped. Panzy herself is charmingly stubborn, insisting on getting her way without throwing tantrums/ throwing a fit.

• In the 3rd world at least, the inhabitants live up to a thousand years. This likely doesn't apply to the Glinds who live for a VERY long time.

• Every Majin (demon) can use at least one magic spell. So could magical enhancement explain Glorio's strength?

• Goku can canonically touch his nose with his tongue.

• Panzy implied that there are next to no Glinds in the Demon Realm due to the vast majority leaving ages ago, as many of us suspected. Though based on the passive aggressive conversation Shin had with Glorio episode 3, there might be a handful of Glinds somewhere in 2nd world.

• So the stick with blue cloth tied to it from the OP isn't a grave marker, but a path marker. Based on the sound of the wind (in the scene in this episode) & the direction the cloth was blowing, you're supposed to take the path the cloth points to. (In the OP the cloth is blowing to the right, then the camera pans to the right, where Goku & crew are seen traveling)

• Panzy confirms that Dabura was still a bad guy prior to the events of the Buu saga, so thankfully he hasn't been retconed as a good guy King. (Wouldn't make sense)

• Dende's caretaker (nanny?) is cute. Hope she gets a name. Much smarter of King Gohma planing on raising Dende so he can have his own personal set of dragon balls & probably get rid of Neva. (So it was probably Degesu's idea)

• I want to know what those demon onions have seen...

• The Tamagamis have never been defeated. Their poor win streak's about to be demolished.

• Smart of Shin (Supreme Kai) to bring up the pin number issue with King Kadan, who introduced us to a demon (of currently unspecified gender) named "Hybis" (Hibiscus flower?) who loves ballet & will head out to pick up/help Vegeta & crew. Hybis also shows off a device that's visually similar to the dragon radar, but also Babidi's energy reading device we saw Spopovich using when Gohan went SSJ2 at the tournament in the Buu saga. Just cooler. (Panzy is also seen holding a similar device in the ED) I swear, if the eyeball on Hybis' belt turns out to be the Tertian Oculus...

• Shin straight up drops "universe 7" in front of Goku, who doesn't register it & that's hilarious. Shin also finally shared his suspicions of Glorio with Goku, bringing up things we've been bringing up & such. Goku was Goku about it.

• I wasn't ready for the children's book art style bit when King Kadan ordered 3 men to steal a plane for Hybis from the "Nemophy Gang".

• Man, someone must've put a plane curse on Glorio, cuz bro has ZERO luck in that department. A 4 day trip & it breaks down in 2 minutes. (Guess Kai-Kai isn't an option)

• Hope we return to Kadan castle from time to time to introduce us to a few of those background characters like cool, pretty, buff red head with the silly ah chest plate.

• Wonder if Glorio actually has any of that liquor King Kadan offered to provide.

• Cute detail of Goku carrying luggage with his nyoibo.

• I super hope that axolotl tailed stuffed animal Panzy brought along will actually be sold IRL. I want.

[right-there-ride-on]

Gyro Zeppeli and the True Man’s World

Chapter 35: True Man’s World (Part 3)

Gyro’s consistent struggle is finding a path for himself outside of his family’s shadow. His father is a constant specter in his life, even an ocean away. The Zeppeli family teachings are undeniably miraculous, yet Gregorio encourages using the spin only when it will be for an undeniably good cause. He doesn’t like uncertainty (that moment when ‘the ball hits the net’) because he feels the Spin is not something for the Zeppeli family (I.e. the spin is not to be used selfishly), but should always be used in service of something greater (e.g. the king, bringing dignity to executions).

Even when first introduced, Gyro is full of contradictions. He’s traditional, yet a trail-blazer. He’s an asshole with a heart of gold. His character arc, really, is about him learning how to be selfish. How to, as Johnny puts it, “hunger”. He needs to want things for himself, to not just be, as Ringo calls him, “a conformist”. That’s why True Man’s World is Gyro’s arc. It’s him really truly embracing the spirit of the cowboy, of individuality, of using what he has ‘inherited’ to find his own path. It’s reconciling these different parts of himself that defines the rest of his character arc.

This journey is also mirrored in Johnny. Johnny states, “That’s what I want to learn from you.” (Chapter 32: Third Stage Goal). Johnny is someone who has ‘inherited’, but he’s also someone who’s lost everything, and hence, knows how to ‘hunger’. Johnny’s position in the third stage is both figuratively and literally caught between Diego (pure hunger) and Gyro (inheritance). Gyro’s growth informs Johnny’s. Gyro’s journey is about growing past what one has inherited to become his own person, just as Johnny states the Steel Ball Run is his own journey to adulthood.

The third stage is mostly an introduction for what we can expect from the rest of Gyro’s arc. Gyro’s arc continues well into the end of the part, as he and Johnny inform one another’s development. I would argue Sugar Mountain is the key turning point in their relationship. Once Gyro realizes how much Johnny is willing to give up for him, he too realizes what he is willing to give up for Johnny.

Johnny bluntly told Gyro in the third stage that the only thing he was lacking was having his own hunger to win. True Man’s World is Gyro shedding his father’s traditionalist views due to the ‘sentimentality’ (care / love) he has for Johnny. The decision to go back for Johnny is the first time Gyro has been able to freely express his own feelings as an individual and sets him on the path to continue exploring that side of himself further into the part.

In Catch the Rainbow, we see him starting to find that ‘golden path’ (a path of his very own) and using what he’s learned he’s able to overtake both Diego and Johnny, because he has found that individualistic ‘hunger’ for victory. Yet his perfect victory is interrupted. But Gyro loses for a reason. In order to gain that ‘perfect victory’ (the golden path), he had to cast aside everything. “Even Johnny disappears.” (Catch the Rainbow (Part 2)). Gyro failed to reconcile the two paths (hunger and inheritance), choosing one over the other, and that is why he didn’t get a perfect victory. But, as previously stated, that’s not what he (or Johnny) needs to learn.

Sugar Mountain is Johnny recognizing that he’s actually not willing to sacrifice everything to satiate his ‘hunger’. Seeing this, something in Gyro also changes. He thinks about ‘the ball that hit the net’; the moment where only ‘luck’ (or, similarly, fate) can decide how things turn out. Gregorio says something along the lines of, ‘Where the ball lands, only god can decide.’ But that’s not entirely true. Johnny had a choice to make: the corpse parts (the thing he wanted most in the world), or Gyro. For Gyro, that was the moment the ball hit the net, and it was a very human decision - one born of ‘sentimentality’ - that led to his life being saved.

This idea is followed up in Wrecking Ball. Here, finally, Gyro is able to reconcile the two sides of himself. He’s quite literally faced with his mirror image in Wekapipo - a man who also knows the spin, but who has lost connection to his homeland and his roots. Gyro remembers another moment the ball hit the net - when he botched a surgery on Wekapipo’s sister. It was a moment of bad luck to Gyro, but one that saved another’s life. Gyro defeats Wekapipo through the reconciliation of his hunger and his inheritance. He’s fully committed to the corpse hunt with Johnny (even willing to give up the race and his original goal, as seen shortly after in Philadelphia (Chapter 72; Ticket to Ride)), yet it is only because of what he learned from his family - the Zeppeli faith in miracles - that he is able to move past Wekapipo as an obstacle to continue the hunt. This reconciliation finally brings to a close the conflict from the third stage, and at last gives Gyro the insight needed to be at peace with himself and his decisions, wherever they may lead.

This, I think, is what gives greater meaning to his final words. There’s Lesson 5, of course, but there’s also his parting words: “If that’s how it is, I’m fine with it.” (Chapter 89: Break My Heart, Break Your Heart (Part 2)) Gyro maintained his morals until the end, refusing to send his ‘bad luck’ somewhere else. He refused to artificially manipulate luck / fate (through Love Train) to decide the outcome of his injury. He, very humanly, accepted his death. Lady Luck had not been at his side. It was because of his relationship with Johnny (the source of his ‘sentimentality’) and all that he learned throughout the race, about himself, and what he really values, that he was at peace with himself in the end. Gyro finally found the path that felt right to him, concluding the arc started in True Man’s World.

Gyro was both an inheritor (the Spin) and an individual who learned to hunger through the pursuit of goals that would improve him as a person - partially because he knew the corpse hunt could help him grow, but also seen in his refusing to back out at the end due to his affection for Johnny. In Lesson 5, his parting words to Johnny, Gyro thanks him for teaching him how to hunger and grow into himself, just as Johnny thanks him for teaching him how to inherit and once again see value and beauty in the world around him.

Sometimes I see takes that say Johnny and Gyro switched protagonist roles halfway through (the arc I would point to being A Silent Way). I would argue that’s not an accurate description. They informed each other’s development throughout the part and even well into the climax. It’s because of Gyro that Johnny too learned how to reconcile inheritance and hunger, allowing him to fight against alt!Diego on his own (the very embodiment of the corruption of ‘hunger’). They taught each other how to ‘hunger nobly’ and find the best of both worlds. They really do have a beautiful relationship and I’m disappointed when I see it mischaracterized.

Ultimately, Gregorio was half-wrong. Sentimentality was the downfall of Gyro Zeppeli, but it was also the cause of his greatest triumph, allowing him to find peace with himself in the end. The art of the spin was passed to Johnny, and everything Gyro embodied lives on through him.

Thank you for reading, I would love to hear your thoughts as well :)

[absolutebl]

hey, do you know of any BL-s similar to A boss and a Babe? I don't mean plot wise or setting but a bl with a similar uke (Cher). I feel like I haven't seen much or at all BL-s with an uke that's such a crackhead, so vital, positive, non dramatic, up for anything, vocal about feelings and love, the one who also kinda pursues when it's needed, that pushes boundaries etc etc

Huh, you mean like a GGG uke? (good giving game)

There are LOTS of crackheads... seek ye Japan. But that goes real fast into cringe, like Secret Crush On You.

The GGG part is where we fall down. This is a very new take on the archetype. Also non-dramatic, I mean it's a BL drama so dramatic is kinda the point.

I'll take a stab!

crackhead

vital & positive (sunshine)

pursues when it's needed (switchy)

non dramatic (good)

vocal about feelings and love (giving)

up for anything, pushes boundaries (game)

Fits all 6 criteria (but in their own countries' style):

All the Liquors (Korea)

Mr Heart (Korea)

Ocean Likes Me (Korea)

Be Loved In House I Do (Taiwan)

Love Sick (Thailand - bet you didn't see that one coming)

And now some that do their best satisfying 4 ore more of the above requirements.

Thailand

Everyone is just really dramatic in Thai BL.

Coffee Melody (sides 1,2,4,5,6)

Ghost Host, Ghost House (2,3,4,5,6)

Great Men Academy (if you count it 2,2,3,6)

Ingredients (2,3,4,5,6)

KinnPorsche (1,2,3,5,6)

Love By Chance 2 (1,2,5,6)

Love In the Air (PayuRain 1,2,5,6)

Love in Translation (2,3,5,6)

Make A Wish (1,2,3,5,6)

My School President (2,3,5,6)

My Tee (1,2,3,5,6)

Secret Crush On You (1,2,3,5,6)

Why R U? (2nd couple 1,2,3,5,6)

Taiwan

Seme/uke is always weak, queerness is more authentic so roles less prescribed and campy

DNA Says Love You (sides 1,2,3,6)

Kiseki Dear to Me (sides 1,2,3,6)

Stay By My Side (1,2,35,6)

Korea

Seme/uke is pretty weak, little to no crackhead, and everything will be more reserved and muted.

Some More (2,3,4,5,6)

The Eighth Sense (2,3,4,5,6)

Behind Cut (2,4,6)

Jun & Jun (2,4,5,6)

Long Time No See (2,3,4,5,6) but also LIES

Our Boarding House (2,3,4,6)

Oh My Assistant (1,2,3,6)

Tasty Florida (2,3,4,5,6)

The Lover (2,3,4,6)

Tinted With You (2,3,4,6)

Unintentional Love Story (2,3,4,5,6)

Why R U? (2nd couple 1,2,5,6)

Japan

But the ones it does have it REALLY leans into.

Seven Days (2,3,4,5)

If It's With You (2,3,4,5,6)

Restart After Come Back Home (2,4,5,6)

Silhouette of Your Voice (1,2,4,6)

Takara & Amagi (1,2,3,5)

My Memory is shot but???

Like Love from China might work.

Most stuff from the Philippines first some if not all.

Vietnam's My Lascivious Boss and You Are My Boy satisfy soem criteria.

Might also be worth reading

List dated Mid Dec 2023, ongoing BLs not included. If it aired after that date you should add it to the comments or something.

[madwomansapologist]

Autumn Thunderstorm | Chapter 2 - A call to motion

Navigation | Series Masterlist | AO3

series synopsis: Thranduil thought the recent attack of spiders on a periphery village was the only thing deserving of his attencion. If he could've imagined what he would found there, who he would found there, the Elvenking would wait a millenia in front of that river so he could see her sooner. Or: how Gandalf managed to keep a secret for 14 months.

second chapter synopsis: Curious about last night's events, Thranduil dedicates his dawn to understanding who exactly you are. Accumulating questions and very few answers, you allow yourself to remember the past. Aerin, uncertain of your future, tries to make sure that you won’t be around to attract more attention to yourself. She should’ve known better than that. [4K]

warnings: female!reader. lotr kinda of violence. pre-Smaug. warg. blood. trauma (subtle). fear of being lonely.

glossary: Lossëistar: Ice Mage┆Vendë: Maiden┆Tîrwen: Honest maiden┆Thalieth: Heroine┆Maenwë: Clever girl┆Alassëa rá; Alassë’ arin; Alassë’ aurë: Good morning

The frigid shore was not so different from the frozen river. Dirtier, but as static under your feet as the ice. Or maybe the earth was warm. Maybe the earth was gentle and caring. Maybe it was as it has always been, and you were the one whose now frost. Maybe it finally happened: your lack of control, your lack of knowledge, turned your blessing into a curse. 

The mist surrounding the valley made your fear fade away.

As you walked into the shore, gravel crunching your feet, the freedom of being in the midst of danger was nothing compared to the cold. Looking down, you noticed your numb feet turned white. Your blood was not circulating.

Only when tremors overtook your winning smile the Elvenking managed to find his voice. And he gave in to a king's first nature: a command. “Prepare a hot bath. Forthwith.” Thranduil’s words were not directed at anyone, but his steward hurried to the inn.

Thranduil took a step forward your shuddering shape, but no further. As his foot touched the icy ground, the voices on his mind came to a consensus. Now he understands. What attracts Gandalf’s attention. What was so special that made him keep coming back to that exquisite inn. 

Thranduil understands. And now, with that knowledge, Thranduil chose to get closer to you. “Vendë,” Thranduil spoke softly. “You did not need to act. The river would not affect us. Why did you put yourself in danger?”

Still reeling from adrenaline, for a moment you forgot that the man in front of you was a king. He was just a man, a kind one, asking a question. “Because I would have felt bad if I did not.”

For the second time in minutes, you left the Elvenking speechless. Analyzing your eyes, searching for some hidden lie, he did not even notice the silence. All he did was to let the truth sink in.

But you noticed it, and it reminded you of who Thranduil was. Did you say something you should not? The village is made up of elves, Aerin and her son are half elves, you know how to act around them. The silence must be caused by a royalty norm. You should have called him king, should you not? Or maybe he was waiting for a formality that you did not know should be performed.

Staring into his ocean blue eyes, you bowed. It was a stiff move, your muscles throbbed, but it was the best you could do. The only thing you know about acting around kings is to obey and be polite. The Elvenking is not ordering anything, so your mistake must be about the second one.

Blankets were thrown over your shoulders. Aerin rubbed them against your body, helping to ward off the cold. “You are wetting the king’s feet. Say you are sorry.”

“I am sorry,” you obeyed her without thinking twice. She may not be the kindest person in the world, but she is good. And takes care of you. So when Aerin says you should be sorry, you believe her. You did not even look down to see if she was right.

Before Thranduil could say anything, Aerin guided you into the inn. “Poor thing. Let’s make sure you do not get a cold.”

Gildor approached. “I bet your grace did not imagine your night would end that way.”

“No.” Thranduil was not sure about what surprised him more. Your bravery, or the reason behind it. “I did not”, he whispered to himself.

You felt Aerin’s hands trembling as she helped you into the tub. The water was so hot, smoky, exactly what you needed. Plunged into boiling water, you forgot about everything that was not warmth and twin suns and the color yellow and fire.

Aerin left you to finish your bath with some privacy after you promised her to not sleep on the tub. She walked into her room and took a sip of red wine. Soon she woke you up, complaining that you could have drowned on the tub, and helped you stumble your way to your bed.

Even alone, with everyone else sleeping, Aerin did not stop shaking.

Because she had only one task. Gandalf made sure she would understand it. Aerin had only one thing to do: make sure you would stay with her, in the village, away from danger. But she saw how the Elvenking looked at you. He looked at you like someone that had innumerable questions. And a king’s question always gets its answer.

Aerin had only one task to fulfill, and now she has a problem.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Shattering glass woke him up. Thranduil rose, and even in the dark of the room it did not took him more than a second to find his sword. Illuminated by moonlight, he stepped out his chamber and followed the treacherous sound. 

But all he found was you, on your knees, picking up broken shards in a messy kitchen. Overturned pans, open jars, a mixture of spices in the air. A supper was served earlier, but you looked like you wanted to have one just for yourself. You must be starving.

“Did I woke you up?” You murmured, tiredness almost palpable on your voice. But that was not the only thing he could sense. Thranduil heard your hesitation. Your fear.  “It was an accident.”

Thranduil laid his sword on the table, the ghost of a smile appearing on his face. He knelt in front of you, picking up the shards of what was once a cup. He could feel the warmth of your breath. “Have you heard many stories about Woodland’s elves, vendë?”

“I had, your grace.” Vendë. That made you feel warm inside. Most people call you Lossëistar. Have someone ever called you maiden before?

Thranduil knows the reason for your hesitation. “And what did you hear?”

Your smile faded. “That most of you descend from ancient tribes that never went to Faerie in the West. That your magic is strong. That your folk are more dangerous between the elves. And less wiser.”

“Do I look more dangerous and less wiser?” Thranduil asked, his husky voice sending shivers down your spine.

You felt tempted to agree. Thranduil probably is dangerous, but not in a way you should be worried about. You shook your head with a genuine smile. “I cannot even remember the last time someone called me by my name.”

That made Thranduil bite his tongue. Distrust is his second nature, but something tells him you are not a bad person. People could have been nicer to you. “Then stop apologizing. You did nothing wrong tonight.”

You rose, and thanked him because you did not know what else to do. Without paying attention to what you were doing, you took the shards from his hand and left them in a box with some garbage. 

Thranduil circled the table, candles enlightening his golden hair. There is something so alluring about elves' hair. They simply drew attention. His seems to be so soft. You forced yourself to look away.

That was your chance to shut up and not embarrass yourself in front of a king. “Is it true your kind live inside the threes?”

Thranduil slowed down his pace. “It is.”

“So you can decrease in stature?”

Thranduil guffaw. You must be entirely wrong to get that reaction from a king. “Our trees are bigger than you think.”

“It must be a large forest.”

You sat back in front of your improvised supper and went back to eating. Until you dropped your cup, you had been eating for almost half an hour. You offered him food, Thranduil just shook his head and sat in front of you.

“How can I explain this to you?” He held his sword. Thranduil slid his fingers along the hem, looking for a way to make you see the correct image. “It is like a bird house. But instead of birds, it is filled with elves. And instead of lean wood, it is made of ancestral trees bigger than villages. And instead of a simple construction, it is a king's palace.”

You swallowed the food. ”Termite is a problem? Or is the wood magic?”

“Three minutes of conversation and you were more creative than half my generals,” Thranduil was not complaining. Not about you, at least. “It can be impolite, it probably is, but how many stomachs do you have?”

“It is, but I do not mind,” your honesty attacked again. “When I do big things I can get exhausted. And hungry. So hungry.”

“Do you tend to do big things, vendë?” Thranduil looked out the window, seeing the huge frozen wave. To call it a big thing... a euphemism. “It did not look like it was your first time.”

“That dam is a current problem,” you ate more before continuing. “I normally only do big things. It is easier.” Thranduil’s curious gaze made you talk more. “I know it seems stupid, but it is true. I could not freeze a cup of water even if my life depended on it.”

Thranduil was intrigued. How can someone that does things like that face hardship on such an easier task? “Gandalf did not mentor you?”

“No, he is just my friend. Wait. Do you know him?” You smiled, thinking about the old man. A yawn escaped your mouth. “He was here this morning.”

Thranduil arched his eyebrows. At the meeting, Gandalf said he had traveled far and wide. Why did he lied? Why would he need to lie about something like that? What piece of knowledge is missing to form the right outlook?

Thranduil wished he had a closer relationship with the inconvenient pilgrim. Perhaps he would understand the reason for such a small lie. But maybe you are the answer he desires. Maybe it is you that can make him understand why the man respected throughout the continent decided to be unfaithful. “You work for lady Aerin?”

“I take care of the horses.” You pointed in the direction of the stable. Your eyes shone. “I also help lady Aerin with her garden, but because I am the reason for them to crush her flowers. When I arrived earlier, my heart almost stopped because of an elk on the stable. But he was so nice. Big and scary, but he let me pet him and even stole an apple from my basket.”

“So my elk is a burglar.” Thranduil smirked.

“No… I did not meant it that way.” It hurt when you swallowed the food. “He was there and I just…”

When you let another yawn escape, Thranduil noticed how he lost track of time. It is too late. So late it is almost too soon. It is been long since someone talked to him about things that did not really mattered. Conversations beyond council meetings about the possibility of the Enemy still alive, assemblies about his army organization, political discussions that led to nowhere. Something beyond flatterers and cowards without motive. A real conversation.

It is been long since Thranduil laughed without fear of appearing disrespectful. Or tried to find a dumb but functional comparison instead of powerful yet useless phrases to describe his kingdom. Or discovered that apparently people think that Woodland’s elves can decrease in stature to live inside trees. Just a real conversation.

“It is late.” Thranduil said, but only within a moment he stood up. “Enjoy the rest of your night, tîrwen.”

“Same to you, your grace.” You watched the Elvenking disappearing in the hall. “Tîrwen”, you let the word run over your tongue. “I do not know this one.”

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

By the beginning of the morning, Aerin made her way to the kitchen. Such was Aerin's astonishment when she saw that not only was her pantry attacked, but that the person responsible for such a horrendous crime was sleeping on the table.

Part of your face was dipped in what looked like a mixture between oatmeal, cherry pie and roast pork. Her disgust at your choices was greater than her anger at seeing the mess.

“You behave like a child. A toddler, even!” She pushed you toward your bedroom trying to sound angry. Your hair smelled of cherry, your mouth stank of pork, and what smeared your face was oatmeal. Aerin was laughing more than anything.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

“Orange leaf, anise and lemon-grass," you murmured to yourself while feathering the straw basket with an old cloth. "That is it?"

Aerin handed you a pot of honey and a jar of strawberries. "Milk. And sage." She folded a cloth and covered the basket. "Do not forget to eat. I do not want you passing out."

"Sage?" You arch your eyebrows. "At this time of the year?"

"I need it for a recipe", lied Aerin. "If you cannot find it in the village, you shall gather their buds in the meadow. Remember where sage sprouts?”

You sighed. After sleeping for most of the day (and eating for most of the dawn), you were not so excited about going all the way down to the village. You could feel a migraine forming right behind your eyes. And considering that summer has already begun to say goodbye, the chances that you will have to enter the meadow are great.

“I do.” You opened the inn’s front door. A cold breeze shivered your cheeks. “Anything else?”

Aerin felt guilty for making you walk so much, but it was for a good cause. The longer you were away, lesser were the chances you would draw even more attention to yourself. And entering the meadow will not hurt you. It will tire you out, but not hurt you. “Good riddance”, she said.

Due to the repairs to the dam, all horses were being used. How amazing for you. Walking down the valley, on the long path towards the village, you passed through many wagons carrying wood and workers. Many elves thanked you, with words or kind gazes, but you did not see the need for it.

To stop the water exhausted you, but it did not maim you. You are fine, just a bit tired. It would be weird if you have not done something. To let tons of water fall right into the village, aiming and drowning hundreds of people, just because you did not wanted to feel exhausted? That would be perverse.

The quick conversation you had last night with the Elvenking came back to haunt you. “Because I would have felt bad if I did not.” As simple as that. You did not even thought twice before doing something. You just did.

And even if it could have harmed you in any considerable way, you would still have done it. After all, you owe this to them. No one here had any obligation to have helped you, and yet they did. Aerin did. You owe it to her. You owe her so much.

Walking alone, trapped with your own mind, things that you wish to forget come back to you like hauntings. Every elve that thanked you, that smiled towards you, that said you were a thalieth: they only remind you about what you owe to them. It all just reminds you of how you got there.

Rain dripping on your face, land penetrating your nails, owls chanting. Wind roaring, trees shuddering: it was like being caged inside a monster beating hurt. So wet, and dark, and frightening. And so fucking loud.

That is how you first woke up, alone in a dark forest, during a thunderstorm. The only thing you could see was a distant light, and you wandered towards it because what else could you have done? When you finally made it out of the woods, following that yellow glamor like it would protect you from all your fears, you collapsed on Aerin’s doorstep.

What a first memory to have. 

It has been a long time since you thought about that. About what happened fourteen months ago. You do not like to do it. It is painful. It makes you feel so lonely. But you were alone now, walking down the dirt path, and that memory at least kept you company.

After the mental scourge, you made it to the village’s core. You roamed the fair, way more tumultuous than usual, seeking Aerin’s orders. You heard whispers about the Elvenking’s frightening presence. About how his army could burn cities to the ground with just a single command. 

That made you chuckle. You heard stories about Mirkwood, but now they do not seem so legit. You do not think a cruel lord would compare his palace to a birdhouse. 

You chatted with the elves, tried a better price for the things you wanted, discovered that no one had sage anymore. And little by little that gray cloud that stalked you disappeared. 

Gradually, leaving you with a bitter taste in your mouth, it faded.

“Are you sure you do not have it? Or anything that looks like it?” You begged the tradeswoman at the last stall. “Honestly I can work with anything green…ish.”

She laughed telling you to just go into the meadow, you sighed and waved. At the village’s entrance, where there were not a lot of people around, you started running. If you get to the sage’s buds soon, maybe you can take a nap. 

You crossed the path and went down an embankment, dirt soiling your dress. It was already old and rusty, a little bit of mud was not a big deal anymore. As you advanced, the weight of your body on the angled ground turned your steps into slips. You almost fell, but you made it to the lowland.

Laughing to yourself, you dropped your basket on a fallen log and searched it for your crimson ribbon. It was so silly, you could have fallen and gotten really hurt, but it was fun.

“As a foreigner I may be wrong, but I am pretty sure that is not a path for a lady.”

You dropped the ribbon into the mud. You turned around, a hand up on your chest, and saw the slim figure leaning on a tree. “Does your grace want to kill me?”

Thranduil moved towards you, slowly decreasing the distance between you both. “I saw you running, vendë.” There was something that resembled a smile on his face. ”Thought you were a damsel in distress.”

“Damsel in distress?” You rolled your eyes. “Nah, I do not think so.”

Something burned inside Thranduil’s chest. “Not in need of help?” He did his best to ignore that fire.

“Lady Aerin demands sage.” You tucked your hair behind your ears. Your ribbon was floating in a mud puddle. “Not a task that requires a king’s escort.”

Thranduil stood in front of you. You had to lift your face to look him in the eye. They were so enveloping. Like a river current that hides treasures while fending any intruders. “...could leave a damsel alone in such an environment?”

Ashamed that you did not listened to most of what he said, you nodded and guided Thranduil into the field. Following footprints that showed a familiar path, you made your way through natural plantations. Sunlight began to irritate your eyes.

“Managed to rest, vendë?”

“I took a nap.” You tried your best to sound energetic. “It was a really good nap.”

“You should be resting.”

“But Lady Aerin…”

“Lady Aerin should have sent her son to the village.”

“I appreciate it, your grace, but there is no need to defend me from her.” You rubbed your hands against the basket. One should not disagree with a king, but you tend to speak before you think. “Lady Aerin has done more for me than anyone ever did, and for that I will always be grateful. I have a debt with her, one that nothing will ever pay. She may not be the kindest, but she is not wicked.”

Thranduil said nothing more. 

For a long minute, you guided him into a wheat field. Leaves tickled your arms, you ran your hands through the wheat as you walked. Warm. The breeze played with the sprouts, and you like to imagine that the field was breathing in and out.

“You are more tender than me.”

You turned your head to look at him, hands still playing with leaves. “Do you consider yourself resentful?” You covered your eyes, protecting yourself from the sunlight so you could see him. All you could see was a dark shape.

“I do,” Thranduil whispered. It was not just a confirmation. It felt like sharing a secret. “My anger can be inconsolable.”

“You were injured, were you not?” You decided to get closer to him. A shadow, almost like sent from above just for you, made you able to see his eyes. Not rivers. They had storms caged inside it. You felt the urge to take his face into your hands, but you kept that desire to yourself. “And no one noticed.”

His calloused hand reached up to caress his face, but Thranduil stopped the involuntary instinct. It was not a question. No one noticed. You did not asked it, you just knew. Thranduil never felt so seen. “I envy those who grew kind.”

“It is so easy to grow kind”, you gave him your brightest smile. “But to turn kind? Oh, this is noble.”

All the Elvenking could hear was his heartbeat. There was a sparkle in your eyes. A certain sort of calculated innocence that only a person who suffered can manifest. It was like you had lived an infinite amount of lives before. “You are… sharp.” 

“I am not”, your bright smile turned into a giggle. You took a step back, suddenly aware of how close you both were. “I do not think so.”

“I do.” Thranduil’s solemn expression got softer. “I do, maenwë.”

“What does that mean?”

“You do not know elvish?”

“I know a few expressions.” You went back to walk through the field. Thranduil followed you. “Alassëa rá. Alassë’ arin. Alassë’ aurë.”

“Three different ways to say good morning.” Thranduil chortle. “Practically fluent.”

“Ouch!” You put your hand on your chest, pretending to be offended. “I thought kings were supposed to be polite and pleasant. I guess it is not a rule.” 

Within a couple of minutes you found the place where sage grows. Analyzing every branch, you tried to distinguish all plants growing there. When you found the frosted pointy leaves, you started breaking a few branches. Your basket was already filled with jars and paper bags, but you found a way to make it fit.

“Done.” You covered everything with a thick cloth and rose from the ground. “Lady Aerin sorted strawbe…”

A howl shut you up.

Thranduil held his sword, not drawing it from its scabbard yet. It was a total change. The relaxed countenance, just waiting for you to pick the branches you needed, became as hard as stone. His long body became more aware of space, you noticed that he straightened up. His eyes scanned the meadow, and you knew what he was looking for.

“There are no wolves in Rivendell”, your voice was nothing more than a whisper.

You were right. There were no wolves in Rivendell. It has never been a problem before for your village or any other under Elrond’s protection. But as another howl crossed the sky, you understood that times have changed. And not for the better.

“You will stand behind me. Will step where I do and nowhere else. You will not talk, will not scream, will not whisper.” That was not Thranduil’s voice. Not the one you know. It was husky, concentrated, immediate. Each order evokes a clear meaning: the best you can do is obey. It was king. 

“Do as I say.” The Elvenking reached out to you. “Trust me, vendë.”

Your response was as clear as his orders: you held his hand.

Thranduil walked fast, analyzing the ground before stepping on it, holding your hand tightly so that nothing could separate you from him. So silent. You followed him as best you could, the basket weighing on your left arm, and your legs not always able to reach the same spots he did. But you never complained, or asked him to slow his pace, because the howls did not stop. They just got louder.

You do not know how he learned the way back so fast, but within minutes you could see the smoke coming from a village’s house. And maybe that made you let your guard down. Because you only saw it when it was right in front of you.

It was twice your height. The claws could cut through wood without difficulty. Its fangs were bigger than your hands. You read books about it, but no draft could ever translate the fear they emanated. A giant wolf. As smart as human, and as malevolent as the most corrupt man. It was a warg.

Thranduil pulled you behind him, you can remember the gleam of the longsword and the weight of his hand on your belly. A black shadow filled your vision. It all happened so fast. A howl, an illusion of movement, and a blur dominating your eyes. Everything happened so fast.

It was not until you felt the golden hair falling on your face that you understood: not a blur, it was an attack. And you were now lying on the floor, sun burning your eyes, with a deep pressure on your shoulder.

Your head fell to the side. Moist grass and a mess that once was a filled basket came into focus. Your eyelids closed, a voice you never heard before told you that darkness had taken you before, and then something shook your body.

You were awake again, and your eyes saw beyond the mess in front of your face. You saw the warg giant body. And you saw his decapitated head.

“There are no wolves in Rivendell”, you coughed. 

The ground has moved away from you. You were flying. But you should not be. You will end up flying and flying and flying without knowing how to get back to the ground.

“Maenwë”, you recognized Thranduil’s voice, and within time you saw his face. He was holding you in his arms. There was blood on his cheek. And when you looked down, you saw blood dripping from your shoulder. “Keep talking.”

The voice spoke to you again, and darkness took over your vision. It was so calm, so warm. You let him envelop you. “I miss the cold.”

[Third Chapter]

GENERAL TAGLIST: @suakemi @notanalienindisguiseblink

AUTUMN THUNDERSTORM: @ferns-fics @notanalienindisguiseblink @rayrlupin @elvyshiarieko @graniairish

if you enjoyed, please reblog! i promise it makes a difference ♡

@ madwomansapologist.tumblr.

[undertale-fic-librarby]

Hi! Here to ask if you have any Grillby centred fics :D (That aren't from Silverskye13, cuz i've re-read their fics too many times at this point 😭)

Howdy, thanks for asking! Here are some fics that might fit what you're looking for!

Ocean on Fire by TheNinjaMouse (Explicit, Incomplete)

The city of Daiport has many things to brag about. It's ancient history, the beautiful mountain ranges and of course, the glistening ocean beaches that hug a good portion of the city's outskirts. It's also the home of the monsters that emerged from deep within Mount Ebott. You, having left your strict family upbringing to chase after your love for the ocean and a dream to become a professional dance choreographer, find yourself in a city quite unlike any other. But life continues much as it always has since you moved here. You work in the local surf shop, train for the biggest dance competition of your life, and spend all of your free time in the water. That is, until a chance encounter leads you to meet a monster who turns up the heat in your life. As for said monster? He's never met a human with hair as bright as his flames. He finds himself drawn to you for reasons he can't fully understand. So the question you both have to wonder is: What happens when water and fire collide? Part 1: Chapter 1-33 Part 2: Chapter 34-49 Part 3: Chapter 50- We're back baby

Things you never forget by A_Pile_of_trash (Teen And Up, Incomplete)

A thousand years ago, before the barrier went up, monsters found themselves under constant threat of humans. They have suffered from years of prejudice and hatred. And now war. Grillby is now the last of his family line, the only one left to save his niece. Developing monsters need both love and magic... and at the moment, all he can feel is despair. You, are a lone human, living at the base of Mt Ebott, as far from the cities as you can get. You are used to the monsters on the mountain. You are also used to being alone and keeping secrets. Now you can no longer do either of those things.

Light A Fire (In My Soul) by Funnygaaragirl (Mature, Complete)

Grillby never wanted anything to do with his soulmate. The very fact the existed was an annoyance at best. But in a world where everyone knows the first thing their soulmate will say to them it's hard to avoid. He was perfectly fine with having casual sex with strangers and annoying his coworker. So when he does meet his soulmate and finds he actually enjoys talking to her, he finds a war within himself that he can't seem to win. And when he almost loses her in the fight, he has to confront his own wants and mind. This is a work inspired by and taking place in the world of 'Short King' By absurdmagewrites. *Updates Monday*

Undertale Origins: Grillby by SimonKilnsworth (Teen And Up, Incomplete)

The legends and the history books try to make it seem like monsters are all peaceful creatures that couldn't hurt a fly. But even we have our bad apples. I should know, I was one of the worst. The serene Underground you've come to know was a recent thing, one that was built on a lot of mistakes. This is the story of some of them.

Hi Hungry, I'm Dad by kaybdrabbles (General Audiences, Incomplete)

Two lost, sick skeleton children walk into a bar. Grillby wishes there was a punchline.

[jules-writes-stories]

A Love That Bleeds

SJM Villains Week 2024 | Day 7 | Free Day| Chapter 1/2 AO3

Before The War, before Jurian and Clythia, before Tamlin, Rhys and Under the Mountain, there was Pet...

TW | Dead Dove for human slave x High Fae sexual content, and more. Read tags on AO3. (No warning for excerpt below).

Amarantha, eldest daughter of the House Ó Ceallaigh, hero of the Turas, was drunk. But the toasts had kept coming. And the warriors kept filling her cup. Father told her to switch to water, but she had not listened. Her head was fuzzy and the world spun on an unfamiliar axis. Several times the young Fae caught herself smiling for no reason. 

She growled at the dour look on an old male’s face. He was staring at her from behind a painting. “What, you old gull? Never seen a female win theTuras ? Sail around the Isle in record time?” Closing an eye allowed her to focus better. 

There was a small laugh from behind. Amarantha turned, palming her small dagger. There, in the empty corridor, was a human girl. It was her girl, from the Hall.

Amarantha resheathed her dagger and lifted her head, befitting the status of a legend. “Hasn’t anyone warned you it is dangerous to sneak up on the High Fae, mortal?” She tried to look down her nose into those enormous green eyes. It made her dizzy. So pretty.  

The human’s little rounded ears turned pink. Amarantha almost smiled again. “I beg forgiveness, Lady. I assumed one like me could not sneak up on a High Fae like you. ” Her eyes sparkled with a wicked little light as they flicked towards the Fae’s pointed ears. 

Amarantha huffed. Clever creature . “Why are you lurking at these hours?” 

The human curtsied, holding up her gray shift in her slender hands. She bore the brand of a crown along the inside of her wrist. Property of the King of Hybern himself. Of course. The royal household was known for hoarding the loveliest and strongest mortal slaves. They bred them regularly to keep them so. 

“His Majesty’s Steward sent me to find you.” Her face flushed. She pulled parchment from her sleeve and lowered her head, holding out the roll.

Amarantha opened the letter and read the sloping words. A Gift. From the King of Hybern . Her dark eyes looked up at the human, who was watching her face with a keen gaze. Clever little creature indeed. 

She almost sent the slave back. The High Fae did not need another responsibility. Her narrow shoulders were buckling under her new role in Hybern’s court, watching out for a rebellious little sister, and trying to carve out her name on the Cliff of Legends. 

But it would be a terrible dishonor to refuse a gift. There were suddenly whispers coming from an alcove, the rustle of clothing, then a grunting sound. Amarantha needed to get out of the darkened hallway. It was not safe. She circled the slender, branded wrist. “Come.” 

She pulled the smaller female along several more doors until they approached her guest suite. It was a wing of honor, well appointed and luxurious. After locking the double doors and applying several wards, she allowed herself a chance to study the girl. 

She was more slender than Amarantha and several inches shorter, but of a similar age. Human years were easy to discern. Her brown hair was tightly coiled, like little springs, and her skin was sun kissed. But it was those mermaid eyes Amarantha found herself falling into. 

She tore her gaze away and sat on the edge of the bed. The girl remained completely still in the moonlight, a lovely statue rescued from the ocean. 

The warrior and seafarer was becoming a damned bard… 

“Why did the King send you?” Amarantha asked, her eyes narrowing, as she continued to study her gift. The human was lovely and the new tug beneath her navel was back. Her breasts were small and firm. Amarantha imagined her nipples would be the color of the sky at dusk. Cauldron.

She cleared her throat, face burning. It was surely red as her hair. 

The human seemed confused. “It's tradition, my Lady. The victor of the Turas is gifted a slave from the King’s collection. His Grace noted your interest in– me – in the Hall.” She lowered her head full of curls once more. 

Amarantha felt like a fool. How was she to know of this tradition? Females were never permitted to race before, had never been offered a place in the Turas , and the only reason she was here, in this castle, instead of a cell, was because she’d won. It had been the gamble of her immortal lifetime. 

“Of course, dumb girl.” Amarantha scoffed. A shadow of anger might have passed across the slave’s soft features, but it may have been the flicker of flames from the hearth. “Well, what does the King call you?” 

When the girl did not immediately answer, she barked out, “What is your name?” 

“Peata, Mistress.” Her voice was a purr. Pet, in Old Hybernian . How fitting. It was common for the Fae to name their slaves after animals, objects, or even assign them roles.

“Pet, are you trained in how to serve a Lady?” she asked. The slave nodded. “Good, then you’ll know I’m exhausted, and wish to retire.” Again the girl nodded and glided towards Amarantha. It was then that she noted the mortal wore the silk slippers of the house slaves of Hybern, which had allowed her to sneak up on Amarantha earlier. That would be remedied. 

Peata moved behind Amarantha, and she stiffened, not trusting her back to anyone beside Clythia. Gentle hands loosened the row of buttons along her spine. The slave slowly pulled the stiff gown from her shoulders, down each arm, and the heavy brocade fabric pooled at her ankles. She crouched to collect it as Amrantha stepped away.

Next came the ribbons at her breasts. Her nipples pebbled as cool air met her skin. Warmth pooled at the apex of her thighs. 

Why did Amarantha, High Fae warrior , feel so vulnerable, standing naked in the silver light, before this small human watching her with clever green eyes? 

Before she could say more, Peata walked to the adjoining chamber, its marble floors heated by magic. Amarantha followed the sound of running water and slipped into the warm bathing pool. 

It was soothing to her sore shoulders and back, still smarting from the brutal race and the force of magic she’d held in her body for weeks, before pushing out to force the skiff to the finish. She must have let out a sound of pleasure, because Peata was smiling when Amarantha opened her eyes. 

“I can ease your pain, Mistress.” The slave was kneeling over her, lathering something that smelled like lavender into her hair. Amarantha dipped her head into the warm water again, then sat up. She considered.

“Well, get on with it then,” the High Fae sniffed with arrogance. She had no idea what the human was on about, but if it would ease the knot in her shoulder, she would pretend... read full story on AO3 here

Thanks to @born-to-riot for being an eleventh hour beta queen!

I am tagging people who expressed interest! I forgot to ask for official tag list but please let me know if you ever want on/off a tag | @the-darkestminds @mistandmemories @sjmvillainweek @theartofmischief @achaotichuman

[crownedwithstars]

Galadriel in the Rings of Power, part 4: A savvy politician or a silly brash youth?

This post is the continuation of my analysis of Galadriel as she is portrayed in the Amazon series The Rings of Power - and why I think it is so very bad. Part 1 focused on the the portrayal of her being a warrior, and the many problems it creates for her character and possibly even for LOTR, whereas part 2 argued that what is supposed to be war trauma is actually just an awful personality. Part 3 focuses on the ways ROP undermines Galadriel's story as a woman, wife, and mother.

Part 1 x Part 2 x Part 3

This post will discuss the various ways Galadriel's portrayal in ROP is wrong when comparing the mental qualities she expresses in canon and in the show, the depiction of her age, and whether she is well cast in the show.

I will post my arguments in a few different posts, because that should make the whole much more readable. I will use the tags #anti rop and #anti rings of power for the benefit of those who may want to filter my posts.

If you like Amazon Rings of Power, I have no issue with that; I only take issue with how a character I've loved for over a decade is portrayed in this show.

6. ROP!Galadriel does not have the mental capacity and abilities she should have.

In Tolkien's versions of Galadriel's story, she is consistently portrayed as an individual of high intellect and wisdom, matching even the loremasters of her people. She is insightful and astute, seeing into the hearts of people around her, and recognising evil even under a fair form. She is collected and resilient after great ordeals and suffering. She never is persuaded to follow or even like Fëanor, and when Sauron comes to Eregion as Annatar, she knows him immediately for what he is. She learns to check her ambition and when she's offered the rule of Lothlórien, she won't become a queen after King Amroth, but assumes more of a regent's role as the Lady of the Wood. Galadriel is also a strong and wise leader, respected by her subordinates and other Elven communities, which implies great diplomatic skill. As I have argued before, it is striking that she, a Noldo and blood-relation of Kinslayers, is revered among the Elves of MIddle-earth. It's hard to believe this would be possible if she did not build and maintain a connection with them throughout the First and Second Ages. When the Istari arrive in Middle-earth, she rightly recognises Gandalf as the greatest of them. She travels through Khazad-dûm with her daughter, and does so while her husband Celeborn refuses the journey due to his prejudices for Dwarves, thus showing her tolerance and ability to deal with the other peoples of Middle-earth. She makes allies among the peoples of Middle-earth, is the instigator of the White Council and even invokes love in the heart of Gimli the dwarf, who has every reason to be mistrustful of her. Specifically, it is her eloquence and respect for his culture that wins him over. She is one of the very few noble Noldorin Elves to survive the First Age and endure until the end of the Third. 

I don't find any of these qualities in ROP!Galadriel. The most glaring difference is how blind and gullible she is to Sauron/Halbrand's deceptions - a direct contradiction of how canonically Galadriel immediately saw through his disguise and was his enemy from the start. ROP!Galadriel doesn't seem particularly intelligent, what with jumping out of a ship and trying to swim across an ocean, and spending centuries fruitlessly hunting Sauron. And as I argued in the part 3, it doesn't seem like she ever had a very good plan of how to bring down Sauron, if she ever found him - unless her intention always was to self-destruct by Sauron.

She has no wisdom whatsoever, doesn't see her own faults and doesn't try to check herself. She is a princess of Noldor and in her youth witnessed all the tensions and rivalries at her grandfather's court, but still she has no skill in politics, diplomacy or negotiation. She lets herself be manipulated by Gil-galad, stepping on the ship that sails for Valinor and only jumps out at the point when there is no way she could possibly swim back to Middle-earth (only to be saved by idiot plot). She is antagonising against potential allies. She waltzes into the court of Númenor, yells platitudes at the regent, makes arrogant demands and gets herself thrown in jail - which she gets out of not by eloquence and persuasion, but by aggression and violence. The only reason Míriel seems to help her is because Míriel's own foreboding, not because Galadriel's diplomatic skill. She is a blunt weapon of no artistry or subtlety. She is rude even when her circumstances require tact and caution, and continues to act in a coarse way even though the Númenóreans' prejudices against Elves are already causing tensions and the smart thing to do would be to show discretion and courtesy. For her community, she is a problem to be dealt with, not a great asset and ally. She has no personal dignity and people around have no respect for her. And why would they? She is not nice even to her so called friends and mostly she is bothered to care about people around her when they can somehow serve her vengeance. Pride is maybe the only thing ROP!Galadriel has in common with her canon counterpart, but it's combined with an already awful personality and no redeeming qualities.

7. Depiction of Galadriel's age is nonsensical.

This argument has not just to do with Galadriel, but is linked with the show's larger problems with portraying Elves and the compression of time - although it is telling that it's the female character that gets this treatment, not one of the male Elves. However, this is another discussion altogether and I will cover it in the final part of my analysis.

According to Tolkien's lore, Elves reach maturity at the age of a hundred years. Galadriel at the end of the Second Age is already thousands of years old. At this point in canon, she has been married for an age and has a grown daughter. She is one of the oldest and most powerful elves of Middle-earth, and is senior to Gil-galad and Celebrimbor. 

Although ROP still maintains that Galadriel was born in Valinor during the years of the Trees and is thus exactly as old as in canon, you would not guess it from the way she presents herself. She is so brash and immature in her behaviour that Elendil, a mortal who can't even comprehend the ages she has lived, actually says she reminds him of his children (is this some convoluted way of saying that only parenthood will bring out one's full potential?). Meanwhile, Gil-galad and Celebrimbor, who are both her junior, are portrayed as older and more mature. In canon, Galadriel is wise already as a young elf and her wisdom grows only greater during her long life, but ROP!Galadriel has absolutely no wisdom and despite her great age, acts like a hot-headed teenager. It seems the show wants to portray her as "young Galadriel", never mind the fact that this character cannot in any way be considered young at the end of the Second Age. Heck, it would be a reach even if the show began at the start of SA.

8. Galadriel is not well cast

I will admit that this argument is partly a matter of taste, but there is also a more objective observation to be made: Galadriel is described as a very tall woman, as tall as most male Elves. She is also an athlete in her youth, and also physically strong. Combining this with her high intellect, her ability to read the hearts and minds of others, and heritage as a High Elf who saw the light of the Trees, Galadriel should be played by a tall, imposing and striking woman. 

The actress Amazon cast in the role does not have these qualities. She is diminutive and does not stand out in any scene as an ancient and powerful Elf. The weight of the role would be humongous for anyone after Cate Blanchett's widely beloved portrayal, and it is certainly not helpful that the show creators have made some very controversial choices about the character.

On a more subjective note, in my opinion the actress is not particularly good in the role. Most of the time, she has only two expressions, sullenness and angry sneer. Her delivery is not very good or convincing. But maybe this is not the actress' fault: the problems could stem from the script and direction, which are at times laughably bad. I don't know of the actress' previous work - I'm under the impression that she is a new face in the business and ROP is her first major role - so it may be also a question of experience.

Also we should cast tall women in more roles. 

&&&&&&

The next and the final part will attempt to tie in my arguments and also point out some problems with the show that are not necessarily about Galadriel, but affect nonetheless the way she's portrayed in the show.

[originallandlockedmariner]

2023

Pickleball. Generative AI. Lula takes office in Brazil, Amazon Rainforest throws a party. Prince Harry refusing to stop talking about his frozen penis no matter how many times society begged him to stop. UFOs are real. Viral cat dubbed ‘largest cat anyone has ever seen’ gets adopted. Pee-Wee’s big adventure ends. Musk & X. Turkey-Syria earthquake kills thousands. India surpasses China as ‘country squeezing in the most peeps’. Tucker Carlson ousted. Miss USA and her 30 lbs moon costume. Wildfires in Kelowna and Hawaii. Macron tinkers with retirement age of the French. Paltrow can’t ski. Big Red Boots. Bob Barker leaves us. Alabama mom delivers 2 babies from her 2 uteruses in 2 days. Charles III. Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces as the war drags on. Taylor Swift is Time’s Person of the Year. African ‘coup belt’. Flo-Jo dies in her sleep. Chinese spy balloon shot down. Hollywood writers strike. Human ‘nice mugshot’ Shitstain and his 91 indictments. Highest interest rates in 2 decades. The Bear’s Christmas episode. War in Gaza. Shinzo Abe is assassinated. Alex Murdaugh. Ocean Cleanup removes 25 000 lbs of trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Vase purchased for $3.99 sells for $100 000 at auction. Barbenheimer. A third of Pakistan is flooded. Lionel Messi is the GOAT. Travis Kelce. The Sphere opens in Las Vegas. Regulators seized Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, resulting in two of the three largest bank failures in U.S. history. “The Woman In Me”. WHO declares COVID ain’t a thing no more. Titan sub sinks, rich people die. Matthew Perry drowns. Dumbledore Dies (again). Massive sales of ‘Fuck Trudeau’ flags for jacked-up micro-dick trucks. Everything Everywhere All At Once. June-August was the hottest three-month period in recorded history across the Earth. Tina Turner dies. And the Beatles release a new song?! Wow… You got big shoes to fill 2024.

Archives for context:

2020

Kobe. Pandemic. Lockdown. Koalas on fire. Harry and Meg retire. Toilet paper hoarding. Alcoholism. Impeach the f*cker. Parasite. Bonnie Henry. Tiger King. Working from home. Sourdough bread. Harvey Weinstein guilty. Zoom overdose. Dip your body in sanitizer. 6 feet. Quarantine. OK Boomer. Home schooling (everyone passes). Murder hornets. Dolly Parton. Don’t hug, kiss or see anybody, especially your family. Chris Evans’ junk. TikTok. Glory holes. Face masks. CERB. West Coast wildfires. Stay home. Small Businesses lose, big box stores win. F*ck Bozos. ‘Dreams’ and cranberry juice. Close yoga studios, but thumbs up to your local gym. Speak moistly to me. George Floyd. BLM. F*ck Trump. Phase 2, 3 and Summer. RBG. Baby Yoda. Biden wins. Bond and Black Panther die. No more lockdown. Back to school and work. Just kidding... giddy up round 2. Giuliani leaks shit from his head. Resurgence of chess. UFOs are real. Restrictions. Dave Grohl admits defeat. Monolith. “F*ck... forgot my mask in the car”. No Christmas shenanigans allowed. Bubbles. Alex Trebek. Use the term ‘dumpster fire’ one too many times. Jupiter and Saturn form 'Christmas Star'. Happy New Year Bitches!!!! 2021... you better not sh*t the bed!!

2021

“We love you, you’re very special”. Failed coup attempt at the Capital. Twitter, FB and IG ban Donny. Hammerin’ Hank goes to the Field of Dreams. Bozo no longer richest man but still a twat. Leachman, Tyson, and Holbrook pass. The economy is worse than expected. Kim and Kanye split. Brood X cicadas. Dre has an aneurysm and nearly has his home broken into. Bridgerton. MyPillow CEO is a douche. Covid restrictions extended indefinitely. Captain Von Trapp dies. Proud Boys officially a Terrorist Organization. Richard Ramirez. Cancer takes Screech. Travel bans. Impeachment trial (again?… oh and this was barely February? WTF??!!) Suez Canal blockage. Myanmar protest. Kong dukes it out with Godzilla, while Raya watches. Olympics. Friends compare elective surgeries. F9. Canada Women’s Soccer Gold. Free Britney. Multiverses. Residential Schools in Canada unearth children’s bodies. Kate is Mare of Easttown. Cuomo resigns. Disney and Dwayne cruise together. Wildfires. Delta variants. Musk passes Bezos. Candyman x 5. Capt. Kirk goes to space. F*ck Kyle Rittenhouse. Astros didn’t win. Squid Game. Goodbye Bond. Dune is redone. Angelina is Eternal. Astroworld deaths. Meta. Omicron. Three Spidermen. Tornados in December? World Juniors cancelled. Pills against Covid. School opening delayed. And Betty White dies. 2022… my expectations are ridiculously low…

2022

Wow… eight billion people. Queen Elizabeth II passes away after ruling the Commonwealth before dirt was invented. The monkeypox. Russia plays the role of global a**hole. Wordle. Mother Nature rocks Afghanistan. Hover bike. Styles spits on Pine. Olivia Newton John, Kristie Alley, and Coolio leave us. Pele was traded to team Heaven. FTX implodes. Madonna and the 3-D model of her vagina. Pig gives his heart to a human. Beijing can brag that it is the first city ever to host both the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics. Uvalde. $3 trillion Apple. Keith Raniere gets 120 years. The Whisky War ends with Canada and Denmark going halfsies. Mar-a-Lago. Nick Cannon brood hits a dozen. Shinzo Abe is assassinated. Inflation goes through the roof (if you can actually afford to put a roof over your head). Volodymyr Zelensky. European heat wave. Bennifer. Salman Rushdie is stabbed on stage, Dave Chappelle tackled, and Chris Rock is only slapped. Thích Nhất Hạnh. Heidi Klum goes full slug. Cuba knocked out by Ian. Liz Truss and 4.1 Scaramuccis. Taylor Swift breaks Ticketmaster. Human shitstain Elon Musk ignores helping mankind and buys Twitter instead. Riri becomes a mommy. NASA launches Artemis 1. Trump still a whiny little b*tch. Music lost Loretta Lynn, Christine McVie, and Meat Loaf. Democracy died at least three times. Pete Davidson continues to date hottest women on the planet (no one understands how?!) Microplastics in our blood. Alex Jones is a c*nt. So is DeSantis. Argentina wins the World Cup. Meghan and Harry. Eddie Munson rips Metallica in the Upside Down. tWitch. Roe vs Wade is overturned by the micro dick energy of the Supreme Court. CODA. James Corden shows he is a "tiny Cretin of a man". Amber (and the sh*t on the bed) Heard (round the world). Sebastian Bear-McClard proves he’s one of the f*cking dumbest men alive. Latin America's ‘pink tide’. Anti-Semitic rants by Ye. Bob Saget. A verified blue checkmark. Godmother of punk Vivienne dies. And, Tom Cruise feels the need for speed yet again. 2023… whatcha got for us?!? Nothing shocks me anymore.

@daily-esprit-descalier

[carryingthebannershitposts]

Ride The Cyclone AU is winning so here's my old sketches :)

(I'm not giving up on Nightmare Before Newsies or anything, this is literally just for fun. In fact, go check the Nightmare Before Newsies blog because I posted some fun things)

The plot for the AU went something like this: during a fight for the strike, Jack David, Spot, Race, Crutchie and Les get crushed to death under a newspaper cart that was purposefully pushed on top of them by Oscar and Morris. They are then brought to some strange place, where an ominous robotic voice, who calls itself "The Amazing Karnak", begins telling them that they're gonna play a game- the group has to vote one person to come back to life, and the rest will perish.

Jack, being Jack, sings about Santa Fe for all of 30 seconds and proceeds to immediately concede. Racetrack sings a very depressing reprise of King Of New York and concedes soon after Jack. Neither David nor Spot are happy about this.

Spot's song would be a very interesting song set to the tune of Brooklyn's Here, but with the wit and pure ego that What The World Needs has. David's song would be a reprise of Truth Of The Moon, and afterwards he'd try to beg Jack to un-concede, which unsurprisingly doesn't work.

Les gets to sing a very cursed and surprisingly menacing crossover of the Watch What Happens Reprise and The Ballad Of Jane Doe, the first half of the song lamenting over 1. the loss of his fucking head and 2. how young he died, and the second half of the song swearing vengeance on the Delancey Brothers and The World as a whole for killing him and all the people he loves. (Seriously, imagine the second half of the Ballad Of Jane Doe but it's a child screaming "Watch What HAPPENS, LORD! THE WORLD WILL BURN TONIGHT, LORD! THEY'VE LEFT ME WITH NO FAMILY AND NO FRIENDS!") David is understandably horrified by this. Jack hypes Les up and encourages him to go back and murder people.

The vote comes down to David. David votes Les back after a very long speech, on the condition that he does NOT murder people.

Les may or may not keep that promise.

-

ON TO DA DRAWINGS

*Blinks at you with my tired ass I-stayed-up-all-night-to-draw-this eyes and hands you these*

A recent sketch of Les having his Jane Doe moment and shit because he was the one who got decapitated

(WARNING. BODY HORROR AND GLITCHING AND THINGS. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED)

.

.

.

David's long ass speech that he ripped off from Ocean O'Connell Rosenburg

Jack encouraging child murder and telling Les to scream insults at people

That's it :)

(PLEASE SOMEONE ASK ME FOR THE BALLAD OF JANE DOE / WATCH WHAT HAPPENS SONG MERGER THINGY CREATION'S LYRICS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE-)

[mysterycharacterbracket]

Season 2, Poll #29

Character 85: Was a terrible royal advisor before the king died. After the king died they told their kid to kill two children, then attempted to gaslight them into thinking they misinterpreted the order before going on a quest of world conquest and swallowing a dragon before getting thrown off a cliff and dying. Gets resurrected as a decent father figure horrified at his past actions.

Character 86: He's a character for sure and stuck around for a while. He can often be seen wearing feminine clothing and takes great care of his wardrobe. He has a large family whom he stays in regular contact with, despite being an ocean away and updates those around him on the latest drama. He is Lebanese-American. The man did have a wife, but she left him for someone who could be around more. When he does finally go all the way back home, he brings his new spouse with him (and they seem to really be in love).

Character 87: It is unclear exactly how old this character is. They often seem older and more mature than they look but also act younger just as often. Clearly there is some experimental science going on here. This character keeps a bit of mystery around themselves without making it obvious to the other characters that there is more just under their surface. They also bring the same intensity to both the life and death situations they find themselves in as they bring to the mundane daily dramas everyone faces.

[readinglatenights]

Can you write a cute fanfic with belly and jere?

i got carried away... if this is too deep then just send another ask LMAOO

call it what you want babe

lol second thing i've ever written but i've had this idea for SO LONG!! you can totally skip the lines i just thought it was so applicable, this is based on the taylor swift song call it what you want!! warnings: angst w susannah and mentions of conrad BUT UNBEARABLE FLUFF AFTER BEGINNING!! IT GETS CUTE IM SORRY I GOT CARRIED AWAY paring: jeremiah fisher and belly conklin word count: 749 premise: takes place the summer belly and jeremiah get together, so basically after season 2 (basically canon complicit?)

all the jokers dressing up as kings; they fade to nothing when i look at him

it had been eight weeks since susannah fisher had died. it had been fourteen weeks since belly had broken up with conrad.

but it had been four weeks with jeremiah fisher.

belly realized shortly after reconnecting with the brothers that jeremiah had loved her. he had loved her more true, and more pure than anyone ever did.

and i know i make the same mistakes every time; bridges burn, i never learn

her life came to a devasting halt. people have come and go in her life, but susannah was someone who loved her from the moon to saturn. she always repeated that she was destined for one of her boys, but never understood jeremiah's undying fire for belly.

at least i did one thing right. i did one thing right.

so here she was, fingers interlocked as they walked down the boadwalk of cousins beach, wrapping up their time out. jeremiah looked down at the girl he had loved for so long, ocean eyes adoringly meeting hers. he asks, "d'you wanna find a keepsake for tonight?" she smiles up at him, barely focusing on his words. his language was entangled with the blaring sounds of the rides and people around them. nodding, he leads her to the ring toss stand and purchases 6 rings for the each of them. as easy as it was to love jeremiah, it was hard to win at ring toss.

i'm laughing with my lover; making forts under covers

jeremiah had gotten a ring to stay on a bottle, and the worker asked what prize he had wanted. he gestured to belly, "pick any one you want, bells." she points to the giraffe.

as she walked with him to the cousins beach house they all loved, she made a mental note.

trust him like a brother

as complicated as her life was, she needed someone who would be her anchor. she needed the boy who let her feelings run wild, but would still tie her to home. she unlocked the door to the cozy abode, leaving the keys on the seashell hooks. the air was reminiscent of moments she had had with susannah, conrad, her mother, steven, taylor, and even cam.

yeah, you know i did one thing right.

she let the thoughts clear her head, and let her heart lead her. jeremiah had taken off his shoes and turned on the tv, opting to play music instead of turning on a movie. belly sits the giraffe down on the kitchen island, slumping over slightly as she prepared dinner.

"what are you gonna name him?" jeremiah asks, walking over to her. his hands meet her sides, resting comfortably on her hips, pressing light kisses on her cheek and neck.

she poured the uncooked pasta into boiling water, then turned to face him. "i'm not sure yet," she giggles, choosing to lightly bump his nose with her finger. "you don't have to decide yet," he kisses her forehead. "we have all the time in the world."

starry eyes sparking up my darkest night

and they did. as jeremiah prepared their pasta, belly couldn't help but feel that everything in her life was worth it if she got to be with him. exciting nights alone couldn't even fathom replacing the most mundane nights with jeremiah fisher.

my baby's fit like a daydream, walking with his head down

plating their food and mixing a fruity concoction for both of them to drink, jeremiah grabbed the unnamed giraffe. belly sat on the couch close to jeremiah, and he pulled her closer. he wrapped his arms around her, cradling both her and the stuffed animal in his arms. the food was abandoned on the table as they laid together. for all the mistakes that she had made, for all the trouble they had gone through together, it had all amounted to this.

"jeremiah, have i ever told you how lucky i am to be with you?" she asked, nervously. he looked stunned, perplexed that she would say something like this. his features softened as he answered, "bells, you don't have to."

i'm the one he's walking to

"i think i'll never truly comphrehend how lucky i am to be with you." he pauses, looking at her. his pupils would morph into hearts if they could.

this was their ending.

so call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to.