#Prince Charming wasn't even PART of her character arc

[flovey-dovey]

why

[moistvonlipwig]

OUAT Week Day 1: Favorite arc

Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time, there was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know. Or think we know.

But they were never trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen. They were never trapped in our world. They just kept living in the enchanted forest forever, same as they always had been.

And they were so much worse off for it.

Snow White and Prince Charming never had to confront the worst parts of themselves or their society. They never had to learn to accept and love a daughter who wasn't exactly how they'd imagined her. They never had to reflect on their past actions or learn to forgive the past actions of others. They built a kingdom that, much like their own selves, looked like a fairytale but crumbled like sand the moment it was challenged.

Emma grew up with her parents, but they coddled her and taught her only to look pretty and pick flowers and sing. She never learned to believe in her own ability to solve problems, never learned the importance of fighting back against wrongdoing, never learned how to do anything but surrender in the face of a challenge.

Henry, like his Storybrooke counterpart, wanted to be a hero. But he never had to learn empathy or compassion for villains. He never had to face the fact that people are more complex than their fairytale labels make them out to be. He never saw the consequences of black-and-white thinking. He became a knight and then a king who prized violence over kindness, vengeance over forgiveness.

Regina never cast her curse, and thus never learned what a hollow victory it truly was. She never adopted a child or learned that there were more valuable things in life than her quest for vengeance. Indeed, that is how we leave her: on the deck of the Jolly Roger, forever in that moment of pure confusion at the idea that anything could be more important than revenge.

Captain Hook, on the other hand, left the Wish Realm and did learn there were more important things in life than revenge. He had a child, and he gave up everything for her. But when he made a mistake and lost her, he had no support system to fall back on, no one to catch him when he fell. He returned to the Wish Realm, slid into depression and desperate schemes, and only clawed his way back to a better life once he joined up with the characters from Storybrooke.

Robin Hood lost Maid Marian early and never had a child with her. He kept stealing for himself and never chose to put his skills towards helping others. He lived a lonely and selfish life, without purpose or fulfillment, until he stepped outside the Wish Realm and was forced to consider what kind of person he really wanted to be.

Rumpelstiltskin lost both his son and the woman he loved. In fact, it's not clear that he was ever even reunited with his son at all. Thus, he never came to appreciate the value of making oneself vulnerable to love or the importance of doing the right thing even if it comes at a cost. Instead, he sought only power over others. He lost the humanity he once had and gave every part of himself over to the anger and fear within him. He became the ultimate Dark One.

The Wish Realm is fundamentally unchallenging. No one is forced to change or to reckon with their past. No one learns to empathize with their enemies. Everyone stays the way they were prior to the first episode of OUAT in perpetuity, calcifying into caricatured versions of themselves. It is a fairytale without depth, a fantasy world without humanity to ground it in reality. The only way to grow past its stagnation is to escape.

There are some strange and inconsistent wordbuilding choices in how the Wish Realm was written, to be sure. But thematically, the Wish Realm arc is coherent and powerful. It is a celebration of the journey these characters have taken with each other. An acknowledgment that the things you go through in life, good and bad, matter to who you are; that sometimes things we think are curses can be blessings in disguise; that, as Regina will put it in 7.20 "Is This Henry Mills?", "scratches are a part of life." The ultimate thesis of the Wish Realm storyline is that the characters of Once Upon a Time are better for having been a part of each other's imperfect, messy lives. I'd like to think that all of us are better off with these imperfect, messy fictional people in our lives, too.

[fairytale-poll]

ROUND 1D, MATCH 3 OUT OF 16!

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Carrie:

Cinderella’s ball goes badly and she kills a town. What is there not to love?

Carrie is a horror retelling of Cinderella, look it up it's true

Cinder:

She killed her evil stepmother and stepsisters (technically they "adopted" her as slave labor and the narrative treats her as the villain for this but tbh out of all the things Cinder has done, this was the most justified)

She's my wife and I love her and she's also evil but it's okay

She does cool fire stuff and murders people but I think that can be forgiven

I love her. Jkjk uhm she's really cool and while a lot of people say she's an evil Cinderella she's more like a Cinderella who never gets saved and has to save herself. And she's so super cool and charming and a genius. And she kills people sometimes but it's okay because she's very very sad and I think more people should care about her.

Cinderella as a villainess! What if Cinderella wasn't saved by her fairy godmother and instead murdered her step-family and joined an evil witch terrorizing the world? Cinder Fall is a dangerous villainess who has helped topple kingdoms and will do anything to gain power.

This propaganda is just going to be me listing all the ways she fits her Cinderella allusion. Like all of the characters in RWBY, Cinder is an allusion to a character from fairy tales/legend/etc. In her case, CINDERella. She's one of the earliest and most important antagonists, although at first there wasn't a whole lot to connect her to the Cinderella story besides some surface-level references(her name, her superpower being the ability to create glass objects, that one part of the dance arc where she infiltrates a communication tower and has to be back to the dance by midnight when she transforms into a dress), but in the later volumes the Cinderella aspects to her character become way more clear. (spoilers for later parts of the show here on out) People have summarized this way better than I am about to, but basically: She came from an orphanage and was adopted by a wealthy family from from another kingdom(a mom and her two daughters), but was really only adopted so that she could do servant work at the prestigious hotel they owned. The "prince charming" in her story wasn't a romantic interest, but a huntsman(someone who fights the monsters in the world, a career all the main characters go to school to become) who frequents the restaurant in the hotel. He sees her being mistreated and secretly trains her so that when she's 17 she can apply to one of the combat schools and leave her "stepmother and stepsisters." Like all the villains, though, she's like a version of her allusion where things went wrong, so instead of being whisked away by "prince charming" to his world, she ends up in a position where she kills the "stepmom" and "stepsisters," "prince charming" tries to bring her in for murder bc it's his job, and she kills him too. Now a child with nowhere to go, she gets picked up by the main villain, Salem, who acts in the Cinderella allegory as the "fairy godmother" who uses magic to give her "freedom." Except the magic is a parasite monster that gives her certain abilities, most importantly the ability to take the powers of a very select kind of person that Salem needs. This "magic" also has a time limit like the dress and the carriage, except it's the fact that it's a parasite that's slowly consuming her. Cinder thinks she wants these powers because if she's powerful, she can secure her freedom, but has yet to see that Salem is just using her, making her the new "stepmother" in her story(she came close to realizing this, mentally comparing Salem to her "stepmother," but then turned around and threw herself into her quest for power even more). Some people also compare the other characters in Salem's inner circle to a new set of "stepsisters," especially with how none of them like Cinder and wished her good riddance during the period of time she was missing and possibly dead, and that there's subtle competition between all of them for Salem's approval, similar to how siblings can be with a parent. Some people have also said it's possible that Neopolitan played the new "fairy godmother" role during said time where Cinder was on her own, because Neo was able to help Cinder a lot with her illusion powers, including using them on an airbus("carriage"), which was also the scene where Cinder got her outfit change for the new arc. There is also a part in the Atlas arc where she lets the General know she was in his office by leaving a glass chess piece on his desk(like the glass slipper that Prince Charming identifies her with), when she fucked him over earlier in the show with a computer virus with a chess piece logo.

Literally explicitly based off cinderella yet somehow people were shocked when her backstory involved basically being a child slave to her "stepmother" and abused by her "stepsisters". She put up with their abuse for years until they finally crossed the line then she snapped and killed them. But now she's still being manipulated by another stepmother figure. She seeks power because she thinks it will give her freedom. She can shoot fireballs. She has the most outfit changes of anyone in the whole show. She's a poor little meow meow and a girlboss.

Hot

[cornus27florida]

Personal Review GwenDerick/FredDolyn Time-Travelling AU - Canon Divergences

I like to compiling everything to help me going forward...

Basically I make CPC fanfic about time-travelling AU (to the past) and thus making it Canon Divergences AU (means it will changes over plot points in the canon source) - my two favorite troupe AUs as it could explore so many possibilities of "what-ifs" in the original source material of the story...

There's an ongoing project by myself that I am not sure when it'll end but I know how the details it goes.. Thanksfully for the addition of my cowriters @ Queen_Allu (same name as in AO3) and @ Jazzyluvs008 (sunflower8) at the middle early part of the journey to not making me feeltoo lonely. The project is hopefully not that (too) ambitious for myself that could strains my own heart and body (espc the eyes) and my own mental and minds (there's some chapters that even on introduction arc already made my heart's bleeding and head's dizzy) - as I am on 1/7 path of the journey there based on ch

GwenDerick/FredDolyn is make me built such a special place in my heart as hardcore shipper, I really adores their journey of relationship from a complete stranger (which the male scared shirtless over the female with such unorthodox look) to such a trustworthy friend (with the help of the CPC and how the story progress, the male opens up to the female) to likely now as to be a lover (there's definetely romantic note between them, as basically they are already say love to each other - even with such 'tragic' situation as the current story)

So, Troupe "Stranger to Friend to Lover" AU canonically? Hell yeah it is! I feel this another reason why GwenDerick is so special in my book of shipper - because it's so natural and could happen to anyone, so relatable in real life. Gwendolyn is not perfect (I am not talking about her look that basically the main plot turner in the story, I am talking about her lack of skill in communication that make the whole CPC story to be happen) and so does Frederick isn't Prince Charming (I won't talk further about it, as I know there's so many people that still hates him and could utters so many hate speech over him - feel free to do so, it won't change my love over him as I think that Frederick is the best boy in the CPC that has the best character development ever possible).

There's actually several others AU troupes that happened to GwenXFrederick canonically, but I won't talk about those as I like to focus on promoting my own fanfic which featuring them as the main couple while using my top two AU troupes as the gears for the series to moving them to go...

I really wish for more people to read it, I really do.. And could give me feedback over it. That fic is basically the retelling of 'retelling' which is the CPC | Cursed Princess Club [webtoon]

[Hahahah, such an UNO reverse card ain't it? :3 ] WIKI :

The creator, LambCat, describes Cursed Princess Club as a chance given to her to take all the things they loved from fairy tales and stories of their childhood and combine them with all the messages they wished they got to hear back then. -> Here the list of ALL tales and stories that I could recognize in the overall of CPC until now which one thing that I notice? Every stories come from Western with slight non-direct nods of Eastern references. I like to be proud about my own origin as citizen from Eastern country so I'm putting them inside the fanfic story as well.

While thinking of fairy tales and brainstorming, LambCat's thoughts included "What if the spells didn't break and there wasn't a happily ever after? What would that scenario be like?", that got cross-pollinated with with the idea of insecurity and shame in general. -> the spells didn't break means the 'permanent' cursed condition, which all the CPC members are inflicted with it and overall I say - I am truly adore how each of them accepting their condition as being cursed in healhtly way BUT as the CPC story hinting of things that possibly could lifting them from their curse that not come from typical cure it all "True Love's Kiss" such as: Abbi's 24 hours curse reversal potion, the Cure-Curing Crystal (+ the period pauser for Prez' condition by Whitney) and informations from the Omniscient Clam... That make me thinking as generally all the CPC members already accepting their cursed condition (the first important step of grieving one's trauma), WHY not making the chance for them to could get cured from their curse WHAT IF the journey to lifting the curse is so painful BUT really worth it? I really want to explore it, that's why I am making Frederick cursed 'literally' as the driving point of the fanfic story that I am making... He need to deal with his curse, along with resolving the initial metaphorical curse that already in there as Plaid Prince Royalty...

In the beginning, the story was a simpler one about looks not being everything. It has expanded to being about the idea that society has a lot of things they want from us. Cursed Princess Club was about how many of us have two parts of ourselves. One that we want to present to others based on what they want, and one that's just us. What if there were a clash between them? What emotions would come from that? -> there's so many examples about it in various characters, such as : Blaine (his true self that he shown in bare to Maria after the piano duel VS the mask that he keep shows in the public as 'the perfect Plaid Prince Charming'), Frederick (his distant "icy"-shallow-judgmental 'Plaid Prince' persona VS his true self that really just wants to read books as doing nerdy stuffs etc by having true friends that could understand him), Gwendolyn (her 'polite' selfless sweety princess VS her selfish persona that just wants to skip forward to her imagination of 'happily-ever-after' with Frederick which wants to skip the hurtful feeling over confrontation about her shattered perspective) ...and the CPC as entirety, why the logo (insignia) is a rose depict half pink and half black/brown? Because even thou never confirmed it yet the meaning of it, I say it's related about accepting the previous non cursed form-persona (pink) and current cursed form-persona (black/brown).

So my fanfic, Returning Back to Make Amends wants (and really hopes) to could explore the things that the CPC tells but WON'T shy over the mature themes that hinted in the story as it's being put down on some notches, and to doing so I like to use Frederick as the main character of that fiction RaS (Reversus ad Satisfaciendum) by establishing unique personalities that depicted about him - and as I relate to him the most, I feel I could do it imagining the fanfiction story that make him swapped role with Gwen which now he's the Protagonist of the story while Gwen is the deuteragonist

It could really work and without making other characters to changes dramatically (as to not making an OOC/ Out of the character), Prez still the tritagonist of the story and the CPC as the best support system over the 'cursed' royalties. Aside from Frederick being the character that most relatable to me, I love to explore the possible interactions of him (but with more knowledges already, as he already get and learn stuffs until the episode 145 plot points) with everyone. What will he do to his own family? What will he do when meeting the CPC as the much needed support system for him...with so many things to consider first? What will he do when interacting with Gwen as he could get chance to return to the past, to make amends.. but his greatest mistake already done?

I've read so many stories be it from various webtoons, fairy tales, novels, games, fanfictions... My greatest inspiration, and the motivation that making sure that I could reach to that end is a SniLy time travelling fic (A Peace Not Promised)

But let's end the general description of the fanfic, as we jump onto the story itself. Let's begin from the prequel of the story

The Prequel of the Story (MEPHISTO) https://www.tumblr.com/cornus27florida/733053034090921984/cpc-fandom-need-more-love?source=share

From that fic's comment, I am really glad to could make in character's depiction especially to the Plaid Royal Family

As a prequel, one could read it before reading my fic series 'RaS' for better enjoyment but not necessarily need to read it either. In nutshell, the prequel fic really help me to establish the possible scenario that happened to the Plaid Royalties - as overall the punishment scenes gives too much shock to everyone that make the digestion of what really happened is difficult to happen. Also the title inspired by the [Oshi no Ko] ED song - is to giving the hint of time travelling scenario

Mephisto = power to manipulate events throughout time

Does that means the whole cause of the time travelling AU is related to a demon? Eh, huge spoiler for my fanfic - a highly classified content that I won't deny or confirm 'till the end

Now let's go to the RaS! We're start with the summary description!!! (most finds it's so scary, WHY ;-;)

"What-If" at the episode 145 where Frederick canonically supposed to break free from the prison - unfortunately passed away instead?

-> PNP starts with the main character, Severus Snape, passed away as like canon Harry Potter where he bitten by the snake (Nagini, Voldie's Pet).. There's so many time travel AU stories that making the main character(s) to die first too

Follow the difficult, cursed journey of Frederick that becomes the protagonist of his story as given another chance to make amends by the angel of the fortune Gwen by returning to the past - few months ago before his death day as imprisoned by Leland alone in the hole Given knowledge from the memories of what might happen but inability to tell them to the ordinary, non-cursed people as blazing rusted chains of 'non-divulgence' will accompany Frederick to prevents him to telling the truths; about him that come from the future, about his kingdom's vile plan to the Pastel Princesses, about the details of the events that'll lead to the doomed future...

-> I am not a good writer by any means, this project RaS is literally the first time I am making a huge multi chapters series which make me so anxious... But I know I am not the only one that making fanfiction with that 'skeleton' like that, 2 huge fandoms (Harry Potter and NARUTO) in the fanfictions has many examples of that, but I admit that in the CPC fandom my project gonna be the very first to exist. It's gonna be the very last? Hmm I don't know honestly, I've seen some CPC fanfic with time travel element with potentials...

In the 'magical' world of the CPC series, "time travelling" is something unheard off and considered to completely fictional even for the club that consisting of cursed members. It's out of the world, and all those Fairy Tales books have no match for this particular "curse". Could Frederick makes differences for a happy ending, or he'll die again trying?

-> Time travel. Wao. Such a huge interesting plot driver that so strong and powerful, but could become very messy if not handled right espc if disregarding the canon original stories and rationale thinkings of the story (even if the origin material is a fantasy genre). There's a special character trope identity for time traveller that making FIX-IT the story (another troupe of mine that I really like, usually part of the subplot of "Canon Divergence) which is "Peggy Sue". Frederick is Peggy Sue, but I try my possible best to not making him as Gary Sue with the canon Frederick's skill - Administrative Support = he knows that he can't do everything alone, he needs the help from others that as the story progress we see the friends that he finds along the way as becomes "The Alliances" that'll progress along the way BUT before he could do anything, reaching his goal to saves Gwen - he desperately need to help himself first as in canon analogy, he need to climbing the hole first before even thinking to saves anyone yet...

Most people are scared over the honest summary that I did huhuu T^T But, that's simply the truth? I really hate fanfic that not being honest about the summary of their story, so to not making myself as a hypocrite.. I tell things like that as to not scaring anyone but well... Example: [I am really sorry, didn't mean to scare anyone!] my jaw droped after reading just the description

I am cut to the WARNINGS then for well deserved wariness

This fic decided to be rated M (mature) for reasons as following: (domestic) abuse in form of what Leland could do to his own family, character death (Frederick's reason to reviving the past - is death), (graphic depiction of) violences including cursed attacks (acid damage, were-spider transformation), drugs overdose, also mention (as including ideation) and depiction of suicide.

Most CPC fanfic are on teenager category, and honestly I am in dilemma if RaS should in M or T because PNP as main reference is T rated - even with the character death, subtle hints of mental issue including suicide by jumping from the astronomy tower etc.. I even changed for T at some moment, but then I decide to change back to M so I could be more free to put much needed warning plot points, it's not just death to establish the time travelling condition.. it's for taking complete dark turn over the dark truths that hinted all along in the CPC, like for example eating poisoned apple = suicide

Ch 1 My Deepest Regret

The shortest chapter indeed but I am not sure if anyone aware of my deliberately quote from Jamie. Jamie is the first character in the CPC that truly ships gwenderick after all

Jamie of the CPC ofc not the one that giving quote, but his IRL paralel did. It's such a heartwarming enpowering quote

“Don’t give up. Don’t give up on your story. Don’t give up on the people you love. Hope is real. Love is real. It’s all worth fighting for.
”

— Jamie Tworkowski

Ch 2 The Angel of the Fortune at the Afterlife

I know there's so many religions and beliefs, but personally I believe that the afterlife (world) is exist and there's angel(s)

Ch 3 Returning back to make amends

One of the most important moment in the story is when title drop happen, right! So does this fic, with one sentence that I like to pointing out regarding the whole story as following:

Also your death too, why did you forget? Probably with you returning to the past, there's gonna be canon divergences that even make people not as what you know in the past.. Who knows? -> there's so many examples of time-fix fic, but for much needed plot points that involve huge spoilers - some characters aren't like what they're depicted in the canon (espc as reviving the past, the 'introduction' meetings bound to be different) but doesn't make them OOC dw

Ch 4 Breakfast Affair at the Plaid Palace

I am really sorry for the ping but I want to credit you again for helping me making divergence of Frederick's confrontation at the Breakfast of Episode 16 @alexandersimpleton!

Ch 4 is the first huge dread of me to officially making canon divergence but overall I feel I am doing pretty job over it!

Ch 5 How does it feel to be cursed?

Ch 5 basically make full interpretation that Frederick read ALL of Fairy Tales possible including the ones that come from Eastern - whole new side of the world that not really ever mentioned in the CPC that making major kingdoms as whole in continent, while we know the existence of the Braided Island that unknow exactly = other side's world

So far he's handling the curse pretty well in my book- Since he's reading the tales that he knows to know if his curse is in one of them

That's HC scenario that I really love to happen if Frederick is literally cursed, what he'll do for the first time? Read books

Ch 6 Long Road Journey

hmm not so much to say as honestly that chapter is 'ugh, I need to write that no matter what for sake of the future' BUT the scene where Lance dragging Frederick out is like this;

Ch 7 SHATTERED

Ch 8 Midnight Snacks

The perks of Canon Divergences Time Travelling AU is we could explore characters early, even for the characters that in canon not yet introduced (example in that ch, Renée) if see the canon timeline - and in the fanfic you could fleshing out their character as well, Renee being an artist that keen on details IMHO not that far fetched because we've seen how she could draws a frog with stitched mouth well for Aurelia

Ch 9 Blondies’ Wariness

My inspiration of that chapter is from CPC meme of this:

https://www.tumblr.com/the-neighbors-kid/707946794118692864/a-jokey-cpc-blonde-people-alignment-chart-i-have?source=share i

@the-neighbors-kidsorry for ping but really appreciate the meme as it's even give me reference for the story!!

Ch 10 Fairy Tale Ingredients

Based on my own CPC theory analysis as following : https://www.tumblr.com/cornus27florida/712232201376432128/curses-and-cures-magics-and-science?source=share

Ch 11 My Curse and Tales that Related to It

https://www.tumblr.com/cornus27florida/734969016718901248/chapter-11-review-ras-the-cpc-fanfic?source=share

Ch 12 Green Eyed Ezzy

Credit again for Isaac @the-giggling-guava that helps me a lot to fleshing out the Princels as the whole, I really love how it's done but I am surprised myself over that ch is 8k hahaha

Basically that ch is the one that hurting me so far in term of heart, mental and overall self - and I am channeling my own hurts to make that much needed Princels intro as reality

Chokehold inspirations for making that chapter :

IHF's (@cpcposting) fanart of Frederick with black hair dye

IHF's fanfic that making Isolde has a brother, and a band - but instead 'uncle' for Plaid Princes has blue hair and grey eyes, I want to make him a symbol of 'union of Plaid Princes but GOOD (as the evil is OFC Leland)' by making him has great talent over music (Blaine), grey hair (Lance) and green eyes (Frederick, still mystery where he got 'em)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ8K6udN3VI/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

"Please, don't ever like me.. If you like me, there's only heartbreak in the future as the true nature of my curse is unknown - never mind how to break it. You should hate me instead, I am the sole reason your perspective is shattered. I am indeed the monster. You shouldn't in near proximity to a dangerous monster, it will rips you apart as already done with your self-worth..." - Frederick, chapter 11th

Personal shout outs to @meritre24601that reinforcing me that speech very in character of Frederick.. and I remember @saemi-the-dreamertheory about the symbolisms !!

https://vxtwitter.com/risdelusions/status/1729762922547540196?s=20 + https://fxtwitter.com/marinaapbch/status/1730323802175779016 Fred's mind : And all alone again - it will fine, as long as the loved ones (Gwen) will be safe, she has CPC now

+ I love Checkov's guns, which the books that the Princels gifting to their guests... might become important later on ;)

Overall I am making up all the titles, EXCEPT Syrah's one

I will do reblogs from this point forward for the incoming chapters, is also to help me get better in organizing ^^

C'mon me from the future self, YOU CAN DO IT I BELIEVE IT

[stutee]

Thoughts while and after watching The Crown Season 6 part 1 -

1. As the crown was and is about the Queen(now Late Queen), this season made me dislike her character more. Claire Foy's character was, if not sympathetic, at least helped us in humanising her as a young woman who did not like the spotlight but had to become one of the important people in the world. With Olivia Coleman's queen, her coldness grew. And Imelda Staunton strengthened her position as the cold mechanical Queen. Still won't deny that she had some sort of charm that made people like her or at least be intrigued about her but other than that, there is nothing

2. Season 3's Charles deserved sympathy. He had so much potential to do something but was constantly shut down and beaten until he lost that battle and ended up being ruthless. But if at one side you wish to show the utter heartlessness with which he and others treated Diana, then how can you show Charles as someone who needs to be sympathised and felt sorry for. Sure as any other human he deserved happiness but on the cost of what? This whole thing with Diana was a huge chain of events that resulted in this. There are articles which wrote that in a better way on how if at one side the crown shows him as the selfish husband, on another side it shows his political/royal campaigns as an attempt to show that he is not entirely a bad person?

3. Which brings us to here, the Ghost of Diana. That was terrible. If that all, we were supposed to have Diana's spirit visiting someone it should be only and only her sons. Some article or someone here wrote how it would be better if Diana haunted the Queen and Charles provoking feelings of regret and guilt rather than a learning and a redemption arc. But out of all the people she went to comfort and impart wisdom to the two people who were the most responsible for her pain.

4. Showing Diana as reckless and seeking attention was a terrible move again. Okay maybe they showed how the royals perceived her but the writing was also aimed at showing how she was also not without her faults and even going to the extent of showing Charles as the bigger person.

5. What's interesting is seeing the growth of Prince Philip. From someone who valued his freedom and independent thinking to becoming one with the royals. Sure if we see from Season 1 and 2's perspective of the husband he was, this is better in how Elizabeth and Philip have now become partners. He advises her and supports her and even fights for her(season 5) but now he is just another royal. Telling her how she should not go to London to offer her regards to Diana's funeral. In real life he is known for weird racist remarks which obviously weren't shown here and yes he wasn't any better either way. But still, he eventually became the Prince of windsor from just Philip.

6. There is obviously a grey area where one finds themselves standing, when we see a personal tragedy depicted in a fictional series. Sure Diana was the people's princess and a public figure but somewhere it felt slightly strange witnessing the whole thing. I can't name or describe the strangeness but well it was there.

7. Last and not the least, there is this one thing that I conclude every season i complete, that is, the royals are utterly useless. Now I get that you are all from a large history and it is nice to keep your traditions and cultures alive but not growing or staying stuck to it even after the world outside was changing rapidly? Saying the same old scripted speeches when the common people were desperate for food and better living conditions is terrible. I am not saying to abolish the monarchy, I mean yeah that would be great but sure if you wish to keep that culture but why the pomp and show and treating them as invincible and even funding them. Why can't they have normal jobs? Sure some royals lead pretty normal lives, so why can't they just be normal? Why on earth do they still feel so superior and God like even in the 21st century? The recent events of King Charles lll speaking of poor living conditions sitting on a throne of jewels. That's such a poor taste and being so ignorant of basic things.

I have always loved the cinematography and acting of this series. No wonder it won awards. And while some of it remains in the final seasons, it lacks the same charm of the initial seasons.

Waiting for part 2 to see how this series concludes.

[ravendruidreads]

Prince of Thorns & Nightmares - Review

Author: Linsey Miller Date Read: February 24, 2024 - February 26, 2024 Format: Physical Pages: 426

Characters: 9/10 Atmosphere: 9/10 Writing: 10/10 Plot: 10/10 Intrigue: 10/10 Logic: 10/10 Enjoyment: 10/10 Rating: 9.7/10 (5 stars)

I knew from the moment I read the summary of this book that I was going to love it, but I wasn't expecting to re-discover myself in these 426 pages. Sleeping Beauty was my first Disney movie-my most watched Disney movie as a child-and even though it has been probably 25 years since I last saw it, I still have vivid images of it in my mind, but, at the same time, a lot of details are blurred, and this book filled those holes perfectly.

The review is hidden below due to spoilers.

Let's talk about characters!

Philip is not a prince charming by any chance. Part of the reason why this book does not have a perfect 10 is because Philip was kind of a selfish bastard that frustrated me at times with his self-loathing and uselessness. However(!), by the end, I understood perfectly the reason for his behavior and mentality. It was a much needed growth arc that lead him from being a do-nothing gallivanting Prince to the Hero of our story.

Aurora/Briar Rose is a perfect princess who can't do anything wrong and I will defend her with my life. She is sassy, she is smart, she is a dreamer. She is everything I love and care about, and I'm so, so happy that this book changed her for me. Aurora has always been my favorite Disney Princess, but growing up I was always ashamed of it because she basically doesn't do much, right? She lies there, sleeping, until she's awaken by a kiss. What does that say about me? But this book made her a fighter, someone who didn't rest until she got the answers to her questions, who never gave up, even when things got hard. *chef's kiss*

I don't remember if Eris, Poena and Phrike are in the original story or not, but I thought they were a great addition to the book. I loved the betrayal, the way they tricked Philip into believe he had magic so he could steal the sword and shield for them. I loved the hint at a redemption arc for Eris that ended up not happening in the end. I thought it was the perfect way for the author to take the rug from underneath our feet while letting us remain in a safety bubble only to burst that bubble at the end. Again, *chef's kiss*

Short mention to King Hubert. I hate him and everything he represent parent-wise, and no matter that he apologized and saw his errors in the end, I still hate what he did to Philip.

The plot and writing of this book were simply perfect. I was hooked from the get go and couldn't stop thinking about the book when I was forced to take breaks. I literally stayed up to late to finish reading because I was so excited about it.

Seeing this side of Aurora and Philip's story was a nice complement to the original tale (when I mention 'original tale', I'm talking about the 1959 Disney movie, not Charles Perrault's story). Being witness to the flourishing of their love-with the enemies to friends to lovers arc that I love so much-in the dream world was exactly what I needed to fill the gaps in my memory of this story, but also a reminder of how this was one of my first ships. Reading their meeting in the dream world and consequent re-meet in the real world made me kick my feetsies in the air and gave me butterflies. :')

The end of the book was perfect, too. It gave us a little glimpse at what happens after "they lived happily ever after", while also keeping the narrative open to a possible sequel (which I would read in a heartbeat).

Honorable mentions:

Johanna referring to Samson as Your High Horseness made me cackle.

"You have to practice to get good at things. [...] That's why I write all the time and we spar so often. The more we fail, the better we get." Boy, do I relate to this. A much needed slap of reality to teach me a lesson.

"You're scared to love anyone and disappoint them like you do your father that you don't even love yourself, no matter how self-centered you pretend to be." I need an Aurora in my life to yell some truths in my face like this, please.

"The dreams are the only interesting to ever happen to me. [...] These dreams are all I have." This part absolutely broke my heart. Firstly because Philip finally realizes Briar Rose has been lying about roaming the kingdom and having the freedom to do what she wants with her life, then because we, readers, realize Briar Rose only made up these lies because she was jealous of Philip's freedom, and lastly because I, again, relate so much to her. When I was 16 all I had were books and dreams.

A quote that stayed:

It's easy to be envious of someone when you think you know their life, but you can't ever, can you?

[onewomancitadel]

If they do canonize Jaune/Weiss, would you still stick with the series until it's conclusion?

I think the ordinary assumption is that it would be the product of a ship tantrum if I didn't, but because there's so much tied up in Jaune/Cinder and so much that Jaune/Weiss doesn't work with, it's not really just a ship tantrum. I won't deny that wouldn't be part of it, but the general assumption is that shipping is unserious and probably indicates, on some level, one being in a position of textual ignorance. I think that broadly speaking this can be true (I've spectated my fair share of fandom, and I have grown up in fandom myself) but equally it can also be levied as an insult, because romance is silly.

But equally so if I did quit the show in such a circumstance, I'm not working with a level of entitlement here. I wouldn't be mad at it in the sense of them owing me something; I would just have to acknowledge I was either wrong in assigning meaning where there wasn't, or there simply wasn't the thematic consistency there.

I think it's very likely that Ozlem does motivate all of the romances, it's just a matter of to what degree. It's very easy to write Ruby/Oscar, Ren/Nora, Blake/Yang, and then give Jaune a joke romance which kind of happens offscreen/all of a sudden. Just because you have x consistency here doesn't mean it's everywhere else because storytelling is organic and elastic, and sometimes, as an analyst, you can actually put together implicit parallels better than the author(s). Or as I've discussed previously before with Reverse Ozlem, you need to make a positive case for why Jaune/Cinder would be a positive resolution (and not a cautionary or altogether unromantic one).

It's worth mentioning that I have literally quit the show once before! I was inoculated in the shitty end of the fandom during V5 and when everybody was busy mocking the end of the volume (because Haven was admittedly messy) and then celebrating Cinder's death - and her apparent permadeath - I just shrugged and quit because I feared they were right and it was all over. This probably explains some of my antipathy towards fandom and fanon at large because it genuinely ruined my experience of the show and made me doubt my intuition. Does that mean fandom/fandon is bad for everyone? No, I needed to grow a spine, but I take issue with fanon at large anyway.

What accompanies Jaune/Cinder isn't just the romantic pairing but the way it realises Cinder's redemption arc and what I think the pairing represents for the major resolution of Ozlem. It might not be obvious, but I am really invested in the bad wizards who were once in love and made it everybody else's problem, and I want to see them be together again even if that reunion means they shortly pass after. The cosmic wound of Ozlem is one of my favourite things in the show (reincarnated lovers and ceaseless conflict... yummy yummy) and is genuinely what holds the story together thematically and foundationally. It's a huge deal. So the things that interest me about R/WBY are all tied up in Jaune/Cinder. Everything I really love about the show (its unique but totally flagged narrative direction) is there, and is part of what I think motivates the argumentation of the ship!

This isn't something contrary to R/WBY's storytelling! Tonal dissonance is a common issue I see in shipping fandoms. But there's nothing about Jaune/Cinder that refutes R/WBY; it's actually the opposite. It's very playful conceptually. Built right into it is this sense of dramatic and cosmic irony with a very fun remix on knight and maiden which is painful but also very beautiful. Jaune is literally no Prince Charming, and Cinder is a villainess (who is very sad).

So I guess if the stuff I love about R/WBY isn't there, what's the point? Lol. You could try to argue that redeemed Ozlem is still possible without Jaune/Cinder, but I don't think it would be nearly as impactful without it, and like - separately - for Jaune and Cinder's characters, if he's paired with Weiss then they just don't get him the way I do and the way I thought they did, and if Cinder's alone I'll cry forever. The truth is that nobody's ever loved you. I genuinely do not know whom else you could pair her with, and it's very likely in this scenario there would be no one. Even if she got a redemption arc (which again, would be fumbled without the romance and not nearly as impactful. Jaune/Cinder is so unlikely when Cinder's redemption is similarly so 'unlikely').

I get it. This is a long way to cry and stomp my feet and say, "I'll quit if they don't make my dollies kiss!" and it probably comes off pretty poorly. But honestly, R/WBY won me over with Ozlem and it won me over with its story and its spirit. I find Jaune/Weiss insipid irrespective of whether I shipped Jaune/Cinder (long before I got into the ship I never liked it). It compromises both Jaune and Weiss' characters and I can't parse how it's supposed to work and it would just suggest laziness. It breaks a lot of modes of my analysis (e.g. Jung). I like Jaune/Cinder because it augments their characters, not weakens them. It actually gives Jaune something unique to do in the story that isn't stand there and look tall and actually explains why he's in this fucking story to begin with and why they'd spend so much development on him. I don't like that Jaune/Weiss turns Weiss into a passive recipient who's finally noticed the nice patient guy and now he gets the girl as a reward. It would speak to some serious storytelling stupidity.

I've quit once and I'll do it again. Lol. Maybe I would wait for the show to be finished to analyse the fallout a few years later. I take a while to get around to things anyway. But also like, my trust in storytelling is completely dead, and it's actually an extremely emotionally difficult position to be arguing for Jaune/Cinder and extremely uncharacteristic of me. So as much as people probably don't want me here, I kind of don't want to be here either. But I like the ship that much. Very sad.

On the other hand... let's define 'canonise'. I think that at this point, Salem/Ozma, Ren/Nora, and Blake/Yang are undeniably canon. Ozlem since V6 (but they broke up), RN since... I want to say they're canon in the sense they both have romantic feelings for each other and we've always known this to some degree (some childhood friend tropes in anime lead to them never admitting feelings? And the RN spin on it seems to be that they've acknowledged how they feel and will 'grow up' but likely end up back together), and BB, well I personally would've said it was canon back in V6, but most of fandom would definitely agree V9. Ruby/Oscar by contrast is a little more controversial, but I would say that it's canon if you're paying attention. The only reason to write Oscar in the way they did would be as a super special love interest looool. But say, Blake/Sun isn't 'canon' in the traditional sense of being endgame, Blake/Ilia isn't 'canon' in the traditional sense either, etc., and there are times the fandom has celebrated things being canon when they're not (reminder: the whole 'Cinder is definitely dead' thing, and largely I would say a lot of the discussion surrounding Blake/Sun at the time of V4/5 treated it like it was a foregone conclusion. Plus most of the bad fanon).

So I think a lot of people might think Jaune/Weiss is now canon after V9 - and I'm willing to allow that this is what the writers believe to be appropriate development because they abandoned that thread for so many volumes and never even had small interactions like Ruby/Oscar or fucking anything, and as such it effectively amounts to either an about-turn or lazy storytelling - I'm in the position where I'm willing to question it. Between now and V10, my only intention is to complete my fanfic, that is, my works-in-progress currently posted, and then assess how much I am able to write and complete in the interim. I just want to make the most of the time I've got. As I remarked in a V9 reflection post, there is actually... not a lot refuted about anything I speculated in the post-V8 period surrounding Knightfall and Cinder's redemption, if not it has been lent more foreshadowing. So I'm not needing to fashion a new position yet.

There are certain things I'm looking for with R/WBY canonshipping, and things like close and intimate hugs (Ruby-Penny) do not constitute that, and they do like engaging in shipbaiting, to my eternal consternation. But what I like about the R/WBY canon ships are the actual emotional stakes, not the superficial fluffy shit. So if I have some hope they are capable of that...

If Jaune/Weiss met my standard for analysing other definitely canon R/WBY ships (independent of Jaune/Cinder) I would give up the ghost and admit defeat with shipping Jaune/Cinder and then yes, I'd quit the show. I don't care if that sounds petty. Jaune/Cinder isn't just a ship to me. I only started shipping it because these are the things I like about R/WBY, not the other way around.

Thanks for your ask anon. It's a good one.

[noahsbookhoard]

📚July 2024 Book Review (Part 3/3)📚

We were that close to have a cover coordinated trio of book this time, I failed you... This batch is completely mismatched in every way, even my opinion of the book.

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

Grey, Vivi and Iris are three wierd sisters: since their disappearance for a month when they were little they have silver hair, a ravenous appetit, strange powers of attraction, and a half-moon scar on the throat. When Grey, the eldest, disappear again and a strange man in a bull mask starts hunting Iris, her and her sister Vivi will go looking for Grey as well as answers to what really happened to them when they vanished 8 years ago.

This novel was the July random draw at my book club and a very pleasant surprise! I was worried at first: it felt like the YA novel cliché with witchy vibes and a 17 year old protagonist who is ✨️not like other girls✨️. I was bracing for a high school setting and teenagers being The Worst and I really didn't want to read that.

However it quickly evolves into a search for answers, almost a treasure hunt if it wasn't for the dark and gloomy atmosphere. This is what really elevates the book: it has a very rich and vivid ambiance, including with smells and a recurring theme of decay and fire and wet wood.

The mystery also is a plus point: there're a lot of question, you feel like they are all linked but at first you don't know how and as the story unfurls answers come and they are more terrible as you go deeper. A small disappointment however: not everything is answered in the end, there are things left open that could have been said more explicitly. And one big plot holes that was quick frustrating.

The characters were really interesting, especially the sisters: they are all described as very alike in appearance and extraordinarily beautiful, but they don't live it the same way: Grey is a model, using her charm for her work, Vivi is the punk musician doing her best to make herself look unattractive and Iris is just a high-school kid trying to blend in. They also have very different relationships with their mother and although it doesn't evolve much (except Iris, she gets most of the character growth) the book reveals the reason behind those differences and it is really nice to discover more about them by touch: some present events will brings back Iris' childhood memories and this build up to give us a complete picture.

This was a really nice discovery and not at all the Fantasy YA novel it was advertised as. It veers slightly toward the horror genre (TW for child death and dome body horror) with interesting characters and a very well written atmosphere. I highly recommend it!

Blanche Neige et les lances-missiles by Catherine Dufour

Trouble in Fairyland: The ghost of Bill Guette decided to get revenge, and to that end turned God and the Devil into alcoholics. Without guidance, angels and demons have be running havoc. Classic Fairy Tale character bereft of their happy ending meet and try has much as possible to find out what is going on and how to avoid the worst of it.

When you pick a book just because the title is funny you might end up reading the most insightful book of your life or the derpiest wierdest shit ever; somehow this book is both. The title means "Snow White and the missile lanchers", yes this is plot relevant.

This is a fairy tale parody mashup on steroids: Sleeping Beauty almost married demon, Donkeyskin falls in love with Cinderella's prince, Red Riding Hood is a neurotic mess nicknamed "Jacket-Shut up" and Snow White is a tyran with a large military arsenal and the eagerness to use it. Apart from that it's kinda hard to sum up the plot, it's quite disjointed and takes a lot of time to get to the point. Each character has an arc but the story with Bill Guette comes up really late in the book. Once it is there however, the individual character's storylines blur and that's when I gave up on global comprehension.

The style however is consistent and really good, if peculiar. Catherine Dufour has something of Terry Pratchett in the use of fantasy to underline the satire, in the humour a little too. There is a lot of puns and hidden references in the character and location names. But there's more vulgarity and, well, warfare equipment.

I honestly don't know if I liked it. By the end I was sincerely too baffled to say and now, several month later, I remember it as if I had read it seven years ago in a language I wasn't fluent in. It is just plain wierd.

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

After being stranded on a desert island without any adults, a group of boys has to find means to survive. It gets trickier when two clans form among the children, with conflit emerging around leadership, beliefs and rituals.

I read this book in 6th grade. I remember liking it but now I found it kinda boring? Is it being now on the adult's side of the story rather than the child's?

I don't know what would happen if you had a pack of children left to their own devices for an extended period of time and that's not really a renewable experience* but I hope they wouldn't get to murder that quickly (that being said I don't know how long the plot last, it isn't said). I don't know if 13 year olds would also fall into superstition and create a cult as quickly as in the book but kids are wierd sometimes.

*The Wikipedia page of the book informs me that apparently something similar DID happen in 1965, ten years after the book was published: teenagers were stranded for 15 months and survived by creating a functional and globally peaceful society.

What I found bizarre too is the image the author has of the kids: they are all undisciplined and unreasonable. The younger ones have an attention span of 15 minutes and the older ones are violent to the point of murder. It sounds an awful lot like a venting fanfiction of a teacher that can't kill his students but write about it to take the edge of... And Golding was a teacher so that checks out!

Still a classic, I think a lot of kids read it at school but it did not age as well as in my memories.

[petalsmooth]

The nutcases on line who claim to represent Bridgerton fandom btw think this man....

Is not only the least attractive brother but not attractive at all.

You see why I don't like some of the fandom? They are delusional. Much from a fandom starting with K.

I don't even overly care about their appearances because I gravitate more to acting talent, story, character progression when I develop favorites but objectively speaking out of all the brothers? He is the most classically handsome by traditional standards. It's just ridiculous. And I won't even dignify some of what they have said about Nicola other than in their worldview if not a certain size aren't worthy of being a lead or desired.

Oh, and apparently childhood friends falling in love is boring, nevermind will include the chaotic revelation of Whistledown, but spending 6 episodes on chemistry free Anthony/Edwina is not. And somehow seeing another rendition of Cinderalla only in this telling with the "Prince" trying to make her his mistress is somehow more anticipated.

BTW...no one tell them because I don't think they could handle it but I think part of the reason Benedict's story wasn't next is because his story is problematic. Light romantic rom com with Polin is much easier to address than how to modernize Benedict and Sophie's story. Because it's not just boy and girl from different worlds meet and he searches for her to make her his bride. It's Benedict having to deal with his own ingrained privilege and expectations as a member of the elite and make a personal sacrifice if he truly wishes to love and be loved. It's all well and fine to be pretentious and declare casually his appreciation for the working class or lecture Eloise about how a modiste is treated or rebel against Anthony with hedonistic pursuits with his art community because at the end of the day Benedict is a man. He is a Bridgerton. He is the second born son, not the first so less responsibility. Society will allow his current musing and antics to a degree with no harm to his standing. Benedict has never truly had to sacrifice anything personally and to maintain the integrity of the book arc he WILL in order to have Sophie. But prior to that he's unlikeable.

Either the show just completely whitewashes the book and makes it another telling of Cinderella which is NOT original at all (speaking of boring?) so they can maintain the illusion he's the charming affable brother. Or, he's going to have to be unlikeable and get his hands dirty in ways they won't like. Even if they don't have show Benedict try to force her into being his mistress, will still have to have him unwilling to make her his wife. IF you want continuity from the book. Because you can't DO Benedict's arc properly without him making a sacrifice about his personal comfort and status, and it's not a sacrifice if he gives that up without resistance at first. Speaking pretty verses to Anthony about sacrifice for love might make a viewer swoon, but putting into practice is an entirely different thing he will struggle with if maintain continuity. The show has already foreshadowed this when they had him observe a male couple together in secret and his response to it.

Phillip and Eloise's book is easier to adapt. The scene with Marina basically just lying there unresponsive in bed so he can "do his duty". is not essential to the plot. So long as the abuse from his father and the loveless marriage is retained you can adapt their story fairly easily for a modern retelling without changing the narrative. It will still be dark since involves depression and long lasting affects of childhood abuse but you can easily wipe out that one scene.

But Benedict's story is the thorniest adaptation since season 1 with Daphne forcibly trying to be impregnated by Simon. That was then followed by Anthony playing two sisters off each other in season 2. I know that fanbase wishes to present Edwina as the villain but Anthony was not very likeable. the only reason either of those storylines were muddled through is because the actors were likeable. If going off the actual story and words....Anthony was extremely unlikeable. He wasn't altogether different from Berbrooke really in how he thought of women, only that he drew the line at violence towards them. So I completely get why the show would be happy to take a break and do something lighter for a season.

[wildernessuntothemselves]

Omg so that thing you said that taehyun would to that would be horrible and could make the readers leave his side was making Kai kill Jaeyun? Because it didnt work for me. Yes that was very cruel but honestly it was expected from him. But damn now that we've seen Lord Taehyun's desperate confession and emotional rant and its so new coming for him, he has suffered so much and still have so much trauma to heal from, we can sympathize with him, of course I only wish him the best.

Honestly Taehyun might be my favorite character, he was the one that I kept changing my opinion about him every new chapter. He's a complex guy, but everything he does makes sense and is true to his character he is a very charming character someone you can sympathize a lot, and it feels good to discover more about him, how he feels and is good to see him opening up emotionally.

Alright now oc has to choose one out of the two. Uhm....I gotta say she should choose taehyun I love prince gyu but thinking on the long term, lord taehyun is better for her!! She will live a life with dignity and influence too. If oc goes to beomgyu, taehyun will be killed because he's still married to oc, so i think one of them would die either way. I know she got addicted to beomgyu's fervent love but if she stays with taehyun then the both of them could develop such a good relationship with time. I think she should STAY, plus do something and help the plotting and maybe to actively participate in Beomgyu's murder yes she have to. Her grieve would come out strong and would last for a long time but she has to FREE HERSELF it would be the best for her. She would no longer be in danger, probably be left in a deep depression period but objectively I think that's the best option

yes and no. originally he was supposed to make oc kill jaeyun instead of kai (therefore forcing her to fully realize the true cost of the power she craves) the tone of taehyun's entire arc has changed from what it originally was because of the addition of multiple scenes in between and the alteration of others. originally there were no flowery or sweet scenes between the harsh ones (forcing her to slaughter the deer, condemning the old man to death and not going back on his decision, making her execute jaeyun) so taehyun's character was a lot crueler but with the addition of the sweet scenes and the alteration of the harsh scenes, i took away a lot of his bite. the way the story is set up right now with the sequence of harsh scene-sweet scene-harsh scene-sweet scene lessens the blow of harshness or even neutralizes it completely which wasn't originally my intent so taehyun's character turned out to be a lot more likable than I had envisioned which is a whoopsie on my part but oh well. this new version isn't any better or worse narratively than what i intended, it just changes the take away from the ending

now i'm not saying that an ending where she's with gyu would be better but an ending with taehyun isn't guaranteed to be happy either. "but if she stays with taehyun then the both of them could develop such a good relationship with time." they could or they could not. remember he's been this way for a long time and even though he tried to change for oc, he reverted back pretty harshly to his old ways when he felt threatened. who's to say that he won't keep doing that every time? people can change but they rarely do.

[boop-le-snoot]

If life gives you melons...

Ship: Loki x F!alt! reader

Rating: Explicit / word count 5,5k

Summary: You've heard about meet-cute, how about meet-ugly? Reader has tattoos and a tongue split. There's this joke that "bisexual alt girls go looking for a girlfriend and end up with sad, tall and skinny white bois" and boy did that hit home. Inspired by this cringy video of Hiddles [youtube link].

During a panel at a comic con, Loki notices reader and they go on a date, reader gets railed: top!Loki, choking, rough sex, unprotected sex, all the good stuff. Open ending, with a bonus of reader and Loki pranking Clint.

x. I usually fancy they/them pronouns for Loki but seeing as it's a smut-shot, I decided to go along with he/him for the sake of simplicity. Loki's at least 6'4 tall and you can fight me on that. Also, I write like a Tony stan - I feel the need to apologize to Loki stans for that. I love you guys! 🥺👉🏻👈🏻

The long line of people appeared to be neverending. Loki was an enhanced, as the government recently had adopted a politically correct term for Earth's non-human inhabitants, but even his enhanced endurance had begun waning due to sheer amount of people wanting a piece of memorabilia signed by The God of Mischief. Loki had gained a considerable amount of fans after doing his part in killing the mad titan Thanos and by extension, saving the world. It turned out, humankind was a sucker for a good redemption arc.

Loki's hands ached where they wrapped around the pen that he'd been using for nearly 4 hours to neatly place his name, written in neat runescript, on various pieces of merchandise that his fans (and wasn't that a strange thing!) presented to him. He used to think that he would have actually succeeded conquering the earth if he had a grasp on how to use social media and his charm; now, he just wanted the torture to end. An involuntary sigh left his mouth when he saw another print of himself in full battle gear being placed in front of him by a reasonably attractive young woman.

"Um, thank you," She stammered, giggling softly, and Loki spared her a painstaking smile, scribbling his name once again. The woman briefly caught his eyes. "Um, you're the reason- the inspiration for me. I became a stripper."

Loki blanked, feeling his eyes widen and blink on their own accord a few times. He wasn't sure if he heard the woman correctly, as the unusual statement made his brain freeze.

Loud snickering from behind the blushing woman interrupted the system error that he was experiencing in his head. It wasn't often that somebody managed to render him speechless. It looked like whoever was in line behind the stripper woman had taken advantage of that. Loki's eyes snapped to the short-haired person, who looked torn between cringing and breaking into embarrassed laughter.

The stripper left without a word, and as Loki picked up the cursed writing instrument once again, the short-haired person smiled at him kindly. "That was a little weird," They snorted, "And thanks, have a nice day Mr. Loki."

"When life gives you melons, you might be dyslexic," Another woman, that appeared to be the short haired person's friend, deadpanned and gave a cynical side-eye to the departing stripper. Loki heard snickering coming from the short-haired person and quietly joined himself. The woman noticed it, winking at him as she collected the newly signed t-shirt. "Bye," She smiled kindly.

It was a split second decision, really. Something about the cheeky way she addressed the situation sparked Loki's interest. "Wait, you forgot something, darling," His baritone called out to the departing woman. She turned around, confused, and hastily grabbed the standard issue photo that he was holding out to her. With a final grateful nod, she smiled and left.

If Loki's smile had returned for the time being, none of his teammates made any remarks on it. Only his brother, Thor, gave a couple of knowing looks to the Asgardian sorcerer.

The woman in question didn't think twice about the photo that she stashed in her backpack along with the signed t-shirt. The Comic-Con had been full of people and the lines were unfairly long. The sheer exhaustion after attending a 3-day long convention had set in and she was eager to simply come home back to her apartment and crash on the nearest soft flat surface. Upon arrival, she did exactly that, flopping down gracelessly on the couch, her backpack landing next to her with a careless thud.

Unloading her trophies was a short time affair: a single white tee with a dozen signatures on it, written in what she hoped was waterproof Sharpie; one mug, shaped like an Iron Man helmet; one poster, showing Spider-Man on a picturesque NYC horizon and a signed photo of one Loki. Strangely enough, she did not remember requesting it - not that she was complaining. Free merch was free merch.

The front side wasn't signed whatsoever. Overcome by curiousity, she turned it around. A phone number was written on the back of it, the handwriting neat and the letters obviously being inked out by a thinner, more sophisticated pen than the one Loki had used for scribbling on the tee. The woman gaped silently, not believing her eyes. Did Loki himself had given her his phone number?

One margarita and a hefty helping of Chinese takeout later, the numbers persisted staring back at her mutely, the neat cursive being almost mocking in its quiet. The woman's smartphone had found a comfortable place right next to the photo, equally mum regarding the unusual situation.

An additional margarita was needed to gather the courage required to actually type out the number in the receiver box. Fruity alcoholic concoction in one hand and phone clutched in the other, the woman's eyes squeezed shut tightly as soon as the dreaded "Hey, got your number today! :)" read delivered. She'd typed and erased the message several times, groaning in embarrassment. How the hell does one approach an alien god?

"Hello! May I ask your name?" The response came after a brief moment - a moment the woman had suffered through by taking too haste sips of her drink, her common since screaming her to not overdo it and wait at least a full minute before replying. Everything felt awkward and misplaced.

In no time, she was sending the screenshots of the conversation to her girl-advice group chat that consisted of her closest friends. Chatting with Loki turned out to be surprisingly easy and he was great at upholding conversation, something that couldn't be said about all those Tinder matches she had had back in the day.

Even if using proper grammar during a text message conversation was something she had to reacquaint herself with, she was glad he wasn't just another boring, shalllow, condescending-ass white boy. Despite the cultural differences and his lack of knowledge of things like pop culture and music - something he said he was working on since New Asgard became a sovereign state on Earth - they bonded over music and tattoos and generally being rebellious against society's standarts.

The invitation to dinner didn't come as a surprise for the woman. She agreed happily, looking forward to continue their conversation outside of the internet - if Loki's part of the chat was anything to go by, not only was he charming, but also quite intelligent. And easy on the the eyes, too. They had traded selfies at some point and the Asgardian didn't look any worse in a hoodie and sweatpants than he did in his battle leathers. Loki had appeared to truly have had integrated into Earth's society.

The night of the date, the continuous text exchange did very little to calm her nerves. Loki texted as much as an overeager teenage boy: every now and then he would double-text and grossly overreact to her sending a simple meme. In fact, he smugly conveyed the fact he'd single-handedly started a meme war between the Avengers and even Steve was forced to participate; something that was, allegedly, out of character for the blonde man.

She didn't mind. Not like she had many friends to have so much fun with. Even if it took her twice the time to do her favourite eyeliner style, it was worth it. She hoped Loki would appreciate the bold, but classy make-up and the dress and shoes combo that accentuated her assets. Her date expressed curiousity about her tattoos and the difference between her preferred style and the humans he spent most time with. She guessed secret agents were not particularly fond of anything that made them memorable so she held out quite the hope for... Showing off some of her tattoos in a more private setting.

In other, simpler words, the woman came in prepared for both a friendly, leisurely stroll and a quality night. Either way, it would be a time well spent.

Loki's shiny, raven hair was impossible to miss as he towered over the rest of the people waiting by the restaurant's entrance. He wore tailored black trousers and a simple cashmere sweater, perfect for the evening's damp, cool air. Tall and lithe, Loki was mouthwateringly handsome.

"Come here often?" She wormed her way through the crowd, causing the man to smirk down at her. Her cheeks flared from the tiny gesture alone.

"Just waiting for a friend," Loki uttered lowly, extending an arm towards the woman, which she gracefully accepted as they made way towards the entrance. "Reservation for Loki," The Asgardian stated to the hostess, who, after a rapid doube-take, led them to a private, secluded area in the back of the restaurant.

Loki shouldered the slightly awkward interaction with grace, paying no mind to the girl. His focus was solely on his date and he was nothing but gallant as he took the woman's purse and held out the chair for her to comfortably sit down. As a prince, he was taught well, she mused.

"Usually I would ask 'what brings you to our little ball of water and dirt?' but I think we can skip that part," The woman stated with a sheepish grin, idly flicking through the menu and curiously eyeing the items that were unfamiliar. The desire to try something new fought with the possibility of accidentally ordering something too far out - like snails or other things that rich people fancied, for some reason.

Loki's greens briefly appeared over the top of his menu, grateful and sparkling. "I think it's best if we do just that," For a second, he looked away, before returning to the menu. "I can think of better things to discuss. I recall you didn't finish telling me about that college friend of yours, who was an anarchist... I'm dying to know..."

The waiter came and went, barely noticed by the pair, as they both poked at something that sounded the most familiar for both of them. Stoically, Loki admitted that Tony Stark did the booking for him and the woman reluctantly acquitted she wasn't very familiar with upscale establishments, being of middle-class background and working a middle-class job.

Interrupting the story she began telling hours ago, the woman took the time to point out the things she was familiar with on the menu and advised Loki to stay away from - like the aforementioned snails, and other things, slimy and salty things that she considered to be 'disgusting but rich people liked it for some reason'. The conversation slowly progressed into Loki telling her the mischief he got up to at the feasts Odin threw. The Asgardian shared the woman's disregard for influential people doing gross things to show off.

The food was good - it was really hard to miss with a traditional Italian lasagna - and seeing Loki shovel an obscene amount of food was an experience, but she didn't comment on it, tactful enough to consider his alien biology might have different dietary requirements that her human one. It was great, really, that she could order dessert and not feel guilty about it.

The gelato melted in her mouth like sweet ecstasy and she moaned with her next bite, only partly aware of how obscene really was the noise.

Loki's hand stuttered on it's way to his mouth. Wide-eyed, he stared at her lips, at her mouth, where her tongue lapped up the small drops of dessert from the spoon. "Why the split tongue?" The Asgardian finally gathered his wits, having had a good look of what he was sure was a trick of the eye at first.

She grinned, acutely aware of the effect that particular body modification had on men. "I like being different. I embrace the weird." She giggled, not at all ashamed, sticking out her tongue and wiggling both parts of it teasingly.

Loki's Adam's apple bobbed; "Weird?" He raised his eyebrow, fighting to maintain his previous cool composure.

She nodded. "Weird," She retorted coyly. "I usually don't divulge the details at least until the third date. Wouldn't want to scare my potential suitors off," The playful wink was the proverbial cherry on top. He was hooked, his eyes darkened, following the plump arch of her lips as she took another spoonful of the treat and savoured it, closing her eyes for a brief moment.

It was pornographic.

"Obviously, Midgardians don't know what's good for them," Loki scoffed in his usual bored monotone, fully aware of how fitful his attempt to conceal his excitement was. He sounded needy even to his own ears.

"And you do?" She pushed away the empty plate, chastely patting her mouth with a napkin. The raised eyebrow and the little smirk spoke volumes.

The grin he wore was hardly anything but feral; he asked for the waiter's assistance by flicking his wrist in an impatient fashion. Once the bill was paid and the woman's cardigan found its rightful place on her shoulders, Loki once again took hold of her arm, this time holding her smaller body against his larger one, taking care to slow down and keep his strides shorter.

She found the coolness of his presence refreshing in the moist, heavy air of the New York city.

"Where to, milady?" Loki asked her, looking down at the woman fondly.

"My place is a block away. Walk me, good sir?" She gave a delightfully easy smile in return.

He nodded, letting her lead the way, allowing himself to get a little bit lost in their shared presence, a little bubble of them in the middle of a busy city. It was as if someone had quickly turned down the volume of the honking cars and noisy pedestrians around them, leaving the soft breeze and the sun slowly descending below the skyscrapers. It felt far too short, partaking in the comfortable silence together, skin tingling under the thin layers of cloth where they were touching.

The sun was trapped in the strands of her hair as she smiled at him from her doorway, worrying her lip between her teeth. It was a bittersweet moment.

"A kiss good night for the good sir?" She asked hopefully, eyes darting between his face and his mouth.

Loki obliged, resting his palm flat on the door frame, towering over the woman as he gently slotted his thin, cool lips against her warm ones. The woman stood on her tippy toes, eager, placing a hand on his chest. The pair melted into the kiss - it had no business being this mind-blowing, brain-freezing for two people that have not met until that very day. The woman didn't refuse when Loki probed with his tongue, requesting entrance to her mouth; she licked into his own with fervor, fisting her hands in the soft fabric of his sweater.

With the hand that was free, Loki pulled the woman flush with himself, feeling the heat of her start a fire of its own inside of him. Her breathing rapid, the gesture only served to tighten her hold on his sweater, until a soft, barely audible moan slipped into his mouth, causing his brain to quickly reassess the situation.

Regretfully, Loki pulled away, clearing his throat. "Perhaps we should take this elsewhere," He meaningfully looked at the array of doors around them.

"I thought you'd never ask," She retorted with a fond eyeroll, tightening the grip on his sweater once more, to pull him inside her apartment and shut the door behind her. The awkward moments were few and in between; neither knew who reached for the other first, mashing their mouths with less grace than before, clutching at the other's arms and hips with hunger.

This time, Loki didn't hold back his own muted groans of satisfaction, shivering when the woman's hands snuck under his sweater and the simple tank top he wore underneath. Blunt nails scraped along his abs.

Step by step, she pushed him further inside her apartment, determined in her small quick strides. There was no mistake of their destination; no mistake in her desire: she was as hungry and as impatient as him. The crease between his eyebrows deepened, long arms extending to unzip the top of her dress to reveal a simple but tasteful black lacy bra covering her breasts. The woman barely noticed the action, stepping out of her dress as soon as it hit the floor.

He admired her. Inches of soft skin covered by intricate ink, some patterns bizarre and complicated, some beautiful in their simplicity. Loki couldn't wait to find out about the meaning behind every one of them, to trace the lines with his tongue and sink his teeth into the heated flesh.

The hands that were holding onto him for dear life tugged on his sweater and he chose to simply vanish it, too preoccupied with looking at the view in front of him. She gasped and her eyes met his: uncanny, magnetic emeralds shone with magic and power and desire.

"Fuck," She more mouthed than said, walking backwards in a trance until her shins hit the bed.

Loki grinned, advancing on the panting woman with the grace of a predator. "Darling?" His tone was innocent; his expression was anything but. His large hand encompassesed the side of her face, thumb running over her bottom lip in a possessive gesture that had her squirming in her place. He loved the way she just melted into his touch.

Their lips met again, slower this time. The kiss was once again graceful and unrushed, allowing them to explore the softness of each other's skin, mapping the arches and valleys with gentle strokes of their palms. The broad expanse of Loki's back was uneven, riddled with scars and blemishes, and she mapped every single one, blunt nails raking down it as she pressed into him, arching into his hands where he held her.

The soft flesh of her ass, barely covered by a scrap of black lace, was shamelessly grabbed - the woman didn't doubt there would be marks left - letting her feel his arousal pressed against her belly, hard and twitching. She didn't resist her desire to ge handsy and palmed it, taking note of the gasp and the twitch coming from the man occupied with the clasp of her bra. In no time, it flew away, forgotten somwhere the very moment Loki's palms took over her breasts, running a careful thumb over each nipple.

"Fuck," She parroted her previous statement, equally breathy and considerably more aroused.

"That's the plan," Loki's chuckle was hoarse.

She huffed, biting her bottom lip before reaching out to swiftly pop the button of his trousers, smirking at the hiss the friction of her palm produced against his cock. It shouldn't have surprised her that Loki was a commando kind of guy, but still, she gasped, partially from the ministrations of his clever fingers, partially from the mouthwatering sight in front of her. The thick, flushed length made saliva gather in the corners of her mouth.

He must've heard the audible swallow. "Not so haste, darling," He tutted, giving her relaxed body a gentle push, causing her to land on her back, heated skin against the soft duvet of her bed. "Let me taste you," A thud; Loki had dropped to his knees, using his large palms to spread her legs, opening her up to his eyes.

If his previous work hadn't made her so pliant, so aroused, she'd have been rendered speechless; instead, the woman arched her back, presenting herself and the desire that had pooled down below. The Asgardian chuckled, fingertips soft against the scratchy lace.

"Tease," The woman moaned, outstretching her arm to guide him but quite unable to reach him. She had to settle for squirming in her place, receiving a fraction of the desired traction against her swollen lips.

"Am I, love?" Loki asked her sweetly, caving enough to dip a single finger to run along the outside of her slit. It glided easily thanks to all the moisture gathered there, lips parting easily before his touch. The panties were vanished away promptly, another finger joining in immediately to rub slow, precise circles around her clit.

She keened low and long, fisting the fabric in her hand until her knuckles turned white. Loki knew what he was doing. It didn't take him very long to slide his long digits to the welcoming heat of her opening, dipping them inside until she began to make the noises he so craved. His mouth followed after that, long agile tongue drawing senseless shapes on the inside of her labia and dipping deeper, where her clit stood out engorged and slick.

He could smell the bittersweet of her arousal, mouthwatering and hot.

"Loki, fuck," She moaned, only half-coherent and partially aware of her own hips following his every stroke, every flick. He only advanced, hitting that sweet spot inside her with every stroke; the sparks traveling up her spine quickened with each time she changed his name like a prayer. "Loki, Loki, Loki..."

He growled, attaching his mouth firmly to her clit, and she arched for the final time, coming undone, squeezing around his fingers and gushing in his mouth, the obscene sounds covered by her own scream of delight and his impatient growling. The growling that sent shivers of aftershocks throughout her body.

"Darling, you taste so sweet," Loki groaned, still panting.

She took the time to open her eyes: Loki looked comically out of place in her bedroom, he dwarfed her bed and made her feel small, but it didn't matter at all at that very moment. His erection stood out hard and proud; despite the leg-shaking orgasm just moments ago, she wanted more, she wanted to taste him, she wanted to feel him inside-

With unsurprising agility, one swift motion was all it took for her to rest comfortably against the pillows, his throbbing member resting against the juncture of her thigh. She tasted her own release on his lips, however brief, whispering a weak, "Please," aching to feel the emptiness.

"As my lady wishes," Loki's cool breath ghosted over her cheek. She waited with baited breath until the tip of his manhood breached her, exhaling a moan into his neck and immediately wrapping her lips around a patch of skin as he stretched her so sweet.

Loki's arms shook slightly as he waited for her to adjust. He kissed her, soft and sweet; there was something vulnerable in him, something as sweet as the ache he'd taken away. Once he began to move, slow and fluid, all there was left was an all-consuming need to feel. As graceful as dancer and with a deadly precision, Loki pounded gasps, moans and screams out of the woman's slack mouth, kisses turning hungrier and sloppier by the second.

"So sweet," He cooed, relishing in the snug grip of her cunt around him.

She only keened in approval, too far gone and unused to the intensity of the feelings from a man with centuries of practice and the power of a god.

His thrusts slowed gradually until he was rutting into her, grinding his pelvic bone into her clit. The gasps and screams turned into drawn-out, longing moans; her hips followed his, meeting in a slow, sensual motion.

Loki was not a patient man. He withdrew - she gasped in protest - flipping the woman over on her fours with ease, taking but a split second to admire the curve of her body presented on display for him. Just for him.

With that thought burning in his mind, Loki sheathed his cock deeply inside her spasming cunt. It was nearly unbearably stimulating and only his own desire to prolong the bliss held back his own impending orgasm. That, and his own ego; he was naught if not a generous lover.

She slurred something, quiet and incorrigible, fucking back onto his cock as eagerly as he was plunging into her heat. The hand he'd placed on her shoulder promptly wrapped around her throat in hopes of lifting her close enough for him to hear the words but instead, it sent a full-bodied shiver throughout her. Loki grinned, tugging her that much closer.

The arch in her back looked quite uncomfortable yet she didn't mind; it was the exact opposite, in fact, her cunt tightened around him, drenching his shaft down to his balls. Her fingernails dug into the flesh of his thigh, the sting of pain going straight to his cock-

"Loki, I'm gonna, I'm gonna-" She slurred, gasping for air.

He weakened his hold on her throat enough to let her gulp the so-needed oxygen. It was her undoing: was it the rapid pace of oxygenated blood traveling to her brain or was it his cock, mercilessly pounding against her g-spot - she was violently spasming around his cock, much like she did around his fingers not too long ago.

It felt like ages, her crescendo coming in waves with no signs of stopping any time soon. Loki's continuous thrusts, his hips slamming into hers, her skin feeling like molten lava.

"Gonna fill your sweet cunt with my seed," Loki moaned lowly, holding her up by the throat, the other hand leaving fingertip-shaped bruises on the outside of her hips. "Mark you from the inside out," His voice had gone into primal territory, growling filling up the room.

"Please..." The woman rasped, oversensitive.

And he pleased, with a series of sharp thrusts, he buried himself to the hilt in her, the force of his release making her shudder and moan once against, going limp in his arms. Loki kept her in her place until every drop was inside of her cunt. Nothing was sweeter than that.

The Asgardian didn't bother with getting under the covers to hold her, conjuring a soft, comfortable throw in modest green, to cover their nudity. He didn't need the extra warmth but his companion was by far more fragile and sensitive to these things- Loki's fingertips traced the array of bruises he'd left in the wake of their passion, expression surprised as he found the woman smiling.

"Feels nice," She supplied meekly, eyes half-lidded, face trusting and open towards him.

He gave a small grin in return, placing a chaste kiss atop her head. "Yes, it does, darling."

Time after time, she didn't expect much out if their date. The sex was nice, nice enough for both of them to want seconds and thirds after their rushed first time - but it wasn't like she expected him to hand around. It was a pleasant change from the usual mutual ghosting she'd done with her previous partners, but Loki had texted again and they had resumed their conversation via text like nothing had happened.

No, that would be incorrect. Now, she had a wonderful friend who was a great conversationalist and an even better lover. There was no pressure to put a label on their relationship so the woman didn't bother with it; it didn't seem like Loki cared about the label, either, so she left the topic alone and enjoyed things the way they were. It wasn't like she had a line of suitors anyway.

She couldn't help the smile that creeped onto her face when she unlocked her phone and saw a video call request from other than Loki himself. She still had thirty minutes worth of lunch break to waste and this was a wonderful time to chat with a friend.

"Stark, hand it back or I swear to Norns-" Loki's voice sounded agitated and far away, accompanied by sounds of a struggle; the bearded, smug face on the screen was not who she expected at all. Only years of customer service and low bullshit tolerance combined stopped her from freaking out seeing none other than Tony Stark smirking at her from the screen of her phone.

"Yes?" She arched an eyebrow, taking note of the anger of Loki's tone.

"Hi, I don't think I need to introduce myself," Stark babbled, eyeing her - disheveled and with a wall full of sticky notes and miscellaneous items acting as the background to her video. "Reindeer games refused to show you to us so we decided to persuade him," Tony's grin grew wider, muted whispers being rapidly exchanged in the background all the while Loki screeched "BROTHER!" and various expletives at the top of his lungs.

"You could've, I dunno," She paused, unimpressed. "Asked me to dinner, like a normal person. Instead of stealing, you know, like a thief," The eyeroll that she performed had the team worried her eyes would fall out of their sockets.

"I merely borrowed his phone, don't be dramatic," Stark huffed, and for a moment, she could see various other people trying to look at the screen and by extension, at her. "So, what is it that you do? Because Smurf over there wouldn't..."

"Oops, bad signal. Sorry, can't hear you properly," Her side of the call suddenly shook and in a moment, she ended the call, not at all willing to deal with people that lacked boundaries. Sure, it might have been Iron Man, but if he was planning on being a snooping asshole, she wasn't gonna go down with that easily.

Exactly five minutes after she had clocked out, an incoming call from Loki had her equal parts excited and mortified. What if..? But he was apologetic. And very angry, swearing in his native language - something that he'd promised to teach her at some point.

"So, Clint did it?" She sipped her beverage, strolling home with the phone pressed snugly against her ear.

"Most of it was his fault, yes," Loki grouched on the other end of the call.

"I vote we get back at him. Invite me over, if he's so inclined to see me, and watch him get humiliated in front of everybody," It wasn't a secret she had her own mischievous tendencies.

"As much as I appreciate your vigour, darling, I doubt the Widow will appreciate you verbally castrating the Hawk in public," He replied sourly, his voice still betraying the faint notes of interest.

"I have a backup plan!" She stated without a hitch. "He'll embarrass himself and I'll be your alibi."

"I'm listening," Loki perked up immediately.

They decided to not to stall and schedule the 'family dinner', as Thor himself dubbed it, for the next available weekend. Loki had made sure Tony's AI had been made aware the trickster would be gone all day, and it took him very little magic and effort to pop in and out of the tower for the five minutes that were needed to execute their prank.

His friend barely managed to keep the snickering at bay as they ascended the elevator to the common floor where the dinner was being held. Not only that, but the woman spouted an area of dark purple love marks, barely obscured by the low turtleneck of her blouse.

She made her introductions and they made theirs. "This affair could use some background noise," She remarked off-handedly, casting a meaningful glance at the TV.

Tony Stark was known for being a great host so he entertained her wishes, flicking on the huge flat screen with a flick of his wrist.

The team froze.

"I... -" The woman stared at the screen, mouth hanging wide open at the scenes that played out. "... am not going to kinkshame, but please turn it off," She stated in a small voice, seemingly unable to tear her eyes away from the mass of tentacles commencing erotic assault on a woman's body.

Wordlessly, the TV shut down, immersing the room in stunned silence. Loki face-palmed, the slap of his palm against his face echoing in the eerily quiet room.

"Loki!" Captain America, red as a tomato, instantly accused the most obvious person.

Except, he had forgotten one thing. "Loki was with me all day," The woman replied, unkindly. "Do you need more proof?" She tugged on the hem of her turtleneck, exposing an inch of skin marked blue.

The good Captain's face changed the shade once again, venturing very well into beetroot territory. "Who was the last one to use the TV?" Rogers asked, now with a hint of anger, as he stared at a guffawing Bucky.

"I believe it was Mr. Barton," The AI piped up, mechanical voice sounding almost insinuating. Or, perhaps, it just appeared that way.

[gracie-p8-officialblog]

Spilling Tea On Phantom of the Opera 2004

DISCLAIMER: I just want to say from the start that it is not my intention to offendanyone, you're entitled to your opinions and I'm allowed to have mine...

Ok, so, I just watched this movie a few days ago on my laptop and it was pretty much my first time sitting through the movie. I watched a few clips of the movie on YouTube but... Then, I decided to watch the whole movie. And this was my reaction.

Don't get me wrong! There WERE parts I liked but... That was just half of the movie... But overall... Um... It was meh. Ahem. Down to business!

My opinion on Gerard Butler as the Phantom? Um, wow. And not in a good way. I feel like this was a case of a talented performer being grossly miscast as the Phantom. I think this Tumblr post best describes on what I thought of his singing.

"He's supposed to have the voice of an angel, but it sounds like he's been gargling vinegar" ~Quoted by @faded-florals

Don't get me wrong. His voice is quite good for an untrained singer but... The Phantom is one of the biggest musical theatre roles of all time! It's right up there with Jean Valjean. It's really not a role that could go a competent singer, someone who's never sang professionally before but could be good once they've been trained up a bit. The role demands a truly great singer... And he wasn't right for the part.

His voice felt too strainy, growly and rock-ish for the Phantom. I didn't like how Joel Schumacher bought into the whole "sexy Phantom" thing and cast a hunky heart-throb, who was nowhere near disfigured enough. It's meant to be a gothic thriller novel with a small romantic subplot, not a B-grade vampire romance movie!

As for Emmy Rossum as Miss Christine Daae... it's true, her voice is good. She should know though, should she wish to excel, she has MUCH still to learn (Heeeeehee. Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

Emmy's Christine had little-to-no character growth and personality but I don't think it reflects her as an actress, but reflects more on the director and casting director because of how young she was (but more on that later)

Not only that, her Christine was SIGNIFICANTLY dumbed down and oversexualized. I mean, the entire point of the story is that Christine grows strong enough to overcome the trauma of an abusive relationship and make sure that her abuser never hurts anyone ever again but still shows the Phantom compassion and sympathy. I mean, her story arc is her becoming strong-willed enough to overcome the Phantom's pull/spell/enchantment/hypnosis or whatever you percieve it as on her! And don't get me started on her costumes because of the SEVERE lack of modesty.

The chemistry was a little flat because she was underage and her two male love interests were both in their 30s (which totally isn't HER fault, of course, but the directors could easily have cast someone else older)

Her voice, too, strikes me as being much too young and undeveloped. She has a very pretty, sweet-sounding quality to her singing but she doesn't sound rich and operatic enough to be a convincing Christine. Rebecca Caine and Amy Manford do the best job of singing the way I think Christine ought to sound- a maturing opera voice! Though POTO is NOT an opera (you wouldn't believe how many people actually think it is...), it does revolve around opera, and Christine is an opera singer, not a pop star.

And now onto... Everyone's favourite vicomte!!!!!!

C'mon people, put your bottles down. It is a truth universally acknowledged (or at least in the wee Raoul Defense Squad Circle) that Raoul is one of the greatest and most underrated boyfriends to ever exist in musical theatre and it's almost impossible to hate him because of how relatable he is.

Ladies, puh-leeze. He's much more relatable than you admit and face it, we all have a little bit of Raoul in us. Failure to see things staring us in the face, saying or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time, having a 'see it to believe it' attitude when we have little-to-no evidence on something... yeah, don't pretend you don't see a trend. Raoul is relatable whether we want him to be or not.

My thoughts on Patrick Wilson as Raoul, he was one of the few redeeming qualities of this not so great movie. Yeah, the swordfight and Tarzan leaps were a little too much but can you blame him?! And though I feel like that foppish wig made him look more like a magic elf prince than a vicomte, he couldn't control that!

His Raoul was so gentle and caring! Yeah, his acting was a bit stiff but at least his voice wasn't a chore to listen to, it has this warm, tender, comforting quality to it which suits Raoul. I really loved the way he sang "Don't throw away your life for my sake" and "I fought so hard to free you" in the Final Lair (😭😭😭) It feels like Raoul is genuinely apologising to Christine.

I know, I know... The Hadley Fraser fans are approaching with menacing expressions as we speak but let me clarify. I still think Hadley is amazing but... His Raoul kinda felt a little too shouty for me and his Raoul was closer to the LND-canon than POTO-canon (not his fault though).

Miranda Richardson (aka. Rita Skeeter) as Madame Giry is kind of weird. I mean, I know Madame Giry's supposed to be a little Strange and Mysterious. But this Mme. wasn't really Strange or Mysterious at all, or even slightly Spooky at all. She was just kind of an oddball. Popping up in random places to give warnings about the Phantom and looking at people as if she were questioning their life choices or something. As for her daughter... well, Jennifer Ellison's Meg was so-so. She's got a sweet-sounding voice and that added scene where she looked for Christine in the lair was a nice touch... But... Her Meg was kinda forgettable and uninteresting. Meg is supposed to prance around shrieking that the Phantom of the Opera is here, not whisper it in a blase manner that you half expect to be followed up with, "by the way, what's for lunch?" Not to mention, she rivaled Christine as far as low-necked costumes went.

Minnie Driver as Carlotta was spot on! Yes, I know she didn't sing the score but her acting was alright. She was very over-the-top and self-centered, which is great for Carlotta, but I felt her portrayal was a little too childish to be accurate. Carlotta is a successful middle-aged diva who's willing to scream and storm when she doesn't get her way, but she isn't a two-year-old pouting and throwing tantrums. (Yes, there's a difference.)

Ciaran Hinds and Simon Callow played Firmin and Andre, respectively. Their managers kinda felt like twits and nothing more. Also, Firmin's masquerade costume was ridiculous. The stupid kind, not the funny kind. ...Well, okay, it was a little funny.

I'm not going to touch on every song here, but I will say that "Hannibal" was beyond awful (if you thought the costumes in the stage version were a bit risque, you should see the movie ones- no, actually you shouldn't) and that "Think of Me," while very nice, was not particularly memorable. Christine's dress, however (despite its less-than-ideal neckline) was GORGEOUS, even though it looks completely out of place in a musical that supposedly takes place in ancient Alexandria.

"Little Lotte" kinda lost its charm by being spoken instead of sung. And Gerard Butler's voice in "The Mirror" was too rough and raspy for my ears and made me cringe in sympathetic shame. The title song was like a cheesy, campy B-grade horror movie tbh, trying way too hard to be spooky and chilling ("ooh, look, Phantom's Lair! It's DARK and SCARY down here!") and succeeding only in being cringeworthy. Not that I've actually ever seen a bad horror movie- or any horror movie at all, for that matter. Unless you count this one.

Christine's costume, too, annoyed me no end. She was basically wearing a corset and drawers under the dressing gown. *facepalm* The dressing gown is supposed to go OVER your COSTUME to keep it CLEAN, peeps. It's not a BATHROBE. And the amount of eye makeup she had on would terrify a raccoon. Yikes.

Though I liked the random horse because of its nod to the Leroux novel.

"Music of the Night" was so blah-slash-touchy-feely that it made me summarily uncomfortable.

I'd like to be able to say something nice about "I remember/Stranger than you dreamt it" but I have none. One thing that bugged me to no end was how Christine is no longer wearing stockings, like dude, that gives some GROSS implications. Anyways, let's skip to Il Muto!

Oh, but first I should say that "Notes" was rather a flop and that "Prima Donna" is unmemorable and indeed should probably be fast-forwarded as there's a rather unsavory bit involving a crew member showing the audience what he thinks of Carlotta's behaviour.

"Il Muto," I must say, was pretty doggone funny. Carlotta's "Your part is silent. Leetle toad," cracked me up into a bunch of giggling little pieces, and the little vignette of the Phantom tinkering with Carlotta's throat spray made her croaking later on a lot more believable.

Now for "All I Ask Of You", SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! I honestly can't understand how anyone could listen to this song and still maintain that Christine and Raoul don't belong together. He represents everything she needs- stability, protection, a guiding hand and affirmed affection. She represents everything he needs, in turn- someone to show affection to and his childhood friend.

One thing I definitely think could have been left out was the scene in which Erik kills Buquet- we totally did not need to see him being chased, terrified, through the rafters and finally strangled. Gross.

And the Phantom and his rose crouching behind that statue... I think this was supposed to be sad, but there was too much snot mixed with tears for it to be sad. It was, again, gross. So was Gerard Butler's pathetic attempt at the "all that the Phantom asked of you" line. And the lack of a chandelier crash in that scene made the song anticlimactic.

And "Masquerade" was so-so but... The Phantom's entrance is anticlimactic somehow, and his Red Death costume (if indeed it's supposed to even BE the Red Death) is unimpressive. I don't like how Raoul just runs off to desert Christine as soon as things start looking ugly (yes, I realize he was going to get his sword, but still... something could have happened to her while he was gone. Duh, did this guy learn anything from "Little Lotte/The Mirror"? Just sayin)

As for Madame Giry's flashback immediately following, I like how it gives us some of the Phantom's backstory, but it seems really abrupt. You don't even realize until she's done that she was talking to Raoul the whole time- it sounds like she's just randomly reminiscing about Stuff, and if you didn't know the story you might be sitting there thinking, "who is this strange woman again?"

Also, Christine leaving wherever-it-is at, like, five in the morning to go to who-knows-where, completely oblivious to the fact that the Phantom is driving her. Whaaaaaaaaa? How'd he know she was planning to go for a graveyard stroll? Was he watching her through the mirror again? THAT'S JUST CREEPY.

"Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" was rather mediocre and dulled down the fact that it is a Christine Empowerment™ song. Why, exactly, does Christine's father have the biggest monument in the cemetery? If he were a rich and famous violinist as his crypt seems to suggest, why on earth was his daughter struggling along as a chorus girl taking free music lessons?

The swordfight... Well... I had mixed feelings about it. Sword fights are all well and good, but... The swordfight takes away the element of mysterious danger to the Phantom. Okay, fine, Christine getting Raoul to spare the Phantom's life is a nice touch, I guess, but did it strike no one else that his "now let it be war upon you BOTH" makes absolutely NO sense after that? If she just saved his life, why would he suddenly be all, "thanks, but no thanks, I'M GOING TO MURDER YOUUUUUUUUUU"?

And "Twisted Every Way" was after "Wishing" which made ZERO sense. Plus, I didn't like how they cut most of it because in the musical, it gave Christine a spine!

"Point of No Return"? Hooooooo boy....... There are so many things wrong with this number. Let's just a list a few.

*HOW did no one recognise the Phantom through his "disguise"?! At least in the stage play, it made more sense because of how he was wearing a cloak that obscured most of his body.

*Christine's sleeves falling down over and over again were REALLY annoying.

*It was just too touchy-feely for my taste.

*The fact that Emmy Rossum was a teenager during filming made this scene gross because of the way they oversexualized Christine in this scene.

*Gerard Butler's voice in that scene made me cringe and shake my head in sympathetic shame.

*In the stage play, Christine ran from him, showing her own agenda and resistance to his pull! While in the movie, she didn't resist him!

*Now for the one that took the cake... The disfigurement! Or it would be a disfigurement if it actually made him look, y'know, deformed. Instead, as several people have put it, he looks like he got a bad sunburn or something. It's really rather pathetic. It makes him look more like a drama queen than he already is! Yeah.... I really don't like this movie.

On to... Final Lair!!!!!!!! It was a flop. From Raoul's whining and flailing around and his stringy hair flopping about (shallow complaint, I know, but it's so ugly) to Christine's sappy melodramatic "don't make me choooooooose" faces to the Phantom's prancing around with his ropes and maniacal laughter that somehow wasn't really scary at all... yeah, it was a flop. A major, major flop. And though The Kiss wasn't all that bad, all I could think of was, "She's SIXTEEN! SIX! TEEN! THIS IS CREEPY, DISTURBING AND GROSS!"

Which is why it's so difficult for me to admit that, um, I... cried at the end.

I COULDN'T HELP IT GUYS HE WAS ALL ALONE THERE IN HIS LAKE WITH HIS MONKEY AND HIS SMASHED MIRRORS AND HE WAS CRYING AND IT WAS SAD.

And then that rose on the gravestone? That single red rose? And the look on Old Raoul's face (still Patrick Wilson, by the way, under all that makeup) when he saw it and realized he wasn't the only one visiting Christine's grave? Yup, I lost it again there, too. And I really didn't want to. Because I tend to cry over movies I love, y'know? And I didn't love this movie. At all

Yet I still cried at the end. I'm not really sure why. I think perhaps it had something to do with the way the story still "got" me, deep down inside, despite the lousy casting and less-than-perfect singing and ridiculously unnecessary elements that totally didn't need to be there. It's still a tragically beautiful romance, and even a bad film can't kill that.

In conclusion, I think Mary Poppins can best express what I thought of POTO 2004.

In conclusion, I rate it a 2.7/5

[can-i-say-something-please]

The Prince's Darling

Part I

Word count: About 9800 [inclusive of all parts] (This was supposed to be a drabble but I got carried away)

Warning: None (unless fluff and flirting can be counted)

A/N: I honestly don't know how to summarize this but I'll just say that this is one of the childhood sweetheart tropes with adventure and battle involved. It's a combined effort being more true to the books (as in character arcs) but some scenes have been taken from movies precisely for shock value🤭. Also the oath mentioned here is inspired from the unbreakable vow from Harry Potter. Fun fact: Gildor means ‘one who is the creator of joy or happiness’

Italics is elvish

Lós : flower/blossom

Lassë : leaf

Ielleg : daughter

Thorin Oakenshield had had enough. He and his company felt that all the forces of nature had conspired against them to deny them of their birthright. They couldn't be more right as soon after barely escaping through the thunder battle and the stone giants, the goblins were up next as if they had been awaiting their turn. 

While in captivity under the Misty Mountains in the Goblin Town, Fili and Kili were the first to notice that they had a cellmate. Though they cannot be given complete credit as it was her long hair that first tickled their attention (literally) and a feeble voice calling for help that finally succeeded in getting noticed by them.

Now Fili and Kili were nothing if not chivalrous, and they wouldn't hesitate either in claiming themselves Prince Charming to a damsel in distress, even if the said damsel was an elf. 

The princes were quick in rescuing her, as the company was in surrounding her protectively while she regained her bearing. It had not escaped Thorin and his company's notice that she was of elf-kind but they had collectively decided that there were better places and times to declare their animosity than in captivity in the damned Goblin Town. 

The better place or time were not yet in sight as the company of the dwarves and a hobbit along with the she-elf and the wizard Gandalf were otherwise occupied between escaping from the goblins and wargs, the altercation between Thorin Oakenshield and Azog the Defiler, being rescued by eagles and avoiding Beorn-the-bear before finally taking shelter in Beorn's house. The skinchanger and Gandalf along with Oin managed to heal the she-elf but it took a couple days for her to revitalise enough to introduce herself finally to them.

"I am y/n of the Woodland Realm and I am eternally grateful to you for saving me from that wretched place."

Thorin was ready to storm out the moment he had heard of the woodland but a couple exasperated looks from Gandalf, Beorn, Balin and, to everyone's surprise, Fili and Kili, he sat back in his place to hear her tale.

But before she resumed narrating her tale, Kili interrupted her with a flirtatious wink, "I'm Kili. The most handsome dwarf you'll ever have the pleasure to meet, my beautiful lady."

"Second handsome, after his older, stronger and more charming brother,that's me by the way, hello! I'm Fili, Crown Prince of the greatest dwarf kingdom on Middle Earth." Fili wasn't used to being second and taking her hand kissed the top of it.

She smiled at the princes before looking expectantly at the others, who started introducing themselves one by one. 

It was Balin who brought the conversation back to the main topic, "How did you end up there in the first place, child?"

Everyone present avoided reminding him that being an elf, y/n was most likely thousands of years older than him, and he paid no heed to the scoffs coming from the Durin princes. 

Y/n was quick to reply, "I had a disagreement with the King," with an eye roll to accompany her claim. 

It was Thorin this time who asked in disbelief, "You had a 'disagreement' with your king? Thranduil the Elvenking?"

No sooner than he exclaimed this did he earn himself a place in the list of kings getting her eyes rolled at them. The company covered their amused smiles, though his sister-sons did not even bother holding their chuckles. 

She replied as one rather annoyed by the said King.

"Yes. He refused me again to help out some of the villages nearby which were being raided by orcs and constantly under the threat of orc attacks. I had had enough of being ignorant of the plights of everyone outside our borders. He is a great king but I could not just blindly follow his orders to hold myself back in the kingdom when I knew we could help them. I don't intend to brag but my guards and I would have been enough for the orcs. It would have been at most a training for us! But after he refused I left the halls intending to go to Imladris to seek out Lord Elrond's help in aiding the villages of men. I knew Lord Elrond would be much more compliant in helping them than our stubborn King," she paused taking a moment for collecting her thoughts before continuing, "I was ambushed by the goblins on my way to Imladris through the pass of the Misty Mountains and they recognized me as one from the Woodland Realm. They held me hostage for six moons trying to torture out of me the secret way into the kingdom but I was only annoyed by the king and not disloyal to him, not to say I would die before I betray my kin and therefore held my tongue. And that is how you found me." Her tale had kept her audience engrossed until they suddenly realized she had stopped speaking. 

Then the questions started. 

"What did you mean by 'refused again'?"

It was Fili. 

"And what did you mean by 'your guards'?"

Kili wouldn't be left behind, even in just asking questions. 

"What kind of King is he that he did not even search for you in six months?"

This was asked by Gloin, whose face was turning the same colour as his hair as he felt indignation at the unfair treatment of the maiden.

Many dwarves echoed his words as maidens, even those who are warriors as she undoubtedly seemed like, should not be left to their own devices especially in the hands of the likes of those abominable creatures. Also, elf or not, the company had in fact rescued her and taken care of her therefore they felt quite protective of her.

She was not untouched by their words and worries, but felt quite indignant at them insulting her King who was the closest she had to a father and hurried to defend him, "He did send envoys. I constantly heard and sometimes was punished because the goblins found Elven soldiers patrolling and searching near their Town's borders. But I do not blame my kin, the nasty place was such a labyrinth that even if I managed to elude the chains I would have failed to escape out of there."

"And I am the Captain of Guards at the Northwest borders, thus 'my guards' Master Kili," she answered to his enquiry.

"Also it wasn't the first time I had a disagreement with King Thranduil, Master Fili. The last time we had one, I had refused to speak to him unless of matters concerning the kingdom for almost a decade," she replied and added while chuckling, "The Prince had tried so hard and failed many times at reconciling us until he got tired and locked me in the council chamber with his father and refused to let us out until we settled our differences. I do admit it was fun annoying him by forcing him to play peacemaker between us." She had a fond look in her eyes as she reminisced her time with the royals of Mirkwood.

Once again this brought on another wave of questions from the dwarves but one stood out from the rest. 

"How did you get away so easily from disobeying your king and still hold close relations with the royals of Mirkwood?"

It was Thorin who, being an important dwarf and royalty himself, was all about propriety and dignity and couldn't help himself voicing his curiosity. At his question and the company's curiosity y/n explained her close relations to certain royals. 

*******

Y/n was a mere elfling when along with her parents and their companions had been under an attack by a group of wandering orcs. They had pillaged through their belongings and left only ruin and death behind them. The orcs had cheered at the thought of besting the elves and leaving none alive, but they had missed the little elleth who was injured and not dead. 

It was near the woods of his realm that King Thranduil and his scouting party had come across the remnants of a massacre left behind by orcs. The King ordered his soldiers to bury the dead respectfully so that no other creatures should feast on or dishonour his kind.

A slight whimper alerted the King of another's presence and searching for the source he found the injured elfling. The little elleth reminded him of his own Little leaf and checking her over he found that she needed urgent help so entrusting his guards to handle the ruins, he rode back to the kingdom on his elk, with the elleth clinging to him in his arms.

The healers took little time in healing her of the physical injuries but nothing was effective enough against the mental scars she had sustained through the traumatic experience. Many times after that she had woken in the middle of the nights inconsolable by anyone until the maids finally called for the King.

Thranduil could only come running to her chambers at night so many times before he finally decided to shift her to his wards in the Royal residence of the palace. The members of court were skeptical of the lowly Silvan elleth attaching herself to their King but they had no sway over the King whose stubbornness could rival a dwarf's, and he had gotten so attached that he had all but adopted her as his own.

It was here she met Legolas Thranduillion. Himself an elfling he was the most excited of any at the arrival of another close to his age when his father brought her in their home. While at first wary of everyone but Thranduil y/n had soon warmed up to the little prince. It only took Legolas pulling her hair and her retaliating hard enough to get him to drop hers in making them inseparable for the rest of their lives.

So it was that y/n had grown alongside the prince under the guardianship of the King into the warrior she was today. While she did have the King's favour, she was not of Royal blood and hence had decided to serve in the guard. Though her decision had influenced a certain prince to join the guard as well!

*******

She certainly cared a great deal for them as the company saw in her eyes while she narrated her tale. Thorin too could see the truth in her eyes and knew there was no reason to disbelieve her, but his stubborn pride got in the way and being an important dwarf he had an appearance to uphold (though he was quite endeared to her just as everyone else) and he told her to stay there and once healed to return to her home.

"I do not have any place for elves in my company, nor do they have my trust. Especially one so close to the Elvenking." Needless to say he was lying and everyone could see it.

Before anyone could question his reasoning (or his state of mind in his nephews' opinion), she stood from her seat and knelt in front of him and quicker than he could rebuke took his dagger and sliced off some of her hair strands.

Now the dwarves were both oblivious and ignorant to anyone's traditions but their own, but even in their own they valued their hair above all as it was a cherished symbol in their community. Even Thorin was shocked at the turn of events as he looked at the she-elf offering her hair to him.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly if you know him, Gandalf was the first to interrupt her actions, "Are you quite sure, my dear? It is no small vow you intend to take."

"I am absolutely certain. He deserves to freely trust me and if this is the only way so be it."

For the first time the hobbit present there spoke as until now he had been satisfied in silently observing and listening to the others. "I don't understand." He, albeit unknowingly, voiced the whole company's thoughts who were still so shocked that they could not utter a single word. Even Fili and Kili were yet to pick their jaws back up, and one of Beorn's bees seemed rather taken by the inside of Kili's mouth.

"I'm taking the sacred oath that will bind me to him and his kin," she kindly answered to help the confused hobbit understand.

Bilbo Baggins understood nothing and so he said back, "I still don't understand."

It was Gandalf who was best at explaining things, though more often than not he was also the one to be blamed for confusing others by riddling simple things.

He once again rose to the occasion, "My dear Bilbo, in Elven culture death is not common as they are immortal beings that can only be slain by battle or grief. Accordingly saving one's life is the highest honour and the greatest debt one can bestow upon another and warriors, being more susceptible to be slain in battle than others, hold the debt above all. So they cut off some of their beloved hair and offer it to their saviour and bind themselves to them. As this new life is one they owe to their saviour, they will serve them until their debt is paid." Now he addressed the company and Thorin specially, "Such oath is unbreakable and most sacred to the elves and it is quite a high honour she holds you to Thorin Oakenshield if she is willing to do this. You may trust her with your life, not that she had given any reason earlier to mistrust her either."

The dwarves had regained their senses and were perfectly in awe at the elf-maid kneeling in front of their King. Thorin himself was so impressed with her that he was going to accept her before Kili unceremoniously interrupted him. 

" Come on, Uncle! A strong warrior elf-maid, not to forget one so utterly beautiful," cutting himself off he turned briefly to wink at her, "As our personal bodyguard! You cannot possibly say no to this!"

Thorin glared at him before bowing his head in respect and accepted her offerance. He braided the strand in his own braid at her insistence as she muttered an Elvish prayer making the hair glow for a moment in his braid before raising her head and saying, "I am loyal to my kin but from this day forth I shall be loyal to your company as well. No harm shall come upon you as long as I draw breath and until I have repaid your debt I shall be in your service."

After that the company was wholly at ease and had accepted her as their own. They would tell her stories of their battles and hardships while she in turn would share the memories of her childhood and growing up with the prince. The tales of the pranks she had played on and along with the Prince had endeared the dwarf princes to her so much that they outright told her she can forget 'Her Prince' as they are keeping her all to themselves. She only laughed in reply to them. 

Their favourite prank of her remained to be the first one she had played on the King.

*******

She had been recovering from her trauma for the past few years since she was rescued and had finally started regaining her inherent penchant for mischief and talent of getting in trouble. It was in these days that the Prince had finally convinced her to prank his father, as she had been his accomplice on some occasions in pranking the guards and the maids but always refused against his father; she was a great occasional accomplice, but the mischievous Prince needed a permanent partner in crime. They had sneaked into the King's bedchambers at night and using the mixture of berries and herbs they had 'borrowed' from the kitchen and the healing chambers, they dyed his silver blonde hair a mix of purplish red. Not many, if any, warriors or even spies could claim to have sneaked under the nose of the ever vigilant and battle-hardened King but these little elflings had accomplished it. Needless to add the King had not been pleased. In fact, his scream when he saw his reflection in the mirror after his bath had almost made the guards enter his bath-chambers thinking the King was under attack. Being unprepared for the sight of their King in less than kingly attire with his ridiculous hair, they had only just managed to keep their faces neutral instead of bursting into laughing as was their first instinct. All council meetings and even sightings of the King had been cancelled for the next week while he tried to recollect his dignity. But none of this concerned the bane of his condition who looked at his red hair, then at his equally red face and then looking at each other's face had promptly burst into laughter while simultaneously rolling on the floor. Thranduil had attempted to keep his composure enough to reprimand the trouble-making pair, but at the sight of the unadulterated joy emanating from the carefree younglings he had ultimately joined them on the floor laughing at his own predicament. Though eventually even the elflings had not escaped unscathed as Thranduil captured one in each arm before tickling both of them mercilessly until they both too had turned red like him from laughing.

It also had been the first time Thranduil had realized just how attached Legolas was to y/n when even though he had escaped his father's clutches to safety he had returned to rescue his playmate from the tickle-monster that was his father. They had run off then, far away from his hold. 

The King though had been given no respite as that was just the first of many, many pranks played on him over two millennia.

*******

The company of Thorin Oakenshield parted with Beorn in friendship and with Gandalf in sorrow, they had had firsthand experience of the utility of having a wizard's service at hand. But Gandalf was needed elsewhere and he bid them a safe journey through Mirkwood by the Elven road, moreover he assured them, "You do have your own personal bodyguard." He said this with a wink to Fili and Kili, who to their own credit looked bashful enough.

Thus the company along with y/n entered the sick forest on their way to Erebor.

It wasn't long before the sickness of the forest started creeping up on them, though some of them who had already fallen to the sickness were claiming that they had been stuck there for years. Y/n being an elf was more resistant and moreover knowing of the sickness of the woods tried her best to commandeer them to the right path but to her dismay found that they had lost the path long ago in the efforts of rallying the dwarves together. It was her elvish senses that first realized the danger they were in but before she could alert the others they were soon outnumbered by the gigantic spiders and only the she-elf managed to resist their attacks until multiple spiders finally overpowered her and took all of them barring the hobbit captive. 

The hobbit, having finally found his bravery, rose to the challenge as he single-handedly outsmarted the vicious creatures with the help of a little magic ring and rescued the company from the sticky webs of the beasts before they suddenly returned and attacked the company again. This time though they were better prepared as they fought the beasts.

Thorin was battling two spiders alone when a third attacked him from behind, but before it could make its aim true y/n had stepped between them and took the poisonous sting meant for the Dwarf King and killed the beast. Thorin bowed his head gratefully to her before they were pulled back into the battle. Soon they were assisted by a band of wood-elves who made quick work of the spiders but no sooner than the nearby spiders had been killed that the dwarves found them surrounded and at the end of the weapons of the elves.

It is necessary here to mention that while in battle with the spiders y/n had accidentally been separated from the company, and after she had released the creatures from the bond of life she returned in search of her companions. By now the poison of the sting she had suffered first, along with numerous other injuries she had gained from the spiders, had started to take a toll on her but she held on to find her company.

She did find them but ended up finding more than whom she was looking for. She saw as the wood-elves, her own kin, were surrounding and interrogating her saviours as they were naught but common criminals, and her blood boiled inside her veins. The elves were yet to take notice of her as they were occupied by the intruding dwarves, but some of the company members saw her approach. Driven by rage and her oath's power as she saw the leader of the elves push the blade Orcrist against its wielder itself, she failed to realize just who the said elf was and came forward.

"Not just a thief, but a liar as well. Killing you right here would be a pleasure, dwarf… ," the leader of the elves was interrupted before he could complete his threat, and just as he had Orcrist pressed against the dwarf's throat another sword was held against his own.

"You would die before your stroke fell."

The company held the scene with smiles on their face as y/n held her sword against the leader. They were glad that he had finally shut his mouth, even if it was at the shock of the familiarity of the voice he heard; the elf spoke too much for their liking.

The dwarves released their breaths as the elf dropped the sword from their King's throat and slowly turned to face the offender who had dared to put their sword against the Captain of the guards inside their own border. The dwarves were yet unaware that the leader was none other than their beautiful bodyguard's own prince, and the prince of the realm they were trespassing through, Legolas Thranduillion. Nor did they realize that he had dropped the sword in shock rather than fear as they had presumed.

As Legolas turned and finally revealed his face to y/n, her heart skipped a beat as her eyes finally held the blue ones she had yearned for the past six months, her hands weakened as shallow breaths escaped her lungs and she slowly dropped the sword. His name uttered from the lips of the one he had craved for so long drew him out of the reverie he had put himself into when his eyes had finally rested on her face who had been taken away from him so cruelly.

They felt time slow itself down as Legolas drew her in his arms and cupped her face to ensure she was here, she really was here and wasn't just a manifestation of his dreams or a figment of his imagination, and once everything in him was assured that it was really her and she was in front of him he finally enveloped her in his arms unbothered by the watching eyes, or more likely he was oblivious to everything except the one in his arms. She held him tightly as if he would disappear from her hands like sand. It took some moments before either of them were ready to part even to a breath's distance.

Fili and Kili were most indignant as they saw their own elf in the arms of the enemy. The whole company was shocked as if they couldn't expect such a sight in their wildest dreams, even if they were literally passing through her home.

"But she took an oath! She is supposed to be loyal to us, even if she knows them for thousands of years more than us!"

Kili's statement sounded ridiculous even to his own ears, and that was saying something, but he was quite enraged to notice anything primitive like this.

Fili supported his brother, "Yes, even if they are her kin, WE saved her life!"

Balin was the one to finally put their complaints to a pause as he hushed them, "Look at them closely young princes, they are more than just kin."

And they would appear so to any onlooker as they did to the company wrapped in each other's arms as if the other would disappear, their faces a breath's distance away, talking as if there was no one else with them.

Even the other elvish guards had relaxed their offensive stances once they saw just who it was that had dared to stand against their Prince. They had gone so far as to drop their weapons and stand leisurely as they saw their Prince and their Captain in each other's arms, they knew it would take a while.

One of the elf guards, an ellon of the name Gildor, who was quite bored of the scene involving the two as he had seen it countless times before, was eavesdropping on the dwarves' conversation as he had nothing else to do when he heard the old dwarf explain their relationship to the younger dwarves. That is when he decided to make his presence known to them, "Yes, they are more than just kin. Anyone with eyes can see that, except themselves!"

The dwarves were surprised to hear an elf address them with anything less than scorn, but surpassing that was the shock that even though they clearly were in love, their elf and the leader were not lovers.

Their surprised faces led him to laugh at them before he sobered up in order to not offend them and informed them with a smile, "Yes, these two have been dancing around each other's feelings for as long as some of us have been born. Really he is as brave as the King himself, if not braver, but all his bravery leaves him when it comes to admitting his feelings to her. She's not much better either, once she literally jumped off the bridge into the water down below even though she is dreadfully afraid of such heights in order to avoid a conversation about her feelings for him." The ellon undoubtedly seemed like he had just enough of the two as he complained about them to the dwarves. It really seemed they had nothing better to do while those two were engrossed in their conversation that the company and Gildor started gossiping about them.

As y/n eluded his hold instead to look upon him, Legolas himself gazed at her most precious features he had missed so much.

It was her who first found her words, "I missed you so much, my lassë. I was so dreadfully alone these past months."

"You have no idea how much I missed you, my lós. I was so afraid that I had lost you."

It was then Legolas holding her face noticed all the blood on her, as he pulled back slightly to examine the extent of her injuries. He was furious as he saw just how hurt she was and looked at dwarves with blood in his eyes as he closed the distance between them holding the sword tightly to contain his rage, assuming the worst of the dwarves.

Y/n recognized the look as well as she stepped before him to tell him about her friends and how they helped her but Legolas pulled her close to him and away from the dwarves speaking in her ear, "You are clearly bewitched my lós. They have hurt you and ensnared you. I will make them suffer for what they did to you. I will make them pay."

The Elven guards also took positions as they saw their leader take back arms, but they made no other move as they watched him waiting for his command.

Otherwise up till now the dwarves were busy gossiping with Gildor but as soon as they saw the leader look at them with anger, they got alarmed. Some of them even looked at her in betrayal as they thought she must have spoken against them in her tongue to her lover so he would kill them. But their fears were abated as she stepped between them, and pulled her sword again on him as he looked at her with hurt filled eyes. 

"You will not touch them, Legolas. Not as long as I live and if you want them, you will have to go through me."

She once again stood between Thorin and Legolas facing against him. Every last thought of betrayal left the company as she had once again stood for them against her own kin. Thorin Oakenshield himself was touched but before he could utter his gratitude, she weakly fell against him.

Legolas stepped forward holding y/n so she half rested in his arms, and half against the Dwarf King as the poison was finally catching up to her and she was succumbing to her injuries.

Legolas went to pick her up to take her to the healing wing of the kingdom but with all her remaining strength she held the sword between them, "No, Legolas. You cannot take me away from them, I'm bound to them and the life of the Eldar shall leave me before I leave them here. You cannot separate me from them."

"Please, mellon (behind them Gildor scoffed but no one paid attention to him), you need to be checked over. You need a healer urgently. Please let me take you back. Please, my lós," she was the only one Legolas had ever pleaded to, even to his father he had mostly demanded whatever he wanted.