#Silence of the Wolves read online

[jinx-xxed]

Beautiful Thing Caged

Chapter 2; You’re wrong but you’re right

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A/N; We made it to part 2 guys let’s go!! Next chapter will be more fun I hope T_T definitely struggled a bit with this one

⇦ Part 1

Part 3 ⇨

Summary; You dive headfirst into trying to learn more about this beast-man you’ve been assigned to. You didn’t expect for things to run so deep.

Content; Werewolf AU, modern AU, werewolf Kylo Ren, human reader, scientist reader, soulmates, lots of research and sciencey things, blood testing, Kylo acts like a smartass, reader’s over him already

[Each chapter will have specific content warnings.]

Wc; 4.1k

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Your head slips from where it’d been resting on a closed fist. You barely catch yourself in time before you slam face first into the table beneath you. You’d been dozing off again, something you find yourself doing more and more as sleep escapes you night after night. You straighten your posture, groaning as you stretch your limbs out to try and wake them back up. Your laptop sits open and on in front of you, fifteen tabs open at the top—each one more incomprehensible than the last. Wolf-man hybrids, wolf shifter, wolf man, man wolf, what do I do when a weird guy is locked up against his will by a secret government agency??, wolf man illegal topic, guy with wolf ears and tail… That last one gave you some less than desirable results that you’d rather forget.

When you aren’t at the Agency, you find yourself in the town’s local library. It’s a rather large building for the size of your town, which you’re grateful for, so it’s been very easy for you to seclude yourself in your research in the past two weeks. It’s the same every day; the receptionist greets you as you walk in, you beeline for the back of the first floor, and you take the first empty table you see. Then you grab whatever books might be helpful and scatter them all around yourself and your laptop, which you’ve done now.

You grab a new handful every time, seeing if anything can help you at all. So far you’ve come up empty. You started with the basics, reading books about wolves and their behavior just to refresh and learn more about them, then a simple human biology textbook, then you tried myths and legends and folklore books, flipping through them and studying any diagrams you were provided with. You saw more than a few that were under the umbrella of beast-men, things that stood on two legs and were covered in grisly fur and muscle. When you compared those images to the man that’s been occupying your head, they just didn’t match. He’s more man than beast, a fact that’s been haunting you.

You wish he would talk to you. You’d spent the last two weeks sitting in that white observation room, watching him and what he does in silence that was only broken by the clicking of your keyboard and occasionally talking to yourself. Hell, you still didn’t even know if he actually could speak or not. He didn’t give you much of a chance to figure it out, and you didn’t have a partner or anybody to bounce ideas off of. Hux had threatened you enough about telling anyone else about your studies.

You sigh harshly and dig the heels of your palms into your eyes, making yourself see stars. Focus. You lean in a little more against the table, bringing your laptop closer so you can type something in. Your research had led you to a small, online forum consisting of people that seemed to be looking into the same things you are—real life human-beast hybrids, not just the myths. When you’d discovered it a day ago, it’d seemed like your saving grace. The people in it didn’t seem very active anymore, but you’d sent a message, a hopeful shot in the dark. You’re delighted to see a notification in your inbox from the forum. You honestly hadn’t expected a response, your hopes having been dashed so many times you didn’t dare get them up again.

Your original message had been simple, just an introduction under a fake name and a vague question about if anybody knew something about wolf-man beasts. Somebody by the user of JHunter12 responded.

You: Hello, I’m new here! I’ve been working on a research project for school and got stumped. I was wondering if you guys could help? It’s about wolf-man hybrids, like a man having actual wolf ears and a tail and all that. I just can’t seem to find very much on them.

JHunter12: Yeah I know plenty about them. The term you’re looking for is lycanthrope. People don’t talk about them much anymore after they went basically extinct.

Your heart leaps into your throat at this new information. You suddenly feel wide awake. That simple message gave you more information than you’d gotten in the past two weeks of your research. You open a sixteenth tab and copy the term the user had said and sure enough, a whole page popped up. You couldn’t help yourself from grinning, looking at the wolf hybrids you saw on your screen. None of them exactly matched your subject, but this is by far the closest you’ve gotten. Scrolling down, you see a couple articles from years ago about the mutation, or what they call a “disease”. You switch tabs back to the forum, your mind stuck on the last word they’d said.

You: Extinct?

You’re shocked at how quickly they respond.

JHunter12: Yup. Happened like 100 years ago or something. Lycans used to live with normal people no problem until governments decided it actually was a problem once they started mixing too much and a bunch of hybrid babies were popping up. People started going on man hunts like crazy and the government just let it happen, sometimes ordered it themselves. Took their numbers down to basically zero. Wolf populations struggled cuz of it too, everybody thought every normal wolf was a Lycan even though there’s obvious differences. It was a massacre. Awful stuff.

JHunter12: The government tries to cover it up by making it really hard to search for and not letting anybody talk about it. Only reason I ever found out is cuz my great grandpa was one of those hunters. He killed multiple of them. Now I spend most of my time researching them and finding out whatever I can. I’m glad someone else is also interested.

You sit there staring at your screen for a minute, rereading the messages a good few times. You had no idea that there’d been an extinction campaign against the very thing that sat about a forty-five minute drive away in an underground cell. It made you feel sick. It also explained why you’d struggled so much to find any information until now. Even working at a government agency, you knew nothing about this. You wonder if any of your superiors knew, or if they were in the dark like you were. It’s all very strange.

You: Wow I did not expect that at all. Thank you so much for all of your insight, you have no idea how much this has helped me.

Jhunter12: Of course. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

You shut your laptop quickly, irrationally fearful that you’ve learned a lot of things you shouldn’t have and you don’t want anyone else seeing. You look out the window near you, the sun having begun to set. The library will be closing soon, which means it’s time for you to pack up. You quickly put away all the books you had scattered about, shove everything into your backpack, and make your way out with a muttered goodbye to the receptionist.

Walking out of that library, even though you have so much new information to research, you can feel that sleep is finally going to come easily to you tonight.

» ☆ «

You researched as much as you could when you’d gotten home, fascinated by how much you were finding now compared to the barren wasteland you had before. The person on the forum had been correct, there was almost nothing you could find about the eradication of lycanthropes; the few articles you did manage to dig up were buried deep within Google’s results, clearly not wanting to be found easily. None of them were very specific, but when they were put together, they created a fuller picture. When you put in the right keywords and followed enough secondary links, you even managed to find a few small studies from years and years ago.

Lycans lived like any other person, they had the same diets, human habits, same intelligence, they just had a genetic mutation. Nobody seems to be sure where it originated from or what exactly caused it—there’s plenty of religious theories—but blood samples showed a mixture of wolf and human intricately tied together. Autopsies revealed other strange mutations within the body that allowed them to shift between a human form and a quadrupedal wolf form. When in the wolf form, they were unable to talk but could still convey communication through retained human intelligence. It was all so interesting.

Reading through stories of the Lycan Massacre on the other hand, was devastating. There was so much hatred thrown at these people who had no say in how they were born, who had families and whole lives ahead of them. Hunted down and killed just because of misunderstandings and misplaced fear—farmers thinking Lycans killed their livestock, townspeople seeing things in the woods, general irrationality and hysteria. All of the Lycans were taken out and it’s assumed that any who managed to escape live out their days in total secrecy or as wild animals. If they’re discovered, well… you have proof of what happens to them.

Walking in to work the next day, you have a bit of a spring in your step. You finally managed to sleep, and you have a document that’s about twelve pages long and full of your research sitting on your laptop. You feel like you’re finally getting somewhere, like you’ll finally have something worthwhile to submit to Hux instead of hourly play by plays of how many times your subject moved his legs.

You walk down the halls, you give a courtesy nod to whoever you pass, you get into the elevator. You go down, down, down, all the way to the twentieth floor where you walk through more sterile, white hallways. There’s been a few additions to this floor, a few new experiments. They aren’t your concern though, you don’t have clearance to look at them, just like no one else has clearance to look at yours. Speaking of which, your badge gives you that lovely beep and then you’re through the door.

The beast-man immediately snaps to attention once you enter. It’s the same routine every day, where you’ll come in and he’ll study you, those undeniably pretty brown eyes always finding yours and communicating something you can’t quite understand. It always feels like there’s something on the edge of your mind when you look at him, but you can’t get a hold of it despite your efforts.

His chains rattle as he moves from where he’d been lying on his cot, which has now been upgraded to a bigger size thanks to your persistence. You went to Hux and asked him to put in a request for more enrichment and comforts within your subject’s cell on the basis that “it would improve research results”. A lie at the time, but you have noticed he seems more engaged and at ease with the extra blankets, pillows, and padding on the floor. You also met with the nutritionist so that he isn’t just eating raw meat day after day.

You notice his held tilt as you walk in. He sees the change in your demeanor, wonders what it could be for. His tail twitches behind him. “Good morning.” You say out of habit, even though you know he won’t say anything back. You often end up talking to yourself when you’re with him, filling the empty space with whatever’s on your mind just to get it out. He seems to listen rather intently and oddly enough, your voice also seems to calm him. It encourages you to keep going.

You set a few of your things on the ground. “I’ll be back in an hour or two. I have a few tests to run.” He watches you intensely as you head towards a door to your right, his body leaning forward to follow you. You shiver as goosebumps rise along your skin.

There’s blood samples waiting for you in the lab. They’d been taken in the dead of the morning and were prepped for processing, one of your coworkers on this project having let you know via email. They also let you know that those samples were not easy to get and required more than a few rounds of sedatives. Apparently, your subject had been able to smell the sedatives in his food and refused to eat so they had to do it the hard way. You can only imagine how much of a struggle that must’ve been.

You sigh and pull out one of the rolling chairs, using it to wheel around the lab room to get everything ready. Turning on the microscope, preparing the blood vials and testing strips, the glass slides, your notes. You start with a blood smear, the smear just a little wonky because you’ve never been able to get it perfect. You shake it to dry it—your least favorite part—and then slip it under the microscope. You take a minute to adjust it correctly, to get the image to come clearly through the lens. When you finally get it, you see all the little red blood cells come into focus. You move the slide around with the knobs of the microscope, inspecting carefully. You scribble things down on a notepad you have next to you that you’ll put in to your laptop later. Everything seems perfectly normal; no malformed cells, regular cell counts, and just all around healthy blood. That’s good to see.

Now to test something you’re far more curious about. You prepare all the reagents and machinery you’ll need for obtaining a DNA sample through blood, and then get to work on separating it from the rest of the blood sample. With the high tech of the First Order Agency, it’s able to cut down the wait time on a DNA blood test significantly from a few days to only a little over an hour. While working, you think about how much easier this would’ve been if you could’ve just gotten a swab of the inside of his mouth. Having seen those fangs though, you were not keen on trying to get one.

You wait for the final step of the testing to be finished, deciding to put in all your notes in the meantime. Hux will probably groan as soon as he sees your long, long document in his inbox. Once the test is done, you eagerly roll your chair over and start transferring the results. They come to you in the forms of graphs and charts, detailing the intricacies of his DNA and general ancestry that you aren’t really concerned about—he does have a good amount of German in him though. You’re more interested in what makes up his DNA and sure enough, you find it. On the second page, there’s a sector for anomalies noted within the coding. The one that takes up the most space is labeled under the Canis lupus family, making up about 51%. The other 49% is Homo sapien, as expected. So those studies online were correct, the DNA of Lycans is an almost perfect mix of wolf and human.

“Fascinating,” you mutter to yourself, feeling like you’re on cloud nine with all the new information you’ve been able to gather just in the last twenty-four hours. You’re finally getting somewhere.

You transfer the charts to your laptop and attach them to your document before beginning to clean up. You put in what needs to go in the autoclave, you toss the glass slides, and you make sure to sterilize everything. Before you leave the lab, you can’t help but hesitate. Your eyes slide to your right, where there’s another door. You know that door will lead to a hallway that’ll bring you to his cell. Bring you inside. The thought lasts for about a second before you dismiss it as you being insane.

The beast-man perks up again as you finally enter back into the observation room. You settle yourself in your usual spot on the floor, a comfortable distance away from him. “Sorry that took a little longer than expected. I was just testing your blood. Everything looked great.” You tell him. He doesn’t seem all that bothered either way. It amuses you.

You study him for a while, just like you always do. You watch how he moves, how he looks at you, how he inspects his dinner so carefully—definitely paranoid after the other workers tried to put sedatives in there. You’re glad to see his meal is a mixture of both raw and cooked meats, along with vegetables and fruits. You’d written to the nutritionalists to tell them what kind of meat he didn’t like based on your studies as well, so they no longer included those. He seems much more eager to eat with the new variety and it makes you happy.

He settles again afterwards, lounging around and staring at you. You work on your observation logs, inputting information, organizing it… it’s all a very familiar pattern. One you’ve grown accustomed to throughout the entirety of your-

“Kylo.”

You jolt, nearly jumping out of your own skin. Your head shoots up, brows deeply furrowed in confusion. Who…? You look towards the beast-man, whose intense eyes meet yours not a second later. Surely not?

But you watch as he speaks with a voice deep and rich. “My name is Kylo. Kylo Ren.”

You stand up so abruptly that your laptop falls to the ground with a clank and you stumble over your feet. “You can talk?!”

He squints at you. “Yes, of course I can. Are you stupid?”

You’re excitement deflates a little, an annoyed frown settling on your mouth. So his first words he says to you are mean, great. You push past that. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” You think about how much you’ve talked to yourself around him while he understood every word and just chose not to speak. You feel embarrassment sizzle under your skin.

He sniffs. “I didn’t like you.”

“If you’re just going to be rude then feel free to go back to not speaking.” You say through gritted teeth.

“I feel that you can’t get on me for being rude when I’m the one locked in a cell.” He points out, shifting his body to sit facing you with his legs crossed. “I only speak now because it seems you’re trustworthy. I believe you don’t want to do this either.”

You falter at his words, at the way he’s able to see through you so easily. It’s like all those hours he’s spent staring at you was really just him reading you, gathering information of his own. You try to make some excuse. “Well I… it’s just a job.”

He hums. “I can see that you care too much, though. It eats through you. That’s why I decided to trust you.”

You don’t know what to think of his analysis, of him basically taking your thoughts from your head and laying them out before you. You sigh through your nose and sit back down on the ground. “Okay… well… would I be able to ask you some questions, Kylo?”

He seems delighted by you saying his name, his ears perking atop his head and his tail giving the smallest twitch. His head tilts to the left. “Go ahead. I’ll answer what I want to.”

“I figured.” You mutter. You pull your laptop back to you, opening a voice note to record. You press start. “Alright… let’s start with the basics. How old are you?”

“I think 29.”

You cock a brow at that but continue on. “What are you?”

“You’ve done enough research to know that.”

You sigh again, heavier this time. “Please just answer.”

“A werewolf.”

That’s a new term you haven’t really heard before. You saw it once or twice while researching; it seems to be a modern word to describe what Kylo is. Older reports preferred to use the more common, scientific term of Lycan. “Okay, and where are you from?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

You lift your head, confusion on your face. “What?”

“I don’t know where I’m from.” Kylo says. “I was taken from my home as a child, because of what I am. The man that took me wanted me for my strength and potential to bring him money.” You can see how his eyes glisten with pain from the memory. Perhaps that’s what all his scars are from.

“Who is he?” You ask.

“It doesn’t matter. I killed him.” He says it so bluntly, as if there’s nothing to it. Like he didn’t just admit to a heinous crime that would no doubt get him killed in no time. “Although, he did exactly what you all do. He studied me, ran his tests. Kept me in a cage.”

You shrink under the accusatory tone even though you know none of this is your fault. You clear your throat. “What happened after you… killed him?”

“I had nowhere to go. I stayed as a wolf, it was easier. It’s been years.” He says, right ear twitching against his hair. You catch on to his words, on to anything he gives you that’ll improve your research. So he can turn into a wolf… that must’ve been what that first report you got of him had been based on. “I wanted to go back home, but that man affected my memory. He took me halfway across the continent. But it’s coming back now, I can feel it. I know where I need to go.”

“You do? Could you explain that?” You ask, a little too eager.

“It’s not something to explain.” He snaps. “It’s just… something leading me in the right direction. I was close before I got caught here.” He’s angry about that, you can see it in the way his brows furrow and his fists clench. You understand him, if you’d been within reach of your goal after years of work and then it got ruined, you’d be pissed.

Then he looks to you. “That’s why I need your help.”

“Wh- me?” You splutter. “How would I help you?”

“You’re smarter than that.” Kylo taunts. He’s right, you know exactly what he means, but you don’t like it. “Get me out of here. Help me get home. You know you don’t want to see me in here.”

“Quit assuming you know me. I’m here to do a job, that’s all this is. I can’t give up my entire livelihood just to break you out.” You say roughly.

He leans towards you, big black tail swishing against the floor behind him. “But you feel it, don’t you? Something deeper.”

For a moment, you don’t know what he means. But then something inside you seems to click, and you recall that first day you saw him. When you’d met his eyes, and you’d felt that tug. A tug that came from some higher plane, a thing you had no control over. It made you feel right when you were near him but then felt wrong when you weren’t, like when you’d gone home and a new type of loneliness you’d never experienced before had consumed you. You’d chalked it up to just stress from the new assignment, and that’s exactly what you’ll do now. You have no idea what it could mean and despite your job, you don’t have an interest in finding out. Kylo smirks at you knowingly and you realize you haven’t dealt with someone this aggravating for a while.

You press stop on the voice note. “I think that’s about it for today.” You shove all your things in your bag, being less than gentle. You stand as the lights begin to dim for the evening, turning towards the door.

“Wait.”

You stop, even though it’s probably against your best interest. You twist your head to look back at Kylo.

“Don’t send them that recording.” He says. He doesn’t explain himself, he feels like he doesn’t have to. He knows you’ll understand. You hate that he’s right. You hesitate for a second, debating on whether to give him a response. You can’t promise you’ll do anything—this project would benefit heavily from it being known that he can speak and communicate but… it’ll probably only bring him harm. You want to slam your head into something. If you knew this damn assignment would cause so many conflicting ideas and emotions, you wouldn’t have accepted it. You rip open the door without saying a word to him.

When you get home that night, in the dimness of your living room with only the light of your laptop, you delete the voice note.

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Tags (comment if you’d like to be tagged next time!); @bullet-clubs-bitch @hazydespair

⇦ Part 1

Part 3 ⇨

[lala-ladybug]

Healing Hands: Ch 14

Jasonette Sword Art Online AU

Read here on AO3

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Chapter 14: Oh Maribug, what are we going to do with you?

Sleeping by Jason’s side was the best sleep Marinette had gotten all game. No nightmares, no waking up scared for herself or her friends. Well, she did wake up a blushing, nervous mess once she realized where she was, that is until Jason rolled over. She’d had to stifle her giggles at his incredibly adorable bedhead so as to not wake him. Then the morning light streaming in through the skylight made her actually feel... relaxed for once. There was something about that little cabin that helped her forget her persistent urge to beat the game. It pushed down the feeling of guilt for taking time for herself. It was hard to leave in the morning, and not just because the cozy pile of blankets appealed to her bug-like sensibilities.

The next week had her lying awake at night in her own bed, missing his warmth and the stories they shared. And the lack of nightmares. Luka had stopped joining her for late-night tea, but her subconscious hadn’t yet moved on. It didn’t take long for her to message Jason about tackling the next level. She’d need to buy some new gear for it though, there was no way she was going to be caught unprepared like last time.

But first she had to navigate the den of wolves that was her friends.

“Where are you going, Marinette,” Kagami asked sharply. The girl in question paused before the door, her hand raised to open it. She reminded herself that they were very caring wolves. But wolves nonetheless.

“They just beat level 67, I need new gear if I’m going to help clear out the next one in a few days,” she spoke without turning to look her friends in the eye.

Chloe and Adrien exchanged a worried glance. “Then give us a few minutes to get our stuff together, we’ll go with you,” Adrien caught Marinette’s arm gently and gave her a pleading look.

She didn’t quite look at his face as she forced a smile and replied, “No, you should all rest. It’s not a big deal, I’ll be back before you know it!”

Luka furrowed his brow and frowned when he heard the discordant notes in her song. It most certainly was a big deal, and Chloe said as much when Marinette went to open the door again.

Marinette sighed and finally turned to face them. “Seriously Chlo, it’s okay. I haven’t actually been getting that much sleep here, so I might as well do something useful if I’m going to be awake anyway.”

They hadn’t known about that, judging by their even more worried expressions at that statement. Good thing she hadn’t divulged the reasons why. They didn’t know about the nightmares that had been plaguing her even since before the beginning of the game. Adrien opened his mouth to protest again before Marinette cut him off.

“Look, I told Jason I’d meet him at the end of 67, so I won’t be going alone. I know you guys don’t like me spending time with him,” she held up her hands to placate their skeptical and outraged faces, “but we can trust him to have my back. I’m sure of it.”

Luka spoke up, “Mari, he’s killed other players. How can you say you trust him after that?”

Marinette fiddled with the straps of her backpack and looked down at her feet. “I told you that was a misunderstanding. Plus I don’t know how to describe it, but we just... get each other, you know?” She stopped fidgeting and squarely stood her ground, looking each member of her order in the eye. “Now I’m going whether you like it or not. I’ll be back tonight to prep and then I’ll head out in a few days.” She added, decisively, “Alone.”

She left and the door closed with a loud click that had a sense of finality to it. The Order stood in stunned and concerned silence until the door opened again, not a minute later. They all assumed defensive stances until they saw Marinette’s signature awkward grin as she poked her head around the door.

“Forgot my arrows,” she said sheepishly, then grabbed the quiver laying on a table and left once more.

Adrien heaved a heavy sigh. “Oh Maribug, what are we going to do with you?”

* * *

Marinette jauntily swung a basket from the crook of her elbow. It didn’t matter that whatever she purchased from the bustling market would automatically go into her inventory, it was the aesthetic that counted. She was currently parsing through different fabrics, having finally picked up the courage to try getting into the clothing design aspect of Mindscape. There was only so much she could do with Alchemy, which relied on objects that already exist. For a while, it was as close to creation as she dared go, but recently she’d been feeling more like herself and was finally ready to dust off her old hobbies.

Especially if they could help her protect the people she cared about.

She was comparing two fabric swatches and could tell the shopkeeper was getting impatient. Deciding to get both of them seemed to placate him, and she backed out of the shop with a smile.

Until she ran into someone, that is.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry--”

“Are you alright? I wasn’t paying attention to--”

The two dark-haired girls apologized simultaneously, then paused to giggle.

“I’m fine, thank you,” the taller girl placed her hand gently on Marinette’s shoulder.

“Me too, I’m so sorry, again,” she paused for a moment. “Wait, don’t I know you...?”

The taller girl blinked in surprise, then lit up with recognition. “Of course, you’re Jason’s girlfriend! I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Zatanna, we met in that cooking class you do every few weeks.”

Now that they were talking, Marinette did remember her but she’d called her Jason’s.... She thought she might explode from being called that of all things. She immediately started flailing her arms and stammering desperately.

“Oh, we’re not like that you see, he doesn’t-- I mean we don’t, well, it’s not!” she hid her fiercely blushing face in her hands and finished lamely, “I think you have the wrong idea....”

Zatanna laughed. “Sorry, sorry. My mistake, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Marinette risked a glance in between her fingers and decided the apology was genuine.

“So, what’s our local Cooking Mama doing in the clothing boutique district? Cute basket, by the way.”

The reference was lost on her, but Marinette replied, “Thank you! I’m actually going to try my hand at creating armor. Clothing design was something I enjoyed in the real world, but it’s been, ah, difficult to want to get back into it here.” She gave a bashful smile.

“Oh wow, no kidding? That sounds amazing!” Zatanna enthused as they made their way to a nearby bench. “Any special occasion?”

“Just trying to keep everyone safe,” Marinette shrugged nonchalantly as if it wasn’t her whole life’s purpose.

“Hear hear,” she replied emphatically. “I’m so glad those enchanted potions I gave Jason helped you guys out in that last level.”

Marinette paused, surprised. She’d completely forgotten to ask Jason where those water-breathing potions had come from. “Wait, you made those?” she asked.

“None other!” Zatanna gave a mock bow. “I’ve been outfitting our guild with enchanted goodies pretty much since day one,” she laughed a little to herself.

“Now that is an amazing talent! I can’t believe that you can make such cool potions like that,” she grinned.

Zatanna looked around, then leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “That’s not all I can do.”

Marinette, who had leaned forward as well, arched a playful eyebrow.

“Have you ever wanted to learn how to enchant armor?”

* * *

It was several hours later that Marinette and Zatanna were found laughing away in the latter’s custom forge. Marinette had never been to the Rocky Road guild house before, so Zatanna gave her a tour. It was a sprawling complex with a courtyard and had rooms, areas, and even entire buildings devoted to everything any of their members could possibly need.

She was introduced to a few of the people who were there. Some she recognized from the cooking class-- she found out their names were Wally and Artemis-- but most she didn’t know. While the tour was lovely, especially with her host, she was most intrigued by the two dark-haired boys that Zatanna gave her meaningful looks over.

Jason’s oh-so-despised brothers, it seems.

Tim was in the study, a veritable library with two-story-tall shelves packed to the brim. He was reading voraciously out of several books at a time and scribbling notes in the worst chicken scratch she’d ever seen. He barely reacted to them being there until Marinette introduced herself by name, then he was all ears. And eyes. Man, that guy had an intense stare. She could practically hear him analyzing her in his head, though she had no idea what conclusion he’d reached until Zatanna led them out into the courtyard and said he’d liked her.

There they met Jason’s older brother Dick, training with a hulk of a boy named Connor and a lean girl named Cassie. They were all really nice, and Marinette felt an instant connection. She even thought she might remember Connor from her cooking classes.

Dick was immensely pleased to know Jason had actually referred to himself and Tim as his brothers. She actually thought he was on the verge of tears, that is until Cassie tried to sneak in an attack on him with a kick to the legs and he had to flip to avoid it.

Marinette’s eyebrows rose to her hairline watching them spar. Dick almost seemed to float through the air, spinning and jumping around his opponent. He was clearly very practiced, and she was impressed.

Zatanna didn’t let her watch for long before steering them to the forge where she finally began teaching Marinette all she knew about enchanting. While it was possible to enchant pre-made armor, she said, it was much easier and more potent to imbue the metal while it was still molten.

With surprising strength, Zatanna showed her how to hammer and shape the pieces. It was much more difficult than she was expecting even with the abbreviated actions common to the game, but her new friend insisted she was a natural.

They were soon joined by a red-haired boy with a seemingly permanent scowl. Zatanna introduced him as Roy, which he acknowledged with a grunt. He was working on a warhammer, melting new steel into the cracks it had sustained from use. He came over to watch once Marinette returned from changing into a sleeveless shirt to hammer away at her own metal.

Zatanna guided Marinette through creating a set of armor entirely from scratch. They’d used some existing molds from a set she’d made before, one for Zatanna’s friend Jaime that they thought might fit Adrien. Roy gave tips here and there on the metalworking side of things, and Zatanna provided her expertise with the enchantments.

Several sweaty hours later, they were proudly brandishing a brand new set of full armor. It had several defensive enchantments detectable only in a faint, pulsating glow emanating from within the inlays of the armor’s decorative designs.

“I wonder if the same technique could be used on fabric while I sew....” Marinette wondered aloud.

“Oh we’re going to be best friends,” Zatanna grinned at her ingenuity.

They were still laughing and chatting later when Jason finally made it back from level grinding. Apparently he stopped by nearly every day before leaving again “once he got sick of them.” Marinette had stopped her work to take a dinner break at some point, having missed lunch while out shopping. And so Jason found the two girls, Dick, and Roy sitting at the breakfast bar without a care in the world, chatting over several plates of Marinette’s home-baked salmon.

“Oh hey Jaybird, you’ve got to try this! Mari’s an amazing cook,” Dick reached over to ruffle her hair, much to her annoyance.

“I know,” Jason grumbled in response, grabbing a plate and dishing himself a portion. “I was hoping to keep her away from you vultures.”

“Aw, is somebody jealous?” Roy pouted teasingly at him.

Jason stood over where Marinette was perched on a stool and placed his plate next to hers, proceeding to eat over her head. “I’ve never been jealous a day in my life.”

Dick snorted at that. “Tell that to Timmy,” he scoffed.

“‘B, he took my spot, make him stop!’” Roy mocked in falsetto, “‘That replacement could never be me.’”

Marinette peered up at her friend, catching him wince slightly at the dig.

“Whatever, we’re past that.”

Noticing Jason’s reaction, Dick shot Roy a sharp look and agreed in a low voice, “Leave it.”

“So what are you doing here Pixie?” Jason asked before helping himself to another forkful over her head. As fond as she was of their closeness, she really hoped he wouldn’t spill any of the dill sauce on her hair.

“Zatanna showed me how to enchant stuff! I made a set of armor for Adrien, but I’m really excited to try working it into clothing too.” She felt herself start to bounce in her seat but couldn’t bring herself to care. “She even said I’m welcome to come over and work in the forge any time I want!”

Jason groaned and she whipped around to glare at him. “And who let you be friends?” He asked.

“Technically, you did,” Zatanna mused. “You are the one who convinced her to set up those cooking classes, right?”

“My own worst enemy yet again,” he muttered in response.

Marinette giggled. The poor baby.

She stayed and chatted for a while longer, but as the sky began to darken, she excused herself to go back to her own guild so her friends wouldn’t send out search parties en masse.

Jason waved goodbye to her as she used the teleport crystal, and she held in a laugh at the playful punch and thumbs up he got from Roy as she returned the gesture.

When she returned to her own guild house, she was met with her Order standing watch. She gifted Adrien his new armor, which seemed to pacify him momentarily as he animatedly admired it, but she knew she wasn’t out of the woods with the rest of them.

“Will you please talk to us?” Chloe asked earnestly. Marinette winced at that. If Chloe was the one using the magic word, she had to be seriously worrying her friends. Maybe it was finally time to do this. Gods know they wouldn’t leave her alone until they talked. Plus the whole “doing everything on her own” thing wasn’t exactly sustainable. The first time she’d met Jason, when he rescued her in the snow, proved that.

“Okay,” she acquiesced reluctantly. “Can we sit?”

Luka nodded and they all gathered on the couches by the fireplace.

Marinette sighed. This talk was a long time coming, but she wasn’t ready for things to change. She knew it was stupid to just do it all herself, but.... She wasn’t ready to watch her friends get hurt all over again. She kept her gaze stubbornly on a very interesting spot on the floor.

“Look, I can’t shake my instincts from home,” she began, knowing they’d catch her meaning. “I need to get everyone out as fast as possible so things can go back to normal.”

“Marinette,” Kagami began in a tone that indicated she wouldn’t like whatever came next. “We all feel the same way. But the rest of us are not blowing each other off and running headlong into danger.”

“With a stranger, no less,” Luka added.

Adrien chimed in, “You need us as much as we need you. What happened to working together? The Order you made?”

“Okay! I get it,” Marinette raised her hands in surrender. “This doesn’t need to be an intervention. Can we please just have a conversation?”

“Fine. Why haven’t we seen you since level thirteen?” Adrien crossed her arms.

“You see me every day,” Marinette rolled her eyes.

“At breakfast and dinner, if that,” Luka said evenly.

“I’m busy helping at the front lines!”

“With Jason, but not us?” Kagami asked.

“He’s been... he’s different.”

Chloe, who had been quiet for some time, burst out tearfully, “Why can’t you look at me?”

Marinette bit her lip. “I... I can’t see you get hurt like that again.” Her voice cracked. She thought her heart might join it.

Chloe reached for her hands and Marinette tried to control the shaking.

“Dupain-Cheng, do you think you’re the only one who cares? The only one here who wants to save everyone and go home?”

Marinette finally raised her eyes to meet her friend’s and felt her heart clench at the tears he saw in them. “Of course not,” she whispered, not trusting her voice to be any louder than that.

Adrien knelt on the floor in front of her and placed his hands over theirs. “Then let us help you. Please.”

That was all it took for her to break.

She told them of her nightmares and fears. How she had started adventuring with Jason because she didn’t know him and she’d convinced herself that it would make it easier to handle if he got hurt. How she’d realized too late that she’d grown to care for him, but he insisted he was going to keep fighting at the front lines anyway, so she had to stick with him. That earned a facepalm from Adrien, who grumbled that they should have done the same.

Marinette gave a watery chuckle. She really was being silly, wasn’t she? Strength in numbers was everything back in Paris, why wouldn’t it be the same here? Half of the wonderful people surrounding her joined the Order because she couldn’t do it alone. And she’d never been alone, she’d always had Adrien by her side. She squeezed his hand with a small, grateful smile.

She wiped at her damp eyes. “Oh, there was something... else I almost forgot,” she began nervously. Her friends nodded and gestured for her to go on.

“There was one time where Jason almost died. I mean, he had one HP left. I was so terrified I dropped all the healing potions and they broke. But then I reached out my hands and... I accidentally might have healed him?�� She finished nervously.

“With Alchemy?” Adrien prompted.

“No,” Marinette bit her lip. “It was more like... like creation magic.”

Her friends stared at her, quiet in thought.

“...Have any of you had that?” she asked them, but she knew the answer from the bemused look in their eyes.

“I looked into in-game healing mechanics, but I couldn’t find anything even close to what happened. What I did,” she heaved a sigh.

“Hey, whatever it was, we’ll figure it out together,” Adrien squeezed her hand back.

Luka tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe it was out of desperation at the situation,” he mused, “like those rare circumstances where mothers get an adrenaline rush and can lift a car to save their child.”

“You do seem to care an awful lot about Jason,” Chloe smirked playfully. Marinette blushed profusely, too tired to deny anything by this point.

“We can set out researching it in the morning,” Kagami reasoned, carefully layering blankets over the others on the couch. “It’s late and we need our rest.”

Marinette was indeed yawning. It would be difficult to swallow back her reservations in the morning, but for now, it was enough to be surrounded by people who loved her. And surround her they did, in a tangle of limbs and floppy hair buried beneath a mound of pillows and blankets on the couches of their living room.

Her eyelids were heavy from crying. She barely stayed conscious enough to lift her head for Luka to place a pillow beneath it. Her friends-- her court,  her Order-- only let her drift off into sleep with the assurance that this conversation was not over until they had fixed things for the future.

She supposed she had bigger problems than her friends caring about her.

* * *

A few days after Marinette visited his guild, Jason was surprised to find a package delivered to the doorstep of his cottage. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, knowing that nobody knew where he lived--

Well, almost nobody.

He gingerly unfolded the card tucked into the top of the wrapping to reveal a flowing script that read, Something to keep you safe. -M. The back stated, P.S. It’s time for you to meet my friends. They insist.

He smiled as he opened the rest of the package, no longer apprehensive but instead excited, and found a striking set of armor with neatly folded clothes to wear underneath it. The armor was a deep maroon with black accents that seemed to pulse with life. The sturdy black undershirt and pants were light and breathable but thick, with shimmering gold detailing the seams and delicate runes stitched into the fabric.

In other words, it was fucking sick.

And he knew exactly who he had to thank for it.

[mountphoenixrp]

We have a new citizen in Mount Phoenix:

          Vitas Halvorsen, a 25 year old son of Odin.           He is an archivist at Phoenix Library & Museum.

FC NAME/GROUP:  Zhang Xincheng (Steven Zhang) CHARACTER NAME:  Vitas Halvorsen AGE/DATE OF BIRTH:  25 years.  Born April 1998. PLACE OF BIRTH:  Ásbyrgi Canyon, Iceland OCCUPATION:  Phoenix Library & Museum Archivist and Freelance Information Broker HEIGHT:  5'10"/177 cm WEIGHT: 146 pounds/66 kg DEFINING FEATURES:  Svelte figure somewhat emaciated in appearance, pitch black eyes that often have dark circles under them, silver-rimmed reading glasses, blind in his left eye, skin pale and very cold to the touch, old surgical scar mid-sternum, bruises easily, only wears black or white or grey, never wears color, med alert bracelet, smart watch for monitoring heart rate, indiscernible dialect.

PERSONALITY:  Vitas was born with a hole in his heart and it shows.  His time is precious and he will not waste it on something or someone he interprets as inconsequential, so he often comes off as cold and uninterested.  It is extremely difficult for him to make lasting connections with others due to a general distrust in people and he is an exceedingly guarded person; however, once he does make a meaningful connection, his loyalty is without fault considering the painstakingly complicated levels one must break through in order to achieve such a status with him.  A smile from Vitas is extremely rare.  He prefers people who are honest and direct with him rather than those who use superficial speech and flattery.  However, he does have a secret passion for poetry and someone truly heartless would not be able to write such beautiful prose…right?  Oddly enough, he seems to have a strong affinity with ravens, wolves, and horses.  He does not hesitate to vocalize his frustrations, but he does so with an eerily calm demeanor.  He will also not hesitate to bluntly correct someone when they are wrong or confront them for lying.  There is only one thing he fears and death is NOT it.  Very rarely does he raise his voice, mostly speaking with a monotonous and almost mechanical baritone.  Vitas is OBSESSED with learning everything that he possibly can, from reading books, to studying online, to people-watching.  To hear him speak the words “I don’t know” would be a rare feat.  He strongly advocates AGAINST gatekeeping knowledge of any kind and if he has the answer to a question, then he will give it; if he does not have an answer, then he will find it.  Has this been known to cause a bit of chaos?  Absolutely.  Does he care?  Not one bit.

He is VERY particular about routine and is an extremely clean and organized person.  It is common to see him with a cup of coffee which he really should not be drinking due to his heart condition, but if he is sleeping then he is not reading.  However, even when he sleeps, he maintains lucidity, relives memories and reviews information while dreaming.  He is able to recall every second of his life since the moment of his birth.  Because he is so transfixed on studying, he often forgets to eat and will only grab a quick bite when he remembers or just so he does not take his medicine on an empty stomach.  He is insanely efficient with regard to research and finding the desired answers, practically a living Google search engine.  Physically, his health is tragically fragile, but he is extremely resourceful.

HISTORY:   [Trigger warnings–Death, murder, violence, gore, torture, sexual assault, child abandonment, cannibalism]

Adelheid Halvorsen was hiking with her sister Marta to see the Northern Lights, celebrating her recent retirement.  In the still of the Wednesday night, amid the silence of the cold, neither expected to hear the squawking of ravens.  They scrambled in the dark to find the lifeless body of what had once been a beautiful woman, her throat slit and eyes being plucked out by two large, black birds.  Beside her, an infant barely even clothed with a blood-stained blanket was almost as pale as the snow upon which he had fallen, still and silent.  While Marta shooed away the ravens and checked the woman for a pulse, Adelheid gathered the baby and examined him.  Finding him to be alive and the mother dead, the siblings rushed to the nearest town for medical assistance and police were dispatched to the scene.  It was a miracle the newborn was alive–not just from surviving cold exposure within hours of his birth, but also he had been born with a hole in his heart which prompted a prolonged admission to the NICU.  Upon discovering the mother’s identity, her own parents underwent a gruesome investigation.  They confessed their daughter had not wanted the child and had tried everything to rid herself of the fetus.  When the baby was born, she wanted nothing to do with it yet did not want to be tied to it in any way; if she could not kill the child, then she would let nature do it for her and leave the newborn in the freezing canyon to die.  Her killer, however, was never caught.

Never had she expected that in her retirement she would become a mother, but after learning the newborn’s own grandparents were despicable monsters themselves, Adelheid offered to adopt the boy after having no children of her own.  She named him Vitas, meaning “life-giving”.  Vitas was a very quiet and withdrawn child which was often attributed to his physical ailment, having undergone several operations as an infant.  Before the age of three, it was apparent to Adelheid that she had a prodigy on her hands because Vitas learned things at a frighteningly fast pace and was fiercely independent.  She likened living with him to having a very intelligent but finicky cat for a roommate.  While others were often unnerved by his presence and despite his biological grandparents insisting he was an abomination, Adelheid still loved him and reminded Vitas of this each night.  It was important to her that he understood he was loved–because a monster was not a monster when it was loved.  He could read, speak in full sentences, and had a nearly breathtaking knack for writing exquisite poetry for someone so young; in fact, he seemed wise far beyond his years and remembered everything with astounding accuracy.  Adelheid discovered fairly early on that the boy could not see out of his left eye which doctors attributed to a blockage in the vessels they had missed during one of his many procedures.  Due to his physical limitations, he spent most of his time indoors with his nose buried in a book.  However, she also noticed he did not have interest in playing with her grandnieces and grandnephews his own age.  He had no interest in making friends at school or on the playground, more interested in playing Chess and Go with the old men at the park or frequenting the library; but the only company he truly cared about was Adelheid.  She was the only person who mattered in his world. 

And then she was gone.  At the age of ten, Vitas woke to find Adelheid unresponsive on the bathroom floor.  She had been so concerned about his health that she had neglected her own warning signs, thinking the pressure in her chest was just heartburn.  Despite his best efforts with chest compressions, Vitas and the paramedics were unable to revive her.  After the frail boy over-exerted himself trying to save Adelheid, Vitas himself suffered a cardiac episode that landed him another extended hospital stay.  He blamed himself for Adelheid’s death–if he hadn’t been asleep, then he would have seen the signs, could have caught it early, could have saved her.  Suddenly, there was no one left to love him, no one left to tell Vitas that he was not a monster.  His grandparents still wanted nothing to do with him.  Marta took custody of Vitas, but was deeply unnerved by the boy’s closed-off demeanor and struggled to connect with him, especially since she was very outgoing and enjoyed her social life as well as time with her own children and grandchildren.  Vitas became more like a shadow of a person and she often forgot he was there due to his quiet and independent nature.

Marta barely noticed that Vitas learned languages quickly; his excuse was that he wanted to learn everything and he could not do that if he did not understand the language the information was in.  When his teachers began suggesting to Marta that he skip grades due to his intelligence, she finally took note of him.  He became more of a commodity to her, just a way to get attention from people by bragging about his academic accomplishments, but she still treated him more as an obligatory guest than family.  He graduated high school at the age of twelve and was accepted to Bifröst University to study linguistics.  However, as a minor, he required a legal guardian and Marta was unwilling to move but also unwilling to part with the accolades that came with having a young genius, so her son took physical custody of the boy while Marta remained his official guardian.  Her son, Jakoby, was not a pleasant person.  He did not like how Vitas always corrected him and called out his blatant lies; he didn’t like how Vitas never laughed or showed any emotion; he didn’t like how Vitas required so much medical maintenance; he didn’t like that his mother was more interested in Vitas’s accomplishments than his own; but he DID like how pretty Vitas was.  And with how weak the boy was, it wasn’t like he could fight against the assaults of a full grown man.

Until he did fight back.  The first night, he was a victim.  The second night, he studied.  The third night, it was his turn to teach Jakoby a lesson.  After inducing a cardiac episode at school, he stole ketamine from the hospital along with other supplies including a scalpel which he snuck out in his backpack.  He made a quick stop at the grocery for other ingredients and returned home.  That evening, Jakoby wondered why the kitchen floor was covered in plastic tarps just as he felt the sharp prick of a needle in his thigh.  He fell to the floor, still conscious but paralyzed and unable to speak.  Vitas had no expression on his face as he flipped the man over, removed his clothes, and proceeded to castrate him with surgical precision, coldly describing every cut along the way with a heartless monotone.  Feeling the man’s blood oozing onto his hands had been the first time those fingers had felt warm since before Adelheid’s death.  Once he had sutured the wounds, he taped Jakoby’s wrists and legs together and nonchalantly prepared a pot of dumplings out of his minced genitals which he then proceeded to feed to his tearful and fearful abuser once the sedative had worn off.  Vitas informed Jakoby that if he ever told anyone what had happened, if he ever touched Vitas again, then Vitas would kill him, that Vitas already had complete access to his bank accounts, his emails, knew enough about his work and work relationships to imitate him without anyone being the wiser.  His studies and adolescence continued without further incident from Jakoby, who now feared the little monster under his roof and could tell no one.

Once graduating with a Bachelor’s in Linguistics at the age of fourteen, Vitas continued his education to obtain his Master’s and ultimately his Doctorate, graduating summa cum laude at the age of 21.  Because of his fluency in several languages, the university hired him as a translator, putting him to work not just with classes traveling to other countries, but also with upgrading their website to multiple languages in order to reach a broader variety of students outside of Iceland; he even taught English to several business professors and did some private tutoring on the side for other languages.  While he was at it, might as well digitalize the entire university library and learn computer code for fun.  Who knew hacking would be so easy?  And boring, honestly.  But what he found to be most satisfying as well as lucrative was selling information.  People wanted to know very personal and private details that may be difficult to obtain, but Vitas rose to the challenge and excelled.  Studying international law would be beneficial, too, so that was next on his list.  Several successful predictions regarding financial investments landed him quite the substantial albeit secret wealth that he merely used to fund further research.  While accompanying a class to serve as translator in South Korea, Vitas noticed a pair of large ravens nearly everywhere he went.  Despite having been born only hours before their first meeting, he recognized the pair immediately, recalled the night he had been found in the canyon, recalled how it had been their talons that had slashed his mother’s throat, had been the ones to draw Adelheid near to find him.  Once the class had boarded the plane to return to Iceland, he noticed the ravens still on the wing of the craft and took it as a sign.  He excused himself, took his luggage, and followed the birds to a bridge.  That bridge led him to Mount Phoenix and ultimately the truth behind his heritage when the ravens, Huginn and Muninn, told him the identity of his father and Vitas found a new home as well as an opportunity to learn from the gods themselves.

PANTHEON:  Norse CHILD OF:  Odin POWERS: 

Rapid Integration–Vitas is able to absorb information near-instantly.  Once learned, it’s in his memory for life.

Total Recall–With a perfect memory, all information Vitas has ever learned can be recalled with frightening accuracy.  In fact, he can even recall the moment he was born.

Muscle Memory–Much like his mind, his muscles are able to recall any physical move he makes; however, due to his health, he is very weak with poor endurance or stamina.

STRENGTHS:  

Resourceful–Vitas is quite astute in using his surroundings, knowledge, and people to complete any task.

Intelligent–Due to his eidetic memory, he recalls everything he has ever learned.

Omniglot–Due to his ability to learn things almost instantly, he speaks and reads many languages including Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Greek, Portuguese, Latin, Romanian, Russian, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Thai, Braille, Morse Code, and sign language (American and Chinese).  He is ALWAYS in the process of mastering a new language.

Master Strategist–He is able to calculate moves far in advance, making him exceptionally good at correctly predicting what someone will do or how they will react; he is also quite adept at Go and Chess.

Puzzle Wizard–Vitas can solve most riddles, puzzles, cryptographs, and mysteries within moments.  He actually loves a good challenge.

WEAKNESSES:  

Paranoid–Due to past experiences, he is not at all trusting of people and often suspects everyone around him to have ulterior motives.

Standoffish–Vitas is not a friendly person; he comes off as cold and distant and is not a fan of idle chatter or schmoozing for the sake of connecting with strangers.

Obsessive–If something strikes his interest, he HAS to thoroughly research it, be it a book or a person; they are one in the same.

Stubborn–Once he sets his mind to something, it is nearly impossible to change it.

Physically Weak–His mental capacity may be formidable, but his body is significantly frail; easy fatigability. 

[sapphiredhearts-a]

esme cullen headcanons : vampire life

carlisle was the first face esme saw upon reawakening . there was a lot of pain and she could not speak but she watched him . due to the pain in her human life & the pain still in her heart - it was easy not to cry out while she burned . carlisle stayed with her every second saying nothing .

when she finally could relax , esme spoke her first sentence . what happened ? she wanted to know . carlisle seemed surprised that she had caught on to something strange but esme was no fool . she knew she should be dead - wanted to be dead . and the pain had not been normal . she sat quietly while carlisle explained . all esme did was nod and turn her head , sitting blankly there for almost two days .

carlisle worried but he mostly let her be in the room in silence . eventually , esme came to terms with her new life . she believed in fate & thought that vampire life could not be worse than her human life had been . she easily accepted the new changes & tried her best to adjust to her new role in the universe .

It was hard for her to be surrounded by edward & carlisle . she found she did not trust them & often did not speak in their presence . she was surprised when carlisle gave her money to buy whatever would make her comfortable - charles had never let her have her own things . but soon she bought gardening items as well as books to occupy her time .

with these hobbies esme started to find her old self & soon she found herself easing up around both men . edward was easy to love - despite how sad he often seemed & she soon became a parental figure to him . she reminded him of his mother , he said , and she did her best to live up to the observation . carlisle was even easier to love - simply based on how his goodness seemed to shine through him . once she was able to trust him , love soon followed . he was the prince she had dreamed about & she felt fate had finally given her a better life .

the hardest part of being a vampire was the bloodlust . it was harder for esme than the others . she did not have carlisle's innate humanity nor edward's ability to hear thoughts . what she did have was her compassion & it was enough to keep her adjusted to their lifestyle for a time . over the years , though , esme lost control on different occasions & for different reasons . every time she did she felt horrid & would be almost inconsolable to everyone around her . in a way this helped her get closer to carlisle - as he was the only one who seemed to be able to calm her . it was with a great force of will that she became good at being a vegetarian vampire .

because of her bloodlust , esme decided not pursue a career or education like the others . she did eventually get degrees online for certain things but she never taught again . instead she focused her time on building homes & other buildings as well as decorating , gardening , writing , and reading . she enjoyed music , although she did not have a talent for it .

things finally seemed peaceful for esme & she adapted well after a time . with each addition to their family esme was always the one to accept them the quickest & become closer to them usually before anybody else . she enjoyed the company & fought to keep her family together .

an important thing to remember about the cullen family is how they all worked to be able to shield their thoughts from edward . they could do it to varying degrees & in varying ways . so when bella swan came into the picture - it was easy for edward to believe that esme was simply happy because he was happy at last . and in a way , she was . so this is what she focused on in his presence .

however , there was more to the story than that . bella complicated things for esme . for one - esme loved forks the most out of all the places they settled . if things went wrong it would be a very long time before they could return - maybe never if the wolves came back . this was the most selfish reason .

other reasons were more family centered . she was afraid what losing control might do to edward . he had been arguably the most morose of her family & she knew that if he harmed bella he would never be the same and may even revert to his old ways of harming humans . she also feared for the persecution of her family - the way they would have to cover their tracks & the divide it might cause . alice was so sure things would go well & esme was not sure how that would affect her relationship with the others . she somewhat agreed with rosalie that by being near bella - edward was being selfish .

over time esme grew to love bella as a person . it wasn't hard to do , bella reminded esme a lot of herself as a girl & she could see the love between her and edward . this made her even more anxious . she did not want to see bella harmed nor did she know if becoming a vampire would be good for bella . she almost wished they had never come back to forks - to spare bella & her family from everything .

[atlaswilliams]

"Seventy seems low for you, so no. I'm not buying it." By comparison, Atlas felt as if he knew nothing at all about the world and the life he lived. It wasn't on the account of her making him feel inferior, but how could anyone stand next to a Bailey and feel as if they'd lived at all? "What do I want? Damn, that's a tough question. Hearing you tell the world that you got bested would be a good one. Especially if I can get a one Theo Bailey upfront and center. A high five is lame. I'm more of a fist bumping guy. I guess if I really have to choose just one," he trailed off, anticipation dripping off his words as his grin slowly grew wider, "then I'm going with a home cooked meal. I'd be an idiot if I passed that up. I think you know what I'm picking too." It was her personal favorite and a dish he'd come to quite enjoy himself, but hadn't had the privilege of enjoying in months.

His passion matched hers in the sense that the wolves were his life, just as research, education, and discovery was hers. While he wasn't the sharpest mind in studies that mattered to the rest of the world, someone would have done well to know more about wolves than he did. Between his time at the rescue and the education he'd obtained at University, it was the one thing he'd always taken seriously enough to give a damn about. Even at his lowest points, the wolves mattered the most. "You should do that thing that people do sometimes, I think it's called taking a break? It could be good for you. I promise things won't fall apart in your absence and if they do, you can blame me for pulling you outta there for a day." She was an important piece to the puzzle at her job, but one day away wouldn't send any establishment crashing to the ground below... he hoped. "I hope so. I'm doing everything I read online. Even singing her a few tunes in the morning. Something about manifestation?" If he believed hard enough, then it would be.

Patience was a virtue. He'd been told such a thousand times and he'd never truly realized what it meant until he'd become a father. Patience meant waiting for a tantrum to pass. Patience meant staring your child in the eyes while they openly defied a very simple request. Patience meant answering every question that left your daughter shot off, even if you don't know the answer.

But this? Waiting for a simple yes or no? It was the most torturous thing that he'd ever experienced in his thirty-something years of living.

Her silence was enough of an answer, as was her gentle plea of his name. Rather than argue in a battle he would never win, he dropped his gaze from hers and focused on a worn wooden board at his feet. She could blame herself all she wanted, but the fix to the silence between them had worked both ways. Sure, she could have called, but he couldn't blame her for staying silent. After all, why would she reach out to a man who'd basically left her behind? A man who hadn't even called to let her know that he'd landed safely, or that he was appreciative of everything she and her family had done for him in those three weeks.

The guilt buckled down and made a home in his chest, but he did his best to mask the overwhelming heaviness that settled there. This wasn't about him. It was about her and her health. Health that had severely been affected by the birth of their daughter and now, she was facing that battle again. "You can't promise that," he countered quietly, voice weak. So much for manifesting anything, right? "I want to believe that you will be, because I can't... I can't do this without you. So, I'm going to believe that you're going to be fine, but you can't... you can't promise that." Alex needed her mother and that wasn't going to change. Atlas needed her too, but it felt selfish beyond his means to mention it. "If something changes... just promise me that you won't try and hide it."

She snort slightly at his words. "You didn't cheat, the same way I don't know seventy languages," she mused. Unable to hide her smile any longer. After all, it was purely based out of fun. And she knows she'll have plenty of other opportunities to best him. Or at least, she hopes she will. The realization was near sobering yet she tried not to show it. Clearing her throat, Asli's head tilted as she looked up at him. "Considering what a special occasion this is, I suppose you deserve a prize for outwitting me. What will it be, hm? Home cook meal? A public service announcement telling the whole world? A high five? Whatever you wish, I'll do it." It was easier to play into their little rivalry than to remain stuck on the unpredictable future. At least, in the moment, she could pretend that everything is fine. That after all the ups and downs they've gone through the past two and a half years together, they could have a moment of peace and joy together. Even if it may be one of their last times together having it.

For all of her life, the most consistent thing she could turn to that could never fail her or break her trust was learning. Her curiosity and sense of wonder. There was so much to learn, after all. Both through books and experiences. Asli could admit that she's been privilege enough to have opportunities to have both, thanks to being adopted by the Baileys. Yet she wasn't blind over the fact that not everyone had those same opportunities as her, such as the man before her. It was why she made sure that he got to do and learn and see as much as possible while they were together; She wanted to try to give him as much of the same opportunities she got to have. Though, they ended up teaching each other and learning from one another in the end. His offer caused a smile to grace her features. Maybe not soon, but eventually. "I'll take you up on that offer when I can. It's been too long since I've been out there, I miss my little wolf friends." Learning about Atlas' own endeavors with plant care caused her smile to grow. It was moments like this where she wanted to tell him she told him so and that his fears of being a good father were only that: fears. "Please update me on your project. I'm sure it's going to grow strong."

It felt cruel to give him an answer. Especially the answer that rang true the most in her heart. The answer that, while would not change the past, could affect their relationship they've build together ever since reuniting and him learning about Alex. The answer that could make things worse instead of better, even though it was the truth. And for a moment, she hoped that by not answering him and trying to move on, that it could help in some way. That he, too, would move on from this conversation. That he wouldn't linger on the past a single longer.

She was a fool for hoping such a thing. Especially with the look on Atlas' features. It was in that moment she knew she failed. All of these years, she was trying to protect their daughter and him. That had been her greatest concern. Yet as she looked at him, as her silent answer lingered in the air between him, as he realized that she would've told him had he reached out, she knew that she failed at protecting him. "Las," she whimpered softly. Yet there was nothing she could do or say that could fix this. God, it's all my fault, she thought to herself. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for hurting you. I'm so sorry for causing you pain. Please... Please, I'm so sorry, Yankee. You deserve so much better. You always have. You always will.

But what good are apologies that won't change the past?

It felt wrong to tell him about the baby right now. To rip the band-aid again after such earth-shattering news that changed everything he thought he knew about their daughter's pregnancy and birth. Yet, if she doesn't tell him now, she knew she never will. That her courage would escape her. She remained quiet for a moment as he took the news in, struggling to breathe as she watched him. She knew that he wouldn't have the same reaction as he had about Theo. Yet... She didn't doubt that this was still a hard pill to swallow.

Asli smiled softly at his whispered word, yet it didn't reach her eyes. She looked away from him and back to her bump, her fingers gently caressing it before she sat back down. In many ways, there was something about him seeing her this far in her pregnancy. She knew that he was meant to see her like this, but with Alex. And that left her full of guilt and shame. Quietly, her dark eyes glanced back up at him for a moment at his questions. "I'm... I'm alright. Some days are better than others. Some days..." Lips pressing together, it felt cruel to continue that. It felt cruel to admit that it was nearly the same as last time. The anthropologist cleared her throat and shook her head, looking up at him as she said, "I'm... I-I'm going to be okay, Las. I promise. I'm... I'm going to be okay. Everything will be okay..." ||📜@atlaswilliams

[dialovers-lover-xoxo]

Trigger Warning: Miscarriages. The miscarriage isn’t seen or described, this is only describing the boys’ reactions to their wife having one, but if you’re sensitive to things like this you may not want to read past the cut

Shu

——-

Shu holds onto you, tears slipping down his cheeks. He never could’ve imagined that pain like this existed. He rests his hand on your stomach for a second before pulling away as if he’s been electrocuted. Everything hurts. Shu wants to give up like he always does, he wants to run and hide like he did when he was a child. But he knows he can’t, so he doesn’t.

Reiji

——-

Reiji is furious. He planned everything perfectly. He gave you only the best meals, the best possible medicine, he chose the best doctors in the best hospital, he did everything he could’ve. He’s shocked and he’s angry. How could it have gone wrong? He feels like a failure. He failed as a husband, he failed as a father. He’s there for you but barely talks to anyone else.

Ayato

———

After the initial shock, Ayato feels blinding rage. He storms up to the doctor and yells at him, screaming that it was his job to take care of the baby and have it delivered safely, shouting that he’s a failure, Ayato needs to be dragged out by security. When he goes home and sees you in bed, your cheeks stained with tears, he wraps his arms around you and the two of you sit in silence, staring at your stomach.

Kanato

————-

In a rare instance of Kanato being reasonable, Kanato doesn’t blame you. He knows you loved the baby and never would’ve hurt it. But that doesn’t mean no one’s at fault. No matter how desperately you tried to convince him not to, Kanato killed the doctors and nurses ruthlessly. They’re experts, how did they not keep the baby safe? How did they fail? They are worthless failures that don’t deserve to live. He’ll cut them to pieces and burn their bodies. When he finally calms down and goes to you, he tells you that your baby is avenged.

Laito

———

Laito doesn’t even remember how to smile. He doesn’t remember what it feels like to not be heartbroken. He holds onto you tightly and cries. He begs the doctors to do something but when they can’t he just falls to his knees. He doesn’t fall into denial, but he falls into a depression.

Subaru

————-

Subaru is at fault, he’s sure of it. If a monster like him hadn’t impregnated you, you would’ve given birth to a beautiful, healthy child. For a few days he disappears and he destroys everything in his path. It’s only until 3 days later when Shu slaps him across the face and yells at him that Subaru goes back home and apologizes for his absence. He holds you and cries quietly.

Ruki

———

For once, Ruki isn’t calm and composed. The look on his face is murderous but when he sees you crying he knows the last thing yu needs is him yelling and getting violent. Like Reiji, he’s shocked because he was so prepared. His mind is full of “what if’s” as he cycles through anything he could’ve done differently, better.

Kou

——

Kou doesn’t care about his career anymore. He snaps at his managers and fans. He nearly attacked someone who asked how his pregnant wife was doing and when someone wanted an interview about him approaching parenthood, he lost his shit. He just wants to spend all his time at home, holding you. He’s never felt so helpless and miserable.

Yuma

———-

Yuma has to be restrained by all three of his brothers to prevent him from attacking the doctors. Your pleadings for him to calm down and telling him it’s not their fault just doesn’t register, his mind is full of the most extreme anger he’s ever felt. He looks at his garden and destroys it. He was so excited to garden with his child and now his child is gone. He holds you tightly and his tears fall into your hair.

Azusa

———-

Azusa is completely in denial. He just can’t believe that his baby is dead. He goes to dozens of doctors, dozens of hospitals, clinics, he researches online, he looks for medicine, he tries everything he can for months before finally accepting nothing can be changed. He cries while holding you every night.

Carla

———

Carla blames the doctors. He did everything right, so it must be their fault. He’s angered because he wants to carry on founder blood but he’s always genuinely heart-broken because he loves his child. They don’t wait long before trying for a baby again.

Shin

———

Shin is mostly angry because he wants to carry on the founder blood but he is genuinely sad about losing his child. He’ll most likely send his wolves after the doctors, have them bring them home and torture the hell out of them or just leave them in a cell to rot. Like with Carla, he doesn’t wait long before trying again.

Kino

———

Kino is more heartbroken than furious. He knows deep down he shouldn’t blame the doctors but he still needs to be held back when yelling at them because everyone thought he was going to attack. He holds you and cries.

[gernades]

*ahem* “I’m a monster, you know. One of the dangerous ones.” (you know which pairing)

Red is rapidly becoming one of Nancy’s least favorite colors, simply because it is so goddamn hard to wash out of clothing.

Nancy wrinkles her nose. And off of skin.

Stained clothes are the least of her problems right now, though, if the trio of angry werewolves circling her are to be taken seriously.

The fourth lies motionless on the ground. It tried to take a bite out of her, and now it's dead. And all over her nice blouse.

Nancy lifts her specially modified shotgun ( silver plated and full of silver bullets, courtesy of one Ned Nickerson) and aims it at the closest lycanthrope. “If you guys could just cooperate with me, we wouldn’t be here.”

The largest wolf, a female with jet-black fur, snorts. “You hunters are all the same. Shoot first, talk later. This time, we bite first.”

Nancy heaves an exasperated sigh. She’s been tracking this pack for a week; an anonymous caller had left a tip at the office that linked the weres to a string of brutal murders along the coast. She’s very tired, and very ready for a glass of white wine.

“Twelve hikers have been killed in the last twelve weeks. Do you have any idea who- or what- might be behind it?”

There’s an unnatural silence.

Two of the wolves exchange a look. It’s brief, but Nancy catches it. She’s good at catching things. It’s why she’s the top monster hunter in the country. “You do know.”

“We know nothing,” the alpha snarls. She swings her head around. “But if I were you, I’d seek out the biter in the forest’s heart. Let us be.”

Nancy lowers her gun. “The biter?”

But she’s talking to nothing but the silent pine trees; the wolves are gone. Blink and you’ll miss em.

Nancy clucks her tongue and holsters her gun next to her rosary and stake.

“Biters,” she murmurs, mind racing.

Vampires.

***

Finding vampires are hard enough when they’re in covens: locating a lone vampire in the woods is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Nancy stops to ask everything she sees about the solitary vampire- trolls, goblins, fairies- and they all say the same thing as the wolves:

The biter in the heart of the woods might know.

The lack of cooperation and information might throw off a less competent hunter, but Nancy Drew is Nancy Drew, and she is her mother’s daughter.

The trees grow older and taller the further Nancy walks.

Birdsong fades and so does the wind: the stillness that hangs in the air is unnatural. Dead, even.

It takes nearly a full day of walking, navigating, and following the tug in Nancy’s gut to reach the biter. The trees part into a clearing, and in that clearing lies a little log cabin.

Nancy shifts uneasily on her feet. It’s clearly been well-kept- there are no leaves on the porch, and firewood is piled against one side of the cabin- but it feels dangerous.

It feels heavy. Nancy licks her lips and moves forward in a low crouch, her fingers brushing against the pewter stakes hanging from her belt.

If she can get to the window, she can probably crawl inside. Monsters usually don’t bother with locks.

“Can I help you?”

Nancy stifles a gasp and spins around.

A man- no, a vampire- is standing there, one eyebrow arched. He’s tall, with shaggy hair and loose cotton clothing. A broad straw hat covers his face and shoulders from the dim sunlight.

There’s a wicker basket of what looks like carrots under his arm.

He looks nothing like a vampire, but the slight flash of fang protruding from his upper lip gives him away.

Nancy blinks. “Uh.”

The vampire squints down at her. “Are you looking for the farmers market? It’s down that way.” He points down a dark, thorny path on the opposite side of the little clearing.

“No,” Nancy manages. She clears her throat. “I mean, no thank you. I’m looking for you, actually. I think.” His eyes are shockingly warm for a vampire.

Gentle, even. Nancy immediately banishes that thought.

The vampire hums. “Are you going to kill me?” There’s something melancholy to his words.

Nancy feels a sudden surge of pity for this strange carrot-carrying creature.

“I don’t think so. I think you might be able to help me solve a murder case, though.”

“I can,” the vampire says, his demeanor brightening immediately. “I’ve been tracing things online for months.”

Nancy stares up at him incredulously. “You own a computer?”

He frowns, clearly offended. “Yes? This is the twenty-first century, after all.”

“It is,” Nancy agrees. She cautiously offers a hand; the vampire stares at it like it might bite him. “I’m Nancy Drew.”

“I know,” the vampire murmurs. “You can call me Ace.” He reaches out a gloved hand tentatively. He pauses just before her fingers. “I’m a monster, you know. One of the dangerous ones.”

Nancy swallows and slides her fingers around his in a loose handshake. She’s not expecting the tingle of electricity that shoots up her arm, and has to fight to keep her expression composed.

“I’ve met a lot of monsters over the course of my job.” She looks up, gaze even. “And a lot of them are human.”

Something flickers across Ace’s face, but it’s gone quicker than Nancy can read it. “I look forward to working with you, Nancy Drew.”

“So do I,” Nancy replies. It takes her a long moment to realize that they’re still holding hands.

This is going to be interesting.

(The pewter stakes rest heavy against her hip.)

[themadauthorshatter]

... I just love OTPs, I can't help it.

OTP HEADCANONS: 2020 Edition

These will include the series of Red Queen, Dorothy Must Die, SGE, The Folk of The Air, and Nightmare Before Christmas(I'll throw in the Skellington kids, too, because I love them💙)

MAJOR TW FOR ALL THE EVENTS THAT OCCURED IN 2020, AND THAT INCLUDES QUARANTINE.

RED QUEEN:

At the news of a Pandemic, Mare and Cal are equally confused and scared, but at least they're not on the battlefield.

They hold up in Paradise Valley until the quarantine is lifted.

It starts off fine with them doing puzzles, hiking, and doing some exercises to pass the time. Then 3 weeks pass and both are bored; Mare's bored enough to drink coffee onto of the fridge and Cal's sitting in a chair upside down because fuck court etiquette, he's so bored.

Cal contemplates luring wolves with dinner scraps again.

They had a mini argument that meant nothing because Cal's hair got long and he wanted Mare to cut it, she but only offered to shave his stubble, not cut his hair.

They both get a lot of sleep, and have a lot of nightmares, which they comfort each other from.

They also really enjoy the silence.

Cal gets into poetry and Mare paints. Both are surprised at how good the other is at their new hobbies.

They talk. A lot. It begins awkwardly and ends with the two in each other's arms.

Cal becomes more of a punner, and Mare loves and hates it.

There's tall of getting a dog, but there's one problem: Paradise Valley doesn't have any shelters, and they'll be arrested or forced ro turn back hime, regardless of rank.

Mare grows taller... by 2 inches. She almost killed Cal for how much he laughed.

When they're allowed to go out, Mare often forgets to bring her mask.

Cal's good at remembering their masks.

Mare REFUSES to leave when she hears about the murder hornets.

Cal gets repellent to calm her down.

They also recover some Old Era TV Shows.

ENDLESS quotes from The Office, Friends, and many more shows.

Cal visits Maven's grave more. Mare comes with every now and then, but usually lets him go alone.

They don't usually argue, but those arguments never last.

They tried a bit of ability training, and greed that they should be careful when Mare summoned a bolt of lightning from the sky and Cal almost set fire to everything around them.

They read a lot, too, but Cal reads more than Mare because she falls asleep, usually on him.

DOROTHY MUST DIE:

Nox had no clue what a Pandemic was, or what the big deal was about going outside and not being near people, until Amy explained it.

First day of online school crashed and burned because Nox had NO IDEA what he was doing, which led to Amy 'accompanying' him in classes.

Amy puts her college plans on hold for a little while.

Nox is more emotional and neither of them know how to handle it.

They have more nightmares, since there's nothing to keep their minds busy, but Amy is more reserved about it. Nox prefers to write about what he dreams, anyway.

Nox stays up, from all the nightmares, but Amy sits with him to keep him company.

When Amy heard about the murder hornets, Nox held up a fly swatter and opened all the windows.

Amy does fine, but Nox dies from boredom, when they're done with school. And I don't mean he just sits and groans, he lies face down on the couch as Amy tries to get him up.

They spend A LOT of time in Nox's apartment, and it's literally spotless because Nox is THAT bored.

They binge a lot of TV shows, and Nox falls in love with shows like Peaky Blinders.

They tried watching Game of Thrones. It didn't go well; negative past experiences.

Nox figured out the plot twist to The Umbrella Academy WAY before Amy did.

They watched Heathers and Amy asked Nox what he'd do if she was dealing with trash friends and guys who don't take 'no' for an answer. The look on his face when he asked who it was reminded Amy of who he was before meeting her.

Nox finds YouTube and discovers the guy that makes knives out of anything and makes it his mission to copy each and every video, come Hell or high water.

Amy walked in on him doing this and genuinely wondered if he was okay, and asked if she could help him.

They also binged musicals. Nox isn't a huge music person, but he still loves them; Kansas has its own magic that he finds intriguing.

Amy once found Nox crouching ontop of the fridge while drinking a mug of coffee.

Madison stopped by and dropped off some rhinestones, lash glue, and a tool to apply the stones. Amy spent a lot of time putting the stones on her face while Nox watched, with Madison and Dustin also watching via Facetime, sitting backwards in a chair and wondering what her plan was, even making very Julien Solomita-esque comments, mixed with very 'I used to be a fighter and a spy' comments that made Amy, Madison, and Dustin laugh. Some if those comments:

"I know Glamora told you to lighten up, but I don't she'd expect this."

"If those were real diamonds, you wouldn't need any armor or a weapon. Just headbutt them, and you're good."

"Don't be upset, but it's the beginning of summer, so I don't think winter's coming any time soon."

"Whichever chandelier you made out with, I will find them, damn it."

After a little while, Amy asked if Nox wanted a rhinestone face. He agreed, but only as long as she took out all the red stones. He could handle pink, but no red.

It took them an hour to get the stones off.

Their hair gets long and they agree to cut each other's hair. Nox cuts her hair chin length and Amy tries to be as style his hair. They don't look the best, but they at least look good.

They absolutely watch Unus Annus, and start quoting that.

When they get the news they can go out wearing a mask, Nox got confused and got 3 different masks: a masquerade mask, a normal face mask, and a gas mask, which he wears all the time to annoy Amy.

They do stay in shape as much as possible, but there is evidence that they could have been more active, with their muscles shrinking and both having lost a little weight.

Nox NEVER drops his guard, and quarantine didn't help.

They tried dying their hair, but it didn't work as well as they'd hoped.

SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL:

Tedros worries about Agatha and everyone else, but Agatha keeps him in check.

Crime drops big time, so that's a plus for Tedros and Agatha.

They have more time to breathe, with everyone being inside and avoiding each other.

Tedros hates the quiet at first, but Agatha helps him adjust.

They spend a lot of time wandering the castle and answering whatever call there is, if any.

The SGE is out for a little while, so they don't hear too much from there.

Tedros, without normal king business to distract him, has more nightmares and starts losing sleep because he doesn't want to dream about what's happened to him and his friends.

Agatha has nightmares, too, but she's better at hiding it.

They do talk about it and agree to be more open with what's going on in their heads.

They also agree that they'll help each other through these times.

Tedros helps Agatha with swordplay and Agatha both gets him into reading more and tries to help him with his magic.

Whenever there's something they need outside, Agatha gets it because she's not that afraid of getting sick; she grew up eating frog and lizard soup.

Tedros worries about her, but doesn't really stop her because she's taller, and having fun trying to stop Agatha once she's committed to doing something.

Tedros finds a new hobby: origami.

Agatha doesn't join in, per se, she more watches because she's never seen Tedros be so patient with something.

They play around with each other's hair, as it grows longer. Agatha ties Tedros's hair back and Tedros braids her hair.

They write to Sophie or anyone else, like people who have some sort of report of a crime or complaint duch as infertile soil, so their penmanship improves.

Tedros grows a bit of a stubble and, after some prickly kiss attacks, Agatha threatens to shave it off herself, if he doesn't. It's all in good fun, but she sort of did mean it because his face and cheeks were really scratchy.

Tedros REFUSES to let Agatha go out alone, even when she's masked up.

When they go out, Tedros always carries a sword.

Picnics in the woods.

Star gazing at night.

Agatha starts wearing pants, as an experiment, and her "dresser"/dress designer is APPALLED.

There are times they argue, but they stay together and communicate because relationship goals.

THE CRUEL PRINCE:

At the news of a Pandemic/plague, Cardan ordered all the human servants to get as healthy as they could so they'd be able to go outside. He would accompany them, but they could not let Jude go out.

She's not happy, when she finds out

Cardan asks if she can avoid going to the human world, so she doesn't get sick.

She goes anyway and returns unscathed.

Cardan considers glamoring the human servants to keeep Jude healthy, but Jude almost pincushions him for it.

Anxious? Worried? Psh! Don't be silly. Cardan becomes somethimg if a paranoid maniac because he's scared of Jude getting sick and dying because he's Fae and she's Mortal, so she's more susceptible to illnesses and he doesn't know wnoufh about mortals to get her healthy agaun were she to get sick, but there's nothing wroung with him, really.

Whenever they're not ruling, Jude practices her swordplay while Cardan reads, major plus being that he reads full series to not worry about Jude so much.

Jude helps Cardan with sword fighting, using wooden practice swords not metal, and Cardan helps her try to get into reading, reading to her as she rests her head on his chest when she doesn't want to read read.

Cardan discovers manga and graphic novels and is too confused for Jude NOT to laugh; "He's in armor made if IRON. How is he able to fly!?" "I've seen a lot people different people, and none of them have made this face." "... So is Spiderman THIS one or THIS one?"

Sword practice usually ends with Cardan on the ground exhausted while Jude simply stands and chuckles for him to get up.

Cardan doesn't get beat smd scarred, he gets poked and minorly bruised, which he was not ready for because of how he was treated by Balekin.

One day, while Cardan was reading some Sherlock Holmes, Jude slipped hoop bracelets on and tied ribbons to his tail, at least as many as she could before she got caught; she only realized as such when his tail started flicking out of her reach and curling around her wrist, and saw Cardan grinning at her.

They do visit Taryn and Vivi still, but Cardan only wears a mask to remind Jude, who does not forget ever.

Cardan thinks about his 'friendship' Nicasia, Locke, and Valerian and semi-realizes that Valerian and Locke may have been using him while Nicasia was at least a little genuine.

They talk about Locke and equally wish that they had helped Taryn in killing Locke. If not, then they wish that they at least watched. They agreed that if time travel was real, Jude could help Trayn kill Locke and Cardan could watch, as long as he helped dispose of the body.

They laughed at that a couple minutes later.

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS(Featuring the Skellington kids(I'd say Skull Kids, but I feel like Skull Kid(s) was taken)):

Jack knows what a Pandemic is; he lived through one while he was alive.

Sally knew it would happen because she knows one happens about every two hundred years/whenever a year ends in 20.

The triplets know what a plague is, but have never seen one actually happen.

When they explored the human world at night and noticed there were absolutely no humans in sight, Luna reminded her brothers that the humans were told to stay inside to prevent any spreading.

Jacob takes the opportunity to MAKE SURE people actually stay inside.

Pro: he got Instagram famous. Con: Jack and Sally were not happy at all with how reckless he was.

Let's say, for the sake of the story, Halloween had to be cancelled worldwide because regulation and a need for things to get better.

Upon hearing the news of Halloween getting cancelled, Jack was very salty about it; "Why cancel Halloween, if the 4th of July was still allowed to be celebrated?"

All of Halloween Town was very upset; the living are so fragile, it ruins the fun of scaring them.

The Mayor was in deep, DEEP distress, but Jack made it up to him, and the rest of the town, by saying next year's Halloween would be ine no one would ever forget, and it's not because he's 'borrowing' a holiday again, it's because they'll all have a year of scaring shenanigans built up inside them all that will make up for what was missed.

Everyone rejoiced and Jack, once he got back inside his house with his wife and children, sighed and mentally kicked himself for saying no one would forget next year's Halloween; there was one Halloween in particular he sure as hell isn't forgetting any time soon.

Daemon's carving more intricate pumpkins and plans on giving the humans mini-scares so they keep quarantining, hiding a 'surprise' for any entitled Karens he finds.

Luna is the most obedient of the triplets by staying in Halloween Town and instead studying what she calls a 'counter-plague' so there's no need for a Pandemic; she refuses to call it a vaccine because that would imply sje wants to help the humans that shot down and could have killed her dad. She still has a bone to pick.

Jack doesn't spiral out like in the movie, he has Sally to help and the triplets to keep his mind busy.

While Jacob and Daemon keep the humans from leaving their houses, Luna researches the current events and learns of murder hornets that are large, sting like all hell, and cause death to anyone unfortunate enough to get stung.

Jack gets very intrigued and they collect as many as they can and keep them in a jar, but take one out to study it.

They were not impressed; murder hornets? Jack has seen worse.

Since there wasn't a Halloween, Jack decided to walk through the streets, seeing as how Daemon and Jacob already did a lot of the scaring for him(thise little shits). He had to admit, it was nice to walk in the night and only hear the animal sounds and not screams.

Luna did not find a 'counter-plague,' even with Sally's help, but she did discover some poisons she could use against her brothers. Sally made her promise not to do so.

On the Halloween night where nothing happened, Jack took his family out to a picnic/star gazing session. Genuinely one of his favorite Halloweens to date.

HENRY STICKMIM COLLECTION:

Henry and Ellie knew it was going to happen and were more than surprised to also see Charles planning ahead by making a list for what they needed, even admitting he'd been following the news and rumors and stocking up on ADD medicine so he wouldn't have to go out to get them.

The other soldiers weren't worried until they were told to go home and take a break for a little bit.

Triple Threat wasn't really effected until day 24.

On day 1, they just hung out and were relatively calm, working online, doing workouts to stay fit, and just being as normal as possible.

On day 24, all three are more than a little bored. Henry's bored enough to andwer calls from telemarketers and prank them, Ellie's contemplating bleaching her hair with peroxide, and Charles is playing with fidget toys he's bough and collected over the years, though he's doing it more because he's a little stressed than bored.

Henry and Ellie are surprised to this this, but Charles admits he used to bite his nails a lot, but stopped after a LONG while.

Speaking of names, Ellie paints hers and the boys', though while Henry paints his in clear coat, Charles paints one hand black and the other in red, mint, and glittery pink on one nail because try stopping him.

It makes Ellie laugh and pisses off Henry so much.

Ellie gets calls from her family saying they want her to come home, or closer to home, because they're worried and she instead blocks their numbers.

They watch a lot of horror movies as a reason to stay inside.

When they get bored of American horror and try Japanese, Asian, and more western horror movies.

Instant regret.

They watched the movie Audition and Henry looked at a very unimpressed Charles, who said the antagonist was being sloppy, and hid all the kitchen knives, saws, and sharp and blunt objects, including tools(must've remembered Human Piece).

He stopped after a week of Charles being himself and literally shaking at Hannibal Lecter as they watched the Silence of The Lambs series.

All three open up more about their lives. It's ugly, there's yelling, conflicting life philosophies, and even some insults thrown. Henry admits that gotten screwed over by the law enough times while fending for himself to have as little faith in it as possible, Ellie admits she ran away from home and would rather die than go back because of how tight of a leash they kept her on, and Charles admits that while he has thought about quitting on the government and turning to a life of crime, he never did because that would have been to easy of a choice. Training for the military was and still is hard as hell, which Henry and Ellie can tell because Charles can physically do more than them(if they ran a mile, Henry and Ellie would be exhausted and Charles wouldn't even be out of breath), but he's never given up on it because he knew his parents would skin him, if they were still alive.

There were tears at the end, and the team all needing to be alone for a little bit, but they were back together and agreed to be a little more open with each other, since they were a team now.

[eusuntgratie]

#17 sterek? 🥺🥺🥺

“This is stupid,” Jackson groans.

“You know I hate to side with Jackson, but I don’t think...”

“Shut up, both of you,” Erica cuts him off with a menacing gesture. “Stiles, you’re the one who said that we need to focus on working as a team.”

“Yeah, we do, but-”

“Great, so you agree. This is a great starting point. Everyone’s gonna take a turn. You pick a person’s name out of this jar and when it’s your turn you say five things you appreciate about that person.”

Erica beams despite the collective eye rolling happening. They all love each other, but this is a little much.

“Alpha goes first,” she says happily, prancing over to Derek with the jar full of little slips of paper. She hands it out to him and he fishes one out, looking more fond than irritated.

“Stiles,” he says, reading his paper. 

Stiles shifts awkwardly on the couch. Well this should be fun. It takes him long enough to get going to really make it weird, make Stiles feel like he’s really struggling to think of anything nice to say at all. But then out of nowhere he’s diving right in with-

“Stiles’ research has solved as many problems for us as all the wolves fighting. Several of us would be dead if he hadn’t discovered critical information right when we needed it. We couldn’t address new threats without the information he finds for us.”

A few folks rumble, and Stiles feels himself blush a little.

“Thanks, man.”

“He’s funny. He makes us laugh, even when everything’s bad. He’s loyal. I’ve never known anybody but a born wolf as loyal as Stiles. I’ve never doubted that he’d come through for us. He’s willing to make the hard decisions to do the right thing.”

The silence in the room is awkward and Stiles’ face is flaming. Has Derek ever even given him a compliment? Did Erica give him a script?

“That’s only four things, Derek. He’s smart and funny and loyal and he can make the tough call. One more,” Erica demands.

Derek’s staring down at the floor. “He has really nice eyes,” he says, so quiet Stiles barely hears him. What the fuck?

Jackson snickers and Boyd and Isaac exchange a look. Fuck this. Normally he lets shit roll off his back but its been a long day and no one told him to prepare for humiliating team building exercises at the pack meeting. He shoves up off the couch and heads into the kitchen, pretending to rifle around for a snack. Actually, while he’s here, he might as well see what Derek’s got...

When he stands back up and turns around, the bag of chips he hid here last week triumphantly gripped in his fingers, Derek is about two feet in front of him.

“Fuck!”

He drops the chips. Derek grabs them and hands them back with a smile.

“I just, um. Did I make you uncomfortable? You smelled upset.”

“Don’t- ugh. Don’t smell my emotions, Derek. It’s not fair.”

“I can’t help it.”

“I’m just. I’m fine. I know it’s stupid. I’m just embarrassed.”

“You’re embarrassed? Because I think you have nice eyes? Because I told the whole pack you have nice eyes?”

“Ummm...yes?”

Derek inhales, slow and exaggerated, and moves further into Stiles’ space.

“If you were a wolf you’d know I’m not lying.”

"Right, yes, fragile human. Boring brown eyes. I get it. Hilarious.”

“That’s not what I meant, Stiles. Your eyes are beautiful. I could’ve said you have nice arms, nice hands, nice...” He drags his gaze up from Stiles’ belly to his face. “Lips,” he finishes.

Stiles can feel his face burning and his dick starting to take a little too much interest in the conversation. “Stop teasing me so much, dude. It’s not funny.”

“I’m not teasing you, Stiles.”

He takes another step forward, hovering a couple of inches from being pressed up against Stiles, and sniffs at his neck.

When he pulls back his eyes look wild and wicked.

“You’re beautiful. Your eyes, your lips, your neck, your body, you.”

Stiles is dazed, trapped in an alternate reality, trying to decide if Derek is about to kiss him or if Isaac is going to pop out from behind the wall with a video camera.

“I’m not teasing you, Stiles. I want you. You’re beautiful.”

“Uh,” is his coherent response.

Before his brain can form words, Derek is running his nose up the length of his throat and Stiles is tilting his head away to give him more room. He huffs a couple of hot breaths just under his jaw before pulling back out of his space.

“I’ll leave you alone. But now you know. Everyone else already does.”

“Uh.”

Derek turns to go, but Stiles’ brain finally manages to come online in time for him to snag Derek by the arm and drag him back around.

“You mean it?”

“I do.”

“Then come here.”

smut prompts | ask me

all my tumblr smut prompts live here on ao3, if you’re interested 💜

[lifebuoyjournals]

Tag 9 people to learn about their interests!

tagged by @sage-studies thank you! ❦

MUSIC

Favourite genre?

Pop and alternative

Favourite song?

And suddenly I've forgotten every song I've ever listened to lol. But right now I really like Save the Best for Last by Vanessa Williams

Most listened song recently?

口是心非 - 张雨生

Song currently stuck in your head?

It's a world of laughter, a world of tears

5 fave lyrics?

'may the best of your todays be the worst of your tomorrows' - Jason Mraz

'rare as the glimmer of the comet in the sky' - taylor swift

‘原来你生来就属于天际' - 周深

'lift me up give me a start, cause i've been flying with some broken arms. lift me up just a small nudge, and i'll be flying like a thousand doves' - Lady Gaga

'they say before you start a war, you better know what you're fighting for' - Angel with a Shotgun

Pick

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | loud or silent volume I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on

BOOKS

Favourite book series?

Black jewels series by Anne Bishop

Comfort book?

Don't have one, but Enid Blyton's collection of short stories are always comfort

Favourite book?

Don't have one at the moment

Perfect book to read on a rainy day?

uh... Rule of Wolves by Leigh bardugo

Favourite character?

The darkling from Grishaverse, Leigh Bardugo

5 favourite quotes from your favourite book(s) that you know by heart?

I honestly cannot remember a single thing

Pick!

hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending first | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS | judging by the covers or by the summary | rereading or reading just once

TV AND MOVIES

Favourite tv/movie genre?

Action and fantasy

Comfort movie?

I don't think I have one

Movie you watch every year?

Nothing

Favourite movie?

The Hobbit movies

Favourite tv show?

Don't watch much TV, maybe One Piece? Does it count?

Comfort tv show?

One Piece

Most rewatched tv show?

Nothing

5 fave characters?

The Darkling - Shadow and Bone;

Azula - Avatar the Last Airbender

Shanks - One Piece

Kibutsuji Muzan - Demon Slayer

Thranduil - The Hobbit

Pick!

tv shows or movie | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once | downloads or watches online

Tagging:

@problematicprocrastinator @teacherstudiies @justanotherstudyblrinthecrowd @laurajournal @aaleksmorozova @medlangs @goodteastudies @autumn-rain-coffee @studytommorow

[hwasong]

duality | c.sn

request - oohh! okay so how about a bad boy san where he’s dating like an innocent reader (woah how original) and just some wholesomeness of how he is when you two are alone but then equally how cold he can be around other people?? 🤍🤍

fluff !

requested by @mingieshh 💖

TW: blood, physical fights

maybe i made the reader a boss bitch xoxox

Choi San is known for his cold personality, killer looks and charm but you know him for his big heart, kindness and gorgeous heart. He’s such a sweetheart to you. He always takes you on dates, buys you snacks and walks you home late at night. He never pushes you to do things and he has settled with his friends that you are not to be toyed with. His friends respect you which makes you feel happy that he doesn’t treat you differently when hanging with them.

However, when with other people, San is a different person. An example is at school, where he’ll have an arm locked around your waist, a sharp look on his face and a dark aura surrounding him. You love both sides of San, but there’s times where he’s really took to his cold character.

Finally, lunch time. You’re friends had already swept you away to the cafeteria as they were like a pack of hungry wolves, ready to devour some food. You frown as you look around the circle table at your friends eating food. You had forgotten your lunch and had spent your money earlier in the morning to buy a drink for school.

“What’s wrong?” Soojin perked up from beside you after swallowing a bite from her sandwich. You sigh and shift through your bag “I forgot my lunch”

Soojin smiles and offers the other part of her sandwich but you politely decline “it’s okay, you can have it” the rest of your friends the join in, offering you money and parts of their lunch. Each time you decline, telling them you’ll be fine until you’re interrupted by a package being put down in front of you.

“I got you some lunch” San smiles, angling his head so that only you could see the precious smile. You flush and smile back, thanking him. He shrugs, acting as if it’s nothing.

“I’ll meet you after your last class, okay?” You nod and smile softly as he places a soft kiss on your cheek. Your friends all fawn over the cute interaction, pushing and shoving you playfully. A girlish giggle leaves your mouth as you think about San.

After class, San was true to his word. He stood outside your classroom and waited for you, a lolly hanging in his mouth and his phone in hand. Shyly, you approached him and tugged his sleeve, smiling as he looked at you.

San smiles and pops the lolly out of his mouth and taps your bottom lip with it. A heavy flush covers your face but you open your mouth regardless and let him pop the lolly into it. He grins, his shaggy black hair falling across his eyes.

“Sannie! Jisung is at your car” Wooyoung interrupts the otherwise peaceful moment. San’s jaw clenches and he’s quick to grab your hand and storm down the hallway. You frown but hurry with San, the lolly falling from your hand after you had taken of from your mouth.

“Don’t do anything stupid, San” you tutt. San doesn’t reply but leads you down the school hallways. Here’s a bit of backstory. Jisung is your shitty ex who seems to not want to let you go even though he cheated on you multiple times. He’s constantly following you or trying to message you online and ruin your relationship with San. Now here’s where San comes in. A couple times, Jisung and San have almost had physical fights but the boys have pulled them apart before anything could be landed. Even Jisung’s friends are sick of the fighting and have apologised to you on his behalf.

You can hear a ruckus in the distance and from experience you know it’s a particular group of boys screaming at each other. Your heart clenches as soon as you see Jisung and his gang arguing with the rest of the boys.

“Yah! Jisung you have some nerve showing up after last time” San practically growls as he storms up to Jisung, imaginary fume coming out of his ears.

You practically tremble but keep your posture, watching with observing eyes. San is angry and once you spot his clenched fists and tensed back you know that he’s about to swing.

“Just leave it, San” You try to calm down San who softens at your voice. The other boys wearily look between each other and try to read the atmosphere. San exhales slowly and slowly walks away from Jisung to grab his keys from his bag that he basically threw to the ground when he seen Jisung.

Speaking of the devil, Jisung snorts and shoves his hands in his pockets “Just listen to your bitch San, you wouldn’t-“ Jisung tries to gloat, seem cool in front of his friends but is quickly knocked from his ego throne by a strong fist to the jaw. The other boys hop on quickly and soon enough your watching a brawl.

Hongjoong and Seonghwa are double teaming one guy, Wooyoung is trying to crack one of the guys head off of the car park floor and it gets messier as it goes on. However, what gives you relief is when you see Jongho standing idle and observing his brothers.

“Jongho-ssi! Pull San off of him!” You cry out and grip his blazers sleeve. Jongho nods and grabs San by the collar, yanking him off of Jisung who lay on the floor. There’s blood everywhere, splattered from Jisung’s abused nose.

Anger practically fuels your body as you watch the boys continue on as if it’s some PvP game.

“Yah!” You shout, your angered voice bellowing throughout the parking lot. Almost instantly the fight seizes to see what you’re telling about. Jongho stands beside you, a blank look on his face.

“What age are you all?! Act your age and get off of each other! You’re embarrassing yourselves with your behaviour and I’m so sick of you all jumping on each other as soon as you have the fucking chance!” Your authoritative voice shocks a few of the boys that are scrambled on the ground. No one has ever seen you angry (besides San, for certain reasons). You’ve always been known as a softer spirit, one that doesn’t raise their voice as much.

“He called you a bitch! Am I just meant to let him get away with it?” San huffs and dusts off his uniform. His knuckles are red, covered in fluid and are definitely bruising.

You scoff “Do you think I care about what he says about me? He’s a fucking lost dog who keeps following me” you spat, glaring pure hatred at Jisung who is in shell shock of your words. You see how it pierced him like a knife and you almost laugh at his expression.

The car park goes silent quickly as no one is sure of what to say after being scolded by a somewhat harmless girl.

“Just go home and stop embarrassing yourselves.” You roll your eyes “Jisung stop following me for God’s sake” you sigh and fish San’s car keys out from his pocket. Jisung and his crew take it as a sign to leave.

Your heart is still beating so heavily from the events of earlier. San drove silently, one hand on the steering wheel and the other resting on the gear stick. There was no tension but it just felt like it wasn’t the right place to talk about what just happened 10 minutes beforehand. San hadn’t even bothered to turn the radio on and it gave you time to reflect in the silence.

You haven’t seen San that angry in a while and even though he does have a reputation for fights you hadn’t actually seen him land a punch on anyone. The situation was so scary that you blacked out most of what happened. Behind the adrenaline all you felt was pure fear in that moment.

San is normally so soft, kind and gentle with you. Treating you as if your some piece of glass that shattered at the tiniest of touches.

“I’m sorry - about earlier” San coughs. A soft gasp leaves your lips as you realise that San in parked outside his house. With your thoughts clouding your head you hadn’t actually processed the scenery outside of the car windows.

You stumble, suddenly catching up to what’s happening “It’s okay, I know you only meant well” you sigh and glance down at your hands wringing nervously in your lap.

San exhales and unbuckles his seatbelt and leans over the console to grasp your face softly.

“I didn’t want you to see that side of me” He mumbles, staring into your emotional eyes. Your brows frown “I’ve always heard about you.. partaking in stuff like that but..” you try to talk but your thoughts fly out the window.

San stills, his thumb tracing your chin softly.

“I still love you, you know” You giggle at your own words “I’m glad that you treat me like you do - and not like.. others” you smile, a toothy grin on your face.

San smiles and leans forward, pressing a slow but warm kiss to your lips. You can feel the love surge from his body to yours “I love your duality”

school is lit up my ass grrrr

sorry my content hasn’t been as good atm

[gmariam19]

This is no drabble - this is a one-shot! Here is my 2k Secret Santa fic for KrampusKink2020 Week Four featuring both prompts - toys and toys. 😇 I almost want to apologize as I feel like it’s one of the more ridiculous things I’ve written for these two, and it kind of goes on and on, and then there are some really bad lines at the end. . . but well. Maybe that’s the point? Utter ridiculousness? Enjoy and thank you for reading! 😊

Secret Santa

Beaumont Kin opens his gift first and finds the newest action figures from his favorite comic.  He guesses they’re from Jess, and she happily drinks her whiskey shot since he was right. Her gift is a model airplane to go with her growing collection, but it’s not from Rey, and Jess drinks again for being wrong. Maybe it’s a good thing they are all at home on Zoom this year; at this rate, someone is going to end up under their own table instead of under Finn and Poe’s. At least Jess has Jannah to make sure she gets to bed.

Rey received a large shipping box and pulls out a gift bag just as big—actually, it looks like a garbage bag with a red bow. She finds a large stuffed animal and squeals as she throws her arms around the life-sized wolf. “I think it’s from Jannah!” she says.

Jannah shakes her head and mimes taking a shot. They’ve all got them lined up and ready to go. Rey frowns. “But you know how much I love wolves! You got me one last year!”

“We all know how much you like wolves, Rey,” Finn tells her. “It’s why you’re living out in the middle of nowhere. Now drink.”

Rey shrugs and hugs her wolf again, completely nonplussed by the jab; solitary living out west suits her more than anyone Finn knows. Or maybe she’s still getting over the bad break-up with Ben Solo. She does her shot—probably tequila—and gasps at Jannah to go next.

Jannah opens a Nerf bow and arrow set. She tears into the packaging and starts shooting it around the room until there is a loud crash and a startled meow. Jess and Jannah dash out of view of the camera, laughing.

“She hit Ivee!” Jess tells them as she sits down again. “She’s mad, but okay.”

“So who do you think it’s from?” Rey calls. She’s cuddled up with her stuffed wolf and drinking a glass of wine now.

Jannah returns to the screen and studies them. “Well, I want to say Poe because he’s such a kid at heart, but that’s too easy. So I’m going to say Rose because she’s smart and sneaky like that.”

Rose shakes her head. “Wrong on both accounts!” Poe laughs. “Drink twice, my dear!”

Jannah pulls a face, but she does both her shots, choking them down as Jess claps her on the back.

Rose opens her gift next, a new strategy game that she’s been talking about for weeks. “I love it! And Beaumont can’t wait to play it with me!” Kin groans, and Rose bumps him off their sofa with a grin.

“Who’s it from?” Rey asks.

Rose leans closer to the screen, pretends to squint at them all. “Finn!” she announces. “Drink!” he tells her.

She does a shot of dark rum, and Finn is up next. He is sitting on the floor with the couch behind him. Poe is lounging next to him with a whiskey sour, and there are several vodka shots lined up on the coffee table. If they have shots left at the end of their Secret Santa exchange, they’ll make toasts to the terrible year that was 2020.

Finn’s box is wrapped in black and red paper with a beautiful gold bow— not particularly festive, but well-wrapped, elegant, and mysterious. Finn has a funny feeling about it and glances up at Poe, who is watching closely and clearly holding back an impish grin. Which means he either knows what it is and who it’s from, or he got it himself.

Finn rips the paper off and finds a fancy shirt box. The theme was toys, but this looks more like clothing. It would be just like Poe to break the rules. Poe has a bit of a clothing kink, Finn is starting to suspect, and if it’s clothes, he can be sure it’s from Poe.

He pulls apart the tissue paper inside and stops. Stares. Looks up at the computer, then at Poe, and back down at his box. He can feel the heat rising in his face.

“What is it?” asks Rey. “Finn! Show us!”

“It’s from Poe,” Finn says, without pause—and without taking it out of the box. “And that’s my final answer.”

“Show ‘em what it is!” Poe says, and he’s laughing as he leans in to kiss Finn on the cheek. He picks up a shot and winks. “Or I will.” Finn watches him swallow, looks down at his gift, thinks…what the hell. Maybe two can play this game.

He pulls out a long black vest…a red silk sash…a soft velvet eye patch. A miniature plastic sword with a small bottle of rum.

There is dead silence on the computer screen, until Rey falls over laughing, literally kicking her feet in the air. Rose covers her mouth as Kin snorts, while Jess and Jannah start asking a dozen questions at once. Finn lets them have their fun, then decides to have some of his own. At Poe’s expense.

He takes off his sweater and pulls the vest over his t-shirt. Ties the sash around his waist (even though he knows perfectly well that’s not what it intended for) and puts on the eye patch, then opens the bottle and takes a long swig while he brandishes the sword. He can feel Poe watching. Good.

His friends are screaming with laughter online. Finn feels utterly ridiculous, and he sort of hates it...until he looks at Poe, whose eyes are wide, his lips slightly parted, and is he breathing quicker? Finn knows that look, because he knows exactly what turns Poe on. And it seems Poe really likes pirates, so Poe can sit there and suffer just as much as Finn.

Finn winks, and Poe’s mouth falls open a little bit more. Totally worth it.

“I hate you,” Poe murmurs.

“You love it,” Finn whispers back.

“Pirates, Poe?” Jess asks. “Really?”

“Is it a Johnny Depp thing?” Rey asks. “I bet it’s a Johnny Depp thing.”

Poe shakes his head. “Fine, keep your secrets,” says Jess. “But open yours now, it’s the last one. Maybe you got matching outfits.”

Poe makes a rude gesture before reaching for his gift. It is a small box, and Finn has been trying to figure out what it could possibly be since it arrived in the mail. The agreement had been to exchange toys this year, because they were all feeling old and sorry for themselves after so many months at home. It seemed like it would be fun, and why not turn it into a drinking game too? They are all both young enough to play with toys and old enough to drink—perfect.

But Finn has that feeling again. There’s something about Rey…she’s focused on Poe, but also trying hard to look casual. Too casual. He watches her as much as he watches Poe open his gift.

It looks like a jewelry box. Poe opens it, slams it shut. Looks wide-eyed at Finn and then bursts into laughter and falls over, rolling on the floor. Everyone asks what it is…except Rey.  Poe tosses the box to Finn.

“Show ‘em,” he wheezes. Finn opens it and tosses it right back to Poe.

“No way,” he says. “I already got this hot mess.” He gestures at his pirate outfit, and Poe sits up, still laughing.

“Well, it’s from Rey, that’s for sure,” he says. Rey finally looks at the camera.

“How did you know that?” she demands.

He leans in. “Because you are not as innocent as you look, sweetheart.”

She grins, and it is that sly grin Finn loves about her, when she steps out of her comfort zone and surprises them all. She nods and takes her shot.  “We did say we were exchanging toys,” she points out.

“What is it?” Jess demands. “Come on, Poe. Show us!”

“You really don’t wanna know,” Finn tells her.

“Sure she does,” Rey says. “Go on, Poe. Show her.”

Poe shakes his head, but he’s laughing again. “I will get you back for this, you know. No matter how far out in the wilderness you decide to move!”

“You’ll have to find me,” she throws back. “Now show them!”

“I have a plane. Do another shot and I will.”

“Do one with me,” she counters.  So they both drink, and Poe picks up the box. Finn leaves the picture. Grabs a shot and downs it himself, earning a smile from Poe. And a wink.

“I saw that!” Rey exclaims. “You love it!”

“Well, I’ll find out soon, I hope,” Poe replies, and he holds up the cock ring Rey gifted him. Everyone dissolves into laughter again, and Finn joins them, because it is pretty damn funny. And it’s from Rey, of all people.

“Thank you,” Poe says. “And Finn thanks you as well.”

“Hey!” Finn calls. “I got my own weird sex gift, thank you very much.”

“Oh, that’s what the sash is for!” exclaims Jannah, and everyone falls apart again.

They reveal their Secret Santa identities to those who guessed wrong, then finish their shots making toasts and telling stories. Everyone pours a few more, and an hour later, they start to sign off, bleary-eyed but feeling warm and happy from the time spent together, even if it was onscreen.

“Enjoy your gifts, boys!” Jess calls before she and Jannah leave. Rose and Kin wave goodbye, no doubt to try out Rose’s new game. Rey is grinning like a cat at Finn and Poe.

“So,” she says. She finishes another glass of wine, and her nose is red.

“So,” Poe drawls. He puts his arm around Finn’s shoulder.

“Gonna try out your new gifts now?” Yes, she’s had more than a few.

“You think I haven’t been waiting all night for this?” Poe jerks his head toward Finn, who took off his pirate outfit a while ago. Poe frowns. “Where did my pirate go?”

“Your pirate is ready to board the ship,” Finn murmurs, then glances up when Rey bursts into laughter. “Sorry, Rey. But I think it’s time we turn in.”

“Have fun!” she sing-songs, humming a bit of a pirate song. Finn joins her as he reaches toward the computer; Poe’s hand is already roaming along his thigh.

“Merry Christmas!” he tells her. “We’ll talk to you in a day or two!”

“Merry Christmas,” she says. “Love you both!”

They tell her the same and log off. Finn picks up Poe’s gift box. “I can’t believe her, sometimes.”

“That was definitely an unexpected surprise,” Poe agrees.

“Yours, too. A pirate outfit? Seriously?”

Poe shrugs. “It was for fun. I got you something else for tomorrow.”

“I hope it’s not a wizard costume.”

“Space wizard, maybe.” Poe smiles and leans against Finn’s shoulder with a happy sigh. Finn teases his lips against Poe’s ear.

“You ready to head back to the ship and rock the boat? Because my peg leg isn’t the only hardwood around here.”

Poe smirks as he turns and starts trailing kisses down Finn’s neck. “That depends. You ready for me to shiver your timbers?”

“If you don’t, I might sentence you to walk my plank.”

Poe stops, sits up, and makes a face. “You know, pirate pick-up lines are not as sexy as I thought they would be.”

Finn grabs the red sash, wraps it loosely around Poe’s wrists. “You sure you don’t want to be my prisoner, mate?”

Poe’s lips curl up at that. “As long as you wear that eye patch, captain,” he murmurs.

“We’ll take turns,” Finn whispers. Because Poe would make an exceptionally handsome pirate as well, he thinks. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

“Oh, but I’m definitely trying out my gift first,” Poe replies, helping Finn to his feet. They share a leisurely kiss before making their way to the bedroom, where they spend hours exploring the new possibilities of cosplay and cock rings.

[aion-rsa]

HBO Max New Releases: April 2021

https://ift.tt/3kO4gS2

Fresh off the long-awaited arrival of Zack Snyder’s Justice League (a.k.a. the fabled Snyder Cut), HBO Max has no need to appease fandom culture in April 2021. But the streaming service is gonna do it anyway!

The most notable new release for HBO Max this month is the HBO series The Nevers. This show, created by Joss Whedon, is set in a 19th century steampunk London and finds a sizable portion of the population (predominantly women) having been “Touched” by mysterious paranormal powers. There’s an interesting bit of irony at play here, as HBO Max is following up the Snyder Cut with a show created by his original Justice League replacement. Or at least there could have been an interesting bit of irony here, if Whedon had not bowed out from the show and been enthusiastically left out of the marketing material by HBO.

Read more

Movies

From Man of Steel to Zack Snyder’s Justice League: A Complete DCEU Timeline

By Aaron Sagers

TV

Fandoms Roil Online as Joss Whedon Suddenly Quits His New HBO Show The Nevers

By Kirsten Howard

Aside from the awkward showrunning situation at The Nevers, HBO Max has quite a few other irons in the fire for April. The well-earned Infinity Train season 4 premieres on April 15. That will be followed up by the Kate Winslet-starring HBO miniseries Mare of Easttown on April 18. Not to be ignored is the movie side of things, with Mortal Kombat continuing WarnerMedia’s policy of releasing all 2021 films to HBO Max.

Meanwhile, The New Mutants will take a turn in the HBO Max library on April 10…for some reason. And the streaming services continue their game of Dark Knight Rises hot potato when the film premieres on HBO Max on April 17. Now all three Christopher Nolan’s Batman films can be streamed in their entirety. It will just take both Netflix and HBO Max subscriptions.

HBO Max New Releases – April 2021

April 1 A Shock To The System, 1990 (HBO) Abandon, 2002 (HBO) Adam’s Rib, 1949 All Is Lost, 2013 (HBO) Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl Barbarosa, 1982 (HBO) Black Dynamite, 2009 Blindness, 2008 (HBO) The Bodyguard, 1992 Boogie Nights, 1997 Bringing Up Baby, 1938 The Butcher’s Wife, 1991 (HBO) Caddyshack, 1980 The Collection, 2012 (HBO) The Color Purple, 1985 Dante’s Peak, 1997 (HBO) Dark Shadows, 2012 (HBO) Dead Silence, 2007 (HBO) Dirty Harry, 1971 The Eagle Has Landed, 1977 (HBO) Early Man, 2018 (HBO) Easy Rider, 1969 Ella Enchanted, 2004 (HBO) The Evil That Men Do, 1984 (HBO) Eye For An Eye, 1996 (HBO) Fear, 1996 (HBO) genera+ion, Season 1 Part One Finale Ghost Rider, 2007 Goodfellas, 1990 The Great Pottery Throwdown, Max Original Season 4 Premiere Green Lantern, 2011 Hardball, 2001 (HBO) Happy Endings Haywire, 2012 (HBO) In & Out, 1997 (HBO) Kicking & Screaming, 2005 (HBO) King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword, 2017 (HBO) Lassiter, 1984 (HBO) Leatherface Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, 1990 (HBO) Let’s Go To Prison, 2006 (HBO) The Longest Yard, 1974 (HBO) Made for Love, Max Original Series Premiere Man Up, 2015 (HBO) The Mask of Zorro, 1998 The Man With The Iron Fists, 2012 (Unrated Version) (HBO) Missing In Action 2 – The Beginning, 1985 (HBO) Missing In Action, 1984 (HBO) My Super Ex-Girlfriend, 2006 (HBO) The Nanny The Natural, 1984 Now, Voyager, 1942 One Day, 2011 (HBO) Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment, 1985 (HBO) Police Academy 3: Back In Training, 1986 (HBO) Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol, 1987 (HBO) Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach, 1988 (HBO) Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, 1989 (HBO) Police Academy: Mission To Moscow, 1994 (HBO) Primal Fear, 1996 (HBO) Reasonable Doubt, 2014 (HBO) Red Dawn, 1984 (HBO) The Return, 2006 (HBO) Risky Business, 1983 (HBO) Roger & Me, 1989 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939 Sneakers, 1992 (HBO) Space Jam, 1996 Speed 2 Cruise Control, 1997 (HBO) Spellbound, 2003 (HBO) Stuart Little, 1999 The Shack, 2017 (HBO) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, 2006 (Extended Version) (HBO) Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family, 2011 Wanderlust, 2012 (HBO) The Warriors, 1979 (Director’s Cut) (HBO) The Watch, 2012 (HBO) White Noise, 2005 (HBO) The Wild Life, 2016 (HBO) Within, 2016 (HBO) Wolves At The Door, 2017 (HBO)

April 2 On the Spectrum

April 3 Ted, 2012 (Unrated Version) (HBO)

April 4 Q: Into The Storm, Documentary Series Finale (HBO)

April 5 Hard, Season 2 Finale (HBO)

April 6 Genndy Tartokovksy’s Primal, Season 1B

April 7 Exterminate All the Brutes, Documentary Series Premiere (HBO) South Side, Season 1

April 9 Intemperie (AKA Out in the Open), 2019 (HBO) The Other Two, Season 1 A Tiny Audience, Season 2 Finale (HBO)

April 10 The New Mutants, 2020 (HBO)

April 11 The Nevers, Series Premiere (HBO)

April 13 Our Towns, Documentary Premiere (HBO)

April 15 Infinity Train, Max Original Season 4 Premiere

April 16 Mortal Kombat, Warner Bros. Film Premiere, 2021

April 17 The Dark Knight Rises, 2012 (HBO)

April 18 Mare of Easttown, Limited Series Premiere (HBO)

April 20 Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO)

April 22 1,2,3, All Eyes On Me, 2020 (HBO) First Ladies, 2020 Princess Cut, 2020 (HBO) Rizo, 2020 (HBO)

April 23 A Black Lady Sketch Show, Season 2 Premiere (HBO) El Robo Del Siglo (AKA Heist of the Century) (HBO)

April 24 Dreamgirls, 2006 (HBO)

April 26 The Artist, 2011

April 29 Looney Tunes Cartoons, Season 1D

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Leaving HBO Max – April 2021

April 11 Reservoir Dogs, 1992

April 15 Lego DC Shazam: Magic And Monsters!, 2020

April 30 3 Godfathers, 1949 9½ Weeks, 1986 Above The Rim, 1994 (HBO) The Adventures Of Robin Hood, 1938 Adventures Of Tom Thumb And Thumbelina, 2002 (HBO) After Hours, 1985 An American Werewolf In London,1981 (HBO) Beasts Of The Southern Wild, 2012 (HBO) Being There, 1979 Bullitt, 1968 Bundle Of Joy, 1956 Can’t Buy Me Love, 1987 (HBO) The Candidate, 1972 Cast Away, 2000 (HBO) Catwoman, 2004 Chasing Liberty, 2004 Cheyenne Autumn, 1964 Cimarron, 1960 Critters 2, 1988 Critters 4, 1992 Dead Man Walking, 1995 (HBO) Diner, 1982 Dirt, 2017 The Exorcist, 1973 Femme Fatale, 2002 (HBO) Fool’s Gold, 2008 Get Carter, 1971 Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, 2019 (HBO) Godzilla Vs. Kong , 2021 Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, 2011 The Green Mile, 1999 Grumpier Old Men, 1995 Grumpy Old Men, 1993 The Hangover Part II, 2011 (HBO) A Hidden Life, 2019 (HBO) The Hills Have Eyes II, 2007 (Extended Version) (HBO) The Hills Have Eyes, 2006 (Extended Version) (HBO) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 2012 Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, The, 2014 Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, The, 2013 How The West Was Won, 1962 I Am Sam, 2002 The Invisible Man, 2020 (HBO) Jojo Rabbit, 2019 (HBO) Jonny Quest, 1964 Josie And The Pussycats In Outer Space, 1972 Josie And The Pussycats, 1970 Just Mercy, 2019 (HBO) The Looney Tunes Show, 2011 Looney Tunes: Back In Action, 2003 Lying And Stealing, 2019 (HBO) Ma, 2019 (HBO) The Man Who Would Be King, 1975 Marvin’s Room, 1996 (HBO) Mildred Pierce, 1945 Mister Roberts, 1955 My Blue Heaven, 1990 My Dog Skip, 2000 My Favorite Year, 1982 National Lampoon’s European Vacation, 1985 National Lampoon’s Vacation, 1983 The Neverending Story, 1984 New Jack City, 1991 New Looney Tunes, 2015 New York Minute, 2004 Of Mice And Men, 1992 (HBO) Open Water 2: Adrift, 2006 (HBO) Open Water, 2004 (HBO) Paddington Bear, 1989 Patriots Day, 2016 Presumed Innocent, 1990 Pride And Prejudice, 1940 Private Benjamin, 1980 Red Tails, 2012 (HBO) Reversal Of Fortune, 1990 Rio Bravo, 1959 Rise Of The Guardians, 2012 (HBO) School Of Rock, 2003 (HBO) Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo, 1981 The Scooby-Doo Show, 1976 Scooby-Doo Where Are You!, 1969 The Secret Garden, 1993 She’s All That, 1999 Snakes On A Plane, 2006 Son Of The Mask, 2005 Space Cowboys, 2000 Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, 1995 Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, 2005 Tom And Jerry (Classic), 1967 Tower Heist, 2011 (HBO) Under Siege, 1992 Viva Las Vegas, 1964 We Bought A Zoo, 2011 (HBO) What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, 1962 (HBO) Where The Wild Things Are, 2009 The Wild Bunch, 1969 The Wind And The Lion, 1975 The Yogi Bear Show, 1988

The post HBO Max New Releases: April 2021 appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[squadron-of-damned-writes]

tagged by @thiswaycomessomethingwicked. Found this sitting in my drafts after third of a year later. No time like the present, right?

Rules are: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line.

(how convenient that AO3 shows 20 works per page by default!)

1. It most certainly is a morning and the doorbell rings. Like the beginning of a horror movie, Sam thinks as he makes his way from his room to the front door. (The Night In Gale, 2019-10-11, Good Omens x Supernatural)

2. The remnants of the stained glass creak and shatter under the heavy plate sabatons. The men clad in deep red robes watch the armoured figures walk through the raided monastery in careful silence. (Moon And Destiny, 2019-08-24, Les Misérables x Wizardry)

3. “Alright squad! Who are we doing this week?”  (One Gay at a Time, 2019-08-31, Les Misérablex x Queer Eye for the Straight Guy)

4. Light. Everything is is spinning. Light, even behind closed eyelids. It’s omnipresent. Radiant, blinding, magnificent light. (Like A Teen Girl,[1] 2019-11-15, W.I.T.C.H.)

5. Witches have pricking in their thumbs, Varen had his stomach worms, and Lyris had her teeth. She could feel them vibrating in her gums. It usually went away with a couple of flagons of mead, but apparently not tonight. If anything, it made it worse. So here she was, Lyris called Titanborn, tipsy but not yet drunk, sitting by the campfire with the two of Companions and a growing feeling of dread as her teeth planned to run for the hills. It made her only more irritated. (Mind How She Goes, 2019-11-30, Elder Scrolls Online)

6. “Well, are you going to stand there the whole night?” (The Past, the Present, the Death, and the Devil, 2019-12-19, Les Misérables)

7. There is this thing they don’t tell you about dying – it gave you mother of all headaches. In all those tomes and epic sagas there could had been at least once mentioned that the brave heroes and mighty beings who returned from the Other side felt like a horse kicked thorough their head. This terrible pain was usually why your freshly resurrected dead scream in agony and want to destroy things. (The Many Deaths of Me,[2] 2017-04-30, World of Warcraft)

8. As strange as it was, Lyris finds an odd sort of peace here. It is not her old home – she doubts she could ever return there – but her cabin near Riften is a new home. At first it was a house, but she made it a home. It was a hard work to get there, and she is rightfully proud of it all. (To Be Found, 2019-12-09, Elder Scrolls Online)

9. Say what you want about the Tribunal and Vvardenfell, there is something that draws a good hero to the city of Vivec. That something might be a divine presence, but most likely it is simply the presence of a quarter with publicly accessible forges and looms in the close proximity to a bank and the drop site for commissioned works. (The Battlespire, 2020-05-09, Elder Scrolls Online)

10. “Your Majesty, a message for you.” The chamberlain presents the envelope on a silver tray with a gentle bow. Queen Ayrenn picks it up with her delicately manicured fingers, and the soft warm breeze of early autumn attempts to snatch the piece of creamy paper from her as it hurls large honey and amber coloured leaves before finally settling them on the ground. (War Ends, 2020-07-26, Elder Scrolls Online)

11. “Allow me to ask you again for clarification, Your Ex-” “Charles, dear brother. Simply and plainly Charles, for we all are equal in the eyes of the almighty God.” “- Charles: I have died.” (The Man Who Saved A World, 2020-08-12, Les Misérables)

12. So that’s it, you suppose. You are going to sit down on this chair, because someone has to. (The Tale of Two Fates, 2020-09-05, Death and Taxes)

13. There is a saying in Ferelden: When you think you’ve reached the bottom, the Maker shows up with a shovel. Like most farmer wisdom, even this one applies in Orlais. (Land Turned Red, 2020-12-29, Dragon Age)

14. So you come to the supermarket on Friday morning and in the ice-cream isle is a poorly paid and even poorerly shaven retail worker unloading boxes of frozen pizzas, eyeing them like man who’s missed out on breakfast and his contract doesn’t include lunch break. (Observations of an Unconcerned Bus Driver, 2021-03-07, Stardew Valley)

15. They are giving him that look. He knows it well and hasn’t seen it in a long long time. It is the look that says: “I can’t believe that out of all the people in Thedas, he was the one to save us.” (Fine Literature, 2021-03-14, Dragon Age)

16. A young woman stands in a garden. It is a beautiful garden, very lush in spite of all damnation raining from the sky lately, now that the Veil is gone and… And all that. (Houserite, 2021-03-29, Dragon Age x Homestuck)

17. If you asked Solas, it was the most predictable outcome, blatantly staring you in face, shoving middle finger into your nose and blowing a raspberry. However, nobody asked Solas and even less people cared for his issues with Sera’s behaviour, and thus when Dorian goes missing, almost everyone is surprised. (The Excellent Week of Dorian Pavus, 2021-04-09, Dragon Age x Doctor Who)

18. Talent. A short and complicated word. What is a talent? (Necromancer’s Virtues, 2021-05-06, Dragon Age)

19. Fucked.That’s what they are. Fucked. Completely and thoroughly. The Trade Tongue is a limited and insufficient language and lacks any imagination whatsoever when it comes to cusswords. (The Wolves Breach Through, 2021-05-29, Dragon Age)

20. There are a lot of ways to tell that you’ve woken up the wrong way in the morning, and I was pretty certain that I’ve hit three of them at least: Every fiber of me was aching, two men were looming over me with worried expressions, and the sky was dark. Especially the last bit was extremely worrisome, since I was fairly certain I fell asleep in my bed at home under a solid ceiling above which is mum’s room and after that is the attic and after that is a roof and only then you get to see the sky. (Real Feeling of Sharing,[3] 2021-01-10, Dragon Age)

Observations:

I use the opening lines of a story like most people use headlines; luring in the reader by making them think “Hold on, what’s going on?” and hoping it ignites strong enough curiosity for them to read further to figure it out. For that reason more often than not the opening lines are not exactly related to the story.

A surprising amount of mu openings also clearly say: “The story you know is over.”

Also very specific thing which is less about opening lines and more about the trope of my fics: A suspicious number of beginnings based on the fact that the person of focus is dead or implied to be, or implied to be really close to it.

I also don’t like long introductions to the story, so it’s either “Things are happening now, figure it out dear reader” or “This is a thing I am going to focus on because it’s my thing, deal with it, plot will come later.”

Favourite opening line is from The Wolves Breach Through, especially because it quickly evolves into a rant about langauges. The Night In Gale is a close second, because I love to take a piss on the source material. For this reason The Battlespire also comes close to the top, although the fic in itselfwas shit.

[1] Like A Teen Girl should get renamed, because the story evolved from “Parody of the Magic Highschool Girls premise” to “Drama With the Lads”, but I eh, who cares anyway, right?

[2] The Many Deaths of Me deserves to be rewritten by older and more experienced me. It could be a great fic.

[3] Probably going to get renamed to Original Real Feeling of Sharing, but only when I start the next story from the series.

tagging: @timesthatneverwere @thewronglong

[magnumdays]

The Episode of Lost Opportunities AKA 2x16

SO I wrote this before watching the promo, then I did and now I know most of us are just FREAKING out about next week (and I’m freaking out the most because ummm they’remakingmyfanficintoanactual EPISODE!!! How does one deal with this????)  but if you want a break from freaking out, here are some thoughts on last night’s episode!

So even though 2x16 was perfectly enjoyable, I’m going to have to officially re-name it “The Episode of Lost Opportunities” because there were so many plots and just tid-bits they could have done great things with.

So yeah not really a review today, instead I’m going to (in true Jenny Nicholson fashion) make a numbered list of things I think they should have added /done something with, in no particular order.

Miss nr. 1. Not having Higgy tease Magnum back with British pet names. I’m honestly devastated by this. Like what would a little sarcastic “come on luv” or a “Dearie, come here” from Juliet have cost them? The closest we got was Babe take our selfie.

Nr. 2. Not having Mr. Dorky Helpful But Cute guy ask Higgy out. I really thought this was where it was going with him being all “it’s just our second date, we met online” and yeah even though he looked about 12, it would have fit the episode. 

Plus they could have had Magnum standing to the side gesturing like “go for it” and her either saying yes or no and later her and Magnum having a little chat about it. The Yes with him being all “I convinced you to do it” proud and also mildly jealous. The No, with her being all “he’s a suspect” or “he went on a love bus tour!” or “I’m not ready, bc of the dead fiance, remember him?”

Nr. 3. Which takes us neatly to - drowned guy should be bringing up some feelings for Juliet as I’m fairly certain back in Day of The Viper they mention something about how Richard washed up on the shores of something-something (I mean obvs he was shot before but I’d still imagine some associations there).

Also her own almost drowning in 1x19 (even if this episode’s dude wasn’t drowned, it did seem so at first and he was still in the water). I just feel maybe there could have been some feelings here that our favorite duo actually talked about. Just a nice little call back to either one of those would have been great. One line! Is that too much to ask for?

Nr. 4 on the list of missed opportunities is for me going to be Theresa (Teresa?). TC’s old flame. And this is a big one! 

I honestly would have loved it if they went with this - as in have him not be so damned noble and let the childhood sweetheart go. Like, why not have them actually try to make a go at it?

Maybe she could have been there with just her boyfriend rather than husband to make it less of a thing and then maybe give it an episode or two and have them talk over the internet before she comes back and they get back together! Because why can’t anyone have a girlfriend? Like why do all of the guys need to be such lone wolves? 

I mean, I get it, because they are a family/brothers, but having even just one more minor female recurring would be interesting and would add dimension to the gang and characters!

Now this is like one of those random side plots that don’t really do much because in the end nothing has changed. Other than us learning a little more about TC, which is nice, but it doesn't seem like it will actually impact future episodes and didn’t really connect a whole lot with the episode. TC is just off getting closure to a relationship we never knew he needed closure for. Which means we’re not super invested.

I feel like this is a bit of a problem with the show in general. We get really nice and moving and character developing stuff for characters we haven’t been shown to need, as with Kumu last week and now TC. Rick and his dying “dad” Ice-Pick and even Shammie with his lying army buddy. Even Gordon and his son. Jin and his sisters and that’s why he steals.

These things could all have had 100 times more impact if they’d established these problems/ relationships earlier. Like if we had learned Kumu's husband had cheated on her and had a child with another woman (or maybe that Kumu is a bit sad she never had kids on her own) sometime before - over the past 30 episodes, wouldn’t last week’s episode, where she finally reaches out to the husband’s kid, would have been so much more emotionally satisfying? 

Same if Theresa had been mentioned as TC’s great love and maybe him being sad some episodes ago (or even back in 1x19 when his dad doesn't come to visit - that could have been about him seeing a post about her getting married and him being upset about it and connecting with Rick about that.) 

Like I get that maybe sometimes they just throw random things in there but at the same time why do they need to do that? Want to do that? Isn’t there someone keeping track of the big picture? Giving characters long running story arcs over a season or even multiple ones should be someone’s job. 

If it’s not, I volunteer! 

Seriously Lenkov I’m currently unemployed and totally up for it, just give me a call! I already know we think the same... (Marriage of Inconvenience). 

Nr. 5 Not having Gordon comment something on the fact that he’s been called to a murder scene on a Island Love tour bus site by his favorite PI duo. Like yeah they’d have told him why they were there but he still should have teased them about it! Like “What were you two doing here anyways? Something going on?” and both of them giving a horrified “NO!”.

Nr. 6 when the guy says “is he crazy?” after Magnum jumped into the waterfall pool thing, not having Higgy be all “Yes, he is”, then jumping in after him, was a huge miss. That would have been so funny and shown how much alike they are (even if Higgy will always be the sane one...)

Nr. 7. Not having Magnum and Higgins try to pretend to be together when the bus driver catches them. I mean come on! At least some more hand holding! Snuggling? I’m not saying to just kiss already okay maybe I am saying that.

Nr. 8. Not one real Miggy moment in this episode? I mean lots of bickering and maybe for a moment with her being all “well done” when he tells the cheating a-hole he’s an idiot for having an affair. And if the camera had stayed on him for a few seconds more when they’re toasting at the end we know we’d have gotten a Mangum looks had Higgy soft heart eyes moment. But we didn’t. But other than that, not really much feel-y moments even if we got plenty of cute stuff.

Nr. 9.  Sandy and how they find out Sandy is the killer! Like what? She cut the bus’s fuel line  which makes no sense, she’d wouldn’t want to trap herself right?  Sandy if you’d just not cut the fuel line and stayed with the group, you’d have been taken back to civilization and no one would have figured you out! Or you should have left right away on car/4-wheeler you must have prepared for escape, not stayed around! You could have left down long before the cops got there or the autopsy revealed anything. Same for why does she give her knife to her date? Why not just throw the knife away? She’s in the jungle, big chance it will be found. Not.

And why kill someone in the middle of nowhere, making yourself one of the, like, 8 suspects? Like come on girl, for a hit woman you’re not that clever. Also if you had a gun, why strangle a guy 2x your size? That’s not a smart plan either. Just get a silencer and shoot the guy when he’s on his morning jog back in the city or something! I feel like the only reason they had her be the baddie was so Magnum/ Higgins could say “Shot through the heart” // “How is that for poetic” all dramatically after Gordon took her down.

Problem nr. 10. Tied in with this I just think Sandy as the killer should have not happened. 

In fact, I think having the sweet loving wife as the killer would have been wonderful. 

It would have been a much better twist! Dead guy could have been poisoned (traditional how wive’s kill their husbands… just saying) and then he fell off the cliff. They could surely have found some weird clue to that, like maybe his throat is all swollen and stuff to make them think foul play and then when they’re moving the body towards the end, Magnum realizes it’s poison.

But Higgy stayed back with the ‘grieving’ asthmatic widow and oh no! Must rush back to save my one true love platonic partner. 

We could have had some sort emotional moment where the Wife got Higgy with a knife at her throat and is all “He was supposed to be my best friend, my partner, my everything and he did X” and Magnum being all “Well that woman you’re holding a knife to is my (best) friend, my partner and she didn’t do anything so please put the knife down!” Or something. 

I mean I know that sounds like I’m off in Miggy fanfiction land but honestly I think they could have made it work (this is hilarious when re-reading after watching next weeks trailer). She could have teased him about the best friend bit but then she could have been all soft, “Thomas. Thank you. I’m glad you're my friend.” And the episode could have ended with how love just never seems to end well for anyone which would have been way more on theme for the vibes in this episode (and frankly whole show because no one gets to have a romantic relationship for more than, like, 3 episodes).

Nr. 11. Higgins hair. Not putting it in the fluffy “Blood In the Water” style was a big miss because that hair made her look so freaking adorable. Just saying. I mean both my babies are always adorable I just love the poofy fluff hair from that ep!

Anyways, those were my 11 missed opportunities for episode sixteen!

My fave bits were Magnum and Higgins fake couple thing at the start. Magnum being all like “While we’re up here we might as well take a selfie!” and then when talking to the old couple his, *I’m just gonna keep my hand here, on your waist! I’m real smooth* move. 

I enjoyed the fast action pack-ed-ness of the whole ep and the pretty Hawaii scenery we got. The more I watch Magnum PI the more I want to visit Hawaii (one day when there is no Corona, I’m much richer and 20h airplane rides are suddenly comfortable, I will!) and just enjoying all the amazing natural beauty and stuff.

The Rick and TC’s interactions were also highlights, I loved the whole “just pretend to walk by”. Like so middle-school yet so relatable because who hasn’t done that when we’re like, is that Lisa from second grade? And just we walked down the cat food aisle perusing cat food (when we most def. don’t have a cat), just to check if it is indeed Lisa.

Also this made me crack up so hard.

Magnum: Muffin? 

Higgy: Could you please not refer to me as a breakfast pastry.

That’s just so on point for Higgy I can’t even!

You guys agree with my missed opportunities? Or have any of your own for this or any other episodes?

______

(And who is desperately searching for a time machine to steal so it can be next week - right this minute!! LIKE!!! I’m still freaking out from the trailer.)

[haru-desune]

Grimmtober Day 31: The Robber Bridegroom

One of them noticed a gold ring on the murdered girl's little finger. Because it did not come off easily, he took an ax and chopped the finger off, but it flew into the air and over the barrel, falling right into the bride's lap.

--

A spooky one to celebrate the last day of Grimmtober! Content warnings for women in peril, cannibalism, murder, mutilation, and gore. This is a story of ATU type 955, and it is told like this:

Once there was a miller who had a beautiful daughter of marriageable age. He decided he would get her married to the first suitable groom who passed by. Soon there came a wealthy man who seemed of good sorts, and the betrothal was set. However, the man left the young bride with a deep sense of unease which she could not place.

At first, all was well, as they stayed apart, but eventually, the bridegroom asked the woman why she wouldn't visit him though they had been betrothed for several months. First, she tried to say that she did not know where he lived, but he told her he lived in the middle of the forest.

This only strengthened her unease, and she tried to excuse herself by saying she wouldn't know how to find it. But the Bridegroom said that he'd leave a trail of ashes for her to follow. Unable to put it off anymore, she agreed.

The time came for the young bride to visit the house, and she set off into the forest with a pocket full of peas and lentils, dropping one along the path as she walked. Eventually, she came across a lonely old house and she was filled with an even greater sense of dread.

As she entered a bird in a cage in the corner of the first room warned her away, telling her that she was in a murderer's house. She ignored the warning and ventured forth. Every room she passed was empty. Finally, she came to the cellar, where she found an old woman tending to a cauldron.

The old woman told her that this was a house of cabalistic robbers, of which her bridegroom was the leader, who were certain to have her killed and eaten if she married into the household. The old woman hid her away behind a large cask of wine and promised that she would help her escape that night, for she too was looking for a way to leave the house.

No sooner had she done this, than the door opened and the band of robbers returned, carrying a struggling young woman. They made her drink three glasses of wine, red, white, and yellow, and she fell down dead. They then stripped the body of jewels and finery, chopped her up, and cooked her to eat.

As they ate, one of the robbers noticed a gold ring on a finger of the body. It was not easy to remove, so he took an axe and chopped off the finger. But the finger flew into the air and landed in the lap of the bride behind the cask. The robbers searched the room but were unable to find the finger. Just as they were to check behind the cask, the old woman convinced them to give up the search, as the finger wasn't likely to run away in the night.

The woman then drugged the robbers' wine, and once they were all asleep, she and the young bride snuck away. The trail of ashes was destroyed, but the peas and lentils had sprouted enough for them to find their way out of the forest. The girl ran home and told her father everything.

On the day of the wedding, the bridegroom and his gang arrived, along with a large number of other guests, as the miller had invited all of his friends and relatives. At the wedding feast, each was asked to tell a story, and the bride sat through it all in silence. Then the groom urged her to tell a story of her own, so she told the story of her adventure in the robbers' house - but she framed it as though it was something she experienced in the dream.

After each sentence she spoke, the robber tried to say that it was only a dream, but then she mentioned the finger with the golden ring and pulled out the same finger as evidence. The robber went pale and tried to run away, but he and his band were caught by the rest of the wedding guests and turned over to the courts. He and his entire band were executed for their crimes.

How's that for a Halloween tale?! This was first published in Children's and Household Tales, though I can't imagine reading it to any child today. It certainly makes for a grim bedtime story (pun fully intended).

I was originally going to do Bluebeard for today's tale, which was in the original Grimm's fairytales. However, the Grimms took their version of the story out of subsequent printings as they felt it belonged more to the French storytelling tradition. It's really hard to find their version online - most of the ones I found are just Perrault's tale attributed to the Grimms - and it looks like you may only be able to read it if you're lucky enough to find it in print. The Jack Zipes translation is supposed to be quite good. I did find this cool blog post comparing the two though if you are interested.

The Robber Bridegroom has a lot of similarities to Bluebeard and other ATU 312 tales. However, it isn't the "sin" of curiosity (The blog I linked has a good point to make about that in the Grimm version vs the Perrault version of Bluebeard) that gets the girl in trouble. She finds herself in danger because she ignores her gut feeling and more explicit warnings. At the same time, it is her quick wit, and, importantly, the help of the old lady - another woman in a similar situation as the bride.

Looking at folklore and fairy tales through a feminist lens can be tricky. Many stories either fall into a "Woman as a prize/prop/victim" category or exist in a sort of grey area in terms of agency. Part of this is because of the tropey nature of the tales - you're literally working with archetypes and stock characters. In most cases, unless the character is the protagonist, they're not going to be particularly fleshed out. So it's no real coincidence that the Grimm stories that give the most agency to women are usually the ones where the women are the protagonists (this one, Seven Ravens, and even to an extent the original Cinderella for example).

There's also the time period to take into account. Most folk/fairy tales were meant to educate as much as they were meant to entertain. Your protagonists should have traits that you want your children to emulate. So the view of femininity and the woman's role in society at the time will play a part in how women are portrayed in folktales. (There are a lot of papers out there that explain it better than me). Looking at it from a modern lens, I see this as a story about a girl who got bad vibes about her finance, was proven right on further investigation, and managed to bring him to justice with the help of another victim of his abuse. What did it represent to women in the 19th century?

On a lighter note: I can't end the month of Grimmtober without my usual PSA for today's shitty parent - our buddy the miller. Would it kill you to do a background check on your future son-in-law? Rich dude comes up to your door, no background or history, lives in a spooky house in the woods with a bunch of friends, no apparent job to speak of, and you're like "yeah seems legit"? Maybe a house call, or asking around if anyone knows the dude, anything before marrying off your only child. YIKES, my man. Big Yikes.

Further Reading:

The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of a Genre - Jack Zipes

Women Who Open Doors: Bluebeard and Horror - Chloe N. Clark

Not So Very Blue, after All: Resisting the Temptation to Correct Charles Perrault's "Bluebeard - Nicholas Ruddick

Women Who Run With The Wolves: Myths And Stories Of The Wild Woman Archetype - Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Bluebeard's Female Helper: The Ambiguous Role of the Strange Old Woman in the Grimms' "Castle of Murder" and "The Robber Bridegroom." - Daniela Hempen

Fractured fairy tales: German women authors and the Grimm tradition - Janine Blackwell

"Some Day My Prince Will Come": Female Acculturation through the Fairy Tale - Marcia R. Lieberman