#We simply call him the youngest because that's what he had been for 16 years

[ceruleanterrapin]

Every time I'm reminded that Mikey is the actual eldest I want to punch someone

[thatsmybook]

A few times, I've heard Lisa and Rojda talk about how Young Royals is about the class system and a queer Prince, but also, it's relatable because not only do the cast look like teenagers, they act like teenagers in today's world. So it's also a show about teenagers. With that in mind, I'd like to talk about Simon Eriksson, working class, immigrant, and mixed race student at Hillerska, falling in love with the Prince.

Simon, in S1, deliberately kept any problems about Sara and his life at Hillerska hidden from his mum because he did not want to burden her. He lied to reassure her when she'd get worried about Sara and equally made decisions to help Sara's wellbeing at school. It seemed that he was taking care of his mum and sister when his dad left and after the abusive relationship that seemed to have really affected the whole family. This is why he doesn't share anything bad that he's going through with his mum. He's trying to protect her. He always has.

As to the comments he is getting. I think he is reading them because often they concern his family and are from the people in their town. That, along with the phone calls at night and hate-mail mentioned by Linda at the court hearing in S3 ep1, this means that he's on hyper-vigilance about threats to him and his family. So, my theory is that he is monitoring his comments and engaging to try to defuse things. But just like in all 3 seasons, his actions often lead to more problems.

This is a 16 year old kid, the youngest in his family, doing things an adult should be doing. This is very relatable for many working-class single parent families. Something to add about first-generation kids of immigrant families, having an extra layer of working to help the family navigate the country and society they're in.

Also, as to the comments, there have been many real life incidents, unfortunately , of teenagers getting hate comments online from their peers and bullied to the point of taking their own lives. Simply telling them not to read the comments may not have worked for them. (Yet so many reactors to this season think it's that simple).

Simon is getting a volumous amount of hate comments, which started right after the sex video was released in S1. At that point, the comments were in the print media.

He needs actual support, less obliviousness from the adults in his life about what is happening to him (that includes the Royal Court), and understanding about the actual effect of comments on his mental health from everyone around him. He is a victim of actual hate, and when I hear about any child going through that kind of regular abuse, my heart goes out to them.

Seeing how supportive Simon's dad could be in this 3rd season in his conversations with Sara, we can see how much Simon actually misses his dad. Because had he had a relationship with him, without the baggage of Sara's need for distance, he would have probably noticed that Simme needed help and been quite good at it, when he could manage it.

However, we as the audience seem to be blinded by Wille's more important problems, partly because the show is largely from his POV, but also because his pressures seem bigger. As a result, I've seen fans come down on Simon for not putting his life's woes in perspective to support Wille more. We start to see big cracks in their relationship and start to feel that they just won't work out.

But, they're also just kids in their first relationship. Miscommunication is completely normal at that age. They've only just been spending actual time with each other this season and getting to know each other. Yet they are dealing with adult problems, and so many of us fans are shouting at the screen - talk to each other! I feel like, if I were one of them, there is so much weight on me that I'd be too scared to open the floodgates and actually tell my boyfriend what's happening because I don't want to scare him. And no wonder they spend most of their time making out. It's the easiest part of their relationship and what gives them actual joy at the moment.

So I give grace to these characters and kudos to the creators of the show, for showing ACTUAL teenagers dealing with real life problems, amplified for drama because of the dichotomy of being a Prince and a commoner. But, I don't judge ANY of the characters when I apply the same analysis I've given here to Simon to all the other four characters. What this show requires of us adults is empathy for their plight and maybe a closer look at the teenagers in our lives. What it does for the teen audience is show them that they're not alone when they mess up or are dealing with life pressures. We as a society won't judge them. We will work to understand them and share their burdens.

[natureboy96]

Tamlin faces his father and brothers

I believe that this is one of the least criticizable things Tamlin has done and explain why below. I'm not much of an artist, but I've had this picture in my mind for a long time, particularly because it's one of the most vague moments which is brought up to criticize Tamlin, both in the books and by the fandom. Now Tamlin is clearly not a perfect character, and he's done some things that warrant criticism, but it's the story of Tamlin telling his father where Rhys' family might be that comes up more often than not... and it's also one of the events in his backstory that we know the least specific details about. Based on what little we do know, I believe that this is one of the least criticizable things Tamlin has done, even if Rhysand (the character, not his fans) can understandably hold a grudge over it. What we know:

Rhysand had befriended Tamlin when they met during intercourt events, with Rhysand sneaking away from training at war camps to hang out with him.

Tamlin and Rhysand's fathers were terrible people, with Tamlin's father being called worse than Beron, who we know is genuine horrible, both of them jealous/afraid of the kids' growing power.

At one point, Rhysand told Tamlin that he and his family would be at a specific place in the woods, and Tamlin's father somehow got the information and went to kill Rhysand, only to kill his mother and sister.

Rhysand and his father retaliated by entering the Spring Court and killing Tamlin's father, brothers and his mother (though Rhysand had believed he wouldn't). Tamlin then kills Rhys' father and the two become high lords.

What we don't know:

Tamlin and Rhysand's age: neither telling of the story, from Rhys or Tamlin in book one, mention how old they were. At best we can figure out a rough minimum age. We know it happened after Tamlin was brought to war camps to train. Rhysand was sent to train at age 10, and unless the Spring Court is different, it seems a safe bet to say he was at least that old. Rhysand mentions that they became friends over the years at court functions, and that he 'taught Tamlin how to bed females', which would also imply that Tamlin was at least a teenager before the incident. edit: I had initially been thinking older teenager, like 16, but considering fae in this universe follow human development to a point, it's also possible he was younger, 12 at youngest. Considering they had training at a very young age and they would develop along human lines, it feels safe to put this as an earliest age)

How Tamlin's father found out: because Tamlin knew the information, and felt guilty enough to be physically sick when he saw the wings in his father's office, its heavily implied he got it from Tamlin himself (but not confirmed). It's possible he heard it from a different source, but unlikely. Some people criticize Tamlin by saying he simply 'gave them up', or worse, 'knowingly aided his father to kill his friend. Considering what we know about how abusive Tamlin's father and brothers were to him, it feels like a very big stretch to assume he would willingly tell his father where his best friend was in order to kill him.

What actually happened: what we know is that Tamlin was there with his father and brothers when they killed Rhys' mother and sister, and that their wings and heads were removed. Other than that, we have no details whatsoever. We don't know if Tamlin took an active part, if he was dragged kicking and screaming, if he sat on his hands and closed his eyes, if he tried to physically stop his father and brothers and was knocked out for it. Unless SJM specifies what happened, we can only assume based on what we know. Knowing that Tamlin's father was abusive, that Tamlin and Rhys were friends, and that Tamlin felt visceral guilt afterwards, it feels highly unlikely that Tamlin was a willing participant in any sense.

What's wrong with this criticism

based on every bit of evidence that the books have told us, it's safe to assume that Tamlin was an unwilling participant in the murder of Rhysand's mother and sister. To get angry and hate Tamlin for being unwilling to harm these two characters feels disingenuous at best.

Tamlin still told his father about Rhys' location, betraying him: Tamlin's father, an abusive man who is worse than Beron, who we know murdered Lucien's love because she was 'beneath' him, does not seem to be the sort to abuse his children to get a leg up on his enemies. Based on all evidence, it genuinely makes no sense for Tamlin to give this information willingly. Whether through trickery or straight up physical abuse, It seems far more likely that he forced the information out of him.

Tamlin did not stand up for his friend: We already know how powerful a high lord can be. Does it seem logical, or plausible, for a young man at best, and a literal teenager/child at the youngest, to stand up to his abusive, high lord father, and his equally abusive brothers? Is it fair to criticize a child for not standing up to their abusive parents, even when they know they're doing something terrible to someone else? And we also don't know if he didn't try to stop them! There is no evidence that he actively participated in this murder, there's also no evidence that he did nothing, or that he didn't try to stop them!

Rhysand hates and blames Tamlin, so we should blame Tamlin as well: Rhysand is a character, and like all characters and people, he is a character operating on imperfect information, and one who has suffered a personal loss. The only person left who is tied to what happened is Tamlin, and somehow, the information Tamlin gave was what got his mother and sister killed. Despite this having happened hundreds of years ago, this is clearly something Rhys still hurts over, and that's understandable. We, as the readers, however, have information that Rhys does not, or that he willingly chooses to ignore to continue nursing his grudge. From all the evidence, it only makes sense logically that Tamlin was, at best, naive and tricked into giving information, or at worst, abused physically or mentally into giving the information. Tamlin feeling guilt over what happened is not the same thing as being responsible. People feel guilt over things that, from an outside view, were not their fault. It's not a child's fault that their abusive father got information out of them which lead to their friend's family being hurt, and it's also understandable that Tamlin would feel guilt over what happened.

Tamlin never returned the wings and burned them, never apologized: Based on what we know, Tamlin and Rhysand stopped being friends and did not talk for years, presumably centuries, after Tamlin's family was killed. After that night, Rhysand became High Lord of the Night Court, which had a reputation of cruelty and torture, which Rhysand continues to pretend to support to the rest of Prythian, in order to protect Velaris. Tamlin knows that he cannot keep the wings, if only for the reason that the guilt of seeing them makes him ill. He also doesn't know if returning the wings would have a positive, or negative outcome. Considering he believes his former friend hates him (he does) and has become a monster (doesn't know about the mask) It feels safe to assume any contact with Rhysand would end negatively, and reminding him of the most traumatic moment of both their lives thus far would make things far, far worse. We know that Tamlin doesn't burn the wings to be spiteful, and he doesn't burn the wings because he hates Rhysand. We know (because the book tells us) that Tamlin burned the wings because it seemed the most respectful thing to do, given his options.

Why didn't he apologize? I would posit most of the reasoning from above would support why he didn't apologize before the events of the books. The only time after the books end that the two have any conversation about what happened is in ACOFAS, when Rhysand visits Tamlin in his home alone. At this point in the story, it is beyond clear that Tamlin is incredibly depressed and suicidal. Common symptoms depression is negative self thoughts, fixating on blame and feeling worthless, all of which are things Rhysand actively encouraged Tamlin to feel on his first visit in this book. Helping push someone who is already depressed into a deeper, darker form of depression, and then expecting an apology for what they did wrong, seems incredibly unlikely. And it's here that we see Tamlin still blames himself for everything that happened. How can we expect an apology from someone who has been told, and fully believes, that he doesn't deserve forgiveness, that he deserves to be alone and to die alone? People who apologize are looking for forgiveness. Tamlin isn't looking for forgiveness, because he doesn't believe he deserves it. This was a very long post, but I hope how I segmented and organized my thoughts made it a bit easier to read and understand. I have a few other thoughts regarding criticism of Tamlin that I feel are unfair or vastly overcriticized by parts of the fandom community, and I am thinking of making similar posts in the future - don't expect art to go with each one though, again I was struck by inspiration because of @copypastus wonderful art, in which Feyre (much like large parts of the fandom) jumps to immediate conclusions regarding what happened between Rhys and Tamlin... Or perhaps it was the other way around, with the fandom accepting Feyre's jump to conclusions. Either way I'll link it here. https://www.tumblr.com/copypastus/734619568163749888/feyres-selective-hearing-is-the-origin-of-my?source=share

[slumberingcorpse]

The Wolf and The Fox

Part 6 “Live For Me”

Summary: Remembering a terrifying event of his early years in the Keep, Geralt finds himself finding comfort in Vesemir.

Screams flood Kaer Morhan’s halls. No one knew what was happening or what started it, what they did know, was that they were being attacked, no, not attacked, massacred.

Geralt’s heart pounds against his ribcage as he tries his best to keep up with his brothers being squeezed in between the stone walls one of his older brother’s legs. There was a total of fifteen of them. From the age of five to sixteen. The oldest pups were no other than Aleksy and Birger. Ages 16 and 15 respectively. The younger witchers could hardly use a wooden sword and all of the elder witchers were below fending off the mystery invaders only leaving the two oldest to protect the younger pups.

Aleksy often went by “Wolf” around the keep. With his broad heavy build and his grey hair caused by the mutations, he sure looked like a wolf but the older witchers called him that for being the best hunter and tracker in the whole keep, having the trophies in his room to prove as such. However, the children called him “wolf” simply because he was the best at playing tag and hide and seek. No matter where you run or hide, the wolf will find you. Or that’s what the children liked to say.

Birger on the other hand was tall and thin with black curls running down to his shoulders. Around the keep, he was known as “Dragon”. Unlike Aleksy, he kept to his own or just straight avoided the younger pups by keeping to his room. That’s where he got the name. Like a dragon guarding his treasure, he stayed in his cave.

The cave was long abandoned now, however. Now there he had to guard something more precious than jewels and gold. The lives of his brothers.

“There’s so many of them...we won’t be able to hold on for much longer...” Birger trembles hearing the deafening sound of war cries only to jolt up feeling a warm hand grip his shoulder.

“They’ll be fine, focus on getting everyone out of here alive,” Aleksy says glancing over the large group of children behind them shaking in panic and fear.

Birger glances around the group, his eyes landing on one of the youngest pups, Geralt, before tightening his grip on his steel sword and sighing, “We should get to the underground tunnels. There’s a secret entrance to the library. From there we’ll be able to make our way to the cave used for the trail of echoes. We’ll be safe there.”

“That’s my boy. Lead the way, I’ll take the back.” Aleksy smiles patting the other’s shoulder before ordering all the others where to go making sure all the little ones walked ahead of him.

Birger rushed through the keep, clearing out everyone that got in his way. He might’ve been young, but his siblings didn’t call him “Dragon” for nothing. Using igni, he set his enemies ablaze leaving smothering human corpses in his wake.

Geralt yelps at the sight of the corpses. In his short months in Kaer Morhen, he’s never seen a corpse before, let alone know the smell of burning flesh. It was all too much for the small pup who fell to his knees and threw up.

In the back, Aleksy made sure all the pups were accounted for as well as making sure they weren’t being followed. Luckily, the invaders seemed to be more focused on the chaos below than the children rushing for an escape.

Noticing, the small white-haired boy on his knees, he quickly rushed to his side, “Hey, what’s wrong? Does something hurt?” he asks sweetly rubbing his back.

Geralt couldn’t speak instead of letting out choked sobs unable to process what was happening. One minute he was sleeping, and the next he was running for his life. Terrified, couldn’t even start to cover it.

Like always, young Eskel quickly rushed over. Even then, the two were inseparable. From the moment they met, Geralt and Eskel were always together. The older witcher often joked about the two being soul mates.

“T-the smell...” Eskel tries to explain by hugging Geralt close for his own comfort.

Aleksy’s eyes soften as he nods before reaching down into his boot. There he takes out his most prized possession, his hunting dagger that shimmered in the low torch light. Without hesitation, he cuts a piece of his shirt before tying the cloth around Geralt’s face.

“There, now you don’t have to smell it. Can you walk?” he asks, keeping his voice calm.

Geralt whimpers and shakes his head in response. It was all too much. He couldn’t go any further. Trembling like a leaf, his legs were useless at this point.

“Wolf! What the hell are you doing!? We’ll be killed if we don’t hurry!” Birger shouts from up ahead.

“I know! Just give me a second!” Aleksy shouts back before smiling back down at Geralt and Eskel, “I’m going to pick you up, okay?” he says before lifting him in his arms. Eskel follows suit, by reaching up to hold Aleksy's hand.

Abandoning his sword on the ground, Wolf led both boys toward the rest of the group.

The library was right in their sight and both boys quickly herded the children inside. Grabbing some chairs and tables, Aleksy and Birger blocked the door before turning towards the group.

“Everyone okay?” Aleksy pants checking over all the boys’ arms and legs for any injuries still having Geralt and Eskel close while Birger hurries to find the entrance.

The library was huge and old. Hardly anyone went up there making it a perfect place to hide. The room smelled of rotting pages and dust. Usually, unpleasant, now the smell was a comfort.

“It’s okay everyone. It’s almost over. Once we get to the cave all of this will be over.” Aleksy reassures knowing how frightened the younger pups were.

“W-what about Vesemir?” Geralt whimpers clutching onto his shirt tightly.

“He’ll be fine. Everyone will be fine. They’ll come to find us once they fend off the invaders.” Aleksy smiles giving him and Eskel a gentle squeeze just as he hears a soft click from across the room.

“Break’s over! Come on! Let’s get out of here!” Birger calls out as he opens the secret door only to be met with a crossbow bolt between the eyes.

With a soft thud, Birger’s body falls onto the library's stone floor. Silence fills the room as a crown of blood surrounds his head only to be broken by two men walking into the library.

Aleksy’s eyes widen in terror as his eyes are met with yellow glowing cat-like eyes, no different than his. Witchers, with cat medallions hanging from their necks.

“Shame, such a young kid,” One of the cats sighs before reaching out and yanking the crossbow bolt out of Birger’s skull with a wet crunch.

“Orders are orders though,” he continues before turning back to the other cat, “Kill them all.”

Panic screams fill the library as the children scattered trying to find any way to hide. Some of the older pups attempted to fight back using signs but were quickly overpowered and killed with ease.

There was no possible way to save all of them. Even with a sword, the two cats were experienced and cold-blooded. Looking down in panic and fear, Alesky glances down at Eskel trembling at his side clinging tightly to his hand. He feels Geralt’s heart thundering against his chest. With that in mind, he took action.

While the cats are busy killing the other pups, Aleksy uses aard to blast open the blocked library doors before bolting out the door with the only two pups he could carry.

“Don’t let them get away!” he hears behind him followed by the whistle of a crossbow bolt.

Bodies littered the halls, some were humans and cats, but most were wolves. Their brothers, mentors, and friends, were all killed in the only place that was supposed to be safe.

Geralt’s and Eskel’s sobs ring in his ear. Usually, they would be scolded for showing such weakness. After all, witchers aren’t supposed to show emotion, but how could they not? Their family is being killed in front of their eyes.

Trying his best to stay calm, Aleksy rushes into the armory. Normally, the room would be filled with weapons and potions but now it was empty leaving scattered boxes and rat shit.

Slowly, Aleksy set both boys down before blocking the door the best he could but he knew it wasn’t enough. Not against humans, less against bloody witchers, but that was the least of his worries.

“Are you two okay? Does it hurt anywhere?” he asks checking the boys frantically. To his relief they were unharmed.

“W-wolf...” Eskel whimpers glancing down at Aleksy’s chest. Confused, he follows the small boy’s gaze only to make the horrifying realization that there was a crossbow bolt lodged in his chest, right between his ribs.

He couldn’t remember the moment he was shot. His body was pumping so much adrenaline through his veins, it was only now he could feel the pain, followed by the dizziness of blood loss. Still, he forces a smile, “It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

Suppressing the pain, Aleksy gets up and looks around for any escape, landing on a small window and letting in a small amount of sunlight coming from the east where the forest was.

“Thank the gods,” He mutters before coughing up some blood. He didn’t have much time. He can feel his blood fill his lungs as black spots start to appear. He leans against the stone wall and turns his attention back to his brothers.

“Eskel, Geralt, come. I’ll lift you two up. Squeeze through the window and run toward the cave, Do you two remember where that is? We went there to play hide and seek remember?” he asks, keeping his voice soft.

Both pups silently nod staring at the growing pool of blood beneath his feet.

“Good,” Aleksy smiles before forcing himself to bend down to taking his dagger out of his boot and hand it to Geralt, “T-take care of each other. No matter what happens...j-just stay alive...can you do that for me?”

“B-but what about y-you?” Geralt asks taking the blade with trembling hands only to be met with another calm, sweet smile and a hand on his cheek, “I’ll make sure you two aren’t followed.”

“But you’re hurt...”

“I know...I’m going to die soon...that’s why you two must hurry,” Aleksy confesses before lifting Eskel, bitting back cries of pain as he did. Blood gushed out of his wound, it wasn’t going to be long now. With one encouraging push, Eskel squeezed through landing on the other side with a small thud.

“Eskel? You okay?” he calls out hoping their enemies weren’t smart enough to surround the whole fortress.

After a few seconds, he hears the response he was waiting for, “Yeah, it’s all c-clear!”

“Good,” Aleksy sighs before reaching out to Geralt but the small boy pulled away.

“I...I can stay...” Geralt murmurs not wanting his older brother to die alone, but Wolf weakly shook his head, “You can’t...Eskel needs you alive. I need you alive...” he explains.

“B-but...w-what about you? You need help, m-maybe I can get h-help...”

Aleksy gently pets the boy’s head, “There’s no help for me. Please Geralt, live for me...”

Defeated, Geralt nods and lets himself get lifted up. Squeezing through the window, he glances down at his brother one last time.

Bleeding out, Aleksy sat himself down against the door, looked up at him, and with a huge smile, he waved his younger brother off, just as Geralt jolted awake.

The stench of blood and smoke was gone, instead replaced with the smell of sweat coming from no one other than himself.

It’s been ten years since the attack. Ten years, since...Aleksy died saving their lives. Smiling till the end. It’s been a while since he had last remembered the night’s events. A part of him hoped he would forget as he got older but it seems like the opposite has happened. The older he gets, the more he remembers.

Unconsciously, Geralt finds himself standing in front of the medallion tree. A large ancient tree nestled deep in the keep was covered with blood-covered wolf medallions that glittered in the moonlight. He remembers Vesemir calling it the place of great power where the souls of past witchers lend their power to those who meditate under it.

It was the closest thing witchers had to a church. Vesemir would force him and Eskel to mediate here all the time. He wasn’t sure why he was there since he hated the place. It was only another reminder of his unavoidable future that scared him so much just like the hunting knife that he held in his hands.

The once-perfect steel blade was now rusted due to a lack of use. Geralt should’ve tossed it years ago but he couldn’t get himself to use it let alone toss it.

Glancing down at the leather handle, Geralt traced his fingers over the name engraved stopping before he could finish the word.

“Come to visit our brothers?” A voice echoes through the hall causing the pup to jump before turning to find Vesemir walking over.

Relaxing his shoulders, Geralt shakes his head, “I couldn’t sleep...”

Vesemir’s eyes soften, “Another nightmare?”

The young pup shrugs, “Something like that...” he mutters turning back towards the branches of hanging wolf heads.

Vesemir silently nods before heel sitting next to the boy. He knew how the boy was, pushing him to talk would only cause him to run away so instead, he closes his eyes pretending to meditate.

After a few moments, Geralt finally breaks the silence, “How did he do it?”

“Who did what?” the older witcher asks slowly opening his eyes, awaiting his response.

“Alesky. Everyone was dying around us. He was dying and yet…he wasn’t scared...he was smiling...h-how could he do that?” the younger witcher sniffles trying his best to hold back his tears.

“Alesky was a great hunter. We used to joke that if he couldn’t get enough coin killing monsters, he would make a fortune hunting game. He gave his heart and soul into everything he did, even when it came to playing with you boys, but he was afraid especially when he smiled. Fear is what keeps us alive,” Vesemir explains, smiling at the memory of the boy.

“A-are you afraid?”

Vesemir chuckles, “How can I not be? I have to face deadly creatures that can slice or tear right through me with one wrong move and with you boys’ constant reckless behavior, I struggle sleeping without one eye open.”

Geralt plops down next to him looking down at the rusted blade, “Then why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you do all this? Wouldn’t it be better to just leave it all?”

“No,” Vesemir answers bluntly as he rubs Geralt’s back, “I do it because of you boys. You, Eskel, Lambert. All of you three drive me nuts. I stay up all night wondering if I’m too soft or too hard on training. I worry endlessly about all of you every single day, especially on the path. And yet, I wouldn’t trade it for the world because that fear reminds me how much I love you all. You three are my boys. My children. It’s a father’s job to be scared.”

Tears run down Geralt’s cheeks as he drops his knife and wraps his arms around the older witcher, burying his face into his shoulder.

“I’m scared, papa...” he confesses causing Vesemir’s heart to flutter at the name.

“I know, and that’s okay.” Vesemir hums squeezing the boy tightly.

Geralt shakes his head, “I-it’s not...I hurt Eskel...I hurt him because I was scared...I told him that we’ll all die a horrible death and now...he hates me...I don’t want to lose another brother...” he cries.

“Death is a natural thing. Even if we weren’t witchers we would die. Everything has to die at one point or another, but it’s also natural to fear it. It reminds us how much we love life.” Vesemir comforts, gently rocking the boy in his arms.

“W-what do I do?” Geralt sniffles snuggling closer into Vesemir’s chest.

“Use your fear to live. Treat every day like your last and be happy. There’s nothing more you can do...”

“C-can I sleep in your room today then? Just in case I die tonight, I want to die next to you...” Geralt sniffles.

Vesemir smiles and gently kisses his head, “I prefer it if you would live for me.”

A/N: Sorry that this one is a bit gloomy but I promise the next update would be more fluff. I also plan to go in-depth into Kear Morhen’s siege in the future. I hope you enjoy reading.

<- Previous Part

Tag: @wrongdodo

[moki-dokie]

Yes, actually, you did solve it. Whether you want to believe it or not, that is exactly how things were back then, before the world was ultra globalized and before American culture was so intensely pervasive in literally everything.

In fact, that's how it still is for some parts of the world where our western culture has very little reach outside of the extremely and supermassive popular icons. Would you like a good example? Well you're getting one. 2 years ago, I'm sitting in voice chat with some friends who I'm gaming with. This is a primarily Black group. I and a couple of other people are the only white ones, and then the youngest of our group, a wee 16 year old, is from Chile. One day they're talking amongst themselves while the rest of us are chilling and the kid from Chile pipes up and says "Hey, why is it bad for me to say N****r??" Talk about an awkward and pregnant silence. I tell the kid it isn't my place to explain the pain that word can cause, because I'm white. He doesn't get the context. At all. He doesn't even *know* the context, which baffled a lot of us. our Black friends gave the kid a very tl;dr American history lesson, which helped him understand a little. Only a little though, because for him there is no comparison to something like that. Yes, they have highly offensive words and slurs like every culture on earth does, but none of theirs come with the very specific and VERY recent trauma that the N word does. We all talked about it later when he left, how we all forget sometimes that the rest of the world just doesn't know the horrible shit we do in the same way we do. we're still living in a society that is just *barely* out of emancipation and it shows tremendously in our every-day lives. But elsewhere in the world? where that was never much of a thing? it's just another something that happened in american history. wow so sad. good thing its not like that anymore right??? lmao.

I've seen the exact same thing happen with some rather prominent korean and japanese stars, too. Dropping the N-word in a song just because thats how Popular American Muscians do it, having 0 idea what it actually means. After all, why would they? Why would any non-English language culture understand its significance? I'm sure there are millions of words in other languages that would land me in equally hot water to just blurt out without context.

anyway. back to "faggot". This was and still is used exactly as neil described back then. shit i know so many europeans that still regularly call cigarettes fags. I know gay europeans that do this, because it simply does not carry the same context. fuck even *i've* started to do it. like, this word has existed since the 1300s with generally the same meaning that whole time. enter america in the 1910s and it somehow starts cropping up as a slur. the internet as we know it doesn't truly take off until about the 2000s and then it's only just now that we're rather comfortably globalized, but not even fully there yet. so, faggot as a slur has only really been in non-american english speaking countries for... 20ish years?? which is nothing. before the internet was what it is a non-american was only likely to hear it as a slur if they traveled to america, had an american friend, or saw it in some sort of american media. for a british story published when it was, that was about THE MOST quintessential "these are shitty bigoted americans" thing you could have done.

it'd be similar to an american author of the 1990s having their european character use "gypsy" as the proper slur as it is in europe rather than our americanized version of the word which isn't a slur at all and typically stuns people to learn that it is.

the other slurs directed at aziraphale in the book are way, WAY more british. faggot is really the only one i'd say is truly american - at the time. and because az is and always has been one giant representation of the gay man and such a thing is so glaringly obvious in every facet of his character, it makes complete and total sense to have depictions of slurs thrown his way especially in the era it was written and especially since it was set in britain (brits throw insults and slurs around WAY more liberally than americans).

so anyway. yes. that did solve it.

who will go into neil gaiman's ask box and ask him if calling aziraphale a faggot was homophobic or if i brought that into the scene myself too

[purrincesskittens]

Star Eyes, Zuko is mistaken as Water Tribe.

Gift for @muffinlance based off this post and this one

......................................................................

It was night when they found him. A quick examination showed blood on the back of his head. As they pounded on his back someone noted his eyes. “Gold eyes.” They called. “Are you fire nation?” The boy lifted his head and the light of the lantern caught his eyes reflecting back at them. “Of course I am.” The kid snarls. “Star Eyes.” Someone breathed. Shit this kid was one of theirs. “Could be the child of a war bride.” Was suggested by someone. “At least he’s not a fire bender.” There was a laugh that was quickly interrupted by the star eyed boy himself. “Yes I am.” “Well that was.... honest.” 

Star eyes were only something seen in the water tribes though. Even if this kid was a fire bender he had to be water tribe. More then likely the result of a woman stolen from her tribe during a raid and raised as Fire Nation since he looked enough of the part. But he was young, probably just recruited or practically forced into joining the military. There was a easy way to figure out how dangerous this kid was or rather how much more dangerous he was considering he was a fire bender. 

“Have you ever killed someone?” Hakoda asks crouching before the boy lifting his chin in one hand so the boy had to look him in the eye with those gold colored star eyes. “What? No ... I don’t think.... No.”  The kid seemed confused the blood on the back of his head suggested a head wound but this kid was young probably just assigned to a ship only to get knocked overboard by either by a storm or by another soldier. Those eyes probably didn’t make him popular or the fact that this kid’s eyes kept sliding away from Hakoda’s own suggested he may be a fey child. 

“What do we do with him?” Somebody asks as they watch the kid cough up water, curling and uncurling his fingers against the wood of the deck his eyes cast down. “We keep him for now. His mother is probably Water Tribe war bride if he is star eyed. Have Kustaa check him over and if he survives we figure out what to do from there." Hakoda announces to the crew. They took care of their own and until they figured out who his mother was and could turn him over to her family if she had any left the crew of the Akhult would take care of him for now. Half Water Tribe and the child of a war bride was still Water Tribe and like hell were they going to turn him over to the Fire Nation to continue using as a weapon.

Kustaa later informed him the boy had hypothermia as well as potentially severe head trauma it was hard to tell right now. The kid mistook him for his uncle. Which uncle they weren't sure. It's possible the boy's mother had a picture of her family she either managed to take with her or she drew herself or he could be thinking Kustaa was his father's brother. The escape attempts didn't help some of the crews opinions on keeping the kid but considering he was raised as Fire Nation and was in a strange place so its expected that he would try to escape although climbing the mast was something Hakoda really wished he didn't do along with scaling the side of the ship.

Kustaa had mentioned the boy called for his mother while delirious along with begging his father for forgiveness pledging his loyalty to him and pleading no to the man which didn't paint a pretty picture of the man or gain much favor of the fire nation in the crews opinions. "Tell me about your mother." Hakoda suggests sitting up on the mast beside the boy. Glowing gold eyes blinked at him. "I remember trailing robes. She favored long sleeved robes with delicate embroidery. She had long hair I remember her brushing mine when I was little. I would sit in her lap and she would brush my hair talking to me about theater or turtleducks or plants. Different things she liked. I think I would sometimes tell her about my day or what I had done recently I don't remember clearly its... faded almost. Fuzzy. I barely remember what she looked like."

Hakoda frowned the boy was water tribe he had to be with those star eyes of his but why wouldn't his mother tell him about her people, her home. Maybe she couldn't? Maybe the boys father was so controlling he made sure she never spoke of home to their son? Then the boy said something that made him rethink everything he knew about the kid. "Uncle said my hair is alot like hers. Or it was. I don't even remember why I shaved it." The kid frowned obviously struggling to remember rubbing his head with one hand. The head wound had left him confused he didn't rember his name or much of anything recent but he remembered he had been burned for cowardice supposedly or partially for that but what did the fire nation consider to be cowardly? Kustaa suspected the boy's own father burned him based off what they gleaned from fever dreams and night terrors.

“What did she look like?” Hakoda questions softly holding his breath hoping he was wrong with the hunch he had. “Elegant, beautiful, she had long straight black hair that was so soft and amber eyes with flecks of true gold in them she wore long sleeved red robes with elegant embroidery. The sleeves would bellow and she would hide me in them when I was little.” The boy continued to talk about his mother someone he remembered fondly although all the details suggested the hugs, the turtle duck kisses and every else stopped when the boy was small. Something happened to his mother and Hakoda was beginning to suspect it may have something to do with the boys true parentage. But how to suggest it to the kid without breaking the poor things mind? The whole crew already suspected he was spirit touched as the water tribe liked to call those who were different mentally the earth kingdom called them fey and not all of the earth kingdom where kind to them. 

“If I promise no one on this ship will hurt you and we won’t turn you over to the Earth Kingdom will you stop with the escape attempts?”Hakoda asks when the boy falls silent picking at the grain of the wood under his hands not meeting Hakoda’s eyes. The kid blinked up at him startled. “Okay.” Getting the kid down the mast was surprisingly easy after that and a few more rules were hashed out before the kid was sent to see Kustaa again and the crew was gathered. “The boy’s mother was fire nation. He remembers her more clearly then anything else.” This drew murmurs from the crew some wanted to toss him over board then since he wasn’t the child of a war bride. “But he’s star eyed he has to be Water Tribe.” Toklo says tilting his head in confusion. “Exactly. We know he seemed to have issues regarding his father and Kustaa suspects he may have been the one to burn the kid. I learned his mother also disappeared or may possibly have been killed when he was young.” This gained more murmurs from the crew. 

Panuk pulled in a sharp audible breath. He had figured out what Hakoda was getting at. “Does any one here know where they were about 16 to 17 years ago? If they were around the Earth Kingdom or the colonies anywhere?” Their chief had to ask if none of the men on this ship was the boys father he would have to send messages out to all the others in the fleet see if anyone remembered if maybe had met a pretty woman in the Earth Kingdom or in the colonies and spent a night with her. If the kids mother was Fire Nation and he was star eyed that meant his real father had to be Water Tribe. His mother had to have married or started a new relationship soon after and the boy looked fire nation enough to pass him off as her husband’s but the husband probably suspected what with the star eyes. There was silence followed by an uproar. “You can’t be serious?!” Aake shouted in outrage. “I’m not judging anyone but the boy is water tribe and with his mother gone we most definitely are not giving him back to the Fire Nation so we need to figure out whose he is. We take care of our own.” Hakoda soothed the crews ruffled feathers listening as the men scrambled to remember where they were and what they were doing all those years ago.

Slowly they managed to clear the majority of the crew those who couldn’t remember were left struggling valiantly to justify why they couldn’t possibly be the boys father while their youngest two crew members watched with glee obviously in the clear themselves due to their age. Once Kustaa cleared the boy Hakoda set him to work and had to add no breathing fire to the list of rules. Toklo and Panuk made friends with their newest crew member over laundry and the boy was very shouty about women’s work. And then the issue over the kid not having a name he remembered came up. Names like Siqinq, Kallik, Cupun, Tulok, Yuka and Tulugaq were tossed around. He is pretty sure they settled on Tulok simply because they already have a Tuluk and Toklo on board and that name is almost a combination of the two plus it had a star meaning behind it. The boy just wanted to fit in.

Reds were changed for Toklo’s blues and the boys hair shaved to regrow properly after Kustaa managed to break it to the kid that a real father wouldn’t abuse his son, biological or not. They picked up Bato who sympathized with them for wanting to keep the star eyed child, teach him his real culture, and find his real father but the kid was still a fire bender. A fire bender on a WOODEN SHIP!! The boy, Toluk looked like a kicked polar puppy being denied sleep in the hammock he was used to and his usual snacks when ever he wanted. They still had a lot of work cut out for them when the kid thought he would be killed over a bending accident because he didn’t fully remember he needed to mediate to control his fire. His memories were still patchy at best. So Hakoda ended up with his temporary foster star eyed child sitting in his cabin breathing with a lantern holding a dog.  

The kid liked sea prunes proving he was Water Tribe at heart. He was good at using his fire bending for non evil purposes even if he protested it. He proved he shouldn’t be left alone in port either by himself or with his friends. He gained a piercing, two rusted swords, a theater scroll and a cabbage? No one seems to know about the cabbage. He can cook as it’s proven despite how spicy his cooking is and nearly gets kidnapped by prostitutes. Sex workers were not on the list of people Hakoda thought he would have to fight for custody of Tulok with. He nearly gets himself kidnapped by a Earth Kingdom solider they are allied with who seemed sure their boy was then dead prince of the Fire Nation. Never mind that the prince was dead and their boy was star eyed. The solider was surprisingly unfazed by the heat of the kids cooking. He didn't end up kidnapped despite his best efforts.. The kid really needed to stop climbing the mast. “Prince Zuko?!” Hakoda’s kids seemed to also mistake Tulok for the dead prince. 

“That’s the Prince of the Fire Nation, dad he chased us all over and tried to capture the avatar numerous times. His sister did capture Aang.” His kids argued trying to convince him that their new foster brother was some evil prince. The kid in question for his part had more headaches then usual and just seemed more confused and angry. He remembered something. A little sister named LaLa. It takes a while but after watching their new brother and listening to the crew, “His name is Zuko, he is the prince of the Fire Nation, his father is Fire Lord Ozai does no one care about that?!” Sokka asks in outrage staring as the kid in question does laundry like its a perfectly normal thing for a prince to do. “His mother may be fire nation but his father sure isn’t.” Panuk comments dodging a wet shirt thrown by their resident fire bender.  This earned laughter and calls of “Good for her!!” And “She could do a lot better!” Followed by “At least a water tribesman would treat her right!!”. Sokka groaned in frustration and confusion. 

“Why is my nephew wearing blue, convinced Ozai isn’t his biological father and that he is water tribe?” General Iroh the Dragon of the West questions calmly. Tulok seemed to recognize Iroh and even called him Uncle and recognized some of the crew but he still didn’t have complete clear memories although his headaches grew worse until Kustaa told him it didn’t matter if he remembered or not he was water tribe and nothing was going to change that spirit touched or not. “He is star eyed you can’t possibly tell me the fire nation has star eyed kids that’s a water tribe thing only.” Iroh considered it briefly before dismissing it. His nephew looked similar to a young Ozai, so Ozai had to be his father even if he wasn’t much of one and his nephew deserved better then Ozai. But surely Ursa couldn’t have had an affair while married to Ozai it was impossible. Iroh tried to do the math off the top of his head of when Ursa and Ozai married vs when Zuko was born. “Look the obvious answer here is that the boys mom met with a Water Tribe beefcake and had a one night stand that lead to the boy. It’s the only thing that explains why his supposed father hated him so much and why he struggled with fire bending and is star eyed.” Bato explains grinning. “Beefcake?” Hakoda and Iroh question. 

Azula finds this all far to amusing. “That just means I’m the rightful heir after all. You can stay here with your little water tribe family and I can be the next Fire Lord after Uncle.” Somehow things get worked out that their star eyed fire bender’s fire nation sister will be staying with them along side her two scary friends and the kids supposed Uncle will become the next Fire Lord once they take down Ozai. The kid is still confused and there are still gaps in his memories but they aren’t giving him back now he is their’s and the fire nation can’t have him. They still call him Tulok since the fire nation does consider the sun to be a star after all. He seems to like it better then Zuko. He still does their laundry still wears beads in his braids in red, blue and one gold. In all that’s happened no one thought to alert the rest of the fleet about what they learned leaving them in for one heck of a surprise when they reach Chameleon Bay where the rest of the men from the fleet scramble to try to remember where they were sixteen-point-nine years ago. 

[queenshelby]

The Maid – Part One of Three

Featuring: Tommy Shelby x Virgin!Reader

Words: 5095

Warning: Smut

Summary: It was Sunday Evening and you working at a nightclub in London. This was your first job and today you were to meet an interesting man who would make you a job offer that you couldn’t refuse. When you took up the job with him, you got so much more than you bargained for.

Tag List:

@lilymurphy03  @deefigs @theflamecrystal  @chrisevanshoeee  @desperate-and-broken  @weepingstudentfishhorse  @captivatedbycillianmurphy  @fookingshelby  @livinginfantaxy  @rosey1981  @atomicsoulcollecto  @peakyboyslover  @nerdy4itall  @elenavampire21  @hanster1998  @mariapaiva13  @fairypitou  @harry-is-my-sunflower  

--------

Meeting a Stranger

‘Good Evening Sir, may I get you a drink?’ you asked as you looked up into his deep blue eyes.

‘Whiskey. Irish please’ the man said without looking at you as he lit himself a cigarette.

It was unusual for men in this establishment not to make eye contact. It was almost like he was disinterested in his surroundings.

When he lifted up his whiskey glass, you noticed his wedding band. Of course, he was married and here to cheat on his wife.

She probably no longer satisfied his needs. But what did you know? Being 19 years old and rather shy, you had never been with a man.

It wasn’t long until the mistress arrived at the bar which also was unusual. He must be a special guest if the mistress herself was taking the time to talk to him.

‘Mr Shelby, I apologise, but Laura is absent tonight. Clara might be of interest’ the mistress said.

‘Not Clara. Someone new’ he responded.

‘Of course. I will make arrangements’ the mistress said before excusing herself.

Just as the mistress had left, the man ordered a second glass of whiskey.

‘Your name is Shelby?’ you asked surprised as you served him. ‘Are you related to Thomas Shelby by any chance?’ you added.

Without a response, he finally looked up at you. His eyes widened and his facial expression changed, almost like he had seen a ghost.

‘Is everything alright?’ you asked as you didn’t receive a response to your question.

‘You remind me of someone I used to know’ he responded. ‘You just look like her’ he added.

‘So I’ve been told. It’s a shame I never got to meet her’ you said, knowing exactly that he was talking about your half sister Greta Jurossi.

Greta and her mother passed away of consumption before you were born. Your father became very upset by their passing and found comfort in your mother who he fathered two children with. You were the oldest.

Your half-sister Kitty Jurossi spoke about Thomas Shelby quite frequently as the love of Greta’s life. They had been together since they were 16 and you know that he left for France shortly after Greta passed at the age of 19.

Just as Tommy introduced himself to you and began asking you questions, the mistress returned and advised Tommy that arrangements had been made.

‘I changed my mind’ Tommy said. ‘Although, I would like Miss Jerossi to accompany me. I will cover her wages for the night’ Tommy said, causing your heart to skip a beat.

‘Mr Shelby, I am afraid to inform you that she has no experience. She is not one of our working girls. She is simply a barmaid. Although, if you insist and this is something you wish to explore further, we could perhaps come to some to an arrangement’ the mistress said.

You were speechless and felt like you were auctioned off to the highest bidder.

‘I am not intending to fuck her. I would simply like to continue our conversation, eh’ Tommy said sheepishly, catching the mistress by surprise.

‘This should be enough for her time and for you to put another barmaid on for the evening’ he added as he handed her 10 pounds.

‘Of course, Mr Shelby, thank you’ the mistress said before telling you to get your coat.

You grabbed your coat and met Tommy at the front of the club. Just as you arrived, he had lid himself a cigarette.

‘Common’ he said before you followed him to his car.

‘Where are we going?’ you asked. You were still slightly uncomfortable about the situation unfolding right in front of you.

‘A place I know’ he said as he drove off and, within ten minutes, you pulled up in front of a nightclub of a different kind. It was full of artists, a band was playing in the background and everyone enjoyed champaign and cocaine.

‘Common, have a seat’ Tommy said as he sat down with you in a somewhat private area.

He ordered you a drink and began to talk about Greta, his long-lost love. You were still unsure why you were there, with him. Whilst he asked you several questions about your life and your circumstances, it was mostly him who was doing the talking.

After several hours of talking, on the stroke of midnight, Tommy made you a proposal which was too good to refuse.

He offered you a job in Birmingham, as a maid. Apparently, his household was short-staffed and his wife needed more assistance. He was of the view that working in an up-market brothel as a barmaid was no job for a woman like you. Somehow, he didn’t know you, but he cared. He was concerned that, the longer you work there, the more likely it will become that you be asked to do more than just serve drinks.

His offer was kind and you accepted it with caveat that you had no experience as a maid.

He assured you that you will learn all you need to know on the job.

New Life

A week after your encounter with Thomas Shelby, your new life began.

You were introduced to the household and tried the best you could to settle in.

Most days, you were on your own with the other maids, Elizabeth Shelby, who was Tommy’s wife and Tommy’s two children.

Tommy’s wife Lizzie disliked you for obvious reasons. She insisted on older and experienced maids and it was evident to her why Tommy had hired you.

For a while you tried very hard to make Lizzie like you, but nothing took away the apprehension she had in respect of you.

Whilst you could understand her concerns, Tommy had never made any advances towards you. After all, you were much younger than him.

But, over the next few weeks, you learned why Lizzie was so apprehensive. Her marriage to Tommy was on the verge of breaking.

According to Sarah, one of the maids, Tommy and Lizzie were no longer sleeping in the same bedroom and she overheard Lizzie speaking to a solicitor in London to ascertain what her options were if she was to divorce him.

Sarah was of the view that there is no love between Tommy and Lizzie. There never has been.

Lizzie enjoyed the life and the money. Apparently, she used to be a working girl in Birmingham and this is how she met Tommy.

They used to sleep together, quite frequently, until one day she fell pregnant. When Tommy became a member of parliament, he married her. Clearly, he had to appear to be doing the right thing in a position like that.

Sarah herself had her eyes on Tommy and was the only other young maid who managed to stay. For some reason not apparent to you, Lizzie tolerated her. Perhaps she knew too much. After all, one of the reasons maids stayed at the Shelby household was because they were paid well, much better than in other households. Sarah was one of the few maids who had access to Thomas Shelby’s office and it was likely that she had to put a blind eye on the illegal activities Thomas Shelby engaged in.

Every Thursday Evening at 8 o’clock, Sarah would go to Tommy’s office and she would be there for an hour exactly. You timed it, right to the second, every week.

One week, you managed to quietly pass by the office on a Thursday evening at half past eight and you could hear them being intimate.

To your surprise, despite their weekly encounters, Tommy was cold towards her. He didn’t treat her differently to any of the other maids. It appeared to you that the sex they have was no more than another business transaction for Tommy.

Whilst Tommy wasn’t around much, when he was, he was different with you. He was kind and warm in his own way. You were the youngest maid in the household and even Francis said that you get away with mistakes that aren’t usually tolerated because Mr Shelby seems to have soft spot for you. Sometimes, he would even smile at you and you began to like him more than you should have liked a man his age. Sometimes, you even imagined what it would be like if it was you in Tommy’s office with him instead of Sarah.

To your surprise, after a month of you being at the Shelby house, Tommy started to call you into his office as well. You recalled the first time. It was a Tuesday evening, 8 o’clock and you were nervous.

Whilst you could imagine yourself sleeping with him, you had never been with a man before.

But, intimacy and sex was not what Tommy was after. He simply enjoyed your company and you would talk for hours, about horses, racing and politics.

Like a real gentleman, he kept his distance, offering you a drink and a cigarette while you talked and talking was all you ever did.

Sarah noticed reasonably quickly that your Tuesday night encounters with Tommy became a habit and once she even overheard you referring to him as Tommy as opposed to Mr Shelby.

Tommy insisted that you call him Tommy when you talked in private. It was not part of your work and he said that he felt old every time you called him ‘Mr Shelby’.

As another four weeks had passed, you could see the man within him who your step sister fell in love with and Kitty had spoken so highly about. He appeared to you every Tuesday evening at 8 o’clock, a different man.

Mistakes Happen

To Lizzie’s and Francis’s annoyance, you made many mistakes. Burnt toast was just one of them. But none of that bothered Tommy.

As it has happened, one day you even managed to break an incredibly expensive vase as you paid more attention to Tommy getting dressed through the crack of his bedroom door. It was a sheer accident which probably wouldn’t have happened if you paid more attention to what you were doing at the time rather than Tommy’s naked chest.

‘I am so sorry Mr Shelby, I didn’t mean to drop this’ you said, totally embarrassed and flustered as the vase dropped to the floor and, hearing the shatter, Tommy emerged from his bedroom.

‘It’s alright Y/N, seriously. It’s just a vase, eh’ Tommy said with a smile on his face as he bent over, helping you to collect the pieces.

‘Please Mr Shelby, I can do this’ you said with some embarrassment. Your cheeks were flushed by the sight of him, wearing nothing but his suit pants.

Tommy’s eyes gazed over to you as he picked up the pieces and it was clear to you that he noticed your flushed cheeks.

‘Tommy, what are you doing?’ Lizzie said as she observed him collecting pieces of broken porcelain with you from the floor.

‘What does it look like Lizzie?’ Tommy asked. It was clear to you that they were fighting, again. They always fought. Sometimes you wondered why they were married at all.

The constant arguing between Tommy and Lizzie was exhausting. It exhausted everyone, even the maids.

‘I’ve got it Mr Shelby, please’ you said as you put more pieces of the broken vase into a bucket.

‘See, she’s got it Tommy, now would you please see Arthur. He is downstairs yelling and Charles has started to pick up the swear words’ Lizzie said.

‘Alright Lizzie, fuck’ he said as he got up and left you to it. As you were cleaning up the last of the broken pieces, you overheard Lizzie talk to Ada about you.

‘I really don’t know why Thomas had to employ her instead of someone more experienced’ she said.

‘She looks exactly like Greta, his first ever love, that’s why Lizzie’ Ada responded.

‘Well then he should have left her at the whorehouse and visit her there’ Lizzie said frustrated before walking off.

Lizzie’s comment made you rather upset and you were beginning to feel even more uncomfortable at the house with every day that went by.

Lizzie had begun to notice Tommy’s favouritism towards you and it was clear to you that she did not want you around.

After another two weeks, you couldn’t bare it any longer and decided to resign. The tension between you and Lizzie had become too much to tolerate.

You handed your written resignation to Tommy at noon on a Monday and, just as he read it, he walked to his office door and closed it behind him.

‘Sit down Y/N, have a drink’ Tommy said, causing you to flush.

‘Common’ Tommy said as he poured yourself a glass of whiskey, neat, before sitting down on one of the arm chairs.

You sat down across from him as he handed you the glass of whiskey.

‘I cannot accept this’ he said as he took a sip from his glass.

‘Tommy, I cannot continue to work for you. I am not suited for this job and I am fairly sure that neither your wife nor Francis like me very much’ you explained.

‘That might be right but, in the end of the day, I make the decisions, eh’ Tommy said. ‘And I would like you to stay’ he added.

‘Why? You can easily find a better maid’ you laughed.

‘Because you are smart Y/N and I enjoy your company. Please’ Tommy said.

‘Alright, I will give it another month and then reconsider’ you said.

‘Good’ Tommy smiled. ‘I see you tomorrow at the usual time?’ he asked, causing you to nod with a smile.

It was difficult for you to deny Tommy especially since your attraction towards him was growing, becoming almost unhealthy in a way. Why would you feel like this around a man who was twice your age? You wanted him and stayed around in the hope that he would offer you more than employment.

And just like this, with Thomas Shelby in the back of your mind, you went on with your work.

It’s Fucking Tuesday

Tuesday evening approached quickly and you couldn’t wait to see Tommy.

At 8 o’clock, you sneaked into his office as usual, barefoot and without knocking so that no one would notice.

Little did you know that, that evening, you would reveal a lot more to Tommy than you had initially anticipated.

As such, after two glasses of whiskey and a couple of cigarettes, you spoke honestly about your political views. You too were in support of communism and felt as though Tommy had lost his way in his political campaigns for the Labour Party.

‘The good old cause, eh’ Tommy laughed after you outlined to him where the Labour Party went wrong in your opinion. ‘You know Y/N, you remind me of someone, someone who was just as idealistic and passionate about changing the world as you are’ he added.

‘I’ve been told that before, by my father. He used to get rather frustrated with us both’ you said.

‘Kitty said that you were idealistic and in favour of an armed revolution once yourself. But then she told me that all of this changed after the war. The same Tommy never came back from France. You had changed. But I am not sure if I am willing to believe that’ you added.

‘No one came back Y/N’ Tommy said. ‘The war changed everyone’ he added.

‘That is true but, I think that the Tommy she spoke so highly about many years ago is still in there somewhere. I’ve seen it. You are still a man with ideals and a man who cares, even if you don’t want to admit it. If you didn’t care, I wouldn’t be here’ you said as you walked over in front of where Tommy was sitting in order to fill up your glass of whisky.

For a moment, you placed your empty glass on to the desk besides him and kneeled down in front of him.

‘You are a good man, Tommy. A good man who does bad things sometimes where necessary and the world needs more men just like you’ you said before you leaned in and pressed your lips onto his.

Without the two glasses of whiskey, you would never have been able to build up the courage to do this, but there you were, kissing Thomas Shelby.

Tommy gave into the kiss for a moment, his lips dancing with yours but his hands not leaving his chair.

‘This is wrong Y/N’ Tommy said as your lips drifted apart.

‘Yes’ you said before pressing your lips back onto his for a short moment. ‘Yes, it is’ you added and, just in that moment, Tommy leaned forward caressing your face and returning the kiss.  

This is what you wanted for so long, his lips on yours and your tongues exploring each other.

After about a minute, Tommy pulled away, looking into your dark eyes.

‘This is a bad idea Y/N’ Tommy said again, still cupping your face.

‘Well, then tell me that you don’t want me and I will leave right now’ you said.

‘I want you alright, but you are half my age’ Tommy said.

‘So what? You are Thomas Shelby, you can have whoever you want’ you said and, just like that, your hands reached for the buckle of his belt, undoing it slowly.

You could hear Tommy inhale deeply and knew exactly that he likes to be pleasured this way. You had never done any of this, but the working girls at the brothel spoke about it frequently. Sometimes, you saw them do it, in a quite corner of the club or the lavatories if the men liked to be watched.

‘Have you ever done this before?’ Tommy asked, looking down at you, his hand tangled in your hair. He could tell that you were nervous and completely out of your comfort zone.

You shook your head shyly and, as much as Tommy wanted to feel your mouth on his cock, he wanted you to feel entirely comfortable with what you were doing.

‘Come up’ he said, taking your hands and guiding you up towards him before pressing his lips onto yours for a passionate kiss.

‘You don’t want me to?’ you asked as you broke the kiss and Tommy buckled up his belt.

‘Trust me, I want you to’ Tommy smirked, cupping your face again.

‘But not like this’ Tommy said before giving you another kiss.

Just after your lips drifted apart, your eyes wandered downwards where could see Tommy’s erection pushing against his pants. He clearly was ready and you wondered why he stopped you.

‘Tomorrow, after 10 o’clock, in your room. If you want me to come, you leave your bedside lamp on. I will see the light through the bottom of the door. If you don’t want me to come then turn it off and I won’t, alright?’ Tommy said.

Tommy wanted you to be sure about this. Not influenced by whiskey and not in the heat of the moment.

You agreed to his suggestion and, after a few more kisses, you left his office.

A Night to Remember

The next evening, after you finished work for the day and had dinner, you made your way to your room. You had a bath, washed your hair and got dressed in some lingerie.

The fire was lid and, just as instructed, you left on the bedside lamp. It was only 9 o’clock and you had to wait another hour before Tommy would meet you. You tried to kill the time by reading a book, but you couldn’t think about anything but Tommy and what was about to happen.

You wondered what it would be like to be with a man, especially a man like him. He was clearly experienced. Nonetheless, you were worried that it would be painful.

Five minutes to ten, you put the book that you weren’t really reading aside and put on some perfume. You wanted to smell nice for him.

You positioned yourself on the bed, seductively. Your black lace underwear was highlighted by the light of the bedside lamp. Your hair was open, your curls running over your shoulders. Your porcelain pale skinned was complimented by the dark red lipstick you had borrowed from one of the maids.

Waiting impatiently, just as the clock stroke ten, you could hear the door opening.

‘You look beautiful’ Tommy smirked.

‘Just for you’ you said shyly, taking in a deep breath as Tommy walked over towards you.

He was wearing nothing but underpants and you couldn’t help but stare at his perfect body.

It wasn’t long until he climbed onto the bed with you and his lips met yours for a passionate kiss.

The kiss was urgent and his lips tasted like sweet whiskey. He took his time, his hands roaming over your body while his tongue was dancing with yours.

It wasn’t long until he found the clip of your bra and he opened it with ease.

‘If I would have known that it would come off so quickly, I wouldn’t have spent half my weekly wage on it’ you giggled.

‘Just an unnecessary piece of fabric’ Tommy chuckled as his fingers began to trace the lines of your body, curving around your now naked breasts, stroking and teasing your nipples.

His lips soon moved from your mouth down to your neck and then all the way to your breasts.

‘Mmhm’ you moaned as he began to bite your nipples gently while his hands roamed downwards to your stomach and then your lace panties.

Tommy hooked his thumbs in your panties and slowly drew them down your legs, leaving you totally exposed.

While kissing over your breasts gently, one of his hands moved directly in between your legs and his index finger traced through your wet slit, dipping into slightly.

You inhaled sharply and tensed up suddenly and unintentionally. Tommy could feel your body become stiff and your legs closing around his hand.

‘Do you want me to stop?’ Tommy asked as he moved upwards slightly, worried that this was too much too soon for you.

‘No Tommy, I want you’ you said desperately before pressing your lips back onto his.

‘Please’ you then said again as your lips drifted apart.

‘Alright. I will take it slow and you will tell me if I hurt you or if you want me to stop. Agreed?’ he said, causing you to nod.

And just like that, his lips met your again before he started to trail kisses down your body.

Just as he reached your stomach, he stopped and lowered himself further, right in between your legs.

Tommy hooked one of your calves around his shoulder and then started kissing up your ankle, your calf, your knee.

You had no idea what he was doing until he got closer and closer to your already soaking wet mound.

‘Tommy, what are you doing?’ you asked nervously. His face was so close to your most intimate parts that you flushed from embarrassment.

‘You’ll see’ he smirked just before, all of a sudden, he dipped his tongue to meet your sex.

‘Oh god’ you cried out, partly from pleasure and partly from the exhilaration of a sensation entirely foreign to your body.

He drew lazy circles around your clit, making your legs twitch of their own volition. Your hand nestled in Tommy’s hair, stroking it as you moaned.

Tommy adapted quickly, gauging your moans and learning your sweet spots.

While his tongue circled over your client, he carefully and slowly pushed a finger into you.

You tensed, but relaxed quickly as you couldn’t feel any pain.

He began to thrust it in and out in time with the rhythm of his tongue.

You felt dizzy, quivering with anticipation as heat pooled deep in your belly.

You whimpered, whispering "please" over and over again as you felt yourself on the verge of exploding. No orgasm you had ever given yourself had been like this—it felt electric.

Tommy could soon feel your walls tightening around his finger and increased the speed of his thrusts.

You clapped a hand over your mouth and screamed as you came, your back arching, legs shaking, hips grinding against him. Even after you were past your highest peak, you felt the energy tingling, jolting through you, inspiring little sighs.

When you opened your eyes, you saw him grin, wiping your nectar from his face with the back of his hand.

‘I think you are ready now eh’ he smirked before taking off his underpants.

He was large, larger than you had imagined.

You took in a deep breath, knowing exactly what was to come next.

Tommy could see the nervousness and concern on your face.

‘Don’t worry, I will go slow and we can stop at any time, alright’ he said as he positioned himself in between your legs.

‘Tommy, are you sure it will fit, I mean…’ you said nervously and, before you could finish your sentence, Tommy interrupted you with a mild chuckle.

‘It will fit Love’ he said before his lips met yours again for passionate kiss.

As he was kissing you gently, he positioned his cock at your entrance and began to press just the head into you.

It felt warm and moist.

Tommy’s normally-cool countenance was wide-eyed and intense as he began pushing into you.

Your breath hissed out in tandem as he began to stretch you open and you couldn’t help it but hold onto his upper arms tightly.

Pushing into you inch by inch, you groaned when he finally met the resistance of your hymen.

‘Tommy, please’ you moaned as you squeezed your eyes shut and braced yourself for what was coming.

Tommy leaned forward, slowly pushing through the resistance.

You both struggled to contain your yelps of pain and pleasure as he tore through you.

Your eyes welled up with tears as your recovered from the white-hot sharpness, but before long it was replaced by a feeling of blissful fullness. You fluttered open my eyes and gave him a lazy smile.

‘Are you alright?’ he asked, holding still, allowing you to adjust to his size. His voice was throaty and intense.

‘Yes’. I feel so... fucking... full’ you giggled and, just like that, he began to push deeper, then rocked his hips back out.

He thrusted in a slow, deliberate rhythm, working his cock into you inch by inch.

Every new thrust stretched you out beyond what you thought you could handle.

He looked down in a moment of surprise as your hips began to grind against him, trying to work his cock in and out of you. He chuckled, re-positioning himself for leverage, and began to fuck you.

He began with slower, shallower strokes, finding his rhythm and stretching you out. You could tell that he wanted to go faster, but your walls were gripping too tight for him to pound you just yet without hurting you.

You could see the hunger in Tommy’s features, feel it as his hand tangled in your hair and gave it a sharp tug.

The tug distracted you and gave him the opportunity he needed to thrust hard and deep into you.

You cried out, and the lingering pain in your body was suddenly replaced by explosive pleasure. You threw your arms around his neck and he drew his hips back before pounding you with another powerful thrust, and another, and another.

The sensations—the sound of your bodies slapping together, the smell of sex, the feeling of his body pounding into you—collided suddenly in a violent eruption, and you couldn't contain your cries of pleasure as you came for the second time.

Your pleasure and the feel of your walls spasming around him sent Tommy into overdrive.

He pounded you harder and harder, before tensing and releasing his seed inside you with a shuddering roar.

You both gasped for breath, covered in sweat, hearts racing from the heat of your encounter. His lips met yours in a deep kiss, and you tasted yourself again on his tongue.

‘You are so fucking beautiful’ Tommy said in between kisses before he finally pulled out of you, causing some of his cum mixed with some of your mildly blood-stained juices leak on the sheet.

‘Will you stay with me for the night?’ you asked as you pressed your cheek onto Tommy’s warm chest.

‘You know I can’t’ Tommy said as he ran his hand through your hair.  ‘But I’ll stay until you fall asleep eh’ he added before pressing his lips onto to yours yet again.

And so he did, he stayed with you until you drifted off to sleep.

The Aftermath

The next morning, you woke up early. Somewhat sore but full of energy.

Tommy didn’t have to tell you that, what happened last night, had to remain a secret.

Nonetheless, you hoped that you would have an encounter like this with him again soon.

To your surprise, when you got dressed, you noticed the stains on the white sheets.

You pulled them off quickly and decided to get them into the wash before the other maids had to use the laundry facilities.

As you walked into the laundry room with your sheets, you saw Sarah.

‘You are up early?’ you asked surprised.

‘Charles was sick last night and I have to clean his sheets. I think he doesn’t tolerate cows’ milk to be honest’ she said.

‘What about you?’ she asked.

‘Washing my sheets before it gets too busy’ you said shyly.

‘Didn’t you just wash your sheets?’ Sarah asked, taking them off your hands.

‘Sarah, please, let me’ you said. ‘It’s this time of the month’ you said nervously, lying of course, but trying to justify the somewhat small but obvious stains on your sheets.

‘Don’t worry, if I can clean up vomit, I can clean up anything. Despite, you don’t know how to use the new machine’ Sarah chuckled.

With reluctance and embarrassment, you agreed but, just as Sarah placed the stained sheets into the basin, she noticed a familiar scent. Tommy’s aftershave.

‘You know Y/N, you might want to see a doctor’ she said.

‘Why is that?’ you asked.

‘You said that it’s the time of the month for you. You had your menses ten days ago. That’s not normal don’t you think? Unless there is something else you have to hide Y/N?’ Sarah said sharply.

[randomshyperson]

The Scarlet Witch Prophecy - Chapter 20 - Agatha's Memories (Part Two)

My official gif maker @abimess, thank you.

Summary: As the youngest daughter of Howard Stark, you have ordinary expectations for your years at Hogwarts. Little do you know what adventures await you when your destiny is intertwined with the legendary Scarlet Witch.

Warnings: +16. Adaptation of the Harry Potter Saga, Magical Thematic, Prophecies, Mentions of Violence, Torture and dark magic, Language (swearing and minor/major offenses), manipulation of will, Underage kissing, insinuation of smut with minors, Smut (overage), descriptions of death, aggression, obscurity, angst, fluffy, soulmates analogies.

Series Masterlist ||  Read on AO3 || All Works Masterlist

Chapter 20 - Part XX - Agatha's Memories (Part Two)

You don’t sleep for long, there is a sound of something breaking that makes you blink confusedly as you move on your bed.

Then you realize that it is the wood up your head that is moving, along with a red magic that you know very well.

You look forward, only to find Wanda with an impassive look on her face as she merges the bed into one.

“I’m sleeping with you from now on.” She says simply as she finishes, and you lay back on the mattress, not sure of what to say about that.

You hold your breath as you hear her taking off her shoes, changing to her pajamas next, staring on the roof of the tent as she does it.

She pulls the blanket to lie down, and then is mimicking your position.

"Would...would it be okay if I hugged you?" she asks after a moment, and you feel your heart race.

"I'd like that." You mumble clumsily, turning to the opposite side.

And it takes half a second for Wanda to wrap her arms around your waist, burying her face in your shoulders, inhaling your perfume and making you blush heavily.

Your legs entwine from underneath the comforter, and you feel more secure than you ever have before.

"I'm sorry." She murmurs against your skin. You think she is talking about what happened with the horcrux, and you just nod softly, but she repeats the apology against your ear, intertwining her hands in front of your belly, and you realize she is talking about everything.

"I love you." She confesses next, and you feel your eyes fill with tears.

The hug gets tighter, and you sink your face into the pillow, allowing yourself to cry.

And Wanda doesn't let go, even when you sob, and it takes a while, but you finally fall asleep. And when you do, she stays.

//-//-//-//

You woke up first. And you don’t wanna get up. Not when you have Wanda wrapped around you like this, your face buried her neck, as you both turned around during the night, and now your legs are completely entwined, and you are practically lying on top of her.

And all you do is sink even deeper against her body, sighing against her skin. She smells so good.

"-morning." She whispers hoarsely, still with her eyes closed, her hands around your body moving slowly against your back down and up, and you just murmur into her skin wishing you could stay in that moment forever.

"We should get up." Wanda says after a moment in silence, not seeming to really wish to do so.

"No, thank you." You retort and your voice comes out muffled against her neck, the vibration making her laugh.

"We need to darling, I think we have some lessons. "She says and you mumble softly, the curiosity to pursue the story Agatha was telling is enough to make you pull away.

But when you are about to let go of Wanda, she pulls on your forearm, and you look at her with confusion, but she moves forward and kisses you firmly.

It's slow, and soft. It makes you sigh, so you kiss her back, sinking right back onto the bed as her hands wrap around your hair to deepen the kiss.

When her tongue asks for passage, you see stars, melting under her touch. Wanda smiles against your lips, pulling you by the shoulders to lie on top of her.

But before you can do so, the sound of footsteps catches your attention, along with a soft hiss, and you grumble before pulling away.

Throwing your face back into the pillow, you try to calm your breathing and rapid heartbeat as Agatha strolls through the tent, until she comes to your room.

"Are the sleeping beauties going to get up, or should I bring coffee in bed?" She teases with her arms crossed as Wanda hides her smile as she notices your state. "You two know this isn't a honeymoon trip, right?"

"Stop being so bitter, Agatha." Wanda complains as she sits up. "We'll be right there."

"And a good day to us, ladies." The older witch retorts before leaving.

Wanda laughs softly, turning her attention back to you as you scramble up on the bed to sit down as well.

"How are you?" she asks, intertwining your hands on top of the mattress, and you let your gaze roam over her face, biting your lips against the urge to kiss her again.

"Fine." You murmur half hoarsely, from sleep or lust, Wanda will never know. "And you?"

"Better." She says with a nod, and you feel your heart race. Better with you here.

Wanda squeezes your hand before letting go, and she stands up, looking at you one last time before walking off toward the bathroom.

You sigh as you throw yourself back against the mattress, trying to push away the feeling of her tongue against yours and focus on the fact that you were even closer to completing your mission with one less horcrux to destroy.

//-//-//-//

“Where are we now?” You asked as you observed the surroundings. It’s the entrance of an old garage, in the corner of a city. But the real Agatha ignores your question as she guides you two inside, further into the memory.

Your dad, just a teen boy, maybe eighteen, is inside, working on a large machine, it seems that he was really a muggle mechanic, since there were cars all around, dismantled or not.

"Stark." It is Agatha from the memories who says, and startles your father slightly, who almost drops the screwdriver. But when he looks up, he smiles.

"Professor Harkness!" He says getting up, and wiping the grease on his apron quickly before greeting her. "You really did it!"

"I told you I would come." She says, and you are surprised at the affectionate way she looks at your father, "Look at you, Howard, you're so grown up."

Your father laughs, bowing his head softly. "Thank you, professor."

"I only say that because I've known you since you were a child." She humorously clarifies. "And now you are even growing a mustache. Tell me, do muggle girls like that sort of thing?"

Your father laughs with flushed cheeks, and Agatha follows him. Before they can say anything, there are voices and the sound of footsteps approaching, and soon, two people enter.

Wanda chokes softly next to you. "Mama."

You also recognized Magda, because you have seen pictures before. She had the same appearance as in the photos, and you were saddened by this, because she must have died not so long after this memory.

Erik stood beside her, wearing muggles like the woman next to him.

"Professor Harkness, you made it!" He greets politely, hurrying to shake the witch's hand as she smiles. "It's so good to see you again! This is Magda, my wife."

"It's a pleasure, dear."

The memory speeds up, you want to fight Agatha for cutting off Wanda's moment of seeing her mother properly, but the way Wanda strokes her thumb against your hand makes you give up saying anything.

The scene settles down in what you think is the apartment at the top of the garage where they were, all around a table, drinking beers.

"You guys know why I came all this way, don't you?" Agatha says, and seems to have just had a short pause in the conversation, as if everyone had been laughing before and suddenly got quiet. And the tension only increases with her comment.

Her father sighs, nodding. "There is no daily prophet here, but I have met some travelers. They are talking about a war, Agatha." He says worriedly. "But I want to hear it from you. Do you really think that could happen?"

Agatha gives a humorless laugh. "It's already happening." She says, placing her beer on the table, and straightening her posture. "The minister of magic waited too long. And now, this group, these so-called death walkers, or whatever ridiculous name they are thinking of trying, are everywhere. In the ministry, in the diagonal alley, in the Order."

Your father looks really upset, but you notice how uncomfortable Erik looks.

"And do you really think that's what they're after, Agatha?" He asks. "War. Do you think that's what the walkers are after?"

The teacher raises her eyebrow slightly. "What else could it be, besides chaos and complete destruction of our society, Erik?"

His former teacher is unaffected by the snickering, he just gives a half-hearted laugh. " Well, freedom of course." He says, clearing his throat softly. "See, that time we've been here. New York is fascinating. Things are bad for muggles it's true, but for the rest of us, damn. The wizards are doing just fine. They have so much magic here, so much freedom to study what they want. The ministry encourages the discovery of new areas, gives financial support to researchers!"

Agatha crosses her legs, listening to Erik's speech carefully.

When he realizes that he may be defending Mephisto's group too much, he pauses, straightening up. "I'm just trying to say that maybe a change in the British government is exactly what our society needs to evolve, Agatha."

"You know, when Fury told me he wanted to recruit you boys to the order, I told him that children don't fight wars." She declares and you see the boys widen their eyes. "You two know that Katherine is dead, right? That Nick took over leadership of the order in his mother's place, and the first names he wanted were yours."

Your father nods, as does Erik.

"Well, I didn't agree." She says. "I said I knew other wizards, more experienced, more trustworthy. Wizards who didn't flee their homeland to live the American dream."

"That's not-" Your father begins but the look in Agatha's eyes makes him shut up.

"Nick insisted that I come here." She continues. "He said that you have kept in touch by correspondence, and that you continue to have the same, what was the word, moral inclination. But now I wonder if he was really right about that."

"I didn't mean to say that the walkers are right!" Erik exclaims defensively, looking embarrassed, but Agatha just smiles.

"Don't worry, honey." She says as she leans in. "I think that kind of moral difference is exactly what makes this whole conflict interesting."

"That's sadistic of you, Agatha." Howard comments seriously. "We're talking about a war."

"Don't be hypocritical now, Howey." She retorts with a wicked smile. "You think I don't know who the travelers you've been talking to are? Say, the magical trafficking laws are simpler in America, aren't they?"

Your father locks his jaw, but keeps his face up.

"I did what I needed to do to survive here." He says simply, and Agatha laughs.

"Of course you did." She says. "So did we all. And now we have a potential battle ahead of us, something that could change the course of wizarding life for future generations. Tell me, do you intend to stand here fixing machines and pretending that your friends are not dying for your freedom? And I thought you were tired of this kind of attitude, golden boy."

Your father stands up, enraged. But he says nothing, and swallows his pride. He gives Erik one last look before leaving the room.

Agatha sighs softly, turning her attention back to Erik, who has his fists clenched in his lap.

"You know very well that the situation is not so simple." He says and Agatha smiles.

"And you know it's him don't you?" She retorts and Erik clenches his jaw.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I think you know very well, Erik." Agatha insists. "When I fired him, he didn't stay in England. He came to America with his favorite student."

"Keep your voice down." Erik quickly retorts, looking back a moment before leaning forward. "It's not what you think."

"But I don't think anything." She says. "I'm exactly giving you the chance to explain yourself, before I draw my own conclusions."

Erik takes a deep breath, and turns to Magda, squeezing her hands.

"Honey, can you give us a minute?" He asks, and Wanda's mother looks like she's going to say no, before nodding.

She walks off in the same direction as her father, and then Erik and Agatha are alone.

"Professor Faustus has asked me for support, Agatha." He says. "He was out of a job, and with his name tainted with rumors that no one has proven. And he never treated us badly, so I helped him."

"You kept this from Howard? I thought you were best friends." Agatha teases but Erik laughs humorlessly.

"Of course not." He says. "Who do you think paid for the tickets?"

"Interesting." She says. "Why tickets?"

"Because he was being investigated for the dark magic rumors." Erik says. "The ministry put a blocker on him. Any magic he tried to do would go straight to the minister's notes. And well, he needed Howey's help to remove the device from behind his neck."

"While he was hiding, I imagine he told you about his wonderful ideas."

"No, Agatha." He says. "Faustus just looked tired. And he felt betrayed, mostly by you. But in general, he complained, and studied. Howey and I would work all day, and he would stay in his room, among the magic books, unable to conjure anything, not even a light spell. I've never seen him so frustrated."

"I'd feel sorry for him, if that wasn't his fault." Agatha murmurs and Erik sighs in agreement.

"A few months after we arrived, Howey got it." Erik recounts. "Tivan gave him the materials he needed, and he freed Faustus from the blocking device in his skin. He thanked us, said he'd write, and then disappeared. We never heard from him again, but the letters from Fury started coming in the next months."

"Did Howard suspect?"

"No." Erik says squirming uncomfortably in his chair. "Howard trusted him, mostly because of the way he stood up for him in school. About supporting him to study mechanics, even if no one else would. But I knew I had to be smart after what happened with Raven."

"He tried to recruit you?"

Erik sighs. "No, Agatha. But he will."

"I know." She says. "That's why I came."

" I should have guessed that you don't make friendly visits, even to your best students."

Agatha laughs softly, leaning her arm on the carpet. "You think just because you can conjure a patronus you're my best student, Erik? I helped establish the order of merlin. You are not even remotely the most talented wizard I have taught."

"You are hurting my feelings." The man jokes, making the other woman smile.

"How will this work then, Erik?" She asks. "Are you going to accept Fury's offer? Or will you follow your heart?"

The man smiles, standing up. "That just concerns me, and my wife, don't you think?"

"Actually, no." Agatha retorts without sounding angry as Erik moves to collect the beer bottles and put them in the trash. "In fact, I think you even need to leave her."

Erik laughs in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"A muggle, Erik." She says as if it's obvious. "You're going to drag her into a war? That's cruel."

"Magda is stronger than you imagine."

"I'm sure she is." The witch says getting up as well. "But that is until she is hit by the first spell."

“Agatha, please.”

“Muggles can't handle magic like we can, Erik." She insists seriously. "You know that. A simple stupefy could kill her."

"I love her." He says turning away. "And I'm not going to England without her. If she decides to stay, then I will too."

"That's disappointing." Agatha comments, but Erik doesn't flinch, crossing his arms. The witch sighs. "Then do me a favor. Howard, at least he, needs to go. We can't afford to lose allies."

"I'll talk to him." Erik assures. "But you know that with all that his father has done, he doesn't want to go back to London anytime soon."

"This is so much bigger than a family feud." Agatha retorts. "Tell him that, and he'll feel guilty enough to accept it."

"Your mind games are wicked, professor." Erik says before nodding in agreement, leaving.

Agatha sighs, getting pensive.

Just then Magda walks back into the room.

"Miss Harkness?"

"Hello, dear."

"I just came to ask if you're going already? Erik looked upset, but I can walk you to the door. It's good manners."

The memory shakes until they are outside, and Magda leads her to the same place she should have appeared before.

"Please, before you go, may I ask you something?"

"Of course, sweetie."

Magda hesitates, but takes a deep breath and says. "If Erik stays, what are the chances of this war reaching us?"

Agatha looks at the woman for a moment. "I don't think there is a way to escape what is happening in England, Magda. And if we lose, it's not just the witches who will suffer the consequences."

Magda nods in understanding, then steps forward. "Tell me how I can help you."

"He wouldn't approve, but I can't watch everything fall apart around us. Tell me how I can help."

Agatha smiles, touching Magda's shoulder. You hold your breath, as does Wanda, who also notices the magic in the witch's fingertips, and the purple color in her eyes.

"Leave him, dear." She says. "But it needs to be natural, okay? As best as I can, he must not suspect it was my idea. Erik would never put you in danger, but he wouldn't leave you alone either. So you need to end it all."

Magda has tears in her eyes, but she just nods mechanically. And the memory becomes blurred.

Wanda is tense beside her, and you are silent.

"That doesn't make sense." You mutter. "Carol told me that Magda was in Sokovia, and that-"

"She's not my mother, is she?" Wanda cuts you off, looking at the floor. The real Agatha sighs, as you look at the two in confusion.

"How could you tell?" She asks.

"I don't have her eyes."

It was a funny detail about the few pictures of Magda that Erik had in the Maximoff house. All the pictures were old, because they were from muggles. And they were never sharp enough in detail, just good enough for you to be able to recognize the woman in the recollection.

Agatha laughs softly. "Is that all Erik told you about your mother? That you had her eyes?"

Wanda squeezes your hand, and with the other she wipes her cheek.

"Just show me the truth at once, Agatha."

"As you wish."

//-//-//

You stumble gently as you get used to the dirt floor that has stabilized at your feet.

"Are you okay?" You whisper to Wanda, but she just nods, smiling weakly before looking back at the memory forming in your eyes.

You were startled by the bright lights in the sky, recognizing them immediately as wandering spells.

Someone just fought here, and it was no small fight.

"Agatha!" Erik shouted, approaching quickly, coming from the corner as if he had been hiding until now, and the teacher had emerged.

Wanda also held her breath as she noticed the large cut on his forehead, the blood dripping down his face.

"T-They've surrounded us..." He says breathlessly, his wand in fists as he stumbles to get closer. "We narrowly won and-"

"Calm down boy." Agatha says as she holds his shoulders, working quickly to heal his wounds. "Where are the others?"

"Further away." Erik replied visuvelmettely exhausted. You could tell he was a little older than the last memory, but he was still young. "Back to the mansion.

"Good, they' ll be safe there." She says as she helps Erik stand properly. "Where's Natalya?"

And Erik chokes, sobbing. You frown in confusion, and Agatha makes a pitying face.

"Oh, Erik."

He cried, shrugging. "She was.... She tried to gain ground. She hit four of them at once. But... But she-"

And he sobbed, and Agatha didn't insist, hugging him.

"I'm sorry, Erik." She whispered.

And the memory trembled until they were back on the mansion's dirt path, almost at the iron driveway, the man visibly calmer, though quite shaken.

"Erik, what about the children?" Agatha asks as she stops walking in front at the gate.

The man looks on the verge of tears again, but only sighs.

"I have no idea, Agatha." He says. "No place is safe in the UK anymore. I can't leave the order to look after them, I don't know what to do."

And Agatha looks at him a moment, before nodding. "I will help you."

You see many flashbacks of memories, Agatha greeting injured order members, then going back to write letters, and checking the news. You think you see flashes of fights too, big duels, before everything stabilizes again.

It's Magda in front of you, and she looks more mature too.

"Years ago, you asked me how I could help you." Agatha spoke behind you, and you startled yourself by jumping to the side, and watching intently as the witch touched Magda's hands. "You saved yourself by leaving him. But you will save his life and the rest of the wizarding world if you accept what I am about to ask of you."

Magda's eyes widened, but she nodded after a moment. Agatha waved her hands, and a cart approached you.

"Run away, Magda." She says. "Their mother had a house, enchanted to protect from invaders on a hill in a small country in Europe." Agatha explains as Magda lets out a surprised exclamation at the babies in the stroller.

"They... are beautiful." She whispers excitedly, touching the children with her fingers, who fall asleep innocently. "What happened, Agatha? Where is Erik?"

"The fight just got bigger, hon." She explains. "Much bigger than we ever expected. Your people are suffering too, but they're saying it's natural disasters."

Magda is shocked, but she speaks again. "Agatha, I am not a witch. I can't protect them."

"That's exactly why you can." Agatha retorts, taking the other woman's hands again. "Go to Sokovia. There are no witch communities there. Hide yourself, hide them. You have no idea how important it is to keep them safe."

"Tell me, then."

Agatha swallows dryly, and looks away from the babies. "It's only a legend, but it could change the fate of this war. The girl, Magda, is a powerful witch. A special kind, like her mother was."

"My god, she's just a child, Agatha."

"That's exactly why she needs to be protected." The witch retorts. " She' s fragile, like a crystal to be stolen. She must not be found, promise me you will protect her."

"I promise." She says nodding, but Agatha sighs, and her eyes turn purple, her grip increases.

"No matter what happens, Magda." She says. "You will protect them, do you understand?"

"Yes."

The memory shakes again, and this time, your father is in front of you, and you hold your breath, shocked to see him so close so suddenly.

“You’re a snake!” He accused angrly, but without any movement, his eyes were serious with his arms crossed.

You turn to realize he was talking to Agatha, in a room that had no windows.

“I was keeping them safe, Howard.” The woman said. “I don’t expect you to understand the feeling of desperation, because you have an armored mansion at your will.”

“You used Erik’s grief to manipulate him into believing in you!” He shouted. “I’m not asking you again, where are his children?”

Agatha laughs softly, looking at your father indignantly.

"Are you listening to yourself, Howey?" she teases. "Erik switched sides, accept that."

"Nat died on our side." He retorts. "She was my friend, my ally. And she trusted us to protect the twins, you had no right to hide them!"

"They are safe!" Agatha retorts, and looks at the man with a warning expression. "And I suggest you stop making such a scandal about it, Howard! You don't want Mephisto to find out about the girl's true nature. We're close enough to defeat already."

"This isn't about that stupid legend-"

"Isn't it?" Agatha interrupts with irony. "Then why only now? It's been weeks since I took them. I know exactly what you want with the twins, Howard. You want to see if it's true, if they really can change the war." She says approaching. "I will clear that up for you then, since you clearly have no knowledge at all on the subject. A scarlet witch is worthless until she reaches maturity. If you try to take the magic from the baby, you'll just get a victim. And I won't allow that to happen."

"I wasn't going to steal the child's magic, Agatha. Who do you think I am?"

"I don't give a damn who you say you are now, Stark." She retorts."Not to you, nor to Erik, who can't make up his mind whose side he's on."

Agatha moves to leave, clearly ending the conversation. But before she leaves, your father calls out to her.

"Why are you so committed to protecting them, Agatha?" He asks.

"Natalya was my family before she was an Auror, Howard."

As Agatha leaves, the memory fades, but you and Wanda are wide-eyed, confused by the latest revision.

And the ground is shaking at your feet, and you are being pulled back into consciousness.

//-/-//-//-//

You awaken last, stretching confusedly away from the tree you had leaned against as you sat on the ground to begin viewing the memories watched with the other women.

Wanda is already getting up, to find Agatha standing peacefully looking at the mountainous landscape ahead.

"So, what are you?" she asks the older witch.

Agatha sighs softly, without looking at Wanda.

"Natalya Maximoff was born in Romania, during the witch revolution in the country." She begins nostalgically, a short smile at the corner of her lips. "I found her shaking like a leaf, less than twelve weeks old inside a box of potatoes."

You are shocked, as is Wanda, but you just listen.

"I think her mother tried to hide her. But she got caught in the middle of it. Romania was in chaos at the time, it was a real bloodbath. "She says. "I was there to fight. The English ministry provided special witches to take on a wizard, known as Kang the Conqueror."

Agatha gives a humorless laugh, sounding upset.

"If you think Faustus is bad, it's because you've never met him." She counters. "He was a master nocramanter. He created an army of the living dead, the inferi. It was the worst fight I've ever been in. But we won, and he was killed. For real this time."

Agatha looked away from the landscape to look at Wanda.

"I bonded with the child, Miss Maximoff." She says. "I could have left her in that box, and gone on my way. But I took her in my arms, and only let her go when she was mature enough for that."

"And then?" Wanda asked with emotion in her voice, looking at Agatha with tears in her eyes.

"I found out that she was a scarlet sorceress, but unlike you, she never completed her forging." The witch says sadly. "She died at the age of 20, a year before she was going to do the spell."

Wanda looks down at her feet, crossing her arms as she absorbs the whole story. Agatha thinks this is a good opportunity to keep talking.

"The war was already over when I found Natalya." She says. "The village where I believe she was born had been destroyed in a shambles. And they put her in the box, while the British aurors were doing the stakeouts. I took her with me, I didn't tell anyone." She recounts. "When she turned eleven, I found out what she was. I taught her everything I could, but I didn't let her go to Hogwarts. I kept her at home, where she wouldn't put the students or herself in danger."

You bite the inside of your cheek, surprised that Agatha was able to hide a daughter. But honestly, it wasn't that shocking.

"When she turned 16, she started rebelling, you know how teenagers are." She says. "She left because she didn't agree with the way I saw the world. And I said I would be waiting for her to come back when she realized that only I could help her."

"But she didn't come back." Wanda completed and Agatha sighed, nodding.

"No, of course not," she says. "She moved to a muggle province, and built a house. And ran away from her fate until her power got too overwhelming."

"Did you look for her?" You ask, and Agatha nods in agreement, turning her gaze to the landscape.

"With the war, I wanted allies." She says. "And I really thought I could get to the house of the daughter I hadn't spoken to in years to ask her to fight for me."

"But she accepted, didn't she?" Wanda says and Agatha sighs.

"On her terms, yes." Answered the woman. "Your mother was a smart girl, Wanda. She made me swear under the best intentions."

And it takes a moment for Wanda to understand what was really being said.

"How?"

Agatha sighs, turning to you again. "I took a perpetual vow to do what was right. What would save lives, what she considered right." She explains. "But contract magic is so encompassing. Especially when you say ambiguous phrases like do the right thing, or stuff like that. That's why I was able to get around the spell so many times. That's why it shaped itself with her death."

"That's why you can't hurt Wanda." You conclude in a sigh.

Agatha nods. "The power of the Scarlet Sorceress has always been tempting. But I would never steal it from Natalya, she was my daughter." She says. "But you were just a student. And I wouldn't mind taking that responsibility out of your hands."

"Not even if I was her daughter?" Wanda asks in a mixture of disgust and indignation, but Agatha only gives a humorless laugh.

"Don't judge me so much." She retorts. "If I didn't care, you wouldn't even be alive. Least of all your girlfriend."

But Wanda steps away, putting herself in front of you.

"You didn't do this because you care." She accuses. "You did it because of the vow. Because you will die if you don't keep your words to her."

"Maybe." She says,shrugging. "But what matters is my actions, not motivations. Actions are all that matter in the end."

"I'm sick of this, Agatha." Wanda retorts indignantly. "You think you can say some philosophical shit and get rid of the things you've done? You manipulated my entire family, and you played with my destiny. I'd rather be alone than around you."

Wanda walks off at a brisk pace, and you follow her, not knowing exactly what to do.

Agatha clenches her jaw, refusing to turn around and apologize.

Wanda begins to pack up very quickly, and you stare wide-eyed as she puts Godric's sword into her purse.

And soon you are outside.

"I told you I wouldn't forgive you if you crossed another line with me." She says. "But I realized that there's nothing more you can do besides all the bad things you've already done."

"If you expect me to apologize for keeping you alive so far, you are deluding yourself." Agatha retorts stubbornly, her arms crossed.

Wanda gives a humorless laugh, her hand interlacing hers. "I don't expect anything from you, Agatha. Even if you think it's the right thing to do, stay away from me. And especially from her."

"As you wish, Miss Maximoff."

You notice the tears in the older witch's eyes before she looks the other way. Wanda turns her face to you next.

“Think of a safe place.” She asks in a whisper, and you nod. It takes a second before everything spins around.

//-//-//-//-//

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[grumpygreenwitch]

The Fairy and the Prince #6 +#7 + #8

Part 1 - Part 2 - Parts 3 & 4 - Part 5 - Part 6, 7 & 8 - Part 9 & 10 - Part 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16 - Part 17, 18, & 19 - Part 20, 21 & 22 - Part 23, 24, 25 & 26 - Part 27, 28, 29 & 30 - Part 31, 32, 33 & 34 - Part 35, 36 & 37 - Part 38, 39, 40 & 41 - Part 42 & 43 - Part 44 & 45 - Part 46 & 47 - Part 48, 49, 50 & 51 - Part, 52, 53 & 54 - Part 55 & 56 - Part 57, 58, 59 & 60 - Part 61, 62, 63, 64 & 65 - Part 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 & 72

Alright, I managed to sort out the queue, and realized there are a lot of updates. Like. A LOT. Which makes me fret, because I want the story to be read, you know? I want to know people enjoy it. And waiting until March of next year for it to be anywhere near done (it isn’t), seems far too long a time. So the updates are going to get a little bigger where possible.

Spring was sweet and summer was golden, and fall rolled in rich and blustery and full of bright colors. Three princes, the oldest, went into the woods; one of them came back. The next day, when he went to saddle his charger in the stables, the horse trampled him quite dead.

The palace staff had to acknowledge that, perhaps and possibly, there was something to the rumors of a fairy curse. Master Leminy requested more guards, and got them. New teachers arrived from a distant land, and new classes were offered to the older boys. All of this passed Adam by unnoticed; he was far more focused on wringing as much fun as he could from his time with Linden, well knowing it would come to an end with the first snow. He didn't ask why. The what and the how and the why of Linden were things that Adam knew were dangerous topics of conversation, and he didn't want them to cost him his friend. Instead he simply accepted Linden as they were, which was easy enough when their days were too filled with adventures and mischief.

He did ask one thing, as they perched on a long-forgotten dock over a deep, ice-cold pond in the middle of the hunting woods. "Are you sorry I don't have more friends?"

"No," Linden replied without missing a beat, watching as fish nibbled mud from between both their toes. "You'd be with them, instead of with me."

"No, I mean, are you sorry it's just the two of us?"

"Are you?" The shattered, many-colored eyes came up sharply to meet his.

"No, but." Adam looked away, kicking idly at the water. He'd been thinking on it for a long while, and had decided that being taught to be a king was far too big a job for him. It put ideas in his head that did nothing but hurt. "I feel selfish, is all," he muttered.

"Selfish!" Linden exclaimed. "Selfish, you!"

"Because you don't get to do anything else. You're stuck with me."

"Stuck with you!" Linden shoved him and laughed. "We're both the youngest, Adam. It's not being stuck with one another, is being together against everyone else!"

"I still feel bad about it!" Adam couldn't help but smile. "Maybe your family wouldn't think you're silly if you had more friends."

"Ugh, who cares what they think," Linden flopped back on the worn planks of the dock. "And where would we even find friends? With all those Princes in the palace? How confusing would that get, all those faces and they're all called Prince."

"They're not called that, Linden, it's their title. They've got their own names too."

"Pfft." Linden flapped a hand in dismissal. "They wouldn't like me."

"What!"

"They wouldn't!" Linded persisted. "They're afraid of the woods and the fog."

"Shouldn't they be?"

"Well, fine, sure, alright, maybe a little. But I don't fancy trying to make friends with people who are afraid of me before I've even done anything."

Adam had to be silent, simply because Linden was right. It was one thing for the palace staff to gossip and whisper and consider the possibility that there might be fairies in the woods, that they might have a compact with the Dowager, that there might be a terrible price to pay for any prince that wanted to be king. But for the princes themselves it was awfully personal to know they might get yanked into the woods one day, and they might never come back out. Adam wasn't afraid because, in his child's heart, he believed Linden would protect him. He believed Linden would always be there to catch him when his fingers slipped from the ledge. And he was wise enough to realize his was a unique protection, afforded to no one else.

He didn't bring it up again. The conversation, apparently, had a much greater impact on Linden than he'd expected, because three days later, on a very blustery day, he was dragged into a goat shed, empty at the moment with the flock out to pasture. There, in the dim and warm straw-scented shelter, there was a boulder.

"Absolute!" Adam exclaimed. The boulder was three times as large as the two of them combined. "How'd you even get it in here?!"

Linden blew a rude sound at him. "You're so blind, Adam." They jabbed a finger sharply into the boulder.

It groaned and whined in protest, and Adam took a startled step back. "Did you just hurt the boulder?"

"It's not a boulder," Linden replied archly. "You can sleep later!" they yelled at the boulder-that-wasn't. "You've been bugging me two years running, now come on!"

The boulder unfolded itself, very slowly, and Adam blinked, trying to figure out how he could have ever thought it was a boulder at all. The creature before him - a boy, it was a boy, his mind told him very certainly, was tall and lanky, with immensely broad shoulders and astonishingly long arms, the rest of its body narrow. His face was rough and uneven, with a very long and sharp nose, tiny and soulful brown eyes under bushy brows, a mop of dark, clay-colored hair.

"Well, go on," Linden urged impatiently.

"Don't be mean, he's scared. I would be too, if I kept getting poked," Adam shot back.

"Ugh, fine, I'm sorry I poked him. I'm sorry I poked you."

The immense, strange boy looked between Adam and Linden, and then offered a big hand.

"Gently," Linden warned.

Adam took the offered hand and shook it, feeling the strength in that grip, carefully controlled. It was like shaking hands with... well, not a mountain, but certainly a small hill. The skin was cool and pebbled. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Are you Linden's friend?"

"He's my younger brother," Linden replied solemnly.

Adam cocked his head and pressed his lips tightly shut. He looked at the boy, who was taller than the both of them together, who outmassed them like a horse outmasses a chicken. He rubbed his hair and said nothing for a long moment, trying to think of anything he'd been taught about being princely and kingly that would not sound mean. "... Younger?"

"Ugh!" Linden cried out all the same and kicked straw at him. "You are so judgy, Adam! Never mind that." They turned their attention back to the newcomer. "Go on, then, like we practiced. Tell him what you want him to call you."

Adam drew himself up very straight. He even laced his hands behind his back, like he'd seen the Dowager do at court. "What may I call you?" he asked in his most polite, most princely voice.

Linden's 'younger brother' drew himself up just as straight, fingers wriggling nervously before him. A mouth Adam had never seen, a gap in that narrow face, puckered. "Booooouuuuuuulllllll...."

There the youngling's breath ran out. They waited in the blustery, rich autumn silence, Linden rocking on their feet, Adam trying to be patient. They waited, and waited, and waited some more.

A thin snore came out of the young boy's mouth.

"You did it again!" Linden shoved their 'younger brother', who staggered awake and moaned in wordless embarrassment.

"No, wait, it's fine. Really, it's fine, Linden!" Adam stepped between the two. "Don't be so mean to him! Little kids sleep all the time when they're young!"

"Well, yes, but we'd practiced! And he's been begging me forever to bring him with me, and since you were talking about friends, I thought -"

"And I'm very glad to meet him!" Adam assured them hastily. "It doesn't have to be perfect, Linden. It's not like we're at court or I'm a king or something." He beamed into those shattered eyes, and then turned to offer his hand to the boy once again. "It's very nice to meet you, Boul."

"'s Boulder," Linden muttered. "For Boulders-for-brains."

"I think Boul might be easier for you, right, Boul? At least until you get a little older?" The boy nodded eagerly. "I'm Prince Adam Lestrelle, but it's fine to just call me Adam."

"Adam," the boy croaked. He had a bullfrog's voice, coarse and abrupt.

Adam turned to look at Linden. "You didn't have to," he said quietly.

Linden shrugged, looking down. "I know. But I didn't want you to feel selfish. And maybe I've been a little selfish myself. And anyways, he can't come all the time, light's hard on him. And they keep being horrible to him -"

"Horrible?"

"On account of he's so small."

"Small?!"

"For his age, I mean."

Adam stared at Boul, who looked woebegone and ashamed. "Well, that's stupid. I think he's just fine the way he is. And I'd be glad to be his friend."

Linden hugged him abruptly. "Thank you." And then shoved him. "Well, he can't climb so I figured we could go see the mushroom caves."

"There's caves?!" Adam was beginning to reel from far too many surprises.

"Honestly, Adam, don't these people teach you anything useful. Come on!"

***

The caves were not particularly large or extraordinary, but to three younglings left to their own wild devices they were everything. They had the rest of autumn to explore them, to fight dragons made of stalactites and find great hoards of priceless beetle shells and broken bits of quartz, to learn the language of bats, of blind, pale lizards and of trundling mushroom folk. They found the aquifer, far beyond the  surface, and met the pale, beautiful, singing creatures there, that sometimes might grant a wish if it were small, in exchange for a token thrown into one of many wells on the surface. In the dim glow of the mushrooms it was hard to see one's way for anyone but Boul. Adam fell once, when the path under his feet went straight down a cliff-face where he could neither hear nor see the bottom, and for once it wasn't Linden's hand around his wrist that saved him; it was the young troll catching the scruff of his shirt and pulling him back up. Adam clapped one of his shoulders and ran on, shaking his stinging hand. Boul puffed up like a freshly knighted squire.

Winter came and winter went, and once again Adam put the time to use catching up on his studies. Master Leminy had to sit with gritted teeth and a frozen, atrocious smile on his face while the teachers gushed that the youngest prince was the equal in his studies of many of those that counted fifteen or sixteen years. Adam learned to ride with a couched lance, which seemed to him the height of stupidity. If someone came at him on horseback with a big old giant piece of wood, the first thing to do would be to take the horse out from under them, not come at them with another big old giant piece of wood. But he was to learn, and learn he did; he was the youngest still, and small enough he could practically disappear behind his shield. If he braced it just right on his jousting saddle, no one could move him, lance or not.

He kept bringing Dane to his pugilism classes. The teacher couldn't complain, it gave Adam someone his age to spar with, even if the young boy was shooting up in every direction. The students couldn't complain, it spared them having to spar with Adam, who had developed a habit of going kicky and bitey like a feral squirrel when they didn't pull their punches, which was often. And Dane certainly wasn't complaining; he loved the learning almost as much as books bored him to sleep. Master Leminy tried to complain, but Adam wisely pointed out that Dane had been *his* choice of companion, and if he were to someday become a king's man-at-arms, he would need to know how to fight side-by-side and back-to-back with his liege. Unless, of course, the Master of Scions had chosen Dane for another reason?

He had tea with the Dowager on his twelfth birthday, squirming. The silver-haired Queen examined him far too keenly with his mother's eyes, and her bland questions about the progress of his studies didn't seem harmless anymore.

She wanted to know if he'd gone into the woods. He shrugged. Everyone went into the woods.

She asked him if he'd made any unusual friends. He nodded. Beli could read numbers like some people read letters. Who even did that?!

She instructed master Leminy to start his deportment lessons. Adam could have died of shame on the spot, but as the news spread they bought him, at last, an ounce of pity from his peers; none of them wanted to sit for two endless hours listening to some young lady-in-waiting or another droning on about spoons and forks and napkins and tea and how many sugar cubes were too many. Fortunately Arditty knew as well as Adam that he would never be king and, much to his surprise, offered him the same deal he'd once offered Beli and Dane. The only caveat was that he had to hide where she bid him while she went necking and kissing with whatever boy currently held her interest; that usually meant the drawing rooms overlooking a snow-choked garden or a tiny inner courtyard, reading and doing homework two years ahead of his age while Arditty's maid did the mending. She snuck pastries and cheese to the boys, and they would have done anything for her.

Rickard ambushed Adam in the closed jousting courtyard two days after his birthday. He would be fifteen soon, he informed Adam as the older prince's buddies pinned the youngest of their number down, and too old to be picking fights with babies.

In the ensuing brawl, Dane broke Rickard's nose. Everyone was dragged off to punishment detail looking sorry and bedraggled, and neither Alexander nor Ulster would be seen in Rickard's company again. Dane looked flustered and guiltily pleased under Adam's praise.

Spring came once again, and as snow dripped and plopped off the roofs and ledges, Adam took his courage in his hands and asked his winter-friends a dangerous question. "Would you like to know where I go during the year?"

Dane instantly threw his hands up, shook his head and walked away. Beli seemed to think on it very hard. "I'm curious," he admitted, as careful with his words as he was with his reading. "I'm not going to say I'm not. I've always been. But I think..." He glanced at Dane. "If it's what I think it is, I think it's best if we don't, highness."

"You know what it is," Adam guessed.

"I think I do," the boy corrected. "And it doesn't bode well for anyone."

"But why? It's not like I'm going to be king. I'm barely a prince as it is."

Beli chewed restlessly on his upper lip. "I think you need to talk to the Culli-maid about it, highness. This is a courtly matter, like."

Adam did. With Arditty ignoring his education completely, her maid had stepped in to fill in the gap, sort of. She'd begun life as a scullery maid, back when she'd been quite as young as Adam, if not more so. 'Culli-maid', she'd called herself, and it had stuck. Her real name was Sophronia, which no one back then had cared to learn to pronounce, and which she loathed it anyways. The young prince caught her on a bright and sunny afternoon after a heavy snowfall, while Arditty and a new suitor played outside like young and awkward fawns.

"Culli, you know it was my birthday not so long ago."

She nodded. In her meek and low voice, she offered. "Happy Birthday, highness."

"Thank you," Adam flushed as he hadn't before anyone else's good wishes. "The Dowager was asking me questions during tea."

Culli set her mending down and examined him with shrewd brown eyes. "About the woods?" When he nodded, she stared out the window. "Do you want me to tell you what is said or what is known?"

Adam hesitated. "Can't you tell me both?"

She bit down a smile. "I could. It's the wise thing to do. I forget you're wiser than most." When he wriggled under the praise, she reached out to tuck his cravat back in place. "They say that a fairy prince fell in love with the Queen, back when she was a princess."

"But she's not married."

"Oh, she's been married. She's been married thrice, that's known to all. But back then, they say that she laughed at him, dismissed him, disdained his promises of wealth and power and love."

Adam, having seen Arditty do the same to a boy every week like clockwork, and having lived through the unavoidable consequences of it, grimaced, his gaze turning towards the glass-paned windows. Culli, catching sight of what the prince was looking at, nodded. "Aye. Like that, but a hundred times, a thousand times worse. They're wild and alien, the Folk In The Woods, highness. They don't think as we do, they aren't as we are. When one of them steps forward to meet us halfway, it's wise to at least make an effort to meet them back. The Queen did none of it, that anyone knows of. They say the Folk In The Woods killed two of her husbands. The last one came back, but didn't. You know what I mean, don't you?"

Adam nodded, horrified.

"She was Queen then already, and that's not the sort of thing a Queen can abide. It's bad for the people, it's bad for the land, and it's bad for keeping the crown steady on her head. So, this we know, she went looking for them. She went looking for her prince. They say she found him, his love turned to poison. But she was Queen and he was just a prince, and she forced a peace out of him. Of sorts."

"I wouldn't want anything I force out of a fairy. It's sure to be a trap."

She tapped his nose with a work-roughened finger. "You're wiser than most, I already did say. She was not to be wed anymore. If he couldn't have her, no one could. I suppose he doesn't know what a favor he did her. They say the Folk In The Woods wanted her to put one of their own on the throne, and she wouldn't let them. They say she had to agree to let them at least help in the choosing of the heir, or they would let there be no heir at all, and the crown would go to ruin."

"Help." Adam felt terribly cold. His clothes, so warm and comfortable a moment before, chafed him like burrs. He could hardly breathe around a lump in his throat. "Help in the choosing."

"You should never take anything you force out of a fairy," Culli repeated his words to him. "Particularly if it looks like it's a gift."

"Haven't they met anyone they like?"

"I don't think it's the meeting a prince they like, highness." Culli shrugged, picking up her needle. "I think it's meeting someone they like more than the prince hates. And he's had a lot of time to build up his hating."

***

Adam, unable to sleep that night, sat on a windowsill and thought on what Culli had said. He weighted it all, Dane's reaction and Beli's caution and the maid's story, against his friendship with Linden, his head full of worries too great for a twelve-year-old boy, except that he was a prince that might be a king and such worries were his to carry. Even if he didn't want to.

He was afraid, of course. He was worried. But, and this was an important difference that he couldn't quite figure out, he wasn't afraid of Linden, or Boul. At all. Not in the way he should be. Boul could be clumsy with his strength, but he was trying so hard, you could always see it. And he was terribly young, you could see that too.

And Linden, well. Linden was Linden. His friend, forever and always.

Did they know of the Queen's bargain?

Adam perked up as the answer came to him at last. Yes, Linden probably knew, of the prince and his hatred and the agreement and everything else. But the thing was, to Linden there was always a very clear, absolute difference. Whenever they spoke of the Court it was always "them", not "us". Not "we". Linden though of the Court as a separate, alien, unwelcome thing that they wanted nothing to do with. It was such a foundation of their person, their character, such a vast part of their heart, that Adam couldn't imagine his white-haired wild friend abiding with them, even a little bit.

On the other hand, the Court thought Linden silly for spending time with Adam, and in a very cruel way the young prince understood why at last. Why waste your time with someone you know is going to die?

Was he going to die?

"No," he muttered to the cradle of his arms.

He didn't want to be king. And he suspected that, when it came to the choosing, to the 'helping', that fact would matter more than anything else the Queen Dowager or the Folk In The Woods could come up with.

[demonslayedher]

The Sound Pillar past, I have heard that explore a bit in databook about being ninja.

Also what happened his sibling that still remain.

Also what there react

Combining info from the fanbooks and Chapters 80, 87, and 90 we get the following narrative of Uzui Tengen and his family, as complete as I could fill it in. It's always possible the anime version will expand and give us more, but here's what I've got in chronological format.

Uzui Tengen's father was the leader of their clan, one of a few ninja clans who lived in close community. Ninja were regularly sent on missions, but it is not clear what those missions were. Women and children were also expected to undergo strict training and go on missions, but women were primarily only valued as baby-makers, and it was common for one man to take multiple wives. The wives, at least in the Uzui case, were chosen upon agreements between families. (For more commentary on the unusual and cult-like nature of the Uzui ninja clan, please see this post.) In Chapter 80, Makio recalls how she never used to be afraid of dying because she was so brainwashed to believe her only value as a kunoichi (female ninja) was to put her life on the line in support of the strong male ninja. Tengen is the oldest of nine children. Of note, Fanbook #2 states that he has a mother and father from whom the nine children came, but as multiple wives is the norm in this village and Uzui was 15 when they were forced to fight each other, I think it's reasonable to assume many of them were half-siblings (even if all with one very busy wife, that would make the youngest one only around 7~9 years old or so, by my guess. But, it doesn't seem unreasonable in this clan that an 8-year-old would be expected to take part in this fight.)

Tengen had his three wives by the time he was 15. Since he is 23 when canon takes place and Hinatsuru (from a ninja clan second in rank to the Uzui clan and who has a good balance of core ninja skills) is 21, Makio (physically a highly capable ninja but her short temper causes her to fail her missions and yes, she is Tengen's cousin, please restrain your knee-jerk reactions and accept the cultural difference and move one) is 20, and Suma is 19 (and yes, Fanbook #2 said she likes both men and women), that means his wives were respectively 13, 12, and 11 when they fled the village. As Suma's younger sister was originally the one being considered as a bride, this means they were willing to marry off girls even younger than that. See this post for more commentary on multiple wives in the Taisho period, and as an added note, the legal age for women to marry in Taisho was 16. The Uzui ninja clan was entirely counter-cultural in the first place, though, so this doesn't apply very directly to them. Furthermore, due to their curse, the Ubuyashiki clan had very usually early expectations for children to wed, and they always run a not officially recognized organization. Otherwise, most of the cast seems to follow more usual Meiji/Taisho family patterns. Of the nine siblings, three of them died before Tengen turned 15, simply due to the lifestyle. When Tengen was 15 (clarified according to Fanbook #1), Tengen's father pit the remaining six siblings against each other so that only the strong would remain. They were all concealing their identities and did not know they were fighting their own siblings. According to Fanbook #2, Tengen killed two of them, and his younger brother (second oldest) killed another two, and Tengen was pissed when he realized what was happening. He couldn't bring himself to kill his remaining brother, though that brother was just like their father when it came to his values that only the strong should survive, and he really didn't care about killing his own flesh and blood. This was when Tengen decided he didn't want to live like this, and he took his wives and fled. For a while (according to Fanbook #2), he often said he should go to hell, but this made Makio angry, it made Hinatsuru cry, and it made Suma bite him so he stopped saying that. He did continue to think that he should eliminate the rest of this evil Uzui clan, but he could never bring himself to kill his father and little brother. (So, fanfic writers, grab your pens, we can assume the Uzui clan is still active.) Anyway, once he was free of that lifestyle where he had to constantly hide his presence, he thoroughly rebelled and embraced the flamboyant.

It's unclear when and how Tengen learning Breathing technique. It's possible there was knowledge of this technique in some form or another among the ninja (though his wives don't seem to display it), and it's also possible he learned from a cultivator. Sound is an off-shoot of Thunder, but it's unclear whether Sound was established before he came along, or if he created this Breath to make extra use of his keen hearing. (What I would give to see Tengen/Kuwajima interactions, preferably arguing about which Breath is superior.) It's unclear how much time passed between fleeing the clan and joining the Demon Slayer Corps. Given his ninja skills, as soon as he found out about the Corps (and perhaps by extension, demons), passing the Final Selection was probably a breeze for him. It was either right after the Final Selection (and therefore still waiting for his uniform), or just as he had made up his mind to join the Corp that he declares his new rule to his wives: their lives are #1 priority. #2 priority is morally upright humans, and #3 is Tengen himself.

And they're like, "whaaaaaaaat."

But sure enough they all accept the demon slaying mission, and before long, Tengen and his wives meet Oyakata-sama one fine spring day, I assume upon attaining the rank of Sound Pillar. Oyakata-sama sympathizes with how hard it must had been for Tengen--for all of them--to go against what they were raised to believe, and to fight to protect people in what they've deemed a morally upright course of life. Tengen's like, "this guy gets it" and becomes as big a fanboy as any other Pillar is for Oyakata-sama. It's purely conjecture, but I'm guessing he and Oyakata-sama both were somewhere around age 15~17 at this meeting (again, we don't know how much time has passed since Tengen left the ninja. Due to Kanae and Tengen's shared presence at later flashbacks, he couldn't had been older than 18~19). Tengen goes on to be super popular. The most popular Pillar in the Corp, Taisho Rumor has it. His wives all help on missions too, but there's an agreement that they'll get out and live a happy domestic life once they've bagged an Upper Moon--enough of a contribution to, perhaps, to feel they've atoned for the sins they committed as ninja (or at least, this was how Hinatsuru proposed the idea). Once the arm gets chopped and the eye gets cut, Tengen gains a really good excuse for retiring, but it was just his luck to have declared three Tsuguko within hours of his forced retirement. (Like, I doubt this counts for anything. And if he ever calls them that again his trio of Tsuguko are probably going to be more confused than anybody else.) Anyway, Nezuko brings him back from the brink of poison-induced death and he basically walks home. While still involved in the Corp in training the rank and file members and guarding Kiriya upon his becoming Oyakata-sama (meaning he, like Himejima, was trusted with knowledge in advance about Kagaya's very flamboyant exit plan). After that he truly goes into domestic retirement mode and makes friends with a fellow lop-sided former Pillar, however drab he always thought that person was. He takes enough of a liking to said former Pillar that he brings him along on co-ed hot spring dips and lets him hold his first child. Which of the three wives birthed the first child, we don't know. And then one of his descendants goes on to be a flamboyant gymnast, but still gathers once a year under Ubuyashiki's leadership to perform the Sound Breath forms as a sacred Kagura dance. And we still don't know what became of Tengen's brother. For all we know, modern gymnast Uzui Tenma and his six other siblings regularly avoid explosive attacks on their life from a generations-held promise to eliminate them. PARKOUR---but more flamboyant. (I hope it's obvious that I am being silly here and have no canon basis for this.)

[marvelmana]

-Mumza goddess of death prompt

TW: suicide attempt

So after Wilbur's revival Dream with his God compex realizes that the power to bring people back to life isn't enough. So while Wilbur prepares to break Dream out of prison, Dream sits down to remember what more was in the revive book. His eyes shoot wide open as he remembers a short but powerful ritual to summon the goddess of death herself.

So after Wilbur breaks him out somehow. Wilbur and Dream are met by the rest of the SBI family. They didn't come together. Tommy came to stop Wilbur and maybe kill Dream. Techno and Phil just came to get Wilbur so Sam doesn't kill him. As always with this family they start arguing and Dream runs away. They follow him to the L'manhole where he manages to preform the full ritual to summon the goddess of death. Now all the others are terrified because they don't know what Dream did. All they know is that the nice and chill night suddenly became the worst storm they've ever experienced and a weird portal looking thing has started to form on the glass. Tommy starts yelling at Dream to stop. Philza aswell because Dream doesn't know what power he's messing with. Dream explains that he knows exactly what power he's messing with and tells them what or...rather who he has summoned. To Dream's surprise everyone but Tommy seems relived that he's summoning the goddess of death. Tommy's worried because he has no idea that he's the son of the goddess. Before any of them manages to say anything a dark figure emerges from the portal with dark wings as she flies up to the night sky. The wind that had made it hard to stay on your feet suddenly stops and the portal disapears. Dream does his evil laughter and then does his evil monologue but gets cut off by the goddess of death striking him down with one hand and pressuring her foot against his neck. Phil watches her and falls in love all over again. But before there can be a wholesome family reunion Tommy draws his sword out and points it at the goddess' neck.

"Who are you!? What do you want!?" He yells demanding answers.

The goddess melts at the sight of her youngest. He's so cute with that diamond sword, thinking he's so cool. When she doesn't answer Tommy gets frustrated and yells at the top of his lungs

"ANSWER ME!!!"

He was meant to intimidate the goddess but his yell only comes out as a broken cry. The goddess' heart breaks as she sees all the pain and frustration in her youngest son's eyes. There's something in his eyes that is not supposed to be there. There's something that's not meant to be seen in the eyes of a 16 year old. Before she can ask, Phil steps forward.

"It's been a long time, love" he says and takes off his hat.

The goddess smiles at her angel.

"About 16 years, but who's counting?" She jokes completely unbothered by the blade at her throat.

Then the twins comes in to have a small talk with their mother. None of them mentions that she's their mother. Tommy slowly takes away his sword and starts backing away. He takes one look at the unconscious green man by the goddess' feet and then at his brothers and father. This is their business. He should get going. He only gets a few steps away when one of his family members ask where he's going. He tells them that he's going home. The issue with Dream seems resolved and they're all busy with and old friend Tommy doesn't know. At first the goddess is confused as to why her youngest doesn't recognise her. But then again. When he left the end he was only a few months old. The twins had been just around 7. The goddess, who's name was Kristin smiles gently at Tommy and slowly walks up to him. She tells him that she's his mother. Tommy looks at his father and brothers who nods confirming. Normally you'd think Tommy would be excited to meet his mum. But when all his family has brought him is pain, he's not excited to see what a new family member who's also a goddess, can do. So he does the most rational thing he can think off. He runs. He runs with fear of his life. Tommy doesn't wanna die again. The mere thought terrifies him. So he runs, hoping to find someone to help him, anyone. Tubbo, Ranboo, Puffy hell he'd even take the help from Sam now. As he runs past his house he looks behind him to see 4 individuals chasing him. He starts screaming for help as he jumps out the edge by the bench with a water bucket in hand. Kristin who doesn't know Tommy's incredible skill with water MLGs panics and dives after him with her wings. She catches Tommy before he reaches the ground. Tommy starts squirming in her grip hoping to get away. Kristin tries to reassure him that she's got him. Tommy begs her not to hurt him. Telling her that he won't get in her way, that if she just lets him go she'll never have to see him again. Kristin feels as someone shot through her heart with an arrow. And she tells Tommy in what she thinks is a comforting voice, that she's never gonna let him go and that he's safe. Tommy's beyond terrified but lucky for him Tubbo and Ranboo is on a walk towards them. Tubbo and Ranboo immediately gets their armour on and orders Kristin to put Tommy down and that if she hurts him, she's gonna regret it. Kristin gets put off guard by the sudden company. Tommy uses that to his advantage and gets out of her grip and runs past Tubbo and Ranboo who's like protecting wall in front of him. Wilbur tells them to fuck off and that it's a family buisness. That just angers Tubbo even more.

"Family buisness!!!?" He yells almost in shock "You gotta be kidding me! Tommy just started healing after everything Dream did to him and after everything YOU did to him!! Why can't you just let him rest!?" Tubbo yells in anger

That's when Kristin's had enough. She demands an explanation and Tubbo just answers "I'm not gonna explain shit. Who do you think you are?" To which Krstin stretches out her wings and says in a lower tone

"I am the goddess of death. Protector of the end. And his mother" she says and looks at Tommy.

Tubbo and Ranboo looks back at Tommy who just shruggs. Because honestly he has no idea if it's true or not. But Tubbo and Ranboo decides to play along. They answer with a bit of attitude what has happened to Tommy since he came to this server. Everything from the disc war, to L'manbrug, to exile, to the egg trying to kill him and then celebrating his death, to what happened in the prison. After everything is explained the goddess of death is furious. She shoots up in the air and Phil has a very troubled face expression. When asked what's wrong he tells them.

"A father's rage is strong enough to conquer the world. But a mother's rage is stronger"

Kristin is mad at the server for driving her family apart and hurting her baby. So with the power within her she pulls up the egg and it's roots, along with the enire prison, Eret with his castle and Dream's unconscious body. The storm comes back, this time with thunder and rain. Tommy sees this and is terrified. But he's also worried about Eret. It's true he wronged him but Eret has changed.

"We gotta stop her!" Tommy yells.

"She's the goddess of death, you can't stop her!" Techno yells.

But it's no use. Tommy grabs Ranboo's trident. He launches himself in the air and jumps from bits of earth and structures in the air. His main focus is to help Eret out. Eret is ready for his doom. He knows he's not been the best person. But before that happens he hears someone call out his name. It's Tommy. Tommy gives Eret the trident and tells him to get out of here. He hears distant screams of the eggpire and the egg. Tommy doesn't care that much for the egg. But as annoying as Badboyhalo is with his no swearing rule, he's a good guy and Tommy do have good memories with the him. So with no trident Tommy jumps between the rising blocks to get to the people. He sees Dream's unconscious body and for a moment he thinks about it but then shakes his head. Dream is not his priority. Tommy doesn't see himself as a hero. But he's not one to simply watch someone die if he can do something about it. Tubbo knows this. He curses when Eret gets down on the ground and tells them what Tommy did for him. Tubbo looks to Ranboo who nods. He brings up a water splash potion and splashes himself. His eyes widen and a foreign language comes out of his mouth. Tubbo grabs ahold of his husband before he can teleport away without him. Ranboo has gone complete silent. If you can even call him Ranboo anymore. Tubbo has only seen Ranboo like this once. It was terrifying since the half enderman hybrid had been walking towards Tubbo's cabin in snowchester where Micheal was. Ranboo had been covered in water scars and yet he wasn't talking. Just calmly walking towards Micheal. Before he could get there though Ranboo collapsed and woke up with no memory of how he got to Tubbo's cabin. So now, on a floating piece of earth, in the eye of the storm Tubbo had to trust whatever this version of Ranboo was. He called for Tommy but got no response. Suddenly the foreign language comes out of Ranboo as he points with his free hand to some egg rootes. Tommy's jumping between the broken peices towards peoplenof the eggpire.

"Let's go and help that idiot out" Tubbo says and Ranboo teleports them behind Tommy.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Tubbo yells which scares Tommy. He turns around and smiles at the sight of maybe the two only people he trusts.

"I could ask you the same!" He yells back to be heard over the load weather.

"We came to help you. Ranboo can you get those guys back on the ground!?" Tubbo yells

Ranboo doesn't say anything but when he teleports closer and grabs badboyhalo and Hannah Tubbo knows he got through to him. Tommy's confused at how strange Ranboo was acting. Ranboo's not much of a fighter but still here he was, standing tall. And how the hell can he teleport without enderpearls? Tommy decides that there's a better time to ask. Instead him and Tubbo keeps the rest of the eggpire safe. During that the egg starts speaking to Tubbo and Tubbo is obviously trying to shut it out but it's hurting him. So once Ranboo gets back Tommy is quick to push his best friend onto his husband and yell at Ranboo to get him to safety. Tubbo doesn't get a chance to object before he's suddenly on the ground again. He struggles against Ranboo and begs his husband to take him back. Tommy knows what's keeping Ranboo from coming back. He can see it. So instead of wasting time, he makes a waterfall with his only waterbucket and puts the rest of the eggpire in it. In his head he repeats the same three words over and over again "Please don't drown". When the people is as safe as they can be in a situation like this Tommy turns to his mother who has definitely grown a couple of feet. Tommy gulps and watches as Dream's body literally explodes in front of his mum's dark eyes.

"Hey!!" He yells and draws his sword again.

Kristin turns to see where the voice comes from and her gace immediately goes soft. But it turns confused when she can't see the rest of the wronguns.

"I'm not gonna let you hurt anyone else!" Tommy says with his blade in front of him

"The mortals needs to be taught a lesson. You'll come to understand when you're older. You're just a mere child" she says calmly

Tommy smirks. He may be young, but he's not stupid. Tommy knows the blade would do nothing to his mother. So he takes a deep breath and holds the sword against his own throat. He doesn't want this. But he won't let his mother hurt people because of him.

"I may be young! But I have seen wars, I have witnessed my best friend's execution, I have been exiled, I have been tortured and somewhat manipulated. I'm not a child anymore!!" He yells

"You wouldn't. I can see the fear in your eyes son. I can feel it. You don't want this" Kristin says but her voice is everywhere as she gets closer to her son.

"I am not a child. I'm a soldier without a mission. Which makes me desperate. So if I have to die to protect them that's something I'll have to do" Tommy says and stares at the eyes of the beast

"I would never hurt your fatber or brothers" Kristin reassures

"I wasn't talking about those idiots. Listen this place is a hell hole! And sometimes it's hard to get out of bed. But you know what!? It's my home. You've just killed the guy who were the source of my problems. You've done enough!!" Tommy yells and pushes the sword closer to his throat. He can feel it slowly digging into his skin. The goddess of death panics and does a quick movement with her finger and before Tommy knows it he's flying in the air, unable to move an inch. His sword is still in his hand but he can feel an invisable force trying to take it from him.

"Tommy. Drop it!" Kristin hisses

Tommy won't drop it. He could see the fear in her eyes once the blade was pressed against his throat. If he could just move his arm he could put the sword back at his throat. But he can't the force pulling away his sword is strong. But Tommy's always been a fighter. He actually manages to withstand the force but doesn't notice the goddess shrinking in sice and flying up to him to grab the sword herself. After taking the sword she throws it down and stares at her youngest. One thing's for sure, her family is not safe here.

Good ending: Tommy and the others talks Kristin down and she goes back to the end but visits every now and then

Bad ending: Kristin sees how much this place is hurting her baby and the rest of her family. So she takes them to the end where they can't leave. Phil would've been able to, if it wasn't for one of his wings being broken.

[seasonsofeverlark]

Memories

Author: @evestedic​

Prompt: Memorial day focused. Modern au, Katniss remembering and honoring her late father’s death as Peeta helps her cope throughout the week. [Submitted by anonymous]

Rating: K+

Author’s Note: So I volunteered for this and didn’t know how hard it was going to be XD. I’m not North American so I had to do one heck of a lot of research and I’m sure there are a lot of mistakes still, so I apologize beforehand for it and I hope no one is offended by my lack of knowledge. Thank you!  _______________

Peeta had been working overtime for at least two weeks. While Memorial Day was usually a holiday for everyone, the bakery didn’t stop. Families poured in wanting to buy pies, cakes, cookies, cheesecakes and the like; it was a good day for the Mellarks. Even his brother Rye took a day off from work to help with the sales; he was rubbish at baking but good at convincing everyone to leave with at least one more product than they intended. Heck, even his mother dressed to the nines and put aside her usual attitude, for she knew that, aside from the usual holidays, Memorial Day was a day to earn good money. 

The youngest Mellark didn’t mind the hard work; he had been used to bakery work since before he started school, trying out his frosting skills on stale cookies or measuring the ingredients so his dad could bake the cakes. What Peeta did mind, though, was not being able to be with his girlfriend today. 

Peeta had asked his dad, and Harland had been completely okay with it, simply asking Peeta to be sure to bake enough for the sale day. His mother, on the other hand, had been livid. 

“Why do you have to leave on one of the busiest days of the year just to be with that girl!? Doesn’t she know how this business works?” 

“Mom, I already told you she lost her father last year and it really affected her.” 

 “And what, didn’t we lose Bran as well? You don’t see me crying in the corner because of it!” 

The Mellarks had lost their eldest in the war as well, but that had been almost ten years ago, and they were all together. His father, mother, Rye, and Peeta had grieved and taken the time to visit his grave and put flowers on it. But, as with everything, life goes on. You still remember your loved ones, just not with the same pain as before.

“It was going to be his last year, Mom. He was 38, already a reserve, and they called him because he was an extraordinary man when it came to tactics. You know his unit name was on the news more times than we can count. He accepted out of love for his nation and countrymen. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to every man and woman who has fallen in the name of our country, but I believe Graham Everdeen deserves a special demonstration of respect. I can’t tell you how proud I am to be able to be in his family’s life.” 

“Hear, hear. Graham was a good man, the best man. I will never forget him. Just let the boy go; he already did everything we asked of him.” 

Peeta’s mom didn’t like it, but she relented before her husband’s gaze and tone. “I’m blaming you if the sales this year aren’t as good.” 

Katniss had been a surprise baby. 

Graham and Lavender had been high school sweethearts in secret, him being a scholarship student and she, the daughter of a member of the board. 

As love stories go, theirs was the cliché after school special where Lavender found out she was pregnant at barely 16, Graham at 17. Not wanting her to get an abortion, they eloped without finishing high school and prayed to every God out there that her family didn’t charge him with kidnapping, or worse. They were lucky, though. She had been disowned, and her family didn’t want to have anything to do with them or the baby to come. 

As for him, his family tore him a new one but accepted them both with open arms. A few months later, Katniss came into the world, silently, but with that characteristic gaze of hers. Graham then decided the best thing he could do was to apply for the Navy as he was now 18. That way, he would be able to provide for his new family without having to impose upon his parents. So, leaving his very young, soon-to-be bride and newborn daughter, he set off to try his luck. Turns out, he was built for it. His Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery score was impressive, and his body, already used to rough sports, also helped him in quickly becoming one of the favorites in his class. 

As soon as Lavender turned 18, they got married in a small chapel, surrounded by a huge amount of love and joy from the people who truly loved them. 

It wasn’t easy; those first few years were the hardest, but they both put in the effort and as parents, they were blessed with a quiet child in Katniss. Although she was a bit of a tomboy, she seemed to possess a greater level of understanding compared to other toddlers. Always serious, a perpetual frown on her face, Katniss Everdeen was often misunderstood as broody or difficult, but each and every member of her family knew she was a total daddy’s girl. 

Whenever Graham would come home, the first woman he would crumble before was his little flower, his Katniss, the child who had forced him to become a man much faster but who had also shown him that there was no limit to the love one could feel towards a little human being. 

Lavender loved her husband with all of her being. The few friends she still communicated with had told her the spark would die, that the child would change everything, and they were right‒but only about the last part. Katniss had changed everything, but for the better, and she still felt the same spark within her body whenever Graham caressed her skin. He was also the greatest father he could be whenever he was home. He loved Katniss to death, and although he realized she already had him around her tiny little finger, Graham didn’t mind one bit. 

He did several tours, and things started looking better, financially. They were able to finally move out of his parents house, although Lavender always visited regularly. Prim came as another surprise four years later, Lavender finding out about this pregnancy while Graham was away in some foreign country, no less, but he was still ecstatic at the news. 

Primrose Everdeen came loudly into this world, the spitting image of her mother, and for the third time in his life, Graham fell in love. His unit friends would joke around, telling him he would have to try for a boy the next time he went home, but he always said he was more than happy being surrounded by his beautiful flowers. There wasn’t a single man who didn’t know about Petty Officer Second Class Everdeen’s love for his daughters. Even his superiors always asked him about his girls back home, and everyone gathered around him to hear about Prim’s first steps of Katniss’ latest knee scrape. 

Time went by, and Graham did his time, always coming back home. He was a blessed man. 

Even if the beginning of his life hadn’t been what he had planned, he really couldn’t complain. His wife adored him; his youngest loved him, and his eldest idolized him. And even if Graham claimed to love both of his daughters equally, everyone knew Katniss was his favourite. Katniss was the rowdy girl he could teach to wrestle or to punch, explain how navy tactics worked, or sometimes, open up to about a fallen comrade. Katniss was the light in his eyes and the smile on his lips whenever he saw her. 

“I’m gonna have to buy a RGM-84 harpoon in a few years just to keep them at bay, Lav. She’s gorgeous,” he told his wife one night.

“Oh, I think there’s still time, don’t you think? Katniss is only twelve.” 

“You didn’t see the baker’s boy looking at her this morning. Poor boy stuttered through the whole interaction and even gave her a free cheese bun.” 

“What will you do when Primrose turns twelve, then?” 

“I think an AIM-7 Sparrow to begin with, and then…an entire fleet!” 

And Graham had been right about Peeta. When Katniss graduated college‒the first Everdeen to do it!‒she brought Peeta home to meet her family.  

“You all know Peeta. We’re dating now. What’s for dinner?” Typical Katniss. 

Unfortunately, it was that same year that Lieutenant Everdeen was called back to action. He was a reserve, technically not obligated to do it, but he chose to, for his countrymen and his comrades. 

That day, he kissed all of his girls, shook Peeta’s hand, and went to war. 

Graham Everdeen never came back home. 

“Katniss?” Peeta entered the Everdeen’s home with the spare key Lavender had given him last year. 

It was a quaint home with pictures all around, the biggest one, of course, being of Lieutenant Everdeen in his navy uniform, surrounded by flowers and a candle. Surely Prim’s doing. Speaking of the youngest Everdeen, she must have gone to Rue’s house to finish up her paper due next week, but she would undoubtedly be back for lunch. Lavender must be at her in-laws, as she wouldn’t be able to stand being alone with the girls today, of all days. Graham’s departure had been almost a death sentence for her, and it had been Katniss who stepped up to take care of her broken family. 

Peeta put his backpack and the pastries he had baked for her in the kitchen, and then he went to look for his girlfriend. He found her in her bed, tear tracks on her face and still in her pajamas, although she did have her father’s navy working uniform jacket on. 

“Hey…have you eaten anything today?” Katniss shook her head, and Peeta was glad he had prepared tea before coming here. “I have some of that red berry tea you like. I’ll put it here so it stays hot, okay?” She nodded. 

“I bet your mother was thrilled about you staying with me today.” 

“You know her so well.” Peeta smirked. 

“You don’t have to do this, you know? I don’t need a babysitter.” 

“I know. I just want to stay close to you, as always, but especially today.” He kissed her forehead and she rose up to hug him. 

Katniss rarely let her guard down, but with Peeta, it was a usual occurrence. He had managed to tear down her walls, brick-by-brick, throughout the years. Of course, the cheese buns always helped. 

“Someone came yesterday.” 

“Yeah? Who?” 

“A friend of Dad’s. He said he had been in the same explosion but had been lucky. He lost a leg, though, and the physical therapy, plus the fact that he lived far from here, prevented him from coming to visit sooner.” 

“He must have been a good friend of your dad’s, then.” 

“He…He had my dad’s letter.” 

Oh.

Peeta didn’t have to ask what that letter was. Every man always left a message for his loved ones with a friend before embarking on a difficult mission, and Graham would have been no exception. 

“What did it say?” 

“I don’t know. I haven’t opened it yet.” 

“Do you want me to give you some space?” 

“No, I- Could you stay? I don’t think I can read it alone.” 

“Sure.” 

Katniss pulled a yellow envelope out from under her pillow. It was a bit wrinkled but still in good condition. After opening it, they found three more envelopes inside, smaller and white, one for each of the women of the Everdeen family. 

“This is for your mom, this one for Prim, and this is for you.” Katniss took it with trembling hands and fresh tears in her eyes. 

Peeta had loved his brother Bran and had cried when he died in combat, but Katniss had lost something much bigger. She had lost a father, the first man she had ever loved and her best friend, all at once. Graham had been her superhero, and Peeta had always been nervous about proving himself worthy of her because of all the love the good man had showered on Katniss. They were both very much alike, even if Graham hadn’t been home during Katniss’ first years, and whenever he returned, Katniss wouldn’t leave his side. 

When he heard a chuckle, he turned to see Katniss, the sheets of paper in her hands, avidly reading her father’s handwriting amidst cleaning her tears. Peeta hadn’t even peered in on Graham’s last words, out of respect. He would stay with Katniss and be her support, but he wouldn’t intrude into this special last moment she had been given with her dad. 

“He mentions you.” That comment surprised him. 

“Really?” 

Katniss proceeded to show him a paragraph that made his chest swell with pride. 

“I’m glad, though, that you chose a good man to start dating. I’ll always have a tiny spark of hate for Peeta for stealing my girl, but I know it could have been worse. Don’t be afraid to rely on him; you’ll need his love and his support. Although, please, do your old man a favor and always, ALWAYS use protection. I’m not going to pry into your private life, but I wouldn’t want you to have the same rough start as me and your mother did. 

I know Peeta is a great guy, and I knew he would sweep you off your feet from the first day he gave you a free cheese bun. I may be gone, but I’m relieved to know I couldn’t leave my girl in better hands. 

Love each other, respect each other, and when he asks for your hand in marriage, let him know he has my blessing.” 

Damn, that was touching. Peeta knew Graham liked him, but knowing he already had his blessing for when, not if‒he would definitely marry Katniss Everdeen down the road‒Peeta decided to pop the question, meant the world to him. 

“Well, there you have it. Now there’s no way you can say no to me, Everdeen.” 

“I wasn’t planning on it.” 

“Good to- Wait, what?” 

It was so bittersweet, seeing Katniss’ face red and blotchy, exhausted from the night she had undoubtedly spent crying, remembering her father, but also smiling back at him with a tiny glint in her eyes, a glint that spoke of her love for him. 

“I wasn’t planning on looking for someone else. You’re stuck with me, Mellark, so when we get married, you’d better be ready. Okay?” 

“O-Okay!” 

“I think I can drink a bit of tea now.” 

“Alright, I’ll get you a piece of pie, too.” 

And so, Graham Everdeen was gone, but he would always be remembered, both in this house and in the one Peeta would share with Katniss.  This, Peeta vowed in his head right at that moment. 

Going to the kitchen and uncovering the striped pie he had brought, Peeta made sure to cut an extra slice and put it next to Graham’s picture. 

“Graham, I will always admire, remember, and respect you, not only on Memorial Day, or when the calendar tells me to, but always. Thank you for your service to our country, and thank you for trusting me with your daughter. I won’t let you down, sir.” 

[shihalyfie]

An analysis of Iori and his character arc

Iori has a particularly interesting position in 02′s narrative (and, even more widely so, in perhaps all of both Adventure and 02) in that his base profile is rather unusual-looking even from the get-go -- the youngest child in both groups, yet with a (seemingly) mature demeanor that surpasses even his seniors. On top of that, Iori ends up having a very deep relation to 02′s themes and plot itself in a way that isn’t initially apparent, but actually makes him a very vital centerpiece of 02′s story.

Before we get into Iori’s role in 02′s actual plot, it needs to be established that a very, very large amount of Iori’s character is heavily shaped by his family background and upbringing. Prior to the start of the series, the Hida family had a large void in it, with Iori’s father Hiroki having been killed in the line of duty. Being a mere five-year-old child who had lost his father barely into actually being sentient and basically had to live the following three years going off hearsay on what he was actually like, Iori ends up raised by his mother Fumiko and his paternal grandfather Chikara.

While not in exactly the same way as the Takenouchi family (which is literally working in cultural preservation and study), the Hida family is very traditionalist Japanese -- Fumiko makes traditional Japanese food and snacks like kanpyoumaki and ohagi, and a lot of attention is given to the butsudan altar in their house where they honor the late Hiroki (also note the tatami flooring). That, combined with Chikara’s naturally strict personality, led to Iori being raised with “very strict manners”, and by a set of very firm guidelines on honor, respect, and the like.

Having been raised into this kind of formality, Iori speaks almost exclusively in polite-form Japanese. This happens to initially make him come off a bit like Koushirou -- likely a deliberate parallel, given the Knowledge connection between the two (being the kind of person who admits that you don’t know everything and wants to know more requires a bit of humility, after all). That said, Iori’s way of doing this has some key differences from Koushirou:

Unlike Koushirou, who was largely polite out of an attempt to keep distance from everyone and thus had a streak of being somewhat non-confrontational, Iori is perfectly willing to say harsh or critical things -- in other words, his way of speaking is formal, but it’s not necessarily polite, and in fact Iori is probably the single most passive-aggressive person in this cast. He has absolutely no qualms about dunking on whatever he feels truly deserves the dunking, and he’ll certainly do it with a lot of grace, but he is very capable of being extremely cold when he wants to be.

Koushirou stuck to formality out of detachment and intimidation, to the point that, as per Adventure episodes 38 and 54, he was compulsively unable to bring himself to speak casually unless he forced himself. Iori, on the other hand, often “slips” -- on top of willingly defaulting to casual form whenever he’s talking to himself or (occasionally) to the Digimon (who are outside Japanese levels of propriety), he also has a tendency to start using casual form whenever he gets particularly emotionally compromised. (While it doesn’t quite come off in the translation, the above screenshots from 02 episode 10 are an example of this, with Iori losing his temper at the Kaiser and slipping into casual form -- and a bit of fun foreshadowing, guess who’s the one to successfully calm him down? Takeru. Remember this for later.) In other words, Iori’s formality is not compulsive, but a conscious thing he tries to maintain as he holds himself to high standards, and is unable to completely uphold during times his emotions get the better of him.

Ultimately, Iori may come off as “mature and composed”, but he’s still an impressionable nine-year-old child, who’s effectively parroting the rules his grandfather instilled in him because he sees it as The One and Only Guide to Living Life. In trying to figure out the right thing to do in any situation, Iori ends up constantly trying to fall back on “this is the right way to do things!” and taking it rather badly whenever things start falling outside of the expected pattern. Despite being the one responsible for Iori’s tightly principled life to begin with, even Chikara himself comments that Iori’s not being flexible enough in his thinking in 02 episode 5 -- because it’s not like he’s expecting Iori to be like this, but Iori is simply having a hard time applying these principles practically when he’s working with the limited range of being a nine-year-old child.

And as much as it may be tempting to see Iori as stoic, watching his expressions and way of emoting throughout the series, he does very much have the full range of emotions and curiosity and even cheer of a nine-year-old child -- it’s that he’s just constantly holding himself back for the sake of being principled and well-mannered. This has the unfortunate side effect that Iori is, as the Animation Chronicle calls it, “clumsy at expressing himself as a child”. Because he’s constantly restraining himself like this, he has a hard time expressing himself or letting himself enjoy things in the way a normal child would.

It also goes a long way in explaining why Iori is never seen hanging out with any other peers his age, and is exclusively depicted in the company of either the rest of the 02 group, or his own family. While part of it is simply because (as per Japanese school procedure) he’s too young to be formally enrolled in any clubs, 02 episode 3 goes out of its way to show Iori being left alone in the classroom with only a teacher stuck supervising him, as he tries to force himself to finish his lunch due to his stubborn adherence to principle (even though he seems to hate tomatoes). In other words, it’s heavily implied that Iori’s own behavior ended up isolating him from his peers. Considering that the 02 group is generally made up of kids who are socially displaced in some way, it naturally follows that, despite being significantly older than him, they end up welcoming him into their friend circle and treating him as an equal.

When the series starts, Miyako and Iori seem to have gotten a certain degree of closeness (with Iori as one of the only people Miyako drops honorifics on). It stands to reason that Miyako, being open-minded towards people and rather aggressively friendly, would be willing to befriend her neighbor despite the three-year age gap between them, and so they already seem to have developed a rapport where Miyako’s willing to come over to his place to help work on the Hida family electronics in exchange for food.

So, you know, this and that happens, Iori becomes a Chosen Child, and this is the start of where Iori’s “principles” start coming into conflict with each other. The nature of the Digital World crisis is a no-brainer -- the Kaiser is doing terrible things, and Iori’s just been given the tools to do something about it, and so for him, upholding his principles to do the right thing means proactively doing something about it. But getting involved in this territory war will mean “fighting and hurting other people” (bad) and “hiding things from his family and sacrificing obligations to them” (also bad). Chikara advises him in 02 episode 5 that he still needs to be the one to decide what he wants and needs to do at any given moment, but it’s clear that this is still a new concept for Iori to swallow.

It’s also important that 02 episode 5 is also the episode that introduces Jou, who very much understood the dissonance between “adhering to principles in spite of how practical that may not actually be”, which means the two of them end up bonding over...ditching real-life obligations to come to the Digital World. This bonding happens despite the fact that they have the largest age gap out of any two given kids out of the Adventure and 02 group (Jou is 15, and Iori 9) -- and yet, they’re able to bond over being like-minded like this. And while they come from different contexts, there’s also a parallel drawn between the two on “the importance of personal choice” -- because back in Adventure, Jou’s story involved channeling his desire to help others in a way different from his usual expected path as a doctor or as a Chosen Child, and, likewise, it will be up to Iori to find his own way towards what he thinks is right.

Iori’s “adherence to principles” also needs to be distinguished from Jou’s in that Jou was someone more likely to be stuck to “practical” rules (one might call him Lawful) such as waiting for adults to help them with things, or what to put on eggs. Iori, on the other hand, has self-enforced rules that are far more ideological -- he doesn’t actually care that much about institutionally-enforced rules (note how he has absolutely no issue with sneaking into school with his friends in 02 episode 6) as much as he enforces a moral code on himself about “the right thing to do”. For instance, that he has to show his respect to Jou by formally finishing his introduction, even if it’s clear they know each other by now already.

But, again, it bears repeating: Iori is a nine-year-old child. The rest of the kids respect him enough to not treat him like a younger child -- other than a brief moment of emotional compromise that Daisuke quickly apologized for, the group is never really depicted as paying particular mind or care to the fact that Iori is so much younger than them, and for the most part treat him like an equal. But Iori himself is conscious of this -- after all, it’s why he’s constantly speaking politely to everyone all of the time, but 02 episode 16 also implies he’s very self-conscious about this. The plot of the episode kicks off when Iori momentarily gets caught up in his excitement about potentially getting a new Digimental, and, once things start going south, he starts blaming himself for causing all of this and lashing out at the others for (at least, in his mind) singling him out to be the one to escape on the grounds of being the youngest. After all is said and done with the incident, Submarimon lets Iori have a moment of something Iori really does need: a bit of a chance to actually get to enjoy himself as a young child instead of restraining himself so much.

Speaking of 02 episode 16, this is also where we first get to see how the pressure of maintaining Iori’s moral code starts to emotionally tear at him. It’s the first time we see Iori lose his composure this much. To everyone else here (and, perhaps, the audience, to some degree), Iori’s making a mountain out of a molehill -- he’s calling himself an unworthy person for telling a lie that even Jou himself clearly didn’t mind. But remember, Iori is someone who’s still learning a lot about how the world works at such a young age and is inclined by default to fall back on whatever his grandfather’s told him (to a point that even said grandfather considers to be overdoing it). Right now, Iori has basically built his entire view of morality based on this kind of thing, so putting a dent on it is like encouraging a slippery slope of potentially falling into moral depravity.

The reason why I say Iori’s character arc has a lot to do with Adventure and 02’s storytelling itself is that it’s a surprisingly pragmatic series when it comes down to it -- “it’s okay to lie, sometimes” is not exactly the kind of moral you’d expect out of your average kids’ show, but, perhaps a bit unusually, this series prefers to skip all of the preachiness and focus on pragmatics. (After all, back in Adventure, a lot of the final arc revolved around the question of “is fighting the right thing to do when there might be casualties?”, with the probably-kind-of-uncomfortable-but-frankly-very-practical answer of “it certainly beats having more casualties that would happen if you sat around and did nothing.”) Iori’s character arc is, effectively, this in a nutshell -- what’s the “right” thing to do when following principles alone doesn’t seem to be doing it? In the end, both Adventure and 02 are big on this -- preachy words and moralistic principles mean nothing in the face of striving to practically minimize damage and help others.

And so, Jou -- who himself grappled quite a bit with the dissonance between principles and pragmatism back in Adventure -- is the one to successfully reframe it in a way that Iori understands: most of all, Iori doesn’t want to see people get hurt, and whether “lying” or “not lying” is the right thing to do is not as relevant as “whether people are getting hurt”. Iori not lying would have caused a great deal more of hurt than lying, and it’s through understanding this kind of principle that Iori accepts that he still has a long way to go in terms of exercising his duty to others. The secondary Digimental arcs have a heavy theme of “acknowledging your deficiencies and resolving to improve”, and in the case of Iori and the Digimental of (this thing has been translated half a dozen ways, but, effectively, honoring your obligations to others), it involves his first major moment of coming to terms with the idea that the principles on paper he’s been stubbornly following aren’t going to do it by themselves.

Once the Kaiser arc concludes and the group is posed with the question on how to handle Ichijouji Ken, Iori’s reaction to him is the most infamously extreme: Ken is a Bad Person who is completely beyond forgiveness, and Iori wants nothing to do with him. It probably needs to be made clear that Iori’s stance on not wanting to forgive Ken is not inherently unreasonable. Ken really did some awful, horrible things in the first half of the series, and it is completely within Iori’s rights to decide that he doesn’t want to forgive or like Ken thereafter.

The part where Iori’s behavior starts posing issues is not the part about whether he likes Ken or not, but rather that Iori gets so hung up on that lack of forgiveness that he becomes very bad at observing the practical reality in front of him. Or, in other words, Iori gets so fixated on the principle of what happened in the past that he’s unable to make good judgment calls on what should happen going forward. It is abundantly clear to everyone by (at the latest) 02 episode 26 that Ken is not going to easily lapse back into his old ways and would like to make an effort to repair the damage he caused; regardless of whether they like him or not, it’s in their best interest to cooperate with him and let him help out (and even keep an eye on him to make sure bad things don’t happen again!), especially when the factor of Jogress comes into play and turns out to be a very valuable asset in the fight ahead. But Iori has a a rather squeamish, petty response when he tries to claim that they shouldn’t need Jogress (in the midst of everyone else being excited about the possibilities it poses, even without Ken in the equation) in 02 episode 28, and even when he does go along with everyone working with Ken in 02 episodes 28-29 during the Giga House Incident, he approaches it like he and Ken are bartering favors and that he’ll have to “repay” Ken before he can properly return to pigeonholing Ken as an Unequivocally Bad Person.

And so the issue here is: Iori being so determined to fixate on trying to stuff Ken into a neat box of a Bad Person isn’t good for himself, either, because it basically means he’s going out of his way to run pointless mental loops and maintain the feeling of stewing in a grudge against him, even when it’s helping absolutely nobody. Note the metaphor drawn when Iori practices kendo with Chikara in 02 episode 24 -- he keeps doing the same motion over and over again despite the fact it’s clearly not going anywhere, and Chikara has to warn him that doing nothing but aim for the head isn’t how you’re supposed to do it. Right now, Iori is having a hard time parsing things in ways besides shoving things in neat boxes of black-and-white morality, and this lack of flexibility is severely restricting his ability to be productive.

What starts to really cause Iori to make a major shift in his thinking process is none other than his connection with Takeru, a subplot that had already started kicking off all the way back in 02 episode 19, when Iori witnesses Takeru suddenly taking a violent shift in mood against the Kaiser to the point it scares him. Iori, of course, considers Takeru to be a “good" and “kind person”, but someone like that should (in his mind) logically not be making sudden, violent outbursts like that -- and especially once he starts advocating for BlackWarGreymon to potentially be killed if it comes down to it, going very against Iori’s fundamental principle that killing anything that’s sentient is unforgivably immoral.

This “contradiction” is what leads Iori to realize that he needs to do much more if he wants to understand Takeru properly, and it’s also the start of how Iori grows into the trait of his first Digimental, “Knowledge” -- or, more specifically (as defined by Koushirou in Adventure episode 24 and 02 episode 2), “curiosity and a drive to know more”. In the case of Iori, this manifests in “I want to know more about other people.” It’s Iori effectively understanding that his very limited view of the world and how people work isn’t sufficient in itself, and this concept becomes the crux of his character arc for the rest of the series.

After tussling around and getting increasingly confused about Takeru’s seemingly paradoxical behavior, Iori finally goes directly to Yamato to consult him about it in 02 episode 35, and Yamato explains the backstory behind Takeru’s trauma from losing Angemon back in Adventure episode 13, as well as a reminder that as much as it may have been his own fault, Ken technically went through some pretty similar trauma, and everything that’s happened since his fall from being the Kaiser hasn’t exactly been sunshine and roses for him either. Iori reflects on this as he goes home, with the important statement attached: he understands Takeru’s feelings. He’s now able to understand why Takeru acts the way he does, not on the grounds of principles of what’s right or wrong, but based on the fact that Takeru’s simply a very messy human being who’s not handling his own tendency to suppress his emotions well.

Because Takeru is such a convoluted person, and because Iori’s fundamental issue with approaching things involves unraveling some very deep-seated tendencies in his mentality, the way the two finally connect in order to properly Jogress requires something a lot more convoluted than just happening to clash in a single magical moment like Daisuke and Ken or Miyako and Hikari did. Iori starts off the episode catching himself when he’s about to fall back into “principles over practicality” again -- he starts railing on the others for (in his mind) taking the impending BlackWarGreymon fight too lightly, before Armadimon reminds him that he’s hungry, and Iori realizes -- again -- that he cannot effectively enforce “the right or wrong thing to do” without taking other people’s feelings properly into account. Realizing that this is is a barrier between him and the others, especially Takeru, Iori tries to adjust his thinking pattern and even becomes the one to advocate that everyone get some proper food and rest instead of charging into the fight unprepared.

The meal results in Iori getting yet another rare moment of letting himself truly enjoy something without restraint, and is also followed by Takeru speaking openly to him about their potential Jogress -- openly, honestly, not covering it up, not even with the same light playfulness he would usually put on (including what he had with the very same topic at the beginning of this episode). It is an acknowledgment from Takeru’s own part that he’s been watching what Iori’s doing and also wants to connect, and an open and serious statement from someone who had constantly tried to cover up everything with a smile up until that point, and, with the two reaching an understanding, they finally achieve their Jogress at the end of the episode.

This connection with Takeru, and the understanding that came from it, is what allows Iori to start applying a bit more flexibility towards approaching other situations. 02 episode 38 has him finally accepting Ken’s invitation to his Christmas party, after so many episodes of despising so thoroughly -- because now that he’s taking Ken’s position and feelings into account, he’s able to properly recognize him as someone doing his best to make amends going forward and be friends. Later, in 02 episode 44, despite having originally been the one more staunchly against it on principle, Iori handles the shock of having to kill an enemy with somewhat more grace than Miyako does, because not only had he already started considering the difficulty of fighting an enemy that cannot be reasoned with and wants nothing but wanton destruction (back during the end of 02 episode 29), Takeru is there to remind him that their priority must, first and foremost, be “saving lives” -- like, for instance, the girl in a wheelchair in front of him.

And so, the final episodes of 02 put everything Iori’s learned to the ultimate test, when he learns that the major perpetrator behind it all is none other than a friend of his departed father.

Up until this point, much of Iori’s mentality had been shaped by the rather saintlike image everyone had put up of Hiroki -- it’s almost certain that he must have had his own flaws as a person, but the resistance to speaking ill of the dead, and the generally positive influence he’d had on his friends and family and his untimely death by “protecting someone”, painted him as effectively a perfect, impossible ideal for Iori to strive to. Much of Iori’s justifications for his own behavior had consistently been reliant on “my father said this” or “would my father would have done this?”, such as his reason for forcing down his lunch in 02 episode 3, or using him as a mental model in 02 episode 44. For Iori’s former mentality of “good person” and “bad person”, this is the ultimate contradiction that threatens to rip apart everything Iori had built his own values system on -- that someone so incredible and saintlike and virtuous would be friends with someone so unambiguously doing horrible things like Oikawa. Iori, taking this as an awful emotional blow, parses this with a desperate desire to understand the motive behind why someone would do this, because it’s not enough for him to continue until he does.

And in 02 episode 49, we see Iori effectively forced to confront the fact that he can’t keep relying on the model of his father anymore as the sole basis for his way of life when, in the end, his father will never return. Iori doesn’t even know him that well; he can’t conjure up an image of him talking, or anything beyond just a flat, serene smile. And when the image of his father finally disappears, Iori almost immediately accepts it, as if he’d known the whole time.

It’s also significant that Iori declares that what he’ll do next is introduce Armadimon to his mother -- because, in the end, Iori is at least now capable of “moving forward”. He can’t get his father back, and the best thing he can do is make use of his existing support group and keep pushing forward with the people he does have in his life -- quite the opposite of Oikawa, who responded to the loss of that exact same person by clutching onto the remnants of the past they shared, and never becoming able to move on.

Hence, 02′s finale ends on none other than Iori, and when you think about it, this is actually a pretty unusual position to be in for someone who’s not the lead protagonist (Daisuke) nor the most prominent focus of the story (Ken)! But it’s a testament to just how important Iori is to this narrative on a thematic level -- all of the struggles about the morality of fighting and the disparity between principles and practicality (which dated all the way back to Adventure), and 02′s prominent theme of coping with loss and regrets and figuring out how to best move on, are all tightly entwined with the character arc of this nine-year-old child. (If you want to take the parallel between the Adventure narrative and Iori even further, Iori and Armadimon sharing the same voice actress is possibly one of the most prominent ways of indicating how a Digimon partner is fundamentally meant to express one’s inner self.)

And especially since Iori is the person who should have been the most vehement about having any kind of sympathy or compassion towards Oikawa -- just remember how determined he was to be cold towards Ken only half a series ago! -- and it leaves a strong impression of the huge, huge journey Iori had gone on through this series. Iori’s arc closes on him understanding the nature of what Oikawa had wanted this whole time, and understanding exactly what it meant for him to make that sacrifice right after finally meeting his partner, and ends the story the most emotionally affected by it -- because, after all, that’s the sort of truly kind person Iori is.

Iori after 02

By the time of Spring 2003, when Iori’s had some time to reflect on it, we learn from Iori that he still does not forgive Oikawa. That in itself is fine; remember, Iori is perfectly within his rights to not do so after all that he’s done. However, again, a distinction must be drawn between whether Iori forgives him, and whether he still considers it to be important to understand the mentality behind why Oikawa did what he did, and to reflect meaningfully on that instead of running himself in circles fixating on a grudge. Again, it’s about going forward with what he knows and has, instead of getting fixated on past deeds -- and with that, Iori resolves to “study”.

In The Door to Summer, we also learn that Iori allegedly has a “girlfriend” -- or, at least, someone Daisuke calls his girlfriend (Daisuke is a bit of an unreliable narrator here, given he’s also totally blown Hikari’s “rejection” of his beach hangout offer up as if it were a full-on total rejection of him completely). It is, perhaps, interesting that Daisuke is capable of getting this impression about Iori’s relationship with someone outside the 02 group, given that he’d been rather isolated from his peers all the way back in 02 episode 3...

Iori occupies an interesting position in Kizuna, because we only have one point in time where we got to intimately know him, and that was back when he was only nine years old -- and between that and Kizuna, there is a massive eight-year timeskip. He's 17 now, and we don't get any kind of catch-up period in the middle like we did with Takeru and Hikari in 02, and that is a time period where a lot of changes in demeanor could have happened with him compared to all of the others.

At first glance, it seems that he’s gotten much more stoic -- but this is actually something that should reasonably be expected, because now that he’s a teenager, it stands to reason that he would be much better at actually controlling his emotions and not necessarily get overwhelmed as easily. Plus, it’s not like he’s shown to be completely emotionless throughout the movie; he’s just doing a much more graceful job of holding himself back (look carefully at the credits and you can see him sweatdropping at Armadimon barging in on his practice), and moreover you can still see him deliver some pretty direct bluntness about the ramen in New York. Still with formal language, but nevertheless, no flattery is to be had here; Iori will dunk on you if he thinks you deserve it (even if it’s to do with mediocre ramen).

But there are some other interesting observations -- for one, the official website profile states that he’s actually settled on his future career in law at this point, and has made himself extremely busy in order to do so. (On top of that, he at least seems to be on friendly enough terms with his peers at school that they’re happy to greet him on their way out.) The drama CD indicates that Daisuke considers him the busiest out of the entire 02 group -- yet he and Takeru went out of their way to pick him up from school, because he’s that important to them. (Think about it -- how often do you see university students going this far to go retrieve a high school kid to hang out with them?) And likewise, Iori doesn’t even hesitate to state that he’ll make time for them, and throughout the movie he’s conspicuously seen in his school uniform, implying he really is moving things around to make it happen, because they’re that important to him.

He also engages in the single most chaotic action from this group, which is getting Armadimon to break into Menoa’s lab. It’s not that he’d inherently been against this kind of thing before, especially for something important (recall that he’d been happy to sneak into school for Golden Week with the others back during 02 episode 6), but it does beg the question of where and how he got this information that Armadimon could break electric locks. Perhaps he’s become a bit more, ah, pragmatic of a person since 02...

So, in the end, Iori does become an attorney, and specifically a defense attorney (the Japanese law system does draw the distinction). The person who once wanted to stick people he considered to be doing wrong into a “bad people” box and call it a day eventually came to embrace a career that involves understanding people and advocating for their perspective, or at least bargaining for something other than defaulting to the harshest assumption and a solution that allows all of the parties to best productively move forward.

He also has a daughter, who seems to have been raised to be as well-mannered and formal as he was. But, thankfully, he himself is there to help raise and guide her as she grows up.

[ssavanessa22]

Bad blood

Warnings: racism, hate crime, cannon type violence, kinda but not really smutty so like 16+ as always if I missed someone pls tell me !

A/n the girls of Wattpad really liked this one so I hope you all enjoy as well!

"Y/N you and Reid are going to lead this interview even though you are together make a great team and I think you can crake him are you guys okay with that?"

Spencer and I looked and each other and smiled in unison we replied.

"Yes we are more than okay with that"

Spencer and I have been together for 2 years 324days and 6 hours well that's what he said to me when I woke up next him laying of his bare chest, even though we basically spend every day together we still needed uno special time together and oh was it special. Before we told hotch about our relationship we were able to be in the field together until one time I thought Spence died and then I started crying and it was a whole big thing but now are months not working together we got to do what we both love and with each other.

Before we walked into the interrogation room together Spence turned to me and said.

"Are you sure your okay to do this, you don't have to if you don't want to this case is close to you even if he didn't hurt your family"

This unsub was committing hate crime murders for the last nine months pretending to go on dates with balck women then brutally murder them, Garcia found his manifesto online called "the eradication of all unpure women" it took Kevin who was with her at the time to calm her down as she had to read it out loud I felt bad for her but everyone else felt bad for me. Was looking at me in that moment I wished more than ever to be where Tara was right now, interviewing a child rapist.

I replied to Reid whilst plastering on a fake smile,

"Spencer I'm gonna be fine if anything these women looking like me being like me makes me wanna catch this motherfucker even more"

He smiled and gently kissed me before we both walked in.

"Tyler Walker do you know hey your here"

He ignored my question then Spencer asked the same one only then did he reply.

"Tyler if I'm going to be in here you need to speak to both of us" I sternly replied

"Well if your gonna bring you boyfriend in here since you clearly can't do this on you own them I'm gonna talk to the man here if you'd don't mind"

Spencer interjected saying

"Tyler we found the hearts of all the women murdered in you home why were they in there?"

I don't know I didn't touch them"

He didn't ask if you touched them we asked what you did to those girls" I sternly said.

"You know what If you want to know what I hypothetically would have done to those women I tell you, but only little miss chocolate in the room and only her."

Before Reid could protest I said "yeah sure let's talk"

Spencer's POV

As I walked to the door I gave y/n a reassuring smile she turned and gave me one back but her face was filled with anger and fear, she would never tell me this but she was scared. We didn't shy away from the topic of race within our relationship I read of lot of books and educated myself before I even started dating her I would never understand but I will always try my hardest to be there. And sometimes she just wanted to come home and cry let her emotions out about what it was like being black in American and that was okay as well because I love her.

"How do you think she's gonna do in there?" JJ asked reluctantly

"If I'm being honest I don't know"

Y/N's POV

I sat down trying to make myself look bigger and take up more space within the room than I actually did to encourage my self but in my head I was fucking shitting it.

"Okay we are alone now tell me"

"Just remember sweetheart this is all hypothetical I never did anything if the thing I am about it say" Tyler replied in a menacing tone

"Yes I know get on with it then"

The next 15 minutes felt like a blur, 15 minutes 900 seconds that's how long I heard Tyler speak about all the torcher he wanted to our women like me through half way he started to refer to the women with my name making me imagine him doing these Haines and despicable things to me. I think what was the worst part was that he was smiling whilst he describe these disgusting thing to me he smiled I felt violated and felt used and felt like he had infested my personal space chipping away at the emotional armour I developed whilst having this job.

Once he finished I was on the brink tears but I never going to show him that I left the room being met only by Spencer's face he was seething but I didn't care I just wanted him to hold me to tell me everything was going to be okay.

"Y/N it's okay your okay your other now" he said whilst soothing me.

"I just don't think I can get back in there-"

As I said that Derek stormed in took one look at me and brought me to his arms even though it wasn't Spencer it just felt right in the time to hug him he would understand the most out of the team what I was going through.

"Y/N I know you said you don't want to go back in there but he got him his prints were all over the bodies we found and he had the hearts of the victims he's going to go away for a long time but now you can tell him that take back your power Y/N"

"Ok I'll do it"

"Y/N are you sure you wanna do it this you don't have to?" Spencer said whilst searching my eyes for any fear I had.

I smirked at Spencer whilst he looked at me in confusion I replied.

"Nope I'm okay and I know just what I'm gonna talk about"

By this point the whole team was in the room

"Y/N are you okay love I heard what happened"

"I'm okay Emily but right now you get to watch me drag a white supremacist to filth."

I barged into the interrogation room not letting Tyler speak.

"Okay listen Up bird brain your already done for we found your prints all over the body and that were at your house so now this is just a formality"

"So if you think you've caught me why I am not in a jail cell right now? Hmm"

"You were so nice to me and described the rape, torture, murder and the disfigurement that you would do to me so now I'm just going to repay the favour"

"You know you were right about him being my boyfriend you know"

"so the lanky white one is you boyfriend, I've always said that pure breads shouldn't mix with you people"

"Tyler your going to prison for a very long time you racist rhetoric means nothing to me,but since you I have been so kind to me I am going to spend the next 15 no 20 minutes going in full detail about the amazing sex I had with my white boyfriend last night if we can fit it all in 20 minutes. We will just have to see won't we?"

Spencer's POV

My jaw had dropped to the floor when y/n said that I mean yes it would be hot for her to describe every single we did last night both of us have an eidetic memory so I know she remembers it all but in front of a racist unsub I had I was weirdly impressed and terrified at the same time.

"You don't think she's actually gonna do that?" I asked to the team in complete and utter shock

"Reid when was the last time y/n has ever lied to us?"

"Once JJ but she couldn't even go the whole day telling the lie she ended buying hotch a dozen of his favourite donuts even though she only ate one"

Derek and Emily started chuckling and said.

"That means she's not lying"

The unsub was seething with anger when y/n carried on speacking

" Tyler I didn't a little digging on you and I found out form you pervious girlfriends that apparently you can't put it up in one of you girlfriends exact words she says no matter how hard I tried he could never get hard"

"You don't know anything you slut"

"oop Tyler your using big words especially with someone who only has the education of a 5th grader"

But you know what Tyler lucky for you I have and eidetic memory I don't think you know what that is so I'm just gonna tell you... that means I remember everything so we're gonna have some fun together hmm"

20 minutes, 1200 seconds that's how long y/n spoke in detail about about sexual escapades from last night throughout these 20 minutes Derek started recording so he could send this back to Garcia. Light  chuckles and laughs were heard here and there then oos and ahhs, then total shock was the look on everyone's face and a gasp coming from Garcia who Derek had patched in a phone call so she could listen too when y/n got to the last bit.  I guess they just assumed because I'm the youngest apart from y/n and .... well I'm me that we would have a boring sex life but I guess we surprised them.

Y/N's POV

After I finished I wasted no time in leaving but before I did I said one more thing.

Tyler you are going to prison for a very long time you probably get life or even the death penalty so I want you to remember what I spoke to you about every single time you try your hardest to get it up every. Single. Time. I hope you know after your manny years in prison never getting to see the outside again and you die I will be sleeping soundly knowing you are burning in hell"

I walked out and the whole team was silent in utter shock of what I said then i realised I probably shouldn't have said any of that too an unsub.

" omg hotch I am so sorry that was completely inappropriate and unacceptable what I did in there and wasn't right at all I-"

"I'm sorry y/n I don't know what your talking about what did you say in there"

"What I just spent the last 20 minutes-"

Seriously y/n what are you talking about you went I told him what he was being charge for and you walked back out hun what are you talking about?"

Im what I'm so confused what?"

Then Spencer finally said

"Babe I know I can be dumb sometimes but please read the room"

I looked around still so confused until I finally realised.

Ohhhhh ok yeah yeah I get it now"

Okay but when are you are pretty boy releasing the sex tape cause I would like to pre order"

The whole teams was laughing including me and Spencer I replied simply with

"in your dreams Morgan in your dreams" 

[anotherhamiltonblog]

Foreign Touch.

Summery: What happens when you get the mark of your soulmate on your body at the age of 16? Just a mark where they would touch you for the first time. What happens when your name is Y/N Hamilton and your soulmates with Thomas Jefferson? Come and find out.

Warnings: Cursing. Days to Proof-Read this and I didn’t... oops?

Word Count: Around 1,140.

Enjoy!

The Hamilton siblings weren’t related by blood, the two were adopted and taken from their home in Charlestown, the capital of the island of Nevis. The two were born and left at an orphanage. Being the youngest two, Y/N and Alexander were adopted by Rachel and Tom Hamilton. Taken to Washington D.C, they lived in a comfortable house, part of the upper class in society. While Rachael was a cardiothoracic surgeon, Tom was a Lawyer who took a lot of different cases. From Immigration to Family cases.

The two Hamilton children, being the same age and growing up together. They shared the same group of friends. Y/N being the only female in the group.

John Laurens, a freckled, curly haired boy who moved to their neighborhood when his mother died and so him and his father decided to leave behind North Carolina and start fresh.

Hercules Mulligan, a tall, strong high school wrestler and also the son of one of the best fashion designers and fatherless.

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.... er, Lafayette as his friends call him. He came to Washington back in Freshman year, coming to live with his uncle George Washington. Who also happened to be the Principle of their High School.

Naturally, the group of five became best friends back in their freshman year. Their group wasn’t like usual high school groups. 

There was a French foreigner, who was a ladies man. A wrestler, who was a total flirt, Curly haired freckles, the best swimmer in the whole school. Alexander, the history nerd and the schools newspaper editor in chief. Then there was Y/N, the only girl in the group. Yet probably the smartest.

Y/N was an overachiever, while being a cheerleader, she was also a top student who had time to tutor those who needed help in classes.

Anyone who looked at the group, they wouldn’t think they were friends, yet they were. With the occasional addition of Aaron Burr, who only joined them when to argue with Alexander about what was being put on the school's paper.

Life was great, that is until they all turned 16 and the mark of the soulmate appeared on their skin. 

It’s been said that from the moment you turn a certain age, a black mark appears on your skin indicating the first time you ever touch your soulmate. You could speak to them, but there will come a time when you two would touch and you’ll know. The spot where your skin is marked will glow before fading.

It's said that when your soulmate passes, a new mark will appear on the person's skin. The last spot where their soulmate touched them.

Alexander and John figured it out quickly, of course it helped that the two liked each other. The fact that they happened to be soulmates, didn’t really shock anyone.

Lafayette had a black hand mark on his forearm, where his soulmate would touch him for the first time. Hercules had his hand mark wrapped around his wrist.

Y/N? Hers happened to be on her waist, two hand marks on each side of her waist. A place where many people could see whenever she wore her cheer outfit.

»»————-　♡　————-««

So, on one Monday morning, half an hour before the group needed to get to school. They were at the Hamilton residence listening to Alexander complain about this race as Senior President.

 “Y/N can you be serious PLEASE?” Alexander snapped at his sister, narrowing his eyes at the girl who gave the boy a simple smile. “I am running against Thomas Jefferson of ALL people. Can we take this a little more seriously?”

John, Lafayette and Hercules were just lounging around the living room laughing at the two siblings. “What? I think it’s a great slogan for you, Alex!” Y/N said and looked at the poster she made for her brother.

“I don’t run very often… but when I do it’s for President! #Hamilton4President” John read over the girls shoulder, only to start laughing even more. The other boys joining in. Only Alexander stood there with eyes narrowed.

With a huff, the long-haired boy started to gather his things up to put away. “You all are no help.” He mumbled and the group rolled their eyes.

“Come off it, Alex. Thomas Jefferson has been off in Paris for a year, surely no one would vote for him as Senior President.” Y/N stood up and started to help her brother clean up the mess in the living room.

Once it was all cleaned up, y/n stood up and fixed her cheerleader warm up suit. The black leggings with CHEER written down her left leg in a magenta color, a tight white t-shirt and her black and magenta cheer jacket thrown on over it. Her feet supporting white tennis shoes.

Ignoring the boys as they watched her, Y/N simply rolled her eyes at Lafayette and Hercules. “I’m out! I have a cheer meeting to attend before homeroom.” She waved to them and headed out of the house, backpack over her shoulder.

After the short, ten-minute drive to the High School, Y/N parked her car and got out. Messing on her phone as she walked, Y/N bumped into someone and fell onto the floor right on her butt.

“Jesus…” the h/c girl complained and glanced up at who she ran into.

“Maddison, you asshole.” She pouted at the male in front of her before accepting his hand.

Finally, back on her feet, the two glared at one another before laughing. “Sorry, pom-pom. You ok?” he asked, looking guilty.

“Yeah, I’m fine. My ass hurts, but I’ll live.” She grinned and stuck her tongue out at the nickname the man gave her. “That’s cute. You call all the cheerleaders that, or just me?”

“YO JAMES!” A voice boomed down the hallway, causing the two to turn around. Y/N rolling her eyes and James sighing.

As the man came forward, a smirk on his face and a walk with swagger. Y/N crossed her arms over her chest.

“Would you look at the time?” Y/N laughed. “It’s Time-For-Me-To-GO o’clock.” With a wink towards James making the school's football team's Wide receiver laugh, Y/N rushed off down the hallway.

Making it out to the football field, where her fellow cheerleaders were sitting around. Y/N glanced at the time on her phone and listened to their Coach talk about how they needed to train harder and all that. It wasn’t till he felt her phone go off did Y/N glance at who was messaging her. After sending him a quick message, grinning. She went back to listen to her coach and felt her phone vibrate like crazy in her jacket pocket.

��this… asshole…’ was the only thing going through Y/N's mind as she sent him a quick message before pushing her phone into her pocket again. Feeling her phone give one more buzz, she quickly checked the message before paying attention again.

As soon as they were allowed to leave, Y/N went to her locker and rolled her eyes at Hercules standing there.

“Your brother is annoyed.” The male laughed and Y/N just shrugged her shoulder. Showing that she didn’t care. When wasn’t Alexander annoyed?

“Were you talking with Jefferson?”

At the question, Y/N turned to Hercules and raised an eyebrow. “No. I was talking to James; I ran as soon as Jefferson made his way towards us. Ask James!” she snapped before slamming her locker shut and heading off towards homeroom.

Y/N was starting to really get annoyed with the guys annoying her because of Jefferson. If she wanted to talk with him, she would! Not that Y/N wanted to. She’s her own person, fuck them.

                                                                                                      Next Chapter

I hope this wasn’t a total disappointment with how many liked my “Coming Soon” post! Tell me if you would like to be added to the taglist! 

Don’t forget to Like, Reblog and send Feedback! My asks are also opened and so is my IM!

Much love from me to you!!

[ourloveisforthelovely]

Lost Part 8

Harry Potter Marauders Era 

Link  to Part 7 

Pairings: Regulus Black x Reader 

Rating: M

_____

Regulus found himself staring at his father with wide eyes. This was the last thing that he ever expected to happen! When Regulus scoped out this cafe, he liked it because it was off of the “normal path.” He never expected his father to be in a place like this.

Reaching down, Regulus wrapped his hand around yours. If he had to break the law for underage magic to apparate both of you away from Orion Black, he would. Regulus wouldn’t let you be harmed. He had just gotten you back in his life and nothing (not even his crazy pureblood parents) would wreck it. Regulus was happy for once and that happiness wouldn’t be taken away from him!

If his parents thought that arranging some marriage to some pureblood girl would stop him from being with you...they had another thing coming! They could kick him out of the family, disinherit him, and leave his share of the Black family fortune to someone else for all Regulus cared. He would find some way to provide you with the life that you deserved.

“Dad…”

Regulus began but Orion stopped him with one icy look. Orion didn’t have to say anything to get his children in line. When Regulus and Sirius were small and behaving wildly it would take one look from their father to make both boys sit down...today was no exception. Regulus’ mouth instantly shut. The boy bit his bottom lip before looking down to avoid his father’s piercing gaze.

His eyes had flickered over to the girl huddled at his son’s side. You looked up at him with fear clearly written all over your face. You didn’t, however, move away from Regulus. That to Orion was bravery. If you knew who he was and didn’t try to run or back down, maybe you were more than a pretty face?

Regulus had scooted, if possible closer to you and was gently rubbing the hand that he was holding onto.

“I want to talk to you outside.”

Orion finally in his calm reserved voice. Unlike his wife, Orion wasn’t one for yelling. It took too much effort and made people too uncomfortable. His reserved nature usually got him everything that he wanted. Regulus turned his attention back to you as his father spoke again.

“She will be just fine without you for a moment. Wait here, my dear.”

Regulus gave you an apologetic look before standing and following his father outside of the cafe. He wasn’t for sure what Orion was about to say but whatever it was it couldn’t be good. He was about to learn that his “favorite son” was dating the one thing that their family hated most in the world.

Orion turned to meet Regulus’ wary gaze. He was thankful this scene was happening with Regulus and not Sirius. Sirius would have bitched the whole way out of the building. Regulus just followed after him with a frown on his face.

“The girl, Regulus, what is her name?”

Regulus looked down at his feet a moment before facing his father again.

“Y/n Evans.”

Regulus replied, keeping his tone calm and reserved as his father was silent for a moment.

“Her blood status?”

Orion watched as Regulus muttered “damn” under his breath.

“She’s a muggle-born. Go ahead and kill me.”

Orion smirked as Regulus closed his eyes. The boy was clearly waiting to be wiped from the planet. When no pain hit him, Regulus’ grey eyes fluttered open before focusing on his father.

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

Regulus asked and was even more confused when his father smiled. What the fuck was he smiling about? Orion Black didn’t smile. When he did it was few and far between...just like his youngest son.

“I’m not your mother, Regulus.”

“I’m aware of that but I’m dating a muggle-born...that’s like first on the Black family things that we don’t do list. I should be kicked out of the family and never spoken of again.”

Orion motioned to the bench by the front door of the cafe. Regulus followed his father to the bench and sat down as Orion looked thoughtful.

“I’m not going to say anything to your mother. You should know that some of our family rules are meant to be broken. What Walburga doesn’t know won’t hurt her. For example, she thinks that I am at work right now. The girl is very pretty. What house is she in?”

It took all that Orion had not to laugh at the expression on Regulus’ face. The boy looked as if his father had been replaced with an alien and he was just figuring things out.

“Hufflepuff.”

Regulus replied, quietly as Orion nodded.

“That makes sense. You’re like me more than you realize, Regulus. I’m going to tell you something and I would appreciate it if you kept this to yourself as I am keeping your Y/n’s blood status to myself. When I was your age, before it was arranged that I would be marrying your mother, I was in love with a girl from Hufflepuff. She was a muggle-born too. I let her get away from me because I didn’t want to disappoint the family. Regulus, if you love this girl then don’t let her go. You will regret it for the rest of your life.”

Orion chose to ignore the stunned expression on Regulus’ face as he took in what he was told. It took Regulus a few moments before he was able to speak. He never in a million years would have guessed that his father loved anymore but Walburga.

“What happened to her?”

Regulus asked. Orion sighed.

“She died in a car crash. You were six at the time. While I love your mother very much, I have never stopped loving Ana. If I had just been a little braver, maybe she would still be alive. You don’t need to be afraid of being kicked out of the family, Regulus. If you love Y/n then you need to be ready to fight for her because that is what it will be...a fight. My suggestion, again, is to not let her go.”

Regulus frowned.

“The family will never accept her since she’s a…”

Orion interrupted without meeting Regulus’ face.

“Don’t. Let. Her. Go.”

Regulus didn’t feel the need to argue anymore. He simply nodded at his father’s command.

“I won’t. Please, don’t tell mum yet. I want to wait as long as I can. At least until we are out of school and I can provide for Y/n.”

Orion stood with a curt nod. He had things to do and this conversation needed to end. He looked back to Regulus with a small smile. If Orion hadn’t noticed how much his youngest son resembled him, he saw it now. Regulus reminded Orion of himself at 16.

“Tell your mum what?”

He questioned before Regulus smiled.

“Nothing.”

Regulus said, softly as his father turned and walked down the street without another word.

Meanwhile,

You remained in the cafe feeling even more anxious with each passing moment. Would Orion hurt Regulus in the middle of a busy street? Surly, he would have more sense than that. Too many witnesses. The better question in your mind was how was Orion taking the news about his son dating a mudblood? You frowned at the word but was sure that was what Orion Black was calling you at the moment. The fact that the man didn’t curse you was still a shock all on its own.

The door of the cafe opening and closing quickly pulled you from your thoughts. Regulus stepped back into the building without his father behind him. You nearly jumped on his lap when your boyfriend took his seat beside you.

“Are you okay? Is he freaking out? Did you get kicked out of the…”

Regulus placed a finger on your lips.

“Everything is fine.”

He replied, seeing the questions building in your mind. Why was Regulus so calm when he was so nervous only 10 minutes ago? He looked as if he had just gone and had a pleasant little chat with his father.

“But Reggie…”

Regulus raised an eyebrow resulting in you shutting your mouth instantly. That look alone said “enough, hush.” He leaned down and nuzzled his nose against your ear.

“I’ll tell you everything, shortly.”

Regulus was mostly quiet until the two of you returned to the hotel room that Regulus had reserved. The two of you were returning to school the next day and Regulus wanted one more night of just having you to himself. Regulus knew, come the next day, he was going to have to share you with others again. He didn’t mind his brother and friends as much as he did people like Gavin McDonald. Regulus was still internally seething over Gavin asking you on a date. It didn’t matter that Regulus completely had you under his spell now...Gavin was still worth brooding over.

I’ll just pay him another little visit in a dark hallway so he doesn’t forget just who he’s dealing with.

You, meanwhile, had been keeping your mouth shut all the way to the hotel. Regulus was going to extremes to have your last night alone as “alone” as possibly. You had suggested Regulus just staying with you in your bedroom but he insisted on a hotel. This left you lying to your parents about where exactly you were going. Your parents were under the assumption that you were staying at Lucille’s when in fact you just checked into a hotel as Mrs. Black.

Regulus locked the door behind him as you took off your coat. You waited until he turned around to speak again.

“Do you think that witch at the front desk bought it when you said that we are on our honeymoon?”

Regulus smirked.

“Well, we don’t like 11 anymore. Give it another year and maybe we won’t get such weird looks.”

He rolled up the sleeves of his black dress shirt before pulling your body against his.

“We won’t have to lie much longer either. You know that I’m in love with you.”

You eagerly returned the sentiment and kissed Regulus hungrily. The kiss quickly escalated but was stopped when you abruptly pulled away and went to sit on the bed. Regulus remained where you left him looking confused. You never pulled away from him like that and he didn’t like being left behind.

“Are you going to tell me about what happened today?”

You asked. Regulus quickly moved to join you on the bed. Reaching out, he gently took your hand in his and stroked his fingers over your palm.

“Apparently I am more like my father than I previously believed. My father had a little love affair with a girl from Hufflepuff when he was my age. I never would have believed it possible but he seems to be okay with us. He also agreed to not tell my mother anything.”

Regulus smiled at the stunned expression on your face.

“So...he doesn’t care that I am a muggle-born?”

Regulus shook his head.

“He would be a bit of a hypocrite if he had a problem with us then told me about him loving some muggle-born himself. He told me that I should be ready to fight for you...and I am. I’m ready to do whatever it takes to make sure that I keep you in my life.”

Regulus gently pushed you on your back and took his place over you. He leaned down to kiss your lips before making a path down your neck.

“I told you so.”

You said with a smug smile. Regulus raised his head up curiously.

“Told me what?”

“That Slytherins can’t resist Hufflepuffs.”

You slyly replied. Regulus smirked and pulled you into his arms. He didn’t want to rush to get undressed but now it seemed the perfect path to go down.

“Yes, you did and you were right. Now shut that smart mouth or put it to good use.”

______

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@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts

@knight-of-gleefulness

@untoldshortsofthefandoms

@sprnaturallover

@mycuddlycorner

@wontlookaway

@sunles