#also why ballet have to be the way that its spelled >:(

[mythicalmoonfrog]

She was a punk and he did ballet

Have ballerina N because I said so

headcannon I have for N is that he likes ballet because apparently N happens to do poses when in battle like that one teaser image for ep 8 and it doesn't help when people Photoshop bows and tutus on that exact image

Also I wanted to do something with Uzi for this, because well Nuzi duh, but I didn't have time and only had time for N so if anyone wants to follow-up this with Uzi I won't mind ›:3

[cyberrgirlsblog]

Candle ligth Pt4

trigger warning: cussing, smoking, not proof read, erm idk. kinda rushed revolation erm yea i hope this is ok, lm if i should change anything, some inacurate use of drugs and names for them like more modern names for stuff. spelling

Your pov

—--------------

I woke up in the morning to the semblance of sunlight shining in my eyes. I groaned and turned over trying to fall back asleep but soon started to cough after I inhaled smoke in my lungs. I sat up and looked around the room only to see ash sitting on his bed smoking a cig.

“Ash what the fuck, its like 9:00am or some shit why the fuck are you smoking” i groaned in irritation, looked at me and rolled his eyes. I was surprised since he rarely ever did smoke anything that wasn't weed

“Yea well too bad, pol said it was ok too before you ask.” he said rather bluntly but i could swear i saw a slight smirk at the edge of his lips.

“Yea well good for you, also when did you even start smoking anything but weed .” I said confused, he inhaled the smoke from his cigarette and blew it out. Before he could respond i herd a nock on the door.

“Hello?” i said not knowing if it was pol or one of her maids who was knocking on the door.

“It's me” I heard pol's distinct voice say, she opened the door and saw me and ash looking at her with curious eyes. She breathed in before speaking “Tommy is having a ballet and he wants you two to come to supply stuff we don't have. You need to leave by the time the ballet starts. Please while there do not say anything you would usually say.” Me and ash shared a look before looking back at Pol

“What type of drugs do you need and what do you mean don't say what we usually say are there gonna be some high class shits there or something.” Ash said, I nodded as I continued to stare at pol. I was suspicious about why she seemed somewhat uneasy.

“That's what I mean, don't talk like that when you're there, there will be some important people there try not to talk to them. If they talk to you first, that's different.” she said with a serious tone. She took a puff of her own cigarette. The room slowly started to smell more and more of smoke making me cough slightly.

“What should we wear there and do you have a notepad so i can write down what we need to bring pol.” I said while getting up from my bed and going over to the desk.

“If they are in the 2nd there should be a pen in there as well, we need some cannabis and morphine. The money will be there when you arrive one of the maids will show you where it is” she said, i wrote down what and how much that was needed.

“Also it's formal so I expect you two to look nice and not like you just walked out of a pub. It's this friday” she said, i chuckled a little bit.

“We will make sure to look presentable for those rich fucks dont worry.”i said and looked over at Ash to make sure he heard me. I turned around as I stood up from the chair and folded the note.

“And if anyone asks why you're here say you make art and that's why you're here so (y/n) i need you to paint a picture of anything really just to cover you two. How far along are you with the painting of Tommy and lizzy” she said, I looked at her and nodded. The way we often covered up drug sails was by smuggling it in through art. 

“I'm almost done with just some touch ups I need to do to the background but it should be done. But if i want it to be done by this friday i need to get back home know” i said with urgency in my voice.

Pol looks at me and nods her head “ok well i'll get the car started don't take too long to pack up anything you brought.” she said as she left the room

“Thank you Mrs. Gray "I yelled out, I started to pack the few things I brought and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and make myself look presentable. I stuck my head out the bathroom and looked at ash

“Yo are you gonna come with me or stay here?” I asked him as I walked back into the room while grabbing my bag. Ash looked at me and shook his head.

“Nah i think ima stay here for a bit try to get in contact with fez.” he said looking at me and smiling slightly.

‘’Ok well stay safe ash and don't get yourself into anything stupid okay i got people that will tell me if you do.” i said while lightly punching him in his shoulder

“Aye what? (Y/n) the fuck do you mean you got people?” he said confused, as i walked out the door i turned and sent a playful grin towards him before leaving the room and closing the door behind me. As I walked down stares I could hear people talking. When I got down I saw it was Aberham Gold and Polly.

“Toms got a fucking trues with them Pol-” he stopped once he saw me. The thing was he didnt know who I was but I knew of him. I knew his son had been killed by the billy boys and that he was a good shooter.

“Sorry if i'm interrupting anything.” I said to them I shifted my eyes to the floor to put up a nervous front. “Pol, ash said he's gonna stay here for a bit. I thought I should let you know.” I heard footsteps come over to me. I looked up from the ground and saw Pol looking at me.

“That's fine but are you fine being by yourself at home?” she asked like a concerned mother or maybe she was just asking to be kind either way it confused me somehow.

“Well at home there are weapons so if anyone tries anything I'll shoot them.” i said a bit quieter compared to my normal tone. Pol looked at me and nodded her head. I noticed Aberham looking at me with an unreadable look on his face. I felt a smirk appeared on my face, i shifted my eyes between the two of them

“ This is your boyfriend Pol?” I asked with a giggle. I could see both of them roll their eyes and pol pushed me to the front door. 

“Get in the car (Y/n) I'll meet you there in a minute.” she said with a playfully annoyed voice. I laughed and waved to Abraham and walked out to the car. I opened the door and set my things down next to me in the other seat. I took  out a cigarette and lit it, but not before opening the door of the car and getting out. I observed the neighborhood, it was a higher class neighborhood compared to the others in Birmingham, the skys were clearer and it was more quiet. I noticed a car parked outside of a house with someone in it. It appeared to be a man but it was hard to tell. But what I could tell is that they were looking at Pol's house. I blew out some smoke from my cigarette and threw it on the ground and snuffed it out. I looked back up at the car and noticed they were looking at me now. I stared back squinting my eyes for some hope to see through the tinted glass of the car windows but before I could get a good look I heard the door open. 

“Well let's go (Y/n), Oh and this is Abraham gold, Abraham this is (Y/n).” she said as she got in the car Abraham followed and sat next to her. I got into the seat behind them. As the driver got in the car I took note of abraham. He was wearing working class clothes. He had gray hair that looked like it was just cut. 

It seemed that he sensed my eyes on him as he turned his head to look back at me, i smiled “Nice to meet you Mr. Gold sorry for intruding on your conversation with Ms.Gray”

“Nice to meet you (y/n), you have a last name don't you?” he asked, smiling back at me.

“If I did , you would know it. I was adopted and given my name by my grandmother.” i said looking at him, it wasn't a lie necessarily i was given a name by my grandma but i changed it to (Y/n) after a while i mean Ash might of kept his but no one calls him ashtray. I changed my name to (y/n) after we moved out of the states, there's no document of it though. There's no documents of my old name either, But I like it that way because it makes it easier for me to keep a low profile and harder for people to research me beyond what I do on a daily basis.

I turned and looked at the window and watched as the houses passed by, my eyes looking around anytime we made a stop. To try to find anything that would interest me, I could hear the voices of pol and abraham but i didn't listen to what they were saying. I didn't care, I just wanted to get home.

Time jump

The car stopped outside of my house, it was a small house but bigger than the ones in small heath, it was an old farmhouse but not like tommys it was more of a mansion. We didn't grow anything, though maybe some flowers or corn but that was all.

“Thank you for taking me here Ms. Gray, I do appreciate it a lot” I said before getting out of the car and grabbing my things. I closed the door behind me and waved before walking up to the house.

Silently, I turned the doorknob and entered the room. Gently, I slipped off my shoes and ascended the staircase. Crossing the hallway, I peered into my grandmother's room through the slightly ajar door. A serene sight met my eyes – she slumbered peacefully, the weight of her worries visibly lifted. A smile crept across my lips, reassured by her newfound tranquility.

I went down to living room and there I carefully unfolded the drape that veiled my work-in-progress, a depiction of Tommy and Lizzie. With deliberate steps, I placed the cloth on the floor, clearing a space for me to start painting.

Fetching my watercolor brushes and selecting the appropriate hues, and started to paint. The canvas came alive under the caress of my brushstrokes, I blended the colors, giving life to the background. The trees that graced my window became the cornerstone of this painting, their forms and shades guiding my vision.

While engrossed in my painting, a knock at the door jolted me from my concentration. Puzzled by the unexpected interruption, I put down my brushes and retrieved my gun from the side table. With the weapon discreetly concealed on my person, my senses heightened.

"Hello," I greeted, cracking the door open just enough to peer out. The persons identity remained hidden, and I wasn't gonna take any risks.

"Is this (y/n)'s house?" the voice inquired. Though familiar, I struggled to place it.

"Who's asking?" I responded skeptically, slightly widening the door's opening.

"Duke," came the reply. The moment that name escaped his lips, the door swung fully open, and a rush of emotions flooded me as I looked at the figure infront of me. He looked every bit of the Duke I remembered, and a genuine smile graced my lips. Although part of me wanted to hug him and share how much I'd missed him, I held back, mindful of our past boundaries.

"Hey. How did you…. find me?" I asked, a blend of happiness and confusion evident in my tone.

"I remembered where your house was from our 1st encounter, to be honest." he explained, his gaze steady and direct.

"Want to come in then, or is this just a brief visit?" I asked, maintaining our eye contact.

"Um... sure," he agreed. I widened the doorway, and he entered. Barely a few steps inside, I intervened by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"yo, hold on. take off your shoes. I dont want to have any mud or dirt tracked in," I said. Once he complied, I withdrew my hand and he turned to the wall and took off his shoes. The phone rang.

As Duke stepped inside and I discreetly answered the phone, a sense of unease settled over me. The voice on the other end sounded unfamiliar, and the mention of Fezco, me, and Ashtray raised an internal alarm.

"Hello?" I responded cautiously, trying to maintain a composed demeanor.

"Is this the residence of Fezco, (y/n), and Ashtray?" The calm mellow voice of an American female was heard on the other end held a calculated tone, sending a chill down my spine.

"Who's asking?" I repeated, my voice tinged with a mix of wariness and curosity.

The voice on the phone grew slightly colder, a hint of menace lacing its words. "we're concerned about the company they've been keeping. Working with the Peaky Blinders."

My heart raced, realizing that this was no ordinary call. The implications of this conversation began to sink in – our connections, our allegiances were being scrutinized, and our safety was hanging in the balance.

"Look, whoever you are, I don't know what your talking about." I retorted, my voice firm, a shield of defiance against the mounting threat.

The voice remained unfazed, its threat now more explicit. "Fezco, (y/n), and Ashtray might want to reconsider their loyalties if they value their well-being. The Peaky Blinders' enemies have a long reach, and are not afraid to take drastic measures."

My mind raced, assessing the situation. It was clear that the caller was well-informed, aware of our affiliations, and determined to exploit our vulnerability.

"I don't take kindly to threats, also why threaten them?" I responded, my voice now in a whisper and edged with a steely resolve. "If you think we'll be intimidated, you're mistaken."

The line went silent for a moment before the voice spoke again, its tone measured. "Remember, (y/n), everyone has weaknesses, even those who walk in the shadow of the Peaky Blinders. Make your choice wisely."

With that chilling finality, the call ended. I stood there, phone in hand, the weight of the threat sinking in. As I turned back to rejoin Duke, the gravity of our situation became all too clear – the world we were entangled in was more rife with danger than I knew, and the safety of Fezco, Ashtray, and myself. I huffed in frustration, before turning back to a confused duke.

"Make yourself comfortable," I offered while trying to make it seem like it was a normal phone call that had just happened. leading the way into the cozy space filled with the gentle glow of natural light filtering through the windows. The unfinished painting of Tommy and Lizzie stood prompt up.

Duke's eyes wandered around the room, his gaze eventually settling on the painting. "You paint?" he remarked, a hint of admiration in his voice. It seemed like he has not paid to much mind to the call

"Yea i do, Thanks," I replied, i felt my face heat up. "It's a work in progress."

“"Who are those people in the painting?" Duke's voice carried a note of genuine curiosity as his gaze remained fixed on the canvas.

I turned to face the artwork, my own smile reflecting the fondness I held for the depicted characters. "That's Tommy Shelby and his wife, Lizzie Shelby, or formerly Lizzie Stark," I explained. My attention lingered on the painting as I recalled the intricate details I had carefully woven into the canvas.

"Shelby?" Duke's reaction was unmistakable – a mix of surprise and disbelief.

I met his astonished gaze with a subtle smile. "I've been creating art for the Shelbys for a while now. This isn't the first time I've 'painted' for them. I suppose they appreciate my work, do you know them?" I responded. Before Duke could ask further, I cut him off.

"Would you like something to drink?" I offered, listing the available options – whisky, rum, wine, and water. His prompt choice of water made it clear he wasn't in the mood for alcohol.

As I fetched the water and poured two glasses, “you don't drink?” the duke asked, "I drink whatever my guests prefer," I clarified, the corners of my lips curling into a knowing smile. Sipping from my own glass, I maintained a relaxed posture, ready to address his deeper concerns.

His next inquiry, laden with curiosity and a touch of worry, cut to the core of the matter. "is it true what people sayabout them (Y/n)?"

I sighed softly, the sound of my foot bouncing nervously on the ground filled the room "Duke, I dont know how much i can share but to answer your question, yes. In fact, they've reached out to me and my brothers before. When we first came to England, they extended an offer to… collaborate."

Duke's reaction was a dance of surprise and restraint, his attempts to speak yielding to a quiet contemplation. in a impulsive moment i decide to reveal a half truth. Retrieving my concealed gun and placing it on the table, I leaned in slightly, locking eyes with him.

"Duke, I'm sharing this with you because in some weird way I trust you. My brothers and I, well, our hands are dirty. We deal…. things. the shelbys have helped us out. I need you to understand the trust I'm putting in you. That call i had was a threat to me and my brothers and it's not the first either.``

Leaning back, I continued, a mischievous glint in my eye. "If you were to betray this trust, the consequences would be shitty. But I believe you won't. For some odd reason I trust you with this, and I don't know why."

Duke's expression was a blend of confusion and composed acceptance, his gaze steady as he processed my revelations. As the last drop of water quenched my thirst, I held his gaze, waiting for his response, aware that connection had just been tested and solidified in a single moment.

Duke's contemplative silence hung in the air, showing the weight of the information he had just been entrusted with. His eyes held a mixture of uncertainty and understanding of the complexities that lay beneath the surface of our interaction.

Duke finally spoke, he reached and put a hand on my sholder sligthly pulling me closer to him, leaving me to stare into his sligthly wide hazel eyes. his voice carrying a sense of respect. "I won't betray your trust (Y/n)”

I acknowledged his words with a nod, my demeanor calm and collected. Duke let go of my shoulder removing any warmth i had felt, he leaned back, his gaze shifting from the gun to my eyes. "why do you trust me? you dont know anything about me so why tell me this."

I leaned forward, a thoughtful smile playing on my lips. "im still tryna figure that out Duke. i just do thought, i dont trust easly but for you i will."

Duke's brow furrowed as he contemplated my words, in some odd way he liked that you trusted him so easily, he like how his name rolled off your tung . "So, you trust me, just like that?"

"yea, Duke," I replied rather bluntly. 

He took a moment to absorb my response before speaking again. "Um well i wont betray your trust (Y/n)”

I leaned back, mirroring his posture. "So know that you know that about me why don't you tell me about yourself."

Duke's gaze was thoughtful, and I could tell he was processing the layers of meaning behind my words. "Alright, (Y/n)."

As the evening unfolded, Duke and I got deeper into conversation, discussing our aspirations, dreams, and the intricacies of life that had shaped us. The unfinished painting of Tommy and Lizzie stood as a silent witness to our burgeoning connection, a symbol of the artistry and authenticity that had revealed so much in such a short amount of time. I only told duke the top of the iceberg when it came to me and my family but so far thats all he would need to know.

—------------------ 3hrs laters

"Man, some people just do weird ass shit," I remarked with a laugh.

Duke nodded, a grin forming on his face. " You wouldn't believe the things I've seen and heard working at those fairgrounds. Once, I was walking towards one of the tents, and I heard these two folks figthing" I chuckled, intrigued. "why?"

Duke's smile widened as he clarified, "dont know, 'parently they both after the same girl, she had been with both of em" He gestured with his hands, leaving the rest to imagination.

I took a bite of the food I had brought along and smirked. "good on her i guess, not many men would figth for a girl like that.”

Duke let out a laugh. "well i dont know (y/n) more men would figth for a woman's love thani think you realize.” 

I couldn't help but shake my head in amusement. "thats hard for me to beileve, from what ive seen with men in small heath. they'll fight over things like a glass of beer."

Duke leaned back, a glint of mischief in his eyes. "I guess some people figth over shit as stupid as that, others though have more respect than to figth over beer."

“thats true,anyways speaking of small heith. one time i was there and i went into a betting shop to delivery some goods and well i shouldve knocked cause i walked in on some random guy and girl just on one of the tables fucking. I don't think they saw me so I just left.” I said while chuckling and cringing at the memory. 

As I was laughing I heard the phone ring, I had no idea who it could be. A pit of anxiety built up in my stomach as I looked at duke.

As I picked up the phone, a mixture of relief and curiosity filled me. It was Tommy Shelby on the other end.

"Hello Mr. Shelby, can I help you with anything?" I inquired, my tone respectful but tinged with curiosity.

"Good evening," his voice carried its usual air of authority. "I thought I should give you a heads-up about something. You're delivering the painting and the merchandise to my party tomorrow, correct?"

A sense of intrigue settled over me as I nodded, even though he couldn't see me. "Yea, that's correct."

"Good. Now, I'm aware that certain... elements will be present at the party. Oswald Mosley, for one," he continued, his voice measured.

My curiosity deepened as he mentioned Mosley's name. Oswald Mosley – a man with a reputation and connections that sent shivers down the spines of many. "Yes, I've heard of him." my tone grim 

Tommy's tone turned more serious. "I suggest you keep your distance from him, (Y/n). Mosley's got a way of getting into people's heads, and I wouldn't want you caught up in any of his schemes."

I nodded, even though he couldn't see it. "I appreciate the warning, Mr. Shelby. I'll be sure to be cautious."

"Good," he replied. "Remember, we've got business to attend to, and Mosley's not someone you want to involve yourself with."

His words held a weight that wasn't lost on me. "I understand, Mr. Shelby. I'll keep my focus on the task at hand."

"Very well. See you at there" he said, his tone returning to its usual directness.

"Thank you, Mr. Shelby. Looking forward to it," I replied before hanging up.

As I walked back to where Duke was sitting, he looked at me expectantly. "Everything alright?"

I nodded, a mixture of thoughts and emotions swirling within me. "Yeah, just a call related to the party tomorrow."

Duke raised an eyebrow. "Party? Anything exciting?"

I chuckled softly, aware of the secrecy that often surrounded the Shelby family's affairs. "You could say that. But it seems like it might be more eventful than I expected."

Duke's gaze was curious. "In a good way or a bad way?"

I met his eyes, a mixture of determination and curiosity in my expression. "Only one way to find out."

I looked at my watch to check the time, 12:00 am shit. 

“Damn its late you gotta be anywhere early tomorrow?” i asked duke

“Yea but they won't notice if I'm late, they'll probably be late because a lot of fair workers went to the pub, one of them invited me but I said no.” i smirked at what Duke just said

“Aw you decided to give up the pub to come visit me how sweet.” I said with a giggle, duke rolled his eyes, his cheeks brightening slightly with blush. I went and sat down this time next to him not to close though.

“Shut up” duke said, i just looked over at him, my eyes roaming over his face. They lingered on his lips a bit longer than they should have, I hit him on the shoulder slightly.

“Calm down man, was just joking.” i said, I giggled a bit looking ahead at the painting, my smile dimmed a bit, the eyes of Thomas Shelby were all I could see in that moment. His cold unmoving eyes that I depicted so perfectly in the painting. Lizzies eyes were light and while they had a closed off look they weren't as threatening as tommys.

“Hey duke.” i said finally turning away from the painting

“Thanks for coming to visit. I appreciate it a lot.” I said to him with a smile.

“Really? He asked if his face was hard to read but he seemed almost confused, so I smiled at him.

“Yea I missed you. I mean it duke, i know its corny as fuck but like i dont know i cant explain it.” i said my voice lowered a bit from shynes. Maybe it was because I was tired but I swear I could see him smile, not a smug smile or a mean one but a genuine smile.

“Are you always so… honest about how you feel about people (y/n)?” he asked me.

“Only with people I'm comfortable with. Anyways, do you want to stay the night or do you have somewhere to stay? "I asked him. I made sure my tone only had hospitality in it and nothing else. Duke thinks for a little, 

“I have a place to stay dont worry” he said, i nodded my head and got up and went to the kitchen to grab him some extra food, i came back and gave him it.

“Um well ill see you when i see you i guess?” i said awkwardly while he got up. We walked to the front door. I opened it and he walked outside.

“Oh also Duke, I got a place in small heath. Here's the address, i can't promise that ill always be there thought.'' I said as I handed him a note with the address. He took it and pretended to read it before placing it in his coat pocket, not wanting to revile he couldnt read.

“Thanks (Y/n), ill uh see you later and remember you can always stop by the fair its gonna be here in the area for a little.” he said, he looked away and coughed after he said that.

“Ill try it depend on how things pan out for me thought, thanks for stopping by again duke, bye.” i said before i closed the door. I slid down the door until I hit the floor, I listened till I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore.

“Shit” I said before getting up and walking upstairs. I went to bed knowing tomorrow will be something i don't think I'm prepared for.

[logo-comics]

No, but....Fortune Lover: The Nutcracker DLC? 😯👍Ballet/Classical Dance DLC? 🥹🙏 Yes? Please?

...Swan Lake????? 👀

Technically speaking, if we fuse The Nutcracker with Swan Lake, we get Princess Tutu... Since 'Tis The Season, let's do two different DLC setups. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!

Ladies, Gentlemen, and Everyone Else, Christmastime is here, and we here at Ai Fortuna Software have been working hard to present you with the Ballet Bundle, two brand new DLC for the price of one!

And yes, Katarina fans, she is romanceable in both!

Presenting:

Fortune Lover's Nutcracker Sweethearts DLC

&

Fortune Lover's Enchanted Swan DLC

Nutcracker Sweethearts DLC:

Welcome to a Sorcier that you've never seen before!

You play as Maria Campbell, the lucky winner of a prize presented by the inimitable toy and magic tool maker Larna Smith,herself: a nutcracker and a collection of toys!

And that night, when the magical becomes the fantastical, is naturally where the tale begins.

Meet the Capture Targets:

Geordo: Reimagined here as The Nutcracker Prince whose heart is frozen, no doubt because of the Mouse Duchess, who has cursed him into this state. Can you crack open his shell and warm his heart?

Alan: The Toy Soldier Prince in this setting, he's steadfast and brave, and willing to do battle with the mouse army. Can you make his tin heart beat?

Keith: The Porcelain Playboy is how he's described, and his appearance and manners match it! Can you find the soft center of his heart?

Nicol: The Sugarplum Knight, he's the beautiful escort of his darling sister, Sophia, the Sugarplum Fairy. Can you charm your way into his heart?

Raphael: The Jack-in-the-Box, he's been in service to the Mouse Queen against his will for some time. Can you get him to open up and let you into his heart?

And here, we have a surprise, as Mary and Sophia are romanceable in this one, and have their own reimaginings!

Mary: The Tree Angel, betrothed to Prince Alan, she sees over all from her noble perch! Will you make the climb and win her heart?

Sophia: The Sugarplum Fairy, she is shy and prone to referencing stories she'd read in the past, as well as being a talented dancer. Will your offer of a pas de deux be the right step towards dancing your way into her heart?

As a bonus, Alan and Mary's routes are the only two that aren't mutually exclusive.

Finally, allow us to introduce the strangely beloved villainess:

Katarina: The Mouse Queen in a broken engagement with the Nutcracker Prince Geordo, you can wage war against her, or you can approach things in a... diplomatic manner, romancing her to the light!

The choices are yours and yours alone in Fortune Lover's Nutcracker Sweethearts DLC!

Enchanted Swan DLC

Welcome to the Sorcier Academy of magic, but not the one you know! You play as Maria Campbell, secretly the Queen of the Swans, recently escaped from the clutches of the Marquis Dieke and his family and cursed to transform into a swan in the moonlight.

The curse, however, has its limits, and can be broken by true love's kiss and a declaration of love! Can Maria win the capture targets before she's discovered?

Introducing new gameplay mechanics:

Swan Shenanigans: Get revenge on your bullies in the middle of the night in your swan form!

Pas De Deux: Dance with your chosen partner to build up affection points!

A Dark Secret: Avoid alone time with the student council president! While you never saw him while you were there, he might figure things out. If you pull it off and romance him, you get a special achievement.

Unmask The Impostor: The Diekes have sent an agent to try to prevent Maria from breaking the spell, which would give her the ability to also name who her captors had been. The girl Sarah has been transformed to look like Maria, the only noticeable difference being mannerisms and eyes. Expose her to avoid complications with the spell!

Join Maria as she tries to overcome her curse and find love!

...Why is Katarina Claes helping her? What does she know, and why is she being so helpful? Play the game, romance the characters, and find out in Fortune Lover's Enchanted Swan DLC!

[feminurge]

magic (wizards & sorcerers) .... and istar.

istar's magic is a bit different from other sorcerers, but before i get into That, i need to put into words the difference between wizards and sorcerers, as i interpret it. the more obvious point of divergence is that sorcerers have access to meta-magic, which allows them to twist their spells in order to suit their needs, whereas wizards have their spellbooks. it shows how intimate a sorcerer's relationship to magic is-- you don't just speak something into existence, you mold it and carve it into something you want. while on the other hand, wizards have all the power of knowledge on their side.

but the real difference, in my opinion, isn't in what they do (its magic, okay) but how they do it and in which order. sorcerers call magic from within; they were born with it and their understanding of it is deeply personal. wizards learned it through trial and error, they had to recognize it and take it and wield it. the best analogy i can think of is of someone learning music with a teacher, which allows them to recognize musical notes, and someone with perfect pitch getting into music on their own. a wizard can copy someone from just reading the sheet music, a sorcerer will have to find a way to call that magic from within themselves-- just making the right gesture and saying the right words won't work.

it's also depicted in the way they cast spells: wizards dance according to a certain choreography they learned, and their power lies in knowing all these different dances. sorcerers do improv, they dance to the music without following a certain script. sometimes they might mess up and sometimes they might do something extraordinary. either way, there is no buffer between them and the dancing. no choreographer. which is why, in my interpretation, wizards have such faith in mystra and why sorcerers don't necessary Believe in her. because wizards owe her their knowledge -- in the same way you'd owe a philosopher his beliefs and writings. sorcerers don't, their magic seemingly comes from their own minds and bodies.

as for the difference between istar and sorcerers in general, it's mostly in the way she channels her magic. sorcerers call magic, istar is magic. wild, chaotic magic at that. talos crafted her from winds that mystra no longer controlled, made her a shard of howling winds that should never have been molded into a body. and then he casted her away, hoping that she would grow far from mystra's prying eyes. and she did. growing as a sorceress, she found that magic came terribly naturally. but it also came more violently and terribly than it would have for other sorcerers. istar's spells always have a bit of erratic energy, and sometimes effects that are unpredictable because they work outside of the weave's rules. a wizard seeing istar cast spells would think her barbaric, savage, because she doesn't cast them per se, she speaks them into existence without a care in the world.

to use the same analogy as before: istar knows how to dance, and she dances, but she refuses to follow any choreography, and sometimes she even evades what would appear to be the correct genre of the music heard. like, picture a classical melody, a wizard would dance to the choreography they were taught. a sorcerer would improvise a ballet, taking bits and pieces from all the ballets they like. istar though? istar would be able to dance anything (watch her waltz and jazz and hip-hop her way through mozart's requiem mass in d minor) and make it work.

[dearestones]

Twisted Wonderland Matchup: Jamil Viper

Warnings: Fluff. 

Anonymous Request: Hello!! I would like to request a romantic matchup for the twst cast. I would prefer if they were 2nd or 3rd years btw! And please call me Azura ^^

So I'm just gonna try to sum up my personality - I'm an Enfp, 7w6. I'm honestly pretty shy even as an extravert, but I get more confident after observing the other person! I'm a really fun person to be with (said my friends) though I can be pretty annoying.. I can chatter on and on about my interests! I always want to chat with someone, especially if they also share the same interests as me! I'm really generous, and sweet, very often found helping someone out (even an animal, since I'm found treating animals wounds, and feeding strays.) I'm actually very motherly, and very often take care of my dearest ones whenever they're unwell. I'm a good mix of mature, and childish! Though,, I fall more on the childish side..

And my hobbies.. Ahh, this is gonna be a bit long.. I can just list them out.

Art (writing, sculpting, painting, etc)

Singing (I'm really good at opera stuff!!)

Dancing,, currently practicing ballet.

Listening to music

Playing the piano and guitar

Stargazing

Reading

Collecting cute plushies (or just cute stuff)

and many more!

You can leave this out and just say its a matchmake for Azura, or leave certain parts out since this feels way too long.. I'm sorry if I disturbed you! Thank you so, so much for reading this! (≧∇≦)

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After going through the information given, I believe that you best pair well with Jamil Viper! 

Jamil doesn’t always have the patience when dealing with new people, but he can be cordial when need be. Although he is a bit rough around the edges, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t think that your personality is an interesting change of pace. Because he’s been Kalim’s servant for so long, he’s used to people who are more extraverted than he is and those who tend to talk a lot. There might be times when he might get a little tired of the chatter, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t appreciate it if the other person means well and if they respect his distance if he ever asks for it. 

Although Jamil is a far cry from shy, he does tend to fade into the background or talk very little if no one else is engaging in conversation with him. As long as you aren’t Kalim requesting for more parties to be thrown, Jamil will happily entertain you by listening to your stories and interests that you wish to spell. There’s a lot that can be learned about you and once he gets a hint of interest in who you are as a person, he will definitely be a lot more interested in asking questions and inquiring after your well-being. 

Your generosity and sweetness is both envied and admired by Jamil. After spending his entire life at the back and call of the Asims, he wants to be seen as top priority by someone else. Once the both of you become friends, he’s flummoxed as to why you’re always taking care of him or offering your help, but it’s rare that he’ll turn down the favor. In fact, he finds it adorable that you’ll offer in the first place. Feel free to help him in the kitchen or coaching Kalim in how to better himself in the classroom. 

If the both of you are out in the village below Night Raven College and you find strays that need taking care of, he’ll find you endearing when you see your nature concerning animals. Again, it’s the very idea that you’re being so selfless in helping others that he finds so fascinating. He had to help Kalim because he was born to serve. With you, it seems so natural. 

Because Jamil is so used to taking care of others, he’ll greatly appreciate your motherly nature. You don’t have to do a lot for him, but know that he’s happy whenever you tend to him whenever he’s feeling overwhelmed with taking care of balancing Kalim’s needs and his education. 

As a kid, he never got to live much of a childhood, but with you he can feel himself relax. A childish personality is more than welcome as long as you don’t go overboard like Kalim.

You have such an eclectic array of hobbies! One of the things that stands out to Jamil is the fact that you like dancing. Perhaps you would like to dance with him? He may not know so much about ballet, but he would like to see how graceful you are on stage. Also, would you like to learn his style of dance? He can guarantee that it will be fun once the both of you start moving to the beat.

All in all, the both of you are well suited to each other. Despite what reservations he may have in the beginning, that does not stop him from trying to get to know you better. Please make time for him and make him a top priority in your life—it’s been so long since he’s been nothing more than Kalim’s shadow. 

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If you want to donate a Ko-Fi, feel free https://ko-fi.com/devintrinidad.

TWISTED WONDERLAND MASTERLIST

[iloveroblox48]

hobbies ❣︎

❣︎ ➝ Masterlist here!

❣︎ ➝ Featuring: shoto todoroki, izuku midoriya,katsuki bakugou,ejirou kirishima,denki kaminari,shinso hitoshi,hanta sero,tamaki amajiki,mina ashido,jirou kyouka,ochaco uraraka

❣︎ ➝ A/n:them with a fem reader who does different hobbies tried a new layout for this bc there is so many characters (my favs) and there is no group/theme the layout is inspired by different blogs i saw but i forgot their name (◞‸◟) this layout is not permanent! ill probs only use it for posts like these this is also kind of rushed maybe this is also slight rant… anyways ignore grammar/spelling mistakes requests open as always enjoy ⁽˙³˙⁾

❣︎ ➝shoto todoroki who meets you one day at the ice rink he normally goes there to help train the fire side of his quirk. as he’s walking through the doors he sees you on the ice its an early morning so he didnt expect anyone let alone you to be there he had seen you a few times at ua huh? nonetheless you look breathtaking your in your skirted leotard all shiny and he just sees you all of your spins and twirls on the ice you had did this particularly elegant upright spin one leg being held above your head your back slightly arched.you were out of breath panting slightly then you finally noticed another presence you started to look around for whatever was giving you this eerie feeling then your met with a pair of gray and teal eyes staring at you.

“you have very nice legs”

okay who is this guy and why is being such a flipping creep!

“uhm thank you…do i know you?”

“right im shoto todoroki and i go to ua too can you teach me to be a little more flexible like you”

“uh sure just dont expect me to go easy on you”

❣︎ ➝izuku midoriya who notices in training how easily you can pull back from a fight to get a breather or how you can spin and dodge attcks! its kind of like his dodge moves! maybe you thought he was so admirable you took notes from him too! so obviously he has to question you on who’s agency you went to because he has never seen a fighting style like that!he doesn’t want to overwhelm you though so he tries to keep his ranting to a minimum! even if you tell its fine and he can rant to you

“i saw you out there training today and uhm i was wondering how did you learn all of those dodge moves?”

“oh well i actually did some tumbling but mainly ballet wich is why im able to!”

“oh wow!”

thats so smart why didnt he think of that! you were able to spin and dodge because you did ballet! well after a while of teaching him some moves for dodging you guys became friends then started dating he goes to everyone of your plays and shows!

❣︎ ➝katsuki bakugou who notices you in ua you were in lunch yelling some guys head off for whatever reason he just knew you were pissed then all of a sudden it had broke out into a fight and you were…winning? holy shit you were! the guy seemed like no match for you but he guesses it was the other way around once you had started beating that guy up there was a decent sized crowd around you,he assumed mr.aizawa was on the way soon but after the guy was on the floor you lifted one of your fists up it looked like you barely had a single scratch the crowd broke into cheers all around! until mr.aizawa showed up to take you to the principal nezu’s office it seems like you werent new there! thats the first time he saw you and definitely wouldnt be the last.the next time he saw was a saturday afternoon at his favorite boxing place he saw you in the ring you had won once again gloved hand in the sky mouth guard in place,you were widely smiling,your eyes looked batshit crazy maybe thats what peeked his interest in you and why he wanted to talk to you in class the next day.

“oi nerd dont i know you from somewhere?”

“we go to the same classes so i would assume you knew me you idiot”

“not what i meant smartass,i meant i saw you in the ring last saturday”

“you saw my win?”

“hell yeah”

Since that day you guys became an unstoppable duo both of you guys being fierce hotheads and thats what he loved the most about you.

❣︎ ➝ejirou kirishima who originally meets you through katsuki not because your friends.. more like cooking enemies? you and katsuki had a cook off both of you making a spicy curry to see who’s was the best of course! and the only person able to handle the spice of the dishes was kiri! anyone else would have burnt their damn tounge off! he was sitting at the common room table both bowls of curry siting in front of him the both smelt heavenly! you and katsuki were standing before him and there was some sort of tension in the air.

“so.. what am i doing here?”kiri asked

“you’re here because you’re deciding on whos curry is best! and plus you’re the only one who can take the heat”you informed.

“what nerd said”

He tasted both and they were so good but he knew he had to choose one.

“uhm the one on the right”

“yes!!”

holy crap! your cooking was better then katsukis! well ever since that day when you and katsuki have cook offs he is your test subject he gets free food and a drama show two wins for one! but of course kiri has to befriend you because no one has ever beaten katsuki’s cooking like that!

❣︎ ➝denki kaminari who notices you during the ua festival your running all around the school a lanyard with a camera adorned around your neck,he assumed your taking pictures for the schools news about the festival! hes listend to your podcast,read some of your papers,even looked at the adds for upcoming events! he only wnated to be well rounded and informed about the school right? well you were very admirable weren’t you? you always had the most interesting talks on the podcast,the eye catching pictures for the schools website he definitely had to talk to you so he could put up an add for his classes band performance that way he can get even more people to come the adds you made were so fun and noticeable anyways and thats just what they needed!

“hey uhm you’re y/n right? you make all those adds and stuff”

“sure do! can i help you with something?”

“yeah actually i need some posters for my classes band performance can you please help me make some?”

“of course!”

he found out your personality was just as bubbly and upbeat as your works! he really enjoyed them he found out.

❣︎ ➝hitoshi shinso who finds you during winter on instagram weird he knows but you seems to have the same personality as him calm, lazy, and you like cats from all the pictures you posted on your stupid page! some were black, calico, orange even white he assumed they were all strays but everytime you posted them they had a little hat on or maybe even a little vest where on earth did you find sweaters for these poor cats? and where were you finding all the cats?! so he of course he had to swipe up on your most recent story it was a black cat with an pumpkin on his sweater.

i’m_hitoshi “where do u find all the strays&sweaters”

its_y/n “i find them at the local cafe thats like 10 mins from ua i make the sweaters😌”

im_hitoshi “u make them?”

its_y/n “yep i crochet them🙂‍↕️”

well know he had to meet you he saw you in ua sure but you never really talked to anyone.you guys soon talked though sometimes about work sometimes cats or whatever you were crocheting. it was nice to meet someone who was quite and wasnt always up in his bubble and someone who wasnt scared of his quirk.

❣︎ ➝hanta sero has seen you around ua! you’ve beaten him a few times in training and your personality was always super calm and laid back he really did like you! and wanted to get to know you more he doesnt know why you were just so captivating maybe it was the laid back personality,maybe it was the way you smelled like sea salt and flowers,maybe it was the way you were so relaxing. well he has been sulking around for some time so the bakusqaud insisted that he come to the beach with him to take his mind off things the ocean always calmed him down! him and his friends had arrived at the beach he was in his teal swimming trunks flamingos with different accessories plasted all over them he looked towards the ocean only to see a big wave and someone surfing it? it was…you? it really was you! your feet were planted sternly on the board,your hair was wet and slightly weighed down on your shoulders,and you were wearing a teal triangle bikini flamingos all over it! you guys had to be soulmates he thought! suddenly you were down with the wave and started swimming back out to shore to sit on your board for a while.you were sitting there a sandwich in your hands drink,chips and fruits to the side.when the sound of the sand crunching broke the sounds of the waves.

“hey! uh im hanta sero i dont know if you know me but we both go to ua”

“of course i know you! come sit”and patted the empty space on your board he found out it was really easy to conversate with you! you offered him some of your food and even talked about how you guys were matching corny bathing suits! safe to say you guys ended up captivating each other.

❣︎ ➝tamaki amajiki who meets you through nejire if anything he wouldnt have talked to you at all! he had seen you a few times sure! but you were intimidating and bold.he found out through nejire that you were on the debate team no wonder you were so bold and fierce! he admired you for some time now they way you could easily be around people,talk on the news when you had captured a villian he really liked you and your ways! it was sealed though when one day nejire asked him to go with her to one of your debates claiming she saw the way he looked at you and maybe you guys could get closer! well he did go only you see you and you looked amazing your at some podium with others and another school on the other side he didn’t even remember what it was about just that you were a master at your craft and ua’s school won the event.nejire eneded up giving him a little push to talk to you though!

“uhm im tamaki amajiki”

“duh! i know who you are silly! but im y/n i saw you hanging out with mirio and nejire!” you had continued to ramble on about how you knew him and his friends you were intimidating sure but you were also very easygoing and bubbly.good thing opposites attract.

❣︎ ➝mina ashido who is friends with everyone in school! and she doesnt plan to change that with you! she started talking to you,you were just as bold and easygoing as she was! considering you were friends with everyone too! she saw you around school you guys talked about random things mainly gossip or schoolwork but you guys got along very well! she was in her dorm on her phone scrolling through her insta feed then a nail account had popped up and it looked like you did them you did nails that was so cool! why didnt you tell her?! she had to text you right away one to interrogate you and two to get her nails done!

thebaddiemina67 “GIRL WHY DIDNT U TELL ME U DID NAILS?!? 😠”

its_y/n “WDJSQP LOLL I THOUGHT I DID WHY U WNT TO BE MY TEST SUBJECT 😛”

thebaddiemina67 “HELL YEAH On my way! TO THE COMMONS!”

thebaddiemina67 “…😭”

its_y/n “LMAOO THE AUTOCORRECT😭”

❣︎ ➝kyouka jirou who was in the kitchen one evening making a cup of momos tea the kettle on stove boiling, she quickly reached into the cabinets to grab her favorite mug, it was surrounded by other beautiful mugs some had a floral print on them, bows ,cats, just all around random prints! when did we get so many mugs she thought none the less she grabbed her mug and poured the hot water into the glass with the tea bag,thats when the doors to the dorms opened and you were there you had on a white apron with some clay stains on your hand were slightly muddy and you were holding a brand new project in your hands!

“jirou just the girl i wanted to see! i made you something…” you held out your hands a mug with little purple guitars on it and a little circular cd tray

“what are these for?”

“oh uhm the mug i made because you didnt have many and the cd is a place you can put your guitar picks i hope you like them”

“thanks thats really thoughtful of you!” every now and then she would receive little tokens off appreciation from you some being mugs,pots,etc no matter what she cherished them.

❣︎ ➝ochaco uraraka who noticed that everyday you came back to the dorm you had some sort of apron on and dirt all over it so after a while she asked you what was up with that only you find out you had a small garden walks away from here! how cool so on a random sunny saturday she came with you to the garden inside where all types of fruits and veggies! well it became a routine for you guys to walk there and chat about class,then you would take care of whatever plants were in season,you would clean up and head back to the dorms a simple routine really! but you enjoyed her joyful presence,but you didnt miss the way she stare down the strawberries i mean they were ripe right? it was the day after you guys had done your normal routine so sunday,you walked into the dorms and uraraka was in the kitchen looking in the fridge for something or maybe she was just rummaging around for a snack! who knows well you had gotten her a little gift anyways.

“hey uraraka! i brought you something”

“hey y/n! what is it you know i hate when you spend money on me”

“well lucky for you i spent no money on this!”you handed her the small container of strawberries

“strawberries? but you growing these all season..i cant these”

“uh yes you can and you will! i insist”

so not only did you guys have a regular routine to go to your garden together but you gift her whatever fruit she was eyeing or wich ever one was in season.she would never get tired of your gifts from the garden.

[forgottenroyalty]

╰     cisfemale , she/her     ☆     𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐔𝐏𝐎𝐍 𝐀 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 …   we’re introduced to EDEN FROST, the 36 years old DISTRICT ATTORNEY at ENCHANTED FALLS TOWN HALL from enchanted falls who bears a striking resemblance to NATALIE DORMER. the whispers in the wind tells us of their CONFIDENT and TEMPERMENTAL reputation, that’s why the townsfolk often are reminded of a frigid gust of winter air, a ballet of swirling snowflakes, a palace of ice and snow, a beautiful aurora in the night sky. they are often haunted by dreams of a life lived as ELSA OF ARENDELLE ( FROZEN ) .  

BEFORE THE CURSE

TBD.

AFTER THE CURSE

Eden is the eldest daughter of one of the town's wealthier families. From a young age she was always taught poise, composure, and the ways of polite society. It was absolutely stifling. She knew her parents loved her, but she also knew it was her job to project a certain imagine of herself that wasn't really true to form. Still, she played the role of a dutiful and well behaved daughter at social functions and gatherings.

When she was a teenager, her parents died in a tragic boating accident. She forever blames herself for this tragedy because it was her fault they were on the water to begin with. You see, Eden suffered from debilitating headaches and sleepwalking spells for most of her childhood. On the night of her parents death, she was having one of those spells. They went out to look for her and it cost them their lives. For a while after their death, the nightmares got worse. The nightmares only stopped after she found herself at the sparking waters of the town's waterfall. She didn't know how she got there or what transpired, but she came out of the falls feeling more clear headed and determined than ever before. She went back to the fundamental roots of her childhood: conceal don't feel.

Eden focused back on her studies, got into law school, graduated with top marks and eventually became the district attorney. Life was good and she was at the top of her game...and then the nightmares and sleep walking spells came back. She's been dealing with them in secret, but she knows its only a matter of time before someone finds her wandering.

Personality wise, she's intelligent and a little aloof. She has a strong sense of justice and an even stronger desire to protect her little sister from the harshness of the world.

[margindoodles2407]

Okay so here they are:

Basically in this world there are three branches of this fantasy race I made up, the Oracles- Bronze Oracles, Silver Oracles, and Golden Oracles. Each can be distinguished by the shape of their ears; they have short, droopy, and long ears, respectively. Each branch can also do magic, but the extent of their power is determined by what branch they're from: Bronze Oracles can cast one spell and one spell only, Silver Oracles can cast any spell within a specific category of magic (for example, plant magic, water magic, et cetera), and Golden Oracles can do all types of magic. This is due to an evolutionary difference between the races: magic is controlled by an organ found inside the palms of the hands, and Bronze Oracles' organs are smaller than Silver Oracles', which are in turn smaller than Golden Oracles'. There is a fourth kind of Oracle as well, however- the Tarnished Oracles, who can be from any branch, and who- due to a genetic mutation- didn't develop the magic-sensitive hand organs and thus can't do magic.

The Oracles live on a chain of floating islands called The Archipelago (inspired name, i know). In addition to the many smaller settlements on lesser islands, there are four main "marker islands" in The Archipelago: Byheath Island, the capital, which is mostly prairie and vast, urban cities; Crystallium, which on the surface seems to be made entirely of grey limestone, but on the inside contains a sprawling metropolis built into the dazzling crystals that compose its famed caverns (in essence, the whole island is a giant geode city); Gable Shoals, covered entirely by water and featuring both floating towns and underwater complexes; and Avalon Heights, famous for its quaint, pastoral farmland in the valleys framed by the titanic Avalon Heights Mountain Range.

However, all is not well in The Archipelago. A sinister shadow organization, the Black Hands, has been kidnapping and performing genetic experiments on their fellow Oracles for years. It has become so bad that the Golden Oracle population is nearly extinct, with only about 500 of them left on the whole of The Archipelago. No one knows who the Black Hands are, or why they carry out their abhorrent experiments, but everyone lives in fear that they might be the next target...

Okay, with that out of the way, here's some of the major characters!

Helia Sheton, a Golden Oracle woman who runs a famed peach orchard on Avalon Heights. She is originally from Byheath Island, but moved to her current home at the age of 19 due to familial complications. She is in her mid-thirties at the start of the story (Oracles age exactly like humans but can live to an average age of 150). She has a prickly, sarcastic temperament but is very good with children.

Ansic, a dragonling. Helia came across his egg, abandoned in a tree, when she first moved onto the land that would become her peach orchard, and she has cared for him ever since. His eyes change color to reflect his mood, and he breathes purple fire. He is roughly 10 years old (Dragons age in a complex fashion; for the first 20 years of their life they age at the same rate as humans, but after that they age 5 times slower), and has a very cheerful, if moody, personality.

Lilaveda "Lila" Sanstrel, a Silver Oracle teenager. She is very sweet and soft-spoken, and attends the prestigious Avalon Heights Academy. Her magic is water-based, and she is 14 years old at the start of the story. She is best friends with Aster and Ash Lumen.

Aster and Asher "Ash" Lumen, Silver Oracle twins. Aster, who has floral plant-based magic, is very bubbly and bright and dances ballet, while Ash, who has herbal plant-based magic, is charming and witty and an excellent singer. The twins are 14 years old, and attend Avalon Heights Academy with their best friend, Lila.

River Ohms, a Bronze Oracle teenager, whose spell is cryokinesis; specifically, she can freeze something simply by glaring at it. She is 14 and attends Avalon Heights Academy, and her mother, Belina Ohms, is the founder and CEO of a successful cosmetics company on Gable Shoals. Unbeknownst to River, Belina is a high-ranking official within the Black Hands. River used to be a bully to Lila and the Lumens, but after some time she came to admire their talents and friendship and asked for forgiveness, which they happily gave. She is now one of their best friends.

Mae Charstone, a Tarnished Golden Oracle, the Vicereine (female term for viceroy) of Byheath Island, and the Supreme Hand of the Black Hands. Long ago, she was Helia's adopted sister, but after the aforementioned familial complications arose she broke contact with the woman who was once her closest friend. Publicly, she appears to be a wise, just, and compassionate ruler. Few know of the sinister dealings she engages with privately...

So yeah! If you guys would like a part two, please let me know, and as always, I'd be happy to answer any questions, be they about the characters, or worldbuilding, or the magic system, or lore, or anything else that catches your fancy!

Y'all wanna hear about my OCs that I've had since like. 6th grade. And whose story I've had to rework like 10 times

[hanazou]

matching onesies with him.

Books : Dazai | Chuuya | Oda

Shelf : Mixed

Genre : Fluff, domestic

Note : I did this of my own accord because I am, in fact, a softie

Dazai Osamu

This clingy crackhead.

Dazai will be the first to come up with the idea. It's actually a random one and he asked it so spontaneously, he doesn't expect you to actually say yes.

"Sure, why not?" You agreed.

He's both surprised and elated, and he didn't hide this reaction at all.

"Oh, darling!" He wrapped a hug around your neck. "You always revive my heart with your love!"

You both will be enthusiastic about picking the onesies and agree to surf the net instead of looking from shop to shop since Dazai is under the supervision of a certain angry Kunikida

It almost feels like babysitting. Not that you hate it right? Should you get an identical pair with different sizes? Or complementary ones?

Dazai will call the customer service to ask if they have black crow onesies since crows represent death in some cultures. The response is obviously no and it's obvious that the customer service was confused.

"That's a shame," Dazai whined disappointedly, shoulders dropping. "Wouldn't it be both cute and poetic if we had a double suicide while wearing matching crow onesie? Two achievements in one!"

At that point you wouldn't even be surprised anymore. You will just take the phone away from him to apologise and thank the customer service. You have to convince Dazai that you won't find a onesie of that kind

"Wait, don't tell me," You stared at him. "The reason you want to get onesies is just to wear a matching crow pair?"

"Is it?" He grinned mischievously. "Maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong, but I just want to match with you."

Other ADA members will wonder what you and Dazai were doing, Kunikida the most. He isn't exactly curious, more like suspicious. What's that good-for-nothing Dazai up to now?

Eventually you find a pair of identical ones. Kind of rare designs too! Guess what?

Crabs! In red! The little eyes on the hood!

It will take less than a week for the onesies to arrive in a small box. When it does Dazai will pull out a cutter so energetically Atsushi will think he's going to pull a suicide attempt with it

"AAH! Dazai-san! No!"

Nothing will happen aside from Dazai stabbing the box (while making sure he doesn't cut the onesies inside. he's good with blades, ex Port Mafia and all)

The crab pincers for your hands are soft like mittens and so smooth???? Imagine sweaterpaws but with crab pincer mittens (!!)

It will take everything in you to stop Dazai from wearing it that instant since a client Fukuzawa talked about will be coming. You will need Atsushi's help to take it off him but let's not talk about it

Both of Dazai's legs are already in the onesie too..

It seems like Kyouka wants one. Yosano and Naomi will tell Atsushi to buy the girl one and match with her

When Dazai and you go home together, he will be so excited to wear the onesies immediately. Dazai will be light on his feet.

And when you finally put yours on? Pictures. Dazai will take lots of pictures of you. You're a piece of art and he wants pictures so he can recall the image anytime

"Oh, dearest~ How is it possible for you to be so cute?" He began his dramatic poses, a hand over his head while spinning like a ballet dancer.

You both will take a lot of couple pictures.

"Love, you are so adorable I want to eat you!"

"Is it me who's cute or the crab?" You teased back.

When Dazai makes a troubled expression to answer your question, you will have to pinch him 💢

If you can cook crab soup, wouldn't it be funny to make and eat one with Dazai while wearing crab onesies? He will be so clingy when you do it, like an old school married couple; when you cook, he'll be bugging you while hugging from behind. It feels cozy, don't blame him

You have to be keen with your eyes so you won't miss Dazai secretly pouring ajinomoto to the soup. Get him a healthier diet, I'm begging you.

"Look, the crab is red like us." He pointed at the soup. "And like your face when I do this." He took advantage of you turning your head to peck your cheek.

He will also pinch your nose with his pincer mitten. "Boop!" It's a challenge. Boop his nose back.

You think he's already as clingy as he can be, huh? Wrong. You are absolutely wrong. If he previously sticks around you like a magnet, this time he's glued to you.

Even in the shared living space, he won't let you go. Is it the softness of the onesie under his touch, the warmth, or your cuteness? Well, it's all of them. What then?

Snuggles.

You both cuddle together in the futon until falling asleep together. You feel twice as warm.

He's the big spoon, let him feel the smoothness of the onesie while feeling your heat. And for once, the double suicide joke stopped for the rest of day. That's how much this impacts him, and you're proud of him.

Nakahara Chuuya

Matching with Chuuhuahua in a onesie? You lucky fella.

You have to be the one initiating it with Chuuya. Baby boy will be like "Eeh?" at first. He's not against it at all but more like, confused. The request is out of the blue

"Come on, why not?" You tilt your head. "It will feel so soft to cuddle with?"

That's it, that's the spell for him to agree

Mans is a Port Mafia executive, you can't go out from shop to shop in a mall to get your onesie with his schedule, so you have to settle with online shopping with this guy too

Only when he has time to spare from beating up people

You will sit together on a couch at the headquarters once Chuuya and you don't have missions. It's a good chance to relax and unwind together too

Chuuya knows best where to find clothes, including onesies. There are so many options! Dinosaurs, frogs, bears, Sanrio characters, Doraemon, Pikachu, Line characters, pandas, unicorns, penguins!! (I should stop fantasizing Chuuya in each of them)

Chuuya will act cool and chill about it at first, but he actually got invested in choosing and thankfully he isn't a crackhead unlike a certain someone

He has a good fashion sense I don't accept criticism, and this side of him will jump out while both of you scroll the catalogue. He nails both street wear and mafia outfits daily, so you can bet he'd pick the best onesies for you both

"This one doesn't suit you," He moved to the next option. "These are the only colours available? Pass.", "What's with the unnecessarily long tail?", "Oh maybe this? Wait, I don't like the stripes."

Of course, he will listen to your opinion too but since you feel he's better at this, you just either nod or shake your head with him

You have to be careful with your words when picking the size (this is much more valid if you're taller) or he'll go "I'm not that short!"

Kouyou and Mori (+ Elise) will catch you both on the couch together while browsing, comfy and all, and Kouyou asked what you two were doing. Chuuya's face will be as red as wine.

When you want to explain, his gloved hand will cover your mouth and he frantically shakes his head, screaming "Don't!" silently.

But alas, while you want to tell him there's nothing to be embarrassed of, Kouyou will take the phone from your hand with a curious grin and a "What's this~?"

Chuuya will just accept fate at that point, growling to himself and all

Kouyou and Mori won't expect to see a catalogue of onesies, apparently. The "Huh," on their faces are hilarious, and Mori will be instantly inspired to get a full set for his Elise-chan, much to her distaste.

While Mori and Elise are going at it, Kouyou will actually share her opinions. Chuuya will crawl out from his burrow of embarrassment and listen to her with you.

"Rather than identical ones, these would be much better. They have variety." Kouyou said. And you both will agree. You both have been eyeing a specific pair anyway

You both will decide to get complementary ones! Chuuya's will be a brown teddy and yours a white bunny! (Try googling Line's Brown and Cony, they're cute you won't regret it) Kouyou will totally agree with the decision.

When the package arrives, both of you will open it together. Chuuya's eyes for clothes are never wrong, the quality is immaculate. So warm and smooth, not a seam out of place.

Imagine the blush on Chuuya's face when you put on the white bunny onesie. The bunny ears on the hood! The fluffiness! His flustered face!

He will be slightly hesitant to put his own on, but when he does, you swear you can die from the cuteness. Want to see more cuteness? Tease him about it, and maybe he'll tickle you down until you're too breathless to tease him.

Chuuya doesn't want to say it explicitly but it does feel really comfortable, it's suitable for winters too.

As usual, Chuuya will be the big spoon. You will melt into his warmth and the smoothness of his onesie, and you can tell he's enjoying it too, from the way he'll drag his hand all over you to feel the smooth fabric

"It's a good thing we listened to ane-san's suggestion, hm?" You asked. "I didn't exactly like the matching penguin pairs."

"Yeah, this isn't bad at all." Chuuya admitted, snuggling his chin into the crook of your neck. "You're so warm."

Oda Sakunosuke

First off I'm Odasaku's lover before I'm anything else.

When the weather gets cold, it's your idea to get onesies for the kids. They could use some cute onesies to sleep in.

Unlike Dazai and Chuuya, Odasaku will have time to spare to go shopping with you. Being the handyman of Port Mafia has its good sides, after all.

The atmosphere is identical to a date! You both meet up at evening after work, have a simple dinner first, then start the shopping. Shopping for the kids' onesies with him makes you feel like a parent doesn't it?

Odasaku and you will make sure not to pick flimsy, thin, or rough ones. Only the best for the kids. Both of you put your keen eyes to use, examining every considered piece

Odasaku and you will definitely discuss whether to get five identical or different ones. After considering that the kids have different personalities, choosing different pieces will sound more ideal. You both will grant them the liberty of picking themselves.

"We just have to make sure they don't fight over it." Odasaku said.

Lion, dinosaur, piglet, panda, and penguin. That's what you both will choose!

Odasaku is a man who doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeves, so you relied on his eyes when it comes to him. You will see love and sincerity. He picks each piece with careful consideration.

The store clerk will throw an unexpected (yet clichéd shoujo) question at you both. "You picked such good choices. We have sets for adults too, why not match with your children?"

Odasaku and you will widen your eyes. First of all, parents? And match? Both of you stare at each other in confusion. Should you get two get a pair for yourselves?

"Why not?" Odasaku eventually said.

Odasaku's will be a brown dog and yours a white cat (remember that one official art of Odasaku with puppy ears? <3)

Odasaku and you will immediately visit the kids and give them their onesies. Their excitement in picking one for their own made you smile, and you can see the joy in Odasaku's eyes when the kids thanked him and you. He doesn't smile, but you don't need him to just to know he's glad his children love your pick. The way he pats their heads already speaks volumes of love.

Thankfully no kid wrestled to get what they want. You were especially concerned Kousuke will compete with someone

Odasaku will bring a secondhand polaroid he once bought at Yokohama's flea market to take pictures of the kids. You will herd the children to gather for the picture while Odasaku looked for the right angle in the other side of the room.

"Why don't you stay there for the picture too?" Odasaku asked you, half of his face behind the camera.

You kneel behind the kids and put your hands on Sakura and Yuu's shoulders, the ones who stood on the far left and right. That much is enough to warm Odasaku's heart, but when you too, smile for the camera, he freezes for a while to take the sight with his eyes

The picture comes out nicely. You will end up convincing Odasaku to take more but with him in it, together, all seven of you. You would need the curry diner owner's help to take the picture

"Sakunosuke, smile, will you?" You held his shoulder while you both kneeled behind the kids for the picture. He would be a little stunned

He smiles, but it was faint. Nevertheless, you recognise the content in his eyes in the photo, and it's enough.

When it's just the two of you in the living quarters, you will have to remind Odasaku that he too, bought a onesie. He will gladly put it on him since you look so eager, he's curious how it feels too

Your heart stops when he put on the hood with the puppy ears. You will have to fight back the urge to attack him with cuddles right there and then when his confused and innocent face matches the onesie so much!

"You're adorable," You smiled half teasingly, taking in the look of confused Odasaku who looked down at his onesie. The weight of the material felt right, it's like a cozy blanket.

"Try to put yours on," He says. When you did, his heart also missed a beat. The kitten ears on your head! The pure snowy white on you!

Odasaku is a bear hugger and when he hugs you, his embrace will feel tighter than usual. It's no surprise, he likes you and cats, and the way you interacted with the kids that day played tricks on his heart. You hug him back and ruffle his head while he mumbles his thank-you's at you

That night's sleep will be filled with nothing but cuddles of love and adoration. Yes, Odasaku is the big spoon, but you will also hold his arms tighter around you as you both drift into the night, chatting about life.

[laysdimplesareillegal]

NCT as High School Teachers

Y’ALL IT’S FINALLY HERE

So I saw a thibg on instagam that said nct as teachers so lets go

We’re going by age so I know I get all of them but I also don’t know all of them too well. I’m literally so upset I cant do xiaojun because I love him but I also don't know him well enough I’m sorry honey. also some of these I really pulled out of nowhere so they might be way the frick off

Taeil

I think he’s like one of those teachers who loves his job and wants his students to love his class but like he teaches selectively at the end of the day and they just want to go home

Teaches like language arts or some sort of literature

Is so happy to teach everyday

Johnny

Everyone's best friend

Knows every bit of gossip going on in school

Nobody knows what his job is

Meanders around campus all day

Knows your name somehow

Taeyong

Teaches something to help improve life skills like speech or something. Teaches Home Ec.

Loves his students and wants to be involved in their lives

Pretends like he’s not listening to all the student’s gossip so he hears it all

Gets bombarded in the teacher’s lounge on what’s happening (needs to be cajoled)

Surprised by all the scandalous things his students get themselves into

Yuta

We all knew this was coming

The hot substitute teacher

Works like once a semester

When he comes to work the whole school is rocked and he knows it

Walks around the classroom all day like sir why are you strutting

Sits with his feet up on the desk

Kun

Probably wants to be a really good and strict teacher

But the kids know they can walk all over him

Senior teacher

So when the seniors are informal with him so are the rest of the students

Doyoung

Scary

Extremely silent classroom you could hear a pin drop on the carpet

But like then he’s seen around the other teachers and he's so smiley

Either lectures and notes or busy work

Will not. Under any circumstances. Allow friends to sit next to each other.

Ten

“Do whatever you want, I don’t care”

Art teacher

So he can do whatever he wants, pass kids, and gets paid to use the school’s art supplies

Scolds kids who insult other kids’ artwork

Randomly subs for PE one day and makes the students learn dance

Jaehyun

Honestly idk probably an elective

His class is pretty average just like any other

But wow sir hello

Everyone is in love with him

Is besties with Taeyong and like wow what a pair Probably has a movie day like at least once a month

Winwin

Mysterious

Likes select students who will then learn that he likes stuff like ballet and singing

Students only learn about him through Yuta

People take his class cuz they know Yuta will visit him even when he doesn’t work

Well and ya know because its Sicheng

Is a pretty chill teacher

Jungwoo

FRESHMEN TEACHER

Girls literally coo at him instead of doing their work

Wonders why he has to fail students when he doesn’t teach anything

Speaks in tiny and loses control of his class sometimes

Shares a room with another teacher like idk Jaehyun.. Idk why but he does

(I have just been informed that he does in fact share a room with Jaeyun so there you have it)

Lucas

Teaches like P.E.

It’s something he can do and be loud about

Loves shouting orders but he never sounds angry like a normal coach lol

Actually scratch that he can sound angry sometimes

PRETENDS to be angry and yells then laughs like lol you should see your faces

ALWAYS plays with the students he never stays on the sidelines

Allows you to wear normals clothes not just the ugly gym uniform

Mark

Yes he teaches english

But half the class is just him laughing

Lots of the other teachers visit him

Like Yuta and Haechan

You can hear him from down the hall

I feel like he’s that teacher that has mistakes in his notes or tests or something, like small little spelling errors idk I can just see it

Firmly believes that you learn best by immersion and therefore you watch TV in class ALL THE TIME

Hendery

Drama teacher drama teacher drama teacher

All around good vibes

Finds things funnier than other students do

Truly anything goes in his class

Has never written up a student

Does stuff. Like you’re not the only one up there embarrassing yourself he does it first so y’all aren’t shy

No shyness allowed he will shell you like a pistachio

Renjun

Strict

It’s not even that he wants his students to do well or any dumb excuses like that he’s just strict

He gets teased all the time by the other teachers and his students cower at them

They honestly think it’s his twin brothers talking with the other teachers who is this man

Teaches a language class

So its like you either speak in that language or you don’t speak at all

Really cuts the stupid out of his class

And his class is really difficult for no reason everyone is like “But sir this is 101”

Jeno

Good wholesome teacher everyone can like

I can see him in like home ec

Kids come and talk to him all the time

His tests are so easy you are guaranteed to pass his class with flying colors as long as you know how to spell your name

Haechan

Study hall

Wants to have no responsibility Leaves the classroom all of the time, like he’s never in the classroom

Visits Mark so much

And Johnny so many visits to Mark and Johnny

Jaemin

He probably dabbles a little bit into phys ed

Also enjoys teaching so much

Has a big smile in class all the time

Learned everyone’s names down after the first day of class

Wants everyone to have a good ol’ time

Yangyang

Probably gets along with the younger boys 

Teaches something but people only learn german from him

No learning goes on in his vicinity

I love him but I feel like some people would find him a lil annoying

The jokes never stop

Chenle

Teaches freshmen math

He’s really hit or miss with his students

Sometimes they like him sometimes they don’t get him

I feel like he’s the teacher that always has like a group of students that eat lunch in his room

Always looks so fine like he dresses really well and all

Probably makes you do a lot of group projects I feel

Jisung

The youngest teacher

No one’s sure he’s actually allowed to be a teacher because he’s very discreet with his timeline like nobody knows his age but he has a mysterious amount of degrees

Like no one knows the details of his life he’s just there

Was mistaken as a student on multiple occasions

[wildlyglittering]

A Love for all Seasons Part 1 (Winter)

I said that I would write a piece for Nessian Month to be posted each Sunday so here is the first!

I’d hoped to have this up earlier but hey ho. I ended up scrapping 8,000 words of something that I’d previously done and re-wrote this in a day. It’s barely edited so I can only apologise for dubious quality and numerous spelling errors. 

I asked for prompt requests and this one is based on ‘modern au, Nesta as a ballerina.’ You’ll probably see that it’s not entirely modern au because I just can’t write modern au - sorry!

I’ve decided to link all 4 prompts received together as a 4 part series. Not all other sections will be as long as this one. Probably. I mean, I’ve not written them yet so....

***

Velaris at Solmas was a magical time and Nesta wasn’t thinking metaphorically – Solmas was literally a magical time.

Solmas was a blend of both fae and human traditions and, as a time for celebration, this meant spirits were up and magical shields were down. Active magic rippled through the air as did the leakage from those who had magic but never used it.

No one truly remembered when the lines between fae and human’s merged and there was the possibility the fae had decided to adjust the truth in collective memory to make it seem like they had always been part of the city.

Perhaps they had. Perhaps they hadn’t. Not a human amongst them could tell and not a fae amongst them would.

As centuries passed, or decades - no one was quite sure after all, the fae evolved to blend in. They shed talons, claws and teeth, and moulted wings and shimmering skin.

That wasn’t to say a good deal of them didn’t have remnants of their previous lineage; there were still those who had wings and those who were always followed by a mist. Some slipped from human form like their flesh was a dress.

There wasn’t a fae who didn’t have some magic, however small. But then, so did Nesta and her sisters, Feyre and Elain.

At some point in their collective past, the fae decided they liked the humans and vice versa and so romantic liaisons were not an uncommon occurrence. Despite a few differences, both species were compatible and that was how magic managed to bleed into some human veins. As Feyre said, they were human but with ‘added spice’.  

Sometimes all that magic, especially at this heightened time of year, was damned irritating.

That morning Nesta had been in a café, reading her book when a lady biting into a gingerbread man had to stop on account of her baked good starting to scream.

Then, when she’d left to make her way to the ballet, she’d been caught in a snow flurry where the snowflakes took the form of small fairies and danced around her. She’d slapped them away, ignoring their outraged cries.

The walk which should have been ten minutes from her favourite café down into the theatre district ended up taking forty after some enchanted horses pulling sleighs decided to protest and caused a blockage across three streets, causing numerous detours.

When she finally reached the theatre, the peace of her day shattered, Nesta stormed into her dressing room and slammed the door. “Fucking fae.”

Nesta didn’t hate the fae. Technically, you couldn’t. Anytime anyone had a negative thought there was a haze which descended over people’s minds to remind them how much they loved the fae and how pleased they were to live beside them.

The magic in her blood meant the haze was a pithy little thing which Nesta mentally told to shove its pleasantries up its non-existent asshole leading it to drift away, pretending it wasn’t offended.

No, she didn’t hate them but she found them so inconvenient.

Nesta had settled at her dressing table when her door opened following a knock. A head peeked round, long ruby-red hair streaming downwards. One of the fae Nesta did like.

“Nesta?”

“I’m here.”

“Viviane said she’s going to turn a portion of the Sidra into an ice rink later, fancy coming? I might also take an ice-dive. Good for the pores!”

Gwyn, the production assistant at the Velaris City Ballet Company was fae but was classified as a water nymph. Nesta had only discovered this when they took a trip to Adriata the beach city the previous year for a ‘hot girl summer’ and she realised Gwyn had a set of gills accompanying her lungs.

Nesta met Gwyn’s eyes in the mirror and raised an eyebrow.

“What? I can’t help myself; you know that. I take it the ice-rink is a no?”

Nesta shook her head in response as she began on her hair but smiled. Despite herself she really did like Gwyn and Viviane, and a lot of the production company too even though the company was riddled with nepotism and bias.

Few humans managed to win a place in the ballet. Arts and creative pursuits were hard to break into when you were auditioning against fae. The only reason Nesta was as successful as she had been was because of that drop of magical blood.

She reached for the headdress resting next to her make-up. The Solmas production was The Nutcracker which their performance director, Eris had choreographed and screamed over for weeks.

“Tchaikovsky was a close, personal friend of mine,” he’d bragged. “He was fae of course, well – half-fae, but then no one can be perfect.”

Nesta had rolled her eyes and ignored Eris’ glare, not at all intimidated since they both discovered she immune to glamours and spells.

Nesta hadn’t been able to score the prima ballerina role for the production but then she hadn’t for years. How can a human compete with fae who spun in the air and flew on invisible, gossamer wings?

She’d auditioned for the role of Sugar Plum Fairy and wasn’t offered the position on account of the actual fairies also auditioning. If Nesta had managed to win the role then she wouldn’t have lasted a week before a surprise accident befell her, regardless of the amount of protection charms she wore.

The role she had won suited her fine, the dance being one of her favourites – the Illyrian dance. The steps weren’t complex but the performance was all about attitude and frankly, Nesta had that in spades.

When she’d been offered the dance, Gwyn took her aside in the corridor, a frown on her face. “Are you sure you want to perform this Nesta?”

“I know what you’re going to say, the dance should have gone to an Illyrian and you’re right – it should have. I’ve been trying to petition Eris for years now about Illyrian ballerinas but he’s always up to his typical high-fae purist bullshit.”

Gwyn had given a nervous laugh and looked around them, making sure Eris wouldn’t somehow leap out of the wall at the comment. It was a fair suspicion; he’d done it to performers before if they had any critique of him to say.

“Just do the dance cultural justice.”

Nesta swore she would.

On the scale of species hierarchy, full humans remained at the bottom. They were aging mortals with no magic and poor immune systems. The fae laughed themselves silly at the concept of chicken pox and the common cold. However, it didn’t mean every fae species was revered.

High fae like Eris were basically royalty while lesser fae were their middle-class cousins. Nymphs were considered useful and the majority of other fae fell someplace in between.

Illyrians were almost a side step from the hierarchy.

As a species they were immortal, eternally youthful and ripe with magic as powerful as some of the high fae. Some of their bodies were like machines with what they did with them and they would have been able to perform ballet for days on end without breaking.

They also had those vast jet-black wings which were terrifying and enthralling at the same time. It was a shame Illyrian Air didn’t do well, but then there were far too many customer service issues.

The only reason they weren’t on par with the high-fae (in the eyes of the high-fae) was that they weren’t elegant enough. They moved with a violence underneath the surface of their flesh like their blood was fire.

They also had complex histories which no one understood because Illyrians refused to discuss anything about Illyria and their heritage with anyone who wasn’t an Illyrian.

She once asked Feyre about them to be told Illyrians had spent their entire lifetimes being looked down upon by other fae so when those same fae demanded Illyrian secrets, they refused to comply.

Feyre had said, “Cassian told me, ‘Why should we give them anything when we have to fight for everything,’” and Nesta conceded he had a point. Possibly the only point Cassian had ever had but a point nonetheless.

Why was she thinking all this now? Why was she thinking of her baby sister’s stupid friends? She knew very well why.

Gwyn had stepped into Nesta’s dressing room. “Isn’t tonight when your sister and her friends are coming to the show?”

Yes, that was why.

Gwyn leant against the wall, in Nesta’s line of sight in the mirror and Nesta shrugged keeping her voice nonchalant. “Yes, unfortunately.”

It wasn’t unfortunate Feyre was coming, Feyre who loved anything to do with art and ballet but Nesta wasn’t looking forward to the rest. Rhys, Feyre’s half high-fae, half Illyrian boyfriend had all the arrogant superiority of the high-fae and the volatility of the Illyrians with none of the manners.

Nesta was painfully aware Rhys didn’t like her.

The rest of the group were also non-human with Feyre seemingly abandoning humans completely, preferring the exclusive company of Rhys circle of fae friends. Elain was the opposite, living outside the walls of the city in her cottage, wanting nothing to do with fae at all.

Feyre had told Rhys a bunch of stories from their childhood and Rhys didn’t quite comprehend how human sisters worked, didn’t quite comprehend how complex their relationship had been.

The spit of magic in their blood had made things all the more difficult as humans were not the best containers for magic. In Nesta’s eyes what made it worse were all the tattoos Feyre had inked into her skin; amplifiers mostly.

Anger had been born from Nesta’s worry and her worry was from her love.

Feyre understood the root cause of Nesta’s peevishness even if she didn’t like it but Rhys saw disapproval and returned it in kind.

At the thought of some of the attendees Nesta’s heart started doing something change, fluttering away like it was a bird trapped in a cage. She remembered when Ianthe, one of the ensemble, had shown them the pet bird she’d brought.

“Isn’t it lovely?” she’d said, her eyes glittering as her fingernails grew sharp. “Such a pretty pet for me to love.”

Nesta remembered the poor thing desperately trying to fly out of its cage, smashing its wings and beak against the bars.

Ianthe ended up eating it. She’d sobbed she hadn’t meant to but she hadn’t grabbed her protein bar that morning when she’d left her apartment and she was starving.

They couldn’t help it; it was in their nature to consume. The fae were like locusts that way, consuming land, lives, birds. Hearts.

Gwyn’s smile at Nesta’s response stretched into one which took up most of her face and Nesta refrained from shuddering. Nymph embodied the gentle and the harsh of their element. Water nymphs had the ability to be as tranquil and soft as summer rain or as vicious and deadly as a shark in deep water.

“Uh-huh. Will Cassian be attending?”

“I don’t know, probably.”

“Are you nervous about doing the Illyrian dance in front of Illyrians?”

Yes. Terrified.

“No,” she said, “I’ve done my research.”

Eris’ choreography for the dance was lazy and aggressive, rooted in his high-fae misperceptions of Illyrian culture. Nesta convinced Eris to let her put together her own steps and when he let her, not giving a damn about the dance, Nesta sought out the sole Illyrian choreographer in Velaris - a woman named Emerie.

At least the dance would contain authentic steps, she’d just never performed it in front of any Illyrians who weren’t Emerie before.

Gwyn’s grin was still wide.

“Oh, go away would you,” Nesta said with a scowl. “I need to focus before the matinee.”

Gwyn laughed at Nesta’s scowl and Nesta knew Gwyn understood Nesta’s words were harsh but her meaning wasn’t.

“Fine, fine. I’ll see you later, my little witchy dancer.”

Nesta glared at her friends departing back. I’m not a witch, she wanted to say, just a human whose great grandma caught the eye of a high-fae and had at it.

The matinee performance went well. Performances at the Velaris City Ballet Company always went well. The city made it so, drawing in an audience like moths to lamplight.

For all its splendour, Velaris was ancient and small. What was once a human village at the base of the mountains with the Sidra River running wild aside it, grew in population and glamour once the fae came pushing through the veil.

Human technology and fae magic combined to turn the place into something unique which rippled out to other human towns and dwellings but Velaris remained the first and the original.

While other cities grew, Velaris kept its quaintness. Old buildings built from red stone were covered with trailing ivy which bloomed with different flowers depending on the inhabitants’ moods. Rooms would change their size and shape according to the number of people within and wallpapers would shift when required to become something new. A piece of furniture could be a chaise longue in the morning and a mahogany dresser by nightfall.

Outside was no different. The cobbled side streets were slightly off kilter and you could look back, having walked up a steep street only to realise the path you’d walked was now heading a different direction and upwards, not down.

The ballet house was one of the oldest buildings and contained concentrated magic the way a bottle contained liquid. It also meant, much like liquid, if the bottle was shaken then there would be spillage.

Truth told; they’d had some difficulties with previous performances.

The first performance of Sleeping Beauty had left the majority of the audience passed out in their red velvet chairs while thickets of thorns grew up from the stage floor, encompassing the dancers. Nesta had to hack through several vines to reach her dressing room to grab her apartment keys.

The Snow Queen last Solmas followed suit. Viviane had been their prima ballerina that year and was in her utmost element. That had been the worst winter Velaris had ever experienced with uncharacteristic heavy snowfalls and biting frosts. The less said about the temporary missing children and ominous women in sleighs, the better.

Aside from when Eris turned actual rats into human sized dancers and the whole city was put into a three-day long lockdown while fae exterminators went to work, The Nutcracker was going fairly well.

Magic whirled the audience through each act and they heard and tasted and smelt everything being shown to them. Music would drift into their ears as performers danced fluidly across the stage. Some of the audience sobbed, overcome by the magic which sank into their skin.

The experience took some time to get used to if you were human. The first time Nesta had performed ballet in Velaris she was dizzy with nausea and slick with sweat. Now she even managed to use some of her own dormant abilities to counter the effects, or even to add in some of her own.

Before the evening performance began, her phone beeped with a message from Feyre.

Can’t wait to see you dance! Catch up with you afterwards!

Nesta groaned. She’d agreed to go for a drink at the in-house bar with Feyre and the rest but now she wished she was going straight home.

The stage melted away from the dance before hers into Nesta’s scenery as she waited in the wings for her cue. She eyed up the boxes, knowing Rhys had sponsored one for Feyre but didn’t have a clue which one.

The Illyrian dance had a sparse stage, to demonstrate the Illyrian steppes but the painted backdrop was one of Ramiel, the revered Illyrian mountain. Despite the sparsity, the set pulsed with a dry heat; the scent of crackling wood fire and spice filling the air, the sensation of warm winds tickling her skin.

When the music started, she danced on, determined to prove to Illyrian eyes in the audience she would do it justice.

Nesta drew on the same magic which ran in Feyre and Elain’s bones, the same magic Feyre had permanently etched on the surface of her skin. When Nesta leapt, she cast imaginary wings on her back which carried her further forward and higher. When she pirouetted, she was spinning on ice. Her arms were graceful and her legs sharp.

Nesta formed herself into a blade of dance as she undulated her hips and curved her spine. She swore the heat under her skin caused the air to burn around her.

She finished to rapturous applause and resisted eyeing up the boxes again although she wanted to know if any particular hands were clapping.

In the wings Gwyn was waiting and handed her a towel and Nesta realised she was glistening with sweat, droplets highlighting her cleavage.

“Very nice,” Gwyn said, clapping. “A small fire broke out in one of the stalls.”

Before Nesta said anything, Eris walked by with a low whistle. “Great performance, Nesta. I now have a raging boner.”

The women shrieked in disgust and Nesta threw her towel at him. “Animal.”

Eris grinned, “You know it” and his eyes shone as he caught the towel. Nesta made a mental note to ask Elain for more rowan to put around her dressing room door.

Nesta watched the rest of the performances from the wings until curtain close. Usually she never dawdled, always wanting to remove her costume and dress into civilian clothes as quick as possible but tonight she took her time, idly drawing out each minute until she couldn’t avoid her fate forever.

Audience members with children, fae or human often left first, clearing the way for those who wanted to remain behind in the theatre bar. When the fae discovered alcohol a new set of problems arose. Regardless of what species you were, once you were drunk you did stupid things.

The bar was below ground level and took up a vast amount of space. Overstuffed seating was positioned around tables in compartments, each draped with their own set of thick, crimson red curtains with gold tassels. If the occupants wanted privacy, then they had it.

Nesta shimmied past groups; fae, human and mixed, who laughed and clinked their champagne flutes, none recognising her as a dancer they’d watched earlier.

Feyre was likely to have a private booth booked along with the theatre box as Rhys had so much gold he likely melted it down and bathed in it. The last time Nesta met up with Feyre, her little sister had been wearing a diamond encrusted corset top.

Ahead of her stood two figures, both leaning against the open fronted bar and deep in conversation. Cassian and Azriel. No one was able to miss them even if they tried to blend in. Illyrians were known for their size and their wings and not exactly known for their love of ballet.

Almost as though he sensed her arrival, Cassian stopped talking and turned, strands of his black hair falling from his messy bun. Her eyes met his and she felt how she always did whenever they glanced at each other – a little bit anxious, a little bit horny and a little bit excited.

Nesta was worried if she opened her mouth, a thousand butterflies would float upwards from her stomach.

The look on his face, one she couldn’t place, slipped into something familiar as she drew nearer. Cassian smirked at her and followed it up with a slow, obvious glance from head to toe.

“Hello, Nesta.” He drawled his words, husky and deep. His voice was a baritone which always had her itching to dance across his words. Illyrian magic wasn’t the strongest but those who wielded it were.

What Illyrians wielded their magic for was anyone’s guess but if she had to, Nesta would have guessed it was for making panties drop if the turning heads of the crowd and little sighs was any indication.

There had been occasions where she too was driven with the need to show him more skin of hers then he deserved, to beg him to lay her down and cover her body in honey before licking it off with rasps of his tongue.

Must have been magic.

“Cassian,” she said with barely a nod and turned to his companion. “Azriel.”

Azriel nodded back a polite hello while Cassian leant against the bar directly facing her, wearing a grin as sharkish as Gwyn’s. She was like a lamb on the ground being circled by a taloned beast.

“Interesting performance.”

Azriel coughed at Cassian’s words, spluttering on the beer he was drinking and Nesta frowned, heat flooding her cheeks. Was he mocking her?

If he was, she wouldn’t give his smugly handsome self the satisfaction of getting to her and instead she ignored his words asking who else was here and where her sister was.

“Feyre, Rhys, Az and me. Amren came to watch the ballet but didn’t stay for drinks.”

“And where’s my sister and Rhys now?”

Cassian jerked his head over to the direction of the compartments. “They’re having a private ‘conversation’ behind closed curtains.”

Nesta’s face twisted in disgust. Fucking fae. Always fucking.

“Why didn’t Amren stay?”

“She never sticks around after The Nutcracker. Says it’s derogatory and insulting and she only comes to refill her well of rage.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, what was it she said Az? That the performances were brimming with cultural appropriation?”

The heat on Nesta’s cheeks turned into furnace. It wasn’t as though Cassian explicitly referred to Nesta’s performance but his words had to crawled under her skin. Feyre’s fae friends weren’t fans of Nesta’s, not after Rhys had spilled to them everything Feyre had told him.

For a group so ancient, they acted like spoilt human teenagers. Nesta would take the high road and try and find dignity in silence.

The bartender brought out another beer for Azriel and a glass of dark liquor for Cassian. A glass of wine from the Rosehall vineyard was handed to her and she was surprised someone had the foresight to order for her before she arrived, and with her favourite drink.

“Did you not like it then?” Nesta asked after taking a sip, her voice light. Azriel coughed again and this time Cassian shot him a glare, his rough-hewn face growing solemn before sliding into his more casual expression.

“There were some authentic Illyrian steps involved which is impressive. Didn’t realise old Eris had it in him.”

“It wasn’t Eris,” Nesta said, “It was me. I found an Illyrian choreographer in the city and she taught me some steps.”

Cassian’s face stilled for a moment, motionless like stone before letting out a roaring laugh which reverberated around the bar. The lesser fae behind him jumped and splashed his drink on the counter, quivering in fright.

“Well, that explains it!”

Nesta’s flesh prickled, her skin chilling in the overly warm bar. Goodness knows what she’d been dancing. Some dance of self-mockery probably. Her throat was burning and she didn’t understand whether she was upset because she thought Emerie liked her or upset because Cassian had seen.

Nesta’s fingers clenched the stem of the wine glass and she took a gulp of her drink, downing almost half as her hand wavered and her eyes watered. Cassian immediately stopped grinning.

“It was a beautiful dance,” Azriel said from her right and she turned to him, his face serious. “Other performances of The Nutcracker have the Illyrian dance as the violent, hostile war dance. Yours was the best one I’ve seen. Cassian liked it very much.”

Nesta whispered her thanks, looking between the Illyrians standing at either side of her who were now glaring at each other. She was out-flanked next to their bulk and she wished her sister was done doing whatever the hell she was doing so Nesta could say her hellos and goodbyes and get out of there.

“There’s only one Illyrian choreographer in this city,” Cassian said, his voice softer as his fingers trailed around his glass rim. “No other Illyrian would ever bother with this place.”

Nesta looked around the theatre at its gilded gold décor and red curtains but somehow knew Cassian was referring to Velaris as a whole. Illyrians never came to the city to visit, let alone live.

She glanced at him and found his smile was gentler and his hazel eyes, which always bordered on lascivious, were kinder somehow. Perhaps he hadn’t meant to mock her, perhaps he realised his raucous laughter had hurt.

He had no reason to care if he’d hurt her feelings and she shouldn’t have cared either but there had been a sting to his words which sunk deeper than she’d liked. She wasn’t opposed if he wanted to soothe over his words.

But she wasn’t about to let him know that. Instead, she fixed a bored expression onto her face. “Oh,” she said, looking into her glass as she swirled her wine around, “and who would that be?”

Cassian, still leaning against the bar, mirrored her by looking into his own glass before taking a sip.

“A friend of mine from the old country moved here a couple of years ago because her attempt at bringing ballet into the township was less than successful. You know her human name as Emerie.”

Cassian was still leaning against the bar, now looking into his own deep amber coloured liquid before taking a sip.

Nesta’s head snapped up to find Cassian now looking intently at her. “Yes, that’s her.”

“Figured,” Cassian said with a chuckle and took another long sip.

His mood seemed less jovial than before, more pensive and Nesta glanced around to discover Azriel had gone from her side. She looked around the crowds but didn’t see sight of him. How she lost an Illyrian of his stature she didn’t know but when she whipped her head around to the booth Cassian gestured towards earlier, the curtains were still closed.

She didn’t even have it in her to be irritated. The whole night was a wash-out and because of the stupid enchanted horse incident earlier closing streets, she was now adding additional time to her walk home.

“Well, then,” she said. “It’s been a long day and I’m tired; I have another two performances tomorrow and I want to head out and avoid any festive idiots.”

Cassian stood upright, alert and facing her, his glass sloshing the liquid violently as he placed it back onto the bar a little too hard. His wings flexed. “You haven’t seen Feyre yet.”

“If Feyre wanted to catch up with me then she wouldn’t be playing hide the fae penis with her boyfriend right now.” Her tone was sharp and she glared at Cassian. “It doesn’t take much to say a quick hello to your sister.”

Did Nesta care if Cassian thought her rude? Not a fucking bit. Despite Elain living an hour outside the city and Feyre only living on the other side, a journey which took less than a minute travelling by Winnow Express, Feyre was the sister Nesta saw the least.

“If she comes out at any point,” Nesta continued, “tell her I’ll call her.”

It wasn’t a lie when she said she was tired. Two performances a day took it out of her let alone when magic clung in the air at Solmas and let alone the fact that Nesta had used a tiny amount of her own as some kind of performance enhancer.

Whatever energy reserves she had was depleted, the glass of wine making her feel like she’d drank the entire bottle.

Nesta didn’t bother saying goodbye to Cassian, just left her empty glass on the counter and spun around.

Being a ballerina was on her side as she wove through the crowd and up into the foyer which was blissfully empty. Sadly, the world outside the doors was not so much and Nesta took a breath before wrapping herself in her stole.

The statues guarding the entrance waved her a goodbye, one with a human Santa hat adorning its head and the other with a fae garland wrapped around its waist. Nesta rolled her eyes. Human and fae decorations were put on everything so management could say they’d met their Equal Opportunities criteria.

Nesta stepped onto the pavement and looked down the street of the theatre district.

She couldn’t deny Velaris at night was beautiful.

History books stated the first fae who settled in the city were night dwellers and while they were able to survive in the sun, it was under the starlit sky where they thrived. So, the stories went that they made the night spectacular.

The ink black sky was painted with whorls of galaxies and splashed with stars. At first glance everything appeared white but when Nesta looked closer it was clear they were silver and gold and the purest, palest blue.

Feyre had once told her fae eyes saw more colours than humans and the stars were a multitude of colours – the rainbow and beyond. One of Feyre’s tattoos was designed to allow her to see what the fae saw.

The theatre district was still buzzing with humans and fae alike. Because of the nature of the city, it was usual for the streets to be filled until the early hours of the morning and after any performance in the theatre district there was no time for relaxing.

There was always residual magic left over from the ballet. The ballet theatre was the largest of the theatre buildings and so the magic started strongest at the end Nesta now stood before dissipating the further away you walked.

Snowflakes and flowers alike drifted down from the empty, cloudless sky. The Waltz of the Snowflakes and the Waltz of the Flowers often combatted against each other for prominence in their audience’s minds and refused to give in to each even after the show was done.

Thankfully, the Land of the Sweets didn’t involve themselves in this battle. They had done one performance many weeks ago and when chocolate rained from the sky it was delightful. Boiling hot coffee? Not so much.

Nesta navigated her way though the cobbles and crowds as petals landed in her hair and snowflakes melted on her eyelashes. She heaved a sigh of relief when she made it to the end past the gathered individuals who spilled out of the smaller theatres and theatre bars.

She turned left to go into a side street and stopped, almost tripping over her own feet.

Leaning against the wall, silhouetted against the streetlamps and fae lights was the hulking shape of an Illyrian.

“What are you-? How did you-?”

Cassian laughed as he used his elbow to propel himself from the wall and stride towards her. “What am I doing here and how did I get here so fast?”

“Well... yeah.”

“Wings,” he said, jabbing his thumbs in the direction behind him. “They come in useful from time to time. I thought I would fly you home.”

Nesta eyed up the wings behind him, remembering all the news reports of Illyrian Air. “No thank you, I like the walk.”

“Ok, then I’ll walk with you. Make sure you get home safe.”

She frowned. Nesta had lived in this city all her life and despite the occasional fae related incident which was brought on by personal vendetta, unavoidable prophecy from birth or magic spell gone wrong, Velaris was a safe place.  

It also helped that Nesta had that splash of fae blood herself and a glare which froze bones. Literally. There had been an incident with an ex-boyfriend but she’d filed an explanation with the police and it was never brought up again.  

“I’m fine,” she said. “I don’t need babysitting.”

“I know you don’t but I’d still like to walk you. Please.” The last word was said so softly she almost didn’t hear it but she caught the imploration.

Cassian stepped further into the light of a streetlamp, a few pale pink petals falling from his shoulders, desperation in his eyes.

Nesta sighed. “Fine, but I’m on the other side of the Sidra. The quickest route is over Mermaid Bridge.”

Cassian paused for a moment, “Mermaid Bridge? There won’t be any actual mermaids on it right?”

“Not at this time of year, the water’s too cold and they travel south.”

“Thank god, one of my ex’s was a mermaid. They are terrifying.”

Nesta shook her head, not able to imagine a creature of his size being scared of anything. They started walking in companionable silence. The further away from the city centre they strode, the more the crowds thinned.

Some shops remained open, including the café Nesta sat in earlier and groups had gathered around tables to laugh over mugs of frothy hot chocolate which overflowed with cream. Cinnamon, gingerbread, and candy cane scented the air.

As they walked, humans and fae alike paled when they crossed paths with Cassian and many darted out of his way. One lesser fae flattened himself against the red brick wall while another gave a quiet yelp and ran down an alley.

Nesta glanced up at Cassian but either he was pretending he didn’t notice the running onlookers or he didn’t care.

“What do you do?” she asked. She knew nothing about any of Feyre’s friends in any detail. “For that matter what do any of you do?”

Cassian laughed. “Rhys has a lot of inherited wealth, Amren trades precious stones – we think from the old dragon mines, and no one has a clue what Azriel does. I’m a bounty hunter.”

Oh.

“Caught anyone I’d have heard of?”

“Heard of the Tooth Fairy?”

Nesta grimaced, quickly swooping her tongue over her teeth. “Yes.”

“He was one of mine. So was the Bone Carver, the Weaver and Lanthys.”

Nesta’s eyebrows shot up. “Lanthys? The gold miner? What did he do? Wait, I don’t want to know. He asked me out once.”

Cassian glanced over at her; his own eyebrows raised. “Yeah? Did you say yes?”

Nesta pulled a face. “Good grief, no. He kept sending me telepathic dick pics. It’s bad enough being sent dick pics across dating apps.”

They approached Mermaid Bridge, which was, as Nesta said, devoid of the creature it was named for. Lights twinkled on the other side of the city, the residential side where Nesta lived. There were shrieks of delight further up the river in the dark and Nesta wondered if Gwyn was ice-diving next to Viviane’s ice rink.

Cassian coughed. “You’re on dating apps?”

“Not many, I thought I’d give them a go. My sisters are busy, I only have a few friends and I need something other than work in my life.”

“Yeah, I understand. ‘All work and no play’ make Cassian a dull boy too. The play part of life is fun,” he looked at her from the side of his eye and winked.

Nesta felt the blush spread across her cheeks and she willed it down with whatever force she had left. She wasn’t a virgin so she wasn’t about to start blushing like one.

They climbed the steps to the bridge and walked across. Of all the bridges which connected the two halves of the city, this was Gwyn’s favourite. Nesta’s human eyes couldn’t pick out the colours at night but in the day the railings glittered gold and shimmered with turquoise gems.

“Do you date?” The words slipped out before she stopped them. “You mentioned a mermaid ex so....”

Cassian’s laugh was more a breath and he started to smooth down non-existent knots in his hair. “Yes. Well...no. I did but work is busy and I’m sort of interested in someone and I guess until I purge them from my system, I’m not interested in anyone else.”

“How long have you been interested in them?”

“A while.”

“Why don’t you ask them out rather than eradicate them from your options?”

Nesta wanted to slap herself in the face. Or pitch herself off the bridge into the black, ice-cold water. Even as she was speaking, she wanted to not be but it was as though her mouth and mind had fallen out and no longer wanted anything to do with each other.

Cassian shrugged, “I guess. They just never struck me as someone interested in dating fae.”

They came to the end of the bridge and Nesta looked upwards at the sky. On this side of the river without the city lights, the stars were clearer to her eyes, more defined. One shot across the sky.

“You should go for it,” Nesta said, “you might be surprised.”

“Maybe,” Cassian sighed. “She’s kind of intimidating though.”

“You’re over six foot tall with massive wings and can use magic. I’m sure you’re more intimidating.”

“Me? Nah, I’m sure she thinks I’m an oversized bat.”

Nesta cringed. Those had been her words once a couple of years ago when she was first introduced to Feyre’s new friendship group and the Illyrian’s within. She didn’t think they’d heard her say it but then again, fae hearing was something exceptional along with fae sight.

The streets they walked were now quieter, the hustle and bustle of the inner-city gone. The chill settled in easier on this side of the river and Nesta knew she’d wake to frost across her window panes in the morning.

They were silent until they reached her apartment building, halfway up one of the steepest lanes. It was a small four storey which wasn’t spacious or modern but it gave her brilliant view across the river and Velaris and most importantly, it was hers.

“This is me,” she said, stopping outside the steps leading to the red entrance door. “Thank you for walking me back.” It was on the tip of her tongue to invite Cassian in for coffee but she held back.

He smiled, his eyes warm and shining. “Honestly it was my pleasure.” He leant forward, the sheer bulk of him covering Nesta and for a moment she thought he would kiss her but instead he took her slim fingered hand in his larger one and brought it up to his mouth, kissing the back of her hand.

“Goodnight,” he said, “I hope you have a good Solmas Day when it comes.”

Cassian was no ballet dancer but he sure moved like one, letting go of her hand and swivelling to face the direction they’d walked in from, marching down the slope of her street while Nesta stared at his retreating back.

He was clad in black and would have easily blended into his surroundings if not for the red jewels he wore at his wrists.

Nesta gaped down at the back of her hand, her mouth open. She still felt his lips, warm and soft, on her skin.

“Wait!”

Cassian turned back to face her, tilting his head.

“I’m sorry if my performance in the ballet was offensive.  I know Azriel said it was beautiful and that you liked it but if that was a lie to save my feelings, it’s ok. I went to Emerie because I wanted to make it authentic. I should have left it alone.”

Cassian smiled but it wasn’t mocking. He took a few steps back up the street towards her. “You know I said Emerie was a friend from the old country?”

Nesta nodded.

“She’s a really good friend. I like her a lot. She’s no nonsense with a great heart. I was trying to set her up with Rhys’ cousin Mor and in the process we got talking about dating and relationships and she asked if there was anyone, I was interested in. As it happens, I discovered this evening that she knows the person I was talking about. I’m sure she saw this as her opportunity to do some matchmaking of her own.”

“Oh,” Nesta said, her throat dry.

“Yeah. I also happened to tell her in one conversation I would be watching The Nutcracker this year on account of it being Solmas. So, there you go.”

The butterflies were flittering in Nesta’s stomach again and Cassian’s words were taking shape in her mind and building a story. “The steps Emerie taught me for the Illyrian dance – was that an invitation?”

Cassian’s smile stretched wide and he tilted his head back and laughed, the dark column of his throat shining in the starlight. “Oh yes, a very specific invitation. Emerie must have had the day of her life when she pieced everything together.”

The flittering in her stomach was now pooling in her chest. This type of conversation should have her fleeing up the steps and racing through the foyer until she threw herself into her cold bed to hide under the covers.

Nesta wanted to know what she’d inadvertently done without meaning to. Not that she minded whatever it was she’d done.

“What did I dance then, Cassian?” Her voice was lower than usual and rich like the overflowing cream in the café.

Cassian’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, his hazel eyes were almost black. “The dance you performed half naked on a heated stage was most definitely an invitation, Nesta.” He smiled at her again, soft like before but there was something behind it. Suddenly he was a wolf and she the lamb again. He was all claws and teeth and animal.

A shiver of anticipation ran through her. Her pulse beating in her throat, drawing Cassian’s eye.

“Oh, Nesta,” Cassian said, his voice almost a growl. “You performed an Illyrian dance of seduction.”

[miranda-mundt-art]

Is there ANYTHING Athalie likes to do other than abusing children? Anything?? I know she only cares about maintaining Severin traditions but come on, she’s gotta have at least one hobby right? What does she do in her spare time, when she doesn’t have any Matriarch Work? Sew? Does she even like movies, and if she does, what’s her favorite movie? If she likes books, which genre does she like? Sorry if I’m bombarding you with questions. Athalie is one of my favorite Muted characters after Camille and Avaline (even if I hate every moment with her because she keeps stirring shit up and hurting Cam/Avi) because she’s a great villain and she’s not a villain because you say she is. She’s a villain because in her eyes, she’s the only right and sane person in the Severin family, and since no one else gives a shit about their traditions, she has to do all this to make sure they are upheld. Athalie’s a very interesting character even if I love to hate her (like Rachel from Tower of God) and I wanna know more about her!

This is gonna be a long post lmfao 

The Severin family is pretty big at this point, and more scattered than most other NOLA families (Save for maybe the dupre, but the dupre are naturally more independent of each other in general and dont have this system) And while she isn’t as controlling to them as she is to Avaline/Camille she still manages them. 

Putting up a Read More for this Essay lol

Beginnings of the month are the areas that take the most time because that is when she’s handling making sure everyones monthly allowances are getting to them. And then over the course of the month she also is taking requests for any additional funds a Severin might need 

For example - if they want to go to college or something. That will be a big investment on the family banks part since obviously she doesn’t want to take out a loan so its a long process that would allow that severin to have their school paid in full. But obviously they have to prove that its “worth” the trouble, which would involve a series of tests and interviews and discussions on how that would benefit the family. 

She also organizes family events and reunions. 

To everyone else in the family on the outside she doesn’t seem /friendly/ but she does seem /giving/ and they view her as “firm” but not cruel. (The way that everyone else admires her work is another thorn in the side for Avaline given how she is treated. Which is also common. Most abusers have a nicer outer face) 

Athalie is very thorough about her job and taking care of the general needs of the family. She was very much put in the mindset of “My personal needs and wants aren’t important so long as the family is secure and put together” which is why she considers Abrielle/Camille/Avaline so selfish. (You’ll see that is the insult she uses most often. Because to her, if you’re in the matriarch line that’s it. that is your role. that is what you do.)

Most Severin’s like her MORE than Abrielle since she was trying to basically strip everything down and then build it up again new. Which would obviously mess with their money. she is very involved in her work even if most of her work is just... arranging people like they are on a chess board. 

She enjoys going to the theater - like for ballets or operas or classical music orchestras - which is another reason why she had Avaline signed up for ballet. (But her disdain for having to take care of a child that she didn’t want is what kept her from actually going to see a majority of Avaline’s practices) 

She plays the violin, she likes black coffee, she likes steak that is VERY bloody and doesn’t really care for any vegetables at all. She hates absolutely hates sweets. She also enjoys reading.... but only reads old locked up books full of forbidden spells lmfaoooo and experimenting with said spells if she likes them enough.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #163

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re making the Alter Ego of Pleasure, Meltryllis! This one’s easy, all we gotta do is make a vampiric ballerina A.I. out of water and strap knives to her feet. In vaguely medieval times.

Yep, real easy.

Nothing to it, really.

Won’t even break a sweat on this one.

Tootally not stalling here.

Fine, we’ll really do it. Build breakdown below the cut, character sheet over here.

Next up: She’s got huge... tracts of hand.

Race and Background

So, uh... tackling the big questions first, I guess. The obvious answer here is just Custom Lineage, but we’re trying to make someone made of acid here, and slightly reflavored human just isn’t going to cut it.

Instead, we’re going with Water Genasi because let’s be honest literally nothing would actually fit here, and we already set a precedent with Arjuna and Karna. This increases your Wisdom by 1 and your Dexterity by 2. You also get resistance to acid damage because melting acid is dumb, you’re Amphibious, allowing you to breathe air and water, you can swim, and you can cast Shape Water for some fancy ballet visuals thanks to your Call to the Wave.

Your background is... complicated to integrate into D&D, but you do get a lot from your mother, so we’ll modify the Inheritor background and make you an A.I.nheritor, giving you proficiency with Arcana (the closest thing to tech in D&D) and Performance thanks to your obsession with pirouettes.

Ability Scores

You’re good at spinning around and stabbing people with swords while spinning around, so make sure your Dexterity is as high as possible. Bending yourself into a pretzel is only half the battle though, so keep your Charisma high too. Your Wisdom also isn’t that bad, you’re usually hooked into the universe’s admin systems whenever you pop up, so you’re pretty aware of things, even if you can’t feel them. Your Intelligence isn’t that bad, you’re literally a hyper-advanced A.I., I bet you’re good at calculus. This means your Constitution and Strength are pretty low. You’re canonically built for offense, and while I would’ve dumped Constitution instead of Strength normally I checked out how much HP you’d be left with and that’d just be cruel, even for me.

Class Levels

1. Monk 1: We’re starting off as monk right away so you can have Unarmored Defense to make your Armor Class good even in a leotard. You also get Martial Arts, giving you a bonus action attack, dexterity based attacks, and a d4 minimum for monk attacks.

Just saying here that we’re reflavoring your heels as short swords. This lets you dual-wield for two shoes (though it is kind of redundant since you already get bonus action attacks with your kicks anyway) and they’re pointy and already monk weapons.

You also get proficiency with Strength and Dexterity saves, as well as the physical skills Acrobatics and Athletics to make your dance moves flashier and your routines longer.

2. Monk 2: Second level monks get Ki which you can use to Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or attack twice as a bonus action by spending a ki point. You get Monk Level ki points per short rest.

You also get Unarmored Movement, making you a bit lighter on your feet.

3. Sorcerer 1: It’s been said that eldritch abominations are just outside context problems for the universe, and it doesn’t get more outside D&D’s context than a sentient AI. That’s why you’re an Aberrant Mind sorcerer, which gives you Psionic Spells for free (most of which we’ll be swapping out) and Telepathic Speech, giving you the ability to tap into Seraph’s chat system to speak telepathically with another creature for Sorcerer Level minutes, as long as you stay within Charisma Modifier miles of each other. I don’t know how you could get two miles away in less than a minute, but have fun figuring that out.

Also also your Call to the Wave improves, and you can cast Create or Destroy Water once per long rest.

Speaking of Spells, you can cast those now by using your Charisma modifier. You get the first steps of the Melt Virus thanks to your Acid Splash and Tasha’s Caustic Brew to soften up even the toughest of enemies. You also get Blade Ward because seriously try to cut water. Message is just another chat program, and Sword Burst lets you try spinning. It’s a good trick!

You also get Arms of Hadar, Dissonant Whispers, and Mind Sliver for free from your psionic spells, but we’re going to replace DW with Detect Magic right away. You’re jacked into the system, magic shouldn’t be hard to figure out.

4. Monk 3: Bouncing back to monk real quick to become a Drunken Master. You can Deflect Missiles by kicking them back as a reaction, reducing their damage and launching it back if they’re reduced to 0. You also get a Drunken Technique, making yourself even faster when you start hurting people. Using a flurry of blows lets you disengage for free, and your walking speed increases by another 10 feet.

5. Sorcerer 2: Second level sorcerers are a Font of Magic, giving you sorcery points that can be spent to recharge spell slots, among other things that don’t unlock til next level.

You can also cast Comprehend Languages now, and you should replace Arms of Hadar with Identify. Just stick it in your inventory and read the name, it’s not hard.

6. Sorcerer 3: Thanks to second level spells, you can now Blur the edges of your body to become harder to hit. You also get Calm Emotions and Detect Thoughts as freebies, though neither one is really justified, which is unfortunate.

Thankfully all your other spells get cooler thanks to Metamagic! Spend sorcery points to change a spells damage type with Transmuted Spell or make it harder to save against thanks to Heightened Spell!

7. Monk 4: Bouncing back to monk again gives you your first Ability Score Improvement, so bump up your Charisma for stronger spells. You can also Slow Fall as a reaction to avoid fall damage because all those heels kind of act like shocks. You also get Quickened Healing to spend ki points to heal yourself as an action. This probably isn’t canonical, but trust me, you’ll need it.

8. Sorcerer 4: Now that your spells are okay, use this ASI to get the Elemental Adept feat for Acid spells. Your spells now ignore resistance to acid damage and all your dice count as at least a 2 for damage. Considering how much Acid spells love d4s, this is a serious upgrade.

This level, you can use Green-Flame Blade (Green-Acid Blade?) and Enhance Ability to make your dance moves even better.

9. Sorcerer 5: Fifth level sorcerers can autocorrect thanks to their Magical Guidance, spending a sorcery point to re-roll a failed skill check. You also get a proper Melt Virus upgrade thanks to Vampiric Touch, dealing necrotic damage and healing yourself. Sadly you can’t turn this into acid damage, but it’s still pretty good on its own.

You also get more freebies from Psionic Spells, Hunger of Hadar makes for a pretty good Sarasvati Meltout vortex for at a low level, creating an area of difficult terrain that deals cold and acid damage on creatures that start and end their turn in it, respectively. You also get Sending, another chat client that can work even with people in other servers (planes).

10. Sorcerer 6: Your brand new Water Walk will let you stay on top of your own Meltout.

You also get Psionic Sorcery, not to be confused with Psionic Spells, that lets you cast Psionic Spells without verbal or somatic components if you spend sorcery points. You can also ignore material components if they’re not consumed by the spell.

On top of all of that, your Psychic Defenses firewall kicks in, giving you resistance to psychic damage and advantage on saves against being charmed or frightened. Lets be real, your mother is way scarier than any dumb goblin could be.

11. Monk 5: Fifth level monks get an Extra Attack each action, so now you can kick with both legs without using your bonus action! Your Stunning Strike can also be used by spending a ki point to force a constitution save on a creature you hit with a monk attack. If the target fails, they’re stunned for a round, giving you the perfect opening to torment them even more.

12. Monk 6: Sixth level monks get Ki-Empowered Strikes, making your fists magical weapons. You’re kind of a magical construct, so that just makes sense. Since you’re a drunken master, you also get your Tipsy Sway, speeding up how much speed you need to stand up and letting you turn your pleasure into another creature’s pain by redirecting attacks that miss you.

13. Sorcerer 7: For your fourth level spells, you can use Vitriolic Sphere for even more Acid, possibly even taking more damage on the next turn unless they pass their dexterity save. You also get more Psionic Spells, but I’ll save you the headache and just tell you what we’re swapping them with. Get Arcane Eye this level, and Locate Creature next level. One benefit to being an AI; access to the world map.

14. Sorcerer 8: Grab the Piercer feat to round up Dexterity, boosting your AC and attack power. You can also re-roll a piercing die once per turn. You also deal an extra die of damage on critical piercing attacks. You also get a Watery Sphere to restrain creatures within... drumroll please... a watery sphere. A great way to hold enemies in place while you pelt them with acid.

15. Sorcerer 9: Your fifth level spells include Enervation for a longer lasting Melt Virus, as well as Psionic Spells Rary’s Telepathic Bond for a whole chatroom, and Legend Lore. Tune into the BB channel to learn about your favorite subjects!

16. Sorcerer 10: Grab Quickened Spell as your third Metamagic option to add extra power to your rounds. Attack twice as an action, then Green-Acid Blade for even more pain!

You also get Skill Empowerment to give yourself expertise on skills you’re already good at for the greatest dances you’ve ever seen. We’re also pretty much set on good cantrips, so grab On/Off for the flavor. You can now turn nearby electronic devices on or off as an action. Honestly you could probably use a lot of the Modern Magic spells if your DM allows for it.

17. Sorcerer 11: Tasha’s Otherworldly Guise gives you a fancier outfit that makes you immune to fire and poison or radiant and necrotic damage depending on what role you choose to play. You’re also immune to being poisoned or Charmed, respectively. Your weapon attacks are now magical, and you get +2 to your AC. You get a flying speed for truly impressive jumps. You can also use your Charisma instead of dexterity to attack, but your dexterity’s better, so...

18. Sorcerer 12: Use your last ASI to bump up your Charisma. Stronger spells are always good.

19. Sorcerer 13: With your new seventh level spells, you can fully unleash your sadism thanks to Power Word Pain. If the target has fewer than 100 HP and it can be charmed, it becomes wracked with crippling pain. It can only move 10 feet per round, it has disadvantage on attacks, checks, and saves (aside from constitution saves). It also has to succeed on a constitution save to not waste the spell slot. At the end of each turn it has to try and make a constitution save, otherwise, the spell is indefinite.

20. Sorcerer 14: Your capstone level turns you into a Revelation in Flesh. As a bonus action, you can transform yourself for 10 minutes using 1 sorcery point for each ability you want to activate. These options include:

Truesight on invisible creatures (6/10 canonicity, might as well with all the divination spells you’ve got)

A flying speed (8/10 canonicity, can justify with sick jumps)

A swimming speed and underwater breathing (5/10 canonicity, but you already have these abilities so it doesn’t really matter)

Your body becomes basically liquid, able to squeeze through inch width gaps and escape from grapples and restraints. (10/10 canonicity, this is literally why we’re here.)

Pros:

With deflect missiles, a decent enough AC of 16/18 with Tasha’s Guise, and your Psychic Defenses, you’re decent enough at dealing with ranged attackers.

This is especially useful, as your mobility will keep you one step away from the melee fighters, letting you pick and choose your fights. You’re fast, and you can fly or run on water for extra escape options.

For most damage types, elemental adept is a nice addition, but nothing game changing. Not so with acid spells. So many acid spells use d4s, meaning the difference between 1 and 2 is greatly appreciated, as is the ignored resistances.

Cons:

If something can catch up to you, it’ll find out real fast just how squishy you are. Those sorcerer hit dice did not do you any favors, leaving you with only 75 HP. Be careful around high level casters with a good antivirus (Power Word Kill), or they might just delete you. Also literally any fighter.

While elemental adept helps, Acid Immunity is also pretty common in D&D. While Transmuting your spells (and just hitting people) will help keep you from being a sitting duck in those fights, it’s still a glaring weak point.

Outside of your spells, your physical attacks aren’t particularly powerful thanks to being stuck with short swords. So if you start running out of spell slots, retreating might be a good idea. A glass cannon without the cannon is just a bad thing to be.

[pl-panda]

To Marry a Vigilante: Part 18

MASTERLIST || First || Previous || Next

To Marry a Vigilante: Part 18

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The akuma of the day turned out to be the editor-in-chief of the tabloid that tried to spin a story about Damian and Allegra. It might’ve had something to do with the fact that the Mayor’s office, Kane Industries, and Wayne Enterprises were going after his newspaper for libel and slander. The Printer was defeated by Pink Tigress, who was working with extreme prejudice that day. Ladybug arrived just in time to purify the akuma. 

After it was all sorted out, the group retreated to Wayne Manor, where they met Chloé waiting for them. 

“Good. You’re here. Now it’s time to plan a counter-attack.” 

“What?” Marinette asked, surprised.

“Counter-attack on Erica and Lila. They practically declared war with that stunt!” Chloé raved on.

“Huh?” Damian was equally confused.

“Apparently, ‘The Printer’ was paid a rather large sum to have this article published without checking credibility. He did these things before.” She explained.

“So they actually started to play dirty?” The bluenette asked

“They didn’t!” Tim ran inside the cave, panting. “How in a hundred treadmills can you run so fast?!” He stared at the blonde.

“Puh-lease! I just used a short-cut.” She huffed. “One could think you accuse me of… physical training.” She made a disgusted face, but she was smirking. 

“Tt. So did they attack us or not?” Damian scowled and started to sharpen his sword. Where he got the sword from was not important at that moment. Everyone long since gave up on trying to track all his hidden weapon stashes. 

“They couldn’t. Neither has that amount of money. I traced it to a foreign account registered on Emma Rose Blake.”

Marinette’s eyes widened and she stumbled back as if the name slapped her. “ Adrien… ” she whispered.

“What!?” Damian was on his feet in an instant.

Sabine grasped her dagger before her expression turned soft and she walked to hug her daughter. “It’s okay, sweetie. You’re not alone.”

“I… Adrien snuck out once. He wanted to watch that movie that starred his mother.  Solitude. ”

“I remember! That one threw a wrench in my search for a while.” Tim beamed.

“We stumbled upon each other and he took me with him…” She remembered and blushed lightly. “I only saw the intro, but from what I found out on the internet, his mother was the lead. Her character’s name was Emma. Rose. Blake.” She told each word separately, making sure they got the message.

“So that bastard thought he could get the two of you to break up?” Chloé asked. “Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! The two of you are the sweetest, most loyal couple in the whole of Gotham. And besides, the blasted spell wouldn’t let anything like that happen. We’ve seen the effects.”

“Tt. It does work both ways.” Damian’s face was twisted in a scowl. “And I reserve my right to skin the cat and feed him to sharks. I’m sure Penguin will let me borrow some.” 

“I’m… not sure if you’re joking…” Tim stared at his brother, worried about his sanity.

“I’m not.” The youngest Wayne cut him off. “That flea-ridden alley-cat is intruding on my bond. My marriage. The league… It’s the single most sacred relation for the members of the league. For me.” He grabbed Marinette’s hand. “And he will suffer for trying to separate us.”

For a moment, Marinette stared at him, taken by surprise by his revelation. Then, she cuddled into his side.

“I’m not leaving.”

“I know.”

“Also,” Chloé decided to interrupt the cute moment, “you’re trending.” She showed them a video.

Marinette and Damian were standing on the table in the cafeteria, holding hands.

“...I trust Damian with my life. I’m his and he’s mine!” She declared. There was steel determination in her eyes, but also flame that burned bright.

“I’m hers and she’s mine.” Damian echoed. He had an identical expression on his face. They raised their joint hands before turning to one another and sharing a quick kiss. In the background, many people cooed at the romanticism of the scene. Then, a black butterfly sneaked through the window. Marinette looked at it and grasped it from the air. When she opened her hand, it was a mess. 

“Not today, Hawkass Junior.” She seethed. Then, like a queen she was, she and two blondes by her side left the place among applause. 

“Someone recorded it?!” She started blushing profoundly. Damian’s cheeks were also red. 

“Tt. Who did that?” 

“Claude.” Chloé smiled. “But that’s not the important part.”

“Then what is?” Sabine asked. “Also, I want a copy of that video.” In response, her phone vibrated.

“Maman?!” Marinette moaned.

“The ‘Not today, Hawkass Junior’ is breaking the records on Twitter and Tumblr.” She smiled. “You’ve become a sort of a hero today. MDC is now  the  designer. Jagged Stone went live and he spent five minutes doing nothing but praise you!”

“Only five minutes?” Damian asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Penny found him and dragged him by the ear from the screen. After that, it was only Fang posing before the camera.”

“That’s… That’s Jagged alright…” Mari giggled. 

Damian only huffed. 

Chloé’s phone vibrated and she opened the link. She laughed for a good two minutes before she was able to speak. “Mayor Kane... just declared... ‘Not today, Hawkass Jr.’ to be the official motto... of the campaign against his terror.” 

“Can I make an MDC shirt with this?” The designer beamed. “I know! I’ll make a pillow! No! A…”

“You can make an entire collection, sweetie.” Sabine was grinning. “You’re the hero both in and out of the suit.” She cooed. “And you’re so cute! I’m totally sending this video to Sandra! And uncle Cheng! He’ll love it!”

“Maman!” Marinette moaned again, but she was smiling. She had people that wouldn’t abandon her. 

--------

Two days later it was finally Saturday, which meant a bit of freedom from the kids at school. In hindsight, Marinette preferred it when she was not that popular. Of course, Chloé did what Chloé did best and worked her crowd control magic. She wasn’t constantly accosted at school. At least not by most. Maps made her into a personal hero of sorts.

Now though, it was Saturday, which served as an excuse to stay late in bed, spend the whole day with Damian before spending the evening watching cheesy movies with Chloé and her mom. It would be a perfect Saturday. 

She got dressed in her favorite red dress, making sure to wrap the rope dart under the sash. It wouldn’t do to leave home without any means of self-defense. Not in Gotham at any rate. Her hair fell down her back and curled slightly. On her left wrist, she put a small gold bracelet with a single pearl. It was light and didn’t attract too much attention, but made her whole outfit stand out slightly. She paired it with high stockings and black ballet shoes with silver ribbons. After a thought, she picked a black glossy leather wristlet. Damian promised they would be going somewhere special. 

When she got downstairs, he was already waiting, dressed in a semi-formal outfit. His suit was of course MDC original. He had dark trousers, a white shirt with the topmost two buttons open and a jacket with sleeves rolled to his elbows. All in all, it gave a bit of a roguish vibe, different from what he wore on most occasions. Marinette made sure he wore nothing but her creations. He tried to protest that it was too much work, or at least pay her something for it. She threatened she would forbid him from paying for anything for her. Damian made a mistake, arguing that she was living under his roof. Her response was to start calculating rent. He relented and allowed her to dress him up to her heart’s desire.

“Hello, Habibti.” He smiled at her. 

“Damian! Will you tell me where  we are going?” She hugged him. 

“Not yet.” He said mysteriously. “We’re going somewhere special and I want to surprise you.”

“Daaaamiiii!” She tried again but to no avail.

“Tt. You hang out with Maps too much.” 

“She’s cool.” 

“She’s irritating.”

“That’s just because you’re not willing to give her a chance.”

“She thinks I’m Batman.” He huffed.

“Curious why.” Marinette retorted, smirking. “I’m sure the fact Robin led her for a gift hunt had nothing to do with it, am I right?”

“Tt. I admit nothing.” He tried, but a small smile made its way on his face. Curses! Why did she make him so mushy? 

“I knew there was a heart somewhere deep inside.” She continued, smirking triumphantly.

“Don’t be ridiculous. All people have hearts.”

“Even Erica?”

“She’s not a person. She is just walking irritation.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Marinette said. They were walking down the road, bantering to and fro.

They arrived at the gate, where a sports car was waiting for them. Damian took the driver’s seat and pointed her to the shotgun. The car radio was playing the song they danced to during their dance-off. It was full of life and brought back some fond memories. 

“Can I know where we are going now?” She begged. 

“Not. Yet.” He said with a confident smirk. “You’ll love it though.”

“Fine.” She relented and remained in her seat. Marinette decided to focus on the sights outside the window. 

They were driving through the city. She saw that the mayor wasted no time and ‘Not today, Hawkass jr.’ indeed became a city-wide slogan for the campaign about positive thinking. Marinette had a not-so-small suspicion that Chloé and Allegra had something to do with it. She wouldn’t put it past them to artificially boost the popularity until it exploded. Not that she complained that much. If it helped stop more akumas, she was all for it in fact.

Finally, the car pulled in front of the Gotham City History Museum. Or at least Marinette thought it was the museum, from the angle she couldn’t be sure. Before they got out, Damian handed her a blindfold. 

“You’re joking?” She stared at him. “It’s a museum.”

“How did… Nevermind. I have a surprise for you.”

“Why would… No way!” She connected the dots. “But… But we didn’t do that much!”

Damian looked at her with a mixture of amazement and mirth. “I’m surprised Bourgeois didn’t share the news with you.”

“She was too busy hanging out with Cass yesterday.” She then got a pensive expression. “The two of them hit off better than I thought.” 

“True. I’m disappointed with Cassandra, but alas.”

“No, you are not. You’re happy that she’s making friends.” Marinette countered with a smile. 

“You have no proof.” He dropped the blindfold and got out. “Come on or we’ll miss it.”

In response, Marinette put on her sunglasses and also got out. On both walls of the museum, there were giant posters of Ladybug and Black Cat in their heroic poses. He was standing straight on the dark background, with both hands on the baton that served him as a cane. He was looking left, toward the Ladybug poster. He looked serious and a bit intimidating. Ladybug on the other hand was smiling and overlooking all the passers-by. They’ve used her new suit, for which she was eternally grateful. Marinette would probably burn in shame if they decided to stick with the original. 

Inside, Damian led her through the entrance, showing the tickets. They went straight to the Superhero hall, which previously was called just Bat-hall. Marinette was feeling a whirlwind of emotions. She remembered the statue unveiling back in Paris, but it was after months of activity. Here, Gotham accepted two more heroes after a few weeks. Granted, Hawkmoth jr. was much more persistent and his akumas more destructive (plus they had even worse fashion sense), but Marinette still didn’t consider herself special enough.

Reporters from various newspapers crowded around the podium on which stood Mayor Kane. Allegra was by her side. When the young blonde spotted them, she winked at them and smirked. Marinette waved to her in response while Damian guided her toward the front row. He was a Wayne. He didn’t settle for anything else.

The ceremony was lovely and Mayor Kane spoke kindly about the new heroes. Not once she broached the subject of their age. The statue itself was tall, with all three Miraculous users standing side by side, Ladybug in the center, and slightly forward. After that was done and the mayor answered some questions, Damian prodded her slightly and the two snuck out unnoticed. He led her toward the back and onto the stairs that led to the rooftop and the couple was away from the prying eyes. They walked up and opened another set of doors that led them outside. 

The day was a bit chilly, but several heaters placed on the rooftop made it feel perfect for how they were dressed. In the center, there was a blanket with a picnic basket and a small heat-isolated container next to it. 

“Damian!” Marinette giggled when he hugged her from behind and nuzzled into her neck. 

“A surprise.” He whispered. 

“But… How… Why… And on the rooftop?” She gave him a questioning look.

“Heaters needed a power source.” He answered before leading her to the blanket. “And it was closest to the previous attraction.” 

When they sat, cuddled together, the boy pulled a small box of strawberries. Marinette immediately snatched it from him and tasted it first. She practically melted at the taste. Seeing the look of betrayal on his face, she smirked and picked another. 

“No.” He protested when she put it before his mouth.

“Come on Dami. A plane needs to land.” She kept smirking. Damian tried to keep his dignity, but ultimately he gave up and allowed her to feed him. “See? It wasn’t that hard.” 

“Not a word of this to anyone.” He grumbled. “I have a reputation to uphold.”

“Okay… Only Chloé and Allegra.” She giggled at the horrified look on her husband’s face. 

Deciding to change the subject as fast as possible, Damian asked “Did you like the statue?”

His wife beamed. “It was amazing. I showed you the one in Paris. I mean that one is okay too, but this was actually much better! It acknowledges not only me but all three of us. We are a team and I want us to be represented as such. And did you notice that they actually replicated the tail behind you fluttering?”

“It was indeed adequate work.” He replied, reserved as usual. 

They sat in peace for a bit more, with Marinette occasionally feeding Damian a strawberry. They didn’t really need to speak, instead just enjoying the monotonous sound of cars before the museum and relaxing with each other’s embrace. 

Feeling a bit mischievous, Marinette tapped Damian’s shoulder and made him turn to look at her. As soon as their eyes met, she leaned and fed him another strawberry. Except this time instead of holding it with her hand, she was holding half of it in her mouth. This, of course, led to two of them kissing. Both of their lips tasted like strawberries. 

It wasn’t a long or passionate kiss, but it was still full of love. 

When they broke, Damian had a funny expression on his face and Marinette giggled. He shrugged and pulled a thermos from the container, pouring both of them a cup of hot chocolate each (together with marshmallows). 

Damian regaled her of some of the tales about his great detective skills and how often he saved the day. She kept giggling and pointing out obvious mistakes, to which he huffed good-naturedly. He tried to stay away from subjects related to the League of Assassins and his childhood, but Marinette coaxed some stories out of him, careful not to prod too much. She respected his decision to leave it behind, but at the same time, she wanted to understand him. In the end, they just laid on the blanket cuddled together, with all the sweets consumed. 

“Damian… I love you.” She nuzzled into the crook of his neck. 

“Yes. You told me that at the airport. And several times after.” His logical brain responded before emotions took reins and he continued. “I love you too.”

“But I feel like it was always in response to something you said. I wanted to tell you that from myself. I love you.” She cuddled closer to him and he hugged her. 

“ Habibti, ” he whispered.

“ Mon chéri, ” she answered. 

After some more cuddling and looking at how the evening sun slowly set behind the monumental towers of central Gotham, Damian finally untangled himself from Marinette and got up. He helped her on her feet and turned the heaters off. 

“It’s time to go. We have two more places to visit.” He informed her and led her down to the museum proper. They snuck out of the staircase and joined one of the trips unnoticed, before leaving the building and avoiding anyone seeing them. It was fun to do teenage things sometimes. 

-----------

Their next stop was a small Italian restaurant that was out of the way and mostly empty. Damian had a table reserved there and made sure to pick one that was out of the way, in the corner that overlooked the whole place. What Marinette didn’t know was that he paid to have the tables next to them kept empty. 

They settled on a vegetarian lasagne with grilled swiss cheddar, spinach, and ricotta. Marinette wasn’t a vegetarian herself but after their little picnic, they wouldn’t fit two separate dishes. She enjoyed the tastes Damian introduced her to since they met each other. Especially (to Plagg’s delight and Tikki’s mirth), she loved the various cheeses that he exposed her to. While she sometimes still ate meat, it happened more and more seldom. Alfred’s cooking was on par with her uncle’s. 

Their discussion was much lighter now that they weren’t entirely alone. She smiled when he accidentally referenced Game of Thrones. He tried to deny it but in the end, he had to confess or people would think he knew what a ‘meme’ was. That was humiliation beyond what he could survive.

“...I’m just saying that if it’s a bit strange that Allegra and Claude always disappear together.” She finished her speech. 

“Tt. As if my cousin would lower herself to dating the clown.” He huffed. 

“I didn’t say they’re dating. It’s just that for at least two weeks now they kept slipping away.” 

“You’re imagining things, Habibti.” He dismissed her concern. 

“Okay, but what about Felix and Jon? They also run aw… ay…” She suddenly froze when a large group of people pushed their way into the restaurant. On the front, Lila and Alya were guiding them right to where the couple was sitting. 

Marinette heard Damian curse under his breath before suddenly everything was enveloped by thick, black smoke. She felt someone grab her wrist and pull her into a nearby door. They found themselves in the kitchen, Damian leading her between working cooks. Marinette saw how he pulled a phone from his pocket and texted the restaurant owner. He also paid double for the trouble with the smoke bomb. Luckily, the owner apparently understood the need for a quick getaway. The class on the other hand would be in for a rude awakening.

“That was close…” Marinette sighed in relief. 

“Tt. I should’ve challenged them to a duel for interrupting us.” Her husband scowled. 

“I told you no killing.”

“They would survive… probably.”

“Still. Now, where is that secret birthday party supposed to be?” She had a hard time keeping a straight face when he choked on his own saliva and stared at her with wide eyes. 

“It was Claude?” He asked harshly. 

“Of course not. Did you really think I would forget my birthday?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“You did forget Christmas.” He pointed out. This time, it was Damian’s turn to try and not show any reaction to how she started spluttering. 

“That… I… But… It… We… It was something completely different!” She finally shouted. 

“Whatever you say, Habibti. As for the party… Let’s go. They should be ready by now.” 

------

Chloé was running around the club they rented for the evening. She was doing at least seven things at once, but that wasn’t important. She needed the party to be perfect. She already made sure that all guests were in place and she was now fixing some of the decorations that were not to her liking. She had trouble balancing all the things she was holding and placing them one by one. Then, someone took the weight from her.

“Maybe I can help?”

“Thank you Maribear…” Then, Chloé’s brain registered. “Maribear!?”

“Surprise!” The bluenette cheered.

“How?!” The blonde jumped back, startled. 

“Tt. She blackmailed me.” Damian grumbled from behind his wife.

“Um… With what exactly?” Tim walked from his hiding place. The rest of the guests followed through. 

“Now. It wouldn’t be effective blackmail if I told you, right?” Mari turned and looked at him with a smirk on her face. 

“True. Happy birthday, sweetie!” Sabine was suddenly behind her daughter, Chloé, and Damian. She managed to startle all three of them. 

“Maman! Don’t scare us like that!”

“Payback’s nice.” Her mother and Chloé responded at the same time. 

“They got you there, Angel.” Damian decided to repay her for the blackmail. 

“Hey! You’re supposed to take my side!” She giggled. “Besides, it’s my birthday.”

“I’ll try to remember next time.”

With that, the party started.

-------

Masterlist // Next

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

1998 Film Munkustrap Rewatch Part 3B

In which Munkustrap has to be the Responsible Adult and spend at least half of the dance party supervising from a distance.

Remember the first Macavity scare? Munkustrap stood in the center of the stage while Alonzo paced the perimeter, both guarding him and searching for potential threats. But, with Old Deuteronomy around, Munkustrap has dropped from first in command to second, so he gets Alonzo’s “secure the perimeter” job.

Misto gets in a small amount of trouble again. Munkustrap ignores it. Whenever one of the other cats screws up, Munkustrap gives them a Disapproving Glare or tells them off in some way. He doesn’t do that with Misto. I think he understands that out of all the younger cats, Misto is the one who most wants to be good. He wants to be helpful and he doesn’t want to upset the Responsible Adults. The other younger cats either enjoy misbehaving or are just careless, the way kids often are. But, Misto is the one who is really trying to be on his best behavior. So, when things go wrong, Munkustrap lets it slide. He didn’t hide with the others and he shook Old Deuteronomy’s fur because he wanted to help.

Here’s Munkustrap in full Stance™. This is the Stance™ and its most Stance™.

When Victoria comes out of hiding, Old Deuteronomy waves Munkustrap away when he tries to handle it. As long as an authority provides comfort and reassurance, the scared child will be fine.

Old Deuteronomy decides that Macavity’s not there anymore and summons the other cats out of hiding. Victoria and Jemima pretty much see it as a game and go right along with it, but Munkustrap needs a second to figure out what’s going on.

But he does figure it out.

Munkustrap spends The Song of the Jellicles with George and Plato. George has already been forgiven for his bad attitude as the Rumpus Cat. Also, any time I see Plato and George together, it’s kind of funny. Plato is the Broadway named for the character called Admetus in London. George may or may not have been renamed Admetus for this film. Reports are inconsistent. But, that means that both of this two both are and aren’t Admetus.

Munkustrap and Misto both love their Terpsichorean Powers. Terpsichore is the Ancient Greek Muse of Dance. Jellicle Cats have Dance Powers. That’s why Misto’s magic seems to be almost directly connected to ballet. But, all of the Jellicles have some amount of power related to the moon and dance. Perhaps that’s why the Heaviside Layer is accessed after a ball. You can see Old Deuteronomy directing some of the dances. Maybe the Jellicle Ball is a collective magic spell to open the heavens.

Here’s more of Munkustrap hanging out with The Boys.

For some reason, shortly after the dancing starts, Old Deuteronomy wanders off. In his absence, Munkustrap sits on the throne and can’t go out and dance with the others until he comes back.

Meanwhile, Old Deuteronomy is just hanging out on the sidelines, glaring at everyone. When did he get so scary?

As the dance goes on, Munkustrap is joined by kittens. With Bombalurina is taking over the floor from the Nice Ballet Boys, Pouncival, Victoria, and Jemima have all decided to crowd around Tribe Dad.

Rumpleteazer joins the group, though Mungojerrie decided not to go with her this time. They’re not kittens anymore. He wonders why she wants to hang out with the kittens. Electra also crawls up onto the throne to be next to her dad. This next dance is for Grown-Ups Only. Plato is going to be a grown-up before the night is over, so he’s allowed. Etcetera just didn’t listen to her elders.

Just look at how many kittens are on that throne! The only kitten who just isn’t there at the moment is Tumblebrutus. He’s off somewhere doing ballet with Misto, I guess.

The throne might actually have gotten a bit too crowded, since Jemima leaves to spend time with Jennymom and Skimbledad in the Leg Tent.

Well, now that the Ballet Boys are back, the kittens are pretty eager to run off to play. This Munkustrap commentary hasn’t featured Munkustrap very much, because he’s mostly just been sitting on the throne. At least the kittens are moving around.

As everyone gets high on Jellicle Moonlight, nobody notices that Grizabella is there. I found her while looking for Munkustrap during this bit. When Munkustrap dances, he’s usually somewhere at the back with other cats moving around in front of him.

Then, because he has to be The Responsible Adult, Munkustrap can only supervise the Can’t Believe It’s Not a Mating Dance and leaves Demeter without a cuddle partner.

But, he does get a place in the Cuddle Pile, at the very back. He’s the fifth to be woken up by Grizabella, actually being woken up by the first four waking up.

But, now Munkustrap finally gets to dance with the others. He leads Tugger in the Charging at the Camera dance. They’re joined by what’s either Cassandra or Exotica. The lighting makes it hard to tell.

Then, he’s back with Plato and George, but also with Alonzo. Are all four of them connected? We know that Munkustrap and Alonzo are close and then we see Munkustrap spending a lot of time with Plato and George, and now they’re all together.

Whatever their bond is, Coricopat wants in on it.

And Munkustrap is able to end the dance on a Pose™.

And then Grizabella comes back. Munkustrap isn’t sure what to do and Old Deuteronomy, the Wise and Powerful Leader, is just kind of sitting and watching. He’s letting the tribe choose how to handle the situation themselves, for whatever reason. The Jellicles are way more democratic than you’d think. They have a sort of monarchy, but the monarch usually lets the people solve their own problems.

But, Munkustrap has no idea what to do and mostly lets the others handle it. Skimble, Jenny, and Jelly can manage the kittens and Bomba can sort things out with Demeter. Everyone else has already sort of fucked off.

But, once everyone’s out of the way, Munkustrap has to decide what to do about Grizabella. From his perspective, she crashed the party and is making everyone miserable. But, whatever he planned to do about her, Old Deuteronomy calls him off. Grizabella is not a threat and nothing needs to be done. If he doesn’t want to deal with her, he can hide with the others.

And he still just really doesn’t want to deal with this right now.

[craftypeaceturtle]

Bewitching

Summary: Roman and his trusted friend, Logan, embark on a journey to visit their local witch. 

Note: I was inspired by a post that described this like exact concept. This is just a small fic that struck me! I have no idea why I am only capable of writing rare pair fics but hey ho! At least I’m writing. Analogical and Royality. 

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“Do you even understand where we’re supposed to be going?” Logan muttered as he tried to massage away his upcoming headache. Unfortunately his headache bounded into his side with a wide smirk. 

“Of course! It’s only a simple path through Sanders Woods,” Roman announced as he continued marching through the castle with proud wide steps.

“Do I even need to deconstruct how vague those directions truly are?” 

“Pfft! I’m not an idiot Logan. I do have a map. You just follow through the main path through Sanders Woods but then at some specific stump or something stupid, you turn and then boom! Witches!” Roman wiggled the paper in his face but even that movement didn’t hide that it was just some rushed notes on a napkin from his father. It looked like just simple lines and labels. There wasn’t even an compass pointing north! 

“Ah I stand corrected then, your majesty. Truly you must be a true scholar in the geologies,” Logan sighed and Roman checked his shoulder.  

They were being sent on the incredibly (vague, according to Logan) journey to go track down the kingdom’s local witch to re-establish their trade. A journey that sounded very important and essential so when Logan first heard it, of course he immediately offered his service. The warning sign should have been that Roman was conducting the journey. Another warning sign (as there were many), was the fact that to re-establish their trade, they were trading a kitten and were expecting to get cookies in return. It all painted the very obvious picture that the king wanted his son to do his chores and so asked his friend to ensure the task got done. But then again, Logan prided himself as a man of honour and he wouldn’t refuse to conduct on this journey. He was nobler than this pettiness. He was more serious than any one of the royal family members. He would take great pride in this stupid task.

“Logan!” Roman shouted, Logan whipped round to face him, “Do you mind leaving the kitten alone for at least one second and help me pick out an outfit?”

“Pick an outfit?” Logan squealed indignantly, ignoring his own burning blush as he followed Roman into his room, leaving the poor mewing kitten to sprawl around its basket, “What’s wrong with what you’re wearing?”

He was wearing his typical outfit which was his full princely attire. A pristine white tunic with gold embellishments that all highlighted the strong red of the emblem on his sleeves. He would usually wear a bright red sash across his chest but instead he was flinging it about like a child first trying to learn ballet. But now he blushed bright enough to match the emblem. “We’re meeting new people. Of course a prince should always present their best foot forward.”

“Oh all princes?”

“Okay, don’t pretend that’s fair! We all know that Remus is an octopus dressed as a prince. He shouldn’t be considered along with all other princes!” 

“An octopus?” Logan chuckled.

“Dad got at me for constantly calling him a rat so I’m calling him an octopus. Just as ugly but this time dad thinks it’s just some weird nickname,” Roman said way too proudly for someone who was in his twenties and definitely above sibling squabbles. Then again this was indeed Roman. 

“Ah, you are just so charming and intelligent, your majesty,” Logan smirked before he also bumped their shoulders, “But don’t think that will distract me. Please promise me that you will not flirt with the witch.”

“It’s not flirting! It’s called being friendly, not that you would know that Intronerd!” 

“It’s definitely flirting. And it definitely taints any and all official communication. Do I even need to retell the event with Janus?”

“Right! I’m all ready to go, are you?” Roman bellowed, rushing past him with a satchel of bare essentials. Logan simply sighed and carefully cradled the basket with the kitten. 

It was just after midday and they were finally on their way, the guards around the castle grounds waved with barely hidden laughs. Roman frowned at them and clutched Logan to his side. He was well aware of his reputation around the castle. Foolish and way too optimistic. It stung each time but then Roman knew himself better than any guard could. Plus he could always sick Remus on them! But he also knew Logan was quickly getting mixed in with that reputation. A truly genuine travesty to this world. Logan was a bold, determined and so quietly compassionate but he was only regarded as dumb and easily flustered. And Roman could get it! Like yeah, seeing this emotionless guy walk out of the grounds cradling a kitten was funny, but he knew Logan well enough to laugh at how lovey he was really. They just laughed at the ditzy dumb consort who pretended to be cold and collected. Yet Logan always remained oblivious and Roman would risk his life to ensure it would remain that way. 

He wished he could say it was a beautiful summer’s morn with the birds chirping their victory as they headed into the deep mysterious forest. But instead the sky was a striking grey with a wind that was just the wrong side of cold. Reports stated it would rain in the afternoon and he was unfortunately momentarily defeated by the allure of sleeping in so he couldn’t leave early enough. Meh, he was pretty sure Logan appreciated the extra hours to sit around doing nothing! He waved the famous royal wave to a bunch of children who scattered at their approach with amazed giggles while Logan did his usual Logan thing of keeping his eyes forward and walking away before they could talk. Perhaps it was for the best, they had to focus. 

Well... ‘focus’. The journey was important and all but also this tiny little ginger kitten snuggling into Logan’s muscly bulky arms was very distracting. 

The path into the woods was very simple. It was a worn away path in the grass that become wider and wider each time he saw it. It was pretty much a very wonky lane straight through the forest and the map clearly presented an equally wonky line to a blackened tree stump that “they could not miss”. Then turn left and, as he eloquently put it, boom! Witch. In all honesty, the journey was the very last thing on his mind currently. Sanders Woods was big but it was so close to the kingdom that there was never anything too dangerous in there- people travelled through it every day. But, Roman prided himself on his studies into the kingdom’s history and all the fables and stories that it inspired. It didn’t take a genius to know that witches meant trouble. Witches cursed and violently lashed out at any hero that came their way. 

He stared up at Logan out of the corner of his eye. Logan looked the part certainly with his official royal uniform and he was fairly built. But Roman also knew Logan. While he could look intimidating, he was anything but. At the first sign of conflict he would freeze, and even if he didn’t, he was in no way trained for battle. He looked built but his muscle purely came from grabbing heavy books from high shelves. He wouldn’t last a second against a witch in a physical battle.

“How have your studies been going?” Roman innocently asked innocently.

“As expected, why?”

“What do you mean why! I can be interested in your studies! What are you learning about now? It was magic right?” Roman kept his focus on his light marching steps. Logan huffed a chuckle.

“Magic is such a broad term I don’t even know how to go about correcting you. Yes, I have largely been studying magic. It is...” Logan scrunched his face up, “going, to put realistically. I’m struggling to fully grip the module I am currently on. But overall, my study of magic is going better than I first thought. How are your studies? Are you studying anything right now?” Logan raised an eyebrow.

“Not really. I finished the whole economics junk and I have a bit of a break before I launch back into studies. Trying to make the most of it,” Roman answered honestly but he kept his gaze straight ahead, “Anyway, what kind of magic are you doing? Like any... cool spells?” 

“Cool... spells...” Logan said, stopping completely in his path, “Why are you so interested?”

“As I said! I can be interested in what my friend is doing!” 

“You haven’t ever before taken interest in my, how did you put it, ‘nerdy junk’!” 

“Well!” Roman snarked back but he could feel Logan looking right through him, “It’s just important to know what kind of magic you can do. Just in case we ever n-”

“You think this is dangerous don’t you!” Logan gasped, feeling panic slam into his chest. 

“What?” Roman nervously laughed off, “No...”

“You do!” Logan dramatically pointed at him, “Oh we don’t have nearly the right supplies for any kind of conflict! We’re carrying around a cat!” 

“It won’t be dangerous!” Roman tried to soothe while panickily pacing. 

“I asked you! I asked you! I asked and you said that it was a simple trade. That we are practically just acting as postmen!” Logan threw his head back. 

“I’m sorry!” Roman gasped.

“You’ve got your sword. Plus, I really don’t think your dad would send us on some dangerous journey without at least some back up. I think you just got into your head with worry. There’s lots of rumours about witches despite those spreading them having never met a witch, we should be fine,” Logan answered softly. There was no use having them both panicking when they were already significantly through the woods. But then again maybe they could turn back now before they truly prove themselves to be idiots. 

“Yeah!” Roman lit up and snapped up straight with an obnoxious smile, “C’mon, we’ll be fine!”

Logan simply ran through his warning signs he listed earlier about how this task was a stupid chore. His hand found the kitten’s fuzzy little forehead and he gave some scritches before following in Roman’s footsteps. 

It was another hour where each minute felt more and more uncomfortable. They were a decent way through the woods but they had yet to see anything resembling a tree stump. Even Roman was now flicking his gaze behind him, checking to see if they had perhaps passed it without realising. Logan was practically chanting about how King Thomas wouldn’t send his idiot of a son on a difficult journey without a proper map. But then again both of his sons were idiots so maybe he just chose Roman as the lesser of two evils? Maybe the wobbly scrawled line on the map was just longer than expected. This was why people added scales and a compass! Eventually they paused at a blackened tree. They didn’t even talk or notice the other had paused as well. 

“Maybe by stump they more meant a stumpy tree?” Roman cautiously looked around. 

“Did your father not describe it any more than that?” Logan asked, still not convinced.

“I mean he even drew it in black!” Roman yelled out in what was supposed to be confidence. Logan winced as Roman marched slowly forward into the treeline.

“That cannot be where the line is. That map should never be considered as accurate or, or- just slow down Roman. We have no idea if this is the right direction!”

“Yeah well, we literally just go left into the trees. If it turns out to be wrong then we know which direction we went and just go back.”

Logan sighed at the legitimate logic the illogical prince presented, “It’s going to rain soon.”

“Well hurry up then!” Roman had already started running into the woods and Logan grumbled out some swears before reluctantly trudging after him. 

Now underneath the thick canopy of the woods, it was quite dark and moody. Roman tried to lighten the mood by pointing out every single squirrel that skittered away when they passed but even that didn’t fix the tension. The ideas of danger were swirling uncomfortably through them. The kitten was now restless and was mewing very pathetically. Logan winced at each quiet mew and Roman knew that it was a matter of seconds before Logan demand they go back and get the kitten to safety. And he was about to agree until he saw a tiny mushroom on a tree.

It softly glowed, and if that wasn’t a strong enough indicator of magic and witches, it was illuminous purple. It almost seemed transparent as black smoke billowed underneath it’s surface but it still somehow glowed brightly. 

“Logan, I think we’re almost there,” Roman muttered and tugged him forward.

“Roman.” Logan stopped them dead in the path. He was shifting and looking away but his back was straight and his posture screamed listen. Roman, of course, stopped in his tracks. “What if they use the cat... like... what if they kill the cat?”

Roman paused. That... would be very in character for witches. The kitten was frumpily stomping around and of course released an adorable mew as if it very well knew they were talking about it. “We’ve got to establish trade routes... Maybe we could be the ones to persuade them to see the light and understand cuteness and love for all living things!”

“Hmm.” Logan took the lead and stepped forward. 

They had walked for another ten minutes but yet the woods felt unrecognisable. The woods went from very stereotypical brown and green woods that seemed to stretch onwards forever. Now the mushrooms were everywhere and they couldn’t see the trunks of the trees anymore. The forest was filled with an overwhelming nauseating swirls of colours. Now they were seeing flashes of deer and groans from toads under their feet. The sun was completely blocked from the trees and it was almost like walking inside a building. 

It wasn’t long until they stumbled finally into a cottage looking house. A thatched roof and everything. It almost blended in, blackened charred wood with no windows or even sign of anyone living there. Dead leaves were still swamped up again its sides like it was still autumn. Logan cradled the kitten tighter and Roman couldn’t exactly blame him. 

It seemed straight out of a storybook. 

When the main characters stumble into the villain’s lair. 

Roman gulped and latched on arm on to Logan’s shoulder, which Logan happily sank into. They approached the door in timid steps. The wind harshly ripped through the forest, whipping around the wet clumps of leaves around the sunken door. The rain finally arrived and a few drops pattered on the ceiling of leaves. Logan stuttered in his steps but Roman winced and guided him forward. 

As they were a few metres from the door, it slammed open. 

“AAAH!” They both shrieked. 

A witch stood there... kinda proudly. He had a wide stance and the hood hid his face. But also his arms were crossed and he was hunched over to look extra small. He probably reached Roman’s shoulder standing straight... he looked like the wind around his house would knock him over. But also the billowing black cloak and clenched fists also spoke for themselves. “What are you doing here!” A whiny voice broke through their panic. 

Logan was clearly frozen and his mind only screaming about the kitten in his arms. It took a few moments for Roman to realise he wasn’t going to snap out and talk. He stuttered out, “Oh ah... hello there. We are fr- We come from the kingdom of Sanders to present a trading opportunity. I understand you have been in discussion with our king to re-establish our long ancient trading with you, Witch.”

The witch frowned, “Oh I’m not a witch. That’s Patton you’re looking for.”

He pointed over his shoulder to a cottage past his house. Now this looked like the idyllic cottage countryside house. Thatched roof, pristine pastel pink house and a beautiful neat line of wild bluebells. Roman found himself drawing near it without realising. It looked beautiful and the house straight out of his dreams. “Oh sorry sir! C’mon Logan, we’ll sort this out!” Roman tugged his arm but Logan remained statue still. “Uh, Logan?”

Logan was completely trapped under the gaze of the random civilian that stumbled into.  His chest glowed along with his bright red face. The man had very strong features and was clearly much more awkward than anything dangerous. It took a minute before he realised that words were needed if he was just going to stare, “Oh H-hi, I’m Lo...” He winced but tried to battle through, “Y-you’re not a witch?”

“Nah, I’m... I guess you’d call it emo and just hate people,” The guy awkwardly chuckled as he stepped out from his doorway. Logan allowed himself to smile and only just remembered Roman’s advice to puff out his chest and show himself off. Right, time to sweep this handsome man off his feet. 

“Ah I understand that sentiment. People can be so frustrating and exhausting.” The man walked forward before he awkwardly looked away.

“Uh can I?” The man asked with his hand out stretched towards his chest. Logan burst into a childish smile. Maybe Roman was right and he is handsome! All that heavy book lifting did pay off if cute emos then wanted to feel up his chest! Maybe he can sweep someone off their feet. Maybe he should work out more!

“Sure!” He squeaked.

The man smiled in thanks before grabbing the kitten from his arms and pressing loud sappy kissies to his fuzzy little forehead. His croaky foreboding voice snapped to a squealing happy coo. 

Roman laughed at how ridiculous he was and went down to the next house. He’s never seen Logan so useless! He was never going to let me live this down- after all that teasing he’s been putting up with for flirting with Janus. Now he had some fuel to fight back. 

He knocked on the door with a new found confidence as the rain finally started to slip through the leaves and actually start to slowly soak him. Humming to himself, he looked back at Logan still failing to flirt with the random scary guy. He’d never be that useless. The door opened, “Hello there. Are you the witch that lives in these wooooo-”

A young man opened the door with a cheery smile, ginger curls flying about his head with wire frame glasses. Freckles absolutely everywhere. He was a little taller than even him! He was of course wearing a pink frilly apron with a blue soft chunky knit jumper. Everything about him looked soft. “Oh hello there. What’s your name!” 

“Uhhhhhhh... Ro?” Roman awkwardly drawled out while trying to pick his jaw off the floor. He looked back at Logan who was now walking over with the other man. 

“Hey Pat. We need a talk.” He growled out while Patton awkwardly laughed. Instinctually, Roman stepped forward to protect this marshmallow from this emo. 

“Y-yeah Virge?”

“Did you really organise for the king to sneak you a kitten?”

“Maaaybe!” Patton squeaked before launching forward and spinning him in tight excited circles. Logan was now carrying the kitten, he looked very confused and flustered as he kept his gaze firmly on the kitten. 

“Don’t distract me! You’re allergic!”

“Well are you going to make these nice young men walk all the way back with the heavy basket and wiggly little itty bitty kitty!” 

The man, Virgil, frowned with a look. “Okay. I will take the kitten and you can have visiting rights. But! Those visiting rights can be revoked at any time!” 

“Yippee!” Patton laughed with all of himself. His arms flailing into a hug for himself, his belly bursting and moving with the genuine happy laughter. Roman was thoroughly star struck. 

“Can’t believe you’re the witch of us...” Virgil groaned with his own fond smile, to which Logan was also star struck. 

They both paused as a fat raindrop slapped against Patton’s forehead. The rain must have been truly heavy if it was still dripping through the thick canopy. They turned and faced the two men and only now noticed that they were fairly wet with their hair plastered against their foreheads. They did look pretty pathetic.

Patton smiled, “Hey, Ro was it? Would you like to come in? Just to wait for the rain. Sorry, uhh,”

“Logan,” Logan introduced.

“Logan, the house is fairly small but I’m sure Virgil would love to show you around his little place!” Patton smirked innocently. 

All three of them gulped with bright blushes... but of course they all nodded along to that plan.