#and The king just orders his guard dog to force them out. using her name.

[lesbians-all-the-way-down]

Hi, come here, I had an idea and I can't decide if it's cringy or perfect

[captain039]

PART 4 The 2029

Old man Logan x reader

Warnings: AOB dynamics, age gap, angst, swearing, mutants, intimacy, eventual smut, claiming, heats, ruts, needles, drug usage, dystopian world, plus size reader, sexual assault,

Mutation: Telekinesis, energy manipulation, telepathy

Notes: Sorry I’ve been so inactive I’m really am tryna finish my Hugh Jackman stories xD

As you lay there on the edge of the large king bed, Charles next to you, Caliban on the small sofa in the room and Logan leaning against the wall looking out the window looking like a guard dog.

You want him to lie down, rest, sleep, the overwhelming urge to be good omega and serve your alpha. You stare at the bedside table a little harshly trying to control yourself and your thoughts, the voices have quieted down and stopped now that you focus on it. Growing up in the omega facility they made you control your powers, forced more like till they discovered a truely mutant canceling agent, so you took too many lessons in controlling your mutations, there had been a few times you sent the guards mad on purpose trying to escape but you would just be sedated till you were willing to cooperate so you gave up and gave in. You see Logan shift a small quiet groan leaving his mouth as you hear his hip pop. It makes you jolt and sit up in worry. The old alphas eyes snap to yours frowning.

“You should be asleep” he speaks softly but gruffly putting on a hard face like he’s not in pain.

“Lie down” you mutter getting off the bed as quiet as you can. He raises his eyebrow at you and you keep his gaze.

“Sit down at least please” you whisper and the old alpha sighs and listens. He sits down carefully the bed dipping under his weight, your mind goes into taking care mode kneeling down and taking his boots off.

“Hey-“ he says surprised but you ignore him taking off his boots and socks and lying them neatly by the bedside table. You take off his jacket too and he lets you, eyes watching you carefully. You fold his jacket and lay it on the bedside table nodding to yourself once you’re happy before gesturing for him to lie down. The old alpha grumbles but does as you say. You nod pleased with yourself you finally got your alpha to settle. The thought runs through your mind, ‘your alpha’ you glance to him seeing as he sighs body tense and no doubt in pain. He closes his eyes as you take up his post by the window figuring someone needs to keep look out. You wonder what he’s thinking about but you don’t peer in his mind, not after what you saw, all that family, the x men and the x mansion. What goes to your mind though is the alpha red headed woman, Jean, her name echoing through your mind like a taunt. She’s dead you saw it saw young Logan dig her claws in her stomach and cry. He was handsome when he was young he’s handsome now in a rugged way. You watch the alphas body relax and his breathing evens out, you’re thankful your own body relaxing as he sleeps. You keep look out eventually sitting down on the floor against the wall. Your head lulls and hangs your eyes closing and body drifting to sleep, you jolt to wake yourself up looking out the window seeing silence. You’re just about to dose off again when you hear it, a helicopter. You’re up looking out the window, you force your mind to reach out, there’s ten soldiers and a whole helicopter.

“We need to leave” you almost scream at the voice by your ear. Logan’s already up, waking up Caliban and Charles picking up the old man.

“Tell Jessica we’re leaving, and to keep her family inside” Logan orders you and you nod as he carries Charles down stairs, Caliban behind him. There’s a shot that rings out though, you half expect pain but feeling nothing till Caliban thuds to the floor. You rush to the mutant, holding the home in his chest waking the family you were staying with.

“They’re here for us stay inside!” Logan orders and growls alpha tone coming through as the mates look to each other and hold their son close.

“I’m sorry” you whisper to Caliban staying by him. Liam rushes downstairs and you hear him talking to Logan distantly as Jessica urges her son in the bathroom. Logan comes back up picking up Caliban too with a grim face. You follow them outside seeing Liam throwing some bags into their truck. Charles is in the backseat and Logan plays Caliban in the tray of the Ute. Liam chucks the keys to Logan giving you a small smile before going into the house again to protect his family. Your heart fills and beats rapidly before you jump into the truck. Logan takes off quickly into the corn fields. Your heart pounds as you look back to the house seeing the soldiers and the helicopter flying overhead. You pray the family doesn’t get hurt. The alpha drives quickly apparently knowing where to go, you assume Liam told him as you end up on a named dirt road.

You’re staring back at the house now distance your eyes going wide the world slowing as a loud explosion goes off the and house goes up in flames. Your heart shatters and breaks you let out a cry before you’re grabbed and brought into the old alphas lap somehow. He’s pushed the seat back got one hand on the wheel the other tightly around you.

“Don’t look” he says pressing your head to his neck in silent order. Your body shakes and you cry against him. His hands on your neck keeping a gently but firm hold as you continue to cry and he continues to drive. Your arms are stuck between your bodies as you try to process what just happened.

As the car finally stops on the side of the road by a forest you slowly wake up from your slumber and mumble incoherently at the warmth under you. You open your eyes feel the warm alpha under you breathing evenly and shallowly, he’s asleep. You glance to the backseat seeing Charles asleep also and you think about falling back to sleep yourself before you realise Caliban is dead in the back of the truck. You sit up slowly from Logan’s shoulder seeing his head leant against the window eyes closed. His arms tighten around you suddenly a frown on his face and you curse yourself for moving. His eyes snap open like a startled animal and you freeze on instinct at the sudden anxiety filled alpha scent let out by him. You act on instinct, cup his cheeks his frown deepening before he recognises you in his waking up state. You brush your thumbs over his cheeks feel the surprisingly soft beard hair he has coating his face. He watches you, like a predator, eyes narrowed slightly as you gently move your fingers through his beard testing smiling softly to yourself before his scent calms down fully. His arms haven’t moved from around you, well sort of around you now that you’ve lifted yourself up. His hands rest on the spot just above hips not gripping anymore just lying there. You want to kiss him. You look to his lips shamelessly and wonder what they’d be like pressed against yours in such a moment. Your eyes move to movement though, Charles moving in the back and suddenly Logan’s guiding you off his lap and onto the passenger side. It stings a little, but you understand as he gets out and helps Charles, takes him to the woods behind some bushes. You sag against the leather in the truck, you need to go to the toilet too, you need a damn shower also, but you’re not going out in the woods on the side of the road.

After Logan helps Charles back in the car he grabs a shovel from the truck and heads back to the forest. You know what he’s doing, digging a grave for Caliban. You get out the truck after a while, close the door gently and head to Logan. There’s a stale scent in the air from him as he digs, muscles tense, his eyes glaring at the earth. You wonder if you should help, see if there’s another shovel but the look Logan gives you is heart breaking and you go to him instead wrap your arms around him and comfort him like any omega would. He keeps one hand on the on the shovel one by his side as you force him to bury his face in your neck. He’s so tense and his body no doubt aches, you can smell the emotions in his scent he lets off, feel them even. He leans into you though and you know you did the right thing as his free hand rests on your back, large fingers spread out as he breathes you in. You don’t expect him to cry even though it would do him good, he’s too tense and out in the open to fully let go, but this, this you can offer him.

[dragonfelling]

STORYTELLER SATURDAY!!! top ten chien facts?

HAPPY STS!

Oh this ones fun. I wont put them in order, but heres some of the funnest facts

Crown Chien's name is in parallel to Monarch Caleb's. They both have meanings to do with dogs. Chiens name also means someone who kept hunting dogs and money. His middle name is Mirka after his mother. That name means glory and peace. Aeraki of course means breeze/wind and has been the Anemoian royal families last name since its beginnings.

Chien was crowned at only 12 and a half. He was not expected to know everything yet, and his uncle Iasis became his regent until Chien was 16 and well tutored. He remained accompanied to various meetings with other nation leaders until he was 18, after then he was independent from Iasis and only took who he needed to.

Chien has been divorced twice before his current wife. He was married for politics once at 13, and again at 16. His first wife tried to kill him and his second, convinced he was going to be just like his dad, was unloyal to him and uninterested in Chiens wellbeing.

Chien has always been best friends with Ilonia. She had been in junior guard as early as she could be put in and she is the daughter of the head knight, Kurtys Lutalo and Lady Taifun Euphemia-Lutalo. She has always been given a spot of high recognition from Chien, and she helps train Chien in self defence. She is a very high energy, quick and aggressive swords-woman while Chien plays a hard defensive and got extremely good at it through sparring with her.

Chien use to be friends with Ilonia's brother, Fluvius jr, before Kurtys died. After Kurtys died and Fluvy began acting out, their friendship waned and then turned into hating each others guts. When Chien's parents disappeared and were considered dead, and then Xavier died, Chien grieved heavily. These two are a foil to one another in a lot of ways. Both lose people in really horrible ways, but Fluvy goes off the deep end while Chien is basically forced to maintain his appearance and behavior despite the heavy loss hes feeling. He is now Crown/King after all, and the responsibility of his nation is on his shoulders. While Fluvy jr can go wild and free and do as he pleases... He gets after Chien often for having such an old soul and his need to be an adult so early in his life, giving him hell for not letting himself just relax and act his age. Later, when Fluvy jr grows up, he does something that drives Chien to act out finally. It results in the loss of Fluvys arm. In his twenties, Fluvy is taken under Jeremias' wing to train as a bloodletter. He has blood powers, and he becomes an sequential part of Chien's medical team. Chien is and has always been very sick. He has bad asthma attacks and heart issues, which (ACTUALLY) is helped by controlled bloodletting. They start to actually respect eachother then and once more are close.

Chien is terrified of his own powers. He has lightning in him much like his mother, and his paternal grandfathers before him. His lightning is very volatile and the few times he has used it against someone it has caused severe damage. He has to work on his confidence with it for a long time before he can use it in a less explosive manner. His wife, Sinclaire, manages to help him realize a lot of the issues are a mental thing rather then the fault of his powers. He gets too riled up before using it, but if he relaxes prior he can have a lot more control.

Chien's Chelat was a gift from his father when he was 5 and beginning to show signs of asthma. The Chelat was young and trained to detect changes in heart-rate. It wiggles its quills, stomps, and makes a fuss when it detects any large changes. Originally, Mav tried to gift Chien a Pero flag dog, but he was uninterested in raising one of the pups

Chien dresses very unlike his predecessors on most days. He likes a snug long sleeve, well fitted pants, and his uncle's cloak over anything else. He often doesn't even wear a sash like most Anemoians, electing to tie it to a belt instead. The black cloak he wears is 33 years old by the time he is born. It is well maintained by Xavier and Chien keeps it in immaculate condition until the day he dies. He is buried in that cloak when he dies at 62 and the cloak is 95. By then, he has likely stopped wearing the cloak as the threads have worn so thin, but he keeps it in his room.

Chien is very Midonian in his beliefs and comes off as a very modest, religious man. However, Chien has his moments where he is really just like his dad. He hires 3 different consorts before he meets his wife, Sinclaire, and he fools around with one of his doctors, Kid. Just like Mav for real... He of course stops all that when he marries Sinclaire, but hires his 3 consorts within the castle doing various jobs. Lucius as his attendant and stylist, August as a cook (who would rise the ranks to head chef) and Niomi, who was learning to be a physical and mental therapist like her father, as part of the infirmary team (essentially taking her late fathers role)

Chien is a pacifist for most of his reign and relies heavily on established legal systems, but after a lot of shit goes down and he struggles to use this system effectively, he decides to go above it to bring justice down upon various people including one of his own sons and a magistrate he had been trying to convict for years. He hangs them publicly for their crimes

Bonus: Chien has 9 children with Sinclaire :) several sets of twins but otherwise, yikes. His wife wanted a huge family as well. Chien mainly wanted a huge family so he could repopulate the Aeraki family as they were running out of legitimate heirs.

[morihaus]

Domina

cw for a vampire talking about mortals like cattle and mentions of molag bal (just his name)

---

Atop a balcony of the Imperial Palace, the young emperor casts her gaze westward, over the canopy of the great forest, off to the dark horizon laid over the Colovian highlands. Past the borders of Cyrodiil, there lays the outlying province of the Empire, Craglorn, home to the distant Nedes never chained. Cities of stone and high towers, traditions older than the Empire of Man, faith older than Saint Alessia herself; Hestra was born to these lands, to the Cyrodiils who came from Colovia to lend aid to their kin, to enlighten them, to fasten and secure their ties to the Empire, and to keep wary watch of the expanding dominion of Verkarth, whose king had spent a century splitting the land in two, harrowing the Nedic allies of the Empire, unopposed in the distant and foreign borderland.

It was this that brought her to power. She became warrior to the faith as many in her family had been before her, as was the Colovian style of the priesthood, and she worked to stymie the tide of this burgeoning power henceforth unknown- as well as the dark creatures who cavorted within its borders, fanning out to the neighboring realms to terrorize the populace. Vampires, werebeasts, monsters of all sorts became the scourge of Craglorn in those days, and the Empire of Cyrodiil did nothing, for what was their concern for the fate of provincials? Nedes who knew nothing of Paravant, or Pelinal, or the One, whose degenerate practices ostracized them from polite Imperial society.

Hestra was one of many in Craglorn and Cyrodiil who saw need for action, but alas, small militias could do nothing but root out loose ends, small cells of the fiends who dogged the western reaches. A coven here, a pack there, but this was to treat the symptoms rather than the sickness, and without organized action against Styriche and his Gray Host itself, nothing would be done.

And for all the dire circumstances, this is why she stands here, amulet of dragon-fire around her neck, looking west with purpose. She has been emperor for but two years, and the Empire is more united than it has been in some time. She is what Cyrodiil needs, a decisive emperor, to cut through the internal bickering of the Order; a conquering emperor, to show no quarter to the enemies of mankind; a common emperor, who understands the plight of her subjects and refuses to rest until justice is done.

With the Empire whole, it prepares for a full-scale invasion of Verkarth, to sunder and destroy the foul abominations commanded by its king.

Something approaches silently from behind her. She is without guard, but not alone, for tonight she is entertaining a particular guest.

"Second thoughts, Emperor?" The pale woman clad in deep red silks asks her with a playful tone. Playful as a cat toys with a mouse, but decidedly playful nonetheless.

Hestra turns to face her, Exarch of the Gray Council, undying vampire, a mistress of the dark forces she plans to destroy. She faces her and sees her ever-so-smug grin, her round face, pale like the moon with dark shadows and painted colors framing her scarlet-orange eyes. She sees her jewelry reflect the light of the night sky, a shimmer along the chain of her belt as her eyes trace her waist, a shine around the swirling ringlets of her arm, up to the clasp of her dress on her shoulder, even a sparkle from the jewel earrings when her long black hair fell just so to make way for the light. "I consider my actions more often than you think. This is why I'm here, Vem."

Vem moves forward to press up against the other woman, lifting a manicured hand to trace her jawline. She is without reverence for the Emperor, but not without admiration, and often she shows her appreciation with touch. "This is why I see such potential in you, fair Hestra." The mortal woman doesn't flinch- but might shiver- at the vampire's chilling touch, and allows it to happen. This close she can see the subtle scaly texture speckling Vem's skin, around her eyes and her bare neck and arms, her eyes fix to this instead of Vem's hypnotic gaze- she wouldn't dare attempt to bewitch the warrior emperor, but she does much without noticing it. "We have more in common than you do with your councilors. They fill their heads with petty concerns, worthless mortal vanity- you and I, we focus on what's truly important: power."

Hestra, for as steely as her countenance is, lets her head droop to one side, warm cheek pressed against Vem's cold hand. She raises one of her own to Vem's waist, closing her eyes. "I have power, Vem. I'm the Emperor, blessed by Akatosh, anointed before the One." She doesn't need sight to picture the frown grow on Vem's face as she speaks.

She hears a sigh, and the cold hand moves down from cradling her head, sliding across her bare neck and stopping at her shoulder. Hestra opens her eyes again to see the predictable sight. She'd call the expression on Vem's face perplexed, as she is always baffled by her refusal. "Have I not explained to you the difference in magnitude hundreds of time?" She scoffs. "You are a Queen, a mortal Queen, you command great armies and rule over all of your citizenry. But I could make you more. As vampire, you would never age, never die, you would be indomitable."

"Indomitable," Hestra repeats. "But dominated by the foul machinations of your master."

Vem furrows her brow, twitching her nose. "Lord Bal is our master in name alone. He holds no true sway over us- we only need make one pact, but one ritual, and we may reap the rewards of his gift as we serve ourselves. You cannot tell me you would not desire such a power."

"Power at a price." Hestra lets her hand fall back, and now furrows her own brow as she looks back at Vem, somewhat yearning for the years she hadn't known of her true nature, or for a time where they could spend time ignoring the doom that surrounds them, before this decision had to be reached. "I do not want to join your Gray Host."

"You would not have to." Vem retracts her hand as well, folding her arms over her chest. "As immortal Emperor of Cyrodiil, you would be of much greater use as an ally to the Gray Host, to relinquish your power over this land would be foolish."

"Imagine I disagree with what your Host does, terrorizing innocent people, drinking of their blood and eating of their flesh."

Vem tisks, she almost seems to roll her luminous eyes at that. "This is because you are clinging to mortal notions of morality. You do not weep for the butchered cow, do you? For us, it is no different than hunting simple animals."

"And if I care for these animals?" Hestra asks.

She receives a raised brow. "Do you really care for these people, Emperor? These people who are not yours, who you do not know- how much would you sacrifice for their lives?" After a pointed silence, she adds: "If you could trade your life for theirs, right now, would you?"

Hestra answers honestly. "No."

"If," Vem begins. "The inverse were true, and you could sacrifice the lives of many to achieve greater power, greater dominion, wouldn't you?"

Hestra considers. "...I might." She gazes off to the side, looking behind Vem into the palace's quarters. "But what you speak of, this is the truth of politics, of warfare, of the life of an Emperor. These ugly decisions are mine to make, and I must."

"This is what holds you back," Vem turns and begins to pace, steps silent as she does. "You deny what you truly want: power. You claim it out of responsibility, you make these excuses for yourself..." She looks over her shoulder, Hestra meets her piercing eyes. "Why do you let yourself be ruled by such foolish thoughts?" She approaches again, so gently as though gliding through the air. A fanged smile plays on her lips. "You are Emperor. I am offering you power, it is in your very nature to accept it. Do not deny your true calling."

Hestra looks to her vacantly. She wonders how often she has been tempted, how close she's come before now. "You talk of offering me power- power of my own- and yet you speak as though to dominate me yourself."

At this, Vem laughs. It breaks the tension somewhat, and she takes Hestra's hand in her own, rubbing circles on the back with her cold thumb. She looks at her with half-lidded eyes. "You would not like to belong to me, dear Hestra?"

And at this, Hestra is pulled two ways, and such a grave conversation becomes very silly, and for the first time tonight, the Emperor smiles. "You speak in circles, love, like a turning wheel." She leans in and very easily presses her lips against Vem's; a shallow kiss, undercoated with some feeling of fleeting passion and intimacy, something that feels like a last chance, a final moment in which they can both pretend they share the same future. Vem puts her arms around Hestra's head, the mortal reciprocates with a hold on her waist. Hestra pulls back to breathe and laugh. "Sometimes, I still can't tell- do you want me a vampire, or a thrall-" Vem interrupts her by kissing her cheek, laughing along.

They embrace and they laugh for awhile, standing on the balcony, nipped at by the chilly night air. Eventually they stop laughing and just hold each other. Vem tucks her head into the crook of Hestra's neck, and Hestra lets her, and runs a hand through her silky dark hair.

"...You know," Vem softly breaks the silence. "That of course I want you to join me as I am- a vampire, the rightful rulers of the unliving. Because you are a ruler, Hestra, and this drew me to you, for I recognized how great you could be if you could only see what lies beyond your mortality..." One of her pale hands turns to run across the close-cut hair on Hestra's head, and Vem turns to look her in the eye, one side of her head still pressed against her shoulder. Her expression is warm, and not regal. "I do not doubt how far you will go as a mortal. You will be remembered for centuries, for a hundred centuries, your death will be something glorious, remembered in song, you will be indelible... but you will die. And it breaks my heart-" A laugh- or maybe a sob- spills out between words. "I know you could never understand, you are mortal, impermanence is everywhere in your life, to be everlasting is... difficult, to communicate. It's something you need to feel for yourself. I ask... that you allow me to grant you this, Hestra. Please."

She'd never seen Vem posture in such a way. They have been intimate with one another, they've spoken of sadness before, but never has she been so melancholy, so sorrowful as to look up to her with those eyes, dry but full of sadness. "...My love, you know I can't-"

"Why?" Vem asks immediately.

"Because- Because I am Emperor first, divine regent of the One, descendant of the Ascended Saint Alessia, defender of Cyrodiil and the Faith. I am dutybound to destroy the Gray Host... and I cannot accept your power, it would render me an abomination in the eyes of the Order, and all I've worked for would be for naught."

Vem pulls back, Hestra lets open her arms to give her space. She looks at Hestra, fear in her face, steeled by frustration. "They would not have to know. There are ways- many of us disguise our true nature, some get away with it for a century or more. You yourself had no idea before I revealed to you my nature."

"You're right. I didn't," Hestra admits. "But this is because I was young and stupid. The pelates of the Order are older, wiser, many of them savvy to the affronts to the divine. And in any case, I would still need to invade Verkarth."

"No, no you don't. We could- if you'd postpone, delay, we could destroy this Alessian Order-"

"Destroy the Order?" Hestra's brows fly up at this, almost more shocked than insulted.

Vem clenches her fists at her sides. "They are just mortals, Hestra. Mortals can be manipulated, they can be herded and culled by their true masters. If all of the threats to your power were turned, were on our side, would you still deny this?"

"You're speaking in fantasies." The Emperor says, colder than she meant to. She is just as frustrated, not only by Vem's assertions, but by how her mind meanders and considers them.

"Answer me, Hestra!"

"I could not- I could not disgrace my line, my ancestors-"

"Your ancestors were nothing more than cattle!" Vem shouts.

"Your family is nothing but a pack of monsters!" Hestra replies.

Vem, incensed, points a sharp finger at Hestra as she bares her fangs. "We are NOT monsters!" She growls, throwing a hand up. "'Monsters', 'daimons', 'abominations', these are all the labels feeble-minded sheep apply to us, the true masters of Tamriel! And here you are- so different from them, so close to us, and you refuse your rightful place on our Council, your rightful taste of our blood, all because of these vapid mortal commitments to the lives and deeds of mortals, the ways of people who lived and died as nothing more than stupid animals- you let them limit you, hold you back, drag you down to their level!" Snarling, there is a quivering to her frame and face that belies her nerves. "You do not deserve to be another pile of bones in a pasture! You deserve to be Domina, High Emperor of All Tamriel, Immortal Ruler of the weak and impermanent!!"

Hestra stands stock still, shadows cast on her creased face. "I cannot do this. I will not take knee before your king."

"You would not have to! Do you know how few of us respect King Styriche? How fewer revere Lord Bal? To depose him, to usurp him, it would not be difficult, you would only have to delay your invasion!" Vem's composure is all but faded as she pleads for what she wants, the safety of her family, an immortal paramour, and all that she wills be made real, as in true domination of the world. The fact that she screams this hoarsely and with such desperation- the desperation of someone not in control- is not lost on her.

The Emperor hangs her head, heavy with troubles. She grits her teeth as she speaks with attempted finality. "I cannot, Vem, and I'm sorry that I cannot." Her own eyes, still living, well up as she speaks. "It does not mean I don't love you- I do, I give you my word and I mean it: I do, and if I were anyone different... you need to know how much I want to be forever beside you, I truly want this, but..."

Vem suddenly darts forward, pressing herself against her, looking up at her with pleading eyes. "If you want it, you can have it. Let me turn you, forget the Empire, let it fall under someone else's rule- we could make of it that you died in battle, that you were- you were betrayed somehow, sow dissent in the Empire, let it rot and fall. Leave my family alone, let us go together into a new life." Her plan is flimsy, her voice is quickened and shaking, but she bears her soul to Hestra like never before. "Take what you want, Hestra."

She bows her head. Hestra leans down to press her forehead against hers. She wants to take her into her arms, as they used to, like lovers would, but she doesn't.

[jangmi-latte]

Hello! May a I order Riddle, Leona, Azul, Kalim and Vil where each one deals with the type of girl that would bring them, how they met her, how they managed to get closer to her and how their relationship began? May it be in a headcannon form? Thank you!

❞ 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐈𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐌𝐞𝐭.. ❝

➻ content: four smoothies! two served for now!

➻ warnings: uwu

➻ comments: i assumed these are like boyfriend headcanons and geeeh leona and vil in one request...and it’s lengthy too... hooking one reference setting again in one of these. wink, it's from one of the masquerade meals i made~

i'll be cutting these into two parts since it's going to be very long. vil and azul will be posted later! i had to remove kalim since tumblr was starting to glitch the longer it got and i didn't want to cut it into more than two parts. sorry kalim!

part two involving vil and azul

Ⅰ.

...♔ I Met You...

➺ we all want to assume that you’re one of riddle’s childhood friends who snuck him out with trey and chenya or you met in night raven college. but no, you met him when you were being scolded by his mother.

➺ yes, you were being scolded by his mother.

➺ it happened one afternoon when you were playing ball with your friends and it flew over to his yard. you, being an oblivious ten-year-old, entered the private property through the fence and was just about to pick up the ball when one of the maids saw you and called after the mrs. rosehearts.

➺ when you were shamefully being scolded by her, riddle was curious about all the yelling going on outside that he took a peak from his study room window and saw you. tears were already dripping from your eyes as you hugged the ball to your chest.

➺ ah, the concern on riddle's face. sure, it isn't a surprise that his mother is being feared and highly respected by other people but you didn't have to experience something as cruel as being yelled at.

➺ he doesn't know the reason why but he surely did think you were stupid enough not to know you're trespassing.

➺ that was the first time he saw you. he never thought he would see you again. however, fate decided to play a little game and decided to make both of you meet again two years later.

➺ by the time he's thirteen and you're twelve, your dog somehow ran into the open gates of his home and started barking in his yard. you remembered the home to be the place of the rosehearts so you were a bit troubled when you couldn't find a way for your dog to come back.

➺ he saw you from the window again, this time he was the one who ran out to the yard, took the dog, and gave it to you saying, "first the ball and then your dog?" he questioned while you furrowed your eyebrows in surprise. was he the son of mrs. rosehearts?

➺ you changed a bit during those two years and riddle must admit, he was intrigued by you. maybe it was because he barely had any friends and he did miss the presence of both chenya and trey. having a girl friend is something he never had and would like to have one.

➺ you introduced each other by the gates. mainly because riddle was taught to be formal and greet first before spiking up a conversation. the dog was back in your arms and you would've lied if you said you didn't notice anything peculiar by the way his head would always look over his shoulder.

➺ it began with a simple, "how do you know i was the one who got yelled at?" "i was by the window. i never knew i would see you again." to "since we're getting to know each other, why don't we play?"

➺ "i can't..."

➺ you would've talked to him more if it wasn't for his mother's loud yells looking for him.

➺ but fate isn't greedy.

...♔ Closer To You...

➺ your concern for riddle eventually led to you going to the gates more often. if not the gates, then waving behind the fence in front of his bedroom window. he couldn't go out of the house so what did you both do? from conversing by the use of paper aeroplanes to using tin can telephones. old school but it's the only way for you to be able to communicate with riddle.

➺ you two eventually started to learn about each other. you knew about his mother, trey and chenya, him being accepted to nrc, and his sweet tooth. you barely played, yes, but that doesn’t change the fact the both of you grew to be the best of friends.

➺ trey and chenya finally got to know you when riddle got the chance to invite you into his house. how? his parents were out, leaving him with the servants and he was able to sneak you in. you video-called with trey and chenya that day and you two got to interact more. you were both fifteen that time – riddle turning sixteen.

➺ until the day came where riddle had to go to nrc. you were happy for him yet sad that you can’t see him for a quite a while. sure, there’s the internet, but the real-life experience is what you’ll miss. 

➺ you met by the gates again where you ran to him and gave him a big hug. riddle was surprised, not really used to such affection while you cried how happy you are for him and made him promise that you two would talk still during his time at school.

...♔ I'm Yours...

➺ you eventually started your classes in a different school. it led to you and riddle not communicating for months. too busy with school and the ultimate pressure of his and your parents has consumed most of your time to talk to each other. let alone get the chance to visit him when he comes home.

➺ the promise was sealed and that was the last time in months where you’ll see him as you watched him enter the mirror. he gave his very first message when he got sorted into heartslabyul.

➺ you were shook when you found out he became dorm leader in just a week of him being there.

➺ when you turned sixteen, riddle is seventeen, that’s when the relationship would start a ride. that one vacation where he came home, riddle was forced to go to some formal event. he didn’t want to be there so he went to the manor’s backyard and saw you.

➺ if you’re expecting as something as sweet as pie, then that isn’t how your and riddle’s relationship began.

➺ it came to the point you nearly forgot about riddle as you wanted to focus on yourself more. same with riddle. he was too preoccupied with school, dorm management, and dealing with his mother to even have the chance to hold his phone.

➺ the two of you being reunited has brought hidden feelings to arise. you both had matured in some way and damn was riddle baffled with the kiss you just gave him in that gazebo.

➺ okay, he matured. not you.

➺ you would think it was going to be awkward after that, but no. after your father found out about riddle, he let the roseheats know about your ever-so-hidden relationship and let the two of you finally interact completely. 

➺ ah, the constant visits both of you would do to each other’s homes. riddle taught you everything he knows. he never brought up the kiss, he was too embarrassed to do so.

➺ until you did it again in the same gazebo when he was tutoring you one afternoon.

➺ “why do you keep on doing that?!” he exclaimed and covered his face. he may be the strict dorm leader in heartslabyul, but please he’s just as stupid as you when it comes to relationships. your gullible self just giggled and straight out confused, “because i love you.”

➺ that’s when riddle realized his feelings for you too. there wasn’t any ‘will you be my girlfriend?’ questions. it was straight-up ‘i love you too’ (with a hushed voice while being the tsundere he is) from him that sealed the next step of your relationship.

➺ you both were each other’s first partner so it was quite awkward and rusty at first. riddle would be shy and yell at you yet you would just giggle and be all affectionate on him.

➺ he eventually got used to it months later into the relationship. he would support you, be more proud of your developments, and maybe be more affectionate (by more maybe just a simple kiss on the hand and cheek here in there). he isn’t big into pda so it was a surprise to adeuce, trey, and cater that riddle has a girlfriend.

➺ how did they found out? you paid him a visit one day at school and hugged him tightly which shook everyone to the core. maybe trey found out sooner than the others but awww...everyone shipped the both of you that riddle may or may not have been more happy let the others know about you.

➺ he just loves you okay?

Ⅱ.

...❦  I Met You...

➺ we’re going to pull a lion king II in this one and say you were chasing a little butterfly and bumped into him one day that made the both of you roll down the hill. 

➺ leona recognized you as the daughter of one of the royal guards, noted by the uniform tattoo that adorned your bicep. the almighty respect he had for you was high, but why are you out here giggling and chasing some insect instead of training?

➺ your oblivious self was still on top of him after rolling from that hill. upon stretching your arms out, hovering over him, that’s when you made out the face of the second prince and immediately scurried away from him while saying uncountable amounts of apologies. 

➺  first meeting? not so really. more like the first time getting in contact with the prince since your parents are quite strict with who you befriend. did they explicitly say who you should and shouldn’t be friends with? no. so here you are embarrassed that you nearly brought the prince into an accident when you should be the one looking after him.

➺ you were young teens, maybe around thirteen to fourteen years old, when that happened. so, yes, leona was already the grumpy man he is. despite that, his skills aren’t as sharp as it is in the present day. when you both stopped rolling, you were whining while he was ‘growling’ at you – it wasn’t really a growl. try saying r through gritted teeth, that was the sound.

➺ “who are you?” he asked while fixing himself. stating your name, you bowed and remembered your training. ugh, how you wanted to be swallowed by the ground now.

➺ “i-i apologise, your highness! i’m supposed to be out looking for you rather than being careless–”

➺ “don’t call me your highness and i don’t need to be looked out for,” he grumbled. 

➺ oh, but that’s not your job now is it?

...❦  Closer To You...

➺ since it’s your job to look after leona, it’s pretty much obvious on how you two grew closer. if it wasn’t for your stubborn self ignoring his constant bickers of him being grown enough to not be looked after, you two wouldn’t be as close as when you two would grow up.

➺ “what are you reading, your highness?” “stop disturbing me!”

➺ you are a guard alright, but also his best friend. he wouldn’t admit it out loud but he did enjoy your company rather than being around his brother all the time. he finds your sudden persona change amusing. if you’re casually chatting with him, being all carefree, and one of the guards come in to check on both of you, you would suddenly stand up tall with a fierce expression and respond formally before reverting back to being your y/n self.

➺ he questions if you’re taking your job seriously.

➺ you grew up together side by side. there are ups and downs in your friendship, mainly due to leona’s high pride, but other than that, you became more of a sibling to him rather than his brother did. puberty did the both of you well and you eventually matured to become that motherly friend everyone needed.

➺ when it was time for him to move to school, your motherly side showed up. even though you knew he would be fine – those muscles don’t lie – being his guard AND friend, you made sure there isn’t going to be a problem with his transportation and his dormitory. separating from him means you can’t perform your duty as a guard, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do your duty as a friend either.

➺ with his stay there, you always called him or Ruggie. at least he has someone there that can look after him in your place.

➺ you would occasionally visit there (much to the savanaclaw students’ surprise) and make sure he’s alright. of course, leona would protest here and there saying you’re overreacting and such.

➺ “have you ate?” “time to wake up, stupid sleepyhead.” and all that. you still held that playfulness in you and leona never wanted that to change. if you’re protective to him then he’s protective over you too. you may be a tough and strong woman of the royal household, still, leona would look after you from the corner of his eye and make sure you’re safe despite the intense training you’re going through.

➺ he’s still thankful though.

...❦  I'm Yours...

➺ do you know what made leona love you more than a friend? when your nurturing side showed up. when? the birth of cheka. 

➺ speaking of cheka, when the little cub was born, it was in a lioness’ nature to look after other cubs and that’s what you instinctively did. you’re holding the future of the savannah in your arms and leona couldn’t help it but see you holding HIS child rather than his brother’s. 

➺ when the queen was resting, you would tend to the young child and leona would just stare at you. the older cheka grew, the more leona would fall for you.

➺ first, you didn’t leave him, second, you were there for him, third, you’re a wholeass wife-material. no, leona didn’t just see you as a potential partner, he doesn’t want you to leave his life at all which means you’re someone important to him. friends? nah, you’re going to be leona’s girlfriend.

➺ you grew up to be beautiful too. leona doesn’t really care for looks but seeing you mature so beautifully is a bonus to him. 

➺ you, on the other hand, already had a crush on leona during your adolescent years. until you were sure of your feelings for him, you eventually became more touchy than expected. either intentional or not, leona doesn’t mind.

➺ by touchy, you would hug him more often, hold his hands out of nowhere, play with his tail, etc. did leona mind? maybe in public, yes. if you were alone, however, he would just let you. you both are close after all.

➺ it was reflex, of course, very tough of a guard like you to act. “geez, thanks,” leona groaned. maybe it was kind of disrespectful, but believe it or not, it wasn’t leona’s intention to take advantage of you. he instantly got worried when you didn’t speak and just stayed still under the blanket.

➺ you were taking deep breaths with your cheeks red and all. your tail was uncontrollably flicking too. 

➺ “i saw that! miss y/n is my auntie now!” ah, damn now cheka saw that too. 

➺ it was leona who took the relationship to the next level when you were talking to him about something he can’t quite remember. he was just staring at how your lips moved and suddenly, he just kissed you. did he get a kiss back? no. instead, he had a kick to the stomach that sent him curling up while you buried yourself under the blankets.

➺ leona shooed the little cub away and removed the blankets to see you covering your face. he noticed your tail going whoosh so he gently held it. big mistake. you kicked his leg this time which made him fall on the bed and you sat on his waist and glared down at him.

➺ “remind me next time not to kiss you.” “oh, i will.”

➺ and you made the move this time and kissed him.

➺ now you’re his and his only.

➺ the whole royal household found out about your relationship after cheka started cheering about how he’ll get a little playmate/cousin after he saw you and leona kiss. honey, that’s not how kids are made...

[venusdeus]

Court of Kings - Chapter 2

Summary: Sent to a neighboring kingdom to secure an alliance, forced to give up your dreams and ambitions, disregarded as a means to an end. You however have no desire to fulfil their wishes. And neither does Oikawa.

Pairing: Oikawa Tooru x female reader

Genre: Fluff, comedy, angst, royalty au, arranged marriage au, enemies to lovers au (more like enemies to allies to friends to lovers), eventual smut maybe?

Word count: 2165

Warnings: All the characters are adults unless specified. This chapter is sfw. Minors do not interact.

Notes: This is part 2. To start from the prologue, you can use this link.

Chapter 1 <...> Chapter 3

You prided yourself in not expressing your thoughts or your emotions on your face and having full control over your body language. In this situation, you thought, it was certainly a blessing. You did not want this man to read your thoughts even though hawk like eyes of his that were focused on you made you think he could.

“A very beautiful garden indeed.” Oikawa remarked for a second time that night, his hand resting behind his back “We do not have this many varieties when it comes to plants up north. It is rather cold there, especially when compared to here.”

The ball was still going on inside the palace walls and the music that was filling the rooms still managed to reach your ears no matter how far in the gardens you went. You two were thrown out together after the first few minutes into the reception, suggested, or more like ordered, by both parties to take a walk in order to get to know one another. Followed by royal guards and an entourage of maids and butlers of course. Thankfully, other nobles that would usually be following you, such as your ladies in waiting, were not present thanks to the ongoing event inside. Never truly alone as it wouldn’t be proper. And you never did something that wasn’t proper. Or at least when someone else could see you.

“As you mentioned previously your Highness.” You replied looking ahead. It was not because you were scared that you did not look at him, or so you tried to lie to yourself, it was because you concluded from his rather rude entrance that afternoon that he disliked you. A man who had disgust and anger written on his face before just as he was supposed meet his future betrothed was not a man worth knowing.

He went as far as not to speak unless spoken to when your family decided to give him and his company a tour of the palace that afternoon, your father being absent of course. And even your normally chatty brother trailed hiding behind you, not daring to talk to him. Oikawa looked too broad, too much like a giant next to his sickly form. His hand never left his sword either. Did he not know what a grave insult he gave you when he behaved as if you were after his head, you wondered. You would not blame him of course, not like you did not know the strained relations between the two countries. But it was rude, nonetheless.

The only interaction you had that day before the ball was limited to greetings and if you counted it, walking next to each other in the halls. In the evening, a dance to open the ball. And that was it until now.

“Princess,” he started as you winced at the name, he did not even bother to use your proper title when addressing you “I heard you also had an exquisite greenhouse. Would you be so kind to show me? I am quite curious.”

You finally decided to look at him, fully expecting to see the previous icy expression on his face but found him to be surprisingly smiling. No, maybe not a smile but a smirk, you thought, the kind that gives you shivers and makes you speechless.

You were certainly not stupid. Nor blind. Since the first time you laid eyes on him that day, you knew that all those rumors about him were true. He had a face that looked like it was painted by the master artists of the past, an angelic feeling to it. He was also tall, towering over you or even the guards. The ladies gushed about how lucky you were and how regal he looked.

If only he did not have that God awful expression on his face when you first saw him, you would have been as starstruck as the Palace staff. It was evident that he made up his mind about you before he even met you. So why should you try to get to know him.

“It would be my pleasure.” you answered turning right towards the greenhouse. You have passed it once or twice every week in your walks but you were never allowed in when the gardeners were present.

He did not speak again until you both stopped at the gates of the glass building. That's when he turned towards the staff and the guards that were following you and addressed them with a voice so sweet that could catch vermin.

“If you could please give her Highness and me a few minutes to tour inside I would really appreciate it.”

It was such an inappropriate suggestion that you could feel your face getting hot with anger. You knew he was rude, but you did not expect him to behave with the manners of a dog. It was no secret that he had done countless things you did not dare voice with other ladies or even commoners in places that seemed innocent enough until he was left alone with them. But to taint the reputation of a royal with such suggestion was another thing.

One of the wives of a southern Duke even recalled one evening, after the announcement of his upcoming visit, that one of the most magical nights she had was at his library at his court, giggling while you sat at the same round table as her, playing cards not even a meter away. It made your stomach turn and not just because of the story, but because of the look she gave you afterwards. It reminded you of the smug look your father’s mistress gave you whenever your paths crossed.

You couldn’t stomach the thought of having a similar faith wherever you went.

One of the butlers, god bless his soul, opened his mouth to object but was quickly shut down by Oikawa’s honey voice.

“The path inside looks very narrow you see. And I am not used to being in such a humid and small space with too many people. I can promise you that we won’t take longer than five minutes.”

In hindsight they should have not let him get away with such proposition. But he was the crown prince of one of the strongest kingdoms in this part of the world and he was also to be your future husband. You were not betrothed yet officially but it was as good as done. If it wasn’t they would not even be invited here.

Or maybe, you should have refused his request or asked only two guards to follow you. But one look at his face and your curiosity was peaked. You wanted to know what he wanted to achieve with such a risqué favor. So, you followed the wolf to its den. If any of the nobles heard of this, or god forbid your family, you would be as good as dead. But you could always order your maids to keep their mouths shut. You could never trust anyone to not talk of course, but a threat could do the work.

“I am bit of a botanist myself.” Oikawa said just before the doors closed behind you.

You couldn’t properly see your surroundings as the only light inside came from the moon shining above the tall glass ceiling, and sadly it was not enough to illuminate your path. Oikawa on the other hand was behaving as if he owned the place itself, walking ahead of you, only turning once to check if you were still following him.

“Though it is mostly a hobby.” He continued, finally stopping in front of a cactus like plant with lovely white flowers and turning to you.

“I am guessing you did not ask to come here alone just to talk about your botanical knowledge. What is it that you want to know?” You asked with a cold tone just as your eyes started to adjust to the dark setting.

The corners of his mouth lifted into what could be called one of the most sinister similes you have seen so far before he chuckled.

“I’ve been told you had a kind and warm disposition but that you are very naïve and certainly not very bright.” He said seizing you up.

You knew of your reputation. What other people did not know, however, was that this reputation of yours was created by non-other than you. Carefully thought of and highly fabricated. The life was easier when people did not expect much from you. It also made it easier to listen in on conversations. Afterall, they did not think you would understand or care. But something about Oikawa aggravated you so much that your delicately built facade crumbled into pieces in seconds.

“And I’ve been told you are a very handsome, intelligent and proper gentleman. What a shame we’ve been both lied to.” You replied before taking a step towards him as if to challenge.

He let out the first genuine laugh since his arrival at your rebuttal, his head tilting back. If it were any other person, they would be insulted at your words, but he seemed to be amused.

“What a shame indeed.” He answered also stepping towards you. “Truly disappointing.”

“Is it what you wanted? A naïve, dull and ignorant wife?”

“Is it important what I want?” he pondered crossing his arms.

“A submissive wife than.” You replied “Let me rephrase that. You needed a submissive and naive wife. For what reason may I ask?”

He acted as if he did not hear your question, opting to not even acknowledge it “If we are to come back to the topic at hand, you are right your highness. I wanted to come here alone to see your true character. I know firsthand how exhausting it is to play pretend with others around.”

“And what did you find?”

“That you are very spirited.” He said moving closer.

“Thank you.”

“That was not a compliment Princess.” He stopped a step away from you.

“Anything you deem disappointing in a woman is a compliment to me.” You replied closing the distance between you two, your bodies only inches apart. He seemed to be taken aback for a second before his eyes narrowed and he turned his head towards the plant you were standing next to.

“Selenicereus grandifloras.” He sighed.

“Huh?” the unladylike sound left your mouth over your confusion before you could stop yourself.

“It is also known as the ‘queen of the night’ for it only blooms once every year at night before its petals wither before the morning. We must be extremely lucky.” He elaborated tilting his head towards the fully blossomed flowers. “Even the most beautiful and spirited of flowers cowers when the light shines. Do tell Princess, where will you be once the morning comes?”

He inched towards you, bending down until his face was directly opposite of yours. It was the most indecent position and against your better judgement you were at a loss of words over it. The humidity inside felt ten times worse than it was as you could feel his hot breath on your face. He was so close that you could smell the soft leather, citrus and cinnamon in which you did not know if it was coming from him or from all the greenery around you. Only thing you could think was one wrong move and your noses would be touching. He seemed to be thinking the same as his gaze fell on your lips before he took a step back.

“Because I do not know where you will be your Highness, but I can tell you where you won’t be.” He scoffed “You won’t ever be standing next to me. You certainly won’t do.”

Turning his back, leaving you stunned and stuck he walked towards the path you took just a few minutes ago.

“I can tell you this with the uttermost confidence. You will never rule beside me. I will never marry you.”

And with that, he was gone.

Finally an interaction? Reblogs are appreciated! And also this was not edited I posted it right after writing it so if you see any mistake let me know.

I would love it if you could give me feedback! Thank you!

Disclaimer: No portion of this story may be reproduced in any form without permission. I do not own the character of Oikawa Tooru. This is a work of fiction.

TAG LIST: Let me know if you want me to tag you. If your name is in bold it means I can’t tag you.

@sassyglassesbunny​ @triskoof​ @m-a-r-i-a-s-b-l-o-g

[jay-cult]

Crying Over Coconuts

Seabound aftermath. Jay is sad. Zippy is an adorable puppy. ~3k. All you need to know.

Things had been silent back at the monastery, which had only started feeling emptier as a new sun rose the morning after the ceremony. It was clear time wasn't going to heal this wound for anyone. Jay had to move about. Every minute he had itched to do something, to walk through a door or around the monastery walls. Because if he didn't, he would have felt awful just sitting around depressed in the plaster cage that was his room. But maybe he had deserved to lay around feeling awful. Maybe he should have just let his bad thoughts reclaim him. But of course, he had been selfish.

And so, that day, he felt the need to just go somewhere. Wherever his legs would take him, his mind would follow. He strode out the monastery. Nobody said anything to him. They just let him walk out without saying a word. At some point, through some combination of acquiring the fixed up sub speeder and making his way to the docks, he found himself speeding through the sea. He didn't even know why he had decided to use that thing. He hated being in there.

Once he got far enough, Jay had a difficult time trying to navigate. His long, skinny fingers handled the controls on some sort of autopilot to an unknown place. He couldn’t concentrate. Instead, he stared at the sea around him, getting lost in its infinite depths. His 5-foot-6, bone-dominated body laid nicely in the cushioned seat, and it made Jay suddenly wish that he could feel numb. Due to the mechanic team’s efforts, the chair was comfortable, luxurious, even. He felt bad for feeling. He didn’t want to feel. Jay let out a shaky sigh; if only he couldn’t think.

Suddenly, the sea began to rush in harsh currents around him. Loud BOOMS from the sky echoed through the water, and bright purple flashes of light blinked in his vision every few seconds. It appeared his subconscious had taken him to the storm belt- now he knew where he was going. “Ah crap-!” He returned to his senses when a chunk of stone crashed into the waves beside him. He gripped hard back onto his controls, and the fast pace of the fearful moment allowed him to focus on twisting around the dangerous zones. And eventually, finally, he rounded the corner of a wave and his sub splashed out of the storm-protected part of the shore.

Jay’s panicked breathing slowed as he looked out at the familiar calm view of the island of the keepers. He began his course along the coastline, making his way towards the keepers’ village. He now realized just what he wanted, and why he was here.

The sub’s metal body broke the water’s surface as it arrived at the keepers’ dock. Numerous guards rushed up to do their check of the visitor. The boy’s head appeared as the hood creaked open, smiling nervously. He glanced from spear-wielding keeper to keeper. “Hey! Hey, look who’s come to visit! It’s me, Gift of Jay!” He gestured exaggeratingly to himself, grinning.

They lowered their spears and let Jay hop onto the wet wood of the dock. They looked at each other with hesitance in their eyes. One of them stepped forward. “Poultik is not here. He went out with a party of keepers on a sailing voyage to search for the lost storm amulet.”

“Oh, the two-headed guy who really likes me isn’t… here?” His expression started to fall.

“Few days, maybe,” the keeper replied. “But, urhm, we can help you, Gift of Jay! What brings you here?”

Jay smiled a bit, but then his face fell again. “Oh, well, I guess I’m here to bring some news,” he answered, realizing in the moment that they should probably know what happened. They started to look excited, but Jay shook his head. “No, no, bad news. Er, last you heard… The amulet in Shintaro was fake, and Ninjago City was going to be attacked. Well, it was attacked. There were a lot of civilian casualties. I would know, I almost drowned like the rest of them.”

The keepers’ expressions turned into frowns. “Oh, no,” the speaker stepped forward. “Is Ninjago City alright?”

Jay’s heart started feeling cold. “It is alright. We were safe. But we wouldn’t have been… and I wouldn’t be alive… if it wasn’t for Nya. She… she made a sacrifice. She’s gone.”

There was silence among the group, and the only thing that could be heard was the crash of the sea and the cry of a single gull above it. The keeper spoke up again. “Oh… she was your Yang, was she not?”

“Yeah,” Jay choked out simply.

The speaking keeper ordered a guard to bring the information to Chief Mammatus and told the rest to continue on with their duties. He bowed to Jay. “Well, Gift of Jay, if there is anything else you may need, call for Sungker. For now you may rest in the Gift Room until you need anything.”

“Thanks, Sungker.” The boy in blue reached up to give him a pat on the shoulder, and unexpectedly felt a little welcoming static from his skin.

-

After a ride on the pulley-operated platforms that he felt bad for enjoying, Jay sat on a stiff chair in the room. He had taken a platter filled with exotic foods and drinks and was completely stuffing his face, and as he was doing so, tears fell in dozens down his face. He couldn’t stand himself. Here he had come, selfishly wishing to be treated like a king, and his faithful servant(s?) wasn’t even here to pamper the great gift. And now he was sad about it, and he hated himself for it.

What was he going to do now? How else was he going to make his mind feel numb from pain, so the only thing he felt was uplifted, praised, happy? The League of Jay wasn’t necessarily an option, since they were caught up in their own damages from the city’s fall. Where else could he possibly go- to Murtessa and the Munce? He cringed at the thought. Though he knew he would be treated like royalty among their people, he couldn’t possibly betray Nya by basking in the attention of another woman who liked him. That would be pure cruelty; slander to her name and to their relationship. He chucked a half-eaten fruit at the floor aggressively, and its juice stained the wood. It rolled sadly into a crack.

Jay caught his reflection in the platter and stared at it angrily. His tear-worn face snarled back at him without hesitation, all emotions having been let loose. He stood up and set the platter down gently on the chair. He sniffed and dragged his knuckles across his freckled nose, now a menacing red. “I need to go for a walk,” he expressed shakily.

The inside of the room had been lit with electric lamps after the sky had gone dark. Jay left them going as he made his way to the door and slowly pulled it open. But instead of the view of the jungle he had expected to see from the deck, he was looking into the slitted eyes of a very sweaty beast. Its body pulsed back and forth with a pant, and its light green scales shimmered menacingly in the moonlight. In its huge mouth was a gently gripped, large, brown coconut.

“Oh, Zippy! The hell are you-?” The dragon nudged his snout into Jay's torso, pushing him back with the force. Zippy dropped the slimy fruit on the ground beside him and bowed like a dog.

Jay’s gloved hands picked up the nasty ball. “Not really the time for this right now, bud,” he said with a soft smile, giving Zippy a few pats on the head with the other hand. He reeled back his arm and then sent the coconut flying past their heads and over the railing, leaving bits of slobber behind from the velocity. Jay wiped his hand on his gi as he walked on the deck and around the corner, but once again came face-to-face with the reptile.

“I mean, what did I expect?” Jay sighed, comforted by the presence of the good-hearted creature. He was presented with the coconut once more, and acquired it in his arm before giving Zippy a good scratch under the jaw. This nearly sent the dragon crashing over the rail by the sheer force of his dropping and rolling from the pleasure of the scratching.

The slobber-stained ninja shook his head in amusement after a small bout of startled shock. “Maybe we should play somewhere a little safer, buddy,” he suggested.

Zippy followed Jay like he had a whole cooked chicken. Eventually, Jay was far enough from the village to feel safe from destroying it and, most importantly, to feel alone. He settled himself on a formation that jutted up above the trees, with a singular light blue flower growing on its ledge. He stood so that it was shielded by his legs, as if he were keeping it safe from Zippy’s reckless ruckus. From here he could clearly see the island’s unique sky. The violent storm twisted in a ring around the island’s shores, but in the middle it parted to reveal a sphere of the clear night. Though the stars were pretty, it was the moon that gave the world light, cut into a neat half and half- ironically called a quarter moon. One side light, one side dark as a sea trench.

Jay gave the fruit a good chuck into the trees below, and Zippy rather ungracefully dove into the jungle to give chase. He realized how good it felt to throw something with such great force at the moment. Jay gazed a bit at the hands that had done it all, from the throwing to the fighting. They were settled in flexible gloves cut at the fingers, which had not been washed for days; gloves which had usually gotten such good care when possible.

Zippy returned back with the coconut in due time. “You know,” Jay said, patting Zippy’s nose, “I always wondered why they called it a coconut when botanically, it’s a fruit.”

The dragon tilted his head, confused at the boy’s matter-of-fact tone. But soon enough he forgot and began spinning in circles, begging for the sacred fruit-fetching ritual to continue to take place.

Jay threw again, laughing at his antics. He envied how simply the creature perceived things, with a brain and heart so, well, simple. It must have been easy living simply. All you needed to do was munch the plentiful fruit of the isle, amuse yourself with a ball, and make friends with everyone you came across.

When Zippy returned from a few more tosses, Jay put his hands on his knees, starting to really breathe a bit. “I think that’s enough for me for now,” he said. The beast gave him big puppy eyes, noticing the tire in his tone, but Jay did not relent. He turned to head back to the village, but the dragon settled into the ground quickly in a curve that blocked him. Zippy shifted his head into his claws, seemingly happy to take a break himself.

“Well, I guess I could stay a little while,” Jay decided, plopping himself into a safe spot against the dragon’s body. His thin legs still surrounded the patch of grass that the flower was growing from. He guessed he developed some sort of attachment to the little thing.

The ninja suddenly heard a deep resounding crack beside him, and the grunts of a confused Zippy. “Huh?” He twisted over to see what was happening, and within seconds, he understood. The dragon snorted and began shaking his head and spitting, sending sticky bits of fruit flying from left to right. Zippy hadn’t been paying attention to the pressure he was putting on the coconut while he was resting, and his powerful jaw had crushed the thing to smithereens.

“No, Zippy! But the coconut! It was yours… it’s all gone now!” For reasons inexplicable to him, Jay’s face started suddenly scrunching again, ugly wetness trickling endlessly from his eyes. “Now what are we gonna do? I-” he sniffed- “you broke it!”

Zippy pressed his head against Jay’s side gently, not forcefully careless like before. The dragon sighed slowly, a peaceful sound reminiscent of a comforting whisper. Jay grabbed onto the sides of his face and pressed himself against his forehead, tears seeping into his scaly skin. The boy erupted into full out sobs, letting himself go in the openness of the wild jungle. And nobody saw him except for that simple creature.

After a hefty fifteen minutes, Zippy must have sensed a steady increase of calming from Jay’s crying, and removed his head from against him. He gave Jay a sloppy couple of licks across his face, possibly hoping to make him cleaner.

“I’m- I’m really sorry, boy,” Jay forced out between decreasing sniffs. He placed his hand gently on Zippy’s chin. “I-I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I mean, yeah, I’m going through some stuff, b-but… a coconut?”

The dragon gently pushed the boy onto the ground, and curled himself neatly up around him and the flower. He gave Jay an understanding look, no judgement in his gaze. Just sympathy. His tail flicked gently in the grass, making a nice brushing sound. After being seated, Jay rested one of his hands on Zippy’s nose and rustled the other into a pocket in his gi. He slid out his shiny half of his charm, his Yin promise, and turned it slowly in his hand. He watched the moonlight glint on its surface and flicker at the edges as he moved it.

“I just want her back,” he lamented softly.

The creature raised his scale-touched nose and sniffed the metal charm with his big nostrils. His curious eyes crossed to give it a good look.

“Yeah, I know, it looks like just a thing,” Jay said, “but I tell ya, it’s special. I helped make it. It’s really important…” he started to bittersweetly tell the story of how their Yin-Yang charms were made, and the entire crisis that was the proposal. “I know, I know, on the edge of a battle, right? But I thought I wouldn’t’ve gotten any other chance! Besides, it was cool. Suspenseful. It was like we were in a love story.”

He fell silent again for a moment, listening only to the hum of jungle bugs. He sighed again. “I guess the best love stories do always end in tragedy.”

Zippy let out a sympathetic moan, comforting Jay’s emotional state. Jay shifted his gaze back to the clouds above the sea. “I’m always gonna hold up my end of the promise, though. No matter what. I’m never gonna give up on her, Zippy. Even if things don’t ever go back.”

The dragon grunted his approval.

“Still, though. I just can’t help it. I’m always staring at the water, with super unreasonable expectations. And then I get so hopeful, and then I get let down, until I’m staring hopelessly into a pool of my own tears.” He dug his face into his knees. “It’s abysmal. I’m sorry. You’re the only pers- er, thing- I’ve talked about it with, really.”

Zippy tilted his head affectionately, and tried to nudge Jay’s out of his knees. His eye poked out from above his daily gi’s pants, shining with emotion. “Well, I guess Maya caught me crying once, but that doesn’t count.”

The dragon’s own eyes started to gain a shine, and he shook his head, blinking erratically.

Jay took his body out of its hiding position, wrapping his arms around Zippy’s face to stop his shaking. “It’s okay to cry, boy,” he soothed, and the two cried together into the night until reality faded and they were both asleep beside a perfectly intact, dew-covered flower.

-

Morning rolled around and Jay said his lighthearted goodbyes to the keepers without eating breakfast. He stood at the edge of their dock, shaking hands with Sungker as a parting exchange.

“Thanks for being so nice, Sungker. I’ll see you again soon.”

Sungker looked to his sides bashfully. “Yes, yes, of course, Gift of Jay. Perhaps next time Poultik will be here to provide more assistance?”

Jay shrugged. “I’d like to see him, but maybe next time he and I can do something a bit more… two-sided, as friends.”

He gave an approving “hmph” to the departing visitor, and waved him off as he climbed back into his sub speeder.

As Jay sped gracefully through the aggressive waves, he came to the realization that he had been needing. Somehow, it wasn’t praise or luxury that had made him forget his sorrow. In fact, it was quite the opposite, a nature-bound therapy session with a gross but loving creature, which had made him feel a lot better.

As Ninjago City rose in the distance, he remembered one more thing.

“Whoops. Forgot to tell them their amulet broke.”

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About “Separate Tides” from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who most likely won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

...>A-hem< F**KING CALLED IT!

I said that the earliest that The Owl House would return would be late June and early July. And some of YYYOOOUUU sons of witches doubted me by saying it would be fall or winter. Well, guess what! "Separate Tides'' has come and gone, the show is back and better than ever, and we are all happy about it! You see how it pays to be optimistic, you persistent PACK OF PESSIMISTS!

...Sorry. Got a little hot there. I'm just so happy it's BACK!

10 MONTHS! It's been nearly 10 months since this show began its hiatus, large in part because of the pandemic. It was painful. BOY, was it painful. But I can already tell that the new season is going to be well worth the wait just by this episode alone.

But beware you mangey sea dogs! Thar be spoilers ahead when discussing such a premier.

And I swear to you that it's only spoilers for "Separate Tides." I haven't seen "Escaping Expulsion" either, and I promise you will be safe from anybody ruining it for you. But maybe don't read any responses from this post. Thar may be d**ks in these waters. So let's review, shall we!

WHAT I LIKE

Mirroring Season One’s Opening Scene: First off, this is a neat callback to what is the perfect first impression of the series. That scene perfectly introduces us to the type of show The Owl House is, while this one acts as a reintroduction to the world we left for way too long.

Second, this is also a well-hidden character moment. Luz is finally living the life she dreamed of, but it isn't exactly all that she expected. It's a great showcase that despite literally running away to a fantasy world, Luz is still getting a regular dose of reality. And I still love the irony in all of that.

(Plus, King eating the bounty is just funny).

The Recap Recording: This is a smart way to recap events from the season finale. It might be weird that Luz says things that the audience already knows, but she's not talking to us. She's talking to her mom. So she's going to explain all that she can in a way for Camila to fully understand. Besides, not every fan had repeatedly watched The Owl House Season One over and over again like a bunch of frickin' lunatics...You know who you are.

Plus, as an upside, Luz gets to explain new events and concepts for how she and the rest of the Owl House are making a living. In no way does it feel like forced exposition because, again, she's trying to describe as much as she can to her mother. It's a reasonable and natural way to talk to the audience in order to catch them up while also showing what's been happening since we've last left this show.

Luz Can’t Send Texts to Her Mom: ...Well, Texts to Home, it was fun while it lasted, but the current canon has decided that you're done. I'll miss you and appreciate all that you've done for me, but, yeah, this is the end. Sorry.

Alright, now that I got my jokes out of the way, allow me to explain how this is really a heartbreaking moment. Because the fact that Luz is forever cut off from her mother, even through texts, is an idea that just twists the knife in your heart when you really sit down to think about it. Luz's little goodbye at the end of her video does nothing but makes it worse.

On the upside, we get some solid character development as Luz doesn't even hesitate to send the video to Camila, learning her lesson from "Enchanted Grom Fright" about being more honest. She finally faced her fear, even if it was a fruitless effort.

They’re Doing Odd Jobs Now: This is a smart workaround for how the Owl House residents are making money. Some fans guessed that maybe Eda had so much junk piled up that they wouldn’t worry, but this seems more of a logical direction. Even if Eda had enough garbage to sell, she’ll can and will eventually run out at some point, meaning that they will all have to take the odd jobs anyway. So I appreciate the writers used that plot point sooner rather than later, as a fun romp as bounty hunters is something you want to do early in the season instead of later on. Especially with how Dana Terrace confirmed that s**t’s gonna go down in the future.

Lilith: ...I'm still willing to hold off--What the f**k did I say his name was? *looks up past review* Frederick Ulis--Frederick Ulisinsburg!

I am willing to hold off Frederick Ulisinsburg, for now, because Lilith is...sort of on the right track. I mean, I don't like how quick she was to playfully mock Eda or rudely yell at Hooty. But I do think that there is potential for her character. She feels genuine guilt for what she's done, and there's a chance that the new season will explore that further if the writers are smart (which they are). On top of that, there's a possibility that every time Lilith tries to act cocky or full of herself, she will be treated as a proverbial punching bag because of it. Like how her poster got burned down after boasting how impressive she looks. Or how Golden Guard's poster magically sealed itself to her face when Lilith tried to throw it away. It's the latter that primarily got me cackling like a madman due to how deservingly hilarious it was.

And, well...she happily clapped like a schoolgirl! Which was adorable! I can't hate characters who have the potential to be adorable! It's not in my nature!

So, while I am a little hesitant in liking her, I think there's a chance for improvement in her character in the future that I look forward to. We just have to wait and see if the writers pull it off.

(By the way, to the person that came up with Lilith wearing a "battery low" shirt...you're a genius in visual gags/storytelling.)

Greg’s List: Have I ever mentioned that this show is funny?

Who's Greg? Why does he organize a list of perfect bounties?

I don't know, but the idea of some random person in the Boiling Isles is putting it on himself to set up a list to make bounties...I'm sorry, but that's funny to me. It's also probably for how Craig's List was made, but when you really think about it, Craig's List is a funny idea as well.

Eda Isn’t Feared Anymore: I sort of guessed that this would happen, but seeing it is a whole different level of sympathy to feel for the character. Eda's main schtick was being the most powerful witch on the Isles, and that's gone now. She's forced to adapt to this new normal, which she's quick to do, but still. Tt's got to be a rough kick to the ego now that no one even cares about who she is anymore.

It's a low moment for her character that hopefully sets up her own arc for the rest of the season.

Luz Feels Like She’s a Burden: I will demolish her with love and kindness if she even CONSIDERS talking so poorly about herself again! Because Luz is not a burden. She is a beam of light that literally brightens up the lives of nearly everyone she meets. Eda already explains how her life is better because of Luz (through a heart-tugging speech that almost got to me, by the way), but it's not just Eda.

King now has his first real friend who admires him and treats him like the king he wants to be.

Willow has become much more confident and cheerful because Luz was always in her corner.

Gus learns more about the humans he appreciates with his whole heart while also having a friend that treats him like an equal rather than a kid.

And do I even have to say ANYTHING about Amity?

The Boiling Isles wouldn't be better off without Luz. It's better because of her. And shame on this girl for thinking otherwise...even though I fully understand where she's coming from.

I'm about to get personal for a second, so strap in. Because I am a twenty-somthing-year-old who is currently living with his mom. It's as pathetic as it sounds. But it's because I'm still attending college, and she says school comes first and jobs and apartments come second. Despite that, I feel like trash for just...living here as she still takes care of me and pays for the food I can't afford. She says that I shouldn't worry about it, but I still wait for the day I can finally pay her back for everything. Not some things, but everything. And that's Luz's mentality in this episode. The overwhelming guilt she's feeling for thinking she's inconveniencing Eda's life is something that hits really hard for me. It doesn't matter if it's true, but that she believes it's true. It's a heartbreaking character arc she's forced into for this episode that also adds more to why she's one of the many characters I heavily relate to.

Lulu and Hootstipher: Whoever thought of this idea...I f**king love you.

This is similar to when Noah and Owen became friends in Total Drama World Tour. Seemingly one-sided at first, you see a cute friendship that you would have never expected, but it works! Hooty is this happy and naive character who hardly understands what's going on half the time, and Lilith is...Lilith. Their chemistry is instantly fun as their dynamic is quick to understand.

This also shines with potential for character growth, for it could give Lilith a chance to be more caring and Hooty a chance to be more than just the comic relief. If you were to tell me that this is what was going to happen when the season premiered, I would have thought you were crazy. But now, after seeing it in action, I'm genuinely excited to see where this cute friendship between these two goes.

(As long as it doesn't involve fans shipping them. Because Hooty can do better)

Luz Getting Better with Her Magic: Our little bisexual princess is growing up! And, man, is it awesome to see. Luz going from just barely knowing how to do magic to full-on using her spells like second nature just warms my heart with all the character growth it presents. Now, some people might want an explanation for how she's able to do said spells, to which I say: "Who the f**k cares?"

If you ask me, Luz's magic is one of those things that doesn't need a direct answer because it doesn't matter as much. But if you're going to be a baby about it, here's what I can offer: As far as I can tell, it's equal parts having the glyph and mentally picturing what the spell should do. It's much like how Willow draws a spell circle and can either make giant jungle vines or a patch of flowers to land on. Luz's glyphs are her own spell circles. As long as she concentrates hard enough, she can make the glyph do whatever she wants it to.

There. You have your explanation. Now let's just all appreciate the fact that Luz can now throw fireballs and make vine whips like the superpowered teenager she most likely fantasized of being. Ok? Ok.

A Pirate Losing His Head...Literally: ...And I'm gonna go ahead and add that to the list.

I mean, for f**k's sake, WE SEE BONE! He puts his head back on, but we still see the bone!

Eda in a Pirate Outfit: ...That is all.

The Golden Guard: This guy shows up for only a few minutes, and I'm already beginning to like him. He seems just as threatening as Belos while also coming across as a guy who loves his job and being a ton of fun to watch because of it. I adore villains that find that balance of being funny and terrifying. The result is a character who makes me laugh on top of making me scared of what they could do to our protagonists. So far, that's the Golden Guard in a nutshell, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the season has in store with him. Whether it involves seeing him play with food as he did with Eda and Luz in this episode or seeing him getting kicked in the crotch like a little punk like him deserves, I am all for it.

(Bonus points if it's Amity who does the crotch kicking if he ever makes an advancement on Luz)

Eda Wanting to Protect the Selkidomus: I love this. It plays into the idea that Eda cares about things being wild and free and despises how Emperor Belos would want to control everything, including the most insignificant of animals. It shows just how kind Eda really is rather than someone motivated by greed...even if she does end up filthy rich in the end.

Emperor Belos’ Brief Cameo: Yup, still terrifying!

And if it turns out that Belos can see the Scrying Potion that Lilith made...we're going to have some problems.

Much like the actual problems that I have with this episode!

(Like that transition?)

WHAT I DISLIKE

King Being Stupid: King has two different personalities in this series. Either he's a pathetic wannabe ruler who seems intelligent or an idiotic Disney comedic sidekick. That latter version of King is what we get in "Separate Tides," and I don't like it (obviously). I don't care how cute it is to see him cling onto Luz's leg and exclaim how he won't let her leave. The same character who helped Luz break into a prison to save Eda shouldn't be the same one who falls asleep when a sheet covers him like a dumbass parrot! King's at his best when he's as intelligent as the rest of the characters. And not as dumb as someone like Hooty.

Eda Being Too Nice Around Lilith: This one bothers me the most. After being cursed for thirty years and having her life ruined by the person she thought she could trust the most, Eda is still all smiley and jokey when talking to Lilith. Yeah, sorry, but I don't buy that. No one in their right mind would be that cool with a person who did all of what Lilith did. It's a major misstep that squanders what could have been a fantastic overarching story of Eda learning to forgive her sister and Lilith trying to earn it. We'll at least get Lilith's guilt, but as is, I feel Eda showing genuine anger towards her would elevate that story by a lot.

IN CONCLUSION

But that's about all the bad things I have to say about "Separate Tides." As is, it is a well-earned, solid A of a season premiere. It introduces new concepts and characters I can't wait to see more of, continues old storylines and character development instead of ignoring them, and still proves that The Owl House is as charming and funny as it always was. Maybe the rest of the season could continue to be great, or maybe things might get worse. Time can only tell. For now, all I can tell you is that "Separate Tides" is a great and fun episode that makes me excited as we set sail to this new season.

(And Scared. Mostly scared)

[akampana]

Prompt n.24 sounds very interesting. Arturia is a king, but also a knight. And the one thing a knight has by their side, is their trusted weapon...

But we know that sometimes, a weapon is not just a weapon. Sometimes its much more...

Right, Cu Alter?

24. “You will never lose me. I will always be right here beside you.”

Cu Alter x Arturia

One-shot, set in a world where Cú Chulainn and King Arthur exist in the same time period. Enjoy! Thanks for the ask!

___

A loud clang resounded within the stone confines of the throne room, and yet it was quiet compared to the storm raging hell outside, and quieter still to the turmoil that wracked King Arthur’s mind.

Tristan’s desertion was followed by those of a number of knights. The first crack in the glass foundation that kept Camelot’s flag flying high. The exposure of Lancelot’s affair, however, was the hammer that finally smashed it to smithereens. Now here she was left amongst the rubble, with an aggrieved Gawain, a conflicted Bedivere and the cold, dead body of poor Agravain, who fell victim to her excommunicated First Knight. Arturia did not know where Merlin was. Kay had left months ago with all his fortune. She needn’t be a genius to know he wasn’t coming back.

What the people demanded was revenge for King Arthur’s cuckolding: the hunt and execution of the treacherous French knight that fled to his homeland, to whom Arturia held no grudge. Her logic demanded she carry out the farce, but what remained of her sealed-up heart did not.

From this derived her conflict, which she wrestled in solitude, here at the glaringly empty Round Table that used to seat her comrades.

Pursue the man she’s forgiven or stay her hand? Give the people what they want or stand by her own beliefs?

Arturia flinched as cool metal brushed against her fingertips, her startled eyes climbing to meet orbs the color of the wine she just spilled.

“King—!” the glare he sent her stilled her tongue at once, his inhuman crimson eyes glowing in the dim candlelight.

“Cú,” she corrected herself, wrapping her cloak tighter around herself. Her thinner night garbs did little to hide the secret of her sex. In the dead of night, she wasn’t expecting any visitors. Especially not at the Round Table, which was devoid of all life at this hour.

“Has your fire gone out for the night?” she said, twisting her father’s silver ring around her thumb as she spoke, “I will arrange for a servant to assist you at once—”

“Forget it,” interrupted the brutal warrior, reclining himself into Lancelot’s former seat as he poured his own goblet. “Can’t sleep in all this racket.”

She knew instinctively he didn’t mean the storm. Regretful green eyes inspected the mess in the corner, wasted wine that was a victim to her ire. Briefly, she wondered how the foreign king could hear her from all the way in the east wing, but it was hardly important. Cú was already a man of few words. He wouldn’t waste any on small talk.

“Yer gonna chase the bastard, aren’t ya? It’s what yer subjects want,” came his raspy declaration, cutting in through the silence just before a crack of lightning illuminated the room. Their eyes clashed in the glaring white light, blood orbs against evergreen.

“I can...I cannot deny them the justice they expect of me,” she answered, grief lacing the small voice that barely carried itself through the thunder.

“So you deny yerself. Just like you’ve done all yer life. Ain’t that right, Arturia?”

It took King Arthur a moment to fully grasp what had come out of his lips. Her breath began to labor as she wracked her brain for an excuse. Panic settled into her bones faster than the snow outside seeped into the grass. Before she could formulate anything, however, she felt Cú’s fingers encircle her wrist.

“Relax. I ain’t telling no one. Weapons don’t talk, remember?” he soothed, as much as an emotionless killing machine could, anyway.

“You are not just a weapon. We have been over this.” Arturia shot back, momentarily forgetting the source of her stress.

As her frantic breaths began to still, she managed a small question. “How long have you known?”

His claws released their grip, lamenting the small indents they left on her skin. “Since ya wasted yer fourteenth seat on a foreign king that once would have torn yer land asunder.”

Cú reached past her arms, lifting the wool cloak from the short king’s chest. Sure enough, he now had his confirmation, a modest chest that was so cleverly hidden behind her armor plates.

“‘Tis of little consequence to me,” he voiced, replacing the garment she pulled so closely around herself. She watched him as he gave her another glass of wine, trying to discern if he spoke the truth.

“I don’t bloody care about what’s between yer legs, the same way you never cared for this fucking tail that trails behind me. All I need to hear are yer orders,” her allied king continued, flicking away a loose strand of hair with the scaly appendage.

“If ya wanna kill Lancelot, Arturia, I’m with ya. Point me in the way of France. But if not, then gimme some other fucking command. I don’t give a shit, as long as it’s what ya want.”

The King of Knights pursed her lip, still unaccustomed to hearing her real name from one who wasn’t supposed to know her secret. Especially when the one who used it was someone she did not expect: the displaced King of Connacht, who was more frequently an envoy serving at her court as an allied Warrior of the Round Table than the ruler of his late queen’s territory. The latter job, Cú had delegated to Fergus, as the “Mad” King had chosen to dedicate his freedom to the one that liberated him.

Arturia shook off his crass manner of speech. After nearly a decade of having him by her side, she’d grown accustomed to his language, even if he was frequently scoffed at by Agravain and Gaheris when the siblings still lived.

The reminder of her knights’ deaths led her gaze back to her table and its empty seats. There were so few that still belonged to the living. Some of them were never to be filled again. Arturia turned to her right, to where Lancelot once sat, meeting ruby eyes instead of onyx ones.

“Then how about this,” she suggested, imprinting the Irish King’s face into her memory the same way she’d done for the rest of her knights. Slowly, she slipped off the silver ring she’d been fiddling with and slid it onto his pinky.

“Return to your homeland with as much gold as you can carry and my eternal gratitude. Take a fourth of the cattle. Reward each of those in your service with one and keep the rest to enrich Connacht.”

Thunder raged on outside the castle walls, but it was the silence of the king before her that unnerved Arturia to a ridiculous extent. For while neither were as talkative as her remaining nephew, the quiet had never been quite so tense.

“The hell?” Cú finally asked, glaring at the Pendragon ring with disgust instead of honor. “You’d have me run? Do ya think me a coward—”

“—I think you are a king that should not die for the flag of a kingdom that is not his,” she cut him off, grasping his hand before he could tear her father’s ring off. “You asked for an order. This is it.”

Cú Chulainn’s claws dug into the collar of her cloak, as he pulled her to his face, a menacing look upon his countenance.

“An order?” he grunted harshly, “Or a feeble attempt at driving me away before I can leave you?”

Arturia’s struggles suddenly ceased, her limbs going limp before the foreign king finally let go of her clothes. The chairs screeched as each ruler fell back onto them, the older one far more irate than the younger.

“That’s what this is about, isn’t it?” Cú murmured, his voice soft as his fist thudded onto the circular table. “Ya’ve been an absolute tool since that depressing redhead turned in his rank, and some thoughtless fools followed. Then ya let Lancelot leave, don’t even bloody try to tell me he got away.”

Arturia turned her head, hiding her eyes behind her hay-colored hair. It mattered not how her charisma could sway crowds, her tongue knew not how to lie. Green eyes searched the empty room, counting the few chairs that would be occupied tomorrow. Her sister’s remaining sons’, Bedivere’s and...oh, how very few.

Arturia rested her hand on his fist, urging him to keep the heirloom as proof of the great service he gave Camelot.

“Go home, Cú. I cannot...I cannot lose you, too.” the British king sighed, getting used to the chill of solitude. She’d always known that a life as king was a life alone. At least with Cú, she could choose the day he left, instead of spending her time counting the days till he made his exit, just like her knights, her wizard, her brother.

“Don’t ask something so fucking stupid then go looking so damn pitiful,” he responded, flipping their hands and dragging her into his space till her lips touched his.

There was a reason Cú had stayed, pawning off Connacht to someone else that deserved it more and joining Camelot’s court instead. Not only had Arturia broken the geis that kept him tied to Medb, but she also gave him purpose.

Cú never spoke of it, but he remembered their first meeting like it was yesterday.

It was on the battlefield, back when he was still bound by geis to serve another mistress. Medb, the sly vixen, had tricked him into her service, forcing him into the frontlines till he’d slain every single one of his former comrades.

Bathed in the blood of his friends, the red clouding his vision, the man who was once Ulster’s proudest warrior was no more. His valiant face was replaced by a monstrous visage, his armaments were stained black. Upon his head sat a crown of thorns, forced onto his head by a queen who knew nothing but chaos.

Before long, the name he was proud to take up had been given new meaning. He was no longer Ulster’s guard dog, but Medb’s rabid hound, who sunk his teeth into anything and everything that so much as irked the devilish queen. Cú Alter, she called him, now that she’d bent him to her tastes. Cú Alter, a fitting name to a warrior forced to tarnish his own title.

As the bodies piled up around him, no rhyme nor reason for their slaughter, Cú began to see himself in a darker light, grasping at straws for some sort of purpose behind all the mindless killing.

He must have been a monster. A monster that massacred all that stood in his way regardless of honor and glory. Yes, that must have been it, he convinced himself, finally submitting to the dark cage that his hated loathsome queen had put him under.

As the black chains dragged him deeper and deeper into his own personal hell, he took up his spear once again. It lashed out whenever he touched it, staining itself dark till the vibrant red he used to wield was nowhere to be found. Once more, to the battlefield, said Medb. Once more, he tore across it with a godlike ease.

Then suddenly the cursed spear collided with its match, a sword of shining light that glowed as bright as its wielder. He remembered the moment so clearly, his breath hitching at his throat as his strikes were pushed back, the wind pressure whipping his hood out of his face. His heart pounded with adrenaline as his gaze fell down to his opponent: a tiny little thing, so small they should have fallen to his last strike, but there they still stood, defiant green eyes staring up at him with no fear.

Rage overtook his figure, fueling his strikes as he tried to cast the small warrior back, but all his efforts were met with equal force.

“My name is Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot.” a small voice, too fragile to have been a man’s, rung out across the battlefield. Spear met sword once again, pausing in their dance.

“Your name, knight.”

Even though he stayed on his feet, it was like the king had pulled the rug from under him. Their eyes locked once more, and he saw himself within the green irises, staring mouth agape at his opponent.

His name? His name? How long had it been since he’d been asked for his name? How many foes had he slain since then? How many nameless faces had he sent to the grave? How could this person, this puny king, take one look at his monstrous form and face him like a knight regardless?

“Cú Chulainn,” came his raspy voice, which too often had been used to roar like a beast. It felt foreign on his lips, which had ‘til then spoke nothing but bitter resentment.

That day, Arturia saw more than the monster. More than the weapon he’d disillusioned himself into being. Cú followed the king after Medb’s defeat, intending to find some proof that it was all a fluke, but it never happened. Arturia never treated him or her knights like a weapon or a tool. Arturia treated him like an equal.

And now, years spent the line, she was robbing him of that feeling, sending him away with glory and riches. If he were younger, he’d have jumped at the prize of heroic fame, but that was no longer what he wanted. What he wanted was to be right here, right next to the person that made him feel human again.

As their lips parted, Cú sent a glare through the empty seats of each of the deserters. He’d never understand how they could leave their king behind. He’d met his fair share of monarchs— hell, he technically was one—and even as belligerent a person he was, he wouldn’t wield his spear for any other.

“You will never lose me,” Cú declared in between rough kisses. “I will always be right here beside you. Understand?”

The Irishman returned her ring as she nodded, breathless, into his shoulder. She had one. Even if the world were to turn on Arturia, she still had one. One that would stay forever beside her.

Beside her...

Beyond Cú, the shorter king saw the backrest of Lancelot’s former seat, and finally, she knew just what to do to settle the people and follow her heart at the same time.

“Disregard my previous orders. Heed this instead…”

As the words left his king’s lips, Cú Chulainn proudly grinned.

[janetbrown711]

"We'll figure this out" - Yakko

Yakko always knew he had a silver tongue, but he honestly hadn’t expected this. 

Somehow, Yakko had not only convinced King Salazar to spare him and his siblings because they “knew a secret about the Wishing Star”, but he had also convinced the king to make them a full-on feast for them in his dining room. Yakko honestly had no idea the king would fulfill his request but was overjoyed that he did. 

Wakko and Dot hadn’t seen that much food in their whole lives, and were eating like madmen. Yakko was delighted to see how happy it made them, and Yakko knew that even if the king caught them and knew they were using him, it would be worth it anyway. The food was delicious. 

However, the King was getting impatient, but Yakko got quite a kick out of annoying him, and since he couldn’t punch him in the face, he figured annoyance sufficed. 

“Now, tell me,” Salazar demanded, slamming his fist against the table. 

“About what?” Yakko blinked at him innocently. 

“The Wishing Star, you foolish child,” He growled, but Yakko wasn’t afraid. 

“Oh right, that old thing,” Yakko nodded as he took a bite of the ham and kicked his feet onto the table. “Right, yeah, you see, the key to the whole thing is...” Yakko internally panicked as he tried to think. He looked at Salazar, who was a lot more threatening the closer he got to him. 

“You have something on your nose,” Yakko pointed at him. 

“What?” The King sat up and gasped. “Where?” 

Thank goodness the King was a vain egomaniac. 

“Right there,” Yakko pointed. 

The King then sniffled and rubbed nose, asking, “Did I get it?”

“Ehhhhhhh, no,” Yakko shook his head. The King did it again and Wakko and Dot picked up on what he was doing. 

“Did I get it now?” Salazar asked. 

“Ew, no, now it’s over there,” He pointed to the other nostril.

“Ew! Get it off! Get it off!” Wakko and Dot said in unison. Yakko then leaned over to the king. 

“Look- we’re trying to eat here. Could you go to the bathroom to take care of it?” Yakko asked. The King, being the major idiot that he was, nodded and went off to the bathroom. 

“Okay sibs, now’s our chance,” Yakko nodded at Wakko and Dot, who immediately understood and they started to book it down the hallways, holding each other’s hands so as to not lose one another. 

However, they came to a screeching halt when Salazar appeared in front of them. 

“You horrible, horrible children! Who taught you how to behave?!” He shouted at them. 

Was... was this guy serious???

“No one sir,” Dot’s face fell dramatically before she coughed weakly. “You see... we’re orphans,” Dot looked up at the King with puppy dog eyes, and Yakko and Wakko did the same, though they were nowhere near as cute as Dot. 

“Ah, right. Well, everyone has problems,” The King turned his back and Guards took them to the throne room. Yakko pondering annoying him further, begging for him to adopt them, but Yakko would sooner die than say that. After all, it was his fault that their parents were dead, that all of this had happened. Yakko remained silent. 

“Now, are you going to tell me the secrets of the Wishing Star or not?” King Salazar said. 

“Nope! Never,” Wakko stuck his chin up, and Yakko was forced to play along. He still didn’t know what to do, but Wakko’s response wasn’t going to make things easier. 

“Fine, we have ways of making you talk,” The King grinned darkly, and Yakko regretted his actions immediately. 

The King then snapped his fingers and the Warner siblings were dragged off by guards to a dark, filthy, disgusting, and dingy cave that was absolutely freezing and likely full of spiders and other gross things. 

“This blows,” Dot scowled at the area. 

“But it did get us some time. Maybe we can even escape from here,” Wakko suggested, still holding out hope. 

“Yakko, no natural sunlight reaches down here. we’re being illuminated by really old and dusty candles, look,” Yakko pointed up and Wakko saw them. “This is a cave, solid rock. We have to think of a secret and fast.” 

The siblings sat in silence and tried to think, but the cold was distracting, and they all huddled close to preserve body heat. That, and Dot’s cough was only getting worse because of how dust and dirt ridden the cave was, and that was hard to ignore too. Plus Yakko hated spiders and boy were they everywhere. 

Ultimately, Yakko had too much in his mind to think, which only frustrated him more, which made thinking harder, and eventually he just gave up and focused on keeping his siblings warm and close. 

“We’re still together... that’s all that matters,” He thought to himself before yawning. He hadn’t realized how exhausted he was. They had done a lot of journeying in one day, and they’d have to somewhat repeat that if they wanted to go home, and hopefully they could avoid any other near-death experiences on the way back. Yakko had had more than enough already.

They sat there and tried to think for what felt like an eternity, hearing every creepy crawling thing move against the rock floor echo against the walls. Needless to say, it was a pretty miserable time, and they were almost grateful when the guards came and took them out and back to Salazar.  

“So... are you ready to talk yet?” The King smirked as he sat on his throne. 

“Yes, but please-” Dot coughed a little. “-don’t make us go back there!” She begged. Salazar chuckled. 

“We’ll see now,  won’t we?” He said and Yakko once again wanted nothing more than to punch him in his perfect teeth. He glanced at Wakko and it looked like he was having the same thought. 

“Now, tell me the secrets to the wishing star,” He demanded. Yakko gulped. He hadn’t thought of anything, so it looked like he was just gonna have to wing it. 

“It’s uh... not about what you wish it’s about... how you wish it?” He managed to say. Well, that wasn’t a totally terrible lie, and his sibs played along swimmingly, nodding their heads. 

“Really?” The king’s expression softened as he pondered it. 

“Oh yeah,” Yakko said, stepping forward and feining confidence. “You have to be really careful, things are taken so literally these days.”

“You don’t say?” The King stroked his stupid mustache. It was working. 

“Absolutely,” Wakko chimed in. 

“Now tell me, your majesty, what are you considering wishing for?” He said, sitting on the arm of his throne. 

“Well- the top of my wishlist is to own the world,” He said, showing said list to Yakko. 

“Nah, that won’t work. You’ll just get a globe,” Yakko said. “I bet that it’ll be nice, but it won’t be what you want. Try again.”

“Ah, I suppose that won’t do,” He frowned, crossing it off the list. Yakko couldn’t believe this was actually working. The King was such an idiot. 

“How about fame and fortune?” Salazar asked. 

“That’s the name of a popular book series. Try again,” Yakko shook his head. 

“Rats... Oh! I know! I could wish for the King Midas’ touch, where everything I could touch would turn to gold” He snapped his fingers. 

“That includes food, good luck eating a solid gold turkey,” Yakko rolled his eyes. Nobody could be this moronic, right?

The King huffed and leaned on the arm of the throne Yakko wasn’t sitting on. “I never realized this wishing business was so complicated.”

“Tell me about it,” Yakko huffed as well. 

“Oh, I know! How about I wish for youth and beauty?” He jumped up and asked Yakko. 

“That’d be more likely to get you a kid and a black horse than what you actually want,” Yakko shrugged, jumping down and rejoining his sibs on the floor.

“Well let me put it another way then... what about eternal youth?” He asked.

“You want to be a baby forever?” Dot raised an eyebrow. 

“I suppose that’s a good point,” The king went back to thinking, right before standing up. “I know! I’ll wish for a million bucks,” He grinned. 

“You do know bucks is another word for deer right?” Wakko tilted his head. Salazar growled in annoyance. 

“Of course I do!” He said, grabbing his cape dramatically. 

“Oh good, for a moment there I thought you were stupid,” Wakko grinned and Yakko internally facepalmed, fearing his brother had gone too far. 

“That’s it! I’ve had enough with you incessant and dirty little monsters!” The King’s face was red as a tomato now. Apparently, he didn’t take too kindly to being called stupid. Go fig. 

“Captain! Take them away!” He ordered and the Captain of the guard appeared in a flash. 

“And have them executed.” 

“Oh no, not this again,” Yakko panicked. 

“We had a deal!” Wakko stomped his foot. 

“Well, that’s the great part about being king,” Salazar leaned down. 

“I can do whatever I want.”

After that, the guards began to push and shove them with their guns and they were taken far away from the throne room. 

“Yakko- I’m sorry-” Wakko tried to apologize. 

“It isn’t your fault Wak,” Yakko stopped him. He did not want his brother dying on a guilty conscience, that was for him and him alone. 

Soon enough, the three of them were tied to two stalagmites in a different cave room (why on earth were there so many caves in this place?) and Yakko feared this was the end. 

“Sorry to do this kids, but it’s my job, so let’s get this over with,” The captain said, tying a cloth around Yakko’s eyes. Well, at least they had some shred of mercy in their hearts to not make them stare down the guns that would be their end. “Any last requests?” He asked. 

“Yeah, set us free,” Dot said. Yakko snorted a little. 

“No can do, pretty missy. I have my orders,” The captain said, his armor clanking as he shook his head. 

“Pleeeeaasseeeee let us go?” Dot said in her sing-song ‘i’m totally not manipulating you with how cute I am’ voice, and Yakko had no doubt she was using her puppy dog eyes, but alas, he couldn’t see because of the stupid blindfold.

“No way man! Forget it!” He said, though it was clear by his tone he was struggling to resist- Dot’s plan was working. 

“Pwetty pwetty pwease? With whipped cream and a cherry on top?” She upped her game. 

“Whoa, man! You’re working your cuteness on me, man! You’re irresistible cuteness! Stop,” The captain begged, but Dot had no mercy. 

“Pweasy squesy pweasey weasy wheeze?” Dot pleaded more. There was a pause for a moment. 

“Okay okay... fine! You win, man! You and your unspeakable cuteness! Untie them!” The captain ordered and the warners were untied. After they were freed, none of them hesitated to hug each other. 

“Now fire!” The captain said, his head in his arm as he cried (Dot really did a number on him, huh?), and gunshots echoed through the whole castle. 

“However can we thank you, sir?” Dot smiled up at the captain. 

“Don’t! You’re free!” The captain jumped away from her. “Just no more of the cute thing, please,” he begged. “Just go!”

“Wow Dot, I think you may have actually broken him,” Yakko examined the man, before noticing that all the other guards were in agreeance too. 

“I know, it’s a gift,” Dot smirked and flaunted her hair. Yakko rolled his eyes, and grabbed his siblings and they headed out of the castle as fast as their legs could carry them. 

Soon enough, they had managed their way out of the castle and they could see it- The Wishing Star. 

“C’mon sibs, we’re gonna make it,” Yakko said, a smile growing on his face as he ran. However, Dot screeched to a halt as a coughing fit overcame her, and she was forced to stop. 

“I-i can’t make it,” She winced. 

“C’mon Dot, we’re almost there!” Wakko begged. Yakko looked at his brother and they both took one of her arms and started to run again, practically carrying her. 

“We’re almost there, Dot. We’re gonna make it. We’re gonna-”

Yakko heard the sound of a cannon going off and before he knew it, a large explosion threw him and his sibs off of their feet. 

Yakko grumbled, having landed flat on his face. He struggled to get himself off, and he saw Wakko had landed right next to him and was rubbing his head. Yakko then looked over his shoulder and-

No. 

No, no, no, no, no, no, no! 

Behind him was Dot, sprawled out in the snow weakly. She looked hurt- badly hurt. Yakko and Wakko quickly got themselves out of the snow and ran to her. 

God, she looked so small and weak...

“C’mon Dot, please wake up,” Yakko pleaded, placing her head in his lap. She coughed weakly. 

“D-dot? Can you hear me?” Yakko said, his eyes filling up with tears as he rubbed her cheek softly. Dot mumbled and opened her eyes slowly, looking like it took an incredible amount of energy. 

Then, she smiled softly and touched his hand. 

“Tell me the story,” She said softly. Yakko sniffled. 

“Wh-what?” he asked, sharing a nervous, concerned, and confused look with Wakko.

“The story about mom and dad,” Dot said, giggling a little. “Tell me... one last time...” she coughed as it began to snow softly. 

Yakko shook his head as tears fell from his eyes. “N-no. You need to get some rest. W-we’ll take you home a-and y-you’ll be okay. R-right Wakko?” but Wakko was silent as he looked at Dot with tear-filled eyes. 

“Once upon a time...” Dot coughed weakly, “A brave knight married a beautiful princess, and they had two sons,” She said, looking at her brothers weakly. 

“B-but they wanted a daughter too, so they planted a garden...” she said, before coughing more. Yakko closed his eyes and summoned his inner strength once more so he could speak. 

“A-and out of the prettiest flower came..?” he asked.

“Me,” Dot smiled and squeezed his hand that was now on her shoulder.

“And so m-mom and dad took you home, a-and every night at bedtime they’d come in your room and they’d ask you ‘who’s the cutest girl’ and you’d say..?” Yakko was practically whispering. 

“I am,” Dot said, her eyes growing heavier. 

 “And they’d ask ‘how’d you ever get so cute’ and you’d say..?” He scooped her up and held her in his arms, rubbing his head against hers.

“I was born with that way,” Dot said, looking at him in the eyes.

She looked so much like Mom...

“And they’d say, ‘tell us your name,’“ He said, bringing her closer and closing his eyes, willing with all of his might that she’d stay alive. “A-and you’d say?”

“Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the Third,” Dot managed to say. “But you can call me Dot.”

“And they’d ask, ‘can we call you Dotty?’ and you’d say..?” Tears were streaming down his face as he opened his eyes to look at her.

“No,” Dot coughed. “Just Dot. C-call me Dotty a-and you... die...”

Dot went limp in his arms. 

Yakko couldn’t speak. He looked at her up and down, begging for there to be some sign of life. His breathing quickened and he rubbed his face against hers and he sobbed. 

“I can’t afford to lose them, she knows that. She can’t die- she can’t be dead- Sh-she just can’t-”

Yakko continued to sob, a feeling of anguish and pain that took over his entire body and was totally and utterly indescribable and unimaginable to those who had never lost a loved one before. He heard sounds of people talking and shouting behind him, but he didn’t care. 

His little sister had just died in his arms. 

“I-i didn’t mean to! They were just annoying me! Those two and- wait where’s the other one?” King Salazar said, and Yakko realized Wakko wasn’t with him anymore. Yakko watched, dumbfounded and numb as Wakko ran with all of his might to the Wishing Star. 

Everyone was cheering him on, while Yakko couldn’t get himself to say anything, still holding onto Dot. His eyes widened when he saw a cannonball be fired from the King’s Castle, and was aimed right for Wakko. 

“Oh no- please no- I can’t lose him too.”

“Wakko! Watch out-” Yakko had started to shout but there was a large burst of light and everything fell silent. 

Suddenly, Dot sat up. 

“I feel much better now,” Dot said, sitting up. Yakko blinked.

“D-dot???” He stuttered. 

“Hi,” Dot sheeped, embarrassed, but Yakko wrapped her into a hug he was determined never to let go of, sobbing yet again, but this time with relief and joy. 

She was okay.

Which meant...

Yakko stood up, and picked up Dot, before running to their brother, who was standing and facing the star. 

“Nice job Wakko, you’ve done well,” The face of a man in the star said to him. Must’ve been that fairy Wakko had mentioned earlier. 

“The power of the Wishing Star is now yours,” He said. Yakko blinked. 

That meant he hadn’t made his wish yet... He looked at Dot, who was looking away from him. 

Oh he was so going to talk to her about this later. 

“At the sound of the tone, please any wish you desire,” The man continued.

  “Okay.. here it goes,” Wakko said nervously, closing his eyes and focusing really hard. 

Abruptly, the Star began to glow and expand, and Yakko feared his brother might be standing a little too close. A bright burst of light broke through the area and suddenly the star was gone. 

Wakko blinked and looked at his hands before smiling. 

“Not one... but two ha’pennies!” Wakko showed them off. Yakko blinked, before walking over, setting Dot down, and examining the coins. 

“They’re real everybody!” He announced and every citizen of Acme Falls (and even the royal guards) began to cheer and celebrate. 

Wakko then looked up at his older brother nervously. “N-now I know what you’re going to s-say a-and-”

“You made the right wish Wakko,” Yakko put a hand on his brother’s back. “With that money, you’ll be able to pay for her operation and help revive the town,” Yakko said, smiling softly but proudly at his little brother. Wakko sighed a breath of relief. 

“I was so afraid you’d be mad at me- b-but once I saw that Dot wasn’t d-dea... you know, I thought this was second best,” He said. Yakko nodded. 

“Yes, you made the right call, it’s okay Wak,” Yakko said. Wakko nodded and smiled a little, before looking at Dot and hugging her immediately. 

Yakko sighed tiredly, but couldn’t get the stupid smile off of his face. He knew he was going to have to have a long conversation with his sister about the stunt she pulled later, but for now..?

She was alive. 

Wakko was too. 

For a horrible moment, he thought he had lost them, that he was going to be alone a-and...

But he wasn’t. 

They were there, and they were together and they were going to go home. 

Dot was going to get her operation, and everything was going to be okay. 

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

[static-fanatic-1]

Is it alright to request hc or dranbles about Chimera Ants like Neferpitou, Meruem, Shaia, Yupi and so more?

I hope this is enough ;)

Meruem:

• This guy would be a scary Yandere, after all he is pretty much one of the strongest nen users to date.

• Meruem is intelligent and powerful, he has influence all over due to being the king. His royal guard will also be obsessed with you. They will protect you with their life and give up everything and anything to keep you with their king.

• Meruem will see you as a lesser being, almost like a pet except less degrading. He won't chain you or tie you up, instead he will use his power to force into submission. Fear will keep you in line and if it doesn't expect to be punished depending on your offense.

• If it was something small like a snarky remark he will simply give you a heart stopping glare. On the other hand if it is something worse like trying to run off or defying him, expect to be overwhelmed by his aura. He will emptily threaten you with his tail or his sharp claws until you are back in line. The Chimera Ant king will be ruthless, only he can hurt you.

• Anyone that even hopes to help you will be given hell. Family and friends won't be able to help you, and if they even dare to try they will be killed without second thought. He will set you on his lap while one of the Royal guardsmen takes them out.

• He would be extremely possessive and scary when angry. No doubt in my mind he would go all psycho crazy when angry. He'll lick his lips and give that really scary look he gave when first eating human flesh. His nen will spike and he'll love to watch you choke in his aura alone. Anyone near him that isn't you or a royal guard will be annihilated, even then he might accidentally attack and sever off a royal guards' limb.

• Bedding Meruem will be a one way street. He will be on top and you can't do anything about it. He will give you what you deserve with whatever he has on hand. I don't think he will use anything extra in bed, relying on his own strength and might to do as he pleases. Expect something rough when he is angry and something touchy when in a good mood.

• Keep in mind, if you are his darling you are dealing with more than just the top dog, you are dealing with the whole pack.

Shaiapouf:

• What a drama queen.

• Whenever you are around his heart will flutter in his chest, it will be as obvious as you would expect. He will place a hand upon chest and flutter his wings around, maybe even jumping around your form and singing how much he missed you.

•Shaia will do anything in his power to make you comfortable while in his 'care'. Do you want to listen to some music, good thing he is amazing at playing the violin. Are you sore from trying to escape, he would love the honor to massage your feet. Do you want to see other humans, you don't have to, he is the best cuddle buddy around and will wrap you up like a burrito in his wings!

• If you try to escape his grasp, as you will he stuck in whatever castle Meruem resides in, he will be hurt. He will make sure you are safe and okay, but he will punish you after. Though I don't see him being too rough with you.

• Speaking of punishments, you would have to do something really bad to earn it. Things like escaping successfully for some time, trying to kill him and doing some damage, and that's kinda it. I don't see him wanting to scar your skin, he loves the way you look and would be disappointed if something damaged your perfect complexion. He would probably manipulate you into feeling guilty, even if it is his fault your here in the first place.

• Once you've been degraded enough he will wrap you up in his arms and give you so much affection. If you say your sorry and you won't ever do it again, he will make sure you have the best day of your life.

• He would worship you in bed, a dark look in his eyes as he makes you feel amazing. I don't think he would do anything too crazy, pretty vanilla in my book. If he liked something it would probably be sensory deprivation. He would like to watch you writhe in pleasure without knowing what he will do next.

Menthuthuyoupi:

• probably wouldn't be able to tell he is a Yandere.

• Youpi is as he would act to the king, a devoted soldier and guardsmen. He wouldn't hesitate to protect you, and for him that is the norm. The only reason you might know he is all over you is because he is protecting a human.

• He will not understand why you are so perfect to him, I mean you are human, pretty useless to anything he wants to do.

• Still, he finds himself interested and without hesitation he kidnaps and keeps you close. Youpi doesn't care if you wonder around and if you escape he doesn't care either. He'll just get you back, it isn't anything difficult.

• I honestly don't think he would get angry, I see him being extremely patient when it comes to you, but if someone else is involved, expect he'll. He wouldn't take it out on you, no he's more like a very jealous boyfriend. Everyone else around you would be slaughtered and consumed.

• He would probably wonder why you are crying about the people he killed, or not being around other humans. He would defiantly ask Pitou what's wrong, after all they are the best with human emotions.

• He would try to console you, it would be very awkward as he will be confused the entire time. If it doesn't work the first time he most likely won't do it again and instead will pull you close and hold you in his arms.

• This dude is both beefy and big, so he would be gentle. In bed he would let you take the lead, so you would initiate it. Youpi wouldn't have the best idea on what to do so he would do what you want him to do. The thing is he wouldn't do anything really weird without you telling him to, but his body can do whatever so any freaky body stuff is what he'll be good at. After some practice he would be able to take initiative, and if he does he'd probably be rough but with restraints. After all he wouldn't want to break you.

• Youpi would be pretty lax with you, though that doesn't mean he is any less Yandere. The Chimera Ant wouldn't let anyone near you, and I actually see him going semi feral if something happened to you. He is like a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Neferpitou:

• They are so sweet to their obsession, always doing their best to make them feel better about their situation.

• They care deeply about how you feel, and will do all the small, romantic things humans typically do in order to make you feel as if you belong. They will cuddle with you and smother you in affection whenever they get the chance.

• Pitou will be both top and bottom in the relationship. Either they will wrap you in their arms and tail or they'll be curled in your lap purring the night away.

• They will always want you near and will constantly ask if you are okay. Your feelings are a top priority. She will dote on you like a proud parent and will constantly gift you things whenever you feel down. Even if those things are relatively grim, like a head or something.

• I believe they understand how emotions works for humans, but I still think they'll slip up and do something questionable from time to time. Maybe their gift was the head of a human they killed that day, the one that tried to break into the castle and harm you. Or maybe they sniff your hair or lick a strip of your neck out of nowhere. If you act negatively they'll keep that in mind, but they might slip up and do it again.

• Pitou in bed might be a little strange. I have a feeling they would praise you constantly while also checking on you to make sure you are okay.

• Despite being relatively nice they will keep you glued to their hip at all times. They will be touchy without noticing and will give a death glare to any stranger who gets too close. They will let you wonder around the castle where they are staying at, but they will be with you no mater what. The only people they will trust would be the other royal guardsmen and the king, but even then they'll whine until it's them with you.

Chimera Ant Queen:

• Being the first Chimera Ant and the mother of many evil children, she'll be very similar to Meruem.

• She will have little concept of human emotions despite understanding human behaviors a bit. She'll pretty much only have motherly instincts and the thirst for human flesh. If she finds you to be good company she will hold you close and nibble on your exposed flesh and compliment your taste.

• Be warned, she will be delusional to an extent, wanting so deeply to eat you and keep you alive at the same time. She will constantly trace her claws and mandibles against your neck and waist. Probably your legs too.

• She won't allow you to wonder the premises like her prized son, she will keep you with her until death do you part.

• Speaking of till death do you part, she will eventually eat you, and the Chimera Ant with your DNA will be her new favorite child. She will dote on them and tell them how perfect they are because their DNA was from the perfect human.

• It doesn't matter if you had nen or if your "daughter/son" has it either. They will be the favorite and will be protected in the name of the Queen.

Zazan:

• The reason people say "If she breathes, she's a thot".

• Imagine she takes over Meteor City like she planned, the entire city being controlled by human feasting Chimera Ants. And her eyes land on you.

• If you end up being her obsession you won't be going anywhere. Anyone who follows under her new world order will know to keep you safe and close to their new queen. That or she'll probably have their head.

• No matter what you will be around one or more of her personal guards—whoever they may be. If you are not around one of them you are with her.

•She is such a princess, if she asks you to do something you should probably do it. I can easily see her treating her obsession like a pet of sorts, maybe a collar and leash to spice things up.

•Defiantly full of herself, thinks she is better than everyone and adores it when you tell her that. She will be wrapping her tail around you and holding you on her lap wether you be a gal or guy, to her you are a weak, lesser being.

•Even by the standards of humans she is rather nice to look at, and she knows it. She will always flaunt her looks without care and will use it to embarrass and tease you. Placing one of your hands upon her chest? She won't hesitate if it gets you flustered.

• Sleeping with her would be pretty strange if you aren't into it. She would use rope or handcuffs to keep you under her. Master play would be her thing for sure, possibly even some bottom dominance for she's in the mood.

•Getting away from her will be difficult as she will have Chimera Ant followers—possibly even some human ones. Zazan loves you, and when she is the queen, you are her concubine. Her favorite concubine.

Colt:

(Not my art; couldn’t find a gif.)

• Really possessive.

• Out of everyone I see him being the most open when it comes to his possessive/protective nature. He will defiantly be most likely to keep you locked in a room or cage of sorts.

• Everything he does is for your protection. You won't be seeing any family or friends anytime soon when he first starts out. He will ask Peggy what humans need to eat and what they shouldn't. Not to mention everything else Peggy can find on human health.

• Colt will follows the books to a T and will make sure you don't do anything different. He will practically control every aspect of your life.

• The only reason I see him allowing you to see your family is because you have cried so much or you refuse to take care of yourself. Despite being so controlling he has a big soft spot for you. He will take you to see your friends or family but that is probably it.

• Getting down and dirty with him is something I can't really imagine unless you ask him for it. Usually he will just wrap his arms and wings around you and go to bed, but if you are asking for more I think he would be a controlling vanilla. He will probably take a nervous lead and please you, but I don't see him doing anything strange.

• Colt is really loyal, so you don't have to worry about him loosing interest. Period.

[bitchfitch]

Conall woke to the smell of cinnamon and burning hair. His nose scrunched and his lips curled in a silent snarl he wasn't awake enough to suppress as he sat up in the bed he kept trying to escape. 

His every bone protested as he stood, and his muscles shook, with the aftermath of another full moon spent hunting through the woods like a common beast after being twisted into the shape of one by this stupid fucking curse. He managed to get his feet steady under him as he sought out the absolute bastard that kept dragging him back here. 

Arlo was where he always was, sat in front of the vanity in one of the bedrooms with his fingers combing through his stupidly long hair. He huffed as a greeting, not even bothering to look at Conall as he picked at a few strands and started the work of braiding it all into a manageable length. 

One of these days Conall was going to take a pair of shears to it all. Just to be cruel, just to stoop to Arlo's level.

"Why am I here," Conall demanded, "I left, I told you I had no interest in staying," 

"Yes well you see, I didn't bring you back here," Arlo retorted, "You crawled back all on your own, and collapsed on my doorstep like you do every damm month," 

"You know full well its your stupid curse that keeps brainwashing me back here," Conall stormed up to his side and was step away from grabbing him before that stupid curse twinged and forced any ideas of hurting the stupid unicorn out of his skull with a painful snap, 

"It's not a curse, Its not My curse, and there's nothing to do about it that I Haven't already done," 

"I'm sorry, do you just expect me to believe you have nothing to do with the curse that makes me want to protect you? That turns me into a dog everytime you are at your most powerful? You Truly believe I'm that stupid?"

"I believe you're that stupid, because you can't see that that's the truth, I didn't give you this blessing, I didn't make it. I didn't even know it was still kicking around until I Saved your sister from it," he spat,

"Fucking Explain it then, Explain why you are such a fucking liar," Conall had to swallow down bile as Arlo's hurt bumped up against the stupid curse.

"Im Not A Liar. And it's a long fucking story," Arlo snapped at him, 

"Then get fucking talking," Conall didn't care that he was scraping gouges in the wooden floor as he dragged a chair closer and dropped into it with a heavy huff. 

Arlo rolled his eyes and sneered as he started, his tone that of someone telling a bed time story to a brat they didn't particularly like, "Once upon a time, there was a queen who ruled an expansive and beautiful kingdom. She was perfect, and regal, and swelteringly kind, and most of all she was devoted to making sure her people Thrived no matter the cost.

So, one day, she gathered her kingdoms most powerful sorcerers, calling them each by name as she beheaded them and drained them of every drop of blood they had to give before rending the meat from their bones so that those may be used too.

When she was done she poured it all into her cauldron, and preyed and chanted and sang as she cut her own heart from her chest and dropped it into her brew.

The blood boiled around this offering so willingly and lovingly given, and the magic found her soul and bound it back together as the first of her children rose from the pot with her mounted on his back. 

He was a bull, white like the clouds above and as thick around the middle an entire chariot was wide, with golden hooves and single horn jutting from his forhead as he galloped and pranced with the reborn queen laughing on his back. 

The second was a similarly single horned war horse, white and gold but smaller than the bull that came before him. Still, he was stunning as he joined the joyful parade with blood clinging to his coat. 

The donkey was next, again with one horn growing from the center of his skull like a stake. Short and lean but powerful as he charged along with his brothers and their perfect mother. 

Then the deer burst forth, his single horn forked as he bounded so proudly around the room, leaping and prancing over the ruined remains of their imperfect fathers and other mothers. 

Finally a goat clambered out after them all, bleating and struggling to keep pace with his long legged family. He was the runt, the weakest, made from the dregs of the sorcerers' magic. 

The queen saw her runt and opened her arms to him and carried him on his brother's back. None of her children would ever be forgotten, or allowed to be trampled as long as she was there to protect them.

The family, complete and beautiful and perfect burst from the chamber and into their palace, the joyful cries of the people echoing through the halls at the sight of their reborn queen. They screamed and screamed as they welcomed her children into their court by offering up a feast of a first meal for their hungry mouths. 

The Queen's already prosperous land Flourished as though spring had finally hit after a year of winter. Her beloved and perfect and powerful children served their people with joy in their hearts. No one in the entire land ever went hungry, no field was ever blighted with rot, no wound left un-mended nor was even a single disease allowed to spread. The coffers were full and gold paved the streets, the water of their rivers and lakes ran crystal clear and sweet like honey.

The Perfect Queen and her Perfect children were worshiped by their people, but such beautiful perfection bred vile envy. 

A vile and selfish little human crept into the children's rooms one night. A lasso in one hand and a dagger in the other as it hunted through the corridors, looking for which one it would steal away from its family. 

But oh that silly little thing, weak and stupid as it was. It found the children curled up together with their mother watching over them. 

The Queen cought it before it could even take a single step, her wings beat as she dragged it out the window with her, her claws digging into its soft body threatening to destroy it completely. But in her divine mercy, she lifted it higher and higher and higher, twisting and bending its imperfect shape into something even more grotesque. 

She landed with it held in her arms and she called to her children, who of course always headed their mother's call.  

She laid the creature at their feet and told them that it would protect them now, that it was their pet and that they should look after it, that they should love it so that it would love them. 

That was the first werewolf, it stood guard over their rooms and when others like what it had been came close it would tear into them and spread its gift. They would turn too then, and join it in its guarding. 

Though, the children only ever loved the first of their precious dogs. The rest were too much fun to not play with. So, long as at least one lived, they could do whatever they pleased with the others. So they did. They tore them apart and painted their rooms in their blood and takes their hides with their brains and the children made their mother necklaces and crowns and bracelets and rings and every other little bobble they could from those precious wolves' bones.

The children loved their mother, so of course they wanted to lavish her with every gift they could. She had already given them so much, it was only fair.

The perfect family and their perfect pets weren't allowed to be happy forever though. A man, A king, their mother told the children to call him that, came into their home and soon their mother was heavy with his imperfect children. 

She assured her eldests that this was only a means to an end, that she needed an heir. Someone who would look after her perfect children when she was gone. She told them that while the children the king gave her would never be perfect, she would make them so. Just like she made herself perfect, just like she made all of them perfect, she would make these new lives perfect too.

To prove her devotion to the children born from the blood of her heart instead of the water of her womb, she gave the first of the king's imperfect offspring to them.

Oh how the king sobbed as they ripped it to shreds. Its awful little body not even worth being made into a gift for their mother.

The second was allowed to grow. Their mother would bring him to her perfect children every day and have each of them lay a blessing on him until he too was perfect. 

Only then did they welcome him as a brother. Only then did they begin to follow his orders like they did their mother's.

Oh how foolish those perfect children were.

Death came for their mother one night, her blood stained the long dead king's son's hands. 

Were he anyone else, they would have destroyed him just like they did that first child the king gave their mother. But their own blessings made him immune to their curses and their powerful bodies. Their mothers own blood protected him even when it hadn't protected her.

The Queen's perfect children cried and shrieked their mourning, and refused to lay their gifts on any of the cruel and selfish humans. It was their blood that ran in their littlest and most vile brother's veins, why should they serve any that would dare to share a history with him?

The new King did not have the patience for his perfect siblings. So he stole away their hounds and sent them to war, all but the one they loved, he killed that one in front of them and made them watch as it begged and suffered. 

Then, when they continued to refuse to obey him, he took everything they had. He took their hair and their eyes and their horns, and the skin off of their flesh, then the flesh off of their bones and then he took those too. And he took until there was nothing left and those perfect siblings of his were gone,"

Arlo looked back to his mirror his shoulders tense and his hands shaking with ancient grief, "Then, one day many years later, when the Perfect Queen and her perfect children were only whispered myths, a pair of witches gathered all of their magic and the corpse of their beloved sister. 

They went to the place that the Perfect Queen's castel had once stood and called on the fragments of her children, They pulled the goat, the weakest of his siblings from the aether and begged for him to revive their sister. 

He looked at the humans, and saw only their selfish ways. But he could not return to his rest. No, they held him there and demanded he do what they asked. Said they would never let him go if he didn't. Said they would damn all of his brothers to that horrid… inbetweenness of not being fully alive and not fully dead while being all to aware of it.

So, he looked them in the eye and made them a deal, Their sister's heart would beat and her body would walk again, but they must never attempt to summon his brothers. 

They were stupid, and agreed.

The goat took the dead sister's body as his. Her heart beat, and she walked and talked, but it was him who was in control.

He damned himself to this existence, knowing the witches had no way of killing him, nor did they have a way to summon his brothers while the body was being used. 

Years passed again, now with the goat alone in the palace he had shared with his perfect family. Unable to leave because if he did some other ungrateful and selfish human might try to take from him again. They might not care about destroying the body he wore like the witches did, and if the body was destroyed, the witches might try to summon and damn his brothers. 

So the goat lived in the buried castle and watched the world above through his mirror, and eventually he began talking to the witches, he was so dreadfully lonely that even their vile company held value. 

Other horrid little humans would stumble close sometimes. He'd kill them on sight, Or curse them until their blood boiled in their veins, or he'd give them something that looked like a blessing just so they would lead more to him. It was the only fun he could have without risking his physical body being known. 

But then the witches finally promised the goat a kindness. They told him that the wolves his mother had made for her perfect children still spread their blessings, but that with the unicorns dead and gone they had turned to vile beasts as they desperately searched for their charges. 

The goats heart ached but then it soared when the witches told him that there was one being brought to him.

A little girl, they told him it was, a child so young that if he loved and cared for it it would grow up to love and care for him in return. He remembered the precious wolf he shared with his brothers and Gladly accepted the offer for them to let him care for it.

Offering them a loc of his hair and blood from his veins. He knew how to not be selfish, unlike the humans, he knew that you always offer something in return.

They took what he gave, but when they brought him his pup, she was in the arms of a strange man. 

He collapsed onto his knees and begged for his sister to be cured tears staining his..."

Arlo hesitates, looking at Conall and picking his next words carefully, 

"His face, that the goat had initially found repulsive but no longer minds. The goat was about to kill the awful and pathetic creature, about to take his precious pup to show her to the room the goat had put together just for her. But then the man's words registered.

He wasn't begging, he wasn't asking to take. He was offering everything he had for the goat to save his sister from a perceived suffering. 

And the goat didn't see the witches making cruel demands and threats. He didn’t see that monster of a half brother demanding he and his perfect brothers work for the creature that killed their mother. 

He saw himself, and he saw his perfect brothers, and their mother. He saw his family always looking out and protecting eachother. 

The man asked for the goat to cure his sister of her blessing, and in return he would give everything he could. 

The goat's heart broke. He wanted, truly wanted, to help a human for the first time since his mother's passing. But he couldn't do what the man asked. His mother was far more powerful, and even now centuries after her death and many many generations removed, her blessing still held stronger than the goat could ever hope to be able t overpower. 

So he made the man, the pure and clever human who knew not to take without giving something in return, an offer. 

The goat couldn't destroy the blessing, but if the man could offer up another to take his sister's place, the goat could transfer it to them." 

Arlo looked back to his mirror, where he saw only Conall's reflection, as he finished the last braid, "I think you know the rest," 

A long moment passed as Conall tried to reconcile the story he was just told with the monster- no, the man, he sat across from.

"Were you really going to take care of Asena?" Conall asked, his voice low and quiet, as though speaking too loudly would break the careful peace between them, 

"I was going to raise her as though she were my own. I was so excited to teach her magic, and to give her all the blessings I could... I guess the witches are doing that now though," He leaned forward against the worn wood of his vanity and rested his chin on his folded arms, "I was going to have a family again," he wiped at his eyes before the tears could spill,

"I'm sorry, Conall," he sighed

"Why?" Conall tried not to sound surprised at such a genuine sounding apology,

"I know those weren't the answers you wanted. I know you wanted me to tell you that it had all been a trick and I could just snap my fingers and cure you of my mother's blessing," 

"No, those weren't the answers I wanted but..." Conall didn't know what to say next, so he said nothing and just settled a hand on one of Arlo's thin shoulders. He squeezed it softly as he felt Arlo go rigid under his touch for just a moment before practically melting beneath his palm. 

Conall had the sinking realization that this might very well be the first time anyone has touched Arlo since his entire family was killed. 

Conall had the sinking realization that the same might be true for himself.

"Please," Arlo whimpered burrying his face in the crook of his arm, "Please, I don't want you to feel trapped here, but please stay, I'll offer whatever I can, but Conall please stop leaving me alone here," 

"I..." he tried to swallow down the words before they could damn them both, but he was so much weaker than The Perfect Queen's blessing,

"Of course,"

[thatcrazychalupa]

Chapter 1

Fjord had many surnames: Stone, Tusktooth, Swiftblade, Sea demon, and a few more colorful unflattering ones. He was born in the Dwendalian Empire, his first memories being a slightly run down but functional orphanage. Life was hard there, but not unduly cruel. However, he was not allowed to stay long as the Empire began a crusade against any they deemed heathenistic enough not to be welcome in their Empire.

Being half orc in blood, and showing that side visibly in his appearance, Fjord was forced to flee the orphanage and the empire when he was ten years of age. He found refuge on the seas, the captain of the ship "Hellwinds" allowing him to join the crew. For the next ten years he had been a sailor. During that time, the crusade in the Empire ended but the prejudice did not. Fjord soon found his allegiance siding with the Xhorasian Dynasty, especially when the prejudice turned to war with his new found home.

Long, bitter, harsh years followed; the war dealt heavy blows on both sides of the conflict with neither looking to become a victory anytime soon. Fjord led a group of warriors in the last two years that had made a name for themselves both in the Dynasty and the Empire. Somehow they picked up the name Mighty Nine from some one with a strange accent, and it had simply stuck. They were a mixed number of people from both sides of the conflict, all banding together with the common goal of ending the bloodshed.

Fjord, the half-orc warlock, had been elected as leader (generally just in public as the group was close enough to call each other family) and was viewed as Xhorasian in origin. He was still dealing with problems regarding his patron, yet the war had proven distraction enough in recent times. Mollymauk and Yasha were also viewed as Xhorasian in origin. Mollymauk was a Tiefling, vibrantly purple and ostentatious in dress, and a Bloodhunter by trade. Yasha was a fallen Aisimar barbarian, her size, milky skin and black hair enough cause for most any of the Empire to dismiss her.

Caduceus and Jester were considered neutral in the conflict, both from regions uninvolved in the fighting. As a Firbolg, Caduceus was better accepted on the Empire side despite his white pallor and bright pink hair. Meanwhile, Jester as a short blue Tiefling was better accepted by the Dynasty. As the clerics of the group, that had made it easier for them to gain trust of the others when they had initially joined.

Nott was a goblin, hated by both sides but her skills as a Rogue made navigating that minefield of danger possible.

Lastly, their one member from the Empire, Beauregard. A human expositor from the Cobalt Soul, the monk had been an invaluable asset during the last few weeks preceding the peace talks. While the Cobalt Soul was part of the empire and supported it, they had their own agenda that, thankfully, involved an end to the bloodshed.

The group now resided in a keep that was situated close to the main pass that connected the Dynasty and the Empire. As a mix of both sides, they were the front line for assuring peace and keeping any thoughts of invasion far from becoming reality.

Apparently, however, King Dwendal thought their numbers skewed too far in favor of the Dynasty. Thus, the group had gathered in what had been a war room but was now called a conference room instead.Fjord laid the message out on the tabletop, tapping it once as he announced the contents without preamble. It was the easiest way to get the rather chaotic group’s attention. "As a sign of their commitment to the peace, the Empire is giving us one of their Archmages."

There was a sharp outcry of 'what' and 'why' and Fjord held up a hand to still any arguments as he continued. "Her majesty did mention this as a possibility." He reminded them, speaking of the Bright Queen. "Most of us are from the Dynasty, it’s not so strange they want another representative of the Empire."

"But an archmage? Fjord, you have to admit, that is a little suspicious." Nott argued.

"Our group isn’t just a figurehead." Caduceus reminded the goblin. "We guard the pass and the villages around it. We show that both sides can fight together, not just against each other. It makes sense someone with battle capabilities would join our number."

"Better someone who can fight than some political liability we have to look after at all times." Fjord agreed, attention turning to Beau as the monk shook her head and leaned forward to speak.

"Unless things have changed dramatically in the last year since I've been away, mages aren’t well respected in the Empire and they don’t have much political power. There are a couple at the top, in charge of the assembly, that do. But the rest..." Beauregard shrugged.

"That could have easily changed. The last few months of fighting involved a lot of mages on their side." Molly reminded them. "Some of them leading the charge."

"Because they were running out of soldiers, same as us." Nott interjected.

"Exactly." Beau took up again, giving a brief nod of agreement. "Otherwise I doubt King Dwendal would have let them lead in the last few battles like they did."

"Okay, we don’t have to worry about this mage being sent for political reasons then." Fjord commented, trying to corral the discussion to stay on topic. "Much as I would love to trust it's for the continued peace and nothing more, there’s still the possibility he's a spy, here as a strategic way for the Empire to get some advantage before restarting the war."

Their group had worked hard to help bring about this ceasefire, Fjord did not want their hard work undone by one bloodthirsty Empire Archmage.

"You always say the best way to get to know someone is in battle, why don’t we do that?" Jester asked, breaking Fjord from his thoughts.

"That might not be the best idea." Caduceus negated. "The peace is too new and fragile. Even practice combat might be taken the wrong way."

"And accidents do happen. I don’t trust them not to make that claim if someone were hurt or killed during the spar." Nott agreed, also concerned with the possibility of war reigniting. Lack of political power or not, the Empire mages were fierce and ruthless in battle, as Nott has witnessed firsthand more than once.

"There’s been rumours of a pack of dire wolves over near the Gandre Forest. Killing sheep, pets, small children. Anything of a size that gets close." Molly offered. "I'm sure we'll get a request soon, that could be our test run?"

Fjord's gaze drifted over to Nott. The best thing about their group was that, while he was technically the leader, they were all close enough that they all viewed each other as equals. Each person had their own strengths and weakness, and they respected each other for that.

The goblin nodded. "I'll verify if it's true and get a location. Or find something else if it is not."

"Thank you." Fjord said, then leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

"Fjord, don't worry." Yasha spoke up, leaning forward with a concerned expression. "If this mage causes any problems, we can just kill him"

Fjord huffed a short laugh. Yasha's brand of humor (and he hoped it was a joke, though many times only Molly was ever truly sure when she was joking) was always unexpected. "Let's try and avoid that, but thanks."

"I'm sure killing is unnecessary." Molly offered, the Tiefling’s fangs showing through his wide grin. "I'm sure Beauregard would be more than willing to straighten this mage out on who gives the orders here."

Surprisingly to both Fjord and Molly, Beau neither agreed nor laughed, just frowned deeper with an irate grunt.

Fjord sat up again, remembering that the Cobalt Soul and the Cerberus Assembly, where the entirety of the Empire mages were trained, were not on good terms. "Beau, you gonna be okay with this?"

Beau met his gaze and nodded slowly. "Yeah. Personally, I haven’t had much interaction with the Assembly. Bunch of stuck up pricks run the place. So long as we aren’t saddled with one of those assholes, I'll manage. If the point is starting the war again, makes sense they'd pick a freaking mage..." she growled.

Fjord wasn’t entirely convinced of her anger. There was a hint of doubt, a held back judgement for whoever the newest member of the group might be. Fjord took that as a good sign that, hopefully, this wouldn't be too much like throwing gunpowder on a blaze.

He took in a breath as he laid out the final tidbit of information. "They'll be here in one week. Master Trent Ikithon is escorting the Archmage here. The letter doesn't give a name but does mention he had seen battle during the fighting."

"It’s this other guy, not Trent, that's staying, right?" Beau asked.

Fjord nodded confirmation and Beauregard leaned back in her chair with a muttered 'good'. The monk didn’t look too interested in sharing if she had any concerns, so Fjord let her be. There were enough preparations to make without antagonizing the monk.

~~~

Caleb Widogast was not what one would call an imposing figure.

His hair was a dirty red, disheveled most of the time even when he made an attempt at making some order out of its chaos. Perhaps the chaos was within his own mind, thus the reason for his continued failure in such regard. His clothing was deceptively ornate, though if one were a purveyor of such it could easily be recognized as subpar material.

The Cerberus Assembly had wanted to display their wealth and power, yet fine linens were not wasted on war dogs such himself. Mages were to be of use, not to decorate the court. It made little sense to robe the mage in lavish clothing when he was simply to be of use in combat. Of course, some had argued that a gift must be properly adorned, and as such a middle ground had been reached.

Whether this truly had been the events that led to his current delivery to the Mighty Nine, Caleb did not know. He was not privy to the discussion and subsequent decision, nor was he informed of the following discussion of logistics. He could only surmise what had occurred given his current circumstance.

Three days he had been traveling with his Master, Trent Ikithon, with still two more days left in the journey.

He did wonder about those he was being delivered to. He did have some inkling of who they were, the Mighty Nine were famous within the empire. Caleb was unsure if their name was meant to be the common nine or the Zemnian word, something he pondered during the journey, given the number of individuals in the group was only currently seven. Even should they feel the need to include his name among their number, it would not add up.

Whether they would view him as worth such, he was unsure.Most of them were from Xhorhas, so Caleb had little idea what to expect of them. He had no frame of reference for how the Dynasty viewed mages, nor where he would fall on the social ladder. His excursions into Xhorhas had been for battle purposes only and he'd had no permission to explore the culture. The Nine had, apparently, accepted the offer of himself, though Caleb knew this was no accurate measure of their intent.

Whatever his standing with them, he did not presume it would be very high, especially given the human monk, expositor Beauregard, that was a part of the group. To say the Cobalt Soul did not like the Cerberus Assembly, nor the mages it produced, was an understatement. While Caleb had only experienced this prejudice through cold looks and avoidance, he often heard of less subtle actions from Master Ikithon. He had begun to have doubts as to the validity of all of the information Trent imparted to him, yet had no other frame of reference to the truth.

From the information that had come his way regarding Beauregard, the woman was a formidable force. Opinionated and headstrong some had described her. Caleb had little doubt her views would not be hidden, and had likely been spread to the others. He hoped that would not be the case. It was... difficult living and obeying Master Ikithon who's actions and instructions were (so the man oft claimed) for Caleb's own good. He did not look forward to trying to please those who held his very existence against him.

Conjecture did little good and often led his mind down a dark path he would rather not follow. He was to follow the orders of his 'new masters' as Master Ikithon had so in-delicately put it. Trent had not been pleased to have his prized pupil taken from him, though he had been quick to devise a way to turn the situation to his advantage. Above obeying the group, Caleb had a separate set of instructions from his Master. Trent was not a man to lay out all his plans, so currently Caleb knew only that he was to gain the trust of these people, prove his loyalty however possible, and wait.

Easy enough, as he would have done so in any case. Obedience and loyalty were key to survival. Should the group be displeased with him, he would be returned to the Empire, to Trent, and his failure would not go unpunished. The thought made his heartbeat quicken in his chest, Caleb sneaking a quick glance at his master, paranoid that Trent would somehow see the weakness inside of him.

The other man, however, remained seating with his gaze cast outside of the carriage. His gaze was sharp, calculating, and Caleb knew he was not idle during this long trip to the keep. Whatever his Master planned; Caleb was sure to learn his part in it in due time.

Caleb turned his gaze out the small window as well, letting his eyes roam over the open terrain as they moved steadily closer to where he would be staying for the indefinite future.

[ghostmartyr]

SnK 130 Thoughts

My opening joke is going to be a brief description of Historia’s circumstances, because it requires no creative energy on my part to make it a joke.

To review!

107 introduces the concept of Historia being a breeding factory. This is suggested as part of Zeke’s 50-year plan to establish Paradis without it being genocided to death. At the end of 107, present-day Historia is shown to be pregnant.

At the very beginning of 108, the Military Police openly discuss how this is kind of weird. And while the mood is largely in favor of Historia having children so the Founding Titan stays in Paradis control, she’s having a child at a very inconvenient time for everyone, because she’s supposed to eat Zeke before he can cause trouble.

In 114, it is revealed that Zeke’s actual plan is to sterilize all Eldians so they die off and stop being a problem. By virtue of five seconds of pondering, this falls apart when you consider that Zeke’s plan is the beginning of Historia being prepped to breed children. Having any royal children would actively interfere with Zeke’s ability to guarantee that his choices for the Founding Titan would be the last.

In 130, Historia is shown to still be going along with the 50-year concept, and no one is stopping her except Eren, who is against Zeke’s sterilization plan (which a child would stop), and who says that Historia making this kind of choice is what’s driving him to genocide.

To which Historia suggests a baby.

-draws a line back to 107-

-underlines Eren’s angry feelings about all of this-

This would make sense if it were live action and the actress were pregnant.

Not within the story or anything.

But an explanation would at least exist.

I should take up drinking. Or cocaine. Or something.

There’s virtually zero content this chapter. Half of it is just Eren going on rampage. This is how you know it’s the end of a volume for a story that’s ending. The subtle ways the story beats come firing at a machine gun’s pace before slowing to a deliberately controlled crawl.

Surprise, Liberio’s no longer a factor!

-surprised Pikachu faces-

-everyone officially burnt out on violence-

-except Eren-

-this is a problem because Eren is indeed causing the most violence, and violence would probably be a great help in stopping him, so having someone on that boat thinking they should just fucking stab him would be just a little encouraging that’s all I’m saying-

Then we dash straight into a slightly more visible flashback to Eren’s memories of the future being unlocked, and get to the development of his genocide plan.

It isn’t much of a plan.

It mostly still involves genocide.

But worse.

He’s basically going to do what Karl did, only when he tells people on Paradis that all the humans beyond their borders are dead, he won’t be lying. He is keeping the genocide and the mind-wiping, though. In this spirit of how well that worked out previously.

This is a choice.

A bad one.

Even by Eren’s current standards.

This is especially impressive given that he has none.

Alrighty then. Uh.

Here we have Eren’s mission statement. That’s nice?

“The only way to put a final end to the cycle of revenge born from hate... is to remove that history of hate from this world and bury it in the ground, civilization and all.”

Legitimately, Eren’s entire plan amounts to, “The First King was right about everything except not actually making us the last humans alive on the planet.”

See, Zeke’s plan of killing all Eldians off is evil and bad, and Eren is disgusted at the very idea of going along with it.

Eren’s plan of killing everyone else off, regardless of who they are, is a good one.

As is manipulating all of his friends into following it, telling them he hates them, fairly directly letting one of them know this is basically all her fault, and.

.

Look, I’m sorry, but what the fuck?

I mean.

Fuck, do I have to go full Madoka on main?

Here is a brief summary of the third Madoka Magica movie, for those who do not understand the reference: Person who has spent her entire life torturing herself to save one girl feels like she didn’t save the one girl hard enough, and compensates for this mental breakdown by turning into the literal Devil.

These are decisions that can be explained by trauma. The character in question has been through a lot, and arguing that she’s too emotionally stable to undo the universe is harder to do than it feels like it should be.

She still takes the established order of the series and 90% of the movie and drops it in the shredder, leaving the characters who are around and aware of this move to stare, aghast, as the new world order is established.

To catch up the uninitiated, when the new world order is established in the series, it’s a happy ending that ties up all the struggles everyone has been through. Not necessarily neatly, but they’re honored, and the cast continues on.

The new world order of the movie is one character screaming “NO” in various cries for help as she pounds her heart into the pavement and the pavement is everyone else’s quality of life.

..

Anyway, the current reason everyone on the planet hates Paradis enough to attack it is because Eren publicly murdered civilians at a festival with international significance, including the one Eldian in the world with good publicity.

Things weren’t pretty for anyone, but Eren snatches the ball out of the court and throws it into the backyard with vicious guard dogs. He decides to bring everyone into a war, and he decides the initial terms. He makes a violent declaration, and ever since, the story has been devoted to people catching up to him to ask what the fuck his problem is.

As opposed to the usual routine of catching up to him to steal him back from whoever’s kidnapping him that week.

Eren’s the direct cause of this mess.

Fucking Marley doesn’t help, what with their hundred years of brainwashing and titanizing to actively keep the hate of Paradis alive -- but Eren’s the one who turns it into an issue of national immediacy when everyone around him is trying to find more time.

All the while going, “look what you made me do”

Right.

Where it breaks down for me isn’t that it makes no sense for Eren to have fallen this far. This entire series has been destroying him one piece at a time, and I do feel like you could have a very powerful conclusion with Humanity’s Hope turning to Humanity’s Despair, and the people he once inspired having to bear the torch themselves instead of forcing one person to carry their entire future.

Hell, that could still happen. I would still love an ending where Mikasa wraps the scarf around Eren, and he’s finally saved from himself.

What’s aggravating is that as many ominous hints as we’ve gotten about Eren’s monstrous nature throughout the series, there’s just as much material of him loving his friends, and wanting them to be free and happy, and understanding that walls aren’t the only prison.

Angry Eren the Rage Boy is there. He’s even easy to understand, sometimes. OG Ymir’s history inspires a desire for death and destruction. It would be and is wrong, but the impulse isn’t difficult to parse.

He’s more than that. He stays up all night listening to Hange’s theories. Armin’s dreams of the sea catches his mind like wildfire. Fighting Annie even after she’s revealed to be someone who’s ruthlessly murdered his comrades is painful. He wants to believe Reiner and Bertolt are innocent even when they’re making the worst show of hiding it. He smiles every time he sees his friends genuinely happy.

Eren’s rage has always been a direct response to his views of the world. The slavers are monsters. He has no problem killing them. Titans are monsters. He wants them dead. He runs off in Trost and gets his leg chomped off because he’s so upset that a bit character we barely spend time with is being eaten.

“When we’re born... all of us... are free. People who reject that, no matter how strong they are... don’t matter.”

Since leaving his friends in Marley, Eren has rejected the freedom of every single one of them. He doesn’t tell them what he’s up to, but expects them to have his back. He pushes events into motion that nearly lead to all their deaths. He actively lies to Mikasa about how her brain functions. He tells Historia to get on board or have her memory wiped.

The rage and agony and helplessness Eren feels isn’t particularly strange, in my mind. He hasn’t coped with any of the manga’s arcs well, and the few victories he’s been part of have landed him in worse and worse places, emotionally.

The conclusions he’s reaching don’t work.

It isn’t that strange for people to not realize that they’re contradicting themselves, especially when they’re in this frame of mind, but Eren loves his damn friends.

Meanwhile, he’d find it easier to take if Mikasa were attached to him because her bloodline made her do it, but that’s.

Actually, no, that’s relevant.

Eren suggests plot magic chemistry before he considers that Mikasa actually loves him.

He’s a dying man.

He’s condemned himself already. It doesn’t matter what he does, as long as his friends are alive. Anything else -- everything else is secondary. They’ll be alive, and he’ll be dead, and it’s as simple as that.

But it isn’t like he doesn’t know right from wrong. This might be a wrong he can accept on his deathbed, but it’s undeniably wrong.

How horrific is it that people might be so attached to him that he can do all this, and they’ll still fight for him instead of putting him down like the monster he is?

Eren struggles with greys. If he’s willing to be the bad guy, it makes sense for him to commit. He’s rejecting freedom, so by his own rules, he doesn’t matter.

It would be so much easier for him if everyone else agreed on that point.

He seems to be doing what he can to make that happen.

...But that’s just whimsical speculation born of profound pity more than anything. I still have trouble figuring out what his deal is. He’s eviscerating his friends in the name of them surviving, but he still terms his want as them having “long, happy lives.” While actively interfering with both those aims.

This chapter doesn’t seem to leave much room for a secret other plan that Eren is secretly putting into action. That’s been my hope from the beginning, and pretty much every bit of my confusion here is why. The majority of the conflict here comes from Eren deliberately fucking things up. It’s like he accidentally poisoned a bunch of people by using the wrong chemicals to clean up the dead body of the person he killed who totally deserved it, and figured the best following response was to repeat the process.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that the Eren we’re starting to see looks broken beyond all repair, and we’re missing the breaking point. We can puzzle out possibilities and trauma, but at the end of the day he has chosen such a destructive route that it needs more justification within the story.

Personally, I think that this Eren is buying into his own bad press so completely that he’s stopped giving himself freedom. That is my most established take.

The fact that that read play in nicely with Mikasa wrapping the scarf around him and taking him home has very little to do with that except that’s where my brain spends most of its time now, I guess.

.

.

AND NOW WE’RE BACK TO HISTORIA BECAUSE WHY THE FUCK SHOULD I EVER GET TO HAVE A SINGLE MOMENT OF PEACE.

Hell.

I am tired of going over all the ways in which this does not make sense. I am, perhaps, equally tired of how every single time the pregnancy subplot comes up, it manages to get worse.

‘what oh noooo she’s being used to breed an army of royal babies who will eat their mother’ ‘wait nooo she manipulated a guilty childhood bully into fucking her so zeke could live for some strange reason’ ‘oh nooooooooes it turns out she actually goes and fucks npc farmer guy because zeke needs to live for eren to commit genocide and if she doesn’t let eren commit genocide that’s bad for some reason even if she was just saying it’s actually bad for him to commit genocide’

I.

????

Additionally, I realize this chapter has probably reinvigorated people’s theories that Eren is the father, which. um. continues the trend of being worse, because then you have Historia feeling like she’s backed into a corner where fucking the guy who’s about to commit genocide is her only option because if she can’t come up with some good excuse to not eat Zeke he’s going to wipe her memories.

(ETA: Hours later, I sit here remembering he can’t actually wipe her memories until after Zeke shows up. Oops. ...That somehow manages to make all of this make less sense.)

I deeply do not want to discuss that element.

I’m just bringing it up to establish that every way you spin Historia’s situation is fifty shades of rape, and it’s skeevy as fuck along with making no sense.

Glad to know that in two years, literally nothing has come along to make this better or more logical.

That’s vaguely true because it lends more credence to the idea that it’s all a lie, but at this point, the writing is breaking its own back bending over to try and make this work.

“If there is a most reliable way to make sure that this island lives on... I’ll go along with it. There was no other way... But... you defended me back then... everyone acted for my sake... That’s enough for me.”

I’m going to try to explain my problem with this without screaming.

I’m probably going to fail.

The thing is, Historia’s entire arc is about fighting fate.

Her entire arc is about undoing the cycle of abuse her family has perpetuated, breaking free of it to reclaim her identity as a person and forge a better future for the world.

She almost kills Eren for her father’s approval.

When she doesn’t, her commentary isn’t that it’s wrong, or ineffective (though she’s aware of both these elements).

She makes her case very succinctly.

“God?! What a load of bull!! You’re just saying whatever you can think of to manipulate me and save yourself!! That’s it, I’ve had enough! I won’t let you kill me!!”

Replace “save yourself” with something related to Eren, and we have the exact same plot beat we already had, for a character who’s already gone through it.

Historia’s lack of agency would be bad enough on its own.

The entire focus of the pregnancy subplot has been that it causes Eren angst.

We have not gotten Historia’s thought bubbles.

We have received her verbal compliance.

We have had her misery over her situation on display.

This is something for Eren to feel guilty and angry over, not something for Historia to interact with.

On its own, that’s bad.

When you have it attached to a character whose entire arc is about breaking damaging cycles and living a life designed by her own choices instead of following orders and roles, you have a problem.

Historia never tries to resist this fate. Not that we’re shown. She’s clearly terrified, even in the scene where she staidly offers acceptance, but Eren is the one to speak up. She’s miserable whenever we see her pregnant, but every scene with her involves her sadly going along with this thing she clearly does not want. Even when she asks Eren what he thinks about her having a child, she’s unhappy.

This is the first time she’s gotten dialogue of her own in two years.

The first little bit is her shrugging at her inevitable suffering.

The second bit is being appalled at Eren’s everything.

Then somehow we land at her proposing her inevitable suffering.

Which...

How does that help??? Anything???

My answer to that is that I’m Team Fake Pregnancy, and Historia is proposing a hypothetical thing where she ponders how her having a child would play out, but I’m sorry, what?

Eren’s upset about you losing your bodily autonomy.

Among other things, yes, but having a child you’re not enthusiastic about is the entire fucking ignition point of this fucking fuckening idiocy how is it that NEITHER OF YOU ARE IN POSSESSION OF YOUR SOLITARY BRAIN CELL WHAT IN THE  F U C K.

Even if you read it as Historia not having a child with the intent of future cannibalism, but simply having a child to get out of eating Zeke --

Holy fuck is that not better.

It’s still her feeling forced to have a kid because the alternative is lots of people dying.

She’s nineteen.

At the very fucking least this could have the decency to be her story, not a story built around making the main male lead angst enough to commit genocide. At the time of this writing, we are denied that, and while I don’t think this is totally beyond saving, the story the narrative is selling is inexcusable and insulting. The only room for improvement is if we’re actively being misled.

Which is a valid theory, but that doesn’t change my disgust at what we’re being told to believe.

Having Historia simply accept her fate is a sledgehammer to Historia’s entire character development, and Historia’s character development is a microcosm of the guiding themes of the main story. You can’t dethrone her without the manga’s entire thematic significance ringing false.

Also, while I’m here, Eren’s being a fucking prick.

In case that was somehow missed.

'hi historia friendly reminder that i’m only here to commit genocide because you saved my life because like you said you’re the worst’ ‘lol remember that time you said the titans should just kill everyone and i teased you and you said you were caught up in the heat of the moment well guess what i listened to you and everyone’s gonna die thx for the protips’

Anyway.

This is either really good or really bad.

Because Historia does some very stupid things. That is not a writing flaw, it’s a character flaw and feature. She’s impulsive and dumb and realizes things conflict with her principles nine steps into committing criminally negligent homicide, and if that’s how this is all justified...

Hell, I guess I’ll just be tired. Which I already am, so that’s. fine.

It’s funny. This is one of the times I could have gotten away with writing barely anything, since half the chapter is just trailer shots for Eren’s monster movie. Yet here we are, many words in.

I’ve thought a lot today on if I should keep reading or not. One of the things that got under my skin is that I’ve spent a long time coming up with ways for this all to turn out okay. I complain a lot, and certainly lose my temper, but I like to think I stick around because however bad this gets, I have faith that the story’s thesis is that beauty wins against cruelty.

If that’s the case, I want to be here to see it through. I want that high of things being okay when all signs point to nothing ever being okay again.

But it’s been a long day, and I’ve spent two years split between anger and hope that I’m not sure if I feel because I trust the story or if it’s become a habit I’m afraid to break.

Or if it’s because if I did give up, I’d feel insanely guilty for any of the times I’ve tried cheering people up over the bleak things going on in the manga.

I want this to be a happier story than anyone I know thinks it will turn out. I’m an optimist to a degree that people tolerate, but don’t find particularly realistic when gauged against the content.

The main character is on a genocidal march in the name of friends he has broken and betrayed. Friends who can still barely vocalize the option of putting him down.

I don’t know if I want to be here for this.

I don’t think I need to watch more cruelty unfold, no matter how much beauty survives it.

[kiatkiat-tree]

Wanderers

A/N: For anon who requested! Honestly, um... it didn’t go romantically. I think Bedivere would be the type to take things incredibly slow. Aside from his Servant-Master thing, it would take some time to form an actual relationship with him. The kiss was a catalyst, but it probably wasn’t the right one to use. Btw I STILL DONT KNOW which name to use: gudako, ritsuka, (Y/N). 

Thank you for requesting dear anon!

-

i.

Even though it had only been a few months since Bedivere was summoned to Chaldea, he felt himself subconsciously reaching for his Master. Gudako had invited him to her room multiple times, talking or asking about anything. In a way, she reminded him of his King. This, he told her multiple times.

“To prevent the incineration of humanity is your goal. That is something my king should also wish for,” Bedivere said. He didn't miss the way Gudako's eyes left him. A Court Official shouldn't be without their perception, after all. Without skipping a beat, he followed up with a, “Is there something wrong, Master?”

“Ah, not at all, Bedivere,” she said. Her seemingly lost eyes were focused again as she picked a biscuit up, looking at it like it was the most interesting object in the world. The Servant didn't believe her, but he said nothing. He trusted her enough to tell him the truth when it was appropriate. “I mean, it's true. Your King is a good person.”

“If your ideals align with theirs, then I'm pleased to be serving you, Master,” Bedivere commented before the conversation came to a lull. The silence allowed him to dwell on his thoughts, as well as the burden weighing on his Master's shoulders. If anything, he was glad that Gudako was allowed down times like this, in between Singularities and training.

“Anyway, it's 2 PM,” she spoke up again, brushing the crumbs off her mouth. Bedivere didn't need to check the schedule to know it's time for her afternoon training. The two of them placed their hands on the food tray at the same time, but Bedivere was quick to speak up.

“Allow me to clean it up for you, Master. The others must be waiting,” he interjected, covering Gudako's hand with his. The odd red tint to her cheeks didn't fade, even when he let her go. He bid her farewell before stacking the teacups on their respective plates and making sure no crumbs were left behind on her personal desk.

His loyalty to the King was never to be tested, and yet here he was, cleaning his Master's table with the same devotion as unsheathing a sword on the battlefield. No, it was not that. Dedication to his King was the sole purpose of his life, and yet, he couldn't help but feel affectionate for his Master.

Affection that bloomed in spite of humanity's state. Confused because of his devotion to his King, but encouraged by his respect for his Master. Gudako wasn't very subtle in hiding her emotions, either. Still, as a Servant and a Knight of the Round Table, Bedivere couldn't let himself be as carefree as her.

ii.

If Gudako's memory wasn't wrong, enemy homunculi were lancers. That meant Bedivere had an advantage over them. But as the two of them hid behind a tree, she knew something significant had to be done to turn the tide. Her Servant was badly wounded and exhausted, with barely enough mana to unleash his Noble Phantasm.

The doctor's connection was unstable, too. Damn it all, Gudako couldn't help but think. This was supposed to be training, not some life-or-death situation. She shivered, pulling Bedivere's cape around her tighter. The two of them were alone, because of her selfishness and poor planning.

When they entered the area, Gudako was confident of Bedivere's abilities and her own. Now, she wasn't doubting her Servant, of course, because only she was to blame for all of this. Aside from training focused on just this one knight, she wanted to spend some alone time with him as well. What a petty excuse to not bring anyone else!

What made it worse was Bedivere's forgiving expression. He gave her his cape in case she felt too cold, even letting her curl into him for the time being. The idea of staying there forever in his hold was too tempting, and yet she knew it was a bad idea. The longer they stayed there, the longer she was going to get drained of her energy and mana. Gudako was useless as a Master.

“This is not your fault, Master. My ineptitude has—“

“Don't say that. None of this is your fault,” Gudako was quick to cut him off with her own words. The last thing she needed was Bedivere blaming himself. She tucked her legs inside the cape, making herself as small as she feels. Her Servant's cold armor wasn't very comfortable, but she wasn't complaining. It kept him safe, especially with the sounds of the nearing homunculi.

She felt him shift against her, preparing for combat. “Master, please give me your orders. Even if I have to fight until my last breath, it is necessary for you to return to Chaldea safely. The field the homunculi has brought with them will perish all the same, so the doctor will be able to rayshift you safely.”

If Gudako wasn't sure about her ability to drown out certain sentences, she was now. She stood up with him, securing his cape back onto his armor. She stared at him, taking a deep breath.

“As if I'd let you die here!” she hissed. Mana pulsed through her veins, just enough to fill in the gaps for Bedivere. If she could help him unleash his Noble Phantasm, they'd both come out of this alive. Even if she supplied him with mana, she wouldn't die. At least, not immediately. “I have mana to spare. Let me give you some.”

“No. You will perish if you do that, Master. I cannot allow such acts,” he pushed. The suggestion was too much, even for her. His body tensed as Gudako took his hands in hers. Such a simple action would've made her flustered if they were in any other situation, but she was serious here.

Gudako whispered a small apology before pressing her lips against his. Direct mana transfers like this were rare, and she understood when Bedivere jerked away from her. His eyes were widened, horrified, but Airgetlam began to glow. The transfer was successful at the cost of their friendship, it seemed.

She felt more drained than usual, a sign of overworking her magic circuits. She slumped against the tree, barely keeping her eyes open while watching her Servant. “Unleash your Noble Phantasm,” she said before finally falling asleep.

iii.

It's been two weeks since their last mission, and two weeks since Gudako has actually talked to him. Bedivere wasn't the type to look for attention, but rather, he was concerned. The Master took a day and a half to sleep, and another day to recover. Dr. Roman reported that she was fine but a bit sore when he asked.

Asking her questions about the mana transfer could wait. Instead, he offered to help her in her recovery, only to be ignored by his Master and prodded by Mordred. The brash knight was acting like an overprotective guard dog that could rival Cu Chulainn. Of course, this also meant questions about what happened.

“Ha?! What do you mean, 'you let Master do it'?! I'll bash your face in, you honor student!” Mordred yelled, earning her a few looks from the others in the hallways. Gudako was nowhere to be found, and this young woman wouldn't answer Bedivere until she was satisfied. “You're the reason why she's limping like that?!”

“Please keep your voice down. I don't wish to disturb others,” he replied. While he disagreed with Mordred's way of speech, he couldn't help but feel the effects of her words. His Master was forced to do such a thing just to save both of them. In fact, despite her reassuring words, he couldn't help but feel as if he's failed both his King and his Master.

“What? As if you're to talk. I bet everyone just wants to know how the hell she ended up in that state,” she retorted, rolling her shoulder. It looked like she was getting ready to make her words come true. Bedivere trusted in the Chaldea Security System for breaking up fights, though. “A mana transfer that you couldn't stop... what, did she kiss you or something?”

He only faltered for a moment, but Mordred already caught onto it. She continued her rambling. “Really? The two of you did it?” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. There hadn't been any explicit confirmation from him yet, but at this point, it was unnecessary. “So that's why she's been acting like... hey! Go talk to her!”

Mordred was acting as if Bedivere hadn't tried that already. The last time he knocked on Gudako's door, something crashed onto the floor and yet she acted as if no one was there. It was obvious their mental link was being actively blocked as well. He tried to call out to her, even just to check on her, but he couldn't. The kiss was an act of desperation, and yet...

“All has been tried and done. It is up to Master to forgive me for letting her do such an act. I understand it was out of desperation, but I understand the toll it has on her. After all, we're only Servant and Master,” he said. If the other woman had realized something, it didn't show on her face. Instead, she only pointed her thumb in the direction of Gudako's room.

“Alright, I think I've finally gotten it,” she grumbled. “Leave, before I really bash your face in.”

Anything else Mordred grumbled about was drowned out by her stomping. Bedivere gave a relieved sigh before turning to Gudako's room, where she was currently staying for a while. After this week, she would be returning to her normal duties. In Bedivere's mind, he didn't want to interfere with her rest, but there was no better time than now.

Two knocks on her room already elicited the sound of something heavy falling to the floor with a thump. He didn't speak for fear of scaring her again. Instead, he waited there as his Master opened the door with a hopeful smile. Her expression immediately became dejected, closing the door on his face once more.

Bedivere held his hand out, stopping her movements. “Please,” he started. “We haven't talked in a while, and I'm concerned about your well-being. If it pleases you, I can stay outside.”

The Servant watched as his Master chewed on her lower lip. She looked down on the ground, avoiding his steady gaze. “About that concern of yours... is it of a Servant's concern for their master, or more like a friend's worry for one?”

It would be a lie if he said he wasn't taken aback, or at least a little confused. Bedivere frowned. “I.. pardon?”

“It's fine, don't answer that,” Gudako replied. Her words sounded too dull for someone like her. Whatever she was hiding, Bedivere didn't want to pry from her. A mistake was made on his part, though, and he wanted to correct that. His Master leaned or the doorway, gently taking Bedivere's hand off the door. “I'm okay, if that's what you were looking for. Circuits are a little fried.”

“Master, I apologise for such a blunt question, but have I done something wrong?” he asked, but he let his arm fall from the door. She was free to close the door on him any minute now. Instead, the doorway was still wide open, and Gudako had gone back to her nervous habit of chewing her lips.

“I didn't think I'd have a conversation like this with you, but I don't want it to be where anyone can eavesdrop,” she said, carefully opening the door to let Bedivere pass. He gave her a grateful nod before letting himself in. Gudako locked the door behind them, taking her time. “What makes you think you've done something wrong?”

“This might sound too inappropriate, but like I have said a while ago, we haven't talked for some time. Is something the matter?” Bedivere asked. He was starting to question himself if her avoidance was just a figment of his imagination, or if he was simply being too needy. Without waiting for an answer, he decided to bite the bullet. “If this was about the kiss, it does not need any discussion. It was a mistake on my side. If only I had been—“

“Bedivere, stop,” she said. Bedivere went quiet, bowing his head in repentance. His eyes didn't meet hers, but he could still feel her presence. The white tiles of her room were his only companions as he listened to her. “It's my fault as a Master. Don't blame yourself, please. The kiss must've been uncomfortable, too. I'm sorry. It was the only way I could think of that didn't require as much mana.”

The kiss wasn't uncomfortable. It would've felt nice if they weren't in that situation, or if they weren't a Master and a Servant. He kept his head bowed as he spoke. “I am not the judge of your actions, Master. I am only a Servant who has done nothing of significance. However we look at it, we are still Master and Servant. Such intimate actions should be reserved for lovers.”

“I don't see you as just a Servant,” Gudako told him. He couldn't stop himself from looking up at her, confusion present in his eyes. She fidgeted in her position, playing with her hands. “You're a very dear friend to me, Bedivere. That's why I wanted you to forget what happened if it meant not being friends anymore. If I left you alone, you wouldn't remember.”

“That... isn't very possible, Master,” he said. There was a deeper meaning to her actions, but he didn't know if he could uncover that now. He settled on focusing on her words. “I'm terribly sorry, Master. However bad a moment may be, I could—or would—not forget it. However, is it truly acceptable for us to be friends?”

“Why not? We aren't conventional Masters and Servants anyway,” she said, giving him a small smile. “We don't know how long this Grand Order will drag out. Even with just one more Singularity left, we're still unsure of the future. If you ever find yourself thinking you can't be friends with me, just tell me, okay? I'll remind you that everyone here's a friend of mine.”

He wondered if the kiss, the shy blushes, and the occasional stutter were all part of being a friend. A Master like her shouldn't be holding that kind of affection for a Servant like him, but a part of her words rang true. This wasn't a real Holy Grail War, and everyone was going to stay here for a while. As he served his King and his Master, he thought of times when he thought he felt lonely.

Perhaps Gudako felt the same way as well. She spent most of her time with Servants, and she had managed to befriend all of them. As professional as they were, they were still bound by time and the Grand Order. Bedivere nodded as he accepted her words, returning a smile of his own.

“I see. Even though we are different, you show signs of perseverance. And even though I serve my King, I shall truly devote my sword to you, my Master,” he said, bowing.

This conversation was far from done, but they had finally talked after two weeks. To him, it was an accomplishment. Gudako's pleased face could tell him that she felt the same as well.

[365days365movies]

March 8, 2021: The Thief of Bagdad (1940) (Part One)

ARABIAN NIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHTS

Aladdin is actually the first film I ever saw in theaters, according to my Mom, and I do adore this movie. In case you’re wondering, I thought the remake was...OK. Not great, not terrible, but...not bad, y’know? But yeah, I love this movie, even if it’s not exactly the most accurate to the original story of Aladdin presented in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights.

Interestingly enough, though, this movie instead takes from a much more recent, much newer source for a lot of its inspiration. And this is going to begin a chronologically-ordered foray into cinematic fantasy. So, back to 1940, in a time period where fantasy films began to explode in popularity, thanks to one film that came one year before.

Yup. The Wizard of Oz, considered one of the greatest films of all time, is still a classic that holds up today, as well as being arguably the most high-profile fantasy film in all of film history.  But a year later, Hungarian-British film director Alexander Korda came out with an often-forgotten film: The Thief of Bagdad. Which was ACTUALLY a remake of a silent film from 1924!

But I’m going with the 1940 British film instead! And honestly, I’m excited enough to just get started here! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

Before I get into all of this, I think I need to say this at the jump: this is a film from 1940. Most of the main actors are White. Yeah. Duh. Not ALL of the are, but the two love interests definitely are, alongside the villain. And NONE of the actors are from the region that the film takes place in, except for possibly the extras. So, yeah, thought I should bring that up before anything else. ANYWAY

A ship pulls into port somewhere in ancient Arabia, and before we start here...I can’t even SLIGHTLY comment on the authenticity of this film, costume wise. But in the meantime, I can at least enjoy the color of this film, which are beautifully bright and technicolor.

A mysterious man has come into port, seeking a sleeping princess and a blind beggar. I won’t say the name of the traveler yet, as I don’t know it from the film itself as of yet. He and a young woman named Halima (Mary Morris) go into town to find the blind man, named Ahmad (John Justin).

Speaking for the mysterious traveler, Halima invites Ahmad to a palace, alongside his trusty dog, Abu (a good boy). At said palace, a princess is afflicted with a ceaseless sleep. The man would appear to be an advisor of some kind, and also does not know how to end her sleep. She is apparently in love with the blind beggar.

Said blind beggar is being attended to by many maidens, and to them (and the advisor), he tells a story of his dog’s past life, a street thief also named Abu (Sabu), who’s stealing food, pursued by a group of angry salesman and citizens. He parkours away from them all, keeping one jump ahead of the bread line.

There will be MANY Disney puns, I’m warning you now.

From a rooftop, he sees the young Sultan of the kingdom, Ahmad’s past life, named...Ahmad. He is accompanied by his Grand Vizier: Jaffar (Conrad Veidt). Yup. Really. Also, he’s the same guy playing the advisor from earlier, meaning that this is also HIS past life. Neat!

Like a Vizier do, Jaffar whispers in Ahmad’s ear, trying to get him to do less-than-great things in order to show his power. Ahmad, however, is a kind man, who wishes to show such kindness to his citizens. He goes into the city that night, with Jaffar’s encouragement, in order to discover more about his people. He begins this by listening to a sermon, prophesying that the tyrant Ahmad will fall to Allah’s will. Awkward.

Not that it’s about to matter, since Jaffar tells his men to arrest Ahmad, as he’s now dressed as a citizen, and to claim that he’s a madman if he claims to be the Sultan. It works, and Jaffar is crowned Sultan as Ahmad is thrown in prison. It’s there that Ahmad meets Abu, who’s also been arrested. A madman and a thief.

The two plot to escape from the jail, and Ahmad learns that he’s presumed dead by the populus. After Ahmad realizes that Ahmad’s not mad, but the actual Sultan, they decide to flee to the kingdom of Basra by travelling down the river for three days. Time for a cruise!

We skip ahead quickly to the glorious city of Basra, which is...impressive. It’s genuinely gorgeous, and it was filmed in...THIS ENTIRE THING IS A SET? HOLY SHIT!!! That is legit impressive, goddamn. In Basra, Abu trains Ahmad in the way of subtle thievery and trickery, and they learn of the Sultan of Basra, who has the world’s largest collection of toys, like a proper nerd. He guards his toys more carefully...than he guards his daughter. Well, OK!

Speaking of the Sultan’s Daughter, a commotion clears the marketplace in order to clear a way for a procession, at the center of which is the beautiful Sultan’s daughter, Jasmine. No, not really. But considering that she’s only credited as The Princess (June Duprez)...I’ll be referring to her as Jade.

Attended to by Harlem Renaissance legend...the Singer (Adelaide Hall, who is one of the big figures from the early days of jazz), Jade would appear to be a somewhat bored young women, disaffected by her upper-class life. So, yeah, Jasmine. And Ahmad is, of course, wildly in love with her at first sight.

Ahmad has to see her again, and when Abu notes that they have tickets on a ship helmed by Sinbad the Sailor (trying to set up a 1001 Nights Cinematic Universe, nice), Ahmad insists that he has to see Jade again. Abu agrees, and helps him get into the palace garden.

There, he pretends to be a genie in a pond, using reflections while he hides in a tree. She falls for it (somehow), and he just simps all over her. She notes that she’s come to the pond to bathe, and he notes that he’s paid good money for his OnlyFans subscription, and wants some of that sweet, sweet bathwater. Which sounds like a semi-topical humorous exaggeration, but is BASICALLY THE TRUTH I SWEAR

He reveals himself to be a real live simp, and she responds by IMMEDIATELY kissing him. Goddamn, they’re fuckin’ perfect for each other. They agree, but her father will not be pleased. Still, they pledge to see each other again. Which pisses off Abu, because now he can’t go on that trip and set up this film franchise. He agrees to stay with Ahmad to help him get Jade.

Which is gonna be WAY goddamn harder, since Basra has a new visitor in the form of the usurper, Jaffar. He’s come to meet with the Sultan of Basra (Miles Malleson), a man who is absolutely obsessed with toys, big ol’ nerd that he is. Which, again, is SUPER used in Aladdin. To win over the Sultan’s favor, Jaffar brings in a mechanical horse. And that horse can FUCKING FLY WHAT THE SHIT

And this is when the GF (she says hello) informs me that this is ANOTHER REFERENCE to One Thousand and One Nights! Apparently, there’s a flying mechanical horse called the Ebony Horse, given to a King! It really IS a 1001CU! But back to the original story, and the Sultan WANTS the goddamn horse. In exchange, Jaffar wants only one thing: his daughter. And he immediately agrees.

She ain’t havin’ that shit, and she tells one of her handmaidens to find Ahmad in the garden, and tell him to meet her in Samarkand (another reference!), where she flees to avoid the forced wedding to Jaffar. However, that message doesn’t get to Ahmad soon enough, and he’s arrested in the garden by the palace guards, along with Ahmad.

Overjoyed to finally be able to stab the EVER-LOVING FUCK out of Jaffar, he tries to tell the truth to the Sultan. However, Jaffar uses his magic to...make Ahmad blind. Abu tries to tell the truth instead, only to be...turned into a dog. Wait...it’s not past lives? THEY’RE LITERALLY THE PRINCE AND ABU? Abu is a FUCKING DOG? Damn.

Back in the present day, Ahmad finishes his story, where the maidens tell him of Jade’s fate: she was caught by slave traders and brought back to Basra, where she quickly fell into a trance that she hasn’t awakened from. Although, she apparently still talks in her sleep about the Genie of the Pool.

They take him to see her, and she IMMEDIATELY wakes the fuck up! The two embrace, reunited at last, only for that reunion to be interrupted by Halima, sent by Jaffar to “end the masquerade”. That can’t be good. She takes Ahmad away under false pretenses, and she’s told that she can cure his lost sight by seeing a doctor. Ahmad leaves Abu with her, for protection.

However, this whole thing was just to get Ahmad to wake Jade up, so they could kidnap her and put her on a ship back to Basra. He throws Abu overboard (MOTHERFU-), and goes to speak with the Princess. As she notes that she was roised a cure to Ahmad’s blindness, he claims that the second the two of them embrace, Ahmad will see again. Damn...dude really wants a hug, huh?

AND IT WORKS! Not only is Ahmad able to see again, but Abu is a human again, as both of their curses are broken by a fucking hug. Um...somebody hug this man. Goddamn. The Hays Code is STRONG with this one, holy shit. And it’s ESPECIALLY weird, because Jaffar literally admits that he could MAKE her love him, but wants her true love instead. Um...fuckin’ YIKES, buddy.

As she runs away, he pursues her outside, and they look out to see that they’re being followed in a boat by Ahmad and Abu. And then Jaffar pulls an Elmer Fudd, and goes “NOWTH WINS BWOW”, and summons a storm after the two on the sea.

GREAT place to pause, I think! See you soon, in Part Two!