#and she gets really frustrated with everyone else’s stories because the other two of us in the group

[fightmewiatch]

The emotion behind the way Edwin uses fuck is so heavy, because outside of the pilot episode and the scene on the stairs, he doesn't swear. He's a proper boy, repressed and focused and he bottles everything up.

In the Pilot, "The police don't know what to do with a fucking witch", he isn't swearing about the witch. He's angry, and he's upset, and he's frustrated. He's trying to focus on solving this case, saving the girl, doing the right thing, fixing things. Edwin spent seventy years in Hell, fighting for a way out (the detail in his journal, he didn't get out on the first try, he spent those 70s years trying over and over and over to find a way out - but that is a story for a whole other time), torture and pain and heartbreak, only to get out and fall into the school to find out no one cared that he died. "An act of God." The school wrote him off, everyone wrote it off and that was it, that was the end of it, no one cared that a 16 year old boy went to bed and was never seen or heard from again, poof, gone. He spent Charles' last moments with him to keep him company, and calm, and not scared, the two of them knowing what had happened only for the school to once again cover up the death of a 16 year old boy and pretend that whatever happened didn't. Edwin spent the next 30 years connecting with Charles, trying to help ghosts so they don't spend their entire afterlives in a state of absolute sorrow and heartbreak like has. We get such a bare taste of the ghosts they've saved and helped move on, who knows how much good they've truly done, how many they've saved from going to Hell on technicalities like Edwin had done. He's frustrated with Crystal, because he's spent 30 years working with Charles and only with Charles, he knows his friend, he knows how he behaves and how he works and how he acts, those two are connected on a level some people only dream about, and here she comes, she latches on, and she joins them to help but she's so hyper focused on herself and David (understandably so), that she isn't giving the same attention to the case that Edwin and Charles have always done, and he's angry, and he feels like it's going to happen to this girl, he is worried that her focus on David, is going to cause them to fail. Crystal has every right to be upset and scared and everything else that she is, but she doesn't consider, until that moment, that Edwin has a right to be upset about how it seems to be interfering with the case. The way that she reacts when he says "The police don't know what to do with a fucking witch," she realizes it then just how important this case is. Edwin was dragged to hell, the boys around him obliterated - leaving behind the idea that maybe he was, too - so to the school, maybe Edwin just disappeared, like Becky, like all the other little girls over the years in Port Townsend. Solving Becky's case is so damn important to Edwin that he is taking it personally. And while it's subtle, Charles reacts to him swearing, too, as though Edwin does not swear. And based on the rest of the season, it's clear he really doesn't. The way he swears in the pilot is from a place of complete and utter sorrow and anger.

In ep 7, it's different. He's spent the whole season struggling with who is he, trying to come to terms with a feeling he'd repressed for at least a century, and he's had to do it while dealing with the Cat King and Monty and watching Charles flirt with Crystal and struggle through his own rage, he's done it as quietly as he could, as if bringing it up out loud might ruin everything that he's worked so hard for. But now he's in Hell, again, now he's trying to get out, again. Edwin encountered the reason he was sent there in the first place, and found out what really happened. Edwin spent all those years thinking it was purely malice that got him sacrificed, only to find out it was just because Simon had a crush on him, and did an absurdly stupid thing thinking it was harmless. I think in that moment, Edwin realized how easy it is to misunderstand something - because clearly, Edwin had absolutely no idea that Simon liked him at all, until the moment he admitted it in Hell. And then Charles shows up. Charles came to save him, armed with a bomb, a Molotov cocktail, and Edwin's notebook with a map of hell on it. Charles came down, he listened to Edwin's directions, he ran behind him most of the time to make sure Edwin was going to get out. Charles was with him, saving him from one of the rooms, following him to the stairs and up. He stopped with him, even when they needed to keep going, Charles let him have a moment on the steps. Edwin is in shock, he cannot believe it. All these years, all these write offs, all these moments where Edwin genuinely didn't think he'd ever get out of Hell if he were to go back, believed that if they ever got caught by Death or anyone from the afterlife, he would be damned forever because who gives a shit about a technicality, who cares about the poor boy that was sacrificed and written off by the rest of the living. Edwin didn't know what else to do or say, the emotions he'd kept bottled up while he tried to figure them out were coming out one way or the other. "It's so fucking stupid, it's unbelievable." Edwin didn't think he deserved it, thought it was stupid to come down and save him, because who would do such a thing. Charles risked himself to come down to Hell to save Edwin. Edwin never thought he'd be worth it. And when Charles just shrugs it off a bit, reminds him that he was gonna do it, and he's so easy about it that Edwin just. Confesses. And corrects him, when Charles misunderstands for a second. Charles didn't think twice about "Great. Love you too. Can we go?" And he really didn't even hesitate to reassure Edwin when Edwin clarified what he meant, that they had forever to figure things out.

[discordiansamba]

was rotating another thought while making dinner about an idea in which, after being duped by azula at the start of season two, zuko makes a frustrated wish to not be so easily tricked by people's lies... which gets heard by a spirit that's a bit of a trickster.

or: zuko wakes up the next day and realizes he can now hear people's thoughts. this wasn't what he meant, THANKS.

zuko responds to something that iroh didn't say out loud. he just stares at his nephew- and then quietly asks zuko in his mind if he can hear him. zuko stares at his uncle in confusion. of course he can hear him. he isn't completely deaf. what kind of-

uncle why aren't your lips moving.

he cannot for the life of him shut it off. the more crowded an area, the more thoughts he can hear. it's headache inducing.

iroh helps zuko develop a few meditation techniques that help with the constant background noise of other people's thoughts.

he gets a. really rude wake up call when he encounters azula again, and can hear her laughing at him in her head. he knows she didn't even think twice about attacking uncle, because he could hear her think it- and then do it.

but he can also hear the genuine concern and desire to help in katara's thoughts. so when she offers to help heal iroh... he lets her this time.

(also, can they all stop thinking about how he has hair now.)

katara heals iroh. she says he'll probably ideally need at least another session to be certain he's free of any unexpected complications. zuko can hear that she's suspicious of him, but her concern for iroh outweighs it.

zuko tries to avoid them. they try to give zuko space. it's very awkward all around.

toph does not care about any of this. toph cares about the nice old man who gave her tea and good advice. zuko doesn't even need to read her mind to know about her conversation with iroh- she just tells him as much.

...and well. he's been hearing uncle's thoughts for weeks now. he knows beyond a a shadow of a doubt how much he cares about him.

long story short: zuko ends up tentatively joining the gaang here. mostly it's just for his own self-preservation at first. it's obvious azula doesn't care if he dies. he has better odds if he sticks with them. he still tries to keep his distance- but it's hard to do that while on the saddle of a flying bison, while you have mind reading powers.

(he goes with them to wan shi tong's library. he asks one of the knowledge seekers if they have anything about being able to hear people's thoughts. he doesn't really find anything conclusive. great.)

iroh makes the choice to part ways with him at ba sing se. his nephew has a chance to pass through the city unnoticed, but iroh cannot say the same for himself- at least, not if he's in the company of the avatar. zuko can hear for himself just how hard a decision this was to reach.

zuko: also. what's the white lotus.

(iroh sweats)

what's up it's round two of hearing your sister's thoughts. he hates it as much as the first time it happened.

zuko, meet joo dee. there's literally nothing going on in that woman's head. it's freaky.

(BA SING SE IS SO NOISY.)

at least the upper ring is a lot quieter. the gaang just watches zuko constantly get headaches and nod to themselves. yeah, that's zuko. he's just cranky.

how to find the avatar's missing bison: just read long feng's mind.

no need to figure out a way to tell everyone else this. just go get the bison yourself. also uncover a secret brainwashing facility?

toph knows something is up with zuko. she's just not sure what. his heartbeat just randomly went crazy when they were talking to long feng. and then when he comes back with appa and says he overheard the dai li talking? a total lie. spill it sparky. what's UP with you.

zuko: ...I could tell you, but none of you are going to like it.

sokka: try us.

zuko: I can hear everything you're thinking.

sokka: ...okay, yeah. I don't like that actually.

aang: zuko! you should come with me to meet the guru! maybe he can help you with the mind reading thing!

(he cannot, but zuko appreciates the offer.)

time to read your sister's thoughts! part three! she still makes zuko the offer to join her, but this time he can hear all of her underlying thoughts. she needs his help? more like she wants someone she can blame if things go wrong.

(but they don't. things always go right for azula.)

[luvzshy]

i love the a different kind of love fic! i was wondering if you could do something similar with their daughter coming home really upset because a kid was being mean to her at school about having two moms and billie and reader comforting her? something angsty/fluffy! thank you 🫶🏻

Home is Where We Heal

Word Count: 562

Warnings: Mild bullying, emotional distress, and mention of homophobia.

Summary: When their daughter comes home upset after being bullied at school for having two moms, Billie and her partner comfort her, reminding her of her worth and that love is always stronger than ignorance. The story balances angsty moments with heartwarming reassurance, showing the family’s unconditional love.

a/n: I’m so glad you loved A Different Kind of Love!! ❤️

The front door slammed shut with a force that made the house feel smaller. Billie and you, who were cooking in the kitchen, shared a glance. A moment later, your daughter’s voice rang out from the hallway—choked, angry, and on the verge of tears.

“I hate it here.”

Billie wiped her hands on a dish towel before quickly walking toward the source of the voice. You followed closely behind. There, standing at the edge of the living room, was your daughter, a middle schooler now, her backpack discarded at the door. Her face was flushed, not with the usual excitement of returning home, but with a frustration that cut through the air. Her eyes were red, but she hadn’t let the tears fall yet.

“Hey, baby, what happened?” Billie asked, kneeling to her level.

Your daughter crossed her arms tightly. “Nothing,” she muttered, looking away, as if she could hide behind the words. “I’m fine.”

You sighed softly, exchanging a glance with Billie. Both of you knew that tone well. It was the kind of ‘I’m-fine-but-really-I’m-not’ voice that came when something was too big to explain.

“You don’t have to lie to us,” you said gently, walking up to your daughter and resting a hand on her shoulder. “You’re upset, we can tell.”

Billie’s voice was quieter, more soothing now. “We’re not going anywhere. Just talk to us, okay?”

A few seconds passed before your daughter’s lip quivered, and the dam broke. She looked up, her eyes brimming with tears. “Some kid at school… they called me a freak. They said I’m weird because I have two moms, and… and that I’ll never be normal.” Her voice cracked as she stumbled over the words. “I don’t want to be different anymore. Why can’t we just be like everyone else?”

Billie’s heart broke in her chest. Without thinking, she pulled your daughter into her arms, holding her tightly. You stepped in behind her, wrapping both of them in a comforting embrace.

“Hey, hey,” Billie murmured softly into your daughter’s hair. “That kid is just ignorant. You’re perfect just the way you are, you know that, right?”

Your daughter shook her head. “It’s so hard, Mom… sometimes I just wanna be like the other kids. No one at school gets it.”

You gently cupped her face in your hands, wiping away the few stray tears that had escaped. “Sweetheart, we’re different, and that’s okay. You’re special. And as for that kid—well, they’re not important. People say mean things when they don’t understand. You have us, and we’re gonna always have your back, no matter what. And Billie’s right—you’re perfect just the way you are.”

Billie let out a small sigh, squeezing your daughter a little tighter. “We’ve all had people say things about us that weren’t true, baby. But those things—they don’t define you. You’re our daughter, and you’re amazing, just the way you are. I promise you, there’s no one like you. And that’s something to be proud of.”

Your daughter nodded slowly, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. The weight on her shoulders seemed a little lighter now. “I just don’t want to be alone, you know? What if people don’t want to be my friend because of who I am?”

Billie smiled softly, her hand gently stroking your daughter’s hair. “You’ll find your people, baby. And if anyone ever tries to make you feel small again, you know who you have to remind you how big you really are.” She pulled back just enough to look into her daughter’s eyes. “We love you more than anything. And nothing, no matter what anyone says, will change that.”

You stepped forward, giving Billie a soft look before turning your attention back to your daughter. “So, what do you say? Want to sit down and watch a movie? Or we can talk more, whatever you need.”

Your daughter hesitated for a moment, glancing up at both of you. “I think… I think I could use a hug right now.”

Without missing a beat, you both pulled her in again, enveloping her in a world where she was safe and loved. For now, that was all that mattered.

[clonerightsagenda]

Since I'm w359posting this week apparently, I wanted to share something neat I learned from the AMAs about how the writers designed the characters.

Apparently, the original four crewmembers were plotted on two axes - human vs inhuman and order vs chaos. Eiffel and Minkowski were the chaos human and order human, and Hera and Hilbert were the chaos inhuman and order (metaphorical) inhuman. Lovelace upon her introduction was plotted at the dead center of both axes.

To really amp up everyone reflecting each other, when they started designing the SI5 characters, they took the original three humans' personalities and job titles and rotated them. So, they set up a commander, scientist, and technician, but gave the commander Hilbert's traits, the scientist Eiffel's traits, and the technician Minkowski's traits.

Obviously that was only a starting point, and all three characters grew into their own people very different from where they began. However, you can see traces of these influences. Least so with Jacobi, imo, but in the Rashomon episode where each person's account reflects their priorities and anxieties, he's striving to portray himself as a dedicated, safety-conscious professional frustrated that no one else takes his work seriously, which is something Minkowski can relate to. He's also Kepler's administrative officer, even if we don't see him doing paperwork very often.

Maxwell is clearer. She's the most friendly and social of her team and strikes up the closest connection with Hera. Also, as soon as she's gone, the rest of her team implodes, much as in "Pan Pan" the remaining crew is at each other's throats.

Finally, Kepler's alignment with Hilbert is obvious to me at least - they both are people with theoretically noble goals who are willing to do terrible things to achieve them, and Goddard takes advantage of that to get them to do terrible things full stop. Hilbert is just further along on the Goddard employee lifecycle of getting chewed up and discarded (he's had more of his legs eaten, to use the pig story's metaphor). They hate each other so much because they recognize each other.

... I am only thinking this now as I type it out, but I always wondered why Eiffel disliked Maxwell after only knowing her for a couple days, most of which he'd spent convalescing. I figured she was probably asking invasive questions about Hera, but if I'm suggesting Hilbert and Kepler hate each other because they recognize each other as card carrying members of the face-eating leopards party.... maybe Eiffel dislikes Maxwell because he sees something of himself in her.

[annymation]

The Kingdom of Wishes- A “Wish” Rewrite

Chapter 9- Tangible Things

Chapter 8

Asha and Aster are walking through the kingdom of Rosas.

There's people everywhere, walking through the streets, all of them wearing the same style of medieval clothings with dull shades of blues, yellows and purples. The people of Rosas are all very diverse in ethnicities... But their cultures are not showcased at all through their clothing styles.

Asha walks through the sea of people wearing her mom's cloak, she's wearing the hoodie so her face is not visible.

Meanwhile, Aster is "wearing" his human disguise, looking like any average human teenager... If you ignore the uncommon combination of brown skin and blonde hair, as well as his black clothes with a looong cape that doesn't quite blend in with everyone else's clothing style.

... And the fact he's as happy as Ariel on her first tour with Eric through the kingdom. Or Rapunzel getting to know her kingdom for the first time, yeah, he has those same big eyes full of wonder.

If you ignore all that, yeah he's just a normal human, nothing to see here.

"Okay Aster, stay close to me. We're almost at the plaza..." She got no response "Aster?" She looks behind her shoulder

... Aaaaand Aster is nowhere to be seen.

Asha scrunches her eyebrows in frustration, she's gonna have to put a bell on that star.

Asha feels a slight dejavu feeling from that dream she had last night.

She scrunches her eyebrows in frustration, now contemplating putting a bell on that star "*sigh*... At least you know how to behave, huh Valentino?" she says to the baby goat walking next to her, Valentino is just happily wagging his tail.

She takes off the her hoodie for a moment to get a better view of her surroundings

"Now where could he be?" She sounds worried, looking around, but there's no sign of the star.

Asha just took her hoodie for a moment...

But just a moment was enough for two people to notice her...

She hears someone calling her name in the distance

"asha! asha-when I catch you asha! asha! when I catch you- it is on sight!! you are so-"

The voice is getting closer. Asha looks around at the sea of people walking, but she can't seem to find who's calling her, the girl voice gets louder:

"do you have any idea what lives iN THAT FOREST? YOU ARE TOO YOUNG TO DIE BEING EATEN BY WOLVES! YOU'RE TOO BEAUTIFUL!!!"

A second voice joins in, male this time

"DAHLIA! WAIT UP *huff huff* I can't run that fast!"

Asha turns around and... Yup, it's Dahlia and Simon.

Despite the fact that Dahlia walks with a crutch she's moving way faster than him, that's not even to emphasize how slow Simon is, no, Dahlia just so happens to run really fast in general.

They finally reach the girl wearing the purple cloak, and she seems preeetty nervous about having to explain the whole situation

"Oh- hehe hey guys" Asha waves to her friends awkwardly

Dahlia was having none of that "OHOHO Don't "Hey guys" me! Where were you last night?? My mom was worried sick"

"We woke up early to go looking for you, we were just on our way to get the others" Simon said while trying to catch his breath

"I'm fine, really. I just needed a take a walk you know? Get some air, and then I slept in my old home." She tries her best to calm them down "Dahlia, you didn't have to organize a search party for me, I can take care of myself." She tells her best friend.

"Actually, it was Simon's idea, he's the one who went to wake me up"

That surprised Asha

"... Simon... Woke up early?"

"That's how worried I was" He said with his usual monotonous voice "And... I wanted to apologize, last night I accidentally-... I assumed that you were crying because of something YOU did, without knowing the whole story, I shouldn't have pressured you to tell us like that... I'm sorry"

(Aww Simon is so nice... I sure hope he never does anything lame or stupid or uncool to his friends, that would be so sad.)

Asha kinda needed that apology, she gives him a warm smile

"Thanks for saying that Simon, it means a lot. And sorry for stepping on your foot... And running away." She places a hand on the back of her neck as she says that.

"Honestly, if I found out that the king wouldn't ever grant my wish, I'd feel really awful too" Simon, ironically, is the one who comments this

Asha remembers... Oh yeah she mentioned that to them.

"Yeah speaking of which... What is up with that?!" Dahlia exclaims, looking outraged "I mean, they put you on the spot, call you to come in their house, get your wish, and then they just say "Oh actually noooo, we won't grant your wish" HUH?! That's not fair at all." She rants with her arms crossed

Asha is just kinda nodding in agreement, like, what really happened was waaaay worse than that but yeah Dahlia got the spirit.

Simon doesn't seem to relate with her frustration though.

"Did they tell you why they weren't gonna grant your wish?" Simon asks.

Asha analyses the situation... She could tell them the truth, she could tell them everything she has seen... But then again, if she tells them, they might be in danger... She told Aster that she wanted to plan this out before acting, involving her friends is a big risk, so for now... She would have to lie.

"They... They just said they couldn't do it, nothing else happened, really" She said, trying her best to sound honest but kinda failing, her friends didn't seem to notice though.

"... Seriously? They didn't even say why?" Dahlia is dumbfounded.

"... Now I understand why you were crying..." Simon sounds really sad for his friend "But even still, you shouldn't have gone to the woods all by yourself-"

"Who said she was by herself?"

Simon and Dahlia jump in surprise because of the unknown cheerful voice coming from behind them

They turn around and see Aster... holding a bouquet of purple flowers.

Asha can feel a drop of sweat running down her forehead... This might be way harder to explain.

"Aster where were y-" Asha is about to lecture the star, but she is stopped when he shows her the flowers he got by holding them right in front of her face.

"Asha look! These flowers are called "Aster" just like me! and they're your favorite color too!"

(Hahaah told y’all I’d reference these flowers!)

Aster hands her the bouquet, but in a way that her face is covered by the flowers for a second before she manages to hold it by herself

"O-OH Yeah I can see that... thanks Aster, they're really pretty heh heh" She says nervously, as she notice her two friends staring at Aster and then staring back at her.

"Uuuh so I take it your name's "Aster"?" Simon asks, looking at the boy from head to toe.

Aster turns around to greet them

"That's me! So nice to meet you two!"

Aster gives Dahlia a handshake...

And we take a look on what he sees

Now you see, Aster can naturally take a peek on what's someone's wants and beliefs, but when he touches someone... They can see something even more special.

He sees that person's star, their center, what makes them who they are.

When Aster touches Dahlia's hand, we see how her star looks like.

It's bright, red, and full of determination to achieve whatever she sets her mind to...

If confidence was a tangible thing, it would be Dahlia.

from the other's point of view, Aster is just shaking her hand quickly and very happily.

"Oh- Hehe I'm Dahlia."

Aster then goes on to shake Simon's hand and...

Aster's smile disappears...

Simon's star is still there but it's... weak, flickering away like a flame that is about to go out at any second

Aster feels a pain in their chest...

If hopelessness was a tangible thing, it would be Simon.

Aster let's go of the young man's hand, his eyes are downcast and he's frowning like he's about to cry.

He looks up to Simon and just says "I'm so sorry"

...

So needles to say our boy Simon is terrified thinking this weird kid Asha found in the woods predicts he's gonna die in 7 days or something.

(That’s it, that’s the face he's making. lmao.)

Simon gives Asha a panicked look, and she seems just as confused as him.

"Hey Aster?" Asha calls his attention placing a hand on his shoulder, the star turns to her curious "Did you uh- Pay for these flowers?"

Aster tilts his head to the side "What's pay?"

("At All Cost" ruined me, because every time I re-read this line my mind goes "What's pay? When I look at you no way-" and that's so funny to me)

Simon who happens to be the son of a cop the captain of the royal guard becomes even more suspicious of Aster, knowing this guy just STOLE something and then played innocent.

Asha just smiles at that comment and patiently explains to him "Okay, now you gotta put these back where you found them, can you do that please?"

Aster's smile returns as if it never left "Got it! I'll be back in a sec!"

Aster runs with an almost inhuman speed, leaving the three friends in an awkward silence

Simon breaks that silence.

"… Where did you find that guy?"

"And where can I find one for myself?" Dahlia asks as she watches Aster run off.

Simon: "What?"

Dahlia: "What?!"

This time, Asha kinda gives them a half truth

"Well... Let's just say Aster was at the right place at the right time... And he helped me feel better" That's technically true.

Simon looks very dissatisfied with that answer though

"... So you spent the night with a stranger in the woods?"

"Not a stranger though!" Aster pops out of nowhere behind Simon,

"OH GOSH-" Simon almost has a heart attack,

Asha realizes the longer Aster keeps talking with other people the more suspicious they'll seem, so she just grabs him by the arm

"Great talking to you two but we reeeeally gotta get going. So tell the others I'm fine, we'll be at the main plaza if you need me!" She says already running while dragging Aster with her.

The star boy is just happily waving them goodbye as he's dragged away by the arm. "Bye Dahlia! Bye Simon!" he exclaimed excitedly

"... Soooo how much do you wanna bet she actually just wished for a boyfriend?" Dahlia asks

(Dahlia is a self insert of me at this point, her lines are what I'd say in this situation)

Simon kinda ignores Dahlia's comment as he realizes something odd "Wait ... I never told him my name, how did he know I'm "Simon"?"

We cut to Asha and Aster in an alley.

“Okay, we need to talk" Asha begins, looking at the star boy seriously "If we're really gonna do this, we gotta establish some ground rules."

"Sure! We stars are all about rules!" The star says, sitting on some barrels while kicking his feet.

She begins listing the rules:

"So rule number 1: You can't run off without me, you gotta stay close to me at all times."

"Done!"

"Rule number 2: You gotta act as HUMAN as you can, that means do what I do, and use NO magic at all."

"Oh you don't have to tell me twice, that's a rule I already HAVE to follow as a wishing star anyway"

"And rule number 3: ..." She stops to think for a moment "Umm... I feel like there should be a third rule but I don't know what"

"I know! Rule number 3:... LETS HAVE FUN!" Aster exclaims with a beaming smile as he holds her hand and walks with her out the alley "You don't need to worry about a thing! I'll stay with you at all times. All you gotta do is focus on inspiring everyone with your music!"

Asha looks at the mandolin in her hand. She's honestly not sure if she'll be able to make any difference... But if she can make at least a few people consider getting their wishes back so they can grant it by themselves... Then it'll be worth it, because then they can start something.

She feels her hope returning, as a confident smile grows on her lips and a fire burns in her eyes.

"Yeah, and I know just the song for it!" She starts running faster, and soon she's the one who's in front, dragging Aster by the hand...

Aster can see Asha's star, and he looks at it with eyes full of what can only be described as disbelief and a passionate admiration.

Her wish was taken from her, just like Simon's, but Asha was different.

Unlike Simon, her light refused to burn down, her old wish was replaced by a new one, that shined just as brightly.

A star that wants to shine upon others and give them joy, guidance, something to believe in... To Aster, her glow was the most beautiful one of all... And when he looked at it he felt...

Actually, he couldn't describe it... It's still a feeling he can't put into words.

So for now, he doesn't know what tangible emotion Asha is.

But he'll probably find out eventually.

They both reach the plaza. There's a water fountain at the center of it, a few people are walking around and talking, but there's not much of a crowd.

Asha takes the mandolin and starts singing a song... Based on a poem her father wrote:

A Wish Worth Keeping

[Verse 1] Take it from someone like me When your hopes are in despair If your desires have strings Free them, give them some air

[Chorus] 'Cause any wish that's got your heart On the edge of breaking Is a wish worth keeping

[Verse 2] Yeah, everybody dreams To be something someday somewhere Even kings and queens Daydream to be free from their royal chairs

[Refrain] Well, any dream that's got your heart Even when you're not sleeping Is a drеam worth dreaming

[Bridge] Yeah, we all start as wildlings Playing in thе sun Then we grow up with wild dreams Just waiting for our day to come

[Verse 3] So if hope schemes against time

Tell them, "be nice, play fair" Yeah, they may kick and cry, yeah But just show them they're better when paired

[Refrain] 'Cause if they both can hold your heart There's no way you're not sowing A dream that will never stop growing

[Chorus] Yeah, any wish that's got your heart On the edge of breaking Is a wish worth keeping...

It's a poem her father wrote to encourage people to not give their wishes to Magnifico, but instead keep their wishes and fight for what they dream of. In this moment, she's playing her grandfather's mandolin, while wearing her mother's cloak and singing a poem her father wrote, it's like they're all there with her.

Asha sings in a more festive rhythm than the original "Wish Worth Making" from the Wish soundtrack, it's a song that makes people want to join in and dance with Aster, who's bringing in people around the plaza to join in.

And among these people there's also Asha's friends, they seem happy for her but also confused. Since when did Asha play the mandolin? And who on earth is that guy with her?

As Asha plays, she and Aster share a little duet in the third verse of the song, as if Aster also knows the poem too. Asha looks at the star dancing with such energy, doing literal backflips, twirls, jumping all over the place, bringing in people to dance with him and just being himself like no one's watching.

And for the first time, she actually feels her heart bumping faster by looking at the star, and not because they're a literal star or because he scared her by popping out of nowhere... but because he's himself.

(Yup, that's when she fell)

Everything is going well, Aster can even see the stars inside some of the people in the crowd shining brighter...

It's actually working.

Some of the younger people are actually considering not giving away their wishes, and others feel like maybe going after new wishes by themselves.

Aster moves with even more energy now... His eyes are closed.

Asha also has her eyes closed, lost in the moment as she plays the song.

The sky is full of thick grey clouds, the sun was nowhere to be seen.

If only Aster's new friend Sunny could've warned him who was coming.

Aster is spinning around quickly with his eyes closed and-

"OUCH!"

Aster bumps on someone and falls on the floor.

Asha hear's him falling and opens her eyes, she looks up to see who he bumped into...

She instantly stops playing.

Her face is horrified, and she quickly covers herself more in her mother's cloak.

Valentino who was hopping around also sees who it is and hides behind Asha's legs.

Aster is just laughing on the floor, still high on the adrenaline, their eyes are still closed as he laughs so he still hasn't seen who's right in front of him...

But he can tell that he just bumped on a man taller than him.

"Hahahaha sorry sir, I wasn't looking at where I wa-" Aster looks up...

Oh no.

“No problem at all, little one. Are you alright?”

The king and the queen are standing right in front of Aster.

It’s quite unusual to see them just out and about in a normal day, so the few people around start mumbling among each other.

… Aster doesn’t have a heart but somehow he could feel something in their chest sink as he looked up at the two monarchs…

He could see what they wanted, but to be honest the magic in his eyes wasn’t even necessary for him to see it, they looked down on him with the eyes of two hyenas staring at their next meal.

They wanted him... They knew what Aster was.

The star is just looking up to them with wide eyes like a deer in headlights.

“Here, let me help you.” Magnifico extended his hand to help them get up.

Aster knew very well what would happen in he touched that hand, and he was not looking forward to see what the king was like on the inside…

But then again, he promised Asha he’d act like a human, and most humans in Rosas would gladly shake the king’s hand, right?

So… Aster reached out for it, and once he touched it...

Aster had to hold in a gasp.

…

That is NOT a star.

See, Aster actually had heard from the other stars that there are many different kinds of people on earth.

There are those who are stars. Those who shine upon others by inspiring them, and make their own glow through their own actions. Like Asha.

There are those who lost their spark, those who no longer have hope or dreams to follow, they’re fading stars. Like Simon.

And then.

There are black holes.

Do you know how a black hole is formed?

They’re formed when a star dies.

Black holes have a gravitational pull that sucks in all the light around them, leaving nothing behind.

And in Aster’s eyes, Magnifico was a black hole.

Stealing away the light of all the stars around him.

Aster had heard that people who become black holes were very hurt in their lives, and thus their star died completely.

But Aster knew better... Magnifico choose to be this way, and he loves it.

He loves to pull others in only to steal their light away...

Aster felt disgusted.

... If selfishness was a tangible thing, it would be Magnus.

As the king pulls him up Aster's is glaring at him, no longer looking scared...

He's angry.

His brow furrowed, his pupils shrunk and his jaw was clenched. He was almost shaking.

It was like he was holding himself to not just jump on this man and punch him.

... Magnifico is content with this reaction.

From what he read, he knew that stars had "Eyes that see the truth", so Magnifico knew that the star could see who he really was.

With that in mind, his grip tightened on Aster's hand.

"Are you hurt at all, lad? You seem to be in pain or something." The king asks referring to the scowl on Aster's face, in a tone that for everyone else watching may sound like concern, but both Aster and the king know it's a mockery.

Aster actually didn't even realize he was scowling, he's just not used to hiding his emotions... But it surely not a "Normal human behavior" to glare at the KING after he just helped you up, is it?

So Aster takes a deep breath and... Smiles.

"I'm quite alright your majesty, just felt a bit dizzy from all the dancing hahaha" He laughs to himself.

Aster may not be the best liar but he is a surprisingly good actor.

"Ah I see." The king says as he let go of Aster's hand, he's now looking down on the young star with a friendly smile "And what a dance that was indeed. Why, we saw you two from our window and we just HAD to take a closer look."

Aster felt a stab of guilt... It's his fault for bringing too much attention.

"I don't think we've met this little rose in our garden before." The queen chimes in sweetly, reaching her hand to caress Aster's face "What's your name, my flower?"

Aster quickly takes a step back, escaping the queen's touch as if he's dodging a bullet.

"Ah- I- My name's Aster!" They stutter, the star really didn't want to be touched by this lady, who knows what he'd see inside HER soul.

Aster tries his best to pull it together, the star knows what to do, he has watched from above how people act around the royal couple. So all he had to do was mimic that behavior.

The young star bows down with one hand on his chest

"I'm humbled that our performance has caught your majesty’s attention. It's a great honor to meet your graces in person." The blonde spoke so eloquently no one could ever guess he's screaming internally.

The king and queen seemed pleased as they exchanged a quick glance to one another... This was going to be fun.

"What an eccentric partner you've got here, Asha" Magnifico says with a calm voice, now looking at the girl sitting by the water fountain, trying her best to hide her face with the hood of her mother's cloak...

… They recognized her? How?

"Aww and how lovely, you're wearing Sakina's cloak aren't you? It fits you so perfectly." The queen said, answering her question as if she could read Asha's thoughts.

Oh yeah... She forgot they knew her parents...

Asha gets up and takes off the hood, trying to act natural like Aster did.

"Thank you, your highness... I didn't expect we'd meet again so soon" she HOPED they wouldn't meet again so soon.

"What a nice surprise though, isn't it?" The king says casually "But speaking of last night... You've never mentioned you played any instruments Asha, I thought your only interest was drawing."

"I-I just didn't see any reason to comment, I'm still practicing is all" She says holding the mandolin close to her

The king chuckles at that "Now now don't be so modest my dear, you played so beautifully it almost seemed like..." he turns his gaze to Aster as he finishes with a knowing smile "Magic."

And with that, Asha realized what Aster already knew since the moment he saw the couple... They knew.

Somehow, they know Aster is a star.

The two teens are thinking the same thing, they gotta run.

Aster begins to walk backwards towards Asha as he says in a not so subtle nervous voice

"Aaaanyway, thank you so much for coming but I'm afraid there'll be no encore, we gotta take a break and-and it looks like it's gonna rain so-"

"Aw leaving so soon?" The king interrupts with a sad tone "We've got a bit of a crowd here. I believe this is as good a time as any for me to share two VERY important announcements... You both should stay and listen, I think they might be of interest to you." He says walking closer to them, to which Aster grabs Asha's hand and they both start moving away.

"O-oh sure the crowd is all yours. We're just REALLY in a hurry." Aster says while still walking backwards, keeping eye contact with the king with a forced smile.

"Hmm" The king hums while tilting his head to the side "Very well then, I'm sure the news will catch up to you two... Sooner than you think." He whisper that last sentence while looking at Asha with that same knowing smile.

And on that note, Aster and Asha just run out of there, leaving some very confused citizens staring at them. Including Asha's friends.

Magnifico follows them with his eyes with a confident and relaxed gaze... He can grab them later, now, it's time to set the stage.

"ALRIGHT! My people, please gather around!" The king says as he hits his staff on the ground teleporting him and the queen to the top of a stage in the plaza.

(Let’s say the stage looks like this… Disneyland stage… But I’ll not be counting this as a reference because that’s kinda reaching at this point.)

More people around the plaza come closer to see what this is all about.

Meanwhile Asha and Aster hide in a alley to hear what the king has to say.

The king begins loud and clear

"Now, I know you are all wondering about that little light last night-"

The crowd cheers, assuming the light was a gift from the king.

"... A light I did not command nor condone." He corrects their assumption

The smiles on his people's faces deflated

"As a matter of fact, that light wasn't even from this world... It was a THREAT from beyond our skies." Magnifico explains with a serious gaze as he summons a book with his staff, the book floats next to him as the pages flip.

"A threat that my family has dreaded for generations. A being that comes down to earth and consumes all the hope, joy and love they can find..." The book stops on a page showing the illustration of a wishing star individual, with golden hair. The drawing seem to have been altered though, to make the entity look more ominous.

"A fallen star. This VILE creature is hiding among us. They can take a human form, gain your trust, make you feel all happy and warm inside even, BUT DON'T BE FOOLED!" The king exclaims warningly as he shuts the book "They're after ONE thing... Your wishes." He says menacingly, pointing at the top of the castle in the distance.

All the citizens look horrified, mumbling among each other, fearing for their wishes and themselves.

Among the crowd there's Asha's friend, they're all scared but Simon seems specially concerned.

The king lets the fear sink in for a few seconds before he switches back to his upbeat friendly king persona.

"BUT HEEEEY! Relax! No need to panic ladies and gentleman. As always, you can trust in me to keep you, and your wishes, safe and sound. This star may be powerful, yes, but their magic is no match for me!" He illustrates his point by creating a light show with his staff, creating fireworks and briefly a dragon made of green magic.

The crowd cheers and claps, trusting Magnifico wholeheartedly.

Aster and Asha are just watching all this play out, hiding away in a nearby alley.

Aster is going through a lot of emotions, scared of what might happen if the king does capture him, angry at himself for not keeping an eye out like he promised he would, and sad that all those people just took everything the king said as gospel.

His animation (That is now 3D, but with a different frame rate depending on how he feels) becomes more laggy and jumpy, like he's not in control of his own body movements as he speaks.

"I didn't think he'd know what a wishing star IS. Had I known this was a possibility I would've NEVER suggested for us to get exposed like that... I'm sorry Asha" They apologize for something he couldn't have predicted.

"It's not your fault." Asha reassure him holding his hand "...But when we were playing, did you see if anyone changed their minds?" She asks curious.

"... Yeah, actually... I could see some sparks of hope! I could tell some people considered granting their wishes by themselves..." He says, calming down a little, his animation going back to somewhat normal.

Asha felt relieved by that, at least they did a little bit of a difference...

But that wasn't enough, they had to actually MAKE a difference, and the only way of doing that was by showing everyone the truth, and proving what was happening with their wishes, if only Asha could show them-

Wait... The king and queen... They're not in the castle right now...

Asha has an idea.

She holds Aster's hand tightly and starts walking out the alley, going through the plaza.

King Magnifico and Amaya are still there, he's answering a few questions about the glow and what people should do.

He follows the two of them with his eyes for a moment.

"Woah- hey I thought we were gonna run away from here." He says quietly to her, trying to keep up the pace.

"No. Come with me.” Asha starts running, pulling Aster with her.

They’re running towards the castle.

“O-okay so what's the plan now?”

“I'm tired of running away from them." Asha says determined

"Huh?"

She points at the castle.

"My wish, and the wishes of dozens of people in Rosas are in there. We can sneak in while those two are outside, then we can grab my wish and as many others as we can." Her eyes have a burning passion as she runs with Aster just in toe holding her hand.

"... Wait, but isn't that pretty much my first plan from yesterday? What changed?"

"What changed is that Magnifico and Amable aren't in the castle..." She thinks for a moment, then she looks back to Aster and gives him a thankful smile "And also, you've shown me that I CAN inspire people, I CAN show them the truth, we can do this together!"

Aster's eyes sparkle in awe when he sees her face.

She continues, now looking at the castle with no doubts left in her "We can even grab some wishes that they changed and show to their owners, to use as proof of what the king and queen are doing!"

Aster can see Asha's star shinning even brighter than before, a huge smile grows on his face.

"That's brilliant!" Aster lets go of her hand and starts running faster than her “Then let’s go! Last one there is a dusty nebula!”

The two are now racing to the castle, with Aster running considerably faster than Asha.

Both hopeful that they'll succeed.

...

They're far, but the king can still see them in the distance. He smiles.

It's adorable how she thinks she can actually change anything.

Asha and Aster don't hear as the king says to his people:

“Now… My second announcement is about this veeeery special wish that I’ve received last night...” he says with a smirk.

He summons a green orb in his hands.

He holds it, in a way that no one can see what's inside the wish yet.

"My dear people, as you all know, nothing in this life brings me more joy than making ALL your wishes come true- Well, that is aside from my beloved queen." He says giving the queen a passionate glance and kissing her hand.

"Oh you!" She giggles.

"However, yesterday something quite... Unfortunate happened, and I had to do something I swore I'd never do... I denied granting a wish." Some citizens gasp in surprise, thinking someone must have wished for something really bad

Asha's friends look surprised at that, they already suspect whose wish this is.

"I know, I know, shocking, yes. It was a wish that just- Well-Surprised us, really, I wasn't sure if I could allow it..." He looks down on the wish with a introspective gaze "But after putting some thought into it, I realized: Isn't this kingdom all about dreams coming true? No matter how outlandish they may seem? Well I say YES. That's what MY Rosas is all about!" The king announces passionately.

"So we decided to do something new... For the first time in my reign... We're getting a PUBLIC WISH GRANTING CEREMONY!" He exclaims. This is a big deal, Magnifico never granted a wish in front of people, only at night while they sleep.

The green gem in his staff glows…

Creating a huge hand made of green magic.

“I’ll just grab our lucky winner real quick, so we may get started.” The king says wearing a huge grin.

His predatory eyes are fixated on Asha running after Aster in the distance.

...

Aster was right about one thing.

It does look like it's gonna rain.

Chapter 10

Final Thoughts

... Soooooo yeah hahaha, we're getting to some INTENSE stuff in the next chapter, buckle up.

But about THIS chapter though, those sure were some good vibes at the beginning, huh? Aster getting to see the kingdom, giving Asha flowers, they promise to stay togetheeeer, and then they sing and daaaance and then Magnifico shows up and the good vibes are gone.

Like... I'm really proud of my work with him as a villain, like, if you're writing a character and YOU dread getting to the scenes that he shows up, you KNOW you're doing something right... I think, you tell me, how did you feel when he popped up?

I'm REALLY proud of how this chapter turned out in general. The idea of Aster seeing humans as tangible emotions just HIT ME one time when I was listening to "At All Cost" for the 1000000th time, and it just fitted perfectly with everything.

Shout out to @gracebethartacc I made Magnifico call Aster “little one” in your honor… And he’ll do it often.

Oh and one more thing, you may have noticed I'm implying that it's gonna rain... Yeah I'll just say one thing about that:

[pepi1989]

The Matchmaker - Ben Shelton

I never thought the day I met Coco Gauff would lead me to the love of my life. Tennis was never really my thing, I was more of a “sit on the couch with snacks and watch” type of person. But my best friend, Coco, was a different story. She lived and breathed the game, and somehow, our worlds collided through that love of hers.

It all started when she dragged me to one of her matches. I’d been to a few before, always cheering loudly, pretending I knew what a “double fault” was. But this one was special. She had just turned 20, and it felt like she had the world at her feet.

After the match, Coco insisted I come backstage with her. “Come on, you’re practically family,” she said, throwing her arm around me as we navigated through the bustling crowd of fans and media.

As soon as we entered the players' lounge, I was hit with a wall of tennis players chatting, stretching, and looking far more relaxed than they had any right to be after hours of intense games. I tried to keep it cool, but my heart started racing when I realized that I was surrounded by some of the biggest names in tennis.

“Hey, I want you to meet someone,” Coco nudged me, grinning like she knew something I didn’t. Before I could ask who, a tall, strikingly handsome guy with messy, curly hair and the brightest smile I’d ever seen walked over. He was all golden skin, bright energy, and… well, completely out of my league.

“Ben!” Coco called, waving him over as if she hadn’t just won one of the biggest matches of the tournament. “This is Y/N, my best friend.”

“Hey, nice to meet you,” Ben said, his voice warm as he extended his hand. When our fingers touched, it felt like I’d stuck my hand in an electrical socket. I managed to stammer out a “hi” as Coco continued.

“She’s been to almost all my matches. Kind of like my personal cheerleader.”

“Sounds like you’re the real MVP here,” Ben said, flashing me that winning smile of his. Was it just me, or was he looking at me a little too intently? The air between us suddenly felt charged, and I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it.

The next hour was a blur of jokes, light teasing from Coco, and Ben being… well, perfect. He was funny, sharp, and made me laugh so hard my sides ached. When he left to catch up with his team, I gave Coco a look.

“Okay, what was that?” I asked, trying to sound casual but failing miserably.

She smirked, crossing her arms. “That was me introducing you to someone who might just be your perfect match.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, come on. You’re being ridiculous.”

“Am I? I saw the way you two looked at each other. And he never acts like that around anyone,” she teased, bumping my shoulder.

I shrugged it off, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Over the next few weeks, Coco invited me to a few more tournaments, and every time, Ben was there. We’d chat, laugh, and spend more time together, and soon, I found myself looking forward to seeing him more than the actual matches.

One evening after a particularly tough match for Ben, he found me alone in the players' lounge. Everyone else had gone, leaving just the two of us. I could tell he was frustrated, his forehead was creased, and he had that “I’m still replaying every mistake” look in his eyes.

“Rough day?” I asked softly as he sat beside me, running a hand through his curls.

“Yeah. I just couldn’t get in the zone. Everything felt off,” he muttered, his shoulders slumping.

I wasn’t sure what to say, so I just stayed quiet, offering him a soft smile. Eventually, he turned to me, his eyes softening.

“You know, I’ve been thinking…” he started, trailing off as he looked down at his hands.

I raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue.

“These past few weeks have been… different. Because of you.” His voice was quieter now, and I felt my heart start to race again, just like the first time we met.

“Oh?” I tried to play it cool, but my voice cracked slightly.

He chuckled at my attempt to stay calm, but then his expression grew serious. “You’ve become someone I really care about, Y/N. I… I don’t know how to explain it, but I’ve never felt this way before.”

My breath caught in my throat as I stared at him, trying to process his words.

“I feel the same way,” I whispered, and the smile that spread across his face was enough to light up the entire room.

Before I knew it, Ben had closed the distance between us, gently cupping my face in his hands. Our lips met in a soft, tentative kiss, and I felt every nerve in my body light up. It was gentle at first, like we were testing the waters, but soon, it deepened, and I felt like I was floating.

When we finally pulled apart, Ben rested his forehead against mine, both of us smiling like idiots.

“I guess Coco was right,” he murmured, his breath warm against my skin.

“About what?”

“That we’re perfect for each other.”

Since that day, everything changed. Coco loved to remind us that she’d basically played matchmaker, claiming full credit for our relationship. And honestly? I wasn’t going to argue with her.

Ben and I were inseparable. From late-night calls when he was on the road, to quiet mornings spent tangled up together on off-days, every moment with him felt like a dream. He was kind, thoughtful, and made me laugh in ways I never thought possible. And when he held me close, it was like the world outside didn’t exist.

One year after we officially got together, we found ourselves at another one of Coco’s tournaments. This time, I was more interested in Ben’s matches than ever before, cheering him on like my life depended on it. And every time he looked up at me from the court, my heart skipped a beat.

During a break, I spotted Coco grinning at us from across the court, raising her eyebrow in that knowing way. She walked over, giving me a tight hug.

“See? I told you I’m good at this matchmaking thing,” she said, winking.

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t hide the smile on my face. “Okay, okay. You were right.”

“Of course I was,” she said, flipping her hair dramatically.

I couldn’t help but laugh, feeling grateful for her, and for Ben. If it weren’t for that fateful introduction, I never would’ve met the person who made my world a little brighter every day.

I’ll forever be thankful to Coco for bringing Ben into my life.

[shawtyfromdirtydocks]

Thin Palace Walls

Pilot

Tags; könig x black!reader, monarch!reader, stress induced paranoia, first ppov, use of she/her and other feminine terms for reader (subject to change)

First fic series i’ve ever written so dont expect much. Also, don’t expect any part of this story to be realistic when it comes to government, im not a government official and pray I never will be. Take it as it is or don’t idgaf 😚🫶🏽 enjoy!!

I woke up that morning more drained than usual. Unfortunately for me, this was only the start of a miserable season.

The smell and sound of the light rain outside soothed me only a little. After returning home, anxiety started stirring in my stomach and doubt plagued my thoughts.

I was even more paranoid than usual. Everywhere I went I remained hyper-aware of my surroundings, not willing to be caught off guard even once.

Footsteps approach my bedroom door before it opened. In walked my footman, he bowed his head in respect before walking with me to my vanity.

“Rough night?”

“I couldn’t even sleep!” I complained, feeling my frustration pour out of me.

Sinking into my seat, I huffed and let my head fall onto the back of the chair. Yesterday was the last day of my continental tour. I’d been away from home for just over two months, visiting each country’s capital after the threats we’d received from the United States to boost morale.

My traveling party only got back to the palace just before the end of twilight. Alltogether I probably only got a half hour of sleep.

“I know you probably don’t wanna hear this right now, but everything will be fine. You’ve done everything right.”

“You’re right lamar, I really don’t wanna hear that shit right now.”

Then he had the nerve to laugh like something was funny. It felt like I was the only one who saw the danger I’d put everyone in. That one emotional decision I made could've just set a war against a power much greater than mine in motion, and everyone else is looking the other way.

“You be in your own head too much. Look around. You’ve built an empire of steel.”

Through the mirror I watched him walk to my bedside table. He picked up what looked like a newspaper and brought it back with the dumbest smile on his face.

“Do you see how great we’re doing? We have the entirety of the west scrambling and shaking in their boots.”

He gave me a knowing look and handed me the paper for me to read myself. The front cover alone was enough to make my head big.

“Atland Sends The West Into It’s Death Throws.”

I folded the newspaper in half and started reading the article as Lamar unwrapped and styled my dreads. The president of the States was trying to paint me as an aggressive and naive little black girl. He said I was a traitor and a danger to the U.S., which is rich coming from him.

“Did you hear Austria wants to form an alliance with us?”

I whipped my head around to look at Lamar. Then he laughed again because the excitement on my face was funny I guess. Austria has a strong military that I’d been eyeing for a while. With their help, we could do a lot. It wouldn't be smart to ask them for something with nothing to give in return though.

“You know ima always be nosy for you.”

He turned my head back around and picked up some bobby pins. Reading the article made me more anxious. Bouncing my leg, my eyes darted across the thin pages.

“Girl I was in my office organizing your mail and shit right?”

I hummed absently and continued to read. The newspaper even had an entire column dedicated to foreign news and how it could affect us. Some of these events were completely new to me. Are the pillars keeping stuff from me?

“Well the interns were in the kitchen on the otherside of the wall behind me. And you know the young ones always know whats going on.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes. Schools across Atland have a Palace Internship program that allows adolescents in their late teens to get work experience in the Palace. Ever since the first batch came in, I noticed that they kept the palace young with their gossip. Which I appreciated because I was too busy to do it myself.

Some of the official palace staff had filed complaints. One even quit because one of the interns found out that he was an anti-royalist and was telling everybody all the shit he was talking about me. They bullied that man out of the palace.

“They was in there loud as hell just yapping. Apparently, Serenity’s wife had a meeting in Austria and she gonna request an audience with you today.”

My eyes lit up and the gears in my head started turning immediately. The timing is suspicious, but I could use it to my advantage. They need something from us so we can force their hand if need be.

The whole reason I’ve been freaking the fuck out is because I did something petty. The United States wanted to build an embassy in Atland’s capital and I refused…then publicly supported the ICC. Indirectly declaring the U.S. an enemy of Atland.

“Gods that could mean anything. I’m far from impartiality and they don't do conflict. What do you think they want?”

“Do you know how big your sphere of influence is? They don’t wanna be on our bad side. And they’re tryna keep it on the low, so you know what that means.”

——————————————————————-

For the remainder of my morning, I roamed around the palace. Staff and Interns greeted me as I made my way around. Some stopped to inform me of changes around the place, others walked with me and shared their concerns or gratitude.

My spirits had been raised significantly. Settling back into palace life wouldn't be easy, but it wouldn't be unbearable either. Everywhere you go there are smiling faces. It was impossible to not like it here. Sweet scents of warm vanilla and pomegranate flowed through the halls and there was always an excitable buzz lingering nearby.

Eventually, I remembered to eat and made my way to the kitchen. The tall swing doors loudly indicated my presence. Kitchen staff greeted me with warm smiles and head bows before returning to whatever they were previously occupied with.

My eyes examined the inside of our walk-in refrigerator. Eating was beginning to feel like a chore. How could I focus on anything when I was trying to ameliorate a potentially catastrophic fuck up?

A shiver ran down my spine, an unpleasant reminder that I had stood in the refrigerator for way too long. Settling for an apple and giving a small wave goodbye to staff, I started towards my study.

As I walked down the hallway, biting into my apple occasionally, I kept glancing over my shoulder. There was an unsettling feeling in my gut. I couldn't shake the feeling I was being watched.

“Already thinking about work I see.”

My heart raced. Turning to the direction the voice had come from, I let go of a shaky breath and held my hand over my heart. Korynn, my best friend’s wife had snuck up on me.

“I’ll be damned! How’ve you been Korynn?”

I laughed off my paranoia and hugged the tall woman. Korynn is Atland’s Core Pillar. She acted as a royal advisor and messenger to the public. Without her, I’d be under far more stress.

“Busy as all hell. Serenity said she’d stop by soon.”

I nodded and took a mental note. Serenity is Lamar and I’s long-time best friend. She doesn't live in Atland’s capital anymore. Said it was too grey and serene for her. Ironic right?

“I was just walking to my study, you can come with me if you’d like”

“No it’s alright, this should be pretty quick actually.”

Korynn gave me a brief overview of major events I missed while on tour. My dramatics sent the pillars into initial panic but things turned out surprisingly well for us.

“You just made the power move of the century! Nato is upping their military. They’re afraid of you.”

We’d received support from several different nations across the globe. Partners in Asia have also publicly defended my statement, and made it clear they would step in if the States decided to become aggressive. Allies of our partners also expressed their support for us.

“The only thing we need from you right now, are signatures. Citizens will vote on it and nothing will be publicized until you say it’s okay to do so.”

I glanced back at the newspaper header. A big part of me liked the idea of my face being the first thing people think of when the Death of the West comes up in history books. Another part, however, knew just how ugly things could get and how fast.

Sure everyone was standing behind us now, but what if I slipped up? What if they’re just trying to butter us up so they can screw us over? The competitive game that these world leaders set up is something I don’t want to fall victim to. Something I can't fall victim to.

“History can’t repeat itself Korynn. This nation will not be looked at as weak and pliable.”

She only shook her head, not in disappointment but in acceptance. My youth lead people to underestimate me, which I was fine with, but it also made me overly cautious when making big decisions like this.

I chewed the skin on my bottom lip as I watched her turn to leave the palace. Before she got too far, I called to her.

“Have the papers sent to my office by the end of the week.”

With a smile and a small bow of her head she left me with my thoughts.

I dragged a tired hand down my face. Things are about to get serious a hell of a lot faster than I’m ready for. On the bright side, the sun hasn't reached its half-point. I have time to plan.

————

I moved through my study frantic as ever. Shuffling around and rummaging through random drawers. Cool air that blew in from my window kept me grounded but did little to soothe my nerves.

There was a notebook that was given to me by the Pillars lost in my study somewhere. Retracing my steps didn't help me either. I rushed to the window and looked to the sky. The sun was a quarter past the half-point now.

“Shit!”

Defeat pummeled me to the floor. That journal is probably the most important thing I’ll ever own and now it's missing. Pages of plans and expansion ideas could be in the hands of an anti-royalist right now. Or worse!

“Girl I been looking-.”

Tears burned my eyes when I saw Lamar in the doorway. He made haste to shut the door and join me where I sat. The comfort of his hug made me break down. I sobbed into his suit jacket. All the pressure from the stress I kept bottled up was starting to release.

“What happened?” The concern in his voice didn’t make me feel any better. What if they force me to abdicate? They’ll use this as proof of my being unfit to rule.

“It's gone! The journal- the PLANNER is gone!”

He held my face in his palms and wiped away my tears with the cold silk thumbs of his gloves. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. What was I missing?

As if he could hear my thoughts, he answered my question before I could even begin to search for an answer myself.

“You’re overthinking still. Why won’t you just ask for help?” his question sent a pang of hurt through my chest. How could he not see the position I’ve been forced into? Asking for help isn’t an option.

“They already think I'm incompetent.”

“Do you think being a good leader means doing everything yourself?”

He sounded like he was asking a genuine question. Why would he ask me that?

“Of course not.”

Lamar has been my best friend since 1st grade. He was like a brother to me. Throughout our lives, he’d been beside me during every trial and tribulation. Whenever my head drifted too far above the clouds, he reminded me to look to the stars for guidance and never to reach for them.

“Okay then. If you want to prove to them you’re fit for the position gifted to you by an entire nation, show them you know when to ask for help.”

The expression on his face was a clear picture of true heartbreak, and it was at that moment that I realized just how foolish I must seem. With the support and constant praise of hundreds of thousands, which I witness daily, I still let my fear of letting down the ones I'm devoted to cloud my judgment of self.

“Well, now I feel stupid.” I wiped my tears with nervous laughter. The stress has taken a bigger toll on me than I thought. Feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders is one thing. But forgetting that there are people who would voluntarily help me carry that weight is another.

“You know what, we’ll host the first ball of the season this year. I’ll tell Serenity to cancel hers.”

I looked at him like he was crazy. Since Atland’s founding back in the States, Serenity always hosted the first ball of the social season. It felt almost like a federal crime to tell her not to.

“I'm sure she won’t mind when I tell her why.”

He didn’t give me the chance to give a counter argument before standing to his feet and stretching out a hand for me to take. “It’ll also be a great way to welcome our Austrian Allies. Yes?”

With a smile, I took his hand and stood to my feet. “Yes.”

[books]

Writer Spotlight: Elise Hu

We recently met with Elise Hu (@elisegoeseast) to discuss her illuminating title, Flawless—Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital. Elise is a journalist, podcaster, and media start-up founder. She’s the host of TED Talks Daily and host-at-large at NPR, where she spent nearly a decade as a reporter. As an international correspondent, she has reported stories from more than a dozen countries and opened NPR’s first-ever Seoul bureau in 2015. Previously, Elise helped found The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit digital start-up, after stops at many stations as a television news reporter. Her journalism work has won the national Edward R. Murrow and duPont Columbia awards, among others. An honors graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, she lives in Los Angeles.

Can you begin by telling us a little bit about how Flawless came to be and what made you want to write about K-beauty?

It’s my unfinished business from my time in Seoul. Especially in the last year I spent living in Korea, I was constantly chasing the latest geopolitical headlines (namely, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s big moves that year). It meant I didn’t get to delve into my nagging frustrations of feeling second-class as an Asian woman in Korea and the under-reported experiences of South Korean women at the time. They were staging record-setting women’s rights rallies during my time abroad in response to a stark gender divide in Korea. It is one of the world’s most influential countries (and the 10th largest economy) and ranks shockingly low on gender equality metrics. That imbalance really shows up in what’s expected of how women should look and behave. Flawless explores the intersection of gender politics and beauty standards.

Flawless punctuates reportage with life writing, anchoring the research within your subjective context as someone who lived in the middle of it but also had an outside eye on it. Was this a conscious decision before you began writing? 

I planned to have fewer of my personal stories in the book, actually. Originally, I wanted to be embedded with South Korean women and girls who would illustrate the social issues I was investigating, but I wound up being the narrative thread because of the pandemic. The lockdowns and two years of long, mandatory quarantines in South Korea meant that traveling there and staying for a while to report and build on-the-ground relationships was nearly impossible. I also have three small children in LA, so the embedding plan was scuttled real fast.

One of the central questions the book asks of globalized society at large, corporations, and various communities is, “What is beauty for?” How has your response to this question changed while producing Flawless? 

I think I’ve gotten simultaneously more optimistic and cynical about it. More cynical in that the more I researched beauty, the more I understood physical beauty as a class performance—humans have long used it to get into rooms—more power in relationships, social communities, economically, or all of the above at once. And, as a class performance, those with the most resources usually have the most access to doing the work it takes (spending the money) to look the part, which is marginalizing for everyone else and keeps lower classes in a cycle of wanting and reaching. On the flip side, I’m more optimistic about what beauty is for, in that I have learned to separate beauty from appearance: I think of beauty in the way I think about love or truth, these universal—and largely spiritual—ideas that we all seek, that feed our souls. And that’s a way to frame beauty that isn’t tied in with overt consumerism or having to modify ourselves at all. 

This is your first book—has anything surprised you in the publishing or publicity process for Flawless?

I was most surprised by how much I enjoyed recording my own audiobook! I felt most in flow and joyful doing that more than anything else. Each sentence I read aloud was exactly the way I heard it in my head when I wrote it, which is such a privilege to have been able to do as an author.

Do you have a favorite reaction from a reader? 

I don’t know if it’s the favorite, but recency bias is a factor—I just got a DM this week from a woman writing about how the book helped put into words so much of what she felt and experienced, despite the fact she is not ethnically Korean, or in Korea, which is the setting of most of the book. It means a lot to me that reporting or art can connect us and illuminate shared experiences…in this case, learning to be more embodied and okay with however we look. 

As a writer, journalist, and mother—how did you practice self-care when juggling work commitments, social life, and the creative processes of writing and editing?

I juggled by relying on my loved ones. I don’t think self-care can exist without caring for one another, and that means asking people in our circles for help. A lot of boba dates, long walks, laughter-filled phone calls, and random weekend trips really got me through the arduous project of book writing (more painful than childbirth, emotionally speaking). 

What is your writing routine like, and how did the process differ from your other reporting work? Did you pick up any habits that you’ve held on to? 

My book writing routine was very meandering, whereas my broadcast reporting and writing are quite linear. I have tight deadlines for news, so it’s wham, bam, and the piece is out. With the book, I had two years to turn in a manuscript. I spent the year of lockdowns in “incubation mode,” where I consumed a lot of books, white papers, articles, and some films and podcasts, just taking in a lot of ideas to see where they might collide with each other and raise questions worth reporting on, letting them swim around in the swamp of my brain. When I was ready to write, I had a freelance editor, the indefatigable Carrie Frye, break my book outline into chunks so I could focus on smaller objectives and specific deadlines. Chunking the book so it didn’t seem like such a massive undertaking helped a lot. As for the writing, I never got to do a writer’s retreat or some idyllic cabin getaway to write. I wrote in the in-between moments—a one or two hour window when I had a break from the TED conference (which I attend every year as a TED host) or in those moments after the kids’ bedtime and before my own. One good habit I got into was getting away from my computer at midday. I’m really good about making lunch dates or going for a run to break up the monotony of staring at my screen all day long.

What’s good advice you’ve received about journalism that you would pass on to anyone just starting out?

All good reporting comes from great questions. Start with a clear question you seek to answer in your story, project, or book, and stay true to it and your quest to answer it. Once you are clear on what the thing is about, you won’t risk wandering too far from your focal point.

Thanks to Elise for answering our questions! You can follow her over at @elisegoeseast and check out her book Flawless here!

[arkanis-englishupdates]

SUMMARY OF ALL ARKANIS POVs

DAY 24 & DAY 25 — 26/09/2024 & 27/09/2024

DAY 24 — 26/09/2024

The day in Valigma begins melancholic, the ghost children are still missing and the tension from yesterday still hangs in the air.

Pac finds Mayor Jota, without his mask, having a crying fit inside Alice's house, in despair over what Araldo did. He asks in despair why Araldo killed Alice, blaming himself for what happened.

After the conversation with the Mayor, Pac and his son (called Milo) decide to make a memorial for Alice in the cemetery with Himaru, Gabepeixe, Quel, Maethe, Choke, Matt, Yayah, Coreano and Guhzera (Pac found out from Quel that Usoforme's locations are apparently ''finite'' and they used them all (so far) and that's what made Araldo so angry).

Quel discovers a type of tunnel under his house, followed by an explosion near Bira's Bar. Before being able to investigate, her and all players are teleported to Bia Raux's house.

Bia's voice is suddenly present, telling everyone that she knew what happened yesterday. She gives them a mission: Get a type of crucifix.

After the conversation, the group begins the hunt, defeating monsters to finish the mission. At the end of the dungeon, Bia finds the group again and reveals to everyone that she was Mayor Jota's teacher when he was a child, but he tried to transform Valigma into something at the top, resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people.

Suddenly, everyone is teleported again to a room completely purple like galaxies. While everyone was admiring the room, a giant ghost monster appears suddenly and starts attacking everyone there.

The group manages to defeat the giant ghost, who transforms into a small child ghost (The new ghost was named Tucupi by his new mother, Choke).

Denix, Amora and Gris return with the new little ghost too!

After leaving the place, everyone separates with their respective children. Matt, together with Amora, go to Choke's house to see Tucupi and find themselves in the middle of a conversation about "Shock Therapy" with Bia and Wuant.

Bia apologizes to Matt for threatening him and reveals that she kidnapped Bagi because she "was getting too close to her and other things". Matt tells her not to kill anyone to get what she wants if she really wants the specialists' help.

Matt, along with Raccoon and Gabepeixe, invite Bia Raux for a private conversation and they discover the story of Quel and Maethe with Bia:

Bia found the two, invited them to her teachings and they both accepted, but Bia noticed that the two had different intentions with Arkanya, the two thought they were in a movie (In Maethe's words: "Thought Arkanya was a fictional story like Harry Potter). They were frustrated because they couldn't manipulate Arkanya and Bia chose to erase their memories to not reveal the secret of how manipulate this power.

Bia also reveals that her mask is made of wood and Arkanya, and Guaxinim asks her if they can make a mask like hers. She said they can't do it because they didn't participate in the training that Quel and Maethe went through.

Matt decides to tell the trio what is happening to him and tells Guaxinim and Gabepeixe that the parchment he has helps him stay in the shape he is in, but the parchment's duration is running out. He tells the two that Bagi is the key to stopping this and tells them that they need to comfort the people he loves.

Bia tells Matt that she knows about fear and that she knows he cursed someone else, but she doesn't know who. Gabe and Guaxi ask Bia if they can do the training, but Bia says that the training has a big risk, and that if they fail she will have to erase their memories. Matt asks if Bia is stronger than Araldo, but she doesn't know.

Denix asks Bia why she hasn't been killed by Araldo yet, and she also can't say why he has the power to do it but never did it. She says that Araldo has the same type of mask because he saw her with the mask and wanted to make one like it (Bia also says that Araldo can only hear everyone when Arkanya is strong, and that ghosts can also feel Arkanya).

Guaxinim and Gabepeixe ask about the Arkanya alphabet and Bia says she will try to help them understand the alphabet.

The three suggest creating a city far from Valigma and Bia agrees with the idea, even suggesting they hold a vote for a new mayor to go against Jota, but she tells them to continue in their role as citizens of Valigma so Bia doesn't get screwed even more.

After the conversation, everyone leaves in separate directions (Until they get together again to play a prank at Bira's Bar).

DAY 25 — 27/09/2024

During a conversation with Gabepeixe, Dennix reveals that he is getting weak.

Due to miscommunication, JVNQ, Gabepeixe and Coreano discuss among themselves where they should build their big project. Bia suddenly sends a book to JVNQ talking about how many totems would be needed for a person to be able to use Arkanya, being more or less 15 totems per person according to her.

Bia presents to Gabepeixe a building project to protect ghosts, but the location is not the most beautiful or inviting. She also reveals that she managed to destroy part of the dome located in Valigma's sky.

[Unfortunately I, admin 🦇, didn't get much important information about this day, but if something important happened, please put it in the comments and will edit this post!]

[writersdare]

Password Is Your Birthday | Calum Hood

Pairing: Calum Hood x Reader (she/her)

Summary: Y/N never doubted Calum's loyalty, however, once controversial photos were leaked, their relationship was put to the test.

Warning: angsty, mention of alcohol

Word Count: 2 582

Requested: yes

Author’s Note: Thank you for the patience! Lately I've experienced a somewhat burnout, and couldn't write anything normally. That's really frustrating when it happens, so I couldn't post the work earlier – it's really important to me to be sure in a story, to be fully satisfied with the result. Hopefully you'll enjoy this one! Remember, your activity helps so-so much! ♡

There was nothing better than holding his hand in hers. To reflect a smile on his face. To feel the heartbeat of each other every time they were close. 

Sometimes Y/N thought she only imagined him. She created him like a puzzle she used to make in the evenings when was very little. Calum was someone the girl could call perfect. Of course, everyone had their flaws, however, when you loved someone the flaws seemed quite insignificant.

She loved him. He was her second breath, her reason the girl believed in happy endings. It was even funny, amusing and little absurd how two people, who were scared of commitment before, were suddenly searching for love in each other. 

Calum adored her. He enjoyed her bright laugh in late afternoons, when they were watching some silly comedy. Praised Y/N's little sad face each time he’d forget to buy something from their shopping list or finish a pack of crisps that supposed to be for both of them. He was guilty, he knew it. 

But Y/N was guilty, too. For entering his life and turning everything upside down. For not warning that her smile would change everything in him. The musician felt alive next to her, and she knew it. 

"Don’t look at me like this," Y/N chuckled, resting hands on his shoulders. Calum led her in a dance, and even though the room was full of strangers, it felt as if there were just two of them.

"Why so?" Cal giggled back, taking his time to observe the girl’s beautiful eyes. They were shining, and he wanted to believe he was the reason of it. 

"You make me shy," she smiled wider, and Calum only laughed at such confession. He doubted it was the truth, because his Y/N could be naughty, but not shy. Not at such moment at least.

"I make you shy? And that’s it?" he asked, smiling.

Y/N made an innocent face only and shrugged, so Calum couldn’t help himself but leave a kiss on the lips.

"I’m going to get us another drink," he whispered and pulled away gently, when the music ended.

Y/N nodded, following Calum with a gaze. It felt like the smile didn’t leave her face for the whole evening. Perhaps, she needed to be careful with that thought, as the girl was about to receive a message that could change everything she believed in.

Cal just disappeared from the sight, when the girl’s phone vibrated. Y/N lazily took it out of a purse and checked the notification. It was a blank email with a photo attached, nothing else. The girl rolled the eyes and already wanted to push a button "spam", seeing unknown address, as noticed on the picture preview outlines of her boyfriend. Even when the photo downloaded, and the girl could see Cal with someone else, she still thought it was fake, a silly prank. Calum was loyal, and he wouldn’t cheat on her. They were both very open about their relationship, and Y/N never had any doubts about him. The girl didn’t have a good look at the photo, when the phone vibrated again. She sighed  annoyingly and opened another email, where few more photos were included, as well as a link to Google Drive. Curiosity, or maybe already doubts, took over. Y/N looked around and hurried to a more quiet place, away from the guests. She supposed to celebrate Michael’s birthday, like everyone else, but her festive mood disappeared just at the snap of fingers.

The girl seat on a couch and open the link. Surely, she knew it wasn’t safe to open a link from unknown sender, however, it was Google Drive, so the girl doubted it was just spam already. Y/N was too intrigued – and not in a good way, so she took the risk. 

The girl saw few dated folders, the most recent one was created last week. Just like she suspected, there were photos inside – Calum, hanging out with some ginger girl. The stranger was clearly older than Y/N, but looked good, she though. Y/N couldn’t find anything provocative, however, by the look of it, those two clearly had a good time together, laughing and even cuddling each other. 

"Here you are! Are you hiding from someone? I barely found you."

Y/N looked up and saw Calum standing in front of her, holding two cocktails in both hands. The girl didn’t even have powers to give Cal at least a short smile. She stood up and took the glass, placing her phone in his palm. Confused, Cal glanced at the screen.

"What is it?" Y/N, drinking the cocktail through a straw, could see how the boyfriend’s face changed, slowly. "This is… This is not what you think," she almost chocked at such a banal phrase. "Where did you get this? Did you follow me?"

The irritation and panic was written on his face, and Y/N started to feel sick of Cal all of a sudden. The girl took her phone back roughly, fighting with a desire to splash the drink on his face. 

"Y/N…"

"Unknown admire sent it to me," she finally replied, looking at his eyes and still not being able to believe that a person who she trusted the most failed her like that, lied to her. "Why, Calum? You could just tell me if you didn’t feel the same anymore, why to play this game?" the girl couldn’t tell if she was hurt or simply disappointed. Y/N thought they were not just a boyfriend and girlfriend. It always felt like there was something more than that, they were both friends and lovers. A little family in their own world.

"It’s not a game. Look, I didn’t cheat on you."

"Yet?"

Cal sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling.

"Do we really gotta do this now? Right here, with all your friends around?" he asked, hoping to make her come to the senses, however, those questions made Y/N nothing, but angry. 

"How dare you to ask me this, like it’s not important?"

"Because it’s not!" Calum snapped, leaving his glass on a tray of a passing by waiter, Y/N did the same. "These photos… It’s not… What it is."

"Then what is it? Sneaking out at nights, hugging her? Do I look like an idiot?"

"Look I can’t tell you, but––"

"Unbelievable," Y/N laughed shorty, but she wasn’t really having fun at that moment. The girl headed to the exit of the room, feeling like she couldn’t stay there any longer.

"Please, don’t go," he almost whispered, tiredly, and hurried up to follow her. "Y/N! You can’t just leave, all our friends are here, let’s not do it now."

"I’m sorry, but this is more important to me now. You can stay, as I already understood that seeing someone else isn’t a big deal to you," the girl smirked, calling a taxi.

"I’m not seeing anyone," Calum repeated, even though he knew how it all sounded, when Y/N literally had photos, proving a completely different thing. 

"You keep telling me this, but you don’t explain what it is then," the girl said, grinning sadly. "Before lying you needed to come up with a truthful story, Calum," she smirked and got into a car.

The musician followed her, as he couldn’t just leave the girl like that. Cal had no idea how to explain himself; he was very mad at the person, who leaked those photos. Calum obviously didn’t know that someone was taking pictures of him, otherwise he’d be more careful. However, at that particular moment the guy didn’t care as much about the photos going public, – after all, it was only a matter of time when they’d be all over the Internet – as about his relationship with Y/N. Calum knew he messed up, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t fix it. 

The way home was accompanied by silence. Y/N had a lot to process. She couldn’t forgive him cheating, and even though the answer was obvious, everything wasn’t as simple as the girl hoped. Despite a clear disappointment in their relationship and even some hate towards Cal, she still loved him. Y/N couldn’t imagine her life without him. The girl thought everything was alright between them. Was is it all really a lie? Was it her fault? Why was Cal seeking a company of someone else?..

By the end of the ride she was so tired of her own thoughts that all what Y/N wanted was to go to bed and wake up happy again. The girl knew it was doubtfully possible to hide from the bitter reality, but she was not ready for another drama that evening.

However, when Y/N went to their bedroom, Calum was not planning to leave it like that.

"Just an hour ago you wanted to talk, so let’s talk," he chuckled, watching Y/N taking off her heels and going to bed. "We aren’t going to bed until we talk about it," Cal said though his teeth, feeling a wave of anger spreading all over his body.

"I don’t have powers to talk about it anymore," the girl replied calmly, covering herself with a blanket. "You should be happy, you’ll have more time to come up with an excuse," she smiled sadly.

"Y/N, I didn’t cheat on you. And I’m not seeing anyone but you," Cal said coldly, taking a seat on the edge of their bed, so he could look in the girl’s eyes. "I swear to you. I love you."

"Then who is it?" Y/N echoed. She wanted to believe Calum, she desperately wanted to believe him, but he wasn’t making it particularly easy. "Are you saying those photos were fake? A photoshop? At the days when you were coming home late because you had night photoshoots with a band? You know, I trusted you, I didn’t even have any doubts, didn’t have a thought to call guys and ask if it was true. I trusted you," Y/N repeated. The tears were stuck somewhere, and the eyes were still dry. She felt simply empty.

"The photos are real," Calum admitted, as there was no point to lie anymore. "But those meeting weren’t dates."

"Give me your phone," Y/N whispered, realising the guy didn’t confirm that he had night shooting sessions with the band. Because he didn’t have them, apparently.

"I can’t…" he whispered back, not looking at her anymore.

"Calum," the girl swallowed, staring at Cal, who seemed like a lost kitten. "Give me your phone," her voice trembled, but she insisted.

The guy looked up and slowly took the phone out from a pocket of his jacket. He hesitated, but Y/N snatched it from his palm immediately.

"Why can’t you just believe me?" the musician chuckled sadly, watching her entering the password – it was her birthday. The password on her phone was his birthday, they did it as a joke, but both kept it in the end.

"Would you believe me?" Y/N asked, opening chats and scrolling his messages, trying to find a familiar face. Cal had a weird obsession with having profile pictures for all his contacts. Funny, but the girl even hoped that the contact she was looking for wouldn’t be there or would remain without a picture. However, Y/N didn’t even need to scroll that far to see an image of that ginger girl.

Opening chat, Y/N saw some photos the stranger was sending Calum. They were sketches of a ring. There were different kinds, Cal’s replies were mostly short as "I like the first variant better" and "can we try it with a blue stone?". They discussed time of their meetings, and Cal would apologise they’d have to meet that late again, explaining it with his crazy working schedule and "too smart girlfriend".

"What is it?" Y/N whispered and looked up at Calum. The guy didn’t move from his place and was watching her every move, while she was reading the messages and checking the photos.

"How do you think?" Cal asked, and it was his time to be disappointed. He wanted it to be a surprise. "That girl is a jewellery designer," he took his phone back roughly, switching off the screen. "I couldn’t find anything in stores, so I contacted someone I knew . We met just few times, and only because I needed to see work in progress with my own eyes. It’s not that easy just by a picture or a sketch, you know," the guy sighed and stood up.

"Calum," Y/N sobbed, feeling like an idiot. She was blaming herself at that moment, however, the reaction the girl had before was rather understandable, too; besides, Cal couldn’t normally explain himself. But how could he? Again, he wanted it to be a surprise.

"I’ll sleep in a couch today, I guess," the musician chuckled sadly, putting the phone back to his pocket. Calum was staring at Y/N’s face, knowing that it wasn’t just her fault, but both of them. And that idiot, who leaked the photos at first place.

"Look, I’m sorry, I thought––"

"I know," Cal interrupted. "But next time trust me what I say."

Y/N jumped off the bed and brushed tears from the face, once Calum left the room.

"Trust you?" she outraged, getting mad that the guy behaved that way. Sure, Y/N messed up, too, but she had her reasons. "You’d react completely the same way if you were on my place, Calum!" the girl caught his hand, so Cal turned around. "It’s not fair. I apologised, I know you wanted to make a surprise, and it’s… it’s such a wonderful surprise, but you can’t tell it’s my fault only! I didn’t believe at first, but what could I do?"

"I know," Cal sighed, cooling off rather quickly, and pressed the girl against his body, cuddling Y/N softly. "I’m sorry," he closed the eyes for a moment. "I just got so upset that my surprise was ruined. It was such a long journey, and you found out like that. Accusing me as well," the guy left a short kiss on her soft cheek. "I love you. Y/N. I’d never cheat on you. You do realise I want you to be my wife?" Calum chuckled, and the smile was sincere.

"Now I do," the girl smiled a bit, still feeling a bit sad that she reacted like that and ruined the surprise. "I love you, too, Calum," the girl said and stood on her toes to kiss the musician on his lips.

"Does it mean you’ll marry me?" he asked through the kiss.

"It does," she cuddled Cal’s neck, once he took her on his arms.

"Y/N Hood, sounds good, huh?" The guys touched her nose with his and then laughed all of a sudden.

"Hey, what are you laughing at?"

"I’m just thinking that this could happen only to us, really," Cal sighed, smiling, and kissed Y/N again. "You know, I gotta admit, you’re extremely hot, when you’re angry. Even though you behaved like a brat."

"Uh, only I did?" the girl squinted, so the musician hurried up to apologise with a short kiss on her neck.

Apparently, that evening they both would never forget for several reasons.

taglist: @dgrangaa, @gracieboogirl

– gifs aren’t mine and belong to the rightful owner, found them here @ghost-of-you – 

© writersdare | all rights reserved

All stories are original and written by me. Do not copy, trace and post anywhere without permission and credit. The stories are fictional, they do not correspond to reality and written just for fun ♡

Masterlist | Taglist

[brw]

1, 9 and 10 for your ask game please!

1) the character everyone gets wrong

I'd go with Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, and I know that's cheating because that's two, but in my defence, the ways in which people get them wrong independently absolutely inform the ways they get the other wrong to.

Janet is a lot more proactive in her relationship with Hank than people give her credit for, and was a much bigger reason of why their relationship failed than people also give her credit for. There's a push to rewrite history and make her a very flat victim, and I can see why, but it's frustrating because I think it's a lot more interesting that Janet repeatedly and purposefully ignored multiple warning signs that Hank's health was imperiled simply because she held on to a belief that love could overcome anything, including a man's undiagnosed and unmedicated schizophrenia. It is JANET who makes the decision to marry. She is essentially the one who proposed, after Hank–hallucinating as Yellowjacket and genuinely thinks he is his own murderer–kidnaps her, then briefly becomes lucid and backs off.

Genuinely, right. Genuinely. I don't think the Hank we see here, violently hallucinating, thinking he murdered himself and having a totally different persona and attitude, was in a position to give meaningful consent! I think it's very clear this is a man a danger to himself and to other people, who was not in the right frame of mind to agree to marriage, but people prefer to write Janet as a very basic victim, which I think is a massive disservice to the actually really nuanced way her relationship with Hank was sometimes written, where Hank was clearly unwell and Janet knew it but thought it was an issue that could be fixed with holiday's and sex and Avenging and not a more fundamental psychological one, and that's a far more interesting story to me.

9) worst part of canon

Lotta things I can put here. I think at the moment I am most frustrated by "Krakoa had no people on it before mutants fine, therefore it isn't an ethnostate and it's totally cool and awesome", because the lie of "there were no people here before us!" has been used time and time again throughout history to justify genocide, oppression, violence and colonialism, and I do not think it is the place of the white Americans in charge of writing Krakoa to essentially legitimise those lies because they didn't want to write Magneto or Nightcrawler or Wolverine and company to be out and out colonisers. If you are writing this kind of project, I think you should have the dignity to commit to it.

10) worst part of fanon

in no particular order

Dadneto, House of M dynasty as a whole

Charles is walking. More than anything else with Cherik this annoys me the most. Motherfucker I'll break his legs myself. Please at the very least let the disabled character be disabled.

The notion that Sue/Namor is real and happened

Logan Howlett girldad

Crystal doesn't exist in the Maximoff family conversation, related to that I once saw a haha fandom meme where Crystal was called an absent parent and that is so fundmantally untrue it felt like I was being trolled

Claremont's racism and zionism isn't real don't worry about it. Close your eyes and only mention it when it's something you can't pretend doesn't exist like Kitty Pryde saying the n word multiple times

Hank McCoy was Always Evil and Always Fated To Go Dark. That's just a regular man forced to hang out with his high school friends after three years of doing nothing but smoke weed with a gay 1950s theatre nerd. You would turn "evil" too.

That Reed Richards doesn't love his wife??? He invented comic guys being really intense about their wives. Leave him alone... that's the love of his life above all else??? Excuse me.

[mooneln0ne]

LUFFY WANTS TO FLY A KITE AU QnA!!! Thank you for supporting my mini comic, as a ty I compiled a bunch of questions below.!

it’s a long one, so beware!

Q (Anonymous): What inspired you to write this comic? Outside the horrors what are you trying to tell?

A: Inspiration would probably be the frequent hallucinations I have and my longing to go back in the fields... I miss my cows 😭 As for the story i’m trying to tell.. It’s a bit hard to explain without spoiling the story….

Q: (@oddity-txt): For your kite au- what do ace and sabo see when they look at luffy?

A: Clearly something that isn't Luffy, but it looks like Luffy

Q: (Anonymous): Since Vivi is introduced would she play a key role or would she appear for like just a few parts, would she have a blog like Sabo?

A: She's important to the story!! She's child of the pastor in this au-- Sabo and Ace used to be Altar servers for his church so they have history of working with her before... As for a blog.. No not really. Though if you look close enough you'll find that you can contact Vivi just before the events of the story to pry information.. But unfortunately whatever happens to her is set in stone •ᴗ• Q: (@washingmachineonfir ): Can you elaborate in religion topic in the city? About the house, why its like this? How many kids disappear?

A: The religion in ASL's neighborhood is simple, you know it already. Now about the house? You don't wanna know. As for the kids... hm.. Depends on how many kids can fill a school bus Q: (@courtroomac3): Hi

A: Get outta here boy Q: White boy Flavor of the month...

A: idk Q: (@humoofsegsual) Is there a possible ending in which everyone dies?

A: nods nods, when that happens everything disappears . Don't forget to say goodbye before it happens!!!! Q: (@plastirk): What kinds of trigger warnings are we gonna see?

A: everything in this list

Q: (Anonymous): Why does Nika go after Ace and Sabo?

A: Because Luffy wants to be with them . But Nika doesn’t want to let go of Luffy.

Q: (Anonymous): Does Nika hate Ace and Sabo?? all their interactions with them are with malice 😭

A: I wouldn’t say malice I suppose… I’d say maybe frustration?

Q: (Anonymous): Where are other characters in this? Like Garp, Dragon, and etc

A: They’re living their normal lives somewhere else!! Koby and Helmeppo are employees at the store Sabo often goes to. Vivi is a librarian, her father is a priest in the town’s church, she met Ace and Sabo a lot because they were altar servers back then! Law is one of the brothers’ neighbors, he frequently leaves though. (Copy pasted from my discord)

Q: (Anonymous): Is it true that one of the brothers might die ☹️

A: . Yes! Im cheering for their downfall! but you guys aren’t 😞

Q: (Anonymous): Are ASL biologically related here?

A: …No

Q: (Anonymous): What does the kite have to do with this au?

A: It’s something Luffy owns!!!! Don’t worry about it too much ;]

Q: (Anonymous): Is there a symbolism with the ghost costume? It makes me wonder what was it for other than to scare A and S

A: It’s by far the biggest hint in the first part 😵‍💫 I wonder if anyone caught it at first

Q: (Anonymous): Are Luffy’s friends going to appear? (Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and Ussop?)

A: mhm! You’ll see one or two of them sooner or later

Q: (Anonymous): What wouldve happened if we chose the other option in the first two parts?

A: The first poll would’ve decided on who runs the ‘blog’ ^w^!!

the one who wasn’t pick was cursed to run a tumblr blog lmao

Last Question:

Q: (Anonymous): Why are Luffy’s friends here if Nika just wanted him?

A: Luffy treasures his friends.!!

Bonus:

Q: (Anonymous): Will Detective Chopper have the same horror elements as the Kite au?

A: Yeah, but I suppose it’s more drama oriented

[bokettochild]

Febuwhump Day 5 - Rope Burn

Well this took forever! I actualy finished last ight but then I wasn't sure if I hated it or not, so I had to sleep on it. If you see any typos, no you do not.

Wordcount: 9,300

Rating: Teen

Summary: After Twilight reveals some information about his past, Four tries to use it as a learning opportunity for all of them. It does not go as expected.

-

  “There is no way a military leader was that incompetent.”  

  Wild pauses in his story, much to Wind’s frustration, because he really did want to hear the end of it, which he’s about to say, only the vet’s voice raises, a smirk touching the other’s face as he settles down at the fire with the rest of them after coming back from doing rounds. “Sounds about right to me.”  

  “Too competent,” Warriors challenges, dropping his head to thoroughly tousle his hair, “half my men couldn’t do that.” That’s fair, Wind decides, he remembers the captain’s men as all being somewhat... stupid. 

  The champion stares at them, openly astounded. “How,” he begins, glancing between the vet and captain “are your kingdoms still standing? If the leaders of your defenses are less capable than Master I-killed-myself-on-accident-with-my-own-power Kohga?” 

  “Spoilers!” That’s how the story ends? Wild had only just begun to get to the part where he fought Kohga, but now the ending has been well and truly ruined! Although, it seems they’re getting derailed, so it’s quite likely he won’t even get to hear said ending, considering the champion is too busy looking between captain and veteran for answers. 

  The vet just snorts, unknowing of what he’s missed, and of Wind’s ire, and simply crossing his legs and focusing on the fire. “Where do you think I got the title of veteran? I don’t just sit on my fanny all day, champ.” 

  When the champion’s eyes turn to Warriors, the captain just shakes his head. “I have no clue.” It‘s more sigh than anything, as though the captain’s long since given up hopes for competency among his people. “I’d say Impa, but even she can’t hold the country together by herself, so I’m assuming it’s pure dumb luck.” 

  Across camp, Sky, who’d been the first one to say anything after the champion’s insane story, stares. “You’re saying I brought down the knights of Skyloft just so they could devolve into idiotic half-competent protectors of the country and leave kids to be the ones to save the world?” It’s harsh, but it’s fair as well, although not everyone seems to think so. Wind can’t say anything on the matter though because the closest to military groups they have in his world are pirates, and pirates don’t exactly serve the people. 

  The group as a whole gives each other considering looks, although Legend and Warriors are too busy talking with their eyes- Legend raising a brow and Warriors sighing, rolling his own eyes and earning a smirk in answer- to really care about what everyone else thinks. He thinks Legend asked a question, but how either of them can read each other that well, considering how rarely they even interact, he’s not sure.  

  “The knights in my era are half-competent,” Four assures, “easily manipulated by magic, but they’re just people, so I can’t really blame them. They’re good at their work though.” 

  “Lucky,” Legend scoffs. 

  Time also seems confident in the soldiers of his era, but Twilight adds that his own are cowards and pathetic, so it seems they’re split. Wind, Wild, and Hyrule can’t add anything, due to the lack of military forces in their eras, the soldier is in agreement with their farm boys on the idiocy of his own people, and only their first two and the old man seem to have any faith whatsoever in those set to guard their era. He wonders if maybe there was a decline, after one of them, that led to the army of Hyrule falling, but he doesn’t ask, since it’s unlikely they can say for sure anyway. 

  “How often do you interact with knights though?” Sky challenges, glancing between them. Most haven’t been around them often, but those who’ve got only ill to say all scoff, almost simultaneously, which startles them as much as it does the rest of the group. 

  “I live with them,” the captain starts slowly, glancing between Twilight and Legend with a curious half-smile as though he’s actively trying to figure out what on earth could tie them to the people whom they so frequently scorn. “Spent the last five or six years in the army.” 

  The vet’s a bit more hesitant with his answer, staring between them warily, guarded. “My sister is a knight commander, and our family has ties with the army, so I end up around them a lot more than I’d like, even when they aren’t actively hunting me down.” And Wind wants to stop the conversation there and ask about the fact that Legend apparently has a family and also a reason for the army to be up his ass about something, but he doesn’t get a chance because once more, someone else speaks first. 

  “I grew up on a military base,” Twilight snorts, “trust me, soldiers are as dumb as rocks.” 

  And well, Legend having a family isn’t that crazy in comparison to that. 

  Warriors starts, staring at the rancher, blinking slowly as though still trying to process the words of the other. “I’m sorry- you what?” 

  “I thought you grew up in Ordon?” Wild questions, turning to his mentor, confusion on clear display. 

  Yeah, Wind has a feeling that Wild’s story is well and truly over now, but he supposes it’s worth it. Learning something about their rancher is, he supposes, better than hearing the rest of the story the cook had already spoiled the ending too, especially as the limit of their knowledge about the rancher at this point is that he’s from Ordon, used to work as a ranch hand, and is descended from Time and Malon somehow. The fact that he’s a hero goes without saying, but the ranch hand nearly never shares anything about himself, even though he seems to love talking about his hometown and all the people in it, to the point where some of them feel they know the village and its residents already, despite still not having been there yet. 

  Yet, the rancher is grinning as he leans back, the sprig of hylian rice between his teeth bouncing some as he flashes a wolfish grin at them. “Well, yeah, sort of.” 

  “Sort of?” Time nudges his pup, looking thoroughly unimpressed. Their leader isn’t keen on them being cryptic with him, even though he frequently does so himself. The hypocrite. “Explain.” 

  The rancher chuckles, a nervous little thing, but obediently pulls himself up, resting his weight over his knees as he looks around the fire at all of them, eyes glinting slightly. “Well, y’see, I a’tually grew up in a citadel on the edge of Hyrule.” 

  Warriors jaw drops so fast. “Holy Hylia you’re a military brat.” 

  He can’t help it; he bursts into laughter. Yes, objectively, it’s funny to see Warriors so shocked, but from an outsider's perspective it is so, so much funnier because he’s met Warriors parents and sisters, and he’s seen for himself the proof that the captain is anything but the sissy city boy Twilight likes to accuse him of being. No, the captain was born in Hebra, so far out from cities that he thought Kakariko was huge. Meanwhile, it turns out their “country boy” actually grew up in a military base? Not the country? It turns out Twilight is the military brat and Warriors was the hill-billy? How the turn tables have turned! 

  The rest of the heroes stare at him, confused, but the captain just rolls blue eyes, pinching the tip of his ear to make him shut up. “Ignore him.” 

  Twilight’s dark gaze flicks between them, but apparently, he determines to listen to the captain for once. “Right, so, my dad was a’tually a knight from some family o’ knights or summat, an’ my mom comes from desert folk, so I grew up on the border studyin’ with other knights’ kids to take on our fathers’ duties ’n protect Hyrule one day.” 

  The stares are very, very evident by now, although Legend’s in particular is strangely intense, studying the other with his mouth half open like he’s got a question about the rancher’s words.  

 Broad shoulders shrug, a bit awkward as the rancher grins at them. “My friends growin’ up were dumber’n rocks, an’ every knight I’ve met since is the same, so yeah. Knights ‘re stupid.” 

  “Just a question,” and it seems the vet decided to actually ask whatever’s in his head, “but your knight family, they Hyrulian Knights?” 

  “Yeah?” 

  The vet nods, slowly, lips pursed like he’s sucking on a lemon. “Oh.” 

 “Why?” 

  A shake of pink hair, eyes turning back to the fire. “Same hat is all.” 

  “You too?” 

  “Born and raised, but never followed. Your folks drag you to Snowpeak every winter too?” 

  The rancher shakes his head. “Naw, yeti’s took the place over some time ago. I’d heard it used to be ours though, never thought much of it though. You’ve been?” 

 “Yeah.” 

  “Hold up,” Watrriors interrupts the, frankly unexpected, moment between their rancher and vet to stare between both of them “You’re both military brats, you both hate soldiers, and you both neglected to say anything until freaking now? Also, Hyrulian Knights? You’re talking about the fabled family that sealed back Ganon here, right? Produced the Savior of Labrynna, may or may not be the family of the Hero of Time?” That has their old man looking up, startled, for a moment. It’s only a moment though, because that one wide eye promptly shoots down to Twilight and then, as though on second thought, Legend too, Time’s stare growing ever more startled and shaken, ears twitching like they used too when he was particularly confused or trying to work something out in his head. 

  Legend snorts. “Yes.” 

  “Heads up,” Hyrule chuckles, “Legend is the Hero of Labrynna, so keep your hero worship at a minimum there, Wars.” 

  He thinks that the captain’s face flickers through all five stages of grief for a moment there before the man gets up and simply...walks away, leaving Hyrule rocking in his seat from laughter and Sky looking thoroughly befuddled. “Is he okay?” 

  “Big hero worship,” Wind says, like the snitch he is. He’s no traitor in most senses, but if he can give Warriors a little grief, tease him a bit, he will. He’s fine with sharing some of the things he’d learned under the care of the other. “Apparently he views that guy like I did with Time, wanted to be like him and everything.” 

  Rather than flush or falter, Legend’s lemon-sucking face gets even more pronounced. “Why?” 

  “Because apparently the stories all say you were such an inspiring leader to Labrynna’s army that soldiers and generals emulated both your tactics and speeches for decades after Ganon’s defeat.” It’s amazing to watch the vet’s entire world-view shatter at the words, the man apparently not sure if he should look off towards their captain who’s flopped on his bedroll to contemplate his whole life all over again or down at the ground to contemplate his own. Like the problem child he usually chooses not to be, Wind decides to make it worse. “His Hyrule considers you the greatest knight that ever lived.” 

  Ringed hands bury in pink hair, violet eyes blowing wide as the other hunches over, mind clearly blown. Beside the vet, Twilight gently (and by gently, Wind means very cautiously) claps his brother’s back, his own face a bit tense. 

 Wind is loving watching this. This is better than listening to Wild explain his exploits against the Yiga! Although, he’s also curious. “Did you really grow up in a citadel, Twi?” 

  “Yeah,” a brief nod, dark eyes lingering on their malfunctioning veteran, “I only traveled up Ordon way around your age, when the citadel fell.” 

  Okay, not touching that bomb. “What was it like?” 

  His question earns a grin. “What you’d expect, I s’pose. We were monsters as kids, an’ I s’pose growin’ up military gave us a twisted view of the world. Or, rather, of what was normal any’ays.” 

  “Like how?” Sky, who grew up in a knight’s academy and seems entirely normal by what standards Wind has, asks. 

  “Our main games usually centered around pretendin’ to be knights an’ capturin’ each other or doin’ what we saw our dads doin’ most of the time.” 

  “Like?” Time prods again. 

 Twilight grins, and then falters, looking suddenly alarmed as he glances over the rest of them. “Okay, in hindsight, it was messed up.”   

  Now he really wants to know. “What did you do?”  

  The others all stare; those who aren’t, like Warriors and Legend, currently questioning their existence. Their concern is steadily growing the more Twilight falters and flushes, and Wind is now very much dying to know what sort of shenanigans the rancher used to get up to as a kid. Whatever it was, it can’t be worse than what Time used to put him through during the war, although the idea of their sweet and warm rancher being related to the gremlin he remembers from back then is now not so insane a concept anymore. 

  “Alright,” The (apparently not from Ordon) Ordonian starts at last, and Wind’s not sure if the rancher is aware that he’s moved his hand up to be toying with the vet’s hair now, a nervous sort of stroking, but the vet hasn’t snapped at him for it yet, although maybe that’s because he’s just too lost in his own head to notice, “don’t judge.” 

  “I will reserve my judgement,” Four answers, slowly, “but no promises.” 

  “I grew up on the edge of the desert, an’ most of what our folks did was hunt Gerudo thieves an’ protect traders in an’ outta the desert.” Which makes sense, but he feels like Twilight’s getting at something less than what his parents did for a living. “Nowadays, my hairs a fair bit darker, but it was purdy red back then an’ the other kids kind of figured it meant that when we played, I had to be the evil Gerudo thief, since, y’know, red hair.” 

  Ah, racism in children, now Wind sees it. Not what he was hoping for but he’s not sure what he was expecting. 

  “So,” Twilight clears his throat awkwardly, “when we played, I’d be the bad guy an’ they’d chase me down and ‘capture’ me. In hindsight, it probably was less play an’ more bullyin’ since I wasn’t too well liked at first an’ they weren’t very nice about it.” 

  “But?” Sky asks, maybe too hopefully. 

  “But,” the rancher accepts, because apparently there's something good in this after all, or at least something that makes the man smile, “part of the ‘game’ involved them tryin’ to tie me up. Unfortunately for them, I got mighty good at escapin’ bein’ tied up. I think I must’ve impressed ‘em, because they started makin’ a game of if I could escape various crazy things, an’ sometimes would ask me to help ‘em tie each other up so they could try a hand at it too.” Sharp teeth glint in a fond smile. “Got a reputation for bein’ slippery as a snake and sly as a fox, an’ t’others all started treatin’ me like some sorta genius. We became friends awful fast after.” 

  An awkward silence settles over camp after that, the rancher’s words sinking in and the rest of them processing what was said. Surprisingly, it’s Legend who breaks it, lifting his head from his own hands, apparently having decided to shelf whatever feelings he’s having, but also apparently missing the hand still tangled in his hair. “So, in other words, you earned the respect of your bullies and made their bullying into what sounds like a perfectly normal childhood game.” 

  “What sort of a childhood did you have again?” Sky deadpans. “Didn’t you start adventuring at like, eight?” 

  “And?” The vet returns, looking actually, genuinely confused as to what that has to do with anything. 

  Their chosen hero sighs, shaking his head, apparently already giving up on trying to explain the flaw in the vet’s logic. Honestly, Wind can’t see it, whatever it is, but he’s getting the impression that kids on Skyloft and kids in Hyrule have very, very different experiences.  

- 

  It’s about a week later that someone brings it up again, and surprisingly, it’s Four. 

  They’re sitting around the main room of the smithy’s house, keeping warm after spending the last day out in the middle of a strange mix of fog and rain while hunting monsters. The smithy’s parents have been very welcoming towards their guests, and all of them are savoring the chance to fully relax for the first time in a good while. Well, most of them, Legend and Hyrule don’t seem particularly capable of fully relaxing, so Four’s mother has roped them into helping her in the little garden out back, which seems to be quite to the vet’s tastes and, while foreign to Hyrule, a new experience the traveler doesn't seem keen on passing up. 

  That leaves the rest of them free in the otherwise empty house, left to their own devices while the smithy’s father attends to his work at the castle. Twilight is trying (and failing) to teach Warriors how to play chess, and Wind and Wild are busy playing with Four’s cat, Tongs, when the smithy suddenly walks into the room again after coming downstairs and addresses the rancher. “Do you think you could still escape being tied up?” 

  Time, who was sitting on the couch, looking halfway towards dozing off, suddenly starts awake again and stares, as do the rest of them. 

  “Pardon?” The rancher asks, sighing in defeat as Warriors knocks all the pieces off the chess board with an agitated scowl, signifying his disinterest in continuing to try and learn the “stupid” game. 

  “The game you mentioned,” Four reminds them, crossing the room to perch on the couch arm closest to the rancher, although why he doesn’t just sit on the couch, Wind’s not sure. “You said your friends were really impressed by your ability to escape all the time. Do you think you could still do that?” 

  Twilight shrugs, scooping up the fallen chess pieces to put back in their box, all while Warriors glares at one of the rooks like it’s personally offended him. Wind wasn’t watching close enough to know if it had or not. “I mean, I might, haven’t tried in a while. Why?” 

  The smithy kicks his feet, well off the floor, and frowns, a thoughtful frown like he’s slowly piecing his words together. “I was curious. I’ve never been good at that sort of thing, and I wanted to know if you’d be willing to show us so I could get better.” 

  “And why do you need to get better at escaping being tied up?” The captain interjects, tossing the white rook into the box with a twitch of a frown. 

  “So sure you want to ask that?” Sky snorts, moseying in from the kitchen where Four’s mother had given them free access to make tea and grab food. The face the captain makes at him is scandalized but their chosen hero just slurps his tea, staring over the rim of his cup with raised brows. 

  Wind doesn’t get the joke. He’s not sure if he wants to. 

  Four huffs, slightly red in the cheeks, but presses on. “During my adventure, I made...some mistakes. It resulted in my capture, and I couldn’t exactly escape. I don’t want that to happen again.” It’s a simple enough answer, glazing over anything and everything other than the smithy getting captured, but it still raises questions, although not the ones the smithy was likely trying to avoid. 

  “I thought you were a knight?” Warriors picks up the queen piece, not dropping it yet but not staring at it either, instead focusing his narrowed eyes on their smithy. “All soldiers are trained on what to do in the case of capture, torture, and questioning. Did you not recieve that training?” 

  It’s Twilight’s turn to shift about to stare at the captain. “How would they train that sort of thing?” 

  The captain’s face screws up, “Am I the only one who was taught this? Sky,” the man drops the queen and it goes rolling across the table, “did you or did you not receive-” 

  “No,” the chosen hero doesn’t even wait for the other to finish. “Who on earth would even interrogate us? Skyloftian knights fight monsters, not men.” A long sip follows the words before Sky frowns and turns to look down at the seated soldier. “Do they seriously teach you about torture?” 

  “Yes?” Warriors glances around, but all of them look back at him with confusion. “All common soldiers learn this? You have to in order to progress through the ranks?” 

  “Not ringing a bell,” Time deadpans, staring at the captain with both eyes. 

  Warriors blinks, like the idea that his experience with knighthood not being universal is, in fact, a surprise to him. Wind can’t blame him though, considering based off of what he knows about the other, Warriors had gone through most of his experiences beside dozens of other young men, including his own childhood friends, in order to reach the rank he was at before the war started and he’d been suddenly promoted to captain. 

  “Well,” Four shifts, crossing his legs, “that’s a can of worms to be addressed later, but back to my question: Twilight, can you teach me escape tricks?” 

  “Correction,” Time sits up and turns around, eyes lingering on the captain a moment more before turning on his pup, “Twilight, Warriors, would both of you two be willing to help the rest of us learn escape methods and-” a vague hand motion is made at the soldier, “-whatever sort of training you received that all the rest of the knights here haven’t.” 

  The request seems to make the captain extremely uncomfortable and Wind doesn't miss the way royal blue eyes dart to him, hesitant. “Not the torture part.” 

  “What does that entail?” Sky asks, stare sharp and heavy in ways the man usually never is. 

  “Doesn’t matter,” Warriors is already moving to stand, leaving Twilight to clean up the rest of their game by himself. “I’m not teaching that to kids.” 

 “I am not a child!” It feels like the thousandth time he’s said that, but the look in the captain’s eyes.... yeah, he’ll let the man have this one. He's not sure he wants to see what it is that Warriors is trying to protect them from, especially after he saw everything that happened to the man during the war. 

  - 

  They have to recruit Legend and Hyrule from the garden, which Four does, and in the meantime Wind produces a length of rope for them to use for the exercise. The captain and Twilight are speaking in hushed whispers in the corner when Four returns with the others, and Legend shoots them a curious look as he heads over to where Wind is uncoiling all the rope he had in his bag. 

  “What’s going on?” 

  “Training exercise.” He answers, handing off the rope to the vet, who starts slightly at the contact but then helps him in re-coiling the loose chord.  

  “Why is the captain so tense?” 

  Those words make him look up, staring for a moment. Twilight seems perfectly at ease, but their soldier’s shoulders are tense, jaw set in a way he usually only has during a battle or shortly after one. Even the captain’s hands are still; devoid of their typical tremor, and if that’s not a sign to make him worry, he’s not sure what is. That said, he’s a bit surprised Legend had picked up on that. “I think he’s got bad memories of doing this before, he was pretty firm with Time about what he was and wasn’t willing to teach us.” 

  “Which is?” 

  “What to do if you’re captured or otherwise held against your will,” Time seems to materialize out of nowhere to answer the question, making Legend start slightly and scowl at the man. “Apparently most knights are trained to handle it, and I think you boys could benefit from having that knowledge too.” 

  “Yeah,” Legend snips, “because the shadow is totally gonna tie us to a chair and demand to know all our secrets.” 

  The conversation in the corner breaks off, Warriors running both hands through his hair in an agitated way while Twilight moves over to join the rest of them. “Maybe not, but the shadow ain’t the only threat out there, vet. You know that.” 

  The point is conceded, and the rest of them move in close, following their rancher’s example and watching as the man settles down into a kitchen chair Four had provided for their use. Twilight is not the one to start though, instead \turning his own attention, and thus the others do as well, towards the captain, who’s looking a little less like his normal self. It takes a moment, but Wind finally decides it’s the mess the man’s hair is in, that and the way all his emotions seem to have been wiped away cleanly as he stalks towards where the rancher is sitting.  

 “Twilight has agreed to show you all how to handle this, meanwhile, as I have the training, I will be instructing.” His breathing is off. “In some cases- most actually, the likelihood of being captured and watched by a large group is rare. Most of you don’t look like a major threat and few of you have a rank worth exploiting by your enemies, so your chances of being captured and tortured are low. The chances of questioning is also low, although possible, but considering how well you all keep your own secrets, I don’t think I have to teach you how to keep your mouths shut.” There’s the slightest quirk of a smile at that, and a few smile back. 

  Wind doesn’t. Wind is too busy watching the way too-steady hands reach out to take the rope Legend is still holding. 

  “I don’t need to teach you all how to watch the enemy, or how to be cautious, sneaky, how to move about without being seen- you know these things already.” The rope snaps in what he knows is a purposeful motion by the soldier to unsettle them, and that, if anything, is assurance that Warriors is still in there, and not entirely overwhelmed. Come to think of it, he may even be purposefully throwing them off with his behavior and appearance in order to better convey what it’s like to be held captive by a stranger. The thought actually makes him start and stare, watching closely. The hand thing can’t be faked, so maybe there’s some truth to the terrifying mask the captain is pulling; cold, harsh, calculating and seeking a reaction, but he genuinely hopes most of it really is just put on. “But how do you escape binds of different kinds? How do you quickly turn the tables to take yourself from prisoner to captor?” A twist of the hands and Warriors has made knot dangerously close to a noose. “Let’s try that, shall we?” 

  At his side, Legend tenses, eyes fixed on the captain as the man wraps the noose quickly around one of Twilight’s wrists, the rancher allowing himself to be manipulated as needed for the time being while Warriors twists and pulls and ties the rope this way and that. It's genuinely impressive, the kinds of knots and the effort put into them, far more than most enemies are likely to bother using, but the man still uses them, calling their attention to the different kinds and showing how some give way with a tug and others tighten, informing them that feeling the sort of knot used can be a huge step in escaping it, as it provides clues on how to manipulate your bindings to your own will. 

  Once the captain is finished, Twilight’s wrists and ankles are both quite effectively restrained, the rancher sitting quietly as he allows the rest of them to look over the bonds and Warriors to explain further about why certain knots are used and which ones to be on the lookout for. They are allowed to touch, encouraged even, to see how the rope feels, because- as the captain instructs them, clipped and cold- the likelihood of being granted sight is very low indeed when held captive. 

  “Everyone got all that?” At their nods, Warriors turns to Twilight. “Go nuts.” 

  Watching Twilight escape is very nearly as interesting as watching him get tied up. The rancher doesn’t explain nearly anything at all, focusing instead on getting out, but Warriors fills the blanks, pointing out that shifting, tugging and rolling your limbs can help loosen most bonds, even if it does tend to tighten the knots. “You don’t want to untie each knot, just get out of them. Most escapes need to be quick so as to actually be able to get out, but some circumstances give you time enough to pick over the knots later if you need the rope for something else. Getting a read on your situation at all times is crucial, but you have to rely on your own judgement much of the time in order to know what skills to employ and what to set aside.” 

  By the time the man is done speaking, Twilight is springing up out of the chair and making a grab at the captain. Almost without breathing, Warriors catches the other in a headlock. It's like watching a snake strike, one moment it looks like Twilight has him, and the next, the rancher is doubled over with their captain’s arms around his neck. 

  “Good try.” 

  Twi grins. “Woudla had’ja if I’d had time to slip my feet free.” 

  “Or if I’d been paying less attention,” the captain smiles, but it’s cold, thin, and very much not like their brother. The man’s hands let loose the other, leaving Twilight free to tug loose his feet while he turns back to the rest of them. “A key point is to watch for opening at all times. If your enemy turns their back or drops their guard, they give you a chance to over-power, injure, or kill them.” It’s said too coldly, too clinically, as though Warriors isn’t even talking about a life at all. He's beginning to see why the man spoke about this sort of training like he did; Warriors will be dumbing it down for them, making it something they can process, but with soldiers, commanders who didn’t give a shit about the innocence of their students, he can only imagine how this sort of thing would have been, especially paired with the knowledge that Warriors had also withstood training for torture and interrogation, so the mental strain would have been far worse then. 

  Honestly, maybe it’s not an act. Maybe Warriors is just used to shutting his emotions off when it comes to issues like this. 

  “Any questions?” 

 “Yeah,” it’s a new voice, one he doesn't know yet, which speaks, and it has all the heroes turning about abruptly at the sound of it, except the captain, who seems unsurprised, unlike them, to see Four’s father standing in the doorway “What on earth is going on here?” 

  As though of one mind, they all turn on the smithy. 

  “Training?” 

  “What kind?” The man leans in the door, one brow raised. He doesn’t look upset, maybe bemused, but Wind still feels Legend draw up stiff beside him. 

  “Escape training, sir,” Warriors clips, stepping forwards to address the man, “your son tells me he hasn't had a chance to undergo such training previously.” 

  “No.” It’s a very loaded word, “he hasn’t.” Guarded, wary, maybe even pained. Wind’s not sure, but he supposes maybe Four’s father doesn’t like the idea of his son undergoing whatever this training entails. 

  The captain doesn’t let the other knight’s tone bother him though. “All due respect sir, he requested that the Hero of Twilight and I instruct him, and the rest, in order that he might have some knowledge of what to do in the case of capture, sir.” Oh, Warriors is falling into soldier mode for real now. Shit. 

  Sir Smith notices too, apparently, face softening some as he looks at the younger soldier. “As ease, captain.” 

  Warriors does not relax in the slightest. 

  “Well,” their smithy’s father turns to look over them and the room in general, “I suppose it’s good knowledge to have, and about time you had it. Is there anything I can do to assist?” 

The offer is accepted eagerly by their smithy, and while Warriors still looks somewhat tense, Wind’s quite sure it’s the nature of the training and not the man offering to help with it. No, the captain and this world’s army commander had got on like a housefire last night, and he knows Warriors likes the man. It’s fine, his brother is just uncomfortable and thus falling into familiar patterns and behaviors in order to not betray that. Given time after, and Warriors will slowly drop those and return to his normal self once he’s ready. He’ll be okay. 

 “Escapin’ is like pretty boy said,” Twilight tells them, standing up again now that he’s free, “it’s a matter of gettin’ the ropes loose enough t’slip out. Amateurs tend to go too loose, an’ they keep it quick an’ easy. ‘pparently soldiers cover all the bases though.” The last part is added with a snort and a light nudge at their captain. 

  Time nods, slowly. “Four minutes and seventeen seconds. Quite impressive, pup.” 

  The words have the rancher beaming. 

  “Right,” Warriors plows ahead, ignoring the moment and looking over each of them. “Legend, you said you’d been trained, how about you show the rest how a smaller individual can handle this?”  

  The vet glares at the implications but doesn’t say anything. It’s fact that most of them aren’t nearly as big as Twilight and, considering few of them possess his brute strength either, having a few examples will probably give them more to work off of in the long run. Still, there’s something wary about the way the vet approaches the chair, hands already fisted as he stands in front of it, rather than deliberately sitting as the rancher had done. 

 “Commander,” Warriors turns over to Four’s father (he’s introduced himself as Leon, right?) and motions to the vet. “I believe you have more experience than I.” 

  The elder soldier nods, in one motion both conveying respect and also submitting himself to the command of the younger soldier for the time being, which Wind thinks is very grand of him considering it’s the older man’s own house they’re in, and his son they’re teaching. Then again though, Four had said that his dad is the sort of person who isn’t afraid to let a younger person take the lead if they know what they’re doing. 

  He wonders how Four knows that to be able to say it so confidently. What on earth does he get up to on his own? 

  A question for later, he guesses. Right now, it’s time to pay attention, because even if he hopes to grow as big as Twilight, Legend and he are pretty close in size now, so this will be more useful for him than watching the rancher. 

  Unlike Twilight, Legend doesn’t go easily, making Leon actually have to fight against him in order to continue. That, apparently, it is good though, as Warriors makes it a teaching point, “Generally speaking,” one large hand catches the vet’s dominant one, “you don’t want to let the enemy tie you down in the first place. Honor is all well and good, but when it comes to surviving, no one’s blaming you for fighting dirty.” Something Legend is notorious for. “Watch how the vet handles this, then we’ll discuss after. Sir Leon-” that is the right name then, great! “-will probably approach it differently than I do as well, so be aware that all captors are not the same.” 

  And the smithy’s father definitely doesn’t handle things the way Warriors did, nor does Legend. Where Twilight had let Warriors shift and move him as needed, Legend fights, and where Warriors had given little vocal cues to his “prisoner” and guided his motions carefully, well aware that a wrong move from the rancher at close proximity could do damage, Leon isn’t nearly as careful, instead grabbing, holding, and forcing the vet’s arms behind his back before slinging a rope around them with all the speed of a sailor in a storm. Also, unlike Warriors, Leon doesn’t use a variety of knots, rather keeping it quick and tight. 

  “He’s got thin wrists, so a tighter bind is needed. Some tie it tight enough to harm, but that’s not the goal here. Know it happens though.” The elder soldier tells them, yanking back on the vet who makes to push away. He doesn’t try to force the vet into the chair, instead catching the younger by the collar while his free hand works, hissing, “stay still, you wriggly thing!” 

  Wind’s not sure what exactly about the situation is wrong, but he swears he hears the vet’s breath catch, stutter, and then with a truly terrific show of strength, Legend rips himself free of the man’s hold, kicking back against the knight and propelling himself forwards hard enough that his collar slips free from the man’s hands and the vet can stumble very quickly away. Rather than stage an “attack” though, the hero just spins about, and the whole room freezes. 

  Legend’s stance is too tightly wound, breath too sharp, too harsh, but most obvious is the utter and complete terror shining in blown out violet eyes.  

  “Shit,” Warriors is moving before any of them have a clue what to do, and all aggression, put on though it was, immediately disappears from Leon’s own stance as both knights recognize what Wind himself has as well. He doesn't know how, and he doesn’t know why, but something about the situation has acted as enough to trigger the vet into some sort of panic, and what to them is a training exercise, has become, to his mind, very, very real. 

  “Lad-” Leon’s motion towards the vet earns a start back, one that is made even worse when Four jumps up from where he’d been watching. Wind can’t imagine why the sight of Four, of all of the people in the room, would make Legend stumble so far back that he falls flat on his ass, but it happens. It happens and none of them, especially the smithy, miss it. 

  “Vet?” They’re all worried, and several of them step forwards, reaching out, ready to help, wanting to help, only for both Hyrule and Wild to grab those closest to them and pull them back, something Wind does himself, catching ahold of the smithy. The last thing the vet needs is people crowding in and leaving him no space to breathe. Being surrounded when you’re vulnerable is bad, very bad, and if watching out for Mask and watching the captain taught him anything, it’s that letting an experienced adult handle it and keeping everyone else away is the best course of action. 

  “Is he-” again, Leon’s voice is cut off, this time though by a strangled sound from the vet. 

  “Leon,” and it’s the first time that the soldier’s voice has dropped titles to use anything else, “leave.” 

  “Excuse me?” Four hisses, but that also seems to have a very negative effect, one that has the captain turning, slowly, voice low and soft but cold enough to freeze.  

 “You too, smithy.” 

  Whatever is about to be said in return is cut off by Leon hefting his son over his shoulder and quickly leaving the room, although both he and Four look after the others even as they exit the door. If the situation were any different, Wind thinks he might have laughed at Four’s easy acceptance of being carried like a potato sack by his father, but right now dealing with the vet takes precedence. Luckily for all at hand, even if Warriors isn’t the most qualified to run a training simulation, there’s no one better at handing panic attacks. 

  Despite being downed, Legend’s still managed to shift enough that the ropes Leon was working to be decently tight have been mostly ripped off, although they’ve left a nasty burn across the hero’s skin, one that’s bleeding slightly in the worst areas along the inside of his wrists. No one stops him freeing himself though, and while the performance is definitely over, there’s also a part of all of them that notes how quickly Legend pulls himself free, the sailor even hears Time whisper a soft “two minutes, fourteen seconds” to himself, slightly awed. 

  “Hey,” Warriors’ voice has lost every amount of edge, ice, or stiffness as he settles down in front of their felled brother, now as full of warmth as if he’s back on the field, talking Mask out of his own head after the younger hero’s namesake was put away again. “You with me?” 

  Ragged breathing would indicate that no, Legend is not. He’s very much not, just staring after the door where Four and his father had disappeared, eyes still wide and breath too shallow. 

  The captain reaches out; slow, deliberate motions, easy to track as he reaches for the other hero. “You’re okay, alright? You’re safe. We were training, but it’s over. There is no threat here.” 

  The vet flinches away from the hand, inches from his arm, back slamming against a cabinet and making whatever’s inside clatter loudly, which just sees to further unsettled the shaken hero, who jumps at the sound, whipping his head around to look back, only to flick unseeing eyes back towards the captain. 

  Warriors doesn’t so much as falter, using his lifted hand to slowly push shaggy hair out of where it’d been over his eyes for the last while, messy and just slightly wavy at the ends, like he’s not had time to straighten it in a while. “Hey, it’s me. It’s Warriors, you in there, Link?” 

  Violet eyes flicker across the older man’s face, and this time, when Warriors reaches out, Legend doesn’t start away again, although he watches the hand reaching for him like it’ll produce a knife at any second. Luckily for all, the captain’s not capable of that sort of a trick, and all his hand does is catch one of Legend’s own, not by the wrist as Leon had done, but gently catching fingers in his own and guiding them towards himself, pulling the vet’s hand to settle over his chest, eyes locking with the other’s as he breathes a long, purposeful, breath. 

 Just like Mask used to, Legend mimics the action, although his own breath catches some. It doesn’t stop the captain from trying again though, and slowly, steadily, Legend’s breathing evens out again, clarity returning to his eyes like stars coming out at dusk. 

  “There you are,” their brother breathes, soft and warm and gentle and everything that eases tension and doesn’t spark it further, “keep breathing, you’re okay.” 

 Just because he says it though, doesn't mean it works, because the next breath that escapes their brother sounds more like a strangled sob. 

  Warriors doesn’t so much as falter. “You’re okay. It’s alright,” the hand that lifts is flinched back from, so the captain drops it again, resting it only over the hand still pressed to his own chest. “Keep breathing- there we go. You’re okay, you’re safe.” 

 The dart of dark eyes to the door betrays that Legend doesn’t believe him for a moment, but the vet shudders only a bit, focusing on Warriors again as he pulls away from the cabinets, although not so much to be closer to the captain as to not longer be shrinking away. It’s a sign of some recognition though, which is far better than nothing, and apparently a cue for the soldier to find out what is going on. 

  “That escalated a bit quick, wanna tell me what went wrong?” 

  Legend opens his mouth to answer, but a hitching breath is all that comes out, face twisting and screwing up again enough to warn that a repeat is very much in the cards. 

  Warriors counters quickly. “Was it the ropes? Too tight? Too many people?” He keeps the questions far enough apart to give time for a signal one way or another, but Legend doesn't do much more than force shaking breathes out as his hands reach to tangle in his wild hair. His hat fell off in the scuffle, and currently lies at Time’s feet. “Was Leon too-” 

  The strangled sound at the man’s name cuts Warriors off, and recognition shines in blue eyes. 

  “Leon.” Warriors repeats. 

  Legend’s eyes squeeze closed; face pinched up and shattered. 

  The soldier sighs. “Can I touch you?” 

  “No.” The fact that it’s verbalized is a huge step, and Wind sighs a breath of relief. 

  Warriors, likewise, accepts the boundary, shifting back a bit to grant their vet more space, but not so much as to seem like he’s leaving. “Okay, this is related to Leon. Was it how he handled you?” 

  Nothing. 

  “Was it something one of us said?” 

  A hitch in the vet’s breath, the captain opens his mouth to try again, to press, but Legend answers aloud again this time, voice a wreck. “I- he-” a desperate gasp for air as ringed fingers tug at messy hair, “he’s sounds-”  

  No doubt recognizing Mask’s same struggle with words in the other, Warriors offers his own, soft and quiet, but not yet a whisper. “Did he sound like someone you know?” 

  A nod. A fervent, desperate, nod as violet eyes squeeze shut again. “Sorry...” 

  Hearing the vet apologize has never sounded like such an awful thing. He hates it. 

  The captain clearly does too, but he says nothing to that effect, although the brief flick of his ears and flash of his eyes says it for him. “It’s not your fault. It happens to the best of us.” 

 A scoff. Yeah, Legend’s still in there. 

  Warriors presses on. “No really, it does. It sucks, but it happens.” 

  Dark eyes peek open, fixing on the captain. 

  “Yes, even with me.” The smile there is pained, strained, but real, despite all, and the flick down of the vet’s eyes to still outheld hands prompts the captain to reach out once more. “Would you like me to touch now?”  

 There’s a pause, nothing said, and nothing done, just a stillness as Legend considers the offer. He’s wary about touch even on good days, but usually only when it’s expressly offered or pointed out. When no one says anything, it’s usually met with acceptance as long as it’s not demeaning in any way.  

  As though catching onto a similar train of thought, Warriors changes his offer. “I could lend you my scarf?” 

  A glare. Okay, rude, it’s not that demeaning! Wind likes the scarf! Mask adored the scarf! Enough to throw fits when it wasn't his turn with it! Legend doesn’t have to want it, but there’s no need to make faces like that! It earns a laugh from their captain though, eyes creasing the way they rarely do, and only when he really means it, hand falling to rest gently on the foot of the other. Legend doesn’t shake him off, just stares, then lifts his gaze back up to search the captain’s face again. 

  Warriors meets it, smile fading back to the sad one again. 

 The vet’s gaze drops, arms falling to wrap around himself rather than digging his fingers into his scalp. “He looks-” a breath, harsh and strained, angry as it whishes between clenched teeth, brows drawing low with inward turned frustration, “the- our-” 

  “He looks like someone you know?” At yet another, hesitant, nod, Warriors presses further. “Someone who hurt you? Maybe someone you used to trust?” 

  A sigh. A slow nod before the vet’s head drops to rest against his raised knees. He's still shaking. 

  It’s clear as day that Warriors wants nothing more than to wrap an arm around their brother, pull hm close and assure, but he doesn’t. No, the captain respects the established boundary and doesn’t move any closer, hand just resting on one ankle as he crouches in front of their brother. “I get that.” his voice is softer now, bittersweet, “it sucks, I know. There's someone you trust and then you can’t trust them anymore, and it’s hard, especially when you meet someone who reminds you of them.” 

  Shit. Wind knows he shouldn’t, knows both he and Time know better, but neither can help it as they turn their focus on the captain, wary and watching. That is never a good subject to talk about, but the fact that Warriors is the one broaching it for the first time in forever is frankly shocking. 

  “You too?” Legend’s trying to pass off a tired smile of his own, but it just looks like he’s trying not to cry. 

 The captain nods, lifting his hand (definitely noticing how Legend’s breath catches at the loss of contact) and instead turning to lean his own back against the china cabinet, settling in beside their shaken brother, eyes falling closed in what’s both an open sign of trust, but also an obvious bid to ignore the sharp stares of both his boys on him. “Yeah, me too. It sucks, doesn’t it?” 

 “Sounds just like him,” Legend says, the first full sentence since he’d gone down, and Wind doesn't miss the way the other hero leans a bit closer into the captain’s space, although he doesn't touch him. “Looks like ‘im too.” 

  Blue eyes open again, turning past all their curious and worried ones to watch the vet, warm and gentle, that same look that he’d turn on Mask, and Wind doesn't doubt it was turned on him too, when Warriors thought they weren't looking. 

  The vet shudders, steeling himself up again, walls visibly reconstructing before their eyes. “He used to visit, when I was small. I saw him like a grandfather-” and they crumble again, the vet blinking violently, voice small. “He has granddaughters my age.” 

  “What happened?” Wind doesn’t mean to let the words slip, but they do. 

  Legend’s head hits the cabinet doors. “Corrupted.” 

 The captain nods. He knows. Wind knows that he knows. “I’m sorry.” 

  “He sounded just like him.” 

  “I know,” it’s a hysterical sort of laughter that escapes the older hero this time, “trust me, I get it. Every time I hear an Ordon accent, any time someone suggests playing chess,” the captain’s eyes roll upwards, and Wind’s kind of shocked when he realizes there’s tears there. “It sucks. Gods it sucks, but you live with it. I wish I could say it gets better, but I’m not there yet.” 

  Pink hair drops, settling against faintly shaking shoulders. “You were close?” 

Suddenly the moment before them feels too private to witness anymore. Suddenly, being there feels wrong, hearing Legend ask things that everyone at home in Warriors’ world knows better than to speak of. He doesn't know why Warriors answers, maybe out of guilt for pulling the vet into the exercise, maybe out of a need to set an example or assure, maybe out of his own sort of desperation, but an answer is given. 

  “Yeah. Grew up together. He teased me for my accent, I teased him for his. We ran our mothers to worry and our commanders to madness. I hauled his ass out of prison, he watched mine on the field. Heck,” a smile, bittersweet as the captain settles a cheek in rosy hair, “we went through our trailing- kinda like what I was trying to show the others- we did that together too.” A soft scoff, not a sob, but close, “I think he’s the only reason I made it through training t’all. Would’ve gone mad wit’out ‘im.” 

  “What happened?” Twilight dares speak up, and Wind doesn’t miss the way the man’s thick accent is held in check, nearly gone altogether. So, Twi did hear the comment about Ordon. 

  The captain sighs, lifting his head and staring out at the rest of them, eyes fixing on the rancher last of all. “Ganon. As with most things.” 

  Twilight winces. 

  Warriors chuckles. “Some days it’s like he never left though. He’s still on my ass, still callin’ me ‘pretty boy and tryin’ to get a rise outta me.” Wind doesn’t miss how Twilight’s face crumbles when he realizes blue eyes are still fixed on his. The captain doesn’t either, smile twitching alive again. “It’s nice, sometimes, like seeing what he’d be like if nothing happened. Other days, it’s difficult, and it makes it hard to get through the day.” 

  “How do you handle us?” Legend breathes, half scoff and half awe, eyes trying for a smile again and doing much better. It’s not happy, but it’s kind. 

  The captain doesn’t miss it. “Hylia only knows,” he teases, knocking his shoulder against the one still pressed against it, and then, more serious, “I draw back if I need. Sure, Twilight reminds me of him a lot, some days, but then he does something Gassun would never, or does something so stupid only a hero would do it, and then I remember again and I’m fine.” 

 “Really?” The Stare of Disappointment was definitely something Time learned from the captain, so Wind can’t fathom why the man tries to use it on their brother, but here he is, doing just that. “You expect us to believe that?” 

  “Have faith in me,” Warriors snorts, “I don’t wander around in my own head all day. If I did, you’d’ve burned the world down already!” 

  It sort of ends like that. Warriors redirecting their attention and Legend rolling his eyes at their antics, slowly uncurling again until Four’s mother comes back inside and requests access to her kitchen again. They scatter after, Warriors throwing an arm around the vet and guiding him upstairs so they can have a talk, Time going off in search of the smithy and his father, Wild joining in dinner preparations, and the rest of them cleaning up their mess before leaving. 

 Hyrule still has questions for Twilight about escaping, but Sky heads upstairs after the others, worry creasing his brow in ways it rarely does, but Wind stays behind, scooping up Tongs to keep him company in the wake of his brothers all leaving. Even so, he makes a note to ask the others how they are later. 

  Of course, later, Twilight also asks about what Warriors said, and the captain, to the shock of both his charges, explains himself. Thinking back, it’s no wonder Warriors sees a resemblance; Twilight may have spent his last few years in Ordon, but the military haircut is still very present, a mirror of the captain's own and quite similar to said captain's old friend. Granted, Twilight is darker, hair redder and eyes bright blue, but the accent is the same, rough manner so similar, and the nicknames definitely finish the picture. He doesn’t like the implications of that, not for either of the two, but Twilight walks out of the conversation only looking someone thoughtful, rather than upset, and Warriors seems normal enough, although still quiet for the rest of their time in the smithy’s Hyrule. 

 Collectively, they agree to abandon the escape training. If they want tips, they’ll go to Twilight, but the emotional toll taken on both the vet and the captain isn’t worth it to any of them. Not a second time. Not when they all regret the first one. 

[xxspringmelodyxx]

Deception~

Morax(Zhongli) x Adeptus!Reader Ch. II

Hello my lovely readers! I’m going to keep it short because I don’t really have anything else to say other than I hope you enjoy! The chapter starts with Guizhong instead of you, so we are going to see from her POV to see her reaction to you and Morax having a baby. It then will switch back to you, but to start off, we are seeing Guizhongs POV. :) 

Here is the second part of the request:

“It was at one of the Adepti gatherings that Rex Lapis proudly announced that Reader is pregnant. The other Adepti rejoiced; their Lord finally had an heir. Meanwhile, Guizhong seethed inwardly and she started to plot; to make Reader not only lose her child and also her life. Guizhong knew Reader would be most vulnerable during the late stages of her pregnancy and right after childbirth. On the percept of celebrating Reader's upcoming child, Guizhong sent her presents, laced with a slow-acting poison.”

Again, thank you to @sailorstar9 for this amazing request and I hope you like it! And without further ado, here is chapter two to “Deception”, enjoy~ (Ch. I is here) <333

------------------------

| Word Count: 3.1K | Warnings: None (I don't think at least) |

I slammed my fist on the table, yelling out of frustration. Why did she have to come into our lives?! Why did SHE have to be the one he falls in love with?! What does she have that I don’t?

Thoughts spiraled in my mind as the image of Y/n and Morax with a small family kept showing up. Tears were starting to form in my eyes at the horrendous image. That should be me (holding your hand). I was supposed to be the one with him, not her!

“She screwed everything up for me! She ruined my life!” I yelled, throwing the bell I was working on. It made a loud shattering noise as it broke into multiple pieces. It was going to be a gift for Morax…a gift that I had been working on for quite some time. Not that it mattered anymore...

I felt my chest tighten as I realized it was over between Morax and me. All those years of our friendship…all those years of trying to get him to fall in love with me as I did with him, tossed down the drain like it was nothing.

I almost had him as well! It was only until that rat, Y/n, came into our lives to help those damn Yaksha’s from succumbing to their Karmic debts.

I remember it still to this day, almost as if it happened yesterday. Morax and I were trying to help the Yaksha’s from their demise. I tried making potions and gadgets that would help strengthen their mind to stop them from falling to their doom, but that could only work for so long. Eventually, their karmic debts would grow stronger and stronger each passing day, making it harder for me to make anything that would fight against it. Morax and I worked hard together for many months before coming to a realization that it was only a matter of time before the Yaksha’s finally met their fate. It was inevitable. That was until a certain someone came back. 

Just as we were about to give up, a woman known for her abilities of healing and purification came into the picture. Everyone was shocked to see her, though, as they thought she had died many years ago. According to the stories I was told when I was younger, this woman went on a mission to help another tribe that was dealing with a horrible disease that was rapidly spreading. Apparently, it killed over half of their population and so the woman left to go help them. When she hadn’t returned on the day she said she would, people began to grow worried. Many archons were out almost every night, desperately searching the adeptus. After a year had passed, everyone had declared that she had died on the mission and so, her image slowly but surely began to fade away.

Now that she had returned, everyone was ecstatic. She had heard of the Yaksha’s issues as there were many rumors spiralling about them. Eventually, those rumors spread outside of our area and made it to her. 

That’s when Morax and I met her. She told us about herself and how she can help us stop the Yaksha’s. I was hesitant, but Morax was so desperate to find a cure for them that he was willing to try anything. 

She walked up to the troubled Yaksha’s and placed her hand on their heads one by one. She spoke an ancient language that I did not recognize. As she did, her entire body started to glow, and cracks began forming all over her body. The cracks began to shine a bright white color, and a golden liquid began to seep out of the cracks. The liquid ran up her arm in a spiral motion, and once it reached her hand, the golden liquid shot up into the Yaksha’s head, spreading all over their bodies. 

Within minutes, the golden liquid that was inside of their bodies began to turn black as it did its work. Soon after, the black liquid shot out of their chests and back into the woman. The woman took the black liquid and spoke to it, again with that ancient tongue. The liquid shook violently and a few seconds later, a large and dark shadowy figure came out of it. It flew away, disappearing for good, allowing the Yaksha’s to be permanently healed and purified. 

Weeks had passed, and the woman who we came to know as Y/n, said it was time for her to leave. However, Morax insisted that she stayed because he felt that he needed to pay her back for helping him. I stupidly agreed with him and insisted that she stay. Oh how I regret agreeing with him. If I didn’t do that, Morax most likely would have ended up marrying me…having kids with me…we would have been such a happy family.

When Y/n agreed to stay for a while longer, Morax and her began to fall in love with each other. They would constantly go out during the night to take long walks or watch the sky. After almost a year of knowing her, Morax finally confessed to her his feelings, telling her how much he loved her, how much he craved for her. Unfortunately, Y/n had grown the same feelings as well, and accepted his confession. Not too long after, they were engaged and soon enough, they finally got married. 

I was heart broken when all of this happened. I still am to this day. I HATE Y/n…I hate, hate, hate her! 

Memories of them together, holding each other in their arms, enjoying each other's presence. Oh how I wish that was me in her position. Holding him in my arms, feeling his strong arms secure me, feeling his soft and gentle kisses on my lips, and hearing and seeing him the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. Y/n didn’t deserve him! She will never fully and truly appreciate his love like I would. He’s too great for her…she is nothing compared to him!

Tears slipped from my eyes as I fell to the ground, holding my chest where my heart was. It hurt so bad. The love of my life was in love with another. I don’t have a chance now as long as she is alive and well…if only she could just disappear out of his life already like she did long ago…I would finally have another chance with him.

That’s when my sobbing came to an abrupt stop as an idea popped up in my mind.

I quickly jumped up to my feet, running to my cabinet of ingredients that I used to use to make elixirs and medicine. I swung the doors open and frantically searched for three specific ingredients. White Chicory, Blood Petals, and River Mallow. These three ingredients alone were powerful in their own way. White Chicory when mixed with a bit of water and honey allowed the drinker to heal within a couple minutes. The Blood Petals when eaten alone will cause the person to die instantly. And the River Mallow allows anything to taste absolutely delicious. The White Chicory and Blood petals taste absolutely disgusting, but once mixed with the River Mallow, they should have a delicious savory taste. 

If I mix these together, it will make a poison that slowly kills the person who takes it. 

I could mix these in some food and give it to her to ‘help’ her with her pregnancy. That way, she will slowly die and no one would ever think I was the culprit. 

I looked at the Blood Petals, thinking about just giving her those, but I quickly decided against it. If I were to give her the blood petals with the River Mallow, she would die instantly and then Morax and everyone else would know it was I who killed her. I can’t allow that to happen. I need to make it look like it was just an accident. 

I quickly grabbed the ingredients from the back, holding them in my arms as I grabbed my mortar and pestle. I placed everything down and began to work my magic.

–a few months later–

“Y/n, can I please be the godparent of your baby? Please!!” Indarius begged, holding her hands together.

“No way! I wanna be the godparent!” Bosa said, pushing Indarius out of the way.

“You!? You can’t even care for your own self, let alone a baby! Let me be the godparent, Y/n! Compared to these two, I am the best choice.” Bonanus said with confidence.

“You three are bothersome. I mean look at yourselves. The way you three fight with each other, you just aren’t prepared to be in such a position. Being a godparent takes responsibility. Therefore, I think I would make the better godparent for your child, Y/n.” Menogias said, stepping in front of the three others.

“Hey, that's not fair!” Bosa complained, pushing Menogias out of the way.

“Yeah, just because you are more reserved doesn’t mean anything. You would probably bore the hell out of the kid if you were their godparent!” Bona said, siding with Bosa

“What are you talking about? I can be fun.” Menogias said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Who are you kidding? Your type of fun is going to a hill and watching clouds move.” Indarius said

“That sounds relaxing actually.” I budded in, making the four stop and turn to me.

“O-oh uh, yes of course it is, Lady Y/n…we just meant-” I giggled at them, standing up to walk to them.

“Look, I know you all want to be the godparent for our child, but Morax and I have already decided who its going to be.” I said, seeing my husband stand up from his throne, walking towards me.

He placed one of his arms around my waist, pulling me into him. He placed his other hand on my tummy, feeling the small baby bump that was forming.

“Yes, we have.” He said, smiling down at me.

“It’s me, right? Go on, tell these three that its me.” Bosa said, crossing his arms together with a smug look

“Actually, no, it’s not going to be you, Bosa.” Morax said, making Bosa deflate while looking up at us with betrayal.

“It’s not?”

“Nope.”

“I figured as much. It’s most likely me. I am the most responsible out of all of you.” Menogias said with pride

“Sorry, Menogias…” I said, giving him an apologetic look.

“In fact, it is neither one of you.” Morax said, making all of them slightly gasp.

“It is going to be…Xiao.” Morax finished, making all of their eyes widen.

“Xiao!?” They all repeated

“But…But why him? I wanted to be the godparent in the first place-” Bona started, but Morax placed his hand up to stop her from finishing.

“Our choice is final. Xiao will be the godfather of our child.” Morax said, making them all pout.

“Oh, don’t be sad, you guys.”

“Yeah, I don’t understand why you are all throwing a fit. You will all be godparents soon enough.

“Yeah-wait, what?” I said, turning to him with surprise.

He looked down at me with love, but had a devious smirk on his face.

“Yes, my love. After this child is born, we will have many more on the way to make a big family. That way, each of our precious Yaksha’s can each be a godparent.” He said, moving his hand lower on my back. 

A small squeak came out of my mouth as heat rose to my face. A big family, huh?

A small smile snuck its way onto my face as the image popped up in my head.

“Yay! I am gonna be a godfather soon!” Bosa said.

“In your dreams! I’m gonna be the next godfather soon. You will probably be the last of us to be a godparent.” Menogias said

“It’s not going to be either of you, because I am going to make sure it's me next.” Bona said

“And how do you propose to do that? Huh?” Bosa asked

“By doing the most for our precious Y/n! I’ll clean up hers and Morax’s room, I'll cook her food, I’ll even change the baby's diapers when they’re born! All I know is that I am going to do far more than you three to make sure I am the next godmother!” Bona finished.

“No way, I am going to do the most for her and Morax!” Indarius said.

“Nuh uh! I am!” Bosa said.

Morax and I looked at each other with smiles on our faces, chuckling at the Yaksha’s arguing.

Suddenly, my stomach started to grumble, making me realize how hungry I am.

“Oh wow…I am having a sudden craving for food…but I don’t know what I want to eat.” I said, placing my hand on my stomach.

“Oh! I’ll fix something up for you, Y/n!” Bosa said, running to the kitchen.

“No! I wanna make her something!” Bona yelled, running after Bosa.

“Get back here you two! I am going to do it, you both suck at cooking anyways!” Indarius said.

“I am the best chef here! You three don’t even know how to properly cook an egg!” Menogias said, chasing after all three of them.

Morax rolled his eyes at them, shaking his head at their childishness.

“This is why we chose Xiao to be the first godparent.” he said, kissing my neck

I giggled from his comment, placing my hand on his head, stroking his hair.

Again, my stomach rumbled, only louder this time.

“Wow, I didn’t know being pregnant would make me this hungry all the time.” I complained, sitting back down.

“How about I go make you something? You know, something you can actually eat. I know damn well that those four are going to burn everything they cook.” Morax said, chuckling at the thought.

“That would be nice. Your cooking always makes me happy-”

“Hello, friends.” A voice said, making Morax and I turn our heads to see none other than Guizhong.

“Ah, hello Guizhong! What brings you here?” Morax asked

“Well, I did some reading on pregnancies and I read about how women tend to get hungrier after a few months have passed. So I have been doing research on foods that help pregnant women be happier and more fulfilled. Once I found the perfect recipe, I realized I actually needed to learn how to cook it. So it took me a while to learn, but eventually, I came around and perfected it!” She said, making me smile

“Oh Guizhong, that’s too nice of you. You didn’t have to go through all of that.” I said, seeing her shake her head

“No, no, no. You two are my closest friends and I want to make sure you both are happy and well. Soooo…I made this for you, Y/n!” She said, holding up a plate of what looked to be creamy herb chicken. It looked absolutely delicious.

“Oh my…that looks…amazing.” I said, my mouth watering from the smell.

“Well go on, eat it then. You don’t wanna be hungry forever now do you?” She said, handing me the dish.

I grabbed the fork and grabbed some of the chicken dipped in the cream and brought it to my lips, inhaling the savory aroma. I quickly put it in my mouth and tasted the delicious flavor. It was so juicy and tender!

“Oh my, Guizhong…I think you outdid yourself on this. It’s so rich in flavor! What did you put in this to make it so good?” I asked, making Guizhong smirk a bit.

“Oh, just some new seasonings I got. There is one called River Mallow that I recently received from a good friend of mine. It’s from a flower that goes well with any type of meat. So I put it on the chicken and let it marinate for about three hours and boom! A juicy and flavorful dish! I’m assuming you like it?” She asked

“Like it? I love it! Oh, please tell me you have more! This is absolutely to die for” I said, taking another bite.

Guizhong smirked a bit, only this time it seemed to be more…sinister.

“Not yet…but I have many other recipes that I’d like to try and give you. They should all be just as tasty as this dish.”

“Mmmm, I’m okay with that. If those other dishes taste this good, I’m okay with anything you cook. Thank you again.” I said.

“Of course! Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go back home. I have many other events to attend to. I just wanted to stop by and let you try my new dish. Goodbye now!” She said, leaving.

“Goodbye, Guizhong! Feel free to come back anytime with more food!” I said, joking a bit. Guizhong chuckled and turned around waving goodbye at us.

“This is delicious, dear! Here, have some!” I said, but Morax shook his head, pushing my hand back

“No, my dear. It is yours to eat. Plus, you need it since you are eating for two. I can make my own food. As for you, I want you to enjoy that meal.” he said, kissing your temple while holding your upper arm.

“You’re too kind, my love. How was I so lucky to have met you?” I said

“No, it is I that is lucky to have met you, my dear. I’m so happy to have you in my life…and to have you as my wife.” He said, placing another kiss on my face.

“I love you, Morax.” I spoke, looking into his eyes with love.

“And I love you, my sweet Y/n~” He replied, rubbing his hand softly against my arm.

–--

I smiled with dark intent as I realized what I had just done. They had no idea what was really going on! How stupid! 

I looked back towards the palace where Y/n and Morax were, feeling happy. There was no going back now. Soon enough, Y/n will be no more…and I can finally have my beloved Morax back. 

We will, once and for all, be together…

Forever~

____________________

Tag list: (How to be added)

[yuyu1024]

Those eyes

Pairings: Yeosang × y/n

Genre/tags: Friends, first time

Warning: 🔞🔞 fluff, smut, dry humping, mention of masturbation & porn, cursing, no sex [lmk if i miss anything]

Words: 1.9k

Disclaimer:

- this story is just made up

- english is not my first language, please be nice 😊

Note: repost. Check pinned post for more stories✨️

****

Yeosang have missed a lot of your classes since he got into an accident. He got discharged from the hospital and now at home to recover. And as his best friend, you go and visit him everyday to give him the notes and assignments that your teachers asked you to give so he could at least catch up or be in tune with the whole class.

They don't want him to get behind since he is one of the top students in the whole school, not just your class.

"Oh! Y/n, happy friday." Yeosang's mom greets you as she opens the front door.

"Hello again, Mrs. Kang."

"Your just in time." She says as you enter their place. "I just finished helping him cleaning his wounds and make your afternoon snacks..."

"Thank you, Mrs. Kang..."

"Welcome..." she then shows you the tray of sandwiches and fruits for you and Yeosang. "I'll leave you two guys alone for a minute okay? I need to go and have a quick run to the groceries to buy more stocks for our pantry. And maybe go by the pharmacies too..." she then checks her phone for the list of things she needs to buy. "We ran out of bandages and the cream to put onto his scratches..."

"Oh, don't worry about us. I will look after him. We'll get busy studying anyways..."

"Thank you, Y/n...." she pats you on the shoulder, "also a heads up... he's a little cranky... I don't know what got into him... but I hope you make him feel better..."

"I'll do my best. I'll yank his ear if he gets on my nerves." You joke

"Maybe that's what he needs." Mrs. Kang laughs. "Text me if you need anything else from the groceries okay?"

You watch Yeosang's mother grab her bag, her keys and then check her phone one last time before she goes out of the door.

"Have a safe trip!" You say before closing the door.

After she left, you start to do your thing. Your sling bag is still hung across your body whilst you start to carry the tray of the food Mrs. Kang prepared for you and Yeosang.

"Knock, knock." You lightly kick the door with your feet and immidiately see Yeosang carefully climbing onto his bed to avoid his right injured arm

"You're early today." He says

"There is a school fair today so..." you place the tray on top of the beside his bed.

"Ah, the fair. How's our class' booth?"

You frown. "Why worry about that? You know our booth is always the highlight of the fair. Wedding booth is always hyped by everyone." Then you feed him a piece of muscat.

"I guess so..." he says as he chews. "Do we have a lot of assignment today?" He slighty sigh

"Hmm... not really." You jump onto the bed beside him and begin to open your bag and look for the notes.

"Y/n... your skirt!" He takes one of his pillows and place it on your lap. "You could've gone home and changed before coming here."

"Sorry!" You gape at him

"You should be careful when your wearing a skirt!" He looks irritated

"I know... but I'm with you so it's fine!" You throw the pillow back to the other side. "Why are you suddenly yelling at me?"

He sighs. "Nothing..." he massages his temples with his free hand which is covered with scratches. Which is a lot better than the right one which is in a cast and in a sling support.

"You are very snappy... what's wrong with you?"

He looks away from you and just sighed again. "I said nothing..."

"C'mon Yeosang... we've known each other for a long time now... I know something is bothering you. You're not the type to be like this unless something frustrates you."

"You will not understand it."

"Why not? Explain it to me then... is it the homeworks? The notes I've made for you? Or because you're not healing quicker than you want to?"

He went quiet for a bit before he finally decides to tell you the reason. "The latter..."

"The doctor said... you are doing better right? So just give it time."

"I know, I know... but it's not that..." he suddenly looks shy

"What is it then?"

"Promise me that you will not laugh at me."

You blink multiple times, confused. "Laugh? Ahm... okay... I won't. What is it? Get to the point."

He covers his face with his hand, closing his eyes even as he tells you. "I've been a little frustrated because... I can't ma$turbate."

"Huh?" You look confused and doubting if you really heart him say that he's annoyed that he can't jerk himself.

He looks at you, annoyed. "I'm right handed, y/n! I can't use my right hand." He points at his injured arm

"Ooh."

He lays his back on the pile of pillows behind him. "I've been horny and shit and I can't do anything about it." He puts his forearm over his face. "Laugh all you want now... I get it if you find me silly."

But you didn't laugh. You get his frustration. He is a guy after all. You are just stunned as you've never heard him talk about this stuff before.

"I'm not laughing..." you say to him, pulling his arm off his face. "Do you want me to help you?"

His eyes widens at your question. "What?"

"Help you... to release whatever you want to release..."

"Don't make jokes like that."

"Who said I'm joking?" You spat

"We are friends. Best of friends." Yeosang says

"So?"

"What do you mean 'so?' Are you thinking straight right now?" He gets up.

"I am..." you answer with a straight face. "I know you watch p0rn and shit... coz I do too... and pleasuring yourself helps to... get it out... you know... especially both of us are virgins. We do what we can do...you know..."

Now, he is the stunned one. He didn't know you are this open minded by this things. He didn't know you have your own needs like his.

"So... do you want my help or not? We can just continue doing homework if you like..."

Yeosang closes his eyes again, trying to think everything through. Because he cares about you and don't want this to cause any issue afterwards.

"If you don't want to... it's fine." You say as you start to get off the bed but then his hand suddenly stops you mid-way.

"What would you do? To... help me...?"

You smile at how cute his face is, innocently asking you.

"I don't know a lot too... since I've never tried the things I watched in real life... but..."

You slowly climb back up again. But this time not just on the bed but also on top of Yeosang. You sit on his lap, right above his thighs where you could feel his bulge slowly getting hard as he felt your covered core on it.

"We can't start... like this..." you begin to slowly move your hips creating friction between the two of you while making direct eye contact with him. "I might get wet from this..." you quietly say "I might stain your jogging pants."

"I don't care." His mouth is slightly open, breathing is slow but heavy and his eyes are fixated on you.

"Does this feel good?"

"Yes..."

"Do you want something else?"

Yeosang eyes lower his gaze.

"Do you want to touch my boobs?" You ask, smiling

He is breathing louder now as you pick up the pace of you, dry humping him. "Can I?"

"I would enjoy if you do..." you start to unbutton your white blouse uniform. "I have a this thing about... my boobs..." you explain. "I feel like... I like them being touched.. gives me pleasure..."

Slowly revealing you covered boobs and telling him you like him to touch it, made him even harder. You feel his bulge pulsate upon reveal.

He cups both of your boobs, squeezing them with amazement. "They're so pretty." He mumbles

"Ugh..." you moan as you feel your core get wet just from humping him over his pants. "Sorry..." you say as you check his soaked pants.

"Holy shit..." he hisses as he sees it. "Fuck."

"Sorry..." you repeat

"No... it's okay.... it's actually... so sexy..." Yeosang looks at you again. "Can you now... touch my.... my..."

Laying down beside him, blouse still open, "do you want me to give you a handjob?"

He nods with excitement.

"Okay... but let's cover ourselves with your blanket and play a movie on your laptop or something in your TV.."

"Why?"

"Silly you!" You tap your finger on the tip of his nose. "You're mother might get back and check up on us... just to be safe."

"Ah! I see. Yes."

And that's what you guys did. You turned on his TV and played some scary movie so his mom will not find it weird that you to are so close to each other under the blanket. His mom knows you are a bit of a scardy cat.

"You're so smart for thinking about this..." Yeosang says as you both get comfy laying down on his bed.

You put a pillow above you too to hug but also to hide whatever you are doing underneath "you're not the only smart person in our friendship you know..."

Your hand then pushes his jogger pants down a little, freeing the thick length he's been hiding in there.

"Holy fuck!" He hisses as he felt your hand grab him. "Holy fuck y/n" his mouth opens and releases a quiet moan as you begin to move your hands up and down. "This fucking feels... good."

"Your so thick..." you whisper to him. "I wonder if you would fit in me..."

"Fucking hell, Y/n!" He breathes, "don't say shit like that... coz I would.." he pauses as his breathing spikes up. He's getting in his zone. You are really giving him such pleasure.

"You would what?" You ask him

He opens his eyes again and looks at you straight into your eyes. "Coz I would not mind finding out what it feels to be in you...." he leans forward to you to give you a kiss. A long, sweet and lustful kiss.

This kiss is both your first kiss.

"I'm down..." you answer. "I don't mind getting lost into you..."

"Do you want to stay for the night here?" Yeosang asks, "I can ask my mother to call your parents."

"You are eager..." you smirk, "Not tonight...." you pick up your rythm again, making him throw his head back onto the pillow. "We can wait until you're fully recovered... for now... we can just...."

Yeosang starts to moan a little louder. He's so close to his peak.

"F-fuck! Ahhh...."

You watch him go mad under your hands. "Look at me... I want to see those eyes of yours...."

He is taking deep breathes, mouth open and looks at you. His eyes are sparkling. He is on the edge.

"Fuck!" He grunts and hurriedly grabs the tissues he had ready to catch his warm release. "Fucking hell, y/n..." he leans in for a kiss again which you are willing to accept after seeing him so happy and super satisfied. He's cheeks are even got pinkish "Promise me... once I fully recovered... we get to do this again... and..."

"I promise."

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

"https://www.tumblr.com/tbos-main/738719535451013120/for-the-scene-you-posted-that-is-from-the-other?source=share"

"I don't dislike Rhaenyra, I really don't. But it is BAFFLING to me that her struggles are 'I'm just a princess, I'm not even queen :(((( My life SUCKS :((('

Alicent's fans have the most mediocre opinions about Rhaenyra because they are only capable of victimizing Alicent. Also, during episode 7, when the eye incident occurs, Alicent and Rhaenyra haven't been friends for over 9 years. Alicent's only actions after the time jump are to pick on Rhaenyra and her children. Why should Rhaenyra care about Alicent? Alicent's speech in that episode is pure hypocrisy; she had already let Larys get away with murdering two people and stayed silent because it benefited her. Justice and duty can be forgotten as long as it benefits Alicent.

Alicent is also not the eternal victim that OP believes she is..

People who think Rhaenyra's struggles are "but I wanna be queen :(" really don't have good media comprehension. If we look at everyone else in HOTD the same way op is looking at Rhaenyra, then literally all of their struggles are "but I want that privilege!"

Rhaenys and Corlys want the throne or their blood to be on the throne. Viserys wants to be able to chill in his room with his figurines with no responsibility. Daemon wants to be Hand, the heir, or the prince consort. Alicent wants to chill with privilege and no responsibility at first, then wants her blood to be on the throne. Aegon wants to be prince with no responsibility or consequences. Helaena wants to chill alone with bugs and her kids. Aemond wants to be king.

Literally every person in this show wants to stay privileged but on their terms. That's not actually their issues and struggles, but if we're dumbing down Rhaenyra's story, everyone gets dumbed down too.

Rhaenyra has been demeaned and treated as less than because of her gender her entire life. She was forced into a marriage with a gay man who couldn't give her children while a majority of her worth still lay in her ability to give birth. Viserys never actually went out of his way to support her until his literal last day, he does the bare minimum to protect her or her children in court. She was abused by Alicent for a decade at least until she was driven from the capital. She was usurped, her children murdered, and was murdered by her brother. She is so much more than wanting to be queen, TG stans just hate to see that.

As for Alicent, she only cares about "duty and sacrifice" when it benefits her and/or her family. She clings to the morals of the Seven until it's her faction going against them. She's obsessed with her and Rhaenyra's former friendship until she can use it to try guilting/manipulating Rhaenyra.

In Driftmark, Rhaenyra was right on about Alicent. Alicent has been far from the saint her fans view her as and far from the martyr she thinks she herself is. She has abused Rhaenyra and supported Larys, allowed Aegon's bullying of Aemond and Criston's of the Velaryon boys.

Alicent should be asking herself where duty is and asking her faction where their sacrifice is. Rhaenyra has done her duty, she married who her father told her, she had children to be her heirs and Laenor claimed as his own as well (even though she had a lot of trauma surrounding childbirth). She has served on the small council despite how the men on the council don't respect her and Alicent constantly undermines her. Rhaenyra's only crime is refusing to sacrifice herself to serve the men around her.

Op purposefully twisting the events of the show to support their view that Alicent "always defended Rhaenyra" and "only did what she was told" is so frustrating. That view deliberately ignores that Alicent stopped defending Rhaenyra in episode five, the same episode where she chose to declare war on Rhaenyra. The ten year gap was her acting entirely independently from Otto. It also ignores how Alicent raised her children to hate Rhaenyra and her children, that's not defending Rhaenyra or doing what she's told, since Alicent had the most control over her children's lives.

Alicent isn't a perpetual victim, she's victimized by the patriarchy (show only), but quickly becomes a perpetrator of abuse and a constant supporter of the patriarchy. She sacrifices her own daughter in the name of Aegon's ascension. She hates Rhaenyra for not bending to the men around her and punishes her for it. Alicent benefits from bending to the patriarchy by second half of the season, and doesn't stop until she causes the Dance. She may work for the betterment of the men around her, but she does it of her own freewill after marrying Viserys.