#and spoke about how that person's mother or grandmother had reacted badly

[writingforatwistedworld]

How would riddle, malleus and epel react to the overseer personally knowing their family their family was not aware they were the overseer (for malleus and epel the overseer met their grannys and for riddle they know his mom)

Self-aware au

I do not take any responsibility for you reading this no matter which age group you are from!

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, obsession, kidnapping, religion, cult, unhealthy relationship, threats, blood, imprisonment

Riddle Rosehearts/Epel Felmier/Malleus Draconia-Player knows one of their family members

Riddles mother

It was once more time for a holiday

NRC was prepared to host a few attractions and to have family members visit for a day or two

Riddle was warned by a letter from his mother that she was coming

So the day was here. The celebration was in full swing. And look at that, it's the mother of a certain redhead. Noo-I mean, yay...

Riddle was prepared for another scolding for something he “did wrong” but after greeting her son (in a way too stiff manner) she turned to you and... greeted you as well?

You see, little, helpful you had promised the former red tyrant to help his dorm with their celebration so you were also present when the madam came over

“Mother, why do you know the Overseer?” “What are you talking about, Riddle?”

Apparently, Trey had once invited you to meet his family after you showed interest in his siblings and the bakery. In the Queendom you had gone on a walk in the forest, slipped and twisted your ankle so badly that you couldn't walk anymore. Luckily Riddles mother came by (for some reason) and helped you, being a doctor and all

Now, lady is of course no idiot so after her son had asked her that question she was just a new addition to the garden as a statue

Riddle was terrified that you saw the polite yet also arrogant way his mother spoke to you in the past as something rude

Now, you were of course not the biggest fan of her but at least she healed you back then

Once you are gone, running off to Pomefiore to help over there, Riddle had a talk with his mother

Usually he would show her respect but today it was like the roles were reversed

Kind words and any kind of love he had left for her were thrown out of the window when he asked her “how she could have not recognized their uncrowned ruler?”

Riddle was this close to snapping and using his special magic on her

For the first time Riddles mother was afraid of her son

Never before had she seen him so angry

But oh well, better stay in line and be nice to you instead of finding out how far she could push his boundaries

It was almost like he wouldn't just chop her head off in a metaphorical sense with his special magic but rather literally in a much, much more bloody way

Epels Grandmother

Ah yes, Epels sweet sweet granny could of course not miss her beloved grandson

She even prepared some cake and other delicious treats for him. How sweet!

So when perfection themselves, the Overseer, suddenly marched over after they spotted a familiar mop of light lilac hair he nearly had a heart attack

But instead of his Granny being surprised she just said a nice hello, that it was good to see you again and how things had been since you had seen each other

Why did his granny know the Overseer? Why did his granny know God?

Now Epel couldn't of course ask that later part, considering that his villages view on you was in comparison rather... yeah let's call it “extreme”

Turns out he had forgotten something when he visited Harveston the last time and you brought it to him, only for you to meet his Grandmother before you ran into him. Giving her what he forgot the two of you had a nice little talk before you left

And this is the point when Epel felt like he was ready to bash his head against the wall

Vil must have noticed a short in Epels mood because the model just threw him a very poisonous look

So here Eprl was, standing like a lost little child between his Granny and f-ing God whilst the two of you had a nice little chat about the weather

When you finally said goodbye to the two, running off to Diasomnia because you were invited for tea, Epel was juts like “Granny, we need to talk.”

Say goodbye to your apple-free days because after that talk, there will be boxes of so-called “offerings” in front of your door. Every. Single. Day.

“Granny, don't be too shocked but you met God.” “Hoho, what are you talking about?” “...” “Oh...”

For the rest of the day her legs were so shaky that Epel was afraid for her health

I mean, come on, the very person who has drilled tales about a deity into your head finally meeting said deity is something that is guaranteed to have a way too high blood pressure

The next time you run into her she isn't entirely sweet anymore

Of course she is still nice but there is something creepy about her. The way her eyes drill into you, how her questions are always a tad bit too personal

And did she just utter a prayer with your name in it? Nah, must be your imagination

Malleus Grandmoter

How she didn't recognize you the first time you two met is a wonder considering that she has that sixth sense every Fae has that tingles even when you are being simply mentioned

But today is a great day, Malleus grandmother came over to visit her grandson, a rare day of rest for her

Maleus was just about to tell her that he had invited a guest when you showed up

So when he stood up to introduce you to her she was just like “Oh, the child of man I met that one day.”

Cue Malleus standing there like a plank

Poor man is so surprised that he can't even ask how the heck you two met each other

When he finally asked when you two met he found out that he had forgotten to send a letter of his so you had jumped through one of the mirrors and delivered it to the castle yourself

After almost getting impaled for jumping right into a heavily guarded castle you had explained yourself and boom, you had a fife minute talk with grandma Draconia

Ok, great, wonderful, but did she know that you were the Overseer?

When he told her who you were she had to set down her teacup, shock sinking into her bones

Following his words you asked what he meant with Overseer

This was the day Diasomnia saw their dorm leader drop a teacup

Like with Epel you are now more or less in trouble

I mean, yeah, it's nice to get literal national treasures sent to your doorstep but at the same time, what the heck??!

Back in the Valley of Thorns the Fae are panicking left and right

What do you mean, the Overseer has already visited us once? And we pointed all kind of sharp tools at them??!

It wouldn't be much of a surprise if you just woke up one day in a room that you had never seen before, living like a bird in a golden cage

You know, the next ruler has taken a liking to you and your loyal followers need to protect you

So sit still and don't try to run

[snarkwrites]

ssw | embry call; you don’t have to be gentle. | mature.

NOTES:

So... This is the final part to the little mini story with Embry and Merisa... For now. Mayhaps I’ll revisit them from time to time, who knows. If you’re still with me after that downer of a cliffhanger ending yesterday, I’m happy -surprised, but oh so happy, and I truly hope you enjoy this because I enjoyed writing this.

I had to fight myself tooth and nail NOT to turn this into an alpha/omega + imprinting thing, btw. But I managed not to.

PROMPTS:

Prompts used for these six sexy words one shots are either taken from [here] or [here] at my choosing. I don’t take requests for characters / prompts for these but... If you just want to send me requests, I do take headcanon requests, fluff and filth alphabet letters. [ request rules / fandoms here ] 

The prompts I used here are as follows: Claim me. Mark me. Own me + You don’t have to be gentle. 

FANDOM/CHARACTER:

Twilight, Embry Call x Imprint!OFC, Merisa.

OTHER PARTS:

For those of you who want to see them... This whole series kinda turned into my own self indulgent thing, tbh? Anyway:

[ he looks down. she looks up. ] | [ let me take care of you ] | [ everything about her turns me on ] | [ when he says your name ] | [ when whispered words leave you breathless ] 

WARNINGS:

{NSFW CONTENT. NO MINORS.} consensual but unprotected sex between two adults, oral sex - male giving, biting / marking, body fluids & that’s pretty much it.

Minors, this was not written for you. You shouldn’t be reading it. If you are and you stumble upon something upsetting or that you can’t handle after being clearly warned here... That’s on you, lovelies. Not me. Nobody made you keep reading.

TAGGING:

@kyleoreillysknee​ is the only person on my Twilight tag list. If you’d like to be added to it, ( I’m gonna be writing more for them most likely, I’ve been feeling it lately, idk mannn..) please let me know or add yourself to the doc linked below. If you’re not on my taglists, you won’t be tagged, fyi.

OTHER STUFF:

[ faq | feel free to send me stuff | sfw masterlist | nsfw masterlist no minors. | taglist doc ]

I haven’t seen Embry in a little over two weeks, since the night of the carnival. I still can’t get my head around what he showed me and what I now know but I do know one thing… Not seeing him has been really, really hard for me.

I’d almost given up on it, if I’m being totally honest. I had to fight the urge to go to him almost daily. I kept telling myself if he wanted to see me, he’d come to me. That I’d probably messed everything up with my reaction.

If I hadn’t before that, going overboard with the flirting.

My grandmother’s voice cut through my thoughts and I looked up from the television set. Pausing the episode of General Hospital I had recorded to see what she wanted or needed. Managing my best smile even though lately, that’s the last thing I’ve felt like doing lately.

“Don’t you get tired of laying around here, moping?” she asked as she stepped into the room. Shaking her head as she grabbed the remote and used it to turn off the little television. “Get out there. Go do something. I don’t care what it is, mermaid.”

I pouted at her, letting my mouth drop open as I pretended to be shocked and hurt by her suggestion. “Are you seriously telling me you don’t love me anymore?”

“You know that’s not true. That’s not what I said at all.” my grandmother sat down. I gave a soft laugh and spoke up. “I know, I was kidding. I just… I haven’t been in the mood lately.” I shrugged it off as if it were nothing.

“If you’re moping over that bum in Seattle, mermaid, he’s not worth a second more of your time and energy.”

“Oh. Trust me, I know. This has nothing to do with that. I’m just kind of… Resting.” my original thought pattern was maybe if I offered up the few injuries and aches I had left up for an excuse, she wouldn’t push for anything more than that.

Because it’s been a little over two weeks and I still can’t fully process what happened that night. Or how badly my lack of an actual reaction and how easily I gave in and let him bring me home might have made a mess of everything. I didn’t even try to push him into talking about everything. Explaining what it all meant. 

I didn’t know how I’d even begin to explain anything to my grandmother without sounding like I was losing my goddamn mind if I’m being perfectly honest.

“In order to rest, one needs to actually do something first. What’s really going on, hm?” my grandmother wouldn’t be my grandmother if she didn’t push on regardless. I sighed and shrugged. “ I’m just dealing with everything that happened.”

“Mhm?” she was trying to get me to keep talking but I went quiet. Sighing. Telling her it was stupid and most likely, I was just fully comprehending my mother’s death. Which wasn’t a lie. My memory was almost fully back now. I could remember everything. Including the fact that the years leading up to her death, she and I had a very strained relationship… Because like my grandmother and I tried to do so many times with her over the years whenever she’d get all wrapped up in the actual worst kind of man or circumstance, she was trying to steer me away from Greg and rather than listen to her, knowing she had more experience in life than I did, I chose to isolate myself. I chose to tell her time and again that I was an adult and that Greg wasn’t all the men she’d gotten entangled with during my childhood. So the last few months I could’ve been mending fences and reconnecting with her were spent in tension filled occasional check in texts or calls instead. 

Like mother, like daughter. That thought came bitterly and it hurt like hell to acknowledge. Because my mom went to her grave with the relationship between her and my grandmother totally unresolved. Because like she attempted with me about Greg, my grandmother tried and tried again with my mother and her choices. Only interfering one time. And that one time was because it was a question of my safety. And this cost my grandmother a relationship with my mother because nothing was the same after that summer.

I explained all of this to my grandmother and as I finished, she hugged me and sighed. “You can’t hold this in for the rest of your life, mermaid. But I know that is only a large part of whatever has you so down… and given that I haven’t seen a certain mechanic around at all in nearly three weeks, I’m going to assume that things didn’t go well on your date?”

“Oh, they went… Right up to the point where I proceeded to get impatient, want what I want and push the line…” - a half truth was better than nothing.. Because if I hadn’t laid it all on the line, he wouldn’t have felt so bad about keeping what he had to keep from me.

,, stop doing that. You can’t be blamed for everything. You were shocked. You’re still trying to figure out how to react to what you know… But if you wait too long..” the thought came and like usual, I tried to shove it down again.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that I went overboard. I told him how I felt. I poured it on entirely too thick and I probably scared him off.” - taking the blame was infinitely easier than explaining the full truth to my grandmother. How did I even begin to tell her what I knew? And on top of that, the fact remained that I wasn’t supposed to tell. And if you’re not his imprint, you’re not even meant to know to begin with.” that thought surfaced.

And it hit me. When he showed me the wolf side that night, he’d been telling me so much more than that.

And my reaction?

While a natural one, probably wasn’t the best one to go with. I should’ve at least made him fucking talk to me. Explain everything. I should’ve pushed for him to tell me everything instead of agreeing to come home that night.

“Fuck.” I buried my face in my hands.

Why couldn’t I have realized that tidbit say, almost three weeks ago? Before it was probably too late to try and fix everything?

“Language, mermaid.”

“Oh, trust me, grandma. This is definitely a situation worth the F bomb.” I muttered, shaking my head as I laughed at my own stupidity.

“Maybe it can be fixed?”

“Oh, I doubt that.”

“You say you’ve realized how short life is thanks to your mother dying and nearly losing your own. All I’m hearing is that you haven’t learned anything, mermaid. How will you know if you don’t try?”

I took a deep breath. Mulling over what she said because honestly, she wasn’t wrong…

And then, before I could stop myself, I was standing. Bolting down the hall and into my old bedroom. The first thing I did was take an actual shower. Then I threw on that sundress. And before I could change my mind or talk myself out of it, I bolted out the door, right past where my grandmother sat, watching her soaps. She called out after me, “I won’t wait up, mermaid.”

I didn’t stop running until I stood on his front porch. Banging on the door.

“Open the door you stubborn ass man. Open the door and listen to me.”

Not a sound.

Not even a hint that he might be home.

I sighed and stared at the door for a few seconds.

Sitting down on the wooden bench to the left of it. Laughing at myself because naturally, I’d finally stop dragging my feet and do something to fix this if I could and he wouldn’t be home.

“I am such a fucking idiot, I swear to God.” I sighed, resting my head on the top of my knees.

I sat like that for a few minutes. Then I heard a motorcycle approaching in the distance. And the fight or flight kicked in all over again. But I fought back against it. Rooted to where I sat.

Determined.

Watching his motorcycle get closer to his house. My heart about to beat right out of my chest. But underneath the excitement.. Calm. Like I was doing the right thing, even if it did turn out to be too late.

The motorcycle came to a stop in his driveway. He hadn’t noticed me yet. I knew the second he did because his entire body tensed. His eyes darted around in every direction before finally settling on me. Intent. A little stunned, from what I could tell.

“So..” I called out, going quiet shortly after because I just didn’t know what to say. I had no idea where to even start.

“What are you doing here?” Embry asked the question quietly. Not in an angry or annoyed way, but more or less in a tone of defeat. Like he’d given up on me coming around ever again. “You saw what I am…” he went quiet. Up the stairs in the blink of an eye.

Towering over me. Keeping his distance but I could tell he wanted to be closer. I knew I wanted him closer. Every part of me was literally crying out for it. I needed him.

Wolf form and all, Embry Call is the man I love.

“And I don’t care, actually.” I admitted after a long and heavy pause. “I mean, I care.. But the fact that you happen to transform under the light of the moon doesn’t bother me. It’s.. Gonna take some getting used to.”

He blinked in shock as he processed what I’d just said. As soon as it sank in, he stepped closer. Filling the space between us. His hips pinning my lower body between his body and the wall my back was pressed firmly against. He raised a hand, resting it palm down against the wall as he stared down at me. Quiet. 

“I know it’s probably too late and I should’ve.. I don’t know, I should’ve done literally anything but what I did the night you showed me the wolf but.. I’m losing my goddamn mind, okay? I.. I can’t think about anything else. I was really in love with you, okay? And I still am. And damn it, when you absolutely shut down and refused to let me…” my words were cut off by a thick digit pressing against my lips to silence me.

He swallowed hard, his eyes leaving mine and settling on my lips. “Wait.. you love me..” he muttered in a daze. Bringing his eyes back up to settle on mine. His body molding completely against mine as he leaned in closer. 

“What part of that did you miss? Because I’ll happily say it. Over and over. Until it gets through your stubborn rock skull. This whole you turning into a wolf thing is.. Look. It’s a lot, okay? But it’s not too much. Not when I need you and I love you... I know what I want. And I’m not leaving until we’ve at least talked.”

“What do you want, huh?” Embry asked. Staring down at me expectantly. Waiting on an answer.

“You. I want you. Wolf and all.” I answered quietly, my gaze dropping. Settling on worn floorboards beneath my dirty and bare feet. Embry followed my gaze down and snickered quietly to himself.

“Woman, where the fuck are your shoes?” he glanced up at me, shaking his head. Grumbling about the fact that I wasn’t wearing any shoes. And I knew him well enough to know that this was Embry, stalling. Because he didn’t know what to say or do.

“Look. I came down here on a mission. I didn’t have time to stop and grab shoes, damn it.”

“Baby, why..” Embry chuckled, the beginnings of a grin forming on his face as he guided my face up so that I had no choice but to look at him. “ I know you came down here on a mission but seriously? There’s broken glass in the road.”

“I’m pretty tough. I mean.. I did live through a pretty wicked car accident.” I bit my lip, staring up at his mouth helplessly. Swallowing hard and getting wet when one glance into his eyes clearly revealed that yes, he’d caught me doing so.

“Yeah, don’t remind me about that, okay? I don’t even wanna..think about that night again.” he went quiet. Ghosting his free hand up and down my side before letting it rest against my hip. Using his grip to pull me against him. I melted into him with zero thought or hesitation. And then, I happened to put my full weight down on my left foot and promptly swear to myself quietly. “Son of a bitch. Ouch.” I raised my foot and the light glistened off of a practically microscopic shard of glass lodged in the skin.

Wordlessly, Embry scooped me up. Carrying me into his house. Sitting me down on his sofa. My eyes darted around the place, smiling softly to myself at all the pictures and the way it felt almost equally as cozy and like home as my grandmother’s little house did.

And before I could stop myself, I was imagining a future with him. Something I hadn’t dared ever do before. Something that suddenly occurred to me, I wanted.

Embry walked back into the living room with peroxide, a wash rag and tweezers and I pouted, shaking my head. “This can wait.” I protested. Tried to pull my foot away, but Embry got a firm grip on it, resting it between his thighs. Holding it still as he looked down at it, inspecting it closely until he found the tiny glass shard. 

“Okay, look at me.” Embry guided my gaze up to meet his. Then he looked down. “Don’t stop looking at me, okay? And do not move your foot. Stop moving, Merisa or I’m never gonna get this out, baby.” Embry muttered in an even and firm tone. Stopping to look up at me with one of the most commanding looks I’d ever seen him give.

“It’s..” I hissed as the tweezers scraped over my skin, grimacing. Gritting my teeth because apparently, it was dug in there deep. “It’s fine. It can totally wait, c’mon.”

The way he’s called me baby twice now.

I don’t dare get my hopes up, do I?

The splinter of glass came free and I unclenched myself. It hadn’t hurt that bad at all.

“Was that so bad?” he asked. Staring at me.

I shook my head.

My eyes were lost in his all over again. And the tension was back. Heavy. Filled with things we needed to say.

“Embry.” I muttered after a long and heavy silence. Embry looked up at me, biting his lip. “Yeah?”

“When I told you that I’m yours and all you have to do is try, I meant that, okay? I don’t say things I don’t mean. And all of this.. I mean… Forget it. According to the legends, if you imprint, it won’t matter anyway…” I trailed off because I realized that I’d come all the way down here on a barely thought out whim. In the hope that maybe he’d been trying to tell me so much more than simply the fact that he turned into a wolf at will.

My anxiety was starting to kick in now and I had no idea what to do or say. I didn’t even begin to know where to start. There was so much I wanted to say. So much I needed to get out.

“It will if I imprinted on you.” Embry muttered after a few seconds. Staring down at my foot in his lap intently. Taking a few long and shaky breaths. Waiting.

Now it was my turn to be shocked.

Because that’s what I’d been hoping he was trying to tell me when I bolted all the way down here in a rush earlier. But I’d braced myself to hear everything but that.

“Wait..” I trailed off. My mouth opened and closed as I raised a hand, tousling my hair and pushing it out of my eyes.

,, You were right. He told you what he was that night. He showed you because you were his imprint.” my brain was practically taunting me.

“You sound like that’s a bad thing.” I was confused.

“It’s not. I just… I never thought it would happen. Kind of convinced myself that I’d rather know I love the person I was with without that side of me coming into play…” Embry trailed off.

“Oh.” I started to stand. Thinking that he meant something entirely different than what he was getting at. I was at the front door when he pressed against me from behind. His hand covered mine. Lowering it down from the doorknob.

“Don’t go. Just.. Let me get this out.” he muttered quietly against the shell of my ear as he turned me around to face him. Putting my back against the front door with a soft smack. 

“I have been driving myself crazy. I’ve been trying to tell myself that it was just the imprint. But it’s not just that. I love you. I need you, okay? I just.. I don’t want you to think that genetics are the only reason I’m with you. I wanted to take time and like.. Prove that.” Embry fidgeted a little, raising a hand to drag it through his hair. Resting that hand against my face. Dragging his thumb over my skin as he softly pressed his forehead against mine.

When his mouth met mine this time it was deep and slow. Clumsy. Needy. His hands were wandering all over me. Finally stopping to rest across my ass. Pulling me up his body. 

“I know it’s not just genetics, okay? I trust you.” I answered as we pulled apart to breathe. My arms wrapped around his neck, my fingers tangling up in his hair. Using my grip to pull his mouth back against mine all over again. “I love you too. And I want to see where this goes. We can figure this out as we go. I just.. I know what I want.” I gazed at him as the kiss broke a second time and we pulled apart, panting for our next breaths. Trying to pull ourselves together.

He grinned bright at my words and I smiled too. Snuggling myself against him.

“I do too.” he answered after a second or two of little pecks and soft kisses peppered on my face and Embry touching me anywhere he could get his hands. Stepping over to the sofa and sitting down. I wrapped my legs around his waist. He pulled me as close as he could get me. Making me barely catch a whimper as I rubbed right against the way his cock strained and pushed at the jeans he was wearing. When I did it a second time on my own free will, Embry groaned. Bucking himself up into me. Fingers digging into my ass. Guiding me over the bulge before either of us really stopped to think it over or calm ourselves down.

And honestly, I didn’t want to.

Every single time I rubbed against him, I could feel myself getting wetter and wetter. Whimpering and whining. Begging. I wound up pressed against the sofa, Embry’s body settling between my legs to keep them spread. He gave a quiet growl as he stared down at me and settled in, pressing into me completely. Pinning me beneath him. But barely pressing his full weight into me, almost as if he thought he’d break me or I was made of glass. 

“ You don’t have to be gentle.” I muttered as my lips danced over his neck, leaving little marks behind. He sucked in a sharp breath, gazing at me as if wanting to be absolutely sure I was okay. That I wanted to go farther.

As if I intended to stop him.

“I don’t wanna hurt you.” Embry muttered, his words coming out in labored pants. 

“You won’t.” I mumbled, letting out a gasp as rough,warm hands slipped up the bottom of my little yellow dress. His palm settling against my aching wet sex. Massaging me through soaked panties. My fingers dug into the couch and his shoulder as I rocked myself up into him. 

His mouth crashed against mine hungrily and his hand started to move faster. Pressing against my dripping core. The little friction it gave was just enough to make me want more. Just as I started to rock against his hand a little faster, breath catching in my throat, he started to slow down. “Easy, baby. Not yet.” he coaxed, making me pout up at him. His thumb rolled over the outline of my lips and I closed them around it, sucking. Making him growl out “Fuck.” as he bucked himself right against me. His nose pressed against my neck as he breathed in deep. My fingers dug into the cushion on the sofa just a little more. His hand settled against my cunt again, cupping. Rubbing slow and careful. So slow that the ache settled between my thighs doubled. And the more I tried to rock myself faster against his moving hand, the more he pressed his hips down into mine to attempt to keep me still. When he stopped again just as I started to get just a little closer to orgasm, I whined. Begging.

His mouth buried in mine, swallowing up the sounds. He moved his hand, growling when it came away wet. “You smell so fucking sweet. I wonder...” he mumbled lazily against my lips as the kiss came to a gradual stop, “If you taste as sweet.” gazing down at me with a hungry look in lust shot dark brown eyes as he licked his lips. I could feel my cheeks heating up. My thighs were so slick they slipped off one another if they brushed together. Embry worked my dress up over my hips. Pulling me up to finish pulling it off. Leaving me in only the pair of red panties I was wearing. He pulled away to stare. A hungry look in his eyes as they moved over my body.

 My fingers curled in the hem of a thin gray tank top he was wearing and I started to work it up, letting it hit the floor of the living room once I’d pulled it over his head. He slipped off the couch, standing in front of me. His hand lowered to the waistband of his jeans after he’d kicked off heavy soled boots, letting them settle on wooden floors with a soft thump. He unfastened and unzipped his jeans, letting them hit the floor around his ankles at which point he kicked them free. 

My eyes widened as I could see the size of the bulge strained against a pair of dark gray boxer briefs. ,, is he even going to fit?” the thought came, accompanied by a fresh rush of slick as it coated my panties and slicked up the insides of my thighs even more. He was lowering himself back down again, hovering over me. His forehead resting against mine as he muttered quietly, “Don’t let me hurt you.”

“Baby..” I started to argue that I knew he wouldn’t, but he shook his head and repeated himself firmly. I nodded, agreeing to let him know. He settled himself on top of me gingerly, again being too careful. Not wanting to press into me too much. But I wanted friction. I wanted to feel his body engulfing mine. Hard muscles against my soft skin. I grabbed a hold of his hips, pulling him down on top of me even more. He rutted himself against me with a low hungry growl that hung in the air between us, only drowned out by the sounds of his mouth as it worked over my body. Starting at my throat. Working down. His hands roamed up my sides, pushing my breasts together and his mouth latched on. Licking,kissing and sucking. Making me whimper his name and rock myself up into him, the ache building. Throbbing. 

By the time his mouth was down to my navel, he was reaching between us, the silent rip of fabric as my favorite red panties came away, tossed to the floor of his living room; torn. I raised my hand, tugging impatiently at the waistband of his boxers and rather than deny me, he obliged, raising to his knees. Slipping off the couch to let his boxers settle on the floor. His cock sprang free, standing at attention. I swallowed hard as my eyes settled on his thick,veiny member, a quiet gasp filling the air. 

He positioned himself over me again. Gingerly. Desperate to feel skin against skin completely, I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him down on top of my completely. A moan escaped my throat as soon as I felt his cock teasing at my dripping entrance. His hands were all over me, ghosting my sides. Finally settling on my hips. Rocking me over his thick,veiny length as he stared down at me, dazed.

Leaning in to whisper against the shell of my ear, “Love the way your body fits against mine, baby.” as I nodded, let my lips brush the side of his neck, latching onto skin as I tried to leave a mark, “Me too.” I muttered, gazing up at him with a soft smile. Rough hands caressed my cheek, skimming down the side of my body and Embry’s mouth danced down my neck. Teeth scraping against soft skin before locking around it. Tugging until I felt a mark forming. I moaned out, rocking myself up into him. One of my hands drifting up to tangle in his hair and tug at it, trying to pull his mouth against mine one more time, despite knowing one kiss is obviously not ever going to be enough when it comes to him.

He started to let his mouth roam over my bare body, sending goosebumps raising all over me as I felt his warm,wet tongue drag slowly over my skin. Trailing a lazy circle around my navel as he moved himself down my body. Settling between my legs, putting a leg over each shoulder as he met my gaze again. Licking his lips hungrily. Bucking against the couch in anticipation and practically growling when he glanced down and saw my thighs glistening with slick. His tongue rolled up my inner thigh, sloppy. Warm and wet and determined to lick me clean. My hand tangled in the hair on top of his head and my other hand gripped the couch as the warmth of his breath tickled bare skin. His nose bumped against my pelvic mound and I bit my lip, my back arching as his tongue circled my clit, working the throbbing bundle of nerves. The way he had my legs over his shoulder angled my hips. When his tongue buried deep in my pussy, I moaned out. Begging for more.

“Baby, ah, oh fuck.. Oh. Mmm. Right there.” I moaned out, gripping his hair and the couch tighter. Digging my heels into his back, making him bury his tongue inside my dripping sex deeper. “That feels so good, fuck.” I moaned out, rocking my hips up for him.

“Good girl. Move your hips. Fuck. You’re dripping.” Embry growled, leaving a more harsh bite against the inside of my thigh, right next to my crotch. A bite so deep I could feel the stinging bruise even after he’d backed away, glancing up at me tenderly just to make sure I was okay only to find me moaning, my head falling back as I licked my lips.

My stomach coiled and my body tensed as I started to race right into an orgasm that I knew would leave me shaking. Embry started to slow down and my eyes popped open, locking on him and the way he was positioned between my thighs below. Pouting. Begging him not to slow down. Begging him to let me let go. He rose up a little, making his way back up my body after lowering my legs. Wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. Grabbing hold of my jaw as his mouth crashed against mine and he rocked himself against me, letting his cock drag right between my throbbing folds every single time he moved.

I gripped his jaw, making him lock eyes with me. His pupils were shot and the lust filled look in his eyes when they met mine had me whimpering his name. “C’mon… Please?” I begged breathlessly, another well timed rock against me with his cock grazing between my folds and the tip sinking in drew a breathy moan out of me that shattered the silence of the room. “Embry, please. Now.”

“Now, huh?” Embry responded in a husky whisper, his lips latching onto my neck. Sucking another mark into my skin. “Don’t let me hurt you. Because I know I’m going to get carried away, baby, I.. you just  feel so damn good.” Embry gasped out as he started to bury himself inside me deep. Going still once I was impaled on his thick,veiny member. Pressing little soft kisses against my warm skin as he let me adjust to the way he stretched and overfilled me. After a few seconds, the feeling of being stretched almost too much subsided and I started to slowly rock my hips into him. Whimpering and moaning as he started to drive into me slow and deep. Nearly pulling out completely with each thrust just to bury himself deep inside all over again. When my stomach coiled all over again, I rocked my hips faster. Trying to chase the orgasm he’d been denying me. Embry’s hands gripped my hips, slowing them almost to a grinding halt and I whimpered, begging.

“Not yet, baby.” he muttered. Raising to his knees. Bringing my legs up to my chest. Both hands on my hips as he pumped me up and down on his cock until I was moaning his name over and over, clinging to him when he came to a complete stop. Frustrated as hell because I’d been so close and Embry stopped again. A tear of frustration trickled down my cheek and Embry caught it with his finger. Licking his lips as he muttered quietly, “It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you, okay? Let go for me. C’mon, baby..” he started to pump himself in and out harder, faster.. The smack of skin against skin shattering the quiet. “C’mon. Let go, baby.” as he pushed me back against the couch, pinning me all over again. His hips smacking against mine erratically, the sound echoing off the walls. “That’s it.” he growled as I clenched around him, dangerously close to my orgasm shattering through, “Fuck. you’re so tight. Wet...Fuck, baby.” 

My orgasm ripped through me, leaving me a dripping,whimpering mess, clinging to him. Trying to catch my breath. My hips meeting his as best as I could as I let him fuck me through the high of it. My nails caught in his skin and raked down his back, pulling a moan out of him as he buried his mouth against mine, muttering quietly, “You feel so so good. So good, baby. Don’t..” he groaned as his thrusts became sloppier. Slower in a desperate attempt to keep himself from getting off, “Ah, oh god. Mmm.” his hands gripped my hips tight, slamming me up and down on his cock as he bottomed out, striking against my throbbing,sensitive spot, pulling a loud whimper out of me in the process. “Baby.” he panted, locking eyes with me, “I’m so close. So close, fuck.”

“Don’t stop. Embry, please.” my back arched as his thrusts got even sloppier. Faster. So hard they were almost bruising each time his hips slammed against mine mid-thrust. “You sure?” he muttered against the shell of my ear, glancing down at me.

“Embry, fuck. Ah, fuck. Baby, don’t stop. Feels so good baby. Mmm, yeah.” I moaned out, my back arching away from the bed, my chest dragging over his as I clung to him. Trying to rock my hips urgently to keep him moving. Blinded by lust. My nails digging into his shoulder and dragging down his back lightly. Pulling a growl out of him that was swallowed by the hungry crash of our mouths against each others as his hips sputtered and I felt his cock throbbing. Emptying. Filling me full. 

After it was over, he planted soft kisses all over my face and neck and I pulled him down on top of me. He flipped us so that he was the one laying below, his arms locking around my body to hold me in place on top of him as I crashed my mouth against his all over again.

His eyes settled on the bites and nips he left behind and he grimaced, gingerly dragging his finger over the deepest one on the side of my neck. “I told you not to let me hurt you.”

“If it hurt, Embry, I would’ve told you. I’m not made of glass, baby.”

He eyed me, almost as if he were afraid I was just saying it. I gave a soft giggle and after wiggling around a little to get comfortable, I rubbed my nose against his, making him laugh. Stare up at me in awe only to burst into laughter when I settled on the couch next to him, purring in content, “I am.. Definitely going to get used to this. Mhm, yes I am.” through a sleepy yawn.

“Me too, babe.” Embry pulled me closer, letting my head rest against his chest. An arm wrapped around me tight after pressing his lips against my forehead...

[whitelotus-ffxiv]

新年快乐.

[[ tagging @benes-diction / @sirenofthesea-xiv for mentions, as always, of her beautiful amazing characters. <3 ]]

After the celebrations of the Lunar New Year in the Jade Palace, I am... tired. The banquets seem endless, the parties going on for what feels like days - maybe sennights - at a time. It’s exhausting, but it’s familiar. Among the ranks of the yakuza, we celebrated each passing year like this, too. It was a rare period of reprieve from rigorous training and painful punishments, a time to eat and a time to breathe before life went back to normal. 

Even still, even if the memories are not altogether unpleasant... the passing of the new year is difficult for me. I find it hard to be as light-hearted as those around me. Inside of my chest is what feels like a large and heavy stone - a cold sort of place where it feels like I have placed a stone just so it doesn’t feel too empty. For years, I have tried to chase this feeling away. I’ve tried to bury it and stifle it and smother it in all manner of ways, but it persists. It lingers. 

There is a place in me that cannot be filled, only repaired. Consciously, I know this. As a child, I did not mourn the passing of my parents. We never had the time. Hui and I were set and focused only on surviving each day after that. The oyabun took us in, and Hui... Hui allowed himself to mourn. He allowed himself to weep and to miss our parents and to say his goodbyes with paper lanterns covered in their names.

Sun Chun Tao. Sun Lei. 

I hated watching those lanterns float away. I resented the watery fondness in Hui’s eyes, wistful and sad but at peace, as he watched them. And I was angry at myself for ever wanting to deny him that peace, for ever wishing he would sit and suffer with me, because... I didn’t know how to let go. Hui was always the level-headed one. He was able to say goodbye and know that it was for the best.

Of all the things and lessons he taught me, I wish he had been able to teach me this one, too. 

There are some things, though, that I suppose you can only learn on your own - or that you can only learn when you’re ready.

I walked through melting snow with a thick cloak wrapped around the simple hanfu I’d chosen to wore for the journey. Jun told me there was a temple not far from the palace that the Garleans had left standing. He didn’t know if there was anyone left to attend it, but I went, regardless. I had to. 

It was in varying conditions, really. Some parts of it looked old but well-kept, while others seemed to be nothing but crumbling stone and moss. I had cleansed myself in what seemed to be a bucket of fresh water and savored the chilly bites of ice against my skin before moving on. And although it was unknown if the temple was still being used or not, I was still surprised to see that someone else was there. 

Holding a broom in gnarled hands, an old Hyur woman swept snow off of the stones. She wore the garments of a miko, and almost immediately, I felt a lump threatening to start in my throat. 

I had seen my mother’s priestess garb only once before. She kept it folded away safely in a box within a closet, deep within, but she had showed it to me before with the same wistfulness and sadness but peacefulness in which Hui paid his respects to them each year. 

“This is our history,” she had said while looking over the red and white fabric. “A special history that your brother and father can’t quite share with us. This is why you can see the ghosts that mama can see. This is why you can hear and sense things that others can’t. It’s a gift from our female ancestors - a blessing, as long as you know how to wield it, you see?” 

Despite the fact that I knew I didn’t make much sound while I walked, and that I hadn’t spoken, the old woman with her broom looked up and over her shoulder to look directly at my face. She... was not familiar, but there was something in her eyes - dark and endless - that seemed that way. Or, at least... she wasn’t familiar to me. The same could not be said the other way around.

“Ah,” she noised softly, smiling slowly as she examined my face. “Yes. We have been waiting a long time for you, little Sun Xiu.” 

Over her shoulder, I could see part of the ‘gift’ my mother mentioned in the form of hazy spirits, ones that I have always seen and never been able to name - ones that dispersed once I looked their way, and maybe it was the look on my face, or maybe it was the woman’s own thoughts, but she only smiled more once I looked her way once more. 

“I guess that you have,” I relented quietly, coaxing soft laughter from the miko. 

“Come out of the cold. I expect there’s much to talk about, Sun Xiu.”

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

She took us to a private room, and while she brewed a pot of tea, I observed her rather than the surroundings - which were simple, really, and not unusual for a temple’s inner rooms. The woman herself demanded my attention more. 

She was rather short, a couple of ilms shorter than I was, and squat. All of her was round, in the comforting way that grandmothers are often portrayed. Wrinkles and lines were prevalent on her kind face, on her thick hands that had known their fair share of hard work. Trailing her was the scent of incense, the faintest smell of smoke. Her silver hair - which might have reached the backs of her knees if loose, I expected - was wound into a long, tight braid that she wore over her shoulder, not a wiry strand of out place. 

“You’re a sad sort of young woman,” she mused, glancing up at me as she poured a cup of tea and set it down in front of me. “Your shoulders sag with an invisible sort of weight, Sun Xiu. And the way that they coil up now tell me that not many read you with as much ease, do they?” 

“I expect our mutual friends have told you plenty about me,” I grumbled, forcing my shoulders to relax. “Do you always speak so bluntly?”

“You do not strike me as the type to prefer anything else,” she replied with a smile, and I clicked my tongue, resisting the urge to roll my eyes, because she was right. Of course she was. “And I most certainly have never been the type to speak in riddles. That’s the last thing a soul as tired as yours needs.” 

With a soft groan, the old woman sat down in front of me with a cup of her own clasped between her strong hands. There were words sitting on the tip of my tongue, ready to fall - ready to bite and be curt and harsh, but I couldn’t force them out. And the woman watched my face with a familiarity and a warmth that unsettled me and, in a way, comforted me. 

There was much, I expected, that I would not need to explain to her. There was clearly much about me that she already knew, and if it was anyone else, I might have reacted poorly. But her knowledge didn’t come from means that I could control. They came from that bond that my mother had told me about - a bond between the spirits and the miko that could communicate with them. And it seemed like the spirits had tattled plenty already.

“I am not unhappy about your visit, Sun Xiu - or perhaps you’re more comfortable with Lian Hua now? - but I must admit that I thought it would be a little sooner than this. Tell me, child - what plagues you so badly that you step foot into a shrine?”

I swallowed. I looked down at the cup of tea between my own hands - calloused from training and from fighting, so indelicate and ugly, at my nailbeds that were worn and torn, at nails that were kept as closely shaved down as possible. How much wicked had my hands done? How many lives and how many families had I torn apart with a flick of my wrist? How did I not burst into flames when I prayed, how did the kami not refuse to hear any pleas I might still have? 

“Many things, I think,” I said finally, looking back up at the old woman’s face. “It’s hard to choose just one when you ask me in that way. But I expect there are many reasons why I should have come here a long time ago.” 

As I spoke, the old woman lit three thick candles, the wax melted down into the tray they sat upon. Each was a different color - the tallest was purple, and the middle was red, while the shortest was white. 

Royalty. Strength. Death. 

“A heart is a heavy sort of burden, and I think you may have only recently began listening to yours once more,” she murmured, and I sat silently, watching the flames flickering in her dark eyes as she watched them. “The spirits have told me much of you already, Sun Xiu. You are most beloved by the kami. You were beloved by your parents, loved by your brother, even by a prince and princess of Doma, but...” 

The woman trailed off and looked up at me expectantly, bushy eyebrows raised. My tongue felt thick in my mouth, like it was coated in sand. 

“I don’t deserve it,” I whispered, like I was letting out a breath, and it felt like something had been sapped from my body all at once. They were words that I had been cradling since... since the day... 

“Since the day I refused to give my parents my blessing into the afterlife, I have not deserved any of the love I receive. Not from them, certainly, or from Hui, not from the kami, not from Jun or Aoi or... anyone else. I have tried to be a light that never goes out. I was worrying about the flickering, but now... Over time, I realize that I never really was a light. I was trying to be something... that I wasn’t. I have always been a void, something dark and terrible and wicked, masquerading and basking in the warmth of something I have never deserved. A monster, pretending to be a-- a hero, or a savior, or--”

I had to wonder, the more I spoke, if the miko had drugged my tea to coax so many words from me at once. Only Jun was ever privy to my thoughts at length, and even so... Even so, expressing any of this to him would have been nigh impossible. But this woman - this stranger who knows me - watched me with a gentleness reminiscent of my mother’s, of Luli’s, even of the redheaded Garlean’s when she told me goodbye. 

She had the eyes of a caretaker, of someone gentle, who looked at a broken person and saw those shattered pieces and loved them regardless. 

“Xiu...” Her voice had softened, reaching a hand out to grasp one of mine as she stopped me - and silently, I thanked her for it - from rambling anymore. “You cannot truly think you are the only child who has not been able to accept the loss of their parents? You can’t believe that only those who have ever done good deserve to be loved, can you? Your prince - has he not done abhorrent things? Do you not think him still deserving of love?

“I see the spirits that linger around you,” she added, with a slight smile. “Even now, as hidden as they are to anyone else, I see them. They do not cling to you because you are wicked. They cling to you because they see what even mortals who know you well see - and that is a heart that only wants to do good. They see little Sun Xiu tending to sick chickens and stray kittens and running down dark corridors to help a ghost - someone long departed - because you heard them crying and begging.” 

Even as I swallowed the lump rising in my throat, I looked back up at the miko. And despite everything, I... needed to know, as she recited these old stories back to me. I needed to know...

“Who are you?” I asked quietly, and she smiled again. 

“My name is Mirai. And while we have never met, I have had quite the influx of spirits coming to tell me about you since you came to the Jade Palace - ones that have followed you from Haishan, and ones that you’ve only just met. You are the daughter of Chun Tao and Lei,” she said gently. “Chun Tao, priestess, miko, beloved by the kami and by the spirits as her precious daughter is. We miko have a way of getting tangled up if the spirits and the kami wish it to be so.”

Slowly, and with another quiet groan, this woman named Mirai rose to her feet. I watched as she walked to a shrine set up in the small room, and although there were no portraits, it was clear that offerings were made frequently. A tray for incense sat square in the middle, and quietly, Mirai placed a fresh stick after kneeling, just like I had watched Jun do in front of the portraits of his family within his wardrobe. 

“You may not like it, and you may not agree with it, but you have always been destined for things bigger than you, Sun Xiu. You have always been in the plan of the kami. No, perhaps you won’t save the world - not in this lifetime, at least - but is it not true that you have saved people? That you have tried, despite the circumstances that have been given to you, to do good?” 

My fingers tightened around my cup of tea as she lit the stick of incense and clasped her hands, bowing her head as she said a silent prayer. When was the last time, I wondered, that I had properly prayed? When had I knelt and bowed my head and brought offerings? 

Had I ever prayed of my own free will after losing my parents? 

“You have been a savior to the Jade Palace,” Mirai continued, and I swallowed again. “You walked into a place overcome with rot and pain, and  you have helped to bring light back within. Where once laid only fear, there is now hope. Where there was once resignation, there is a refreshed desire to keep fighting. And where there were once a cursed people...”

Mirai lifted her head and looked to me, and for a moment - just for half a moment - I saw her eyes flicker in the way that mine do. The air shifted, and quite suddenly, I looked away from her to see the ghostly images of Luli and her family in the window, but not as they are now - as they were, blind and terrifying to behold, unable to speak...

“...are a people beginning to heal.” 

The ghostly images shifted as I held my breath, revealing Luli and Liqin laughing together, their children laying in the sun while Midori ran across the beach with Aoi. Kyou was in Jun’s arms as he smiled at... someone I couldn’t see, but I knew the smile, now. 

He was smiling at me, his eyes directly fixed on me, before the images disappeared into thin air once more. 

“Your parents would be proud,” Mirai murmured as she rose back up to her feet, her eyes no longer kaleidoscopes of color but dark brown again. “You have been taught violence. You have been fed cruelty off of a spoon and told that it was love. Now, you receive love, and it confuses you. You wonder if you deserve it. You long for your parents, and you feel a disgust when anyone else tries to act that way - an anger at anyone, most especially, who tries to be a mother to you.

“It is not a betrayal to Chun Tao to allow them in. Do you think she would want her child to suffer eternally for the simple fact of not being able to say goodbye yet? No loving mother would wish that upon her precious child. You have been fighting a war for so long, Xiu, and it is far from over. The curse in the Jade Palace is not lifted in its entirety. You will go through extreme obstacles, hardships that will make you wish you were dead, trials beyond imagination...”

As she spoke, the old woman watched the burning incense, watched as the smoke curled into the air and as the ashes fell onto the wood beneath it. I found myself unable to move, unable to speak, unable to interrupt. All I could do was watch her and will my hands not to shake. 

“...and you will survive them, as you have survived everything else,” the old woman said quietly. “It is not what you deserve. Just because you are strong does not mean you should have to do these things. But such is the nature of circumstance. You knew these things without me telling you. You knew these things and accepted them the day you decided you would remain in the Jade Palace - a feared and loathsome place by all who know it. Didn’t you?” 

“Yes,” I whispered, unable to stop myself, and Mirai smiled at me, gentle and soft once more. She touched my hand, brushed her thumb over the sparse gathering of scales at the top of my wrist, before looking at my face. 

“The spirits of your ancestors will be with you. The love you receive will spur you on, as long as you accept it. The wicked you have done does not define you. The only one who can define you is you. So what are you, Sun Xiu? Who are you, beloved lotus?”

“Someone who is trying. Someone who is sad and angry and... full of regrets and... confidence that I can survive anything, without the desire to for myself. Not for myself, but for... for the people who need me...”

For Jun. For Aoi. For Ume and Anh, Luli and Liqin, Midori and Kyou, Hui-- for Biyu, that brave girl who risked her life just to defend my honor. 

To live, because my parents died just so it could be so. To live, because my parents had begged, with their dying breath, that I do just that. To keep on going so that my parents did not die in vain trying to protect me. 

I don’t remember when I started crying or how I ended up collapsed into this unfamiliar-but-familiar miko’s arms, letting her hold me as I wept. I was thankful that she didn’t ask me to say more. Maybe she didn’t need me to. I expect that she didn’t. No - I have a good feeling she knew every thought that ran through my head, in that quiet room, as melting snow dripped onto the open window. 

“It is okay to crumble,” she told me as she held me. “It is okay to not always be strong, Xiu. You have been strong for so long. You put others before yourself, always. You are allowed moments of weakness and of selfishness. And it is okay - more than acceptable and understandable - to feel this deep sort of sadness when you miss your parents.” 

I leaned back in her arms, sniffling, letting her wipe my tears with her calloused fingers as Luli had done for me before, as Liqin had done, as my mother had done when I fell and hurt myself and wailed over my scraped knee. 

Mothers. Women who were older and wiser and who knew what to do, what to say - women who were strong but not infallible, who were kind but not weak. Women I wanted to be. Women I only hoped I could become. 

Women that I hope I can help Aoi, Midori, Kyou, and all of the young girls around me to be, too - someone they can run to when the world is too much and when the sorrow is finally too much to bear alone. Those young girls, who trust me with everything... I hope I can help them. I hope I can be an example, someone to look up to, and not only for physical strength, but... as someone like a mother, or an auntie, or a big sister. 

“Light a lantern for your parents before the end of this sennight,” Mirai told me, quietly, as she opened the door once I had pulled myself together to leave. “Or a stick of incense. Say a prayer for them. They await you - that much I can feel, but... They are in no rush to see you either,” she added, smiling faintly. “I will be here, Sun Xiu. My doors are always open to you. It seems you’ve learned much on dealing with your gift on your own, but there is always more to learn, hm?”

“Thank you,” I said as I bowed at the waist, my eyes low. “Thank you for... listening. For your time. And for... well. For knowing plenty enough about me without me having to say it all.” 

“Don’t thank me,” Mirai chuckled, holding a hand out to reveal a familiar black yokai coiled around her wrist in the form of a snake. It blinked its large eyes at me, and even in my emotionally rattled state, I couldn’t help but to smile. “Your friends have been worried. They entrusted me with much.” 

The snake disappeared, only for me to feel it settling in the sleeve of my hanfu, comfortable and warm for the journey back to the Jade Palace. 

“Happy new year,” Mirai said, bowing to me. “And may many blessings reach you, Sun Xiu.”

“And you, miko. Happy new year.” 

[sebbybooks]

Our Vintage Summers(PT3)

Sebastian Stan x Fanfiction

"All I need is to remember

how it was to feel alive."

-Aurora

My eyelids were heavy as I tried to flutter them open. Slowly my vision came back to me as the blurbs of light and shapes began to take on real form. I had to steady my breath careful not to let my nerves takeover because it took me a while to adjust to my surroundings to figure out where I was and how I ended up back in this old bedroom of mine. I stared mindlessly up at the ceiling watching the cracks that formed around the dandelion shaped crystal chandelier that once radiated the most calming ambient light. As I stare at it now I see that it is nothing more than a hideous piece of architecture from my hellish childhood. Memories began to accompany the pain then right on time images of Sebastian fading into nothing flashed through my brain.

I jolted myself forward when realization finally kicked in but my attempt to get of out bed was short lived. I was met with a stabbing pain that shot through my head at full force that made me wince. I squeezed my eyes shut feeling like at any minute I was going to be sick. You would think I took a nasty beating to the skull from how badly it hurt.

I couldn't move the lower half of my body if I wanted to. I was tightly tucked underneath the duvet that I was burning up under. I laid there immobile and in misery. I couldn't call out for anyone all of my energy felt depleted and I was starting to feel dizzy on top of it. The thoughts in my head wouldn't slow down as they danced around taunting me. The only face I wasn't able to escape belonged to the one person that made me feel like I was going completely insane. Hell, maybe I was going a little mad. There was no way what I saw was real. How could I explain seeing a person vanish before my very eyes? The short answer was I couldn't.

Suddenly the door to the bedroom shot opened I was able to lift my head to look to see who had entered. Quickly coming over to the bed I saw out of the corner of my eye it was my sister Anya. The look of concern she wore on her face quickly diminished when she looked down and saw that I was conscious.

"You're awake!" She whispered. Anya's pinched expression was replaced with a toothy smile. "You had us worried sick Sia. Justin just found you face down on the kitchen floor." I could hardly find it in me to speak so I just let out a exasperated sigh in response. She brushed through my hair gently with her hand careful not to press down on my head too hard, brushing my hair away from my face. I was grateful for that because my hair was starting to cling to my skin. It felt like I was getting hotter and hotter by the second I needed a fan or a window to be let open. I feared I might be at risk of passing out again.

"Jesus Sia you are burning up." Anya said finally stating the obvious as she flipped her hand back and forth over my forehead. I used all the energy I had to raise my hand to motion that I needed air. "Let me go get you an ice pack and turn the AC up." She said as she started to turn around to leave.

"Anya." My voice came out like a croak.

"Yeah sis?"

I had to move my tongue around in my mouth a few times to get a bit of moisture flowing. My throat was so incredible hoarse I could hardly understand my own voice. Plus it pained me to even move my jaw in the slightest. I needed to know so I used all that I had to say his name. "Sebastian?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion as she looked back at me like I had a horn coming from the center of my forehead. Thinking she didn't hear me I attempted to utter his name again. This time she reacted as if I was the one confused. "Sia you hit your head pretty hard now you're just saying random names. Maybe Remi was right and we need to call an ambulance."

I began to pull myself up, but again quickly regretted it. "Anya where. . . where did he go?"

Standing in the middle of the doorway. "Where did who go?" I could hear the genuine frustration laced in her tone.

"Sebastian?" I spoke his name like I was unsure of who I was referring to myself.

Defeated she stared back at me with pity and worry in her eyes. "We met a lot of people at grandma's funeral, but we don't know anyone by that name. The only people here with us is Justin, Remi, and Gavin remember? I'm going to give Dr. Thomas a call after all to see if he will come out and look at you just to be sure that you're ok." She huffed out as she pulled her cellphone from her back pocket.

I don't know why but my eyes began to cloud over with tears. "He showed up to the house tonight right as the storm rolled in." Listening to the sound of my own voice it sounded like I had an ugly cold. I could tell she was trying to ignore me. Despite how badly it hurt to talk I kept going. "We met him earlier on the beach Anya, mom introduced him to us. Sebastian told us that he knew our grandmother why aren't you listening to me?" As delusional and pathetic I must've sounded to top it all off I started to sob uncontrollably. It hurt to even puff out a breath of air. Wet hot tears rolled down my face. I was losing it.

"Hello Dr.Thomas this is Anya Foxwood, Nora and Keith's daughter. I am terribly sorry to be disturbing you this late I wouldn't have called if I didn't think it was an emergency." I began to block the sound of my sister as I reclined my tired body back onto the bed.

The rain that continued to pour down from the sky loudly started to pick up and beat against the windowsill. The drumming sound of thunder accompanied it in the background to add to the mix of noises. Teardrops pooled from the corners of my eyes. I was engulfed in an uncomfortable wave of sadness that I myself couldn't even explain. I didn't want to admit it but I swear it felt like my heart was crying out for him. Which was the strangest sensation I didn't even know him! I started to even second guess if he was real. An that all of this was just apart of a cursed day that refused to end.

I sank my body down further into the bed trying to hold on to the last details of Sebastian and I's conversation. I had this gut feeling about him that I had trouble deciphering if was good or bad. Yet, my wild emotions that jumped out in his presence urged me to quell any doubts that I had. Which was an unsafe mindset I found myself trapped in. He was on the verge of telling me something that he so desperately wanted me to know. Then shit went supernatural.

The room fell silent I didn't even notice when Anya stepped away. She closed the door closing off what little air I did receive. It felt like a sauna in here. I could barely catch my breath. I assumed the pain in my head was worsening because it started to feel like I was spinning, despite the fact I was laying completely still. In all honesty at the risk of sounding dramatic I was convinced in this moment I was dying. I've never had a migraine make me feel like my brain was hemorrhaging painfully slow. I wanted to scream out in agony but my throat felt restricted unable to call out for help. I barely could move a muscle and that was the scariest part of it all. I waited for it to get worse so it would finally be over. I had no choice but to accept whatever was to come freeing me from this torment.

Gasping for air at this point I closed my eyes thinking it would help bring me an inkling of comfort to ease my suffering. Almost on an instant my limbs began to feel more relaxed and a sense calmness washed through my body. I could feel rays of sunlight grazing every inch of my skin. Through my closed eyelids the lights grew brighter like I was laying under direct sunlight of some sorts. When I tried turning on my side I felt tiny grains of sand underneath me and that's when my eyelids shot open. Clearly I died or was dreaming. Somehow I ended up back on the beach

As I raised myself from the sand I looked around in confusion as I watched the strangers around me partake in the elements around them. Couples were strolling alongside the water, children were playing in the sand, families were huddled together smiling and laughing. I scanned the area around me all appeared normal, except something was definitely off.

Pushing myself up I had to quickly access my attire it felt like I was nearly naked. I was dressed in a blush pink high waisted polka dot bikini with a swim top that left none to the imagination. It didn't take long for me to pick up on the attention I was attracting. Mothers with their children stared back at me with disdain while their husbands were doing a poor job hiding the fact that they were skeevy. While it was apparent I stuck out like a sore thumb I noticed something about everyone's choice of modest swimwear and style. They all looked like they stepped out of a scene from a Fitzgerald novel.

A loud nervous laugh escaped from me and I quickly clamped my hand across my mouth. I could sense myself starting to panic, clearly I was experiencing a very realistic dream. I felt every sensation like it was happening in real time. Squinting my eyes from the bright sunlight I was slightly terrified to move and explore my new location. What startled me the most was the fact that I recognized exactly where I was. Spinning around on my bare feet in the hot sand the only thing that was familiar to me was seeing that my grandmother's house was still sitting on the sand dune up ahead.

"How in the hell?" I said aloud, my voice trailing off as I tried to screw my head on straight. The Victorian styled beach house was nearly unrecognizable. Its previous cold and uninviting essence on the outside was replaced with a great deal of decadency and warmth. There were no longer old vines that clung to every crevice on the house. Lively blue and violet hydrangeas adorned it instead as they climbed up the structure of the house. The dead shrubbery was replaced with vibrant yellow forsythia plants that lined against the house. On the front lawn children joyfully chased after a rabbit while men and women whose faces I didn't know were scattered across the front of the house engaged in a party. From the looks of it they were having a good time. All the years I've seen that house it never looked more alive.

"HEY LADY WATCH OUT!!" Before I could move fast enough to see who was shouting to get my attention I was taken out by a flying blue frisbee. Thankfully it missed my face but the thick plastic disc went straight to my neck knocking the wind out of me. Doubling over in pain I crouched down trying to stop my uncontrollable coughing attack. I gasped for air right as I noticed two sets of feet quickly pick up that weapon and take off running in a fit of laughter.

"Those little shits are you alright Miss?" By now surely I could recognize that voice which made my heart flip in my chest. I looked up as I brought my hand to massage the area of impact on my neck. "Sia?" Sebastian said my name carefully upon recognition.

I couldn't blink. If I did I was one hundred percent certain he would waste away again. He didn't look like he did when I last saw him in my grandmother's kitchen. Eyeing him I noticed that he was an exact replica of the man I saw in the photo I found. There was a sun kissed tan to him, his hair was shorter and tindruls of curls fell on his forehead. He was even dressed in the same opened buttoned white linen shirt and blue and white swim shorts. The more I noticed that the similarities were exactly the same my knees started to tremble and I was close to falling onto my ass until Sebastian reached out and grabbed me. Slightly tilted off balance he kept his arms arms secured around my waist so that I wouldn't fall down. I gave into my weight trusting that he would hold me steady. I no longer cared to try to rationalize what on earth was happening. I tipped my head back up at him still in utter disbelief , "You remember who I am?"

He looked down at me and I'm sure we mirrored the same shocked expression. "Of course I remember." Sebastian's chest was rising and falling at a fast speed. The grip he had on my frail frame tightened but it wasn't an uncomfortable feeling. He was holding onto me almost as if he was afraid to let go.

His focus never drifted away from my face which caused me to feel bashful underneath his affectionate gaze. For a minute I was concerned that he had gone mute, sensing what I was thinking he positioned me back on my feet backing away to put distance between us. Sebastian looked like he was fighting with himself to come near me again. My hands twitched just to touch any part of him. I was tired of fighting what I couldn't understand.Hiding my disappointment I looked away just long enough to catch my breath stealing a glance of the house once again. "I have been telling myself not to freak out, but I'm starting to fail miserably."

"None of this is going right." His shoulders were tense like he was unable to relax any muscle. It was visible that whatever was bothering him was making him upset. "I'm still trying to make sense myself, but for right now I need you to trust me so we can get you somewhere where she won't be able to find you like this."

.....

(A/N* Hi beautiful creatures! I know it's taken me a while to update this fic, for a minute I was unsure if I wanted to continue writing it. I promise not to take forever to upload the next part! Just an fyi If you had ever asked me to tag you the reason I didn't was only due to the fact it has been such a long time. Therefore I had it in the back of my mind you simply forgot about it (which is fine!). If you want to know when I post the next part just let me know and I'll happily do so! I hope you guys are having a wonderful day or night! If not I promise it'll get better😘)

[starscheme]

Change My World

Chapter Seventeen: Elaine’s Last Try

After Steven had gotten that off his chest, Spinel's heart wouldn’t calm down. She knew what he was going to say, but apparently she just didn't prepare herself enough for it. After all, she'd hoped he wouldn't say it, but now that he did, there was no turning back. What was she going to do now? She was embarrassed, her face flushed, and a goofy smile laced her lips. She shouldn't be happy about this. Steven loving her would only end badly. Taking her hands from his, Spinel grabbed her pigtails and hid her face with her hair. "Th-thank you..." she replied, unsure what else she could possibly say in return.

Steven stifled a laugh and cleared his throat quietly. She was far more adorable than she realized. "Spinel, you don't have to be so nervous. I don't expect you to-"

Spinel placed her finger over his lips to keep Steven from continuing. She knew what he was going to say. She knew because of how kind he was he didn't expect anything in return for his affection. He never asked her for anything in return no matter what he did. However, just as she thanked him before, she would offer what little she could. "J-just wait," she insisted, pulling her hand back and forcing herself to look up at him even if her cheeks still burned.

Steven nodded his head, waiting in silence as she watched Spinel struggle with what to do next. He was confused, but it was cute to watch, so he didn't mind. At first, he tried to guess what she was trying to say, but as it turned out, she wasn't planning on saying anything. Spinel quickly got on her tiptoes, placing her hands on Steven's chest for balance, and leaned up to kiss his lips.

Steven was so shocked that he barely had time to react properly when their lips met before Spinel pulled back. "Wh—-wait!" Steven exclaimed once he realized what had just happened. "Did you just—wait!"

"W-was that...was that not right?" Spinel asked, quickly glancing down at her hands as she tugged anxiously at her dress. "I've never...I...just wanted to show you that—-I mean—-I don't know!" Spinel stumbled over her words, unable to think properly anymore. It seemed like such a good idea at the time, but now she just felt like a fool.

Steven panicked and grabbed her shoulders to get her attention. "N-no, that was right, that was great!" He insisted with a blush. Knowing he had to reassure Spinel before she spiraled and became too embarrassed to ever attempt it again. "It's...it's just..." he trailed off, his cheeks burning red as he worked up some courage, "...can we do it again?"

Spinel froze and she quickly placed her hand over her heart to make sure it hadn't actually jumped from her chest. "A-again? You…really want to?"

Before Steven could answer her, there was a knock at the door and Steven hung his head in bitter disappointment. "Whhhhhy?" He groaned miserably, internally cursing the terrible timing of whoever was at the door.

"S-Steven? Spinel? It's Elaine. I...I came to apologize..." announced the timid girl on the other side of the door.

Spinel immediately frowned. This girl had been more trouble than she was worth, but Steven reacted before she did and turned for the door. He didn't plan on ignoring Elaine, but he also wasn't too keen on allowing her anywhere near Spinel. He opened the door, a little relieved to see that Allen was standing with his sister.

"Sorry to disturb you again," Allen began, "but Elaine insisted on apologizing and I figured it was best to clear the air."

"I-I really do feel awful," Elaine insisted desperately. "I said such awful things to Spinel...but I only did that because I truly believed that I saw a Mermaid. I was scared...and worried about you. I'm so ashamed of my actions..."

Steven was a little taken aback by her apology, but Spinel peeked out from behind Steven with a leer towards Elaine. "That doesn't excuse the lying and accusations."

"I just didn't know what I was saying, but my head feels clear now. I mean, we all know how dangerous Mermaids are; I just panicked when I thought I saw one. I was worried someone’s soul might be taken...or that Steven was being bewitched...or-"

"—-her point is," interrupted her brother as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "my sister just got a little confused from the fall, but she's sorry for all the trouble she caused. My father is getting your accounts together to refund the room, so I hope you won't hold my sisters mishap against us."

Though Steven was usually a trusting person, he was having a hard time accepting this. Something felt off about it. "Thank you for the apology, but—-"

"—-a-actually, I did come up here for something else as well," Elaine continued, "I think when I fell...I lost something important. My grandmothers ring..."

"I haven't seen any ring," Spinel replied quickly.

"Would it be okay if I came in and looked for it? Please, it's the only thing I have left of her. It's very precious to me..." Elaine pleaded with tears in her eyes.

As Elaine made her case to retrieve her grandmother’s ring, their Mother was calling for Allen to help with some new patrons at the front. He excused himself and promised his sister he would be back right away, leaving her alone at the door.

"I don't think Spinel would be comfortable with you coming inside," answered Steven finally. "But we could look for the ring and let you know."

Tears began to trickle down Elaine’s cheeks and the young woman used the apron over her dress to cover her face, "I-I don't blame you both for hating me. I'm so sorry!"

"Just get your stupid ring and leave," Spinel relented. She just wanted this girl to go away. Once she got her ring, she'd have no reason to bother them again.

"Are you sure?" Asked Steven, still uneasy about allowing Elaine inside.

"Thank you, Spinel! You're so kind," exclaimed Elaine as she wiped her eyes.

Steven sighed and stepped back to open the door a bit further so that Elaine could slip by him. Spinel stayed by Steven's side while Elaine searched the washroom for her ring. Not that she had much choice since Steven was holding her waist to keep her close. After what happened before, he wasn't taking any chances.

With no luck in the bathroom, Elaine thought it must have fallen off when she was carried to the bed. After further scanning around the floor, Elaine finally seemed to have found the ring. Unfortunately, it had rolled beneath the wardrobe and her arms weren't long enough to reach it. "Steven...would you be able to move the wardrobe a bit? ...I can't seem to reach..."

Steven was apprehensive about letting go of Spinel, but the former Mermaid sighed and walked over to the bed, sitting at the side, "well good, you've found it, now you can leave."

Steven did as he was asked and pushed the wardrobe aside quite easily, giving Elaine enough space to reach her ring. Once she had the ring in hand, she got to her feet and smiled up at Steven. "Thank you Steven, and...I'm really sorry about all this, but once you're free from your spell, I'm sure you'll thank me."

At first he thought Elaine was apologizing for her accusations again, but the way she worded it was rather strange. "Wait, what—-"

Elaine had taken out a tiny blue marble from her apron pocket and slapped it against Steven's chest, releasing a small, fast burst of smoke that seemed to knock him out at once. Luckily, he leaned back and slid against the wall, sleeping soundly as he slumped to the floor. Elaine didn't want to hurt Steven, but she was sure while he was enchanted, he'd just help the Mermaid. While at first she was quite proud of how she'd managed that so smoothly, she wasn't prepared for how quickly Spinel responded.

Elaine had barely turned around to confront the Mermaid when she felt Spinel's hand around her throat, pushing her back hard against the wardrobe with a loud bang.

"What did you do?" Hissed Spinel.

The look in Spinel's eyes shook Elaine to her core. The Mermaid wasn't panicked or concerned, she was focused and cold. Looking at Elaine as if she were a cornered animal. Even if Elaine wanted to explain, Spinel's grip was getting tighter and the girl gasped for breath. "H—-st—-" she sputtered through choked attempts at speech.

With a glare, Spinel released the girl’s throat, letting Elaine cough and catch her breath before she spoke again. "If you scream, I will make sure you never speak again," stated Spinel simply. With Steven passed out, she wasn't so worried about upsetting him. He was kind, but Spinel had no problem killing humans if she had to. "What did you do to Steven?"

Elaine rubbed her throat, glaring back at Spinel. "I...didn't want him getting hurt because of you, you monster," she answered with a strain in her voice. "He'll wake up if I—"

Before she could finish, Spinel slammed Elaine’s back against the wardrobe by her shoulders. "Wake him up," demanded Spinel in a quiet snarl. "Now."

"N-not until you release him! If you release him from your spell and leave town, I won't call the law." Truthfully, Elaine had been confident in her plan, but she was rapidly realizing that she had no idea what she was doing. The small magical trinkets she'd brought with her may not have been enough to handle this. She certainly didn't think Spinel would be so fast. Why did she think she could handle a Mermaid alone when it usually took several soldiers or Hunters?

"You really don't have the upper hand here." Fix him. NOW." Spinel demanded once again.

Elaine panicked. She thought the bargain would work, but since it fell through, she'd have to try something else. "F-fine. ...there's a yellow marble in my apron pocket. ...it's the one to wake him up..."

Spinel reached down into one of Elaine’s apron pockets and pulled out the yellow marble she'd described. However, Spinel wasn't holding it long before the marble reacted, sending a terrible shock or electricity throughout Spinel's body, earning a painful scream from the Mermaid before she fell to her knees, crippled by the painful jolts that continued to travel along her body.

"W-it worked!" Elaine exclaimed in triumphant surprise. "I thought that customer was full of it at first. Now, all I have to do is get Steven out of—"

As Elaine was thinking aloud over her plan to get Steven from the room, she turned to where he was sleeping and found that he wasn't sleeping anymore. However, though he was standing, his eyes wide open; it didn't seem like Steven at all. His eyes had changed color and his pupils were now in the shape of diamonds.

"St-Steven?!" Spinel exclaimed through gritted teeth. This was too similar to what happened at camp. Even if Elaine was terrible trouble, she didn't want Steven to stain his hands with another death.

"What did you do to him?!" Elaine shouted, standing on her tiptoes to try and examine his face. His eyes were beginning to shine a bright white light and Elaine was pushed back from him by what seemed to be a strong gust of wind, knocking her away and onto the bed, breaking the electric hold on Spinel as well.

"Steven!" Shouted Spinel as she scrambled to her feet, her skin aching from the burns the electrocution left on her body, singing the edges of her dress. "Are you okay?! Say something!"

Steven stood still, his eyes remained bright. It was disconcerting, though Spinel was relieved to see that nothing else was happening. She even glanced back at the bed to see that Elaine had been knocked out once again. She was actually quite surprised that no one else had come running with all the noise they'd been making. She wasn't sure how to fix this, but getting Steven's attention came first. Standing in front of him, Spinel cupped his face in her hands. "Steven! Steven! It's me! I—"

As Spinel tried her best to shake Steven from his trance, the light from his eyes faded and he looked down at Spinel. The pink hue hadn't gone away and he still wasn't speaking as his diamond eyes roamed over the small burns among Spinel's body. Without answering her, Steven's body moved rather robotically, placing his hands on Spinel's shoulders and leaning down to kiss her cheek.

Confused at first, Spinel wasn't sure what was happening. That is, until she felt the pain from the burns vanish. She glanced down at her arms to see the resulting scars disappearing as well. Was Steven healing her? Once the burns were gone, Steven pulled back to look over Spinel again. Though his expression was stoic, Spinel was sure that he had been worried about her. Whatever this was, it seemed to take over Steven when he was in danger. This time, it came around after Spinel had screamed. "I'm okay," she announced, reaching up to stroke his cheek tenderly against her palm. "I'm all better."

Without a word, Steven closed his eyes and his body went limp, alarming Spinel as she was forced to catch him in her arms with a gasp. "Whoa," she exclaimed, trying to keep him on his feet, but finding it terribly difficult since her new legs weren't that strong just yet.

"Now what do I do?" Asked Spinel aloud as she draped one of his arms around her shoulders, looking back at the unconscious Elaine. How were they going to explain this one? Not only that, why hadn't anyone heard what was going on?

As Spinel was concentrating on finding an escape, there began a pounding against the door. It didn't sound like a knock. More like someone was using a battering ram to try and get through. It must have been Elaine’s brother or Father. Actually, it might have been anyone that heard the commotion. "Okay...okay..." breathed Spinel as she slowly helped Steven to the ground. She wasn't going to leave him behind, but she couldn't fight while holding him. So the Mermaid prepared herself for whoever was going to bust through that door.

However, to Spinel’s surprise, when the door finally broke down and fell forward into the room, what stood in the doorway was not human at all. Standing atop the fallen door was a large, pink lion, his eyes shining a bright light just as Steven's had earlier.

"Are you—what is this?" Spinel asked without thinking. She'd seen pictures of Lions, but was quite sure there weren't any pink colored ones running about. Also, why was there one roaming a village Inn? Did the humans summon it? Could they even do that?

The Lions eyes dimmed, staring silently at Spinel before it turned its attention to the unconscious Steven beside her. The beast stepped forward to approach the young man, but Spinel quickly kneeled down to cover Steven's body. The Lion stopped, but didn't seem put off by Spinel. Instead, he lowered his body, glancing at Spinel as if waiting for her.

The disguised Mermaid stared in disbelief at the creature for a moment, but as she looked from Steven and back to the beast, she didn't feel as though they were in danger from it. "...can you...get us out of here?" She asked quietly, reaching over and placing her hand on the Lions large pink nose.

The beast seemed to nod, even if it was just a little. This was enough for Spinel. He wasn't attacking them anyway, so at least that was something. Anyhow, they couldn't very well stay here after this. First, she rushed to get the large bag that Steven had been carrying with them and stuffed his maps and Elaine’s book inside. Steven only intended to borrow it, but Spinel figured she owed them now. In fact, she'd take more of their stuff if she wasn't in a hurry. The last thing she stuffed in the duffel was the blanket from the bed, trying hard to force it inside. She wanted to make sure the bag was filled to the brim so that she wasn't forgetting anything. She hung the bags strap over her shoulder, losing her balance at first, but rallying quickly as she made her way to Steven. It was harder with the bag weighing her down, but eventually Spinel was able to lift Steven up enough for the Lion to help nudge him onto his back. Taking a deep breath, Spinel made sure that Steven was steady on the Lion before she cautiously settled herself on the pink beast as well, scooting forward to hold onto her unconscious friend.

The Lion seemed fine with all this and straightened up once everyone was safely on his back. Spinel still wasn't sure where this Lion came from, but since he was friendly and seemingly offering them a ride, she didn't want to waste an opportunity to escape. She looked back at Elaine one more time and stuck out her tongue in disdain before the Lion took off through the open doorway.

[kiki-wiccan]

The echo off the walls caused her fine tuned hearing to ring which caused the Alpha to cover her ears for a moment though she still looked deeply amused with the situation, that was until the truth came out. Instantly the smirk upon her red lips faded to a scowl. No longer light hearted about the matter she almost reacted but tensed up and let the younger girl finish her explanation before she reacted. Standing with her hands now on her hips and her teeth chewing at the inside of her cheek as she contemplated how to go about the situation with this new found information. She studied Kiki’s face and scent as she spoke, reading no deception the she wolf felt she really didn't understand what it was she was doing exactly, that and the fact that she thought hard about how Elidi would want her to handle the situation,  “You realize that you are basically selling Elidi’s magic to people like its some bootleg DVD you recorded in a movie theater...It’s extremely disrespectful to her interest in teaching you and to her power as a witch... You also realize that the only person I am loyal to in this situation is Elidi..I don’t particularly care for you, in fact hearing this makes me want to rip your throat out for even considering that I would break her trust for yours.” In her words the Alpha clenched her fists in restraint as she stepped closer to the wiccan, the taller woman was holding a lot back in that moment but she wanted to make very clear her point. Her claws dug into her palms causing her to bleed but it was enough to ease her anger in the moment of what she was told, it eased her enough to stay level headed in the moment rather than acting out of impulse like she so badly wanted to,  “Unlike you, I see the true power and potential within her and I personally do not intend to let anyone abuse her in any form. Certainly not the likes of a ignorant human tarnishing her honor as a self respecting witch. I won’t have to tell her, because you will... If you care about and respect her like you say you do, then you should want to right this wrong you have done to her... If you don’t right it yourself, her judgement will be the least of your concerns, you may not fear me now, but you will if you ever disrespect her in any sense like this again..” Standing close to the dark haired wiccan she held her head high and looked down at her, her expression went from dangerous to curious. While she didn’t offer out her wealth to just anyone she wondered what was so urgent that Kiki would potentially risk her chance of being taught to get money. Tilting her head the she wolf asked,  “What could you possibly need money for so bad that you are willing to do this. You do realize I am rich right? If you needed money that bad why not ask me? In fact if it stops you from selling more of Elidi’s magic to unworthy people I will pay for whatever you need. Do.Not.Do.This.Again..If I find out Kiki that you are selling Elidi’s magic after I have just offered you my money, I will eat you, feet first so that you suffer..Now tell me what is going on..”

For just a moment she actually looked frightened, taking a few steps back as the wolf stepped forward but then her gaze hardened and she stood her ground. “I would never want to hurt Elidi....you think I like doing this shit?! I hate it! I debated other ways like you said selling my body, I couldn’t bring myself to do it....I thought I could sell some charms and that I’d have enough on top of my current pay from work” she met the wolf’s gaze, of course she felt guilty but as she had said it wouldn’t have gone on very long. “I’ll tell Elidi, and I’ll stop not because I’m scared of you or what you’ll do but because I don’t want to hurt Elidis feelings as for your offer...” it ran through her mind it would be an easy way out. But then would she be in debt to the alpha? Would she hold it against her? She wasn’t about to take some handout as far as she knew her grandmother and mother could hold out a little longer. “No thank you, I don’t want your hand outs I can make the money myself” she pulled out her phone and checked the time, her next shift at the shop started in about an hour. “I’ll go tell Elidi after work if she is at her house, if she’s not I’ll just text her, I’m sorry...” with that being said she walked past Tamryn and was planning on finding somewhere to sit and chill for the next hour.

[ourimpavidheroine]

Lin and Su with Spouses - During a (school) Dance? (For lovealg)

“Well, what do you know, Madame Beifong, I think they’re playing our song.” LoLo flashed that damned sassy dimple at her sister and she reacted the same way that just about everyone did; smiling, blushing a little and going along with him. Su took the arm he was offering and let him take her to the dance floor, laughing at whatever flirty thing she was sure he’d just whispered into her ear. He was incorrigible.

“It’s good to see him able to move around the floor like that.” Her brother-in-law was standing next to her, two flutes of champagne in his hands. “I got this for Susi, but you may as well have it before it goes flat.” He gestured at a quieter table set back from the crowd and she sat down with him, taking the proffered drink. Champagne wasn’t her favorite tipple, not by a long shot, but it’s what Wu liked to offer at his parties, so there she was.

She liked her brother-in-law. He was a deceptively quiet man; she’d assumed, at first, that he was spineless, under her sister’s thumb. He wasn’t. Rather, he was a solid pillar of strength, the foundation for all of Su’s impulsiveness and hot temper. Damn handsome, too, not that she thought Su would have only picked a man based on his looks. Never hurt, though. The more she’d gotten to know him over the years, the more she respected him. Liked him, too. Su hadn’t done bad for herself, not at all.

“So how long do you think before I can gracefully bow out of here?” He chuckled, and she snorted in return.

“Su’s like LoLo, always wants to see the party out.”

“I’m usually pretty partied out about halfway through the evening.”

“I hear you on that one.”

“Susi told me about the parties your grandmother used to have. Legendary.” He smiled, and they both watched LoLo take Su through her paces across the floor.

“Did she? I wouldn’t have thought she would have gone on about our childhood.”

Baatar thought about this for a moment. “I don’t if she went on, per se, but she told some stories. The kids always wanted to hear them. She had to do a fair amount of judicious editing, of course, but both you and your mother usually came up.”

That got an outright laugh out of her. “I can hardly believe she had a positive thing to say about me, never mind my mother.”

He frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

She threw a hand out. “Well, it’s not like she and I got along all that well when we were kids.”

He took a swallow of champagne before settling the flute down and steepling his fingers. “Well, I suppose in many ways you didn’t.” He shot his wife a glance. “I never had any siblings, but I raised five children, I’m aware of how sibling relationships work.” He returned his attention to her. “She had a lot of good memories of the two of you. The kids loved hearing the stories, especially Opal.” They both looked at Opal, who was currently dancing with Mako, his hand resting easily on the small of her back.

“I’m just surprised, I guess. It’s not like we left on good terms, to say the very least.”

He watched his daughter dance for a moment before taking another swallow of his drink. “I had a good relationship with my parents when I was a boy.” A small smile. “Even when I wasn’t a boy any longer. My parents were good, loving people.”

“Much like LoLo’s folks.”

He shook his head, bemused. “Well, there weren’t as many of us, but yes. When I finally met your mother, I was looking forward to it. I was anxious to meet the woman who had given the world Suyin Beifong.”

She scoffed. “Bet she changed your mind in a hurry.”

He rolled the flute between his fingers, watching as the light caught and flashed in the crystal. “She didn’t have much use for me, your mother. She didn’t like me, and she never bothered to hide it, either.”

“That sounds about right.” She leaned forward to put a hand on his arm. “You shouldn’t take it personally, she didn’t like most people.”

He shrugged. “Well, I can’t dismiss what she did for Huan. And she was always fairly affectionate with Opal, who openly adored her. She was gone before the twins were old enough to really know her and she and Junior barely spoke, most of the time. And, as I said, she didn’t like me.” He sighed, and glanced over at her. “It killed Su, it really did. She wanted so badly for her mother to be proud of her.”

She shook her head and flicked her glass with her forefinger, watching the liquid shiver. “Yeah well, my mother wasn’t invested in praise. As far as she was concerned, praise was something that only weak people needed.”

“I hated having her around. She was rude to me, ignored Junior and the twins no matter how hard they tried to get her attention, and was dismissive of Su. In fact, if it weren’t for Huan I would have kicked her crotchety ass right out of the city.” His thumb was drawing circles on the table. “Su and I always fought when she was around, Su was so tense and anxious. She’d go out of her way to satisfy her - which never worked, course - and then take her disappointment about it out on me. She built her that ridiculous statue in a desperate bid to please her and it didn’t work, of course. Do you know what your mother said about it?”

She sighed. “I can probably guess.”

“You call yourself a Beifong? Your metalbending needs work, Suyin.” He hissed a breath out. “It’s been nearly thirty years now and I’m still not finished being angry with her over that. Su cried for days over it. I think the only reason she didn’t tear the damn thing down was because she wanted it as a reminder of how she could never get it right.” He gave a half-smile. “That, and she was angry when she was done being hurt. I don’t need to tell you how stubborn and defiant she gets when she’s angry.”

“The fucked up thing about is that knowing my mother, she probably was pleased.” She flicked the glass even harder, sending it an inch across the table. “I don’t know why she just couldn’t tell us that, but she never could.”

He finished his champagne, still looking at the table. “She used to celebrate your birthday. Every year. Did she ever tell you that?”

She frowned. “No. She celebrated my birthday?”

He nodded. “Every single year. Without fail. She’d have a special dinner, like she’d always have for the kids, make sure the table was decorated with your favorite flowers, that sort of thing, and then she’d tell them stories about you, about the fun you’d had as kids, about what a good bender you were, about how you were helping to keep Republic City safe. That sort of thing.”

“Shit.”

He met her eyes on that one. “Yes, well. And then, after the kids had gone to bed she’d go into her office, alone, and get thoroughly drunk. And cry.”

They were both silent for a time, watching her sister dance with LoLo, laughing at whatever he was saying to her, spinning around the floor like she was born to it. Which she was, Su had always been a gifted dancer.

“You showed up at Zaofu with Korra all those years ago, and I thought she was going to come apart at the seams. She did the same thing with you she’d always done with your mother, took you around the city, trying to prove to you how wonderful her life was, how perfect. She wanted your approval, but was so afraid you wouldn’t give it to her. Which made her angry, of course. She’s never liked feeling vulnerable.”

“Family thing,” she replied, her throat closing up on her, damn it all anyhow.

“You reached out, though. You made sure that you left on decent terms, unlike your mother. And I can’t begin to tell you what it meant to her.” He chuckled. “She was ready to have you move in, then and there.”

She managed to return his laugh. “Yeah, she tried to get me to do it.”

“She couldn’t stop talking about you, after you left, was already planning how she was going to invite you for the holidays, that sort of thing.” He reached his hand out and patted hers. “You being back in her life has made her very happy, it’s meant the world to her. I’m glad the two of you were able to make up your differences.”

“I was so pissed at her when Mom sent her away, I blamed her for everything. She was just a kid. The last thing she needed was feeling like she was being thrown away, which is what I’m sure she felt like.” She tossed down the rest of her champagne. “Not that I understood it back then, I was too busy thinking like I was the only person in the world that knew what was best for everyone.” She grimaced. “What a sanctimonious asshole I was.”

He gave her a conspiratorial grin. “Oh, when I was in my early twenties I thought I knew everything there was to know. I was so very, very wrong.”

“I’d toast to that but we seem to be out of booze.” She waved over a server and pointed silently to their glasses, waiting for him to pick them up and replace them. “Now then. Here’s to being twenty-two and thinking you know everything.” He tapped his glass against hers and they both drank.

“She told the kids about the scars, too.”

Her eyebrows shot up at that. “Did she? Before they met me?”

He nodded. “Junior and Wei were getting into it one night - the two of them have always fought like wolfbats and badgermoles - and she hauled them both aside and told them that they’d regret their fighting one day when they were older. And then she told them about it, how you were trying to stop her from doing something wrong and how she lashed out at you and scarred you. The twins were too young to hear the whole story, but she told the three oldest, was honest about what she was doing at the time, really laid it out for them.”

“Huh.” She didn’t really know what to say to that. She’d always assumed Su had never said anything, that the kids had all just assumed she’d gotten it somewhere else.

“That’s why all the kids were so eager to meet you when you finally came.” He smiled. “Even Huan, although being Huan he didn’t really show it.” He waggled his finger at her. “I tell you what, though, that sculpture of his you tossed? When you and Su were having it out? He kept it, used to tell everyone that it was a joint Beifong endeavor.”

“Smartass.” She was amused. Funny kid, Huan.

“Who’s a smartass?” Su was looking down at her, smiling, cheeks slightly flushed. Well, a dance with LoLo would do that for just about anyone. He was sitting down next to Baatar, taking up what was left of her champagne.

“You are,” she told her kid sister, who stuck her tongue out at her before sitting next to her and wrapping her arms around her, laughing.

[ssquared2018]

Hi I was going through the Jaylos tag and saw your post, if you feel up to it would you mind writing my prompt? My prompt is : Jay and Carlos have been together for a long time and have adopted a child and now they are going back to the isle so the "grandparents" can know/meet them. I was wondering what nerves would they have? Especially Carlos with how badly his mother treated him in the past?

(THIS IS ACTUALY MY FIRST EVER ASK AND PROMPT SO THANK YOU, hopefully i can figure out how to respond [hopefully im doing it right])Writer Notes: So i decided to do a sort of prequel to this prompt. I really love it and its an interesting concept, one that ive actually thought a lot about this a lot (minus the kid). If you enjoy the way the story is going just send me an ask to continue and id be happy to. BTW im really bad at picking names so while i was writing i just wrote *insert name* when i was mentioning the kids name so i apologize if his name seems out of context. Also i suck at writing even though i love doing it so sorry in advance. But with out further a due…..

GRANDPARENTS part 1/(?)

          It’s been 15 years since they were off the Isle. None of them have thought of going back, thought they finally put that place being them. The rotten four were now living together with a new addition to the family, Jaden, Jay’s and Carlos’ son. Though the four of them raised him together it was Jay’s and Carlos’ who decided they were ready to further their relationship by having a child, asking Evie to be a sergeant. Jaden loved having two moms and two dad, he always got more toy than the other kids in daycare did and because of how cool his parents where he knew things that the other kids didn’t, like how to pickpocket some. Jay taught him that on his 4th birthday, much to Carlos’ annoying not only did he have to deal with his husband sneaking things out his pocket but now he had a kid who would steal his phone to play games on. Carlos always knew he was picking his pocket but never had the heart to tell him, he hated seeing his son upset. Which is why when Jaden comes home from school one day a little less happy Carlos was the first to catch on to it.         “Hey kiddo, how was school today?” Carlos said as Jaden and Jay walked through the front door and into the dining room. Before Jay went to the kitchen to grab some food after kissing Carlos on the cheek.         “It..was okay.”he responded with a notable pause before sitting down at the table to start his homework.           “Oh, really? Just ‘okay’? What did you do today?” Noticing something wrong Carlos got up and moved to sit next to his son at the table. There was a pause before the kid responded, noticeably trying to focus on the homework in front of him, when did first grade start sending home math problems??

          “Yeah. It was okay.” Jaden finally responded not looking up from the paper in front of him, “We had to make a family tree today. Mine was smaller than the other kids, since I only have two moms and two dads. Other kids have a bunch of people in there family.”

          Carlos felt a lump in his throat he new where this conversation was headed, luckily Jay had came back to join them. He knew that one of Carlos’ fears about parenting was that they would turn out to be like their parents. Mal shared the same concern, not trusting her own bad nature around young kids. Evie had soon reminded them that they were nothing like their parents, at least not any more. They all knew this but it was still a fear that haunted them.

           “Well how did having a small family make you feel?” Carlos said as Jay sat down next to him at the table slowly coming to realize what they were talking about.             “I like having a small family.” Jaden said with a cheerful grin, “Just.. the other kids were talking about how their grandparents would take them out and spend time with them. I just kind of wish I met my grandparents, even if they aren’t the best people. Maybe they would want to spend time with me too.” he finished starting to put his books away.            Jay gripped Carlos’ thigh under the table seeing the noticeable sadness in his face. They were starting to regret having a kid who started reading at 4. It was too early for him to be able to express these kinds of emotions. Though, kids at the age of 6 often did envy the other kids around them. Especially when their family isn’t the most nuclear.

           As Jaden left the dining room Jay and Carlos knew they needed to have a talk about the conversation they just had. “What are we going to do about this?” Jay was the first to speak up, attempting to prevent Carlos of reverting to his old habits of internalizing all of his emotions.

         “Lets just wait for the girls to come home. We need to talk about this together.” Carlos said looking up to meet Jays eye, “I think it’s time to tell him about them. It might be time to go home.” With that Carlos got out of his chair and headed into the living room, and began to clean.

 ———–

         A few hours later Mal and Evie walked into the house together. Carlos was curled up on the couch in Jay’s arms, they had finally gotten Lil Jay to sleep and were relaxing. “Hey losers.” Mal said before kissing both of them on the cheek and sitting down next to Carlos. Carlos sat up from his position on Jay just as Evie planted herself in the love seat that was perpendicular to the couch, not caring to ‘sit like a lady’. “We need to talk about our son.” Carlos said not wasting any time. All the faces in the room dropped immediately as they all got up and went to the dining room. They had decided early on that when it came time to make important decisions that they would all sit together at the table and talk about it this way all of them would be forced to face the problem rather than running from it like their teenage selves did. 

          “So is someone gonna tell us what happened?” Evie said not bothering to wait til they were seated. She knew by her friends expressions that nothing had happened to him but their looks also told her it was something to be worried about, so she was.

           “He asked about our parents. He wants to meet them, or at least wishes that he could have.” Jay says knowing Carlos, while often very vocal, didn’t have it in him to talk. 

          Mal’s and Evie’s faces both went stern. “What do you mean he asked about them?” Mal questioned with a hint of aggression.

         “In school they were doing a family tree. Which lead to some of the children telling stories about their grandparents.” Jay said not bothering to go into much detail knowing the girls were smart enough to figure the rest out.       The room fell silent. None of them knew what to say. On one hand they could just reassure their son that he’s better off not knowing his grandparents, or they could actually tell their son about them and risk him wanting to know more. With many other VKs coming over from the isle it wasn’t hard telling Jaden that they too were born over there, but neither of them went into details about what happened on the isle. But with a father that has the last name DeVil and your mothering saving the kingdom from her your grandmother it wasn’t hard to figure out who exactly your parents were related to. This was often enough for him not to ask many questions, he knew his grandparents were evil and that his parents and other kids came to Auradon because they didn’t want to be. ‘Goddamn school always ruining everything.’ Jay thought to himself, waiting for someone to break the silence.       “I think we should tell him about them. About what they did.” Carlos spoke up, “And if he still wants to meet them than we take him over there.”        The others looked at him in shock not expecting that solution to come out of his mouth. “But C, do you really think it’s a good idea to expose him to that?” Evie said sitting up in her seat and leaning her body on the table.      “He deserves to know his roots. It isn’t like he’ll have to grow up there, we’ll be there with him. None of us have went soft while being in Auridon, hell Mal works out twice a week. And the kid already knows how to sword fight.” Carlos said with agitation in his voice, “It’s the worse case scenario any way. I just wonder if we’re ready to stop running and finally face our parents.”

       Another pause. They all new they weren’t but that they needed to. They were 32 years old and still found themselves waking up from nightmares and having panic attacks in the supermarket. When they first came off the isle and defeated Maleficent all they did was run after that. Even when they went to save Ben from Uma, who was now a close friend, they did whatever it took to avoid their parents, all except for Mal of course. Til this day the four of them wondered how their parents would react to seeing them again. Would Jafar still try to make Jay steal for him or would he just attack him. Does Evil Queen still care if Evie doesn’t have a prince? How would she react to knowing that instead of a prince she had a wife, and he two best friends? Would Cruella still expect Carlos to look after her furs? Would she attempt to take advantage of Jaden? Another one of Carlos’ fears, his son being subjected to Cruella’s torture. He couldn’t count how many times he woke up from a dream where he was unable to save the boy from that fate. These were the worse nights.      “I agree with Carlos” Mal spoke up, reaching a reassuring hand out to the previously names boy. “It’s time. I know I no longer have to worry about my mother, since she died in lizard form a few years ago, but it still something that we need to deal with. Whether or not we decide to take Jaden to the isle we should talk to him about them, and take a visit there ourselves. You guys deserve closure. Besides we’re adults now and their old people. We have each other and could easily kick their asses.” With this the group laughed all silently agreeing. They sat there for a few hours discussing how they were going to address this to their son. They would be exposing him to years of their person torture. This both made them scared it would scar him and change his perception of them. Hopefully he wouldn’t want to meet them, but if he did they were ready for it. Or where they…

[emilyplaysotome]

Part 5 - The King Returns

I still don’t plan to do another 50 Part Story aka Down the Voltage Rabbit Hole, but have decided to see this through a bit more. At the moment I’m thinking there will be 6 short parts in total (3 parts from her POV, 3 parts from his POV).

As I mentioned in Part 1, this was inspired by someone I met on my travels the past month.

Hope you enjoy!

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

"Hey Niki - turn it up, will ya?" Yuki called out.

I grabbed the remote and increased the volume of the cafe’s lone television before I went back to wiping down the counter in the now empty cafe.

We’d dimmed the lights a bit, flipped the cafe’s sign to “closed”, and had decided to clean up to a soundtrack of the nightly news.

"For the past month, investigators have been combing through the records of the Ichinomiya group, and more specifically the young billionaire himself after allegations of money laundering surfaced through an anonymous tip."

"I can't believe you worked for that guy," Yuki said. "Do you think he's guilty?"

The news anchor droned on in the background, further elaborating on a sensationalist news story that had been beaten to death over the past month. 

Purple’s face had plastered my television from morning until night and every newspaper in town participated in a daily scramble to try and find a way to feature the story, even though there was nothing new to report.

I paused for a moment, long enough to wring out the dishrag I was using, and rewet it with clean water before returning to the countertop and responding to Yuki’s question.

"Dunno...he definitely knows some shady people but I don't think he's as careless as they're implying."

I glanced up at the T.V. to see the man himself on screen with a graphic that indicated he’d held a press conference earlier in the day. It was clear that this footage had been broadcast round the clock, and even though I hadn’t seen it yet, I knew it would be talked about incessantly in the weeks to come.

Even though he was wearing his usual suit with his favorite purple shirt, the polite smile plastered on his face for the duration of his speech managed to give him a completely different aura than I was used to.

"I called the members of the media here today despite my legal team advising otherwise," he said in a measured tone. "I believe that the media and the public have the right to know that the allegations against me are false. I plan to prove that there has been no wrongdoing on my part, or the part of the Ichinomiya group. I also want to thank everyone who has supported me these past few weeks - be it on social media or in person, your kind words have meant the world to me."

"He's so full of it," Yuki muttered. "Just look at that phony smile of his."

"Finally, to all my employees, I want you to rest easy. I will not allow this news to affect your livelihood and will ensure that even if business should slow in the months to come, none of your shifts will be cut and your weekly wages will remain intact."

For some reason I found myself not wanting to hear any more, and using the remote turned off the television without so much as a word. 

Yuki didn't say anything and instead turned his attention on me and asked, "Do you need help with the countertop?"

He was a fast worker and had managed not only to mop the entire cafe but had also wiped down the tables as I focused on cleaning the serving station. I felt badly that despite being in charge of a smaller area, I managed to fall behind and didn’t want to exploit Yuki’s kindness in any way.

Shaking my head I smiled and said, "No, don't worry about it. You should go home for the night - I can close up."

"It's no worry..."

"Yuki really, its fine. You're too sweet to me."

He shot me a bashful smile, and just as he was about to reply, we were interrupted by a rap on the door. With the lights dimmed, it was hard to see who was knocking and I found myself holding my breath upon seeing a man’s silhouette at the door.

Yuki whispered in my ear, giving my shoulder a comforting squeeze, "This is why I won’t let you lock up alone."

Yuki’s gentle touch made me blush, and realized that I must be head over heels if a simple, seemingly platonic gesture could cause my heart to beat the way it did.

I hadn't told Yuki how I felt and even though I wanted to believe he shared my feelings, it was hard to tell. 

He was kind and thoughtful to all the employees, and his smile was always genuine - be it when he greeted a customer or complimented my work ethic.

The last time we'd been tasked with closing together he'd insisted on walking me home, even though it was twenty minutes out of his way. At first I'd protested, but he'd maintained that he couldn't allow me to walk home unattended.

“I’d never be able to live with myself if something happened to you!” he’d said, and I selfishly agreed, harboring a secret desire to spend more time with a man I was starting to think of as more than just a friend.

What should have been a fifteen minute walk turned into a thirty minute stroll, as we opened up about our lives and plans for the future. 

Yuki lived with his mother and helped her care for his grandmother. His father had left them when he was only 3 and had chosen not to been a part of his son’s life. As a result, Yuki was incredibly close with the two women who raised him. He was currently in nursing school, and worked at the cafe part-time in an attempt to help out at home, in addition to easing his mother’s financial burden. 

Seeing as how I'd been in a similar position, I found it easy to open up about the hotel and why I dropped out of school all those years ago.

Yuki listened to my story with a kind expression and as I saw myself reflected in his eyes, I couldn't help but lower my guard. I’d already started to like him before this fated walk, and the more of him I saw, the harder I began to fall.

After that night, we only grew closer. 

At work, we'd joke and treat each other in a friendlier manner than before. Even though the interactions lacked depth I couldn’t help but smile the entire time I was around him. 

Like any other girl in love, I also found myself reading into his small gestures. Everything from a poke on the shoulder to joining me on my break resulted in an hour of contemplation later in the day when I was alone. I found myself googling things like, “How do I tell if he likes me?” and filling out quizzes in the hopes of getting the answer I wanted without having to risk rejection.

What had started as nothing more than a work relationship soon blossomed into an obsession that made concentrating on my studies difficult. All I seemed to think about lately was Yuki, and his perfectly sweet and slightly lopsided smile.

I hoped that he'd read my mind and spare me the embarrassment of having to tell him how I felt, but as the weeks went on I became certain that I'd have to make my affections known or run the risk that nothing would ever happen between us. 

I’d attempted to work up the courage that night to tell him how I felt, but as fate would have it, Eisuke Ichinomiya would intervene in a way that I never could have expected.

"Sorry Mr. Ichinomiya - we're closed," Yuki said, clearly confused as to what was happening.  

"I was hoping to get a cup of coffee."

The Eisuke Ichinomiya at the press conference had smiled confidently as he spoke. He’d held his head up high, and had not given anyone any indication that the scandal surrounding him and his business had affected him in the slightest.

The Eisuke Ichinomiya who stood in front of me looked pale and tired. He seemed sad, and lost, and desperate to speak with someone who had nothing to do with his world.

"I’m sorry, we’re -"

"It's alright Yuki," I quickly interrupted. "I'll make him one."

"Why?" Yuki asked in a hushed whisper.

"Because he looks like he could use a friend," I muttered.

Mr. Ichinomiya had clearly heard what I'd said, but he didn't react. 

With none of his usual bravado or arrogance, he proceeded to push past Yuki and sit at one of the freshly cleaned tables. Yuki joined me behind the counter and watched as I started a pour over for Eisuke.

"You're the sweet one," he whispered. "You don't need to do this, you know."

"I know."

The cafe was silent save for the sounds of the beans being ground, the water being boiled, and the pour over being prepared. 

Even though it pained my internal coffee snob, I added the sugar and cream exactly how he liked it. I’d given him one of our nicest blends, and even though I hated diluting its natural taste, I made an effort to be as cheerful as possible when I placed it down in front of him.

"On the house, as promised."

His melancholy expression failed to change, even as he took a sip and simply said, "Thanks. It's good."

"I'm glad."

Eisuke raised his head and looked past me with a slight scowl on his face. 

I’ll admit that I was slightly relieved to see that even in this sad state, he still managed to be haughty. I figured that things probably weren’t as dire as I’d initially thought once I saw he still was capable of being a brat.

"Is he going to babysit us the entire time I'm here?"

"Hmmm?"

I turned to see Yuki behind the counter, playing with his phone and doing a poor job of pretending that he was ignoring us.

"Yuki, I'll close. You don't have to stay," I called out.

"I..."

"Relax," Eisuke said, with a cocky smile. "I just want to speak with her."

Yuki pursed his lips before looking at me, and with a serious expression asked, "Are you sure?"

"Positive. I'll even make him walk me home, so you don't have to worry."

"Ok," Yuki said, handing me the keys to the cafe. "But do me a favor and text me later so I know you got home safe."

"Ok."

I felt myself smiling at Yuki's concern, and my fingers brushed against his as I took the keys from his outstretched hand. 

That simple bit of contact caused me to blush and I found myself looking up, giving Yuki a reassuring smile which prompted the troubled expression on his face to dissipate. He returned my gaze with his usual gentleness that I'd come to love, and I saw a bashful smile play at the corners of his mouth until he finally nodded and gathered his things to head out for the night.

It was only when the door shut behind Yuki that Mr. Ichinomiya broke the silence.

"That guy likes you."

"Yuki?"

The last time I'd seen Eisuke, I'd done my best to hide what I was thinking from him. I'd treated him as I treated most acquaintances (keeping the conversation short and polite), but upon hearing those words I found myself unable to stifle the smile which crept across my face.

The larger it grew, the more my cheeks began to burn, and with a sad scoff Eisuke said, "Why do you look so happy? Don't tell me you like him too..."

"Maybe..."

"Really? Him?"

"Why not? He's kind and sweet and...hey! What are you doing here?"

I averted my eyes, slightly embarrassed that I’d divulged my crush on Yuki to a man I barely knew as I waited for an explanation.

"I'm guessing you've seen the news?"

"Yeah."

"I wanted to see someone who would look at me."

"I don't understand?"

"No. I suppose you don't."

I had hoped that he would have elaborated a bit, but instead he said nothing and took another sip of his coffee. 

It annoyed me that he’d clearly gone out of his way to see me and couldn’t grant me a simple explanation as to his actions. This behavior of his always got under my skin and as a result had caused me to think of him from time to time when he wasn’t around.

I scrunched my face up and pouted before asking, "Why did you insist on always being so cryptic?"

"Did you mean what you said before?" he asked quietly, staring at his coffee.

"Before?"

"About me looking like I could use a friend."

I nodded, still pouting and not feeling any closer to understanding his motives.

"So...are you? That is...do you want to be?"

In that moment, the great Eisuke Ichinomiya seemed more like a little boy that struggled to make friends on the playground than the powerful man he was. He sat staring into his coffee, unable to look me in the eyes, and a slight blush began to creep up his neck as he waited for my reply.

Never in a million years could I have expected such a sweet request from a man who I thought of as cold and prickly.

A part of me wanted give him a hug for looking so cute, but instead I smiled and with a mischievous grin said, "Sure we can be friends. Do you want another cup?"

"Yes."

"Then make it yourself!" I teased, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Oi!" he exclaimed with a scowl.

I laughed at his obvious surprise and gave his shoulder a playful nudge.

"We're friends now and I'm not working. Besides I said the first one was on the house...I never said anything about the second..."

His eyes looked at me with exasperation, but for the first time since meeting him, I saw a warmth in his eyes.

I taught him how to make a pour over that night.

He took off his suit jacket and rolled up his purple shirt sleeves with a serious expression on his face. I teased him by giving him my coworkers apron, making the joke that he was now my trainee and I was now the boss.

He was good natured about it all, and I found myself forgetting about everything that had transpired between us in the past. 

We spoke as if we were old friends, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that being with him like this made my heart race. This version of the man who had been such an enigma to me was incredibly attractive, and by the time we sat down with the coffee he’d brewed, I realized that the walls I’d had up around him had completely crumbled.

Nothing of consequence was said that night, but I felt as if I’d finally seen the man behind the mask.

The real Eisuke Ichinomiya was insecure and clumsy with his emotions. As a businessman he’d developed an impenetrable poker face, but as a man he struggled to make genuine connections.

He didn’t say any of this to me, but it was obvious considering he’d sought me out to ask me directly for my friendship. 

It dawned on me that telling him off that day must have been quite a shock to a man that everyone else tiptoed around. As we joked around and chatted I wondered if my rant had been the first time in a long time that someone had dared be honest with him, and it was clear that he craved sincerity and acceptance during a time of strife.

Our together flew by, and before I knew it I was standing in front of my apartment building.

“You didn’t have to walk me back, you know,” I said with a smile.

“I wanted to...plus that Yuki guy would have been mad if I didn't."

My heart lurched a bit upon hearing Yuki’s name, and I found myself taken aback at how my time with Eisuke had caused me to forget about the man I’d been pining for these last few weeks.

Did I actually...like Eisuke? Or was my heart just being fickle, knowing that it was safer to like someone that I could never have a future with?

However, now that I knew the real Eisuke, I’d come to realize that he was sweet in his own way. Seeing him in a different light made his accomplishments more attractive, and on top of that he was undeniably handsome. 

Before tonight, I’d only thought of him as this puzzle of a human being but now I found myself staring at the ground, unsure if I hoped he would kiss me or simply leave my life as easily as he’d come into it.

Sensing my unease the jovial mood darkened, and I heard him mutter “good night...” before awkwardly patting my shoulder and turning to leave.

I wanted to be with him longer, but I didn’t know what to do or say. Seeing as how I didn’t know what I was feeling, I struggled to articulate what it was that I wanted, and I found myself frozen in place as I watched his silhouette fade into the darkness.

I found myself sighing, alone in front of my apartment building, and made my way inside as I wondered if I’d ever see him again.

Part 6

If you like this story considering checking out my 50 chapter extravaganza ;) (master post here) or buying me a coffee!

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Chapter 9: Trouble in paradise

Harry had spent all his life in the shadow of his brother. He was the second child, the spare. He was a prince, of course, but ever since he was a kid he tried to be as different as his brother as possible. He didn't know if it came naturally in his personality or if he groomed it over the years, but to this day, no one could say that Harry was just like William and he was proud of that. He had the blessing of being left alone while his brother attended all the boring classes that a future sovereign should have. He had more time to play, he had his way of getting out of trouble and he was spoiled endlessly by his parents. He liked it. He wasn't oppressed in a duty as a future monarch, he'd always be just a prince.

But then he started to grow up and noticed that his carefree days were coming to an end. Harry remembered the first time his duty was imposed on him. The first time he had to separate himself from his Royal persona. When it was his responsibility, his duty to be present at some place. That was the day he had to walk behind his mum's coffin. He could exactly pinpoint that day when his father, grandmother and grandfather didn't look at him as a wild kid anymore. He had grown so much in that terrible day and that's when, for the first time, Harry had to be just like William. He noticed that his father wasn't accepting of his antics and playfulness. He suddenly had to transition from a spoiled brat to a young man with a title and a duty to carry on. He had to be polite when he wanted to scream and snap at everyone and everything. He had to be poised when he wanted to just be left alone. He had to have a serious face when he wanted to cry his eyes out. He had to be in the center of attention when he only wanted his mum's embrace and love.

Harry remembered that he almost didn't make it to the end of the day. He had begged his father to not attend the service, but Charles wouldn't hear of it. He was sad, Harry noticed, but he put on his "work mode" and told him it would be hard on all of them, but Harry attendance was a non-negotiable thing. No one knew that the person that actually convinced Harry to attend was William. He found his little brother in their mom's bedroom, hugging her pillow and crying silently. He somehow knew how to handle the situation. He left Harry cry for a good hour before sitting beside him on the bed. They shared a chat that only two heartbroken teenage boys could have and William said that from now on, everything he did, would be to make his mom proud. And that sentence stuck with Harry forever. He had to make her proud. He had to show the world small pieces of her, in him. In the way he spoke, in the way he treated people and in the way he lived his life.

Harry got up and sat on his mother's desk and started to write a letter to her. Where he simply stated how much he loved her, how much he loved every time she smiled at him and how much he'd miss her (even though at the time he didn't know the extension of it), and how he'd do everything in his power to make her proud. He sealed the letter, addressed it with "Mummy" and went to sleep at his brother's bedroom. He slept with that letter and asked his father to give it to her. He spent part of the service trying to see if it was there. He was glad it was.

(...)

Harry was wild when he was a teen. That was a world known fact. He was scolded daily by everyone in his family. But to be honest, he didn't really care. He wanted to be as careless as possible, for as long as possible. He was the favorite prince of the tabloids. They were selling lots of papers because of him and his scandals. Although he denied, he had lots of one night stands over the years and lots of girlfriends. Of course he thought he'd marry one of them after they dated for so long but somehow it wasn't in their future. When William and Kate finally decided to get married, Harry was happy for his brother, but he felt deep down that even though he was fighting to be as different as possible from William, he was now wanting to have the same thing his brother had: someone he could count on, someone to be by his side and first and foremost: someone to start a family with him. He watched with joy when his brother told him Kate was pregnant, both times. He loved being an uncle and was responsible for spoiling the kids non-stop. He'd babysit when they needed, he would teach Georgie ways of getting out of trouble, he'd play with dolls with Charlotte and every time he'd go home to an empty house wishing he had a kid to tuck in bed at night and read bedtime histories. He wanted to be a father, he wanted to have a family. And now that he was 32 his wish was stronger than ever.

(...)

Harry had a trip to Toronto in the beginning of the year. They had finally decided that Invictus would be held there. He loved the city and the landscape. He loved how he was welcomed by Canadian people and he was sure all service men and women would love to compete there. He went to a restaurant in one night and found a stunning woman sitting at the bar. He usually didn't do this, but he sat on the next stool and asked her if he could buy her a drink. She denied at first and he asked again. She simply said: "No. Thank you." Harry had that weird feeling of knowing that woman. He couldn't for his life remember from where, but since her friend wouldn't be able to go have dinner with her (which he read on the text while she unlocked her phone), he asked her if she'd have dinner with him since both of them had been stood up in that cold night. And that's how he met Meghan. Their chemistry was different from all the other girlfriends he had. They had a great time and a great chat, laughed together and exchanged numbers at the end of the night when he drove her to her place. Only a couple of months after that they were officially dating. And that's when the boring part of dating a real life prince started for her. They started to create a safe environment for her for when the news broke about them. So they deleted photos from unsafe places, secured her house and electronics and his team taught her the same things they taught Kate when she started her relationship. Harry was thankful that Meghan, ever supportive, did everything she could to listen, learn and adapt just to be with him. And that's why Harry flew to Toronto whenever he could. If he got just two whole days there with her? Sold. If he had to go straight from the airport to an engagement? He'd do it. And seeing his commitment, Meghan also did her best to be in London to be with him, even staying at his friend's apartment so the media wouldn't notice that they were together.

The first fight between them didn't come when the media found out, when the fandom reacted badly or when half of the country approved and half didn't. They didn't fight when nasty things about her started to make headlines. They didn't fight when a paparazzi tried to broke into her house. Nor when Meghan posted photos using Harry's bracelet or two spooning bananas on her social media. It didn't happen when she heard some people that worked with him saying that she was totally unfit to be a royal. It came when he was in Brazil, having dinner with an employee. She found out through one of Harry's RPO's. She called him and it went straight to voice mail. She then called his security and asked if he was busy. And Meghan was furious when he told her Harry was having dinner at a restaurant with a girl that was working for him. She had gone out of her way to make time to call him between shooting scenes, because of their different time zones, and he had forgotten to do the same.

She just texted him saying she didn't want to talk to him that night. She couldn't concentrate on her work and she was even more pissed when Harry didn't even try to talk to her. She called him again and he didn't pick up. He was asleep at the time and, didn't understand why she was acting like that and why he was receiving so many angry texts during the night. He explained to her that she was just a colleague and they only had dinner after she had a tiring and long day of work. Meghan hung up on him twice before he gave up trying to keep a conversation.

Meghan also found out that the night club Harry went to was a tip from the same girl. She knew that at some point Harry would do something to piss her off. She tried to find pictures of him there or some comment online but couldn't find one. They weren't talking to each other and were miles and miles apart. She truly believed that he had only danced and even maybe had grinded some girl there, like he said a couple days later. She was trying her hardest to believe it.

Meghan noticed that Harry was different when he came back from Brazil. He knew lots of new stuff about the country, it's music, food and culture. He talked a lot about his team, all the work they had done but specially about a girl. It didn't take too long for her to know who Harry had dinner with. It all started to bother Meghan even more when she noticed that for some reason they were still in touch. Harry would call her, text her and even have Skype calls with her when they weren't together. She once looked at his phone to read their texts but she found out that it was blocked with a password that she spent almost twenty minutes trying to find out. She called him at midnight on his birthday, when Meghan had prepared a surprise for him and they spent almost twenty minutes talking. And by the end of September they were fighting a lot about his new friendship. In Harry's point of view Meghan was turning into that overly jealous girlfriend he had experienced in the past and he didn't like it one bit. She had male friends and he never bothered her about it. Why couldn't he be friends with someone that was miles and miles away from him?

(...)

Carol spent her free time trying to put together something that Harry could ask Kensington Palace to publish in order to have a bit of peace towards Meghan. She googled the actress when Harry told her they were dating. She loved that she was a independent and beautiful woman that did charity work. She herself was pissed by all the racist and sexist comments Meghan was receiving. She wrote several statements but didn't really like them. She ended up sending Harry the one that she hated less. He was so happy on the phone with her, they truly believed that the statement would bring Meghan more piece of mind. As her boyfriend and living far away, he'd be more comfortable knowing that she was protected and that the press knew that he wasn't kidding nor wanting to be nice to them. They should live her alone.

Harry never read anything faster than those words Carol had written. He forwarded it to Edward and demanded it to be published as soon as possible. The statement came as a shock for everyone. No one believed Harry would stand up for his girlfriend like he had done. His father was the first to call him and asked what was he thinking about when releasing something like that without permission. His brother supported him but, as always, his opinion would copy their father's. His grandmother had demanded an meeting with him next morning at 9 o'clock sharp. His friends all gave him their full support and Skippy even joked about Harry finally becoming a man. The media went crazy when they received the statement. All of them called his office. Some of them supporting his wishes and saying they wouldn't publish paparazzi photos, others saying they were in the street and couldn't be held accountable if something happened and a couple others trying to sell the photos to him.

Harry talked to a lot of people that day, but what only mattered was that Meghan was flying to London and that was the first time she'd be staying with him in Kensington. He had sent a car for her and ordered take out in one of her favorite restaurants. He was nervous because he didn't know if she knew about the statement. But he could sense she did when he opened his door and she came straight to his arms to hug and kiss him. They didn't go much further in the house, as soon as he closed the door, they started undressing. He needed a fuck and she wanted to thank him for standing up for her in that way. It was later, after they ate and were in Harry's bed that another fight started.

"I loved the statement Edward wrote", she said laying on his chest. "You liked it? Really?", Harry said while playing slowly with her hair. "I loved it. I bought something for him.", she looked at him and saw his brow furrowed. "What's the matter?" "Edward didn't write it. He just published it.", Harry said already getting uncomfortable with the course of the conversation. "Who wrote it then? You?" "No, I didn't.", Harry said and started kissing her face trying to subtly change the subject. "Who wrote it, Harry?", she was now sitting on his bed with only a sheet around her body. "Carol did.", he said looking at her and he could see her jealousy and her anger changing her face. Damn, it was going so nice until now. "I can't fucking believe it!", she was out of the bed and looking for clothes to put on. "Meg, come on. Come back here.", Harry tried to plead. "I'm not going anywhere near you, you wanker.", she was fully dressed now. "Why are you being like that?", Harry sat on the bed. "Why? I've been keeping up with your shit with this girl since you came back in August. You're always talking to her or about her. And you can't do anything without her telling you to?" "She didn't tell me to. I told her I wanted to say something to protect you and she gave me the idea and offered to write it for me.", he was getting angry. Meghan's jealousy was unfounded. "So you tell her something you should've discussed with me? I was the one with a fucking paparazzi inside my garage, Harry.", he could see her hands shaking and her eyes tearing up. "Meg, love...", he got up the bed and put on his boxers and tried to come near her, but she just moved away from him. "She's my friend. Just a friend. I told her that I didn't like the way you were being treated and she offered. I didn't do it to upset you. I did it because I want to protect you.", he had pleading eyes and tried to make his girlfriend see the reason. "The problem is, Harry, that since you came back and since you met that fucking girl you can't do anything without her. Or do you think I don't see you waking up in the middle of the night to take her calls? Or do you think I don't know that when I call you and your line is busy she's the one you're talking to?", Meghan was pouring everything that was in her mind in the last two months. "Please, love, don't talk about her like that. Carol is a friend. A very good friend and she was one of the best employees I've ever had. And I'd love for you to meet her and see that you're completely bonkers to be jealous of her.", he tried to come close to her again and this time she didn't move. "I think you should make sure to know where your priorities lay, Harry. Either you're with me in this relationship or you aren't. I'm not gonna give you time to decide.", she crossed her arms. "What you mean with that?" "I mean that I'll be only stay around for a two people relationship. There's absolutely no space for a third. So you better make sure she knows her place. And you better stand up and be a man." "I am a man, Meghan! You're mental. Completely mental.", he was angry. Why couldn't his girlfriend see that she was acting crazy. Her jealousy was blinding her and she was getting angry for no reason. "Think whatever the fuck you want, Harry. I don't want you around her or talking to her. And I don't believe she gave you this idea out of the goodness of her heart. Obviously she wants something. Either you date me or you keep this goddamned twisted relationship you have with her. You can't have both.", she walked passed him and was leaving the bedroom. "Well, that's too bad...", Harry said. "Are you kidding me?", Meghan turned. "Are you deaf or you're just choosing her over me?" "She's coming over for my New Year's party. And I'm not uninviting her. So you better stop acting like this crazy jealous bitch and be nice to her."

Meghan just slammed the door and went to the living room. Harry was so mad at his girlfriend that he didn't even try to go after her. He simply laid on his bed and turned off the lights to sleep. He was in trouble with his grandmother and his girlfriend at the moment wasn't worth it.

[astroswriting]

OVERCOMER: How Christian Movies Distort Reality

Being raised with a huge Catholic influence (64,6% of brazilians are catholics according to IBGE in 2010), but by a family that believed that religion should compliment their lives, not be everything on it, I believed for a long time that was no problem with the Christian repercussion and that everyone should learn about Christ and that the default should always be “you believe in it, you think about it from time to time, you go on with your life”. I had friends who were Spiritist, Protestants and from different Catholic Nominations, and I truly believed they were all christian pals that lived the same lifes and were all to heaven. And then my mother converted to a Presbyterian Church, my life and my beliefs about religion and the amount of harm done in the 21th Century by it changed completely.

And that’s how I got to see Overcomer on the theaters.

“White Cis Male”

This is, by far, the thing that bothered me the most.

The movie is written by Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick. It is not based on a true story, it’s a purely fictional work that happens to be written by two White Cis Males. And, instead of what it’s commonly believed by the big Boomer demographic, that’s not inherently a bad thing. Yes, White Cis Males, do not fret! You can still write works of fiction! The problem happens when stories about POC, and even more with WOC, become solely about how the Courageous Big White Saviour saved their lives. 

According to Wikipedia (again, I’m just a person sharing her opinion, but you can still read the articles linked on the page), a white savior is: 

“a cinematic trope in which a white character rescues people of color from their plight. The white savior is portrayed as messianic and often learns something about themselves in the process of rescuing.[9] The trope reflects how media represents race relations by racializing concepts like morality as identifiable with white people over nonwhite people.[10] White saviors are often male and are sometimes out of place in their own society until they lead minorities or foreigners. Screen Saviors: Hollywood Fictions of Whiteness labels the stories as fantasies that "are essentially grandiose, exhibitionistic, and narcissistic". Types of stories include white travels to "exotic" Asian locations, white defense against racism in the American South, or white protagonists having "racially diverse" helpers.[11]” 

And I don’t know what you think but… “a white cis male coach of basketball, whom, because of the amount of people fleeing the small town, has to teach cross country to a black cis teenage woman with asthma and eventually leads her to meet Christ and His Word, making her regret and stop with her kleptomaniac tendencies and become a better person” sounds pretty white saviorish to me. And, most of all, the protagonist is played by the writer and director of the movie, that clearly intended that the story would be about how it was hard for him to understand christ until he met the girl and her dad, and he learned that by saving both of their lives. 

The story was never about Hannah. The movie didn’t even bother to give her a personality.  She only spoke when a question was placed. She didn’t have anything she liked to do. We never got to actually meet Hannah. We know she stole things, but why? We never got to see her using them, selling them or needing them. Hannah stole only because she did, because she wanted to, but we never got the why. We only got her giving it back and being hugged by the good coach. Hannah was never making active decisions, the world was only happening around her, only contributing to the “good obedient black person” stereotype. Do you want a easiest way to unhuman a character?

“Dangers of the World”

I believe that this is the most common theme on christian mainstream media. The big Scary ™ dangers of the world. How people will get you pregnant, and treat you badly, and offer you drugs. You’ll always end up with a horrible life and extremely unhappy because you haven’t met christ yet, and how could you be happy without Him? 

The only problem is… This is not how the real world works.

Not everybody who’s “in the world” is doing drugs, having sex all the time and hurting people. And, at the same time, no one does right things all the time. Specially not christian people, as much as they try to.

What happens in “the world” is that people are only trying their best. We’re all the results of cycles and traditions of all the ones that came before us. And we’re the result from their pain too. The common belief amongst christians is that we do things only because we’re bad, but people are taught to behave the way they do for survival. It is said that every generation gets worse, but today, in 2019, women have the right to vote, there are many activists fighting for the environment, there are laws against animal cruelty. People are always fighting for what they believe in, and it’s honestly disrespectful to assume that all of those people who are trying their best to overcome the generations before them can only do worse.

In the movie, specially, there are not much people who are not christians. You don’t get the “other perspective” side of things. Not until you meet Hannah’s father. He was from the world. He was an athlete and he did drugs, and he turned this good girl (Hannah’s mom) who had a christian friend (the director from the school) into a bad woman, pregnant and doing drugs. And then the girl died. And then, to top all of that, he let Hannah to live with her grandmother and ran away, only to magically reappear on the hospital sick and believing in Christ 15 years later.

Other than that, we, as an audience, never get any more glimpse of “the world”. One can argue that Hannah’s grandmother is “from the world” and that’s why she wouldn’t accept that Hannah would have a relationship to her father, but, again, she still believed in God, she still prayed, she was only working things out. When, in a movie that is supposedly a representation of “our world”, the only glimpse of a reality is made by villanising it, with no nuanced view, it leads the viewer to believe that it’s only mirroring the thoughts of its own creator, and shows a lack of understanding of a part of his own society that flabbergasts me (though, I grew up around this culture, I know what the excuses are for not get to knowing certain people).

“All My Problems Are Gone”

This trope absolutely complements the last one. Everything is solved as soon as I met the Lord. It’s a common thing to hear in real life too, don’t get me wrong, and it’s not nearly as problematic as the other first two topics, but it’s so simplistic to turn everything into a “Jesus is a easy fix to your life. Follow Him, and now you’re going to forgive your dad, he’s gonna become great, your grandma will become a better parent figure, you’ll finally win a race and it will me much easier to turn everything you stole back”. I’m not getting theological here, this is a pure movie review, but what a way to diminish the hard work that every person goes through!

I think that most of what I wanted to say here has already been said, but I’d like to remember that changes, and I mean actual life-long changes, come from knowing yourself, and knowing what you want, and lots and lots of therapy and hard work. You’re wired that way, and it’s very difficult to break the cycle.

Harmful Messages

I tackled here three main reasons of why is this movie harmful, but I never actually explained it. Why? What’s the harm in one movie? What’s the true harm that media can cause? If they don’t reach a broader audience, not much, I admit. But, even though this is not a blockbuster,  it is still made by Sony Pictures, and it still reached the movies of my humble Brasília, so it still has the power to reaffirm and convince people of those dynamics. Most people, who, in fact, don’t understand what harm come with those ideas. So I’m here to explain it.

Hannah’s problem: If almost everything on the movie is happening to her, why not give her the main part? Making everything about her coach just falls into a narrative where she’s silenced, and being a WOC, who’s better to tell their own stories but themselves? The coach doesn’t understand her reality, nor showed it properly. He didn’t had much interest in the girl at the beginning of the story, it doesn’t make any sense as to why this story should be about him. And even though he’s almost as passive as the own Hannah, only reacting at what’s happening, and not changing anything, at least most of what happens, happens to Hannah, and not to him. Making her so passive, at the same time, only worsened the problem. She only talked when a question was directed to her or at the end to talk about her revelation. As an author, doing those decisions only strengthens the idea that People of Color are not protagonists of their own stories, using them as tokens, or only to show how the White Man is so good, after all. When this is repeated over and over, it just sustains in people’s minds the idea that they should not have more power and are not capable to change their lives by themselves.

Dangers of the World:  This is a huge part of christian culture. How the world always makes thing horrible, how people are going to mistreat you. Far from myself to say that the world is perfect and everyone wants specifically your happiness, but as turning everyone who’s not a christian into the enemy, stopping relationships into forming and ideas into being exchanged. This idea helps to perpetuate the fights we are having in our society nowadays, that include so many christians fighting non-christians politically (and non-politically too). It’s dividing people without necessity.

No problems anymore: People truly believe this. People truly believe that, as soon as they turn into church X, everything will be solved like magic, and then get disappointed when that doesn’t happen. Whether you believe in God or not, for anything to get truly better, it takes work and time, and when movies like Overcomer turn everything into a “easy fix”, it just makes this utopian idea more believed and disseminated.

Conclusion

 I was going to make another part talking about Minor Storytelling Mistakes, but honestly? They’re simple flaws, it’s not going to change anything. I wouldn’t say it’s a technically good movie, but I believe that technique can be followed or not and art is subjective, so I’m not here to bash on plot devices or narrative works. I don’t like the movie. I simply don’t like it. It’s not my kind of genre, I believe that it’s very insensitive to a wide range of people and it had no real meaning or was entertaining to me.

As always, you are allowed to like what you do, but be aware of the mistakes that what you’re consuming. As someone obsessed with Disney, I know the company has its fair amount of mistakes, sometimes terrible, that mirror the thoughts at the time, but it still is reluctant to change with its demographic. No piece of entertaining is perfect, and should be taken with criticism.

Alas, if you dismissed everything that was said for me being a woman, a brazilian woman if it makes it worse, I say to you: “so long, fucker”.