#and starting over w tristan!!

[forgottenamira]

Amira, Witch-Queen of Kolchis

headcanon time!! ok so this has the chance to get loooong so imma spare us aLL and bulletpoint this one, but everyone and esp @forgottenedmund as both admin and the other person currently playing a calainon, lmk what you think bc this might just be ~too insane and idk what you have planned etc alskdjflkjsdfjkdf

KOLCHIS & INTRO

house calainon does not exist or, it perhaps once did, but if it ever truly did, the ages have turned its true history to legend and myth

nonetheless, amira and her brothers make claim to that descent through one tenuous proof: witchcraft

while, given her husband's acute hatred of all seers, this might seem a great shock, this is also the truth, and it is (part of) why amira so tenaciously clings to the memory of her grandmother's gift

so real talk, im using kolchis as the place-holder name for the place amira's from (yes i ~did lift that from greek myth and just partially changed the spelling and no i will ~not apologize ;D), but im picturing an ancient athens meets mythological colchis meets constantinople/the byzantine empire w/ just a dash of ptolemaic alexandria sdlkafjskljdfjkdsf gotta grab all my greek-rooted mega cultures ig laksdjfkjlsdf (and yeah im sure the soldiers there def dip into sparta shhhh) so yeahhhh when you picture amira growing up, its that

CALAINON

in ages past, it is written, there once lived a young and ambitious warlord, called calainon, who is said to have conquered the known world (think alexander the great meets achilles meets hercules meets oedipus meets pelops meets atreus etc etc)

many legends speak of this ambitious fellow, holding often that he was the son of a god and a mortal woman, that he was possessed of superhuman strength and skill and daring, and that no mere mortal could stand before him

while there is no certainty, in truth, that this person ever did exist, it is said that he was the founder of the great city of kolchis, which he made the center of his great empire and that he built the still unfinished, storm-struck tower which was, for many eons, the highest building in all the world and called the stair of calainon (as according to legend he had built it as an attempt to reach the heavens and tear the gods from their holy temples in the skies)

there are two versions of the tales of calainon -- one in which he is cast as a tragic hero, and another in which he apears as a twisted villain

known to history both as calainon the deathless (for it is said that he groans still, buried deep in the bowels of the earth, half unable to die as his father was a god and half unable to live as his mother was a mortal) or, more popularly, cursed calainon the balsphemer

it will probs not surprise you to learn that calainon has always been a great hero of roderick's and thus that, tying his own burgeoning legend to the great calainon's, was a very appealing prospect to roderick

many hero-kings, horrific monsters, celebrated seers, cruel despots, and tragic martyrs of myth and legend are said to have descended from the house of calainon, and it is said that the line of calainon will endure until the end of all time for, cursed though they may be, half-gods they once were also

yet, if any of them ever did exist, it is ages past since any of them were known, save one source: local legend of kolchis speaks of the high priestesses of kolchis...

CALAINON THE VILLAIN

often held up as an example of hubris, calainon dared so much that the gods, themselves, stepped in

a great war took place and, it is oft said in kolchis that calainon committed the heresy of not merely daring to lock away the gods -- a heroic act -- but of attempting to steal their power

all of this he attempted w the erstwhile help of the guardian of kolchis known as the kolchian dragon

some myths hold that the great poisonous drake aided him only in sealing away the gods, and he forced the guardian's hand in attempting to steal the power of the gods

but others hold the guardian wished to aid him in both quests

tales disagree as well on how much calainon achieved: did he manage to seize for himself the power of the gods, or did he fail?

all sources agree on one thing however: there was a titanic battle fought amongst the clouds. the earth shook, lightning broke the fortress below, tidal waves sweeping the broken battlements away, and whole islands were drowned in the uproarious fury of the gods

but ultimately, though sealed away, the gods prevailed and cast down the heretic calainon in his hubris, imprisoning him forever beneath the earth

in his defeat, they cursed him, blinded him, and buried him alive, hurled from the heavens into the abyss of the earth (think: fall of lucifer sort of imagery)

in some variants, the gods also cursed his bloodline forever after, but this is another point upon which there are several variants

CALAINON THE HERO & THE HIGH PRIESTESS OF KOLCHIS

one of the many myths of calainon relates to an unending fire and a dragon, and it is in this version of the story (which happens to be roderick's favorite), that calainon appears not as a villain, but as a hero

in this legend, calainon's war with the gods is a fight for freedom, suppressing the deities with the help of kolchis' legendary guardian, known most often as the kolchian dragon

in the tragedy of the great calainon, he fights the gods only to be cast down in their vengeance, but not before sealing them away forever

in this version it is said that his warrior's spirit shall someday be reborn in a new form to lead the world once again (i invite you to guess how roderick might think he could potentially tie into this myth ;DDD)

according to a local legend in the great city of kolchis, before launching his campaign against the gods, calainon as god-king of kolchis appointed his eldest daughter, arsinoe, as high-priestess

she was a great seeress, famed for her wisdom and power, whose responsibility it was to tend the sacred eternal flame at the shrine of the kolchian dragon

hers was a fiery offering to keep the dragon-guardian strong against the fearsome gods, where her female descendants (for in kolchis it is held that a true seer must be a woman) shall forever after continue her great work, tending the eternal flame to assure that it may never go out or the kolchian dragon, the great guardian, will fade to nothing and die and, it is said, upon that day the gods will be unleashed and bring apocalypse upon the mortals who dared give them chains

this flame was a great bonfire at the center of the shrine, so vast that in ancient days, it was said that it could be seen in every part of the old city, a beacon that never went out

according to this legend, it is the divine blood of calainon which gives a seer her powers and, thus, it is believed -- according to this obscure kolchian legend -- that every single kolchian witch may trace her descent back to mighty calainon

A THOUSAND THOUSAND YEARS PASS...

in roderick's day, the most recent high priestess (sometimes called the 'fire-keeper' or 'witch-queen' of kolchis) was none other than the seeress who was amira's grandmother, with amira seemingly destined to be the next high priestess after her

while once the high priestesses of kolchis were revered, regarded almost like oracle of delphi meets melisandre of asshai-type figures, and each was regarded as the chief and best mystical advisor to the so-called god-kings of kolchis (so called bc it was calainon half-god who had established kingship in kolchis)

these priestesses were known as a powerhouses in their own right, the last known vestiages of calainon himself, ruling the hearts of the people of kolchis, and running a powerful temple overflowing with priestesses and acolytes, almost a small religious city within the greater city, itself, leading to them being known to outsiders as the 'witch-queen of kolchis'

yet by the time of amira's birth, the position had centuries since lost any luster, becoming a ruin of its former self

as the old religion faded into only memory anywhere but astaira, the high priestesses came to be despised, an embarrassing reminder of an age of backwater supersticion compared to the cosmopolitan center kolchis had became and wished to be

without the temple economy still running strong, kolchis' stratification intensified, till it was said that in kolchis, the rich fed not on fruits but on the poor

still worse for the temple, itself, nearly a thousand years ago, a war of religion broke out and the temple was sacked, much of it pulled down and the rest -- though marble -- burned (fun fact: marble ~will burn if the fire is hot enough) till all that was left of the erstwhile 'jewel of kolchis' was a crumbling, burned out shell of its former self. still, the high priestesses endured in the slums, and still the eternal flame burned on

the old city, where the ruined temple was located, was now located in the slums and grime of kolchis amongst its most dangerous dark corners

there, only the lost or the most daring would venture: the ruinous temple of the dragon and its keepers were seen as a supersticious and untrustworthy lot who lurked in the shadows, preying upon unsuspecting tourists

pick-pockets, liars, and harlots who played at mysticism and fortune telling to make off with valuables and steal souls, so the supersticion ran, for their dark, twisted magic

THE LIFE & TIMES OF AMIRA CALAINON

it is with this reputation and in this situation that amira and godfrey grew up, doing their utmost to protect little tristan from the sad truth of the world around them

their father had disappeared when tristan was a babe at the breast, likely murdered in the dangerous streets where they lived, while fleeing with what few valuables the family had left

their mother, the high priestess's only child, died of the pox while her children were still quiet small

thus, though blind and decrepit, it fell to their grandmother to raise her grandchildren

not thinking much of men in general, and regarding the sight as the realm of women anyway, as the kolchian culture long had held, the grandmother relied largely upon amira, training her in what arts she could with the expectation that, someday, amira's magic would show itself

a true believer, her grandmother was sure that, as the last female calainon, amira must be a witch or else the line of high priestesses would die with the grandmother, herself, unless amira were to produce a seer for a daughter

not wishing to surrender her only utility to an unborn daughter who may never even arrive, amira did her best to play along as a witch

a thing which exulted her in her grandmother's eyes who, though she loved her grandchildren fiercely, regarded only other seers as her equals

amira learned to read bones and fires and stars for potential futures (or at least to guess at them)

she learned to read people and 'see' in their futures what they wanted

she learned trickery and slight of hand and, perhaps most of all, she learned about poisons

such things were sacred to the kolchian dragon, known for poisonous fangs and breath and fire hot enough to melt the bones even of beings divine and cold as winter

meanwhile, living in extreme poverty, godfrey and amira learned to lie, to steal, to spy, and to cheat simply in order to subsist

RODERICK

by the time roderick invaded, things were desperate indeed

the star of the cosmopolitan center of kolchis, even, was well into its decline

kolchis had become so corrupt and top heavy that the rich knew little at all of what their ppl suffered -- and cared even less -- living in sublime luxury while everything they sat upon rotted beneath them

still, the god-king was eager to keep what little was left of his so-called empire, now reduced only to a single city

it was soon quite clear that kolchis was roderick's target

the god-king sent many troops to die in vain upon the teeth of roderick's armies, but nothing he did would hold the young would-be conqueror back

at last, with roderick upon him, the god-king ordered the impregnable gates of kolchis closed and laid in wait for a siege

the people in the streets began to starve -- and soon enough amira's own grandmother succumbed

but watching their grandmother slowly die, amira and godfrey had already long since sprung into action, lying and deceiving their way into the palace as servants

there they watched and listened and plotted, aligning themselves with a growing restless movement amongst the poor who meant to tear their god-king down w them

so it was that the common ppl stormed the god-king's castle, killing his guards and his ministers and hanging their bodies from the high walls and trees of of kolchis (yes this is a golden fleece reference)

ultimately, guided by amira and godfrey who knew the freedom fighters of kolchis could not possibly overpower roderick, the god-king's head was delivered to roderick as a gift, and the gates opened to him, inviting him inside as their celebrated and longed-for emperor, with amira as the chief intermediary sent to treat with him given her status as high priestess of kolchis

seeing an opportunity, amira immediately set about seducing the emperor, cleopatra and anne boleyn-style

while also taking full advantage of the local legend she'd heard from her grandmother, and introducing herself as amira calainon, supposedly acknowledged descendant of calainon, the first god-king of kolchis

she was willing to bet, afterall, that roderick probably admired and wished to associated with himself. she wasn't wrong.

so she brought him a head and a crown of laurel leaves and slowly made herself a queen

amira crowned roderick king of kolchis (roderick abolishing all use of the term 'god-king'), herself, in her role as high priestess of kolchis, in the sight of all the kolchians, at the ancient temple of the dragon which roderick had had esp restored for the event

before her marriage, she appointed an acting high priestess to keep the eternal flame burning

which roderick permits as a cultural tradition relating to the cultural hero, calainon, his own relative by marriage

a connection sealed with the birth of their son, edmund

VENGEANCE -- OR FEAR

to be clear, amira is not in love with roderick (they have some weird twisted thing that i could write its own novella on probs but that's for another time), he is the means to an end. for one thing, with one move she had gone from desperately clinging to survival in the slums to one of the richest and most powerful women in the known world, but this was not her only goal in wedding roderick.

amira wants money, she wants power, and she wants revenge. she wants vengeance on roderick, as she blames him (as well as the god-king of kolchis, but she's already wreaked her vengeance upon ~him) for the death of her grandmother, the only person besides godfrey who ever really looked out for amira, and certainly the only one who ever saw smth superior to all others in her.

she also wants revenge against all those -- and even the symbols of those -- who held her head underwater so long so that they, themsleves, could breathe

amira enjoys, endorses, and encourages all of roderick's worst traits bc his zest for conquest is a weapon she wields against the rest of the world. now ~she's the the one holding ~their heads underwater. bitch.

but most of all she wants revenge upon the world for allowing any of it to happen

she means to wait a long time to avenge herself on roderick, himself. when she is ready, he will die, as will all of his children save her own, and edmund will reign at last, and they will finally, finally be untouchable.

in the end, however, even amira's quest for vengeance is rooted in the deep horror she cannot face, the fear that she, too, will be conquered, defeated, helpless, and left to starve to death w the only ppl she truly loves in the fetid streets, just like the only woman who ever loved her.

however, she seeks always to project strength (even to herself!), as it is an armor, her last line of defense, to prevent this from happening, so she will stop at nothing, doing literally whatever it takes, to see her goals met bc then and only then will she be truly safe, or at least as safe as anyone in this world can ever be, with edmund as emperor

as a result, she is always quick to remind herself that it is vengeance and not safety she truly seeks -- but is that really true?

[c0rpsedemon]

i think. i am going to change the theme of my lit sideblog (the one i claim isn't dead but absolutely is). away from galahad now. it's really nothing against him but jfc. never again.

[yourclumsyguardianangel]

the seven + a few others future headcanons

percy:

becomes a high school teacher

teaches high school marine biology (idk how it is in other schools but when we hit sophomore year we got to choose different bio classes ie: marine bio, ag bio, med bio + regular bio)

also teaches the mythology elective and is the swim team coach

annabeth:

we already know this queen is an architect with obvious inspiration from greek architecture

learns how to make blue food for percy and their kids from sally

has traveled all over the world looking at different architecture

learns the basics of many languages so shes able to communicate with the locals

her and leo team up to build a small school near camp half-blood for year rounders so everyone can learn consistently but dw they get summers off

piper:

love her but shes a nepo baby

she doesnt act like it tho

”are you tristan mcleans daughter?” “who?”

loves her dad to bits but does not like being seen out in public by the paparazzi

marries shel, they dont have kids tho, neither of them want to bring any into the world especially with america’s downfall and the government erasing women and poc rights

is basically leos big sister atp

leo:

him and calypso dont last, maybe a year and a half in they split bc calypso wants to explore the world and leo is very emotionally unstable and calypso has a hard time understanding

they end on good terms but dont ever talk unless its with a group of friends

he goes into a trade to become a mechanic and owns his own shop

starts smoking cigarettes/vaping

his friends dont really approve but they understand he cant quit just yet as hes not in a mental space to do so

goes to therapy with a psychologist whos a demigod that specializes in grieving and war trauma

they all go to therapy but hes the last one to do it

he’s still the ‘happy go lucky’ guy hes always been but as he gets closer w the others they start to see the true sadness in him

piper and him grow a lot closer after jason died and have a big sister little brother relationship

hazel:

my girl stays at camp jupiter

takes nicos place at camp

horse trainer

her and frank also dont work out as a romantic relationship, they felt that the age gap was too much after frank turned 18 and hazel was 15 theyre still friends tho

hazel often visits leo in his shop

as much as leo reminds her of sammy, through therapy she has recognized that theyre separate people and to not push all her past feelings for sammy onto leo

not only does she train horses but she also teaches little kids basic math, science, and history to the younger kids

they all call her ms. hazel

she prefers to teach the really young kids (age 4-7)

wears her hair in different braid styles after BOO

frank:

my friggin HOMIE

i relate to frank a lot personality wise

therefore i think hed be a 4/20 fanatic after BOO

hes not stoned during training or during important camp duties

but otherwise you try talkin to him and you dont really notice until you look and see the far off look and red eyes and he just goes “huh?”

other than that hes a great leader

after he gets his cool new look from mars he takes really good care of his body including consistent exercise and eating really healthily (maybe he has a soft spot for fast food when hes hi)

him joining the military does not make sense to me

he lost his mom to war, and he was in one himself, idk about you but i would not wanna join the military after being the main character in a war

he studies to be a veterinarian for exotic animals

when no one is around he shifts into the animal to find out whats wrong

”dr. zhang prefers to work by himself” “why” “idk but hes always right, if it aint broke dont fix it”

jason:

rip home-slice

nico:

my other homie

my guy does not get taller than 5’8

stays at camp during the summer to train the new and old kids

him and will get a house together

teaches history at the camp school

cat dad (5 cats and counting)

will:

takes nicos last name when they marry bc its cooler

him being a doctor doesnt click w me i more picture him being an EMT

EMTs are hotter anyways

does med training with new apollo kids whenever he gets time

if he’s not busy during working hours he drops by nicos classroom w his fav drink from dutch bros (starbucks is MID) and hangs out with him and his students

[gandalfsalt]

Solavellan Angst and Dido & Aeneas

Here's an "essay" (more like notes) I wrote about a year ago after finishing Trespasser, and surprisingly it holds up ok! You can watch a video essay version on my TikTok @gandalfs_alt. I think the video version is a bit more polished because I wrote it yesterday, this old one is pretty rough.

Unfortunately no citations... feels weird to post w/o citations. Future posts I think I will start citing my sources.

A great love story that I see relating to Solavellan is the story of Dido and Aeneas. This story is even older than Tristan and Isolde, dating back to ancient Rome (specifically Virgil’s The Aeneid, completed in 19 BCE, about 2000 years ago). It is widely considered the archetypal love story that symbolizes the tension between love and duty in Western literature. 

Dido was the Queen of Carthage, a city located in North Africa. In some versions she is a sorceress, and she is beloved by her people. Aeneas was a Trojan hero who escaped the fall of Troy. Aeneas and his fellow Trojans fled across the Mediterranean Sea after the fall of Troy. They landed in Carthage, and were welcomed by Dido, who offered them hospitality.

Dido and Aeneas spend a significant amount of time together, and fall deeply in love. Over time their love became increasingly intense. In some versions they marry. However, Jupiter (Zeus), the king of the gods, sends the messenger god Mercury (Hermes) to remind Aeneas of his duty to establish a new homeland in Italy (what becomes modern day Rome). After contemplating staying by Dido’s side, Aeneas feels that he must fulfill his divine mission to re-establish his homeland and he abandons Dido, departing for Italy.

Dido is devastated by Aeneas’ departure. In her anguish, Dido constructs a funeral pyre, on which she places Aeneas's belongings, including a sword he had left behind. She then took her own life by falling on the sword. Aeneas, unaware of Dido's fate, continues his journey to Italy, where he eventually fulfills his destiny and founds the city that would become Rome.

I think some of the parallels are pretty clear. A mysterious wandering hero fleeing the aftermath of a fallen civilization joins up with a group of people and falls in love with their leader. He then abandons said leader to fulfill what he believes is his divine mission, which is to re-establish what has fallen in a new place.   

There’s two ways I think this story is helpful for understanding Solas, Lavellan, or Solavellan:

It has inspired so much art, we can look at how other artists have handled this theme to get insights into the characters, learn more about them, and learn about different ways this conflict (love vs duty) can be interpreted or represented.

If this story did in fact inspire the DA:I writers, learning more about it can possibly help uncover where they may take Solavellan in DA:D (dear god, I hope they don’t go the Dido route with Lavellan, pls no 😭)

Even though Solas is a pretty clear Aeneas type, I actually see him share a lot of attributes with Dido as well. One of the most famous versions of Dido and Aeneas is an opera (yes, opera again, lol) composed by Henry Purcell in 1689. It is one of the first operas composed in English, and is pretty much considered the premiere retelling of the Dido/Aeneas story in the English language. One of the most famous pieces from the opera is Dido’s Lament, and it’s the song Dido sings after she decides she can’t live without Aeneas, and is about to, literally, fall on a sword. 

The lyrics of Dido’s lament are:

More I would, but Death invades me:

Death is now a welcome guest.

When I am laid, am laid in earth,

May my wrongs create no trouble, no

trouble in thy breast;

Remember me! Remember me! But ah!

forget my fate. 

To me, this is 100% Solas’s psychological state when he leaves Lavellan. The lament is obviously very tragic and sad, but there’s something extremely stubborn and self-centered about it. It feels like a lot of self-imposed misery. In Dido’s case, she was certainly wronged by Aeneas, she was treated very unfairly and it’s not her fault at all, but her reaction to it is very self-pitying and self-sabotaging, literally and figuratively. I got the same feelings from Solas during his final confrontation with Lavellan. 

“Death invades me, Death is now a welcome guest,” - Wait a minute, who says anyone has to die? Why is dying the only option here, Dido and Solas?

“May my wrongs create no trouble in thy breast,” - It seems like Dido and Aeneas have the option not to commit these wrongs or additional wrongs, so why act all stubborn and resigned about it? 

The “wrong” I think Dido is referencing is her impending suicide. Solas may be referencing the same thing if he knows he is going to die, but in his case destroying the world and loving then leaving Lavellan are some other wrongs. But again, based on what we know, it seems like he has the option to stay and not destroy the world a second time. So why so stubborn?

“Remember me! But forget my fate.” My dudes. It seems to us like you’re choosing this fate. And you think we can remember you and not remember how you left us? You want Aeneas/Lavellan to hold the torch, but just forget a very monumental decision you made? That’s a little delusional. This line is so simple, but it does an excellent job of underscoring the conflict between love and sense of duty. In both cases, the heroine/hero want to be remembered by the ones they love, but at the same time they don’t want their choices to impact their lovers, or their lover’s recollection of them. Which really is impossible.  

[nabbit-unmasked]

An important message about validity and gatekeeping in the therian, otherkin, nonhuman, and alterhuman (etc.) communities.

Read if you're feeling invalid, because I promise you that you are valid.

As a placekin, I have a very complicated relationship with some places.

When I first discovered I was placekin, I thought I was 4-5 different places, those being: Kongo (DRC), C.A.R., Tristan da Cunha, Riyadh, and Mauritania.

I ruled out Mauritania as a kin pretty quickly, but the others (besides the CAR) were slow to go. They didn't feel the same as my connection to/identity as the C.A.R. did.

I couldn't confidently say "I am [place name]" and call it a kin. All these strict definitions of what kin means and gatekeepers discouraged me from doing so, anyways.

So, I dropped the label of "placekin" for all these places except for the C.A.R. and tossed them into the "otherhearted" category, as I've been taught to do. Taught that if there's one aspect of your identity that doesn't fit someone else's definition, you're supposed to put it into being otherhearted, otherlink, a furry, cosplayer, or just throw it out entirely.

I felt that my experiences were invalid in the realm of kin because of how others tried to define me. Because their own views must be the same as mine, they have to. My identity is their identity, right?

There were so many restrictions on what counted as kin or not across the majority of the nonhuman community. Your theriotype has a name or pastlife? You're a fake! You don't have a past life? You're also a fake! You drew your own kintype? You must be a cosplayer then. You're young? Silly kids, it's just a phase! You're fictionkin? No, you're just delusional. You only started to identify as kin after a hyperfixation? You're probably just otherhearted or otherlink, you're not kin and you never will be.

I was distancing from online therian and nonhuman communities because I was tired of hearing the same old story. The same old "sounds like otherhearted or otherlink to me" spiel.

During my time away, I opened up my perspective on what it means to be something other than human. I didn't have anyone over my shoulder talking about how myself and others couldn't possibly be kin.

The truth is, only you get to decide your identity and your label(s). If you say you're kin, then you are. If you say you're otherlink or otherhearted, then only you can truly say if you are. It doesn't matter what kind of mental gymnastics other people are forcing on you, because they do not know what's going on inside your head. If you have genuine intentions for identifying in a certian way, then that is enough. Even if you feel like you gaslight yourself into believing that you're kin, I can assure you that you are still kin.

(If it seems like this ended abruptly, it's because I wrote this like a month ago and drafted it. Sorry about that -w-)

[twisted-art-wounders]

YGO AU: Breaking the Seal 07

Chapter 7 Sprouts After Yugi gets an invitation form Pegasus he and gang head to America hoping for answers, but Pegasus finds danger in form of someone he wasn't expecting to.

Once Yugi announced his plans to take the plane to America to see Pegasus it didn't take long for his other friends to agree to join him on his journey, something Yugi was quite pleased to hear. He wasn't too happy about making this trip alone so having his friends at his side once more gave him confidence. They all agreed to meet at the air port tomorrow at 7 am for their flight, Yugi would get details on the flight later on with a phone call form a representative from Industrial Illusions.

Meanwhile just outside of Yugi's house Rex and Weevil sat in the bushes listening in on the entire conversation as well thanks to a well placed bug on Yugi's living room window. They were both upset at the news of Yugi being invited by Pegasus and would be able to see where all the rare cards were.

Rex imagining that Yugi and his friends would be treated to tons of rare cards all for themselves curdosey of Pegasus himself. It made Rex furious thinking about how lucky Yugi and his friends were to have so much good fortune, Weevil on the other hand had a plan that would allow them to follow them to America unnoticed, he chuckled to himself.

That night everyone was busying trying to pack their bags for the trip ahead; Tea wondered how long the trip would be putting a few shirts into her suitcase she looked over at a poster of “Dark Magician Girl in the Moonlight” A Broadway play she saw a few years ago that helped inspire her into wanting to play that role herself. She couldn't believe she was going back to America so soon, meanwhile Tristan was struggling to pack his own suit case not sure exactly what he should pack for the trip.

Joey was more or less packed for the trip and was on the phone giving Serenity an update about him being away for a while and for her not to worry about him. Just as he hung up the phone it rang again so he answered thinking it was Serenity asking him something but was surprised at the voice on the other end.

“Hello?”

“Hey~ long time to speak Wheeler.”

Joey froze “M-Mai? Is that you?”

“Of course it's me dummy! Have you forgotten my lovely voice already?” Mai huffed half jokingly.

After Battle City just before she left; Mai had snuck a card with her phone number on the back into Joey's duel disk, when he got home he noticed the number with a note saying “If you need someone to talk to, I'm just a call away- Mai”. It took Joey a few tries to work up the courage to call her but when he did it made him happy to hear her voice. He decided to made it a habit of calling her once in a while to get updates and to chat generally. He totally forgot he needed to call her tonight and explain things.

“W-what of course not! W-whatsup?” Joey fumbled a bit trying to regain his composer.

“Not much, just landed in California after being stuck in the air for last 15 hours! Ugh those monster sightings have been nothing but a pain!” Mai growled.

Joey paused for a moment “Wait you're in California right now?”

“Yeah, I just told you that a second ago! Keep up Wheeler.”

“No! I know it's just I'm heading out there tomorrow morning!”

“Get out really! Why did you win a trip or something?” Mai was excited now.

“No no! It's a long story! But we're flying out to meet with Pegasus!”

“Pegasus? Why'd he do something like that?” Mai started to sound a bit concerned since she knew Pegasus was still a dangerous man to be around and after Duelist Kingdom and him falling ill suddenly -or so she heard- it had her worried.

“Again long story but I think he needs Yugi's help and me and others are going for back up, I think he knows something about whats been going on with all those monsters appearing and the crazy weather! Did Pegasus call for you too?”

Mai paused then replied “No. I'm here on vacation. But I'd be more then happy to give you guys a lift to Industrial Illusions after you land.”

“Naw Mai you don't gotta disrupt your trip for us! I beat they'll send a cab over or something.”

“Too late! I'm already gonna rent a car! I'll be at the air port waiting~” Mai hummed.

“Well if you insist! I'll call you with the details once we're at the airport in Domino! See ya then Mai!” Joey smiled.

“See ya!” Mai then hung up the phone placing it down, she was seated at the airport bar with a colourful cocktail she was working on. She was decked out in full vacation gear; a sundress, tall heeled sandals, a hat and large sunglasses. She took a sip off her drink then stirred it with the straw.

//Calling Yugi out of no where…what game you playing now, Pegasus?//

-- Finally Yugi had packed the last of his items into his duffle bag and suit case, he zipped the bag up then he saw the key card setting on his desk so he got up to go and pick it up.

“Oh yeah can't forget this! “Key of Illusion” I wonder what it's for?” Yugi looked at the card then faced the other Yugi who had just appeared beside him. “Hey other me-” Yugi then noticed he looked very distracted like something was on his mind.

Yugi walk over in front of him and asked “Hello? Is something on your mind?”

Yami then looked up then at his partner “Oh! What is it partner?”

“Whats on your mind?” He asked directly only for Yami to try and sake his question off saying

“Nothing”

“You're lying, Your keeping something to yourself!”

Yami signed with a smile “Partner…I can't hide anything form you. I was thinking about our new enemies. Who are they what do they want with us?”

Yami looked down again //If only I hadn't lost my memories, I may have known who they are…//

“You're doing it again!” Yugi pointed to him making Yami look up at Yugi.

“Don't hide how you feeling. There are too many things I don't know either…” Yugi hugged himself a bit.

“I have a bad feeling about all of this…Something is coming and I'm worried! What's going to happen?” Yugi's eyes wavered in fear looking deeply into them you could see they were beginning become de-saturated more muted…Yugi then fell to his knees unable to stand up.

“Partner!” Yami yelled and got on his own knees placing his hands on Yugi's shoulders, Yugi looked up at him as his skin was looking more pale making Yami's eyes widen.

“Partner! we still didn't tell our friends…about your soul.” Yami looked down at Yugi who was trembling a bit but still looked up at him with a weak smile.

“We have enough things to worry about! My friends don't need to know yet…” Yugi grabbed onto the side of his bed and used it to lift himself up and stand again.

“okay enough talk tonight! We have new journey ahead tomorrow after all!”

Yugi walked towards the light switch in his room and shut it off “Let's get some rest!, Good night Other me!”

Yami looked up at the newly fixed window, the moon was high that night but his worries still plagued him. He just couldn't forget that Yugi's life was still in danger and Yugi ironically was trying to avoid talking about it as much as possible but what could he do? He couldn't force his partner to talk if he didn't want to, Yugi was always quite avoidant of a subjects like this. Yami just signed and returned to the puzzle.

--

Dartz watched the wall with the statues that held the three Eyptcain god cards in their mouths, with their god now reborn into this world it was time to start feeding it with the strong souls of duelists. Dartz thought about how Yugi had managed to summon Timeaus the legendary dragon and used it power to escape his capture by the hands of their god.

“Even if he's manage to release that dragon, it wont matter I already got my claws into the vessel.”

Dartz grinned as he could feel the pulse of negative energy now emitting form the deck that sat in Yugi's soul room, Yugi himself completely unaware of their sinister purpose.

“Raphael!” Dartz yelled as his tallest swordsmen walked up and knelt before him.

“Yes Master Dartz, I'll find and capture the Nameless Pharaoh's soul to feed our god.” Raphael stated

Dartz huffed and turned around to face him now a look of annoyance on his face “We need MORE then just the Nameless Pharaoh's soul, We need the souls of STRONG duelists!”

Alister then walked out form behind the pillar standing beside Raphael “Then I'll go after Seto Kaiba.”

Valon soon joined them from the other side of the room “And I'll take care of Joey Wheeler! I beat he's got to be worth something he did make it to top 4 of Battle City after all.”

Alister glared over at Valon “Pfft figures you go for the easiest target.”

Valon growled and glared back towards Alister with the same venom in his voice and pointed “You're one to talk! Why're you going after Mr. Bronze Metal? Too scared to hunt down Ishtar for a real battle?”

Alister simply turned away and closed his eyes “I have my reasons, Valon.” he replied.

“Oh really?” Valon hissed again before Raphael broke them both up.

“Knock it off! We're in the presence of Master Dartz.” He scolded both of his fellow swordsmen.

Dartz had enough of hearing his swordsmen bicker and decided it was time to move forward with his plans.

“The Nameless Pharaoh is on his way to speak with Pegasus, another duelist with a strong soul. I've already made arrangements for him.” Dartz went into his pocket and pulled out a small object, he scanned his three swordsmen and picked Alister

“Alister!” he yelled then tossed object towards him, Alister was alert and caught the object in his hands quickly.

Sitting in his palm was a tear drop shaped shard of the Orichalcos stone, Alister looked over to Dartz puzzled. He already had his own stone in form of necklace around his neck why did he need another one?

“Head over to Pegasus but do not duel him just await my instructions, Do you understand?” Dartz barked at all three of his minions.

Both Alister and Valon now knelt down in same way Raphael currently was, all three held their heads down acknowledging him in unison.

“Yes, sir.”

-- Yugi had found himself back in his subconscious again, at least that's what he thought… he was expecting some kind of horrible climate to await him like past two times but this time he was greeted to a patch of wild greenery. He followed the green patch amazed to see all this life had spring up in what was once a dessert now it more resemble a jungle! Yugi moved a few plants aside trying to look over the canopy to find the greenhouse, which he did spot at the entrance of the jungle far in the distance. He'd hoped to just follow it and end up at the building but the flora soon become far too overwhelming for him to see almost anything.

Yugi was feeling frustrated as he made his way past tons of green plants so he yelled out

“Dartz! Are you here? I can't find the greenhous-” Yugi tripped and went for a bit of tumble before landing right at the foot of his new friend in the purple suit.

“D-Dartz!” Yugi smiled sheepishly trying to pick himself up only for the tall man to reach down and pulled Yugi up onto his feet.

“My that was quiet the tumble you took Yugi!” Dartz chuckled watching Yugi dust himself off pulling out a few loose leaves that attached themselves to him.

He then looked around at all the greenery and commented “Man this place gets greener and greener every time I come here…”

“That is a result of your healing, my child.” Dartz walked towards a clearing in the green space were an open patio with a white table and set of chairs, on top of the table was a pot of tea and set of cups waiting for them.

“My healing? My mind made all this just because I'm healing?” Yugi watched Dartz walk over to the table and gesture for him to take a seat which he did.

“Indeed and the more you heal the greater this place becomes, able to thrive and grow freely.” Dartz took a seat now and poured out a cup of tea for Yugi.

Yugi was still amazed with just how much his mind could do without him even knowing it. If it could do all this with just one session of healing with Dartz just imagine what it will be like when he's fully healed, that thought alone gave Yugi hope for the future. Dartz added the typical milk and sugar to Yugi's cup before handing it over to him.

“So tell me what is new for you?” Dartz stirred his cup crossing one leg over the other as he looked at Yugi.

Yugi smiled and began to tell Dartz all about what happened the night after he returned to his waking mind. He told him about going into the other Yugi's room and finding a door that lead them to the Duel Monsters world, the Dark Magician Girl telling him and Pharaoh they where chosen to release an ancient dragon named Timeaus. Who then saved him form being taken away by the evil eye of a monster that appeared in the sky over the city.

Finally he told him about Pegasus's message to him and how he was going to America in the morning, and how Dartz's reading was correct and how happy he was they where finally making some headway in this whole experience.

Dartz was smiling the entire time as Yugi excitedly told him about these events.

“My oh my such big developments for you! But something…is different about you Yugi…” Dartz took a sip of his own tea “Is something…missing?”

The echo of that word 'missing' rang in Yugi's ears making his fingers shake a bit, trying to keep a hold his tea cup. Yugi nodded and sipped his tea as best he could.

“Yes…Dartz the new enemy has stolen half of my soul! Dark Magician Girl said that if I don't get it back…I- I could…” Yugi swallowed hard as she had to place the cup back down to keep it form spilling. He tried to steady himself by putting his hands on the table to keep them stable but they just kept shacking.

Dartz placed a hand over Yugi's own only then were they able to be at rest, Yugi looked up at Dartz a few tears in his eyes. Dartz looked back at him his mismatched eyes staring into Yugi seemed to make him pay attention and listen to him carefully.

“You will not die my child. You're going to see Pegasus after all…he should hold some answers for you.”

Yugi rubbed his eyes the nodded “Y-yeah he should…” Yugi looked down a bit frightened.

Dartz watched him and tilted his head. “Do you not believe he has answers for you?”

“No-no! I know he must have some answers it's just…” Yugi trailed off a bit and looked at his tea, he picked it up and took a big sip. Placing the cup down again he breathed in then out and continued.

“Pegasus isn't exactly what you'd call a friend…he was my enemy before…” Yugi sighed.

“Oh? Tell me more…” Dartz leaned in his hand resting on his chin.

“Well…it all started with a video tape he sent me…” Yugi continued telling Dartz about how he had a duel with Pegasus using that same VHS tape and how he used his own shadow powers to imprint a piece of his soul into the tape, being and Millennium item user he could do so. After the duel was lost by the other Yugi Pegasus used a punishment game that took Yugi's grandfather's soul and forced him into having to go to Duelist Kingdom in order to save him.

He talked about Weevil tricking him and tossing his Exodia cards into the ocean; he talked about how his other friend Bakura was also an Millennium item holder and used his powers to trap him and his friends souls into cards and they had to play a life or death game for their lives. Yugi was shaking again by the time he started to talk about how Pegasus stole Kaiba's younger brother Mokuba's soul and forced him and Kaiba into a duel that resulted in Kaiba nearly throwing himself off the top of the castle if he didn't win…and that the other Yugi was going to do it…He was going to attack Kaiba and let him die just to win!

At that point Yugi was in tears having to remember that moment broke his heart, he knew it was a long time ago but the pain and fear and shame of it all came flooding back to him. He put his head on the table and sobbed into his arms. Dartz watched with a grin on his face but hid it again once he came closer and reached out rubbing Yugi's back.

“My poor child…I had no idea he'd done such horrid things to you! How dare he harm you and you're friends! Shame on him!” Dartz continued to rub Yugi's back as he lifted his head a bit and sniffled.

“Yes…he was awful…but-but now he doesn't have his Millennium Eye anymore…”

“Indeed…so you have nothing to fear of him…” Dartz rubbed Yugi's shoulders a bit before he stood up “and yet still…you're afraid to face him…”

Yugi sat up more and rubbed his eyes “Y-yes.. I know it's so stupid! Why am I so scared to face him?”

“As I've told you before Yugi trauma has away of digging into us…it holds onto us and makes us cautious of everything, even when there's nothing to be afraid of…but we can over come our trauma's in different ways correct?” Dartz turned to Yugi who nodded this made Dartz smile.

“Now why don't I help you over come your fear of Pegasus so you can face him head on when you meet with him…” Dartz held out his arm and duel disk appeared on it.

Yugi got up intrigued with how he was going to help him with a duel disk of all things. “Uhh how is this going to-”

Dartz chuckled “Yugi I know you love to duel! And I know your an excellent strategist, you've gone over every duel you've ever played and found weak points in an opponents dueling style haven't you?”

Yugi blushed and nodded embarrassed to be called out like this; he did tend to go over past duels with the other Yugi, and just for fun they always analyzed their duel and came up with different ways to exploit loop holes in the opponents strategy and use it against them.

“And I'm sure you've found away to defeat Pegasus in your mind haven't you?” Dartz had a deck appear in his hands and started to shuffle the cards.

“Y-yeah…I mean to be honest in the final duel with him I already had the right card ready to go until…” Yugi looked away trying not to remember when the final duel became a shadow game…

Dartz finished shuffling and put the deck into the deck slot on his duel disk before activating it. “Well then now you may try it out.”

Yugi looked up confused “What do you mean?”

“Remember how you learned to face the future when you faced the tarot cards? Well it can help you over come your fears in a controlled environment.” Dartz lifted a hand up over his head and brought it down as he did his image changed to match that of Pegasus!

Yugi jumped a bit seeing that happen so quickly gave him a fright!

Dartz chuckled as his voice also changed to sound exactly how Pegasus would “I think this helps complete the the illusion? So now you may face Pegasus in an controlled environment, once you've beaten him in a duel, you'll see he's nothing to be worried about! And you'll have no reason to fear him Yugi-boy~”

Dartz lifted his hair to show the hidden eye under his hair had been replaced with a normal eye again, something the real Pegasus probably would have done by now for the sake of vanity.

“You see? Just a normal eye under all this hair!” Dartz chuckled.

Yugi swallowed the lump in his throat; he knew this wasn't really Pegasus so he didn't really have to fear him right? Plus the Millennium Eye wasn't in his eye so he was safe form a shadow game…

Yugi smiled and nodded holding out his arm he used his mind to create a duel disk.

Dartz smiled again.

“Ah I'm glad you're mastering your subconscious mind so well…Now just imagine a 40 card deck and it will appear in your duel disk but they will already be shuffled so you wont know what you get until your draw a card.”

Yugi did as he was instructed and a deck of 40 cards appeared in his deck holder on the duel disk, normally Yugi would be using the deck he used in Battle City but this time since he knew this was Pegasus he was facing he decided to try a whole new strategy,which called for a different deck entirely…

“I know Pegasus's cards already and I'll duel as closely to him as possible…are you ready Yugi-boy?” Dartz said in Pegasus' mocking tone.

Yugi glared a bit “I've been working on this one for a while…let's see if you can handle this!” Yugi activated his duel disk and drew 5 cards, Dartz also drew 5 cards.

Facing each other they both yelled out

“Duel!”

-- Back at Industrial Illusions the moon was full and high in the night sky a chilly wind blew through causing a few clouds to move across the sky coming closer to the face of the moon. Pegasus sat in his office fingers lanced together his head resting upon them, worry and fear caused his heart to race. He was alone tonight, even the cleaning staff had finished and left leaving him the soul person inside the building.

On the roof the three swordsmen of DOMA had landed and awaited just as Dartz directed them to do earlier. Alister held onto the shard while Raphael watched the sky waiting for Dartz to contact them. Valon was bored as per usual when their missions had them just be observant and not act, like a impatient child he sat on the league of the buildings roof danging his legs off on the side.

“Urgh, how much longer is he gonna make us wait? Why can't we just attack Pegasus and get it over with already?” Valon huffed.

“You heard Master Dartz we wait for his instruction. We cannot act without his permission.” Raphael stated keeping his eyes on the clouds as they began to cover the moon bathing the roof in darkness.

“If I knew you'd be so whinny I would have brought you a pocket game to keep your occupied.” Alister chuckled making Valon growl and ready to snap back with his own retort only for them to hear a voice come through the communication channel in their ear buds.

Alister answered “Yes Dartz?”

'You have arrived at Industrial Illusions? And the shard is with you?' Dartz asked.

“Yes sir we're in position and shard is with me”

'Good, now put it down on the ground in front of you and wait.'

Alister did as he was told and placed the shard down in front of him then waited. Once he did a powerful glow of green light flashed and started to crackle around the shard, it floated up and stopped about 3ft off the ground. Another flash of light followed as the stone was enveloped in the green glow, it started to grow and take on a humanoid shape.

The three swordsmen watching with intrigue as the human shape started to flesh out features; hair, eyes, a mouth, a nose, clothing and footwear. With one final flash of green light a figure stood before them but what was really shocking was who the figure resembled.

“No way…is that?” Alister started

“Yugi?” Valon finished.

The figure was a perfect copy of Yugi, especially once his eyes opened and his signature purple and orchid eyes could be seen now. The only thing he lacked was the Millennium Puzzle around his neck and fact he now had the green shard of the Orichalcos hanging form his earlobe like an earring. The copy Yugi held out his left arm and a chaos duel disk just like the one each swordsmen carried appeared on his arm.

“Dartz wants you to duel him?” Raphael said confused looking at the tiny duelists that stood before them.

“Is this some kind of a joke?” Valon asked.

“Well we have to trust Dartz's orders don't we?” Alister crossed his arms and watched as the Yugi copy turned around and headed towards the ledge of the roof.

“Hey! If you beat him do me a favour and grab his deck will you kid?” Alister barked to the Yugi copy who nodded then turned around so he was facing them fully.

He hopped down from the ledge holding on to the edge with both hands then lowered himself to the window sill below. He landed softly like a cat and saw the window was open but only by a crack, he slowly pushed it in and let himself in to the office.

Pegasus sat at his desk his back facing the window, head still down as worry carried in his voice.

“Please, Yugi-boy come quickly! I don't know how much time I have left…”

Pegasus then felt the wind enter the office space causing the curtains to bellow and float in the air. He soon realized just how cold it felt in the room now which was odd he didn't open the window that much.

“I'd say your time is up.” a voice echoed in the room.

Pegasus was surprised by the voice and turned in his chair to face the window; his one eye was widened in horror as he witnessed sitting on the window ledge was Yugi. One leg resting on the ledge while the other hung down, he rested one hand on his knee while the other one rested beside him. He looked very casual his head tilted to the side as he watched Pegasus just like a Cheshire cat with a grin to match.

“Whats the matter Pegasus? You look like you've seen a ghost.” Yugi answered with a wide grin and a slight chuckle.

“It-it can't be…I just called for you today! How can you be-” Pegasus got up form his chair still dumbfounded by what he was witnessing. How did Yugi get here so fast? Why was he sitting on the window?

Yugi corrected his head back into an upright position and chuckled. “Relax I'm not a ghost, not like you can tell without your Millennium Eye anymore…”

The Yugi copy lowered his knee and hopped off of the window ledge again landing softly on the ground “Then again maybe I am a ghost…a spirit of vengeance you could say…”

Yugi started walking towards Pegasus, the older man started to back away form him, feeling the seething malice in his voice and aura.

“V-Vengeance?” Pegasus swallowed a lump in his throat as he kept backing away trying to keep his distance form the boy. “What…are you talking about?”

He never thought he'd feel this intimated by Yugi of all people, normally he had a cheerful aura about him he only ever showed this level of anger during their duel at the finals of Duelist Kingdom. Even then that hatred was more form Yami Yugi then Yugi himself or maybe that was Yugi's anger? And Yami Yugi only embodied it for him acted on Yugi's behalf? He wasn't sure now all he knew was this boy was emitting a quiet fury towards him.

“Oh come off it Pegasus! You know exactly what I'm talking about!”

As Yugi came closer, the click of the heels of his boots echoed in the dark room carrying it all around and letting Pegasus know he was alone in here and no one was coming to save him.

“You see the other me may have let you go without a penalty game but I don't intend on doing the same…You're number is up and it's time for you to pay for what you did to me Pegasus!” Yugi hissed as he glared up at the man with a single eye.

Pegasus was still backing away his heart was racing as he finally hit the opposite wall of his office, bumping into a short bookshelf that held his duel disk on it. Even with the door was only 3 feet away he was still parallelized with fear watching in horror as Yugi now activated his chaos duel disk.

“That duel disk…Yugi w-wait! Are you-” Pegasus struggled to form words he was in shock about seeing the duel disk that belonged to DOMA now being used by Yugi, was he a apart of them?

Yugi pulled out five cards form his deck, he was ready for a fight.

“Come on Pegasus! What do you have to be afraid of? This isn't a shadow game, I don't have my Millennium Puzzle and you don't have your Millennium Eye, we're on even ground… for once. If you're truly a duelist you wont back down!” Yugi shouted in a mocking tone.

Pegasus grimaced at being called out like this, he looked down and saw his own duel disk grabbing it and placing it on his arm. He activated it and shoved the deck he kept in the breast pocket of his suit into the deck slot.

“Alright! I'll accept your challenge Yugi!” Pegasus yelled pulling out 5 cards.

“Duel!” They both shouted.

[optimistredsox]

22 Sep, MIN @ BOS, 1-8, win, Game 1 of doubleheader

Gosh. Tristan Casas erupted, didn't he? Not sure there was a better way to start a doubleheader against a playoff rival at the end of the season. I use the term playoff rival with my tongue slightly in cheek. I know we're pretty much a the very end of possibilities at the moment. But the title of this blog includes "optimist" and doesn't in any way, shape or for mention "realist" or "pessimist". So let's embrace those bright sides and revel in a postponed Saturday turning into a whole Sunday of baseball fun.

Nick Pivetta, who's not been very lucky of late, finally got some of the run support he deserved. The one run charged to him was unearned, he struck out 4 over 5 innings, walked 3 and gave up 4 hits. It wasn't the best pitched game ever, but he got the W and that's good.

The bullpen threw zeroes for four innings.

Tristan Casas kind of exploded. He was 3-for-4 with three dingers, 7 RBIs (meaning there was only one Sox run he wasn't responsible for).

Romy Gonzalez knocked in the other run and still has an awesome moustache. He was 2-for-5.

Masa Yoshida was 2-for-4 and scored twice.

Alex Cora got into a massive argument with the 3rd base umpire in the first and got thrown out of the game. At this point in the season for him to still be so fired up is encouraging. I've very glad he's with us for a few more years.

We won!

Maybe we'll win again!

[footytea]

Lamar odom Tyga travis S Kanye W Scott disick Tristan Thompson ( ruined himself) Devin Book ( runned so fast whe he realised ) Odell Beckam Jr Lets not forget the OG GOAT downfall Bruce jenner ex medal olympic . AKA caitlyn Jenner nobody remember her now . Jude if you ever think that life with the Kardashians or you lust over them PLEASE reconsider it you owned a lot by yourself don't let nobody end all that work Just because that fame and that crish you have on Kendall that life is not like before fame is a really wicked game when it comes to that family.

okay but let's calm down a bit i'm sure he won't start dating kendall now that he did a skims shoot 😭

[vigilskeep]

tristan cousland hopeless romantic…

also him being like 😐 most of the time is cracking me up. im just imagining minerva and Zevran keeping a list of every time he smiles/blushes/laughs etc

i’m not sure i’ve talked much abt who tristan actually is except in the context of minerva and zev but he is very... hmm... very reserved, very straight-faced, very committed to honour and duty. some serious and mournful quality to him. i would say “soft-spoken” is the word i most associate w him. he speaks rarely and when he does it’s quiet, calm, and with a lot of intent. if he raises his voice you are fucked. this is an extreme version of his natural personality very exaggerated by what he’s just been through, but it’s all his dao companions would be familiar with. he can be a little grim a little cold but always respectful and collected

and to people like minerva and zevran i think all that looks like a challenge! lmao. already with just zev/minerva it’s canon to me that it’s zevran’s personal goal to as often as possible make minerva laugh, really laugh, so openly you can see her sharp elven canine teeth. minerva the trained diplomat has a lot of control over her expressions so that’s a fun challenge, and she picks up on what he’s doing, so then it’s a two-player game where she’s trying not to let him win. that’s what they do when they flirt, as well, it’s almost competition and it’s fun, it’s like swordsmen sparring. so then you add an unsmiling warrior into the mix and maybe zevran gets a half-smile one day, minerva gets a blush the next, and they glance at each other with a raised eyebrow and a glint in the eye because there’s a game worth playing. besides what better way to improve party morale than make their stalwart warrior actually smile now and then? a little light-hearted competition to pass the time, what could possibly go wrong, it’s not like anyone’s going to get attached or anything haha right. right

anyway tristan is NOT a helpless victim of this incorrigible pair bc once drawn out of his shell he’s much more powerful than they think. Secret Weapon: sincerity. it’s all fun and games for minerva to drop in in the occasional sly line and glance or for zevran to brashly showily flirt, until tristan starts with the taking their hands and swearing to protect them and giving thoughtful gifts and offering his cloak and carrying them over rivers and kneeling to unlace their boots and defending their honour. three can play at this game, bitches (he would never say bitches he’s a gentleman i’m saying that)

[hantheheart]

ok idea i had for my Next Gen Rewrite for Nanatsu No Taizai but i just ramble away

they're like. Youngins. No magic just yet kind of stuff. Under 10, maybe somewhere between 6 and 8 years old. And they're out with the moms and the other kids at some lil like. Forest clearing they've been to a dozen times. They break away from the rest of the group because one of them remembered there's a patch of some plant Merlin asks them for sometimes in the woods. They go down and start grabbing big handfuls when one of them gets grabbed by a buff dude they dont know. the other two get nabbed before they can start yelling and get dragged off.

Unclear if these dudes are specifically after the Next Gen kids or like. generally out kidnapping folks, as you do in medieval Europe or w/e.

BUT! They get nabbed and the dudes take off. Moms notice just a little too late that the Triple Trouble Makers are nowhere to be seen and things are a little too quiet so they call back the kids but the Triple Threat is still nowhere to be found and the moms start going around to look for them. One of them find the disturbed clearing the kids got nabbed at and panic starts settling in. Merlin calls up the dads who are in a big meeting between Kingdoms and they end the meeting there and then and Merlin teleports them. Appropriate panic between the parents as the Kiane troop are accounted for, but the obvious tracks of a wagon and horses are found outside the woods. King and Diane take their kids home with the promise they'll hurry to catch up as the rest of the parents and Merlin head out to track down the missing kids. And probably kill some people.

They're definetly gonna kill some people.

ANYWAYS the trio get dragged out to some hideaway in the middle of nowhere or w/e and the dudes dump them in tent and probably cages? idk maybe theyre tied up, i havent thought on the details, but Gwen starts absolutely FREAKING OUT she's scared to death, Tristan is trying to keep himself calm and Lance is doing his best to be the scary one so the guys will leave them alone. Like, he's over here growling like a dog with Gwen and Tris cowering behind him. and then some of the guys come over and Lance is about to straight up start biting when they grab Tristan. Tristan starts screaming, Lance starts trying to throw himself at the guys and Gwen is spiraling hard and panicking when her eyes go black.

Arthur freezes in place, looking absolutely baffled and the others stop in their tracks to see what's wrong. He says he feels Chaos magic happening ahead, but that can't be possible. The parents all freak and head the way Arthur's feeling the magic from.

The kidnappers are all running from their camp and Ban, Meliodas and Diane make sure to apprehend as many of them as they can there and then as the rest approach the camp. It's been engulfed in a hazy mess Chaos magic; a newly formed Realm like the one that formed when Arthur first absorbed Chaos all those years ago. Some of them stay outside the Realm to focus on apprehending and detaining all the bastards who fucked with their kids, while the rest head in to find the kids. Struggling to decide who stays and who goes but we'll get there.

Inside, Lance and Tristan find themselves on some weird chunk of floating rock and everything is checkboard and stuff is weird curvy and confusing but they can hear Gwen.

They can hear her screaming. It echoes all over like surround sound but they follow it. Bounding from floating platform to floating platform.

This is the part im unwell about, i NEED YALL TO SEE THE VISION

There's a big black bubble. And Gwen is in the bubble. Her hair is all wild like there's no gravity and she's clutching at her head and her eyes are pure black, her pupils are just gone. Lance and Tristan land on the bubble and start banging on it with their fists and kicking and trying trying trying to break in and get her, that's one of them, that's their best friend, a whole part of their hearts, a piece of them she's hurting she's scared she's trapped how do they HELP HER

And Lancelot slams down on the bubble's glass like surface with both fists and this insanely bright light flashes and suddenly there's a huge gaping cut through the bubble. They kick and dig and hit until the slash is big enough for them to squirm through. The screaming is louder, it's too loud to be real but they cover their ears and push off the bubble's edge. it's so much larger inside and it feels like forever, floating through this big emptiness with this horrible screaming around them, but they grab onto each other and reach.

The boys slam into Gwen, grabbing onto her and hugging tightly as they all go spinning into this void. She's squeezed between them and Tristan starts talking, rambling really, that they're here, it's going to be okay now because they're together, they're going to figure this out and they'll all go home and it'll be fine and Lancelot just squeezes them both close, he's shaking, they're just kids this is terrifying. And Gwen clings onto them, eyes shut tight. Because they have each other, this will be okay.

And the bubble vanishes in a bright light and suddenly the three of them are sitting on some floating rock, squeezing each other and teary eyed and shaking

Her eyes are still all black and she's crying as Tristan tries to talk her down from the panic but he's also freaking out and Lance just holds onto them both like he'll die if he lets go.

And then the parents all show up. They're checking for injuries, asking what happened, are they okay, did those bastards do anything to you And Tristan bawls into his parents' embrace, clingign to them and blubbering out through his tears what happened. Lancelot finally lets go, only because the parents are here and as soon as he's in his dad's arm, he starts bawling. Gwen sobs as her parents scoop her up. Arthur waves away this unstable Chaos Realm and they're standing in the trampled remains of the camp and he uses his own Chaos magic to help Gwen ease up the wild surge her emotions had caused.

The kidnappers are dragged back to Liones where they face justice from all four Kingdom's judicial systems despite the fact that all four dads and Diane would rather put them down and be done with it, their babies have been through enough, but Elizabeth knows exactly how to use the power bestowed upon her as monarch to put these bastards someplace where they'll never hurt anyone else- least of all her precious son- and make them wish she had let the others have their way

[coffee-at-annies]

hockey tag game 🏒

Got tagged by @reavenedges-lies last night (love you lovely, sorry tried to get this out before the game and didn’t succeed)

rules: list your

✨️ no°1 team?

Pens Pens Pens. My flightless fucks. My shitsburgh team. The Pittsburgh Penguins

I don’t do multiple teams but shout out to ren’s yotes and ez’s kraken for being over there and making my moots happy

💌 your favorite goalie?

Tristan Jarry. Mouse boy, my beloved. (Flower is there, but a distant second)

🔟what would be your jersey number?

25 cause it’s square

backup would be 7

👯🏻‍♂️what team would you love to play for?

hahaha do not catch me playing any levels of hockey I am bad at sport

❤️‍🔥who is your favorite player currently?

I’ve already said Jarry? Like that’s him. That’s my boy. *stands up and points*

The players on the second tier of the favorite tier list are POJ, DOC, Jakenbake, Rusty

The core are their own separate tier that is up there but unplaceable

👀a trade that hurt you emotionally?

flower

I’ve actually still never forgiven gmjr for trading Oleksiak back to Dallas. I’ve healed from the trade itself but the bitterness of trading him *back* will just live in my heart forever

I’m also still seething at trading Teddy to Vegas for nothing cap space that we used for granlund.

(Technically we got a pick for Teddy that we traded back to Vegas for Smith so like I’m healing but it’s very begrudging and gmrh can still get fucked)

🌈 what is your experience on hockeyblr so far?

It’s probably the fandom that I’ve been in and active in the longest. Been here and live-blogging regularly since late 2017-early 2018. Everything else has been scattershot or I never really got the courage up to actually talk or content create.

Lotta ppl say good things about how welcoming hockeyblr is and that’s something I try to be every game.

Im not a particularly big blog but it’s nice hanging out, watching ppl come and go, making mutuals I try to talk to regularly, and seeing how things shift big and small.

Been seeing a lot of ppl tag lb posts w/ #[name] watches hockey which is a thing I’ve been doing basically since my early days live-blogging cause I started out as an omgcp sideblog and wanted a way for my non-hockey followers to effectively block everything hockey. So like seeing others pick it up and use it has felt very 🥰

and then tag some mutuals you'd like to know these about ☺️🏒🖤

I usually don’t tag ppl cause I don’t like to peer pressure ppl into participating but what’s the point of having mutuals if you don’t bug them on occasion.

Tagging @podcasts-8-my-heart, @archaicbro, @paintingtheice, @carpehistoryandthepens, @starrynight0612, @cornsobsessions, @flyingchiclets, @robindrake13, and anyone else who wants to do it. I’ve absolutely forgotten mutuals and if I’ve forgotten you, oops, it’s not on purpose I’m just forgetful

[teddypickerry]

hi <3 was curious what you thought about ayitl as a whole? do you count it as canon or not?

i think it’s hard to ignore ayitl if you’ve watched it (at least for me). anytime i’m rewatching gg, my whole thought is yup this harvard loving baby is gonna need money for underwear soon enough. it feels veryyyy au/shitty fanfic like though, which is why i get why most people hate it. the whole boyfriend thing with rory DROVE ME UP THS FUCKING WALL. that’s just not her imo. as well as just her in general. and paris a divorcée who thinks she’s in love w tristan???? are you kidding me??? don’t even get me started on lane (or their horrendous outfits).

the only storyline i remotely enjoyed was lorelai’s hike that resulted in the phone call about richard. i honestly can say i enjoyed that. jess becoming the most successful and lorelai (seemingly) getting over her disgust for him was probably my favorite part (the kiss she blew him saved lives). but besides that? i skip just about all of it anytime i rewatch. the fucking musical makes me want to join richard.

(yes, i’m finally getting to these)

[the-new-hip-priest]

I was just thinking about one of my childhood friends and his lovely family. He lived down the block from me but our friendly neighbours were more than happy to let us cut through their respective gardens so as to not walk by the main road. I’m still friends with him on Facebook and was curious to see how his family were doing.

His mother passed away this January. Our sublime and kind-hearted Christina. I remember how welcoming you were, how you were so excited for your sons to have friend that was ‘a girl who liked boy things’. I remember your warm embrace and hospitality. I remember the time you came sprinting like Usain Bolt when you heard me crack my elbow against a metal fence. I remember you comforting me after a nightmare during a sleepover and driving me home. I remember you taking us to Video Ezy so we could hire Tremors, then down to Coles for sweets and lollies. I remember your beautiful laugh as I beat the boys at Yu-Gi-Oh. I remember when I started to dress differently and you thought my goth clothes were so cool, and you’d stare down anyone who tried to insult me while we were out shopping, and brag loudly about my exam results so they could hear. I remember how happy you were when you found out I liked Rammstein because you worked for Universal and could get me lots of free CDs from European bands. I remember our chats about my education and my future as I began high school. I remember helping your boys with their homework when they transitioned to high school. I remember talking to your partner Mikey for ages, chatting Jackass and post-punk music. He found it charming that I didn’t like typical children’s entertainment. He got me to download a bunch of Bauhaus for him after we had a long talk about ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’. I remember you telling me that I was like the daughter you never had. In fact, you told me while we were walking through the Big W level parking at the mall, that’s how well I remember that moment. I made a joke about a chain-gang because so many areas were cordoned off during the ongoing renovations. You gave such a hearty belly laugh and gave me a big cuddle. It was late 2004. I remember how you understood that your eldest son would probably try smoking cigarettes at some point in his early teens, and you trusted me to make sure it was only ever tobacco if I was with him. You didn’t judge Tristan’s family for their substance abuse problems and allowed us to visit our friend, with the knowledge that I was looking out for the younger ones, aware of needles and sharps safety, and that if anyone made a poor decision - including the adults - I would keep them safe. I remember the last time I saw you, stopping you in the Woolworths carpark in Manly Vale. I was about 19 or 20, but you hadn’t seen me since I was 16. Still, you remembered me. As soon as your heard my silly accent, you knew exactly who I was. You dropped your shopping to run over and give me a big hug and tell me how nice it was to see me doing well after I moved away. Every time I drove down that road, I would check for your green station wagon - it was always there. I always planned on pulling over just to say hello, knowing you would greet me with a cuppa and a durry. Just like you remembered me that day in Woolies, I will never forget you Christina. No matter the time and distance, you were a light in each and every one of our lives and you always will be.  Christina Frost  4/6/1966 - 16/01/2023 Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure You are loved beyond words And missed beyond measure. 

[theuniverseawakens347]

physical into the SPIRTUAL… I’m going to try and keep it on my story… but Halle ya roped in for a past life … Chloe ur a different .. sector from sky… so they say I’m not going to judge it in full just the over lay.. lil Wayne rhythm..

I was being hunted physically and spiritually when Tristan Barton came into my life… Noah ring led back end EAZYIINK Ian McDowell… ya purposely w adults who hate DARNIECE and our parents did the same thing to them to us.. using the kids of the same adults.. elders might have skipped a generation depending on coming to America time frame.. DDG mom..

I’m not giving too much detail cause a lot happening… but I talked to a tarot reader when Tristan and I parted and when MY ANCESTORS PASSED OVER NIPSEY INCLUDED started calling me … I needed a physical understanding …

so I found some online stuff bc Loyalität.. Informant did her part.. in the physical now it was time to go to her SPIRTUAL realm… Howard serving me papers w his death pet “for” Lee … 3 party.. person who handed it to me guilty for HELPING LEE IN THE PAST GET AWAY W CRIME IN WHATEVER LLC EESTAB BISH MENT… they don’t know spiritual law.. that’s another reason pergatory is Russian doll…

this man 2:57 pm just left the library… he’s a fake SPIRTUAL in psychosis for Lee garlington to piss off this library and get it shut down by having the cops come to HARRASS them but see me and call me mentally a bitch to test if I can read their minds… YA GOT MY TWITTER TORRENCE PD FRONT DESK LEARNED THE HARD WAY… NELSON… SINGLE RIDE SQUAD CAR .. CAULIFLOWER EARS STARBUCKS .. THIS MAN DOING BLASPHEMY HE GETTING PSYCHWARD FOR TAKING MEDS TO BE A CRACK HEAD IN SPIRITUAL PSYCHOSIS…

HALLE BAILY AND PUTTING CHLOE ON PAPER … AND HAVENT TOLD HER YOU DID IT SAID IT WAS DDG OR DASHAE OR HIS MOM SIGNATURE AND SOMETHING BOUT HALO ON HER CHESTTHAT VIDEO NIGHT AND WHOO OPS

… anyways I reached out to a physical tarot reader and they asked for photos of my apartment to assest my energy and spirits around me HALLE BE DOING THIS SHIT IN CHLOE NAME OR ASKED CHLOE TOMDO IT TO FRANCESKA AND NOMI… GROWNISH CREW .. YARA SIGN OFF AS ZOE … ORGANIZE IT AND UR CO CAPTAIN HALLE GOT A LITTLE TOO LOOSE.. AND YA JUST LET IT KEEP GOING AND DRINK TO IGNORE IT NOW YA BOTH EVEN MORE RESPONSIBLE… BC DID YOU REPORT IT TO ANYONE!? No. U just drank and told someone who pushed you to the next sector TRACEE to do something dumb ..

Howard took a photo of me receiving this paper and docked who came with him… Ben did that part … I’m posting everything PUBLICALLY and tagging the police and proper ppl.. and I know it’s getting there bc Burbank pd already seen me and Venice ya call me when I’m in the area and tell me come to a crime scene when things are going down and I document it …

I got 18 miles to the gas tank and no dollars for mobility.. except my legs … Jesus not walking more miles thru the desert ya coming to come now or within close range,,

….vivicca WHITSET Angela basset at some point in ur spiritual special mental illness sector you got big footed and I got someone over seeing and reporting evidence,,, it takes time yes… but DIDDY did his part and Cassie did hers w resistance … like Lee and Howard.

DIDDY. EEN TURNED THINGS IN ALL OF IT BEFORE AUG 17th 2021 … again my 27th that yr was suppose to be something special in going home to the stars.., n starting my spiritual journey w PROPER FAMILY… Lee evil team Angela basset got jealous again at lee and used you get back at her and hurt me GOD.. for their pain they cud t understand… well now ur learning IVE BEEN NUMBED OUT MENTALLY MY WHOLE LIFE WITH ALL MY FAMILY FROM OUR SPIRITUAL TRUTHS… MY TRIANGLE N EXTENSION SACRIFICED TAKING BULLETS FOR CERTAIN FAMILY OF THE HOLY LAW OFFICE … WHILE UR PASSED OVER ANCESTORS PROTECTED YOU FROM HARM… BUT AGIN FREE WILL IS URS TO TAKE AND GODS WILL IS ONLY FOR MY 3 … AND OUR ANCESTORS TO AN EXTENT UNTIL I WAKE… THE MORE NUMBING YOU GIVE ME ANGELA ON PURPOSE TO AVOID PUNISHMENT FROM OTHER REALSM THE MORE THE PPL GET MAD AT TRISTAN… HE CANT OVER STEP UNTIL WERE TOGETHER AND YOU KNOW THAT ANGELA.. U TRYNA GET BACK AT LEE FAMILY TREE BC THEIR ANCESTORS ARE THE GROUP OF SLAVE OWNERS SEX TRADE SLAVE TRADE.. U PLAYED BLASPHEMY INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR THE CREATOR AND WORKING THRU UR PAIN LEGITIMATELY… FROM A BLIND HINDSIGHT SPOT YA PROBABLY BEEN DOING IT IN EVERY LIFE TIME.. SAME W HALLE BAILEY OR ENOUGH FOR ME AWAKING TO SAY… NAW IM GOOD ON HER AFTER WE TALK FACE TO FACE.

[prisonwalkerfics]

Liminal Ambiguity

Summary

Expectations are a thing where people reveal their worth to others and themselves. How would someone like myself could afford to bridge the gap between my halo and horns? Am I truly worth the task at hand to appease those expectations, or simply able to burn the alleged faith in me from other people? Emerson is starting his life as a new upstart adult in a world where crimes and infidelity are growing exponentially. With family on his end pressuring to make better decisions for himself, he barely has the effort to attempt the decision he finds for himself and for himself. Until he meets someone worth the effort to hide his stress for a few nights…Or maybe forever?

Cast

Tristan Stovall as Emerson Briar Brumfield (ML)

Clayton Hunter as Mr. Nolan Brumfield

Andres Marcelo as Michael/Evan Ryder Rose (Bodyguard/ Friend/False Love Interest (LI) for Emerson)

Kjay Woodland as Andrew “Drew” Miller (LI)

Max Cohen as Kasper Isaak-Miller (Bro)

Tyla Laura Seethal as Shiomi Sato-Miller (Sis)

Regina Hall as Imani Miller (Aunt)

 Teyonah Parris as Kayla Miller (Aunt)

1: Remembrance

-Emerson- 

I wonder if my father truly loves me. Is he loathing the idea of my failing aspirations, or is the opportunity to reconstruct my identity too much to bear for him? I questioned his motives sometimes when I was involved. He says he has my best interest at heart, but I have yet to see any form of his love towards me to be present. Sometimes, I wished my mother was still here to keep the peace between my father and myself.

I walked into my on-suite bathroom, staring at myself in the mirror, absorbing the self-loathing I had placed in myself countless times. I have a few blemishes here and there. I lift up my shirt to smell the stench of the alcohol from last drenching my body.  Great, I was going to freshen up quickly and climb back into my bed to sleep the day away, but I think a divine intervention has something else in store for me.

"Emerson, your father wanted to know if you were awake. He wishes that you quickly wrap up your morning routine and meet him in his office immediately. Also, good morning, Emerson. Hopefully, today will be the day that good news will bless you." Our butler, Ulysses, mentioned this to me before exiting my bedroom.

It's nice hearing his voice. I hope he doesn't leave, too. I turned on the shower and climbed into the burning barrage of water droplets, stabbing me into the leftover scars left by my past temperaments and discretions. This may ease my mind off what my father would be plotting to sabotage my free will yet again. It has not been even a whole year since the last time I had to beg for his forgiveness. Am I really that much of a shameful excuse of a son that he is going to punish me again. Will his chamber members of the executive be there again? Will they also need me to cleanse myself for them to relieve them of my sorrow? I can only find out by meeting him in his office. What do I have to lose that I already lost?

~

I walked towards his office when I noticed Ulysses fanning me over towards him. He removed his right glove from his hand and placed it on my shoulder. I looked into his face to see a smile on his face. I haven't seen a smile on his face since my dad called me back from boarding school three years after my mother's death. This may be good news for once.

"Be careful, and don't do anything you will regret doing. I hate seeing you hurt." Ulysses stated to me before laying a small kiss on my forehead.

"Thanks; let me get this over with before he reconsiders whatever he has in store for me," I told Ulysses before knocking on my father's office door, waiting for him to say something.

I stare at the door that started it all for me. My announcement of my birth by my mother to the removal of my name from my father and reside at Lady Lily Boarding School of Troubled Youths. I went through so much there. I was trapped there with no outside communication because my father wanted nothing to do with me at the time. My mother yelled at him for sending me away because I was too weak to form coherent thoughts and like-minded ideals like himself. He said the school would help shape me into a man like himself. He said I was troubled by the thoughts that went through my mind.

I was troubled, alright. The mental and emotional assaults by the priests and nuns to the physical assaults from the other boys who were there seeking the same thing as myself, but in the difference between the both of us, they were truly troubled. They took something from me I would never want any man or woman to experience. They took my innocence, pride, and the least amount of sanity I had at the time. I was only going to go to the school for one year, my father said to prove to me that I was not troubled, but after the person I trusted there to support me throughout my year there, he beat me up and sexually assaulted me to prove that I was just as troubled as everyone else here.

All I could hear was him laughing at me as he silenced me each time, emphasizing his position and views on me stroke by stroke. After he finished, I snapped. I picked up the nearest object and beat the living shit out of him to prevent him from hurting anyone else ever again. It was all a ploy from my father to prove to my mother that I could not be saved from simple parenting but hard love. He didn't expect the kid to go this far with me, but nonetheless, my father won in my mother's eyes. I was left behind for another two years to be falsely rehabilitated for something that was never a part of me. Yet, I was still victimized in my own mind to live with the failure I had given my mother, the only person who saw the best in me, to walk away from her greatest blessing. I was able to bless her with my life. Now, I was a curse that killed my mother and pushed my father to believe in his perspective of me.

"Come in." I hear my father's voice behind the door. I walked through the door to see him in one of his countless luxurious suits. "You're late. Have a seat." I nodded and sat across from him.

I looked up at my father, hoping he would finally look me in the eyes for a change, but all he was doing was looking at documents and his calendar. Once again, after all these short years after my 'shameful' display at the school and when I returned home after my mother's death, he would never look at me nor acknowledge me as his son.

"Good morning, d- Mr. Brimfield. I am sorry for my lateness. It won't happen again." I told my father. He looked up from his folders of documents and calendar and saw my sorrowful face. He had a soft smile before it quickly fell off his face.

"I see you refrained from calling me by paternal nouns here. I guess letting you stay at that school for another two years did you some good. Then again, your mother's death also did a number on your mental health and self-awareness of authority around you. I think I could give you something that would shed more light on the Brimfield name. Ulysses, call in Mr. Rose. He needs to see who his new assignment will be." My father mentioned that he had commanded Ulysses to bring some strangers to his office.

"An assignment? Am I going on a trial or something, Sir?" I asked my father, confused. I looked behind myself to only go pale in the face. "What the fuck is he doing here?" I wondered, mumbling and shaking at a loss for words, that my father would continue to hurt me even after the will my mother left behind.

My father walked over towards the guy who violently assaulted me six years ago and got me in this mess, being hugged and cherished more than I have ever received from my father. I was born to be tormented and tortured by the man who was supposed to nourish and love me unconditionally.

"Watch your mouth, boy. This successful young man's family is a potential business partner. I asked them if their son had any time to partner with my son on a chance to redeem himself in my eyes and achieve his mother's wishes. They said he doesn't have any other obligation on their end, so I asked them to help you help me." My father said coldly as he twisted the words of my dead mother into my face.

Michael Rose is the guy who has broken me even more than I have ever been. He destroyed my image of my mother of ever being saved from my torment of a place that started to 'repair' broken young men and women. Michael was another broken boy, but he was indeed troubled but as a troublemaker. He always pulled pranks and bullied me here and there. However, everyone on the campus loved him, from the Holy Father to all the students who attended the school. After my little explosive moment with him in one of the sports teams' supplies shed, they loved him even more, giving him a chance to leave school early. However, I heard he rejected the opportunity and stayed until graduation like I did.

Now, at the age of 21, I look at him. He is taller than before and relatively in shape. His eyes are still the same shade of icy blue from all those years ago, and he has the same dark brownish-black hair to follow suit. I trusted this person with my mind, body, and soul. He desecrated all three of them in a matter of a short year. He smiled at me as he turned to my father with concern.

"I am not sure this will work out, Mr. Brimfield. Your son is uncomfortable with me being here." Michael mentioned it to my father. My father looked at me and back to him with a cocked brow.

"Wait in his room until I am done with him. My butler will walk you to his room. I will get to the bottom of this foolishness." My father growled as he dismissed Michael from his office, closing the door behind him. My father locked the door and walked over towards me. "You have the nerve to make a fool out of me again. Did you learn anything after all these years besides shitting yourself? I honestly swear you can be hopeless and disgraceful." My father slapped me in the face as he stabbed me with more words of affirmation that all of this was nothing more than a lie.

I stumbled, falling in front of his desk. I stare at my father, shaking at the countless beatings and punishments that occurred in this room. This place was never a happy place. The very fact that this room used to be my mother's library turned into yet another one of his offices to build another wall between my own escape from his tyrannical rule over my mind and displace my mother further away from me.

"He was the one that broke my trust all those years again! You expect me to just forget about everything he did to me! That will never happen!" I shouted at my father, pulling myself up from the ground.

My father walked over swiftly, picking me up and slamming me onto his desk. He slapped me twice across the face as he stared into my eyes with the same rage he did when I was defending myself all those years ago from my rapist. He slammed me over and over again onto his desk, feeling my heart break each time he dropped me. Why couldn't it have been you?

"If he did all those things, you should have begged forgiveness when they tried to press charges against you. It took all your hard work to get a good lawyer to acquit all the charges against you, Emerson. When I finally thought you would become a man like your father. Respectable. Honorable. Disciplined. I thought I could even start calling you my son rather than Adanna's boy. You turned around and pulled this shit. The boy was in intensive care for over a year. He even forgives you for the assault, but you, of all people, believed you were better than God himself and refused it. Take this opportunity as a form of redemption for your past discrepancies and reflect." My father drilled into my mind once again.

I felt tears fall down my face. I always wanted to hear those words come from his mouth. He pulled me up from the desk and pulled me in for a vile embrace. I stood there in fear of what he may do next. He pulled me in tighter, leaning close to my right ear. "You better not fuck this up, son. If you do, you can relive that same event for the next thirty to fifty years. If that event happened, of course." My dad mentioned pushing me out of his office to get back to work before.

Why did my mother have to leave me instead of him? I try my hardest every day to one day get his approval again, like when I was younger. I missed the man who saw me as one of his successful projects. The happiness that left him was euphoric. He was happy for months. He would play with me, read books, and have countless sleepovers. Now, I look back at it to see if it was indeed the happy memories he provided, or were they simply requests from my mother to bond with me since he wanted an heir to the company someday.

I walked up the stairs in shame to just crawl into my bed and cry my eyes out for yet another failed attempt to appease my father's hunger for higher glory and happiness. I walked into my room to see my abuser extinguishing my escape from the world engulfed by my father. I want to push him out of my window and kill myself in the process to make my father suffer both in his career and honestly as a father.

I left the door open just in case something happened. Michael walked towards me, keeping his distance. He stared at my face and my unkempt clothes. "I heard a lot of shouting down there. I never knew Mr. Brimfield to be so vocal. He was always a man of a few words. I know you properly didn't forget about me, but I was finally able to talk to you after all this mess." I glared at Michael as he said those words with such a chirping tone. Even now, he is mocking my domestic abuse and the abuse I experienced from him secondhand.

"Why the fuck are you here? Didn't you do enough to hurt me? You were my only friend for a long time and stole six long years from me. You suppose a little conversation between us would fix my lost teenage years, and the invasive therapy sessions would alleviate what happened all those years!"  I yelled at Michael, crying my eyes out as all those words and the ability to stand against him finally gave me something he stole from me to reappear. My ability to think and be selfish.

"It might not be, but I am willing to start over. I never got the chance to tell you that I was sorry. I took advantage of you and your loneliness and did things that no one should ever do to someone. I understand that you may not trust me again, but I know that your father believes I didn't do anything to you. He even tried to see if I would storm out of this room after my plea for forgiveness. He even threatens you with the same assault I caused you six years ago. I was an idiot trying to feed off anything that would make me feel good. If you want to continue where you left off, I have accepted that year after my release from the hospital." Michael stated firmly as he walked closer, dropping a heavy object in my hands.

I opened my eyes to see it was a pistol with a silencer on it. I looked at him in horror yet glee. I have the chance, with no restraints, to end the life of the person that harmed me. I checked the magazine and saw nothing there. I disarmed the gun to see if the chamber had a round in it, but to my shock, the gun was empty. Michael pulled out a necklace with a bullet stained with dried blood on it, sealed in a fairy bottle.

"Is this some sick joke, Michael? Is giving me this gun to kill you as a returned favor for what you did to me?" I asked him as my blood began to boil. He walked over towards me with a hug. I can feel my heart and breathing quickly start to accelerate.

"It is what I can do, at least. After I lead them all to this point, including you." Michael told me softly as if his voice had gotten remorseful. I looked up at him, trying to connect the decaying nerves in my brain to make one last critical thinking point before I potentially fail my father and especially my mother again.

"What did he hire you for?"

"To be your friend again."

You can't be serious. Is my father trying to help me for a chance, or is he trying to redeem himself for lost time? I have to figure that out.

A/N

I hoped I did not run you all away from this shameless and shotty comeback sort of. Awkward thinking this is how I wanted to return, but here I am back at last somewhat. See you in the next chapter.

[casspurrjoybell-28]

Alpha's Temptation - Chapter 47 - Part 1

*Warning Adult Content*

My body pulses with adrenaline as I burst into the room.

"Lucien," I exclaim, tearing up at the sight of him sitting up in the bed, leaning weakly back against the mountain of pillows Wren and I arranged for him.

I haven't seen him with his eyes open in so long.

He cracks a smile.

"There you are," I break out into a sob, running to him and practically collapsing on him as I bury him in a hug.

"Lucien..." I cry, sniveling into his rumpled hospital gown.

He pats my back, chuckling.

"Easy on the hugs, my boy. Tristan's got me plugged with all types of wires."

I jolt off of him, remembering his less-than-ideal state and sniffle as I apologize.

"S-So you know about everything? About what's happened with Theo?" I ask.

A grave look comes to his face as he nods.

"Yes, Tristan informed me. I apologize deeply for what Theo did. I didn't think... I had more faith in my son than I should have. Him poisoning me to become the Pack Alpha isn't something I ever thought would happen. Goes to show how blinded you can be when it comes to your children."

"I-It's not your fault," I shake my head.

"He never showed you... his other side."

"Ah, he was good at hiding it, wasn't he?" Lucien sighs, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Yeah..." I trail off, wanting to ask and say so many things all at once but I don't know where to start.

So I just say...

"Why did you want to speak with me?"

Lucien leans back into the pillows with a small grunt, folding his hands together.

"Yes, where do I start?" he thinks for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. "Do you want to know the real reason I kept you here in my pack?"

"W-what?" I thought it was because he didn't want me to return to Dark Moon.

"I know what you're thinking. That I kept you because a wolf from Dark Moon would be a breach of pack security and that I needed to keep an eye on you. I'm surprised you and Daemon actually believed that," he laughs. "I could have sent you to a different pack to be housed and cared for. I didn't have to take the risk of taking in an enemy. It was a dangerous bargain, what I did."

I sit there quietly, confused.

"Then what was the real reason..?"

"I knew you were Daemon's mate."

'My eyes widen. What?'

"But how?" I question.

Lucien's eyes twinkle in mystery.

"Hmm, Alphas intuition, you could call it," he smiles.

I raise a questioning eyebrow at him and he chuckles again.

"Just kidding. Hmm... I don't think I ever told you this but my mate, my Luna, was very talented. She had abilities that allowed her to... see things, passed down from her mother's side. That's actually the reason we met. Young dumb nineteen-year-old me was brought along to her family's shop, which was esteemed for their 'visions', said to come to them through the power of the moon. I thought it was BS, quite frankly but my mother loved to get his spiritual readings done there. That's when I saw my beautiful Rose for the first time, the shop owner's daughter who was hiding behind the bookshelves, watching me shyly as I waited for my mother." he smiles to himself, eyes looking far off, happy to reminisce the good old days.

"The rest was history, of course. She was happy to become my Luna. She also proved to me that these 'visions' that she and her family had were legitimate, not the BS I had previously thought them to be. Her gift of sight helped us greatly as we gained power and took over the roles of my parents," he takes a deep breath.

"When we first found Daemon, not long after she had a vision. It wasn't very clear but... she saw a snapshot of Daemon's future. He was older, a man, almost unrecognizable from how huge he'd grown. But what piqued Rose's curiosity the most was that he was carrying a small white wolf in from the forest. Holding that wolf close to his chest, like it meant everything to him. We knew it must be his mate."

I'm stunned.

Too stunned to even wrap my head around this. Is that what Theo was referring to when he said I was his mother's 'gift'?

That I was sent by Rose, somehow?

"It was worrying to me, this vision. I knew there had to be a reason why it came to Rose because her visions were selective. They also didn't show us everything or give much detail. But she calmed my fears and told me that love would overcome everything."

I look down, my heart tight.

But how does he know Rose was right?

I mean, Daemon completely abandoned me just few months ago.

How could that be...?

"I know there are a lot of thoughts clouding your mind right now, Ash. But I will explain everything, I promise. That's what I told you when you first came here, didn't I?"

And then I remember.

When I'd asked him why he was taking me in so willingly.

He'd said...

"I'm going to tell you everything soon, Ash. All in good time."

My brain feels like it's going to explode.