#and that's why she chases the cure as she feels shes failing as a mother

[pizzaboat]

Gwendolyn is such an ass mother. She's gotta be one of the worst Disney mom's. Almost if not equally as harmful as Odalia

And maybe that wasn't the intention with Gwen, and characterising moments would've existed if the show was longer

But man is toh good at introducing characters as utter assholes when you think about it for more than 2 seconds and then redeeming them five minutes later

I hate that character god. I could go on about how awful she is

[sparklingandtwinkling]

Healin' Good♥Pretty Cure Origin Story

🩷🌸🐰🌳💙⛲️🐧🌳💛✨🐯🌳💜💨🐶

Diabolos was fed up with all the Cures defeating his Negative Bosses before remembering that only Mobians can become Cures. He decided to infect Mobius to kill off all the Mobians so no more Cures could be made. However, he needed a large supply of negativity to create a new Negative Boss, as he had already used up much of his magic. He then remembered how sorrowful the Empire was when baby Emerald got sick. He sent one of his generals to poison Emerald (who is 15,424) and it worked.

The royal family and the whole Empire wept as Emerald lay in her room close to death. Her siblings (minus Ruby) and mother searched for a cure. Diabolos watched with great satisfaction as he gathered up the negativity. Vanessa was devastated as she watched her daughter fight for her life, feeling helpless just as she did when her daughter was born. It all became too much and she broke down in her workshop. A young Afghan Hound puppy from one of their guard dogs’ litter found her and tried to comfort her. Vanessa smiled at the puppy when she pawed at her. Vanessa hugged the puppy, and the power of the twenty-one element bottles floating in a bubble overhead combined with the puppy's desire to help her sadness and Vanessa's yearning to help her sick daughter, giving the puppy healing and protective magic. The magic gave the puppy a new necklace and a crystal headpiece. Vanessa was surprised at what had happened but not as surprised as when the puppy jumped out of her hands and ran out of the workshop. Vanessa chased after her, and Sapphire joined her when she felt the energy in the puppy. The commotion attracted the attention of her other family members.

The puppy ran into Emerald's room and jumped on her bed. Emerald opened her eyes and tried to smile and reach out to pet her. Her family stopped in the doorway and watched. Crystalline wanted to take the puppy away but both Vanessa and Sapphire stopped her as they watched with wide eyes. The puppy met Emerald’s hand and a strong pulse was released, eradicating the sickness from her body.

Her family was overjoyed when she sat up and hugged the puppy. Diabolos was displeased that the Empire was no longer in despair, which meant he couldn't collect more negativity but he had enough to do what he wanted. He created King Byogen, whom he sent to Mobius to infect it and gather up more negativity. When Vanessa and Sapphire found out, they knew they had to take action. Sapphire suggested turning the puppy, Teatinu, into a Cure Flicky and sending her to Mobius to find a partner to help fight King Byogen. Vanessa agreed, but Emerald begged them to turn Teatinu into a Cure Spirit instead, as the puppy had saved her life and she wanted her to stay the way she is. Vanessa agreed but explained that they would have to erase Teatinu's memory of living in the Crystal Empire, as she would need to stay on Mobius after completing her mission. Emerald says she understands and leaves to retrieve Teatinu.

Sapphire questioned why Vanessa lacked confidence in Teatinu, especially if she was sending her to Mobius. Vanessa explained that Teatinu and her partner would only be able to slow down King Byogen and they would have to wait for the right time to recruit more Cures. Sapphire clarified, "You mean the right era." Vanessa laughed before Emerald arrived with Teatinu and her family. After an emotional farewell, Teatinu is given the Cure power and sent to Mobius in the year 1875 CE with no memory. The only thing she does know is that she must find a partner to become a Pretty Cure and her name.

As Teatinu explored Mobius, she encountered Fuu, a teenage orphan who sang to sick children and had a strong immune system. Teatinu became inspired by her. When King Byogen attacks Fuu’s village, Teatinu valiantly attempts to stop him but ultimately fails. When he tries to finish her off Fuu saves her, causing the Wind Element Bottle to appear. Teatinu then tells Fuu what to do to transform. Together, they manage to drive him away from the village.

Over the years that follow, the two travel the world in pursuit of Byogen, freeing element spirits he has imprisoned. During a very rough battle, they succeed in banishing him to a different world, which later becomes the Byogen Kingdom, and destroying his physical form. Suddenly, they find themselves transported to a new world filled with strange creatures that bear a resemblance to Mobians, but walk on two or four feet and are less humanoid. Among these creatures are Flickies of various colors. The two looked around before Vanessa appeared in front of them and congratulated them on their success.

When Fuu asks who she is, Teatinu recalls that Vanessa was the one who made her and sent her to Mobius. The two then ask what the new world they have found themselves in, and Vanessa explains that it is the Healing Garden. The strange creatures in the garden are former inhabitants of Earth who were mistreated by humans, so she extracted them from that world. She goes on to tell them that new animals will continue to appear in the Healing Garden if they are not treated well on Earth. The Flickies in the garden are known as Healing Flickies, born from the desire to help others from the Mobians. Teatinu asks why they have been brought to this place, and Vanessa tells them that it is the end of their journey. Fuu will return to Mobius to live out her life, while Teatinu will remain in the Healing Garden to watch over it and continue to bring more Healing Flickies into the world. Though neither of them wants to be separated, Vanessa assures them that they will always be able to visit each other, however, Teatinu will live longer than Fuu.

Both were saddened by this but promised to always be friends. Fuu becomes a renowned doctor, while Teatinu becomes the queen of the Healing Garden. In the last days of Fuu’s life, she stayed with Teatinu. After her passing, she is remembered in the form of a statue in the Healing Garden.

132 years after Teatinu's arrival on Mobius, in 2007 CE, she gave birth to her daughter, Latte. On that day, Vanessa presents her with three special Healing Flickies - Rabirin the Rabbit, Pegitan the Penguin, and Nyatoran the Cat - as well as the Flower, Water, and Light Element Bottles and three Healing Room Bags. She tells Teatinu that the time will come when she must send her daughter and the three Healing Flickies to Mobius, but not yet. Teatinu understood what she meant.

——————————————————————————————————

Previously: 💫🔭 | Next: 🌊🌴💄

[tamisdava2]

Do you have a favorite Georgian fairy tale? Any favorite mythical story?

Yes, of course  ʕ￫ᴥ￩ʔ

1)Natsarqeqia - Basically, the main character here is similar to the Ash-Lad. But for your and my own sake i’ll just refer to the Natsarqeqia as the Ash-Raker.

Basically there are two versions of the story: First, Ash-Raker is a lazy, but a very witty lad. He sits near hearth all day, for days and rakes(?) the ashes, thats why people called him "Ash-raker”. Ash-Lad had good brothers who were actually doing their work. So they kind of kicked him out cause he wasn’t doing anything. He later comes across the Devi (Basically an Ogre). Ash-Raker tricks the Devi into thinking that he is stronger than him and he scares Devi and becomes owner of all the stuff that Devi owned.

I was doing research on this tale and apparently there is another version, but I wasn’t able to find it. In second version Ash-Raker is lay here too, but by his wife’s persistent action he slowly starts to work and becomes exemplary family oriented man. I really want to read or hear the full version :(

2)Tsiqara - This, this fairytale is just gold! One of the best fairytales about the friendship. There is a boy and he has a bull who is named Tsiqara that can talk, the boys mother died, so his father marries another woman. As you could guess his stepmother was evil. She wanted to get rid off Tsiqara so she pretended to be sick and told her husband that nothing will save her, only Tsiqara’s heart and liver will cure her. The boy hears that the father wants to kill his only friend so he and Tsiqara ran away. But the evil stepmother has sent a boar to kill them (In some version she mounts the boar and chases them), and there is a chase scene that is similar to the one in the Romanian fairytale that you’ve posted. So before, Tsiqara and the boy left they took three things with each other, and they used it when they were chased to get away from the boar. So they spilled the water from the jar and enormous sea appeared, then the boy throws away the comb and a very thick forest grows out and then finally Tsiqara tells him to throw away the sharpener and behind him a cliff that reached up to the sky raised up, the boar cuts steps into the cliff with all it’s might and goes up them, as it reached the middle it has slipped and fell into the abyss.

If you think that it’s the ending then you are wrong. Tsiqara puts the boy on the black poplar tree and gives him 2 Salamurs (wind instrument), the boy must blow into one if he’ll need Tsiqara’s help, the bull will come right away to his rescue. The other one is for celebration, whenever the boy will feel hungry he’ll blow into the salamuri and the food and the drink will appear for him.

The boy was playing on his celebration salamuri, the shepherd heard it, got jealous, tried to make the boy come down from the tree, but it failed, then he went to the king and told him about the boy. The king commanded to bring the boy, so old woman volunteered, she took the goat and collar awl went to the tree to and started piercing the goat, the boy called the old woman and asked what she was doing with the goat, she told him that she can’t slaughter the goat, so she asks the boy to do the kindness and help her. He comes down, woman uses magic and makes him fall asleep and king’s people take him and lock him up behind nine doors with locks. The boy wakes up, realizes that he messed up, but the problem is that he has left the salamurs on the tree, so he asks the crow to bring them to him, but the crow doesn’t cause the boy acted like a jerk and threw rocks at the crow while he tried to eat. Then the boy asks Sparrow for help, but sparrow is pissed too, because the boys would make traps for sparrows and destroy their nests, then the boy asked the swallow for help, the swallow felt sorry for the boy so it brough him the salamurs, the boy blew into the other one to call Tsiqara. Tsiqara heard it, went to rescue his friend and he broke 8 doors with lock, the problem is that while he tried to break the 9th door he broke his horn. Then the mouse came out of the hole from the wall and was like: What will you give me if I’ll help you to grow your horn back? Will you let me eat your flesh? And Tsiqara like a real friend said yes. So the mouse somehow made Tsiqara’s horn to grow and Tsiqara destroyed the 9th door and reunited with the boy. 

There are different variations of the ending. The most child-friendly is one where the mouse saw what a good friends these two were and decided not to eat Tsiqara.

In other one Tsiqara took the boy and put him on the top of the tree again and went far away to repay his debt to mouse. Now this version has 2 different endings. 1)The sad one - boy after waiting for a long time came down from the tree and went searching for Tsiqara, he finds the corpse of his friend and killed by the grief he never uses his salamurs again. , yay! 2)Happy ending - The boy finds the corpse of his friend and cries, the mouse that ate Tsiqara’s flesh hears and comes and asks the boy if he would sacrifice his flesh in order to bring his friend back to life, and the boy says that yeah he’d would. That touched the mouse’s heartstrings and he decided to bring Tsiqara back to life for free, so the boy and Tsiqara lived happily ever after.

3) Land Demands What It Owns - I love this fairytale so much! It’s really sad that most people don’t know about it, because today the tale would be considered way too grim to read for kids. 

There was widow who had a son, the boy saw that everyone had father but him so he asked mother about it. She tells him that his father is dead, but the kid doesn’t know what death is so he asks his mother about it. She starts to talk about the fact that death is a natural thing, but boy is now scared so he went to search for immortality. He met deer with the longest horns he had ever seen. Boy asked deer if it knew a country where death didn't exist, deer answered him that it had no idea. But if it's horns would reach the sky, then it would die. He offered the boy to stay, he would be alive as long as deer was alive too. The boy continued his way and met raven that flew above the gorge, he asked the crow if he knew a country where death didn't exist, it answered that he didn't know, but it would live as long as it's feathers (in some versions poop) didn't fill the gorge, it offered the boy to stay with it, then the boy would live as long as the crow did. He found some castle. In it he found woman. He asked her the same question that he asked deer and raven. She told him that there is no such place. If he stayed with her only then he wouldn't die. But she doubted that he would be able to deal with immortality, after all, the land demands what he owns. He stayed with her for few days, but then he missed his mother and relatives. Woman told him that there wouldn't be even their bones left, but the boy didn't believe her, for him just 3-4 days have passed. Woman gave him 3 apples and told him to eat him one every time he felt sadness (in some versions she told him to eat it them all when he would arrive at his destination). So he left. On his way back he found the gorge, it was filled with raven's feathers. He found raven's dried body. He gulped as he remembered the woman's words, he ate one apple, in one second he had a beard that reached his back. He continued his way, he saw deer and at that moment it's horns reached the sky and it died. The boy realized that the woman was right, truly, a lot time has passed. He ate another apple and he turned into an old, humped man, he loathed himself. He continued and finally reached his village, but he didn't recognize anyone. He asked villagers about his mother, but of course no one knew a thing about her. Then he found some old man, the boy learnt from him that one thousand year had passed. The boy went to the ruins of his house. He was filled with sadness, but he could barely move. He saw young lad and asked him to take out apple out of his pocket. Boy ate the apple and died. The villagers took a pity and buried the boy.

[darkershining]

Just watched episode 6 of Wonderful Pretty Cure, where Komugi's frustrations over not knowing how to activate her Friendly Wand leads to an argument with Iroha.

The episode begins with Komugi, Iroha and Satoru watching the Kirarin Penguin fix another part of the broken crystal along with another section of the Niko Garden. Mey Mey compliments Iroha on her good work in the last confrontation, with Iroha reminding him she couldn't have done it without the Kirarin Rabbit lending her power. Komugi is still wondering why she failed to activate her Friendly Wand, with Mey Mey speculating to why it may have failed before Komugi starts throwing a tantrum about it.

After returning home, Iroha does what she can to cheer up Komugi. Iroha's mother goes to check on them, noting she's waiting for a patient to arrive. The woman finally arrives, having brought over her dog to get it vaccinated. Noticing the dog seems nervous, Iroha goes to help comfort it, assuring it that everything will go smoothly and offering to be there as well. Iroha's mother explains that Iroha has always seemed to have a good understanding of animals. Komugi, however, seems a bit frustrated with Iroha paying attention to another dog and tries to get her attention, only for Iroha's mother to bring her back to the house, telling her to wait so her barking doesn't make the other dog nervous.

At Mayu's place, Mayu is still working on a present for Iroha to thank her for the animal carrying bag she gave her, when her mother comes in to tell her that her father is calling them. Mayu is so focused on her sewing that Yuki has to snap her out of it. Mayu's father tells her he's currently in an African country and took some pictures of some lions. He asks how Mayu is doing and if school has started yet, with Mayu explaining it starts next week. Mayu's mother tells him that Mayu has at least made a friend, with Mayu disagreeing, telling her she doesn't feel that she and Iroha are quite there yet.

Later in the night, Komugi asks if there's anything she can help Iroha with. Iroha tries playing catch with her, but Komugi still wants to something actually useful. Iroha suggests the two go to bed, with Komugi noting it still isn't quite what she had in mind, but since it's late, they might as well get some sleep. The next morning, Komugi is getting ready for her morning walk, when she realizes her leash is gone. Iroha remembers how it turned into the Friendly Wands, and since she has no idea if it can be turned back, she decides to go see if the store still has the same type of leash in stock. Komugi protests that she doesn't want a replacement, since they picked out the original together and she only wants that one.

An argument breaks out when Iroha points out that since they don't know if getting the old leash back is possible, Komugi may just have to accept that it's gone and get a new one, but Komugi refuses to back down, instead deciding to cancel their walk. Iroha's parents can sense that something is wrong, with Iroha's mother noting that since the two of them are always together, it was probably inevitible that the two would end up having an argument at some point.

While Komugi is later playing with Daifuku in the dog run, Iroha vents to Satoru about what happened. However, elsewhere, a lion Garugaru hatches, putting the animals around town on edge. Iroha tells Komugi they should put their argument on hold and go deal with the situation.

They reach the Garugaru and transform, with Cure Friendy and Satoru quickly deducing it's a lion from the mane, and explaining that to Cure Wonderful, who has never seen a lion before. The lion Garugaru ends up intimidating Wonderful to the point where she can't move, with Satoru suspecting Wonderful's instincts might be kicking in when faced with an apex predator and king of the beasts. Cure Friendy suggests Wonderful wait with Satoru while she handles the situation.

Cure Friendy tries reasoning with the lion, but it begins chasing after her. With the help of the Kirarin Penguin's power, allowing her to slide on ice to move faster, Cure Friendy tries to see if she can keep the lion in one spot so she can purify it. However, Cure Wonderful still wants to help and tries to see if she can get her Friendly Wand to work, but nothing happens still.

Unfortunately, this ends up drawing the lion's attention, and both Cures are knocked aside when Friendy tries rushing over to save Wonderful when she freezes up again. The Garugaru gets away, fleeing into the mountains. Iroha scolds Komugi for not doing as she was told. Komugi protests she just wanted to be with her, but Iroha drops the harsh truth that it just isn't possible for them to be together all the time.

As they return home, Satoru tells them he'll look into where the Garugaru might've gone, noting there aren't many places a creature that big could hide, and he'll let them know if he finds something. Later that night, Komugi wakes up, apologizes to a still sleeping Iroha for not being any help, before quietly sneaking out...

Well, that ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. Poor Komugi. I'm guessing she ran off to look for the Garugaru in the misguided belief that finding and helping it is the only one she can make things up to Iroha. And I guess my initial theory about why the Friendly Wand didn't work was probably wrong. Guess we'll find out soon enough.

Looking forward to the next episode!

[boudicastar]

Tony

The colors of my soul, once bold and vibrant

Began to fade and lose their brightness.

Shades of past, once well-defined, lost their light when I learned life is timed.

Memories cut too deeply, blurring good moments and bad,

Running them together,

Like watered-down paint on canvas, too thin to matter.

A caged horse was I until the gate fell down and I broke loose,

Slamming hooves into the track,

Running, running,

from the old haunts chasing my back.

I sought nothing but lighthearted means, acing the social climb but failing to be clean.

Nothing to fear but fear itself, I was numbed out and put reason on a shelf.

Giving nothing that was truly me, but taking and taking all I could see. What about me?

The faster I ran, the emptier I became, hollowed out, incapable of shame.

Getting higher and higher for long bouts of time, chasing that feeling akin to sublime.

Nothing made sense, so why stew? Stop thinking, no feeling, just do.

Run, run, faster than wind, chasing the rain and seeking a friend.

Someone to understand my soul on fire, just one person to pull me from the mire.

In my lost and crazy ritual of swirling through life,

A spinning jack on the blade of a knife.

Too fast to slow down and too quick to hear the sound,

The sound of warning in my ear, ears that were shut, shut out the fear.

Keep going! Don’t stop! I ran and raged until I saw

There was one thing that could kill me, my one great fall.

My wild heart pumping to the rhythm of stormy wind,

Stopped beating in that instant and shrank from within.

I fought to grasp my anchor, but my hand swept through a cloud.

“She’s gone,” they whispered. “My mom? NO!” I screamed out loud.

The angel of my existence, my only friend, my mother. Gone. Her time had reached the end.

A cruel shattering of bones and heart…gave birth to my rage and broke me apart.

Her lifeless body was my doom. Another gate broke loose, a flooding gate that hung my noose.

My numbed-out shell filled with wet rain, sloshing through the soaked out surges of pain. They were Unbearable and drove me to seek the blank and hollow through the swallow, through the drink.

Taste was at first the distraction for a false satisfaction, no power to cure the deeper darkness than Before.

My senses were dulling and sending me crawling, headlong down into a panicked falling.

I thought I’d overcome before, but now I could take no more, slamming them down, two by three, Attacking the hurt never helped so instead, I flee.

From the table and drinks, I pass through the door, run away as if there’s nothing left to say. Words Balanced on my tongue now slipped away, long gone. I’m drunk and matter to no one.

The one who saw me, the heart who knew, all I was and what I should do - she was gone, my anchor Detached, holding me to nothing, no tether to keep me from drowning.

One final drink had washed me away, one unstable step caused me to sway.

Then beyond expectation or realm of foresight, my life was blinded by a searing light.

Massive impact of stunning pain, I couldn’t run nor feel the rain.  

Darkness snatched me like a thief in the night, pulled me from life and out of sight.

It swallowed my body, the blood from my veins. No more running. God grabbed my reins.

Realization slammed into my chest, face down and crushed into less.

Less than who I dreamt I’d be, less than what she saw in me.

But then I looked up at the outstretched hand, a beacon in the dark to help me stand.

If I took it, would I still have regrets? Or would I move forward to heal and reset?

The one path seemed easier but it was much the same, with constant repetition and no growth to gain.

The other path looked difficult with unseen twists and climbs, but hope takes you higher when faith is Blind.

[spacecadetspe]

A snippet from last year...

May 30, 2023

Morpheus has been harsher since I snapped at him.  That's fair.  At first I couldn't bring myself to apologize, so sure I was that what I said was true.  But the more I pondered on my anger, the more I realized I was grieving, and feeling inadequate all the while.  In my mind, the nagging idea that I had failed as a leader, as a mother, and as a guide was tearing me to pieces.  Nothing I had done had solved anything, and my recklessness had only gotten me hurt again.

Cure shattered my sacrum and broke off part of my solar plexus.  The shockwave she emitted from being processed slashed both my forearms and dislocated a pair of my wings.  My back is killing me.

The first dream I had after that was of Morpheus and I engaging in a car chase.  I was in the passenger seat, and he and I were bickering at each other about where we were going and how he was driving.  We were being chased through a parking deck by a black Audi, and X was driving.  Mid-chase, Morpheus decided he was going to drive through the outer wall of the parking deck and make the leap onto the roof of the building next door.  We made it to street level, and I looked up at X's face, watched him sneer at us as we made our escape.  The rest of the drive was taken in sullen silence.

I get that we were arguing about something unimportant at the time, and we both made it out unscathed, but I felt compelled to acknowledge that Morpheus had the expertise to know what he was doing... and for the most part, I didn't.  I was so angry that I hadn't been given the option of doing things my way that I forgot that his methods had gotten me out of my predicament.

But it didn't really hit home how much pain I was in until the second night.  He had prepared a full narrative for me by then, and had involved numerous other oneiroi.  It was about a beautiful girl, still in college, by the feel of her anxiety (worried about being late for music history class).  She had many friends, but for the most part hid away her true self for fear of being used.  Her father figure (played by Morpheus) used her powers and her renown for profit, and the young woman couldn't seem to understand why he was always so brusque with her.  One afternoon, after he picked her up from her campus, he was exceptionally rude, and she asked him why he was being so unkind.  In response, he got out of their truck and came around to the passenger window.  But before he could say anything, the two were approached by a vagrant in a wheelchair, panhandling.  Morpheus gave the man a couple hundred dollars... and ignored the girl again.  Later, Morpheus took the girl to the altar to the deity who had given her her powers, and commanded her to invoke the spirit using a pair of wands.  Enraged, the girl snapped the wands and destroyed the altar, unleashing the spirit on those who had done her wrong.

I'm not sure where he's going with this... which character I'm supposed to be; the parent figure who takes advantage of another's power, or the trapped girl who feels like she can't get close to anyone because she's not sure who will use her and who won't.

None of this is fair.  To either of us.  I have watched Morpheus and the other oneiroi treat Cure as if she's a monster... and I can't protect her, no matter how I try.  I just keep screwing everything up.

And speaking of screwing up, Zag came to see me, to try to share in the discomfort.  I really do appreciate it.  I informed him where Cure was, and that she had the freedom to come and go as she pleased.  I also told him he could visit her there, if he liked.  And... after that, I went to patch things up with his father.  Hades was exhausted again, and probably hadn't slept in weeks.  I reminded him that a lot of what happened occurred off my watch, because being a diurnal deity in charge of a bunch of nocturnal entities is fucking weird.  That made him chuckle, at least.  He knows I didn't do it on purpose.

All I really want is to be cuddled, and I feel like I can't do that and really don't deserve that.  At least, not from anyone of Hypnos' lineage.  I was trying so hard to stand up for someone I loved that I managed to trigger everyone around me.

And last night... last night was just a montage.  Trafficking, misogyny, and women being put together and ripped apart like discarded barbie dolls.

I don't know what I'm doing anymore.  I've upset everyone because I was trying to do what I thought was right, and I don't know how to handle this.  I'm at my wit's end.  I'm not sure how to process any of what's been shown to me... or even if I'm supposed to.  I can't proceed like this, that's for sure.

I hate to say it, but I think my time as a Dream Lord might be coming to an end.  I don't know.  Feels like the more I get into actually ruling, the more I suck at it.

I could fight back, certainly.  I could rain hell down on the Dream World.  I could run away, as well.  But neither would really solve anything.  So here I sit, taking my punishment.  And whenever they're done...

well... maybe it's just best if I step down.  They've been through enough.

Fortitude seems to think this is just a low point on the roller coaster of my and Morpheus' relationship... but I think it's a bit bigger than that.  I really hurt him... I hurt all the oneiroi... my friends.  Because all I could see at the time is how they treated Cure.  And right now it doesn't really matter if I was right or not.  So maybe I should just... go.

[ankoku-teion]

Gwen's Story

I was born with a terrible curse. A corruption of the blood that saps my strength and withers my flesh, a steady necrosis that eats away at my body. The same disease that killed my mother and will one day be my fate.

I have learned the healing art, determined to find a cure for my sickness. I use my magic to fight back the consumption and hold it down, but it grows stronger slowly and will inevitably overwhelm me one day if I cannot rid myself of it.

In my time as a healer, I have seen all manner of terrible afflictions, children with agonizing tumours on their necks, unable to turn their heads or even swallow without pain. Men with their legs blown off in battle, dying of blood loss, too shocked and overwhelmed to even scream. Women in childbirth, tearing themselves apart in desperation to give their child life before they both expire.

The world is an ugly black pit filled with horror and blood and pain. Death is the only escape and yet we cling so fervently to life, even though we know it means suffering and the slow rotting desolation of age or sickness.

Why?

Why is the world this way?

Why must we have this pain, this suffering? Why cannot we simply life in peace, and experience the joys of a warm summer afternoon, or a day on the beach? the beauty of a sunset, or a blossoming flower?

I don’t want to live forever. I just don’t want to die before my time. I want a chance to enjoy my life, unburdened by pain.

_______________________________________

I was trained in the arcane arts at the Gaelen National Academy, one of the most renowned schools of magical education on the continent, there I was given as solid foundation of theoretical thaumaturgy and given a basic education in each of the schools, as well as some practical training in magical combat. I chose to specialise in the healing arts, the practical application of magic to the body in a variety of way, primarily to strengthen or heal, still chasing my dream of one day purging my sickness. Or at the least, understanding it.

When I was still a student, there was a plague. A terrible bitter sickness that washed through the city. It started with a cough, and then a deep ache and swelling in the joints, and finally the sufferer drowns on their own fluids, healing did little but prolong the disease. The old lingered for weeks, already used to the immobility, and too feeble to work up to a bad cough. The younger folk died quickly and in their droves. So many that we were running out of places to put them.

But the children had it worse. The crying and the screams of the frightened lonely children were wrenching, but it was better than what came later, when the screaming stopped because they didn't have the air to scream, or to talk, or to do more than breath in those shallow, gargling gasps, or choke out a horrible wet cough. I remember nursing one young girl, maybe 5 years old. Healing her had helped at first, the symptoms would stop for a day, but then the disease would come back again even stronger and leave her debilitated. When the fluids came, I laid her face down across my lap and massaged her back, feeling the silent, terrified sobs as she hacked up pint after pint of bitter gall, tinged with blood. It was all I could think of to keep her lungs clear, and it did help for a while. She was able to drink a little and it gave her some strength. But her parents were already dead, and her brothers would succumb soon too. Even if she had survived, she would have been an orphan, lost and alone in the world. But it never came to that, in the end I failed her. She rolled onto her back while I slept, and she drowned. I never learned her name...

I tried to heal her, again and again. I pounded her back to clear the frothy gunk from her lungs, poured magic into her chest to shock her still heart back into beating, I burned myself out, a day’s worth of useless power on a cooling corpse and in the end all I could do was hold her to my chest and weep. Impotent in the face of uncaring death.

_______________________________________

I graduated the following year. Found a position the following year with a surgery in another city. Dr John Titor, the doctor that I assisted was not capable of magic himself, but possessed a wealth of knowledge on anatomy, herbalism, and even interventions with a scalpel. He traded access to my magic and academy training for education with his methods and access to his library.

We helped everyone who came to us, regardless of station, and charged no fee but what they chose to donate. It was good for my soul, I think, to do such work. It lifted the pall that that had overhung my days. There were many occasions that we would be summoned to a medical emergency, after say a barfight or a robbery. Injured and bleeding men needing urgent care. More than once the patient had died before one of us got there, but more often than not we would arrive in time to stop the bleeding, close the wounds and set the broken limbs with minimal fuss.

His mundane approach to medicine was unorthodox, and would have appalled my father and his kin, but these people could not afford healers, and John asked nothing from them that they could not spare. John was well liked by the community, and their respect for him often overflowed to us as his assistants, and it was rare that we would go hungry.

It was with John that I first had my first true experience with a corpse. Some members of the community of the community would opt to donate their bodies to the practice when they died, opportunities for John to experiment with new procedures, o to train us safely to perform a surgery. It was... A surreal experience and felt somehow unclean. Under John's watchful eye, I cut through the abdomen to access the innards, found the perforation in the stomach, and sealed it, then stitched the belly back up. It took an hour or more, and I could already perform the same feat in seconds with magic, but there would inevitably be times when my magic was unavailable, or I lacked the proper components and would need a fall back. And also... the process was utterly captivating. So visceral, so immediate, in a way that I have never felt from the cerebral detachment of magic. Working on a living patient was always too chaotic and rushed for me to notice, but taking this time to explore at my own pace I felt I came to know this dead human better than I had ever known a living one.

In my free time I explored John's library, in it were all manner of annals and books on anatomy or herblore, or records of diseases and their symptoms, as well as Johns own records of his experiments. Mixed in among them I found... Something strange. Something forbidden. It looked like any of the other books from the outside, the cover identifying it as a treatise on the form and function of various organs, but inside was so much more. I could see in some sections where john had made notes on the authors observations about anatomy and surgery, but the parts on magic were untouched. This was a book about the forbidden arts of my profession. The manipulation of life and death directly. Necromancy.

I hurriedly put the book away and resolved to forget about it.

John had deemed me experienced enough to perform my duties alone, and the community ad come to know me well enough to be comfortable with me, so I had for several weeks been attending urgent calls on my own. It had all gone smoothly so far, and I was growing in confidence and skill. But inevitably, things went wrong. I was called out to the aftermath of a bar fight, frantic but confident as usual. When I got there, it was a horror scene. Three men had been stabbed by a man in a hood who fled, there was a sea of blood, two of them were already dead and the last was barely conscious, grasping towards me with a weak hand. I recognised him as Thorin, the barkeep. His wife Lydia had made me a wonderful chicken pie only a week prior, and she had given me a blanket when I first moved here.

I set to work examining him, there were multiple vicious stab wounds in his belly made by a triangular blade. (possibly a bayonet?) the holes were ragged and gaping, almost impossible to stitch up, but I worked as quickly as I could. I doused him in alum to thicken his blood and slow the loss, threading and teasing the wounds together until each was only a pinprick. Then I reached for the magic and... Found nothing. The weave here was totally disordered, barely a trickle of power coming through. I took what I could and poured the healing energies into him, but it was not enough. Thorin was bleeding internally now. If I only had more time I could...

He died on the floor of his own bar. In a sea of other men’s blood. I failed. I was too slow. Too weak. Too unlucky. It didn’t matter. I failed him when he needed me the most. If it had more time I could have opened his belly, sealed the wounds internally the way John had taught me. I could do it now, but what would be the point? What good is a doctor who heals the dead? Unless...

I remembered the book, the one I had found weeks ago. I could take it. discover its secrets. Learn the forbidden arts. If I could breathe life back into a body, use magic to sustain life. Then nobody would ever have to die again. Maybe I could even cure myself.

'But Gwen-' I thought. 'But Gwen, its forbidden for a reason.'

It’s forbidden because bad people use it for bad purposes. I’m not evil, I’m trying to help people.

'If it was so easy, wouldn't everyone be doing it?'

Nothing about magic is easy, nor medicine. But I’m still here.

'Theres got to be a catch. A hidden cost.'

Only one way to find out...

_____________________________________

I think back on that decision often. That moment, weighing the risks against the rewards, balancing orthodoxy with that i knew in my heart of hearts. It was a terrifying precipice to stand at, but when i fell, i fould i could fly.

I was still kneeling in the blood by by thorin's body when John found me. He told me later i was in shock, staring into space and muttering something. He made the necessary arrangements and brought me home. By the time i got there i knew, no matter what i found in that book, i would never turn back. The cost would be worth it. It would have to be.

[apollo-ar]

Ramble Time #1

The hatred between females and males has been on my mind more than I appreciate lately. Whether this is brought up in media, class discussion, or from observing interactions between others.

I want to start with a thought I had when I was much younger. When I was younger, like most pre-teens who enjoyed reading at that age, I was a fan of the Hunger Games series. Around this age I finally had to rip off the band aid and realize the world I was growing up in was full of hate and even some evil. The one thing I never understood though, was why hate was responded to with hate. Of course I understood defense or even violence as a last resort. However, I never understood it as a way of life. I felt that Hunger Games was the best example I had at that age of this. The Capital abuses its power and it’s people. It engages in disgusting acts that treat the districts like toys. The districts have enough and take that power away from the Capital , as they showed they cannot be trusted with it. So surely, after surviving terrible conditions, they wished for a better way of life, to prove themselves worthy of power with a more effective system, right? Nope. Instead the tables turn. The desire of an eye for an eye too great to consider the consequences. No mercy. 

Since childhood my family had always said I had a strong sense of justice. The thing about justice is that sometimes mercy is the best option. Not everything has a cure all, as nice as that would be. 

What does this have to do with battle of the sexes? This is where my ramble is going to change from anecdote to brain vomit.

It is clear to me that humans learn from experience. However, we are also guilty of confirmation bias. If a male grows up expecting females to be selfish, vain, cruel, among other things, he will not only manage to have a negative attitude that in turn cause women to be disgusted with him, but this also means any action can be twisted in a way to confirm what he believes. 

Though this is not the only reason some males grow up to have a negative view on women, the other reasons are a heavier topic for another time. This heavy topic matter also applies to females. Of course, females are going to have a negative outlook on men when they are constantly reminded of what men are capable of (not that females are not also capable, just less frequently statistically) after all, if they are not reminded, they may go out in the world not being cautious enough, getting hurt. 

To add on to this idea of confirmation bias, it for sure does not help when parents do not hold them selves accountable. Not to mention the previous generations pressure to settle down and have kids. Not because they want to or they are actually ready, but because it is “what you do”. What you end up with are physically, emotionally, or otherwise absent parents, both mother and father. It is not the child’s fault they may grow up with a poor taste in partners and/or spouses. However, thanks to parenting or lack thereof, they must learn for themselves what to expect of others and themselves. So these children grow up coping in whatever way they can. This leads me to my main point. It turns into hating females or hating males. Hate in any form is unhealthy. Hate and love are some of the most extreme things a person can feel, yet tend to be opposites. God forbid we see multiple examples of what happens when the two mix.  That being said, hate is learned, hate is a strong feeling that sometimes makes one feel just as alive as being in love. When it is easier to hate than to love why not chase that high? 

Except, it will eventually fail you. 

Sure, hatred can spark some fiery movements. However, hatred leaves you isolated, miserable, guilty, and more. I have known some to be more dedicated to hatred than love. I have watched a close friend lose someone dear to him because he simply could not allow himself to accept all the love she had for him. He had too much hatred for not only others, but it began to fester towards himself. He felt undeserving. She tried everything. I wish I still had contact with her so I could be sure she continued to love despite the heartbreak. That she did not give into hate. However, I only will know his side. His side that he drowns in sorrows, empty hobbies, and empty bottles. 

Love is hard. Love is the most difficult thing you can do. Love is vulnerable and scary. Love is very many things and can even have it’s own consequences. However, it ends better. Like most things, it is worth the hard work. The hardest thing about it is that it cannot truly be done alone. You can love yourself and everything around you, but it will be draining and difficult if you are surrounded by those who refuse love and default to hate. 

What I mean to say is, it is easy to hate women when you only have known pain. Happiness and love are choices. Humans are not naturally good-doers. You have to work for the better. It is easy to hate men, in fact, possibly easier to hate men than to tie your shoe I imagine. However, I do not think much is resolved from emotions born of hatred. To ignore the reasons behind hatred would be foolish, of course. However, you can be cautious without labeling everyone. I mean this for both men and women. Don’t go to the gym because you are fueled by hatred, do it because you love yourself and want to take care of yourself. Don’t advocate for change because you hate someone, advocate for change because you love the cause and it’s people. Hatred is an endless cycle. It is mans first and final sin. 

I have finally wore my fingers out, so I will finish this for now. Thank you for reading my unrevised ramble. 

[jupitermelichios]

So I’ve been playing a lot of skyrim lately, because it’s video game comfort food, and I decided it was time for my Redguard Dovahkiin to settle down. (Actually I specifically just wanted to be able to adopt some of the random orphans you meet because I felt guilty about them, but you need to be married before you can do that so that there’s someone at home to take care of the kids while you’re off galivanting).

So I travelled around a bit, chatting up likely looking npcs until I found one I both liked and didn’t feel guilty about marrying (I feel bad if I marry one of the warrior adventurer types, making them be a stay at home mum) and settled on an obnoxiously cheerful argonian called Shavee because her life was frankly shit, and I thought she’d probably be good with kids.

So off I go to Riften to the Temple of Mara to arrange the wedding. I book it in for the next day, realise I didn’t bring anything nice to wear, and spend the night before the wedding robbing every house in the city in the search for something to wear. Eventually decide everyone in Riften has terrible fashion sense and break down everything I stole into raw materials and use them to craft myself an outfit and some jewellery that i’m pretty happy with. I even carefully pick out my fanciest looking sword to wear.

(don’t know why I bothered, frankly, shavee turned up wearing a shirt covered in suspicious stains and weilding a pickaxe, it’s like she doesn’t even care about this marriage)

(also for comedy purposes, bear in mind I play with survival mods that mean my character needs to eat and sleep to live, and I literally spent the entire ingame night on this and forgot to eat and drink anything either and then just downed four bowls of wolf stew right before entering the temple so I didn’t starve during the ceremony. also I discovered during the wedding that I am dying of rockjoint, which I contracted from sleeping in a pile of hay on the floor of a skeever infested cave, so even being six foot tall and jacked can’t make up for the fact that I am exhausted, running a fever, and probably covered in wolf which I spilled because my joints are slowly atrophying, and even the fanciest clothes in the world aren’t going to cover that up)

so I enter the temple, and my finance is there, and Lydia my housecarl, and some random NPCs the game thinks are my friends because I did fetch quests for them

One of the random NPCs is Lisbet. Atfter I did her fetch quest, I then did another quest in which I discovered Lisbet is secretly a cannibal and part of a demonic cult that worships the daedric prince of decay by kidnapping priests, sacrificing them, and then eating their corpses. Raw. I think the raw meat is the sticking point for me here honestly.

I ultimately decided not to sacrifice the random priest to a daedric prince in exchange for one magic ring and all the raw human I could eat, because frankly, that doesn’t sound like much of a deal to me. I was expecting there to be some kind of dialogue choice where I could nope out at the last minute, but it turns out there isn’t one, so after they drugged the priest and tied him to the altar, I just got out my sword and started swinging.

I killed most of the cult (including the town butcher, because I had brought meat from him before and was extremely pissed off that he might have been secretly feeding me humans) but a couple of them got away, which I figured was fine because they weren’t trying to kill me.

Except it turns out, if any of them escape, then every time you see them in the future there’s a random chance that they’ll fly into a violent rage and try and murder you.

Lisbet is at my wedding. Lisbet decides that clearly me marrying this random argonian woman with two lines of dialogue is the happiest day of my life, and she cannot allow me that happiness, when I’ve taken so much from her.

So she tries to kill me. Only she can’t, because I’m stuck in a pre-rendered wedding animation, and also she’s sitting next to Lydia, my faithful retainer and owner of a really big axe.

It also turns out that Lisbet is essential, meaning she can be knocked unconcious but not actually killed because she’s needed for some quest or other. And the minute she wakes up from unconciousness, she tries to kill me again, so Lydia knocks her unconcious again, and I’m stuck, I can’t move, because I’m supposed to be in the wedding animation.

Except Shavee has, not unreasonably, see all this and decided that she doesn’t like me enough to risk getting murdered, and has done a runner, leaving me at the altar, but more importantly, leaving me trapped in a broken pre-rendered animation, so all I can do is stand there at the altar, staring at the space where my fiance was supposed to be, listening to the sounds of Lydia trying and failing to beat a cannibal to death behind me.

Okay, I think, clearly this wedding isn’t going to happen, I’m going to go for the registry office option and complete the wedding using the dev commands. I do this. The priest gives me a wedding ring, and I can finally move again. I chase after Shavee, who has an impressive turn of speed on her, and eventually catch up right by the city gates. I try to talk to her.

Apparently using the console has completed the wedding for me, but not for her, because she still only has the same 2 lines of dialogue she usually has.

Clearly this is working, I can’t leave my kids with someone who can only say 2 things and doesn’t even know she’s their mum, that’s irresponsible.

I try loading from inside the temple. I get the same problem.

Eventually I figure out that I need to use the dev controls to disable Lisbet’s entire existence in the universe.

Shavee and me get married. As the priest reads the vows, I stare at Shavee and wonder why she couldn’t even be bothered to put on a clean shirt. I wonder what kind of mother she’ll be.

Once the ceremony is over, and I’m happily married to the dirty green lizard of my dreams, and we’ve agreed that until I can make her recognise my extremely nice modded house exists I will share her single bed in the unheated flophouse in Windhelm she calls home, I re-enable Lisbet, because I’m worried I’ll forget if I leave it too long.

Fun fact about skyrim, it loads in quite a lot of npcs and objects by dropping them from the sky. I have no idea why this is the case, but it’s objectively the funniest way to load in objects.

I re-enable Lisbet. She falls from the sky, clips through the roof of the temple, and lands in the pew beside Lydia, stands up, draws a knife, and is immedately beaten unconcious.

I no longer care, because Shavee now has all the exciting new spouse-only romantic dialogue options like “Could you cook something for me” and “have you made any money lately”, and I know she’ll be a great mother.

I limp to the door of the temple, while around me the guests not involved in the Lydia-Lisbet murder cycle scream and duck for cover.

I open the door to the temple, immediately collapse and ragdoll down the steps, which is how I discover I am dying of rockjoint.

I limp to the orphanage down the street, adopt two kids, and then finally remember that I’m carrying garlic bread, which as we all know, cures all known illnesses.

When I emerge back into the street, full of the joys of motherhood and garlic bread, I find the town in disaray. Lydia is chasing Lisbet through the streets with an axe and a dragon is circling overhead, burning npcs to death. People are running for shelter, screaming, while the guards try to take down an entire dragon using only the worst bows and arrows in the game.

I decide that as a parent, I have to think of my own safety first and leave them to it.

I head out of the city, intent on returning home and figuring out why Shavee refuses to move in with me. A man hanging around the stables challenges me to a boxing match. For want of anything better to do, I agree.

Halfway through the fight he dodges at the wrong moment and I punch one of his horses in the head.

Two guards attack me while I desperately try to surrender. My kids will miss me, but I’m prepared to go to jail for my horse crimes, I’m an honest citizen. Also my horse crimes seem somewhat less important than the dragon.

The guards refuse to accept my surrender. I am stabbed to death. As I collapse in front of the indifferent horse, Lisbet exits the city, followed by Lydia. The last thing I see before I die is Lydia swinging her axe at Lisbet’s face.

[ernmark]

One Possible Read of The Green Knight

I say one possible, because this is the story as I understood it as I was watching the film. When I mentioned it to my partner, he didn't take that away. I'm not saying my take on it is right or wrong (I think it's hard to say that about most reads for a movie like this), but I submit it for your consideration.

(Spoilers and a fairly thorough plot summary under the cut)

(Holy moly this got long)

A brief caveat:

Caveat the First: I'm basing this off a pre-existing understanding of medieval stories, which don't necessarily follow the same narrative structures as modern ones. The world they lived in was weird, so sometimes weird shit just happened for no reason, often very conveniently. (If anything, I think this movie did less of that than existed in typical medieval stories.) They also heavily relied on archetypes rather than distinct characters with backstories, as well as a pre-established understanding of the story you're listening to. Like the puppet show that shows up in the story, the kids in the audience had already heard the story enough times that they could follow it without any actual words. On that note, I've also read a version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Caveat the Second: I immediately distrust anybody who talks about any story older than three centuries or so having an "original" version. There are some stories that have distinct authors, but often these stories were retold and rewritten to suit the tastes of their latest audience. So I refer to the version I read, not "the original". I take my reading of that story into my interpretation of what I saw. I'll note the details from the version I read where it's relevant.

The Story

We start with Gawain, King Arthur's nephew, waking up in a brothel with his sex worker lady friend. She sends him on his way back home to Camelot where his mother greets him and kindly asks him where he's been all night. Oh, off at Christmas Mass, naturally, is what he tells her. She counters that clearly he's been drinking all the communion wine, because she can smell it on his breath.

She tells him she's not feeling well, so he should go to the Christmas celebration without her and tell her all about it afterward.

[I don't recall hearing her name in the movie, but in the version I read, the Green Knight is sent by Morgana. Between his mother being described in dialogue as Arthur's sister and a known witch, I'm gonna run with that assumption and call her that.]

This is where my reading diverges: I take all of this as being almost entirely Morgana's story. And from her perspective, it's kind of hilarious. Because this isn't the story of Gawain's journey into Manhood, but of a very frustrated mother's attempts to save her beloved (if disappointing) son.

While Gawain is partying with the sickly King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table, Morgana joins three of her fellow witches and they enact a spell, summoning the Green Knight and a very specifically worded challenge. The Green Knight presents a game: any one person in attendance may injure him and get his badass axe as a prize, but in a year exactly he'll have to go to the Green Knight's chapel and allow the Green Knight to return the exact same blow to him.

Arthur says he wants to do it, but acknowledges he's too sickly to do so. Gawain, already embarrassed once at this party, jumps up and volunteers to be his champion. And when he steps into the ring with the Green Knight, he cuts off his opponent's head. He'd think that was the end of it, but the Green Knight just picks up his severed head, reminds him of the deal to bring the axe back and let himself get beheaded in a year, and leaves.

[In the version I read, this was a ploy on Morgana's part just to freak out Guinevere. Seriously, that was the entirety of it. Just fucking with her rival/sister-in-law.]

In the movie, I got the vibe that Gawain was never meant to be in the line of fire. I suspect that either Arthur or one of his knights was meant to be the Green Knight's opponent, who would die after a year to get his affairs in order. Given that Gawain was Arthur's next-of-kin, that would have given him plenty of time to pass the crown to Morgana's beloved son. Unfortunately, Gawain stepping up messed up her whole plan.

During the intervening year, we see Morgana and the other witches working together to weave the Girdle of Invulnerability. As the name suggests, it's laden with magic to protect him from all harm and all blows from anyone. So long as he wears it, she explains, he'll make it home in one piece.

[In the version I read, the girdle is given to him by another woman later on at a weirdly convenient time. More on that later.]

Gawain barely makes it out when he asks directions from a young man looting the corpses on a recent battlefield. Being the idiot that he is, Gawain takes the young man's directions straight into a trap, where the young man and several other bandits are lying in wait. Despite his mother's assurances that he's invulnerable, he stands down immediately, allowing the bandits to take the Green Knight's axe, his Magic Girdle, all his money, all his supplies, etc.

During all this, three things happen: first, we see A Fox. Second, when the bandit takes the axe he goes all weird and runs off on the horse, forcing the other bandits to chase after him and leaving Gawain unobserved. Third, we get a weird vision of the future where Gawain remains where he is, tied up, until he rots away and he's left nothing but a skeleton.

My read is that The Fox is either Morgana or one of the other witches shapeshifted to keep an eye on him (alternatively, the fox is Reynard or a similar magical creature employed by them for the same purpose.) The Fox then enchants the bandit into running off with the Girdle and the Axe, leaving Gawain relatively safe. And when he fails to do anything with this spectacular opportunity, the Fox gives him the vision of what's gonna happen to him if he just waits around to be rescued.

Prompted to action, Gawain manages to free himself and continues his quest on foot. Eventually he comes across an abandoned manor. Inside, he meets a ghost who asks him to retrieve her severed head, which was thrown into the nearby spring. After some hemming and hawing, he does. When he returns to the surface with the woman's skull, the ghost is gone, but the Fox is watching him.

My take is that the ghost disappeared. They do that. The Fox, being sent to watch him, saw him actually step up and do a brave and selfless thing for once. This is what cements to the Fox that Gawain isn't a perennial fuckup, he's able to grow and mature if he's given the chance.

Gawain returns the skull to the rest of the ghost's skeleton, and he's rewarded by regaining his lost axe. (The axe placed there by the Fox, who took it from the enchanted bandit.)

So this is great, right? Gawain's fuck-upery has been cured and he's doing the responsible thing. Yay, right?

Except he's a fuckup who spends more time drinking and hanging out in brothels than doing Knightly stuff, so he doesn't know basics. Like how to start a fire or get food. Offscreen, Morgana must have been bashing her head into a wall, because her beloved son is going to get himself killed.

The Fox appears to him, and after his initial attempt to drive it off, Gawain lets it stay with him. From this point forward it stays by his side, not-so-subtly giving him directions and keeping him generally safe.

Later we meet some giants, because sometimes there are just giants. We don't question these things in Arthurian fantasy. Gawain asks them to give him a ride to his destination, but when one agrees to help him, he freaks out at the last second and refuses. The Fox speaks to the giant, quite possibly apologizing for its very rude human friend, and the giants go on their way without him.

Gawain is most of the way there by now, but it's late December in Wales, he's super cold and hasn't eaten anything but trippy mushrooms, he can't build a fire, he's been walking for days. He collapses, but the Fox urges him to go a little further and leads him to another manor house. Fortunately for him, this manor has living people in it, who clean him up, put him in a warm bed, and give him food.

We get a dreamy scene where he's being tended by his mother before he wakes up in the care of the manor. My read on it was that this manor and the people in it were sent directly by Morgana to save him. I don't think the manor was even there ten seconds before he collapsed the first time. Because Morgana loves her son, but he is REALLY bad at this.

Notably, it seems that the only people here are the Lord and Lady of the manor, as well as a blind old woman who seems to be the lady's maidservant and/or mother? Hard to tell.

Some flirting happens between Gawain and the Lord and Lady. The Lord of the manor explains that conveniently, Gawain's destination is only one day's walk away and he's several days early, so why not take some time to rest and gather his strength. The Lady shows off her library and her fancy daguerreotype-like mechanism, etc. The Lord suggests another game (mirroring the game presented by the Green Knight) : the Lord will go hunting the next day and give Gawain whatever he catches. Gawain will in return give the Lord whatever he gains throughout the day.

[In the version I read, this happens over the course of three days. Each day the Lord leaves, the Lady tries to seduce Gawain but he refuses, only accepting a kiss from her on the first two days; when the Lord returns with a hunted animal each day, Gawain gives him the kiss that the Lady gave him. On the third day, the Lady also gives Gawain a previously-unmentioned enchanted Girdle of Invincibility, which he neglects to pass along to the Lord, opting just to kiss him instead.]

In the movie, this is condensed into only one day. Gawain wakes up with the Lady creepily watching him sleep, wearing the Girdle of Invincibility that Morgana made for him. She invites him into bed and offers him the Girdle, reminding him that it can render him invincible. The scene gets a bit weird after that-- sex acts of some sort ensue, and the Lady walks away, leaving Gawain with post-coital shame and the Girdle.

Upset, Gawain grabs his stuff and makes to leave. Along the way he runs into the Lord in the middle of his hunt, and he declares that he's going to meet the Green Knight a day early. Citing their game, the Lord presents Gawain with The Fox (who is alive despite having been caught by a hunter, hmmm) and requests Gawain's "winnings" in return-- which he claims by stealing a kiss. I dunno about you, but it seemed to me that Gawain was Into It, at least before he remembers to be freaked out and runs off.

He's nearly at the place where he's to meet the Green Knight when the fox stops him. Now it starts talking, its voice shifting from masculine to feminine. It tells him that he's done a great job, and he can turn back right now and go home and nobody will know but the two of them. He doesn't have to go through with this. But Gawain, determined to fulfil his quest, drives the Fox off once again and goes the last bit alone.

Here he meets the Green Knight in the ruins of an old chapel, though because he's early the Green Knight is little more than a statue, awake but unmoving until the appointed Christmas Day. All the while Gawain just has to sit there and stew in the knowledge that he's gonna die. Finally the Green Knight stirs, asks Gawain if he's ready to die, and readies the axe that Gawain returned to him.

Throughout this, the light hits the Green Knight differently, making him look an awful lot like the Lord of the manor. After Gawain flinches away from the axe the first time, he speaks gently to him, almost tenderly.

[In the version I read, the Green Knight and the Lord of the manor are the same person, and the Lord/Knight is aware of Gawain's magic Girdle, because this was all an elaborate ruse. Because of Gawain's invincibility, the Green Knight only scratches his neck, permanently scarring him as punishment for lying about it and cheating in both their games, but doesn't hold it against him. Gawain then returns to Camelot and they keep the Girdle at the round table as a symbol that all of them have their failings.]

In the movie, Gawain flinches one more time. We then get a second very lengthy vision of an alternate future: Gawain flees the Green Knight and returns home, where he's welcomed back without external consequences. However, he's haunted by his own cowardice, giving up a difficult love in favor of living up to expectation, only to lose everything in the end anyway. His life following the cowardly route was longer, but it wasn't a better life.

He stops the Green Knight one last time, only to remove the Girdle and set it aside before declaring himself ready. The Green Knight is genuinely pleased by this, and he leans in and simply traces a finger over Gawain's throat, before happily saying. "Off with your head."

The movie ends there. Whether the Green Knight leaves him alive or kills him is up for interpretation. But even if the Green Knight wasn't on Morgana's payroll, I feel like he's way too fond of Gawain to do him real harm at this point.

And so Gawain has grown up-- he's brave, he's honorable, he's learned to keep his word and face the consequences of his actions. And Morgana, after some major struggles and a lot of called-in favors, has managed to keep her son from dying on his quest. Victory all around.

There's also an after-credits scene: just a little girl playing with Arthur/Gawain's crown. Notably, this little girl is neither of the children Gawain had in his vision of the cowardly future, so I interpreted it as a new future with a new child with potential all their own.

But that's just my take.

[edasnest]

Idk why everyone is dunking on Gwen? The first thing she did upon learning about her daughter’s curse was bring in a professional healer.

That healer failed her. We don’t know if that’s the only Healer she ever contacted but I have to imagine it isn’t. Every Healer told her they’d never seen a curse like Eda’s before and had no cure to offer.

She then joined the beast keeping coven, something that looks to be like a draining process according to Covention (what with all other magic being sealed away), and given the timeline of the show, she may not have been part of a coven at that point! She may have joined a coven just to try to save her daughter.

And then the Beast Keeping coven failed her.

The two most reliable sources of knowledge for the time completely and utterly failed her and her daughter (you see similar things in modern rare birth defects), so now what? She keeps looking. Thank Titan her other daughter is doing so well for herself, she doesn’t need to worry about Lilith suffering from anything, she can worry more about finding anything to cure Edalyn.

Eda says she found something to make it manageable but Gwen doesn’t hear “cure”, so she keeps searching. What’s that? Lilith is part of the Emperor’s Coven? Wonderful! Good job Sweet Flea, but I’m making a breakthrough with this new curse cure I’ve been told about, I know this is gonna work.

It doesn’t work. So she tries some other new thing she’s been told might work. That also doesn’t work. She does this for 30 years with tunnel vision because there has to be something to cure her daughter.

Eda, understandingly, feels overwhelmed and ignored by her mother. I’m sure after the first dozen “cures” her mother made her try, she gave up on trying to cure it and just went with what at least made it manageable. But her mom kept coming back with wilder and dumber “cures” despite Eda asking her to stop. Her mother isn’t listening to her. She’s slowly descending into crazy-town and now it’s just getting annoying at best and insulting at worst.

Lilith has been made Head of the Emperor’s Coven? Incredible! Maybe she can help with finding a cure for Eda’s curse with such a high position. Gwen hasn’t stopped looking for a cure for 30 years. She’s had to do some grueling work to gain the favor or trust of others that might be able to impart some wisdom to her. It’s no wonder she was so easily tricked by those little goblins; she’s probably had to do much worse to gain the trust/favor of others before them only to find those others also had no real cure for Eda.

For her to be able to step back and acknowledge that this curse can’t be cured but Eda’s been making it work okay? That’s so much more than most moms of disabled kids irl. Auti$m $peak$ is a pretty good analogy for those shitty goblins in that they only promote fear-mongering and taking your money to fund “cure research” (not a thing).

She acknowledged that this is just part of who Eda is now, and now it’s also part of who Lilith is. That Lilith caused all this. Her blinders have been removed and she’s not chasing after fantasy-cures anymore. She loves her daughters so much and actually acknowledged her mistakes and apologized.

I’m not thrilled about people equating her to an anti-vaxxer when she was so completely failed by the Healing Coven. Anti-Vaxxers are far too idiotic and prideful; they don’t know the first thing about science and are just spoonfed false information that makes them scared of science. Gwen didn’t fear anyone or anything, she was just failed by them and no longer trusted them with Eda’s curse as a result. There are millions of people that are failed by their doctors constantly because the doctor wasn’t able to help them or fat-shamed them or was racist and refused to treat them. That doesn’t mean those patients no longer believe in science (usually), it just means their doctor wasn’t helping them the way they needed help. So you go to a different doctor. And then another doctor, and then another. Maybe you’re admitted into a medical study so doctors and scientists can actually learn more about this thing the average doctor can’t help with. Maybe you turn to mineral water and essential oils and mint leaves.

The point being: Gwen couldn’t find a Healer that was able to diagnose Eda’s curse, wasn’t able to find anyone professional that was willing to dedicate the time and study into Eda’s curse to learn more about it and try to find a cure for it. So she took it into her own hands because if anyone is going to help her daughter, it’s her.

She’s a good mom and I stand by that. Not everything has to be traumatizing doom and gloom, you sad sacks. Gwen is a good mom that loves her daughters.

[kkusuka]

Third year songs <3

this is most of the thrid years- not all 

from my spotify liked playlist <3

comes with a side of slight character analysis 

These are my interpretations of HQ characters and these songs!!

Time-skip spoilers!! (very slight) 

---

Karasuno 

Daichi Sawamura

 Waiting for Superman- Daughtry

She's waiting for Superman

To lift her up

And take her anywhere

Show her love

And climbing through the air

Save her now

Before it's too late tonight

She's waiting for Superman

Daichi seems like he makes a  lot of promises, that he just can’t physically keep. He just has so many things going on that he just can’t pay attention to all of them at once. This leads to far too many forgotten dates and even more broken promises. You know its not his fault and he does too, he just can’t leave anyone hanging. 

Koushi Sugawara

 Island- Florida Georgia Line

We might as well be on an island

Like we're the last two on this Earth

Like we're frozen here in time

Like it's empty here tonight

I feel like suga likes to put himself back into happier times. And that he tries to hold into happy moments as they are happening. He says he is a man of the moment, but when he feels down, he tries to put himself back into the more joyous times. 

Asahi Azumane 

You say- Lauren Daigle 

You say I am loved when I can't feel a thing

You say I am strong when I think I am weak

And you say I am held when I am falling short

And when I don't belong, oh You say I am Yours

And I believe (I)

Oh, I believe (I)

What You say of me (I)

I believe

Asahi is clearly very attached to how people perceive him. So when people shower him with compliments, he attaches onto them. He likes what makes him comfortable and he wants to stay comfortable for as long as he can. Words are important to him, so when he hears something bad it can ruin him for a while. He really does believe what the people he loves say to him. 

Kiyoko Shimizu

 Mothers daughter- Miley Cyrus 

Oh my gosh, she got the power

Oh, look at her, she got the power

So, so, so

…

Must be something in the water

Or that I'm my mother's daughter

The power this woman carries. She’s built her confidence and she’s not letting anyone ruin it for her. I truly believe that her friends all become more confident because she wants everyone around her to feel confident too. Since she doesn't speak all that much she lets her body language do most of the expression. 

--

Nekoma 

Tetsurō Kuroo

 High school sweethearts- Melanie Martinez 

Could you hold me through the night?

Put your lips all over my mine

Salty face when I start cryin'

Could you be my first time?

Eat me up like apple pie

Kuroo definitely takes trust very seriously. I feel he’s also really scared of someone breaking this trust, so he does form it with a lot of people. That saying if he does, he wants it to last forever.

 (...Step twoThis is a waste if you can't walk me down the finish line…) 

He truly believes in the people he surrounds himself with. 

Nobuyuki Kai 

Kill the Lights- Set it Off

Now I am cutting ties clean off

And I can breathe at last

So we all stand enthralled by this bland curtain call

And the truth we pursue as we all, we all beg you to

 Kai seems like he wasn't really that invested in volleyball, so having all these passionate people around him was a shock.  But he really got into third year, and he wants people to feel that passion too. In the back of his mind he feels bad for not feeling it like the rest of the team, but since looking in the past means nothing now, he tries to move on. 

Morisuke Yaku

 Mama- Mcr

And when we go don't blame us, yeah

We'll let the fires just bathe us, yeah

You made us oh so famous;

We'll never let you go

And when you go don't return to me my love

I mean, he is part of the mom squad. But it's ever so slightly more deep. I’m gonna say it's momma-bird syndrome. He doesn't want people to move on without him, seeing people achieve their dreams is great but he doesn't want you to do it if that means loving him. 

--

Seijoh

Tōru Oikawa

Prom Queen- Beach Bunny

Maybe I should try harder

You should lower your expectations

I'm no quick-curl barbie

I was never cut out for prom queen

I feel like oikawa is constantly feeling like he has to catch up to everyone around him. At some point in Argentina he came to the conclusion that he was good enough and didn't need to rise to anyone's standards of him, but when he got picked for the national team everything came back. He still has all of those feelings from high-school. Never making it to nationals, feeling like he failed his team. 

Issei Matsukawa

Bubblegum Bitch- Marina and the diamonds 

Got a figure like a pin-up, got a figure like a doll

Don't care if you think I'm dumb, I don't care at all

Candy bear, sweetie pie, wanna be adored

I'm the girl you'd die for

I feel like to earn Mattsun’s trust, he would put you through some ridiculous trial of sorts. I also feel that he is very comfortable with who he is, and he takes no shit about it. But that comes with the fact that he rarely takes fault in things, and that sparks arguments. He’ll use your love for him against you, he’ll be as cold as he can muster, until YOU take fault. 

Takahiro Hanamaki

 OUT THE ROOF- Chase Atlantic 

Yeah, we stay lit

We fuck bitches, pop on pillies, that is it, yeah

Holy moly, holy shit, yeah

Me and all my people are heaven sent, yeah, yup

9this is a strait vibe for Makki) 

I feel like Makki drowns his problems out with meaningless activities. Like smoking or one-night stands. He’d rather drown out his problems then have them in his  face. Or when he’s forced to face them, he’ll deflect until he has nothing else to deflect. Because when you’re high there nothing to worry about! Why stress about meaningless problems when he can be having fun!  

Hajime Iwaizumi

 Endlessly- The Cab

Yeah, your friends may think I'm crazy

Cause they can only see

I'm not perfect, but I swear, I'm perfect for you.

And there's no guarantee

That this will be easy.

It's not a miracle you need, believe me.

Yeah, I'm no angel, I'm just me

But I will love you endlessly.

Iwa knows that he can't be there for you all the time. Physically he tries his best, mentally he can help when he can. But you both know that you're perfect for one another. He just can't help but listen to the people around him sometimes. You deserve the world, but he doesn't know if he can give that to you. 

--

Fukurodani

Kōtarō Bokuto 

Prima Donna- Andrew Lloyd Webber 

Can you bow out when they're shouting your name?

Think of how they all adore you

We’ve all seen how Bokuto gets what he’s praised for literally anything remotely impressive. So that makes him a cannon prima donna! but that also means the lows and really bad mood swings. This song just fits him so well it’s scary.  

-- 

Shiratorizawa

Wakatoshi Ushijim

 More- Usher 

If you really want more, scream it out louder,

If you on the floor, bring out the fire,

And light it up, take it up higher,

Gotta push it to the limit, give it more.

This seems kinda obvious, but Ushijima never gives up. Ever since he was a kid, he set a goal for himself and he went beyond what he even set out for. And that comes with a lot of work and training for every new level of volleyball. He’s just going to get better and better until he retires, or is forced to retire. 

Eita Semi

 strawberries and cigarettes- troye sivan

Long nights, daydreams

Sugar and smoke rings, I've been a fool

But strawberries and cigarettes always taste like you

Headlights, on me

Racing to 60, I've been a fool

But strawberries and cigarettes always taste like

Blue eyes, black jeans

Lighters and candy, I've been a fool

But strawberries and cigarettes always taste like you

I feel like semi always thinks about how Shirabu replaced him on the starting line-up. But he’s mostly gotten over it, but certain things bring him back into that stage of his life. Then the cycle starts all over again. He constantly looks back on the game against Karasuno and thinks about wat would have happened if he was the setter instead. 

Reon Ōhira

 Remember when- Chris Wallace 

So can we push push push rewind,

Go go back in time,

When we were kids sneaking bottles of wine,

Take take take me back, I wanna go back,

Back to what we had! Do you remember when we started this mess,

My heart was beating out of my chest!,

Remember when we stole your dad's car,

Reon gives me the vibe that his days at Shiratorizawa were some of the best of his life. How can they not be? He made the greatest friends of his life there. And I also feel like he looks back on them a bit more than he wants to admit.

Satori Tendō

 This Side of Paradise- Coyote theory

Are you lonely?

Passion is crashing as we speak

You seem so lonely

You're the ground my feet won't reach

So if you're lonely

Darling you're glowing

If you're lonely come be lonely with me.

I get the vibe that Tendou attaches himself to whatever makes him feel wanted/safe. (ex. volleyball) he knows it isn't healthy, but he can't help it. This does lead to him completely distancing himself from you over and over because he thinks you’ll leave him. 

Hayato Yamagata- House of gold- Twenty one Pilots 

I will make you

Queen of everything you see

I'll put you on the map

I'll cure you of disease (Ooh)

And since we know that dreams are dead

And life turns plans up on their head

I will plan to be a bum

So I just might become someone

Even though we don't see a lot of him, I get the feeling he treats people really well. Like he cherishes people a lot more than some of them deserve. As you can see this leads to some unfair relationships and toxic people. He just wants to hold on until a good person comes along. 

--

Nohebi 

Suguru Daishō

Mr Loverman - Ricky Montgomery 

I'm Mr. Loverman

And I miss my lover, man

I'm Mr. Loverman

Oh, and I miss my lover

I feel like this was way too obvious, but it really is his song. It’s literally cannon, every lyric in this song is what happened with Mika. but in the end he got her back and made his promise  to be a better loverman <3. 

Kazuma Numai

 Nonstop- Drake 

Future took the business and ran it for me

I let Ollie take the owl, told him brand it for me

I get two million a pop and that's standard for me

Like I went blind dog, you gotta hand it to me

He looks and acts like a guy who listens to drake. He just seems like a guy who won't stop or give up even when things take a turn. He’ll just keep fighting until nothing’s left. 

Kōji Hiroo

 At the Wheel- Colorblind 

I need something to wake me up

It's never strong enough

I'm just getting colder and starting over

Going numb is just the way I run from

All my problems when I can't solve them

Need to break away

Escape the way I'm feeling

Hate to be fake, but I'm just dealing

This one doesn't really have a true reason, i really just felt like this was his song.  Sorry just the vibe. 

;)

Inarizaki

Shinsuke Kita

 Oh Ms Believer- twenty one pilots 

Oh, Ms. Believer, my pretty sleeper

Your twisted mind is like snow on the road

Your shaking shoulders prove that it's colder

Inside your head than the winter of dead

I will tell you I love you

But the muffs on your ears will cater your fears

My nose and feet are running as we start

To travel through snow

Together we go

I feel like kita is unintentionally cold towards the world, like he wants to open up but can't figure out how. But in turn if you can get him to feel “warmer” (get closer to him) he’ll share everything with you, almost oversharing. Just because he can't help it, he’s kept it all in for so long. Sometimes he just needs someone to hold him and make HIM feel better, because he does it for everyone. If you can manage all of this i feel like he’ll keep you with him forever. 

Ren Ōmimi

 Armor- Landon Austin

I'm not bullet proof when it comes to you

Don't know what to say when you made me the enemy

After the war is won

There's always the next one

I'm not bullet proof when it comes to you

I feel like not a lot of people approach ren because of how intimidating he looks. This has made him weary when people are really enthused to first meet him, because he thinks it’s a joke. After getting over that hurdle i feel like he just isn't an open person so it’ll take a long time to even get to a point where he trusts you. Hence the other wars after the first. 

Aran Ojiro-

 Never really over- Katy perry

Two years, and just like that, my head still takes me back

Thought it was done, but I guess it's never really over

Oh, we were such a mess, but wasn't it the best?

Thought it was done, but I guess it's never really over

Just because it's over doesn't mean it's really over

And if I think it over, maybe you'll be coming over again

And I'll have to get over you all over again

After all of these years, I really don't think Aran has truly gotten over losing at nationals in third year. And now on the national team he sees Hinata and Kageyama all the time and it takes him back. It makes him re-feel all the emotions he felt after the game. It hurt him to know that he gave his everything and still lost.  Like when he’s in bed he puts himself back into that self loathing phase of his life. 

Michinari Akagi

Try Hard - 5sos

It's obvious she’s so out of reach

And I'm finding it hard 'cause

She makes me feel, makes me feel

Like I try, like I try, like I'm trying too hard

'Cause I'm not being me

And it’s getting me down that

She makes me think, makes me think

That I try, that I try, that I'm trying too hard again

Akagi gives off boy best friend vibes.  But like to EVERYONE, so the person he liked just thought he was making fun of them and he didn't like them back. And i feel like that kinda traumatized him a bit, so when he got a new s/o he tried really really hard to make them special, but the same thing happened. 

i may do some with the second and first years, idk this took so long :)

[ravenclaw-questions-gone-writing]

Ven’s Idea Outline #1 (Maribat)

Remember that MariDamiJon fic that I mentioned I was going to do for the gift exchange? It’s still bouncing around in my head and Luka decided to join in so I’ve decided to at least make an outline in (assuredly vain) hopes that it will leave me alone for a bit.

Ao3

Part 1

Typical Daminette but Hanahaki style bc I can’t find any Maribat hanahaki fics and I need one and I can’t find any.

Dick and Damian sent to scope out Paris for Hawkmoth related reasons

Jon goes with bc he’s Damian’s emotional support kryptonian but he might arrive later This idea has been removed but I like it so I will share it.

Damian is getting familiar with the new battlegrounds  taking a walk in the park when a girl falls from a tree and lands on top of him

The girl apologizes profusely before explaining that she’s really clumsy and she was just trying to help a kitten stuck in the tree

It’s not love at first sight but Damian appreciates an animal lover and is slightly less of an ass than he would usually be

Might mix this with my Blossom Soulmate AU that I never got around to finishing and posting, now that I think about it

Anyway, Damian helps her get the cat down from the tree

He latches onto this potential information source who is not as annoying as most other people and sticks with her

They become friends friendly acquaintances and he drops by her school to pick up her up after she agreed to show him around Paris.

Debating Lila salt...

Debating Class salt...

If yes: Damian walks into a scene where Marinette  and sweeps Marinette away without a word to the rest of her class

If no: Damian arrives and proceeds to wait for her outside by his motorcycle

Either way, his appearance makes waves in Dupont’s rumor mills

They do not know he’s Damian Wayne, just that there’s a dude who attractive enough to be model with a motorcycle waiting for the schools (tragic, if salt) sunshine fashion princess.

Robin and Nightwing meet up with Ladybug and Chat Noir to offer their help in figuring out who Hawkmoth is, as well as fighting and training.

Full Miraculous court meeting with Ryuko, Viperion, Queen Bee, Carapace, Rena Rouge, Pegasus, Bunnyx, and Monkey king. (Rena Rouge is removed if Class salt. Replaced with Fox!Nath or Fox!Julieka)

Ladybug and Robin get along

About two weeks in Adrien starts officially dating Kagami.

Another week passes and Damian finds out Marinette has been coughing flower petals and her unrequited love is her classmate Adrien Agreste.

She refuses to remove the hanahaki - this version is the standard they can’t fall in love ever again if they remove it.

This revelation makes him oddly uneasy, it isn’t until his own Hanahaki shows up later that night that realizes he understands why.

Damian does a pretty good job of hiding it.

Dick knows something is up but he’s trying to give Damian more space so he doesn’t look into it and trusts Damian would ask him if it’s life threatening

Ladybug notices his discomfort on patrol and they talk

He is surprised to learn Ladybug also has it and Robin comes up with the brilliant idea that they should fall in love with each other.

There is precedent that if you fall out of love with the person, the Hanahaki will go away. But falling out of love is difficult and not easily done. There must be no lingering romantic feelings at all.

Ladybug encourages Robin to chase his crush first, because he at least has a chance if the girl he likes also has it.

Cue the debates

If Ladybug wins: Enter Damian going all out in flirty assassin seduction techniques from his mother - Good Talia that kills rapists, none of that she raped Bruce bs, she actually had a good relationship with Bruce and a mutual breakup because of differing views on killing people - that he’s barely used since his lessons on it in the league and romantic advice from Dick.

He goes full on Bitch-sensei from assassination classroom.

He’s commissioned a shirt from Marinette. She gets to design it however she wants.

It is a long sleeved button up, specifically made to accentuate his muscles without being too revealing.

That’s the shirt he wears when he asks her out with flowers and a stuffed kitten holding a stuffed wood board that says “please date me” He has his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, top button undone. Collar and hair ruffled up for maximum sensuality. He’s got a lot of references between all the people he knows (Bruce, Talia, Selina, Dick, and really his whole family is full of objectively attractive, seductive people he can reference. Just as long as he avoids mimicking their failing romantic habits, he should be fine.)

He tries to be suave about it but is a little too nervous to completely pull it off. It doesn’t matter because Marinette finds it endearing.

On the date, he’s more confident and is able to pull off suave bastard much better but only at the end. He’s a gentleman until the very end, when he leaves her in the bakery

He goes in, and twirls her admittedly short hair around his finger, maintaining eye contact as he presses his lips against her hair - it’s admittedly harder than he expected given how short it is but being so close made it more intimate and the blush on her face was definitely worth it

He leaves in the bakery slightly dazed and counts the date as a success.

Marinette’s mind shut down bc damn that boy is fine and smooth af is flustered and confused as heck but she’s willing to give him a shot

Alternatively: Marinette’s not sure about dating Damian because she feels like she’s just using him to get rid of her hanahaki bc of the idea that Robin had proposed.

Dick is ecstatic that Damian was acting weird because he had a crush and loved helping his brother out with this date planning in the city of love

He doesn’t report it back to the batfam yet because they had a small argument about it and Damian pulled away with the small victory of Dick has to wait until after the first date to tell them.

Damian is glad he Marinette’s willing to give him a chance but he’s worried about Ladybug

he wonders if he should set her up with Tim or Duke, it’d be a shame to lose a friend and hero like her.

Robin brings up his success to Ladybug and asks if there’s anything he can do to help her.

She notes that a friend had actually confessed to her and she’s giving them a chance.

They accidentally compare notes on their dates and that’s their reveal.

If Robin wins: An awkward start that smooths into moonlit dates on the Eiffel tower, dancing on rooftops, an increase in flirting but only after battles, never before it bc they have a professional reputation to keep, increasingly physical training routines, stolen kisses but not on lips until they’re more comfortable with each other.

Fast tracked mutual slow burn which kinda defeats the purpose of a slow burn but whatever

I have realized these ideas are not mutually exclusive.

Maybe Ladybug wins first but Damian fails to seduce Marinette because she has the doubts so they go with plan B and date each other. Ladybug is more comfortable with the idea of dating Robin because they both have Hanahaki and are knowingly using each other to get rid of it?

There is no identity reveal in this version

Complaint Break time: I was writing this to get it out but it keeps growing, wtf.  This is so long and I haven’t even gotten to the main part.

It was supposed to be an established Daminette but I wanted to show how they got together, this was supposed to be like 5 bullet points, 10 tops.

At some point, I’m going to have to mention the rumor that people with Hanahaki are being kidnapped because the flowers that bloom after their death make great medicine but that cures most illnesses and are good potions ingredient whatever, something along those lines. It’s not the ones they cough up but the flowers that grow on the vines constricting their lungs after until they die and only blossom after death. Those flowers that spread the pollen into the air that makes the Hanahaki disease possible.

That’s why people keep it a secret unless they’re going to get the surgery as there’s not other way to treat it.

But that’s a plot point for part 2.

I feel like this is already longer than anything I’ve put out at this point in time.

Back to the story:

Even though they’re dating, the Hanahaki doesn’t go away immediately. It slows and becomes less frequent but there are times when they think of how their love doesn’t return their feelings and the flowers come back with a vengeance and they’re down for the day, possibly the entire week, hacking up flower petals and buds.

(Ladybug Wins version until otherwise stated) It’s during one of these fits that Dick finds out and is angry at this girl playing with his brother’s feelings.

Damian is too busy hacking up bloody flower petals to correct him

The entire batfam and subsequently Superfam now know the batfam’s youngest has hanahaki

Jon is called in and flies in to help keep an eye on his best friend

Bruce, Jason, Tim, and Duke are shocked but they pack up and are ready to go in guns blazing to have a talk with this girl bc the boys might not be on the best terms but that’s their baby brother. The girls stay behind to hold down the fort (because I need more time to get familiar with them before I can confidently write their characters. I’m not too confident about Duke either but I already mentioned him and it’s too late to back out now.)

So, Damian’s brothers and his father track her down to a different park in Paris where Marinette’s hanging out with her friends

They’re incised to find their brother’s girlfriend with another guy’s arm around her, leading her away from the main group of friends

It’s Luka, he’s helping her hide her hanahaki because she assures him that she has it under control and will go with him to the hospital if it becomes too much

They confront the couple

There’s a lot of intimidating posturing and accusations

Batfam is absolutely not prepared for the bloody flowers that spill from her lips - her hanahaki is even worse than Damian’s

Detective bats (correctly or incorrectly, depending on which version happens) put the pieces together and figure they’re dating to get rid of the hanahaki, that is something Damian would absolutely propose

and oh shit, this time it’s not just Bruce that’s adopting someone. They have a little sister now.

Luka explains what he knows about the situation and basically confirms what they’d deduced.

Welp, since they’re here, Hawkmoth has become top priority.

Hawkmoth takes one look at the Miraculous circle and the new set of bats and just- nopes out plus super boy and just nopes out.

Like, he tries but he has no expectation of winning and tries to run instead. It doesn’t work, they have all grounds covered.

I should probably make use of Mayura if I ever do write everything out but she didn’t really leave much of an impression on me tbh and I don’t have a lot of ideas. Maybe if I ever go back and watch it.

Celebratory, on-the-spot kiss between Robin and Ladybug where they do “oh“ and realize the pressure in their chest is finally gone and the Hanahaki is no more.

(Robin Wins) Dick is obliviously happy about little Robin leaving the nest and finding a mate until he finds out both the little heroes coughing up flower petals on their date

then he goes in and mother hens them both, before demanding answers

He’s also less happy about this whole dating thing

Dick can’t do much about Ladybug without revealing her identity but Damian isn’t getting out of it so easily

Dick figures out who Damian’s crushing on and goes to do a little investigating. He is very surprised to see it’s a bubbly, energetic designer girl and not someone... calmer. But then he thinks of Jon and it makes a little more sense

He talks to her, asks about what she thinks of Damian and is pleasantly surprised by her positive view of his brother. He asks if she would go out with him and she coughs up some petals

Now, Dick’s freaking out and why are there so many children with Hanahaki? This is the third one in two days!

fast forward because I’m finally out of ideas for this part

Ladybug knows she’s fallen for Robin, which was the entire point of them dating but she not sure he actually reciprocates or is still trying to forget that other girl.

Or if you went the other way, Robin’s still chasing Marinette but Ladybug now likes Robin and is aware that he’s trying to woo her. So, out of the frying pan and into another for her.

Robin is absolutely having regrets bc he is an emotional wreck and crushing on two girls and this was not supposed to happen, damnit.

A meta gets akumatized and takes out half the miraculous court but turns out the meta’s psychic ability can help track Hawkmoth so its all cool, now that they know what Hawkmoth feels like

Ladybug, Chat Noir, Ryuko, and Robin vs Hawkmoth and Mayura

Nightwing stayed behind to watch the other heroes are no longer brain dead from the battle but boy are they out of it and he has to make sure they get home safe

that does not mean he’s not extremely put out and worried about it since he knows half the team has hanahaki and it may interfere with the fight

Even if the Ladybug suit lessens the hanahaki attacks, they still happen from time to time

For two people who don’t  show up to fight often Hawkmoth and Mayura put up a good fight

Ladybug has an hanahaki attack and Hawkmoth tried to take advantage of it, only to get knocked out by Chat Noir who’s still pissed at his dad for causing this whole thing

Chat Noir and Ryuko are pretty shocked Ladybug has hanahaki, even more her timer runs out and she choses to present it to Robin

Robin is shook

He gets it together and pulls her into a kiss that cures their hanahaki and makes their brains melt

Now Marinette’s kinda confused bc what the other girl

Damian, slightly shifting his mask so she can see who he is: That other girl was YOU

Now Marinette’s the one who’s shook

Note: Chat Noir and Ryuko have both de-transformed at this point and are watching with wide eyes but they do not see who is under that mask. Also, no cameras in this section of the manor bc that would be proof.

They have a lot to talk about but it works out in the end.

the outline above was written out of order bc I had to go back everytime a new idea hit and I cannot be bothered to go back and dodeca-check this thing again just to make sure everything makes sense.

Part 2 (that was supposed to be the main story- finally made it, the starting point. I cry.)

Ok, so, now that Daminette is established and the evil is defeated

Damian returns to Gotham with his girlfriend in tow to introduce her to the rest of his family, despite his better judgement

Jon is happy that Damian is in happy, loving relationship but he’s a bit sad that it’s not him and oop, sunshine kryptonian boy got hanahaki’d.

Same for Luka. (Yes, Jagged will be his dad and a Gothamite.)

Jagged and his kids join them in Gotham bc he has to be there to show his favorite designer niece around to all the best places of his hometown.

Luka finds out Jon has Hanahaki and they bond over the experience

They make a pact to cover each other and get the other to the hospital when it gets to that point

Pining/Simping meetings over their best friends that for some unknown reason seem to lessen the flower coughing over time even though these meetings probably make things worse but they also need vent before it increases again.

Luka and Jon beginning to fall for each other but they think the other is still in love with Marinette/Damian and it’s true that they still hold feelings for their best friends that aren’t diminishing in the sleightest and it’s all very confusing.

It’s even more confusing when we add the new hero in Gotham, Viperion who’s there to continue training with the bats since he’s visiting the area, rescues and lightly flirts with Jon who ended up developing a small crush and Jon realizes he has a type.

So, poor Jon’s now crushing on Damian, Luka, and Viperion

Viperion meets Superboy and the kryptonian doesn’t seem to like him?

Luka’s crushing on Marinette, Jon - still doesn’t know that Damian is Robin. And is kinda curious and a little hurt that the Robin’s oddly familiar kryptonian is actively and obviously avoiding him and that heart song is kind of familiar but different.

Viperion also gains a crush on Robin after watching him take down a thug in a very graceful way - the bird was showing off for his bug and decided to make it a little showier, he accidentally also caught a snake

Ladybug and Robin still flirt but the court - aside from Ryuko and Chat, depending on which version - think that’s just their dynamic, though they do pull Robin aside for a bit to tell him she has a boyfriend now. He assured them it’s fine and he knows, oddly amused at their attempt.

man, I am not original with this identity porn thing

It isn’t until Luka sees Jon again that he puts it together.

Marinette suspiciously notes Luka and Jon been hanging out an awful lot she’s making connections to the time she had hanahaki and Luka covered for her

The pains of befriending deductive genii.

Cue the panic and they accidentally claim they’re dating but it throws Marinette off for now, so it kinda worked?

Hanahaki fic with a fake dating AU. Oops.

Mari decides since she and Damian don’t know this, they must have been neglecting their best friends and double dates are the way to go.

Cue more panic

Unlike Marinette who is willing to trust their word, Damian’s a suspicious bastard who’s kind of dubious and a little salty that Jon didn’t tell him earlier if they’re telling the truth but Mari’s all gung ho about it so he lets it go for now

They go on the date and it is an emotional mess for everyone involved

It starts out fine

Jon and Luka act a bit weird because they have to cover for each other randomly coughing up petals, not to mention they’re on a date with their original crushes without actually dating their original crushes not even mentioning their new crushes and the secret identity reveal that Luka still hasn’t confronted Jon on and Jon’s guiltily thinking about Viperion half the time he thinks about Luka and shouldn’t it be the other way around?

Yeah, so they’re a mess

Damian’s watching them like he’s trying to figure them out and it is not helping but thank god Mari’s distracting him totally on accident

Marinette? She found a random lost kid in Gotham looking for their parents

So now the double date’s been temporarily derailed to help the lost kid

While Damian’s watching Marinette try pass the crying kid off to Jon for a  moment so she can make a phone call to report a lost child but the kid’s clinging onto Marinette, and they exchange looks so Jon calls in the lost kid instead and he’s just struck with the idea of a family with the three of them and some kids

Cue panic time (again)

Ignoring the thought of children, why was Jon in his fantasy?

Luka’s just watching a smitten boy go into panic mode over the trio and while doesn’t quite know what’s going on in Damian’s head, but that was really cute and oh not again

They find the kid’s parents, and the date moves on

Jon’s more comfortable, Marinette wasn’t really bothered in the first place. Luka and Damian are now having crises

Luka makes a joke under his breath in an attempt to calm down before his Hanahaki acts up

It did not help bc Damian overhears and gives a small amused snort that made his heart stutter but hey positive interaction!

Both Marinette and Jon but end up having feelings very similar to the one Damian had earlier when they look over at Damian and Luka’s little interaction - Damian’s giving Luka a small smirk and Luka is entirely embarassed at being heard when he wasn’t hadn’t meant to be.

But then Luka gives Jon a small sign before he excuses himself to the restroom so Luka can run off and cough up his flower petals

You remember that whole thing about the kidnapping people with hanahaki so they die and medicine and things can be collected from the flowers springing up from their corpse thing? Yeah, the kids are in Gotham and there is definitely a group there that has dealings with the trade and someone saw Luka hacking up flowers

but they mark him and pull back to plan instead of kidnapping him then and there bc drama and Jon followed him to the restroom to check on him

Date ends ok and everyone’s kind of an emotional wreck

Damian has surprisingly learned his lesson on miscommunication and guiltily confides his fantasy to her like a parishioner to his priest

Marinette basically goes same and confesses about the moment she and Jon saw his interaction with Luka.

“So, We’re together, and they’re together...and I might be in love with Jon, you think you might be in love with Luka... What now?“ Damian asked, trying to make sense of it all

“We could...” Marinette swallows, “um, all four of us? together?“ she offered meekly. Seeing that Damian seemed to like the idea, she continued. “Y’know, feel out how receptive they are to the idea and then just seduce them?”

Ok, so the temporary communication skills were nice.

Because instead of talking it out with their best friends, they decide to seduce them but to be fair, there’s at least one version of this where Damian got where he did because of seduction.

Between both Damian and Marinette’s phsyical attractiveness, their combined determination and stubbornness, Damian’s assassin seduction knowledge, and Marinette’s fashion ability and tactical knowledge of where to accentuate what, Jon and Luka have no chance of leaving pining hell for the foreseeable future.

Marinette doubles down on the “double dates” aka, seduction plans in action and group hang outs, aka much more softer, subtle seduction plans

Marinette and Damian do not do much seeing how receptive they are and really just jump right into the seduction, except they adjust the plans so Luka and Jon don’t catch on so Daminette couple thinks it’s ok to go all out.

Cue seduction and pining hijinks, and a whole lot of bloodly flowers and plenty of internal screaming

Damian learns that Luka might not be too bad in the group and Jon is panicking because oh shit he’s got another crush and it’s his best friend’s girlfriend.

the quartet’s love issues are really full circle... or whatever this shape is supposed to be. Because there’s still the whole Viperion/superboy thing and - i just... I’m not going to keep analyzing this.

Somewhere during this, Jon confesses his feelings this particular friend group to Con, leaving out the whole Hanahaki thing. Con tells Tim for advice on being a big brother and things happen but I’m not sure what. I just want TimCon and the Superboys bonding

So a couple weeks pass by the Hanahaki’s getting pretty bad and Luka suddenly goes missing

Ladybug and the bats are on it as soon as they realize he’s gone

Except they are missing one, very important piece of information

Luka’s hanahaki

So, for the next few days, they don’t get anywhere until Jon slips up and ends up coughing up a shitton of bloody flowers which leads to panic, confusion and explanation, bc wtf Jon, you’re supposed to be dating Luka and that’s definitely not unrequited

So everyone gets the full explanation, the final piece of the puzzle snaps into place and the bats are on it.

Marinette and Damian have to put aside that whole revelation in order to track and save Luka before he dies of Hanahaki

They both make sure to kiss Jon first so he doesn’t get handicapped by his hanahaki like Ladybug did but he and Luka will be on thin ice once they get Luka back

So it’s pretty much a race against time bc they don’t know how bad Luka’s hanahaki is

Tracking, beat up bad guys, possible magic related villain(s) searching for potion ingredients that may take harm Superboy more than than if they weren’t there

They rescue Luka or Luka and Ssass break out as Viperion and meet them halfway.

Hey, the identity reveals!

 Either way, at the end of it, Luka ends up with Ladybug and the unconscious and they have to wait until he wakes up to administer the kiss/cure bc it doesn’t work if one party is unconscious

which sparks an interesting idea of a sleeping beauty-cinderella style hanahaki fic where it would work if they’re unconscious, and the patient has to find go out to find who cured them and I’ll have to adjust some other rules of the hanahaki disease such as who can cure it but goddamn it

So while Luka’s out, Marinette and Damian confront the possibly injured but very much awake Jon

Once Luka wakes up and is brought up to speed, they take care of his hanahaki and work out the new boundaries of their new relationship

Part one is longer and I’m a bit put out by that. This made much more sense in my head but if you got this far, my rambling must have made some sort of sense.

[thedefinitionofendgame]

we're gonna be so happy

Mark X Lexie one-shot | Rated T | Grey's Anatomy

A/N: Because 8.24-9.02 broke my heart and i’m not okay. I will never be okay. So enjoy this mess of emotions meant to make you cry

•

You can find the post on ao3 here or fanfiction.net here as well

Written by @thedefinitionofendgame (aka me)

In those last few moments, she pictured the life he was offering her.

The life she was meant to have, with her soulmate by her side and their children running underfoot. Lexie didn’t believe in soulmates but after all the things she and Mark had been through only to end up still loving each other in the end, well that was as damn close as it was going to get. She was going to be happy in the arms of a man who looked at her as though she held the moon and stars. A man who wanted to have children with her, siblings for Sofia. Lexie heard him whisper his hopes and dreams, “A sister and two brothers,” he promised.

Life wasn’t fair. After everything that Lexie and Mark had been through separately and together, they of all people knew life wasn’t fair. They knew being doctors that time on Earth was never guaranteed, yet they still went around as though they would never die. Until here they were, her fighting for each breath and him begging her to stay.

His fingers grabbed hers, holding tight and never letting go. Lexie knew she was going to die and Mark knew too. It’s why his hand was secured in hers. She had been dreaming the past few nights about him. About the way she felt when his face was mere inches from hers; his baby blue eyes staring into her big, brown ones. Lexie had dreamed of the handsome face that always gave him away if he was guilty of something. The smirk that always made the corners of her mouth turn up, no matter how angry she was at him sometimes. And the mischievous twinkle that lit up his eyes. Lexie had thought about that same gaze passed down onto their children and how it would always make her melt. Even though right now seemed the farthest possible place from what she wanted, Mark was still here, holding her hand and telling her he loved her.

Though time was running out. It was not on their side; it was never on their side. Mark’s grip became more frantic as tears ran across her face. Blood leaked out of her mouth, mixing with the already dried content from before. His last memory of her wasn’t going to be beautiful but it was going to be his. Forever. No matter what happened, they were going to be together in the end. It was going to be beautiful.

“We’re meant to be,” Mark whispered to her, as she stared at him through the watery tears in her eyes. Her vision blurred and she choked back a sob.

His words chased her into a dreamland, one where they’re safe and happy and living out the future he told her about. One where they wake up in each other's arms and go to bed with a kiss that always leads to something more. Mark is hers and she is his and that’s all they ever need. Oh, maybe a few kids too because she’s destined to be a mom and he’s already proven himself to be a good father to Sofia, to Sloan to his patients he cures daily. Yes, Mark Sloan is all she’s ever wanted and here he is, telling her she’s all he’s ever wanted.

Married. With children. Until forever.

It’s like he said. “Meant to be.” As she takes her final breath, she sees it. And what she sees doesn’t make her sad or angry. It gives her hope that one day, perhaps in another life, they will be together. She’ll wait for him.

Meant to be.

~

Mark had been a doctor for many years. He had seen patients in comas pass away, he had seen patients in comas wake up and go about their lives as though nothing happened. It was his job to make people live, make them come back from whatever dream-like state they were in and rejoin Earth. Well, maybe that was more of Derek’s style with the whole neurosurgeon business. But still, Mark was supposed to keep people Earthside. And yet, he failed Lexie.

He failed to give her hope, to keep her with him and loving him for all eternity. When the plane had crashed and he’d opened his eyes, all he thought about was her. Little Grey. Lexie. The woman he was wholeheartedly in love with, the one he wanted a life with. Mark had made so many mistakes in his life, but letting Lexie into his life was not one of them. Letting her go was, and he would forever regret that. They should’ve had more time. They should’ve had forever. In her last moments he wanted to tell her about his hopes and dreams. What he wanted for their future. To get married, have children and grow old together. He had told her a girl and two boys, so that Sofia might have siblings. Lexie would make a wonderful mother. Her sweet smile paired with those enticing eyes were the only ones he’d ever need to look into again.

The loved ones of patients who had passed had all grieved differently. Of course they did, because love made people do weird things. But what many had in common was the fact that their partner died before them, or without them by their side. Mark had never understood why a perfectly healthy spouse would want to die by their lover, at least not until he intertwined his fingers with Lexie’s. She was his lifeline, what held him to Earth. He hadn’t ever told her, at least not explicitly, though he had a feeling she knew. They were useless apart, had their constant breakups not expressed anything except that. Mark couldn’t bear to wake up and face Meredith and his best friend. Lexie may have been the reason things became rocky between him and Derek, but she was also the reason they made amends. “For the Grey girls,” he and Derek had said over beers one night. Only it was really for Lexie.

Sixteen years was a long time. The year Lexie was born, Mark was probably off having sex and doing the unmentionables in the school yard. Now being adults, age was just a number. He would still give her the world and then some, because Lexie deserved so much. She meant so much to him and he had let her go. Though he hadn’t given it much thought until now, Mark had always assumed he’d go before Lexie. In the end, he would pass away with her and their brood of rambunctious offspring by his bedside. He never imagined she would leave him; alone and wanting a second chance. Wanting an ending that didn’t end now, one that never ended until they were ready.

He had meant every word he had said to her in those last moments. The words of promise about marriage and children. He had looked into those brown eyes that had melted the ice over his heart. Looking into them gave him hope, even when it seemed like none was near. Looking into them told him he was home, no matter where in the world they ended up. She was all he needed to be happy. All he would ever want. She was his and he was hers and that’s how it was supposed to be.

Did Mark love Julia? The question was simple and Mark knew what his answer was No, because all of his love was saved for Lexie. For the girl who had stolen his heart the first time she had stuck up for the dorky dude, O’Malley. She had taken it and he hadn’t even blinked. Just given himself entirely to her, for he knew she wouldn’t break him. She could never break him.

The two words, “Teach me,” would always haunt his dreams. They began and ended every sexual fantasy he had about her because it was with those repeated words that he officially lost all his control. Lexie Grey had managed to break the powerful man that he was and made him feel dirty. Feel good and appreciated and accepted no matter what. Mark had been a damn fool in his earlier days, even more so as he got older too. But it was always for her. After he met her, it was all for her.

Mark didn’t know how long he had been laying there, on the hospital bed that he had seen others lying on many times before. Lexie hadn’t made it to a bed. She died holding his hand and thinking about the future they would never get to experience. Something to take with her into the afterlife. The thought of him and her would never end.

It was peaceful, being in a state of silence. Mark imagined so many scenarios about Lexie and him in his dream-like trance. His favourite was introducing their youngest son to the family, a little boy they named Greyson. Lexie had been a champ the whole pregnancy despite its ups and downs and it only made him respect her more. Mark had held their two older children in his arms, Everett and Caroline, as they all stared in wonder at the baby. Of course, Mark had already begun to call the baby “Tiny Grey”. The image made him smile, though no one would ever know.

He would start each morning with a kiss to Lexie’s forehead and end every night with his arm around her. They would bicker as all couples do, but make up with loads of sex. Derek would laugh and shake his head and tell Lexie all the crazy stories about them as kids. Lexie would laugh and smile and he would fall in love with her all over again, each and every time she looked at him. Forever.

He had told her they were meant to be and he meant it. They were meant to be, as whatever life threw at them, they would be together in the end. Maybe he was supposed to outlive Lexie if only to tell their friends and family the plan. That in the afterlife they would be together, watching over Meredith, Derek and everyone else. People they knew would join them, slowly one by one and would be welcomed with open arms. But Mark and Lexie would still be there, holding hands and loving each other.

Stupidly he had once asked Derek about limiting himself to just one woman for the rest of his life. Why have one, when you can have more? Back then he had been a naive womanizer. Lexie was the one who changed him. “You think you broke me, Little Grey? You’re the one who put me back together.” The words in that moment had made her smile and if she had known how real those words were she would’ve cried. But his girl, his Little Grey, she smiled instead and made his heart sing.

One day they would be together again. One day they would be happy and feel no pain. It was only a matter of time, because everything depended on the stupid four-letter word. If only they had had more time none of this would’ve mattered. It was all just borrowed time.

If life was going to fail him, then he would go willingly. Not before something shifted inside him, causing him to make one of his final acts ending whatever had been between him and Julia. Lexie and him had been unfaithful to each other and she would want him to do better, if that was the last thing he did. She would want him to say goodbye to his best friend and love his Earthside daughter one last time and then he could go.

Callie would be okay without him. She had Arizona and their daughter, Sofia, to keep safe. She wouldn’t crumble or back down. She could live without him; would strive and be able to truly live without him. Mark had loved Callie for a long time, though the love was different than what he felt for Lexie, it was still there. They were good together, almost as close friends as him and Derek were. It’s how Mark knew Callie would be alright, no matter what happened to him. He could never live without Lexie but Callie could. The thought made his head a bit clearer.

But it was Lexie’s voice in his head as his heart rate slowed. Her voice telling him she loved him, just as he had done for her. One of her hands was in his, the other running through his hair making him feel a way only she could make him feel. Lexie Grey was the last person on his mind as he finally drifted off into the never-ending afterlife.

He had told Arizona before, the woman he never thought he would ever love the way he did, as a friend and one of the mothers of his daughter. Mark murmured words he knew would hold true, until his last breath. Until his last heartbeat. Forever hers, for always hers.

Lexie’s waiting for me, I’ll be okay.

[ameshowdown]

Ame

Early life

Born as a shogun’s first daughter and 3erd child not much is known about the time or year. She was born a healthy baby with a small birthmark under her lip. she was said to have jewel like eyes and singed dark brow- to black hair. A baby who never cried, and well behaved was adored by her parents and older brothers.

-

Her mother passed away when she was still a toddler, sparking a chain of her fathers madness. Before Ame was conceived her father started to lose father with the Emperor, desperate to keep his honor, social standing and family security. He was easily swayed by Hannibal Roy Bean, searching for a perfect test subject for the Loa Mang Lone soup. But the potion of the dragon was incomplete, faulted and missing a something. While it gave him power, it came at a price. Instead of immortality, it began to age him. Quicker and Quicker, but his thirst for the potion and violence only increased.

-

Ames mother passes due to consumption, whatever was keeping her moralities bound to this world died with it.

-

by time Ame could walk her and her 2 older brothers started intense and cruel training. Both of them perished along the way. But Ame during one especially cruel and deadly training exercise (being dropped into a frozen lake) fire powers awoken.

-

for many years Ame trained with her sword Enbu No Hono, a shen gon wu like blade that increases ones fire elemental abilities, Along with the star hanabi (both gifts from her mother.)

-

Ame fights in her fathers war regaining the Emperors favor.  Ame not only works as her fathers top general but also as a dragon hunter. Culling the species to near extinction. To satisfy her fathers desperate and growing need for the soup.

Ame is a emotionally shut off person, she may go weeks without speaking during this time. She is a perfect solider and never fails. But unfortunately due to living under such tight and traumatizing control Ame is unable to make a single decision for herself. If she is not ordered to eat she would starve. During times when Ame is made to think for herself, she asks the Star Hanabi simple yes or no questions. Flipping it, heads yes and tails no.

-

After Ames father betrays the Emperor her moves the Shogun palace north causing death and destruction in his wake. During this time, a man over in china hears about this, none other than Grand Master Dashi and decides to do something about it. Taking Wu he can carry he crosses the sea. As dojo is fearful of Japan due to the dragon killings. Its during this time that Dashi learns more about the “Shogun no Zetsubo”. It turns out that the people think Ame and her father are one and the same.

Her fathers monster form is that of a giant black dragon. Razor sharp teeth, bird like talons, red demon eyes and covered in spikes. Told to give off a smell of rotting flesh and ash.

-

Dashi learns here that his master, the one whom he gifted the shen gon wu Star Hanabi to, and the one who taught him how to weave magic into objects. Was married to the Shogun. He understands why they call him the warlord of despair.

after seeing the devastation caused by him, dashi feels he has no choice but to confront him. But instead he finds a girl

-

Ames father had left her alone in the palace, searching out a haylin witch over seas to try and “cure” him. He left Ame alone, with the only order to protect the fortress. Here she meets Dashi. Who takes away her star hanabi after it landing on tails 3 times (sparing his life when Ame did not know what to do).

Dashi is sadded to find out the girl before him, says she has no name. That she is only called daughter. And her only goal is to follow her fathers orders. She tells Dashi he will die if he defies him, and she will be the one to kill him. Dashi always the cool guy rejects her logic, and tells her she should abandon a father who cant even name his child.

Then Dashi shows her a vision through the crystal glasses shen gon wu. Were Ame sees her father curing his curse, by devouring her. Horrified she successfully kicks Dashi out and spares his life.

-

Her father retuns and gives her news that the heylin witch Wuya will cure him. but for a cost.

The Grand Master Dashi’s head. He gives Ame the order to find him and kill him. Ame never disobeying an order accepts and sets off.

Ame being born from someone who drank the potion has above human level scenes. Using her adapt sense of smell and hearing she is able to chase after Dashi. But she notices that were the ash once fell for miles, killing the land around them-

it is now spring, people have already started farming. She passes a group of farmers and is outwardly bewildered. But without her star to ask questions she forces herself to not think about it, nor do anything about it. -

after a week of tracking she finds him, and nearly kills him. But Dashi traps her in the Spear of Yun. Draining her of all her powers. Unknowingly severing the link between her and her father. The thing was that Ame’s father was too much for his feeble body to handle, so he had created a psychic link, moving his evil power between him and his daughter.

For the first time that Ame can remember she can think clearly. Causing her to have an emotional almost childlike out burst. But Dashi just leaves her in the sun to cool off. Ame unable to escape the sphere begins to meditate to find some sort of clarity, were she relives her dream of her father. HIs proclamation of how now that hes devoured her flesh, he can regain the power hes lost.

-

Dashi is able to cox this information out of her, after a long time trying. It doesnt actually take a whole lot to convince her to leave her father. And to stop him.

Ame had always been a soilder and choice was a frightening thing. But her instinct told her she could not kill this man before her, and going home empty handed would be death.

Together, and slowly Ame and Dashi formed a bond, he was also the one who gifted her, her name Ame. After a rain shower one day that made him think of her.

They spent a total of 9 months together. Defeating her fathers evil soldiers, saving towns folk, and teaching Ame some martial arts of his. Along with showing her just how beautiful the world could be . (dojo eventually joins them)

-

At the height of mount Yari, they are ambushed by her Father, 10x his last size and decaying all over. Its a grueling fight, pushing both of them to their limits. Ame severs her fathers head with the very blade he gave her.-

after deafening her father Ame fell curse to the very thing killing her father, in a last stitch effort to save her life, Dashi used magic and Wu to turn her to stone, saving her life temporarily. And stone she remained for 1500 years.

[macaronsforchat]

Ladynoir July Day 31 - Home

@ladynoirjuly2020

read on ao3!

inspired by number 50 on this prompt list! thank you @a-cure-for-writers-block!

thank you all for reading! <3 

~~~~~

“Can I see you?”

The simplicity of the request, the lack of a nickname or a teasing afterword, that was what had her out of her seat in seconds.

She knew where he would be, traversing the rooftops of Paris swiftly and efficiently as her mind raced with worry. It made her movements quicker and more shaky, but she didn’t want him to be alone for any longer than he had to be.

When she spotted him, it was obvious he was upset. He was sitting down with his knees pulled up to his chest, and his ears were pressed flat against his hair.

Chat didn’t move when she arrived, his chin resting on his arms as he stared out at the city. She walked around to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey,” she spoke softly, watching him lift his head like it weighed a ton just to look up at her.

“Hey,” he replied, his voice hoarse. His eyes were dull and swollen, and her heart ached knowing that he’d been crying by himself.

Ladybug sat down next to him, crossing her legs and facing him a little, glancing out at the city and waiting for him to speak first. The clouds were hanging low in the sky, giving the whole city of a feeling of gray and cold.

“Today would have been…” he spoke, his voice faltering. She turned to look at him again, watching him hide his face for a moment and clear his throat. He lifted his eyes to meet hers, letting out a drawn out sigh.

“Today would have been my mother’s birthday,” he finished, making her heart grow heavy for him. She searched his eyes, pressing her lips together when he looked away from her and sighed again.

“What did you do last year?” she asked quietly, trying to redirect his mind to a happier place. She’d learned enough about her partner to know that it hadn’t been long since his mother had disappeared.

She watched as some life returned to his eyes, and he blinked as he relived the memory playing in his mind.

“She didn’t want to go out, so we stayed inside and baked all day,” he told her. The thought made her smile, thinking about how she had a lot of sweet memories like that with her own parents.

“She’d wanted to try and make an apple turnover since she’d gone to college, so we tried that first,” he continued, glancing at her and almost smiling. “She chased me around the kitchen when I took one of the apples, and we spilled the flour everywhere,” he breathed out, letting a gentle smile turn his lips upwards. Ladybug let out a small giggle, tilting her head as she listened.

“My father suggested a creme brulee next, and,” he started, letting out a breathy chuckle and moving his legs to cross them just like her. “They decided to make it a competition with me as the final judge.” Ladybug grinned, imagining the scene play out in her mind. Even though she didn’t have the memory, just thinking about it left a warm feeling to spread in her chest.

“Neither of them did very well, but my father’s was the most bitter thing I’ve ever tasted,” Chat smiled, chuckling down at his lap and shaking his head.

“What else did you try?” she wondered when he paused for a moment. He looked up at her, his smile seeming so soft and genuine.

“Have you ever tried to make a soufflé?” he asked her, and she chuckled, already knowing where the story was probably going as she nodded.

“They failed miserably,” he grinned, looking back out at the sky with bright eyes. She watched him, glad that she’d been able to make him smile.

She could tell when the memory turned sad again, his face falling and his eyes dropping back to his lap.

“That house hasn’t felt like home since she left,” he said, his voice becoming deeper again. She reached forward and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder again.

“It must be really hard,” she spoke softly, watching him search her eyes for a moment before ducking his head and nodding.

“It is,” he said as she pulled her hand back. “I feel trapped in my own house. If I didn’t have this,” he breathed out shakily, making her heart ache again. “I don’t know what I would do.” He looked up at her again, tears pooling in his eyes.

Ladybug couldn’t help herself. She moved forward and pulled herself against him, wrapping her arms around his middle. She’d gotten so close that she was almost sitting in his lap, but he didn’t seem to mind. He hugged her back, burying his face in her shoulder and bringing her to sit in the space between his legs.

She listened as he breathed out slowly, her eyes falling closed as she rubbed small circles into his back.

“Why do I feel like I’m home whenever you’re near me?” he asked in a soft whisper. Her eyes popped open, her heart stuttering just a little. She opened her mouth to reply, but she was speechless for a moment.

“You do?” she finally got out, biting on her lip when she finished. He hugged her tighter, making her eyebrows pull together on her forehead.

“Yeah,” he sighed, his chin resting on her shoulder gently. “I feel comfortable to be myself and to relax and just be a teenager,” he said, making her smile despite the heat that had risen into her cheeks.

“I’ll always be here to be your home,” she told him quietly, feeling his arms loosening from around her. He pulled away from her, moving to look into her eyes closely. His eyes were brighter again, his smile growing the longer he searched her face.

“Wh-what?” she asked, feeling butterflies scatter in her stomach. He shook his head a little, pulling her back in for a hug and making her blink in surprise.

“Just let me be at home for a little while longer,” he spoke, the smallest hint of teasing in his voice. She couldn’t think of anything to say to that, pressing her forehead into his shoulder to hide her face.

She would stay in his arms for as long as he needed.

~~~~~

ahhhhh!!! it’s been a long and crazy month but i had so much fun! i hope you all enjoyed all the writing and ladynoir feels this month! 

i can’t thank you enough for all your support and love! your comments always make my day and i read all the tags on your reblogs! you’re all amazing and i hope you all stay safe! 

i will be participating in AU Yeah August, but I won’t be doing every single prompt! I’ll pick a few here and there, so be on the lookout for that! 

thank you so much! <3 <3 <3