#and the giant wall of clues for her mother is up in season one.

[securcity-archive]

i think it’s perfect that i’ve always had the headcanon that hal usually has her hair up except for intimate settings or places she feels most comfortable,     such as her own apartment inside of eden.     and now she has a faceclaim that has plenty of resources/images of her hair pulled up,    and it makes me HAPPY.

[s1i9d]

AMPHIBIA: SEASON 2B TRAILER BREAKDOWN

NEW AMPHIBIA EPISODES!! (Trailer spoilers and speculation! DUH!)

Y’all have NO CLUE how excited I am!! After that huge mid season finale drop, Amphibia fans all around have been waiting for the second half of the season! I did a Speculation post based on the episode titles, and another one based off of the episode loglines for the March drop!

Check them out, cause I will be referencing them as we go!! I’m first gonna do a scene by scene breakdown, then I’m gonna see if my predictions were right, or wrong. So many theories!!! I will also be mentioning the episode titles Matt released in the AmphibiaDirect, so if you don’t want to know, leave now!

If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, click here to see it all!!! Let’s begin shall we!

00:00–00:21: Completely old information and clips from Season 2A that we’ve all seen before with the music box and Sasha-Angst. One thing I did not expect was that this trailer would be so Sasha heavy. I expected her to kinda fade into the background and we’d focus a lot more on the temples, so this makes me have theories I may not have had before.

00:22–00:26: Marcy’s new bird (as teased in the Amphibia-Big City Greens promo). We have two shots with them, one where they are flying down with only a bunch of books that would last a lifetime, or a few minutes with Marcy. The second shot is them flying in the air with Anne and Marcy riding through the sky. I am trying my absolute hardest to not hope for gay then to be disappointed, but c’mon!!! Has no one seen How to Train Your Dragon?!!?!? But Hop Pop is being held in the second shot by the Bird’s talons so I think this is a little more Marcy and Wartwood kind of situation. Maybe somewhere around “Ivy on the Run” with Marcy and her bird being the B Plot.

00:27–00:31: The First Temple. We know from the colours and the shape from the book that it is the First Temple. It seems to have water flowing out of Frog statues’ mouths, and on the temple’s walls there are imagery of brains and a vague Newt Shape reading a book! Definitely talking about wit here! Even all the mushrooms are green, and we know how much Amphibia loves to use colour.

00:31–00:33: The Second Temple! We don’t actually see the Temple, just the archway leading to the Temple. Marcy seems to have the charged green gem on the music box, which is pointing them in the direction of the Temple, very Onyx Equinox-esque.

00:34–00:36: The entrance to the Third Temple. Lava pouring everywhere and pink statues of buff Amphibians? Definitely Sasha, no questions asked. I have no other thoughts about this shot other than the jagged rocks atop of the cave, seems like it could collapse in on itself and cause people to get hurt.

00:36–00:37: Ivy and Sprig jumping on treetops, I think this is from “Ivy on the Run” where Ivy is running from her mother’s strict rules, and Sprig is trying to talk her out of it. They’re so cute! It makes me wanna hold onto them and never let go.

00:38–00:39: Bessie jumping over a ravine with Sprig and Polly at the reins, which is from “Night Riders”, the first episode we’re seeing this Saturday!

00:39–00:40: A First Temple Puzzle where you have to solve a cube to enter the next stage. Seems like Marcy is in “her own little bubble” (heh. sorry i had to) and as she’s solving the cube, the room also moves on its own, with the Plantars being shifted to another side. Kinda like Wulfric’s gym in Pokemon X and Y. This sets interesting character work for Marcy, since she’s known to have issues with connections, but she’s so into knowledge and smartness that she may not realise the issues she’s causing to the people around her.

00:40–00:41: MADDIEEEEEE!!!! Definitely from “Maddie and Marcy”. I feel like they would get together and Marcy would be so into learning about Maddie and creepy magic that they will form a bond. This is how nerds make friends everyone, they find something the other is SUPER invested in and they learn about it. Either that or an extrovert claims them both, and they know each other via association.

00:42–00:43: Giant chicken bat for “Return to Wartwood”. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. Seems like the Plantars set up a banquet for them, and they’re running away. So shenanigans!

00:44–00:45: Okay, so I initially thought Sasha’s next episode was gonna be in episode 16 (”Toad to Redemption/Barrel’s Warhammer”) and I initially thought that it would be Toad to Redemption, because y’know... Toads. But with Sasha’s pink powers shown in her using that giant warhammer, I think it’s going to be either one of the two, but Sasha is definitely showing up in 216. They don’t seem to be on a train, but the Earth is moving very fast for some reason. 

00:45–00:46: The Newt Lady from the Bizarre Bazaar seems to be activating the tippity-top of the Second Temple, with Anne near her. The position of this is high above the clouds, and there is a blue glow coming from the writings/symbols on the ground. Perhaps this is the charging method for the gems on the box.

00:47–00:48: More First Temple stuff! Writing’s on the wall (man these visual puns just write themselves y’know!) and they are in the inside of the temple. Interestingly enough, the main floor is green like the rest of the temple, but the other side (puzzles) seems to have red and blue squares, perhaps representing the heart and strength (blue and pink) which is what the wit lacks.

00:49: The Newt Lady from the Bizarre Bazaar opens a Scroll with the Music box, the three gems (which seemingly came before the box) and three people in coats almost praying to it. This is definitely “After the Rain” with the story of the Music Box being revealed. Cause we still have no idea what “After the Rain” is gonna be about.

00:50: GENERAL YUNNAN!! Scourge of the Sand Wars! Defeater of Ragnar the Wretched! The youngest Newt to ever be named General in the GREAT NEWTOPIAN ARMY!! (Can you tell I stan her? because I stan her.)

Anyways, she seems to be in the first temple or King Andrias’ throne room. I’m mainly assuming this because the temple because the building is blue or because the spires from King Andrias’ throne room are in the way back there, but there are several Toads there defeated on the ground. Either these were people to protect Marcy at the Temple, or this is an episode where all of Grimes’ command are trying to take over Newtopia under Sasha and Grimes’ command. Quite the plausible amount for theories and plot just from a one-second Yunnan shot.

00:51: A chess board with Frog knights shooting lasers at Marcy. Another one of the First Temple’s tricks, or it could be King Andrias’ plot, since we saw him with Chess pieces of Anne and Marcy at the end of “Marcy at the Gates”, so this clip could either be “The First Temple” or “True Colors” and either or are exciting!!

00:52-00:53: A mole comes out of the ground as Mayor Toadstool walks around seemingly trying to please Newtopian guards and soldiers. “Toad to Redemption” now makes complete sense! I called that it would either be Anne and Marcy helping a battle-hardened Toad, or it would be a Sasha episode. I think its the first part, where Newtopian inspectors are coming to suprise visit Mayor Toadstool and inspect if he’s doing a good job taking care of Wartwood, to no one’s surprise find out he’s embezzling money from the town. The episode would be Marcy and Anne helping Toadstool to become better so he doesn’t lose his job as Mayor.

00:53–00:58: We have three shots here, one of each of the girls. Anne looks back in the rain, almost distraught. This is definitely “After the Rain” and I’m not ready for the angst. Marcy is visibly frustrated over chess pieces, this is either a challenge from the Temple or she’s found out about Andrias’ plan. As much as Option 2 is interesting, I think the first one is more realistic. Sasha in the Third Temple, activating her Colour Power and breaking the ground underneath her to a circle. I am constantly terrified by and for Sasha.

00:58–1:00: Polly and Sprig’s silhouettes running in the rain. Also “After the Rain” but still nothing much to say here.

1:00–1:01: Giant tentacles grab Sprig and the Plantars. I have no idea what this is, but it also appeared in the “Night Riders/Return to Wartwood” trailer/promo, so I’m assuming it’s from that episode.

01:02: Sasha is facing off against a giant golem! Probably the Third Temple’s trial.

01:03: Newt Lady from the Bizarre Bazaar reveals the secrets of the Music Box. Definitely an “After the Rain” episode. I did not expect Marcy to be there though, that’s interesting now. 

01:04–01:06: Two shots from the Third Temple. First one being Anne having a moment of realisation, and the other with the Golem roaring in front of Anne and Sasha. This freaked me out because wtf??? Sasha and Anne together?? Are they solving it together too??? Interaction equals resolution/conflict/character drama.

01:07–01:12 & 01:17–01:22: So how are we integrating baby Marshanne into this??? As for which episode, I have no idea! But some interesting details in this is that Sasha seems to have been the last out of the three to have joined. Since Anne and Marcy are together crying, while baby Sasha is one on the slide standing up (hehe) for them. Between the first clip and the second, Sasha has a bruise on her forehead, so she may have gotten hurt trying to protect them. They introduce each other and that’s the end of the clip. I’m assuming this is finale material, because otherwise I have no idea where this is coming from or going to.

01:13–01:16: Anne pulls the Plantars in for a hug. Still not sure where this is for, but it is a thing.

01:23–01:28: Two shots of Sasha and Anne, which seemed to have been slowed down to around half speed. Shot one has Anne standing, almost distraught wearing what seems to be Newtopian armour, with Sasha’s foot in the foreground. The second shot is Anne holding her sword at the top of the Newtopian Walls to Sasha who is weaponless and has her hands up in surrender. Smoke is rising from the land below, and Anne looks visibly angry. I have no idea what is happening, but this definitely has to be finale material.

A title card shows Amphibia returning 6th March!! Hype.

01:34–01:45: Of course we need happy stuff to counter ANGST! So we have a bizarre sequence of Frobo making a garden and growing flowers in a matter of seconds. Hop Pop is enthralled by this and welcomes him to the family, and Polly looks at him knowingly. This is a very big development played very casually, since we know nothing about the robot besides his goofy self being able to do this. Frobo is the most cryptic thing this season besides the King’s basement, we also have no information on Frobo so this is a striking change. This will take place in “Friend or Frobo?” and I am stupid hyped!!! I don’t know anything about Frobo and I want to know more!! Also Wartwood is on fire. It’s just a normal Tuesday everybody. 

That ends the trailer breakdown!! But I did have some more general theories and thoughts I’ll include here.

Something I did want to mention before we started was the music in the beginning of the non-speaking part of the trailer. To me, it sounded like an epic reprise of John Legend’s “All of Me”, and I’m thinking there’s one of two things happening: one is that the finale song that we’re all crying to is “All of Me” by John Legend, like how Reunion’s was “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers; or, I’m just theorising like a mad person. Who knows!

Also another general observation is the puzzles and how we’ve been prepped for them by “Family Shrub” where each one has puzzles and riddles each person who fits a specific role must solve. Each girl with each of the Temples, and they need each one to deal with their own Temple. Meaning Sasha being at the Third Temple means some form of resolution/character interaction.

As for Sasha, I don’t know if she’s gonna be redeemed necessarily, but I think she might go to the good side and Marcy goes to the bad side. I don’t wanna believe that cause I love Marcy to death, but Season 2 finales are always horrifying before Season 3 finales wrap up nicely. So I’m expecting even more drama than the Season 1 finale. I want all the girls to be happy, and it’s not happening this season for sure. So much excitement!!!

That concludes all my thoughts on the trailer for Season 2B! Let me know what you’re excited for, your thoughts and theories, and if you agree or disagree with what I’ve said here!! So excited!!!!

[snowbellewells]

Self-Promo Sunday: “A Litter More Than They Bargained For”

Hey there friends and shipmates! I’ve taken a couple of weeks off on the Self-Promo Sunday posts, but I was looking back through some of my older pieces and found this fluffy one shot offering from a couple years ago. (It was part of the amazing @cspupstravaganza event in 2019.) I didn’t make it any cover art before, so I’ve added that to it as well. Taking place sometime post- season six; Hope is present and a toddler, but Henry is still there as well. That makes it canon divergent future fluff, I guess? Apologies if you’ve read this one before, but maybe you’ll get a little smile from revisiting it.

Also available on both AO3 HERE and on ff.net HERE

“A Litter More Than They Bargained For”

One pet she could have handled. One pet would have been perfectly manageable. A single, sweet-natured, reasonably well-behaved small pet - maybe a cat or a rabbit or even a hamster - wouldn’t have really changed anything about their lives in the seaside house or their daily routine that much. In fact, she and Killian had already been discussing a surprise for Hope in the form of a kitten from the litter her mom and dad’s barn cat had recently birthed, completely charming their pre-schooler upon her first visit to them at her grandparents’ farm.

Somehow, instead, all of Emma’s best-laid plans had been inverted and overturned, as so often seemed to happen in their chaotic magical town. When they had gone into the station that particular morning, they had found a large, mud-caked, burr-riddled dog tied to the bike rack and whining pitifully upon first sight of them. Emma was too disgruntled at the culprit for figuring out that their whole three person department were soft touches for strays as she charged foward to untie the poor beast, to even realize that the critter was already rooting into her affection. Needless to say, rather than their intended adoption, they had managed to take in a shaggy, slobbery mixed breed almost as large as a Shetland pony, with at least some Irish Wolfhound in its ancestry, according to the shelter attendant.

Gleefully mimicking that last declaration in her toddler voice, Hope had leaned over out of Killian’s arms to reach for where the huge hound lounged panting on the exam table, tongue lolling and tail thumping happily as she babbled, “Wolfie! Wolfie!” and patted along the dog’s back and shoulders as well as she could.

The thick, scruffy grey fur covering the animal’s lanky form did indeed resemble a wolf to some degree, and Kililan chuckled good naturedly at the easy moniker their daughter had seemingly bestowed. “Well, it would seem our little love has already christened her, Swan,” he commented lightly.

Emma wasn’t fooled by the casual demeanor covering her True Love’s words. She felt her last chance of finding a more suitable home for a dog of that size outside the town limits (preferably with acres for it to run) fade as she realized that her husband, as well as her little girl, was already attached. Killian wanted this dog more than he would admit.

Reaching out to stroke the gentle giant’s head resignedly, Emma reluctantly admitted to herself that the poor stray really was a sweet dog, despite her astonishing proportions and the amount of extra responsibility she herself would no doubt be taking on. “Hear that, Wolfie?” she questioned, looking the dog in the eyes rather than either member of her family, whom she could feel nearly vibrating with excitement beside her, “I guess you’re as good as ours.”

Henry only confirmed the permanence of the decision when he got home from the high school after his editors’ meeting for the school paper. Though a dog had never been something he had particularly asked for - they had spent so many of his growing up years being flung from one realm to another, either trying to rescue some member of their family, or seeking the needed magic item to fight some new villain, that it hadn’t left a lot of time for house training puppies or taking one for leisurely evening strolls. Still, as Henry came up the walk and saw Wolfie stretched out on the porch, Hope cuddled against her side and Emma and Killian curled together on the porch swing, the way her nearly adult son’s face had lit up and he’d rushed forward in excitement had shown Emma that kids didn’t really grow out of loving dogs, no matter their age.

Ruby, or perhaps the irrepressible brunette’s inner wild animal, seemed to find their new addition, and the rather obvious name Hope had latched onto, especially entertaining. Due to Wolfie’s size, the Jones clan now ate outside at the patio tables when they stopped for breakfast on the way to drop Hope off at Ashley Hermann’s Pumpkin Seeds Daycare, and before Henry took off for class and they headed on for the station. Her mother’s best friend didn’t even try to hide the fact that she saved back either bacon, sausage, or ham especially for Emma’s pet each day, laughing when after about a week Wolfie came to her the moment she exited the diner’s front entrance, before she could even reach their table, and began nosing at her pockets for the expected bounty.

However, it was Granny herself who startled them with a matter of fact question about a month after Wolfie had joined their family. The diner’s proprietress had come out to wait on them herself that morning, a real nip in the air as November neared, and explaining that Ruby was lying in for a while after the full moon the night before. Her half-spectacles perched on the very end of her nose, eyes sparkling with every bit as much pep and mischief as her exuberant granddaughter when she neared their table, sleeves rolled up to her elbows despite the chill and a pencil tucked behind one ear.

“The usual, Captain?” Widow Lucas asked with a playful nod to Killian, “or are you and your crew feeling adventurous this morning?” While awaiting their answer, she reached into her apron for her order pad, also pulling out a juicy ham bone for Wolfie.

“Here you are, darlin’ girl,” she continued, bending to offer it to their canine companion, much to Wolfie’s approving delight as she barked a ‘thank you’ and took the treat into her drooling jowls with an almost humorous care, then immediately dropped to hold it between her massive paws and began gnawing away.

When Granny stood to face them again however, a knowing smirk was painted across her face, taking their breakfast order seemingly long forgotten. “You don’t have a clue that dog is carrying a litter of pups, do you?” she asked, shaking her head at what she seemed to think was their dense naivete.

Crossing her arms, Granny watched a variety of reactions cross the four faces before her. Henry looked awed and curious, while Hope practically bounced on Killian’s knee asking, “Puppy? Puppy! We having a puppy?” 

Killian’s brows rose in surprise, and Emma was already shaking her head in disgruntled exasperation. “Really?” she sputtered, narrowly eying the diner owner as if she might be playing some sort of elaborate joke at her expense.

Then, plunking her head down to rest on her arms crossed on the table, she sighed as her daughter contiuned to chortle in delight and Henry and Hook laughed heartily, in spite of their manful efforts to hold back for her sake. “Why am I even surprised?” Emma muttered. “Of course, she is.”

***

From there, they learned that apparently the shelter owner did not have it out for them, but that it can be genuinely hard to tell when a dog is expecting until they are quite close to their due date. It also turned out that Granny’s lupine sixth sense had been right on the money. Within another couple weeks, they could see for themselves that Wolfie’s stomach was rounding and she was nesting in corners throughout the house, particularly favoring the warmth of the laundry room between the dryer and the wall. Seeing as how canine gestation was only eight or nine weeks from start to finish, and their mother-to-be was already showing, it was a bit of a scramble to prepare, knowing the litter of pups would soon be on its way.

As had become typical since Wolfie’s arrival, this too went well beyond what they had expected. On the night they returned from Hope’s Thanksgiving Play at the preschool to tiny yips and whimpers greeting them the second the door opened, the entire Jones family was stunned to discover eight small wriggling bodies jostling for place against Wolfie’s exhausted form where she lay curled into the mound of old blankets and towels they had created for her once her fixation on her laundry room nest become plain. Various rather wetly bedraggled and squirming balls of grey, black, white and mottled mixes of those three colors in coat greeted their eyes, prompting Killian to comment rather drily, “Well, now there are nearly enough of us to crew a pirate ship.” He chuckled, shaking his head, as he added, “Mayhap we can give them proper nautical names this time, rather than letting Hope call them the first word that pops from her mouth.”

“Paaa-pa!” their daughter protested indignantly, stomping her little foot on the linoleum tile and placing chubby fists on her hips. “I did not!” In her two braids, beaded headband, and fringed brown “Indian” dress from the play, she made more an adorable than a threatening sight as she intended, but Killian nodded to their daughter dutifully all the same. “My apologies, little lass. Of course you didn’t. I must have been mistaken.”

Emma rolled her eyes and shook her head at his mannered playfulness with Hope, though her heart warmed inside her as well, loving that their little girl had never known anything but a devoted, adoring, present father, who might have to be pulled back from spoiling Hope at times, but would never let her down or abandon her. The two of them could melt her every defense, just as Henry had always done. Even if it did sometimes leave her trying to be the voice of reason, Emma didn’t truly mind.

Henry, for his part, snorted inelegantly at their nonsense, crouching to pet a nervous-looking Wolfie on the head and scritch under her chin the way she liked. “Don’t worry, girl,” he mumured soothingly. “We won’t hurt them. You’re all safe here.”

Her son grew thoughtful for a moment, mulling something over, then looked up when he asked excitedly. “What if we did pick nautical names for them all? Like Jack and Jib and Scurvy?” He was grinning from ear-to-ear now, as his Author’s love of wordplay awakened - an expression Killian quickly mirrored.

“Aye, lad, those are great! And perhaps Scoundrel and Buccaneer as well?”

“Hey, hey, guys,” Emma broke in, trying to stop their now-steaming train before they got any more carried away. “Let’s not get too into naming them. The families who adopt them may not be looking for pirate dogs.”

But her husband and son were already on a roll, adding Barrie (in a nod to the Englishman who had created Killian’s literary counterpart) and Doubloon to the list of potential puppy monikers, and not paying her words the slightest bit of attention.

***

Finding homes for their doggie brood proved more difficult than Emma had hoped. If nothing else, it had worked out that they were being weaned just in time to join a family for the perfect child’s Christmas present. And, much as she had intended for them to have a quiet little tabby kitten padding after her through the house rather than a train of panting, yipping, running and tumbling balls of shedding fluff, the pups were sweet and incredibly cute. So she couldn’t understand how every time she thought she had someone poised to take one home, it fell through at the last moment.

With a sigh, she turned away from the sidewalk where old lady Hubbard was walking away. Still cradling Cutlass and Matey to her chest, one in each arm, Emma crossed the porch to sink onto the porch swing with a dejected air. She bent to press a kiss into each of their soft, fuzzy foreheads, murmuring what good babies they were and that it wasn’t their fault. Intellectually, Emma knew it was rather ridiculous to be trying to comfort two puppies who were now playfully rolling and tumbling in her lap, not the least bit concerned at the interview’s outcome. They really had been particularly good as their potential new owner had arrived to meet them; sitting calmly without barking or jumping up, sweetly licking the elderly woman’s fingers affectionately when she offered them, and looking even more adorable than usual with their coats freshly bathed and brushed, so black and silky that their fur nearly shone. All their neighbor had seemed able to focus on though was that they might get under her feet and cause her to fall. When Emma had spoken to her before, the older lady had seemed so anxious for some company now that the last of her many children had left the house, but once she had arrived to see the puppies, all she kept saying was, “I’m all alone out there. If I fell, I might lie for days, unable to get up, and no one would know.”

Emma shrugged her shoulders and ruffled the pups’ fur once again; annoyed, but not sure what to make of the situation. Standing, she was about to take the two little rascals back inside when Killian arrived home for the evening.

“They’re both still here?” he asked curiously, one eyebrow arched in question.

Something niggled at the back of Emma’s mind with his question, whispering that he didn’t seem especially suprised. Shaking her head in silent answer, Emma ushered man and dogs back into the house and headed toward the kitchen, where she still had all of the dog dishes to fill.

“Ah well, Love,” Killian replied, something about his voice just a shade too nonchalant. “Perhaps it’s for the best. As energetic as these scalliwags sometimes get,” he laughed and scratched Matey’s belly when she rolled over to bare it in supplication, “they might have proven a walking hazard to one of advanced years.”

Emma was about to question him further, shocked that Killian had hit on exactly what had stopped the potential adoption, but at that moment Wolfie and the other six of her offspring burst into the kitchen and set up a chorus of barks and howls for their dinner, toenails clicking on the floor and tails thunking against the cabinets. So it wasn’t until later that night, as she was speaking to her mother on the phone, bemoaning yet one more failed attempt at finding the pups permanent homes, that the niggling puzzle piece at last slid into place.

“Well,” Snow offered hesitantly, “I’m sorry it fell through, Sweetie, but you know Mrs. Hubbard isn’t all that steady on her feet these days…”

Suddenly, it all added up: Mrs. Hubbard’s unexpected concern with puppies tripping her up around the house, how Ashley had at first thought they might take one of the puppies, only to be convinced by someone that mice would be much more fitting for class pets at Cinderella’s daycare, and how Aurora and Philip’s second child, Hope’s little friend Rory, had suddenly decided she wanted a white Persian kitten whose hair she could put a pink bow in, “like ‘Rie from ‘Ristocats” Aurora had explained in her daughter’s own words when she’d called to tell Emma.

“Oh my word!” Emma shouted, startling her husband, kids, and the pile of dogs sprawled over them in the living room where they were watching tv. “It was you all, wasn’t it? My whole family has been working against me this entire time!”

Looking sheepishly guilty, Killian and Henry both wordlessly shook their heads in denial. Her mother floundered for a defense for a few seconds and then simply fled by ending the call. But when Emma’s eyes came to rest on her daughter, Hope merely grinned widely, a shameless glint of mischief in her green eyes, and nodded her head in confirmation.

“Why?” Emma sputtered.

“Then the puppies are all ours!” her toddler chirped happily, falling back against Wolfie’s shoulder with a giggle, to which Wolfie merely huffed at the impact, then nosed Hope a bit further from the edge of the couch, as if she had one extra pup to watch out for and was making sure the child didn’t fall.

“We’ll see about that,” Emma grumbled, staring each of them down in turn. But, when she flopped down on the armchair in the corner, trying to hold onto her righteous indignation, and Scoundrel came over to check on her, pawing at her leg until she picked him up, and then nudging his grey snout flecked with white patches into her armpit as he stretched out across her chest and promptly fell asleep, Emma was smart enough to know when she had lost the fight.

They were the family with nine dogs now - an entire seaworthy crew.

Tagging a few who may enjoy (or enjoy again!): @searchingwardrobes @kmomof4 @jennjenn615 @thisonesatellite @artistic-writer @hollyethecurious @whimsicallyenchantedrose @laschatzi @thislassishooked @therooksshiningknight @spartanguard @shireness-says @ohmightydevviepuu @ohmakemeahercules @scientificapricot @gingerchangeling @teamhook @revanmeetra87@resident-of-storybrooke @elizabeethan @tiganasummertree @optomisticgirl @stahlop @lfh1226-linda @xsajx @donteattheappleshook @darkcolinodonorgasm @winterbaby89

[kchuarts]

Instinct 2

A/N: >:3c I need to be in h*rny jail for this.

Summary: The journey to Jotunheim takes off smoothly, no issues to report. Loki and his crew believe that the mission to close the ripped seam shouldn’t be difficult. However, things do appear too good to be true and events take a turn…

Warnings: 🔞🔞🔞 SPICY SMUT, breeding, dubious consent, impregnation, angst, etc… DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 🔞🔞🔞

“We are approaching our destination, Prince Loki.” The pilot informed the God in the co-pilot seat. He nodded in response and leaned forward a bit, brows scrunching… Something was very off. “Captain, can you change coordinates to land behind that cluster of trees? Just over there.“ Loki pointed to a clearing to where he had just mentioned. The pilot nodded, tilting the ship in that angle and safely landing in position. "What had you change your plan of landing, your highness?” An Asgardian S.H.I.E.L.D agent raised his brow. Loki looked to the agent then at Astrid who was preparing necessary medical items for the journey. “I need to make sure that we are under complete cover. I have brought my wife with me due to her medical expertise and insistence on joining us… Plus, there could be some medicinal remedies not yet discovered and I am most certain she would be quite cross with me if I had her miss out on such a feat.” He smiled slightly. The man looked to Astrid and smiled brightly, “Why your highness, I hadn’t a clue she was your wife. I thought she looked familiar from yesterday when you both brought my little girl safely to me! What can I, Brand Jorgunson of Asgard, do to repay your graces kindness?” He looked hopeful at the prince. 

Oh. Well, Loki was not expecting the father of the little girl to be Asgardian. This fact calmed his nerves about what he had said yesterday. “Your hard work and perseverance is all that I require-” His smile dropped as there was a screech among the harsh winds of the planet. The fleet became silent and Loki crept over to Astrid out of his instinct to protect her. He looked down at his wife as she grabbed his arm and shuddered. “Th-That wasn’t the same noise from yesterday.” She spoke in a hushed voice, holding onto him a bit more tightly. “No, it is not. I do believe that we are as close to the tear as we can physically get without tampering space and time. There are more beasts concentrated in this area due to the high frequency of the tear.” Loki pondered, releasing Astrid. They needed to get to that seam quickly if they were to stop anymore Frost Beasts from leaking through. A familiar feeling of unease washed over the Trickster once more as he stopped right in front of the ships exit. 

Loki waved his hand to signal the fleet to prepare for stepping foot outside of the ship. With haste, everyone put their anti-cold suits on and awaited Loki’s next order. “Someone needs to stay close to the ship just in case things go wrong.” One of the crew members whispered. Brand raised his hand, “I will volunteer to stay with the pilot and give the signal.” The Prince nodded in agreement as the thought of the little girl, Brands daughter Lorraine, crossed his mind. He shook his head gently, why was he even concerned about that? He shouldn’t care that much. The pilot nodded, pressing the button as the door slowly opened with some difficulty due to how strong the winds were. Loki grabbed Astrid’s hand again, whispering to her “Stay close to me.” The brunette girl squeezed his hand in reply, not even wanting to go anywhere else but his side. Almost immediately, Loki’s skin changed from it’s pale ivory tone to sapphire. Brilliant lines stood out on his blue skin and his crimson eyes seemed to pierce through anything. Astrid found herself staring at her husband in awe, captivated by how breathtaking she found him. This was indeed a rare sight as Loki almost always refused to show his true form. “Are you alright, my love?” Astrid flinched a little as she was brought out from her stare. She nodded, giving him a smile “You’re beautiful.” Her cheeks were a light shade of pink under her helmet. 

His own cheeks darkened slightly from her comment and he felt a warm stirring inside of his chest. Images of her with that same blush, only more deep, flashed in his mind. She was writhing beneath him, panting, crying out his name- “Laufeyson.” He was brought back down by one of the agents impatient tone. What the hell was going on with him? To make matters worse, he felt a growing tightness in his pants... Not good. It couldn’t be mating season for the Frost Giants already, couldn’t it? Loki did his best to distract himself from that theory by leading the team behind a pillar of frozen rock. “There.” He nodded his head toward a visible hole in the atmosphere, Frost Beasts going in and being sucked into the tear. “Amazing. I’ve never seen anything like this!” One of the crew tried to push past the god to get a closer look, mistakenly placing a hand on the small of Astrid’s back. The agent was then firmly slammed against the pillar with a snarling Trickster leering at him. “You do not lay a hand on my wife!” He hissed at the agent, tightening his grip. “Loki let him go! It was an accident.” The brunette placed a gentle hand on her husbands back, getting him to do so. 

Rightfully so, the agent was a bit more than upset at this sudden action. “What the fuck is wrong with you!? Maybe we should have brought Thor instead of this untrustworthy criminal!!” The agents voice became louder out of anger. “Travis! Shut up!!” Another agent grabbed the agent known as Travis’s shoulder and shook him aggressively. Ignoring the commotion, Loki’s now larger form loomed over Astrid’s, his eyes glazed over. “Are you alright, my dove?” He wanted to take that damn helmet off to feel her skin. She nodded, her brows scrunched in confusion “Baby, are you ok? Maybe we should contact Brand and get him to send for back up.” She reached up and did what Loki had wanted to do to her. The Prince’s large hand held her smaller one to his face as he still looked into her eyes. “That is unnecessary to call for reinforcements...” He walked closer until Astrid was pinned against the wall, her eyes full of fear instead of confusion. She had not the slightest idea what suddenly came over her beloved, but he had to stop it now. “Loki we should really call for back up, you’re not yourself.” She removed her hand from his grip and placed both of her hands on his chest. Her breath picked up and eyes became wide as he tried to take the helmet off, “Loki stop!!” she tried so hard not to scream. 

Just as he was about to take it off, one of the agents let out a scream of terror that was followed by a ferocious roar. Whipping around, Loki saw the agents being mauled to bits by 2 Frost Beasts who had stalked them down. “This is your fault!!” Travis pointed to Loki, blood splattering in the helmet as one of the beasts chomped down on his lower half. The sight caused Astrid to yelp in horror and grab onto Loki tightly. “Brand!!” The prince pressed in on his ear piece as his mind was out of that amorous fog it had previously been clouded by. “Brand come in!!” His jaw clenched, his eyes focused on the beasts approaching. “Your highness! We heard screaming! We are on our way-” , “No!! You will call for reinforcements from my brother and get out of here NOW.” Loki scooped Astrid up in his arms without warning and sprint for the dark, dense wood. At least the stubbornly thick trunks of the frozen trees would slow the beasts pursuing just a little. A loud roar of an engine blasted to life as Brand and the pilot had done as they were told, nearly missing the tear. 

As long as they reached Earth safely, then Thor would be here in no time... At least Loki had hoped. In truth, he didn’t know how many beasts could have crossed the realm at this point. “LOKI!!” Astrid screamed as a large clawed foot came down on the both of them. It was too late for the Trickster to make any proper move and Astrid was knocked from his arms. He looked up after the initial impact, frantically searching for his wife until his heart almost stopped. The prince did indeed spot her, but her long brown hair was spread out and her helmet missing. Loki leapt up, rushing over to her and hoisting her back into his arms. Her cheeks and nose were bright red with a nice cut on her forehead to match. “Shit!!” He held the unconscious woman to his body close, hearing the beasts approaching faster than he would like. As if it wasn’t hard already, spears began to fly out of no where. Thankfully, the beasts became distracted by the new intruders and gave Loki time to escape. However, the spears continued to fly in his direction and nearly hit he and Astrid both. The Trickster ripped one of the spears from the ground as he fled, still clutching the woman in his arms tightly. 

Loki ran for what seemed like a while and after a brief period of time, the spears stopped. Relief washed over him as he saw an abandoned Jotun village in sight. These structures were built into the mountain and were questionable when stability was considered; but it would have to do. If they were lucky enough, this settlement would have a natural hot spring inside as well. Hastily, he entered in the cave and found that luck was on their side after all. In the cave, there were used furs, baskets that had not been touched for quite some time, some pillows,  a few spears similar to the one Loki had grabbed, a hot spring and a fire pit. “Mother, if you lead us here... Thank you.” He let out an exhausted sigh as he carefully set Astrid down on the furs and adjusted them to keep her warm. His touch against her slowly warming cheek lingered a bit longer than he wanted and the unwelcome arousing thoughts returned. Loki felt his cock harden painfully to the idea of stripping the resting brunette from her suit and ravaging her mortal body. “No.” He swallowed, looking away from his wife before getting up. “I will not do that to her.” He scolded himself and took a deep breath. Perhaps scouting the area would get his mind off of these intrusive perversions. 

As the prince examined the area, he found quite a few useful tools and ancient artifacts of the people who once lived here. Loki looked down at his hand, noticing he was still blue and tried to shift back to his Aesir form. No such luck. Not only that, but his length was still throbbing with desperate need. He sighed in great irritation and frustration as he concluded it was indeed mating season. “Great.” He ran one of his hands down his blue ridged face. How in the hell was he supposed to protect Astrid from everything on this forsaken planet when he was also one of those dangers? Thor and company could not come any faster or get that damn portal shut; he hoped Brand made it back. His body froze in place as he heard movement coming from where he had placed Astrid. As quietly as he could, Loki crept from the other side of the cavern and almost moaned at the sight. The girl had indeed awakened and was completely naked in the spring, warming herself up. She looked ethereal to the prince with how her skin shined with droplets of water and her long hair floating effortlessly when she sat down. 

“She is ready, rightful king.” 

Loki jumped slightly from the sudden voice, looking around to see where it came from. 

“Do not be stupid, boy. It is your own feral side speaking with you. She cannot hear me.” 

He let a shaky breath out, closing his red eyes and attempting to calm his mind and hormones. 

“I know you can smell her, she is ripe and ready to be bred. Her hips are so deliciously worthy of child bearing. You will submit in the end... I know how badly you want her in that regard, I have seen your thoughts of her full with your child-” 

“Enough.” He whispered to himself, grabbing his head as it began to throb. “I will not do that to her.” 

“Baby? Are you ok?” Astrid’s sweet voice captured the prince’s attention. 

Her body stood half out of the water, allowing him a view of her breasts, abdomen, hips... 

The voice chuckled darkly inside of his head “Baby? Hmmm... She calls you what she has craved to give you all this time. How endearing, but yet you hold back... Because you know it will kill her weak mortal body. But you want to fuck her, claim her, breed her and show everyone that she is yours-” 

Loki gasped sharply as he felt Astrid touch his cheek and he ripped away, his pants uncomfortably tight. “Hey, what’s wrong?” She rose from the steaming waters to get closer to him. “You’ve been acting so strange ever since we arrived, please tell me. I want to help you.” Her large teal eyes glimmered in the dim light. The prince swallowed hard, looking away from his wife before his natural instincts consumed him. His heart beat faster, blood pounding in his ears loudly the longer he looked away and fought himself. “Y-You need to go. I cannot be near you. Please, Astrid go back where I had placed you and rest.” His voice was hoarse from the panting he hadn’t realized he was doing. “I’m not leaving you. If you’re hurt please tell me-” She stopped, stepping back as Loki stood with his full height over her. “I will hurt you if you continue to be near me. Now go.” He spoke through his teeth, watching the frightened girl make her way back to the furs and wrapping herself in them; not bothering to put her undergarments or suit back on. 

“I....” He started, turning away from her and picking up one of the Jotun spears. “I am going to hunt. I will try to be back as soon as I can, so please just.. Just do not leave this cave.” Loki ran a hand through his dark locks, exhaling loudly before exiting the cavern. Astrid blinked a few times, pulling the furs a little tighter to her body and laying down upon the oddly comfortable pillows. She watched the bonfire until her eyelids became heavy and sleep claimed her tired form. 

For at least what seemed like an hour or two, Loki had been successful in hunting a few small creatures that were similar to rabbits. During this time, that awful voice had left him alone and it gave Loki some clarity to think. He glanced at the sky and saw no sign of back up arriving as the tear was still pulling energy into it like a black hole. What kind of trap or battle tactic was this? Sure, Thanos had managed to get Loki alone per say, but made no sudden attack yet. Was this all just an assumption that the Mad Titan was behind it? He already had terrifying numbers for his army, what more did he possibly need and why Jotunheim of all places? The dark haired prince shook his head, shrugging to his own questions before turning around to head back. A sharp thudding pain returned to his head after he thought he had finally been rid of this nasty headache. “Damn it.” He leaned against a tree, grabbing his forehead and squeezing his eyes shut. Along with this upper pain, the lower pain also made itself obviously present. He glanced down at the large bulge in his trousers and whined from how badly his cock throbbed. 

“You have what you need, now go and take what is yours.” 

The voice returned with an even louder presence. 

“You will not gain anything from ignoring your prowess; you will continue to suffer more the longer you fight until you cannot do so anymore. Succumb to it. Breed her and take what is yours!... If you do not, then I will and there is no such thing as being gentle with me.” 

“Alright!! I-I’ll do it!!” Loki felt a wetness slide down his cheek. The thought of hurting Astrid was destroying him. The thought of her dying because of what he did to her- 

“Just agreeing with me will not do. So unless you want me to take over for you, then I suggest you give into your bodies primal need. This is the last time I will give you leeway before I take control.” 

Letting out a weak sob, Loki trudged forth whilst dragging his kills behind him in the snow. His body ached so badly for release and freedom from this torment, but Loki knew how breeding worked and he was terrified. Astrid would be subjected to almost a week of non stop fucking until he was certain she would fall pregnant with his child. As much as he wanted to literally drag his feet and get to the cave as slowly as possibly, his body would not allow it. Within minutes, he was back inside and shedding his armor rather roughly. He had to do this lest that dark side of his do something he would regret. Once he removed everything, Loki winced at the painful pulse that throbbed through his aching member; pre-cum dripping from the angry dark blue head. Supper would have to wait for now, or at least he hoped they would get a chance to get some type of nourishment. He walked over to the sleeping girl and noticed her phone. Perhaps by some odd chance, she would have a signal? He picked it up to test that theory, but no such luck. However, something else caught his attention... She had a period tracking app. He touched the screen, opening the app and feeling his cock throb again as he read that this time she was most fertile. 

His nostrils flared as he tossed the phone aside, the screen shattering in the process. She could get a new one later if help arrived quickly. Loki crawled over the sleeping girl and peeled the furs away from her naked body. A growl ripped through his chest, startling Astrid awake. Her lips parted slightly as she wanted to say something, but lost the words. The brunette let out a squeal as the god above her pinned her wrists to the make shift bed. “Loki stop. You’re scaring me.” She whimpered, breath picking up quickly. He did not respond but instead, leaned forward and captured her lips in a sloppy kiss. Astrid’s squirming of protest and small whines only made Loki want her more while she was beneath him. “Loki, stop!!” She gasps, giving a small sob as she felt his teeth sink into the flesh of her neck. This wasn’t the man she married; this wasn’t her Loki. Flashbacks to that day he tried to assault her began to play in her head, and with all her might; she shoved the god off of her and scrambled up. Astrid struggled to crawl to a near by corner of the cave, her chest rising up and down quickly. 

The god growled out of vexation, quickly rising to his feet and sauntering to the trembling girl. Astrid noticed his dripping cock, her body betraying her by shooting heat to her lower lips. He was HUGE. This was not to say Loki was not well endowed, because he very much was. However, in this form his length had not only gained an inch or two but also had become more thick. He was going to split her in half with that monster between his legs. Astrid turned her gaze back up to his and held eye contact. Once Loki saw tears slide down her face, he briefly snapped out of his aroused state and knelt down. “Pet... Oh Norns.. I-I’ve scared you, haven’t I?” He cursed himself for doing so. She was still too shaken to say anything but gave him a small nod, curling in on herself. “Astrid.” He gently took her arm, pulling the hesitant woman to him. “I need you, please.” His forehead pressed upon hers and his eyes shut. Astrid began to calm down, sensing that this was not his fault at all and released a shaky breath. Loki’s head began to throb once again, the threat of that dark side of him rearing it’s ugly claws. “Listen to me.” His lip twitched, fighting that voice off as best as he could. “F-For the next week I need to breed you.” Loki felt like wanting to die saying that sentence. 

Astrid gaped, her heart racing at what he just said. “But I thought-” She was silenced with a needy kiss. “My feelings about that remain unchanged, but for the time being,” He looked at her “I need you to endure me. I understand you are mortal and have needs. I will do my best to let you eat, sleep, bathe and relieve yourself but I will not stop fucking you. Not until I am sated and positive that.. That you are with child.” defeat laced his voice. Astrid removed her forehead from his, lifting his chin gently to look at her as he had cast his gaze aside. “I love you, Loki. I love you with every fiber of my being.” Her hands moved to cup his face, her thumbs stroking his sharp cheek bones. “I know you know how I feel about it but, we can work something out if anything happens....” Astrid smiled softly, placing a smooch to his forehead before continuing with a nervous look in her eyes. “I will do this, for you but I-I need you to promise me something. If I do end up..” She began to choke up. “I want to keep it. I’m contradicting myself by saying this but Loki.. I love you so much and I want to give you a family of your own. I want to have children with you and raise them together-” 

The woman is cut off by Loki scooping her into his grasp and going back to the furs, placing her down on them. “You are so willing and ready to carry my child-” He growled, nipping at her neck. “Yes I- O-Oh Loki!” Astrid moans, breath hitching as she felt his fingers stroke her clit in small circles. She felt his cold lips trail down her collar bone to her breasts, taking a hardened bud into his mouth. Her back arched slightly into him as he sucked and kissed at her breasts hungrily. “I cannot wait to see these swell with milk for our child.” He growled out, abandoning her pearl in favor of kneading her fleshy mounds. “I have dreamt about taking you like this and feeling your quim flutter around my cock as you scream for more.” He reached down, chuckling as he felt how wet she had become just from dirty talk. “My, my... I’ve barely touched you and here you lay, your tight pussy dripping with desire from my words.” He slides two of his slender digits inside of her, drinking in the sound of her moans. Loki hummed at how her walls clenched around his fingers as he pushed them in and out. 

“F-Fuck!! Loki!” Astrid whines, throwing her head back as she feels him add a third finger in preparation for his length. She panted loudly, her hips bucking upwards for more friction. Loki grinned at her movements, his thumb now applying pressure to her clit as he continued to finger her. “Look at you, bucking your hips. My fingers feel good, don’t they? Mmm yes, but nothing quite like what I am about to give you.” He pulled his fingers from her cunt, slurping her essence off of his fingers crudely. The brunette whines, she was so close to orgasm before he had to- Oh. 

A new pressure stretches her walls, making her gasp a little out of surprise and a bit of pain. “You’re so tight.” Loki moans into her ear, pushing his hips forward into her heat. He does not have time to go slow or slow down for her, his instincts were kicking in. Both of them stilled for a moment in equally and impatiently panting messes before the prince bottomed out and withdrew completely from her before slamming his cock back in hard. Astrid’s nails sunk into her lovers back as his pace was brutal. His hips slammed into her and he growled into the side of her neck, biting the junction where her neck and shoulder met. “You’re g-going to tear me in half!!” The brunette held onto the god for dear life, her whimpers loud from pain and pleasure. It was all too much and had Astrid thinking second thoughts, but it was too late for that. There was no going back and no escaping a horny Jotun male needing to breed. 

Loki made a noise somewhere between a whine and a moan as his hips stuttered, spilling his seed inside of her. Astrid moaned at the feeling of his hot seed filling her up, but yelped as she felt him start to jackhammer into her again. He wrapped one of his large hands around her slender neck, staring down at her through animalistic eyes. One of her hands grasped at his wrist lightly in case she needed to signal him when she was at her limit. Astrid’s airflow was cut off, her pussy clenching down on Loki’s cock and milking him on his way to another orgasm. “Mmm my little cock slut.” His voice was rough, heavy with desire. He reached down with his freehand, playing with her clit and laughing as he watched her squirm from overstimulation. Loki squeezed her neck harder and brought her to the edge of sweet bliss as he thrust into her. “Cum. Now.” He ordered, releasing her neck and watching his wife come undone on his cock. There was a sudden glint of fluid that escaped Astrid while she came, Loki had managed to make her squirt. 

His pupils widened at this and he came on the spot, groaning loudly. Again, Astrid whined from the ropes of cum he shot inside of her. The girl panted hard, her limbs quivering and exhaustion not too far behind. Loki pulled his rock hard member out of her, placing her on her hands and knees. He watched as his cum dripped from her reddened cunt, making him lick his lips. “Ah!” Astrid jolted forth slightly from Loki entering her again. His pace remained the same and the sound of their fluids smacking together bounced off the walls. The brunette squeaked as a strong grip pulled her back flush to the prince’s chest, his breath hot on her ear. “Such a good girl taking my cock like this, my sweet girl.” He moaned into her hair, breathing in her scent and growling. While his right arm held her against his lithe torso, his left hand traveled back down to play with her sensitive nub. “Oh my god!! L-Loki I’m still sensitive!!” Astrid cried out, her legs spreading a little wider and shaking. It was not long before he had her coming hard over and over again. He would not relent or back off to let her rest as his hormones raged. 

Loki took her hand, placing it over her womb and grinning “Do you feel it? My cock fucking you? Burying my cum deep inside you?” 

“Y-Yes” she said breathlessly as her husband continued to pound away. 

“Yes what?” He growled

“Yes, my king!!” Astrid’s mouth fell open and her clit throbbed from overwhelming pleasure as another orgasm ripped through her tired body. Her eyes were so heavy and her core already ached from the relentless abuse. Astrid tensed up slightly as she felt his fingers on her clit again and another large amount of his cum spilling inside her. “T-Too much!! Too much!! Loki let me rest! Please!” She whined, gasping as he pulled out of her. Astrid was spent. She could not move at all and sleep begged to claim her. “Please.. Let me-Mmm!” She winced, feeling his cock slide back into her but Loki unmoving. “I-I’m sorry my love.” He panted into her ear, cock twitching inside of her. “I will allow you to rest for a bit until I can no longer take it. I am so sorry.” He buried his face into her long, now slightly dampened hair as he curled his body around hers. Loki would certainly try his best to give Astrid what she had required, but the voice still nagged in the back of his mind.

---------

“Brother?!” Thor called out into the cave and made his way in. 

His cheeks turned a deep shade of pink as he heard panting, moaning, and skin slapping against skin. As he walked into the room, he immediately regretted the decision as he witnessed Loki holding a very limp and exhausted, yet still coherent, Astrid. With a final cry, Loki spent the last of his seed and energy inside of his wife, collapsing on top of her and his Aesir form returning. 

“Hey, buddy what’s going on in here?” Bruce had attempted to poke his head in but Thor quickly pushed him out, his pants embarrassingly tight. “Er, my brother and Lady Astrid have been fornicating. Let us just be thankful that Stark is not here.” He gave the doctor a sheepish smile. Bruce felt his cheeks become a bit warm, “Right, right. Ahem,” He cleared his throat “Well it has been about a week and a half and I know they’re married so I can’t say I blame ‘em.” He coughed again, wanting to get the show on the road. “Oh for the love of- I’ll go get them.” Brunhilde scoffed, rolling her eyes and walking in to retrieve the debilitated couple. Thor gave yet another awkward smile, “That is exactly the issue, Banner. Loki is a Jotun... He... He has these times where he er, he goes into a..” To save Thor anymore trouble, Bruce waved his hands and nodded “I get it.” 

Thankfully, Loki and Astrid remained entwined and unconscious in each others arms the entire ride back. Thor and company had arrived a day or so ago to take care of the portal and find the missing team. The reason why it had taken them a week and a half was due to the Frost Beasts also breeding. 

----------

2 weeks later 

“I-It’s negative.” Astrid smiled sadly to Loki, showing him the test stick. His brow raised and he sighed out of relief. Just to make certain, Loki even had Bruce, Doctor Cho and a few Asgardian healers check to be absolutely sure. 

“Darling, I know-” The god paused for a moment, thinking of how to word what he wanted to say without causing any grief. “I know that you want to and I am beyond touched that you would go that far for me.” He took her arms gently and rubbed them, “Please understand that I am scared for your safety. We do not have enough research on cross breeding or if you will even survive the pregnancy let alone childbirth. Not to mention Thanos is still actively destroying everything in sight” He paled slightly and shook his head of that thought before looking back into Astrid’s eyes and pushing some hair from the frame of her face. “If I may speak freely, I am terrified that I will be no better than Odin or Laufey. I apologize for withholding information from you, but now you know why I... Why I do not want children.” He quickly placed a kiss on her head. “Be safe and have a good day at work. I will see you later.” 

With that, Astrid was left alone and tears sliding down her cheeks. She loved Loki so much and wished he would at least try to understand... But if she had to give up that dream, then she would have to- 

“O-Ow..” Astrid bent over all of a sudden, her hand on her scar. She felt.. Cold. She placed her other hand over her womb and felt the same chill. Quickly, she ran to the bathroom in hers and Loki’s shared apartment and turned the light on. Astrid lifted her shirt and saw that the skin where she held her hands was red as if she had laid in the snow. Swallowing hard, she pulled her shirt down and picked the test stick from the trash. It still read negative... “I-I must be imagining things.” She laughed nervously, swiping her clean hand through her hair and turning to wash her hands. As she turned the light off and made her way to work, the test stick changed from negative, to positive. 

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Man why am I not writing their story out as one big fic? idk. Anyways! I hope you enjoyed this <3 It definitely wasn’t as spicy but eh, I still think it was. 

taglist: @lucywrites02​

[maybeacrowdedmind]

My Top Seven Favorite Musical Moments In Shows That Aren't Musically Driven* and why (in no particular order)**

*By not musically driven I mean shows that do not have plots driven by music (i.e. Glee, Smash, etc. etc.)

**I know I said top seven, but I just mean out of the many I have seen, these seven are the ones I like the most.

Note: None of the images used are mine; they belong to various internet gods.

#1

Legacies Season 1 Episode 11: We're Gonna Need a Spotlight

Kaleb and the Vampire faction singing "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone at the Salvatore School talent show.

While the entirety of the talent show was amazing (Kaylee Bryant's singing voice, Raf's slightly awkward yet still appropriately dramatic poetry), it was Kaleb and the vampires who stole the show. Chris Lee has an incredible voice and his rendition of Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" was stunning, both visually and vocally. I'm also a great lover of epic dance moves, so it was no contest.

#2

Gilmore Girls Season 7 Episode 20: Lorelai? Lorelai?

Lorelai singing "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton originally (Whitney Houston covered) at Stars Hollow karaoke to Luke, despite beginning the song as a dedication to Rory.

Lorelai and Luke may be broken up, but Lorelai's beautiful (and slightly alcohol-fueled) version of Dolly Parton's kind of cheesy yet nonetheless tender "if you love someone, set them free" ballad that was later made into an iconic cover by Whitney Houston was proof that they'd never really be over. Sure, she says she's singing it to Rory, but the moment Luke walks in and they lock eyes, everyone knows. Lauren Graham also has a good voice, and the emotion that comes through is so real, a cheesy karaoke moment becomes a heartfelt cheesy karaoke moment.

#3

Everything's Gonna Be Okay Season 1 Episode 5: West African Giant Black Millipedes

Nicholas doing a drag queen routine to Thelma Houston's disco hit "Don't Leave Me This Way" for Alex and his friends.

Okay, so I love this scene so much, because not only is it done to an incredibly fun song, it also showcases Nicholas doing something so utterly entertaining for Alex and a bunch of people he was nervous about meeting. The fact that just a few days before watching this episode I had watched an episode of Ru Paul's Drag Race where two queens had to lip sync for their lives to the very same song made the scene that much more enjoyable to watch. Nicholas looks amazing, his dance moves are to die for, and his lip syncing game is strong. I also appreciated the fact that when he did this scene, Josh Thomas committed to it. The scene is done in full, not going for a bit and then fading out before we get to see the end. Also, I know that Nicholas isn't technically singing, but it still totally counts.

#4

The Magicians Season 1 Episode 4: The World in the Walls

Quentin starting up a group sing-along to Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" to get Penny's attention in the mental hospital while under Julia and Marina's spell.

I just started watching this show after having read the first two books, and this scene was HILARIOUS! I loved that the show used a random interaction between Quentin and Penny from a previous episode and turned it into something more because usually shows ignore one-off interactions between characters. Also, Quentin singing off-key at the top of his lungs with everyone else joining in and dancing while Penny suddenly hears it in the real world was so funny and a huge break in an otherwise extremely dramatic and rather dark episode.

#5

Skam Season 2 Episode 3: Er det noe du skjuler for oss? (Are You Hiding Someone From Us?)

Noora singing Extreme's "More Than Words" on William's guitar, initially doing so to make fun of him, but quickly turning into a super sweet and romantic moment between the two.

Skam is another show I started watching recently, and Noora quickly became one of my favorite characters. Now, I'll admit, I wasn't too fond of the idea of William and Noora at first, but this scene changed my mind immediately. I'm also very into the whole "enemies to lovers" thing these two have with one another. All of the songs Noora sings in this scene are good, but "More Than Words" is the one where you really begin to see that William's feelings for Noora are not as one-sided as she says they are. Josefine Frida Petterson, who plays Noora, has an absolutely beautiful voice, and the vocalization and soft musicality throughout are stunning. This is one of my favorite scenes in this show to date, and everything about it was perfect.

#6

New Girl Season 1 Episode 1: Pilot

Coach, Schmidt, and Nick singing "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes from Dirty Dancing to Jess, who eventually joins in, after her date stands her up.

Poor Jess had just broken up with her boyfriend, moved into an apartment with three guys who have little to know emotional know-how when it comes to women, and had her first date since her breakup stand her up at a fancy restaurant. The situation was made worse by the fact that she was told to give up her table. When the boys showed up and claimed to be her boyfriends, it was sweet, but the moment they began singing "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life", they showed that they really did care about her. What makes this scene so funny is the fact that Nick (who begins it) and Coach (who joins in after Nick elbows him) don't really know the words, they're both singing different parts in different tunes at different volumes, and then Schmidt (who initially says he's not singing), comes out of nowhere belting the song with the correct words and tune. Then Jess joins in and they have a great time until the restaurant makes them leave. They head back to the apartment, watch Dirty Dancing, and show that any problem can be solved with good friends and 80s movies.

#7

Angel Season 2 Episode 11: Redefinition

Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn sing "We Are The Champions" by Queen at Caritas after Angel fires them.

Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn had just been fired by Angel so he could kill Darla and Drusilla without their interference and the trio was at a loss for what to do next. Angel Investigations was disbanded, and none of them had any clue what to do about it. Their solution? Terribly sing Queen's "We Are The Champions" at Lorne's bar Caritas and drown their sorrows. While an extremely short scene, Cordy, Wes, and Gunn's reaction to being fired was super relatable, and you can never go wrong with Queen. They also have three very different personalities; Cordelia is snarky, has a lot of wit, and tends to be rather superficial, but she has so much heart beneath the surface, Wesley is a stuffy English professor type, and being a former Watcher means he couldn't be hip and cool if he tried, and Gunn is a hardened vampire hunter with a strong resolution and loyal to the core, who was still relatively new to the group when Angel gave them the boot. As such, seeing them all be together with arms around shoulders singing their hearts out was immensely fun to see.

Honorable Mentions:

Legacies: Alaric singing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" terribly off-key before Kaleb and Cleo swooped in and saved the day with their improvised song.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Giles Singing "Free Bird" while playing his guitar in his home.

How I Met Your Mother: Lily and Marshall singing "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" at karaoke, effectively making up after Marshall accepts a corporate job rather than one that fits his morals.

[justgottafinishthischapter]

Deciding on a POV

There are many ways to tell a story, and each one comes with a benefit or a downside. Still, I figured it’s worth going over the different ways each can be effective.

First Person

Reliable Narrator: A story with a reliable First Person narrator is one of the most common narrative styles. What this means is that the reader can trust what the narrator is telling them is the truth as it actually happened. Think Percy Jackson in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series.The reliable narrator is far more common than the unreliable variety. The benefit of this narrative style is that it mirrors how we tell stories verbally. If something happened to me, and I tell my friend what happened, I am going to use First Person narration to explain the events that transpired. Thus, this can feel like the most organic option. It also allows for total access to the POV character’s thoughts, allowing readers to see how they reached a conclusion, or why they’re acting a certain way. However, this can come with the problem of not being able to get inside the head of anyone except for the narrator. Now, while it’s standard for the First Person narrator to be the main character, it isn’t always the case. If the narrator is some sort of omniscient, bystander, or divine presence, whether they interact with the characters or not, it technically falls under First Person if they voice their opinion using I statements. The figure of Death in The Book Thief is a good example of this, as Death uses I and me in the narrative of the story. Because the story is set in Germany during World War II, the narrator of Death sees the protagonist, Liesel, frequently, and thus we’re able to get a narrator who is observing a protagonist from outside of her immediate story.

Unreliable Narrator: An Unreliable narrator is going to be the exact opposite. They tell the story, but take their story with a grain of salt. Whether their perception of reality is distorted, they’re using metaphors and symbolic imagery to tell the story, or they’re telling the story from a very narrow viewpoint, the unreliable narrator can be a good choice to get the reader to engage with the story and think critically about the work. Rugrats is a good example of this type of storytelling, as the main characters are babies, and therefore often mistake things for something else, making them unreliable narrators. This type works well if you want to tell a more abstract story. For instance, an entire story is about a boy chasing after a red balloon, but that red balloon itself represents accepting his mother’s death. Suddenly everything experienced becomes unreliable, leaving the reader wondering if the foes he defeated or the desert he crossed was literal, and he went on an actual journey to come to terms with his mother’s death, or was everything figurative, and the journey was more symbolic and allegorical? An unreliable narrator can play with these questions, blur the lines between reality and fiction, and leave their readers asking questions.

Third Person

Omniscient: Lemony Snicket is a perfect example of a great omniscient narrator. Mr. Snicket knows everything about every character, knows what’s going to happen before it happens, and comments on everything. Lemony Snicket himself is not a character in the story. Rather he recounts the story much like the First Person style, but from an outside perspective. Instead of being part of the story, Lemony Snicket is telling us about the Baudelaire children through the lens of the all-knowing and opinionated narrator. It’s not entirely uncommon for this type of narrator to be some supernatural force, a wise old sage, or someone who lived through an experience recounting the tale many years later. In fact it could be rather fun to play with this last one, having the story almost be told like a myth or legend, but having the narrator constantly side track to discuss how historians know and gathered the information for this story, only to reveal the narrator isn’t some omniscient being, but just a docent in a museum giving a tour and explaining an old myth to the patrons.

Limited: With a Limited POV, the reader learns things as the narrator does. Even though the narrator is the one telling the story, their information is only up to date with whatever is currently happening on the page. This and First Person are the two POV types most likely to appear in a mystery novel, or any novel where a mystery or unanswered questions drives the plot. Harry Potter is a series written in Limited Third Person. The story follows Harry, and the reader only learns information as Harry does. And every year, Harry is faced with the recurring mystery element of figuring out what’s going on, and stopping whatever their plan was. However, because the narrator only knows what the protagonist knows, this can allow you to play around with giving the narrator a personality, and having them comment or react to things as they happen, perhaps even mirroring the way you hope the readers are responding.

Objective: Think of Objective Point of View as watching a tv show. Anyone who’s into shipping has to read into objective romantic coding. Two characters held eye contact for five seconds? You the reader have to interpret that as you will. Objective is strangely both the most human and the most robotic point of view. At its most human, Objective treats the narration like a normal person. They can’t read the thoughts of other characters, they don’t know more than the hero or reader, and you’re effectively just a bystander in the crowd watching things happen with no context clues about what’s happening inside a character’s head. On the opposite end, it can also be the most robotic because it is the most lacking in human connection, as it leaves the reader detached from the characters themselves. However, a liberating or perhaps crippling aspect of this POV style is that it frees the author of show don’t tell because this type of POV can’t enter anyone’s minds or go on a rant about a character’s feelings about someone else. You just have to take what you get at face value and all information has to be conveyed through your characters and story, whether directly through dialogue, or subtly through background details.

Switching POVs

Most stories tend to stick with a single narrator. Stories can be complicated when one person is giving an opinion, but when multiple people are talking, it can be hard to find a voice and plot for each of them. And if you’re planning on writing a series, you may run into the problem of some characters having meatier plots than others. It’s for this reason that when it comes to watching Game of Thrones, I always groan internally whenver the story cuts back to Bran or Jon at the Wall. It’s a scene or two of people standing around being cold or talking about being cold and something something three-eyed raven and then we finally get back to the part I’m more interested in: the political games of manipulation and intrigue. But that’s also a strength of changing POVs. With something like Game of Thrones, you might not necessarily like every storyline happening, but you’re more likely to enjoy one. In a sense, Game of Thrones is like 11 novels stitched together, and because each is so different, you’re more likely to find something in the series that speaks to you. Conversely, when there’s multiple POVs experiencing the same thing, such as with the Heroes of Olympus series, having shifting POVs can be a good way of exploring each character. In The Lost Hero, Piper knows more about the giant waiting to fight them than either Jason or Leo, and because we have shifting POVs, we the reader get access to this otherwise Limited Third Person information from the character who already knows it, thus building dramatic tension of when the others will find out. Another benefit to this is giving unique encounters to the characters. Percy has already met Aphrodite in the past, but through Piper, Aphrodite’s daughter, we’re able to see a different side of this goddess, the goddess as a mother to someone else. This could also manifest in differing opinions of the same things. This is also part of why it works so well in Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones is a civil war story with multiple sides all vying for the same end goal. Because there are so many sides and players in the game, having so many different points of view is valueable to the story being told. If Eddard Stark was the sole protagonist, the only thing that we would know is whatever he knows. Everything Danny is doing across the narrow sea would need to be told to Ned for it to matter. And the same with Jon at the Wall. And if Jon or Danny was the sole narrator, the reader would miss out on everything happening in King’s Landing because neither Danny nor Jon are connected to that part of the plot. An entire element to the story is lost when a major POV character is dropped, which goes to show how strong George RR Martin’s writing really is. Something I like doing with multiple POVs is describing the same character in two different ways from two characters who would see them in a drastically different way. One description might paint a character as dark, alluring, and attractive, while another person might describe them as a rat-faced shifty-eyed snake that stinks of booze and dead fish. It’s the same character, but two different people see that character in entirely different ways. However, this also comes with a major backlash. It can be an absolute nightmare juggling not only so many plots, but trying to make them fit together nicely. You’ll notice this a lot with shows that emphasize drama and interconnecting storylines. They’ll be really strong in their earlier seasons, then peter out once they’ve hit the creative brick wall. It happened to Once Upon a Time and to a lesser extent, Glee. Both shows had tightly knit and compelling drama in season 1, but by season 4, both shows felt like they were just going through the motions and had lost the edge that made them interesting. Even with something as well-written as Game of Thrones, it’s still possible to have someone’s story be weaker than everyone else’s. Arya Stark for instance spent the first couple of seasons focused on learning to sword fighting, then once the Hound died, she went to Braavos, but it always kind of felt more like a detour than really what Arya’s story was supposed to be about. She was a little girl out for vengeance, she went to Braavos for a season or two, didn’t really learn much, and then she came back to Westeros and pretty much went right back to exactly who she was before going to Braavos. Now granted, I’m going by the TV show, but it always felt to me at least that Arya’s vacation in Braavos was just kind of George not knowing what to do with her as he built up to the big climactic battle. So if you’re going to use shifting POVs, it’s important to weigh the pros and the cons carefully.

[hey-hamlet]

Quarentine Recs

What with everyone munching through media like my dog munching on anything that could be considered edible, I thought I’d throw some general recomendations into the ring! Everything here is hopefully something you can start right away without needing to leave your house, if you’re ok with some quasi-legal pirating.

To watch: 

Ore Monogatari / My Love Story Romance / Comedy One Season Fluff to the max, Gouda Takeo is a massive first year highschool student of exeptional size and strength. While hes popular with the boys, most girls think he’s strange. When he saves Yamoto Rinko from a creep on the train its love at first sight, but she’s convinced she’d into his hot friend. Comdey follows.

Somali to Mori no Kamisama / Somali and the Forest Spirit Drama / Fantasy / Good Dad Golem  12 Epsiode Season In a world where humans have been hunted right to the edge of extinction, one golem and his human charge journey in search of the remaining few to reuninte Somali with her kind. Golems live very long lives, but finite ones, and Somali’s guardian is reaching the end of his. I’m two episodes away from finishing it but its really sweet, great dad content featuring multiple guest dads and their children. Somali is so sweet she’ll give you a toothache

Isekai Shokudou / Restaurant to Another World Slice of Life / Fantasy / Is food a genre? Because food Every Saturday this restaurant closes it’s doors to the public and recives visitors from another world. There isn’t much plot here but it will make you very hungry and strangely greatful for processed flour, canola oil and freezers. I’m pretty sure the chef is voiced by Aizawa’s Japanese VA and its amazing.

Gravity Falls Mystery / Drama / Comedy Two Seasons A Classic - A set of twins, Dipper and Mabel Pines wind up spending their summer holiday with their sketchy grat uncle Stan. But, as they soon find out, the town is not what it seems.

Features loads of action, fun mystery and loads of twists set up so well you’ll kick yourself! Good family relationships with rounded characters and fun villains. This series has a special place in my heart as something I grew up watching when I was twelve, and it finished in my second last year of highschool, its just a great story. The comedy is really only big in the first season and dies down fast when things get serious. Be prepared to hate a tiny 10-ish year old boy.

Steven Universe / Steven Universe Future  Comedy / Drama / Slow Burn / Action Six Seasons Considering it just finished, now is a great time to start. Steven Universe is a bubbly young boy who lives with the Crystal Gems, a strange set of gem creatures who knew his mother. Steven is half gem himself and the show features him growing up and helping the people around him grow as well. 

The show is slow and starts a little rough but its very sweet and ernest. Steven Universe Future is far darker than the original show (but, a minor spoiler, does have a happy ending) so be careful!

Over the Garden Wall Mystery / Drama / Supernatural 10 Episode Miniseries  Two half brothers, Wirt and Greg, find themselves in a part of the forest they don’t recognise with no clue how they got there. The deeper they go, the stranger it gets and the less certain their escape may be. And whats all this talk of a beast? 

This show has Wirt learning how to be a good big brother along with some delightful autumnal scenery and American gothic fantasy elements. I recomend you sit down with some tea and baked goods and watch it like a movie.

To play: 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Nintendo Switch Brand new and very popular, you play a human on an island with delightful animal neighbours. Make friends, customise your island and live your life to the fullest! Features local and online mutliplayer with up to 8 people. Also feel free to play it with me because its taking over my life!

Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles PC / Play Station 4 / Nintendo Switch / X Box One A sweet open world indie adventure and exploration game with farming and fantasy elements. You find yourself shipwrecked on a strange island with only your magic compass that I can’t remember the name of to guide you. This game is mostly about expolaration and discovery and the enviroment is pretty enough that it works well.

Niche PC A boardgame like turnbased strategy that has you controlling a small group of creatures and tinkering with their genetics and breeding to try and survive the harsh world around you. Cute creatures, fun game.

Temtem PC A pokemon-like MMO that sees you capturing creatures call Temtem to fight for you. The game is still in early access so keep that in mind, but it’s pretty fun and the creatures are very well designed. 

Guild Wars 2 PC FREE TO PLAY VERSION AVALIBLE The only MMORPG I’ve ever played but boy it’s spoilt me. A one time purchase lets you experience the world of Tyria where you can play as one of 5 races or one of 9 classes. The personal story is great (unless you’re me and have played the sylvari stories so many times you can quote half of the lines) and the post game story gets real fast. Asside from that, its a really pretty game thats super fun with one of the nicer communities I’ve ever experienced. Co-operation is encouraged and the dynamic event system will have you playing with puppies one minute and murdering a giant undead behemoth the next. I have sunk so many hours in this game.

[rekkingcrew]

Campaign Debrief

So for nearly 2 years I ran an Edge of the Empire campaign with 3-4 players, mostly weekly. These last couple of months we’ve been using discord, which has gone great. I want to get down some of my thoughts about what worked and what didn’t. 

This is gonna be a big wall of text and all but two bits are gonna be under the cut: system and play style. 

Fantasy Flight Star Wars game system is legit my favorite system EVER. (Not to dick wave or anything, but that’s including D&Ds 2-5, Gurps, White Wolf, Blades in the Dark, Dungeon World, Deadlands, and a few miscellaneous other short form ones). The system of advantages and disadvantages, and especially triumphs and despairs rather than just straight successes and failures really opens up complex narrative opportunities and gives a chance for wild story beats that just would not have happened otherwise. The fights go fast but feel meaty and there’s a lot of room to pitch advantages to your friends so you’re not just waiting your turn. Character creation is granular enough that your choices always feel meaningful, and points can be spent anywhere, so you can really specialize and shape your character. 

We played very collaboratively and it made things AMAZING. Part of this is that we were all good friends and have played together for a while now. Our taste in what kind of story we want is similar- nuggets of drama scattered throughout, but mostly cutting up. A lot of the best NPCs and story suggestions came from my players rather than from me- our season one boss villain, Imperial spymaster “Uncle” Karston Severax, a pantoran ex-special forces black operative whose current public face was a Mr. Rogers-esque children’s TV presenter, for example, was someone my players started out and all of us collective “yes and” added to around the table, and he was JUST THE BEST. These kind of exchanges also gave us moments like the time our tech tried to blackmail the head of a security corporation with the fact that he was having an affair and he’d written just LOADS of incredibly cringey fanfiction; but the roll was such that the attempt ended with him finally getting the push he needed to quit a job he hated, get out of a marriage that just wasn’t working, and follow his dream of self-publishing. He even dedicated his first book to our slicer. Because it wasn’t a DM vs Players atmosphere, because we were all on the same page, I could ask my players “hey, what do you want for your triumph?” and “all right, so who is the NPC you know?” as well as just “that’s enough to finish this guy, what does this look like?” This campaign was 1000% better for sharing that world building load, and the players were all, I think, more invested. 

more below the cut. 

What Worked

One of the most useful things I ever did was start giving players morality pet NPCs that were their special hench people, and I’m embarrassed that I waited so long to assign one to our droid. 

The zero session was absolutely invaluable in setting the tone of the game and the relationship between characters, and I will bang this drum until I’m fucking blue in the face. Don’t meet in the first session. Sit the players down and say “how do you know each other, why do you stay together, what are some of your past adventures?” It’s just so much better. 

Cameos and ties to our other games, in what we’ve been calling “The Drax Kreiger Expanded Universe” have continued to be welcome pretty much every time. People were delighted to have a moment or two to slip back into old characters. 

I was able to identify what each player wanted and give them that. Brick’s player wanted quiet scenes with big character emotion, like his one on one pit fight the character didn’t want to have, or the letter from his mother telling him how proud she was of him, or the time in training where he tapped into how angry he really was and it spooked the character and everyone on the ship. Nyla’s player wanted a big epic, but also difficult space journey of good vs. evil, and so Nyla got a padawan whose parents she had possibly killed when she fought for the empire, she dug up the grave of her clone teacher’s order 66′d jedi for the crystal for her lightsaber, she got to cleanse a temple that was trapped in a fruitless struggle between light and dark, and a climactic lightsaber battle that was about possibly sacrificing herself for the good of others. TK’s player was deep into star wars trivia and space stuff, so he practically squealed when Verpine shatter weapons showed up, and he seemed to get a kick out of the Evocii, and also that time they put on wing suits and dove the atmosphere of a gas giant. It’s worth noting nobody was actually all that interested in the thing that turns my gears: complex mysteries with a lot of clues and investigation, and once I let that shit drop, things ran a lot smoother. 

Some of our best stuff was non-combat challenges, like climbing the cliffs of Naboo or navigating the deep undercity of Nar Shadaa. The guys reliably failed anything social, but environmental challenges were always appreciated. 

I always tried to make sure there was more than one way to do things. For any given mission, especially early on, I’d try to brainstorm at least three ways something could be accomplished. 

My party split up a LOT, but we found a sort of cinematic cutting back and forth to be really useful. When there was a big crit, or a goal accomplished, or something like that, we’d jump to the other party even if the fight wasn’t over. Sometimes that was only just, like, Brick and the guys doing drunk karaoke and saying to no one in particular “MAN, I hope Nyla’s having as fun a time as we are!” but it kept everyone involved and it wasn’t just people waiting their turn for 20 minutes at a time. Also people chimed in with fun advantages and disadvantages. 

I had everybody write backstories and whenever I could, I incorporated in things from what they’d written. Our second season was basically TK tracking down the guy who’d made him, a Thackwash alien with the same sort of shifting personalities he had. TK’s player hadn’t written much about the guy except that he’d been a salvage mechanic who constructed TK for protection when he got in trouble with the local mafia. Giving that guy complementary personalities for each of TK’s really helped stick the landing on that one, and the player really enjoyed having actually completed his character’s goal. 

It’s worth saying, we took some time at several points during the campaign, either individually or as a group, to talk about what we liked and didn’t, what we wanted more of, where we wanted things to go, possible directions for characters, mechanical issues, how to have a better game, group dynamics, all sorts of stuff. In a way it’s like sex: people have this fucked up expectation that you’ll just be good at it without communicating, and man, fuck that. Talking to my players was ALWAYS worthwhile.

I was always adamant, because it was a thing that bugged me when I was a player, that if a character had spent the points to be good at something, they got to be good at it. That made some things difficult, but I think it was the right decision. It took me a while to tailor fights right, and honestly a lot of times, splitting up the party was the best way to balance fights, but I never said to anyone hey that thing you spent all those points on, could you please not do that?

My players were excellent about encouraging each other to have serious dramatic moments. TK was completely ready to die in a fight, and when he lost a significant chunk of his programming, the way he chose to play it was really heartbreaking. Everyone came inside and had tea with Brick’s mom. No one stepped on anyone else’s fun when it was time to be serious, and everybody was great about cheering each other on, whether they were being funny or being dead serious. 

I FUCKING FINISHED A CAMPAIGN. IT HAD AN END. So much stuff petered out over the years, I was adamant I wasn’t going to do that. 

What Didn’t Work

Boy, my players had pretty much all the trouble trying to remember to use “they/them” pronouns for NPCs with neutral or alien genders. 

No one is interested in falling damage. Sigh. 

I did not keep good track of money or ship fuel or anything. The campaign didn’t end up relying on it too heavily (I was honestly expecting a much more Cowboy Bebop setup than where we drifted), but that was an area I kind of fell down. 

We never really got obligation working correctly and in the end we just ended up abandoning it. We kept doing the force morality because the lone force player was very into it and it was a huge part of that character’s journey, but for the rest having people show up to collect on obligation was sometimes not possible in the story- or if it was possible it was pretty cumbersome. Campaign did obligation by arc, and I think that’s a pretty useful way to do it- roll at the end of the arc for what’s coming next. 

Early on, I made way too many assumptions about what was an adventure hook for my players and what was an annoyance. Honestly, bits of this lasted pretty late. At one point I gave my players a spy for the larger rebellion they could totally talk to- he was even working with their resident bothan spy- but they looked at the senatorial assassination he was doing and literally said at the table “I think it’s best if we just walk away from all this.” And so they did. Which was frustrating, but, you know, it is what it is. They also never much cared about the hutt gang war. 

I let a lot of things drop that I would have liked to bring back before the end, but in all honesty, I think we were all running a bit out of steam. I would have liked to put in Brick’s old mentor, or follow up with the imperial governor that was a falleen in a human skin suit, or see more of the bounty hunter’s guild, or have a nice end thing with our bothan spy, or any of that. But I do think it was time to end it. And we followed the threads people liked. 

I had way too many NPCS.

What sort of worked

I had like 200 npcs and they were not all bangers. In particular, I let the party design their own ship, which I wish had played a bigger role (though it did really set the tone), and I let them design 2 npc crew who would fill in any party roles they didn’t want to play and guard the ship so they could go on adventures without worrying about it. The devaronian scoundrel was with the party to the end though I never really got him to be more than a joke, but the bothan spy kind of fell off, and while she made some appearances, she didn’t really have as big an impact as I would have hoped. She kind of got replaced by Nyla’s padawan, a hench mon calamari called Nezrene, who was a better fit with the party. But, you know, players will do what they like.

Factions. In the first bit of the campaign, my factions were a fucking life saver, because I could design scenarios with a sort of “what is each faction doing/ which faction hurts from this, which benefits?” By the second season we’d kind of abandoned them to go to the core, and by the third my group was solidly rebel, so the hutts and bounty hunters fell a lot by the wayside. I still think having a couple of broad poles of power, and having the players know them and their leaders, is a good call. But they do seem to kind of organically pare down on their own, and it’s easy to get caught up too much in them. Useful sorta?

There was definitely a point where my players just were not challenged by conventional challenges. We ended up doing most of the later fights that involved a lot of minions in montage. I’d have them roll their fight skills unopposed, just to see if they got any interesting advantage/triumph set ups. I still had boss fights that were mostly challenging, but there just was no point in throwing storm troopers or low level gangsters at them. Not when they have soak 8 and autofire, and that one talent that lets you kill every minion in a combat. Designings fight got a bit tricky, and in those big high level combats, despairs and triumphs come up a lot more and really sway the fight, which I like, but also it’s very hard to plan for. 

Mass combat was tricky. I did a lot of it toward the end because my players were generals in a rebellion. I always had them do the rolls and some of the narration, but that wasn’t always enough to make them feel like things weren’t very arbitrary. 

I personally love the rule that if you roll a despair shooting into an engaged combat you shoot your friend. Nyla, who got shot twice this way, does not. 

We started the game with a tech character who dropped out. Toward the end, we picked up another tech character whose player couldn’t do their regular stuff because of covid lock down. Neither of these characters could fight at all, and both were very differently oriented than the rest of the party, and that was tricky to manage. Additionally, the dude coming in at the end had like a year and a half of in jokes he did not get and there were 200 goddamn npcs. I tried to give him the lowdown on what he might have heard about the party, but it was a combination of too much information and not that much player interest. He did get to break a star destroyer though, and I think he liked that. 

I offered players XP to write backstory stuff, and later goodbye notes others could find if they kicked it. Not all of them did. In the end it made a negligible difference, and I still think offering the bounties on this is basically a good idea. 

What I would do different next time.

Three ring binder that opens and closes so I could move fucking NPC stats around. I filled two goddamn school notebooks with notes for this campaign and there were so many goddamn times I was like “I KNOW I wrote this down, but where?!”

Players felt a bit aimless when they didn’t have a specific villain. I’d planted a few in, but they took finding, or they were too easy to avoid. Next time I would have a few more people who were actively on my player’s tails. 

I would keep better campaign notes and/or ask one of the players to do so. I used to do recaps for the games when I played Rek. There’s stuff I KNOW I’ve forgotten, and more I’ll forget as time goes on, which is a shame. It’s a weird, ephemeral medium, but possibly I’m just spoiled by living in an age of easy reproduction and enormous storage where data is concerned. 

Better book keeping in general, really. 

When I did a mystery short, I wrote up a list of all the clues people could find but not where specifically they were, so that I could just jam them anywhere they seemed like they’d make sense whenever a roll called for a player to find something. I think I’d try to do that with player’s personal stories so they could be woven in a little better. I did a lot of flying by the seat of my pants. 

All in all, I’m pretty happy with how it went, and I’m ready to get back to playing for a bit. I loved DMing, and I more or less DMed the game I would have liked to play, but man, doing this all the time, or being the only person who does it? After a while, that’d be a lot, and I’m looking forward to the break. 

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

ASoUE REWRITE - Season 1; The Miserable Mill - Part i.i

⇢ Klaus x Reader⇠

*not my gif*

    "Get a job, hitchhikers!" The man called, pulling his truck away.

    The Baudelaire children had managed to escape the clutches of Count Olaf once again. While Mr. Poe, the man responsible for putting them in dangerous situations on multiple occasions was distracted with Count Olaf, the children noticed a pickup truck that bore the name LUCKY SMELLS LUMBERMILL. The three Baudelaires were able to slip away and climb into the truck bed unnoticed and were carried off into the woods as stowaways. But of course, eventually, the driver had spotted Violet and proceeded to kick the children out, leaving them to wander the woods.   

After what felt like hours, the children found themselves at the edge of a familiar-looking scene. It was the grey and ashy remains of what was once a thriving town.

    "It looks like there was a fire. Everything's gone." Klaus said somberly as him and his sisters trudged through the ashy remains of the town.

    Ahead of them, a long stretching fence with the words LUCKY SMELLS was printed in large letters across. Behind it stood the towering structure of an old factory building.

    "Not everything." Violet countered, looking at the approaching lumber mill

    "Lucky Smells Lumbermill," Klaus said.

    "Maybe this is where all the clues lead us. The secret safe and the strange photographs at Aunt Josephine's." Suggested Violet.

    "The secret message and the statue lady at Uncle Monty's" Said Klaus, referring to the mysterious woman who was disguised in the middle of Montgomery Montgomery's maze who had helped them in their desperate time of need.

    "Eebee," Sunny said, which meant something like "Count Olaf. He's just strange."

    Violet looked at her sister and gave a look saying she agreed. Her lips pressed into a firm line.

    "The only thing standing between us and all our parents' secrets..." Violet trailed off, as the three came to a stop in front of the enormous wooden wall.

    "is an enormous wooden wall." Klaus finished. "What if we don't like what we find? Knowing can be a terrible thing."

    "But not knowing, isn't that worse?" His older sister countered.

    Klaus sighed, looking back at the enormous wall, knowing his sister was right. Meanwhile, Violet, who had been carrying the youngest Baudelaire sibling, turned to rest her baby sister on a nearby wheelbarrow where she could rest comfortably as she tied her hair up in a ribbon.

    Anyone who truly knew Violet Baudelaire knew that whenever she tied her hair back in her ribbon, it meant her brain was hard at work thinking of an invention. Violet was one of the greatest inventors of her time and she is well known for her ability to create a high functioning device out of nothing but the scraps around her. A skill that has proved more than helpful when it came to escaping Count Olaf and has gotten her and her siblings out of his clutches on more than one occasion. The ribbon was to keep the hair out of her eyes, and it never failed to help her think.

    She tied back her hair as she stared at the wall before her, all ready planning her next possible invention.

    "I bet I could invent a catapult to get us over."

    Meanwhile, Klaus was recalling all his acquired knowledge on walls and their infrastructure from his love of reading and his years of research. Another skill that has proved helpful to the children when surviving in a life on the run from Count Olaf.

    "I read about walls. The Wall of Jericho, the Great Wall of China." Klaus recalled.

    "All I need is a lever, a counterweight, and a very large spoon." Violet finished, as she tied the knot on her ribbon.

    "Pink Floyd's The Wall. Although mother wouldn't let me watch that one," Klaus chuckled weakly at the memory of his dearly departed mother.

    The siblings were taken aback to hear the creaking of the doors to the wooden wall and turned to find their clever baby sister at the gate.

    "Sunny," Violet said in surprise.

    The babbling toddler had managed to push open the gate with no trouble and sat on the ground gazing up at her older siblings.

    Violet gave a half-smirk and walked forward, picking her baby sister up from the dirty ground and piles of wood chips and wood dust. She walked back to stand next to her brother once more.

    Klaus frowned, and gestured to a sign in big red letters that read,

    "WARNING: Trespassers Will Be Put To Work"

    "Does this make us trespassers?" Klaus wondered.

    "We're children," Violet said.

    "Those aren't mutually exclusive." Klaus frowned.

    "If we get caught, we'll just say we were on a school trip. Come on." Violet eased, walking forward, although she wasn't feeling as confident as she appeared.

    Klaus followed in his sister's footsteps reluctantly, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach.

    They walked forward towards the front doors of the lumbermill and Klaus asked the obvious question that was on all of their minds.

    "What exactly are we looking for?"

     "It's like father said about fine art. We'll know it when we see it." She suggested. "I think we're in the right place."

    However, the three siblings stopped dead in their tracks, fear creeping in fast as they all saw the same terrifying building that stood tall in the lumber yard.

    You see, ever since the Baudelaire's were sent to live with the wretched villain Count Olaf, there was a symbol that haunted the children almost as much as the man himself. A symbol that followed Count Olaf and the children everywhere they went. This symbol was of an eye.

    A symbol that took form in a building.

    There before them stood a menacing building shaped like a giant eye. And not just any eye, but the exact same eye that was tattooed on a very villainous man.

    "I think we're in the right place," Violet said, stopping at the sight of the odd building.

    "Or the very, very wrong place," Klaus said in despair.

    "It could just be a coincidence," Violet offered, trying to ease her siblings' mind as well as her own.

    The woman in white who was pacing in front of the window in the eye-shaped building did not go unnoticed by the Baudelaires.

    "Maybe we should leave," Klaus said.

    Klaus had not realized how on edge he had been until he yelped in fright when he felt a hand tap on his shoulder, startling his sisters in the process.

    The three children whipped around to face an equally startled man who was not expecting the whole ordeal.

    The man sighed. "Forgive me. I thought you might be trespassers. But now I see you're just children."

    Klaus frowned once more. "They're not mutually-"

    Violet jumped in before her brother could accidentally give them away. "We're on a school trip."

    Klaus nodded. "Right, because we're schoolchildren." Klaus agreed less than convincingly.

    "Well, this lumbermill is hardly a safe place for children, yet I suppose that hasn't proved a problem yet. Nevertheless, I should know, I run it."

    The two oldest Baudelaire's shared an equally confused look before looking back at the man.

    "Pardon?" Violet asked.

    The man seemed to distract to noticed because he continued. "I'm Charles."

    The two Baudelaire's seemed to remember the photograph at the same time and they both eagerly scrambled to pull it out, and Violet handed it to Charles.

    "Do you recognize any of these people?"

    Charles took the photograph and gave it a look. The children noticed his eyes widened in shock but he quickly tried to cover it up. All he did was force a smile, and handed the children the photograph.

    "I think you better come see my partner," Charles said and began leading the children across the lumber yard, hiding his uneasy frown.

    Violet did not skip the opportunity to ask questions. "Do you know what happened to the town over there?"

    "Well, it's a sad story. Paltryville used to be booming," Charles explained as he led the three children to the office building. "We had a world food market, two hot yoga studios, and there was even talk of a water park. The name Paltryville was a misnomer. And then one day, the whole town burned down in a terrible fire."

    The three children shared uneasy looks at the mention of yet another devastating fire, like the symbol of the eye, fire was another thing that seemed to haunt to the children and was a key factor in their seemingly endless misfortune.

    "Luckily," Charles continued. "the lumbermill survived... and the eye-shaped building, which actually belongs to... oh, look, here we are."

    The children were disappointed to be cut short of answers yet again and sighed.

    Charles stepped forward and opened the door for the three children and the Baudelaire's stepped inside, hearts racing.

    Charles led them down the long hallway and when he reached two double doors.

    "Uh, children, I'd like you to meet..." he pulled back the sliding doors revealing a man surrounded in a cloud of cigar smoke.

    The man turned around, exhaling a large amount of smoke. "Call me Sir, everybody does 'cause I tell 'em to. I'm the boss. They have to do what I say, even my partner here."

    Charles coughed at the overwhelming amount of smoke.

    "Doesn't 'partner' mean 'equal'?" Klaus asked, confused by the situation.

    The two men shared a look and finally, Sir spoke for the two of them. "I do all the work. He irons my clothes." He said gruffly, taking another puff of the cigar.

    Charles lightly scoffed. "I also cook your omelets." He then gestured to the children. "I found them wandering unsupervised, poor dears."

    "Well, you know what we do with trespassers, don't you, Charles?" Said Sir.

    "But they're only children." Charles plead. "I thought we could take them in. Give them a loving, normative home."

    "Nonsense. I believe you treat children like grown-ups. Put 'em to work in the mill. It'll teach them responsibility. It'll teach them the value of hard work. And it'll teach 'em how to make flat wooden boards out of trees."

    "But, Sir-" Argued Charles, not before he was soon cut short by his partner once more.

     "Don't argue with me. We're partners. We've done it already, and there hasn't been a problem."

    Once again, Klaus seemed taken aback by the indication that another child was working here was continuing to be slipped into the conversation without any explanation. He was a bit upset that his sisters hadn't seemed to have noticed.

    "If we work in the mill, do we get to stay here?"

    "'Get to?'" Klaus didn't know what was more upsetting about this whole ordeal; the obvious breach of child labor laws or his sister's eagerness to stay and participate.

    "Bleyb" Sunny cooed, which meant "Stay here?"

    Sir smirked and gestured to Violet. "This one gets it. In this economy, children are lucky to have a job at all. What's your name, young lady?"

    "Violet... Baudelaire."

    Sir seemed shocked at the news.

    "A Baudelaire." He murmured in disbelief.

    "Wait, do you... do you know that name?" Klaus asked eagerly.

    Sir's voice lowered and his tone grew grim and serious.

    "Of course I do. Every man, woman, and child in Paltryville knows the name Baudelaire."

    "Why? Did you know our parents?" Violet asked.

    Klaus immediately stepped forward and showed the man the photograph. "Who are the other people in this photograph?"

    "Ack" Sunny said, which roughly translated to "What's with the eye-shaped building?"

    "I don't understand what 'ack' means, but if you want to know about your parents, they-" before he could finish, Sir erupted into a coughing fit caused him to gag.

    Charles started to pat his back. "Sir."

    "Every time we are about to get some answers. Seriously?" He turned to his sisters and quickly vented.

    Sir cleared his throat. "It's these cigars. I hate the things, but I can't quit smoking 'em. I'm the boss. Now, where was I? Oh, yeah. There's a reason this town will never forget your parents. They're the ones that burned it down."

    The three children gasped in disbelief.

    "Our parents did what?" Klaus asked, not wanting to believe what he just heard.

    "I'm an important man. Don't make me repeat myself. They burned down the town! They're, um... not anywhere nearby, are they?"

    And just like that, it felt like another punch to the gut for the children.

    "They died... in a fire," Violet answered, in a monotone voiced, knowing if she showed any sliver of emotion she would collapse into tears.

    "Good." Sir said, nodding. "What goes around comes around. It's a terrible thing, startin' a fire."

    Sir had walked over to his fireplace and threw another log onto the dwindling flames as he spoke, the Baudelaire children were listening, unable to believe such harsh and vile words spoken about their late parents.

    "Why are you still standing there? You got work to do in the morning." Sir barked.

    The children felt as if their feet were glued to the floor, their limbs were frozen. They felt numb and were still processing the terrible information they had just received. How could they possibly find the courage to get to work now?

•••

    That night in the lumbermill workers' dorm, the Baudelaires pondered what they'd heard, and the weight of it felt like it had aged them a hundred years. Though, of course, it hadn't.

    "Did you hear about the new recruits?" The woman at the nearby table asked as she tinkered with a small device.

     If you are gossiping about someone and you don't have anything nice to say that that can be considered a very rude thing to do, but to do so when the person in question is well within earshot makes it a truly awful thing to do. Much like Norma Rae, Ceasar and Jimmy were doing, as they spoke illy of the Baudelaire's when they were only a few feet away.

    "They're Baudelaires." Sneered Norma Rae.

    "I hear their folks were arsonists." Mumbled Jimmy, his eyes never leaving his book.

    "I hear they checked out library books and never returned them." Grumbled Ceasar, in between bites of food.

    "I hear they drank blood from the skulls of chupacabras." Said Norma Rae.

    "You mean they drank from baby's skulls like chupacabras."

    "I know what I heard."

    "Now, that's enough you three! You're just making stuff up at this point." Came a young voice, much to the Baudelaire's surprise.

     The three children looked up in shock to see a young girl, who looked to be about a year or two younger than Violet, come walking up to the table, a small dinner tray in hand. She was dressed in a uniform identical to other lumber workers and was sprinkled with sawdust.

     The three were at a loss for words as the stern look directed at the other three lumber workers softened when she turned to look at the Baudelaires. She smiled warmly.

    "I apologize for the unwelcoming environment. I know how hard it is to lose your family in such a terrible manner. Is this seat taken?" She asked hopefully.

    The three Baudelaires looked at one another and then back to the friendly stranger and the eldest sibling smiled politely, gesturing to the open seat across the table. "Not at all."

    "Thank you," the girl smiled and took a seat.

    "Thank you. For saying those things, I mean." Klaus stuttered.

    The girl smiled at him and he smiled back. She sat up straight and looked at the three.

    "Where are my manners? I'm Y/N, Y/N L/N." Y/N held out her hand and shook each hand. First Klaus, then Violet then little baby Sunny.

    "It's nice to meet you. I'm Violet Baudelaire, this is my sister Sunny and my brother Klaus."

    "It's nice to meet you three, as well. I'm just sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances. Tell me, if you don't mind me asking, what brings you three to Lucky Smells?" She asked, taking a bite of her food.

    "Yebo," Sunny said.

    Y/N tilted her head to politely show her confusion.

    "What my sister means is, it's kind of a long story." Klaus smiled weakly.

    Y/N straighten up and looked at sunny and smiled, "Well, if you're willing, I'm all ears, Sunny."

    Sunny smiled at the girl, much like her siblings, she was already beginning to feel at home from the girl's welcoming presence.

    So the three siblings shared their terrible tale. Everything from the gloomy day at Briny Beach, to the current day and how Charles put them to work after telling them their parents had caused the fire. Once they had finished, the Baudelaires grew worried that their new companion grew quiet.

    "I'm- I'm so sorry Baudelaires, that sounds... unspeakably terrible."

    The Baudelaires sighed.

    "It was. It... is." Violet said glumly.

    "Wait, so, you don't believe our parents started the Paltryville fire?" Klaus asked hopefully.

    Y/N smiled sadly. "No, Baudelaires, I don't. I never have. This probably doesn't help, but I'm afraid I'm the only one who thinks so."

    "It does help," Violet said, much to Y/N's confusion. "At least someone believes us, I mean. It's better than no one."

    Y/N smiled sadly at the kind nature of three children. Despite all their hardships, they were still truly good and kind people.

    "Now, if you don't mind us asking, you know why we're here but, we don't know why you're here. You're so young, how did you find yourself working at a dangerous place like this?"

    Y/N grew somber and folded her hands in her lap and looked at the Baudelaires. "My parents and I lived in Paltryville all my life. But when the town burnt down, my family perished as well. I had nowhere to go, and no one came to get me like this Mr. Poe you told me about. So I had to fend for myself."

    The Baudelaires nodded in understanding as their new friend told her story.

    "I knew that Lucky Smells provided housing for their workers so I applied and I was rather shocked at how little they needed convincing. Quite concerning actually," The Baudelaires all nodded their head eagerly in agreement. "Anyways, I've worked here ever since."

    It was quiet for a moment and then Y/N continued. "My parents spoke of yours often Baudelaires. It seems they were friends. Colleagues even. I would always ask in what but they'd refuse to tell me. Anyways, they always spoke highly of your parents. My mom even said that your parents saved their lives once. That's why I refuse to believe your parents ever could have done something so wicked. I trust my parents and they say yours were good people and I stick by that."

    "Thank you, Y/N," Klaus said, smiling at the girl who smiled back.

    "Geebo" Sunny said, which meant "Get a room!" It caused Violet to fight a smirk and Klaus shook his head to clear his thoughts and partly to hide the creeping blush.

    Suddenly, the high pitched ring of the speakers pierced the silence and a booming static muffled voice rang out. "Lights out. Two seconds."

    Then, all the lights in the cabin, save for the lit candles, shut off simultaneously.

    "But it's only six 'o clock," Klaus said.

    Suddenly, a large, happy man walked by towards his bunk bed. "Oh, boy, more time for dreaming." He said cheerily.

    "That's Phil. As you can see he's a bit of an optimist."

    "Did someone say my name?"

    "Hi, Phil! I was just helping the Baudelaire's get acquainted. They're the new recruits everyone has been talking about."

    "Oh boy! New friends!" He wheezed in delight. "I'm Phil, and I'm excited to work with you kids."

    Violet smiled weakly and gestured to her siblings.

    "Thank you. I'm Violet. These are my siblings, Klaus and Sunny."

    "Listen, I... I know things seem dark. But you have to look on the bright side. So your parents burned down towns. You don't have to be like your parents. My parents were Olympic athletes and look at me." He smiled a toothy grin. "I work in a lumbermill."

    Y/N sighed at Phil's comment and about the Baudelaire parents, feeling bad for the poor orphans and embarrassed knowing her friend didn't realize what he had done. She quickly tried to change the subject.

    "Phil, did you have you have something there?" She asked, gesturing to his bag in the table.

    The optimist's smile grew and he reached for the bag pulling out some pamphlets and a set of uniforms for the children.

    "Who wants a welcome packet?"

    The Baudelaires felt unsettling feeling growing in the pit of their stomachs as they thought of what might lay ahead of them in the morning. But nevertheless, it seemed a bit of the man's optimism had rubbed off on the children, especially a certain speckled Baudelaire, in particular, knowing they had made a new friend their age.

    For the first time in what felt like months, the children felt as if they weren't so alone. Having someone who understands exactly what you are going through during a particularly traumatic time can be a very fortunate, very rare thing. Someone to share you're experiences and hardships with, someone to complain to who'll say "My entire family perished in a terrible fire and an evil and treacherous man is following me and conspiring to get my family fortune as well!", rather than the less than comforting "Look on the bright side, at least you survived. And there is no way that man could ever find you in disguise a fourth time!" can sometimes be the most therapeutic experience. And that is exactly what the Baudelaires and Y/N L/N found when they found each other.

•••

    "I do hope I'm not intruding," Y/N said as she returned to the table, having washed her dishes.

    The three smiled at Y/N. "Not at all," Klaus said.

    "I would be more than happy to offer my services to you three. I like you Baudelaires, and I'll help in any way I can to help clear your parents' names and I'll keep an eye out for this vile man Count Olaf, you've told me so much about."

    The three shared a look. Violet looked to the girl and leaned in concerned.

    "That is a very kind offer Y/N, but I'd hate to put you in danger. I dread to think what would happen if he ever caught up to us and knew you were helping us. He isn't afraid of hurting innocent people, and certainly not children,"

    "And I appreciate the concern, Violet. But I want to help." Y/N looked around before leaning in and whispering. "I don't know much, but my parents were apart of something big and I think we are after the same answers. If we work together, I think we can find out what's really been going on. I hadn't mentioned this before, I hardly speak of them, but I too have siblings as well"

    The faces of the Baudelaires fell, even baby sunny let out a sympathetic coo, and Y/N leaned back.

    "It's true. They died in the fire. B/n and S/n. They were twins." She trailed off at the mention of her siblings. "I loved them and I miss them every day. Maybe, just maybe I can find some answers and find out why all these fires are being started."

    It was quiet for a moment. Then Klaus spoke up.

    "I'm, so sorry for your loss."

    She smiled sadly. "Thank you, Klaus. And I'm sorry for yours. But, you must know, I can hold my own. And I am not afraid of facing Count Olaf if it means looking out for you three. And I'd be more than willing to help in any way I can if you'll let me."

    "Thank you, Y/N. We really appreciate it!"

    "So, what can I do to help."

    "Unfortunately, we're not even sure what we're going to do yet. We were going to come up with a plan tonight."

    "Okay! Well, here's a map of the mill. Maybe this will help." Y/N said, unfolding the large map that had been on the table, while Klaus began reading through the welcome manual.

    "Oh, look Klaus. The mill has a library. Maybe you can research what happened here and clear our parents' names."

    "Oh, yeah. I've never actually been there before. I forgot it was there. Break times are so short but I bet you could go during lunchtime," Y/N offered.

    Klaus chuckled and gestured to the Manual. "Look. The mill has machines. Maybe you could invent a way of making planks out trees faster."

    "Yeeb" cooed sunny, as she pointed to a coupon. "Look. It's that eye building."

    "Y/N, what can you tell us about this building?" Violet asked as she leaned forward, examining the picture.

    "Oh, you mean Dr. Orwell's office? She's an optometrist who works just across the mill. I hardly ever see her. She's a bit of a recluse."

    "Hmm," recalled Klaus. "Father always said he didn't trust them. Or optimists now that I recall."

    "But what does an optometrist's office have to do with Count Olaf?" Violet wondered. "Maybe Phil was right. We should look on the bright side. This mill may be miserable, but since we got here, we haven't seen Count Olaf. And we met you, Y/N." The new set of friends smiled at each other. "What if that eye really was a coincidence? What I'd we finally found a place where Count Olaf won't find us?"

    "Hopefully, you're right Violet. Here, let's see what we can do," she reached for the manual and map and the four children began planning for tomorrow.

•••

    Later that night, the children lay in bed. Y/N was already fast asleep in her usual spot on the bottom bunk. Klaus was next to her in the adjacent bunk. Violet and Sunny shared the top bunk above Klaus.

    "Is Sunny asleep?" Whispered Klaus in the dead of night.

    Violet turned over to get a peek at her sister, who was sleeping soundly and smiling, as she occasionally nipped at the air. Violet smiled fondly.

    "She's dreaming about biting something. Why?" Replied Violet.

    "What Sir said about our parents. You don't think it could be true." Klaus asked.

    Violet frowned. "Of course not."

    "Then you agree what we have to do."

    "Of course," Violet said. The two siblings then spoke at the same time. "Clear their names."

    "Get out of here. Wait, what?" Klaus asked bewildered.

    "If we clear their names, maybe we can finally get some answers. Besides, what about Y/N?" Violet asked.

    At the mention of their new friend, Klaus turned his head and looked over at the sleeping girl. Unlike Sunny, she looked troubled as she slept. She hugged her pillow tightly and a frown was etched onto her face.

    Klaus bit his lip and turned, focusing his gaze on the top bunk above him, not wanting to think about leaving the girl he just met.

    "She's wonderful, and it's very gracious of her to offer to help, which is all the more reason to get out of here while we can. If Count Olaf catches up to us, we'd be putting her in danger. And I'm sorry, but I can't help but think, maybe our parents wouldn't want us here anyway."

    "Then they shouldn't have left us alone." Violet snapped.

    Klaus was shocked at his sister.

    "You know that's not what they did."

    Violet took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I know it's not their fault. And I know you're just trying to be cautious."

    Klaus sighed. "I guess we're not seeing eye to eye."

    It was quiet for a moment, and then Klaus spoke once more. "I wish they were here. Our parents."

    "I know." Replied Violet, in a sad tone. "I don't like this place either. But staying is the best way to find out what our parents were hiding."

    "The best way to find out would be to ask them. But we never can."

[stevenuniversallyreviews]

Episode 124: Lion 4: Alternate Ending

“Please tell me my destiny.”

We’ve had Ronaldo as a toxic gatekeeping fan intent on harassing the creator. We’ve had Lars as a disappointed fan whom the creator is desperate to impress. We’ve even had Navy as a false fan who’s only interested in robbing the creator’s spaceship (arguably a rarer breed than the first two). So now it’s time for the obsessive clue-hunter, who parses through the creation so deeply that the original meaning gets lost in the shuffle. And this time, our fan stand-in is Steven.

Lion 4: Alternate Ending is an episode about Steven trying to ruin Lion 3: Straight to Video. All the magic from that first glimpse of Rose Quartz threatens to be extinguished through overanalysis, to the point where his discovery of a new tape is met with dread instead of excitement. For all the Steven Universe fans that get frustrated by Steven not being as invested in the lore as they’d like, well, this is what happens when Steven gets as invested in the lore as you’d like. 

To be clear, I don’t think Steven succeeds in ruining Lion 3, especially because the conclusion of Lion 4 manages to enhance its predecessor. I also don’t think it’s a bad thing that he tries: it fits his post-Storm in the Room state to tear through whatever evidence he's got to figure out why he was born, and it’s properly painful to see him so desensitized to the wonder of Rose’s tape that he’s reduced it to a possible decoded message. What better way to express how Steven feels than tainting a pivotal moment with his mother?

I’m super into stories where a mystery to the characters isn’t a mystery to the viewer: the core example is Cowboy Bebop episode Speak Like a Child, where our 2070s crew is trying to solve the case of a strange antique object that a 1990s audience already knows is a videotape (although a fifth of the way through the twenty-first century, we’re already getting removed from an era where modern audiences would know what a Betamax is, even as a cultural relic). Because the writers don’t have to try to fool us, we can focus more on how the characters tackle a problem instead of trying to beat them to the punch with our own deduction skills. I wouldn’t call Lion 4 the most concrete example of this sort of story, as it’s not impossible that Rose was leaving encrypted messages behind, but to me at least the “twist” that Rose’s tape wasn’t part of some dubious master plan is obvious enough that I can just enjoy the ride.

“Enjoy” is perhaps the wrong word, because while this is an excellent episode, it’s not a fun one. There are comedic moments, because this is still Steven Universe, but watching a kid at the end of his rope struggling to understand his place in the world is bound to be harrowing stuff. Steven’s determination is compounded by his solitude: the Crystal Gems are pointedly absent, as the last time he asked them for answers his dad got abducted to a space zoo and it’s easy to confuse correlation with causation. So it’s just Steven and Lion for most of the episode, and it’s telling that Lion answers Steven’s final cry for help by bringing him to see his dad. Some things can only be fixed by talking, and for all his strengths, Lion isn’t a great conversationalist.

Before we get to Greg, this Steven/Lion solo outing uses constant activity to sidestep the dullness factor that bogged down Steven’s Lion. After a strong first impression of Steven’s mental state as he scours Rose’s tape for clues, going so far as to try to find meanings in anagrams, Lion revs up the plot by retching up a giant key. I love that Steven’s first thought is the same as mine, and likely yours: the chest in Lion’s mane that we first saw in Lion 3, which unlike Bismuth remained a mystery (and it still is, because we never saw what Steven found in there between Change Your Mind and the movie). Even though the key is comically oversized, Steven ignores the obvious and keeps trying to make it fit. So right off the bat, we get two little stories about Steven looking for answers where there clearly aren’t any and doubling down despite the futility out of sheer desperation for the truth.

From here we get a montage of past locations a la Marble Madness and Warp Tour, accompanied by a gorgeous medley of location themes from Aivi and Surasshu; I will never not complain that we don’t get to have an album of their scoring, because this episode’s soundtrack is one of their best. Visiting the Armory harks back to Lion 2 as the tape did for Lion 3, and we also get a glimpse of Rose’s Fountain and Rose’s Room to continue our references to the many known areas tied to Steven’s mom. When nothing works, Steven pleads with Lion for more information, aware by now that the cat has some answers.

While I’m not huge on Steven’s Lion as an episode due to the aforementioned dull pace, it’s awesome to see our heroes return to where Lion was first found. Buddy’s Book already did a great job of reminding us of Lion’s desert home, but now it’s time to finally investigate the area further. 

Jesse Zuke and Raven Molisee paired up for our last episode, leaving their usual respective partners Hilary Florido and Paul Villeco at bat for Lion 4. The ragtag team has so far given us rich visuals, with a particularly expressive Steven and Lion (crucial for the non-talking member of the duo) and a callback to the lovely settings of the past, but every aesthetic choice they make is topped by the desert run. It’s a beautiful shot, evoking the iconic ocean run of Lion 2, but Steven’s exhaustion (aided by Zach Callison’s beleaguered performance as he narrates his thoughts) tinges the scene with melancholy where there was once only magic. Steven’s desperation is no longer the frenzied need from when Greg was kidnapped, or even from the beginning of this very episode, but has been worn down to a weary determination that just breaks your heart. This is Charlie Brown after a yanked football too many; he hasn’t been thrown a single bone in his search for answers, and this might be his last chance.

I try not to include too many images in these reviews, because they can mess with the flow of the text, but screw it this shot is also amazing:

The pyramid-like structures leading to the locked door are the first we see of a new hidden getaway, and retrospect makes Steven’s plight even worse: as we learn in Legs From Here to Homeworld, all he had to do was touch one of them to get a major hint about Rose’s true identity. 

It wouldn’t have solved everything, as Garnet would likely assume they were spoils of war, Amethyst wouldn’t recognize them, and Pearl would keep her mouth shut. And it would’ve ruined the pacing of the mystery for such a strange hint to be presented, so from a storytelling perspective it makes total sense to keep this in the backburner. And it’s not like it’s that weird that Steven doesn’t feel compelled to touch what seems to be a couple of statues when he’s spent the whole episode looking for a lock and it’s right in front of him and he just survived hours of desert travel. But knowing what we know now adds to the drama of how close our hero is to the truth he deserves.

In yet another bummer, Rose’s hidden landfill is worn down to the point where most of the walls had collapsed, meaning Steven didn’t even need the key. Which isn’t to say the key wasn’t important, as it prompts his trip in the first place, but it’s just one more way that the universe seems to be throwing unnecessary hurdles at him. In the same vein, Lion not only could’ve warped him to the destination as he mentions, but he could’ve done so without hacking up the key in the first place. But we’re long past the point where we should expect straight answers from Lion, so I forgive the big lug.

The first thing that came to my mind when Steven saw the dump wasn’t Amethyst’s room, although there are obvious similarities. It was Greg’s storage locker, the place where we first talked about Rose all the way back in Laser Light Cannon, the place where Greg expressed confusion about why a magic woman fell for a regular guy like him. And as frustrated as Steven is, this room is a wonderful unspoken answer to that distant question: among Rose’s many imperfections was that, like Greg, she was kind of a slob. It’s so nice to have a mundane flaw after nearly a full season of focusing on her as a liar and murderer, especially a flaw that reminds us of why she and Greg were so great for each other.

But yeah, Steven isn’t interested in subtext, and his tantrum is both realistic and reasonable. He finds the tape for Nora by accident, right after kicking some garbage in anger, and this is where that Speak Like a Child oomph comes in. It’s crystal clear that the tape was a backup in case Steven was a girl, but he’s so primed for lies and complications that the obvious answer eludes him and he suspects the worst. I honestly can’t blame him. If you learned out of nowhere that your mom killed someone, who’s to say you don’t have secret siblings?

The contrast between harsh desert and soothing sunset is another treat for the eyes, readying is for a cooldown after two distressing acts. Greg’s excitement over seeing the old tape blinds him to Steven’s angst in a way that adds honest tension to the exchange, because he’s trying to give Steven a fun treat but has no idea how much anguish his son has been through to get to this point. To Greg, telling Steven the answers outright would be ruining the moment, but the wait is already killing the kid. In an episode without an external villain it’s such a clever way to present a final “confrontation” to overcome.

When we finally see the tape, it becomes even more apparent that it was a backup for a hypothetical daughter. Still, I love how the strange new version of a video we know and love is only half-seen, as we focus so much on Steven’s reaction at the expense of footage. Where he was once gazing at the marvels of a new glimpse of his mother, his eyes are now furrowed in frustrated concentration. As in Lion 3, he has a viewing partner, and Greg’s welling tears mirror those of Steven and Sadie from the first tape, highlighting that the Steven of the present isn’t feeling an ounce of tenderness.

Tears do come for Steven, but in the form of anxious release. When he’s told that he’s Nora, meaning he’s the person the tape was intended for, Steven still doesn’t get it and exclaims that he’s his mom and his sister; it’s sort of a joke, but boy is it rough to hear him slip that in some way he does see himself as his mom rather than his own person. So thank goodness he’s saying this stuff to Greg, who’s calm at first but leaps to the occasion when Steven frantically asks why he exists.

As is standard by now, Greg's got fatherhood down cold. He adjusts his tone to show he’s taking Steven seriously, but rather than jump in he sits his son down and lets him talk. He addresses Steven’s concerns gently but firmly, leaving no room for doubt that he’s loved and appreciated no matter what. He brings himself into the conversation by saying he changed his name, doing so not to turn the topic to himself but to reassure Steven that it’s okay to not be stuck on one identity. And just look at how perfectly our three main characters exist in the shot during this last talk:

Steven gets those happy post-tape tears after viewing the last part of the video, and our happy ending is earned, but it’s not a full victory. Rose still had issues, but at least Steven has gained some confidence back that she wasn’t all bad. He’ll go back and forth on how much guilt he feels for her actions, but at the very least he knows now that his decisions to try and atone for her mistakes are his to make, and not a mandate from a dead parent looking for an escape route.

Whiiiiiiich means that now he’s able to try and feign a sense of control over helpless situations by assigning blame to himself in new, exciting ways. Hey, it’s not like the show could’ve solved all his problems less than halfway through Act III of the series. Lion 4 thus doesn’t have the conclusive oomph of Lion 3, which closed a trilogy of Lion Episodes as well as the stage of the show where Rose was a well-realized but distant idea more than a full character. For all its strengths, Lion 4 feels much more like Just Another Episode. But that’s okay. It doesn’t owe the past a thing.

Future Vision!

Again, those pyramids return in a major way, because they’re not pyramids.

Greg talks about Garnet’s inability to predict things about Steven, which is an element of their relationship throughout the show but gets major focus soon in Pool Hopping.

Escapism blends the two big Lion Runs by setting it back on the ocean, but making the passenger an exhausted Steven facing one last ordeal before relief in the form of his dad with a guitar.

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

It doesn’t make the top twenty, it does make the top twenty-five. Just like Bismuth right before our hundredth episode, this doesn’t mean much now, but it will next time, because I’m expanding again to a Top Twenty-Five when we hit the big One Two Five with Doug Out. 

Top Twenty

Steven and the Stevens

Hit the Diamond

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

Last One Out of Beach City

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Mindful Education

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Earthlings

Mr. Greg

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Beach City Drift

Winter Forecast

Bismuth

Steven’s Dream

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

Keeping It Together

We Need to Talk

Chille Tid

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Catch and Release

When It Rains

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

It Could’ve Been Great

Message Received

Log Date 7 15 2

Same Old World

The New Lars

Monster Reunion

Alone at Sea

Crack the Whip

Beta

Back to the Moon

Kindergarten Kid

Buddy’s Book

Gem Harvest

Three Gems and a Baby

That Will Be All

The New Crystal Gems

Storm in the Room

Room for Ruby

Lion 4: Alternate Ending

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Barn Mates

Steven Floats

Drop Beat Dad

Too Short to Ride

Restaurant Wars

Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service

Greg the Babysitter

Gem Hunt

Steven vs. Amethyst

Bubbled

Adventures in Light Distortion

Gem Heist

The Zoo

Rocknaldo

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

Super Watermelon Island

Gem Drill

Know Your Fusion

Future Boy Zoltron

Tiger Philanthropist

No Thanks!

     6. Horror Club      5. Fusion Cuisine      4. House Guest      3. Onion Gang      2. Sadie’s Song      1. Island Adventure

(Kind of unbelievable to me that a Lion Sequel doesn’t have official promo art, but luckily we have discount-supervillain’s measured take on what Nora Universe would realistically look like.)

[blankdblank]

Anaticula Pt 37

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 - Pt 6 - Pt 7 - Pt 8 - Pt 9 - Pt 10 - Pt 11 - Pt 12 - Pt 13 - Pt 14 - Pt 15 - Pt 16 - Pt 17 - Pt 18 - Pt 19 - Pt 20 - Pt 21 - Pt 21b - Pt 22 - Pt 23 - Pt 24 - Pt 25 - Pt 26 -  Pt 27 - Pt 28 - Pt 29 - Pt 30 - Pt 31 - Pt 33 - Pt 34 - Pt 35 - Pt 36 -

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2nd wk of December

Match 1 – Ravenclaw – Durm 4

Bolstered up with the news of having dates and dresses to the Ball the full Ravenclaw coasted their way into another victory over the visiting school a bit distracted by something you had no clue of yet.

Match 2 – Beaux 2 – Beaux 3

Fleur in this interschool battled against another house of her own friends got surprisingly heated until the other team managed to steal the win away at the last minute.

.

Coated in snow that was still falling following the map on the next origami owl you had received sending you all off in different directions from the other students. Across from an Auror in the center of a field you eyed the trio of judges who would alternate turns in facing each of you one on one until you all had either been disarmed or disarmed your opponent.

Beaux came first, all being disarmed but battled admirably for the few minutes they could muster up against the expert.

Durm came next and had all been victorious within a few moments sending them flying.

Cedric managed to knock his Auror down while Harry ended up in the snow bank. Lastly with the crowd of Champions looking on you stood across from your Auror who eyed you with wand extended stating, “If you do not have a wand that can count as automatic dismissal.”

You smirked and clapped your hands, covering him with two walls of snow that compacted while your hands met at the wrist and your fingers swayed through the snow morphing into a giant bird. The Auror’s head poked out of the bird’s stomach with arm extended and hand empty after having dropped his wand in your attack. Cheers and stunned laughter came from the on looking students through a picture being captured in the moments until your hands broke apart and the snow coating him released and he fell into the pile of snow under him.

Strolling back to the others you looked to the judges who cleared you to return to the school saying the task was handled and scores would be posted later. A base of five for if you managed to disarm the Auror, if not you were limited to five on skill of possible spells used to keep from a blank score.

.

4th test – Duel

Viktor – 9, Sebastian – 8, Lukas - 10

Fleur – 5, Charlotte – 4, Vivi - 4

Cedric – 9, Jaqi -  10, Harry – 4

On the way to Hogsmeade the test had been the talk of the school, especially that of the other Headmasters on how you had managed a wandless and silent enchantment that powerful in a moment’s notice leaving them circling on how to inch their Champions ahead while you held the clear lead. But all of them saw hope in the next task that could only help in boosting their scores even more.

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3rd week

Noon in your usual school wide free period you all found yourselves in the Western greenhouse filled with the flocks of six winged hummingbirds who were feasting on the upside down dangling bright colored flowers ten feet above you. Professor Sprout stood brimming with glee in her standing next to a gramophone. “Now, for all of you wondering why you are here I would like clarify. It is for this upcoming festivities we would like to put our best foot forward, quite literally, and to ensure that all the houses are conducting lessons in the opening waltz for the Yule Ball.”

Summers off to the side asked, “We have to learn a waltz?”

Snickers were heard and her eyes narrowed for a moment and she said, “I will have you know it is a rare skill to be well versed in ballroom dancing. And I would not be shocked if a few of you are already interested in the lessons to impress your dates, especially the Champions present.”

Your eyes and Cedric’s eyes went to her both asking, “What?”

Her grin doubled, “The Champions open the Ball with a waltz.”

Cedric looked to you then asked, “How many lessons are you giving?”

“Just the one a day for a week.”

He looked to you again, “I might need more than that. I still trip on the stairs and we’ve been taking them for years.”

Professor Sprout looked to you asking, “Will you be needing extra lessons as well?”

You shook your head, “No, Black family tradition, we have to learn ballroom dances, four instruments, three language minimum-.” glancing at the other students looking back at you in shock for the requirements a deep sigh left you and you shrugged. “Dad said he wouldn’t stick to the tradition but I was supposed to be dead and until he got his job we had a lot of free time. Even took me to ballet, skating and gymnastics, just sort of happened to keep us distracted.”

Astoria mumbled, “I thought we were the only family like that.”

You smirked at her, “Sacred 28.” Earning a smirk from her in return.

Sprout looked to the twins asking, “Have you studied as well?”

They both nodded and smirked, “Triplets.”

Making her grin, “Then you three and Astoria, front and center, and,” looking over the others while you formed a line around her she named four others to come up and be your partners for the first lesson. Your lessons went well enough though on your way to lunch there was an agreement that any in the dorm needing help could always ask when you were free with Cedric no doubt requesting nightly refreshers from now till the ball.

.

Sebastian grinned by the spare space he was holding for you and asked when you took your seat, “You look happy, did you send your cat after Skeeter again?”

You giggled saying, “No. Just, dance lessons.”

His brow inched up, “For the Ball? Do you require extra lessons?”

You shook your head, “No. Family tradition, have to learn growing up, but they’ve offered lessons for each of the houses.” You giggled again, “Which we were wondering how the other house lessons went.”

A grin eased across his lips and once again since your last study session you caught Viktor glaring at your arm making you subtly inspect it thinking you had gotten something on it or torn your favorite maroon sweater. Wetting your lips you looked at Sebastian, who had just sent a glare in return to his brother’s at noticing it then grinned at you, “Are you two fighting?”

He shook his head, “No.”

“So, he’s mad at me then?”

Sebastian forced a quick grin onto his face then answered, “The symbol on your ring.”

Looking at Morfin’s ring you shifted your hand then looked to him again, “For the Deathly Hallows?”

His brow inched up and he repeated, “Deathly Hallows?”

You nodded, “It um, my ancestors, the Peverell Brothers, there’s a whole story on them.”

At his hand signal Viktor moved to your table and listened intently to the tale then tapped his finger on the back of your finger holding the ring, “That is Grindlewald’s symbol.”

“Oh, well he did search for them, the Hallows and failed, but it really isn’t his symbol. It’s centuries older than him.”

Viktor, “But he used it! And he killed thousands of our people! Including our Grandfather!”

At your dropping expression his rage dimmed and you replied softly, “I know what he did. I wasn’t aware of how he affected you, past his having attended Durmstrang.” Wetting your lips you paused then added, “I only wear it, it’s from my grandfather on my Mum’s side.” His head tilted slightly and you clarified, “My Mum left a protection charm on it for me.”

Their lips parted and Sebastian said, “If it is protection from your mother then do not trouble yourself with this.”

Viktor nodded after a deep sigh, “Your mother wore this symbol?”

You shook your head, “No, not that I know of, but the ring is passed down by bloodline. Anyone else would be burned wearing it.”

Viktor, “Very important aid to the protection. These Peverells, they do not sound like they followed his beliefs.”

Sebastian nodded and wrapped his hand around yours, “Do not trouble yourself, wear the ring.”

Viktor said, “I was not aware of the older tale. It is understandable why he would choose that symbol. Please accept my apology for my irritation, it was unjust due to your reasoning. Hermione merely mentioned you simply put it on one day.”

“Ya, I don’t really talk about Mum much.” Both brothers gave you knowing nods about losing their father. You looked to Hermione in her late entrance after Ginny had stopped her to share experiences on the dance lessons leaving them both reigning in their giggles on what the other had missed bringing them to your left to share the stories spreading the laughter.

Leaving the table for your free period however you and Sebastian strolled out to the clearing you had mentioned the day prior for a sighting of a band of Augreys finding nesting materials he had stashed a bundle of blankets to snuggle in the snow couch he was going to make for you both. Upon which he shared more about what he had hoped to do for the brief gap between graduation and the start of the Quidditch season, all of which he hoped to share with his sister followed by a mentioned thought of a visit together possibly if it could be worked out.

.

Hermione’s brows furrowed harshly in reading the article from Rita that insinuated that she was leaving Viktor for Harry. Strolling into the Great Hall comes over to Ron’s side, “Package for you Weasley.”

Ron grinned at him briefly then turned accepting the brown paper box, glancing back at Nigel he shook his head softly saying, “Not now Nigel.” Harry and Hermione looked at him while Nigel huffed and turned away to go sit by his brother, “I promised him I’d get him your autograph Harry.”

Harry chuckled and reached into his bag for a blank sheet of paper he hastily scribbled his name across that he folded into an airplane that soared over to Nigel earning a gleeful gasp from the young teen who pulled out his camera to snap a picture of Harry’s quick grin in a glance at him.

Pulling out an obscurely tomato vomit colored coat Ron stood, “Bloody…Mum sent me a dress.. Got to be a mistake…” Ron walks over to Ginny, “Mum sent this for you.”

Ginny, “I’m not wearing that! It’s ghastly!”

Ron looks at Hermione who is laughing, “What are you on about?”

Hermione, “They’re not for Ginny. They’re for you. They’re dress robes.”

Ron, “For what?”

On your way to share a note you found on one of the old Tournaments you stopped mid walk reaching out, “What the-?” Looking the robes over with curiously furrowed brows.

Ron, “I can’t wear these. Can you do something with these?”

You catch his eyes, “We’ve got spares at home. I’ll grab you a pair.”

In a relieved sigh his eyes rolled and you shook your head in another glance at the robe.

…

Fully decorated from the usual massive Christmas trees, wreaths and garlands between batches of mistletoe, that all couples stole a moment under in forced accidental passes, drew out the spirit of the holiday for all. All first and second years had left for the break along with a vast majority of third years, except for those lingering as relatives or dates for the elder students attending the Ball. In a flurry Christmas Eve arrived and as promised you would be sneaking home right after to spend the rest of the night with your father and uncles after having spent so long apart.

Straight through the dorm door you strolled making Ron jolt up out of his bed after having been waiting so impatiently for his robes from you. A twisted grin splitting on his face and he eyed the deep maroon robes making his mouth fall open, “It was either this or powder blue, all the others had magic pockets full of ribbons and confetti, thought this would be safer for you.”

He shook his head and chuckled accepting the hanger from you eying your pajama bottoms under your big baggy sweater all the way to your moose slippers, “No, no. It’s marvelous compared to that other one. Just about the right size.”

“Might be a bit long in the leg but Neville knows the tailor charms I used on his if you need them.”

Ron chuckled and wrapped you in a tight hug, “I’ll give it a try now.”

You raised a brow, “It’s barely lunch time, we have till 7.”

He nodded, “I know, just anxious.”

You nodded and said, “Go on then, might as well get the hem done now.” You sat on his bed and he hurried into the bath to change while your eyes closed and you smoothed your fingers around the patch of scars over your left eyebrow remembering the mystery blondes kissing you there at the end of another stranger filled dream. The opening of the door opened your eyes with it bringing not only Ron in his maroon robes but also Neville into your view looking at you with a concerned hint of a smile that eased when Ron asked, “You alright?”

You nodded, “You ever have one of those dreams where you get covered in honey or something and you can still feel it?”

Ron chuckled and nodded, “Every time they serve that yam porridge, same dream of getting a pie in my face. Takes hours to have the feeling go away.”

On your feet you neared him and drew your wand from the sheath you kept tucked in the end of your crooked braid to feign being unarmed hoping it might lull Igor into doing something stupid and revealing his big plan. A few gentle tugs and stretches of the fabric on the jacket left it fitting him perfectly before he removed it and you started on his shirt, vest and pants that left him beaming when you were through. Another tight hug later and you moved to accept one from Neville who said, “I know you’ll get plenty of offers, though Sirius did ask for a picture of us dancing.”

You nodded, “Yes, Draco too and Percy should be here, he was told as well.”

Neville, “Plan still the same, after the Ball we’re headed home for the night?”

“If you’d like, full Christmas. The Grangers and your parents and Nellie will be there too same as the Malfoys, even the Pears.”

Ron, “Really? How’d they get invited?”

You sighed, “Well it was either I invite them to Christmas or they continue trying to force themselves as chaperones.”

Neville, “No doubt they’d make you perform again.”

“Exactly. I’m a spectacle enough this year as it is.”

Ron chuckled, “Doubt McGonagall would ever let them past the pitch knowing how they are around you. Still, we all allowed too?”

“Are you allowed,” you scoffed back, “You don’t come your Mum will come drag you there by your ankles, she’s no doubt emptied the pantry on this one.” Making them both chuckle as you turned to go.

.

Along with the other girls you were off in your room back home where you all helped one another fix up your hair and makeup before wiggling into your dresses and shoes. Mostly pulled back in a bun with a sleekly curled section dangling from under the jeweled pins securing it all. Easing your side swept bangs behind your ear your eyes locked on your reflection as you raised your brush to add some eye shadow above your eyeliner giving the look a hint of shimmer to make your eyes a bit more adorned to fit the whole look. With a sigh you set the brush down and rested your chin in your palm next to Hermione in the same position after finally relenting her hair was the best she could manage in a style close to yours. “Straight O’s in all my OWLS and I’m absolutely useless in this.”

Hermione sighed, “I suppose it’s just something needed to be practiced on?” She shrugged, “I mean, how often will we be attending Balls?”

You shrugged, “Well it’s not a Celebration of Life in Versailles, actual dancing and celebrating.”

Hermione couldn’t help but giggle as you did, both drooping your heads until you stood at the alarm sounding for you to stand and help the other with final adjustments before Ginny hurried in with her dress on and two wraps she found in your closet, pink or white?”

Hermione grinned moving closer to look between the pair while you brought Ginny the lip gloss she had been eyeing earlier making her grin and twirl in place and accept help into the pink wrap going with her pink and green dress. In her trot to the mirror to apply it Luna came out with Angelina, both having gotten a bit carried away earlier and had to remove a fair bit of glitter from their dresses with Katie behind them. Luna in a sleeveless teal and the others in complimenting magenta gowns that started the trip down to the waiting guys anxiously waiting downstairs. Cho had already gone down to meet Cedric and inhaling deeply you accepted Ginny’s hand following her for the trip down after she said, “You both look magnificent come on. Anyone not staring at you both tonight are blind dolts.” Reaching out your hand linked with Hermione’s who giggled and hurried along after you, eager like you were to just get the start of the night over when everyone would be staring and commenting before you could vanish into the crowds.

.

Beaming at Harry when she came down the steps Ginny tucked her hand under his arm he offered her shifting his forest green robes, joining the twins Katie and Angelina in the group that turned to glance at the Krum brothers. Both clad in matching red jackets under brown fur capes draped over one arm dangling over their black pants and tall boots accented with red stripes, eagerly swallowing and fidgeting their fingers along the strap across their chests that they released instantly when you both came into view. The pair of you inhaled and couldn’t help but grin at the wide eyed star struck pair oblivious to the picture Draco snapped of them. Sending the image up to his room after having done the same with the picture of your entrance on the steps beginning with a pair of timid heads popping out into the stroll down the first few steps.

Hastily from under their capes they both pulled out matching bracelets, on a strand of pearls secured on ribbons matching your dresses sat a cloth rose from the same material they both secured around the hands you offered them they then eased around their elbows in a turn. Arm in arm you and your dates in their joint stammered compliments to you after your soft thanks for the gifted bracelets on the walk to join the other Champions.

Straight through the winter wonderland decorated Great Hall in the aisle formed by split groups of students the nine Champions too their places, though it took a moment for some to remember that two were actually dating leaving the couples at an even eight. Hands raised and in an alternating lift filled waltz the Ball was opened through walls of flashes capturing the motions of the couples in your own circles around the others while the first rotation ran through and clearly ended with Dumbledore leading Minerva out onto the floor.

One opening dance bled into a series of classic dances, each one bringing on more hushed conversations between the couples until you all broke to claim your seats for the feast. Champions all at one table alongside your dates with other tables packed with the other students all enjoying the hearty meals with goulash and stew offered filled with sugary treats to follow before the dance floor was opened again. A raucous greeting welcomed former students of Hogwarts turned rock stars the Weird Sisters came out dressed for the part and set off the second stretch of the Ball when the Professors stepped back allowing the teens to enjoy the collection of their hits performed live. Hours you all enjoyed the night until in a shared string of signals you all gathered to head to your enchanted doorway while the Krum brothers used another of your secret tunnels to sneak out and visit their mother and baby sister in Hogsmeade.

.

Decorated to the fullest your home welcomed you fully in an equally as wondrous effort to capture the usual fanfare for the holiday. Great grandparents included all greeted your group with hugs and smiles before you all moved to the tree in the sitting room. Every gift was opened and another round of food was served, after the clearing of that you joined your father into the crystal decorated ballroom.

Under the light of the moon and stars you both chuckled and giggled through the dances he led you through, the pair of you caught a soft glimmer across your skin and in your hair. Reminders of your ancestor who claimed him and his kin held stardust in your veins, a trait binding all Black Family members, always being able to sense how close you are to one another for the closest of your relations which could be solidified by a tattoo with the relative’s name and celestial body or symbol representing their name.

Yours being Pluto on the base of your father’s neck surrounded by your name, for you the choice of our own for him would be the Big Dog constellation he was named after, a dog that would run when you grew closer in search of him. As soon as you turned 17 as a sort of coming of age marker your uncle had secured plans for a tattoo artist to drop by and do the tattoos as well as those for securing the twins’ decisions for Phoenix as their Animagus you would also get. The date was settled and eagerly looked forward to by all of you, except for the Pears, who really hoped to have you keep your skin unmarked, as it seemed to make it easier for them to mistake you for their lost daughter. But eventually they calmed seeing the sketches of the tattoos you had chosen that weren’t that obnoxious in size and easily concealed by clothes.

Safe in your father’s side to the film playing on the screen your eyes closed and you had fallen asleep in the pile of teens across the lounging couches in your theater only to stir and groggily head back to the castle after parting hugs in time to wash up, change and head down for breakfast. A crashing hug greeted you from Sebastian, who kissed your cheek sweetly in the hall on the way to eating, “Morning, and thank you.” You giggled at his arm circling you brushing the sleeve of his plum sweater up against your now slightly askew grey sweater hanging over your thighs in his hold on you. “Cleo and mother were excited we could sneak out. I have a present for you.”

You giggled again, “Good, I’ve got one for you too.” His brow inched up and you grinned up at him, “Trust me, you have never gotten a gift like this before.”

“Ooh, any hints or am I left to guessing?”

“Guess away but you won’t get it.” Making him chuckle again.

All through breakfast he did guess and along with Fleur and her sister Gabrielle you brought your visiting friends for a gathering of your own in your dorm. The Beauxs quickly passed of their gift of dresses and cardigans to you accepting their blankets and Manticore plushies they had mentioned wanting before you had made for them, then both hurried off at the meeting Madam Maxime had called for her Champions.

There Viktor and Hermione swapped books along with a ring topped with a purple violet made of gems she promptly tugged him away for a few moments alone to react in private they both returned back blushing from.

Sebastian passed you a book from his sister and a collection of books and an earring for the piercings in the top of your ears, in yellow rose earrings with flat backs he gladly accepted your tight hug and kiss for. Eagerly he eyed the rectangular box you passed him topped with a bow, with a smirk he set it on his lap and he eased the end of the ribbon out only for the rest of it to unravel and the lid to fold itself back. At the miniature pitch revealing itself his lips parted and you scooted closer showing him the cards you had, both for the professional teams and the school teams.

Leaning in Viktor joined him in choosing two teams and watched as the figures for players popped up out of the pitch with personalized brooms in hand around the chest that popped up with tiny balls inside that the referee kicked open. When the first match the brothers had played was through giggles exploded from you at Sebastian’s over eager tackle hug he unleashed on you before he burst into a slew of questions on where you got it. The group had split up and while you led him to your room to fetch a picture of Tulip for him to give to Cleo at her clear interest in snakes Sebastian said, “Surely it must have cost a fortune for such a detailed model.”

You shook your head in a giggle answering, “Surprisingly affordable to make.”

His lips parted, “You made that?”

You nodded, “Yup. All our teams have one. Takes a while to get it all to work together but we found the right blend of charms and of course it took a while to get permission from the card manufacturers for us to copy their stats and pictures.”

Facing you fully he said, “You actually wrote the manufacturers? How much are they charging you?”

You shook your head, “They said the cards are public domain, as long as we aren’t actually copying their cards, we got it so the pitches can just use their cards, we only make the ones for the school teams. Ours for your teams are pretty blank, we only have what we’ve seen so far at our school.”

“Are you selling these?”

“We plan to.” A grin spread across his face drawing out his dimples as you sheepishly turned away in an awkward grin to return to looking for the picture at your hair turning mint green. “We actually have a contract that when we graduate a relative with a shop on Diagon Alley is going to sell us the shop, so we’ve been stockpiling and getting our goods together. A few of our candies and treats are still needing some perfecting but we’ve got time.”

“Not to mention your Lycan products.”

You nodded, “Yes.” Grinning wider at his arms circling your middle when he closed the distance between you to kiss your cheek.

“I cannot wait to see your shop. No interest in Quidditch professionally for you?”

You shrugged, “I haven’t had any offers. Oliver has though, Kenmare Kestrals, he seems eager about it.”

“No doubt with talent like yours at this school a great number of teams will be approaching you three.”

Peering up at him he kissed the tip of your nose and you smirked at him, “And how would you handle that, us having to face off?”

He kissed your nose again, “We would beat you,” you rolled your eyes and giggled at his tighter hug he lifted you in, “Again and again.”

“Keep telling yourself that Seb.” Chuckling again he shifted you in his arms and planted his lips on yours.

Pt 38

[fortunatelylori]

Hi! I’m new to your blog so forgive if this had been asked before...but what makes you think Jon is using Dany? I haven’t read the books, so is maybe there an indicator I’m missing?

Hey, nonnie!

No worries … I find it pretty difficult to explain at this point why I think Jon is using D*ny because I’m so used to the political Jon theory and it’s such an amalgamation of points, evidence and sound analysis that I could probably talk about it for 2 days straight without repeating myself. But I’ll give it a shot and try to keep it as brief as I can. :) 

FYI, you don’t have to read the books in order to see the sense of this theory. All you need to do is engage with the show material in a more judicious way and not expect the narrative to spoon feed you plot points, which many people do, particularly when it comes to D*ny’s story line. 

Now, no introductory course into Political Jon is complete without the excellent metas by @thelawyerthatwaspromised so I’m going to include a few links here for your convenience: 

https://thelawyerthatwaspromised.tumblr.com/post/178471892596/tinfoil-jons-two-huge-lies

https://thelawyerthatwaspromised.tumblr.com/post/174814148886/how-jon-completely-took-control-of-dany-in-season

https://thelawyerthatwaspromised.tumblr.com/post/176008185561/gots-pov-trap-the-anatomy-of-betrayal-and-why

@thelawyerthatwaspromised has written extensively about this subject so if you want to delve deeper, I highly recommend a through look on her blog. 

From what I gather from your ask, you don’t see the clues season 7 set up for Jon using D*ny. What I’m going to suggest to you is that the reason why you don’t see them is not because they’re not there but because of the way that D*ny’s narrative has been handled so far. D*ny, up until this point in the story, has paid no price for all that she’s accumulated, she’s faced no consequences for her actions and suffered little to no losses since the end of season 1. This has lulled the audience into thinking that D*ny will always get what she wants, in exactly the manner she wants it and as such they have felt extremely comfortable in suspending their critical thinking when it comes to her actions or how she fits into the larger scope of the Game of Thrones universe. 

In a story where every single character ONLY gains something by losing something important or making huge, personal sacrifices or compromises, D*ny faces only momentarily set-backs that are easily resolved by the plot if not in the same episode where the problem arises then by the end of the season. 

In a realistic show about the ruthlessness of medieval society, where people play the game of thrones or they die, D*ny is stuck in a Dungeons & Dragons role play set on the easiest difficulty. 

Just look at a few of the things D*ny has been allowed to get away with/get out of with little to no consequences: 

- she’s stuck in the desert, she wants access to Qarth, she threatens a bunch of people, gets access to the city

- her Qarth supporter betrays her - she locks him up in his own vault together with her traitorous handmaiden, plunders his home and leaves Qarth unharmed - no one bats an eyelash to the fact that she locked two people in a vault where they would slowly suffocate/starve to death, not in the narrative or outside of it; 

- while in Qarth, she has her dragons stolen by some extremely powerful wizards - has a walk through their temple, burns the wizard alive and the temple in the process, leaves intact and with all 3 of her dragons - no one in Qarth has any issues with the fact that she just burned one of their temples down

- she needs an army - tricks the Unsullied master, steals the Unsullied, orders them to decimate anyone above the age of 12 - triumphant music plays through out; forget the fact that she’s just got the Unsullied she wanted, is planning on using them in the same way their master did or the fact that she begins her anti-slavery campaign essentially because she has no money to pay for an army, everyone and their mother is hailing D*ny as a hybrid Nelson Mandela/Martin Luther King/Lincoln figure. 

- Yunkai hires the Second Sons to defend the city against D*ny - Daario takes one look at her and betrays his associates and hands her Yunkai on a silver platter - he also bends the knee - again, D*ny loses absolutely nothing of any importance in all of this nor does she need to compromise or sacrifice

- Meereen wants hand to hand combat - Daario wins - D*ny takes the city and installs herself as Queen of Meereen within the same episode

- she crucifies 163 people, some innocent, without a trial - the Sons of the Harpy are born - she loses Barristan Selmy (he’ll be shortly replaced by Tyrion so no worries) but aside from that not much else happens

- she kills an exslave without a trial - Mysha is a master appears - where did this plot point go? who cares? D*ny is winning! Get with the program

- the Sons of the Harpy attack the Fighting Pits - Drogon comes to rescue her - she leaves her city and her team in danger and flies off - not one of her advisers are angry, dissapointed or feel betrayed by the fact that she abandons them; in fact Jorah and Daario are off to rescue her while Tyrion holds the city for her; Grey Worm and Missandei are pinning for her as if she’s their freaking mother. 

- D*ny gets captured by the Dothraki - oh, no! looks like she’s in trouble now - no worries! within two measly episodes, she burns the Khals and Vaes Dothrak down, unites all the khalasars, convinces them to go with her to Westeros and has now full control of Drogon - Yay! Are we having fun yet? 

In contrast, let’s look at a few of the journeys of other characters, shall we? 

Cersei: 

- wants to get rid of Maergery and take control of Tommen - she makes a deal with the High Sparrow - gets imprisoned - forced to walk naked through the streets - no one wants to deal with her, her own son outlaws trial by combat essentially condemning her to death - she blows up the Scept of Baelor - Forget the fact that Cersei goes through hell before she ultimately gains her victory. Even that is undercut by her last living child killing himself as a direct consequence of her actions. That’s quite the price to pay.

Jon:  

- Jon manages a huge win when he makes a deal with Tormund and decides to allow the Wildlings past the wall and away from the WW - he gets allies against the army of the dead and does something truly revolutionary without killing anyone or forcing them to do something against their will - they go to Hardhome to save the wildlings - the WW attack, he doesn’t manage to save them all - For all his troubles, Jon gets killed by his own brothers in arms. Jon gets punished by the narrative for being forward thinking and wanting to help people. Cool …

Arya: 

- decides to go to Braavos, trusting in the word of Jaquen and gets tricked into joining a death cult that wants to strip her of her identity and use her as a killing machine - she is blinded and starving on the streets - she escapes only after almost dying 

Sansa: 

- decides to trust the Tyrells and not run off with LF - she is forced to marry Tyrion - finally manages to escape KL - ends up in the Vale with a crazy, murderous aunt - wants to avenge her family - ends up married to Ramsay Bolton, raped and tortured - barely escapes human flesh eating hounds. 

So all the characters in this show pay dearly for each and every win they have, are punished by the narrative for their decisions, except D*ny. She looks downright invincible. Her longest running issue is the Sons of the Harpy and the slavers of Yunkai/Astapor/Volantis plotting against her and let’s look at how that gets resolved: 

She arrives with her Khalasar who decimate the Sons of the Harpy in one fell swoop - she hops on Drogon and burns the slavers fleet and kills 2 of their leaders essentially ending the conflict - ends the episode acquiring 3 Westerosi allies and more ships to take her armies over the Narrow Sea. 

You could argue she needs to give up Daario to go to Westeros but even that is not a true sacrifice because she says she felt nothing in leaving him and was eager to get it over with. 

All of this takes maximum 20 minutes to resolve. 

And it’s in direct contrast with the Battle of the Bastards that occurs in the same episode: 

- Jon and Sansa manage to get back Winterfell and the episode ends with the Direwolf banner flying on top of the castle once again; Sansa kills her abuser, Ramsay - Yay! 

Except … Another Stark is dead: Rickon; Jon abandons his battle plan, almost loses the battle, many good men lose their lives, including Wun Wun, the last of the giants, who sacrifices himself in order for the Starks to get inside the castle. They’re only saved because the Knights of the Vale intervene and in order to get them there, Sansa has to allow LF back into her life - Price paid, sacrifices made, Jon literally almost getting trampled to death. 

On the one side, you have a plot where people struggle and almost die/actually die, on the other side you have a paint by numbers plot where a character just gains and gains without any consequences. 

Doesn’t it seem fishy to you? Doesn’t it feel like the pin must drop for D*ny at some point if her story is to make any semblance of sense? 

What other reason could a show like GOT have to build a character like D*ny to the degree they have if not to tear her down and take everything from her in the end? This is not a show that makes anything easy or nice for its characters and the only reasonable candidate for the taking down of D*ny is Jon, for several narrative reasons: 

“When a Targareyen is born, the Gods flip a coin” - this has been brought up in the show not once but twice, by Cersei and Pycelle. We have two Targs left and they’re being set-up as foils since season 1. If you think this ends with Jon and D*ny happily married, bringing back the Targ dynasty and having sex on Drogon’s back for the rest of time, you haven’t been paying attention. 

Where D*ny bends people to her will, where she threatens and burns her enemies alive, Jon favors collaboration and mercy; where D*ny is hailed as Myhsa and carried on the backs of former slaves, Jon struggles to reach the surface in a crowd that is trampling him to death; where D*ny conquers, Jon convinces people to elect him; where D*ny thinks of herself as the Mother of Dragons, Breaker of chains, Jon Snow feels uncomfortable even talking about the fact that he was brought back from the dead. 

“You have to be smarter than father, you have to be smarter than Robb” - two other Stark men traveled to the South and both got killed because they couldn’t play the Game of Thrones; Jon gets tricked into going to Dragonstone but he somehow survives because he fell in love? Not very likely. Not only that but Jon gives up his crown and his country’s independence and you expect him to pay no price for that? 

Here’s the thing about political Jon. People misinterpret this as an outrageous claim that Jon is acting like Littlefinger and thus against character. But that’s not what pol Jon is. Pol Jon is a huge sacrifice Jon makes where he compromises his integrity and standing in front of his people, endangers the love and support of his family, gives up his crown and resorts to using his own body as leverage in order to save his country and his people from the apocalypse. 

He was already involved in this kind of plot before: Remember the plot where Jon had to infiltrate the Wildling camp as a spy, kill one of his black brothers in order to gain their favor, have sex with Ygritte so she continues to vouch for him and ends up betraying all of them and upholding his NW vows? Because I do. Jon has been a spy before, Jon has used people before. Jon was not blinded by love into giving up his values and everything of importance to him in exchange for cave sex/b0atbang. 

As for a repeat of Jon/Ygritte, I would say not likely. I have already dissected the Jon/D*ny relationship on my blog ( Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). Part 5 of the series was taken down because Tumblr is more offended by the outline of Jon’s butt than actual Nazis and porn bots but I’ll re upload it, hopefully soon. I’m not in the habit of linking my own stuff but I go into a lot of detail there which I’m not able to provide in this answer. Suffice it to say that the narrative undercuts the Jon/D*ny romance at every turn, we’re cut from Jon’s POV through out his stay on Dragonstone and he’s cold and standoffish with her in a way he never was with Ygritte. 

A 3rd twist in the story is coming - GRRM has said that this story will contain three major twists: one was the burning of Shrieen, the second was the reveal of Hodor’s name (which links back to the abomination of Bran warging a human being). The last one happens at the end of this story, and is, as of yet,unrevealed. Everyone is speculating about what this twist will be and the options are getting more and more fantastical by the day. Most of the people speculating, though, haven’t touched upon the most obvious answer which is: Dark D*ny and a Dance of Dragons 2.0. 

It isn’t that the narrative hasn’t given people enough clues that D*ny is turning dark but because of the way that her plot has been handled, it has lulled the audience into believing that all these clues don’t matter. I would argue that at the end of season 1 people entered a symbolic pact with the devil when they glossed over D*ny executing Mirri Maz Duur and since then D*ny’s level of violence has only exacerbated. A point in the narrative will come when she won’t be able to get away with the “it’s necessary” argument any longer. And when that happens, the only person that can oppose her is Jon. Further supported by the fact that … take it away Bran: 

He was never a bastard. He’s the heir to the Iron Throne. 

So if he’s in love with her and willing to give up everything for her, even after she takes him prisoner, uses the lives of his people as a bargaining chip for him bending the knee, and still vacillates on her commitment to the cause after he’s bent the knee (”I can’t forget what I saw beyond the wall and I can’t pretend that Cersei won’t take back half the country when I’m gone), then how the hell is he going to end up stealing a dragon and fighting against her? 

Those are the main narrative reasons why political Jon is plausible and viable and leads directly into the Dark D*ny endgame. 

Now, because of the way season 7 played out, I sort of understand why people think it’s just business as usual. After all, doesn’t Jon go through the same sort of arc in relation to D*ny that Daario and Tyrion already have?

Daario first encounters D*ny, takes a fancy to her, betrays his Second Sons partners and fully commits to her within the same episode.

Tyrion travels across Essos expressing doubts that the Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains is all that she’s cracked out to be, has one conversation with D*ny and suddenly all those questions fly out the window and he now “believes”in her and is fully on board with her invasion of Westeros. 

By that logic, of course, Jon comes to Dragonstone, expresses doubts about D*ny, refuses to bend the knee but then over the course of the story, he changes his mind, bends the knee and is now fully committed to D*ny’s cause. Except that Jon is neither a blood thirsty mercenary like Daario nor is he in love with staying relevant within the Game of Thrones, like Tyrion. Jon has always put the North, his values and his Stark family above all his personal ambitions. Why would D*ny succeed in changing Jon, when Ygritte couldn’t?

The narrative has already switched the tables on D*ny by handing her more defeats in season 7 than she’s experienced in 5 seasons but people assume that this too is just a minor set back. But it isn’t. 

At the end of this story line, Jon Snow, the secret Targareyen, the heir to the Iron Throne, the bastard Stark and the shield that guards the realms of men is waiting for her. And that Jon Snow can’t be a cinnamon roll, he can’t be a Northern fool in love with a pretty lady with dragons. He needs to be political Jon because: 

In the Game of Thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground. 

Thanks for the ask!

[kristinarambles]

Cheeseburger Backpack

Analysis Four

Two more players are introduced in this episode, Jamie the Postman and the Cheeseburger Backpack!

"Hey Mr. Postman bring me a post, bring me the post that I love the most" I love that Steven sings all the time. Me too man, me too. Waiting is always easier with some music lol. Obviously his love of music mostly comes from Greg, last episode he sings along with his CD so enthusiastically even though Greg is kind of embarrassed. Considering later on Steven says that Jamie is the only one who knows where he lives I wonder at what exactly his address is, and how Jamie found it in the first place. We know Barb is also a mailperson and the way she talks there must be other mailpeople around even though we only see Barb and Jamie.

Jamie's sense of humor leaning towards the dramatic is apparent even this early in the game, pretending like he doesn't know what package is for Steven lol. I guess he could just be messing with him because he's a kid, but I like to think that Jamie just knows that he can be himself around Steven. He does have a way of drawing people in and making them feel comfortable. Jamie is absolutely right that it's reasonable that the Gems want Steven to learn to control his powers before he helps out but I don't think he realizes just how real it is. The people who live in Beach City are pretty used to weird things happening, and the Gems being a part of that, but I don't think they realize that it's global. Part of that is probably because the Gems generally like to track down the corrupted ones in the wild before they find the temple, thus keeping them away from people as much as possible. The rest is probably just the general centrism most of us humans are guilty of. We get our first mention of Barb here, in the context of her being Jamie’s boss. I was just as shocked as Steven when I found out she was Sadie's mom, but that's another analysis. I love that little exchange though "Do you know how you can save my world?" Plus Steven's signature with the stars? So cute. And he really must be comfortable with Steven to tell him Barb yells at him, you don't just talk about your boss like that casually, even if it's true and she would probably laugh at you for sharing it anyway. Barb isn't exactly easy going, but she's pretty accepting and she's got a good sense of humor. Jamie is definitely surprised to see the warp pad go off, but not concerned enough to say anything about it, he just wants to know what a Whacky Sack is.

That egg that Amethyst has got opens up my questions about gem reproduction again, Centipeetle had her centipeetle babies and now we have a giant bird that we assume was also a gem that lays eggs? No naturally occuring birds lay eggs that have stars on them, and none that large. I'm leaning towards thinking it could be a gem creature similar to the crystal shrimp we see later in this episode or the lizards that Lion eats regularly. After all there are feathers everywhere and generally when a Gem, corrupted or otherwise, poofs it completely disappears with only the gem remaining. We don't see a bubbled gem either, although it could have already been sent into the temple. I also have to wonder why the bird had the Moon Goddess statue if it wasn't a real Gem. It makes me think of the bubble bird we see later in Giant Woman, who collects other gems and gem artifacts within itself. So many questions about something we never even actually see. And Amethyst's fake caution in getting that egg in the fridge never fails to entertain me.

The Moon Goddess statue comes with a whole other set of questions. I've wondered, and mentioned before, if gem tech was powered by poofed gems for a long time, and there is for sure something to that after what we've seen on Homeworld. Is it a gem that is trapped in a statue, held in its tiny hands? Is the statue perhaps growing out of the gem from the bottom? It's obviously tied into keeping the Lunar Sea Spire intact. I've seen speculation as to why the Gems would even have a goddess of any kind considering they answer to the Diamonds and those are their supreme beings, but I'll talk about that in a little bit. I think there's pretty good evidence that all gem structures have some sort of lodestone, so to speak. There's the Crystal Heart, this statue, there's a large gem powering the hand ship that Peridot uses. Even the gem that kind of takes over the lighthouse. The warp pad even looks like a huge gem that's been embedded in the ground. Not to mention all the walls we saw on Homeworld. I hope this is something they address in Season Six.

This conversation with Pearl about the statue and the Spire has so many hints about both the future of the show and the past from before Steven was born. Pearl is so expressive that we can glean a lot from that short little speech. First she supports my lodestone theory in saying that without the statue the Spire will fall apart, although it would seem it stood mostly okay for quite some time without it, and I wonder how the statue was removed from it in the first place [I think it was removed during the rebellion and if the bird was in fact a corrupted Gem it stands to reason that she's the one who removed it]. Then another hint that the Gems are aliens in her saying the Spire was an oasis for gems on earth. She shows us her power of holograms/projections to give him a visual of what the Spire used to be, including a statue of what appears to be a cross gem fusion since it has two sets of arms. Which, what the heck, cross gem fusions are supposed to be illegal. Her tone of voice when talking about how the Spire used to be is very similar to how she speaks about Rose and is in stark contrast to the flatness in her voice when she says it's abandoned now. It says that she still loves Homeworld in some way and misses the Gems she used to be around, although I'm sure mostly Pink. It's highly probable that it was with Pink she was at the Spire during it's heyday. She wants to save it so bad, and share with Steven it's history. Clues galore about her partnership with Pink and her desire to tell Steven the truth about his mother and himself, but none that we could put together or even fully understand until we actually knew the truth.

We know now that the Spire was a test, I think they probably discussed it thoroughly while Steven was packing his cheeseburger and I really like Amethyst being the one to suggest bringing him along because it would be educational. This is the first time outside of the theme that we actually see the warp being used, as well as getting an idea of what the warp stream really does and the fact that you can leave it, and I have to say that Amethyst in the warp is probably the most elegance she ever shows. Gorgeous.

Seeing the Lunar Sea Spire is pretty impressive, and time really does mean very different things to the gems. A hundred years isn't much to Pearl at all, and yet the last fourteen have changed her more than all the thousands before. The spire probably degrades faster closer to it's deadline to return the statue, although we really have no idea how long it's been removed despite my theory that it happened during the rebellion.

Garnet has to be so careful with what she says so as not to give away the fact she can see the future. She's "sensing" structural instability, it must have been so much easier for her to just say as little as possible even though we get a signature shades adjustment. It had to have been difficult knowing that it was keeping her from bonding with Steven on a deeper level though. Pearl too, keeping Pink's secrets the way she did when she wanted to share, to expose Steven to his heritage. The little nod to Full House was fun though "You got it, dude", and Pearl having no idea what he's talking about. I guess Steven watches reruns lol

It's pretty interesting how Garnet became the leader even though Pearl had been with Rose/Pink the longest, although we didn't know it back then. There's really so much to unpack in the Pearl/Garnet relationship. Some of why Garnet has moved up to being the leader has to do with how Rose was following her, as put forth in Now We're Only Falling Apart, but I think some of it was subconscious on both Pearl's part and Garnet's herself. Sapphire is an aristocrat and at least partially used to being in charge, and even though we've seen no hint of it it's entirely possible she's even had her own pearl at some point. This is both tempered by Ruby's lower class and station being used to being bossed around and exacerbated by her impulsiveness. Then there is Pearl's feelings of being inadequate by herself, needing someone to tell her what to do. Both of them later address and begin to handle these issues, but we see how their former lives seep into their current ones. That comes into play with how they choose to educate and expose Steven as well. They are who we get most of our information on who and what the gems are in the beginning, but they're informed in very different ways. I'm sure there's some former knowledge on Garnet's part just from what Sapphire and Ruby what have seen and experienced before they were and since they’ve been together, but I also think that her future vision plays a large part in the details that she knows. It is the hand with Sapphire's gem that Garnet lifts when she tells the others to stop before they attempt to cross the whirlpool [after touching her two hands together briefly though], and although most of her actions are purely Garnet and not Sapphire and Ruby taking turns or whatever you can see their separate personalities occasionally in the things she does. Like eloquently explaining about the magic that sustains the Spire and then throwing a rock into it to demonstrate. Pearl however doesn't have a magical way of knowing any of this information, she only knows what she's directly experienced and only has one consciousness of memories to draw from. Being a Diamond's personal pearl she had access to a lot of information, managing Pink's day to day activities and working her screens and stuff, but even that is limited and after what happened to the original Pink Pearl Pink Diamond didn't share as much with our Pearl as she could have, and being a Pearl I'm sure no one else thought to explain things to her. Our Pearl couldn't even work the doors at the Zoo.

Before Steven uses his sweaters to jump he gets diamond eyes, and I wonder if that has any significance. I've noticed too that a lot of the backgrounds have diamonds, and not just the architecture like above the arches when the first enter, but throughout the whole show just like, representing light and whatnot. He's so eager to prove himself though, and it seems like Amethyst has more faith in him then the other two.

After the jump Pearl freaks out, Garnet does the hair ruffle I love so much, Amethyst bumps him with her shoulder, and then Pearl compliments him. All of them showing him affection and pride in their own ways, which for Pearl means talk talk talking lol. She goes on quite a bit about the damage, we see on the walls what appears to be tigers because of the stripes but are definitely cats of some kind. Lots of diamond and triangle imagery, statues that are falling apart. The one with the crystal shrimp climbing on it looks very much like another fusion statue. Typing this now I'm formulating a rough theory that they were cross gem fusions that were punished maybe? I don't know exactly how they would statue-ize them, but I suppose it's possible considering what they did to Lapis and the wall Gems we saw on Homeworld. Although, I suppose then Pink would have heard more about cross gem fusion other than that it's unheard of. I don't know, something to think about anyway.

Now, those damn crystal shrimp. Besides Steven continuing to ace his test so far, every time we see some of these gem creatures [not monsters] I start thinking again about how they came to be and am driven crazy. How do they know what to call them, are they like the centipeetles, and if so then why isn't there a mother around? If the mother were to die would all the babies, because the drill gem babies didn't work that way. Peal calls it an infestation. Are they just regular creatures that mutated due to proximity to the Gems magic? I suppose that could solve the lizard dilemma as well as explain Rose's moss. Oh geez I'm kind of getting off the plot of this particular episode, but there's just so much still left unanswered. And here people though that Change Your Mind solved everything. Ha.

Steven starts a downslide with the raft, good idea in theory as evidenced by everyone's reaction [also, how cute are Amethyst and Pearl chanting "cheeseburger backpack"?] but executed badly due to the rapid water. But that's not nearly as bad as realizing he left the statue at home. I said earlier I would talk about why the Gems needed a goddess later and I would like to address that now. I think that it's more of a title than anything. Operating under the assumption that the statue holds a sentient gem of some kind, or is at the very least modeled after one, it obviously has some sort of magical tie to the moon. We know that Gems get their energy from light, so I think this particular one gets special energy/magic from the moonlight. Thus it is referred to as a moon goddess, the fact that it's the lodestone for this particular spire is why it's the Lunar Sea Spire. I do wonder if Garnet really didn't know what would happen or if she was just letting Steven try it to encourage him somehow. I know that's what Amethyst was trying to do in telling him his ideas succeeded 50% of the time, and obviously Pearl was trying to make him feel better. I thought the raft popping back up was a nice touch though.

This time the star closed in on Steven with his tongue out lol, and it's still instrumental Love Like You

[stealther-gurl]

December 10th- “The Most Wonderful Time” (SuperMartian AU)

No one requested enough for this one, I’m just posting this one-shot I wrote a while back because I can.

Also I haven’t written anything else yet.

The tray of cookies was still warm in her hands. Even through her gloves she could feel it, and it made her insanely happy. There was something about "I made that" that gave a person more confidence. Even though Megan had been baking since she was twelve, the feeling never got old, especially around Christmastime, when she made dozens of cookies every day and took them around to all her friends and neighbors.

"Thanks again, Megs," Her friend shook her head, but Megan saw Raquel smiling hungrily at the plate of cookies as she shut the door against the cold.

"Snickerdoodles? Babe, you rock!" Wally sighed in complete bliss a second before Rick, his roommate, dove to protect Megan from Wally's mistletoe hat. No one questioned that Wally claimed to have a thing for Megan, they just all knew that Artemis was the more "grounded" type of girl that Wally needed.

Megan laughed as the door slammed shut in the boy's scuffle, and headed back to her apartment for the final tray of Christmas cookies.

The final tray for the final door.

The only clue to who lived there was the name "Kent" sloppily taped onto the mailbox next to the door. There wasn't even a doormat. Megan and her friends hadn't really seen who lived there. Apparently, he only came out at night, according to Mal and Karen, the building superintendents. It was definitely a "He", a "He" who talked in monotone, using as few words as possible, though he had managed to reveal that he was the same age as Megan, the average age for the college town that their apartments was stationed in, only a couple blocks from the college itself. Kent had appeared about halfway through the first semester, and no one seemed to have any classes with him.

It was December now, and the end of the semester was fast approaching. The mystery of apartment B04 had bewildered everyone in the building, so those who shared the floor with the lonely apartment (namely Megan, Artemis, Rick, Wally, Kaldur, Roy, Zatanna, and Raquel) had taken it upon themselves to figure out who it was. Apartment B04 was the butt of many practical jokes and ding-dong-ditches, but still no one answered the door. Even when Raquel and Zatanna tried to deliver a care package, they left it in front of the door and when Kent came out at night, he brought it inside.

Megan took a deep breath, gripping the balcony railing for support for the last few steps towards the door.

Knock. Knock.

Megan didn't have the best singing voice, Artemis was far more confident than her, Zatanna had the prettiest voice by far of anyone Megan had ever heard, and Raquel could rap like nobody's business. The most Megan had done was sing in the shower, but it was time for all her practicing to come to light.

"Jingle Bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse-open sleigh, hey! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse-open sleigh!"

By the time she was done, Megan was prepared to dash back to her apartment and snuggle under at least fifty blankets and "study" for finals with Artemis. The door hadn't opened, and the cookies were starting to get cold.

She'd try again tomorrow.

-------

"You didn't have to come with me."

"Of course I did! You have to have a witness when you finally meet this Kent kid," Artemis insisted. Her arm was hooked through Megan's, leading her down the balcony to Apartment B04.

"Artemis, what if two people are too much for him?" Artemis asked.

"Then maybe he should stay in his apartment," Artemis said as she rang the doorbell.

"What should we sing?" Megan whispered, listening for footsteps inside the apartment.

Artemis shrugged, thinking.

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly!" She blurted out, sounding slightly off-key. Megan couldn't help but join in.

"Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la! 'Tis the season to be jolly, Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la! Don we now our gay apparel, Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la! Troll the ancient yuletide carol Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!"

The two girls were silent for a moment, listening. Either the walls were inexplicably soundproof or Kent was the heaviest sleeper ever.

"Come on," Artemis blew her bangs out of her eyes, now rude. "Let's try again tomorrow."

-------

Megan had just baked a fresh batch the next morning when her own doorbell rang.

"They better not be after my cookies," Artemis protectively guarded her stash of cookies from Megan's previously failed attempts to deliver cookies to Kent. Megan believed that if she was going to give cookies to strangers, they were going to be as fresh as she could get them.

"Can we come with you to bring cookies to Kent?" Zatanna asked, standing in the doorway with Raquel, Wally, Kaldur, Roy, and Rick.

"Wha- how did you-?"

"Artemis was texting me last night. We want in!" Zee said, holding up her phone. With the excitement shining on everyone's faces, how could Megan say no to her friends?

"I don't want to overwhelm him..." Megan said, carefully covering the paper plate of fresh cookies in foil.

"Why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?" She heard Rick whispering to Zee while Artemis and Wally fought over the cookie jar. Roy, the tallest of them all, snatched Megan's frog jar (a gift from her little brother) and placed it on top of the cabinet, out of reach.

Even as they walked down the hall, Wally and Rick broke into a chorus of "Up on the Housetop." After all eight of them sang at the top of their lungs outside of Apartment B04 and Megan had rung the doorbell (Artemis rang it a couple more times), no one came to the door.

"Sheesh,"Raquel snorted as their notes died away, "If it weren't for Mal and Karen, I'd say this guy was a ghost."

Megan sighed, staring at her cookies. Kaldur squeezed her shoulder in a brotherly way.

"There is always next year," he said, smiling encouragingly.

Megan smiled back, but only for a second. Artemis snuck one cookie out from under the covering before following everyone back to Wally and Rick's apartment for a "game night".

When she finally looked up, snow was falling around her, and she gasped, confident that she saw someone shuffle the curtains.

She quickly knocked again, racking her brain for a Christmas song that they hadn't sung to Kent yet.

"T-the first noel the angels did say, was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay-"

Megan's breath hitched in her throat. There it was again! The blinds shaking as if someone had pressed against them for a moment or two. And she knew that she heard something crashing inside. Someone was in there.

She sang louder.

"In fields where they lay keeping their sheep. On a cold winter's night that was so deep! Noel, noel, noel, noel! Born is the King of Israel!"

She was quiet. He'd heard her, she knew he had. For just a second, she thought that she heard some voice saying, "Conner go get the door already!" a second before the door was thrown open.

"Um...hi..." Megan whispered, looking up at the giant man in front of her. Kent was almost as big as Kaldur, but not quiet as tall as Roy. He wore a dark t-shirt  and a pair of hand-knit socks over his jeans.

"Um, hi," Kent replied, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Megan was surprised that he sounded just as nervous as she did!

"I-I'm Megan, what's your name?" She asked, holding out the cookies for him to take.

Kent stared at the cookies for a long time, and just as he reached out to take them, an old voice called out.

"Conner, who's at the door? Let them in for Pete's sake, it's below freezing out there!"

Conner chuckled weakly. "Would...would you like to come in?" He stepped to the side, making room for Megan to enter

"Alright," Megan shook off as much snow as she could before she stepped inside. A true gentleman, Conner took the tray of cookies from her, and helped her take off her coat.

"Hello Dear!" Nested in a pile of blankets, yarn, and knitting needles on the couch was an older woman wearing a t-shirt like Conner's, with her silver hair pulled back in a bun. Frankly, the small woman looked nothing like her large, dark-haired son.

"My name is Martha, but call me Ma. Everyone does. And this is Krypto," she stroked the sleek white husky dog lounging across her lap, "He's Conner's sister's dog, but she's traveling with friends for the break so Conner's stuck with the both of us!" Ma laughed heartily, holding out her hand for Megan to shake.

"Nice to meet you," Megan shook Ma's hand, surprised at the strength behind the grip.

"Sorry if I don't stand. My legs don't work too well, so all I can do is sit here with the dog. I heard you say that your name was Megan?" Ma asked.

"Yes, that's me." Megan laughed nervously, combing through her pixie cut with her fingers.

"Oh, and you brought cookies!" Ma said happily. Krypto's head perked up as Ma clapped her hands. "Conner be a dear and bring us some hot chocolate."

"Sure thing, Ma," Conner didn't sound the least bit begrudging to his mother. He handed her the plate of eleven cookies, kissing her cheek and heading for the kitchen. Krypto immediately leaped up and followed him.

"Oh, where are my manners!" Ma hit the side of her head, "Sit, sit!" She beckoned Megan. Not one to argue, Megan sat on the end of the couch opposite Ma, careful to avoid sitting on any needles or yarn.

"Mm!" Ma sampled one of Megan's cookies. "Megan, these are amazing! did you make them yourself?"

"Yes, I did. Thank you," Megan blushed with pride.

"You are quite a talented young lady," Ma said, "enjoy your youth, my dear, it'll be gone before you know it." She patted her own lap. Conner came out of the kitchen carrying three mugs, one for Ma, one for Megan, one for himself, and pulled up a chair from the kitchen that he sat in. Krypto was still in the kitchen, eating away at a fresh bowl of kibble.

"So Megan, you go to college here, correct?"

"Yes, I do." Megan confirmed for Ma.

"What classes do you take?"

"Well, aside from the basics, I take home economics, culinary science, and mechanics shop."

"Really? Do you enjoy that class? Do you do well in it?" Ma asked, suddenly scrutinizing the red-headed girl.

Megan sipped her hot chocolate, trying to not look nervous. On a side note, Connor made the perfect mixture of hot chocolate.

"Fixing cars is one of my favorite pastimes. My uncle owns a repair shop, and he taught me and my little brother everything about every car that came through."

She laughed to herself. "Just last month, Mister Smith, the mechanics teacher, said that he had this car that none of his students had been able to fix before, and he vowed to give it to the first person who fixed it. I think about half the class broke down crying when I revved the engine on my first try."

Ma started laughing too. "That's amazing, Megan! Where is the car now?"

"My uncle has it. He and my brother are going to give it a paint job. Garfield, that's my younger brother, said he was going to paint it dark orange with lime-green polka dots, but my uncle and I agreed on red with blue decals."

Ma side-eyed her son, who tried to look distant, but his eyes were glued to Megan as she giggled.

"Conner, this wouldn't happen to be the same Megan from your shop class whom you call "absolutely amazing", and "a true genius" , and "the engine whisperer", would it?" She asked nonchalantly.

Poor Megan spat out a mouthful of her hot chocolate at the same time Conner spilled what was left in his mug down the front of his shirt.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" Megan grabbed the dishtowel hanging over the back of Conner's chair and reached for his face, helping him wipe chocolate off his cheek and out of his hair.

"I'm so stupid, it was too much at once, too much at once," Megan babbled, "I-"

She stopped herself, just now noticing that Conner shared his mother's kind, blue eyes.

"If I were younger, this would be the part where I leave the room, but seeing as I can't I suggest that you two get a room."

"Ma!" Conner shouted. He and Megan were both turning as red as her hair. Ma simply shrugged.

"I...I am sorry...about the spill. I didn't mean to..." Megan stopped rambling before she could do anything else she’d regret.

"It's fine," Conner took the crumpled-up towel from her hand, and dabbed at his shirt, "I'll just go change."

Megan buried her face in her hands, mortified, and suddenly felt a hand on her elbow.

"Don't be ashamed dear, I try to set up Conner with every girl he comes across. Trust me, that was not the worst-case scenario." Megan forced herself to laugh.

"Conner is a very nice boy, but he doesn't seem to know that. His parents left each other, and he seems to think that it's because he doesn't deserve to be loved, even after all I tried to do to convince him-"

"Wait, you're not his mother?"

"Nope, but I am flattered that you think I look the part." Ma smiled at the girl endearingly, patting her hand.

"Conner's father, Clark, is my son. His wife left him when Conner was five. Kara, Conner's sister, is a few years younger, and doesn't really remember their mother. Conner never liked to talk about his memories of his mother, but somehow they made him think that he did something to make her leave. Clark didn't do much to ease those suspicions. He was always gallivanting across the globe for his job as a reporter, and after all these years Conner still thinks its because his parents hated him. Jonathan, my husband, could get through to that boy like no one else could. Conner and his sister laughed and smiled more when he was working out in the barn with Jonathan or when the other two were joking and talking. Shortly after Conner turned twelve, Jonathan died. It broke my heart when Conner woke me up in the middle of the night and asked if his grandfather had died to get away from him." Ma shook her head, rubbing at her eyes.

"He can probably hear this now, but Conner doesn't understand people very well. And because of his rough edges, no one outside of me, his sister, and his grandfather have really tried to take the time to understand him, either. I think...I think he would do better if he had a friend."

Just as Ma finished talking, the door to Conner's room opened, and he came out wearing what was either the same shirt, but completely clean, or an exact copy of the shirt that had been covered in hot chocolate.

"Conner," Megan said suddenly, "would you like to join me and my friends for a little...get together?" She asked.

Conner looked at her, with wide eyes. "Well...what are you doing at this...get together?"

"Well, my guy friends are all breaking out their video games-"

"Conner is the most brilliant video game strategist ever!" Ma shouted as if she were in another room entirely.

"But Ma, what-"

"I have Krypto for company, I have the remote within reach, and Hallmark has a whole bunch of cheesy Christmas movies right up my alley. Don't you worry about me for a change."

Conner nodded slowly. "I'll go get my jacket."

Megan couldn't help but smile as she patiently waited by the door.

"Thank you," Ma mouthed to her as Conner tugged on a pair of work boots and an old leather jacket that smelled like hay.

"Come on, I think you'll really like them." Megan said. In a daring move, she grabbed Conner's hand. If he was surprised, he hid it well.

"I suppose the question is, will they like me," Conner said as they trekked out into the fresh-fallen snow.

Megan smiled at him. "They will. I know that they will."

"And how do you know that?"

Megan only had to think for a moment.

"Because I already do."

[ask-the-chan-family]

Tira Bright and Friends: School Life

Dealing with changes Somewhere inside Tira bedroom at the Drawer house. Tira Bright was busy getting herself ready, but having some issues putting one of her outfit on. Ever since she discovered her ability to transform into a dragon pony, it was difficult for her to wear anything that fit her properly. So far, Tira is having some difficulty strapping her bra on, and after several tries, she was very close of not wanting to wear them at all. Tira Bright was close strapping the last hook on the bra, and was relief it stayed this time. After she was done with that, she check her messy closet, to see if she fined a shirt that doesn’t need to be wash yet. While Tira busy searching through the closet, across the other side of her room, there was some noise was coming from the bedroom window. From there a large looking female werewolf was climbing by the window, and see if she can try to get inside the room, without Tira knowing she was there. Once she open the window, she thought she was able to get through, but she got herself stuck halfway, thanks to her massive figure. The female werewolf try to wiggle out from the window, but before she could make any more movement, she stop for a second, when a small boulder hit the side of the wall where the window was close by. The female werewolf was wondering where the boulder came from, but when she look, she noticed was that Tira Bright was staring at her, and was summoning another small boulder from her claws. Tira Bright: alright whoever you are. If you don't explain what are you doing here in ten second, or I will hit you will hit you with a ball of rocks at your head. Timber Night Wolf: wait Tira, it's me, Timber Night Wolf Tira Bright: Timber, is that really you? Timber Night Wolf: of course it me, who else did you change someone into a werewolf, but a female as well Tira Bright: *she blush* oh yeah, I nearly forgot. I'm sorry for attacking you like that, I thought you was some random intruder that trying to sneak in our house again Timber Night Wolf: again! were you guys having some trouble with people sneaking inside the house? Tira Bright: not really much at first, but some people been trying to steal mom new book she been working on for months. There a lot of folks want to steal her ideas, so we doing our best to keep anyone out from our home Timber Night Wolf: well at least Timber know next time when passing by. Tira Bright: well you usually use the front door to pass by my house, instead of the window. Timber Night Wolf: *she blush* I know, but Timber figure I would fit through window like before, but instead being stuck really embarrassing. Tira laugh a little bit, but does her best not laughing too much. She walk over to Timber, and help her out from the window. After a few tries, Timber was finally freed from the window, but of course the outfit she was wearing, torn a little hole by the lower section of her tail. Timber Night Wolf: oh no, Timber rip outfit again. Tira Bright: what sort of outfit your wearing in the first place? You look like your about to go out in a hunt, or something. Timber Night Wolf: it a trible warrior outfit that my mother wore when she was younger. She was meant to give it to my sister when she older, but since Timber incident with the potion, she gave it to me instead. Tira Bright: *she smell something, and held her nose* well that is cool and all, but your outfit had some weird smell, and it really, really bad. Timber Night Wolf: .... Sigh, Timber know about the smell. Mother said it bring good luck, but all it does is bring me shame. Tira Bright: look Timber, I'm really sorry that you going through with this change. I regret for letting you try that experimental potion, without testing it first. Timber Night Wolf: Timber know it not your fault. It was Timber idea to try potion, and see if it work for Timber. Timber become wolf, but become girl as well. Tira Bright: but what about the effects, the only ingredient is super hard to find, and you will be stuck that way forever. You won't be able to use magic, or able to fly again. Timber Night Wolf: and the point is with that? Tira Bright: don't you miss doing them when you was an Alicorn? Timber Night Wolf: maybe a little, but Timber don't mind at all. Timber wasn't much a flyer, and Timber stink at magic. I would easily failed in your uncle magic lesson all the time, and there was no way I'm going to pass it. Tira Bright: *she laugh* yeah, I guess you’re right. But what about you being a guy. This is the first time of you being a girl. Timber stood quite for a moment when Tira said that. She look at herself for a second, seeing certain area she doesn't have anymore. She laughed at herself, and finally answered to Tira question. Timber Night Wolf: your right this is the first time for Timber being a girl, but tell you the truth, Timber doesn't mind at all. Tira Bright: you sure about it Timber. Timber Night Wolf: of course Tira, Timber been hanging out with you, and Nightshade all the time. There are time Timber do things that was a bit weird for me. Remember the time you, and Nightshade had to go shopping when you first turned into a dragon, and you had no clothing at all. Tira Bright: ugh, how would I forget! Nightshade was on my ass about me only wearing a dress that barely fit on me at all. So she force us to go out to the mall, and shop all day. I thought I would be bored looking at clothes all day. Timber Night Wolf: *she laugh* Timber thought so too, but Timber had a lot of fun. Remember when Nightshade made me wore an outfit that she want to buy, but her scales were in the malting season, and didn't want to ruin it. Tira Bright: oh yeah *she laugh* that was the funniest moment I ever seen, but somehow you was having fun wearing it. Timber Night Wolf: i did, because i was having a good time with my friends. Tira Bright: *she blush* yeah you did, but part of me still mad that some of the guys started making fun of you for wearing a dress. I was mad for what they said about, and I should have done something for dissing you like that. Timber Night Wolf: Tira, you know Timber is not afraid of *she stop talking for a moment when she see Tira eyes started to glare up a bit* Tira Bright: those jerk had no clue what you have to go through. Picking on on you for being different from them. If you let me, I would thought them a lesson, and *she stop talking when she felt Timber was hugging her* Timber what are you doing? Timber Night Wolf: pleas Tira, don't talk like that. Tira Bright: talk like what. Timber Night Wolf: Timber hear you talking in anger. Timber saw your eyes glare up when you get upset. Tira Bright: ...... Timber Night Wolf: please Tira, don't be mad, please be the Tira I know and love Tira try to hear what Timber was saying, but it was hard to hear with the fur blocking her ears. Timber hug feel like being hug by a giant teddy bear. The thought Tira had in her mind were gone, and finally hug her frien back. Tira Bright: don't worry Timber, I'm ok. Timber Night Wolf: are you sure? Tira Bright: yes Timber, I'm good this time. No more terrible thoughts. Timber Night Wolf: *she let go Tira, to give her space* I'm sorry Tira, you know how you get whenever you get mad. Tira Bright: I know, I guess I nearly forgot about my condition. I didn't meant to scare you like that. I should have known better. Timber Night Wolf: it's alright, just promise to never think about bad thoughts again. Tira Bright: that a promise I will do my best, better than the promise of turning you back to normal. Timber Night Wolf: *she laugh* I think I can manage of being a girl Tira. I got you and Nightshade to help me. Tira Bright: I think you better of accepting my help then Nightshade. Timber Night Wolf: you could say that again. That whole lingerie thing still embarrassing. Tira Bright *she laugh* most definitely. Any case, we best get going before we be running late for class. Timber Night Wolf: that what I came here for. Timber waited for you for some time, but you didn't came out. Tira Bright: sorry it took me so long, putting on this bra is a lot harder than I thought. I'm use not wearing anything as a Pegasus, but being a dragon stink that I have to put an outfit on. Timber Night Wolf: do you need more time? Tira Bright: nah, I think I should be fine now. All I really need is my lucky shirt, and we good to go. But as for you, you might need something else to wear. Timber Night Wolf: what wrong of what I wear. Tira Bright: nothing wrong, other than having a few tears, and it smell bad. Timber Night Wolf: well Timber wish I had something else, but this is the only clothes Timber had, and there no way I'm putting on a dress again. Tira Bright: I won't blame you for not wanting a dress, but I know just the outfit that would be perfect for you. Timber wasn't sure what Tira was up to, but she trusted her judgment most of the time, and see what she got. After several hours of waiting, and trying out different kind of outfits, Timber Night Wolf was able to wear a very cool looking outfit that came with a nice omcoat. The stocking she was wearing torn a little bit, but the outfit itself still pretty good. Tira look at Timber, and cheer her on for looking great. Timber on the other hand started to blush, feeling embarrassed of how cute she look. Tira Bright: what the matter Timber, don't you like the outfit you’re wearing? Timber Night Wolf: Timber do like it, Timber just feeling embarrassed for a moment. Tira Bright: well don't be Timber. You look great with that outfit on. Sure I sort of barrow it from my mother closet, but she got a few just like it. But what important that you look great in it. Timber Night Wolf: *her eyes started to tear* thank you Tira. Tira Bright: for what? Timber Night Wolf: for being a supportive friend. Timber never had many good friends like you. Timber happy you been a great help to me. Tira Bright: come on Timber, you don't need to thank me. You, and I been best friends for a long time. I always got your back, no matter what. Timber Night Wolf: thanks Tira Tira Bright: any time. Now then, we best get our tail in gear, before Nightshade start bugging us of why we were late. Timber Night Wolf: oh Tira, there is something Timber need to ask you. Tira Bright: Oh! What is it, Timber? Timber Night Wolf: ..... Well, when I was hugging you, did you heard something I said to you? Tira Bright: i think so, but only a bit though. The rest of the thing you said was a blur, until I was back to myself again. Why you ask? Timber Night Wolf: oh it nothing at all. Not a big deal. Tira Bright: are you sure Timber, if there is something you want to say, just say it. Timber Night Wolf: it quite alright. Come on, I raise you down stairs. Tira try to atop Timber, and see what wrong, but Timber already left the room. Tira trying to figure out what Timber was saying, but she guess that she was too shy to say it out loud. Tira Bright smile to herself knowing that she love her back, but figure she wait until Timber got the confidence to finally Express her feelings whenever she is ready. The End.

[worldofjonsa]

“You know nothing, Jon Snow.”

Ygritte is not the only character that can rightly be associated with “you know nothing”. We associate that line with Ygritte ALONE because she says it ALOT! But this might not be the only person that Jon has heard these words from, behind the scenes, and how Ygritte’s words are a reminder of someone, or someones, that could very well have said it to him too. (Just because we don’t get a POV narrative doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. There are MANY clues regarding other characters that we don’t get all the information about, but we get hints everywhere! So “You know nothing, Jon Snow” are words he very possibly could heard from Catelyn, the ONLY mother figure he’s ever really known (and he desired motherly affection from) and from Sansa, a sister who tries to live up to the image of her mother. The two most important feminine figures in Jon Snow’s life. An interesting thing is that we see Catelyn Stark use this phrase in ACOK before we ever hear it from Ygritte in ASOS. Here is the one from Catelyn Stark: ‘She opened her hands to look down at the scars across her fingers. His dagger’s marks, she reminded herself. His dagger, in the hand of the killer he paid to open Bran’s throat. Though the dwarf denied it, to be sure. Even after Lysa locked him in one of her sky cells and threatened him with her moon door, he had still denied it. “He lied,” she said, rising abruptly. “The Lannisters are liars every one, and the dwarf is the worst of them. The killer was armed with his own knife.” Ser Cleos stared. “I know nothing of any—” “You know nothing,” she agreed, sweeping from the cell. Brienne fell in beside her, silent.’ -Catelyn ACOK chapter 45 But the most interesting thing is, the FIRST time we see Ygritte says these words, they are in a different order, AND they are the chapter JUST before Sansa’s chapter where she is thinking these words. The FIRST we see Ygritte say it, she says Jon Snow’s name first. ALL the other times AFTERWARDS she says his name last. “Are all crows afraid of gooseprickles? A little ice won’t kill you. I’ll jump in with you t’prove it so.” “And ride the rest of the day with wet clothes frozen to our skins?” he objected. “Jon Snow, you know nothing. You don’t go in with clothes.” “I don’t go in at all,” he said firmly, just before he heard Tormund Thunderfist bellowing for him (he hadn’t, but never mind).” -Jon II ASOS THE VERY NEXT CHAPTER is Sansa’s POV: “Alyn said her favor made him fearless,” said Megga. “He says he shouted her name for his battle cry, isn’t that ever so gallant? Someday I want some champion to wear my favor, and kill a hundred men.” Elinor told her to hush, but looked pleased all the same. They are children, Sansa thought. They are silly little girls, even Elinor. They’ve never seen a battle, they’ve never seen a man die, they know nothing. Their dreams were full of songs and stories, the way hers had been before Joffrey cut her father’s head off. Sansa pitied them. Sansa envied them.” -Sansa II ASOS Do you think it a coincidence that the the very first time we see Ygritte use these words, it is immediately followed by Sansa thinking the same words? I don’t. No. Not coincidence. It gives a whole knew perspective to Jon’s thoughts before he gets stabbed at the end of ADWD. Jon flexed the fingers of his sword hand. The Night’s Watch takes no part. He closed his fist and opened it again. What you propose is nothing less than treason. He thought of Robb, with snowflakes melting in his hair. Kill the boy and let the man be born. He thought of Bran, clambering up a tower wall, agile as a monkey. Of Rickon’s breathless laughter. Of Sansa, brushing out Lady’s coat and singing to herself. You know nothing, Jon Snow. He thought of Arya, her hair as tangled as a bird’s nest. I made him a warm cloak from the skins of the six whores who came with him to Winterfell … I want my bride back … I want my bride back … I want my bride back … ‘ ~ Jon XIII, ADWD chapter 69 1. He thought of Robb, with snowflakes melting in his hair. (This is Jon’s last memory of Robb, when they said farewell before Jon left for the Wall. The last time he saw Robb) -Kill the boy and let the man be born. (Jon is associating Aemon’s words with his last memory of Robb. Why? This is why I think he does: “Allow me to give my lord one last piece of counsel,” the old man had said, “the same counsel that I once gave my brother when we parted for the last time......Kill the boy within you, I told him the day I took ship for the Wall. It takes a man to rule. An Aegon, not an Egg. Kill the boy and let the man be born.” -Jon II ADWD 2. He thought of Bran, clambering up a tower wall, agile as a monkey. (Here Jon doesn’t have ANY thoughts he associates with Bran) 3. Of Rickon’s breathless laughter. (Again, no thoughts in connection to Rickon.) But then: 4. Of Sansa, brushing out Lady’s coat and singing to herself. -You know nothing, Jon Snow. (Why does Jon associate Ygritte’s words with Sansa? Curiouser and curiouser...) Followed by: 5. He thought of Arya, her hair as tangled as a bird’s nest. -I made him a warm cloak from the skins of the six whores who came with him to Winterfell … I want my bride back … I want my bride back … I want my bride back … (These are the words from the Pink Letter from Ramsay Bolton who married fArya. Direct connection/association with his thoughts of Arya.) Wasn’t it Arya who Ygritte reminded him of? Not Sansa. Or is the reader missing all the subtleties of how Ygritte actually reminds Jon of Sansa, he just doesn’t mention her name in his thoughts. Ygritte’s singing, and tears, and weeping, and her red hair kissed by fire, these are all things that are associated with Sansa’s character!) Here are some book quotes: One was asleep, curled up tight and buried beneath a great mound of skins. Jon could see nothing of him but his hair, bright red in the firelight. On the ground the sleeper sat up beneath his furs. Jon slid his dirk free, grabbing the man by the hair and jamming the point of the knife up under his chin as he reached for his—no, her—His hand froze. “A girl.” He was so close he could smell onion on her breath. She is no older than I am. Something about her made him think of Arya, though they looked nothing at all alike. “Will you yield?” he asked, giving the dirk a half turn. And if she doesn’t? “I yield.” Her words steamed in the cold air. “You’re our captive, then.” He pulled the dirk away from the soft skin of her throat. -Jon ACOK chapter 51 Ygritte watched and said nothing. She was older than he’d thought at first, Jon realized; maybe as old as twenty, but short for her age, bandy-legged, with a round face, small hands, and a pug nose. Her shaggy mop of red hair stuck out in all directions. She looked plump as she crouched there, but most of that was layers of fur and wool and leather. Underneath all that she could be as skinny as Arya. -Jon ACOK chapter 51 “Sansa was a lady at three, always so courteous and eager to please. She loved nothing so well as tales of knightly valor. Men would say she had my look, but she will grow into a woman far more beautiful than I ever was, you can see that. I often sent away her maid so I could brush her hair myself. She had auburn hair, lighter than mine, and so thick and soft … the red in it would catch the light of the torches and shine like copper. -Catelyn ACOK chapter 55 ‘The wildlings seemed to think Ygritte a great beauty because of her hair; red hair was rare among the free folk, and those who had it were said to be kissed by fire, which was supposed to be lucky. Lucky it might be, and red it certainly was, but Ygritte’s hair was such a tangle that Jon was tempted to ask her if she only brushed it at the changing of the seasons. At a lord’s court the girl would never have been considered anything but common, he knew. She had a round peasant face, a pug nose, and slightly crooked teeth, and her eyes were too far apart. Jon had noticed all that the first time he’d seen her, when his dirk had been at her throat. Lately, though, he was noticing some other things. When she grinned, the crooked teeth didn’t seem to matter. And maybe her eyes were too far apart, but they were a pretty blue-grey color, and lively as any eyes he knew. Sometimes she sang in a low husky voice that stirred him. And sometimes by the cookfire when she sat hugging her knees with the flames waking echoes in her red hair, and looked at him, just smiling … well, that stirred some things as well. -Jon II ASOS She reminded him a little of his sister Arya, though Arya was younger and probably skinnier. It was hard to tell how plump or thin Ygritte might be, with all the furs and skins she wore. Do you know ‘The Last of the Giants’?” Without waiting for an answer Ygritte said, “You need a deeper voice than mine to do it proper.” Then she sang, “Ooooooh, I am the last of the giants, my people are gone from the earth. Tormund Giantsbane heard the words and grinned. “The last of the great mountain giants, who ruled all the world at my birth,” he bellowed back through the snow. Longspear Ryk joined in, singing, “Oh, the smallfolk have stolen my forests, they’ve stolen my rivers and hills.” “And they’ve built a great wall through my valleys, and fished all the fish from my rills,” Ygritte and Tormund sang back at him in turn, in suitably gigantic voices. There were tears on Ygritte’s cheeks when the song ended. “Why are you weeping?” Jon asked. “It was only a song. There are hundreds of giants, I’ve just seen them.” “Oh, hundreds,” she said furiously. “You know nothing, Jon Snow..” -Jon II ASOS Jon had never met anyone so stubborn, except maybe for his little sister Arya. Is she still my sister? he wondered. Was she ever? He had never truly been a Stark, only Lord Eddard’s motherless bastard, with no more place at Winterfell than Theon Greyjoy. And even that he’d lost. When a man of the Night’s Watch said his words, he put aside his old family and joined a new one, but Jon Snow had lost those brothers too. -Jon III ASOS She bit his neck and he nuzzled hers, burying his nose in her thick red hair. Lucky, he thought, she is lucky, fire-kissed. “Isn’t that good?” she whispered as she guided him inside her. -Jon III ASOS “There’s naught to eat in the dark but flesh,” she whispered, biting at his neck. Jon nuzzled her hair and filled his nose with the smell of her. “You sound like Old Nan, telling Bran a monster story.” -Jon III ASOS “Were you a maid?” Ygritte pushed herself onto an elbow. “I am nineteen, and a spearwife, and kissed by fire. How could I be maiden?” “Who was he?” “A boy at a feast, five years past. He’d come trading with his brothers, and he had hair like mine, kissed by fire, so I thought he would be lucky. But he was weak. When he came back t’ try and steal me, Longspear broke his arm and ran him off, and he never tried again, not once.” “It wasn’t Longspear, then?” Jon was relieved. He liked Longspear, with his homely face and friendly ways. She punched him. “That’s vile. Would you bed your sister?” “Longspear’s not your brother.” “He’s of my village. You know nothing, Jon Snow.” -Jon III ASOS “Jon grinned, reached over, and messed up her hair. Arya flushed. They had always been close. Jon had their father’s face, as she did. They were the only ones. Robb and Sansa and Bran and even little Rickon all took after the Tullys, with easy smiles and fire in their hair. When Arya had been little, she had been afraid that meant that she was a bastard too. It had been Jon she had gone to in her fear, and Jon who had reassured her.” -Arya I AGOT He woke to the sight of his own breath misting in the cold morning air. When he moved, his bones ached. Ghost was gone, the fire burnt out. Jon reached to pull aside the cloak he’d hung over the rock, and found it stiff and frozen. He crept beneath it and stood up in a forest turned to crystal. The pale pink light of dawn sparkled on branch and leaf and stone. Every blade of grass was carved from emerald, every drip of water turned to diamond. Flowers and mushrooms alike wore coats of glass. Even the mud puddles had a bright brown sheen. Through the shimmering greenery, the black tents of his brothers were encased in a fine glaze of ice. So there is magic beyond the Wall after all. He found himself thinking of his sisters, perhaps because he'd dreamed of them last night. Sansa would call this an enchantment, and tears would fill her eyes at the wonder of it, but Arya would run out laughing and shouting, wanting to touch it all. -Jon III ACOK So: Jon thinks that Ygritte reminds him of Arya because of her stubbornness and her tangled hair, and how skinny she is, but the things that Jon likes most about Ygritte is her singing, her tears, and he thinks of her red hair on multiple occasions. There really isn’t anything else that sticks out to him besides these two things during the time he is with the wildlings. Ygritte =Arya= tangled hair, skinny, stubborn When they looked nothing alike. But on an unconscious level: Ygritte =Sansa= singing, tears, red hair These are what Jon fell in love with. The ONLY things that stirred him. He was thinking of Sansa singing while brushing Lady’s fur. Singing. Then, you know nothing...