#and yet she keeps wondering why he wont forgive her

[freakinator]

if mapiccs right and zam Does wanna end tge server i dont even blame him bro like wth is this

[bridgyrose]

Cinder clutched her shoulder as she took a few deep breaths while she waited for the pain to dull. It had been seven long months since the grimm had been removed, leaving her without her left arm and eye, and the pain never seemed to go away. It was almost as if a fire was burning in her veins and out her shoulder where her arm should’ve been. 

“One,” she said, her voice shaking as her fingers gripped her shoulders until she could feel her nails digging into her skin. “Two. Three. Four. F-five…” Her voice cut out as the burning pain started to intensify, her own fingers shaking as she tried to keep her mind off it. “S-seven… eight… nine… ten…” 

The pain slowly started to die down like it always did and Cinder pulled her hand away from her shoulder. Those ten seconds of pain always felt like minutes. And yet she preferred it over the gnawing pain that the grimm arm had given her. The way it dug into her, feasting on her despair and anger as if it was digging through her soul for its next meal. 

Cinder nearly flinched as she heard a knock on her apartment door. She grabbed her prosthetic arm and started to put it on. “Come in.” 

“Are you ready?” Yang asked as she walked in. “We’ve got a long day ahead of ourselves.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m ready,” Cinder said as she finished putting her prosthetic in place, wincing as she felt everything connect. Her mechanical fingers shook as she closed and opened them to make sure everything was still working correctly. The arm itself wasnt the best, one of the cheaper options that was available in Vacuo but it at least allowed her to do her job. “You know you dont have to come get me every time, right? Honestly, it’d probably make your day easier.” 

Yang rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. “Dont get me wrong, I’m not a fan of this either. However, Oscar said you wanted to change. So while I wont forgive you, I’ll at least make sure you keep up with your end.” 

Cinder let out a heavy sigh and got up once she was sure her arm was working correctly. “What are we doing today?” 

“Helping rebuild a few homes near the outskirts of the city. Another sinkhole opened up.” 

“Lead the way,” Cinder said quietly as she followed Yang out of her apartment. 

As the two walked through Vacuo, Cinder couldnt help but wonder what Yang got out of helping her like this. Ruby was easy to understand, helping people was practically in her blood. And even easier to understand was her reluctance to even give her a shot at trying to change. Then there was Weiss, a few heated words that made it clear that she didnt trust her, but would stay out of it. Blake and Nora were the only two who seemed to give her a chance at change, not forgiving her but at least arguing on her behalf. Even Jaune and Ren seemed to be indifferent to everything, though they agreed that giving Cinder a chance wasnt the worst thing in the world. 

But Yang wasnt as easy to read. Sure, helping others like Ruby did was in her veins as well, but it was almost as if she’d pick and choose who she’d help instead of trying to help everyone like Ruby would. She volunteered to be the handler, but seemed to almost not care about whether or not anything was actually done. 

“You seem quieter today,” Yang said as she slowed down. “Finally out of complaints?” 

Cinder shook her head. “What do you get out of this?” 

“Get out of what?” 

“Helping me.” 

“Nothing I suppose.” 

“Then why do it?”

“Why does it matter?” 

“Because no one does anything without getting something from it.” Cinder looked at her arm and took a deep breath as she felt her shoulder start to burn again. “Salem used me to get what she wanted as long as I followed her, Emerald and Mercury were people I could control for a while… hell, even Rhodes was getting something out of me when he trained me. So what exactly is that you get? Money? Power?” 

Yang shrugged as she came to a stop. “Its… the right thing to do?” 

“I dont follow.” 

“I was raised to believe that everyone can choose to be good or evil, that no one is born that way. Some people have the choice to choose, for others the choice is taken from them. Besides, Blake thinks you deserve a chance to prove yourself and I trust her. Other than that, it doest matter to me what you do. Stick around and help or run off, its your choice.” 

Cinder went quiet as she watched Yang walk off, still not sure how much she believed. And yet, it wasnt like she knew Yang enough to really say anything against it. Over the last six months, she never once tried to force her to do anything, only keeping an eye on her. 

“Are you coming or did you decide to bail this time?” Yang asked from ahead. 

“I’m coming!” Cinder called as she started to walk again. She still didnt understand why she was being given this choice, but if it was going to be hers, then she was going to do what she could to try to make things right. Or at least to be the huntress she had wanted to be.

[evita-shelby]

Incantatrice

Chapter 20

Cw: murder, suicide, ghosts and blood

A/N: friends, romans, countrymen, it has been an honor to write this fic with y'all

Special thanks to @thegreatdragonfruta @zablife @wandawiccan60 @call-sign-shark @cljordan-imperium and @minaethrym

It has been a year since Grace died in his arms. Had she lived would their marriage have survived the year, he wonders?

Would she have lived to leave him and take Charlie or would she have stuck by his side even as the Italians kill them one by one?

Tommy is pushed to call for a truce after Arthur’s death. So close to Grace’s death that their funerals take place the same day even if a year apart.

First John now Arthur. Only Finn remains and he has been packed off to Boston with Ada and Karl for their safety.

“Where will you go?” Polly asks him after she tells him of her plans to go to Australia and find Anna’s grave. Michael is hesitant to go, but keeps his knowledge of Polly’s deal with Luca a secret.

Self-preservation trumps all after all. Not that he blames them.

“Hell, finally.” Tommy is strangely at peace with it.

With Grace and Lizzie and little Charlie he had considered staying alive, but now he knows it was never the sapphire, he is the curse.

As long as he lives, everyone he loves will keep dying.

First with Grace and now with Arthur.

He might make it easier for Luca and just take his revolver into his mouth. No one but Tommy Shelby can kill Tommy Shelby.

They have lost anyways.

“I would have said there is still a chance, but I don’t think there is even if we had divine intervention.” The witch taps the card that came next in their last reading.

Two of cups, failure, loss.

The vendetta would be over, the Changrettas the winners.

But at least its over.

“If you can keep an eye on Charlie for me, I would forgive you for betraying me, Pol.”

His aunt nods sadly, and leaves to catch the last train to London.

“Do it, Thomas, we will be together again, me and you and Charlie watching us from heaven with Lizzie and little Ruby.” Grace’s voice said as if she stood behind him.

The way she adds Charlie’s name sends a shiver down his spine.

Had the Italians killed him?

“Luca doesn’t keep his promises, my love, he took my sweet boy even if he wasn’t your son.” The ghost says and he turns to see her in her modest clothes when she was a barmaid, when she pretended to be the woman he fell in love with. “Join us, while we wait for the others, Tom. Just take the gun and join us.”

And he does.

Thomas Shelby is thirty-six years old when he takes his own life.

On a two of cups he wrote: “You did not keep your word.”

And just like that, it is over.

The villain defeated, the dead avenged and England ripe for the taking.

And yet Eva’s wine tastes like blood all the same.

It never got easier for her, killing even indirectly always made her see how further and further the light is.

“Tonight we celebrate our victory, maga. Tomorrow my mother comes with the children and our new life truly begins.” Luca takes the glass and kissed her hands drenched in blood only she can see.

“You killed them all didn’t you?” He is covered in blood as well, but his have the handprints of children on his pristine white shirt.

Luca plays dirty, she should’ve known he wont let them live.

“A vendetta is a vendetta, I couldn’t take any chances, Eva.” He explains his actions so well she can almost believe his lies.“I didn’t want to, but I had to, vita mia.”

He wanted then dead, always has.

His brother and father’s death only gave him the reasons to finally do it.

“Why?” she asks as to why he’d go so far.

Polly and Michael never got on their train, Ada and the two boys never reached Benjamin Younger where he waited for them to start their life together.

Every single drop of Shelby blood had been spilled over the earth on his orders while they celebrated Tommy’s suicide.

“Because I don’t forgive those who betray me.” Luca’s hold on her wrists become manacles, manacles that won’t ever come off now.

The shadow that she saw the day they married had never left, how could it leave when it had become them.

A year ago today the shadow had begun to consume Luca and now the transformation was complete.

The man who stands before her has become the true devil of Birmingham, and she his queen.

He is not the man you think he is, she can hear Audrey’s warnings.

But I do know him, the witch reminds herself, they’d been married for six years and she knows him.

She should’ve known he wasn’t going to stop until everyone was dead. And now that Shelby was gone, he wouldn’t stop until all of England fears the Black Hand.

Sabini will learn that the hard way when he outlives his use to her husband. Poor little Aurora will die just like her parents and siblings will too.

And because she loves him, she will help him every step of the way.

“A good thing I never plan to, mi amor.” The witch let go of his hands and wrapped them around his neck.

No matter what she will never regret choosing him over all the men the world had offered her that day.

With a kiss she lets the darkness consume her as it seeps in through her mouth in a loving kiss.

Fin

[imaginespazzi]

hey nivi! i've read GH since the beginning and always look forward to bookclub reviews so i thought i'd write my own since ive been suffering for 42 days without a new chapter 😆

heartbreaking to see the moment paige's hope gets crushed. like why was i hoping azzi would show up in that moment... unrealistic bc you like to break our hearts sm

WE NEED TO KNOW THE DETAILS OF THE BREAKUP RNNN i feel like azzi had good reason to be hesitant but its killing me that we dont know what. the miscommunication angst is gonna go crazy

Drew doesn’t really remember Paige without Azzi- doesn’t remember a time before his sister knew how to heal without the brunette’s touch HELPPPP their breakup def shattered his perception of love

Because Drew and Paige are cut from the same material and letting Azzi into the folds seems to just come naturally to both of them. rly giving me hope that everything was gonna be okay.. when is drew gonna come around 🙁 im wondering if paige ever explained why they broke up

“I won’t let it happen again.” i fear drew is not gonna let it slide this time.. i can sense the obstacles its gonna take for them to be together again

i love when paige calls azzi baby.

i dont know why i was surprised but it makes sense that paige hasn't forgiven azzi yet. im curious to see if paige truly knows azzis reasoning for saying no. maybe if they have that conversation later and azzi reveals why she did it then paige might have clarity and forgive her so they can move on

“I know what she deserves. I think I know what’s good for my daughter,” Azzi says steely and Paige feels something cold squeezing through her ribcage, “no soda Stephie. End of discussion.” guys i dont think this is about soda.. i think this is the beginning of azzi pulling away and realizing how much paige has attached herself to their life and its scaring her

“what are you gonna do when she walks away again? When she lets you go again, what are you gonna do Paige?” if azzi overheard this i hope she takes it as motivation to reassure paige she wont leave instead of running away again. in her head she probably thinks that leaving sooner rather than later is the best choice but the only real choice is to STAY!!!

"Paige feels the blood drain out of her body as she slowly turns around to find Stephie and Azzi -their faces ashen with identical expressions of betrayal- staring at her. " earth shattering. stephie finding out this way was heartbreakingggg. i thought that paige could stay if she wanted to though i think this could be worked through but in this moment everyone is so heated and azzi and stephie are definitely thinking the worst things rn NIVI FIX THIS!! i think everyone just needs to talk it out and take small steps to forgive each other.

anyways thank you so much nivi for writing the best pazzi series ive ever read. it is always the light of my day, week, and month when you post. im so excited to see how this plays out i am craving moree. but take your time i will be right here when you are ready to release the next chapter

love,

-💋💄

Hello hello friend, welcome to book club!

It would just be too simple if she had shown up and I like to keep things a little....complex shall we say.

I think Azzi's reason were valid but perhaps not the greatest execution. I'm very excited to eventually go into her POV about it and keen to see how y'all respond to that.

Drew's worldview was changed by the breakup and now he's very guarded about himself and his sister.

Interesting theories :)

I really like seeing y'alls responses because I think y'all might be surprised by how I eventually decide write things out in comparison to what y'all are expecting but it also helps me add a little bit to what I'm already planning.

Thank YOU so much my love for reading and taking the time to give me your thoughts, that's always so very appreciated.

[cakessecretblog]

R 8/27

i once saw someone say, "my final act of love is leaving you alone", and i pretend like that's what i did for you, i tried so hard for years to prove how much i loved you. I know you did too, i know how hard you tried, i promise.

i know how i showed my love was different from most, i know i wasn't the most stable, caring or affectionate. i hate myself every day for the things i did wrong. i spend a lot of time dwelling, wondering why i cant go back and change it all.

i put on an old shirt today, it smelled like us. or what i imagine the smell we grew to create. isn't it funny to think that the time we spent was literally washed away?

its hard not you check on you, its been months, so many people blocked, removed, so many people i had to give up on. i simply want my own peace, yet i find myself on lonely nights like this thinking of you. i honestly don't even know what you're up to, or if you & her are even still together.

the other night i had a gut wrenching thought, that you might marry her and you might dance to the song i wanted for us. god that tore me apart.

i think you'd be proud of me if you could see me now. some days i catch myself thinking about reasons to text you. i think to myself, "does he not reach out because he hasn't given me a second thought, or is it because i don't reach out and he thinks its for the best to leave it alone?" and i guess its just a projection of how i feel, but the ladder is easier on the mind.

I've also done a lot of things not even i am proud of. i wont go into specifics, but its taken a lot of trail and error to get to where i am now, and I'm still not good enough.

I've made a lot of new friends, a lot of people have become important in my life without me even realizing. clearly, I've stayed single. but its not that i didn't try. I did, over and over and over. i meet someone that i like, and then on a random tuesday when the sun is bright in my eyes and i slept a little too late that morning, i fucking hate them. men, women, doesn't matter. nobody, no body, is good enough.

i cant tell if I'm lonely, or scared to be alone. some days i feel like if i don't start dating soon, it'll be a big topic of discussion at your families dinner table. "look at poor [redacted] and her inability to love and be loved, we always knew she was a nutcase" i wonder how many of those sessions you and her have sat in on and laughed over. does it bond you closer together?

i'm unsure if you know, but our son passed away this month. if you didn't know, im sorry you found out this way, i swear on my life i wanted you there. i just fucking couldn't bring myself to make that call. please forgive me. my inability to face you stole your last moments with our boy. i was also, petrified, that you wouldn't even care, our lives are so far separate now, would a call have even went through? on the other hand, if you know, why didn't you say something? no one did. you, your siblings, your parents. my heartache was nothing to bat an eye over.

theres so much i have to say to you. six long months of me alone in my room, just asking question after question. i feel like i could keep typing for hours, but everything would get redundant. i need time to think about the things i say.

what i really wanted to say at the end of the day is, i wish i could talk to you, but i hope i never see you again. and i love you. and i wish you were dead. and i wish we had the life we envisioned. a few weeks ago, flipping through my old sketch books i found a page, from 2020. it was a rough sketch of our first apartment together, and both of our hand writings.

oh god, i miss you so much.

[behindbrowneyezz]

It's funny how time changes things isnt it? One minute you're super close to everyone around you, you're busy with work, extra activies, extra chores, maybe you try to sleep in an extra few days that month...then before you know so many things have changed. I feel bad that tomorrow is Indys birthday tomorrow and no one is really trying to hang out. I just feel like over the last year shes done nothing but expect us all to do what SHE wants...now everyone's tired and dont want to go and spend a ton of money on a night out when we can be at home doing the same for not even half the price. I love her, but life is hard as it is. WHY can't she be a better friend to us all? I'll never get it. Weve all been so nice to her as well and i think she just MUST have control, but the thing is we all just want to be able to be ourselves. I feel bad, i feel like Sarah is always going to break down and do what she wants...even Fernando. Im pretty sure that's why she gets upset with me, because the second i feel like youre trying to be in control of me..or make me feel less then, i just wont come around. Its actually that simple for me. I have such a hard time being around most women that are older then me. I also feel like mr. dub is literally constantly lying to me. I cant stand it. Ive never met someone so exhausting to be around besides my own blood relatives. i suppose that's used to draw me to him. I used to love how much he reminds me of my father. ..now all it does is stress me out. Its a drag actually. Looking back im not even sure why i clinged on so tight, besides the fact that he truly reminds me of my dad. the devil. I hope one day i can forgive them both for all the pain they have caused me over the years. It's even more exhausting to constantly relive through all that pain. I think my dad used to be one hell of a man. He was full of courage, love, and excitement. He hated people but he would give the shirt off his back if he felt like he should. Sometimes i wonder what really happened in his head in 2010...what made him so unhappy all of a sudden...was it really his marriage to Angela? Was it money? Did he really hate all of us at home all the time? or did he hate the fact that we weren't home enough? I wish he wouldn't of shoved me away so much. Some days its hard to love myself because i wonder why he raised me to be someone he was going to hate for the rest of his life. Its funny too, considering he never can go a week without talking his mommy. Yet, he expects his own children to be able to live a life without him, any guidance, etc. I wish i didn't hate him, I wish i could just forget about him completely. Anyway, more on that later...

Also, why the fuck are men so God damn gross?! AND fucking just pathetic most days. I truly dont get it. NO one wants to see you little dick, no one wants to hear about your stupid fantasies, no one gives a fuck about what you look like without a shirt and pants on. I mean good grief....The amount of guys that grossly still hit me up from high school...talking about 'wow i would love to see you, ya know i had a big crush on you back then' like yea yea yea sure sure sure...baby go get off somewhere else and leave me alone. I find it sad. Maybe guys really do have that hard of a time to find someone that they can sleep with on the regular...but truthfully they shouldnt be hitting people up from 10 years ago because they are horny. Its disgusting and sad. SO SO sad. Yall need Jesus. Well thats all for now, im going to go shower and maybe cut my babies hair. <3

you're loved, you dont need your dad or any other man for that matter to tell you otherwise. IM sorry people have always let you down, maybe one day when youre gone, they will actually miss you. stay strong, keep smiling, and for the love of God, finish the lost boy tonight.

XO, Ashh

[drrutherford]

noraberkeley​:

It’s true that she doesn’t have all the context, is working on lacking information and hearsay. Can’t quite fathom why anyone would want to hurt Lara Rutherford, even if she’d now wonder that the ‘can’t’ should be couldn’t.  If she understood, even a little, it would change her entire perspective. If she cared less for Lara’s actual safety she might not be so critical. Might not have felt the loss before the punch.  What she does know, however, is that she can not bear this aftermath. As much as she feels betrayed, her own trauma abused and dismissed- it terrifies her that her loved ones should feel powerless. Should sign up for one thing and be party to another. Spectacle not safety.  That Gideon is, once again, defending himself while subject to judgment and loss. 

Love isn’t a bartering chip. It’s free, It’s horrifying that Damon didn’t learn that when he should have. That Gideon went without after knowing it. That every one of them seems to feel they must earn their new shelter, this Rutherford name, this family above all else. Shut out every other type of love to ensure the one they think they owe. 

She may be a fool for it, but she can’t ignore him when he asks for proof that there are more possibilities than debt and decisions made with sacrifice.  Her fingerlengths curve against his, a loose loop so he is free instead of tangled.  She hasn’t spoken at all. 

“It’s not your fault, but it is your mistake.” One she’s sure he would make again.  “I don’t know what I’d do if someone threatened Mills. We almost lost Cassie. And Damon. And Charlie. And if keeping quiet would have.. When Ethan’s… when it was delivered to me, I kept wondering how I could have prevented it. How to reverse time. Well you can’t predict the future or go back to the past, only do exactly as you do.  I just.. You’ve long been my family, yet you wont let anyone else be yours. Not Charlie, not me. And I can’t tell if it’s Katherine or Rutherford. I can’t tell if everyone outside your walls is just collateral damage.now. I can’t tell if you’ll jump on every landmine yourself to leave a path for your siblings.” 

.

Nora’s hand remains limp in his, but he tells himself it’s better than the alternative.

Better than for her to pull away entirely, to shut him out, to repel his attempts to seek forgiveness. Spencer’s already taken that route, and although he can hardly blame the man, he’s not sure he could handle it if Nora were to give him the cold shoulder too. He loves his family but it’s a steep price to pay... Steeper when he’s beginning to wonder whether he should’ve pushed back harder in search of a better alternative. Would his father have allowed it?... Would Lara have resented him for it? 

Most importantly; would it have made an ounce of difference to her level of safety?

He doesn’t know. The adage claims hindsight’s twenty-twenty, but that’s an answer he’ll never have. Gideon squeezes Nora’s hand reflexively, desperate to convey his commitment to their friendship despite his mistakes; despite how short he’s fallen of being worthy of it in recent months.

‘It’s not your fault, but it is your mistake.’

“It’s my mistake.” He echoes quickly, amending the sentence with little thought and even less understanding. Mistake, fault, guilt, burden — what’s the difference?... A difference in etymology, certainly, but what’s the tangible, practical difference? They all wear down on his shoulders just the same, they all stick to his throat like tar.

“It’s my mistake, Nora... And I’m sorry for it.” The neurosurgeon exhales, staring at the translucent contents of his mug. “I don’t want to fail you again. It-... It makes me sick. And no matter what you think you’re... You’re more family than friend to me. You and Spencer both.” It’s spoken in earnest, though he isn’t sure the rest of his family would appreciate the sentiment, or respect such a convenient loophole were he to have applied it to opt-out of the collective silence on Lara’s survival.

He’s certain he’s done wrong. He’s not so certain what might’ve prevented it. Any way he looks at it, someone would’ve been collateral. His sister and her safety, or the deepest feelings of his other loved ones. ‘You’ll jump on every landmine,’ Nora warns him forebodingly, and inwardly Gideon laments it.

What choice do I have when I’m in a war?... He doesn’t ask her. 

What choice does any soldier get on a battlefield littered with either landmines — or corpses? He flinches at her remark but doesn’t offer any answer. Somewhere on the floor above them, he hears Damon’s footsteps. He releases Nora’s hand reluctantly and pushes his chair back from the table. Slowly, he rises to his feet. “I should go talk to him.” The sibling offers, because hers is far from the only apology he owes today.

— End.

[multifandoms27-blog]

Seto Kaiba pre-relationship headcanons pt. 2

Content: MORE SETOOOOO <3

Warnings: Uhhh none I don't think

Notes: Part 2 hehe. Part 1 here

~*~*~*

OKAY. So to add on to before, I don't think Kaiba would pay a whole lot of attention to you until he finally gets some time off to go on a vacation with Mokuba, and Mokuba wants you to come with

It's clear that the younger Kaiba brother looks up to you so much already, and he texts you while you're in school all the time, so much that Kaiba's had to tell him to stop so you can focus on your studies

Mokuba actually gave Seto your number, he just has yet to text you back lol

So, Seto agrees to let you come along on the vacation. He texts you during school (after he just told Mokuba not to smh) and just fucking tells you that you're going. Doesn't check to see if it's okay LMFAO

You're just kinda staring at your phone before texting your parents/guardians that you'll be going on vacay with the Kaiba's.

(Forgive me, I've never been outside of America so I don't know what this is like) Seto and Mokuba are set on going to the Carribean, so you packed your bags and went with them

Seto, now relaxing by the poolside while you and Mokuba play in the pool, he's scrolling through social media on his iPad when he gets hit on the head with a beach ball

He looks up and Mokuba is hiding behind you, both of you looking terrified

He puts the iPad down. “Yes?”

“U-Umm…maybe put the tech down and…spend time with us?” You say, not so confidently.

"I have wor-"

"But it's a vacation, Kaiba." You retort. "C'mon...live a little. At least for Mokuba?"

Seto sighs and puts the iPad down, taking off his shirt and jumping into the pool, splashing both of you.

Seto is actually surprisingly easy to get along with, as seen when he resurfaced and immediately pounced on you and Mokuba.

"You wanted me to put down the tech!" He says.

Seto will take pictures of you, him and Mokuba before going out on dinners or to nearby beaches, or just even out anywhere. Seto's actually big on capturing the moment, change my mind.

When he posts the pictures, he'll tag you in them, surprising everybody at home. Joey would comment some shit like “WOAH (nickname) YOU WEREN’T KIDDING 🤯🤯🤯”

If Seto finds you two asleep, he'll drape a blanket over the two of you (and may just give you a lil smooch on the forehead before reeling back and being like "wtf why did I do that")

He'd also be watching a movie with you two and Mokuba falls asleep, leaning against you. You both snicker and make sure the blanket is keeping him warm.

"Thank you, Kaiba. For the vacation." You beam tiredly.

"Hm? Of course." Seto responds.

"Can I lean against you...? I'm a little tired..." You'd yawn.

"mhm." Seto nods, not taking his eyes off of the movie.

You lean against him, head on his shoulder, and you slowly fall asleep on him. He'd look down at you and give you a soft smile, once again leaning in and kissing your forehead, less shocked that he did it this time.

Mokuba catches on to Seto's growing feelings for you before he does, and teases him about it.

"You like (Y/n)!"

"What? Mokuba, that's preposterous."

"Admit it! You like her!"

"No, I do not!"

"Okay, so you wont mind if she goes on a date with Yugi, hm?" Mokuba smirks.

"Don't you dare!" Seto retorts.

"HA!"

Once y'all get back home, there's already many rumors that you and Seto are dating. Now people at school hang off of you like tree sap on a tree trunk.

Seto doesn't answer the rumors. Mokuba is begging him to just ask you out, Seto is trying to figure out his feelings, and you're wondering why Seto hasn't answered the rumors yet. It's a mess.

Eventually, Seto finally mans up.

He comes home late once again, you're just scrolling through your phone on the couch.

"What're you still doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you, Seto."

"Fitting. I also have something I need to talk to you about." He's fucking nervous.

"You go first, then."

Seto then confesses how he feels about you, and how he wants to pursue a romantic relationship with you.

"...Well that partially goes along with what I was gonna say."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I was gonna say, either deny or confirm those dating rumors and either reject me or date me."

Guess you're dating now <3

Probably gonna make part 3?

[hyperfixghost]

Ghost’s Post-Game AU!

Spoilers! (Obviously)

Happy Pizzaplex Family!

Gregory has survived the night with only a few bumps and bruises, Vanny has been purged, and the Pizzaplex is still standing. Freddy and Gregory return to the main place.

Somehow (I’m not a professional lmao), they manage to fix the animatronics, by recovering their hard drives, and putting them into the one spare endoskeleton that exists in case of an emergency like this. Freddy is upset justifiably, but he can see the kid regrets it.

The rebuilt animatronics wake up and are obviously confused, and Gregory is also (obviously) nervous. Freddy approaches them, happy they are functioning.

Freddy is still hurt by what Gregory did, but he could learn to forgive him. He obviously regretted what he’d done.

<<Skip>>

Gregory lives in the pizzaplex now, but he needs to hide from the human staff! Gregory isn’t supposed to be there after all, and Vanessa is still out to catch the kid, she knows he’s still inside, a gut feeling if you will.

Sun and Gregory have made up, and are now pretty much buddies! Sun lets Gregory hang out in their room when he couldn’t be wandering around during the day, lest staff find out he isn’t supposed to be there.

Gregory was getting very antsy though, and jealous of the kids who got to wonder around during the day. But some help from some dropped cash and the Glamrocks, Gregory managed to get himself a membership so that he could wander around during the day, under the guise that his parents worked at the Pizzaplex (it wasn’t a lie! The animatronics were his family now). This let Gregory wander around during the day, and still be a kid!

During the evening, Gregory snoozes in a modified medical cot in the back room of Freddy’s room, As the cameras would catch him. It’s actually quite comfy, with the addition of blankets and pillows!

Roxy and Gregory are great friends, and he calls her “Auntie Roxy”. They love to race each other during the night.

Monty and Gregory are sort of friends, but Freddy keeps Gregory at a distance from him. Freddy still won’t tell Gregory why their relationship is so tense, but it’s a decent concern to him. Monty tries to be “better” to Gregory, letting Gregory do things Freddy would never let the kid do, hoping to win him over.

Chica and Gregory are also quite good friends! Chica spoils him with food, but also wont hesitate to steal his food as a joke. Chica is like a secondary parent to him, and takes care of him when Freddy or Sun isn’t available.

Gregory and Moon…have not met yet. Glitched Moon caused a slightly permanent limp in the child. Moon feels bad for what they did during Vanny’s glitch, and is avoiding him. Sun is trying to get them to talk, but Moon is being stubborn. Moon is also rather scared of Gregory being terrified of them, which he is. Sun and Freddy have a plan though.

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Feel free to draw or write for this AU, but if doing so, please tag me! I’d love to see it sm <3

[aliensunflower-fics]

Marinette The Perfect Daughter In Law: A Prompt

[ I've seen a few ‘everyone loves Marinette AU’s’ and a couple Marvel DC ‘all the mentors want THEIR kid to end up with Marinette AU’s’ and well frankly! I felt inspired! So I present to you my new prompt / AU thing! In which all the most powerful / rich / popular people in Paris decide to play matchmaker… ]

It starts when Adrien and Kagami have a less than AMICABLE break up according to their parents and the media anyway in reality it was a really REALLY dull break up. The pair have been ‘dating’ (using each other as an excuse to go out and experience normal teenage stuff) since they were 15. Now at 17 soon to be 18 the pair decided to publicly break up in order to pursue other people and interests. The problem is they never told their parents the truth so both Gabriel and Kagami’s mother Tomeo feel protective and concerned about what must surely be an upsetting first heartbreak for their child. And okay maybe both parents take that out on each other and both get a bit defensive and protective. And MAYBE it ends with Tomeo vowing to get revenge for her daughter. Enter, Marinette. Up and coming fashion designer for the rich and famous! She’s single, talented, and as far as Tomeo knows Gabriel is interested in the girl for her talent. So what better revenge could exist but having Marinette take an interest in Kagami!

Kagami has no idea why her mother suddenly has an interest in Marinette but she wont complain about having more time with her very cute designer friend. And all the outfits Tomeo is paying Marinette to make for Kagami is giving the young fencer plenty of up-close and personal moments with Marinette. And okay Marinette is VERY cute and Kagami wont question why she suddenly has all this tine with Marinette, eating ice cream with the girl and having brunch. But she knows shes absolutely head over heels when Marinette shows up at her fencing tournament gives her a luck charm and cheers her on wearing HER colors. Obviously Kagami wiped the floor with all the competition she cant be seen hesitating in front of Marinette!

On Tomeo’s side of things she makes sure that the paparazzi still lurking around after Kagami and Adrien’s breakup catch photos of what could easily be interpreted as dates between the girls. After all this is a revenge ploy but also Marinette is fantastic so Tomeo is 300% down with Kagami ‘bringing her into the family’ something she tells Kagami after the first paparazzi ‘date photos’ leak into the news. Kagami still has no idea this was an orchestrated affair and just thinks her mothers caught on to her feelings and is overjoyed that Marinette is approved of because after the cheek kiss Marinette gave her for winning the fencing tournament Kagami was preparing to fight her mother for the right to pursue the young designer seriously. After all she never hesitates! 

But Tomeo never realized Gabriel isnt the only one interested in Marinette. Audrey Bourgeouis has been keeping an eye on Marinette trying to find a way to get Marinette on to her side and away from Gabriel. So when she sees the photos of Kagami and Marinette she sees an opportunity. After all if Marinette isnt exclusively into men (and those photos of her flushed cheeks as Kagami cleans ice cream off her bottom lip are a clear indication shes not) then Audrey smells opportunity. After all Marinette was Chloe’s first crush! How cute would that be! The next day Marinette is being offered yet another opportunity to intern under Audrey this time with much looser restrictions. When Marinette accepts she suddenly finds herself working with Chloe… A LOT. The pair are modeling together, often paired together for shoots in perfect complementary clothes that screams ‘opposites attract’. Chloe is also helping manage Marinette’s brand and the two start to get along very well. The model photos and their business lunches are soon plastered alongside the Kagami and Marinette outings with parisian gossip blogs finding their interest picked by this potential love triangle.

Chloe for one, was confused at first. Sure she knew her mom was interested in Marinette but she never thought SHE would be working so closely with her first crush. And Chloe tries to ignore it, after all those are dead feelings! And Marinette woud never forgive her anyway so why even- Wait. Is that Marinette in a downright gorgeous golden dress? A-and she will be posing right next to Chloe for their shared shoot? Well… Chloe always thought herself deserving of royalty and damn if Marinette aint the princess of her dreams. Sorry Adriken’s you had your chance to get the girl, but now its winner keeps all and Marinette is the only prize shes interested in. For the record Alya is freaked out by Chloe being nice, but shes more weirded out by Chloe being protective and handsy and downright shamelessly flirty with Marinette. Audrey is pleased when she hears the news and is quick to give her daughter encouragement acting as if none of this was premeditated at ALL.

Oh but they have no idea that this is just the beginning. Because guess who's moved back into town. Adrien’s favorite cousin and aunty. And Felix’s mom is quite the busybody and dammit Felix needs friends! And maybe a cute girlfriend! And oh whos that pretty girl on the magazine cover? Marinette? The one her celebrity connections have nothing but praise for? Perfect! Shes invited to lunch with Felix and herself on friday to discuss movie costumes! And oh Audrey dear dont you think Marinette would look fabulous sandwiched between TWO blondes! Felix hasnt modeled in a while but come now. So suddenly Marinette is being spotted with Felix guiding him about paris and modeling with him AND Chloe under AUDREY’s brand NOT Gabriels.

Felix thought hed really hate Marinette; he tried to ignore her he really did. But shes funny, witty and sweet. Not to mention trustworthy, so a good candidate for a business partner. And thats it, but then he has to admit hes impressed when he rolls up to a photoshoot and Chloe! The definition of brat personified is acting… Bearable. Yes, somehow Marinette has done the impossible! She has tamed the beast known as Chloe. And yes fine he will admit shes drop dead gorgeous and how intelligent of her to learn all sides of the fashion industry and boost her rep with modelling! Soon hes spending more time with her, he tries to argue he needs a guide, that shes the most bearable person to be with! That she is just a friend- Oh god. No it cant be! He sounds like-! Like ADRIEN! And Chloe already told him about THAT mess! No! Absolutely not! He will not lead on Marinette like his idiot cousin! Marinette is a rare and beautiful woman! She could be his queen! And god he has to admit it much as he loathes too Marinette’s smile is enough to make him thank every non-existent god. He will win her heart, show her that she deserves better than his brain dead cousin! Felix is sure mother will approve of his decision to pursue the girl, now he just needs to do more shoots with Marinette...

And that's what finally gets Gabriel to snap. Because REALLY Felix!? Is there no loyalty to FAMILY. Not to mention he was totally drafting a potential contract for Marinette when Audrey snapped her up the witch! But its fine! Marinette has always been interested in Adrien! Surely she still is? Surely she's not been swayed by any of her new suitors! Right? Gabriel knows he can't mess with Audrey’s contract so he goes through Adrien, freeing up his sons schedule and telling him to spend time with Marinette to help her ‘adapt’ to the harsh world of fashion and modeling. He uses Adrien’s heroic nature to make it sound like hed be saving her from Chloe and Felix. And sure enough Adrien bites, using his friendship with Chloe to worm into fittings, meetings, and photo shoots. At first hes just there to make sure Chloe and Felix arent hurting sweet Marinette. But when he sees the blondes fighting for her attention, flirting with her, posing with her in some rather romantic settings. Suddenly hes less worried and more… Jealous? No! Not him! Hes concerned, confused, suspicious! Obviously he needs to spend more time with Mari- Wait! When did Kagami get here to take Marinette to lunch! And why are they all ignoring him!!!

Now Marinette is fully in the public's eye. Gossip blogs are being fed bits of info writing up each ‘candidates’ appeal as THE romantic partner to the Marinette Dupain-Cheng paris new darling, the girl with a heart of gold too oblivious to see the trail of hearts following her around! But there is still another contender yet to enter the game! Jaggeds been away on tour teaching Luka his up and coming protege all the tricks. And lets not lie Luka has his own fans now, enough to rival all the others. Jagged sees Luka as his own son, even calling him as much! Hell hes even adopted Luka and Juleka and when I say adopted I mean Jagged literally got shared custody of the kids when their real dad tried to start trouble once Luka started gaining fame. Luka and Juleka for one love their adopted father and his wonderful fiance Penny. But back to Jagged, being Jagged. 

The moment Jagged is back in Paris he's checking up on his favorite designer and hopefully future daughter in law! When… WHAT'S THIS?! All the other ritchies in Paris are playing his game! Trying to get Marinette married into THEIR families! Not rock and roll at all! He was here first! And so being Jagged he decides to make Luka’s stake in the race for Marinette’s heart clear! By spamming social media with photos of Marinette being cute with Luka, taking his measurements, going out with him, the pair babying Fang, the two passed out against each other after a long concert. And he has photos going back at least a year or two! Soon Luka’s fans pick up the hype starting a trending hashtag finding the pair cute! Jagged feels confident that hes won! When Audrey retaliates, and from there its a complete train wreck. Before long each pair has a hashtag filled with cute moments and arguing over whos dating the model / fashion designer! 

Meanwhile Adrien is drowning in denial as he goes through each hashtag seething about how many MORE photos everyone else has with Marinette, when HE is her very good friend and was here first! Felix, Chloe and Kagami on the other hand have declared open war after they tried to talk to each other about the hashtags reasonably only for it to devolve into “so you agree Marinette is best with me!” - “WHAT! No! Thats not what I said! Besides she clearly is best with me!” - “Ridiculous!” And so on. Poor Luka is having an entirely different reaction hiding in shame unsure how to face Marinette because he WAS going to ask her on a proper date now that she seems over Adrien, because even with everything she's the melody playing in his heart and he had a plan! But now his mom and sister are texting him and teasing him and apparently he has MORE competition! Who do these people think they are to deserve Marinette! No! Luka won't lose Jagged has been teaching him to be bold and confident! And Marinette is worth all of his efforts! Jagged REGRETS NOTHING even if Penny confiscated the tv remote!

Marinette meanwhile has no idea what's going on because the whole class made a dumb bet on when the designer would notice with one of the bet conditions being that no one could tip Marinette off and that they have to keep her away from Paparazzi so they dont spoil it either. And sense Alya is helping manage Marinette’s social media Marinette hasn't looked at it yet so she has NO idea what's happening. But her birthday is coming up next week and Chloe definitely didn't get dibs on planning a surprise party for her all so she could spoil the girl and RUB her GREAT relationship with Marinette into her competitions FACES! The competition however (and Adrien JustAfriend Agreste) have decided that they really aren't going down without a fight!

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[kaz11283]

I Think I'm in Love (pt 2)

Announcement: this is the second part of my "I think I'm in love....shit" Loki prompt that just got completly away from me. I just absolutly love writing all the request and the prompts sent my way. I have another song insperation that I am working on (in my head) that I will be starting on after I finish this one up then it will be back to writing for Fire and Ice for a bit. Thank you guys so much for all the suppost that I am getting and all the shares and reblogs. I didnt get to meet my goal for last month of 200 followers but i hope to be at that by the end of this month then I will try to think of something to do as a celebration so keep your eye peeled! 💚💚💚💚💚

Loki Masterlist

"Lady y/n, Thank you very much for the dance. I shall find you again before the night is through to have another dance." He bowed taking your hand and kissing it.

"That would be a pleasure Sir Fandral. I shall save one for you." You curtised to him and turning to walk off. Before you knew it you had been swept up by yet another guest spinning you around the dance floor causing you to loose track of time.

"My Lady, may I have this next dance?" Thors voice boomed next you to causing you to smile.

"Of course you may, you did promise me at least one tonight." You took his hand and let him lead you across the floor where the crowd opened up leaving the dance floor open for you and the prince. You smiled as he wrapped his arm around your waist pulling you closer to him.

Loki huffed next to his mother and rolled his eyes. "Honestly, the way he looks at her."

"Loki Odinson!" His mother swatted at his arm. "That is your brother out there simply dancing with a good friend, if you are so jealous then why dont you go out there and dance with her?"

"I am not jealous of Thor." He said.

"You could have fooled me. The way you have been watching her all night? The way you act around her? You act more like yourself, and dont you tell me other wise. You would give that girl the moon and stars if she asked and you know it." Hearing his mother say it out lound stund Loki, sure hos brother had dropped hints and asked him multiple times about the two of you but all Loki could normally do was laugh about it.

"She doesnt feel the same mother. How could she? I am second best, I am not the one that will take the throne one day." He sighed looking at Frigga.

"Shut up Loki. You are not second best. You are my son. And not all girls want the future king, they dont wamt the crown or the popularity that it brings. Beleive it or not some girls just want to love and be loved. I see the way she looks at you with love and passion, you hung the moon for that girl at a young age and she will always beleive that. Go dance with her before I call you both out." Frigga gave him a gentle nudge forward shooing him away.

As Loki walked to were you and Thor were dancing his stomach was flipping and he was straightening out his top as best as he could. Walking up he tapped Thor on the shoulder causing his brother to turn around.

"May I cut in Lady y/n and possibly save you a few toes from being stepped on?" He took notice of how your face lite up and you eagerly nodded smiling he returned the smile and offered you his hand.

"We shall finish another time lady y/n." Thor bowed walking away.

"I was expecting to see you sooned Loki." You smiled up at him as you placed one arm around his neck and placing you other hand on his chest.

"I was talking with mother about some things." He placed his arm around your waist pulling you close just like the others had done but with him you felt more at ease like you belonged there in his arms, more protected, no one would dare cut in as long as you was right there with Loki and you liked that. He took his free hand and tucked a peice of your hair that has fallen down back behind your ear before placing his hand over yours on his chest. To others around you this was normal you and Loki behavior but to the two of you there was something diffrent settling between you.

"You look absolutly beautiful tonight y/n, my colors look absolutly amazing on you." He smiled looking you dead in the eyes. He took his hand and traced the sleeve down to your bare arm. Your breath caught as you meet his eyes.

"And you, my prince of mischief, look just as stunning." You grinned.

"Darling I always look good." He laughed cauing you to giggle. "I do tend to look just a little bit better though when you are around." It slipped out before he could even think.

"What?" Your mouth dropped slightly.

"Well this has seemed to make things slightly awkward." He said giving you a slightly forced smile. You pulled him tighter to you almost forcing him to look in your eyes.

"Dont try to joke your way out of that little comment Loki."

"Y/n, I think I'm in love, with you." He leaned in slightly looking you right in the eyes.

You let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank the Norns, I think I'm in love with you too Loki Odinson." You pulled him the rest of the way toward you so that your lips could finally meet after years of dreaming of this moment. His lips were soft and welcoming, they felt like what you had always imagined and you never wanted to stop.

"Ah, see mother. Harmless tricks and small little fibs. I knew they would fall into each others arms before the end of the night. Everything is as it should be." Thor gave a big smile turning to his mother.

"Well you weren't the only one planting seeds tonight." Frigga laughed at the look on Thors face as it dropped. "Me and Loki had a wonderful heart to heart while you danced with her."

You pulled away from Loki and placed you head under his chin as he laced his fingers together behind you. "Would it ruin the moment if I told you I had nothing to do with the outfit choice tonight?" You asked looking up at him.

"No my dove it wouldnt, though I must ask, who picked it out." He laughed.

"Dont ask me why but your brother had it delivered to my room this afternoon with shoes." You could see the wheels turning in his head.

"Now may I ask you something with out sounding crazy?" He asked.

"Of course Loki."

"Fandral, did he ask to escort you tonight?"

"Norns no! Do not get me wrong, he is a very nice man but I would not have came with him tonight. Who told you that?". Loki turned away from you facing toward Thor and Frigga. You followed his gaze.

"Oh dear my eldest. It seems as if you have been found out." Frigga simply stated taking a sip of her wine as she watched the two of you walk thier way.

Thors eye widened as he took a few steps back. "Mother, what would be the plan?"

"I warned you that you was playing with fire when it came to those two. Loki and y/n are bad enough seprate when it comes to tricks, them together though? Much worst." She took another sip from her glass. "Dont forget that they are doing some redecorating in the west wing so that is completly blocked off." Thor kissed Friggas cheek mumbling a thank you amd turning to leave right as you amd Loki were walking up the steps.

"Mother-"

"West wing is beimg redone so hes not there. He wont leave the castle, not tonight at least, but I do remember him turning to the right as he ran out." Lol I took off after his brother.

"So my dear? The mystery man you had mentioned so many time turned out to be my son? I dont know if I should be hurt or thankful that he has someone like you to keep him calm." She smiled at you.

You blusjed before looking back at her. "Yes, Allmother. Please forgive me for not tellimg you the truth."

"All is fine, of course you will have to finish your teachings since you will one day be a princess of Asguard." She smiled at you.

"Of course Allmother you smile taking a few steps back. If you will please excuse me, I must go find your sons so that Loki doesnt kill Thor." You laughed turning to run in the direction the two princes had ran.

~~~~~

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[trafalgar-law-wife]

Squiddy and the Obey Me Brothers Relationships!

This is an Obey Me x Squiddy head-cannons. Squiddy is my Obey Me persona and this is her relationships with the brothers. 

Lucifer

When Squiddy and Lucifer first met she was beyond terrified. I mean come on, bro is in his demon form pressing her out and threatening her life. If he asked her to jump, she'd ask how high.

When Lucifer first seemed to be warming up to her, she swore to Mammon that Lucifer was plotting her demise, and how him being nice to her was a ploy to make her drop her guard so she could slip up and he'd can punish her.

Honestly, it took a while for Squiddy to get close to Lucifer and let her guard down and truly trust him. Occasionally whenever the two hangout together for a drink, Squiddy will flirt with the oldest because she loves to see him flustered.

Mammon

Now with Mammon, Squiddy could relate to how his brothers were treating him, so she always made sure to be nice to him. After she helped him obtained his one true love, Goldie, Mammon asked why a weak human like Squiddy was being so nice to him, to which she responded, "Everyone deserves to be treated nicely, besides I bet you're a cool guy." And with that, Squiddy gained her first pact and oh so very clingy friend. she does not mind at all <3

Now just like Mammon, Squiddy has a bit of a money spending problem. She will happily go gambling with Mammon if that means she can spend more time AND buy her in game purchases, it's a win-win situation....until the both of them are running away from the casino after losing an all or nothing bet.

It goes without saying that these two got close real quick, often having sleepover's in her room, plotting how to make money by gaining pictures of Lucifer, going out together. Unlike Mammon though, Squiddy will not steal from the other brothers and is often stopping Mammon from doing so. But whenever it is just the two of them hanging out they just vibe, Squiddy casually flirts with Mammon, and the both of them telling each other things they'd never tell anyone else.

Leviathan

The moment Squiddy mentioned she liked anime and gaming, Leviathan thought he was living in one of his favorite anime's "This normie isn't totally a normie! She likes anime and gaming too! is she my soulmate?!?!?!" After explaining to him how this is not an anime, the two of them seem to hit it off. They both had even forgot about how he almost killed her a few days ago in a trivia quiz!

These two will spend hours in Leviathan's cosplaying, gaming, cosplaying WHILE gaming, binge anime, and binge anime while cosplaying. Half of the time while cosplaying they forget to lock the door, all of the brothers at some point has either seen the two of them half naked, in some questionable costumes, odd poses, the whole shebang.

Now Leviathan is in no way calm with Squiddy whenever she decides to just get dressed in cosplay in his room, he's a babbling mess. Looking away, sneaking small glances at her, gets flustered and goes on a rant about how much easier this would be if she just got dressed in her room, yet insists for her to get dressed in his room when doing the more...revealing cosplay's because he didn't want his brothers seeing Squiddy like that.

When it's just the two of them, Leviathan is a panicked mess whenever she sit near him, lay with him in his bed, or even share the same blanket. The both of them are competitive during games....doesn't mean Squiddy is good at competitive games, but a simple flirtatious comment is enough to keep Squiddy's win streak high against Leviathan.

Satan

Like Lucifer, Satan scared Squiddy, especially after finding out about his torture books. After being reassured for months that he'd never her, Squiddy began to slightly relax, until he got upset about her denying to make a pact with her. Now she was definitely avoiding him, always hiding behind Beelzebub or Leviathan whenever Satan entered the room. This amused Satan for awhile until he felt the urge to get closer to her.

Satan approaches Squiddy with a simple question "Do you like to read?" And Squiddy responded with "If manga and fan-fiction counts then definitely!" Satan has never heard of fan-fiction and demanded Squiddy explain to him what is was. She immediately pulls out her D.D.D and goes to an human world app called 'Wattpad' and proceeded to show Satan the safer options of what she reads. She explains to him what it is and he is utterly disappointed in what she had said. He laughs at her and proceeds to grab her wrist and take her to him room. All day Squiddy was held captive in Satan's room being forced to listen to him read fantasy and other fiction books. Simply because he though she might like them. he was not wrong

These two can be caught in the library reading whatever Satan picks out, because he plans to show Squiddy the wonders of "true literature"

Asmodeus

Squiddy feared of Asmodeus, not because he appeared intimidating, but because she didn't want him to figure out what type of things she's into. She's aware that his seduction doesn't work on her yet she still refuses to look him in the eye. Squiddy enjoys hanging out with him but hated how she became a flustered and stuttering mess around Asmodeus. The way he would caress her body, whisper compliments in her ears, it drove her crazy.

Squiddy didn't mind doing skin care routines with Asmodeus, she always told herself in the human world that she'd get into one and never stuck with it, so its nice to have a demon to constantly remind her about it. During these skin care routines Asmodeus is constantly flirting with Squiddy and it throws her in for a loop. Squiddy was never the one being hit on, she was the one hitting on her friends; her SHY friends. Asmodeus loves to see Squiddy hot and bothered but obviously wont do anything without her consent.

It took Asmodeus about a month to figure out what Squiddy was into, and when he confronted her about them she absolutely panicked. He noticed the way she'd intensely stare at the brothers hands, or the way she'd crossed her legs in her seat whenever she got called certain names, or the way whenever she sat on his lap and he'd do what he normally does flirting, touching, or teasing, how he'd feel her core throb on his leg, and so much more. It was all too cute for Asmodeus not to bring it up. Squiddy tries to fight for her dignity, but alas, nothing gets past the Avatar of Lust.

Beelzebub

Beelzebub's height intimidated her, I mean bro literally towered her, but she did loved it at the same time. Beel was always kind to Squiddy because she never touched his food. When Squiddy mentioned how she wanted to help get his brother back, and fix him and his brothers relationship he was elated. He'd join Squiddy and Mammon in her room to have movie nights and even teach Squiddy how to make him and his brothers favorite meals.

Beel will willingly share his food with Squiddy if she asks, he doesn't mind at all. When he found out about Squiddy's sweet tooth he used her favorite desserts to bribe her into working out with him, he knows Squiddy is not in shape athletically, and he wants her to be healthy. So for every 3 weeks she works out without any complaints, he'll take her out to Devildom's best bakery for a dessert binge.

Squiddy has insomnia, and she will often go to Beel's room and snuggle into him because he's a great cuddler in Squiddy's opinion. Unlike Levi's tub she doesn't wake up with neck cramps, unlike Mammon, Beel isn't sprawled across her uncomfortably. Unlike Asmo, Beel isn't constantly trying to get a rise outta her, Unlike Satan...Beel's bed is actually useable, Belphie is a instant no from Squiddy, she doesn't want to bother Lucifer with her insomnia knowing he has a bunch of work to do. So that leaves Beel, a gentle giant who keeps his warm embrace until the morning. or until he gets hungry in the night.

Belphegor

Squiddy actually liked Belphie when she was helping the demon brother to escape his imprisonment. She was overjoyed when she saw the barrier keeping him locked in his prison be broken. That was before he killed her. That was before Squiddy traveled back in time and watched her past self bloody body being held in Mammon's arms as he sobbed. This made her heart shatter. When she made eye contact with Belphie and he went to kill her again, she decided that she would never forgive Belphie.

Literally the next day when Belphie was being all lovey dovey towards Squiddy she was disgusted. She couldn't believe homeboy, didn't even give her time to recover from what she saw. Squiddy is still respectable towards Belphie, especially around the other brothers but she is extremely passively-aggressive towards him. She refuses to do group work with him, and refuses to have a conversation longer than 5 minutes with him.

He knows that he cannot change the past so he returns the passive-aggressive attitude but will do anything she say in hopes that she’ll forgive him one day.

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket, Se3, ep11 (part 1)

Breaking toxic bonds & accepting healthy ones isn’t a miracle. A bond that started with love could end up chained & toxic, another that started wrong could’ve become the joy of a life time. You can do it. Break the cycle of abuse & stand up for yourself, it is easy yet so difficult, you aren’t alone, tho, loved ones stand nearby cheering. Be kind on yourself, otherwise you’ll throw your life away. Life isn’t just happiness & joy, it’s also sadness & loneliness. Break free from the shackles that held you down. Embrace life & Live.

-Tohru’s “ I’m okay” mask is finally shattered! (the Importance of kyo’s rejection for her development):

This is the last part of tohru’s character development! The last few eps were abt her role in Akito’s redemption & their similarities. she staood up for herself & choose a path away from her mom while keeping her mom’s memory in a healthy manner. No more planning my life according to mom’s wishes, no more talking to mom ‘s picture 24/7. Now, I’ll plan my life & move forward even if it is with the guy mom said she cant forgive. even If it is without him, I’ll move forward. I love him so much, yet I won’t force our bond & let go. So easy yet so difficult!. tohru doesnt know anything abt kyo after her fall. All she remembers is his heart-broken face as he wept beside her. Those tears on his face, she caused them. He cried cuz it is too painful to see her hurt. She was a burden to him! tohru restored to her old coping mechanism of pretending “ i’m Okay” & smiling. She did so numerous times before. Always worked. No one noticed. Except him. Se02, ep7. he urged her to show her true fears. Now, she’s faced with a pain so big she can’t pretend no more. the pain of loosing him. She cried in front of yuki! The smile & chatting abt chores couldn’t conceal the running tears! Yuki’s first time seeing her like that. Se01, ep14, yuki wondered how could tohru smile after her mom’s death. She can’t pretend no more! She’ll have to wear her feelings on her sleeve! cuz it IS ok to do so! She tells kyo to give her a moment to compose herself. She couldn’t lie & pretend like she did with yuki. Here she either run away or just try to compose myself! I LOVE THAT! This way, whenever kyo/tohru fight or have any misunderstanding in the future as a couple, you’ll know tohru won’t just bear it & pretend, “ i;m okay” No! she’ll talk to kyo & express herself! I LOVE THIS SO MUCH! It gives her so much strength as a human & I’m happy all the obstacles & set backs in kyo/tohru’s romantic journey has led them to be better ppl little by little to build healthier & more realistic love! 

-The mechanics of writing a compelling slow-burn romance:

1. Igniting the romantic feelings slowly: Slow burns don’t work with love at 1st sight. It must first sparkle naturally, slowly & subtly. Both kyo & tohru repeatedly stated they don’t know exactly when they first fell in love. The author’s decision to create an environment where the two live together is a genius way to start & nurture their romance quietly & subtly. Kyo was tricked to stay in shigure’s house while tohru had to stay cuz she had no home, Natural reasons that force the two to spend days together & get to know each other gradually.

2. Dynamics of their personalities: For slow burns to work, the two characters need to be similar yet opposites! Kyo & tohru are both kind, endearing, innocent, good at chores, independent & hardworking. They both have history with their mothers that is filled with love yet traumas. However, tohru is calm yet prefer maneuvering around subjects, can’t stand up for herself, reads ppl easily, tends to trust ppl easily & disregard herself. Kyo is fierce, strong, tends to distrust ppl, despite ppl loving his spontaneous character, he has hard time figuring out if they’re mocking him or teasing him, very straightforward with his words & actions. The similarities helps them understand each other, however, the differences creates chances to clash & come even closer thro various situation. Ex, se01, ep2, kyo apologizing for hitting her head with the table which created the situation where she needed to confess she always loved the cat zodiac! It is HER gush of emotions that struck kyo. ppl really want my friendship? the cat is loved? Thro those difference they learned to better themselves so they won’t hurt the other, kyo toning down his anger for her, tohru desiring to know him even more as he becomes even more awkward.

3. Creating natural, realistic  & convincing obstacles that prevents them from being together:  This is the most important part! Slow-burn is two characters in love & cant be together despite everyone wanting them to be! if the reason that stops them from uniting is trivial, stupid, one-sided, can easily be solved, then the slow-burn would be a fillery & no one would cheer for it! Takaya-san is a genius!

Kyo can’t be with tohru cuz he thinks (a) he killed her mom! we saw thr flashback, he could’ve saved her & couldn’t save her. It was a split of a second difference & he hates himsef for NOT trying! that split of a second also prevented from thinking of better ways to save her than holding her! it happened to fast, he couldn't think of a better alternative cuz this was his 2nd time loosing someone (b) his mom’s sucide being pinned as his fault created this immense guilt & defeated feeling that “ no matter what, I just cause death & misery! There’s (c) too!, he knew tohru! thinks she deserves the world & cuz he didnt save her mom, he watched tohru talk to a freaking picture for two years! heck! he is the only one who can see thro tohru’s “ i;m okay” mask, so in se01, ep 14 in the grave yard! kyo wasnt the only one who is sad! tohru was too! & kyo could tell! (d) her mom’s death is the reason tohru is accepting shigure’s offer to stay with them rent-free in exchange of doing housework! (e)? he saw her confess crying her heart out abt missing her mom so much that she imitated her dad! so tragicly sad! (f) he saw her die in his nightmare!! how can he accept her love,now? Perfectly orchestrated obstacles! 

Tohru, unfortunately, in the anime it wasn't that clear due to shortening her backstories & trauma in se03, ep6. But she too couldn’t see herself confessing love to kyo. Tohru is has low self-esteem, always thinks she’s a burden to others, an orphan who just wants her mom, so scared, lonely & sad! we the audience believed the mask! we saw her work her motherly charm yuki, isusuz, kisa & believe her issues are not that deep.  tohru wont cry for herself but shed rivers for others! grief is so ugly it broke her! I cant let go of mom, must keep her always in my heart, such a hard emotions to write & I believe 100% the director couldn’t understand her grief & decided to split ep6 between her, kyo, isuzu & shigure. But Tohru struggling to confess to kyo is no laughing matter. ppl who are grieving find it the hardest to live after the loved ones die. they wont mostly commit suicide, they are alive, but they arent living. they just go thro the motions & live for the sake of those around them but not themselves. Tohru deciding to confess to kyo is her deciding to live for herself.

4. Writing a perfect psychologically & emotionally packed climax: I dont need to explain how perfect kyo’s rejection of tohru in se03 ep9 was. How much we felt for him yet were mad at him. He we were “ ugh! kyo no!!!! I mean I get why you do that , but you idiot no! come back! poor kyo! He was just so sad & broken! OMG he’ll kill himself after finding tohru’s injured body!! he totally would! his nightmare came true! But Tohru reached him! she wanted him to be okay! he wont kill himself but still feels hella guilty! but so utterly in love with her that his instinct upon seeing her come to life after near death is kiss her! Perfect display of psychology & emotions! filled with right, wrong, sad, happy, guilty, innocent! basically so human~ As the audience you MUST have this mixture of feelings of wanting to hug him so bad cuz this boy has been killing himself for years now yet want him to stop & just see that he was a good boy afterall. Tohru is THE best girl & if the audience are cheering for kyo to be with her, kyo really deserves her! The only problem is for kyo to see that now.

5. The Perfect wrap up of all romance: If you make your audience suffer the slow-burn this long, you gotta reward them good! & Takaya-san delivered! Just like how the entire romantic story is realistic, the reunion must be as realistic too! Tohru is hurt by kyo;s words. Facts remain his words were hurtful to her. I love that was addressed! tohru gets to tell her side, too! If you love someone, you are bound to be hurt by them as much as be happy with them. Simply cuz they matter so much to you! you arent one person, but two ppl coming together. Kyo must work hard for this confession. Must run & chase her. Must earn her proper! He gets on his knees, I cant express how important that is! he is way taller than her, Imagine apologizing while she looks way up & he looks down? He gets on his knees & apologize like a man, for every mistake, all while not loathing himself. He aint going back to that deep abyss again. He did wrong by her & he is owning up to his mistakes. Give me one chance. I’m not gonna force you with persistence or guilt you into taking me. Give me ONE chance cuz i deserve it & no more. The choice is yours. She asks to confirm, he shows her, they kiss, they hug, they are rewarded with a blessing from the heavens! One of the most simple yet emotionally fulfilling confessions in anime!

- Hugs over kisses: (And her kiss hugs her & the curse was lifted):

Prince charming kisses the princess & she wakes up~ they live ever after~ except furuba is all abt “ eternal ever after is not true, real life is where the real love is”

Kyo kissed tohru once, she didnt wake up, she didnt even think he loved her back. didnt even remember the kiss.

Kyo hugged tohru once. se01, e024, He initiated it, tohru was all in tears, surprised, happy & so utterly in love. he called her name for the first time ever, for a brief moment, they both connected, they both comforted each other. The rain stopped, he became a man not a monster, she got him back. She got her kyo that she fought for with none other than kyo himself.

kyo hugged her again, se03, ep6. They both initiated it. He made the first move, pulling her just a little closer, she made the second move & hugged him hard, he transformed, it was a moment were they both connected, both so sad & broken, both feeling needy for the other, both desperate for the other, both just living the moment. the result is them coming closer, her wanting him more, him realizing her love, there is no escape. Admit it. she loves you. You can tell.

Kyo hugs her again today. He asks permission. No spur of the moment feeling. But a long lasting permission to be together. To hug. He wants to hear her acceptance of his cursed body. “ is ok to hug you? this body will cause you pain as it wont be able to fulfill your wishes of constant hugs & intimacy”. She responds, permission granted, for love, for hugs, for a life long acceptance of you as a whole. weakness & strength, sadness & happiness. I accept you all in better & worse! we’re invincible. Why? cuz we understand love isnt magic. It is a path for us to walk together~~~ reward curse break!

Every time kyoru are closer it is a hug. The one thing the zodiacs cant do. A hug. They can kiss. But cant hug. comes this Zodiac Ruler girl so lonely, away from ppl, so sad, meets a cat boy who comes to the house she’s living in, a house away from ppl, the boy is drawn to the girl, However, when the boy needed to leave, the girl was able to let go despite loving him, the boy comes again, this time wanting to stay, the girl accepts the boy. They both accept the realistic reality of life. Embrace the obstacles & the achievements, celebrates the weakness above the strength. Both so imperfect. Both so endearingly dumb! that’s why the girl’s hug broke the boy’s curse. The girl’s acceptance of the cat broke all curses.

Side Note:

Kyo’s confession is so kyo! so straightforward, so direct, & so physical. He’s on his knees, holding her hands, looking at her eyes. “ i want to be WITH you. If I’m gona live, I want to to do it with you & no one else! cuz I love you” that’s it. That’s all.  So sincere & so romantic!

it is crazy how different tohru & kyo are now after the confession! she stood confidently & happily & said “dont you know, I love you!” all while teasing him, her giggle is so girlish & cute! my girl is a happy woman in love! long buried the angelic mother image of se02! YES! also, kyo’s happy face is love! Dude! when was the last time he smiled so freely? Did he ever do that? He smiled in se01, ep4 with kazmua, but not like this! T_T. my son is healing~

Kyo’s “ i wont ever feel afraid if you’re with me” is a huge growth from his “ I want to protect her” mindset. Now he realizes it is two-sided mutual desire. She gives him strength as much as he does! <3

I dont like open eye while kissing, but here it is so perfect for tohru in this moment! cuz she spent days thinking kyo rejected her & even ran away as soon as she saw him, now he’s not only confessing, apologizing, admitting she is his life, but also kissing her signaling they’re romantic couple. kissing on lips is so personal, what more evidence she needs? still, her thoughts? “ it’s like a dream?” aww~~~ tohru~~~ my precious girl! she just cant believe all her suffering is over, now? She was just practicing “ i’m okay” smile & now she’s an official girlfriend to the man of her dreams? He just bent da kneeee~ go for it queen!

yuki’s face when tohru cried is exactly what I meant of “ allowing yuki to have strong facial expressions”! XD these types of faces humanize yuki so much into the teenage boy he is! Unfortunately the anime team only sees him as the pretty prince in most times. That’s why fave yuki is when he’s with kakeru. He becomes so un-princly as he should be.

Speaking of yuki, I see you anime team~ postponing his moment into next ep so him & machi wont be overshadowed by the long awaited kyoru!! While this defies the perfection of all cursed zodiacs breaking on the same ep making akito’s breakdown less perfect & poetic, I take it as the anime team admitting they underdeveloped yuchi & decided let’s give them more screen time & not putting them in close distance from any couple. A week later ep is enough with lots of time. I dont mind at all, I’m just saying more time after/while confession is not what i was hoping for~~ sigh~ At least I hope yuki would say sth along the lines” all this time I was looking at you, i realized i love you” to imply he was thinking of her as a lover not his kindness for someone he helped. I just dont want their love to be sudden simply cuz yuki needs happy ending. oh well~ I’m sure whatever it will be, the anime will give it utmost attention.

That sad moment when kagura wasnt allowed a moving image. lol. girl was given a still image that didnt even move with the breeze! T_T

Not gonna lie... the scene with kazuma & kyo was underwhelming. Why the wide shot? I mean you dont need budget for that. Just give me a closeup from the waist up with kyo head buried in kazuma’s chest. Dont need to waste budget on kazuma’s face, either.... do the old trick of hair covering eyes & show me glittery tears~  why the awkward shot of kazma towering in his own house! how tall is this man & why cant he he fix his roof?...lol

Also, shigure, you got scars man... who can hurt shigure? akito? gotta be her. I dont think hatori scratches...lol.. Aya? nah~ too busy with Mine! yup, akito... another steamy night? could be, she’s changed as he wish now. But scratching a face is weird while..um..kissing? a quarrel? but why? I bet she wants him now & we know he wants her....

More on part 2! especially abt the curse’s lore~

[wallwriterstuff]

Our Dearest Moments ||Alec Volturi x Reader||

Warnings: None, this is nice and fluffy

Words: 2964

Summary: A request for @royalvolturisblog    Forever is a long time to live, an occasionally a little reflection upon who we are and how we got here is needed to maintain our sanity, and decided some very important answers to equally as important questions.

Sometimes, life is not all we expect it to be. Sometimes, life is cruel. Sometimes, life is disappointing. For me? I can safely say it’s none of these things. My life had always been easy, the best of everything and wanting for nothing. As doting as he was, my father had spoilt me rotten and never let me work hard for anything, never given me life skills that most normal people would need to live a functioning, adult existence. Why would I need them? Money was not a problem for my family nor would it ever be, so why go to the hassle of building a life where a nine to five job sapped the life from me when I could, quite sustainably, simply enjoy my life to its fullest at my loving father’s expense? Why make your child work if there was no need? I would not settle for a subpar life as nothing in my life had ever been less than luxurious.

That was my life in a nutshell. It was flat screen TVs in a ginormous bedroom which would have fit some people’s houses inside it, four poster beds and every new games console, every makeup palette fresh off the manufacturers line and vacations to the most remote and lavish corners of the Earth. I never even had to ask for some of it, my father simply expected I would want things and provided them without request – as those of guilt soul are wont to do.

“Well? What do you say?” Alec asked, his lips pressing the gentlest of kisses against my shoulder. I hummed, leaning back against him.

“Forgive me, I was hardly listening to a word you said, my mind is…elsewhere.” I admitted. Alec squeezed my hips, arms widening around my waist to tighten his hold on me.

“You’re ignoring me now? How very rude. I thought we were passed this.” He chided, though his tone was more playful than scolding.

“Call it introspection.” I sighed. Alec chuckled.

“Introspection? Now that sounds dangerous. I happen to like you as you are, if you haven’t noticed.” He teased, pressing a kiss to my temple. I turned in his arms with a smile. He stood a little taller than I did but I didn’t mind; it always gave me the best angle of the soft curve of his jawline, the fullness of his lips that didn’t like to stray from my own for too long. It also gave me the perfect excuse to nestle my head against his collarbone, escape those all seeing crimson eyes of his. Alec had seen right through me from the very start.

“I happen to know, you inform me every day…you sap.” I smiled a little as he lifted a hand to play with my hair.

“Then why decide to be introspective? What is there to reflect on? What would you wish to change?” he questioned.

“I already have changed,” I pointed out, lifting my hand to play with his coven crest, “I actually work for a living now.” Alec actually laughed at that, pulling back to feign shock.

“You? Spoilt? I would never have guessed.” he teased. He wasn’t wrong. Even now my room was lavish, silks and fine fabrics and luxuries filling every corner, but at least this time I had worked for it. Being a part of the Volturi was a privilege in itself but it required hard work, it required proving your worth and working for the greater good of your species. It was rather odd, how I had turned my entire life philosophy around in the span of a few centuries. Maybe it was Alec, making me humbler and wiser. Perhaps I owed some of it to Vladimir and Stefan, who had taught me to fight for what I wanted rather than throw money at it. I could still remember that fateful day, though faces and names were murky now in my ‘old age’.

Samuel and Scott were two boys I had craved the presence of a lot in my human days, though I couldn’t honestly tell you why anymore. Perhaps it was the familiarity of money, or the comfort that came from knowing someone of your status and experience walked alongside you and understood your world view, but they were the closest friends I had for a long time. What was better than going on vacation with your friends at the closing of exam season? Rome had been beautiful, the sights enamouring and the food…I suppose it was okay – my tastebuds had changed since then. I could still vividly recall the kind of heat I wasn’t accustomed to back home, and the dazzling brightness of the sunlight that spotted my vision and made my ever blurry human memories seem even worse quality somehow. I also remembered laughter, and warmth, the kind of warmth that flooded your soul and felt like a good hug on the worst of days. It was strange, the things that stayed with you.

Then there was too much warmth. The process to immortalise one’s body came at the cost of burning the eternal soul till only a shell was left behind, petrified and cold. That was how Stefan put it at least in his usual, grim way. The memories of my time with them had most certainly been the most vivid, since I was very much a vampire by then and I could remember every little glance, every change in the tone of their voice. Those days….those days were full of anger. My doting father taken from me, my best friends none the wiser as to where I had gone and yet never once pleading on the news for my safe return as most others did for their loved ones. Through time and trial and error, Vladimir and Stefan had shown me that I had actually lost nothing in this life, only gained. I was stronger, swifter, better than any human version of myself could ever be.

Then came the gift.

It had been purely accidental at first. Another boy taken in by Stefan only to be turned (in what I would later find out was an attempt at raising a small army) was similarly gifted. He had the quite remarkable ability to make anything he touched smaller or larger, depending on what he wished it to look like, and unintentionally I had taken his gift to use for myself. He hadn’t stayed much longer after that, Vladimir and Stefan reluctant to let him part but allowing it – only because they knew the Volturi would send the Guard after an unruly newborn causing havoc. Why should they need him when they had me? They had been the ones to train my gift, an enhanced trait from my human life they had said – as I had taken what I wanted then I could do so now with startling efficiency. By the time Alec had arrived I had not truly gotten it under control, hence my confrontation with Jane.

It turns out the unruly newborn had been smarter than we thought, and the Masters’ had dispensed the Guard to see about this gifted vampire the Romanian’s had collected. At this point it had been months since we’d even seen the boy, years since Vladimir and Stefan had stolen me from Rome’s streets on one of their daring missions taking them close to Volturi territory. My gift had made me indispensable to them, though I like to believe that on some level they cared for me as a person, given all the gifts and birthday celebrations they had indulged in for me. There had been trips and movie nights all at my request, and affectionate gestures such as hugs and chaste kisses to my forehead that had lulled me into the false sense of security that I was where I ought to be.

“Your mind keeps wondering. I happen to be trying to ask you a very important question.” Alec was sounding a tad frustrated with me now and my eyebrows furrowed.

“I’m sorry, really, I just…do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you can’t escape thinking about the past? Thinking about the things that led you to this moment?” I sighed. It was perhaps a tad dramatic, perhaps even silly of me to be this distracted by such errant thoughts, but they wouldn’t leave me be. Alec stared at me for a long moment, and then he tucked a lock of stray hair behind my ear and swept me off of my feet to seat us on the sofa before our fireplace. Draped across his lap as I was, he had made me his sole focus and gave me his undivided attention now.

“I can’t say I do, so explain it to me. What are you thinking of in particular?” he questioned. My head tilted slightly, the briefest of smiles tugging at my lips.

“Demetri fixing up his nose the day we met.” I giggled. Alec snorted, eyes rolling.

“Vladimir did hit him rather hard.” He agreed. The commotion hadn’t much bothered me, my head buried too deep in my book to really be bothered by such trivial things, but then he had screamed. It was a blood-curdling kind of scream, the sort you heard in slasher movies when the victim is disposed of. It was the first time I had seen Jane’s gift in action, and the only time since I had stolen it. I had only meant to shove the menacing little blonde away from the man I had grown to see as a second father, only to accidentally set her own gift on her. She had crumpled like a straw doll, screaming all the while, and anyone else who came at me went down the same way.

Felix, Demetri and Jane just writhed on the stone floor while I tried and failed to keep Alec at bay, the mate bond I had unknowingly just set with him the moment we locked eyes preventing me from hurting him and vice versa. His mist had danced at the edges of my feet as he gave me more warnings than I was sure was customary of a Guard with his reputation until I managed to calm the raging inferno in my own mind, and douse the flames in theirs.

“Then you misted me.” I recalled, scowling at him slightly. Alec looked amused.

“You were getting rather violent,” he pointed out, “I’d merely suggested an even trade, their lives for you accompanying us to Volterra, and poor Demetri lost his nose a second time that day.” I could still recall the crunch of his skin beneath my knuckles as I vowed to never let them take me anywhere, and now two centuries on I couldn’t bear the thought of being anywhere other than in Alec’s lap. His hand skimmed my arm as I dropped my head on his shoulder.

“You think he would forgive me for that by now.” I said. Alec chuckled and kissed my forehead.

“Not in a million years, his ego is more fragile than his nose.” He murmured against my skin. I hadn’t been happy for a very long time after that. Dragged away from my home against my will and told it was all for a mate bond I hadn’t been ready to accept. I was cruel, very cruel, and I called Alec all sorts of filthy names. Neither him nor Jane had ever really done me wrong, yet still I rarely addressed them as anything other than ‘witch’ or ‘terrors 1 and 2’. I spent the majority of my days avoiding as many people as I could really, though I found Marcus to be quite calming and consequently ended up with the Masters’ more often than not. It was with their encouragement I ended up confronting my two-arch nemesis, their gentle prodding that had led me into Alec’s arms in the end.

“God I’m sure your mother would weep if she could see you now!”

“She did! She wept and pleaded with the villagers tying us to the stake until they caved her head in with stones. How about yours?”

I cringed slightly, the memory as fresh as if it had been just yesterday. Jane had looked ready to roast me that day, while Alec had cut me down to size with his words. Their mother’s fate, their deaths, they were nothing such of tragic incidents that should never have occurred, not to these two. It had triggered a memory I had thought had faded as most other human memories had, though I could see no eyes in the soft, familiar features of my mother’s face given I couldn’t remember the colour of them. She had been reaching for me in my dreams for years, that single bloodied hand protruding from the wreckage of a car only I had escaped from haunted me to this day. How far I had strayed from the woman she would have wanted me to become.

“How could you forgive me?” I asked finally. Alec raised his eyebrows.

“For punching Demetri in the face? Quite easily. I found it entertaining.” He answered.

“Not for that! For…everything else. I was nothing short of difficult and downright cruel to you.” I reminded him. Alec tilted his head, quietly making a noise of understanding. It wasn’t so long ago Alec had asked me to marry him, at least, five years didn’t seem all that long for a vampire. He shifted till I was facing him, straddling his lap and chest to chest with our noses almost touching.

“I forgave you because I loved you, even then. I didn’t see cruelty, I saw hurt that never truly healed. Our scarred hearts were made for one another, even if you weren’t ready to accept it.” He murmured.

“But all those awful names I called you…” I sighed, closing my eyes as shame ate away at my insides. Alec chuckled.

“Some were quite inventive, I’ll give you that,” he said wryly, “Y/N…you replaced every bad memory with a good one. The time you gifted me that bookmark because you knew how much I loved to read? The memory of our first walk in the Garden’s together where you taught me all about gardening and when the best time of year to plant certain flowers was. Our first kiss, the first time you held my hand even. You made the effort to make it right.” He kissed my nose sweetly before capturing my lips with his. His every kiss had been intoxicating since our very first one, the sweet taste of his mouth on mine addictive, the way his lips moved a hypnotic dance I could forever get lost in performing with him over and over. When we parted I pressed my forehead to his.

“I do love you, you know.” I swore. Alec flashed me a smile.

“I know, you impossible little brat,” he teased, tugging my hair lightly, “Now will you please listen to what I’ve been so desperately trying to ask you all day now?” My eyes rolled, but I nodded.

“Make it worth my while, baby.” I teased.

“Don’t, you know I hate when you call me that,” he warned, though his lips twitched upwards, “Y/N, my impossibly stubborn, talented little beauty. I’ve never been in doubt you love me, and I hope I’ve never given you reason to doubt that I love you just as much. You challenge and enrage me daily, yet you are also my greatest comfort and strength when I need you to be. So stop being so bloody awkward and marry me already!”

“That wasn’t a question.” I pointed out, eyebrows raising. Alec groaned exasperatedly, his head falling back against the back of the sofa. My head tilted slightly.

If my day of reflection had done anything, it was show me how far I had come. I was no longer the same spoiled little girl I had once been. I had become a protector of our kind, and my journey with Alec had humbled my tongue. I was perhaps wiser, far kinder. I had not felt worthy of the mantle before but seeing him beneath me now, my love so ardent in his affection and persistent in his showing of it, I realised I had no need to be afraid – I had proven my worth to Alec tenfold. Gripping his chin, I forced him to look at me. He looked rather frustrated.

“This is the modern era Alec,” I scolded, “I will never say yes to your proposal.”

“But-“

“Because you are going to be saying yes to mine. Marry me, Alec.” I didn’t ask, more stated it. I knew he wouldn’t say no. With another exasperated groan he shook his head.

“You do make me work for it don’t you? So long as I slip a ring on your finger I really don’t care who asks who. Fine, I’ll marry you.” He leaned in but I pressed a single finger to his lips, preventing him from kissing me. His eyebrows arched into his hairline, almost as if to say ‘what now?’.

“It’ll be a Winter wedding.” I decided. A brief smile flashed his lips upwards.

“Spring.” He retorted.

“And the bridesmaids will wear emerald green.” I continued.

“Peach.” He countered, his smile growing as I pulled my finger from his lips.

“Oh and I want diamonds Alec, they’re a girls best friend.” I grinned, our noses brushing now.

“You’ll get a cereal box ring and be happy with it for all the waiting you’ve made me do.” He huffed. I didn’t get to protest, not when he smothered my mouth with his own, both of us laughing as we let the past be and looked forward to our future instead.

[potassium-pilot]

Prompt 6: Avatar

“How do you stand it?” asked Estinien with a small growl in his voice.

“Stand what?” replied Aymeric curiously, unsure what he could possibly withstand.

“Having Dia in your house. Ever since I joined the Scions, she’s been a nuisance. I’ve not known peace. I’ll be on my own trying to eat, and she’ll appear from nowhere to sit down and interrogate me.”

The two engaged in a long overdue chat, borne from a request made by the Lord Commander to both Estinien (“Please, remember to stop by Ishgard sometime, old friend. I would certainly welcome a bit of catching up” Aymeric asked once upon a time) and Tataru (“I somehow doubt he’ll stop by Ishgard. Could I trouble you for an occassional update as you also provide for Dia?”) As an old friend, and one of the Scion’s most generous financial and supply contributors, she was more than happy to oblige, and even conspire to make him see the good Lord Speaker.

“The man will drown me in questions”, complained Estinien at the time.

“Who wouldn’t?!” Tataru countered, “It’s important to him, and as he’s a backer of the Scions, I would much rather keep him happy! Don’t you want to at least see your oldest friend again?”

And so he did. And so he found himself in the parlor of Borel Manor sipping on tea, sans birch syrup for the dragoon.

“How is she interrogating you?” Aymeric inquired.

“She’ll badger me with questions about the meal I’m eating and how my day is going, and make all sorts of strange quips. I don’t understand why either. She wasn’t like this when the four of us entreated Hraesvelgr, or even recently when we freed Tiamat and fought the lunar primals.”

Aymeric set his tea down on the table. “My friend, having experienced real interrogation, I believe you’re being rather dramatic.”

Estinien brought his gaze to his lap, rather embarrassed at the idea that he managed somehow to forget Aymeric’s ordeal at the Vault. It was never far from his mind, however. The image of his closest friend battered and bruised and the image of the knight who dared to protect Dia impaled by a spear of light haunted him every now and again.

“…perhaps a better choice of words was in order. Forgive me”, said Estinien meekly.

Aymeric released a sigh through his nose. “I can find it in my heart to forgive you…if you give Dia a chance. She’s not herself at work, and she’s trying to be herself with you, and engaging you in the longstanding pasttime of ‘welcoming you to a new place’ is a part of it.”

“How do you mean ‘at work’?”

“The Scions are as much employment as they are her second family. She’s rather singleminded in her focus when it comes to her assignments given by them. When no work is to be found with the Scions, it’s a very different story. ‘Twas much the same with the two of us once, and clearly, you’ve only ever engaged with her when she was working.”

Estinien harumphed and said, “Bollocks. You don’t become a different person just because you have a task at hand.”

“Really? Because I’ve watched you do just that.”

Estinien growled, but accepted defeat. He was right, after all. “Fine. I just don’t understand how she can be that chummy with the lot of us, then.”

“As I understand it, that group went through a rather harrowing experience together, a change from usually sending Dia into the harrowing experience alone.” Estinien couldn’t help but notice a tinge of resentment in his friend’s remark. Regardless, he responded, “From the meetings I’ve been dragged into, ‘harrowing’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

“Oh?”

“Indeed. The woman’s inhuman, Aymeric. No one could have survived what she did, yet she’s still here. I simply don’t understand why, and she refuses to explain.”

“Have you asked?”

“Yes, more than once. She simply doesn’t go into detail beyond what I’m sure you already know.”

Dia explained most of what transpired on the First to him after her official return when she managed to awaken the Scions. He was sure there was some sensitive information for Scion ears only that he couldn’t be privy to, but what was it that not even Estinien could know?

“And the other Scions know naught?”

“They mentioned that a wayward soul aligned with hers.” Ardbert, Aymeric thought.

“I’m well aware of Ardbert.”

“Ardbert?” Estinien shot back quizically.

“Aye, the Warrior of Darkness.”

“What in hells is she doing with a Warrior of Darkness in her soul?”

“Did they truly not discuss this in those meetings of yours?”

“Wasn’t exactly a topic of focus.”

“Fair enough”, Aymeric conceded, “At any rate, she’s incredible, is she not?”

“I’m still concerned she’s not saying everything she needs to say.”

“Hm, surviving impossible situations, refusing to discuss certain matters outright and going to great measures to avoid a conversation she does not wish to be a part of? Who could do such things, I wonder?” Aymeric faked consideration, enjoying teasing the dragoon.

“You’ve made your point”, Estinien sternly fired back, “I just wish she’d tell me what that bloody crystal does.”

“Crystal?”

Estinien raised his eyebrows at the question. “Have you not seen it?”

“No, I haven’t. What crystal?”

“There’s this strange yellow crystal that I caught her fiddling with, and when I asked about it, she hastily put it away and ran off.”

That concerned Aymeric, to say the least. What was she doing not telling him something? Not telling the Scions something?

“I’m telling you, something is off with the woman. Clutching crystals, carrying warriors of darkness in her soul- I don’t like it, Aymeric. Something’s wrong.”

Aymeric stayed silent. He was pondering just what she could be hiding. What piece was he missing?

“Speaking of, didn’t you say she’d be joining us?”

“She should have been here by now, yes. Why don’t I try contacting her? I’m sure she just landed herself into becoming a helping hand, as is her wont.”

In fact, Dia was hiding in the hallway near the parlor during that whole conversation. At first, she just wanted to leave the two of them alone for a bit, see how they’d do before she would walk in. Then, they started talking about her. They were going to demand answers, answers she couldn’t bring herself to give.

They were going to leave her once they found out, she just knew it.

She felt exactly one thing, and that was a desperate need to flee, escape from the hall before they could ask anything. She would leave them before they could leave her. Quickly, she teleported from the hall to the aetheryte in Mor Dhona.

“Did you hear that?” Aymeric inquired.

“I did, aye. Did someone teleport in?”

Aymeric stepped towards the hall quickly to investigate the sound of a teleportation spell. No one was in the hall.

“Maybe I misunderstand, but it could be that someone teleported out rather than in.”

“…that wasn’t her, was it?” Estinien hypothesized cautiously.

“I’m…unsure.” Aymeric put a hand on the linkpearl and attempted to contact her.

Nothing.

After another attempt brought no change, he decided to resort to the best person hunter in Eorzea: Tataru Taru. As she wasn’t available on his linkpearl, this required an in-person visit.

“I hate to cut this short, as I was the one who bid you come, but—“

“No need to apologize. I’ll come with you.”

The two teleported to the aetheryte in Mor Dhona and entered the Rising Stones proper.

“Oh, welcome, Lord Commander! And welcome back, Estinien. Did you two enjoy tea?” greeted Tataru cheerfully.

“Aye, for a while,” answered Estinien, “but I’m afraid we have a problem now.”

“Oh?”

Trying to hide his worry, Aymeric asked, “Did Dia come by here, per chance?”

Tataru shook her head. “No, I haven’t seen her since our meeting yesterday. I thought she was with you.”

“She was, but she had left the house earlier before he arrived to handle some leves, and promised to be back in time for tea. She didn’t come. I contacted her only to have my calls ignored.”

Tataru’s eyes widened.

“I’m telling you, it’s that hells-damned crystal and that Ardbert you mentioned” Estinien accused, “What else could make her act like this?”

“Crystal?” Tataru inquired.

“We can worry about the crystal later”, Aymeric responded, “Our first concern should be discerning her location.”

“Maybe you two should return to Ishgard, ask around and see if anyone’s seen her. I can send Hoary to ask around Mor Dhona and make sure she didn’t come by here”, proposed the lalafell.

“Not a bad idea”, replied Estinien. The two elezen teleported back to Ishgard, ready to begin a search. “I’ll take care of the asking, Aymeric. You should be there in case she comes back.”

“Estinien-“

“That wasn’t a request, Aymeric. Go home.”

*********************

They would get nowhere. They would never get to where she went.

Dia found herself in the Crystarium. The people happily greeted her as she walked through the settlement, but she could only return half-hearted sentiments. She was a bit distracted, after all. She settled on the Pendants as it offered peace and quiet while still fully assuring that no one would be able to contact her by linkpearl. The innkeeper led her to her old room, exactly as she had left it, minus the half-eaten food and Ardbert’s wandering spirit interrupting her respite.

She sat down on the bed, unsure what to make of what happened, of what she heard, of what Estinien was truly thinking. It was one thing that he was a bit grouchy about the way she would tease him when she was there. It was another thing to accuse her of becoming something completely different, of being inhuman. She’s not a monster, after all.

…right?

“I’m not a monster”, she said to herself, trying to convince herself that she was, in fact, as human as the rest. But that doubt still lingered. Beq Lugg said her soul was the densest soul she’d ever seen. Why would Emet-Selch have bothered if she were simply another “inferior being” as he put it? Where did Azem end and Dia begin? Was there ever truly a Dia? Was she technically Ardbert as well if that were the case? She flung her head into her hands, unsure what to make of any of it.

“You’re going to have to go back, you know.”

Ardbert’s voice rang through her head.

“Oh, what do you know?” she retorted to her eighth part.

“I was there. Whether you like it or not, I do see some things.”

“Try to see less, will you?”

“Would that I could.”

She sighed. “I’m well aware that I need to go back. I’m sure eventually, Aymeric is going to become concerned about how long I’ve been gone, as will the other Scions.”

“So what are we doing here, then?”

“You know what we’re doing here.”

“Ah yes, a completely rational, logical decision that only came after you gave it complete consideration and immeasurable forethought.”

She scowled at his disembodied voice. “Sarcasm is ill-becoming of dead men.”

“Good thing I live in you now. You have enough sass for two.”

She groaned, “What in hells do I tell them?” She put on a very saccharine, pleasant tone. ‘Hey, by the way, I’m eight parts of an amaurotine that was on the same council as Elidibus, Emet-Selch, Lahabrea, and all those lovely other people we’ve met that hurt all of you one way or another. I might have even been best friends with Emet-Selch, but don’t worry, I’m NOT an Ascian. I was one of good ones!’”

“Perfect, you already know your lines.”

“I’m not telling them that! That’s absurd!”

“What’s absurd is crossing time and space to avoid a conversation.”

She threw herself back into the bed and stared at the ceiling. “They hurt so many people, Ardbert. What would they think if I told them I was an ally?”

“I think somehow, they’ll figure out that you are two different people.”

“How can they figure that out when I’m not too sure myself?” Dia asked through tears.

“Simple. They wouldn’t give a damn.”

“How do you know?”

“Azem didn’t join them in summoning Zodiark and you didn’t actively try to kill them.”

Dia stayed silent for a moment. “Are we who we say we are, Ardbert?”

“We need to make a distinction here. I see Azem as a person who lived in the time of the ancients and served in their government. I see an ascian as a back-stabbing piece of amaro shite who serves Zodiark. Now other than that big gaping hole you left in Hades, you’ve never been a backstabber, nor are you amaro shite, and unless there’s been a massive change of heart that I’m unaware of, you definitely do not serve Zodiark. Now what do you think?”

She lied still, trying to take in the feeling of the bright linen beneath her fingers, the solidity of the ground beneath her boots, the smell in the air like fresh laundry and cookies. Slowly, she started pointing out the bricks on the ceiling and counting them. She lost her grip on reality, and Ardbert was helping with her return.

“I think I need to tell Aymeric at least.”

“If it gets us back to the Source, I’m all for it.”

She sat up once again, still barely tethered to her reality. This isn’t the first time she’s had an attack like this. Usually, they’re smaller, and happen when she tries to sleep, the result being nothing more than a simple jolt upward in her bed. When that meant her bed in Dawn’s Respite, she would get up and handle other business as she could to tire herself out. In Borel Manor, it was a much quicker process, in which Aymeric would quickly join her and calm her down, holding her until she fell asleep again.

He didn’t mind because she does the same for him.

As she slowly regained her composure, an incredible wash of embarrassment covered her.

“Did you imagine you’d be dating someone when you joined your soul with mine, Ardbert?”

“The thought crossed my mind. You talked about him endlessly. A man that looks like that? I could certainly think of worse prices to pay in exchange for saving my world.”

Dia chuckled.

“You could do far worse, anyways. I’m glad this Aymeric fellow’s pretty decent.”

“Yeah, me too.”

*********************

The hours had passed. The midday that let the two men enjoy their tea earlier gave way to twilight. Aymeric sat at the settee, doing anything to get his mind off of his missing Dia. Today was an off-day, yet there he sat with paperwork at the coffee table, trying to drown himself under amendments and statutes and arguments for the coming days. It did little to assuage worries, and may have even exacerbated them, but it was something to move his mind away from it.

“THE BLEEDING FIRST!”

The roar of the Azure Dragoon shook the foundation. Aymeric shot up and hurried towards the hall.

“My lord, you have a visitor”, announced the steward in a very tired voice.

“Thank you, Angelbert.” Estinien arrived at the doorway of the parlor.

“SHE WENT THROUGH THE BLEEDING RIFT AND NOW SHE’S IN THE GODSDAMNED FIRST!”

“Estinien, calm down! Where did you hear that?!”

“Tataru called me! Apparently, Hoary had a witness tell him she went east of the aetheryte, and the Sons of Saint Coinach confirmed it!”

Aymeric, stunned by the revelation, moved to sit down.

“You all right?” Estinien checked.

“So she just…left Hydaelyn entirely?”

“From the sounds of it.”

“And…no one else can get her?”

“She’s the only bloody person capable of traveling through the rift unscathed.”

He did nothing. He couldn’t do anything. If he looked at his work anymore, his brain would simply shatter. She went back to the First, of all places. Why the First? Why did she leave? What isn’t she telling him?

As if Halone had heard his thoughts, he heard a door close, and muffled behind the walls were the words, “Ah, there you are!” from the mouth of Angelbert. Footsteps drew closer to their location until finally, her appearance graced the doorway and Dia met her gaze with Aymeric’s.

“YOU!” Estinien shouted with the force of the Fury behind his voice. He marched towards the Warrior of Light and stared her down. “Do you know what kind of trouble you caused?! You made Tataru send out a Scion after you! You made me question all of godsdamn Ishgard before we found out you went off to the First! We couldn’t contact you! What in the seven hells were you thinking?!”

“ESTINIEN!”

Aymeric rarely yelled. Yelling was not his personal go-to outside of the battlefield. In his experience, yelling did nothing but fray emotions further. Sometimes, however, it was necessary.

Particularly now, as he didn’t want his friend screaming in his girlfriend’s face anymore.

Estinien turned around, still a little shocked to hear him yell like that.

“Please go. I wish to have a word alone with her.”

“But—“

“I will take care of this! Leave!”

With a blink, and a scowl towards Dia and her behavior, he eventually stomped off to return to the Rising Stones. Dia turned to Aymeric and asked meekly, “Are you going to yell at me too?”

“No. I will not yell at you.” He kept his voice calm despite a sea of anguish that brewed beneath him.

“Are you sure? You deserve it. I hurt you, didn’t I?”

“Even if I wanted to, where would we be if I hurt you back? All I want is an answer.”

Dia reached into her inventory, and pulled out something that glinted from the light of the fireplace. A small yellow crystal revealed itself in the palm of her hand. She stepped towards him and offered it for his inspection. Curiously, he took it and gave it a look.

“There. That’s what I’ve been hiding. Not even the Scions know what it does. I pray they don’t find out either.”

To him, it felt strange holding the chunk of crystal. There was definitely something strange about it, but he couldn’t pinpoint what. He met her gaze, and asked “Why?”

She sighed, and said, “Aymeric, you know me well enough to understand that trust isn’t easily given by me.” She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to stop herself from losing her tether to reality once more. “I trust you. I wholeheartedly, unambiguously trust you. I tell you this for two reasons: one, because I want to tell you something that I need you to swear you’ll never speak a word of to anyone, not even Estinien.”

He nodded. She took a deep breath.

“That crystal holds my memories as an ancient, as well as a power I once held in that life that helped me escape from Elidibus’ clutches when I fought him.” He shot his gaze back at the crystal, as if it could tell him that she was joking, or lying. It said nothing. He returned his wandering eye back to her.

“Much like Lahabrea, Elidibus, and Emet-Selch, I was a member of their Convocation of Fourteen when I was whole, before that world became fourteen shards. I held the title of Azem.”

Before he could say anything, she had moved on. “Azem opposed the summoning of Zodiark and gave up their seat. Or I did. I think of all the things about this, that’s the worst part. I’m not sure where Azem ends and Dia begins, or if I ever truly was Dia for that matter. At any rate, that means that I once filled their ranks, and the ascians, including the one that corrupted the Archbishop, once considered me a…friend.”

He wasn’t sure what to make of this. He wasn’t sure if he cared. Azem was of a time well before him. Her past life was not what he cared about, but the life that stood before him now. The one to whom he owed so much, to whom everyone in Eorzea owed so much. The one that loved him, the one that he loved.

“That’s…a lot…”

“There’s a second reason I told you that I trust you. And that’s because I just broke your trust, and I’m sorry. I’m very sorry I did. I stupidly thought if you knew, Aymeric, you’d leave, and so would the others. I panicked, and-“

“That’s why.” He interrupted, something rather unlike him, but he felt it was his job to stop spirals before they could begin. “You overheard Estinien, didn’t you? We heard the sound of teleportation in the hall.” She nodded.

“Look, what you once were in millenia past is of no importance to me. You joined ranks with ascians in a time long past, but you are most assuredly not an ascian.” He placed his hands on her shoulders calmly. “You are Dia Sito, no matter what anyone says. You are my partner, you are a scholar, a master culinarian, a weaver with skills second to none, and so much more to so many. You have defined Dia Sito to all of us. None would know of you as Azem, regardless of what you were told on the First. You, Dia Sito, are not an ascian, have not conspired with ascians, and have no plans to serve Zodiark…unless there’s another thing you have refrained from mentioning.”

She let out a laugh through her nose. “No, that’s about it on secrets.”

“Good. Now come, sit down.” He gently kissed her forehead and guided her to the settee with an arm around her shoulder. “I also need you to understand that your past life having engaged with paragons is not sufficient grounds for me to leave. I’m not going anywhere.”

She took a good look at him, and he at her, before the two leaned in for a quick kiss.

“I owe Estinien an apology as well, don’t I?”

“Perhaps, but I believe he owes you one as well. Go at your own pace, Dia.”

“I will. I can’t say I won’t be walking into a death trap the minute I walk into the Rising Stones.”

“You fear Estinien will have a second wind?”

“No, that Tataru will have a first wind.” He chuckled. “Estinien is nothing compared to the wrath of Tataru Taru”, she said, meaning every word behind it.

“I imagine the lot of them might have something to say of this.”

“Yeah, you’re right…” she stood up, “I should probably—“ He grabbed her wrist gently, and told her with a smile, “They can wait.”

“I need to tell at least one of them that I’ve come back.”

“You do have a linkpearl. I would recommend contacting the one least likely to enter into hysterics.”

Alphinaud, she thought.

“Very well.” She sat back down next to him, and placed a hand on her linkpearl.

“This is Alphinaud.”

“Hi, Alphinaud, it’s Dia.”

“Dia! Thank the Twelve! Hoary said you’d run off to the First. What happened? Are you quite all right?”

“Am I alive and kicking? Yes. Am I all right? I’ll need a minute to get back to you on that.”

Alphinaud sighed in relief. That was Dia all right.

“I’m surprised, Alphinaud. Was Estinien not in a tirade upon his return to the Rising Stones?”

“He slammed the door behind him on his way into Dawn’s Respite, but that’s nothing too unusual. We tried to ask him of your return, but he ignored us. Why do you ask?”

“Uh, let’s just say he and I didn’t exactly exchange pleasantries when he saw I came back.”

“Ah.”

“Anyways, I’ll return to explain myself tomorrow. I just wanted to let someone over there know I’m in the Source and in Borel Manor.”

“Mm, I understand why you came to me now. Very well, I shall disseminate word of your arrival to our comrades. Thank you for letting me know.”

“Of course. Thank you for not shouting at me.”

He giggled. “Any time.”

“Good night.”

Little did she know that the minute Alphinaud exclaimed her name, all the Scions except for Estinien gathered to listen to the call.

“I feel better, I think”, Dia told Aymeric.

“Very good”, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Sorry for ruining your tea.”

“Think nothing of it. We’ll have more where that came from.”

She gave a rather sad smile. “Stop being so good about this. I don’t deserve it.”

“You deserve anything I could ever give. I only wish my love were enough.”

“It’s more than enough, it’s more than I’m even worthy of, my dear.”

For a moment, there was a flash. A black robe covering her arm, a black mask in her hand, and a different room appeared before her. As she turned her head, a familiar face that Dia never met before looked back to her with a wry smile on his face. In that same moment, it returned to the soft and gentle smile of Aymeric de Borel, with blue eyes shimmering as he looked into her soul itself, it seemed. She didn’t even realize until that moment that she clutched Azem’s crystal like her life depended on it. She released it quickly, not wanting it’s influence at that moment.

“I’m so tired”, she said, swallowing tears.

“I know.”

“I don’t want this.”

“I know you don’t.” He reached around her shoulder and pulled her into him.

“I’m so lost”, she said, the tears releasing.

“Then I’ll help you find your way.”

“Can you do that?”

“I’ll be damned if I don’t try.”

She had nothing more to say. Only sobs came from her. Azem weighed too heavy, and she only held eight parts. Dia lost her tether after that flashback. Aymeric had a rope for her to use instead to pull her back. She felt his heartbeat, his breathing, his warmth, the fabric of his shirt, of the settee, then tried to count the symbols that made up his wallpaper through tear-soaked eyes. Slowly, she regained control of her breath, the sobs reigned in, and the tears less poured out and more trickled. It helped that he was there to gently rub her back. It was soothing, to say the least.

“I’m sorry about this.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for, my love.”

She took the crystal and placed it on the coffee table to avoid the risk of clutching it once again. Now that he knew, she had no need to hide it on her person.

“May I ask why you carry it then? If it burdens you so, it seems imprudent to keep it on.”

She shook her head. “For whatever feelings I have about the ascians, about the whole of Amaurot…that is a part of me. It feels wrong to keep it away.”

“Such is the burden of knowledge, is it not?”

“Now that it’s there, I can never truly remove it. I would rather try and learn from it as much as I can. I feel I owe it to them.”

“To the ascians?” he asked with an eyebrow raised.

“No, to Amaurot, and to history. I’d be a terrible scholar if I didn’t try.”

He let out a light laugh, and looked to her. “Even the best of scholars need a break from their tomes.”

“I know. So I’ll lay it there for now.” She let out a scoff of her own. “‘Tis strange, I feel as though I might as well have said, ‘I’ll lay my arm here.’”

“It’s that affixed to you?”

“To an extent. That is me after all.”

“In an incredibly detached sense, yes. Mayhap you should leave it alone for a while. Return to it another time.”

She let out a long breath through her nose while she stared at it. Aymeric took the crystal in his hand, feeling the strange sensation once more, and stood up. “If it’s quite all right with you, I’d like to place it in a drawer upstairs. When the time comes that you need it again, you’ll be able to access it with ease.”

As attached to it as she became, he was right. It did no good for her to obsess over it. She nodded, stood up and followed him upstairs.

Everything that made up Azem sat in a drawer in the master bedroom for quite some time. Dia still felt conflict in her soul, but it did much to separate her from further flashbacks and keep her grounded in the world as it is now. Amaurot, the Convocation, the Final Days, they laid idly by as Eorzea, the Scions, the Grand Company of Eorzea, and the looming threat of Fandaniel and his own machinations took priority. Of all times for her to place the crystal aside, it was when the knowledge was needed most. If she didn’t, however, the knowledge threatened to consume her. No, it was for the best. It needed to be away from her ever-growing curiosity.

That is, until the time came that she could no longer sit by in Eorzea. The crystal saw light once more and took it’s place with Dia when the world needed her.

[shindidnothingwrong]

Its funny to me the blatant hypocrisy of the BoruSara and KawaSumi fandom and their sheer shamelessness of not even trying to conceal it

KawaSara first kicked off with chapter 28 which was centered around them and the start of their friendship, which happened in 2019.

Antis were quick to mock us for shipping them after only ONE interaction when they spent the whole chapter arguing [ignoring the end of it where she forgives and reaches out to him]

When Sarada opened up to Kawaki about her personal feelings towards her dad in the past and her experience with Naruto and envy towards Boruto, people said it was no big deal, that she didnt really open up to him and all she did was talk about Boruto and Naruto. In fact they said they never even had a conversation and only ever talk about Naruto and Boruto.

But then in 2021 when episodes 190-191 came out that focused primarily on Kawaki and Sumire, SUDDENLY having only one interaction was enough, SUDDENLY them arguing and not getting along for most of the episode was ok, SUDDENLY opening up about her personal history with her father was meaningful and significant, SUDDENLY their conversations werent just about Boruto and Naruto [which by their logic IS all they talked about]

After only TWO EPISODES of interaction between them, yes Im 100% accusing BoruSara because I have more than enough evidence to support it because thats how shameless they are they dont even try to hide it, after just 2 episodes the BoruSara jumped on the KawaSumi ship and started saying it was the definitive endgame along with BoruSara

These same people were once on the MitsuSumi and KawaHima train, do you really find it a coincidence they suddenly jumped onto KawaSumi when they only had 2 episodes of hostile interaction that has never been brought up or referenced ever again? those episodes have been treated largely as filler that literally had no impact on Kawaki whatsoever, whereas Sarada's interactions with him did.

You dont find it strange how quickly they switched up? wondering why that is? its simple, the BoruSara fandom, a very large majority of it, want to protect BoruSara at any cost, they tried it with MitsuSumi but that ship was dead on arrival, they then tried with KawaHima and pushed that for a while, but then they saw the golden opportunity to kill 2 birds with one stone thanks to SPs bullshit of including something that wasnt in the manga and completely contradicts it.

In short Kawaki and Sumire are BoruSara's biggest threats, so what better way to protect their ship and play keep away than by putting your two rivals together? do not be fooled, these people dont genuinely care about Kawaki or Sumire nor do they truly think their a good pairing, they simply want them out of the way and are trying to force them together even though Sumire has been confirmed to love Boruto TWICE.

I wont even go into the manga scenes between them because there IS none, Sumire is iliterally a bystander while the rest of the plot is just happening all around her, shes not a part of the plot shes WATCHING the plot. She's not Kawaki's nurse like fools try to say, shes literally KATASUKE'S ASSISTANT, Kawaki's ACTUAL nurse is Katasuke and Amado, Sumire just assists them and barely that since all we've seen her do is administer needles, thats it.

Yet these people insist their soulmates, why is that?

When the KawaSara fandom were excited about actual moments and development between them, Sarada reaching out to Kawaki after he had a ptsd episode, becoming his first friend, helping him to train, watching him training, comforting him when he was distraught over Naruto, opening up to him about something so personal to her that shes never told anyone else, working together to defeat Boro, Kawaki supporting her being captain over Boruto, risking his life and relying on Sarada to find the core, Sarada saving Kawaki from Boro, Sarada including Kawaki as a member of Team 7, Kawaki being grateful to Sarada for helping to save Naruto, both sharing the same idolization and admiration for Naruto, Sarada buying Kawaki flowers.

All of these meaningful moments and development of them as friends, nobody even was saying it was romantic, we just were admiring their friendship and potential to become more in the future.

What did they tell us? that we were reaching, those moments meant nothing, they hate eachother, Kawaki doesnt care about her, Sarada doesnt care about him, KawaSara is a crackship, it'll never happen theres been zero development and interaction.

Compare to KawaSumi

Kawaki distrusted Sumire and rejected her kindness by kicking the plate of food away, fought her for trying to force him back in captivity, Kawaki was bitten and nearly killed by Nue because she was careless and disobeyed orders, Kawaki says shes a monster like him and flees, Sumire eventually finds him after having a sudden change of heart now that she believes hes 'just like her', Sumire apologizes about Nue and then opens up about her father and how Naruto and Boruto saved her etc, the whole time Kawaki is dismissive of everything she says and says he doesnt trust her or anyone, he continues telling her to leave him alone and pulls away from her but she continues to push herself on him anyway and him continues to pull away and tries to leave, she stops him because hes still injured and offers to give him a painkiller but the sight of the needle triggers him and he starts choking her, she tries to reason with him to no avail, he loses all trust in her when police and T7 show up believing everything she said was a lie to stall him, leaves her knocked out on the ground, Sumire begs Naruto to go easy on him because she somehow thinks hes the same as her despite knowing nothing about him, and thats it, these interactions are never acknowledged ever again.

Yet guess which one got all the praise and called proof that their soulmates and destined to be endgame?

Dont try and fkin tell me KawaSara is a crackship when KawaSumi is the most forced ship in the new gen with nothing going for it, the feelings werent mutual and Kawaki actually DOESNT give af about Sumire, she's just there because she works for Katasuke, not because he wants her there, and she only volunteered to work with Amado because Kawaki is always with Boruto so she'd get to ask him about him, the boy she ACTUALLY likes and Kawaki KNOWS she likes.

Im tired of mfs tryna act like their ship is superior when its literally standing on twigs while KawaSara actually has a decent foundation and an established friendship. KawaSumi is not popular and didnt gain popularity because its a good ship, it gained it because the actual popular ship, BoruSara, jumped on board and started pushing it to protect BoruSara.

Yall not fkin slick, yall act like yall confident but you are the most insecure fandom in this mug, the thought of Kawaki getting closer to Sarada scared tf outta you which is why you cant even handle the thought of them even just being friends and wanna insist they hate eachother WHEN THEY DONT.

Your not foolin anybody, your scared to death and you know what? YOU SHOULD BE.

If theres one thing we all know is history always repeats itself in Naruto, Naruto was like Kushina and married someone like his dad, Sasuke was like Fugaku and married someone like his mother, Shikamaru was like his dad and married someone like his mother, Jiraiya and Obito who parreleled Naruto had an unrequited love that was never reciprocated just like Naruto's wasnt

So if Sarada is like Sakura and Boruto is like Naruto and Kawaki is like Sasuke, who's she most likely to end up with given the pattern thats been established in the series? why do you think antis keep sayin they dont wanna see NaruHina and SasuSaku 2.0 but had no problem with MinaKushi and FugaMiko 2.0? I rest my case.