#blues clues snow globe

[animatedglittergraphics-n-more]

requested by @mailmanhaterr

[herosplatling-replica]

📝 scarlet !

A/N: i actually had a similar thing written for sidestory octavio... i haven't gotten to work on it since i'm still working on sidestory beryl but i think this would be fun to preview :) spoilers for chapter 7+8 of tea and gladiolus 🐙

“What?” 

Octavio snaps out of the haze he let Agent Three rile him up into, eyes scanning Tentakeel Outpost. Not far from them, at the doorway of Cuttlefish Cabin, stands the very girl he was talking about just a few seconds ago. 

My daughter. 

The Octoling girl doesn’t say anything for a moment, silent as her eyes widen, tinged with crimson tears. One of her tentacles is dyed a bioluminescent blue-green, marring the trademark Takowase clan ink color. 

That’s… that’s her. 

I don’t even know her name, but she… definitely knows me, from the looks of things.

Before he can say anything like ‘hey kid, I’m your dad, mind helping me out of this snow globe maybe,’ his daughter turns on her heel and makes a break for it, the whites of her eyes flashing a striking emerald green. 

Ohhh, she’s pissed.

“Jeanne, wait!” Freya shouts, rocketing to her feet as the silhouette of the Octoling girl disappears over the canyon in the direction of Octo Valley. Her legs nearly give out as she reels from the motion, clearly not in good enough shape to be running around like this. 

The Inkling looks in his direction for a split second when her head clears, almost asking if there’s anything else he has to say. The words die in Octavio’s throat as Freya grits her teeth and heads for the edge of the platform. Octavio barely hears someone else interrupting as the squid Super Jumps off in the direction of the valley, not sparing him a second glance. 

Well, if she had that visceral of a reaction, I think it’s safe to say she’s not going to help me out of here. So much for blood being thicker than water… 

Though, now that he’s thinking about it, can Octavio really blame the girl? He was never really present in her life, clearly has some form of romantic interest in Agent Three, his sworn enemy and biggest rival, and also never gave her any form of clues to her heritage aside from the Golden Toothpick he ships out with every tentacle clipping that manages to grow eyes. 

The Squid Sister he kidnapped two months ago, the pink one, marches up to Octavio’s snow globe with murderous intent clear in her eyes. “What. The hell. Did you say to Jeanne, you piece of shit?”

[haloxsaisha]

Like To Be You.

Chapter 1: Flicker.

[Charles Leclerc x Singer!OC]

Summary: Charles Leclerc and Advika Hira seemed to have it all- their dream jobs, love and support from millions around the globe and trust worthy friends. What if life gave them a chance to go back to something that had been missing in their lives?

Warnings: mentions of anxiety and death, cringey fluff with a shit ton of cheesiness (because I'm covering the honeymoon phase please forgive me), Google translated French.

Word count: 2.2K words.

A/N: I have no clue how the Prologue is longer than this lmao, do read the prologue incase you missed it though. Nevertheless I hope y'all like the first chapter and do let me know if you want to be added to the tag list <33

Italicized font: flashbacks.

Small Italicized font in brackets: translations.

December 2023.

People bustling down in the streets below, the homely cafés, white and sparkly snow cascading down from sky which had orange, pink and blue scattered over it with the CN tower piercing through the sky. Toronto had always been one of Advika's favourite places in the world, the place always helped her relax and destress. 

The sound of the front door shutting breaks her subconscious state and she turns back to look at her Canadian best friend, who was joining her in the balcony with two paper cups in his hand.

"I got us some hot chocolate." Shawn said, handing her one of the cups and she muttered a small thank you. She'd never been used to the snow and chillness since it never snowed at most of India, especially where she lived, which was in the South of the country.

Shawn Mendes had been Advika's first friend from the music industry and was also one of the most important people in her life. She'd been signed to Island Records a year after him and he always guided her through work, since he'd got his big break even before Advika joined and knew how hard it was for a newcomer to settle into the fast moving world of music.

The curly haired duo got along well instantly, their love for acoustic music, Harry Potter, romantic clichés and their struggle with anxiety creating a trusting bond very soon. Many rumours of them dating had come up but it never changed a thing between them or made it awkward. They always had each other's backs on both professional and personal fronts- album releases and tours, award functions and galas, crushes and heartbreaks too.

Which is why as soon as Advika's tour ended, she took refuge at his Toronto condo without hesitation, needing some space from the brain clogging tour stress and her break-up with the green eyed Formula 1 driver.

“How’s the tune coming up?” he asks referring to the hour she spent, trying to make a tune for a song she'd been working on for a while.

“Like shit, it feels like my creative energy has been burnt out” she groans, staring at her guitar as if a miracle would occur and finish the song she was working on.

“You need to give yourself a break Advi, all you keep doing is making songs, releasing them and then touring all over the world non stop ever since you’ve come into the industry." he sighs, giving her a concerned look "You didn’t even stop working during the pandemic while everybody was giving themselves a break because of the lockdown. And for god's sake speak to your team about making your tour a little less congested, it's clearly making your health or your personal life worse. ”

"I couldn't help doing that. Try having to be alone in your home for months without being able to step out because the entire world is shut. It's not at all lonely Mendes." she responds sarcastically.

"You need to lighten the weight in your head, what's going on in there?" he asks as they both sit on the couch and look at the view in front of them.

"You worry too much Shawn, I'm alright" she shakes her head, giving a weak chuckle.

"Don't give me that bullshit, you're very easy to read." he gives her a pointed glare "Not to mention, all you've done ever since you came back is sleep and you still look like a train wreck."

"I'm just tired." she sighs "Both physically and mentally. The tour drained all my energy out and things with Charles really hit the rock bottom. I don't know why, but it hurts so much. Which feels so ridiculous because even though we were dating, it wasn't for too long and it didn't make much progress either because we weren't able to spend much time with each other."

"Your mom wasn't wrong you know, you do get really attached to people very soon." he tells her and she leans her head backwards on the wall, feeling exasperated.

Advika would've felt so much better right now if her parents were around. Her appa (father) wouldn't have been happy about her being in a relationship, because he was rather narrow minded, but nevertheless would've helped her reduce her overthinking whereas her amma (mother) wouldn't have minded the relationship and would've given her some relationship advice too. She cursed fate for messing life up like that, all she had was her parents and the accident took them away six years ago.

Her parents had always been supportive about her passion for music, but convincing her amma to agree for signing to Island Records definitely wasn't easy because she stated that her daughter was too naive and trusted people easily, which could cause a lot of trouble in the entertainment industry. after a lot of convincing from the head of Island Records, promising that they'd make sure they would take care of a fifteen year old Advika, her singing career took off.

Naysha, Ria and Shawn's families did treat her like their own, but nothing replaces the void that the loss of parents leaves in a person.

"Please don't tell me you both never had a heart to heart conversation atleast once." he tells her, looking bewildered.

"Of course we did. We've spoken about how exhausting travelling for our career gets but then it doesn't matter because we're lucky enough to get to do what we're doing. We've also spoken about losing important people and the healing process, he's lost people who were very close to him and I've lost my parents. Yeah, there have been heavy conversations. What I meant was that long distance relationships progress really slow and the both of us wanted more than that." Advika explained, taking a sip of the warm beverage in her hand.

"Do you think wanting to keep the relationship on the private side was a bad idea?" Advika pondered.

"Not at all." he nodded his head "Especially with the way people were taking pictures and videos of the both of you when spend the summer break together this year, it's okay that you wanted to keep it away from the public eye until it became a very stable relationship."

The media and fans adored Charles and Advika. The pair first met at Paris to work on a photoshoot for Giorgio Armani, since both of them were the brand ambassadors and a connection sparked instantly. Advika being a huge Formula 1 fan and Charles being quite fluent in music helped them bonded over both the topics and time flew very quickly in those two days, his charm and her compassion blending together effortlessly.

They had also done a few interviews together and attended fashion weeks hosted by the brand, which brought in a lot of public attention towards them. Everybody could see the spark between them.

Advika shook the thoughts away from her head. There was no point reminiscing about the past anymore, she reminded herself. What was the point of a flickering spark when they couldn't even be around each other?

Shawn was probably right, she really needed to take a break.

August 2022.

"So, what do you think of Monaco?" Charles asked Advika, who had her back leaning against the railing of his Yacht.

"It's such a beautiful place." she tells, a happy glint in her eyes "I'll be honest, I normally don't like places which are sunny but I've actually fallen in love with the places here. And I think the beaches here are definitely making me want to stay here."

"I don't think I've been more grateful for paparazzi not being allowed without a permit here, the people aren't making you uncomfortable no?" he asks, referring to how people around them were constantly taking pictures of them.

"That's alright, it's nothing new. Something that we get to experience all the time we're at a public place." she nods her head in understanding" Plus, Formula 1 is a very loved sport at Monaco, so it's understandable that you get a lot of attention here. They love you."

Always so emphatic and sweet, he thought as her words brought a smile on Charles face.

"You look really pretty today." he tells her, admiring how her dusky skin shined under the Monacan sun.

"Says you." she retorts and he gives her a playful look.

"I know you're modest but you can admit that you look good, it's totally alright." he tells her and she rolls her eyes at him.

"Was your plan to make me blush the entire time because it's actually going really great." she tells him, her cheeks getting redder.

"Your cheeks are more red than my sun burn so yes, I think my plan is going really well." he continued teasing her.

"You really need to apply your sunscreen, love." she tried, knowing that he won't listen because she'd been trying to convince him into applying it.

"It's not a big deal Vika, I'll be fine." he shrugs it off lightly and she glares at him in response.

"Alright, I'll do it but only if you ask me to do it in French." he completes with a small smirk.

"Maybe you could teach me how to."

"Pouvez-vous appliquer un peu de crème solaire, mon amour." he tells it slowly with gaps so that she could slowly repeat it after him. (Can you apply some sunscreen, love)

"Je vais le faire, chérie" he replied, wrapping his arms around her waist and placing a kiss on her forehead, noticing the usual red tint that formed on her cheeks whenever he called her "chérie". (I'll do it, darling.)

"You really know how to charm me with your cheesiness Leclerc." she tells, looking up at him.

"You can't blame me for doing that, I've missed you." he chided light heartedly.

"I missed you too, I wish my team kept a longer break in the middle." she sighed, a small frown making it's way onto her face.

"It's alright, you can do it for the next one." he said, rubbing small circles on her waist to calm her down. He noticed during their video calls that tour stressed her out and drained a lot of energy, although she'd never admit it because she loved meeting her fans and singing for them.

When they started dating, she'd been touring for two months and half a year into their relationship now, she'd been done with only three-fourths of it which Charles found really ridiculous because she had to travel every three days and then sink into lots of practice and with breaks of a week's duration coming up once in three months. He had no idea how she managed all the stress that came with a schedule like that, the last thing he wanted was for her to feel more stressed about the fact that they barely got to meet because of their very active work schedules.

"Shall we have food now, des gamins?" Pascale approached them, smiling and they nodded their heads in agreement. (kids)

"I'll help your mum with arranging everything." she told him, slightly tip toeing to place a peck on his cheek "You still haven't applied your sunscreen."

December 2023.

Charles had been a wreck of mixed emotions and he honestly had no clue about how to sort it out.

He missed Advika. He missed everything about her, even those video calls which he thought he hated. He missed the gleam in her eyes, the way her curls were a tangled mess every morning, the blush that appeared on her cheeks every time he said something cheesy and would call her "chérie", he missed the sound of her laugh which ringed even at the smallest jokes and her voice, god that was the one thing that had him holding on despite the long distance. Her voice and the smile that she always had on, no matter how shitty things were for her.

He got tired of the fact that they couldn't be around each other and instead of figuring out a way to be around each other more or at least wait until her tour ended, he just cut it off.

That was a decision worse than the ones his team made last year.

"Tu vas bien, mon fils?" the sound of his mother's voice breaks his chain of thoughts, bringing him back to the moment. (Are you alright, son?)

"Yeah I'm just thinking, nothing much really." he nodded his head at her.

"Sure, the look on your face is definitely saying it's much." she replies sarcastically "Do you want to talk about it."

"I was just thinking about everything that happened with Advika." he sighed and a look of concern appeared on her face.

"Well, do you feel guilty about breaking up with her on a day which was very important to you?"

Damn, what was it with mothers and being so blunt.

"No maman" he whined at her "I feel guilty for letting her go so soon, elle me manque déjà tellement." (I miss her so much.)

"Then talk to her about it. From what I've noticed about her, she's been the most understanding out of all the girlfriends you've had so far. I'm sure she'll at least listen about what you feel."

"She definitely will Maman" he agreed with her "But if we do decide to get together again it won't work out, especially with the way our schedules are set up."

"I think that's ridiculous. When two people really want to be with each other, no matter what comes in between they'll give their best to make sure they stay together despite all of it."

Charles could only accept those words in silence as a response, flying into deep thoughts again.

•••••

Taglist: @crueloveascities

[rockislandadultreads]

Book Recs: Feline Reads

Mimi Lee Gets a Clue by Jennifer J. Chow

Mimi Lee hoped to give Los Angeles animal lovers something to talk about with her pet grooming shop, Hollywoof. She never imagined that the first cat she said hello to would talk back or be quite so, well, catty - especially about those disastrous dates Mimi's mother keeps setting up. When Marshmallow exposes local breeder Russ Nolan for mistreating Chihuahuas, Mimi steals some of her cat's attitude to tell Russ off. The next day the police show up at Hollywoof. Russ has been found dead, and Mimi's shouting match with him has secured her top billing as the main suspect. Hoping to clear her name and save the pups Russ left behind, Mimi enlists help from her dreamy lawyer neighbor Josh. But even with Josh on board, it'll take Mimi and Marshmallow a lot of sleuthing and more than a little sass to get back to the pet-grooming life - and off the murder scene.

This is the first volume in the “A Sassy Cat Mystery” series. 

Lawyer for the Cat by Lee Robinson

Sally Baynard is one of the best lawyers around. In the years since her divorce from Family Court Judge Joe Baynard, she dedicated herself to representing the worst and craziest Charleston, S.C. had to offer. But none of the murderers, burglars, or angry divorcing clients compared to Sherman, the dog her ex-husband appointed her to represent. Although the miniature Schnauzer found his way into her heart (and brought his handsome vet Tony along too), his case was a thorny one. With that business out of the way, Sally is happy to move back to non-canine clients... until a probate judge asks her about a cat. Agreeing to represent Beatrice, a black cat who's the beneficiary of a multi-million dollar trust and a plantation, Sally must put her wit, charm, and brains to the test, choosing among three colorful potential caregivers while dodging the former owner's angry son. Meanwhile, Sally must juggle the demands of the court with those of her aging mother and make a decision about Tony, who wants to get more serious. Lawyer for the Cat is Southern women's fiction at its most delightful, featuring strong, smart characters, a charming setting, and plenty of adorable critters.

This is the second volume in the “Sally Baynard” series. 

Probable Claws by Rita Mae Brown

With the New Year just around the corner, winter has transformed the cozy Blue Ridge Mountain community of Crozet, Virginia, into a living snow globe. It’s the perfect setting for Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen to build a new work shed designed by her dear friend, local architect Gary Gardner. But the natural serenity is shattered when out of the blue, right in front of Harry and Deputy Cynthia Cooper, and in broad daylight, Gary is shot to death by a masked motorcyclist. Outraged by the brazen murder, Harry begins to burrow into her friend’s past - and unearths a pattern of destructive greed reaching far back into Virginia’s post-Revolutionary history. When Harry finds incriminating evidence, the killer strikes again. Heedless of her own safety, Harry follows a trail of clues to a construction site in Richmond, where the discovery of mysterious remains has recently halted work. Aided as always by her loyal, if opinionated, companions, crime-solving cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and Tee Tucker the Corgi, Harry hunts for a link between the decades-old dead, the recently violently deceased - and ancient secrets that underlie everything. And while other deaths are narrowly averted in a flurry of fur, the killer remains at large - ever more desperate and dangerous. The deep-rooted legacy of corruption that’s been exposed can never be buried again. But if Harry keeps pursuing the terrible truth, she may be digging her own grave.

This is the 27th volume in the “Mrs. Murphy” series.

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa

Bookish high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the secondhand bookstore he inherited from his beloved bookworm grandfather. Then, a talking cat named Tiger appears with an unusual request. The feline asks for - or rather, demands - the teenager’s help in saving books with him. The world is full of lonely books left unread and unloved, and Tiger and Rintaro must liberate them from their neglectful owners.

Their mission sends this odd couple on an amazing journey, where they enter different mazes to set books free. Through their travels, Tiger and Rintaro meet a man who leaves his books to perish on a bookshelf, an unwitting book torturer who cuts the pages of books into snippets to help people speed read, and a publishing drone who only wants to create bestsellers. Their adventures culminate in one final, unforgettable challenge - the last maze that awaits leads Rintaro down a realm only the bravest dare enter...

[songbirdsingingthings]

Traditions - Shouto Todoroki x Reader

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS, THEY BELONG TO KOHEI HORIKOSHI

DAY THREE OF 25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS - 25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS MASTERLIST - MAIN MASTERLIST

What were you supposed to get the boy who could have anything he wanted? That was the question that had been plaguing your mind for the entirety of November and now December. Shouto Todoroki, your loving and caring boyfriend, was the hardest person you had ever shopped for in your life. Even Momo was easier to shop for - she actually really liked homemade baked goods since when she’s training she has to eat a ton of processed stuff. You were currently at the mall, picking up things for the rest of your friends with Shouto, while also trying to scope out what interests him in certain stores.

“So who’s next?” He asks as you scroll through the list on your phone.

“Hmm… I think Midoriya.” You respond, looking around to see all of the stores surrounding you. A certain one grasps your attention with the bright yellow, blue, and red colors. Shouto follows your gaze and he gives you a small smile as it lands on the huge All Might themed store.

“Well you're definitely gonna find something in there.” He chuckles, gently tugging your hand as the two of you walk towards the door.

You had finally left the mall with several bags being carried by the both of you, but you still had no clue what to get for your boyfriend. After Shouto dropped off the bags in your door and gave you a quick kiss goodbye - he apparently had some important business to attend to - you decided enough was enough. You scroll through the contacts on your phone to find Fuyumi, Shouto’s older sister, and press the call button. You’re only able to hold it to your ear for a few seconds before she answers.

“Y/N! How are you?” Fuyumi’s sweet voice filtered through your phone.

“I’m good, how are you?” You ask politely, making your way to sit down on your bed. 

“Fine, just doing some stuff around the house. I’m glad you called though, I haven’t been able to talk with you for a while.” You heard some clinks and clatters in the background and quickly assumed she was doing the dishes.

“Oh, no problem! I actually have a question if you’re not too busy.” You say, letting your shoulder press your phone to your ear so you could start taking all of your purchases out of their bags.

“I’ve got time, shoot away!” She says cheerily, causing a smile to grace your face.

“It’s about Shouto-”

“What about Shouto?” A deep but happy voice piped up through your phone.

“Hi Natsuo!” You greet, smoothing the blouse you got for Ochaco out.

“Hey kiddo! What’s up?” You could almost feel his wide grin radiating through your screen.

“Was asking Fuyumi a question, but you can answer it as well. I wanted to know what kind of stuff you and Shouto did when you were younger around the holidays to get an idea of what he likes to do. I was trying to find something to get him for Christmas, but I feel like if he wanted anything he would have already gotten it, so I want to do something with him.”

“Uhmm…” You hear both of them exchange awkward words, so you pipe up instead.

“I mean my brother and I would have gingerbread house competitions, go ice skating, and have movie marathons, but I don’t really know if that’s something Shouto would be into .” You say, opening the last of your bags which contained a snow globe with a polar bear cub in it for Koda.

“Y/N, uh… Shouto’s never really done any of that before.” Natsuo says. You frown a bit, but shake your head.

“Oh - is there anything your family does especially for the holidays? I mean I know your dynamic is a bit… different than others, but I’m sure you found a way to celebrate...right?” You asked warily.

“That’s a really sweet thought but umm… Dad didn’t really let us mingle, so he’s never experienced any usual holiday activities. I mean he celebrated with us, don’t get me wrong, but we never really got to do fun things as siblings.” Your jaw drops. You remember playing with your brother in the snow being one of the happiest memories during the holidays and you can’t believe Endeavor didn’t grant Shouto that. All of a sudden, a lightbulb seemed to come to life above your head and a grin replaced your frown.

“Thank you! Thank you so much for telling me, I know what to do!” You exclaim, clasping your hands together. You bid adieu to your boyfriend’s siblings and immediately start planning.

“Y/N, I don’t understand what’s going on. Why did you call me out here?” All bundled up in a puffy jacket that made him look even cuter than ever, snow pants, and a pompom beanie. Shouto looks at you with a raised eyebrow. 

“We are going to have the best day ever.” You state, grabbing his gloved hands in yours. “We’re going to make a snowman, then we’re gonna bake some cookies, maybe make some hot cocoa, and watch some Christmas movies.”

“W-what?” He manages, a blush spreading across his cheeks.

“Merry Christmas! I was trying to think of something to get you, but I kept coming up with blanks. So, I figured we should celebrate our first Christmas together by implementing some solid traditions.” You saw his shocked expression turn into one of somewhat embarrassment as he looked to the side.

“Y/N, your idea sounds great, but I’ve never done those activities before. What happens if I mess them up?” Concern flickers across his eyes, but you give him a reassuring smile and cup his cheek with your mittened hand.

“It’s perfectly fine if you ‘mess them up’, even though I’m sure you won’t. These activities are specifically designed to be fun, stress free things to do, okay?” Shouto nods and gives you a small smile. You give him a quick kiss and your day of fun begins.

Building a snowman was certainly a feat. You had to teach Shouto how to roll the snow to create bigger bases than the average snowball, which completely enthralled him. It was cute to see him so excited about how the snow managed to get that big, and he even put a little spin on the snowman, creating a “frozen pond” right next to him and an ice fishing rod so that he could go fishing.

Next was the cookies. Even though he really hadn’t cooked that much in his life, like many things, your boyfriend picked it up quite quickly. The two of you would perform a quiet dance in the kitchen, dropping two sticks of butter in one bowl and pouring a cup of sugar in another. What Shouto didn’t know, however, was flour’s tendency to create a mini explosion. His face when it poofed up in his face was priceless. You laughed so hard your stomach hurt which only made Shouto take some more flour and throw it on you so you were matching.

Finally, you made it to the end of the day. Both of you were cuddled up on your bed in your dorm watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Your back was pressed up against his chest and his arms were around yours, his left hand drawing soft lines on your skin, heat following his finger tips. You were so happy. Shouto really looked just ecstatic for the entire day, enjoying every activity you came up and even adding his own personal spin to them. You were so engrossed in those happy memories from earlier in the day that you didn’t hear Shouto say your name.

“Y/N,” he says in a velvety voice, shaking you a little to gain your attention.

“Hmm?” You hum in response, telling him that you were listening.

“I have something for you.” You turn around to look at him and you gasp with delight. In his hands dangled the daintiest little locket you had ever seen. It was a pretty silver oval with the tiniest little hinge on its side.

“May I?” You ask, motioning to open it. He gives you a soft smile and nods. You open it very carefully and you melt at what you see inside. It was your initials next to his with a heart outline.

“I know you don’t like obvious jewelry so I didn’t go for the heart locket, but I still wanted to get the meaning across. Do you like-” You cut him off with a searing kiss. You cup both of his cheeks in your hands and press him close to you.

“I love it, Sho. Thank you so, so much.” He grins at you and opens the clasp.

“Do you want me to put it on for you?” He asks. You nod quickly and turn your head back around. His hand sweeps your hair to one side and swings the necklace around your neck so that the clasp was in the back. His fingers danced lightly across the back of your neck, sending a tingle down your spine. He closes the little clasp and smooths it out. You reach up to touch the little locket and smile, turning back around to look at him.

“To new traditions,” you toast, arms wrapping around his neck.

“To new traditions.”

[girloikawa]

because im convinced noah isn’t very fond of adam, here’s noah & adam headcannons for the soul:

deep in the night, when adam is studying atop st agnes, noah pops up. “you should go to sleep.” adam, very sleepy, “you should go to sleep” “I’m dead” “oh right”

noah wanted to make his own snow globe, so he recruits blue and adam for the matter. blue for the decorative sense, adam for the mechanical sense. in short, glitter gets everywhere, so blue goes to get something to clean it up with, adam and noah left alone. adam: “sorry for spilling the glitter, I forgot it was there.” noah, near blue so he was physically there, got up to hug adam. “you don’t need to apologize, I know it was an accident.” it really struck adam because he realized that someone else was how much he apologized for stupid things

before they could get close, though, they had this conversation:

“why are you scared of me,” adam asked. “I don’t understand you” “doesn’t mean you have to be afraid of me” “yes it does” “then...try to understand me”

at monmouth, the four boys are just hanging out, ronan listening to some angry music (adam assumed), gansey reading some history thing on the mannerisms of knights (adam assumed), noah staring out the window, and adam doing homework. noah grew bored, so he went over to adam. “do you need help?” adam just looked at him. noah said, “you do remember that I went to the same school as you” “yeah but...” “but I died?” “...yeah...” noah pulled out a chair, saying, “then teach me” so now adam was noah’s teacher for no other reason than it was a nice source of review and they happened to like each other’s company

this time, adam went to noah. he was in distress over ronan and his feelings for adam, and how adam didn’t know his feelings for ronan. noah sensed it by the look on adam’s face, so he said, “you’re freaking out.” adam slumped into the couch, no one was there except noah and him. “yeah, I’m...yeah” “why?” “ronan.” “oooooh, so you’ve noticed,” he laughed, “finally.” “how long have you known?” “since? the beginning???” “what?” “yeah. at first I was worried, you know, for ronan, but now...I’m not all that worried.” adam had no clue what he meant by that, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to, so he didn’t ask

“I don’t like how you don’t take care of yourself.” it come out of nowhere, like most things noah. “I don’t like you showing up in the middle of the night to scold me on my sleeping habits” “if you go to sleep now, I’ll come over half as much” “fine,” adam said, getting into bed. let’s just say, noah came back twice as much

now that noah was coming back more, he accidentally walked in on ronan on adam’s floor, both sleeping soundly. he left with a smile on his face

noah occasionally stops by at adam’s work. his justification was that he had nothing else to do. (“you could bother ronan, I know for a fact that he’s not doing anything” “but that’s boring too”)

once, “what’s your favorite color of glitter?” “as opposed to...my regular favorite color?” “oh thank goodness, you get it! yes! my favorite color is yellow, but my favorite glitter color is pink! when I asked ronan, he flipped me off.” noah definitely misunderstood why adam asked the question, but he wasn’t about to correct him, so he thought it over. “well, my favorite color is green, but I guess black glitter is pretty nice. yeah, black glitter.” noah smiled. “because ronan wears black?” “what- I- no-” “bye!” he disappeared, leaving behind a stuttering adam. “noah!

another time, “what’s this?” “that? oh that’s—that’s nothing! don’t worry about it!” “did you buy hand cream? good job taking care of yourself, adam, I’m so proud of you!” adam didn’t tell him the truth

and another, “I have a secret,” noah said. “really? you’re so...transparent.” bursting out laughing, noah continued. “okay, okay, nice ghost pun, but I’m serious. I have a confession to make.” adam was starting to get concerned. “what is it?” “promise not to get mad?” “yes, I promise” “okay, well...me and blue kissed” adam was surprised to say the least. “when?” “when you were together. pleasedonthateme. she was curious and she knew kissing me wouldn’t kill me because I’m dead so yeah sorry” it was a lot to take in, but all adam said was, “okay,” and it really was

after noah died, adam said to gansey, “he probably could’ve made a high score on the SAT, you know” and then he started to cry

[carnistcervine]

Aang and Raava are Separate AU

(AU name WIP)

So a while ago I saw this art. And I was like, d’aww. Then it inspired me to make this AU, and I’ve finally written out all the ideas I have for it.

Lemme just have mah mama Raava ‘kay?

-Quick note for this AU, Raava and Vaatu basically have the same powers. So, she also has an insane spirit laser. And where Vaatu can cause emotional distress to the point of hostility in others, Raava has a pacifying aura. I mean, it's possible that Raava also has these abilities in canon, but if she does, she doesn't use them.

-Raava could already sense a grave danger looming over the horizon when Sozin left Roku to die.

-However she remained idle as Aang was born into the world.

-Unlike Aang, she noticed the subtle changes in the people of the Fire Nation, however, once again she did not interfere.

-Raava has been idle since Wan's eventual death, and the world had managed to get along without her direct interference.

-So when Aang runs away and ends up frozen solid, it's a wake-up call for Raava.

-When Aang and Appa sink below the waves, she becomes desperate, her Avatar is about to die before he can complete his destiny. She cannot allow this. Raava takes over freezing a sphere of air around them, she curls around her Avatar and expends her power sending him and his friend into stasis.

-Raava watches over Aang for a hundred years. She would be with him for all his lifetimes...

-When Katara comes across the globe that rose from the water, she doesn't notice the creepy white spirit also trapped in the ice. But Sokka sees it. He tries to stop her from freeing whatever monster was trapped in there, but Katara doesn't notice the strange flatworm-kite-thing until it's too late and it's forcing it's tendrils through the cracks in the ice.

-Seeing an opportunity, Raava uses the cracks in the ice Katara created to break the icy sphere open completely, and a burst of light is sent into the sky, signalling the Avatar's return.

-Katara remembers Gran Gran's tales of spirits who set traps for wanderers out in the icy wastes and worries that she may have accidentally doomed herself and her brother. However, the spirit that pops out of the ice seems more concerned with a young boy it has cradled in it's tendrils. It lays him down gently in the snow, telling him to rest easy.

-When the spirit turns towards his sister, Sokka steps into action, he points his spear at the thing, telling his sister to stay back. That they don't know what this creature is capable of. The spirit casually knocks Sokka's weapon aside and rests a tendril on his shoulder, telling him to take it easy. Sokka can't help but feel oddly drowsy from the contact, like a soft blanket had been draped over his mind.

-Katara asks the spirit who it is. The spirit introduces herself as Raava, the spirit of light and peace. Raava asks Katara if she's a waterbender, Katara confirms that yes she is. So Raava asks if she'd be willing to teach the Avatar, gesturing to Aang.

-Katara explains that she's untrained and that she's the last waterbender in the south pole.

-A fact that worries Raava.

-Raava vouches to see that both Aang and Katara are trained. She asks Katara to take them back to her village and Katara obliges, much to a still sleepy Sokka's chagrin.

-Raava loads Aang onto the bison and Katara and Sokka get on as Appa wakes up. Raava glides along side the bison as Katara leads them to the village. As they get closer, Raava takes on a human looking form and carries Aang in her arms. It's been her personal experience that humans tend to react better to other humans than to faceless spirits.

-None of the villagers ask who this strange woman is, they simply assume that she's the mother of the child she has in her arms.

-Raava watches over Aang as he sleeps. When he wakes up, he feels a vague familiarity at Raava, but doesn't know who she is. She tells him flat out that she's the one known as the Avatar Spirit.

-When Katara introduces Aang and Raava to the village. Raava can't help but feel concerned about how sparse it is. Also, she doesn't introduce herself as a spirit, she simply introduces herself as Raava. The villagers are not only surprised to see an airbender, but also someone as regal looking as Raava.

-Of course, immediately on Raava's docket is going straight to the North Pole so Katara and Aang can learn waterbending. But Aang wants to go penguin sledding with Katara. Being a spirit, Raava is intimately familiar with the fact that they are actually on a deadline and doom is imminent. But even Raava must relent to Aang's incurable puppy face.

-Raava stays behind in the village, learning more specific details about the 100 years war and the stripping of the South Pole.

-Then the whole thing with Aang booby-ing right into a trap happens.

-Sokka banishes Aang from the village, Katara demands to go with him and Raava feels like it's about damn time for them to get on the road.

-Unlike Aang, Raava has no qualms about splitting up Katara's family.

-Then Zuko attacks Katara's tribe and the trio rush back to help.

-Raava steps up to stop Zuko, and Zuko assumes that she's the Avatar. She corrects him, telling him that she's close to the Avatar, but not him.

-She can see the strings of fate that attach Zuko to Aang, so she lets him off easy, grabbing him and using her pacifying aura to make him take a nap. Only saying that he looked like he needed one.

-Iroh is naturally worried for his nephew, but Raava assures him that Zuko is only sleeping and will be back to normal as soon as he wakes up.

-Skipping ahead a bit~

-For the most part, Raava keeps her true nature hidden. Pretending to be a human woman. As no one alive knows who Raava is, it works like a charm.

-Aang is still captured by Zhao when Sokka and Katara get sick, and Zuko does do his Blue Spirit thing trying to rescue him. But also Raava is goddamn pissed and levels half the damn fortress while the duo escape.

-Quick note about Raava, she calls herself a spirit of peace, but she's technically the spirit of order and goes from 0 to 10,000 pretty much instantly. So yeah, she's less an embodiment of peace, and more an enforcer of it.

-They get to the North Pole much faster than in canon, because Raava doesn't play and is actually able to keep the children on task.

-When Pakku refuses to teach Katara, Raava is fucking PISSED. She cannot believe how selfish he's being. Seriously? He's putting his tribe's stupid culture and traditions above the safety and balance of the world! Katara just stands by, smirking as Raava reveals her true nature and goes off on Pakku. She thoroughly enjoys watching him get dunked on by an ancient spirit.

-Not only does Raava demand that both Katara and Aang are taught combat waterbending, but also healing. She honestly doesn't understand why anyone would be dumb enough to separate the two. 1) The more healers, the better. 2) Having an intimate knowledge of the human body(as would be required by healing) makes you a better fighter.

-Both Zhao and Zuko track the Avatar to the North Pole, but Zhao is forced to hang back until he can gather his fleet to attack the fortress. Zuko just breaks right in and is captured. Raava knows that the North will not have mercy on the Fire Prince and demands that he be released to her custody.

-The northerners correctly deduce that she plans on using the Fire Prince as a teacher for the Avatar.

-Unable to deny the direct order of a greater spirit, Zuko is released into Raava's care. She makes sure to keep him in line and implants suggestions into him that make him question his father and country.

-Obviously he isn't anywhere near ready to turn yet, but the seeds are planted much earlier.

-As for waterbending teaching, the healers welcome Aang with open arms. However, Katara gets it ROUGH from the combat students. Pakku is intentionally harsher than normal on her. He's also super hard on Aang, but Katara gets it double time because she's a girl and because Raava is making him teach her.

-When Zhao eventually comes to the North, not only does Raava decimate his fleet, but she also works with Tui and La to trap him in the spirit world for having the audacity to mess with the spirits.

On a side note, I actually spent some time thinking about this. Now for the story, I kind of picture in my mind that Raava goes full on IMMA FIRIN MAH LAZOR on Zhao's fleet. Now, Raava also attacked the Pohai stronghold, and even though Zhao is a reckless idiot, he's not so reckless that he'd just casually forget something as important as the fact that the spirit hanging around the Avatar has A POWERFUL FUCKING LASER. So I got to thinking, if Zhao knows that Raava has a spirit beam attack, he'd make some kind of counter measure. Now, before Kuvira builds the Avatar world's equivalent of a nuke, there really isn't anything that can counter such an attack. And even then, the spirit canon was never used on either Raava or Vaatu, so even though I'm sure it would hurt them, I have no clue how much.

So, this leaves a dilemma. Because Zhao would not abandon his quest to kill the Moon Spirit. Now, I suppose Zhao could just wait for the Avatar to leave the North Pole, but Zhao is not a patient man. So, do I have Raava just not use her spirit laser at the Pohai fortress? Have it be a surprise muthafucka moment for Zhao? I mean, a giant spirit thrashing about would create just as much damage. Or, ooor- And here's a juicy idea~ Zhao intentionally suppresses information of the full extent of Raava's power(it would be harder to get people to join him if they knew just what they were up against) and simply amasses a larger fleet than in canon. He has no real recourse or counter for Raava's power, but decides that he'll simply use his fleet as a distraction. Keep Raava busy while he fulfills his real goal, slaying the Moon Spirit. Zhao's plan isn't to counter Raava directly, but to simply use his fleet a bait.

After all, what better bait than fresh meat?

-Of course, this does bring up that idea... Perhaps Zhao succeeds?

-Oh and in case you were wondering, Ozai was 100% on board with Zhao's idea.

-Skipping ahead some more~

-In Omashu, when facing against the dangerous ladies, Raava proves to be a formidable adversary. Mai's knives harmlessly phase through or bounce off her body. Ty Lee's chi blocking doesn't affect her, and physical contact with the spirit causes Ty Lee to feel the effects of Raava's pacifying aura. Raava's aura, as Ty Lee notes is a brilliant radiance, like looking at the sun.

-And in Azula's case, Raava isn't at all intimidated or swain by her. The spirit is hardly fazed by her blue fire, taking fireballs to the face without so much as a flinch. For the first time in Azula's life she find herself an unstoppable force, meeting an immovable object.

-It's equally frustrating as it is exhilarating.

-Azula's found a worthy opponent.

-For Raava's part, the group are hardly noteworthy. Easily taken down by her pacifying aura. However, Raava knows better than to underestimate an opponent. Fighting someone for eons(like Vaatu) instills these lessons quite firmly. So, she notes whatever things she can about the group, instinctively knowing that this isn't the last she'll see of them.

-Aaand, the swamp. The swamp wants the Gaang to come down and join it. Raava wants the Gaang to join the swamp. The Gaang do not want to join the swamp.

-When the Gaang try to fly over, Raava warns them that they've angered it. She does nothing as the swamp forcefully sucks the group down.

-I'm still deciding whether or not Zhao succeeds in killing Tui... But if he doesn't, instead of encountering a vision of Yue in the swamp, the moon spirit confronts Sokka. With all it's creepy faceless glory.

-As for Aang, he chases down the vision of Toph and runs into Vaatu, or at least a vision of him(or maybe it really is him, I'm leaving this intentionally vague). The spirit shrinks down and forms into a black humanoid shape and reaches out to Aang, who flees in terror.

-Yeah, I'm thinking that overall the Gaang's spirit visions/encounters are much longer, more harrowing, and much much more involved. More like dream sequences/quests than simple visions.

-The swamp is alive, it is a spirit. And spirits are dicks.

-When the group reconvenes, Sokka accuses Raava of terrorizing him. If I have Zhao succeed in killing the Moon Spirit, this scene becomes much more personal with Sokka accusing Raava of using Yue to terrorize him. He's livid with the light spirit, claiming that she used the image of Yue to torment him.

-Of course, Raava did no such thing. But she let's Sokka have his moment, utterly unmoved by his anger. She calmly states that she did no such thing and asks Sokka what possible motivation she could have for doing that.

-Sokka's pissed at Raava for a bit after that, but ultimately accepts that she had nothing to do with what he saw.

-As for Raava herself, she has a vision of Wan.

-Skipping ahead a bit~

-For Toph, Raava is a nightmare. Raava is a spririt, so not only does she not create any vibrations whatsoever, but she also lacks a smell and her voice emanates with no clear direction. Toph never knows when Raava is around, where Raava is, or when Raava is approaching. The only time she knows Raava's there is when she starts speaking.

-She's also completely unable to tell when or if Raava is ever lying.

-Without meaning to, Raava makes Toph feel helpless.

-But that's not all, Toph also hates how demanding Raava is. And poor Toph has no recourse against her. She can't see Raava, so she can't throw any earth her way, and Raava doesn't respond to argument or teasing. At least when Toph is annoyed with Katara, she can call her Sugar Queen and throw mud on her. But deepest of all, Toph is worried that Raava will treat her like her parents treat her. As someone who's too weak and delicate to care for or defend themselves.

-From Raava's perspective, she doesn't like how chaotic Toph is, but overall feels the same way that she does for the rest of the Gaang. She comes to love her dearly. As much as she dotes on the Gaang, she doesn't at all think of any of them as being weak. Far from it! In her eyes they're all powerful warriors. They're her powerful warriors. Yes they are, yes they are~!

-Raava pretty much dotes on the Gaang and comes think of them as her children. She basically takes over Katara's role as group mom, which allows Katara to settle more into a role of being a kid.

-Even though Raava spoils the Gaang, she's also the fun police. The Gaang are all chaotic gremlins and Raava just wants them to stop and SETTLE DOWN FOR ONCE DAMMIT.

-Just an all powerful spirit vs the chaotic energy of a bunch of kids.

-At Wan Shi Tong's library, Raava joins the Gaang going inside. It's because of her that Wan Shi Tong allows them to peruse his collection.

-While he doesn't trust or like humans, he isn't dumb enough to defy a greater spirit. Especially not Raava.

-Let's just say, Raava has a bit of a reputation.

-The Gaang are able to spend a very long time in the library, building an extensive plan and knowledge base before they leave.

-Raava insists that Toph come into the library with them, offering to read to Toph whatever topic her heart desires. The idea makes Toph a little excited, but she makes it seem like she's only begrudgingly agreeing.

-You know Toph would take full advantage of Raava's offer and learn about everything her parents tried to hide from her.

-It does provide as an opportunity for Raava and Toph to bond. Toph finds that Raava's voice is nice to listen to, very soothing. She also finds that Raava isn't as judgmental as her parents. She judges Toph for her actions and her strength, not some preconceived notion that blindness=weakness.

-I'll probably have other times like this peppered throughout the story where various members of the Gaang get a one-on-one with Raava where she offers her I've-Been-Around-Since-The-Beginning-Of-Time-So-I-Must-Know-Something wisdom.

-Naturally, this means that the sandbenders are able to steal Appa unopposed.

-Since Appa has been stolen, Raava carries them all to Ba Sing Se. She tries to console Aang in his grief, but Aang shuts himself off from the rest of the group, and even blames Raava for Appa's disappearance.

-When they first find out, he blows up at her, screaming that she should have kept watch to make sure nothing happened to him.

-To which Raava rightly points out that not only is Appa a ten ton bison fully capable of handling himself, but also they don't know what happened to him, and leaving someone behind could have meant loosing two team members instead of one.

-Aang is upset enough to trigger the avatar state, but Raava uses her ties to him to pacify him instead.

-By the time Raava reaches the walls of Ba Sing Se, the city's generals have collected along with several soldiers. Being a giant, luminescent flatworm, Raava isn't too hard to spot. Even at a distance.

-Of course, the Gaang are all knocked out from prolonged contact with Raava so they're useless at the moment.

-The generals soon recognize Raava as being the one that brought down Zhao's fleet, and slightly concerned she'll do the same to the city, comply with her demands that the Gaang be given adequate shelter.

-The Gaang all wake up in a very nice house in the upper ring, Raava is quietly reading a play.

-For a while Aang resents Raava, feeling like it's her fault that Appa disappeared. Raava, understanding that he needs to time to process his grief, leaves him be.

-Raava actually likes Ba Sing Se. As a being of order, she sees the peaceful, orderly city as the way the world should be.

-She feels Long Feng's methods to be effective.

-This does drive a bit of a wedge between her and the Gaang, as none of them can properly comprehend spirit morality. Aang kind of understands, but he's kinda pissed at Raava.

-Raava decides to be patient with them, by this point she's realized that sometimes humans need time to understand things.

-Raava and Long Feng come to have an understanding.

-Even still, when Appa goes roaming out into the dark night, it's Raava and not Long Feng that he finds at the end of his journey.

-Aang is very happy to be reunited with Appa and apologizes for being cold/harsh with Raava. Raava just hugs him.

-Thanks to Raava and Long Feng's understanding, they manage to get a meeting with the Earth Kingdom generals to talk about the invasion of the Fire Nation.

-Since they get to Ba Sing Se earlier than in canon(again Raava is pretty good at keeping the children on task and getting/keeping them out of sticky situations) the drill appears much later during their time in Ba Sing Se.

-The Fire Nation didn't know that Raava was in Ba Sing Se, but figured that their reinforced drill would be tough enough to withstand- it's not.

-Raava just wants to blow the stupid thing up and be done with it, but Aang doesn't want Raava to do that because then a whole bunch of people will die. Raava doesn't care, a few human casualties is nothing compared to the havoc on the world's balance that the Fire Nation taking Ba Sing Se would bring.

-But Raava relents and decides to pull the drill apart, a slower and much harder process, but one that would be much less likely to harm anyone inside.

-They notice right away that Raava is attacking the drill, so Azula and her two friends go out to fight Raava and the Gaang.

-Mai and Ty Lee have learned their lessons about physical contact with Raava from the last time they fought.

-Azula uses her lightning on Raava, which while not deadly like it would be on a human, does actually hurt Raava.

-After being hit by multiple bolts of lightning, Raava lets go of mercy and trashes Azula.

-Thoroughly crushed, Azula and her friends have to go home with their tails between their legs.

-In this AU they never visit Kyoshi, and Appa's with Aang, so there's no one for Azula to disguise herself as.

-Azula also starts to crack a little bit earlier due to her complete inability to even pose a threat to Raava. As this forces her to reconsider deep aspects about herself and her own failings. After all, almost isn't good enough.

-Azula does try to tell herself that he usual tactics aren't working on Raava, because she's a spirit and spirits are fools. But deep down, she's always considered herself above the spirits. So it's not easy for her when this is called into question.

-The dangerous ladies do eventually manage to sneak into Ba Sing Se. Azula's plans remain more or less the same as canon.

-Though, I have started thinking that maybe Azula adds another to her posse, perhaps someone with spiritual expertise? No one can counter Raava in terms of power, but perhaps she can be countered in terms of spirituality?

-Either way, Azula fails to sway the Dai Li to her favor. In their eyes, Raava's favor of Long Feng means he's the one that was chosen by the fates to lead.

-So the dangerous ladies are arrested.

-I'm still deciding whether they break out or get brainwashed. I’m leaning towards epic jailbreak. But IDK.

-Iroh invites Raava to his tea shop, flirts and makes pleasant conversation with her. Much to Zuko's dismay, Iroh invites her back to their apartment to discuss a firebending teacher for the Avatar, as well as the Day of Black Sun.

-Oh yeah, Raava knows that Zuko and Iroh are Fire royals. She also knows that they're the only good options to fill Ozai's place when he's removed from power.

-All that said, the eclipse goes soooo much better than in canon. The Fire Nation legit don't know what's coming so no trap can be lain.

-Ozai is stripped of his power by Raava and thrown in jail.

-Zuko is crowned and rules with Raava constantly leering over his shoulder.

-Some notes about Raava's characterization in this AU; a pretty strong case for good is not nice. Raava can be very blunt and abrasive, also she nags and chides literally everyone. She absolutely loves and adores her Avatar, as well as the companions he travels with, but is overall critical of humankind. While the amount of people she likes is vanishingly small, she also doesn't really hate anyone(not even Vaatu). She's more like the tired kindergarten teacher who stares into the void as her students tear the classroom apart around her. Of course she’s also about a planc length from taping all the children to the floor.

-And if you think that's the end and everything just wraps up nicely and it's all happy good times from there...

-I admire your optimism.

[thesalemsaga]

𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 - 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀.

there was a twinge of pain erupting from her lower back as she awoke.

falling asleep on your desk is hardly the wise option, although one glance at the sea of papers she laid in, and you might even understand it. and if you knew the drive of seren armsend, it is that the girl with the sunny hair never gave up until all of her fuel was burnt out.

for six cold hours, she slept with her head rested against her arms, which were now growing so numb she felt that the blood had frozen and failed to rush through. her first waking breaths were startled, the panic that settles when you awake in a strange location, outside of the comforts of your bed and your blankets.

her head rose, tired eyes seeing smudged words in black ink and her fingers coated ebony and red from the energy she put into writing these letters last night. in the end, she couldn’t finish them, and everything hurt. she would do a useless job if she were to try again.

in her wake, her orange hair fell from the grips of a pin and fell down her back, tickling her skin which had grown cold over the night. her teeth shattered, breath trembled, and so she quickly moved to find a sense of warmth. it took a moment to notice the sun pouring through the windows, hiding behind dark curtains which seren threw open with all her might.

her heart was palpitating, like it does when a special day has arrived, one which you’ve been awaiting for quite a long time. her thoughts moving slow, barely awake, seren didn’t realize what it was until she went over to her desk once more and saw something which was not there before.

a card, and a wooden butterfly.

a knock came from the door, and after a few seconds of silence, it opened. her father stepped in, the respected headmaster who also held a gift box in his hands. his smile, rarely seen, was instantaneous when he spotted his daughter looking so curiously at him.

“ hardly how i expected to see the birthday girl today. ”

he carried himself over, limping with his cane in hand, and stood in front of his daughter. over the years, she had grown slightly taller than him. and especially after what she saw and fronted given her adventure, he felt as if she was fifty feet tall. he could see it in her posture, her eyes. yet sweet seren remained sweet, sugar-sweet.

“ sorry, i just woke up ”, seren mumbled through a sleepy hazy, gathering her thoughts to realize she was turning nineteen today. nineteen years on this earth and it felt like she had mentally aged five years since she returned from beyond the walls. “ did you get anything from mom? ”.

“ actually, this is from her. ”

the woman who has been absent from seren’s life for many years often still had time to send her a gift but it didn’t come with every birthday. it was no wonder seren thought her father was kidding as he handed her the wrapped gift and told her to go get dressed.

as he moved towards the door, seren’s curiosity peaked. “ she said she would be in india this month. or at least, that’s what i was told from . . . the letter. ” notes from mrs. armsend were rare, and seren kept an entire collection within an old shoe box she keeps under her bed. the february letter was her most recent one, a clear white envelope stacked with others in yellow and brown.

“ i’m not sure. still, she had time to send you a gift. oh, mine is on the kitchen table. hurry up and get dressed or you’ll be late! ”.

“ l-late for what? ”.

the response never came, seren was left in her room, clutching the wrapped present, turning it in her hands and shaking it to hear a rattle, for clues of what it could be. it didn’t dawn on her that she could open it, it was her birthday after all.

she went to her bed, sitting on the edge and with a wavering sigh, ripped the present open. usually she would take her time, it would drive her father mad, but given how difficult it is to wrap presents, she didn’t want to make a mess.

what was revealed from the box was a gift seren wasn’t quite expecting. usually her mother would sent trinkets, small things to remind the girl that her mother was always thinking of her. last year it was a pair of tap-dancing shoes, seren’s old tap dancing shoes from when she was a kid.

this year, it was a sweater. and it smelled nice.

‘ it’s washed, don’t worry. thought it would fit you, ’ read her mother’s note.

knitted with beige wool and smelling like her mother’s flower garden. seren felt as if it was the first proper gift she had gotten in a long time and that is not to insult her mother’s tastes. it was the first gift that one could say meant a lot to a girl who hasn’t seen her mother in over seven years.

she held the sweater to her chest, almost as if to grasp and hold the woman she misses dearly. she missed her by an inch when she was beyond the walls, they were a week apart from meeting, but salem’s downfall called and seren couldn’t stay for too long.

seren’s eyes, blue and curious, moved to the desk where she had first seen the clues related to her birthday. the wooden butterfly, carved carefully as if the artist molded it with the hands of a god. and she knew alexander rather well, he was not one to do something half-assed.

a blue monarch, painted blue and thin to the point where you might not even recognize it to be a mere illustration of the animal. jewels glued into the wings, glinting under sunlight and bringing a smile to seren’s lips. she was yet to open up the letter, figuring she would collect them through the day and open them when she’s tucked back into bed.

it was only through looking at that butterfly that seren realized what she was late for.

and like a burst in the wind, she threw on casual clothes along with her mother’s sweater, braiding her hair quickly on her way down the stairs and apologised quickly to the maids for getting in their way. “ dad, you could’ve woken me up sooner! or like, had martha come wake me up with a bucket of cold water! ”, she whined.

“ sorry, love! but i was quite distracted myself. don’t forget your gift! ”.

as the headmaster, he had a lot of things to do and seren tried to star clear from his path. she quickly swung back and took the gift box, it wasn’t that big but it didn’t matter, but it was heavy, it left her confused at first, to the point where she turned to her father to ask him what was inside. but one glance at the time and she made haste out of the room.

the walls of valhalla weren’t bleak this time around. a tuesday morning in the midst of mid-term vacation, she wasn’t expecting to see any students. most would’ve taken the train down to the capital and spent time with their family. some may have even paid a fortune to be flown out beyond the walls, which, believe it or not, were actually being deconstructed.

seren squealed slightly as she slid, just barely missing the turn to head up the stairs to the cafeteria. she hated being late, tying it in with being disorganized and messy and she liked to think of herself as anything but that. she couldn’t be late for a birthday celebration, especially knowing who would be there.

she burst through the cafeteria louder than she was expecting, gaining some attentions of students who looked over their shoulders and shook their heads with distaste yet the girl carried on walking. until her table was visible in the corner, just by the exit, near to the tall glass windows.

a pair of excited eyes stared back at her. perseus’s eyes. met with romeo’s excited cheer as he stood up and ran towards her for a hug, which she fully accepted. only, the impact was a little worse than she was expecting.

“ happy birthday, girlie! look at that braid-- do you need help finishing it? ”.

seren chuckled softly, pulling back from the warm hug, “ i’ll do it, don’t worry. and thank you. hardly feels like i’m turning old today. ”

“ have you cried yet? ”, perseus asked, gaining a minor head tilt from the redhead. “ no? oh, just me, then. i don’t know, i normally get emotional when it’s my birthday. it’s either due to pure sadness or gratitude. ”

evangelos grunted beside him, dressed rather gloomily for such a pleasant spring day. “ from now on, it’ll be of gratitude. no use being sad when we have an entire world out there to explore ”, he pointed out, bringing his arm under the table and then putting something on top for seren to see, a gift box. “ gifts out, gentlemen. ”

seren sat in between alexander and romeo. alexander was rather quiet today, more quiet than usual. she didn’t hear a peep from him until she nudged him slightly and smiled at his curious, innocent eyes. “ happy birthday, freckles. i hope my gift is being taken care of ”, he uttered.

and seren thought back to the blue butterfly and beamed gently. it was in her room, on her desk, perched in between her pencil case and her portraits. three portraits; of herself and her sister, of herself and her mother, and of herself and these gaggle of idiots.

“ you bet it is. ”

the table, previously barren and rid of any rubbish, found itself covered in a sea of colored wrapping papers, so many colors it made seren’s eyes hurt but not as much as the gifts which were brought forward, some so beautiful that choking back the tears was proven harder than facing salem.

and as the commemorations went on around her, the birthday girl merely observed her treasures in silence.

seren gazed lovingly at the glass rose, watching the flow of stunning lights filtering through it like fairies dancing from within, and if she was not careful, she could fall into a hypnotic trance. it reminded her so faintly of her snow globe from her early childhood, a fragment of a memory revived in a glass rose given to her by someone she never took for a romantic, even if his name would suggest otherwise.

navy eyes fell onto the gift beside it, perseus’s creation. a caricature, a rather comic one, too. seren pinched her lips together and smiled sadly. although the image of her sister never ceased in her mind, nothing beat seeing her in a physical sense, even if it was the size of a figurine. yet what mattered was the love that was invoked out of her, overflowing. her sister’s magical hair and eyes, chasing a butterfly in a field.

to avoid crying, seren then stared at a gift of an absent member. or at least he said he would meet them at the town square later. levi’s love of the hunt and liking to the crafts of man led to the gift seren wasn’t expecting, but loved regardless. concealed in a glass case, a frozen dagger, quite literally wrapped in layers of ice and fog that gave it an almost clear appearance. an ancient craft, a rare, cultural gift. seren smiled, though, wondering what might’ve caused levi’s love of knives so much.

in her arms, she held kailen’s present, wondering where the boy was at the same time. an album, composed of pictures they’d gathered over the months, from the adventure all the way to now, to just yesterday, where they had some fun at the beach. she would open the album and gloss often the dozen pages. so many memories, many which she kept close to her heart. kailen’s paternal instincts breezed with this gift, leaving seren feeling safe.

and the final gift, a bow. a simple, wooden box around the size of her small hands but it contained the most stunning gift of all; music. evan had sharp ears, knowing a song which would bring seren peace, and threw it into a music box, and when she opened, revealed engravings onto the wood of the lid, and as she spun the wheel and let the song play, she would think of those blue memories from their adventures, up until now.

seren felt delicate fingers through her hair, sensing a bow being tied to her braid by kailen’s hands. “ we hope you like it. took a while to choose each gift but the result was good, by the looks of things ”, was he referring to how seren was struggling to keep the tears at bay?

she sniffled, chuckling sweetly. “ they’re perfect. it’s just . . . the first time i’ve felt happy on my birthday. and it’s thanks to you idiots ”.

“ we’re not idiots! we just care a lot about you ”, perseus squeaked, reaching over and flicking her chin playfully. “ cheer up, pinkie. you still have to deal with us idiots till the end of the day. it’ll be magical, we promise. ”

with that, seren smiled. they didn’t even realize it, that every moment with them was magical. and that she was happy so long as she had them.

she owed the blue memories to these silly boys. these silly, but special boys.

[anneapocalypse]

A Chorus World Map

Note: This is not a definitive map! With the exception of two locations, this is not canon. This is just a working model I came up with based on environmental and contextual clues, to have a reference for writing fic.

If you're curious how I came up with this, keep reading!

Map description: A world map of Chorus built on the blue map base shown at the Temple of Arms. The Purge Temple is located on an island left of center, set between the three main continents but closes to the top left continent. Radio Jammer 1C is on a smaller island north and slightly east of the Purge. The rest of the locations are place on the planet's largest continent, taking up most of the right half of the map. Federal Army Outpost 37 is placed at the tip of a long peninsula extending from the northern side of the continent. Crash Site Alpha is on the coast at the northwest corner of the continent, with Crash Site Bravo to the southwest. The Temple of Trials is on the west coast about midway down. The Temple of Arms and Charon Research Complex C-2 are at the southern tip of the continent. Armonia is inland, north and a little east of the Temple of Arms. New Republic Headquarters is just west of the center of the continent, with the Abandoned Fueling station immediately to the northeast. Federal Army Outpost 22 is a ways north and east of New Republic HQ, a little east of the base of the peninsula. The Temple of the Key is inland on the eastern side of the continent. The Temple of Communications is to the south of the Temple of the Key.

Adventures in Cartography

I began by overlaying the two temple maps we're given in season 13. The first (blue) shows the coordinates Tucker is given at the Temple of Arms. These coordinates are where the True Warrior test takes place. I call it the Temple of Trials. (That's not canon, it's just easier to say and it sounds cool.)

The second (red) shows the coordinates given by Santa at the Temple of Trials. Based on his dialogue, it is slightly confusing whether he's talking about the location of the Purge or the Key:

Santa: (to Tucker) As its bearer, the Great Key will remain bonded to you and you alone, until the time of your death. If you believe the inhabitants of this planet are not ready for my creators' gifts, activating the Purge will cleanse them.

Carolina: And by "cleanse" you mean...?

Santa: All sentient life on Chorus will be exterminated.

Tucker: Dude. Buzzkill.

Epsilon: And... where exactly is this thing?

Santa: Here. (a red holographic map lights up with a dot pointing at the Purge's location, east of the Jungle Temple) I will also update all previously sent maps with temple locations.

I believe that map marker is the Key, because that is where everyone goes next. In particular, it's the map marker the mercs see at one of the other temples, right before they head for the Temple of the Key. It fits Carolina's description of "the mountains east of our location."

So these are our touchstones: the Temple of Trials and the Temple of the Key.

Biomes

The next thing I did was attempt to sort the Chorus locations into climate groups based on their environments.

Jungle/yellow sky

Crash Site Alpha

Crash Site Bravo (canyon)

Temple of Trials (on the water)

Temple of Gravity (near Crash Site Alpha and the Purge)

Remote Research Facility (established to study wildlife)

Tropical?

Radio Jammer Station 1C (island off the coast, sky half blue half stormy)

Desert

Abandoned Fueling Station

New Republic HQ (right on the edge of the jungle)

Temple of Communication (debatable, but rocky and not a lot of foliage)

Snowy/Mountainous

Federal Army Outpost 22 (on the edge of the mountains, not snowy)

Federal Army Outpost 37 (on the water, amid mountains but at sea level)

Temple of the Key (high in the mountains)

Grassy/Deciduous

Temple of Arms & Charon Excavation site (on the water, visible from Complex C-2)

Charon Research Complex C-2 (near the Temple of Arms, within visibility)

Unsettled Territory

Who Fucking Knows

Armonia (but it seems warm)

The Purge (red crystal hell)

Directionality

Armonia -> unsettled territory -> Temple of Trials

Armonia -> Fueling Station -> Crash Site Alpha

The Temple of Trials is a shorter trip from Armonia than Crash Site Alpha, thought probably not by more than an hour or so.

New Republic HQ -> Fueling Station -> Federal Army Outpost 37

Crash Site Alpha is relatively close to the Temple of the Purge.

The Communication Temple is to the east of Crash Site Bravo. It seem to be night at the Comm Temple while it is still daylight at Crash Site Alpha.

Why I put almost everything on one continent

The two canon locations are both on that continent, and while characters sometimes have access to air vehicles and teleportation grenades, in both seasons 12 and 13 there is a lot of ground travel happening. (Also, all the grenades detonate early in season 13 and all travel from there on has to be done the long way.) In particular:

Felix leads the Reds and Blues from Crash Site Bravo to New Republic Headquarters by ground, via caves.

Tucker, Grif, Simmons, and Caboose travel from New Republic Headquarters to Federal Army Outpost 37 by Warthog, stopping at the gas station in between.

Carolina and her away team travel from Armonia to the Temple of Trials by ground, passing through unsettled territory.

Kimball leads the troops from Armonia to Crash Site Alpha by ground, also through unsettled territory.

While many of the locations are located by water, we don't have any instances of characters crossing a large body of water.

We're already kind of handwaving how quickly characters can move across the continent in land vehicles, without adding intercontinental travel to the mix.

Doyle claims in season 12 that the rebels were given opportunity to move to a different part of the planet and build their own society. This suggests that a fair amount of Chorus still remains unsettled.

While we don't know the population of Chorus at the time of canon events, if we take a bit of Sarge's dialogue, he refers to "thousands." Even if we estimate generously and say this could be hundreds of thousands, we're still looking a severely contracted population. For comparison, 100,000 to 300,000 people is considered a medium-sized city in the US. With the population so depleted and the war still raging, it makes sense that the populated area of Chorus would have shrunk considerably even if it was once larger.

Keep in mind that this doesn't mean there is nothing of interest on the other continents. There might be more alien towers, settlements, other cities. For this map I’m only working with locations relevant to the Chorus Trilogy storyline, not the entire world.

Other Considerations

As this is a flattened map of a globe, it is not to scale and landmasses distort more the further they are toward the corners. It is probably best, therefore, not to get too hung up on distances. For visibility's sake the map markers are misleadingly large, and appear a lot closer to one another than they actually would be on the ground.

For my purposes I consider any Chorus canon post-season 13 to be entirely optional, but for what it's worth, the brief view we get of Chorus from space during the blockade lines up pretty well with this map, with that main continent being the one most clearly in view—and also the one at which the fleet have pointed their cannons. It is also worth nothing from this image that the bifurcated continent in the upper left corner of the map actually appears to come quite close to the central continent where it wraps around the globe. For that reason, while I'm thinking of this central continent in terms of north and south, it's probably a bit misleading to look at the whole map that way.

We can see where the sun strikes the planet in that image, but without knowing the planet's axial tilt or where the poles are, it's impossible to determine exactly where the equator is, so again, not getting hung up on it. I'm also taking the appearance of the land itself as a very general suggestion, as the area where the Temple of the Key would be doesn't show any snow. Nevertheless, we can see that central continent divided into three distinct regions: green, tan, and a darker brown. Or: jungle (with some grassy and deciduous area to the south), desert, and mountains.

It makes sense to me that the Temple of the Purge would be located somewhere remote and difficult to access, so I played it off the mainland, on an island.

It's hard to tell in the show, but the Halo map representing the radio jammer is an island, and I thought that made sense as somewhere Charon would place one. They wouldn't put the jammers too close to populated areas, in case the Chorusans got the bright idea to try to shoot them down.

Federal Outpost 37 (the outpost where Wash, Sarge, Donut, and Lopez are taken and where they meet Doyle) is snowy and cold, but it's also right on the water, at sea level, so the cold can't be due to elevation. It made sense to put it further north. According to the Fan Guide, this outpost became the Feds' primary base of ops after they pulled out of Armonia, and while highly defensible due to an "enormous frozen wall," it's also a difficult position from which to mount an offensive. For all these reasons it made sense to me to put it at the end of the northern peninsula.

I probably debated the most where to place Armonia, as it could go pretty much anywhere warm. The scene where Carolina goes out to the city limits is probably the most indicative of Armonia's climate, and I think it would most likely sit right on the edge between desert and the deciduous area south of the jungle, and that's where I've placed it. (I entertained the idea of putting it on that big south central island, but the channel separating it from the mainland would be a lot bigger than it looks on the map, and in the end it just didn't really fit.)

Though I didn't include it on this map, I like to think Chorus might have rebuilt their new capital near the Temple of Communication, in the bones of a city that survived the war abandoned but mostly intact.

I hope you enjoy this map, and perhaps find it useful! Please credit if using, as there is a whole lot of my own headcanon and analysis going into this. 

As with all meta, nothing is set in stone. I will almost certainly find something I don’t like about it five minutes after I hit “post.” :P But it’s a working model! which is more than we had before.

[marshmallow-phd]

Sins of the Father

Genre: Mafia Au

Pairing: Junmyeon x Reader

Summary: Soon after your second birthday, your parents were killed and you were adopted by your father’s best friend, taken away to their home country where you lived your life in peaceful ignorance. As far a as you knew, your parents simply left you large fortune to be released to you once you reached your twenty-third birthday. At least, that’s all you thought you were inheriting. When a famously ruthless mafia boss discovers your existence, you are left at his mercy. While under his roof, you learn more about your father than you ever wished you had, including the part of your inheritance that made you the most valuable person in the underworld. Hidden in a bank in New York City were files that held the darkest secrets of the mafia families and everyone in their pocket. With another terrifying leader’s eyes trained on you, you’ll learn to watch your back… and guard your heart, before your father’s past becomes your doom.

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I 15 I 16 I Final

**

You were starting to realize that you had no real stubborn streak to speak of. No matter how much you wanted to just stay in that bedroom and stare at the ceiling or the wall, avoiding all contact with the inhabitants of this penthouse for the rest of the evening, you had to admit, you were getting bored. And thirsty.

Just as your resolve had broken, a knock came from your door.

“Who is it?” you called out.

“It’s Chanyeol. We have your stuff.”

Practically running to the door, you gladly yanked it open with excitement. Sure enough, there was the giant with several cardboard boxes beside him. Chen and Kai popped up behind him and the three of them started carrying the boxes inside your four walls. While it may seem a little trivial, having your things that belonged solely to you made you feel less isolated. This place would never be home, but at least you could be surrounded by familiarity.

“We grabbed most of your clothes,” Chanyeol grunted, putting the box in his hands down next to your bed, “but I think your sister took a few pieces, claiming them as hers.”

You shrugged. “It’s whatever.”

Chen dropped the two smaller boxes he was carrying into your closet and started opening them up to take out the clothes stored inside.

“You don’t have to do that,” you exclaimed, scrambling to try and stop him. Seeing as they all wore expensive suits, you didn’t want them judging your frugal style. You didn’t believe in spending a lot of money on clothes when you could enjoy what you wore for cheaper prices.

“In all honesty, I will unpack everything for you,” Chen volunteered. “The longer this takes, the longer we can stay away from Junmyeon.”

To not take too much advantage of his help, you started slipping shirts onto the empty hangers. “Is he that mad?”

“I’ve seen Junmyeon yell at underlings and shove things,” Chen admitted. “But this is new. He’s obviously pissed, but he’s forcing himself to hold it in. I think he took what you said to heart and doesn’t want to take it out on Baekhyun. Usually, Baekhyun is livelier, but he talked back to Junmyeon about bringing you here and then got forced to pick you up as a consequence. So, if it’s possible, don’t be mad at him, he was just doing his job.”

Your hands froze on the heavy sweater you were currently wrestling onto a white plastic hanger. Baekhyun had a puppy-like face that didn’t match the scowl he’d worn around you, making it easy to believe Chen about his usually more peppy personality. “I’m not mad at him. I just can’t figure out how I even got into all this.” Staring at the clothes that now occupied the once empty bars, you sat down on the floor. “I had plans, you know. I wanted to travel, see the world. Maybe find out where I came from. Discovering my father’s shady past and then being handed over to a mafia boss for a fake marriage wasn’t exactly on the outline I made.”

“You never know,” Chen offered sympathetically. “You could still do that someday.”

You laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, right. I’m stuck in this jail cell.”

“Junmyeon likes to travel.” Chanyeol popped into the closet, his hands in his pockets. “He likes the anonymity of it. I’m sure he’d take you along.”

For a moment, you contemplated Chanyeol’s suggestion. But then the thought of how you’d most likely have to share a hotel room with Junmyeon to keep the appearance as his “wife” and the image just grated on your nerves.

“If that’s my only choice, then I’ll just stay here,” you concluded. “That’s not real freedom.”

Chanyeol shook his head at your willfulness. Behind him, Kai rolled his eyes with sigh.

Xiumin, the eldest of the members, stepped into the walk-in and cleared his throat. “Boss wants to see us all.”

You got a few apologetic looks thrown your way as they all filed out of the closet. Left to finish off the unpacking on your own, you checked the items off the list you had made the previous night to make sure everything was present. One of the boys being kind enough to leave it on the bed before they slipped out.

There wasn’t much you had to call your own or that you really wanted to be brought over here. Most were just essentials so you could shower and not walk around naked. Only two picture frames, gently folded between your blanket and a few jackets, were important enough keepsakes to remind you of your old life.

One was the only evidence you had of your birth parents’ existence. The three of you were on a picnic blanket in a green park filled with trees and a blue sky painted the backdrop, smiling at the camera like an average family that knew nothing but happiness. Like there wasn’t a dark secret hidden behind the façade. The picture was obviously professionally done, with the lighting and colors adjusted just right to complete the look. In a fit of anger, you shoved the photo in the nightstand drawer, slamming it closed with more force than necessary.

The other picture was the one you preferred.

Taken on your third birthday, the first one you’d spent with your new family – your real family – it meant more to you than any expensive portrait. It wasn’t as nicely put together as the other, but that’s what made it special.

Minah was crying because she couldn’t have the first bite of the cake while Mingyu was absorbed in his video game. The pointed hat on your head off kilter and you had a spot of sauce on your shirt. But none of it mattered. Even now, you smiled down at the picture, your own goofy, toothy grin shining brightly. Taegun and Hyunmin were hovering over you, smiling at the camera as well. Little did Hyunmin know that just a second after the camera flashed, her nose would be covered in frosting and Taegun would be running away to the bathroom to hide.

Missing them terribly, you placed the frame on the nightstand where you could say good night to them before you went to sleep.

The last box was filled with little knick-knacks that you’d collected over the years: a jewelry box no bigger than your palm decorated with white roses, a beauty and the beast snow globe you’d bought when the family went to see the musical, among other odds and ends. They weren’t terrible important. You’d mostly put them on the list out of spite. After putting them in their places on the desk, you turned back to look for the more important items from your list.

However, there were only about four or five books thrown into the bottom of the box. Apparently underlining the word hadn’t been enough of a clue to whoever packed your things. Not only that, but your album was nowhere to be found either.

Seething, you snatched up the list and marched down the hall to Junmyeon’s office. Letting the anger drive your bravery, you pounded on his door with your fist.

“Come in.”

You stomped inside, pushing past the see of grown men to Junmyeon’s desk.

“What do you need, (y/n)?” Junmyeon asked with a very uninterested voice. He didn’t even bother to look up from the papers in his hand.

You slammed down the list on the desk, forcing him look up. “I wrote down the things I wanted brought here and most of them are here. But some were left behind and I don’t appreciate that.”

Sighing, Junmyeon set the papers down, staring up at you as he folded his hands in front of him. “And what was left behind?”

“When I asked for my books, I meant I wanted all of them, not just four.” You tried to keep your voice even and reasonable. Junmyeon was a leader and therefore used to negotiations. Being a hot head while he was still mad from this afternoon’s encounter was not the answer. “Also, the photo album isn’t here either. I even wrote down that’s under my bed so it’d be easy to find.”

Junmyeon glanced at the boys behind you. Following his gaze over your shoulder, you found Chanyeol looking guilty while Baekhyun just seemed annoyed.

“How many books do you have left?” Baekhyun’s voice had a layer of reluctance in it. If he was smart, he knew to just give in to keep the peace. You’d go along with most situations to make it easier for everyone, but this was not something you would compromise on.

“Enough to fill a whole bookshelf,” you replied.

Xiumin, who was standing behind Junmyeon, sneered. “We’re not delivery boys. You can live with–”

Junmyeon threw up a hand to stop him. “That is an awful amount of books for my men to carry up here.”

“Fine. They can leave the bottom two shelves there,” you compromised. The bottom was where you kept the books you didn’t read anymore as they were well below your interest and reading level. You’d kept them around simply for nostalgia’s sake. “But I also want the album.”

That seemed to satisfy him a little. “Agreed. In a few days, we’ll go back–”

“Actually, boss,” Chen chimed in. “I can go tonight. I’ve got all my work done for the…,” he flashed a concerned look at me before continuing, “for the thing you’re setting up. I’ve got the time.”

“I’ll go with him,” Chanyeol volunteered.

“Same here,” Kai added.

You gave each of them a small smile, appreciating their effort into making you more comfortable.

Junmyeon ran a hand through his hair. “Fine, just go.”

Feeling a small victory, you walked out of the office with your head held high. You stopped by the kitchen and reheated the food Kyungsoo had made for you earlier, your appetite at an all-time high since breakfast was your last real meal. Being in a slightly better mood, you were able to enjoy the food with more enthusiasm this time around. It was better than any restaurant.

“Barely here a day and you’ve already got most of them wrapped around your finger.”

Baekhyun sauntered into the kitchen, slinking down across from you at the island. You continued to eat, trying to put on the air that he didn’t intimidate you. It was a lie as you still remembered your introduction to him, but Chen had asked you not to go too harsh on him. Besides, you believed what you had told Junmyeon. You blamed the feared leader more than anyone.

“I think they’re just trying to make up for the fact that I’m here against my will,” you corrected. You chewed over a mouthful of rice before adding, “I’ll admit I wasn’t the nicest yesterday either, so I think we should just let yesterday slide and start over. Let bygones be bygones between the two of us.”

He narrowed his eyes as if he was studying your expression. There was a moment of silence.  Ignoring it, you just continued to eat, letting him answer when he decided to do so.

Letting out a long breath, he extended his hand out towards you. “I’m Baekhyun, pick-pocket and conman extraordinaire.”

The giggle couldn’t be helped at his introduction. Taking his hand, you grinned, “Nice to meet you, Baekhyun. I’m (y/n).” You pulled on his hand, causing him to lean forward over the counter. Trying – and most likely failing – to be menacing, you lowered your voice. “If any of my stuff goes missing, I’ll stab you.”

He chuckled, sitting back and letting go of your hand. “You’re not exactly frightening, but don’t worry. There’s no fun in taking from you. Not to mention Junmyeon’s already on my ass.” He slapped the table, getting up from the stool. “Well, I have to get going. Don’t eat too much.”

Baekhyun was practically skipping out of the kitchen as he left you alone.

**

Three weeks went by and you slowly became accustomed to the new surroundings. While you thought you would go crazy being locked up in the penthouse, you sanity was kept at bay by the revolving door of babysitters. They hardly left you alone, unless you kicked up too much of a fuss about your privacy.

To pass the time, each one taught you about their role in the group, save Xiumin who was never around. Apparently, he was Junmyeon’s second-in-command so he went with him to all the meetings and work related events that the others didn’t have to attend.

You already knew Yixing as the on-call doctor, but that was about all you had really learned about him. He’d only helped watch you twice during the beginning and both times he’d been called away to patch someone up. After that, it was decided it was just better for him to come check up on everyone occasionally.

A slight sadness came over you every time he had to leave, but you didn’t protest. Not verbally, at least. His gentleness and child-like sweetness drew you to him. Even though you enjoyed everyone’s company, you hoped the others didn’t notice your special attachment to the doctor. His demeanor gave you a sense that this world you had been drawn into wasn’t all darkness and that it wouldn’t change you like you feared.  

Chen, as the vanguard, was the one you were especially worried about picking up on your change of attitude when Yixing was around. He was highly observant and a master at extracting information without the subject even knowing it. If he was detecting anything about you, though, he never brought it up.

Kai was probably your second favorite out of the boys, although there was nothing romantic behind your enjoyment of his company. He was kind and charming, making you laugh easily. Kyungsoo warned you of his womanizing ways, but then backtracked, insisting that you were in no danger as the fiancé of their leader. You had no interest anyway, simply enjoying Kai when he was around. The boy practically lit up when you agreed to let him teach me how to count cards. He was the gambler of the group, able to swindle money out of even the most professional players. It was incredible the memory he had and his ability to calculate the math within seconds.

Kyungsoo didn’t approve of teaching you the tricks of the trade, but, it seemed, he didn’t approve much of anything that involved letting you know too much about their illegal business. He was a loner - something you identified with - preferring to stay away from the action behind his computer screen, hacking away.

What surprised you the most was Chanyeol’s position. He was the muscle and the surveillance. Security was his top priority, which would explain why he was your most frequent guard. He was so lively and laughed so much, it was hard to wrap your mind around the picture of him as the first to throw a punch despite his size.

The biggest mystery, however, was the youngest of the group. With just one look, Sehun could name the make, model, and year of any gun and take it apart before putting back together again perfectly. He had connections all over this side of the world to get the arms they needed for any job. But he was quiet. He often kept his distance, only occasionally joining in on whatever antics the boys were up to in order to keep you entertained.

Junmyeon was the one who was around the least. He was usually gone by the time you rolled out of bed and made it home around dinner time or a few hours after. Personally, you preferred the latter. Meal times with just the boys were animated, including the occasional sporadic food fight. When that happened, you would immediately hide under the table until the coast was clear.

In the times that Junmyeon joined the dinner table, the boys were more subdued. They still joked around, but their interactions with you were limited. At the head of the table, Junmyeon stayed silent. He didn’t allow business talk while eating, but every once in a while you would catch the smallest hint of a smile whenever Chanyeol did something clumsy or Sehun made a snarky comment. If eye contact was made with you during his rare smiles, it would quickly fade and his eyes would drop back down to his food.

This particular night, he was smiling more than usual and they lingered far longer than you’d seen before. His eyes soften when they met yours instead of going hard and indifferent like they usually did. You couldn’t understand where this change was coming from. It was making you uneasy.

When everyone was finished, you helped Kyungsoo clean up the kitchen. It made you feel not so useless since whenever he was around you weren’t allowed to even touch a frying pan to feed yourself. The noise from the dining room died down as everyone filed out to their own apartments scattered around the area.

Eventually you were left alone with Junmyeon retreating to his office. Though the sun was beginning to disappear under the city skyline, you were restless and not ready to turn in for the night.

Wandering the halls, your album that you had made such a fuss over popped into your head. Typically, you only went through its pages when you had something to add to it, but now you felt the need to leaf through it just for a sense of comfort, even if it was imaginary.

Taking it from its hiding space under your mattress, you made yourself a cup of tea and settled on the couch in the living room, your legs wrapped up in a blanket. You flipped through the pages at a moderate pace, stopping every once in a while to smooth out a picture or read a description you had scribbled down as to why you wanted to visit that particular museum or monument. Some places held legends or stories while others so imposing and fascinating that you needed to experience them for real.

You only made it halfway through the album before your eyelids began to droop. Around Greece, they were becoming too heavy to fight. By the time you made it to Sienna, they were closed completely.

**

The sun had set when Junmyeon finished reading through the security papers Chanyeol had put together for the event tomorrow. His back was aching from being erect so long and his head was pounding, demanding rest. Locking the papers up in the side drawer, Junmyeon sat his elbows on the desk, massaging his temples with his finger tips.

If he was honest, he was actually surprised at your behavior since you came here. The first twenty-four hours had been rough, but after that, things quieted down. You never tried to escape, you didn’t act out or trash the place. In fact, you seemed settled in and got along with his men. That was the only thing that bothered him.

You seemed to get along and genuinely enjoy the presence of everyone else, but would clam up the moment he walked into the room. Jongdae and Chanyeol were constantly telling stories about your sense of humor and how, though you were a decent blackjack player when following the rules, you couldn’t count cards or keep a straight face during poker to save your life.

“You know,” Jongdae had clicked is tongue, staring out the window during their driver earlier in the day, “you could actually try to get to know her yourself. Since you’re set on keeping her around to get the files, you could spend some time with her. Sure, she’s not like the other girls you dated in the past, but maybe that’s a good thing. Hell, maybe this could work out for real, you know?”

Junmyeon had to suppress a groan. “You talk too much, Jongdae. Besides, you heard her, she doesn’t like gangsters.”

“Yup,” he nodded, “I did hear her. She said she likes gentlemen. I’ve seen you in action, hyung. You can practically be Prince Charming when you want to be.”

Prince Charming. Junmyeon almost laughed. Since when did Charming run one of the largest underworld operations in Seoul?

“She’s not my type,” he insisted.

“She’s beautiful,” Jongdae pointed out. “In our world, that makes her everyone’s type.”

Back in the present, Junmyeon stood up out of the chair, rubbing his hands down his face. Part of him wondered if just breaking into the vault in New York would be easier. He could send Jongdae over first to dig up information to find out which bank the Closer had used to house his findings and then take it from there.

No, not possible.

Junmyeon already had targets on his back in his own country. No need to take it international.

Exiting his office, Junmyeon took two steps towards his bedroom before noticing the living room light was still on. Slightly irritated, he huffed his way over to turn them off. Though he could afford it, he tried to preserve energy when he could.

Just as he put his hand on the switch, he noticed you fast asleep on the couch. Carelessly lying on the floor was the album you’d thrown a fit about. Junmyeon picked it up, expecting baby pictures and documentation of your growth through the years. What awaited as he opened to the first page was something much more.

The first page was just covered with handwritten quotes about traveling and seeing the world. Each new sheet in the album was filled with pictures and brochures and little notes about different places you wanted to see. From what Junmyeon could make out, most of the places were related to your favorite books. You wanted to go to visit your favorite classical author’s birthplace. Some retelling of Romeo and Juliet had taken place in Sienna and, according to the print out folded beneath a photo of a two story building, you could stay in the same hotel that the main character did in the novel.

Junmyeon stared in disbelief at the woman sleeping on the couch when he came to the last decorated page. You weren’t as timid or simple minded as he’d thought. Part of him hated himself for what he had done. This was a girl with dreams, with expectations of where your life would go, and he’d taken them away just to fulfill his own.

Perhaps, when this was all over, he could allow you to go to one of these places. Not alone, of course. He had too many enemies for that. But maybe you wouldn’t mind if he tagged along, just to keep you safe. Even if he didn’t have enemies, it was dangerous for a young woman to travel the world alone.

Tucking the album under his arm, Junmyeon carefully lifted you off the couch, constantly checking to see if he’d woken you up. But you stayed fast asleep as he carried you to your room and laid you down on the bed. He pulled the covers up to your chin and placed the album on the nightstand. After brushing the tips of his fingers against your face, Junmyeon walked out of the room, praying that you wouldn’t hate him after tomorrow.

[photolover82]

The Masked Singer Season 3 Episode 11: The First Four of the Elite Eight (Face-offs Part 1 Commentary & Guesses)

Hi my fellow Masked Singer lovers! It’s that time of the week, time for Ana’s Masked Singer Recap. So, this time, we have the start of the face-offs, which consists of the remaining 8 contestants/masks being paired up to “face off”  against each other. The winner of the duel is safe and gets to move on in the competition. The loser goes into the next round, called the smackdown that sounds familiar to those of us who watched Season 2. So, in this first one we had the first 4 masks, with 2 people going into the smackdown and the loser of the smackdown getting eliminated/unmasked/sent home. Since these next 2 rounds are going to be a bit different, I am going to not start with the elimination  this time, changing my format by putting commentary of the performances first and then revealing the elimination, showing the outcome as we go. Ok, so let’s get started (Disclaimer: Spoilers ahead, proceed with caution.. don’t say I didn’t warn you)

Ok, so the first pair of the night is the Night Angel vs. Kangaroo 

First up was Night Angel with her performance of “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” by Shania Twain 

Ok, so honestly, this was my least favorite performance she has done. I love the drag queens in the background (the dancers behind her), but like the song choice was not the best for her voice in particular. I just think she sounded very nasally and a bit off as if she was throwing her voice on purpose. I don’t know, I wasn’t feeling this one to be honest. I thought Night Angel was the best female vocalist this season, but after this performance, I am not so sure anymore. 

Next came her rival, the Kangaroo, singing “No Air” by Jordin Sparks (an artist that one of the judges has constantly guessed that she is). 

This one started off a bit shaky not gonna lie, but it started to smoothen out as it kept going. However, this girl can’t belt out these notes as strongly as other singers can. She has a very limited vocal range, but that’s not a bad thing by any means. She can hold a note very beautifully, and she does have a beautiful voice when she does those quieter and softer notes of the song. However, it is obvious that she is the weakest singer in this line-up. 

So, having said that, the winner/the person moving on to the top 6 is.... NIGHT ANGEL!! Kangaroo was sent to the smackdown where she is going to go up against whoever wins this next pairing. 

So, for the next/last pairing, we have my two favorite contestants in the season which low key made me cry knowing that they were against each other: Turtle vs. Astronaut:

First up was the Astronaut, performing “If I Can’t Have You” by Shawn Mendes with the Alien from season 1 by his side haha.  

Wow, like I know I am biased because I am in love with him but someone should give him a most improved trophy. Every time I see him, he gets better and better like he used to be so shaky and now he is suave af on that stage wow. Sure, the song choice wasn’t his best, but damn he’s talented and he really did show a lot of vocal range which I am so into. 

Last was the Turtle, who sang “Let it Go” by James Bay all by himself no dance moves, backup dancers/singers or anything. 

Damn, like wow, best performance of the night hands down! Just when I thought, Turtle can’t get any better, he decides to be all vulnerable and stuff and pull at my heart strings a bit. His voice is legit like butter (so is Astronaut’s by the way), it was perfect from the first note. Wow, like I am in awe, I really hope he wins the entire show. 

Anyways, it was a super close call for this one I would say, but the person moving on/winning this duel is... TURTLE!!!

Alright, so that means we are onto the smackdown of the Kangaroo vs the Astronaut.. which went like this: 

Kangaroo went first, with Hot Stuff by Donna Summer 

It was good, I saw her twerk... ya it wasn’t like knock my socks off amazing, but it was cool to see a side of her that was different from the ballads she usually does. However, again I say, not as strong as everyone else. 

Then came Astronaut who did Bye Bye Bye by *NSYNC 

Ok, like dude, this song, like A+ on whoever chose this song for him because *chef’s kiss* on that song choice. Having said that, wow the guy is suave. He legit pointed at the guest judge (Yvette Nicole Brown of Drake & Josh fame) when he sang “I loved you endlessly.” If that's not heartthrob material, I don’t know what is. He really performed the crap out of the song making it super theatrical and wow he killed it! 

Having said that, the person who was revealed/eliminated was... 

KANGAROO 

who was revealed to be (as I knew from week 1)... 

JORDYN WOODS 

Ya, I knew that and it was obvious based on her new suitcase clues: 

Lipstick= known as a beauty guru on the internet

Turntables= her father was a sound engineer on Fresh Prince and she has DJed 

Big Ben= she has been living in London for a year

Ship in a bottle= called a model ship= she’s a model 

“First” tag= she has never sang in public before (girlfriend did that wow!) 

Ok, so let’s talk about my guesses (none have changed) and how the clues go with it: 

1. For Night Angel, my guess is Kandi Burruss 

Suitcase Clues: 

Bee= considers herself queen bee on Real Housewives of Atlanta 

Crown= when she got married, she had a crown on

Ostrich= her wedding dress had a train of ostrich feathers 

Snow Globe= took Deshawn SNOW’s place on RHOA 

“Boss” Tag= she is a boss, with an empire of businesses under her belt 

2. For Astronaut, my guess is Hunter Hayes 

Suitcase Clues: 

Accordion= he's been playing the accordion since he was a child (just search on YouTube Hunter Hayes Accordion and you will find him singing and playing the accordion at the age of 7 on Maury and it’s a treat, thank me later for that piece of gold) 

White House= when he was 7, he was invited to perform for Bill Clinton at the White House 

Lightbulb= he has a single called Light Me Up 

Plane= he sadly witnessed a Blue Angels plane crash right before he was supposed to fly with them

Tag with Warning Do Not Open= also has a song called Storm Warning 

3. For Turtle, my guess is Jesse McCartney 

Suitcase Clues:

Gavel= Young Justice (also guest starred on Law and Order) 

Baseball Mitt= played baseball in high school

Passport with a crown on it= was on soundtrack for Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement with a trip to Genova (our favorite royal destination) 

Perfume/Cologne= has his own perfume called Wanted by Jesse McCartney 

Never Keep Open This Bag= NKOTB (New Kids on the Block)= Jesse toured with them but it can be a misleading clue

Arrow pointing left= he is left handed (can be a One Direction red herring) 

Ok, that’s it! See you guys next week when we see the remaining 4: Rhino, Kitty, Banana, and Frog face off! 

[hearteyesmotherclucker]

Laughter together

*spoilers!

Word count: 1.4k

Summary: Theseus x reader. You and Theseus work together, and you go to Paris to catch grindelwald, and somehow, along the way, you fall in love. It’s a fluffy masterpiece, you’re welcome.

——————-//———————

You strode out of the elevator and to your desk, near your boss, Theseus Scamander. He wasn’t the usual boss, however; Theseus was loud and extroverted, but he was also kind and considerate. Just last night, he had to gently force you to go home after a long day of searching for any clues on Grindelwald.

You knew him from your Hogwarts days, too, but only in class when you sat next to him. You would tease each other, but you were good friends. But then you graduated and parted ways. That is, until you met again unexpectedly on your first interview. You were shocked to find someone your age that high up in the ministry.

“Y/n!” He called over a few desks in between you. “My office, please.”

You stood immediately and followed him into his office. He flicked his wand and the door closed behind you.

You shifted. “Is there something wrong, sir?” You asked tentatively. You weren’t sure if this was about you or a case. After all, you had only been working here a couple of months.

He lifted his eyes from a file in front of him. “Not with you, y/n. We’ve just received word that Grindelwald is staying in Paris, and that he’s holding a rally in a few days,” he said, “and I need you to come with me to shut it down.”

He must have noticed the surprise on your face, so he said, “Come on, y/l/n. You know the most French of all of us and you’re a skilled dueler. You asked for more experience in the field, remember?”

You regret saying that now, but you nodded nonetheless, knowing there was no way to get out of this. “Yes, sir. When do we leave?”

He grinned and patted your arm as he moved past you to the door. “That’s the spirit, y/l/n. We leave in,” he glanced at his watch. “Twenty minutes.”

——————————————-

You approached the portkey, and you internally groaned. These things always made you feel sick.

“First time?” Theseus questioned with a lopsided grin, studying your face.

“Hardly. The first time I used a portkey, I may or may not have gotten sick,” you laughed weakly. “But I’ve got the hang of it now, don’t worry.”

He chuckled and offered his hand as it was time to go. You took it, trying your very hardest to keep a straight face (it was difficult not to notice how much you loved this feeling).

Once you landed in Paris, right outside the small hotel you were staying at, you leaned against a wall, collecting yourself.

“Bloody hell, you really don’t like those things, do you?” Theseus teased.

“Har har,” you said as you entered the hotel, and rolled your eyes playfully. “At least I’m not afraid of heights.”

“Who told you that?!”

“Please, I remember third year with Dumbledore. You went first with the boggart, remember?”

He laughed and shook his head as you reached the counter. “Hi, I believe there’s a room for Mr and Mrs Smith?”

You translated and the woman glanced at the two of you briefly and gave you your key.

“Smith? Real creative, Scamander,” you whispered as you entered the elevator, earning a exasperated chuckle (You had that effect on him).

—————————————

You were a little less than thrilled at the room situation. There was one bed, but the first night went as well as it could with a tiny bed and Theseus’s gentle breathing not more than a foot from you.

You waited for a sign from Grindelwald for two days, walking around Paris all the while. It was actually quite enjoyable, and you and Theseus grew much closer during that time. He was much more relaxed outside of work, and he even bought you a cute little snow globe with a crooked “Paris” scrawled across the bottom. He said it reminded him of you, whatever that meant.

You received an owl that night that would summon you to the French ministry of Magic the next morning. You were surprised to feel disappointment because you and Theseus had to be serious businesspeople once again.

You woke up the next morning snuggled up to Theseus, with his arm loosely draped over your back. You were very close.

Your eyes widened, and you slowly peeled yourself off of him and thankfully, he didn’t wake up. You got ready with that on your mind, and when Theseus woke, you awkwardly excused yourself to get some coffee.

—————-

“Bollocks. NEWT!” Theseus called over the railing at the ministry.

You couldn’t help but laugh at the scene that unfolded before you. He chased his brother and a woman through the ministry, but to the amusement of you, he was overpowered. Theseus had gotten himself tied up by the American Auror, looking quite disheveled.

“Not a word, y/l/n, hear me? Not. A. Word,” he said as you discovered him.

You had laughed at him for hours after that. He would never live it down in your eyes.

—————————

You quietly stepped into the stone Lestrange tomb, Theseus right beside you. You heard the end of Grindelwald’s speech, and it sent chills down your spine.

“...there are Aurors among us,” he said, making your blood run cold and the crowd gasp. The grip on your wand tightened.

Grindelwald beckened you to join him, and you bravely stepped down first, drawing his eyes to you.

You could practically feel Theseus’s tension from where you stood.

You then heard a commotion and a green flash filled your vision. One of the Aurors overreacted and killed an innocent. This is the exact opposite of what we wanted to happen, you thought with a slight bit of annoyance that was quickly drowned out by fear.

Grindelwald’s followers apparated all around you, and Theseus moved down to your step, neither of you noticing that he was putting himself in front of you.

It was just you, some of the Aurors, and Newt and his friends left, and Grindelwald wasted no time in creating a ring of burning hot blue fire. It wasn’t long before you were fighting for your lives, throwing out every spell you could think of to keep the fire back.

Suddenly, a beautiful, well dressed woman shouted, “Grindelwald, stop!”

Miraculously, he did, and you watched as he tried to coax her to his side, offering her his hand.

“Leta, no!” Newt’s voice rang out from behind you.

Leta let Grindelwald’s hand slip out of hers and fired a spell at him, distracting him long enough for you to get out, but she didn’t make it.

You seized the moment and took Theseus’s hand, apparating to the outside, where you and the remaining people destroyed Grindelwald’s massive blue flames.

———————

You and Theseus decided to stay one more night in the little hotel because you were too exhausted to travel.

“Theseus, thanks for having my back out there,” you said quietly as he climbed into the bed next to you. You noticed the smell of the soap he just used mixed with the faint smell of his cologne.

He smiled softly. “Sure thing, y/n. Actually, I think you did better than me tonight.”

You propped yourself up on your elbow. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t think I didn’t see you block all those spells faster than you could blink? And when you stepped down those stairs first? Y/n, that was amazing.”

You felt your cheeks beat up. “Oh, I guess I—“

“But don’t be too brave, y/n. I don’t want you getting hurt,” He said, then leaned in and whispered, “Don’t tell anyone, but you’re my favorite.”

You blushed at the compliment. Theseus tucked a piece of your hair behind your ear, his hand lingering there for a moment.

“Do you remember walking down by the river a few days ago?” He asked softly, changing the subject.

You nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“Because,” he said. “When I saw you walking there next to me, you had the biggest smile, and I knew.”

You swallowed as you felt butterflies in your stomach. “Knew what?” You asked, barely audible.

Theseus glanced from his hands to you. “...that I love you,” he told you, your heart leaping. “I’m in love with you, y/n y/l/n.”

You were sure your smile was so big it reached your ears. “Oh good, you did that much better than I could,” you said, making the both of you laugh. “I love you too.”

His laugh faded as you lean towards him, waiting for him to close the gap. He did, and it was wonderful. It was warm and gentle, and his hand went right to your cheek. It was the best kiss you’ve ever had, and when it was over, you just laid together, enjoying the moment. All was well.

haHA if you know you know

[oneofyatosfollowers]

They Had Masks For Faces

Fanfic: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13309462/1/They-Had-Masks-For-Faces

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19177903

The circular room was dimly lit by the fire place. It's red hue illuminated the different masks lining the walls and the animal-shaped furniture. At its center, a large throne with wolfish features held this world's dictator. The man had grown since his first appearance. His once light brown hair turned black and curled, the rough scowl he started showing at the sight of any 'misbehavior', and his nails- now broken and torn- knocked against the metal with restrained patience. The beast, 'Father' as he called himself, didn't turn away from the fire when the child first stepped in the room. The boy, a blonde fourteen year old wearing a green parka, stood shaking at the doorway with a brave face. On his left hung a satchel, filled with a blue-eyed black cat and three items of the dead. The door that connected both worlds, his only escape, was blocked by a closet.

"So...Yukine... you made it out alive." Father said, his voice much darker than the one he used to lore children. "And I see you let vermin into the home."

The wolf chair circled around to have them face each other. Father's once maroon eyes now glowed an angry red as he glared down at the cat Yukine carried with him. In fear and retaliation, the cat hissed at the man, growling even as Yukine shielded him from sight.

"This is Yaboku. My-my friend. I want him with me." Yukine couldn't meet Father's eyes, feeling like a child who just broke a snow globe on the carpet. His father had never looked at him in such a way. Sure, he was a bit of a moody teenager, but he never did anything to warrent such angry disappointment. Not for the first time, Yukine wished he cherished them better.

"Yes. Believe me, I'm fully aware who he is," the man drawled still staring at the cat in what looked to be confusion. "I'm just surprised he let you bring him back here. I found it impossible to be rid of him. But I suppose it makes sense, he surely knows who you are. Even if you don't know who he is."

Yukine's eyes met with the cat's. The stray that everyone says always seems to be around, but never seemed to have an owner. Yukine had found the feline sitting outside his window sill the past couple nights, there to cheer him up when he looked at pictures of the life he moved away from. His fur warm and his eyes comforting. And eyes the type of blue that shine in the dark, pressing him on, always there supporting him even when they're apart. Yukine shook his head and fiercely looked to meet Father's eyes. This man was not his dad. This wicked monster didn't even hold a candle him. Yukine was here to fix the mistake he made. To get his mom and dad back, and apologize for not heeding his dad's warning about going through the door.

Taking a breath Yukine demanded, "I want my paren-"

"You know I love you? Don't you Yukine?" Father stood, he face one of hurt, but his voice was smooth and playful. He stood and began walking towards the boy, the fire casting a shadow over his tattered black clothes. Yukine could do nothing but stand frozen in terror as Father leaned down and caressed his face, humming in amusement. When the red eyes bored into Yukine's amber ones, he was reminded of the Other Suzuha. His new neighbor's counterpart, created by Father to be without the heartbreak of his girlfriend moving away. Like every person in this world, a fake imitation, with matching maroon eyes. But this new friend was the one who took his hand and brought him to meet the 'improved' neighbors. Who laughed and joked with him in the carefree way the real Suzuha just couldn't. The boy who was forced to smile after trying to help.

"This isn't love." Yukine's voice shook, "This is hell."

Father stood straight in shock for a moment before laughing. Something under his clothes jingled as he began circling the blonde.

"Well, as much as I would love to keep chatting with you, we might as well get down to business. I already know you found three of my children."

"They aren't your kids. You stole them!"

"They wanted to come," Father's face was unreadable and his voice devoid of any emotion. "But I suppose they are what pushed my own child to escape." he murmured.

Yukine scowled at the nerve he had to call himself a father before digging into his bag, Yaboku moving out of the way. Yukine held to objects out, hovering over Father's open palm. As quick as he showed them, they were gone, and Father's hand snatched nothing but air. Father's eyes, flickered with hatred, quickly smoothed over to one of question.

"I'm not done." Yukine held the objects and bag tighter, Yaboku's tail flicking around as he gazed between the two. At this, Father laughed again.

"Ah yes, of course! You still have to find your old father and mother." He laughed harder.

For a split second, Yukine was worried he fed them to wolfs like he did to Suzuha, but that would be breaking his own rules.

"So? Where are they?" Father plopped himself back on the wolf throne, allowing Yukine to search the room. The child restrained himself from showing any sign of panic, quickly scanning the room for clues.

"I'll be impressed if you can find them! Especially since you won't have this." Father pulled a small red torii gate from his clothes. Something Yukine's mom made his dad when they were young and this was his childhood home. Something everyone in this god-forsaken house seemed to have. Something his dad gave to Yukine, to protect him while they moved back into his old orphanage. Yukine growled, that torii gate had helped him see the objects of the ghost children. His dad would be upset if he lost it.

Seemingly reading his mind, Father quirked an eyebrow then tossed the wood into the fire place. Yukine took a sharp intake of breath, whispering 'no' to himself as the demon fire devoured the gate with some difficulty. Father stood and gazed down at the object, a wicked smile stretching his face. In his hand, one of the ghost children's items seemed to move. Making sure Father was distracted, Yukine looked to see it was the ribbon that belonged to child known as Mizuchi. The forlorn expression carved into the mask she wore shimmered into view.

"You have to be clever, Yukine, brother told me you were. Father plays by rules that are twisted and bent. He'll win if you try to beat him fairly. He won't let you go." Mizuchi spoke in the wise voice of heartbreak. The one who gave her life to this side and spend her days with her adopted father and brother, helping to lore in children like her. Only later to be killed during escape. Now, a ghost girl with only a stray cat to keep her company. (Who she oddly also called 'brother'). Yukine nodded to her in silent thanks, putting the objects back under Yaboku in the bag. He glanced over at the small door that started it all.

"They're behind there!" Yukine proclaimed loudly, catching Father's attention. The man smiled, standing back at his full height.

"Are you sure about that, Kiddo?" Father drawled as he walked over.

"Yes. I'm sure." Yukine balled his fists up, done with this charade.

Father walked over to the small door, large smile never leaving his face. He pulled a long chain from under his clothes and up over his head. On the end dangled the key, the same one that sat innocently in the kitchen drawer with one eye engraved on it bow. With the flick of his hand, the large bird-like closet moved out of the way. Finally breaking eye contact, he turned to begin cutting the wallpaper away.

Yukine backed away, his breathing starting to pick up. Step one was completed, but now came step two. Without the torii gate, how was he supposed to find his parents? Just as tears began pricking his eyes, Yaboku began wriggling violently. Before Yukine could see what was wrong, Yaboku leaped from the bag and landed softly on the mantel of the fire place.

"Here." the cat growled under his breath, slitted pupils flickering at a long wine bottle with coins. When Yukine tried to return home without them, their hallway mirror had shown his parents, trapped behind glass as coins continually fell at their ankles. Having been in the bottle this entire time, the pile of coins was up to their chests. Yukine had to tear his gaze away when Father made a noise of triumph.

"There now, you see." Father looked back at Yukine, his eyes a blood red. The door opened slowly without help, it's creaking echoing around the room. "It seems you were mistaken, Yukine. I don't see anyone in here! I guess that means I win!" Father stepped lively toward the wall and plucked off a smooth white mask with the eye drawing on it. Yukine put his hands in front of him, eyes darting between the mask. Father's voice only rose in glee, "Once you put this on, you'll be mine for eternity!"

Yukine paniced and looked at Yaboku for help. The cat was frantically trying to push the bottle to Yukine, it tipping dangerously over the edge. Yukine jumped to catch it, saving his parents from falling to their death. Father caught on quick.

"You ungrateful- children should not lie to their parents! You will be punished!" Father roared in an inhuman voice, lunging at Yukine with mask in hand. Faster than he could think, Yukine shoved the bottle of coins in his bag and ripped Yaboku off the mantel.

"Take this!" Yukine yelled back, catapulting the yowling cat at the man's face.

Father cried out in pain as the black stray clawed at his eyes and throat, blood spraying the two of them. Yaboku attacked with a venenge, having told Yukine his hatred for the man and his mutts, even at the best of times. Yukine whispered a quiet apology before dashing to the open door, yanking the eye-key out of the hold. He dropped to his knees, getting his body inside before turning to lock it. Just in time for Father to fling Yaboku at the wall, the cat's body hitting the wallpaper with a thud before he scrambled to his paws with a hiss.

Father held his bleeding face, "Arg! You awful, awful brat! You'll be punished severely when I get my hands on you! Do you hear me!" His lips now pulled back from his teeth, he once again rushed at Yukine with a burst of speed.

Yukine's eyes rivaled a deer's in head lights, and in his fear, forgot what he was doing. Father's red eyes drew ever closer before his hands grabbed hold of the door, his massive frame ramming into the wall. Only then did Yukine snap out it, trying desperately to pry the monster's fingers off the slate of wood. Father growled, stretching his other hand into the portal as he tried to get his hands on the child. Yukine threw himself back, out of man's reach. In fury, Yukine brought his feet up and kicked Father back. Scrambling forward, Yukine grabbed the door and once again tried to bring it close, almost succeeding, till Father crammed his cracked nails through the frame. He cried out in desperation as he pulled the door back open inch by inch. Yukine grunted as his shoulders pulled forward, sweat dripping down his temple.

Suddenly, three pairs of hands ghosted out from his bag, each of them layering his own, adding strength. Together the children pulled and the door crunched Father's fingers, giving way as he yelled and pulled them out, before slamming shut again.

"Hold it!" Yukine commanded the ghosts and he struggled to put the key into the lock. Father threw his body against the wall again and again, the door shaking under his might. With a yell of triumph, the key entered the lock and turned it with a deep click. The hands disappeared and Yukine crawled as fast as he could through the tunnel, the door to his world up ahead.

"Come back! My son! I need you! Please! Come back!" Father wailed. The door drew closer each time his body hit the wall, each bang of a fist, and every scratch of his nails. All the while, his cries repeating like a broken record.

After what seemed like an eternity, Yukine crashed into the portal's end, hands working it open as the gateway grew smaller and smaller. He reached the door to his house- his real house- and threw it open. He leaped into the living room, moving quickly to grab the door and close it.

"Don't leave me! Don't leave me! My son-"

Father's cries were silenced when the lock was slid into place. Yukine's trembling hands placed flat against the door, slowly letting out the breath he seemingly held the entire time.

The wall made a massive boom, pushing Yukine back an inch. He looked at the door, air rushing in and out of his lungs so fast it made him light headed. Sitting up, he stared at the door for a while longer, as if Father was going to bust through at any time. But when he was met with silence, Yukine brought the bag onto his lap. It appeared much bigger now that it was missing a cat, the ghost children's items sitting dull in the corner. The bottle, Yukine noticed, was also missing. His heart leaped in his throat, first at the thought of his parents being trapped, then at the thought of having to return to the other world. He fell back on his hands, his finger tips touching cool metal. Yukine turned to see coins littering the floor. Shards of glass mixed in, a pile of it under the dusty fire place.

The old squeak of the front door echoed through the empty house.

"Yukine?" His mother's sweet voice called through the hall. "Yukine, we're home!"

His father's louder, more obnoxious, voice followed after, "Where you at, Kiddo?"

"Mom? Dad!" Yukine stood on his feet as the two walked into the entry way.

"Yukine? What-" His mother's voice was lost as their teenager ran and pulled them into a family hug. Both of them making noises of surprise.

"Your okay." Yukine mumbled into their chests.

His dad, ever the one for contact, laughed and hugged him tighter, "Missed us?" he teased.

His mom was a bit more receptive, "What's with the sudden hug? Is everything alright? Oh my god, there's glass on the floor!" the family turned to look at the mess his fight had made.

"Aww. My coin bank." His father pouted in that embarrassingly exaggerated way of his. Regardless, Yukine flinched and looked down and shame.

"I-I'm sorry." Yukine spoke to the ground. But his dad wasn't upset. He didn't shout, or throw things, or toss him behind a magic mirror. Instead he just smiled down at Yukine in that soft and bright way of his before ruffling his hair.

"Don't worry about it. Hiyori, can you grab me broom?" he asked. His mother nodded and continued her way down the hall. Yukine stood to look at his dad, really looked. His eyes really did rival that stray's, and his hair was ebony like the fur.

"Don't worry, you'll grow as handsome as me someday." His dad looked at him with a cat-like grin. Yukine blinked out of his haze and felt his face burn.

"Oh please, don't flatter yourself." Yukine's snark didn't have nearly as much bite as it used to. "You just remind me of my new friend that's all."

"A new friend? Hey, that's great! I'm glad you made another one."

"Yeah well, we actually might not be. I don't think he's very happy with me right now."

A beat of silence past as Yukine's worry for the feline ate away at his insides. He had spent a long time there, avoiding Father and his minions with ease, but...

"Im sure it's fine. You're a sweet kid. My kid! He'll come around." his dad patted him on the head again with a warm hand, then made his way back to the front door. "Besides, anyone would be angry if you picked them up and tossed them at their arch nemesis."

His old boots thudded down the front steps as his son stared open-mouthed at his back. Before a noise could present itself, his mother had reappeared.

"Wait, Yato? What about the broom?" she called.

"Just leave it there! I'm getting the rest of the groceries!" His dad responded.

Yukine dashed past his mom, ignoring her call of alarm. If Yukine was hearing right, his dad's voice was a smoother, deeper version of the Yaboku's. And while his dad spoke a lot of nonsense, what he just said hit far too close to home.

"Dad!" Yukine hopped down the steps just as Yato was hauling paper bags out of the back of the car. Yukine stopped just in front of him, still a bit out a breath. Before he could get a word out, a bag was hefted into his arms.

"Perfect. Take those inside, I'm cooking your favorite tonight! To make you feel more at home." Yato said with a smile.

Yukine furred his brows, wishing he could put his dad back in the bottle just to shake him around. His mouth opened in another attempt, only this time he was interrupted with a quiet meow. Both men turned to see a black cat appear out from behind a log. Its crystal blue eyes narrowed with annoyance, directed at Yukine. Yukine smiled sheepishly, waving his fingers at the stray. He felt his dad's eyes on him, a look he hasn't seen since he was small. The same blue eyes looked at him, then the cat, then back at him. Yukine forgot all of his prior questions, instead turning to face the cat.

"I'm sorry I threw you. Thank you for all your help." he said to an expecting face. Not hearing his dad ask for his thank you as he stuck his head back in the car. Yaboku blinked slowly, then strutted over to the car. Yukine struggled to put his bag down as Yato placed more bags on the ground next to Yukine's. The cat stopped not even a foot away, dropping to a crouch with a look like a hunter. For a second, the boy feared the cat was going to attack him as he did Father.

Instead, the cat sprung into the waiting arms of his dad, nuzzling his look-alike with more affection than he ever showed Yukine. Yato returned in kind, stroking the cat rhythmically.

Yato spoke, "You know, Hiyori wanted us to move here. Not me. I didn't expect to come back, ever." Yukine wasn't sure who his dad was talking to, but he refrained from interrupting. "But when she heard Tenjin was renting out the down stairs to adults only, and that Kofuku and her husband were living in the bottom, she insisted." Yato turned his eyes on his son, the cat mimicking near perfectly. "Of course, it took some convincing. It helped that you were my kid."

Yukine could only blink in response. His head starting to hurt trying to painfully piece together his dad's mysterious past. One his mom had said was something he didn't like to talk about. Kofuku, on the other hand, had a bit more to say. Apparently a bit older than Yato, she was in the orphanage when Yato had 'appeared out of nowhere' and 'randomly disappeared and reappeared'.

The cat meowed a bit softer this time. Butting his forehead to Yato's and closing his eyes. Yato closed his eyes as well. He spoke after a beat of quiet, his voice like a whisper.

"I see. So she was finally able to pass on." He sounded unbearably sad. Yukine's heart tugged, hoping his theory wasn't correct, but at the same time seeing that it was. The real Suzuha had mentioned his mother talking about Yato's missing sister.

"Good for her," he said as he finally let the cat down. Yaboku then moved to rub against Yukine's legs, purring. The heavy atmosphere was brightened by his mom appearing in the doorway.

"What's taking you two so long? You guys alright?" Hiyori asked, a worried expression crossing her face. She held the broom and a couple of band aids wrapping her fingers. She never really listened to Yato.

"Uh, yeah!" her husband called, a bit of a forced smile on his face. Him and Yukine took the bags and made their way back into the house, the cat having vanished in thin air. "Actually...I'm going to take Yukine to visit his aunt! Over by the old well, remember? Just till dinner time." At his mother's sad expression, Yato leaned down to peck her lips. "Unless you need help?"

Hiyori seemed to snap out of it. "No! No! I can handle things here. This is great. You should go. I thought I would have to convince you but, please." By the time she finished rambling, she had already gathered all the groceries into her arms, carrying it into the kitchen with ease. His dad laughed at the sight, love brightening his features. Normally, Yukine would gag but, right now, it filled him with a warm happiness.

His bag seemed to shift on his own again, having been forgotten.

"I, uh." Yukine hoped this didn't damper the mood too much. "I have her, uh, ribbon?" he drifted off at the end. Praying he didn't just make a wrong assumption. For a moment, the look that flashed across Yato's face looked too much like Father's, sorrow and anger. But the look he gave Yukine, was the soft, wise, lonely look of his sister.

"That'll be great. Thank you." Yato smiled and made his way back out the door. "And I'll make sure we ask your mother to make you a new torii gate."

That night, Yukine dreamt of golden ghost children and black cats that talked nonsense. As the creature that walked between worlds was curled in front of an old sakura tree, black tail wrapped around a rock tied with a red ribbon.

[sol-korolevas]

bared teeth

pairing: rk900 x f!reader

summary: he is a wolf and you are a rabbit

a/n: rk900 had only 30 seconds worth of screen time but i love him uwu this will become a 3-part mini-fic where i try my own personal interpretations on what rk900 is like. 

if the bile that was starting to rise through your throat wasn’t a clue, then it must be the distance you felt between every sound on this earth and yourself.

you never asked for this, but as a junior investigator for the detroit police department, you must follow your orders. the you in the past would have chided you for being cowardly.

ha, you were no better in the past!

spring was still a fledgling, with soiled snow piled against the sidewalks and the few cleaner androids shoveling the more stubborn ones to the mess. the detroit revolution wasn’t all that successful, you saw. and in a way, it brought a grim reality under the light.

there will always be a group of voiceless and powerless people.

in that moment, you thought you could understand the androids’ struggle. human history was similar, too, and even now there were conflicts all around the globe.

“hey newbie, hurry up,” a rough voice called to you, causing you to stiffen and turn your head to the source. he wore an ugly scowl across his face, and despite his less-than-impressive height, it was his unpleasant aura which made you feel intimidated.

gavin reed.

your horrible luck put you underneath his mentorship.

“oh, s-sorry…” you hang your head and quickly shuffled forward, distracted by the incoming wave of thoughts. your heart was beating too fast and your mind was already frazzled by the anxiety welling within you.

the rabbit in you was screaming.

the interior of the police department was blue, overwhelmingly so. the artistic side of you (the one you hoped would become a hobby, a thing to take your mind away from) wanted to splash some whites and blacks, monotonous colors that could quell such intensity.

perhaps, you becoming an interior designer would be a suitable position for you, rather than this.

“and here we are,” the man drawled, placing his hands on his hips.

you know you were supposed to be looking at the various desks scattered about. even the captain’s own personal space was impressive to look at. but in that moment, your eyes were drawn to something else.

a figure clad in black and white, tall, and imposing. you’ve wanted monotonous colors in this place, but you never expected to see it on a person. he was standing patiently near a desk by the entrance as if awaiting further instructions. but as soon as you and gavin stepped in, he immediately drew his gaze to your forms.

“hey, tin can come here!” gavin said and whistled at him. his scowl turned even worse when the man followed his instruction. for a brief moment, you wondered why gavin gave him that awful nickname until you saw the LED light on the side of his temple.

he’s an android.

you read about a  prototype series that the detroit police department had, at one point, working under a lieutenant who just retired. you’ve seen pictures of them on the news and online, but never in person. this one, the one who was walking towards you, didn’t seem to be part of that series, but he looked quite similar.

if not, broader, with a hardened expression. rk900 in bold type stood stark black on his shoulder. you really wanted to know his given name, but you felt yourself trying to look elsewhere as soon as his eyes swept over your form.

suddenly, gavin wasn’t the epitome of your worries anymore.

“alright, so this here is (name).” gavin jabbed a finger at you. “and this is my partner.” it took a great deal for him to say ‘partner,’ you realized. the man wasn’t exactly someone pleasant, you knew, but it wasn’t surprising either to realize that he disliked androids as well.

he then took a step away from you two. your first inclination was to follow him since after all, he was supposed to be your mentor.

“hold it, newbie. you are not following me.” his words turned your face pale, and as you looked at him, it quickly dawned on you that he might be passing you off. for a mere second, you thought you saw the corner of rk900’s mouth twitch upwards.

“you will be following him.” and finally, the man smiled in that mean way he always did. “good luck working with a tin can, (name).”

“i thought i was assigned under you?!” you blurted out, face struck with shock and desperation. the man noticed and chuckled. before waving a hand as if to dispel the assumption.

“you are, but i’m busy while it isn’t,” he said, and reached over and gave your shoulder a mocking pat. “besides, that thing was built to be like us, he’ll know exactly what to do.”

you were about to retort with what little bravery you fostered at that moment when gavin decided to push you towards the android. immediately you hit rk900’s chest and felt his arms wrap around you in a helpful attempt to steady you. and just as quickly, you stepped away and turned to face somewhere else.

this was going to be a long week.

it had been a whole hour after gavin left. (he said he had some business to do, but you know better than to think it was something important or police related) you staked a claim on an empty office chair, which wasn’t much, considering you still haven’t done anything.

rk900 was resolute in obeying his partner’s order. he stood off to the side, a silent yet tangible shadow. usually, gavin should be giving you case files to look through, but you never thought that an android would be the one mentoring you. it wasn’t like you hated the idea, but there was something about rk900 which made you feel frightened and uncomfortable.

“did detective reed ever tell you about accessing the database?” came his smooth voice. he was now looking directly at you, and dear god was his face still so emotionless.

you fumbled, your hands not knowing where to put beside retreating back into your lap. it wasn’t until rk900 actually tilted his head to the side, as if to simulate that of curiosity, that you found your voice. “um, uh...no” you replied with what little firmness you can.

the LED flickered yellow as rk900 processed your information. you wondered as you watched the yellow turn back into blue, if he was capable of free-think, or if this was all just a part of his simulation as well. you read that the previous series was supposed to be more human-like. and yet, cyberlife stopped producing them.

for what reason?

“very well, let me show you,” rk900 responded. “it is quite important for you as a junior investigator to know how databases here worked.”

he walked behind you and leaned over your shoulder, causing you to inhale and stiffen. the computer screen flickered on just as he placed a palm over the keyboard, causing the skin upon his hand to recede. you watched with curiosity and fascination at how artificial his interior looked.

“oh (name), you should probably calm down,” was his response afterward. he was staring at you just as the database list appeared on the screen. with him so close to you, it was hard to do so. the way his body seem to swallow you made you felt less like a human but more like a prey. unfortunately, you couldn’t shrink back any more.

finally, rk900 withdrew, but still remained close behind you. you closed your eyes and let out a relieved sigh. the tensed muscles on your shoulder relaxed, if only for a few seconds before you noticed what was on the computer screen.

“deviant cases?” you turned and looked at rk900.

“even now there are multiple homicides and kidnappings that are suspected to be involved with androids, culprit or not,” rk900 responded, coolly. “all reported cases are stored in the database. of course, i suggest you take a look at the older ones, first.”

“okay–”

he leaned over again, successfully cutting off what you were about to say. “this one was what detective reed and i were working on.” the image of a pl600 model flashed onto the screen. you were thankful for this distraction, as once again you felt the close proximity with him to be daunting. “and i implore you to relax, again.” his led light flashed yellow for a brief second as he looked at you.

your hand was gripping the armrest and you were tensing again. despite it all, you tried your best to calm yourself. the rabbit within was still dominant, chewing at the edges of your mind, hoping to escape.

“i understand you are not...adequately fit for this role, but you are now a part of the police department so you must learn how to control your fear.”

rk900 stepped away for the second time, except now he was standing at a position where you could see him, right besides the desk. you thought you saw him frown, but just like his LED, it appeared in a flash of seconds.

maybe he’s disappointed in me...already.

the realization prompted you to melt back into the chair, unknowingly kicking the floor as you debated on what to do now.

your eyes kept itself glued to the monitor, rereading the case file over and over, etching it into your mind. you had a great memory and a great understanding of information when brought to you – which you thought would make you a great addition to the police department. still, there were other factors that drove you to be a junior investigator, of which you weren’t content to tell anyone yet.

“miss (name)?” rk900’s voice cut through your thoughts. but what made you felt anxious again was how politely he addressed you. normally, you wouldn’t have minded such politeness from other people. but rk900 wasn’t exactly someone you would expect to hear it from. perhaps it was because he was gavin’s partner, or maybe he was an android.

though in all likeliness, it must be something else.

you turned towards him, hoping your face still showed some courage. it didn’t; your lower lip was trembling now. “y-yes?” if you had the chance and the bravery, you would have apologized to him for sounding so harsh.

except, rk900 never gave you a chance.

“if it helps, you may call me connor.” in an unusual twist, his voice became softer, nicer even. “however, please do not associate me with the inferior version. i’m designed to be the best at what i do.”

you noticed that, when connor said the word inferior, there was something akin to distaste. still, it was only a matter of seconds and your frazzled mind could be playing tricks. at the very least, connor was becoming a bit more hospitable than his partner. maybe, you could grow to be comfortable around him.

“alright connor, nice to meet you,” you finally replied, offering the now named rk900 a timid smile. there was a short pause, where connor’s LED again flashed yellow and quickly returned to blue.

in that moment afterwards, you thought he smiled back.

[jarienn972]

Curse of Undoings - part three

This third installment isn't as heavy on the whump, although we do still have Killian in chains. There's a huge clue given here about the Black Fairy's plans and we learn that Killian isn't the only one who still has his real memories. Might he have an ally out there?

Tagging @killian-whump @hookaroo @castielamigos for the update

From the beginning: Part 1  Part 2  Also on AO3 and FF.net

With no way to know if it was day or night, Killian had no inclination of how much time had passed. He was aware that he'd blacked out from the pain at least once, but for how long? He knew he couldn't actually sleep as it was impossible to find any comfortable position, which was likely part of the planned torture. Laying on his back wasn't feasible with his skin ripped open and still seeping blood - and probably pus by now. His ribs ached if he tried to lay on his side and laying on his stomach was nearly as agonizing as being on his back when the heavy chain dragged across the raw flesh. Oh yes, this all had to have been the intent, furthering his agony. His throat was dry and scratchy as though he'd swallowed an entire desert but there was no relief in sight. He'd finally resigned himself to sitting upright, knees drawn up and tucked under his chin to give his aching head a place to rest.

He nearly jumped at the sound of the steel door being unlocked, squinting as it was pulled open, not even bothering to disguise his fear of what would await him next. A feminine form appeared in the doorway, but this was not Emma. This time, his unwelcome visitor was Fiona, the Black Fairy herself, attired in a sharp, tailored black pantsuit that in all appearances, was likely purloined from Regina's closet. Her hair was coiffed into a tight, businesslike bun and had Killian been able to speak, he would have asked her if she were here to gloat. She seemed to sense the question anyway, responding with a mocking grin.

"Well, aren't you just a pathetic sight, Captain?" she chuckled as she took a step inside the cell, careful not to get to close to any chains that might scuff her patent leather heels as she held her hands clasped demurely behind her back. "I see Emma did quite a number on you already and I'm sure there will be so much more to come. Such vitriol there…" She paused to have a laugh at the early results of her ministrations. "Oh, I know you'd love to tell me that your True Love will win out, but I wouldn't be so confident of that if I were you. I may have outdone myself with the amount of loathing I instilled in your lovely bride…"

Killian shifted positions, straining against his multiple restraints while growling angrily at the mastermind of this curse.

"Oh, don't bother wasting your energy, Jones," Fiona quipped as she wrapped the manicured fingers of her right hand around the chain tethering his collar and yanked down on it, forcing his head back so he'd have to look directly up at her. "This is so much fun! And as soon as Emma kills you and severs your bond of True Love, I win." She drew her left hand from behind her back and revealed the object she'd been hiding from view – a snow globe containing a tiny castle amidst a forest scene. "You see, all of your fairytale friends are imprisoned here and as soon as Emma acts on all of that hatred towards you, they all vanish. Everything gets undone and then, it becomes my story to re-write as I see fit. All it takes is for Emma to put an end to her True Love and everything is mine...

"Considering the beating she's already given you and your present predicament, it would seem that the memories I implanted in her of you killing her family are proving quite effective. She sees you only as a cold-blooded killer and it will only be a matter of time until she acts on all of her festering anger and hatred. Do try to make yourself comfortable until then, Captain, but I seriously doubt you'll be here much longer."

Fiona released her grip on the chain, allowing it to strike the open sores on his back intentionally as she cackled, exited the cell and locked the door behind her, the echo of the heavy door slamming resonating through his entire body. It did get him thinking about what she'd said though – she needed to destroy True Love to seal her victory. It explained why he'd been kept here in Storybrooke to be the fodder of his suddenly homicidal wife who viewed him only as a murderer. Emma believed her family to have been slaughtered by him yet in truth, they were trapped inside an enchanted snow globe, not unlike the way Jasmine's kingdom of Agrabah had been placed in stasis for centuries when she'd run off to the Land of Untold Stories.

Would there be any way he could get through to Emma? Convince her that he was really her loving husband, not the criminal she believed him to be? Certainly, parts of the fallacy were based in truth, but he'd put that man behind him to make himself worthy of her. His Emma was still in there somewhere, concealed behind all of the Black Fairy's lies. He just had to find a way to reach her before she unwittingly destroyed everything she loved.

Having taken out some of her frustrations on her prisoner, Emma decided to return to the Sheriff station to relax a bit before round two, entering the squad room with a satisfied smile turning up the corners of her lips. While Hook hadn't provided her anything in the way of actual information regarding her parents' murders, she'd enjoyed taking out ten years of aggravations on him. She'd return later to interrogate her prisoner further but at the moment, she had a few other things to attend to, the first of which was locating a clean shirt. She dug into the stash of emergency clothing she kept in her bottom desk drawer after discovering that a splattering of Hook's blood was staining her shirt. Eh, it was a small price to pay to look into a killer's eyes and punish him for his crimes. She didn't think much more of it as she unbuttoned the baby blue blouse and slipped it off, momentarily crouching in her office clad only in a camisole until she found a deep wine hued sweater that she pulled over her head, kicking the drawer closed with her toe as she stood back up.

Had her real memories been intact, she would have realized that the garment she'd just donned was one Killian had given her. He'd enlisted Henry's assistance to acquire it for her after he'd seen her admiring it in a magazine advertisement. The fabric still bore traces of both her perfume and a hint of his cologne from one of their last rendezvous in her office, but now, her cursed self barely recognized the scent. It was just another sweater to her, but it certainly held some familiarity to another person who'd retained his memories, not that anyone was believing him.

"Henry? What are you doing here?" Emma asked as she turned to spot her teenage son lurking in a corner of the squad room.

"I was looking all over for you, Mom," Henry replied. "You didn't come home last night…"

"Sorry, but you know yesterday was a hard day for me… I slept at the old loft…"

"Your wedding day was a hard day?" Henry asked, confused by her odd response. He'd known people were missing from the town, but until now, he wasn't sure what else the curse may have done.

"Wedding? Henry, did you forget to take your meds again? You know quite well that yesterday was the tenth anniversary of your grandparents being murdered…"

"Mom, Grandma and Grandpa aren't dead, I'm sure of it. They're just missing from the curse, you know, like half the town?"

"Okay, kid, now I know for sure that you didn't take your pills this morning. You're having delusions of curses and fairytales again, aren't you?"

"They're not delusions, Mom. You know it's all real…" Henry argued, worried that now that he'd located one of his mothers that he might have even bigger concerns. "It's all here in the book, for now, at least."

"Ugh, Henry, I swear I'm going to take that book away if you keep getting so caught up in fairytales! They're fiction. Happy endings don't exist in the real world, although at least now that I've found Jones, I can finally put one awful chapter behind me - as soon as he's sufficiently punished for what he did."

"You found Killian?" Henry asked both excitedly and a bit timidly.

"Killian? We're calling murderers by their first names now?"

"Murderer? Mom, what are you talking about?"

"Seriously, Henry, you know damned well what I'm talking about! Killian Jones – the vile bastard who massacred your grandparents a decade ago – we finally captured him and he's locked away where he can't hurt anyone ever again."

"Mom, no… That's not true. That's just what the Black Fairy wants you to believe. This is her curse. She wants you to forget the real Killian – to forget that you love him…"

"I think it's time I made you another psychiatric appointment. These fantasies of yours are getting a lot worse. Love him? You must be growing more insane… Look, right now, I want you do go home and take your meds, mister. That's an order. If I find out you didn't, I'll have to force you to take them and you know I don't like to do that…"

"Okay, mom," he conceded defeat. Whatever the Black Fairy had implanted into his mother's head was a lot stronger than he'd imagined. She believed that her True Love had murdered her parents and he could hear the bloodlust for revenge in her voice. "I'll see you at home later," he said as he backed out of the station, his mind swirling with thoughts of where she might have Killian locked away. If he could locate his stepfather, maybe the two of them together could break the curse and foil Fiona's plan, whatever it might be.

Henry scampered out of the Sheriff station, but he didn't exactly go straight home as he'd promised. He headed first to the town park, climbing to the top of the play castle where he'd always liked to come when he needed to think. He tossed his backpack onto the floor as he leaned his back into the slatted wood wall, getting a little more comfortable before opening the pack to retrieve his precious storybook – his family's legacy. Placing the book on the floor of the play castle, he opened it to the center, disturbed to see that even more of the image was deteriorating, portions of it missing. He flipped through several more pages that were also gradually fading away.

Was that what this curse was all about? Undoing all of the stories? Erasing all of the lessons learned? He knew that his grandparents and his other mother were missing, but he didn't think for a moment that they were dead. Half of Storybrooke had gone missing overnight, probably swept away to another realm, but he needed to know why. What was Fiona up to? Why did she need Emma to harbor such hatred toward Killian? No way he could head home just yet. He needed too many answers.

[thedcdunce]

Bigby Wolf

“The next time you two try to stage a crime scene, you should actually knock things over -- rather than carefully place them in positions you want them to end up in.” - Bigby Wolf

Aliases:

Big Bad Wolf

Big B. Wolf

Gender: Male

Height: 5′ 8″

Weight: Variable

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Brown

Race: Fable

Powers:

Immortality

Lycanthropy

Wind Powers

Abilities:

Criminology

Interrogation

Investigation

Psychic and Magical resistance

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)

Weaknesses:

Vulnerability to Silver

Universe: Fables

Origin: Born several hundred years ago in the Homelands

Base of Operations:

The Farm

Fabletown

the Homelands

Citizenship: American

Parents:

North Wind; father

Winter; mother

Marital Status: Married (Snow White; wife)

Occupation: Sheriff of Fabletown

First Appearance: Fables #1 (July, 2002)

Powers

Immortality: Bigby is effectively immortal, having lived a lifespan that encompasses several hundred years. It was over two-hundred years ago when he, along with every other Fable, left the Homelands in exile. His eternal lifespan is also granted by the witch who had the power to give people the fate they want, after Bigby forced her.

Lycanthropy

Transformation: Bigby possesses the ability to instantly alter his form from that of a wolf to that of a human and back again. Although he spends the majority of his time in human form, his natural shape is that of a wolf. When he shape-shifts into a wolf, Bigby's physical body increases in size and mass. He also grows sharpened canines, claws and pointed ears.

Superhuman Strength: Bigby's strength level depends on his current form, with his strength increasing the more wolf-like his form becomes. In the past, however, he has shown sufficient strength to lift up a car, tear the arm off an opponent, throw dumpsters with ease, rip fuse boxes off walls and lift an anvil with enough ease to use it as a weapon. His wolf form allows him to go toe-to-toe with dragons, sorcerers and giants. He can wipe out hundreds of armies in one battle.

Enhanced Senses: Bigby has naturally acute senses, in particular, his sense of smell. He can correctly identify an individual merely by smelling a sample of their blood.

Superhuman Durability: Bigby's Durability is dependent on his current form. However, he transforms into his next form presumably automatically if he sustains too much damage. In his human form alone, he has been shown to take multiple shotgun blasts and only be briefly incapacitated and be thrown out a first story window, smash into a lamp-post on the way down and fall onto a car, only to be briefly knocked unconscious. In his werewolf form, he has been hit by cars, only to immediately get back up and keep running.

Accelerated Healing

Wind Powers

Powerfull Huff and Puff: Bigby can "huff and puff" powerful hurricanes from his mouth. This power is strong enough to demolish whole forests, armies and big infrastructures and building.

Superhuman Speed: Bigby has the speed and agility of the wind. Bigby's superhuman speed can only be seen in his wolf form. He's fast enough to travel across the globe.

Superhuman Stamina

Abilities

Criminology

Interrogation: Bigby Wolf uses intimidation and violent outbursts of emotion when interrogating suspects. Sometimes, he will blatantly accuse someone of an outrageous crime just to gauge their reaction.

Investigation: With the aid of his keen analytical mind as well as his canine senses, Bigby is an extremely competent detective. Although he personifies himself in the style of a classic 1930s gumshoe detective, Bigby admits that his chosen profession is a fairly unglamorous one. In over two-hundred years as a detective, he has never been in a gunfight, or even fired his gun. He's never even learned how to drive, much less experienced the thrill of a high-speed car chase. 

Psychic and Magical resistance: Bigby's magical nature allows him to resist magic, although there were times where his human form resists weaker than his wolf form. He can also resist psychic attacks.

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic): Bigby, whilst presumably lacking any training other than what he was taught in his military service during World Wars 1 and 2, has shown some basic Hand-to-Hand skill. He has been shown to be able to disarm opponents, dodge and block blows, and on occasion use his environment as a weapon.

Weaknesses

Vulnerability to Silver: Being injured by silver weaponry can easily incapacitate or potentially even kill Bigby.

History

Bigby Wolf is a Fable – a character of myth and legend who has assumed several guises both in his native Homeland, as well as in the public consciousness on Earth. In the Homelands, he is most renowned for terrorizing three small pigs, resulting in the destruction of their homes, and also for stalking a young girl through the woods and impersonating her grandmother in the hopes of baiting her into a trap.

When a being known as the Adversary began to conquer the Homelands, Bigby, as well as many other Fables, conducted a mass exodus to Earth where they established an underground Fable community called Fabletown. Under the auspices of Mayor King Cole, Bigby was elected to the position of Sheriff of Fabletown. On Earth, Bigby possessed the means to assume human form. Mundane human beings are unaware of Bigby's true heritage as a Fable. He occupied a small office at the Woodland Building in Manhattan and longed for the chance to prove his worth as a real detective.

The "Murder" of Rose Red

As the Sheriff of Fabletown, Bigby finally landed the "case of a lifetime" when Rose Red, sister to Fabletown deputy mayor Snow White, became the alleged victim of a gruesome murder. Rose Red's lover, Jack Horner, came to Bigby's office in a state of panic and exhaustion, claiming that Rose Red had been murdered. Immediately, Bigby had suspicions about the validity of this case. He first alerted Snow White to the matter then personally inspected the crime scene. What he discovered at Rose Red's Greenwich apartment was a veritable orgy of blood. The room was in complete disarray and all four walls were spattered with copious amounts of blood. Bigby performed a cursory inspection and ordered the room sealed off from mundie law enforcement. He then accused Jack of the Tales of murdering Rose Red and arrested him. After interrogating him at length, Bigby discovered that Rose Red was once romantically involved with another Fable, Bluebeard. Bigby and Snow White visited the reclusive Bluebeard at his suite and interviewed him. Bluebeard confessed that Rose Red was once contractually obligated to marry him. In exchange, Bluebeard provided Rose with a large dowry. Rose left Bluebeard however to be with Jack. During the interview, Bigby angrily accused Bluebeard of murdering Rose Red. Aside from the fact that he simply didn't like him, Bigby wanted to see Bluebeard's reaction, but Bluebeard maintained his innocence.

Bigby then had the Fables Boy Blue and Flycatcher recreate the crime scene in a neighboring apartment to every detail. This way, he was able to determine exactly how much blood Rose Red lost. With each step of the process, he discovered more and more clues concerning the crime. One obstacle he didn't expect however came from Bluebeard. Bluebeard was convinced that Jack of the Tales was guilty of killing Rose Red, so he bribed his way into the prison cell with the intent of seeking retribution. When Bigby learned of this, he transformed into his full wolf form and squared off against Bluebeard. Snow White and her staff intervened before the two could come to blows and Bigby arrested Bluebeard. Before long, Bigby had all of the results that he required. In a showy rendition of the "parlor scene" from various crime novels, revealed his findings at the annual Remembrance Day celebration at the Woodland Building. He publicly revealed that one of the attending guests was actually Rose Red - alive and well. Rose and Jack conspired to fake her demise so that she could get out of her contracted nuptials with Bluebeard without having to pay back any of the money she received from him.

Revolution At The Farm

While Bigby wasn't allowed to step foot on The Farm according to Fable law, he did assist Boy Blue in rounding up a posse to investigate after communications were cut and Cock Robin had been found dead.

He was also sitting at Snow White's bedside when she woke up from her coma after being shot in the head. He had been the one to fill her in on the events at the farm after the revolution was quelled, though he noted that since he himself was banned from the area, it was all second-hand talk.

Tommy Sharp

Bigby was the first Fable to speak with the mundy journalist, Tommy Sharp, who revealed that he was going to write a story on them, exposing their seemingly immortal existence to the world. Though Sharp revealed that he thought Bigby and the other Fables were vampires, a hypothesis that Bigby found amusing, he still warned Sharp to stay away.

That night, Bigby sent Briar Rose, better known as Sleeping Beauty, into Sharp's apartment building while he, Jack, Boy Blue, Flycatcher and Bluebeard waited outside. Briar Rose pricked her finger on a needle and sent herself, along with everyone in the building, into a deep sleep. Once satisfied that the spell had worked, Bigby and his crew snuck into Sharp's apartment and began taking every document and photo that included any mention of them. Unfortunately, while deleting files on the computer, Jack discovered that Sharp sent out back-up copies of all his research to secure locations on the internet, which were beyond his ability to hack. Bigby was not happy that his plan had essentially failed, but Jack told him he had an alternate plan, depending on how "evil" Bigby was prepared to get.

The new plan was for Bigby to convince Tommy Sharp that he was now in their vampiric "Thralls" by leaving two puncture wounds on his neck. With a few threats about what they would make him do to himself, Bigby finally pulled out some very compromising pictures he took of Sharp with a young boy and got Sharp to swear that he would never try to expose or bother any one of them again or his life will be ruined forever.

Sharp was later murdered by Bluebeard, though Bigby didn't know anything about it, at first.

Storybook Love

When Bluebeard's harboring of the fugitive Goldilocks was threatened to be exposed by a mouse police spy, he put Bigby and Snow White under an enchantment and sent them away on a vacation before they could find out. The spell lasted for two days, Bigby unconsciously camping out in the cascade mountains with Snow, before both suddenly regained their senses. Believing their enchantment to be a simple prank of Jack's, Bigby nevertheless feels uneasy about their situation. His fears are proved warranted when their vehicle is shot at and sent careening down a hillside.

While they were hiding in the wilderness from their pursuer, Snow White worries that they may have slept together in the same tent during the enchantment, but Bigby says it isn't likely as there were wolf tracks all around the campsite, hinting that he probably spent all the time outside in his natural habitat. Snow then asked Bigby why he chose her, of all people, to go on a date to the Remembrance Day gala with. Bigby answers that it was because, despite all his efforts to avoid the many scents of living in the city, hers was the only one he couldn't ignore. She had a pleasant smell to him, which is why he allowed her to live when they first met, back in the Homelands. Since moving the Fabletown, he's been able to track her by scent alone, always knowing where she was, and how she was feeling at the time due to subtle changes in her natural musk. Snow asks him to stop, but Bigby responds she shouldn't ask if she doesn't want to hear the answer.

Bigby finally picks up the scent of their hunter and realizes that it's Goldilocks. He first makes sure that Snow White is safely sheltered under an arch of boulders where he tells her to wait while he uses a trick he hasn't done in awhile, the "old huff and puff". He uses his breath to blow the forest down, trees and all, blowing Goldilocks off her motorcycle in the process. The blast didn't kill her, nor did Bigby truly believe it would, but it did achieve his two objectives; to create a path leading directly to them, and to get the local wind under his control, so he can keep Goldilocks upwind at all times.

Bigby managed to momentarily surprise Goldilocks in his large wolf form, but she soon fired several buckshot rounds into his body. Bigby was wounded, but didn't die, he told her that only a silver bullet could kill him. He kept her attention on him while Snow sneaked up behind her and stuck a hatchet in the back of her head. It took several more blows from her cane before Goldilocks fell off the cliff, got hit by a truck and fell into the river. Bigby noted that because of her popularity with the mundies, she wouldn't have been easy to kill.

When they arrived back in New York City, Snow White told Bigby that she'd be willing to go out to dinner or a movie sometime next week, if Bigby would simply ask. He smiled in response.

Later, however, he had been called to her apartment, where Snow angrily yelled at him. Doctor Swineheart had just given her a check-up and told her she was pregnant. Bigby counters that he couldn't even remember what happened while they were under the spell, but she asks him to leave her alone.

The Battle of Fabletown

Bigby was immediately suspicious when Red Riding Hood came into town with her claims that she had escaped the Adversary. His suspicions were mostly based on her story that she came through the Oz gate to the Mundy world, specifically Canad, when Bigby knew for a fact that the Adversaries forces had sealed that gate long ago.

Bigby left Fabletown to investigate the northern gate Red had come through. As a result, he was unavailable for most of the battle between Fabletown and the Wooden Soldiers led by Red Riding Hood, who was actually Baba Yaga. But he made it back in time to blow the remaining soldiers out of Fabletown, thus ending the battle.

Bigby again showed his knack for keeping his own secrets from the other Fables, by holding Baba Yaga, thought killed in the battle, in a chamber deep down beneath Fabletown's City Hall. Only himself and Frau Totenkinder know of Yaga's imprisonment.

Fun Facts

Bigby Wolf is based upon the antagonist from two famous fairy tales. He is the Big Bad Wolf responsible for tormenting the Three Little Pigs and he is also the predator who stalked Little Red Riding Hood and masqueraded as her grandmother.

Bigby is a chain smoker, though he claims it's to "deaden his senses enough to avoid a sensory overload from living in the city".