#but she didn't see him use magic at any point so i wonder if she rly does

[sage-nebula]

One thing I really hope we get to see in S5 is Claudia (and Viren, but especially Claudia) learning that Callum can do primal magic without a primal stone.

While it's possible she learned off-screen and just doesn't care, I hope that's not the case because it just doesn't feel realistic to me. In S2, Claudia justifies her use of dark magic to Callum by saying that "[humans] were born with nothing." She felt, understandably so, that humans couldn't do primal magic on their own, and that dark magic was the only available option to them. (And we see Claudia use the primal stone when she has it, so I think that, back then, she would have connected to an arcanum if she thought it possible.)

But now we (the audience) know that's not the case—that humans CAN connect to arcanums if they're willing to put in the work. And I want to see Claudia reckon with this, because I think it's going to be an emotional tornado for her, for several reasons:

The justification for dark magic she has relied on for years has just gone out the window; humans CAN do primal magic, even without primal stones, meaning that dark magic ISN'T the only option

If it wasn't the only option, does that mean it WAS wrong for her to do the things she's done? From killing fairies to make pancakes to killing at least one human soldier to revive her father?

But it's too late to think about any of this now, because she can't undo it, and just because one human can use primal magic doesn't mean they all can, and dark magic is far more versatile and powerful anyway, and Xadia is still wrong for never telling humans this was possible (nevermind that Aaravos could have told her but didn't—)

Basically, I see Claudia being shocked, confused, guilt-stricken, hurt, and ultimately digging her heels in because holding onto a sunk cost fallacy and blaming others is easier than admitting you could have made other choices. And I want to see Claudia go through this, because we can already see her shutting her eyes against her atrocities in things like her recent Reflections story; I think it'll be interesting to see her go all the way with it.

[charlietheepicwriter7]

Despite Danny's best efforts, no matter how much time past, Amity Park refused to see Phantom as a hero.

Sure, there were pockets of support, particularly among teens, but most of the town blames Phantom for the property damage, saying if he didn't fight the ghosts then it wouldn't be so bad, to that time he got mind controlled by Freakshow and "attacked" the mayor. It wears him down. It wears Tucker and Sam down. Jazz can only try to support them all.

Then one day, a member of the Justice League visits. Someone minor, and kinda a jerk... maybe a Wonder Twin? Zan? Whatever. They don't investigate; they don't look deeper. They listen to the town folks and declare the ghost hunters, Red Huntress and the Fentons, to be the official heroes of the town.

Worse? Danny Phantom is officially considered a villain to the Justice League. Tuck hacks into the Watchtower and confirms that they have a file (a heavily inaccurate file) about how to defeat Phantom.

Danny doesn't think he can do this anymore.

A few weeks later, a young villain escapes into Amity and demands (begs) that Danny help them escape from the hero after them. No idea who, I can't find a lot of info on teen villains in DC, so let's fudge some ages and make it Kyd Wyckyd from the Teen Titans cartoon. Danny agrees, because to hell with the Justice Losers, and they defeat the hero, becoming friends in the process. Kyd confesses that they became a villain after being ostracized bc of how they look, and they've been trying to avoid villain organizations because HIVE was abusive, but it's really hard to be a villain alone bc of all the heroes.

Sam gets an idea. Tucker agrees with the idea. Jazz is just happy they'll end up making friends.

The next day, the Teen Villain Alliance is formed, ready to assist with any teenage illegal shenanigans their allies might get into.

Some notes:

It's created to be a healthier option for teen "villains" to connect with others and support each other.

It's more important that this is for Teens rather than Villains. They're tired of adult villains taking advantage of them. The TVA would rather ally with a teen vigilante than with an adult villain.

Again, no idea who the teen villains are, but Klarion is definitely here. He leaves the Light for the chaos of the TVA. Maybe Ember is there too?

Timeline wise, this is around when Tim is still Robin, but Damien has arrived at Wayne Manor.

This is because, when it comes time to try to infiltrate the TVA, they'll have a convenient child-assassin who has none of the monitors of a teen hero that Phantom immediately picks up on.

Damien, who at this point has been abandoned by his mother, dismissed and scolded by his father, and has had no success at carving his own place in the family, jumps at the chance. He is then surrounded by peers who don't insult him or try to change his behavior (too much; jazz is trying to help him find healthier methods of expressing himself). He... might not want to continue being a spy.

Danny, Sam, Tuck, and Jazz are the founding members.

Danny reinvents himself as the High Prince of the Infinite, Prince Phantom Dark. He got kingship from fighting Pariah Dark, but since he's still alive, he's only a prince. He steals the last name Dark as an intimidation tatic against those in the know; only Danny would have the balls to claim family with Pariah.

Sam works as a powerless villain, but she might no be powerless? Either way, Danny gives her a bunch of repurposed Fenton tech, and she buys the rest with her parents credit card. She does NOT care if that's traced back to the Mansons. She would choose something goth, maybe something spider related or even bat?

I love Pharaoh Tucker, so I think he should get magic powers? Since pharaohs of old were considered the balance between the real and the divine. He's still a tech guy, now he's a tech and magic guy.

Jazz isn't really a villain, more of a team mom who's planning on using everyone's psyche's as her thesis paper. You know what, that's her callsign, she's Psyche. Sometimes she flirts with Nightwing.

[anxious-witch]

Okay, maybe I am way off with this, but doesn't Cat King seem to adhere by very specific set of rules? Which yeah, duh, he is a trickster, but what I mean is, he can't seem to be able to initiate any action?

We know he kept an eye on the boys and Crystal even before he met them, I'd wager even before Edwin leashed his cat. But he didn't approach until Edwin did so, as if Edwin activated it that way. And sure, we could say it was because he messed with one of his subjects and while I am sure there is truth in that, it's a THEME.

He has eyes everywhere. I don't buy it for a second that he didn't immediately know who Monty is. So why not tell Edwin and the rest immediately? Could be to see where this will go, but it doesn't feel that way. Why would he let Monty flirt with Edwin, if he could stop him? Even after Monty kisses Edwin, the Cat King doesn't appear. Why? Because Monty isn't hurting Edwin yet. The kiss, as awkward as it was, does seem to be genuine on Monty's part.

No. The Cat King only gets involved when Monty is actively working to betray Edwin. Only then he can swoop in, give away Monty's secret and steal his kiss as payback.

Generally, it seems he has to somehow mirror the actions taken? A leash for a leash, a kiss for a kiss, a betrayal for a betrayal.

Also, the bit with Esther. He says "magic doesn't work on me", and yet he doesn't try to use magic on Esther in turn. Is it because she cannot use magic on him, he can't as well? Which renders him powerless against her.

She uses a loophole to kill him, aka she kills him by force since she cannot do so by magic. And what does he do? He can't use magic against her but he can give Crystal a secret loophole on how to kill Esther. He can tell her about he deal with Lilith.

Also as this post points out, as much as he gets into Edwin's space, when Edwin moves towards him, he pulls back. Furthermore, the only two times Edwin invades his space (ie in the forest when he tells him "this is all that you are" and in the last episode when he kisses him) Cat King seems almost frozen. As if he is bound to see how far Edwin is going to take the action before he can react.

I wonder if he can kiss him at all, without Edwin initating first. With Monty, he could, because it was payback for stealing Edwin's kiss. But he didn't harm him further. Why? Unless he is somehow bound to some unknown set of rules.

Idk. I just thought it was an interesting pattern

[raayllum]

Today on crackpot theories: Aaravos' making the world's worst grocery list of items for his Cosmic Council takeover, re: Claudia and the Sunforge staff

I was thinking about how both Claudia and the Sunforge staff are included in her intro, despite not really needing the staff to be (as far as we know, but bear with me for a moment).

Viren, for example, doesn't have any item in his intro, despite the fact that Aaravos clocked that he had the relic staff Immediately. This was one of the biggest indicators at the time that Ziard's staff was related to Aaravos (since we didn't know he was a 'great one' yet).

Callum has the cube (which we'll circle back to) in his intro, yes, but again that makes a bit more sense with the context we have. It's called the Key of Aaravos, of course it was going to be something in relation to Aaravos in the Startouch elf's head of "hehe play into my hands".

It does show a pattern, though, of Aaravos not just going after mages, but mages who specifically have the 'gifts'/objects he's left behind that he needs. He needs the Relic staff, at the very least, because it has the quasar diamond he left inside as a contingency plan seemingly just in case he was ever imprisoned since murder only temporarily delays him. The cube may be something he's been looking for for a while now.

So he adds Viren and Callum to his little collection, convenient pawns pulled in by lures, and then constructs two more grocery list items together in quick succession in S3:

I've pondered before about why have Luna Tenebris and Queen Aditi go missing at all, in terms of being part of his plan. On the one hand, it makes sense without really trying: taking out Luna de-stabilized the archdragons (who seem like the only real threat to his power) and he couldn't let Aditi stabilize them. That doesn't explain why he'd eat her, though, unless it was just for fun.

It also never entirely sat right to me that getting the Sun staff / orb from Lux Aurea was just about protecting the soldiers from dragon fire. It felt too short sighted, not for Viren maybe but for Aaravos, given that if the Sunfire elves hadn't gotten involved, the assault on the Storm Spire probably would've gone on without a hitch.

Season six did provide more context, though! If Aaravos knew there was a good chance that taking out Lux Aurea and de-stabilizing the royal family again would make it easier to manipulate and kill Sol Regem, I could see that being incentive enough. If he's waited a 1000+ years for his revenge on that dragon, what's a couple more?

But like I said... if Aaravos ate Aditi for a reason, which was nullified maybe by his 300 year imprisonment... Does he need to eventually eat the Sun orb too? (Or Claudia, as she's consumed by the corrupted light for a beautifully on the nose metaphor?)

The relic staff has seemingly served at least one of its main purposes for now, though perhaps the quasar diamond can continue to be used past the point of giving Aaravos a new body? And we know the cube is related to Aaravos' book, so he'll want both of those within his possession and likely, like Viren in Lux Aurea and in Katolis with Claudia, be brought right to him. But I wonder about the corrupted Sun staff

The simplest reasoning I could see is the Staff just symbolizing Claudia's attachment to Aaravos and dark magic, but given its inclusion in the pawn intro, I can't help but think there's more to it, anyway. Why have it specifically on Aaravos' grocery list of items to get if all he wanted to do was corrupt the Sun forge, after all?

[ashdreams2023]

Hello! I was wondering if I could request a Severus Snape x older sister reader? We know Sev is like a grouchy and independent person, I kinda want to see him turn into an attention seeking little baby when it comes to his older sister lol. Like imagine Dumbledore and McGonagall's shock when they see Sev whining to a woman who they don't recognize (I was thinking she didn't go to Hogwarts and went to another magical school) They didn't even know Sev has any siblings whatsoever. So basically reader visits Severus in Hogwarts (he's already a professor) She hasn't seen him in a couple of years due to her profession or something. Reader still sees Sev as her baby brother she used to take care of.

Finally gotten to this one! I was actually dying to do this it’s so cute!

Severus snape x big sister reader

Sevy

Everyone knew not to cross their professors at hogwarts, especially the intimidating potions master, severus snape, the most feared professor in the school.

Even the older professors had a great deal of respect for the young professor.

"Honestly I can’t believe he didn’t even give me one chance to correct myself!?" One hufflepuff groaned to his friend, no one was safe from severus on a bad day, even his brightest students.

"Drop it mate, you can make up for it in the next pop test-"

"Hey boys, do you know where Professor snape office is?" The two teenagers stopped in their tracked and looked at the woman speaking to them.

You smiled in a friendly manner at them and repeated your question, one of them pointed at the end of the hall. The dungeons, that figures.

"Thank you boys" The two stared at you as you walked away.

"Who is she and why is she looking for snape?"

"Who knows, but I pity her regardless…"

Meanwhile after some walking you ended up finding the office, you looked at the time table hung on the wall, his office hours were still open.

You grinned to yourself and walked.

Albus and minerva waited and waited, it was unlike severus to miss their daily meeting after lunch but here they were alone with each other’s company for the past thirty minutes.

"You don’t think something came up, don’t you albus?"

"I’m not quite sure dear Minerva but we ought to go check on him"

The two older professors took a long and silent walk down to the dungeons, where they knew he spent most of his time and knocked on his door but no answer.

"Could he have went to do some errands?"

"In the middle of a school day? That’s very unlike him…"

"The greenhouse perhaps?" The wise witch suggested. The headmaster hummed before leading the way up to the greenhouse.

They had expected a lot but what they witnessed wasn’t what they had anticipated for.

"I swear to god sevy you need to learn how to grow your own stuff, you’re a potion master" you sighed plucking one of the plants in the very back of the greenhouse with severus kneeling down near an empty plant pot.

"You know i can’t do it right! See they keep dying on me" Severus whined gesturing to the broken pots in the corner of the place.

The headmaster and vise duty stared in disbelief, severus snape was pouting, he was whining and acting unlike his stock self.

"I’ve taught you a million times, the soil have to be the right kind, you can’t expect your big sissy to be here to help you all the time"

"I know I know, I’m not a baby anymore" he got up and dusted himself off then cringed childishly when you started wiping the dirt stuck on his face "Stop!"

"No! Hold still, just because you got taller doesn’t mean you can go around looking like we still live in rags"

Albus coughed in his fist catching the attention of both adults.

"Oh hi! Sorry to intrude, I was just helping sevy here learn how to plant a practical plant for his potion making"

"And you are?" Asked the older witch.

Severus cleared his throat spoke "This is my older sister headmaster, Minerva" the two professors looked dumbfounded by the news, severus never mentioned having a sibling and a witch at that!

"But wait…why haven’t you attended hogwarts with severus?" Albus was curious to say the least.

"Well, to make short I asked mother to go to another school because my passion for herbology couldn’t be fulfilled in hogwarts you see, so I went to Uagadou"

Severus looked down at you with settle pride, you have achieved so much throughout the years and he looked up to you, you’ve become a great scientist and made some big discoveries across the globe, many may not know your face but your stage name was to be hold.

"Anyways I came to visit sevy, it’s been so long since I saw this big baby" you laughed, he huffed pretending to be offended and pushed your arm to knock you off balance.

"Hey! Don’t test me boy! I used to change your diapers!" You pointed a finger at him.

He crossed his arms and pulled out his tongue at you.

Albus felt amused seeing the two siblings bicker but minerva chuckled, severus for once didn’t seem so uptight and proper, but rather…dare she say relaxed?

"I think you should join us to tea, I’ll love to hear your side of things, my dear son severus doesn’t speak much of his life back home"

You smirked "Oh do I have stories for you, and I think you’ll especially would enjoy the river one"

Severus’s cheeks flushed red before he ground covering his face in embarrassment "I beg you, stop making life harder!"

You didn’t care what he say and that afternoon was spent with everyone having tea and listening to your embarrassing stories about the eventful childhood in spinner’s end.

"Do you just enjoy humiliating me?"

"Oh sevy, relax you I do it because I care"

"I doubt it"

"You’re welcome"

[maboroshi-no]

Hamefura LN 14 Chapter 1 Part 1 Summary

I am currently reading Hamefura LN14 and will post summaries after each chapter.

Chapter 1 is a bit long so I split it in two.

-------------

Chapter 1: The Encounter at the Party (Part 1)

Break at Cyrus's Fields

Katarina and Maria are helping Cyrus with his fields. They are all taking a break at the moment.

Cyrus and Maria are talking about work. Katarina thinks they're so serious for talking about work during their free time. She turns her gaze away from them and looks at the fields.

Cyrus's fields have expanded since Katarina and Maria started helping. They will harvest fall crops soon. Katarina can't wait.

Katarina Would Like to Eat Rice

Katarina remembers that if she had been in Japan, it would soon be the period to harvest rice. New rice is delicious and she can't have enough of rice with dried plums and pickles.

Katarina inadvertently voices that she'd like to eat rice.

Maria asks her what she means, so Katarina explains that, while looking at the fields, she remembered that it would soon be the rice harvesting period. And then, she wished she could eat rice. 

Cyrus is surprised that Katarina would know about the rice harvesting period and realizes again how much Katarina likes Japanese food.

Katarina thinks to herself that it is only natural since her grandparents were rice farmers. She would help them with planting and harvesting rice.

Katarina remembers that in Sorcier, people eat bread and Western food, so there is no rice there. On the other hand, people eat rice and Japanese food in the neighboring country Sharma, which is similar to Japan. Incidentally, people also eat rice and Japanese food in Cyrus's region since it is bordering Sharma.

Katarina has been wanting to go to Cyrus's region since she heard they ate Japanese food there. However, she can't freely go there since it takes 4 days by carriage.

Cyrus is happy that Katarina enjoys his hometown's food so much. His parents send him home specialties after the fall harvest every year, so he offers to share some with her. Katarina jumps with joy and invites Maria to enjoy the food together. Maria chuckles and accepts.

Katarina wonders what food Cyrus will share with her. Tsukemono? New rice? She is about to ask Cyrus when she sees him make a very content smile.

Maria Has Been Tense Lately

Katarina asks Cyrus if something happened. Cyrus snaps back to reality. He whispers to her that he just felt glad since Maria has been smiling ever since Katarina invited her to help at the fields. Maria has been tense lately but she was able to calm down after coming here and interacting with Katarina. Katarina didn't know that Maria was tense.

Katarina remembers that Maria's family was attacked a few days ago. While she and Cezar were able to rescue Maria, they could only catch the thugs. They couldn't catch Sara, who was taken away by the "handsome seductive enigmatic uncle". As a result, they couldn't get any information about the organization except that they were targeting Maria. Following this, it was decided Maria's family would be protected at the Ministry and escorted by guards whenever they went out. Katarina can understand why Maria would feel tense.

Currently, Maria is not escorted by guards. Even so, she is still in the Ministry of Magic in Sorcier (the second most-guarded institution of the safest country in the world) and with Cyrus, who is a Ministry director and a powerful magic wielder, martial artist, and swordsman.

Katarina originally invited Maria to the fields to get some help for the harvest but she is glad that Maria could relax because of it.

Looking at Cyrus's happy face after Maria's smile, Katarina feels like she is third-wheeling. She turns her gaze towards the fields.

Mole Alert

Katarina notices an area of the fields where the earth is bulging. She shouts at Cyrus: "They got us! The enemy is here!"

Cyrus quickly stands up. He keeps Maria behind his back and asks Katarina where the enemy is. Katarina points to a hole in the ground. Cyrus is confused. Katarina explains that there's a mole: their natural enemy as farmers. Cyrus frowns and Maria bursts out laughing. Seeing Maria laugh, Cyrus relaxes his face a little.

Cyrus explains to Katarina that, while a mole is indeed a farmer's enemy, she shouldn't carelessly use the word "enemy" given Maria's state. Katarina realizes that she needlessly scared Maria and apologizes to her. But Maria laughs even louder, to the point she is holding her stomach.

Pondering Measures Against Moles

Cyrus inspects the hole and confirms there is a mole.

Katarina never saw a mole in her fields but she remembers that in her past life, her grandmother often had moles damaging her fields, which would make her furious.

Katarina is surprised there would be moles in the Ministry grounds. Cyrus replies it isn't so surprising given the natural setting here. He just never took measures against moles because they never damaged his fields until now.

Cyrus ponders about measures he could take against moles. Katarina also ponders about them on her side.

Katarina remembers that in her past life, her grandmother would bury some kind of nail that would make a piercing sound when it detected a mole. She eventually took it off because it became too noisy. Anyhow, it's not like she could find this kind of device in this world. 

Katarina wonders if she can leave in the fields something that would give off a pungent smell that would drive the moles away. With this line of thought, she comes up with a great idea.

Katarina's Measure Against Moles

Katarina summons Pochi. Cyrus asks her why she did. Katarina explains that she will have Pochi poop on the fields to scare off the mole. Cyrus is blank. Katarina explains that she heard that tanukis didn't get close to fields if they smelled dog poop, so she thought it might work on moles too.

In her past life, her grandmother would collect dog poop from the neighborhood and put them on the corners of her fields. Katarina couldn't help her back then because dogs hated her, but now, she can provide the dog poop since she has a dog.

Katarina orders Pochi to poop. Pochi barks in understanding and takes the posture.

Katarina loudly cheers Pochi on while he is trying to poop.

Maria shyly reminds Katarina that Pochi can't poop since he is a dark familiar. Both Katarina and Pochi are shocked after hitting upon this realization. Pochi cries in apology and Katarina apologizes to him in return for asking him the impossible. Seeing them, Maria burst out laughing again.

Cyrus reminds Katarina that it is wrong in the first place to leave dog poop on the prestigious grounds of the Ministry. Katarina thinks to herself that Cyrus still created fields on the prestigious grounds of the Ministry.

Katarina understands that it would be troublesome to leave dog poop here since it is smelly and people can step on it. Cyrus tells her it isn't that troublesome, but she still shouldn't do it. Anyhow, Cyrus tells Katarina he will think about how to put in place the measures he used in his hometown and asks her to stop thinking about measures. Katarina gladly leaves the issue to him since he is a "pro-farmer". When Pochi barks in agreement, Cyrus makes a little step backward.

Cyrus and Dogs

Katarina asks Cyrus if he feels uneasy with dogs. Cyrus tells her that's not it.

Katarina asks Cyrus if, by any chance, he'd like to get along with dogs but can't because they hate him. She is hoping to find a fellow in Cyrus. Cyrus denies it: he had a dog as a kid and often held it.

Katarina feels jealous of Cyrus, but she is glad to have Pochi now. She pets Pochi's head and Pochi seems to be enjoying it.

Looking at them, Cyrus tells Katarina that his dog would also close his eyes in contentment and wag his tail when he petted its head. He and his dog were always together, like siblings. Unfortunately, it died in an accident one day, right before his eyes. Since then, he has felt a little scared about interacting with dogs or even animals in general. Hearing this, Katarina takes Pochi in her arms and hugs him tightly.

Cyrus stays silent with a distant gaze while reminiscing about his dog. After a while, he suggests to Katarina and Maria they work a little longer and call it a day. Katarina and Maria accept without asking questions.

They all finish work and go home.

Katarina realizes upon going to sleep that she forgot to ask Cyrus what food his parents will send him.

Katarina Ponders about Cyrus's Trauma

The next day, Katarina is in the carriage and she is idly thinking about what Cyrus told her about his uneasiness with dogs.

It seems like not only Cyrus can't handle young women, he can't handle dogs either. That's a lot for one person. It is not so rare for capture targets in otome games to come with traumas, so she wonders if that's what it is.

In Fortune Lover 1, the capture targets had childhood traumas. For example, Alan suffered from always being compared to the perfect Geordo, and then Maria made him realize his strong points. Though, the actual Alan didn't end like this for some reason: he developed his talent for music and grew into a carefree person 

As for Keith, since he was unneeded by his biological parents, treated coldly by his adopted mother, and bullied by his adopted sister, he was supposed to become a distrusting frivolous man who played around with girls to satisfy his need for love, until Maria taught him about true love. But the actual Keith is the reliable son of the Claes family, gets along with his adopted mother, eagerly takes it upon himself to protect his older sister, and has grown into a pure good young man.

Katarina Talks With Keith in the Carriage

Katarina glances at Keith in front of her. His straightened back and neat clothes show that he isn't a playboy but he still exudes sexiness as a remnant of his sexy character status. Even so, he doesn't use his sexiness, which is a waste.

Katarina inadvertently voices, "What a shame". Keith asks her what is. Katarina explains that she thinks it's a shame that he exudes so much sexiness but doesn't use it.

Keith is wide-eyed for a moment, then frowns and makes a deep sigh. He agrees and tells her he was told the same thing several times. Keith looks dejected, so Katarina apologizes. Keith says it's fine.

Keith reminds Katarina that they are on their way to an important party. Katarina realizes that it is indeed not the time to think about Cyrus or the game.

Keith insists that Katarina should ready herself for the party. Katarina begs him to let her idle until they arrive. She promises she will focus and conduct herself properly during the party. But she will exhaust herself if she keeps being focused, so she needs to idle and she can only do it when they're alone together. 

Keith is choked up for words. He finally accepts since "she can only do it when they're alone together".

Katarina looks out the window. There's such a nice weather. She wishes she could have farmed today and indulged in sweets after work.

The Sorcier Kingdom Founding Anniversary Party

Today, the Sorcier Kingdom Founding Anniversary Party is held. A lot of foreigners have been invited. The atmosphere is similar to the International Assembly, but unlike it, it is not meant for socializing with people, but for everyone to enjoy this Sorcier celebration. It also lasts only one day, contrary to the International Assembly.

A lot of foreign emissaries will be there, so unlike in Sorcier-only parties, Katarina will need to walk around and greet everyone. She has been told to be careful of her surroundings since the dark magic organization might sneak in. People are thoroughly checked at the entrance but it is still possible. Katarina needs to be cautious while not acting rudely. 

The party is held in the largest hall of the castle. Out of respect for the customs of the other countries, ladies don't need an escort for this party.

Katarina and Keith enter the venue together.

There are a lot more people compared to the International Assembly. They are dressed in various kinds of clothes: Japanese style, Arabian style, Chinese style… There are also a variety of skin, hair, and eye colors. Even so, everyone talks in the same language. 

Katarina feels amazed by this sight. Keith tells her that such a variety of people is expected since more countries have been invited to this party compared to the International Assembly. Katarina is amazed that Keith guessed exactly what she was thinking. Keith chuckles and tells her it is normal since he has been her brother for 10 years already.

Keith reminds Katarina to be careful not to cause trouble. After recalling what happened during the International Assembly, Katarina replies that she will.

Keith and Katarina greet the Sorcier nobles, along with the foreign nobles they met at the International Assembly. Katarina is surprised she hasn't seen her friends yet, not even Geordo who always rushes to see her.

Katarina is thirsty, so she tells Keith she will go have a drink. Keith says okay while reminding her with his eyes not to eat or drink too much.

Encounter at the Buffet

Katarina goes to the buffet and is amazed by all the gorgeous food prepared for the anniversary party. She originally intended to just have a drink and go back but she thinks it wouldn't hurt to enjoy the food a little as long as she doesn't overeat. She picks up a lot of food and starts eating. After emptying her plate, she picks up some more food.

Katarina suddenly hears "You're eating too much". She startles and looks towards the voice. She realizes the words weren't aimed at her: a man she doesn't know is scolding a woman who has picked up a lot of food like her. Katarina feels an affinity with the girl.

The two people are dressed in kimono-like clothes so they probably come from Sharma, the neighboring country with a Japanese-like culture.

The man tells the woman that a lady shouldn't eat so much at a place like this. His scolding reminds Katarina of when Keith scolds her for the exact same reason. The woman retorts she just doesn't want to miss out on the banquet of the great country Sorcier. She will hardly have other opportunities like this. The two people appear to be siblings. Katarina deeply agrees with the sister and can't help silently cheering her on.

The sister notices Katarina and they make eye contact. Katarina notices the sister has black hair and eyes, and that she's beautiful. The sister notices Katarina's plate full of food, just like hers. At this moment, the two girls feels like they understand each other despite coming from different countries: enjoying a banquet is more important than lady etiquette.

The brother makes a deep sigh and tells the sister he wasn't telling her not to eat, just not to eat too much. His words also remind Katarina of Keith. The sister retorts that she can't avoid filling her plate since there is so much food. But it is not like she will eat everything at once she will just take a little of everything. Katarina silently agrees, it is exactly what she was doing. The sister notices Katarina's agreement and also nods to herself. Katarina feels like she could greatly get along with the sister.

The brother replies that, in that case, it would be more proper to just take a little of one or two dishes she likes. Katarina feels revolted by the brother's words and feels like she can't get along with him.

The sister feels revolted by her brother's thinking and feels like they will never understand each other.

The brother tiredly tells her they will talk about it later. She reminds her that the King will come give his greetings soon, so she must put her plate away. Hearing this, Katarina feels like she would rather eat all her food than put her plate away. She starts gulping down her food. The sister thinks the same thing and starts gulping down her food too. The brother is shocked to see his sister rushing to eat her food rather than putting away her plate. He is even more shocked to see Katarina doing the same thing.

Katarina and the sister have both finished their plates. When they put away their plates, they both smile and nod their heads at each other.

The King's Greetings

Trumpets announce the King's coming. The King appears with the Queen at his side, and the four princes behind them.

The King makes a speech, thanking everyone for coming to the party held for the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Sorcier Kingdom.

After the speech, the foreign attendees go to greet the royals. The Sorcier nobles stay back since they were told beforehand they didn't need to greet the royals for this party.

Katarina starts picking up food again but the sister is dragged away by her brother to greet the royals. Looking at her reluctantly leave, Katarina says "Do your best" in her direction. While she isn't sure the sister heard her, she feels like she said "Yes" in response.

Katarina would like to talk with the sister again and become friends with her if the opportunity arises.

Katarina Talks With Cezar

Katarina suddenly hears someone say "You're eating too much". When she turns around, she realizes that it's Cezar.

Katarina thanks Cezar again for helping her when she lost control of her dark magic. Cezar is glad to see she is well. After all, the last time he saw her, she had fainted.

Katarina remembers what happened at that time. Cezar visited her the day after they rescued Maria, and when she thanked him for his help, Geordo suddenly appeared, became jealous, and gave her an adult kiss in front of Cezar. Because she was so inexperienced with love, she felt overwhelmed and fainted.

Katarina feels embarrassed after remembering this. She starts explaining to Cezar that it wasn't because she was unwell that she fainted, but because she wasn't used to kissing. Midway, she feels panicked about explaining how inexperienced she is about love.

Looking at her, Cezar chuckles and realizes again that both Katarina and Geordo are still very young. Katarina is confused by his reaction.

Cezar asks Katarina if she hated it when Geordo kissed her. Katarina is confused: she felt embarrassed at the time but she can't tell whether she liked it or not.

Looking at her pondering so hard, Cezar changes his mind and tells her she doesn't need to answer him after all. He would prefer she didn't. Then he lightly strokes her head. Katarina is confused and wonders if Cezar doesn't want to talk about it anymore.

Cezar feels a threatening look piercing his back and decides to stop at this. He advises Katarina not to move out alone since there are a lot of people. He will go call her family for her, so he asks her to wait here.

After Cezar leaves, Katarina realizes that she has dropped her guard again after seeing the gorgeous food.

Katarina wonders if Cezar will be able to find Keith in this huge crowd. Especially since she knows where Keith is. She decides to join Keith once she has finished eating.

Keith's Lecture

Katarina suddenly hears someone say "You're eating too much". It is Keith.

Keith scolds her for not going back despite telling him she would just go have a drink. He was worried and couldn't seem to get out of the conversation. Fortunately, Cezar spoke to him and told him where she was. Katarina is amazed that Cezar could find Keith so quickly in this huge crowd.

Keith tells Katarina she should pull herself together since she caused trouble to Cezar. Katarina sincerely apologizes. Keith ends his lectures.

Katarina eats the rest of her plate with Keith's permission.

A Look Towards the Royals

Katarina notices that the number of people has decreased. Keith doesn't agree: it only looks that way because all foreigners have gone to greet the royals.

Keith shows Katarina the long line of people waiting to greet the royals. It is way longer than in usual parties. At the end of the line, the royals are repeatedly greeting people with a smile.

Katarina can see that Alan is starting to tire out since he is not good at socializing. Next to him, Geordo must also be tired even if he doesn't show it.

When Katarina looks at Geordo, she has the feeling their eyes met for an instant. It startles her. Keith asks her what is wrong. Katarina explains that she felt like Geordo and her made eye contact even though she was mixed in the crowd. She thinks it was probably her imagination. Keith pretends to agree while thinking to himself that it was probably not her imagination.

Cyrus and Maria

Mary calls Katarina. There are also Sophia, Nicol, Maria, and Cyrus with her.

Katarina is surprised to see Cyrus with everyone. She asks them if they all came together. Mary replies that she, Sophia, and Nicol came together, then they saw Cyrus and Maria together at the entrance, and then they all stayed together.

Katarina is shocked that Cyrus and Maria went to the ball together. Cyrus kept saying until now he was too embarrassed to ride in a carriage alone with her or talk alone with her, but he finally did it. Katarina feels so happy and proud that Cyrus has finally reached grade schooler-level maturity in terms of romance.

Maria explains that she actually met Cyrus at the castle. It was Sora who escorted her on the way to the castle. Cyrus proudly confirms it with a face that seems to say "Of course since I can't ride in a carriage alone with her". Katarina feels so disappointed. She wonders how Cyrus will be able to make progress with Maria at this rate.

Maria was told to attend this party since many people wanted to talk with her as a Sorcier celebrity. She doesn't seem escorted by guards so Katarina wonders if both Cyrus and Sora were assigned as her guards this time. Or maybe Cyrus was assigned as her guard but he asked Sora to escort her on the way to the castle because he couldn't ride in a carriage alone with her. This possibility seems more likely.

Katarina asks Cyrus in a low voice if he was the one who asked Sora to escort Maria on the way to the castle. Cyrus readily confirms it since he can't ride in a carriage alone with Maria. Katarina is shocked that Cyrus is okay with Sora and Maria being alone together. Katarina doesn't understand why Cyrus would be wary of Dewey but not of Sora. Sora should be a greater threat since he is good at sweet-talking women. If Sora fell for Maria, Cyrus's chance would drop to zero.

--------------

Katarina: Umm, are you okay with Sora and Maria alone together?  Sora might have feelings for Maria, you know?

Cyrus: No, Sora doesn't have feelings for Maria. Even I can see that.

Katarina: Huh? What do you mean?

Cyrus: What I mean? Well, however I look at it…

Katarina: However you look at it, what?

Cyrus: Lady Katarina, didn't you notice?

Katarina: Notice what?

Cyrus: …

Katarina: Wait, Lord Cyrus. What is it? What do you mean?

As Cyrus fell silent, I asked this with a little loud voice.

Cyrus: Lady Katarina, I see that you still are a child ignorant of love.

He said this with a little tired face.

Wh-Whaaaat~?! Cyrus, who is no better than a grade-schooler when it comes to romance, dares tell me I'm a child ignorant of love?! I don't want to hear that from YOU!!

--------------------------

Nicol Kept Being Approached By Foreigners

Katarina is about to retort something when Mary pulls her arms, offers her some sweets, and forcibly separates her from Cyrus. Katarina still wants to yell at Cyrus but she is intrigued by the sweets.

Mary tells her these sweets are probably a new creation since she has never seen them before. Katarina tastes them and finds them delicious. Maria asks if she can taste them too. Katarina accepts even though it was Mary who offered them. Maria finds them delicious. Then Sophia and Nicol taste them too and find them delicious.

Mary is glad they could finally join with Katarina. Katarina assumes it was hard to find her given the number of people. Mary replies it was not the case since she assumed they would find her at the buffet. Katarina feels dejected that people would figure her out so easily.

Maria explains it was because they kept getting approached by people and could hardly make a step. Katarina is not surprised people would ask Mary, Maria, and Sophia out since they're pretty. Mary explains it was rather Nicol who kept getting approached. Katarina is shocked. 

Sophia explains that Nicol's charm is particularly effective today given the number of foreign people. Nicol was not only approached by young women but also men and women of all ages. Some of them were high-ranking people in their primes, so they had to deal with them carefully.  

Katarina is amazed by Nicol's charm which fascinates people of all genders, ages, and countries. Even with these beautiful girls with him, he can boast about being the most popular one. 

Mary admits that Nicol's charm was so troublesome that she felt like wrapping a cloth around his face.

Even after hearing the rumors, Cyrus still can't believe the number of people who approached Nicol.

Sophia mentions that Nicol has been especially courted by large foreign men. She thinks they're probably considering loving Nicol as a woman. Nicol sharply stops Sophia. His tone is sharp but his face looks tired. Katarina doesn't know if it is because he was approached by large men, or because of Sophia's fantasies, speech, and conduct.

Cyrus Came to the Party to Escort Maria

Cyrus changes the subject. He confesses that it has been a while since he went to a party and he feels overwhelmed by the number of people here. Katarina is surprised that Cyrus doesn't go to parties but realizes that she indeed never met Cyrus at a party. Cyrus explains that he doesn't feel at ease at parties and is also busy with work, so he always rejects the invitations.

Still, Cyrus is not the only one. Many nobles at the Ministry don't go to parties, like Larna / Susanna Randall, who only goes to important parties. Ministry people are also swamped with work.

Maria apologizes to Cyrus since he had to push himself to go to the party for her. Maria seems to think that Cyrus was forced to attend the party to guard her. Katarina rather thinks Cyrus volunteered to do it. After all, Cyrus would do anything to protect Maria.

Cyrus tells Maria that he planned from the beginning to attend the party and volunteered to guard her after hearing she would also attend it…because he was worried about her. Katarina can imagine that Cyrus had to muster a little courage to say the last part.

Maria is happy to hear this and warmly thanks him for "being so concerned for his subordinate". Maria seems to have taken it as the considerate gesture of a superior towards his subordinate rather than a romantic gesture. As the heroine of an otome game, Maria seems to be dense when it comes to love. Katarina feels sorry for Cyrus.

Katarina thinks to herself that in Cyrus's place, Geordo would have clearly told Maria that he was worried about her because he loved her, not because she was his subordinate. Cyrus doesn't need to be like Geordo but he needs to work hard if he wants the dense Maria to notice his feelings.

Katarina really wonders how Cyrus could romance Maria in the game. Maybe he had a sad ending where he only married her in his dream? She can tell that Cyrus is losing to the 14-year-old Dewey and that he will just end up as a good superior at this rate. She sometimes wants to push Cyrus but he always says that he can't be alone with Maria. It is frustrating. Even today, he probably planned from the start to join with Mary and the others so he wouldn't be alone with Maria. Even though he accepted to guard Maria, he won't make any progress with her. Cyrus is just so hopeless.

[wolfiesmoon]

Ice skate date?

TWST x gn!reader

characters featured: riddle, azul, ruggie

since i am obsessed with the concept of teaching (almost) grown men how to skate, i return with brainrot (twst edition)

but then again i have a feeling that a lot of the characters have no idea how to ice skate (due to various reasons I'll get into here) . if there happen to be any events or lore where the characters actually know how to ice skate consider this to be a fun little au where they dont

｡°✩ ⋆⁺｡ Riddle Rosehearts

There's no time for useless things when you want to achieve perfection.

That's what Riddle's mom told him when he expressed interest in anything but studying. She had every minute detail planned out and a "useless hobby" would not fit in.

Therefore, Riddle never learned how to ice skate. You can imagine he has his reservations about going to the rink with you.

After a bit of convincing and lots of reassuring him that you won't laugh under any circumstance, he begrudgingly agreed to go.

As soon as he stepped on the ice, he felt unsafe, like he might fall over at any moment but you quickly held out your arm for him to hang onto.

"Thanks." He looked a little startled which almost made you laugh but you shouldn't break a promise.

His grip on your arm tightened as he attempted to glide across the ice beside you. Seems he's really afraid of falling.

"Relax, you'll pull my arm off if you squeeze it that hard." You reminded him gently. You have a feeling you understand why he's so determined to not fall even once and avoiding the stares of curious children.

His grip on your arm loosened but that made him stumble on the ice and almost fall over and he immediately gripped you again. At this point you're worried you'll lose circulation.

"Riddle, it's fine if you fall. You shouldn't worry too much." You smiled, remembering how you used to fall a lot back when you were first learning to ice skate.

"Even I still fall on the ice a lot. This is nothing like a magic history exam, you don't need to be perfect. There's no way to be completely perfect here, anyways."

"I know that. Do not patronize me." Riddle huffed, leaning onto you more and attempting to slide on the ice properly.

"I was not." You wondered if you were too vague with your advice. Did he even get what you meant to say?

Actually, now that you take another look at him, he looks more relaxed and at ease. "Riddle, you idiot. You don't have to act so modest when you're glad I understand you." You thought to yourself, looking lovingly at his determined face.

｡°✩ ⋆⁺｡ Azul Ashengrotto

Honestly, where would he learn to ice skate under the sea? He never even used legs until his teenage years, so ice skating was completely out of the question until now.

That being said, he felt less than confident stepping on the ice.

It was still water, but he didn't like it in this solid form. It was much too slippery and unpredictable for his liking.

"Come here! You can do it! Come on!" You were standing around 5 metres to his right, beckoning him to come over as if he's a toddler who's just learning how to properly walk.

"Drop the babytalking, please." he was definitely not amused which only made you giggle harder.

"Oh, but I was so benevolent as to help you learn how to ice skate. What a shame that my help is so unnapreciated." you did your best Azul impression.

"Wow. I would compliment your acting skills if this wasn't completely innacurate and used to make fun of me." despite that, he managed to somehow make his way to your side, stumbling a few times.

You smiled cheekily, pointing at the edge. "Hold onto that. And onto me too, if you want." He did as you insctructed, looking a little nervous and unsure.

A little kid passed by the two of you, staring curiously at Azul. It must be a little weird to see someone so old just learning how to ice skate for the first time. You anticipated the little children staring.

You could feel him squeeze your arm slightly tighter at that and he seemed to be looking outside the ice rink, avoiding your eyes.

You gently took his hand.

"It's fine. Don't think about it too hard."

You felt him stiffen for a moment.

"You're honestly pretty scary sometimes, you know that?" you had no idea in what sense he meant that since he still didn't look your way. But you have a feeling his cheeks are pink right now.

Doesn't matter either way since he squeezed your hand lovingly.

｡°✩ ⋆⁺｡ Ruggie Bucchi

"Aw man, I just can't get this right." You helped Ruggie up for what felt like the hundreth time. He had free time this weekend so you suggested ice skating, to which he immediately told to he doesn't know how to.

Thinking back on it, it makes complete sense that he wouldn't know how to ice skate. The Sunset Savanna is a very warm nation so snow doesn't fall there and Ruggie didn't exactly grow up in the best living conditions either so he wouldn't have been able to afford a trip to a colder nation anyways.

"You'll get it soon enough." He didn't seem dejected at all even after all the failed attempts to keep up with you, which was nice to see.

"I hope I do, or Leona will get mad at me for being late to tuck him in."

"I still can't get over how ridiculous that is. Tuck him in? What is he, a toddler?" You sighed, catching him when he stumbled over and he thanked you cheekily.

"King's orders, what can ya do." He shrugged. He thinks he's almost got the hang of it now. That's a good thing. Very very good.

"Why are you so determined to learn by today? You know we can always come back some other time." you held his hand, helping him keep balance.

"Isn't it obvious? It's cuz I wanna go on an ice skating date with you. A proper one!" he grinned widely at you, feeling proud of himself.

"Okay, you romantic." you rolled your eyes playfully. The closest you'll get to an "ice skating date" is a beginner skating class for teenagers. Atleast in this short time frame.

But you have to admit, the way he said it with so much determination was downright adorable and almost made you want to cover the rental ice skate fee. Almost.

He'll probably conjure up some insane scheme to avoid paying for them anyways. Which makes you worry about getting in trouble with not just the school, but also the law.

You should probably hold him back this time, huh.

[goldsbitch]

I could tell them where you were that night

part 3 to I gave so many signs

summary: They shouldn't. They really shouldn't...But they did.

warning: present + flashbacks, mature content, cheating, self pleasure, alcohol and smoking, typos

song fic (disclaimer: rights belong to the respectable owners)

The Alibi - Dylan delicate - Taylor Swift

But if there was a crime If there was a body, if there was a knife If you told a real good, real bad lie I'd be standing by your side

Both of them knew this was not going to end well. This screamed "bad idea" on all levels. He should have just turned and run back home. She should have gone straight back to the bar as soon as she saw his unmistakable figure. There was no one to diffuse the tension, all of her friends were back upstairs ordering another drink. Nobody to play pretend to.

"So you're a smoker now," Charles said with a hint of disgust. She'd cursed herself for ever picking up the habit. He had never made her nervous back in the day, maybe she was cashing it in all now retroactively. Stood there like a lamb waiting for someone else to decide her destiny. Totally at his mercy and he had no idea. "Yeah, for a moment I was. Now just these," she pointed to the latest trendy vape in her hand, which Charles mistook for a cigarette. "Ah. Cool." "Not really," she said and inhaled extra large dose of fruity smoke just to breathe it in his face. The regular rules of proximity didn't seem to apply to to them. If he had been standing closer to her, he'd have to be touching her. "So, you're a runner now?" she took the opportunity she looked him up and down, trying not to let her imagination run too wild. "Always was." "No, you were not," she laughed genuinely. "What are you trying to play at here?" She was right. Charles picked up running with his first real girlfriend. "And what a bizarre thing anyway - to go for a run after a night out," she pointed out and he smirked, as both of them knew she got him with that. "I should not be seen with you for long. Doubt that you'd pass as a fan." It felt like an invitation from him, but she was well aware that he was not inviting her to his home. There was a strange spark in his face, as if he dared her to ask him to come over. Like a shameless devil testing her self control. "I'll take a cab and you can run over to my place. Let's see who'll get there first," she dared him back.

If there was a way That someone at the scene had saw your face I could tell 'em where you were that night You were standing by my side

"You should have told me that you parents were home!" he whispered angrily, as they snuck in like they used to back in the day. Funny how it worked like magic and Charles felt as if he just turned nineteen, terrified of running into Y/N's angry mom. "What? It's not like your place is empty, correct?" she shot arrows at him without waiting for an answer. Shot of guilt went thought Charles and he decided chased that by lying to himself, thinking that this was just a casual catch up with an old friend.

We can't make Any promises now, can we, babe? But you can make me a drink

Charles waited on the balcony adjacent to her old high school bedroom, that remained untouched for years, serving as a perfect door for nostalgia, while she made their favorite Moscow mule. He had tasted many of those since they last saw each other. None of those tasted so intoxicating like this one.

"So, big racer boy. Always wondered. Which out of the cities you go to is the most fun?" "Define fun. I'm sure your taste has evolved over the years." Yes, it had. No longer was she blind towards the god like man sitting across from her. "Ok, where did you fuck the most girls?" "Monaco," he smirked at her. He realized he enjoyed teasing her. No longer was he the shy love stuck puppy dancing as she demanded. "You became quite forward, huh? I remember you avoiding these subjects," he followed up, testing the waters. She gave him a long look, before letting a loud sigh out: "Charlie, it's been years. People change. Mature. Gain experience..." "And then come back to where they started, huh?"

Is it cool that I said all that? Is it chill that you're in my head? 'Cause I know that it's delicate

He leaned a little too close for an old time friend. Slowly, he touched her hand and waited for her to stop him. When she didn't, he tangled his fingers with hers. No longer were they soft baby hands, but adult fingers with tender touch. "I missed you," he said quietly. Old habit kicked in and she avoided his eye contact. But this time, he put his hand on her cheek and turned her face towards him, so that she couldn't just dismiss it, like she had so many times back then. "I missed you too." There was an urgency and a vulnerability that he had never heard from her before. It was addicting and intoxicating. He carefully closed the gap between them and their lips brushed so lightly that one could still pass it as friendly touch, if they really really wanted to. But with every second they kept their lips like that, the gap of morally safe evening kept closing inevitably. They stayed like that for just a few seconds, both of them waiting to see if the other one pulls away. Until finally, her lips moved slightly and then there really was no way back. Charles forgot that there ever was anyone else in his life and kissed her slowly. She took his bottom lip in and let her tongue lick it, breaking the soft kiss with urgency only years of daydreaming can bring.

Do the girls back home touch you like I do? Long night with your hands up in my hair Echoes of your footsteps on the stairs Stay here, honey, I don't wanna share

This was bad. Ugly, disrespectful and not something a friend would do. Charles was locked in room again having the luxury to spend few weeks in a sunny Monte Carlo. But sunny days at home also meant that he and Y/N were spending a lot of time together. Charles knew he was head-over-heels for this girl, but kept himself at bay. But these thoughts he was having were a little too much. Inappropriate. Made him feel dirty and shameful. He was just a teenage boy and he just came back from a beach day with his crush. It was impossible to focus on anything, he was suppose be studying for his exam, exploring race strategies, anything! He could have been a good son and helped his mom out. But no, instead he was pacing around his room, desperately trying to block all the images that got burned to his memory under that day's bright sunlight. Why did he even suggest a beach day - and why would she ever agree to that. Stupid idea. Charles was mad at himself for being so stereotypically teenage. For a split second, he stopped with the self-shame and allowed himself to recall this afternoon. Perfect Monaco sunlight hitting Y/N lightly tanned skin, her hair falling out of her messy bun, just begging for him to tuck it behind her ear. This was all still pretty innocent. But then there were the shoulders. The collarbone leading way towards her boobs, covered by a piece of bathing suite fabric, that pushed her cleavage up just a little bit, but it felt like a weapon designer specifically to destroy him. He had to stop himself from looking. When that proved impossible, he opted for looking only when he had his sunglasses on. If only he could take his hand and lightly brush over her nipples, which he couldn't forget about since the Moscow mule night. And then if only he could squeeze her boobs while tracing the line of her waste and over to her ass, also barely covered by a bathing suite. If only he was brave enough to do so, to make his wildest dreams come true and to confess his feelings. To have her come over to his place, look him suggestively in the eye, lick her lips and take him in her pretty little mouth. It didn't matter that she was slightly younger, in his fantasy she was the more experienced one, the one to guide him, instruct him and tell him what she likes. And once he learned, he would make her moan like nobody before, because he would adapt himself to any style she'd want. The visuals of a daydream extension of their today's hang out crept in, and there she was, taking her bra off and inviting him to join her in the water. Free, happy and heavenly hot. By some miracle he managed to avoid having a boner in her company. What he didn't manage was to stop stroking himself while drowning in the thoughts about her and her body, no matter how shameful it was for him. The best orgasm of his life yet had his hands covered with his cum and his head with clouded with growing, never-stoping need for a touch from his crush.

It was a different man kissing Y/N than the boy who had imagined it more times that he would ever admit. Yet still, he was getting to live out his ultimate fantasy, one that he almost forgot he had, until all the desire rushed back in and screamed so loudly he couldn't hear anything else. And the best thing? The best thing was that she was responding enthusiastically, felt as if she was hungry for something only he could have. He was a different man now, experienced, understood the spectrums of what touch could offer. The confidence radiated from him and it was Y/N who was now who danced way over the line of self control. It was her, who drank so much cheap wine in the form of men bad at sex, that she could finally appreciate the Montrachet Chardonnay she overlooked the first time around.

"We should get inside, mon cheri," he whispered into her lips. She understood why and did not want to hear him say it. Because in his silence, she could insert any thought and that was probably better than the hard truth - they were too exposed on her balcony. She nodded and slowly opened her eyes. Even with the dim lights she saw the tender spark in the most captivating shade of blue the world can offer.

Oh damn, never seen that color blue Just think of the fun things we could do

He pressed her to the door frame while devouring her lips. Lines have been crossed and the room was filled with unresolved sexual tension. Charles wanted her - naked and moaning in pleasure. She pulled his hair while they made out and each pull was like gasoline to the fire of his desire. He traced her side with his cheeky finger and then slipped his hand under her t-shirt only to trace the line of her bra and then swiftly cupping her breast. "So you're wearing bras now," he let slip out of his mouth, already fucking her in his thoughts. His comment sparked a distant memory of an evening long gone by now. She was shivering his touch and wanted more and more. "Yeah...but now you're not gonna have to touch yourself alone or secretely," she said, hoping he actually had done that in the past, trying to tease him once more, while grabbing the hem of his belt and pulling him even closer. It worked. He was hard as a rock. He pressed his cock against her and started kissing her neck. She wondered if he understood the cocktail of pleasure and arousal he was preparing for her and felt even a bit shameful to crumble so easily. He felt her cave into his embrace as soon as he touched her neck and made a mental note, so come back to this spot once he was inside her. He thought about her devilish finger making her way to his cock slowly, just painfully slowly. She was teasing him and while he was loving that, he couldn't wait a second longer. He grabbed her hand pushed right onto his erection, which cause her letting out a surprised gasp. "I'm gonna fuck you, Y/N. Say yes if you want me to," he whispered into her neck. Not much second guessing went into her reply. "Yes," she moaned out, causing shivers on his neck. "Really?" he said, unhooking her bra. She smiled. This was no shy unsure Charlie. This was a confident man with intension to make her feel good. "Yes..." With that, he pulled away to help her get her t-shirt off and get rid of the cursed bra. Finally, he could stare as much as he wanted to.

He fucked her like there was no tomorrow. For them there really wasn't a tomorrow, because technically, there wasn't suppose to be a tonight. It was to stay as a blank page, moans written in an invisible ink, for no one but them to read. Morning would bring trouble, reason would wake up and start ordering around. As long as the sun wasn't watching, they were safe, hidden in each other and wrapped by desire.

Sometimes when I look into your eyes I pretend you're mine all the damn time

part 4

--------------------------------------------------------- @linnmee @itsjustkhaos @rhythmstars @blueflorals

[fashion-foxy]

You know something that's odd to me? How weirdly the child of the Beauty and the Beast get handled in media. (Obviously, my only examples are EAH and Descendants, but walk with me on this.)

The Beauty is someone who will, for better or for worse, always see the best in everyone. They are kind and good-natured but is usually someone who still holds people accountable for their actions and intentions, not what the Beauty thinks their intentions are.

The Beast is someone who typically does not look past the surface level of a person out of stupidity or willful ignorance. The Beast is also very selfish ,closed-minded , and stubborn. Unfortunately , that means in retellings, the Beast is the only one to go a character arc, and the Beauty comes off as judgmental or too forgiving.

Both characters being foils means that it could be a bit challenging to portray a character that is a result of both of those personalities, but if done right, it creates a very interesting character!

So, what did EAH and Descendants do with what they were given?!

Well, for starters, a bad job, but you already knew that. Let's take a look at Rosabella Beauty and Benjamin Florian No Last Name Given. (Idk most Descendants characters don't have last names)

Rosabella is judgemental, which could definitely actually be a super cool thing that she got from her dad, but based off the fact that she didn't go on an arc and it didn't get presented as a character flaw, I suspect this was accidental. Which is real shame. It would've been a really cool concept to explore Rosabella actually being the Beast.

She is also, by not getting any meaningful character development, giving off major 'I could fix him' vibes with Daring. Except, she's ignoring what's actually wrong in his life and looking at surface level interpretations of what she thinks he's like. Then, deciding he's a self-centered narcissist who she needs to fix so he meets her standards. Hey, wait a spell. She kind of seems to embody more of the Beast characteristics than the Beauty's. I wonder if the writers might have had other plans but were forced to change her into something else or perhaps Mattel wanted to sell a doll of her and Daring so they had to awkwardly force a relationship and not use their original plans?

Ben is way too forgiving. When we first see him, he says that he wants to give the Isle kids (kids who were born to villians who've been trapped in a magic prison all their life) a chance at a normal life, which is great! It's probably one of the best things a 16 year old king could do. So when's the next time he forgives someone? When he tells Mal that he knows she drugged him. So, it's at this point where you kinda realize that he isn't being too forgiving he's trapped in an abusive relationship. Once he sees that Mal realizes the implications of that, he goes back on it, and he tells her that it's not that big of a deal that it's ok that he still loves her.

When's the next time something like this happens? When Mal tries to erase some of his memories after catching her lying about using magic. He obviously yells at her because that's a fucked up thing to do. She downplays the situation and makes excuses. Shortly after, she runs back to the Isle. Ben, assuming that she had the best intentions, blames himself and ultimately gets kidnapped and then drugged again. All of these interactions are all portrayed as 'his fault' and that he'd deserved everything that happened to him because he was holding Mal responsible for her actions. In the third movie, he even stops doing it. Hades asks him why an Auradon kid gets to be excused and why everyone on the Isle doesn't, and he looks at Mal but ignores the question. Mal doesn't answer because she's the reason this Auradon person (Audrey) is hurt because she ruined her life and is currently being excused by everyone, including the writers, but Audrey won't. Ben definitely won't.

So, aren't these the best portrayals of the Beauty and the Beast characteristics? Because mixing the traits incorrectly. If Ben was given more Beast characteristics than just roaring sometimes. Mal wouldn't be abusive if their were actually moments where Ben was being unreasonable and too quick to draw surface level conclusions.

Rosabella wouldn't come off as rude and judgemental if she was given more Beauty characteristics. If Daring was actually self-centered and Rosabella considered others and thought about others instead of drawing conclusions.

[ancha-aus]

RealAgeAU Drabble - Snowed In

Okay. Seeing as I have been spamming you guys with the new AU. I think it is time for a little treat :3

Ever wondered how the Gang and the Danielle's became such good friends?

First Drabble Prev Drabble Next Drabble

edit: damnit I forgot to summon you! @spotaus

*---------------------*

Horror watches as Cross looks into the chimney "any luck so far Dust?"

Some clanks and curses "No."

That isn't good.

Horror had never been in the AU for as long as now. And never in the winter months.

He hadn't known that a blizzard could hit out of nowhere.

They had been snowed in very quickly and most electricity had shorted out.

Which honestly wouldn't have been that big of a deal if it hadn't been for their chimney getting clogged with debris. Meaning they couldn't start a fire and risk getting their house smoked out, or worse actually burned down.

Dust had climbed up it to see if he could fix it but he hadn't had much luck. aparently it was really stuck and Dust only had so much room to move around in up there. and if he used too much force it could cause damage.

Horror was fine, he is used to the cold. Same for Dust. Cross is trained and could manage as well. Killer already runs a lot hotter thanks to his strange soul situation and overwarm mana.

Nightmare however?

Horror walks over to the nest and pulls a blanket up slightly. The little made den only holds Killer nad Nightmare at the moment, Killer's soul lighting up the tiny hiding place.

Horror looks at the two as he tries to appear calm even if he feels so afraid and worried "and?"

Killer is rubbing Nightmare through the extra blanket they have him wrapped in. Killer shoots him an anxious look "He is very out of it. I didn't think the cold would be this bad for him."

Horror frowns and mutters "fragile magic." not only that but he is also a tree spirit who was originally form an AU where it was always spring or summer time, or some curious combination of the two. Nightmare was literally not made to deal with winter.

Killer frowns as he tries to share the body heat he has. Nightmare mumbles some words and opens his sockets. looking exhausted.

Killer however looks excited "Hey there tiny boss! How are you feeling?"

Nightmare frowns and looks confused before muttering an reply "tired..."

Killer frowns "Yeah i get thtat. just stay awake for a bit longer okay?"

Nightmare mutters unhappily as he shivers. Nightmare pushes himself close to Killer and Killer locks both his arms around him again as he stares at him "please tell me dust almost got it fixed?"

Horror sighs and shakes his skull. It isn't fixed. and that is the issue.

Killer looks afraid as he looks down at Nightmare "Maybe... maybe we need to make another jump? To a warmer AU at least? Get him to warm up?"

Horror agrees but also the idea of Nightmare making a dimension jump now? while he is already fragile? Horror is afraid it will just make things worse and-

Knocking on the door.

Killer looks up and stares "who the fuck visits people in a blizzard?"

horror frowns and shoots Killer a smile "I will check." he rises to his feet after tugging the blanket in again as he makes his way towards the door. Cross is by his side and looking at it with distrust.

Horror opens the door a tiny bit and stares in shock.

Dani stands on their porch. Dressed in some winter clothes but it looks more like she is dressed for a day of snow fun in the park over standing in a blizzard.

Dani notices he opened the door and grins "Snow carepackage delivery! What you needing?"

horror doens't have the words but luckily Cross does "what the fuck?"

Dani grins as she points a thumb over her shoulder towards the drive way "special snowday delivery."

Horror looks over and sees a very old off road truck standing on their porch. The tires are halfway deflated but gigantic and horror can spot the silvery chains all over them.

Dani must see the confusion and sighs something in the air and Horror can see Ellie give a sigh back.

The truck turns off and Ellie climbs out and towards the loading area of the truck and starts searching through stuff.

Dani steps into their house and clsoes the door before she frowns "fuck it is cold in here. What is wrong?"

Horror is once again all out of words as Cross mutters "chimney got something stuck in it. Dust is trying to fix it but... well... we hadn't finished isolating the whole house..."

Dani nods as she grabs a very old walky talky from her belt. she turns it on and speaks "Dani to Ellie. over."

a moment of silence before crackling "Ellie to Dani, hearing you loud and clear. over!" there are clear sounds of wind on the other side.

Dani grins "Dani to Ellie. We will need tools and blankets. any spare winter clothes is also a must. Over."

a moment before an answer "Heard you loud and clear! Getting it all ready! over and out!"

And Dani puts the walky talky back to her belt before she answers "Each year winter hits hard here. the first year we got here we noticed this and started going around to check on our neighbors. Gerson especially when he still lived here. We kept the habit up." she looks around "anything else you need?"

horror shakes his skull "Nothing really. Just too cold for Nightmare." and didn't that just feel like a failure? To not have been prepared.

Dani nods "You still got enough wood for when the chimney works fine?"

Cross nods "We should."

Dani looks relieved "okay that is good. Lets check to make sure it is all dry while Ellie grabs the stuff."

Dani lets Cross lead her to their wood storage as Horror quickly updates Dust and Killer. both voice their surprise about the sudden visit but one shiver of nightmare and neither say much more on it.

Neither likes to be in debt to others but if it is for their babybones? Yeah. Horror gets it.

Some nkocking on the door and Horror rushes to open it.

Ellie looks even less dressed for the snow as she just stands there with a warm sweater, snowpants, snowboots, a scarf and some earmuffs. She walks in but before she fully steps in she hits her boots together and against the outside doorpost to kick off the snow.

Now that he thinks about it Dani did the same.

Ellie walks in and grins "okay! Winter jacket and sweater. air tight and water proof." she holds it up "Probably a good idea for your kid. Kids always have trouble regulating their heat." she she hands it over.

Horror quickly leads her and all her stuff next to the nest where he raises the blanket again. He shows the jacket and Killer snatches it quickly to wrap Nightmare completely in it.

Ellie next holds up a very large woolen blanket and a fleece blanket. She holds up the woolen one first "This one first. all around him. Then wrap the fleece blanket around that." Horror does as told as Ellie continues to speak.

"What we are doing. As long as there is no outside heat. is trying to form an isolation for him so his own body heat can warm him up. We found that these things work very well."

They end up having nightmare all wrapped up and back in killer's arms before putting another fleece blanket on top of the blanket already covering them.

Ellie shows some thermo clothes next for them to wear and stay warm but Horror mentions they are mostly fine. As long as they stay out of the wind and snow that is. Ellie accepts it and puts it on the pile to take back to their truck.

Dani and cross reappear from their wood pile "Looks fine. you guys also still have enough fire starters so you should be golden. oh nice you brought the tools!" Dani checks the stuff and pulls out a mallet and some rope before going to go towards the chimney and start talking with dust.

Cross stares at Ellie "what?"

ellie smiles as she waits for her wife to finish "We do this yearly. Dani and I are made for the cold. She being a malamute dog monster and I am actually a snowshoe hare. Not exactly bunny but I don't mind being called a bunny monster." she shrugs with a grin. "When the first blizzard hit it meant that we were both excited and went for a walk in the snow together. it was great to be in these temperatures again."

she frowns "As we were walking we realised we didn't see smoke come from the direction of one of our neighbors. where we grew up you just kinda relied on each other in the cold months. You kept an eye on your neighbors and if they lit their fires on time. We decided to check it out and found out that one of them had gotten surprised by the cold and the the house's heating had gotten damaged."

Ellie waves off the worry "Everything was fine in the end. we helped our neighbor back to our house and let him stay while we grabbed some supplies and decided to walk around and check on the others. We made it a habit and made sure that our truck was easy to prepare for winter and rough weather." she grins.

a loud clank and they turn to see a large piece of wood and branches at the bottom of the chimney. Dani grins as she looks up into it "check the top and if the closing and opening mechanism is stillwhole! You guys will need that to keep the snow out."

a moment of silence before confirmation that it is still moving and seems whole. Dani nods and says she will test the handle and to say if anything sounds weird or seems to move weird. They get through the test and moments later dust is down with them.

Dani grins at Ellie "My lady. if you could."

Ellie grins as she walks over to the fire place and with just a few quick hadn movements the fire is ablaze.

Cross blinks "you have fire magic?"

ellie giggles "nah. just the skills to start one!"

dani nods "she is a born arsonist. sadly she is lawful good." ellie nudges her in the side.

Dani grins as Ellie giggles before she shoots them a smile "You guys good? We need to be on our way to check the others. there are always people with little wood or food or blankets and we want to check everyone."

Dani nods "We just came here first because... well it is you guys's first winter here. if you didn't expect the blizzard it can cause for issues."

Horror shakes his skull "we are good." whihc is when they hear sleepy mutters from their nest and killer actually pushes the blanket back to show nightmare rubbing his sockets with a tiny frown. clearly free from his forced half hibernation he had been almost kicked into.

Horror lets out a breath of relieve and mutters "we are good..."

Dani and ellie share a look and nod before leaving a very cheap looking phone with them "in case of you guys need anything else."

Cross frowns and points at their land line "the phone is out."

Dani nods "we know. that is an upgraded walky talky."

ellie grins "while the phone towers can be knocked out these babies are sturdy! They also are limited though. which is why you can only call us using that one but we are by far the most mobile in this weather." and she puffs her chest up proudly

Dani smiles "just give us a call if you need anything." she nudges Ellie "we need to get moving. we don't want to have to drive through a dark snowstorm."

and the two leave again. They both climb into their truck, which really is just their normal truck but with large wheels. before the drive off. huh. seems like the almost flat tires give them drip to get through the loose snow and over the icy roads.

Horror makes a mental note to find a way to thank them before acutally makign a note on their to-do list instead.

afterwards they sit in their nest and just listen to the fire crackle as the storm rages on.

*---------------------*

First Drabble Prev Drabble Next Drabble

[jinnie-ret]

MY YOUTH | SKZ NINTH AU

stray kids x ninth member!reader (platonic)

<---------- back to my youth

<---------- back to main masterlist

chapter 4

genre: fluff content warnings: none word count: 1.2k

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Lou went straight back to her room after an incredibly filling meal. She did struggle to find her room at first, not quite remembering which one she exited from earlier in the morning, and none of the visions she had been having gave any hints away. But when she got weird looks from the other members about why she was looking in every room, she smartly used an excuse that would actually pass at the truth.

"What you doing Sunny?" Lee Know rose an eyebrow in curiosity at the girl who was looking through different rooms in the dorms.

"Hmmm? Oh... I'm trying to find Garfield, can't find it at the studio so it must be around here somewhere..." Lou miraculously thought up the excuse, twiddling her fingers as she made it look like that's definitely what she was looking for rather than her own room.

"You lost Garfield? Hmmm, don't worry, I'm sure we'll find him," Lee Know patted her head before heading off to his own room, which just so happened to be next door to Bea's.

Which brought her back to now, where she was staring at the ceiling wondering what to do with herself. The empty space in her mind seemed to be filled by another vision.

"Huh? What could this be?" a younger Hwang Hyunjin looked around the walls in his room, Lou hiding trying to muffle her giggles.

Hyunjin looked around at the bizarre and amateur drawings of weird, disproportionate animals drawn on post-it notes, stuck as some sort of mural by his bed.

Lou accidentally let out a laugh at his utterly confused expression.

"Yah, Sun, I can hear you..."

She emerged from her spot, no longer tucked away round the side of the wardrobe.

"Don't you like the drawings I did for you?" she giggled at his 'done' expression.

"I don't know what I'm looking at right now," Hyunjin dramatically deadpanned, before letting out a cackle, only triggering Lou further.

"Look this one is a ferret! It looks like you!" Lou laughed, pointing at his face and then the silly drawing, before running away from him as he chased her.

Some may say that Lou created Jiniret.

The girl blinked as she tuned back into her surroundings. She was happy it wasn't as much of a sad memory, and decided maybe it wouldn't be so bad to tease Hyunjin again. Wearing a mischievous smile on face, she rummaged around the chest of drawers in her room and was happy to find a stash of post-it notes and pens to use for her 'artwork'. Because of course, it would obviously be so much better than Hyunjin's gorgeous paintings. Well, she didn't know if he started painting yet, perhaps he sketched, she did remember seeing a pad of paper in the small vision she just had.

Tiptoeing into the room she remembers seeing herself run past, she quietly pushes down the handle and walks in, relieved that there was no one there yet. Sticking a pink post-it note on the wall, she popped of the lid of the pen and starting working her magic. Soon there was a couple drawings decorating the walls, ranging from Jiniret to Hyunjin pulling dramatic faces, and an artistic impression of him morphed with a llama.

She hoped he would appreciate the effort she put in.

Exiting out his room like nothing happened, she was caugh red handed by the guy himself.

"Lou... why were you in my room?" Hyunjin jumped at seeing her, not expecting her there as he put a hand over his heart, eyes wide.

"Oh... Can't find Garfield," Lou casually nodded and swiftly left the situation, joining the others sat in the living room. She plonked herself down on the sofa, next to Jeongin, giggling to herself.

"Oh no... she is laughing already," Jeongin announced to the room.

"What has our Flo done now?" Changbin questioned with a grin, causing Jisung to stand excitedly.

"Our Flo man! Our f-low! Flow so sick man!" Jisung hyped himself up with Changbin, bouncing in his spot and giving a proper handshake to his hyung.

"This always happens..." Seungmin sighs, pretending to look exhausted from the energy of his members. Or was he pretending...

"You'll find out in 3, 2, 1..." Lou smirked, rubbing her hands together.

"Lou. Ie. Sa!!!" Hyunjin yelled from his room, seeing the monstrosities of doodles that Lou had produced. He marched out of his room and immediately dove onto the girl, tickling her sides.

"Hahaha I got you again!" Lou giggled loudly, kicking her legs as Hyunjin playfully attacked her.

"Lee Know. Hannie. Get your child under control," Hyunjin ran his hands through his hair, pointing at Lou as he stared at the two guys.

"Our Lou has learnt well," Lee Know simply came over and hugged her from behind, patting her head and laughing to himself thinking of the mischief she had caused. This only caused Jisung to laugh harder.

"Jinnie... she decorated your room again?" Felix grinned imagining the sight.

"She vandalised it!" Hyunjin kept up his streak of over-exaggeration, making his members burst out into laughter once more.

Lou giggled once more and hugged Hyunjin from behind, causing him to turn and around and pick her up, depositing her next to Bang Chan.

"He is your only hope now," Hyunjin whimsically said, saluting at Bang Chan before retreating to his room, probably to plot some revenge on the girl.

"What shall we do with you, hmmm?" Bang Chan poked her sides, causing Lou to laugh once again as she accepted the cooing of the leader.

"Send me to art school."

More laughter resounded from the room.

"I can't believe he never noticed you going into his room again..." Changbin shook his head thinking of his dongsaeng.

"You're so sneaky, like a little spy," Seungmin nodded at his own observation.

"Yah! Did the 'little' really have to be there?!" Lou protested, sitting up in her seat and looking at the older with a challenging expression.

"Of course," Seungmin said like it was obvious.

"You're next, Kim Seungmin," Lou confirmed her next plans.

"Oh fighting talk!"

"She's gonna beat him up!"

"Seungmin's going to find out before she does anything."

"Yeah Seungmin is the real spy!"

The members conspired about what was going to happen next.

"Right, we should get some sleep now, got a couple of busy days of practice ahead of us before Miroh is released!" Bang Chan ushered his members to bed.

Lou couldn't help but feel nervous. In her home, universe, let's say, she knew the choreography of Miroh, she loved practising the dances from Stray Kids. But she knew she wasn't the best, and she didn't want to be the reason that the group wouldn't win their first award for the song. She couldn't change things that happened in the original timeline, could she? She thought to future events, like the ISACs and Kingdom, thinking if the group would be able to participate how they originally did due to her being a female. Or would there be special allowances...

Lou wasn't too sure on that for now. But she would have to cross that bridge when she came to it. Now, her first obstacle would be attending their very first live performance. Oh how she wished she had a memory full of everything that had happened to herself in this universe. Getting small glimpses wasn't feeling enough.

And this had just been the first day. She was in for a wild ride.

<-- previous chapter next chapter -->

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tagged: @skz-streamer @kiraisastay @hannahhbahng @kpopmenace143 @sakufilms @kai-lee08 @arloo00 @dunno-wut-to-do @splat00z @cheesemonky @his-angell @turtledove824 @2minstan @royal-shinigami @yangbbokari @lixie-phoria

[skayafair]

A Light in the Dark

I never noticed it before and don't know if anyone mentioned it already but we know how a lantern is important as a metaphor and a symbol for Charles and Edwin relationship, right?

Well. That's not the only lantern there is.

Monty also carries one while he walks with Edwin through the forest, even though he was rejected. Still, they keep a relationship - Edwin stresses that he cares for Monty and considers him a friend. And it's clear this is important for Monty, too.

But then.

The lantern is extinguished. Monty can't be the light. And by whom? The Cat King, who enters the scene with his own sourse of light. "Look at me, I'm fabulous, sure I'm better and you want me?".

Honestly, all this time I was wondering what was the deal with that chandelier, it just seemed SO out of place and out of nowhere. Now it's pretty clear though!

The lanterns/sources of light in the dark often represent relationship in this show. The Cat King ended Edwin and Monty's and tried to use this as a fuel for his own.

But also a "lantern" (romantic feelings mixed with friendship) is way closer to what Edwin wants and has, it has little to do with the posh "chandelier" (apparently just sexual attraction).

It's interesting that in the same episode there's one more source of light, only smaller.

At first it's Edwin who has it, then he gives it to Charles, but eventually the one carrying it is Crystal. And it briefly goes out when she drops it while David is trying to undermine her self-esteem, simultaniously aiming for her affection for Charles ("You think you deserve a hero?").

Honestly I'm not sure what to make of it except for the fact that it's clearly a very deliberate choice that has its own meaning, but I think in this case it may be different from the rest?

At first I thought it was trust - Edwin trusts Charles and Crystal to go together. Sure he's preoccupied with Monty, but still, there's no trace of his usual jealousy. This is a serious situation and everyone's safety is the most important. So Edwin trusts them, handing the light over.

Then I've got confused a bit but this may still be it? Crystal drops the flashlight when David shows her an image of her being posessed, black eyes and all, undermining her ability to trust herself: IS this the real her? What if he's right?

The lantern blinks. Sure it blinks from the impact but I think there's an additional meaning since the camera takes a pointed shot of it. David threatens not just her - he threatens everything that is her and everything she has, relationships included, and that's what he goes for next with his "do you think you deserve a hero like Charles" speech. Then Charles promptly steps in with his protective instincts and magic cricket boomerang bat.

The next time we see them, Crystal has the flashlight again.

Also this is literally a leading light in the dark - both Edwin and Crystal take leadership, so they hold it. In Monty's case it's not Edwin who leads the way though. He gave up this position for some time.

I may be wrong with this one, so I'd be glad to learn everyone's opinions!

Also there's another thing. Monty's lantern gets extinguished as his relationship with Edwin end (it wouldn't have, I'm sure they could be friends even after all that, but Monty didn't have a chance). Charles and Edwin's lantern is left in Hell, but their relationship clearly doesn't end. It changes significantly though. Any change is a small death of the old and a beginning of the new?

I mean, the situations are similar. There are 3 (sort of) rejections throughout the series: Crystal rejects Charles with "we'd better be friends... for now", Edwin rejects Monty with "It wasn't you but you are my friend I care deeply about" and then Charles with his "I can't say I'm in love with you but we have literally forever to figure out the rest". They all have similarities and differences: Crystal wants to be friends but leaves room for developement with this "for now", same as Charles with his "forever to figure out the rest". At the same time friendship is the cornerstone all four of them hold on to and come to eventually. Romance may or may not come into the picture later but what's important is that they are friends and care for each other.

Oh, right, I forgot Edwin's goodbye to the Cat King. It does tie up with the rest in a way though: the Cat King represents selfish desires (even if less so in the end), and what he shares with Edwin - and by extention, with everyone who has been rejected, - is loneliness. Friendship is great, but it's not the same, and it's hard to swallow your romantic feelings once they're there. It is lonely and painful to not be desired, even if it's for the best eventually. And Edwin admits it.

Now shush I know Charles' words weren't a rejection from the audience's POV but Edwin clearly took them as one, so I refer to it this way since the characters' POV is what's important here.

[eyesanddragons]

Albatross, Animus Dragons and Preventable Tragedies

(Also Known as: This tragedy was not inevitable, let's talk about responsibility)

(CWs: Murder, Abuse)

So, Legends Darkstalker as a book has a lot of thoughts about fate and inevitability. Clearsight and Darkstalker try and fail to create an ideal future for the both of them, Fathom is scared that he can't prevent his animus magic from destroying is soul, and the readers know how all of this is going to end since Legends Darkstalker is a prequel to Arc 2.

In the midst of all this talk about inevitability and fate we have...Albatross. Someone who we've known about since Arc 1 and know how his story ends. He causes the Royal Seawing Massacre, his magic allegedly "driving him insane." What's interesting about Albatross is that when you really look at his life, this historical version of it falls short in many ways. The retelling of his life leave out important context, and notably, scrub any idea that someone or multiple someones might have caused him to act like this.

It's Albatross' fault in the end, it's his fault for losing control, his fault for being "insane."

But if we take an actual look at the story in Legends Darkstalker you find that this really isn't the case.

Albatross found out he was an animus in a very...unpleasant way. He enchanted a shell to bite the claws off his sister, Sapphire. This event was deeply traumatic and would stick with Albatross for his entire life. You might be wondering why Albatross didn't fix Sapphire's claws considering his powers and I'll get to one of the reasons in a bit since it's very important to what I'm trying to say, but @/kinkajouwof breaks it down over here.

In short, most likely the reason why Albatross didn't fix it at the start is due to uncertainty if he really Could do it and because Albatross and Sapphire were terrified.

The reason more important to my point though is that Lagoon Actively Benefited from this fear. When Lagoon became Queen she would hold this action over Albatross whenever he was unwilling to do things to guilt him into following what she wanted him to do.

"This is a waste of time, Lagoon," he said. "Nobody ever tested me, but we figured out quickly enough what I could do. If any of them have a shred of power, surely they would of known by now. Or it will become obvious, sooner or later." "I'd prefer sooner," the queen said silkily. "If we find another animus in the tribe, that would make us twice as powerful, which would be quite useful given how the Mudwings and Rainwings have been behaving lately. And the earlier we find her, the sooner you can start to train her, and the sooner I can start to use her." "Besides," she added in a lower voice, so Fathom had to strain to hear her, "I think we would all prefer to discover our next animus in a less...dramatic fashion than you were discovered. Don't you?" Albatross flinched, just slightly. He cast a skeptical eye across the young. "My power is more than enough for whatever you need. I've given you everything you've asked for, haven't I? And I don't want an apprentice."

Afterwards Lagoon commands Albatross to start the test but you can see what I mean. Lagoon actively threatens Albatross and Exploits Him, and wants to find Other Animus Dragons to Exploit. He is not just a Subject to Lagoon, he is an Object to Lagoon. Non-sexual objectification.

She plans to do the same thing to another animus, Lagoon's rule was built on Exploiting the powers of the people she could Control. She wants to find them young so she could mold them into the tools she wanted them to be earlier. She wants to condition them to treat themselves as objects Now.

This treatment comes to a head during the banquet. Where Lagoon once again holds what happened to Sapphire over his head, while also threatening to Replace Him.

"Here is our first animus," Queen Lagoon said to the Skywings, who seemed to have figured that out themselves, judging by the looks of terror on their faces. "My brother, Albatross. We were just talking this morning about what his next project should be. I'm thinking big this time. Something that makes me invulnerable, perhaps. Or something that kills any dragon who might be a threat to me." Beyond Albatross, over the couches, Splash stiffened, and Fathom saw her crush one of the hibiscus blossoms between her claws. He glanced around and saw his father put a wing around Manta, who had gone pale. "Yes," Albatross said. "Although you recall I wasn't exactly enthused about any of those ideas." "Then it's lucky you're not my only animus dragon," Queen Lagoon said coldly. Fathom felt a shiver all the way down to the tip of his tail. If she asked him to do a spell like that, would he? Would he obey his queen and put his own mother in danger? Or disobey her, and perhaps put everyone he cared about in even worse danger? What would she do to Indigo If I ever said no to her? Albatross stopped right in front of the queen, snout-to-snout with her. Fathom couldn't read his face. He looked as though he'd been carved from stone, any emotions chipped away. "Do you think you're done?" Queen Lagoon said to him softly. "Do you think you'll ever be done atoning for what you did to Sapphire? It's not going to end Albatross. You'll always be mine."

This is a bit of a blunder on Lagoon's part since Albatross Kills her! She's revealed that she is Never going to let him go, that no matter how hard he works he's never going to escape. No matter what he does he will be an Object to her. Fight, Flight or Freeze, stay here and be worked to death killing hundreds of people or Escape Now.

And Albatross...chose Fight.

Note that Albatross literally says right here that he doesn't Want to make Lagoon Invulnerable, he doesn't Want to give her the power to kill people.

When he starts killing other people it's not because he became ax-crazy. He killed the Queen, no matter how horrible and cruel she was their all going to defend her...and they've never thought about him. They've never cared for him. To them he was also an Object.

So...he kills them too.

Now I'm not saying He should of killed all those people, murder is bad actually. But this is a Consequence of Lagoon and the rest of Seawing society's actions. This is the direct, real, bloody consequence of treating a person like an object designed to serve their every whim.

This wasn't something he was doomed to be, this is something that has a tangible cause and effect. The system and the way it treated him is What Caused This.

Except, none of the Seawings who survived Want to face that. They don't Want to accept responsibility for that. Why should they accept the responsibility and guilt of having lead one of their own to believe that murder was the only way to escape a truly horrific and abusive situation...when they have a perfectly convenient scapegoat. Remember...Albatross is an object. Lagoon died, not because she perpetuating a horrible abusive situation that her society allowed her to do due to the absolute power she was given, but because she handled Albatross Improperly. Animus magic is just a dangerous thing, and the people who can use it are dangerous tools. This isn't Their Fault for treating a person like an object, it's the fault of improper usage of a tool.

It's a more convenient story for everyone...except for Fathom who proceeds to be treated horribly and drown himself in guilt and shame for being Dangerous.

Seawing Society caused something horrible and instead of trying to fix it, turned their backs and pretended they did nothing wrong. When we see Anemone their doing the Exact Same Thing to her. She is an object, a weapon of war, and she will be treated as such. Anemone believes she's doomed to become evil and almost Kills her family out of the belief that she is doomed to become a mass murderer.

Albatross' Massacre was preventable, and that's what makes it tragic.

[tumbleweed-run]

Hello! I love your writing <3 May I ask, do you have any headcanons for Gale? I have a few (eg: his mother raised him alone - he's an only child - as much as he enjoys homecooked meals he's very well known in Waterdeep's fine dining establishments) I'm interested in hearing what you imagine about Gale outside what the game tells us!

Lighter stuff

I agree with you on pretty much all points

Gale might appreciate wine but he strikes me as a fancy whiskey boy. It's a vibe I get

His mother hates the beard, which is why he didn't grow it out until the hermit stage

He loves all books. Magical tomes, history of Faerun, tawdry bodice rippers. And he has a system to his library but it makes no sense to anyone who is not Gale

Personally, I think he's well-known in all Waterdeep's dining establishments. He's in the Yawning Portal at some point as an adult but I also feel like he visits the finer restaurants- probably with his mother

he was raised wealthy, I know he like "oh I haven't dabbled in wealth" but my dear boy was Top Teir middle class at best. I don't think they were 'own the world wealthy' but I believe he grew up with more than just a housekeeper, not having to worry about money. Mama's got Sea Ward money

And of course (because I pointed out his 'tower' is in the Dock Ward) I think as an adult Gale moved to the "rough and tumble" part of town to prove himself. (which is probably why they know him in the poorer establishments )

His tower is a freaking row home, maybe its like two floors taller. But it is a house. Gale is just a fanciful man. Or he's manifesting that shit, idk

I also think he goes home to mama in the sea ward at least 2x a week

Gale is a sorcerer

Gale is 300% a sorcerer whose mother(not magic) was fed up with her shit being set on fire, so she sent him to train in magics the way she was most familiar - Wizard Apprenticing

Less Light Stuff

Gale mentions 'parents' once (I think during the I was denied a kitten speech) I think his father was there at first and then left. Maybe he couldn't handle Gale, or he was just a shitty guy. I think that was the road to Gales "I'm not enough, I must prove I'm enough" syndrome.

I also believe he first encountered Mystra in the Sea Ward at the 'House of Wonder' which is a temple devoted to her. I believe he was young like 13/14 but my guess is she was aware of him from a younger age. (Most wizards apprentice starting at 13... and usually have no spellcasting abilities which is...)

I don't think his favorite color is purple. I think it was Mystra's color and therefor it became his favorite (which is why I like dying all his clothes NOT Purple). Judging by the only room we saw, it's red/maroon/burgundy- but he doesn't know that

I think some of his stunts at Blackstaff were not just his own hubris though he sees it that way, but also at "hey mystra look at me" thing. Which I think she encouraged

I also believe that he was a young adult when the muse-to-lover transition took place. Maybe a few years after he left his apprenticeship, he was old enough to be a 'man' but it was definitely a product of grooming.

I don't think he was ever truly her Chosen. Most gods bestow cool powers (look at the dead 3) or at least protections. She just... screwed him? Taunted him with stuff she knew was going to keep him hooked on her?

When he saw Mystra's interest waning he panicked because he didn't have very many friends (his only named or mentioned friend is Elminster who has the most messed up history with Mystra) and he'd certainly not taken a lover once she 'chose' him. And I assume this was years before the netherese orb disaster. He probably did increasingly dangerous things/adventures to keep her attention, just like he did as a boy.

[thewertsearch]

Ask Comp 13/05

@garnetduodecim asked: I always assumed jack spent the first 4 hours in the troll session, before destroying prospit, destroying Aradiabots, there were A LOT of them.

Maybe one of the Aradiabots got in a lucky shot, and was able to tag him with a weaker, non-God Tier variant of her freeze ability. That'd certainly at least delay him.

@morganwick asked: So, you were talking about Aradia "injuring" Vriska (post/704357246751113217) and comparing Vriska to a fairy godmother character (post/722100305374986240)?

@manorinthewoods asked: Serendipity Gospels is by Tamsyn Muir??? Really? Um, that's… hoo. That was one of the fanfics that I didn't end up liking. Might need to revisit that. Side note: 'Doc Scratch's School for Supernaturally Gifted Adolescents' feels more like something Locked Tomb-esque to me. So that's really… ah. ~LOSS (3/5/24)

I do wonder how similar the Gospels are to TLT's writing style.

Actually, can anyone confirm at what point the fic will be safe to read? I could just wait until I'm reading panels from after its publication date, but if I can check it out before, I will.

@abysswarlock asked: Ooh I’ve had this hypothesis for a while now but you just said something that made me lock in my guess that your classpect is Prince of Doom

The classpect wheel continues to turn!

I'm married to Doom for at least one of my 'sonas, but my Class is still up in the air, since we know even less about them than aspects.

@manorinthewoods asked: As a sort of Part 2 to that sylladex comment - how do you think the Sylladex works? Do you think that Homestuck will go into more detail about Sylladices, or do you think they'll fade into the background as different aspects of the magic system come to the fore? ~LOSS (24/4/24)

I think the latter is a lot more likely. Most aspects (lol) of Homestuck's magic system are there to serve the story first and foremost. As much as I'd love the comic to turn into a treatise on Sburb deeplore, it really doesn't feel like something Hussie would be interested in doing.

The story won't really suffer without, say, a detailed explanation of every facet of alchemy - I just really like speculating, because I'm all about shit like that.

@heliotropopause asked: What are your thoughts on Homestuck's translation convention(s)? As an example, take page 2251, line "Arrivederci, Megido.": Is she writing in something close enough to Earth English to scan as such to the reader, no translation necessary? Is Vriska saying a word in Troll Italian, which gets translated to Earth Italian? Is she expressing a sentiment in her usual language that's best translated as the word "arrivederci" as it's used in English? Has Doc Scratch secretly been translating all cross-species communication we've seen so far?

Vriska's arrivederci seems diegetic to me. If we inherited English from Alternia, it makes sense that some of our other languages might come from there too.

tl;dr: Troll Italy is real 🇮🇹

Anonymous asked: im not one to dip my toes into The Vriscourse but this one piece of analysis i really liked is that vriska is jealous of tavros, that hes had a much easier life compared to her and that hes allowed to be more of a wimp while she has to be the toughest fuck alive or else shell die

It's only one piece of the Vriska-Tavros puzzle, but it's an important one. She'll refuse to acknowledge it to the end, though, because the idea of being jealous of Tavros is disgusting to her.

@obscureaeguran asked: Are there any current theories of yours that you want to be wrong about?

Confident as I am in my Vriska death theory, I don't actually want to be right.

I really like Vriska's character, and I want to see her grow past the worldview that's preventing her from finding peace. I just don't think that's likely, given her current trajectory.

Anonymous asked: 'In what universe are 13-year-olds the people most qualified to make universes?' well per the beta version of homestuck (when hussie wanted to make the whole thing in flash before deciding against it) they were all going to be 10 instead, i think this is the much better option!

How young can we go, anyway?

AU where the Homestuck Babies aren't sent to Earth at all, and just start playing immediately.

@manorinthewoods asked: Have you played Deltarune? ~LOSS (9/4/24)

I have! I was actually replaying it on day one of the liveblog - hence the several references I made to it at the time. That feels forever ago, now.

@bladekindeyewear asked: Jade changed pretty drastically as a person after her dreamself died, if you think about it— demanding Feferi stop using her quirk in chat, standing up to the trolls for the first time, getting angry, to such an extent that Karkat was so surprised that it turned his opinion of her around completely in a single conversation. Even forcing a password system to keep talks linear instead of using cloud visions to do everything out of order. This doesn’t just feel to me like dream Jade being a “different individual”, it also feels like a metaphorical confrontation between her NEW self and her OLD self…

I think it's both.

Jade's been through a lot in the last couple of hours, and she really isn't the same girl who died on Prospit.

Being an oracle of Skaia's visions led to disaster. They showed her that John's Dream Self would awaken, leading her to believe she was finally going to meet him, but neglected to mention that she'd die the moment he opened his eyes - or that Prospit would die alongside her.

As a result, the new Jade seems to have made a decision to completely reject all prophetic information. She'll supply the minimum possible intel to her past self, and no more.

It's clear her Dream Self's death was a catalyst for a pretty dramatic shift in her worldview. She's angry - at the trolls, at herself, and at the world that betrayed her trust. She's tired of being jerked around, and her tumultuous emotions are making her rather testy. Basically, she's sick of all the bullshit, and she won't take it from anyone anymore.

Jadesprite has experienced the same catalyst, and has also come to mistrust the clouds, but for different reasons.

Jade rejects prophecies, in part, because she doesn't want to be deceived - but Jadesprite rejects them out of sheer hopelessness. She just doesn't care anymore.

They both have the same trauma, but they're dealing with it in very different ways - and at this point, I really do consider them to be different people.

And then on a metaphorical level, Jadesprite represents the 'silly', absent-minded childhood self that got Jade into this mess.

I think this taunt from Karkat hit very, very close to home for her, and I'm sure she associates the traits he described with her idyllic days on Prospit. It's part of why Dream Jade is such a perfect target for her fury.

@spyril4132 asked: i beg to differ on the entry item similarities only applying to prospit. iirc, rose shatters a bottle, and dave hatches an egg; both involve breaking open some sort of "shell", and neither are associated with a larger object, which could be seen as similar types of items. (while jade does break a piñata, she does so by shooting it, not by splitting it apart)

It's true that Rose and Dave's object's have some physical similarities, but John and Jade are both summoning the same tree, which feels like a much stronger connection.

Rose and Dave's entry cards also summoned auxiliary items, but they were different - a cabinet and bird, respectively. From where I'm sitting, the link between the two Prospit items does seem unique.

@skelekingfeddy asked: what herptiles would sally and sahlee have as their consorts? i feel like a monitor lizard would fit for one of them…maybe losas has like, turtle or tortoise consorts, what with their long-livedness and the wise sagely vibe and all.

I was thinking pretty much the same thing for Sahlee. Let's say they're Galápagos tortoises, because the Sage gives me Oogway vibes.

For Sally's Consorts, I'm going to get really funky and say they're a type of pterosaur.

@sparten4ever92 asked: The HS version of Megalovania is slept on way too much, the Vriska guitar adds so much to it that the UT version just doesn't have. @sanctferum asked: Finally, MeGaLoVania by Toby Fox (feat. Joren "Tensei" deBruin on guitar)! Would you say that Tavros had an…unpleasant chronological progression? (btw I do love the bit of Spider's Claw that plays during the Vriska segment, which is (obviously) unique to this Megalovania) also, the audiovisual style of homestuck flashes is just really cool imo @mimescantscream asked: You have no idea how long we've waited for the Megalovania

This version of Megalovania was a great choice for Aradia's finest hour - or at least, her finest hour so far.

It's moments like this which are why I decided to stop listening to the albums in advance. If I hadn't first heard Aradia's Megalovania in this flash, it wouldn't have hit the way it did.

@elkian asked: MEGALOVANIA TIME BAYBEEEE! Also, let's go back to that theory you had about Aradia getting more alive, because you NAILED it. @iris-in-the-dark-world asked: i am so excited to see aradia again and finally as herself :33<

She's fucking BACK, baby!

Seeing Aradia smiling for real after all this time is genuinely heartwarming - and with her time-stop attack, she's almost unkillable. It'd take some absolute nonsense to take Aradia out of the picture again, and I think she'll be sticking around for a long time. Hopefully forever.

@grippingtraverse asked: notice any similarities during megalovania between aradia vs. jack & sans vs. player? 0u0

The best I can come up with is that Aradia and Frisk are both time travelers whose signature color is red.

Or maybe Jack is the Frisk analogue, since he's the one wiping out all life in the session, and Aradia is the last foe he faces.

@captorations asked: please consider, with this new information about aradia, what it could mean for her literary descendant dulcie septimus. please also keep considering this as you continue and see more of aradia. i am very normal about both of these characters

Ooh, they do have similar vibes, don't they? They're both doomed, they're strongly associated with death, and they both have a cheerful side that comes out when you don't expect it to.

@duorogue asked: "You have to give Nepeta some credit. The literal first thing she did after this traumatic murder was log into Trollian and report on Jack’s activities." To be fair to her, when I have a bad nightmare the first thing I do is log onto discord

nepeta hopping on mic at 2am to complain about the hat man (the hat man is doc scratch)

@absinthe-and-alabaster asked: when the writ keeper was introduced as fifth exile you mentioned that it was a little fucked up how the king was the only prospitian that was preserved - i just wanted to remind you that no, he wasn't ! on page 1974 we see all the other prospitians that were exiled with the white queen on her ship (including ms paint!) WQ just left them to go wander the desert

I'd actually forgotten about that. So much happened during the Act 4 ending that it completely slipped my mind. I even missed Ms. Paint!

Anonymous asked: Hey, as you noticed, the Dave Coin Split is a plot hole. We've never seen the timeline split because of someone's choice before. Compare to John flying to the seventh gate, there weren't two timelines based on his choice, the timeline only changed because Dave came back from the original timeline and changed it. And of course, like you said in the tags, Terezi shouldn't have been able to communicate with Doomed Dave, including to tell him the result of the FL1P. Have you noticed any other plot holes or things that don't seem to make sense?

While I see what you're saying, it might not necessarily be a plot hole! Certainly the Dave Coin Timeline was created in a different manner to Davesprite's - but that might just mean there are multiple ways to split a timeline, or that there are certain requirements that must be fulfilled for a decision to spawn one.

Because of things like that, it's hard to tell whether something's actually a plot hole, or if it'll eventually make sense in light of later reveals.

This is particularly true for aspects of the plot involving time travel, like the one you just described. Like, remember before I learned about Doomed Timelines, when I thought Davesprite broke Homestuck's predestination rules?

Anonymous asked: You said "God Tiering is just another way to inhabit your Dream Self," so do you think the things that Dream Selves can do (such as Jade growing extra arms) can be done by God Tiers?

I never really thought about that!

I think it's definitely possible. God Tier bodies can fly the same way that Dream Selves can, so other powers might transfer, too. Maybe the only reason Vriska, Aradia and John aren't shapeshifters is because Jade hasn't taught them to how to dream up extra limbs.

She might be one of the only Dream Selves who've learned how to shapeshift this fluidly. Logging thousands of hours on Prospit has its perks!

[sparrowrye]

Demi Demon || Alastor x Reader, A2 part 16

Synopsis: It’s been over a year since we were brought under Alastor’s watchful eye. We’ve unlocked our Demonic powers, discovered our own talents, and began building the Safe Haven with Charlie and co. Alastor seems increasingly interested in the power we hold as one and intends to use it properly.

Previous part

Part 16: may I have this dance?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A hurricane ransacked the nation.

The cities and towns that didn't have many Demons, or those who weren't well versed in their magic, suffered greatly. Overlords with heavy control on their territory did well to keep the raging storm from destroying them. The Hazbin Haven was among those who came through the storm unscathed.

Alastor kept the Haven wrapped in a safe little bubble that allowed only the rain to get through. However, he couldn't keep it up all the time and so, when he needed some time to recover, he had me do it. I found it surprisingly easy to control the weather so the magic hand off was fluent and easy.

Demons hated the rain, though, so construction on the site was momentarily paused. Yet I noticed the children, Demon or Human, loved to play in the rain. The littles were determined to make themselves as dirty and mud-coated as they possibly could, while the older ones were more prone to just laying in the rain staring up at the cloudy sky. Reagan was among them, making sure none of the littles wandered too far out of the slightly invisible shield. Whenever I wasn't keeping up the shield, I was down with Reagan in the rain.

"So how's Lucas?" I teased, nudging her with my shoulder. We sat under an overhang of one of the buildings, both holding out a hand to the rain. The others played in front of us.

"Fine," she said lightheartedly, trying to pass it off. Lucas had joined the Haven a few weeks ago. He had a complicated past. He lost his father four years ago, before the Demons revealed themselves, and has been trying to survive with his sickly mother. It wasn't until about a year ago that she remarried. The man had hidden the fact that he was a Demon and when Humans started hunting him, he took Lucas and his mother into Hell to escape. Lucas had seen the posters for the Haven and, after much arguing with his step-father, came to join us soon after. He had deeply rooted untrustworthiness for Demons since. It was no wonder he and Reagan, who had no magic whatsoever, hit it off.

"Any new updates?" I pressed with a smile.

"Nope."

"I do."

Reagan turned her head to look at me. "On what?"

"On him." I tilted my head up so my smile turned into a smirk. "Want to know?"

Her eyebrows furrowed and I realized just then how much she was starting to take after me. "Sure."

"You know how you two run into each other a lot on the main street? That's not an accident. When he sees you, he runs to one of the other buildings and pretends to be walking from the direction."

"You don't know that." She crossed her arms.

"You've seen me. I'm always on the porch when I'm not doing something." She turned to watch the youngsters playing in the mud. "Oh come on," I shook her shoulder gently, "admit that you like it."

"He's just being nice."

"That's the point, sweetheart." I leaned my head on her shoulder and wrapped an arm around her back. "So do the boy a favor and let him. Maybe he'll even ask for a kiss--"

She shoved me away and covered her ears. Her face was bright red. I continued to press the tease, quickly earning a tackle from her. We rolled out into the rain and started to wrestle, the others stopping to watch us. Our feet slipped in the mud and her small stature allowed me to pick her up and toss her to the side. She tried going for my feet to make me fall but I just went with the momentum and rolled over, taking her with me.

Eventually we were out of breath and stopped the play fight when we had put distance between us again. We were both coated in dirt and soaked to the bone. I noticed Lucas, his blond hair a stark contrast to his dark environment, and casted a sly smile at Reagan. She followed my gaze, defenses dropping as he walked over to talk to her. I gently nudged her back with my fingers and walked up to the house to change.

Alastor stood on the porch, watching and waiting. I came up on the steps and used magic to take the mud off my feet so I wouldn't track it through the house.

"I do not understand your desire to do that," he said.

"It's just fun." I faked a genuine, confused look. "Do you know what that is?"

He dulled his claws and gently shoved my head away so I stumbled back. "We have very different ideas of fun."

"You're right," I walked into the house, a smile on my face, and made my way up the stairs, "Mine are better."

"I left an outfit for you on your bed," he changed the subject, making me stop at the top of the stairs. "We have an Overlord meeting tonight." He then fizzled into the shadows before I could say anything.

As I expected, it was a dress. It was a deep red and silky smooth, and I was actually excited to try it on. I showered quickly and used magic to dry out my hair.

The front of the skirt came just past the middle of my shins while the back stretched just a few inches further above my ankles. It hugged the middle of my figure perfectly. The top half was form fitting but loose, not hugging anything too much to distract wandering eyes, and the sleeves flared at the end. The edges of the shirt, from the skirt to the sleeves to the area around my chest, were all lined in white.

I looked at myself in my Demon form. I looked astounding. I looked elegant. For once, I actually really liked the way I looked with my Demon attributes. I looked scary but beautiful. Gone was my scarred, child-like face and in that place was a young woman with experience.

A knock came at my door a second before Alastor stepped in. His eyes immediately looked me up and down, smile turning to yellow teeth. "You look gorgeous."

Heat rose in my cheeks and I looked down at the fabric to avoid his eyes. "Thank you," I said quietly.

He walked behind my back and looked at me in the mirror. He twirled his claw and I watched my hair smooth out and fall loosely over my shoulders. That topped off my look entirely and my mouth dropped open a little. Before I could say or do anything else, he pulled something from his pocket and draped it over my neck. It was a silver necklace of one of his symbols: a circle inside another with two arrows crossing each other.

A strange feeling creeped in my chest at the sight of Alastor standing behind me, colors complimenting each other perfectly.

We then walked to the symbol on the cliff, Alastor using magic to keep the rain from touching us. I asked about keeping the Haven safe while we were gone and he said Husker would take care of it if the storm grew worse.

I let him put an arm around my shoulder and wrapped my own around his back. Warmth merged with the energy, elevating my confidence despite the looming palace in front of me. Lucifer had been the one to call the surface Overlords under Alastor's request. At first, the King of Hell wasn't interested in obliging, but after Alastor had explained the instance with Blackwater, he found it necessary.

We were one of the first to arrive. I recognized none of them until Vox and his trio walked in not long after. The TV screen caught sight of me and instantly made his way over. I clenched my jaw and forced everything in me not to bristle.

"Well if it isn't a pleasure to be seeing you again, sweetheart." He gave a short, half bow. "I must say, what a show you gave me with that Striker fellow."

"It's a good thing you broadcasted it," Alastor said in my place, "Perhaps your audience will know not to test her again." A smile pulled at the corner of my mouth.

"Oh for sure, she's definitely trending," Velvette popped out from my behind me and stood too close for comfort, "as a cheater."

"We are Demons, darling," Alastor didn't skip a beat, "we don't play by the rules." He placed a hand on my shoulder and soothed the anger and embarrassment running through me.

"I must say you look stunning tonight," Vox drew my attention back to him. He reached for my hand but Alastor was fast, grabbing the man's wrist and pulling it far away from mine.

"Do not touch her," he hissed.

Vox took a step closer to him, mouth in a wide, sharp smile. "What are you gonna do, Alastor? You can't do anything while we're in Lucifer's palace."

"You are free game once this meeting is done." Alastor looked undeterred, smile nearly matching Vox's.

My nose curled at a familiar scent. I turned my head to see a trail of pink smoke coming from Valentino, the ring owner who had drugged me the first time. I casted wind to dissipate the smoke and hardened my stare at the Overlord. "You could be so much more than his accessory."

"So true." Velvette snapped a selfie with Alastor, Vox, and me in the background.

"I'm the guardian of a safe haven," I answered, trying hard not to let my voice shake, "saving Demons and children from persecution. What are you doing?"

"Having secure territory keeps plenty of Demons and their families safe from Humans," Valentino replied. He leaned his waist to the side and put one of his many hands on it.

"On their own free will?" I taunted, eying his pink smoke.

"That depends on what you consider free will."

Before anyone could say anything else, the doors to the usual meeting room opened. Alastor dropped Vox's wrist and wiped his claw on his coat. Vox's smile turned into a snarl as we walked into the room. Just like before, the surface Overlords brought a second-hand that stood behind them against the many pillars.

"Alastor called this meeting." Lucifer joined us a moment later, sitting himself at the head of the table. It was strange, but oddly satisfying, to see him in a commanding aura. From my sessions with the King of Hell, I discovered he was a lot more anxious, depressed, and self conscious than he let on to others. "So, what do you want?"

"How many of you know the name Blackwater?" Alastor immediately got to the point. Only three of the twelve present Overlords raised their hand. Vox was one of them. "Do you know what he does?"

"He's an inventor," Vox answered.

"Of what?" Alastor pressed.

"He's an inventor. Anything is on the table, but he likes bringing back technology from before the Great Collapse."

Alastor turned to look at the rest of the table. "Blackwater has recently created a device that uses Demon's blood to allow Humans with Slight magic to have more than they're born with." Murmurs spread through the Overlords. "And in case you haven't noticed, two surface Overlords are missing tonight." Heads turned to examine who was present and who wasn't.

"So Humans can use more elemental magic. Why is that concerning for us?" Valentino asked, taking another puff of his smoke.

"If he's managed to craft a device that can gift a Human elemental magic, imagine what he can do with a powerful Overlord's magic."

The room fell silent. I glanced at Lucifer who seemed deeply concerned about this. His apple cane sat in his lap and if I listened close, I could just barely hear the sound of his glove gripping it painfully tight.

"Blackwater has been operating in the grey area of public and private for some time. He has several factories around the nation and has been presenting them to a private class of individuals. It wasn't until recently that he has started to go fully public and advertise his inventions. I want to know why he wasn't someone's concern before this point." He sent pointed looks at those who had answered earlier that they knew of his name.

"He wasn't and still isn't a threat," Vox said first.

"If he has factories all around the nation, it would make sense that he would go unnoticed," the woman with the huge white horns spoke next. "If all his assets were in one's territory, then of course it would cause concern. Sounds as if he knows we don't communicate with each other."

"His factories need to be destroyed. If his operation grows, we will find ourselves against an army of Humans with our magic." Alastor had a commanding tone and it was obvious the other Overlords weren't taking it lightly. Yet, he had a point. Humans with Slight magic still outnumbered Demons ten to one and if they were given a way to harness more powerful magic, it would lead to a devastating war.

"If we want to stay united against the Humans and keep Hell from becoming even more overrun," Lucifer finally gave his insight, "then we will need to communicate with each other more often. I will make these meetings more frequent. For now, each of you should search your territory for any of Blackwater's assets."

The meeting ended soon after, each Overlord leaving the palace before teleporting back to the surface. Lucifer pulled me aside to ask about Charlie. He didn't want her to going out with me to break up the ring fights anymore. If Blackwater was serious, having the blood of the Princess of Hell would be the worst thing possible. He knew if he told Charlie not to do it, then she wouldn't listen on the account of "not needing to be protected anymore". I reassured him that I would make sure she didn't go with me.

It was still raining by the time Alastor and I teleported back to the house. The storm blocked out the moon, casting the whole haven in darkness. I could feel that Husker wasn't in the house and couldn't help but smile. Recently, he had been spending some of his nights with a certain Demon in the huts.

I walked through the living room to the stairs but stopped when the radio turned on. Green magic whisked out of sight from the dials as a slow, unfamiliar song began to play (I love you for sentimental reasons - Nat King Cole).

"Will you indulge me, darling?" Alastor bowed low in front of me and held out a hand. "It has been some time since I last danced with anyone. And you do look astounding in that dress."

Nerves prickled in the back of my neck. "I uh...I don't really know how to dance." I backed away with my hands raised.

"It is more of a sway, then a dance. It's rather easy to teach." He didn't move from where he bowed, hand still outstretched. "I suspect there won't be another time I can ask for a dance from you."

"Why do you want to?"

"You have intrigued me, dear. And I do so miss dancing."

For awhile I still didn't answer. The song played softly in the background and Alastor's appearance seemed less sharp and intimidating than usual. He straightened up but still held his hand out, eyes refusing to leave mine.

"It is easy to learn," he pressed gently, "I will not make fun."

Against my better judgement, I stepped forward and placed my claw in his, letting him pull me from the entryway to the center of the living room. He restarted the song and the fire grew, illuminating the room with its orange glow. The muscles in my body tensed as he raised our clasped hands and slid an arm around my back. I wasn't sure where to put my free hand and settled on the outside of his arm, anxiously pinching the fabric between my fingers.

He moved slow, taking one step towards me then followed with his other foot. He shifted his weight side to side then stepped away to repeat. I had my head down as I tried to move in time and prevent myself from stepping on his feet. The sweet piano played in the background as I gradually moved in time with him and the music.

"Head up, darling." His radio filter was gone and his smooth voice filled my ears. It made me tilt my head back to meet his red eyes that were somehow softer. He wore a gentle, simple smile. No teeth. I felt his warm magic seep into my back and force my muscles to relax. My shoulders lowered, as did the fear, and moving in step with him became second nature.

His smile grew and he tilted his head to the side. The gesture made my face grow warm and I looked at the fire instead. His arm around my back pulled me closer so I was flush against his chest. I instinctively pushed with my free hand but he held me firmly, patiently waiting for me to look up at him. And it worked.

"You're a natural," he praised.

The song ended too soon. Before he could play another song, I let go of his hand and put both hands on his chest, trying to put space between us again. In retaliation, he interlocked his fingers behind my back and kept me securely against him.

He was the master of silence. I kept my gaze averted while his bore into the side of my face. I made sure to keep my claws off his jacket in case they caught a thread, but my foot claws openly dug into the carpet. My tail was wrapped around my own leg.

Another slow song came on, this one slightly more upbeat and full of violins in the beginning (welcome to my world - Jim reeves).

"My mother taught my sister and I how to dance when we were little," he admitted.

"Your sister?" I suddenly stopped trying to push away from him. We were now simply swaying side by side, no footwork needed.

"That's the woman you saw in my memories." His smile was still gentle but there was an edge to it. Was it perhaps pain from the thought of his deceased sibling? "She is my twin sister."

There was prolonged silence as I looked between his eyes and observed the strange expression on his face. Alastor, the Radio Demon, once had a twin sister. "Wow," was all I managed.

"Surprised again?" He tilted his head in the other direction.

"Well...yeah. I'm not sure why, though."

He let out a small chuckle. "She loved to dance. Once my mother taught us how to slow dance she could never stop. She explored different styles and settled on the more upbeat and sporadic ones. Couldn't say I minded it much myself, either."

My eyes were wide and glued to him now. That was the most he had ever shared about his past in the near four years I had known him.

"She caught everyone's attention," he went on, "and I was always there to keep the bad ones away. We couldn't ever be separated." His smile faltered and I guessed he was now thinking of her death that did in fact separate them.

"I'm surprised you had the time to watch her. I'm sure you were also popular on the dance floor." The compliment had slipped out and inwardly cringed when his smile turned into a smirk.

"Perhaps I am sensing jealousy?" he teased, lowering his face closer to mine. His presence was sitting comfortably around my shields.

"You-you just...you know...you clearly know how to dance so I'm sure you were...well liked when you were..." my voice trailed off. I didn't want to say younger because that almost sounded insulting.

"Indeed you're right, I was quite different in the first fifty years of my life." He straightened up again and pushed his presence gently against my mind. "I had many good dance partners and acquaintances, but my sister always came first."

His tentacles crawled out from behind and gently wrapped around my wrists. He pulled my hands up so they would stretch over his shoulders and lock behind his head. The proximity made my hair stand on edge, a nervous bolt sprinting through my body.

"While you may not have danced before, music seems to have an effect on you as well." His clasped hands tightened ever so slightly behind my back. My tip of my tail tapped the floor nervously.

"W-well I...my mother...she uh...she...she had a radio in the cage. I remember falling asleep to all kinds of music." I hoped he couldn't heart how loud my heart was beating.

"It's no wonder you wait outside my room to listen, then."

I immediately pulled my hands back at the revelation of being caught. He wrapped his arms further around so he was gripping his elbows and holding me in place, trying to contain his laughter.

"Do not be embarrassed," he tried to reassure, "I'm quite flattered, actually." I tried pushed on his arms, face bright red and gaze averted to the floor. "I'm quite pleased you do not hate me so anymore." He dared to unwrap one arm and gently, but firmly, pulled my unwilling chin up to look him in the eyes. "Do you still despise me?"

My claws pressed into his arms, dangerously close to puncturing his skin and putting holes in his jacket. "I...well...I don't think so. Now that you're treating me properly."

Another chuckle. "I do suppose I wasn't as nice as I should've been when we first met."

The violins slowed to a stop and the room fell silent, save for a an occasional pop from the fire. My pounding heart blocked out all other noises. I suddenly became aware of his thick, earthy scent tinged with sweat. I tried to focus on that particular one as his breath, which smelled much like his last meal, fanned my cheeks.

His eyes moved so quickly and slightly that I almost didn't catch it. And even though I did, I still wasn't prepared for when he closed the distance, gently pressing his lips on mine in a careful kiss. My eyes widened and my ears and hair stood up. I wanted to run but wanted to stay. I wanted to scream but wanted to continue. My claws tapped his sleeves vividly, my body as stiff as wood.

He fixed that a second later, sending his magic up my back and spreading to the rest of my muscles. It forced everything to relax and he opened his mind to me. My eyes closed as he drew me further in.

I didn't realize how deep I had fallen until I was watching a memory from his eyes. He was speaking to Rosie in her store again.

"Oh Alastor, can't you see? You're falling in love with the dear thing." Her voice echoed like she was in a bigger room.

"I am not," he hissed. "Our connection has strengthened, that is all."

"Well, falling in love is a process after all, dearie."

"I am fond of her but I do not love her." Ouch. "Our bond will provide us with more energy and she may finally be able to handle her own magic."

I pulled out of his mind too quickly. It felt like a rug burn on my mind as I shoved him away and tripped backwards on my tail. He nearly lost his own balance and pressed a claw to his head.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" I practically screamed.

"Perhaps I miscalculated—"

"Miscalculated? Miscalculated!? This isn't something to miscalculate. I'm not your accessory! I'm not something to be manipulated, I'm not a tool to be fined and sharpened so you could use me!"

I threw my hands up and spun in a circle, tail whipping about furiously.

"Ugh I can't believe I let you trick me into thinking you actually cared."

Alastor tried to say something but it never left his mouth. For once he was at a loss for words. His yellow smile was plastered on his face but his eyebrows were showing a strangled emotion I had never seen before. His ears were as pinned back as my own.

When he failed to say anything, I whisked up the stairs and slammed the door. I threw the dress on the window seat along with the necklace, pulled on an old outfit I hadn't worn in a while, and slipped out the window.

Althea would let me sleep in one of the empty beds for the night.

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Author's Note:

Eat up my little devils >:)