#but also she's haunted by her past. She dislikes herself. She doesn't see herself as worthy or desirable

[self-shipper-snowdrop]

The fact that this is a real line Bronwen says in the TFP fic, when right before Starscream is having a takeover monologue with some confused simping for her sprinkled in, has me rolling on the floor.

[imthepunchlord]

Woes of the Cuddler

If there was one thing Okarun was not forewarned about, was the adoption of yokai quirks. Quirks he had a hard time controlling. Quirks he wished Turbo Granny had mentioned to him. But it would be just like her to not, leaving him to learn as they come and reveal themselves, and how they uproot his life.

Like the restlessness of the moon and the night. Something about the soft illumination and the darkness of shadows just gives him energy. It was especially hard trying to sleep during a full moon. It was like it ignited a blaze through his veins and he just couldn't settle. Or when he did, he would wake up to find himself transformed, wandering restless through the night, as if he was trying to get out. Okarun was nervous on where he was trying to go.

There was emotional irritability. He found himself upset more easily. And the stronger the ugly emotions were, the more likely he was to shift, entering a weird shift that would soothe that internal blaze, but also focus it, direct that fire of emotions where he wants them to be.

There was a natural want to withdraw, sink into the shadows and himself. Mindful, he's always been an awkward fellow, after all, so this could just be from him. But, he doesn't think so, this was a bit different than him just wanting to bow his head and move about unnoticed. He wanted to go to places that no one would tread. He wanted to sit in solitude. To go deaf from silence. And it was always ruined or haunted locations that now just naturally caught his eye. It's what made him think this was a yokai thing. They always existed in locations with dark history, haunted by a cruel past.

The worst quirk, in Okarun's opinion though, was the sense of possessiveness and desire he felt. He's come to learn that yokai cling to what's precious to them. Guarding it with a jealous fervor. Resistive and infuriated of even the slim thought of sharing what is precious. And for Okarun, as some odd psuedo yokai, he's found that precious that he clings to, that he holds so dear he's not sure he could bring himself to let go.

What's precious to Okarun was Miss Ayase herself.

And that fact unnerved him.

Terrified him even.

Depressed and low energy as he was in his cursed form, yokai were beings that struggled with emotional control, struggled to be reasoned with. And with Acro Silky, he got to see first hand how yokai can respond to a human being they found precious. How she turned on Miss Shiratori for not acting as she wanted or expected.

What if he does something like that one day?

What if Miss Ayase does something he dislikes, and there's no control and he hurts her over it?

The thought of the possibility makes him sick.

And it's made worse by the shine of the full moon, how it seemed to grasp his unconscious and manifests his form, how it acts without his knowing, running on instinct and want.

He does what he can to be careful, to keep her at arm's length, to make sure she's safe and that he won't hurt her. But all that does is frustrate his yokai nature. And when he shifts as he needs to, all that he holds back just comes pouring out. He initiates touch when he wouldn't dare, to feel her warmth in his hands, sending a pleasant tingle that soothed the cold that clung to him. He would hold her close, like the treasure she was, pressed against his chest and his core. Like she was meant to be there, in his arms. Her warmth would spread more over him, her scent would fill his nose, and he could feel the echo of her heart coursing through him, and it seemed to add to his own.

Her name would dance freely upon his lips. He would hear the song of it in his own voice, feel the bliss in how natural it was to breathe it, to say her name as if it was a sacred word. To stress just how precious and dear she was to him.

He would do all that he wanted to do, no filter of fear to hold him back, doing what felt natural, what he desired.

And he always had a linger of horror in the back of his mind just how casual being a yokai made him.

His clear fondness for her in voice and name.

How openly he'd admit to missing her.

That natural pull to just touch her without flustered fear.

It was all so embarrassing.

Made worse that Miss Ayase herself just never had any issue with these. Does she not consider the risks that he's a yokai that seems fond of her? Didn't she see how Acro Silky responded to Miss Shiratori? What if he takes that big mouth, and bites her one day because she did something that upset him?

The fear of the possibility just never seems to come to Miss Ayase's mind.

He's both touched and scared that she just seems to have such faith him.

Which does give him resolve to make sure he stands up to that faith.

And he's been able to.

Sleeping over at the Ayase's residence a few times with no issues, even during a full moon, when Okarun agreed to a big sleepover that Miss Ayase was hosting, he didn't think anything would happen. That he would keep the yokai wants under control as he did before. It was just going to be like any other night.

But as the home went dark, and the light of the full moon shown down upon his sleeping form, he started to twitch and jerk, his black hair turning white with red streaks, red and black tendrils reaching out from his night shirt. Silently, he sat up, his red eyes foggy with sleep as he gazed around for a moment. Jiji was asleep beside him, oblivious to the world and the yokai sitting at his backside. Okarun sniffed the air, and there was a flicker in his red eyes, an awareness of where he was. Like a puppet on a string, he silently crept through the halls of the home, reaching Momo's room in seconds.

Her door opened without a sound, as if shy to make a noise in his presence. There, he saw Aira and Vamola on the floor, sound asleep. Upon the bed was Momo herself, sleeping at the foot of the bed, away from her pillow. He drew near the girls on the floor, reaching for their sleeping bags. Gripping the ends, he dragged them gently out of the room, back into the den where Jiji slept soundly. Going past them, he returned to Momo's room, closing the door behind him, securing that this space was just theirs. He came to loom over the bed, where she slept soundly, ever twitching from where she lay. Taking her pillow and moving it towards her head, Okarun followed it onto the mattress, laying down beside her. The mattress dipped under his weight, and Momo was rolled closer to him, her warmth coming to lightly press at his side.

The pleasantness of it had him sighing.

Yes.

This was where he should be.

Where everything about her was here, at it's strongest. Her space. And he could lay here, welcomed to join her in the center of it.

But to lay here with her lightly touching him wasn't enough. The yokai reached for her, to pull her close where she's meant to be, truly pressed against him, only for Momo to roll away, mumbling in her sleep. 

He paused, a little surprised that she drew away from his reach. That didn't happen often.

The surprise didn't linger long, knowing she was a restless sleeper. Unbothered, he reached for her again, only she wiggled her down, past his reaching hands. He sat up, giving her sleeping form a pout. It was just like her to make this difficult. His hands drew near once more and Momo just rolled herself away, now on the other side of the bed. She seemed to know unconsciously that this was where the head of her bed was, her hand going about, patting for her pillow.

With a slight apologetic wince, he quickly returned the pillow to it's rightful place.

Momo immediately latched onto it, hugging it her chest with a happy sigh. 

Okarun then felt a slight bit of annoyance.

He wanted to be that pillow.

Why did he even give it back? He couldn't been in that pillow's place.

"What a bummer," he mumbled to the air, adjusting himself to lay beside her. Even if there was a pillow between them, he'll still take the chance to hold her.

Only it seems the sleeping Momo wasn't satisfied with the pillow a cuddling companion, and shoved it away, right into Okaruns' face. She flipped over with a huff, kicking at the sheets in frustration, sending most of them to the floor.

Okarun sat up, rubbing his nose from the pillow assault, and then quickly reached for the covers, saving them from falling to the floor. Knowing on some level how much colder he was in this form, he adjusted them, laying them over himself and Momo. Dropping back down with a sigh, he gave it another go, reaching for her.

Momo though didn't like the covers on her. She started to shift and squirm, and Okarun had a start when she started to wiggle her way off the bed. His hands moved quickly then, grasping her as gently as possible, sighing in relief once he finally got a hold of her. Not letting her go this time, he started to pull her close, finally happy to have her in his grasp, to get her to where he wants her to be, so that he can be where he wants to be.

Momo of course is not one to make it easy for the cursed boy.

She twisted about, her hand going flying through the air, coming to smack on his face.

He went still in surprise. Not that it hurt, but definitely surprised. He shifted, nudging the hand away, making a sort of an affectionate hum that echoed a scoff and chuckle. He pressed a light kiss to her palm, enjoying the soft warm skin on his lips, and pulled her close, this time successful and pressing her against him. There was one more big squirm from Momo before she too finally seemed to settle, it was almost as if she needed him to. In the back of his mind, he had some inkling that that was a hubris thought, but in this sleepy state, it was a thought that brought him happiness. It grew as her arm came up to wrap around his middle, to hold him just as close, while her other hand gripped at his night shirt. It was like she wanted him there, to make sure he would stay. She sighed in content, nuzzling his collar in her sleep.

There was a bubble of a pleased sound from him and he returned that nuzzle on the crown on her head, everything about her surrounding him, happy to be where he wanted to be. He returned to the oblivion of sleep, the curse receding and returning him to how he was in it's satisfaction. Even as the full moon's glow cascaded over them, he slept deeply, and Momo, for once, slept still.

Hours of the night passed, inching for the nearing dawn.

Upon the first light that poked Momo's brow, she stirred with a hum.

She felt cozy and comfortable, surrounding by warmth. Usually her mornings were a lot more... constricted from being entangled in her blanket. Or cold from wiggling herself free. But this, this was nice. So nice she kinda wanted to go back to sleep. But there was that inner twitch in her, a flicker to get up and ready for her day. A restless need to rise with the dawn. So with a shift, she stretched, and went still, realizing that this cozy warmth was holding her still. And it was actually rather firm.

Eyes snapping open, Momo blinked at the dark fabric in front of her face. Said fabric extended up, to a shoulder that loomed over her, an arm coming from it, wrapped around her middle. There was a hand lazily pressed against her back, fingers twitching slightly in sleep. Momo looked up, her nose bumping against Okarun's chin, her eyes coming to settle on his sleeping face.

Momo stared, gawking in surprise to see Okarun there.

Her immediate thought was that she maybe sleep walked to him, only to realize that she was in her room, and they were in her bed, all tangled up.

Flushing, she wiggled herself up, only to go still as his arms tightened around her. He groaned in protest, coming to curl around her, pressing his face into her stomach.

She flushed, not used to seeing such behavior from Okarun, At least, not as he is. When he shifted into his curse form, yeah this she's come to expect. But as himself? It was weird. Not unpleasant, she can appreciate the boldness, but not right now with her. Looking around, Momo saw that Aira and Vamola were gone. She flushed even more. Did they see?

No, wait, Their actual sleeping bags were gone... why were they gone?

Still a little red, but more baffled now, she turned back to the boy clinging to her in sleep, giving his head a few light pokes. "What did you do?" she quietly wondered.

She was ignored, Okarun it seems was determined to keep on sleeping.

"Okarun," she prompted, giving him a more pokes.

There was something of a protesting groan, that sounded a little throatier than she expected. When he cracked one eye open, she saw a hue of red in his brown eyes, as if he close to shifting.

Momo swallowed a little at the intensity of the groggy gaze peering up at her."What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Sleeping," he mumbled, his voice torn between the softness of the boy and the gruffness of the yokai. Finding that the answer was satisfactory, he closed his eye, ready to go back to sleep.

"Where's Aira and Vamola?" Momo pressed.

"Jiji," came the grumpy answer. Seemingly annoyed with Momo's questioning, she squeaked in surprise as she was flipped over. She plopped back down on her bed, pulled close for more cuddles, his cheek pressed against her own. Okarun looked ready to just fall back asleep, having a happy sigh.

Momo was absolutely not though.

"Why are you even in my bed?" she demanded, reaching up to grasp his arm.

Okarun suddenly went stiff and still.

Momo watched as his brown eyes opened, no more having a tinge of red, staring right into her own pink-brown eyes.

He stared.

Momo stared back, brow raised as she waited for his answer.

Okarun blinked a few times, and the reality of the situation seemed to click.

Quite suddenly, he withdrew from her, was out of the bed, and speeding out of the door, shouting, "I'M SO SORRY!!"

Momo was left in surprise, gawking after him. For a second, she noted how cold it suddenly was before Okarun's escape caught up to her. "That's not an answer!" she snapped, leaping out of bed and racing after him. In their mad sprint, they startled their friends awake, though grumpy Aira just rolled over back to bed while Jiji and Vamola just squinted after them in groggy confusion.

In her rush, it didn't take Momo long to corner Okarun, the ball defaulting to cowering down in a corner while she loomed over him, caging him in. "Okarun, seriously, what were you doing in my bed?"

"It-it was a mistake!" he cried out in flushed panic, "Won't happen again!"

"That doesn't answer my question!" she snapped.

Okarun just groaned pitifully, trying to bury his red face in his hands.

Sighing, Momo eased back, giving him some breathing room, and waited. After a few minutes, she tried again. "What's going on, Okarun?"

"...The moon," he mumbled.

"Hah?"

"Th-the full moon," Okarun clarified, peeking at her past his fingers. "It uh, it manifests the curse."

"So, you just transform?" she asked, watching him nod sheepishly. She tried to figure out how this got him into her bed. Cause he was himself at the core when he shifted. He was just gloomy, and lacked a filter.

"It, uh, I kinda transform unconsciously," Okarun revealed, "and, and I kinda... just act on instinct. I'd wake up to me sleepwalking around my home, like I'm trying to go somewhere." He thinks he's trying to find his way here. "I, I'm sorry, Miss Ayase. I, I must have crawled into your..." He couldn't even dare finish the sentence. He was so embarrassed.

"So, you just wanted to cuddle?" she asked, unable to deny the happy feeling it brought. Aira and Vamola were also in the room, and out of them, he wanted to cuddle with her. That did make her feel special.

Okarun just whimpered, trying to curl in on himself.

"Wait," she recalled, "why did you move Aira and Vamola out of the room then?"

Okarun peeked up at her, echoing her confusion. "I-I don't know. I don't remember... they're gone from your room?"

"You said they're with Jiji?"

"I don't know," Okarun bemoaned, blushing and turning away.

For a minute, they stood in silence, Momo watching as Okarun agonized over last night. Tentatively, she reached out, lightly threading her fingers through his messy bedhead. Okarun went still, then his body moved on it's own, pressing up to her touch like a cat wanting pets. His face was still red though, squinting in happiness and embarrassment. Momo offered, "If it helps, I slept great last night."

His head dropped from her touch, turning to hide his face from her. Quietly, he admitted, "I did too."

Momo smiled. "I'm glad. And hey, I don't mind cuddling with you, Okarun, just give me a heads up next time."

"Miss Ayase!" he cried out in protest as Momo walked away, ready to get breakfast going. She was right in concluding he was going to need a minute before he could rejoin them inside.

[herearedragons]

i think i fooled myself into believing i sent an ask before whoops can i get 5, 7, 17, 25, 31, 33, 39, 40, 43, 45, 50!!!

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

well honestly Selene is already what I would consider a popular oc because like. more than a handful of people know who she is and have said nice things about her and people have ??? drawn her ??? unprompted ??? which is WILD shoutout to the Selene fandom once again. so if I had an option to make one (1) oc popular on a larger scale it would probably be her because I already know she'd click with people (and also she's my favorite and I'd never get sick of talking about her/seeing other people talk about her).

but also as a secondary option, Aqun and/or Adina because I feel like they have some fun nuance to them and I'd be kind of curious to see different people's takes/opinions/interpretations of them

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?

BDJDBSJSHSJSBSJDJDKS well?????? yes?????????

most of them are part of the story of their associated videogame, and then there's all the fic I'm writing. I do also have some non-fandom characters/settings rotating in my brain, but it's nothing concrete enough to talk about

17. Any OC OTPs?

no OCxOC ones, but a lot of OCxcanon ones tbh. if we narrow "OTP" down to One True Pairing as in "I can't envision them with anything else" then it's Selene and Edér (surprising no one) and Mae and the Devil of Caroc (which also shouldn't be surprising). if we interpret it as "favorite ship regardless of whether this PC has other ships", then I'm adding SolAqun to the list bc they've also been on the brain lately. the holy trinity of Doomed Yaoi, Undoomed Yuri and Impending Doom Het Ship

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)

funnily enough probably Aqun. we look nothing alike but Aqun🤝me (multicultural, multilingual, single child, STEM, Logic and Rationality as a coping mechanism, inclined towards Making Things, burning hatred of Social Overcomplication)

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

Adina would 1000% be on here and her blog would be red-themed with yellow/blue/green accents, have a custom HTML theme she edited herself with artwork BY her, and it would be just all of her interests in one big pile with a barely functioning tagging system. she posts her vitaar designs a lot and her pfp is Her Actual Face with her favorite vitaar design up to date. she uses all caps/keysmashes a lot and vibes perfectly with tumblr's more absurdist kind of humor. Funny Nonsense comes to her effortlessly

33. Your shyest OC?

LORENZO. he's trying so hard to figure out how to People and having the physique of a Death Omen + an evil voice in his head is not helping. also he was a slave for the first 24-ish years of his life and old habits of Be Quiet Be Helpful Don't Speak Unless Spoken To die hard

39. Introduce any character you want

making you look at: the guy from the previous question. he's a runaway slave. he's a Ghost Bard. he was briefly possessed by the god of death and killed everyone in his master's estate with a song. he can sing ghosts into existence. he's haunted by his evil past life. he doesn't speak Aedyran (Eoran English) that well yet. HE'S SHY.

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!

@curiouslavellan I have to shout you out again because brainstorming Selene and Helaine plotlines in real time in DMs has been one of this year's highlights for sure. the people don't even know about the soul merging in POE1 and the Selene Is Dead drama in POE2. they don't even know about the werewolf au (well. one other person knows about the werewolf au)

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess

I'm going to be real, my OC creation process IS just like. *spins wheel* so what's the source of YOUR deep set feeling of alienation

45. A character you no longer use?

shoutout to this girl who is an old creepypasta OC of mine. I still care her

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you want

subjecting you to the mental image of Aqun and Eldritch Wolf Solas chilling together in some nice scenic place. they never got to do that but I think they should have

[wutheringheightsfilm]

ooohhhh HEATHCLIFF AND CATHY!!!

OOOOOOH YOUUUU!!! okay ill start with heathcliff...

My first impression:

i honest to god can't remember... i always thought he was interesting though

My impression now:

literally a man i will defend with my life (within reason). i understand him...

Favorite thing about that character:

his ability to scheme. that man is literally leagues ahead of everyone else at all times and he outsold on his revenge plot as far as success goes though not as well as edmond dantes did. his passion too obviously

Least favorite thing:

how he treats the next generation of children. he of all people should know what it's like to get crushed underfoot as a child but of course this book is about perpetrating cycles of abuse so he would never have acted any differently

Favorite line/scene:

i mean obviously the haunt me, then! is fucking iconic but there is a scene where cathy tells heathcliff that isabella is heir to the grange, and after cathy leaves the room according to nelly he's just sitting in the parlor plotting and smiling to himself. i also really love every time heathcliff and cathy team up against edgar because i find it hilarious

Favorite interaction that character has with another:

morbid but i love when isabella is telling him "mr earnshaw has the mind to shoot you! if i were you i would go lie down on cathy's grave and die like a dog!" and he still demands to be let in the house and proceeds to suplex hindley to death (not what happens hindley doesn't die like that but whatever)

A character that I wish that character would interact with more:

i wish i could've seen more of heathcliff and hareton after hindley's death, actually. i would've liked to see what their dynamic was actually like when hindley was gone and it was the interim years between cathy II being born and finding out about the heights

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character:

hm. no one is really like heathcliff for various reasons... you know what, i'll throw out mordred from arthuriana. for reasons

A headcanon about that character:

i like to think he made his mysterious fortune by scamming rich businessmen in london or something. unlikely but i wish

A song that reminds of that character:

i have a whole heathcliff playlist, actually, but a song off of there is black by pearl jam

An unpopular opinion about that character:

very few people including academics understand him and even less filmmakers do but i'm not sure if that's unpopular. hm lets see. when he's a child and teenager i would go so far as to say heathcliff did very little wrong and i will extend to him so much grace, more than i think the average person would

Favorite picture:

james howson. obviously

CATHYYYYY TIMEEE

My first impression:

i love her but she's a bit mean

My impression now:

she is very startlingly like me if i was worse off mentally (LOLLL i wrote a substack article about this)

Favorite thing about that character:

oh i love her anger and spite. i really do. it's absolutely great to read when so many women in victorian literature aren't allowed to be more than cardboard

Least favorite thing:

despite me giving her a lot of grace for it, i do sometimes really dislike her inability to see past herself and stop being so myopic.

Favorite line/scene:

MY LOVE FOR HEATHCLIFF IS LIKE THE ETERNAL ROCKS BENEATHHHH

Favorite interaction that character has with another:

the kitchen fight forever and ever and ever

A character that I wish that character would interact with more:

i would have loved to see how cathy would have treated her daughter. i suspect extremely poorly but

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character:

jesus um... really no one is quite like her either. for now though i'll say morgana from bbc merlin

A headcanon about that character:

i think that even before heathcliff comes back, cathy periodically sneaks out of the grange and wanders the moors by herself. maybe even looking for him.

A song that reminds of that character:

i have a whole cathy playlist as well but one song from it is obviously silver springs by fleetwood mac

An unpopular opinion about that character:

i actually do not stand behind the idea that it was cathy's idea to go sneak to the grange. i think it was an idea heathcliff and catherine had together

Favorite picture:

i couldn't fucking find it so i had to go onto my parents' prime video and you can't screenshot that but HERRRR i looove charlotte riley's cathy ill stand by this

THANK U AGAIN!!!

[sailorgoon13]

Evelyn Ashthorn

Basics:

Full Name: Evelyn Marie Ashthorn

Nickname: Eve

Gender: Female

Date of Birth: 5 October, 1980

Heritage: English

Blood Status: Pure-Blood

Wand: Ebony, Dragon Heartstring, 11inches, Slightly Spingy

Appearance:

Hair Color: Bright red

Eye Color: Deep brown

Skin Tone: Fair

Height: 5'7"

Body Type: Slender and graceful, long limbs and a lithe frame

Style: Luxurious, bold, and effortlessly chic

Features: Dimpled smile, full/ plump lips, long lashes

Personality:

Traits: Independent, Ambitious, Witty, Resourceful

Likes: Fashion, Luxury, Socializing, Power, Red Lipstick

Dislikes: The Golden Trio, Arrogance, Mediocrity

Hobbies: Shopping, Chess, Wizarding Fashion Design

Fears: Her mother, Abandonment, Being Ordinary, Rejection

Family and Friends:

Father: Octavius Ashthorn

Pure Blood

English

Collector of rare and valuable magical artifacts

Long time friend of Lucius Malfoy

A Death Eater

Mother: Selene Ashthorn

Pure Blood

English

Potioneer

Supporter of Voldemort

Friends: Blaise Zabini, Theo Nott, Enzo Berkshire, Draco Malfoy, Mattheo Riddle

Magic:

Boggart: Her mother

Patronus: Unicorn

Polyjuice: Deep emerald green, bitter with a hint of sweetness and would be smooth/ velvety.

Amortentia: A shimmering emerald green with flecks of gold, smells like a forest after rainfall, with undertones of jasmine and cinnamon

Backstory:

Evelyn Ashthorn was born into a world of privilege and high class, the only child of Octavius and Selene Ashthorn, two prominent members of the wizarding elite. From a young age, Evelyn was groomed for success, raised in the grandeur surroundings of the Ashthorn Manor and schooled in the ways of high society.

Despite her privileged upbringing, Evelyn's childhood was far from idyllic. Her father, Octavius, was a powerful and influential figure in the wizarding world, but his cold and distant demeanor left little room for warmth or affection. He had once been a follower of Voldemort, and the shadows of his past still lingered over the Ashthorn family.

Evelyn's mother, Selene, was a renowned potioneer, admired for her skill and expertise in the magical arts. But behind closed doors, she was a cruel and abusive figure, prone to fits of rage and manipulation. Selene resented Evelyn for reasons unknown, seeing her daughter as nothing more than a reminder of the life she had been forced to leave behind.

Despite the turmoil within her own family, Evelyn excelled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she was sorted into Slytherin House, following in the footsteps of her ancestors. She quickly established herself as a formidable presence within the school, admired for her beauty, wit, and charm.

But beneath her confident exterior, Evelyn carried the scars of her upbringing, haunted by her father's dark past and her mother's cruelty. She found peace and comfort in the company of her friends and the pursuit of her academic excellence.

As she navigated the corridors of Hogwarts, Evelyn was torn between the expectations of her family and the desires of her own heart. She longed for acceptance and belonging, but the path to redemption seemed filled with danger, and the ghosts of her past refusing to be silenced.

Academics:

Best Subject: Potions

Favorite Subject: Charms

Favorite Professor: Snape

Worst Subject: Herbology

Least Favorite Subject: Care for Creatures

Least Favorite Professor: Trelawney

Student Life:

Was known for skipping classes so she doesn't get dirty

Loved to party and hang out with her friends

Not the nicest, especially to other girls

Always passed her tests despite hardly ever being in class for paying others to tutor her

Career:

Despite her privileged upbringing, Evelyn felt a sense of duty to give back to the wizarding community and support causes she cares about. She works for charitable organizations and foundations, using her resources and influence to make a positive impact on issues such as magical creature rights, education, or social justice.

She also incorporates her fashion sense into the Wizarding World, designing clothing lines enchanted with magical properties in her non charitable hours.

(WIP: Soon to be published)

Face claim/ Fan Cast: Madelaine Petsch

[ultraericthered]

Anime Update V3 17

From Me To You - Sawako and Kurumi continue their not at all firmly heterosexual friendship, where there's been purposeful attempts by Kurumi to dishearten Sawako and lead her away from Kazehaya that end up miscommunicated or misunderstood by Sawako as Sawako aspires to be as outgoing and friendly as Kurumi. Chizuru, however, is put off of Kurumi due to past experiences with her leading to her pimping out girls to Kazehaya in middle school. Sawako was also under the impression that "Kurumi" was her name. It's a nickname derived from her surname, Kurumizawa - her actual name is Ume, and Kurumi herself doesn't seem to like that for some reason. Kayli Mills in the English dub continues to perform the "snake in the grass" energy flawlessly, even though the voice she does will become a problem a bit later on. At the end Kurumi discards the subtlety regarding her feelings and tells Sawako she likes Kazehaya. Uh oh!

Hunter x Hunter - Ikalgo's cover has been blown and he's been trying to make good on his rescue mission while also surviving his lobster-like old colleague but realizing he's too much of a coward to strike efficiently or see any of this through. Pouf finally did away with the cocoon and revealed his true form while multiplying, and the way it looks is a bit Uncanny Valley to put it lightly. He cut his fight with Morel short in order to go to where Gon, Pitou and Komugi are.

SHUFFLE! - Woah. That was both the most viscerally uncomfortable I've felt watching something in a while, and not nearly as bad as I'd feared it was going to be. It's the one all about Kaede and giving us the backstory behind her and Rin living together. From the very start, Kaede's been the most vexing, boring "waifu" stereotype imaginable - the sweet, demure, faithful Good Girl who acts as the house wife for the male MC and whose exercising of agency is tied to her devotion to him rather than anything else she might want to do. But I couldn't bring myself to dislike her; I knew there was something up with her. And it's here that we finally get the shocking full context. Kaede lost her mother in the same accident that claimed both of Rin's parents when she and Rin were children, and as Rin took the fall to conceal the real reason for that trip, Kaede blamed Rin for her mother's death. And in response, Kaede bullied and abused Rin relentlessly and in horrific ways (I could not watch that boxcutter scene), even wishing death on him to his face! When she learned the truth, she was overwhelmed by regret for everything she put Rin through, so her current shtick is her perpetual atonement. Yet at the same time, she's developed very real loving feelings for the boy, feelings that have made her very...territorial. The episode plays out like a horror film as you're waiting for the big pin drop, the moment where all of Kaede's threads snap and she unleashes her yandere wrath. And oh, it comes. Right in front of Asa when Rin brings her back home with him after one of their dates. Carrie Savage's psychotic screaming as Kaede in this scene shook me to the core and it haunts me still!

On the other hand, I'd heard that this yandereification of Kaede had no basis in the original VN, so it was understandably infuriating to many fans in Japan. Because of this, I was expecting Kaede to do much worse, but physically striking and shoving Asa while screaming at her is all it amounted to. That shit is tame compared to most other yanderes in anime. Whatever it case, I think it worked for dramatic purposes and is probably one of the anime's most memorable bits.

The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II - The final episode obviously had to end things on an open note. Dr. Heartless and Faker were able to narrowly escape and are still at large. Adashino wishes to pursue Heartless as well since he's in fact her older half-brother. Reines and Olga-Marie meet and become girlfriends, which honestly feels like it was an inevitability. The holiday season begins in London as during a party, Waver privately laments to Gray about feeling inadequate as the current Lord El-Melloi, and decides he will not participate in the Fifth Grail War, and Gray finally gives him the present she bought from the department store several episodes back. Waver passes out and has a dream where he encounters Iskandar; even when it's just a dream (or is it?) and they're in different realms entirely, the bond between these two still manages to get me. It ends as Waver returns to start teaching his class again. Sorry Waver, you're no Korosensei.

KonoSuba - Kazuma's party dealt with those wild horses that were drawn out by Darkness' masochism, then later that night have to deal with undead that were drawn out by Aqua. Kazuma's conscience is actually getting to him when the party keeps getting showered with praise and rewards for cleaning the messes they caused, which is pretty rare for him. And then the story changes gears to being about a city where every asshole in town belongs to the Axess Church and are out to convert Kazuma and Darkness, which I guess is a famous part of the show especially given how it ends at a dark punchline.

K-On! - Ms. Yamanaka being a secret crazy punk rocker who was a member of the previous music club was a twist that caught me off guard, but her split personality behavior and antics are entertaining as hell, so I love that she gets to be the club's advisor now. Mio then writes a song that everyone except Ritsu seems to love and accept, but Mio is too shy to sing it herself, so Yui has to do it. Only it turns out that Yui sucks at singing and playing guitar simultaneously even when she's good at both separately. Yamanaka teaches her to do so, but at the cost of Yui's voice going hoarse, so Mio it'll be after all!

Eureka Seven - The final stretch is on as Gekkostate arrives at the Vodarac shrine near the Great Wall, with Renton and Eureka needing to infiltrate the shrine and meet with the Coaralian Maiden known as Sakuya, who was Eureka's predecessor. Through a strange lotus bud, Eureka finds a spirit library much like the one she found when she nearly merged with the Scub Coral and meets Sakuya, who's sort of a medium between Eureka and Anemone personality-wise. All while Norb also tells Renton the backstory behind he and Sakuya. When Eureka takes energy from Sakuya and comes back out the other side, she's finally rid of that stupid haircut! How did that work?

Air -AGAIN??? We're doing the "split personality based off on an unborn sister" thing that Shuffle! did here? Only this time Michiru is visibly manifested as a separate entity from Minagi, and Yukito can clearly see and hear her and has been interacting with her for quite some time now, so I think he should be more alarmed about the truth he's just now learned. And if this wasn't enough of a dark turn to watch, Misuzu randomly broke down emotionally because this tends to happen whenever she's made a new friend that she's spent a good amount of time with, as she fears she'll not be able to hold on to the friends she's made. Her "mom" has been her only constant.

[maya-matlin]

Dumb question but your replies to asks are my favorites on this whole site, so I wanted to send an ask! Here it is: are there ships that you thought you'd love based on gifs but ended up not really liking once you saw them on tv or in youtube videos? For me one of them is Brulian. I kept hearing what an adorkable cutie Julian was and loved how happy Brooke looked in their gifsets but then when I actually saw them I just thought the chemistry was forced, Julian was a TOTALLY different character his first two seasons on the show and a lot less likable initially, and the acting and writing just didn't work for me? I expected them to be an otp but ended up meh at best on them! And I thought I'd ship Barchie because they're an iconic comic book couple, I'm much more of a Betty than Veronica personally lol, and their gifsets are gorgeous, but then when I watched the show I'm like, no, Varchie and Bughead are meant to be imo and Barchie doesn't do it for me at all. And one final example - Piper/Leo from Charmed. They're adorable in their gifsets, but it turns out the gifsets highlight literally the only times they're remotely happy?! Post-S1 Piper is perpetually angry, critical and miserable, she complains and snaps at everyone (especially Leo) every minute, Leo is so flat and personality-free, and their chemistry and connection are just lacking to me no matter how many times the show tells me their love is epic :) I can't wait to read your choices!

I don't think it's a dumb question! You're seriously sweet. <3 I feel like I'm really bad at replying to asks, so I'm glad you think that LOL

I think I might have to slightly alter this question to mean ships that I'd heard of, period, or had seen advertised and believed I'd end up shipping only to end up either disliking or feeling neutral towards. I only say that because for the past few years, I've really tried to keep an open mind when starting new shows so that I wouldn't go in with any preconceived ideas about what couples I'd root for.

Those are all interesting examples!

So when it comes to Brulian, I kind of agree. That being said, I did ship them the first time I watched season 6 and for the first half of season 7. But eventually, I was turned off by the Brooke/Julian/Alex arc. While I understand Brooke's LP trauma continuing to haunt her years later, it was just frustrating to watch it all play out again and for Brooke to devolve back into the most insecure version of herself. In some ways, I actually prefer Julian with Alex over Brooke. I still love the idea of them and think they had sweet moments, but their relationship never hit the same way Brucas did. It's an acceptable endgame for Brooke, but it will always kind of feel like second best. I'm sure that's an unpopular opinion, but oh well. I didn't force Chad and Sophia to have such strong chemistry or make the writers execute their seasons 2 and 3 arc so well.

Funny you should mention Barchie, because I had a similar experience in some ways. To be clear, I never read Archie Comics, but I vaguely knew some of the basics. The week Riverdale premiered, I'd been talking to a friend who rooted for BA in the comics and was excited to see Riverdale's take on their relationship. So, I watched the pilot episode to see what it was all about. I guess I shipped Betty and Archie then? But only in the sense that for the first couple of episodes, I was honestly cool with any outcome except Veronica/Jughead. That changed very, very quickly. Pre-Bughead, I was all about Beronica. Archie in contrast just wasn't as compelling to me and seemed to have a revolving door of love interests - something I'd heard was also somewhat the case in the comics. In the long run, BA became a good representation of everything I hate in a fictional couple. Their relationship is one of the laziest things I've ever seen. I truly mean that. Their fans did almost 100% of the work trying to piece that shit together because the writers were NOT writing a slow burn. The Riverdale writers seemed to deliberately avoid kicking off a story arc with any awareness of how it was going to end. The sad excuse for off screen, pre-series childhood anecdotes replacing any true development from episodes 103-416 didn't impress me. I hated watching Betty slowly sacrifice everything she wanted for her life just so she could conform into being Archie's ideal woman as he sacrificed absolutely nothing in return or ever once showed he had any true understanding of Betty. She needed extensive therapy, not the golden boy's dick. Anyways. Bughead forever, Varchie over BA because at least effort was put into that relationship.

As for Leo/Piper, you make some points, but I have to disagree. I can't help it. They were my favorite couple on Charmed. That being said, I acknowledge there was a lot of unnecessary angst, particularly during the later seasons. Leo's actor, Brian Krause, was also incredibly weak and nowhere near as talented as the women on the show.

Now, on to my answers. I already explained my history with BA, so I'll skip that one.

Bangel and Spuffy - Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I'd heard positive things about both couples, so I had no clue going in which I would end up shipping. As it turns out, the answer was neither. The Buffy/Angel arc was fine for a while, but at a certain point Angel was just kind of there. As much as I liked the guy, their romance was one of my least favorite aspects of the show. So it was a relief when he moved onto his own show, where his character improved tremendously. I also liked Angel better with Cordelia, so there's that. In the case of Spuffy, I'd heard about the slow burn and the enemies to lovers arc. So I was curious how all of that would happen. I didn't expect Spike to be such a creep towards Buffy. Season 6 wasn't great for them as it was, but the painfully long, attempted rape scene was the last straw. There was no overlooking that, yet season 7 basically had Buffy bending over backwards to defend Spike just because he had his soul back. That sucked. Out of the two love interests, Angel > Spike, always. But truthfully, the only Buffy ship I was ever passionate about was the potential one with Faith.

Jonah/Frankie - Degrassi Next Class: I don't know what I was expecting from these two. They seemed to have chemistry based on the promos Netflix and F2N released. I naively thought Winston had been such a dick that any guy would be an improvement over him. Jonah seemed like an overall decent guy in season 14 during his relationship with Becky, even if he was still haunted by some demons. Unfortunately, Next Class Jonah was a cold, judgmental, arrogant asshole. At least towards Frankie. The writers seemed to want an enemies to lovers situation, but mostly it just felt like Frankie being berated by her older boyfriend. She was an insecure mess with him, and he got away with emotional cheating.

EJ/Gina - HSMTMTS: Looking back at all the signs, it's very obvious Ricky and Gina were intended to end up together from very early on. But I was so certain that Ricky/Nini was the Disney ship that HAD to end up together, so I didn't think my ship stood an actual chance. EJ was transforming into a good guy and I wanted Gina to be happy, so I thought they'd be pretty good together. Sadly, they didn't have a single ounce of romantic chemistry. It was painful to watch. Gina's one episode almost romance with a guest star shined a light on what was lacking with EJ. Watching them fumble into their awkward romance was the worst. Which is a shame, because their platonic chemistry was pretty solid.

Duncan/Veronica - Veronica Mars: This was a VERY long time ago, and my reason was shallow: based on pictures, I thought Teddy Dunn (Duncan) was cuter than Jason Dohring (Logan). I knew nothing of their relationships with Veronica, just that Logan was more popular. I'm not particularly attracted to either guy physically now, but it's very obvious it's all about the charisma. Logan had it and was played by an extremely talented actor. Duncan didn't, and his actor was considerably weaker in comparison. Logan and Veronica demanded to be written together regardless of what Rob Thomas wanted. Duncan as a character was never able to keep up with Veronica and kind of like BA in some ways, it felt like a regression whenever Veronica was with Duncan.

Honestly, there needs to be a category for ships you initially liked solely because it was the only thing being offered at the time and less that the ship was anything special. Because I decided against including several ships for that reason LOL

[dhampiravidi]

DCtober Prompts 25-31

25. Love 26. Vintage 27. Safety 28. Reflection 29. Monster 30. Vulnerable 31. Grief

25) Jayn loves fiercely. But it can be hard to gain her love, just as it's possible to lose her love if you really break her heart. She doesn't know how she feels about her father, as she didn't get to know him until she was a teen, then his decision to leave the Joker alive (& not use a Lazarus Pit to resurrect Jason)--well, Jason Todd was/is her friend, partner and love. It's like Bruce Wayne is heartless (though she knows he's shown compassion for other people).

Rose doesn't trust people as easily as she used to when she was a kid. It took a couple of betrayals for her to become who she is now.

26) Jayn's fashion company once did a lingerie set based on what women wore in the Western world during the 1800s. It would've been modest if there weren't cutouts added to the patterns.

Rose has time-traveled before. She was super excited when it happened, until she realized that any mistake could cause certain people from her time to no longer exist.

27) Jayn always uses a condom during her one-night-stands. And she doesn't even have a lot of those, since she has a secret identity to protect.

Rose's favorite present from her father is a Victorian-style locket, which has been enchanted to show him as he currently is, regardless of which dimension, time period, or parallel universe he's in. She typically uses it to check on him when she hasn't heard from him in a while.

28) Jayn's always wished she inherited her mother's curly hair instead of her father's straight hair...so she often gets her hair styled to be more like the first option.

Rose secretly dislikes her nose, probably because it's been slightly crooked ever since a magical being punched her (& broke her nose). She has no idea why it never healed properly.

29) Jayn ran away with Slade Wilson to become mentally & physically stronger, so she could kill the Joker on her own someday. Though she did master her hydrokinesis while with the assassin, some of the things she did as his sidekick/protégé still haunt her. That's partially why she left him.

Rose has faced a lot of scary shit, from alien invasions to demonic summonings. The creatures that scare her the most are the Lovecraftian kinds--ones that have the power to destroy parallel Earths & universes.

30) Jayn hates crying in front of people. She always has, because when she gets to that point, she's sobbing, wailing, and truly despairing. She also tends to lose control of her powers--enough for the temperature to drop 10 degrees within a minute or so. It's also hard for her to ask for help, since being CEO of 1 company and COO of another makes her feel like she's supposed to be strong & independent.

Rose has no problem opening up to the Nelsons, Zatanna, and John, once she sees them as her family (they did raise her for a little over a decade). When it comes to others...she only tells people generic things about her feelings and her past.

31) If you asked Jayn, "Was it more painful to lose your mom or Jason?" she'd knock you out and then leave, internally stressed out over the question. She wonders if she's supposed to pick her mom, since they were related (& for a long time, she was the only person who lived with her). But Jason--she touched his weak, broken body minutes after her powers allowed her to feel his heart stop beating.

Rose comforts herself by saying her parents are in a safer place. Given everything she's seen and fought...she's not wrong.

DCtober Prompts 1&2

Heroic

Friendship

Jayn is based in Gotham City, one of the only cities in the world where cosplay is banned. Even if I’m not RPing a ship w/him, Jayn’s best friend in the DC Universe is almost always going to be Jason Todd.

Rose definitely looks up to Zatanna, John Constantine, and Doctor Fate, but her favorite DC superhero is probably Raven or the Flashes. She had to leave all her friends behind when she lost her parents & John took her to the Tower of Fate to be mentored/protected.

[keirangoldenwatch]

How did Seran Gey along with Ashara?

I feel like I can summarize their relationship with a fic snippet... (Fic is "In All But Blood", which you can find here!)

“Line secure?” A familiar female voice said over the holo’s speakers, though her image was obscured for a moment.  Care was taken in communicating on and off of Zakuul, of course.

“That’s not the passphrase, Ashara,” Seran scolded lightly, smiling fondly even at her apprentice’s slip up, “I know you know that.  Come on now.”

“But you made it so embarrassing to repeat!”  Ashara protested, the pitch of her voice increasing.  After a moment of no doubt intense internal frustration, she grumbled out, “Loth-kitten to mama Loth-cat.  Are you there...m-meow, meow?”

Seran’s grin tripped in size, delighted at Ashara’s discomfort.  She could tease the serious little not-Jedi until the end of her life--and probably well into the next, too, given she planned on haunting those she knew once she inevitably became a spirit.  “Meow meow, little Loth-kitten!  I missed you,” Seran snickered, “You should call more often!  Theron didn’t set up this line for just business calls, you know.”

“Maybe if he had picked the passphrase instead...”

Seran started her relationship with Ashara in screwing with her, emotionally and mentally, until she fell from being a Jedi and into the weird grey-zone between Jedi and Sith. And she has continued to screw with her ever since then!

She doesn't dislike Ashara--if she did, then Ashara would be a past-tense on her ship, if not in existence. Given how Seran deals only in extremes one could even say she dearly loves Ashara, just as she does all of her friends. That being said, the two do often butt heads on one another's methods (Ashara isn't very keen on murdering people "just cause" and Seran got real fed up with Ashara calling herself "Jedi" for years after she'd obviously fallen) and sometimes they needed to spar out their irritation with one another. And it says something that that was the most common act to catch the two of them in, on the ship or off.

Almost a decade of being around each other has helped to take the edge off things, as has Ashara admitting to herself that she isn't a Jedi--though not a Sith, either, which Seran is fine with. Xalek may be Seran's favorite apprentice*, but Ashara is a very close second.

(*Also, Seran will occasionally call her "my Padawan" just to see her face twist up.)

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 1 for the first time. Random thoughts.

This show is kind of nice because I have no memories of the original She-Ra show, or even any of He-Man, honestly. I'm not sure if I ever watched the original, so I have no frame of reference for how the series is "supposed" to be. I can just take it and judge it as is.

Of the bat, all I know is that supposedly She-Ra and Catra get together as a romantic couple later, but I'm also a huge My Hero Academia fan and the fandom around me ships every character with every other character, so for all I know that might just be shipper wishful thinking I've been seeing and hearing. Given fandoms for Gravity Falls, Thor, and Supernatural ship even siblings together, I've learned not to trust anything except for what I see in the series for myself.

By the way, this isn't a review, just random thoughts and comments I'm having as I'm going through season 1 for the first time.

Episodes 1 and 2: Right off, I really like Catra's "No duh" response to Adora about the truth of the horde. She knows they've been lying to them and have been doing terrible things, she just doesn't care. If she and Adora play their cards right they could end up being the ones in charge and then they'd have all that power. Not necessarily to make things better but enough to where they could do whatever and live however they want. That's a good build for an antagonist. Not ignorant to the fact what they're doing is wrong, just simply so selfish that they don't care.

Episode 3: It really feels like there was no good reason why Glimmer didn't just outright introduce Adora to her mother and every reason she should have known it was a bad idea to try and hide her for a surprise. Being a former horde soldier she'd probably get treated with hostility if Glimmer brought her to the front gate but you'd almost guarantee Adora would get arrested or outright killed if she got caught while no one else knew she was there.

On the other side, we have Hordak being pretty intelligent in promoting Catra. He probably knows Shadow Weaver already doesn't like him, so it's not like he's losing anything making her upset with him, and it's clear she favors Adora way more than Catra, so that little bit of advancement towards Catra probably goes a long way in earning her loyalty to him and a person on the inside with Shadow Weaver.

Also, I'm not the only one who saw Madam Razz and immediately thought Adora had found her Yoda, right?

Episode 4: I don't know how it was in the original She-Ra and He-Man series but I kind of like She-Ra being this title from legend. Adora is not the first She-Ra, given what Razz was talking about with a Mara, so instead of being something new, impressing everyone with abilities they've never seen before, and creating the legend, Adora is placed in a position WAY over her head where she's having to live up to what came before her.

Episode 5: Calling it now, as long as her personality is genuine I think Scorpia is going to be one of my favorite characters in this show. She's...endearing, I think is the best word. She's like a mix of Kronk and a nicer Shego.

For a little bit I thought Mermista was voiced by the same actress who played Poison Ivy in the Harley Quinn animated series. She's not but they do have the same kind of Daria-ish inflections, thus by confusion. Given the prom episode, Sea Hawk feels kind of like her Kite Man.

Episode 6: Okay, now it's between Scorpia and Entrapta who are likely to be my favorites by the end of this. She's fun and quirky.

Episode 7: Quite the lore drop. Shadow Weaver was once a Mystacor sorceress known as Light Spinner. I like to imagine we'll get more on that later. Her haunting Adora reminded me of the Teen Titans' episode where Robin was similarly haunted by Slade. This didn't go as far as that but that's probably for the best, since TT had two and a half seasons to build that dynamic up with Robin and Slade while we're only now halfway through the first season.

Episode 8: Well dang. Again, I don't know for sure if Adora and Catra do end up together but boy do I buy why they're shipped together after that dance. Also, good on Bow for standing up for himself. It's clear that he'll always be Glimmer's friend and this won't change that but that doesn't mean he has to just accommodate her. I understand where her issues stem from but I am still glad he gave her a reality check. It helps him feel a little more like his own character.

Also, another nice little bit of lore and worldbuilding. Scorpia's a princess, the horde landed where her people lived, and they seemed to join them willingly.

Episode 9: Surprisingly don't have a lot to say about this other than I don't buy for a second that Entrapta is dead (EDIT: She's not). This was mostly action.

Episode 10: Not going to lie, this one kind of annoyed me a little, at least the first half. The conversation between Glimmer and her mother saved it a bit. It was a bit of a trifecta. You have the alliance breaking apart, saying that the loss of Entrapta only happened because they were all together...even though Entrapta only "died" because of her own machine obsession that caused her to deliberately walk back into the purging chamber. You have Entrapta who might be turning to the horde's side because she feels abandoned by the other princesses...even though they thought she was dead, and again it was her fault they got separated. And you have Glimmer refusing to tell her mother that Shadow Weaver's dark magic has caused her powers to go on the fritz and is causing her great pain. It just feels like none of this would be an issue if most of these people would stop being self-absorbed for three seconds and talk like any normal person would. It feels very CW drama, like something I'd see in a bad season of Arrow or The Flash. The only person whose issues I buy is Adora, who is basically a soldier who was never properly raised to deal with emotion or loss and is already struggling with the burden of being She-Ra, the legendary savior. I get why she's beating down on herself for not being able to do more even if nothing that happened was her fault.

Episode 11: JEEEEEEEEEZZZZ, that was such a good episode! Focused entirely on Adora and Catra and their past together. Like, just showing someone this episode alone could probably get them to want to watch the series. That was everything you needed to know about their dynamic and history together.

Also, that moment when Catra and her past self are looking at each other, while obviously Catra takes the opposite lesson, it reminded me of this fanart I'd once seen of Jason Todd, the Red Hood, looking at his past self as Robin. The past says to the future "You ruined everything". Catra could be happy but, ironically for someone who hates Shadow Weaver, she's probably going to be a lot like her, sacrificing everything for power and ambition.

Given the way she looked, I'm guessing Shadow Weaver is either addicted to the power of the Black Garnet or she suffered some kind of past injury and its power is the only thing keeping her going. Or both.

Episode 12: I'll be honest, Swiftwind being able to talk kind of gobsmacked and I needed a moment to recover. What a great voice they chose for that character.

So She-Ra is kind of like the legendary heroes from Rising of the Shield Hero, coming from a long line of people chosen to wield the sword. I tend to dislike chosen one types of stories because I think prophecy takes a lot of weight out of the character's actions, so this and Avatar are more what I like. The MC is special but not the only one who's ever been special and they can still easily fail. Their destiny was only to be able to use the weapon, not that they would succeed in any specific purpose.

And dang, Catra's turn against Shadow Weaver happened faster than I thought it would but I'm not complaining. That great "This is what you've really been preparing me for" speech and Hordak, again, being an intelligent villain. "Oh, this experiment could net me a MASSIVE gain and all it could potentially cost me is this rock I already gave away to someone who lately hasn't been producing any results and has been consistently disobeying me. Yeah, I'm going to let this play out."

Episode 13: That was kind of a brutal fight between Adora and Catra. Not the worst I've ever seen even in other shows for this age range (Samurai Jack, for example) but those punches are connecting and those claws are leaving marks.

Also, maybe I'm just misunderstanding the exact situation but shouldn't the good guys' side be called the Resistance instead of the Rebellion? Being a rebellion would imply they are rebelling against an established power or rule over them, but the actual conflict we are shown is the established power and rule that is the kingdoms of Eternia resisting an outside force that wishes to establish a new order over them.

Season 1 verdict: I'm into it. I'm definitely more invested in the villains' side of things but that's not a fault of the series, that stuff is just way more geared towards me than the current princess stuff. I actively am at attention whenever the horde main characters are on screen. For the good guys it's mostly Adora and the She-Ra stuff I'm invested it. That isn't to say I have any real dislikes for that side. Bow especially I'm liking much more than I thought I might. He has kind of this gravitational pull around him. You will be his friend regardless of how much you might want to resist. He's definitely the rock for everyone else to hold onto.

Minor side note, kind of like Korra in Legend of Korra, I love how even when her powers aren't active Adora is shown to still be pretty strong physically with how easily she was lifting people up at the prom.

And I was right, Scorpia is my favorite side character.

On to season 2!

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/nyll2e/going_in_blind_watching_season_1_for_the_first/

[savysavannah]

Challenge 1

Special thanks to @damian-schreave and @hadleyjaneharper for the rps.

Also the last section is not in fic format because its 2am, im lazy, and you get the gyst from the RP. Apperantly this is too long so part 2 soon.

    The Prince was off in Paloma for a bit so we were of little use in the Palace, no idea why they had us move in so early. Therefore, I’d spent most of the day with some books I’d grabbed from the library. Primarily they were legal books since it never hurts to brush up. But every once in a while, such as now I’d need to go and grab some food. 

I brought my notepad and a book on contract law with me and walked into the kitchen. There was another girl also in the kitchen. We haven't spoken to each other, she didn’t seem unfriendly or particularly awful company, just hadn’t really had the moment to. I grabbed a plate of fruit and wondered if she would say anything. After a moment I sat down and resumed reading. 

Then a small sad sigh came from the young woman who was looking down at her phone with a sad face. It wouldn’t be too bad if I took a break for some conversation. However, the young woman looked troubled, she may not be in the mood. I yawned and stretched then mumbled, but loud enough for her to hear, “God, I could use a drink.” and wondered if the other would take the bait. 

There was a beat before the other spoke, “Long day?”

“More or less. Lots of reading, missing work. How about yourself?”

She shrugged “Its...different than what I’m used to. Lots of sitting still when I’m used to spending my days moving around.” SHe grimaces then sighed, “The adjustment period is always the toughest, though.”

I thought for a moment trying to remember the occupations of the selected, “The dancer?” I asked. 

She grinned “Yeah. Hadley.” She raised an eyebrow, “And you?”

“Lawyer.” I said and stood from the table, walked over to Hadley and held her hand out, “Savannah Mars, Labrador, three.”

She shook my hand, “Nice to meet you.” then thought for a moment, “You said you were missing work? Do you work at a law firm?”

“Kinda. I work for the Illean Civil Liberties Union in their legal division. It's a non-profit which focuses on civil rights and for me civil legal cases. Lgbt+ rights defense, domestic defense, that sort of thing.”

“Oh, that’s really cool.” She said, seeming actually interested in my work. “Are you missing the casework, or something else?”

“It's pretty hard for me to step back from my work. Since I'm kind of left worrying about my clients. A new guy took over my cases but I'm trying to still work in my own way by studying up on some legal sections I work in less frequently but still may come up. Such as contract law.” I explained not fully hearing her other question. 

She nodded, “I understand, sort of. I’m left worrying about how my ballet company is going to perform, with somebody else taking over the role in the Nutcracker that I’ve had the past few years.”

“Yeah the transition really is nerve wracking. Have you seen them perform though?” I asked hoping that could at least provide some solace. 

“I’ve seen pictures on Instagram, but no videos yet. We were just finishing up our performance of Cinderella when I left. Nutcracker rehearsal started a few days after, but it’s a show we do each year, so... “ She sighed “ It /should/ be fine.”

I nodded, “well if they assigned them the role try and have faith in their qualifications. That's what I'm keeping in mind for mine. They did go to law school so it's fine. They got the role so it’s fine.” I said partially for her and partially for me. 

She sighed a little hesitant, “Yeah, you’re probably right. Competition is just gonna be a bitch and a half when I’m sent back.” She chuckled wryly.  

“Well maybe you'll win and then you won't have too. Who’s gonna take a role away from the future queen of Illea.”

“That’s extremely unlikely to happen.” She then almost smirked “What about you? If you win, nobody’s going to tell you no in a courtroom.”

I laughed, “If I win I'll kill myself.” Then I realized how dark that sounded, though it didn’t seem to phase her.

“I hate to say that I feel the same way, but…” She shrugged and nodded, “I feel the same way” For a moment I was confused, why would she join if she felt the same way? Then it clicked, a dancer would be a five, lower class, need the money.

“You're a five right? Did you apply for the money? If you don't mind my asking that is. It would just make sense why you'd dislike to win.” 

“It…” She bit her lip, “Kind of? It’s a long story involving a deadbeat mom, a shitty health care system, two starving artists, and a kid with leukemia.” She said with an apologetic smile. Whatever she’d be apologizing for I can’t say. 

“Well shit man, I'm glad you got in then. Both for the money and for a break from that. I know this society fucking sucks and we've got a likely shit for brains hier, but if you ever need a lawyer I'm here to help. Hopefully, being a three now will provide some help for you too.” I said then caught myself making a mental note to not be so vulgar with my language. 

She gave me a small smile, “Thanks. Now I just have to figure out what I’m doing with the rest of my life, after throwing my career into dance, only to become a Three.” She laughed, “What about you? Why did you enter? It sounds like you had a pretty cushy gig going on.”

It wouldn’t be smart to tell the truth, but lying when Hadley had been so open felt wrong, I sighed and said, “My brother. Basically he forged my entry and I didn't want him to get into legal troubles for that. He's a fucking idiot.” I sighed and let that last cuss word slide as he is a fucking idiot. 

She snorted, “Men really do only have two brain cells.” She gave a small smile, “I’m sorry that you ended up in that situation, though. That’s rough.”

“Yeah. I tried to beat him up but my other brothers stopped me. It was really a mess. Had to find out from a waitress asking for a photo with me.” 

She shook her head, “My best friend told me that he was so upset to see me, “throwing my life away,” as if I hadn’t entered to help him and his brother.” Sounds like an ungrateful ass. She sighed and looked down at her fruit, “When did life get this messed up?”

A question with too big of an answer. A bit panicked and not knowing what to say I took a strawberry off my plate and held it out to her, “Fruit?” 

She chuckled and took the strawberry, “Thanks.” She takes a bit, chews, and then pauses, looking at Savannah, “You know what I could really go for right now, though? A good gin and tonic.”

“God that'd be great. You know what, let's make some. One glass can't hurt.”

She shrugged, “Sure, sounds fun. I’m down.” She looks around, “I know they keep the wine in that cabinet, but I haven’t found the liquor yet.”

After gathering our ingredients we get to work making the glasses, “so, what's your plan in all this?”

“In the selection?” She raises an eyebrow and then shrugs, she starts pouring things into the mixer bottle, “Stay here for as long as I can so I keep making stimulus checks, and then get sent home before I’m stuck spending the rest of my life here.” She finishes pouring and looks at Savannah, “You?”

I sighed, “about the same. Give the money to the non-profit I work for. I was hoping I could root for you to win, you seem like you have a good head on your shoulders to influence him, but the more I think about it the more I realize that's like damning to hell.

She snorts, “Well, I still appreciate the compliment, and I would’ve said the same about you.” Then she sighs, “I’ve always known that it’s been like this, though. He gets to squander every penny he has on luxury shit, whereas my paychecks…” another sigh, “But life isn’t fair.”

“Yeah. And then waste the money on useless shit and trying to pass dumb laws like making 'cats' illegal instead of actually fixing the problems in this country.” I said and poured myself a glass of the drink.

She poured some for herself and then shook her head with an eye roll, “Don’t even get me started on that debacle. Why even joke about things like that?”

“Because he doesn't comprehend how the people of his own country are suffering. He's just so blind with privilege. Not that I have much to speak on but at least I freaking try to think about others in the country and their situations.”

She gave me a small smile, “You didn’t seem like the type to blow your money on worthless things to me, at all. I don’t even know what I’m going to say to him when we have that interview in a few days.”

“Yeah I think im just gonna be polite for the sake of not causing a scene that'll haunt me my whole life” I said and took a sip, then clarified, “polite though, not kind.”

She nodded then drank too, “I really went from putting on one type of show for Twos to another.” 

“Any idea what you're gonna do as a three?” I asked.

She pursed her lips and shook her head, “I haven’t taken a science or maths class since I was eleven, and I don’t have the money for university. I guess I could work as a translator, or if that doesn’t work out, marry a five and go back to dancing.” She took another sip of her drink, “Hopefully I’ll be here long enough to figure it out.”

“Do they not have like threes who are dance teachers? I haven't really looked much into the area myself but it may make sense.”

She shook her head, “For me, at least, it was mostly Russian immigrants who were former dancers themselves, so Fives.”

I thought for a moment, “Well if you ever need history lessons, english, or legal aid I'm around. I dug into my pocket and pulled out a business card, since it’s not like either of us plan to be here long,  “Just all the way up in Labrador. Where are you from again?”

“Allens. So, not too far. Thanks.” She replied and looked at the card.

“Welcome.” I replied, finished off my drink then wrote down another idea. 

Hadley narrowed her eyes curiously, “What are you writing?”

“Just an idea for a proposition with the ICLU. There are probably other girls in a similar situation as you being lower caste now upper be it through marriage or selection, it may be helpful to talk about implementing a caste readjustment program.”

She lifted her head, smiling just a little, “That sounds like a great idea.” Then a little quieter she added,  “I'd appreciate it.” 

“Hopefully my boss will agree and pass it onto the innovation department. I'll write a quick memo about it to her later.” I smiled happy to have something to do.

“You really love your job, don't you?” She asked. 

I nodded, “It makes me feel like I have some kinda purpose. As cheesy as that is to say.” Making actual change in Illea instead of just prancing around doing whatever else I could have grown up to do. 

“No, I get that.” She looked down, “As a kid, I never really felt like I belonged, but on the stage, dancing?” She looked a little distant, “Standing out was a good thing.”

I nodded,  “Mhm. Have you thought of ways you could continue working while at the palace?”

She smiled, “Actually, I had a conversation with Prince Eaton about that, and I’ve been able to work out a schedule that allows me to still practice, even though I have to do a little more work to catch up on lessons.”

“That'll be good. If you wanted too you could put on a performance and donate the profits. That way you could be working towards a goal too instead of general practice.”

She tilted her head, “That's an interesting idea. I’ll keep that in mind.”

I nodded, “Well it was nice meeting you, Lady Hadley. But it is probably time for me to get back to work.” Then held out my hand to shake goodbye.

She took it, giving it a shake. “Nice to meet you too.”

It was pretty late in the afternoon by the time I was escorted to the interview room. Damian was in a navy blue suit jacket, dress pants, and a white button up shirt. He smiled at me as I got closer.  His eyes flicker to my nametag for a second before he speaks, “Hello, Lady Savannah. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.”

I smiled trying to stay polite, then gave a small curtsy, “The same to you, your highness.”

He smiled back, taking a few steps back and gestured for me to go into the interview room. In the room is a sofa, surrounded by stage lights and a few cameras, what a romantic first meeting. There is one camera on a swivel stand, that is currently focused on Damian and I. He starts walking into the room, looking at me as he talks, "How have you found your first few days here, so far?"

I debated giving him a short one word answer of 'fine' but Danny's words of 'don't ruin your own happiness" slipped into my head. "They've been fine. I've enjoyed your library. It's helped me feel like I can in some ways continue working by catching up on legal matters normally outside of my areas of expertise."

He nodded while smiling then took a seat on the sofa, "So you're a lawyer, then? What kind of law do you practice?"

Reluctantly I sat next to him, hopefully I wouldn't catch an STD from proximity alone, "Yes, I practice primarily civil and criminal law with the Illean Civil Librities Union. So primarily defending people who are in bad situations due to outdated laws which need amending." My tone came out more passive aggressive than intended, but it was slightly justified as he should have been working to amend said laws and help people instead of partying.

"That's a great thing, to be doing. What got you into law?"

"Well I was at the University of Labrador. My best friend I'm the sorority I was in decided to go to a protest over women's rights in illea. We went, someone man came and antagonized some women, she defended herself verbally, got arrested, felt up by the officer, then was unable to do anything legally about it. I felt that was unfair so I decided to look into being a lawyer, liked the process, graduated in 2 years, went to Yale and here I am." 

He lets out a low whistle, looking down for a second. I couldn't help but be a but prideful at my accomplishment, then looks back up at me, more serious than before, his jaw tense, "I'm really sorry that happened to your friend." He said and fell silent. What a conversation killer. 

"It's fine." I said trying not to dwell on it, "How was your time in undergrad? Partied a lot, I saw." I said the passive agressiveness coming out again. 

He smiled, a little more relaxed than before, but not as relaxed as he was when he first entered the room, "I enjoyed my last few years of freedom before entering the real world, yes." He then raised his eyebrows, grinning a little wider, kind of teasing, "And what about you? Being in a sorority and all, I doubt you were much of a homebody yourself." 

I couldn't help but completely flush and bit down my urge to absolutely smack him upside the head. "It was a brief phase. It was fun. But also a waste of time." I chuckled a bit remembering my airheaded behavior in that year, "had I already been working harder I may have been able to finish faster and help more people."

He grinned a little at how flustered I was, which just made me want to punch him more, then smiled a little more genuinely towards the end, "We're still young. We have our whole lives to keep fixing things."

i frowned, "That isn't true. We never know when we're going to die. Something could always happen so we should be trying to help as much as we can. Not to mention while we" I paused after my slip of the tongue, but didn't correct it "partied in undergrad people were suffering who could have been helped."

There's a flicker of a frown on his face when I mentioned how short life is, but he lets it go, tilting his head when he looks at me, "We can't save everyone. That's impossible. We can try to do as much as we can, but there will always be more people in need of help.

"Partying isn't trying."

He raised his eyebrows, "You didn't even know you wanted to be a lawyer, back when you were partying in college."

I got kinda flustered again, he's right, there's no logically sound way to win. Yeah but I should have, I wish I had. Would have made the time a lot less regrettable." I said then cleared my throat, "Though, this is a bit of a heavy topic for our first meeting, don't you agree? Your- Damian." I barely corrected myself from saying Your Highness.

He chuckled, "A bit, but it's different from the surface level talk about work and provinces." He inclined his head, "Though, if you think about it, you never would have discovered your passion for law if you hadn't joined your sorority." He shrugged and gave a stupid grin which made me blush even more. 

Finally I snapped and turned to point a finger at him, "You won okay. I can't regret something if I didn't know to do something better, but that doesn't make topless jello shots any less of an embarrassing memory." I exclaimed then heard what I said and wished to curl into a ball and die. 

He chuckled a little, "We all have our moments. It's okay."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door then, and a guard pokes his head in. Damian nods at him, then turns and looks at me, "Unfortunately, we'll have to exchange stories another time. It appears our time today is up."

I sighed in relief at my rescue, then mumbled under my breath, "Thank God." I stood to curtsy, "Your-" I cringed a bit at the error, "Damian."

He chuckled again, "It was a pleasure to meet you Savannah. Until next time." He smiled at me when we got to the door, and stopped in the doorway.

I smiled back politely, "Thank you for the conversation. Till next time." 

*savy was taking a break from her work and decided to out for a walk in the gardens. She had always been a fan of taking runs when stressed snd the gardens were providing a peaceful alternative. She was walking around when she thought she saw a bunny in the bushes. Being the gal she is she wanted to see it closer so she stepped off the path and walked into the gravel. Immediately her heel sank in the gravel. She lost her balance for a moment but didnt fall. Instead she panicked. She debated stepping out of her shoes to get it out but she didnt wanna hurt her skin on the gravel. Instead she tried to wiggle it loose and hopped no one was near*

*rip savannah, but Damian is out distressing by playing basketball at that point in time, and from where he's standing as he shoots this basket, he can see someone clearly struggling with something in the gardens. he can't see who it is, or what the problem is, but he figures he should go check it out. he tucks the basketball under one arm, jogging towards the person he can see, calling out* Hey, everything okay?

*savannah hears him call out an knows immediately it's the last person in the world she'd want to find her like this* Absolutely peachy! *calls back and debates ditching the shoes*

*he slows to a stop when he gets closer, his eyes going from savannah's face to her foot* Mmm, looks like you've got yourself in a bit of a sticky situation, there.

*is extremely flustered* no situation at all. I said I'm fine. *aggressively wiggles the heel and almost trips so she squeaks but manages to catch herself*

*when he sees her almost trip, he lunges forwards to catch her before she hits the ground, but then she catches herself, so he's like "oh was that for nothing?" he looks down at the shoe, furrowing his brows, thinking* Here, let me help with that, before you actually fall.

I'm not going to fall and I don't need your help. I'm perfectly capable of defeating some gravel on my own

*he takes a step back* Alright... if you insist... *hes not going anywhere, just watching her, waiting to see what she'll do*

*huffs when she doesnt hear him walk away and continues to wiggle then huffs when shes not getting anywhere* Fine. If you're just going to stand there anyways you may as well help.

*he chuckles, setting the basketball down on the ground, kneeling down to look at the gravel and the heel, before beginning to dig the heel out with his fingers* Not the best shoes to walk off the path in.

*rolls her eyes* I didn't think about that. I thought I saw a bunny and got distracted

*he can't help but raise his eyebrows at that, grinning, twisting the heel a little to unscrew it from the gravel* Was it at least a cute bunny?

*his tone is a little teasing*

It was cute, be careful with your tone though when your face is near my foot. *once its free she steps back on the path so she doesn't sink again*

*he chuckles, joking* What, are you planning on giving me a royal nose job with your shoe?

You could probably use one. *offers a hand to help him stand back up*

*he picks up his basketball, taking her hand, still grinning at her, teasing* Maybe it's just the angle you've been looking at it from.

*stands on her tiptoes looking at his nose* Nope. It's a little off. Nose job it is.

*she pinches his nose* its a big flaw. Doubt you'll be able to get a wife like that

*he chuckles* I don’t know, my nose has never gotten in my way before

*considers* You're right, I'm sure that was just your sense of responsibility that got in the way.

*he raises his eyebrows* You know, I’ve never turned in an assignment late, or anything for work late. Never asked for an extension.

I somehow find that doubtful. Your reputation of being a loose partier precedds that of a responsible duitiful person.

Well, it’s the truth. *he shrugs* If you’re really curious, you could email my professors. It’s all about finding a balance. *he smiles*

*grumbles because he seems to be honest about it* What did you even study?

I dual majored in political science and marketing. You?

*sighs in relief* at least you werent a buisness major. Political Science and History for me on a prelaw track.

*he nods, smiling, genuinely curious* Did you prefer one over the other?

Probably political science. I mean I love history it's why I added it. For fun since it's just like learning stories and seeing the modern day impact of said stories. But political science felt more efficient. Like it helped me have a better understanding of the philosophy of political thinking which has helped me a lot in law. Plus I just liked the professors more.

*he smiles* Understandable. Good professors make it so much easier to learn the content

*smiles* yeah and lots and lots of highlighters. Did you have a favorite topic in political science?

*grinning* I took a really cool course on comparative political economies - I really like the economic side of things. That, and the classes I had to take on international politics. *he looks over at savannah* What about you?

Probably civil politics. I've always been a fan of civil work. I honestly thought about working for the AFEI instead of the ICLU but decided I wanted to do more personal legal work than policy legal work. But it's always been the work that has interested me more since it's important to bring up civil conflicts within the country and try to help as much as possible. But learning about where we came from in terms of The United States vs the civil policies of Illea was an interesting course for me, especially because of the overlap of History and Political Science.

*he nods as she talks, thinking that all over* I think work guided what classes I liked as well. Because beyond national politics, I also have to think about international politics, trade agreements, and maintaining Illéa’s position in the world.

*seems slightly surprised* so you actually liked your major? I assumed you just were kinda forced to pick it

I was kind of forced to, but I could still pick the classes that interested me more. *He shrugs* Plus I really enjoyed my marketing major.

*thinks for a moment* Can I ask you something and have an honest answer? No bullshit PR answer. I'm just trying to figure out if we can trust you to be our future king through this, at the very least.

Sure *he nods, pursing his lips a little* Ask away.

Do you actually want to be the king of this country? Like aside from the perks you have from it, do you care about the work?

I do care. *he pauses, swallowing* I really do. It’s just...it’s a lot of pressure to accept from a young age.

*she thinks for a moment* Noted. Thank you for your honesty. *Looks at the basketball* Do you play much?

*he smiles kind of sadly* Not as much as I used to. I’ve gotten a little busy helping to run the country, and such.

*gets an idea* Do you wanna make a bet with me?

*he grins* Depends on what it is

Basketball. I'm working on a program right now with the ICLU, a coworker wants to come visit me and discuss about it but appreantly work visits aren't allowed during this. If I can get more hoops in you'll arrange that?

*he furrows his brows* Better yet, I could just organize for your coworker to visit under the guise of another event going on. Just give me a few weeks to work out the details.

*kinda chuckles because shes competitive* oh? Youre scared you'll lose? But if that's what you prefer

*he laughs* No, I just know I’d win, and I’d hate to deny you the ability to see your coworker

Fine. You'll set up the meeting, then I'll just prove to you that I would win had their beem stakes.

*he narrows his eyes at her, extending a hand to shake, still grinning* Deal

*shakes it firmly then kicks off her heels planning to walk to the court barefoot.* Would be an unfair advantage for me to still be in them

*he raises his eyebrows* Why, they helped square up the height difference between us, at the very least *he chuckles*

*almost elbows him over that but barely stops herself* I don't need that help. I'm perfectly capable of crushing you independent of my shoes

*he laughs* I played basketball in uni, you know?

As did I. Well- not in a club. A guy who I was *ponders for a moment* acquainted with, played it therefore I played with him and his friends fairly often

*he raises his eyebrows* And how tall was your acquaintance? Because I’m used to playing with people my height, but also my mom and sister, who are - *he puts his hand somewhere around his shoulder because they’re 5’4” and 5’5”* - about this tall

He was around 6'3. His friends the same or more. Don't worry I'm well aware of the disadvantage of my height and very prepared to utilize it

*he chuckles* Oh, I’ve got to see this. *when they get to the court he starts dribbling the ball casually, walking towards the middle of the court* Do you want to start with the ball, or should I?

*thinks for a moment and puts her shoes down on the edge of the court and rolls up the bottoms of her dress pants a bit* You can start with it.

*he raises his eyebrows at her rolling up her dress pants, but he nods* Okay, if you insist. *he waits until he’s ready before starting the play*

*she walks up prepared to steal since she cant block*

*he starts dribbling more seriously, quickly maneuvering around her, taking three large steps with the ball, and then shoots a basket, and it goes in*

*she kinda huffs about that dislikes. But once he has the ball again she tries again, this time getting it and doing her UNDER THE LEGS MOVE AND SHOOTS*

*he turns around, a little in shock* That is not a legal move!

Hmmm *puts her finger to her chin very smug* I dont think it explicitly says in the rules that you're not allowed too. You use your height I'll use mine *VERY SMUG*

*he narrows his eyes* Fine, best 2 out of 3? Whoever gets this next shot wins, then

*SHES BEING COCKY NOW* Aw is the wittle princey calling it quits so soon? His fragile ego damaged? *bats her eyes teasingly*

*he narrows his eyes* Fine, best three out of five, then. *he starts dribbling the ball right from here he is, and it’s a long shot to his basket from there, but he’s pretty confident, so he goes for it, and somehow it actually goes in. he raises his eyebrows at her* Still think you’re gonna win?

*crosses her arms* That was luck. *goes to get the ball since shes closer*

Or just sheer skill. *he smirks a little*

*turns to face him just to roll her eyes and gets the ball. She then dribbles it back to the middle or something idk how basketball works*

*he follows her to the middle, standing in front of her, knees bent in that “ready” position idk wtf it’s called lmao*

*that position makes knees wide so she dribbles and goes to do her fast under the leg move again*

*he sees it coming this time, and takes a few steps back, keeps his arm in front of him to reach for the ball, which he gets, and then dribbles across to the the hoop he has to score in, taking the shot, and watching it go in again. he grabs the ball as it bounces back up, raising his brows at savannah* One more, or are you good? *he grins a little*

*huffs again and crosses her arm* Fine we'll call it at 3 to 1. But in my defense it's been awhile.

*he grins* Well, you’re always welcome to practice out here with me, if you want.

I can't tell if you're being taunting or not *rolls her eyes and walks up to him then holds out her hand to shake for the end of the game*

*he takes her hand and shakes, then gives her a genuine smile* No taunting. I mean it. I’d love to have someone new to play with.

I'll consider it then. I am getting slightly bored of your homes running path for exercise.

*smiles back even tho she doesnt wanna because it was a nice offer*

*he tilts his head from side to side* Yeah, the running trail through the gardens is kind of short. There are better ones /in/ Angeles, if you ever want to check them out

Not sure I'm allowed to just waltz on out of here, but I'd love the names of any you know. My grandmother lives near her so I'm sure I'll be visiting soon enough after this if not immediately so.

*he shrugs* I could also drive you sometime, if you want. I /do/ have a car.

*seems a bit surprised* You know how to drive?

*he furrows his brows* Of course! I got my license as soon as I was legally allowed to.

But its not like you need too? Don't you have like drivers?

*he looks a little confused and taken aback* I’m sure some exist, but why would I want someone else to drive me when I could be free and drive myself?

I'm not sure. I just know rich people, like for example my cousin *mumbles for a moment to find the phrasing* So my grandmother is in charge of the Mars Candy Corporation. My mom's older brother Nathaniel will be taking over it, his kids also my cousins all have drivers. They're like twenty something now but Jackson is always bragging about how he doesn't have to take the effort to drive himself places. I just assumed other people who could afford them would have them, especially busy people who could work instead of drive.

*he blinks* Wow, I never even would have considered that. *he shakes his head* No, I like driving. Being able to roll the windows down and blast the music...it’s like a few moments of freedom. *he shrugs, smiling a little sadly*

*she noticed the smile then something clicks* so freedom is your vice. You act out to feel free, thus the partying. You mentioned earlier the responsibility of being a prince being am influence on the partying. A lack of freedom makes sense. *she knows shes getting too personal but her curiosity and worry for the future gets the best of her* But what does that mean you're going to do when you're king? You'll have even less. How do you plan to maintain that restriction without bursting and needing freedom?

*he stiffens a little at her analysis because damn it’s spot on, but sighs towards the end* Getting as much out of life as I can now. I always knew what my future held for me. So I can plan accordingly. *he forces a small grin, trying to joke* Besides, with any luck, I’ll be old and almost out of energy by the time I’m king.

*furrows her eyebrows concerned* That doesn't work. *sighs* Believe me I'd know. But we aren't wired to run off memories. Instead we develop habits and coping mechanisms. Everyone snaps from time to time, you'll go back to what made you happy last. For you I assume that'll be partying. Which is something you can't do as king, and assuming it wont be till your old isn't right either, regardless of if that was a joke it's not something that you can lean on since millions of people could be relying on you and you'd be unprepared. You are going to be king, You are not going to have freedom, you are going to be under immense pressure and responsibility, honest answer, what are you going to do when you need to snap?

*he narrows his eyes at her, this time more out of irritation than anything else, and he’s a little sarcastic* Gee, thanks for the reminder. Though, for the record, I /haven’t/ partied since uni, and I have no plans to in the near future. So perhaps I’ll rely on my other coping mechanism, such as basketball, or taking a drive.

Yeah well it's the truth and uni wasn't that long ago. It's hard to break habits. I mean I partied like 4 times a month in undergrad and I still use it. That was forever ago but that's not how humans work. You're gonna lean on what you've leaned on. You're going to get shitfaced, you're going to want what you used to have, you're gonna idolize those times in uni and want them back. But you're not going to have it and it's going to be hard and shitty but you have to tough it out because of the country that relies on you and this is proving to me that you're not going to be a reliable King for the people who need you.  

[merrittrps]

“Whatever happens, be careful.”/ "Do you ever wonder why nobody likes you"/ "Just because you saved my life doesn't mean I owe you anything but I won't forget it" (Mahira/Matthew!!)

@scottmccallswrites

“Whatever happens, be careful.”

She was a few steps away from the door when the words reached her eyes; they were unpredictable, something Mahira thought it was impossible to come from Matthew, after all, there was this tension between them, usually describe as hatred and annoyance that anyone could notice when they were out of the cover of being a happy and married couple. And despite the fact that they were partners, which usually means it’s a matter of time until you care about someone, Mahira had never expected that. She stopped waiting for that situation ever since she was younger and Jessica Avery was actually her real name. “I mean, I don’t think they’ll kill me, unless they are one step ahead of us. I’m just having lunch with his wife, pretending that I care about whatever she wants to talk about, nails, hair, how her husband’s brother is more handsome than the man she fell in love. I’m expecting shallowness and playing with it.”

She shrugged, trying to act nonchalant, though the idea of heading to the enemy by herself was consuming her mind since last night. And with a sigh, standing still and unable to move forward, her eyes rested on Matthew, ignoring any snarky comments she could do and accepting that scenario as an honest one, where there was no need of getting frustrated at her partner. “I’ll be careful. Gather information, do my job... if you don’t hear from me by the end of the day. You know, I’m either in trouble or dead. So, here’s to hoping I’ll listen to you for the first time and I’ll be home safe by the end of the day,” a light and brief smile escaped from her lips before she finally turned. Home. That was an awkward word to use due to their circumsntaces, but at that point, anywhere far from a dangerous place could easily seen like home to Mahira. “Be careful, Matthew. Someone may think you care... See you later.”

"Do you ever wonder why nobody likes you?"

"No, but we could come up with a list... I’m certain you have a huge one about the reasons why I’m the worst partner you’ve ever had, which also shows how much you think about me. Am I the girl haunting your dreams?” She joked, which wasn’t hard to notice, because once she was done sharing words and they vanished from her mouth, a laugh echoed in the room they were in. She wondered, at first, why her presence caused so much disturbance and it was her biological father that opened up her eyes. You’re a Pienaar, and they might think you didn’t warn the position, you bought it. After all, we have the power to do so. And she hated it, with every inch of her being, specially because everyone from the team besides her boss had no clue what she had been through before, when she wasn’t living as Mahira Pienaar. But once she was in peace with the idea that people would judge because they could, that was the moment the brunette decided to stop caring about it. 

Leaning forward as her dark hues were still looking at the man in front of her, she bit her lower lip for a second, debating the words inside of her mind, before they’d be out there. “Maybe it’s the fact I’m too pretty and none of them can’t get in my pants, or maybe it’s because I’m far smarter than them and I got the chance of being part of this mission while they weren’t even names considered for this plan. Maybe they are wondering what kind of shampoo I’m using and why my hair is so soft and shiny, or maybe they don’t know me at all and they are just trying to find reasons to be bitter because, in the end, I”m awesome and they have no reasons to hate me at all,” with a wink she finally leaned back. A grin appeared as her lips moved upwards. “As you can see, I may have some idea as to why people don’t like me. The thing is... I don’t care. Have you ever seen me being bothered by the idea of being disliked? I have better things to focus on than watching a group of frustrated people wasting their time hating on me. And despite how much you also dislike me, I’d tell you to ignore them and focus on our job. It sounds way better to me.”

"Just because you saved my life doesn't mean I owe you anything but I won't forget it" 

Cleaning the blood from her leather jacket, she cursed what happened, and even if the words were almost inaudible, they were still out there, and maybe Matthew had been able to hear them. And it didn't matter if they got to Matthew or not, because she in the end, they were as hoenst as possible, felt frustrated that her favorite jacket had an stain of blood; and, mostly, that it only happened because of her instincts of saving her partner, of caring about him when she shouldn’t. “I think you’re mistaking me for someone else. I don’t expect anything from you, specially the idea that you’d accept owing me anything. I won’t cry about it.” She sighed, still paying attention to herself. “You’re welcome, by the end.” There was a bitter tone in her words, that vanished once her brain went back to what had just happened, and the words he shared. I won’t forget it. What did that mean? She didn’t know. How could she when he seemed to be the worst person to read? Sometimes Mahira felt lost around Matthew, he seemed unpredictable, which made her unsure of what to expect next from him. And, deep down, it made her feel vulnerable, afraid that she’d share too much. Afraid that at some point, he’d know the whole truth about her past. Reasons why, the moment she pulled the trigger and saved him, she also got the knowledge that they were stuck as partners, and he became more important than she assumed Matthew would be.

“Hey, jerk!” With her attention finally at him, she tried to take a good look at him, hoping he wasn’t hurt or, at least, too hurt. “You’re okay, right? Do you need help to walk? The car is not too far from here, but still... if you’ll slow us down and potentially get us in trouble again, I think it’s safer if I do help you. And then you can thank me again later.” A wink, a smile, and then the offer of her hand, expecting him to accept it and hold it, but still knowing there was the chance of Matthew ignoring her help. She didn’t care, or at least she shouldn’t.