#but she showed off incredible skills and intelligence + has only learned and grown more + constantly gets her importance reinforced

[fromtheseventhhell]

I ignore about 95% of the conversations surrounding Arya having killed people because, outside of Arya stans, people refuse to include the context of the very violent circumstances she experiences + her trauma which influences her actions. She wasn't destined to be a killer and her being forced on the run, having to survive during a war (at times on her own), having to witness countless people being tortured and murdered, being enslaved as a prisoner of war, having to witness the deaths of her family, etc. are all hugely important factors. Not to mention the times when her life is literally on the line and she has to make tough decisions to ensure her survival. The only time her trauma is acknowledged is when people are using it to prove she's "too far gone", otherwise it's essays on how she hasn't suffered that much. It's so boring how people ignore well-developed characters just to reduce them to one or two aspects of their story. And this treatment is only for certain characters; let someone mention Sansa being part of the plot to poison Sweetrobin and all of a sudden, people can understand being forced to make questionable decisions under difficult circumstances.

[fandomsonrequests]

𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓..? [𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙 8]

fandom: ATEEZ

characters: prince! park seonghwa

reader: fem! knight

word count: 3.5k+

summary:  It was time for another Selection. No- not a Selection for a bride but rather a well-trained knight to keep Prince Seonghwa safe after a failed assassination attempt. You, a blacksmith’s daughter, manage to make it to the elite group of knights worthy and skilled enough to protect the crown prince after months and months of training. This alone catches Seonghwa’s eyes- in more ways than one

a/n: yAAAYY it’s finally here! part 8! it’s still a long ride so please forgive me if updates are getting slow ;^; school is really kicking my ass. plus there were flooding and typhoons that happened in my country so I lost internet for a few days. But thank you again for those who stuck by ;^;

taglist: @iwanttohitmyself​​ @barcelona-sergei​​ @minihongjoong​​ @i-purrple-u  @taetae123094​ @jeonartemis​ @jibaxja @theoinkypiglet​ @sparklychangbin​

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Seonghwa walks alongside Hongjoong as they head towards the Queen’s parlor in the East Wing of the palace. Sometimes he wondered why the palace had to be so big- it was quite a walk to get from one place to another. 

“How was Hae-seong’s class?” The shorter asked after a long moment of silence. 

The Prince looked over to his friend with a bit of a hesitant look. “It looks fine... Although I think he was in a bad mood today.”

“Oh please; when isn’t that old fart in a bad mood.”

Seonghwa guffawed at the term his friend used on the Duke, clasping a hand over his mouth at that.

“You needed me, mother?” He asks as soon as he enters the Queen’s parlor. 

It wasn’t a very large room but it was no less grand than the others. Paintings of past ancestors and the recent royal family hung in golden frames along the mauve-colored velvet walls of the parlor. A white marble fireplace was built in the center, a wide mirror hanging above it. In front of the fireplace were two plush couches, of course in a mauve shade, with a white and silver table placed in between the couches. 

His mother was quite picky with color combinations. 

The Queen turns her attention from her Ladies-In-Waiting and to her son, beaming a rather large smile and patting the space next to her on one of the couches. “Come sit.” She invites him. 

Seonghwa greeted the other ladies in the room and sat next to his mother. As soon as he does that, the Ladies-in-Waiting, save for the eldest one, take it as their cue to leave the room and give some privacy for the mother and son. 

“Seonghwa,” The Queen starts taking her son’s hand into his. “Your father and I have been planning something for you.” 

Another thing?? When will these surprises end?

“Since your father planned something similar to a selection for your personal guard, we decided that we won’t be holding a selection for your bride.”

That caught the young prince off-guard. It has been a tradition that dates back several centuries that their family line would have a selection for the spouse of every royal offspring. That was how his mother met his father. His father came from the kingdom near the oceans and the docks and managed to win the Queen’s heart amongst all the suitors. 

But it made sense for them to forgo that tradition. The assassin that slipped into his room came from a different kingdom. His parents were just taking precautions by calling the whole thing off.

Sure it would cause some small (or maybe even large) disputes between the allying kingdoms but ties were already shaky the day Seonghwa was meant to be assassinated. 

“Then I suppose I’ll be marrying someone within the kingdom?” Asked the Prince to which he was answered with a nod. 

The Queen took her son’s hand in hers and ran her delicate thumb against the back of his knuckles. “We’re still deciding on who you will marry but so far, we think Hae-seong’s daughter would be a good match for you.” 

Oh, her. 

Hae-seong was blessed with three children, his middle child being his only daughter: Ayeong. She and Seonghwa were around the same age, with him being just a few months older. 

It wasn’t that Ayeong was mean or anything, it’s just that he didn’t have the best memories growing up with her. He remembered taking a massive liking to her when they were younger. He was around fourteen or fifteen years old when he confessed his feelings to her, right under the large oak tree that grew in the prairie at the back of the palace. 

To his dismay, she didn’t return his feelings. She fancied one of the young knights-in-training then. Despite the unrequited emotions, he still respected her and tried not to look so heartbroken around her. But ever since then, he’s been avoiding her around the palace. 

He wondered if what took place back then would affect his parent’s plans for both of them. 

“Oh.. does Hae-seong know about it?” Seonghwa prompted. 

“No, not yet. We plan on telling him. I don’t think he would be opposed to it though. And besides, you’re good friends with her, I’m sure you don’t mind.”

He gives a slightly strained smile at that and just bowed his head. “Whatever you think is best, mother.” 

“Thank you, my dear.” She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “Well, that’s all I wanted to tell you. You may go back to where you were.”

“I think I’d like to stay here with you for a while, mother.” 

The Queen smiles fondly at that. She couldn’t help but take his cheeks in her hands and give them a pinch, making her son protest in slight pain. He may have grown up to be a strong, intelligent, and handsome young man but in her eyes, he will always be her baby: wide curious eyes and a spirited laugh tumbling from his crooked-toothed smile. 

~

“That’s all for today. You may head down to the dining hall for lunch before going to the courtyard for your lessons with Byron.” Hae-seong dismisses the class.

It’s only been a few minutes since the class had ended and they were already drained. Hae-seong talked too fast for their liking. At first, he would stop and go back to something they missed when someone pointed it out but eventually he grew tired of that and kept speeding through the lesson despite the class’s protests. 

“I just want a break,” Raviv sighs, rubbing his temple to soothe his incoming migraine. “That was so much information to absorb.”

“I think he’s purposely trying to make us fail.” You say in a hushed tone. 

Your friends nod in agreement. They suspected that the duke didn’t want them there but this kind of attitude coming from him furthered that suspicion. Lunchtime went by in a blur and now the whole group was standing in the middle of the courtyard, awaiting for Byron to come. 

Though you were hesitant when it came to academics, you felt much more confident in this area. You’ve never really fought with swords but your brother had a habit of play- fighting with you, so you knew a thing or two about having to defend yourself. 

You glance over to the quarry-workers from your village and other mountain villages. A few of them were joking around and showing off their strength by butting into each other. You couldn’t blame them, some probably did that to shake off their nerves. But you knew there were some that just really liked to show off.

Like Michael. He was… nice when he wanted to be but he caused a lot of trouble back in Trelark. He always found himself in a kerfuffle and never really learned to back down even when the situation called for it. He was the type of guy who bets his pride with high stakes. 

Others seemed apprehensive; one of those people was Amihan. She wrung her hands together in anxiousness, her fingers playing with the hem of her shirt. People from the mountain were deemed as tough- especially since the living conditions there were less than ideal. But Amihan grew up in the lowlands, she was afraid she didn’t live up to those sayings. 

“Hey,” You call out to her in a quiet voice. She turns to look at you, her brows creased. You offer her a gentle smile and a nod before mouthing the words, It’s okay.

Her shoulders relaxed a little but you could see that her whole frame was still tense. 

A few minutes later, Byron arrives with a few other knights who were pushing two carts of sturdy wooden swords to be used in your lessons. The group of delegates grew silent at the sight of the practice weapons before them, reminding them that this was real and it's not just fun and games anymore. 

“I hope you all had a good lunch,” Byron says with a warm smile. 

His welcoming deposition was enough to lessen the heavy tension in the area. It was such a contrast to the cold and annoyed aura Hae-seong displayed earlier. It was, albeit abrupt, a nice change.

“In case you all forgot my name, I am Byron. You don’t have to call me sir, or anything. My name is enough,” The man said, his voice loud and clear over the courtyard. “Most of your training here at the palace will be held with me so you don't have to worry about Hae-seong breathing down your neck.”

A few delegates sighed and chuckled in relief at that, eliciting an amused huff from Byron. 

“Although it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do well in his class. Always strive for the best no matter what situation. Now, I think I’ve talked too much. Find a partner- preferably someone your size or strength- and we can begin our lessons.” 

You glance around to find a suitable partner for the lessons. Usually, in situations where you need a partner, you would ask Siyeon to go along with you or vice versa. But in this particular situation, you had to look for someone else. 

It’s not that you were incredibly strong as a person but you packed a harder punch than most girls your age. You didn’t want to hurt your best friend. 

“Hey Raviv,” You call out to your other friend. “Do you have a partner yet?” 

“Not yet. Do you want to be partners?” He asks as he approaches you. 

You couldn’t help but laugh a little. “That’s why I asked you if you had one.”

You bumped your shoulder with him, a little greeting for him, as soon as you reached each other. He slings an arm over you and ruffles your hair, only for you to end up swatting his hand away. 

Siyeon was paired with another girl from your village, Gahyeon was her name if you remembered correctly, while Amihan was off to the side with one of her friends from the lowlands. 

As soon as everyone was paired, the other knights that came with Byron started handing out the training swords. It was much heavier than it looked but not as heavy as the weapons you handle back at the smithy. 

Your fingers curled around the leather-wrapped handle as your other hand held the “blade” part of the sword. You couldn’t help but admire the craftsmanship of the sword, even if it was wooden. You gave it a couple of bounces and twirled it a little to test out its weight. You look up when you hear Raviv give an impressed whistle, looking at you with pride in his eyes. 

Your face immediately heats up in embarrassment, dropping the sword to your side after. 

“Try not to kill me later, please.” Your friend teases as he knocks his sword with yours. 

Before you could respond, Byron calls out for your attention, making all of you turn to him. He had a training sword of his own in his hold, his sword pressed into the gravel beneath his scuffed boots. “We’ll start with the basics today. I hope by the end of our lessons for the day, you all get to learn a thing or two. And don’t get too discouraged if you can’t get it right today. You still have a month to learn before the grading. 

“Anyway, let’s start.”

~

The sound of wood crashing against wood and several shuffling feet echoed around the courtyard and floated up the palace walls. It could be heard from inside the palace although muffled by the layers of stone that made up the walls. 

Seonghwa walked down the hall, curious to see how the training was going when he saw a  young man curiously watching the delegates train rigorously through a large window, peering down into the courtyard. He could see Byron walking around with calculating eyes as he takes note of each delegate’s stances. 

“San,” The prince calls out with a grin, making the young man jump in surprise. 

San’s cat-like eyes turn onto him. “Prince Seonghwa, you scared me.”

“Oh please, you can drop the formalities. It’s just us.” 

San shrugged with a chuckle, allowing the older male to stand beside him. “I’d rather be safe than sorry, hyung. Especially after Duke Hae-seong gave me an earful when he heard me address you so casually.” 

San was the son of one of the earls in the king’s court. It was only natural that he and San would end up as friends since San practically grew up in the palace. 

“I guess,” Seonghwa hums as he watches the delegates. 

Their swords clashed against each other as they practiced the strikes Byron had shown them earlier. Many of them looked like they could hold their own fight, pushing on despite the fatigue they felt in their arms and the sweat that slid down their skin. But there were also several of them that flinched and cowered when the training swords came towards them. 

“They look promising,” San says, pulling the prince out of his thoughts. “Especially the ones from the city-towns.”

And it was true. Usually, city-towns like the Capitol had Fencing as an optional part of the curriculum in their education only because they were able to afford the materials and maintain it. Other regions weren’t as fortunate to be blessed with this kind of lesson; although, technical skill can be outmatched or be on par with street smarts. 

Seonghwa’s gaze landed on a particular person. It was the woman from the day before. She still had that intense look in her eyes as she brought her training sword against her partners. Her movements were strong yet fluid, albeit less graceful than the other knights but no less powerful. 

He watches as she shuffles away from blocking her partner’s strike only for her to come swiftly at him. He notices how her once concentrated expression shifts to a more joyous one when she finally intercepts her friend’s attack and strikes the air near his vital spot

“She’s good.” He blurts out, making San quirk his head in curiousness. 

“What was that hyung?”

Seonghwa’s eyes widened when he realized that he’s said his thoughts aloud. His cheeks flush a bright red, spreading all the way up to his ears. He clears his throat to clear the awkward air around him, the smirk that San was sending him didn’t help.

The younger male follows his gaze and his smirk grows wider. “Ooohhh, her. Oh yeah, she’s definitely good. I think she’s better than you, hyung.”

“Oh haha.” Seonghwa laughs dryly with an amused roll of his eyes. 

San chuckled in return and kept his gaze on the woman Seonghwa seemed so interested in. “I think she’d last long with this training,” he remarks. “I’m going to bet she may even be your bodyguard.” 

The prince hums in acknowledgment. “You think so?”

“I know so, hyung.”

Seonghwa glances again at the woman and lets San’s words sink in. He could never really tell if she would really end up as his protector but he had a good feeling about her. 

~

By the time the delegates were done with their first day of training, the sun was starting to set. The sky turned from a bright blue to the crisp rose-gold color of the evening. The usual sounds from the Capitol quiet down as the day comes to an end. 

Several people were sitting on the ground, catching their breaths while their swords lay on the dirt beside them. Others were leaning against the pillars of the courtyard. The air around them felt heavy as every ounce of energy drained out of the delegates. 

Byron chuckled at the sight. “You did well, all of you.” He says as he watches them pick themselves up from the ground. “I hope you don’t feel so disheartened after today because this is just the beginning.” 

You groan in exhaustion along with the other delegates. Right now, using the word tired to describe what you felt would be an understatement.

“We’ll continue again tomorrow. Make sure to wash up before you eat, you’ll be measured to have uniforms tailored for you.” Byron dismisses you all. 

As you all line up to return the training swords to the racks, Siyeon stumbles in line behind you. “My arms are gonna fall off.” She mumbles into your shoulder while her arms wrap around your waist. 

“At least you’re alive.” You reply and lean your head onto hers. “But at this point, I just want to eat and shower.”

“Oh, you said it.” 

You feel so worn out as you allow your feet to drag you back to the girls’ quarters to wash up and change for dinner. Your mind grows blank and the rest of the evening happens in a blur. You didn’t even realize how late it was into the evening until the smell of food stirred your senses.

You didn’t eat in the dining hall this time. You were led to a smaller, more simple room. It wasn’t as grand as the dining hall but it was large enough to fit all of you. 

“Are we really going to eat here..?” You hear Michael grumble to his friend. “I was really enjoying the dining hall..”

“Well of course we’re going to eat here. We aren’t of the royal family or part of the court,” Someone from the city-town sneers. One of the girls looked at everyone else like they’re worms to grovel at her feet. You never really liked her- and how she was acting right now giving you all the more reason not to. “So I suggest learning your place. Don’t get comfortable yet.”

That successfully managed to keep Michael quiet. But the tone that city-town dweller used ticked you off. You were never really confrontational unless pushed, so you kept quiet. You opted to just offer Michael a sympathetic smile before walking over to an available seat. 

“Fucking highlanders..” She mumbled to herself as they passed by you. 

You turn over to her, glaring daggers in the back of her head. You hope that one day karma gets to her and she’d eat up the words she tossed at your friends. 

As dinner comes to an end, Mina enters the dining hall with a few people carrying some fabrics and measuring tape trailing behind her. You turn your attention to her and give her a small wave to which she responds with a bright smile and a slight bow. 

“If I may have your attention, delegates.” She calls out in her clear voice. The hall becomes quiet and all attention is focused on her. “You’ll be having your fitting for your uniforms today. Expect the uniforms to arrive in two weeks.

“Now if you’re done eating, kindly line up. The tailors and seamstresses shall be measuring you.” 

Half of the delegates stood and walked over to where Mina was, awaiting their turn to be measured. You wondered what kind of uniforms you’d be provided- and why it would be made so fast. Siyeon always told you that making one shirt alone took quite a while. Aside from that, the type of fabric and the design of the clothing would affect the process too. 

“I hope they don’t put us in super stuffy uniforms like some royal guards,” Amihan says from across you as she finishes up her meal. “I feel like I’ll suffocate.” 

“Oh yeah like the ones with the neck collars. Those seem stuffy.” Raviv adds, mouth halfway full with his mashed potatoes. 

You hand him a napkin to wipe his mouth with before speaking up. “I think those types of uniforms are just for show.” 

“Goodbye, practicality hello death,” Siyeon smirks, earning a playful shove from Amihan. 

Little by little, once they were done being fitted, the delegates filed out of the dining area and went back to their rooms. Your friends went ahead since they were tired and you were one of the last people to be measured. 

You waved goodbye to Siyeon, shouting after her to not leave her wet towel on your bed again, and walked up to the seamstress. Once you were done, you thanked her and walked back to your room.

Luckily the dining area wasn’t too far from your rooms so you didn’t get lost on the way back. Although, you did take your time walking. The palace was so different at night, especially with how the torches that lined the walls cast a shadow against everything (or everyone) in the hall. 

It was a little eerie with the silence and everything but it also held some sort of ambiance to it. The soft golden glow from the torches made the enormous palace seem warm and cozy, especially on a night as cold as this. 

By the time you reached the girls’ quarters most were already in bed and asleep. Very few were awake, sitting on each other’s beds and whispering away. You go through your usual nightly routine and crawl into bed, a relieved sigh escaping you when your tired muscles relax. 

You blow out the candle on your bedside table after pressing a quick kiss to the pendant your father gave you and let yourself drift into sleep. 

[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

No Mistletoe Above Our Heads

Summary: It’s the day of the Trolberg Winter Festival, and Matilda Pilkfist invites all her favorite people to her house to celebrate. Two of her guests, however, seem more interested in each other than anything elseContains spoilers for season 2

Notes: Did you know that legally you can post Christmas fics until the New Year? It’s right there in the constitution, I swear Jokes aside, I had two holiday fic ideas and only time to write one in time for Xmas and... that established relationship one won. Which, of course, didn’t stop me from wanting to do this one as well. Anyways this is set one year after the Trolberg Winter Festival that we see on season 2. Since we don’t know how much Johanna will know after the whole Troll business is over, I’m just making things up here.

Read it on ao3

The doorbell rang just in time for Kaisa to finish setting up the table, all the cutlery neatly in place.

“Oh, it’s the rest of our guests!” Tildy chirped. “You dears wait right here, I’ll go get them.”

Standing near Tildy’s table, the two of them watched the older woman walk to her front hall to open the door. There was a very strong scent of cinnamon in the air - Tildy had probably forgotten something in the oven.

“Do you know the other people she called?” Mr. Ostenfeld asked her, making her shrug.

‘Sort of. I’ve talked to the kids before. They’re okay.” Although she’d grown very fond of the children in the year she’d known them, spending the Winter Festival socializing with them was not a situation she was entirely comfortable with. She was sure she’d just be a wallflower and make them all feel like they needed to include her in their conversation for the sake of good manners, but her old mentor had insisted on her attending the dinner, so she’d given in. It wasn’t like she had any better plans for the evening, anyway, and she felt like she owned it to Tildy after spending years avoiding her.

“Frida, how delightful to see you!” They heard Matilda say from the doorway, and figured they should get closer to greet the guests as well. “And I’m so glad you two could come too!”

Behind Frida, there were two adults who resembled her a lot. Tildy let them in and pointed at them. “This is Peter, my boyfriend, and Kaisa. I used to be her English tutor as well!”

“Pleasure to meet you.” Mr. Ostenfeld said as Kaisa shook their hands. She had been warned, of course, that the adults didn’t know about the magic yet, but it still struck her as amusing to see arch-sorceress Matilda Pilkfist describe herself as an English tutor. She also wondered how her mentor was planning on explaining the skull on her wall, or the painting of witches around a fire, not to mention her hand mannequin for palmistry practice. Maybe she thought everyone had those things at home, that would be a very Tildy-like way of thinking.

After greeting Frida and her family, Kaisa brought her attention back to the other guests. She knew Frida’s familiar had also been invited. Tildy seemed to have taken a strong liking to her as well. What she hadn’t been expecting was to already know the adult who had come in with her.

Well, maybe know was too strong of a word. But she’d already met the woman at the library, where sometimes she’d go to look for inspiration for her work and Kaisa would help her, and sometimes they’d see each other around the city and wave. Still, it was enough for a noticeable spark of recognition to be lit on her brown eyes, even if she wasn’t the one who spoke first.

“Good evening!” Hilda greeted her happily. “It’s very nice to see you here!”

“Good evening, Hilda. How are you doing tonight?”

Seemingly unaware of how Kaisa’s gaze was straying to her mother behind her, the girl smiled. “Great! We just came from the bloom, it was so beautiful!”

“I agree. I was there long enough to see it, those flowers seem to get more beautiful every year.”

Though Hilda looked like she was going to agree, Mr. Ostenfeld approached them before she could say anything.

“Ah, so you two were invited! How lovely! Looks like you have already met my neighbors, eh Kaisa?”

“Good evening, Mr. Ostenfeld!” Mother and daughter said at the same time. Only now Kaisa realized that Johanna seemed to be trying to sneak glances at her as well.

“I already know Kaisa.” Hilda explained. “I don’t think mum does, though.”

With her hand on her hips, the woman rolled her eyes playfully. “Hilda, I’m not illiterate. I’ve already met Kaisa at the library.”

Hilda’s mouth formed a perfect “o” shape, her eyes widening only slightly. It seemed like an odd thing for her to realize her mother had a life beyond what they did together.

“It’s good to finally see you in a more social setting, Kaisa.” She said, raising her hand for the librarian to shake.

"Likewise." The woman’s grip was warm and soft, and something in Kaisa didn’t want to let go. “I don’t think I ever got your name.”

“Johanna.” The woman smiled. Perhaps the night wouldn’t be a waste after all.

_#_#_#_

Johanna never thought she’d be so glad to see the librarian.

When Hilda told her they’d been invited to Frida’s English Tutor’s Winter Festival dinner, she’d been skeptical at best. Not because she didn’t trust the woman, not even out of unwillingness to spend the Festival in a way so different from how she used to when she was younger, but because she knew Hilda would leave her alone, and she couldn’t blame her.

Being with her friend meant the girl would probably run off to somewhere private to talk to her alone, and Johanna would left to… mingle with the adults, something she didn’t quite know if she would manage. Her daughter had thought she had wanted her to make human friends for the sake of being normal. Truth be told, what she really wanted was for Hilda to have more social skills than she did when she grew up.

Her prediction had been proven true. The girls had gone to some other room in Matilda’s house at her invitation, and the rest of them had moved to a sitting room, where they sat down on the couches in pairs: the host and her boyfriend, Frida’s parents, and the party’s two outcasts, which had been left to sit together.

Kaisa seemed to realize they were the odd ones out - the only ones who weren’t there as a couple and who weren’t quite close to nearly anyone - at the same time Johanna did, and they smiled sympathetically at each other as they sat down on the bright red sofa.

Neither of them added much to the conversation; Tildy was able to carry it with her usual brightness and Frida’s parents seemed to be interested in adding their opinions as well, especially when the topic was their daughter’s incredible willingness to learn.

Not particularly interested in the dialogue, Kaisa let her mind wander elsewhere, until she felt Johanna tense up beside her. They weren’t close enough for her to physically feel it, but sensing her energy was enough for Kaisa to pick up something was wrong. She blinked and tried to remember the sentence that had just been spoken.

“It brings us a lot of pride.” Frida’s father had said, which made Kaisa assume the conversation still had been centered around Frida. “But it must be quite hard to have a trouble maker for a child, isn’t it? I imagine you’ve tried everything at this point to get Hilda to behave, and I should have expected Frida to have had a bigger impact on her, being the positive influence that she is.”

Johanna swallowed, and Kaisa could tell from the way her fist clenched on the hem of her sweater that she knew exactly what to answer, just as well as she knew she’d be beyond rude if she said what she wanted to.

“I don’t see what you mean.” As though they had forgotten she was there, and she wouldn’t be shocked if they had, all eyes turned to Kaisa with surprise in them. The only exception was Tildy, who had her typical knowing smirk on. “I’ve had plenty of opportunities to watch Hilda’s behavior, since she visits the library a lot, not once has she done anything that would have me describe her as a trouble maker. And trust me, I have seen some difficult children in my job.”

Looking quite flustered, the man tried to reverse the situation. “Well, surely you’ll agree-“

“There’s the basic, of course.” Kaisa didn’t let him finish. “She never yells or misplaces books, or returns them late. But even when she takes some actions that I suppose could be considered… off route, never has anyone been put in harm’s way by her that I know of, and all her actions are inspired by selflessness. Intelligence doesn’t only mean one thing, and I can assure you the girl is as smart as she is brave. It’s a shame not everyone can recognize it.”

Pleased when both parents looked properly chastened, Kaisa sat back against the couch and pretended to have stopped caring about the conversation again. Oh, if only those two knew the sort of thing their own child got involved with. She’d very much like to see their faces when they found out.

“I agree completely.” Said Peter from the other side of the room. “Never met anyone with better intentions.”

Tildy nodded at her boyfriend, even though her eyes seemed to stray away to the direction of the couch where Johanna and Kaisa were sitting. “Yes, she’s got a heart of gold, that one.”

Only when Kaisa glanced at Frida’s parents, wanting to see how they would look while trying to explain themselves, did she notice that Johanna was not looking at her daughter’s defensors, but rather at her. Her lips parted in a silent gasp when she saw her mouthing a ‘thank you’ to her.

Ignoring Frida’s mother’s fumbled speech as she tried to talk about the “value the school system gives to different learning types”, Kaisa whispered back at Johanna. “Want to get away?”

Though there was no clear answer from her part, no nod or smile, Kaisa didn’t miss the way her eyes lit up and her back straightened at the prospect.

“This is certainly a fascinating topic.” Kaisa blurted as she stood up, well aware that the sarcasm was showing in her voice. “But is it just me or is there something burning?”

Tildy sniffed the air and widened her eyes. Kaisa hadn’t even had to make anything up, something was burning.

“My korvapuusti!” Tildy gasped, but before she could move further, Kaisa gestured for her to remain seated.

“Don’t worry, I can see to it. Though I’m not much of a cook, so maybe Johanna should come with me.” She raised an eyebrow to the woman, expecting her to understand the cue she was trying to create at the same time she knew she was free to refuse it. “Hilda has already brought me some cookies you made, so I know you are skilled.”

“Of course.” Hoping she hadn’t been too quick to answer, Johanna got up and adjusted the hem of her sweater, sneaking a glance at Kaisa, who seemed to be as anxious to get out of there as her.

A dawning realization seemed to slowly replace the worry in Tildy’s face, and she smiled. “How sweet of the two of you to help this old woman. Thank you, dears.”

Kaisa nodded and went back to the entrance hall they’d been at some minutes ago, and Johanna fell in step beside her as she made her way through the house. She seemed to know where she was going, so Johanna didn’t question it, even as she spotted some frankly bizarre details in the house. Something about the way herb jars and crystals adorned nearly every surface was eerie, yet not unpleasant to her. And surely she was imagining the way the portaits’s eyes seemed to follow them.

“Thanks for that.” Johanna said when she had to do a little sprint to catch up with the librarian, a decoration that very much looked like a serpent with horns having had caught her attention. Kaisa slowed down her pace.

“Don’t think about it. There is something burning, anyway, and you very much are more more apt to deal than this than I am.”

“Oh, not that, though I am very grateful for the excuse to go away for a bit.” The lighting in that part of the house was significantly dimmer, somewhy being composed basically of candle light, and for a second Johanna was distracted by how their warm glow and the shadows they cast accentuated the sharp angles in Kaisa’s features. It was probably just the artist side of her showing. “I mean for defending Hilda like that. It’s good to know you have such a positive view of her and… I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t spoken up first.”

Kaisa smiled. This was something Johanna didn’t think she’d seen her do any time before that night. It had always been a certainty in her mind, though she didn’t know why, that the mysterious librarian didn’t show who she really was in the library. Now she wondered if she’d finally get to see more of Kaisa’s hidden side since they were behind closed doors.

“You would have been fine.” Thankful for the weak lighting hiding her blush, Kaisa answered. “At worst you would have told them what they need to hear.”

“That their daughter is going to develop one hell of a failure anxiety if they keep this up?”

“That she already has and Hilda is the positive influence that keeps her grounded. Those two really do a lot of good to each other, it’s a lovely friendship to watch.”

Kaisa opened a door and flicked the light switch up, making them both blink a few times since their eyes had adapted to relative darkness. The scent of burnt cinnamon and cardamom was much stronger there, and Johanna quickly spotted the oven and ran to it.

“You seem to know quite a lot about the children.” Johanna pointed out as Kaisa grabbed an oven mitt from the overhead shelf and handed it to her. Carefully, she opened the oven and was struck by a cloud of smoke and heat, holding herself back not to cough as she reached inside and pulled out the tray with the sweets on it. The cinnamon rolls were certainly a lot darker than they ought to be.

Kaisa waved her hand in the air, trying to make the smoke and the strong smell of burnt food fade, and with her other hand she gestured for Johanna to put the tray on an empty place on the counter.

“I don’t go out much.” She admitted half unwillingly. Admitting her lack of social life probably was not the best course of action to take if she wanted Johanna to be interested in befriending her, but she'd certainly figure it out in no time, anyway. “So when I notice recurring patrons that don’t irk me, I usually pay attention to them.”

“Pay attention?” Johanna asked as she tried to figure out how to turn off Matilda’s prehistoric oven before they both choked to death.

With a fork, Kaisa attempted to examine whether or not the confections were still salvageable. At first when she couldn’t poke inside, she thought maybe the crust of sugar and cinnamon had just gotten too thick, but when it broke with an audible crack before yielding she knew they were lost.

“I’m not-” She crossed her arms over her chest, biting her lower lip as she wondered if it was a good idea to answer that question truthfully. Due precisely to not having many friends, Kaisa knew she tended to overshare when people would listen to her, and it just made them go away. But there was something in the way Johanna looked at her that made her believe she genuinely wanted to know. “I’m not really good at talking to people. I seem to be the kind of person that is more interesting when watched from afar, anyway. So I tend to pay attention to visitors, as a hobby I suppose. You can tell a lot by people-watching.”

Johanna took off the mits and gave them back to Kaisa for her to put them in their proper place, and gave her a small nod as a sign to go on.

“I probably wouldn’t know this much about them, but curious as they are the children began to… talk to me.” Kaisa said. It wasn’t quite a lie, but she was sure the story would make much more sense to Johanna if she could mention the Committee and the magic. Though perhaps that was for the better, since that would also mean admitting to taking her daughter through a magical maze, not to mention the ghost situation and the tide mice incident. She highly doubted that Johanna would appreciate it. “And I suppose we just got along. They’re very sweet kids, the three of them, and their curiosity brings them to the library quite often.”

Rather than being disturbed by some of her closest bonds being with children she had no family ties to, Johanna smiled like she understood.

“They really are lovely.” With great difficulty, Johanna managed to unstick one of the sweets from the tray. “It’s a shame I don’t get to talk much to Frida and David, though. Hilda usually doesn’t want her mother bothering her friends. I guess it’s just signs of pre-teenagehood showing up.”

After bringing the korvapuusti to her nose and sniffing it, Johanna had to do her best to hide a grimace at the smell. “Oh, goodness, I hope Matilda doesn’t get too upset about not serving dessert.”

“Eh, she’s probably done another batch earlier.” Kaisa said as a way of hiding the fact that Tildy would probably use a revitalization spell and serve them anyway. Currently, the librarian was more interested in something else she’d just spotted on the counter.

It was a small jar, not much bigger than a glass of water and filled to the brim with a cream coloured paste. She grabbed it so fast that Johanna blinked with surprise, and thought for a moment that she was trying to hide something.

“Tildy made condensed milk!” Kaisa chirped, sounding very much like an excited child as she opened one of the drawers and took out two tablespoons. “I mean, of course she did. She always puts it on the table when she makes korvapuusti in case anyone wants to add it on top, but she made so much this time! How lucky.”

As Kaisa scooped a spoonful of the viscous substance, Johanna bit back a smirk. If people truly did think Kaisa’s uncensored self wasn’t as interesting as the image she first showed them was, the woman would have to disagree strongly. Every time she’d seen the librarian in her work place, Kaisa had set in her the desire to get to know her better, and now that she was seeing beneath the mystery and the quietness, nothing changed; if anything, Johanna was even more intrigued. In her mind, she compared her to a good brownie: once you got past the crispy crust it was warm and soft inside, and both parts were just as good.

“You seem very close to her as well.” Johanna pointed out. “Between her and the children, you’re probably better off in the friend department than I am.”

Kaisa stopped scooping a second spoon to look at her, her brow furrowed. “Really? You look like a very popular person.”

Flattered, Johanna chuckled. “What makes you say that?”

“You’re nice.” Kaisa shrugged. “Nice people usually have a lot of friends.”

“Well, I’m glad that’s how I come across. But I’m afraid I don’t really have any friends. None human, at least.”

Johanna looked away and cringed. Great way to get people to like you, she told herself. Make them see how weird you are. It was ironic, really. She’d insisted so much on Hilda making some human friends, and in the end she was the one drinking her afternoon tea with a nisse. If Kaisa had thought she was nice rather than odd, like most people did, it wouldn’t last if she continued talking so freely.

There was no judgement, not even surprise, when she looked back at Kaisa’s face, though. She looked like she thought that what Johanna was saying made perfect sense.

“Now you have one.” She had set down the jar again and was raising one of the spoons up for Johanna to take. “If I might call myself that, I mean.”

“Oh.” Johanna smilled, a cool sensation of butterflies in her belly making her fidget with the hem of her sweater. “Yes, of course. I’d love to be your friend!”

Kaisa’s grin widened, and Johanna spent a second thinking about how beautiful the dark lipstick shade she was wearing looked on her before realizing she was still waiting for her to take the spoon.

“Oh.” Johanna gasped again, mentally kicking herself from fumbling over her words so much. She wasn’t normally like this, but Kaisa had no way of knowing this and would probably think her a complete fool before the night was over. “Shouldn’t we wait until after dinner?”

“What’s the harm? Hilda isn’t here, you know? You don’t have to set a good exemple.” Kaisa said even as lowered the spoon, as if to show that she wouldn’t pressure her to do it. However, the argument seemed to have been a good one, because as soon as she brought her own spoon to her lips to taste the condensed milk, Johanna gave in and picked up hers.

“This is really good!” Johanna said regardless of thinking that it was maybe a bit too sweet for her to be able to eat a whole spoonful of it. Kaisa didn’t seem to be having any problems with it, though, and she didn’t want to let her new friend down.

Kaisa leaned her back against the counter, pleased Johanna seemed to have liked it. Figuring it would probably be inappropriate if she kept watching her as she licked the condensed milk out of the spoon, which she firmly told herself she’d only been doing because she wanted to catch her reaction, Kaisa ran her eyes around the kitchen as she concentrated on her early dessert. Until, that was, her attention was caught by something on the doorframe.

“Did Tildy seriously put mistletoe in the kitchen?” She sighed, more to herself than to Johanna.

“Not fond of them?” Johanna asked with her gaze also focused on the bundle of green leaves and pearly white berries.

“I’ve no ill will towards them.” Kaisa ate the last of what was left on her spoon and wondered if it was worth it to wash it and get some more condensed milk. “I just feel like it can be a really stupid tradition. Can’t be pleasant to be under the mistletoe with someone you don’t like.”

“Yes, it must be uncomfortable.” While she answered, Johanna turned to face Kaisa, who was washing the spoon in order to put it back inside the drawer, figuring out Tildy would notice if too much of the condensed milk was gone. Realizing Kaisa had some of it in the corner of her mouth, anything else she might have said was snatched out of her tongue as the sudden thought that it truly was a pity that Kaisa didn’t appreciate that tradition popped in her mind. Embarrassed, she shook her head as if to expel that notion, and put the spoon in her mouth to finish eating as well. “I wonder where on earth it came from. Sounds random to say the least.”

Kaisa hummed in agreement, and though Kaisa offered to wash Johanna’s spoon as well, she insisted on cleaning up after herself. After they were both done, they decided they’d probably been away for longer than socially acceptable. It was probably already time for dinner, at that point.

As they retraced their steps, however, the two women stopped in front of the first door frame after the kitchen's, staring at the same thing for the same reason.

“Curious.” Johanna hummed. “I don’t remember that mistletoe being there.”

It escaped Johanna’s notice, but not Kaisa’s, that there was something out of the ordinary with the sprig. After a few seconds of watching it, a glittering speck of green dust fell from it, floating all the way to the ground. The witch’s shoulders hunched forward like they tended to do when she was annoyed. An illusion spell.

“I don’t think they were here before.” She hissed through clenched teeth, low enough for Johanna to not hear it. Every other room they passed by was the same: a small mistletoe where before there had been none.

“It was probably the weak lighting.” Johanna said as they passed by their fifth mistletoe, although she failed to convince even herself with that explanation. Kaisa might not have noticed it since she had just been looking forward to where they had been going, but Johanna had been paying very close attention to her surroundings. Maybe that house’s nisse had decided to add some decoration?

Kaisa did her best to smile and say “Yes, it probably was.”, knowing it must have looked way more like a growl. Right when they arrived back at the sitting room, her suspicions were confirmed. Not only did Tildy have her hand inside the pocket where she kept her wand, but also the look of curiosity she gave them when they came back spoke louder than any words.

“You’re back! We were just waiting for you to go to the table.” Tildy chirped, looking deep inside Kaisa’s eyes, looking for something.

“Someone better go call the children, then.”

Tildy looked away at Kaisa’s unwavering answer. Whatever she’d been looking for, and the librarian thought she had a pretty good idea of what it was, she hadn’t found it.

“And the korvapuusti?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to use your extra batch.”

“Oh, well.” She got up with her boyfriend's aid. “There’s always next time, isn’t there.”

Something led Kaisa to believe she was not talking about the confections.

_#_#_#_

“It was great to spend some time with you, Kaisa!”

The librarian tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, hoping she didn’t look too happy to be hearing that.

“Likewise, Johanna.”

Would asking to see her again be too much? It probably would, but she could think of nothing else to say. They just stood perfectly still as they looked at each other, the cold from the night outside creeping into the house through the open door behind Johanna. Holding her mother’s hand, Hilda glanced back and forth at both of them with a curious frown.

“I guess I’ll see you at the library, then?” Johanna said at last, and Kaisa nodded.

“Yes. That’s… that’s where I’ll be.”

“Well, happy Bloom again! And good night.” At this point, Hilda was already trying to subtly drag her mother away. For someone who always complained about the Woodman leaving the door open, she thought Johanna really should pay more attention to that sort of thing.

“Good night to the two of you.” Said Kaisa. Finally happy that Johanna had began moving out, Hilda smiled and waved at the witch.

“Bye bye, Kaisa! See you when I see you!”

When the door was closed at last, and Kaisa was the only guest left (it didn’t matter that she was one of the strongest witches alive, Kaisa would feel bad if she left an elderly lady to clean up everything alone), Tildy surreptitiously crept up by her side.

“Did you at least get her number?” Tildy asked with a sigh, which made her former apprentice remember why exactly she’d been mad at her.

“Tildy.” Kaisa groaned, putting her hands on her waist. “I know you mean well, but you’re going a little too far. I barely even know Johanna and you’re already conjuring mistletoes around the house?!”

Saying that, she pointed to the spot one of the sprigs had been just a few minutes before, even though there was nothing there at that moment. The woman giggled, kneeling down with some difficulty to pick her familiar up when it walked to her.

“Oh, but I’ve a good eye for this sort of thing!” She defended herself cheerfully as she petted that thing she called a familiar. Kaisa had never seen eye to eye with it. It had a tendency of eating her books which hadn’t faded with time. “I saw some sparks flying and I decided to help along! Such a shame you didn’t grab the chance.”

Kaisa pinched the bridge of her nose. Sometimes she wondered if age was beginning to get the best of her old mentor. “Okay, fine, I think she’s cute. You’ve always been able to tell how I feel and I won’t deny it. But we both know close to nothing about her! She doesn’t even like mistletoes-”

“This younger generation.” Tildy scoffed, interrupting her. “So unromantic.”

“And even if her feelings were reciprocal.” Kaisa continued with a glare, figuring it was better to pretend she hadn’t heard that. No matter how old Kaisa got, she was always part of the ‘younger generation’ in Tildy’s eyes. “We’ve just properly met! “that’s way too forward and you know it, so don’t try to blame me for not making a move in the first five seconds of knowing someone.”

“Oh, Kaisa.” The sorceress sighed as she began walking away to the kitchen, so they both could start and finish their washing as soon as possible. “No need to get so defensive. I was only trying to help you, but I apologize if it made you uncomfortable in any way. However, as someone who wants nothing but your happiness, I need to ask you to reach out to that woman as soon as possible.”

Kaisa hugged her arms around her torso. Somewhy that idea was enough to make her afraid, even if she couldn’t tell what of. “It’s okay, Tildy. You don’t have to apologize, but I think I’ll wait until Johanna goes to the library again. We can talk a bit and… and then when she visits it again it won’t be weird to try and arrange another meeting somewhere else.”

Tildy stopped right in front of the sink and narrowed her eyes at Kaisa. “Were you not listening?”

“I was, but-“

“No buts!” She exclaimed, throwing a towel at Kaisa. Whether she wanted her to do the drying or she was just exasperated and wanted to throw something at her, she didn’t know. “Do you know why I’m dating Peter?”

“Hopefully because you love him?” Kaisa answered, somewhat stunned at the sudden change in topic.

“Very funny, aren’t you.” Opening the sink to begin her washing, Tildy snickered. “I mean, why am I dating him instead of already being married to him? I did already tell you we met when we were young.”

“Because you’re both broke and can’t take a loan since the bank doesn't like you.” Kaisa joked, which resulted in Tildy shaking her weat hand on her direction to send a couple of drops of water at her. Laughing as her she shielded her face from the water, she quickly added. “I’m kidding! It’s because you two didn’t talk for very long.”

Tildy nodded as she went back to washing. There was something sad in her eyes, and anyone else might have missed it. Kaisa, however, had spent too much time with her, had shared too many conquests and downfalls with this woman to not be able to pick it up.

“We met one night and fell in love almost instantly. But we knew nothing of each other… I spent my life hoping he’d find me, and he spent his life not being able to because he didn’t know how. He spent his life regretting not having asked me out on that first night. Do you see what I’m trying to tell you?”

“Be grateful Johanna knows where I work and for modern technology?”

Tildy gave her a glare that made her sure that if looks could kill, she’d need a spot at Guglow’s. Even her familiar, who had moved to lie atop of her head, seemed to be staring at her with impatience, and Kaisa sighed in defeat.

“I understand the lesson, Tildy. And even though I don’t really agree in this ‘love at first sight’ talk and your extreme carpe diem mentality, I’ll… try to do something. So as not to become a target for your crossbow practice, if anything.”

Finally pleased, Tildy smiled.

“Smart girl!”

_#_#_#_

“Hey, mum, what are you doing?”

Slouched over a cookbook in her bedroom, Johanna hadn’t even heard it when Hilda opened the door. Her daughter sat near her on the bed and tried to take a peak at what she was reading.

“I’m trying to find any condensed milk recipes in our old recipe book.” She explained, though she knew that at that point she all but had that book’s contents memorized. “Kaisa seems to like it a lot… she was very kind to both of us at the party, I wanted to make her something as a late winter festival gift, even if it’s just a batch of cookies.”

“Sounds like a good idea. You could take the chance and ask if she has any recipes she’d prefer.”

Finally Johanna dragged her eyes away from the book, and noticed Hilda had a sly smile on. “What do you mean?”

“The doorbell rang, remember? She’s at the door.”

“What?!” Johanna jumped from the bed, wondering how Kaisa knew where she lived before remembering she could have gotten the address from the library records, or from Frida, Matilda, and even from Hilda herself. Before leaving the room, she glanced at the mirror to check her appearance, which made Hilda lift an eyebrow.

She was sure she wasn’t imagining the blush on the librarian’s face when she opened the door, but she was more worried about the fact that she probably had one of her own.

“I wonder where it came from.” Kaisa quoted Johanna’s words from the night before, from when they’d seen the first mistletoe on the kitchen’s doorway, and bit back a grimace when she realized she’d forgotten to say “good afternoon”. There was no coming back from that, so she continued. “That’s what you said about the mistletoe’s tradition yesterday. I, ah, got curious. So I did some research and found out it actually comes from mythology. And biology. The biology of the plant mattered too, you see.”

There was a beat of silence in which Johanna just blinked at her, and Kaisa was afraid she’d slam the door on her face for turning up in her house out of the blue to talk about mistletoe lore the day after a holiday. Instead, she opened a grin.

“That sounds fascinating!” Johanna said, feeling her heart pick up pace. Not only had Kaisa truly listened to what she said, but she’d had the mind to look for answers and to come all the way to her house to tell her what she’d found. “I’m working on an evergreens pattern for a series of products, I actually think knowing more about these aspects of them would give me a lot of inspiration!”

Standing up a little straighter, Kaisa couldn’t hold back a breathy chuckle of relief that Johanna seemed to be taking that attempt well.

“I was hoping you’d let me tell you more about it over coffee?” She asked as she bit down on her bottom lip. “If you’re busy right now-”

“No, no!” Johanna waved her hands in front of her. “I’m completely free.”

Perhaps that hadn’t been the best thing to say, since she had just informed her that she was working on a project, but Kaisa didn’t seem skeptical of her answer at all, only happy. Her grey eyes lit up, as beautiful as the snow outside when the weak winter sun shone on it.

“Oh.” Kaisa breathed. She seemed surprised, and maybe even amazed by the situation, and it filled Johanna with warmth. If she seemed awe struck by something so simple, she couldn’t possibly be used to being appreciated, and Johanna couldn’t wait to change that. Figuring Kaisa had already done the most of the reaching out just by going there, she spoke up again.

“There’s a pretty good coffee house in the centre square.” She said. “We could take the chance to pick up some fallen Sostansil flowers, I loved pressing them in my journal when I was younger. Plus, I’m pretty sure they sell their cookbooks there, and I just discovered I need a new one.”

As if by work of magic, confidence seemed to return to Kaisa’s stance. “That sounds lovely!”

“I’ll just check with Hilda if it’s alright to leave her alone and-”

“Don’t worry about me.” Both of them startled when they noticed Hilda had been standing a few meters away, in the kitchen. “I’ve got to do homework and walk Twig.”

“Hilda, it’s impolite to listen to other people’s conversations.” Johanna called out. All the girl did was mutter an amused ‘sorry’ and walk back to her room.

Since when Johanna looked back at the librarian she didn’t look put off by Hilda’s behaviour, she took a step back and pointed behind herself.

“In this case, I’ll just grab my coat and we can go. I’d love to hear all about what you found out.”

Kaisa’s smile was the last thing Johanna saw before she ran off to her room. It was intriguing, she thought, how the mistletoe hadn’t needed to be above her head to help her.

Maybe, from then on, she’d like it a lot more.

[electra-xt]

why do you live five/diego so much? (in case the tone is weird, i'm just curious as to your thoughts because you got me into the ship lol)

hahaha i find it so fascinating how this ship is spread from person to person! i think it’s pretty rare for someone to look at the canon and go “diego and five. now THOSE two should bone”— for, uh, fairly obvious reasons— but it’s a great ship once you picture five in a different body* so inevitably someone finds fic for it on ao3 or strikes up a friendship and then the ship grows! it’s a really small world, haha, so i’ll also say that if you like the ship, don’t hesitate to reach out! :)

but back to your question anon.....

i think they’re really compatible and love each other a lot! while they might not have the onscreen instant chemistry of other pairings, i love the idea of them together and once you dig deep and think about it they make such a dreamy couple. their personalities are different but i think their desires and strengths and weaknesses and flaws and senses of humor click with each other in such a beautiful way... i could go on and on about them but i will try to stick to the essential points so this screed doesn’t extend through your entire dash hahaha

when i think about what five needs in a relationship, i think back to both delores and the handler. delores is obviously uh not a person but i think that five’s devotion to her speaks to how deeply he values human connection— and not just human connection, but unwavering companionship and commitment. the handler on the other hand is a person, and five is attracted to her because she’s his actual equal. she’s intelligent and charismatic and can go toe-to-toe with him, and she would be a great match for him, except for the fact that she’s evil. and five does not like evil.

diego’s relationship needs are pretty similar, even if his life trajectory is wildly different from five’s. diego has a lot of easy social confidence when it comes to casual friendships— honestly, he’s probably the only one of the sibs with an active social life that’s based on sincere connections. but as we see with eudora, his skills with close relationships are rockier. diego loved eudora for her selflessness and kindness, but i would wager that her endless patience was probably one of the things that made their relationship fall apart, too. it must have been deeply uneven for eudora to have been the patient and selfless one while diego was working through his issues. (and i’m not really into relationships where one partner is always the patient and selfless one...) the perfect partner for diego would be someone who’s loyal and loving, and someone who needs diego as much as diego needs them. someone whose rough edges align with diego’s. honestly, i feel like diego’s really sensitive to perceived “perfection” and would probably close himself off even more if he was with someone who seemed to have it all figured out. the boy can’t stop comparing himself with other people :(

diego and five would be ride or die with each other. they have common ground. diego would have five’s back, and five would be able to finally relax and trust someone to take care of him. diego could finally learn to open up and express his thornier emotions with someone who would challenge him and support him in equal measure. i think five could handle diego’s anger and fear and regret in a way that few others could. because five is deeply earnest and kind! but also, being part of the same family, he understands diego more than anyone else— and he has the confidence and wisdom to push back and not back down if diego lashes out. five is patient, in a weathered way. but it’s an incredibly even relationship, the way i see it— they both struggle, and they both support each other.

also, i think they’d just really like hanging out? i have a million (communally grown) headcanons about the two of them and their domestic life together. in my blissful endgame imaginings, five and diego share an apartment and they have a pet cat and five writes on the walls and diego makes dinner. diego is an aggressive big spoon and five allows himself to be cuddled in his sleep. five is a gremlin who leaves clothes all over diego’s apartment and diego teases and teases and teases but he’s so weak when five gives him the 🥺 face. diego’s a cocky bastard who’s always posturing and showing off and five is like SIGH but he adores him. they’re vulnerable with each other on a mundane basis as well as in profound emotional moments. diego makes five watch all the rocky movies and five takes diego to a natural history museum and they learn to see the world through each other’s eyes. romance. romance!!!

* if you can’t picture adult five then i highly recommend googling young jake gyllenhaal or looking at this art by @purliish <3

[alarawriting]

Inktober #12: Dragon

Yeah, out of order again. I have plans for prompt 11 but this was the one that came to me first.

***

Ichtyrios bent his head very, very low to look inside the nursery. “They look so unfinished. Like fat little larvae. Do they undergo a metamorphosis?”

His companion, Ysabriem, laughed. “It’s a lot like that, but they never enter a cocoon… over the course of 12 years, they change into smaller versions of the full-grown ones. Before that age they need enormous amounts of care, and they’re not very useful. We start training them when they’re 5, teaching them mathematics and ciphering, and then the physical tasks around the age of 7.”

“But they’re not useful until they’re 12? That seems very odd. Aren’t they supposedly intelligent?”

“Oh, they’re very intelligent. Excellent problem-solvers, and those tiny little digits of theirs are incredibly dexterous.”

“So why does it take them so long to become useful?” He lifted his head. “Our young are born knowing enough to be fully functional even if their parents are dead.”

“Our young take 30 years to hatch. They grow their young in their bodies for not even a full year.”

Ichtyrios nodded, his talons reaching up to stroke his chin. “That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought of that. They’re halfway through their lives by the time one of us is ready to hatch.”

“Closer to a third, but yes.” Ysabriem began walking toward the Choosing creche. “You’re coming, aren’t you?”

“It’s why I came, yes,” Ichtyrios said impatiently, huffing a quick puff of smoke. “I just – I’m not sure. A commitment of seventy, eighty years? Hardly forever, but it’s not trivial either.”

“It’s true,” Ysabriem said without looking back at him. “If you’re not prepared to make that commitment, you really shouldn’t take on a human Companion. They’re loyal, talented, smart and easy to train, and I’ve never known a dragon who regretted the decision… but that’s because every dragon who comes here to be Chosen is certain. You have to be sure before making the commitment.”

“What happens to them if it doesn’t work out? If the dragon dies while they’re still alive, or doesn’t get along with them and wants to give them back?”

Ysabriem shrugged. “Some Choose again, and become a different dragon’s Companion. Some never do; their hearts are broken, and they can’t bear to live among dragons again. We try to make sure only the most resilient ones are allowed to make the Choice, but humans are much more fragile than dragons, in more ways than just the obvious physical differences. Their emotions are nothing to toy with, Icht. If you’re not sure, I won’t allow a human to Choose you.”

“You don’t have one.”

“I’ve had two, in my lifetime. It’s… terrible, watching them die. One lived out her natural span, so at least I was expecting it… but the other one died fixing our ship’s reactor. Radiation poisoning. It’s a terrible way to go.” She sighed. “So I work with the nursery and the creche. I don’t have my own human anymore, but I get to see and care for hundreds of them, when they’re youngest and least likely to die.”

“But you gave up space for that?”

“Yes, well.” Ysabriem’s nictating eyelids slid closed, one of the few involuntary expressions of sorrow that dragons made. “I regret losing space, but I don’t regret not taking on a new companion and I don’t regret working with the young humans. Maybe someday I’ll feel able to go back out again, and on that day, I’ll present myself to the fledgling humans and see if any of them Choose me.”

“I want to go to space,” Ichtyrios said. “I’ve been all over the world. There’s nothing more to see here, no more lands to explore. We’ve colonized our entire world. I want to go places no dragon has ever been.”

“You hoard new experiences?” Ysabriem waved her tail in an expression of friendly cheer. “Many do. And you’re right, there’s no better way to experience things no other dragon ever has than to explore space. The humans – most of them – are driven by the same desire. They want to see things, to learn things and walk in places that no human has before.”

“They’re so small. So fragile.”

“They are, but they have to be. A dragon can’t work with the micrometer tolerances the engines need… not without tools, and most of our tools die in the magnetic fields we need to keep the fuel bottled and channeled. Humans are much more vulnerable to the radiation, but they’re small enough and their hands skilled enough that they can keep the engines maintained at nine nine’s of efficiency. No dragon has ever managed to pull that off; even when we’ve created experimental craft that don’t need a human’s touch, the best a dragon can manage is three nine’s. We’re just not evolved to care about problems so small; we can’t focus on that level of detail, not when there’s treasures to find. Plus, dragons without human companions have a bad habit of recklessly pursuing treasure and getting killed; we’re too used to being virtually invulnerable, but space can kill us too. Humans aren’t apex predators. They know they can easily be killed, and that makes them more cautious than dragons.”

“I’ve heard a rumor that dragons with human Companions go into heat or rut every time the human does?”

Ysabriem laughed puffs of smoke. “Oh – oh, dear me, no! I’ve heard that one too, and I have no idea why. Humans don’t go into heat, or rut. Or rather, they’re always there. A decade or less after you get your Companion, they’ll be seeking to mate with other humans virtually every chance they get. If you were influenced into heat or rut every time your human mated, you’d get nothing done!”

“Ah.” Ichtyrios laughed as well in relief. “That’s good to hear. I’d heard about the humans mating so frequently, and if your Companion mating causes you to go into rut—oh dear is right!”

“Also, they don’t have to mate with the Companion of your mate when you’re in mating season, you can’t read their minds, they can’t read your minds, they don’t kill themselves in grief when you die – though many humans will absolutely put themselves in grave danger to avenge you if what kills you is a living being, and Companions are chosen for their willingness to risk their lives to protect you and make sure you don’t die. Have I covered all the silly myths?”

“Most of the ones I’ve heard. But they do Choose us, not the other way around.”

“Right.” Ysabriem dipped her head to signal emphatic agreement. “Think about it. They’re choosing a dragon to be Companion to for their entire lives. Of course they need to be the ones to Choose.”

“How do they make the Choice?”

“Well, no dragon is completely certain how they do it… the human Elders keep that a secret. But we’re fairly sure that they teach the children what traits to look for in a dragon to match their own needs, and the children get to review the personality profiles of any dragon coming to the Choosing Grounds. We think sometimes that children who never pick a dragon had their heart set on one who applied to present themselves to be Chosen, but then never showed up.”

“Wait. So you’re saying there might be a human who’s already Chosen me?”

“I know, it seems a little less magic than the thought that they can just look at you and know – and you know, it’s possible they’re doing some of that, too. Humans have very little genetic diversity; they come in ranges of basically three colors, they’re all within around 15% of the same size, and there’s nothing about their face shape, body type or coloration that says anything about their personality. To them, the fact that you can tell certain things about a dragon’s personality from our color, size, body shape or the types of ridges and ruffs we have on our bodies must seem like we’re an open book, in comparison to them. But we do think they’re studying more than that about us, before they make their Choice. So… yes, it’s possible there’s a human who’s already decided to Choose you.”

For some reason that was what made Ichtyrios’s decision for him. If a human didn’t Choose him this time around, maybe he’d rethink his decision, but for now… what if there was a human who wanted to be his Companion already, who’d been studying him and dreaming of being his personal assistant and traveling in space with him, and he didn’t show up and that human’s fragile heart was broken? Humans were far more sentimental and far more social than dragons; they needed the presence of other sapient beings far more than dragons did, and the loss of a person’s presence when they expected one could do them actual physical damage, or at least Ichtyrios had been so taught.

He didn’t want to harm the human who possibly already loved him and dreamed of being his friend by not showing up for that human to Choose him.

“All right,” he said. “All right, I’ll do it. Take me to the creche for the Choosing. I want to meet the humans.”

“And you’ll take whichever one Chooses you as your Companion for the rest of its life, caring for it through illness, injury and senescence, providing for its every need – including the need to express and receive affection from its Companion?”

Ichtyrios dipped his head. “I’m ready to make a commitment, yes. I want space… and I want to meet whatever human might decide to Choose me.”

“Then follow me,” Ysabriem said. “The Choosing is in two hours. You won’t want to miss it.”

[trashyocstash]

character ref sheet on my oc khutulun, i was “inspired” by the outline for character pages on the clone high wiki lol, and the text from the personality section is from a previous post.

Khutulun 

Age: 18

Gender: Female 

Hair Colour: Black

Race: Asian

Ethnicity: Mongolian 

Religion: Possibly Tengrism(traditional religion of the Mongols)

Family: Khutulun(clone mother), Doris(foster grandmother)

Love Interest: Walt Disney

Nickname: Khu

Khutulun is the clone of the great great granddaughter of Genghis Khan, Khutulun, a princess, wrestler and warrior. She is known for her tale of challenging men who wished to marry her to a wrestling match and them having to give her 100 horses if they lost. She ended up with no husband and 10,000 horses. Khutulun echoes her clone mother's strength through her own skill in wrestling, and other sports.

Biography

Khutulun is one of the jocks, closely associated with the other athletes due to her own strength and athleticism, though she isn't fond of them due to their shallow interest in her. As the clone of a princess, she also is associated with the royal clones, though doesn't like them either for the same reason. Any time she tried to date anyone from either group, she would find their relationship was pretty shallow, with them only being interested in sex, and leaving quickly because they found her too scary, leading her to feel unlovable.

She is viewed as scary by the other students, as she tends to come off as intense and stoic, with her muscular appearance not helping matters. As a result, Khutulun is lonely and has very few friends.

For a while, Khutulun was mostly just a background character, usually seen alongside Genghis Khan. Outside of that, JFK had hit on her before she punched him, and Abe and Gandhi had asked her to help them with getting Genghis to get beer, though she refused to help.

This changed when Jackie decided to approach her, leading to their friendship. Jackie brought her to meet Jim and Walt, and while Jim was scared of her, she hit it off with Walt, leading to them becoming friends and him developing a crush on her. From there, she would continue to visit him, and also was able to become friends with Jim after he apologized to her for his behaviour.

Walt and Khutulun continued to spend time together, with Khutulun inviting Walt to do things with her, and they began to develop feelings for each other. With her past romantic failures in mind, she began to put up a shield with Walt once she realised she was falling in love with him. But Walt instantly took notice and knew something was wrong. Unable to put up a shield anymore, Khutulun confided her problems to Walt, revealing her feelings to him in the midst of it. He revealed he loved her back, and they officially became a couple.

Appearance 

Khutulun is tall, with sleek black hair in pigtails, and muscular. She has beefy arms and occasionally her abs can be viewed as well. Her skin colour is also a slight gray-brown colour and has ears in the same style as Genghis Khan, both hints showing their clone parents were related.

She is usually seen wearing a white top with only one spaghetti strap, blue jean shorts, black leggings, black sneakers and black long fingerless gloves.

Personality 

Khutulun is a strong, tough badass who can and will whoop your ass. However, she isn't going around looking to pick a fight, it's just that crossing her is a really bad idea. She is outwardly pretty confident and assertive as well.

Deep down, she is actually rather lonely. Her poor social skills mean she's always had trouble with interacting with people. Combine that with her toughness and she comes across as intense and scary, which only further drives people away. It doesn't help that Khutulun is someone people are only interested in for sex. They date her for that, but leave quickly because they can't handle her, thinking she's too intense. It makes her feel unlovable and she has self-esteem problems as a result.

For all of Khutulun's toughness and outwardly scariness, she's truly very sweet and kind. This is most evident in her relationship with her foster grandmother Doris, and her boyfriend Walt. She is loving, supportive, caring and understanding. And Khutulun is also fiercely protective of those she loves and cares for. She's also a big hopeless romantic.

Khutulun's athleticism and strength are also intentionally exaggerated. She's all buff, can pretty much play any sport and can lift heavy things with no effort at all. She can also be competitive, but normally not seriously so.

Khutulun also comes off as more of a quiet person, she already knows people are scared of her and worries if she says the wrong thing, it'll only further that. But once she's comfortable around someone, she can be pretty talkative, calm and relaxed.

While Khutulun is a tomboy, she does unashamedly have a feminine side. Growing up knowing she's the clone of a princess helped with that. a badass wrestling warrior princess, but a princess nonetheless. She likes wearing pretty dresses and will happily accept things like flowers and jewelry.

Relationships

Walt Disney 

Walt Disney is Khutulun's boyfriend, and they have a very close and loving relationship. Though their relationship is often questioned due to Walt being a crazy conspiracy theorist, though Khutulun defends it by saying he's treated her better than other guy ever has.

When they met, Khutulun ended up laughing at his theories after he told them to her, and genuinely loved them and wanted to hear more. Walt initially believed she might've been messing with him, but it didn't take long to see she was being genuine with him. Even into their relationship, she continues to love his conspiracy theories, the less they make sense, the funnier they are. Khutulun doesn't believe in any of them, but she will humour him from time to time.

Walt has often dealt with his interests being mocked and ridiculed, and so attempted to hide them from Khutulun. However, much to his surprise and relief, she was actually rather accepting of them, and showed a genuine interest. He in turn, supports her, attending her sports games and cheering her on. 

Khutulun is more than happy to defend him, and thanks to her, Walt no longer deals with bullying.

Both of them have been lonely for a long time, neither having many friends. But together, they don't feel lonely and make each other happier and allowing the other to open up more.

Doris Honeycutt

Doris is Khutulun's foster grandmother, and they have a close relationship. When Doris was given the choice of who to adopt, she found a fussy baby Khutulun, who easily calmed down when in her arms, and Doris knew she was the one she had to adopt.

Khutulun cares for Doris with any problems she has, usually related to her old age, and is protective of her. Khutulun also refers to her as "Grandma".

Doris also was very lonely herself until Khutulun came into her life, never having any children or grandchildren of her own, and now has Khutulun and Toots.

Jackie Kennedy-Onassis

Jackie was Khutulun's first friend outside of Gengis Khan, deciding to befriend her out of believing she wasn't the scary person she was made out to be. After being proven right, she brought Khutulun to meet Jim and Walt, which eventually would lead to Walt and Khutulun's romance.

Jackie and Khutulun also easily bond over both being horse girls.

Jim Henson

Jim initially viewed Khutulun as scary, and was pretty freaked out when Jackie first brought her over. However, Jim changed his mind on her after learning he had unintentionally made her feel like she didn't belong, and apologized to her, allowing them to become friends.

Jim approves of Walt's relationship with Khutulun, though was initially worried when Walt revealed she was the girl she had a crush on out of worrying she'd beat him up. He also is subject to Walt's antics as a result of his relationship with Khutulun, notably hearing them having sex, finding Walt with hickeys on him and having to hear Walt rambling on about her.

Genghis Khan

Khutulun befriended him due to their clone parents being related, and has since grown protective of him. She refused to help Abe and Gandhi use him to get beer, and doesn't like to see people use him for his lower intelligence. Genghis in return sees her as a good friend and easily listens to her. She can also easily communicate with him in ways the other students cannot.

Joan of Arc

As their foster grandparents are together, Joan and Khutulun became aware of each other, and soon became friends. They also like to play basketball together.

Toots

Khutulun likes him and approves of him being with Doris.

Original Khutulun 

Khutulun greatly resembles her clone mother, both being incredibly strong and athletic, and both had/have many men vying for their affections. As a result, it is not a stretch to assume the original Khutulun was beautiful, another trait clone Khutulun shares.

Khutulun greatly looks up to her clone mother and wishes to emulate her strength and athletic ability, which it seems she's done well.

While they are similar, the major difference is original Khutulun challenging men in order for them to marry her, and clone Khutulun being a hopeless romantic.

[bave-de-crapaud]

Never Have I Ever...

PART THREE

(Art by flowsofly​ )

Siruis x reader

Post-Azkaban

Reader is younger

3000+ words

Warnings: swearing, mentions of sex

*disclaimer: all characters are assumed 18+

————————————————————————————

It had been three weeks since the ‘tequila night’ and your feelings for Sirius had not dampened in the slightest. If anything they had grown. Learning about his love of 70s rock music, his distaste for cruelty and exclusiveness, hearing stories from his days at hogwarts and feeling pain for the boy banished by his maniacal parents, he was hands down the most interesting person you had ever met. He was charming, happy, and so very witty. This was so different to the grim, disheveled Sirius you had met only seven weeks ago, and so you were very grateful to the Ministry for finally officiating his innocence. From what you had come to learn about Sirius, he had not deserved his fate yet he blamed no one and was as dedicated as the most faithful soldier to ensure the safety and freedom of witch, wizard, muggle alike. He was the most beautiful and broken man who deserved the world and your heart started to make room for Sirius, not because you felt sorry for him but you admired his integrity, courage, and strength and god he made you laugh. You thought back to that night often. It was incredibly enjoyable but boy did you pay for it the next day at work….

“Here you go, take a swig of this and you’ll be right as rain, well at least a lesser shade of green.” Tonks held out a cup of tea as she sat on your desk and stifled a giggle at your bedraggled appearance. You shot her a look of gratitude. As you accepted the mug she was proffering Tonks cleared her throat -

“So ah, what happened between you and Sirius last night?”

“What do you mean?” You blew on your tea.

“Well I hate to break it to you but he was flirting up a storm with you and I wasn’t the only one who noticed!” She folded her arms in a sort of so there! gesture, her pink hair gleaming.

You smiled at her defiant posture “didn’t you tell me that’s what he does? Flirt?”

“Well…”Tonks unwrapped her arms “…yes he does but that was before Azkaban. Remus said he hasn’t seen Sirius show interest in anyone since he got out, five years ago.”

“Yes but he was still thought guilty by most of the wizarding world, I’m sure the ministry finally recognising him as the innocent man he is has lifted the burden from his shoulders, he’ll be getting back to his old self.” You reasoned sipping your tea.

Tonks considered you for a moment. “Did you not see the plethora of women and men for that matter, approach him last night? And him waving them off only having eyes for you?”

She took your widened eyes and dribble of tea down your chin as a no, you hadn’t noticed that.

“It’s not just last night.” Tonks continued. “He stares at you during meetings when you are not looking, and I heard him ask Remus that he hopes he would get paired with you during missions.”

“Nymphadora! Y/N! Quit your gas bagging and get back to work!”

Tonks waved Moody off and turned back to you as she stood up from your desk. She was smiling now at your frozen expression.

So Sirius Black, may or may not be harbouring feelings for you. This was new.

- - -

Across town Sirius had just woken up, lying face first on his bed fully clothed. He moaned and grasped his head. Sitting up very slowly he gingerly rubbed his temples as he tried to recall the previous evening…

There was Remus and Bill, Harry, his friends and you. He recalled playing a muggle drinking game that you had taught everyone, about who you would rather….oh god! Sirius stood upright. Had he actually asked you if you would rather sleep with him or Bill?! He groaned loudly to the empty room and slapped his hand to his forehead causing himself to stumble back to a sitting position on his bed. “Great…” he mumbled to himself “now she’ll think you are a sleazy old man.”

He didn’t want you to see him as old and pushy he wanted you to choose him all on your own. You intrigued him, you had the moment you walked into your first order meeting. He was, at that point in time, too caught up in his own worries to see it but now he reasoned you had always turned his head. What was it about you? He didn’t know but he wanted to find out. He hoped you could like him, you certainly made him want things, things he had let go since Azkaban but were now popping up and bursting into his subconscious like bubbles in a champagne glass.

He hadn’t felt this light in a long time and it wasn’t just the weight of having the wizarding world unfairly think he was a traitor and a murderer lifted from his shoulders – he had come to terms with that years ago. It was you. You were intelligent, funny, and kind. He liked hearing your take on things and you had definitely proved yourself a capable auror if your mission reports were anything to go by. It was more than that though…

Thinking of last night and how he made you laugh until you were gasping for breath made him want to do other things for you that left you breathless. He couldn’t just come out and ask you – he still felt the age gap and did not want to pressure you – instead he thought he would show you the man he could be and hope that you would see him, really see him beyond the façade of his, admittedly, good looks and reputation.

Sirius laced his fingers together and stretched his arms in front of him dropping his head he looked down and was surprised but pleased to see a hard bulge in his pants: morning wood. The lack of interest in life in general his member had showed these days was a major tell tale sign that no matter how good the physical progress he made, he was still mentally trapped in Azkaban’s clutches.

Sirius smiled to himself, he got up, undressed, and walked to the bathroom; this was going to be a good day. He took his time in the shower letting the hot water jets massage his shoulders, hummed Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect’ as he scrubbed his body and of course, he thought of you.

— — —

Over the next few weeks you noticed a change in Sirius. It started with a smile here and there, looks that lingered a little too long and the briefest of touches; a hand lightly on the small of your back as he moved passed you, an elbow nudging your arm when he joked which now come to think of it was more than frequent. He was friendlier, warmer, and showing you much more attention.

It wasn’t just you affected by this new demeanour. The change in Sirius since his Ministry declaration of freedom was palpable. Order meetings had become everyone’s favourite day of the week. Not only had the company improved, the meals were delicious – if he wasn’t the perfect host before, Grimmauld Place had turned into the height of hospitality, and that man could cook. From grilled salmon, to honey soy ribs, roast chicken, glazed ham, and buttered potatoes. “Sirius this is the best one so far” said Kingsley satisfactorily patting his stomach after finishing an entrée of white wine and garlic mussels as he sat round the grand dinning table at Grimmauld Place one Wednesday night.

“Appreciate it mate, what did you think Y/N.” Sirius turned to you seated at the middle of the dinning table.

It was perhaps unfortunate that at this precise moment you had taken a mouthful and unsuccessfully tried to swallow and answer Sirius at the same time. In your haste you coughed and spluttered before being able to respond with a raspy “It was really good Sirius.” While Arthur Weasley patted you on the back.

Sirius’ grey eyes sparkled and a slow smile formed on his lips. This was one of those times when he looked at you for too long to be considered decent. Aware of your reddening face you turned away.

Try and hold yourself together Y/N otherwise it is going to be a long night! You internally scolded yourself. You had a mission to complete tonight and not an easy one. It was going to be dangerous enough without you starting to choke on your words every time Sirius spoke to you. He had joined you and other Order members on missions for two weeks now, however tonight was going to be just you and him, and you better keep it together and stay cool out there.

———

“How many do you see?” Sirius’ whispered breath caught in the night air.

Lying on your stomach behind a wall of shrubbery you glanced around the fenced park at the shadows of people appearing around you and answered, “five in total: one on your left, two at my 4 O’Clock and two at the park entrance straight ahead of that huge oak.”

As missions go this was by far the most exciting (an dangerous) you had been on. As a junior auror and Order member, you had primarily been sent on reconnaissance missions. Now you had ‘graduated’ to full on stakeouts. This meant tracking and tagging known Death Eater operations, recording their movements and trying to stay out of sight. A rule which didn’t always go to plan.

Graduating to this level of mission also put you in league with the big boys. You were now looking at missions where you would be joining Sirius, Remus, Bill, and Kingsley but tonight was just you and Sirius. Apart from the increasing crush you had on him, Sirius was your favourite Order Member, he was a wealth of knowledge in defence and combat and was more than happy to share some with you. Without a doubt you had learnt more from him in two weeks than two years of auror training.

“Two at the park entrance?” He repeated. “The only inconspicuous exit out of here? If they are Death Eaters then so much for keeping a low profile…ok what should we do Y/N”

~

This was why you loved working with Sirius, he figured that the best way to learn was on the job so every mission you completed with him he treated you like the boss and helped guide you when you were unsure. So far it had been working out well and your tactical skills had improved dramatically. You knew he was building your confidence bit by bit and you appreciated it immensely.

You asked Sirius after an order meeting one night if he minded “tutoring” you, would he not prefer a more ‘seasoned’ partner? He laughed at your term and shook his head swatting his hand back and forth as if waving your concern from the air. He told you his help was payback from the loan of your music collection. - After finding out he loved music from the 70s you went home and raided your fathers shelves for all his classics, Motown to The Rolling Stones. Sirius was delighted and had made his way through most of the old records already. If truth be told Sirius helped you more on missions because seeing you was the favourite part of his day, he really enjoyed your company, actually he more than enjoyed it, he sought it out; offering to complete mission reports with you, suggesting Remus and Tonks stay for a nightcap after meetings in the hope you would too. Even popping into the Ministry with coffee on his way into town just to see you for a minute.

Sirius’ initial intrigue of you was growing in to something much bigger. Sometimes Remus caught his friend looking at you too long or watching the clock tick before Order meetings commenced and he shook his head with alarm. It wasn’t unusual for Sirius to get hooked on a woman but these idle crushes tended to stay as they were, brief moments of lust and like before moving into the next adventure. That’s how he had lived his life before Azkaban. However that was 17 years ago, now he was operating without wires, confused, comparing everything he felt as a 21 year old and it wasn’t adding up. He shouldn’t be thinking of you this much? Memorising your favourite meal to prepare for missions, figuring out that you bit your bottom lip when you are nervous or accidentally finding himself smelling perfumes at a muggle department store to see if he can pick the exact one you wear the same one that made is eyes cloud over with desire and urge him to grab you by the waist and kiss you in front of everyone. He was losing it Sirius thought to himself. He was falling in love thought Remus.

~

Whether this was true or not, it was that very perfume Sirius was inhaling as you both lay on the damp earth peering over a collection of topiary while waiting for you to think of an escape plan.

“We have one main instruction. Regardless of who these men are, do not get our faces seen.” You turned to Sirius. “If we do they will know we have tracked this place and will move locations or speed up their plans before we can intercept, we cannot apparate or they’ll hear it.” You swallowed slowly. While turning to look straight ahead. “We are going to have to try to sneak out of here without magic and without being seen.”

You raised your self to crouching position and Sirius did the same.

Pointing at the large old Oak in the South East corner of the park you breathed “Let’s get behind that tree and make a dash for it when they aren’t looking” You took Sirius’ nod as approval of your plan and stated to move. Looking around you beckoned Sirius to quickly sprint to the cover of the tree’s thick trunk.

Catching your breath you queried, “Why are supposed Death Eaters congregating in a private Park in the middle of London? Only Muggles and residents use this space.”

“They are guarding something and are on the look out for interference judging by the magic- alerts they have placed around the area. Easier to spot wizards in the middle of muggle residents.” He pointed up to several rippling vapers circling the air above the park.

You groaned. You hadn’t noticed these, they would trigger if any unaccounted for magic was used therefore rendering yourself and Sirius at a disadvantage. Perhaps this was why you were selected for this mission – as a muggleborn, you were thought to deal better without magic than other non-muggleborn members. That is a question for another day you reasoned internally as you both settled behind the safety of the tree. It truly was grand, at least four metres thick and who knows how many feet tall.

While Sirius was peering around the side of the trunk you whispered “all we have to do is make it 20-30 metres to that entrance, cross the street and apparate outside the magi-alarms boundaries – preferably out of sight line.” You bit your lip looking at Sirius’ back, god he was well formed: broad shoulders, tall, and from the look of his forearms; muscled under his clothes. Shaking that thought from your mind you pressed further, “What are they doing?” Sirius had clocked the two people standing at the entrance but he still wasn’t close enough to establish if they were indeed Death Eaters. They seemed to be just talking.

“I can’t get a good visual.” he said without taking his eyes of the targets.

“Well is there a chance they that are muggles and we can just walk past like we were taking a night time stroll?” Although you already knew the answer.

Sirius gave you a side smile before gazing back at the direction of your only escape route. “I’d like to think that too, but given the magi-alarms and the fact there are three others prowling over north west side of the park I’d say they are definitely Death Eaters….I’m just not sure which ones. If I could get a closer look then we’d know what kind of operation we are dealing with.”

You had learnt that the bigger and badder the Death Eater, the more important and seriously dangerous their operation. It stemmed from trafficking illegal potions to patrolling the residents’ of Imperious curse victims.

Sirius turned around, back against the trunk next to you. “I think we will be able to sneak out the right side of the entrance, they have moved down towards the parked car on the left, if we could only see their faces to report back.” As he stroked his jaw a twig cracked somewhere in the distance in front of you. You looked at each other. The same thought flashing across each other’s face – there was a sixth man. Fuuuuuuuck!

Adrenaline surged through and your training kicked in allowing you the clarity to take stock of the situation: you were two people in a park at night, dressed as muggles with hidden- but still at the ready- wands. You couldn’t risk being seen, you needed to blend in and become muggles. Or at least appear as such. But how? This was London, many muggles liked to stroll in the park but not usually at night. The only people you had ever seen at the park at night were homeless men, teenagers sipping on a bottle of their parents Christmas sherry and…couples.

You got it. But oh god…how in the utter heck could you do it? The sounds of someone approaching we’re getting louder now and there was nowhere to hide nearby without definitely giving yourselves away. You had to just go for it. Grabbing Sirius’ arm, an arm that was mere millimetres away from his wand, you pulled him until he was standing in front of you. Backed up against the tree trunk you looked at him and quickly muttered “I know this will seem an odd request right now but could you please kiss me?”

- - -

Tag list: @aboutpotter @songforhema @sirius-lysad

[coleconnerhq]

⌠ HARRIS DICKINSON, 22, CIS MALE, HE/HIM ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, COLE CONNER! according to their records, they’re a FOURTH year, specializing in THREAT ELIMINATION + COVERT OPERATIONS; and they DID go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of (trusting blue eyes beneath tousled blonde hair, delicate and precise hands, the scent of leather and soap). when it’s the taurus’ birthday on 05/01/99, they always request their ORANGE SCONE from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation.

                                ｃｌａｓｓｉｆｉｅｄ．

ACCESS: GRANTED FILE NAME: CONNER, C.; 22; ENGLISHMAN

Cole Conner grew up in foggy England all his life, and grew to love the gloomy days and crisp air. He had always been a sharp kid with advanced skills at a young age-- something his parents never understood where it came from. Soon enough, his IQ and academic standing put him under the radar of unique academies in the United Kingdom, who reached out to test and approve him.

This was how Cole learned about the secret world of covert spies living about in the world.

His family was in no way extraordinary or special, and so this chance to make something more of himself lit something in Cole. Once offered a spot in one of the top preparatory schools in England, he jumped at the chance, promising his family he was off to become a scholar who could provide for them, knowing that this was the thing he had been waiting for his whole life. None the wiser, his parents shipped him off to study the craft of an intelligence agent.

Cole began to excel even from the get-go at his new high school, and saw himself earning top marks. He used to always stay quiet and keep a low profile, but soon he was learning how to become more of himself-- proud, smart as a whip, and welcoming of the world around him. He made friends easier, ones who were at his level and understood him better. Strangely, Cole realized he was truly happy for the first time in his life.

Upon graduation, he took a year in between finishing school and university to spend time in the country and enjoy civilian life once more before being accepted to the Caledonia Institute for Young Men, one of the top boy’s schools in the continent. This was where he began to further develop his skills and hone in on covert operations. That was, until the famous Gallagher Academy opened it’s doors to boys.

His mentors advised Cole that he would be remiss not to apply for a spot in one of the greatest schools in history. And to his surprise, he got in. So, now, here he is-- taking in a new country, excited to make even more friends like him, and study under the sword of all Gillian Gallagher has to offer him. He’s honestly just so happy to be here, there’s nothing he wouldn’t have done for this chance.

ACCESS: DENIED FILE NAME: AGENT 27; ACTIVE STATUS

There’s more than meets the eye. Unbeknownst to Gallagher Academy, they’ve got a double agent in their midst.

Cole Conner was the name given to him at ten years old, when a man named Mr. Stewart whisked him away from the orphanage. He told him he had discovered he was a young man of great intellect and skill, and knew that he could be something even greater if he agreed to come with him, promising a safe place to sleep and warm meals every day among other children who were like him. He was sure that had to be better than the tragedy he was currently living, and so he agreed.

This was how Cole learned about the secret world of covert spies living about in the world.

Mr. Stewart came through with his promises of bed and nourishment at his school, so Cole didn’t really mind when they began putting him in more difficult and vigorous classes that tested not only his mental aptitude, but physical aptitude as well. He couldn’t lie, it felt good to continuously find himself at the top of the class, no matter how many dirty looks he got from the other kids. It felt like he had a real purpose, something Cole never knew he needed. Everything he was doing was to become a trained spy.

Once it came time for high school, he was informed he would be heading to one of the top preparatory schools in England. And, though it may very well be, it was absolute hell. The schooling was intense and strict, and the students were taught to be ruthless and perfect. Every day was harder than the last, but Cole reminded himself he was there for a reason. He was smarter and stronger than the boys and girls he’d left behind at his old school. If this high school was tough, it was because it needed to be. Everyone he graduated with would be steps ahead of the other spies in training in the country.

After graduation, Mr. Stewart told Cole he could see great plans in his future, and if he wanted, he could secure him a place at the Caledonia Institute in Oxford. He let Cole know that the institute was where he worked, and could teach him more than he could possibly understand. But if he wanted a place there, he would need to wait a full year to be vetted and approved. Though Cole didn’t entirely comprehend the task before him, he knew in his heart that he had to do it. He had to trust, because if this institute was what would make him great, than that was where he needed to be.

Once the year was up, Cole found his acceptance letter to Caledonia and began his university career at the place that would change his life forever. What this university offered him was a chance to finally become an agent alongside his final schooling years. See, while the Caledonia Institute outwardly presented itself as a regular boy’s college, and secretly operated as an elite school for young spies, it still held more secrets. The undercover spy world doesn’t know it, but this institute covertly runs itself as a real, active intelligence agency. The students there with clearance high enough-- which are few and far between-- are already employed as professional spies, and Cole is one of them. For his first two years, he underwent continued training and schooling, and his third year promised to see him in active duty. He wasn’t sure what his first real mission would be, but he knew he was ready.

Caledonia pulled him aside for his meeting and debriefed him in on the famous American spy school, The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young People. It was revered worldwide, and for the first time ever, the academy was allowing boys to enroll in their school. Cole’s mission was to apply and attend, and assume a new identity. He would gather intel as needed, and report to Caledonia on all the infrastructure, inner workings, and members of the academy. Covert operations? Taking on a new persona and accumulating high-threat intelligence? This was what he knew to do best. Cole accepted.

So, now, here he is-- seemingly fresh-eyed and naive, taking on the role of an eager and excited student, who is friendly to all and so happy to be at Gallagher Academy. But his loyalties lie elsewhere and above all else, Cole has a job to do.

TL;DR - THE FACTS

Cole is a double agent, sent here from a lesser-known English spy school that is also secretly running as an active intelligence agency

He’s presenting as a new student, fresh off the plane from England, ready to study at one of the best schools in the world

He’s very good at his job, so his persona never slips while at the academy, and no one should have any real suspicion that he isn’t who he says he is

He acts like a soft, kind, boy who is always warm, charismatic, and welcoming to those around him, and has no problem making friends

You can often find him reading and studying in the library, hanging out in the common areas, or journaling during his meals

He appears trusting and trustworthy, and is always there to help you out or be a shoulder to lean on

Generally, he just seems like a good guy

Beneath his exterior, he’s constantly analyzing and calculating

He’s got an incredible skill set already, equipped with expert combat knowledge and is advanced in all his studies, but he acts like an average Gallagher student while at the academy

Though he doesn’t entirely dislike the academy, he does see it as incredibly trivial compared to the life he’s already living. He’s sure he’s never going to get used to the place or the people

He’s not evil— he’s aware that the work he’s doing is, well, wrong. But he wants so badly to succeed and be great, that he pushes that aside. Sure the intel he’s gathering could be volatile in the wrong hands, but since he’s not immediately and directly harming anyone, he can look past it

Soon he’ll be able to leave Gallagher and have none the wiser, right?

This is what spies were meant to do, right?

PRESENT

Over the past year and a half, Cole has changed a lot

Gallagher itself has slowly grown on him, showing him true friendship and compassion from people that he hasn’t really felt since his parents died

He’s gained a ton of trust along the way from a lot of the student body, and while he’s been steadily taking down information on them all, he hasn’t sent it off Caledonia

Caledonia, and Mr. Stewart— who is essentially Cole’s adoptive father— have given him reason to doubt, and he’s scared to put the people he now cares about in danger

To this day, he’s still lying, still working as a ‘double agent’, but doesn’t feel the same loyalty to Caledonia anymore, and is trying desperately to figure out how to protect Gallagher from them

To make matters harder, he’s been joined at Gallagher by more Caledonia operatives, who he originally has been trying to sabotage, but he’s now also come to see them as friends

He’s in love with President Sutton’s daughter, Valeria, and she’s the largest reason he’s changed so much, and wants to choose to do good for her

He’s also found a deep friendship in Mary Sakamoto and Owen Musa, and feels the same need to protect them as well

Good luck to him trying to figure this mess out before it blows up in his face

hi!! this is strud, updating cole’s intro and adding a bit of what’s happened to him in the past year and a half!! once again, her is my terrible lovely complicated son, he’s come a long way. find me on discord if you need anything ( strud 💫#5099 )

[velkynkarma]

We only have 3/10 books of the series so far ... but what do you think about a Stormlight Archive AU for the 5+ headcanons?

Oh my goodness yes if there’s one thing I am absolutely certain about it’s Brandon Sanderson novels always make great Voltron Crossover AU’s. This is  longer than 5 for sure, so I’m putting in a cut because it’s Long and I Can’t Stop Myself.

I hope all 2 people who understand this enjoy it

Highprince Alfor is one of the ten Alethi highprinces leading an assault on the Shattered Plains, alongside several others, including Highprinces Zarkon, Blaytz, and Gyrgan. Trigel is also a leading force behind her own army and the Dalterion princedom, but due to the gendred nature of Alethkar and war and combat being considered a man’s profession, she is basically the power behind the highprince’s throne but uses a male figurehead to do the actual warring.

Highprince Alfor is considered rather...unfashionable and perhaps a little scandalous for an Alethi highprince. 

Although like many of his countrymen he is brash enough to rush into battle sometimes without thinking, or considering overall strategy, he also does not fit the Alethi mold completely. He fights alongside his men despite having a shardblade and shardplate, rather than letting them be cannon fodder before he takes on the weakened enemies for the final kills. 

He’s been witnessed treating darkeyes with respect and camaraderie, even as a brightlord and a highprince. 

And perhaps most scandalous of all, there are rumors that he can read, despite it being a distinctly female skill, and that he finds interests in other female areas of study like sciences. 

As a result he’s something of a joke amongst many of the other highprinces, although he remains good friends with Blaytz, Gyrgan and Trigel. 

He and Zarkon used to be good friends and once worked together to unify a great deal of the land into modern Alethkar, but have grown apart after Alfor found Zarkon growing too bloodthirsty even for an Alethi highprince.

Alfor’s daughter, Brightlady Allura, is much like her father. 

Refusing to conform completely to Alethi practice, she does not hesitate to speak her mind about the foolishness of continuing the battle on the Shattered Plains for more than ten years. The games for the gemhearts are ridiculous in her opinion; they should strike quickly and efficiently as a full military force to actually win the battle. Her thoughts on military strategy are often disregarded, as it is not considered a female practice, although Alfor respects her intelligence when it comes to military combat considerably. 

Allura has of course mastered most feminine arts required of her as a Brightlady, including fashion, arts (though she is somewhat lacking here), sciences (her favorite), scholarship, history, music, language, writing, and logic, and she scribes for her father personally. But there are rumors that, like her father, she scandalously disregards Vorin tradition and actually trains in weapons in her spare time, behind closed doors. And not even lighteyed weapons like swords! She trains with common darkeyed things like spears! Allura maintains perfect poise and composure in public, but even so, by now the rumors surrounding House Altea make more than one person regard them like they have no head. 

When intrigue in the warcamps grows stronger and strange things begin happening, Allura begins to attract the attention of certain...otherworldly, conceptual beings. 

Realistically speaking, Allura’s Voltron powers would suggest she would be either an Edgedancer or a Truthwatcher, since either one has access to the surge of Progression, which grants healing and growth powers. Of those, Truthwatcher would probably match more, as it also grants illusion and sometimes future sight, and its spren appears like a shaft or glimmer of light. 

That said, I also adore the idea of Allura being a Bondsmith because can you just fucking imagine her bonding the Stormfather, forming spiritual connections with others, literally doing what she does in canon by bonding large groups into a cohesive whole for one united purpose, and also fucking refueling everyone with Stormlight/Quintessence when they’re on empty like the badass woman she is.

Like seriously just look at the bondsmith ideals. “I will unite instead of divide. I will bring men together.” “I will take responsibility for what I have done. If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” Allura as bondsmith, yes plz.

I like to reforge a little of a story when I do these AU crossovers but honestly, Kaladin’s story is a near perfect match for what I’d do with Shiro, anyway. 

Shiro originally joins the army so he has opportunity to leave his little farming village. Although most assume his Calling is that of a soldier, which is a perfectly respectable male Calling, what he actually wants to do is explore and see the world beyond his village. Joining the army will let him see other places and earn enough spheres to travel on his own once his enlistment is up. 

Unfortunately he is captured in a border skirmish and through increasing bouts of bad luck, ends up as a slave in House Daibazaal’s army. Bridge FourFivebecauseofthelionsgetit is not a great place to be and most people end up as canon fodder during the battles for the gemhearts.

Despite things looking really, really bad, Shiro is still determined to get out of this situation. Alive. With as many people as possible. Running is no good; the soldiers keep a good eye on the slaves. Nobody gives a damn about them; they’re just bridge slaves destined to be used as bait during the gemheart strikes. But Shiro has a way about him of encouraging people to do their best. He looks out for his fellow bridge crew even if they don’t care much about him in return, at first. People just feel like they can live through something if he’s leading them. They trust him. More and more slaves rally to his call and listen to his orders. They start calling him their Champion. Not everyone makes it every time, but more survive than anticipated. A sense of camaraderie starts to form. And even though it would be really easy to give up and abandon them all, or just stop caring every time somebody dies, Shiro doesn’t let himself.

Because of his actions, Shiro starts attracting honorspren, and eventually bonds to one. Because Shiro needs to fly, damn it, and I can’t see him being a Skybreaker; they’re a little too Law and Order levels of paladin. Shiro is definitely a Windrunner. Just look at those oaths! “I will protect those who cannot protect themselves” is literally what he does in canon against Myzax. “I will protect even those I hate, so long as it is right.” Shiro’s done this too in canon; he’s worked with people who had previously been enemies or protected characters that have clearly irritated him.

Keith is originally an orphan who ended up joining the army mostly so he wouldn’t starve to death. He originally is recruited as a page/runner, but in a particularly bad border skirmish he ends up getting put on the front lines, despite having very little training with spears. 

(He does actually have some weapons training, with swords and knives, but he’s a darkeyes, so nobody is supposed to know that. ‘Don’t tell anyone you know how to do this,’ his mother and father repeatedly told him, while he was still alive. ‘They will wonder what rules you broke and you will get in trouble. Don’t ever trust a lighteyes). 

Keith is positive he’s going to die that day, but Shiro actually saves his life on the battlefield. Afterwards, Shiro looks out for him for the six months or so they’re both in the same army together. It’s the first time anybody has ever cared about Keith at all since his parents died and he grows incredibly loyal to Shiro because of it.

When Shiro is captured Keith is devastated and basically tries to go AWOL. He’s caught and reprimanded repeatedly but keeps trying to run, until he’s eventually stripped of rank and cast into slavery. He’s a rebellious slave even then, constantly trying to run, and not worth the time of most slavers, so he eventually gets shipped out to the Shattered Plains where he won’t be able to escape and will probably die as fodder anyway

This ends up working out well for Keith, as he ends up stuck in Bridge Five where the lowest of the low slaves go, and finds Shiro again. He’s immediately OK with it. Bridge Five is awful but he trusts Shiro and he’ll do whatever is needed to support him. Keith is one of Shiro’s first real supporters on Bridge Five and the one that not-so-subtly encourages/forces others to listen to Shiro as well, or at least tries. Shiro usually tells him to back off a little because a team can’t be forced. But others do see that loyalty and that protection and learn to trust Shiro in part because they observe Keith.

Keith also has a secret he hasn’t even told Shiro, at least not right away: Keith owns a Shardblade. It used to be his mother’s (again, very strange for a woman), but when she disappeared the blade was left behind, bond broken. His father took it up, but made Keith promise to bond it and showed him how, in the event that his father died. Keith did as ordered when his father died, hiding the blade away inside his soul before any lighteyes could take it, but he’s very careful to never, ever reveal that he has one. 

Keith doesn’t trust lighteyes at all and is extremely suspicious of them

He actually is the first to recognize the strange things happening around Shiro may, just maybe, be because of Surgebinding. His mother used to tell stories, whenever she showed him her knife, of the Knights Radiant and the old powers they had. He thought they were just stories, but when Shiro starts unconsciously doing these things, he tells Shiro about the knife and starts trying to help him figure out what’s going on.

Once Shiro’s ideals and his strength with his honorspren gets strong enough that the rest of Bridge Five starts developing Windrunner squires in his presence, Keith struggles to come to terms with the fact that he appears untouched by Shiro’s abilities. An Honorspren is a lot to live up to and Keith is afraid he can’t do it. Especially when, as time passes, every time he summons his shardblade he swears he hears screaming...

I would love it if Keith actually gets a similar storyline to Adolin instead, wherein he actually starts to awaken the spren in his inherited shardblade and bonds with whatever type that is instead. Because the knife feels like an extension of him and a partner. It’s the reason other honorspren wouldn’t try to bond with him, though, and the reason he can’t inherit Shiro’s powers when around him. (This would also be a nod to Keith struggling to live up to Shiro as a leader and forming his own way of doing things in canon)

Lance also inadvertently ends up on Bridge Five

Like many lowborn darkeyes, Lance had romantic dreams of going to battle, defeating a shardbearer, and getting to rise to nobility as he became a lighteyes through the shard bond. He planned to take good care of his family after that and never have to work a farm again. So he joins House Daibazaal’s army, for his region.

This didn’t work out out in practice as it turns out shardbearers are terrifying on the field and nobody in their right mind could ever take one down. Lance is suddenly brought to terms with his own morality and tries to desert. Unfortunately he gets caught and ends up as a slave on the Shattered Plains, shunted into Bridge Five. Where people go to die, basically, so he’s terrified.

That’s when he meets Shiro, who he looks up to almost right away. Because Shiro is just good at taking care of everyone on Bridge Five, and makes him feel like maybe, just maybe, he could live through this and see his family again.

That’s also when he meets Keith who he hates because what is this guy’s deal he’s a jerk. (But they do eventually learn to get along)

Lance is forced to come to grips with his own initial cowardice and he initially hates himself for it. He resolves to be stronger and do better, especially with a role model like Shiro to look up to. Even if they’re in the absolute pit of humanity they don’t have to act like it. They can still do their best. He’s also a little jealous of Keith at first, who never seems to be scared of anything even down here as a bridge slave, which sparks his rivalry with him to start. 

When Shiro starts developing powers and the rest of Bridge Five starts inheriting dregs of them as squires, Lance is also seemingly incapable of getting those powers. It’s actually one of the ways he manages to bond better with Keith, when they both commiserate over being unable to do what Shiro can even though they’re both trying so hard in their own ways.

In actuality Lance is just destined to bond with a different kind of spren, but he has to realize who he really is first and what his Ideals actually are before he can recognize that or be recognized by a spren in turn. 

I kind of like the idea of him being an Edgedancer, but Willshapers are described as having a “love of adventure, novelty, or oddity" and that they are "capricious, frustrating, and unreliable,” which could also match Lance. Although it’s hard to say since we haven’t seen their powers in action yet soooo...maybe it wouldn’t be a good match.

Pidge is another one that has a lot of parallels to Shallan to the point when half the story is going to be the same despite my best efforts, really

Pidge used to be a dutiful daughter and acted as the scribe for her father and brother, who did a lot of exploration and traveling work. However they mysteriously disappear in one of the cities, at the same time a lot of other people start to go missing

Pidge, alarmed but suspicious, starts doing more research and starts finding some frightening details that are curiously relevant between the disappearances and some terrifying lore from old stories.

No one believes her but she is convinced that a lot of weird things happening indicate some seriously dangerous turn of events with some very dark and evil beings. She even begins to suspect the battle at the Shattered Plains might not be what it seems; in fact, it might be a distraction from the real purpose. 

She determines to head for the Shattered Plains. That seems to be the heart of everything, based on her research. One way or another, going there will help her find her brother and father again, and she can warn people there that dangerous things are coming. 

People aren’t willing to believe her (or her newfound friend, Hunk) when she goes there at first, especially because she’s lowborn. However, Brightlady Allura takes a keen interest in what she has to say and gives her a place to stay, and Highprince Alfor takes her seriously. 

While digging into the darker things and researching into some very unsettling information, Pidge attracts the wrong sort of crowd with the Ghostbloods. 

She also attracts a spren of her own, and honestly I can’t see her being anything other than a Lightweaver like Shallan, because c’mon. Illusions? The ability to restructure things into other things? Pidge spends half her time in canon pretending to be somebody else, sneaking around, and messing around with science. This is absolutely up her alley. Lightweaving also commonly gifts an extraordinary memory or aptitude for precise details, which Pidge has displayed in spades.

Hunk has always had an interest in distinctly ‘female’ skills and pursuits, like cooking, sciences, and general academia, while he never shown particular interest in more masculine pursuits, like politics or combat. As such, Hunk eventually choses to join the Ardentia, which traditionally grants its members a genderless position in society and the right to pursue skills traditional to both genders.

Hunk isn’t actually all that religious--he just really wanted to learn cooking (and to be able to try sweet female foods as much as spicy male foods), and to study sciences. He also enjoys reading and writing and just learning in general.

Hunk is originally content just working at the temples and getting to learn cooking and to study to his heart’s content in his spare time. It’s a nice, safe, easy life and he gets to enjoy it. 

Unfortunately once a young woman named Pidge starts entering the temples asking some very dangerous, on-the-edge-of-blasphemy questions about the Unmade and general theological debate, and insinuating some dangerous things about the war in the Shattered Plains, things start to get less comfortable.

Despite everything Hunk can see Pidge has some good points. She’s sharp, good at logic and makes for decent conversation about all sorts of topics. Her arguments aren’t unfounded even if they are uncomfortable. When she points out that this could be dangerous for all of Roshar, including his family and anyone he might ever care about, he grudgingly agrees to help her try to make her case. So he travels to the Shattered Plains with her.

Once on the Shattered Plains he ends up becoming an ardent specifically tied to House Altea, so he’s under their protection, since some of the edge-of-blasphemy questions he asks (or supports Pidge on) get him in a bit of trouble with the order. It’s okay though, everyone else here is so scandalous or unconventional he feels like he fits right in.

The full team does eventually meet up in the middle of a battle and Bridge Five does eventually join House Altea, though I have no idea under what circumstances. It’s honestly hard to top Kaladin’s rescue in The Way of Kings. 

Ask me for AU Headcanons!

[sassycassie-s-writing]

Seal the Promise

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): DC, Young Justice - Kaldur’ahm/Aqualad

Rating: PG/K+ (for le very minor smoochy-smoochy)

Original Idea: IDK I read this thing and realized I needed to give Kaldur a little love on this blog because he’s a great character.

Notes: (Masterlist)(By Character)(About Me) I literally wrote this in a few hours because it just came to me (the shower is a great place for stimulating creativity). It takes place between S1 and S2 (like maybe 3 years after S1?) because I haven’t seen S3 yet. I feel like this one has the potential for one or two more parts. Any thoughts? @welovegroot (I know it’s not BatFam but we both like YJ so I’m tagging you)

^^^^^

“Psst!” I could have sworn I heard someone whispering my name.

I turned, looking around for the noise. I was alone in the Atlantis magic school courtyard. No one else was there. It was late and I’d been studying for hours, leaving me completely by myself. “He-hello?” I called quietly. “Is someone there?” Slowly I swam over to inspect behind the pillars.

“Don’t tell me you don’t remember this from our childhood,” said a deep voice as a hand closed over my mouth to stop my scream. The arm that belonged to it brushed the gills on my neck.

I gasped through my open gills and whirled around. “Kaldur?!” I hissed. “What—How—why—?!”

Kaldur put his hand over my mouth again. “Shh! No one can know I’m here.”

I pulled away from his hand. “Kaldur what are you doing here? If anyone sees you here you’ll be arrested—”

“I need you to listen to me very carefully. I’m not what Atlantis believes me to be. I’m not actually a traitor. I’m a double agent in order to learn more about Black Manta. No one can know. You cannot tell anyone. Do you understand?”

I nodded. “I got it.”

“Good. Because I need your help. The team on the surface needs your help.”

“Uh… Kaldur… I don’t know if you’ve noticed but… I’m… me. I can’t go to the surface.” I gestured to my long blue fish tail. “I don’t have legs.”

“No, but you’re advanced enough in magic to give yourself legs.”

“Kaldur, I… I don’t know.” I shook my head.

“Please. For me. All you need to do is go to Happy Harbor in New England. It has a massive mountain on the north end of the bay. Tell the one called Nightwing that I sent you. He will immediately know what to do.” He held my forearm and shoulder urgently. “Please.”

I sighed and looked down at his chest. He was dressed almost the way he used to be before he betrayed Atlantis—or rather, “betrayed”—to join Black Manta. But just different enough that no one would initially realize it was him. “I’ll… I’ll try, Kaldur. Because you’re one of my best friends. But… I can’t make any guarantees about how well it may go. Or that I’ll even be… be able to… to give myself legs. What if I can’t get my tail back?”

“I have faith in you,” Kaldur said.

“That makes one of us,” I muttered.

Kaldur reached up and picked up the pearl on my necklace between his forefinger and thumb, twisting it back and forth on its chain before letting it fall on the webbing between his fingers so he could examine it. “I’ve thought of you often since Tula’s death,” he said. I looked away, blinking the sting of sorrow at the memory of loss out of my eyes. He pinched my chin and turned my head to face him again. “I know she was one of your best friends.”

“I’ve thought of you often as well,” I agreed. “And... I know how much you loved her.”

Kaldur’ahm smiled forlornly. “This is where you tell me that my love for her was childish.”

I shook my head. “Not anymore. When we were younger my words on the subject were born of a jaded cynicism my parents imposed on me that I’ve spent years trying to unlearn since I’m naturally more of an optimist. Those words were also, at the time, born of a jealous, selfish desire to have you for my own. A desire that I grew out of.” I met his eyes with honesty. The only lie was that I’d grown out of that desire. I most certainly had not.

My words earned me a gentle grin. “It pleases me to see you so grown-up. Though it saddens me that I’ve not been here to witness it.” He brushed some of my hair out of the way as it drifted through the water.

“Yeah. I… I really missed you, Kaldur,” I said. “It devastated me to hear you betrayed Atlantis.”

“I suspected as much. Hence why I’m telling you the truth now,” he said.

Movement caught my eye. “Oh shrimp,” I hissed.

Campus security.

I pulled my hair and swirled it up to cover my head—and Kaldur’s. I slid my fingers around the back of his neck and pulled him closer to me. “Kiss me,” I whispered.

“I beg your par—“

“Just do it,” I replied. “Trust me.”

He did, letting his lips meet mine. I could feel his fingers tangle in some of my hair. I yanked him and pressed his back against one of the pillars where it would be harder for the guards to see who he was. His bare feet brushed against the scales of my tail as I pushed him firmer against the pillar. With my tail, he and I were the same length. However my torso was much shorter than his so I imagined that if I got legs—which I was fairly certain weren’t as long as my tail and fluke—I would be quite a bit shorter than him.

“You there!” a guard called. “Campus is closed.”

I pretended to be embarrassed at getting caught, pulling away from the kiss with a bubbly sigh out my nose, but keeping my hair upward to block Kaldur’s face from view. “We just, uh, finished studying for our exam that’s tomorrow. We were just… heading home,” I said.

“Well, get a move on,” the other guard said.

“Yes sir!” I said with a bit of a squeak. Both guards kept swimming and disappeared. “C’mon, Kaldur. It’s not safe here for you.”

“It’s not safe for me anywhere in Poseidonis,” Kaldur pointed out as I checked to make sure the coast was clear before pulling him along by the wrist away from the magic school. It could have been the bad night lighting, but I could have sworn he was blushing. I should have given him more warning before ordering him to kiss me.

“There is one place you’re safe here,” I said.

“Is that right? Where?”

“My place.” I swam through the city cautiously before we made it back to the small grotto apartment where I lived after I moved out of my parents’ place. I pushed Kaldur in ahead of me and then shut the door. “It’s not much, but no one ever visits so no one would find you here.”

“Always so kind to me,” Kaldur said. I glanced at him over my shoulder.

“You’re one of my best friends, Kal,” I muttered. If anyone else called him Kal they’d get a water-hammer to the gut. But I’d known him long enough that he begrudgingly let me call him Kal rather than Kaldur.

I opened a storage cupboard and held out some food. “Care to take a meal with me?”

He accepted it. “I would consider it an honor.”

I smiled and floated against the ceiling, letting my back brush it while I ate. Kaldur was used to me being weird and eating on the ceiling so he didn’t comment on it. I preferred the ceiling because I could relax and just float without putting forth any effort to keep me in one place underwater.

“How is Garth?” Kaldur asked quietly after swallowing a bite.

“Still hurting,” I said. “He and Tula were pretty happy together. Losing her cut deep.”

“I understand.”

“You really think I can help your old team on the surface?” I wondered.

“I have no doubt of it. You are a skilled magic-wielder and an incredibly intelligent young woman regardless of your magical prowess. Nightwing will understand why I’ve sent you.”

“What am I supposed to tell the queen when I say I’m not going to show up for lessons? And Garth? And the king? And my parents?”

“I’m sure you will come up with something cleverer than anything I could imagine, but I would recommend you say you wish to do some soul-searching. You could say that you want to broaden your horizons on the surface team for a while if you don’t want to lie too many times. I suppose you could say nothing and just disappear for a while.”

“I could but… if I can’t give myself legs on my own I might need the queen’s help.”

“Indeed,” Kaldur said quietly. I finished my meal and pushed off the ceiling to float near him. I wrapped my arms around his torso and rested my head on his chest.

“I miss you, Kaldur,” I said quietly. I love you, I added silently.

“And I you,” he agreed. His free hand rested on the back of my head. “When all this is over, I promise you and I will take the time to catch up.”

I kissed his cheek. “That seals the promise. We better.”

That earned me an amused chuckle. “We will. I’ve already missed out on too much of your life since I’ve been away.” He kissed my cheek as well. “That seals the promise.” He glanced at the singular glass window in the open living area of my apartment. “I should go before the sun rises. Escape in the cover of darkness.”

“Want me to lead you to the edge of the city?”

“No. I want you to stay safe, here.”

I sighed. “Okay. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise.” A kiss of promise was pressed to my forehead. “And when all this is over, I will return to you.”

“You better. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Kaldur. My friends are my everything.”

“I completely understand.” He took my hand in both of his as he swam to the door of my grotto apartment. “I’ll be careful. And I’ll see you again when all this is over.”

“I’ll see you when this is over,” I agreed.

“Thank you for the meal and the company.”

“No problem. Thank... thank you for coming back to see me. And telling me the truth. Oh, and by the way, you’re a really good kisser.”

A faint dusting of pink darkened his skin. “I, uh… thank you.”

“Sure thing,” I said, squeezing his hand.

He smiled, released my hand, and slid out.

I blinked the sting of sorrow at losing him again out of my eyes, sobbing without tears and curling up on the floor of my grotto to release my emotions into the sea around me. Exhaustion after hours of studying didn’t help me either. After a few minutes I swam to my sleeping quarters and passed out. I had my exam tomorrow and then… I guessed I was heading for the surface.

“I won’t let you down, Kal. I promise,” I said, blowing a kiss toward the edge of the city to seal the promise.

[mister-lucky-bunny]

New Adventures From The World of Twelve

Hey guys! New fanfiction, and this time it’s Wakfu related! While not featuring any of the characters from the TV show, I wanted to do the formula of “One Adventure a Day” with a few OCs! I may post pictures of them later, but for now here’s chapter one. Let me know what you think and please enjoy!

Description:  After a Iop woman gets separated from her patrol unit, she vows to go find them again, with the help of a new friend. The question is, what will the two of them encounter on their expedition?

New Adventures From The World of Twelve

Chapter 1: The Hidden City

The World of Twelve. A massive, seemingly endless world of potential adventures, always changing, and constantly growing. Despite the biggest nations of the World still being as populated and busy as they ever were, the little towns and even smaller villages kept changing and growing as well. New ones formed and old ones died, as time is a slave to no creature.

Among these places, one city was grown from the top of a mountain, hidden away by numerous trees, large enough to make Sadida himself proud. The mountain peak itself was quite large, if flat. It was fortunate, because this laid out easy ground work for buildings and people to reside. It would take a lot of time, but in the end, the village itself became self sufficient, not requiring the assistance of any other nation or town. Deceptively bigger than it looks, there are not any living souls from any other town that has come to visit in many many years.

To those who live in this isolated place, it is known simply as "The Hidden City". It has become an unspoken rule between all citizens that no one was to leave the premise of the mountain. Not only would it be dangerous, seeing as how the forest was home to many creatures, but if they were to meet anyone else, they would undoubtedly give away the location of the city, therefore sullying the land with outsiders. The ruler of the city was quite xenophobic, and by spreading his own beliefs onto the other citizens, it quickly became a common mindset. Some would call it brainwashing, in a sense, but others would merely call it paranoia.

Thankfully, this mindset wouldn't truly affect everyone, and for the most part, history of the World of Twelve was still taught in the school. The life in the city lived on as peacefully as it could, living on it's own style of economy. Kamas were used, sure, but not always necessary. Sometimes, if two people knew each other, they were bound to do a simple trade, or even receive whatever they were buying for free. Life went on in the city as it always would, with everything else around them doing the same. Nothing special, nothing incredibly new or ground breaking. Just the same old city.

At least, until one day when someone discovered the Hidden City.

_______________________________________________

Iops are not renowned for their intelligence. That was a common fact. Their bravery and courage is unending, though, always wanting to prove their honor out on the battlefield. While being incredibly skilled in battle, it should definitely be known to not provide one with a map, as more often than not, they will end up lost, unable to even know how to decipher it.

That was how Faetard, a tall, nicely toned, turquoise haired Iop, ended up. As she trudged along the forest ground, her eyes never wandered from the map she held in front of her. Of course, she had no idea that she was holding it upside down, but her peripheral vision kept her from bumping into any rocks or limbs or trees that were in her way. Either that or she was just lucky and oblivious. Faetard was part of a group of Iop patrollers, who were out roaming around the country side to look for any trouble that could be brewing. She was part of of a group of four others, all of whom were as well trained as she was (and as intelligent, given her race).

It wouldn't be until she finally pulled her somewhat vacant gaze away from the map, looking around in confusion. With an exasperated sigh and a shake of her head, she moved her hands to her hips, clucking her tongue in disappointment. "Man, I really can't count on those guys, can I?" She said aloud to herself, lisping her words a bit (getting your front teeth knocked out while fighting will do that) as she continued on her trail, her large chest puffed out in pride. "Not that I should be surprised, I suppose. They always end up lost whenever I take charge," She rambled on, keeping her pace up. Despite the heavy forestation of the area, she could still tell from the small amount of light dwindling away from between the leaves that night would soon fall, and she had to find someplace to rest.

The mountain she was moving up was quite steep, however, and didn't allow even the smallest bit of flat land for her to lay down on. Faetard kept climbing, not wanting to spend another night sleeping on a rock. They weren't comfortable. Not only that, but it tended to make her brushed back, clover styled hair messy. It took a long time to get it to stand straight out like that! Even though she was tall and exceptionally strong, the Iop wasn't a fan of roughing it outdoors when she didn't need to. It didn't help that, despite wearing thin, standard patrolling clothing. She also had to drag around heavy metal boots, as well as metal elbow and shoulder armor. She kept her metal gauntlets on as well, which she was just barely keeping up due to how tired she was beginning to feel. As her fists swung down to her sides, she began to slow, groaning a bit. "The outdoor sucks," She complained, stopping for a little break on the mountain.

Faetard wouldn't give up, though. It wasn't the Iop way to just give up. With a loud rumble from her stomach, she looked down and rubbed it, groaning. "Don't worry, old friend, I know there has to be something to eat around here." She kept climbing, gripping the rocks in front of her with her feet to keep herself from tumbling back down. "If only the rest of my team was here... and if I hadn't eaten all our supplies a few hours ago." Her knees shook with each step she took, almost ready to fall under her own weight, rapidly starting to grow weak from hunger and exhaustion.

The smell of something rather delicious gave her a burst of energy, her eyes quickly darting up the mountain she was climbing. Sure, it was very large, and the trees that often got in her way didn't help with navigating, but she knew the smell of fish! Or was it beef? Maybe even Gobball? Whatever the case, the Iop quickly hurried up the mountain, her stomach gurgling loudly as more thoughts of food entered her mind. Where there's food, there's an inn!

Faetard continued up the mountain until she finally reached the peak. Her hands quickly pulled herself up over the rocky edge, and she gained her footing. Thankfully, she was finally on flat ground, so long as she didn't lose her balance and fall backwards. Her eyes widened upon seeing a large, thriving city hidden away on top of the mountain, surrounded by a thick forest. The sun was starting to set, the dull glow of orange slowly making way for the heavy veil of dark blue, welcoming the stars and the moon in the sky to the city. From what she could see, there were still a few people walking around, although none had taken any notice to her for the time being.

Rather than worry about that, she continued on the trail to find where the heavenly smell of food was coming from. She would need a fully belly before she could find her unit, anyways. That and a good nights' sleep. And then a big breakfast.

__________________________________________

"Pair of sevens." Came the voice of the Pandawan tavern keeper, Maxie. For what seemed to be the fifth time this month, he was playing a game of cards to make a certain regular of his finally pay for a meal. The only downside was that said regular was an Ecaflip. Relying solely on their own fate and luck, Ecaflips never turn down an opportunity to gamble. Especially when it lead to getting something for free.

Malucard, while not particularly talented, was exceptionally lucky at games. While not surprising, he had somewhat of a reputation for bringing bad luck to any other opponent that dared to try and best him at gambling. The Ecaflip himself was slender and tall, though his grey, stripped coat was quite long, making him look fluffy. His black hair, while quite long, was kept back in a braided ponytail. The Ecaflip wore simple, if shabby, looking clothing, keeping four pouches around his waist. He also had one of his fangs hanging out in a bit of a snaggletooth on the right side of his mouth. His yellow eyes were bright, visible even through the dim light of the tavern.

With his tail still as a board behind him and his face as neutral as he could keep it, Malucard flipped down his hand. "Two eights. I win." A grunt of annoyance came from the Pandawa as the Ecaflip took a sip from his drink, leaning back in his chair.

"Jeez, I never learn my lesson, huh?" Maxie mused, getting up from his seat after taking a long drink from his own tankard, quickly emptying it. "I swear, though, one of these days I'll beat ya in a game, Malucard."

The cat gave a shrug, using his hands to reshuffle the cards back into the deck. "Maybe. Until then, I'll go ahead and take that free meal, if you please," He replied, flashing a small smirk up at him. With another small grumble of irritation, the tavern keeper walked back to behind the counter looking into the kitchen.

"Hey, get me a fried fish special-" Maxie was cut off suddenly, the entire atmosphere of the tavern quickly becoming quiet and tense. It wouldn't be a surprise that everyone's attention was now on the Amazonian Iop woman who just burst through the door. Numerous eyes were in confused fright of the large woman, who was walking right to an empty spot at the bar, oblivious to the looks she was receiving. From the way they were looking at her, they must've never seen a Iop before!

In fact, the Hidden City was actually exempt from having a few races, Iops being one of them. This one was quite a spectacle, too. While the most common looks she received were unwelcome, wary glances, a couple others looked her over with a look of fascination. Mostly towards her body, since she decided to show off quite a bit of it. Malucard himself was quite wary. This girl was definitely an outsider, and a very strong looking one at that. He himself was tall, standing at around six feet. But this Iop stood at least one head taller than him, around six feet, seven inches, if he had to guess. With those large muscles, she looked like a force to be reckoned with.

A bit of her threatening look was cut down slightly as she placed an order, speaking with a noticeable lisp. "Hey, keeper! I'll take the biggest meal you provide, along with a drink to match!" Faetard ordered eagerly, still quite oblivious to the fact that she had just made the whole atmosphere awkward. Maxie raised an eyebrow to the Iop, a small grimace forming on his face. Money was money, however... if she paid. He turned back to the kitchen, murmuring an order of something called "The Warrior's Platter".

While she waited for her meal, Faetard looked around the whole tavern, a big dopey grin on her face. It certainly was as typical as taverns went, but still, any place she hadn't been to was an adventure to her, no matter how small it was! As Maxie set down a glass of ale in front of her, she quickly took it and drank a big gulp from it.

It wouldn't be long until the Iop received her food, having it delivered to her as Malucard got his. Faetard immediately began to dig into the large platter of meat before her, chewing loudly and even grunting as she pulled off strips of flesh from the bone. "So... who might you be?" Maxie asked bluntly, curious of this large, imposing outsider. The Ecaflip ate his own dinner, keeping an ear shifted towards the conversation. He was quite certain that a few others were doing the same.

Looking up from her dinner, her mouth still full of food, she began talking. "I am Faetard, Head Scout of the Iop Army!" Naturally, food would spray from her mouth, making a bit of a mess on the counter, as well as Maxie's face. With an displeased look, he wiped the mess off of his face. He would tell her off about acting in such crude table manners, but in a Iop's case, this kind of behavior probably was good manners.

"I see..." Maxie murmured, eyeing her over as she continued to chow down. He knew better to hold his tongue and not upset her with too much sarcasm (not that she'd catch it anyways). Still, how she ended up in their city when they've never even seen an outsider before was somewhat suspicious. "You know, we've never had an outsider visit this city before. Not many folks take kindly to them..." He trailed off cryptically.

At this point, Fae managed to stop eating for a second, her mouth still full of food she turned and looked around at the small audience she unknowingly created. Many people were still staring at her in shock and curiosity, though plenty of them had scowls of displeasure on their faces. They figured the faster that this Iop left their city, the better. Malucard wasn't one of these people, though he was still puzzled by her presence.

Faetard swallowed her large mouthful and turned back to Maxie, smiling as big as ever. "Well that's a shame! Must get pretty boring when you don't get to see anything new from time to time," She replied, taking another big bite from a roast leg of Gobball. "Pretty neat city, though, I gotta say. If I could find the rest of my patrol unit, I'd be able to show them, too!" Some of the people started to murmur to themselves. The one thing that they most certainly did not want was this Iop-Brain showing their city off to more outsiders.

What caught Fae's attention, though, was the light scoff of someone who wasn't the tavern keeper. While Maxie did roll his eyes and shake his head in disbelief of the stupidity of this girl, Malucard had taken the opportunity to voice a thought in his mind. "If they're nearby, the wildlife would've gotten to 'em first..." He trailed off, taking a sip from his drink. She had turned his head to him, somehow managing to hear him.

Faetard gave the first semblance of a frown, looking quite prideful as she straightened up (an action that was lessened due to the fact that she had food covering her face). "I'm pretty sure a Iop patrol unit can handle a bit of wild animals," She huffed. "Besides, it's not like I came across anything anyways. It was quite peaceful."

At this, Malucard raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled. 'That's odd,' He'd think to himself. 'Boowolves roam around the woods at night, and lots of them. If she didn't see any, then something must've scared them away. Something big.'

Maxie was also voicing this towards the Iop. "Nothing? No Boowolves, feral Bow-Wows, not even a Piwi?" Faetard scrunched up her face as she began trying to remember her journey. Rocks, trees, more trees, the mountains, the smell of food, the eating of the food...

"Uhhm... nope. Nothing," She said finally with a shrug. "Is that a bad thing or something?"

The large Pandawa crossed his arms, looking quite serious. "Possibly. If you couldn't see anything out there, then something must've scared everything away."

A sudden movement of her chair being pushed back as she stood up, her large height being reaffirmed by everyone nearby as terrifying. With one fist against her hip and the other up in the air, threatening to punch a hole in the ceiling, she began speaking in a very important tone. "Fear not! I, Faetard, will vanquish this beast, wherever it may be! No evil creature will continue living as long as I'm around!" In a haste, the Iop woman turned and ran out of the tavern, her large boots shaking the entire foundation of the tavern.

Malucard stood up out of his own chair, an eyebrow raised as he watched her walk back into the woods. At night. "What th- you'll get eaten alive out there! There's no way you can take on anything that dangerous when you can't see!" A few other patrons looked in his direction now. Maxie did as well, a small grin growing on his face, an eyebrow raised. When Faetard didn't do anything to acknowledge him or even turn around, he groaned and adjusted his pouches, quickly pulling on a cloak that hung on the back of his chair and following after her, against his better judgment.

The Pandawa stayed put, unable to pull his own eyes away from the door. He wanted to find it strange that Malucard was willing to do something like follow a complete stranger out into the woods at night, but he knew better. The Ecaflip was always like that. With a sigh, he poured himself another drink. Right as the drink touched his lips, his eyes shot open, quickly slamming the drink down. This startled a few patrons even more, though this didn't stop him from shouting, "Damned Ogrest, she didn't pay!"

_____________________________________

Despite the fact that she was having trouble seeing a lot, Faetard kept walking around, her eyes to the ground below her. While she would indeed run into a few trees from time to time, she truly believed she was onto something! After all, these foot prints she discovered were quite large, most likely from something heavy. Smart too, from the looks of it. After all, these prints went in a circle. Most likely to throw her off it's trail. Clever...

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two bright yellow lights. Eyeballs! This had to be the creature, no doubt about it! With a loud yell that would give away any stealthy advantage she had, she leaped towards the source of the yellow eyes. "Prepare to fight, beast!" She hollered, quickly body slamming the thing into the ground. As she began to wrestle with it, she began to wonder how something so skinny and bony could scare off a bunch of creatures.

It wasn't until she heard the choke of the thing underneath her body that she realized this most certainly wasn't the beast. "Ghhk! Gerroff..!" The dark colored Ecaflip gasped out. He was scrambling and scratching at the ground, trying to pull himself out from underneath this heavy Iop.

"Oh whoops! Uh, sorry about that," Faetard said, quickly stumbling off of him. She then pulled him up with one hand in an effortless manner, which only dazed the already dizzied Malucard more. "Keep on your toes, though! I sense that the beast is somewhere around here."

Once he finally gathered his bearings, the Ecaflip shook his head, pulling away from her, with more success this time. "Look, you're weird, and obviously don't know where you are. But we shouldn't be out and about at night," He began explaining. "If it gets bad enough that whatever is out there attacks our city, the guards will handle it." He began to turn his body back towards the entrance, looking back at her as if encouraging her to follow. "How about you go to the guards and tell them and let them handle it instead?"

A loud laugh came from the Iop, cracking her knuckles. "What, and let them have all the fun?" Before the Ecaflip could voice his incredulous opinion on this matter, the two were interrupted by loud howling. Very loud. Neither one had no idea how big this thing was, but it sounded like it was quite close to the two. The two blinked and looked to each other. "I think it's close by," Faetard said.

"Then we need to go before it finds us!" Malucard whispered harshly, looking frightened and ready to high tail it out. Instead, Faetard gripped the Ecaflip's wrist and ran towards the source of the noise, much to his chagrin.

"I think it's the other way around! Hope you're ready for a fight," She exclaimed, already prepared to face whatever was out there. Malucard stared at her in utter disbelief. What was wrong with this girl?! He stumbled trying to keep up with her, but thankfully managed to stay on his feet for the most part.

It wouldn't be long before the two of them came across a clearing. Faetard figured that she must not have walked through it on her way up the mountain. Despite the fact that they were on a slope, the surrounded trees and plants were stomped down and torn apart, making everything look messy. Unfortunately for the both of them, the culprit of whoever deforested this part of the woods was still there, and it was standing right in front of them. Standing at an intimidating nine feet tall was something like looked like a Boowolf, but stood on it's two hind feet. It's claws were massive, about the size of Malucard's forearm. It's fur was unkempt and dirty, it's eyes glowing a bright red aura. A mixture of drool and blood dripped from it's massive maw, snarling it's large yellowed teeth.

"It's a Boowerewolf!" Malucard screamed out, his whole body shaking in fear. If it weren't for the fact that the Iop had a tight grip on his wrist, he would've ran like Hell. However, Faetard looked as determined as ever, finally letting go of him as she prepared her gauntlet armored fists.

"So, you thought you could terrorize the local wildlife and the city, huh? Time to teach you a lesson, foul creature!" Suddenly, the Iop would do a running leap towards the large creature, using her right fist to throw an incredibly painful looking jab in the Boowere's jaw. It let out a bark of pain, the force of her punch sending it a good couple of yards back. Faetard then latched herself onto the snout of the beast, continuing to beat against it's jaw with both fists. While it definitely hurt the lycan, it wasn't out of the fight just yet. It quickly gripped onto the Iop, making sure to hold her tightly so she couldn't escape. Before she could do anything, he threw her into the closest tree that was still standing, which was a few yards away. She yelled the whole time she flew, slamming directly into the tree. Dazed and knocked out for a little, she slide down to the base, not able to get up.

Malucard watched in awe and fear as the Boowerewolf made it's way over to her, taking it's time to savor cornering it's prey. It hadn't noticed the Ecaflip yet, giving him the perfect opportunity to escape and go get help. However, something was keeping him from doing just that. If he ran to get help, he was leaving this girl to get mauled. Who knew how long it would take for more help to arrive? But what could he do? He didn't even know how to fight, let alone a giant lycanthrope. He had to think of something quickly, though. Malucard gulped and felt around his pockets and pouches for something- anything- that could be of use.

He pulled out a single card from the deck he kept in his pouch. The ace of hearts. With the other hand, he reached to the ground and picked up a stone. Not big enough to do any actual damage to the Boowere, but that wasn't his goal. Giving a silent, small prayer to Ecaflip, Malucard reared his left arm back and threw the stone at the Boowerewolf's head. It smacked right against the back of it's skull, not effecting it in the slightest. The sensation would register, though, as it stopped in place and slowly turned it's head, trying to find out who, or what, just did that.

Before it could do anything about the rock throwing Ecaflip, Malucard threw the card that was in between two fingers in his left hand. With a certain flick of the wrist, and thanks to the wind being just right, the card spun and flew directly into the wolf's eye. The werewolf howled in pain, reaching up to slap a hand over it's pained eye, quickly pulling the card out and clenching it. Clearly it had hurt. Malucard couldn't help but grin a little as he managed to actually do something. His smile quickly turned into an expression of fear, though, since the Boowerewolf was now looking directly at him with it's one good eye, snarling in rage. It was obvious that it did not like that.

Fortunately for the Ecaflip, the Boowolf was distracted long enough for Faetard to regain her bearings and get back on her feet. Seeing the lycan's back turned, she took this as an opportunity to leap up and scream out, "I've got you now!" With both large, muscular legs wrapped around it's thick neck, choking it slightly, she began to bang both fists against it's head. Since she mostly aimed for the eyes, which injured and disoriented the lycan even more. It's only good eye now being punched in, Malucard was given another chance to do something.

The closest thing he had to an actual weapon was a small pocket knife. He flipped it out and hurried towards the beast. Knowing that it's ankles were uncovered and defenseless, he didn't waste time in jamming it straight into the back of his heel. The Boowerewolf roared loudly, immediately crashing down it it's knees. Malucard threw himself out of the way so that he wouldn't be tackled. Faetard kept pounding away at the Boowere's skull. Since she was still keeping it in a choke-hold as well, it was starting to waver in place, about ready to pass out. For a final move, the Iop launched herself up from the lycan's head and slammed herself back down onto him, slamming him down into the ground.

Once she climbed off, the Ecaflip quickly joined her side, looking over the now unconscious body of the lycanthrope. Both eyes were blacked and puffed out, it's heel bleeding out from an open wound, which also looked nasty. Malucard was lucky his knife was silver. The two were breathing heavily, still feeling exhilarated from their battle. Faetard smiled wide at the Ecaflip beside her. "That was awesome!" She began. "I knew that the two of us could do it, though," She giggled a bit, puffing her large chest out in pride again.

Malucard laughed a bit, still in disbelief that the two actually did manage to defeat the beast. "Yeah..! I think you did most of it though, with you and your big..." His eyes lingered over her chest for a second before he realized what he was doing. He brought them back up to her face, blushing quite red. "...fists," He finished dumbly. Faetard didn't notice this and nodded.

"Hey, you did great too!" She looked to the Boowerewolf, which lead Malucard to do the same. "So, what should we do with it now?"

"I say we tie it up. I dunno when it'll wake up, but if it does before the sun comes up, it won't be happy," The Ecaflip answered.

"Ropes aren't needed," Faetard responded, sitting herself on a nearby rock. "We'll just keep guard of it until morning. If it does wake up, we'll just whoop him again!" She smiled expectantly at him, as if waiting for him to say yes.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, too exhausted to argue with the Iop. "Very well," He sighed, sitting right next to her, resting his head in his hands.

"I'm Faetard, by the way," She greeted, extending her hand to him. Malucard raised an eyebrow at this, since he did remember her saying it back at the tavern. Of course, he had not introduced himself just yet. Since the opportunity revealed itself, he decided to go with it.

"Malucard," He replied simply, shaking her hand. He grimaced as she gripped his hand a lot tighter than she probably expected. He swears he could've heard bones crunching.

"A pleasure! What say you join me in my expedition to meet back up with my patrol group? I know that you'd be the perfect partner for me!"

The Ecaflip raised an eyebrow at this, looking into the beaming, expectant face of Faetard. On one hand, he's most likely to get killed by whatever she drags them into. He was lucky to have even survived the fight with the Boowerewolf without so much as a scratch. Not only that, he had plenty of responsibilities to attend to, and being away from the city would deprive him of them...

He sighed and shrugged, leaning forwards into his hands. "We'll see. For now, let's just make sure Fluffy here doesn't wake up anytime soon."

Accepting that as an answer, Faetard turned her attention back to the lycan as well, keeping an eye on it with someone she thought of as her new friend.

[lijahmorris]

elijah morris + character tropes.

The Charmer: [X]

He can be a bit cocky and cheeky but he’s that guy that you can’t help but like. It’s his greatest asset being able to charm people has always been a skill he’s used to his advantage whether it be to get a date from someone, get out trouble he caused, or something that he wants there’s no denying that he is that guy who everyone likes upon meeting him, despite the fact that he is childish. It works rather nicely with how kind he is.

Sad Clown: [X]

For all his goofiness and laid-back demeanor, Eli is a mess of self-esteem and abandonment issues who deals with emotions by making inappropriate smartass quips or ignoring them altogether. He is totally insecure at heart and keeps on running his mouth to fool himself into thinking he’s confident or to get people to like him and serves as a coping mechanism so he just doesn’t break down and let anxiety overtake him.

headcanons of this:

even when having serious conversations with his brother or his friends he adds unnecessary pop culture references or incredibly inappropriate jokes to be the comic relief and break the tension.

Ambiguously Bi: [X]

It’s pretty clear if you’ve had multiple conversations with him that Elijah isn’t straight, it’s not a secret that he’s Bisexual, but it’s not obvious to people who don’t know him. He’s played pretty straight for the most part, but there are a lot of times that he shows romantic & sexual interest in people of multiple genders continuously. Whether it’s an offhanded story about dudes he has fucked in the past or flirting with someone of the same gender. It’s there.

headcanons of this:

Has mentioned fucking someone else’s dad.

Was in a polyamorous relationship with two men that did not end well.

Prefers a real penis, but does not mind the idea of getting pegged/has been pegged.

Undying Loyalty: [X]

One of the main hallmarks of Eli’s personality is his loyalty. It’s the thing that drives him to do right by his family, the core of his kindness, the core of his protective instinct and that makes him the person that he is. He’s a human golden retriever. He would never betray anyone who has trusted him with their affection and would go to the ends of the earth to keep them or a secret they told him safe.

headcanons of this:

he’s very protective.

he has never lied to his brother or Cassie.

he sold drugs in college so that he could send his mother money if she ever needed it.

despite the fact that his mother has at times only showed up to ask him for money he has never cut her out of his life and loves her immensely.

despite the fact that his sister at first wanted nothing to do with him and the fact that they fight continuously he is always the one there to come to her rescue when she needs it.

Beware the Silly Ones: [X]

Elijah is under no impression that people take him seriously which is one of the reasons why he leans into being this sort of comic relief for people and acting as if everything is a joke, but people often forget that he is highly intelligent and very vengeful if he has to be. It’s not until he or someone he loves ends up in a dangerous situation or is being hurt by someone else that he’ll really step up and by any means necessary correct the situation.

headcanons of this:

When they were seventeen Calista was outted as Bisexual to TMZ by the girl she was dating at the time and before Cassie could break up with this girl, Elijah set this girls car on fire in her driveway and blew it up.

When Eli was a freshman in college at 19 he got this weird call from his sister Jennifer and of course, they got into a fight, but despite the fact that he was angry with her he knew something wasn’t right, and in the middle of his midterms flew out to where she was found out her boyfriend was abusing her, in  a blind rage and need to protect his sister, fought the guy, and was going to get her out of that situation by any means necessary and that is exactly what he did.

Manchild: [X]

He knows how to adult and is responsible with bills, cooking, and taking care of himself and others it’s just more often than not he chooses childish behavior as defense mechanism stemming from the more devastating aspects of his childhood like the fact that his father wasn’t around and didn’t raise him, because he was in jail, the fact that his mother was too much of a trainwreck and an addict to have any sort of competence on how to raise him, the fact that he spent a lot of his childhood in and out of hospitals and the more lonelier aspects of his adulthood where he’s fallen to hard too fast and grown to attached to others and these people have hurt, taken advantage, and broken him to the point when something doesn’t work out it doesn’t phase him anymore, he expects it by now and despite that fact still is kind and willingly to still give it a shot. He’s just silly, goofy and often flighty to compensate for all the damage. He also loves to indulge in snacking and watching cartoons.

Informed Judaism: [X]

Both sides of his parents family are Jewish, Elijah was raised in the Jewish faith by his Aunt and though he isn’t very religious he is spiritual and does respect and practice aspects of the Jewish faith out of more than just habit. Yiddish as a Second Language is also a factor but rarely brought out for anything more than comedic purposes for him.

headcanons of this:

Has mentioned he speaks Hebrew fluently.

Openly acknowledged and participated in both Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.

Is Kosher for the most part, but makes exceptions for pepperoni on pizza, and eating shrimp.

Pop Cultured Badass: [X]

Always sprinkles references to movies, TV shows, and music, to the annoyance and sometimes entertainment of others.

Obfuscating Stupidity: [X]

Elijah is highly intelligent but shameful of that fact, so he plays it down using immature behavior. Underneath the exterior of a clownish and somewhat clueless fun guy is a very well trained sharp mind and people often underestimate him, it’s always been like that, and it’s how he prefers it. Does he have moments where it’s frustrated that people don’t take him 100% seriously? Yeah, but he also knows that it’s his own fault that he’s seen like that at this point and gets over that rather quickly when that feeling comes up.

headcanons of this:

Has a photographic memory, but doesn’t feel the need to address it.

He got into Georgetown, Columbia, Yale & Princeton, but Princeton was the only one that came with an athletic scholarship.

In college and even in high school he played up the slacker roll very well. Never really went to class and when he did, he was either asleep or mildly disruptive. Teachers would often try to catch him off guard by asking him questions that went with the lesson plan and were shocked when he could actually answer them. He just thought classes were boring and his ADHD made it hard for him to appreciate the structure so he preferred to learn on his own time. The only class he continuously went to was Math.

In Touch with His Feminine Side: [X]

It’s really obvious that Eli is very sensitive, needy, emotional, and lacks aggression, and though this is downplayed quite often he also has several “feminine” hobbies.  His attachments tend to include sentiment for a foundation.

headcanons of this:

really into musicals, and the theater.

enjoys bubble baths.

expert in tap dancing.

was a cheerleader his sophomore year of high school.

has a rigorous skincare and hair care routine for when he needs time to love himself.

very sensitive to others emotions as well as the way he is treated and easily offended.

can be a bit clingy and needs validation from others as well as a need for people to like him.

[cyrelia-j]

[Fic] Deuces IV: Heartbreaker (Garak/Bashir)

(Apologies if #1 this has weird characters and #2 it doesn’t cut. I’m about to melt down trying to get this to work and on every device I use it looks wrong in a different way so I’m at a loss)

First off, MASSIVE thanks to @eilupt​ @ladyvean​ @noxziconsortium​ @valkyriesews​ and anyone else I forgot to mention for your input on Cardassian fair food. Also, I wanted things to be a bit different but don’t be alarmed by any snags in the road because this is ultimately definitely a garashir universe :) Previous parts are here:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Summary: AU (no Dominion also kept some other characters alive like Bareil because this world is a happy place) Garak and his surrogate daughter Ziyal find themselves on Deep Space Nine on a stopover to Bajor. While Major Kira shows Ziyal around DS9 Garak and Julian have their date. Julian is optimistic. After all, he’s got this down to a science

Keiko O’Brien is an absolute gift from the Prophets, Julian likes to say making use of local idioms, and if Miles doesn’t treat her properly Julian is totally going to steal her. That’s what he likes to tease, but she really is an intelligent and infinitely creative woman who has been invaluable in the success of what Julian likes to call his infallible first date sure thing holoprogram. Jadzia had at first referred to it playfully as “Julian’s Lizard Daddy Trap”. Keiko had then told the both of them about gairaigo and how a lot of Japanese products to this day bear strange sounding names because of the fascination with borrowed words . She then showed them an old “family heirloom” that was something called a “bento box” with the odd combination of words “Crunky Ball Nude” elegantly scrawled across the top. She then said with a perfectly straight face that if Julian wanted to truly thank her for her contributions to the menu that he would call it nothing less than “Julian’s Delicious Lizard Delight Circus.”

The program now bears the innocuous file name of “JDLDC1”

The program in question is the ultimate product of love and devotion- and if he’s being frank, Julian’s attempt to streamline the “first date” into a happy efficient guarantee of success. It had taken the three of them – Jadzia, Julian, and Keiko – two years to complete with some degree of trial and error but it’s a masterwork. Julian had built it off of one of Recreational Station Hidalgo’s old modules of an exotic carnival and the three of them worked to modify every parameter to meet a certain taste; namely a certain Cardassian male taste, though Julian didn’t see that it wouldn’t appeal to most Cardassians as a whole with some modifications.

Quark certainly seemed to think so. Going off Julian’s impressive track record in fact, he thought if Julian would let him copy it that it would net them both a tidy profit with the steady influx of Cardassians passing through the station. Julian wouldn’t hear of Jadzia and Keiko being left out but in the end he decided that he still wanted to get use out of it before it became public.

Quark had asked sourly exactly how many more Cardassians he really needed to entertain as many as he had already. So perhaps Julian had developed a bit of a reputation- amazingly over the course of his time on station he’d gone from Deep Space Nine’s resident Ladies Man to resident Lizard Queen- but well, he still hadn’t quite found the one who he could really fall for. Well, alright, perhaps Julian had fallen for several dozen going by Miles’ count but they just weren’t quite it. There was still something missing there. And thus came in the holoprogram that made the entire process easier.

Jadzia had contributed to the majority of the attractions, the exotic animals on display, the rides, and the shows. Of course they’d been honed and refined over time with new data to account for Cardassian musical preferences, hearing, exceptional eyesight, differences in equilibrium, adrenal responses and the like and it was absolutely magnificent. He’d also managed to- with Miles’ persuasive help initially- “sweet talk” Gilora Rejal from the Science Academy into further assisting them during her periodic visits for research. She’d thought the idea was completely ridiculous at first, but as he laid out his ambitious plans and designs, she couldn’t help but throw in corrections where she saw improvements were needed.

By the end of it, both she and Jadzia had engaged in some fantastically heated debates on adjustments and turned out a marvel of engineering. Jadzia may have also slept with her which Julian was a tad envious of since Gilora was a stunning woman. She’d warmed to Julian’s company once he’d finally stopped being so circumspect and polite and he corresponded with her regularly with her now to keep abreast of the latest news and current events on Cardassia Prime. She had a completely wicked and unforgiving wit and she also helpfully provided him with the best and most heated topics of debate that he took full advantage of using on his dates. Julian still wondered on occasion if he might not have a chance, but Jadzia was certain that it would never work.

Her associate, Ulani Belor had been curious as to their “secret” conversations and meetings though Julian didn’t know if she’d have an interest he’d explained the project to her as well. Their “colleague” Dejar had little interest in any of it and thought the lot of them were allowing themselves to get distracted by nonsense. Well, that was Julian’s introduction to the Obsidian Order and its operatives and he could say he’d be perfectly happy to go his entire life without dealing with another one of them. Ulani had taken interest in the food that Keiko had been working on. Julian hardly fancied himself a culinary expert- Miles once said he was pretty sure that Julian would ingest anything for the purposes of getting laid. But between the two of them they seemed to reach a perfect accord and marriage of both Cardassian and Earth tastes.

Or rather it turned out that the Cardassian taste was particularly receptive to a lot of Japanese and other Southeast and East Asian foods not often represented in most Federation cultural exchanges. Both scientists declared after tasting the dango smothered in yamok sauce that if the Federation actually brought some real food with them, they might find more Cardassians to be receptive to their proposals. Keiko then wondered if the Vietnamese balut that some back stalls still sold had would carry well over to regova eggs. It absolutely did and Ulani was happy to share some other Kardasi festival delights such as W’sai, Kori balls, and Nurot. Well, lacking a sense of taste or not, Julian was completely sold and it turned out, so was Legate Turrel when he was on the station during negotiations with Kai Winn and Vedek Bareil. Not that Julian is bragging, but he doesn’t think that Vedek Bareil had anything on his negotiating skills.

Julian wasn’t sure how he’d felt about Captain Sisko subsequently designating him official head of the Cardassian welcoming committee, remarking with a perfectly straight face that he was pleased Julian had overcome his initial difficulties with showing foreign dignitaries around the station. Julian was sure there was some look that passed between him and Jadzia just then which made him pout just a bit before ultimately accepting incredibly graciously. He could hardly look a gift horse in the mouth.

And he was good at it, he found, his social life aside. Julian had grown quite adept at reading the necessary cues to avoid any embarrassing incidents (Kira still seemed crushed that Gul Dukat had no interest in him whatsoever though Julian was hardly crushed by that realization as he found the man utterly insufferable) and learned which subtle ones to throw out when off duty to get a feel for the atmosphere as Keiko liked to say. Julian saved those little tricks for his dates though; no need to let on too early just how good he was at this game. Most of the men he dated seemed to prefer his “vapid twink doctor” bit anyway and he only employed the most subtle use of his Cardassian routine. He was terribly good at it.

According to Quark as he enters the bar tonight, they were taking bets on which of the newest station arrivals Julian had his eye on. Quark informs him a bit sourly that he’d lost a good bit of latinum when he bet on the older doctor from Lacoria City. Rom on the other hand had picked the Tailor Garak right off the bat and is counting his winnings rather loudly at the bar. Quark snaps that they aren’t his winnings since “his woman” had to pick the candidate for him. Julian just smiles and shakes his head as he looks for Garak to make an entrance. Leeta knows his tastes so well.

Julian had arrived exactly on time, neither early nor late knowing how Cardassians value punctuality. And what an entrance he makes. Garak looks absolutely luscious in the dark red silk shirt wrapped around him magnificently, showing off those broad shoulders and delectable thick waist. And speaking of thick… Julian is sure he must be drooling, looking at those impeccably tailored pants hugging thick thighs and Julian finds himself catching a discreet glimpse to the burnished old Bajoran sculpture that he’d donated out of generosity.

Of course those in the Federation were renown for stupid gestures like that though Julian admitted to Quark that if he would be so kind as to perhaps place it say along the one wall near the first floor entrance where Julian might make use of it for “observational purposes” he might say that he owed Quark a favor during one of Odo’s subsequent “witch hunts”. Quark hadn’t needed more than a month before he called that favor in and Odo hardly seemed amused by his accidentally spilling a drink on the “Odo in a jar” that he’d assumed the guise of to replace Quark’s actual one. Julian loves the sculpture.

Especially now that the flat, reflective surface is giving him the most stunning view of Garak’s ass that he could have imagined. Julian usually prefers bottoming but for an ass like that he’s more than willing to be flexible. …In more ways than one.

“The house takes two! Place your bets now!” Quark yells out the code as every eye on the bar turns to Julian for just a moment. He smiles a bit self-effacing at that, the 2 references the two hours Quark thinks it will take him to bed the humble tailor. Julian certainly hopes so. A few bets go for 1 and some for a half- Julian mentally rolls his eyes at that bit of optimism- but he trusts Quark, really. The house is rarely wrong. Julian meets Garak with a few steps, seeing the curious look.

“They’re taking bets,” Julian explains with a disinterest shrug. “I couldn’t begin to guess on what but I have to tell you, that you look absolutely fabulous.” Julian gives a casual but hopeful brush of his upper arm. “I love this shirt,” he says, sure to keep his flirting completely human for now. He can let the fun begin once they’re inside. Garak’s smile in return is brilliant. It’s a wide pleased grin and Julian can see the hint of tongue poking the air, tasting, scenting.

He was sure to shower and apply the deodorizing oil that he and Jadzia had developed after his second date had informed him rather bluntly that he had a delightful time but didn’t think he’d ever be able to adjust to the human scent and taste. Julian never thought he particularly smelled but Gilora had said there was a very strong musk that he would get when perspiring that had quite a salty and at times bitter taste to it. Jadzia didn’t have it and neither did Keiko and he thought it might be a male thing until Keiko reminded him (which he really should have remembered being a doctor) that humans of East Asian descent tend to have fewer apocrine sweat glands and so there began the great experiment to develop an oil that could effectively eliminate that issue. After much trial and error he realized everything Federation produced left an odd lingering taste on the Cardassian tongue even if it was supposed to have no odor.

It took months but in the end it worked with the final approval from both Gilora and Ulani he had an effective oil which sat over the skin until it wore off naturally over a few days’ time but until then reacted exactly as needed to produce no odor but a faint trace of sandalwood and root from the north renowned for it’s mild aroma. They both informed him that they’d scented him more than they cared to and he absolutely owed them both big time. He figured it couldn’t be worse than any other deals he’d cut with them.

There’s a curious glance from Garak at that but he refrains from commenting on it instead complimenting Julian’s outfit. Julian can see a linger of eyes to his bare neck, bare collarbone and he almost wishes that he could bet on himself. One. Definitely one.

“You’ve no idea how excited I am to show you what I have planned for this evening,” Julian says practically vibrating. The Midway. Julian definitely is going to start there with this one. One hour if that and he’s got this. He shoots Quark a wink holding up a finger watching as the patrons erupt in another frenzy of betting as they make their way to the second floor. Julian’s got this…

Garak doesn��t know that he’s ever been more bored in his life. He smiles politely as Julian drinks the broth out of the boiled egg his head timing out just when he imagines that Julian is going to accidentally spill some down his neck because it’s “terribly messy” and there it goes, a few inviting rivulets of the clear broth running down that nicely tanned skin.

“And I take it that’s how I’m supposed to enjoy this delicacy?” Garak asks already knowing the answer because he’s already known the answer to every insipid contrivance that this evening has brought him. Guls, if Julian wasn’t so gorgeous… but even that’s starting to wear thin. Julian smiles- wait for it- inviting tilt of his head just so, to the right, another flash of his neck and Garak knows that he should have long put a hand on Julian’s shoulder to show his interest but it’s just so obvious he can’t bring himself to give in to such egregiously blatant cues even if it drags this miserable date out further.

That and actually every dish that Julian has tempted into his hands has been completely to die for.

The teriyaki, the sweet and sour sauce covering the fried pop beetles nearly brought him to another plane of existence. Julian had gone on about the work he and Chief Engineer O’Brien’s wife had put into the food in the program along with on Ulani Belor who he’d only chanced to hear of due to his former colleague’s amateurish bungling of a simple sabotage mission. Naturally he told Julian he wasn’t familiar with her. Right about now he’s almost wishing he was on a date with her as Julian begins another “conversation starter” that he has to be fishing off of a hidden list somewhere.

“Yes, you’ve got it, you do that brilliantly,” he says in a fawning compliment that would be nice if it wasn’t immediately followed up by a predictable air scenting and an enthusiastic “flirty” draw of his finger in the air and by the state did someone print Cardassian dating manual in the Federation since the end of the occupation because Garak feels he could sit here with a list and check everything off in order.

The Regova balut is also heaven. The sprinkle of the furikake that Julian suggests is masterful. Julian then asks his opinion on the proposed changes to the household registry next quarter that the council meets and Garak nearly wants to weep. Garak is sure that Julian will present the most uninformed opinion imaginable and allow Garak to “educate” him while he tries to debate a careful but ultimately poor position. Guls, if he wanted to have a date with a vapid holoprogram he’d just run the thing without Julian and just enjoy the food and the ambiance.

How long has it even been? Garak is certain he’s lost all sense of time being trapped in this miserable mobius continuum of bad date. Perhaps he’s in fact died and this is some Faustian iteration of eternal torment for a life poorly lived. The most delicious food in the galaxy in exchanged for company so poor it would drive a man to want to take his own life. Alright, so perhaps the newly opened Federation archives have only given him a larger plethora of work with which to reference when he wants to seem smart- at least that’s what Parmak had said to him the last time they had corresponded. He’d sooner die than admit it but there’s actually some Earth derived literature that he enjoys and he’d been hoping for more interesting cultural exchanges and debates like he’s enjoyed with some of the more frequent human visitors vacationing on the Morfan Providence but…

“Is something the matter?” Julian asks and Garak can’t believe that he’s been driven to actually show any of his anguish outwardly. Ironically in a rare moment of veracity he has no clue where to even begin to itemize the obscenely long list of everything single “something” which has grown fed by Julian’s obviousness into a “matter”.  My, where to even start… perhaps the scent is the most difficult to reconcile. I definitely scented you in the Replimat and it was a touch strong but very human, very alluring and it was quite nice. But here tonight it’s like tasting a pleasure doll engineered to be inoffensive which may appeal to some but it’s quite boring. You were charming in the replimat and here charm has given way to some series of contrived scripts you’ve been following exactly like a carefully choreographed routine. Which makes perfect sense of course given the interesting conversation I’d had in Quark’s but still I’d hoped for something a bit different.

He’d in fact as was his custom gone to Quark’s earlier in the day to make a discreet study of the area, check for escape routes, hazards, observe the atmosphere. He hadn’t noticed anything untoward as he ordered a drink and kept his ears and eyes open. It had allowed him to relax a bit and it wasn’t long before he started catching snippets of conversation about the “infamous” Julian Bashir which was quite a curiosity. He certainly wasn’t going to involve himself with anyone who could pose a possible danger to himself or Ziyal but then in striking up a conversation with a fellow named Morn who couldn’t shut up for the life of him he learned several interesting things.

The first being that the young doctor was infamous for the number of Cardassian men he’d bedded- primarily military men and a handful of freighter captains. The second was that his reputation was so large that the entire bar got in on serious betting whenever a “fresh wave” of Cardassians were on the station and third… Third being that he never fails to “bag his lizard” with this very program. Which Garak supposes he could see if he was feeling particularly charitable but he’s been gamely going along with this for the past hour now and he’s sure he’s put in enough time.

He went along with taking the lead in winning Julian some nonsense trinket from a target shooting booth, earning much praise from a “strength tester”  that was definitely doctored, to a boat ride with just the right ambient sounds to create pleasant complimentary reactions in one’s nervous system and on and on to Julian himself who clearly has mastered the fine art of appealing to a very specific segment of the Cardassian military population. It’s a wonder they haven’t invited him back to give him his own holiday. Which Garak supposes would be all well and good- Yes, doctor, I’m so pleased with your obvious love of civic duty that I’ll gladly put a hand on your shoulder and tell you what a good boy you are- except he isn’t some authority obsessed soldier who gets off on these bland deferential power games. He wants passion, he wants a challenge, he wants there to be a reason for him to bring discipline, to lead, to bring Julian to heel. Perhaps he is getting old because Julian clearly has done this dance so much he could go through the motions unconscious but is it really asking too much to have something more than just a pleasing body to jam his prUt into?

Still, he has to bear in mind that cause embarrassment to the station CMO might prove unwise. Yes, a lie is definitely in order here, though he needs to make sure it’s not a medical one. He supposes Ziyal will have to be it. It’s uncreative and stupid but frankly, Julian doesn’t deserve his good stuff and the sooner it gets him out of here the better.

“I’m sorry, doctor,” he says a touch dramatically. He might not be getting more than Julian’s usual routine but he likes to think that even if he’s returning in kind that his routine is much more convincing. “I’m afraid I’ve been terribly poor company but you see I’ve just been so terribly concerned about Yaya. Oh, I know she’s a grown woman and I trust Major Kira to be showing her the same consideration and hospitality that you’ve shown me-“ Guls, he hopes not “-but I just haven’t been able to give you the attention that you deserve and it’s such a pity after all the trouble that you’ve gone through. It’s only my hope that we might do this again sometime.” Perhaps after he’s long dead and Julian gets some new material.

Garak wears sincerity brightly and reaches across the table to put his hand over Julian’s. He intends the gesture in the human way but sees Julian’s curious look at the display of dominance. Maybe he’ll get lucky and a fleet of Klingon birds of prey will crash into the station. But it seems to do the trick and Doctor Bashir is ending the program mercifully. Garak could kiss him, he really could. Except that would certainly make him try for a second and Garak isn’t too keen on remembering the first. He wonders if anyone ever actually bets on the doctor to fail. Judging by the expression on Julian’s face somehow he doubts it.

And it’s with that sour taste in his mouth that Garak finally gets back to his quarters determined to hack the station computers and never again eat in the Replimat when Julian isn’t on duty. He sees Ziyal laying sprawled on the couch looking about the way that he feels right about now. He opens his mouth to ask, the two of them exchanging a look before he does.

“Kanar?” She asks sympathetically already sitting up to go get it.

“Kanar,” Garak agrees with a sigh.

Looks like he’s not the only one who had a “bad date”.

(Part 5 is here)

[xmamaslittledisastersx]

About

Jester and Trickster Quinn are among the most difficult to understand in terms of both frame of mind and dependency on one another. Having grown up with only each other as company and alone on all other aspects that a normal kid would take for granted, the twins have taught themselves to lean on the other rather than put their trust in anyone else. Their color palate of porcelain white skin and emerald green hair, trademark of their father, has posed a few problems here and there for the two; but if asked they will never disclaim their love for the appearance bestowed upon them. Over the course of thirteen years, Jester and Trickster have learned more than their fair share in how society works; when one lives in Gotham City and more over, how to deal with what they consider “injustice”. The term injustice being loosely defined as anything that stops them or the family in general from having fun. They tend to only show themselves when they feel like it’s going to be entertaining or worth the time spent, otherwise they normally just watch everything play out. At thirteen, they resemble porcelain dolls with somewhat limited expressions the most being a crazed smile or smirk, a frown, or a monotone expression. Neither twin speaks more than a small collection of words at a time, preferring to stay silent and use non-verbal communication between each other and to taunt the enemy. They do sometimes sing when they want to make an entrance or when they get someone alone, making things incredibly disturbing to certain people. The Quinn Twins share many of the same characteristics for instance seeing the world as their playground, “bullying” other people, and generally causing all sorts of mayhem under the guise of just having fun, disregarding what damage it causes. Even with all the similarities, there are distinct differences between the two such as Trickster being the more violent in nature while Jester is noted to antagonize the enemy into acting. Jester can be exceptionally cynical, more collected, sarcastic, and passive aggressive than his twin sister. On the other hand, Trickster is more brash than her brother, ironic, and detail oriented. She also seems to have an interest in finding those that wont break easily. The twins spend all of their time together, separating them causes panic and more risky behavior making it easier to subdue them. They do not work well without the other and therefore pose less of a threat, focusing on reuniting with the other twin. There is a distinct “Leader and follower” trade with the two, Jester being the leader and Trickster following behind him. Even though they are two separate people, they seem to act as they are one commonly quoting; “I’m half a brain and two makes a whole.” This suggests that perhaps keeping them together is the best course of action at anytime. They don’t have a strained relationship with their parents, specifically their father, but it can vary from day to day due to his multiple personalities. They have enough trust in their parents to follow through with any plan made with an intended outcome, but if an opportunity arises to change the plan and get the same ending, they will. Jester and Trickster are also absolutely fine with dying as long as it’s together.

Trained as contortionists with mirrored skill sets, they share the same weaponry but like personality, each has his/her own flair added onto it. Both use two sets of weaponry, a large heavy set weapon called a hobby horse and a set of acupuncture needles hidden under their nails. Jester is the kind of fighter that uses his weapon as an extension of both himself and his style, acting much like an appendage allowing him to reach and twist while also helping him up into harder to reach areas. He is notorious for using his hobby horse as a hook to pull others to him or to pull himself out of reach, making him harder to catch than his sister. Trickster, on the other hand, tends to utilize her close range use of her of her secondary weaponry and natural talent more than her brother. She is more prone to throwing her hobby horse, this is normally used against those that she deems a real threat and to be frank that is whoever she sees fit. They both have limited range of movement with the large hobby horses but become more versatile and harder to hit after losing them. They are also known to attempt to mimic the movements of others as a way to learn how someone fights if possible though they aren’t always successful. Their balance is almost on par with that of the first Robin, but not quite as they are contortionists not acrobats. Most people wouldn’t even notice that they were even there to begin with, their stealth being self-taught. They can be found in out of reach places though it is unclear as to how they are able to get their heavy weapons up with them.

Jester and Trickster are not actual members of either “The Light” or the “Injustice League”, mainly considered part-timers without a definitive schedule as they just show up when they feel like it. They’re not team players with the other low level members of The Light such as the Terror Twins or Icicle Junior nor do they help when it is needed, preferring to stay hidden away for an opportunity to really do some damage. When it comes to plans, the twins aren’t necessarily the first to jump on board if the plan sounds boring or like it’s going to get them caught. They’re more likely to watch the team fight before figuring out whether they should fight and taunt or just sneak out. It is clear that the kids don’t really care about the team but making them uncomfortable is fun enough for them. Their periodic ins and outs with the team are eventually put to an end when they were finally caught and sent to Arkham Asylum for roughly five years. During the ages of thirteen to eighteen years old they were subjected to a variety of “treatments” such as shock therapy, a combination of medications that kept them manageable, and solitary confinement. The two spent their entire stay apart, not seeing each other for more than a couple of seconds at a time, only being remedied and reunited after escaping the asylum. It isn’t until after all of the time they spent in Arkham that the twins became far worse in personality.

Over the course of time that the twins spent locked away, their overall type of personality changed from the eerie, mysterious little thirteen year old’s into something far different but not completely unexpected. While they still share a vast majority of characteristics with each other, they primarily spend their time to gain the attention of certain factions or the general public even if it isn’t particularly illegal. They have formed an interesting sense of humor as in, everything is considered hilarious and entertaining leading them to laughing at the strangest situations regardless if it’s funny or not. According to their Arkham files, neither of the twins have a sense of personal boundary with others or the staff of the facility and they constantly asked for one another, meaning that even with the elapsed time apart they still have a dependency on each other. Also noted was the fact that the twins developed astonishingly obnoxious and air-headed natures which overshadows their intelligence forcing others to conclude that they’re not as bright as once believed. Consistently loud and rowdy against the orderlies when not on their meds, the doctors’ of Arkham deemed this change in identity as a positive, stating that the twins are able to be who they really are and not who they were instructed to be. The sad reality is… the Arkham staff, treatments, and medications are the culprits into the entire psyche shift. The complete shift in their identity took reality after Jester and Trickster changed their self image, including costumes, becoming something more closely related to a comedy routine than criminals. The two are over sexualized and perverted at more times than none which tends to get them confused facial expressions from anyone they happened to use this on. Neither twin listens to specific instructions when given, taking what they consider wasted time, to wander into their own little worlds or to find ways to interrupt the one speaking. Prone to boredom at random times, Jester and Trickster tend to “switch sides” in the middle of an altercation on the premise that the other side is more entertaining or that they noticed something that they wanted. It’s common knowledge that they stick to the random aspect of their complete personality in both actions and words, making others angry enough to start anything with them because it’s fun that way.

While they seem to always be in sync, the differences in the twins are noticeable when they are willingly separate for any reason. Jester is obviously calmer than his twin sister but can’t sit still due to nervousness while also seeming to confused himself. During this time of distraction, Jester is somewhat useless and unfocused allowing another to catch him off guard. Without Trickster there to reassure him in whatever it is that he said, he will continue to confuse himself into agitation and eventually becoming unpredictable. Whether it being attacking his team or the other all depends on how he became confused in the first place. Trickster, on the other hand, displays bouts of aggression and violence but what she considers in a “fun way”, she is the one to have a huge grin across her lips and a playful disposition. It isn’t uncommon for her to disappear and reappear without anyone noticing where exactly it was that she went. She enjoys hurting others at the expense of her own entertainment and isn’t particular to listen to anyone that isn’t her brother, especially when it comes to her getting a little violent. It is also known that Trickster is sometimes confused by the things that Jester says, causing the two to be agitated until they find out what he meant. When the twins are separated against their will things can be come tense. They become irritable and focus on finding the other twin. They will end up lashing out at anyone they deem an obstacle, even dealing with the problem in order to reunite with the other.

When it comes to skills and weaponry, the twins downsized when compared to their weapons five years prior. Taking up modified solid wooden baseball bats. Jester’s being covered in barbed wire while Trickster’s has a multitude of long nails through it. While they still have the acupuncture needles embedded under their nails, though the small weapon is only used if their bats break. They always fight as partners, no longer leader and follower, getting them alone is a difficult task but their skills and most of their maneuvers have stayed the same. Meaning if one is in your face, the other is behind you.

[cityofsexyshadowhunters]

hiya! ♡ i love your analysis and wanted your input of some of the teams relationships with each other! it just feels like they understand and practice the mechanics of team bonding but don't really /trust/ each other

Thanks dearly! 

Okay, let’s divide the team into categories. 

Trust as a learning curve: Pidge edition. 

We have Hunk, Lance and Pidge, obviously, who have been friends, I’m assuming, for at least a year or so. Though we haven’t been given much info about their past apart from that one flashback of Pidge’s when she first met Lance and Hunk. In fact, it’s only Pidge’s relationship between Hunk and Lance that’s really explored between those three. Hunk and Lance’s relationship doesn’t get the same depth. But that’s because there was an element of distrust from the start for Pidge: her gender, her family and Kerberos, she was surrounded by lies. It’s clear that their friendship has grown since then with the emergence of Voltron, as you can see there is a clear line she had previously drawn between them and her which has disappeared now. Likely similar to the line Keith draws between him and everyone else. So, you can sense a type of self-preservation from her since the very start, though you see the way she gradually embraced everyone since that stressful time in her life, especially when she becomes aware of the fact she ‘hasn’t always been there for people’ when she is tasked with taking back the castle from Sendak. She becomes aware of the fact that she perhaps never treated Hunk and Lance fairly, but they both kept trying anyway. In realising she’s allowed to embrace the team fully, she becomes comfortable enough to reveal her true gender. Her entire first arc was learning to trust her team, as you could see she was reluctant open her mind to them at the beginning with the mind melding exercise. So, in terms of Pidge, I believe she trusts the team very much now, and there is a clear cohesion between her, Hunk and Lance. Lance borrows her stuff a lot, and they enjoy a video or two game together, and Hunk is her nerd partner, but she’s also a voice of analytical reasoning for both Shiro and Keith as leaders. She’s also trusted Shiro from the start because of his connection to her family. And because he’s, well, Shiro.  

     2.  Trust as sacrifice: Lance edition. 

Lance doesn’t seem like a very trustworthy person when you first meet him. At the very start we see him making stupid calls in the simulator, disregarding Pidge’s advice and Hunk’s anxiety so he could show off. Immediately, this backfires on him, and already the show was alluding to his bravado being something he’ll have to get a grip on. It shows he has a lot to learn before he’s ready to lead anyone anywhere. At the start, he’s almost as impulsive as Keith, taking off into Blue without a second thought and even going after Shiro against Garrison rules. He doesn’t have a personal reason like Pidge, he just wants to look cool and rescue his hero. He wants to look good in front of all these people, especially Keith and Shiro. Keith: because Lance wants to surpass him. Shiro: because he wants to impress him. He’s not entirely trustworthy at the start. It’s not until he throws himself in front of Coran after his homesickness hit that we really get a sense of him as anything but the showoff he portrays himself as. It alludes to the idea that he can earn trust through sacrificing this obnoxious part of himself. Trust, over time, for Lance, becomes about him trusting the others enough to put himself on the back-burner and encouraging them to take the wheel. Trust, for Lance, is gradually transforming into allowing the others to shine while he offers advice and encouragement from behind. That was a long rant, so let’s get to some interrelation examples. Lance and Allura, recently, is a good one: He’s endlessly supportive of her, as he realises that earning her trust and appreciation is about lifting her up, not talking himself up. She has the power, but he has the words that inspire that power. She trusts more so than the others now I think, but only after he sacrificed his role as the Blue Paladin and thus his self-promotional ways. And he trusts her to carry out her duties in Blue, better than he believed he ever could. Pidge, Hunk and Lance, hasn’t really been an evolving thing since season 1. It’s been pretty steady, but you can still see him encouraging them onwards, trusting their skills and intelligence and making sure they know it, too. Keith and Lance is a good example of stepping back to allow the other to rise up. Sacrificing his wish to pilot Black and accepting Keith instead was a BIG shift in trust for Lance. He became aware that surpassing Keith is a foolish endeavour, and how he can contribute much more by simply supporting him instead. He steps back, and offers advice and encouragement for Keith as his right hand, which allows him to pilot Red instead. The only fracture of trust I see here is Shiro and Lance. I find seeing Lance as Shiro’s right hand a little awkward. I also find Shiro disregards a lot of things Lance has to offer, mostly because he so self-assured himself, unlike Keith, who really needs Lance’s advice. We see him ignore Lance’s idea to escape in episode 6 of season 4, which ends up trapping them. Undeniably, Shiro supports Lance, we’ve seen that. But Lance isn’t Keith. Shiro is used to Keith as his right hand, not Lance. That went longgggg. 

    3.   Trust as something to be earned:  Keith edition.

Trust isn’t something we see as coming naturally to Keith. The fact that Shiro seems to be his only past connection is proof of that. To earn Keith’s trust, you really have to work, and so does he. Clearly Shiro means a shit load to Keith. He places a lot of value on Shiro being the only person there for him during unknown-to-us tough times. Keith seemingly has never given his trust to anyone else, despite being in a school where there a hundreds to people to make friends with. He could have walked up to Lance or someone one day and simply said, “Hey want some tips on piloting? I can help,’ and ding ding! That’s a connection that could have stemmed into something trusting and friendly. But he doesn’t do that. He’s a ‘loner.’ My guess is he wants to trust, but due to abandonment issues, he cuts himself off, similar to Pidge. He’s terribly frightened of rejection. He doesn’t want to misplace his trust, and neither does he want people to misplace it in him. Trust is a long tenacious process for Keith. And if the issue of Kuron arises, plus the issue of Lotor’s arrival. It will really be tested. Season 3 was hopeful for his gradual expanding of trust, for the fact that he was learning to trust his team, and in turn, they were learning to trust him. And that’s only because Shiro was gone. He was pushed into the deep end and forced to really rely on the people around him like never before. He couldn’t just run away from them like he did with the Garrison because Shiro had given him a role to play. It opened up his character a lot. You can see him often using Pidge as his analytical reasoning, and Lance as his emotional one. But when Shiro returns, and they instantly slide back into the usual ‘do what Shiro says’ trap, I think some of that trust fractured. They weren’t even considering Keith’s orders anymore. Though Lance does ask Keith at one pint what they should do, not Shiro–something interesting. Keith and Hunk have a clear developing trust in each other’s skill sets, as you see Keith relying heavily on Hunk’s ‘brain’ and Hunk relying on Keith’s ability to stay calm–this more so in the Weblum episode from season 2, though. Then there is Keith and Allura, something that had been building and then fractured in season 2 with his heritage reveal, but was steadily growing again in season 3, until he decided to abandon his role in season 4. She, being determined and tested by her own leadership role, never giving up, was offended probably by his unwillingness to just bare with the hard times for a while. But you see again, she overcomes it when he explains why he was pulling away from the team. Allura herself has become a lot more empathetic towards her team now that she is a part of it. 

    4.   Trust as respect: Shiro edition. 

Everyone respects Shiro, period. Including us. He’s the head of Voltron, a legend on Earth and a very strong looking fella. I’d respect him if I ever met him. I’d trust him, too, because he has many moments of softness and humour which makes him likeable as well. And he’s very easy to sympathies with because of his PTSD. Everyone on team Voltron respects and trusts Shiro, too. They have since the very start. It’s been the least complicated progression of trust out of EVERYONE. Because with someone like Shiro, it’s an automatic tendency that comes along with his very role. Everyone loves and trusts Shiro. Here, I’d like to compare that to Keith, who struggled to gain the team’s trust as leader. They fell in trust with Shiro instantly, but not so much Keith, he had to fight for it. WE fell in trust with Shiro instantly. But with the entire Kuron theory, I think the point is for us and the team to fall out of trust with him. Even in season 4, the team was pretty comfortable with him as leader again, and the idea of him as a clone was not once touched, so everyone, including us wants to trust this adorable dweeb leader with big muscles and bad stage talent. Everything was entirely too comfortable with Shiro back. Keith trusts Shiro enough to give up the Black Lion as quick as possible. But it may end up biting them all on the ass. I think Shiro’s story will revolve around everyone losing their trust in him when shit gets real about his identity, and they’ll likely have to turn back to Keith. Shiro and Keith themselves trust each other an incredible amount, but perhaps a little too much. Shiro trusted Keith wholeheartedly to lead Voltron, but it scared Keith, and he didn’t see that at all. More so, he contradicted this supposed trust when he undermined Keith in season 3, which really rattled Keith. And Keith perhaps trusts Shiro too much based on their clearly heavy past together, and likely doesn’t see the warning signs of it not actually being Shiro. This, of course, is only relevant if this is a clone Shiro.   

    5.   Trust as a trait: Hunk edition. 

Hunk has very recently been labelled as a new diplomat for Voltron that will likely really showcase in later seasons. His heavy involvement with the Balmerans, the Puigians and the entire Coalition presents him as someone not only the team can trust, but complete strangers, too. This presents an exchange of trust the team places in him to relate to other civilisations. He’s universally recognisable as a trustworthy person. So, the team trusts him with rallying tasks like this. However, we saw it tested when he was suspicious of Rolo and Nyma, and the team disregarded his gut feelings in favour of the potential info of a rebel group. It’s clear he is bitter and perhaps slightly hurt when the team realises he was right, and that Lance had been taken advantage of and his lion captured. ‘Rant rant rant, I TOLD you so.’ Hunk is clearly annoyed about this. Everyone looks pretty glum at being told off by Hunk, but they accept it because they overlooked his warning, so it’s on them. I would love to see where Lance and Hunk’s relationship stemmed from tbh. Are they life long friends or did they meet in the Garrison? It’s obvious they are close, by the way they constantly lounge around on each other, but it doesn’t have the same emotional weight attached to it as Shiro and Keith’s relationship. There is a real sense of being comfortable around each other that Shiro and Keith struggle with as they go through this leadership issue. I noticed a lot in season 4 how much Shiro himself actually relied on Hunk’s shoulder canon for Voltron. So there is an element of brute strength earning him a respectable amount of trust from the others as well as his inviting personality.   

Phewww, I’m gonna stop there because I could go on for a while. But there you have it. Some lovely analysis on some lovely characters. 

[waywardroserp]

WAYWARD ROSE welcomes DINA MILLER to their life as a CHATTEL. They prefer (SHE/HER) pronouns, is 28, BISEXUAL, and has been with us for 1 YEAR AND SIX MONTHS and belongs with the FAERIES. They share an uncanny resemblance to PHOEBE TONKIN. They work as A STRIPPER AT MAGNUM X and are described as TACITURN, SARCASTIC, and STUBBORN. 

FULL NAME: Dina Miller NICK NAME(S): Just Dina  AGE: Twenty-eight years old PRONOUNS: She/her S. ORIENTATION: Bisexual. R. ORIENTATION: Biromantic

POSITIVE TRAITS: Stubborn, sarcastic, honest, intelligent, kind  NEGATIVE TRAITS: taciturn, calculated, blunt, angry, obedient OCCUPATION: Stripper at Magnum X SPECIES: Halfling (human-faerie) ACTIVE POWERS: Teleportation, Super strength/speed/reflexes, Sedation, Illusion, healing, astral perception. She’s most used and gained control of teleportation and healing, but had successful use of her other abilities though without full control/the ability to use them at will.  SKILLS: dancing, seduction, hand-to-hand combat, some martial art, intermediate skill with a sword RANK: Chattel ROLE: Submissive, sometimes switch with the right person TURN-ONS: Anal sex, anal play, d/s, daddy/mommy kink, pet play, breath play, bondage, spanking, rough sex, sensory deprivation, hair pulling, whipping, light fire play, marking/biting, body worship, orgasm control/orgasm denial 
 TURN-OFFS: Scat/urine, filth, continued humiliation, food play

BIOGRAPHY When born, Dina was supposed to be the future hope of one of the smaller the human resistance groups who realized the supernatural were a threat to their very existence. Because witches were seen as creators and protectors of balance and nature, they were not the target, and when one decided to align with the humans for an alliance, they asked her to locate a fairy knight for them, and then sent in one of their own women mate with the creature. Dina was the outcome. Her mother succeeded in seducing her fae father, an unseelie, though when she was born, he wanted to be involved in her life as well. The human resistance made an agreement with him, allowing him access to his daughter, as long as he didn’t interfere with their plans for her. Which were mainly to use her as a weapon once she became old enough. But when Dina was five years old, and had just begun a bit more advanced training such as hand to hand combat and training with a small sword, the resistance was beaten, and its humans either killed or sent into hiding by the supernaturals.

Unwilling to hand her daughter over to a faerie, Dina’s mother ran with her, intending to hide her within the human population. When her father learned that his daughter had been taken, he hunted them down, though not before Dina’s mother managed to hide her with a friend. However, the price was her life, and Dina never saw her mother again. The friend she was left with handed her over to a social worker, thus she became a ward of the state and placed in the foster system. Up until the year she turned sixteen, Dina was passed around in different foster families, often abusive homes where they used the kids to get extra money. After nearly ten years in the system, the young girl decided that she’d had enough, and that she would rather try her luck on the streets. While she did survive, she didn’t thrive. She had to sell her body for food and shelter, and about six months in she sunk to a real low point, beginning to abuse drugs. However the substances seemed to affect her differently than her friends, their effects milder, though hallucinations prompted weird thing to happen. She’d shoot large beams of light from her hands when scared, and she somehow managed to get several males to fall in love with her. And while Dina had always thought of herself as a little off, seeing as she’d been hearing other people’s thoughts on and off since before she could remember and had purple eyes as well as some kind of permanent markings around her left arm, these things left her feeling even more confused.

What was going on? She’d accepted that she wasn’t like anyone else, but always believed she just had some birth defects.. One afternoon, a wealthy looking, rather nice lady approached Dina in a convenient store, offering her shelter and food. The woman name was Deborah Miller, and she was a doctor and scientist with her own company. Unbeknown to Dina at first, Deborah Miller and her husband used to work for the human resistance her mother had been a part of, and she had been searching for the fae-human child along with the remainder of those humans once apart of the resistance. Many had died, but not all. After some convincing and a lot of explanations down the road, Dina decided to stay with the Millers. She decided that she didn’t need to particularly like them, because their obscene wealth and somewhat vain outlook on the world disgusted her, but she could use them until she was old enough to make a living for herself. Not surprisingly, the couple arranged for a whole new wardrobe, tutors, martial arts instructors and they helped Dina get clean and sober. After two years in their care, the street urchin with purple eyes was almost completely gone. Not to mention she finally understood what she was. Half faerie. At the age of twenty four, Dina was working as a research assistant at Dr. Millers labs, doing seemingly well for herself. She had her own apartment, her own money and was doing good. Of course everything wasn’t perfect. While she wouldn’t tell her adoptive mother Dina found the laboratory work incredibly boring and was dreaming of doing something more creative, or heck, take a year off to travel. But before she could realize any of these plans, she came across a female vampire.

At first the two were only fooling around, but then the tables were turned on Dina as the vampire decided to lock her in her home and keep her as a pet. At first, Dina fought for her life. Using everything she had. Though it quickly dawned on her that there were serious restraints to her powers when used so frequently, and if anything her new owner did not seem to be too weakened by them, only more entranced. After fighting her for a year and a half, Dina gave in. She was trained to be an obedient pet, a submissive slave, to speak only when spoken to and never able to tell her mistress no. With a little time, and good behavior, her mistress began loosening the reins a little bit, allowing Dina to roam freely within the house and gardens. One day, she saw her chance to escape, running right back to the Millers in the hopes that they could help hide her and get far away from the vampire. Instead her adoptive parents were slaughtered, as were every employee at the Miller lab when the vampire came for her pet. Anguished, heartbroken, and terrified as the mistress forced Dina to watch her adoptive mother get torn to pieces, she promised never to run again.

The years ticked by, seemingly uneventful and to the halfling the days seemed to blur together. She was never quite able to regain much trust with her mistress, though the vampire wasn’t entirely void of mercy. She gave Dina the best of everything, as long as she knew her place and played by the rules. It seemed like this was how her life was always going to be. And then her unseelie father showed up, demanding his daughter from the vampire that kept her. Of course the vampire refused, entering into many a quarrel with the faerie. Possessive as the vampire was, she thought the best alternative would be to sell Dina to Thorn Haven, assuring her that she would follow shortly and claim her. Though after a year in the cells, Dina hasn’t seen anything to her former mistress, nor her father. She’s assumed the former realized she was not worth the hassle, and the latter doesn’t know where she is. Which pains her, because she would really like to get to know her father, even though she’s not sure if she can trust him. A year in the cells, a year on her own and with a framework to explore, Dina has grown into her old self a little. She’s at times a bit sarcastic and bitter over her loss of freedom and the stark reality of slavery. Not to mention that she’s dared to become a bit bolder and more vocal. She’s stubborn, so if she doesn’t want to do something she’ll protest. Though for the most part she found it easy to adapt to L'Enfer. The elite here often pale in comparison to her old mistress, though she likes that she can play along and have some fun too. She is a natural submissive, taking a lot of pleasure in pleasing another person, easily excited by being roughly handled and she’s not averse to punishments. Most days she finds life in WR tolerable. Other days she’ll put up a real fight simply wanting to be in control of her own fate. You’ll never quite know what to get with her.