#but spoiler alert bad things have already happened for this family

[fireflysparks]

Rainelle Neengia has been given a second chance.

She's currently living with Chester Gieke, his wife Tina, and their baby boy, Cloud.

(Of course Chester named his son after a Final Fantasy character.)

Rainelle is a bit of a part-time nanny for them. And she's really good with Cloud. But will her presence bring misfortune to the family?

Tune in next time to find out!

[reputationmunson]

Crossing Lines | s.h x fem!reader

part one | part two | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

series summary: steve isn’t your biggest fan, so why does he ask you to be his date to a wedding? | enemies to lovers, fake dating

chapter summary: things take a turn the night of the wedding. what happens when you’re back in Hawkins and no longer have to pretend to be steve’s girlfriend?

content: arguing, drinking, kissing (yes you read that right), a few confessions (yes you read that right, too), she/her pronouns, use of y/n, swearing

word count: 3.7k

a/n: THINGS ARE HAPPENING! BUCKLE UP

_

The sound of clanging cutlery makes your head throb due to the cruel hangover you woke up with. You were currently eating breakfast with the Harrington’s and not to sound rude, but it was the last place you wanted to be right now. 

After the events of last night, you couldn’t get even a blink of sleep. It was already bad enough you told Steve that he shouldn’t kiss you because you wouldn’t be able to sleep, but him agreeing made it even worse. 

It makes no sense to you. 

He must be playing some sort of cruel game, right? He’s probably just stringing you along trying to make you fall for him and when if you do, bam, you’re left heartbroken. 

Steve Harrington can suck it. There’s positively no way you’re falling for him. 

“You alright?” he whispers to you when he notices you moving the food around your plate instead of eating it. “m’fine” you shrug. “Just don’t have an appetite’’ you explain. “Eat something. We have a long day ahead of us” 

“Why do you care?” you snap and his eyes widen. Luckily, his family was too immersed in their  own conversations to pay attention to either of you. “Let’s not do this here, okay? Yell at me when we get back to the house if you want”

“What’s the point? You never listen anyways” you huff. 

This morning was a tad awkward between you and Steve. When you tried to talk about it and clear the air, he just grunted and wanted to brush it under the rug like he always does. Safe to say you were frustrated with him. 

“Whatever, y/n. Just promise you’ll stop acting like this when we’re at the wedding”

“Only if you promise to stop being such a dick”

“Fine”

“Fine”

Spoiler alert: It wasn’t fine. 

_ 

When you had gotten back to the house, neither of you spoke a word to each other. You took a much needed nap while Steve left the house. He didn’t tell you where he was going and frankly, you didn’t care to know. 

Okay, that’s a bit of a lie. You cared a teeny tiny amount. 

These past few days have felt so back and forth. Every time you think you’re making progress to the possibility of being friends, there’s a small hiccup and you’re back to square one. You feel like you’ve gotten a glimpse of Steve that you haven’t gotten in a long time, but then the glimpse is overshadowed by him going back to acting like an ass at the drop of a hat. 

Your rumination is interrupted by the sound of the front door closing, alerting you that Steve is back. You go back to doing your makeup until Steve knocks on the bathroom door. “Come in” you answer and he opens the door. 

“We’re leaving in an hour” he states “Then why aren’t you ready yet? You were gone for two hours” 

“I went to my parents to call Robin” he answers. “We have a phone here” you counter. “Thanks, sherlock, but I didn’t really want you snooping in on my conversation” 

“I have no interest in what you have to say considering you have no interest in listening to me” you sigh heavily. “Is this about last night? Can’t you get over that?” You angrily set your mascara down and turn to look at him. “No, it isn’t just about last night. It’s about the entire time I’ve known you, Steve! You are such an asshole to me and I’ve done nothing to you and yes, I wanted to kiss you, but you wanted to kiss me too and it’s driving me fucking mad because you want to act like this whole weekend hasn’t even happened!” you exclaim and hold back a sob. You’d always been so utterly confused about his hatred towards you and this trip has made it even worse. He gives you no explanations, no communication, just avoidance. 

“I have to get ready” is all he says before exiting the room and you groan in frustration. All you want, all you need, is for him to talk to you. It’s like trying to get through a brick wall. Impossible and not worth it. 

You’d never been more grateful for a weekend to almost be over.

_

The wedding ceremony had been uncomfortable, to say the least. You and Steve were squished together in a church pew, leaving no room for distance between the two of you. It was hard to focus on the beautiful event taking place in front of you when Steve’s thigh was pressed up against yours and he had to put his arm on the back of the bench and you had to lean into him for appearances. 

The reception was going better though, partially because of the open bar. You’re currently stood there waiting on your third drink when the bride herself comes up to you. “What did Steve do now?” she asks you. “What do you mean?” you play dumb. “You two have been so lovey dovey this whole weekend and now you haven’t spoken a word to each other tonight. Spill”

“I don’t want to burden you. It’s your wedding night!”

“Consider it a wedding present. Tell me everything!”

That was easier said than done. You couldn’t exactly explain that this entire relationship is fake and Steve has been sending you mixed signals, absolutely doing your head in. “Just a silly fight, I suppose. Nothing serious” you reply. “Alright, I won’t bother you for juicy details, but tonight is all about love and that boy loves you. He’s outside. Go find him, okay?” 

Before you go and find him, you make sure to get him a drink to break the ice. As frustrated as you were with him, you weren’t going to sulk at someone's wedding over it.

“Hey” you mutter when you find him alone outside. “Peace offering” you say as you hand him a drink and he accepts, chugging it rather quickly. 

“Look, I’m sorry ab-”

“No, I’m sorry.” he interrupts “I was an ass and you didn’t deserve it”

“Thank you, but you’ve been really off all day. Is something else wrong?’’ you question and he sighs “My dad keeps harping on me about my job, my apartment, and basically everything else. Says you’re too good for me. I don’t even deserve my fake girlfriend” he chuckles, humorlessly.

“Steve” you whisper, stepping closer to him and putting your hand on his arm “I know we’ve had our differences, but you should be proud of yourself. You could’ve easily had everything handed to you, but you decided to do everything on your own. I think that’s very brave of you”

“You think I’m brave?” his eyes meet yours and you swear there’s a sparkle in his golden irises. “yeah, i do, but don’t let that get to your head, alright?” you joke and he smiles for the first time today. “too late” he smiles. “So we’re okay now? ya know, until you start acting like a dick again” you joke. “Yeah, we’re okay. until you do something annoying again”

You both chuckle and you can’t deny this moment feels nice. Steve seems different, apart from the few arguments you’ve had over the weekend, it feels like there’s a possibility for an acquaintance. Maybe even friends, but you don’t wanna get ahead of yourself. 

“Hey, lovebirds. Get in here, everyone’s lookin for ya” one of the groomsmen says when he finds you and Steve outside. “we’ll be there in a sec” Steve tells him before he disappears. 

“ready?” he asks and you nod, both quickly finishing your drinks before facing the crowd inside. Steve takes your hand and leads you back into the reception. 

Once you’re back inside, you feel a gentle tug on your dress. When you turn around and look down, you’re met with a friendly, familiar face. “hi, penelope! you look so pretty!” you exclaim and she twirls to show you her dress. “you look like a princess! will you dance with me?” she asks. “I’d be honored!” 

“I’m gonna go get us a couple more drinks, okay?” Steve tells you before you’re escorted to the dance floor with your new best friend. 

While Steve waits to order at the bar, he watches you and penny absolutely steal the show. You’re holding hands while twirling around the dance floor and laughing. He notices everyone admiring you, much like he is right now. 

“She sure is lovely, Steve” his mom says when she approaches him. “she is, isn’t she?” he replies and he means it. You have this way about you that makes everyone swoon over you. At first, he found it annoying, but now he might say he finds it endearing. He’s starting to understand why everyone likes you so much. 

As ‘open arms’ by Journey starts to play, he watches your eyes light up and you say ‘I love this song!’. He decides the drinks can wait. 

“Care if I steal my girl for a dance, penny?” he asks, fully expecting her to say no. “fine, but only one dance, mister” she points her finger at him and you both laugh. “I’ll hand her off to you in no time. I swear” he promises before she walks back over to her parents. 

“So, I hear you like this totally cheesy song. Can’t say I’m surprised” he teases and you playfully roll your eyes. “And you wanna dance with me to this totally cheesy song” you rebuttal. “touche” he chuckles. 

Your arms wrap around his neck and his hands fall to your waist, pulling you slightly closer to him. “I believe I was promised a drink” 

“Got distracted, plus I don’t need you getting sloppy and stepping on my toes”

“Sloppy?! If anything, my dance moves are even more impeccable when I’m drunk. Did you not see my moves earlier?”

“Oh, I did, unfortunately. You’re really great with Penny, by the way. Must be because you dance the same.” he torments you. “Okay, I’m ignoring that. She’s a great kid, though. Hard to believe you share genes” 

“How would we share jeans? She’s a toddler” 

“Steve” you deadpan, waiting for him to get that you meant genes, not jeans. “Oh” he nods his head once he understands and you both laugh. 

“Do you think that maybe after all of this we could be friends, maybe?” you ask, shyly. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but yeah, maybe” he answers before continuing “you aren’t completely awful and besides us fighting every other hour, I’ve had fun with you.”

“I’ve had fun with you too, but if you tell anyone I said that I’ll deny it” you jokingly respond and he agrees. “I don’t entirely hate being around you” he whispers. “I don’t either”

Steve’s eyes flick down to your lips and linger longer than you expected. “stop looking at my lips!” you quietly exclaim. “I'm not! Your lipstick is smeared!” he defends.“I’m not wearing lipstick, Steve” you clarify and his cheeks turn pink. 

“You’re blushing! you were totally looking at my lips!”

“I was not. If I get you a drink will you stop berating me?” he bargains. “Hm, I don’t know. Get me a drink anyways and let's find out.” 

Steve keeps his hand on the small on your back the entire time you stand at the bar. You lean your head on his shoulder, claiming that it’s only because you’re sleepy, but deep down you feel the need to be as close to him as possible. 

“Wanna go back outside? It’s kinda hot in here” Steve asks once you get your drinks. You nod and follow him, lacing your hands together, mostly for support as you're tired and you feel like your feet might actually fall off from your heels. 

You and Steve don’t bother finding any chairs, opting to sit in the grass instead. 

“It’s so beautiful out here” you sigh dreamily as you look at the stars in the sky. Steve turns to look at you while you admire the view “yeah. it really is”

A night breeze causes you to shiver, so Steve takes off his blazer and places it over your shoulders. “Thanks, Stevie” you smile at him and he hates how the way your nose scrunches as you smile makes him feel like a damn teenager with the butterflies he gets. 

“Can I ask you something?” you ask, looking back at the sky not really wanting to look at him when you ask what’s on your mind. “go for it”

“Why did you hate me? I mean, I hope it’s past tense because you said we can be friends now, but I’m just curious” you nervously pluck grass out of the ground, still avoiding eye contact. “I didn’t hate you” “Steve, that’s a lie and we both know it. Be honest, I can take it”

Seconds pass before he speaks again, letting out a big sigh before doing so. “You’re too perfect”

“What?” you scoff. “You’re just so…unreal. With the way you laugh, the way you’re nice to everybody, and the way you could wear a trash bag and still be unbelievably beautiful. It just makes me so mad because I can never have you” he confessions and you’re stunned, to say the least. 

You don’t say anything for a good minute and a half, unable to think of anything to say. Steve wishes he had a time machine so he could go back and say literally anything else. He takes your silence as rejection.

“why can’t you have me?” you whisper “it’s stupid” he grumbles. “tell me. please”

“Robin told me that I wasn’t ready for a girl like you and truth be told, I don’t think I ever will be” he tells you. You scoot closer to him, locking your eyes with his. “you can have me tonight, Steve, while we’re away from home. No robin, no hawkins, just you and me and not a care in the world”

“Can we really do that just for one night?” he wonders, eyes scanning over your face to see if there’s any detection of you just messing around with him. “that depends…do you wanna kiss me?”

“yes”

Neither of you waste any time. His lips hungrily chase yours and you sigh into the kiss as you both lay down on your sides in the grass. Your hand grasps the back of his neck to keep him in place, making sure this moment lasts as long as possible. Warmth spreads throughout your body and you feel like your heart might beat out of your chest. 

One of Steve’s hands tangles in your hair while the other rests on your waist. It’s so quiet outside that all you can hear are the sounds of your kiss and you can’t be too sure, but so far you think it’s the best thing you’ve ever heard. 

Steve is the first to pull away, but not too far. He rests his forehead on yours and he keeps his eyes closed. “Can we go back to our place?” he asks and you let out an ‘mhm’ before you both stand up, going back inside to quickly say your goodbyes. 

_

Steve presses kisses to your forehead, cheeks, and lips every five seconds in the back of the cab and all the way to the front door. He knows he won’t be able to do this once you go back to your lives in Hawkins, so he uses this opportunity as best as he can. 

For tonight, you’re his girl and he can kiss you silly if he wants to. 

“Stevie, can I sleep in your sweatshirt? it gets cold at night”

“Here. I’ll get out of your hair” he says before leaving the room so you can get changed. His sweatshirt smells like him and you smile as you put it on. 

You change in record time so Steve can come back in. You know this is a terrible idea. You shouldn’t want to kiss him this badly, you shouldn’t hope you sleep in his arms tonight, but you do because you don’t know if you’ll ever get the chance to once you’re home. 

“I’m done!’’ you shout and Steve returns, also changed into comfy clothes. You both climb into bed after turning off the lights. His arm wraps around your shoulders and pulls you into him so your head lies on his chest. 

You’re both utterly exhausted, but don’t go to bed before sharing more giggly kisses. You each dread when the sunrises, meaning your time together is up. 

It was nice while it lasted. Even if it was only for a few hours. 

_

In the morning, there’s no regrets or arguing, like what both of you expected. Instead, there was a feeling of misery. If Steve knew he could’ve had you for this whole weekend, he wouldn’t have wasted a second. 

How is he supposed to act once you’re back in Hawkins? Does he go back to being an asshole or does he stick by his promise of being your friend? Is it even possible for him to be your friend at this point?

You don’t speak much throughout the morning, apart from when you’re at his parents’ to say goodbyes. “I can’t wait to see you again, dear” his mom had told you and you felt an odd feeling in your chest at her words. 

Steve loads up all of your things in the car for you and you mutter a ‘thanks’ before getting in the passenger seat. 

“Ready?” Steve asks when he gets in the car. “yep. let’s go home” you exhale a deep breath. 

You fall asleep almost as soon as you’re on the road and Steve sighs in relief. He doesn’t think he could take the silence. 

_

The ride home goes by fairly quickly. You wake once you feel his car come to a halt outside your house. 

“I’ll get your bags for you” he offers and you shake your head “no it’s o-”

“y/n, let me get your bags. It’ll be my final job as your fake boyfriend” he jokes and you let out a fake chuckle. Why does the thought of this being over hurt so much?

“Well, guess we’re broken up now, huh? Longest three and a half days of my life” you jest. “Right back at ya. Pleasure doing business with you” he holds his hand out and you shake it like you just got finished with a business meeting. “Until next time” 

“Until next time” he repeats your words and heads back to his car. 

You watch him drive away through your living room window, hoping he’ll turn around to give you one last kiss, but he doesn’t. It’s probably for the best anyways. 

_

It had been two weeks since returning to Hawkins and Steve couldn’t shake the feeling he had. It was the heart wrenching feeling you have when you miss someone, and he didn’t want to miss you, but he did. Severely.

Somehow, his apartment had felt lonelier. His bed felt colder as he grew accustomed to sharing a bed with you for only three nights, despite the gap that was left between you and him the first two nights. 

He hasn’t seen you since he dropped you off two weeks ago and there’s nothing else to say except that he misses you. 

He misses your laugh, he misses your banter, and he misses the way he felt when he kissed you that Saturday night. Like it was something you should’ve been doing this whole time. 

The clock on his bedside table reads 12:48 and he decides he can’t take this anymore. He can’t go through another sleepless night feeling like this.

He throws his blankets off his body and gets dressed, putting on the first thing he could find and running out the front door. 

He didn’t care anymore. 

He didn’t care about what Robin would say, or that you and Eddie used to be a thing, or that this could end in complete fucking disaster. 

All he cared about was what he wanted and that was you.

_

A series of knocks at your door wasn’t what you expected at one in the morning. 

Obviously, the first thing that came to mind was a murderer, but when you looked through your peephole, you saw a very frantic Steve.

“Steve? Are you okay?” his eyes were wide, his hair was a mess, and he was clearly jittery. 

“No, actually, I’m losing my mind. I mean, you tell me I can have you for one night and you thought that I could go back to normal after that?”

“I’m…sorry?”

“No, listen. I can’t go back to normal. I have wanted you for as long as I’ve known you and then we finally fucking kiss and I have to pretend like it wasn’t the best thing that’s happened to me a really long goddamn time. I want you and I can’t act like I don’t’’

You practically throw yourself at him, quickly crashing your lips together and pulling him inside. you’d been waiting so long for this.

“We can't tell any of our friends about this” kiss. “Agreed” kiss. “I mean this could totally blow up in our faces, there's no reason to tell them, right” you state, pulling away from his lips.“Uh-huh, right. Now shut up and kiss me again” 

You stand in your living for at least ten minutes, kissing him like it’s the only thing you’ll ever do again until exhaustion hits you both.

“do you wanna stay tonight? I don’t want you out driving this late”

“I wouldn’t be able to leave anyways” 

It feels weird at first to be cuddling Steve. Just a few weeks ago you swore up and down he hated you, and now you’re both curled up in your bed, clinging to each other like your life depends on it. It doesn’t feel wrong, though. It feels natural. Like, you’ve figured everything out. Well, almost everything. 

What else did you need to figure out? How the hell you were going to keep this from your friends.

_

taglist: @nix-rose-q @eternallyvenus @freezaz123 @whisperingwillowxox @buckysmetalhand @x-theolivia @realsuper-dark @eddiesguitarskills @megxplryxb @alicetweven @calmoistorm @impossibelle @k-k0129 @moonofthedevil @tinakham @kennedy-brooke @enco12e @sierrahhh @meet-me-backstage @whoringtonmunswhore

(a few blogs i was unable to tag :( i’m not sure if that’s an issue on my end or not but i’ll try to figure it out!)

[sharksandsquirrelsandsnakes-ohmy]

Stiles is Supernatural Crack

4. Low Blood Sugar Grumpy Ass

Masterlist | AO3 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10

Stiles didn’t know when but Scott had apparently let it slip to the pack that failing to learn to control the magic would drive Stiles crazy. Since that got out, Stiles had only been alone when he was in the bathroom and Malia had even tried to be a part of that. 

Her defense was “what? I’ve seen you naked plenty of times before.”

Stiles stopped and turned around to face her. “Yes, before. As in before we broke up,” he affirmed and went to the bathroom, locking it to make sure they would at least make noise if they tried to walk in. If he were more petty, he could have mountain ashed the door.

It wasn’t all bad. Actually, sometimes it was really nice. He had his friends around more than ever. 

Slowing, they stopped showing up everyday but it’s not like he expected them to stay with him every free second. Deaton had explained the ‘pull’ to him would decrease as they got used to the feeling, but it was still weird after having them there so much. They’d have pack nights once or twice a week. Lydia was helping him learn spells. He had a battery of snacks at hand anytime he looked even slightly paler than usual, which was a regular thing since he hadn’t spent much time outside lately. He could usually be found in his room, the kitchen or at Deaton’s. 

Lydia was a rule follower when it came to learning magic or doing spells. She reinforced the lines Deaton set and tried to get Stiles to follow the book's order of spells. Spoiler alert: did not work. Like, ever. Stiles was always trying to push the limits of what he could do and Lydia was always having to feed his low blood sugar grumpy ass.

Stiles was on his bed reading from a book of healing spells. He heard someone coming up the stairs and looked up to see Lydia walking in with tea for the both of them. “Hey Lydia, what do you think of this?”

Lydia gave him the cup and took the spell book. She hummed, blowing on her tea to cool it before taking a drink. Lydia fidgeted with the edge of the page as she read. When she’d finished reading, she closed the book.

“I think we should get the idiots protection spells so we don’t need to bother with healing,” Lyida told him, putting the book on the desk across the room.

“Hey,” Stiles objected, “I was reading that.”

Lydia gave him a cold look and Stiles settled. “No healing spells, Stiles.”

Between Lydia and Deaton, Stiles had littered his house in protective spells to the point that they had removed the mountain ash. Of course, that meant that, more than once, Stiles had woken up with more people in his room than had been there when he fell asleep, but rarely the other way around. It was getting to the point that it was hard to tell which clothes belonged to who. 

Most people were in and out because of jobs, school, and other wolfly-duties. Everyone except for Derek. He was a constant. He had no job and didn’t need one. 

Lydia had so many college credits when they finished high school that, only four years later, she'd already earned a BS of Physics with a Business minor, a Ph.D. of Mathematics, and was currently working as… something she had to sign an NDA for. Scott had finished Veterinary school(barely, due to supernatural happenings) and was working with Deaton. 

Stiles had actually been able to get a job that played to his very particular set of skills: researching the supernatural. Usually it was small things— helping families or individuals find new packs, finding out information about pack ties to land, the occasional Spark that needed a mentor to become a proper Emissary. He would sometimes get urgent requests about a rogue witch or kanima– those were his favorite cases but he was starting to appreciate emissary cases more now that he was learning himself. He found himself scrolling through pictures of teenage Sparks and their Mentor Emissary. It was strange, now. Most of the Emissaries were around Stiles’ age or a few years older. It made him feel like he was behind even though he’d just learned about his abilities.

Stiles sighed, chewing his lip. The small noise caught Derek’s attention. He was starting to gain an aptitude for guessing Stiles’ thought from noises, even without chemosignals.

“You are doing all you can. You can’t change the things in life that left you where you are,” Derek said, starting the mantra Stiles would repeat when he felt like he was falling behind. “You—”

“— are ahead of some and behind others. It doesn’t speak to my worth, just my experiences,” Stiles repeated with him. It had originally been something he'd told the freaked-out teen sparks he placed but he'd started applying it to himself too. He leaned back in the rolling chair and rubbed his face. “I need a nap,” Stiles muttered.

Stiles got up and walked over to the bed and Derek flicked the light switch off, still sat reading via werewolf vision. He tried to, at least. He kept finding his eyes wandering to Stiles. 

Today was one of the times where the pack was busy. Scott, Lydia, Kira, Jackson, and Isaac had work. Ethan was out of town visiting family that Stiles had helped him get into contact with, but he would be back soon. Liam was cramming for a test with Mason. Malia was god knows where, hopefully not getting arrested. 

That left Stiles in a cold bed, pretending he didn’t miss the warmth of his friends, and Derek, keeping his distance because he didn’t want to make Stiles uncomfortable. Stiles pretending didn’t do him any good, he reeked of loneliness. 

Stiles shivered and Derek put his book aside. Derek stripped off his clothes, shifted into his full wolf form, and jumped in the bed. 

Stiles lifted the blankets for him with a smile and covered them both. Stiles pulled the wolf close and ran his fingers through his fur. He sighed, moving as close as he could to take in the warmth. 

Derek was happy he could be there for Stiles but he didn’t think Stiles wanted him, so he always shifted into a wolf so Stiles could pretend he was just a dog if he wanted to. He thought Stiles deserved to be happy, he just didn’t think he made Stiles happy. He wanted to be there, to help, but he feared it was just the Nemeton magic. Derek constantly wondered if he could trust his own feelings because of it. The Nemeton had made him feel safe, was this the same? No. he knew it wasn’t but the fear of admitting it… It was safer to say it was the Nemeton magic, nothing else.

“How are you so soft,” Stiles asked, the end of his sentence rising in a yawn. “I thought wolves had coarse hair. Maybe it’s a werewolf thing…” 

Stiles yawned again, closing his eyes. He was trying to fall asleep as thoughts raced through his head. His wide range of thoughts made the room heavy with different chemosignals. It made Derek wonder what was going on in Stiles’ brain but, then again, did he really want to know? 

He thought up as many suicide missions are he did successful plans, not to mention the number of times he’d been right about who the evil of the week had been. How much did he think about who it was? Who many suspects did he start with? What about when Stiles himself was the bad guy? It had to have destroyed him. How do you ever come back from that? Derek laid next to Stiles, thinking about what he had said to Deaton the night he got his power. Why wouldn’t Stiles tell them he was hurting so badly?

Three hours later Lydia showed up at the house and flopped down in the bed next to Stiles. An hour after her, Liam made himself cozy in the bed, so brain dead from studying someone should have called his time of death hours ago. Mason joined in reluctantly, knowing he’d be squished later. Then Scott, Kira, and Isaac made their way in, somehow managing to squeeze into the bed. Once again, Derek ended up on Stiles’ chest. It wasn’t long before Jackson showed, wiggling his way into the pile of bodies after a shitty day. Finally, Malia made an appearance and was sent to the shower before being allowed anywhere near the bed.

Stiles had been drifting in and out of sleep as his friends– his family– piled in the bed. It was ridiculous, the eight of them piled on a full size mattress. It seemed to be all elbows and knees as people moved but it was always the best sleep Stiles got. Even with so many of them, it was obvious they were one person short, like missing a limb. Lydia was in Ethan’s spot and Liam was in Lydia’s, which meant Mason was shoved into Liam’s place. Jackson was still, somehow, in his place. Malia was in Mason’s spot and Malia’s stop was empty! Because so many people weren’t in the usual spot, Kira kept getting elbowed by Malia so Scott switched her places. As much as Stiles loved Scott, he was not enjoying having Scott’s crotch shoved against his leg.

Ethan would get a kick out of knowing how much they needed him for group naps, Stiles would have to call him later.

“Hey guys,” Stiles huffed, having taken an elbow from Lydia to the side, “I hate to say it but this isn’t working.” Someone rolled over, hitting wolf-Derek, rolling him off Stiles to land heavily on Scott, who– in turn– tried to lay on his back and ended up half on top of Kira while also shoving her against the wall.

Scott groaned, pushing Derek back onto Stiles. “No joke,” he groaned.

“All right,” Kira said, pushing Scott off her, “the person on the bottom says ‘GET UP’!!!”

If they thought cramming people on the bed was a feat, getting them off was an encore. Multiple times, they were seconds away from toppling over and squishing each other on the floor. They managed to get everyone separated long enough to breathe, except Stiles who still had wolf- Derek firmly planted on his chest.

Stiles tried to move Derek. He managed to move the wolf about two inches before he gave up. “Jesus, Derek! You weigh more than I do,” Stiles grumbled.

Mason hummed and threw in, “full grown male wolves can weigh up to a hundred and eighty pounds.”

Liam groaned, sitting on the floor and rubbing his head. “Shut up! No more facts or my head will explode!”

“You do know who’s house you're at, right,” Lydia asked, from her place sitting at the edge of the bed. “Random facts are Stiles’ specialty.”

“I thought we were going to take a nap,” Liam said in an almost pitiful tone.

Isaac gave Liam a look, practicalling asking if he was being serious. He was perched on Stiles’ desk, his feet on the arm of the desk chair that Jackson had taken over. “You are so dramatic,” Isaac scoffed, pulling a cutie orange out of Stiles’ snack bucket.

“And you’re a bitch,” Liam quipped back. “What’s your point?” 

“Point is I’m going to bend you like a pretzel,” Isaac said and Malia snorted a laugh.

“Oh my god, get a room,” Lydia groaned, earning disgusted looks brom Liam and Isaac. 

There was a jumble of “what? gross!” and  “him and me? Lydia!” followed by a lot of laughing throughout the room. 

Stiles’ had no clue what was going on and just hoped there would be no more blood on his carpet. He was still trying to move wolf-Derek so he could sit up. Kira finally took pity on Stiles and helped him move Derek– growling the whole time– so he could sit up. Stiles shoved pillows behind himself to lean back on while still being mostly upright, there was no way he was going to be able to scoot up the bed with Derek’s growly ass still laying on him. 

When he was finally able to, Stiles stretched and grabbed his phone. He tried to turn it on but his phone was completely dead. He looked around the room full of suspects. It was strange, they didn’t have a pack night or meeting so why were they all here? He decided it was unimportant.

“Dude, could you can it will the rottie-rumble bullshit,” Stiles scoffed, poking at Derek's exposed teeth. “Anyone know what time it is,” Stiles asked and Lydia unlocked her phone. She showed him the time and Stiles’ eyes went wide. “Shit! I was supposed to meet Deaton five minutes ago!”

This was apparently all it took for Derek to get up. 

Stiles jumped out of bed and rushed to get ready. He was trying to pull socks on and started to topple. Isaac was closest and grabbed Stiles before he made a crash landing on the floor. In his haste, Stiles forgot his spell books– Lydia grabbed them– and his keys– Scott grabbed those– and his snack bag– which Derek grabbed. They all made it to the jeep at about the same time. Keys were given to Stiles, books went in the snack bag and Lydia got in the jeep with the bag. 

Stiles heard the zipper of his snack bag open and Lydia sighed. “There is a single pack of fruit snacks in here,” Lydia said.

“Oh ya, I was meaning to refill it,” he muttered, preparing himself for a long next few hours.

“Stiles, this isn’t good! You could pass out or worse,” Lydia scolded. 

He shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I just won’t push myself as much.” 

Lydia scoffed and rolled her eyes. Lies. He never did anything less than one hundred percent. Knowing that, Lydia felt unprepared. She’d never deal with Stiles when he completely crashed. Scott and Derek were the ones who did that. When Stiles had started overworking himself, Lydia always had a snack bowl nearby that she could pull snacks from to throw at him. Lydia was fully confident she could force feed him until he came too, she just didn’t know if she’d be able to carry his dumbass back to the jeep were he to pass out.

They parked and jumped out of the jeep, a total of ten minutes late. She followed Stiles into the vet’s office and listened as Deaton gave him a backhanded lecture about being on time. It wasn’t going to have an effect, Stiles was never on time and not for a lack of trying. It was a time-blindness thing.

Deaton had Stiles working on defensive spells. In other words, he was throwing balls of paper at Stiles while he tried to make a magic shield to block them. They stopped when he managed to successfully block all of them and Stiles ate the last pack of gummies. When they started working again, Deaton offered some of the paper balls to Lydia under the guise that he might need to block two attackers at once. 

Stiles got hit in the face with a lot of paper. 

“Okay, stop it. I need a break,” Stiles said, managing to catch one of the paper balls and throw it back at Lydia.

“I’ll stop when you stop five in a row,” Lydia said, throwing two at once. 

Stiles blocked one but the other hit him in the eye. “Fuck! Okay, stop.” he said more forcefully, one hand left up to block while the other covered his eye. 

Paper balls were still being thrown, this time being aimed lower to hit him in the chest. 

Stiles groaned in irritation. He stood up quickly. “FUCKING STOP!”

The lights blew, launching sparks, and the paper balls all went up in flames with his words. Lydia yelped, dropping the flaming paper and looking up at Stiles. She had been shocked when the paper caught fire but looking at Stiles sent fear through her. 

Stiles– sweet, harmless Stiles– had pure white eyes. Heavy dark circle grew under his eyes in seconds. His pale skin was damp with sweat and he was visibly shaking. A sick smile was set on his lips. It seemed to quirk up into a smirk when Lydia looked at him fearfully. It was like facing the Nogitsune all over but worse. This actually was Stiles. Lydia felt herself scream and, as quickly as it started, it was gone. 

Stiles looked at Lydia, lost. Then he started to fall. Lydia watched it all happen in slow motion. Stiles getting closer to the floor. The door burst open. The wolves staring. Derek shoving past them. Derek grabbing Stiles' arm. Stiles screaming in pain. Derek landing on the floor. The crunching of glass. Derek pulling Stiles into his lap. 

Derek’s frantic voice brought Lydia back to reality, “what happened?”

Lydia shook her head, not sure of anything any more.

“It seems Mr Stilinski has a higher aptitude for magic than I previously realized,” Deaton said, rolling a chair over for Lydia, giving her time to breathe. 

“What does that mean,” Scott asked from the door.

“Strong emotions strengthen magic. When those emotions rise at the same time as a serge of magical energy, the magic will act on emotion and not thought.” Deaton walked over to his desk and grabbed a juice box and an apple. “He was attempting to create a magical shield and lost control. He was angry and his magic acted on his feelings instead of thoughts.” He gave the juice to Derek, “see if you can get him to drink this.”

Stiles started to wake up and absently drank whatever was given to him. 

He wasn’t aware of anything until after they were in the jeep and halfway to the home. He wasn’t even aware enough to realize he was in Derek’s lap as Lydia drove the jeep. Roscoe, as much as Stiles loved the jeep, did nothing to help Stiles’ nausea.  

It was a regular occurrence that someone had to drive Stiles home after these little work sessions. Most of the time he was dead tired. On days where he forgot his snack bag or it was empty, he was shaky, dizzy, and had a pounding headache. When he had zero food after he’d done magic, he’d sweat through his shirt and still feel ice cold, his anxiety would skyrocket and get really bad brain fog. 

Stiles had had days where he overdid it but this was the first time he passed out. He’d overdone it and was feeling the effects hardcore. He was shaky and dizzy and nauseous– he felt like throwing up everytime they turned or hit a bump. His head felt like it would explode from the migraine he had.

“I wanna die,” Stiles muttered, feeling like he’d been hit by ten tractor trailers all at once.

Lydia scoffed, trying to push down her own worry. “Then maybe you should have refilled the snack bag,” she tisked.

Stiles flinched when Derek growled behind him and damn did that hurt. Stiles’ breathing spiked from the pain of moving too quickly. Derek was still growling and Stiles found it… something– a thought he’d criticized himself for and overthink when he didn’t feel like throwing up all over everything.

“His magic lows have the same symptoms as Hypoglycemia,” Lydia told Derek, not taking her eyes off the road. “He’s lucky Deaton had juice for him or we’d be heading to the hospital again.”

“Just drive,” Derek grumbled, keeping his attention on Stiles. 

He brushed the hair off Stiles's forehead, feeling how sweaty he was. He hated that he couldn't do anything to help. He hated that Stiles was suffering, even if it was caused by his own stupidity.

Derek carried him upstairs and laid Stiles in bed. He tucked him in and sat on the edge of the bed. Stiles was falling asleep. Every sign was there– the random comments, slowing heart rate, his nose scrunching as he started to dream– and Derek noticed each one. 

No, it wasn’t just the Nemeton’s influence. He was falling for Stiles. 

He pushed Stiles' hair out of his face and frowned. He used to think Stiles was just a skinny defenseless human but he was so much more. He was smart and funny and sarcastic and far from being defenseless. He was a spark, a future emissary, and very, very powerful. 

Derek’s hand slipped away from Stiles and he stood up. He could hear the others. Scott, Isaac, Liam, and Lydia came up to Stiles' room. 

Lydia laid down next to Stiles without hesitation. She was scared, had been since it happened, and having the bit of normalcy they’d created was comforting. Isaac and Liam bickered back and forth until Scott gave them a pointed glare, flashing his red eyes. They calmed down and played rock paper scissors to see who laid where. Liam won and took the opposite side of Stiles from Lydia. Isaac laid down with a huff but relaxed quickly in the warmth of his friends.

“Are you going to join us,” Scott asked. “There’s enough room so you don’t have to fully shift.” Derek didn’t answer and Scott frowned. “What’s up, man?”

“I’m going for a run,” Derek said, heading for the window. He watched the mountain ash line break for him and went out, not stopped to look again. He knew the line reformed behind him. Normally he'd look back just to see how amazing it was but he knew if he looked back, his heart would rip for leaving Stiles when he was ill.

He repeated to himself: Stiles doesn’t want you. You’re just a fill in. He doesn’t need you.

After writing this, I realized I basically had Stiles cast fireball in a small room full of his allies. ANYWAY…

[sunflowerharrington]

@steddiebang2024 project reveal!! This is not a drill!

I’m so so excited for this year’s Steddie Bang! I’ll be collabing with the amazing @mvnsvn6 for this project! Forget everything you know about Stranger Things and Saltburn and dive into this adventure with us. You can find the summary and a little excerpt will be under the cut.

Looking forward to posting this Fall :)

Summary:

Eddie Munson knows he won’t make any friends at Hawkins University. He knows it. He knows it… Until he crosses paths with Steve Harrington; a hunk who’s got it all: the looks, the ladies, the money, and a mansion way too big for an eccentric family of five and a butler. He’s got a mansion.

He’s got a mansion.

or, Eddie Munson is twenty years old and enrols at Hawkins University. He falls in love with a guy from university, falls out of love with the same guy, grows to resent him — even though some feelings still lie at the bottom of his heart — and the aftermath of it all.

Excerpt:

The sun shines bright, the grass is greener than ever and the skies are pure, perfect blue, with no clouds in sight. Shadows follow Eddie as he cycles along the road by the crystal-clear river, and he breathes in the fresh air. Today’s going to be a good day.

A buzzing atmosphere flutters around him like butterflies, but it’s pretty bittersweet. Why? Because some god-awful racket is disrupting the peace. It’s Steve, sitting on the verge up ahead, cursing under his breath as he kicks his bicycle. What ever could be the matter? Did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?

Eddie smirks as he passes, but stopping to help might get him on a page in Steve’s good book. He breaks to a halt in front of Steve.

“Hey, what happened?” Eddie asks, as if he doesn’t already know the answer. It’s a flat tire and the chain is looser than it should be. Steve has the bike upside down, trying to fix it by staring at it, hoping it’ll do something. Spoiler alert: it won’t.

“I’ve got a flat tire.” Bingo. “Chain’s loose too.” Double bingo.

“That’s bad luck,” Eddie says, and for once, something truthful comes out of his mouth— Eddie stops. For once, uh… he says something useful? Maybe? Eddie rolls his eyes. He has to stop changing his story! He was doing so well.

“I’ve just been trying to fix it,” Steve says, looking down at his feet. “Of course it’s when I’m already ten minutes late for my tutorial.”

Ooh, a tutorial. Eddie rolls his eyes. So posh. Jesus H Christ.

“Where is it?” Eddie asks.

“Just off Cherry Lane.”

“Oh shit.” That is pretty far away. Poor boy’s gonna have to walk all the way there on his own like half the people in college, probably. Eddie scoffs, it’s nothing. A walk is nothing. A run? That’s hard sometimes. Walking’s easy, and a good time to have a cigarette. And it’s less dangerous, and a lot easier, to smoke while walking than riding a bike. The scar on Eddie’s right arm is proof of that.

“Yeah…” Steve trails off, pouting like a kicked puppy. Jesus Christ, and Eddie thought he himself was dramatic.

They both look at the bike at the same time. It’s pretty much a goner. There’s no way to fix it in time for Steve to get to his stupid fucking tutorial before it’s over.

“I skipped last week to go- don’t tell anyone- but I went on a date with uh… Can't remember her name, sorry. Heather, or something. And I’m already in trouble with my parents for scratching some of the paint off it, so…”

Oh, poor, poor baby. Eddie internally rolls his eyes. Is Steve seriously trying to make Eddie feel sorry for him? Eddie’s pretty sure Steve’s parents could buy him a thousand bikes if he asked. But… He wants to get on Steve’s good side. He’s definitely popular around campus, and having that under his own belt could be good. Might get Eddie laid by a pretty girl if he’s lucky.

“Look, I’m not really going anywhere,” Eddie says, smiling at him. “Just taking these back to the library. So you can take my bike if you want?”

“No, no, no, I couldn’t. I mean, it looks like rain, I wouldn’t want to—”

Eddie can’t help but melt under Steve’s gaze, and that smile. Jesus H. Christ. “I’m not really going anywhere anyway. I can just get it back from you later. You’re in my college, so…” Perfect. He’ll get to see Steve again. One point for Munson.

“Am I?” Steve asks, keeping his gaze trained on Eddie.

Eddie sighs, his eyes downcast. “Yep.”

It’s a big college, sure, but how has Steve not seen him around before? Has he forgotten about their exchanged looks and smiles around campus whenever they cross paths? Does anything even really matter to him?

“That’s so kind, are you serious?” He asks, getting up from his spot by the tree. “That’s so kind, man. Are you sure? I mean, it’s a long walk back to college and I don’t want you to feel like you have to wheel it back.”

“You want me to take yours back?” Eddie asks. Oh what, so this douche thinks he can tell Eddie what to do now? He doesn’t even know Eddie’s name and he’s already giving him orders. Maybe it’s because Eddie looks easy to manipulate into doing whatever he wants.

But that’s what he wants Steve to think.

Eddie likes to think of himself as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. That’s the strategy in life that gets people everything they want. And what is it Eddie wants? More. More. And even more. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to get that, and so far it’s taken him right to Steve Harrington by a tree just outside of Hawkins University.

It didn’t exactly take much for him to get accepted; a carefully curated persona full of smiles and the story about his upbringing. That, and all the little extras: no criminal record—that the police know of, he knows how to make people take the fall for him. Bless Gareth, Frankie and Jeff—no drugs in his system, and a willingness to go down on anyone in any room to keep up his good GPA score.

Bedroom eyes go a long way, and the lack of a gag reflex goes even further. He’s willing to become the local slut to get what he wants. He doesn’t even have to try hard. Eddie is a slut and he’s damn proud of it.

“Oh, no, no, no!” Steve starts. “I’m sorry, I just thought that since I have your bike, you’ll take mine?” Eddie’s works, Steve’s does not, it makes little to no sense.

“I mean, I can wheel it back to college for you, it’s not that far away,” Eddie proposes… to get on Steve’s good side, of course.

“Thank you.” Steve takes Eddie’s bike from him.

He must be so used to people bending over backwards to help him.

Steve grins. “Oh, thank you. Thank you… I’m sorry, I don’t know your name. I’m Steve,” he says with an apologetic look. Oh, but is it fake? Who knows? Everything is fake around here. And posh, rich boys like Steven Otis Harrington are no exception.

I already know your name. And you have no idea just how much I already know about you, Steve.

“Eddie. It’s Eddie.”

“Eddie. Eddie, I love you.” Eddie’s eyes widen as Steve grabs him by the shoulders, planting a kiss on the top of his helmet. Even though he doesn’t want to play it safe in college, he also doesn’t want to get a concussion. So the stupid helmet will have to stay on. “I love you, I love you. Seriously.”

“Like I said, no big deal.”

“Thank you so much, Eddie,” he says with a wide smile, hopping onto the bike, swinging his leg over to put one of his feet on the pedals. “So kind. You’re a fucking lifesaver, really. Thank you.”

Eddie scoffs. Yeah, sure. He’s so thankful for it. Sure. Eddie rolls his eyes when Steve isn’t looking, too focused on pedalling to look back.

“I’ll just leave yours in the bike shed, yeah?”

“Yeah, fine.” If Steve even so much as scratches the bike, it’s over for him. No more talking, no more looking… Eddie will just have to find a new friend, or else pretend to forgive him to stay on his good side.

“Thanks, Eddie!” He calls over his shoulder. “I love you!”

Wow. Does love even have any meaning to him? Does Steve even know what love is? Surely not if he’s telling a fucking stranger that he loves them.

Eddie watches Steve disappear around the corner, leaving him standing alone, holding the broken bike. This is so stupid. He’s gonna look like a fucking idiot walking a bike all the way back to campus. But who cares? It’s not like anyone’s even going to pay attention to some small-town boy anyway…

But Steve might.

He just might. Because that’s all Eddie’s ever wanted.

Attention.

And he’ll do pretty much anything to get it.

[theravequeen]

Nightwing name headcanon post

Yeah I've been wanting to make this post for a while but I just kept forgetting LMAO

Anyways here's to hoping I can word this correctly.

So. Nightwing names. They're really on the nose, right? "Secretkeeper" kept moon a secret forever. "Moonwatcher" watched the moons as a kid. "Clearsight" has the best future vision in the series. There's names like Mindreader.

I know the point is that in the olden days future seeing mothers could tell what their kid would be, and 2000 years later, nightwings just want to keep up their haughty, superior, mysterious personalities,,,,,but I wanted to have a little fun with it.

So I propose to you: Nightwings start off with a nickname, until they eventually do something to "earn" their full name.

The only way I can think to explain what I mean by this is to use my own OC, so please bare with me here.

I have this OC, Strangesight. My followers may or may not know him. Anyways,

Strangesight comes from a very strict family. His father, Sharpstone, is an animus, and he insisted on hatching his first born child under the light of the full three moons, so that he might get these powers too.

That was Strangesight's older brother, Ichorhunter. Ichorhunter had mind reading and future sight, but no Animus magic.

Strangesight was the next born, and he only had future sight, but he did have Animus magic too. Despite this, Sharpstone didn't care enough to name him and just told his wife to call him whatever.

Because she thought it was cute, his mom called him "Stag" as a temporary name.

Later, Strangesight has a vision about Ichorhunter living up to his true name, and becoming a vampire.

Enraged with this vision, Sharpstone named Stag "Strangesight" because there's no way in the three moons that Sharpstone's golden boy would ever become something so vile (spoiler alert, he does)

Anyways so do you see what in getting at here? A temporary name (i.e "Stag") that Nightwing parents give their child (can be relevant or not relevant) until a bigger moment (i.e., Strangesight's vision) causes the parents to come up with their true name.

Sometimes it happens quickly, other times not so much, and not every Nightwing parent will follow this rule.

Some headcanons I have:

Deathbringer: got his name after his first successful kill (so...tempest? I actually don't remember if that was his first one)

Morrowseer: Always had that name. His parents were just as haughty as he was

Moonwatcher: Previous name was just "Moon" until Secretkeeper caught her looking up at the moons, and added the suffix

Starflight: The guardians named him, and since they barely knew the practices (including Morrrowseer given the circumstances of his own name) they just named him something they thought fit. (Stars in his wings = starry flight obviously)

Anyways I hope this made sense I'm really bad at explaining things. I realize this just kinda makes them all seem like warrior cats but c'mon. Nightwing names already were warrior-y in nature

[12boogaloo]

Dad! John Dory AU

If you told a teenaged John Dory that he would become a stay at home family man one day, he would’ve laughed in your face and told you that you were insane. And if you told him that he was in therapy to deal with his childhood trauma, he would’ve been confused and probably a little angry that you dared insinuate his childhood was ‘traumatic’. He had a great childhood! He had a roof over his head, food to eat, and amazing little brothers to love, what more could he ask for? (As if that wasn’t the literal bare minimum.)

Thank the Muses for Hickory, honestly. Him and Dickory both are the reason he actually started talking to someone about what he was going through, especially after their oldest son was born. He never realized just how bad it was for him growing up, wanting to believe everything was normal and okay because if he thought it was, then it had to be, right? If he said everything was perfect, then it was perfect. …Right?

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. Being forced from a young age to take care of his siblings, putting their needs and wants before his own, essentially being made into a ‘child-parent’ because his own parents weren’t around enough to support him was not okay. It was downright abusive behavior, according to his therapist and his husband. And while John doesn’t fully blame his grandmother for what happened to him, she was already older by the time he came along and wouldn’t have been able to handle five boys alone anyway so he would’ve helped her regardless, he most certainly blames their father. That bastard is the reason he didn’t get to have a childhood.

Forrest Timber was… an asshole, to put it mildly. Musically speaking, he was a genius. His voice was deep and raspy when he sang and he had a talent for guitar, something he seems to have passed on to Floyd. He had dark blue hair, similar to Branch’s, and light blue skin. His eyes were pale blue like John’s own, which he doesn’t know how to feel about, and he had a streak of purple at the front of his hair.

John doesn’t remember much else about Forrest, honestly. Only that he liked to yell and throw things when he got angry, which was pretty much anytime he was home. But their other father, their Papa Ash, he was sweet and kind and John loved him. He tried to protect him when Forrest would rage, comforted him and told him stories about the beautiful mountains he’d seen as a child when he’d been traveling with his birth family, and tried his best to take care of him. Grandma Rosiepuff adopted Ash after he turned up at the tree as a teenager and based on his features and the posh accent John remembers him having, he was some kind of Rock Troll. His skin was dark gray and his hair was neon green and very big and curly. John remembers it used to actually glow in the darkness of the closet he’d hide himself and John in when Forrest got drunk and wanted to hit something. (He’d usually either give up looking for them and leave to find something else to take his aggression out on or he’d punch a hole in the wall then drink until he passed out on the kitchen floor. That happened at least once a week until John Dory was about two, before Spruce came along and before Ash started finding ways to keep Forrest out of the house and away from them.)

John still remembers the day Ash brought him to their grandmas pod when he was three, a purple and blue egg in his hair. He still remembers the quiet, rushed conversation Ash had with Rosiepuff while John played in the living room pretending he couldn’t hear them. He remembers the tears in his Papa’s glowing pink eyes as he set Spruce’s egg in his arms and kissed his forehead before he said ‘goodbye’ and the sound of his own sobbing when he realized he wasn’t going to see him again. Rosiepuff explained it when he was older, how Ash had convinced Forrest to leave the tree with him to go on a music tour and how he planned to stay with that bastard so he could keep him from going back and hurting John or the eggs. (Apparently the bros weren’t part of the plan, and Ash would bring their eggs back to the tree to prevent Forrest from smashing them. Sick bastard.)

John Dory knew Ash was just trying to protect them and he will always be grateful to him for putting himself in danger for them to be safe. But a small part of him, the part that’s still a scared little kid, is still a little angry at him for leaving him to raise his brothers the way he did. It wasn’t his intention, and John is sure Ash thought Rosiepuff was taking care of them in his stead. He couldn’t have known she would leave him alone with the eggs for hours on end while she gambled the days away, losing most of the retirement money she had in the process and forcing John to have to drop out of school at twelve so he could work. But that doesn’t mean it was okay. Intentions only mean so much when the outcome was as bad as it was.

But, intentional or no, a large part of John Dory’s perfectionism stemmed from the stress of everything. Hell, his hair started going gray at fifteen because of how much stress he was under! The other part of it was his undiagnosed OCD. He obsessed over little things, starting small with his own stuff having to be organized in very specific ways, which slowly spread to the rest of the house and then to every aspect of his brothers lives. The band added more to it, causing his brain to go into overdrive with paranoia because they had to stay popular or else they’d be put back on the menu. That was the whole reason he made the band besides needing the money. After all, a happy Troll is a tasty Troll. And if they made the other Trolls happy, they got to stay alive.

The first thing John realized was that if they dressed the same and stood out enough, they’d be easily marked as ‘off limits’ come Trollstice, which is why he was so strict about how they all dressed, himself included. He didn’t want to constantly wear his goggles and puffy vest, but it made him easy to pick out in a crowd so he put up with it. This eventually led to him finding more and more things to control.

Then he overheard the King discussing an escape plan with some of the adults one night at a party for Princess Viva, who was friends with his brother at the time. Clay loved hanging out with her and John was only a year older than she was so they got along really well too and she’d invited them and their other brothers to her birthday party, thankfully a smaller affair in the royal pod with just a few friends.

He overheard Peppy talking to someone while he was looking for a snack to give to Spruce, he was worried about him skipping meals again, and heard him mention the ‘perfect family harmony’. He said it was strong enough to shatter any material, including steel and even diamonds. He wanted to find a group that could achieve it so they could break the cage around their tree and escape. That immediately had John hooked and he stayed and listened to the King’s plans so he knew what to do. He’d try to get his brothers to do the harmony so they could all escape.

That stupid fucking harmony was the worst thing to ever happen to John’s family. He became fucking obsessed with the damn thing, refusing to give up trying to do it even when his brothers complained. He had to do it, he promised himself he’d do whatever he had to to protect his brothers and this would save them all. It had to work, it had to, it had to.

It’s taken many years of therapy, but John is proud to be where he’s at now, all things considered. He has an amazing husband that loves him despite all of his faults and tendency to color coordinate literally everything, a great brother-in-law and an awesome sister-in-law to keep them all on track, and a large family like he’d always dreamed of. One would think he wouldn’t want to have his own kids after how he was raised but he loves his babies more than literally anything in the world and is more than happy being a stay-at-home dad most of the time. Aside from his yearly hiking trips to the Neverglade Trail and monthly visits to Lonesome Flats, he rarely leaves the mountain village he’s called home for the last two decades. Not that he minds. He’s grown to love the eternal winter and beautiful landscape around their cabin and their kids love it too, being half Yodel Trolls.

Christopher James is the oldest of the bunch, usually going by ‘CJ’ or just Christopher. He looks the most like JD with his curly teal hair held back by John’s old orange goggles, though usually kept shorter in style like Hickory’s, cyan skin, and sky blue eyes. He turned nineteen a few months before the whole Rock Apocalypse thing happened. His boyfriend was part of Barb’s crew and John still laughs when he thinks about how angry and smitten CJ was when he saw Riff on that stage. John wasn’t there, thankfully, since he was still home with the younger kids away from that mess while CJ and Dolly had been visiting the Rock capital to see their friends, and Dolly totally snitched to him about how ‘lovestruck and stupid’ Christopher looked when he saw Riff playing his kit. He chased her around the house for an hour after that, much to John’s amusement.

Now, Riff is a very talented drummer, so John gets why Barb would’ve wanted him in her crew. Him and CJ are a total ‘power couple’, according to their friends from high school. They’ve known each other their whole lives, having met in elementary school when they were little, and started dating when Christopher was thirteen and Riff was fourteen and have been ride-or-die ever since. Hickory pretended to be all huffy and pissy when they first got together to put up a ‘protective dad’ front, but now that it’s been nearly seven years of watching their sappy teenage romance grow and evolve, he’s started betting with John and Dickory on when they’ll get married. He thinks it’ll be in the next few years, maybe after Riff finishes college, and Dickory said six months which earned him a punch to the shoulder. John thinks they’ll just elope without telling anyone on a random day, and that’s actually way more likely than Hickory probably thinks. (Don’t tell them John Dory said anything, though, he’s been sworn to secrecy.)

Their second oldest son, Doc, is definitely the smart one in the family. At seventeen, he’s also the tallest of his siblings and taller than John himself. His hair is long and dark green, usually kept tied back into a braid, and his eyes, mostly hidden by his glasses, are light green like Hickory’s along with his fur. He’s a total bookworm and loves fantasy stories and history books especially. While CJ ended up inheriting John’s dyslexia, Doc somehow has the opposite situation and has an almost photographic memory. (John’s pretty sure he’s also autistic since he has a lot of the same traits that Clay had like his sensitivity to loud noises and certain textures. He’s also very literal sometimes, not catching sarcasm or jokes in conversations, but he’s also aware of it enough that he doesn’t miss stuff as often as he used to.)

Dolly is their middle child at fifteen. She was a sweet, kind little girl growing up with fiery reddish-orange curls usually kept in pigtails and green eyes like her older brother. As a tween and teen, however, she’d been in this weird ‘emo-phase’ that John didn’t fully understand. It reminds him of Floyd when he started wearing darker clothes and dark makeup and listening to really emotional music. (He was a little worried at first when he noticed Dolly acting the same way but after talking to her a little bit, it turned out she was more attracted to the aesthetic then the emotional aspects, though she admitted that she had a few issues with depression and they got her into therapy for that.) Apparently, she was super curious after she heard one of the songs Riff and CJ made with a group of classmates and got a makeover from one of their female Rock Troll friends to try it out. She ended up loving the style change and started wearing black and dark colors almost exclusively and has for over five years now. John jokes that the rare occasions she wears an ‘actual color’ are like cryptid sightings, which she finds embarrassing and totally ‘not rock’n’roll’. Little shit.

Now, Rosie, full name ‘Rosanna Maria‘, is the second youngest and a total girly girl, unlike her sister. She also has fiery red hair but her eyes are light pink instead of blue or green and her fur is a darker turquoise. At ten years old, she’s already a strong little devil and John feels immense pride when he sees her stand up for herself. She’s been raised like Dolly to believe nobody was aloud to push her around and it’s already lead to her getting into quite a few fights at school; mostly Rosie kicking some other kid’s ass because they’d been picking on her or someone else and she just wanted to help. Hickory taught her how to punch people for self defense like the rest of their children, but Rosie is surprisingly strong for a small child and her hits can really hurt if she’s not careful. And despite her pretty pink princess-y style, she absolutely loves playing in the dirt and climbing trees. Hickory cried when she gave him a literal mud-pie when she was three and John still makes fun of him for it like he didn’t also sob his heart out when she gave him one on his own birthday that same year. (Shut up, you’d cry too.)

Finally, there’s the twins. Birch and Ross are six currently, Birch’s hair is sapphire blue and his skin is the same blueish shade as his three older siblings while Ross has red hair and pale green skin like Doc’s. Their eyes are the same shade of light blue, though, matching John Dory’s perfectly. While they’re very different in terms of looks, they’re alike in almost every other way. Both boys love pulling pranks on their siblings and parents, Birch having an affinity for building little contraptions and Ross being the trickster that thinks of fun things for him to make. (They don’t talk about the miniature glitter bomb incident and John will continue to keep it that way, thank you. He’s still finding bits of neon yellow glitter in their carpet to this day and it’s been almost two years. ‘Craft-world herpes’, as Dickory likes the call it.)

The boys also have this habit of speaking in unison or finishing each other’s sentences, which John admits can be a tiny bit freaky sometimes. Especially when they’re holding hands and asking questions while dressed the same. It’s a little too similar to the creepy twins from that one movie CJ loves to watch on Halloween. He better not’ve shown it to them, or he’s so grounded.

Weirdness aside, John Dory loves his family so much. His children are the most precious things he’s ever had a hand in creating and he’s grateful everyday that he gets to raise them into the amazing young adults they’re going to become. And he’s so, so happy that he can actually be there for them the way his parents weren’t for him and his brothers. He vowed the day he found Christopher’s egg in his hair that he would do everything in his power to be a good father and Hickory has always been an amazing help along the way.

John met Hickory and Dickory on the Neverglade Trail about eight months after he’d left the tree when he was eighteen. He’d been hiking higher and higher up the mountain despite not having the right supplies for the weather, and they found him tucked underneath a tree root where he had passed out from both hypothermia and starvation, having not eaten in two weeks. Hickory was only a year younger than John and while Dickory had originally planned to leave him to his fate, which John doesn’t really blame him for since they had no clue who he was or where he came from, Hick was adamant that they at least try to help him, especially once he realized John was also injured, one of his hands burned and dripping blood. They ended up dragging him to their family cabin, passed down from their parents after their deaths a decade before, to try to warm and patch him up.

It took a few days for John to fully wake up and the first thing he saw was a cute redheaded boy replacing the damp cloth on his forehead as he lay on a soft couch in front of a fireplace, wrapped in blankets. Unable to control his mouth because of the high fever he had, John had said something about how Hickory was the ‘cutest nurse he’d ever seen’, which made the younger boy blush bright red and scramble to the kitchen to get him some soup. He kept saying embarrassing shit the entire time he was awake that morning and when Dickory overheard his horrible attempts at flirting, he was both peeved and highly amused by his little brother getting all flustered.

Thankfully, John Dory was much more coherent the following day and was able to properly thank the two for helping him. And apologize for making Hickory uncomfortable, though the younger boy was quick to reassure him that it hadn’t made him uncomfortable by any means and that he was actually flattered that John thought he was cute, which in turn made John a stuttering, blushing mess.

Unfortunately, it turned out that John’s left hand was permanently damaged. The second degree burns on his hand and forearm where from when he’d tried to light a fire in a cave a few weeks prior and accidentally fell into it when he was fixing the small tinder pile he’d made because he passed out from a lack of nutrients, and the cave ended up collapsing the next day which is why he was out in the blizzard. He’d actually ended up burning his leg as well because of the angle of the fall and had a limp for weeks after, the injury hidden under the jeans he was wearing when he was found. Thankfully, he was able to get help with both his limp and his hand and only ended up with slight limitations in how much he can lift because of the physical therapy the village doctor showed him, but it took a long time for him to get there, since burns and hand injuries heal much slower and trickier. When asked about where he would be staying since he was going to need support during the rest of his recovery, Hickory hastily announced that he was staying with them for the time being, much to both John Dory and Dickory’s shock. John hadn’t expected them to continue hosting him after the initial few days, not wanting to continue mooching off of them, and was extremely surprised by Hickory’s declaration. And while Dickory had planned on asking John if he wanted to stick around for a little longer to get fully back on his feet, he certainly hadn’t expected Hickory to do it for him like that.

When they asked about it a few months later, Hick sheepishly admitted that he really didn’t want John Dory to leave and spoke without thinking because he panicked. But it worked out! John agreed to stay with them for the next few months to recover and rehabilitate his hand and leg, so long as he could do something to pay them back. Dickory refused to take any money from the kid, despite how much John insisted he had more than enough to pay him at least some rent, so he offered to clean around the house instead and Dick agreed after a bit of convincing.

At first, things were a bit weird at the cabin. Dickory still teases them for being so awkward the entire first week and how obvious it was that they liked each other but they wouldn’t say anything because they were both convinced the other didn’t feel the same way. They’d only known each other for a few days, anyway, and despite John’s previous attempts at flirting while woozy from a fever, he was way too chicken to actually say anything even remotely smooth to Hickory’s face after that. Of course the first time he hit on a cute guy, he was barely cognizant. God, he had never been so embarrassed in his life.

Hick wasn’t much better, though he found it funny to watch John get so flustered around him after he’d made the younger blush like a tomato that first day. It was really cute, especially when he’d try to flirt a little bit and JD would squeak and run away like a scared mouse. There’s a reason Hickory still calls him ‘Mäuschen’ to this very day.

From John’s perspective, though, he was just pathetic. It took over a month of him living with them for the two teens to actually talk without one of them finding an excuse to leave the room because of nerves. (Usually John Dory because he was a coward.)

It took a while but after the initial awkwardness started to wear off and they started to actually talk and become friends, John told him about what happened with his brothers. It had been almost a full year since he left the tree and the guilt was literally eating him alive. And after Hickory and his brother opened up to him about their ‘real jobs’ as bounty hunters (though Hickory was still technically being trained and he couldn’t go on any bounties by himself), he told Hickory everything. All of it, from the relationship he had with his parents and grandmother(who wasn’t mean to him by any means but wasn’t the best when it came to raising him or helping him), to raising his brothers mostly on his own and the band and why he did what he did. He’d had plenty of time to realize how much he screwed up and leaving the tree was the biggest regret he’d ever had. But he didn’t think he deserved to go back. He didn’t deserve to be part of their lives anymore, no matter how much he missed them and desperately wanted to see them all again. His brothers were better off without him there to boss them around and it was better that he was alone. He couldn’t hurt anyone if he was alone.

Hickory hated listening to John talk about himself that way and tried to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault he’d been so obsessed with things. While he hadn’t been there and wasn’t an older sibling himself, he completely understood that John was just doing what he thought he had to in order to survive and keep his family alive. “You didn’t have any other choice, Mäuschen. You did your best with what you had, that’s not your fault. You were hurting and didn’t have anyone to help you.”

“But I hurt them! I told my perfect, amazing, talented babies that they weren’t good enough as themselves because I wasn’t good enough for them!” John had cried, tears streaming down his face. “Just ‘cause I was having a shitty time doesn’t mean I should’ve treated them like crap. I don’t deserve to be in their lives, Hick. They’re better off without me.” His ears had drooped so low and his colors had actually started dulling as he spoke, which worried Hickory almost as much as John’s hiccuping sobs. “God, I’m a monster.” He mumbled under his breath, “I should’ve just died in that stupid blizzard.”

Hickory, not having any of that nonsense, immediately pulled John Dory into his lap to hold him against his chest, rocking them back and forth as John continued to cry his heart out into his shirt. “Liebling, you did not deserve to die because you made mistakes! Don’t you dare say that.” He pulled John’s face up and cupped his cheek with a stern expression. “Your brothers were lucky to have you as their caretaker, and I know that if they knew how hard it was for you, they would all welcome you back with open arms. You were hurting, Johnny, and had nobody to turn to. You didn’t mean to do or say any of the things you did, and I will not let you say those horrible things about yourself.” He rested their foreheads together. “Nobody is allowed to bad talk my Mäuschen, Liebling. That includes you.” That sent John into a stuttering and blushing meltdown, making him hide his face in Hickory’s chest as the Yodeler held him even closer. His tail slowly started wagging as Hickory began purring softly to comfort him, the soft curly hair on the end brushing Hickory’s legs. Before they realized it, they’d both fallen asleep like that, Hickory curled around John protectively and holding him to his chest.

That’s how Dickory found them a few hours later, still cuddling in John’s bed where they’d curled up, and couldn’t bring himself to wake and separate them. He simply covered them with a blanket and turned out the lights to let them get some more sleep. (He owed Delta a visit anyway. She won their bet and he owed her dinner from that one place she liked.)

Unsurprisingly, JD and Hickory finally started dating not long after that, over four months after John first showed up outside of their village. They were together for a year before they got engaged when John was nineteen and Hickory was eighteen. (And yeah, it was Hickory that asked John first.) They only invited Hickory’s brother and Delta along with a few of their friends and family as witnesses for the wedding, wanting to keep it small and private. Everything was going according to plan but then John found CJ’s little blue and green egg in his hair the night before the ceremony. He showed it to Hickory early the next morning because he didn’t want to keep it from him and had been absolutely terrified of his reaction. They hadn’t talked about kids at all before that point and John was honestly scared that Hickory wouldn’t want to stay with him after he knew about the egg. Thankfully, Hickory was more than ecstatic to be a father which made John feel so much better about the whole thing. The ceremony went on as planned and they told Dickory about it afterwards at the reception. The image of the usually stoic bounty hunter bouncing around like an excited toddler at the news of him becoming an uncle is one of John Dory’s favorite memories.

CJ was a chubby, smiley little baby, always laughing and giggling. John loved having him ride around in his hair like Bitty B used to do. And it was thinking about how much he missed when Bitty was that tiny that he realized he needed to go back. After speaking to his therapist, who he’d been seeing for over six months, he decided to finally go back home. He had to wait until CJ was a little older, and he couldn’t stay with them forever, of course, but he needed to at least visit and try to talk to his brothers and apologize. Hopefully they’d be willing to at least hear him out.

John waited until after CJ’s second birthday before going back to the Troll Tree. He decided to go alone, leaving CJ and Hickory mostly by themselves since Dickory was visiting Lonesome with Delta the next day. They both promised to behave and John didn’t believe their bullshit, knowing from experience just how mischievous his husband and son could get, but simply rolled his eyes and kissed both of them goodbye before he left. (Dickory decided to be an ass and ask where his goodbye kisses were as John was walking out the door and JD proceeded pick up one of his slippers that was by the doorway and threw it at him to smack him on the forehead while Delta just laughed at her stupid fiancé being an idiot.)

It took over a week to hike all the way from the Hinterland mountains all the way back north to Bergentown. He entered the gates in the dead of night so he could sneak under the cover of darkness, making it to the cage just as the sun started rising. He remembers standing there and staring at the tree in horror, the branches bare of any leaves or life and the soil around its roots dug up and torn to shreds with giant shoves and pick-axes abandoned in the grass. Pods were ripped apart and scattered around its base, clothes and other personal items left behind to rot in the elements.

Icy terror filled John in that moment and he bolted for his family’s pod, ‘please not them, please not them, PLEASE NOT THEM’ repeating in his head over and over again until he found it, right where it was last time he was there. The door had been ripped off of its hinges like a Bergen tried to look for someone inside, giant claw marks all over the walls and floors. Picture frames barely hung from their hooks on the walls, most of them scattered on the floor in pieces along with most of the trinkets Rosiepuff used to keep on shelves. He checked each room, hoping and praying that he was wrong, that his brothers were just hiding somewhere, that he hadn’t been too late.

He hadn’t realized it at the time, too frantic and scared to notice anything beyond the destruction around him, but his colors had begun to fade as soon as he saw the tree in ruins. When he couldn’t find anyone in the pod, his heart shattered to pieces and all he remembers is crumbling to the floor in his and his brothers old room, clutching Branch’s stuffed caterpillar to his chest as he sobbed. His colors completely disappeared, leaving him gray with grief, but he couldn’t care less about that. Not when he knew his family was gone. He hadn’t been there to protect them, it was his fault they were dead. He killed them, he killed them, he killed them! IT SHOULD’VE BEEN HIM!!

John didn’t know how long he lay there, curled up on the ugly old rug in his old room. (John Dory hated that stupid fucking rug growing up. Rosiepuff had picked it out years ago and him and his brothers hated it because of the weird pinkish-yellow color. In that moment, though, it was the most comfortable thing in the world to him.) It could’ve been days for all he knew. But the sound of thundering footsteps reminded him exactly where he was and he panicked as he realized the Bergens were waking up. In a haze, John grabbed as many mementos as he could carry in his pack, even taking things out to make more room, before he snuck back out of the pod and ran for the gates.

The fact he didn’t get caught was a minor miracle and he doesn’t remember what happened after that, really. The hike back home was a complete blur, his brain staying in survival mode so he wouldn’t break down in the middle of the wilderness. He paid no mind to his dulled skin and vision, all of the color around him losing its vibrancy like he lost his own. He ignored how hungry he was, how thirsty and tired he was, because all he could focus on was getting away. Getting back home, back to safety.

The next time John remembered being aware of anything around him, he was standing in front of the cabin door as Hickory opened it. He’d immediately become extremely concerned and tried to ask what happened, and without being able to hold it back any longer, John Dory broke down right there. His wailing sobs were loud enough that Dickory heard him from inside and when he came running to see JD on their porch sobbing and colorless in Hickory’s arms, barely able to stand, they both carried him inside and to their bedroom to lay him down. He cried for hours, clinging to his husband desperately as Hickory and Dickory both tried their best to comfort him.

It took all night for John to calm down enough to tell them what happened. Hickory, horrified by what John had found, held him close as he continued to cry into his chest. He eventually passed out from exhaustion and probably dehydration, tears still streaming down his face as Hickory played with his hair. It had turned pitch black and went limp and useless after his colors fully faded, his curls ratty and tangled from his nonstop journey back. Thankfully, Hickory was more than willing to detangle it, his fingers gently carding through it so he wouldn’t wake John up and putting it into a simple braid. (Losing the ability to use his hair was the biggest challenge later on, though John got used to it over time. He still tried to teach his kids how to use their own hair if they could. Dolly and Doc’s hair is more like Hickory’s and they can’t stretch it like Rosie and CJ can but they did get the ability to change the color at will. It definitely made for interesting games of hide-and-seek.)

Dickory got ahold of Delta at some point that night and she offered to watch Christopher for a few days while John got some rest and tried to start processing his grief. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy for him after such a huge loss, but she knew he needed as much support as they could give him. She also recommended a few things they could do to make him physically comfortable, knowing his grayness was likely going to make him both sensitive and closed-off emotionally. She was so helpful and supportive and John means it when he says he loves that woman. Honestly, if he wasn’t gay as fuck and married, he would’ve probably tried to steal her from Dickory years ago.

After a few days of comforting cuddles and reassurances from both Hickory and his brother, John asked to see CJ. Being gone for over two weeks already had him eager to see his son again, as he hadn’t ever been away from him for that long. And even though he was still very fragile and weepy, he needed to see his baby.

So Delta brought Christopher home, the two year old excited to see his daddy after being apart for so long. John immediately burst into tears when CJ ran up to his bedside after Delta put him down by the door and he climbed up to cuddle with him under the many fuzzy blankets. John held him in his arms for a long time, kissing his forehead and rocking them back and forth.

At one point CJ pulled away enough to place both paws on John’s cheeks, a tiny frown on his adorable little face. “Why Dada sad?”

John had whimpered and pulled CJ back into his embrace. “Dada found out something bad about his family and he’s hurtin’, bubba,” Hickory’s voice spoke softly, the newish twang coming through. (He’d figured out that he was more comfortable as a Country Troll a year before that after he’d gone undercover for a hunt and John loved hearing how the newer accent sounded with Hickory’s deep voice.) He was still sitting nearby for support, rubbing John’s back as he shook. “He’s sad because he lost your uncles. That’s why we gotta help him feel better.”

CJ frowned more at that and looked up at John with determination in his eyes. “I help!” He then curled up against John’s chest, hugging him as tightly as his little arms could manage. “Papa and me love you lots an’ lots, an’ so does Uncle D and Auntie!” He looked up at John with big watery eyes. “Please don’ be sad, Dada. I know that uncles love you too and they wou’n’t wan’ you to be sad, neither.”

John had promptly burst into tears and snuggled CJ even closer. He’d always kept his brothers as a part of his life, even if he wasn’t contacting them, and told CJ stories all the time since he wanted his son to know his family. The fact that he said that made John Dory feel so, so much better in that moment. It didn’t fix anything, of course it hadn’t. But his son trying to reassure him that his brothers loved him and wouldn’t want him to be upset about their deaths helped kickstart his healing. (And he wasn’t the only one crying that day, Hickory and Delta both tearing up at the toddler’s declarations. Even Dickory’s eyes got all misty, though he’d never admit it.)

It definitely wasn’t easy after that. John tried to take everything day-by-day, tried to continue living, and for the most part, he succeeded. He got pregnant with Doc not long after the incident, and he was grieving but was still so happy to be having another baby (even if the new set of aches and cravings were a pain in the ass). He found Rhonda as a baby while on a solo hike a few years after that when Dolly was a toddler and raised her too like she was his own. Rosie was next and John chuckled for the first time in years when Hickory complained about his headaches the entire time he carried her in his hair until she detached. (John had the rest of their eggs but Hickory wanted to do it at least once to make it ‘a little more fair’. He definitely didn’t enjoy it as much as John did, that’s for sure.) John carried Ross and Birch after that mess.

John couldn’t bring himself to sing for a very long time after his return to the Troll Tree. He couldn’t listen to his brothers voices without crying and refused to listen to their albums and songs for months. CJ loved their songs since John had listened to them with him since he was an egg, and he’d sing them to try and cheer John Dory up. Surprisingly, it actually helped a lot. He was able to slowly work up to listening to their music again thanks to Christopher’s voice.

It took years of therapy and time. So, so much time. But after almost fourteen years of pain and grief and colorless existence, John’s color coming back was a total shock. He’d been gray for so long by that point that he honestly forgot what it was like to be colorful. He got them back in the most unexpected way, too.

One night, not long after the twins had hatched, John was walking the halls on another late-night safety check to make sure the windows were locked and the stove was off. Again. (OCD can really go fuck itself, honestly.) And he checked their room last because it was the closest to his own. Both boys were fast asleep in their cribs and when John got closer to look at them, he saw that Birch had a caterpillar plush in his chubby little arms.

‘Hick must’ve gotten it out of storage.’ John thought, his eyes watering a little bit. The old green plush was clutched tightly in Birch’s little paws and for a split second, he looked exactly like Branch did when he was a baby. “Oh, I bet B would be so jealous right now,” he whispered, trying not to wake them as he gently played with Birch’s little toes. “You found Kroco, huh, bud? That thing’s older than your brothers and sisters, you know.” He remembers making it for Branch after he’d hatched and smiles softly. “You’re Uncle Branch was obsessed with that thing. I think he’d fight you for it if he could see you drooling on it like that.”

Birch squirmed a little bit but didn’t wake up, and John shushed him lightly, squeezing his feet reassuringly. “Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay, baby. You can keep Kroco, Itsy Bitsy. I think Branch would understand.” He realized what he’d called him and instead of the guilt he expected, it felt right to call Birch that. It was a nickname he’d used for Branch when he was a baby, before they came up with ‘Bitty B’ as his stage name. He’d been avoiding using similar nicknames for his kids until that moment and was surprised at how okay he was with it.

A little overwhelmed, John sniffled and tried to compose himself a little bit. “My little Itsy Bitsy. I love you so much, bud.” He kissed Birch’s forehead softly, stopping to kiss Ross’s too. “Love you too, Rossy Flossy.”

John quickly snuck back out into the hall and cried into his hands for a while. Afterwards, feeling drained and exhausted, he pulled himself together enough to make his way back to bed and cuddled against his husband as he fell back asleep. He woke up that next morning with a headache, mumbling about how bright it was and complaining into Hickory’s chest. He’d gotten up after about thirty minutes, reluctant to leave Hickory in their warm bed but needing to brush his teeth, and ignored how weirdly light his hair felt. It hadn’t regained it’s gravity defying quality in all the years he’d been gray so he usually kept it braided back when he slept but doesn’t remember doing it the night before so it was probably just tangled as hell. He’d have to wash it and detangle with that fancy comb thing Delta gave him.

JD stumbled into their bathroom and yawned as he turned on the light so he could see. He then looked in the mirror and gasped when he saw his reflection. His hair was standing up, curly as ever and bright teal with grays that weren’t there before, and his eyes, which had been silver for over a decade, were sky blue like they were when he was younger. His skin was light cyan instead of pale gray and he could actually see just how brightly colored his pajamas were, the neon orange pants and purple t-shirt clashing so badly he actually laughed for a second. “Holy shit, who picked this out? Even my taste isn’t this bad.” Then it really hit him like a truck that his fucking colors were back. And he screamed. “AHHHH!!!”

Hickory had just woken up as well and was used to John’s grumpy morning muttering so he’d rolled back over to go back to sleep. But when he quickly sat up at John Dory’s screaming and looked at his husband where he was standing in the bathroom doorway, he literally fell out of their bed in shock.

John let out a laugh then covered his mouth. He hadn’t actually laughed in years, only chuckling softly on occasion, and suddenly he can barely contain his giggles as his husband cursed and struggled with their sheets and blankets. “Babe, you’re such an idiot, holy crap. Hold on, let me help.” He went over and helped Hickory, smiling wider as he rested his paws on his hips once he was freed. “You are so lucky I’m patient, good God.”

Shaking himself after his fall, Hickory stared in disbelief seeing John’s beautiful blues staring right back at him. “Johnny, what- You- Holy fuck!” He’d missed those eyes so fucking much that he didn’t care about the fact that he was still in just his boxers as he jumped up from the sheet pile on the floor and tackled John in a hug, lifting and spinning him around and making John laugh loudly. It had been so, so long since he’d heard John Dory’s laugh outside of the occasional soft chuckle and Hickory had to stop himself from crying. “Oh my God, I missed that sound. You sound like bells! My little blue bell.”

“Oh, shut- No, you are not using that again,” John groaned, his face flushed as he laughed harder.

“Wow…” Hickory whispered. John’s giggles died down a little as he put him back in his feet, Hick looking at him with this almost mesmerized expression. “You look so pretty.” John blushed even more and Hickory chuckled. “I forgot how pink you get. You look like a little bucket o’ those fancy blueberries you like.”

John smacked him lightly, blush deepening. “Fuck off, oh my God.”

“Dad! Dad, are you o-kay…?” John’s screams had alerted Dolly, Doc, Rosie, and Christopher who all came running to see what happened and all of them gasped seeing John’s colorful appearance. “Dad!?” Doc whispered again, his eyes wide. He was holding Ross who looked even more confused than he did.

Rosie gasped, showing off her missing front tooth, and squealed. “Daddy looks so pretty!” She even started bouncing on her toes in excitement, making the pink tutu she wore bounce with her.

Dolly was covering her mouth and started tearing up. “Holy crap- what- what happened?”

CJ looked like he was going to cry too. He was the only kid old enough to remember what John looked like before, at least outside of a few pictures from back then, and seeing him so bright again was making his own eyes water. He had Birch in his arms, perched on his hip, and he looked extra curious about what had everyone so emotional.

John gasped too seeing them, their own greens, blues, and oranges so much more vibrant than he was used to. “Oh my God.” He pulled away from Hickory as he looked each of them over, taking in the details of his children he hadn’t seen before as he tried really hard not to cry. Doc’s hair was brighter than he thought, more evergreen than dark pine green, Dolly’s orange curls were slightly darker than Hick’s, Christopher’s fur was more greenish-cyan than he remembered, and Rosie’s outfit was probably five different shades of pink, good God, who dressed her? The toddler ran up to him and John couldn’t help but laugh as he picked her up and spun her around, much like Hick had done to him. “You’re all so bright! Look at you, oh my gosh!”

“You can see our colors now?” Doc asked. He seemed nervous but also excited.

John chuckled then shifted Rosie to one side and offered his paw to his second oldest, grinning when the teen immediately latched onto him. “Yep. And you’re greener than I expected, beanstalk.” Doc looked unamused and John snickered. “I knew that nickname was perfect!”

Then he noticed the dark red streak in Dolly’s fringe and gasped again. “Wait, Dolly, did you dye your fucking hair?! When did you do that?!” CJ and Doc both started laughing hysterically as Dolly stammered and Hickory just rolled his eyes as John started interrogating her.

Then Dickory came running into the room, half dressed and barely awake with a machete in his hand. “I heard screaming, what happened?!” He stumbled when he saw John Dory and stared in disbelief, dropping the machete. “Heilige Scheiße.”

“Dickory Louise Bauer, stop that yellin’! It is too damn early for you to be that loud.” Delta came in behind him looking equally sleepy and irritated at his volume until she saw John and gasped, her eyes widening. “Holy hell, Johnny, what- how- when did you-” She stuttered for a few seconds before huffing and stamping her hooves before walking back out of the room, muttering to herself, “I ain’t had enough coffee yet for this shit.”

Rosie giggled as John just rolled his eyes and chuckled at his sister-in-law’s reaction. Dickory was still staring at him and John had raised an eyebrow. “Can I help you?”

Dickory narrowed his eyes and stared for another few seconds before he huffed. “I forgot how obnoxious you looked. Viel zu hell.” He dodged the pillow John threw at him and bolted back out the door while shouting about ‘elder abuse’. John ran after him, still holding Rosie as she giggled up a storm, and the rest of the kids followed excitedly, leaving Hickory alone in their bedroom with a fond smile on his face.

Of course, it wasn’t all easygoing after his colors came back, either. He’d been gray for so long that he was still prone to have depressive thoughts and still opted to continue going to therapy for that, but his bad days were definitely not as often as before. There were days where he’d gray out again for seemingly nothing and he’d be in a bad place for a few days, but Hickory was always there to help, along with all of his kids. John’s colors did dim just a bit during the week after they returned, which made him panic at first thinking that he’d done something wrong. But his therapist reassured him that it was normal for grayed Trolls to be slightly duller once their colors returned. The only signs of John’s grayness nowadays are the streaks of black in his hair, certain strands scarred forever, and his skin dulling to a slightly gray-ish cyan blue, but that could all be attributed to the Rock Troll in them too.

He knew that he wouldn’t ever stop grieving for his brothers. John had accepted that a long, long time ago. But with his family by his side, both found and gained, he knew that he was strong enough to keep going. Besides. He’ll see them again one day.

Hopefully not for a while, though. He’s got future grandkids to spoil.

~

IM NOT DEAD YALL WHATS GOOOOOD

lol no but fr it’s been a hot minute since I’ve uploaded literally anything here (hi how yall doin 👉🏻👉🏻*tries to wink but ends up blinking instead*) and I am so happy to be back

Hope y’all like this little AU, I’ve been trying to get back into the groove with writing since my mental heath took a nosedive in June 🫠 I already put this up on AO3 so y’all can check it out there too lol and I’ll be trying to write more for this soon so keep an eye out

Love y’all and see y’all next time! (AND HAPPY NEW YEAR)

~ Boog

[rafesbabyg1rl]

Hey girl pls do me a favor and GIVE ME ALL THE SPOILERS. So weird but i refuse to watch past season 2 bc ik id get so obsessed w the obx universe so its not good but i need to know what happened w rafe n sofia and who and why jj died PLS I BEG

SPOILER ALERT!!!

OBX SEASON 4 (pt.1 &2)

First of all, thanks for being my first ask!!! You have no idea how greatly I appreciate the support and attention I've received within the past 24 hours! I wish you could've seen the smile on my face when I received this anon ask.

Babe, I wish I was as strong as you, I'd be SO much happier if I stopped watching at season 2. But I'm literally addicted and have to watch the new episodes the second they come out. Part 2 of season 4 was so chaotic and DEPRESSING!! Like I already know rewatching the show will NEVER be the same. I'm also curious how season 5 will go now that JJ is DEAD.

I'm not completely sure whether or not you wanted spoilers for the entirety of season 4, or just part 2. But, seeing as I already over-explain enough as it is, I'll just give you part two spoilers.

The following will contain outer bank spoilers for season 4 part one and two:

In episode 6, we learn more about JJ's past (his real parents). Basically, Chandler Groff (JJ's real father) gave JJ (real name Jackson) to Luke Maybank after or just before JJ's mother died. Because Luke worked for the Genrette's and was somewhat close to JJ's mother. Also, in this episode JJ only tells Kie about what happened because he doesn't want the others "even thinking he's a Genrette."

We get TWO Rafe scenes in this episode. AND LET ME JUST TELL YOU HOW SCRUMDIDILYUMPCIOUS HE LOOKS!!!!!!! He just looks so OLDDDD and so handsome, he's also giving majorrrrr dilf vibes and I'm so here for it.

In his first scene, he's meeting with Sarah. Since Kie tells Sarah that Rafe came by and offered to help (with what they though was the land situation) but, what he really wanted to talk about was money. Rafe wants to work with Sarah to get Wheezie back from Rose, since Rose wouldn't allow either of them to even SPEAK with their youngest sister. He proposes that after they get Wheezie back, they get their inheritance. After Ward "died" the first time, he left a quarter of his money to Rafe, and a quarter to Sarah. Neither of them had received their money since Rose clung onto it, keeping all the Merchant Gold money for herself. Rafe appears a bit distraught and emotional as he talks to his sister. Sarah of course gets emotional as well and leaves abruptly, only saying that she's sorry but she can't do this. I felt soooo bad for my baby after this, it was clear that he was trying to rebuild their family, but he was scared to truly show how much he cares, and Sarah crushed him within seconds.

The pogues have no other option now but to round up as many people from the cut to attend court with them and provide support as they try to keep poguelandia from being taken. When things don't go their way per usual, JJ flips out and starts a riot in the courthouse. All the pogues help him escape the cops. JJ starts absolutely destroying shit on figure 8. I think this is him clearly crashing out after finding out his piece of shit, abusive father isn't even his real father, and that his actual parents are a murderer and a dead lady. To help JJ, Pope punches a cop that's about to shoot JJ and gets arrested. Oh, and while at court, Luke made an appearance, something about him being the previous owner of the property and signing some paper that helped the kooks. Trading his signature for his freedom (since he's a literal fugitive and all).

Sofia has a small scene where she's at work but calls Hollis on the phone and demands to meet with her, feeling wrong about their arrangement.

The second scene with Rafe is when he goes and meets with Chandler Groff about the deal he made with Hollis in the last part. In this scene, he calls Sofia his girlfriend. Rafe mentions that his girlfriend thinks the deal is a big hoax and he contemplates canceling the wire money transfer. But he decided against it, agreeing to stay in the deal with Groff and Hollis. He tells Groff that if he screws him, he'll come after him. This was very season 3 of him. AND RAFE LOOKS SO OLD AND SCRUMDIDLYUMPTIOUS. HE GIVES OFF DILF VIBES SO STRONGLY IN THIS SCENE.

Episode 7 starts off with some more of JJ and Chandler Groff talking. JJ happens to go over to see Groff on Goat Island at the wrong time, and he ends up caught up in Groff's crap. Pope spends a night in jail, being released the next day with an ankle monitor and a trial date. Pope was told he must reside at home with his parents, and he's not allowed to see or talk to any of the pogues until after his trial. So pretty much in this episode all Cleo and Pope do is sneak around trying not to get caught talking to each other. And in this episode, Heyward introduces the idea that Pope must go into the military for a few months rather than go to jail.

The rest of the crew (Sarah, John B, and Kie) follow JJ's trail of destruction in order to try and find him. Meanwhile, Sarah splits off to take a PREGNANCY TEST. Of course it's positive, because the writers literally add every single fan theory they come across or something like that. Kie basically walks in on Sarah and sees the test, Kie has quite a few negative things to say. Sarah seems upset as she asks Kie if she has anything positive to say about the situation, in which Kie tells Sarah that she'll be an amazing mom and, John B loves her and will be an "all-right dad", the final thing Kie tells Sarah in this scene is that she has all of them to help. Sarah intends to tell John B, but the timing is horrible, so it stays between her and Kie for a bit.

Sofia finally meets with Hollis to discuss the agreement they had (Hollis getting Sofia to nudge Rafe towards making the deal on Goat Island). The scene is short and despite Hollis' reassurance that the deal is real, all this serves to do is make Sofia feel even worse about what she did.

JJ spends a lot of time with Groff in this episode, not by choice. And you can tell Groff is starting to tear down some of JJ's defensive walls. My thoughts are that since JJ had a shit father that gave him nothing but a shitty life, he's trying to take the recent news and make something good out of it, something real. And when confronted by JJ in the start of the episode, Groff declines being JJ's father only to admit that he is JJ's dad towards the middle of the episode. Groff only admits the truth so that JJ helps him because he can't get out of his bad situation he's involved in with the mercenaries without JJ's help. After both being kidnapped, Groff tries to frame JJ with the murder of one of the mercenaries instead of admitting to it himself. Luckily, they don't believe that it was JJ. This episode ends with Sarah, John B, and Kie using explosives and fire to help save JJ from Groff's problems.

NO RAFE IN THIS EPISODE!!!!

Episode 8 begins with the pogues--and Groff trying to figure out more about the map and the new treasure (The Blue Crown). Pope gets told he has to go off into the military a lot sooner than he expected...like, right now; which leads into the formation of Pope and Cleo's new club, the "No goodbyes club".

JJ and Groff go out on their own to obtain the 'lens' that will help translate the map from his mother's grave, spending some actual bonding time in the process. It's not as if JJ is purposely trying to get close with to/ bond with Groff, but it just sort of happens. I feel like Groff is doing it on purpose because he wants JJ's help so he can continue to play him. Meanwhile Sarah and John B run an 'errand' (go to the court house to i THINK get married officially after Sarah tells John B that she's pregnant. But, the courthouse is closed because of the damage JJ caused so they decide to try again another day. Kiara stays at poguelandia.

We get ONE TINYYY scene of Rafe in this episode. He's just in the sheriff's department yelling and demanding to talk to Shoupe. He explains how Groff and Hollis stole 400k from him, and Shoupe realizes the guy they've been looking for actually is Groff.

Groff makes JJ be the one to get the lens from his MOTHERS grave. I felt so bad because literally she wasn't even fully decomposed so the only memory JJ will have of his real mom is her rotting corpse. Groff tries to frame JJ again and he locks him in his mother's crypt. Groff goes back to poguelandia and steals the map from them, when Kiara catches onto him he pushes her and causes her to hit her head. When she's literally UNCONSIOUS he locks her body in the shop's cooler. Groff returns to JJ, letting him out of the crypt and acting all innocent and fatherly once again, as if he didn't just lock his son's girlfriend up in a freezer. They stop by Hollis Robinson's house, JJ stays in the car as Groff goes in to talk with Hollis. Hollis accuses Groff of lying and stealing 400k from Rafe, threating to turn him into Shoupe. Groff shoots her and leaves the body. He then takes JJ out on a boat, saying that he'll drop him off. Except of course he doesn't. Groff tries leaving the island with JJ, trying to convince him that they don't need his friends and that they should do this one alone. JJ wants to call his friends, but Groff "accidently" tosses his phone into the water.

The others find Kie and she tells him about Groff, they track the last place JJ's phone was before it lost connection. When JJ calls Groff out for his bullshit, Groff injures JJ and throws him into the ocean. JJ is left alone, only able to back float when the others find and rescue him.

In episode 9, Groff frames JJ for the murder of Hollis Robinson. When the cops find where the pogues have been hiding, they have no choice but to go on the run. They all agree that they have nothing to lose and decide to go to Morocco in search of the Blue Crown. While looking for a boat to steal that can get them to Morrocco, they're spotted by the cops and are forced to run yet again. We get a TINY scene with Rafe while he eavesdrops on the pogues and overhears them talking about needing to find a way to get down to Morocco. Pretty much you see him for 2 seconds and all he does is look good, since he doesn't even make a single sound in this scene.

The next scene of Rafe is with BARRY!!! I WAS PRAYING BARRY RETURNED FOR AT LEAST ONE SCENE THIS SEASON, I missed his fruity ass flirting with Rafe. (Literally this was the one GOOD thing to happen in part 2). But anyway Rafe asks Barry to trade boats, Barry's big ass tuna fishing boat that he apparently has now for Rafe's smaller, flashy, half a million-dollar boat. Barry doesn't want to at first but Rafe tells him that if he doesn't get his piece of shit boat back, he can keep Rafe's boat. And because Barry is like in love with Rafe, he agrees and they end the scene being all silly and flirty like always. Also, Idk if it's just me, but in this scene the way Rafe talks is so off. Why does he sound like that?? And part of it is clearly a voice over but why is he talking so weird? It's like the first scene of him in part 1 of season 4.

That scene jumps right into another scene of baeeeee. It goes from a Rafe and Barry scene straight into a Rafe and Sofia scene. I felt so spoiled lmao. Anyways, Rafe and Sofia are talking outside on a beach (I think it's the same spot he took her in s4 ep5 to talk). Rafe tells Sofia that Groff killed Hollis and took off with his money, he explains that he's gonna track Groff down and get his money back. He stays very vague about where he's going though. Rafe tells Sofia that he wants to tell her something before he leaves (I got all excited watching this thinking he's gonna say he loves her)...BUT THEN HE GOES AND GETS DOWN ONTO ONE FUCKING KNEE IN FRONTOF HER????????????? Rafe fucking Cameron PROPOSING? WHAT?? Sofia tries to say that she has something to tell him too (likely about the arrangement she had with Hollis) but Rafe interrupts her by pulling out a ring, "It was my mom's". ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING? Rafe tells Sofia he wants her to have the ring before he left so she knows that they're real. Sofia keeps trying to say that she did something bad, and that it's about Hollis, but Rafe tells her he doesn't care. Rafe admits that there's a lot she doesn't know about him that's far worse than anything she could've done. He says he doesn't care to know what she did and that he wants to be with her. Rafe very clearly is intentionally not saying the real words like husband/wife, married, etc. and I think that's very in character for him. He does say, "If you say "yes", there's no more scraping the barrel, old Pogue bullshit. Okay? I want you...I want you to quit your job, and I want you to...to move in with me. Okay?" And Sofia is crying because, real well and also the overwhelming guilt eating at her from the inside out for what she did to him. This is where RAFE SLIPS THE RING ON HER FINGER!!! Then he quickly gets onto his feet and pulls her up to him and they KISSSSSS for a good, hot second actually. When he pulls away he's all happy and giggly as he gives her keys to his house, putting them in her hands and then wrapping his hands over hers. "I'll be back in a few weeks, all right? Stay at my...stay at our place." OUR PLACE? THIS MAN PAUSED TO CORRECT HIMSELF AND SAY ITS THEIRRR PLACE? Then he literally puts his hand on her cheek and whispers, "All right?" as she sobs. She nods and he says "I love you". I REPEAT, RAFE CAMERON SAID I LOVE YOU TO HIS GIRL!!!!!!!!!!! Then they kiss two more times, he mumbles a 'bye' before walking off, only turning to look back for a second when Sofia says, "I love you too". HELLLOOOOOOO????????????????? Babes I was literally in SHOCK. After being deprived of Rafe for nearly two episodes and then getting a Rarry scene and THIS back-to-back?? Shit gave me whiplash fr.

Going back to the pogues, their stolen police boat deflates due to being shot and Shoupe catches up to them. They have no choice but to talk to him. Shoupe mentions the warrant he has for JJ's arrest for killing Hollis. Except this time Shoupe actually uses his brain and knows that JJ did not kill Hollis. He also speaks to Pope since Pope cut off his ankle monitor when he escaped from going off to the military. Shoupe says he has a good idea on what JJ did and didn't do, but he says he has a warrant for both Pope and JJ and need to take them in. This is when Rafe comes out of literal fucking nowhere and says he's just there to save everyone's asses. He tells Shoupe that Groff was scamming with Hollis the whole time and it was most likely Groff that killed her, not JJ. Rafe says Groff probably killed Genrette too and the body that they found (that Shoupe already realized was murdered by Groff). He says that Shoupe could bring in the pogues for some vandalism 'bullshit', or he can get the "big fish", as in Groff. Rafe explains to Shoupe that the pogues know where Groff is and that Rafe can get them there, but "they can't do shit if they're all locked up". Rafe explains to Shoupe that the smart thing for him to do is to let them go that he can solve the crime of the century and keep his job. Rafe throws in an 'added bonus', saying that when they get back and Shoupe's got Groff locked up, Rafe will tell him "what happened last summer on the runway", when Shoupe had found Rafe out on the tarmac. He says he'll tell Shoupe the real story of what happened, because he knows Shoupe wants to know. In which Shoupe replies, "You wanna know what I want to know? I wanna know about another little runway accident from a while back. How bout' that?" Eventually, Rafe convinces Shoupe to let them go and get Groff. Meanwhile all the pogues stand around in confusion at what the fuck is happening.

Rafe takes the pogues onto the boat he borrowed from Barry. But, the pogues say they don't trust him and they tie Rafe up and lock him up in his own ship. Rafe spends practically the entire trip to Morocco tied up and locked away, not getting to have much interaction with anyone. But, when a huge storm approaches, the ship starts to go down. The pogues almost forget about Rafe until they hear him banging on shit and yelling for help, the room he was in starting to fill with water. Pope and others immediately say not to let him out, but Kie being Kie, says "no, he's gonna drown, we have to." And she's the ONLY one that gets up and finds a knife to cut Rafe free.

JJ spends his time on the boat to Morocco in a spiral and constantly drinking, so he's not doing shit when all this goes down. On the boat, John B even tells JJ about Sarah being pregnant in hopes to cheer him up. At first JJ seemed happy but he suddenly and without warning switched back to being negative and says a bunch of crap like how John B won't be a good dad. During the storm John B drives the ship and for some reason Sarah goes to find him, and she gets hit with a wave, and taken into the water. JJ sees this and calls out for her, without thinking (when does JJ ever think) he jumps in after her. John B watches it all play out, watches as his PREGNANT wife AND best friend disappear into the raging ocean. Kiara finds John B and asks where Sarah is, in which John B responds by hugging Kie as she asks where JJ was as well. Rafe comes out and takes in the situation at hand, he shouts for his sister.

The next scene is of John B, Kiara, Pope, Cleo...and Rafe emerging out of the ocean. The crashed tuna boat visible behind them. HOLY FUCK WAS RAFE HOT AS FUCK GETTING OUTTA THAT WATER...THE WAY HE SPIT LIKE HELLO??? Spit in my mouth next please! Despite their efforts, nobody can find Sarah and JJ. The group of 5 well, group of 4 and Rafe (he's literally 4 feet away from everyone else at all times, like he just sits there in silence), wait around for what I believe is like a day before they finally spot JJ and Sarah.

And FINALLY episode 10 begins with all the pogues reconnecting and talking about random stuff while Rafe just like sits to the side.... JJ mentions, (I'm including this bc I feel like it's def foreshadowing) that a good name for a baby would be JJ, because it can go either way. And because only Kie, JJ, and John B know about Sarah, Pope is like "wait what baby?" And then John B and Sarah tell the group, Rafe just kinda looks at Sarah. I'm mad that he didn't say anything or talk to her about it because I KNOW this man is happy to be an uncle. I know he's happy for Sarah and I KNOW he wants to say something SO BAD.

The group make their journey through Morocco, only stopping when Sarah starts to feel unwell. They ralize she probably just needs to eat so everyone except for Rafe splits off and tries to steal food for her. But they get caught and chased, only getting Sarah a little food. After they just get moving again, the cops find them and try to arrest Rafe. When Rafe has to split up from the others, he figures something out, having to call Sofia to help him with something. The pogues and Rafe all get new clothes and try to blend in.

As Rafe is off on his own mission, he comes across Groff, saving him from being killed by others by taking him hostage himself. Groff tells Rafe about the treasure he's after and how much it costs, since Rafe is only worried about getting his money back after Groff screwed him over. Rafe tells Groff that because he screwed him, and then lost his money to the mercenaries, he is now gonna be Rafe's bitch. "And, if you're lucky, I'll give you a little taste on the back end, all right?" And Rafe gets all up close and quiet, "If I let you live." HE DOES THE SEXIEST LITTLE SMILE/SMIRK/GIGGLE HERE??? I love him. I wish he'd give me a little taste on the back end. Groff shows Rafe how to read the map with the lens, so he can get to the blue crown. As Rafe looks at the map, Groff yaps as usual, but when he mentions a 'girl', Rafe AIN'T FUCKING PLAYINGGG. "What girl?" He asked immediately. Groff told Rafe what Sofia did and this just sets Rafe off. He's not sure whether to believe Groff or not. Groff attacks Rafe with a knife, stabbing him in the hand, but Rafe easily gets ahead in the fight. Groff makes it too fucking easy when he stands right in front of a well, which Rafe of course pushes him into and then scream-laughs into. "Checkmate, bitch!" BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL U HE LOOKED SEXY ASF HERE! Then Rafe like whines and groans in pain and I just literally wanna do anything and everything to make bae feel better. Rafe takes the map and the lens, putting it in his motorbike and wrapping his hand up, quickly driving off and leaving Groff behind.

Rafe calls Sofia and she answers all cute like, "hey babe, what's up?". While he's all pissed off and just says, "Is it true, what Groff just told me?" Sofia says nothing. "Is it?" He asks again, nodding when he still gets silence in response. "All right, pack your shit. Get out of my house. God, after everything I did for you? We're done. Done." and he hangs up. BRO I WAS SOBBING. He sounded and looked so hurt I felt so bad. Like UGHHH. But also like literally he said he didn't care to know when she tried to tell him. So like would he have ended things if she said it before he left? Or was it just like a heat of the moment thing? Especially because he didn't hear it from Sofia, and he had to find out from Groff of all people.

The pogues find Groff in the hole and of course he tries to manipulate JJ into throwing him a rope. JJ gets to make the decision on what to do with him, and he just tosses a big jug off water into the well and leaves. As they leave, Groff shouts "JJ! JJ get back here or I'll tear your throat out!" But they don't listen, why would they be scared of a man stuck way down deep at the bottom of a well? As Rafe tries to follow the map and find the crown, the mercenaries find him. They demand the map from him and he submits with his hands in the air. The listens to what they say in defeat. The pogues watch from a far. Cleo says, "They gonna kill him." To which Pope says, "do we care?". JJ adds, "yeah, that's a good question, Pope.". As Sarah clearly struggles with some internal conflict about her brother, the others keep talking regularly. Cleo speaking again, "Yeah, but then they'd take the scroll." Nobody shows any care or remorse for Rafe as they watch him be held at gunpoint. As the mercenaries approach Rafe and threaten to shoot him, the pogues argue about how they're gonna get the map and lens back. While they all pitch their ideas and shut down others, Sarah takes the gun from JJ, causing them all to look at her. "What are you doing? Hey. Woah." Questions JJ. Sarah doesn't respond as she holds the gun up and cocks it, "that's my brother." She says seconds before shooting one of the mercenaries' vehicles, causing it to blow up and be the distraction Rafe needed to get away.

Rafe and the pogues run off into a building as they're chased by several of highly armed individuals. Pope and Cleo stay to guard the door in case they get in as the others run off. Pope has the gun and gets ready to shoot. Since he's never shot anyone before he's nervous, so when he has the chance, he purposely misses his target as he fires 'warning' shots. Cleo and Pope run as they get shot at.

Meanwhile, Rafe continues to run with the scroll and the lens, but John B tries to stop him. Rafe feels cornered and holds a knife out to John B in self-defense. "It's ours", says Sarah, referring to the scroll Rafe clung on to. "It was. I look the shit." He responds. "I bought it for 400k, actually. Okay?" He's clearly panicked as his gaze frantically switches between John B and Sarah. Sarah reminds Rafe that she just saved his life, and he spins to face her, lowering his knife as he talks to his sister. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You did it so you could steal it from me. There was something in it for you. All right? Not to actually help me. I know that." Rafe pants. John B speaks "Rafe we don't have time." Then Sarah speaks again, "We can read that, you can't." Rafe responds to his sister, his voice getting louder, "Why would I help you? Huh? I don't trust you." Raises the knife back up, pointing it at his own sister. "I don't trust any of you. Do you understand?" At this point it's very clear he's panicking from emotion and because he feels trapped. His voice is uneven, threatening to break with emotion, "Dad trusted you. You remember what happened to him?! Do you remember?!" He yells at Sarah. She yells back in response, "Dad died saving my life." Sarah steps cloer to her brother, her voice becoming more raw with emotion. "And you're so eager to blame me for everything, you won't even listen to what happened. Singh's men had me at gunpoint. I was gonna die." She's fighting back tears now, " Dad took those bullets for me. And if he was still around, he'd want us to work together. I know you know that." (GET READY FOR RAFE'S NEXT LINE, CUZ I CERTAINLY WASN'T!!!) His eyes are watery as he looks at his sister, his voice betraying him as it shakes with his words, "No, you're just gonna screw me like everyone else in my life. You...I know you will." Sarah's crying as she interrupts him, "No, no, because I'm all you've got. And you're the only family I have left." (OH MY GOD RAFE IS LITERALLY POUTING RIGHT HERE AS TEARS THREATEN TO FALL DOWN HIS FACE). John B joins in, "She's telling the truth." Rafe sighs as Sarah breathes shakily, his eyes leave her to look around so he can gather himself enough to speak. His voice is soft now as he gives in, "All right. If we uh...if we work together, I...I still get my cut? So." Sarah nods, "yeah." Rafe asks again, "I get my cut?" And this time John B responds, "yeah". Rafe holds the map out to Sarah and you can very clearly see how much Rafe is shaking. Sarah raises her hand to grab the map, but instead it lowers and both of her arms wrap around Rafe. He just stands there for a moment, confused as he takes in the moment. Rafe cries as Sarah holds him tight. The moment of course is interrupted and they split up again.

Going back to Cleo and Pope who are being chased through the buildings. They stop and check their ammo, Pope reveals that he has one bullet left. The mercenaries continue to chase and shoot at them, eventually, Cleo gets shot in the shoulder.

Kiara and JJ team up to try and distract and take down the mercenaries. Rafe staying with John B and Sarah, giving them the map and lens to figure out. And they figure out where the crown is located just as a sand storm rolls in.

Theres a brief clip shown of Groff climbing out of the well.

Rafe tries to climb to get the crown, but he can't with his injured hand. So JJ decides to be the one to climb and get it.

While Cleo and Pope are held up due to Cleo being shot. Cleo tries to grab the gun so she can shoot the man that killed Terance in part one. But she can't even lift her arm. She wants Pope to leave her so she can shoot the man with the last bullet. But Pope being the great guy he is and knowing how important this is to Cleo he takes the gun from her. Pope decided that hell do it, he'll kill someone for Cleo. And he does, he shoots the guy right in the head.

Sarah and John B fight off some of the mercenaries. Kiara and Rafe watch as JJ climbs the large structure in the sand storm to get the Blue Crown. They're running out of time as the mercenaries creep up on them. But, Rafe tells Kie, "You stay here. I'll go down and buy us some time." In which she responds, "What? No, Rafe! Are you crazy? They'll kill you!" Rafe shouts back, "Hey! I'm a killer too! I've got nothing to lose!" And he walks off. In the disguise of the sandstorm, Rafe fights off several men.

JJ finally finds the Blue Crown. Of course he's shouting in excitement, "Long live Poguelandia!" JJ is happy, this means he'll get to save his home. But, he still has to hurry. JJ carefully climbs down the tall structure, immediately meeting Kie and showing off his discovery. Their cute moment is short lived as JJ spots a gun pointed at them. They run again as they're being shot at. And OF COURSE none other than that annoying motherfucker Groff comes out of nowhere and captures Kie, holding a knife against her throat. JJ comes to the rescue, trading the crown for Kie without any hesitation. Groff yaps like usual "You could've stuck with me JJ. Think about what you could've had. But now, you...you get nothing. Nothing." But JJ disagrees, "Nah, I already have everything. And I have everything I've ever wanted. Things that you'll never have. You want the crown? Sure, take it. Take it. I don't want it. Just...let her go." Groff tells JJ to hold the crown out, which he does as they switch, Kiara for the crown. When Kie is back in JJ's arms he reassures her, "I've got you.", as they hug. "It's okay." Kiara mumbles a response, "thank you." As Groff watches the two, he's clearly in distress, "JJ", he speaks. JJ lets go of Kie, keeping her behind him as he turns to face his 'father'. "It's...it's a shame. You and me." JJ has no time to respond as Groff shoves the knife right into JJ's gut. You can hear his flesh squelching and Kiara gasp while JJ groans, looking down at the knife as Groff twists it around inside of him. JJ looks up at Groff as he speaks, "you should have given me...the rope." Groff tugs the knife out, Kiara immediately catching JJ as he falls back.

Groff runs off with the crown as JJ and Kie fall to the ground. All she can say is "it's okay. It's okay." JJ groans and coughs, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, look at me. Look at me." JJ looks in her eyes as she speaks frantically. "It's okay, you're gonna be okay. Let me see it." Blood spreads through the fabric of his clothes quickly. Kiara sits there in front of him, shaking and scared, unsure of what to do or say. "Oh..." She cries, looking at JJ with a knowing look in her eyes. "Don't...don't move." She mumbles. JJ speaks, "Kie." But Kiara continues to mumble, "no...no. It's okay, it's gonna be okay. JJ, please, it has to be." She cries. JJ chokes out a few words, "Hey. Hey. I never told you my wish." (referring to something earlier in the season, he didn't tell Kie his wish because then it wouldn't come true) "What?" She cries. "No, JJ. JJ. It's okay." JJ groans, "I already got it." He smirks as he speaks, knowing these are his last moments alive. Kiara cries as he speaks again, "I already got my wish. Everything I wanted." JJ uses his last words to help reassure Kiara. "No. No, please..." She sobs, shaking her head. "Okay, okay." JJ groans in pain. Kiara beg, "Stay with me, please." JJ looks her in the eye for a moment before speaking softly, "Take care of the others, okay?" But Kiara shakes her head again, refusing to accept that this is really happening. "No, no. It's not what this is." She sobs as JJ speaks his final words, a single tear rolling down his cheek. "I love you, Kie." "I love you too." JJ's eyes flutter shut and his head falls back. Kiara shakes his body "no, no, no, no. Please, no. JJ, please. John B! Pope!" She screams. "no...no. no." John B starts to narrate here and it's so fucking sad. There's a whole flashback on memories of JJ and a bunch of sad talk. I can't even describe everyone's reactions. Even Rafe was in shock. They buried him out in the desert, he didn't even get to be buried in his home. And basically it ends with Kiara saying JJ wouldn't sit and do nothing if it had been one of them, he'd get revenge. So 100% season five will be Kie's season.

Anyway, I spent WAY to long and put WAY too much detail into this summary...hope it answers your questions...thank you!! Sorry that this is so long, I can't summarize to save my life.

[revserrayyu]

2.6 Penacony thoughts [part 1]

**Spoiler warning** for everything up until the end of Boothill’s first encounter with Robin. Might reference things that happen later since I already finished the mission at this point, so be wary if you haven’t yet. Lots of random ramblings from me as usual with new stories, especially with all the silly stuff that happened.

Going back to school never really thrilled me back in the day, so learning that we’re all attending Paperfold University for this update was kinda meh to me. All the crazy trailers and the fact that we’re taking a trip back to Penacony did pique my curiosity enough thanks to our previous adventure inside the land of dreams though. I did enjoy how interested Dan Heng was about attending and when his voice actors would seem genuinely excited one moment then revert back to his usual calm, collected self the next in an attempt to hide his enthusiasm. It’s okay to show emotions, sir!

I’ll admit that I believed that Pom-Pom was actually joining us for the briefest moment until I remembered that Boothill used our conductor as his fake name last time upon checking in.

I don’t even know too much about DnD but at least I spotted this reference to it, yeah?

The treasure chest was quite the convincing substitution, fooling me and even Numby who was alerted to it, so props to our new ninja friend I guess.. who joined us in the dream pool not even five seconds later.

Damn them for bringing this stupidly catchy song into the game because it has been sneaking into my mind so often these past couple days!

I will say that hearing the Trailblazer’s sing the song did make the experience much better and I would definitely listen to it more if it means they allow the Trailblazer to speak more like they have been in story missions recently.

Our true first meeting with Rappa and girl really had a whole anime OP of an introduction.

First off, beautiful cutscene will all the colors and neon. Secondly, I did actually question why they listed her name as “???” here and started wondering if Rappa really was her name or not and.. yeah, this makes sense later.

We’re literally so darn stupid and silly and I love it. Poor March cringed so bad she didn’t even want us as a friend anymore. Incredibly rude since my text message has your little face decorated next to it, ma’am!

The Dreampeak calls return and I wasn’t expecting to hear one about Boothill and him dreaming about his family, aww! But wow.. y’all really did call your kid ‘Boothill’ huh? Tell me why.

Our sus teacher makes his grand entrance and now I’m continuing to doubt everyone’s real names at this point.

Dan Heng please, you’re allowed to have fun! You can admit you do things solely for your own enjoyment!

Aeons.. they make him look so sketchy and untrustworthy with that smile and I’m so fine with it. Thankfully he didn’t turn out completely evil, but I accept his villain vibes regardless.

His knowledge freaked me out a little bit at first because why would he know all this?? Has he been watching playthroughs of the entire game? Or has he done his research about the Astral Express? Of course it makes sense now as we later find out he’s a Memokeeper and memories are pretty much their area of expertise.

I didn’t even bother to change my result on which academy I would personally attend, but I’m glad it turned out this way as it allowed the Express trio to all go somewhere different.

Pffftt.. looking through screenshots and this makes me realize how tall this man truly is, like I think Feixiao is reasonably tall by in game women standards, so to see Reca way past her ears is quite something. I dunno, maybe I don’t pay attention to character heights all that much, but his surprised me anyways.

Now I know whomever this chili-dipping person is couldn’t have been Jiaoqiu since it’s well known he attended the Ranzhi School on the Yaoqing and I’m like 99% sure our healer never stepped foot in Penacony before, but I couldn’t help but think this is something he would’ve done too if given the chance..

And I’m certainly not crazy to think so as he’s briefly mentioned in one of the options we’re given! Yay.. I miss our hot pot king. But wow, March being strong enough to pin us down? I’m rather impressed and wish to see fanart of this chaos.

I enjoy Boothill so much whenever he appears in the story that it’s a shame that I probably won’t ever pull for him since I’m not too big on his combat.

That way that I didn’t even think twice about him suddenly saying bananas outta nowhere because of how his swears are (unwillingly) censored all the time anyway is hilarious. It seemed normal and I figured he was being caught up with all the banana chatter this patch has, but nope.. something is clearly wrong here.

It’s been quite a while since we first arrived in Penacony because I seriously forgot Robin is capable of doing this rainbow harmony thing too. It also slipped my mind that she and Boothill have indeed met before inside that one dream way back in 2.2. I don’t remember them interacting all that much then so the scenes they shared this patch were a treat.

Thank you Robin for healing him so he can swear normally.. or at least to his usual censored way of swearing. It’s silly but I love hearing them. His voice actors must have fun tossing around such words so often.

Well aren’t you just the definition of a precious angel. This patch really started making me feel some regret about not pulling for her.. but next time, for sure.

Speak your truth girlie! Also I dunno if it’s true since I don’t play Genshin, but I saw people saying that this npc sounded a lot like Navia, and if so, then that’s adorable to have Brenna (who also voices Yunli) and Andrew (Boothill va) share a scene together since they’re married. Whoever this npc really is though, they had a nice singing voice.

For some reason my mind thought of the bullet wound on her neck and how she wouldn’t want to be near any fight that Boothill may start, but I doubt that was the intention behind this line since I know Robin was worried about how easily she would stand out because of her reputation. Still, I think it’s pretty brave of her to hang around someone who prides themselves on their sharpshooter skills, though I’m positive Boothill would never let a stray bullet hit anyone aside from its intended target.

Yeah girl, no need to act so formal around our cowboy! Y’all worked together before so I can bet we’re past the level of acquaintances now. Be friendly! I’m not only wishing this because their dynamic intrigues me very much, but also because I just wanna hear her go full country accent and say “partner.”

Not gonna lie but just the thought of seeing these two interact more further along in the story keep my spirits up significantly and oh boy, I wasn’t disappointed.

I’ll end it here for now. The rest will take up two more posts if I can manage to fit everything.

[ravi-is-my-beloved]

My 8x05 Thoughts & Summary

Time for that weekly review of the new 9-1-1 episode! This one hurt so bad. Oof.

911 Spoilers Under the Cut!!!

The episode starts with Denny, Mara, Karen, Jee-Yun, and Hen all in costume, taking pictures the day before Halloween. They eventually get Chim and Maddie to be in some pictures and then we get the start of the conflict for Henren, with Karen saying that Hen should take tomorrow night off. She says that Hen misses all of the big moments.

Right after that, is Athena having this talk with a class of high schoolers, basically telling them not to be stupid on Halloween. There's a pair of teenage girls who aren't listening, giggling and being on their phones. (Typical teenager things.) We get this rather funny line of Athena where she says "No, I don't speak stupid" after the teacher says that she doesn't speak "Sigma". I have my doubts on whether or not the show used that term correctly, but I also don't know how to use it, so whatever.

Then comes the start of all of Buck's problems in this episode. The firehouse is tasked to do this haunted house where they all dress up and decorate the firehouse to make it scary (but not too scary) for the kids. Buck of course finds a corpse that he is told is a dummy, it's not. He accidentally rips the corpse's left arm right out of its socket, accidentally traumatizing some group of children by screaming that the "dummy" is actually real.

We also get Eddie (while everyone's decorating, so before the Buck stuff) lamenting about how Chris thinks Halloween is cringe and won't be trick-or-treating this year, not that he'd be able to trick-or-treat with Chris because of Chris still being in El Paso. He tells Chim to basically cherish the moments with Jee (which also adds more guilt to Hen, who is nearby).

We get the pumpkin head call, this poor father having put the pumpkin on his head because this is was the first time he got his kids on Halloween in a while. Turns out, the pumpkins he got are already rotting so he had swollen up hence why he couldn't get it off. Thankfully, the team manages to save him, but just as Buck is reassuring the dad that they see stupid stuff all of the time, Buck slips on pumpkin guts and dislocated (you guess it) his left shoulder.

The hospital scene where they're putting Buck's shoulder back in is next, Tommy coming into the room after the doctor tells Buck (and Eddie who is sitting in the chair beside the bed) that he should be able to go back to work the next shift (for light work). Buck immediately tells Tommy about the curse and of course both Tommy and Eddie laugh, neither one believing it.

Hen goes home to her family and when Karen asks if she asked Bobby about taking the next shift off, Hen reveals that it was a choice between Chim taking off for Jee or Hen doing it (only one of them could take the shift off). And she and Chim both chose to just work. I actually think this is where Karen says Hen misses all of the big moments (I can't remember which scene it happened in, so I'm going to add that it's possible that it wasn't in the opening scenes.)

Buck is looking up about "Billy Boils", which is what the internet calls the guy who is the corpse. Tommy is trying to get him to sleep, because Buck is just scrolling. And then in the morning, Tommy sees the boils on Buck's face that came in the middle of the night. Eddie comes over and treats the boils as best as he can, trying to give any explanation for the boils beside the curse. Eddie and Buck have this little bet where Eddie says it'll clear up in time for shift. (Spoiler alert: it did not clear up.)

Now comes to their shifts and the first call they go to is to extinguish this small fire that's on this vice principal's porch because a bunch of kids left a flaming bag of "stuff" (they never specify what's in the bag) and the guy tries to get anyone to stop these kids, but that's not the fire department's job, so they leave. But then, his house later on gets egged and Maddie (who had taken both of his calls) tells him to just write a report in the morning.

But the guy is already chasing after the kids who egged his house in his car. The call drops and then Josh gets a call from the kids the guy is chasing and as he's on the phone with the kids, there's a sound of a car crash.

The 118 gets to the scene of the crash and they get told that the driver is still inside and the car is pinning a kid to the house. And it's Denny, the kid is Denny.

The vice principal is dead (RIP to him) so everyone focuses on getting the car off Denny while Hen and Chim try and treat Denny as best as they can with the car still pinning him. It's a heartbreaking scene, learning that Denny had shoved Mara out of the way when the car was coming.

Denny starts bleeding internally from his stomach and because the blood will take fifteen minutes to come and Denny becomes unconscious, Hen says to do a field transfusion because Karen is A Negative like Denny is. So we get this heart-wrenching moment where the blood is being transfused, but then they lose Denny's pulse.

So there's a moment where it's just the show's music and we see Hen desperately doing compression on Denny as everyone else works to do shelving (or whatever it's called) because they don't want the roof to collapse when they pull the car out. Thankfully, they get Denny's pulse back (I was really worried there, though) and they get the car off of him, quickly getting him into the ambulance.

So we get another hospital scene, this time all of them (except Maddie, Hen, and Karen. Though Karen and Hen are in Denny's hospital room, Maddie was taking care of Mara and Jee) are in the waiting room. Hen texts the groupchat that Denny is okay, he's just sleeping. Tommy says something about how it's good that the 118 all has each other to support one another and that's when Buck goes "Oh, I know how to break the curse!"

As they're all sitting there in the waiting room, the two kids that the principal was chasing come (because they feel guilty that Denny got hurt because of their actions) and when Bobby points out that they're the kids who the vice principal was chasing, Athena sees it's the two girls who weren't paying attention while she was speaking a day earlier. I'm lumping in the quick scene where the girls are in their classroom, telling their classmates about how you really shouldn't do stupid things on Halloween. (I lumped those two scenes together because it's a really short scene.)

Right after the waiting room scene is Hen and Karen at Denny's bedside and they have this heart-warming conversation about how they were lucky Hen was at work, able to be on scene to help save Denny. They end their talk with Hen saying that they both saved him (which is true because Karen gave Denny blood).

The next important scene is Buck going to gravesite for Billy Boils and talking about the curse and how it's because of the fact that Billy was turned into the authorities by his posse and he goes into this whole speech (which starts the montage of scenes about the various calls they had in the episode) where it's sad to go through life alone (which is the moment when they see Eddie so sadly looking at a picture of him and Chris all dressed up when Chris was younger) but it's even sadder to go through death alone. And he basically has that whole speech, makes a comment about how he hopes that's what it takes to get the curse lifted and he leaves.

All in all, this was a good episode. It had funny moments in the beginning, I really laughed hard at the costumes they had the 118 in during the haunted house scene. There was the emotional moments with Denny (which wrecked me). And overall, it ended in a way that satisfied me.

I just hope that they give the Wilson family a break from emotional trauma after this, though. They've gone through a lot in these past few episodes.

The small hiatus is going to seem so long, though. And I can't wait to see how episode 6 will be.

[ginsoakedgirl80]

I'm feeling like doing a public service today, so if you want to watch the mess that is Fighting for Love for Wang RuiChang or because of two women get married for plot reasons, I got the what to skip for you since I was stupid enough to watch the whole thing

For starting out: This drama is about Mai (Zhang TianAi), who is a poor orphan who wants to avenge her parents, living in Shengdu, the capital of Nanxia. She watched them get killed by henchmen and her adoptive brother Chen Qi 9 years ago. To move freely in the world, she disguised herself as a man since then. My Drama List is not representing her life well since she is in fact not roaming the martial arts world when we meet her but doing petty crime to fund her life and revenge quest. For plot reasons she saves the life of male lead Shang YiZhi (Zhang HaoWei), a silly son of a Marquis. He invites her to stay at his house where he sees her back when she takes a bath and finds out that she is actually a woman because heavens beware of a man falling in love with another man. He doesn't tell anyone that she's female though so it's funny to see people react to him being overly protective of Mai. (Seriously the amount of times his attendant steps out when those two hang out. Mu Bai is an ally)

His father, a general, dies from a bad medicine prescription upon returning from the border. His mother is the sister of the emperor and fears for his life so she uses her sisterly influence to send YiZhi to the border to take over his father's army. We also find out that his mother is actually his aunt because he is the son of the late crown prince. This is why the emperor wants to kill him, though he doesn't know his real identity. See the emperor is a paranoid cuckoo bananas dude and likes to have cleavage and dance and get people killed and look at the sun through his fingers.

Also for all the things this drama probably cut to get to the 36 episodes they really HAD TO keep in every time the 700 sliding doors between his living and office quarters are opened and closed to emphasize how removed from the world he is. The things those sliding doors operators have seen!

Meanwhile Mai travels to a border city to meet a man who knows where Chen Qi is. To get into the border city, she steals a passport from Chang YuQing (Wang RuiChang) who is from the enemy country Beimo and happens to be on a spy mission.

So if you only watch for Wang RuiChang, enter at episode 3 at 35:00.

But be warned, his character is minor and if there was ever any more backstory to him shot to explain his motivations, his sworn brotherhood with Cui Yan and the trouble of the Chang family at the court of Beimo or why Chen Qi hates the Chang family, it was all cut (or I already forgot about it). I told you this drama is a mess.

This is also a good time for the people who want to watch for the two women getting married (spoiler alert: it's one sided love and a marriage to proof that Mai is a man) because YuQing and his army sack the city and this is when Mai rescues teenager Xiu'er (Jiang YunXi) as a promise to a prison guard. Xiu'er got a crush on her and has no clue that Mai is a woman until they get engaged. For Mai she is someone who needs to be protected and she wants to marry her off to her bestie before.

Also pictured next to Mai feminist icon Tang ShaoYi a true dage who got no problem with Mai being in the army once he finds out and just wants to be bros with her.

Mai finds out that Chen Qi is actually the marshal of the Beimo army that is attacking Nanxia's border so she decides to enlist to fight him on the battlefield. Her father actually taught her battle tactics and she read the art of war so obviously she rises through the ranks despite going absent without leave and other things that would get you executed if the general of the army wasn't in love with you.

Plot (which I won't spoil) that includes Wang RuiChang sometimes more and often less happens until ep 22, when Yizhi gets summoned back to the capital and Mai joins him with his other trusted guys and Xiu'er (she is an afterthought mainly). This is also when the screenwriters or the editors lost any interest in Beimo apart from some captive prince stuff, so if you are only watching for Wang RuiChang you can skip ahead after his (great) scene in ep 22.

In Shengdu too much time is spent on Yizhi and his court stuff, like I want this to be about Mai doing cool army stuff not some badly written and edited succession to the throne plot. She does use her plotting skills for him to survive because dude is a silly jerk who is not worthy of her and yet she loves him. sigh.

queer intermission

Due to something that happened before ep 22 the rumor that Mai is a woman spreads in her army causing unrest which leads to Xiu'er proposing marriage to her.

(THEY NEVER SHOW THE ACTUAL DIVORCE???)

This is shampoo commercial territory. Just that for censorship reasons Xiu'er emphasizes that Mai is too important for the army and therefore the whole country to get executed just for being a woman and also she still owes her for saving her life back in the day.

Tang dage gets it with her reasoning.

They're having the cross-cupped wine on camera but not the bowing to heaven, parents and each other to not piss off the censors.

Once they are in the bridal chamber/tent someone spies on them and sees Mai without her binder so he gets killed. End of wedding. Why is Xiu'er in the army camp in the first place? During the border defense arc she heard that Mai got wounded and went to tend to her and never left.

Xiu'er is plot relevant again in ep 32 and is in the final episode but apart from that she is little more than Mai's attendant.

Mai continues to wear male attire most of the time, after she stopped being undercover, apart from the time she actually had to be in the harem and hated it.

end of intermission

ok back to the Wang RuiChang scenes

What is relevant for getting what is going on once you jump back in:

Yizhi's mother didn't go through hiding Yizhi from the emperor for Yizhi to not become emperor so she throws him into the struggle for the throne against his will. He does not want to do that and just be with Mai. (the good old putting the greater good above ones personal desires it never gets old. Of course his mother wins by guilt tripping him into becoming emperor by getting herself killed.) People get kidnapped, people get killed. Mai becomes the master of the emperor's grandson.

Yizhi's mother had made an agreement with the prime-minister that he would help Yizhi to the throne and in turn Yizhi would marry his daughter further increasing the prime-minister's influence in court. (like me you will think dude you are already having the highest office under the emperor what is your deal, well he wants his family to be the rulers of Nanxia eventually. dude likes to draw tigers in his spare time so you know his deal)

So who do we need to show up? Yuqing! So Mai can be implicated as a Beimo spy by the prime-minister. Luckily Yizhi had killed Yuqing's sworn brother earlier on so Yuqing had a reason to sneak into Shengdu to make an attempt on Yizhi's life at the beginning of episode 30 (it was only 8 episodes without him but it felt like eons).

We do get a little of him being cheeky in ep 31

He leaves in ep 31 and shows up again in ep 35 (starting ~min 15) and 36.

ep 31-35 So after Yizhi married the prime-minister's daughter and she becomes empress, Mai was devastated and went on a bender. The prime-minister turns the court against Mai so she loses her general job. She asks Yizhi for the mansion of her father and lives there, wallowing in lovesickness, grief and childhood trauma until Yizhi sends the edict to make her his honored imperial consort. She reluctantly lives in the harem but hates being locked up (she is a general gdi), dealing with the jealous empress and also refuses Yizhi so they strike a deal that allows her to live outside. More palace stuff happens with the prime-minister.

When the Beimo army invades again, she is the most capable to do it, so she gets her army back and sets off to fight against Beimo in episode 35.

I think there must have been more filmed and then cut for length because some things are alluded too that would have required some scenes beforehand. Ultimately this drama feels rather lifeless and is just going through the motions apart from some characters adding some sparkle.

The ending does make sense, gotta love that she didn't let herself get locked up in the harem for that loser.

I need to stop watching ascending to the throne dramas that are not well written, why do I keep doing this to myself? Oh right, because I thought that this would be about a female general and ignored that he is the son of the legitimate crown prince. Of course he had to become emperor xP

[stormxpadme]

AU Game. Scott/Logan. 1970s California road trip. No powers.

Let’s play a game. Send me a potential AU and I’ll tell you five fun facts that would happen in a story. Scott/Logan. 1970s California road trip. No powers.

Scott ends up in the worst bug-infested, grease-moldy truck stop ever that night, and he just about wants to walk back out the second he arrives but there's no alternatives for miles, and he's always gotta get his deliveries done in time if he wants to save up the buck for this damn private pilot license one day. And since he kinda sucked at being a teacher and regular flight schools won't accept him because of his damn eyesight condition, he's only got the road left. Which in this case means spending the night in this shithole and finding anything on the menu that won't give him salmonella, burn right through his digestive tract, or both.

That sleazy unkempt group of lumberjacks has already pissed him off with their digs about his glasses upon entering but he's only stepping in when one of them tries to get up and close with the shy and terrified waitress girl. Because Scott is an idiot who apparently hasn't gotten his damn ass beaten often enough yet in one orphanage after another after his whole family's died in that fucking plane crash. He's outnumbered 1:4 but he's taller and they're out of shape, so he's not worrying a lot. Not until the first switchblade comes his way.

If he's being honest, he's already had his eyes on the outsider of the bully group for a while, sitting there silently by the very edge of the table alone with a bottle of whiskey, because the guy is built like a fucking tree himself and has no interest in harassment or in like, anything at all, apparently. Somehow, Scott always happens to fall either for the red-haired mental cases or the emotionally constipated. It doesn't help his current infatuation that the guy steps in before Scott can have a couple of his arteries kebabed by those knives. He's visibly enjoying the brawl against his now-former workmates, moving fast and strong and obviously field-trained, trashing half the furniture so badly that they're being kicked out by the owner which is just as well because now neither of them has to pay. And because Scott is seriously horny at this point.

They end up fucking on the rest stop parking lot behind a dumpster after patching each other's cuts and bruises up and they're still laughing their asses off, with only that certain familiar hysteric undertone of having barely escaped death and the comfortable wordless intimacy of instant bonding, once you realize you've found a guy just as much a broken idiot as yourself.

Afterward, Scott is on enough adrenaline to drive through the night. Logan doesn't even really ask before he makes himself at home in the passenger seat, feet on the dash, hairy chest out and all, replacing Scott's favorite Johnny Cash cassette with a Rolling Stones tape Scott can't even remember having and silently humming along over the last bit of whiskey. He's been bored of cutting down trees anyway, it turns out. He doesn't even want to stop by his home for his things. Says, he doesn't need any of his shit, none of that stuff having any meaning to him after losing all his memories some couple of years ago, during some bad hit in Vietnam. Besides, there's only some violent, abusive perv of a step-brother waiting for him at home, and Logan's only been waiting for an excuse to lo leave that piece of shit behind. Sun's not even gone up before they fuck in the driver's seat again, by the side of the road, before they drop the delivery together, collect the buck and find themselves some nice burger joint for breakfast. And Scott wonders suddenly if this is what happiness feels like.

Additional Spoiler Alert: The asshole stepbrother will track them down eventually as they're dumb enough to stay in touch with Scott's trucker friends like Bobby, Sam, and Emma via his CB radio, and Scott almost ends up being kebabed again only a month later, because that Victor guy got issues. But the fuck in that cheap Vegas hotel afterward is spectacular, and since they're already in town, they miraculously find someone who doesn't care about gender and shit when he's marrying someone as long as he gets paid. It also soon turns out, it's so much easier, making a good buck on the road, working together. Scott is pretty sure he's still never going to get inside a damn cockpit but at least he doesn't need that stupid dream at night anymore, to no longer want to off himself on the next best highway.

[platonically-loving-alastor]

Hazbin Top 5

I was going to make a top 10 character list, but realized after the first 5 I didn't know where to place anyone- But in case you're curious, some contenders for the remaining 6-10, in no specific order, were Angel Dust, Charlie, Emily, Niffty, and Sir Pentious. Now here's my top 5 with reasonings and appreciation for them all!

5. Lucifer

Obviously bro is relatable, not only for his awkwardness and hyperfixations, but he also happens to be the same height as I am at about 5'2" (according to the sources I've seen). Being the same height as Lucifer is my biggest flex lmao- I still have no idea why his hatred of Alastor seemed so instant. Like yeah, Alastor was trying to annoy him by being a better dad to Charlie, but the whole 'fuck you' moment happened before any of that started. Did he just sense the bad vibes off of him or what? Anyway, his awkwardness and desperation to connect with his daughter make for probably my favorite lines of the episode, such as the "Hey bitch!" and the whole "You like girls? So do I!" situation followed by him being so distracted he called Vaggie by the wrong name. Perfect comedy

4. Lute

I love her an insane amount for someone who shows up so relatively little with so few lines, but here we are. I've already made an entire post about her, here it is if you want it, so I'll keep this short (Spoiler alert: I failed). I actually don't think I mentioned just how attractive this woman is, so let's get that out there right now. I know I'm not the only one who thinks this, about half the people I've seen react to Episode 6 have seen Lute without her mask, took a pause of recognition, and we all knew what they were thinking before the pressed play. Istg my taste in women (and sometimes even men, thanks Vox) is just "Can they murder me without a second thought? Yes? That's hot". My favorite line of hers is when she's hyping up the army with Adam and says "Rip Vaggie's cunt mouth out her ass!" and even Adam has to be like "damn girl chill what the hell-" She's so feral I love her so much

3. Rosie

Everyone needs a Rosie in their lives. I don't just mean a regular therapist, I mean a person in your life, friend or family member, who will talk you out of your downward spiral and gently call you out on why those paranoid thoughts are actually pretty unrealistic (the other side of the same coin would be Husk, he's just more blunt about it). I'm also still completely convinced she has some interesting and sad backstory based on how she was talking to Charlie and I need to know about it so bad. "It can be difficult to admit to things you're not proud of, especially if those things hurt the ones you love" Ma'am what did you do? I find it hard to believe it's just about the cannibalism. I don't know if in this instance, she's the one who hurt someone or someone else hurt her and she was the one who failed to forgive them, but either way I need answers.

2. Vox

Y'all know I love this man in more ways than one, he one the hottest Hazbin character poll for a reason. But I swear everything about this man makes me love him as a character more. First, I always love a technology based character, his electricity powers and literal screen head are the coolest thing in the world to me. He's voiced by Christian Borle, which was a fantastic choice, along with the glitched effect his voice gets when he's mad, I love to see it. Apparently it's also canon he can fly (with rocket shoes)?? He just keeps getting the best character design choices possible, this can't possibly be fair- The fact his first introduction was being done with Val, telling him to call tf down, and treating him like a child ("Now that's why they pay you the big bucks!") was a pretty good first impression for me lol, made even funnier when it was followed by him losing all sense of rationalism when Alastor entered his line of sight.

1. Alastor

The character my blog is named after, this should not be a surprise. Shockingly enough, despite my obsession for him and acknowledgement of his charming nature and generally attractive design, I' do not simp for him in the slightest'm not personally attracted to him in the slightest. I simp for a TV and yet apparently deer man with permanent smile is where I draw the line idk- The most I want from him is to be as good of a friend to him as Rosie is (well that and to touch his ears but that's a given). But this is another character I love literally everything about. Who would've thought the concepts of 'radio host', 'serial killer', and 'literal deer' would work so well together to create this dapper yet terrifying fucking cryptid. Not only can he be either incredibly scary or a silly guy, he can and has done both at once. Example: Episode 3 when he's just casually eating a deer carcass in his room (in which he summoned a whole ass bayou). I was genuinely so glad when the 'this face was made for radio' thing happened in episode 1, confirming that they were still gonna lean into his creepy-as-fuck distortion and general vibe he had in the pilot. He's horrifying and evil and I love that about him. Meanwhile he also says shit like "Now he's pissy, that's the tea" (definitely taught to him by Rosie) and kicks his legs on the bed like a schoolgirl as if he hasn't committed countless atrocities. My favorite character, everyone-

Wow I wrote more than I meant to for this, sorry about the essay-

[spurgie-cousin]

Yes do tell the story of the ring! We are a bit behind in Holland (sister wives-wise lol) but from what I've heard Christine told a story about Meri and now Meri is pissed?

Yea so Christine recently told this story in one of the "one on one" episodes (I wish they'd just call them Tell Alls but w/e) and Meri got mad because she said it wasn't a story she wanted to be public. But people realized afterward that this story had also been told by the lady who catfished Meri and Janelle, who mentioned it in an interview before Christine so.........idk if she just didn't know about that or she just needed to take some of her anger out on Christine or what.

Here's what happened: So when Kody and Meri first got legally married, they exchanged rings as one does and Meri got Kody a gold band with maybe some diamonds in it? And he wore it for years, even after he married Janelle and Christine, it just kind of functioned as his all-inclusive wedding band and he and Meri considered it to be a special symbol of their relationship.

So this next part is the version told by Christine and Meri and disputed by Robyn: Apparently around the time Kody was getting ready to marry Robyn, he just stopped wearing the ring all of a sudden, and when Meri noticed she understandably was like "hey where the hell is my ring" to which he said, "oh, I melted it down and saved the gold and the diamonds". Robyn says this happened waaaaay after before (i had to edit that my bad) she came into the picture though (spoiler alert, you can see Kody wearing the ring in the first episodes of the show while he's dating her so. She's lying.)

Christine says he told her that he did this because he "didn't want to feel like Meri had any power over him" anymore (which ??????). Another way Meri phrased it was that he didn't want to feel like she had any "claim" on him, and that was all the detail they went into. But according to Janelle, he used the gold and diamonds to make rings to give to some of his daughters, idk for what occasion. All of this was seven years before Meri's catfishing incident btw, and she insinuated that it really contributed to her feeling lonely in her family.

So Meri was obviously extremely hurt by that because he didn't ask her or even warn her he was doing this, and each wife had their little special things with Kody and that one was hers. After that they started the Claddagh ring tradition where Kody wore one and so did all the wives, but according to Christine at some point before she left Kody stopped wearing the Claddagh ring and he and Robyn went out and designed a new one? So he wore that for a while, and then most recently he and Robyn were out shopping and he saw some ring with a horse on it and now he wears that one, which he's explicitly said is only a symbol of him and Robyn's commitment.

I think a big reason Meri got mad is that before Christine told the story, she and the interviewer (Suki) were talking about the aforementioned stupid horse ring and laughing at it, and Meri for some reason took that as Christine laughing at her (imo she wasn't at all). Christine was already being asked questions about rings and probably though the story was fair game since it's been told before.

Anyway, I just think Meri was really embarrassed/hurt and didn't know what to do with all of it. And honestly, for me, it's hard to fault her for that because what a fucking awful, humiliating, belittling thing to do to someone who's supposed to be your spouse.....just from the stories we know about, Kody has treated her like absolute garbage and I think any sane person would have a hard time knowing how to deal with that.

I'll post the video though so you guys can see for yourselves and let me know what you think.

[nahisummerhold]

(Little hints at upcoming War Within events. Trying to not give spoilers but this needs to be written before it)

TW: Dementia

Dancing on the bench where she had been sitting with Cam and Jace earlier, nowhere close to the mosh pit, it looked more like a combat sport than the movements she preferred. Dancing was a great way for her to actually lose focus on the moment and reflect, any good workout would do, but movement to a beat  always felt like a true connection of mind and body.

She hadn’t been nervous before the show, just on the cautious edge of her confident nature. Nahi knew her performance was solid, she just wondered if this was stepping too far off the path of her musical spectrum. If she hadn’t been skipping a path along that razor’s edge of hyperfocus and relaxed quiet before a show, she would have asked Jace about some of the bluegrass places to enjoy since he knew about them, or maybe she could talk to him about anything. Talking to creative people, no matter what their discipline, was a favorite pastime and he was more than qualified at least twice over. Meeting him had been one of the highlights of the night as he had intrigued her since the first notes of  his performance at HoTFest.

As she was moving, the one thing that almost always drew her attention pulled her from that trance-like headspace and down off the bench to jog outside. Tapping her comm that was going off on her family's alert frequency, “What’s wrong?” No one ever called her with any good news, not on this channel.

Alizabetta, her mother’s temporary night nurse while her permanent one was on vacation, spoke with mild panic in her tone, “Miss Nahi?” 

Nahi didn’t tell her to not call her miss in the moment, the woman had been told it multiple times now, a term of respect she said. “Who…” patience, asking her who else might be answering her private comm connection was a waste of energy and time, “Yes, go ahead Alizabetta.”

“Well you see, your mother is missing.” It sounded like the woman was about to cry if anyone raised their voice at her, or maybe even gave her a stern glance.

“I will be there in fifteen seconds.” Already her hand was on the hearthstone bound to the portal in their garden.The instant the spell finished the performer was on her way to the door where the nurse stood wringing her hands, no wonder her mother was still missing if this woman wasn’t even looking for her. “What happened?” 

The young woman, a nurse that worked with her step-father at the hospital, cleared her throat, “You see, your mother was asleep and I went to make tea to help me stay awake. When I returned she was gone.”

Nahi was confident in everything in her life, and directing her mother’s caretakers had become like a vocation for her. “And… you didn’t lock the door because she was asleep. And… you didn’t want to spill the tea by getting the keys to unlock the room so you figured it was best just to leave her alone, in an unlocked room.” As her mother’s dementia was getting worse they had to add more locks and now they had three so the woman actually would have struggled if there wasn’t a damned table right next to the door for such purposes. Again, a mistake that would not help Nahi in the moment, she could have a discussion with the nurse later.

“Yes, Miss.” Alizabetta lowered her eyes, then bowed her head in shame.”I have looked in the house, you know she likes to hide like a child.”

“My mother’s mental capacity makes her childlike almost always, you are as much babysitter as a nurse.” There was an edge like broken glass to Nahi’s tone. “So you have looked inside?”

The nurse nodded her head, and looked up, her eyes wide and shoulders drawing her back like she might be struck. “The house, the gardens, I didn’t go out in the city in case I missed her inside.”

Good and bad news she guessed, “Go back inside, check everywhere again.” Her mother had always been good at escaping her rooms, but the new locks prevented that, until now. “I am going to check the street. How long has she been missing?”

“About an hour, miss, I was trying to handle it on my own.” There was a slightly defensive tone to the other woman’s tone.

Nahilvi might be submissive sometimes (most often) in bed, but she was not even close to that when it came to her mother’s care. She might not be able to be in the same room with the dementia inflicted woman because it just hurt too much, but she always ensured her care. “An hour? So you didn’t call me until you began to assume she was on the streets?” There was more than a hint of anger in her voice now. 

The nurse didn’t really look chagrined, she was sure that her position was safe because Nahi was normally a nice woman who treated all their staff as equals and fairly. “This level of incompetence is mind blowing to me, once my mother is found you will spend the rest of your shift in her suite with her to keep her calm and safe, then tomorrow I will find a replacement for you. If you choose to leave while I am out looking for my mother, I promise that I will ensure that the hospital’s staff knows about your poor performance. I might be reasonable with people that work here, but if you even think that I will not follow through on that, you are welcome to test how much weight I put into keeping my word.”

Nahilvi took a few moments to go throw her bag upstairs and change into some leggings and a loose shirt. She could only cringe at the thought of chafing if she chose to go running in the streets in her performance gear. By the door to her room she slipped her feet into sneakers that had neon paint splatters on them then stepped out, quickly checking the rooms in her hallway.

Running down the stairs, she went out the front door and through her garden before taking a left hand turn. Nahi almost always moved left first if given a choice, maybe it was because she was left handed, but she had never thought much of it. Her rubber soles slapped onto the streets of Dalaran, the stone pathways were not as nice as when she went to run in the country, or through the woods, but it was not like this was a pleasure jaunt.  

Luckily, she did not have to go far because a couple streets over she could hear her mother screaming, “You don’t understand, they are keeping me locked away and the city is about to fall. I need protection and someone to take me to my estate on Quel’thalas.”

Nahilvi slowed to a walk and nodded to a guard nearby, it was not like this was the first time her mother had been located on the streets, nor the first time she had accused her family of holding her hostage. In truth, she was not a hostage, she was jailed, but that was of her own mind’s trauma, not anything Iren, Nahi or any of the nurses did. “Sorry Redmun, I will gather her up.”

“Take care lady, she is feisty tonight, already tried to hit Kallie when she tried to take your mom home.” The guard said, just watching and making sure that there was other trouble coming from this.

Shaking her head, Nahi sighs, “I will bring some double chocolate caramel brownies by the station tomorrow and Kallie’s favorite cookies. You all do an amazing job, you know.” The fact that they protected her mother but didn’t take action was appreciated, especially after she tried to assault one of them.

“Much appreciated, we love your baking.” He dipped his head and lifted his chin to point where Kallie was trying to calm Acenadalia. 

Stepping between gawkers she realized why the crowd was so thick, her mother was naked, just holding a few books to her chest. “For Sun’s sake,” she whispered. Without even getting close, Nahi knew those were some of her mother’s books on music, two were her own compositions. “Mom,” she said, pitching her tone low, “let’s go home. The city is safe, you are safe, we can go and have some mint tea and those marshmallow treats you like.”

Her mother was having none of it and swung out with the books showing that even if her mind had aged too fast her body had not. She was built curvier than Nahi but then her mother never exercised even before she took a blow from a mace to her head. “You!” She turned on the guard, “Arrest her, it is all her fault they lock me in my room.”

It was not the first time her mother had said something like that, but it never stopped hurting to know her mother hated her, was afraid of her, or didn’t even recognize her. None of that registered in her voice, it was likely in her eyes though as the female guard looked to her and mouthed, “I’m sorry.” Nahilvi waved off the apology, she appreciated the help with her mother in these moments but she didn’t want anyone’s pity, this was just her life now. “How long do we have until it falls?” She asked, once more trying to distract her mother.

Acen’s eyes flashed, the gold of them as bright as the sun would be at mid-day, “You don’t care that we are going to die because we didn’t leave.” 

“I care mom, I don’t want to be here when it falls, I want us all safe.” Knowing her mother’s protectiveness of her music, and not above using those feelings against the wayward woman. “Especially your music, I know you want to make sure they are safe and that is not even half of your collection.” 

“My music!” The words were half wailed, “We MUST save my music!” She stepped towards Nahi, “You will help me get them out of the city before we die?” Well, that was charming, a new nightmare to torture her mother.

Nahilvi nodded her head, “We can find someone to take them until we can relocate. They are very protective of books, especially ones like your composition books.” Her voice cracked, and not in an emotional way,  she needed tea and lemon and to not talk for a while. The harder rock songs she had performed left her mouth dry, just another reason to get this situation handled quickly.

A Kul Tiran man in the crowd reached out and grabbed Nahi’s wrist, “Come on girlie, let the missus show off a little longer.”

Before anyone else could act, Nahi broke his hold on her arm and she took hold of his jerkin. A couple steps with her feet moving between his to make him trip further until his shoulders hit a wall. Both guards moved up to flank Nahi, “Can’t you see she needs help getting home, this is not some kind attention grabbing moment.”

He looked to the guards, hoping they would intervene but they just kept an eye on the situation. “Come on pretty, she is lookin’ quite good. Should let us take her for a drink.” 

The night had been too much already and she had kept her emotions in check for too long. Swiping her foot between legs, she hooked the back of his foot putting him off balance, the hold on his armor kept him from falling all the way back to the ground, controlling his momentum, though his weight was almost enough to draw her down onto him.

“Don’t you fucking get it? She is not looking for a good time, she is afraid.” Releasing his jerkin she brought her foot up between his legs and he covered his balls, she spit next to his head and just withdrew her foot. “Compassion is a gift, you just got a prettily wrapped dose of it, maybe pass it on instead of being a disgusting asshole.”

With the guard’s and Nahi’s attention on the large man they did not notice her mother running forward, with a wild yell she lifted the books and slammed his stomach with them causing him to curl up in a ball. Kallie reacted first, she did not touch Acen but put her body between her suddenly combative former singer, “Get her home Nahilvi.” 

Her mother tried to hit him again but Nahi caught her attention, “Come on, let’s go get the rest of your books to my friends so they can hold them for us while we look for somewhere to move to.” 

“No one touches my staff like that, I am going to have my husband challenge you to a duel!” She kept trying to get around Nahi but the younger woman had a quick step and her gold eyes focused on Nahi’s own glowing purple ones. “If the count were here he would never let that happen.”

A few more steps that kept the man from getting bludgeoned, though he deserved it, the focus of the event was now on Nahi. Many people were staring at her, not often a Sin’dorei could take on a giant of a man like that, plus the overall situation was attention claiming. She ignored it all though, if she took her attention off her mother worse could happen than just books behind slammed down. “You music is too precious, you and I will go and get them to a safe place, the. We can talk about what is happening in the city.”

“To the city, weren’t you listening?” Acenadalia angrily asked, then swung the books at Nahi’s head that she blocked with a forearm, a cracking noise could be heard and it wasn’t a cover to the book. 

The cry that escaped Nahi’s lips was not quiet, nor was it musical, it was an squished ugly sound. Kallie and Redmun rushed forward to take the books from Acen who tried to fight them as well but they were guards and broke up bar fights all the time. Kallie got the books out of her hands and Redmun wrapped his cloak around the confused woman. “Come on let’s get you both home,” the male guard said and walked the diva down the street.

Kallie looked over Nahi and the waxen color to her skin, Nahi’s arm which was now held to her chest was definitely broken. “Home, we will get your mom settled away and if your step-father is not home yet I will heal that arm.” She paused and looked at Nahi, “You have amazing patience, Nahi.” 

“Doesn’t feel like it at the moment,” the singer said through clenched teeth. 

“What did she mean by the city falling? Has she ever had a gift for foresight?” When you lived in a floating city, falling was a serious fear for most of them.

With a quick shake of her head, “No, it is probably some nightmare or something. Worse comes to worse with her fear I will rake the books to my friends. One loves books on the arts so I know they will be safe there. Maybe let them use songs for book rent.” 

Arriving home the night nurse met them at the gate wringing her hands and fussing. “Mister Irenthalas went out looking too.”

The nurse was oddly attentive to her mother and fussed over Nahi as much as she would let her.  A quick call to Iren had him returning home. He healed Nahi’s arm but she would still need it wrapped for at least a week. Luckily it is her right forearm so she can do everything where she doesn’t have to stop her preparations for ToA.

(Thank you @jacelandon for the RP. Thank you @ranekvilmas and @thecastcompany for Wings and Metal 🩶💜🩶💋)

[rosiewitchescottage]

The Chosen S4 - Finale

Some theories based on what we've been given.

Spoilers aplenty, so continued below.

Joseph of Arimathea - Yusuf's been a front runner throughout. But I think we can be pretty much certain now.

Even were a new character to be introduced in S5, why else would so much have been invested in Yusuf?

We even have his father as a family friend of Lazarus, sitting Shiva with Martha and Mary when Jesus arrived. He witnessed Lazarus coming out from the tomb.

And he was there to see Little Sister Mary anoint Jesus with priceless oil.

Which provides a segue into

Judas and Shmuel - "I have a bad feeling about this."

I suspect that these two will be working rather closer than is healthy, somewhere between the supporters of Jesus and those plotting his death.

No. I don't think that either wants Jesus dead. But they're so caught up in their own idea of what should be happening.

Judas believes in Jesus' Messianic status. But he completely misunderstands what it means, and is increasingly frantic to see it go the way he thinks it ought to.

Shmuel wants to believe. He's spoken with Jesus, prayed with Jesus and knows that there's something extraordinary about him.

But he's so hung up on the Letter of The Law that he can't see any other way than strict, unerring adherence.

Like Judas and many others, he believes that Messiah will defeat Rome, so that Israel can lead the world to God.

Both so close yet so far.

My theory is that they will plot to get Jesus to The Sanhedrin to force his hand.

Shmuel has heard Caiaphas (?) and Co saying that they will have to get Rome to dispose of Jesus.

So Shmuel and Judas will get Jesus to The Sanhedrin, so he will have to go face to face with and directly oppose Rome.

We know how that's going to go. 😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥

Joanna and Claudia - As Jesus rides towards Jerusalem on his colt, with the all important bridle in place, and The City is preparing to welcome him.

Joanna burns her final bridge, jumping from her husband's carriage to joyously join the crowds.

There's an unspoken understanding between herself and Claudia, that following Jesus will give them both the Faith that has the Jewish people making the arduous journey to Jerusalem to worship and celebrate.

Joanna has taken that first step, after all she was already distanced from her husband.

Claudia is another matter. I wonder if she will disguise herself to go and see Jesus enter the city?

She's already been dreaming of him, but she hasn't seen him in the flesh yet.

The fact that we learned of her dreams back in S3.

That makes me think that she might see that he is the man from her dreams, earlier than when he comes to trial before her husband.

If she sees him as soon as he is entering Jerusalem. Then we'll have the whole of Holy Week in S5 for the poor woman to wrestle with her knowledge.

She's heard Herod and her husband talking about Jesus. She knows that The Sanhedrin have him in their sights.

She has 'A Bad Feeling' about where it's all heading. And I wonder what it'll mean for her relationship with her husband?

The Centurion at The Cross - How they're keeping us guessing about this!

Will be be introduced to us at the start of S5?

With this rapturous procession about to enter The City. Pilate's troops will have to be on high alert for trouble.

And, of course there will be their centurions in charge of them.

I suspect we will be getting to know the soldiers who will be performing the gruesome work of The Passion. There's the flogging, crowning with thorns, driving Jesus along Via Dolorosa to The Crucifixion at Golgotha. 😥😥😥😥😥

(One hopes that they won't be the drunken,maniacally giggling cariacatures that we had in The Passion of The Christ. 🙄🙄🙄)

This said. I can still see possible ways for Atticus and Gaius to be at least involved.

Atticus has completely terrified Pilate by letting his cocky, self assured face drop, to show a man who's seen, with his own two eyes, things that he just can't explain away.

He's seen a Zealot have his sica thrown into the river, but kneel and pledge his service to the man who disarmed him.

A man whose crippled brother now walks and dances on his own two feet.

He's seen a man walking on the storm tossed Sea of Galilee.

And he's seen a man mourned as dead for four days, walk out of his tomb alive and well.

Atticus is frantic to find out what's happening, how, why and what it means for Rome.

Could he be there to hear Jesus speak words of forgiveness for the soldiers crucifying him, tell a guilty, repentant criminal that they will be together in Paradise, make sure his Eema will be protected, in the midst of his own agony?

Will this convince him that at least The Kingdom Jesus speaks of is not one Of This World?

Gaius is now being treated as a friend in Capernaum. All our Galilean Chums heading towards Jerusalem are asking if he and his family will be coming along too, seeing as most of Capernaum will be out of town.

Having his duties as Praetor, Gaius politely declines, but asks for his thanks to be passed onto Jesus and 'Shalom, Shalom' to Simon Peter and Matthew.

But what if he and his wife have a change of mind? Things are quiet and peaceful in town, Gaius can leave orders for what needs doing.

This is their perfect change to see this all so important city and The Temple.

Little do they know what they'd be present to witness.

[mins-fins]

ghosting — kim taerae

there is absolutely nothing y/n can do to go back, all he has is the ghostly memories of his first love.

tags :: kim taerae x m!reader , fluff start angst end , simply reader's inner most thoughts , mentions of homophobia , but they still love(d) each other , just super depressing , readers family are assholes , except his brother , horribly depressing ending , spoiler alert: one of them dies

lee y/n's life is a horribly written story.

tragedy after tragedy, that's it. whenever a good thing was about to happen, the opportunity easily slipped out of hands and seemed to explode into pieces.

he could just never win.

while it's true, y/n did try to improve his life, it seems that he and bad luck were destined to be together. he hates how every time something amazing happens, something else would always ruin it.

there was practically nothing that could save him from this constant loop of suffering.

then kim taerae came into everything.

y/n and taerae weren't complete opposites, but their life situations definitely were. compared to y/n's unsupportive, work oriented parents, taerae had supportive parents who made time for him, y/n could only wish for such things.

he seemed to have come out of the blue, but y/n couldn't have been more grateful. where could he even begin with taerae? he's so pretty, sweet, well spoken, lovely, he was like an angel, y/n feels as if he can picture a halo above his head whenever he speaks.

in all honesty, anyone would fall in love with him, but y/n fell hard, so hard that he probably could have bruised his knees. it appeared obvious to everyone that the two had a thing, even to y/n's younger brother, junseo.

"my brother likes you" he told taerae once, and the older simply chuckled, shaking his head. he already had a hunch of what y/n was feeling, his feelings already reciprocated.

"does he now?" taerae questions, watching as the young boy giggles in excitement. his hands are placed behind his back, as he patiently waits for the little boys answer.

"yeah! he always talks about you!" junseo says. "he says your super pretty, and have pretty eyes, and have a pretty voice and that he thinks your super amazing and—"

"what are you two talking about?" y/n comes out of nowhere, handing junseo the ice cream he wanted. the younger lee smiles and quickly started devouring his treat, taerae chuckling at how cute he was.

"junseo was talking about how like me, apparently" taerae says way too honestly.

y/n choked on his ice cream, looking over at the older, who was now dying of laughter. he felt his face heat up despite how he was eating ice cream at that very moment.

what an awkward confession huh?

you can't begin to even figure out how nervous y/n was to meet taerae's parents. he was so nervous in fact that he was biting the inside of his cheeks, but taerae would reassure him that he was fine.

"what if your parents don't like me?"

"y/n, why would they not like you? i told them about you and they already like you, no worries".

taerae was not wrong.

at first, y/n thought his parents hated him, due to how silent they were, but then mrs. kim squealed and ran up to give him a hug. "ah! he's so cute, taerae! you weren't wrong!"

he felt the woman pinch his cheeks, stretching them out. "honey! look at taerae's boyfriend! i told you he was gonna be cute!"

"he truly is adorable!"

y/n listens to his partners parents shower him with compliments and fiddle with his face. he looked over at taerae behind him, who gave a thumbs up, mouthing a "told you so".

y/n found himself so in love, even with how against queer relationships his parents were, that didn't stop him, he was happier with taerae than he ever was with his parents, he found himself and junseo spending more time at taerae's house than their own home, his parents were much more supportive than their own.

everything was fine.

"what do you wanna do after graduation?" taerae asked, looking up at his boyfriend, who was playing with his hair, his hands then moved to his face, squishing his cheeks.

"hm.." y/n thought for a moment, cupping taerae's face as he giggles at how cute he looked. "i don't know, you said you wanna major in music, right?"

"yeah right".

y/n thought again, smiling. "i'll probably major in art".

"oh! i remember you told me! you never showed me that painting you made of me though.."

"someday love, someday" y/n responds, and taerae laughs at the pet name, he hates how flustered it makes him.

everything was good. finally, lee y/n's life had taken a turn for the better. he had an insanely loving boyfriend, was able to take care of his younger brother and maintain his studies, plus, taerae's parents were supportive, and didn't find his presence annoying at all.

but, of course, the key word in that sentence is was, because the lee would unfortunately find all of that crashing down in the span of one night. just one night.

"your seriously gonna go? it's late" y/n can vividly remember telling taerae that, but the older just shook his head and waved his hand dismissively.

"it'll be fine, y/n, it isn't that far" taerae reassured him, that familiar smile coming to his face, with his dimples on full display. "seriously, babe i'm gonna be fine".

taerae looked at his partners empty wrist, his mind suddenly going to something he forgot to mention to his boyfriend. "oh, before that, i have something to give you".

he rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a bracelet he made for y/n, handing it to him. the lee freezes, not knowing how he could have responded to such a gift.

"taerae—"

"i spent a lot of time making it for you, see? it has moon charms, and your initials on it! junseo helped me too".

y/n let taerae put it on his wrist, not being able to focus clearly, he really couldn't focus, whenever this memory came back to him, he always remembered how there looked to be a universe in them.

"i hope you like it".

"i love it" he whispers, genuinely. he felt as if he was going to collapse, is that a taerae thing? having y/n think he was about to die? how ironic.

"anyway" taerae cleared his throat. "i should go now, it's late" he said, smiling once again at his partner.

"i'll see you tomorrow?" he said, and y/n curses at himself for saying that, for jinxing himself. why would he say that? he hates himself.

"yeah, i'll call you" taerae replied. he brought y/n's hand closer and placed a kissed his knuckles, causing for y/n's cheeks to heat up.

if present day y/n could talk to his past self, he would have convinced himself to continue talking, to stall, to be stubborn and hardheaded so that he could convince taerae to stay longer.

"you shouldn't have let him go lee y/n"

no matter how much y/n's thoughts tried to convince him that something was gonna go wrong, he couldn't listen, or rather, he didn't listen. what kind of an idiot is he?

of course there wouldn't be a happy ending, of course taerae didn't call him later, of course nothing went his way.

when would lee y/n's life ever be a good one? when would his story ever have a happy ending? what did he do so wrong in his past life that warranted for him to receive such a punishment?

he was right, so there is absolutely nothing that could stop his constant loop of suffering, no matter how hard he tries to change it, bad luck would always find a way to catch up to him.

taerae didn't deserve this, he should've been with someone else, someone who wouldn't have him end up with such fate. y/n could never get that thought off his mind, how he had practically ruined taerae's life.

he should've been wiser, he should've thought before he let taerae slip from his grasp so easily.

if he could go back, he would try to prevent such an event from happening, he'd rather be the one to suffer, not taerae, he didn't do anything wrong, yet he was the one who had to suffer.

as always, everything ended in tragedy, another thing to mess up something consistent.

lee y/n's life is a horribly written story.

and that horribly written story had an unfortunate ending.

AUTHORS NOTE — sooooo how's everyones day going so far? mine is going fine ^^