#dream me was understandably confident in still being able to recite that but unfortunately my memory

[aria0fgold]

Still so eepy but I had a rude awakening in the form of a nightmare. Like the beginning of that nightmare is tame in that I was celebrating someone's birthday in a classroom. Then had to go to the bathroom to wash my hands cuz the cake was messy. But the path to the bathroom was like the most inconvenient and tiring thing where the safest route is in the 2nd floor (same floor where the birthday party was at) cuz there's something odd going on outside the school (it was pitch black out and like really haunting).

Anyway the 2nd floor path to the bathroom was like a long balcony. And there are students seated by the edge of it so it's like a tiring process of saying "Excuse me" but it's just so narrow that even if the person moves out the way, you still gotta squeeze between a small space and hug the beam to not fall off the balcony (there's like big stone beams around cuz there's no railing??? and that's all cuz of how narrow the place is so it's like you're expected to hug the beam for support).

So I managed to finally get to the bathroom, washed my hands, then I looked back to the path to get back and was like "I don't wanna do that again..." Cue me going to the 1st floor, walking then slowly speeding up to a run downstairs, in the dark, looking like Mari from OMORI for some reason??? (I was even wearing her uniform) And when I finally got back... No one was in the classroom. Instead there were shadows outside the windows and the context my dream turned nightmare gave me was that those were the teachers that committed suicide.

And I was PANICKING cuz where was everyone and why were shadows there? And then the shadows were getting closer to me and even circling me and I tried to pray in my dream but... I realized... I don't have any prayers memorized. I tried to recited the Lord's Prayer in my mother tongue... I couldn't, tried it in English, I also couldn't and it was that moment that I was like "I'm screwed... Wait, this is a dream. I need to wake up." So I forced myself awake.

[random-imagines-blog]

Teenage Queen {Viktor Krum x Reader}

Requested by: Anonymous Wordcount: 2835 Summary: Related to one Champion, ex of another and the budding love interest of a third. It’s one weird year.

Your final year at Hogwarts was not turning out to be as perfect as you had expected. You were just hoping that everything would go as normal; no deadly and dangerous adventures for your little brother Harry and his friends, no fighting with your boyfriend Cedric. Just a perfectly mediocre year where you focus on your studies, get good NEWTS and move on to train at your dream job. And then along came The Triwizard Tournament. Well, at least it was for Seventh Years only, and you had no intention of entering - and your fourth year brother certainly wouldn’t have a part to play in it, would he?

You couldn’t have one simple year at Hogwarts, could you? Not that you blamed your brother but ever since he had come along in his first year, things have been going wrong left, right and center. First, your boyfriend Cedric had been chosen as the Hogwarts champion, which he didn’t even tell you that he had entered. You were mad about that, but then when it came to the interviews and Rita Skeeter poking around, you had enough of it. Even his friends were coming along and asking questions about your personal life, since he was the only one of the FOUR champions to have a partner. This ended up in you breaking up with him, because he didn’t see the big deal about all of the intrusive questions. It was mutual, eventually, but you had to wear him down in order for him to see that it would be better if you spent some time apart.

And then Harry, sweet little Harry Potter who couldn’t catch a break, was chosen to be the Fourth Champion, which was entirely unheard of. You had charged into the room where the champions were and you gave Dumbledore a mouthful of words, as well as the Minister of Magic, but the rules were the rules and he had to compete. You tried throwing back that the rules had stated that it was only for Seventh Years, and that there was only to be one champion per school, but they claimed that their hands were tied. After that, you took Harry’s hand and pulled him out of there so the two of you could talk alone.

You were devastated. Especially in the coming days when it became apparent that a lot of people, including his best friend, thought that he had put his name in the Goblet of Fire. It was completely far away from Harry’s personality, and you vowed to help him through everything, studying your ass off on his tasks on top of your school work. He still had Hermione, though, and that was a relief. You were more worried about him than you had been about Cedric, whom you were convinced would do absolutely fine in the Tournament, and probably didn’t need your assistance.

-

You were sitting by the lake one day, doing your extra-curriculars. You took just the necessary classes this year, having dropped Divination and Arithmancy so you wouldn’t have to study as hard. But you were doing studies of your own, particularly in Russian. You wanted a job in which you got to travel the world, so you decided that taking languages, a course only done through talking books, was a good way to go. You were fluent in French, and learned more about pronunciation through the Beauxbatons students, but you didn’t know much Russian, so you decided to take that up so you could communicate with Durmstrang as well.

You were coming along pretty well, though your pronunciation needed some work. You were practicing in the weak sunlight of the Scottish Autumn, muttering to yourself. “Ya chuvstvuyu-” You started to pronounce, then realized it didn’t sound right, so you tried again. “Ya chuvstvuya,” You put more emphasis in, “-tvoyu lyubov segodnya.”

“Ochen khorosho!” The book praised back to you. You smiled, the romantic phases being something that you wanted to master. Okay, so maybe you weren’t entirely over the break-up with Cedric. It wasn’t him in particular, it was just having someone to care about, someone to care about you that you missed.

“Who var you talking to?” A puzzled voice said. You looked up from the speaking book to see that there was a student in front of you. You were so into your book that you hadn’t even noticed anyone approaching. The sun was behind him, casting his face in shadow, though the robes showed Durmstrang.

“Myself,” You said, then held up the book to show what you were doing. “Practicing Russian. I’m on the chapter of romantic phrases.”

The student looked delighted, and much to your surprise, he sat down with you, looking over the pages. It was only as he leaned over to take a closer look, his finger running across some of the words, which made the book giggle aloud, that you realized exactly who it was. You turned red at this realization - because it was nonother than celebrity champion Viktor Krum, who you had just seen at the World Cup. You remembered the way that Cedric had gushed over how good of a seeker he was, and how amazing his flying techniques were.

“This one good-” He said, pointing to a certain phrase and then said it out loud. You read along with it, your eyes following his finger, but he added more to the sentence, words that you weren’t sure of.

“What does that mean?” You asked, realizing that you were still as red as a rose at his close proximity. You tried to tell yourself to act natural, pretend that it wasn’t a celebrity - a very handsome celebrity - that was this close to you, but you found it impossible. It wasn’t everyday that someone came into your space like this. The last person had been Cedric, but the two of you didn’t spend any time together since the break up. Just nods in the hallways, and awkward grins if you had a class together. You haven’t tried to date anyone else since, though Rita kept coming up with stories about you cheating on him with other boys. You hoped she wasn’t snooping around now with that damn quill of hers.

“You var my paradise,” He said, in his heavily accented English. That part was in the book. “-My...” He looked around, as if having trouble with translation. He pointed up at the sky, and then did little flapping motions with his hands. When you gave him a puzzled look, he put his hands above his head, his index and thumbs together to make a circle.

“Heaven?” You asked. He shook his head so you took another guess after piecing it together. “Heaven?" He nodded, with a smile and then continued to look around. He then pointed straight towards the sun, which was hiding behind clouds. “Sun?” You guessed once more. He nodded again.

“You var my paradise - my heaven - my sun.” He said, looking quite proud of himself. And he was saying it while he was looking right at you, which just made you feel all the warmer. You hadn’t really given anyone attention since Cedric, and since most of Hogwarts thought you two were the dream couple, no one else had tried to hit on you. But here was Viktor Krum, reciting such lovely things for you in a language that you were only beginning to understand.

“Beautiful,” You muttered in his mother tongue, and he beamed as he recognized the word. Until it was no longer light enough to study, and you had to conjure up a light and keep it in a jar - thank you Hermione for that idea - in order to see anything, he helped you along with your studies. And yet, you never seemed to get past the chapter of romance. He introduced you to new phrases, and would practice with you until you had the pronunciation down perfectly. The book had been quiet for a while, having no critiques for you, you were doing so well. “Thank you so much - you taught me a lot,” You said, getting onto your feet.

“You’re velcome,” He said, bowing his head respectfully, jumping up effortlessly. You scrambled to put your book into your bag, and he helped you, holding your bag open for you. “Maybe you can help me,” He suggested. You tilted your head, questioning what this man could ever want help with. The first task had gone swimmingly for him, he was a Quidditch star, he was handsome to boot. “With een-glish.”

“Oh, of course!” You said with a grin. “I would love to help. Why don’t you meet me in the library on Saturday?”

-

Four different boys asked you to the Yule Ball, and you had said yes to only one of them - sort of. Unfortunately for Harry, it wasn’t his best friend Ron who just seemed desperate to go with anyone. When you told the two boys that you already had a date, your brother kept questioning who it was. He seemed to have a theory that you were back with Cedric, which couldn’t be further from the case. You just left them guessing, looking forward to seeing their faces when you appeared.

Thanks to the small fortune that your parents had left for you and Harry, you were able to afford a stunning dress. And with some small alterations, you could probably make it last forever. It was your favorite color, floor length with see-through sleeves and a pinched waist to really bring out your body shape.

That, along with your confident smile and you were ready to go.

Your date wasn’t in your house, in fact he wasn’t even from this school. You flushed as you remembered exactly what Viktor had done in order to ask you, and you had to applaud his trickiness. He had written out ‘Will you go to the ball with me’ in Russian, and asked you to translate it. You had done so, thinking that perhaps he wanted to ask out one of the many Hogwarts girls who had fawned after him throughout the hallways, but instead of repeating it back to you, he had said ‘Love to.’ It took you a minute to realize what he had done, and you couldn’t stop laughing once you had it figured out. You agreed with that, and your date was set.

You were going to the Yule Ball with a champion. That was what worried you the most. The attention that you were going to get since you and Viktor had to participate in a dance in front of the student body. He hadn’t had the time to practice, since his own Headmaster was keeping him busy with studying for the tasks, but you did have another willing partner. Your brother Harry. It was easiest with him since he had to do the same dance at the same time.

As you walked down the stairs with a couple of other girls who were meeting their dates, you were nervous to see if all of that practicing had paid off. You caught your brother’s eye as he went down the stairs and gave him a confident wink. He had asked out one of the Patil twins, you had heard, and you were very much looking forward to teasing him about it after all was said and done. Your date wasn’t at the bottom of the stairs in the herd like many of the other males, but further back, trying not to bring attention to himself. He stepped forward when you reached the foot of the staircase, maneuvering expertly through the people in his red suit, and held his hand out to you. You took hold of it, making many in the crowd gasp.

“Krum?” You heard your brother and his best friend say in unison.

You gave a teasing little wave to them as you were lead into the Great Hall, which had been transformed into a beautiful ballroom for the occasion. It looked like a winter wonderland in here, and it took your breath away. You were given a grand entrance, where Viktor, Fleur and Harry were also introduced, before taking part in the dance. You couldn’t help but notice that you were also getting looks from Cedric, who was here with Cho Chang, a pretty Ravenclaw.

You ignored all of those looks, focusing on Viktor, and Viktor alone. He remained the stiff, very concentrated man that you had gotten to know through your studies, though once in a while, when no one was looking, he smiled. The dance went off without a hitch, which was amazing considering he had to lift you. That’s the part that you were nervous about, but his strong arms managed to do the task and you felt safe throughout. You did feel a little better once both feet were on the ground.

Once the dance was over, and the band began playing something less traditional and upbeat, you were able to blend more into the crowd. “I get us drinks,” Viktor winked, giving you a thumbs up as he departed from your side for the first time of the night. You felt even more flushed by the wink than you did by the dance, so you leaned back against one of the columns and took a glance to see who had brought whom.

You smiled as you watched Harry and Ron sitting, refusing to dance with their dates. An older Gryffindor had asked Hermione, and the two of them were out on the dance floor. For the first time, it seemed like the school was entirely at peace. Houses with other houses and schools with other schools. You couldn’t help smiling as Hagrid danced with Madame Maxime. Even Dumbledore had a turn on the dance floor.

“May I have a dance?” A familiar voice said from next to you. You turned to look into those honey colored eyes that had made you swoon the year before, but now - now you just felt nothing. And it was great to just feel nothing.

“I don’t think so,” You said, smiling through your rejection. “Viktor will be back any minute with some drinks. I’m absolutely parched.”

“He wouldn’t let you dance with an old friend?” Cedric asked, raising an eyebrow. You saw through what he was doing, unfortunately. Playing the nice guy. You realized that him seeing you with Viktor must really have gotten under his skin.

“I’m sure he would,” You said, demurely. This was like something right out of a book for teenagers. A love triangle - but you weren’t going to let it be that way. That required feelings for the third person, and you no longer had that. Still, you felt like some sort of Queen with all of the attention that you were getting. “But I honestly just want to save every dance for him. He’s a wonderful dancer, must come with being a professional athlete. Did you see him out there?”

“I did,” Cedric conceded. “And I saw how happy you were - so I’m happy for you, y/n.”

“I’d hope so,” You said, spotting Viktor coming forward. You excused yourself from Cedric, and went to meet him, taking the glass of punch from his hands. You noticed that for the first time in the night, he wasn’t looking at you, but was scowling over at Cedric. You had told him about your past with Cedric, and about your brother being Harry. It hadn’t worried him at all that you were close with two of the other contestants, or at least it hadn’t until now. “Thank you,” You said, laying your hand upon his arm as you took a sip from the glass goblet.

“Vhat did he vant?” Viktor asked, pointing his chin towards Cedric, who was still standing by the column, looking at you solemnly. You shook your head as the ugly beast called jealousy made an appearance.

“He wanted to tell me that he’s happy for me, that I’m here with you,” You said, smiling, since it was a truth, though maybe not the whole truth. “And I must say, I share the feeling.”

The stoic look remained on Viktor’s face for a moment more. You didn’t like it. This was supposed to be a happy occasion. You leaned in and pressed a kiss onto his stubbled cheek, and grew excited as it seemed to light up. He was finally smiling once again, and you both turned so your backs were towards your ex. “Vant to dance?” He asked, draining his own cup.

“With you?” You said, leaning in so you could rest his head on his broad shoulder. “All night long.”

[bayern-moni]

On the scale of 0-10, how much do you want to kick Madara's ass, Mito?

Mito: It goes between 7/10 in normal circumstances to 1000/10 when he purposely behaves like a scassapalle ( = pain in the ass but not quite that exactly).

Sometimes, I do want to kick his ass because it seems to be the only thing able to stop him from being too unnecessarily contrarious just for the sake of it, in a self-(and others)destructive way. Because, sometimes, Madara isn't able to see his own bullshit if nobody points it out to him, but unfortunately the only way Madara'd let himself listen to others' reason is if that person is able to beat it into him.

So be it, I'm fine with it and he is too. We made this deal and that's the start of our friendship, did you know?

So, I don't really want to kick Madara's ass per se, most of the time, even though he IS aggravating more often than what it's healthy. And grumpy, and rude, jumpy, spiteful, unforgiving, paranoid old-born man. Although his discretion, sarcastic spite and no-bullshit attitude can even be useful and entertaining when directed to the right people (and when you know how to channel him into them to prevent him from spiraling into even more twisted dramatics than those you're trying to run from). The point I'm trying to make is: you learn to handle a fight-or-fight, cornered and blunt cat and you'll know how to deal with Madara. So, I managed to reach a mutually respectful relationship with him, in spite of everything, because when he's not being ... well, himself, he's a very intelligent man and I enjoy our conversations. Although I really did want to kick his ass when I had no choice but to seal the Kyuubi into myself to help Hashirama in the Valley of the End. Because, only because HE thought that bringing a fucking Bijou at the edge of the village in order to fight Hashirama was a good idea, it does not mean that it is one. It wasn't. Not in the least, it was unnecessary and dramatic, even by his standards. I made peace with the fact I'm the first jinchuriki in Konoha early, so it's less of a big deal than it could have been, but still.

Paradoxically, I have to admit that the moments when I find him most annoying are those when he isn't even there. I'm talking about my own husband's apparent obsession with him and the (too many, if you ask me) times he just can't seem to be able to shut up about him. He told me the river story so many times I'm sure I could recite it in my sleep. I'm starting to feel like I'll be better off asking for a divorce and leave Hashirama to him out of spite. I'm sure my sanity would thank me if I did, but unfortunately I love Hashirama very much so I won't. Madara'd send him back to me within a day when the urge to strangle him for his overbearing attitude becomes too much, anyway, so it wouldn't even be a problem. In fact complaining about Hashirama's obnoxious antics with Madara is always funny, when I hear of people thinking that Hashi is a cause of contention/dislike between us I think it's just plain stupid, it's not like that at all. I know that Hashirama loves me, like he loves his brother, even Madara in a sense as well as the village.

But sometimes I feel as if all the years he spent associating his idea of peace with the alliance with the Uchiha, consequently his unwavering conviction that the only way he could achieve both was to necessarily bind Madara, the Uchiha clanhead, back to their old bond whatever it took (because it wasn't broken it was still there no matter what anyone thought it still was a gift from the divine) made him come to unconsciously link in his mind the very village's hopes of stability with Madara's own very ill-balanced stability and good will towards it.

In Hashirama's world, if Madara is pacified and he doesn't disrupt the village's armony for any reason, then the village will be fine, but the opposite is also true. Village is peace, peace is the dream, the village is the(ir?) dream (transitive property is the key here), but there's a sour, dissonant note: that's a very dangerous, unstable line of thinking, for all of us, himself and Madara included.

Because, differently from what Hashirama thinks, in Madara's vision, himself and that dream no longer coincide since when their bond was severed and it awakened his Sharingan at the river as a consequence. Their very definitions of that dream differed at the root. The mechanism stopped working, the gears need to be rearranged, not to be seen as the same as before, in order to keep working together. He's not the same as when they were little anymore and it isn't even only about Izuna's death but Madara himself. In fact it started before that, Izuna's death is one of the aggravating factors, not the trigger. Hashirama deep down knows it but he vehemently insists on ignoring it with all his might and that's what is deepening the fracture between them.

Hashirama refuses to see Madara for what he is but he wants to see only the kid he met at the river, because that kid is the one who gave Hashirama the confidence that his dream was possible. He still, genuinely, stubbornly believes that that kid still exists somewhere, because he must exist, because if Madara still believes in their village and keeps on giving him that confidence (that is, if Madara still behaves with Hashirama like that kid would, even while slowly breaking beyond repair on the inside), then eventually all will be fine and everything will adjust itself given enough time and hope. But when he doesn't, Hashirama becomes nearly paranoid and desperately tries whatever he can think of in the hope of tying Madara to their dream of the village again, this time possibly forever and indefinitely: calling him his brother (as if for Madara their real brothers weren't the only real bond while theirs is a breaking thread next to a fine but now forever severed cloth); nudging him to see Konoha villagers as they were his new family now that he lost his own (well knowing what kind of visceral bond that'd be if it were completed given that Madara is involved); giving him hope that he could be Hokage, a hope Hashirama didn't know it'd be crushed and burned to the roots by such a public humiliation. The worst part is that Hashirama doesn't even seem to be aware of half of these psychological issues of his. However, that's the person Hashirama sees, not the real Madara, never his adult, despairing, fierce-but-borderline-suicidal version. And Madara knows it, he resents it and will keep to silently poison himself with that knowledge in total, stubborn solitude until it will inevitably make him rot to the bone and erase the rest of the world with him. All of this while seeing all the underlying not-yet-born-but-still-there faults in the village's very system and Hashirama's rule! But, instead of just saying it so we can try to limit the damage, he just keeps them for himself as the indisputable proof of how the whole system is doomed to failure. To be honest, I do know why he doesn't talk, though, and that's because nobody'd listen to what is only considered an unstable, belligerent madman's apocalyptic words, no matter how prophetic they'll reveal themselves to be in the years. These are still other big reasons why I want to kick his ass, though, and I suspect that he knows. Count another reason, then.

They are just... Ahrg. Just talk, guys, like the mature people you ARE supposed to be but will never be. You understand that I'm in the middle of that, don't you? It gives me a massive headache on a good day and lately more often than not they make it a shitty day. I'm tired of constantly having to listen to Hashirama complaining about Madara this, Madara that, just because they're not sincere enough to just TALK and settle their differences within the limits of what it's actually possible, and because they don't talk about it (and when they do it seems like they are threading through two or three different discourses at the same time that nothing have to do with the problem at hand) they will never understand each other like they clearly need to and then we have to solve all the problems their bullshit leaves behind.

I'm not saying that they could resolve those problems by just talking, because they are too big for only the two of them and they often involve how something like world peace should be achieved. So, you understand why they'll never see eye to eye on that. But talking could be a start.

Mine feels like a full-time, underpaid and overly frustrating, babysitting job. Sometimes, I just want to kick both of their asses for being purposely (Madara) and unconsciously (Hashirama) difficult.

Sorry for my ramblings, but as a woman, a kunoichi and a wife I needed to vent a bit and too few people ask for my opinion nowadays, our self-appointed author first and foremost.

P. S.: I do want to kick his ass when he steals my hairpins out of spite after I have beaten him and Tobirama at shogi. 8/10, then.

For @dinainwater

It definitely got out of hand in the end 🤣 Rambling has always been a problem for me and rarely I manage to actually restrain myself, but I promise eventual next answers won't be this long. So, I hope it hasn't bored you (?) 😅. But I felt like Mito needed to make her opinion matter, so it was worth!

(If the reasoning explained above seemed twisted and unnecessarily difficult, it's because those two have a deeply unhealthy relationship)

However, thank you for your ask like always and I hope you enjoyed it 😁 whatever other question is always welcomed, don't worry 😊

*

[yutaya]

Iron Fist Rewatch 1x04: Eight Diagram Dragon Palm

Danny, struggling to pull himself onto that light post thing with his probably now bruised chest: "I dedicate myself to the service of all beings of K'un Lun-" *falls* So is this a recitation they do in training - is he trying to use that mindset to help him climb this beam? Is he doing some sort of traditional ask-the-gods-to-bless-me-with-strength thing?

Lol somehow I had remembered it as Danny crawling up again anyway after the initial push. I forgot they actually went and collected him. Guess that makes them look more favorable to him than my own recall though...

On the coffee table directly facing Danny when he wakes up, probably meant to be a sign to him about where he is and who has so kindly rescued and tended to him after his unfortunate tumble off a building: the formal pic of Harold and children, another photo hard to make out - my first thought was the vacation photo of the 6 of them but it's very sepia, could be something else. Maybe if I look back at other photos we've seen before I could match it.

Danny: "What happened to me? Last I remember I was climbing up-" Ward: "Yeah, like goddamn Daredevil." LOL

UGH THIS WHOLE HAROLD INTRO SCENE UGH Danny mad at Ward one second and then Harold appears and it's like the breath is punched out of him. Looking at Ward and Ward just calmly looking back because he clearly knows what's going on and Danny doesn't - it's as if they're bringing him into their confidence on something. This is a form of offering Danny something he wants - to be a part of something with the only family he thought he had left, not to mention the miracle of one of his parent-figures being alive again. (Wow, what a journey. From finding out Harold is dead and then Ward and Joy both quite clearly rejecting him and denying him a place in their lives to Joy actually doing something to indicate maybe at least she still wants him around after all? To wait, Ward and Harold bringing me in on something too? It's like the dream he clung to in K'un Lun got snatched away and now seems to be trickling back, and - UGH.) "You see him too?" because Danny thought he was seeing things that night at the hospital but this- this is real? Ward's sad, small nod because he knows so much more about Harold than Danny does, and he's seeing this innocent joy (word choice intended) while knowing himself to be wary and that this is almost definitely another manipulation (but what if it's not? What if-? But Harold is still dangerous, he can't help it, there's a reason Ward wants to protect Joy from him even while knowing that Harold favors her so dearly, because there are other ways to hurt your children-)

Harold calmly walking forward while wearing a black suit and confirming "I did die," followed by Danny's "You look the same age as when I last saw you..." - Vampire AU??? (Ugh but why did it have to be Harold? Not a fan of monsters as the bad guys.... need a non-evil vamp to balance him out....)

The way Ward just keeps looking silently between the both of them, like a witness, like - UGH.

"You're home now," GOD DAMMIT and Danny's relief and gratitude and Ward's somber look down I -

Cancer lasted 3 years

Ward: "Dad, are you sure you should be saying this?" Harold: "It's ok. Danny needs to know this." Casting Ward in the opposition role

Ward sits down in the chair adjacent to the couch Danny is on. Harold crosses over from where he was standing near the left side of the couch to sit on the farther right side instead - specifically sitting in between Danny and Ward.

Harold: "I still remember my last breath. Scariest shit I've ever experienced." Ward looks up and away, taking a breath, before turning back again. Combo of eye-roll at dramatics and genuine pain at the thought because that's his dad and Ward remembers those years of pain and decay and - ?

I forgot Danny originally thought of the Hand more like a fable than a reality - and finding out they're a real, present threat combines with being told it's not K'un Lun that they're threatening, but that this whole time, they've actually been digging their claws into his home?

Ward rolling his eyes with his whole body when Harold encourages Danny to think about this as ~embracing his destiny~ hahaha

Ward: No offense, but Danny has zero idea how to do business and therefore maybe shouldn't be running a company with again, absolutely zero training??? Harold: Don't mind Ward being a petulant brat who wants to keep you from your rightful place in our family, Danny. I need you. :)

Harold to Danny: "We've needed a fighter like you back in the family." - right in front of Ward, yet another small "unlike you, who are weak" jab. In line with the whole "Joy can close the deal, you, Ward, can not do anything" lines in the previous episode.

Ward warning Danny about Harold!! But not really doing it great so it could be taken as another 'othering' where Danny could hear 'Harold's not YOUR dad' instead of Ward's intended 'Harold's not your DAD' - made much better by his clarification that Harold only cares about Harold and helping to show he meant 'not a good supportive dad you can lean blindly on' than if he had just. left it at that. I'm glad for Ward's continuing with that line and for Danny's long, considering look at nothing afterward. Gives the sense that Danny feels that something is off, even if he's not sure what.

Colleeeeeeeeeeeeen and her shame and her truly believing in honoring the code of bushido and her teaching these children to get them "the scholarship" to help them in a legitimate, meaningful, honorable way (SOB) and believing that their skills should be about the code and not be about flashiness or showing off or being able to lord their power and ability over others or money -

Code of Bushido (Includes eight virtues, and this episode title is Eight Diagram Dragon Palm. Coincidence???)

1. Rectitude or Justice (refers to PERSONAL rectitude - “one’s power to decide upon a course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering” “the bone that gives firmness and stature...without Rectitude neither talent nor learning can make the human frame into a samurai.”)

2. Courage (Bushido distinguishes between bravery and courage - “Courage is doing what is right”)

3. Benevolence or Mercy (“Love, magnanimity, affection for others, sympathy and pity, are traits of Benevolence, the highest attribute of the human soul”)

4. Politeness (Courtesy is rooted in benevolence - “Politeness should be the expression of a benevolent regard for the feelings of others; it’s a poor virtue if it’s motivated only by a fear of offending good taste. In its highest form Politeness approaches love”)

5. Honesty and Sincerity (interestingly, rather than what *I* personally think of when I hear the words “honesty and sincerity”, the info in the Bushido code text about this virtue mostly centers around the idea of disdaining money and riches - probably what Colleen is talking about with her whole “fighting for money breaks the bushido code” thing)

6. Honor (referring to non-martial behavior)

7. Loyalty (bushido text about this seems mostly in context of loyalty to a superior, to your leader, to people you are indebted to. Applies tragically to Colleen and her personal experience with Hand culture. To me, of course, I am more interested in the idea of those leaders deserving your love and your loyalty hand-in-hand with it. Given the other virtues, this IS probably what the code meant to include, but from a modern standpoint it seems like one of those things where especially paramilitary organizations or cults like the Hand could twist the letter of it into an expectation of blindly following orders, even perhaps against your personal devotion to the other virtues)

8. Character and Self-Control (“Bushido teaches that men should behave according to an absolute moral standard, one that transcends logic. What’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong. The difference between good and bad and between right and wrong are givens, not arguments subject to discussion or justification, and a man should know the difference.” I get the ideal of this, but something about the wording sits weirdly with me... maybe the implication that they can’t make a mistake?)

Ageless qualities of manliness: choosing compassion over confrontation, and benevolence over belligerence <3

“The tie might be a touch effeminate” Shut UP Ward

Danny, at a press conference: *waves at Jeri* “Hey.” Jeri: *shakes her head*

Danny: “Yes, I was in a mental hospital.” Joy, despairingly: “Oh, Danny”

Jeri smiling. Maybe she worked with Danny on how to handle the press conference and likely questions he would face? My headcanon from this anyway. Ward and Joy looking at each other, seems like in surprise at Danny’s answers and spin?

“Kindness is the eternal law”

The way Danny slips in to this conversation with Joy about the Red Hook property for his Hand investigation is very well done. Reminds me of watching the Netflix trailer and thinking that it made IF look like a show where Danny was some form of government agent going undercover as himself for an investigation.

SO CUTE how Danny goes “woah, I have a first appointment of the day? Who is it?” and then he turns around and it’s his friend Jeri! Hahaha. Danny: “J-money!!” *goes in for a hug* Jeri: “Woah, we don’t do that.”

Jeri: “Your father’s office. Even found his old desk.” Meaning she was the one working on this - Ward is the one who had to set Danny up there after his sarcastic remarks in the penthouse, but Jeri brought in the sentimentality. (Jeri, directly after basically admitting to putting a bunch of effort into a very sentimental gesture here: “Now don’t get all weepy on me.”) Jeri in IF is so soft I love it

Danny: “I pretty much had to raise the dead.” *smirks to himself at his own inside joke*

Jeri, trying to give Danny advice: “For most of these people, you are a hostile takeover.” Me: JERI, HE DOESN’T UNDERSTAND THE NUANCES OF YOUR CORPORATE SPEAK.

Jeri asks if Danny wants the door open or closed. He chooses open. Open to Megan, open to all his new coworkers and employees. Danny is, at his core, for people.

LOL Did Danny just steal Ward’s chair?

Danny: *forces half the board to move so he can sit next to Joy* Me: DANNY

If these guys really wanted to persuade Danny to their point of view on the sell-at-cost thing, they should have emphasized the “funding new research” part of it instead of just repeating “this is just business” ad nauseam. Obviously Ward is actually trying to do the opposite right now and get Danny driven out, but idk what the rest of these people are thinking. Danny acknowledges that they can still make profits elsewhere, which is his side offering a dialogue to meet them. Their counter is that the WHO will be buying it from them and subsidizing it from other people. If they wanted to meet or even just appear to be meeting Danny partway, they could have suggested an initiative to work with the WHO on a program for that? Although since none of them want to actually do that and don’t really care what Danny thinks about it, I know why they didn’t.

Joy raising her eyebrow at Ward’s declaring that they’ll go to market at cost like “I see you Ward and how many times have I told you to leave the maneuvering to me you are unsubtle and unskilled”

Danny looking back at Ward significantly on his way to his discussion with Joy about the pier deal

Ward taking The Drugs before he has to answer Harold’s late night phone call

Harold: You did a great job today. Ward: *baffled expression* Harold: Now, son, this isn’t the time to point fingers, it’s the time for solutions. Ward: There it is. Harold: Also, you screwed up in the meeting and you need to make it up. Ward: *sigh*

Danny: white sneakers with the suit

Joy casually placing the monks and their traditional robes in a lower class position to them and their white collar formal business attire

Time for Joy to play the angle on Danny, curb his at-cost behavior for the future

The ringmaster choosing the second fighter for Colleen followed by that “look, you guys know all the rules” line - I like this guy. He probably remembers how the last dude Colleen fought was a rule-breaker and wants to keep all his fighters safe as possible in an already dangerous 2-on-1 fight like this.

Again with the camera slowing and the noise fading and the blood splattering camera work giving the “losing control” vibe

“The problem was, I never thought through WHY I wanted this job. I mistook my stubborn will for a sense of... destiny, or something.” (Danny, earlier: “My shifu would have called this destiny.”)

“Every moment was a struggle. Failure... led to a beating. Victory... led to another fighting style. To the next lesson.”

Joy flat out calls it abuse and Danny doesn’t deny it.

Vodka and tonic, light on the tonic.

Danny clearly still shaken by the borderline flashbacks to his life at K’un Lun.

Is this the first time the Hatchets appear? Just storming the apartment and punching Joy in the face? Danny and Joy must both be like “WHAT IS HAPPENING”

Joy tries punching one of them. Good for you, Joy.

Ah yes, Ward flat out telling one of the more shark-like reporters that the drug is a huge deal that would save millions of lives and that Rand was of course planning to really boost the price to make a “huge” profit. “That is a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars [that our one company wanted to make off of the millions of people who needed this drug to save their lives]. He’s worse than those bleeding-heart-liberal-trust-fund hipsters wandering around Williamsburg.” (Note: Williamsburg: hip neighborhood that draws the young and fashionable. Boutiques, cafes, street art, outdoor concerts and food markets. Dance clubs, bars, music halls. East Williamsburg is ranked one of the 5 most LGBTQ+ friendly neighborhoods in Brooklyn.)

“Ellison, don’t give the front page to Karen”

Ward just looks at her retreating back and rubs his hands together like “Ah yes, a job well done.” Biggest question for the viewers in this scene is probably: Did Ward tank this on purpose or is he really that far removed from the reality of the non-Elite?

Colleen: still bloody from her illegal cage fighting and hears noise outside her door. Last time she heard noise, it was attackers breaking in for what probably seemed to her like retaliation. Then it’s Danny and she has the relieved exasperation, but - oh ho, Joy Meachum?

“Wasn’t he stalking you?” “It was a misunderstanding.” “Right. I guess being a millionaire covers a multitude of sins.” (Danny: “Billionaire.” Colleen in the background: *disbelieving huff+head shake*)

TRIADS. Time for my triad rant: Every drama show ever to involve Asian-Americans - even just in one-episode specials - includes triads. I’m so sick of it. I know organized crime is a real problem that actually exists, but - why are the Asians always evil? It’s like having the mafia be a plotline every time an Italian character exists on screen. Plz diversify. Media colors perception.

Danny: literally just walks into a restaurant and says he needs to speak to the head of the crime gang. AND THEN NONE OF THEM EVEN BOTHER TRYING TO DENY IT. The Hatchets literally just open the door to their backroom where you can clearly see their illegal activity and come out to talk to Danny. What if he was working with the cops, guys?

It’s so scary how the Yangshi Gonsi react to the mention of the Hand. Well done, IF.

“Joke around the house was that Danny and I were pledged to be married.” (“In another life, this would have been romantic.”) (THIS CREEPS ME OUT THOUGH in a very personally specific triggering way as someone who spent their childhood running around with a boy that I found out later people thought was gonna “knock me up someday.” #BARF)

Colleen has a billionaire in her dojo learning how to punch on a dummy held together with duct tape because she can’t afford to fix it. (Also: Colleen's dojo is also for self-defense classes. Joy was just attacked by hatchet-wielders.)

Danny: "The hatchets won’t be a problem anymore." and then doesn’t elaborate. DANNY THAT SOUNDS SO SHADY. YOU LOOK SO SHADY RIGHT NOW.

Danny: *reaches out and touches Colleen’s hand* Colleen: *flinches back* What are you doing? DANNY. DANNY, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. You seriously have no idea how you come across. Joy is watching all this like “wow....ok.”

Danny used to fight in illegal fight clubs on his way back from K’un Lun. Along with his obtaining an illegal fake ID. New headcanon: Danny is actually super connected to the criminal underground worldwide. Mob bosses everywhere have a soft spot for him. He’s somewhere on a mission with Ward/Colleen/Defenders/HfH and acting like he knows the area, someone recognizes him and he starts chatting cheerfully with them, suddenly they’re being greeted and helped out by people deep in the black market scene while Danny bear hugs someone that most people clearly fear and his companions look on with wide eyes.

Danny, a literal billionaire: Remember how I offered to pay you six months rent for helping me out? Colleen, broke as hell: My denial stands.

Danny: So how are we gonna tell Ward? (framing them - all three of them - as a team) Joy: lmao, are we thinking about the same Ward? You want to tell the most overprotective big brother in the world that men with hatchets attacked his sister? Do you remember what he did to those bullies when we were 8?

Gao: *black bags Harold, refuses to tell him where they’re taking him, doesn’t reveal that this particular instance is him landing on the ‘good’ side of the scale until the last possible second.*

Ugh, he just puts that sword back in the scabbard with all the blood still on it? Improper blade care

Oh yeah, I guess this is the audience’s first scene showing that Harold is capable of cold-blooded murder

I notice that this article may be the front page of the business section, but is NOT the front of the newspaper. Sorry, Jennifer.

[I had initially transcribed the article here, but have made it it's own post which can be found here. Notes on the article, though: Jennifer was very kind to the Meachums in it, given what Ward was actually saying. Also, which Bulletin employee fell down on grammar checking that thing?]

Danny’s Jeri-given apartment doesn’t have a number on the door, but does have some sort of cherry blossom branches etching in the plate?

The Hatchet box!!! (congrats again @Sholio LOL) Yang Hai-Qing wants Danny to get rid of the Hand too. He wasn’t gonna mess with them, explained they didn’t know about the Hand's involvement when they went after Joy, and apologized, but then the Hand came to his restaurant and killed one of his men anyway.

Ah yes, the great tattoo reveal. Also, is that a bullet’s pucker scar on Danny’s left shoulder?

[deaku]

Count Wondamore

  Here’s an Ever After High fan-character/OC that actually popped up in a dream I had quite a while back after watching some EAH one evening.

  My part in this dream was a bit odd. I was in the role of a narrator; a guest narrator of sorts on some kind of exchange from a different kind of story, Brooke apparently went to my story and I came to observe in her place. Didn’t interact with anyone other than the Narrators and a brief conversation with Maddie.   Started off with a bit of a tour and the Narrators asked questions about how much I knew about the various characters we saw, apparently I had done my homework since I was able to name all the main characters and state some basic information about them. Well since I seemed to be knowledgeable about the most famous characters of the story the Narrators decided to show me someone not so well-known, I suppose as sort of an exercise in changing viewpoints and introducing characters. I saw a  rather unkempt looking individual in drab clothes that the Narrators introduced as Count Wondamore aka Excel Charming.

  The dream continued on and I got quite a bit of info out of it about Count Wondamore and after I woke up I continued to develop the character more and eventually wrote out a profile. So here it is...

Name: Count Wondamore (Real Name: Excellence “Excel” Charming)

=Story:

  Count (or occasionally Countess) Wondamore is the villain of their story; they are a member of a royal family that inherits Castle Wondamore, a dark castle in the mountains of the royal family’s domain, along with the Count Wondamore title. While the castle has a dark and foreboding history attached to it Wondamore decides that such a thing is not going to affect them and they’re going to do their best to help the local people. But it seems there’s more to the castle that just a dark history; Wondamore’s personality eventually becomes dark and they start to terrorize the people they first tried to help.   Wondamore’s terror begins to spread as their forces enter into a neighboring kingdom, but a member of the royalty of that kingdom decides to fight back. This royal hero and their allies fight through Wondamore’s forces and face the villain in the castle. The hero and villain have a sword fight and they eventually end up on one of the high tower battlements where the hero triumphs over Wondamore and the villain is ran through and falls from the tower, and so ends Wondamore’s part of the story.

  The role of Wondamore is a bit odd among the fairytales in that while it does stay within the same family it does not pass from parent to child. This is due to the fact that no Wondamore has survived their story and had children; actually there hasn’t been a Wondamore that has survived past their ninetieth year. When it is time for the role to be taken up again a successor is chosen from the children of the appropriate age from the kingdom’s royal family, typically passing from uncle/aunt to niece/nephew rather than the typical parent to child as with many other fairytales.   Most Wondamores have followed the story as per tradition despite knowing the fate that awaits them as with all Wondamores before them. Some only give a token attempt at being good and helpful before diving right into the villainous part of the story, wanting to vent all the anger, spite and perhaps despair they have at their impending fate. Others actually try and avoid the villainous part altogether and simply keep helping people, but events always seem to conspire to see that Wondamore has some sort of battle with some sort of hero and meets their scripted end.   There are those that wonder if the role of Wondamore has some sort of curse on it. Most fairytales have at least a bit of leeway in how things can play out and how the story can end as long as the major story points happen as they are supposed to. Even villains can survive what was supposed to be their scripted end if they can arrange it so that it happens “off-screen” and they make their exit from the story so that it can proceed as it is supposed to. Not so with the role of Wondamore; despite many trying to avoid a permanent end none have succeeded as of yet.

=History:

  The current Count Wondamore was born Excellence Charming, also know simply as Excel, a prince of one of the many Charming families around the land. At first he was raised as any child from a Charming family might be, loved and given anything he needed or wanted. Excel was growing up to be a cheerful, energetic and confident child who was also very bright.   However early on something that Excel’s family had hoped wouldn’t happen and hoped they could ignore came to pass; it was time for the role of Count Wondamore to be assumed once again and Excel was the only child of the family that was the appropriate age, it was absolutely confirmed when his powers awoke. Things changed after that, while his family still loved him and gave him all he needed or wanted but they started to distance themselves a bit and sometimes acted as if they were in mourning when he was around. While only the very basics of the role of Wondamore were told to him to try and spare Excel some grief and not potentially ruin his childhood Excel was more observant than they thought and knew something was wrong. He was also smarter than they gave him credit for and he was able to read through the tale of Wondamore and understand just what it meant for his future.   Afterwards Excel wasn’t a very cheerful child anymore, though he had occasional moments, and his energy and confidence were redirected. He spent a lot of time reading over any fairytale his family had been involved in, all the various roles that his family had and all the different people in those roles. Excel was searching for anyone who had managed to avoid their final fate as Wondamore or any potential clues in the tales of other family members, but could find nothing. Even when he would look to the fairytales of those outside his family he could find nothing. Excel could recite the tale of any of his family perfectly from memory, but none gave him any hope.   When Excel was old enough to attend Ever After High he had come to a conclusion that made logical sense to him, to avoid his death as Count Wondamore he would simply do his best not to play along with the story. While he couldn’t escape going to school Excel decided he simply wouldn’t put any effort towards anything involving his story or preparing for his story, which for the most part meant his classes. Perhaps if he didn’t make the effort to get the tale properly started the end can’t come and thus his end won’t happen. Although when Excel’s honest with himself he doubts this plan will really work, no Wondamore before has been able to avoid their seemingly inevitable fate. Why should it be any different for him? Maybe this is just his way of venting his frustration with his situation, his way of rebelling.

=Appearance

  Excel does not try to stand out and is not a very imposing figure. His long dark hair is always a mess and his skin has a rather unhealthy looking pallor; his blue eyes are almost always half to mostly closed and have dark circles under them. He also heavily slouches and tends to shuffle his feet as he moves around. Excel usually dresses in loose long sleeve shirts or sweaters with a hoodie and pants in drab colors, while his clothes aren’t dirty they are pretty well wrinkled.   While Excel’s appearance does usually work to keep many from taking too much notice of him, most people’s gazes just pass right over his drab colors and move to more colorful individuals. However it can have the opposite effect if he gets caught in a tight crowd of other students, at times like this his drab colors tend to stick out a lot since they’re such a contrast to whoever may be packed around him.

=Powers/Magic Touch:

   Count Wondamore has the power to animate the inanimate; in the story the Count uses this to create an army out of the many suits of armor that are within Castle Wondamore. However this power is not limited only to animating suits of armor, any inanimate object can be animated by Wondamore. The only limitation is that the object being animated can not have life of its own either natural or magical; an object may have been alive at some point but as long at it has no life at the time Wondamore uses their power it can be animated. Count Wondamore’s power is even capable of some reshaping of objects that are animated, repurposing parts or simply altering shape enough to allow movement and action.   This power does not grant life to an object only instills a magical animating force. Wondamore can imprint commands into an animated object so that it can act on its own and respond to things in a limited fashion, though an animated object can be easily overwhelmed/out-smarted if it encounters a situation that Count Wondamore’s imprinted commands don’t account for. A Wondamore can also mentally control the objects they animate directly; this form of control allows Wondamore to see, hear and even speak though the objects controlled in this way. While it is possible for a Wondamore to act themselves as they mentally control their animated objects the more objects they personally control at once the more focus it takes and the less they can do with their own body. Distance is also a factor; the further the animated objects are away from Wondamore the less they can keep control over directly.

=Other Info

  -Excel’s typical appearance is not actually because he is lazy and doesn’t take care of himself, it is in fact a carefully crafted look. Unfortunately for his plans Excel is like many Charmings across the land in that he can roll out of bed hardly looking disheveled and looking nearly perfect and ready for the day ahead. For Excel to assume his carefully crafted “Non-Charming” look actually takes quite a bit of make-up and about twenty minutes every morning. “Looking this bad is hard work.” Excel often comments to himself; his roommate thinks he’s a nut but never comments on it nor tells anyone because it’s more amusing that way. Also because of his slouching Excel is actually taller than most people think, but since being tall might make him stand out more he continues to slouch. He’s also a lot more fit than most people realize since he exercises privately, his choice of clothing covers everything up.   Excel also carries a make-up kit on him, usually in a hidden pocket in his shirt, just in case his look needs any touch-ups or fixing during the day.

  -When he first started at Ever After High Excel didn’t put much effort into his schoolwork since he was already working on his plan of attempting not playing along with his story. But that didn’t last long as Headmaster Grimm contacted Excel’s parents and they freaked out a bit since although his story destiny was to be a villain he was still part of a Charming family and a Charming does not fail. Excel’s parents got him to promise that he wouldn’t fail his schoolwork anymore and that he would get a passing grade. After that Excel worked to just barely get a passing grade on his work, fulfilling the exact word of the promise rather than the intent.   Headmaster Grimm was rather livid at this, like Excel’s parents he is of the opinion that a Charming should not be failing in school. Baba Yaga however has a different opinion, Excel’s grades across all his classes are so consistent at being just barely passing that the only explanation is that he is doing it on purpose. Baba Yaga feels that this shows a devious sort of evil thinking; seemingly doing bad at first glance but once one takes a closer look it’s obvious there’s intelligent planning behind the act, perhaps intended to give hope to those looking close that there’s something special there but always hanging that hope just out of reach. As evidence Baba Yaga points out that on occasions where’s she’s caught Excel off-guard, like with a surprise pop quiz question or something like it, he will give the correct answer or ace the activity. Further Excel, unlike most other students with low grades, seems a bit annoyed rather than happy when Baba Yaga gives him a good grade on something, messing up his apparently carefully cultivated low grade average.

  -To keep his powers under control Excel has to constantly practice with them, if not he may animate things without meaning too. The first time this happened was shortly after his powers awoke; he went to bed one night and woke up to find his bed was trotting its way down the road halfway to the next kingdom. Since then he has practiced every day animating and disanimating things, which not only has allowed him to refine his powers but also helps him to keep his magical energies tightly controlled. Of course this regular practice doesn’t match up with the persona he has created for school, so to practice Excel leaves the school grounds after classes are done and sneaks off into the nearby forest to practice his abilities out of everyone’s view.   Along with practicing his magical abilities in secret Excel also exercises and practices his swordplay. His father is very big on physical fitness and self-defense skills and was very insistent on the whole family keeping in shape and learning how to defend themselves. From an early age Excel had a daily exercise routine as well as sword training and even a bit of hand-to-hand combat practice. After having done such for so long Excel found it difficult to just quit doing it even if continuing was a bit counter-intuitive to his plans. So Excel decided to just keep it as part of his training along with his magic, doing his best to keep his full skills and abilities secret.

  -Despite everything Excel actually does like Ever After High, it’s full of interesting people and something out of the norm always seems to be going on. Plus he doesn’t have a view of the family graveyard like he does at home. It’s not that graveyards in particular bother him, in fact someone can point to any grave in his family’s graveyard and Excel can tell their tale from memory. What bothers him is there’s a section that’s gated off from the rest specifically for the Wondamores, which is one big reminder of his impending fate that he’d rather not have to see.   But something that really gets to Excel is a certain tradition regarding the Wondamores; one that he hasn’t been able to find out when or why it started, which bugs him all the more. A Wondamore’s grave is dug while they are still alive, often at the time it is known they are going to be the Count Wondamore, complete with gravestone with the name and their nineteen years already engraved on it. Excel does not like the fact that his own grave is already there waiting for him.

=Relationships with other students

  Ever since finding out what his story was and what was going to happen to him Excel didn’t think there was much of a point in even developing any sort of relationship. What would be the point of making friends or being in love if he was already destined to meet his end when he was nineteen? Excel figures it’d be better to spare everyone the grief of getting close to him only to have him soon die. Although since Excel has no control over how other people act things aren’t going as he had hoped.

-Apple White

  Excel has probably known Apple longer than anyone else his own age; their mothers are old friends from back in school and when visiting each other they would bring their children along so that they could play together.   When at Excel’s they would typically play various games, usually chosen by Apple, but quite often they would end up storytelling as they would walk through the family graveyard and Apple would pick random people and Excel would tell their story. But Excel never took Apple into the Wondamore section, he never had the heart to.   When at Apple’s she would usually come up with some variation on a ‘save the princess’ game; with her as the princess to be saved, Excel as the rescuing prince, and often talking her father into taking the role of evil king holding her hostage. Even when her father would try and point out that he is in fact a good king Apple would tell him they need a villain for their game and that an evil king was a classic fairytale villain, he never could argue against her for long though. Even if the fact was brought up that Excel was actually going to be the villain in his story Apple wouldn’t hear of it, she needed a prince for her game and Excel was going to be that prince.   As they got older they wouldn’t play so many games; though the storytelling remained and there was often quite a bit more discussion about the themes and details of the various stories. They also began to practice various skills they figured they might need for their futures.   Now that they are in Ever After High Apple still refers to Excel as her childhood friend, she’s also the only one who always calls him ‘Excel’ rather than ‘Wondamore’ ‘Count’ or the full ‘Count Wondamore’ like nearly everyone else. Excel in keeping with the persona he has created answers question of how long they’ve known each other with a “Yeah, we’ve known each other for a long time...”. And even though Apple knows what Excel’s roll is supposed to be, and has even known the basics for years, she seems unconcerned about his story destiny. Excel supposes it could be denial, Apple just doesn’t want to think about one of her oldest friends meeting an early death. But he’s pretty sure it’s that she’s confident that he’s not actually going to die when his story’s over, that he’ll find some way for Count Wondamore to ‘die’ like the story says but find an exit for himself and continue on living. Excel wishes he was so confident.   Also Excel’s created persona is not quite as effective as he hoped thank in part to Apple. While Excel’s act is very convincing to a lot of people, even to some that knew him before he started doing it, Apple laughs about it and tells people that Excel is simply perfecting his villainous deception skills. Excel neither confirms nor denies this if he’s within earshot and usually just walks away and lets people think what they want. Though he finds he must admit, at least privately, that Apple’s not exactly wrong, he is trying to pull off a pretty big deception with his crafted persona.

-Raven Queen

  Along with attending a few ‘evil’ classes together Excel also knows Raven through Apple telling him various things and Maddie’s tea parties when Raven is there as well. While Excel doesn’t hang out with Raven much outside of class, Maddie’s tea parties and occasionally while talking with Apple he does have quite a bit of respect for her. Raven refused to follow her story destiny and chose to follow her own path and it seems to be working out quite well for her; while Excel is perhaps a bit jealous that Raven was able to pull it off it actually gives him a small bit of hope that maybe he can find a way out of his story destiny as well.   While she hasn’t asked and Excel hasn’t told her Raven seems to have the basic idea of why he does what he does; Raven has told Excel if he ever needs to talk to anybody about anything she’d be willing to listen, he hasn’t taken her up on her offer but Excel appreciates the sentiment.

-Madeline “Maddie” Hatter

  Excel, possibly like many others, isn’t quite sure what to think of Maddie; he interacts with her quite a bit since she often pulls him into impromptu tea parties, but Excel still feels he doesn’t fully understand her. Though Excel thinks he knows why Maddie grabs him for tea parties, he’s pretty sure it’s because of his title/name Wondamore. Though Maddie always says it as “Wonder More” and often comments to him “Everybody could use more Wonder.” But despite it all Excel doesn’t really mind being pulled into teatime with Maddie. They simply drink tea and make random small talk and sometimes discuss the goings on around school, while Excel could sometimes do without the talking the tea is too good to pass up.

-Briar Beauty

  While they have known each other for quite a long time Excel and Briar consider each other more acquaintances then friends, sort of a friend of a friend type of thing through Apple. They did all hang out when they were children when their parents got together, while Briar did enjoy the more active games they did, like the rescue games at Apple’s, storytime tended to bore her and she typically would nap through it. When they got older Briar and Excel drifted even further apart as she started with more thrilling activities and parties; though she considers him a decent guy who is a pretty good listener if one needs one, but not really one for exciting things. Excel thinks of Briar as an exciting person to be around when she’s awake but really doesn’t see the point of getting himself too involved in her activities.

-Ashlynn Ella & Hunter Huntsman

  Ashlynn is another that has known Excel for years, nearly as long as Apple, since their mothers are old friends as well. When Ashlynn, Apple, Briar and Excel would play together when they were younger she would often suggest more nature-related activities and playing in the wilderness around their homes. Though she didn’t mind playing other games and did enjoy storytime at Excel’s when Apple would get him to tell stories. Ashlynn worried for a bit when she learned that Excel’s destined story role was to be a villain. However when they were out in the wilderness the animals seemed to like Excel and Ashlynn never saw one react negatively to him like she thought they might towards a villain, she felt this proved that Excel couldn’t be evil.   When they got older and began attending Ever After High Ashlynn was initially quite surprised at Excel’s apparent transformation. She had a feeling for quite a while that he was increasingly depressed about his coming role in his story, but didn’t know what to say to him about it. What could she say when it involved the roles they were supposed to live out? But it was still a bit of a shock to see someone she had known so long go through such a change. While Ashlynn would like to believe Apple’s theory of why Excel is doing such a thing she’s not fully convinced; she’s tried to gently bring up the subject with him a few times but Excel just doesn’t seem interesting in talking about it. Ashlynn wishes she just had the right words to get Excel to open up what’s bothering him.   Hunter didn’t meet Excel until they were attending Ever After High, and only then he only knew Excel as they guy he’d see dressed in drab colors walking down the hallways. Hunter never learned more until he and Ashlynn started secretly dating and she told him things of her friends, though Hunter found it a bit hard to connect some of the things Ashlynn told him with the guy she was telling him about. Although Hunter was aware of the story the Count Wondamore was a part of before he knew Excel was destined for that role, he found that even harder to connect to Excel than the things Ashlynn told him.   However one day they all got a bit of a surprise. Back when Ashlynn’s and Hunter’s relationship was still a secret they were enjoying a stroll through the woods and chatting. They were so focused on each other they didn’t notice the figure coming down the path towards them, and Excel was pretty deep in thought going over what he was going to do that day in training. None of them noticed until they nearly ran into each other. They were silent in their surprise for a moment and then Hunter tried to give an excuse of why he was in the woods with Ashlynn while she simultaneously tried some small talk with Excel; Excel just arched an eyebrow at the two as they stumbled over their words a bit trying to come up with a matching story. Excel finally gave a sigh and told them “I didn’t see you. You didn’t see me. Deal?” to which Ashlynn and Hunter, quickly quieting for a moment when they realized what he said, agreed to. They then continued on their respective ways, Ashlynn and Hunter back towards the school while Excel went deeper into the forest. While Ashlynn wondered what Excel was up to she respected his apparent wish for secrecy and decided not to bring the issue up. Hunter on the other hand was curious enough to track Excel on a later day and hung back enough not to get caught when Excel was training; he later told Ashlynn and while she did scold him a bit for snooping she did thank him for letting her know what her friend was up to, Excel training really didn’t surprise her though since she already knew how much he did while at home. Even when Ashlynn’s and Hunter’s relationship became known publicly they decided to keep to the deal and keep quiet about what Excel is up to.

-Daring Charming

While not part of the same Charming family/clan Excel has known of Daring for quite a while since he is a part of what is probably the most well known of all the Charming families in the land. When Excel finally met Daring in person he wasn’t too surprised, Daring matched up to pretty much everything Excel had heard about him. Though Daring’s focus on appearances and his frequent habit of checking himself in mirrior does get on Excel’s nerves a bit. Daring on the other hand seems determined to help the “less fortunate” Charming by offering fashion advice and asking if Excel would like to borrow a mirror when he notices Excel is around.

-Darling & Dexter Charming

  Like with their older brother Daring Excel has known of both Darling and Dexter for quite some time. While they seemed to be about what Excel expected when he actually met them for the first time once in Ever After High; their reaction seemed to be more of disbelief at the fact that he was supposed to be a Charming. Apple’s theory that she tells people seemed to lessen that first impression somewhat, but Excel’s act is good enough that it kept the twins wondering.   But one day things changed. Darling had talked Dexter into coming with her to a secluded spot in the forest so that he could help her better her swordplay, him being the only one at school at the time that knew her true skills and dreams, and having an actual opponent would help much more than practicing by herself. Although when they reached the clearing Darling had chosen for their training that day they found themselves looking at a most unexpected sight. They saw the one they knew as Count Wondamore in a duel with some kind of rocky wood creature, in reality a pile of stone and wood that he had tied together into a vague humanoid form and animated as a sparing partner as part of his own training. Excel was a lot better than either Darling or Dexter ever expected, it was like they were watching a completely different person. Suddenly what Apple had been telling them didn’t seem so far-fetched after all. They were about to leap in to help Excel against whatever that creature was when he suddenly told the thing to hold and it stopped moving completely as he tightened the ropes that held it together. When he was finished Excel resumed the duel with his creation as Darling and Dexter looked on in disbelief, they had heard he had some sort of animating power but had thought it was restricted to things like suits of armor.   It was then Darling made a decision, she stepped out from behind the brush her and Dexter had been hiding behind and walked out to where Excel was dueling. Excel was so absorbed in his duel that he didn’t notice Darling until she was practically right next to him and when he finally noticed her her sudden, to him, appearance actually startled him and he stumbled and Excel had to have his creation catch him before he went face down to the ground. Dexter came running out as Excel recovered; at first Excel tried to slip back into his persona and come up with some sort of explanation but quickly gave that up when he realized that the two had already seen far too much for him to be able to explain it away. Instead Excel drew himself up to his full height and took on a more imposing stance before asking the twins what they wanted. While Dexter was a little intimidated Darling was actually amused by such a drastic change, again it was like they had a completely different person in front of them rather than the Count Wondamore they knew. To answer Excel’s question Darling decided to be completely honest about why they were there and what she wanted to do, adding that perhaps they maybe weren’t so different. Excel responded that maybe they did have a couple things in common, but he'd keep their secrets if they kept his. Darling agreed, but she wanted a duel with him first. Dexter tried to object but Darling shushed him and said that it’d be more interesting to duel someone that she didn’t already know how they fought. Excel thought a moment and accepted Darling’s challenge. Their duel went on for several minutes but they both eventually decided on a draw; while Excel had greater skill and experience he had worn himself out quite a bit already in his daily training and couldn’t overcome Darling’s natural talent and energy, Darling found it extremely difficult to find any openings in Excel’s defense and really didn’t want to win just because her opponent was already worn out when they started the duel.   Afterwards Darling managed to convince Excel that continuing to train together would be a good idea, and was even able to talk Dexter into it as well. They don’t train together everyday because various commitments from school and such get in the way or circumstances prevent them from sneaking away. Darling prefers to meet up at least three times a week but no matter what’s going on she’ll make sure there’s at least one meet up a week; she tends to need to remind and nudge Dexter when it’s time for training even if he’s okay with just one or two times a week. Darling loves the training and feels that having multiple people to train with is excellent for bettering her own skills, and it feels nice not to have to keep up the perfect princess image that many expect of her while she’s training. Dexter isn’t as enthusiastic about the training as Darling but does admit it has helped him improve his skill; what actually interests Dexter more is Excel’s ability to animate objects, Dexter likes to bring various small trinkets to Excel just to observe how they’ll move around once animated. Excel actually agrees with Darling in that training with others does help to improve his skills; while Excel is able to animate something to spar with no dueling opponent he can make can surprise him since he knows all of what it can do, while actual living intelligent opponents are unpredictable and thus better at testing him.   Although Excel has one worry that has developed from this continued association with Darling and Dexter, he’s afraid that he might be training the potential hero of his story. While Excel acknowledges the possibility that it could be Dexter he thinks that Darling is a more suitable potential candidate. Excel would rather not have their friendship end by Darling being his executioner.

-C. A. (Chariclo Arganthone) Cupid

  Excel and Cupid had a rather odd start. While they had known of each other for a while and occasionally saw each other in the halls they didn’t have classes together nor did they interact. However one day as Excel was sitting by himself under a tree on the school grounds eating lunch he noticed someone walk up next to him and when he looked to see who it was Excel saw Cupid standing there. Excel thought Cupid looked a bit sad as she asked if she could sit down. Cupid told Excel that she didn’t want to be alone but felt she couldn’t sit with her friends because they’d ask what was wrong and she didn’t really want to talk to them about it; but she thought that since her and Excel didn’t really know each other he wouldn’t feel compelled to ask anything. Excel simply waved a hand to the ground next to him and continued with his lunch as Cupid sat down.   As they sat there in silence Excel studied Cupid out of the corner of his eye, Cupid just sat there looking sad with her legs pulled up and head resting on her knees while sighing often. Excel then came to a decision, even if he considered it against his better judgement, and told Cupid “If there’s something you want to get off your chest and just need someone to listen I won’t be going anywhere for a while…” He said nothing more and went back to sipping on the drink he had. Cupid looked at him strangely but Excel didn’t even react and just kept looking off towards the school as he had been when she walked up. After a moment Cupid began to talk; she told Excel of her crush on Dexter, but Dexter had a crush on Raven and Raven seemed to have a crush on him as well. But even if she liked Dexter it was Cupid’s duty to help love bloom and develop naturally, not force it along a path she chose. If Dexter liked Raven and Raven liked him back she would do her best to make that love happen, even if it broke her own heart. After telling Excel all that Cupid went quiet for a few moments but eventually stood up and thanked him, being able to tell someone that really did help and she was feeling a little better. She gave him a small smile and made her way back into the school.   But that wasn’t the last time the two would spend time together. Afterwards Cupid would occasionally seek Excel out for much the same reason as the first; most of the time it was just because she needed someone to listen to her vent some frustration, though there are times when she just desires some quiet company. Excel doesn’t mind listening to Cupid’s problems, it takes little effort on his part and she feels better afterwards so it’s fine with him.   Although when Cupid found out about his power, after hearing Apple mention it, she has requested Excel’s help a few times. Cupid is self-admittedly a rather poor shot with her bow and arrows, which is a little embarrassing for her to admit considering it’s part of her duty. There have been incidents when Cupid has been trying to help a love note reach the intended recipient, and circumstances have prevented the writer from delivering it themselves, where if she was a better shot with her bow she could deliver it right where it needed to be. However due to her poor aim Cupid’s afraid if she were to try and deliver it by arrow the note still might not reach it’s intended recipient, or worse end up going to the wrong person. Since finding out about Excel’s power she has folded such notes into little bird shapes and asked Excel to animate them so that they can fly to who and where they need to go; Excel grants Cupid’s requests since it’s a pretty simple thing for him to do and takes little energy on his part.

-Cerise Hood

  Though Cerise and Excel do interact occasionally, typically at times when Excel is talking with Raven for some reason while she is hanging out with Cerise, the two consider themselves acquaintances at best. Excel doesn’t mind hanging around Cerise since she doesn’t talk with him much other than general pleasantries and he actually likes the look of her hooded cloaks; although he always gets the feeling that she’s hiding something whenever she’s around, but doesn’t ask questions since he figures she’s entitled to her secrets whatever they may be.   When she first met him Cerise thought Excel was a rather weird guy, though pretty much harmless even if he was supposed to be a villain. Then one day after school when she was running through the woods Cerise heard something that sounded like a fight going on close by. Cerise tracked the noise down and when she located the commotion she was surprised to see Excel there going through some sort of sword practice against a log that was up on it’s end and actually swinging back at him. Apparently those things she had heard Apple mention were true after all. Cerise kept hidden and after watching awhile she decided to quietly sneak away and decided not to tell anyone what she saw, she felt Excel is entitled to his secrets. Cerise does occasionally check up on Excel’s training to see how it’s going but keeps herself hidden the entire time; and she got a pretty big shock one day when she saw the Darling and Dexter Charming had apparently joined in on Excel’s training, she decided to keep the whole thing to herself and simply enjoy the show when she sees it.

-Ramona Badwolf

  Excel and Ramona are often paired together by her father Mr. Badwolf for projects in his class. Mr. Badwolf’s thinking is that Ramona would be able to get Excel to put in some actual effort; while Ramona enjoys playing up being bad and disrespecting her father in public she does not like to fail, so Mr. Badwolf figured Ramona would be able to push Excel to do better than usual. It didn’t exactly work out as planned. While the two get along and turn in decent enough work to pass easily it’s not quite as Mr. Badwolf expected; while Excel seems to do a bit better when working with Ramona she seems to deliberately hold herself back a bit simply to mess with her father. When questioned about it Ramona has been known to answer “Two half-assed efforts add up to enough effort to pass my dad’s class.” and then laugh at her father’s reaction. But despite it all Mr. Badwolf continues to pair them for projects since they are able to work together without the drama or one-upmanship that tend to plague many other future villains when they work together, such things are not appropriate all the time.   While they don’t hang out outside of class Ramona and Excel do get along quite well and don’t mind being paired together for whatever projects they need to do for Mr. Badwolf’s class. Ramona actually likes that Excel isn’t into his villain role; he doesn’t get in her face being overly dramatic and doesn’t go on and on about evil plans like some of the others tend to do. Plus his powers can be used to mess with people in fun ways when she can convince him to use them. Excel appreciates that Ramona doesn’t try and push him to be more evil and likes her laid-back and casual “bad attitude” and doesn’t mind animating an occasional item for her to mess with someone.   Ramona actually does know about Excel’s training; she saw him heading out into the woods one day and was curious, not to mention bored, and decided to follow him to see what he was up to. Following his scent Ramona was able to keep back out of sight while she tracked Excel. But when she caught view of him again Ramona found a surprising sight, but managed to keep herself under control enough to remain out of view, she saw Excel doing some sort of training with Darling and Dexter Charming. After watching a bit Ramona had to admit she was impressed, she never expected Excel could move and fight like that, or either of the two Charmings for that matter. But as she continued to watch Ramona caught another familiar scent and followed it around the clearing the others were in to find her sister. Cerise was so absorbed in watching that Ramona actually startled her when she walked up behind her, though fortunately they’re weren’t noticed. After talking with her sister and a bit of poking fun Ramona decided to take off before she was noticed. Ramona figured she’d keep what she saw secret; she liked Excel enough not to give away something he obviously wanted to keep secret, and she was someone who could keep a secret when needed.

-Fayebelle Thorn

  Ever since Baba Yaga had Excel demonstrate his powers to animate a suit of armor during a discussion about different magics Fayebelle has been annoyed with Excel, with that sort of power he could cause so much evil mischief. And he doesn’t seem interested in his story either, sure it ends badly for the villain but he could have so much awesome evil fun before that. So Fayebelle has decided to take it upon herself as a minor side-project to encourage Excel to embrace his evil destiny and use his powers to the fullest. She knows Excel can animate stuff besides armor, Fayebelle has seen him helping out Cupid and is pretty sure he has animated stuff for Ramona too, so she’s positive his power has so much evil potential. Excel hasn’t taken any of her advice yet but she figures it’s only a matter of time. She’s Fayebelle Thorn after all, how could he not listen to her?   Excel for his part does his best to ignore Fayebelle and her advice; he figures that she is actually trying to help in her own way but that still doesn’t make it any less annoying to him. Excel briefly considered animating something for Fayebell when she asked, to get her to leave him along if nothing else, but decided against it since it’d probably only encourage her more. But since Fayebelle doesn’t bother him that often Excel simply continues to ignore her as well as whatever people might say about it.

[theclaravoyant]

Simmorse Body Guard-Celebrity AU

AN ~ IT BEGINS. This turned into a 6-parter! Hope you like it! I should be updating approx every 48 hours.

CW: references to animal cruelty (the subject, no actual occurrences)

Read on AO3

Sparks - Ch. 1

Outside a storefront in LA, a sizeable crowd had gathered. Not one of sport-stadium proportions, but certainly respectable, and slowly growing as passers-by and new arrivals joined the throng. Some were drawn simply by the presence of the others; some by their curiosity about the film crew who had been setting up and milling about for some time now. Some, though, were there clutching favourite books and pens, beaming at each other, hardly able to believe that their author lived among them, walked among them, and was here, now, almost close enough to touch.

Jemma Anne Simmons did not look like the sort to be writing about gruesome crime and torture and intrigue. She almost looked like she was more prepared for the position of First Lady; always poised, clean and neat, a lover of pantsuits and blouses and brooches and otherwise never looking like she’d just pulled her hands out of a corpse. It was well known, though, that she had a PhD – and, some speculated, more than one - in forensic biology, and had worked as a Medical Examiner for a good part of her career. It made for intriguing if at times gruesome writing, and a personality juxtaposition that was in itself a curiosity. Jemma was the very antithesis of morbidity as she smiled to her fans and waved, a frenetic and happy wave. The crowd cheered and waved back. Critics liked to complain that she was cold and superior, amongst other things, but her fans knew better.

So did the reporter, Stephanie Garnett, who was herself a little awed to be out here today. It was hard to curse the fluff-news shtick when she got opportunities like this. She gestured for Jemma to prepare herself as the message from the station came through and the signal switched over to them.

“… Yes, that’s right Troy,” Stephanie introduced, “I’m here with the marvellous Doctor Jemma Simmons, who’s doing a reading of her next book, All the Madam’s Men for us here today. And now, Jemma, this reading’s for charity I understand?”

Stephanie glanced at Jemma, who smiled, well-accustomed, at her and then at the camera.

“Yes, Ms Garnett, that’s correct,” Jemma agreed, with charming showmanship. “As you can see behind me, we’re back at my good friend Daisy’s store Afterlife, where I launched The Singularity last year. She’s been through some renovations recently - how exciting! - as the store just keeps growing and growing. Daisy! There she is. Come up here, come on up here. Daisy Johnson everybody.”

Gesturing to the audience, Jemma – and Daisy – received raucous applause. As it died down, Daisy blushed a little.

“Ah, hi everyone,” she greeted. “I guess I’m not used to being on television. That’s why I was hiding in the back there.”

An amiable chuckle passed through the crowd, and Daisy smiled. Stephanie gestured for her to continue and, a little more confidently now, she obliged.

Jemma smiled to herself as Daisy spoke. The camera loved her, of course it did, and while Daisy didn’t exactly love it back, she would do anything for her mission. Jemma was just glad to give her the platform. As Daisy recited her origin story and the details of her store’s Winter Appeal, Jemma turned her own attention to the pile of Madam’s Men books beside her on the dais. They’d certainly picked a good cover image: the half-shadowed face of local model Agnes Radcliffe, her eyes and cheekbones cutting a fierce shape that demanded attention. Still, as usual, Jemma second-guessed herself. The Winter Appeal was primarily directed at supporting children. The passage she’d picked was probably not appropriate. Then again, being a writer of crime and espionage novels – and often fairly graphic ones at that - she doubted anything she wrote would appeal to that demographic. It was the parents, she reminded herself, that she was primarily after: the parents, and any other philanthropic adults, like herself and Daisy, who were interested in supporting the disadvantaged youth of their city… and who were also interested in steamy and dramatic spy novels.

“…But if you do have any children of your own, though,” Stephanie was saying, “it might be time to pause this video or tell them to play outside because –“

“Because that woman’s a murderer!” called a voice from the crowd. Or on the street? Daisy, Jemma and Stephanie glanced at each other in confusion. Blushing a little, Steph continued -

“Because next up, we’re hearing an exclusive first segment of Madam’s Men, straight from the horse’s mouth. Doctor, if you would –“

Jemma cleared her throat and picked up the book. She glanced back at the crowd, in case that voice interrupted again, but saw nothing out of the ordinary: just a little movement, but they were on a street-front after all. Feeling the weight of the pages in her hands, Jemma tried to think of the grit of the novel – a twisted romance, a race against time, a daring rescue and the power of true love – and when that became too abstract, conjured the more grounding and immediate thought of her own attraction to the model that she’d felt compelled to choose. Her Ophelia, right from the moment they’d met. Agnes was a lovely woman really, more into flowers and ballerinas than the stark ferocity of Ophelia, but the transformation from character to character had been just as inviting as each character itself.

Now feeling better grounded – and all the more satisfied for the moment of suspense she’d given her audience – Jemma opened her mouth and began to read.

“Skye didn’t know where she was.-“

“BOO!” shouted the voice. A crotchety woman’s voice. Jemma tightened her grip on the page. Was she having a nightmare? Had she fallen asleep in front of the Princess Bride again?

“BOO. That woman is a liar and a hypocrite and a murderer! Don’t fall for her goody-two-shoes appearance!! Don’t fall for her false charity!!”

“Ignore them,” Daisy suggested, in a whisper, at the same time one of Stephanie’s cameramen turned a camera to face the woman, who was still yelling, and now pushing her way through the crowd.

“The first- the first sensation,” Jemma read, pushing on, “was a rush of air, and water. Soap filled her eyes, and burned –“

“Just like you burned the eyes of those poor animals?”

“Excuse me?”

Jemma’s heart clenched. Her eyes snapped up from the page. The woman, the interrupter, was closer than she’d thought – now climbing up onto the small dais they’d set up as a stage. Bewildered fans glanced around at each other. Was this a stunt? What should they do? What could they do? A few of them started filming. Jemma staggered to her feet. Too late, she realised what this must be about.

“THIS is what your beloved Doctor supports behind your backs!” cried the heckler, raising an image to the crowd. A dismembered rabbit, if Jemma saw right. Immediately, there were gasps of horror. Parents passing across the street covering their children’s eyes. More people pulling out their phones, to post about it, or Google Jemma. Was she sure she was not living in a nightmare? She couldn’t move. Her vision spun.

“Shit.” Daisy muttered. “Jemma? I think we should go-“

Jemma couldn’t move. She couldn’t tell if Daisy was touching her or not. She was chilled through with fear, anxiety, and shame - and through the cracks was beginning to break a defensive fury.

“Her public face is a lie!” the woman continued to scream. “Her good face is a lie! It’s for business, not charity! She’s an animal abuser! And she built not one career on it, but two. SHAME Jemma Simmons. SHAME.”

“Ex- excuse me,” Jemma managed at last, clenching a fist by her side, “but I-“

“LOOK OUT!” Daisy cried, but Jemma barely had time to blink before it happened.

There was a flash of red.

Then black.

--

A flash of red, then black, as Bobbi Morse opened her eyes.

The tiny room from her dream stretched out into something nearly three times the size; a small apartment, for sure, but not a prison cell. She coughed the stench of mildew away. Her real room smelt like vanilla, which was a little cloying, but was so unheard of in her nightmares that it never failed to pull her back to reality. Bobbi breathed it deeply, until she felt herself steady. She had a window now, and a ceiling fan, and that whirring sound was just the refrigerator.

She breathed, and sighed, and dragged a hand through her hair.

(It needed a wash.)

She groaned. It was midday on a Tuesday and she was still in the dark – but at least this time it was of her own accord. Sort of. She had been sleeping, mostly because there wasn’t much else to do these days. She had no friends. She had no job. She had nothing to stimulate her mind or her passion, or to give her any real reason to get out of bed in the morning.

And she needed a real reason.

Because getting out of bed sucked.

Fortunately – or unfortunately, or somehow both at once – Bobbi’s hunger and other bodily functions were still in operation, and they occasionally gave her a kick in the pants. This was one of those times. Gritting her teeth, and hissing her breath, Bobbi dragged herself to sitting. Her knee roared with pain. She hadn’t stretched it properly in a few days, and it complained about this in no uncertain terms as she staggered to the bathroom to do her business. She staggered back into the kitchen, and made a cup of tea in yesterday’s cup. She looked around her apartment. A mess.

(Not that much of a mess. She was a soldier. She lived Spartan so she didn’t own enough things to make a proper mess. She could certainly afford to take out the garbage though. And her hair really did need a wash.)

With a grunt, Bobbi sat down at the little table in the kitchen. It still had wrappers on it from dinner with Hunter the night before. Kebabs. She smiled – a little fondly, a little in pain – as she flicked the wrappers into the bin. Both trained servicemen and practiced liars with egos and stubbornness to spare, she and Hunter had a complicated history, but he would never let her rot alone. This, she loved and hated him for. Usually somehow in equal parts.

Bobbi’s phone went off then, and she rolled her eyes. Speak of the devil.

STRETCH.  

STRETCH.

STRETCH.

ARE YOU STRETCHING?

“Screw you, Hunter,” she muttered, and started to type as much when the little typing dots appeared once again on her own screen.

Also, buy vegetables, the next message said.

And razors.  

And something to make your eyes pop.

Bobbi scoffed. “Asshole.”

Then another message came through. A link, with a brief annotation:

May have just got you a job interview.

[lostglimmerxx]

“It all started when—“

The streaks of hues coming from the luminous light flashed in the corner of my eyes. I saw nothing but darkness trapped in daylight. Heartbeat was the only music I can hear. While the cries I made was a melody to my mom, who chained me to her loving arms. It was a blissful event like rainbow painting colors in the clouds. My heart sang with harmony, blessing the world with hope and love. So was it when my life began on February 17, 2000. Because I came almost late, my brothers brought joy to my family first before I existed. However, my parents were hoping to have a daughter too. And luckily, I became the hope they ever wanted.

I remembered the way I held my mother’s hand every time she accompanies my brothers going to school. Not knowing that I will be in that same situation too. After all, learning is the answer to blur the questions of my innocent mind. “Exciting,” I told myself when I first entered BEPZ Multinational School as an official kindergarten student. However, when some of my classmates started to cry, the emotion building in my heart stumbled. They were crying their hearts out because their parents were waving their goodbyes. And I could not help but hide my pity. I didn’t feel like crying at that moment. I wasn’t a block of domino that will follow the chain of reaction of others. My mother and I could not take how slow I was in understanding everything. She was used to my elder brother being smart at school. The most priceless reaction of my mom getting mad was still clear to me because I copied the assignment written on the board incorrectly. I wasn’t able to copy some important details to complete the thought of the task. I voicelessly cried because it was a mistake my mother would slam in my face. That was when my mother taught me how words could be broken but must still be together.

My mother would place a hanger in front of my table every time she was teaching me how to read. She was using it as a weapon to threaten me for every wrong pronunciation of words. It was a struggle for me to learn when I am in fear. It was making me feel uneasy. And most importantly, I didn’t like the feeling of being forced to. It could just worsen the situation. The universe gave me a reason to keep up with the pressure my mother was giving me. The line “Para kang robot magbasa!” lingered in my ears savagely. I knew it was harsh but I took it as a medicine to be better all the time. In silence, I continued to speak. And in pain, I continued to battle. There was something I needed to prove that will set myself free from doubts. The judgment day came when our school principal would have a one on one reading assessment in her office. It was my turn to read and show off. All the nervousness I was feeling was shaking my whole system. She was pointing her stick in the lines of the paragraph in a slow manner until she began to fasten her pace and I couldn’t help but stutter in shock. However, I managed to bring my confidence back and perfectly uttered the words she was pointing. Because of that, I mastered the process of in-depth understanding and patience in achieving what my heart really wanted. In my case, I learned it the hard way. When I was in elementary, our grade 1 adviser, Tchr. Jennifer Clair inspired me to love English subject more. I would automatically listen to her whenever she speaks in front of the class. I knew it triggered my willingness to learn and my idea be someone like her. I wanted to be knowledgeable in English too. My heart leaped when she chose me to compete for a spelling bee. It was a nerve-wracking experience to press the buzzer and recite the letters of the given word. Unfortunately, I didn’t win but I discovered another challenge that I wanted to give a try. When someone was fluently speaking in English Language, it would make me think that that person was so intellectual. A person who can bring you out of the world and just nod in approval. Throughout my grade school days, I practiced my pronunciation and speaking skills through volunteering to read the story selection or by simply reciting during recitations. What helped me more was the English policy during class. I didn’t get away with my classmates saying “Tchr. Kyla spoke Tagalog!” and then I had to stand all throughout the discussion or else I had to pay one-peso.

The wind took me to high school and I started to join contests that will let me speak in front of people such as, oration, declamation, speech choir and more. I never saw the pieces of papers as a burden to memorize because I knew that I love doing it. Even in class, I was looking forward to our quarterly reporting in our Araling Panlipunan featuring different places of the world and endorsing their riches. Our subject teacher, Tchr. Nora Vero also influenced me to embrace public speaking. Not just speaking, but also utilizing this talent to disseminate useful information to everybody. BEPZ Multinational School believed in me because they usually come after me to do the hosting for special events and I couldn’t help but be so much thankful for their trust.  And because of that, I started to picture myself holding a microphone and reporting national news live on television. Our moving up ceremony came, I was one of the outstanding students to deliver a speech. I saw the pride written in the eyes of my teacher after I finished my gratitude speech. A genuine smile was plastered in my face because seeing their reaction made me feel relieved that I became who I am because of them. Finally, signing off to the stage when our guest speaker, KC Zalavaria, former ABS-CBN News reporter and also an alumna to our school, approached me and shook my hand. She said “Congratulations! Ang next reporter ng school.” I wanted to scream so loud as if I reached the highest peak of the mountain where day and night meet. The appreciation I got left an impact on my dream.

           Life was magical, indeed. I transferred to Bataan Christian School last minute. My parents told me that I can’t study at Saint Luis Laboratory High School because it was far from home. My first choice was to be a STEM student, but I found myself enjoying and at the same time struggling with writing and analyzing a political issue. The woke-side of me unleashed because I met the HUMSS people I wanted to share my thoughts with. Luckily, the school paper was looking for a representative to compete for English Radio Broadcasting. I immediately auditioned and took the place of the news anchor. Covering a news story was like concisely decorating a long story in just five or more sentences. I was able to be with people who were expert in dressing up words to use. They could paint colors to a single sheet of paper that could bring you to the other dimension of life. The results were out and my team didn’t take any place. However, when DepEd posted the winners online, one of my teammates saw our name clearly on the 2nd place. Our coach confirmed it. Our team rejoiced in triumph. It was a late success for all of us. I couldn’t help but memorize the smiles and twinkle in their eyes. It was my first time to compete for radio broadcasting category and my feelings were high and satisfied to experience the pressure of making 4 intriguing news with different angles. Grade 12 was a different experience, during the 5-minute radio broadcasting inside the simulation room, the sound system sabotaged our performance. I was silent when I walked out the door. Some of our schoolmates were waiting outside approached us and asked what happened. But before I could answer, I saw one of my members getting chased by a teacher. Clueless to what happened, I followed the teacher and witnessed how he explained the situation. It fueled my scorching heart because he was implying that we are all at fault. I was explaining our side when my voice cracked and cried while speaking. It was tragic. Uncertainties inflamed my sleepless soul, I began to question my abilities. But I colored my bruised heart and tried to take it lightly. I swore to donate a sound system to that school when I will be successful in life. Unexpectedly, we were able to catch the 7th spot of the competition. I couldn't be thankful for more. Funny how I can turn difficult experiences into motivation that will let me dauntlessly conquer challenges in life. Awards and recognitions ignited the dream I was holding on. A validation that hard work could push me to extend my skills. But it was not only for rewards why I was trying so hard to be achiever. I wanted to fulfill my desire to be someone who will be remembered because of my persistence and efforts in overpowering the obstacle of life.  

@mikhaelabaluyot