#ever after high Reimagined

[raptorfae53]

Ever After High Reimagined: Dexter Charming Character Bio/Redesign:

Dexterous “Dexter” Charming

Bisexual

Elder Son of Prince Charming (English-Persian)

Dexter is the forgotten middle child of the three charming kids, and boy, doesn't he know it… Compared to his superstar siblings Dexter, mousy and straightforward with a penchant for tech, has no discernable destiny as of yet despite fervent, and unwelcome speculation.

Dexters plans for the year, whatever those were got thrown out of the window when a small pep talk he gives on the eve of Raven Queen’s signing snowballs into active rebellion against everything the establishment stands for, destiny included and since then he's sort of hovered around her eclectic friends/band, though it's becoming clear his attachment to their gothy bassist is clearly deeper than just a simple friendship…

Likes: videogames,coding,books,scarves and Taylor Quick's music.

Dislikes: his dad,horses,tech-illiteracy,overly complicated outfits and being compared to people.

Spellbinding Style: plane-jane princely fare. Compared to his brother and sister Dexter is very no nonsense when it comes to fashion, wearing pretty much what's expected of him as a prince in public and comfortable jeans and sweaters when not, though he does admittedly have a fondness for scarves,ascot and the like…

Companion creature: Cottonhorn the rabbit, who is technically darlings pet but always liked Dexter better, and who likes to hang out with him while doing programming and yes, jokes about him being a rabbit when computers are supposed to have mice have been made, they're typically not very funny…

Hexworthy vex: Techno-illiteracy. Dexter has a reputation for being good with tech and as such often gets called aside by friends and family to help with tech problems, sometimes however these “problems” are insultingly easy to fix, and Dexter wishes more people would actually try to troubleshoot their tech before defaulting to giving him a ring.

“Oh Curses” moment: Try as he might, dexters resentment,particularly towards his parents and younger brother does get the best of him sometimes, his need to prove himself better or more particularly cleverer than his fawned upon little brother can in the long run, royally screw him over…

Storied Secret: Dexter is actually his father's elder son, and would have been his heir had it not been for his father pulling some strings to get daring the role, and by extent the esteem and glory that came with it. Granted, this is a pretty open secret, but one that King and Queen charming don't especially in the public zeitgeist, neither does Dexter for that matter, as its lead to a bunch of very nasty rumors about him being cursed,hexed or otherwise…

Deepest wish: For his parents to stop comparing him to his brother regardless of aspect, dexters no good with a sword and certainly no horseman (as a matter of fact he's quite scared of them) but he's skilled in many other areas wouldn't you know, not that his parents, particularly his father would notice compared to Daring’s latest bout of dragonslaying…

5 Fantastical Facts

Dexter is a part of the technical team of the Eah drama club, being as good with computers as he is he usually handles the sound and lighting aspects of rehearsals. He in turn lends this expertise to the rebels, acting as a roadie of sorts for their gigs. (Not to mention he gets to hang out with Raven a bit more than usual doing so…)

Despite what his geeky stylings might imply, like his siblings Dexter is actually very naturally athletic, he's just not been given many chances to really show it off.Time and time again during spellementary and prep school he tried out for sports team after sports team, but was always brushed over or admitted only as a substitute player. Though considering that Daring was a part of many of those teams, Dexter thinks his dad might have something to do with that last thing, wouldn't want to show up the family's golden boy after all…

Dexter spends most of his free time in ever after highs vast library, reading every last thing he can get his hands on to pass the time, losing himself and track of time in tomes upon tomes of literature.And though usually a solitary pastime hes lately found some common ground with fellow bookworm Raven Queen, who being a budding author herself as well as a Rebel and a rockstar (is there nothing she can't do…) likes to read out the latest drafts and chapters of her work as he's setting up tech for Rebels shows.

All of Dexters time reading has caused him to absorb a bevy of trivia and general knowledge, beyond being terrifyingly good at quizzes, he's also not half bad with riddles, and as a result has struck up an unorthodox friendship with a few of the Wonderlandians, in particular maddie hatter on account of a certain few mutual connections and friends, on account of being able to understand and decipher the riddles they love so much.

Despite his love of some more typically geeky interests, such as a love of star trek,dexters tastes in pop culture are actually pretty pedestrian, he's particularly fond of the music of Taylor Quick, having seen her live on her “Ages” tour, as well as rubbishy reality TV. (he also takes comfort in knowing that for all his faults, his dad never signed the Charmings up for something like that, like Daring’s spotlight-loving ego needed any more of an increase)

The last royal profile, and final profile of 2025 is Dexter Charming, the fittingly oft forgotten third Charming child. I've said it before but a massive,massive thank you to everyone whose stuck around for these, this won't be the last profile, or the last time you'll see these characters in written media (though I do tend to be a notorious procrastinator,so keep that in mind)

Anyways, I hope above all else you've liked these profiles, I'll hopefully see you for the next ones come march 2026...

Extra Thoughts and Information down below.

I kinda like the concept of Dexter being the most "villainous" Charming kid, and by extent the most human.

Not that he's a bad guy or anything, but a myriad of factors, his admittedly selfish resentment of his brother and father and the lack of an destiny, and by extent expectation to act any more heroic than your average noble,not to mention him being out of the limelight compared to the rest of his family means he's more likely to be underhanded, deceitful or otherwise.

If anything he's a foil to his twin sister Darling,as while both are willing to break the rules for justice, Darling wants justice for all, whilst Dexter wants justice primarily for himself. However the pitfalls of both sides, Darling being lonely and isolated and Dexter often screwing himself over are respectively systemic and self-served.

Finally, despite all my badmouthing, I do reiterate that Dexter really is a good person, he's just been beaten down so much he just doesn't see it in himself to be as extraordinary as he could be, despite all his snark and sarcasm at his circumstances, Dexter needs to be less cynical and really push himself to be more than anyone expects of him, hence why he's really a rebel associated royal than a full-blown rebel. (Again, Darling could be the opposite, a rebel whose close association with royals means she can't be public about it,not yet anyway...)

[pocketfullofpearlies]

RISE OF RED: A TALE OF HEADS AND HEARTS

(Descendants: Rise of Red Fan fiction/Re-imagining)

Chapter 3

Clothes? Check.

Shoes? Check.

"Chloe!"

Skincare and makeup? Check.

"Chloe!"

Jewelry? Check.

Interior decor for room? Check.

Devices? Check.

"Chloe!"

Extra notebooks and journals?

Extra notebooks and journals!

"CHLOE!"

King Charming's raised voice jolted his daughter out of her thoughts and she blinked at him, putting her sword down at her side.

"Dad..why'd you stop?"

"Maybe because you zoned out for almost three minutes there, hon. If this had been an actual battle ground, you'd be long gone by now,'' King Charming said, walking over to a table at the side and grabbing a glass of water.

Chloe groaned and itched at her neck awkwardly.

''I'm sorry, Daddy. I know I got you out here so I could do some sword training with you to get my mind off of things, yet here I am still stressing over the fact that I might not have enough notebooks for the semester.''

''I doubt that'll be an issue, Chloe,'' a calm, soft, lightly accented voice spoke, causing both Chloe and the King to turn round.

Queen Cinderella walked in to meet her husband and daughter, looking elegant in a simple yet stunning day gown that was silvery-white but shone with a blue hue when hit by the light. The dress complimented her gorgeous brown skin and went well with her honey blonde hair, done up in braids and held in an intricate fish-tail plait.

Chloe loved the way her mother's bedazzled crown was placed on her bed of glorious hair, although she already looked like royalty regardless of it.

''If you run out, which I doubt you will,'' she continued, ''the school has more than enough that you can use, ma cherie.''

''I never once carried a book at the beginning of a new semester,'' the King said, going up to meet his wife.

''And yet he always managed to pass excellently well,'' the Queen said, leaning into her husband's arms.

''What can I say? I am charming,'' he said, giving her a soft kiss on the lips.

''Mmm....that's debatable,'' she teased.

Chloe rolled her eyes playfully.

Her parents were never shy in expressing their love for each other.

Her phone buzzed from a pocket in her pants and she pulled it out only to see yet other text from her older brother.

AP Tip #765: Compliment the lunch lady and she'll give you the Bayou Special like we had at Queen Tiana's restaurant last time we visited.

''Qui est-ce, bébé? (Who is it, baby?)'' the Queen when she noticed Chloe typing back a reply.

''It's just Chad, Mum,'' Chloe answered. ''And now he's video calling.''

She picked and raised her phone up immediately greeted by her brother's smiling face.

''Bonjour, baby sis,'' he said, shaking his golden curls out of his face.

Chad had inherited his features from their grandfather, having fair skin, hair the colour of a wheat field and eyes like a tropical waterfall.

Chloe, on the other hand, had combined their parents looks, with her skin that was a perfect light brown, deeper toned blonde hair like their mother and eyes like a flickering fireplace that matched their father's.

''I assume the pink thong on your lamp doesn't belong to you?'' she whispered back.

''H-how did that get there?'' Chad laughed awkwardly, moving his phone so it wouldn't show.

''Tell Audrey I said hi,'' Chloe said, still in a low voice.

''Yeah, well, she's out getting her hair done so I'll see her much later.''

''Are you talking to Chad, baby? Bring the phone over!'' Queen Cinderella said, gesturing for Chloe to come.

''Mommy! Pops!'' Chad said immediately the Queen took the phone from Chloe.

''Chadwick, mon fils!(my son!)'' the Queen gushed.

''How you doing, bud?'' asked the King.

''About to finish getting ready for the tourney match. You still coming?''

''Of course! Your mum's gonna drop Chlo off, help her settle down and join us there.''

''Really wish I could be there with you, Chloster, but Jay has been on everyone's asses about the game-''

''-Language, Chadwick!'' his mother scolded.

''Yeah, watch your tone around your mama, college boy,'' the King warned, his voice strict, but giving his son a wink through the screen.

''What happened to your manners, your royal blondness?'' Chloe teased.

Chad made a face at her and was about to continue talking when Chloe's phone started beeping and buzzing.

''What's that?'' he asked.

''The alarm I set so mum and I would leave the castle on time,'' she replied, tapping her phone screen to deactivate it.

''I think we'd better head out now, ma cherie. It's a two hour drive to Auradon if we don't run into any traffic,'' the Queen said.

Chloe nodded but her brother noticed how her face fell slightly.

''Hey, it's gonna be okay, Chlo. Auradon Prep is the-''

''-the best, I know,'' she completed. ''And it's even more special because mum and dad went there and so did you.''

''Exactly! It'll be a breeze. Don't be such a worry wart like mum.''

''Very funny, Chadwick," the Queen said sarcastically, but with a small smile on her face .“I’ll see you when I’m done at AP.”

“See you soon, Mummy,” Chad said. “Bye, Dad. Eat rocks, Chlo. Love you.”

The call went off and Chloe sighed, pocketing her phone.

“I guess it’s time to say the final goodbyes,” she said, looking at her dad.

“Aww, hon.”

King Charming wrapped his daughter in a big hug, resting his head on top of her blonde curls.

“I’m gonna miss you, mouse,” he said.

“Me too, Daddy.”

Chloe inhaled his clean, woody scent, knowing she wouldn’t get to smell his cologne for the next few months.

“My princess,” the king said, when he released her from the hug, admiring her features that were so similar to his own.

Queen Cinderella watched them, blinking rapidly to avoiding tearing up.

“Your Majesty,” a servant said, bowing as he stood in the doorway. “All the princess’ bags have been loaded into the car.”

“Thank you, Mithius,” the Queen said. “My loves, I’ll be in the car too.”

She kissed her husband again and stroked Chloe’s face lovingly.

“You can put any last minute things from your room in your rucksack,” the king said as she walked away, “including a new pair of shoes your mum and I got for the semester.”

That made Chloe light up and she beamed.

“Really?”

“But of course. Our baby can’t start school without some new kicks. It’s like a family tradition.”

“Now I’m gonna miss you more than ever.”

“I know, I know. What can I say? I’m amazing.”

“Daddy!”

The king chuckled. “Your mum and I will come visit you regularly, mouse, don’t worry. Plus I’m sure you’re gonna make so many new friends; you won’t ever be lonely.”

Chloe laughed with him. “Yeah, sure.”

“I mean it. Now, go on. You don’t want to keep your mama waiting.”

After one last hug and a trip to her room to pick up some notebooks and her new shoes, Chloe was seated with her mum in their cream coloured limousine.

“This is it, Cherie. You’re on your way to a bright and beautiful future,” Queen Cinderella said, smiling sweetly at her daughter.

“Is that how you felt on your first day?”

“You mean my first day in a new school in a whole new country with step-sisters that hated my guts? Absolutely not.”

“My bad; you definitely had it worse.”

“Well, it’s not a competition, dear. And my greatest joy is that you and your brother have never faced any of the difficulties I did.”

“Do you think grandmere and grandpere would’ve wanted you to attend Auradon Prep? Grandpere was a lord, right?”

“He was, and the title was supposed to be passed onto me when he died, but my step-mother had other ideas and I didn’t have the power to go against her. When we moved from France down here, the only reason she put me in school at all was to avoid suspicion, and even though my step-sisters literally wanted to die at the prospect of me being in the same school as them, she couldn’t bear the thought of anyone thinking she couldn’t afford the best money could buy for even someone as lowly as me.”

“And as chance would have it, you met a French prince that swept you off your feet, and your life has been a fairytale ever since.”

“That’s why I want you to go there and find your own. We can’t keep you hidden away in Cinderellasburg forever. The world deserves to meet you, and you deserve to experience it all.”

“You make it all sound so dreamy, but I don’t know, I’m still scared. I hope I can live up to the legacy you, Dad and Chad have set…..okay maybe just you and Dad’s legacy. You get what I mean, though.”

Queen Cinderella laughed at Chloe’s expression, reaching out to arrange her curls.

“Just be yourself, Chloe. Be true to who you are; don’t compromise. You’re perfect. Okay?”

Chloe smiled gratefully. “Merci, maman.”

Her phone buzzed and she looked at the screen, brightening up immediately.

“It’s Dizzy. She’s asking if we’re on the way,’ she told her mum as she began rapidly typing out a reply.

“Tell her we’ll be there in half an hour, and that her mum can only use a vacation as an excuse to not call back three times before it gets sus.”

“I am not telling my cousin that you just used the word ‘sus’.”

“I know for a fact that I used it within the right context.”

Chloe bit back a snort, raising her eyes from her phone briefly to see her mum’s nose in the air sassily.

It was from moments like this that one could tell where Chad got some of his whims from.

“Ooh, Dizzy says Aunt Faye’s going to be at the Welcome Ceremony today.”

“Yes, she’s officially handing over the role of Principal to Uma today. The ceremony’s going to be incredible.”

“Wait…Uma the pirate? My Principal? Okay, now I can’t wait to get to school.”

The minutes in the car seemed to fly away as a comfortable silence washed over mother and daughter.

Before Chloe knew it, they were driving over the smooth, cobbled paths of Auradon Prep.

The car was parked in the designated spot for the Charmings in the parking lot and the Queen and princess came down.

As usual, there were bows and greetings directed to them the moment they were sighted.

Chloe smiled politely in return as they walked the path together, only to hear an ear-shattering squeal that made her smile double in size.

Dizzy, her step-cousin, ran up to meet them, wearing a green, silky romper with reddish brown hair styled atop her head in space buns that were both childish and mature at once.

“Hey,” they chorused as soon as she got to them and they shared a hug.

“It’s so good to see you again, Chloe. You look sooo cute. And Aunt Ella, ravishing as always. Is that a custom design?”

“But of course. I designed it specially for my baby’s big day.”

Dizzy observed the dress closely, nodding in awe and approval.

“The stitch work is phenomenal.”

“I know. The mice really outdid themselves on this one.”

“I’ll definitely come round the castle sometime to check out your new work. But for now, I need to get Chloe settled it.”

Chloe then noticed the bedazzled ear-piece Dizzy was wearing and the clipboard and pen in her right hand.

“I’m still on the clock right now, but you can just join the line over there to meet my girl Celia. I’ve already picked out the perfect room for you in the system beforehand, so all you have to do is sign in with Celia and pick up your dorm key, okay?”

“Okay,” Chloe said with a nod.

Dizzy gave her step-aunt and cousin one last smile before she walked past them to continue welcoming new students.

“You ready, angel?” Queen Cinderella asked.

Chloe took in a deep breath and released.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” 

[teatime-tangents-and-toys]

Pictures with my restyled, reinterpreted Alistair Wonderland! I saw Al as extremely dull and really unevocative of Alice, so I reframed him with a more classically Alice-style wardrobe and the lens of an awkward teenager trying to grow up too fast in a way that I thought really resonated with the original Alice stories. Read the full review and makeover project here!

[winterwriterstudios]

Never-Gonna-Happen After High: School Of Rejects

JUST CAME UP WITH A STORY IDEA!!

So, think of Ever After High, but a lot more posh and fancy like with uniforms, but a little bit of freedom with it (like pins, undershirts being different colors, but all having the school badge on them, vests, accessories) but also strict things (ties and blazers worn properly at all times, no nail polish or heavy makeup, unless to cover blemishes, no skirt too short or ripped jeans etc).

But something happen to the school, long ago. And it was something akin to Coronation day, where everyone graduated and was sent to live the happily ever afters (and non happily every afters) they trained their who lives for.

And, unfortunately, some were unable to keep to their stories, destroying them forever and being outcasts in the Fairytale land (like being banished from Auradon in Descendants).

Those now destroyed tales could no longer attend the school, so they made a different school.

A school where their descendants could prove that they still have what it takes to fix their tales.

But fixing tales is a lot harder than breaking them. They can’t just hijack takes they have no access to, so they try to recreate their tales, but fail ever time. They pass on the burden to their descendants, hoping that they might change their status in society.

The families that failed in their fairytales are replaced by new, compatible families who take on their positions in fairytales (OG Snow White failed at being woken up by true love, got kicked out and replaced by a new Snow White, who got the name ‘Crystal White’ or something like that. So, now, the name ‘Snow White’ has been brought Shame upon and the ‘Readers’ (basically deities) start using Crystal White, instead of Snow White.).

Basically, there is no Rebels vs Royals (Ever After High) or Heroes Vs Villains (Descendants), just Rejects Vs Winners. (Snow White is now in Never-Gonna-Happen High, rivaling against Crystal White.)

Happily Ever After High invites the Never-Gonna-Happen After High to events and competitions to constantly prove how superior they are to them and to entertain the ‘Readers’. Never-Gonna-Happen After High sees this as an opportunity, though, to prove to the Readers that they aren’t rejects.

This story is mainly character driven, and focuses on character relationships, dynamics and development. This mainly centers around Never-Gonna-Happen After High, but sometimes on Happily Ever After High.

Low key inspired by Disney tryna make everything woke, Ever After High, Descendants, It’s A Pain To Be A Prince (Quotev), every Isekai fairytale story I’ve made and read.

[rafeandonlyrafe]

sin, sin, sin.

words: 1.6k

warnings: 18+ only, smut, p in v sex, unprotected sex, semi public sex, catholic church setting, confessional, rafe kind of pretending to be a priest (itll make sense quickly), religious trauma, if youre religious and easily offended probably skip this one

rafe knows little about his mother, but the one thing he does know is that she was a devout catholic. maybe it's stories ward told him, or the fact that his strongest memory of her was her funeral, held in the same catholic church he's currently pushing the grand wooden doors to enter.

it's his last chance as he looks into the candlelit hall. to turn around and go back into the darkness of the night, let the inky blackness swallow him whole.

rafe feels a pang in his chest. good old catholic guilt his mother passed down to him. rafe lets out a curse before he steps foot into the church, wishing he got his father's fake christianity instead, going to church on holidays and only using the religion when it suits you.

rafe looks away from the altar, the cross hanging above it, and to the confession booth to the side of the pews. his feet carry them there with the false confidence he's always been able to paste on as a front.

rafe looks at the door and then swallows thickly. guilt, guilt, guilt. he's not sure anything could help, yet he opens the handle and steps inside.

the creaky door slams shut behind him as rafe sits and faces forward towards the screen, just opaque enough to make out a figure on the other side in the low light.

rafe realizes then that he doesn't know the words. 

“forgive me father, for i have sinned.” a voice from the other side suddenly rings out, a soft, feminine voice. rafe suddenly is aware of his mistake. “it has been two days since my last confession.”

rafe knows he should interrupt you, stop you from continuing on, but something in him stirs him to stay, his interest peaking.

“ive slept with another man. i know you're tired of hearing it, father. i just can't help myself. i can't seem to wait, it's like something takes over me. father, i feel as if i am possessed by some sexual demon.” 

you scoff and rafe can see your body crumple on the other side, becoming an even smaller shape.

“tell me what happened.” rafe says.

“i-i had a date. a nice catholic man, or at least who i thought was a nice catholic man. he took me to dinner, and then i thanked him by getting on my knees immediately after.”

“keep going…” there's something about your voice that stirs rafe, has his hand gravitating to his crotch, there's a sexual prowess in your voice mixed with the guilt and innocence, like you're describing the deeds of some other woman entirely.

“he didn't even initiate it. i did. i pulled him into my apartment when he was dropping me back home. can you believe that? he was being a gentleman bringing me back to my doorstep and i just had to be a total hussy.”

rafe presses his hand down against his growing cock, imagining himself as that so called catholic gentleman.

“i unzipped his pants and tugged them down. he wasn't even hard. i played with him over his underwear, kissed his length and sucked on it and everything.”

rafes hands follow your description as he leans back against the wooden wall, tugging down his zipper and closing his eyes to picture it even better, some anonymous bold woman.

“i then pulled his underwear down. right there in the front hallway. when i saw him… i knew i was going to sleep with him next.”

you pause for long enough that rafe realizes he needs to speak. he hopes his voice doesn't come out strained. “then you slept with him?”

“yes. didn't even make it to the bedroom, he took me against the dining room table. how am i ever expected to settle down and have my own children and a loving family when all i really want is that high.”

“how does the high make you feel?”

“it comes right before the orgasm, really.” your voice drops in octave, and rafe wonders if your pussy is getting wet reimagining the scene. “when he's inside of me, pounding hard, and i know he's about to lose it too.”

rafe pushes his underwear down and tugs his cock out, not kid himself any longer that he's not extremely turned on and cannot leave the confessional with his pants tented.

“we're moaning in sync, not worrying about the neighbors in that moment. im clenching around him and he's-” you hesitate for a moment, and rafe swears he hears a sensual exhale, as if you may be touching yourself on the other side of the booth. “he's stretching me out. i love the pulsing of right when he's about to cum-”

rafe lets out a moan as he strokes before he realizes and sits up suddenly, but his reaction is too delayed as you're out of your booth and opening the door to his.

“you perv! father-” you come face to face with a handsome young man instead of the elderly priest you expected. “you're not the father.”

your eyes then travel down to his cock and that devious part of you taking over again.

“it-it was an accident.” rafe says quickly, trying to explain why he's in the priests side of the confessional when you step inside and close the door behind you.

“i have another sin to confess.” you pull the skirt of your dress up, revealing that you're wearing nothing beneath, your glimmering wet pussy directly in front of rafes face. he could so easily lean forward and taste you.

“ive always wanted to fuck in the confessional.”

rafe grabs your hips and tugs you down. he doesn't even know your name. he doesn't need to as his lips smash against yours, wildly making out.

you reach down between your bodies, grasping rafes hard cock and giving it a few strokes before you line yourself up.

you hesitate for just a moment before sinking down as rafe moans into your mouth, hoping that his mother isn't up in heaven looking down at him desecrating this holy place with you.

you gasp and pull away from the kiss as you adjust, your pussy being stretched just the way you described liking it.

“fuck.” rafe hisses out.

“shouldn't curse in a place of worship.” you smirk at him, cutting off whatever reply he had as you begin to move, bouncing up and down.

rafe grabs your hips, helping you move. his hands are strong as they disappear beneath your dress, needing to feel your bare skin.

“so good.” you whimper, pressing your forehead against rafes, breathing heavily as the temperature in the small booth rises.

“fuck, your pussy-” rafe grunts out as his hips begin to snap up into your tight heat. 

“you ever had a good catholic girl like this?” there's a hint of playfulness in your voice that rafe is shocked you can manage with your labored breathing.

“from your confession, im not sure you're all that good.” rafe says, moving his hand to rub his thumb over your clit, mostly just to see the reaction on your face as you moan out.

hes thankful for the late hour as he doesn't move his mouth forward to silence yours, letting your beautiful symphony of pleasure escape through the confessional walls and fill the church.

“this high.” you arch your back, eyes rolling back in your head as your fingers tighten on rafes shoulders. 

he knows exactly what you're speaking of. that moment when you're both on the apex, his cock swelling inside you while his thumb rubs against your clit, doing anything he can to elicit a reaction out of you, to increase your pleasure even more.

“cum for me.” rafe commands in a shockingly even voice, even surprising himself as your body stills and then shakes, crumpling forward into rafes strong arms as your pussy clenches around rafes cock, and it's all he needs to release himself, thrusting upwards and spilling inside of your cunt.

you're both breathing heavily as you come down from your high, wrapped up in each others bodies and your own intersecting pleasure before you have to pull away, realization setting in.

“oh my god.” you giggle. “we just fucked in the church.”

“shit.” rafe laughs as well. this is certainly not what he meant to do when entering into the church, yet his soul still feels lighter as he looks at your smile.

“god,” you look up at the ceiling, as if you're talking to him directly. “im so sorry. im going to hell.”

“i guess ill see you there.” rafe chuckles before he's interrupted by a gasp as you pull off of him.

rafe is quick to get himself back together, very aware of the fact that you're still bare under your dress, his cum no doubt dropping down your thigh.

you push open the door to the tiny booth and take a breath of cool air before rafe is quick to follow you out.

“i thought i heard a noise.”

you both freeze as you look up to see the nun walking from across the aisle.

“do you need the priest? he's already retired for the night.”

“no, sister.” you respond, a soft, innocent smile gracing your features as you grasp rafes hand and pull him to continue towards the exit. “see you at service sunday.”

you both let out a laugh as you push open the large wooden doors and flee from any more questions.

“can i at least get your name?” rafe asks as you enter into the night, way lit by moonlight.

“no.” you smile back at him. “but i will have another confession to make. tomorrow. same time.”

[iwanderthroughthesenights]

Something that stood out to me a lot from this album is the intentional de-personalization of extremely personal feelings and stories. She seems to have decided for this project that in order to be free to be completely honest in her art (which tbf she always has been but never as much as this album), she needs to visualize herself, and thus her stories, as a third party, an external entity on which she's conducting a post-mortem examination. Her 2016 self and the hate train she suffered after Snakegate is reimagined as Cassandra, a character from Greek mythology who had visions in her dreams but no one believed her and instead she was punished. Her anxiety of holding her lover's career back is instead described as The Albatross, this girl who everyone has been warned to stay away from bc she causes problems and is a liability. Her sweet, innocent childhood self is depicted as a robin, a feisty little bird full of life, dreams, and potential who has yet no clue of the cruelty of the world.

Consequently, the characters in her life are, too, bestowed upon fictional characters from stories that have been told before and/or are familiar in some way to the listener (aIMee the girl from this allegorical high school which is actually Kim Kardashian, Peter the boy who never grew up and stayed forever in Neverland who actually is her long-term ex partner, both her and her lover's separate romantic involvements imagined as Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus, her real life therapist referred to as The Professor etc). By using the representation of well-known characters from widely popular stories and myths with names and all, she creates an even deeper line of emotional connection with the listener. Then, the 4th wall is delightfully broken in Clara Bow, where she refers to Clara Bow and Stevie Nicks as the inherent precedents to Taylor Swift. But what's even more brilliant about this is that in this way, she is making Taylor Swift into a character in and of itself. She is actually attempting to externalize Taylor Swift from Taylor the real-life woman. By narrating her stories through tangible entities presented as completely external to herself, she is inhibited by the safety of this fictional/allegorical lense through which she's allowing her stories to be consumed, and as a result, she has unlimited freedom to be more personal than she has ever been in her art before.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

OMG RAVEN YOU’RE INTO EVER AFTER HIGH? I love it but can’t talk about it bc none of my friends have seen it 😭 I wish it was talked about more, especially with how deep their lore runs. I love EAH’s dynamics with the complexities of destiny. If twst followed the same logic as eah’s world it would be so interesting. How would you feel if the worlds were to mesh together and how it would work? You can interpret that in any way you want; the characters meeting or twst being bound to the same rules and societal expectations of eah, or whatnot.

Also who’s your favorite eah character compared to your favorite twst character (Leona)?Jade, right?

And have you read the eah books? I haven’t, but I’m going to try to sometime!

Eah alt account when?

I'm still salty that the Monster High x Ever After High crossover movie never saw the light of day-- Part of the reason why I don't like Disney (I mean the faceless corpo, not all Disney products) is because they have such a strong association with fairy tales that it pushes other interpretations out of the market or it leads to people assuming Disney "owns" those fairy tales. Ever After High's lore and themes run so much deeper than most other fairy tale reimaginings I've seen (and I've seen a lot). It's such a shame it doesn't get the respect and recognition it deserves even though EAH is the one out here challenging the status quo whereas modern Disney is content with mediocrity that appeals to the masses.

I think EAH and TWST, at their cores, share similar ideas so combining them would work well. Friendship, self-identity, defining your own future, questioning what "good" and "evil" truly are... It's all there. I'd imagine that if Twisted Wonderland (or at least NRC) followed the same rules as EAH, then everyone would be descendants of their Disney counterparts. (This is actually a common misperception of what TWST was to new fans; people mistakenly believe the TWST characters are children of the classic Disney villains. This has never been canon.) Unfortunately, I'd have to take away the Disney villains being twisted to be "good" guys in Twisted Wonderland's world in order for this to work by EAH rules, so... There's that to consider. This, in turn, can result in the student body splitting into Royals (pro-following one's destiny) and Rebels (anti-following one's destiny). Perhaps RSA and NRC could be one school in this AU...? Just so we have a mix of "good" and "evil" descended children in the same vicinity as one another. A must-have are the constantly bickering Narrators!! It's only really when Yuu shows up that the majority opinion starts to shift. Maybe then Crowley becomes concerned with students rising up and fighting back against the system that relies on them being complacent to keep the cycle of stories going. I've seen some readings of EAH which theorize that Royals guaranteed a happy ending is a stand-in for privilege, and that interpretation leads into very interesting conflicts when we also consider that magic in Twisted Wonderland is a privilege afforded to few.

To cover just the dorm leaders (because covering all the TWST characters would make this post way longer), I definitely see Riddle, Kalim, Idia, and Malleus as Royals and Leona, Azul, and Vil as Rebels. Here's my thought process:

Riddle is pretty self-explanatory. He comes from a background where he's used to being told what to do by his mother and so he also heavily relies on her strict, unyielding teachings to play by the book when he goes out there in the real world. Riddle is inflexible and hesitant to go against the grain--and, more importantly, he fully believes that following the rules will lead to his happiness... that doing as his fairy tale ordains will lead to a happy ending. What happens to the Queen of Hearts is dubious in the end since it's framed as Alice's dream, so I think that vagueness gives Riddle hope that by behaving himself, he'll earn the happiness he desires.

Leona is a Rebel, and not just because that's the aesthetic of his dorm. Being that he is highly intelligent and demonstrates a lot of foresight, he'd be aware of what future is in store for him and aggressively fighting against that. It would make him more desperate than ever to prove his worth, because not only does everyone see his powers as terrifying, but they also see him as a future brother murderer and dictator that will bleed the land dry of resources. It'd make the situation with his family even more strained than it already is, not to mention the extra jealousy he must feel toward Cheka, who is still too young to understand what's going to happen later.

Azul is someone who acts like a Royal but is actually a Rebel. He acts polite and like he plays by the rules, but clearly he doesn't behind the scenes. I see Azul as the kind of Rebel akin to Duchess Swan... as in, he believes he can steal away someone else's destiny for himself. Azul would constantly be looking for loopholes to save himself. He's put way too much stock into becoming a better, stronger person and he'd want to defend this new life he has made for himself. His obsession with protecting his contracts could translate well here.

Kalim is a Royal because he's mega rich and has been sheltered from the concept of bad things that happen to normal people; he has nothing to worry about. It also helps that Kalim is twisted from a character that doesn't meet a bad ending. I think he'd be aware of Jami's doomed destiny, but Kalim is so ignorant that he thinks it'll just be fine and it'll work itself out. Part of his growth could be being forced to reckon with the reality that Jamil is suffering under the legacy assigned to him and accepting the role that he plays in that by not acting.

Idia is a Royal--or at least pre-book 6 Idia is. He's a very pessimistic guy and repeatedly expresses hopelessness about the future, bemoaning the curse he and his family have to bear. Idia doesn't want to try to fight his fate, he's already accepted that it will happen and so closes himself off from others to save himself that heartbreak. Post-book 6 Idia will have swapped over to the Rebel side thanks to Ortho reviving the hope in him.

Vil is a Rebel simply for the fact that he fights social conventions. He's already out here shattering gender roles, but finds it much harder to breach that expectation that villains are just villains and nothing more. Vil keeps getting rejected at every turn, told that it's impossible to rewrite his story, that his frustrations are the natural result of jealousy and an ugly heart that festers in side of him. He steels himself to prove that notion wrong, working himself to the bone to get up on that stage and stay on it, waiting to be lavished with praise that he truly is the fairest one of all. I feel this would be so fascinating for Vil's own arc about self acceptance; maybe he wears himself down emotionally because he HAS to basically be perfect due to his job but also denies himself normal feelings like anger and jealousy because confessing that you have such "ugly" feelings only validates that you're shallow just like the stories say you will be.

Malleus is a tough one, but I settled for Royal in the end. Maleficent is doomed to be slain by a sword, right? So am I saying that THE Malleus Draconia, who is infamously arrogant about his magical abilities, would lie down and take a stab like that? Of course not! However, I do think that Malleus is initially someone who values tradition and living up to noblesse oblige. As the future ruler of a nation, people's stories are relying on him to play his expected role out, which he'd be fully cognizant of. I also think Malleus would be afforded the luxury of not having to face his destiny as soon as his peers are due to his long life span. This is in part because the person destined to slay him doesn't come into his life for literally hundreds of years. Then when book 7 arrives, Malleus has to deal with his loved ones leaving and/or betraying him as well as the realization that this is his destiny: dying alone and unloved. That'd just break him.

ahdbiqwdbqwli I COULD TALK ABOUT THIS AU FOR FOREVER BUT I'LL CUT IT SHORT OR ELSE I'LL NEVER SHUT UP 😭

EAH has so many good characters and interesting storylines, it's hard for me to pick a favorite! I of course love Apple and Raven's dilemmas, but I feel like it's cheating to pick one of them as my favorite. The whole Wonderland gang is also fantastic... I'm a sucker for their aesthetic, but they're so fun and silly in general. Kitty, Lizzie, and especially Madeline are 👌

Mmm, when I think long and hard about it, I think my favorite EAH character has to be Briar Beauty, daughter of Sleeping Beauty. Firstly, I love all the pink, roses, and bramble in her design. Secondly, I love the layers to why she is the way she is. Briar's a party girl not because "lmao, wouldn't that be a funny haha subversion of Sleeping Beauty" but because she wants to live life up before she falls asleep for 100 years and literally loses all her friends and family to the natural passage of time. That's seriously so smart and such an inventive way to think about the trauma a descendant of Sleeping Beauty might have. Seeing Briar transition from one of Apple's besties and biggest supporters to an outright rebel is satisfying as heck. (Gotta take a moment to shout out this classic moment :3)

I don't know if I would compare Briar to Jade since they're entirely different characters. However, looking at the source material, I'm actually surprised I like Briar as much as I do since I have never cared for the story of Sleeping Beauty. A part of me finds this ironic since Malleus harbors a similar fear as Briar (losing loved ones) yet I see Malleus's desire as way more selfish and self-serving than Briar's. I believe that's because Briar doesn't have the same arrogance as Malleus, so I'm more forgiving with her. EAH's actual equivalent to Malleus is Faybelle, daughter of the Dark Fairy, but I don't like her as much as I do Briar (hence why I'm comparing Malleus and Briar, not Malleus and Faybelle).

I haven't read the EAH books but I want to one day! I'd prefer to borrow them since I don't have enough space in my room for more physical books, so as soon as I find copies at a library or something...

This blog has kind of become a place where I occasionally talk about my other interests, generally as it relates to TWST, my main interest. I'd like to keep it like this since managing multiple blogs can be so draining. It already takes quite a bit of time to regularly write responses to asks just on one blog!

[kevin-the-bruyne]

can't imagine being aof nopparnach award winning pioneer in thai queer cinema, creative pillar of one of the biggest production houses in the country and also responsible for a range of some of the worst branded pair goof ups to just plain silly in what I can only describe are calculated risks he willingly took????

like imagine being so good at your job that you convince a worryingly big ghost ship to be brought into the branded pair scene officially only for you to convince them to reprise their roles AGAIN for the sake of the craft AFTER a really public blow out all of it leading into the worst fan reaction to a branded pair break up since probably freaking mewgulf.

he was so high off his pairing success with EM during ATOTS that he flew right into the heart of the sun during MLC leading to The Most Prolonged fight between a branded pair who were also Pretending That Everything Was Just Fine simply because they had to promo this show and could NOT for the life of them take any time apart to freaking think. like did you guys know that Mix wasn't even his first choice for ATOTS? He just saw how gay Earth was for Mix and said okay lets explore this further and he explored them right into couples therapy.

he clocked that unhinged sexual tension in First and Khaotung and did not even audition them for The Eclipse. Just handed them over to P'Golf like harness this and harness that they (P'Golf) did! Then he wrote in their characters being in love into MLC even before The Eclipse had aired because the decisions he makes in life can only be swayed by unhinged sexual tension and nothing so trivial as commercial success or fan preferences. And then they (FK) were handed over to his (Aof's) best friend (Jojo) who then rebranded them into The GMM High Heat pair and they've now gone from the threeway kiss fanservice guys to peeing separation anxiety all over social media because Khaotung has a solo concert abroad and dear god how will he ever figure out how to feed and dress himself without First.

and now he has written an RPF script for the comeback of The BL Prototype Daddies at the behest of one of the actors themselves, reimagining their real life story as exes having gone through a bad breakup. great good surely nothing will go wrong.

[anim-ttrpgs]

drow rpg thoughts

Yesterday I got excited and did a design outline for another game, this time about drow. Don't worry, the Eureka Patreon updates will keep coming monthly and we are even close to another free public beta release, but i have been under a lot of stress and might need to work on something else for a few weeks after that, even if only because i think it could actually be something i could make fully playable within a short time.

It is based on a particular setting written a while back by me and a close friend, the purpose of which was to reimagine drow with reasonable post-hoc explanations for the way they are portrayed in Forgotten Realms. It would be a very specific game, sharing a few design ideas with Eureka's rules, but not as broad and generalized.

This rpg will certainly come with a bunch of lore, but for right now the only thing you need to know is that in this setting, "Drow" is a title and referrs only to the female warrior-caste of dark elf society.

Many of the mechanics will be asymmetrical. A “party” will consist of one Drow and any number of her servants, with the goal of surviving incredibly dense hierarchical social situations

>problem will come up that could embarrass the Drow, threatening her Reputation (stat)

>Drow has to delegate tasks to servants that will fix the problem

>due to stupidly dense and impossible etiquette, actually delegating these tasks is not very clear or easy. Screwing up tasks and failing etiquette will reduce a servant’s perceived Competence (stat)

>due to high pressure, impossible working conditions, and garbled instructions, these tasks are not easy and are very likely to be screwed up

>the Drow has to contend with and smooth over the screwed up tasks. She can lose Reputation if she doesn’t discipline incompetence, but harsh discipline is only going to make the servants less able to complete the task.

>Failure state for the servants is if their Competence ever reaches 0, and failure state for everyone is if the Drow’s Reputation ever reaches 0.

Half the Game Master’s job will be keeping track of the strict and deliberately impossibly overcomplicated etiquette by which servants have to address Drow, and docking their Competence when they screw up(and possibly docking Drow Reputation if anybody else sees her letting that slide), and keeping track of the strict militaristic code of honor and (evil) morality that all Drow are expected to exemplify whether they actually enjoy being cruel psychopaths or not, and docking Reputation when the Drow fails to uphold the right standard of evilness in front of other Drow.

The servant part of the “party” will either have to humorously manipulate Drow while hiding that anything is wrong, or they and their Drow will all have to all work together to maintain a facade of this brutal hierarchy

Drow lose Reputation and servants lose Competence when they fail to adhere to social etiquette that covers like 15 pages of instructions (designed to be impossible to follow). In that way, it might be considered similar to Paranoia, with a similar sense of humor.

Some of the servants’ etiquette would be like

>don’t speak out loud to a Drow unless told to by that Drow

>at the same time, don’t remain silent when a Drow expects them to answer a question even if she didn’t explicitly say they could speak

And this is why the Drow has to be a PC, because this same servant etiquette is a pitfall for the Drow. if she doesn’t make her expectations explicitly clear, it puts the servants in an impossible situation, where they will embarrass her with their incompetence(even though it’s her fault) and she will be socially obligated to go out of her way to discipline them. Of course in the in-setting society, the fault lies with the servant, because they should have intuited when they were being given permission to speak or not. Some Drow will be self-aware enough to realize that they caused this situation, most won't.

The structure of their society will often incentivize a tactful Drow to "roll with" mistakes made by servants, e.g. "No, my servants did have permission to address me out loud, you just weren't clever enough to catch it."

Each will have to cover for the other, and/or hide things from each other and the Drow's social rivals.

[deecotan]

🌱 Deeco's ZoSan Fic Rec List 🐥

Hello hello! This is going to be a slight rework for my zosan fic rec list, because I wanted to re-organize it and add some new fics while I'm at it, so this is going to be longer than the first. Feel free to check it out!

Latest update: November 2023

Because I started making this list long before August 2023, I won't add any fics that specifically take place in live-action setting because I haven't read much of them yet. I might consider updating this list to add fics with live-action setting in the future.

—GEN/T FICS

Sketches of Life (and Love) by Fledgling (Teen, 2.9k)

An exploration of a headcanon where Sanji likes to draw in his free time. This fic always leaves me with a warm feeling every time I read it because how endearingly sweet it is. It’s basically a domestic fluff story about both ZoSan and the Strawhats crew in general.

green with envy blues by adietxt (Gen, 1.5k)

A cute fic about Zoro being jealous. Jealous!Zoro has been one of those tropes that make me screech like a feral animal every time I come across it and this fic does exactly that. It’s pretty short and simple but it captures the characters very well. It’s set during pre-timeskip which makes it even better to me because pre-TS Zoro possesses that boyish quality that post-TS Zoro doesn’t necessarily have anymore.  OTHER FICS FROM THIS AUTHOR: Fuck, Marry, Kill (or, how Usopp becomes the best matchmaker of the sea without really trying) (Teen, 4.8k) — Usopp introduces the Strawhats to a game that ends up causing Sanji to overthink things - a lot of things.

Old Men Blues by postmoderne (Gen, 2k)

Quoting directly from the fic’s summary, “Sanji and Zoro: two ancient fucks (in love).” because this is exactly that, a story about old men ZoSan. Old Zoro and old Sanji are both still as stubborn as ever and it’s endearing. OTHER FICS FROM THIS AUTHOR: Something Golden (Teen, 1.6k) — Canon reimagining where Zoro met Sanji at the Baratie pre-series.

Meet me under the orange tree by candelina (Gen, 3.9k)

A canon divergence AU where Zoro and Sanji met as kids, as Zeff opened up Baratie in Zoro’s hometown. It’s an adorable and heartwarming story of little Zoro and little Sanji’s friendship. There’s also a part two which is also worth reading. OTHER FICS FROM THIS AUTHOR: The whole world will know (2.3k) — Old men ZoSan fic, this one involves Zoro deliberately showing himself to the Marines for god knows what. It’s sweet, it’s beautiful, and it shows that Zoro is as reckless and idiotic as he is a loving, devoted husband.

Zoro’s Boyfriend, Who Lives In Canada by donutsandcoffee (Gen, 2.6k)

Modern AU, where Zoro’s friends try to stop him from believing that his imaginary, totally made-up boyfriend actually exists. Of course Zoro’s boyfriend doesn’t actually exist, because with the way Zoro describes him he’s way too perfect to exist and how can anyone so perfect actually exist? A hilarious story of misunderstandings.  OTHER FICS FROM THIS AUTHOR: Prison Blues (Teen, 2.8k) and it’s a long way forward (Teen, 5k) — serve as both a ZoSan story and a great Sanji character study. 

The Three of Swords by 8ball (Teen, 30k, multi-chapters & completed)

A medieval AU with knight Zoro and prince Sanji, a concept that starts to really grow on me after I begin to read this fic. In this story, Zoro is a cursed knight appointed to serve Sanji, a kind-hearted prince whom Zoro eventually pines over. It’s a beautiful take of prince and knight AU; devoted knight Zoro is something that I didn’t know I need. It also has a sequel.  OTHER FICS FROM THIS AUTHOR: The Ocean's Child series — a canon-divergence mermaid!Sanji AU

(I Want) Someone to Love Me by three_days_late (Teen, 7.9k)

Sanji is about to turn 17, so he hopes that he can get his first kiss before that. A cute high school AU that involves everyone wanting to kiss Sanji (honestly, who doesn’t) but only one person gets to actually do it.  OTHER FICS FROM THIS AUTHOR: Blood Red (Teen, 400 words) — this might be a little biased because this fic is inspired by my comic, but it’s also a perfectly good reason why I must add it here; this fic is able to capture the spirit of the comic perfectly. If you want to read a short exposition of Zoro showing his darker, yet protective side, then this fic is worth the read. Warning for blood & hints of violence. The Christmas Swap (Teen, 37k, multi-chapters & completed) — a modern AU in which Sanji and Reiju switch partners during Christmas so they can attend their family gathering without having to come out as queer. It’s a wonderful story about family, relationships, and the struggles of maintaining those things as a queer person. The Only Way Out (Is Through) (Teen, 4.8k) — a beautiful Prince Sanji and Knight Zoro story, where circumstances forced them to separate & unable to be together. It also has a side Nami/Vivi. I Have Loved You for 1000 Years (I'll Love You for 1000 More) (Teen, 8.9k) — Another Prince Sanji & Knight Zoro AU involving time travel & the sacrifices you go through for the ones you love.

Curly Angel by APTX & translated to English by NMTD (Teen, 9.4k, two chapters & completed)

In this alternative canon universe, everyone has a guardian angel, and Zoro’s just happened to be Sanji. Hilarity ensues.

Let me be your Inspiration by TheWanderers (Teen, 19.8k)

College AU where Sanji is an artist/painter - another fic that explores Sanji as someone with an artistic streak, but also so much more. It’s a beautiful story that starts out with Zoro having to model for Sanji’s painting but ends up falling in love with him. I love the way the author adapts the characters’ canon backstory into this universe.

Retrogade by Hazel_Athena (Teen, 21.9k, two-chapters & completed)

Sanji got badly injured after a fight, and ends up losing a big chunk of memories - it doesn’t bother him too much until he notices how weird Zoro starts to act around him. A really good temporary amnesia fic with some really delicious pining!Zoro material. OTHER FICS FROM THIS AUTHOR: Medieval ZoSan series — a medieval arranged marriage AU. Renegade Queen (Teen, 76k, multi-chapters & completed) — a canon divergent AU where Sora lives and takes all her children with her - it's more of a Vinsmoke family story with ZoSan on the side.

Nothing Happened (Gen, 16k, multi-chapters & completed)

An angsty survival story where the Strawhats get stranded in a middle of the seas with no means to escape and rapidly declining food stock. This fic does a really good job at keeping you in suspense, and the way it handles Zoro and Sanji's relationship destroyed me emotionally. OTHER FICS FROM THIS AUTHOR: Each A Love Song (Gen, 8.6k) — Sanji is frustrated because Zoro’s surprisingly popular with women when he doesn’t even like them back. A story of a confused Sanji trying to find love and being the World’s Most Oblivious Man. Three Blades (Gen, 5k) — a Western AU where Sanji is a saloon owner and Zoro is a bounty hunter.

The Melody of Missing You by BleuReivers (Teen, 11k)

Zoro is forced to confront his feelings in the aftermath of Sanji's departure during the Whole Cake Island arc. I love the way this story examines Zoro's softer, more vulnerable side in a painfully beautiful way, and the whole fic has this hazy, dream-like vibe that really fits with the plot.

Sick Day by Styx_in_the_mud (Teen, 1.3k)

Zoro gets sick, and Sanji takes care of him. A short sick!fic with a simple premise but very cute nonetheless.

—MATURE/EXPLICIT FICS

Deep by CharlieNozaki (Mature, 171k, multi-chapters & completed)

This is There Are Many Benefits to Being A Marine Biologist: The Fic. Okay jokes aside, this is a modern fantasy AU fic where merpeople exist and it mainly tells about marine biologist Sanji and merman Zoro. It has an interesting premise and deals with some heavy subjects in later chapters, hence the Mature tag. It has a sequel, though it's currently ongoing. OTHER FICS FROM THIS AUTHOR: The Game — a Modern AU with slight fantasy-ish element, where Zoro and Sanji are young orphans who find a mysterious game that might be able to change their lives.

Delphinium by toastie_bread (Mature, 39k, multi-chapters & completed)

Set in modern AU, stylist Sanji meets with police detective Zoro after his beauty salon got robbed; a cute rom-com story. There's also a side LawLu.

Steady, As She Goes by auspizien (Explicit, 155k, multi-chapters & completed)

I’ve always loved auspizien’s fics and this is the one fic that made me fall in love with their writing. This is a modern AU story where Zoro is an ex-agent with PTSD who meets and befriends Sanji, a paramedic. It’s a multi-chapter fic filled with humor, angst, pining, action, and good ol’ slow-burn.  OTHER FICS FROM THIS AUTHOR: The Android Acquaintance (Explicit, 10k) — dystopian cyberpunk AU with android Sanji and bounty hunter Zoro. This fic partly inspires me to make the Blade Runner 2049 ZoSan art!

The Tribulations of Temptation by SweetyGreeny (Explicit, 18.5k)

Zoro accidentally sees Ace and Sanji doing… the do, and then spends days after that feeling shocked, confused, angry, and disappointed.  A delicious story of pining and jealous Zoro. There’s a slight AceSan in the beginning but the endgame is still ZoSan.   OTHER FICS FROM THIS AUTHOR: A Siren’s Sinking Song (Teen, 12k) — a canon-divergent AU where Sanji is a siren who one day meets a peculiar swordsman from a wandering ship; this story is beautiful and I love the idea of siren!Sanji, but please note the major character death TW.  The Burden of Blondes (Explicit, 11k) — Sanji finds out that Zoro has a thing for blondes, and for some reason he feels uneasy. A fun story with some good smut, and inspired me to make an art loosely based on it.

Thy Fearful Symmetry by Harubo (Explicit, 14.3k)

A modern AU where Sanji is a tourist visiting a tiger reserve during a family vacation and Zoro is a detective investigating a poaching ring. All of Harubo’s fics are godsend but I particularly love this one because the setting reads like a perfect rom-com drama movie about a stressed, overworked chef meeting a handsome detective. There’s also a nice tidbit where the Vinsmoke siblings are trying to get along with each other.

Done Dirt Cheap by Balderdashfromafool (Explicit, 99.7k, multi-chapters & completed)

A Western ZoSan AU, where Zoro is an outlaw and Sanji is a small town chef. This one is fun and lovely, and as someone who doesn’t read a lot of Western-themed stories, I love the way the author describes the Western setting in this fic. 

The Fox's Heart by Shadowcatxx (Explicit, 32k, multi-chapters & completed)

Historical/mythological AU where fox spirit Sanji falls in love with human samurai Zoro. A pretty heavy story about forbidden romance but ends with a happy ending. The fic deals with some period-typical issues like homophobia, misogyny, sexism, and transphobia, as well as some depictions of violence and (slight) animal abuse, so please be aware of that.

Mine by burnwaywardbird (Explicit, 4k)

A pure PWP fic of Zoro “punishing” Sanji for flirting with strangers. Super kinky and involves slight dom/sub undertones. Also, while this is mostly pure PWP, this fic is technically part of a series and while can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend to read the other parts as well (especially the ones preceding this fic).

pretty sanji series (Pretty & Surprise) by kickingsanji (12.6k in total)

A series of fics exploring Sanji's femininity and Zoro discovering that he has a thing for Sanji being pretty & wearing pretty things. As a Pretty Sanji truther, I love these fics to bits, not only because it handles Sanji dealing with his insecurities when it comes to his gender expression in a gentle, respectful way, but also because the smut is very good.

All Will be Well by thecrownofclowns (Explicit, 17k)

An incredibly sad but sweet zombie apocalypse AU about Sanji trying to survive the zombie outbreak all by himself, before eventually meeting Zoro. One of my favorite hurt/comfort fics.

—OMEGAVERSE (ALPHA/BETA/OMEGA) FICS

Onigiri by himaaneko (Teen, 2.3k)

Very cute domestic family fic of Zoro, Sanji, and their son. For those who prefers a softer omegaverse with family/love-children fluff on the side, this fic is for you.

Bite Me by Shadowcatxxx (Mature, 15k, two-chapters & completed)

Sanji got attacked while he was alone on the ship, causing him to go into heat. Zoro tries to help, but not without consequences. An exposition on how Zoro and Sanji handle their dynamics, and their feelings towards each other. Please mind the tags with this one.

fever by adietxt (Explicit, 6.4k, multi-chapters & completed)

I'm pretty sure that this is the first omegaverse ZoSan story that I have ever read, and one of the best ones I've ever read for a good reason. It involves Sanji, who suddenly got into his heat, and Zoro, the first one to discover Sanji in heat and learns for the first time he's an omega. I won't spoil anything, but I can say that the ending is great, the porn is delicious, and Zoro being possessive is exquisite.

Steps of Calidity by auspizien (Explicit, 42k, multi-chapters & completed)

I'm gonna preface this by saying that the smut here is ungodly good and very, very hot - and to be perfectly honest, one of the main reasons why I like this fic so much. But the plot is just as good and has an interesting take of how omegaverse dynamics might work in a modern world. Don't forget to mind the tags as well.

Sweet by ElAlmaDelMar (Explicit, 1.8k)

Sanji starts lactating during his pregnancy; Zoro finds it very hot. This one is just straight up kinky. It's a sequel to another story but can be read as a standalone.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Ian McDonald's "The Wilding"

I'll be in TUCSON, AZ from November 8-10: I'm the GUEST OF HONOR at the TUSCON SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION.

Ian McDonald is one of those absurdly brilliant novelists that just leave me wondering the actual fuck he manages it. How does he cover so much ground, think up so many compelling characters, find so many gracenotes, conjure up so many complicated emotions?

McDonald burst on the scene in the late 1980s, with the 1988 novel Desolation Road and then his 1989 Out On Blue Six, a slick, stylized cyberpunk-meets-Orwell tale that overflowed with beautiful prose, technomysticism, and sly jokes that hid sneaky truths that hid even more sly jokes:

https://memex.craphound.com/2014/01/20/out-on-blue-six-ian-mcdonalds-brilliant-novel-is-back/

By my count, McDonald has now published twenty books – mostly novels, but a couple short story collections (and the most amazingly demented, Tom-Waits-inflected teddybear murder comic imaginable, 1994's Kling Klang Klatch):

https://irishcomics.fandom.com/wiki/Kling_Klang_Klatch

McDonald's work is truly globespanning. While he's made his mark on the Martian soil, and overtaken the moon with the Luna trilogy (his definitive rebuttal to Heinlein's Moon Is a Harsh Mistress) he is widely adored and much-awarded for the glittering, futuristic versions of Brazil (Brasyl), Tanzania (the Chaga series), and India (River of Gods).

Indeed, McDonald's imagination has roamed so far over the Earth and the solar system that it's possible to overlook his fantastic reimaginings of Ireland, the land where he was raised. There's his Philip K Dick Award-winning 1991 novel King of Morning, Queen of Day, a swirling, mythopoeic novel of Celtic mysticism:

https://www.baen.com/king-of-morning-queen-of-day.html

And then there's 1992's Hearts, Hands and Voices, which is lowkey one of the best novels I have ever, ever read – a scorching science fictional allegory for The Troubles, but with the gnarliest biotech weirdness you can possibly imagine:

https://archive.org/details/heartshandsvoice0000ianm/mode/2up

McDonald's books cover so much goddamned ground, but one feature they all share is a prose styling wherein every sentence is at least 20% poetry, a fraction that somehow, impossibly, rises to as much as 150% in certain especially shiny passages.

Like this passage, which opens The Wilding, McDonald's new horror novel that marks his first return to Ireland since 1992:

Autumn lay on the great bog in silvers and tans, late purples and duns.

The sun rose above the tall ash saplings and feral sycamore. It called the birds into full voice. Stabbing shrills, tumbles of notes, the flutes of dove-call, frantic ticking hisses, song upon song. In hedgerows and copses, among the pale foliage of the birches, in the weave of deep willow and the bramble fastnesses, each bird called and was heard. In this season the peatland held the day's warmth through the night and on the bright, clear mornings rivers of mist formed, filling the subtle hollow places in the exposed cuttings, the bogs and fields. High sun would dispel it but at this hour half of Lough Carrow lay mist-bound. Each blade of grass hung heavy with dew, the clumps of sedges were already browning, the bracken curling and crisping.

A pair of horns lifted above the willow scrub and out-grown ash hedges of the Wilding. Polished tips caught the low sun and kindled as bright and keen as spears.

https://www.gollancz.co.uk/titles/ian-mcdonald/the-wilding/9781399611503/

Oof.

I would drop everything to read Ian McDonald's grocery lists but after that opening, I wasn't going to put this one down, and I didn't, reading the whole thing on yesterday's flight home from my gigs in Atlanta this week.

The Wilding is (I'm pretty sure?) McDonald's first horror novel, and it's fucking terrifying. It's set in a rural Irish peat bog that has been acquired by a conservation authority that is rewilding it after a century of industrial peat mining that stripped it back nearly to the bedrock. This rewilding process has been greatly accelerated by the covid lockdowns, which reduced the human footprint in the conservation area to nearly zero.

The story's protagonist is Lisa, a hard-case Dubliner who came to the bog to do community service after a career as a crime syndicate driver for hire, a woman who never met a car she couldn't boost and pilot in or out of any tight situation. After years in the bog, she's ready to start a new life, studying Yeats at university, indulging a late-discovered love of poetry that has as much to do with her redemption as her years in the wild.

Lisa's last duty before she leaves the bog and goes home to Dublin is leading a school group on a wild campout in one of the bog's deep clearings. It's a routine assignment, and while it's not her favorite duty, it's also not a serious hardship.

But as the group hikes out to the campsite, one of her fellow guides is killed, without warning, by a mysterious beast that moves so quickly they can barely make out its monstrous form. Thus begins a tense, mysterious, spooky as hell story of survival in a haunted woods, written in the kind of poesy that has defined McDonald's career, and which – when deployed in service of terror – has the power to raise literal goosebumps.

There's a lot of fantasy that deals with Celtic mythology, including McDonald's own King of Morning, Queen of Day, but the vibe of that stuff tends to the heroic and romantic – sure, there's the odd banshee, but in the main, it's mischievous wee people, pookas, and leprechauns. More fey than fear.

But Irish mythology in its raw form is terrifying. The monsters of Irish storytelling are grotesque, mean, remorseless, and come in every shape and size. Some authors have done well by going back to the bestiary for the deep cuts. When I was a kid, I must have read John Coyne's Hobgoblin fifty times (mostly because it was about D&D, which I was obsessed with). I haven't read this one since I was about 12, and I have no idea if it'd hold up today, but it left me with a deep appreciation of the spooky multifariousness of monsters who dwell in Ireland's bogs:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobgoblin_(novel)

The Wilding is a suspense novel, which means there's no way to really sum up the plot without spoiling a lot of the affect, but suffice to say that McDonald brings large swathes of deep Irish lore to the surface, and it had me reading as fast as I could and wanting to put the book down and hide.

What a writer McDonald is! The fact that this is the same guy who wrote last year's stunning secret-history/solarpunk/uncategorizable wonder that was Hopeland beggars belief:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/30/electromancy/#the-grace

Read you some Ian McDonald novels, is what I'm trying to say. This one is only available in the UK, if that's not where you are, consider mail-ordering it. Looks like they've got stock at Forbidden Planet for £19 plus £18 shipping to the US. Worth every penny:

https://forbiddenplanet.com/424306-the-wilding-hardcover/

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/25/bogman/#erin-go-aaaaaaargh

[raptorfae53]

Ever After High Reimagined: Darling Charming Character Bio/Redesign:

Darling Charming

Lesbian

Daughter of Prince Charming (English-Persian)

The princess's princess, eldest child of King and Queen charming and the only person to match and exceed apple as the fairest in the land. Beyond all the extravagant balls and fanciful outfits however Darling is a girl with many secrets, chiefly among them her secret life moonlighting as the white knight, a mysterious masked vigilante on horseback who defends the innocent and fights for justice wherever its in short supply, and despite her trappings of perfection,is in truth a deeply eccentric young woman, passionate,honourable and determined for her noble,knightly cause. If only both her lives weren't so terribly lonely…

Likes: Horses,girls,swordplay,heroism and chivalry and truly outrageous rococo stylings.

Dislikes: Living a double life,injustice, being objectified,guns (so dishonourable…),and how her dad treats dexter, even if she feels she can't do much about it.

Spellbinding Style: A maximalist mashup of knightly fare and rococo fashion,we're talking hoop skirts and chainmail, delicate lace and sturdy plate and big, extravagant hairdos and helmets, or at least ideally, as due to Darlings current circumstances she's unfortunately forced to choose one or the other.

Companion creature: Sir Gallopad, though technically he's Dexters Horse. Dexter however is no equestrian, actively avoiding participating in such activities knowing disaster will inevitably ensue, so has no problem with his sister taking Gallopad for joyrides to commit acts of derring-do. They both can tell Gallopad much prefers Darlings company anyways…

Hexworthy vex: the feeling of powerlessness in her family's current dynamic. Darling knows and wants to be something more than a smile and a wave and something to be won, and although she doesn't show it, her fathers insistence on all of them following a strict dynamic as a “perfect” fairytale family is driving her crazy!

“Oh Curses” moment: Darling has come very close to accidentally revealing her secret passions on myriad occasions. In truth Darling is a very lonely person on account of her double life,with few people (ie, Dexter) knowing and having nobody to really talk to about her love for swords and vigilantism,but isn't willing to have her eccentricities be known for the selfish fear of what could happen to her, especially in the likely event Headmaster Grimm got involved.

Storied Secret: Besides the whole double life as a Knight thing, obviously, Darling is pretty sure she exclusively likes women, which when your dad is very set on having her be a part of a “perfect” fairytale marriage,married to a man… yeah she's going to keep that fact under wraps,at least whilst she's living under his roof…

Deepest wish: To be able to live as both the Princess and Knight she wants to be,free from the expectations of her dad and Grimm, until recently this seemed an unattainable desire but with the emergence of the Rebels…maybe there's a chance?, if she's willing to trust her secret identity with them that is…

5 Fantastical Facts:

A skilled swordswoman. Darling taught herself swordplay from an early age and due to having to scavenge her weapons has developed an agile,terrifying and wholly unique fighting style, wielding a rapier blade in one hand and a typical slashing sword in the other. Outside of her armour, Darling has found her natural agility useful in a myriad of situations as a princess, and in private trains in gymnastics and aerobics to keep said skills sharp.

Speaking of armour, Darlings current ensemble is made up of odds and ends stolen from her family's armoury, and being made for 6 foot something warriors as opposed to a 5’6 princess (5’9 including her hair) means its a bit…loose in some places. Darling would love to know how to make her own suit of armour one day come to think of it, though how one would smith chainmail completely anonymously is beyond her.

Beneath all of said armour, Darling is actually quite buff, as it turns out running around in plate mail and fighting monsters and ne'er do wells is excellent for building muscle, however Darling is well aware that her toned physique would not be considered “ladylike” by polite society, and as such her preferred poofy garments, in addition to looking super adorable and oh-so stylish, prove useful for hiding said gains from her prying parents, or even worse, Blondie!

Every week, at a specific time and place away from everything, Darling has a duel with a Knight in red armour who shimmers in and out of reality and from the scant conversation she's had with him seems to be stuck in the remnants of wonderland, Darling wishes she knew a way to free him and properly meet her friend and sparring partner.

Darling shares the bulk of her classes with one Apple white, but despite being around each other for most of the week between classes and being her brother Daring’s destined princess ,Darling has never really had the chance to talk to apple,who acts flighty and standoffish whenever Darling as much as looks at her, which Darling herself thinks is a darn shame, especially since apple’s very cute…

The final rebel profile of this week's set is Darling, the seemingly perfect princess with a secret,knightly double life. Since this is one of the last two profiles of this series (volume?) I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone whose stopped by to check out this project as I've written it, your support has been appreciated so so much.

Further information down below:

I might be sounding like a broken record at this point, but if it wasn't obvious, Darling is one of my favorite eah characters.

The princess/knight thing I love, but beyond that I love how selfless her whole character really is. Darling,unlike many of the Rebels has little stake if destiny isn't true or not and actively benefits from the system, but defies that to be a protector and a hero to those less fortunate instead of sitting around reaping the benefits of an unfair system.

If anything I think Darling best gets the idea of what a leader or ruler means out of her siblings, and that despite her father making Daring his heir, Darling is the one who looks out for and wants best for the populous, and deeply represents the fact that she's basically ordered to just stand around looking pretty and doing nothing. (Her vigilantism meaning she's outside of the well to do bubble that dominates Ever after high's social scene might have something to do with that,alongside her kinship with the displaced wonderlandians,being a little mad herself...)

Also of note, I thought it'd be fun if Darling was a distinctly feminine character, more often the knight in many of these "queer/sapphic knight/princess" yarns is the more masculine one so I thought it'd be fun to switch it up a bit, especially as a very femme trans woman myself who loves similarly feminine (if more alternative) fashion myself... (who is the princess in this dynamic I hear you ask,you'll have to wait and see...)

[pocketfullofpearlies]

RISE OF RED: A TALE OF HEADS AND HEARTS

(Descendants: Rise of Red FanFiction/Reimagining)

Chapter 2

The Queen sat, awake in her bed laid with the finest red silks.

She could never sleep the night before the Heads and Hearts festival.

It was ironic how time, something that would normally pass by like lightening in Wonderland, seemed to crawl on and on when she really needed it to be fast.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes for a second, allowing herself to slip into a daze.

''Come along, Bridget. Don't be scared, follow me.''

Bridget looked into the tunnel and saw nothing but darkness.

''I don't know about this, Thorne. Seems dangerous,'' she said. '' And what if we're caught?''

His eyes twinkled mischievously.

''Exactly.''

''What?''

''Come on. After me.''

''Wait,'' Bridget started to say as he sped past her. He laughed as he ran, but in seconds, the laughter turned into screams.

''Thorne? Thorne! No!''

She tried to run after him, only to be pulled back by strong arms fastened tight round her body.

''No! Let me go! No!''

''Your Majesty?''

The Queen's eyes shot open, instantly focusing on the servant's hand that lingered above her shoulder.

''What have I said about touching me?'' She asked, her voice cold and clipped.

The servant visibly shivered and stammered out her words. ''I-it w-was j-just th-that Her M-majesty was scr-screaming a-and-''

''-Enough!''

The Queen snapped her fingers, alerting the guards that were now stationed at the foot of her bed.

''Have her placed in the dungeon and prepared for beheading''

The tray bearing a bowl of rose water that the servant had been carrying clattered to the ground as she fell over in shock.

''Your Imperialness, please! I beg of you! I have a family to take care of!''

''You should have thought about that before disrespecting your Queen.''

As the sentenced servant was carried away, another scurried in through a back door and into place, bowing humbly as she presented a fresh bowl of ice-cold rose water to the Queen.

Before she started her morning routine of inhaling the rich scent and dipping her face and hands into it, she snapped to another guard at the far end of the room who rushed over to her.

''See to it that my daughter is out of her room in the next twenty minutes wearing the dress I had made for her. And get Mr. Hightopp here immediately.''

''I'm sorry, your Majesty, but who's that?'' The Guard asked.

The servant holding the tray looked up and tried to signal him with her frantically moving eyes and small head shakes.

The Queen paused and looked him dead in the eye.

''You don't know who Mr. Hightopp is? The Mad Hatter?''

''Oh! A thousand apologies, ma'am; I'm new.''

''Ah, of course,'' the Queen said, smiling tightly. ''And now you won't be able to get old. It's off with your head too!''

She snapped at the new set of guards at the foot of her bed and they snatched him up and took him away just as he began to process what she had just said.

With a sigh, the Queen gestured at the new guard coming in to replace him.

''Do exactly what I just told that hair brained buffoon to do,'' she ordered her, before turning back to continue her routine. ''And you; fetch me a fresh bowl. Extra cold!''

The guard and servant sped off, narrowly managing not to collide with each other.

''Imbeciles,'' the Queen muttered to herself.

But nothing and no one was going to ruin this day for her.

Not even the memories turning over like acrobats in the back of her mind.

♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥

Red expected the pounding knock on her door and rolled her eyes.

''P-Princess Red?''

''I'm awake!''

''Your mother asked that you be ready in twenty minutes, and you should wear the dress she had made for you.''

''Oh no,'' Red said to herself as she heard hastily retreating footsteps.

''Say, isn't that the dress you burned to a crisp the other day?'' Cheshire cat said, appearing above Red's head with a toothbrush in his mouth.

''Yup, the very one,'' Red replied, throwing off her covers.

''Wow. You're definitely setting yourself up to be chopped, huh?''

''Not funny, Chesh.''

She went into the bathroom and came out wrapped in towels, only to see about a half a dozen handmaids standing before her.

''What's all this?''

''Her Majesty, the Queen, sent us to help you get dressed, Your Highness,'' one of them answered.

Red nodded. ''Right, right. But, uh, you see the problem is, the dress my mum wants me to wear....it doesn't fit anymore. I had way too many expanding cookies the other day, you know what I mean? Bummer!''

''Oh, well that's no problem, Your Highness. Your mother had another one made.''

The handmaid stepped aside so Red could see the one directly behind her who was holding up an intricately designed, blood red and black gown similar to the ones her mother usually wore for special occasions.

Red maintained her fake smile. ''Okay, but like I said; not my size anymore.''

''That's still no issue. The Queen specifically had this one made with stretching satin. It could fit a Jabberwocky.''

''Fantastic!'' Red exclaimed. ''Could you give me some room to do my hair first, please?''

The handmaids glanced at each other nervously before another one spoke up.

''Actually, Your Highness, we were asked to do your hair and makeup ourselves, to suit your mother's taste.''

''Of course you were. Since I'm still in just a towel, wanna scrummage through my butt too? Make sure it suits my mum's tastes in there?''

They all blinked at her and she sighed.

''Whatever, let's just start.''

♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥♠♥

''Good of you to join us, Red,'' the Queen said, her voice dripping with disdain.

She was seated on a throne at the head of the heart shaped breakfast table, her meal on a heart shaped plate in front of her as Tarrant Hightopp, the Mad Hatter, and his son, Maddox, stood at her left side.

As usual, she was dressed to perfection, but her dress today was the times more intricate than her everyday ones; a black and red structural masterpiece that wrapped around her waist snugly before spreading out into a magnificent ball gown skirt that had been embroidered with blood red, heart shaped rubies to match her heart motifed makeup and hair.

Red gave her mother and all the guards and servants around a close-lipped smile as she struggled under the weight of her hair, which been styled into a gigantic heart atop her head.

She sat at her seat on the other end of the table, uncomfortable as the fancy dress she wore dug into her skin.

''What do you have for me, Tarrant?'' the Queen asked, beginning to cut into her bacon.

''Some bad news, I'm afraid, Your Majesty.''

The Queen dropped her fork and knife, looking at him directly.

''Go on, then.''

''Your Majesty, it's about your portrait that was in the Royal Courtyard. It seems a vandal came in the night and -well- vandalised it with paint and playing cards.''

Red and Maddox shared a quick glance, both of their heart rates picking up.

''A vandal, you say?'' The Queen sounded almost amused. ''Well, the Royal Courtyard is a heavily guarded place, isn't it? Where were the guards?''

''Well, Your Majesty. They were shrunken at the time of the vandalization.''

''Shrunken?''

''By means of shrinking cookies, according to them.''

''Right, right. And this vandal; surely, the state of the art security camera system that you created and installed should have caught whoever they were?''

''On a regular night, yes, Your Majesty. But as I checked the footage, I noticed that the camera lenses had been covered in what appeared to be a gelatinous substance.''

The Queen's right eye twitched slightly. ''So..jelly? Jelly is the reason that the vandal isn't kneeling before me right now begging for their life?''

''Unfortunately, Your Majesty.''

''Oh, it's a good thing you said the word 'unfortunately', Tarrant. Because things are about to become even more unfortunate.''

The Queen snapped at one of the guards.

''Get me all the guards that were on duty at the Royal Courtyard last night. NOW!''

The guard left quickly and she turned to her daughter.

''Red, you were outside last night...did you see anything?''

All the blood in Red's face drained and she felt herself get pale, but she shook her head.

''Mum, come on. Let's not do this. Can't we just remove one of the tons and tons of portraits of you here and place it in the Courtyard? Plus, we have a time schedule to meet, don't we? Heads and Hearts Festival is supposed to start in an hour.''

''I rule Wonderland, so I say when anything, and I mean anything is supposed to start. Nothing starts without me saying it does.''

As she rounded up her statement, the guards arrived, heart shaped handcuffs on each one of their hands.

''Well, if it isn't the idiots who couldn't watch over my gorgeous and expensive portrait. KNEEL!''

All the guards went down on their knees, trembling with fear.

The Queen had a small, sick smile on her wine red lips as she watched them.

''I'm not even going to ask for any details,'' she said. '' Or maybe I should....it would make me even angrier than I am now.''

''Your Majesty....have mercy,'' one of the guards begged, tears and snot streaming down his face in an embarrassing combination.

'The Queen laughed; a high pitched, manic laugh that stopped at her mouth and didn't reach the rest of her face.

''I'm being merciful right now by not skewering you like a kebab with your own spear,'' she said, drily.

Guilt was beginning to eat Red up and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

''Mum, I- ''

''-It seems you have a lot of ideas today, Red,'' The Queen snapped. ''How about you suggest how best I deal with these numbskulls?''

The air in Red's lungs seized and her mouth hung open.

''I,uh...I..''

'' And you had better make the punishment a good one, or it'll be your head on the chopping block.''

Red caught Maddox's gaze again, then turned to look at the kneeling guards.

''I can't, Mum,'' she managed to say.

The Queen's eyes blazed in anger. ''Are you really going to embarrass me in front of everyone like this?''

Red opened her mouth to speak but the words came out as a croak.

''Is this what I pay you to teach her, Tarrant? To go against me so blatantly?''

''Your Majesty, I get paid to teach Princess Red all she needs to know as a royal. That includes regular school subjects, etiquette and elocution, not how she should rule,'' the Mad Hatter replied.

''Really?'' The Queen drawled. ''I'll have you know that it is your years of friendship and good service that is keeping your head on your shoulders right now.''

Suddenly, a servant ran in, waving a letter in his right hand.

''Your Majesty!'' He called out, attracting the attention of everyone in the dining room.

Maddox stepped aside to collect the letter from him.

''It's from Auradon Prep. Signed by the Principal, Uma.''

That caught the Queen's attention. ''Uma? Ursula' s girl? She took over the school? Impressive.''

''Actually, no, Your Majesty,'' Maddox said. ''Uma was chosen for the position by King Ben and Queen Mal as part of their Auradon-Isle alliance.''

The Queen scoffed and rolled her huge, expressive brown eyes, that had been expertly lined with red.

''I still can't believe that forest rat's daughter couldn't go through with her mother's plans. And then what? She marries a guy whose father spent decades as a literal rabid animal, and we're supposed to take them all seriously?''

''Um, w-well, the letter seems to have been sent for Princess Red, Your Majesty,'' Maddox said, not quite knowing how to respond to her rant.

''For me?'' Red asked, the exact same time as her mother asked, ''For Red?''

Maddox looked carefully at the envelope again and nodded.

''Give it to me,'' the Queen ordered, stretching out a manicured hand.

She snatched the letter from Maddox and tore the envelope open with one of her stiletto nails.

The letter floated, twinkling with Auradonian magic and began to read itself out in Uma's voice.

''Greetings-''

''-Oh hush!'' the Queen snarled, making the letter go silent instantly.

She grabbed it and read through the contents, an undecipherable expression clouding her face the further she went.

The rest of the room waiting silently with bated breath.

''What's it say, Mum?'' Red eventually questioned, curiosity loosening her tongue.

The Queen put down the letter and looked at her.

''They want you at Auradon Prep. As a student.''

''Wait, what? You're joking, right?''

''I do not joke, Redwina.''

''Okay...but I know I'm not going.''

''On the contrary. You will go and attend Auradon Prep.''

Red looked around, trying to see if everyone was hearing what was.

''Huh?''

The Queen clapped her hands and guards came to lift up her throne from the ground.

''Go get changed and pack up a trunk; we leave at once,'' she said simply. '' Tarrant, you and your boy, assist Red. As for the rest of you, remain here till I'm back.''

The guards carried the Queen's throne away as Red sunk back into her seat.

''What just happened?'' she asked Maddox.

''Honestly, I don't know either, Princess,'' he said.

The Mad Hatter took off his hat and pulled out a full shot glass, downing it all in one gulp.

''I'll be in the Shoppe, son. You take care of Her Highness,'' he said to Maddox.

Maddox nodded and walked over to Red, offering her a hand.

''Come on, Princess.''

Still dazed by her mother's abrupt decision, Red managed to stand up, and Maddox led her all the way to her room.

Once she was safe within her own space, Red sank down to the floor.

''She wants to ship me off to Auradon all of a sudden? No! This is definitely a trap....some kind of excuse to have me killed where no one would be able to save me.''

Maddox crouched down next to her and rubbed her back to calm her down.

''Maybe you should give your mother more credit, Princess. I know for a fact that the letter was authentic.''

''But why? She didn't even let me attend school here like you and other Wonderland kids, and suddenly she's okay with me attending some fancy boarding school in a kingdom she detests? I don't get it Mads.....I'm scared.''

Red was shaking as Maddox hugged her to himself.

''It's okay, Princess,'' he said, keeping his voice soft and gentle. ''It's all gonna be okay.''

She sniffled, syrup-like tears streaming from her eyes and smudging her heavy makeup.

''Think of it this way; you'll be away from your mother's control, in a kingdom that supports individuality and self expression. You won't have to hide or lie or trick anyone with weird snacks to be yourself,'' he told her. ''And you'll be interacting with other royals your age and learning from the best tutors and lecturers of all time. It'll be great.''

They were both lying on their backs on the floor at this point, hands intertwined.

''I suppose when you put it like that...''

''And, hey. If there's any trouble or you absolutely hate it, you could use this.''

He rummaged in his pocket with his free hand, eventually pulling out what appeared to be a thick pocket watch held with a crystalline rope.

Red gasped. ''The time machine! But I thought that-''

''-It could still destroy all time and life as we know it,'' he warned. ''So please, I literally beg of you; don't use it unless it's really, really necessary.''

''Okay,'' she said, attempting to take it.

Maddox raised it out of her reach and she made a face.

''I mean it, Red,'' he said firmly.

The use of her real name shook her slightly and she nodded.

''I'm trusting you with my life and yours and everyone else's by giving you this, Princess,'' he added, sitting up and pulling her up with him.

''I know,'' Red said as he placed the small device in her hands.

She looked at it, wrapping the rope round her fingers as she admired its simple intricacy.

''I won't let you down, Maddox. I promise,'' she told him, making the boy smile.

He had such a pleasantly handsome face, with strong features that somehow managed to appear gentle, coupled with tanned skin smothered with freckles and dancing green eyes canopied by thick, silvery eyelashes.

As he turned his face away slightly to hid his flushed cheeks, Red leaned over and gave him a soft peck, leaving a heart shaped lipstick print on his cheek.

Maddox faced her sharply, his breath hitching.

''What was that?'' he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Red smiled, her eyes getting watery again. ''That was 'thank you'.''

He reached his hand out hesitantly and she lowered her cheek into his palm, immediately wetting it with tears.

''I'm not sure when next we'll see each other, '' she said, looking up at him.

''Can I....say goodbye?''

His voice was filled with emotion, and his eyes that were fixed on hers told her everything she needed to know.

''Yes.''

With that, Maddox leaned in and kissed Red, using his hand under her cheek to position her better as his other hand went to her waist.

Red's eyes fluttered as she kissed his back with equal intensity, enjoying the feel of his soft lips caressing hers.

He held her gently but firmly, each movement eliciting reactions in his body he had never felt before.

''Princess,'' was all he managed to say when they paused for a second to catch their breath.

Her slightly swollen lips stretched into a smile but quickly parted to let out a gasp-like moan as he placed his lips on her neck.

She reached her hands upwards, knocking off his hat and sinking her fingers into his silky curls as he sucked on her neck with open mouthed kisses.

His one hand on her waist drew her towards him as close as she could possibly be in her fancy gown and she shivered at the sensation.

Eventually, he pulled his lips away from her neck and they shared a tender look, eyes speaking a thousand words as their chests heaved with effort, just about to continue when a knock sounded on the door.

''Princess Red? Your mother wants you to hurry it up. She says you have to be in Auradon by this afternoon.''

Red groaned and buried her face in Maddox's chest.

He rubbed she shoulders, planting gentle kisses on each of them.

''How 'bout I give you some room to change and then come back to help you pack?''

''Okay.''

He stood up from the floor and helped her to her feet.

''See you in a bit, Princess,'' he said, giving her a brief but passionate kiss before he left.

Cheshire Cat slowly appeared as Red smiled at Maddox's retreating figure.

''Well that was as steamy as it was boring,'' he said, making her jump.

''Way to ruin a perfect moment, Chesh,'' Red retorted, rolling her eyes and kicking off her shoes.

''Tick-tock, Reddy Red. Auradon awaits,'' he said in a sing-song voice, fading away gradually till only his smirk floated in the air.

Taking a breath, Red went to the bathroom and filled her tub with water.

Once it was almost at the top she stuck her huge contraption of hair into it, letting the water dislodge all the gels and sprays that held it in place.

Then she went over to her sink and scrubbed her face clean of her mother's prescribed makeup.

She looked at her reflection, hair drenched and dripping her face and smiled.

Auradon would soon get to meet Princess Red 2.0.

Chapter 3:

https://www.tumblr.com/pocketfullofpearlies/762187532638306304/rise-of-red-a-tale-of-heads-and?source=share

A\N: Hi everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Don't forget to like and repost. Kk, bye<3

[strangestcase]

Ever After High can be so easily spun as reform vs revolution it’s not even funny. The children of fairytales figures being pigeonholed into retelling the same stories all over again, only with different characters in different contexts. Royals defending good people holding up the status quo vs Rebels realizing the system itself is bullshit. Like moving past the obvious theme of “should stories be retold or reimagined?” there’s Something to be said about how a DOLL LINE accidentally said being a liberal dooms you to become your parents

[thebearme]

Here's my Parappa hcs and reimagine ideas for Matt & Paula

Sunny

Sunny is a cosmo flower like her mother.

Because of her mother's recent death, her dad Potter became UBER PROTECTIVE. The classic "ur the last thing of her, I have to protect you" you know.

Unrelated thing but idk when I'll ever talk about this guy but Potter HAS to be half object head, the only plant thing apart of him is his hair. idk maybe yall can figure it out... also i think he gave birth to sunny and no i will not elaborate.

Sunny is asexual and intersex but what do you expect, she's a plant.

She got all her arm strength from her dad. All those home military drills really helped.

She's superb at skateboarding but tends to not do so beings she doesn't want to get her dress ruin. But give her time to change, and she'll start shreddin.

Sunny has Bipolar disorder type 1.

Sunny grew up a lil sheltered. She lives in the middle of the woods and only goes into town for groceries! She started going out more and more when she started school for the first time, especially after she got some friends.

I'm taking this headcanon from the fic life in parappa town and expanding it but Sunny is in this plant belief system where you stay loyal to Mothernature and when you die you'll become a part of her. She doesn't eat meat, she gives back to nature and be kind to all Mothernature's creatures.

Sunny take cares and own her mother's "small" farm. She used to give her produce to the community for free, but because of the government finding out about that, she had to put it on pause. She either sells it for big money, or the government will take her land and profit from it them self.

Parappa

Parappa is his rap name. His name is Pa and his nickname is Pappy.

He's a bagel and hound mix, but has more bagel dog tendencies.

He's hat was bought by his mom before she left.

Parappa's mom divorce her husband after one too many financial crises, just when Parappa was just graduated high school. (explaining the past tense in PtR2) Leaving Pappy with Papa Rappa while she takes care of Pinto herself.

His Mama always encouraged Parappa to reach his dreams as long it wasn't expensive. So after everything, Parappa was more determined than ever to believe in himself and never give up.

Parappa would do anything for Sunny, he would kill Joe Chin even!

After a while working at the videogame shop, Parappa will later work for Master Onion cuz at least he pays him.

Parappa has the n card cuz he's cool like that. im tired of hearing 'who gave him the n card?' well maybe he just born with it. stop judging my dog bro

Parappa's rapping career just recently started. He began rapping his poems by the end of high school, luckily for him his best friend has connections to get him up there.

He grew up with classic 80s-90s rap. Pappy is an oldhead.

Pappy is anti-drug, anti-gun rights and a BIG ACAB. He is a huge believer that 'only community can fix the issues and not some cops that with guns trying to make the problem worst' but if you listen to parappa's album you've probly already saw this coming.

He still an up-and-coming artist, eventho he's known around the town and performed with Club fun's mc twice... he just started selling his first album.

Pappy is pretty smart and could have got into a science major like his dad but choose music instead. His father wept.

Parappa guessed that Katy is lesbian years before she started dating Lammy because the god awful dates she would go on.

Parappa loves frogs, they're his favorite animal.

He has a concentration issue, dude can't stay on track for the life of him. And no he doesn't know he has ADHD.

His ass has maladaptive daydreamer.

Boxy boy was made for Parappa by his dad because of tendency to daydream everywhere and anywhere, he gives him sense.

Pappy has a stuttering and lisp problem, but it adds an interesting element to his raps.

Pappy can NOT keep a secret. He WILL tell Sunny!

He got orange hair

Pj

Pj or further known as King Berri is still the same as always, maybe a lil more tired.

He uses king as a stage name so he can have a bit of his fantasy come true.

Eats weed brownie everyday.

Pj now wears a hooding for pure comforter, it like wearing sleepingbag at all times.

Pj seems very comfortable with his life but he really just compliant.

Pj is estranged from his family. They have not talked in years and he doesn't plan on changing that.

Just like everyone, Pj doesn't hate being a dj but just hate working. All the fun he had for his craft was gone a long time ago. But if he still gets paid by his boss MC Mushi and gets his 'stuff' then his fine.

Pj is brutally honest to Parappa like always, someone got to be the straight man in the friendship.

He's the most likely in the friendship to get the other in trouble.

Pj lives in the college housing, particularly in the basement. He just likes it down there. But funny enough, it turns out the house doesn't stay as empty as what the staff said it would be.

He's roommate is Matt. He's not that bad when you get to know him, He's just a bit snobby, know-it-all and WAY to competitive... but chill? Ok he's a Chin but hey, atleast he's better then Joe.

Him and Matt met one rainy day when the power went out and Matt got jumpedscared but the bear in the basement.

Katy

Chatty Katty was her nickname back in high school and even in the college campus right now. She gets this nickname not because she talks bad of anyone, honestly the opposite. She talks up everyone she knows! Right after talking up herself.

Katy was a church goer growing up, so no duh she'll know everyone in the community.

Her and Pappy were in the church choir growing up, that's how they met. Later she got introduced Pj in school, the three of them started hanging out after that.

Parappa gives the biggest little brother vibe to Katy.

Katy has the vocabulary of a old lady and it's because of the older lady she works with at the diner.

Katy is that friend that went on so many bad dates, tells you about and it makes you think HOW the hell are you still dating men??

She met Lammy after running into each other from the college lecture hall. And she immediately invited her to the milkcan band practice.

Lammy and Katy were a will-they-won't-they thing then they met. Lammy likes Katy but doesn't think she would like her, Katy likes Lammy but doesn't think she's likes women so she continues going for men.

Katy has been going to church less as she goes into college, jobs, dates, band practice and battling the gay thoughts. oooo scary

Katy and Sunny met in middle school, Katy never liked the idea of girls tearing each other down. And Katy was right, Sunny was sweet as she thought.

Katy introduced Sunny to the boys and everyone went nicely, they shared lunch together.

Paula

Paula is base off a kit fox, she just put makeup over her facial mark.

She's got abit of rewrite; She's from a new money household but unlike her parents that fell into complete greed, She's still her old self.

Paula is a tomboy at heart and her true love is basketball and women.

She's a business major oooo. AND the captain of the basketball team.

She still beefing with Katy but you know- it's a friendly rivalry. Or at least it becomes one.

Paula has a little crush on Sunny after meeting her but she's very respectful about it and very real told anyone about it... besides Katy... who told Pj... who told Matt... who told Parappa... who told Sunny. But otherwise Paula got turned down rather nicely and took it well.

Matt

Matt and Joe are doodles, partially a cockapoo.

He is the younger brother of Joe Chin and makes it his LIFE GOAL to be Parappa's rival.

He bascally bradley for the extremely goofy movie.

Matt has a big gay crush on Pappy but he refuse to admit!

Joe Chin got to inherit the family business without even doing anything and Matt is really mad about that. So he's in school for a business degree and in the frat club for extra bonus points. All to impress his parents and get the family business instead.

Ok not related to Matt hcs but just one thing- I think Joe Chin is a womanizer manipulative creep! That's why Matt is a funny villain while Joe is a flatout villain villain.

There more hcs in the bottom but I didn't feel comfortable putting up with more of the light hearted stuff so...

darker things below, read with caution.

[mackeydoodledoo]

She Wears Short Skirts, I Wear T-shirts: Chapter 5

Pairing: Bridget (Cheerleader AU) x (Fem!)Reader

Chapter Summary: You return to your final 2nd semester of high school, ever. Hopeful. You decided to tell Bridget how you felt about that kiss during winterbreak and tell her how you feel about her overall... However... Someone might have beaten you to it...

Chapter Warnings: Swearing, Semi-Angst

Chapter Key: Italics = Thoughts, +*+ = Time Skip, F/n = Friend's name, B/n = Band Name, Bold/Italic = Flashback, M/n = Manager's name

Chapter Theme: Distracted (Reimagined) - Honey Revenge

A/n: Have fun :)

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

*Y/n's POV* You walk into school after spending the final day of freedom at another gig. You shot Bridget an invite but you didn't see her in the crowd. You guessed she was busy.

More shows to come...

Your mind never left the kiss you had with her. You wanted to talk about it with her. But, each time you did talk to her before she hadn't texted in a few days, but it was difficult for you to bring up. You didn't want her to make it seem like she was a bad kisser....

In fact... It was the best kiss you've ever had.

Albeit it was the first one.

"Yo Y/n, I need you for a second," F/n says, immediately dragging you into the band hall

"What?" You ask, "I'm trying to look for Bridget, I have to talk to her."

"Yeah, don't," F/n says

"What?!" You ask, nearly raising your voice, "Why not?!"

"Why all of a sudden you want to talk to Bridget?.... Unless... Did..." She gasps, "Did you two kiss?!"

"SHHHHHHH!" You push them into the nearest practice room, "So what if we did?"

"You caught feelings? Didn't you," She makes playful eyes at you

"So?!" You ask, shoving them, "She hasn't texted me since she left for that trip with her family."

"Yeah, but you said she hasn't texted you after she got back right?" She asks

"Yeah, but I'm sure she has her reasons," You say, "I simply guessed she was busy."

"Yeah... So..." F/n attempts to piece words together

"What? F/n just tell me!" you sigh in frustration

The both of you hear the warning bell...

"Come on or we'll both be late!" You growl

"Okay! Okay!" She yelps, "But, don't have a go at me..."

She hold her phone up to you... Your internal organs drop....

It was Bridget.... And the Football team's star... James Hook...

I saw this on my fyp here... For some reason... Might want to drop it to Y/n.... So she won't fall for the wrong girl....

That was from your guitarist...

"Wh....What?...." Your breath leaves your body

"I'm sorry Y/n.... I really am..." F/n sighs

It was... All... Fake?....

"Come on," She says pulling you along, "Let's get to class..."

+*+

Throughout the entire school day, you've been attempting to keep yourself focused on the class lessons. However, your mind always goes back to the picture your friend showed you...

"Yo Y/n, are you okay?" Another band friend asks, "You look live you've seen a ghost... Oh wait, is it because of?...."

They want to say her name, but they don't. You nod, knowing who they're talking about.

"Sorry man," They tell you, patting you on the shoulder

I have no clue if they actually feel bad for me or pity me...

You turn to walk to the band room. Bridget hadn't sought you out all day... The realization only made your heart ache more. You just wanted to be anywhere she wasn't... Even if the ache was lifted for a short moment... It'd be a better feeling...

"Y/n, pull your head outta your ass," F/n whispers sharply

Shit...

You forgot you were in band class... Playing an expert from a piece for the upcoming winter concert...

"Y/n, play that again, since your head was off elsewhere," The band director says, sighing

"Dude, that's the third time you missed the entrance," F/n whispers

Oh my god what?....

You play the excerpt exquisitely.

"Everything alright Y/n?" Band director asks, "It isn't you to be off in the clouds."

"No, I'm fine, Sorry Mr. [Band director name], won't happen again," You say

You lock up your equipment in your locker and begin walking tot he exit.

"Heard your little girlfriend left you for a man," A bully steps in front of you

"Yeah, and?" You ask, trying to move to get to the exit quicker, "It's fine."

"Clearly it's bothering you," They continue to taunt, "The fact you couldn't bag the cheer captain is really bothering you."

"It really isn't," You lie, "Now move."

"Not until you admit it!" They smirk

"Hey!" F/n comes up behind you

"Shit..." The bully and their goons run off

"Come on Y/n," She grabs your hand, leading you to the exit

"Thanks buddy," You say

"You owe me food later," They say

+*+

When you get home from school, your parents greet you happily however, their expression changes when they see your blank stare.

"Honey what's the matter?" Your mom hugs you

"That... That girl that came over for Christmas...." You say, "She... She never liked me back...."

"Oh honey...." Your mom hugs you again, "Do you want me to make you your favorite meal?"

"N-no," You say, "I have work soon..."

"Here, I'll make you your favorite snack before you go then," She dashes off into the kitchen

+*+

Work was okay, to say the least, there was a rush of people right as you got in, but died down after an hour or so.

You were about to go to the back when you hear the bell hit the door.

"Welcome in-...." Your voice, chipper then trailing off

Bridget... And Hunter....

"Oh! Y/n...." Her eyes divert away from you, but still holding Hunter's hand

"Oh look, the loser is working in some dingy record store," Hunter attempts to make fun of you, "How very... low of you."

You say nothing more as they begin to browse the sections of music. You walk into the back.

"Hey M/n, there's two people out there," You say, "Would you be willing to help them out?"

"Can't you?" They ask

You shake your head without trying to break out into tears. But, they saw through you easily. He sighs as he stands from his seat.

"Alright Y/n, you go take your break," He tells you

As you sit in the chair in your manager's office, you try to clear your head.

"Hey, is Y/n back there?" Bridget's voice asks, muffled through the door

"She is, however, she is currently on a break and wishes to not be bothered," Your manager says

"Oh... Okay," She says, "This is all I'm purchasing today."

Perks of working since you were sixteen, your manager enjoys your company enough to help you when you're extremely distressed. You wait until your manager comes back.

"Care to explain Y/n?" He asks, sitting back on his seat

"Sure..." You sigh

+*+

You explain to him the entire situation: Seeing her at your gig, Homecoming, Christmas break, and even your first kiss.

"Wow...." They sigh, "Should have known she was a cheerleader. I'm honestly not surprised that she pulled something like this...."

"She didn't seem like the person to do that," You say

"Well, I guess you don't truly know a person," He says, "It's such a shame really... I've seen her a lot in the local newspaper. Seemed like such a nice person."

"She was my only distraction from the hell of this town," You say, "But it's oh well..."

"Why don't you take the rest of the night off," He says, "We're slow and you need some rest before you head off to indoor percussion this weekend."

You nod. You honestly needed the hours, but he was right. You needed to get your mind out of the gutter, the deep, deep parts of a gutter before the weekend.

"I'll tell you all about it like always when I come back," You say, "Goodnight, M/n."

"Night, Y/n," They see you out

+*+

When you get home, your parents were watching TV in the living room.

"Oh, Y/n, you're home early," Your dad says

"Boss sent me home early," You sigh

As you lay in your bed, trying to sleep, your phone dings.

I can explain. Well then, what is there to explain? I can see whatever the fuck you did with my own two eyes. Was whatever the hell we had not real enough for you?

You didn't see a reply after then....

Figures...

You out your phone onto your nightstand, and put in some ASMR to help lull you sleep....

+*+

You pack your duffle into the passenger side of your car and begin making your way to the carpool parking lot where your friends had been meeting for the last few weekends for indoor percussion season.

Please... Let me explain. Clearly you can't explain Bridget. I'm going to indoor percussion this weekend. Don't bother me....

Your friend that's in your band with you didn't do indoor percussion like you did. But, that was fine with you. You needed a fresh new surrounding and new faces to look at for a little while.

+*+

"Yo! Y/n... Whoa... You look like shit, what happened?" Your indoor friend asks

"Let's just say the person I liked did not reciprocate feelings, and I lost sleep over it," You say, putting your duffle bag into their trunk, "If you're going to ask me if I'm fine before rehearsal tonight, I'm going to be fine."

"Okay," They say, "But, if you want to talk about it.... We're here for you. You don't have to take over driving this weekend. Just contribute to gas like always. Plus, maybe nap on the way down. Maybe that'll help."

"I 'preciate it," You smile, "Come on, another weekend with indoor is upon us!"

"At least We can look forward to our usual hang outs after every rehearsal!" they say

You nod.

You hop into the backseat of your friend's car.

As your indoor friend begins driving down to the next state south, you plug in your music... Attempting to shut out the world. At least you know when you're at indoor percussion, you are able to push your emotions away until you go back at the end of the weekend.

Chapter 6