#farron did not enjoy himself

[sjofn-lofnsdottr]

♒ - cooking/food headcanon?

I answered this earlier here, but I can do another! For fun!

Behold, Dusk's favorite part of the kitchen.

So as I mentioned, Dusk is ... not a cook, generally speaking. But there are a handful of things he could be persuaded to make, if someone knew to ask.

a salad of some sort but please don't ask for a specific kind

various sandwiches, which Farron would insist counts

Ishgardian muffins

hot chocolate from scratch

fondue

That's it, that's the list.

I suppose this is also food related: He can explain what the courses should be in a seven course meal and tell you which fork to use when, which glass holds which wine (or whatever), all the napkin etiquette, all that stuff. His maternal grandmother is a fancy lady, and ... well, it's resulted in him being capable of being a very fancy man, when the situation calls for it.

Thank you for the ask!

[razieltwelve]

Warning (John Wick x Final Rose)

Akira froze as she caught sight of the pink-haired woman in an immaculate suit. The woman removed her glasses and tucked them into the chest pocket of her suit. Green eyes took in the entire lobby of the Osaka Continental in a single glance before settling on her.

“I would like a room.”

Akira swallowed thickly. There were few indeed with a pedigree as illustrious as Averia Yun-Farron. That she actually managed to live up to the impossible standards her parents had set spoke volumes of her ability. If she was here, it could only be on business for the High Table.

“Of course.” Akira took a breath. “Should I call for the Manager?”

The expression of utter calm on Averia’s face softened for a moment. “That would be best. But, please, do not be alarmed by my presence. My business is not with your father or the Continental.”

Akira relaxed, nodding to the attendant who had stood awestruck at her side since Averia’s arrival. He left to fetch her father. “Thank you for your courtesy.”

“Courtesy costs one little,” Averia replied. “But lack of it may cost one everything.” Her lips twitched. “I believe your father told me that when I was a little girl.”

“I did.” Her father appeared, a broad smile upon his face. “You do us a great honour, Ms Yun-Farron.”

“Uncle Koji,” Averia replied, and the smile on the face of Akira’s father grew wider. “You’re looking well... and I see that you have appointed a most able Concierge if all that I have heard is true.”

He laughed and motioned for Akira and Averia to follow him deeper within the Continental. “Hah! I am well. Although the recent increase in business has aggravated both my daughter and my Concierge. Not enough time for family, I have been told, though I am doing my best to remedy that.”

“Family is most important,” Averia agreed.

“And how is your family, if I may ask?”

“We are well,” Averia replied. “Although there are matters that I must discuss with you, matters that relate to the family we ourselves choose rather than the one we have by virtue of blood.”

Koji glanced at her, his steps slowing every so slightly. “Is that so?”

“It is.” Averia inclined her head. “And so I must apologise if my visit brings trouble to your doorstep although you have my assurances that it will not cause any lasting harm and may indeed provide great opportunity.”

X     X     X

“So... he has finally overreached himself?” Koji murmured. High Table politics... he would have preferred to avoid them if at all possible, but they could not be escaped. And it was better to know that a storm was coming than to wake up to its unexpected wrath.

He, his daughter, and Averia were in the gardens, drinking tea while enjoying the ambience of well-lit cherry blossom trees while a half-finished game of go sat upon the table between them. As usual, Averia had the upper hand. Indeed, it was said that only her mother could beat her at the game. Still, they had set the game aside. They both knew how it would end, and there were more important matters to discuss.

“That is so,” Averia replied, sipping her tea. “Jacques Schnee has forgotten that a seat at the High Table does not make him invincible. Moreover, he believes that his plans to replace certain members of the High Table have not escaped the notice of certain individuals.”

“Ah.” Koji nodded. “Your aunt and your mother.”

“Indeed.” Averia glanced at Akira. “Do you wish for me to explain, so she may understand?”

Koji considered swiftly. He was moulding Akira to be his successor. Knowledge of the High Table’s finer details and their politics was dangerous, but as a Manager, it was also essential. Open war between the High Table’s members had not occurred in centuries, but the past few decades had led to ever growing tension. 

Two main factions had formed, and it seemed the time had come for the first blow to be struck. Jacques Schnee was a pretender, a usurper who had taken his spot through good fortune, treachery, and the unfortunate passing of a man all had respected. Truly, he was unworthy to even share the name of Nicholas Schnee, a man Koji considered himself honoured to have met. Indeed, it was Nicholas who had first supported his ascension to Manager outside of his dear friends amongst the Yakuza who had proposed the idea. To have the support of a single member of the High Table was powerful, to have the support of two made matters a fait accompli. He had, of course, cultivated bonds with Averia’s mother and her aunt as any wise man would, but Nicholas had trusted in him when few others would have. To see the treatment of that man’s grandchildren infuriated him.

“Yes,” he said at last. “It is best she knows.”

Averia nodded. “The High Table’s origins are ancient indeed, but its members are a more mixed group. Some have had seats since the ancient days. Whilst others, my aunt most notably, have attained their positions by virtue of personal power and prestige. My own mother is an... interesting case, for ours is an old bloodline, albeit one that fell upon hard times before my mother avenged her parents and restored our family to its rightful place. Jacques’s ascent is relatively unprecedented, for it is one achieved by marriage and his own personal power prior to that marriage would certainly not warrant a spot. Yet he has taken full advantage of his new position and has even begun to dream of higher things. He and his... allies hope to reshape the High Table to better suit their interests. Rather than a balance of competing interests, he would create an entity that is beholden to him alone, an extension of the corporate and criminal might he wields.” 

Averia took another sip of her tea. “Through unity there is strength, but through conflict there is growth. That is what my ancestors believed, and it is what I believe. The High Table is a union, but is members must be different and relatively independent. Alliances are normal, of course, but the sort of... kingship that Jacques wishes for is anathema. We will stagnate, and then we will die if he has his way.”

Akira nodded. “I understand.”

“Not yet,” Averia said, smiling. “But you will.”

“If you are here,” Koji said. “Then...”

“John was been sent to kill Jacques,” Averia said. “He needs my aunt’s help, and so he must perform a service for her.”

“You mean... John Wick?” Koji whispered the name of his old friend. His posture stiffened. “He was out.”

“And he shall once again be out once his task is completed,” Averia replied, quelling his anger before it could truly stir. “The favour he wishes for is a great one. It is not something my aunt can simply do for free. But she has given her assurances - and my mother will back her - that once his task is complete, he shall once again be out, truly out.”

“I see.” Koji nodded. “Then he will go to New York.”

“He will go to New York, and we will give him what aid we can without being too obvious.” Averia paused. “And that is why I am here. Jacques has associates that he trusts above all others, people that are extensions of his will. One of them is in Osaka. I will deal with them. This will draw Jacques’s eye.” She nodded at Koji. “And that is why I must apologise for bringing trouble to your door. Yet know this, Manager,” she said, using his formal title. “When this... squabble is complete, the High Table will remember those who stood with it.”

“I see.” Koji took a moment to consider the situation from every angle before nodding his ascent. “As always, I stand with the High Table.”

“I am pleased to hear that.”

[daddykylokenobi]

Kylo Ren X Y/N Chapter 3

Warnings-(sexual content will eventually occur in this series but it will be stated in the warnings beforehand) cuddling, realization of deep feelings, hints at romantic tension.

The mellow singing of birds could be heard outside Y/n’s barrack house, she stumbled out of bed passing other female resistance members and headed towards the showers. The sun was just breaking over the horizon and peeking through the tall jungle trees, the air was damp and smelled of soil and wild flowers. It had been a few days since you and Bens last training session and if you were honest with yourself there was a bit of you that missed him, these last few days he had been busy and so had you so there wasn’t much contact between you too except passing glances around base. You tried to ignore these invasive thoughts as you reached the shower building.

Warm water shot over Y/n as she gently scrubbed her scalp in small circles, today was a big day she thought to herself, her and some others were being sent again to Takodana to work on Maz’s destroyed castle, her and the others there needed a lot of help since their home was so abruptly taken from them. Y/n wasn’t exactly sure who all was coming, she knew for sure that Dahla, Finn, and Rey were in the group, she was surprised that Rey was joining them since she had been working so much on Jedi related projects since the end of the war, for this Y/n had never gotten close to her.

Before long Y/n was dressed and heading for the bunkers and runway where the ships were held. Like she had thought Dahla, Finn and Rey were all huddled around the Millennium Falcon, Rey’s ship that she inherited from the late Han Solo.

“Ey I didn’t know you were on this too!” Finn had a big smile on his face when he saw you walk up. You enjoyed being around Finn and got to work with him fairly regularly since he had been around.

“Heh yeah I got assigned last minute by Dameron so here I am.” Y/n shared the cheery expression, Finn’s excitement was always contagious. “Who else is on board?” Y/n peered around the corner of the entrance pad wondering who was making the clanking noises from inside.

“Oh that’s Farron, and Kyl- I mean Ben is coming too, he should be here soon.” Finn corrected himself while walking over to a stack of boxes and grabbed one. “I keep messing that up but don’t tell him.” Finn whispered to you and made a sarcastic scared face before entering the Falcon with the equipment box.

Suddenly a sense of dread filled your stomach, having to be stuck working with Farron for a whole week did not sound very fun, admittedly though you were glad to be leaving base and making some real efforts to help people. Also hearing that Ben was joining too made you a bit relieved.

“Have you gotten to talk to him much?” Rey was looking down at a big map in her hands as she questioned you, not looking up even as she spoke.

“Who Ben?” You caught yourself playing dumb for seemingly no reason.

“Oh no I was thinking of the other ex-Sith.” She looked at you seriously then laughed, “yes Ben who else would I be talking about.”

“Oh uh a little yeah but not a ton, what about you?”

“Eh not really, to be honest I haven’t had much time to but I’m curious for him to join us, I’d like to hear some stories about Han if he’d like to share.” Rey’s voice trailed off, you sensed a moment of grief in her as she mentioned Han.

“Yeah that would be interesting to hear..” You and Ben hadn’t talked about Han or Leia much, you could tell it was a sensitive subject but now you were definitely curious as well.

A few hours passed and you all were landing on Takodana, Ben had showed up not long after your and Rey’s conversation and there was a quick and quiet ship ride over here.

The rest of the day was spent mostly transporting supplies and equipment to the Castle grounds and clearing rubble from the surrounding area, you got to work with Dahla majority of the day so it was uneventful. Nightfall was coming soon and you guys were setting up your camp for the upcoming week, the area around the castle was already used up by its past inhabitants so you had to set up off in the distance by the beach.

You, Dahla and Finn had finished making a fire and getting all of your gear organized together.

“Oh uh, there’s only 3 tents Y/n..” Dahla whispered to you as she searched through the equipment bag.

“Really that’s all they sent us with?” You were surprised they didn’t grab an extra so you girls wouldn’t have to bunk with any of the guys, any worried thoughts quickly were extinguished because you knew you and Dahla would end up being together anyways.

“Yeah, I hope Rey is okay with Finn, and Farron and Ben together.” She said pulling out the tent supplies.

After another hour it was completely dark outside, your home for the next week was set up and everyone was gathered together eating dinner and talking about the following week as well as the bases newest gossip (from Finn of course).

“Hey I’m just saying two people don’t hang out that much for it to be nothing okay.” Finn joked while dramatically gesturing his hands.

Rey and Farron laughed along while Dahla sat slightly embarrassed that This is what we chose to talk about, a game of who liked who at base. Ben was mostly quiet except for a few small smiles, he mostly focused on his dinner.

“Ahh well as much fun as that was!” Rey giggled as she stood up and patted the sand off her legs. “Dahla are you ready for bed? I’m exhausted.” She leaned over to start taking her boots off then half hopped over to her tent and entered it.

Everyone in the circle all looked up at Rey and then eachother with all different expressions. Finn seemed disappointed, he was expecting him and Rey to share a tent and you could tell he was upset about the fact that they weren’t, then Farron gazed at Y/n with an excited smile that he was trying to contain.

“Sorry..” Dahla leaned over to Y/n shrugging then followed Rey to what was now Their tent.

Y/n quickly got very nervous, she looked over at all 3 men and tried to weigh her options, Farron was immediately off the table since she knew he would definitely try to make a move, Finn was a safe bet since he was obviously head over heels for Rey but you knew he would talk your ear off for at least another hour, then your eyes caught with Ben, he was already looking at you with an expecting expression.

“So Y/n-“ Farron started to say but was then interrupted by Ben who stood up, “I’m gonna head to sleep so just join whenever Y/n.” He said it so plainly and unbothered but made a brief moment of eye contact with Farron before disappearing into one of the empty tents.

Y/n sat there unmoving, a little surprised that Ben made the decision for you to stay with him but it was one that you were okay with, you couldn’t help but overthink why he was looking at Farron the way he did though..? You trailed your eyes over to meet Farron and Finn’s who both seemed annoyed with the group decision. “Well I’ll see you guys in the morning.” You nodded before following Ben into the tent.

The tents were actually well made with thick dark green walls that had a layer of waterproof material in between it that made them much warmer, the floor was comprised of a few layers of different blankets and then there was a small lantern in the corner which lit the inside well enough to see. They were decently spacious inside with a good height but only wide enough to have 2 sleeping bags which both were laid flush against each side of the tent, there was only about a foot and a half in between them but at least the tents were long enough so you and Ben could both keep your backpacks in them at each foot of the sleeping bags.

You entered the tent, greeted with warmth since escaping the wind outside which was quickly picking up, leaving behind low howls and the sounds of trees swinging and swaying. You scanned the inside of the tent, Ben was sitting on his sleeping bag, seemingly nervously fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

You sat down on your side, stripping off your boots and jacket. “Hey uh thanks for saving me out there.” You nodded towards outside the tent.

“What do you mean?” He slightly raised one eyebrow following the direction of your gesture.

“Well um, in case it hasn’t been super obvious Farron kinda has it out for me, I’ve turned him down but he just doesn’t know when to quit. I could tell he was wanting to get stuck bunking with me so I’m just Really glad you spoke up before he did.”

Ben took notice of your enunciation of “Really” and made a mental note of how much you truly did appreciate it.

“I just know he would’ve tried to make a move and it would’ve been super awkward..” Y/n was now laying on her back staring up at the tent ceiling.

Ben felt his body twitch when he heard your words, a small fire of anger started in the pit of his stomach. He was feeling Jealous, but why should he feel jealous? You obviously were not into Farron but still the thought of someone wanting You was driving a knife in his side that he couldn’t seem to pull out.

Y/n sensed a great deal of unrest coming from Ben, she looked over to him and he was staring back at her, the lantern flickering over his face and body, his shoulders were tensed up and his eyes were striking right through her.

Y/n was so entranced by this moment of eye contact they were sharing, it went on for seconds before Ben broke the silence. “Do you want me to say something to him?” His tone was calm but assertive.

“Oh no that’s really not necessary, he’s just persistent so it’s starting to get a little uncomfortable being around him, it’s okay though.” Y/n rolled onto her side so she could face Ben, again they caught eyes, both of them silently staring at eachother, the silence between them was comfortable, peaceful even. “So.. How have you been doing? Do you feel like you’re fitting in okay..?

Ben slowly shifted down onto his sleeping bag to lay on his side and match Y/n’s position. He let out a little huff as if thinking of his answer. “It’s going okay, I think some of the others are scared of me though.”

“What really?” Y/n said sarcastically then laughed. “But really though.. People just need some time to get to know you, I was a little scared for awhile to be honest, especially the first day we talked in the forest.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know how else to approach you.” He apologized.

“Oh don’t be sorry it’s okay,” she said with a warm smile while lightly shaking her head no. “It’s just different for us, we grow up having all of these thoughts and expectations put into our head about the First Order so it’ll take people time to readjust with you being around, they’ll get used to it though. They just need to talk to you more and before you know it all the girls will be swooning for the mysterious “Kylo Ren” Y/n always tried to lighten hard situations with jokes or sarcasm and she couldn’t resist poking fun at him.

Ben rolled his eyes at her suggestion but the corners of his mouth were gently raised into a smirk. “I doubt it..” he trailed off smiling. He felt so relaxed around Y/n recently, before there wasn’t anyone he felt that he could be himself around but these past few days with Y/n felt different than usual, like something had shifted.

Y/n giggled to herself while sitting up to pull her blankets to her torso, a gentle shiver running down her back from the wind outside.

“Well um,” Bens expression had now turned serious. “I have been wanting to thank you, actually.” He said avoiding eye contact with Y/n.

“Thank me? What for?” She had returned to her laying side position.

“Just for being so patient with me, I know it’s not easy being around me and like you said, there are a lot of expectations that you have to work on to be comfortable with me and I really appreciate you taking the time to do that.” Ben struggled to get the words out, he got used to being straightforward when he worked with the First Order but not so much with emotions, anger yes but compassion? That was seen as mercy for one which was then seen as weak.

Y/n felt the honesty in his words, her chest fluttered for a second and her breath got caught in her throat. “Oh.. Well you’re welcome, really I should be thanking you though, you’ve done so much for me as well.”

“Heh yeah I suppose.” With that said Ben situated himself comfortably and leaned over to the lantern to dim it some, leaving just enough light to be able to see.

Y/n had a big happy grin on her face underneath her blanket that she had pulled over her nose to keep from the cold that seemed to be seeping into the tent. “See you in the morning Ben.” She watched him snuggle into his pillow before shutting her eyes.

“Goodnight Y/n.” Ben shut his eyes and pulled his blanket to his chest trying to find some warmth.

Quickly they both drifted off to sleep, each of them comforted by the others close presence.

Abruptly Ben shook out of his sleep, the wind outside was howling loudly and causing the tent to gently shake here and there, the night had dropped temperatures more than they were expecting, Ben huffed out quietly while turning over to check on Y/n. She was curled up in a ball on her sleeping bag, eyes open and staring towards the tents entrance.

“Are you alright?” He mumbled half awake.

“I didn’t know it was going to get s-so cold.” She stuttered as her body shivered against itself.

“Yeah.” Ben rubbed the sleep from his eyes and squinted at the time watch he had on his left wrist, it was only 3AM.

The wind roared outside causing Y/n to jump, Ben looked over to her with a worried expression. Y/n’s eyes met his and they both seemed to sense each others idea at the same time.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?” Y/n whispered, exhaustion from the restless last few hours setting in.

“I’m ok if you are.”

A moment passed as they both weighed their options, trying to decide if this was Really necessary. Just then a loud crack of thunder shot through the sky which was followed by a soft drizzle of rain hitting the tent.

They looked back at eachother, a silent agreement was made then Ben scooted his back to the wall of the tent, Y/n sat up and pushed her sleeping bag right beside his, she slowly laid back down beside him, the warmth radiating from his body already casting a shadow of comfort and rest onto her.

“Sorry-“ Ben said trying to reposition himself, he wasn’t sure where to lay or how to react to this situation, they were only doing it for warmth he knew that, but he felt strangely grateful to the storm for putting them both in this opportunity.

“It’s okay,” Y/n whispered, “here just-, like this..” She directed Ben on how to position himself, she helped him put his arm out so she could nuzzle herself into him, she curled up against his core, tucking her arms in front of her touching his chest.

Ben felt nervousness start to invade his body, he had never been close to a girl like this, especially one he was growing so fond of. He began to be worried he would somehow hurt her being this close, very gently and slowly he wrapped his arm around her, pulling the blanket over each of them and resting his large palm over her back.

Y/n tried to keep her mind straight but before long her thoughts were wandering aimlessly to Ben, his body was considerably larger than she was, easily wrapping over her. His breaths were slow and steady, almost sounding like the breaths he taught her in meditation lessons when keeping calm.

“Is this okay?” Ben said in a hushed tone.

It was perfect, at least that’s what Y/n wanted to say.

“Mhm” She couldn’t say a word, she knew if she did that something would come out that she would later regret.

The pitter patter of rain danced on the tent muffling any sounds from outside except the rain and thunder. Y/n tried to settle her nerves by taking a deep breath, “in… out….” She thought. She took a deep inhale through her nose then slowly exhaled into Ben’s chest. He felt the warmth from her breath cascading over his torso, rising upto his neck. As cold as the inside of the tent was Ben felt a tinge of sweat building on his brow, silently he thanked himself that he had waited so long to approach Y/n with training, if she was skilled enough to read his thoughts.. He pushed away the thought with relief that she couldn’t yet.

Y/n breathed in his scent, his clothes had been soaked in the smoke from their campfire earlier that night, but beneath that was the smell of the air after it has rained, fresh, earthy, and comforting. Her and Ben had never been this close, even though they had been training a little over a month together already they always kept their distance and personal space. She could hardly believe this was actually happening, she never imagined the first time they met that they would end up growing so close, but were they close? Y/n was so confused about their relationship, they had shared many intimate moments before during training and they both enjoyed eachothers company even if they hadn’t admitted it to the other, but still anything more than a friendship had never seemed possible until this moment.

They both laid deathly still, not daring to move incase it would disturb the other. A few minutes of silence passed, the storm outside growing louder with each fleeting second.

“Do storms scare you?” Ben had broken the quiet tension.

“….They did when I was young.” Y/n uncurled herself from his chest and pulled away enough so that their faces were lined up beside eachother, just inches away from any possibility. “What about you..?” She squinted through the darkness in the tent, her eyes slowly adjusting until she could clearly see his face.

Ben swallowed the anxiety in his throat. “No not really.” Ben didn’t feel scared very often in his life, he even sometimes took pride in it when faced with a worrisome challenge that didn’t faze him, but in this moment with Y/n he felt it, the pit in his stomach, the shakiness of his breath, everything seemed to be hitting him at once.

Even though Y/n was still new to the Force and her capabilities with it she was getting more sensitive to peoples moods and she could sense Ben’s anxiousness.

She looked intently into Ben’s eyes, they were dark with varying shades of brown and hazel. She had never noticed how comforting his presence could be, she felt safe and protected when she was with him.

And Ben, looking at Y/n, he thought of how quickly his feelings towards her had changed this last week, he felt so different around her, he was more relaxed, more human, more his old self.. He loved how she brought out that side of him, the side that he had been hiding away for so terribly long.

Y/n tucked her head down again, hiding herself from his watchful gaze. “Ben.. I haven’t really taken the time to truly thank you for all that you’ve done for me, you’ve spent so much time with me lately, teaching me the ways of the Force and you’ve been so patient even when I fail. I was nearing a dangerous place before you came along and without you I really don’t know where I would be or what I would’ve done, so thank you..”

Ben was frozen in place, he hadn’t had anyone show him this sort of kindness for so long, his breath was caught in his lungs, his heart was beating rapidly, and his mind was blank with a response, he blinked a few times trying to reset his consciousness before answering. “Y/n.. If there’s anyone who deserves thanking it’s you, you’ve helped me bring out my old self again which no one ever has and I feel that I can be myself around you without judgement. You accepted me when everyone else was avoiding me out of fear and I will always be grateful for your compassion towards me.” Ben fought to release these words from deep inside him, he had trained himself so well to keep these kinds of feelings buried away but with Y/n beside him he felt safe to release this part that was always there, a loving and compassionate side of himself.

Y/n smiled against his chest, her core was washed with warmth and safety in his arms. “I’m glad you’re here.” She whispered.

Ben brought his hand upto the back of her head and laid it against her, softly petting her silky hair. “Me too..”

[sustraiii]

TEAM ZRCN ARC 1 REWRITE - PROLOGUE

What’s this....arc 1? Yes, as some of you might recall I spoke of rewriting ZRCN’s arc 1 storyline some time ago, and the time has come to start posting. The storyline will largely be the same to the original albeit with some additional chapters at the start and some expansion of characters and their motives.

Enjoy!

Verde

He does not have a watch on him but Verde knows the man they are waiting for is running late. From where he is leaning against a nearby wall, he tries not to show his concerns about the present situation he and his companions found themselves in. Despite his best efforts to hide his concerns, it seems his companions are starting to notice something is off.

“Verde,” Saika calls out to him, pulling him out of his thoughts. He looks towards her and is aware of her pink eyes boring into him, searching for answers. For a moment he is distracted by the vibrancy of the pink in her hair, recently dyed if the colour was anything to go by. “When is Mr Hargrave going to get here?”

“Soon,” Verde assured her calmly.

“You said that like an hour ago,” Saika pouted. “I thought you said this Hargrave guy was always on time?”

Beside her, her companion Merlot put a hand on her arm. “Easy, Sai,” He said with the usual calm and neutral tone Verde had come to expect of the younger man. “No need to bite his head off.”

“I believe I said he’s usually on time,” Verde corrected, forcing a bit of a sarcastic tone to his voice. Although he was technically undercover, he was still uncomfortable arguing or speaking down to Merlot and Saika. At twenty, they were only six years younger than he was, but in many ways, they were still teenagers in his eyes. It didn’t help that they brought a slightly childlike energy with them whenever they were on a job together; Saika especially always seemed too eager to rush into things. When Verde had agreed to take this job he had been a little put off by their presence within Farron Hargrave’s circle of associates and wasn’t entirely comfortable with manipulating them as his predecessor had done so. 

All of a sudden, Merlot shifted and looked down the opposite end of the alley they were waiting in. "Someone's coming," He said, his purple eyes squinting. Verde could not see anyone but he did not doubt Merlot's assertion, the young man's semblance granted him a heightened awareness of his surroundings.

Sure enough, as Merlot had said, somebody did appear at the other end of the alley. What caught the three of them by surprise however was the appearance of two men approaching them. Verde recognised Farron quickly but the other man was unknown to him, though if he had to guess, he had a former military background like Farron based on the way he carried himself. Farron was a short, stocky man, whose size betrayed his true strength. Whilst he was completely bald, he had a five-o-clock shadow. He always dressed neatly in tailored suits and a green tie to match his eyes. Verde had learned long ago that Farron always wore longer blazers to conceal his badger tail. His companion was a slightly taller man with a wiry build and broad shoulders. The hair on top of his head was light brown and thinning but he possessed a thick, enviable moustache.  His eyes were a rich copper colour.

When the two men stopped before the three of them, Farron extended a gloved hand for Verde to shake. "Verde," He greeted, gripping his hand firmly when Verde shook it.

"Farron," Verde echoed in a similar neutral tone. As they parted, his eyes shifted to the man beside Farron who had been studying the three of them intently since their arrival. "I wasn't aware you would be bringing anyone with you. Is this a new business partner?"

"It was a last minute decision," Farron admitted, his green eyes glancing at his companion for a brief moment. "Crocus and I actually go way back. We were at the academy together and joined the military at the same time. Let's just say he has a vested interest in our work."

"Pah, vested interest my ass!" The man scoffed. "Don't sell me short, Farron." Although the tone had a hint of playfulness to it, Verde got the impression that Farron's companion was genuinely irritated by his introduction. "If not for me you would not have known about some of your jobs."

Verde now looked at the man with interest. There had always been rumours of Farron having a man on the inside giving him locations to raid but there was very little solid proof. His superiors had always kept it open as a potential line of investigation down the line, but with no real evidence, there had been no reason to pursue it. "Are you a military man?" Verde asked, looking at the stranger. "Forgive me...what did you say your name was?"

"Crocus. Crocus Navarro." The man answered, giving him a wide grin that unsettled him somewhat."And I was a military man. I stepped down some years ago due to differences with my superiors. I work private security now but I still have many dear friends in the military who give me the information I can offer out to those deserving of it." Crocus winked. Rotten all the way up, Verde thought bitterly. "And you are the mysterious Verde. Farron speaks highly of you. I must say it was odd to hear Teak had someone he worked with, I thought that man was just an isolated loon, to be honest with you."

Although suspicious of Crocus pointing out his supposed connection with Teak, Verde did well to keep his expression as a mask of neutral indifference. "As you said yourself, he preferred his privacy," Verde said curtly. "He might have been eccentric but he was sharper than he looked. He understood the wisdom of not putting your eggs all in one basket."

A curious expression passed over Crocus's face, as though he was not sure what to make of that. After a moment, he nodded and looked at Farron. “I like him.”

Farron nodded. “I told you he was good,” He said. 

“Very good,” Crocus said, before turning to speak to Verde again. “Your last job still has the authorities scratching their heads apparently. According to one of my sources, there was even talk of dropping it, in part due to the lack of evidence you left them.”

Verde flashed the man a grateful smile, slipping easily into the mindset that he needed to be proud of his supposed success. “You are too kind,” Verde said, feigning embarrassment. “Some credit should go to my companions here though.” He gestured towards Merlot and Saika, who had kept back since the conversation began. With a smile and a wave of the hand, he invited them forward.  As much as Verde personally wanted to keep the two of them out of things, he had to allow them to be present on some jobs, including the most recent. He likely would have kept them away from the last job too but his superiors were getting concerned that Farron and his associates might start getting suspicious.

“Ah, yes the two academy students. I'm impressed they held their own given that they didn't always perform so well under Teak,” Crocus mused, stepping forward to shake their hands. “Merlot Sigal and Saika Fujioka, yes?”

Saika was holding his hand as he said that, and Verde did not miss how she did not let go for a few passing moments. “Former students,” She corrected as she finally relinquished his grip.

Crocus merely shrugged, clearly not caring about this information. It might have frustrated Saika but it was a great relief to Verde who still couldn’t quite get a good read on Crocus.

“Well, Farron, I am satisfied we can progress with our work,” Crocus said, looking back to Farron. “I am still waiting on confirmation from my sources about the completion of their project but all signs indicate the end is in sight. Until then, I have a few more jobs you might be interested in to bide your time with.”

“Actually, I have a suggestion,” Saika interrupted.

Verde raised a brow. He had known of Crocus’s plans from his own sources but he was genuinely taken aback and curious about what Saika had to suggest.

Unbothered by the sudden shift of attention onto her, Saika pressed on. "Well, I was thinking how about we raid Princeton's Province? It's in a fairly secluded location, doesn't attract many shoppers, and they deal with a number of high quality goods. From what I recall, some pre-war artifacts and military memorabilia have passed through the owner's hands."

Farron looked at her suspiciously. "You seem quite well informed on this location, Saika."

"It's something I've been considering for a while," Saika admitted.

"You might want to know that we are familiar with the owner too," Merlot added something which earned him a glare from Saika.

Farron and Crocus shared a look. Verde noted that Farron seemed warier now but Crocus appeared to be more curious. "How familiar?" Crocus asked.

Saika shifted uncomfortably. "The owner's daughter was our teammate Jasmine."

"So this is, what, a revenge mission?" Farron questioned, narrowing his eyes at Saika in particular. "You are aware of how reckless that sounds?"

"I assure you it is no revenge mission," Saika began to say. Verde noticed her voice had begun to shift into a whining tone, a trait of hers that tended to flare up when she was angry or lying. 

"Don't fret child," Crocus cut in, giving Saika a dismissive wave which stopped her talking. He looked back to Farron. "Farron, my good man, don't you think this would be a good opportunity?"

"A good opportunity for what?" Farron asked. "That business has never been on our radar for a start. Besides, I doubt that they would sell anything worth our while."

"Oh, just because it's not to your tastes doesn't mean it's necessarily worth ignoring," Crocus responded, speaking in a way that felt like more of a jab to Farron. "As the girl said, they do on occasion sell some high value pieces. I should know, my estranged wife and daughter have purchased from there in recent months."

"But anything that will be of use to us?"

Crocus shrugged. "Well, I cannot say for certain. From what I recall, they don't keep a list of products they keep in besides the regular stock. But even if none of what they have is what we need, some of the valuable pieces would certainly fetch a pretty penny on the black market."

"Are you seriously considering this?" Farron huffed.

"I am always serious when it comes to money," Crocus said, flashing a charming smile towards Farron.

"Money or not, I am still unsure about this," Farron confessed. 

"Think of it this way, my friend, let this be a test for our two students," Crocus said, putting an arm around his companion. "If they can handle themselves it will prove what happened with Verde wasn't a one-off. And that they can handle themselves without needing to hold somebody's hand."

"I assure you they can handle themselves," Verde cut in. He didn't like this idea that Crocus was suggesting. Not only was this a location that had not been on their radar, but Crocus was also suggesting they do it alone which meant he could not keep an eye on them. And should they get caught as Teak had, well, he had no doubt Farron and Crocus would not come to their rescue.

"Can they though?" Crocus suddenly asked. Verde noted there was a slight edge to his tone now, suspicious and not at all pleasant. Where moments before he had been engaging in playful banter, it seemed now a darker side was slipping out. "I noticed that under Teak's watchful eye they were sloppy. He let them get away with far too much, far too often. He didn't care about cleaning up," Crocus said. He stared intently at Verde. "I notice under you it's more of the opposite."

"You're acting as though that's a bad thing," Verde snapped, easily letting his worries work into making him sound frustrated. "You can see how they were under Teak. I can't possibly see how being more cautious and watchful over them is a bad thing."

"There is such a thing as being too protective," Crocus pointed out. "Besides, they aren't children anymore."

"Nor are they soldiers," Verde retorted.

Verde had anticipated Crocus snapping at this but his expression remained fairly neutral, though his eyes briefly looked him up and down. "No, they are not."

"Crocus, I believe we have gotten off track," Farron interjected. "We are not here to discuss how Verde orders our associates around. As our middleman, he is allowed to handle things at his own discretion."

Crocus was still looking at Verde as Farron spoke. A long moment passed before he straightened and the more charming expression and attitude returned. "Of course, of course!" Crocus agreed. "Forgive me, friend, as you know, sometimes old habits die hard." The man clapped his hands. "Now, what about the matter with Princeton's Province? Have you given it more thought?"

"I have considered it, yes," Farron confirmed. "And I have decided you are right. There is potential for us to make good money if we find the right products there."

"I am glad we are in agreement," Crocus smiled in satisfaction. "Perhaps it would be a wise idea to get some surveillance on the location ahead of time? Do you have someone who can handle it?"

"I have people in mind. New talent you might say," Farron answered.

New talent? As far as Verde was aware there had been no new faces introduced to the group for some time. For multiple new people to have been referenced was intriguing. Verde made a mental note to ask his superiors if any names came up on the channels. However, he anticipated there would be little information on that front, as he knew Farron had a hacker working for him.

"So, about this job...when would you like us to do it?" Saika asked.

"Give it some time," Crocus answered, mostly speaking to Farron as he said this. "There's still an increased police presence as of late. It would be wise to wait until it has died down to go there. The last thing we want is any unwanted attention."

"Agreed," Farron nodded, turning to Merlot and Saika. "Keep your heads down for now and I will tell Verde to contact you when I am ready. Does this sound amenable to you, Verde?"

"I would rather be there myself, but that will suffice," Verde admitted, even though it was a lie. 

"Well, if everything is settled, we should be on our way, don't you think Farron?" Crocus suggested, looking at his watch as he did. 

"Yes that is fine," Farron nodded. "Besides I know you have further work to get to."

"Actual work," The other man chuckled. Crocus stepped forward to shake everyone's hands in a gesture of farewell. "Pleasure meeting all of you. I hope what we planned here today goes well."

As Crocus turned to depart, Farron lingered a moment, leaning toward Verde. "Your concerns about Merlot and Saika have been noted," He said cryptically. "Don't worry, I will send Candy with them to assist."

"That is good of you to offer," Verde said. "Hopefully that won't put you in trouble with Crocus."

As Farron leaned back, he grimaced slightly. "He does not control what I do."

Except that's exactly what he does, Verde thought as he flashed Farron an appreciative farewell smile.

The three of them waited for Farron and Crocus to leave before they in turn departed. Leaving the alley, they eased themselves back onto the street, blending in with the other Atlesian citizens milling about on the streets.

"Did that go well?" Merlot asked.

"Honestly, I couldn't say for certain," Verde admitted without turning around. "I'd say it went as well as we could have hoped."

"That's good to know," Merlot said, before seconds later turning to Saika. "Where did that come from about Jasmine's place!?"

"As I said, it was something that I've been planning for a while," Saika responded simply. "I thought you'd be more understanding."

"How long?"

"Since that bitch stabbed us in the back and didn't bother to defend us when the academy threatened to expel us," Saika said. Verde didn't need to turn around to know she was seething behind him. He could hear the venom in her voice.

"The past is in the past," Verde cut in before they could hash things out. "I would have preferred a head's up if you had been thinking of something like that, but the plan of action is in motion now."

"How long will we have to wait?" Saika pressed.

"As long as Farron deems necessary," Verde responded. In truth, he wanted things to happen sooner rather than later, but that would require his own superiors to get the Atlesians to pull back on their investigation, albeit temporarily.

The three of them came to a junction in the road and Verde made a gesture for the two of them to act like they were saying farewell. "It was so nice to catch up with you both again!" Verde said in an exaggerated tone. "Stay out of trouble until I get in contact again." He would add in a quieter tone.

Merlot and Saika nodded and made their own false goodbyes before the three of them departed. Verde remained where he was for a few minutes, making sure the two were out of sight before tucking himself into a concealed doorway.

He pulled out a secure scroll and dialed a number.

"Hello?" A masculine voice answered.

"Hello sir, it's Vernon," Verde greeted, using his real name to address his boss. "I have an update."

[jasmariswonderland]

This is several days late but at least its finally done! Here’s Sidonie’s birthday interview! I’ll also be posting the first part of her ceremonial robes story later today! Hope you all enjoy getting to know Sidonie better! 💙

~~~

Yuulan: Happy Birthday!

Sidonie: Thank you, my dear. I’m so glad you could come!

Y: I must say, your birthday outfit really suits you!

S: You think so? I feel like I stand out in white, but I guess since today is my day, I should. 

Y: Have your family sent you anything? 

S: Family sent me a beautiful card. It read “We hope you continue to blossom beautifully and stay out of trouble. Happy birthday to our blooming sorceress!” It was signed by my parents, grandparents and sisters too! 

Y: Do you mind telling us a little more about your family?

S: My grandparents own a flower shop but we all help out with the business. We sell many kinds of flowers but we are most famous for our roses. There is a special magic, passed down in my family for generations, that allows our roses to remain beautiful long past the time roses would normally wilt. Me, my sisters and mother help grandmother with cultivating the roses and we’ve all been taught the magic. I hope one day I can pass it down to my own children. 

Y: Has magical rose cultivation always been a part of your heritage? 

S: For as long as anyone can remember. There’s this one story grandmother told us when I was a little girl, about a beautiful witch who we may or may not be descended from. Disguised as a beggar woman, she offered a prince a single red rose in exchange for shelter from a winter storm. The cruel prince turned her away so she revealed her true form to him. 

Y: What happened when the prince realized the truth?

S: Hehe, I’ll leave that to your imagination, but let’s just say, the witch gave the prince a very beastly lesson in not judging those by their appearances! 

~~~

Y: What is your favorite food?

S: Crepe Suzette. Oddly enough, I don’t really enjoy desserts but crepe suzette has the perfect blend of sweet and tangy that’s not too cloying. 

Y: Do you dislike most other desserts then?

S: Milk chocolate in particular, it’s way too sweet for my tastes. The same goes for white chocolate but I love dark. My preferences in dessert tend toward more refined tastes. Mocha, marzipan, and matcha, are a few of my favorite flavors. 

Y: Is that why one of the layers of your birthday cake is a matcha cake?

S: Yep! Trey baked it especially for today! Really, he is so skilled in the kitchen! Incidentally, his family’s bakery is on the same street as my family’s flower shop. And if you’re wondering, that’s how we came to know each other. 

Y: Did you know any other NRC students prior to being enrolled here?

S: Yes, I knew Riddle because our grandmothers were friends. And Farron and I knew actually were friends in preschool but he ended up attending an all boys grade school and I went to an all girls one. So it was quite a few years before our paths crossed again at this school. Everyone else here was completely new to me but that’s not a bad thing! I’ve met so many fascinating people from all over the world and that’s very exciting! 

~~~

Y: What sorts of things do you enjoy?

S: Besides gardening you mean? Well, I really love to paint, especially with watercolors. 

Y: When did you begin painting?

S: I began last year but I’ve been making very quick progress. I’ve always had a passing interest in art but I never really indulged in that before coming to NRC. Last year, I was struggling with a project in my art class and Rook-san was kind enough to help me. He’s a very talented artist himself and under his teaching, I began painting not just for my art class, but for my own enjoyment. I think we would both be in the art club if we weren’t already in the science club. 

Y: On that same note, tell us about your activities with the science club.

S: The science club is wonderful! We experiment in any and all kind of chemistry and alchemy, crafting with potions, cultivating plants, you name it! Basically anything Professor Crewel doesn’t teach us in class, we dabble with in the science club. 

Y: Sounds like it can be dangerous if you’re not careful. 

S: Indeed, we meet a few times a week and it’s not unheard of for an explosion of some sort to go off at least once a week when we’re working! But so long as everyone practices proper safety protocols, everything is usually fine, Trey personally sees to that. 

Y: That’s good to know, and it sounds like you have a lot of fun with them. 

S: I do! And I’ve learned a lot from our club activities, particularly about creating poisons. 

Y: Uh…is there a reason why you would want to know about that?

S: Well, besides it being part of our curriculum, poison crafting is just one of those things that might come in handy in the future. You never know…

Y: Uh…should I begin sleeping with one eye open?

S: *laughs* Fear not, Yuulan! You are not the victim I have in mind, if you can call that such a thing! 

Y: Uhhhh…I’m glad for that. And once again, happy birthday! 

(A/N: When I ever get around to trying to draw it, the groovy image is of Sidonie being offered a gift by Trey. Rook and Danica are watching in the background with smirks on their faces.)

~~~

[lightisdays2k]

Day 1: Role Reversal

Hi. Burning Phoenix here. So I lack a tumblr but I still wanted to share this. My take on Day 1: Role Reversal

He loved fishing. It was no secret that when he was not working on his duties, he would either be at the arcade, or by a lake with his gear. It was relaxing and enjoyable, no matter what his friends say. There was just something about enjoying a good, clear day while standing by the water’s edge and waiting for the perfect catch to come along. And the power struggle between angler, and the fish.

“Again with the fishing…”

Noctis nearly jumped at the voice and turned to face the culprit. He cleared his throat and regained his composure. “Hey Light... I thought the princess needed her beauty sleep.” He teased.

Princess Éclair ‘Lightning’ Farron gave the dark-haired young man a frown. “You’re the one who enjoys sleep more than a cat does. Makes me wonder how you of all people managed to make it into the Guardian Corps.”

“That hurts my feelings,” Noctis pouted, and reeled his line in. “I’m pretty good at my job, and you know it.”

Lightning crossed her arms. “Right. The guy who enjoys rushing off to grab his gear whenever he sees a body of water that’s deeper than a swimming pool, spends his gil on arcade machines, can’t keep his own apartment clean, and sleeps the day away.”

“You know you love me anyway,” He teased with a boyish grin.

Although Lightning would never say it out loud, she could admit that she did find him decently attractive. She did have eyes after all. But far be it from her to just babble like a school girl with a crush. She already had Fang for that, who enjoyed catching the eye of both men and women alike.

“Don’t push it, Noct.” Lightning sighed and moved to stand beside him.

He grinned and cast his line again, hoping for better luck. Especially now that Lightning was beside him. He enjoyed her company; she may have been stern and sharp-tongued. By-the-book and no-nonsense, but he had seen the other side to her shine through despite all that. Though he had to admit they did not really have the best first impressions of each other. Especially after she had learned he was one of the Guardian Corps, and bodyguard assigned to her.

Lightning had protested, stating she already had her retainers in Oerba Yun Fang, Oerba Dia Vanille, and her own sister, Princess Serah Farron.

As the older and protective sibling, Lightning had strongly protested against her younger sister acting as guard and retainer. But the Farron bloodline was a stubborn lot, and Serah argued against the firstborn heir until Lightning had to eventually give in. Somehow.

“Why don’t you try it? We’re here in the Sunleth Waterscape, the place is all…uh…’naturey’, and the water’s clear. Perfect for fishing.” Noctis said and offered her the fishing rod.

“You’ve been spending too much time around Vanille, I see.” Lightning raised an eyebrow, but accepted the offered fishing pole and took Noctis’ place as he stood back to let her do the fishing herself.

The guardian chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well…better than hanging around Fang too much.”

Unable to help it, Lightning let out a chuckle. “Yeah. I think we can all agree to that. She’s a bad influence enough already.”

Noctis blushed, knowing what his charge was referring to. He waved her off defensively. “Those magazines weren’t mine! Fang shoved them into my hands…!”

“I didn’t say they were,” The princess said calmly, never taking her eyes off the line and the lure bobbing in the water. “Before you came along, she dumped the same crap on me back then.”

Noctis stared at her and blinked. Had he heard that right? “She…did?”

Lightning nodded. “She did. I once punched someone who was…let’s just say, coming on too strongly, and Fang decided I probably didn’t realize how flirting and sexual intercourse worked so she tried giving me erotic magazines, then started giving me graphic details of how to please someone’s genitals and other body parts, as a way to ‘educate’ me about the birds and the bees.”

The guardian snorted. “The stone-cold princess…keeping erotic material and listening to details of how sex works?”

Lightning nodded. “Yeah. Pretty much.”

“Great… Damn it, Fang.” Noctis muttered.

“Don’t let it get to you. She’s always been wild and shameless. Be glad it wasn’t condoms from her secret stash that she threw at you.” The lure was suddenly pulled under and Lightning began reeling in her catch, her arms tensing as she began her struggle.

Somehow, Noctis was too distracted by the idea of Lightning owning dirty magazines and the fact Fang had a stash of condoms—for Etro knows whatever reason and activities she gets up to—to even react to the fact the princess was reeling in a seemingly big catch. He shook his head from any unsavoury thoughts.

Lightning was a grown woman; it was none of his business what she did in her spare time. Not that any of it mattered to him. It was just his instinct as her personal guard to think on it, he reasoned to himself. He was just thinking cautiously, that was all. At least, that was what he believed.

The sound of splashing finally snapped him out of his daze and he looked over to see Lightning pulling something in, close to the shore. She dug her heels in as the fish began to fight even harder. She looked so focused that Noctis dared not interfere, though he was tempted to.

When the catch finally made it to the shallows, Noctis stepped out into the water to help with pulling it as the fight left the creature.

It wasn’t a giant, but it was an impressive catch nonetheless. Once it flopped onto dry land, Lightning exhaled and lowered her arms. It had been quite the workout, but nothing she wasn’t used to. She looked over at Noctis who was grinning at the prize.

“This is awesome! It’s pretty big one too. Good one, Light!” He sounded very eager and excited as he pulled it over to her. His eyes sparkled with joy at seeing such a great catch. Fishing really was such a passion for him…

Lightning turned her head away as she handed him the rod. “Yeah well…thanks for letting me try it out.” She knew how protective and clingy he was over his fishing gear.

“I bet Serah will have a blast in cooking this!” Still happy with Lightning’s results, Noctis turned to his charge.

Lightning shrugged. “I’m sure. After all, there’s no way Serah would allow Fang near the cookery.”

Noctis laughed. “Well her behemoth ribs are pretty good. I guess it’s her homemade barbeque sauce. Even if it’s the only thing she can cook up.”

“Oh really? Then I guess there’s no need for me to cook up extra of my behemoth steak. Then again, it means more for me,” Lightning mused to herself.

At the remark, Noctis’ eyes widened. “That doesn’t mean I don’t like your steaks! They’re great, really! Please don’t take away my steak privileges…”

It was one of his secret little pleasures, tasting Lightning’s cooking. Or rather, her steaks. Like Fang, it was all she knew how to cook, but it was rare for Lightning to even bother with the cooking since Serah was the better chef between them.

Lightning pretended to think about it. “I don’t know…”

“Please?” He gave her the best puppy eyes he could muster.

“Fine. On one condition though…” Lightning faced him, crossing her arms.

Noctis smiled hopefully and stared at her. “Sure. Anything.”

The princess gave him a look. “Eat your vegetables.”

Now that was a deal-breaker. Noctis hated vegetables; they were evil in his eyes, terrible things that should never be put in anyone’s plate, let alone mouth.

“Anything except that.” Noctis huffed.

Lightning shrugged and turned away. “In that case, I’ll head back to camp. You can bring the seafood back.”

Noctis pouted at her retreating back. Lightning always did like playing hard-to-get. Stubborn Farron; it was in the blood. Serah could be the same as well, but Lightning was like a stubborn cat. Good thing he liked cats.

He hastily picked up the fish and grunted as he felt its weight. Thankfully it was not too heavy, but it still had an impressive bulk. Once got a hold of the catch, Noctis went after Lightning.

The princess paused and looked over her shoulder, letting her bodyguard catch up. She had to internally admit, she was rather fond of him. He was endearing at times, despite how much of a lazy bum he could be. He was indeed a skilled fighter, even able to match Lightning herself.

Not that she would ever admit that to him out loud. She did not need him growing a big head; his hair did enough of that already.

When they reached camp, Fang and Vanille were up and about, while Serah was just leaving her tent.

“Good morning, lovebirds!” Vanille waved in greeting.

Fang smirked when she saw the two walking back. “Hey you two! Where’d ya sneak off to? Went and got busy?”

“Shut it,” Lightning snapped and went to greet her sister.

Noctis groaned at Fang’s words and dumped the would-be meal down on the table set up beside the tents. It made a big thump as it made contact with the surface.

Serah made her way over to inspect the catch. “Wow, now that’s something. Good job, Noctis.”

“Actually…your sister caught it.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

The youngest princess turned to her sibling and smirked teasingly. “Did she now? Well, I’m glad you managed to find time to enjoy some recreational fishing, Sis. Especially with Noctis around to teach you.”

“Don’t push it, Serah. There’s only so far your sister privileges can take you,” Lightning warned with a frown.

Serah grinned and pushed Noctis towards Lightning. “I’ll get to work on making us a meal. In the meantime, you two play nice, okay?”

“Ohohoho! Rose Junior’s got ya there! Don’t be shy, Light. It’s normal to give in to one’s feral needs.” Fang winked at the two.

Vanille nudged her longtime friend. “Don’t tease, Fang. Let them have their moment.”

After the redhead pulled Fang away, leaving Lightning and Noctis with some breathing room. Of course Serah kept her head down, keeping herself busy with cleaning and cutting up the fish for the day’s large breakfast. However, that did not stop a grin from forming.

Lightning pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m surrounded by…”

“Uh…yeah.” Noctis sighed. “Well except for your sister.”

Lightning shook her head. “She’s lucky I care about her so damn much.”

“Well, I care too. She is the other princess and all.”

An awkward silence followed the two. But thankfully, none of their companions decided to say a word. For now.

Noctis could not help but steal a glance or two at the princess. It still boggled his mind that a princess preferred to be referred to as ‘Lightning’. Despite the fact she did have a proper birth name, this moniker she took up was the name she preferred over the one she had been given. Strange, and yet it did suit her. She moved like her namesake and she even acted like it.

She had the grace and elegance of a wild cat and though she lacked the proper manners of a lady, that same fierce grace allowed her to seemingly get away with it.

But if anybody was even less of a lady, it was Fang. She was the definitive definition of a ‘wild woman’. Shameless and just full of teasing comments. Ever since figuring out Noctis’ infatuation with the eldest princess, Fang could never resist poking fun at the dark-haired guardian. Even Lightning was not safe from the relentless teasing. Only Vanille was their saving grace, but even she seemed to have caught wind of the hidden affections and enjoyed having her chance at a little tease or two.

Sometimes Lightning wondered how any of her companions, with the exception of Serah, managed to even reach the titles and ranks they had achieved. But it did prove despite their…sometimes childish tendencies, they were not ones to be trifled with.

“So…” Noctis began but trailed off awkwardly.

“So…?” Lightning raised an eyebrow at him.

Serah rolled her eyes at the sad display. She was well aware of her sister’s fondness for Noctis, but being the eldest Farron heir, and a Farron in general, Lightning was ever-so stubborn about it. She could openly feel like a regular woman and not someone of royal blood, thanks to the dark-haired bodyguard of hers, and she was able to enjoy the company of someone she could trust and treat her well as a person. Despite the growing affections, it seems even Lightning herself was either unaware of them, or she merely tried to push it to the back of her mind.

However, Serah could say the same about Noctis. The man clearly had a crush on her sister and Lightning was well aware of it. Noctis may be what one would typically describe as the dark and handsome type, though he acted anything but. He was sweet and shy and was an everyday man. Despite his duties as the personal guard of the princesses of Bodhum, Noctis enjoyed the simple pleasures life had to offer. He could make friends easily if he wanted to and he was capable of being serious when the situation called for it. And yet he was unable to properly confront Lightning with his affections without stumbling like a schoolboy.

Serah added the finishing touches to her seafood dish and decided that the two lovebirds had enough embarrassment for the day. For now.

“Alright, everyone! Time to eat!” The youngest princess announced.

Lightning and Noctis glanced over at her before exchanging looks at each other. They’ll get a chance to talk. Later.

The princesses and their entourage then found themselves at the center of their campsite, enjoying Serah’s home cooking away from home. They still had many miles and days before they reached Eden, but the journey itself was definitely going to be a memorable one.

[darkanima2345]

This is an idea I've had in my head for a while now. I do plan on continuing this story. Please leave a comment if you want or have any constructive criticism. To paraphrase Bhunivelze, 'Hoperai love eternal!'

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Social media is a powerful thing in this new world, Lightning Farron thought to herself as the countryside flew by; the sound of the trains engine her only companion, other than her own thoughts. I’ve spent months searching for him using the methods I would have used in the old world with no success, yet just 13 hours after I get a social media account I find him. Lightning smiled. She couldn’t wait to see him again, and if his social media profile picture was anything to go by he had returned to his true adult body, a body she had only ever seen from the timeless city of Valhalla. A veeeery attractive body at that, a childish voice that sounded suspiciously like Lumina piped up. Lightning shook her head trying to dispel those thoughts.

The train door slid open and Lightning stepped out. She paused a few steps onto the platform, enjoying the warm wind on her face and the smell of flowers and freshly mown grass. Looking to the sky she saw the moon, so much smaller than the man made moon in the previous world, and a plane in the air. Maybe Sazh is piloting that plane, she wondered. Walking down the steps and taking a right she came to the car park. And there, halfway down, was Hope Estheim leaning on the bonnet of his car. As Lightning approached she saw he had his eyes closed, arms folded, and was facing the sun, a small smile on his face. She stopped a few feet away and loudly cleared her throat. His eyes flew open and his head turned towards the noise. Lightning saw his pupils dilate as soon as his eyes landed on hers. He pushed himself up, his soft green eyes never leaving her for a second. He took very slow, tentative step towards her. When he reached her he quickly and quite forcefully poked her in the forehead.

‘Hey! What was that for?!’ she said, rubbing the injured spot.

‘Sorry. I had to make sure you weren’t a phantom...’ Hope pulled her into a crushing hug. Dropping her bag, she reciprocated the hug, pulling him in tighter, sandalwood cologne filling her nostrils.

‘Thank you Hope,’ she whispered in his ear. Hope released her from the hug, placing his arms on her shoulders and staring into her blue orbs.

‘Why are you thanking me?’ he said, confusion evident on his face. Lightning stared into his eyes, feeling heat rising in her face.

‘You came back for me. You saved me from the chaos. You heard me cry for help, when no one else did. You saved my soul.’ Lightning could feel tears forming in her eyes. ‘Thank you.’ She was aware that Hope's eyes were growing wet too.

‘You don't need to thank me for anything. If you think even for a second I would leave you alone in the chaos, especially after hearing you shouting for help, you clearly don’t know me. I was going to turn back you know. I would have stayed in the chaos with you, if you wanted to stay. We are partners, both in the last world, this one and any to come.’ He smiled, a single tear escaping from his eyes and sliding down his cheek. Lightning gently wiped his tear off his cheek leaving her hand on the side of his face. He leaned into her touch, eyes gently closing.

Kiss him! Lightning mentally clamped down on Lumina’s voice, who she could almost hear laughing away. Hope opened his eyes, smiling at her.

‘So, what should I call you in this new world? Your profile says Claire. Is that okay?’

‘I’ll always be Light to you Hope. But call me whatever you wish.’ Hope nodded.

‘You look quite tired Light. Let’s get you back to my house. We can talk all we want there.’ Lightning nodded. Hope clicked a button on his keys and the silver car beeped. Hope went and opened the passenger door. Lightning smiled at him as she went to get into the car. She stopped when she noticed a purple velvet box on the passenger seat with a pink bow on top. Hope noticed her staring.

‘It’s a gift for you. I was out shopping when you contacted me. As I was messaging back, it caught my eye in a shop window. Be careful with it though, it is quite fragile.’ Lightning nodded, picked up the box and sat down in the car. By the time Hope sat in the drivers seat, Lightning had the box open and was staring at the contents with wide eyes and her mouth open. Inside the box was a rose blossom made of pink glass. It caught the light just right and cast a pink glare onto her chest.

‘Hope... is this...?’

‘Your crystal that you used to summon Odin? It looks like it to me,’ he said with a grin reaching from ear to ear. Lightning looked away from the crystal and met his gaze.

‘Thank you Hope' she said her voice close to breaking.

‘Now that I will accept thanks for,’ he said with a wink.

Kiss him! Kiss him! Lightning’s fight against Lumina was a fight she was rapidly losing.

[tenebraetrash17]

Kiss Meme 38 for Raire?

…oh…..oh no.

SURE THING ANON, I’D LOVE TO PRACTICE WRITING MORE ANGST!! I might have to set this in an AU of sorts where it’s a somewhat shared Universe? Or where XV is like the New World or something? I dunno, but I lowkey just wanted to cast Lightning as the new head of Tenebrae’s super small army. Also, Ravus didn’t run off to Zegnatus in this one and get slashed. Like a fucking idiot, mY CHILD WHY DIDN’T YOU STAY HOME???

So yee, hope you enjoy?

Send me a Ship and a Number and I will Write a Kiss

38:…because they’re running out of time.

It wasn’t strange to cough up black liquid for Ravus. As a matter of a fact, it became natural for him ever since the signing ceremony. But ever since he had given the Sword of The Father to Noctis after leaving to stay in Tenebrae after the attack on Altissia, the coughs had become more and more frequent, to the point of where he’d be curled in on himself, just trying to get through it. Fresh air did him no good, trying to drink water only made it worse. It was only once he saw the veins from where his prosthetic met skin turn a night black when he knew what was happening. He’d watch people turn down in the labs at Niflheim. He knew how this worked.

After painstakingly writing a letter of gratitude for Maria, as well as all the others employed at Fenestala Manor and a letter for his people, Ravus sealed them with the royal crest and left them on his desk. Rubbing his forehead wearily as he focused on pushing the darkness back, watching as the scourge all but faded from his skin, leaving him panting. Ravus would have normally left by now, but…there were complications, and he had one thing left to do.

Two raps at a door and not even a moment later it was opened, one eyebrow arched as Lightning Farron leaned against the doorway. “Lord Ravus, coming to see me without sending word ahead? What’s all this about? Don’t tell me, you saw the new training regime ” She remarked, not sounding surprised, more of a playful sarcastic tone to her voice. Lightning’s eyes soon widened as Ravus leaned down and tilted her head up in order to press his lips to hers, nothing too hard, but it wasn’t soft either. It was an almost desperate one, and drawn out as if he was reluctant to let it end.

“….Apologies for bothering you at this time, Claire. Something compelled me to come over and bid you goodnight.” Ravus murmured after breaking off the kiss, remaining inches from Lightning as she caught her breath, since he hadn’t given her much time to prepare in advance. “I suppose I ought to head back-” Ravus began his lie before Lightning put her arms around his neck. “You’re gonna come over here, kiss me and then just leave?” She asked, looking slightly amused as Ravus struggled to find words. “…no, I had also planned on telling you that I loved you, and that you’ll always remain in my heart, Claire Farron.” Lightning, despite being used to him saying things like that, was a little taken aback. “…Ravus, you sound as if you’re dying.” She followed it up with a hesitant little chuckle causing Ravus to quickly force a smile. “That would be something, now wouldn’t it? I assure you, if I was dying I would be spending those hours making the streets of Niflheim run red.” Lightning’s laugh relieved him as he could see the relief in her eyes. “Well, if you’re not dying, then why not stay the night?” She invited with a coy tilt of her head. Ravus hesitated before allowing Lightning to pull him inside.

And once the morning sun hit, Lightning awoke to an empty bed, a rose and a sylleblossom on the other pillow with not even a note in sight. Ravus, on the other hand, had gotten himself as far as he could from the village and Fenestala manor before allowing his body to succumb to the scourge. He could only pray that the little sunlight that existed these days would destroy him quickly so he wouldn’t harm anyone, the scorching black tears streaming down his face as he twisted and convulsed, growing larger by the second. Ravus’ last hope was that Lightning would move on, and that she wouldn’t ever find out the truth of why he left.

He knew he couldn’t protect her and that she could hold her own, but just this once, he wanted to keep her from this.

I FEEL LIKE THIS ENDING WAS SO BAD FGHJKL I HOPE I DID OK ANON, THE ANGST LEVELS WERE NOT AT ALL WHAT I WANTED THEM TO BE.

[day0one]

Rick Scott Flees The Country As Republicans Ask Where Their Money Went

Republican Senator Rick Scott is facing tough questions from his party about where all the campaign money they've raised this year has gone, so he did the only logical thing: He fled the country to hang out on a luxury yacht off the coast of Italy. While there's little chance that Scott took the money for himself, absconding to a luxury yacht in foreign waters isn't exactly great optics at the moment, as Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains.

*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

So as we've talked about, uh, a couple days ago, Republican Senator Rick Scott, the chair of the national Republican senatorial committee is facing some tough questions from all the other Republicans in the Senate, demanding to know where roughly 150 million of their campaign dollars went because they've raised 173 million, this election cycle, contentious midterm races right around the corner now. And they've only got 28 million left in the bank. So almost 150 million are gone. And they wanna see the receipts. They wanna know where it went. So Rick Scott, again, who is in charge of the money, he did the only logical thing a person could do in that situation. He fled the country and he is now off the coast of Italy on a luxury yacht with his family. Now let me ma let me let make this totally clear. I am not in any way suggesting, nor do I believe that Rick Scott stole the money from the N RSC, right?

That would be ridiculous. The guy's got hundreds of millions of dollars. He doesn't need to take money from anybody. Plus it would be fairly obvious. It's a little too on the nose for him to steal the money and go sit on a luxury yacht off the coast of Italy. But what I will say is that the optics of that are really, really, really bad, right? The Republicans are sitting there saying all of our money has disappeared. Where's the guy in charge of our money? Oh, he's in the Mediterranean on a luxury yacht. What the hell? I mean, honestly, if you were watching this in a movie and you saw the evil corporate villain, do that, you'd be like, all right, that's a little too far-fetched. Nobody would actually do that. And here, Rick Scott, who is pretty much a cartoon villain at this point, does it?

Not that he stole the money. Okay. Please do not think for a second. I'm trying to suggest that he stole it. I'm just saying the optics of this do make it seem like he did, but he didn't. He's got, like I said, hundreds of millions of dollars, just like the Republican party used to, but they don't anymore because Rick Scott sucks at handling money. And as I said, last time, the first time we talked about the story of the money disappearing, um, that's kind of what you get. Like, there is literally nothing in Rick Scott's history that should make anybody think that he's good with money. He was running. The company founded the company that committed the largest Medicare fraud in history had to plead the fifth amendment 75 times so that he didn't incriminate himself in the activity. And yet Republicans looked at that and said, that's our money guy. That's the guy we wanna put in charge of the purse strings. Even though he's only been in office for four years, it's not like he had any kind of seniority in the Republican

Party. So it made no sense at all to even put him in charge of all of your money. You could have found somebody else who's maybe been there for 10 years, more than one term to do that. Maybe somebody who's paid their dues a little bit, but they picked Rick Scott, cuz he was a rich guy with rich friends and they thought it would benefit him. And now it came back to bite him on the. And Rick Scott clearly doesn't care cuz he's enjoying his little August vacation on that luxury yacht off the coast of Italy.

[nix-writes]

Thominho Week Day Two: Crossover AU

@thominho-week

Minho stared at their new Captain. He was young, but they said he was a genius. And Alby had promoted him from Science Officer to First Officer, demoting Minho and leaving Thomas as their Captain.

"Mr. Park."

"Captain."

"Please, call me Thomas. If we're to be working closely together as I intend, then it's only fair we are familiar." Minho only nodded. "I'd like to ask you to be my First Officer, Mr. Park, as you were for Alby." Of course, the boy knew Alby well enough to call him by his first name.

"I would be honored," Minho said. "But are you sure the role of Captain is one you want to take? You don't have to, you know. Newt and I are willing enough to be Captain, and you're so young." Not that Minho had much to say anything. He was only twenty-one himself.

"I know. I don't get much of a choice, though. Admiral Paige has informed me that I am to serve as Captain at least five years on this ship, if not more." So he did not want to be Captain? Minho knew for most children it was a dream- it had been for him- and his new Captain was only sixteen.

"If you wish, you can serve as Captain in name only. You could continue your work as a science officer and I could do most of the Captain's work for you." Minho offered. Thomas shook his head, looking exhausted.

"If only it was that easy. Admiral Paige is going to be checking in every now and then, with no warning. I have no choice."

"Well, she can't expect you to start working today. You look exhausted and half-ill."

"Thanks, that's exactly how I feel." Thomas chuckled. "Yeah, I should go see Gally, but I haven't gotten around to it yet."

"I'll walk you there. We can't have our new Captain collapsing in the halls and scaring everyone to death."

Minho had had his doubts about Captain Murphy, in the beginning, but he had quickly proved himself to be adept at adapting to whatever situation might arise. He had, in those first few years, often asked his bridge crew their opinion and for advice. Minho was proud to say he no longer needed their advice as much as he once had.

“Welcome home, Captain Murphy." Admiral Paige said. "And this is your bridge crew?" She indicated that she would like to be introduced to them as if she didn't already know.

"Yes; my first officer, Commander Minho Park." Minho nodded shortly at her. "Commander Harriet Grey, my communications officer, Commander Newton Isaacs, my navigator, Lieutenant Commander Sonya Isaacs, my helmsman and astrophysicist, Dr. Galileo Farrone, my chief medical officer, and Lieutenant Brenda Despain, my chief engineer."

"I trust you've had a fine five years together?" Admiral Paige asked.

"Yes, of course. We've got a good Captain and a tight-knit crew." Brenda answered.

"I see. Captain, the admirals and I want to speak with you. The rest of you can get settled into your rooms here." She led Thomas away, and the rest of the bridge crew walked together to their rooms.

"I assume the admirals will want to speak with all of us," Minho said.

"We'll be ready. The Captain will admit to his failings, and if they ask about him, I'll say that at first, he was young and unsure, but he has grown past that and now is confident in his decisions," Newt said.

"He really does know what he's doing," Gally admitted. "Even if we can never get him to take a break."

"He's in the role of both Chief Science Officer and Captain, what do you expect?" Sonya said. "Besides, if he stays on as Captain, he's going to hire a couple of ensigns and promote Fry to Chief Science Officer."

"Why couldn't he do that before?" Harriet frowned.

"Paige refused to allow it," Minho said. "When he asked me if I would stay on as his first officer, he said he'd give up the captaincy if Paige would let him. Maybe now she will."

"Commander Park?" They weren't even halfway across the building yet. "The admirals want to speak with you alongside your Captain. Someone will deliver your bags to your room." Minho nodded.

"The Captain and I will join you as soon as possible." Minho followed the messenger to the admirals' conference room.

"Commander Park is here, Admirals." The boy said, then he hurried away. Minho knew the feeling well.

"It's nice to see you, Admirals," Minho scanned the room. "And it's good to see you're all in good health."

"Same to you, Commander. Your Captain tells us you've done an excellent job of guiding him through his first troubling years of captaincy." Admiral Janson said.

"I'd have to say he did well to ask for guidance when he needed it and working off instinct." Minho kept his tone even.

"Of course he did. And so young, too. Younger than Captain Kirk, even. But what we're worried about are the few incidents in his first year of commanding The USS Valhalla." Of course they would go after something like that.

"Those incidents were all handled as quickly as possible; For one Captain Murphy was in a coma most of the time. Might I remind the council that he was also sixteen years old?"

"Are you saying sixteen-year-olds are incompetent?" Another admiral threw at him.

"Not at all, ma'am. I'm saying that Captain Murphy was thrown into a captaincy at a very young age- too young, some might say- from being the second to the Chief Science Officer. The late captain Einstein promoted him to first officer based on his merit. I don't doubt his decision- it has brought about some of the best five years of my life- but I do wonder at the decision of the Federation to leave a sixteen-year-old with no guidance but that of his bridge crew."

"Well said, Commander." Admiral Paige said. "The decision, mostly my own, is something we have puzzled over for several years. But Captain Murphy has proved himself time and time again."

"Indeed." Minho didn't like the look in Janson's eye. "We'll be hearing from the rest of your crew shortly, but Commander Park, Captain Murphy, you are free to go. You have a week or more of shore leave, depending on how look deliberations take. Enjoy it."

"Thank you, Admiral." Minho turned and left. Thomas followed a minute later. Minho waited until they were far enough away from the conference room to speak.

"What are they talking about? What are they going to do?"

"They're wondering if, perhaps, I shouldn't have a ship at all. Some want to make me an admiral, but most want me to go back the academy."

"You started advanced courses the same year I did, at twelve. You graduated at sixteen. Like, I'm pretty smart, but that's impressive. They can't send you back."

"They totally can. They can say my grades aren't what a Captain needs."

"You had straight A's and a 7.9 GPA from testing out of a dozen classes."

"I didn't know you kept track of my grades, Minho."

"When I was told you were joining the ship, I did some research." They hadn't been in the same circles; Thomas had kept to himself and most everyone had avoided him anyway, being so young, and Minho had been swamped with work. Newt, of course, was someone they had had in common, and his younger sister, Sonya, was only three years older than Thomas opposed to the five for the rest of them. Thomas laughed. "It's cool, Minho. I did the same thing, had a bit of a crush on you for a few years." Minho had known. Teenage Thomas was not nearly as subtle as he meant to be, and the first time he realized he couldn't read Thomas's face had really been a curveball.

"What if I told you I have a bit of a crush on you now?" Minho blurted, then immediately wished he hadn't. He was five years older, Thomas was his superior officer, it would never work.

"Well, I wished you'd waited to say that." Thomas frowned. "At least until we were on The Valhalla again. If the admirals get wind of it-"

"Captain Kirk and Commander Spock had a relationship and it worked out just fine," Minho told him. "But it can wait, trust me. We've got bigger things to worry about. Everyone should be in their rooms by now if they haven't been summoned. Let's get settled in."

"I've never been here long enough to take a good look around," Thomas began. "Maybe we can find some nice restaurants and take the crew out for dinner and then sightseeing."

"That would be fun," Minho agreed. "But we've got a week of shore leave, let's not do everything in one day." They reached their rooms.

"I think I'm going to take a nap. The admirals are tough." Thomas said.

"Okay. I'll find out where the rest of our crew is." Minho couldn't say he wasn't worried for his Captain; twenty one was still too young for all of this, and he had been sick for a week before they landed. Thomas wasn't often ill, but when he was, it hit him hard. If he fell ill again, here, the admirals wouldn't permit him a ship anytime soon.

"Commander, Captain." Gally stepped outside his room. "I heard you talking. I'm the only one who hasn't been summoned yet, but I'm sure I will be soon. Captain, are you ill? You look pale."

"I'm only tired, Doctor," Thomas reassured him. "I'll be fine after a nap."

"Of course, Captain," Gally agreed quickly. "Minho and I had best let you go in and rest, then."

"Thank you, Doctor. I'll see you both later." Thomas opened his door and stepped into his room.

"You better unpack, Minho, you didn't get the chance to yet. And I believe I have to leave." Gally nodded at the pageboy hurrying towards them. Gally went to meet him, leaving Minho alone in the hall.

They met at Sapphire Sisters, one of many of a family-run chain established centuries ago. The building, brightly lit and up-to-date, still held touches of its origin century.

"This is a nice place," Harriet said. "I came here a lot when I was younger. It's passed down the female line. It never goes to a son- always to a daughter, a niece, a sister."

Minho had to agree- it had an old-style feel to it while being modern. He wondered if the entire twenty-first century had been like that.

"The admirals seemed impressed with you, Thomas. They didn't speak more than a two dozen words to me, but they seem to like you."

"They didn't seem to like him when I was there," Minho said.

"Maybe because they called for you before they finished speaking with me," Thomas said. "From what I've heard, the admirals never give out direct praise, not unless they're firing or promoting you."

"I've heard the same. Thomas, are you sure you're alright?" Sonya asked.

"I'm fine, Sonya. Besides, I was sick last week; we all know that means I'll be fine for at least a year." Thomas smiled, eyes and tone teasing, and Minho was relieved. Thomas didn't often joke, and never when he was sick. He might be deflecting, but he'd said earlier he was only tired. So Minho laughed with everyone else.

Thomas's head was throbbing. He laughed and joked and acted as he often did- he would eat, and then this headache would go away. He knew, soon enough, he and Minho would have to deal with the mutual affection on both sides, but if they could wait until they were away from the admirals, that would be best.

"So, who wants to go see a movie tomorrow?" Gally asked as they finished eating. "We could see something new instead of rewatching old movies all the time."

"That sounds fun. Maybe they have a horror film playing." Sonya grinned, and Thomas held up his hand for a high five as everyone groaned.

"Don't tell me you like horror, Tommy. Sonya's made me watch some truly terrifying things." Newt said.

"I do indeed like horror. In fact, since none of you will watch horror movies on our movie night, Sonya and I, along with a few others, created a club dedicated solely to horror movies."

"There's an entire club of you?!" Newt gasped.

"Yeah, and about half the people here are in it." Harriet grinned. "I'm in it, Newt. As is Brenda."

"We might have to split up, then, go see two different movies," Minho said.

"Nah, we'll agree on a movie. We always do." Brenda said. It was true.

"Right now we need to get to bed. We have to get used to being on Earth again, including the typical sleep schedule." Gally glared at them all as they left.

"I'm not sure San Francisco has a regular sleep schedule, Gally," Newt said. "But you're the doc, you know best." Everyone returned to their room at a decent time- the admirals couldn't complain they stayed out all night. They knew they were being watched. They were one of the youngest Alpha shift crews in the history of the Federation.

"Captain Murphy!" They had just left the movie theater after seeing a twenty-first-century movie, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and a messenger is already hunting them down. Minho sighed.

"Captain Murphy, the admirals are done discussing your situation. They'd like you all to meet them in their conference room."

"Thank you," Thomas said.

"I'll let them know you'll be with them soon." The kid ran off, leaving them to wander back to the council chambers as they pleased.

"Admirals, how good to see you all again," Thomas said, entering the room first.

"And you, Captain." Admiral Paige said... warmly? Minho had thought that she disliked Thomas. Everyone else murmured the pleasantries.

"You all may sit, we'll not keep you standing today." They sat.

"Now, over the past few days, both before your arrival and after speaking with you, we've been discussing the matter of leaving such a young crew without much guidance." Admiral Paige began.

"You've done extraordinarily well without our guidance, however, and that's why we'd like to ask you to take a new ship. The Valhalla is ten years old this year, and Captain Murphy, we want to offer you and your crew a chance to design and oversee the building of your own starship. The basic plans are drawn up, but the rest is for you to decide." Admiral Janson finished. "Captain, I understand you have a background in engineering and architecture. Lieutenant Despain, I assume you would be overseeing most of the engineering issues?" Brenda nodded. "You will be allowed to name this ship, of course."

"And, Captain Murphy, you will be allowed your choice of applicants to your ship. I think you will find it much bigger than the Valkyrie." Another admiral said. It was true that the Valkyrie was much smaller than most ships.

"Thank you, Admirals, for this honor," Thomas said.

"It is our pleasure, Captain," Admiral Paige said. "You and your crew are dismissed." So they'd all been called here for what was, at most, a five-minute conversation? They said their goodbyes and left the admirals chatting.

Minho grinned. The first officer's quarters were perfect. Of course, they still had the shared bathroom with the Captain's quarters, but Minho didn't mind that at all.

"Captain, if I may?" He knocked on Thomas's door.

"Come in, Mr. Park." Minho opened the door. "It's been a long year, hasn't it?" They'd spent a year on Earth. It was longest any of them had gone without seeing space in several years.

"It has. But I can't say good things haven't come of it." They'd moved that talk up when they knew they weren't getting back on the Valhalla. Minho sat on the bed next to Thomas. "What are you thinking about?" Thomas shrugged.

"Everything, really. We've got more people now than ever, and I don't know how I'll command a ship this big."

"Well, you'll delegate. Brenda has engineering down, Gally's got the doctors and nurses, and Fry's got all the sciencey people."

"Did you really just say 'sciencey'?" Thomas laughed.

"I did. Now, Captain, let's go greet the stars."

"If you insist, Mr. Park." They headed to the bridge, Minho's arm wrapped around Thomas's waist.

"Captain, it's good to see you. And you, of course, Minho." Newt said. "Come to say goodbye to Earth?"

"They've come to greet the stars, Newt, they're like me," Harriet said. "Looking ahead of us, not behind." Everyone laughed. "Come up here, lovebirds." They did, and as the stars came into clearer view, Minho kissed Thomas lightly. Yes, this mission would go well. He was sure of it.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15313356

[irrepressiblecourage]

What We Shared

This is a Serah/Noel fanfiction I suddenly felt the urge to write. English isn’t my native language, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes I might end up making. Summary: What the two of them shared was real, intimate, beautiful. Their story had been one of adventure, of many trials, of discovery, but above all else, of preparing to dive into each other's soul. Serah found in Noel what being truly alive meant, what letting go and trusting the process of life was all about. She found freedom in him. He found happiness in her. Rating: M Relationship: Serah x Noel Chapter One: There's no one here Her sister's been gone for three years now. No one seems to remember her being there when Cocoon was crystallized and everyone was saved, not even Snow, who actually received his sister-in-law's blessing, seems to recall that actually happening. Serah had never felt so alone as she did in the years that followed the end of life on Cocoon and the construction of settlements on Pulse. Pretty much everyone just assumed that her remembering things incorrectly was yet another side-effect of being made a l'Cie and spending time in a crystal slumber, same as still being able to somewhat use magic after awakening.Except that the others had been in the same situation as her. Snow, Hope, Sazh, even Dajh, they had all been made l'Cie and eventually turned to crystal, although, to be fair, only Dajh spent nearly as much time as her in crystal stasis. Nevertheless, not one of them had any recollection of Lightning being alive after the unleashing of Ragnarok. She tried for God knows how long to reason with her friends, to explain how her memories couldn't have been wrong, how they simply couldn't be just another side-effect of being a fal'Cie pawn, how Lightning had seem to overcome her issues with her wedding, how she even said congratulations to them. But try as she might, no one shared her memories, and time was moving forward, things needed to be done, more urgent matters called for their attention, and soon everyone ended up not having time nor energy to pay attention to Serah's reasoning and sorrow. They needed to find a new place to live, build houses from scratch, take care of provisions, watch over the children, establish some sort of order now that the fal'Cie rule had come to an end. There was no time to wallow on the past, no time for sadness or doubt, and since Serah couldn't bear being a burden to anyone, she soon decided to keep her pain and musings to herself and help on the construction of their brand new home. The first year after the fall had obviously been the hardest and longest. Everything was new, the land, the weather which they couldn't control anymore, the monsters that would show up every single day in the beginning to threaten them and ruin a house or two, and even the people. You can't expect to survive the destruction of your civilization and remain the same person inside. People were scared in the beginning, they had to learn how to fend for themselves, how to depend on each other and not on godly deities. Some were even scared of the former l'Cies, still oblivious to the whole truth behind the events that brought about the destruction of their planet.There were many trials to be overcome, many skills to be learned, and the l'Cie group eventually disbanded. Sazh and Dajh headed for the main town that was being built on the base of the crystal pillar. Hope had decided to remain with Snow, Serah and the rest of the NORA gang at first, helping out at New Bodhun. He was great with science and numbers, a true "geek", as Snow had affectionately called him, and eventually, encouraged by nearly everyone, he decided to move to the main town as well, seeing as someone like him would be extremely valuable in the construction of their new society. After the first year, time seemed to speed up, and things were beginning to look up again. They opened a new cafe where Lebreau was obviously the head chef, cooking the same old NORA special that everyone loved. Snow and Gadot were in charge of security, Maqui was the one taking care of the machinery and Yuj, being your regular jack of all trades, would offer help wherever it was needed. Back on Cocoon, Serah was supposed to get married and go to university in Eden, it was as if her whole future had already been planned and decided for her, but after everything that's happened, for the first time in her life, she found herself lost, without the slightest idea of what she should actually do. It was during one of their weekly meetings that the rest of the NORA members suggested that she took up teaching. "You've always been great with children, and now that the major issues have been taken care of, they need to pick up their studies where they've left off." explained Lebreau, and for a moment Serah was surprised to hear those words. She had never realized she had a knack for dealing with children, but apparently everyone seemed to think so. When she asked for a reason, they simply said that it's because she's always seemed so sweet and caring. That's always been the way everyone perceived her, as a sweet, gentle girl, almost angelic. Back then she was still oblivious as to why that perception seemed to bother her, but she agreed to take responsibility for the children's education nonetheless. She was undeniably good with them, and even though sometimes she would have to deal with the ever annoying "meanie miss Farron" chanting, she actually ended up loving taking care of them. So many issues had demanded their attention in the past years that the idea of getting married seemed to have completely vanished from Snow's mind. He had always enjoyed being the leader, making himself useful and becoming a hero to those in need, and the perfect opportunity had presented itself when Cocoon had ended. For Serah, however, that wasn't the case. Sure, she had been worried about their situation and the future of humanity, and for a while the idea of marriage had to be postponed. But now it's been nearly three years, everyone was doing fine, they had a new place to call home and people seemed to have accepted their new lifestyle, so what was standing in the way? She couldn't help but wonder, and the question was a persistent one, presenting itself daily, especially during dinner time, when every NORA member would gather together at their house to share a meal. Snow would always sit at the head of the table and ramble on and on about the major events that happened that day during one of his and Gadot's adventures. They always sat close to each other, and sometimes they would exchange looks and smiles while he put his hand on hers, but that was all. Then the whole gang would help clean things up, talk some more and eventually everyone would go to bed. For some reason, Snow and her slept in separate rooms, despite having actually slept together several times back when they lived in Cocoon. At the beginning she shared the smaller bedroom of the house with Lebreau, whereas the four guys got the bigger one for themselves, but she had always assumed that would be temporary, that eventually Snow and her would get married and move to their own little house. That, of course, never happened.Every morning before work they would talk over breakfast. Snow usually left earlier, so their conversations were often rushed, with him getting off his chair saying "well, duty calls", kissing her on the forehead and yelling at Gadot for taking too long to get ready.Everything seemed fine on the outside, and yet nothing really was. People seemed to be doing okay, to be enjoying their new lives, and a small part of her was actually happy that things turned out well for everyone. But most of the time Serah felt confused and alone, constantly asking herself how she could keep on living this lie, how she could bring herself to carry on when her sister wasn't there, especially after all that Lightning had done for her. It usually didn’t take long for the guilt to show its ugly face too, making her see herself as a horrible selfish person. She knew she should be thankful that she had survived, that they all had been granted a miracle and a second chance at life, and that was precisely why she was always seen smiling, why she was always kind and sweet to everyone. She had long given up on bothering everyone else with her problems, it seemed to be easier that way, seemed to be the mature thing to do. Eventually Snow must've picked up on what was going on inside her mind and heart, for one day, out of the blue, he called her out to the pier they all had built nearly three years ago, just like the original one they had in Bodhum. "I know you've been miserable, and I know you've been trying to hide it for quite a while now." he said, looking her straight in the eyes. He was still wearing his trademark bandana, and the breeze coming from the sea played softly with the loose strands of his hair. "Yes, and you probably already know why I feel that way, and you know there really isn't anything that can be done about it. Things have finally begun to look up again, I don't want to ruin what we've worked so hard to build." "You've always been like that, Serah, always putting everyone else's needs before your very own, and I admire that in you, truly, I do. But if you keep that up for too long, especially under the current circumstances, you'll break eventually." His eyes were full of concern, and she knew he spoke the truth. She knew how dangerous it could be to suppress your feelings for too long. Yet she couldn't bring herself to let everyone know that she still hadn't given up on Lightning, that she still believed her sister was alive somewhere. "I'll be fine. I've got you and everyone else by my side. There's nothing to worry about." She forced a smile, a bright one at that. They were her own trademark, though since the fall of Cocoon, most of them had been fake. She had become so good at faking smiles that no one could tell the real from the fake ones, not even her fiancé."I know you will, that's why I've come to talk to you. I'm leaving, Serah." Well, as professional as she might be, no smile could've survived that. Her eyes widened. "Excuse me?" Leaving to do what, exactly? Leaving on another hunting mission with Gadot and the boys? Leaving the town for a few days? Leaving her for good? "I'm leaving to try to find Lightning." he quickly explained, seeing her shocked expression."Lightning? But isn't she in the crystal pillar with Fang and Vanille? You and everyone else kept telling me that for the past three years." Anger was beginning to stir inside her. What is this all of a sudden? Three years telling her to accept her sister's "death", and now he's decided to actually believe her? "Yes, but I can't bear to see you like miserable like that. I have to do something to fix it, to make you happy again. Besides, I can't seem to be able to shake the feeling that something about this whole story stinks. I want to get to the bottom of this, and bring Lightning back safe and sound to you." "All right, I'm going with you then." "I'm sorry Serah, but there's no way I'm letting you risk your life like that. Pulse is still a dangerous place outside the settlements, you weren't with us when we explored it as l'Cie. There are vicious beasts pretty much everywhere. I couldn't bear to lose you". Ah nice. The famous "you weren't with us so you don't know what it's like" argument. She had heard her fair share of those in the three years that followed his adventure with Lightning and the others. Sure, she didn't know what the rest of Gran Pulse was like, but she could still take care of herself. Didn't she help in the building of their own town? Didn't she help everyone find and distribute provisions? Hadn't she already proved her usefulness, if not to everyone else, at least to her own fiancé? Snow went on. "No, you stay here and watch over everyone. Be a leader in my place and keep them in line, will you?" he joked. "Besides, the children would miss you, too. You're doing so well with them, I can tell they practically adore you". His hands reached for the back of his neck and he took his engagement necklace and placed it in her hands. Now she was really confused. "Here, you hold on to this for a while. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I lost it. I promise I'll be back as soon as possible. Gadot and the others are helping me pack. I'm leaving tonight." he hugged her tight, the way he always used to. Tears were beginning to come forth, and her vision was blurred, but she tried her hardest to control herself. She didn't want to come undone in front of him, didn't want to give him or anyone else any more reason to worry about her. That ways six months ago. In three years, everyone had left her. For a split second after awakening from crystal slumber, she thought she had everything. Her sister, her fiancé, her friends. Now nearly all of them left. They all went away, one way or another, to live their adventures. And she was left there, waiting. Waiting for news of Snow. Waiting for her sister to come back from wherever she was. Waiting for a visit from Hope or Sazh. But none of them ever came. The one who actually came was someone new. Someone she wasn't expecting. But in the end, he turned out to be exactly what she needed.

[ofetro-blog]

Crystmas had passed, yet the fake white tree had still been covered in decorations. Bad luck had not been something that came to mind when the rosette refused to take the holiday decorations down. It had simple been tradition to take the festive decor down at the start of the new year besides the infant seemed to admire the twinkling lights. How could a week longer of having them up hurt?

The house was quiet, not a sound to be made. The last day of the year had seemed to start off peacefully. Just the rosette sitting besides the small infant who held the exact features as her mother playing with the decorations upon the artificial tree. No plans to join anyone else in the gathering of friends and family at Galdin Quay for a New Years eve party they held every year. 

A snap from a camera caused the former savior to turn her attention towards the man behind it. Blonde hair and piercing blue eyes now starred upon the two as the camera was placed away from his face. A soft smile curled upon tiers admiring the two for a moment longer before the woman spoke up to interrupt the silence.

❝ Prompto, I thought you left this morning. ❞

Taking a seat upon the couch not to far from the two rosettes the gunslinger shook his head at her comment. He could not simple just leave the former Glaive during the holidays. He had promised his best friend to always look after Claire and he was more than sure he’d want him to look after his daughter despite not knowing about her. Sleeping on the couch had been something Prompto and the gang had been accustom to by now, the guys did their best to make sure to always be in Lestallum even when Claire pushed them away. They knew the former Glaive had PTSD and despite not wanting help they had to be close for both her and the heir of Lucis.

❝ I woke up late. ❞

He lied.

If he left like he had said he would, she would of been alone on the eve before the new year. It had become his job to take it one step at a time to drag both of the Farron’s out to the party to bring in the new year with people who loved both of them. Claire smiled shaking her head, even she knew his words where a lie and yet she ignored it. 

❝ Okay. When are you heading out? ❞

The screws in his head started to turn, he promised Gladiolus and Ignis he’d bring her out of the house. It had been dangerous to leave the city yet now that Lestallum had sent power to some of the major places it had been safe to travel at least for a while. Long enough to celebrate the year and forget about fighting the deamons for the night.

❝ When ever you are ready. ❞

Claire could only scoff at his words. He knew very well the last thing she wanted to do was leave the house especially with a infant. A baby only a few months old traveling when light no longer touched the world and daemons lurked in the darkness.

❝ We are not leaving the house let alone Lestallum. ❞

He could only roll his eyes with a smile shaking her head several times. Clearly he had a few things up his nonexistent sleeves to get her out of the house despite her declaration of not attending the party. Allowing the Glaive to continue through out the day, Prompto gathered every thing he needed along with things for the child who he considered a niece. 

Starring at the mirror hung against the wall, extremities ran through blonde strands of hair spiked up. Watching Claire pass him by in the reflection, the Little Lucis Caelum no longer in their presents giving her a moment to relax. Despite leaving the room once more Prompto spoke up to the woman who seemed to not be able to sit still for even a moment.

❝ You’ve spent all day cleaning a house that wasn’t dirty in the first place. Elena has been feed, changed, bathed and is now napping. ❞

He knew that much as he had helped with the small baby through out the day and now that it had been six o’clock it meant the day had nearly been over. Anyone who was having a party was about to start it. He could only heard her growl and the reply ‘no’ out loud from the other room before he had even had a chance to utter his question. 

Turning to the small picture frame of Claire and the young king Noctis sitting upon a counter top, Prompto sighed once more. Shaking his head ‘Oh Noct, you had to pick a stubborn one didn’t you?’ his thoughts crossed his mind as if the King had been lost for ever. He knew one day he’d rise again to ride the world of he darkness yet he always found himself talking to him as if he had died.

He had an idea, one that would clearly get him in so much trouble with the woman. Adjusting his t-shirt and the bandanna on his arm Prompto marched his why quietly into the nursery. Smiling down at the sleeping child he carefully picked her up while she slumbered and placed her inside the car seat already prepared. A soft fuss came from her and instantly Prompto froze as he shushed her. 

The fussing continued for a moment longer causing him to react almost instantly by grabbing the pacifier and putting it inside the child’s mouth. She became quiet and he continued buckling the little one up. As the last buckle clicked he placed a blanket around her little person and lifted it up.

❝ Come on little one. We are getting your mommy out of the house to go have some fun. ❞

He sung the diaper back over his shoulder, the pink clashing horrible with his outfit yet allowing his camera to stand out. He wasn’t going to leave to a party without it especially when it was Elena’s first new years. He had to capture all the moments Noctis missed so he could see them when he came back. Whistling nonchalantly he quietly left the room and towards the front door.

❝ Come on Claire, Elena and I are leaving. ❞

All he could hear was a loud ‘what’ clearly irritated with his words. He had up and taken her child out of the house when clearly she had not been ready for that. Slipping on her shoes, he had been lucky she had gotten ready for the day as she ran after him. Following him had not been difficult in the slightest it was figuring out where the hell he had been going that was hard. Finally as he stopped so had she only to see the courtyard of The Leville Hotel had been all decorated for the party.

❝ W-what...is this...? ❞

Prompto stood besides his friends Ignis, Gladiolus, Iris and the rest of the gang. Elena had still sleeping in her car seat in Prompto’s hand. Everyone smiled welcoming the ex soldier. The whole party moved to Lestallum so she’d feel safer out with Elena and would enjoy the last day of the year with everyone who had meant anything to her.

Ignis smiled adjusting the glasses sliding off his nose. Despite no longer being able to see he managed to make his way around and he knew the look on her face was worth all their hard work. Cooking with Iris, decortating the courtyard and gathering people who had all been in different parts of the world, her sister Serah included.

❝ We could not let you celebrate the New Year alone. So we moved the party and invited everyone who is here for you Claire. We know how hard this is on you but we just want you to know you have us. Let’s bring in the New Year together. ❞

Claire covered her mouth with both hands, crystals swelling up with tears. It might have been the hormones from having a baby or the fact all the fear the struck in from leaving the house had suddenly disappeared. Shaking her head she attempted to shake off the feelings with a soft smile rising upon her lips.

❝ Thanks guys, this means the world to me. ❞

[razieltwelve]

Portrait of a Snake (Final Rose)

"Are you painting your snake?” Lightning asked.

Diana nodded but kept her gaze firmly on the canvas in front of her. She had her easel set up in the front yard whilst Strangles posed on his favourite rock. “I’m doing a portrait of Strangles.”

“I see.” Lightning leaned over Diana. “You’ve added a few things.”

Although the pose in the painting was the same as in real life, Diana had also added a crown, a royal robe, and a sceptre that all fit seamlessly into the painting. “Well, I thought I’d make his portrait a bit fancier.” She pointed to another canvas that she’d put out on the porch to finish drying. “I already have a normal portrait of him, but I wanted a portrait of him as Strangles the Supreme Snake Sovereign.”

“I see.” Lightning both did and didn’t see. “As long as you two are having fun.”

And Strangles certainly did seem to be enjoying himself. Once Diana was satisfied with the painting, she called the snake over, and he slithered up around her neck to get a better view before hissing in approval.

“You look awesome, Strangles. You’re the spiffiest snake there is.”

X     X     X

“As you can see here,” the uplifted cat said, pointing one paw at the paintings hanging on the wall behind a protective layer of glass and a forcefield. “Diana Yun-Farron took great pains to capture the essence of her snake. There are more than a dozen different portraits of Strangles, making him perhaps the most famous snake in history. The portraits were always done in pairs with one portrait featuring a realistic depiction of the snake whilst the other had a more fanciful depiction of the reptile.”

“How old was she when she made these two paintings?” someone asked.

“An excellent question. Diana was known to be a talented artist. She was eight when she completed these paintings. Strangles the Supreme Snake Sovereign was an idea she came up with a year prior as part of a game. As far as we can tell, Strangles was not actually of noble lineage. Indeed, there is no evidence of there being a snake nobility at all.”

“She did other portraits, didn’t she?”

“She did indeed. Some of the oldest depictions of the Yun-Farrons that we have are portraits that Diana either drew or painted of them. Perhaps the most famous of those is the ‘Portrait of an Invincible Tyrant’ that depicts Lightning Yun-Farron ordering her children to eat vegetables or else. That said, this particular exhibit is dedicated to portraits and other depictions of the various animals associated with the House of Farron-Arendelle.” The uplifted cat gestured. “Now, if you’ll follow me, we have just recently been loaned the original of another famous painting: The First Halloween. That painting shows the various first Halloween shared by Victoria and Count Strangula.”

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

I think Diana would be happy to know that people are not only willing but eager to see portraits of her snake. The paintings in the collection all belong to Jahne (since she is Diana’s direct descendant and the bearer of Ragnarok), but they are frequently loaned out to museums so that others can appreciate them. Jahne believes that Diana wouldn’t want them locked away where no one could appreciate them. Instead, she’d want people to come look at them and marvel at how awesome Strangles was.

Arguably the most valuable painting in Jahne’s collection is one that was originally untitled but came to be called ‘Last Time’ in later years. It was discovered amongst Diana’s personal effects following her death. It is a family portrait painted entirely from memory depicting the Yun-Farron family as they were shortly before each of their deaths.

In the painting, both Lightning and Averia have hair that is more white than pink whilst Diana and Fang’s hair is merely streaked with white. Taren’s hair is almost entirely white. With them are a distinguished-looking Fury, feathers no longer quite as bright or as thick, and an elderly Strangles, his scales not as shiny as they were in the days of his youth. They are all smiling.

They know the painting is from memory because when Lightning died, Averia’s hair was still completely pink, and it wasn’t until Averia had already passed that Diana’s hair started to go white. Likewise, Strangles was long dead by the time the rest of them were old.

Based on the brief comments written on the back of the canvas, it must have been painted very shortly before Diana’s death. It is believed to be the last painting she ever made.

[matayu-sometimes-writes-stuff]

On Final Fantasy XIII

          I have to admit that I went into this game expecting to be disappointed. While I have intended for a while now to play through every non-MMO Final Fantasy game, at the time I started playing it I had only completed the original and FFII, and was around halfway through FFIII. The only reason I decided to play it now was availability; my brother had a copy, so I didn’t need to purchase it for myself.

           I hadn’t really heard much about the game other than “It’s bad” and “It’s Final Hallway XIII lol”. And while there is certainly an argument to be made that FFXIII is objectively a bad game, and the “hallway” criticism (that most of the game’s areas are linear, with barely any deviation in route) is valid, I absolutely loved this game. I would not recommended it to anyone who isn’t determined to play it through, for reasons I’ll elaborate on later, but this is currently my favourite Final Fantasy game, beating out the original, II, III, and now IV (which I am at the final dungeon of as of this writing).

           I’ll address the criticisms first. Beginning with the “hallway” criticism. Yes, of the game’s 13 chapters, only the area in chapter 11 (which can be revisited during chapter 13) offers any sort of exploration. It’s also where the game’s version of side quests are introduced. Note that although it’s labeled as chapter 11, almost two thirds of the game take place in this open area. I understand that this isn’t worth ten chapters of linearity to some people, but I actually found the linearity of the game to be quite enjoyable. Some people make the argument that the linearity is necessary for story purposes, as our six protagonists are fugitives from their government, and don’t have the time to be running around looking for twenty bear asses with the army breathing down their necks. This is a valid defense, but I have a much simpler one.

           Of all the Final Fantasy games I’ve played, Final Fantasy XIII was the first and thus far only one where I didn’t need an internet walkthrough to figure out where the fuck I was supposed to fucking GO.

           Maybe it’s because I’ve only played NES and SNES-era Final Fantasy games for comparison, but FFXII was so much more enjoyable simply because I didn’t need to constantly be checking a mile-long GameFAQs walkthough every twenty minutes or so, searching for place names or proper nouns just for some hint of where I needed to be. Now, this changed when I started doing the aforementioned side quests, if only because there’s no indication on the in-game map where the questgivers are unless the quest is active, but until that point I had no need for cross-checking a walkthrough. Hopefully this will get better when I finally get through the 16-bit era, but until then the linearity that I’ve heard so many people complain about is one of Final Fantasy XIII’s biggest draws for me. The linearity made the game more fun.

           As mentioned earlier, the game only really opens up in chapter 11, which is where the majority of the game’s runtime is. This is because chapters 1 through 9, and most of 10, are the game’s tutorial.

           These segments are roughly 20 hours long.

           Final Fantasy XIII has a 20-hour-long tutorial. There’s really no way to spin that as a positive. The game uses that time to its advantage, introducing five of the six protagonists from the get-go and developing them in a way that I quite enjoyed, and will say more on later. The fact of the matter is, though, that 20 hours is a ridiculous time to spend teaching the player how to use your combat system. I’m not sure if it makes it better or worse that it does legitimately take 20 hours to master Final Fantasy XIII’s version of the Active Time Battle system.

           Again, full disclosure, I wound up loving the combat system in FFXIII. But I didn’t understand how it worked until around chapter five. To explain, you have a party of at most three characters. You control one character directly, and the other two are controlled by the game’s AI, which takes its cues from you. Each character has a combination of three of six possible roles. You create what the game calls “paradigms”, six sets of any three of the available roles that you can freely switch between during combat. This allows for a party in trouble to switch on the fly from offensive classes to (for example) a tank and two healers. Once you get a handle on it, it’s very intuitive. The problem is, of course, how long it takes to get a handle on it. Twenty hours is still ridiculous.

           Ultimately, a video game succeeds or fails on its gameplay. You can have the most gorgeous backgrounds, beautiful music, and memorable characters, but if the game is hard to play, all that falls by the wayside. Looking at you, Skyward Sword. But that’s a discussion for another time.

           I’m sure the twenty-hour long tutorial turned people off of FFXIII when it first came out. I do agree that it’s ridiculous, and it’s most of the reason why I wouldn’t recommend the game to anyone who wanted something just to pick up and play. My brother, who you’ll remember is the one who actually owns the copy I played, never actually finished the game, nor has any desire to. I likely would have put it down myself if I hadn’t resolved myself to playing it all the way through. I’m glad I did. But if you aren’t approaching it with that mindset, I wouldn’t expect you to enjoy it.

           Speaking of enjoying things, let’s move on to what I actually liked about this game, which is the story and characters. I don’t know how it stacks up against more contemporary Final Fantasy games, but I personally was glad to not be playing yet another Dungeons and Dragons campaign. The story is mostly driven by its characters.

           Claire “Lightning” Farron is the face of Final Fantasy XIII, and the only character I knew about heading in. What I knew, or rather had heard, was that her character was “Cloud Strife but as a woman.” I’ll be the first to admit that, since I haven’t played Final Fantasy VII yet, I don’t know how firsthand how true this assessment is. However, from what I’ve been able to gather from pop-cultural osmosis, this is almost completely untrue. Lightning was designed with “female Cloud” in mind, but for the most part this is where the similarities end.

           Lightning is essentially the single parent of her little sister Serah, and is overprotective of her to a fault.  This has caused an estrangement between the two of them, exacerbated by Lightning’s disapproval of Serah’s fiancé, who will be discussed when we get to him. When Serah is cursed by what are essentially minor gods in this setting with a task that will either transform her into a mindless monster if she fails or put her in stasis potentially forever if she succeeds, Lighting sets out on a quest to rescue her from her fate, to the extent of defying her own gods-given task, and heaven help anyone who gets in her way.

          One of the weaknesses of Final Fantasy XIII, in my opinion, is that the game’s engine doesn’t give its characters the most expressive of faces. Lightning is a very reserved person, but you are able to figure out how she’s feeling from careful consideration and inference based on what she says versus what she’s been through. This could be made much easier if the engine was capable of rendering microexpressions. I do kind of hope FFXIII will get a high-definition rerelease, if only so that this sort of thing could be added.

          Lightning’s arc in this game (it continues slightly in Final Fantasy XII-2, and completes in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII) involves her learning that even if Serah is getting married, it doesn’t mean she’s going to be alone in the world. She forges friendships that will last literal lifetimes with her fellow companions, one of whom is her future brother-in-law she despises so much.

          Time to talk about him. Snow Villiers is a dumbass. A moron. An idiot. An airhead.

          I love him so much.

          I didn’t always. I actually started out hating him just as much as Lightning did. Snow wants to be a hero. Sorry, make that a Hero™. He’s the leader of a citizen’s militia in his and the Farron sisters’ hometown, and he believes that a true hero never needs a plan, because of the laws of narrative causality or some such bullshit. Naturally his arc involves him realizing that that’s a really, REALLY stupid way to live your life. It’s actually better than I’m making it sound: he goes through a gradual realization that his philosophy is hindering others more than helping them, and goes through some low points before he learns how to temper his enthusiasm with careful planning and coordination. Part of this is coming to the conclusion that he can still be heroic, even if he (or anyone, really) can’t live up to the platonic ideal of heroism he has constructed for himself. I began by hating him, by the end of FFXIII I loved hating him, and by the end of the trilogy I actually genuinely grew to love him. But that’s a story for another time. Snow’s motivation is actually the same as Lightning’s: to rescue Serah Farron from her fate, regardless of who or what gets in the way.

          One of the people hurt by Snow’s general idiocy is another of our protagonists: a young boy of fourteen named Hope Estheim, whose mother volunteers to fight alongside Snow to defend her son. Her death isn’t COMPLETELY Snow’s fault, but both Snow and Hope act as if it is. It doesn’t help that she shares a name, Nora, with Snow’s militia. (No Obligations, Rules, or Authority. No, seriously.) Hope’s initial motivation is revenge against Snow. To the point of murder. Naturally this doesn’t play out, but Hope’s interactions with Lightning and Snow are a guiding factor in their own arcs, giving Lightning the familiar ground of a big-sister role as she teaches him how to survive on the run, and showing Snow that heroism is still possible even if you don’t match Snow’s ideal. (To elaborate, when given the opportunity to take revenge for his mother, Hope not only can’t go through with it, but shortly after that actually defends an unconscious Snow after the two survive a several-story fall.)

          Hope comes into his own after reuniting with his father, whom he was afraid would shun him both for not being able to save his mother, and for becoming one of the gods-cursed beings that the general public are being made to fear. Bartholomew Estheim not only reassures him that he would never feel that way about his own son, but gives Hope the confidence he needs to stand up and take action of his own accord, rather than reacting to what’s happening to him as he had been doing. Hope’s a good kid.

          To contrast, Sazh Katzroy is a good father. He’s the oldest member of the main cast, old enough to have a young son, Dajh. Dajh is cursed in a similar way to Serah, and Sazh’s journey is about trying to get him back from the government, who in a cruel twist are using the powers the curse gave him to hunt our protagonists. Sazh is effectively the team dad, and honestly his arc can be summed up with a single GIF of Marlin from Finding Nemo. “Have you seen my son?!”

          Kidding aside, what Sazh has to go through are probably the most realistically terrifying events of the game. He’s a single father whose preschool-aged son is not just missing, but has been taken from him. And like everyone else under the curse, Dajh is on a ticking clock to decide which fate worse than death awaits him. There’s actual, realistic fear there, and I did really care about seeing the two reunited.

          Sazh also got the chance to act as a surrogate father to Oerba Dia Vanille, the fifth and final character who’s introduced from the get-go. For initially unexplained reasons, she’s the only member of the main cast (that we’ve met) with an Australian accent. She’s bubbly, peppy, and dealing with a trainload of internalized guilt over events that happened 500 years before the game even began.

          Vanille, along with our sixth and later introduced really final party member, are the last survivors of a civilization that fought and lost a war against the floating colony the rest of the cast lives in 500 years ago. The two of them were cursed way back then, and entered stasis until the present day. Vanille is a gentle soul, and was horrified both at the number of innocent people she had killed way back when to complete her task, and at what her awakening had brought: both Serah and Dajh were cursed, by different gods, directly because of it. There’s actually a very touching scene shown as a flashback of Vanille meeting Serah a day or two before the events of the game proper, in which she essentially apologizes for what she’s done, and Serah forgives her despite not really understanding the extent of what Vanille was apologizing for. There’s also an even more powerful scene when Sazh finds out that what happened to Dajh was Vanille’s fault, after spending roughly a full day trying to keep the young woman alive. Sazh has a tough decision to make, but it ultimately results in Vanille realizing that she is worthy of forgiveness, which she can achieve by joining with the other characters to save the people she was tasked with destroying.

          The sixth and final party member is Oerba Yun Fang, introduced about a chapter or so after the rest as a “mysterious woman” before swooping in with an appropriately named renegade army faction (the Cavalry) to save the other characters from a tight spot. She also has an Australian accent, marking her and Vanille as native to the surface of the planet. (The difference is that Vanille’s VA is actually Australian. Fang’s is not.)

          Fang is in many ways a foil to Lightning. She has the same sort of big sister relationship to Vanille that Lightning has with Serah; although where Lightning is overprotective because she doesn’t want to lose her only family, Fang is overprotective because she and Vanille are literally the only members of their people left alive (to their and our knowledge), and they are actively being hunted down by a hostile nation. Fang’s motivation is to keep Vanille safe, at any cost, even her own humanity. There’s an often-quoted line: “I’ll tear down the sky if it’ll save her.” There are some people who view Fang and Vanille’s relationship as romantic, and while I understand where they’re coming from, I prefer the parity it gives the narrative if Fang and Vanille’s relationship is incredibly similar to that of Lightning and Serah’s. While Lightning learns to overcome her unfounded distrust of others, Fang is overcoming her very well founded distrust of others. Both women learn to open up to their companions; that they aren’t as alone in the world as they feel they have to be.

          I also really loved the ending of this game, so spoilers follow. The heroes win; what kind of Final Fantasy game would it be if the villain wins, eh? Though the floating colony does get dropped on the planet, our heroes were able to convince the army to evacuate the colony instead of fighting to the death, which means most of the civilians survived. Fang and Vanille, however, sacrificed themselves to stasis in crystal for an unknown amount of time to create a support pillar for the colony; it forms into the logo for the game, which I thought was a clever touch. Lightning, Snow, Sazh, and Hope are all rocketed to the surface of the planet, but survive via also being turned to crystal; they are freed from the stasis and the brands indicating them as cursed have mysteriously vanished. Out of the wreckage walks Serah and Dajh, also freed from the curse, to reunite with their families. Bartholomew Estheim is nowhere to be seen, but a codex entry in XIII-2 confirms that he survived and reunited with Hope after the fact. I would have liked for him to be there, but I understand that showing the reunion with Serah (and Dajh) was more important. It was a bit jarring hearing Leona Lewis in 2017, as I had forgotten she even existed, but apparently there was no way to translate the Japanese theme into English and have it still be lyrical AND make sense, so they substituted an English song with the same thematic elements. It’s a nice song, and it works. This was a good ending to a good story in a maybe-okay-at-best game.

          Beautiful music, lovely visuals, fantastic characters that play off each other, stacked up against a control system that takes almost a full day to learn, a slightly sluggish camera, and a linear, story-driven game world (which apparently counts as a bad thing for some reason). I love this game. I’ve heard very good things about VI, and everyone always gushes over VII and IX, but until I get to those, I have my favourite Final Fantasy, and it’s XIII.

[sustraiii]

TEAM ZRCN ARC 2 - CHAPTER 16

The time has come for ZRCN to go up against Farron and his men one final time. The truth is revealed in the final main chapter of arc 2!!!

Keep an eye out soon for the epilogue!

ZELDE

The time had come to finally deal with Farron and his men. Or at least, Zelde hoped the time had come. With how things had panned out so far that night, it certainly seemed like they were headed that way.

She only wished Cordovan could be with them during this moment, and not miles away at an Atlas hospital. Zelde was certain she wouldn’t be alone in thinking that if they did take down Farron’s group tonight, part of their motivation would be for Cordovan.

As they made their way down the back corridor, Zelde was suddenly struck by what felt like a headache. To the unknowing eye that’s certainly what it would look like at least. It had been a while since she had felt this sensation, so long in fact, that the sharpness of it caught her off guard and forced her to steady herself against a wall. Xanthos was the closest to her at the time, and seeing her stumble, was quick to call Helia and Neela back over to them.

Helia immediately rushed over to her, a concerned look in her eye. Zelde noted it probably didn’t help matters she had a wound on her head, so Helia would have likely been panicking it was something attributed to that.

“Are you alright, Zelde?” She asked. “Do you need to stop?”

“Was it one of your ‘feelings’?” Xanthos asked, to which she nodded.

Helia seemed confused. “Feelings?”

“Her semblance,” Neela clarified. “She has limited precognition. She can sense when something bad is going to happen but is unable to determine exactly when or how that’ll take place.”

“It’s probably nothing to worry about,” Zelde assured them, slowly easing herself away from the wall. “Usually, they don’t pan out as being that bad.”

Zelde might have considered throwing in an attempted laugh after that, had it not been for the two consecutive shots and high-pitched scream that echoed from further down the corridor.

“You were saying?” Xanthos quipped, giving her a look.

Zelde said nothing and grunted, before pushing on ahead. At the end of the corridor, they finally came across the foreman’s office, though the lettering was hard to make out as part of the glass in the door had been shattered, presumably by one of the gunshots they had heard before.

As they entered the room, there was a lot to take in. On the floor was a writhing Candy, who was violently trembling, alongside clutching a bleeding wound in her shoulder. To the left, Nieve and Ulysses were clambering out of a window, to the instruction of “getting an airship ready” from Wisteria. Speaking of Wisteria, she stood in the centre of the room, clearly the perpetrator of all the chaos, while holding Farron at gunpoint. He also had a gun drawn but held it less confidently than Wisteria was holding hers.

Hearing the four of them enter the room, Wisteria inclined her head slightly to the side. “Glad to see you made it!” She smirked. “Ulysses said you were here, but I was beginning to worry you’d forgotten about us.”

“Were you secretly working with these students all along? Did you betray me for them?!” Farron asked, glancing back at them, an accusatory note to his voice.

“I fear only the direst of circumstances would ever bring us together,” Wisteria responded to him. She then gave the four of them another glance. “Lucky you - you made it for the big reveal.”

“Reveal?” Xanthos repeated quietly.

“You see Farron, the truth is, I could never have betrayed you, because I was never really working for you,” Wisteria explained. She seemed to relish in the shock that dawned on Farron’s face. “Surprisingly, Candy was pretty close to figuring it out. She might even have been able to do something about it, had she not been so determined to believe I had a personal vendetta against her.”

Farron took a moment before asking another question. “Who did you work for really?”

“My lips are sealed,” Wisteria said quickly. The answer surprised Zelde, in truth. With the way Wisteria seemed to enjoy revealing this all to him, it didn’t make much sense for her not to give him the most crucial bit of information. “Unfortunately, my employers like a certain degree of discretion, and have no intentions of revealing themselves or their motives until they are ready.” The purple-haired woman inched closer to the desk, and when she was close enough, she lowered Farron’s gun and gripped his chin with her free hand. “All I will say is that you pissed off the wrong people, Farron.”

With that, she released him, giving him a shove as she stepped backwards. She put her gun back into her holster and made a two-finger salute at the group. “Well, it’s been fun but I’ve gotta run - or rather fly.”

Before any of them could react, she had made a dash for the window, Zelde attempted to make a grab for her before she could fully leave but was only successful in brushing against her ankle before she slipped out. 

“Damn!” She cursed.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s get after her!” Xanthos said, brushing past her, and moving towards the window. He already had a leg outside before Zelde could stop him.

Before she could say anything else, there was a small click that caught their attention, and the group turned to see Farron with his gun to his head, having clearly attempted to shoot himself. The scene caused Zelde, Neela, and Xanthos to hesitate.

“She’s destroyed everything I’ve worked for…” He mumbled with a defeated tone.

Farron didn’t seem to put up much of a fight when Helia took the gun from him, before waving the three of them off to catch up with Wisteria, insisting she would keep an eye on Farron.

With some reluctance, the three of them parted from their associate and hurried out the window after Wisteria, Nieve, and Ulysses. It didn’t take long to find them - clearly getting an airship ready had taken more time than they thought. They came across Wisteria stood below a hovering airship, a ladder dangling from before to help her get aboard. When Zelde saw Wisteria, she stepped forward from her team. “Wisteria!” She called out to her. “Running away, are we?”

With a fluid movement, Zelde proceeded to ease off her cloak, dropping it to the ground softly.

“Zelde, what are you doing!” Neela cried out from behind her. “Your aura!”

Wisteria ignored Neela’s cries, and looked towards Zelde, meeting her gaze. “Somebody means business.”

“Enough talk,” Zelde snapped, before charging at the older woman. The sudden charge afforded her a brief advantage against Wisteria, as she was sluggish in responding. But it didn’t take long for Wisteria to get the upper hand. She was quicker with her movements and flipped and jumped out of the way of the more forceful attacks Zelde threw at her.

She didn’t need to use her weapon for an extra advantage, unlike Zelde, who continued to grip Järnpigor like a lifeline. 

Zelde managed to throw a few punches that met their mark, but Wisteria continued to shrug them off. Zelde, on the other hand, felt every blow due to her depleted aura. It was when Wisteria made a sudden lunge for her, that Zelde saw her chance to strike back, and took it. She swung her pistol in an upwards motion with her left hand, successfully smashing it into Wisteria’s jaw, hitting her with such force her aura flared up and it sent her stumbling backwards.

From above, Zelde could hear the shouts of her companions, begging Wisteria to get in the airship. The woman didn’t seem to hear them and was more interested in massaging her jaw. The look she gave Zelde seemed oddly impressed.

Zelde made an attempt to charge her again but was forced backwards, by a current of air suddenly blasting her from above. Moments later, Ulysses dropped from the airship, landing beside Wisteria with a soft thud. “Go!” He insisted, giving her a rough shove towards the ladder.

There was a look of reluctance in Wisteria’s eyes for a moment before she nodded and began clambering up the ladder. Zelde raised her gun in an attempt to shoot near the ladder and knock Wisteria off, but was pushed back by Ulysses and his dagger. He was using his weapon to direct whip-like blasts of air in her direction, keeping her from getting too close or firing off her weapon with a clear shot.

But she was not alone, and behind her, Xanthos and Neela were mobilising. Like her, Neela was somewhat immobilized by the air blasts, but Xanthos seemed less unencumbered. As he twirled his whip around his head, the crackle of lightning could be heard from the dust he had infused into his weapon. Although his attempt at lashing out was not a direct hit, it did make some contact with Ulysses, as Zelde heard the man grunt and stumble backwards.

With Xanthos fighting back, Ulysses seemed to lose his interest in the fight, giving them another sharp blast to push them back before attempting to clamber away. Zelde didn’t want to see them go, but she certainly wasn’t going to risk herself or her team any further harm in chasing after them. She could only hope this would be the last they had seen of them.

With Ulysses on the ladder, the airship began to pull up, turning to make its leave off the island. The airship had just made its way above a cluster of trees when a sudden round of gunfire went off. At the sound, Zelde, Neela, and Xanthos all ducked down, but it soon became apparent they weren’t the target.

Behind them, a manic and bloody Candy was firing wildly at the airship, screaming one name in particular. 

“Wisteria!” She screeched. “Wisteria, get back here and finish what you started, you bitch!”

More gunfire followed, some dinging the rear of the airship, and others flying elsewhere. But some were successful in downing one target; even if the said target wasn’t Wisteria. One or several bullets had managed to sever the rope of the ladder, so much so that it eventually snapped and Ulysses tumbled from several feet up in the air, crashing through the canopy where he vanished from sight. Both Neela and Xanthos cursed in shock.

Despite losing one of their own, the airship did not stop or change direction and instead picked up speed before it finally moved out of everyone’s line of sight. With Wisteria gone, attention went to Candy behind them. She was teetering on her feet, a confused and dazed expression on her face, as though she was not aware of anything around her. Her weapon dropped out of her hand, and she looked up one final time, before toppling forward in front of them.

“Is it over?” Xanthos asked with a shaky tone. He inched forward a bit, and Zelde noted he seemed focused on the now still body of Candy. Neela was the one to gently ease him away.

“For now,” Zelde nodded, wincing slightly as a sharp pain hit her. She put a hand on her hip, and leaned over slightly, exhaling deeply. “Farron and his men have been dealt with at last. We did what we set out to do.”

A look passed between Neela and Xanthos, one that did not go unnoticed by Zelde. She knew what they were thinking, but did not press them for a further response.

“Does this mean we can go home?” Neela asked, a nervous laugh parting her lips.

Zelde smiled faintly. “Yes, Neela, I think it does.”

[lifehuntpriscilla]

L I F E

L- Laurentius has always been one of my favorite characters, because he’s just so NICE! “Don’t you dare go hollow” is probably one of the most encouraging, but at the same time saddest, phrases I’ve ever heard. The guy is just a champ, gets himself stuck in a barrel and then you come along and give him purpose. But he goes hollow so EASILY, too, and that’s the scary part! He’s one of the few characters in the game that’s nice to you, too. He isn’t out to manipulate or gain something, he just wants to teach you pyromancies. Such a good guy, Laurentius.

I- Irina of Carim. She came to Lothric seeking to become a fire keeper, and she realizes early on that she isn’t fit to tend the flames, and Eygon only serves to encourage her to give up and that she is a worthless cripple. I always felt bad for her, even when she DID become a fire keeper, because she reminds me of young Rhea who is also alone and dependent on her two hollowed friends, as well as Petrus/Eygon that doubts her worth. The poor clerics just can’t get a break, can they?

F- Friede. Not only does she dual wield scythes, but her movesets are GORGEOUS. She slides across the ground like it’s ice (heh), and during the Blackflame phase, she twirls into the air like a ballerina with wings. It’s really fun to fight her, and I always enjoy the search for the invisible nun.

E- Elizabeth. The mushroom woman is so sad, yet so comforting at the same time. She knows you’re from the future, but she’s so worried about Dusk she doesn’t care. And at the end of the DLC when you talk to her again, every time she says ‘It will be my purpose to remember your deeds here today’, I tear up a bit. I was especially sad when I found her in Farron in that cave, dead. She reminds me of a kind old woman, like the Mrs. Potts of Dark Souls. I almost thought she was VOICED by Mrs. Potts, haha!

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