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charincharge · 6 months

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I Don't Want To Wait, sixty-seven

rowaelin high school bff au masterlist

AN: WHOOPS, I disappeared for two years. (Legit the last chapter was posted in May 2022!). But I’m back and have written… a lot of the rest of this fic, so we’re just going to post weekly (or even twice weekly!) until we’re finished. And I hope you’re still out there, anyone, to enjoy it. Quick recap for a previously on IDWTW. Aelin and Rowan had sex! It was great. Then they walked in on Rhoe and her dance teacher Petrah having sex, which was NOT great. Aelin never wants to go back to dance again. We returned to school. Senior second semester is going great. Busy for Aelin, who is still trying to work her butt off re: APs and grades. Less busy for Rowan, who is already recruited to college for lacrosse. Aelin and Lys had a huge falling out, but have slowly rekindled their friendship now that Lys is sober and working on her shit. Elide and Manon came out! They’re running as homecoming queens! Dorian and Chaol haven’t DTRed and are taking a break. Last we left off, Aelin texted someone to help retrieve her lacrosse hoodie from the dance studio after hours. But who? Keep reading to find out. Also, I have been gone for so long that I have NO idea who is still in the fandom or reading Rowaelin fic. Please reblog to spread the word! Taglist doesn't seem to possible anymore, so please share! Love you all and missed you all. Comment, message, meme, gif, whatever. Let’s go, team.

Aelin watched with wide eyes as Lys lowered into a crouch and removed a bobby pin from her hair. When she’d texted her friend to help with her mission, she hadn’t realized that Lysandra was a bona-fide expert at breaking and entering.

“It got boring in rehab,” Lys said with a small shrug, as if that explained her masterful lock-picking.

“Good to know,” Aelin said, chewing her thumb nervous and glancing over her shoulder at Rowan, who waited patiently in the jeep — aka, their getaway car. She didn’t think they’d actually need one, but this whole thing was such a thing, she figured it was probably safest to have a getaway car. What if the cops were called about the break-in, and they had to run?

Aelin almost chuckled at the thought of Orynth’s elderly Police Chief trying to run after them, but it hadn’t stopped her from telling Lys to dress all in black and meet them at the dance studio at eight. Luckily, Rhoe was at the station overnight, so he couldn’t see their ridiculous antics. But, after all, this mission was serious. She tried to refocus on Lys, who was finagling with a pin in the lock, taking her sweet time. A rush of panic ran through Aelin. What if they got caught? What if this got put on her permanent record? What if they got arrested?

BZZZZ. Aelin’s phone vibrated in her hand, making her jump with surprise.

“Gods,” she muttered under her breath, causing Lys to chuckle under her breath.

“Tell your buzzard not to worry, we’re almost there,” she said, twisting the pin again in a different direction. Aelin sighed at the reassurance. She knew that Rowan had to be feeling her nerves as well. Although maybe not quite as much. She wasn’t usually concerned about being a rule follower, but every step of the way had made her feel more and more stressed out. Which might have to do more with her overbearing boyfriend watching their every move than anything else. Couldn’t he just sit there and look cute and not worry? She looked at his text and shook her head. She should have known it’d be impossible. He was the biggest worry wart of them all.

Are you sure no one’s in the studio? It looks like the lights are on upstairs. Rowan texted from the front seat, his view of the studio probably better than theirs. But Aelin had spent too many years of her life at this studio. Despite her churning stomach, she knew they were fine.

Last class ended an hour ago. They always leave the lights on for the cleaning staff, but they get Fridays off, so they’re on until Saturday morning. It was part of my class schedule to turn the lights off. We’re good.

She looked over her shoulder after sending the text, and watched as Rowan threw a thumbs up in her direction. She couldn’t help but laugh at how silly he looked in his oversized black hoodie with the hood up. Despite completely disapproving of her decision, he showed up ready for the assignment at hand.

“Tadaaa,” Lys sang out quietly as the lock clicked open, the door popping ajar.

“Honestly, when I asked you to help me break into the dance studio, I figured we’d be throwing a rock into a window or something,” Aelin whispered, even though there was absolutely no reason to whisper at all. Aelin had timed it purposefully, so she wouldn’t have to run into … anyone. Okay, she really didn’t want to have to talk to Petrah. She’d avoided the studio (and Petrah) for so many weeks following the revelation that she’d been involved with her dad, and she had no intention of breaking that now. So, they’d had no choice but to break into the studio under the cover of darkness.

“Don’t thank me yet,” Lys said. “The door upstairs has a lock, too, right?”

Aelin nodded. Annoyingly, there were three doors they had to break open — the building door, the door to the second floor, and then the dance studio entrance. Thank god Aelin had her locker key, so that wasn’t a worry.

“So, why are we doing this again?” Lys asked as they trudged up the long stairwell to the second floor. She tried not to flinch as the rubber-covered stairs squeaked beneath her shoes. “Not that I’m not happy to help,” she continued. “I just thought that you started dancing again and loved it?”

“Ugh,” Aelin groaned. “I did.” Aelin paused for a beat too long, causing Lys to flip her dark curls over her shoulder to get a better look at Aelin.

“But?”

“It’s…complicated,” Aelin sighed as Lys crouched down in front of the second floor door.

“Well, this is going to take a minute,” Lys laughed. “Tell me.” Aelin was going to refute again when Lys’s voice changed, softer. “Unless you don’t want to…”

Aelin nearly smacked herself. She’d thought this would be a ridiculous, fun (and pretty low-stakes) way to hang out with Lys again, and here she was totally ruining it by keeping things to herself again.

“No, it’s not like that,” Aelin reassured her as she continued to work on the lock. “It’s just… horrifying.”

“Well now you can’t not tell me,” Lys snickered, but Aelin recognized the slight trepidation in her friend’s green eyes. Still nervous to push things. Aelin bit the bullet and let it out in a whoosh.

“Oh my GOD.” Lys’s nose crinkled, and she fell to her knees completely as her shoulders shook with laughter as Aelin told her story. “I mean, we all knew Rhoe fucked,” Lys cackled, causing Aelin to smack her friend’s knee.

“EW! That is my dad,” she said, fake heaving.

“He’s a hot, hot firefighter daddy, though,” Lys said, her eyebrows wiggling.

“I swear to god I will vomit straight on you.”

Aelin tried to be serious, but Lysandra’s smile pushed them both over the edge into a fit of giggles. They laughed and laughed, releasing the tension that had been hovering around them like a thick blanket all night, officially removing all traces of formality. Unable to help herself, Aelin reached out for her friend’s hand, squeezing her fingers gently and was relieved as Lys squeezed back. They weren’t healed, per se, but they were healing, and that was the most that Aelin could really ask for right now.

Taking a breath and wiping the remnant tracks of tears from her cheeks, Lys pushed herself back up to her knees. “Second lock?”

“Speaking of my family…” Aelin started nervously, but forged on, curious. “How’s Aedion doing?”

To her credit, Lys didn’t even lose pace as she unlocked the next door with ease.

“I know you want me to reply with something equally scandalous, but there’s nothing going on between me and Aedion,” Lys replied succinctly. “We’re friends.”

“Okay,” Aelin said, not completely convinced, but chose to respect her boundaries and believe her words.

The pair fell into an awkward silence as they headed down the hall toward the studio door. Just one last lock to get through — and then she’d never have to return to this place. A part of her heart panged at that thought, that she’d be leaving Orynth and this studio behind and not really getting to say goodbye to it. But running into Petrah was NOT an option.

“Hey, isn’t this the studio?” Lys asked of a propped open door, a gentle music wafting from inside. Aelin’s stomach sank. Had someone stayed late tonight practicing? It was a plus that they wouldn’t have to break into yet another door, but she really didn’t want to risk running into anyone. “I thought you said it was closed.”

At the same time, the pair noticed the schedule on the door, showing the company’s new rehearsal schedule. Their rehearsals now went until nine on Friday night, meaning that Aelin had shown up in the middle of a packed studio, instead of an empty one. And one where Petrah would surely be. She contemplated turning right around, but Lys had already opened the door too far, leading them into the studio lobby where the company was on break, milling around and refilling their water bottles.

And at the front desk, Petrah’s eyes widened with surprise upon seeing her. “Aelin!”

She should have guessed breaking in had been too easy. Had the doors even been locked? She knew Lysandra had gotten through them too quickly! Grumbling, she stepped out of the shadow and into the lobby toward Petrah. She couldn’t run away anymore, so she had no choice but to say hello to the woman who she’d been studiously avoiding for weeks. And by the look on Petrah’s face, she knew it, too.

“I’ll go grab your jersey,” Lys whispered, leaving her to fend for herself. “See you downstairs!”

“Traitor,” Aelin mumbled under her breath as Lysandra all but ran into the locker room, excusing herself from the awkward conversation that surely lay ahead. She wanted to run, but her feet were stuck, watching Petrah approach nervously.

“Aelin,” she said again, taking a deep breath. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you….” But Aelin cut her off.

“I don’t want to talk about it!” she said, ready to slap her hands over her ears, lest Petrah talk about her dad in any less than completely formal way.

Petrah’s deep pink lips curled up on one side in amusement, but Aelin watched as she took another deep breath and shook off whatever she’d been about to say. Instead, she watched as her smile fell into a wistful expression. “We’ve missed seeing you around here,” Petrah said.

Aelin’s eyes shot to the open doorway of the studio where the company practiced, all jetes and pirouettes and well-supported port de bras. She had missed dancing. She really had just gotten back into it when she let it fall away. Petrah must have seen her expression because she smiled faintly and let her delicate hand fall to Aelin’s shoulder.

“You could join the class. Dance it out,” Petrah suggested.

Aelin couldn’t tear her eyes away from the dancers. She watched the emotion pour from them. That is what she needed. But as Lysandra held up her jersey and trailed down the stairs in the periphery of her vision, Aelin shook her head.

“I can’t tonight.”

“I understand that it might be strange to spend time with me after what you overheard…” Petrah trailed off as blood pooled in her cheeks, filling her usual pale complexion with a deep blush. “It was completely casual. It’s only happened a handful of times, and we both know it’s not serious. I’m not trying to replace your mother, or anything like that, it’s just… an occasional stress release, and oh my god, I am sorry I didn’t mean to say any of that.” Aelin cringed at the words. She wanted to stop Petrah, but the woman couldn’t be stopped even if she wanted to. “Please don’t give up dance because of this,” Petrah pleaded. “You have such a gift, Aelin, and I would be filled with regret for the rest of my life if I knew I was the cause of you walking away from it.”

Aelin took a breath, the comforting scent of chalk and worn leather infiltrating her senses and calming her down as she figured out what to reply to Petrah. Of course she wanted to dance still. It was undeniable, the way her body pulled her toward the studio, the way a sense of calm settled through her despite her initial discomfort upon seeing Petrah. She thought about her lack of free time and her constantly building stress as the semester went on and how badly she wished she could just dance it out. That release of emotion centered her, and she knew that she was feeling off kilter without it. Making time for dance had improved her life drastically — it'd kept her sane as the rest of her semester spiraled out of control — and she wanted it back. So, so badly.

She was on the verge of agreeing to join the practice when there was a crash and loud shriek from the studio. When the shriek morphed into a choked sob, a churning nausea overwhelmed Aelin. She watched as Petrah’s face morphed into one of horror as she sprinted into the studio. Sure enough, one of the dancers was on the floor, cradling her ankle, cheeks red and involuntary tears dripping down her skin, while another dancer attempted to help her stand. The girl hissed, crying out in pain and sat down again.

“Call an ambulance,” someone ordered, and suddenly there was a frenzy, a rush of dancers looking on in terror at the injury in front of them. Aelin stood with her back against the wall, not wanting to be in the way, slinking out of sight while so much was going on. It felt like a sign from the universe that Aelin shouldn’t even think about wasting her time with dancing. Like the gods warned her that she had way too much going on to even consider it.

With Petrah distracted, Aelin slipped out, trying to gain control of her waging feelings. She slid into the backseat next to Lys, her mind reeling and unable to get the image of the crying dancer out of her head. So caught up in her own thoughts, she didn’t even hear Rowan call out to her, until red and blue flashed behind them. He swung his head over her shoulder, his mouth agape in horror as he stared at his unusually quiet girlfriend.

“Ace, what did you do? Are those the cops?!”

Aelin shook her head, the horrible feeling of nausea persisting in her gut as Rowan drove away from the studio.

. . .

It had been days since Aelin had received a text from an unknown number, and she still hadn’t decided what she was going to do.

I thought you should know we’re holding an emergency dance company audition this Tuesday at 5pm. Please come, Aelin.

Aelin chewed her sandwich thoughtfully as she pulled up the text again. The audition was merely hours away, but she was still on the fence.

“You still haven’t made up your mind?” Lysandra asked, glancing at Aelin’s phone screen. Her former — maybe current — friend had started joining them at the lunch table in the last few days since their late night break in, continuing to heal and thaw what had broken between them.

“I keep telling her to pro con list,” Rowan said, letting his fingers trail across the back of her neck and kneading the tight muscles there with his strong grasp.

“Mmmm,” Aelin mumbled, leaning further into his touch. “Con. Time spent without you.”

“Pro, something to do while I’m at lacrosse practice,” he countered as his fingers massaged a particularly tender part of her neck. She angled her head so he could have better access, but he took it as an invitation to let his head drop to her bare skin and press his lips against it, causing her body to light up. As she leaned toward him with another light moan, Dorian slammed his tray down on the table with a loud thwack.

“Get a room or get outta here,” he complained, tossing a fry at the still-intertwined pair.

“Someone’s got their panties in a bunch,” Aelin laughed as she tossed the fry back at the offender.

“My panties are perfectly smooth, thank you very much,” Dorian quipped. “Some of us would just prefer not to bear witness to your foreplay.”

“Pro,” Rowan whispered into Aelin’s ear, his lips ghosting against the tickling skin there. “I really love watching you dance.”

“Pro,” Aelin whispered back. “Increased stamina, muscle strength, and flexibility.”

Aelin glanced up at Rowan, who was already staring back at her with a fiery intensity. Her eyes glanced down at his mouth, which was curled into a satisfied smirk. His throat bobbed with a slow swallow, surely thinking of all the way those fitness benefits could be put to good use. She leaned in slightly, her lips a hairs breadth away from his when another fry hit her cheek. Aelin whipped her head around, rubbing at the salty spot where the food had made contact with her face.

Dorian was the picture of innocence, eyes wide as he chewed his own fry.

“Con,” Lys interjected. “Increased horniness.”

“Literally didn’t think that was possible,” Dorian said with a snort. “So, what are we pro-conning?” he asked, popping another fry into his mouth.

“Orynth Dance Company is having an emergency audition after an injury, and Aelin was personally invited to try out,” Lysandra explained.

“But I don’t really have the time,” Aelin started. “It would require actual rehearsal time. Like, a lot of nights. Not just an hour long class. Plus, I’d have to see Petrah every day. And I have to knock this last semester’s grades out of the park if I want to even think about getting a scholarship anywhere, plus I have a million AP exams to study for coming up, and that’s not even considering keeping up with hospital volunteering and going to your games and having any kind of semblance of a social life and…” she trailed off, her stomach finally settling as she came to the conclusion she knew she was going to come to all along. “I can’t join the dance company.”

Rowan frowned and reached for her hand. “Are you sure, Ace?” His hand wrapped around hers in a comforting squeeze, and she knew he was asking seriously. “We could make it work. I could help you study, we could bring out your color-coded schedule again to make sure we could fit everything in.”

“I know,” Aelin sighed, squeezing back. “But, I’m sure.”

But as the afternoon ticked by, Aelin couldn’t ignore the swirling feeling of guilt trying to pull her under. She was so distracted by the approaching time that she completely zoned out through all of AP Lit, startling when the period ended and Dorian poked her side.

And as five PM approached closer and closer, she found herself growing more agitated and even snapping at Rowan at one point. It wasn’t his fault; he had to head off to lacrosse practice, but Aelin had found herself so worked up that she had thought maybe he’d want to help release some tension.

“I’ll come right over after practice,” Rowan promised as he twined his hands around her waist.

“But you’ll be all sweaty and gross,” Aelin replied with a frown.

“I thought you liked when I get sweaty,” he laughed, nuzzling his nose into her hair. Aelin sighed, knowing she was being petulant, but she couldn’t get out of her own head.

“Only when I’m the one doing it!”

She tried to push him away, but Rowan’s grasp on her was iron-clad, too tight for her to even think about prying him off her. “Ace,” he lowered his voice. “I would love nothing more than to skip practice and be with you, but you know this is the only thing I need to do this semester to keep my place at Wendlyn.”

“Because Wendlyn’s more important than me?”

“I think you need a snack,” Rowan laughed, but Aelin didn’t find that funny at all.

“Sorry my blood sugar problems are amusing to you,” she said, stiffening within his grasp. She felt Rowan sigh deeply and watched as he pinched the bridge of his nose and scrunched his brows up the way she loved so much.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “You know that’s not—”

“I know,” Aelin replied quickly. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

Rowan raised a single brow as if to tell her he knew exactly what had gotten into her, and so did she.

“It’s not even four yet,” Rowan said. “You could still go.”

But Aelin was nothing if not resolute. She’d made up her mind, and it was completely logical. And she was sticking to it. No, she’d head home and, yes, get a snack, and dig into her lit homework. Maybe Dorian would be willing to give her his notes from the class, seeing as she couldn’t remember a single thing that was discussed earlier.

She forced a smile and shrugged her shoulders back. “Nope, you were right. I need a snack. I’ll head to Maeve’s and see what she’s got for me.”

Rowan grimaced. “She closed for the afternoon, actually, while they put in a new stove, but she should be reopened by the time I’m out of practice.” Aelin shivered as Rowan let his fingers trail in small circles up and down her back. “Why don’t I stop there on my way to your place after practice? Cheeseburger and brownies?”

“And then orgasms?” Aelin asked, causing a loud snort to erupt from Rowan.

“You want to have sex after cheeseburger and brownies? That feels dangerous.”

“Well, we could have sex first, but reheated cheeseburgers are pretty garbage,” Aelin replied, loving the soft smile that appeared on Rowan’s face. It was the one solely reserved for her. When she was being particularly ridiculous or annoying, it was like he couldn’t help but love her more, and the small curve of his lips let her know that.

“You’re right. Cheeseburgers first,” he paused. “Then sex, then brownies?”

“Deal,” Aelin said as she reached her hand out to shake his. But he instead grasped it in his and brought it to his mouth, kissing her knuckles lightly.

“I love you,” he said.

And though Aelin wanted to roll her eyes, she took a moment to relish the fact that her best friend in the whole world loved her. And would do anything to make her smile. In fact, he’d succeeded in getting her too distracted to think about the auditions and…

As soon as she thought about them, her smile faded again.

“Just go,” he whispered, but Aelin shook her head.

“Have a good practice. See you in a few hours.”

She kissed him and sent him off, hoping to pour herself into her studies. But even with her book open, Aelin digested none of what she was reading. She kept looking at the clock, distracted. Even as it passed five pm, knowing that she was missing the auditions, she still couldn’t focus. And her mood started to plummet.

It plummeted even further as she received a text from Rowan saying that their coach needed him to stay behind for a bit after practice and that he’d be later than anticipated.

She tried to read more, and when that didn’t work, she attempted to do some math equations, but she couldn’t get her brain to work. She knew what she needed. And it was to dance it out. Despite everything, that was still her best coping mechanism. When a second text from Rowan came in, apologizing for being even later, Aelin had had enough. She couldn’t just sit here and wallow. Instead, she wrote a note for whoever would get home first – her dad, Lorcan, or Rowan — and began walking.

She didn’t even know where she was walking until she ended up at the dance studio. It was unlocked, but empty. She couldn’t remember if there had been an end time to the auditions, but it seemed completely deserted. No one was sitting at the front desk, and the lights were eerily dim. This is what she’d expected to walk into last week when she’d stolen back her lacrosse hoodie, and she was even more annoyed about it somehow.

Instead of focusing on that, though, she went straight for the first open studio and turned the lights on. The fluorescent bulbs overhead flickered on, illuminating the wooden floors beneath with a warm yellow glow. She toed her sneakers off and padded barefoot to the corner of the studio where the massive (and ancient) stereo system was stored. She pulled her phone out and connected it, pulling up one of the old playlists Rowan had made for her and closed her eyes, letting the music wash over her. Her feet took off, working in sync with the rhythm reverberating through the bare floor. Next, her arms spread, stretching out and shaking off the stress of the last few weeks.

For the first time, she really let herself feel it. The worrying and wondering what the future would hold. She knew Rowan was destined for Wendlyn, but she had no idea what she would do if she didn’t get in, too. He’d assured her that they’d stay together and figure it out, but who really stays with their high school boyfriend? She knew they weren’t like everyone else – they were special – but it didn’t stop her from thinking about it and wondering. When it came down to it, that’s why she really couldn’t bring herself to audition today. She couldn’t risk spending less time with Rowan, not if this was the last few weeks of their relationship.

Whoa. Where did that thought come from?

She ignored the small tear that pooled in the corner of her eye, letting it drip down her cheek as she spun in time with the music. How could she doubt her and Rowan’s relationship after all this time? She knew in her soul that they were destined to be together. She couldn’t imagine a world where she didn’t wake up and see him every day. But there had been a small slice of fear since they first kissed, and it had ebbed and flowed with each passing day until it was now a gaping chasm in the pit of her stomach. The idea that she could end up elsewhere without Rowan was a real, actual problem. And the timeframe was closing in on them. What if this was the end of them? How would she ever recover?

Her hands reached overhead and then she let her body collapse to the floor in a graceful fall, letting go over the overwhelming sensations of fear that had been swirling and threatening to paralyze her. She arched her back and her neck released, the tension that Rowan had tried to knead attempting to relax and letting gravity pull her down, down, down.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Rowan. She did. More than anything. She just didn’t trust this world. She didn’t trust that everything would work out the way it was supposed to. I mean, just look at her dad. He’d thought he’d found the love of his life, and she walked away like it was nothing. Walked away from Aelin.

She didn’t want to cling to Rowan, to be the girl who changed her whole life just to be with a guy. She wasn’t that person. No. She was Aelin fucking Galathynius, and she could live life fully on her own. But she wanted to be with Rowan. Wanted the whole package. Saw their life together. And wanted more than anything for it to become a reality. But what if that future disappeared? What if it was cut short? What if they drifted apart. What if they tried to do long distance? Last summer while he was at camp was only two months and it was pure torture. It caused a rift so big between them that she wasn’t sure they’d overcome it. And yes, of course they did. But… to do it again? And for four years?

Her emotions threatened to choke her as she continued to dance out her frustrations, stomping and spinning and leaping, hoping against all hopes that the answers to her anxieties would appear if she could only dance long enough. She left every feeling, every worry, every gnawing anxiety on the dance floor, letting it tumble out through her moving limbs.

She didn’t know how long she’d been dancing when she opened her eyes again and refocused at herself in the mirror. She didn’t recognize the girl she saw there. She may not have come up with any answers, but she felt better. Raw, red eyed, red cheeked, and breathing hard, Aelin felt totally exposed. Which is why she nearly jumped out of her skin when a voice cut through the silence, over her harsh exhale.

“Practice starts next week.”

The director of the company stood in the darkened doorway of the studio, arms crossed and lips pursed in thoughtful approval.

“Oh, I wasn’t—”

“I know you weren’t,” she said with a formal smile. “But we’d still love to have you. If you want.”

It wasn’t necessarily the answer she had hoped to reach, but something about this moment felt like the universe trying to reassure her. That things do work out the way they’re supposed to.

“Yeah?” she asked, feeling somewhat hopeful.

“Yes.”

“Okay,” she said.

A wide smile crossed the director’s face. “Welcome to the Orynth Dance Company,” she congratulated her.

Aelin didn’t know what had overcome her, but she couldn’t help but run over to her and throw her sweaty arms around her neck in a giant hug.

“Thank you.”

Right on cue, Aelin’s phone buzzed with another incoming text.

Cheeseburgers en route. See you soon. Xx

. . .

As anticipated, the cheeseburgers were exactly what Aelin needed to rejuvenate herself, but Rowan was totally right that there was no way to be sexy after housing a half pound of meat and cheese.

“I’m so stuffed,” she said, patting her extremely full stomach.

Rowan snorted. “Why don’t we take a post-dinner break and watch something?”

“Only if it’s Housewives!” Lorcan shouted from the kitchen where he was cooking dinner for him and Rhoe, who were properly affronted that Rowan hadn’t brought them cheeseburgers, as well.

Aelin sighed and chuckled softly as she let herself slump over onto Rowan, who was already pulling up Housewives onto the television.

“You are such an enabler,” Aelin laughed.

“It’s easier than dealing with him being pouty,” Rowan smartly replied.

Aelin was about to agree when they were interrupted by an unusual ring tone.

“I’m sorry,” Rowan said, sitting up suddenly. “Is that your… home phone?”

Aelin genuinely couldn’t remember the last time that had rung. Usually she and her dad were both contacted on their cells. They really just had a home line because it was part of their internet package. She couldn’t even remember who had that number.

“Uh, phone’s for you Aelin?” Lorcan shouted from the kitchen.

Even weirder?

“Who the hell would be calling this late on a Tuesday?” Aelin whispered. Rowan’s brow lifted.

“Why don’t you go see?”

Curious, Aelin pried herself off the couch and headed to the kitchen where Lorcan was standing with a spatula in one hand and the phone in the other.

“Who is it?” she whispered.

Lorcan shrugged, simply shoving the phone forward. Helpful.

Aelin cradled the phone against her ear and took a deep breath. “Hello?”

“Hello!” A deep voice rang out over the phone. “Is this Miss Aelin Galathynius?”

“Um,” she cleared her throat. “Yes?”

“Excellent!” the voice boomed, causing her to pull the phone away from her ear slightly. “My name is Xavier Forul, and I’m a local alum of Wendlyn University. I’d love to have you in for an interview some time in the near future. Whenever you’re available! I know you’re a busy senior with a lot on her plate.”

Aelin’s heart took off, beating faster as his words unfolded.

“Interview?”

“Yes,” he continued. “It’s my favorite part of the process. As a former Wendlyn man myself, I get to sit down and speak with young promising applicants to see what their goals and ambitions might be and how they might become part of the Wendlyn world.”

Aelin glanced at the silver-headed mop peeking out above the couch and exhaled slowly. This was it. The universe reassuring her. She felt it with every fiber of her being. She could dance, she could nail her classes this semester, and she’d get into Wendlyn and be with Rowan.

“Wow, thank you so much for reaching out,” Aelin began, her autopilot pilot voice taking over. “I’d love to meet with you.”

As Xavier explained the details of the interview, Aelin’s hope buoyed. She’d been waiting for a sign from the universe, something to tell her that she and Rowan were going to work out and be fine. If a personalized phone call on a landline that hadn’t rung in more months than she could count, inviting her into the home of a University alum wasn’t a sign, she didn’t know what was. And Aelin began to hope for the first time that everything was going to actually work out.

~*~

#idwtw #idwtw au #rowaelin #rowaelin fan fic #rowaelin fic #tog fanfic #throne of glass #rowan x aelin #she's backkkk #i stg i'm finishing this fic #no fic left unfinished

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doingthingsthewriteway · 1 year

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Daisy

summary: doc and his the trials of his love with his daisy

Tombstone burnt under the fire of the afternoon sun. Sweat beaded out of every pore, clothes clung tightly to aching chests, and buzzards circled in anticipation. Death was inevitably close in this heat.

Y/N had experienced the wet heat of the south her whole life but this heat was new. It passed through her chest without so much as a cough, hardly any plant could survive for her to be allergic to. If she escape the allergies of home, then she reckoned the heat of Tombstone was worth it.

Town appeared to be busy despite the heat. No one paused here to sit on porches, fanning themselves and sipping sweet tea. People ran about, some literally in a scurry to get away from the echoing gunshots that caused her to jump.

Traveling by herself, Y/N felt relatively safe. Her benefactor sent her along in the nicest car on the most modern line. The train wasn’t robbed and all her things arrived safely. Bandits seemed to be nothing more than a myth to frighten little boys and girls into staying home back east. People simply weren’t like that, or at least they weren’t until Tombstone.

Dashing young men with matching red sashes lingered like the hyenas she read about in the library. Cackling smiles and shrill whistles greeted her was she stepped off the train. Some dirty, some disgusting, and some downright devilishly handsome all circled around her as she collected her luggage.

Keeping her eyes down, she pushed up the sleeves of her blouse and readied herself to carry the chest to the hotel.

“Need some help miss?” A gravely young voice called, boots crunching rocks to dust under each step.

“No thank you.” Quick, quiet responses. Only to the point.

“I insist.” A brown hat was tipped her way. She squinted through the blinding sun to meet brown eyes and tough skin. “Johnny Ringo.”

“Mr. Ringo, I sincerely appreciate your offer, but I can carry my belongings to the hotel.”

As Ringo opened his mouth, a second figured approached. Dressed all in black, cigar dangling from his lips, badge shining in the sun. “I think the lady declined your services, Johnny.”

“You can stay out of this, Earp.”

“Let’s not turn this into something.” Earp, who seemed decidedly safer, grabbed the luggage himself. “Wyatt Earp..”

“Y/N Y/L/N”.

“Well Miss Y/L/N, let’s get you checked in.”

The hotel was much more extravagant than she had imagined. A booming town did not mean all the glamour of home, but this hotel rivaled some that she used to pass by.

“Rare thing a woman traveling alone to Tombstone.” Wyatt said, settling the luggage inside the hotel door. “What brings you here?”

“Dry air is supposed to help you breathe better. I can’t hardly breathe back home.”

With an understanding nod, Wyatt tipped his hat and left. He had a faro table to run.

Unpacking was an easy affair. Hardly any of her belongings were packed with her. Her benefactor saw to it that only thing things she would need would make it with her. Anything else was simply sentimental junk of a decidedly unpleasant childhood that could be sold and split between the two.

Opening the window, she sat down on the chaise lounge next to it and took a deep inhale. Yes, this would do.

Yelling broke out in the streets below. Daring a peek outside, she saw Mr. Earp intervening with more of the red sashed men. Another figure strode across the street, black hat sat just askew. His southern drawl rattled in an echo across the street as he joined Mr. Earp.

A warning shot from the new gentleman broke up the ordeal. Earp and company glanced toward the hotel, finding a blushing Y/N staring out the balcony. “Busy town, Miss Y/L/N.” Mr. Earp called.

She nodded, blush still burning her cheeks. “Seems so.”

The other man tipped his hat with a wink and followed Mr. Earp into the saloon. Yes, Tombstone seemed quite busy.

Darkness fell before Y/N ventured out again. The heat of the day, the bittersweet realization that this was her life now all boiled over into an afternoon’s rest. She redressed, thankful that she didn’t have the finer silk dresses that would make the men notice her. Being noticed, especially by a red sash, was not something she was looking for.

Plain yet pretty, she left the security of the hotel and headed down the dusty streets of Tombstone. Dinner would be nice, though she supposed she could get it back in her room if all else failed.

The red embers of cigarettes glowed in the dusk, illuminating the men who leaned on porches waiting for something exciting to happen. As she passed a lively building, The Oriental according to the sign, one such figured called out for her.

“Pardon me, I believe I have not had the pleasure in making your acquaintance.” A deep southern drawl rolled.

Y/N paused briefly, determined to keep walking though manners made her at least stop for the man. “Oh?”

Slow footsteps creaked along the wooden porch and down onto the dirt. A dramatic wave of his hand, removed his hat. The stranger bowed, finger tips reaching out to brush against her hand. “I apologize for so rudely staring at your earlier, but I fear I was too distracted by both your beauty and the rapscallion nature of those cowboys to properly introduce myself.”

“You were with Mr. Earp?”

“Wyatt?” Oh how stretched the vowels were from his tongue. “Why yes, Wyatt Earp is my best friend. Though I would rather not spend my evening discussing him when I could be discussing you. John Henry Holliday, miss.”

She returned her name quietly, cheeks a flutter with pink as he took her hand and brought it to her lips. The hairs of his mustache tickling her skin just slightly. “Pleased to meet you Mr. Holliday.”

“Would you care to join me for a drink?” A devilishly glint flickered in his green eyes.

“You’ll have to forgive me, I’ve never drank.”

A boisterous laugh rattled into a cough. Mr. Holliday wiped at his lips with a handkerchief and quickly tucked it away. “Well darlin’, you’ll find Tombstone is a wonderful place to start.”

Dinner and a nightcap became common place between Y/N and Mr. Holliday. With some effort, she even got to the point of calling him Doc, a sound that when first said made Doc’s eyes roll back with lust. Yes, Doc was sure of it, he was smitten.

She would often talk around the concept of home while they ate and drank. Doc had not forgotten what life was like for a women in the south, though his dear cousin had some wealth to her name. Y/N appeared to have enough, but the scars and freckles that dotted her skin told him her life was far less leisurely than his youth.

Other times she would discuss literature and the little library she had worked at. These conversations especially aroused him. He’d bring novels and read to her as they strolled back to the hotel. Her eyes would shine at him as if he had written the prose himself.

Y/N reminded him of slow kisses under Spanish moss covered trees, of peach juice dribbling out of rosy lips, or warm milky skin he could sink his teeth into. She was a grand home with open windows and billowing curtains, piano music playing and a library of books to read. Yes, Doc was sure of it, he was falling in love. What a horrible thing.

Doc would walk her back to The Grand after a stiff drink (his darlin’ preferred bourbon) and then return to The Oriental to gamble and drink the night away. He never dared enter the hotel, always kissing her hand goodbye on the steps. For if the clerk saw, he knew he would be done for.

While hope and love lingered in his chest, squeezing him tightly, he never fully let himself indulge in that pleasure. After all, he was just a lunger waiting to die. He’d soil the the very name of any respecting woman with his desires and for once he didn’t have it in him.

Y/N finished up her bourbon, eyelashes fluttering up at him. “Will you let me pay tonight?”

“So stubborn for such an angelic face.” Doc grinned while paying her bill. “But no, darlin’. I am but a gentleman.”

The air was easier at night, cool and crisp against their skin. She was wrapped around his arm, head resting against his bicep. “Doc?” He let out a hum. “Do you…” she wasn’t sure what question longed to be asked. Do you like it here? Do you want to come up to my room? Do you like me?

“Nevermind. It’s silly.”

“Silly? From my little daisy? Nonsense.” Doc spun her around in his arms, holding her. The bustle teasing him through the fabric of her dress. Green eyes commanded attention. Calloused fingertips held her soft chin in his hands.

“Do you believe in love?”

Without missing a beat, he smiled his crooked smile. “Why yes, Y/N, yes I surely do.” Tenderly, his lips brushed her forehead. “Now, let’s get you to bed my dear.”

So it continued over several weeks. Touches becoming longer, necklines becoming lower. Guilt gnawed at his chest, thorny vines of shame bubbling out his throat. Pushing that away, Doc focused on hustling, gambling, drinking, and hating Johnny Ringo.

Wyatt puffed on a cigar, frowning as Doc engaged with Ringo. As Doc boasted that he was, “In his prime.” Wyatt reached for a gun under the table. Doc’s favored lover, Kate, stood at his side.

“Yes.” Johnny Ringo nodded, tipping his head toward Kate. “I’m sure your daylight darlin’ would love to know that.”

Doc lunged at Ringo causing a series of tumbling until Ringo was tossed out of the bar. “Fine you lunger, I’ll tell her!”

Fear set in. A cold fear chilled Doc’s bones like when he watched his mother die of the consumption. Death would be a relief in comparison to the heartache of losing his Y/N. Doc spent more of his evenings in her company and less in Kate’s. Once he was sure Ringo was nothing more than a belligerent drunk, (not wholly unlike himself) Doc resumed his usual activities.

Perhaps there was a thrill or he was a glutton for punishment. Doc was never sure. He would swear that he would spend the money he won on Y/N and when she asked what he did for a living hiding behind the badge of Wyatt Earp was a wonderful response.

Still, Y/N longed for more of her Doc. Thoughts and desires consumed her soul so much so the priest at confession was blushing. She wanted Doc in all the ways possible on this earth and beyond. She wanted to care for him, carry his name and his child, be his for whatever time he had left.

She dreamt of him, even on the day that a splitting headache and painful reminder she did not bare his fruit it. Y/N cancelled their usual dinner plans in exchange for a bath. Though the longer she soaked in the lavender (that he bought, the scent almost close to the lilac bushes from his youth), the pain rolled into longing. Deciding on the nicest dress he bought her, she dressed and pinned up her hair.

It was later than usual for their time together, but she couldn’t wait to see his eyes twinkle and his plump lips turn up into a smile. Rushing down the stairs, she made her way to The Oriental.

And, just like it had months ago, the darkness illuminated a man outside. Not her long and lean hero, but his devilish foil. The red sash around Ringo’s waist swayed in the breeze.

“Why Miss Y/L/N, The Oriental at night is no place for a woman of your nature. Perhaps it best I escort you home.”

“I’ll be quite alright, Mr. Ringo. Thank you.”

If Johnny wasn’t weathered by sun and by time, he would have felt remorse. Or perhaps loyalty to Doc. They were not that different and neither man deserved the sweet settling nature of Y/N. So yes, he decided, he was going to break Y/N’s heart.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you darlin’.”

The Oriental bounced with life. Music blared from the piano , whiskey sloshed on the floor, and cards fell on tables. It was very different from the space she was used to with Doc. But the thought of Doc and breathing in his scent was enough to draw her in.

Pausing at the bar for a drink, she surveyed the saloon. Wyatt sat proudly in the dealers spot, smoking. His eyes caught Y/N’s with a wince.

Y/N trailed her eyes in the direction of Wyatt’s. Her chest tightened like the attacks she used to get back home. Doc sparkled with sweat, beads of it drenching his shirt. An empty bottle sat on the table, the only buffer between him and the woman.

Y/N didn’t know the woman, hadn’t really seen her around. Still, not knowing who she was didn’t really lessen the pain of what she was. She was Doc’s. The woman patted the sweat off his forehead and stroked through his hair. And worst of all, only one of Doc’s hands was visible.

A burning rose through Y/N’s throat with the heartache. Her eyes blurred with tears. She desperately wanted to scream at him, to even whisper his name would do. But all she could do was let out a cough to mask the sob and leave.

“I’m walking you home, Miss Y/L/N.” Ringo held out his arm but Y/N pushed by it.

“Jesus woman, don’t you understand that lunger doesn’t care?!” Ringo shouted grabbing her elbow. “He sees her every night.”

He pulled her tight to his chest. Rough hands reached under her skirt grabbing the virgin flesh underneath. “He does?” It sounded pathetic falling from her lips.

“He beds her in that same boarding house you’re in.”

The wail that left het lips was enough for a crowd to rush out. Wyatt, heroic as ever ran out with Doc trailing behind. Johnny released Y/N from his hold but not before letting Doc see the tearful girl covered in Johnny’s hands.

“Nothing to see here,lunger.” Johnny cackled. “Just a broken heart.”

Johnny disappeared into the night as Doc approached. “Darlin’?”

She turned away from him marching back to the boarding house. “Y/N!”

Picking up her skirts she began to run. Tears stinging her skin, she flew up the stairs to her room. The wind blew in from her opened window; tombstone smelled of death.

Doc stood in the dusty streets. Wyatt offered an assuring squeeze to his shoulder. “I fear I may have defiled myself.”

“A young women scorned is not easily fixed.” Wyatt offered a tight smile.

Doc chased her into the hotel, just missing her slam the door. He knocked on her door, “Y/N? Darlin’ please let me in.”

He rattled the doorknob with urgency. “Please.”

The door swung open revealing a teared stained face. A book hit him, followed by another, and then a third and a dress. “Take your shit Mr. Holliday.” She seethed.

The sound of his name brought his first tear. “Now listen to me, you don’t call me that.” A scolding finger pointed in her face.

Smacking it away, she spat at him. “We have no acquaintance. I was a fool to think I could mean anything to you.”

“Stop that.” He begged fear spiraling through his veins. This was it. He had done it. Ruined something good with evil like his family told him he always would.

“I hate you.”

Doc grabbed her wrists and pulled her to his chest. His arms feeling just like the snare of Ringo. Perhaps all men where just as vile.

“Please, Y/N, say whatever you must just never that.” His lips forced their way onto her skin. Kissing her neck and her lips as she struggled again him. “Damn me, curse me, hell shoot me just never say that.”

Wriggling out of his grasp, chest heaving, Y/N broke down to the floor. “What else is there to say?”

Doc sat with her between his knees, clinging tightly. “I can only apologize for weakness.”

“Every night you bed her down the hall. You’re no gentleman. I am but an object to amuse you. You neither respect nor love me and it’s horrifying that I wanted to bare everything you could give me.”

Everything? Had she shared in his lustful fantasies? Did she fully return his affection? “I sincerely want everything with you, daisy.”

“No.”

Doc stayed until she fell asleep in a pitiful puddle in his arms. He carried her to bed, earning a wheeze from his lungs.

The cough was worse the next day. His handkerchief blood soaked by midday. It was no surprise to Wyatt when he rushed Doc back to his room, the doctor in tow.

As blood bubbles from his lips, he begged for Y/N. She did not come nor respond when Wyatt pounded on the door. The second day of Doc’s fever, Y/N quietly pleaded at Wyatt to go away.

It was on the third day that the door opened to Wyatt. Dressed plain, no longer donning the silky dresses Doc had bought her, Y/N emerged. Eyes sunken in and skin marked with tracks of tears, she headed to Doc.

“How is he?”

Wyatt offered a sad smile. “Sorry.”

“That’s not what I asked, Mr. Earp.”

A frown crossed his lips as his stomach lurched. “Please, Miss Y/N, don’t shut me out. You’re my friend.” Wyatt sighed. “He’s a dying man unless someone can settle him down. His fever comes and goes.”

There was a stillness in the room that made her stomach churn. Windows were open, letting in better air. The room was filled with the things she’d thrown at him. The dress crumbled up next to him in bed, the books scattered around with pages marked or weighted down.

Y/N watched the slow nature of his chest rise and fall with breathe. Ignoring the sudden numbness in her throat, crossed the room to his bedside. Removing the cloth from his forehead, she wrung it out and refilled in the water basin.

Tenderly, she washed his face, neck, and bare chest. She fluffed up the pillows and pulled the sweat stained sheets down. “Ask for more sheets when you leave. I’ll stay with him today.”

Wyatt merely nodded, waiting to smile until he was out of sight. Doc might just be a lucky bastard yet again.

She cleaned up the room and refilled water while Doc slept. Lunch was delivered just before A coughing fit roused him from a fitful sleep. “Drink.” She held a cool glass to his lips.

Doc merely nodded, revealing in the relief of water on this throat. He opened his mouth to speak but her finger tapped his lips. “No. Even if I wanted to hear what you had to say, you need to rest your throat.”

She sat the glass down. “I’m going to change the the top sheet if that’s alright.” Glazed eyes focused on her and he nodded.

As she peeled back the sheets she did her best not to stare at him. His lean body shimmering with sweat. Muscles rippled beneath curls of hair that trailed down his chest to something she had only dreamed about.

Tucking him into the new sheets, her chest hurt with the thought that someone else had seen him and touched him. Someone who wasn’t here while he lay dying. Pleasure would not be here to give.

A clammy hand grabbed her wrist and led her hand over his stomach. Whines left his throat.her cool hands were a relief and he needed that in more ways that just one.

“No.” Things were different. Just three days before she would have slipped into the delirium of his touch. But now, bile crawled up her throat.

She left his side momentarily to grab soup and a spoon. “It’s cooled enough so it shouldn’t hurt. You must eat and rest.”

Doc might have been delirious with fever, but he was hopeful. None of his escapades had ever valued his life the way she seemed too. His very soul lay between gentle hands that fed him. Flashbacks of himself at his mothers side broke through bought of fever and he was certain that this was love.

It was late that night when Doc awoke with a start. Pain no longer resonated with each breath. Sweat did not fall over him.

Pushing himself up against the headboard, he rolled his shoulders. Adjusting to the candle lit room, he knew he was not alone. Linen pants and a cotton tie front shirt were folded at the foot of the bed. He grabbed them, they didn’t smell of sweat or liquor, they were new. Water was running in his bathroom.

Leaning on his cane, thighs trembling with each step. Nudging the door open, he finds Y/N on her knees filling the claw foot tub. A minty smell tickles his nose and swirls into his chest. He breathes without much pain.

The cotton of her slip is all she wears under a corset. Lace flowers and ivory fabric that he had not yet gotten to see taunt him. “Why I do believe this is heaven.”

If Doc squinted, he was sure he saw a crinkle of a smile. “Let me help you in.”

“Why yes I’m sure of it now, this is heaven. I fear have been wrongly placed I am a sinner of the worst kind.” A hum of acknowledgment told him enough.

Gentle hands held his as she trembled into the bath. Easing himself in, his lungs cleared momentarily. “I can breathe.”

“Eucalyptus. Group of travelers were selling it when I went to buy your clothes. Said it helped.”

“My modern woman.” A blissful sigh let his lips at another deep inhale. “How long did the doctors give me?”

A sharp glare chilled the steaming bathroom. “You could live if you changed.” Y/N snapped. “But you choose to drink and smoke and bed whores every night. Perhaps I wasted my time on a dead man.”

He’s convinced his heart breaks again then. Watching green eyes trail with tears, his own reflecting the same. “Please do not think of me as time ill spent.”

“I will not think of you at all.”

“Daisy, that is even worse.” He reached for her hand once more, finding nothing. “Please?”

Fingers brushed his. “I’m leaving.”

For the first time since his raising from the dead, Doc coughed. Eyelashes fluttering rapidly. “I beg your pardon?” Doc imagined a lot of things with Y/N and none of those were leaving Tombstone (or at least not without their family and Wyatt).

“I have no prospects here. My benefactor provided plenty of funds. I’ve heard Denver has nice mountain air.”

“No prospects? What ever do you mean? My intentions were not clear to you?” Calloused fingers stroked her jaw.

“I’m as good as used.” She forced her bruised wrists to him. Pulling up her shift, he saw purple finger tips scattered on precious skin. “He touched me Doc, like you touched her. No one will marry me now.”

Like you touched her. Envy, rage, regret, and list churned in his stomach. A Pitiful series of “No’s” left his lips as he pulled her towards him by her skirt. He tried to stand but she eased him back in. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?” It was small, barely a whisper. Water splashed over the tub and onto her giving peeks of sweet skin underneath.

“I do not deserve the luxury of you.” His finger trailed over her collar bone and up her neck. “I have not felt happiness like this since I was a foolish young man. Still foolish now.” Tracing the rose of her lips, he tapped her plump bottom lip forcing his finger just between. “I’m deviant Y/N, I’m a vile sinner who thinks unspeakable things about you daily and wanted to ruin it. Why live when you could not possibly want me to tarnish you?”

“What about your intentions you just spoke of?”

“Well my daisy I am selfish as well. I want To keep you as my wife. I just have these vices I wish to shield you from. I love you more than life. I would die to keep you happy.”

“Oh doc please don’t say such things!” She flung herself around his shoulders hugging him close.

Slowly, due to his healing and uncertainty of their relationship, he peeled her into the tub. Still clothed in now sheer cotton, Y/N dared a peek out from the crook of his neck. “Doc?” Breathy, she hardly recognized her own voice.

“May I have the pleasure of loving you?” He trailed finger along her clavicle. “Of keeping you as mine?”

“Yes.”

“Forever Mrs. Holliday?”

Daring a kiss to his lips, she hummed. “Forever.”

#Doc Holliday x reader #Doc Holliday imagines #Doc Holliday imagine #Val Kilmer imagine #Val Kilmer x reader #tombstone #tombstone imagines

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gachawolfiebloom · 5 months

Text

A Grumpy Troll and A Prince

Chapter 3: The Adventure Begins

Tags: Comedy, action, adventure, and romance

With the kingdom safely hidden, prince Four set off to rescue his friends with the utmost confidence he would make it to Bergen Town on his own. That was until he was face to face with the cunning Mr Puzzles. He tried to fight back, but his head got ripped off and the remaining corpse laid dead on the ground. He failed. He had...

"Snap out of it Four!"

He backed out of the intrusive thoughts that had put him in a trance and looked down at his journal, filled with memes. The scenarios that played in his head were all that filled the page. Back in reality, he was following the footsteps of those dusty, respectable-like shoes that the TV man was wearing.

"I totally got this. It's not like he is taking your friends to their impending doom where they will all be eaten..." He nervously told himself, trying to hope for the best. No, that was exactly Mr Puzzles was doing...and he knew it. Taking a breath, the troll forced himself to carry along and make it all the way in one piece.

"I really hope I can do it because they're all depending on me."

He had just left the Mushroom Kingdom and was now standing on the flower petal that looked over and colorful field of the Flower Kingdom.

"I know that I must leave the only home I've ever known and brave the dangers of the forest, saving them before they're eaten. I mean how hard can that-"

He then heard a snapping sound and looked down to find the petal he was standing on had broke.

"Be..."

He was falling to the ground, but caught himself just in time. Once his feet were safely back on the ground, he dusted himself off and thought it might help to look at the more positive side of things.

"There's a sunny sky that's shiny and blue."

A butterfly flew past him and thought that maybe this journey wouldn't be as scary as he thought. That idea was thrown out the window when some kind of spotted, four-legged creature caught the bug with its tongue, a clear, speckled one ate him, buzzards flew past, eating skin, leaving nothing but bones, and then a fire flower burned it to ashes. Four was left standing with his mouth agape when the flower turned to him. He waved nervously when the flower asked "I wonder what Gombas taste like?" Four thought "What the actual heck..." and slowly backed away.

"It's gonna be a fantastic day..."

He made it to the Koopa kingdom where volcanos were puffing everywhere and he bounced along rocks under a river of lava.

"Such marvelousness this is gonna bring. Iv'e got so many songs that I wanna sing. And I'm ready to take on anything. Yippee!"

He got launched so hard that he made it up to a castle, but a giant turtle stomped in front of him. Bowser was certainly not happy as he started to chase the poor troll. He couldn't give up as he kept running and running, jumping off a ledge just before Bowser's fire breath roasted him to a crisp.

"So many fun surprises around each corner. Just ride along a rainbow, gonna be okay. Hey! I'm not giving up today. There's nothing getting in my way and if you knock, knock me over, I will get back up again."

He couldn't tell which kingdom he was falling into next, but then saw a giant bird heading his way. Trying to duck out of the way just made him get eaten in one fell swoop and the Cookatiel took him back to her soup bowl in the Luncheon Kingdom.

"If something goes a little wrong well you can go ahead and bring it on."

The Cookatiel spat him back out into the soup bowl, water bubbling until Four popped out, gasping for air.

"Because if you knock, knock me over, I will get back up again!"

He managed to escape the bird on a piece of carrot and felt relived watching the furious bird over the boiling pot of stew. Whatever kingdom next would surely be better, that is until he saw a bunch of spikes up ahead.

"Oh crap..."

He was marching through the rainy New Donk City, overheated in the Sand Kingdom, almost a block of ice in the Snow Kingdom, swimming through the Lake Kingdom till that giant eel swallowed him, now traveling through his intestines, and pushing through the Windy Kingdom.

"I'm marching along, iv'e got confidence, I'm cooler than a pack of peppermints, and I haven't been this excited since...I CAN'T REMEMBER WHEN!"

He began stomping and jumping along flying Koopa's until when they ran out, he found he was high up in the air, falling once again. (Is this a habit of his?)

"I'm off on this remarkable adventure. Just ridding along a rainbow!"

He opened his eyes to find a piranha plant, shutting it's mouth tightly. God that hurt. Was he..

"What if this is all a big mistake? What if it's more than I can take?"

"NO!"

He pried open the piranha plant and kept going. As long as he reminded himself of his friends, he would surely still stand.

"I can't think that way because I know that I'm really going to be-"

Till a chain chomp came out of nowhere and ate him. Going out by that retractable dog was not how he wanted to go.

"Okay! Hey! I'm not giving up today. There's nothing getting in my way because if you knock, knock me over, I will get back up again."

He managed to escape the jags of teeth in its mouth, wondering why so many thing wanted to eat him. Even the place he was searching for was filled with creatures, ready to get their hands on him.

"If something goes a little wrong, well you can go ahead and bring it on. Because if you knock, knock me over, I will get back up again."

He tore through several giant spider webs and collapsed on the ground, stuck in webbing. No problem. Just got to get out of this web.

"And if you knock, knock me over, I will....get....back......up.....again......."

What was wrong? His spirit was still persistent on going, but his body was giving up. He could feel his heartbeat slowly decrease and his eyes closing. No. Not now. You can't give up now. He soon passed out and everything went black.

...

Hours had passed, but someone had finally found him. Four eyes had caught sight of the poor troll. It turns out that a bunch os spiders had found their next meal and slowly descended from their webs to feast on what they saw as food. They opened their mouths wide, ready to take a bite when all of a sudden, someone grabbed Four just in the knick of time. The spiders turned to find that what you might think would be the least expected troll to come. That's right. Three had saved the prince, but the spiders didn't care. More food for them anyway.

They started to crawl towards him as he backed up, but then Three took out a bomb and tossed it at one's face. The explosion barely startled them as they paused for a few seconds...and then got back to dinner. Uneasiness began to take hold of Three, but he stood his ground and as it turns out, he had the same kinds of abilities with his hair that Four did.

Using his hair like a whip, he sent the spiders packing back into the mouth of some creature that swallowed them up and went to rest. He breathed a heavy sigh and finally it was quiet. Quiet? He looked back to see that the prince was still passed out, not making a sound. That wasn't normal for him. Three became panicked as he rushed over to the blacked out troll.

"FOUR!?"

He kneeled down to the spider web that encased him and leaned close for any signs of life. No heartbeat. "Hang on Four!" He grabbed a sharp petal from a Spider Mum flower (yes I googled that) and two glowing bugs. He used the flower petal to cut open the web containment and rubbed the two bugs together like AED to restore the prince's heartbeat.

Concern was expressed in his eyes as he hoped he wasn't too late. Four's eyes shot open as he sat up. He saw Three standing next to him and his expression turned more smug. "Three! You are right on time!" Three went back from his strange, caring side into his immodest, grumpy self. "Oh sure...Like you knew I was coming." Four actually did know he was coming because he had set him up. "Yep. I figured after the third hug time, you'd realize being eaten by a Bergen wouldn't be so bad."

Three shot back "And I figured there was no way you could do this by yourself. Looks like we were both right." He returned the smug grin and crossed his arms while Four just dismissed it and carried on. "Okay then onward!" He started walking off and Three ran after him. "Oi! Don't ignore me!"

"Sooner we can rescue everybody and make it home safely." Three pushed through some plants and asked "Wait! What's your plan?" Four turned back to him and gave him a look that said "We're you even listening."

"I just told you. To rescue everyone and make it home safely." Three sighed and told him "That's not a plan. That's a wishlist."

"OHHHH I suppose you have a plan."

Three nodded and cleared his throat before speaking. "First, we'll get to the edge of Bergen Town without being spotted. Then, we get inside by sneaking through the old escape tunnels which will then lead us to the Troll Tree, right before we get caught, AND SUFFER A MISERABLE DEATH AT THE HANDS OF A HORRIBLE, BLOODTHIRSTY BERGEN!" Three was just trying to scare Four into reconsidering, but it didn't work because what he saw next was...

"Hold on a second! Are you memeing my plan!" Four enthusiastically nodded as he held up a meme that had them and all of their friends cheering "We did it!" and dancing along to that cringey Dora song. Once again, glitter got shot into Three's unimpressed face. He scowled at Four and said "There will be no more...memes..." Four sighed sadly and the two continued on.

They began walking along a huge tree trunk that had conveniently fallen on top of a river, making it the perfect bridge to get across. Four tried to lighten the mood by dancing and humming along the trunk. Three did not appreciate it though.

"Do you have to do that?"

"I always dance and hum when I'm in a good mood."

"Do you have to be in a good mood?"

"Why wouldn't I be? By this time tomorrow, I'll be back with all my friends!"

He pondered to himself on how they were doing and said "I wonder what they're doing right now!" Three thew some sarcasm into his answer with by replying "Probably being digested." Four looked at him seriously and strictly told him "They're alive. I know it." Three then stopped in his tracks and faced Four coldly.

"You don't know anything Four. And I can't wait to see the look on your face when you realize that the world isn't all fun and laughter, cause it isn't! Bad things happen and their's nothing you can do about it!" He pouted to himself and walked off.

Four could tell something was up with Three, but pushed it aside for not being shown up like that. "Hey! I know that it isn't all fun and laughter, but I would rather go through my life thinking that it mostly is instead of being like you. You don't sing, dance, and so grumpy all the time. Seriously, what happened to you? Three didn't want to talk about it so he stuck a finger over the prince's mouth and shushed him.

Concern started to melt into Four's mind as he squeaked out "A Bergen?" Three slowly removed his finger and whispered "Maybe..." Four looked around in fear, but then squinted his eyes. He sighed and said "There's no Bergen is there.? You just said that so I would stop talking!"

"Yeah. And?" He continued walking as Four rolled his eyes. They realized it was getting late, so it seemed like a good idea to find a spot to camp and resume the journey in the morning. They had found a quiet spot in the forest to sleep, except they weren't sleeping. Three was angrily covering himself in the covers while Four was unable to sleep.

He took out a picture of all of them together and lied it in the grass in front of him. "They're all so special. Good night Meggy. Good night Boopkins. Good night Tari. Good night Melony. Good night Mario. Good night Bob. Good night Luigi." He chuckled a bit on the last one with a smile and playfully said "Good night Tag6. Boop." as he laid his finger on Tag6's nose in the picture.

"AND GOOD NIGHT FOUR." Three sternly said, wanting sleep. Four sighed and looked up at the start night sky with the full moon out. It was perfectly placed to be seen through the trees. That ding sound signifying the special time had gone off on his bracelet. He sat up and looked over at Three. "Don't...even...think about it." Four rolled his eyes again and mouthed "Muh muh muh." to tease Three's demented attitude.

Back to looking up at the sky. You know what this needed. A song. "Stars shinning bright above you-" Three sat up, fully awake and looked at Four like he was joking. "Really? Seriously? More singing?"

"Yes seriously! Singing helps me relax. Maybe you should try it." Three was really started to get fed up with this. How hard was it to get his way of living life into Four's mind? "I don't sing and I don't relax! This is the way I am and I like it! I would also like a little SILENCE!"

He tried to fall back asleep, but then heard the sound of a soft Ukulele playing. What the hell!? He whipped his head around to see Four, playing the instrument and looking at him in an arrogant manner.

"Hello darkness, my old friend. Iv'e come to talk with you again."

Creatures began flying around and singing along while Three looked confused and speechless. A small spider came up next to him and whispered "Hello..."

"Because a vision softly creeping."

Three flicked the spider off his arm without breaking eye contact with Four.

"Left its seeds while I was sleeping."

"And the vision that was planted in my brain."

"Still remains."

"Within the sound....of silence."

All the creatures disappeared just as mysteriously from when they arrived and Four strummed one last time on the Ukulele. Three got up and softly asked "May I?" Four smiled and gave him the instrument. Three instantly threw it into the fire and he went back to sleep while Four watched his Ukulele burn, mouth agape. This was going to be a long adventure...

Chapter 4: Welcome to Bergen Town

#comedy #adventure #action #romance #smg4 #smg3 #smg34 #smg4 au #smg34 fanfiction #trolls #trolls au #trolls movie #trolls bergens #smg4 trolls #trolls poppy #trolls branch

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tomtenadia · 5 months

Text

Detours to You - 27

Here I am with a new chapter... hope you like it. We are almost at the end. :)

Rowan was running late and he hated it. He had been out on a firehouse visit and the inspection had lasted longer than he wanted and now he was rushing towards the bookshop, excitement bubbling through him. Aelin had a doctor’s appointment and they were hoping to finally discover the gender of the baby. They had tried at the previous visit but their child had decided to be cheeky and not reveal themselves. Before leaving the firehouse he had texted Aelin to let her know he was on his way. And while he was giddy at experiencing all that he had missed during Aelin’s first pregnancy Maya had become fascinated by the idea of having a sibling and she had been also inquisitive about her growing belly so Rowan had done some research to find a suitable book to explain to a toddler what was happening. It was followed by a lot of interesting evening with some really challenging questions.

Finally getting rid of his pickup he walked quickly to the shop. Inside he was met by Lys and Elide who were at the counter discussing something.

“Good morning, Chief.” They told him as he entered “Aelin is in the back office.”

“So, are you excited?”

Rowan nodded. He was happy about the pregnancy but now he was really looking forward to know more about their baby. He had been fussing more than usual but he had a great help in Maya who was happy to help her mum too. Some evening they would sit on the sofa and Rowan would read stories and Maya would place her head on her mum’s lap to be close to the baby. He was looking forward to feel them kick. Rowan wanted to experience so badly all the little things that he had missed with Maya.

“Yes.” He replied “I just wish she would take it a bit slower. She is always so tired.”

Elide sighed “We try. But you know how she is.”

He nodded. Yes, the few times he had suggested her to stay at home she almost strangled him and called him a fussy buzzard.

“You do know she is going to drop the baby in the middle of this bookstore, right?”

Rowan groaned. He had already enlisted the parents to help him in his mission to convince Aelin to take it slow.

“I know..”

In that instant Aelin appeared and went for a kiss “Don’t, I was in the office sitting down.”

Rowan groaned and then gently brushed her small bump “are you both ready to go?”

Aelin nodded and waved at the two women and they left the shop.

In the car Aelin strapped in “I am so excited.” She brushed her tummy “I hope peanut will behave today.”

He leaned forward and kissed her “you make me happy.” He confessed.

“Peanut, you need to know that your dad is a mushy old man.”

Rowan roared with laughter and set the car in motion “don’t listen to your mum, little one.”

At the hospital they went straight for the maternity ward and checked in with the nurses and sat waiting for their doctor.

“Aelin, Rowan, come in.”

After the usual chat, doctor Hafiza invited Aelin to lay down on the bed and Rowan took position at her side, her hand in his in anticipation.

Doctor Hafiza moved the ultrasound machine closer and stood beside the bed.

“You know the drill,” she joked, and Aelin lifted her shirt to allow the doctor to place the gel on her belly.

“Now, let’s see if your baby today decides to reveal themselves to us.”

Rowan kissed Aelin’s hand and gasped at the image on the screen. It did not matter that he had seen it before, the grainy picture of his child still moved something in him.

“Come on, little one, move for me.” Doctor Hafiza shifted the wand until a big smile spread on her face “so what do we think?”

“A girl,” added Aelin quickly.

“I am happy with either.”

The doctor moved the wand a bit more until a huge grin spread on her face and with his finger she pointed at the screen “what about a wee boy?”

Rowan and Aelin stared at each other and he kissed her and Aelin nodded excited.

“Is he okay?”

The doctor was silent for a moment “yes, all the measurements are perfectly within range, he is growing up nicely.”

Rowan brushed Aelin’s hair “we are having a boy,” his voice soft and already in love with the life growing inside Aelin,

“Is Aelin okay too?”

The woman in question rolled her eyes “he is fussing. If it were for him he’d lock me up in a cocoon until the baby comes out.”

The doctor laughed “she is fine and I will schedule regular check ups. You are well over thirty and although not risky yet, I just want to make some extra checks.” she explained “I would recommend taking it easy. Let him do the heavy lifting.”

Rowan beamed but their doctor stopped him “movement is not all bad. Work will be fine until she manages, and I recommends walks and there’s also pregnancy yoga. Just be mindful of which poses you do.”

“Oh yes, I used to do that when I was pregnant with Maya.”

“I had a c-section before, will I be able to have a natural birth?”

Aelin felt Rowan’s hand tense in hers.

The doctor nodded “we will monitor your pregnancy carefully, but there’s usually no risk if both mum and baby are healthy.”

“But there are risks?”

“Rowan, childbirth itself is always a risky business. But I am good at my job.”

Aelin looked up at him and she knew he was already in crazy fussy mode.

“Let’s just hope the little one behaves better than his sister and waits for his correct time and decides to come out as nature intended to.”

The doctor chuckled “Maya was a hellion from the start.”

Aelin and her doctor seemed to share a joke they only knew about and Rowan stood there in silence. A part of him, reminding him that he had not been there the first time and the dull ache of what he had missed came back. He sighed, pushing back all the negative thoughts. He and Aelin were on track, they had a family and they were looking forward. It was time for him to stop dwelling on what had happened.

Aelin patted his hand “he is a worrywart and I am sure he is already thinking about all he could do to protect us.” She kissed his hand looking up at him and mouthing an I love you.

“Guess it’s the first responder in him.”

The doctor cleaned up Aelin’s belly and she finally sat up “I will book your next appointment, but if you have any issues just call the ward and I will try and squeeze you in.”

Outside of the room Aelin turned to Rowan and threw her arms around his neck “we are having a boy.”

He bowed his head and met her lips for a sweet kiss “wonder how Maya will take it.”

Aelin smiled against his lips “that little hellion of ours will be delighted.”

Rowan quickly looked at his watch “is it okay if I take you back to the bookstore? I have a meeting coming up soon and another firehouse visit.”

“Of course.”

“Sorry,” a kiss “I have a captain who is in an acting role because an investigation and I have to check a few things.”

Aelin caressed his face “go, Lys and Elide will look after me.”

“I will come and pick you up after work, then we are getting Maya from your parents and we’ll celebrate tonight.”

“Adult fun?”

“Menace.”

Rowan afternoon had been crazy. After his meeting he had run to the fire station and when he was on his way back the radio became alive so he did a u-turn and drove to the accident. By the time everything was resolved it was far too late for his taste. He had quickly called Aelin while driving and told her he might not be able to meet her to go and pick up Maya. He hated it, but that was his job. On his way home he had stopped at Emrys and bough Aelin’s favourite chocolate cake to apologise.

He drove uphill to the house and relaxed. He just wanted to sit on the sofa with his two women and have a quiet evening.

“Ae, I am home.” He called while toeing off his shoes.

Maya appeared instead “hi dada!”

In a swift motion he picked her up “hi munchkin, where’s mum?”

“She just went to the toilet.”

He kissed his daughter “sorry I could not come and pick you up.”

“Mama said you were helping with a fire.”

“I was.”

A moment later Aelin appeared and he quickly scanned her to make sure all was okay.

“Is that chocolate cake you have in your hands?”

Rowan scoffed and looked at his daughter still in his arms “she loves chocolate more than me.”

Maya hugged his neck “it’s okay dad, I love you.”

Aelin moved closer “peanut and I love you madly,” she added leaning against his arms “but you must know by now that I would gladly cheat on you with a cake from Emrys.”

He laughed and put Maya on the ground while passing the cake to Aelin “I need a shower then I will make dinner.” He then turned to Maya “make sure mama does not eat the chocolate cake while I am away.”

The girl grinned and Rowan disappeared upstairs.

By the time he was back all refreshed both Aelin and Maya were in the living room “Dada, I kept mama away.” She told him proudly.

Rowan smacked a kiss on her cheek “well done, baby.”

Aelin crossed her arms at her chest “yes, the little traitor,” she joked “you carry them for nine months and then they side with the father.”

Rowan sat at Aelin’s side and pulled her to him and kissed her “I am just looking after your sugar intake.”

She grumbled and Rowan caressed her belly “did you tell Maya?”

“I was waiting for you.”

Rowan nodded and called the girl who crawled happily with her elf toy in tow.

He lifted her up and sat her in between them “Maya, your mum and I today went to the doctor and we discovered a bit more about your sibling.”

She looked at them with interest and Aelin took over “what do you think about having a little brother?”

“Can I play with him?”

“Of course,” added Rowan “as soon as he is a bit older you can teach him all your favourite games.”

Quickly she held elf closer at her chest “but Elf is mine.”

“Of course.”

At that she relaxed and went to touch her mum’s belly.

Rowan took that as a cue to go and make dinner.

He was busy prepping when a set of arms sneaked around his waist “that went well I think?”

Aelin kissed his back “I am not sure how she will react. I was an only child. Will she get jealous?”

Rowan chuckled and kept cooking “I was an only child too but as you know, the Whitethorn are a huge clan. My dad had a brother and a sister and they got a long wonderfully.”

Aelin sighed “I want her to love her brother.”

He turned for a brief moment “as long as we show them both that they are loved, we should be fine. Let’s try and make Maya feel included.”

“She is already proud of being a big sister.”

Rowan kissed her and went back cooking “how did you two get home?”

“Lorcan came to pick up Elide and he offered to get Maya from school and drive us home.”

He relaxed “I am sorry I let you down.”

Aelin moved at his side and looked at him “you did not,” her hand caressed his face “you were at work and then had an emergency. And if Lorcan had not showed up, we would have gone to my mum until you were back.”

Rowan kissed “I love you.”

Aelin pinched his arse “now Whitethorn, get a move on with the chow. You spawn and I are starving.”

He pushed her gently away and finished preparing dinner.

Then while cooking an idea hit him.

He knew how to propose.

He just needed to enlist Lysandra and Elide in his plan.

taglist

@rowaelinismyotp @swankii-art-teacher @whimsicallyreading @elentiyawhitethorn @aelin-bitch-queen @bruiseonthefaceofhumanity @mis-lil-red @thegreyj @sailorsassley @leiawritesstories @clairec79 @morganofthewildfire @sv0430 @heartless--aromantic @autumnbabylon @rowanaelinn @susumaus98 @gracie-rosee @mybloodrunsblue @tanvee1231 @avenrebekah @whoever-you-choose-to-love @theywillnotsingforme @universallytreepost @black-daisy-water @goddess-aelin @whispers-in-the-darkest-heart @lovely-dove-zee @athena127 @mariaofdoranelle

#rowaelin #rowan whitethorn #rowan x aelin #rowaelin fanfiction #rowaelin fanfic #aelin x rowan #rowanwhitethorn #throne of glass fanfiction #aelin galathynius

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writebackatya · 1 year

Text

Wip Preview!

Once again I’ve caught the writing bug. And once again I’m just too excited about what I’m writing so I thought I’d share a little bit

So come on! Come get your pre-canon Spear of Selene angst! All though this part ain’t too angsty. And this hasn’t been beta read and still a work in process so it ain’t final

Also in case you couldn’t tell, I love writing for Duckworth:

***********************************************

“LOOK OUT BELOW!”

After hearing the inane shouting of Della, Bradford let out a quiet exasperated sigh; which was then followed by a rather loud startled gasp as the buzzard spotted the duck sliding down the stairs, using a shield as her personal board.

“Ah! Bradford?!” Della then swung her body into the direction away from the buzzard, causing the duck to wipe out off her board but away from Bradford.

“Umph!” Della grunted as her face made contact to the ground. She then quickly looked up to greet her guest.

“Bradford.”

DONK

The shield that Della was using as a stairboard landed on top of the duck’s head.

After the shield fell off her head, Della got up onto her feet, “I mean, Mr. Buzzard. Sorry, I thought you were Donald! He’s coming back home today and well you how siblings can get, right?”

“…No. I do not.” Bradford answered, “and yes, your uncle did tell me that your brother would be arriving sometime today.”

“Yeah! He’s going to meet the kids for the first time!”

“Yes, he also did mention your unexpected pregnancy.”

“Heh, yeah.” Della rubbed her head as she awkwardly picked up the shield from the ground. “Well I’m past that part, now all I gotta do is sit on them till their ready. So far, I think I’m handling things well. But let me tell yeah, pushing those three out was a whole another story. You ever push out-, never mind…”

“I see…and do you at least know who the father is?”

“Some asshole I hope I never see again.” Della chuckled which became rather awkward when she noticed the unamused look on the buzzard’s face. “I uh, suppose you’re here to see Uncle Scrooge?”

“Uh, yes.” Bradford cleared his throat and then look passed Della. “Does he know that I’m here?”

“Oh keep your shirt on, Bradford I’m right here.” Scrooge said as he made his way down the stairs.

“Augh, Della,” Scrooge sighed. “Did you just go surfing down the stairs while we have company?”

“Uncle Scrooge, I did not know, I thought he was Donald.”

“That’s not the point lass, I don’t want ya treating my house like it’s a skate park.”

“Oh come on, I was just having some harmless fun” Della explained as she once again rubbed the bump on her head, “our guest is fine and King Arthur’s shield is perfectly intact.”

“Della, please put it back where you found it.”

“I was gonna,” Della assured her uncle as she awkwardly backed away from the two older birds, “Anyway, I’ll leave you two alone so you can talk about business. Woo! Business. Heh, yeah…”

“Yes, thank you Della.”

“No problem, Uncle Scrooge. I’ll just, uh, be in my room till Donnie gets here.”

As Della made her way up the stairs she hissed to her uncle’s passing butler. “Thanks for the heads up, Duckworth.”

“I’ll be sure to speak faster next time, Della.” Duckworth remarked before joining Scrooge by his side.

“Now Bradford,” Scrooge began when Della had left the area, “I thought we agreed that you’d come over after noon, my nephew should be here soon.”

“Oh, right.” Bradford cleared his throat. “Sorry, I must’ve mixed the times up I can come back if you’d like.”

“Perhaps you can get yourself a personal planner,” Duckworth suggested getting a glare from the buzzard, “I find those to be quite useful when I organize my day.”

“Nonsense, Bradford. There’s no point in you leaving when you came all this way, I’ll have plenty of time for Donald later. Duckworth that’ll be all for now.”

“I’ll be taking care of young Della’s nasty bump if you need me, Scrooge. Mr. Buzzard.” And with that said, Duckworth left the two businessmen alone.

#wip previews #ducktales fanficiton #della duck #bradford buzzard #scrooge mcduck #duckworth

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unexploredcast · 6 months

Text

Aside from the paths scouted between Antarras’ sparse collection of towns, and the maps kept by the Miner’s Guild, all too much of the planet remains unexplored. This reason is no small part of why the Buzzards do such good business: wander off just a hair in the wrong direction, and you might find yourself in unexpectedly dangerous terrain—and not just because of the landscape.

In fact, early settlers passed down the firm belief that the planet was impossible to explore in full. Not because of its size—as the planet is, in reality, no larger than Earth’s own moon—but because time and space, they alleged, didn’t always seem to work the way you wanted ‘em to.

This week, on Ruin’s Gate: Parting ways.

GET YOUR "SAY OK TO THE CLOCK" SHIRT HERE: https://www.teepublic.com/user/the-unexplored-places

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/unexploredcast Follow us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/unexploredcast.bsky.social Follow us on Tumblr: https://unexploredcast.tumblr.com/ Art by Ben Prevas Music by Andrew: https://andrewperricone.bandcamp.com/ Indigeneity Consultation by Wind: https://twitter.com/windjammah, https://qomrades.com/ Transcripts: https://unexploredcast.tumblr.com/transcripts

#actual play podcast #a fistful of darkness #weird west podcast #horror podcast #ttrpg podcast

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traditional-with-a-twist · 7 months

Text

lviii. Beauty and Her Beast

<<Previous || first arc || second arc || third arc || AO3 || Next>>

After the spectacular victory at sea, Tanbarun had commenced a systematic purging of the Claw’s associates.

This had proved difficult.

Headless, the limbs scattered — vanishing into hideaways and boltholes, melting back into the anonymity of the underworld.

For every pirate the soldiers captured, two more evaded them.

...

The smugglers’ elusiveness frustrated justice, but it posed at worst a tepid threat. The sea witch had masterminded the vilest of their evils; she alone sported the fangs of the operation.

Umihebi had carved blood and misery across the seas.

She had built an empire, trading in flesh. She had defied the might of the royal navy and the merchant marine, digging her nest so deeply that its tendrils extended all throughout the land before she was rooted out at last.

By trapping her, the joint forces of Prince Raj and Prince Zen had lifted a scourge from the kingdom, freed it from a menace that stalked its borders and devoured its children.

They had laid to rest a malignant enemy.

Without her venom, the thugs at her command might snap at the heels of Tanbarunian society, but they would not imperil civil order or the health of the body politic.

Now Umihebi walked free again.

...

Word of the danger spread quickly.

News, rumors, began circulating. The countryside felt the shivers of realignment as people followed.

The more unsavory characters wound towards the source of disturbance, drawn like buzzards by the promise of blood. Whispers followed in their wake, warning of a force gathering — a hatred building.

Safety was west.

Obi went east.

...

He had left something behind him in that bedroom with Torou. He no longer sought distraction.

No more would he search for a way to forget or suppress the memories, as if he could find a cure for his regrets. This was no malady plaguing him, no medical condition. He was not ill — he was guilty of a crime.

He stopped visiting towns and taverns after that — stopped looking for ways to drown or stifle thoughts of her.

...

His mind roamed more wildly than his feet, vacillating confusedly from remorse to accusation. Where had he gone wrong — leaving? Staying? Asking her to be him? Discarding her and the home they had built together?

Every decision seemed suspect; entirely contrary choices struck him as equally wrong-headed, equally inimical to everything good.

How had he dared to presume he could care for her — how had he dared to abandon her?

...

Obi knew no rest, in soul or body.

He had always been a light and fitful sleeper, prone to snatching cat naps on window sills, sofas, beds that belonged to someone else — but now he knew not when he slept.

He would come to himself in a wood somewhere, unconscious of whether he had dreamed or only sunk into a reverie.

Other travelers passed him by, perhaps unaware of his presence, perhaps drawing back as instinctively as animals shied from the dangerous of their kind — scenting death in the walking wounded.

...

He felt marked, a wanderer like Cain, cursed by his own transgressions — but he had lived on the wrong side of the law for many years.

This time a chasm had opened, between himself and the rest of humanity, such as he had never known in all his years in the underworld.

It would be easy enough to let the world grind him to nothing, as it had always tried in any case, but there was something to do first — one thing he had left to take care of.

...

Obi followed that undefined sense of incompleteness to a rough town near the border — “town” being a generous term.

It was one of those the places of buying and selling sprung up in conjunction with the crossing patrolled by their neighbors to the east.

Here, one might change money, change papers, change your identity even — and buy a drink, of course.

...

No such shadow town would be complete without a place for men to wet their throats, but this hub in particular did a brisk business in reallocating confiscated liquor.

The eastern empire did not smile on spirits, as many an ill-informed merchant discovered to his chagrin.

Sometimes a finely aged brew would find its way to the dusty tables.

Other times, Obi thought, as he watched the bartender fill his glass, it might as well have been ditchwater.

...

He sat back and surveyed the room, his mind assessing, appraising each party.

Many drank alone, but a band was gathering against one wall.

They drifted in by ones and twos, ostensibly occupied with a game of darts, but Obi noted few heads turned in direction of the play and little interest in its progress.

The men were more occupied with consulting, murmuring to each other in low voices while their eyes flitted from face to face.

...

He downed his glass.

It tasted worse than it looked, but this mattered nothing to Obi.

Perhaps his body had reached its limits at last — perhaps there was a point beyond which a man could feel no more.

Obi rose.

He was about to find out.

...

He strolled up to the dart game like a blind, deaf dog robbed of its scent faculties — oblivious, in short, to every sign thrown out to signal his unwelcome.

The men glowered, shifted together, closed ranks against him.

A fellow with an eye patch, stationed at the group’s periphery to head off interlopers, gave him a look that was downright mean.

Obi sauntered past, headed straight for the thick of their band.

All their low murmuring ceased.

...

A few watched him coldly; others fingered the weapons at their belts.

One lifted a short, heavy-handled knife. With a grunt, he sent it spinning through the air to bury itself in the black ring surrounding the dart board’s bullseye.

A moment later, Obi’s leaf blade joined it — dead center.

Now he had their attention.

...

'Do you know how it is when they punish a thief?' His knife blade dances between his fingers. 'It is different in every country.

‘In the south, they charge a fine. In the north, they lock you up.

‘Go east, and they cut off a hand.'

The blade spins through the air; he catches it with his fingertips. 'But no one has invented a punishment for my crime.'

...

“Listen, you miserable whelp,” growled a hook-nosed man, eyes burning beneath the low brim of his hat. “Do you have any idea who you’re jabbering at?”

The corners of Obi’s mouth curled up.

He raised his hand, three fingers bent in, and pawed the air in an unmistakable slash — the kind he had found carved into a tree, a lifetime ago in Tanbarun.

Obi cocked his head, holding their gaze. “Meow?”

...

A heavy hand descended on Obi’s shoulder.

It was the man with the eye patch, and his fingers gripped like steel.

“That’s a nice story you’ve got there,” he said softly, leaning in close to fix Obi with his good eye. “I know somebody who’d like to hear you tell it.”

#Akagami no Shirayukihime #obiyuki #Beauty and Her Beast #PurePassion #danger danger

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leiawritesstories · 1 year

Note

Happy follower celebration!! <3<3<3

May I request:

“I really want to see you first thing in the morning.”

Thank you so very much!!! 🥰💕 here you gooooo. enjoy!

Word count: 938

Warnings: none

500 followers celebration prompt fills

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey." Aelin tucked her phone next to her ear, holding it with her shoulder as she unlocked her car.

"Hey, Fireheart." Rowan's voice flowed through the speaker, just the sound she needed to hear after a hell of a long shift at the restaurant. "Just clock out?"

"Yeah." She pulled the clip from her hair with a relieved groan. "God, it was such a long day. So many people. So many kids. So much bullshit."

"Bet you didn't take any bullshit."

"I try." She switched her phone to speaker and set it in the cupholder before backing out of her parking spot and heading away from the restaurant where she worked. "Seems like all the ridiculous crap comes on the weekends, though."

"Want to come over?" He sounded so hopeful. "You can rant all you need, love."

She glanced at the clock. "I'm gonna swing by my place first to shower and get out of these disgusting clothes, ok?"

"Take your time." He paused. "Wait no, not too much time. I wanna see you."

She laughed. "Has anyone ever told you you're the clingy one, buzzard?"

"Don't see anything wring with it," he returned, chuckling. "I gotta go, but I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah." She blew him an invisible kiss. "Love you, buzzard."

"Love you too, Fireheart."

An hour later, showered and changed and carrying an overnight bag, Aelin walked up the front steps of Rowan's townhouse, knocked twice, and walked in. "Ro?"

"Hey." He jogged down the hall, met her in the entryway, and tipped his head down to kiss her soundly. "I made food."

She perked up, kicked off her shoes, and bolted for the kitchen. "You're the best, Ro!"

He followed, shaking his head fondly at the way she was so much more excited to see the food than him. "Maybe I should've thought twice before proposing, love. Seems you're more in love with food than your poor sad old fiancé."

"Stop that, drama queen," she laughed. "I'm just hungry, and your cooking is amazing." She gave him a broad, suggestive wink. "I'll get a whole free chef when we get married."

"Trust me, love, I can handle myself in the kitchen." He wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"You like it better when I handle you, though," she hummed, casually serving herself a big bowl of the soup he'd made.

Rowan spluttered, his face flaring bright read. "Aelin!"

She burst into bright laughter. "I'll never get tired of seeing you all riled up, love."

He mumbled something incoherent about just how much she loved doing that to him and wisely changed the subject. "Wanna watch a movie?"

"When have I ever said no to that?" she grinned. "Let me guzzle this soup like a starving madwoman first and then yes, absolutely I do."

"Take your time, love," he laughed. "I need dinner too, y'know."

"Oh, so you didn't make this whole pot of soup just for me?"

"Nope." He grabbed his own bowl ad filled it up. "Sorry to disappoint."

"Guess I have to knock a star off your Yelp review," she teased.

He laughed softly and nudged her towards the kitchen table. "For someone who's supposedly so hungry, you sure aren't doing a lot of eating, Ae."

Once she had a full, satisfied stomach, Aelin helped Rowan clear away the dishes, waving off his protest that he could do it all by himself, and went to the hall closet to get a big armful of fluffy blankets. Rowan's mom kept buying him throw blankets every fall and winter, insisting that he needed "splashes of color to liven up his boring gray house." Rowan pretended to be annoyed, but Aelin knew he secretly loved his collection of seasonal blankets. She loved the blankets, at least.

"How many of those does one person even need?" he teased as he came into the living room to find her snuggled into a blanket cocoon on the L-shaped couch.

"Not all of us are human furnaces, buzzard," she returned. "What are we watching?"

"Hmm...well, I'm in a classic cinema mood tonight."

"Oh gods," Aelin mock-groaned. "Why aren't you ever in a rom-com mood, you know, like a normal person?"

"Since when have I ever been a rom-com person?" Rowan asked dryly. "Besides, I know you want to watch The Godfather."

"You're too good at the bribery thing." She moved the blankets aside enough for him to sit down. "C'mere, buzzard."

Rowan obediently settled down beside her, stretching out his long legs so she could cuddle herself snugly against the toned planes of his body. He turned on the movie, turned off the lights, and tucked Aelin's blankets comfortably around her. Knowing full well she probably wouldn't stay awake for the whole movie, he idly combed his fingers through her hair.

Aelin lasted an hour before she was asleep on his chest, her breath brushing his collarbones in even pulses. A tender smile curled his lips as he watched her peaceful face. He watched the rest of the movie, turned the TV off, and rested there on the couch, his fiancée asleep in his arms.

She blinked awake a few minutes later. "Movie done?" she mumbled.

"Mhmm." He kissed her forehead. "You made it a whole hour; I think that's a new record."

"You're mean." She poked his chest, not causing any actual harm thanks the the layers of blankets. "Le's'go upstairs. Sleep. Bed."

He chuckled. "Are you propositioning me, love?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "I just really want to see you first thing in the morning."

Gods, the way Rowan's heart fluttered at that simple statement.

~~~

TAGS:

@live-the-fangirl-life

@superspiritfestival

@thegreyj

@wordsafterhours

@elentiyawhitethorn

@morganofthewildfire

@backtobl4ck

@rowanaelinn

@house-of-galathynius

@tomtenadia

@julemmaes

@swankii-art-teacher

@charlizeed

@booknerdproblems

@chronicchthonic14

@earthtolinds

@goddess-aelin

@sweet-but-stormy

@clea-nightingale

@autumnbabylon

@darling-im-the-queen-of-hell

@llyncooljones

@silentquartz

#my writing #answered prompt #leia's 500 followers thing #rowaelin #aelin galathynius #rowan whitethorn #rowan x aelin #rowaelin fanfic #rowaelin fanfiction #throne of glass fanfic #rowaelin fluff #rowaelin domestic fluff #actual tooth rotting fluff

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therovingstar · 1 year

Text

Illustrious

Summary: When everyone lowkey wants to be your favorite. Chill fun with the OG Scions, set sometime post-5.3, I reckon. ~1600 words.

She should have known to stay away when she entered the Rising Stones only for every eye in the room to immediately find her. Odzaya resists a reflexive pause in her step and continues on her way to the bar, where Lucianne greets her with a tellingly amused smile and her usual cup of tea. “Should I be alarmed?” she asks, just loud enough for the bartender to catch, as she accepts the earthenware mug with a scaled hand and appreciative nod.

“Depends on your answer,” Lucianne cryptically replies, and lifts an encouraging eyebrow before scooting her way back down the counter with a chuckle.

Not promising. With a silent, preparatory sigh, Odzaya turns from the counter and, pointedly ignoring the half-dozen stares that follow, makes her way to one of the sitting area’s armchairs.

Before she has taken her first sip or even fully sat her rear into her seat, Lyse is in her sights, and practically in her face.

“Who got you to join the Scions?” she asks without preamble, hands planted on her red-clad hips as she stands before her.

Odzaya lifts a thick violet brow, just barely seen beneath locced bangs. “Good to see you, Lyse. How is Ala Mhigo’s restoration progressing?”

“Slowly but in a good direction. It’s annoying work sometimes but worth it. Raubahn and M’naago say ‘hi’. Who got you to join the Scions?” The first three statements fly nearly over her head, quick in succession as they come. The fourth – clearly considered by the monk to be the most important – is slowed just enough to register.

“Context?” Odzaya asks simply, eyebrow rising higher.

“Thancred says it was him,” Lyse vaguely clarifies. “But whoever of us you met first gave you the invitation, yeah? Between Thancred, Shtola, and Papalymo and me, it was us, right? It’s practically on record.”

Is it? Before she can ask, Thancred speaks up from his position leaning against Tataru’s desk.

“There is no record, Lyse. Just your word, which is wrong.” He tips his chin toward Odzaya with a small grin. “Welcome back, love.”

“Mm,” she sounds in acknowledgment as she settles back against the cushions and brings her mug to her lips, just as Lyse continues.

“Well, maybe not on written record,” the blonde amends, turning to the older man. “But it might as well be. We met her while investigating the Twelveswood, remember? Gave her her invitation to the Waking Sands after she helped us out. That’s how she got there.”

Thancred lets out an incredulous laugh. “Before or after you knocked your block and imagined it?”

“What?!”

“They’ve been arguing about it for near a bell, now.” Odzaya looks up to see Y’shtola planting herself at the nearby table, gaze narrowed in what can only be perceived as fond exasperation. “Lyse refuses to let it go.”

“Because I’m right!” the young woman insists.

“Meaning wrong.”

“Shut up, Thancred!”

“How did this begin?” Odzaya asks in a rare – and usually regretted – indulgence of curiosity.

“Fond reminiscence,” Urianger supplies, amusement writ clear on his face. “Knowledge of thy visit to the Sylphs prompted Lyse to recall your first fateful meeting ‘neath the great boughs of the Elementals’ domain.”

“You were practicing your conjury, remember?” Lyse takes over. “Saved Papalymo from getting nearly plucked up off the ground by a buzzard.”

“There’s some hilarious imagery,” Thancred comments.

Odzaya nods. “In the Central Shroud, near Bentbranch. I recall.” Though she was not so much practicing her conjury as ensuring the young Sylphie did not kill herself practicing hers.

“See?!” Lyse exclaims, aiming the declaration at Thancred. The older man graces her with a smirk.

“Odzaya’s memory is not the one we are calling into question. She would also recall our own first meeting underneath the Sultantree, yes?” He meets her gaze expectantly.

Odzaya takes her time enjoying a long draught of tea before agreeing. “We defeated a voidsent.”

“And in so doing rescued the Sultana,” he adds, his smirk widening at Lyse as if to brag. She sniffs at him.

“As if that’s relevant.”

“Of course it is. How else than through such a serendipitous partnership would she have been convinced to join us at the Waking Sands? Which, for the proverbial record, is located in the very region I monitored?”

“Proximity doesn’t mean anything! Zaya showed up in the Shroud long before she ever made it to you out there in the desert!” The monk turns back to Odzaya. “Right?”

“Mm...” the other woman begins, happily distracted by the taste of nutmeg and heavy cream on her tongue.

“Ha!” Lyse exclaims, taking the monotone intonation for confirmation as she whips herself around to Thancred, only...

“No,” the woman finishes.

...to whip right on back around in a near-complete circle, her expression plummeting in surprise. “Huh? No?”

“Ha,” Thancred mocks. Lyse shoots him a barbed look.

“I did reach Thanalan first,” Odzaya corrects, circling a clawed finger around the mug’s rim before bringing the residue she finds to her mouth. “By boat, coming from Kugane. I met Thancred soon after, and not long after that he gave me the name of the Scions and invited me to the Waking Sands.”

“But you never mentioned him when you met Papalymo and me!” Lyse questions. Odzaya briefly lifts a shoulder.

“I cared not for the invitation, nor the thought of involvement in an organization.” She spares a glance in Thancred’s direction. “Nor the not-so-subtle flirtations of a random rogue I met beneath a tree in the desert. I chose to forget the encounter occurred.”

“Are you serious?” the man questions with an incredulous grin. Odzaya grants him a small, teasing smirk, and he loudly chuckles. “Well, damn. Consider me effectively humbled.”

“Guess that extends to both of us.” With a slight pout, Lyse plops herself on the arm of Odzaya’s chair, the long red silk of her sleeve draping itself over Odzaya’s lap. “If you were looking to avoid joining any groups, I can only assume that means Papalymo and I didn’t convince you, either.”

“No,” Odzaya confirms, her smirk widening when Lyse answers her bluntness by wriggling herself partially into her seat, only to settle for the chair’s arm when the spikes of her friend’s curled tail promise something decidedly different from comfort.

“Well, if we failed to convince you, how’d you end up joining?”

Reflexively, Odzaya glances over her mug’s rim, sunset eyes finding their way across the table, only to meet Y’shtola’s own misty gray gaze.

Urianger catches the subtle exchange, and his delight is obvious. “And the sorceress strikes once more,” he dramatically intonates. Lyse whips her head around for what seems the umpteenth time.

“Shtola?!”

The scholar in question merely lounges further into her own seat, her own cup of tea in hand. She takes a leisurely sip, and the subsequent clink of the porcelain on the accompanying saucer seems to sound her answer better than words.

“Why do I feel like we should have known?” Thancred comments with an amused shrug.

“But that’s not fair!” Lyse exclaims, eyeing Odzaya. “You were never in Limsa! Were you?”

“For a brief time, yes,” she corrects once more. It was her original destination after leaving Kugane, in fact, only for the small ship to be blown off course by an unforeseen storm. It found purchase instead in Thanalan, at the docks of the Silver Bazaar, from which she found her way to Ul’dah on foot.

An attempted guiding by higher powers, it may have been, the more she thinks on it. An annoyance, it most certainly was.

“Just long enough to capture the attentions of the local populace,” Y’shtola confirms. “The commercial link between Limsa and Kugane does make the citizenry more accustomed to foreigners. Nevertheless, a rather elaborately garbed Au Ra adorned with both blade and scepter set tongues wagging rather enthusiastically when she arrived via airship.”

“Unsurprising,” Thancred comments, a teasing wink already on hand when Odzaya briefly meets his gaze.

“I shall enjoy my respite in peace now, yes?” she inquires of Lyse, the question just short of sarcastic as she makes a point of raising her mug back to her lips. The monk releases a final, resigned gust of air and theatrically drapes herself along the armchair’s back, her blonde head alighting upon Odzaya’s shoulder.

“I suppose,” she says, a pout pulling at her voice as well as at the bow of her lips. “Still think it’s cheating,” she mutters.

“Simply be glad our illustrious friend found her way into our midst, dear Lyse,” Urianger soothes. “Twas a united effort, one could say, for our prayers to be answered as they were.”

Just then, the din of Mor Dhona’s marketplace heralds the opening of the Rising Stone’s doors. A familiar sight soon follows: an enthusiastically arguing Alisaie, her arms a tangle of emphatic gestures, and a calmly protesting Alphinaud, at whom said gestures are aimed. The former only pauses in her tirade when she catches sight of Lyse’s figure and, apparently more importantly, the high-pinned fall of Odzaya’s locs partially obscured behind it. “Aha!” she exclaims. “Zaya will clear this up!” And against her brother’s protestations, she makes a beeline for them. “Zaya! Who do you rely on most amongst the Scions?”

Once more, the Warrior of Light lowers her mug, her expression characteristically neutral but for the slightest pinched purse to her lips. “And soon to find my way back out,” she quietly declares.

#odzaya malaguld #scions of the seventh dawn #ffxiv fic #storytime #hey look i wrote something! its a miracle!#trying to practice more with zaya's voice and pov #it's almost always easier writing from another's perspective #cuz they're almost always more forthcoming with their thoughts/emotions/etc.#zaya's a closed book even to herself sometimes

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battleangel · 2 years

Text

Wyatt 6 Theory

Bray Wyatt/Wyatt 6 Theories

Mercy The Buzzard: Follow the Buzzards Wyatt Family Bray.

Abby the Witch: Sister Abigail - female alter ego. His internal mother and caretaker. The dark angel on his shoulder.

Husky Harris: Original gimmick. Alter ego caused by trauma of audience rejecting him.

Ramblin Rabbit: Rambling Promo Era Bray.

The Fiend: Protector - Protects Bray and wants to avenge all of the wrong thats been done to him.

Uncle Howdy: The masked Bray. Threatening, sociopathic, sadistic.

Bray Wyatt: Cult leader - extremely charismatic and gets people to follow him. Bray is also the vessel or conduit for the six personalities.

Windam Rotunda/Real Bray: Actual person behind the character. Suffers from DID. MPD and ASPD.

White Rabbit: The physical manifestation of the Firefly Fun House living inside The Fiend-ridden Bray Wyatt.

Bray The Vessel

Bray is the vessel or conduit for the six alter egos. Bray is the Masked Character as he came out wearing the mask at Extreme Rules then removed the mask and ended the PLE as Bray. However, on Smackdown, Windam was speaking to the audience and he was interrupted by the Masked Character on the Jumbotron.

Bray's Trauma

Regarding his trauma, Bray once cut a chilling promo in NXT about how he burned his father alive on a boat. Additionally, in one of Bray's NXT vignettes in 2012, he was talking in the woods with the cult around him and he was talking about how he’s not afraid anymore, how “they” can’t hurt him, and what can “they” do when they realize they can’t hurt him and the only thing to do is to run.

Bray's Vessel

Speaking of vessels, in 2013, when Bray was still in NXT, someone asked him on Twitter what happened to Husky Harris and Bray responded with something like “He needed guidance, I needed a vessel”.

Masked Character

The Masked Character sometimes has red contacts (Fiend).

The Rabbit Hole

The door is the entrance to the rabbit hole and any of the six alter egos can emerge at any time.

White Rabbit

Following the White Rabbit means following an unlikely clue and finding yourself in the middle of an extraordinary situation. This situation often challenges your beliefs and changes your life. The White Rabbit is so curious, so strange, that Alice cannot help but to follow him.

So, Bray found and became the White Rabbit. The Masked Character says to Bray "forget the future, forget the past, your life is over, so breathe your last." The White Rabbit has consumed Bray and now Bray will collect his followers because they too cannot help but to follow the White Rabbit. The line at the end "you have no idea who you are dealing with, but you will" wasnt for Bray that was for the others.

Bray as Bray Wyatt will lure people in, just like he did with the emotional promo on Smackdown, then the White Rabbit will take over. He even said in the promo "there were remarkable people, you know who you are" foreshadowing his followers, "who said to me 'I was in a time of need'". This shows that he prays on the vulnerable, just like Bray was vulnerable.

I thought his last line before being interrupted by the "White Rabbit" was interesting. He was talking about the crowd, but he was really talking about the White Rabbit finding him, chasing him. When he acknowledged him, he appeared.

Bray The Cult Leader

So much with Bray is doubletalk and can be taken many ways. The return promo on Smackdown is at once a face promo, thanking the fans for being there...and setting up the cult leader because he now knows the way...and those who came to him....and the dark man who came to him in the swamps...and thanking the fans for truly supporting him...and setting up the monsters he unleashes...

Bray's new entrance song "Shatter" by Code Orange includes the lyrics "Die for me brother".

Week 1 Return

Uncle Howdy Quotes

"I used to think that the only place I could be free was the place inside my mind. Let me in forever. Revel in what you are."

"O little one. Come with me. Your life is done. Forget the future. Forget the past. Your life is over. Breathe your last. You got no idea who you're dealing with. Do ya? Ooh but you will. Hahahaha. You will."

"You don't know who you're dealing with but you will" is from a Clive Barker novel called "Arabat".

Creepy Characters

•There were demonic looking creatures shown at the very end of Smackdown -- one looked like a goat and one had a creepy mask with eyes that looked like lights.

Week 3

Bray Wyatt - Quotes

"Revenge is a confession of pain."

"I'm really glad you didn't leave me alone."

"I needed you. I needed all of you."

"You yanked me up. I'm thankful for that."

"Now, I can see."

"I know who you are. I know what you want. I know what you're trying to do, but it won't work. I confess that along this journey I'm going to do horrible, horrible things. But I will never feel sorry for them. I'm just a servant now. I go where the circle takes me."

The Code Orange “Shattered” theme playing with the lyrics while Bray was speaking making what Bray had to say difficult to hear was on purpose -- it was supposed to be difficult. It was supposed to replicate Bray’s reality of the multiple voices he hears in his head, the multiple personalities within him, all vying for his attention. It was supposed to disorient us, the viewer, just like the voices in Bray’s head disorient Bray.

Bray Wyatt Tweet about Circle - February 28, 2020

“Life is a circle. No matter what beast you make of yourself or how bright one side is, inevitably the dark side comes again. But the beauty of the circle is, round we go.”

“I go where the circle takes me” Meaning

Bray said he goes where the circle takes him, but like an ouroboros, it is an infinity loop and will eternally take him back around to where he started. From this tweet, it’s clear where he started is his dark side and where he will always end up, regardless of “what beast” he makes of himself. Bray said that “along this journey” he is “going to do horrible, horrible things” -- but that doesn’t even matter because it won’t be enough to defeat the darkness, his darkness, the dark side of himself that manifests itself as one of Bray’s multiple personalities. He will still get destroyed regardless, no matter how ruthless he becomes, and whether he “never feels sorry” for the “horrible things” he does or not. It also doesn’t matter “how bright one side is”, even Windham (Real Bray), that is the bright side that fought back through his depression and suicidal feelings, isn’t bright enough to defeat his dark side. It will come again. And around and round we go...

Bray Wyatt - Shirt - Images on Shoulders

The pictures are from Dantes Inferno: Canto XXVIII. --> “A headless figure approaches Dante, holding his head in front of him as if it were a lantern.“

Voiceover & Montage of images

Voiceover Quotes

“Why would you lie to me?”

“Never lie to the ones you love”

Montage of Images & Meaning

Image of Hitler and a crown of thorns --> These images evoke a cult leader that makes himself out to be a sympathetic sacrificial lamb that is actually a sociopath using his charisma to hypnotically control his followers aka “fireflies”. Jesus-like and Hitlerian at the same time. Cult leaders also lie to their followers, who they profess to love, all of the time. Cult leaders are also often paranoid and will project and accuse others of doing what they in fact are doing, including their own followers.

Uncle Howdy

A man with a moustache says, "Howdy" at the end of the image montage --> this is the unmasked Uncle Howdy.

QR Code

Message when you dial the ph# on Psych Eval Form:

“Oh no, not me

I never lost control

Who knows

Not me

We never lost control”

The above message is lyrics from David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold The World".

This could be Uncle Howdy speaking to Bray saying he "thought you [Bray] died alone a long, long time ago."

Bray made it clear when he spoke as Windham during his Smackdown return that he had fought through depression and being suicidal but Uncle Howdy responded that Bray's "life is done" and that his "life is over". Uncle Howdy represents Bray's dark, depressive, suicidal, anxious side that is full of self-doubt and maybe even self-hate.

Uncle Howdy is determined to pull Windam back to the place of depression, suicidal ideation and ultimately, suicide. This is what he means when he tells Windham he has "no idea who he's messing with". Windham thinks his "fireflies" have gotten him through his depression and suicidal state and Uncle Howdy is warning him that that was just the tip of the iceberg, he hasn’t conquered anything, all that darkness is still inside him, ready to engulf, overtake and end him at any moment.

Psychiatric Eval Form - QR Code

"Difficulty showing remorse or empathy" and "disregarding or violating the rights of others" is the textbook definition of sociopathic behavior proving that one of Bray's personalities -- likely Uncle Howdy -- is a literal sociopath. To be specific, these are hallmarks of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Sociopaths and psychopaths fall under this disorder.

October 2018 - Bray Wyatt Tweets

In October of 2018 (10/14/18 & 10/15/18), Bray Wyatt tweeted the following tweets then deleted them before the Funhouse segments debuted (as he deleted his entire twitter at that time).

The tweets seem to be part of a detailed report on a psychiatric patient written by somebody referred to only as "Dr. M".

Tweet 1

Day 3, Subject believes God as well as several other entities speak to him directly. They give him a scapegoat for 7pray that after so many treatments he will be free of this affliction once and for all. - Dr. M— Bray Wyatt (@WWEBrayWyatt) October 14, 2018

Tweet 2

Day 23, Subject is showing signs of progress, at times. Violent outbursts are commonplace, spewing threats at our staff in multiple languages, and reciting passages from Bible and— Bray Wyatt (@WWEBrayWyatt) October 14, 2018

Tweet 3

pulled a nail from his cell he was attempting to “repent through torture”. Masochistic tendencies— Bray Wyatt (@WWEBrayWyatt) October 14, 2018

Tweet 4

Mercy PHD Some of the staff is apathetic to his situation, others intrigued. Then there are others like me, teetering on the verge of obsession. Location: Orleans Parish pic.twitter.com/bYh9rUIVuz— Bray Wyatt (@WWEBrayWyatt) October 15, 2018

Thoughts on Tweets

Mercy PHD could possibly be referring to Bray’s Mercy the Buzzard personality.

During the first Firefly Funhouse segment, Bray Wyat said, “I’ve been barbarically punished for all of my wrongdoings.”

It seems Bray has spent time in a mental institution for his MPD (multiple personality disorder), DID (dissociative identity disorder) and ASPD (antisocial personality disorder). It appears Bray through one of his personalities tortured himself for perceived wrongdoings and relayed that as barbaric punishment on Firefly Funhouse although Bray was the one torturing himself.

Source Code for the QR Code

In the source code for the QR code, there is a comment that says:

“D.D@rk0 - 1:07:20″.

Donnie Darko Scene - Timestamp - Quotes

If you fast forward to this timestamp in Donnie Darko, this is the scene:

"We find ourselves looking at the mirror, rather than looking into and through the mirror."

Donnie Darko - Before & After the Timestamp - Quotes

Prior: "Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?"

After: "Why are you wearing that stupid man's suit"

Miscellaneous

There was a vignette during the Wyatt Family days where a man was actively being brainwashed/mentally broken/having a breakdown.

#bray wyatt #windham rotunda #the fiend #wwe #wwe smackdown #wyatt 6 #white rabbit #wrestling

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flockrest · 1 year

Text

thoughts on... / always accepting / @sentinaels

thoughts on rauru and/or sonia, from dineli? 👀

"So! Our new allies!"

The rush of the Windlines dims. His pulse fades out of focus. He sighs, breath forming a cloud of condensed exasperation. Of course. Leave it to Taki to pursue a line of thought like this — even now, when it has nothing to do with anything.

No — especially now, Dineli corrects, when the matter of the newfangled kingdom and its newfangled sovereigns is the last thing he wants finding him after he's left their stone walls and festooned pillars behind. When it's the last thing he wants following him back into these peaks he's truly missed in his time away like some incessant buzzard — or an opponent vying for the first sliver of an opening.

"What," he begins, banking and dipping to avoid Taki's spear-tip. It's a twirling swoop that brings them talons-to-talons as they shoot further past him than intended without a solid target to brace against: he wastes nary a beat in catching them before they can rise out of his grasp, heavier weight stalling his flight for a second — then he's hauling them into a loop that ends with them flung aside and out of proper form, "about them?"

They laugh as they right themself, a smooth recovery as always. "Come now, Elder. Your thoughts, your judgement, your verdict!"

Again, the last thing he wants to discuss right now. He's petty enough to conspicuously nock an arrow and let them curve right around it when it's released, only to swiftly guide two more straight into their side. Padded though both his bolts and Taki may be, they still cough out a squawk that has mirth lining even his voice. "You know these."

"That was before you nested with King Rauru and Queen Sonia," they counter, weaving between progressively straying shots and fighting against his touched Windlines in earnest now. The accent overlaying the Hylian words sounds how thickened snow feels — refreshing, if slightly odd after days of its absence. "Surely, you have something better to say about them now?"

A mess of conflicting emotions sprouts within him. Anticipatory thrill for the coming attack, chagrin at the utter crassness of describing his sojourn as nesting ( of all things! ), a prickle of discomfort for the fresh set of memories he's been carefully leaving at the edges of his mind ever since carrying them home — now slipping to the forefront at Taki's insistence.

He has something new to say about them, perhaps.

Something better? Hardly.

Taki dives at him, spear poised to wrench the gap they've no doubt spotted in his guard wide open. It's a good attempt, if one made in vain — Dineli casts away his preoccupations in the same second it takes to register this and ascends to meet them directly.

The Windlines lead their aim leftwards. Just a feather's breadth more of it, but enough for him to follow through and knock the shaft of their spear clean aside as he spirals up, riding along that favoured-favouring current. They're too slow to react beyond spinning with the momentum to drift rather than outright fall: it's the perfect opportunity.

—A perfectly crafted opportunity. Taki is never too slow to react to his winds unless they want to be.

By the stars and skytrails. It wasn't just an attempt at distraction? Are they really so eager to hear him speak on this that they'd end their spar prematurely? Dineli backs off, a refusal in more ways than one.

"Aw, Dineli!" Taki calls after him, in a pitch and tones better suited to one who hasn't gone through as many winters.

He sought their company to smooth down ruffled feathers, not to get more inanely vexed. If they truly want his thoughts, they'll have to compromise. "Either leave it or fight."

"...You're insufferable," the most insufferable Rito on this side of the Hebra Mountains tells him. But they rise to chase after him, clearly making the right choice, so Dineli indulges them — the way they're indulging him.

"Strange," he discloses when they're locked by the talons once more.

"You really don't have anything better or new to say about them?" they ask, incredulous, the split second before they're both wheeling a path downwards.

"Accommodating," he tries again after they've taken off from an impromptu landing.

Taki laughs, rolling to let an arrow soar past them. "You truly still don't like them!"

Well...what point would there be in denying it?

"I still don't like them," Dineli affirms.

How can you like someone you don't honestly know? He knows of the king and queen — has admittedly gotten to know more of them in his recent stay, but through the same insignificant things that informed his first impression. Little glimpses from afar that might've meant something if he deigned to care, twittering from the rest of their court that he found sycophantic at best and disturbing at worst.

Added together, here is how the queen is: she is kind, she is powerful, and she has something divine in her blood.

Here is how the king is: he is kind, he is powerful, and he is either a god's descendant or a god descended.

Perhaps if Dineli were anyone else, none of that would be unsettling. Yet as Elder, what else is he to think? When he doesn't know where this kindness begins and ends, or where this power leaves Peaks Among the Ripples in the scope of Hyrule's ambitions, or why divinity should have anything to do with leading — "ruling" — when all it does is place them another unnecessary height above the capacity for understanding their people?

"Shame you can't just spar your way into liking them, huh?!" Taki jests, arcing high before swooping after his trail.

He turns to meet them there too, a clash between a swung bow and a thrust spear. "Don't tempt me."

#sentinaels #* wisps / study.#( HI thank you for sending this in kim!! <3 #this. also ran away from me. but i think this time went a little better in terms of conveying thoughts! both verbally and nonverbally #asdflkdjf dineli wouldn't have introspected enough for a concrete answer without taki forgive me for sprinkling npcs in #this is....after the first time he really attends court for more than a day! i'm on a pre-canon roll with these prompts it looks like haha #this opinion definitely evolves into smth more positive in getting to know son.ia and rau.ru better #but it's not great rn. it's not great slfjdkl the culture shock doesn't help #i've been staring at this too long....take it before i hate it more than i tolerate it )#* oratorio / ic.#* oratorio / answer.#* v / songs of yore.#long post cw #* ic / para.

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tomtenadia · 2 years

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Meet the Whitethorns - An ALB outtake

Here I am again to the world of ALB. I honestly miss the gang at east station pretty badly. For a wee while I have been working on some outtakes and this is the first one. It’s set three months after their wedding. This is a 6.8k monster with Rowaelin honeymoon in Wendlyn. A few notes: In modern AUs my Rowaelin first girl is called Maya. I did a bit of research for this fic and apparently in Maori culture it means bravery, courage and well...now I think the name is even more perfect.

Secondly, they visit Mistward and in my head I have an exact image of how it looks like. There’s a castle in Italy near Genova. this place is called CASTELLO DELLA PIETRA the stone castle and this is Mistward for me.

Enjoy ❤️

“Why can’t we fly like all normal human beings is beyond me,” Aelin closed up her hiking backpack and turned to her husband who was finishing preparing the few bags needed for their trip.

They had three weeks of honeymoon and had decided to go to Doranelle and meet his family. She had been excited. Alas, her hubby refused the idea of flying commercial so they were going to drive to Rifthold, take a ferry to Varese for the six hours trip and then drive all the way to Doranelle. His excuse was that she was pregnant and she might find driving more comfortable. Aelin knew better. As an ex airforce pilot he could not suffer having other people flying and he did not trust commercial pilots. So in the end she had caved. It was going to be two long days on the road, but they had an hotel booked in Varese for the night.

“I am not trusting the life of my pregnant wife in the hands of one of them,” his strong hand slid on her hips and moved at the front on her baby bump. They had been married for three months already and they had to wait a bit before going away. Aelin was going to take officially over at the academy after the honeymoon. Until that point she did a lot of training with chief O’ Neill and had spent her days learning the ropes of her new job. She was excited. Stepping down as captain had been hard, her team had organised her a big shindig on her last day and at the same time she had appointed Manon as her successor. Asterin was going for the lieutenant exam so that she could then take over on truck. Luca had officially transferred to hazmat and they were now looking for a new candidate.

“Liar. You hate commercial pilots.”

He kissed her neck “Come on fireheart, stop stalling.”

He grabbed all the bags and started walking towards the door. They were still getting used to their new house. Actually, they were still getting used to being married. Aelin still had a flutter in her stomach whenever she referred to him as her husband. It still felt so unreal. They were married and they were going to have a baby too. A deep grin broke on her face.

“Wait for me, buzzard, you cannot leave without your trusted navigator.”

His laughter echoed from outside. She grabbed her small backpack and locked the door behind her and joined him.

“Go in the car, I am done here.”

She took a seat and adjusted the special seat belt adapter that he had bought for her. Apparently he had done extensive research and had found the safest way for her to wear a belt without risking hurting the baby.

“Here I am, the bag with the snacks is behind you,” he placed the two water bottles in the cup holders in the middle “and plenty of water.”

Aelin leaned towards him and kissed Rowan on his lips “what type of music do you want?”

“Rock?”

Aelin connected her phone to the car’s bluetooth and started the music while Rowan fiddled with the sat nav.

“Let’s go, fireheart.”

They arrived at the ferry terminal in Rifthold three hours later. They had stopped a few times to allow Aelin to stretch her legs and have small food breaks. The ferry terminal for Varese was in the south of the city and it was massive. It had a lot of destinations. Rowan followed the signs for the ferry to Varese and queued with all the other cars. They had arrived early and they could now relax.

“Have you updated your uncle?”

“Yes, they are expecting us. Our cottage is ready and told me that they will keep the family at bay for a couple of days so we can adjusted first.”

Aelin patted his leg “I want to meet your grandma. They stew lady.”

Rowan laughed “Grandma Ciara will love to cook for you.”

She turned to him and kissed his jaw “thank you for doing this.”

He chuckled “I love the idea of showing off my wife.”

Twenty minutes later the cars in front of them started to move and they knew they had finally started loading the vehicles.

Aelin was excited.

“See? The ferry is far more fun than the plane.”

“The jury is still out.”

Car deck crew directed them to where to park and Rowan followed the instructions. Once settled, he got ready “just grab the small backpack.”

Aelin got out and he grabbed his hand.

Once on board, Aelin dragged him on the outer deck. It was July and it was a beautiful summer day. Her hoodie was tied around her waist, she had her TFD baseball cap and sunglasses. They walked stern of the ship and Rowan was fascinated by the loading operations. Aelin, leaned against the rail at his side, her head gently against his shoulder. As on instinct Rowan’s arm went behind her back and pulled her closer.

“Is the weather going to be nice in Doranelle?”

Rowan nodded “yes, uncle says they are having a great summer. They are very much inland but he has prepared the swimming pool.”

She looked at him and smiled brightly “can we have some lazy days in the pool?”

He kissed her head “of course, we are not going to explore everyday.”

She squealed “I have a new bikini.”

“Fireheart, we are guests, do not scandalise my family.”

She buried her face in her husband’s chest “I am five months pregnant, I am getting fat and horrible, I can’t afford anymore tiny bikinis.”

Rowan groaned. No matter how much he kept repeating her that he still found her attractive and no matter how much he showed her at night, she still did not believe him.

“You are gorgeous.”

She scoffed loudly.

His hand landed on her bump and caressed it gently “I love all of this. You are carrying our child. You are stunning. Our girl agrees.”

They had discovered the previous week that they were going to have a girl. Rowan had been over the moon and Elide had told her he had showed up at the firehouse with the picture of her scan and attached it to the fridge with pride.

The safety announcement over the tannoy broke the silence and they watched the stern ramp closing and felt the engines becoming alive.

Soon the ropes were removed and the boat pushed away from the pier.

Rowan pushed Aelin to one of the chairs and they both sat down enjoying the sun and watching the city slowly disappear.

“As soon as we loose sight of Rifthold, there is nothing but sea for a few hours, we might want to go inside, it will get cold.” In response she snuggled against him.

It was six hours later when they finally docked. Back in the car they disembarked and Rowan set the sat nav for the hotel in Varese. It was evening already and were both starving.

They still had a couple of hours before sunset.

Rowan skilfully drove away from the harbour area and as they got closer to the city Aelin was speechless. Varese was not like she had imagined it. She could see skyscrapers and it looked much bigger that Rifthold and made Orynth look like a puny place.

“Varese is the capital and it’s probably the richest part in the continent. It has a huge financial district and an extensive city centre. We will have a proper tour one day.”

“Did Ends work here?”

Rowan shook his head “No, but Micheal did. Enda told me that Micheal worked for three years with a super famous company and that for all that time he lived in a luxurious flat in the city centre and had a salary that was huge. All expenses paid and work trips in first class and all those perks.”

“Why did he leave?”

“Such jobs have a downside. Enda told me that he started to be unwell, suffered from ulcers and so many more stress related issues. So he resigned and moved back to Doranelle and got another high paying job but not as high end.”

“And now they have a restaurant, far more relaxing.”

Rowan chuckled “Neither of them have any regrets. Micheal said that investing all the money he saved from his fancy job, in a restaurant, was the best decision he ever took.”

The restaurant had become a success in a very short time. Most nights it was fully booked and Aelin and Rowan or any of the firefighters could get a spot just because they knew the owners.

Very recently a famous food magazine had placed them in the spotlight even more after a renowned chef reviewed their food.

“They have done such a good job.”

Rowan brushed her hair “We have arrived.”

Aelin looked outside and gasped at the tall building in front of them “Fancy.”

They checked in for the night and Aelin was heading for the stairs but Rowan grabbed her wrist “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Buzzard, baby girl and I are not going in the trap.”

He sighed “Aelin, you are pregnant.”

“Exercise is good.”

Rowan shook his head in resignation “Fine, I will see you in an hour.”

Aelin scoffed “We are on the seventh floor. More likely less than five minutes.”

“Not going to happen.”

She glared at him “I can do seven floors with 30kg of equipment in a run. A baby bump will not stop me.”

“I will have the oxygen ready.”

She stuck out her tongue and started walking to the stairs, with her backpack on to prove a point.

Rowan took the lift with all of their luggage and chuckled at how stubborn she was. Had they ended up at the topmost floor she would have climbed to it.

The lift was slow and picked up a few people along the way. He had a look at his watch and wondered where Aelin was. Probably panting halfway through and cursing her stupidity.

The lift pinged at he finally reached his floor. The doors opened and he froze. Aelin was leaning against the wall with a smug face.

“How?” he asked as he egressed the lift with the bags.

She walked to him and gave him a kiss “Training,” her hand brushed his long hair “many years of training, although I doubt I will be able to pull it off once I am much bigger. I was a bit slower than usual.”

A few hours later after a shower, they were getting ready to hit the town for dinner. They had decided to leave the car and use public transport. The hotel was near a subway station. Rowan was familiar with Varese and was the one in charge. He was taking her to his favourite restaurant from the southern continent. According to him this was an institution and had been there for a long time, passed down the generations in the family.

The place was a good six stops away and she loved they had been lazy and took the subway. She had been amazed that it had nine lines. Orynth had three and Rifthold five.

Once they re-emerged Aelin looked around her. They skyscrapers were gone but they still had a lot of modern building around them. They turned a corner and she spotted a firehouse. On instinct she pulled Rowan towards it. It had four rolling doors and Aelin rose on her toes to look inside and see how many vehicles they had.

“I thought you were hungry.”

She told him to shush while she stared. A moment later a woman came out “Hi, can I help you?”

“Hi,” she walked to the woman “I am a fellow firefighter from Terrasen and I was just admiring your firehouse.”

The woman laughed “come in, have a look.”

Aelin grabbed Rowan’s hand and followed.

They stepped inside and Aelin gasped in amazement. The firehouse was huge, it had four vehicles and an ambulance. She was so jealous.

“I am captain Isobel McKenzie.”

“Captain Aelin Whitethorn-Galathynius.” She then paused “Sorry, I mean chief. I am an instructor now,” and she patted her belly “My husband here is a paramedic at east station.”

They all shook hands and the captain showed the vehicles and Aelin was fascinated by the truck for the rescue squad.

“Every company has a rescue squad.”

Aelin was really envious now. In Terrasen for now they only had them in the regional areas but Dorian was working with the commissioner to get them one.

Rowan let the two ladies chat and he walked to the paramedics and introduced himself.

It was a good hour later when he managed to drag his wife out of the firehouse and towards the restaurant.

“Twenty seven houses, Ro. That’s awesome.“

He squeezed her hand “Varese is much bigger than Orynth. That many would be an overkill.”

“Ten, I am not asking much.”

The restaurant was not far away from there and once they arrived Aelin realised a pit had opened in her stomach and was ready to polish off the menu.

And that she did and Rowan joked that he had to apply for a mortgage.

“Rowan, this was amazing.”

He nodded happily “this place is incredible.”

“But now we are walking, I ate so much that now I look seven months pregnant.”

He kissed her head “We can start, but if you get tired we take the metro.”

In the end Aelin begged him to take public transport and rode the last four stations back to the accommodation and she also took the lift and Rowan celebrated internally.

The following morning they had a massive breakfast at the hotel and set off for Doranelle. They had a good five hours journey ahead of them. Aelin had her face attached to the window and was staring at the landscape passing by. Rowan explained to her that they were bypassing Doranelle altogether and were taking a more direct route to his uncle’s place. She saw the city in the distance and her mind went back to when she visited him. When they broke every rule.

Her hand landed on his thigh “I was thinking about when I came to visit.”

He chuckled “Feels like a lifetime ago…”

“A different life… different us.”

He grabbed her hand and kissed it and placed it back on his thigh.

The more they drove away the more civilisation got scarcer. They were surrounded by farmland and forests.

She then looked at the sat nav and saw an ETA of three minutes and excitement started to rise.

“See that in the distance? That’s uncle Ellys’ farm.”

The closer they got, the bigger it was becoming.

Rowan drove along the driveway and a couple was outside waiting for them.

He got out of the car and she followed. The man, his uncle, had hair as silver as Rowan’s and the eyes of a deeper green. The woman at his side had grey hair and deep brown eyes.

“Rowan, darling,” his aunt ran to him and Rowan and she giggled. They really were huggers and he was the odd one. He exchanged a manly pat with his uncle then he turned and grabbed her hand “May I introduce you my wife? Aelin these are my uncle Ellys and his wife Morwenna. They are Enda’s parents,” he explained “His brother was my dad and his sister is Sellene’s mum.”

Aelin extended her hand but she was enveloped in a hug by the family.

“Welcome you both, come in you must be exhausted. I have lunch cooking.”

Aelin followed the woman happily while Rowan and his uncle took care of the bags. Ellys had given them one of the cottages he rented to holidaymakers. They had tried to complain but he had been adamant that they needed privacy.

The house was beautiful and very tasteful. All around the living room there were photos and Aelin started pacing until she stopped at one in particular.

“That is Rowan, Enda, Sellene and Rowan’s dad at one of their camping trips. Rowan and Enda were fifteen, Sellene was seventeen.”

She stared at the image. He had a huge grin while he lifted proudly a fish on a spike. His eyes bright and alive.

“That was their last camping trip. Rowan and his family moved away the following winter.”

“He was a cute teenager.”

“They all were.”

Morwenna took her around a few more photos and Aelin almost burs out of cuteness when she saw a picture of a five year old Rowan and Enda “He is adorable, I know I am hormonal and all but he is so damn cute.”

“Who’s cute?” Her husband decided to arrive in the house in that instant. Aelin grabbed the photo and shoved it in his face “You. You are such a cutie patootie.”

Ellys burst out in a boisterous laugh and Rowan’s ears turned red.

Then on another wall she spotted a photo with a lot of people and the majority had silver hair.

“That was the last clan reunion,” explained Ellys “Yes, the Whitethorn is a big clan.”

“You really all have silver hair or almost.”

Morwenna giggled “It’s a family trait apparently. We found photos of very old ancestors and they had silver hair. The green eyes are not that prominent but a lot of us do.”

They finally took a seat on the large sofa and Morwenna brought iced tea and a few appetisers. Aelin was ravenous. The effects of the big breakfast were disappearing.

“Here, lunch will be ready soon but this will keep hunger away for a bit,” the woman winked at her “I also made chocolate cake for dessert.”

“Rowan, I love your aunt already.”

“It doesn’t take much. Promise her food and sweets and she is yours.”

Aelin lightly punched Rowan and he yelped in protest.

“So, Rowan how is being a paramedic going?”

Rowan had discovered that both Enda and Sellene had kept uncle Ellys informed about what was happening.

“I love it.”

Aelin leaned towards him and kissed his cheek “he is really good too. He finished top of his class and also was kept at my house as a reward. I am so proud of him.”

Morwenna smiled fondly at her nephew “your parents would be proud too.”

Rowan squeezed her hand and in that instant uncle Ellys cleared his voice “have you planned what to do while you are here?”

“I want to explore as much as I can. I want to go back to Doranelle and I need to see Mistward and of course I need to see all Rowan’s stomping grounds.” She grinned deeply.

Aelin stomach grumbled quite loudly and the group laughed and aunt Morwenna stood “I think it’s lunch time.”

“Damn buzzard, do all the Whitethorn cook that way? Because your aunt’s meal was incredible.”

After the meal they had gone to their cottage and while Rowan was unpacking, Aelin was sprawled on the bed in a t-shirt and shorts and her hand was caressing her bump “we are so full.”

Rowan chuckled “It’s a family thing. Wait for grandma…”

She sat up “I want the stew even if it’s in the middle of summer.”

He walked to his wife and kissed her neck and Aelin hummed and in that instant she felt something flutter in her belly and froze “Ro?”

At the panic in her voice he dropped the clothes and sat at her side “what is it?”

Aelin moved her hand once more and then squealed in delight and grabbed his, placing in a precise spot “she is kicking.”

Rowan waited and his expression morphed in one of pure joy as soon as he felt a kick from their daughter.

“She is here, she is really here.” He sat down and pulled Aelin to him, while his hand never left the bump “Thank you fireheart for all this.”

She looked into his green eyes and caressed the face of the man who held her heart. Even after three months Aelin sometimes was still incredulous at the idea that they were finally married. They had been through so much that it felt at times that happiness was not in their futures, but now, looking into her husband’s eyes she realised that they just needed patience “I love you, Rowan,” a gentle kiss on his lips while her hand joined his on her belly “and I am so looking forward to meet our daughter.”

“Motherhood is making you cheesy.”

In response she gently punched his arms and Rowan fell on the bed and pretended to be in pain “You violent woman…”

Aelin then kissed him and straddled him “can I make it up to you?”

A deep laugh escaped Rowan’s lips and he pillowed his hands behind his head “I am all yours.”

The following morning aunt Morwenna welcomed them with a gigantic breakfast and had packed food too for their excursion.

“Ro, three weeks at this rate and I will have a food baby too.”

He grinned at her “I told my aunt you eat a lot.”

It was their first day of exploring and Rowan had decided to start easy and a bit later to allow Aelin to relax a bit.

He dumped the backpack in the car and the food bag too and made sure Aelin was properly settled.

“Do you have everything? Last chance for a quick bathroom break.”

“I think my bladder is behaving at the moment.”

“Good,” a quick kiss and he went to the driver’s side. They had decided to start with Mistward fortress on that day.

The road towards the fortress had started with lowlands until peaks had started to appear in the distance “those are the Cambrian mountains, Enda and I loved hiking there and dad would take us there for our camping trips.”

Aelin grabbed her guide book and started reading more info on the area “is there a long climb to Mistward?”

Rowan shook his head “no, less than a kilometre. They had to place the car park south of it because it was the only location and you will see why.”

Aelin squealed excited and went back staring at the landscape around her.

It took them a good forty minutes to reach the base and start the climb with the car. At the car park she looked up and gasped in amazement. The fortress was perched on the rugged edges of the ridge of the mountains and spread along it in a structure that seemed almost too fragile.

Rowan got out and took her hand “we are climbing slowly. They have steps.”

Aelin grinned “I am a pro at steps.”

Turned out that pregnant Aelin was not as good as she thought and they had to stop a few times. She complained but Rowan just waited at her side and passed her water without saying anything.

Once at the top, Aelin sat on a bench and cursed mountains and steep staircases.

The fortress lay in front of them and she stared at it in amazement.

“It’s a stunning place.”

Her husband grinned “wait to get to the lookout point to be truly amazed.”

Aelin grinned and she patted his leg “I am rested, let’s explore.”

They walked around the grounds and Rowan stopped in a room “There are legends connected to Mistward and Doranelle in general,” his arms went around her waist landing on her bump “It is told that Doranelle was the land of the immortal fae,” he started and Aelin sank back in his chest “The castle in Doranelle was the residence of the fae queen and Mistward was were all the demi-fae would end,” he explained, remembering all of the stories his father had told him “They would have to prove themselves to be admitted into Doranelle.”

“That’s mean.”

“She was a cruel queen and hated all the non purebloods.”

She turned in his arms “are all these stories in books?”

Rowan nodded “in Doranelle we can go book shopping and buy you a book with all the legends from Wendlyn.”

“You are the man of my dreams,” Aelin grabbed Rowan’s hand “Let’s keep exploring…”

He finally took her to the outpost and Aelin gasped at the amazing view. They could see all around them and as far as the Great Ocean. The sight was breathtaking.

Rowan pulled his wife to his chest and his jaw landed on her head “over there there is home, you can’t see it but Terrasen is in that direction,” then he turned their bodies and they stared at the Cambrian Mountains, some of the highest peaks still had some snow “they are almost just as stunning as the Staghorns.”

Rowan chuckled “I love them but nothing beats Oakwald and the Staghorns, they are too majestic.”

“That’s why I said almost.” After their exploring Rowan took her to the gift shop where Aelin ended up buying a book about the actual history of Mistward, then one about all the legends of Wendlyn and one about the fae and the immortal lands.

“You bought the entire shop?”

“They had interesting titles.”

Slowly they made their descent back to the car park and once back down Rowan took her exploring some of the surrounding areas until he noticed Aelin getting tired and he took them both home “You can finish the day in the pool.”

“Whitethorn, that is an amazing idea.”

The following morning they started a bit earlier. The day before they had spent the rest of the day at the pool and in the end his uncle and aunt had suggested a barbecue and the four of them ended up having a great meal near the water. Now they were back in the car and Rowan had decided to spend the day in Doranelle and Aelin was excited at going down the memory lane.

“I want to go inside the castle this time and join a guided tour. The first time I was too busy trying to spend all the time I could with you. This time is different and I want to do all the touristy things.”

Rowan grinned “as my lady commands.”

Rowan left the car at a park and ride just outside and then they took the subway all the way into the centre of Doranelle. As they exited Aelin spotted the castle standing tall in front of her, with all the rivers behind it. The place was just as stunning as she remembered it. Aelin walked to the ledge and stared at the rivers joining behind the castle and her hand brushed her belly “Dad and I started our journey here in Doranelle,”

Rowan’s arms sneaked around her frame and joined hers on the bump “your mum bought a dress that made your dad melt.”

“Shhh… she doesn’t need to know that, we are just sharing interesting moments.”

Rowan kissed her head “This is where I think I started falling hard for your mum.”

Aelin hummed and leaned against his hard chest and closed her eyes, letting his scent envelop her.

They both remained in silence until Aelin pushed away and grabbed his hand “come on buzzard, your wife and daughter want to play tourist.” He grinned and took her hand. He was still getting used to their status but he loved how the word wife sounded on his lips. They had done it. Somedays he still had to shake his head incredulous.

“Using our daughter it’s very unfair.”

She walked to him and grabbed both his hands “because I know that you’d do anything for your favourite women.”

That was true. They were his everything.

Aelin had loved the tour and had been fascinated by the history of the country. She also had fun glaring at a few women eating Rowan with their eyes and making comments that had now been appropriate. Rowan had managed to rein her in and avoid bloodshed.

After the tour he had taken his wife for lunch on one of the river cruises. He chuckled as they queued and Aelin started scanning the boat to make sure it looked safe. He was now used to her firefighter mode kicking in at the most unexpected moment.

“I hope the boat is safe and properly maintained.”

Rowan groaned and apologised to the other people. It was Orynth tower all over again.

Turned out the boat had been safe and they had an amazing small cruise with a superb lunch. Rowan’s phone was filling up quickly with Aelin’s pictures and some with him too. He was going to plaster his locker door at work with their pictures.

It was only later on in the afternoon when his super energetic wife had started complaining about behind tired. He bought her ice cream but eventually he dragged her home with the promise of massages. Aelin had caved very quickly.

The following day Aelin was relaxing by the pool, suntanning and enjoying the peace of the countryside. Rowan had gone out with his uncle on some mysterious errand. She had spotted the two men busy in hushed conversations a few times and was now curious to know what they were planning.

She was engrossed in her book when Morwenna joined her on the long chair at her side, a glass of iced tea in her hands too.

“Mind if I join you?”

“No, please.”

The woman relaxed in the chair, releasing a deep breath “that’s all the morning chores of the farm done.”

“Is the farm busy?”

She nodded “all our cottages have a constant turnaround. It’s rare they lie empty.”

“Now I feel bad that Rowan and I used one.”

Morwenna patted her arm “don’t even think about it. I haven’t seen Rowan in a very long time. When he called us I could not believe it. Ellys and I have been counting down the days to thsi visit.”

Aelin sighed, after the wedding they had discussed honeymoon ideas and she had pushed for Wendlyn, she wanted to meet his family. He had caved, admitting that he wanted to resume contacts once more.

“I know about Lyria, about his past. Sellene told me, but promised not to tell him. It broke my heart when she told me.”

Aelin looked at the woman in surprise.

“We are a big family, we look after each other and Sellene was very heartbroken when she came back from Orynth and told us of his situation. I think she was looking for a way to help him.”

Aelin’s hand went on her bump where she could feel her daughter move lightly “he was…” a deep sigh “when I met him, he was in a very dark place. The woman was ready to divorce him and pregnant with another’s man child. She lied to him,” anger rose in her “and he kept blaming himself. Those two women destroyed him. It took me a while to convince him he was worthy of being loved.”

“I have never heard Sellene being that mad at someone.”

Aelin chuckled, Sellene had been such an amazing support.

“Thank you for looking after him and making him happy.”

Her thumb brushed absentmindedly her wedding band “we helped each other. He is caring and sweet and I can’t wait to see him being a dad.”

Morwenna chuckled “I bet he will be like his dad. Involved in every aspect of the child’s life. It pained Alistair greatly when he had to deploy,” she looked at Aelin “he reminds me so much of his father.”

The two women remained in silence for a while, pondering of those words.

“Are you ready for the big gathering tomorrow?” Morwenna was the first one to break the silence.

“I am absolutely excited at the idea of being surrounded by the whole clan.”

Morwenna laughed happily “Nana Ciara is already preparing the stew and apparently a massive feast. She had learned that Rowan married a woman with an appetite and she is delighted.”

“Apparently she is a legend. Sellene, Enda and Rowan filled me up on her.” “My husband might be the head of the clan, but she is the heart.”

The baby kicked hard and Aelin laughed “my daughter is excited too apparently.”

The two women spent the afternoon outside and Aelin indulged in a swim too.

It was later on in the evening when the two men came back to the estate and Rowan joined Aelin. Morwenna went back inside and Aelin was alone soaking in the pool.

“Fancy some company?” Rowan towered from the edge of the pool and at her nod he pulled off his t-shirt, remaining in his swimming trunks. He had probably changed before joining her.

“Come here, your daughter loves to be a little fish.”

Rowan swam to her and stopped between her legs and his hands landed on her bump “you like, swimming?”

He felt a kick and leaned forward to kiss his wife.

“Where did you and your uncle do?”

Rowan chuckled and sat at her side, pulling her closer. He had spoken to his uncle and told him of his plan and Ellys had helped him right away. “We went to see a cottage.”

She turned her head with curiosity.

“What about us buying a house here in Wendlyn? Like a holiday place.”

Aelin squealed in delight “Really? I’d love to.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded.

“Uncle helped me. There is one place not too far from here. I can take you see it.”

“Please.”

They soaked in the pool until dinner time and Rowan told her all about the cottage in the countryside.

When the day of the clam meeting arrived, Aelin was excited and woke up early too. She was giddy and apparently her daughter felt her happiness too and had been a little hellion. Rowan made her a very light breakfast claiming that lunch was probably going to be quite substantial but Aelin ignored him complaining that he could not let his daughter and fat wife starve. Rowan replied with a resigned sigh and a gentle roll of his eyes.

Slowly the clan had started to trickle in later on in the morning. Aelin and Rowan were at the centre of attention and wether he was eager to keep to the sidelines, Aelin transformed in asocial utterly and made friend with all of his relatives. Within an hour she had collected their phone numbers and exchanged social media profiles. He shook his head. He was amazed at her easiness at social interactions, a skill he envied her a lot on some occasions.

“Looks like Aelin is already one of us,” uncle Ellys voice reached him as he stepped closer “Nana already loves her.”

Rowan stared at his wife and chuckled as he noticed her and nana Ciara involved in a deep discussion, probably about food.

“It will be nice to have you and your family here from time to time.”

Rowan smiled at his uncle “Yeah, I want our daughter to learn half of her roots and it’s very important for Aelin too.” “Come on, I can see nana calling everyone to battle station. I hope you skipped breakfast.”

The two men joined the big table that had been prepared outside in the garden. Rowan joined Aelin and together they walked to the main table with nana Ciara, and uncle Ellys and his wife.

Before the meal started Ellys rose for a speech “It gives me great pleasure to have the clan gathered on such a joyous day. We Whitethorns are a big family but it’s always a great moment when we can add one person to this clan,” he indicated Aelin “You are officially one of us now, and so is your daughter. Welcome.”

Aelin nodded and sniffled then stood slowly, a hand on her swollen belly “My daughter and I are very happy to be part of this. I have lost my family a long time ago and I am left with a cousin whom I love like a brother. But being part of this makes me very happy,” she turned to her husband “And I hope to have in the future many more of these gathering as Rowan and I have decided to buy a place here too for holidays.”

Rowan stood at her side with a grin “Aelin and I are in the process of acquiring a cottage not far from here. I have been far away far too long, but no more. I want my daughter to know the rest of her family.” His arm sneaked behind her back and pulled his wife closer.

All the participants cheered and nana Ciara walked to Rowan and Aelin and hugged them both “now let your wife sit down and let me feed her.”

Aelin burst out in a loud laugh and took her seat once more and the old woman arrived a moment later with a gigantic dish full of her stew.

The woman’s green eyes landed on her in expectation and Aelin took a first spoonful of food.

What she was nor expecting was the explosion of flavours in her mouth. Her eyes closer to savour it and images of woods, nature and snow hit her. The stew brought back memorise of summer adventures with Aedion in the Staghorns, the feeling of home. Enda had done a grand job on his version but this, the original, was completely different experience.

“This is the most amazing stew I have ever tasted in my life.”

The old woman nodded in approval and then every one started grabbing a helping.

Rowan kissed Aelin’s head “Told you.”

The meal had gone on for hours and Aelin realised she had missed that tradition. Family really was important for the Whitethorns and she loved it.

She was walking around the garden to shake off some of the food when she spotted Rowan walking towards her with nana Ciara in tow.

“Nana has something she wants to say to both of us…”

The woman smiled deeply and took Aelin’s hands “You are having a girl, isn’t it?”

Aelin nodded and brushed a hand on her bump.

“And have you two settled on a name?”

Rowan looked at his wife “Nothing that we like, we have read a lot of options…”

Nana smiled then her hand went on Aelin’s bump and in that instant the baby kicked hard “There is a name which is local to here in some of the more remote communities, that I think it will be perfect for your little girl,” the woman paused and stared at both of them “It’s Maya. In the language of one of the tribes deep in the Cambrian mountain it means courage, bravery.” With that she left and Aelin looked at Rowan “It’s perfect.”

He pulled his wife close to his chest and kissed her head “It really is…”

The honeymoon had passed in a breeze, far too quick for Aelin’s taste and now they were in front of the farm where uncle Ellys was helping Rowan to load the car. They had explored all they could, Rowan had taken her to some of stomping grounds in teh woods and he went down the memory lane with her.

Now, three weeks later they it was time to say farewell and Aelin stared at all the boxes and extra bags.The family had inundated them with gifts for the wedding and the baby and Rowan had stocked up in foods and spices from home that he struggled to find in Terrasen. Those three weeks had been perfect and she was happy at the idea that they will soon have a cottage all for themselves to get back to. Uncle Ellys had promised Rowan to keep him updated on the works. They were giddy and excited for this new adventure in their lives.

It was a few hours later when they were back on the ferry. The boat had pushed away from the pier and Rowan and Aelin were standing on the stern outer deck and watched Wendlyn slowly gliding away. Rowan moved behind his wife and his hand reached at the front, including Maya in the embrace “thank you for making me do this.”

“I love your family, Ro.”

His face disappeared in the crook of her neck and in that instant their daughter kicked hard, probably to make her opinion heard.

Rowan looked at the sea ahead. Looked towards home and to a life that he had searched for, for a long time. He chuckled, he would have set fire the hangar himself if he had known it would have brought him his dreams and the woman in his arms.

The love of his life.

On a wall of their home, now hang now a picture of the clan Whitethorn with a smiling Aelin in the middle beside nana Ciara and uncle Ellys.

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#rowaelin fanfic #rowaelin #rowaelin fanfiction #rowan whitethorn #aelin galathynius #alittlebraver #a little braver #aelin x rowan #rowan x aelin #domestic fluff #rowaelin fluff #rowaelin fic #rowaelin fan fiction

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skyriderwednesday · 2 years

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'giftsfromboswell reblogged your post', said the notification, and Watson smiled at Holmes sat across from him. "What do you think?" he asked, "Much me?" "You already have four pairs of boots that height," Holmes replied, "but yes, I think they'd suit you." "What were you doing with those flight dynamics of birds after I'd gone to bed last night?" Holmes shrugged, "They came across my feed, I found them of interest." "You reblogged them to main," he said. "Do they have anything to do with the case, do you think?" "I was thinking, Watson, Amesbury mentioned circling buzzards, but the winds in that area..." "Very high, weren't they? You'd think a gliding bird would get blown off course." "Like seagulls going backwards." Watson hummed, and scrolled a little way to tap the most recent appearance of shholmes221 on his dashboard, with the hand-drawn icon of a bee on a fingertip beside it. Below a bewildering handful of words relating to an early morning series of deductions, there was a GIF of a seagull gliding in flight and an explanation of the dynamics behind it. Under that, an analysis of the flight of red kites, and a sightings map of buzzards in Britain. "Amesbury wouldn't mistake the species he was looking at, would he?" "I don't believe so, he appears to be too accomplished a birdwatcher." Watson went back to the dash, and scrolled idly for a few moments. He chuckled. "Holmes, look at this." Holmes raised his phone. 'doctor-author-soldier-bi mentioned you in a post'. The corner of his lips twitched upward. "Corvids driving off a buzzard," he said. "The behaviour is called 'mobbing'." "Incredibly gutsy birds, crows," Watson mused, watching the video loop. "My uncle watched birds for years, he'd drive miles to spot red kites, and sea eagles, and things like that, and he'd follow the crows. Whenever the crows were upset, there was probably a predator nearby, and that usually meant some big bird of prey. It's funny though, buzzards and the like, they just don't care. It's too much effort to attack the crows back, so they just make themselves pests until the bigger bird flies off." A note. 'shholmes221 reblogged your post'. He looked up, Holmes was staring at him intensely, or rather through him. "Watson, that's it--" he said, and leapt to his feet. "Get your keys and the binoculars, we're going crow-spotting." "Do you... expect me to drive in my slippers?" "Put on your hiking boots." "There we go," Watson said, standing up. "Are you going in your dressing gown?" The consideration maybe took a little too long. "...no. I'll get dressed, you put on boots, get your keys and the binoculars, then we're going crow-spotting." "Good plan." Holmes quivered for a moment, then shoved his phone into his dressing gown pocket and darted into his bedroom. 'We're off again,' Watson posted, 'crows this time'. He went upstairs to put on his boots and find the binoculars.

#sherlock holmes #modern au #tumblr watsholmes #fanfiction

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smenayetk11 · 9 months

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The Best Funny Working Mom Quotes

Being a working mom can be both challenging and rewarding. Balancing a career and family is no easy feat, but many women manage to do it with humor and grace. The best funny working mom quotes capture the often chaotic, yet hilarious, moments that come with juggling work responsibilities and family life. These quotes serve as a reminder that laughter is the best medicine when it comes to navigating the ups and downs of being a working mom. The best funny working mom quotes have become a popular way for women to find solace and camaraderie in their shared experiences. They provide a lighthearted perspective on the everyday challenges faced by working mothers, from multitasking like a pro to finding creative ways to combat exhaustion. These quotes not only bring a smile to the faces of working moms but also serve as a reminder that they are not alone in their struggles. With their relatable humor and wit, these quotes offer a sense of empowerment and encouragement to all working moms out there. Working moms have a special kind of humor that keeps them going through the chaos. Here are some funny quotes that capture the ups and downs of being a working mom: "I love being a working mom. It's like having two full-time jobs that only pay in hugs and tantrums." "Working mom life: Where you can't find your keys but can locate a tiny Lego piece in the dark." "Being a working mom means having a messy bun and a messy kitchen, but still slaying at both." "I'm not just a mom, I'm a multitasking ninja who can change a diaper while on a conference call." "There's no such thing as work-life balance when you're a working mom. It's more like work-life juggling with occasional drops."

Source: staticflickr.com

Discover the Funniest Quotes About Being a Working Mom

Being a mom is no easy task, and when you add a career into the mix, things can get even more challenging. But as working moms, we find humor in the chaos and laughter in the everyday struggles. Funny quotes about being a working mom capture the essence of our experiences, from juggling work deadlines to chauffeuring kids to various activities. These quotes serve as a reminder that we are not alone in our journey and that it's okay to find humor in our daily lives. If you're a working mom looking for a good laugh or if you want to share a chuckle with your fellow working mom friends, this article is for you. In the following sections, we'll explore some of the best funny working mom quotes that will make you burst out laughing and nod your head in agreement. So, get ready for some comical moments as we dive into the world of hilarious quotes about being a working mom. ## The Challenges and Joys of Being a Working Mom Navigating the Daily Struggles with Humor Life as a working mom can often feel like a juggling act. From managing deadlines to organizing school pickups and drop-offs, we face a myriad of challenges every day. But instead of getting overwhelmed, it's important to find the humor in these situations. Funny working mom quotes not only bring a smile to our faces but also remind us that we're not alone in our experiences. They help us embrace the chaos with a laugh and find the joy in the journey. One such lighthearted quote by Phyllis Diller says, "Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing." This quote perfectly captures the never-ending struggle of keeping a clean and organized house while raising kids. It reminds us not to stress too much about the mess and instead focus on creating memories with our children. Another funny quote by Erma Bombeck highlights the constant battle between work and parenting: "I've exercised with women so thin that buzzards followed them to their cars." This hilarious quote portrays the unrealistic expectations society often places on women to look perfect while balancing career and motherhood. It's a gentle reminder to embrace our natural selves and not succumb to societal pressures. These quotes, along with many others, provide a glimpse into the everyday struggles and joys of being a working mom. They remind us that it's okay to have a messy house or not always look put together. After all, what truly matters is the love and laughter we share with our families. Finding Balance in the Chaos One of the biggest challenges faced by working moms is finding the right balance between work and family life. We often find ourselves overwhelmed with the never-ending to-do lists and guilt-ridden for not being able to give our full attention to either work or family. However, it's important to remember that we're doing the best we can and that it's okay to prioritize ourselves every once in a while. A funny quote by Jane Sellman humorously captures the struggle of finding balance: "The phrase 'working mother' is redundant." This quote highlights the fact that being a mom is already a full-time job in itself. Balancing work alongside parenting adds another layer of responsibilities, making the phrase "working mother" seem almost comically unnecessary. It's a witty way to acknowledge the immense efforts put in by working moms. Another humorous quote by Unknown says, "I have an everyday religion that works for me. Love yourself first, and everything else falls into line." This quote serves as a reminder to prioritize self-care and self-love amidst the chaos of work and family life. It's essential for working moms to take care of themselves to be able to give their best to their families and careers. These quotes remind us that finding balance may be challenging, but it's not impossible. By embracing our imperfections, setting realistic expectations, and taking time for ourselves, we can navigate the chaos of working mom life with humor and grace. ## The Importance of Laughter in the Journey of Motherhood The Power of Laughter in Overcoming Challenges Motherhood is a rollercoaster ride filled with ups and downs, and laughter serves as our safety harness, keeping us grounded and resilient. Funny working mom quotes have the power to lift our spirits, bring a smile to our faces, and remind us that laughter is the best medicine, even in the face of challenges. One quote by Jill Churchill perfectly encapsulates this sentiment: "There's no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one." This witty quote acknowledges the reality that perfection is unattainable and instead encourages us to focus on being good mothers in our own unique ways. It brings a sense of relief and reminds us not to take ourselves too seriously. Another hilarious quote by Amy Poehler emphasizes the importance of finding humor in motherhood: "I believe in joking around and having fun. It's a great outlet. I also believe in laughing at yourself." As working moms, we often encounter situations that are comical in hindsight. Laughing at ourselves and finding the humor in our own mistakes can help us navigate the challenges of motherhood with a lighter heart. These quotes, along with many others, remind us that laughter is a powerful tool in overcoming the challenges of motherhood. They encourage us to find joy in the journey, embrace our imperfections, and share a good laugh with our fellow moms. The Bonding Power of Shared Laughter Shared laughter has the unique ability to forge connections and build bonds among individuals. Funny working mom quotes provide a sense of camaraderie as they resonate with the experiences of working moms everywhere. Sharing a laugh with other moms not only brings joy but also creates a support network where we feel understood and supported. One quote by Phyllis Diller humorously captures the camaraderie among working moms: "A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie." This funny quote highlights the selflessness and sacrifice often exhibited by mothers. It brings a smile to our faces and reminds us that we're not alone in the daily negotiations and compromises we make for our families. Another quote by Tina Fey underlines the support and laughter shared among moms: "I think every working mom probably feels the same thing: You go through big chunks of time where you're just thinking, 'This is impossible-oh, this is impossible.'" This quote captures the moments of doubt and overwhelm faced by working moms, but it also reassures us that we're not alone. By sharing our stories and having a good laugh, we find solace in the company of other moms who understand the challenges we face. These quotes serve as a reminder that laughter has the power to create strong bonds between working moms. They encourage us to reach out to other moms, share our experiences, and support each other through humor and understanding. After all, we're all in this together. End this article with a paragraph.

Source: victorianprint.co.uk

Frequently Asked Questions

If you're looking for a good laugh about the experiences of working moms, you've come to the right place. Check out these hilarious and relatable funny working mom quotes that will surely brighten up your day. Here are some frequently asked questions about the best funny working mom quotes: 1. What are some funny working mom quotes about the daily struggles? Working moms often face daily struggles that can be both challenging and humorous. Here are some funny quotes that capture the essence of these struggles: "Being a working mom is like having two full-time jobs, except one of them doesn't pay, and the boss is always crying." "I'm not just a working mom, I'm a professional juggler. I can juggle work, kids, and a million other things all at once!" 2. Are there any funny quotes about the balancing act of being a working mom? Being a working mom often involves a delicate balancing act between work and family. Here are some humorous quotes about this juggling act: "Being a working mom means I'm a master of multitasking. I can change a diaper while responding to emails and eating a snack all at the same time!" "Balancing work and motherhood is like walking a tightrope, except the tightrope is on fire and there are people throwing flaming swords at you." 3. What are some funny quotes about the chaos of mornings as a working mom? Mornings can be particularly chaotic for working moms as they try to get themselves and their children ready for the day ahead. Here are some funny quotes that perfectly capture this morning madness: "Mornings as a working mom: Wake up, drink coffee, put on yoga pants, find missing shoes, change a diaper, lose keys, spill coffee, find keys, spill more coffee, find shoes, spill entire coffee pot." "My mornings as a working mom can be summed up in one word: mayhem. It's like a tornado of cereal spills, lost socks, and last-minute spills every single day!" 4. Are there any funny quotes about the guilt that working moms often feel? Many working moms experience feelings of guilt for not being able to spend as much time with their children as they would like. Here are some funny quotes that shed light on this common dilemma: "As a working mom, I have a PhD in guilt. I can feel guilty about anything and everything, from missing a school event to not making a Pinterest-worthy lunch." "Working moms are like undercover agents, sneaking in quality time with their kids whenever and wherever they can. Guilt is our constant companion." 5. What are some funny quotes about the challenges of finding time for self-care as a working mom? Self-care is often put on the backburner for working moms who are constantly juggling multiple responsibilities. Here are some funny quotes that highlight the challenges of finding time for self-care: "As a working mom, 'me time' is now called 'bathroom breaks'. It's the only time I can escape for a few minutes of solitude and sanity." "Finding time for self-care as a working mom is like trying to find a unicorn in a haystack. It's a mythical concept that seems impossible to achieve!" Being a working mom can be challenging, but it's also a source of endless humor. From balancing work and family life to dealing with unexpected situations, working moms have a unique perspective that often leads to hilarious moments. Here are some of the best funny working mom quotes that will make you laugh and remind you that you're not alone in this crazy journey: - "Being a mom means having the strength to cancel plans because your child fell asleep at an inconvenient time." - "My boss asked if I could stay late at work. I replied, 'I can only stay late if you can pick up my kids from daycare.'" - "Before I had kids, I had hobbies and interests. Now, I just chase kids and try to find time to pee alone." - "I love my kids, but sometimes I fantasize about having a 'mute' button for their constant chatter." - "I'm not a regular mom. I'm a cool mom who wears the same stained shirt three days in a row." These quotes capture the daily struggles, funny moments, and sheer exhaustion that working moms experience. They serve as a reminder that laughter is the best remedy, and that despite the challenges, being a working mom is a journey filled with joy and unexpected surprises. Read the full article

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