#from some cousin's snot nosed brat

[mexicanblanket]

Normalize staying home with your sick kid, guilt free, from family gatherings, even if it's Christmas, Thanksgiving, or an immediate family member's birthday!

[diabolocracy]

Proship general search is a treat. I wasn't the anon but I can't help but answer in a separate post 'cuz I'm bored lol.

We aren't on the tick tocks. It's called rape and people with a rapekink who search for it in fiction typically* do not. Which is a good thing, you'd know if we did, rapekink is an extremely common if not the most common kink.

We still aren't on tick tock, you can type out pedophiles, it helps people who have the word blacklisted on tumblr or via an outside app actually avoid it. All you're doing with this obfuscation is making their lives a little more difficult, lol.

Anyway: I support pedophiles seeking out external assistance if they fear that they might offend. The average predator isn't a pedophile, the average predator is an opportunist looking to exert power over something that can't fight back (similar to the average rapist really).

The average lolishokodocon isn't a pedophile. They might be, and the hentais and the mangas and the fanfics and the fanarts are a good outlet, but usually--no.

See, in the idealized hentai world, the 'children' are also idealized. They aren't whiny little snot-nosed brats. It also helps to keep in mind that the average -con imagines themselves in the little role (similar to how the average rapekink enjoyer, at least from my observations, is fucking subby as shit).

Incest*

More often than not there's an unhealthy dynamic in play.

But if there isn't and it's perfectly consensual, such as if it's two siblings or cousins of the same generation who agree to be child free (mostly for the sake of the child's psyche--inbreeding doesn't effect genetics much unless it happens a lot, over generations, iirc), personally, I don't give a fuck. It isn't my life. If it makes them happy and no one's getting hurt then who fucking gives a shit?

You can't even bring legality into this, really, because in some countries it's legal -- even in some US States it's legal under certain circumstances.

And none of that means I've ever entertained the thought of fucking my brother. I'm not even attracted to dudes. Though I did declare once when I was like, six, that I was going to marry my dad, lol.

None of that means I support Catholic priests or youth pastors or P. Diddy.

And none of it means I support rapists outside of a kink context specifically wherein it's CNC and it's a person playing a role that their partner wants them to play.

*I'm not going to get into baiters--that is, people who go out of their way to tempt people into raping them--and yes that's a thing but it sort of takes the safe and sane out of the whole affair.

Welcome to human sexuality. It isn't a place for black and white morality.

[wildestheart4ever]

Now what kind of man would a kid who was raised mostly by a father who says shit like “With no cops around, anything is legal” and “Yes, burn the child!” going to turn out like, I wonder?

A man with a mostly blasé attitude towards the law? Treating kids like adults?? Short of giving them things they’re not supposed to have, that is.

He’s like the voice of reason, just a bit skewed to the left.

Pays more attention to what the kids are doing and immediately notices when Dipper is hiding something.

“You know your ears turn red when you lie? Your dad is the same way, can’t lie to save his life.”

Quicker to discover the third journal

“Found the third journal.” He announced, dropping the aforementioned book onto the desk in front of his father.

He watched as his dad carefully picked up the book, eyeing the bold number 3 as if he wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at

“Where?”

“If you could believe it, Dipper had it. Said he found it in the woods a bit ways from the shack.”

Stan snorted, exasperated as he sorted through the pages, “Right under our noses, unbelievable,” he turned to look at him, wagging the book with a raised brow, “I doubt the kid gave this to you willingly, you pinched it off him or what?”

“Oh, of course not! I just slipped him something.”

The older man’s face pinched into a scowl, “Of all the - Benjamin Stanford Pines, what the fu-“

“Slow your roll, old man -“ Ben quickly interrupted, raising placating hands, “- I just snuck some melatonin into his and Mabel’s drink. Kid needs the sleep anyway.”

“You worry me sometimes, kid, and I’ve been to prison.”

I do know that I just spent the morning playing with the idea of Ben being Gideon’s worst nightmare. Bro is making threats of child protection just to get the little monster off his family’s back

“After all, there has to be a reason for a nine year old to have such anger and need for control. One carefully worded call from CPS can take care of that”

“Try breaking into this house again and I’ll call the cops on your ass for breaking and entering.”

For the sake of keeping the plot of Gideon Rises. Any advice to move the safe to a safer location go ignored, after all, what can a snot nose brat do?

Canon says: A lot

Click for more information

Ben was born in the backseat of Stan’s car

Stan and Carla kept every single one of Ben’s first keepsakes [1st school project, 1st arts n craft and participation award, the works] once they got a roof over their head. Overcompensating for the first few rough years of life with no stability

Nothing like giving Stan feelings of inadequacy than being unable to provide for his family

Took Ben months until he felt secure enough to unpack his backpack.

He has Carla’s dark curly hair and eyes, the shape of her nose and her smile. Sometimes it hurts Stan to look at him and see the reminders

Lives in Seattle

He and dad Pines [I shall call the parents James and Darcy Pines] are on regular speaking terms

Maybe he was the one who helped convince his cousin to send the twins over Gravity Falls for the summer

He used to chase the gnomes off the property with a BB gun

He always greets Soos with a noogie. Older brother privilege, of course.

Privately makes fun of Robbie for being threatened by a twelve year old……and quietly threatens him if he ever thinks of fighting Dipper again

Let’s Mabel paint his nails

Stan calls Mabel “Sweetie” and “Pumpkin”, Ben calls her “Mi lady” fake posh accent and all

He calls Dipper “Chief”

It’s because of him that Stan is a more responsible guardian to the twins

Wendy had a crush on him…..Dipper gets a little weird about it

Ben has a calico cat named Honey, he jokes about her being Stan’s only grandchild. Stan thinks she’s the most spoiled cat in the world

Ben has absolutely no interest in dating

He’s the town darling…..joking, he was the town troll. Stan Pines son through and through

Brought a shotgun to the Weirdmageddon and made himself a menace

Ben Pines, traditional monster hunter vs Ford Pine’s more scientific/magical approach?? That’s a thought

I refuse to believe Stan wasn’t going out there to look for the kids

Thinking up little scenarios for my dad!Stan au that I’m never going to write but it’s fun to think about.

I decided to give him a son named Ben. Ben is the cool uncle that comes over to the shack every random Saturday to make sure everything is in working order.

Is he Stan’s voice of reason, does he slap his old man upside the head when he’s being particularly stupid with the kids? [No Stan, we do not sell out our niece’s hand in marriage to some chump]

I’m trying not to shove him in every situation where it requires someone to be the voice of reason

I don’t know what his job is but now the guy has blood on his hands - did he kill agent Trigger in NWHS? I don’t know, I do know Soos joked about him coming off as very Freddy Kruger in the situation

Does he do wet work?

Omg, is he a hit man???

Point is that he will get his hands dirty in the name of his dad’s mission.

OR, he isn’t there for the whole mishap and shows up the next morning to have a very tense first meeting with his uncle Ford [Ford doesn’t remember Stan’s son, but then again, he barely spared a glance at the slip of a child before dragging Stanley off to talk in private]

I know killing off Stan’s wife is a thing in this au, a little thing that happens long before the series, give some more to the stangst, let his son be a shining beacon in his life [Before Soos comes in to further curb his loneliness that is]

Carla, Carla McCorkle is his wife. The relationship I imagine for them is a very different matter.

Is it something he and Ford talk about in the quiet of the night in the rare moments that they can stand to be in the same room? Maybe

Ford wandering around, looking at what Stan did to his house, seeing all these family pictures and wondering. He figured that the son left at some point as a grown child does, but where’s the wife? Divorced or???

But then I was thinking about Weirdmaggedon and I thought ‘You know, it’s shocking no one actually died in that mess…….we should change that’

So I killed his son too

Now here is a Stan gaining back his memories wondering where his son is. And now I have an old man crying in anguish in my head.

Tears, tears from everyone

[afrogirl3005]

My SuperStar

Glamrock Freddy/ gn/poc reader

Your Placed in the Fazbear Pizzaplex forced to attend your snot nosed cousins 8th birthday. A familliar face or shall I say bear takes a liking to you and through some unxepected events involving some locked doors and sentient animatronics you find yourself stuck in the huge mall-esque pizzplex. Get comfy, grab a snack and enjoy exploring the facility with your favorite animatronic bear.

Your Pov: Why am I even here, I mean I don’t even like my 8 year old snot nosed cousin and I absolutely do not like places like this. I mean the bright light and loud music completely leave me discombobulated … but then again I get to come for free soooooo…, I’m soon snapped out of my thoughts “Ok everyone we're going to meet our very special guest!” , My aunt unbearably continues “ Everyone say hello to Freddy!!!” I soon hear loud and I mean loud and large mechanical footsteps coming closer along with the sound of 40 screaming children. It’s non other than everybody’s favorite bear in the middle of the room. He towers over them all including myself I can only assume he’s about six feet tall “ Hello My Superstars, who’s ready for the most rocking birthday ever!!” He seemed very… articulated. I see him sort of look over all of the room of brats, but for some strange reason my face gets warm when he stares at me I think he’s been doing it for a bit to long and while you can’t see it I’m blushing.

Freddie’s Pov : Seeing all of the smiling childrens faces bring my so much joy “Hello My Superstars!” An uproar of laughter erupts from their happy  faces. My programing requires me to scan all occupants in the room. As I am doing just that   my eyes come across, a face, her face. My programing must be malfunctioning... but I never had this sort of software problem. Never Mind I continue as I always "I have something for the birthday boy." I see a little boy with what seems to be some sort of orange dust on his face " here you go superstar your very own party pass, feel free to explore the pizzaplex" The party goers then exit the room, all except one. " um.. hello?" she spoke to me " um yes hello, will you not be joining the other party- goers ." I feel My-self getting warmer ... odd. I realize my battery is low I must charge. "Well superstar have a rocking time." I deliver with a charming wink. "Thank ... you." I leave and while I enter my charging center all I can think about is them.

Your Pov: "Man that was weird." as the bear walks away. I take his advice... sort of. I head to the furthest bathroom in the place just so no kids will annoy me. I check the time "10:30 It's almost closing time." Whelp I can wait it out.

Narrators Pov:

You start goggling the origins of this place. Your reminded of the stories tied to this place. You lose track of time enamored with the lore of the building you check the time once more "11:15 aww man I hope the doors are still open my aunt was my ride." You exit the stall doors into the empty megaplex "Oof a lot more spooky empty." You make your way to to the front but your feeling watch "maybe its the animatronics" you say to yourself. you walk past their rooms. you begin to hear footsteps that are not your own. You turn your head and see a unfamiliar figure creeping twards you. You see it starts gaining speed, you want to run but your stuck in place almost as if your accepting fate. All of a sudden you've been pulled in to a room not knowing who that heroic hand was you turn your head and...

To Be Continued.

Thank you all for reading see you next time. ~Afro

[vermillioncrown]

Could we please have more z!zzl?

after careful thought (re: maladaptive daydreaming), z!zhizhu-lang will be heading to cang qiong in disguise to sus out how to destroy the array and figure out the best way to make the cultivators pay their pound of flesh back

baby-looking z!zzl has a way to suppress their demonic qi (otherwise they wouldn't have been able to roam freely in the human realm before), joins the entrance exam after a few years of trying to get their bearings and deciding on their course. bc they aren't suited for human cultivation (but some sort of cultivation - it ends up looking like z!zzl is okay at cultivation but doesn't have high potential) (which is perfect). they're really good at digging holes, and no one can say that z!zzl isn't a hard worker. what really cinches the exam in their favor is that the engineer's mindset still lives on in z!zzl, and they're a sucker for efficiency. airplane-sqh takes one look at them and "oh yeah, this snot-nosed brat is perfect for an ding"

and an ding is perfect for z!zzl. yes it's a lot of bitch work, but they're low enough in the pecking order that the big brain logistics are handled by the seniors and elders, and they get to go everywhere in the sect and outside the sect.

no one pays attention to servants, right? no one pays attention to an ding. coupled with their passive gossip-collecting skill (baatpo life always) they learn some very interesting tidbits about the peaks, general cultivation realm, even cultivation techniques (it's not that the elders and teachers are neglectful, but cultivation at its core is a personal thing and requires self-motivation and self-study. it's enough to watch to learn, and do it for yourself).

they couldn't find their little cousin, but he should appear in due time. and the system in their head doesn't help. z!zzl is stuck fulfilling minor missions here and there, things that the system doesn't explain but they should mean something, right? ...right? (it's all little plot points that get the ball rolling towards what the system would deem a climax in the future life of lbh) ("wow if you're saying my cousin should peak in his early 20s then that's kinda... tragic, system") the missions go all over the realm. whenever z!zzl has time, they go back to check on their uncle.

(once z!zzl is older, there are a lot of missions that end up near huan hua palace. and with some mishaps in the area, the huan hua disciples nearby end up collaborating with z!zzl and their sect siblings. and perhaps one of the disciples from huan hua ends up starting a friendly rivalry w z!zzl.

"fellow young master, this one is gongyi xiao. i look forward to future collaboration with such talented and hard-working disciples of cang qiong."

z!zzl 👀👀👀 at gyx, not quite used to human mannerisms anymore after decades of snake demon life. "a..a aha... perhaps, just hard-working - gongyi-xiong is too generous. this zeng zilang (z!zzl's undercover name: 曾 - once, ever, great-grand (family member), surname; 子 - son, person, common character in name; 筤 - young bamboo) will remember your name for the future.)

(and the old palace master, with why he deigned to let gyx take the place of his beloved ex-head disciple - he one day catches gyx and z!zzl interacting. z!zzl looks enough like his uncle and gyx looks enough like sxy that it makes the old palace master seethe)

(but that's another subplot for later.)

on cang qiong, z!zzl has to evade the notice of the sect leader (who actually fought against tianlang-jun and z!zzl such that he has enough dots to connect), sqq (he's a paranoid and shady bastard, like recognizes like), and surprisingly mobei-jun (who appears on an ding randomly, and goes bananas at the scent of another demon, however faint, lingering around his human).

sometimes, it's safer to just be off the peak, no matter how much sqh favors z!zzl for being both efficient and hard-working, but not overly talented and dramatic ('joke's on you; my drama is just buried deep and waiting to be unleashed'). so z!zzl volunteers for the bai zhan peak jobs bc they have the highest percent chance of interacting w bai zhan and leaving unscathed.

unfortunately (for their health, but fortunately for their eyes), z!zzl gets caught up in a bai zhan beating session courtesy of their peak lord. they spent too long ogling lqg and lqg thought they were a bai zhan disciple trying to escape their beating.

while z!zzl doesn't have human cultivation talent, they do have martial talent. and now they're roped into 'training' on bai zhan whenever they make deliveries or fix buildings.

('i can stay a little longer' z!zzl thinks as they get asswhooped for the nth time by their liu-shishu. is this how tlj felt when sxy put him in his place? nice. 'uncle can wait a bit longer')

[thedevilsfamiliar]

We can all agree that I don’t like children, right? I’ve mentioned it before, I’ll say it now and then. I don’t like kids, plain and simple.

However, my siblings (and cousins) are exempt from my natural dislike.

Today, my sister came up to me saying that a kid pushed her, she has bruises on her back and lemme tell you about how livid I am.

My sister is 7, she’s tiny for her age, she’s practically skin and bone (naturally skinny, does not gain weight no matter how much she eats.)

Wind blows against her and she can topple over.

And some snot nosed brat has the audacity to push her?

I’m curb stomping a kid, i don’t give a fuck.

[hawksquill]

“We must have the wrong box, Father, because the Weasleys are here,” Draco sneered.

Bill put a restraining arm over Ron and Percy practically had to sit on top of Fred and George to keep them in their seats.   Her brothers forgot all about Ginny, whose face was so flushed you could fry an egg on it.  Luna and Lavender each put a hand on one of Ginny’s wrists.

“Now, now, Draco, don’t spoil the poor Weasleys’ fun.  This may well be the only time the maggots get to leave that hovel of theirs all year,” Lucius tutted with a nasty grin that matched his son’s.

“I suggest you move along unless you want to be swarmed by maggots,” Bill said through gritted teeth.

“Well, Father, at least our seats are much better.  So very near the pitch, and right next to the Minister himself,” Draco curled his lip and made a show of traipsing all the way to the front of the room, several rows in front of the Weasleys’ seats.  

Luna spent the next several minutes glaring at the back of her cousin’s head while some pretty boy Quidditch has-been began the ceremonies. She should have known he would be here.  It had been stupid of her to accept Ginny’s invitation, really.  She didn’t even like Quidditch and she certainly didn’t like Draco Malfoy.  When the opening ceremonies began, Harry and some of the Weasleys left their seats and began milling towards the front of the box where the views were better.  But Luna staunchly remained in her seat.

Until the veela arrived. Luna could feel their magnetism before she could see them.  Nearly everyone at the front of the box had their faces pressed against the glass.  

“What do you think they’re all looking at?” Lavender asked, but Luna was already on her feet and drifting towards the hubbub.  She elbowed a few posh wizards in garishly poufy robes out of the way as the commentator introduced the Bulgarian mascots.  

“What are they?” Ginny was next to Luna now, their shoulders pressed together as they gazed down at the women or vixens or creatures taking the field.

“Dunno,” Luna stammered, “But whatever they are, they can dance.”

They were magnificent. Somehow the curves of their bodies, their heart-shaped faces, the shimmer of their silver hair, and even their flirtatious smiles with twinkling pure-white teeth were visible from hundreds of feet away.  They looked like what every man thought a woman should be and what every woman wanted to be.  Luna found their hair was particularly entrancing.  It was silvery white, like snow glistening in the sunlight, and it seemed to ripple and float in midair as if by magic.  Surely that was the type of hair Luna was supposed to have, the hair her mother had seen on the raven queen’s head in her vision, except black instead of white.

“They’re veela. They’re native to Bulgaria, but I’m surprised they were allowed to bring them as mascots,” Bill had picked his way through the crowd to find the two girls.  There was a somewhat curious look on his face as he looked at the veela on the pitch, then at Luna and Ginny, then back to the veela.  

“So, they’re like dancers or something?” Ginny asked.  The gyrating rhythmic routine the veela were performing was unlike any dancing Luna had ever seen.

“Ha, no!  Veela have their own magic; they can enchant most men. And some women, of course. That’s why I’m surprised the Bulgarians were allowed to bring them.  If the referees are enchanted, there might be accusations of bribery.  There would be a whole inquiry at the Ministry, I’m sure.”

When the referees and officials ushered the veela out of sight, the spell was broken.  People blinked blearily as if they had just woken up from a trance and returned to their seats in a daze.  The commentator had begun introducing the teams, each player flying a lap around the pitch and bowing to his adoring fans.

“Well, well, well, look what we have here.”

Luna had been so engrossed by the veela that she hadn’t realized Draco was standing near her.  He must have come closer to watch the veela, too.

“Well, I know we have more in common than you might think, but even I must admit I never expected this!” His gray eyes searched hers to see if she understood his cryptic taunt.

“You can stop teasing, Draco, I know we’re… you know.”

“Cousins?” he smirked.

“Shut up, Malfoy.  I’m sure Luna’s embarrassed enough being related to you without you going and shouting it from the rooftops,” Ginny snarled.

“And the Weasley girl is charmed by the veela too?!  Oh, this is too rich.  I suppose we know now what you girls get up to at that queer little coven of yours,” he mocked.

“I’m going to fucking kill you!” Ginny shrieked, pouncing on him with her fists flailing.  Ginny’s temper always flared hot, but Luna froze. It felt as if she had been plunged up to her chest in icy water, paralyzed and painfully cold.  She wished she had her blood knife.

“Ugh, get off me, you rat! Father, Father, help!” Draco shrieked.

Bill, Luna, and Lavender had just managed to pull Ginny off Draco when Mr. Weasley entered the box.

“Ah, Arthur, so marvelous to see you.  I’d love an explanation as to why your daughter has just attacked my son,” Lucius drawled, swatting away his wife’s hand as she fussed with Draco’s mussed hair and crumpled robes.

“He’s a snot-nosed brat and a bully!” Ginny shouted. Everyone in the box was staring at the Weasleys and Malfoys instead of the pitch, where the players were circling the pitch waiting for the quaffle toss.  The announcer was making a valiant but unsuccessful effort to continue his commentary as if nothing at all out of the ordinary was happening in the top box.

Excerpt Luna Lovegood and the Forgotten Circle chapter 23, read more here! 

[battlesworn]

@madefromfade​  /  max  said  :    "I didn't have any siblings. I was an only child and usually a few years older than the cousins that tended to visit often. I got use to watching the children or being in responsibility. I didn't mind that, sounds boring now looking back." Said in responses to a question raised by Roth. No one else sees focused on the Inquisitor, so he spoke freely. Max mostly focused on pitching the tent for the night's rest on their expedition towards Orlais.

he  hardly  noticed  that  he  was  smiling  ‘till  his  face  ached  with  it   ;   the  longer  max  had  spoke,  the  more  it  grew  to  encompass  his  face  and  brighten  worn  features  in  its  wake.   he  dipped  his  head  in  a  futile  effort  to  hide  it,  nearly  dropping  the  tent  pole  they  maneuvered  in  his  compulsion  to  card  a  nervous  hand  through  his  hair.     ‘   boring ?   maybe,  but  it  sounds  pretty  nice  if  you  ask  me.   boring  sounds   -   perfect.   ’     there  was  an�� odd  but  welcome  sort  of  warmth  that  began  to  build  within  him   ...   soft  and  comforting,  like  the  slow  crackling  flames  of  a  hearth.     ‘   i  bet  they  loved  you  !   you  seem  like  you’d  be  real  good  with  kids.  ’

he  tied  down  his  end  of  the  pole  and  jammed  in  the  spike,  nudging  it  in  deeper  with  his  foot.     ‘   there  weren’t  really  any  other  kids  ‘round  the  servants’  quarters  when  i  was  growin’  up.   just  me  n’  my  sister   -   but  she  was  older,  so  i  s’pose  i  was  the  snot-nosed  brat,  between  the  two  of  us.   caused  an  assload ‘a  trouble,  if  i  recall.   ’   

the  twinge  in  his  heart  was  all  too  familiar.   it  ached  to  speak  of  her,  but  not  as  it  often  did.   he  felt  safe  with  max   ...   his  long-buried  turmoil  felt  safe,  too.  it  grew  quiet,  no  longer  roiling  in  his  gut,  but  still  and  peaceful.     ‘   she  would  have  liked  you,  y’know.   didn’t  take  any  shit,  but  had  the  biggest  heart   ;  taught  me  to  fight,  too.  she  could’a  kicked  both  our  asses  at  once.   ’     he  looked  tired  for  a  moment,  exhausted  even,  as  that  ancient  sadness  clung  to  him.   but  it  was  gone  just  as  quick,   and  that  smile  reached  his  eyes  once  again.   oh,  how  easy  it  would  be  to  surrender  to  the  anguish  and  spend  his  days  enraged   ( far  too  easy   -   he  would  know ).   but  she  would  kick  his  ass  for  that  too.

that,  and  something  about  max’s  presence  seemed  to  banish  the  ghosts  from  his  bones   ...   a  beat  of  silence   ...   ‘   do  you  miss  bein’  around  your  family ?   some  of  ‘em,  anyhow ?   ’

[lilacmoon83]

Finding You Always

Also on Fanfiction.net or A03

Chapter 208: Battle Cry, Pt 1

Winter stepped away from the common room, where many of them were glued to the screen, taking in the events that were happening in Boston.

"My darling Winter…" Charming called, as he took her in his arms.

"They're coming home...Bobby and Summer will be home soon," she said, though she still looked a bit sad.

"And right into danger," he said.

"There is that...but you know what it also means. Rumpelstiltskin's vision was clear. We are not there. We will have to be rejoined with Snow and David," she replied. He sighed.

"I know...but we must do this for our children," he said sadly. She nodded.

"I know...and we'll still be us, just the smaller voice again," she replied.

"Perhaps our lighter halves have learned not to push us away so much…" he suggested.

"Perhaps...and we are them, even if my lighter half is far too forgiving," Winter said, with slight annoyance.

"But I know you, my darling...you will give up revenge to have Summer and Bobby back. I shall too," he said. She nodded with a smile, as they shared a passionate kiss. Their lips parted though when they felt a whoosh of air. They opened their eyes and found themselves in the meadow beneath the tree they had created from their true love that once was merely a sapling.

"Why are we here?" Winter asked.

"You have accepted that you must rejoin your lighter halves; that the truest loves cannot be separated any longer," Bobby said.

"Bobby!" Winter cried, as she enveloped their son in her arms and kissed his cheek.

"I'm okay, Mom," he promised.

"How are you here?" Charming asked, as he hugged him too. He shrugged.

"I don't know...I just got done talking to Apollo and Artemis. They helped me awaken all the elements in me and I need to help you awaken yours so that it's done when you rejoin with your lighter halves," he said.

"But sweetie...we don't wield any elements," Snow replied. He smiled.

"Yes you do…" he replied, as they looked at him with questions in their eyes.

"True love...that's your element," he clarified.

"But...we've had true love's kiss before. It breaks curses, but won't do much to fight Seth," Charming said.

"But it will this time...once you're reunited with the lighter halves of mom and dad. Because this is the curse to end all curses. Trust me...you'll know when the time comes exactly what needs to be done. Mom and Dad are about to kiss me awake in Boston, but as long as there is separation between all of you, the curse isn't fully broken yet," Bobby replied, as he turned to leave.

"The curse to end all curses..." Charming muttered. Bobby nodded.

"Like I said, you'll know what it means and how to achieve that when the time comes," he said.

"We love you so much…" Winter gushed, as they hugged him again, with Charming cradling his head.

"I love you guys too and we're about to all be together again," he promised, as they faded from that place and returned to the physical plane. Their eyes locked and they shared another hug. The time for the epic battle between Seth was very near and once again, it would all come down to their family...and their love.

~*~

After a quick discussion, David thanked Patricia for the offer of a private jet to get them back to Maine, but they quickly determined that such wouldn't be feasible. There was no place to land a plane in the woods around the United Realms and a water landing would be difficult as well. Fortunately, the Jolly Roger would be just as fast as a plane and give them a Harbor entrance into the United Realms.

Unfortunately, it didn't allow them the anonymity that a private military airfield would have and they were stunned to see that reporters, news vans, and even civilians had gathered at the Harbor when they arrived.

"How the hell did they find out where we were going?" Patricia grumbled and then eyed Nora.

"I didn't tell you where we were going," she said in an accusatory tone.

"No...but I tweeted my direction and posted the video of that little freak making earthquakes. The Internet did the rest and this is the only Harbor in the direction I tweeted. They deduced the rest," Nora replied, as people tried to move in on them, like a mob, volleying intrusive questions and embarrassing claims. Fortunately, Patricia's officers kept them at a safe distance.

"My son is not a freak! How dare you?!" Snow cried, as she grabbed the other woman's phone and tossed it to the ground, before stomping on it. This, of course, gave the onlookers the spectacle they were looking for, but Snow didn't care.

"You really are a crazy bitch! No wonder you were in a mental hospital!" Nora growled, as she picked up her broken device.

"My wife is not crazy...our son was just taken from us. But I shouldn't be surprised...another heartless reporter!" David spat, as he held a nearly inconsolable Snow in his arms.

"Nora...what the hell?!" JJ exclaimed, as he pulled his cousin away. The people and reporters were looked on, snapping photos and recording the entire thing, ensuring that their situation was blowing up all over the world in a way they could have never imagined.

"Relax JJ...this thing is already out there. I'm just one person that's on the front lines to report it all," Nora replied.

"Too bad this is where we part ways then, Ms…" Patricia said, prompting her for her name.

"Bradley. Nora Bradley...what do you mean?" she questioned.

"Did you really think we're going to take you with us?" she asked, as they approached the gangplank of the Jolly Roger.

"Wait...you're letting my cousin go, but leaving me behind?" she asked, as she looked at him.

"JJ!" she exclaimed.

"You did this to yourself, Nora," he replied.

"So that's it? Wow...sweet cheeks really got under your skin fast! You're abandoning your own family for her!" she accused.

"This is bigger than us, Nora! You may want to report on it, but I just want to help," he claimed. She snorted derisively.

"Right...and this has nothing to do with her," she accused, as she glared at Summer.

"Do you even care at all right now that my brother is in mortal danger?" Summer asked.

"Of course I care...I'm trying to tell the story!" she responded and JJ rolled his eyes.

"Sorry...she's actually a nice person when she's not being a reporter, but all this has brought out the worst in her," JJ told her and she nodded in understanding, as they walked up the gangplank with her parents.

"You have a choice, Ms. Bradley," Patricia said.

"And what choice is that?" Nora asked.

"You report the facts and not your spin, like the garbage I'm reading that you already put out there," Patricia replied.

"And if I don't want to do it your way?" Nora asked. Patricia smirked.

"Federal prison," she replied. Nora frowned and then plastered a fake smile on her face.

"Then I guess I'll be doing things your way, but since that crazy bitch…" she started to say, but Patricia gave her a warning look.

"Since the Princess broke my phone, I have no way to do my work," she said, with very fake sweetness.

"I'll provide you with all you need, but piss me off and you'll end up in a very bad place," the Major promised. Nora was fuming and practically boiling in her skin. She'd play by the Major's rules for now, but the first chance she got...she'd make her regret her threats.

They boarded the Jolly Roger and Killian took to the wheel. Nora looked around with scrutiny.

"There's no motor...it will take forever to get anywhere on this boat," Nora complained.

"Ship...she's a ship and deserves your respect," Killian snapped, as he removed his fake hand.

"What the hell…" she uttered and watched in horror, as he replaced it with his hook.

"Welcome aboard the Jolly Roger," he said.

"He's...he's Captain Hook?" JJ asked in disbelief.

"He is...but he's not bad and he's my oldest sister's husband," Summer told him. Killian brought them out into the open water and saw a Coastguard ship closing in on them.

"Dammit...I tried calling them off, but there is some in fighting and they want custody of this ship pretty badly," the Major said.

"Not to worry...a little help, mate?" he called to David. He nodded and left Snow's side momentarily to climb the mast to let the sails out. Killian spun the wheel and they quickly pulled away from the coastguard.

"How are we outrunning a Coastguard class A vessel?" JJ asked. Summer winced and looked at him.

"Magic?" she offered and he shook his head.

"Of course," he replied. David climbed back down from the mast and took Snow in his arms again. She slipped her arms around his neck and sniffed, as she rested her head against his chest.

"We'll find him, Snow…" he promised in a whisper, before pressing a kiss to her hair.

"But he's going to hurt our baby before we do," she choked out.

"Hey...Bobby is strong, my love. He'll hold his own until we get there," he assured, as he pressed his forehead against hers.

"I want him to pay…" she admitted.

"He will," he assured.

"No mercy this time...not for him," she said.

"No...he's pure evil and we won't hesitate. He won't stand a chance against this family," he replied.

"What about our darker counterparts?" she asked.

"We'll convince them that the only way to save our children is to become whole again. They may not have believed that two years ago...but something tells me that they do now," he replied. She believed that too and let his love slowly ebb away what might have been a full blow panic attack. But she wasn't going to give into that this time. She was too focused on saving their children and their people. Nothing would stand in their way of seeing to Seth's demise this time.

~*~

Mephisto dropped Bobby unceremoniously at the feet of his Lord and Master and the boy looked up at the God.

"Welcome young one…" he said, in a pleased tone, as Mephisto's three charges flanked him and he looked around.

"Hmm...Mount Olympus used to be nice. It figures you'd turn it into a dark crap hole," Bobby commented.

"You will not speak to Lord Seth in such a manner, you snot nosed brat!" Mephisto hissed, as he moved in to physically reprimand the boy, but his hand stilled when Bobby looked at him. His eyes glowed with a myriad of rainbow colors and Seth looked intrigued by that.

"The elements are alive in you…" he realized, as he walked closer.

"A great battle is coming between us, young one. One that you and your family will not survive," he warned.

"Funny...because I'm pretty sure you don't stand a chance against us," Bobby retorted. Seth smirked.

"Oh, but it will not be just us fighting…" he said, as he motioned a transparent screen in front of them.

"The Land outside the United Realms. This Land Without Magic is quite intriguing. It boasts that its people are evolved and adhere to laws, yet they quarrel with each other over religion and politics. They let their murderers and rapists walk free. Yet they believe myths and magic are silly. They need order," he said.

"Yes, my Lord...they need you to make them conform to a just rule. They need a true God!" Mephisto agreed.

"And now it seems, due to your own carelessness with your magic and the idiot Dr. Jekyll's obsession with your fair mother...that they are about to know all about us," Seth stated.

"What is thy bidding, My Lord?" Mephisto questioned.

"There is much evil in this land...much more than there will ever be here in the United Realms. I need soldiers...I need the worst of humanity to join our ranks for the coming war," he said. Mephisto smirked deviously.

"And you shall have it," Mephisto said, as he and two of his charges disappeared.

"You have your orders, Dr. Jekyll," Seth said.

"And I shall deliver, My Lord...but I ask in the coming war that you spare Snow White for me," he requested.

"You're not getting your hands on my mother, you disgusting pig!" Bobby snapped hotly.

"Children should be seen and not heard," Jekyll chided, but then held his head in agony.

"You will obey my orders. Snow White is no longer your concern," Seth said. Jekyll clearly was not happy about that, but was silent and disappeared to carry out his tasks. Unfortunately, it was Bobby holding his head in agony for a moment, until the God ceased.

"Come child...it's time for you to see the place you shall die," Seth said, as they disappeared and then reappeared on a piece of land.

"Where...where are we?" Bobby asked, as he looked around at the desolate space that was surrounded by rocky outcroppings and a filmy red sky.

"Welcome to Nephilim, the realm of the fallen, where you will die and your bones will remain for eternity," Seth declared.

"Do not fear though...the entire world will be witnessing our battle and the rise of my coming army. They will see their future and worship me as I rise and sweep away my enemies," he continued.

"I won't be alone...my parents are coming," Bobby warned. Seth smirked.

"The Chalice is no longer at full power. I am now well aware of your parent's treachery and without the full power...they cannot enter this realm. No one can," Seth informed him. Bobby frowned and swallowed thickly, before putting on a brave front.

"Fine...you want a fight? Then you're gonna get one," he agreed, as his eyes glowed and the ground beneath him began to shake. He magicked a sword into his hand and his ripped up clothes changed into a leather jerkin and pants; an ensemble similar to one his father had often worn in the Enchanted Forest. And with no more delay, they charged each other…

~*~

A few moments ago, another bout of training had commenced, as they were aware that they were in the eleventh hour. But now, that was painfully clear, as the screen just appeared before them like magic, showing Bobby in Nephilim facing Seth. Alone.

"Oh my God...oh my God!" Regina cried, as they watched the fight begin.

"Bobby…" Eva cried.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Leo uttered.

"They have to be on the way," Eva insisted.

"Or they're dead like my parents," Carina said sadly.

"They're not dead...and we don't know that your parents are either," Leo admonished.

"He's right...they're strong like our parents and they have a friend in Thor. If anyone can save them, it's him," Eva assured.

"Even so...I must lead Andresia's army in my father's place," Carina said bravely, as the twins stood beside her.

"None of that matters," the Evil Queen snapped.

"You heard him...we can't get to him! He's in Nephilim and he's broadcasting this whole thing to the muggles out there!" she ranted, just as a swirling orange portal appeared.

"No...he said that we can't get to him without the full power of the chalice," a voice said, as Snow and David emerged, hand in hand from the portal.

"Mom! Dad!" the twins cried, as they rushed to them and they swept the twins into hugs. Emma, Killian, Summer, and the rest of the people with them filed through the portal.

"Nana!" Summer called, as she rushed to Regina, who swept her into a crushing hug.

"Oh...I missed you so much," Regina cried, as tears slipped down her cheeks. She sniffed and then hugged Robin.

"Papa Robin…" she gushed and then she shocked the Evil Queen by hugging her too.

"I missed you too," she said.

"You...you did?" the Queen asked. She nodded and swiped a tear away.

"Of course I did...you're a part of my Nana and I know you won't be happy until you're whole again. Until you're able to be with your family again. Please Nana…" she pleaded. The Queen looked at Regina and she nodded. She then looked at Robin, who nodded too.

"I know you think I only love Regina and not the Queen, but you know it's not true. I fell in love with you when you were still struggling in the darkness. I love all of you...please come back to us," he pleaded, as Hyde stepped forward with the antidote. She nodded and he gave her the injection. Regina's eyes widened, as the Queen was absorbed back into Regina and she smiled brightly. Robin, Summer, Jade and Roland all hugged her tightly.

Snow and David approached Winter and Charming, while Hyde stood by.

"You know the only way to save Bobby is to become one again," David stated.

"We know...and for him, we'll do it," Charming agreed. Snow looked at her counterpart.

"I know you don't think so, but you have both taught us a lot. I won't ignore you anymore or push you away," Snow promised. She nodded.

"Let's save our baby," Winter agreed reluctantly. They knew it might have been harder to convince them if not for the mortal danger to their son, but just as Snow and David would do anything for one of their children, so would Charming and Winter. Hyde moved in at that point and gave each of them an injection. There was a very bright glow, as Winter and Charming were rejoined with Snow and David. The Chalice rejoined as well and floated between them, glowing in all its full glory. Snow and David opened their eyes and grinned brightly at each other, as they closed the distance with a passionate kiss.

"Okay you two...we have work to do," Regina admonished.

"Yeah...and who the hell are they and why is she here?" Leo asked, referring to the Major and the other people with her.

"Long story...we'll explain later. But for now...we need to get into Nephilim," Snow said.

"Which is easy for you two with the Chalice, but not so much for the rest of us," Rumple reminded them.

"I think I may have an idea," David said.

"Daddy…" Eva interrupted him and directed their attention to the screen.

"Holy hell…" Leo uttered, as they saw the return of Mephisto and his minions, along with a new army of freshly created demonic minions.

"He was busy," Rumple said.

"We're going to need our own armies," David said, as he turned to Tiny.

"Tiny...how is our bean supply?" he asked.

"We have dozens, fortunately," the giant replied.

"Good...we need to enchant them with the chalice," he said and Snow smiled.

"That's a really good idea," she said, as they joined hands and stood before the heads of the other Kingdoms.

"We need you all to gather your armies and then use one of these enchanted beans to portal into Nephilim," David instructed, as a bean was given to Lancelot, Phillip, Eric, Mulan, Jasmine, Midas, Elsa, and Glinda. Snow stepped toward Carina and hugged her.

"No word from them?" she asked and she shook her head, as she took the beans.

"No...but we will lead Andresia into battle in our father's place," she said, as the twins stood beside her.

"He would be proud," David said, as he gave a bean to Tinkerbell next.

"Can you gather the fairies?" he asked. She nodded with a smile.

"Consider it done," she agreed, before kissing Neal and leaving the confines of Bald Mountain. David handed out the rest of the beans to their immediate family, including a couple for Leo.

"One to get into the reserve and then one to get to Nephilim," he said. Leo nodded.

"Wait!" Hermes cried suddenly.

"What is it?" Aphrodite asked, as the other Goddess grinned and waved her hand. A hologram of Fandral and Rose appeared before them.

~*~

Rose and Fandral arrived at Thor's residence with Sif that evening and saw that Dr. Selvig was there with a strange looking device and another woman, dressed in a cat-like bodysuit.

"Is this the doctor you mentioned that could help? Dr. Banner?" Rose asked. The redhead smiled in amusement.

"No...my name is Natasha Romanoff. I'm a...colleague of Dr. Banner's I suppose you could say," she said.

"The Black Widow...Thor has mentioned you in his tales he had told us and our children," Fandral recalled. She nodded.

"Dr. Banner is staying sequestered for a while. He's undergone an interesting transformation recently that he's not quite ready to reveal to the world. However, the kind of technology you need wasn't exactly his area of expertise," she explained.

"Fortunately...I'm in contact with all the people that would have what you need," Natasha explained.

"This Mr. Stark you mentioned?" Rose asked.

"He could probably do it, but he's also not making himself available. However, Captain Steve Rogers made the trip to a place called Wakanda and got what we needed from his allies there. The hardware anyway," Eric said.

"Yes...to make the inter dimensional contact part work, we contacted someone with the ability to get access to the frequencies we needed to tune the machine to. Carol Danvers was happy to send me what you need," Natasha said.

"You did this all for us?" Fandral asked in surprise and Thor clapped him on the shoulder.

"You are one of my oldest friends and I am just glad I can help you get back home to your children. Maybe you can save your world in a way I could not," Thor said.

"Are you ready?" Natasha asked. They nodded. Dr. Selvig typed away on the keyboard and the machine whirred to life. The frequency was fuzzy at first and then focused in on a landscape.

"Is this it?" Eric asked and they gasped, as they saw several Kingdoms on fire.

"Yes...that was Snow and David's castle!" Rose exclaimed.

"It would seem that Seth is already destroying Kingdoms," Fandral said.

"Wait...can you focus on that cone shaped mountain in the distance?"! Rose asked, as she pointed to the desolate area around the odd shaped mountain.

"Yes...Bald Mountain seems to still be untouched, which means he hasn't gotten in yet," Fandral said, as the inside of the mountain appeared on the screen.

"Yes...that's it! Everyone is still safe," Rose said, as a smile came to her face.

"The children...they're okay," Fandral said, as they breathed a sigh of relief, as the screen focused on Carina and the twins.

"Hermes!" they called, hoping she would hear them.

"You're alive!" Snow cried in relief.

"We are...thanks to Thor," Fandral replied.

"Mom! Dad!" Carina and the twins cried tearfully.

"We're coming home soon, my loves," Rose promised.

"Fandral...do you think Thor can portal you and Rose directly into Nephilim with the bi-frost, despite Seth's restrictions?" David asked. Fandral looked at his friend and he nodded.

"It should be well within the power of the bi-frost," he said. David smiled.

"Good...standby for my signal," he said, as he and Snow turned to the others.

"Major...this thing is open to the world now. You want our cooperation after this...then you need to help us save your world too," David said, as he handed two beans to her.

"Don't make me regret this," he said.

"It will be a long, awkward road ahead in introducing our worlds to each other, but I am your ally in this," she promised.

"Clayton once told me that too and even helped us for a while. Then we ended up as prisoners. Try it...and we'll use the power of the chalice to its full extent to not only seal the United Realms away again, but make sure we take back everything you've gained from Clayton's stolen items," he promised. She smirked.

"Duly noted and you don't have to believe me, but you're the best detective I've ever worked with. I want you as an asset...not an enemy," she assured.

"We'll see," he replied, as he turned back to his family and noticed Summer with the young paramedic that had examined Bobby after his episode and heard his daughter talking to him.

"This is going to get pretty rough...I understand if you want to stay here," Summer told him. But he shook his head.

"No…I want to help or I wouldn't be here," he assured.

"JJ...this is insane. You need to watch from a distance with me," Nora insisted.

"Stay out of this Nora," he said.

"You want to help?" David asked and the young man looked at Summer's father, not able to find his voice for a moment.

"Uh...yes Sir," he answered.

"Any weapons experience?" he asked.

"I've...I've handled a gun a few times," JJ replied and he looked at his eldest. Emma smirked and waved her hand. He was astonished to see two large guns appear in his hands. They looked like regular guns, but he had a feeling they weren't.

"Bullets won't do you much good on this battlefield. These shoot fireballs instead," Emma said. Summer smiled at her older sister.

"Thanks," JJ replied.

"Is everyone ready?" he called and received affirmations in response, before the heads of state began to portal out to gather their armies and any people that could fight. David took Snow's hand and they shared a tender, passionate kiss.

"We're going to win and we'll save Bobby," he promised. She smiled and nodded.

"I know...I have faith in our love," she agreed, as they used one bean to portal out and gather who they could.

~*~

Dr. Jekyll burned his way into Hyde's lab. The school was mostly empty, which was good, since he wouldn't have hesitated to burn through anyone in his way. He had his orders from Mephisto, but that didn't suit him at all. Fortunately, two years ago, before the curse was enacted, he had been working on a way to keep his new, demonic powers and break the chains of servitude that tied to him to his Master. And he hid it in Hyde's lab where he knew it would neither be found nor disturbed. He ripped the cabinet doors away and searched for the small velvet pouch that he had hidden his concoction in and smirked, as he pulled out the vial of sickly green liquid. He downed the liquid and felt his power flare for a moment, as Mephisto's fiery chains appeared on his wrists and then melted away. He was free and still retained the powers bestowed upon him.

He was no fool though. He knew if he joined the battle that was raging, he would likely be destroyed. Instead, he had a different plan. He had done his research and knew of one place in the United Realms where crime was still rampant and it was easy for the wanted to hide. He would go there and set up his lab. He would bide his time; he was a very patient man, after all. He would plot the perfect revenge and build an empire in this new place. He would continue his research into ways for science to overcome magic and when the time was right...he would have his revenge and take what he wanted.

"Fear not, my lovely Snow...we will meet again one day," he promised. Pleasure Island awaited him.

~*~

Bobby dodged the Titan, as he charged him and blocked his blows. The force of their fists connecting blew them both back and the evil Seth launched a stream of fire at the boy. Bobby countered with a wall of water to wash out his attack and then followed that up with a lightning attack. Seth took a direct hit and seethed angrily, as he used his mind meld. Bobby held his head in agony for several moments, until he managed to summon all his power. His eyes filled with a multicolored glow and he negated Seth's mind attack, stunning him.

"You are formidable…" Seth hissed, as his eyes twitched with double eyelids like that of a serpent and his olive toned skin became scaly.

"Perhaps squeezing the life out of you is the only way to go…" he hissed, as his limbs extended and coiled around Bobby. He gasped, as the wind was knocked out of him and he choked for air.

"Poor child...I will relish your mother's scream when I drop your mangled corpse at her feet, just before I crush her skull and burn your father alive for his betrayal!" Seth hissed.

"Stop thinking…" a voice said.

"Mr. Gold…" he rasped.

"Yes...stop thinking and give into your power. It comes from light. Nothing bad can come from being consumed by it," Rumple instructed.

"Didn't know you were telepathic," Bobby rasped.

"Talking to yourself...the lack of oxygen has already sent you into madness," Seth goaded.

"Magic, my boy...it can do anything, but yours even more than mine. Yours is boundless," Rumple said, as Bobby opened his eyes and they almost blinded Seth. The ground beneath him began to shake violently and Seth's coils were lit ablaze. He retracted his coils and transformed them back into arms, which were now badly burnt and singed. Bobby dropped to the ground and gasped for air.

"That was a very lethal mistake, young one," Seth warned.

"Says the loser," Bobby retorted, as he watched fire sprout up from all the cracks in the ground. Seth smirked.

"My army has arrived…" he said. Bobby gulped, as he watched hundreds of demons appear, including Arthur, Gawain, and Mephisto. To his horror, Seth did not stop there, as the God summoned hundreds of hell furies, gorgons, banshee's from Tartarus itself. The other remaining beings that had resided in Nephilim also joined them. Among them was Fafnir the mighty dragon, several frost giants, the Horned King, and Shan Yu, along with his undead army of Huns.

"You are vastly outnumbered, young one. Not even with all your power can you defeat us alone," Seth hissed, as he used his magic to shove Bobby back and he went rolling to the ground. But the boy refused to give up and pulled himself to his feet.

"Who says he's alone?" a female voice said and his eyes widened, as he looked around.

"Emma?" he called and then heard a sparking behind him. He turned to find an orange portal swirling before him and his oldest sister walked through it in her familiar red leather jacket and armed with their father's old sword.

"If you really thought that whatever barrier you put around this place was going to keep our parents out...then you really haven't got a clue," Emma commented.

"I am not scared of your parents, Savior...nor you. My army and I will crush your family," Seth boasted. Emma smirked.

"We'll see…" she said, as Bobby saw another portal appear in the sky and was stunned to see his brother fly through it on Pegasus with his Phoenix following him. Another portal opened behind Emma, as Eva carried herself and Paul through the portal with her wind powers. She landed next to her little brother and with a burst of magic, she healed him of any wounds with a loving smile. Bobby smiled and got to his feet, as he watched in wonder, as more portals continued to open around them. Through the three in front of them, Killian walked through with Alice and Jade. They were followed by another one, as Regina, Summer, and her new friend JJ arrived. Robin came through another one beside them with Roland and the Merry men and then another opened, as Rumple, Belle, and Gideon arrived. Henry and Jacinda were next through a portal, having left Lucy with Frankie and Joe, who were also caring for Hope. And finally, beside them, James and Aphrodite arrived, along with Hermes.

In the near distance, more large portals opened, as the armies of the United Realms filed through. Lancelot and Guinevere led the warriors from Camelot. Phillip and Aurora led their army. Eric and Ariel appeared next with the Maritime Kingdom's soldiers. The portals that appeared next hailed the armies from Midas' Kingdom with Abigail and Frederick leading the way. Next, Mulan arrived with the army of China, and Aladdin and Jasmine led Agrabah's soldiers through another portal. Tiana and Naveen led Starcomb's army through another portal, while Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff appeared with soldiers from Arendelle.

And finally, Carina, Ben, and Ari led Andresia's army as well.

More portals in the dozens opened in the sky all around them, as all the fairies arrived, surrounding them with their light magic, ready to unleash it on the darkness. Then, probably most surprising of all, the Major came through and arrived with help from the Land Without Magic. She was lending the military might in the form of fighter jets, tanks, and soldiers that were entering a world they didn't even know existed thirty minutes ago.

Bobby looked around in wonder and was surprised to see a beam of light strike the ground beside them. The light faded, revealing Rose and Fandral's return, via the bi-frost.

"So...you're alive…" Seth growled.

"A God much more powerful than you saved us and I assure you that you will pay for what you've done," Fandral promised. Bobby turned and saw a final portal open behind him. Granny and Red, in her wolf form stepped through, followed by all seven dwarves, and finally his parents, hand in hand, dressed in their warrior clothing.

Seth looked around, trying to hide his nervousness, at what he was now facing.

"If your plan really hinged on the fact that you thought we wouldn't reunite with our darker halves to save our son from you...then you are more of a fool than we thought," Snow declared boldly.

"Just for that...I think I'll kill you first Snow White and make your husband watch!" Seth growled, as he tried his mind meld, but was shocked when it didn't work. The Chalice glowed between them, but he was confused. Even at full power, the Chalice shouldn't have protected them from his mind meld.

"How...how are you doing this?!" he demanded to know.

"True love," David replied in a simple manner. Snow smiled at him.

"Truest love," she agreed.

"Oh and a little bonding to our elements," Leo added, as his eyes glowed dark blue. Eva's glowed pink, Summer's glowed lavender, and Emma's glowed white.

"All the magic and power in all the realms failed to defeat you...but true love won't," Snow declared, as the chalice separated into their respective weapons, his sword and her arrow shooting gauntlets.

"Nothing can defeat me...and certainly not something like your pathetic true love," Seth seethed, as he signaled his demonic army. David raised his sword to signal their allies.

"This is the United Realms and it's our home!" he shouted.

"And we will purge you and your demons from it!" Snow added, as both sides charged into a battle that would decide the fate of the United Realms...and the world.

[aching-tummies]

Snowy Days, Aunt Flow, and Sleep

TMI warning. Gonna be talking about Aunt Flow.

Aunt Flow decided to visit today. Great...it's cold, it's snowing, it's slippery and treacherous to walk around outside, I'm at work where I have to stand all day before I slide around outside, trying not to trip or twist something too far. For those unaware, Aunt Flow packs something called "cramps" when she comes--it's like when an actual aunt brings or shares something nobody asked for or wanted--e.g. stories of your snot-nosed, game-stealing, you-blaming, brat of a cousin. The cramps are why I'm also complaining about the snow and cold. Cramps always suck, but when they come on top of the already cramped muscles from shivering all day it's not just painful, it's exhausting. Also, Aunt Flow's effects on one's body, the new pains and cramps everywhere, tend to make walking and moving different. You could move the way you normally do, but you're usually "rewarded" with a sharp pinch to your innards for it. Trying to parkour and "Twister" my way through all the loose snow drifts all over the sidewalks on a normal day is pretty bad and I always run the risk of spraining something. Heck, my entire right side still smarts from when I basically sled down the front steps...without a sled. With the cramps and internal pinching to contend with, trying to navigate the snowy outdoors becomes even more difficult, frustrating, and often painful than an ordinary snowy day.

Luckily, I had the foresight to pack supplies this morning (new bag...haven't put Aunt-Flow supplies into it yet) as well as slipped on some leg-warmers I had lying around. I actually didn't know it was snowing when I put them on--I thought my legs felt chilly before bed last night so I slipped the leg-warmers on on a whim and went to bed. I decided not to remove them before heading to work today 'cuz I wanted to test out whether or not they're the kind that will stay up despite gravity and movement (so far, yes).

I've been dreading Aunt Flow's visit for a long time. I used to be pretty regular and could usually predict what days I'd have to switch to black underwear. Since 3rd year Uni...nope. I was aiming to get into a highly competitive program at the time, so I skived on sleep, a proper diet, etc. I didn't take care of myself and I could tell I was running my body to the ground. Back then the skipped days felt like a triumph against nature--I had warded off the Bloody Monthly Devil and postponed having to do an impromptu set of sheets in the laundry. The triumph was short-lived as I started to live in fear--was it actually going to come? After the academic semesters wrapped up and I had 4 months at home, things started to try to return to normal. Nasty business...it was like trying to pass all of my skipped periods at once. It lasted longer than it should have, the cramps were about five times more intense--basically, everything was dialed up exponentially. Fourth year comes and I realize there's a new "pattern"...not necessarily in dates, 'cuz those were waaay unpredictable. The new pattern was that even if Aunt Flow didn't arrive in all her crimson nightmare-ishness, she'd send her "luggage" with her for about two weeks some random time of the month. All the cramps and digestive issues, and the constant anxiety of whether or not I get to wear my favorite pair of underwear, but barely any of the blood...or it'd be double or triple what it should be as though Aunt Flow decided, "riiight! I couldn't make it out to visit you last month, or four months ago...so...here, I'll just send you EVERYTHING! Oh...whoops...that was the teal pair, wasn't it? Your favorite?"

Back to the present, I guess. I've since graduated post-secondary and it seems my body is trying to right itself. Luckily for me, right before I left for work I thought, "if Aunt Flow comes, it'll probably come today...grab supplies". I've been wrong before, but everyone that deals with an Aunt Flow knows that the second she enters your thoughts, you grab supplies just to ward off the bad thoughts--even if she doesn't come at all.

I'm not sure about anyone else, but for me there are different kinds of periods. There are the "nice" ones where I only cramp a little and can go about my day, there's the ones where I'm nauseous all the time, the ones that decide to make me hungry literally all the time, sometimes the hungry one is coupled with my entire digestive system forgetting that it's supposed to digest/absorb the stuff I eat and it all goes straight through me, the ones that mess with my moods, the ones that mess with my taste-buds, and the ones that make me really lethargic and sleepy. Sometimes it's a combination of a few of these "symptoms"...yeah, it sucks. I kind of wish that being ace and a virgin meant I could opt out of Aunt Flow's visits--dude, I know I'm not pregnant. I haven't boinked anyone, so leave me alone!

Today's visit is shaping up to be a lethargic/sleepy one. I got off of work and had plans to take the bus out to a store further away (a couple of transfers over) to use a limited time coupon to get some item. I went, I got the thing, and headed back on the same routes...which usually means staying awake and being super anxious that I'll miss my stop. The legargic feeling got to me on the ride home and I'm sure I nodded off for a bit. The fact that the sun had set didn't help matters 'cuz it was already hard enough trying to figure out what stop we were at in the dark. Luckily, I managed to get off on the right stop and made it home. I was so tired and had plans to just toss my purchase into a corner of my room and pass out. No dice--family wants to eat dinner together...on top of that they want me to do some of the prep-work (slicing veggies). I get down to business, slicing veggies and praying I don't nod off. I don't need more cuts on my hands, thanks, the ten or so I already have from various activities are plenty.

I prep dinner and hear that they want to hold off on cooking and eating, so I go upstairs, intent on setting up my purchase (it was some organizer for my bathroom) and maybe going online to pass the time until dinner. Before you say "coffee--coffee is your answer", coffee tends to screw with my stomach on a good day...usually in a minor way. When Aunt Flow visits, coffee makes her really angry...and when she's angry she sends more cramps. I had my coffee ready and waiting in a thermos in my bag all day...but when I felt the tell-tale twinges during work that told me "she's here" I realized "great...tired...and coffee is not an option".

I'm pretty sure I ended up napping in and out for about twenty minutes at a time. I dragged myself out of bed to see if family wanted to eat. I was hungry, but I was so exhausted that I actually prepared to tell them "gonna go to bed early--not eating dinner". I actually wanted to just sleep off the lethargy and deal with the hunger pangs after waking up...but no dice on that one. Dinner tonight wasn't anything super enticing to me, but family decided they wanted all of it gone 'cuz there wasn't room in the fridge to put stuff in. I was craving hot tea 'cuz I was really cold (hungry = harder time regulating body heat, I guess), so I made a beeline for the hot water. Luckily for me, family didn't empty the thing boiling greens and there was literally just enough left for me to make one mug of tea. Yay! No 20+ minute wait for the electric kettle to heat up. I refilled the kettle (don't be a douch!) and made my way to dinner, still trying to come up with ways to maybe pawn off my food to my family members or maybe pack it in the fridge for later.

I made the tea and started picking at my dinner. I'm pretty sure I ate enough to ensure nobody would be concerned. I live with male family members so they wouldn't understand the nuances of Aunt Flow and I didn't want them to get concerned--I just wanted to sleep. Throughout the meal, I hoped and prayed that it'd just be lethargy and I wouldn't have to contend with cramps or hurried trips to the bathroom.

It's after dinner now and I'm back in my room. No intense cramps or trips to the bathroom (yet) 'cuz I guess I've lined my stomach with about two and a half mugs of hot tea. My stomach is sloshing and letting out some pretty intense burbles and it's pretty loud. I'm not even manipulating it--it's sloshing around just from my normal breathing. I don't feel stuffed or bloated, but my tummy's pretty full. Just lying here, it feels fine...but when I put a hand on it or press into it even lightly I feel like a full water-balloon

Anyway, all of this sort of inspired a couple of lines for me as fic-inspiration so I wrote out this post in hopes I'll go back to it for more inspiration to write, preferrably after I've gotten my long-awaited sleep.

Fic inspiration: -A knowing B is unwell 'cuz they're not the type to take naps and A just found B asleep in their outdoor clothes, halfway on the bed/couch. Clearly, they didn't intend to fall asleep. A debates whether or not to wake B for dinner, but B makes that decision for them, rousing on their own and grimacing when they realize they must have nodded off. B gets up and goes to dinner, seemingly intent on acting fine...but A knows and is concerned. -A knows B isn't feeling good when B makes a beeline for tea rather than sit down to eat dinner. A knows B's probably either chilly (maybe coming down with a cold), or has some stomach issues considering they're making themselves hot tea. -A knows B isn't feeling well when they see the apprehensive look on B's face at seeing dinner. That knowledge is further confirmed when B picks at their food in the beginning, and seems to be gulping down their tea at an alarming rate--trying to get it down before it cools or so it seems. A's concern-meter fills up and shatters when B finishes their portion of dinner. A suspects B was hungry, but knows from their expressions that they're not well or didn't want to eat for some reason. -A keeps an eye on B, knowing that B doesn't like being fussed over, but they're worried all the same. They ensure there's hot water in the kettle and A does a mental check to ensure they know where the heating packs are...in case B needs it. B's clearly nodding off against their will somewhere right now and A's waiting for when they're half-lucid to grill them about how they're feeling.

I've got an idea of the pairing I wanna write this for...but whether it'll actually happen is another story. I'm full and tired, but each time my tummy rumbles I'm low-key terrified it means I have T-5 seconds to get to the bathroom for one thing or another. Right now, each rumble sounds like a variation of those water-cooler things when they burble to suck in more air as people take water from it. Maybe I overdid it with the tea, but it beats having cramps and having to confine myself to the bathroom for a few hours.

[arnavsinghraizada]

Hi! If it's not too much to ask, could you write me a mini fic on Arshi where they knew each other since they were kids?

Hi!!!! OhhhhhhhHHHHHH you’ve activated one of my kinks™…. the childhood lovers!!!! Love ittttttttttt, all I can do is hope that you love it as well haha 

Also!! The song of this mini fic is Kya Hua Tujhe from Tumko Na Bhool Payenge!

He couldn’t remember a time where she hadn’t been a part of his life. When the snot-nosed brat that would follow him around had weaselled into his heart and never left. For as long as memory served him, Khushi had been present. One of his earliest memories was of staring down at a young version of her in awe that he too had once been that small. In that moment, with her tiny fist closed around his finger, he promised her he’d be her best friend forever.

As far as children went, they were as different as could be, with Arnav preferring books and cunning mischief to her loud movies and innocence. But when she looked at him with those sad eyes and told him she had no one else to watch movies with and, being the fool he was, he always conveniently forgot Payal existed in those moments, he would be roped into some ridiculous film. 

To her credit, she considered him all knowledgeable and unfailing in his understanding of everything in the world. And at 8 years old to a 5 year old, he supposed he was. For a number of years, he was able to get her to agree to his every suggestion solely because he was older and thus must know better. They were a force to be reckoned with, Arnav and Khushi, their parents would say. Arnav thinking of the most underhanded plans and Khushi trusting him so blindly that she’d follow him to the ends of the earth if he asked. 

He still remembered being 16 years old and irrationally furious at Salman Khan for existing when the odious man kept releasing movie after movie and he had to sit through each one multiple times with Khushi half drooling the entire time. 

“But Arnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaav,” she’d whine, clutching at his arm and giving him the look that had gotten her what she wanted throughout their childhood, “Amma and Babuji will only let me go if you go with me!”

The teenage boy inside of him would screech that this could be a date and he would immediately stamp out the thought. You didn’t go on dates with your date’s sister and your own skinny and too tall cousin. 

“Well then I guess you’re not going, are you?” He’d reply smugly, and she’d throw his arm back at him like he’d just gravely insulted her. Arnav would keep his gaze centred on whatever he was doing, knowing that if he looked at her now, she’d pretend to cry and he would melt, fool for her that he was. 

“Fine.” Khushi would sigh, wringing her hands in her dupatta as she stared at the floor. “I guess I won’t go. Why should you care that all the girls at school said they were going to see Tumko Na Bhool Payenge and they’ll laugh at me if I haven’t seen it.”

She was right. Why should he care? He didn’t care. Not at all. 

Then why did he find himself sitting in that damn theatre everytime with Khushi and Payal huddled together crying on one side of him and a gangly 15 year old Aakash on the other side, stealing what he probably thought were sly glances at Payal. Arnav would wonder errantly whether Aakash realized that he was in very real danger of drooling. 

They would leave that theatre with her running out in front of him, singing some stupid love song that would make him uncomfortably aware of his own feelings. God, he hated Bollywood movies. When the comfortable friendship between that had turned into something much deeper, he didn’t know.

Years later, his mother would tell him that it had always been so. That, even as a child, he’d been possessive of her, would want to fight anyone who was mean to her. When she’d fall and hurt herself, he would need a bandaid in the same place. Khushi would claim with the same confidence that he’d been the only one who was unaware of it. That she’d known he’d be hers since the day she learned what marriage was and it was only because of his stupidity that it had taken till her 25th birthday and the threat of her parents finding someone else for her for him to open his mouth. 

Was it his fault that he had spent years pining for her in silence? Maybe, maybe not. But the one thing he knew for certain was that he thanked Khushi’s Devi Maiya everyday for making his mother bump into hers in the market that one day so many years ago. For allowing him the chance to grasp that tiny finger of hers that day, and her hand years later. He’d had no idea just how serious he was himself when he promised himself to her forever that day, but boy was he glad he did. 

[illmaticraj]

So my family today had a small get together of jus immediate family because my dad’s oldest sister came to visit. So one of the people that was invited was this really cool chettan and his kids. His daughter is 8 and really nice and his son is 6 and a tad bit weird. Which is cool, I understand that for a lot of kids that age tends to make them really weird. I understand and get that.

So I’m sitting in the living room jus chilling with my niece and nephews who I haven’t seen in forever. And this kid sits next to me, again I’m cool with this. He prolly jus wants to hang out and get some love as well. That’s cool. But randomly he starts poking me, really fucking hard. And I’m like hey, can you stop? In the nicest, most pleasant way possible. I don’t want to be rude to this kid because I like his dad a whole lot and I don’t want to say anything that would upset him. This kid is like No! I’m going to keep doing this! And now he’s jabbing me in the fucking thigh and again, I’m like yo, don’t do that. I don’t like that. And he’s like I’m going to keep doing this. So I realize this is a fruitless endeavor and do what any rational person would do and excused myself.

I am excusing myself from the issue. I did what any rational person would do. I excused myself from what is currently bothering me which is this small child. So anyway, a few minutes later, I took a seat on the far side living room and this kid got up followed me and kept poking me. I ignored him while I talked with my cousin and eventually he gave up. I’m like yes, finally. But this kid comes back with some random string and starts tying it around my feet. I’m like you know what? I’m not going to get anywhere here, so I’ll jus let him get bored and he’ll give up. And you know what happened? He kept going and going. Then randomly he got up and kept trying to put his hands in my face to make sure I didn’t watch tv. This is a big no-no. I don’t care who you are but please don’t put your hands anywhere near my face. But again, I watched my temper and calmly said “Hey, can you not do that? I don’t like it because it makes me feel uncomfortable”.

Again, I reiterate jus in case people think it’s irrational of me to square up with a small child. I calmly expressed my issue with this child and tried excusing myself from this issue. So a few minutes later he gave up and moved on.

A few minutes later me and my cousin was showing off each other’s new knives when this small child poked me with something really sharp. I look down and he has a damn safety pin in his hands. Now I’m heated, I’m like yo I have a knife in my hand, which is literally meant to rip flesh off bones. I don’t think you’d want to get into a stabbing game with me if you only have a safety pin. He backs up.

Its time for food and I get up go to the kitchen, make myself a plate and I come up and there’s a random ass water bottle on my sofa. I’m like uh whatever, I move it and proceed to eat. I get up to get some more rice and when I come back there’s now 2 water bottles in my seat. And now I’m heated because this dumbass kid literally switched my water bottle with his and he doesn’t know which is his. Now I’m fucking heated. Because I don’t want to share a bottle with this snot nosed brat. And I Fucking HATE throwing out perfectly good water. So I’m like yo, come here right fucking now. Get your bottle and move outta my fucking way. He does jus that. I’m thinking oh alright, this should be the end of it because I used my booming voice on him. I ate and then got up to throw out my plate. I come back and this dumbass kid spilled soda all over my seat. I get down on one knee, I looked him in the eye. And I said to him. Look, I’ve tried being nice with you. I’ve asked you to stop messing with me, but now? I’m angry. So I took my fist and put it up to his face and I calmly said to him “If you do something like this ever again, I’m literally going to punch you in the face so hard your teeth will fall out. Is this what you want?” And he nods no. And I’m like “That’s good then, so you know what to do right?” Again he nods that he understood.

So then this kid had the audacity to walking around pouting because I snapped at him. Like completely oblivious to the fact that he was crossing every single one of my boundaries to the point his sister came over and told him to knock it off.

I don’t understand what it is with little boys that make them think I’m the person they wanna try. I think it’s because I’m a lot larger than your standard chettan and that gets them to think I’m cool with being punched or poked. When in reality it’s one of my biggest issues.

So yeah, I technically threatened a 6 year old.

In other news I almost squared up with a 6 year old today. I don’t regret it.

[awfully-sadistic]

Monday

“So, this is where you work?” Liam “Bonelayer” Johansen whistled lowly; an impressed sound coming from the dark-haired man never came easy.

The past couple of days have been eventful, more than he thought he could handle but things kept on surprising him. First was the word from the main Family house: was it something regarding their roles in the Syndicate? Lord help the rest of the prospects if they weren’t holding up to their jobs and making them look bad. But Liam had one hell of a hard time believing that anything that could have happened between the Clubhouse and the Syndicate could not have been fixed by his husband’s ability to smooth things over. He was the business man, it was why he was President, and he was more than confident that whatever was broken could have been fixed… by Vaughn. So, it was annoying to hear that this wasn’t the case this time. He had to put in an appearance himself considering this was his own Family he was dealing with and Vaughn used reason to convince Liam that it would be best for him to deal with his family himself, that it was stronger to hear from family. It was one hell of a ride to hop on a plane with nothing but his suitcase and a head swirling with bad thoughts about why the hell he had to make this appearance and be torn away from everything and everyone he knew back home. But what turned out to be an annoyance quickly turned into pleasantries—it was like time never lapsed between him and his cousins when he arrived. He got along best with the elder twins, always had, and there was the outrageous rivalry between him and Ripley. Of course, Felina was always the snot-nosed brat she always was and never hesitated on making him forget about the rank she pulled on him.

           The family reunion had been …. alright, at best. It was nothing serious even though he was told it was an emergency. It was just to get him on the plane ride over and apparently Vaughn was in on it. If he would have asked, Liam would have told him to forget it. And the only emergency he might have considered worth coming over was the fact that he heard on Saturday that the Clubhouse would have to be moved across the country in order to participate in this… merging between Families. Saturday night saw that he understood what this merging had meant… though he was not exactly quite clear on everything. Just the bare basics. There was something about an upcoming meeting and all that, but right now, everyone was still in the process of moving from their homes and into what Liam thought would be a home base sometime soon; from what he was told, it wasn’t ready yet and neither was this supposed penthaus. Again, he had no idea what the hell that meant or what was going on except that among the familiar faces of his Frenzy ties, there were also familiar faces from the opposite family too.

           Two faces he did not think he would be seeing as soon as he had. When Cavon and Luvon Dreadful put in their time at the Clubhouse and took their leave citing Family emergencies back home… he expected he wouldn’t have heard back from them until perhaps years later down the road. Though the emergency bit explained a lot now that he understood what they meant. He was in the same boat now too. Was that how they were “got” too? It had been nearly a year or so since he saw the Dreadful twins only to be surprised with their identical smug-looking smirks walking through the door to that strange pizza parlor.

           Oh yeah, he didn’t think he was going to ever forgive Cav and Lu for holding out on what a prize their little sister was and for that matter, everyone at the Clubhouse was also going to feel his wrath. Of course, he didn’t know the extent of who knew what, but he knew that at least Vaughn, Ewan, Mark, and Malachai knew. Those guys for sure were the ones with the need to know clearance for anything big happening with the Clubhouse …and this was big. Perhaps Voyd and the boys at the Parlor Shop too if Gramp’s words were correct—that they’d be joining the Family at New Senzannini as well. That was great news but holy fuck, it was a lot of change in a day as well as trying to swallow the fact that someone really special happened to enter his life right when he thought that everything was as content as could be.

           All of this information he took in overwhelmed Liam to the point where he almost skipped his pills for the past two nights into his visit until Diesel would remind him—each time; a favor from Vaughn, no doubt. And perhaps the fact that Diesel knew everyone’s health and mental conditions. It annoyed him, peeved him, that he’d be reminded but Diesel cited he didn’t want to have to put a rabid dog down especially if they were rabid enough to hurt someone close to him. He didn’t have to wonder who that person was and why it was important that Liam be on his best behavior. But seeing how everyone functioned in this Family…. best behavior was variable, at best. With Ripley running around the grounds and threatening to beat this and that’s face in or running amok with whom he discovered was related to the Dreadful’s, he could see a lot of the Clubhouse come through and knew that it was a home the boys would no doubt fit right in because it was the same in a sense. He had no idea how the fuck the Dreadful’s helped the Frenzy’s lighten up but they did; he’s seeing sides of the Frenzy’s he had never seen before. Diesel actually enjoys taking breaks. Alessio fucking laughs. Ripley’s …well, she was the same. But most importantly, he could see that they weren’t just frigid know-it-alls, annoying smartasses who thought they were above everyone else. It was like the Dreadful’s might have knocked ‘em down a peg, this elitist group, and actually made it function more like a family.

           Cavon and Luvon did the same with the Clubhouse too, Liam could fondly remember. Walked right in and turned that shit upside down making people laugh who didn’t normally laugh. Everyone back home miss ‘em like hell. But Liam could see that they wouldn’t have to wait too long to be reunited with them. And meet some more Dreadful’s in the process. Liam’s grin the moment he realized what a force they’d be with bolstered numbers and if they were Dreadful’s, it’d be even better. He went to sleep on Sunday with that good feeling that carried well into Monday (and the fact that he helped with Dot’s bedtime routine), anxious to tell everyone back home the good news about moving.

Monday was the day he was supposed to be heading back to the Clubhouse but Vaughn skyped that morning as he was packing and they had a conversation whether it would be beneficial that he should try staying there the whole week… just to see if the Clubhouse could really integrate with the Families. Liam saw no problem with that—especially since there was a chance he could spend the day with Dot and ….”get to know her better.” If it really was his job to see how well they would integrate with the rest of the Family, Dot Dreadful would be the best bet… or at least, no one was going to tell Liam otherwise from what he stubbornly already believed. But who was he kidding? There was something about her that was pulling his attention to her in a dangerous way. He was constantly staring at her, it was reminiscent of the way he and Vaughn first met. And he certainly ignored Vaughn’s wide grin as he voiced his thoughts.

           “Aw, shut up! And make sure no one’s slackin’ over there!” he had told his husband before ending the call by slamming his laptop’s lid down. He could hear Vaughn’s laughter cut off but couldn’t help but smirk himself.

           It was his cousins who actually helped set up the day for him. He was going to stay by Dot’s side today, helping her with her work. He didn’t know what the hell went on in a Mortuary but that was why Dot was going to teach him. It was where he was now; it wasn’t quite early but it was early enough that Dot looked like she didn’t want to greet a single customer today. She had her coffee in a monochrome-spider theme thermos in one hand and was jamming her intricately detailed Mortuary key in a keyhole with the other. When she finally got the door unlocked, she kicked it open wide enough for both her and Liam to step inside. Tod was already minding the connected shop and she could hear some music faintly playing which was no doubt coming from one of his playlists.

           “Hey Toddles!” She called from Mortuary, standing at the front desk to drop off her purse and put down her coffee. She heard Tod reply and turned to Liam… without realizing he was shadowing her today. While she was acutely aware of his presence… because she felt his gaze never leave her… it messed with her concentration. Being too overly conscious of oneself does account for slip-ups and she felt so preoccupied with NOT messing up in front of him, that she kind of spaced that he was going to be helping her thus… she kind of forgot how close he had been standing. He was gazing around the Mortuary and made that comment, feeling the praise in his voice. He really did sound impressed and it made her all the more flustered. She nodded and watched him drink from his own coffee cup, eyes intently boring into hers. She turned her head and cleared her throat, hand absently reaching for her own cup… just to do something.

           “What do I need to do?” he asked. It wasn’t like he was trying to make things hard for her. It was more along the lines he was oblivious towards how he was making her feel. He was only human, after all, with a touch of psychic abilities that allowed him to mask his emotions and thoughts from prying eyes—and that was solely because of Ripley. He had not accounted or still did not realize that the Dreadful’s were “special” in their own way. If he was keeping himself guarded, it was only because he was used to doing it and Dot was having a hard time trying to read him, herself.

           “Nothing too strenuous!” she chirped, trying to brush off the fact that he made her nervous as all hell. But the lie was in the way her fingers trembled as they wrapped around the cool exterior of her thermos, and the way her eyes darted to avoid looking at him when she took a sip. It was a welcomed warm rush that filled her as she drank her coffee that it relaxed her shoulders and fill her with the confidence to take on the day. Or at least, try.

           “I’m actually meeting with clients today…” she muttered, suddenly remembering her booked schedule. It was perhaps bad planning and she had done it without really giving it much thought until she counted that she’d be seeing people all day, flipping through her calendar with a heavy sigh. She hadn’t been in the mood to take new clients all month and pushed all of those waiting people into this cursed day. ”I need a secretary…”

           “I know a good secretary… except he hates it when I call him that,” Liam chuckled.

           Dot looked up with a smile; her cheeks were tinted just the faintest color of red though she couldn’t understand why she was feeling so shy around him. It almost held her back from speaking but she stuttered her way through, “…I-Is it Malachai?”

           “If you remember that much about him, then I’ve been talking about him way too much.” Liam chuckled deeply, slightly teasing her.

           “W-Well, I would like to hear about everyone you work with.” She confessed, unable to help steer that curiosity away. She had been hearing stories for the past two days about whom her older brothers had been hanging around with during that strange in-between time when family was not quite family yet. She also heard a few stories from Felina when she had worked up the courage to ask about them. She had quickly learned that the Frenzy’s keep a detailed profiling system in their database computer—thanks to Gia’s design—that houses all of the people that work for them. That includes Family members and Family member’s businesses. She’s in the database too! Felina had pulled up her profile and showed it to her numerous times… especially since Family members (with the right clearance) can go in there and update information. Dot has had to ask Felina to erase comments about her all the time… mainly because her heart cannot handle what the Frenzy’s think of her. So, it was also easy enough to ask Felina to pull up profiles on people that seem to catch her eye… and nearly everyone has. She knew who the Rock and Rollers were but not enough about the business across from them. Felina was telling her that Vaughn (Liam’s husband, she made doubly sure to remember who that was) was sending the Rockers’ applications over for her to input into their database and had not gotten around to asking the Parlor for theirs…. Whatever that meant. She knew who the more influential members were by name and picture but not what they did or anything about their personalities. Felina finally gave up and allowed Dot to log into the Syndicate’s system with her login information whenever she wanted just to get acquainted with the Rockers from afar. While she learned a lot on paper, she still wanted more. And Liam was there now—but whew, buddy. It was one thing to be staring at a piece of paper with his date of birth and given name than staring at him face to face… his picture did not do him justice and his presence was incredibly scary. And to think, she hadn’t seen him “serious” yet.

           “That’ll take a long damn time,” Liam told her, looking deep in thought for a moment. “There are a lot of guys back home. I think it’ll be better for ‘em to come over and you can meet them yourself.”

           Well, Dot was not counting on doing that… well, she was but not… alone. As much as the Fatheads tease her like a little sister, they were still useful for some things. If Cavon and Luvon happened to go to the Clubhouse and stuff… well, she could just follow and if they say anything about it, she can tell them that Liam said it was okay.

           “I will definitely take you up on that,” she said which surprised her because she sounded a lot more confident than how she was feeling. Liam didn’t notice however, just seemed pleased that she wanted to visit and get to know them.

           “So when is your first appointment?”

           “Any minute now,” Dot groaned and placed a hand over her eyes because she was brought back into reality so fast, the room started to spin. Liam chuckled and she moved her hand to glance up at him.

           “Did ya want me to help with that, in any way?”

           Dot had the image of Liam sitting in all his leathers and that scary, intimidating and grouchy face of his behind the desk, staring a someone who had lost someone dear and was trying to put them to rest. She suddenly laughed.

           “Yeah, why not? Let’s see what happens.” She grinned because at the end of the day, she was still the boss. And she’d be able to kick someone out if they didn’t like the way that Liam provided service. Liam seemed reared up for it as well, looking a little too eager for what they did at the Mortuary.

           “Great. I offer great fuckin’ service with this killer smile,” he said, gesturing at his cheesy looking grin that didn’t quite look right on that scary looking face of his. But Dot thought it was entirely adorable, endearing really, and she giggled.

           “I’ll be sitting with you so you know what to do,” she told him while leading them into her office. Liam whistled again, impressed with how professional everything looked. Back home, the Clubhouse was the most casual fucking place… but then again, it was a fucking bar with a smelly fart shed in the backyard property. Dot had a ornately decorated but serious looking high-backed chair with the deepest of purple that matched the rest of her interior. It felt warm for being such a cold and scary place… to normies anyway. While Liam didn’t notice any of this, what he did notice was that Dot was serious business. Just as serious as he was with their business. He was just glad he wasn’t all greased up from working at the Chop Shop to sully her place. The chair he had noticed before, she was scooting it over and pulling a spare one out of the closet. When Liam looked confused, Dot smiled bashfully and explained.

           “Um, a lot of the Frenzy’s accompany me to work sometimes. So, I figured it would be best to get another chair so they can sit with me whenever we work together. Mainly for um, Celeste or Felina…” Dot trailed off because she didn’t want to admit that the other Frenzy’s made her sit in their laps. While that might not have been a problem usually, she saw that a lot of people that come in for appointments find it weird when she was sitting on someone’s lap… trying to talk to them about arrangements. Especially when some of those Frenzy’s look as intimidating as Alessio and don’t talk at all.

           Liam only nodded and when Dot sat down, Liam followed. He twisted around in his seat for a bit before stating, “These are the most comfortable seats I ever laid my ass on.”

           Dot laughed immediately.

           “Alright, I think I’m ready, lil sis. …That’s alright to call ya, right? Diesel said I should start off small as to not make you uncomfortable or some shit like that.”

           Dot tried her best not to grow too red in the face, rubbing her cheeks as she turned her face, pretending to get something out of her purse. “Y-Yeah! That’s perfectly fine!”

           “And you get to call me Big Brother, right?”

           Dot paused in “rummaging” only because she hadn’t expected him to realize that… unless he was told.

           “Diesel said.”

           …And so he had been told.

           “Um…yes.” Dot laughed nervously, “B-Big Brother.”

           “I think I like the sound of that.”

           Dot nodded, too red in the face now to pull herself away from her purse. At least, until she felt the heat gradually fade from her face, she revealed her calendar and placed it down. As she had thought, the next appointment was scheduled as soon as she had opened the doors to the Mortuary. Why the fuck did she schedule it this early? She must not have been paying attention…or she had been preoccupied because there was no way she would have done this to herself. Liam was already gaze down, following her little finger as she was reading.

           “So, what do I do? Just ask them what the fuck they want?”

           “Basically,” Dot laughed.

           “But be more business-like, right?”

           Dot nodded.

           “Okay, this should be a piece of cake. Chai tells us all the time to be on our best behavior so it’ll be somethin’ like that. What should I ask ‘em first?”

           Dot listened fondly as Liam spoke, smiling as he referred back to his brothers at the Clubhouse. It was a good thing her memory was like a vault; she could place a face to Malachai’s name and felt her tummy flip at whenever he was mentioned. But to answer Liam’s question, she began to coach him on how to greet the clients and more or less, deal with them.

           “And I’ll be right here, too! To help you out and take care of anything that goes wrong… not that I think it will go wrong! You caught on quick when we role played a little while ago,” she chirped, smiling with encouragement that Liam never really seen from anyone else but Vaughn before. As she spoke, he was staring and thinking; it didn’t take looks alone for Liam to be attached to Dot as he wasn’t attracted to women but the first thing he did notice was that she had something that made him stop and stare… to get to notice her, and that was when he took in her looks. Yet that was only the beginning. When he first entered that pizza parlor and stepped into that dumb little trap Felina had laid out for him, he never once in his life imagined it would have changed his life. Sure, Dot was attractive but what he really liked was her warmth and he got to experience what kind of person she was in just two days; was that crazy? Was that too fast? It might have been for some people but Liam lived a rough and fast life. He knew that it was a warmth like Vaughn’s and a sweet and caring personality that could rival Mother Teresa that made him pay attention to Dot; it was still too early to tell whether those emotions were something other than interest or lust, but Liam was a sucker for that Mama Bear mentality… hell, it was what Vaughn embodied sometimes. And it was like that, he was hooked to who was known as Dot Dreadful.

           Vaughn would be right, as always, that it would take a while to get to know whether the Clubhouse could merge seamlessly with the rest of the Family. Between the two families, at that. But he wondered if the real reason was so that Liam could get used to the idea of falling in love with someone that wasn’t another male… that wasn’t his husband. Love might have been too strong of a word for just two days but… there was definitely interest there and it was growing. Little sister did seem like a good place to start… but Liam would only realize that later on, it just wouldn’t be enough anymore.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

How I think P3D should go down pt 5.

(previous/part 4) Oh man, ok again trying to get this covered before the 26th. @.@ I’ll go into more detail on a lot of things in the Q and A (and will answer questions if anyone has any).

We last left off with the SOs finding out about Ni’s life, and are shaken to put it lightly. They begin to worry how this girl is connected these events. Aigis states that something about that girl feels familiar, and considering her track record with that feeling….. It did not bestow confidence. They decide the only way they know is to keep moving forward. So they head into the 3rd dungeon/tower, the clock tower.

Throughout the dungeon we hear Ni’s voice talking about how she doesn’t understand why everyone calls her “perfect” and “a genius.” All her accomplishments were all attained through hard work, not because of natural born talent. She muses about how maybe it’s because the stuff she works hard in she always comes in first place, and maybe people would like her if she just held back. She claims holding back now would just cause people to smirk and sneer as it would seem that she actually messed up, and people are always looking for a reason to tear someone down even over the smallest mistakes. But most of all, she’s afraid of what will happen to her if she doesn’t get first, however irrational it may seem now.

When they get to the end they are greeted with a scene of a middle aged couple arguing with a girl whose age was somewhere between 7 to 10.

Older man: *slams something onto the table* WHAT IS THIS?! Younger Ni: I-it’s my recent test score….. OM: YEAH, AND WHAT DOES IT SAY? Ni: 9…8…. OM: *slams first on the table* WHAT KIND OF RESULTS ARE THESE?! Ni: B-bu-but Uncle! I got number one in the class, isn’t that enou-? OM: NO IT ISN’T! YOU HAVE TO BE PERFECT! Can’t you understand a simple concept?! You won’t get anywhere in this world with an attitude like this! The world isn’t going to hold your hand, you’re going to have to bust your ass or else people are going to walk over you! Older Woman: Honestly, first you almost lose in that dance competition and now this? OM: WHAT?! NOW YOU’RE GOING TO WASTE OUR TIME AND MONEY AND NOT EVEN PREFORM WELL? Ni: But I still got first place! OM: *slams Ni’s head against the table* And now the little shit has the audacity to backtalk. OW: Honestly. Yes you got first place, but that other girl almost took it away from you. Well we can’t have that close call happen again. That’s it, you’re just going to have to practice till your feet bleed every night. There’s another competition coming up and it has a nice pile of prize money for first place….So you better not screw it up. OM: And don’t you slack off on your studies. We didn’t take a snot nose brat like you in just so you can be a deadbeat! We need results, results to show that you aren’t s worthless as everyone says you are! YOU GOT THAT?! Ni: Y-yes…..

With that the vision ends (ok not the best dialogue but I think it got the point across. 8U) Everyone, again, is horrified by what they’ve just seen. They contact Rise to relay what they found, and ask if they found anything about Ni’s home life. Rise says that Ni was taken in by a relative, but sometime around when she was 12 they were deemed unsuitable and she later moved in with another realative in the city (and where she would stay throughout middle school and high school before getting her own place). She said they are still talking to her guardians to see if they can get more personal information on Ni.

 They move onto the next tower, Tartarus. The voice overs in this dungeon have Ni musing about where it all went wrong, and concluding it was because her parents had died. Aigis’ fears begin to grow as she hears Ni’s words. When they get to the end they vision they are treated with is one of the Moonlight bridge. Two cars are burning, two inhuman beings fighting, two children stand and watch in horror as they hear their parents burn besides them. The vision is fragmented and skip-y, and while the beings that are Aigis and Death clash, it brings them closer to the female child. Aigis flings Death towards the girl (she wasn’t aiming for her tho), but the vision cuts off right before the impact.

 Aigis states it was as she feared., and everyone asks why she never mentioned another child on the bridge. Aigis states that her memory of that fight is still broken, she only remembers the beginning of the fight with Death and sealing it inside the male MC. They deduce this is why she freaked out so badly when she saw Aigis.

 Just then they get a call from Rise, Naoto and Yu. They ask if they’ve found Ni yet, when they tell them no they are told they need to hurry. After talking with the relatives she had stayed with, they admitted that she had attempted suicide multiple times but they always failed. They were always done in a private manner and she’d always recover after them quickly so no one but the family knew. Naoto deduces that maybe somewhere in her heart, she summoned this place so that she could die. Junpei states that all this seems a little extreme, maybe she just botched them (I should note he’s also VERY AGAINST Ni’s suicide attempts, he’s just baffled that a possible god might have shown up just to deliver on this one thing). Naoto states that no, something about her suicides seem wrong. They were all carefully planned and should’ve worked but she always came out unscathed. This includes stealing her stealing her police officer cousin’s gun and attempting to shoot herself, problem was that each and every single bullet resulted in a dud. She states that there must be something intervening and she doesn’t know what, but it could be really dangerous. She tells the SOs to be careful.

 The SOs exit Tartarus and find one last area. It’s an ice-y tower. Fuuka states that it’s different, she feels like someone is in there. Everyone then heads off towards the ice tower.

End part 5

 (sorry if this is too poorly written for some people’s tastes…. I can’t do all the dialogue so it’s a lot better in my head I swear. 8U Now the next part will feature pretty much all of the end game stuff so yeah…ONE MORE TO GO ;W;)

 Part 6