#fun fact: she plans to start a maid dresses collection

[myrmyrtheorca]

Myeeeeell! Hi, hi~!! I hope you're doing well, dear! I'll ask about my personal favourite: Lidija. "What would your character wear if they were told they had to gussy up?", "Would your character prefer something bought or made personally?" and "What type of environment does your character like best?"

Hello Momo 🩵🩵 boredom at work strikes again so it's time to be productive and keep answering questions~

Putting this under the read more jail because Lidija has a lot to say about dresses LMAO

- What would [Lidija] wear if they were told they had to gussy up: ok disclaimer, I've never heard of this expression before so I had to look it up, hopefully I understood the assignment here and answered correctly if not please feel free to tell me if I missed the mark 🙏 if there are any subtle meanings to the phrase I'm pretty sure I didn't catch them lel

After freaking out from the excitement of being invited to some event where she can dress up and taking approximately one week (in the best case scenario) to choose what to wear, our little princess will be up and running ready to blind you with her sparks! This sounds like PR and it is, this is a Lidija-sponsored post here we celebrate the marshmallow

Her favourite choices include long dresses, because she feels really uncomfortable when her legs are showing, even if it's just the ankles. The puffier/larger/more full the skirt is, the better: anything too tight will show her silhouette and hinder her when it's time to ✨dance✨ (she's convinced it's an established part of every social gathering) So no cocktail or sheath dresses, and mermaid ones only when she's super confident about it.

She has much less problems with showing her shoulders and arms, though, and this makes her a big fan of strapless dresses! I'd say her perfect fit would be a strapless top with a gown-like lower half, and an empire or basque-style waistline.

You'll probably notice I've only talked about dresses, and that's because it's her favourite thing to wear. Long palazzo pants are the most daring piece of clothing she'll wear. She's a big fan of blouses knot right under the bust though! So if it's a more informal type of gathering, she'll probably attend with one of those and a long high-waist skirt.

As for shoes and accessories, high-heel boots are her go-to for anything. In general the higher the heels are, the better. She likes to style her hair a lot and has scrunchies/pins/circlets for every occasion. She must stand out, she's royalty!

Favourite colours: pastels, shades of red, ABSOLUTELY NOT PURPLE.

Favourite patterns: polka dots, Scottish,plain with sparkles/small shiny decors, lace.

- What type of environment does [Lidija] like best: the bustling streets of a big city! Much like Myr, Lidija likes places full of stimuli (and shops). She's very extroverted and feels at ease in the crowd. Bonus points if it's one of those picturesque villages aimed at tourists like Cortina d'Ampezzo.

- Would [Lidija] prefer something bought or made personally: if you make something for her with your own hands she'll find that very sweet and thank you profusely.

Having said that, if you bring her to one of those fancy malls and there's a Celine or Yves Saint Laurent boutique... she'll find that VERY sweet and will thank you PROFUSELY.

May the lord himself financially help whoever she ends up with.

Ok memes aside, she really values it when someone takes the time to make stuff for her, because it doesn't really happen often. But if given money, she's a menace and spends it in the blink of an eye, so letting her indulge in her shopping habits by giving her a hand would also make her super happy.

[whatstruthgottodowithit]

The Girl of My Best Friend

Fandom: Harry Potter

Pairing: Sirius Black x Female Reader, Remus Lupin x Female Reader

Characters: Sirius Black, Female Reader, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Lily Evans

Word Count: 2993 // Rating: Teen & Up

Summary: How long can I pretend, Oh I can't help it, I'm in love with the girl of my best friend

Tags/ Warnings: My Writing, Halloween Challenge, Writing Challenge, Songfics, Fluff, Angst, Halloween, Halloween at Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Marauders Era, Established Relationship, Longing, Jealousy, Flirting, Hugging, Costume Party, Costumes, Love, Song Fic, Lyrics, The Girl of My Best Friend // Elvis Presley

Notes:  This is part of my writing Challenge for Halloween 2022. All fics are based off of songs I love. The aim is to write one fic a day for 15 days straight. I’m doing a similar thing for Christmas but they will all be headcanons [requests welcome for that] Enjoy x  

Updated 8/23

15 DAYS OF SONGFICS FOR HALLOWEEN (OCT 15TH - OCT 31ST)

'What about you Sirius?’ Y/N said as she shovelled cornflakes into her mouth. They were at breakfast but Sirius hadn’t felt like eating much, in fact, he’d been lost in his own thoughts. As he looked at her she stopped eating and raised her eyebrows expectantly. ‘Me what?’ he asked as he hadn’t listened to the conversation. ‘Your costume,’ she said rolling her eyes. ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘I don’t know…I hadn’t really planned on anything. Halloween’s not really my thing.’ ‘Oh don’t be so boring,’ she giggled, ‘we’re all dressing up.’ ‘Yeah mate it’s gonna be fun,’ James said.

‘And what are you going as Prongs?’ Sirius said cockily. ‘Robin Hood,’ James said unabashed, throwing his arm around Lily beside him. ‘And I’m Maid Marion,’ Lily said with a smile making Sirius’ stomach churn. He usually didn’t mind how nauseatingly cute the pair were, but today it was getting to him. ‘Oh yeah, and what’s Pete going as Friar Tuck?’ Sirius chuckled earning a scowl from Peter, ‘actually, I’m going as a pirate.’ ‘So Smee then,’ Sirius chuckled. ‘At least he’s got a costume,’ Y/N said, ‘he’s not pretending he’s too cool to wear one.’ ‘Oh yeah?’ Sirius said leaning across the table. ‘Yeah,’ she said leaning in too. They were still a fair way from each other but Sirius could smell the scent of her perfume in his nostrils which made his stomach do a little flutter. As she looked at him challengingly he could feel his heart beat a little bit quicker. He liked that she went toe to toe with him, apart from the boys no one seemed to get him quite as she did and if he was being honest with himself he liked it. More than he should.

‘And what are you going as princess?’ he said. He didn’t know why he had to add that little nickname on. It was dripping in sarcasm and completely unneeded but he couldn't help himself. ‘I’m going as Red Riding Hood,’ she said unbothered by his teasing. ‘You mean you’re just gonna stick on a red cape and be done with it? Very imaginative,’ he said rolling his eyes. ‘Well, I’m sure my costume will never be as good as yours.’ ‘I’m sure I could knock something up that’ll blow you all out of the water.’ ‘Good! Glad to see you’re putting the effort in,’ she said rising from the table, ‘come on Lil we’re gonna be late for Care of Magical Creatures.’

And with that, she climbed out of her seat and started collecting her book bag. Sirius cursed inwardly. Not only had she had the last word but she had tricked him into participating. Though he supposed she did have a point. He could hardly call anyone for not having a good costume, not when he wasn’t even bothering but the ease with which she could talk him round scared him.

‘Bye boys,’ she said winking at Sirius as she turned to walk away. Lily was now in step with her after spending minutes kissing James goodbye and Sirius watched as she walked down the gap between the house tables. Sirius sighed. ‘So, what are you gonna dress up as?’ James said not noticing the longing look which Sirius was trying to hide. ‘I don’t even know,’ Sirius grumbled. Time to put his thinking cap on.

✵✵✵

When Sirius came downstairs into the common room that night it was abuzz. People were crammed in though most of the furniture had been moved out of the way to create a ‘dance floor’. Music blared loudly out of a record player that didn’t seem to have it in it to be making such a racquet that Sirius figured one of the older years had hoodwinked it. As his eyes roved through the crowd looking for his friends he took in everyone’s costumes. They were not allowed to wear their costumes to the Halloween Feast which meant the time they spent in them was minimal which seemed like a waste of time to Sirius but that hadn’t stopped people from going all out. Of course there were a couple of basic costumes like a skeleton or devil. But as he moved through the crowd he noticed lots of people had really put in an effort including a fourth year that had charmed a halo to hover over her head.

Sirius made his way towards the chairs at the back of the common room where he had spotted a familiar flame of red hair. When he broke through the crowd he found Lily sitting on the arm of a chair that James was sitting in. She was in a long flowing pink gown with a small matching headpiece around her head and James was dressed all in green, a hat placed on his head though his hair still poked out in all directions from underneath it. Standing by the fireplace was Peter. He was dressed as promised in a pirate costume though it was less effort than the others as his costume consisted of a striped shirt and an eye patch. And then perched on the coffee table was Y/N. Sirius’ breath caught in his throat a little as he took her in.

Her costume was not simply a red cape. A dark red velvet cape flowed behind her and her dress clung to her skimpily. A corset bunched her in so much that Sirius had to make a conscious effort not to stare at her cleavage which was much more noticeable now that she was out of her school uniform. The black corset fell into a short skirt that rested against her mid-thigh, again making Sirius avert his gaze. She spotted him on the fringes of the crowd and broke into a big grin.

‘Here’s Mr I Won’t Dress Up now,’ she said with a giggle as he moved into the group properly. ‘Hey I’m wearing one aren’t I?’ he said though he had to try not to smile. ‘And what exactly are you?’ Lily said running her eyes over his attire. Sirius spun around showing his outfit off. ‘I’m a vampire,’ he said. ‘They just look like wizards' robes,’ Peter said snarkily, evidently not having gotten over the little Friar Tuck jibe from earlier. ‘Ah yes,’ Sirius said walking over and patting Peter on the shoulder, ‘but the beauty of this my dear friend is that anyone could be a vampire. So how do you know what I’m wearing isn’t incredibly accurate?’ ‘Seems like a cop-out to me,’ Peter shrugged. ‘Well I like it,’ Y/N said tugging on Sirius’ other arm so he could come and sit beside her. He plopped down next to her, smiling back at her as she grinned widely at him, his heart thudding against his ribcage.  

The gang ribbed on Sirius’ costume for a little while longer but he didn’t pay much attention to it. Y/N liked his costume and that was all that mattered. He participated in the conversation a little but most of his time was spent watching her. He listened to her laughing and joking along with his friends, her voice sounding angelic to his ears. He kept having to remind himself not to stare at her lips too much as she talked. He revelled in the heat that was exchanged between them as her bare thigh touched his clothed one. And he had to stop himself from getting swept up in the moment when she leaned across him reaching for her glass, her hand on his knee for just a second.

Then the music started to change. Some people had left meaning that there was more room on the dance floor and whoever was in charge of the music decided to play a slow song.

‘I love this one! Dance with me?’ Lily said jumping up off James’ lap. She held her hand out for James who grumbled a little but allowed himself to be pulled out of the armchair and led to the makeshift dance floor which was holding around ten or so couples. ‘I love this one too,’ Y/N said quietly as she watched her friends start to dance to the music. ‘I’m sure Pete will dance with you,’ Sirius joked though he didn’t know why. If she did dance with Peter he was sure that that would put him in an awful mood. ‘Actually,’ Peter said looking across the room, ‘I think I’ve just got a better offer.’

Peter strode off across the room to where a girl from the year below was watching him. She was standing amongst her friends who burst into fits of giggles when he appeared though she didn’t seem to care as a minute later they were walking hand in hand towards the other couples. Y/N had been watching them intently but Sirius wasn’t. He was watching her. Watching the way her lips had turned down in a small frown and the way her brow furrowed with sadness. When she turned back to him he smiled at her weakly.

‘Who’d have thought Pete would tap up before you?’ she smiled. ‘He’s a sly dog our Pete,’ Sirius chuckled. ‘Yeah, there goes my shot I guess,’ she said looking up at him shyly, ‘unless…’ ‘Unless?’ he said. ‘Never mind it’s stupid,’ she said visibly shaking the thought from her brain. ‘Unless we dance?’ he finished. She flushed at the suggestion which made that strange feeling arise in Sirius’ lower belly. ‘You don’t have to,’ she said. ‘I want to,’ he said standing up. She bit her lip looking between him and the dancefloor before she nodded. The two of them walked to the outskirts of where everyone was dancing. Sirius’ arms went instinctively to her waist as hers wrapped around his neck. It may have been his first time doing anything with her but that didn't mean he was a novice. They swayed to the music, moving their feet slowly as they sort of rotated on the spot. Sirius looked at James and Lily. He was holding her waist with one hand and his other was holding hers, resting against his chest next to her head. She was tucked gently under his chin and his eyes were closed as they danced lost in the moment. Sirius wanted to do the same with his dance partner.

‘Thanks,’ she said watching him closely. ‘No problem,’ he shrugged but she looked at him with a serious expression. ‘What?’ he asked after a moment. ‘You’re sweet you know that?’ she said. ‘Yeah sweeter than Honeydukes I am,’ he said rolling his eyes. ‘I mean it,’ she said dropping her gaze for a moment before she continued, ‘I mean you didn’t have to dance with me…and you didn’t have to wear a costume but you did.’ ‘It wasn’t as if it was any big hassle,’ he mumbled. Their relationship up to now had always been a back-and-forth of witty banter, and her being so genuine with him was making him nervous. ‘Well it cheered me up anyway,’ she said Sirius wanted to ask her what was the matter but she spoke before he could, ‘can I ask you something?’ ‘Go on,’ he said. ‘Why a vampire?’

Sirius went to say something witty but he paused as he thought about his reasons for the costume. Sure it had been a last-minute thing. Something he could have just thrown together but it wasn’t his first thought and with her being so real with him he didn’t want to laugh it off so he told her the truth.

‘It wasn’t meant to be a vampire,’ he said honestly. ‘Oh?’ ‘Yeah,’ he said nervously, ‘at first I was going to come as…a death eater.’ ‘Sirius,’ she gasped. ‘I know, I know,’ he said, ‘but before you scold me I don’t mean the out-and-out lunatics they’ve got at the minute. The stupid masks and whatnot. I mean like they were at the beginning. These robes were bought for me by my mother. If it were up to her I’d only wear the finest robes that money can buy. Because wearing muggle clothing is so shameful.’

There was a bitterness to his voice that made Y/N’s face scrunch up in concern but the scoff at the end told her he was ashamed.

‘I was going to pretend to be just like them. Act all snooty and stuck up,’ he sneered, ‘like a good pure blood. Like someone from the Noble House of Black should…but the more I thought about it the more I realised as funny as it is it’s not really a costume. Yeah, they’re ridiculous but it's not funny. They’re terrible people. Why should I make fun of them when everything they stand for is everything I’m against,’ he said. Y/N nodded as the pair fell silent for a moment. It felt odd but nice to get all that off of his chest. He knew she wouldn’t judge him.

‘Well I’m glad you went with vampire,’ she said after a moment, ‘they don’t deserve someone like you even pretending to be like them.’ ‘I’m sure my mother wishes I actually were like them,’ he said. ‘Well she’s wrong,’ Y/N said, ‘you’re worth more than all of them put together.’ ‘Y/N,’ he mumbled blushing a little at the compliment. ‘I mean it,’ she said stopping them from swaying. He looked at her watching him with a sympathetic gaze, ‘Sirius Black you are one of the funniest, nicest, most charming people I’ve ever met.’ ‘Thanks,’ Sirius mumbled. His heartbeat was in his ears and his hands had become sweaty as she spoke but he didn’t care. He was going to tell her. He was going to tell her he thought all those things about her and more. Let her know that he liked her but she spoke first, ‘Remus!’

Sirius watched as she let go of him, moving past him to where Remus was coming in through the portrait hole. His was paler than normal a fresh gash poking out near his neck under his jumper. Sirius watched as he threw his arms around Y/N in a somewhat tired fashion and she leaned up and kissed him. Sirius's stomach dropped.

They walked towards him and he considered running out of the room trying to get away from the feelings in the pit of his stomach but his legs weren’t cooperating. Y/N was chattering away to Remus who seemed tired but nevertheless smiled as she talked, his arm around her shoulders.

‘Hey mate,’ Remus said. Sirius watched as Y/N leaned into him. ‘Hey,’ Sirius said as evenly as he could muster, ‘you alright?’ ‘Little worse for wear but nothing too bad,’ Remus shrugged. His change was always hellish but he never complained. ‘I can’t believe you made it,’ Y/N said looking up at her boyfriend with a smile. ‘I promised you didn’t I?’ Remus said. ‘I know I know,’ she said, ‘but you didn’t have to force yourself out of bed.’ ‘And have our couple's costume fall flat? Not a chance,' Remus chuckled pressing a kiss to her temple. ‘Couples costume?’ Sirius said looking at them both. ‘Yeah,’ Y/N said, ‘I’m little red riding hood.’ ‘And I’m the big bad wolf,’ Remus chuckled. Sirius forced a laugh but his heart wasn’t really in it. Of course. Of course, they had a couple's costume. Of course, she’d been upset because her boyfriend couldn't come. He’d cheered her up but only because the one person she wanted to see wasn’t available. Sirius cursed himself inwardly. How could he be so blind?

‘What are you supposed to be?’ Remus said eyeing his costume. ‘A vampire,’ Sirius said. ‘Think of it last minute eh?’ Remus chuckled. ‘I think it’s a good costume,’ Y/N said looking at Remus and then at Sirius with a knowing smile. ‘Well I suppose I just came as myself so I can’t argue with that,’ Remus said, ‘so what’s everyone up to?’ ‘Dancing,’ Y/N said, ‘Sirius-’ ‘Was just going to get a drink? Want one?’ Sirius said. Y/N looked at him curiously but didn’t say anything. ‘In a bit,’ Remus said as he looked down at Y/N,  ‘wanna dance? ‘Of course,’ she said, ‘but not if you’re too tired we can sit down with Sirius and-’ ‘Actually, I’ve got other plans,’ Sirius said looking at a pretty blonde who was just leaving through the portrait hole. Before either of them could say anything he pushed past the pair and headed out through the portrait hole.

But once outside he didn't follow the girl. Instead, he walked down corridor after corridor before he eventually ended up at the astronomy tower. He leant against the railing, looking out over the Hogwarts grounds which were visible for miles given the waning moonlight. He couldn’t believe he had almost told her how he felt. He knew she and Remus were a couple. Remus was his best friend for god's sake! He had watched his friend fawn and fret over her until he finally had the courage to ask her out. He hadn’t intervened. He knew that if he had told Remus of his feelings for her the boy would bow out and as much as it pained him to see her with his best mate he couldn’t do it to Remus.

No, he’d gotten too close tonight. He tried to imagine what it would have been like if he had said the words. If she felt the same way he’d lose Remus. If she didn’t she’d pity him or tell Remus anyway. Either way, he’d never be able to show his face around the pair of them ever again. No. He needed to keep it inside.

Even though it made his heart ache beyond belief he had to.

He couldn’t lose either one of them.

The way they kiss, Their happiness, Will my aching heart ever mend, Or will I always be in love, With the girl of my best friend

[wdwmarveldisney]

Rumours

Scott McCall x fem!reader

Royalty AU

Summary: Princess Y/N (soon to be Queen) and her sisters have to find suitors by the end of the ball tonight or their parents will choose for them. What happens when all of her focus goes into her small investigation into the rumours of werewolves instead?

A/N: Ok so this is for @demxters writing challenge. Don’t know if it’s too late but I like it so I’m gonna post it. It is a royalty AU so that was fun to right. Also I think Scott is a little cocky in this so you have been warned.

Masterlist

Gif isn’t mine

Just to make things clear, you weren't the most fond of being dressed up like a doll and paraded around in front of suitors. You also hated that you didn't have worth until you had a man. Your father and mother, King and Queen of the kingdom, had organised a ball in honour of you and your sisters and had insisted you'd try to find your suitors by the end of the night or they'd been chosen for you. All three of you had been told that in order for the man to be worthy he must have a wealthy kingdom, highly respected and, of course, want to continue his bloodline. Your father had added that you should also feel something for him and that one was really a priority but your mother had disagreed. She was difficult like that. But even though you hated her views and all of this, you didn't have it as bad as your youngest sister. She had a major crush on her maid, Tammy, and it was something she'd only shared with you and your other sister and she was distraught when she found out she'd have to pick someone soon. Said whatever man threw himself at her first would do because she'd never be interested in any.

But back to being dressed up like a doll. Though you may despise it, you didn't look half bad in the lilac ball gown or the small tiara. Actually, having your hair braided in a crown suited you. And with the few touches of makeup, dare say you looked gorgeous. Relaxing your shoulders and shaking out your hands, you took a deep breath. A necklace was placed on you by your maid Charlene, a small gold chain with a circle pendant. Smiling at the girl through the mirror, you watched her curtsy and leave. With nobody else in the room and a good five minutes until they collected you, you reached under your bed and pulled out a box. Inside were papers, all connected with information on sightings of wild dogs though most claimed it to be a creature of the devil, a werewolf. You loved a good mystery and you loved a good secret so you investigating these cases without anyone knowing was thrilling. And though you believe yourself to be rational, the only logical conclusion you had brought up was in fact werewolves. Always on a full moon, always human like dog figures, in a pack and you had heard of someone even calming them down enough that their eyes didn't glow the strange colours they allegedly did. Another thing you had found out was that there had been a link brought up between said werewolves and a prince of a neighbouring kingdom. A Prince who was attending the ball tonight.

The plan was simple, dance with a few other men then eventually him. When you reach him, strike up a conversation about his kingdom then bring up you'd heard faint rumours about wild dogs near there. Watch his reaction and deem whether the questioning should go further. Maybe push a little more even when it seems like he doesn't know. Whatever you could do to get the truth and if you couldn't get it from him, see if there's anyone he looks to or talks to straight after. You liked to believe that over the many years you have spent training to be Queen (being the oldest and all) you'd learnt the art of observation. You'd learnt little ticks and traits most people had and had even been able to pick up on other non obvious ones. I mean it was you who had noticed the last cook lie about the stolen necklace and had managed to make him confess through a few psychological tricks you picked up. Or when you can tell your parents are lying or your sisters' are keeping something from you, you know. So this should be easy.

Hearing the distant echo of heels, you kicked the box carelessly under your bed and rushed to sit in the seat before your mirror as your hands moved to the corset. It was tighter than usual, no doubt upon your mother's request. She'd made it clear she thought you were putting on weight, cutting your meals down and making you walk around the grounds more. Said you spent too much time in your room when in reality you had just snook out to investigate by borrowing Charlene's spare uniform which you always washed after. Your mother disapproved with anything that wasn't related to royal duty and had always shut down your detective side growing up.

Speak of the devil.

"The ball's starting. I suggest you start heading down," you gave a faint nod at her words, not looking her way until she sighed. Your mother raised an eyebrow at you and you rolled your eyes before smiling brightly and straightening out your posture. She nodded before walking away and as soon as she was out of sight, you relaxed with a frown curving your lips down. You paused for a second, debating whether you really wanted to go or not but you had to. You threw your head back with a groan before standing up and leaving the room. Your sisters were waiting outside your room, both slumping against the wall as they spoke to one another. "What are you guys doing? We said we'd meet there," You began to make your way down the hall, your sisters quickly catching up and matching your quick pace as they laughed. "What's got you so paranoid? Worried about a certain someone maybe?"

"No, she doesn't leave this place, how could she be expecting to see someone?" Your jaw dropped at Anna's words, glancing to a laughing Victoria. Rolling your eyes, you reached up to fiddle with your necklace as your sisters grinned to each other. "Very mature. I'm actually more worried about the fact mother is watching over, she's literally the most intimidating when she's staring at you from the other side of the room over a glass of wine and a coy smile," Both nodded as the three of you stopped at the door, Anna sighing as she nodded to the guard who smiled in return and opened the door to inform them of the announcement. "I hate this," you chuckled at Anna, fixing your dress as your nerves got the better of you, "No, you hate men," Victoria giggled at the way Anna's face dropped as you just smirked. The youngest shook her head as she frowned, "You can't say that! What if mother and father hear? I'd be disowned!" You both stopped laughing just as Anna's name was called, the girl entering the hall with an unbelievable amount of grace and you prayed you wouldn't make a fool of yourself when you had to.

-

Walking down the stairs with all eyes on you is scary enough but when you almost trip on your gown, it's ten times worse. Thankfully no one had pointed it out or laughed (minus your sisters that is) and you could pretend like it didn't happen. Now though, you stood to the side and watched the dance take place whilst waiting for a certain Prince to join. Of course, he was too busy talking to his friends and joking around and it did not look like he was going to anytime soon. "Hey loser. How's it spending the night by yourself?" You sent the giggling girl a sarcastic smile before you went back to observing. "First of all Victoria, that was extremely rude. Second, it's only ten minutes in and third, I have to be just a little drunk to handle all this so," you downed the rest of your wine, immediately reaching for another two glasses from the guy who had just walked past with a thankful nod and small smile.

Victoria rolled her eyes as she copied you actions of taking another glass and raising an eyebrow as you downed both glasses one after another. Her eyes scanned the rest of the room and a small snort from her caught your attention and you followed her gaze only to see your mother's disappointed expression and harsh glare. You scoffed, reaching to one of the chocolates on the table behind you and leaving the glasses there, "Oh, is she disappointed? How unfortunate," Victoria laughed at your comment before her attention was taken away and she was waving to one of the guys across the room. She handed you the half finish glass and turned so her back was towards the guy as she adjusted her dress and fixed her hair, "Look good, right?" You grabbed another chocolate as you nodded and she patted your hand that held the wine glass, "I'll leave you with that. Have fun being a disappointment," she commented and you smirked at the words, a light laugh leaving your lips, "Oh, you know I will," you both chuckled at your words, her walking off to the guy as you downed the rest of her wine and continued to observe.

You saw the Prince talking with one of his friends who was nervously glancing towards one of the guards from his kingdom by the look of things and you grinned. Your eyes went to Anna who nodded along bored by the guy in front of her. Her gaze kept going to the maid by the stairs who was taking round some of the foods and chatting away with one of the other maids. You chuckled at the jealousy radiating off her and how oblivious everyone else (except Victoria, of course) was to it. Placing the glass down and adjusting your tiara, you straightened out your posture and made your way to the dance floor, noticing the way the prince was repeatedly glancing at you when he saw. You sent a sweet smile back, watching as he blushed and stuttered over his words, not that you were close enough to hear but you could see from where you were. You began to dance with a guy, some Lord or Duke. To be honest, you didn't really listen to his introduction after hearing how cocky and self-centered he was from the first few words to leave his mouth. You fake a smile, making sure he and anyone else knew that it wasn't real.

At some point, the prince had disappeared from his place at the side of the ballroom and as you stared round trying to find him, you moved to the next guy and sparing a glance to the one you're dancing with now. You continue to look round but do a double take when it finally registers that he's right in front of you. He laughs at your expression, seeming more confident than before after seeing you splutter in shock. Soon enough, you regain your posture and small smirk that he smiles at. "And who may you be?" He grinned at the mischievous expression you had, spinning you before answering, "Scott McCall. No need to ask who you are, m'lady," you scoffed at his words, rolling your eyes at his tone. You shook your head, trying to find the best way to continue the conversation to get it where you needed it. Why not just jump straight into it?

"I think I've heard of your place. Rumours of werewolves, right?" You watched him tense and a small frown form on his lips. He continued to dance with you but he didn’t seem to interested in conversation anymore. “Oh come on,” you chuckled as he spun you out, rolling your eyes at his expression. “Think they’re real?” He rolled his eyes this time, relaxing at the look on your face. With the slight shake of his head, he bowed to you as the music came to an end. One glance over your shoulder and you grabbed his hand to drag him over to a far corner. “I don’t necessarily believe anything without proof,” you nodded, taking in his words and laughed at how he completely dodged answering. The two of you stopped when you were a little further away from everyone else. You leant against the wall, smirk on your lips as you countered, “You’re avoiding the question. So,” you bit your lip, unable to bite back the grin at the fact you were so close to the end of the mystery, “What do you know? Are you the person that calms them down or, even better, are you one of them?” He looked tense, scoffing at the suggestion as he played with a ring on his finger. He was nervous so whatever words came out his mouth next had to be a lie. “I’m not, I’m not one of them,” you saw him look up at the growing grin on your face, the mischief and pride in your eyes. A breathy laugh left you lips as your hand went up to play with the necklace, “Oh my god, you’re a, I mean I thought maybe because when I went out and stuff, investigating’s hard, a lot of people had heard a connection with you and, well I thought that maybe they were wrong but, wow, they had it spot on, didn’t they?” He looked shocked at your rambles and you realised that you let slip you were investigating, “You can’t tell anyone that. My mother will kill me if she found out,” he sighed, nodding and looking back to the ring. He seemed to be figuring something out, face scrunched up in thought, “A secret for a secret,” he smiled at the way you were quick to agree. Shaking his head, he laughed before looking to someone across the room, “Derek’s gonna kill me,”

“Is he the alpha?” You asked, following his gaze to the guard the boy was staring at earlier. He had his eyes fixed on you with a fierce glare and you sent a cheeky smile and wave back. When you turned back to Scott, he was already looking at you. “No, he’s a beta. You can tell from the eyes,” he gestured a finger around his and you grinned at everything you were learning. Practically jumping with excitement, you asked, “Well, what about you?” He flashed his eyes at you, the blood red almost mesmerising and he smiled at the awed look on your face. “Red, alpha,” you giggled making him blush, standing up straight and placing your hands on his cheeks to bring him down for a closer look, “So cool,” you mumbled, eyes flickering between his before you realised he was looking at your lips, the red fading from his eyes. With a slightly forced chuckle and growing blush, you took a step back. “Yeah, I don’t kiss on a first meeting. Try third or fifth,” he smiled at the half smirk, half grin on your lips. He nodded in understanding yet still took your hands in his. “Well, I was thinking, maybe, I could come back tomorrow and we could walk around the kingdom or you know, just the garden,” you tilted your head for a second, pretending to think as he laughed at your antics, “I think I’m too busy learning to be a stone hearted bitch from my mother but I could clear my schedule,” you both chuckled, hands swinging slightly between you.

With a sigh, you glanced over his shoulder at Anna, talking to his friend from before. “Who’s that? I saw you talking to him earlier, he was staring at Derek. Actually, he still is,” Scott spun round and smiled at the sight of the brunet, “That’s Stiles. He kinda has a thing for Derek,” you sighed as you watched Anna stare at Tammy from across the room, clearly obsessed with the girl, “Well, he’d be a perfect fit for my sister. Maybe we should go over and tell them they both have love life problems that could be solved by getting together,” he raised an eyebrow at you so you explained, “She likes Tammy, her maid. Maybe if the two were to court and they married, lived in a castle alone together with said infatuations of theirs, they could be happy,”

He nodded, glancing back to see them both blushing messes and you saw him become slightly more concentrated before he looked back to you with a growing grin, “No need, they’re putting it all together themselves,” you smiled, watching them talk enthusiastically about it all, clearly very happy with the plan they were creating. “So,” you put all your focus back on Scott and smiled at his grin, “What time should I come by tomorrow?”

[hetalia-has-a-secretary]

Allies + Canada and Axis + Prussia walking in on their toddler singing Disney songs while wearing a costume that matches that certain Disney movie (like for example Germany walks in on them singing I’ll make a man out of you and the toddler is dressed like Mulan, you decide the song the toddler sings that fits which country and who they’re dressed up as)

QwQ omg my favorite Disney princess is 100% The girl from brave! (I'm kicking myself for forgetting her name...) And you know this prompt is gonna be super cheesy lmao and I'm stretching it across general kid movies!

Dad!Allies and Dad!Axis catching their child dressed up as their favorite Character!

Allies-

America:

He could hear Monster's Inc. playing for about, the fourth time today

The only difference this time was he could hear his kid going "Rawr!" Every five seconds.

The man got curious and just about busted a gut from restraining his laughter.

His kid had Purple colored paper taped all over them. It was hard to tell but they were dressed up as Boo!

This gave him an idea!

Running up to this spare attic he found a purple blanket and an unused mop and some googly eyes.

Walking back to his kid he helped them get on his make shift Boo outfit, and the kid was ELATED about it. No more paper cuts for them!

The best part was when he asked them why they dressed up as Boo, they told him it was because Boo was brave, and wasn't scared of monsters, just like their dad!

Cue their kid getting America a box of tissues while he cried on the floor.

England:

He wasn't a fan of American movies, but his kid was, so what his kid wanted, was what they got.

It... It was Shrek.

At first England kind of disliked the movie, but the more he watched it with his kid, the more he liked art the interpretations of the fairy tale characters.

And this was an extremely special moment for england.

Around the fifth time watching it he saw his kid point to one of the characters and say "That's not what tinker bell looks like!"

England had immediately spit out his tea, and started questioning his kid about it.

This was how he learned that his child had the same ability to see fairytale creatures as he does!

Soon enough he had his kid running around grabbing different blankets and scarfs to try and recreate what she really looked like!

Now he has a child sized Tinkerbell running around, Tinkerbell herself chasing after them playfully.

France:

He has the whole Disney collection from start to finish, and it's terrifying.

His kid is also badly addicted. But especially to Little Mermaid.

The thing is, France has his child completely spoiled, and has a bunch of maids around the place. One of which loves nothing more than sewing together cute outfits for the kid.

It's not that France doesn't have the time, oh no, this was the kids idea, and their idea only.

One day, after a grueling work day, he's in his room, trying to rest. His kid comes in wearing a trench coat.

France is courious as to why, and his mood is immediately lifted as the small child acts out a shortened play of The Little Mermaid, all costumes included.

It was amazing how well they moved with all the clothes they were wearing, and taking them on and off again as quickly as possible.

By the end France had given them a standing ovation, and they both happily napped on his bed due to the amount of physical exhaustion.

You can 100% catch France bragging about his little star to the other countries when he gets the chance!

China:

China's rubbed off on his child with several things.

One of those things is his love for old culture and reminiscing memories.

so surprise! Mulan is 100% a movie in the house... Except his kid has become brutality obsessed with the dragon.

One day China's fancy res shirts goes missing, and he finds it on his child while they were watching Mulan.

Mimicking everything Mushu does.

China has to hold his hand over his mouth as his kid eventually trips over the long shirt and starts saying things like "This is disrespectful to dragons!" And "If this shirt has a cow, it is now dishonored!"

Eventually china, very shyly, dresses up as Mulan while his kid isn't watching.

The kid proceeds to act like they're meeting a princess at Disney, not recognizing their own father.

Russia:

Unlike him, his kid really, REALLY loves the snow.

It's something that he hopes his child grows out of because he's heard them sing 'let it go' about 50 times.

It was very cute at first. Now he wants to beat the CD with his pipe (and then America for gifting them the movie).

But then the SECOND on came out.

Now his child parades around as Elsa, hitting high sqeaky notes, and following around the cat.

Cat is having more fun then the kid to be honest.

Russia was about to try and distract his kid until they asks him to play dress up with them

The sparkle in their eyes made him immediately say yes.

They wanted him to be Christoph, and when he asked them why he just about cried.

"Your cool, funny, nice, and you have the same nose!"

That's it. That broke him, he's trying not to cry

Has never knitted a dress so fast in his life, and has a very similar outfit to Christoph as well, so the two of them are parading around the house with their cat trailing behind them. His own little knitted Olaf costume on!

Canada:

Canada's kid can be rebellious at best, but seeing them dressed up as maleficent almost made him choke.

Is his kid turning into a villain!?

Nope. Turns out they just thought she was really cool, and felt bad that she wasn't invited to the child's birthday, or whatever.

And to be honest, yeah, that's kind of cruel.

Canada had bought the Sleeping Beauty film via America's suggestion, and wasn't dissapointed.

And now it was totally worth it since his kid was going through their "I have one outfit and no matter how many times my horns won't fit through the car door, I refuse to take them off" phase.

He enjoyed watching his kid act out a happier ending dressed as the Disney villain. And even snuck a few pictures of them prancing around and singing.

It brought tears to his eyes knowing that no matter what, his kid can see the good in anyone, and maybe one day that will come in handy!

Axis-

Germany:

I need to make it immediately clear, that Germany and China now officially plan playdates for their Mulan obsessed children.

Except Germany's kid is obsessed with Li Shang, and the "let's get down to business" song.

He's so proud of his kid not being afraid to show their little clumsy moves in order to show people they mean business.

Even if he can't take them seriously when they are this small and cute.

It starts out when they wanted to be a character from Mulan on Halloween, not yet seen the movie, but all that was left was a mock up Li Shang costume.

It was game over.

The kid would sing to his German shepherds as if they were their shoulders and bark dog commands.

Germany is a proud father now.

And the playdates I mentioned earlier? Oh yeah it's twice as cute when you have a tiny red dragon going "I HAVE TINY ARMS I CAN NIT BE MAN!"

Italy:

Beauty and the beast.

Italy's kid adores Bell, and has memorized every line, and dance.

One point gave him a heart attack catching them climbing a latter.

The best part is, Italy kept his chibi outfit from when he lived under Austria's rules. Which was at some point died blue, but now he has a tiny Bell running around more than gleefully.

Italy even joins in with him, and honestly it's the cutest thing.

Surprisingly his kid is really good with singing, and this is their new favorite hobby now.

Italy is also really emotional over the fact his kid wasn't scared of Beast either. His little tike is going to be a brave one, Italy is going to make sure of it!

Japan:

Yeah, Disney movies don't exist in his house, but Studio Ghibli 1000% does.

His kid is obsessed with Ponyo!

One day Japan was really concerned over how quiet his kid was being until he found them in the koi pond, trying to talk to the fishes, and heard him name them Ponyo 1-5.

His heart dank because he wanted to tell them the fish had no clue what they were saying, but at the same time.

Kawaii overload.

Small child talking to the koi, and enjoying the water, and muddy rain puddles? Oh yeah. That's adorable.

Eventually he makes them a fish outfit and it's a good thing it was mostly foam because the first thing his kid did was splash around in the puddles.

Japan filmed it.

He's planning on embarrassing his kid when they turn 16.

It's payback for not letting him watch the movie with them earlier.

Prussia:

Oh no. His kid has become obsessed with Rapunzel.

"how is that an issue?"

Well when your kid developed some of your impulse control issues, you will find them trying to crawl out of a window to escape their unlawful step mother/Prussia.

He was extremely confused about it at first as well. Untill his kid said, something something RAPUNZEL!

Then it clicked, and he was able to laugh about it.

Prussia hasn't seen the movie himself, and when he watches it he thinks Rapunzel is so quirky and super AWESOME! Especially because his kid now has a bunch of yarn on their head.

Not gonna lie, they both dress up as Rapunzel and try and fight each other with the long wigs.

Which is a sight to see first thing in the morning. Just ask Germany.

I know I didn't answer the prompt exactly, but I couldn't resist making some wholesome content! Also-

HER NAME IS MERIDA I JUST REMEMBERED IT LIKE, 3 DAYS AFTER THE FIRST DRAFT! THE CHICK FROM BRAVE IS MERIDA!!!

[vermillionflames]

hi... idk what this is hehe :)

nozel x oc

word count: 2k+

warnings: language, mention of blood and self-stabbing (non violent)

PROLOGUE

“There, there, Your Highness,” the guard said as he wiped away the princesses tears, “It must’ve been so scary down there. I’m sorry you had to go all alone this time. If I had permission or the strength to go with you I would. But you’re alright now. I’ll be standing guard outside your door all night if you need me.” 

The guard had a smile so small you would only see it if you knew to look for it. The princess didn’t need to see the smile to know he meant what he said. Out of all the soldiers in the Kingdom hers were the most loyal. 

“Please don’t tell my father I was crying… or the King!”

“I would never, it will be our little secret, alright, Princess Seraphina,” he stuck out it pink to show he meant his promise.

“Thank you,” the young girl crawled back under her blankets as her guard headed towards the door, “Goodnight, Dante.”

REAL TIME I GUESS

You know when you tell your husband for days to not do something because there will be a negative outcome, but he does it anyway? And what you told him would happen, does? And yet he still acts surprised and upset? Sometimes takes his anger out on you via a cold shoulder and glare? No admittance that you were right? That’s what it’s like to be married to the Captain of the Silver Eagles. 

I love Nozel dearly but he is more annoying than my father-in-law and the ladies of the court asking about babies. Actually, now that I think about it, the whole Silva family had something about them… 

“Vice Captain? Are you alright?”

That’s one way to snap me out of a scheme

“Oh, Nils, I’m sorry. A thought crossed my mind and I got lost in it… What were you saying?” Will probably get scolded for that later.

“I was just telling you how I’d improve myself before my next mission with what I learned on the previous one… Do you think Captain will be pleased with my plan?” 

Royalty always wants to improve themselves without much training, but I can’t say that to him without it causing a rile so I just smile at him.

“I think Nozel will be very pleased. Now if you wouldn’t mind, I do have a lot of work to get to,” I gesture to some papers on my desk. 

He nods and takes his leave. I sigh and turn my chair to face the window. Noelle should have gotten her grimoire by now, surely. I do not want to do this paperwork or deal with the hell my in laws will unleash on their baby sister, but if anyone had a chance of redirecting their attention to another failure it was me and my womb. 

I play with the ring on my left hand. It was his mothers, in fact Nozel had gifted me with more jewelry than I could ever wear that had come from Lady Acier’s collection. Sometimes I wondered if he got it all or first dibs and took it all because he was the oldest. Perhaps her collection had just been so expansive I could have a shit load and the other kids could do. The girls didn’t ever bat a lash when I wore her crowns and necklaces. 

There’s a firm knock on my door, they don’t pause before opening it. Husbands, ya know? I looked over my shoulder to see he’s entered my office, not bothering to shut the door (to avoid scandal though I’ve never understood how married people can be scandalous with each other? The policies of this country were difficult to understand). 

“Yes,” I ask, raising my brow at him.

“Noelle has received her grimoire,” his face was bleak.

“And?”

“And she still cannot control her magic. She’s still a shame to House Silva.”

The fluctuation in his mana told me all I needed to know.

“Nozel-”

“Don’t try to coddle me, Seraphina. You don’t understand what this means for my family and our reputation.”

I wonder in our 14 years of marriage if he’s ever learned that I can read his mind and emotions. He kept on the mean big brother act and never shut it off. However, I like to take opportunities to argue when I see them. I turn my whole body to face him and cross my arms.

“Like how we don’t have an heir?”

“Don’t start this right now,” his voice was low and serious, “Nebra, Solid, and I will be having dinner with our father and grandparents tonight.”

“Then I’ll join you,” I shot up out of my chair, “It would look bad if I stayed here.”

His stare was cold. I started to prepare an argument in my head.

“Fine. But wear something nice,” he moved his attention to the deep cut of my dress, “Maybe we should get your robes adjusted.”

“Oh darling, I think that’s the most attention you’ve given my breasts in our whole marriage.” I bit my tongue, a little too late for that, Sera. Oops. 

“Tsh,” Nozel turned and headed for the door, “You should probably have the maids at the castle help you get ready… We both know you won’t be able to braid your own hair.”

“I beg your pardon?”

The door closed and I was alone again. The mother fucker. He was right, but that mother fucker. If he knew what kind of foul language I had stored in my head for him… Maybe tonight will be the night all chaos explodes. Dinner and a show with me as the main actress. 

I started to make a mental list of things to bring up during our argument as I made a spacial magic gate to my quarters at the Silva Castle. 

----

I opted for an emerald gown with silver jewelry for tonight. Rule number one of House Silva: all the jewelry is silver. If you happen to have gold it was either a gift from House Vermillion or House Kira and you only ever wore it to fit a dress code House Vermillion made for a ball. Same thing for red and blue. Do not wear red or blue unless you want to piss off your husband, which I’ll admit is fun but he threw the poor dress into the fireplace the next morning. We don’t even share a room, he had to wake up early, come in, and find it to do that. 

Rule number two: be very, very good at keeping your thoughts to yourself. Especially when it comes to Noelle, Acier, and your lack of offspring. 

“Seraphina, perhaps you decided to join us because you and Nozel have some good news to share,”  if Nebra was anything it was blunt and to the point. 

I gave Nozel the side eye.

“No,” He said while lifting his wine to his lips, “Just didn’t want to bother socializing with the rest of the squad tonight.”

I gave her a meek smile.

“Well, Seraphina, I have something to show you, Solid rose from his seat and walked over to Noelle who was staring at her food with tears in her eyes. He pulled her grimoire out from her side while she winced. “Look at how thin this is. You’re more a Silva than Noelle could ever be.”

I dropped my shoulders and focused on my plate in front of me.

“I guess...” 

----

If I got anything from that dinner it’s that I needed to find a way to sneak Noelle out of the castle and get her away; at least for a day. I was sat at my vanity removing all the tiny gems the servant had insisted on putting in my hair. If I couldn’t stand up to her to my in-laws the least I could do was get her away. God how many gems were there? I started at the bell to call a maid… I really hate doing this but if there’s one thing I cannot do it is my hair. 

After a few moments a young girl came to my room and went right to work undoing the braids and taking out the gems. I watched her in the mirror, she never took her eyes off my head.

“So, what’s the hot gossip from the servants quarters?”

She paused.

“I’m sure nothing would be of interest to you ma’am.”

I purse my lips. 

“If I say you can keep all the gems in my hair?”

“That wouldn’t be necessary, the masters pay us kindly.”

“Oh… well surely you heard something that would be of interest to me?”

“Ma’am, I know you don’t stay here often, but typically you wouldn’t speak to me so casually…”

“Who cares about that? It’s late. It’s just you and me here. Everyone else is probably settled into bed,” No budge. Oh. “Lord Nozel won’t be visiting my chambers tonight. It’s alright.”

“Surely the Captain visits his wife every night… You two are in love and you’re so beautiful.”

Great. Not the can of worms I wanted to open. And now I gave her shit to say about me!

“He stays in his room when I am bleeding.” And now I have to stab myself or else she’ll know I lied. Dammit. 

“Oh, the other servant didn’t mention you were… Would you like me to get you some warm towels?”

“No, what I would like is some information that only someone in your position would know.”

“Really, ma’am. There’s nothing happening these days.”

“Please?”

“Um… well I have a friend that works for House Vermillion and she said they’ve been preparing Lady Mereoleona’s room for her return. They expect her to arrive tomorrow afternoon.”

Oh god.

“And Lord and Lady Vermillion had to have meat brought in from the town! The chefs don’t even know how to cook meat!”

“Surely they can just give it to the girl and let her cook it herself…”

“You’re funny, Lady Seraphina.”

“Well, ya know, someone in the family has to be! Thank you for your help. You’re dismissed, go off to bed now.”

The girl bowed and left.

And she had the right fucking idea.

I need to leave too. Mereoleona? No thank you. God only knows what kind of torment she has planned for me. Actually, probably not God. Probably no higher being.

I need to hide somewhere and take Noelle with me. I throw off my dressing gown and scramble to put on clothes, throwing random shit I think I’ll want in a bag. Real manic style. Now if there’s one thing I am not it is a bad liar. I throw the blankets off my bed and lay as if I’m going to sleep. Crossing my leg so it sorta comes to wear my center lays and take out a knife and cut my leg… which heals pretty quickly given my abilities. I’m almost certain it’s not enough to be convincing but I am far more concerned in avoiding the Vermillion to care. 

Next stop, Noelle’s room. I knock on the door. No answer so I help myself. She’s asleep, dry tears around her eyes. I put my hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, wake up. Noelle.”

She gasps and her eyes fly open, instantly putting her arms in defense. I take a step back… They didn’t wake her up to hurt her… did they?

“Pack a bag, we’re going into hiding.”

“What?”

“Lady Mereoleona is coming back for her yearly visit. I’m taking you and we’re gonna go hide at the beach castle.” Yeah, I married into a two castle family. Had its perks.

“Why?”

“Because you’re my baby sister by marriage and I think we both could use a little vacation. Don’t you agree?”

“Really? But what about Nozel?”

“I’ll deal with him if he notices. Chances are no one will know. So get up, grab your stuff, and let's go.”

She got out of bed quick. I sat at her vanity while she gathered some things. 

“Also, no servants.”

“No servants?!” She turned me so quick she almost snapped her neck.

“You’ll live. This is about survival. Now,” I stand to make a portal to the beach castle, “let’s go.”

[an-absolute-travesty]

Royal Screw-Ups

It’s time, the final chapter is here 

*Sobbing*

I won’t get too sappy on you guys here, since I got pretty sappy at the end of thing on Wattpad

But yeah. Thanks if you’ve been reading this long. I have more plans for this world (i have some plans for a few oneshots) but for this moment, we are closing out this story

If you’re looking for the rest of the story, it can be found on my wattpad @ohwowhatethis, under the tags “kotlc fic” and “keefex” on my blog, or under the cut on my pinned post

Tag list (tell me if you want to be added or removed, just for this story or as a whole): @you-are-the-vacker-legacy @ruewen-and-rising @lemontarto @a-lonely-tatertot @clearlykeefitz @percabetn @vibing-in-the-void @sewersewersewercouch @everyonehasthoughts @imaramennoodle @enbies-and-felonies @blxckh0les42​ @rainbowtay-11 @callas-starkflower-stew @impostertamsong @appalyneinstitute1 @stars-and-splendor @anna-without-an-e

Chapter 8:

Word count: 3,677

Warnings: swearing, cassi-ass being an ass, destruction, fire, chaos, etc.

Three months of planning later, servants scurried around the property in preparation for the ceremony the next day. A glass dome had been built in the center of the property to house it.

Tam and Linh had arrived soon after they had their first meeting, luckily Tam and Fitz weren’t as lovey-dovey in real life as they were in their letters. However, Marella and Linh very much made up for it. The moment they met the guard and the princess had a connection, the sweet talk was almost too much to bear.  

In fact, all of them had grown quite close over the past months. Who knew low-level treason could bring people together so. 

Of course, not nearly as close as he’d like with a certain person, but closer for sure. Every week they met back up at the library to work out bumps in their plan, clean up the absurd amount of paper Keefe used in drawing out his first plan, or just sit and talk. Today would be their last before the big day. 

Keefe watched over Dex’s shoulder as he made his final tinkers on the device he had been working on.  

“How’s it looking Techmaster?”

“Eh, having more metal makes everything easier but...it’s one use only, so I can’t test it. We just have to hope for the best.”

“Well, I have faith in you. Your genius brain could make anything.”

Dex rolled his eyes. Keefe wanted to subtly touch him to see if his blatant flirting had been noticed, but it felt wrong to. He had been stuck in the dark for the last 3 months. 

Everyone else ran their lines around the room. Everyone besides Sophie who, as typical of her, looked half way sick in the corner. 

Keefe sat down next to her on the floor.

“Alright, what’s up Foster, have you acquired a stomach bug?” 

She giggled. “No...it’s just…” She sighed. “It feels wrong, y’know? I mean...I don’t want to hurt anybody.”

“You’re really doing the opposite of hurting people though, I mean you’re making them happy.”

“Not happy, hysterical. Yeah it can be happy, but not in the way we’re doing it. Trust me, it’s not fun to watch.”

Keefe thought for a moment.

“Hey...your parents have that griffin, right?”

~*~

The sound of a wedding march echoed through the castle lawn as Sophie was led down the isle by her father. Keefe guessed she looked quite lovely in her dress, Biana, who stood as her maid of honor, was looking at her more like a husband would than him. He stood frozen at the alter, Fitz beside him as his best man and everyone else interspersed within the crowd for optimal dramatic effect. 

Sophie reached him at long last. Surprisingly enough, she didn’t look sickly this time. Her face steeled with determination gave him confidence. 

The guy marrying them together was one of Cassius’ officials. Keefe didn’t bother to remember most names anymore, but this one was a...Moland? Noland? Something like that. 

Everyone winced in unison as the man started talking, Keefe’s ears began to ring a bit at the volume.

“Lords and Ladies, we are gathered here today to celebrate the joyous union of our young Prince Keefe Sencen and the lovely Miss Sophie Foster-Ruewen.”

Keefe only realized he was fidgeting when Fitz subtly reached out and held his hand down from where it had been tapping on his leg.

“We are honored to be joined by so many friends and family. The Goom and Bride are overjoyed you all could be here to participate in this most important occasion.

“There are few greater joys in life than finding someone we truly connect with. Creatives have many names for this, a spark, clicking, but let us say today what it truly is: love.”

Keefe looked out into the crowd, he caught the eye of Dex. The redhead’s brow was crinkled and his cheeks flushed slightly. He pat the pocket of his coat in confirmation. 

“Love is what these two young souls have found in each other. In love, our truest selves are revealed. We open ourselves up and break down our walls. The veil we present to the public is lifted so we can be loved for who we are, not who we pretend to be.”

Keefe struggled to not roll his eyes. He took a final look around the room, each person nodding as he met eyes with them.

“Over these months, our Bride and Groom have developed a strong bond. This bond will only get stronger throughout the course of their marriage. Let us revel in the joy and love displayed in front of us today. May we treasure these memories as Prince Keefe and Miss Sophie get set to begin their new life together.”

Keefe took a deep breath, knowing the next words out of his mouth.

“If anyone has cause to object the forming of this union, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

3, 2, 1…

“I object!” 

0.

Stina first. “This marriage was meant to be mine! She’s just a dirty commoner!”

“How dare you!” Fitz cut in before anyone else could. “I object because I love her! Sophie is meant to be with me. Maruca has admitted her love to Keefe, let her marry him!”

Biana gasped dramatically. “Maruca you snake! You knew I loved him.”

“You only loved his title!” She screamed, standing up to match the rest. “And Fitz, if you’re so concerned with what Stina has to say about Sophie, you should hear what Wylie has to say.”

Fitz walked in Wylie’s direction and he stood. “Why you little-”

Just then, Keefe heard it. 

Beep. Beep. Beep. BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP.

BOOM.

An explosion burst a small part of the glass dome’s ceiling. Sophie let out an ear-splitting whistle and the griffin flew straight through the hole as the glass fell. Screams erupted through the room as the animal landed on chairs and destroyed the alter. 

The screams only got louder as the room was lit up as bright as the sun before swiftly being plunged into darkness. Those involved in the plan used the opportunity to gather themselves at the exit. With the exception of Biana and Marella who, if all went as planned, stood prepared by the very flammable reception tables. 

The darkness lifted and people quickly ran out, some of the more stuck up nobles guided by guards. Once everyone was out safely, Keefe watched as a red glow started and grew. Marella wasn’t visible, but anyone paying attention could see the two sets of footprints forming in the grass.

People ran farther from the dome swiftly filling with fire. It spread quickly, but before it could reach the outside, Linh yelled. 

“Everyone back up!”

She pulled water from a nearby pond, making a large wave that, while it put out the fires, crushed the dome in its entirety. 

~*~

Two hours later, the guests sat huddled in the ballroom of the castle, many wrapped in blankets and eating soup the kitchen served to recover from what they had been through. Through the window, Keefe saw the Ruewen parents attempting to calm their griffin after taking a long time to wrangle it. 

They were good at keeping secrets, they brought the animal here in the first place. 

Just as he started crossing the room to go talk to Dex, he felt a heavy hand grip his shoulder.

Cassius looked at him with a glare that could kill ten men. He wordlessly guided Keefe in the direction of his office and the prince obliged. 

When Keefe walked in the door, it was messier than he had ever seen it. Even his father himself was disheveled, his typically slick-backed hair uncharacteristically sloppy and his tunic smudged with soot. He sat down at his desk and heaved a sigh.  

“Do you know why I brought you in here?” 

“Because my wedding was destroyed?”

“Because we are going to plan a new one. I need you to collect everyone who had objections to get this idiotic drama cleared for the records. I’ve sent for Councillor Bronte, he can officiate you. You will have a wedding today, whether you get the ceremony or not.”

“One problem with that, Biana and Marella haven’t been found.”

Technically the truth. They were to hide in the Queen’s Gardens until further notice, but the Guard Force didn’t know that. 

Cassius was silent for a moment, his face hidden in his hands.

Then he started convulsing.

No, not convulsing.

Laughing.

“Of course!” He got up from his chair in one movement. “Of course they haven’t been found! Why am I even surprised anymore.” He threw his hands in the air. “Nothing ever goes right!” He spoke through his teeth as he pushed everything off of his desk.

“MY MARRIAGE” He cleared a bookshelf with one arm, dumping the junk to the ground. 

“MY LEADERSHIP!” He knocked over his chair.

“MY SON!” He grabbed the painting from the wall and threw it down. 

“ALL DISAPPOINTMENTS!” He pushed over his desk, it landed with a loud crash.

“And now this too? Nothing ever goes right! No matter how hard I try! No matter how much work I put in! Everything ends in failure!”

“It’s a good thing this was my wedding and not yours then.”

The door behind them opened without a knock. 

“King Cassius, is this a bad time?” Bronte looked at the office with contempt. 

“No, now works.”

Despite not being formally invited in, Bronte sat down on the overturned desk and pulled out a folder of paperwork. 

“So...we’re trying to do an emergency wedding, yes?”

Cassius nodded.

“And from my understanding, there were 1,2...4 objections that haven’t been cleared?”

Cassius nodded again.

“Then I’m afraid I can’t perform a wedding. Legally or morally considering the fact that fate itself seems against this union. It is traditional, when a wedding goes so badly, to accept that something in the universe is not accepting of the marriage and call it off.”

“I understand, Councillor. However, I am the goddamned king and you will do as I say!

Bronte was unfazed.

“Actually sir, with only a month until the coronation you have resigned some of your duties, as is customary. You don’t have full control over the law at the moment, you signed a contract.”

He pulled said contract out of his pocket, displaying the signature, before putting it back in.

“Prince Keefe and you now have split control, as you had when you had a spouse. You both must agree if you are to override a law.”

Cassius hid his face once again.

“Go. Get out of my sight.”

Keefe turned to leave but his father grabbed him.

“Just Bronte.”

The man shrugged and closed the door behind him.

“Keefe...do you know why I was so eager to get you in as king?”

Keefe said nothing. That was one thing he couldn’t figure out himself. 

“I am a shitty, shitty, king. I was never made to rule. Your mother? Yes. Yes she was. Me? No. Not at all. I thought I could do this job, I thought it would be cushy, I thought I’d have all the power in the kingdom as well as riches upon riches without having to work. I was wrong.

“I wanted to train you to do this better than I ever could. I wanted to make sure you were going to be prepared.”

“No.” Keefe’s eyes started to water in anger. “You wanted to train me up to take your job as soon as possible. You didn’t want the responsibility so you decided to hand it off to your child. It’s just like...it’s just like Mom. You were the judge and the jury but you were too much of a coward to be the executioner or even a mourner. You hand off all your problems for someone else to deal with. You’re a fucking coward and nothing else.”

“I cared Keefe!-”

“NO YOU DIDN’T.” Tears streamed down his face. “You never cared about me, you never cared about Mom, you never cared for anything or anybody but yourself. 

“I don’t love Sophie and I never will, but you tried to make me marry her because you loved the idea of the strong son with a quiet woman. That shows how much you care.”

“It was what I thought was best.”

“WELL YOU WERE WRONG.”

Keefe walked out and slammed the door. 

~*~

Keefe went to his room and sobbed. He rarely indulged himself in crying but today was one of the days he let himself. It was maybe an hour later, when he was out of tears and just laid staring up at his ceiling, that he heard a knock on the door.

When he opened it, no one stood there. Just a small note in scratchy handwriting. 

“Meet us at the library, midnight”

~*~

Keefe carefully sneaked through the castle halls, only the candle he held lit his way. He slowly cracked open the library door.

“SURPRISE!”

Suddenly a whole group of people attacked him in a hug, rainbow lights filled the normally dull room. 

“W-what is all this?”

“It’s a surprise party silly!” For the first time since he’d seen her, Sophie looked truly happy. “We don’t have to get married! And we got out of it without any serious injuries.”

Fitz pulled him over to a table. “C’mon, Bi stole some leftover cake no one ate from the kitchens.”

He looked around for Dex hoping to see his beaming smile and instead saw him sitting solemnly in the corner. He didn’t look Keefe’s way. 

“Hey Fee, are you okay?” Apparently Fitz just now noticed his still puffy face.

“Yeah um...just my dad being a jerk again. Don’t worry about it.”

Fitz shrugged it off, he knew about jerky dads.

Or he used to, anyway. That bastard Alden ran away a long time ago. 

Keefe tried to partake in the festivities but he found it hard. He was going to be king in a month, and hopefully a good one at that. Just about anything was better than Cassius. He should be celebrating right now. But...there was still something bothering him. 

It was approaching the wee hours of the morning as people slowly trickled out. Wylie had long since dropped the rainbow lights. They had been celebrating for hours, Dex was silent nearly the whole time. 

“Alright.” Fitz said through a yawn. “I’m tapping out. Night Fee. Last one standing has to clean everything up.”

Keefe nodded. When he finally left the room and they were all alone, he approached Dex. Still silent in the corner.

“Okay, what’s going on Techmaster? You seem down.”

“No it’s just...it’s hard to explain.”

“Take your time, if you’d like.” Keefe sat down criss cross in front of him.

His lips went pouty in a way that made Keefe realize he was staring at his lips.

“You’ll think I’m weird. And clingy. And jealous. Honestly I shouldn’t even be saying any of this right now but I make bad decisions at 3 A.M. I guess.”

“Hey, you can tell me anything.” Keefe started to reach his hand out to Dex before remembering he shouldn’t read his emotions. Dex grabbed it before he could pull away. A lot of sadness and hurt there. He quickly stopped reading, though their hands stayed locked. 

“It’s just...there’s this person. This guy. And...and I thought maybe he liked me but now I think he has a boyfriend. I’m not sure though.”

Keefe’s heart dropped. “Well...boyfriend status can be changed.”

Dex chuckled. “I don’t know, they have nicknames for each other and everything.”

“Sounds serious.”

“Looks serious.”

It was silent for a moment, then Dex spoke.

“Look...don’t worry about it, alright? It’s really no big deal. I’ll get over it, I guess.”

“Maybe he likes you back.”

“I highly doubt it. I’m...I’m not good enough for him. I’m just a servant. He deserves someone better.”

“Why does being a servant mean you’re bad? I’ve met some nobles that are real assholes. You’re way better than all of those fuckers.”

Dex laughed again, wow Keefe could listen to that forever. 

Dex sighed. “You know what? Screw it.”

He seemed to steel himself before saying his next sentence. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly. 

“Are you dating Fitz?”

“What?” Keefe laughed awkwardly. “No, no, no. He’s just a friend.”

“Oh. Then...who were you talking about at the gardens? I- I thought it was Fitz and you guys got together and-”

“No, goodness no. Fitz is great and all but...well he’s just not my type. And he’s been dating Tam for a while now.”

“Oh I uh...I didn’t notice.” Dex’s face flushed furiously. “Who were you talking about then?”

Keefe met his eyes. “Depends, who were you talking about?”

He didn’t answer but his silence spoke more than any words could.

Keefe scooted closer and cupped Dex’s face in his hand. He looked into the boys periwinkle eyes.

“Dex, can I kiss you?”

“Please?”

And they did.

When Keefe heard descriptions of kissing the same gender, they always said that it felt wrong somehow. But this...this only felt right. Like he had been waiting his whole life for the moment when he met the gardener boy’s cracked lips. They weren’t soft, and the kiss was a bit awkward, but it just felt...correct. Keefe chased the kiss slightly when they finally had to pull away. 

A shy smile spread across Dex’s face.

Keefe leaned back in.

~*~

Keefe walked out onto the newly-built stage in front of the castle and looked upon his people. His ceremonial robe was itchy and too large for him.

Cassius was no where to be seen. He had just...run away. The day of the wedding was the day he broke. The kingdom had been sovereignless for the last month, coronations couldn't be rushed. 

Typically the previous king would place the crown upon the head of the new ruler. Because Cassius seemed to run away in the night with nothing more than a clump of riches, Keefe got to choose who would crown him. 

“Friends and subjects of the Kingdom of Eternalia,” Oralie started. “Today, we crown a new ruler. A ruler to put the people first. A ruler who will not sleep until every one of his people is fed. A ruler to unite us.”

Keefe never realized how long winded Oralie was. Looking into the crowd, he spotted Sophie. She wore a sour expression.

Sophie never was a fan of Oralie, she wouldn’t tell him why. 

“Prince Keefe has shown a care for his people deeper than any king before him.”

She could say that again. Keefe found Dex in the crowd, absolutely beaming.

“In the time I have had the honor of teaching him in my lessons, he has shown a willingness to learn. An ability to adapt. And a knowledge of the system as well as its successes and failures deeper than anyone else his age.

And yes, it is truly a shame that a king must be crowned this young, but I have no doubt that in time he will do right by our great kingdom.”

Oralie walked over to him, her pink flowy dress trailing behind her. She picked up the ceremonial crown off the pillow that a servant was holding.

“Prince Keefe of Eternalia, do you promise to uphold the law and do what is right for your people to the best of you abilities?”

“I do.”

“And do you promise to preserve the honor of our nation?”

“I do.”

A loud voice came from the crowd.

“AND DO YOU PROMISE TO NOT LET CASSI-ASS BACK INTO THE THRONE ROOM?” Keefe could tell it was Marella, but no one else had to know that.

He cracked a smile. “I do.”

Oralie chuckled too.

“In that case, Keefe Sencen of Eternalia, with this crown I deem you King of Eternalia. May you have a long and peaceful reign.”

The heavy crown was placed upon his head. The crowd cheered and chanted, his friends yelled the loudest. Keefe saw as Fitz lifted Biana on his shoulders, they all hugged and screamed excitedly. 

Who he noticed most of all was Dex. His bright smile in that moment was worth everything he’d been through. 

Maybe he had found someone he didn’t mind being with.

~*~

Like most days, it was a somewhat quiet day at the castle. 

Keefe looked up from his painting to study the gardens, once called the Queen’s Gardens, but that was ages ago. The wall that once surrounded the beautiful landscape was knocked down a very long time ago. 

Keefe smiled as he spotted Dex tending to some ivy that had grown on one of the ancient statues. Even being a king couldn’t keep his husband from assisting the gardeners. 

Tomorrow, some old friends were visiting. That in itself wasn’t particularly special, as they visited at least twice a year (usually more), but tomorrow was special because it was the anniversary of the Great Wedding Destruction as historians had come to call it. 

How many years had it been? 300? 400? One tends to forget. 

After 50 years or so, they admitted to planning the whole event. By then, Keefe had already convened with the councillors to pass same gender marriage and gotten married to Dex. The law couldn’t exactly do much, it had been a while and no one was injured so any fear of being charged with treason was history.

A few minutes later, Dex trudged into Keefe’s art studio. 

“Hey lovey, do you know where I put the high-power garden clippers?”

“I hope in your lab, but you might want to check the kitchens.”

“Why would they be in the kitchens?”

“Heard some buzzing coming from there and last time I saw the nieces they had frosting all over their faces.”

Chaos ran in the Dizznee family. 

Dex sighed as they heard a loud bang followed by an “Oops.” from downstairs. 

“Gosh if Rex doesn’t pick up his children soon...I won’t do anything but I’ll be sour about it.”

Keefe chuckled. “You might want to go check on them, wouldn’t want them to break your invention. If they haven’t already.”

Dex hummed noncommittally. “Whatcha drawing?”  

“Just a boring landscape...that happens to include a dragon.”

Dex leaned over the easel. “It’s a very pretty boring landscape that happens to include a dragon.”

“Thank you very much, dearest.” Keefe leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. “Now you may want to actually check on the girls. I don’t think Elwin can heal severed fingers.”

“Yeah, okay.”

As he walked from the room that used to be Cassius’ office he yelled, “Emily! Leah! Please don’t be killing each other-”

Keefe just smiled. He did that a lot nowadays. 

He hoped these days would last forever.

[dreams-of-wings]

Being a part of the Core VK's, and daughter to Hades

Relationships with the Core Four:

You and Mal are half sisters - same dad, different moms. Mal hated you for a long time, even when she had yet to meet you, she knew of you and that made her blood absolutely boil. You were the daughter Hades raised, while he just left her and her mother. You both eventually get along, and once you do, you're inseparable, as thick as thieves, partners in crime, the works.

Evie thinks you're cool. She doesn't have a problem with you- then again I don't think she has a problem with anyone really. She likes your style, she wouldn't wear it, but she likes it because you work it and make it look good. She gets to know you more when you and Mal start hanging out and she kinda becomes like your sister as well.

Jay thinks you're awesome. He witnessed your hair burst into flames one day when someone pissed you off, trying to steal something your rightfully *coughcough* found. Definitely asked you about your powers and wondered why you could still use magic. It was kinda hard to explain, but basically on the island you can only do a few things - all of which require direct contact. Lounging/parkour buddy.

Okay, but please tell me why the thought of harmless, got bullied a lot, soft boy Carlos/intimidating, protective Daughter of Hades, just makes me melt. Like, you save his ass a lot. You knew Carlos before you knew the rest of the core four - back when it was Mal and Jay, Evie did her own thing, and Carlos was just kinda left to fend for himself. It's okay though, you'll protect him.

Background:

No one knows who your mother is

Not you

Not Mal

Not even Maleficent

Hades doesn't like to talk about her

She died before you had the ability to retain memories

She wasn't the first or the last of the people that were claimed by the terrible conditions of the Island of the Lost.

Medical care wasn't exactly top notch, and no one really cared about the ones who passed the first few years.

Just ment more supplies for the rest of them

You weren't allowed to wander the isle as a child, he kept you locked away - worried Maleficent might try something (and worried that if anyone found out about you being his daughter, they would have something over his head).

It was thanks to Hades tucking you away, that Maleficent was never able to find you.

You started sneaking out when you turned 10

You proved you could handle yourself, so Hades let you run free.

Besides 10 years had passed since you were born and he figured maybe Maleficent didn't care about you anymore.

It took you and Mal a while to trust eachother.

When you trusted her enough, you told her about your dad.

She didn't say anything and just left you - she was so angry and conflicted, on one hand she wanted to hate you because you were the child Hades' stuck around for, the one he raised, and fathered, and protected from Maleficent.

After a few weeks she found you in your own little corner if the island you carved for yourself, and explained everything.

Suprise, you're sisters!

Evie knows you're sisters

To be honest, you could be leader of their group, and also could be considered one of the most problematic kids on the Island, but you're too laid back.

You could go out of your way to cause trouble and make life on the island even more miserable than it already is.

But that takes too much effort.

Uma and Harry have no beef with you other than the fact that you're Mal's friend.

They try to get you to join their crew almost daily.

"Nah, you guys are good at what you do without me."

You're welcome at Ursula's fish and chips any time.

Uma doesn't even find your rejection insulting, you're just. So chill?

Her crew has rules, training, errands to run, collecting protection fees, and helping her at her mother's restuarant.

No thanks

Too much work

You like Mal's mom's way of doing things, "When you're evil, doing less is doing more."

Mal's crew just kinda hangs out together and roams the island being cats basically - lounging and loitering where you're not supposed to, subtly stealing things, knocking things over, just chilling and having fun doing whatever you want.

Your kinda crew.

Storyline:

When they go to Auradon, they take you with them

You weren't invited because again - no one knows who your parents are.

But you guys are kinda a package deal.

Ben was all for it when they called him.

"The more the merrier!"

He thought it was just an early sign that this was a great idea and he was making a difference.

You dont get to say bye to your dad because it was a very last minute thing.

You just kinda disappear.

But to be honest he's used to you just not showing up for weeks or even months at a time.

It's the reason why you were able to keep who your father is a secret for so long.

You come out the limo looking as cool as a cucumber, with your arms crossed as you stand next to Mal.

"This is more than you said there would be!" Fairy Godmother is not so subtly whisper-yelling at Ben.

"They wouldn't come without her- it was all of them, or none of them."

"Well maybe that should have been a sign, Benny-boo!"

"You know we can still hear you," you say while purposely chewing your gum in an obnoxious manner, just to get on their nerves.

They're already getting on yours.

In all seriousness, you whisper a, "Just say the word and she's toast," to Mal.

Screw Audrey.

Of course they split you all up for the most part.

They're worried if they put all the VK's together in one class, it may be too much for the teachers to handle.

They're not wrong.

To be honest though, you're a handful all on your own.

Your teachers wonder how things managed to burst into flames for no apparent reason all through out class.

Some jerks thought it would be okay to pick on Carlos when Jay isn't around him.

For some reason they think that just because your a girl, you're weak?

Must be the stupid "princely boy needs to save the day" mentality that runs rampant in Auradon.

You set someone's hair on fire.

And someone else duffle bag.

This would probably be a good time to mention that the VK's already know you can conjure fire.

They just think that your parent/parents are witches and you just have an affinity for fire.

Carlos normally either sticks to you or Jay when he isn't practicing with Ben.

You dont see your fathers statue in the hall of villains when you guys break into the museum - mostly because he's in another hall completely.

There's a whole hall dedicated to God's and goddesses as well as Hercules story.

You dont bother to offer up your powers when you're escaping, you know Mal's got it covered.

Helping Mal bake love potion cookies.

While the others are doing this because their parents would have their necks, you're genuinely doing this for your father. You know all he wants is to get off the island.

Causing a small lawn fire when the Sleeping Beauty's family and Chad get in Mal's face.

Your bursted into blue flames when Maleficent crashed Ben's coronation.

Having Mal's back after she was announced to become a new Lady of the Court.

Honestly you dont know what the big deal is about Mal using her magic.

Of course you go with Evie, Ben, Carlos, and Jay when they go to the isle to get Mal.

When Evie goes to talk to Mal you go visit your father.

He's a bit upset with you because he's seen you on TV so he knows you left.

But he can understand you not wanting to be trapped on this island forever.

"I'll find a way to get you out, soon."

"Say 'hello' to Mal for me"

Of course you couldn't.

Harry flirting with you and trying to recruit you again when he snags Ben.

When the battle at the docks ensues, you dont need a sword to fight.

Like Hades with his Ember, and like Mal and her Mother with their eyes, you dont need magic to use your flames because they are a part of you.

Sure the island managed to hold you back, but you can bring just enough to the surface to make any sword you grab on to too hot to handle.

Your powers are useless against Uma when she crashes cotillion.

You know, being surrounded by water and all.

"See ya, Y/N."

"See ya, Uma."

Surprisingly hard for you to make enemies

Except for Audry you know.

Of course you are Mal's planned maid of honor for her wedding.

Evue already has a dress made for you, and it was super hard for her not to gush to Mal about it because that would have given away the suprise.

You pretending to be defenceless against Hades when you all go to pick up the next chosen VK's to come to Auradon.

You keep your flames concealed of course because this would be a terrible time to show that both you and Hades share the same flaming blue hair.

You honestly surprised no one put two and two together sooner.

Definitely not there for the meeting where Mal decides to close the barrier for good.

But you were there for when Mal told Evie.

You were also the first to figure out Mal was hiding something. She wouldn't tell you right out though, but you knew something was up because that pause to answer Evie was too long.

Going back to the isle with the others to get Hades ember after Audrey turn Mal old.

"Hey girls~" was the greeting you both got from Hades when Mal tried to grab his Ember.

"Long time no see, Y/N."

Mal just glares at him.

You sit on the table where the Ember was while you let Mal and Hades have their little musical number. Mal kinda let her anger come through.

"Hey!" You would not be dragged into this, thank you.

You went to stand next to Mal when she asked for the Ember one final time and looked at your father with a shit eating grin, because you know deep down he won't say no to his girls.

"The Ember won't work for you."

"Yes it will. We're blood."

"You're only half Hades."

"Well then I guess two halves make a whole, right?"

"Those are my girls~"

You, Mal, and Uma joining together to break Audrey's attempt to keep you guys trapped in the cabin.

Helping Evie be the peace keeper when you all battle the suits of armor in Ben's castle.

You chase after Uma and Harry when Mal breaks the news about the barrier.

Which means you didn't get turned to stone.

Helping Uma reignite the Ember so Mal can take on Audrey.

Telling Mal you want to go back to the Isle along with Uma, Harry, Gil, and Celiea.

She's heart broken because you're her sister and it was kinda supposed to be you both against the world.

You can't turn your back on the kids from the isle. Like Mal, so many of the younger ones look up to you. On top of that you also can't imagine not ever seeing your dad again.

She understands, and when Hades comes to wake up Audrey, you go back to the Isle with your father.

You finally agree to join Uma's crew when you return.

Shes happy but also let's you know shes sorry you had to leave your sister.

You're hanging out with your new crew at the Fish and Chips when it's almost time for Mal to announce that they will be closing the Barrier forever.

You, Uma, Gil, and Harry are huddles up together around the TV.

But when Mal announces they will be opening the barrier for good you all cheer and you run to go get your dad.

Yay big family reunion!

[punkpoemprose]

December 10th- A Royal Portrait

Universe: Canon (Post Frozen 2, post Anna’s coronation, but before a KA wedding)

Rating: M-E (This teeters on the mature/ explicit line, read at your own risk)

Length: 3412 Words

A/N: I was in a bit of a rut, so I stole this lovely idea (with permission) from @kristanna who continues to do God’s work on her tumblr every day. The premise here, is of course, Anna sitting for a tasteful boudoir portrait that she sends to Kristoff while they’re apart. Not giving anything away here, but this is mature to say the least. There are also feelings and I actually did research. I apologize for nothing some things!

She thinks about changing her mind. She’s behind the dressing screen, completely naked, and Kristoff is up in the mountains, and no one ever sees her naked except for him. Not even her lady’s maids. She wasn’t particularly shy in any sense, but since she’d started seeing Kristoff there was something in her head that said that the only person that should see her naked was him. Or rather, that the only person that she wanted to see her naked was him. He’d never restrict her so. In fact they’d had an unpleasant conversation about just that point before he left for the mountains to lead the ice harvest. With Elsa living in Northuldra, the need for an Ice Master and Deliverer, someone to lead the harvesters into the mountains and ensure their safety, was more important than ever.

He’d heard that some royals, Queens and Kings in particular, often took lovers, most favored men and women of the court who attended to the regents needs when their spouse was ill fit for the task or off elsewhere. He’d brought it up with shaking hands and a downcast face, unable to look her in the eye as he told her that just because she was betrothed to him, just because they were to be married and soon would be, didn’t mean that he would stop her if she decided she needed someone else.

Her heart still ached. He’d been so nervous, so heart broken at the idea, but willing to submit to the mortifying ordeal for her sake. Even after she explained to him that it was something she’d never want, he’d seemed anxious. Sometimes she worried that he’d never see himself the way she saw him. In private quiet moments, he was so self-assured, so certain of their love, but when it came to the time they spent “entertaining” the aristocracy, or when they held court at the castle, he started to doubt himself. It hurt her in ways she couldn’t begin to explain, and she thought they maybe exile would be the best treatment for whomsoever mentioned the idea of most favored to him. It was a relic from a time where Arendelle’s rulers married for power instead of for love. It was a “tradition” that had died off with her Grandfather.

But his nervousness, even after being told as such, was enough to move her to action, to make her think of an entirely different conversation she’d had just a few weeks before.

When she had been officially crowned Queen of Arendelle, despite ruling since Elsa moved to Northuldra, there had been a weeklong celebration where other royalty from far and wide had come to celebrate. Anna had found herself very much enamored by a contingent of Princesses sent from surrounding Kingdoms and other countries and continents that considered themselves allies of Arendelle.

On the eve of their returns to their own homelands, they may have all spent the evening in Anna’s parlor getting a bit too wine drunk and giggly, sharing secrets and brilliant plans and becoming all in all, great friends. Kristoff had happily surrendered Anna for that night, and she knew that it brought him great joy to see her happily making friends and catching up on many years of doing so. He’d even managed, elsewhere, to become a bit comfortable with some minor nobility of Arendelle and with a man who was betrothed to the Princess of Corona. They’d found a comradery of sorts as she was, of course, one of the giggling women in Anna’s rooms.

They’d all at one point discussed the topic of photography, specifically boudoir photos which were evidently all the rage. Some girls had rather excitedly discussed their own personal sessions, sending them to their lovers, betrothed, and husbands, while others had mentioned that they themselves preferred the idea of having a painting done, and discussed their experiences with it. Anna had, of course blaming the wine, collected the name and contact information for a painter they’d recommended rather than a photographer, finding that she rather liked the idea of the tasteful nature a portrait leant to the whole matter.

She hadn’t expected to call upon the painter however, not until after her discussion with Kristoff.

She let out the breath she’d been holding and peeked nervously around the corner of her dressing screen to where a young woman stood smiling.

“Oh it’s fine to be nervous,” she said gently, “Most people are. If it helps, I’m very discreet.”

She had a soft French accent. Anna had been fortunate that she had been in the country doing some work for other clients when she’d reached out. It had only taken a day for her to come to the castle, and that meant that while Anna had planned to wait quite some time, she’d be able to gift the painting to Kristoff sooner rather than later.

Anna sighed, “It’s not so much that I’m worried about that… it’s just… Kristoff is usually…”

The young woman nodded, “Anna… if I may call you Anna?”

She nodded at that, “I wish more people would. Not that I dislike being Queen or anything, it’s just I like being more personal…” she laughed at herself then, “Well usually not this personal.”

That earned her a small chuckle from the other woman who nodded and continued.

“Anna, I often find the people I paint become more comfortable talking about the recipient before we paint. Maybe you’d like to slip a robe on and tell me about him?”

She found that idea very much to her liking and decided that she had been given an excellent recommendation after all. She’d be writing a discreet letter of thanks to a few Princesses after her session.

She did as she suggested and walked out, laying on her couch in her robe as the young woman did some preliminary sketching.

“So what is he like?”

Anna grinned, “He’s… he’s perfect really. I’ve never met someone so brave and funny in my life. He’s just, well he’d do anything for me, and I just… he gets insecure sometimes and I knew I had to do something for him…”

The woman nodded along, “I imagine it’s difficult being the Queen and having the man you love be of common birth. Others have married like you have, and there is always much love there, but it’s hard to navigate the climate of the court, is it not?”

Anna sighed, the young woman seemed to understand. “You seem to be doing well with it yourself, the court I mean,” she mentioned, knowing that the story others had told her about the young woman implied that she too was a commoner, and that was, of course, part of the reason she was so trusted and highly in demand by many an aristocratic lady looking for a particular sort of gift for their beloved.

“Yes, though I’ve been lucky to only have to work with those I want to work with. Some people, especially those who don’t think highly of people who aren’t of noble birth, aren’t really worth trying to talk to at all.”

Anna laughed at that. She’d met the type.

“But a word of advice for your Kristoff,” she said, turning from the canvas with a smile, “The court is but another mountain to climb to reach happiness.”

Anna gave the woman a wry smile, “How did you know he climbs mountains.”

The woman laughed, “Oh I always do my research, like I said, too many rude royals in the world, I have to know for sure that the person I’m painting for is going to be fun to speak with, and your love story is,” the woman held her hand to her chest and grinned broadly, “Well I’d love to hear more. I’m sure the gigglings of a few Duchesses don’t do it justice.”

Anna shrugged off her robe, feeling confident, and lazed on the couch as the woman excitedly started scribbling with her pencil on the canvas.

“I’ll start at the beginning. I was… unfortunately engaged to someone else…”

***

Kristoff was exhausted. He placed Sven in his stable and pulled from, a pail that Anna had sent along with him, a few carrots to give the reindeer.

Anna.

He thought of her with a heavy heart. He hated how they’d left things. He hated how he often let insecurity get in the way of their relationship. He loved her, and she loved him, and he knew in his heart of hearts that they would only ever want one another. She’d never so much as looked at another person with the love she showed him, and he’d heard a nasty whisper in court and completely lost sight of it. The truth of the matter was that Anna wanted to marry him, the people of Arendelle and most of its aristocracy wanted her to marry him as well. They were after all, marrying for love, but there were many who saw the other potential benefits of their union and they were a fairly well-liked couple as far as all went. Many were pleased that Arendelle’s new Queen was marrying for love like her father had before her, continuing the fairly new tradition of Arendelle’s monarchs wedding commoners for love instead of other aristocracy for political gain.

He’d been listening to the wrong voices, and it broke his heart to think that he’d upset Anna as a result. If it weren’t for the fact that he’d never be able to make it back to the capitol and back before he needed to be out on the ice in the morning to lead the harvesters in their work, he’d hitch up Sven again and head back home, hell he’d even walk there, if only to tell Anna that he was sorry for not believing in her the way he should have.

When he walked from the stable and found, carefully placed directly in front of the doorway into his cabin, a wooden crate.

He lifted it from the ground and brought it in with him, noting the horse prints in the snow in front of his cabin, but also seeing that Anna’s horse Kjekk was nowhere to be found, he realized that while it could only be from her, she must have sent it with a courier or guard to be deposited on his doorstep. He was both grateful to have something from her, and sad to see that she’d sent something along to him when he should have sent an apology to her. If only he could call the wind spirit to him the way Anna and Elsa could call it to themselves and send letters back and forth. He would love to send her even the simplest sorry.

He set to making himself something to eat before opening it. He wanted to know what she’d sent along, but also felt that he needed to punish himself by waiting before he was given the joy of opening something, she’d given him. Anna was too kind, always. She was feisty and opinionated and said what she thought, but she was also forgiving and compassionate, and he was certain that she’d taken what he’d said to heart in a way that made him feel like breaking.

He managed to down some flavorless mush of porridge and realized, just how used to palace cooking he’d become. He’d never complain about any food, knowing what it was like for those who had too little to eat, but also it was one more reason he longed to return home. He wanted to tell Anna that he loved her and that he trusted her and that he knew that what they had was real, and then he wanted to stare lovingly into her eyes while he ate something that tasted better than unflavored porridge. It was, of course in order of priority, though he thought that maybe he could do both at the same time if he just tasted her. She did love having his mouth on her.

He set the bowl down in annoyance when he felt his cock jump at the thought. He was supposed to be feeling bad about what he’d done, not horny.

He huffed and stood, moving towards the box she’d sent along, wishing again, that he’d not been so foolish and had taken the time to love her like she deserved before he left. The week could not possibly come to an end soon enough for him.

The lid had not been nailed onto the crate, which he was grateful for as he was sore and tired and didn’t have the energy to go and find something to break the seal with. He pulled it open carefully, the wood only giving a slight resistance to his efforts due to it being a bit damp from the snow.

Once he had it open, he smiled softly, seeing that there was something wrapped in brown paper, about the size of a book, and that with it there was a letter. She often read to him, and him to her. He thought that perhaps the wrapped parcel was a copy of whatever book she was reading while he was away, for him to enjoy as she did.

It was thoughtful.

He picked up the letter first, breaking the wax seal with a smile as he saw that she had pressed a small flower into it. Anna was excellent with details and small gestures in a way he found amazing. He was not great at planning out romantic gestures, his many failed proposal attempts highlighting that well enough.

She’d sprayed the letter with her perfume. As soon as he opened the envelope it filled the air around him. She’d once told him it was made from rose and bergamot, but to him it just smelled like Anna, and as he pulled the letter from its envelope and found himself inhaling the smell of her, reading her handwriting, his manhood decided that despite his exhaustion it was not giving him a break.

Kristoff, my love,

I miss you terribly. My bed was cold last night without you and without the promise of you not so surreptitiously sneaking into it tonight, I find my heart, along with…other parts of myself… aching for you.

Kristoff paused for a moment closing his eyes. He could scarcely believe that Anna had sent him something so raunchy. Though if he was being truthful it wasn’t so much that he thought that she was incapable of writing such a thing as he was surprised, she’d entrusted it with someone instead of simply arriving unannounced and telling him about it herself. She used to do such things, but her inability to simply take off and follow him without warning was the one downside of her new position as Queen.

He opened his eyes and looked back to the letter.

I’ve sent you a small gift, I hope you enjoy it as much in the receiving as I did in the sending.

Love always,

Your Anna

P.S. Yours and only ever yours.

He smoothed his fingers over her signature, his heart leaping at her postscript. She was impossibly perfect.

She was sometimes insecure too, mostly around points of change, but he did his best to always help her through. That she was doing the same for him, was enough to make his heart skip a beat. He still wasn’t sure of what he’d done to deserve her.

When he set the letter down and lifted the brown paper package from the box, he was surprised to feel that it had much less heft than a book normally did. He found quickly too, pressing the paper, that the back was hollow under his hand.

He undid the twine securing the package and found that written on the brown paper was again, an echo of her letter “Yours and only ever yours”. It made him even more curious, and while he had many thoughts about what it might be, he had never expected what the removal of the paper revealed.

He cursed quietly under his breathe as he gazed upon what he now realized was an unframed canvas. It was no larger than a book, and the amount of detail and expression it contained was unparalleled to anything else he’d ever seen, even in a photograph.

It was a painting of Anna, smiling a bit shyly, reclined on the couch in her bedroom. She was rendered splendidly, the artist perfectly picking up upon the little blush on her cheeks, the half-lidded look through the thickness of her lashes, the slight shine on her lips.

The fact that in the painting she was completely naked, her freckles meticulously added with the tiniest detail, was not lost on him. He knew each of those freckles well, and not a single one was out of place. He’d touched those freckles, counted them, committed them to memory and caressed and kissed and licked each and every one of them in the process of loving Anna.

His heart raced. She’d sent him a beautifully painted portrait of her entirely naked body.

His fingers brushed against the surface of the canvas. She’d posed for it. It wasn’t a last second thought to send him a novel or snack or piece of clothing he’d left behind. She’d sat and posed nude for a painting with the express intention to send it to him.

His and only ever his.

He leaned the beautiful thing on the box it came in and couldn’t help himself but to undo the ties of his trousers, sitting back in one of his rough kitchen chairs as he took himself in hand and stared at the perfectly captured details of her body.

The air around him smelled of her as he ran his hand up and down his shaft. This was what she wanted, and he knew it. She was almost certainly in her bed, laying on the side where he slept, touching herself to the thought of him.

He groaned into the silence of his cabin, “Anna!”

What he wouldn’t give for her to climb out of that painting. It was beautiful, a masterful recreation of her every curve, of the slight slope of her breasts, the blush on her cheeks that extended down her chest. It was all so perfectly Anna, but he would give anything for her to be there, for her to bend over his table and let him show her just how sorry he was for ever thinking for a moment that she’d want anyone but him.

He’d been a fool, but she had been wicked and kind in her forgiveness.

His palm pumped faster and harder as he thought of her touching herself for him, as he thought about her posing for that painting for him, as he fantasized about having her right there bent over the table.

When he came, he closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of her, letting himself forget, if only for a moment, that he wasn’t at home with her, warm and snuggled at his side.

He was going to make love to her when he got back. She deserved more than a quick bout of apology sex. He was going to kiss every freckle again, double checking that portrait for accuracy. He was going to show her why he knew that he could be secure in the fact that she never wanted anyone other than him, and he was going to show her with his hands, with his mouth, and with his cock until she looked as absolutely debauched as he felt.

He was a mess, and as he opened his eyes, gazing upon the portrait, he knew that he owed Anna all that and more as a proper thank you. He’d put it back in it’s box in the morning and keep it with loving care under his bed until the next occasion presented itself that he’d be back.

The week absolutely could not pass quickly enough for him. As he straightened and cleaned himself, he thought again of her posing for that portrait, just for him. His sweet Anna bare and blushing, likely there for hours, just to give him something special.

This time his heart leapt at the thought. He laid himself in his bed and blew out his lantern, warm with the thoughts of her love, and how he would show her his appreciation.

[lettalady]

November Notes & Nothings - Boston

[ I’ve had a little something I’ve been fiddling with regarding Chris Evans, mostly because it’s fun to send friends things and say - *hey does this make you grin or groan?* - but also it’s hella fun to come up with odd scenarios that make me giggle...  like a character that winds up meeting him and not recognizing him because her brain is so focused elsewhere (which ultimately leads to a gag most of the other characters are in on: seeing how long it takes her to recognize him). Also er, probably because it makes me giggle, I’ve no idea how to crop a segment out of it so... a November Note that’s a little longer for your reading pleasure ]

Imagine your friends are getting married. The big day is imminent and its all hands to get everything accomplished before wedding bells will ring. Her sister and his brother claimed the coveted titles of Maid of Honor & Best Man, respectively, but also have been on airport duty as the final countdown begins and relatives from all over arrive. As such you’re doing all you can to help them out – and help to relieve some of the stress load – by running as many of the errands as you can. Without a car it’s slightly tricky (you live and work close enough that public transport makes more sense to avoid the additional hassle of payments associated with a vehicle). You’re doing all you can via taxi, train, or ride sharing services.

With the MOH on relative retrieval, you’ve also volunteered to be the point of contact should anybody in the wedding party have any questions. Directions, with a little over two years in Boston under your belt you’re pretty confident you can get them from point A to point B – and dining recommendations, which you’re certain you can help with – are easy enough to handle as you’re tracking down altered dresses, picking up floral arrangements, and the like.

 + Status? +

You eye the text from the bride, your friend Amy, and respond back: ~ Great! Going down the list. ♫ checking it twice ♫ ~ Her reply comes quickly: + Honey you're not Santa +

It makes you grin, tapping out a follow-up: ~ No I'm more important ~

 At least, you felt important, earlier. But after an hour of juggling the bags hanging off of you, you have to wonder just what you were thinking when you volunteered to be one of the runners when you knew perfectly well you didn’t have a car. Maybe a rental wasn’t out of the question. Your aching arms certainly would appreciate not having the handles of assorted bags cutting into your skin.

It’s as you’re picking up the groomsmen’s tuxes that you get another text from Amy, letting you know that her soon-to-be-husband’s best friend miraculously was able to make it back to town for the wedding and since he rented a car he’s been nominated to help you return to Command Central faster.

 + actually he volunteered, because he’s a good man. SHOULD have been the Best Man but he was worried he wouldn’t make it back and … that’s another story. but this way you guys can get back here faster and hang with us at the house for a while! +

 When an unfamiliar number pops up on your screen a few minutes later you glance at the incoming message, apparently from the guy sent to help you out – a photo of the street corner, accompanied by one word of text: hey.

Hey. Cause that’s super helpful. Plus – you squint at the screen of your phone – is that street corner even close? It’s maybe… ok, maybe three blocks away. You swipe over to send him your exact location and then return to the task of collecting the tuxes. When the chime to the shop sounds you don’t even pause to check if it could be your ‘helper’ arriving, you just finish signing the slip and start to situate the garment bags in your arms.

A quiet commotion drags your attention away from the problem of how, exactly, to pick up the bags you’d set on the floor at your feet now that you’ve got the garment bags to contend with. A guy is standing in the doorway – a looker, not to put too fine a point on it – and is making a show of looking around as he plucks his sunglasses off his face and hooks them on the collar of his slightly-too-tight-but-perfect-for-showing-off-his-muscle-definition shirt. The commotion is the group of guys closer to the door than you that are clearly cheering the late arrival of the last member of their pack.

He takes in the store and all the racks of formal wear, only giving the group a small wave before continuing his perusal of the space. His gaze slips over you and then slides back for a brief appraisal before moving on again, giving you ample time for your own meandering appreciation of him.

Then his focus returns to you and he tips his chin up in greeting. Not the final member of the rowdy pack of groomsmen also in the shop, then. This must be the guy, the best friend of the groom, here to help. You were the one holding all the bags. Clearly you’re the one he’s been sent to find.

“Sorry.” He grins through his apology, the humor in his face slightly catching, “Took a minute to find a place to park.”

He masks it well, but you hear the slightest inflection that identifies him as a native Bostonian. It may be subdued, but you suspect it grows stronger when he’s home again. The too-good-looking-for-words man is here to help you. With things. So many things other than the errands that you’re meant to be running.

“Hey,” he performs a quick double-step to close the final distance between the pair of you, reaching out as he does so. “I’m Chris…”  

You’re still caught in the loop of assessing him. Maybe he’s not too-good-looking-for-words? He’s got a little more scruff that you usually like, for starters. His hair a little long, his beard a little wild. There’s still this air to him of ‘I know I can get away with flirting with anything that moves’ despite it all. Is it the shirt, and the muscles that are clearly for the benefit of others? Or maybe the way his pants perfectly outline his –

“Packages! Here you go.” You shake yourself, forcing your eyes up as you shove the garment bags into his hands, “Thank you. So much. For helping out.”

“My. Pleasure?”

You ignore the odd expression on his face, ducking back down to pick up the other bags by your feet. Those few bags scooped up you start towards the door, “I’ve gotten the placards and programs that Amy had them run off for late RSVPs, and the um…”

He’s quick, somehow beating you to the door even though you’re pretty sure you left him in your wake, that you left him standing beside the racks of pants in your haste to get your brain on a safer track. Since Chris sent you the photo of the street corner, presumably close to where he parked, you know which direction to turn once the pair of you are out on the sidewalk. Chris has the garment bags containing the altered tuxes for the groomsmen slung over his shoulder.  Crowded as it is, he draws close, almost bounding along beside you, “So, what’s left on our list?”

That’s a safe enough topic. You consider all that you’ve accomplished before his arrival, glancing down at the bags in your hands, “Well, um…. Oop!” The pair of you have to part to battle your way through a larger group of people walking in the opposite direction. The flow of foot traffic keeps you divided on opposite sides of the sidewalk for the length of the block.

When you stop at the corner, waiting for the light to change, Chris shimmies through the crowd to get to your side again and finally hear your response to his question. He’s grinning when he makes it to you, the pair of you following the signal and stepping off the sidewalk to cross the street, “Ok. Let’s try that again. Where are we headed next?”

“Your car, for starters.” You laugh, lifting the bags that are weighing your arms down. “We need to go by and confirm the changes to the planned meal for the rehearsal dinner tomorrow with the caterers, make sure they have an up-to-date head count as well, and then pick up the bouquets and boutonnieres for the wedding party. The florist said they’d deliver the centerpieces for the tables and her bouquet the morning of the big day.”

You start to slow down, wondering if he parked on this side of the intersection or the other. Are the pair of you approaching his rental? Do you still have another block to go?

Chris tips his head slightly to the side, “Isn’t that cutting it a bit close?”

“They offered to deliver them to the hotel tomorrow with the instruction to keep them in the fridge but...” You shrug at him, taking the opportunity to re-situate how many bags you’re holding in each hand. The paper used for the programs and placards was gorgeous, yes, but heavy too. “But Amy said she didn’t want to chance them looking wilted… Although they’ll probably make them up tomorrow and store ‘em in their shop, honestly. Same difference.”

“Just don’t point out that detail to Amy?”

You smirk at him and the accuracy of that thought. “Exactly.”

Before you have the chance to fidget and adjust the bags again, he holds out his hand, “Here. Hand some over. We’ve got another half a block to go.” The fact that you get a reprieve from two of the bags barely keeps you from suppressing a groan. He eyes the bags you still carry, then takes stock of all he’s got, “We… should be able to fit it all in the back. ‘N’ hang-up the suits, of course.”

His hesitation gives you pause, “Of course.” You wait, taking a few steps before asking a follow-up question, wanting to know what type of vehicle to be on the lookout for, “What did you rent, anyway?” You half expect him to tell you he got the biggest SUV on the lot. Maybe a truck. If you’re getting an accurate read on him that would certainly fit his personality type.

But then why would he be worrying over fitting everything in the vehicle?

“A Mustang.”

You check just to see if he’s messing with you, but he appears to be entirely serious. But then, how would he have known that he would be roped into running wedding errands? His plan was probably just to come and celebrate with Amy and Connor.

When he veers off down a side street you follow suit, only to have him stop abruptly beside a white two-door coup. Now you understand his concern. You’re tempted to dig your phone out and text Amy one word: Seriously?!

But that would require an extra set of hands. As it stands the text to your friend will have to wait, at least until Chris gets the car unlocked and you offload the bags into the trunk. He pauses to tap at the handle of the passenger’s side door, unlocking the vehicle, before stepping around to the rear of the car to access the trunk.

“I suppose I should be thankful it’s not a convertible.”

Your muttered comment wasn’t exactly meant to be aloud, but it draws a laugh out of him. “They didn’t have any on the lot. But they’re supposed to have decent trunk space in those, too.”

You follow him around to the back of the car rather than muddle around, trying to figure out how to get into the passenger’s seat without dropping or squishing any of the bags.

Best. Decision. Ever.

This way you are graced with a fantastic scene playing out: Chris pauses at the trunk, wiggles slightly, and then pops one leg up so that he can balance one of the heavier bags on his thigh. He bends quickly to use the hand he just freed up to pop the trunk open, hardly wobbling as he does so. You quirk your eyebrows up in surprise, and in appreciation of the way his khakis are molded to his leg, which is exactly when he realizes that you’ve followed him.

He may be wearing his sunglasses again, but the sun makes the darkened lenses all-but-translucent. You get a clear display of how delighted he is that he caught you staring.

Oh hell. Did you say best decision ever? Scratch that. Make that worst. Worst decision ever.

“Good balance. Ah… Sorry. Um. Here.” Apologetic, you shove the bags into his hands as he turns towards you. You need a distraction, “Amy says you’re Connor’s best friend? How did you guys meet?”

He offers a stifled shrug, his arms loaded down with the bags you’d just fostered off on him, replying as he turns to reposition everything in the trunk. “We go way back. Grade-school, probably. Probably recess? Out being — ” he ducks up from putzing with things in the trunk, following your progress as you dismount the curb and slide into the passenger’s seat of the car. He half-frowns as he bends and rearranges the way the garment bag sits overtop of all the others, deep in thought, “ — the little terrors that we were, and like, just gravitated to one another I think.”

“Mm. Combine and amplify the mayhem?”

“Something like that.”

You check which of the two locations is closer, caterer or florist, and then swipe the app aside to tap out a quick message to Amy:

~ Tuxes & programs retrieved. Yes I checked for spelling errors ~

+ K. What do you think?? +

~ You found the right seamstress, definitely. ~ ~ & even considering the rush job they did a great job with the printing etc ~

+ Of HIM you dunce +

~ I hate you & myself for being slightly attracted to that hot mess of a man ~

+ lol +

You drop your phone into your lap when Chris settles in beside you and starts the car, his eyes dipping to the device before he cocks an eyebrow at you, “More errands added to the list or status check?”

“Status check. Florist first, or caterer?”

“You’ve got the list, wedding buddy. You point the way.”

The pair of you stare at each other for a moment before you narrow your eyes at him, “We’re going to sit here until I tell you which one first, aren’t we.”

“Glad you’ve accepted that.”

You roll your eyes and point as you sigh out the answer he’s looking for, “Caterer. Give me a minute and I’ll pull up the directions.”

He waits for your navigation app to start reciting directions, not pulling out into traffic just yet. While he idles the car, waiting on you, he asks, “What about you?”

“What about me, what?”

“Classic wedding question. C’mon.” In your peripheral vision you see him motion to himself before waving his hand towards you, “Friend of the groom....”

You answer as your phone finally pulls up the directions, “Friend of the bride, I suppose. Though I met them both at the same time.” The memory stirs: the bar, the drinking, the eventual horrible, horrible singing — “Karaoke night.”

“Oh.”

He sounds far too intrigued. You regret revealing that detail immediately.

“No. Whatever you’re thinking. No. Get it right outta your head.”

He glances aside quickly before focusing on the traffic again, his look almost angelic. Almost. “What?” He laughs, “That was a noise of acknowledgement.”

“Right. And I’m a duck.”

He takes his time giving you another once-over, just like he had upon walking into the tailor’s, the traffic allowing him ample opportunity. “A duck, huh.”  He waits till his eyes hit your face again before continuing, his humor at your choice of words evident, “I must be ‘quakers’ to think you’re cute, then.”

The giggle bubbles up from within you, immediately followed by a groan. “Wow, Chris.”

“I know.” He flattens his hand out over the top of the steering wheel, pointing his fingers momentarily towards the road before resuming his grip, “I know. That was a bad one.”

“So very bad. A little funny.” You offer him a caveat as a saving grace, “But so bad.” Another giggle escapes, and you wipe a tear from the corner of your eye, noting that his cheeks and a growing portion of his face have tinted pink. “Erm, so what do you do when you’re not shepherding carless damsels around the city?”

He swallows, seemingly grateful for the redirect when he glances away from the road to look at you for a moment. He tips his eyebrows up, though he doesn’t reply until his attention is back on navigating through the traffic, “Most recently – I was pretending to spearfish.”

It draws another laugh out of you, “Spearfish?”

“Yea,” he halfway mimes as he speaks, one hand always on the wheel, “you use a harpoon type thing and –” he pauses when he risks another glance your way to find you giving him a quizzical look. “—I wasn’t very good.”

“Ah… huh.” You continue to squint at him, unsure if the reassurance that he wasn’t very good with the harpoon-type-thing is supposed to instill confidence, or if he’s just flat out avoiding giving you a straight answer.

“What?” he chuckles.

“I’m trying to figure out if you’re having me on again.”

“No.” He shakes his head, adopting a faux solemn manner, “Scout’s Honor.”

Again he’s got you rolling your eyes and shaking your head. You respond lightly, waving your hand at him, “Ok. Pretending to spearfish. You could just say that it’s something boring, like banking. Don’t have to make something up.”

“I dunno.” He hems, “Not sure I’d buy it if I told me I was a banker.”

“But spearfishing, clearly. Definitely buy that.”

He snorts, and then straightens up in the drivers seat slightly. “Oh! I actually know a few banking jokes.”

“Ok. Hit me.”

He closes his right hand into a fist and presses the knuckle of his index finger to his mouth, exaggerating the clearing of his throat before beginning, “What do you call the new girl at the bank?” He barely waits a beat and then delivers the punchline, darting his focus over to check your reaction, “The Nutella.”

Again, there’s that inflection to his words reminding you that he grew up here. Does it get more pronounced if he’s hamming it up, or the longer he spends back in Boston? Shoving the questions to the back of your mind again you raise your eyebrows at him, “Way to sell that one. Didn’t even let me guess.”

“Everybody’s a critic. Tell me a joke, then,” he laughs, “with proper timing.”

You press your fingers to your forehead, thinking. “Ok. Um… What do you call a gossiping bank employee?”

Chris tilts his head, a light frown appearing on his face. “Er….”

Ultimately, he shrugs in response to prompt you to continue and you giggle, “A story-teller.”

The pair of you spend the next twenty minutes of the drive trying to out-do (or out-groan) one another with bad banking jokes, and horrible puns. As you start to run out of puns you fall back on pick-up lines and one-liners. The result is that the pair of you end up falling away from the innocent, horrible jokes into the realm of the raunchy, loving every minute of it.  

“Ok, ok.” He ends up conceding, “I’m calling it, unless you want to switch to another profession. I’m pretty tapped out on bank jokes.” He side-eyes you, “Though something tells me you have a few more.”

“Maybe.” It’s entirely too fun making him laugh, or squirm, or tip his eyebrows up in surprise. His beard and longer, wind mussed hair, don’t hide half as much of his expression as you initially thought. Very emotive, this one. You now have a few more goals added to your mental list for the remainder of the weekend: tease him mercilessly and make him laugh as much as possible. You offer a half-shrug, “I’ll happily be declared the winner.”

“Oh… It was a competition.”

There’s something delightfully dangerous in his tone.

“Of course,” you nod, “And to the victor go the spoils.”

He’s quiet for a moment, thrumming his fingers on the gear shift as he waits to merge into the other lane. Traffic makes the move difficult, that and the fact that he’s refusing to use his blinker. He only manages to get halfway into the lane before speaking again. “Dinner?”

What? You blink, cocking an eyebrow at him, “What?”

“Or drinks.” He shakes his head, scowling at the car that seems to be getting a little too close to the rental, before screwing up his face again and giving you a toothy grin, “I know. Shots when we all go out tonight. On me. And I’ll drink two to every one of yours.”

“Is this you trying to get blitzed, or thinking you need to sweeten the pot?”

“Which one of those gets you to say yes?”

It’s so tempting to immediately say yes – but then it’s also tempting to see if he’ll keep upping the ante… There’s also the question of the wisdom of saying yes to him, of continuing to flirt with this all-but-stranger your friends sent to help speed along the errands you were running for them. The moment for wondering if it was wise or not passed you by long ago.

“You know,” you hem, stalling answering him outright, “you could severely be underestimating my tolerance levels.”

“Or maybe you’re underestimating mine. I’ll have you know I’m the drinking game champion.”

“Now that? That I believe.” You’re really just giving him a hard time. It’s not that anything he’s said to you has the air of a lie to it – things outside the realm of normality, the realm of possibility, but no outright lies.

Your words net you a sharp look from him, one eyebrow cocked. “Back to that, huh. Scout’s honor,” he repeats, “Spearfishing. Anyway, what do you do?”

“When I’m not rescuing carless damsels, you mean?”

He snorts, failing to keep from loosing a chuckle. “You too, huh?”

Making him laugh is quickly becoming a favorite thing. It’ll be even better when you don’t have to worry so much about distracting the person driving the vehicle. You emit a long faux-put-upon sigh, “Full time job, some days.”

Your quip is rewarded with a devilish, and delicious, grin. His voice drops slightly as he glances over at the next red light, clearly curious. “Seriously, though.”

“Hmm, so Amy and Connor nominated you for driving duty – ”

“Assigned a wedding buddy.” He corrects, following the directions of the navigation, turning before pulling up to the curb for the caterer’s building.

“And didn’t give you any details?” You wait till he shakes his head, putting the car into park. It’s perfect. You unbuckle your seat belt and wink at him over your shoulder before opening your car door, “I’m in banking.”

He doesn’t seem quite sure if he should laugh or not. He sputters, flushing scarlet as he tries to figure out how to respond. “You- you’re… but you said?? We just spent the better part of the ride making fun of…”

You talk over the rest of his sentence. Suppressing a giggle, you wiggle your fingers at him and half-sing, “♫ I’ll be back in a minute. ♫”

The moment you’ve turned your back, walking up to the door of the caterer’s building, you’re texting Amy. You were doing just fine running errands on your own before being assigned a wedding buddy. Wedding buddy! Look. He’s already got you agreeing with the notion. Now there’s flirting and laughter and... Someone must pay for this.

[crop-bound]

🌸

                    They’re leaving; a flood of designers, models, photographers, and their loved ones begin the drunk and noisy descent from the pedestals their host had so graciously provided to the still busy streets of Zuzu. Two AM approaches as the celebration lays its head to rest, yet its hostess stands stark as she grasps every hand offered firmly, nodding to affirm and express gratitude to her guests as if she truly cared about their presence within her home. The evening had drained her of the energy she had for the show, but she makes sure not to show any sense of humanity in her visage as she stares down each and every guest with a golden gaze that could challenge any god. 

          It softens though, the stone that woman casts across her features, as she thanks the last guest — a man who she’s worked with closely. He leans in and she has to crouch to meet his height, his hand shielding his lips and her ear from a bottle green stare that dips in and out of focus as a wine glass half full catches its attention. He thanks his host, hand dropping to meet both of hers and hold them tightly, just as she did to the rest of the party, smiles, and takes his leave with a tipsy sort of grace as a glossy black coat is tossed over his shoulder. Silver hair falls into her face, and she leaves it there. There are no more guests to impress, no persona to uphold before an audience — just her, her brother, and one straggler. 

        Straggler is a rude way to put it she tells herself, shoulders dropping to rid herself of any statuesque tension. She offered to let her stay, just for the night, but she doubts that the other will allow herself to stay for the whole duration. The wine glass had been emptied during their exchange, one of many that were brought to the young woman’s lips as she drank in silence. Ranit — reaching with one hand to undo the braided bun that held an ocean of hair above her head, and the other taking a bottle of red wine from a glass table — makes herself known to the other just by clearing her throat. It seems to ring throughout the room — she always had a strange way with noise, gaining anyone’s attention with an alarming yet composed amount of volume. It works, it always does, and Ranit can’t help but to crack the smallest of smile into the marble that was her visage as the other jumps, juggling her empty glass between two startled and drunken hands as soft curses escaped once glossed lips. 

Ranit raises the bottle as she approaches the startled woman, wiggling it slightly to show that there was still liquid in it, ❝There’s always more, Chérie — help yourself.❞        Now, Chérie was a sacred name only kept between three people  — anyone else who replaced Cherry’s name with this affectionate term would be turned down immediately by one of the three. It happened earlier in the evening in fact; an older woman overheard an exchange between Cherry and Ranit’s brother, thought the nickname cute and elegant, and tried it out herself on the younger one. ❝That’s not for you to use,❞ His tone was like if honey could turn; so sweet and sickening yet bitter,  ❝Find another chérie, madame.❞ He had coined the name for Cherry, and though it lacked originality and dripped of appropriation, the three hadn’t cared. She was their Chérie, and they were the only ones who could call her that.         She wasn’t hesitant with the bottle, gaze drifting up towards Ranit as she sheepishly pries the cork out with the tips of her fingers.  ❝...Thank you — ❞ ❝Do you need anything? A maid has laid out a lounge robe for you  — it’s one of mine, so it shouldn’t reek of...❞ The corner of Ranit’s mouth twists  — Cherry could’ve sworn it had, but between the drunken blur and Ranit’s general demeanor, it was impossible to tell. Still, the taller woman sighed, she could hear it  — pointed like an arrow out the open balcony door to an even taller figure, though he was hunched over the railing. He flinched; he, unlike his sister, lacked such intense emotional and physical discipline, and he unlike his sister dared to smile as he looked over his shoulder at the other two. ❝Reek of what, darling? Of grandeur? Of — ❞ ❝Of nicotine,❞ Another arrow from her spitting tone, Cherry is the one to finch as it narrowly misses her and lands between Donn’s shoulders. He brushes it off with a smooth chuckle; attacks following the first are never as strong, and Ranit collects herself with a deep inhale, hawk-like stare shooting itself back at Cherry, who finches again. She can’t help it. Though the model was younger than Cherry by four years, she stood 6 inches taller and carried herself with the disposition of royalty  — and her voice always commanded respect.          Donn was different; he didn’t command respect, never had. Respect was never involved with Donn, he was too confident and self-involved for it. He was open to poking fun at his sister, to being a man who knows full well what he was doing as he poked an already provoked bear and speak down to it with a tone so rich with honey it made one sick. Cherry’s gaze follows Ranit’s, like green grass reaching for the sun, and her lips tighten as it falls on Donn.        It’s brief, Ranit interrupts the other’s train of thought with another sharp inhale that’s contrasted by the softest: ❝Well, Chérie, I’ll be retiring for the night,❞ And she turns towards a spiraling marble staircase, heels that only empathized her height clicking with each step,  ❝If you need anything, please let me know.❞ It’s almost dreamy the way the model speaks, and Cherry raises the bottle of wine as a sign of thanks as she smiles, ❝Goodnight, dear — ❞ She’s interrupted by her own stagger, the gentle laughter of her friend washing over her.        The bottle is cold, it feels nice against her lips as she takes a swig of chilled wine. It’s her favorite; much to expensive for her to be drinking like this, but it brings her peace in this moment as she finds herself drifting towards the balcony as well. Cold air, cold wine, her mind is filled with thoughts of chill and ice and blue and — Joja. It brings a sour taste to her mouth - or is it the smoke that assaults her senses once she reaches the railing where Donn stands? ❝Don’t stand downwind,❞ There’s still that sweetness to his tone, but it’s curt, a cigarette almost burnt out is held gingerly between his teeth as he takes Cherry by the shoulder and shuffles her to the other side. She collides with his arm — far too short to meet his shoulder — and he laughs at her, ❝Unless you miss your execs breathing it in your face.❞ He’s met with silence as Cherry frowns at him before taking another large drink from the bottle, not breaking eye contact with the spindly man. He laughs again, taking the tab from his lips and breathing out the smoke. She’s halfway done with what remain of the wine before daring to speak to him again. ❝Did Ranit tell you...?❞ ❝Nah, Dave did,❞         A moment of silence washes over them; Donn takes a deep drag of his cigarette, now almost completely done with it, and pries his silver stare away from Cherry.  ❝Tell me about it. What happened, your plans,❞ He tries to remove any sense of empathy from his voice, but the honey that dripped from his tone was gentle, catching the teary eyed Cherry’s own gaze, ❝You never liked that job anyway.❞ ❝...W-was it that obvious?❞ ❝Painfully so. What finally broke your back, camel?❞      Another wave of silence, but she’s relaxed significantly now. He knew of her struggle — the years of strife and suffering she endured to each her position, never directly from her, and yet... She threw it all away.  She shuffles from one foot to the other, adjusting her balance while still holding tightly to the bottle, gaze dropping to the remaining wine, now warm, ❝...There was a mining incident. They refused my proposal, I’m tired of working for corporate.❞ ❝I thought corporate was your goal — ❞ ❝It was,❞ Almost too quick to retort, Cherry presses her forehead against the balcony railing and groans, causing a tight chuckle to escape Donn, ❝It was but... I don’t — I don’t know anymore,❞ She’s leaning into the railing a little too deeply; he’s half tempted to take her by the straps of her dress and pull her back, but instead decides to pat her shoulder instead, just enough to wake her up,  ❝I found a letter in my desk. I don’t know. I don’t know what to do with it.❞ ❝I’m sure you’ll figure it out.❞ ❝I mean, of course I can. I already have. I could leave tonight to the middle of nowhere, rebuild a farm, escape the city...❞ She sighs as if it weren’t achievable, and this ignites something in the pit of Donn’s stomach. He moves to quickly for her to register; a swift flick of his wrist as he hovers over her hand results in the hot ash of his cigarette to burn themselves into freckled flesh. It was an angry and impulsive action, and he takes a long stride back as Cherry drops the bottle over the balcony and cries in pain. He speaks before she can,  ❝You already know what you want. You’d be an idiot to not act.❞ ❝You didn’t have to burn me!❞ She’s half crying and laughing in shock, stare flitting from over the balcony to Donn,  ❝I dropped the wine! I can’t just leave everything — there’s pedestrians down there, Donn!❞   ❝They’ll move,❞ Curt in the way he spoke, Donn drops the crumpled cigarette over the edge of the balcony before pressing his hands together, pointing at Cherry, ❝Chérie, if you don’t act now. You never will. The chérie I know has enough sense to know a good opportunity when she sees one. You knew it was time to leave that shit hole when you quit, you know you have an opportunity,❞ He extends his reach and pulls Cherry by her shoulders once more, holding tightly,  ❝The Cherry Hayden I know is no fool; if I had your instinct and that letter, I would leave this all behind.❞ ❝You would?❞ ❝No. My hands are too soft for farm work. That’s not the point,❞ The exasperation in his tone is tangible as he presses his forehead against her’s, ❝Cherry, if I were to start anew...❞ He doesn’t have to finish his sentence; she’s already taking a step back, hands brushing against his, done with the conversation. She’s at her full height now, brows furrowed with an understanding of what he had yet to say; the sudden intimacy already says volumes.           There’s a tightness in her throat that she can’t get rid of; Donn returns to his smoking spot right in the middle of the balcony railing and pulls a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, nearly empty, retrieving one as he stares Cherry down.  ❝...You didn’t have to burn me.❞ ❝I know, but I wanted to,❞ He finally turns away, taking a lighter from his suit pocket and flicking it twice before lighting the cigarette between his teeth, ❝Go to bed, I’ll call your cab in the morning.❞   

[ill-skillsgard]

Smoke & Money, Part 3 - Bill Skarsgård

Title: Smoke & Money

Warning: 100% NSFW, some drug use, swearing, sex/fetish/kink type situations

Description: A young sex worker gets tangled in the dangerous web of a wealthy entrepreneur whose tastes push her past all of her known limits.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

There was this guy that I met and he was interested in me. I could tell immediately. He had a fast car and an expensive suit on. He was a little on the shorter side with a buzz cut to hide his receding hairline and a chin-strap to make up for it. By the looks of him, he may have been of Italian descent. Not that I cared all that much when he opened his wallet and showed me a stack of hundreds. He wanted to go out for a night with me as his date. At first, he offered me five hundred but I told him to double it for the night if I was acting as a date. He wanted the full escort services. It had been a long time since I had gone clubbing and even longer since I had escorted. Some guys wanted to strut around like peacocks and not just get their dicks sucked in a parked car. So whatever, I thought, I'll go to a fancy club with this guy and have my drinks paid for and come away with another grand in my pocket, at the very least. Usually, these types wanted to stay up all night hauling rails of cocaine and trying to balance it out by choking down male performance enhancers that you could buy at sex shops. Again, whatever. As long as I got paid. I wasn't personally a fan of getting all wigged out on drugs normally but I did like a drink here and there and I could be a fun time, even without narcotics. I also liked to get dolled up so the whole club scenario felt like a breath of fresh air to me.

As I stood in front of my mirror doing my make up I couldn't help but think about Mr. Skarsgard. I hated that I referred to him like that but I still didn't know his first name and by the way he had growled at me the last time, I was afraid to ever speak out of line with him. He looked so young but he carried himself so proudly that it was hard to pinpoint his age. The plague of questions still swirled in my gut once in a while. If he was so rich and so handsome, why was he paying women to be his little service maids? The man was an enigma to me, so dark and quiet, like the beginning of a storm, when the world seems to stand perfectly still inside a din of impending chaos. What was to come? I could not be sure. All I could do was watch the skies.

The club we went to was obnoxiously upscale in decor but noticeably Spring Break in clientèle. Even though the men were suited and the women all wore stilettos, they were all yelling and dancing and drinking and many pairs of eyes were blown-out dilated. I accompanied my John to different corners and levels of the clubs, drink in hand, swagger in my step and alertness that I did not give way to so that he could find his buddies and most certainly show me off. The dress I wore was a backless, low-cut silky shawl of a drape that only really covered my ass and pussy because it tapered down into a pencil skirt. I too wore stilettos.I had on this little number, impossibly high-heeled shoes and a gold sequined clutch that contained my phone, my ID, and my money. I drank with him and laughed with him and stole glances with his more attractive friend. It was a standard night at the club. Blow was snorted off of inch-long acrylic nails, martini glasses speckled any table surface and the music pumped so loud that it was impossible to have a real conversation. To be honest I was kind of having fun at the club even if my client was a greasy little guido with too much Hugo Boss cologne on. "Hey sweetheart," he yelled into my ear. "Take this and go use those tits to order everyone a shot." "Yeah, sure. How many?" I asked him. "Like ten. Who needs a shot!?" I had been seated at a table with a few guys who all fit the same profile as my client and a few girls. I wasn't sure who was a girlfriend and who was an escort but I didn't really care. He had just put two hundred dollars in the palm of my hand. He must have been really messed up and having too good of a time to care about the money spent. I don't think anybody in the establishment cared how much money they were spending. They were all kids with rich parents. Boy how I loved kids with rich parents. Through all of the writhing bodies and slamming bass, I made my way to a bar and posted up on it for a moment to collect my thoughts. I opened my clutch and put the hundred dollar bills inside for safe-keeping. Most of the night I had been neglecting my cell phone so I figured it a good time to check it. As soon as the screen came on I saw there had been a missed call from a few minutes prior. "Shit..." I said to myself. Oh well, unknown number. The bartender was on the complete opposite end of the bar and I knew it would be a while before she worked her way down to me. After all, straight women bartenders tended to favor serving the men first for better tips. That was alright with me though because I knew that hustle far too well. So I waited for my turn like a proper patron. Then my cell phone started vibrating in my hand. There was no way I could take the call amidst all of the noise but it was the same number that I had just missed. My heart skipped a beat or two.

I shoved my clutch underneath my arm and made for the bathroom, the only semi-quiet place that I could think of to take a call.  Luckily for me, the only people occupying the stalls were chicks peeing and doing cocaine together. I took the last stall, shut the door and locked it behind me, cell phone in hand.

There was no way I could wait for the number to call again so I decided to call it back which was something I usually didn't do.

It rang and rang and rang for what felt like forever until finally, somebody picked up. "Hello?" I asked when nobody said a thing. "Yeah." "Hi... Who is this? I have a missed call from this number." "Two missed calls." The voice said. I chuckled nervously, "Oh, yeah. Um, so just returning the call." "I appreciate it." "Sorry, who is this?" "Bill... Skarsgard." "Oh." "I'm sending a car for you." My mouth hung open as I scrabbled for something to say. "No, I... I can't. Not tonight." "J... Don't make me tell you twice." "I'm not..." I paused to grind my teeth. "I'm not at home." "Where are you?" With a sigh, I relented, "The Revive Downtown." "He'll be there soon." "Uh... Okay." I hung up the phone and let out a long breath. Shit. Dropping my phone back into my clutch, I left the bathroom in search of my client whose name I forgot. I had to wiggle my way through troops of people dancing before I reached the table that I'd just left. "Where the drinks at?" He asked. I grabbed his hand and gave him back the two hundred dollars. He looked down at the money with confusion written on his shiny face. "I have to go." "What?" He yelled, unable to hear me above all of the electronic discord. He got the hint when I stood to leave. "Sorry, I have to go!" "Wait what the fuck? You can't leave." He stood up as well, much to the surprise of his friends. I held up the free hand that wasn't clutching my bag tightly to my body. "It's an emergency, I'm so sorry!" "No, no, no! I want my money back, bitch!" "I'm sorry! That's not going to happen! Sorry... I have to go!" With that, I turned to walk away quickly towards the exit. My ditched client had other plans and once I was outside I could finally hear properly. There were people all over the street, cars driving by, pulling up and honking and then someone grabbed my arm tightly. "Hey! Don't you fucking walk away from me." I had been followed outside by my client who was obviously pissed. The exclamation was enough to grab the attention of anyone who was standing in line as well as the bouncer who turned his attention toward us but didn't move from his post. "Give me my money back you fucking whore." I flinched away from him, throwing my arms up in front of my face as my first reaction. What I anticipated was for him to come at me, but that was interrupted immediately. "Step the fuck back right now buddy. You don't want to try it." My savior said rather calmly. It was Mr. Skarsgård's driver who had gotten in between us. The guido stepped away, fists clenched, his buddies had come out too and also didn't know how to react. "Your fucking whore stole my money!" The driver took a step closer, towering over the angry client with a trained poise. There was no way he would attempt to throw down with the driver who had a foot on him and none of his friends seemed up to the challenge either. "You better watch your mouth, kid," the driver warned. "You," he then pointed at me. "Get in the car... now." I didn't wait for him to open the door for me and simply flung it open myself, threw my clutch into the back and got in. There was hardly anymore exchange before the driver shook his jacket and came back to the car. It was strange that I felt safe inside the BMW but I did and that's all I really cared about. My friends had told me I should have a bodyguard for situations like these but I had put it off for the simple fact that I couldn't afford to pay a guy to stave off asshole clients. Also, I hadn't done anything to get myself into violent situations either. This was all sorts of unlike me. I had never bounced on a client before. What I was doing for Skarsgård went against almost everything I had learned. It was just common courtesy to not walk out on a client, especially if you had been paid beforehand. This was going to get me into a lot of trouble. The driver got into the car and quickly pulled away from the scene. I watched his tense face relax gradually the further we drove from the club. After a minute or two of driving, he looked in the rearview mirror, matching my stare. "I'm sorry you had to do that," I said to him. "You don't have any protection?" Ashamed, I shook my head no. "You should, doing what you do." Glancing out the window at the passing streets I sighed, "I know." That was the only exchange we had for the rest of the way there. Each minute that passed I got more and more nervous. My imagination ran wild thinking of all of the possible scenarios that I was potentially putting myself into. I started shivering, perhaps because I was wearing almost nothing or maybe from fear of what I was walking into.

In my ridiculously high heels, I clopped up the steps behind the driver who had left the car running just to let me inside the house. I thought it was appropriate of him and I longed to thank him more for stepping in to defend me but I didn't think he wanted to hear any more of it. Instead, I walked right into the foyer. The lights were on this time and it took me a moment to adjust. A bright light was thrown into all corners of the massive hall by the crystal chandelier that hung down like a glittering, silver jellyfish. The paintings were illuminated enough to make out the finer details. But before I could wander in further a voice cleared at the top of the stairs. "Well... A little under-dressed?" I looked up and saw him leaning against the banister, one leg bent and one straight. His white button-up was open and I could see his deep collarbone. Although he looked a little more disheveled than I was used to, he still had his shirt tucked into his straight-fitting black trousers and shiny brown oxford shoes on. He looked to be a mile away by how tall he stood at the top staring down at me with what I thought could have been a mixture of disdain and surprise. "I was out dancing," I called up to him. He nodded his head and never took his stare off of me even if I shied away from the constant eye contact. "Get upstairs. Now." After his unyielding order, he turned and left down the East Wing hall. The echo of his footfalls beckoned me up the stairs. Before I started I grimaced at having to ascend so many stairs in such ridiculous shoes. However determined I was, I couldn't help but let myself take a short breather after clearing all of them one by meticulous one so as to not stumble on the thick carpet. He hadn't gone into his room, he was waiting right at the door. I tried to compose myself and walked towards him with confidence and not like my knees were about to give in. I wondered if he could tell how terrible I was at walking in stilettos. "Go." His voice was like blunt force trauma to my ears. I entered the room which had come alive by the light of candles and the lamp beside the bed.

Bill closed the door behind us with an antique thud and circled me like a predator, never taking his eyes off of me. I felt naked even though I wasn't. His eyes burned so vehemently but his mouth was relaxed and he could almost undress me with the intensity of that stare. Finally, I could see his face, really see it under the glow of the candles and lamps. He was this hybrid of a boy, innocence was woven into every cell of his pale skin and undeniable confidence of a well-dressed, well-paid man, as sinister as he was striking. He had it all in that moment; money, power, and beauty. Something told me he could get away with anything even without the money and the power. Those good looks alone could make a girl do a lot.

That's precisely how he made me feel as he walked towards me, taking his hands from his trouser pockets to grasp my chin, forcing me to stare back at him. "What you did tonight was wrong and I'm very disappointed." He said. "I'm sorry." "Well... you have the rest of the night to atone for making me angry, isn't that right?" "Yes, sir." His eyes were wide and searching, flicking back and forth as he bore into my own eyes. "I thought we had an understanding?" "We do, sir." Bill stepped back and let his eyes fall down my body, taking in every inch of me. Judging me or simply observing, it was hard to tell. This man was hard to read. "Apparently I didn't make myself clear enough." I swallowed. He continued. "You are mine and only mine. You belong to me. You are my fucking property and I do not share." "You don't have to, sir"" "Oh is that right? Then who are you all dressed up for, hm?" "Nobody." "You mean to tell me this little ensemble wasn't meant for anyone? I find that hard to believe. I don't pay you to traipse around the city looking like a ten-dollar hooker for other people." There were so many things I wanted to say but I chose to remain silent as he continued to circle me. "Go to the bed rail." He pointed towards the prodigious canopy bed that was hampered with pillows. I walked past him and stopped at the foot of the bed. He did not watch me but rather went to the other side of the room and dragged a plush wing-back chair to the center of the carpet. With a look of complete absorption on his face, he approached me from behind as though I were just another object in his room. "Bend over." He murmured. I did as I was told and bent over the wooden rail at the foot of his enormous bed. I wasn't sure what to do with my arms so I splayed my hands out on the soft duvet and waited for what was to come next. His hand touched my lower back and pushed down. "Further," he said. Lower I went, arching my back and the more I did so the more my dress pulled up in the back. He could most certainly see my ass as I could feel cool air touching my skin. That big hand ran down the base of my spine and over my exposed skin. Slowly he inserted a finger underneath the scant little strap of my thong, pulling it up. The sensation of the material pulling taut against my most sensitive parts was enough to make me weak in the knees, or perhaps it was my shoes. Nevertheless, it didn't feel unwelcome, simply disgracious in a way that made me feel dirty. "You never make me wait. I do not wait for you. You wait for me." "Yes." "Yes, what?" "Yes, sir." Without letting go of my underwear he used his other hand to push me down further over the rail so that I was completely on display for him. My fear was that he would penetrate me but in those deliciously sickening moments, I didn't have the courage to bring up my rules. I simply did not allow clients to fuck me without a condom. Even the cleanest of men were no exception. My heart began to race thinking of every possibility that could go down. What would I do if he tried? Did I have it in me to freak out, push him away and end it all? Would I allow him to enter me? My head felt so foggy that I honestly couldn't tell how to react. All I knew was that his long fingers were tickling my skin and I could feel the heat of arousal stirring inside of me. Then he wound up and spanked me so hard a shockwave of sting interrupted my entire thought process. I gasped and looked back at him but he was calm, collected and close to me with his hands on my backside once more, rubbing the skin where he had just laid a fiery handprint. "Don't you ever keep me waiting again, understand?" I sucked in my bottom lip and nodded. "You are mine. You are my fucking property," he repeated himself. "Do not test me." "Yes, sir." "You fuck up and misbehave and now..." He leaned over my body bringing his lips close to my ear, hand never leaving my ass cheek. "Now you need punishment." That was the only warning he gave before spanking me again in the same spot. It stung so bad but I gritted my teeth and handled it not unflinchingly but as best as I could to keep from squealing. The prickling heat made me wince in pain. As if to alleviate the suffering he switched to the other cheek and gave me a whack for balance. Not once did he let go of my thong. He pulled it up, rubbed his hand over where the tiny triangle of fabric covered me and smacked me again. This time I couldn't help but let a sound slip from my mouth. "Oh yes, I know it hurts but this is what happens when you defy me. Isn't that right?" I nodded vigorously in hopes my submission would earn me some sympathy. It did not, and he wound up, cranking me really good on the right so hard that my legs faltered. If he wasn't there to keep me standing I would have buckled to the floor. Sweat broke on my forehead and my muscles clenched tightly. The funny part of it all was that I wasn't even tied up. I could have easily turned around and left. I could have refused this punishment. Hell, I could have refused him back at the club and I would have been well on my way to being drunk on top shelf liquor but instead, I was here, bent over a hand-carved wooden rail getting my ass handed to me by this rich, authoritarian man who I knew nothing about. 

The only solace my burning skin took was when he leaned over and spit on my bare ass cheeks and smeared it around with his thumbs. I sighed and I'm sure he noticed my relief by the way my spine relaxed. The sustenance was short-lived though. He lowered himself on one knee, proposing to my backside with both hands squeezing, spreading me open and then giving me a few swift belts using his hands as a paddle. By then my dress had risen far over my hips and I had never been more exposed to him before than I was at that moment. His punishment started to awaken a small, provocative tingle that didn't take long to sprout into something that coveted the rain of his foul play upon me. I soon forgot how my ankles were starting to ache, having been propped up on five inches of poniard for hours. The loud claps of his hand against my rear were enough to mask my tiny, shivering moans. He threaded his fingers through my hair and pulled my head back, allowing me to straighten. His other hand came up my neck and gripped my chin, forcing me to look at him, puppeteering my head to bring his lips to the crest of my cheekbone. His breath was hot, sweetened with bourbon and the scent of the cigarettes he smoked. When he pushed his hips into me I could feel how hard he had gotten and I gasped. What was he planning on doing to me? I knew that if I was subjected to anymore spanking it would cross the threshold into nothing but pain with a tearful lack of any pleasure. I didn't want it again but I did want something from him. What I wanted was so unreal and unwise. "Say you're mine." He hissed at me before licking my cheek all the to my gaping mouth. "Say it." What felt like a venomous snake wrapping around me tightly was really the erection he had pressed against my side. If he hadn't have been fully clothed I would have felt a lot more threatened but there was still this perception of a loaded gun. At the moment I truly felt the words leave my mouth. "I'm yours, I'm yours." "That's right, you are." He squeezed my cheeks between his fingers. "Now... Show me your tongue." I opened my mouth modestly and he gave me a quick nip of a kiss, all tongue-on-tongue contact. He drew back only to spit into my mouth and repeat himself. His nasty little game of sucking face made me long for more intimate contact. If he'd have used that loaded gun on me, I would have dropped to my knees in front of him. Without a second thought, he pushed me back over the wooden rail and left me there which was a better alternative to another round of spanking. But I was curious about where he was going until I heard the dull whine of the chair accepting his weight and the jingle of a belt coming undone. I dared a look behind me to see what he was doing. "Turn back around, now." I snapped back into place facing the expanse of bed before me. The candles cast flickering shadows across the black sea of opulent silk and behind me a man was beginning to jack off, watching my damp and reddened ass from a chair that cost more than most people's whole bedroom sets. I wanted to look back but I didn't, lest I cause him any more reason to lash out at me. Somehow I did feel bad for having denied him for anyone else and as I listened to the sound of him stroking his cock behind me, I wanted even more to please him. His breathing was audible and the jingling of his belt only got louder as he went. His breathing was fragmented into nearly inaudible grunts to sounds of him panting. Fuck, I wanted to watch. It wasn't long until a silence of about two minutes fell before he stood up and walked towards me slowly. Each footstep made my blood pump faster. This time, instead of a smack on my ass I felt a stickiness being spread all over my rosy skin. He smeared me with his cum, rubbing it into my flesh like lotion, over my panties and down the backs of my thighs. He made a real show of it, even going as far as to rub his hand over my clothed pussy just once. "Stay right there." He ordered. He and I both knew that I would not go against his word but once he did up his pants and left the room I chanced a looked around. The chair behind me seemed like a mundane object and not where he had just been sitting, staring at me, running his hand over his cock until he came. I wasn't cemented to the bed rail. I wasn't about to get fucked raw. Everything about this was different to me. It was hard to peg every man but this guy went against anything I had expected. He was nothing like the rest of them. He was unpredictable and that was what scared me about him. Was this play or was this humorless in his eyes? I looked over at the brass plate and bristled at the wad of cash that had been there seemingly all along. Would he take it as a slight if I left it there? Of course, he would, I thought. It wouldn't be there if I wasn't supposed to take it. Minutes passed before I heard him coming up the corridor. I had pulled down the skirt of my dress over the drying mess he had left on me and picked up my clutch once more. When he came back to the door he had a lit cigarette between two fingers. "There will be a cab waiting outside to take you home." I nodded at him, unable to open my mouth to actually say anything. He took a long haul off the end of his cigarette, leaning and swaying against the door. "Did you learn your lesson tonight?" "Yes, sir," I replied, feeling meek. "Good girl."After that, he left me to show myself out.

[tomyo]

So I have life things right now but what if instead I just list off some shit I’ve done falling in love with Soul Eater 10 years ago.

Soul Eater was probable the first series I watched as the series was still airing. Not a huge deal nowadays but in 2008, all we had were some sketchy sites that would play four anime series in 360p. I think turnaround would still only be a week or two but it was so much more harder. I found the series when my site uploaded it as a Naruto episode by mistake.

Later on as I was reading the manga as it came out, I would go on just as horrible malware sites to look at the raws. 

Honestly, I stopped watching the anime around episode 30 initially because I preferred the manga.

I have some drawings somewhere planning to cosplay Maka in 2009 but I wasn’t that into it yet. 

Changed at the end of my sophmore year of school when I fucking crashlanded in crazy fan land.

Summer of 2010, I went on fanfiction.net from my dsi and read as many stories as I could until I fell asleep. My set up would either be propped up on my bed or floor with my bedding (it was hot and no fan and floor cool). I would sneak down stairs to grab an icecream cone. And then in the morning I would wake up to a dead DSi because I fell asleep when my body gave out.

Also since it was 2010 and smartphones were hardly a thing yet. I would print out novelas worth of fan fiction to read when my dad would drag me to see family who lived without internet and maybe one socket that had one three pronged socket. Rip environment.

Remember this really long drabbles collection. Sometimes it was 100 words, sometimes its a 10k Vampire AU that was so, so very tasty.

Maka Shop was a mispelling often made and I made my own AU based on that. I’m too much of a coward to share any fanfics I’ve ever made tho.

Was there for the blip that was ‘I’m writing this based on my criminology class’ hell fanfic. If you know it, you know it. If not. Good.

I was hype to buy a Soul plush from my local con that year and took embarrassing af photos with it because he was my first anime crush.

I also snuck into the one 18+ section of the one doujinshi booth at said con because there was only one book in the non

Niwatori and Kiss were legends, I own all of Niwatori’s SE doujinshi but now I’m onto finishing the Kiss ones I’m comfortable with own. Had managed to find Niwa’s old sites before she became pro.

Nowadays I keep up on Pixiv to see what still active SE doujin artists are up to and am desperately trying to collect their work.

Also holy shit, I nearly spent $90 on ebay at one point to get the official artbook but thankfully held out and got it for $15 a few years later.

Back into the timeline

Made OCs for an OCT and it was basically Soul and Maka

Followed a bunch of notable fans on DeviantART. Zraid was a big one. Was in love with Keiko-chan’s art. Also followed Dragula as they were releasing chrona centric doujinshi. 

I drew the characters a lot but didn’t post as much since I didn’t like how I drew them. There are tons of Maka and Soul scribbles from my notebooks though. I really expiremented because of how fluid Ohkubo was with his art.

Fighting dreamers pro did their soul eater group and made me determined to have my own. Lists exist somewhere of planning to go to NYCC when it was NYAF.

Started to get into Soul Eater cosplay. Determined to do Spartoi Maka. Bought a costume from Fanplusfriend for $180 on the outfit alone because no other listing existed. Still have my $1000+ limebarb quote when I nearly bought it through her (yikes)

I have still failed to this day to remake the outfit and scythe even though I try every katsucon. But I’ve done others tho.

Soul was the first case of me ever wanting to ‘crossplay’ (no longer accurate term)

Asked my mum for a white shirt from target that became the shirt I wanted to cosplay a splash page image of soul with. The white one with the red scarf

There was also the Soul Resonance Bad Romance parody skit when skits were big that was heavy inspiration.

Made a whole one up in my head to Don’t Stop by innerpartysystem. It had backdrop cutouts and lighting that I would never be able to do. Also like 20 person team beyond the cosplayers honestly.

Also wanted to do a high school centric amv to Arashi’s Troublemaker. 

Watched so many AMVS. Started to learn more about AMV culture because of it. Also Mentalprodigy is Soul Eater AMV god and I’m sad that she’s deleted some of them for good. ‘Insanity’ helped me get over a crush the next summer.

Tried making some of my own first CMVs. I put a lot of work into one of ‘If it really means a lot to you’ in which I tried making maka’s outburst from episode one match to the lyrics. Bad video quality but I’m still proud of it. Also did one to Be my escape and Lydia songs but most of them would never render properly because my computer was 2gbs on windows vista. Anyways here they are in case you were curious.

Lots of headcanons

Ponponpon came out and I immediately connected it to one off comment Maka makes about liking the PonPon dance even though she said it before Kyary’s debut.

Started estimating the main pairs ages based on info (Maka was 17 at the end of it fite me)

Designed a Kama Design and it turned out post end Maka was drawn with the same hairstyle so :OOOO

I hated wearing badge pins back then but I kept one of soul on my beret when they were popular.

Took up Piano for a semester at school. Sadly it was only a half year course but I spend a good amount of time trying to play Selenic Soul. Still remember a bit of how to play it. Also because of a Kiss image, I wanted and got a Melodica.

Started reading Bichi because I was DEADIATCATED

Fun fact: it has a proto version of like, every character. Maka is a maid.

Signed up on Nico Nico and Pixiv to start finding artists and video makers.

Recently found a whole bunch of old videos on Nico of Gangan CMs with a person dressed as Maka and its gooood.

When I joined in highschool , I had intent to start posting seasonal art and try to connect with japanese artists. Drew an unfinished NY art for the year of the rabbit with broken japanese.

I think I finished the Anime around this time??? We had just gotten Netflix. Hated the ending so much. ‘The manga is going to be so much better’

It was Book of Eibon Era so like, the best part before it all went down hill veeeery sloooowly

Genderbent chapters were fuuuuuuuun. Still about it

Soul Eater Not was announced and my body couldn’t take it. Loved it even though it was basically Kon in Soul Eater. It became harder to get even the raws because Yen Press was getting big and cracking down so I bought one of the books. 

Joined twitter to see if Ohkubo was okay during the Earthquake and Tsunami that hit Japan in 2011. This is a poor reason to worry about someone’s life but I was a dumb teen. 

After about a year and a half of non stop fixation, my interest went into a new direction because of Homestuck.

Fun Fact, I’ve seen huge crossover with the two. Every modern Soul Eater fan 200% was a Homestuck. ESPECIALLY IF YOU WERE INTO KAREZI.

Various Soul Maka supplement characters over the years: Ladybug and Chat Noir, Judy and Nick from Zootopia, Karkat and Terezi. Any strong female with a devoted male partner. 

Also some fave, I want Maka ships but I’ve watched soul eater enough already; Tonari no Kaibutsu and Kaiba. There is more but I forget :c

Fell down general obscure Soul Eater shit

Cosplay Meme because why the fuck not

Years of insisting groups never got me anywhere in college so I mostly solo and look it up on tumblr now and then

Manga ended so..yeah

Soul eater not comes and goes and everyone laughs. I still try to get peple invested in it because its the only time we get to see any Liz and Patty character development. Also lesbians >>

Get back in deep in 2017. Finally achieved buying doujinshi after a 7 year gap in availability. Have thus spent probably close to $500 on my collection and its sad. I spent so much money at Otaku Republic that they’ve sent me 3 freebie items since, a plush keychain, a pencil board, and a pass case that was actually useful and causes a bunch of intense moments of love for soul eater with my college peers.

Moved onto finding rare promo items in the mean time. Mouse? check. Speaker that looks like headphone illustration? check. Looking into an mp3 and rare instax as we speak. 

Did you know there was a calculator? Did you know there was a Lamp. And a fucking cd player.  

Debating learning how to drive a motorcycle and buying the same model as Soul’s. I hate harleys but man the aesthetic. God, one of my various information searching used to be on why soul could drive a motorcycle when most us law says you have to be 18. Why? who knows why. I was 17 and wanted the characters to be my age.

Started compiling Maka costumes. Episode 12 Maka? Check. Exams arc Maka? In progress. That one illustration for the chapter art? Check. Monster Hunter Promo art? Sure Why not. Black blood Maka, Halloween Maka, Halloween Fanart Maka, Christmas Maka, Shit why not deathbucks maka. 

Over the years many friends said they could be Soul for me and I’m sure none of them are prepared for if they actually do. The one case where it did happen...I was intense. It was bad.

After alot of internet digging, I finally found the site of Channel C who’s many people’s fav soul eater cosplayer. So many images that had been hidden away.

Realized when watching Mob Psycho 100 that I now recognize the Japanese VA. Sadly can’t say the same for Laura Bailey since I don’t watch a lot of anime anymore. 

Most importantly I had a feverish desire to make more soul eater art just before Ohkubo announce perfect edition.

[danganronpaimagineslol-blog]

Danganronpa Halloween Imagine

| V3 cast going trick-or-treating with S/O

pairing - V3 cast x S/O

genre - fluff 

warnings - none!

requests - CLOSED

A/N - It’s that time of year! This wasn’t a request, but I was just soooo in the mood to write a Halloween imagine, so I just had to. I hope this will put you all in a spooky mood! Apart from that, I am so sorry I haven’t posted lately! I’ve been having a bit of a writer’s block, I’m hoping this post helped it though.  Also, I have deleted any Halloween requests we’ve gotten, mainly because we won’t have time to write them before Halloween is over, I’m sorry :( Also also, we usually don’t write full casts. At most we’ll do either boys, girls or a maximum of 8 characters. - Oh, and I decided to change the way my posts look!

Happy Halloween!

GIRLS

Kaede Akamatsu

Such an overly excited ball of energy! 

Kaede would definitely be the type of person to make a big deal out of holidays and would always put tons of effort into making it perfect and absolutely flawless.  

This year Kaede was extremely stressed out with everything else going on at the same time, so as much as she wanted to put enough effort into cute couple costumes, she just didn’t have the energy or time to do that. 

Kaede felt miserable knowing she wouldn’t be able to get her hands on good costumes for this year, but right as she thought everything was ruined, her s/o showed up with 2 perfect skeleton costumes that looked exactly like the ones she had pictured in her mind. 

“I can’t believe you did this for me!” 

Kaede was overcome with joy and couldn’t put words to how happy she was feeling.  

They didn’t waste any time. 

As soon as Kaede’s s/o revealed the costumes they quickly got changed and went out trick-or-treating for the rest of the evening.

It was the first time Kaede felt stress-free in the last while. 

Angie Yonaga

Angie’s s/o wanted to go trick-or-treating with her, but they weren’t sure if she even celebrated Halloween because of Atua. 

As if Angie had heard her s/o’s thought, she then spoke up. 

“You’ll come trick-or-treating with me right, s/o?” 

How could they say no to Angie when she asked in such a cute voice. It was impossible. 

Angie soon revealed her idea for the costumes. She wanted to paint her s/o into a living pop art figure, and so she did. 

Obviously, it turned out beautiful and Angie copied her work onto herself afterward.

It maybe wasn’t the best costumes for trick-or-treating, but they looked amazing and enjoyed their time together anyway. 

“I don’t care if people didn’t compliment our looks, I know you did an amazing job” 

Blushing Angie 

Himiko Yumeno

Himiko was convinced they didn’t need any costumes and that she could use her magic to get them candy. 

Of course, Himiko was delusional to the point of no rational thinking, but that was a common trait of Himiko. 

“How about I just quickly run down to the store and get us some costumes?” 

“Nyeh! We don’t need that when I have my magic” 

In the end, Himiko’s s/o gave up and just went with Himiko in her normal outfit, but it all worked out since it looked like Himiko was dressed up as a witch anyway. 

“I told you, s/o. We didn’t need any costumes!” 

Himiko’s s/o would just shake their head and laugh at her silliness.  

After collecting candy for many hours, Himiko was exhausted and they had to return home. 

Himiko’s s/o would carry her on their back. 

Himiko would mumble compliments about her s/o in her sleep

Kirumi Tojo

The second Kirumi’s s/o mentioned Halloween and trick-or-treating, she offered to prepare costumes for them both. 

“Kirumi, you don’t have to” 

But naturally, Kirumi insisted. 

Kirumi prepared 2 costume sets. The costume theme was ‘Red Riding Hood’. 

The costumes were extremely good quality and had no flaws whatsoever. But nothing less was expected from someone as talented as Kirumi. 

The costumes fit perfectly and were comfortable as well. 

Most of the night consisted of Kirumi following her s/o around and carrying their bucket to store the candy. 

Kirumi didn’t mind at all, in fact, she enjoyed following her s/o around and watching them be happy.

At the end of the day, Kirumi is a maid and her duty is to help others and please them. 

For her s/o, she didn’t even have to try. 

It just happened naturally. 

Maki Harukawa

Convincing Maki to go trick-or-treating would take some effort. 

Maki did love her s/o with all of her heart, but Halloween and festivities reminded her of her youth and days before becoming an assassin, so she had stayed away from all of it completely. 

“Maki I am begging you. You never have to come with me ever again! And you don’t have to wear a costume either” 

Soon after, Maki let out a deep sigh and got up from her seat. 

As promised, Maki went wearing her normal clothes. Her s/o decided to dress up anyway. 

Maki followed around her s/o the entire evening, walking from door to door.

As much as Maki didn’t enjoy it much, it meant a lot to her that she could make her s/o happy like this. 

Maybe this wouldn’t be the last time she gave it a chance. 

And it wouldn’t be 

Miu Iruma

Miu would be pretty excited for Halloween this year. 

Usually, Miu never went trick-or-treating and instead would create varies inventions to scare the kids away from her accommodation.

But this year was different. 

Miu’s s/o wanted to dress up and go trick-or-treating this year, so Miu had to come up with ideas for their costumes. 

It didn’t go too well and the first attempt failed. After all, she is the ultimate inventor and not dressmaker. 

In the end, they had to run to the store instead. 

10 minutes before the store closed, they ran inside at full speed and looked through the costume possibilities. 

“Miu just grab something, let’s go!” 

Miu quickly grabbed 2 costumes and ran up to the register right after. 

They changed into their costumes in the store’s customer bathroom.

As much as the costumes didn’t fit completely and were also pretty silly, they enjoyed their time together anyway. And that’s what mattered. 

Tenko Chabashira

Tenko couldn’t care less about the costume, the candy (maybe not the candy), but definitely the costume. 

When her s/o mentioned that she wanted to go trick-or-treating this year, her protective instincts would kick in right away. 

“But what if you get attacked? Everyone is dressed up, it could easily happen!” 

Tenko was overreacting, but it’s pretty natural of her to do so. She must protect her s/o from any degenerate males, dangerous people. 

Tenko would go with her s/o when they went trick-or-treating, but only to protect them. 

It overall wasn’t a very fun experience because any person that looked at her s/o would immediately receive a death glare from Tenko.

In the end, things worked out and when they got home, they snuggled up on the couch and watched a scary movie where Tenko could protect her s/o in peace. 

Tenko didn’t act this way to shield her s/o from having fun, she is just a very protective and jealous human being and it comforts her protect someone so meaningful to her. 

But her s/o knew that and also loved her for it. 

Tsumugi Shirogane

I mean it’s already obvious, Tsumugi would be so hype for Halloween and would plan her cosplay/costume months in advance. 

“So, I figured we could go dressed up as an angel and a devil” 

“Oh I already planned out our costumes, s/o” 

Tsumugi would quickly leave the room and return mere seconds later with 2 almost identical costumes in hand. 

It was a simple black dress/pants with a t-shirt. On top of that Tsumugi had handcrafted butterfly wings for them to wear on top of that. Needless to say, she had outdone herself.

“Well, let’s go!” 

Throughout the evening, they got neverending compliments at every door they knocked on. 

The day was a success and in the end, they were both exhausted and went back home to get a good nights rest. 

BOYS

Gonta Gokuhara

Gonta’s first priority would, of course, be his s/o and their happiness. 

When his s/o mentioned that they wanted to go trick-or-treating for Halloween, Gonta’s protective instincts kicked in. 

“But for Halloween everyone masked. Gonta can’t protect s/o if s/o gets attacked!” 

“Please, Gonta I want to go more than anything else” 

And that’s all they needed to say for Gonta to give in to his s/o’s adorable begging. 

Gonta wouldn’t dress up, he would just wear his normal clothing. 

His intention wasn’t to join the trick-or-treating, he wanted to protect his s/o while they went around from door to door. 

His s/o didn’t mind much as long as Gonta was there with them. 

In the end, the evening was a success and Gonta did not fail at protecting his s/o. 

Kiibo

Kiibo was extremely confused when his s/o explained how Halloween works. 

His knowledge of Halloween was based on the original story about how Halloween started, so he just assumed that it would still be the same. 

“You don’t even have to wear a costume Kiibo, just please come with me!” 

Kiibo was conflicted. He wanted to make his s/o happy, but he was also afraid of trying something new and something he wasn’t quite sure what was. 

Nonetheless, he gave in and they went as a cute robot couple. Kiibo was confused and didn’t know what the small balls wrapped in paper were. 

Kiibo didn’t get much out of it since, of course, he isn’t able to eat and wouldn’t be able to taste all the delicious sweets, but it didn’t matter to him. 

Kiibo felt happiness when experiencing new things with his s/o, that’s why they meant so much to him and why he always makes sure to protect them no matter what. 

Even if he doesn’t get to eat the candy

Kaito Momota

Kaito would probably be way more excited about going trick-or-treating than his s/o. 

He was dead set on them going as astronauts. His mind could not be changed no matter what. 

So his s/o wouldn’t even bother trying to suggest another costume idea, they gave in to their boyfriend's needs. 

“Look how perfect these costumes are! We are going to get so many compliments s/o, especially you” 

Kaito’s s/o would just roll their eyes at his cheesy compliment, it meant a lot nonetheless. 

As soon as the costumes were on, Kaito was dragging his s/o with him out of the door.

“Come on keep up!” 

It was like going trick-or-treating with a small child. Kaito was just so excited about everything, it was absolutely adorable.

It also resulted in Kaito being so energized that by the end of the night he was so tired that his s/o almost had to carry him home, but it was okay.

In the end, seeing Kaito this happy was all that mattered. 

Kokichi Oma

In Kokichi’s opinion, he didn’t have to go dressed up for Halloween.

If he just appeared in front of other people they would immediately bow to him and give him all the candy they possess.  

Kokichi’s ego was already big enough so his s/o had to throw him off his throne. 

“Let’s go dressed as flight pilots! You would look so handsome” 

Immediately Kokichi would be flustered and would try to cover his face from all the blushing. 

Kokichi loved being complimented as long as people didn’t call him cute, so hearing his s/o compliment him for being handsome would get his knees weak right away. 

“Okay, s/o! but just for you” 

What originally was supposed to be Kokichi’s s/o dragging him around excitedly, would turn into the exact opposite. 

His s/o didn’t mind tho, Kokichi was always a ball of energy and one hell of a trickster. 

They ended the night with cuddles in bed. Kokichi would quickly fall asleep in his s/o’s comforting arms. 

Korekiyo Shinguji

Korekiyo wasn’t at all interested in dressing up for Halloween, he barely cared about the holiday itself. 

Well, he of course cared about the origin of Halloween, but not the modern version. 

But he completely changed his mind when he saw his s/o wearing a beautiful traditional Japanese mask and some traditional clothing. 

He couldn’t take his eyes off his s/o, they were beautiful. 

“What is this? You dressed up for my taste?”

Korekiyo knew that had to be the case, why else would they look so beautiful on such a modern washed day. 

“Please come trick-or-treating with me. I have a costume for you”

He couldn’t say no. The costume he was presented was just as beautiful as the one his s/o was wearing. 

In the end, Korekiyo was convinced and went trick-or-treating with his s/o. He didn’t care about the candy or much else, he just couldn’t take his eyes off the beauty his s/o was wearing.

Rantaro Amami

Being the laid back person Rantaro is, he probably wouldn’t get too overly excited about getting costumes or going out trick-or-treating. 

All he wanted, was for his s/o to be happy and enjoy their day more than anything else. It was a definite priority. 

Rantaro’s s/o mentioned wanting to go trick-or-treating and Rantaro didn’t hesitate to accept his s/o’s offer. 

He wasn’t a very creative person, so his s/o had to figure out the costumes. 

Since neither of them were creative-minded, they went as police officers/cops.

It didn’t look bad at all and they matched perfectly just like 2 puzzle pieces. 

They received lots of compliments that night and also lots of candy for their matching costumes. 

After a couple of hours of walking around in the cold weather, they went back home to snuggle on the couch and watch a scary movie before they fell asleep in each other’s arms. 

Moments like these made Rantaro realize how lucky he was to have his s/o in his life and how much they meant to him. 

Ryoma Hoshi

He couldn’t care less about something as silly as ‘Halloween’. 

But the second his s/o mentioned it to him and said they wanted to go trick-or-treating this year, Ryoma instantly shook his head knowing what question would follow up to their statement. 

“Please come with me?” 

Ryoma just kept shaking his head. 

“Ryoma come on. You never do anything for me” 

These words hit Ryoma pretty deeply. Didn’t do anything for his s/o, is that true?

These words had Ryoma’s thoughts wandering. He was trying to think of the last time he went out of his way to make his s/o happy and he couldn’t remember when. 

“Okay I’ll come with you s/o” 

So then Ryoma’s s/o went out and bought them matching cop costumes. 

Oh the irony 

Although, they went back home after about an hour and snuggled on the couch while watching a scary movie. 

Shuichi Saihara

Would be shy about going out dressed up in a costume, but lowkey wouldn’t mind if his s/o went as well.

Couples costumes??

“Can’t we just go as the same thing?”

Shuichi’s s/o gave in to his begging and they decided to go dressed as salt and pepper canisters. 

He would be so shy when someone complimented their costumes but seeing his s/o filled with joy, would make him loosen up. 

The night was over and they were cuddling in bed, eating some of the candy they had collected that day. 

And of course, they would wake up with tummy aches the next morning because they had been eating candy until very late at night. So they would stay in bed and cuddle all day. 

And eat more candy

~ Mod Ibuki

[iamsonyeondone]

prince!au // zhong chenle

☆+｡･ﾟfluffy!! and an itty bit angsty  

☆+｡･ﾟ 1.8k words

prince chenle was no doubt born to be someone of a high caliber

even if he didnt have that royal blood in him, everyone’s amazed by his abilities

the skills he has to play the piano at such a young age aS well as sing with the most angelic voice

and that he was meant to charm anyone and everyone who sees him, perform or just as he is

he is also such a hardworking student, as quoted by his tutors

and that anyone who has personally met him agreed that he’s really sweet and altogether a well-rounded person

not to mention how he makes the atmosphere much more calming and fun during balls

especially when he’s joined in by his other 6 best friends

everyone is torn between him and his brother when it comes to the better heir to the throne

but chenle doesnt make this topic of his utmost importance because he’s more than sure that his older brother was going to take over

and he’s completely fine with it, if not, more than proud to have the kingdom be taken by his sibling that he cares for

which also means that he has the choice of doing what he loves most

which was to perform and dazzle the crowd

he’s always performed for the balls held at the palace 

whether it was a symphonic piece on the piano, a heart-warming tune with his voice, or both!!

and he definitely loves the attention when everyone cheers for him at the top of their lungs

until you came along

you were the child of a duchess and you were very popular for being a violin prodigy

from little, you’ve always performed for balls too and from there, you were given the opportunity to learn it on an advanced level when you were scouted

and when you came to one of the certain royal ball wink wink chenle was a little dumbfounded when he found out that there was someone who was just as good as him at performing

but when he saw you perform, putting all your emotion into the violin while your movements remain precise

he cant help but be mesmerised

and you on the other hand, was glad that there was someone you could have a middle ground with

“good evening your majesty, your performance was amazing today,” you greeted him while the adults paired up on the dance floor

“you did pretty well yourself. i’m sorry but i’ve never seen you before,” he turned to look at you, an adorable smile on his face

“my family and i move around quite alot, probably why you’ve never seen me although i was born here,” you returned a smile back, taking a bite of one of the snacks from the table

“i see, so i bet you’ve seen some of my friends,”

“i’ve seen a lot of people of course, you’ve got to be more specific than that, your majesty,” you chuckled

and chenle takes a moment to get a better look at you 

“just call me chenle, its weird when a friend of mine calls me that,”

and from then onwards, the both of you laughed the night away

playing hide and seek on the palace grounds and sneaking some food from the kitchen as well as him showing you wround his favourite hiding places from the stuffy meetings

its safe to say that the both of you became very close friends at the end of the night

and chenle was quite upset when you hear your mother looking for you

“i have to go but i hope we get to meet again some time,” you smile, still giggling from the aftermath of causing quite a mess in the kitchen

“i do hope to see you when we hold another ball in about a month. it’ll be boring if you dont come so you better promise me that,”

chenle lifts up his pinky, wiggling it towards you with a wide grin

with your smile mirroring his, you intertwined your pinkies with his and waved goodbye

during that long painful month, chenle was really distracted by the thoughts of you

the way you laughed at his lame jokes or just by his own dolphin-like laugh, the little stories you tell him from your mansion while the look of disgust sticks onto your face

and maybe it was also the way you smiled at him with twinkles in your eyes

and the sound of your laugh which sounded far more angelic than the opera singers who come by to perform

chenle is scared to admit that he is in fact in love

while you were gladly accepting the strong feelings enveloping your heart

being reminded of his high-pitched laugh always gets you giggling during dinner

which raises eyebrows from your parents

and the way you would naturally squeal when you remember him smiling back at you with his pinky finger raised, makes your butler tease you about it every single day

and when the day comes that you attend the ball at the palace, youre spoiled for choice when your maids show you your choices

“which one looks better on me,Ms Lim?” you tilt your head thinking that it may give you a clearer decision

“the blue one looks amazing on you milady although all of them accentuates your beauty,” she smiled, while you groan in frustration when nothing comes to mind

“could you bring Mr Park in? he’s painfully straight-forwards sometimes but i think it’s actually beneficial in this case,” you sigh, flopping onto your bed while she fetched your butler

when you hear the familiar ‘yes milady?’ you shoot up from your spot and pouted

“Mr Park, i dont know which dress to choose for Chenl- the royal Zhong family ball,” 

and he stands there for a moment, ready to spit out a teasing remark before picking a more simpler outfit from the collection of choices

“contrary to popular belief, milady does in fact look better in something more simple. And im confident that prince chenle will agree,” he smile before bowing and taking his leave

and your face explodes in the colour red at his statement

you slipped into the outfit and twirled in front of your full-length mirror

until your mother knocked onto your door

“we need to talk,”

chenle waited anxiously in the corner of the ballroom, at the exact same spot the both of you had met

and while the other kings and queens from distant kingdoms as well as duch and duchesses greet him, he only had his eyes on finding you

so when you finally walked through the entrance with your family, his heart skipped a beat

and chenle had this big unstoppable grin on his face

that is until your eyes meet and the only thing he is met with is a sad smile

“why the long face?” he greeted you, still mustering a small smile as you curtsied

“its,,, nothing. but dont you think you hear the king and queen calling you over?” you chuckled, darting your gaze to his parents who had been calling him over by the piano

an indication that he started charming the crowds as usual

but with a bigger plan in mind

“did you bring your violin?” he asked excitedly, taking hold of your hand and squeezing it tightly

“of course, but why?” you raise a brow, suspicious of the next action of this mischievous boy

“get it quick, its going to be our first duet together,” he laughed, dragging you towards the growing crowd around the piano

once chenle adjusted himself on his seat and nodded as the cue, he began playing each note with care as you soon followed

the piano churned out a harmonious tune while your violin had a soft sadness undertone to it

and chenle finally had a hunch, even without having you to tell him explicitly

this was your first duet with him and it may be the last

once chenle ended the song, the both of you stood together to bow in front of the audience with your hand in his

and even though the crowd had already dispersed to continue waltzing around the room, chenle didnt let your hand go

“theres one more place i havent shown you yet,” he smiled cheekily as he sneaked his way around the palace guards

even with the numerous questions you had been showering him with, chenle simply shrugged and continued with a “you’ll see”

and when he pushes the heavy maroon curtain away to reveal the small secluded garden, you gasp in admiration

the garden was small yet bursting with life - roses blooming beautifully in the moonlight while the soft splashing of the water fountain came as a comforting lullaby

“i come here whenever i want to fully unwind,” he sighed, taking a seat on a bench that had been sheltered by a short tree yet its branches reached further than most 

“or did you mean when you’re being called to study?” you teased, taking a seat next to him, making him scrunch his nose in annoyance

and the both of you sit in silence for awhile, watching the stars twinkle in the navy blue sky

until a thought comes to you

because chenle, the boy with the loudest and highest-pitched laugh, was quiet

and you feel yourself growing more conscious of the situation

“so why did you bring me here? there must be a reason why since my ears havent bled yet,” 

and when you look at him, he’s not looking back and that once cheerful smile is nowhere to be seen

and maybe your eyes are just playing with you because theres this hint of pink on his cheeks

but maybe you’re just seeing things

“you mentioned that you move around a lot so how long will you be overseas this time?” 

and when he finally stares back into your eyes, sadness evident yet still attempting to smile, your heart shatters into a million pieces

youre silent for a moment, unsure of how to tell him about the news while you try your best to word it in your head

“i’m,,, i might not be coming back- but! ,,,,but its not final,” and chenle smiled, a little chuckle leaving his lips

“then until our next meeting, i’ll look at the sky and think of you. it’s not that hard trying to find some similarities between you and the moon yknow - a little grey-”

and the sad mood lightens up as you nudged him hard, knocking him over as his clumsiness only further pushed him off the bench

the night ended with laughter and giggles as always

and whenever you look at the night sky in your temporary home, you stifle a giggle when you’re reminded of the dolphin laugh you’ve come to love

a/n: ew this is so sappy but i hope you guys love sappy ksjhalfals tbh that last line is so full of crack and if you dont laugh at it, youre not human

[thesffcorner]

Robin Hood

Robin Hood is directed by Otto Bathurst and it’s a reimagining of the Robin Hood stories. I say reimagining, because this film has barely anything to do with the time period or the actual historical tales, and yet somehow it’s still one of the better adaptations out there.

This film positions itself as an origin of sorts; we start with Robin of Loxley played by Taron Egerton being called into the Saxon army to join the Crusades, except here the army seems to be English(?) and lead not by King Richard Lionheart, but the actual sheriff of Nottingham played by Ben Mendelsohn. After four years of fighting Robin tries to intervene in the execution of a Saracen soldier, the son of John (I know he has a full name, but he’s not credited as such and I don’t remember how to spell it, played by Jamie Foxx), and failing that, he is returned to England. There he finds his property seized by the Sheriff, Maid Marion gone (who in this version is neither a Lady nor a wood smith's daughter, but a thief played by Eve Hewson), and the Sheriff proclaiming him dead. At the behest of John, Robin starts training to become a master thief, the Hood, who will take down the Sheriff from the inside.

I love Robin Hood. I grew up on the stories, and I had an illustrated version that collected all the most famous tales and as such I am familiar with the source material. I have hated every single Robin Hood adaptation Hollywood has shat out, with the exception of the Disney version which is fine, if a bit simplistic and Men in Tights, which is both the closest in tone and execution. This version is at once excellent and batshit insane; I had a lot of fun watching it, and I do recommend it, but it’s not a good film. It has some major problems, and how much you will enjoy this depends solely on how forgiving you are of them for the sake of action and style.

Stylization (Automatic Ballistas? In my movie?):

The stylization of this film is intense and very ridiculous. What I feel like it was going for was Moulin Rouge/Great Gatsby, but what it actually ended up as, is the Matthew MacFadyen Three Musketeers.

Nothing in this film is of the time period; the clothing, the scenery, the castes, the weapons, the way people act and speak. We are introduced to Maid Marian in the first scene of the film, wearing a headscarf while she has on a dress with a cleavage so deep and so pronounced it would be considered raunchy by today’s standards, nevermind the 1300’s! And this is her ‘thieving outfit’.... Right. The moment where Robin tells her she’s stunning I was like… well, her boobs sure are. Robin himself wears regular modern day shirts, leather jackets, and let's not even touch on what everyone is wearing at the party for the cardinal.

The scene where they show the Crusades is so insane I genuinely thought we started watching a different film. It’s shot like a war movie, with lots of tight, worm’s eye perspective shots, and everyone is wearing armor that looks like modern day kevlar vests. There is a ballista which fires arrows like a machine gun and the way people are shooting arrows and crossbows in narrow corridors is like something out of a video game. In fact this whole sequence feels like Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed had a child and it was a good indicator as to the rest of the film. I didn’t mind the stylization as much, but there were times, mostly with Robin and Marian’s outfits which made me go “what am I watching??”

Tone (Zero Dark Loxley):

Let me go through just a few scenes as an example of just how wildly inconsistent and fluctuating it really is. The first scene is the meeting between Marian and Robin; it’s supposed to be romantic, something akin (ahem, a copy) to The Princess Bride. But it’s shot so weirdly, and the blocking is stiff and unnatural and the dialogue is just so full of quippy one liners that I felt like I was watching a porno!

Then, Robin gets drafted and the next scene is literary The Hurt Locker, but with arrows and catapults instead of bombs. There is even a fellow soldier Robin is trying to rescue, and like I said, it’s shot exactly like a war film. It was by far the best and tensest part of the whole film, and the action was creative and well shot and edited for the most part, especially the fight between John and Robin.

The scene after that is absolutely brutal and honestly almost too dark for this film. It shows the English torturing the captured Arabian soldiers and has two executions which are brutal. But then, we cut right back to Robin Hood shenanigans with Tuck, and I swear I got whiplash. This happens throughout the film; we have a scene of funny, quippy dialogue between Robin and Tuck or Robin and John, and then bam, the next scene is torture, or  a riot.

Plot (Nobody Expects the English Inquisition):

The tone isn’t helped by the fact that the plot of this film is completely ludicrous. It is essentially several heists that culminate in a massive riot/heist, but the plan of the villains makes everything that much more crazy. Warning SPOILERS, but trust me, you want to know the plan.

The Sheriff of Nottingham is working with a Cardinal to finance the Arabian army during the Crusades, so they can beat the English, and presumably win the war, so then I guess the Cardinal can say whoever is King in this (neither Richard nor John are mentioned once) is unworthy of the crown and install  The Sheriff as the new King… what? Do the Arabian soldiers know they are being paid by the English? Does the Sheriff’s death squad? Because they seemed all too happy to execute Arabian soldiers and lost a lot of their men in the skirmish. Also, do the cardinal and the Arabs have a deal that after they win they won’t just invade England? Cause that sure seems like something they’d want to do. Also England wasn’t the only country (well it wasn’t even England, but we’ll ignore that for now) fighting in the Crusades. There was Normandy, Lombardy, the Holy Roman Empire…. Are they also in on this plan?

Another thing; the whole bit with the Sheriff wanting to imprison or kill all his subjects who had no money to pay in the mines; who are you going to rule over if your populace is dead? No. Sense.

Characters (Ben Mendelsohn Makes Everything 300 Times Better):

Speaking of the Sheriff let’s talk about his backstory.

Ben Mendelsohn is an excellent actor, and he elevates material that is usually far beneath him to good, even great standards. And he is clearly having the time here; he has several monologues, many scenes of shouting or overacting, and he has really good chemistry with both Egerton and Fox. The scene where he is threatening John is probably the best acting in the film, and I wish the two had more time to spar.

However, this character’s backstory and the way he delivers it is insane. I have to put a SPOILER warning, but trust me, you want me to tell you what it is. The Sheriff apparently was an orphan, raised in a church orphanage, where every night the Lords and Cardinals would come to beat and possibly, heavily implied, sexually assault the children, including him. He has a long monologue about this, where he goes in graphic detail, of which I will spare you here, and he tells all of this to Robin of Loxley who he has, at this point known for a few days at most. Honestly the pure confusion and terror on Egerton’s face during this scene was what I was feeling the whole time. The film makes you remember this backstory, brings it up in both every scene Egerton and Mendelsohn have after this and even have Robin callback to it at the very end in a pretty callous manner, unbefitting of the film’s protagonist. And I have to ask, why? Was the Sheriff being a greedy, immoral man not enough, now he has to be the victim of child abuse and sexual assault too?

Speaking of bad idea characters, Will Scarlet is in this and boy did I hate him. Jamie Dornan is finally allowed to be Irish in this which is refreshing, but by God, he has nothing to work with. His whole character is just set up for a sequel and in this film he just exists so Marian has a reason not to immediately reconcile with Robin. Why filmmakers always feel the need to have Will’s character be some kind of a twist, instead of just playing him straight is beyond me.

Marion, if we ignore the ridiculous outfits she’s forced to wear is fine as a character, but she just doesn’t fit with the fabric of this world. First off, how was she living with Robin (and everyone knew this) without being married to him? And how is she living with Will now without being married to him? Also, how is she allowed to question and attack the Sherrif without being 50 kinds of executed after the first time she dared to speak? She was also a lot more proactive in the whole going against the Sheriff business than Robin, so why he was leader at the end and not her is also beyond me, but what do I know. At least she wasn’t a damsel in distress.

Tuck and John were both fine. I liked them both equally, though John gets a lot more screen time. Jamie Foxx kills every scene he’s in, and I liked that he had his own mini storyline with the Sheriff and his son’s death. I don’t understand why they felt the need to combine the role of Little John and the Saracen character (who in my version of the stories was called Salim), but he was still a great character. Tuck was comic relief, but he was a welcome change from the rest of the film, and he resembled his story counterpart the closest.

Robin Hood himself was a mixed bag. Like Foxx, Taron Egerton is a trooper and he give Robin a lot of charm and life, which this version of the character desperately needs. There are several scenes where he is absolutely frightened, emotional or suffering from PTSD, end Egerton sells it. He is great at the action scenes, has the physique for the part, and brings a charm and a sexiness to the role that really works for the scene where he’s the Lord Loxley.

What doesn’t work (at least not always) is the actual character. Bless his heart, but he has no chemistry with Eve Hewson, no matter how much he tries. He has much more chemistry with both Foxx and Mendelsohn, but the issue is that Marian is his entire motivation. The film resorts to numerous cheezy flashbacks of their romance, scenes of them kissing or longingly looking at each other and it just comes off as ridiculous and forced. If they were going for a Princess Bride vibe, that film worked because a) Cary Elwes and Robin Wright had chemistry b) the film established their love and didn’t rely on flashbacks to convince us they were in love, we just knew it.

I did like that Robin was a bit selfish, and seemed to be doing things just to win Marian back, even though technically that’s not faithful to the stories; it was was a good starting point for the character to grow from. I’m just not sure he grew much at all; at the end of the film he’s still a bit selfish and a bit petty. Things like his PTSD are also never really addressed and explored and though again, it makes sense that Robin being in the wars would suffer from it, I’m not sure Robin Hood is the place to tell it.

Conclusion?

All in all this film was very fun. It doesn’t quite know what it wants to be, and as such it tried to be everything and excels at nothing. However the good acting, fun action scenes and truly bizarre style of the film more than make up for it, and I implore you to go see it, both so you can experience the madness yourself, and so it makes enough money for a sequel.

[aliteraryprincess]

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George

Warning: May contain spoilers

Welcome back to Fairy Tale Friday!  Princess of Glass is another book I originally read in high school and have reread a few times since.  And I loved the story of “Cinderella” as a kid, so taking another look at this book was lots of fun.  This is the second book in The Princesses of Westfalin trilogy.  You can find my post on the first book here. 

On a side note, how funny is it that the dress on the cover matches the dress Cinderella is wearing in my childhood fairy tale collection?

As a Retelling:

In Princess of Glass, George draws almost exclusively from the French version of “Cinderella” by Charles Perrault.  However, it is much less of a straight retelling of the tale than Princess of the Midnight Ball is of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses.”  This is necessary since “Cinderella” is probably the most well-known fairy tale and has been retold countless times.  If an author is going to differentiate their version, they need to put a twist on it.  Most of the major elements are still included; we have a girl of noble birth reduced to working as a maid, a magical godmother, three balls, and glass slippers.  However, the main protagonist is not the Cinderella character, Ellen/Eleanora.  Instead it is Princess Poppy, whose role is equivalent to one of the stepsisters in the original story. 

Let’s start with the major difference: the villain of the story.  In most versions of the tale Cinderella’s stepmother and stepsisters are the villains, though in some variants it is her blood relatives.  They mistreat Cinderella, mock her, and will not allow her to attend the ball with them.  But this obviously doesn’t work if the main protagonist is in the role of the stepsister.  Instead of a stepfamily, George has Lord Richard and Lady Margaret Seadown, their daughter Marianne, and Princess Poppy, who is their cousin and guest.  Ellen is of noble birth, but her family lost their fortune, forcing her to work as a maid after her parents’ deaths.  She is employed by the Seadowns after she is dismissed from several other positions due to her inability to do the work.  Lord Richard and Lady Margaret are kind to Ellen, even offering her a dress to attend the balls.  Poppy and Marianne aren’t unkind, just increasingly frustrated with her bad attitude and horrible work. 

This leaves an opening for the villain role, and George chooses to fill it with the fairy godmother, who she calls the Corley.  The fairy godmother is actually a creation of Perrault’s; versions of the tale prior to this more often utilize the spirit of Cinderella’s dead mother or an animal helper.  Using the godmother as the villain, in my opinion, is a stroke of creative genius that brings up some questions regarding Perrault’s tale.  In other variants, Cinderella has a relationship with her helper that is built up through the story.  In Perrault’s, the godmother doesn’t appear until Cinderella is crying about not attending the ball.  Where on earth did she come from?  And if she’s really so nice, why hasn’t she stepped in sooner to save this child from abuse?  The Corley, like the villain of the first book in the series, is a formerly human sorceress who makes bargains with people to fulfill her own aims.  Ellen’s whole situation, from the ruin of her father to her incapability at housework, is orchestrated by the Corley.

As in Princess of the Midnight Ball, George provides explanations for things in the original tale that otherwise don’t hold up.  In this case it is everyone’s inability to recognize Cinderella when she is at the balls and the prince’s immediate infatuation with her.  This occurs in every version of the tale; in many of them, the stepsisters even interact with Cinderella without recognizing her!  In Princess of Glass, the Corley casts a glamour over Ellen so no one will recognize her.  It also causes all the men to fall immediately in love with her and all the women to instantly hate her.  Poppy and Roger Thwaite, a childhood friend of Ellen’s and the brother of Marianne’s sweetheart, are unaffected because they are wearing protective charms.  They start investigating what Ellen is up to and try to find ways to free their friends from the spell.    

If we’re going to talk about “Cinderella,” we of course have to mention the shoes.  The famous glass slippers are also a Perrault original; several prior versions, including the German and Chinese tales, involve golden slippers, some are just described as beautiful, and an Irish variant has multicolored shoes.  George uses Perrault’s glass slippers and makes them as horrifying as can be imagined.  The Corley pours molten glass on Ellen’s feet to form the shoes, and they cause her a lot of pain.  Even worse, after wearing them, her feet start turning into glass!  It’s the perfect contrast to the pretty and delicate shoes given by the good fairy godmother in the original.

George also puts a twist on the shoe fitting, another aspect of the original story that seems ridiculous outside of a fairy tale.  The only way the prince can recognize Cinderella is by her putting on the slipper despite the fact that they have spent three nights dancing and presumably talking together.  Apparently he can’t recognize her face!  Some retellings get around this by using a masked ball.  The final ball in George’s book is a masquerade, but the real challenge is caused by the Corley.  After the second ball, Ellen is unable to walk and realizes what a monster her supposed godmother is.  Poppy and the others come to her aid and come up with a plan for Poppy to impersonate her at the third ball.  After this, the Corley traps her and Ellen in the glass realm, and Prince Christian and the rest of their group go to save them.  Upon entering, everyone’s memories are confused; Christian can only remember that the slipper he has belongs to his true love.  The Corley presents him with Poppy and Ellen, dressed identically, and says the shoe will fit his true love.  But he doesn’t find out by trying the shoe on.  When he looks into Poppy’s eyes, he realizes it’s her, puts the shoe on her, and has his memories restored.

This brings me to the last big difference I want to discuss: Cinderella does not marry the prince in this book.  Ellen does set her sights on Prince Christian because the Corley wants her to marry him and she wants to get away from her life as a maid.  However, Christian is actually Poppy’s love interest and Ellen’s is Roger Thwaite.  This avoids the insta-love of the original story.  While Christian becomes infatuated with Ellen, it is only because of a spell; he doesn’t really know her at all.  His relationship with Poppy, on the other hand, builds through the whole book while they are visiting in Breton.  They start as friends and slowly fall in love.  And Ellen has a long-standing relationship with Roger due to growing up together.  The two couples become engaged at the end, as do Marianne and her sweetheart, Dickon.  This is an interesting variation of Perrault’s tale; his story ends with Cinderella marrying the prince and the forgiven stepsisters marrying great lords.  George’s ends with a stepsister character marrying the prince and Cinderella and the other stepsister marrying other noblemen.

My Thoughts:

I’m just as fond of this book as I am of the first in the series.  I love the twists George puts on the original story.  In some ways, she does a bit of deconstructing the fairy tale, such as when she points out how sketchy the godmother is.  Despite bringing attention to these problems, the story still ends with a happily ever after, which is really what I want most of all from a fairy tale retelling.    

George continues with her record of creating likable protagonists.  Poppy is plucky and not quite proper; she swears, plays cards, and absolutely refuses to dance.  Yet she is kind and extremely brave.  Prince Christian is another actually nice male protagonist, and most of the humor comes from his chapters in the book.  I couldn’t help but laugh at his bewilderment over the king of Breton trying to marry him off “to the highest bidder,” as he puts it in his letter to his parents.  I also like the relationship between the two and that they save each other.  Poppy frees Christian from the love spell and Christian forces his way into the Corley’s realm to rescue Poppy.  It’s a very equal relationship, which I appreciate.

George also continues to show the effects of the first book on both a personal and political scale.  Poppy suffers from nightmares about the King Under Stone’s realm, and she refuses to dance due to her time spent there.  We are also reminded of the deaths caused by the mystery of the worn out shoes.  At one ball, a noblewoman asks Poppy why she isn’t dancing.  When Poppy replies that she just doesn’t like dancing, the woman becomes offended since her godson was one of the suitors who died.  On the larger scale, the entire reason Poppy and Christian are in Breton is the strained relationships between all the countries of Ionia.  The rulers come up with a plan to send their children off to other countries to foster international relationships.  Most are hoping to form marriage alliances as well.  We find out that there are still rumors of witchcraft surrounding the Westfalin princesses, and several characters, including the king of Breton and Christian’s father, are wary of them because of it.

The one problem I have with Princess of Glass is the climax.  It is extremely rushed, and I’m not even entirely sure how they defeated the Corley.  She attacks the group by throwing molten glass to the floor, which begins to melt.  Poppy then smashes her way through several glass walls until they are back in the Seadowns’ manor, where Rose and Galen have arrived to help.  Somehow all the bargains made with the Corley are void, and Ellen’s feet are healed.  Galen has a line about consulting with Bretoner mages to seal the Corley in her realm, and then it’s happily ever after.  The whole thing only takes a few pages.  I wish it had been drawn out longer and more detailed so I knew exactly what happened.  It would have made for a more satisfying conclusion to an otherwise excellent book.  

My rating: 4 stars        

Other Reading Recommendations:

The starred titles are ones I have read myself.  The others are ones I want to read and may end up being future Fairy Tale Friday books.  To keep the list from getting too long, I’m limiting it to four that I’ve read and four that I haven’t.

Other Retellings of “Cinderella”:

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine*

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire*

Bound by Donna Jo Napoli*

Cinder by Marissa Meyer*

Ash by Malinda Lo

Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey

Slipper by Hester Velmans

Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey

More Retellings by Jessica Day George:

Princess of the Midnight Ball*

Princess of the Silver Woods

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow*

About the Fairy Tale:

Cinderella: A Casebook by Alan Dundes

Cinderella Tales from Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner 

Have a recommendation for me to read or a suggestion to make Fairy Tale Friday better?  Feel free to send me an ask!