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volleyball-dontknowher · 4 years ago

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Jealous Karasuno

A/N: I started this before I wrote the other one so Tsuki and Kageyama’s are both similar to the other one

7.7 K words

It’s all under the cut. Enjoy!

Daichi:

You were a power couple to say the least, Daichi was the boys volleyball captain, a smart classmate and a reliable friend to everyone. You were the dance team captain, also a genius and rumored to be the Hottest babe in school. The two of you on your own were strong, but together the two of you were damn near invincible. Whenever you would walk through the hallways together people would stare at the two of you and you would always smile at them or give them a friendly good morning. You both were super busy with your sports but when you weren’t being the best parents in the world the two of you spent a lot of time together. You would study together, go to dinner together, read together, nap together, everything together, and you wouldn’t have it any other way because you just loved him so much. The volleyball team knew you and the dance team knew him, it was perfect.

It was a training camp weekend and that meant your favorite boy was gone for the whole weekend. Lucky for you the weekend was busy for you as well, you had practice until late on Friday, then you had early morning practice Saturday, followed by a team pool party. The practices went by super fast and it was now time for the party. You weren’t an aggressive swimmer so you opted for a pink flowery strapless top and black bottoms.

You got there early to help set up the snack table and make sure that everyone knew where they were going. Once all of the girls got there you reminded them to put on sunscreen and told them they would still have to dance no matter how burnt. The party was so much fun, you guys took several cute pictures together and the team manager (who hates swimming) got a lot of super cute shots of you guys playing marco polo and chicken in the pool. At the end of the party you ate wayyy too much and had a blast with your girls. You helped clean up before parting ways with the girls you loved so much.

After you got home you noticed that your phone was buzzing like crazy, it was your team manager sending all of the pictures she took today to everyone. You scroll through the pictures and save all of the ones that you liked. You decided you were going to post a couple of the pictures from today with a cheesy caption like Dance team? Who's that? This is the swim team or something cute like that.

Hours away at the training camp the boys have just finished for the day and were all heading to shower and get changed. First Daichi responds to all of your texts from the day, Have a great day!Don't forget to drink enough water. I don’t want you to pass out, We should totally try this new recipe I found for churros when you get back. The whole time he’s answering he’s blushing because he can imagine you telling him all of these things with nothing but love in your eyes. He then sees the notification that you posted on instagram (yes he has your notifications on, he wants to be the fist person to comment on every post of yours) and when he opens up the post his mouth drops. You really just posted yourself in a bikini where everyone could see it. Sure you look hot but do you know how many people will see that post. He knows at least everyone on his team follows you, almost everyone at school follows you and there are tons of strangers that follow you too. He’s upset deep down but still manages to comment a little You’re stunning babe <3. He usually doesn’t put babe in comments because well your entire page is full of the two of you smiling together at all of your little dates around town, even though you are obviously taken that doesn’t stop people from trying to slide into your dm’s and confessing their love for you no matter how obvious it is that you aren’t interested. He sends you a quick goodnight, I love you! text before putting his phone away and going to bed.

When he wakes up he double checks to see if he was just making up the whole thing in his head or if you really did post that. You did. It had over 200 likes from people and tons of comments (most from your teammates telling you how pretty you were) but some of the comments were from complete strangers. He again, pushed his emotions aside and finished the day of training.

Somehow Ukai drove extra fast and he ended up home a whole hour earlier than they thought. He texted you and asked if you wanted to go to dinner with him because he was starving and everyone else way wayyy too tired. You of course agreed and met him at your favorite little spot. He was exhausted and you could tell immediately that he was tired and needed to go to sleep and go to bed.

You two chatted about camp forever before he looked down at his food and didn’t meet your eyes, “Hey, I just wanted to let you know you looked gorgeous yesterday, I’m sad I missed it”

“What’s wrong?” you’re scowling at him, “you don’t just tell a girl she’s pretty without looking at her. What is it?”

He tries to think of any excuse but quickly realizes that you won’t fall for anything that he tells you so he decides to be honest “I don’t know, I just don’t like the idea of so many people getting to see you in a swimsuit and commenting things about how gorgeous you are. That’s my job. But I’m also not saying that you shouldn’t post any pictures because you are so pretty and I don’t know I just love you a lot.”

You grin at him “Damn right that’s your job and that’s why your comment is the only one that matters, because you’re the only guy who matters to me. You’re the only one who can compliment me and make me blush, and the only boy who makes me always happy. I love you and only you.” He smiles, and you smile, that was all it took for any worry to be taken from his mind, you two are perfect for each other and that is just proof.

(After they go to nationals you definitely post a picture of you hugging him with some super caption like Number one on the court AND number one in my heart)

Suga:

Sugawara is impossible to shop for, absolutely impossible. He would tell you he loved the dirty sock you stole from Hinata because it was from you. Therefore you had no idea what he would actually want and what would make him happy. You two went window shopping frequently and he never had anything that he was particularly fond of. You two agreed that for the first 11 months dating you wouldn’t get each other things and instead plan a great date for the two of you. You guys have been to nice restaurants, drive in movies, zoo’s, museums, theme parks, and picnics. But now your one year anniversary was coming up and the pressure was on. You had to do something and it had to be perfect.

The first time he saw the two of you together Suga didn’t think too much about it. You and Daichi had been friends and he trusted the two of you with his whole heart. You both smiled when you saw him and he just joined in the conversation's easy peasy. The second time he caught the two of you together Suga wasn’t sure what you were doing. When he asked what was up you both stuttered “I don't know'' and that you were just talking. He had no idea what was happening but you both were acting a little weird.

The third time you two were caught it was behind the gym talking privately. Daichi had brought you the goods and there was no way he could’ve given it to you in class or someone would have seen and told Suga right away. You two are walking back from the exchange and the goods were in your backpack.

“What are you two doing together again? Why are y-”

“Koushi Sugawara stop that right this very second.” You walk up to him and grab his hand, “We aren’t up to anything, I promise you. He was simply doing me a favor, please don’t think it is anything more than that because it isn’t”

He looks at you and then at Daichi and back at you and can’t help but feel bad, he really almost jumped to conclusions about his girlfriend and his best friend. Daichi pats him on the back as he walks by with one of those bro it’s okay looks. You give Suga a quick kiss on the cheek before sending him to practice, you have work to do. Daichi had given you a collection of pictures that him and all of the boys had taken of Suga throughout high school and you were going to make him two different scrapbooks. One of the scrapbooks was going to be of his time playing volleyball and all of the successes he’s had playing and the other was going to be memories of the two of you from the past year with pictures of all of your dates.

It was the day of your one year anniversary and you guys were going to go to a nice dinner and you were going to give him your presents. You got to the restaurant and the two of you were super excited to have some time to yourself. Dinner went fantastically and he loved your present so much it made him so happy. He got you a blanket that had your favorite memories on them. It was an amazing date and you thought that nothing could go wrong.

That was until a guy cat called you across the street “Hey sexy let me show you a good time!”

The guy was watching you and Suga pulled you into a kiss and wrapped his arms around your neck and pulled you close to him.

“SHE’S TAKEN THANKS THOUGH! THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER PEOPLE YOU CAN BOTHER SOMEWHERE ELSE!” You loved him so much and you couldn’t wait for the next year you got to spend with him.

Asahi:

You and Asahi together, perfection. You two make each other laugh and smile and cry all the time. The two of you are also style icons, you both have an amazing sense of style and when you walk in the room people are always impressed. If it’s the school uniform then you have on matching earrings and a little necklace, and he has a belt and a nice watch on. On the weekends you two like to coordinate your outfits together and you even take to doing his hair to be like yours. You two go out with half up half down, messy buns, neat buns and if you’re really lucky you get to dutch braid the top and put the extra hair into a messy bun and have the rest down. You loved doing this because it brought the two of you together and he loved that he didn’t have to worry about doing his hair or what anyone would think (because he wouldn’t care his girl did it for him and always told him he was cute).

With such fast paced lives you both liked keeping things low key and avoiding accidentally adding more stress to your lives. Which was why when a new cat cafe opened up down town you two were quick to book a table. The two of you loved going to coffee shops together and you both loved cats so this was going to be perfect.

When the day finally came you both took a little extra time to dress up. You were both looking stunning, both in dark blue tops with cute bottoms and the little half up half down braided hairstyles. You both head off to the cafe hand in hand arguing about who was THE cutest. It was so fun you both were so happy when you entered the cafe. LIttle did you know your table was directly in the center of the cafe and all of the cats were loving it. You were in the hotspot of the cat cafe and the two of you couldn’t have had a better time together. You got so many pictures of the two of you with the cats. Every cat in the cafe was up for adoption therefore every cat you got to pet you both wanted to adopt. Both you and Asahi had to keep reminding each other that neither of you needed a cat.

“Excuse me, ma’am your soup” you were completely distracted by the big cat laying in your lap and when you looked up there was a young man smiling at you with your bowl of soup. “I see that you are petting Squishy, she’s a real sweetheart.”

“I can tell! She’s a sweetheart!” And with that he left.

You both started eating and you both shared your food with each other because you were indecisive and so Asahi ordered the item that you couldn’t choose between.

“Are you enjoying your food?” The waiter was back and making direct eye contact with you.

“Yes, it’s delicious thank you!” You smile up at him and he nods and leaves. You turn back to the conversation you were having with Asahi.

A cat jumped up onto the table and stuck his head into your drink. All you could do was laugh because he was so big and so fluffy. Before you knew it the waiter was at your table with a new drink claiming that you needed a new one right away. It was faster than it should have been and he wouldn’t have known unless he was watching you. Asahi was always reluctant to jump to conclusions because the guy was only doing his job, but he was only paying attention to his girlfriend and was even watching them eat. He thought it was obvious that the two of you were together and you were having such a great time that he didn’t want to ruin it by saying anything. That was true until the waiter set down the to go boxes and his number was written on top of yours.

“She needs a new box. Now. Please.” The waiter looked shocked, “She is my girlfriend and you have been flirting with her this whole time. Don’t say anything just get us a new box so we can go,” he smiled up at the waiter. The manager heard the entire thing and brought the new box before the waiter had the chance to apologize. He offered to pay for your meals but neither of you could let that happen, and you still even tipped. It was not the restaurant's fault and you both were way too sweet for them to let anything like that happen. You did get a coupon for a free dessert because the manager wouldn’t let you leave without it. The moment you two left the little cafe Asahi pulled you into a big possessive kiss. He pulls you close to him before repeatedly apologizing for causing a scene but he couldn’t handle the waiter trying to thirst after his girl.

Noya:

It was a typical Saturday afternoon for you and Noya, you were both at his house and you two were watching a movie, well making fun of a movie. It was supposed to be the film of the year but neither of you could see how a 26 year old could even possibly pass for a 17 year old, it was just horrible. You cuddled together on the couch and had a good time laughing about the sarcastic remarks that were being made back and forth. Once the movie was over you two were starving, you decided you wanted to order takeout from somewhere.

“Hey, Asahi mentioned that he liked this little shop downtown, maybe we could try it out?”

“Yeah, sure Y/N, I hope it’s not that gross organic place he keeps talking about.”

The two of you make your way downtown, walking the whole way holding hands and just telling your favorite stories from past week, he started with a story about how him and Tanaka had got in trouble for trying to go a whole practice ignoring Hinata and once Daichi found out they had to do drills only passing to Hinata for the rest of practice for being rude.

It was your turn to share a story from this week and you decided to share a story from practice that Noya misseed. You were a manager for Karasuno and you knew how to play some but you definitely were not good enough to play for the girls team. You were helping Asahi with his spikes and he had accidentally hit the ball way too hard and way too high and it ended up getting stuck on the back-board of the basketball hoop. The two of you tried jumping for it but neither of you could reach (you obviously couldn’t but it was still fun to try). So you had the great idea of using a broom to knock it loose, that was tall enough but it couldn’t hit the ball art the right angle. So the next step was to get on Asahi’s shoulders and knock the ball loose with the broom. It was a fun story and you made a lot of the whoosh and wap noises to go alone with it and Noya seemed to love it. But he was stuck thinking how this was the second time today you had mentioned something about Asahi and he has no right to be jealous of one of his best friends but he couldn’t help but wonder why you don’t talk about him like that.

The two of you get to the restaurant and order your food without any wait. The service was fast and the food was amazing.

“I’m gonna have to tell Asahi that this place really was as good as he said!”

“Okay..” You didn’t have to ask, you knew he was jealous, when he’s jealous he gets sassy and he doesn’t want to sass you so he always keeps quiet when it’s something you’ve done. If it’s someone else though he is in their face and a little firecracker.There was one time a guy whistled at you from across the street and Noya was across the street and in the guy’s face before you even processed what had happened. He was so angry and so determined to put the guy in his place that his presence made him seem 7 feet tall. This however, was not that kind of jealousy, it was the insecure jealousy that came out whenever he felt like he wasn’t good enough, or tall enough, or pretty enough or whatever not good enough he had stuck in his head.

“Yuu Nishinoya, what’s wrong?” You give him THE look and he knows you know he’s jealous. He glances to the floor and starts to fidget with his thumbs. He didn’t think he was being obvious about it (he was) and you read him like a book.

“If this is about me talking about Asahi today you have to remember that I have known him since I was four. We’re neighbors, remember, our moms have book club together every Wednesday. He is the reason that the two of us met, after four years of throwing him balls in the backyard he suggested that I become a manager so that we could keep hanging out. Then when I started crushing on you he always found ways for the two of us to get to drills together so I would ‘have a chance to talk to him’ and encouraged me to actually flirt with you. Asahi is like an older brother to me, kinda annoying at times but sweet when it matters most. Besides could you ever EVER see me dating someone like that? He’s way too tall like I couldn’t even kiss him, then he isn’t goofy so I would be bored all the time and he doesn’t make me smile every time I look at him. The thought of even dating him is a big no so stop being jealous and kiss me you dork.”

He does, happily, “Sorry for being jealous, it’s just-”

“Stop right there, you’re the boy I love and that’s the end of the story okay?”

“Okay.”

Tanaka:

It was no secret that you and Tanaka were dating, he was the type to wrap his arm around your shoulder and point at you as you two walked down the hall and be like “This is my babe, isn’t she smoking hot” and no matter how many times you told him it was embarrassing because they are your classmates he still did it. Tanaka loved you with his entire heart and would kiss the ground you walked on because you were there. It was no surprise that he loved everything about you and that the two of you could just sit and stare at each other for hours and call it a date. Well today you had planned the most amazing date for you and Ryuu to go on together and you were so excited that the day was finally here.

You agreed to meet at your favorite place to get breakfast together. You were already there when he arrived and you two enjoyed a wonderful breakfast together laughing the whole time. When you were done and had paid you got up from the table and nearly killed Tanaka. You were wearing a black cropped tank top and a little black skirt that had shiny stars all over it. He was shocked, how was his babe wearing something as sexy as this out of the house. He is instantly behind you with both hands on your waist so that there is a 0% chance that anyone will see your butt out of the end of the skirt. He knows it’s long enough but if people are sitting and you are standing there’s definitely a chance.

You two get outside the restaurant and all Tanaka can turn to you and say is, “babe, what are you wearing?”

“Do you not like it?” You ask him with innocent eyes as you grab his hand and start leading him to the next part of your date.

“I-I no, I love it just don’t you think that-”

“Think what?”

“Nothing, nevermind” He drops it for now but he cannot help but keep looking over at your gorgeous body and just think about what he would do if anyone else approached his girl. When you finally got to the next place he was shocked. You two were going to play laser tag. He was thrilled, you two were going to try and be opposite teams to see who could shoot the other person the most times in the game. It was time for the game to begin and you were both thrilled when your vest lit up blue and his lit up red. And off the two of you went to go try and prove who the best. The game started just fine and the two of you were getting shots in with each other back and forth not caring much about the other people in the room. Then the next time you went to go shoot at Tanaka a guy jumped out in front of you and shot him first. The guy was wearing a blue vest, damn it he’s on your team. After he shot Tanaka he turned around and smiled at you.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing at a place like this alone, dressed like that. You look like some kind of cheap whore I can take home with me.” He’s eying you up and down with a devilish smirk on his face. You stand there in complete shock, no idea who this guy is or what gave him the right to speak to you in this way. Tanaka almost lost it then and there, he marches over to the guy, shoots him in the back and tells him to “Back away from my girlfriend before I beat the daylight out of you.”

The guy doesn’t budge and instead turns to you and asks “Why would you be with a man like that? I can treat you better and give you more than he ever could”

That was it, Tanaka had officially lost his cool, he was up in the guys face “WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT ME? YOU HAVE THREE SECONDS TO GET OUT OF OUR FACES AND LEAVE THIS PLACE BEFORE I BEAT YOU” you’d never seen him this mad before so you let him finish before you pull him in close to you.

“Ryuu, calm down love, he’s just a jerk don’t let him ruin our fun” “But he called you a whore, no one gets to talk to my girl like that.” You rub his head and tell him that you love him so much and that you’re so thankful that he stood up for you before shooting him in the chest and running off, forcing him to follow with a big goofy grin.

Tsukishima:

It is no surprise to anyone that you are a heart throb and if it was socially acceptable for boys to fangirl over girls then you would have a fan club. I’m talking about a full fledged society of boys that praised every step you walked on, from third year middle schoolers all the way up to third year high schoolers, because you were just so cute and friendly. Every person you passed you would smile or wave at and you always made sure to tell people to have a great day. You were a little sunshine that also happened to have a gorgeous face. You and Tsuki were in the same class together and would playfully banter back and forth. When you told him you liked him and he was shocked. He had no idea how the prettiest girl he had ever seen liked him back. The two of you ended up going on a date, then another and another and now the two of you had been dating for almost a year now. You loved Tsukishima so much and you never tried to do anything that would hurt your feelings and he did the same for you. You made him soft like no one else ever had before, he felt giddy and excited every time he was around you even if he didn’t show it externally you both knew how he felt. You were his sunshine and you made him happier than anyone could have ever imagined. Everyday the two of you would walk to school together and you both would walk home together after your practices were done (you also play volleyball and that makes his heart melt because you understand that he’s extremely dedicated but doesn’t want to get hurt-anyway) you always found time for each other and it was something the two of you prided yourselves on.

It was the spring tournament and both the girls and the boys volleyball were happening at the same arena. You both had sent good morning texts and nothing else because you were both extremely focused on doing well today. You two didn’t have to talk a ton during the day but after you both had won your first round you agreed to meet up by the concession stand excited to share your victories with each other. You agreed on a place to meet up and you were teasing him about getting there before him, so you can imagine the shock when he rounded the corner.

There you were standing in your spot, with another guys arm pressed up against the wall and he was leaning in close to talk to you, too close. This had crossed a line. His vision turned red as he continued to stroll over to the two of you. His headphones were now off and he was listening in to every word, he was like a predator going in for the kill, you were his, and he had no idea who you were or why you thought that you could talk to any girl like that, let alone his girl. Once he was close enough he could hear the guy “Well, your boyfriend isn’t here right now and I am so why not let me treat a hottie like you.”

Tsukishima is right behind the guy practically towering over him “Who’s boyfriend isn’t here?” He mocks, and the guy turns his head slowly and turns as pale as a ghost.

Then Tsuki grabs the guy's arm and leans in close to his ear “If I ever hear you speak to a girl like that I will not hesitate to slap the life out of you. And if you ever even think of getting anywhere near my girl again then you might as well consider yourself a dead man. Now leave.”

You didn’t have to tell the guy twice and he books it out of there faster than anyone had ever seen before. You practically pounce on Tsuki and start giving him little kisses everywhere before he stops you because even though he loves you he’s not about to have everyone he’s playing against staring at him.

You do however, get to cling to his arm and tell him all about how he’s your “knight in shining armour, and you came and saved me just like a hero, thank you so much Kei you’re the best and I loveee you” and all he can do is look down and smile at you because you make him so happy. The two of you get food and rejoin your teams and eat together before you all have to go back into warm up. When he gets on the court he sees the guy from earlier is on the opposing team and let's just say that Tsuki has never had a better game.

Hinata:

Hinata prided himself on being the bestest boyfriend in the entire world (his words exactly) and the two of you were inseparable, you could tell each other everything, how you day was, when you’re showering, even when you have to poop. It was something the other Karasuno boys didn’t quite understand, how Hinata found a girl who was just as bizarre and goofy as he was. You told each other everything, but that didn’t mean that you didn’t have your own friends and time to yourself but you were just drawn to hanging out together and making plans with each other.

One day you and Hinata were chilling at his house, he was playing video games with Kenma and you were watching and playing with his little sister while also playing on your phone.

“Hey, Y/N whatcha doin” He’d just died in his game and is looking over to find you completely engrossed in your phone. You didn’t answer him and kept typing out a long text that you had to get sent.

“Hellooooooooo Y/N what’s up? Who are you texting?”

“Tsuki” You reply without thinking much about it and continue your long text to Tsuki. Little did you know that Hinata was watching you intently internally wondering Why doesn't she text me like that? What are they talking about? Does she like him more than she likes me? I mean he’s tall and mean but some girls really like that, right? I mean we’ve only been dating a while and I haven’t been giving her much attention so maybe this is revenge? But Tsukishima of all people?

But externally all he can make himself say is “What are you two talking about?”

You finish your message and set your phone down to look at Hinata dead on, “Babe, Shoyo, what class am I in?”

“Class 1-4” He says while looking at you confused.

“Okay, now what class is Tuski in?”

“Class 1-4” his brain still hasn’t caught up to what you are about to say and he now thinks that you are going to tell him that he’s too dumb for you and you can’t stand it. He’s both upset and made at Tsuki for taking away his girlfriend's attention that belongs to him, not some grouchy jerk.

“Hinata, babe, love, hey, hello? Earth to Hinata” you say snapping your fingers in front of his face trying to get his attention.

“I DON’T WANT YOU TO DATE TSUKISHIMA HE’S A JERK AND RUDE AND I REALLY DO LIKE YOU Y/N AND I’M SORRY I WASN’T PAYING ATTENTION TO YOU MORE PLEASE DON’T BREAK UP WITH ME.” He shouts in one of his zoned out super fast ways. He’s mad that Tsuki would text his girlfriend knowing that they were dating and he couldn’t believe that you would text him back so easily. He was about ready to find Tsukishima’s house and go punch him right now.

You stand up and pull him into a giant hug which breaks his train of thought right there, “Hinata, were you not listening? I just told you that Tsukishima and I are partners on a big project and I forgot my laptop at home and was texting him my part of the project. I am not breaking up with you goofy, I like you not some tall jerk with glasses. We are just working on a project, I have no idea where you even got the idea of me breaking up with you for him came from but stop that right now. As punishment for your actions I would like cuddles.”

He’s embarrassed, super embarrassed on how he could possibly think that you, his awesome, perfect, amazing, gorgeous, funny, cute, happy, loving girlfriend would ever break up with him for someone as bland as Tsukishima. He gets one of those giant goofy grins on his face and realizes that he’s not hugging you back, so he wraps his arms around you as tight as he can and pulls you down onto the couch kissing you over and over again.

“I’m sorry for ever thinking that you’d ever date a jerk like Tsuki.”

Kageyama:

No matter how long you and Kageyama have been dating, everything you do makes him both giddy and excited but also nervous and insecure. He loves you so much and absolutely loves when you come watch him play volleyball, it made his heart burst seeing you in the crowd cheering for him and him alone. Anytime you were there it made him want to be better, he wanted to win more than he already did-which he didn’t think was possible ((but he also didn’t think he could get a girlfriend so)) he loves it. You liked going to watch him play but with how much he played you couldn’t possibly go to every game. You liked to try and go to the important ones though because he would talk about them for weeks after and you liked knowing you were there for some of his proudest moments, and that’s where you were today-watching volleyball matches. You had been sitting in the gym all day watching team after team writing down little notes that you think Kageyama would find helpful such as Number 7 doesn’t receive, and 5 &9 only pass to each other when 5 signals him by waving his left hand. Kageyama loved looking through your little notes with you and thought it was super cute that you would write all of these things down for him, he also was super impressed by how easily you picked up the other player’s weaknesses.

It was time for Karasuno to play and you were stoked. You’d been watching the team progress and it was always exciting to see what new tricks they had up their sleeves. The team was warming up and you were keeping your eye on #9 when you feel a great big thud next to you. You look over and see the guy from earlier, you recognize him from an earlier match, he was #1 on the mint and white team and as your notes said Good serve, but does it in the same pattern, straight, curve straight straight every time, also has sloppy receives.

Smiling at you he asks “What’s a pretty girl like you doing sitting on this side of the bleachers?”

You can’t help but stare at him, while he is definitely pretty he isn’t your type at all and you have no desire to continue a conversation with him. “I’m watching my boyfriend play, thank you very much.” And with that you turn your head back to the game and keep your eyes on your prize. Oikawa isn’t used to being turned down like this and has no idea what to say to you next, he lets you watch the game in peace until the end of the first set. Karasuno had taken the set 25-21 and had played amazingly.

“Are you sure someone as pretty as you wants someone from such a lame school?” Tooru couldn’t understand who was actually good enough for a girl like you on that team.

“Yep, I like him a lot, thanks though.” Another shut down. He the great Oikawa Toru was not used to having a girl give him no attention and by no means did he want to steal whoevers girl from him he just wanted to know who was lucky enough to get someone like you and maybe ask them for some pointers (because his luck is horrible and he just wants love).

When the game is over (Karasuno won ofc) you go to congratulate the team and the first thing that anyone gets to say to you is when Kageyama pulls you into a big hug and whispers “Why was Oikawa talking with you?” He was jealous that you would even consider talking to Okikawa, but he was also worried that Oikawa would steal his girl from him. You squeeze him back in the embrace.

“Are you talking about the loudmouth sitting next to me? He was annoying me the whole time asking questions and making useless commentary about your game.” When he went to ask more questions you kissed him on the cheek and told him that he did so amazing and that you were proud of him and that he shouldn’t waste his energy worrying about someone that you don’t care about because all you care about was him. That alone was enough to make any worries in his head completely disappear because if there’s one thing he knows is that you hate loud mouths like that. (Little did you know that Oikawa was watching the whole thing and could NOT believe that it was Kageyama who got the babe)

Yamaguchi:

Yamaguchi doesn’t get jealous per sey, he trusts you so much and wouldn’t ever bat an eye if you were talking to another guy and you would do the same if you saw him talking to another girl. He also didn’t care what you wore because if you were comfortable and happy then he was comfortable and happy. It was other things that would force him to swallow his pride and admit that he was jealous.

The two of you often went on walks together around the neighborhood and through parks, It was something that the two of you loved doing together, no date, lets just go for a walk. It was an easy answer that made both of you happy-well most of the time.

Every single time the two of you would go out together for as long as either of you could remember whenever you pass a dog they always want to be petted by you and completely ignore Yamaguchi. He has to watch big dogs pull their owners over to you so that they could get your attention and some pets. He had no idea why but every single time he saw a dog and they wanted you it made him so jealous. All he wanted was to be loved by the dogs like they love you, it didn’t seem like too much to ask but the more that it happened he started to find himself getting more and more upset over it, he just didn’t understand why you got all of the dogs to pay attention to you and they wouldn’t even look at him. You never thought much about it because you were always just excited to pet a good dog but once you started noticing how Yamaguchi would just stand there and look at you and the dog you knew something was up, and it had to be fixed right away. You two left the park like usual that day and you pretended like you didn’t have the best surprise planned for your boyfriend, he would love it. You spent two weeks trying to get in contact with one specific woman, and today she finally answered and agreed to your crazy plan.

After school you told Yamaguchi you had something fun you wanted to do with him and he didn’t think twice about it until you pulled him into a local animal shelter, walked up to the desk and told the lady that you were the one with the reservations. He had no idea what you meant by reservations, it was a shelter not a restaurant. The lady led the two of you to a back room, that just so happened to be filled with puppies. The moment Yamaguchi saw the puppies his heart melted, he was beyond excited for this. You both washed your hands and got to enter the room with 20 puppies. You both sat down facing each other as puppies crawled into both of your laps. Yamaguchi had probably 10 of the puppies in his lap alone. While your problem wasn’t fixed this at least reminded him that puppies do love him too.

Ukai:

Ukai was an attractive guy and girls made sure that he knew it. Every time the two of you were out people couldn’t help but comment on his looks.

“Wow, is she your sister?” “Hey, can I take you out?” “Can I buy you a drink?” “What’s your number?” Were all constants in your lives, girls swarmed him and you never seemed to mind. Maybe you would make sassy comments back afterwards but nothing overbearing. That should have put him at ease, but it didn’t. Why didn’t you care? He would care a hell of a lot if some guy was flirting with you. Why are you so easy going? He’s your boyfriend, how are you letting them get away with this? He’s not jealous that you aren’t jealous-or is he? Part of him wants you to stand up for him and to tell a girl to back off every once and awhile. He decides that the next time a girl flirts with him he’s going to flirt back just to see what you’d do.

It’s date night tonight and the two of you have plans to go to a nice restaurant together. You’re wearing a skin tight dress with some sexy heels and he’s wearing a button down and a suit jacket. Ukai would never wear something like that on his own but when you asked him to dress up for dinner he couldn’t help but put in some extra effort for you. The two of you looked hot, like straight out of a magazine story about dressing to impress. If you both hadn’t been around the city with your jobs then people would have thought the two of you were celebrities. It was both impressive and scary that you could look so good together. You walked up to the restaurant with his hand around your waist and he pressed kisses onto the side of your head as you were waiting for your table. It was more than obvious that you two were together, his eyes were glued on you.

But, some tramp (probably named Stacy) apparently is blind and deaf and decided to come up and flirt with your man, while you were in his arms.

“Oh, hey there sexy-”

“No, stop right there, he’s mine and you can turn your ass around and find someone else to bother. Even if he wasn’t already taken he wouldn’t like someone you. But he is taken so goodbye.” You interject before turning and kissing Ukai on the lips, hands on his face as you pull him into a jealous kiss. WHen you’re done kissing him she’s still standing there wide-mouthed. “I told you to stop looking at my man, now please go before I have security show you where the door is.” Ukai had never seen this side of you but now that he has he’s about 10000x more attracted to you.

Dinner goes great and the two of you laugh and banter the entire time back and forth. After dinner you decide to go to your favorite little ice cream place for dessert. You wait your turn and as you’re ordering the cashier cannot stop making eye contact with your breasts and tells .“wow, you’re really pretty” It was Ukai’s turn to get jealous, he’d already puffed his chest and was about to take this man down for saying something as offensive as that but you start to laugh at , the guy.

“I know I’m hot thanks for the compliment but I’m already taken, thanks though” The guy is bright red and you are turning and leaving with Ukai. He had never been more turned on in his entire life, let's just say when you got back to his apartment you had a long night ahead of you.

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu imagines #ukai keishin #sawamura daichi #sugawara koushi #azumane asahi #yuu nishinoya #tanaka ryuunosuke #hinata shouyou #kageyama tobio #tsukishima kei #yamaguchi tadashi #writing #karasuno #karasuno imagines

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ryik-the-writer · 4 years ago

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THE AUDACIOUS STORYBROOKE MIRROR ADVICE COLUMNIST (WEDNESDAY PAPER EDITION) In which Lacey French is a smutty advice columnist for the Storybrooke Mirror.

Ch. 3: Lacey proposes a team-up and bantering ensures

A03

Gold tried to bury his guilt as he paced around his home, desperate to get his conversation with Lacey French out of his mind.

He shouldn’t have said what he said. He hadn’t meant what he said. But that hardly mattered; he’d realized that the second he saw the hurt on Lacey’s face.

That was hardly the way to act around someone he’d been in love with for years.

But he was a coward, he knew this in his bones. The word had been thrown at him for decades, by his abusive parents, his fellow soldiers during his day in the service, even his ex-wife.

It was odd, the way a word follows one around like bad gum on ones shoe. It was even stranger how true it became after a while.

“What are we going to do about this?”

He should have told her there and then what they could do about it. He could have let her into his house, offered her a cup of tea and explained the email he sent her in a drunken daze, as well as the feelings behind it.

But instead he’d snarled his teeth and turned her away, as he seemed to do everyone.

Few could phase through the icy wall he surrounded himself with. Jefferson Hatter, a local tailor, Gold’s occasional business partner and certified nutter, would walk through glass if provoked, and would climb that wall to get to Gold when he felt like it, namely his liquor cabinet, but kept his distance just the same.

Then there was David Nolan, Storybrooke’s “nice guy” who tried to be friends with every single person in town. However a kind word or a hello when their paths crossed in town was as far as he would go, as he knew the consequences of getting too close to the town monster.

There were a few others, tenants who had polished records of getting their rent in on time, and thus were civil, abet a bit cold.

Truth was, Gold didn’t know how to let people in. What could he do with other people, let alone a beautiful creature like Lacey French?

Pushing her away was the logical thing to do, he decided as he began straightening up his living room. He even nodded to the idea.

She’d forget about him, find some striking fellow who deserved her, and he could go back to admiring her afar, after he completely disconnected his email, that is.

It was the perfect decision, he thought, and would set off a lifetime of silence, but it would be worth it to spare Lacey from his sting.

He thought the decision final until there was another, very familiar knock on the door, and a new course of fate was struck.

He was shocked to find Lacey back at his door, not even half an hour after he sent her on her way.

“Miss—“

“Zip it,” Lacey ordered, and Gold found his tongue heavy as lead.

Lacey examined him again, noting how she met his eyes in her heels. The extra height gave her a boost of confidence. She feared Gold as much as she feared Keith Nottingham or Sydney Glass, but Gold had a bit more leverage on her livelihood. Not to mention, with all that he had revealed with the email, there was a softness there she didn’t want to harm.

She’d come for his help, after all, not further put a strain between them.

She’d even let go of his earlier comment, only if he helped her, that is.

“Look,” she began. “Let’s start over from earlier. Thanks for the email, I thought it was cute, blah blah blah.”

Gold gripped his cane. “Your point?”

“It’s…the kind of material I need.” Lacey admitted, feeling woefully embarrassed to admit her own lack of skill. “And I was wondering if, possibly, you could do it again.”

“Do…what again?”

“Write another email, one’s that sensational but clean, and give or take 100 words.”

Gold stared at her, honestly unable to grasp her concept of thought.

“Are you asking me to write for the paper?” he inquired, the question coming out as a cruel scoff.

“No,” she shot back. “Not exactly…” she huffed, hating him. “The truth is I can’t write fluff, but I need a fluff piece for Wednesday’s paper … and you seemed to have that skill.”

A dark smirk tugged at his mouth.

Push her away.

“So your telling me you can’t do your job, Miss French,” he laughed, and his heart clenched as he watched her cheeks burn. “Your incompetence is not my problem.”

He started to close the door, believing the cruel words would be the end of the situation, but Lacey’s heeled shoe stopped him.

She leaned into him now, her blue eyes colder than the iceberg that struck the Titanic.

“Look, you pompous, little shit of a man,” she growled. “You can help me, or –“

“Or what?” Gold yelled. Instinctively, he fought off all threats, even if they came from the woman he currently had a burning fondness for. “You have no power over me, dearie. But me, I can have you homeless with the click of a pen, so I suggest you find someone else to pawn your duties onto.”

Lacey gulped. He’d revealed her one fear in all this. He could take so much from her, true. Losing her apartment could lead to her losing her job under the right circumstances, not to mention staying with someone with a space the same size as hers.

But somehow, Lacey didn’t see the frothing landlord intertwining with the love-struck admirer who sent her the email.

She try one more thing, and then she’d quit, she promised.

So she smirked and placed a hand on her hip, the same pose she took whenever she turned down Keith Nottingham or had to go head to head with Sydney.

“You’re not going to do shit,” she said, watching in glee as Gold’s expression changed to a flabbergasted one.

“I beg—“

“You have the hots for me, Gold,” she continued. “I have the proof on laptop. You’re not going to throw me on the street, not now.”

They were both quiet following Lacey’s observation, but the latter only hoped it was a correct one, and Gold didn’t call Sheriff Graham to cart her away.

Thankfully, Gold’s tight posture relaxed. She’d called his bluff, and now he was putty in her hands.

“Very well, Miss French.” He sighed in surrender. It would be her heart too, he decided.

“So, will you …” she trailed off, staring at him half-hopefully.

It wasn’t a good idea, he thought, but he had no leverage on her now. Nothing to scare her of push her away.

So he did the only thing he could do: he rolled his eyes and stepped aside.

Lacey shrieked in delight, practically dancing past him into his prison and sanctuary.

She gave a whistle at the first glance of his abode.

“Not bad,” she commented.

“I don’t need your input on my decorating, dearie,” he sighed. “Just…show me what you want.”

Lacey help back a dirty comment and instead inquired the whereabouts of his computer.

Gold slowly led her to his study, his face heating up when they went past his bedroom.

His computer was still on, humming away. Gold quickly closed his email, seeing Lacey smirk out of the corner of his eye, and stepped aside.

“Your turn,” he said.

Lacey popped her fingers and swirled his chair around, logging into her work email where dozens of inquiries on love and sex awaited.

She scrolled longingly past them to three of the tamer ones, including one she’d received an hour ago and hadn’t read yet. She opened them in new windows and eased back so Gold could see the screen.

“This is what I have to work with,” she sighed. “Help.”

Gold scoffed and leaned in as closely as he could without touching her. He swiped his glasses off the table, putting them on and glancing at each email, his attention getting particularly grabbed by the newest one.

“Dear Racy Lacey,” Gold read. “I recognize that this is hardly your expertise, but I’m not sure who else to turn to. I just found out a woman I once loved very much has passed away in my home country, and I’m torn whether to go to the funeral or not. Our separation was not a pleasant one, but there was still a great deal of love on my end. I know she must have built an entire life after us, and I don’t wish to infringe on her family’s grief, but I feel I must face this, less I regret it forever.

Please, Racy Lacey, what should I do?

Signed, Wooden-hearted Widower.

Gold and Lacey were quiet for a moment, the weight of the seriousness of the email hitting them both.

Lacey, of course, knew that the message was sent from Marco Booth, Storybrooke’s most notable carpenter and friendly face.

He was also known for being able to cook a mean Italian dinner and having a shaky relationship with his only son. He was an open book, or so Lacey thought. He must be comfortable revealing this part of his life to the public, even if only some of the town’s more investigative residents would catch on who the email originated from.

Still, why write her?

It was rare to not see him with Jimminy Cricket, the town shrink, a much more perfect candidate for this sort of subject.

“Maybe they’re too close.” She wondered allowed.

Gold looked down at her. “What?”

“Nothing,” Lacey waved him off. “What do you think, can you do something with this?”

Gold relaxed on the sofa near his desk, musing on the subject as Lacey swirled the chair to face him, anticipating his answer.

“Remind me again why you can’t do this yourself, your job at that?”

Lacey groaned. “Come on, Gold.”

He smirked lightly, taking her misery as a nice little slice of payback.

“Humor me, Miss French.”

“Gods,” Lacey cursed, leaning down so she could stare at the floor rather than his face (which was decently framed by his reading glasses, she dared added.)

“I’m not good with the fluffy stuff,” she relayed.

Gold frowned. “A man losing the love of his life hardly seems like “fluff,” as you say.”

“I mean the stuff outside of my expertise, romance and…”

“Sex,” Gold stated bluntly, pretending the very word itself didn’t affect him.

“Yep,” Lacey chuckled with a glance his way. “Giving people deep, meaningful advice on matters outside of that just doesn’t work for me. I don’t really know why but I don’t want people to get bad advice because of my…” she looked at him again, this time with a touch of malice. “Incompetence.”

Gold’s gaze waivered, ashamed for his earlier reaction.

“So, that’s why I need a bit of help, and no, I can’t go to one of my co-workers because it would look like I’m shrugging off my job.”

Gold nodded. Her motives were fairly innocent, and not too concerning. And to be fair, she could have done worse. Gold would admit that he did have quite the vocabulary, and could meet her requirements.

It was the emotional aspect of the job she was asking of him he feared he couldn’t handle.

Years of keeping so much emotion inside was dangerous. He was a boiler ready to blow, and she was the last person he wanted to see him in that state.

“So…” Lacey shrugged. “That’s my problem, Gold. What do you think?”

He thought, despite the risks, this was a golden opportunity, if you pardon the pun. He’d finally be able to spend time with her, truly get to know her, and test to see if these feelings of his were true or just a passing phase. Eventually, he would spare them both a good deal of grief.

He sighed. “Let’s form a rough draft and go from there.”

“Yes!” She yelped, spinning in his chair. “I owe you big!”

“We’ll see,” he replied, hiding his grin. “Now get serious.”

“Serious,” Lacey repeated, opening an email to herself to start typing.

“Back straight,” he ordered. “Legs uncrossed.”

“For Gods’ sake,” Lacey groaned.

“Focus,” Gold ordered, standing just behind her. “Now type after me. Dear Wooden-hearted Widower…”

“Dear Wooden-hearted Widower,” Lacey repeated in a childish tone.

Gold glared at her for a moment before continuing.

“It’s my barely expert advice that you stick to familiar lands and not take the trip—“

“First off, up yours,” Lacey hissed. “Secondly, what the hell do you mean he shouldn’t take the trip?”

Gold rolled his eyes. She was too young to understand the true pain of lost love, and too inexperienced to realize when it was appropriate to take a step back.

“Would you have him scratch at scars or heal on his own?”

“I’d have him face his demons and make peace!” Lacey fought back. “Running away from ones problem doesn’t do anyone a damn bit of good!”

“You asked for my help and I’m giving it to you. Write what I say or do it yourself.”

Lacey groaned, feeling cornered, and Lacey French snarled and bit and clawed when she was in a jam.

But this was a strategic battle, one she’d end up losing in some capacity, but she was striving to win gracefully no matter what.

“How about we meet in the middle?”

“What middle do we share?” Gold asked.

“We tell him to go and...stay guarded, I guess.”

Gold rubbed a hand over his face. He shouldn’t have agreed to this. Of course he and Lacey had completely different mindsets. She had a shred of humility, his had burned to a crisp years ago.

“If he goes to her funeral, he’ll only be hurt,” Gold concluded, leaning against his chair as he willed away thoughts that needed to remain buried.

“After all, there’s no greater pain than regret.”

Lacey watched him carefully, seeing that softer side that most of the town was certain didn’t exist.

Maybe this was too much for him. For all she knew he had some deep, dark past that was threatening to overtake the present.

She wasn’t one to get circulated in someone else’s business or to gossip openly, but damn she’d love to peak into his mind, into his past.

However, she had a job to do. One of the first things she was taught about journalism-wise was to distant herself emotionally from the subject. It made the job a lot easier.

“He’d regret things a lot more if he didn’t go,” Lacey commented. “Maybe it’s better to rip the band aid off.”

Gold accepted this, but held onto his restraint.

“He needs to be careful.”

“Let’s go again,” Lacey said with a snap of her fingers. “This time let’s be a bit more positive.”

Gold let out a rude noise but relented.

“Dear Wooden blah blah blah,” Lacey read, pausing to let Gold jump in.

“Should you…” Gold began, changing his mind. “You should pursue this endeavor with caution, as the past has a way of taking over the present if you become too engulfed in it.”

Lacey matched his words, listening with interest to his advice.

“Don’t expect a warm reception or even a lukewarm resolution…”

“That’s a little harsh,” Lacey muttered.

“However, you should expect to leave in peace, and I indorse planning your trip with this in mind.”

Lacey finished typing and waited for him to continue, but Gold went quiet. When she looked at him, he had a contempt look on his face, considering their work finished.

Lacey hummed and turned back to the computer.

“Good luck to you have a safe trip back.”

“No,” Gold spat. “Don’t add such a treacly ending like that. It’s tacky.”

“It shows we give a damn.”

“It’s out of place.”

“Oh my gods!” Lacey whined, typing out her signature and then sending the email to Cruella while Gold protested behind her.

“Well that’s just lovely, and incredibly dowdy,”

“It’s fine,” Lacey scoffed. Damn he stressed too much.

Gold snarled, muttering something about incompetence and newspapers.

“Fine, are we done?”

Lacey spun in his chair, giving him the same look she would give Glass when she was getting scolded.

“Come on, this wasn’t so bad.”

“You’re right, it was downright terrible, but it’s over now. I’ll see you out.”

Lacey frowned. She’d go with dignity, but not until she spoke her mind.

“You have the funniest way of charming the chick you have the hots for.”

Gold slapped the top of his cane. “Would you stop saying that, it’s unbecoming.”

Lacey clucked her tongue. She had him now.

“What would you call it then?” she challenged.

“Miss French—“

“Lacey, and just humor me.”

Gold wished the floor would give way. It was a miracle he was able to think though Lacey’s column with her being within five feet of him. Now he had to bear his soul to her in his own study.

“I would call it an attraction,” he admitted, hoping she’d leave before he could be truly humiliated.

“So yeah, you have the hots for me.”

“I like to think it’s a bit more than that.”

Lacey smirked, her lip running over her lip. She’d had men flaunt over her before, but this somehow was more genuine, more real. To have those affections come from someone as stoic as Gold was truly interesting.

It was flattering, though she wasn’t sure how to feel in return. Probably best to stick to the business arrangement for now.

But that didn’t mean they couldn’t have a spot of fun in the meantime.

“How about a drink?” Lacey suggested.

Gold’s stomach flipped at the idea of alcohol. “It’s one in the afternoon.”

“So what, we need to celebrate,” she said, sauntering to him. “To our new relationship.”

Gold twitched, flustered at her closeness. “Relationship?”

“Well, after this I’m sure Glass will want me to do one of these once in a while, which means I’ll have to come back for your … assistance.”

Gold almost choked on his own gulp. So much for keeping her at distance.

“Gold,” she sighed, wrapping his free arm in hers and leading him downstairs. “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

#rumbelle fic #rumbelle #golden lace #lacey french #rumplestiltskin #ryik's fics

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lily-lilou · 4 years ago

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My understanding and analysis of the magical system in The Dragon Prince. Part 2. Primal, dark, love and life magic.

So, this second post (here’s the first one) will present my theory about this: about the magical system as a whole thing (more or less), about love and life magic, I will explain why it’s two different things, what’s their place in the magical system, their role, about how they're supposed to work.

1st part. what proof, in the show, do we have about another kind of magic?

Well, take a look at this:

The two pictures are when Avizandum and Zym are attacking, with lightning. they are the exact same colors (cool, nothing exceptional, Lily, really cool...)

Yeah, but now look at this, when Zym is trying to wake up (maybe even heal?) his mom:

See all the colors, here? We have white, green, blue, purble, some kind of pink-orange-yellow...: well, every colors, as if every kind of primal magic were present. And I don't think it's just to make things pretty here.

Because it's not the only time we see this phenomenon, where “all the colors” are here. There’s two other examples:

1st look at when Viren is sucking what I suppose is Zym's life/magic's force out of our dragonling:

Once again, we can see all the colors, like with Zym's lightning to wake up his mom.

But the most impressive example is when Zym’s egg is hatching:

The egg was dead (he had turned black for several minutes) we saw some usual lightning (blue) who then changed with all colors and he literraly turned back to life:

So, from the interview linked in the post before (at 9min00 or something), we know there is that "earlier, less differenciated power", a "kind of magic that's deeper". With this statement (“less differenciated power”) and pictures above, it seems we have a magic who looks like a mix of all primal magic. I will even say it’s “life-magic”.

edit:

I found this following pictures in “the art of the dragon prince”. Here, the colors are even more differenciable. And there is indeed, six of them (white(a little blue), yellow, green, purple, red and blue (I guess respectively sky, moon, earth, stars, sun and ocean)

2nd part. What is “life-magic”?

I said what we saw above is “life-magic” and it could make sense:

First, because of all the colors we saw (as I said, as if all kind of primal magic were here).

Second: just observe the world, how it works: the sun, the moon, the earth, the ocean, the sky (and I guess the stars too) need to work together to bring life. (Hey, what is the sun, alone, if not a giant useless fire ball? What is the earth without the sun to warm it, the ocean to irrigate it? Doesn't the ocean need the earth to contain it? et caetera...)

(still in the same interview above) we know Aaravos sutdied magic deeply, that he was interested in this "deeper, less differenciated magic" they mentionned. So, "life magic" being a mix of all others magic would makes even more sense if Aaravos is the one (from the artbook we can guess he has at least a hand in it) behind this symbol (because it would represent “life” it more or less perfectly):

Plus, you'll notice another thing when Aaravos and Viren tried to kill Zym, Viren's eyes became, while he was filling himself with Zym's “life”, just like those of Aaravos in S2:

If I'm right, Aaravos could have known there is a deeper magic and so find a way to harvest it with dark magic. It could explain why he tried to reach other arcanum, to reach that "deeper magic", that "life". (or maybe he doesn't know it's "life"? too early to say anything here, I guess)

(speaking aside, another theory of mine is that he harvested other primal creatures to gain their power and so reach others arcanum, which would also explain why every Xadian hates and fear him - which also could mean he was trying to give this to Viren, the sky arcanum, I mean... anyway, that's not the topic yet.)

BUT, stating that Life-magic is composed of all primal magic only is maybe true, but incomplete.

I just said this symbol (yes again, I love it):

Could be “life magic”. But if “life-magic” is only composed of all kind of primal magic… what does that giant rune in the middle is for?

Dark magic, you’ll said.

Dark magic? But we said earlier that dark magic is the exact opposite of “life-magic”. Because it’s “death and hate”, when the other is “life and love”.

…

Wait, love? The big rune in the middle would be “love”?

Exactly! (I promise, we’ll dig into this in the following part)

“love is magic, magic is life, so love is life”.

(PS. Again: “love is magic” is something you can find in Callum’s spellsbook several time. It’s not from me)

But in dark magic, no love, so no life. Why? Think at how dark magic works: it's killing and stealing and it hollows you from the inside (more about this in the part dedicated to dark-magic). I would even say: It's stealing life from others, so the price you have to pay is to lose your own (life-life? life-love? Viren became so hateful with time... but I'm digressing.)

So, now, look at Zym again when he's trying to save/wake up his mom.

We find all these colors, but he's not like Aaravos, he never reached any other arcanum. I mean, he can barely control his own. I think in that moment, Zym isn't using his usual lightning but, maybe without even knowing it, he's digging in that life-love magic because he loves his mom, he wants to help her, to save her. So something else, something big is happening.

And it would be wonderful if his attempt to wake her is the true reason she wakes up at the end of S3...

I would even add Aaravos’s quote before I conclued the end of this 2nd part: “Those who fail the test of love are simple animals, that deserved to be motivated by fear". It could means Aaravos know, to some extent, the existence, or maybe the importance of love in magic. And if he’s really behind the symbol above… (but I won’t digress on my theory about Aaravos and magic and the test of love, because it’s not the subject either and this post is already long enough…)

So, conclusion of this part: true "life magic" would be composed on all primal magic AND love. (That, or "true life magic" is composed of all primal magic and the way to reach it without killing others is love. I would also makes sense but we’ll see when we will talk about “love magic”)

3rd part: what is “love-magic?

I just said that the symbol of dark magic could in fact represent the magical system, and so “life magic” and the rune in the middle would be the representation of “love”.

Nice statement! Any proof? Let’s analyze this closely, then!

On the symbol, we can see two things:

1st, all the primal magic.

2nd, a big rune in the middle. Until now, we thought it was a rune representing dark magic, I just stated it wasn’t, that it could be “love”.

When I said that on Reddit, a nice fella, u/randomorph came with his own theory, here: he proposed the interesting idea that the two soulfangs we can see in the endcredits in S1 with a heart above their head (meaning "love"), just look like the symbol/rune of dark magic.

One one part, soulfangs serpent seems dark-magic related in some aspects, but on the other part, what we see here, it's love. Two serpents who are in love.

So if that dark-magic's rune above is inspired by the two soulfangs, it could really be the proof the very rune of dark magic means, is, in fact, the rune of "love". (And maybe that Aaravos doesn’t fully understand what “love” truly is... but once again, that’s another theory...)

Sidenote: another nice fella thought that the two serpents are also similar to “Caduceus”, the symbol used in the medical world, with the two serpents. I still don’t know exactly what to do with this, but the parallel is interesting. And it wouldn’t be the first similarity with the bible.

4th part: how is this love-magic supposed to work? (I'll talk about dark magic later)

Nice, we have now proof (well, more or less, it’s still a big theory who could end up being totally wrong) that we have a life-magic, composed of primal magic and love magic, with a dark magic who’s strangely not fitting in this…

But for now, what about love-magic?

I had a theory I couldn't prove a while ago and I had let it down: I thought that "love" was the kind of magic humans could really do. But I had let it down because Xadians have proven they can love too. And I also had to place Callum and his arcanum in this.

BUT! thanks to u/the_mad_ and his superb theory here, we have proof now. To summarise it partially (but go read it, it's worth it): humans have some special kind of power, they can create a magical connection with other, it's "love-magic", and dark magic is a corrupted version of it (but once again, I'll abord dark magic later). As he said it "humans can do this special form of magic because humans have (or can form) a special magical connection with each other and with other creatures and objects, in particular through love (and empathy)".

And indeed, we saw this three time, especially in the novel.

We saw this with Marcos when he made a connection with Rayla (it's the-mad interpretation since we have the scene from Rayla’s POV and I totally agree with him ^^),

Ezran made a connection with Zym while in the water, in the frozen lake.

Viren made one with Harrow in the novel, and it ended really bad for him because Harrow rejected him. (no really, I insist, go read his post).

And all these connections are more or less described in the same magical way.

u/the_mad_ also mentionned Ezran's power as a more visible, powerful manifestation of this love-magic humans can perform. I had that HC too, I never agree with the idea of our boy being earth-primal-related, because in Callum's spellsbook, it's never said earthblood elves can talk to animals. In fact, no primal-magic seems to really fit with this power.

But with love-magic, it does.

But… what about Xadians? They can also love. The moonfam is a proof of this, Janai and the dragon queen too. Well, yes, it's love, and yes everyone can love, without exception. But for Xadian it's not necesseraly magical because it's not their magic. Xadians have primal magic and humans love-magic.

So, to summarize this part: humans have a magic on their own. It's love, but not usual love**, it's something that gave them the ability to "link" themselves to others, even to link others together**, but that's another part.

5th part, how love and primal magic works? What happen when separated? What happen when reunited?

Thanks again to u/the_mad, I finally found an explanation (I could be totally wrong but let's just say I'm at least not far from the truth... hem!!)

Take a look again at what I now call the "life-magic" symbol, formerly called "dark-magic symbol" (it’s the last time you’ll see it, I promise ^^):

The important part now is the big circle (in white) in the middle, circling "love" and connecting all primal magic. The important part now, is this "connection". It's as if "love" is the link between all primal magic, as if love it's what makes them work together.

u/the_mad_ talked about love-magic connecting people, which seems to be true. But I think it's not only between individuals. If this theory is right, that connection could be applied in a much larger scale. I would even said it concernes the whole world.

So, what did I mean by "love-magic is connecting all primal magic? Well...:

In HBMP ep2, Aaron Ehasz talked about how Xadians live in their part of the world, and it appears they're not really cohabitating together. They know each other, they know about each other, but it doesn't seem to be more than that.

In HBMP ep5, we even learn that there's probably several Mooshadow village in the forest other than the Silvergrove, and they don't know where all the others are. They're not "connected", not really.

We also have a description of Ibis on the official website, where we learn that "He has long been a liaison between elves and dragons", which could mean the two species aren't that close.

And what about the "I know that sound, that's not a good sound" from Rayla when she heard the dragon roar?... that reveal a lot about relationship between elves and dragons... (plus, still in HBMPep2, Aaron teased a story who happened between Rayla, Runaan and a dragon, which would explain the quote just above (personal theory: the dragon is the reason of Runaan’s torso scar). But alas, j.Richmond stopped him before we could get more. my HC is that Runaan's scars came from here, which would add to the idea elves and dragons aren't always getting along.)

Another proof would be the dragonguard, elven warriors, running away when the dragon king died. They didn't care about Zym's fate. (Except for Lain and Tiadrin, but I'm gonna talk about this later)

I would add how the other moonshadow elves except Runaan, in the novelization, showed how... deeply attached they were to Rayla. A child they saw growing up for almost 16 years. Worst of all, Moon magic, according to Callum's spellsbook, is supposed to be love-related. If that's "love" for any lambda Moonshadow elf, don't show me what "hate" is for them, please!

(and here my... approximative localisation of elves in Xadia...)

All these points lead to this: we don't have yet a whole picture of Xadia, but it seems that Xadians are not close to each other, in a matter of relationship. It's not war or anything like that, it more looks like a huge lack of socialisation, lack of relationship.

So, no humans = no love-magic = no connection. It seems coherent. Xadians never approached humans, they studied them from afar (I had found a super analysis on Tumblr about informations each side has on the other, about how it seems elves have more accurate intel on humans than humans on Xadians - but sorry, I can't find it anymore :() they even bannished humans and look at the result: Xadians are separated from each other, barely interacting it seems. Dragons from elves, elves from elves according to their arcanum. Xadia is stagnant.

But now, what happened when Xadians get close to humans, when they work with them?

At the storm spire, one human boy (ok, it's Ezran, not any human could have done this) brought several dragons to fight alongside sunfire elves and humans to fight an army of monsters, (not sure if Ibis would have achieved this alone)

Callum started to talk through Rayla about that toxic cycle in the beginning of S1, and it touched her profundly (as we can see at the end of S2). He and his brother managed to touch her to the core and it changed her on a lot of aspects. She's more healthy now, everyone can agree on that...

Her contact with Villads changed her

And talking about their quest, they literally changed the world (... ok, it's only the beginning but the idea that 3 children, a baby and a unidentified glowing thing stopped an imminent war does talk a lot about what both sides reunited can do).

We can also see Janai changing (I wonder if she got "linked" to Amaya the way u/the_mad_ talked about in his theory about love-magic). She first wanted to kill her enemy, and she ended saving her, fighting with her (and maybe slowly falling in love with her, but that's another story)

Side note to complete this part: what's happening to humans, while separated from Xadians? Look at how humans live in their side of the border. The five kingdoms came to an alliance, but the land is mostly deprived of primal magic, probably because there's almost no elves or dragon. it's slowly dying, physically-materially speaking. (remember that famine who would have killed hundred of thousand people 9 years ago)

Conclusion for this part :

1. Xadians need humans to be linked, they need "love" to be and work together and not being separated from each other. Just like Humans needs Xadians to "live".

2. Xadians and humans are currently separated from each other, and they both lost something, they're both missing something. And for them all to be complete, for them to live, they need to be together.

6th part : if Xadians have primal magic and humans love-magic, why can Callum use primal magic? Could a Xadian use Love-magic?

I've stated that Magic is life. If magic is life, then it's in everything that's alive. Which mean, everyone, Xadians and humans, have everything in them. Humans and Xadians have both love-magic and primal magic in them.

But just like Xadians are naturally born with a connection to a primal source, humans have a natural one on the 7th: love.

From this, it seems logical that a human can reach an arcanum, since it's in him too. It's just... dormant, passive. If he wants to reach this other side, he needs to forge a connection.

And so, the opposite could totally be true, a Xadian could forge a connection to love-magic.

Okay, but how does it works? Why didn't this happened earlier?

Once again, I think it's related to what I said: both sides need to work together, to learn by proximity from each other. A true relationship. Callum first started to learn about Xadians by being close to Rayla and Zym. He trusts them, loves them. I don't know everything that's necessary to reach an arcanum as a human, but I think this close proximity, this trust in the other side, incarnate in Zym and Rayla, count.

And so? Can a Xadian use love-magic?

Logically, yes, and I think we have already an example : Zym

Zym who was born amongst humans and elves. Zym who's connected to an arcanum by birth, and to love by Ezran.

It's only my HC here, once again, but the bond they're sharing is too deep to be just from Ezran. I mean, Zym can literally reach Ezran when he's afraid, the boy can see through his eyes. I think Ezran and him are so profundly connected not only because Ezran linked himself to the dragonling, but also because Zym connected himself to him because he learned that "love-magic" by being with them.

The other proof (well, once again it’s HC^^’) to that, is that Zym seems to have litterally used life-magic on his mother. (remember life-magic = love + primal magic - remember how his lightning were different when he used them on his mother than when he attacked Viren, and all) And I still have that HC that she wake up in the end because he used it.

Anyway!

What about the moonfam? (take this part as some kind of side note? It’s still incomplete and full of imprecise HC. I'm wating for S4 to see more of them)

Well, that point is tricky. The moonfam is Xadian but has "love" as a really, reeeaaaally strong thema.

- it has been officially stated than Runaan loves Rayla deeply. After some researches, we can find several interesting things about him to realise how "love" is indeed a strong thing here. Like the fact he never planned to kill Rayla (post from the lead-writer at wonderstorm), or his thoughts described in HBMP ep5 (here’s some excerpts:

" [...] And I think those are the types of things that he’s still stewing on. Like, did he overstep? Was he so eager to give her the opportunity to prove herself that he ultimately put her in a position where she could not succeed? [...] I think he took her off the mission both because he very, very much wanted to give himself and the others a chance to complete the mission, even if it meant their deaths, but it also meant that Rayla had the chance to survive. Even if it was potentially going to be misinterpreted and she’d get slapped with the Ghosting. I think he believed that her alive was better than everybody being dead. And I think he feels guilty. [...] Again, a lot of time to potentially stew on and reflect on, is that he does feel like he put her in a position that was not fully taking into account the type of person she was, and more projecting onto her the type of person he wanted her to be, and the gift he wanted to give her, of redeeming herself in the eyes of her people for her parents. And I think he’s gonna have to work through that. Poor dude"

We can also add the feelings he shows, in the novel, toward who I totally assume being Tiadrin and Lain when he saw their coins. He loves them, he still loves them even with, until now, he thought they had betrayed them (which means, for me, that his insult to Rayla in the novel, about her parents, is really an attempt to make her leave instead or staying and being killled _ pure HC again, could be wrong...

PS. thanks again @beautifulterriblequeen and @kotikala for this point :))

Ethari lost Runaan and made a mistake, but in the end he chose Rayla by (HC again, here) breaking the rules and talk to her, to understand what happened. He told her he loves her at the end of S3ep3. Him, giving her that moon opal while telling her what he said to Runaan, means the same for her "my love will be with you even when the moon is not", meaning "I still love you no matter what".

Lain and Tiadrin (thanks again for this HC @beautifulterriblequeen) know what it is to love a child, because they have Rayla. That's also why they stayed to protect Zym, not just because of their oath.

And don't make me start about Rayla and love, about how she loves Ezran, Callum and Zym, so much that she can sacrifice herself to protect the wee cutie ^^

(well, Idk if describing all of this about Runaan is as necessary on Tumblr than it can be on Reddit...)

But once again, is this magical-love or is it just a strong, normal love?

I’m still not sure of the answer. I would say it is probably "normal" (strong, but normal). But it could evolve to "love-magic" at some point, maybe even "life magic".

I guess (a huge, vague guess), that to reach "the other side" (primal magic for a human, or love-magic for a Xadian), you need to have some proximity with someone from the other side and what I would call... predisposition? Callum had definitely an affinity with primal magic from the very beginning (if not "predisposition", maybe "destiny" will fit, then? For this part, I really don't know, as I said, it's pure guess.)

But if predisposition is required, then the moonfam could totally fit to reach "love-magic" and maybe "life-magic", since there is such strong love between each of them.

And, who know (once again it’s a huuuge guess), maybe those who are related to the moon have some kind of natural predisposition?

I think this way because of my current (still have to work on this point) interpretation of the moon arcanum. We do know they’re love-related. We can see it here, in Callum’s Spellsbook:

My HC here is that “love-magic” is partly about linking, connection. And the moon arcanum, in his duality, is also about the connection between life and death, between living beings and dead ones. So, yeah, maybe they do have a predisposition...

But how would they reach that “love-magic” exactly? I dunno. Maybe Viren will capture Rayla and taunt her with the coins and they will free themselves from it, out of love for her because she's the most precious life for all her parents? (I still have that theory where Harrow will talk to Runaan in the coin to make him evolve the way he did while facing his last days)

Or maybe it will be Callum who will free them, don't know how, out of love for Rayla? Or Lain and Tiadrin would be some kind of "genius" who doesn't needs humans to reach the “love arcanum”, because they love Rayla so much, and they have the mind of a protector, and they were ready to die to protect Zym... that would fit with the "reward-theory" and "destiny"... arf! another aspect I have to study here. I really don't know. We'll see this in S4, I hope.

Anyway, that's it for the moonfam!

Now! We've established what love-magic could be and where it stands in the magical system. How it works.

But what about dark magic?

Last part: Dark magic in the magical system.

u/the_mad_, in his theory I mentionned, advanced the idea that dark magic is a perverted version of love magic.

He thinks so because these "magical moments" he mentionned, when people are magically "linked", are described in a similar way than using dark magic, which add a point to his thought about dark-magic being love-magic but corrupted.

I mostly agreed with him, but I would push his theory even further (I thought about this during the night, in fact, and I couldn't sleep and then... "ting"!):

the effects of dark magic, using it is described in a similar way that "love-magic", when a connection is made between two beings.

dark magic also uses primal magic.

I’m still hesitating about that interpretation, however. She’s pretty solid, but I’m bothered by a point: something similar to love-magic AND using primal magic? that does sound a little like what I call “life-magic”, no? So what if more than being a corrupted version of Love-magic, dark magic is a corrupted version of life-magic?

A corrupted version who gives a mimic of life magic but in the end, desecrate it. Dark magic means stealing, killing. It's death. And it's not normal death, as a part of the life-death cycle. It's something else. That could explain why Callum feels it's so "wrong". He values life, he's a lot about love.

The dream he made about dark magic is really interesting, too. Somehow, that evil version of him lied to him. (I still save a room for the idea that it wasn't him but something else disguised as him,) telling him he can't do magic, that dark magic is the only way. If you think about it, the message given by that... thing, is : "you love them, you want to protect them, you want them to live, then use dark magic because it's the only way for you".

But dark magic is a corrupted version of life, it's literally "death".

Okay, but you'll tell me that Viren and Claudia used it to save someone who was dead. Yep, but to do it they killed someone else (for Viren it's a theory a lot of us belive). I'm pretty sure "life-magic" doesn't work this way. Callum didn't kill anyone when he broke the primal stone to save Zym and then, at some point, we saw "life magic" (it's in the post I linked in the beginning). I mean, Zym was dead. The egg was black. But he came back to life.

Zubeia was dying too, but it seems, once again if I'm right, that Zym saved her with life magic. He didn't kill anyone.

I said once ("epiphany on the moon arcanum", if I remember...) Darkness is an emptiness of light, death, an emptiness of life.

So, why not? How do you kill death? with life....

An additional thought about Dark magic :

Once again, thanks to The_mad_ on Reddit, we got an interesting analysis: he noted that the seven sources are similar to the creation, in the story of Genesis. God created the world in six days:

“The only one that isn't directly mentioned is the stars. On the first day God separated day from night. (This presumably gave the stars.) On the second day God created the sky. On the third God separated the earth from the ocean. On the fourth day God created the Sun and the Moon. There is no primal source (that we know of ;) ) for the 5th day when the sea monsters were created. But then on the 6th day God created humans and gave them dominion over all of the creatures of the earth (i.e. Dark magic). On the seventh day God rested. »

So I pushed the analysis further:

On the 5th and especially 6th day God created living beings, especially humans. And when you put all of his creation together, all the days, it's "life" (Just earease one of these elements and there wouldn't be life anymore _ok, human's place in the world's ecosystem could be discussed but that’s not the topic... so let's say humans are the soul, the spirit, and the world the body... or something.)

Much later after God finished his creation, a shadow, the devil, came and infiltrate the world to make humans "fall". (Now that I'm pointing that out, it's pretty much the same in LOTR, no?... anyway). He made them fall with lies.

So now, let's suppose that these theories about a "love-magic" and a "life-magic" are accurate and that parallel between genesis and TDP’s magical system has a solid ground, that maybe "love" is indeed a source in itself, like the others (In genesis, it would correspond to the 6th day, when God created humans).

Now, I wonder. If it's this way, if the parallel between Genesis and TDP's seven sources is that strong, then, could "dark-magic" be "the shadow" who made humans fall?

I think it could be this way for two reasons:

1st. dark magic appeared, it seems, at the very least 2000 years ago with the rise of Elarion (maybe earlier, but probably not 5000 years ago, during the era of the first elves), just like the devil in Genesis did (I mean, about the fact he came later, not at the begining).

2nd, we saw the... dark-mage-Callum, that sort of... evil avatar of him, in his dream, literally lying to Callum himself about humans not able to do primal magic. (that, if it wasn't just his own belief impersonated. We still don't know yet).

And so, Dark Magic, being a person or a "thing", a concept, I don't know, would really be something else, something corrupted who perverted and disturbed the world.

Okay, this post is the last one, it’s finally over!! Thank you for those who had the courage to read it until the end!!! I hope I didn’t bothered you too much ^^

It was a little difficult to put all in one thing (all of this are in fact several post on Reddit) so I hope the continuity is coherent. I’m working on this since ... ARGH! 5 hours? Okay, I’m gonna eat something.

I hope you had fun to read this :D

Now, to the kitchen! I’m Hungry!

edit: I forgot to tag @beautifulterriblequeen and @kotikala: what do you think of this?

External POV are awlays welcomed (but don’t feel obligated to read it, I know it’s pretty long... wait, if I tag and this message is in the end... will you see it right away?)

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bluesylveon2 · 4 years ago

Text

Levihan Mamma Mia! AU Side Story 2: Mission (Not)Impossible

Author’s Note: This is my gift to everyone reading my story because Feb 22 is my bday! Aruani is the first couple in Sasha’s friend group, so this is before SS1. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is a Levihan Mamma Mia au. This fanfic is inspired by Mamma Mia which is directed by Phyllida Loyd, written by Catherine Johnson, and uses music from the pop group ABBA. Attack on Titan is a manga/anime series written by Hajime Isayama and published by Kondasha

Characters: Armin, Annie, Hange, Sasha, Eren, Mikasa, Hitch, Marco, Connie, and Ymir

Main Story Here!

“I’m tired of this!” Ymir yells

Mikasa looks up from her book and looks at what movie Ymir was watching. The movie started with a couple who loved each other since childhood but never told the other person. The scene currently playing was when the couple finally confessed after many years.

Mikasa looks at Ymir questioningly “what’s the problem this time, Ymir?”

It was the afternoon on a weekend in Kalokairi. Ymir, Mikasa, and Hitch were having a lazy day, so they decided to hang out in Mikasa and Historia’s house while the other girls were out shopping. The trio was laying around Mikasa’s bed while the sun shines on them. Mikasa was reading a book, Ymir was watching TV, and Hitch was painting her nails.

Ymir pointed to the couple on the TV. “That couple here reminds me of Annie’s not so subtle crush on Armin. Heck, even Armin’s crush is not that subtle either!” Ymir raised her arms in annoyance

Hitch closes the cap on her nail polish and lightly blows on her fingers to speed up the drying process. “Those two will never confess.” She shakes her head disapprovingly “The world could end, and the two will still stay silent.”

Ymir cracks her knuckles “if only there was someone there to knock some sense into them…” She looks over to Hitch and Mikasa glaring at her. Ymir raises her hands up innocently “just kidding” she laughs.

Mikasa closes her book and sets it down on her lap “Those two will confess when the time comes. Hopefully, they don’t run out of time if the world were to suddenly come to an end.”

She looks up to find Ymir staring out the window with a mischievous grin on her face. Mikasa frowns. Ymir grinning like that does not scream good to Mikasa. “What are you planning Ymir?” Mikasa asks suspiciously

“It’s nothing bad, Mikasa. I just want to give Annie and Armin a nudge in the right direction.”

This perks up Hitch’s interest. Hitch claims herself as Annie’s best friend (a title that took a lot of dedication to achieve), and she wants the best for Annie. Hitch noticed how happy Annie was around Armin. She knew Annie would never tell her out loud, but it was obvious how Annie would react if Armin started dating another girl. It took Hitch many tries (plus kicking down a door) to convince Annie to admit how jealous and depressed she was when Armin went on a date with that one girl. Besides, Hitch noticed how Armin would stay behind after school to watch Annie during her MMA practice.

Hitch looks at Ymir. “I’m interested in what you have to say, Ymir.” Hitch smiles “I care about Annie and Armin. I want them to be happy.”

Mikasa was shocked. From the outside, Hitch looks like a selfish person. Mikasa sees Armin is like a brother to her, and here she is witnessing Hitch say she wants to help him get with Annie. Yes, Mikasa also noticed the pining looks they give each other.

Hitch noticed how shocked Mikasa looked. “Don’t give me that look, Mikasa. I can care about my friends too.” Hitch pretends to look offended and rolls her eyes

Mikasa’s face turns red from embarrassment “I didn’t mean it in a bad way! What I was trying to say was-” Mikasa stopped when Hitch raised a hand up in front of her body.

“I know what you were trying to say. I’m not offended” Hitch smirks then laughs. Mikasa is still red from embarrassment.

“Anyways” Ymir stands up in front of Hitch and Mikasa. She spoke to get back to the main topic. “Do you want to hear my brilliant plan? It is 100% foul proof” Ymir puts her hand in fists and puts it on her hip. She has a triumphant look on her face meaning that she is confident with whatever she has planned.

Mikasa and Hitch look at one another and then back at Ymir. They had an unspoken agreement with one another before nodding to Ymir.

“Ok” Hitch moves to make herself comfortable on Mikasa’s bed “What’s your plan?”

---

The plan was simple, and Ymir and Hitch designed it themselves. 1. Ymir and Eren kidnap Armin 2. Send Annie on a goose chase around the island (with the help from Mikasa) 3. Lead the two into the old goat house and have them confess (Connie and Hitch had to close the door)

---

“You’re a really good baker, Annie,” Sasha says as she devours the piece of pie Annie baked. Annie swiped the pan before the last slice was taken. She sets it aside on the counter on the other side of the kitchen out of Sasha’s reach.

Sasha and Annie were in Hotel Hange eating some pie Annie baked. Annie asked Hange if she could use her kitchen, and Hange gave her permission. Annie wanted to bake in peace, but the smell must have attracted Sasha out of her room. This confused Annie because Sasha is usually out, but most of their friends in their group were mysteriously busy today. The only ones who weren’t on the island are Historia, Jean, Hanami, and Marlow. They went to the mainland to run some errands for Hange.

“Hey, I was gonna eat that!” Sasha exclaims and raises her hands trying to reach for the last slice of pie.

“It’s not for you Sasha.” Annie reprimands and moves the pie out of the way when Sasha attempted to grab it. Sasha eventually stops.

“So you’re saving it for someone then? Is it one of the girls?” Sasha asks and tilts her head. She looks at Annie who is still quiet and unmoving. Sasha had a feeling who it could be for and smirks

“Unless you’re saving it for Armin? I’m sure he will love your baking” Sasha smiles, and Annie turns red.

“I never specified who it was for! I could be saving this for Eren!” Annie exclaims. Her face is still red.

Sasha laughs “Eren is not a big fan of sweets. You could always give it to me. I’ll make sure Armin gets it.”

“Not a chance!’ Annie sets the pie down in a small box she had out “Go find and marry another guy who is willing to make you a pie.”

Sasha laughs again “So you thought about marrying Armin now, huh?” she says teasingly.

Now Annie was short-circuiting “That’s not what I meant! I-”

“Annie!”

Annie was interrupted by Mikasa who barged through the door. Luckily, she didn’t use too much force, or she would have broken the door off its hinges.

“Mikasa! What brings you here?” Sasha walks away from Annie and goes towards Mikasa

Mikasa ignores Sasha and looks at Annie “I need your help. Armin’s been kidnapped!”

A silence fills the room as Annie processes what Mikasa said. Armin should have been heading back to Eren’s house (as he usually does on his free days) so Annie could give him the pie. Now he got kidnapped? On this tiny island!

“What?!”

---

30 minutes earlier

Armin was reading one of his favorite books alone near the beach. It was a free day for him, and he likes to spend it reading near the ocean. Armin cannot explain it, but he finds the ocean comforting. Sometimes, he likes to bring back seashells he finds and gives them to his friends.

Armin puts his hand in the pocket of his shorts. He found a conch shell earlier that he wanted to give to Annie. It had a bluish tint and it is roughly the size of his palm. Armin smiled and lightly blushed after touching the shell. He’s sure Annie would love it. She is his crush after all.

Armin goes back to reading until his vision goes dark. He dropped the book as he felt the perpetrator tie something in the back of his head.

Someone blindfolded him Armin suspected.

Armin drops his book and was ready to fight back, but he felt someone grab his arms and tie them behind his back. Meanwhile, another person tied his legs together on his calves. Armin was ready to yell for help, but someone put a cloth between his teeth so he couldn’t talk.

So the perpetrator has a partner Armin suspected with how fast they were able to tie him up.

Armin was ready to thrash around until he felt one of his kidnappers go near him. He could feel their breath near his ear.

“Don’t worry Armin” Eren says near Armin’s ear “Ymir and I are not gonna hurt you. This is all according to plan. You can thank Ymir later.”

Eren?!?!

---

And that’s how Armin found himself in a sack being carried (most likely by Eren) across the island. He suspected Ymir and Eren put him in the sack to avoid suspension with the locals. Who wouldn’t be alarmed by two people running around the island carrying someone who is tied up?

Definitely just another day in Kalokairi.

Armin was ready to throw up with all the movement. This is not how he wanted this day to go. Luckily, he managed to keep Annie’s shell safe in his pocket.

Armin decided to focus on his hearing since his vision is temporarily impaired. He might as well using his hearing to an advantage. All of his other senses are heightened after the loss of one. He focused on the wind, Eren’s panting, and the sound of their running. Armin focused again to hear another sound. It sounded more like a shout, and it was getting louder the closer it got.

“Armin!” Annie yelled

Great Armin thought. If only his day could get any more embarrassing than he already has

---

Annie, Marco, and Mikasa were running across the island chasing after Armin’s kidnappers. Annie could tell from looking one was a male and the other was a female. She couldn’t identify who they were since they both wore shades to cover their eyes and hats on their heads.

They have been running in a full circle around the island, but Annie was not ready to give up. She felt confident that she, Mikasa, and Marco could get Armin back together. However, Annie had a suspicion something was not adding up. It felt as if Mikasa was not running as fast as she usually would.

“Annie, Let’s split up!” Mikasa yells as they run. Annie could only turn to her and give her are you serious look.

“Look, if we separate then we can get Armin faster. Divide and conquer!” Marco yells, He had a point there Annie thought before nodding her head. The kidnappers plus Armin were not heading towards Hotel Hange. There’s a chance someone would catch Armin assuming Sasha, Hange, or Moblit are there.

The group split off, and Annie felt a surge of adrenaline run through her body. She was determined to save Armin no matter what.

---

“Shit, she’s catching up,” Eren says after turning around and finding Annie on their trail. They were almost at the goat house. Ymir and Eren just had to climb up the steps near the cliff first.

“Speed up! We’re almost there!” Ymir calls back as they start heading up the steps.

The two were almost there, but luck was not on their side.

It was like slow motion for everyone watching. Eren stumbled and fell backward on the steps. Ymir looked back in horror as Eren fell and dropped Armin with him. Eren was lucky because he could stop himself from hurting himself more. Armin was not as lucky since he was unaware of what was going on. Annie, who finally made it, ran up the steps to catch Armin, but Armin still managed to hurt himself. Luckily, he didn’t fall off the cliff, and Eren fell from the first few steps. Instead. Armin only hurt his legs.

---

Hange was nice enough to give Armin a free room to recover. She reprimanded the others for endangering Armin. To be honest, she thought the sack was unnecessary. Armin was resting in a vacant hotel room while Hange sat next to Armin to tend to him.

Hange placed the Ice pack on Armin’s bandaged legs and turned to Annie, who was leaning against a wall watching her “Thank goodness you were there to catch Armin, Annie. He would have injured himself if you weren’t there.”

She chuckles “I’m surprised Armin broke his legs though. Must have been from the way he fell” Hange added.

“Well, I have a hotel to run now. I’ll leave the rest to you, Annie, unless you have to go? I can get Moblit or Sasha to replace you.”

Annie shook her head. “I got it. Thank you Hange.”

Hange smiled and stood up to leave the room. Annie left her spot against the wall and walked towards Hange’s previous spot. She sat down and leaned forward to move some of Armin’s hair away from his forehead. Annie then places the back of her palm on Armin’s forehead. No fever she thought and leaned back against the chair. She watches Armin quietly.

“I feel like I’m tending to my husband,” Annie says absentmindedly. It’s not like Armin would hear her anyway.

So you thought about marrying Armin now, huh? Sasha’s voice plays in Annie’s mind.

Annie froze. Her, marrying Armin? Changing her last name to Arlet? Annie scoffs and crosses her arms.

‘Only in her dreams,’ she thought bitterly.

Annie looks at Armin’s figure. Someday, Armin would leave Kalokairi to see more of the ocean. Probably study to become a marine biologist or something ocean-related. Armin is most likely to meet a girl who is more fun and cheerful than her.

“Maybe that’s why Ymir and Hitch came up with this ridiculous plan? Use it as motivation for me to confess to him.”

Annie laughs quietly to herself “Look at how that turned out.”

Annie moves to get Sasha or Moblit to help out before she heads home. She can confess tomorrow.

As Annie stood, a gentle hand grasped Annie’s wrist causing Annie to stop. She knew it can only be one person: Armin.

Armin catches Annie off guard when he gently pulls Annie towards his side of the bed. Annie was fast enough to land without hitting Armin’s injured legs. Armin wraps his other arm around Annie and hugs her. She looks up at his red face, and Armin starts blushing too. He must have been awake to hear Annie talking to herself.

Now Annie wants to bang her head against the wall. Not once but multiple times.

“When did you wake up?” Annie asks shocked

“After Hange closed the door. I heard what you said Annie, and I know about your feelings for me.”

Annie turns red, and she stays quiet. She just had to say some of her thought out loud.

Armin took her quietness as a sign to continue. He looks into her ice-blue eyes “I actually had a crush on you since you came on the island. I remember thinking about how cool and talented you were after I saw you toss Eren in high school. I know despite your cold exterior, I know you are actually a good person.”

Armin smiles “I know how much you care about people like Hitch, Sasha, and even Connie. To be honest, I always stayed behind to watch your practice because I want to see you. I like spending time with you. I like you, Annie. Even after that one time, I walked in on you eating a whole pie by yourself.”

Annie stays quiet. She was not expecting a whole confession out of this.

Armin starts freaking out and lets go of Annie. He raises his hands up in surrender “Please don’t beat me up and ship me to Russia.”

Annie stays quiet again to process what Armin just said. She laughs and puts her arms around Armin this time. She puts her forehead against his

“Thank you, Armin. For sticking around.” She looks into his ocean blue eyes “You already know I like you. I like how you care about your friends and your intelligence. I also like your fascination with the ocean. Someday-”

Annie stops for a bit before continuing “-I want to see the ocean with you. What I’m trying to say is, do you want to be my boyfriend?”

Armin couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot. His crush is confessing to him although this was not how he wanted it to go. Oh well. Life is unpredictable.

“Of course, Annie” Armin leans back from Annie and takes an arm away from her. He reaches into his pocket to pull out the shell. He got lucky the shell did not break. He grabs Annie’s hand, opens her palm, and places the shell in her hand.

“This is for you, Annie. I meant to give it to you earlier, but then I got kidnapped” Armin chuckles.

“You can use this shell as my promise to you. I promise to bring you with me when I explore the ocean.”

Annie’s heart fluttered. ‘Why is Armin so cute’ she thought and had an idea.

Annie pulls her right hand towards her. She uses her left hand to take out the ring on her index finger. She grabs Armin’s hand and places her ring in his palm.

“Is that?” Armin asks

“Yes,” Annie states. “This is my promise to you. I’ll go with you to see the ocean one day.”

Armin puts the ring on his right ring finger and looks down at Annie. He places a hand on her cheek and doesn’t move just in case Annie decides to back out.

“Can I kiss you?” He asks. Annie nods

Armin leans forward to kiss Annie on the lips. Both of them wanted to stay in their little bubble kissing and cuddling (without injuring Armin more). Sadly they were interrupted.

“Finally!” Annie’s girl friends squeal simultaneously behind the door

At least Ymir and Hitch’s plan somehow worked. Not in the way they intended, but it worked.

#Aruani #armin x annie #levihan mamma mia!

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sl-reign · 4 years ago

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Dead Ringers The Beginning Snippit.

*In the future, Ringers are humans who have passed away and are resurrected as Robots. Kryselle is called on after a repeat offender at a Ringer transitioning Facility gets illegal upgrades then acts up.

Chapter 3- Kryselle, The Lanthrop Family.

“Elizabeth cut the shit.”

I finally announced. Elizabeth looks up with her pink frowning lips and scrunched up wet face. Her manicured hands shook inches from her face as tears continued falling from her deep dark eyes. It’s always crazy to see that Ringers could express emotions with tears, I won’t get into the science about it but the book on it is interesting.

She stands up and rushes over to me and embraces me in a hug.

“I was so scared!”

She says through her tears. I look over at Barcelo who was equally as unmoved as I was. I finally peel her off me then grab my magnet cuffs from my holster and slap it on her wrist. Immediately, the cuff causes her to be instantly yanked backwards across her large living room. Both wrists are instantly locked behind her back. The cuffs are automatically pulled and attached to what’s called a cuff hanger. Cuff hangers were installed on the walls of all rooms in Marco Vital and the Watchman Facilities. It’s a safeguard just in case there was an incident that called for Ringers to be detained. Cuff hangers were also installed on the outside and inside of Law enforcement vehicles. I also had my own installed on the outside of my car. It was of course built in a way that made it blend in unnoticed.

“Hey!”

She screams with her arms now locked behind her back. I look over at the Ringer officer who was interviewing her and dismiss them from the room with a head nod. They nod back then get up and walk out. I walk over to Elizabeth as she struggles trying to break free.

“75% isn’t strong enough for 100% proof magnet cuffs now is it?”

I say as I fold my arms and stand in front of her.

“What are you talking about!”

She says through angry sobs.

“I get sexually assaulted and that’s all you’re worried about!?”

“Is that the lie we’re going with tonight? Please, do share how you were sexually assaulted.”

“It’s not a lie! That RO was watching me the moment he laid his sick disgusting eyes on me! When he found me taking a walk in the garden, he stopped me and acted like he wanted to have small talk. Next thing I know he has me pushed against a wall trying to feel me up!”

I throw my head back in mocking laughter.

“An RO wouldn’t touch your tit with a 20-foot poll!”

“It’s TRUE! She yells out at me.”

“So you got all dressed up in a skin tight outfit that doesn’t leave much to the imagination with heels meant for a dance club, just to take a walk in the backyard? You want me to believe an RO of...”

I pause and slightly turn my head towards Barcelo. Barcelo finishes my sentence. “Fourteen years.”

“Fourteen years!”

I repeat him as I take a step closer to her.

“Would crap on his career just to grab your titties to get his dick hard? You know he’s married right?”

Elizabeth scoffs at me.

“Being married doesn’t mean shit! It’s never stopped a man before so why would it stop one now! Besides, I don’t judge your outfits! So what if I wanted to get dressed up to walk the garden! That means that I’m lying!?”

“Ok, that’s fine!”

I say in a knowing tone. Hey Barcelo, you mind sending over that surveillance footage to my Reo?”

I say while still looking her in her eyes. Elizabeth looks away with an angry look on her face.

“You got it!”

Says Barcelo. His Ringer pupils get a quick flash of purple and in a matter of seconds my Reo alerts me with a chime that I have something in my inbox. I tap my wrist which brings up a small laser screen showing the footage of the garden. The footage shows Elizabeth seemingly sneaking through the garden hiding behind walls, trees and bushes. Hiro Kohaku the RO walks into the garden looking as if he were distracted by a phone call. He does a double take after seeing movement from Elizabeth behind a tree. He taps his Reo behind his ear to hang up and lifts his hand beckoning her with his fingers to come over to him. Elizabeth is hesitant at first but finally relents and walks over. A back and forth happens for a few minutes. Elizabeth then pushes Hiro Kohaku up against the wall and begins running her hands all over him. Hiro Kohaku grabs her wrist to stop her. In reaction Elizabeth backs away from him and begins angrily shouting at him. Hiro Kohaku walks over to her as they both share words back and forth, he pulls out magnet cuffs but Elizabeth slaps them out of his hand then lifts him by the throat and throws him through the wall.

“Oh yea, I can see exactly how he took complete advantage.”

I say sarcastically.

“You don’t know what he said to me!”

She yells angrily shedding off the sob persona.

“You know what! I’m done talking to you bitch! I want these cuffs off, and I want my dad here now!”

I shake my head with a stern look on my face.

“While in the middle of watching that, I’ve sent a report over to Marco Vital and you will be standing trial first thing in the morning. Aggressive behavior towards an RO is an automatic death trial. You'll get your chance to say your peace so you can try wiggling out of it but with outstanding evidence like this there will be no wiggle room this time.”

“I’m here!”

Says the annoying recognizable voice from behind me. It was her human father, Hyson Lanthrop the fifth....

Read the book on Wattpad with a click of the link below!!!

https://www.wattpad.com/story/240663063-dead-ringers-the-beginning

#DeadRingers #DeadRingersTheBeginning #Sharina L Martin #Future #scifibooks #robots #SLMartinNovels #fiction books #novels #black writers

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geekgirles · 5 years ago

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Eclipsa is a far better Queen than what everyone thinks.

I know this might sound like another one of those "Eclipsa's not evil!" essays written by hardcore Eclipsa stans, and I will not lie, I've believed in Eclipsa since the first time she appeared.

That, however, is not what I want to discuss.

Mewmans have always said Eclipsa only ever thinks about herself and her family, that she's some sort of unhinged dark queen, but the thing is, Eclipsa's probably one of the wisest queens out there.

It's undeniable that she has been rather impulsive when it comes to her family, take "Tough love" and "The monster and the queen" as examples. Even so, when it's time for Eclipsa to think about her kingdom, she does not beat around the bush.

From the very beginning, she understood that the best way to unify monsters was through gaining the monsters' trust. Of course, that caused her to be very... controversial with other Mewmans. Should she care? No. At least not before solving certain things.

Just like the dungeon guy and the Spiderbites implied in "Butterfly follies" & "Surviving the Spiderbites", Mewni already distrusts Eclipsa merely because of her past. They were not willing to easily give her a second chance. Now, monsters... Eclipsa needed them the most because they have always been the one who needed help the most!

This is something she knew back in her time and, most importantly, is the reason why everyone had suffered for so long. I, myself, think Eclipsa decided to take that course of action because, in the long run, it had been that hatred towards monsters what previously led Meteora to become a vengeful psycho (Marco does not count since she originally only intended to make HIM alone pay, not all of Mewni). Mewman prejudices took everything from her and her family, just like they had taken everything from so many monsters before and after them. And it was time to stop that.

And hence, she gave monsters what had previously been theirs back, allowed them near any other Mewman citizens, made them an important part of her court (Reginald as her closest butler, her knights, her other servants...) and tried to make her kingdom a better place for everyone.

Now, when it comes to her magic, the magic book of spells showed that Eclipsa has indeed gone against tradition by creating spells for herself. But she never used those spells for pure selfish reasons. Except for when she read Shastacan's mind, but just like she explained in the book and "Butterfly trap", she never wrote down tons of darker spells. Probably because she knew they were truly dangerous in the wrong hands.

And as for her darkest spell... This is where I'm convinced she knew she had to be extra careful for the sake of others. Look:

1) These pages are in Low-mewman, an almost extinct language only female members of the Royal family can learn.

2) When Moon asked for her spell she a) asked her if she was sure she wanted to unleash such power, b) explained it required a magical contract. Something I wholeheartedly believe Eclipsa did as a way to keep everyone safe from her spell since not everybody would be willing to negotiate with her.

3) After today's episodes, I'm starting to think either Eclipsa didn't actually gave Moon her darkest spell or she somehow, for a lack of a better term, "baby proofed" it. Think about it:

The incantation is completely different:

Moon's: "I call the darkness onto me, from deepest depths of earth and sea. From ancient evils unawoken, break the one that can't be broken. To blackest night I pledge my soul and crush my heart to burning coal. To summon forth a deathly power, to see my hated foe devoured!"

Eclipsa's: "I call the spell which has no name, my mother's gift with which she reigned. Eclipse my heart with rightful power, stand before the Queen and cower!"

See? There's an entire abyss of difference between the power used in both incantations! Not to mention, Moon's only destroyed Toffee's finger and caused an explosion, Eclipsa's destroyed everything it had in its path!

"Here to help" and "Pizza Party" have also proved that everyone can become what they say Eclipsa is: selfish. Once again, many a man have stated Eclipsa only cares about herself and her family. But what did Moon do? She betrayed her own daughter because she held a grudge over being "sent" to the Magic Realm. When Eclipsa had been chased, chrystallised for hundreds of years with her husband imprisoned as well and a daughter who was cast aside in favor of a Pie folk orphan based solely on her monster heritage. And yet, she faced her family in times of crisis and put the kingdom first.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I stan my Queen.

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scrambledgegs · 4 years ago

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Too Late the Hero

It was Harvey Dent who uttered the famous lines, “You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” A foreshadowing statement, as Dent later on personifies his very words when he goes on to become Two Face in the “The Dark Knight” Batman movies.

This statement cannot be any truer, and we all can recount both real-life and fictional characters who easily represent this notion. The true-to-life “villains” we know of today may have actually started out as idealists, heroes, or savior-like archetypes that we used to looked up to – and looked past whatever side blemishes they also possessed in order to justify their actions. I think the best contemporary example of this – is the person whom Filipinos notoriously love to discuss nowadays – the person that needs no introduction, President Duterte.

About to Croak?

President Duterte has recently been the talk of the town all the more when rumors circulated that he may have contracted COVID-19, while other rumors pointedly said that he was already on his deathbed. To augment such rumors, it was said that he may have allegedly even flown to Singapore to have himself checked. His office was quick to quash any such news by posting proof of life photos of the President, where he is seen to be eating a meal with the first family in Davao. Well, one thing we can all agree on however, is that he did not look his best.

The more significant and underlying message in this recent raucous is that, the general consensus on social media is that many had their fingers crossed for a new President. It looks like Duterte’s star power is quickly fading.

RUDY and RODY

I was reminded of a conversation that a friend and I had around three weeks ago. During our usual, light political banter, I suddenly remembered how my parents used to compare President Duterte to American political icon, “Rudy” Giuliani. Quite serendipitously (and as though Netflix read my phone messages or possibly my mind), minutes later, I came across a new Netflix documentary entitled “Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia” where Giuliani is documented to have played a significant role in.

This true crime documentary examines the rise and fall of organized crime in New York in the 1970s to early 1980s. It narrates the dark tale of how the Big Apple once transformed into the playground of underbelly operations of The Mafia – composed of the five major Italian-American crime families and their sophisticated network of ruthless henchmen. Law enforcers could not put a stop to their rings of crime, or even implicate them, and others that dared come close, found themselves or their loved ones in a rather, messy situation. These crime families of Italian descent were basically your true-to-life gangsters from which The Godfather Trilogy was based on.

Batman, Robin and Commissioner Gordon in Gotham City

Bringing down the Mob back then was a feat everyone thought impossible. Nevertheless, joint forces between the FBI and Giuliani (then U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York; 1983 -1989), and his handpicked team of prosecutors were able to do so – and with much required grit and tenacity. Giuliani especially, was credited to be the single piece of rice that tipped the scale in this momentous moment in the history of criminal justice. After which, Giuliani’s political career began to skyrocket. Despite losing his first election in 1989, he eventually gets elected Mayor of New York in 1993, and then reelected in 1997 to hold the position until 2001.

During his term as Mayor of New York, Giuliani’s most popular platform was his “toughness on crime.” Such that, the gentrification, revitalization and “clean-up” of New York and significant decrease in crime rates during those heyday years are largely attributed to him. His appointment of NYPD Chief of Police, Bill Bratton also proved effective, and is often the popular topic of business case studies today. Bratton did not resort to brute force alone. In fact, he was said to be data-driven, resourceful and efficient. His non-traditional, out-of-the-box thinking, many would agree, had indeed brought about real, lasting positive change in New York.

Giuliani was also known for making popular what is known as the “perp walk”, wherein he would orchestrate public arrests, worthy of media frenzies and major headlines, of high-profile suspects, usually of white-collar crimes. The nature of these arrests garnered some criticism of course, but it was not enough then to tarnish his image and push him far away from the good graces of the American people, especially New Yorkers. He is also highly commended for his post-9/11 (2001) disaster responses and was even knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for these tremendous efforts. He was even named TIME magazine's Person of the Year in 2001.

Fall from Grace

However, fast forward years later to now 2020, many of Giuliani’s constituents and longtime supporters who once held “America’s Mayor” of the highest esteem, often say that the Rudy Giuliani of the past is long gone. Embroiled in various controversies and investigations, not to mention issues that involve being President Trump’s current legal adviser, he has said to have become the very type of white-collar “perps” he used to round up and arrest. It is quite unfortunate, isn’t it, these kind of tragic hero to zero stories. Time is not on his side now, but who knows if there is still a chance for a comeback.

Rudy Giuliani’s story sounds very familiar.

Rody

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, in Davao, Philippines to be exact, during the same time that Rudy Giuliani was rising to fame, there lived and breathed another Mayor with a very similar tough guy image – Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte. An attorney as well, he also began his career in the prosecutor’s office.

Photo taken from The New York Times: Rodrigo Duterte posing with an Uzi submachine gun in 1994, when he was mayor of Davao City in the Philippines.

Duterte Harry

Duterte “made his bones” by allegedly taking crime into his own hands. Before assuming the Presidency, he was known as the gun-toting, smart-talkin’, fearless and tough Mayor who cleaned up Davao which back then, was supposedly a war-torn region due to the emergence of the New People’s Army (NPA) post Marcos-regime. People nodded in approval because he produced “quick” results.

If Rudy Giuliani had his Chief of Police, Bill Bratton and the NYPD, Rody Duterte had a comparable squad as well. With the help of his elite unit of police enforcers, coined as the “Davao Death Squad” (DDS), they were able to arrest crime suspects, such as alleged (but non-convicted) drug dealers and petty thieves and parade them throughout the streets, for behold, all to know and see. This sounds like the Filipino version of a perp walk. In extreme cases, sometimes suspects were allegedly found dead in alleys or eskinitas, their bloody bodies mutilated.

Yet, it could be said that quite a number of Davaoenos, as well as Filipinos beyond the Mindanao region, supported this kind of vigilante method because they felt safer, and they felt that finally, the wheels of justice were turning. To simplify this narrative by using a fictional analogy again, it is the same train of thought on why we have a great admiration for Batman and the like.

Many believed this was what the Philippines truly needed - a “strongman” to discipline the country, which to be fair, is an idea that can understandably seem like the right and sound solution, given the Philippines’s web of problems. Not many are willing to further dissect, assess and accept what is truly needed to lead the Philippines. Duterte’s notoriety thus gained much popularity, and his savior persona spread like wildfire throughout the country, propelling him to the Presidential seat in 2016.

One-Trick Pony in a Small Pond

Four years later, come 2020, and here we are, amidst a terrible pandemic with no signs of turning the tide in favor of a victory. I’ve heard one too many times, friends and colleagues say how they despise being a Filipino, and are looking for opportunities to leave and start a new life elsewhere immediately. I can’t say I blame them.

The once highly respected and beloved Davao Mayor has become the Philippines’s Public enemy number one, for reasons we all know today such as, but not limited to:

Militaristic and shotgun approaches instead of “comprehensive, scientific and systematic policies” to mitigate the pandemic (Read: Lives vs Livelihood Tradeoff?, August 5, 2020)

Lack of economic and fiscal planning and No transparency on stimulus packages and foreign loans (Read: A Perfect Storm, May 22, 2020)

Preferential treatment towards those in positions of power and unequal application of the law (Read: On lockdown and pushed over the edge, April 30, 2020)

Playing Russian Roulette on community quarantine implementations

Deflecting faults and shortcomings through the “Pasaway citizen” narrative

Demeaning local government leaders/efforts when they come up with their own local initiatives

Putting China’s interests ahead of the Philippines (Read: From Ugly Duckling to Black Swan, April 3, 2020)

And some of the more specific controversies that we can’t help but feel overwhelming emotions for:

Trial of Maria Ressa and his attack on free press and journalism

Shutdown of ABS-CBN which includes 11,000 employees to lose their jobs during a time like this

Inaction of recent PhilHealth scandal

Perhaps si Mayor should have stayed as Mayor, or perhaps evolved to a different role beyond public service, instead of eyeing gargantuan tasks too big for him to handle. He may have been “effective” as Davao’s Mayor, but running a country is a whole different ballgame.

It was in fact, the late Miriam Santiago, during the final 2016 Presidential debate held in Dagupan, Pangasinan (April 24, 2016) who pointed out, “We are not choosing a manager, administrator, etc. We are choosing the next President of the Philippines for the next 6 years.“ She even went on to enumerate three minimum criteria that a President must have in his or her arsenal in order to effectively lead, such as “1) Academic Excellence; 2) Professional Excellence, and 3) Moral Integrity” – all of which majority Filipinos flippantly shrugged off as useless qualities. I agreed with her which is why I voted for Mar Roxas. Maybe those who voted for Duterte regret this decision now, and hopefully see the wisdom behind Santiago’s statements.

As I’ve said many times over, Duterte peddled a dream that the Philippines can only be great again with an “iron-fisted” leader, and sadly but quite expectedly, our misinformed voters ate it all up - hook, line and sinker. (Read: ORAS NA, April 26, 2016).

I’d like to believe that Duterte perhaps started out as an idealist, with the genuine desire to carve out change where he thought he could. However, somewhere along the way, he lost himself and what he stood for when he let his ego get in the way. I think he himself now knows, but cannot admit to the public, that a one-trick pony has no business leading a highly complex, difficult and problematic country such as the Philippines.

More Analogies in 2020: The Year of the Rat led by the Pied Piper

Other than Duterte, three other political personalities that will forever be remembered as the shameful faces of the COVID-19 situation in the Philippines are Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, Speaker of the House Allan Peter Cayetano and the ever-infamous, Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque. I surmise history will not be so kind to them, and their roles and decisions in this crisis will continue to be told on, even when “this is all over.”

Infestation of Rats

These three loyal lackeys of Duterte can be likened to the rats in the children’s fairy tale of the Pied Piper who is no less than Duterte. Roque, Cayetano and Duque seem like educated and smart people, leaving no other explanation for their horrible decisions, except that they have long sold their souls to Duterte, and are in too deep to back out now. They’ve let themselves fall under some kind of spell. A consolation in the story of the Pied Piper, is that the entranced rats follow the Pied Piper’s hypnotizing music to their eventual demise and drown at sea. The Pied Piper however, just leaves them there and walks on. Seems like a foreboding scenario, figuratively speaking.

It would be best if the story ended there. However, we find that the Pied Piper, like our very own version, is a vengeful one, and will stop at nothing until he has accomplished a personal vendetta towards whomever crosses him. In our Pied Pier’s skewed view, he feels that his opponents have gravely wronged him, or have been incredibly ungrateful for all the “work” he has achieved. His next plan of action is to hit them where it hurts the most – by getting to the children or those “most vulnerable and without a voice”. Seizing the power of his position, he is able to demonize multitudes through his filthy words, terrorizing laws and drug wars. (Read: Dead Kids, February 20, 2020).

In so many dark metaphors, in the dead of the night, while everyone cluelessly sleeps, the Pied Piper plays his hypnotizing song that “vulnerable communities” are uncontrollably drawn to, forced to follow, or fooled into blindly following, until they all disappear without a trace, possibly never to be found again.

Light at the end of a Long Tunnel

However, I think our Pied Piper may have made a costly miscalculation. He may have robbed the country blind and killed countless lives (directly and indirectly), while we ignorantly slept, but he has ignited a fire. He has seemed to awoken a sleeping giant – a sleeping giant, unified in anger against this administration and what it stands for. Is Change Coming?

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emospritelet · 5 years ago

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Twisted Fate - chapter 8

13: “I’m sick of being alone all the damn time”

Please send me a prompt from this list or this list to fuel the angst and smut

[Ch 1] [Ch 2] [Ch 3] [Ch 4] [Ch 5] [Ch 6] [Ch 7] [AO3]

Belle was willing herself not to cry the moment she hung up on Gold, and for the most part she succeeded. It helped to turn off her phone in case he called back, shoving it into her bag and stomping off home. She had worked the early shift at the diner, waiting tables until her feet ached enough to match her back, and the father of her child being a cold-hearted bastard was the final straw. It was raining again, and so she took the bus for part of the journey home. Emma was due to come over for a couple of hours of study, and she wanted more than five minutes to herself before then.

A job that was closer to the apartment would be better, of course, but there again it was unlikely that she would be working for much longer, as much as she hated to admit it. Her meagre stash of money was making her nervous, and she hoped that Gold was serious about helping out. She already had no clue how she would buy the baby everything it needed, although Emma had offered her some of Henry’s old things. It seemed as though her life was nothing but endless worrying about bills, childbirth and college, and she tried to remember how free she had felt before she had returned to Storybrooke two summers ago. Before she was pregnant by a man who cared nothing for her. Surely life had been easier then.

The bus stopped two blocks from her apartment, and so she ducked into a small grocery store to pick up some milk and a packet of cookies. There was no time to have a shower before Emma arrived, as much as she wanted one, but she could make hot chocolate to warm them up. She wanted to dust it with cinnamon and drink it from the large mugs that Gold kept in the cupboards of the apartment that wasn’t really hers. She wanted to eat cookies and wrap herself in a comforting blanket of heat and spice and sugar, looking out over the rain-drenched city.

Marco greeted her cheerfully when she entered the apartment block, and she smiled as she responded. He was a pleasant man, a widower with an adult son that she hadn’t met. She wondered what he thought about Gold bringing her there, but he was certainly too polite to ask her. Just as well, she supposed; she was unsure how to respond.

It was a relief to get into the apartment, and to strip off the leggings and shirt she had worn to work and change them for thick tights and a soft woollen dress. She eyed her round belly in the mirror, turning this way and that. Thus far her pregnancy was fairly compact, at least compared to other pregnant women she had seen, but there again she and Gold were both fairly compact people. Nevertheless, her belly seemed to be expanding by the day, and she hoped the maternity clothes she had bought would continue to stretch with it.

She was just tying her hair up in a bun when there was a knock at the door, and she hurried to answer it, bobby pins still sticking out of her mouth.

“Hey,” said Emma, sounding harassed. Raindrops clung to the shoulders of her coat and the beanie hat she wore. “I brought bear claws, library books and a fuck-ton of stress and self-doubt. Ready to study?”

Belle grinned, closing the door behind her and sliding the bobby pins into her hair.

“I’ll make some hot chocolate,” she said.

Three hours later, her eyes were stinging from the concentration, and she closed her book with a thump, sitting back in her chair. Emma mirrored her, yawning as she did so.

“Okay, I’m done,” she said tiredly. “Neal’s gonna be here soon. You get what you wanted out of that?”

Belle wrinkled her nose at her notes.

“I think I need another couple of hours,” she said. “I’ve done the reading and taken notes, and I’ve got the paper outline down, I just need to flesh it out. It’s not due until Tuesday, so I’ve got time.”

“Had any thoughts about how long you’ll keep going for?” asked Emma, and Belle pulled a face.

“As long as I can, I guess,” she said. “The more credits I get under my belt now, the less I have to worry about getting when I have a baby to care for.”

“Yeah, it was the crappy sleep that really killed me,” said Emma. “You think you’re done for the night, and then the kid decides three a.m. is a great time to party.”

“That doesn’t last forever though, right?”

“Right,” said Emma. “Although Henry was never one to sleep through. At least when Neal came back we could take it in turns. Trying to do everything yourself is - well, it’s hard. Take it from me.”

“I think I’m gonna be living on caffeine,” said Belle gloomily.

"I'll be sure to bring some over when I drop off Henry's old stuff," said Emma, with a grin. "You'll be okay. You're like the most competent person I know, you got this."

“Guess I won't have much choice,” said Belle.

“Guess not.” Emma picked up her books, stacking one on top of the other. “Any word from your ex?”

“What, since I told him to burn in hell, you mean?” asked Belle dryly. “No. Pretty sure he’ll be here tomorrow, though. I’m not sure I have the energy to deal with him.”

"Was he always like that?" asked Emma, and Belle shook her head.

"No," she said. "No, he was - I mean he was always closed off, don’t get me wrong. He never let me get close, but we could talk for hours about books and music and food - anything that was impersonal, I guess. And he was - he was interesting, and well-mannered, and polite, and he listened, you know? He'd listen to me talk about my studies, and what I wanted to do in life, and he'd encourage me, not try to bring me down by telling me that I read too much, or that I thought too much. It was nice."

"And then?"

"And then I told him I loved him," said Belle sadly. "And he pushed me away."

"Screw him!"

"That's kind of how I ended up in this mess," said Belle dryly, and they both chuckled.

“But he knows the baby’s his, right?” said Emma. “I mean he has proof now. Maybe he’ll stop being such an ass.”

“Maybe.” Belle sighed, running her hands over her face. “Maybe he won’t say something so offensive I want to punch him in the face. Maybe he was actually in Storybrooke getting a personality transplant.”

Emma snickered.

“What did he say that made you chew him out?” she asked, and Belle scowled.

“He’d clearly been to see my dad,” she said. “So he knew we weren’t speaking, and he was pretending not to know, wanting me to say it, to admit my dad didn’t want anything to do with me. I wasn’t in the mood to be manipulated.”

“Has your dad been in touch?” asked Emma. “Like at all?”

Belle shook her head, and Emma made an angry noise on her behalf.

“You think they had words?”

“I don’t know,” she said, with a shrug. “Guess Alex’ll tell me when I see him.”

She was subdued, fingers twitching on the plastic cover of the textbook, and Emma reached out to squeeze her hand.

"Men suck."

"Oh yeah," said Belle, with feeling. "And believe me, that last thing I want is a relationship right now, but I'm sick of being alone all the damn time. I never thought Dad would cut me off completely. I mean I knew he was mad I decided to keep the baby, but even so..."

“I’m sure your dad’ll come around,” Emma added. “Maybe when the baby’s born.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Belle wasn’t sure if she believed it, but a knock at the door pulled her out of her doleful mood, and she pushed to her feet.

“That’ll be Neal,” said Emma. “I’ll put my stuff away. You want a hand clearing up?”

“Nah,” Belle called over her shoulder. “I’ll do it later.”

She opened the door, smiling as she was greeted by Neal and Henry. Both of them were bundled up against the cold, scarves wrapped around their necks and raindrops clinging to their coats. They had identical brown eyes and ready smiles. At eight years old, Henry was bright and curious, an avid reader with a vivid imagination, and a love of cookies and bagels to rival Emma's own.

“Hey Belle!” he said. “I brought my book! Can I read you another story?”

“Sure!” she said. “You guys look like you could use a hot drink, am I right?”

“I’d kill for a coffee,” said Neal, steering Henry into the apartment by his shoulders. “We should have brought something sweet, right buddy?”

“I said we should bring cookies,” said Henry reprovingly, and Belle grinned.

“I have cookies,” she assured them. “Go on through to the kitchen, Emma’s just clearing up.”

“Thanks. Man, this place is nice.” Neal stopped, looking around himself as he shrugged out of his coat. “This whole apartment is yours?”

“Well, for the moment,” said Belle. “It belongs to Alex. He’s letting me stay, that’s all.”

“Beats the old place."

“Guess that wasn’t hard,” said Belle dryly.

“So, what’s he gonna do when the baby’s born?” asked Neal, following her through to the kitchen. “Move to Boston?”

“I don’t know,” she said, after a pause. “We haven’t discussed it. I mean, he has a whole business in Storybrooke. He owns most of the property there, and he has an antique shop that he runs. It’s not like he can just - not do that.”

“Guess he has enough money that he can do what he wants,” said Neal. “Does he want to be involved with the baby?”

“I - I think so,” she said slowly, getting out clean cups. “From what he says. I don’t know what that means, or how often he’ll want to see the baby, but it’s not like he’s not interested.”

“Well, that has to be a positive, right?” said Emma. “I mean it’s not like he’s just gonna throw money at you and never see the kid.”

“I don’t know,” she said wearily. “If we could be civil to each other for more than five seconds maybe we could work something out.”

“He have family?” asked Neal, and Belle hesitated, hands on the coffee maker.

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “He’s never mentioned any, but then he never talked about anything personal, so who knows?”

“Well, he’ll have one soon,” said Emma, winking at her. “Whether he wants one or not.”

“He’ll have a child,” said Belle. “I doubt he’ll ever see me as anything more than its mother.”

After leaving a message for Ella with the test results and some instructions, Gold had booked a hotel in Boston, packed a case and set off on the long drive from Storybrooke. He gave himself a damn good lecture on the way down. Moe French turning his back on his daughter had been unexpected, and he wanted to kick himself for not seeing it, for not figuring it out from the desperate state he had found her in. He wondered how long Belle had been struggling alone. Whether she had had anyone else to turn to. A friend? A lover? Anyone? He would have to try to be there for her now, as ineffective and unhelpful as that would likely be. At least he could take away any financial worries she might have. He may have been a disaster at romantic relationships, but throwing money at a problem until it went away was one thing he excelled at.

He muttered under his breath as he parked the car, walking with a swift, limping stride to her apartment building and giving Marco a brief greeting. Belle didn’t just need money. She needed reassurance that he was going to share in the baby’s life, that he would take some of the burden of care. And they needed to be on good terms, which meant that one of them would have to bend in the face of the other’s hostility. He supposed that person really ought to be him, given that this entire situation was his fault. He tried to keep that in mind as he took the elevator up to the fifth floor and knocked on Belle’s door.

He could hear a murmur of voices inside the apartment, and his eyes narrowed as he tried to make them out. The door was wrenched open, spilling warm light out into the corridor, and Gold came face to face with a man in his late twenties, dressed in jeans and boots beneath a pale blue shirt, open at the neck. He was running a hand through short dark hair, brown eyes eyeing Gold cautiously.

“Yeah?” he said, and Gold raised his chin.

“Good evening,” he said. “Is Belle French here?”

“Who wants to know?” asked the man, and Gold gave him a flat stare.

“Alexander Gold,” he said coldly. “I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced.”

The man’s eyes widened.

“Oh, you’re him,” he said, and glanced over his shoulder. “Belle? Baby-daddy’s on your doorstep!”

Gold bristled, and squeezed the handle of his cane to calm himself. The man looked him up and down insolently, and just then Belle hurried to his side, a little breathless. Strands of dark hair were curling around her neck from the loose bun she wore, and her cheeks were flushed. The man stepped away, letting her fill the space in the doorway he had left.

“What are you doing here?” asked Belle, and Gold examined his fingernails.

“You said we needed a discussion,” he said, and she looked vexed.

“Yeah, but we didn’t agree when.”

“Well, you hung up on me before we could agree on anything,” he said evenly. “So here I am.”

“You want to do it now?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, am I getting in the way of a pressing engagement?”

The moment the words left his mouth, he wanted to kick himself in the shins, but Belle merely rolled her eyes.

“Fine, come in,” she sighed, and held open the door.

Gold stepped into the apartment, and she closed the door behind him. He was surprised to see a young woman, long blonde hair curling down her back, one hand on the shoulder of a boy of around eight or nine. His brown eyes matched those of the man who had answered the door, and Gold felt himself relax a little. So. Not a boyfriend. Just a friend. Why are you even fixating on this, you moron? Get a fucking grip!

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said, trying to ignore the fact that they were all staring at him as though he was a museum exhibit.

“Oh, we were just going,” said the woman carelessly. “Belle, come over for dinner next week, okay?”

“I’d love to,” said Belle. “Don’t forget your book, Henry.”

Gold watched as the young boy—Henry—snatched up a large hardback book from the couch. His parents helped him on with his coat, the book making the process more complicated than it had to be. Henry was eyeing him curiously.

“Are you Mr Gold?” he piped up, when his mother had wound a striped scarf around his neck. Gold smiled briefly.

“Yes,” he said. “Yes I am.”

“Mom said you helped Belle to make the baby.”

Gold couldn’t help grinning.

“Yes, I suppose that’s true,” he said.

Henry’s father had put his face in his hands, which made Gold’s grin widen. Eyes flicking to Belle, he could see that she was tugging at her lip with her teeth, a troubled look on her face.

“Are you going to get married?” asked Henry.

“No,” said Belle abruptly, and Gold felt the smile slide from his face like water.

“Uh - not everyone who has babies gets married, kiddo,” said the mother awkwardly.

“But what if Belle gets sick when the baby gets older, and it wants to go on a field trip?” asked Henry seriously. “Who’s gonna sign the permission slip?”

“I’m going to help take care of the baby,” said Gold. “I can sign the permission slip.”

Henry’s face brightened, and he beamed. It made Gold smile again, and something tickled at the back of his mind. Almost like a memory.

“Okay, buddy, let’s go,” said his father, clapping him on the shoulder. “You got your book, right?”

“Yeah. Bye Mr Gold. Bye Belle.”

“Goodbye, Henry,” said Gold, and was rewarded with another smile.

He watched as Henry was steered towards the door by his parents.

“See you Monday, Belle,” said the mother.

“Sure, Emma,” said Belle. “Bye Neal. Bye Henry.”

“Bye!” called Henry, and the door closed.

Belle turned to face him, arms crossed protectively around herself. It drew attention to the curve of her belly and the swell of her breasts, and he thought how beautiful she looked carrying his child. She was eyeing him warily, eyes flicking up at him and away, her teeth tugging at her lower lip. Things had to get better between them. He had to try to make them better.

“Sharp young lad,” he said, gesturing towards the door. “They seem a nice family.”

“Yeah, they are.”

Silence, her words short and cut off abruptly, her gaze cast at the floor. She didn’t want to talk about her friends, didn’t want to let him into that part of her life. He supposed he couldn’t blame her. Feeling awkward, he lifted a hand, let it fall against his leg with a slap.

“Well, shall we get on with it?” he said. “I spoke with my lawyer. There are some questions I need to ask you. If you could answer me truthfully without biting my head off, it’ll probably go easier on us both.”

“Try asking without accusing me of something and I’ll do my best.”

Gold reminded himself that snapping at her would achieve nothing.

“Very well,” he said coolly. “Are you in a relationship? It makes no difference to me, but my lawyer wants to know if you’re seeing anyone, in case it’s going to complicate visitation arrangements.”

Belle let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through her hair.

“No, Alex, I’m not seeing anyone, okay?” she said. “I haven’t been seeing anyone for months.”

“So why didn’t you say that when I asked the first time?”

“I’m saying it now.”

He was silent, fragments of memory floating around in his mind and causing mischief. The sleek red car outside her father’s shop. The tall, muscle-bound man with the dark hair and the perfect smile. The way he had pulled Belle to him and kissed her possessively, as though he owned her. How long had they been together? Not long, if her ‘months’ statement was accurate. Belle was watching him, and suddenly smirked a little, her eyes gleaming.

“Come to think of it, that’s probably the reason I jumped you,” she said lightly. “Been kind of going through a dry spell recently. Did you know that being pregnant with someone else’s kid is a real turn-off for most guys?”

“You astonish me,” he said dryly, and she shrugged.

“Yeah, so I’ve been a little on edge,” she went on. “I guess I got what I wanted, so thanks. That’s all it was.”

“That’s all it was,” he echoed. “Right.”

“You’re not bad,” she added. “Not as good as I remember, but then I guess I’ve grown up a little, hmm? I mean, you’re a little selfish, but I suppose that’s to be expected.”

His hands tightened on the handle of his cane.

“If you’re trying to hurt me, you’re wasting your time.”

Belle barked a humourless laugh.

“Well, I know that,” she said flatly. “You don’t feel anything, right?”

Gold felt his teeth clench.

“Are you done with being needlessly offensive?”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Please tell me what I’ve said that upset you since entering this apartment, and I’ll be sure to apologise.”

“It’s more the fact that you’re here at all.”

Gold bit the insides of his cheeks to keep from snapping out something hurtful, and after a moment Belle sighed and shook her head.

“Okay, I’m sorry,” she said. “I know we have a lot to discuss. I just - after last time, and our - mistake - I wanted to make sure we know where we stand, that’s all.”

“Right,” he said evenly.

“So - so I know you have zero interest in me beyond being the mother of your child, you’ve made that very apparent,” she said. “And likewise I have zero interest in you beyond you being its father. I just wanted to make sure we were clear on that.”

He had been expecting it, but it still hurt. A sharp, stabbing pain just below his heart, a thin, hot lance sliding deep into his soul. He told himself it was no more than he deserved, and gave her his most wintry smile.

“Oh, we’re crystal clear,” he said softly. “You’re safe from me, Miss French.”

Belle sent him a flat look.

“Stop calling me that.”

“Very well.”

More silence. She was eyeing him warily, and he tried not to sigh in resignation. Her hostility hadn’t lessened, but it was early days.

“I believe we have things to discuss,” he said. “Shall we get on with it?”

Belle nodded, raising her chin.

“You’d better come through to the kitchen,” she said. “And if you plan on being civil for a change, I could even make some tea.”

Gold swallowed the biting retort he wanted to make.

“Tea would be lovely.”

#fic: twisted fate #rumbelle fic #my fic #rumbelle #rumbelle angst

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shadowed-dancer · 5 years ago

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SVTFOE Season 4 Rewrite

Long, long ago I hinted that I’d make this and then I didn’t post it. It’s been sitting in my drafts for months so I figured “hey, maybe it’s time.” Some of you may recall this rewrite I did back in May which changed the events of Cleaved, but I wanted to go further. In an ideal scenario, we never get to the point where Cleaved is a necessary episode because the build up of the season was designed in a way that any resolution ends up being unsatisfying.

For this little writing exercise I’ve decided to undertake, I’d like to establish my ground rules. I will be working with the amount of episodes already allotted to season 4 (21 episodes) and I’ll be writing under the idea that they are aired the same way (two every Sunday, with the finale being aired alone. I’ll put a “-” in between episodes so you know which would have aired together). Some episodes will remain the same, some will be similar but will have changes, some will borrow ideas from real episodes, and others will be the same as episodes we actually got, just shifted to a different point in the season. Some of my episodes will be 10 minutes, others will take the whole 20.

As always, this is just for fun, I still have the greatest respect for the svtfoe team and what they created.

It’s a super long post, which is why it’s under the cut. I worked really hard on this, so any likes and reblogs are appreciated! Alright, without further ado, season 4!

Episode 1: Butterfly Follies

I found that this episode was a lovely reintroduction to the characters, so I wouldn’t change anything about it.

Episode 2: Escape From Pie Island

Honestly, it was fine. I think it tied together the “finding Moon” plot from Butterfly Follies pretty well. I’d include a little more about Festivia if anything.

Episode 3 A: Moon Remembers

A nice episode as is, I wouldn’t change anything

Episode 3 B: Swimsuit

Also an awesome episode! One of my favourites actually, so it stays (don’t worry, we’ll get to the juicy changes soon enough)

Episode 4 A: Ransomgram

Ransomgram was a cute episode. It helped us take a break from the plot driven drama of the past few episodes. HOWEVER, I would change 1 thing. At the end, when someone has to stay in the ab dimension to repair the damage, I’d have Star do it (like she tricks Marco into leaving, closes the portal behind him, then comes out a few seconds later in Mewni). This way her age evens out with Marco’s. The way it’s currently written actually makes the age gap worse! So yeah, have Star stay behind without Marco.

Episode 4 B: Lake House Fever

A good episode, I loved seeing more of Dave and Wrathmelior, but I would start really foreshadowing that Star and Tom are about to break up. Don’t have the cute “are you an angel” exchange at the end. Instead, let them have the awkwardness of a couple who’s fallen out of love. We want to break people off their desire for Tomstar early, not super late.

Episode 5 A: Yada Yada Berries

Who doesn’t love a good detective episode? Plus, the events of this will be important later. It stays the same

Episode 5 B: Down by the River

Similar to the original, but now have Moon actually excited to start a new Kingdom. It’s in her nature, she’s been trained to be queen her whole life, so show the establishments of the new kingdom, but with a queen who really wanted it (have her be excited when new people show up, have her eagerly establish living quarters and such).

Episode 6 A: The Ponyhead Show

Same title, different plot. Ponyhead’s new show is set to premiere with it’s first celebrity guest, Eclipsa, but someone cuts the connection. The show was supposed to be Eclipsa’s first official address to her people. This episode’s plot is the characters trying to get the connection back before their allotted time runs out. They end up succeeding and Eclipsa gets to sing her song. Also, cut all the Kelly and Marco interactions, or at least make it super obvious that they are just friends (why not give Kelly a boyfriend? One that isn’t Tad)

Episode 6 B: Surviving the Spiderbites

Perfect episode, wouldn’t change a thing. Absolutely amazing.

Episode 7: Curse of the Blood Moon

Yeah, I cut the entirety of the original episode 7 and shifted this one up a bit, but can you really blame me? Those episodes were pointless! This episode was good, I wouldn’t change to much, however, make it really obvious that, after the curse is broken, Marco still thinks everything about Star is adorable. She could also feel the same way about him. To make room for this, cut that weird couch segment.

Episode 8 A: Princess Quasar Catepillar and the Magic Bell

This was a fun episode, and since we’ll just be coming off of a plot driven episode, let’s do something cool with Ludo!

Episode 8 B: Ghost of Butterfly Castle

Same as the actual episode, but now we learn that Mina was not only behind the Yada Yada berries, but she was also behind cutting the connection at the Ponyhead Show.

Episode 9 A: Cornball!

Same as the actual episode we got, but without the whole “Break up buddies” thing between Marco and Kelly (remember how we cut that whole episode?) Now, we just have Marco and Kelly being friends, maybe with Marco hinting that he really likes Star and Kelly giving some relationship advice?

Episode 9 B: Meteora’s Lesson

Same title, but it’s been rewritten! So, the episode plays out the same up until they meet Toffee. In this new episode, they don’t meet Toffee at all! Instead, they travel to Skywynne directly after she destroyed the dimension. Turns out the lesson wasn’t for Meteora, it was for Skywynne. Glossaryck reassures Skywynne that everything will work out between her and her crush and, as proof, he brought her great granddaughter from the future. Skywynne is super confused and attributes the whole thing to being a hallucination caused by her dipping down for the first time (because remember, Skywynne thinks Glossaryck is dead at that point in her life). Glossaryck tries to explain that he’s real and, to prove he’s fake, Skywynne grabs her wand and is about to blast him. Meteora reacts to this and dips down to protect him (like the way it’s described in the book, out of the protection for another). Glossaryck and her go back to their own time, leaving Skywynne really confused. It ends the same way the real episode does.

Episode 10 A: The Knight Shift

I didn’t like this episode, but I like the relationship building between Marco and Star. It ends similarly with Marco saying that, no matter what, he’ll be there for Star and will visit her often. He then gets a call from his parents, leading us to...

Episode 10 B: Mariposa

A completely new episode! Marco and Star learn that his new baby brother is about to be born, so they return to Earth. Maybe there’s some trouble getting there or whatever. It would just be a cute episode, so I won’t go into huge details since they don’t matter, but it would obviously end with the baby being a girl and being called Mariposa! Star decides to stay on Earth for a few days, realizing that she feels more comfortable there than on Mewni at the moment.

Episode 11 A: Britta’s Tacos

Pretty much the same episode we actually got. I liked it.

Episode 11 B: Beach Day

Again, same episode as what we got in the actual season. However now there is the obviousness of them slowly wanting to be a couple.

Episode 12 A: Gone Baby Gone

Pretty much the same episode because I love getting to see the teen designs for Mariposa and Meteora. However, this time it’s not Heckapoo who leaves a portal open, instead someone (doesn’t matter who) accidentally cuts a rift to the abs dimension. Also, now we’d actually get to see adult Star from when I aged her up back in ransomgram!

Episode 12 B: Sad Teen Hotline

Tom comes to visit Star on Earth and breaks up with her. It’s basically the same as the original episode, but the portals are actually being affected by their emotions (not by Heckapoo closing the portals). It ends with him coming to terms with it and is able to make a proper portal to leave.

Episode 13 A: Pancake Day

Similar to the episode “A Spell With No Name” from the actual series in the sense that we get to hang out with the spells again. Star’s spells are in a bit of a panic because ownership has transferred from Star to Eclipsa and they fear they may never be used again! To help ease their minds, Narwhal and Spider go out to the other rooms and interview spells from past queens (specifically spells we actually read about in the book) and they get to realize that, even if another princess doesn’t use them, they still can lead good lives inside the wand! To celebrate, the invite their new spell friends back to their room for a pancake day.

Episode 13 B: Junkin Janna

Star needs to accompany Eclipsa to a meeting with the MHC, while Tom needs help keeping his mind off his breakup with Star. Janna tags along with Star to Mewni and offers to take Tom boot sledding. Eclipsa and Star learn that there are readings of magic being emitted from the destroyed Butterfly castle (not the monster temple). Eclipsa and Star say they don’t know who it is, since neither of them had gone back. Meanwhile, Tom and Janna get attacked by the bird and we learn that Mina is creating a giant suit of armour for... something.

Episode 14: General Loveberry

A flashback episode! Yay! This episode starts the same way “Pizza Party” starts, with an introduction to rag peddler Mina meeting Solaria and the promise that Mina will be the fiercest warrior Mewni ever knew. It cuts to a scene at the meeting table (the one from “Moon the Undaunted”) with Jushtin yelling at Solaria that the idea is insane. Mina says she’ll happily risk herself to defend the kingdom, and that perhaps Mewni is lucky Jushtin never became queen. Jushtin stands up and takes Eclipsa from Solaria, saying that it’s his sister’s choice on how to proceed, but that it’s no place for a baby.

We then go through a series of cuts to the different Queens at the table. At each cut, Mina becomes a little more unstable.

We start with Queen Eclipsa and Shastacan arguing about whether to deploy the Solarians. Mina reassures Eclipsa that her armies will destroy every last monster, making Eclipsa squirm. She says that she’s the queen and her decision is final, they will not use the Solarians.

Cut to Festivia and the MHC. True to Festivia’s chapter, Rhombulus is suggesting war, Omnitraxes says to wait, Glossaryck isn’t there, and Heckapoo is being super supportive of Festivia. She decides they will go to war and Mina says her army will fight just as hard, if not harder, than when Solaria had first made them.

Cut to Dirhhennia doodling balls on a piece of paper while Festivia introduces Mina and describes all the valiant things she did. Dirhhennia looks up and shrugs, making some comment or whatever. Festivia and Mina exchange a look and it cuts to the literal same scene, but now it’s Crescenta excitedly listening to the victories of Mina. She says that, with her plans for the kingdom, Mina and the Solarians won’t need to fight, and that they can take a break, but it’s good to know they fought so hard.

Cut to Rhina asking if it’s possible for the Solarians to protect her on a trip to the Underworld. Mina explains that not many Solarians are left, and besides, their job wasn’t escort missions, they were made for battle.

Cut to Celena comforting Mina, as we learn that she is the last Solarian left.

Cut to the MHC arguing again with Estrella drawing instead of paying attention, while Mina tries to explain the benefit of another war.

Finally, we cut to Queen Comet explaining her idea for a peace treaty. Mina tries desperately to change her mind, but Comet refuses and explains how the tension between monsters has been going on for too long. She tells Mina a detailed plan for her trip to make he deal, and is then called in by Moon, who needs help figuring out a pie recipe. Comet leaves and Mina is left to think.

Under the cover of night, Mina goes out to the Monster camp. The Monsters freak out as she walks in, but she explains that she means them no harm... yet. She demands she speaks to the general (Toffee) and she gives him all the details of Comet’s travel plan. She says that a peace treaty won’t benefit either side, and he says he agrees. She tells him to do whatever he wants with that information, before she runs back into the woods.

We then get a cut to the present, where Mina is standing in the garden at night, facing statues of the previous queens that we just saw. She apologizes to Comet, saying that it was the only way to end the war once and for all. She hears footsteps behind her, and Moon appears. She says “I’m ready to help” and Mina smiles.

Episode 15 A: A Boy and His DC‑700XE

Again, same episode. This was a really nice, fun episode. However, any and all jokes about Tomco are removed, and instead Tom says that if Marco wants to date Star, he can.

(I want to deal with this now, because I know someone will ask. The reason I don’t want any Tomco hints is because, in this fake season, Starco is already under way. I want to minimize the shipping drama and just build as healthy a relationship as possible for Star and Marco, one that the fandom would hopefully be ok with).

Episode 15 B: Return to St. Olga’s

Eclipsa comes to Star and says that Meteora won’t stop crying and she’s not sure why. She gives Star a drawing that Meteora did, which Star immediately recognizes (it’s just a bunch of scribbles, the audience isn’t meant to know what this is but somehow Star gets it). She tells Eclipsa she knows what Meteora wants, and goes to get Marco. They then go back to St. Olga’s and we get to check in with the girls over there (they’re doing well). The details don’t really matter, but in the end they find Meteora’s old car parked out front (the one she used to live in) and in the trunk they find the dolls of Eclipsa and Globgor. They return with the dolls and Meteora begins clapping before hugging them close. Eclipsa expresses her shock, stating that she hadn’t seen those dolls in 300 hundred years. It ends with Eclipsa looking at the Globgor doll and smiling.

Episode 16: The Monster and the Queen

Similar to the real episode, but longer. It ends with Star proclaiming that Eclipsa will receive a proper coronation, and then will become the proper queen of Mewni once again.

Episode 17 A: Doop Doop

Same title, altered plot. Moon goes to Star and tells her to go on vacation to Earth because the stress of planning a coronation is clearly starting to get to her. Star agrees, saying it would be nice to take a break from planning. Star and Marco go through Mewni and say good bye to all their friends, ending with Doop Doop, before actually leaving for Earth. Once they’re back on Earth, Star says she forgot something and tries to open the portal, but it doesn’t work. She questions if it’s because she’s emotional, like what happened with her break up with Tom. She attempts to call Tom with the intention of having him bring the thing she forgot, but it goes to static. Her and Marco realize something is wrong with the portals.

Episode 17 B: Jannanagins

Same episode, but now Tom isn’t here.

Episode 18 A: Mama Star

Same episode, but Tom isn't here.

Episode 18 B: Ready, Aim, Fire

Similar to the real episode, but Globgor is not free yet. Star, Marco, and Janna all wake up in different places on Mewni (Doop Doop, lint catcher, and Meteora’s nursery). Marco learns that the MHC plans on freeing Globgor, then having the Solarians attack while he’s still disoriented from being freed. Moon is shocked that Star has returned, and Star goes to help Eclipsa, whose castle is under attack. Janna is staying with Meteora while Eclipsa defends her castle and her people.

Episode 19 A: The Right Way

Star and Eclipsa defeat the one warrior (not with the total annihilation spells, just with something else). Moon shows up to help but slips up and reveals she sent Star to Earth knowing this attack would happen, and that she wanted Star away from the danger. She’s then forced to explain herself and reveals that she (Moon) made the new Solarians with the intent of getting rid of Globgor once and for all. Moon speaks of the horror stories she was told about Globgor, leading Eclipsa to speak up with the truth.

Episode 19 B: Queen of Darkness

A flashback episode, very similar to “Moon the Undaunted” from season 3. This would be the story of Meteora’s kidnapping, Globgor eating Shastacan, the attack on Spiderbite village, and Globgor’s crystallization. The whole episode would end with Eclipsa being crystallized.

Episode 20 A: Here to Help

Moon tries to reason with Mina, explaining that she was wrong about Globgor and that he was just a parent looking out for his family. She takes away the powers of the Solarians, leaving Mina as the only one left. Moon tells Mina that Eclipsa will leave with Meteora and Globgor will stay crystallized forever. Mina complains that they are all being let off too easy and tries to attack, but is held off. The group of heroes fall through a portal like they do in “Pizza Party”, and they meet Heckapoo.

Episode 20 B: The Tavern at the End of the Multiverse

Heckapoo reveals that Rhombulus and Mina are going to destroy Globgor and there’s nothing they can do, so they might as well stay safe until this whole thing blows over, then Moon and Star can return, while Eclipsa and Meteora stay in hiding. Moon is mad until she realizes this is exactly what she did to Star, and suddenly understands Star’s conviction to fight for her beliefs. Star is freaking out over the whole thing and sees Glossaryck, forcing herself into his eye. From there, she tells him she needs advice and he takes her to the grandma room. The ghosts appear similar to the actual grandma reunion scene, but this time Star asks them for help on what to do. A few of them motion to Moon’s tapestry, revealing Toffee can speak. He and Star have a civil conversation which leads to him revealing that Mina gave him the information on where to find Comet. Star turns to ask the ghosts if that’s true, but they’re gone. She sees her tapestry though, it’s her and Marco holding hands while standing on a stage. They are facing away from the audience. Facing towards the audience is Eclipsa, Globgor, and Meteora, being cheered on. Star realizes this is the coronation and that she needs to make this happen. She returns and explains that Eclipsa needs to be the true queen again. When Moon protests, Star reveals that Mina helped plot the murder of Comet. With that, Moon prepares for battle.

Episode 21: Cornonation

The episode begins with the group of friends all backstage while Eclipsa gets ready. It’s not as huge of an auditorium because they’re trying to keep things pretty quiet so they don’t attract any unwanted attention. (At some point here, Marco can point out the typo of “Cornonation”). Eclipsa learns a string on her guitar broke and runs to go fix it. Star goes after her and finds that Globgor has escaped. It was Mina who convinced Rhombulus to let Globgor out, but they didn’t anticipate he’d be so fast and he escaped. In a panic, he crashes into the coronation stage (rather than running to the swamp) and Mina goes for the attack. At some point, we show Moon returning to Butterfly castle to get her armour, and there can be another scene where she looks at her mother’s tapestry, smiling before going out to avenge her.

At this moment at the Coronation, Eclipsa is being crystallized but suddenly breaks out her butterfly form and dips down for the first time. She and Moon join forces to do the spell with no name but now it's effects are less deadly, it simply destroys Mina’s armour (rather than flying out and melting everything else). Moon can have a cool moment where she confronts Mina about Comet.

The MHC is still fighting Globgor and we get a similar cool fight scene. Tom suddenly flies up (he was back stage with Marco) and summons the dead queens (remember how he did that with Mackie Hand?) Mina is about to deliver the final blow on Globgor, who’s been reunited with Meteora, when Solaria intercepts the blow. Mina asks her why she’s doing this and she just holds Mina’s face in her hands. “You’ve served me valiantly, Mina. But it’s time to rest.” Mina returns to her normal form and looks around and sees how innocent Globgor looks with his family. She runs off into the forest.

The dead queens take a moment to look at their family. Solaria has a touching moment with Eclipsa and her family, showing she accepts it. Jushtin can swoop in and ruffle Eclipsa’s hair, causing them all to laugh. Maybe even Festivia and meet with Eclipsa (just a silent scene), perhaps with a hug from Eclipsa to Festivia. Meanwhile, Star and Moon reunite with Comet. Star finally gets to meet Celena and apologizes to Festivia for destroying her legacy. Star then makes amends with Skywynne, to whom she confesses that she was her favourite grandma. All the queens wave goodbye and are about to leave when Eclipsa stops them. “I know that some of you aren’t my real family, but we were all Queens of Mewni. And this kind of reunion doesn’t happen every day so... will you stay for my coronation?”

It ends the same way the real episode ends, but now we see all the character’s we’ve come to know sitting in the audience (including the queens and including some earth people like Marco’s family). The credits roll as Eclipsa and Globgor continue singing an extended version of their song. The last shot of the show is Star and Marco kissing backstage, with Marco’s cheeks glowing.

Some Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed! Since I have your attention, I thought I’d justify and explain some of my reasonings for making the changes that I did. If this doesn’t interest you, feel free to click away now

Ending With Globgor’s Freedom

Some of you may be wondering “Why would you free Globgor at the end?! Don’t you want to show how cute he and Eclipsa are?” I do, which is why I extended “The Monster and the Queen” and why I added another flashback episode about them. I want you to think really hard though for one second. After his freedom in the original series, what did he do? He was injured, sure, but that didn’t lead to anything. He was just sort of... there. Did you know that Globgor doesn’t say a SINGLE word in Cleaved? Yeah...

Ending With the Coronation

Think about it. Svtfoe has always been about Star being a magical princess. This is the physical proof that that point in her life is coming to an end, just as the show is coming to an end. When I first watched season 1, I kind of assumed the series would end with Star becoming Queen. After we learned that Eclipsa was still the true heir, it only felt right to end it this way.

Adding “General Loveberry”

This fan made episode was honestly just a way to give the queens voices, but it also helps flesh out Mina’s character and show her descent into madness. She has seen all her fellow solarians die, she has served every queen, give her this recognition!

Making Mina Responsible for Comet’s Death

I had seen this theory floating around, but unfortunately I don’t know who created it. However, I think it adds a valid reason for Moon to turn on Mina. In the original, Moon flips sides too much, and her only reason for betraying Mina is “I didn’t know she would go so far”. HOW DID YOU NOT KNOW THAT? In mine, Mina DOESN’T go that far. She’s ready to do her duty to get rid of Globgor, and that’s all. It’s her past actions that catch up to her.

ALSO it would show Moon that her monster bias wasn’t completely right. I didn’t elaborate too much in the above section, so I’ll do it here. I would make it very clear throughout the series that Moon kind of blames all monsters for Comet’s death, so learning it was actually a Mewman, her trusted general no less, that was truly behind it makes her rethink everything.

Swapping Toffee for Skywynne in “Meteora’s Lesson”

Reason #1 is because I want to hear her voice, and she wouldn’t be in the “General Loveberry” episode. Reason #2 is because I want to see moments of the book addressed in the show. The fact that a queen destroyed a dimension is oddly glossed over in the series. I also think that visiting a past queen is more relevant than visiting Toffee, especially in my rewrite. Originally, Toffee’s appearance felt like fan service, but it kind of reminded people that Toffee wanted magic destroyed. Well now we don’t want to destroy magic, so Toffee can have his appearances in “General Loveberry” and “The Tavern”.

Not Destroying Magic

In my opinion, destroying the magic was NOT a satisfying way to end. Magic had always been a part of this world, so to come to the decision to destroy it ONE episode in advance, it felt awkward. Keep magic, keep the queens, but now it’s a new generation. A generation where a queen will rule hand in hand with a monster.

Changing “The Spell With No Name” to “Pancake Day”

Is it just me, or did the original episode “The Spell with No Name” feel super over hyped? Like, they foreshadow this horrible destructive spell, and then Eclipsa uses it a few episodes later but nothing happens! There’s no “Oh my corn we need to stop it!” It just flies off, doing who knows what, and it’s never addressed! With my shift to a lighter episode, we get to address something that I assume would be a very real concern for the spells (not being used) and we get to meet some other spells. This also helps ease the audience into the idea of meeting the past queens, so it doesn’t seem as weird when they pop up at the end.

Why not break up Tom and Star even earlier?

I considered breaking up Tom and Star right after the Bloodmoon curse thing, but it felt too rushed. I felt there needed to be time where they're in a relationship, but it’s clear they aren’t super pumped about it. The way I have it, we still get lots of time between their break-up and the finale, plus Star and Marco never actually confirm they are dating. It ends more on the promise of “Let’s see if this works”.

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level99games · 5 years ago

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Weekly Update - Spelltechtastic Skins, Boos Proofs, and Trials

Read the Update on Kickstarter: CLICK HERE

Hey, everyone! It's me, again, with another update! Let's stop the dilly-dallying and head onto the update, shall we?

Spelltechtastic Skins!

We start this update with a backer skin for one of my favorite characters: Clinhyde

This costume holds a somewhat special place in my heart because it's mine! Well, technically, it's not, but the backer who got this costume wrote something akin to "whatever Marco wants". I was, honestly, extremely honored and I am thankful that I'm able to bring a skin I've had in mind to life. Spellrune Clinhyde takes Clinhyde and makes him more of a "magic ninja" than a cyber one! Rather than stims, Clinhyde now makes use of magical runes that are seared into his skin, which still gives him the "power at a cost" feel. I hope you enjoy it!

Here's Runika's Master costume! This artificer has gotten a few upgrades by going up from one Battlefist to two! It's always fun to explore what our characters would be like a few years down the line. It makes them feel more alive; like there's a living, breathing character outside the game they're in!

Boss Proofs

Boss proofreading is done! It was definitely challenging, but we got through it. I want to go over a few of the cards that presented unique templating challenges and what they taught me.

Burman's Volcanic Breath showed me just how devious some templating errors can be! It was originally printed as "Push 1-7, as far as possible". As you can see, that 1 should be a 0. It's such a tiny detail, but it matters for keeping things relevant.

Havoc's Surging Tide showed me that something can be technically correct, but possible to improve. It's Break trigger used to be "bundled in" with the first Whenever effect. While not technically wrong, separating them makes the card easier to understand.

Magdelina's Fetch taught me that there are things I take for granted. The big change here was the reminder text. A Spirit's attack must resolve in Priority Order, but not if that Priority has already passed. That means that, if a Spirit' attack goes live at Priority 3, but the attack itself is Priority 5, it won't attack this beat. This seemed obvious to me, but it's not obvious to everyone! We erred on the side of caution and added the reminder text!

Finally, Udstad's Dragon Breaker taught me that I have to make big changes when needed. Originally, Udstad's attacks had Stun immunity, which is a mechanic that regular fighters use. Ideally, we wanted to keep the mechanic on the bosses, so that players could use knowledge form the base game in boss mode. However, we got to a point where the boss' version of Stun Immunity had so many minute rulings changes that it was, for all intents and purposes, just a different mechanic! Thus, Unbreakable was born!

Hopefully this small look into the proofreading provides you some insight into what kind of things we think about when making the game for you! :)

What's Left?

I've sent the boss mode text over to Brad so that he can implement them into the graphic design of the rulebook. We don't have the design for you yet, but I'll update you when it happens!

As some people have pointed out, there have been some delays in my updates, such as the boss rulebook. I addressed these in the comments last update but I want to reiterate that we're working in parallel on a lot of components of the project and that slight delays in some things don't necessarily mean large delays down the line. So, even if the boss rulebook is still being made, testing on other sets of characters are proceeding as planned! :)

Speaking of sets. . .

What's Happening?

To better address and present these steps to you, I've decided to split the "What's Next" section into "What's Happening" and "What's Due". What's Happening should list down things we plan to start this week. What's Due should list down the things that are, well, due, by the time we release the next update!

For this week, we're starting on:

Trials Playtesting

Trials Proofreading

Getting Devastation Press-Ready (by making the printable files for our press partners)

Getting Solo Fighters Press-Ready

What's Due?

The following should be done by next update:

Getting Devastation Press-Ready

Getting Solo Fighters Press-Read

Young Kajia Skin

Dread Spirit Rexan

Final Words

Thank you for reading my update, everyone! We're making steady progress and Trials is actually just about to wrap up playtesting, so we're keeping on schedule!

As usual, don't hesitate to ask me questions about the project. I answer every single one! Happy gaming, everyone and don't forget your Special Actions. Thank you, World of Indines. Thank you and good night!

#BattleCON #BattleCON Unleashed #Update #Kickstarter

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mariequitecontrarie · 6 years ago

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All of Me: Chapter 16

The Fic: Belle French is a pudgy librarian who’s in love from afar with “town monster” and ace reporter, Mr. Gold. Little does she know, he’s head-over-heels in love with her, too. Chapter Summary: Belle and Emma go shopping in Portland to prepare for a big night out with Gold and Neal at the Storybrooke Winter Gala. Emma runs into an old high school rival and shares a secret. Rating: T A/N: Guys, it’s been 84 years! Much love to @galactic-pirates and @magnoliatattoo for putting up with me. Artwork by the talented @wizzygold @a-monthly-rumbelling: “I’m not dressed for this.”

Stay with Me (bet. Ch 9&10) | Spiked Chocolate (bet. Ch 16&17) | Pieces of Me (Q&A)

ON AO3

“The quickest way to know a woman is to go shopping with her.” - Marcelene Cox

***Three weeks after Belle has moved out of her parents’ house and into Marco’ s.***

Belle picked up the telephone to call Gold at the newspaper, her day planner spread open on the desk.

Yes, it was old-fashioned, writing things down on a calendar and lugging the thick planner around in her bag, but she liked old-fashioned. She liked books, and fountain pens, and the rustle of paper—both crisply new and faded with age. Besides, she didn’t trust iPhone calendar apps.

She’d forgotten Daddy and Edith’s anniversary one too many times thanks to those finicky electronic calendars. Whenever it happened, she rushed to write a card at the last minute but instead of being grateful, Edith seemed to enjoy shaming her for “neglecting her family.” Personally, Belle felt anniversaries were about the couple celebrating each other…but her thoughts were veering way off course. If she ventured down the dark road of worrying over Edith, she could end up in bed with a box of snowball cakes for the rest of the day.

But falling into depression was less likely now that she no longer called her father and Edith’s house home. After three weeks of living with Marco, there was no denying how much better she felt; the freedom of coming and going as she pleased was a heady sensation. Sometimes Gold joined her at Marco’s house in the evening and the three of them played Scrabble together. Once, she had insisted Marco not cook dinner after cooking at the restaurant all day long and dragged him to Emma’s house for a family dinner where Henry chattered about school and his friends and made everyone laugh until their sides ached.

But most often, Marco would come home from the restaurant and the two of them would eat a pasta and salad dinner, and then spend the evening in the comfortable quiet of his small, cozy living room. His overstuffed couch and chairs were such a contrast to the hard, slick leather furniture Edith filled her house with, and Belle loved sinking into the corner of Marco’s huge couch and covering up with a fluffy throw blanket.

Sometimes they would make small talk about their days but on most evenings, Marco would be bent over a notebook making notes for the next day’s specials at the restaurant, and she would pull out her laptop to research books to add to the library. Usually, either the Cooking Channel or HGTV played in the background. She’d had an older television in her bedroom at her parents’ but no cable connection. Marco, however, had a new flatscreen and Belle indulged in her love of watching House Hunters International, which combined two of her favorite pastimes: seeing home interiors and a peek at exotic destinations.

Gone were the days of being chased into her bedroom, hiding her diary, and hoarding snacks. Some days, the years spent in Edith and her dad’s frosty household seemed like a bad dream.

At least twice a week, Belle offered to pay Marco rent. It didn’t seem right to eat his food and live in his space and offer nothing in return. But he refused every time she asked. “No,” he had said this morning over breakfast, flipping eggs with a stubborn twist of his lips. “We are family, Bella. La famiglia. And when life is hard, family is a soft place to land.” Her eyes had burned with grateful tears, but she kissed his cheek and ate her breakfast and let him fuss over her until they went their separate ways—he to the restaurant and her to the library.

Besides, she thought as she punched in Gold’s number, she didn’t have time for wallowing.

She needed to talk to Gold about the annual Storybrooke Winter Gala today. On impulse, Neal had bought four tickets and insisted he and Emma and Belle and Gold make a double date of the occasion. He’d even arranged for their next-door neighbor, Ana, to watch Henry.

Every December, the Mayor’s Office hosted the gala to benefit the city schools. This year, all proceeds would go toward school Arts programs—music, theatre, writing, and art workshops. Emma and Gold usually attended every year, Gold to cover the event for the Times and Emma to capture photographs to accompany the story. Belle had never been invited to the ball before, though, and she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Part of her didn’t want to be seen in public with so many shiny glossy people she couldn’t measure up to, but another side of her was excited to play princess for an evening.

She glanced again at the date and punched in Gold’s phone number. Today was Friday, November 16th. Thanksgiving was next week, which meant the gala was only three weeks away. There wasn’t much time to get ready. Finding a dress could be difficult and she would probably need to take it to a tailor, too. The thought of shopping for formalwear made her palms begin to sweat.

“Gold,” he answered on the first ring.

“What are you wearing?” she asked in a rush, followed by a breathless pause.

He answered with a laugh, the deep, rich sound making her spine tingle. She imagined him setting down the newspaper proof he was holding to turn in his chair to peer out the window toward the library. Since her office was in the back of the building he couldn’t actually see her, but she felt the admiring burn of his eyes all the same.

She heard a rustling sound as he set down the pages. When they talked or spent time together, he always gave her his full attention. It was certainly a refreshing change from Sean distractedly glancing at her during one of his marathon video game sessions and asking her to repeat what she’d said for the third time.

“A naughty call in the middle of the workday?” Gold drawled into the phone. “Sweetheart, men dream of these sorts of calls from their girlfriends. It’s not even my birthday.”

Belle blushed. She hadn’t stopped to think how awkward the question would sound out of context, but now that it was out, she teased him right back. “Mmmm nothing naughty to say today but just wait till it is your birthday,” she said. “Now that you mention it…”

“Yes?” He drew out the word, filling it with expectation and making her giggle.

She could almost see him leaning forward across the desk, a mischievous gleam in those caramel eyes.

“When is your birthday?”

“January 14th,” he answered promptly. “And tell Marco I prefer ice cream cake.”

“You prefer every cake,” she shot back, smiling into the phone. When it came to baked goods, Gold had an enormous sweet tooth. “But I think it can be arranged.”

“That’s excellent news. Just don’t tell Marco how many candles to put on it because the thing will be melted before we have a chance to slice it.”

Belle knew he was still self-conscious about the difference in their ages. She also knew exactly how to soothe him when he worried. “Then it’s a good thing I prefer mature men.”

“Indeed,” he said, sounding pleased.

She flipped her planner forward and marked his birthday on the calendar in bold, red ink, surrounding the date with fat, bright hearts. The birthday of the man she loved was an important day—far more worth remembering than the wedding date of her stuffy stepmother and emotionally unavailable father. At least she knew Marco wouldn’t snoop through her things and read her planner or her diary. But she was digressing again.

“Now, back to my question,” she ordered, feigning sternness.

“You have my full attention, General French.”

She laughed and rubbed the thick holiday gala invitation between her fingers. Its embossed gold lettering and sprigs of holly in metallic ink screamed expensive. Everyone knew the Storybrooke Winter Gala was the social event of the season. From the chilled seafood towers bursting with crab claws and lobster tails to the elegant champagne cocktails, no expense would be spared.

Belle fanned her warm cheeks with the cardstock, her clammy fingers leaving damp smudges at the top of the matte stationery. “The invite says formal attire, but you’re almost always formal. Were you thinking suit or tuxedo?”

“At the moment, I’m in my usual. I did opt for the socks with the turkeys today as a nod to next Thursday.”

Belle giggled and dragged her teeth over her lower lip. His Thanksgiving socks were adorable and he was being terribly sweet in his attempts to put her at ease. She wanted to go to the gala, but she didn’t want to look like a country bumpkin who had never been anywhere. Gold had attended fancy dinners and parties all over the world. He’d been to a State Dinner with the President, for goodness sake, while Belle had never ventured beyond the Portland city limits. “You know what I mean. It’s not like we can show up in sweatpants and be all ‘sorry, I’m not dressed for this.’” Oh, how she wished.

“Sweetheart, you can wear anything you like. You’re gorgeous no matter what you have on. That said, I’m not really the proper person to offer advice on evening gown selections. Why don’t you talk to Emma?”

She sighed. “Honey, I have talked to Emma. We’re both going shopping and we both need to know. It’s not like we can ask Neal for guidance.” Exasperated, she pushed a curl off her forehead, wondering why she had to explain this. “You know what he’s like. Emma said, ‘Neal would dust corn chips off his construction clothes, zip a hoodie sweatshirt over it, and head out the door.’ That’s a direct quote, by the way.”

Gold burst out laughing. “Sounds like my boy. I’ll make sure he’s dressed appropriately.”

“Anyway,” she continued, “there’s not much of a boutique circuit here in Storybrooke and I’m not exactly a candidate for Rent the Runway.” She sucked in the inside of her cheek as soon as those last words were out. Since they’d started dating, she’d been making a concerted effort not to say self-deprecating things about herself. At least not out loud.

Gold hadn’t seemed to notice her negativity, though.

“Which would you prefer I wear? Tux or suit?”

The image of whirling on the dance floor with Gold in a sleek black tuxedo was doing crazy things to her insides. “Tux,” she said in a breathless whisper. “Tux sounds good.”

“Tux it shall be then. And Belle?”

“Yes?” She was still picturing Gold in black tie and her stomach was doing gymnastics.

“Love, I meant what I said: you’re gorgeous no matter what you wear. We’re going to the gala so we can dance and eat shrimp cocktail and support the Arts, not so you’ll worry over competing with silly girls and stupid women who wouldn’t know true beauty if it ran over them with a sleigh.”

“I wish you and Emma and Neal were going to be the only ones there,” she murmured, feeling silly. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t known about the gala and been given every opportunity to decide against going. The event had been on the calendar for weeks, yet the closer it came the more she fretted about fitting in. An inexplicable craving for belonging tightened her chest.

Gold hummed into the phone. “This is about more than a dress, isn’t it, sweetheart?”

She closed her eyes and took a deep, slow breath, letting the weight of his understanding settle over her like a comforting mantle. Her head lolled forward until her forehead rested upon the top of her desk. The smooth, cool grain of the wood felt good against her flushed skin and she forced out another lungful of air. Gold didn’t deserve to be at the wrong end of her short fuse. She tried to tell herself she belonged at the gala because he’d invited her, but the heart didn’t always believe the head—no matter how sensible the head was being.

“It matters to me that I at least look like I belong, even if it isn’t true,” she admitted.

Gold was quiet for a long moment. “It is true, sweetheart. For as long as I draw breath, you will always have a place to belong. If Marco, Emma, Neal, and Henry were here, I know each of them would say the same. I also know it’s going to take more than hearing the words to make you believe it. You have to know the truth deep down. I love you so much, and I only hope and pray that one day you’ll see yourself the way we see you.”

Belle pressed her lips together, muffling a sob. “Thank you for understanding,” she whispered tearfully. “I love you.”

“It’s nearly five. I’m coming over to the library.” Through the phone, she heard the distinctive click of his pocket watch as he snapped it closed. “When I get there, I’m going to kiss you till you’re breathless, then take you out for a nice, quiet dinner, just the two of us. How does that sound?”

Belle smiled and wiped her tears and her worries away with a tissue from the box on her desk. “It sounds perfect.”

“So we’re here.” Emma sucked down the dregs of her iced latte in a noisy slurp and wiped her hands on her black jeans. “Portland. Boutique Row. What do we do now?” She tossed the cup in the trash can inside the door.

Like aliens on a foreign planet, they hovered inside the doorway of Posh, the largest formal boutique in the city.

Belle eyed Emma suspiciously. “I thought you said you knew about shopping.”

“Yeah, for denim and dry fit. Where to get the best doughnuts. And the occasional piece of leather. Not evening gowns.”

“But you’ve been to this gala before?” she pressed.

“Yeah, as the photographer. No one pays attention to what you’re wearing when you’re behind the camera. I got away with black pants and a dress shirt three years running.”

Belle looked her friend up and down. Perspiration was dotting Emma’s temples. Her cheeks, ruddy from the winter air outside just moments ago, were ashen. She knew that deer-in-headlights look: Emma was on the verge of an anxiety attack.

Belle ran her teeth over her lower lip, discouragement slithering around her and squeezing the air from her lungs. “Are we in trouble?”

“It’s possible,” Emma acknowledged, then shook her head hard enough to cause her ponytail to sway. “No. No! We’re two grown women. We can handle one small town formal.”

“You make it sound like war,” Belle said wryly.

“It’s worse. Other women. Rich, polished, cold as ice.” She rolled her eyes at a chic blonde dripping in Chanel and carrying a Louis Vuitton handbag bigger than Belle’s suitcase. “Maybe we should invest in suits of armor.”

“Or maybe we should eat them for supper.”

Emma snorted, their laughter breaking the tension. It was rare for Emma to be intimidated, and Belle patted her shoulder. Misery loved company, and somehow knowing she wasn’t alone in her insecurity gave her hope for more than the hunt for an evening gown. “We can do this, as long as we do it together.”

Emma’s reached for Belle’s hand and squeezed. “Right. Together is better.”

”Exactly.”

Emma gave a long, slow whistle and they moved into the store like two people tied together in a three-legged race. “Where should we start?” Belle stared at the array of gowns and began to shuffle through the racks, heading in the direction of the plus sizes. She’d come here expecting to have maybe two choices in style but after a few minutes of browsing, to her surprise, there were many gowns in her size—short and long, tight and flowing, beaded and glittery. And though she hadn’t tried on a solitary dress, she was still convinced there wasn’t one in all of Portland designed to flatter her physique. In one fell swoop, she’d gone from zero choices to too many. So many dresses, so little time, and so much Belle.

Even the eggnog lattes and cream-stuffed doughnuts she and Emma had feasted on in the car on the way here left her feeling hollow. She was at her worst at formal events—the last one she’d been to was her high school senior prom and not one person had asked her to dance. She’d gone stag simply so she didn’t have to sit in the house with her father and Edith. With the exception of going to the refreshment table to sneak brownies, she had sat in the corner the entire time.

But she wasn’t in high school any longer. She had a handsome escort in Gold and friends to spend the evening with. The steeply priced gala tickets had already been purchased and paid for and supporting the Arts in their schools? She couldn’t think of a more excellent cause. Besides, backing out three weeks before the event was paramount to announcing you had no interest in seeing Hamilton. It simply wasn’t done.

She squinted in the direction of the lingerie. Spanx were what she needed—something to suck her in and smooth her out—injected with industrial-strength elastic.

“Black. Black is the slimming choice,” Belle decided aloud, pushing through the rack toward a plain A-line silk sheath gown.

At least if she stuck to basic black, she and Gold would match. Like two penguins. One sleek and sophisticated, the other round and plump, carrying a lot of blubber around to make it through the hard, cold, South Pole winter.

“No black! Black is the safe choice,” Emma countered, smacking Belle’s hand when she reached for the hanger on another simple, nondescript black gown with clean lines.

“And that’s bad why?”

“Because it’s drab and washes you out. Go for color. Like gold.”

“Suddenly you’re a Pantone expert?” Belle winced. “A gold dress? Isn’t that a touch…cliché?”

“Alright. We’ll keep looking.”

Belle nudged Emma in the direction of a tall, willow-thin woman with striking black and grey hair and the pointiest red stilettos she’d ever seen. “Maybe we should ask someone. I think she works here.”

Emma squinted and slid more dresses down the rack. “The one with the scarf on?”

“It’s a poncho.” She knew that much.

“Wait! Wait! Try this emerald one! Gold will go crazy when he sees you in this!” Emma whipped a dazzling, jewel-toned gown with a daring thigh-high slit off the rack. Belle stared at the stunning gown then glanced back at the saleswoman. “Five minutes ago you didn’t know anything about dresses.” “You’re right, I don’t. But I know my father-in-law and he’s going to love that dress. Well, he’d love you in a life-sized paper bag, but this dress will make even Mr. Smart Ass Newspaper Dude speechless. God, I can picture him drooling already!” She thrust the dress into Belle’s arms and gave her a playful shove. “Go try it on. And remember, the only person who has to know how beautiful you are…”

“Is me,” Belle finished. They’d had this conversation often during their walks over the past few months, and Emma had reminded her yet again on the two-hour drive here. She fingered the rich velvet skirt with trembling fingers. Now she had to walk the walk. “I’ll try it. What color are you looking for?” she asked, backing into the fitting room.

“Black.” “Emma!” she whined.

Emma yanked the fitting room curtain closed with a laugh. The dress was crushed velvet with full-length sleeves, hard to find, even in the middle of a brutal Maine winter. She slid into the gown, the silk-lined velvet feeling decadent against her skin. Even without the back completely zipped, she liked the look. Emma was right, she realized, turning this way and that in the three-way mirror.

The scoop neck hugged her shoulder blades, emphasizing her thinnest feature—her shoulders—and the color made her blue eyes sparkle and skin creamy even under the garish fluorescent fitting room lights. It was a few inches too long for her 5-foot, 1-inch frame, but the skirt length was easily remedied at a tailor. Not hating it, she took a deep breath, lifted the skirt so she wouldn’t trip, and opened the curtain. She hoped Emma was nearby because she didn’t want to make a spectacle of herself. Those stupid little fitting room closets were designed to thrust you back out onto the floor where commission-hungry salespeople could tell you how good you looked and convince you to buy.

“Em,” she called out, “could you zip—” She swallowed the rest of her words. Emma was face-to-face with a dark-haired woman, and looking even more nervous than she had when they walked into the boutique. “Emma? Emma Nolan?” The stranger wore a smart navy pantsuit and a light blue silk blouse, and her blood-red lips spread in a wide smile. Everything about her, from her perfectly coifed hair to her buffed, nude pumps, screamed suave and important.

“Yeah, who’s asking?” “It’s me, Regina Mills. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten. We graduated together from Storybrooke High! I sat next to you in Mr. Walsh’s English class.” “Oh, hey.” Emma kicked the carpet with her boot, looking anything but thrilled to meet an old high school friend. “Good to see you. You remember Belle French, I’m sure. She graduated the year after us.” Regina frowned at Belle, making a small scar on her upper lip stand out. “Sorry, doesn’t ring a...bell.” “It’s fine. We didn’t really travel in the same social circles anyway,” Belle said. Regina pouted, as if trying to decide if Belle’s remark was a put-down.

Well, she could interpret the comment however she wished. Belle didn’t care for the change that had come over Emma since Regina had appeared or the barely-veiled insult that she wasn’t worth remembering. Now that she’d had a good look at her, she remembered Regina well enough. Then again, it was hard to forget the most popular girl to ever come out of Storybrooke High School. Student body president, prom queen, and girlfriend of Daniel Colter, captain of the football team. Belle would have called her a high school cliché, except that Regina had carried her smooth, flawless reputation into adulthood. She was still the most beautiful woman Belle had ever seen close-up. “I’m just in town for meetings today. I’m an attorney and planning to run for office next term.” Regina’s frozen smile was back in business. “I’m thinking start small with state Senate and work up from there. So, Emma, what have you been up to since graduation? I haven’t seen you since we walked across the stage.” “Um, well.” Emma shoved her hands in her pockets and looked toward the racks of dresses. “Emma is a gifted photographer,” Belle said, sliding to her friend’s side. If Emma wasn’t going to boast about her accomplishments, she sure as hell was going to do it for her. “How exciting!” Regina’s grin was wolfish, her dark eyes sparkling. “Are you exhibiting your portraits at any galleries?” “Uh…” Emma looked at the floor. “No time,” Belle put in. “Right, Em? You’re much too busy with your son, Henry and your husband, Neal.” “Oooh, a husband.” Regina’s eyes flashed again, reminding Belle of a shark circling its prey. “Is he a doctor?” “Nope.” “Hmmm.” She tapped a red nail against her jaw. “A lawyer then?” “He’s in construction,” Emma said, looking to Belle for help. “For your information, he runs his own construction company. He’s built most of Storybrooke’s new buildings in the last ten years.” Belle glared at Regina, daring her to make another cutting remark. “So he’s a working man,” she said, managing to make the term sound neither positive nor negative. “Yeah. Yeah. He’s great.” Emma’s laugh was feeble and she ducked her head. Regina clapped her hands. “This has been fun, catching up. We should do this again sometime.” She flashed another gorgeous, winning smile, and moved in the direction of the lingerie. “Best of luck on the campaign trail,” Belle called after her. Waiting until Regina was out of earshot, Belle whirled on Emma. “Excuse me, but what the hell was that?”

“Never mind. We have shopping to do.” Emma cleared her throat and tried to slide past her, but Belle held her ground.

“The shopping can wait. Who died and crowned Regina Mills queen?”

Belle had zero patience for people who clambered for social standing and pronounced themselves better than others. Having been so often on the receiving end of other people’s sarcasm, Belle rarely talked down to people. But standing up to bullies didn’t count. Something about watching Emma cower in front of Regina caused an angry fire to blaze in her belly. Maybe she was lousy at defending herself, but she’d be damned if she’d let anyone walk all over her friend. Emma shrugged and studied the dresses. She was pretending not to care about the awkward encounter, but Belle knew better. “I don’t like small talk. ‘Hi. How are you?’ she parroted. ‘Oh, I’m fine, how are you?’ News flash: nobody’s fine.”

“Em…”

“No matter how she makes it sound, Regina and I weren’t friends in high school, we were competitors.” She rolled her eyes. “She reminisces about Mr. Walsh’s English class like that was the only time we saw each other. I guess she forgot about the four years we spent one-upping each other on the cheerleading squad, softball team, and the debate team. Always trying to be smarter, stronger, and skinnier than the other. We were out for blood.”

“Then why are you letting her get under your skin?”

Emma sighed and pulled on her ponytail. “You know Cora Mills?”

“Cora Mills, the mayor? Of course.” Belle suppressed a shudder.

Regina’s mother, Cora, had been mayor of Storybrooke for as long as Belle could remember. Cora was a cold, calculating woman, but what she lacked in lovable qualities, she made up for in efficiency. She ran Storybrooke like a machine and no one could argue with her methods, not even Gold, who was paid to search out everything. From the few times Belle had met her, she realized Cora wasn’t mean so much as devoid of emotion. Beyond a perfunctory review of the library budget once a year, Belle was fortunate to rarely communicate with the Mayor’s Office and even when she did, it was strictly emails between Belle and Cora’s assistant. The library and its services were beneath Cora’s notice; so long as Belle didn’t ask for too much money, she stayed under her radar—which was exactly the way she liked it.

Emma wandered to a bench next to the row of fitting rooms and plopped down. “My mom always wanted to be like her, you know.”

“Really?” Belle would never have expected sweet, kind Mary Margaret Nolan to want to emulate Cora Mills.

Emma smirked. “Once, a long time ago, Mom even tried bidding against her for Mayor but she was too nice. She was laughed out of the first debate, and it’s a good thing because the town would have walked all over her. Since Mom couldn’t be like Cora, she decided the next best thing would be for me to be like Cora’s daughter, Regina. I spent every day of high school trying to beat Regina for one reason: because my mom couldn’t beat hers.”

“Wow,” Belle said. “I would never have known. Your mom is such a great teacher and your parents are like a fairytale marriage. Talk about relationship goals.”

“Exactly. The thing with my mom is she’s incredible just as she is,” she said. “Former prom queen, straight-A student, a born teacher. She’s smart and pretty and married to the perfect, charming husband. And she loves Storybrooke—but not for me.”

“But your parents live in Storybrooke.” Confused, Belle furrowed her brow. “That seems like a bit of a double-standard.”

“Yeah.” Emma shook her head. “’Why do you want to take pictures of engaged couples and local pet adoptions?’ she said, mimicking her mother’s innocent tone. “She would rather I was out on the front lines of some war documenting the dying.” “Like Gold used to?” Belle nodded in sympathy and claimed the empty side of the bench. She knew all too well the feeling of being expected to be someone you couldn’t be and dashing parental hopes in the process. “She feels like you shouldn’t be satisfied with a simple life.” “Bingo! And she resents the hell out of Gold for telling me what it’s really like out there. I think that’s why I’m closer to him now than I am my own parents. He understands weakness and failure in a way I don’t think they can. I’m not some conceited little bitch who’s hiding in the bathroom to throw up everything she eats to fit in anymore, but sometimes that really sucks, you know?”

“Yeah, I do.” Belle’s heart clenched in sympathy. Sometimes she still got sucked into the vortex of her own self-pity and forgot that everyone—even gorgeous, wonderful Emma—was fighting a battle. Trying to be yourself was hard work. It was so much easier to toe the line of people’s expectations, to do and say what made others feel comfortable and safe. “So there’s Regina, first conquering the state of Maine, then the world.” Emma put her head in her hands. “And here I am...not running for a spot even on the PTO. Married with a kid and pregnant again.” “You’re pregnant?” Belle slung an arm around Emma and dragged her against her side in an awkward hug. “Oh, sweetie, that’s amazing!” “Ya think? Emma sniffled but looked hopeful for the first time since they had entered the boutique. “Really? I wasn’t expecting another baby. It just happened.”

“Henry is going to be a big brother!” Belle squealed, excited enough for both of them. “Does your mom know yet?”

“Are you kidding?” “What did Neal say?”

Emma shook her head and touched her belly. “You’re the first soul I’ve told.”

“Me?” Belle crowded closer to Emma and drew her head down on her shoulder. She smoothed Emma’s hair back from her temples, soothing her the way her mother used to when she was little while she tried to process the news. To think she was the first to know about the new addition coming to the Cassidy household. She hummed thoughtfully. “I don’t think I’ve ever been first in someone else’s confidence. At least not...well there’s Gold, of course.” She felt Emma nod against her shoulder. “I know what you mean. I’ve had friends. Acquaintances. Then when I met Neal he satisfied any need I had for friends. He’s a great husband and I love him to pieces, but it’s not like this. Like us. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, Belle.”

“Me too,” she said, tears scalding her eyes. She’d known it was true—had felt the stirrings of their bond deep in her spirit ever since their first real conversation at Henry’s birthday clambake. Between family dinners, walks, and girls nights out, the invisible force between them only grown stronger. Somehow acknowledging their friendship out loud made it seem more solid. Precious. As important to her as her love for Gold, but in a different way.

“Now stand up,” Emma said, fishing into her pocket for a crumpled tissue. “I wanna see this dress!”

Belle shot to her feet and smoothed the skirt, her fingers fluttering around the waist and hips while Emma zipped up the back.

“I love it,” she said, motioning for Belle to twirl around.

“Really? You don’t think it makes me look like a medieval strumpet?”

“Hell no!” Emma whistled as Belle turned around again. “You’re stunning. All we need now are Spanx and shoes. And maybe some lingerie for the after-party?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Maybe.” Belle’s face flamed at the thought of wearing a negligee for Gold. “What about you?”

“We’ll get to me after lunch.” She patted her still-flat tummy. “There’s a place down the street serving yummy cheese-covered waffle fries and this kid wants some now.”

Belle’s stomach growled in answer. “Lead the way.”

Their waiter was clearing the lunch plates at the café when Belle heard a knock on the window. She did a double-take as her father waved through the glass with a sheepish smile. Her turkey club sandwich, which had tasted so delicious a few minutes ago, now lodged in her stomach. What was he doing here in the city?

“I’ll grab the check, Belle. You go talk to him,” Emma urged. “If I see things are getting bad I’ll come outside and rescue you.”

Nodding, she gathered her coat and made her way outside, wondering what would bring her father looking for her in Portland of all places, when she hadn’t seen him once on the streets of Storybrooke in the three weeks since she’d moved out.

The air was frigid even in the sunshine, and she seemed to grow colder with every step she took toward her father.

“Daddy?” She wrapped her arms around herself to keep from reaching for a hug. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s the Portland flower show.” He brushed a bit of pollen off the sleeve of his coat. “I was in the neighborhood and saw you having lunch in the window.” “Ah.” Her dad attended the vendor-focused flower exhibition every year. She should have prepared for the possibility of running into him in town, but she’d completely forgotten it was this weekend.

“We haven’t heard from you in weeks, darling. Edith was devastated when you collected your things and left us.”

Belle gave a noncommittal grunt and thrust her cold hands in her pockets. Edith was devastated? Perish the thought her own father actually missed her.

“Marco treating you well?” he asked gruffly.

“Like family,” she retorted, her voice carrying a sharpness she hadn’t intended.

Her father’s face paled and she instantly regretted her tone. There was no call to be so mean-spirited, especially when it somehow succeeded in making her feel worse instead of better.

He sniffed. “Will we see you for Thanksgiving?“

Belle looked into the clear blue sky, distancing herself from his hopeful gaze. "Marco’s cooking a huge feast, so I’ll be eating with him and Gold and the Cassidys.“

“Christmas?“

She blew out an exasperated breath and hugged herself again. “Let’s push through one nightmare holiday at a time, okay?“

He huffed. “I didn’t realize things had gotten so bad.”

“Are we still talking about holidays, or are you referring to other bad situations?” She thought back to the horrible family dinner she’d put Gold through when she’d tossed a roll at Edith’s head and stormed out. “I can’t live like that anymore. I won’t.”

“You’ve changed, Belle. Is this…is this Gold’s influence on you, then?” He seemed to deflate before her eyes, this giant of a man shriveling down to a pathetic shell. “When did you become this way? So stubborn. So willful.” His lips shook as he spoke. “If your mother were alive, she…”

“But she’s not, Daddy,” Belle interrupted. “Mother hasn’t been with us for years. She’s not here to tell you what to do and what to say, and for that matter neither is Edith. You’re the one who changed. It’s as Erskine said, you don’t even see me. Maybe you never did.”

“Belle!” Emma jogged over to the rescue, her breath a white cloud in the cold afternoon air. “Hey, Mister French. We really gotta get going if we’re going to finish shopping and I promised Henry I’d be home in time to tuck him in.”

“Great. I’m freezing anyway.” She looped her arm through Emma’s and mustered a sad, parting smile for her father. After years of trying to gain his attention and approval, she wasn’t sure when she would see him again and at the moment, she didn’t care. “Take care of yourself, Dad.”

###

#rumbelle fic #rumbelle #a monthly rumbelling #chubby belle #chubby!belle #mr. gold x belle french #swanfire #regina mills #marco #moe french #mqc writes

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