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jaybutnotthebird · 1 year ago

Text

Being Rocky’s dad like

(here’s the link to ao3) https://archiveofourown.org/works/47538889

"come again?" Asked Ivy "Mh. He's my second dad. I haven't seen my other dad since I was like, five" Ivy looked at Rocky like he had grown a second head "What do you mean your other dad?" "I got two" he continued, not even lifting his gaze from his syrup soaked pancakes "he was working far from home untill my mom got worse. Then they switched places: my first dad took mom to a hospital in another city and my second dad came over to take care of me. He even took on his same job" Ivy looked at Freckle, who didn't seem faced at all, like everything coming out of Rocky's mouth made complete sense to him. "What is he talking about?" "Mh" Freckle shallowed his pancakes and explained "my aunt had two husbands. After she died and one of them stayed working on another city, only one of them remained. He's the one Rocky means when..." "Hold on" Ivy interrupted him "you can't have two husbands. Its... Right? You can only marry one person. Unless they're dead. Is that what you mean? Your mom remarried after your dad died?" "No, no. My mom married both of them before she died. My second dad was working far from home until she passed away" "That doesen't make any sense" "I mean sure, it’s uncomon but lots of people have more than one dad" "No, they don't?" Ivy said slowly. Perhaps she was mistaken. Maybe some people did that, after all, she didn't know the diferent costumes that other people could have, nor how the laws difered in every state. Maybe she just didn't know some people could do that and she was just learning now? "Hold on" she said, and got up. She placed on the door of the cafe a little 'back in 5' sign and guided the boys downstairs real quick. There wasn't much people there at this hour, pretty much just Viktor cleaning behind the bar and the band playing cards at one of the tables "Hey Viktor" she said coming over "can a woman marry two men at the same time?" Viktor looked at her for a moment, then at Rocky and Freackle on each side of her, and his expresion turned from utter confusion to pure ire "NO" he answered, with such firmness that all three of them felt cold. Ivy realiced they'd asked the wrong guy and excused herself, de-puffing her tail as they walked over to the table where the guys were playing, Viktor's cold gaze still prickling the back of their heads "Hey boys" she greeted them "you have traveled a lot, have you ever heared of a woman having two husbands?" "Now what on earth are you talking about?" Asked Sy

"you see, uh, a friend of ours says his mom was married to two men at the same time, so he's got two fathers instead of just one"

the entire table just gave them this... look. Zib blinked one eye at a time, mozzy just sighed and turned back to the table "do you have any threes?"

"hey! Im talking to you, you traveled a lot, you must have heared of it"

"look, I've heared of many things, specially revolving relationships, ok? Relationships are complicated..." the others nodded and made agreeing noises "but actually geting married in a three way? That's just messed up"

"I mean, its not unheared of" said JJ "my cousin seemed to be fooling with two diferent men, and we all kept telling her it was dangerous, but then we found out, turns out they already knew! And they were ok with it"

"so you have heared of it"

"no no, fooling arround with two men is weird, but it happens. Getting married to the two of them? No way!"

"is that even allowed?"

"I've heared of men turning 'mormon' as in, they get married to one girl, form a family, and in secret in some other town they do the same with another girl... you think a girl could pull that off?"

dubious sounds ran arround the table

"my bets are in no. Not unless the husband agrees"

"you mean husbands, right? Haha"

the toms snikered, then Rocky cut in

"but it does happen. I mean, some people are just... not jeallows like that"

they all looked at him in silence

"I mean, sure maybe they could make it work between the three of them. But, get married? Oficially? I don't think so"

"but it did. I swear! Its not that rare, many people have two fathers"

the responses among the band were varied. Ben giggled. Mozzie and Sy gave each other a look. JJ's eyebrows rose as he inclined his head. Zib took the cigarrete off his mouth for a moment

"im sure that's what they told your... friend"

there were more chukcles

"yeah, Rocky. Your friend seems a little confused"

"does he have any photos from the wedding?"

Rocky didn't know how to answer. He was sure there where, but that felt a little like a retorical question. Freakle pulled his sleeve and started walking towards the door. Ivy excused them

"Im sure there's an explanation, right? Maybe you guys got things mixed up becouse you where little when it happened?"

that was a possibility

Rocky's memories of his early childhood were confusing up to that one moment, wich he remembered very well.

His dad was barely ever home, and he was allways grumpy and tired. His mom was nice and he remembered her playing the violin and smiling at him, but she got sick, and started going to the hospital a lot.

He remembered spending a lot of time with aunt Nina, asking for her a lot, feeling blue

then one morning he got up, went downsatirs, and found a stranger in the kitchen, a large black fluffy cat with irregular orange patches just making pancakes, like he had allways been there.

"good morning champ!" he saluted him "did you sleep well?"

"who are you?" he asked

"why, Im your dad, doncha recognice me?"

"you are not my dad! My dad has grey fur"

"your other father, silly. You really don't remember me? I mean, it has been a long time since I last saw you. You were so small... we got lots of catching up to do"

"I have two fathers?"

"yes, you had never realiced that? Man. I should'a come by more often. Im gonna be staying here now, so I'll be seeing you plenty from now on"

Rocky had just stood on the kitchen, wondering if this was all a joke

"well don't just stand there, son! You want pancakes?"

Rocky had noded vigorously but he still fidgeted in place. The black cat made a thoughtful face

"tell you what: why don't you go see aunt Nina across the street? Ask her about me. And invite your cousin over for pancakes too. I haven't seen him since he was a baby!"

"okay!" said the kid, and he pretty much ran over to his aunt's place, and asked with a dubious tone

"aunt Nina? Do I have two dads?"

she gave him one of her suspicious looks

"you don't know?"

"well, there's a black cat in the kitchen. He says he's my other dad, and he's making pancakes!"

"ah, yes. He arrived last night while you were asleep"

"oh, ok. Really?"

"yes, he came all this way to take care of you while your parents are gone"

"you mean... my mom, and my other dad"

"yes, now stop asking silly questions and go greet him propperly"

"ok. He said Freckle can come have pancakes"

"hm. Fine, but come back soon, right after breakfast. We're going to church"

"ok!"

he remembered being excited as he dragged his baby cousing over, who was just as confused. His new father had seemed happy to see him.

"ah, there you are! let me take a good look at you" he said, as they stood one next to the other "ah, you've grown so much! Calvin, you can walk already!"

"aunt Nina says we have to go to church soon"

"well then, no use making her wait, let’s eat breakfast before it gets cold!"

He remembered that first day, after pancakes his father told him to wash up and show him what he had in the wardrove, and helped him pick a decent outfit, then the two of them had met Nina all dolled up and she had been quiet and distant the whole way.

When Rocky asked, his dad told him being so religious she wanted to make sure he was still a god fearing propper christian and get confessed first thing after coming back. He also mentioned tho having two fathers wasn't weird (many kids do) it was uncommon, and aunt Nina didn't want anyone in chusrch gossiping and making silly questions.

And from then on, Rocky's childhood had fallen back into normalcy. Well, as normal as it could get with him being a menace.

He still spent a lot of time with aunt Nina and his cousin, and she and his dad did their best to educate him. It was easy geting used to the new routine since his new father spent more time home. He was also very easygoing and good at telling stories.

He made sure to be allways in his best behaivor with Nina, going as far as to reprimend him harder if she was present, and winking an eye at him when she wasn't looking.

he remembered one time he did something bad, and his aunt started blabbering about sinners and god, but instead of just dragging him by the ear, his dad crouched down in front of him and tried to reason with him. He often remembered the explanation he gave him.

"Rocky, when people catch you doing bad things, they will punish you, but that is not the reason you are not supposed to do them"

"it's not?"

"no. See, I told you throwing trash in the street is bad, right? But you know why?"

"well... becouse its a mess?"

"its not just a mess. The more trash people litter, the more rats and bugs they atract, and the more illness. The cleaner the street is, the safer it gets in the long run for everyone. Some people will still litter, and that's why we must try our best to keep it as good as possible"

"...so that people won't get sick, like mom?"

"...yes, kiddo. That's just a simple example of why you must try your best to be good, to make the world a better place, even when its not easy, specially when its hard. The more you try, the better you'll get at it, like in your studies! Sometimes you will even feel stupid for being good, but you'll learn the diference between being bad and being smart. I know you can" his expresion had then turned mischevous and he made a gesture as to grab him, wich Rocky recogniced and anticipated "you have so much energy!"

and he tickled him, and then sent him off to have fun, but also be careful

Rocky's aunt, who had presenced the whole conversation had been a lot more cheerful since then. Often she would just discuss with his father when Rocky did something bad.

He had lots of memories from him taking them fishing, or camping, making a barbacue for a special ocasion... teaching them so many things

Sometimes, when he had to leave Rocky with Nina for a long time he would come back with flowers for her. Nothing special, just something pretty that he found on the side of the road that couldn't be found in her garden. Then he would nudge the kid and ask "now what did you do this time to test her patience?"

One time he saw Rocky's state after coming back from the swimming pit, and then took a look at the swiming pit itself, and started building a little swimming pool in the backyard. He edged the boys on to help, making the task into a fun project for all of them.

It took days of digging and the boys had fun playing in the dirt and keeping anything they could find on their excabation site.

Once he was satisfied with the shape and all he got cement and started finishing the surface. The boys had been so excited to see the project finally taking form.

He had insited they don't touch the cement until it was dry, except for the hand prints they left on the deeper side, with their names and the date. Then he had buildt a firm, tight fitted fence to make sure no critters crawled in.

To this day Rocky could still make some money or get free drinks from people who came to swim when it was hot

it had been a specially happy ocasion when his father informed him that he would spend more time at home, since now he would be working from there: he started writing from time to time for a newspaper, and told him to keep secret the source of most of their income: home brewed spirits that he sold somewhere else

Eventually, he too joined the speakeasy as a member of the band.

Things had been going a little south after the owner, Atlas, died and his wife took over. But right now Rocky couldn't even think of those worries.

The whole drive home he felt so... misplaced. It probably wasn't anything, right? Some kind of misundertanding

He walked in and shouted "Im back" into the house. His father's voice greeted him from the kitchen. He walked in. The cat in question was sitting at the table reading the newspaper. Such a familiar sight. Just like that first day, when it looked like he had allways been there tho it felt out of place.

"you're back early. How was work?"

"good, I guess..."

he recieved a suspicious look from behind the newspaper. There was no use delaying it

"dad... are you... really my father?"

Jasper took a moment to answer

"yes. Why do you ask?"

"oh, nothing it's just... I told a friend about you and mom... and my other dad... and they gave me this look"

Jasper just went back to the newspaper.

"...and I've been thinking... it just... something doesen't add up. Dad?"

Now his father wasn't reading the paper. He was thinking, considering. Rocky knew that expression, from when he asked for something, usually complicated or a bad idea and his dad considered it.

Eventually his father placed the newspaper on the table and told him

"why don't you sit down? I'll get some tea"

oh no. Rocky got a bad feeling. He retrieved the cookies while his dad prepared the kettle and then they were both sitting in silence.

"Its about time you knew. My name is Jasper, that much is true. I also knew your parents, somewhat.

Your dad use to come to my place after work. Got drunk, told me everything. How his wife was allways sick and his kid so... ramboutious, and he was tired of everything. I had to drag him home more than once. I told him, many times 'you have a beautiful wife and child, a wonderful home, you don't know how lucky you are...' truth is I was jeallows. See, I can't have kids of my own"

Rocky felt numb. Empty. Like nothing was there where usually he could stand. He couldn't believe it. His father or, the one who called himself so, continued

"One day he came to my place speacially upset. He told me his wife had died and he wasn't sticking arround for the kid. I was so mad. I called him a coward, an oathbreaker, we had a fight. I told him to never, ever come back if he dared leave. Then I went to your aunt, told her the bad news. I complained that the world is so unfair... and I had this idea, and begged her to let me help. Promised I would make her glad she let me"

"and she agreed?" Rocky asked. That was the most unbelievable part of this whole story. Jasper shrugged

"I appealed to her strong beliefs. 'god works in misterious ways' right? She would be doing a very good thing, giving someone like me the chance to have a family, and a home, and a poor kid to still have a father. I promished to help as much as possible, and if she didn't like it she could kick me out at any moment"

he croached forward then, and said in a more confidencial tone "tho between you and me, I wouldn't let her. I grew atached to you fast. If things went south we could have just, moved"

A chill run up Rocky's spine as he remembered that time, when Freackle messed up bad and he took the fault. Rocky had told his dad the truth, and he gave him a big hug and told him he was proud of him

"you did what you thought best and protected your cousin. We'll figure out the rest"

Aunt Nina hadn't talked to him for weeks, and his dad had been consulting the price they could get for their home, and considering wether to move to the country. In the end it hadn't been necesary.

"so..." Rocky asked "you are not my father?" Jasper took a deep breath and answered firm and calm

"yes I am. Family is not just blood. Sometimes family are the ones who stick by you throu thick and thin. This is my home, and you are the child I have raised since you were a kitten. ...do you feel otherwise?"

Rocky thought of it. For a moment he imagined that there wasn't actually anything conecting him and this stranger sitting across him who just showed up on the kithcen one day, but that was just not true.

It felt strange, finding out the truth, the lie he had been living. But in the long run, actually, it didn't make any diference. He supposed this sensation would fade, and things would go back to normal. He still knew this cat sitting across from him, he trusted him, he loved him.

If he had been telling him a big white lie... he supposed he could forgive that, specially after all the times he had made a mess and the other had stood by him.

Not the mean looking gray cat he barely remembered from his earliest childhood. This tom cat right in front of him.

"I suppose not. Tho... you were never married to mom?"

Jasper sighed "no" and got up to fetch the kettle "I saw her a few times, I asked your aunt for some details... and made up the rest"

he placed right in front of Rocky a cup of tea with lots of syrup and milk, just the way he liked it. Rocky thought of the times he asked about his mom and got an answer

"oh, she was so sweet... and pacient. You know she played the violin right? You need lots of pacience and insistence to do that. That's how we met, actually, I heared some beautiful music and imagine my shock when I followed the sound and found a pretty girl at the source! You remind me of her"

Just another story. He was good at telling them.

His father drank some tea and took a bite of a cookie, gave him time to asimilate it

"tho if anyone asks, your biologic father died, then she married me and got sick right after. That's the story we're going with. I got a friend to fake us some papers. Any incongruences are explained by a mishap of papers"

"do you know what happened to him?"

"your other dad? no. He left and we never heared of him since, tho I would understand if you wanted to search for him"

"you told me he took mom to a new hospital, and then stayed there working to pay the debt"

"Im sorry, Rocky. That was a lie. Your mother passed away the day before I first came here. Your father left that night. Your aunt Nina and I managed everything else"

"you told me she died later"

"we didn't want to overwelm you, what with your parents gone and me here all of the sudden. We waited exactly one year to respect the date in wich she died and then we visited the cementery"

Rocky remembered feeling terrible becouse he hadn't seen his mom in so long and he could barely tell the diference after she died. His dad held him in his arms and comforted him, told him she loved him and he would allways have some of her. His aunt told him she would watch from heaven to make sure he would behave. They went to the cementary, they had some excuse for him not to be at the burial but the stone looked like it was new and Nina comented on how good it looked.

"did you buy a new gravestone for her?"

"no, I spent the day before cleaning it and removing the grass to make it look new. I even had an excuse prepared in case you noticed the date was wrong"

Rocky couldn't help to chuckle.

"Cat, you are good!"

His father gave him a smile and sipped some more tea.

"we should tell Nina you know now. She'll be glad the truth is out, at least within the family. Probably will want to go to church and confess again"

"I should thank her" said Rocky "Im pretty glad that she let you stay"

His father gave him a warm smile "me too"

#lackadaisy #original character #rocky rickaby #fanficition #lackadaisy fanfiction #humor #slice of life #childhood memories #actual A+ parenting #confused characters

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heresathreebee · 3 years ago

Text

Wearing THAT

[Dewey Finn X Female Reader]

Summary: Reader teases Dewey in a Poison Ivy costume. You have a really hard time saying exactly what you want... Masterlist Next

Word count: 3.1k words (no beta)

Warning(s): 17+ | teasing, lots of teasing and boners, lap sitting, near nudity, touching

AN: only Thots here, thots about Dewey Finn also is Ned British? He's British in my head

This was some sort of test. It had to be. God was testing him through you and you were not playing fair. It’s a costume party not a competition, you pompous little sycophant. And yet he can’t help but tug at the collar of his shirt. It’s not even anywhere near his throat but why else would he feel so constricted? It’s certainly not because of you…

You walked into his shared apartment wearing that and you had no idea the effect it had on him.

Dewey watches you sling an arm around Ned and kiss Patty’s cheek in greeting. “Hi guys! Thanks for inviting me, I’ve been dying to put this on.”

“Oh you look lovely,” Patty coos. She plucks at one of the plastic leaves on your corset. “Did you make this?! It’s so intricate.”

You bark out a laugh. “Oh hell no! I have this cousin, right? And him and his fiancé own this shop where they make costumes for movies and theatre and if you pay ‘em right, ‘personal use.’ And they don’t ask questions what ain’t their business either.”

“Well, I’m sold.” Ned raises his beer for a toast and Patty clinks it with her bottle of mysterious green juice. “Prost! What’s the name of the shop? Wanna see if they’re online– you know, for... support.”

“Ned,” Patty swatted his empty hand (no need to be shy, we already know they’re freaky).

You pat your friends on their backs and take a step towards the kitchen. “Gonna get myself a beer.”

“Oh honey you don’t have to do that. Dewey!” The man in question nearly covered himself in his own drink when he heard his name. “Be a good host and get this lady her beer!”

“Yes captain,” Dewey salutes and Patty can do nothing but glare in her Star Trek yellow shirt costume. Original series, of course, nothing but the best for Patricia Di Marco.

Dewey takes a hold of the moment he has his back to you to take deep, calming breaths. He will not let this be the end of him. Your friendship means so much more to him than that and a little fancy green corset was not going to make him fuck things up with you.

He’s ready for you when he hands you your beer. Your one arm hug is appreciated because he’s sporting a bit of wood and he’d hate to find out your corset isn’t thick enough to hide it– or god forbid you feel him on your thigh. And god, your thighs… those sheer green nylon tights were doing unspeakable things to him. Maybe if he kept you close and kept your legs out of his peripherals he could make it through the night without embarrassing himself.

Or maybe not.

“Are yoooouuu a college student?,” you ask and point at his inconspicuous clothes.

“Actually– ” he opens the buttons of his shirt to reveal another shirt with a superman logo on it and buttons it back up clumsily as you laugh. “Ssshhh! Don’t tell anybody. Protect my secret.”

“Of course,” you giggle. God you feel good hanging off him– usually he loves how physical you are but he has to figure out a way to keep his distance without offending you and quickly. “You like mine?”

The way you pick up a thick swirling red lock and direct his attention to the very thing he’s trying not to look at is killing him. Of course you look even better up close. The leaves of your corset give the thing depth and texture, your gloves are fingerless and go over your elbows, and your heels are high, like make- him- feel- his- below- average- height high.

“I like these.” Dewey plucks at the ring of leaves at the top of your gloves. It’s a way to keep his mind off your everything else. “Did you dye your hair?”

“It’s a wig.” You tug on the top and then the bottom, wincing a little. “Sew in, so don’t go snatch it.”

“I would never!”

“Poison Ivy, eh? Think that’s one of Dewey’s favorites,” Ned blabs.

Dewey sends him a death glare so powerful Ned chokes on his beer but you’re looking at your Spock-dressed friend so you can’t see it.

“Oh, really?” You return your gaze to Dewey and say, “well you must be loving this, then.”

Dewey swallows. No words come to him and there is nothing to stop the awkward silence that follows. You appear unbothered by it, maintaining eye contact as you smile almost knowingly…

“We should play twister,” he says with the most unsure voice ever.

“We don’t even have twister,” Patty mumbled. “Come on, there are like twenty other games setup, let’s play!”

Dewey gives it a minute and when he’s free from you, he catches Ned by his pointy green ear and drags him into the hall. “Hey? What the fuck are you doing?”

“Whah– what are you talking about?” Ned slaps at the hand fisted in his shirt but Dewey doesn’t budge.

“You can’t just go telling people I’m into them, dude! Do you know how close you came to giving me away?!”

Ned scoffed. “Her? I hardly think she’s ignorant to your feelings, you’re not like that Steven from Austin fellow.”

“– Are you talking about stone cold Steve Austin?"Dewey buries his face in his hands- "It’s his last name, not his birthplace–”

“And besides…” Ned peeks around the corner to see you in the middle of some sort of posing game. Everybody's trying to take the form of some sort of vehicle, and you've got Chloe in a headlock and Vance's leg in the other hand. Ned never got to finish his thought because someone dropped a huge bowl of popcorn and that too became a game of ‘how many can you eat off the floor before Patty cleans it up.’ Ned’s got to help and he’s got to help now.

Dewey finds himself on the couch with his fifth beer of the evening. Vance, Jeremiah, and Chloe are talking baseball stats when suddenly Dewey’s vision is filled with green and red just before you sit down. Right between his legs. He unconsciously scoots up to make room for you and before he catches on to your game, you nestle into his space by the arm of the couch and sling your legs across his like you belong there.

Ok, something is definitely up with you.

Would he describe you as cuddly? A little. Perhaps a more appropriate word would be… hands on. Long before he started wanting more than friendship with you, you two were always just touching. Your presence and your love language was physical. Dewey never felt like you were invading his personal space or overstepping his boundaries because he simply had none with you and the feeling was mutual. But this was something else. Something that wasn’t there before.

Was it him? Was he fucking up his perfectly in sync companionship with you because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants or (his heart for that matter)? He wasn’t sure if he wanted to drag you closer or push you flat on your ass right now.

You were listening to Chloe chew Vance out for hating Gritty the mascot when you felt Dewey plant a hand on your forehead. “Hey, are you feeling ok?”

You gently shake him off and raise a single eyebrow. He seems serious, his voice gone all soft and making you feel gooey inside.

“You just seem… I dunno,” he fumbles, “do you want me to take you home after this?”

Hellooooo opening! “Actually, can I stay here tonight?”

“Yeah, of course.” Fuck, who said that? Dewey? Ah, shit…

“Thanks,” oh oh you should not be rubbing his thigh right now… “I think I’ll go change here in a minute.”

Oh please do, please please puh-leeaaase–

After a brilliant movie drinking game (which Dewey tapped out of), the crowd began to disband. 24 became 20, then 18, then 12. You went out to your car to grab your overnight stuff and Dewey was hoping for a brief reprieve from the assault of your visage. He just needed a few more people to leave so he can sequester himself and rub one out– you know, get his head straight. Ever since you left his lap he’s been rock hard, there’s not enough blood flowing to his brain. The guest count is down to 3– 2 with you in your car, and he can’t wait anymore.

Dewey slipped into the only bathroom in the house and prayed to god nobody noticed him. He barely got his hand wrapped around his shaft when Patty’s fist banged on the door demanding he help clean up. Sulking and agitated, Dewey managed to calm down while cleaning up red solo cups, glass beer bottles, cans, and small pocket sized objects that would need to be returned to the guests after their hangovers subsided (no keys, thankfully, everybody’s got a DD). His “predicament’ is nearly forgotten when you finally return with a bundle of clothes, disappear into the bathroom and reemerge in loose sleepwear with your makeup wiped clean and uh… braless.

You catch him looking. Dewey– surprisingly sober after he gave up drinking half way through his sixth beer– does nothing short of raise a slightly irritated eyebrow at you. “Cold in here, huh?”

“Shut up. You know how uncomfortable it is to sleep in a bra?”

You help him collect a couple bottles that rolled under the couch and walk with him down to Ned’s car. Patty would sort the recyclables from the trash in the morning (late morning, she did a couple rounds of tequila shots thanks to you). It’s almost like the party never happened; you’re shooting the shit again and everything is right in the world. He’s got no ulterior reaction to putting a hand on your hip– that’s just a normal thing in your perfectly platonic relationship. God, he really must have been imagining things, he was beginning to think you were actually trying to flirt with him!

Ned’s bent over the kitchen sink with Patty and holding her hair back. He looks up as you enter the apartment and shakes his head. You and Dewey make yourself scarce by slipping into the shared bathroom to hide. You try to giggle quietly as Dewey surveys the skincare products you covered the counter with. He points to your head and asks, “you wearing that to bed?”

“It’s sewed in, I’m not taking this off for three weeks at least,” you answer. “Get my money’s worth. I can work it like my natural hair.”

Dewey nods. You rub your arm nervously and look for something to say, something to circle back to the whole point of showing up looking like a sexed up goddess. What do guys like? Girls wearing their clothes, right? But you need to phrase it perfectly…

“Dewey?” He looks up from the scrubby lip balm in his hands. “I’m not quite ready to go to sleep yet and it… it is a little chilly in your place. Can I wear your jacket?”

Just to bring your meaning home, you tug on his sleeve– the very jacket on his back. You don’t want just any jacket, you want that one, already warm and scented by him. You don’t miss the way his eyes glance past you like he was reluctant to comply. And yet…

“Yeah, here.” He slips out of it with ease and drapes it over your shoulders. You miss the sigh of relief he makes when you pull the zipper closed and obscure your pebbling nipples. “Think I’m gonna go help Ned put Patty to bed.”

Ned was a scrawny little thing and couldn’t carry her by himself, and she needed to be carried. Competitive by nature, it’s easy to talk her into virtually anything, especially if it feels like girl time. You need Patty in a deep sleep for your plans tonight (sorry not sorry). Dewey’s very sexy as he bears most of Patty’s weight. She’s clinging to Ned, arms around his neck and babbling incoherently while Dewey’s got an arm around her waist and legs, keeping Ned on his feet. You skirt ahead of them and open the bedroom door, help pull her shoes off, her captain insignia, her earrings, you even wipe the spit from her lips and the eyeliner smeared on her cheek.

“You’re my favorite ever,” she whimpers, “I love you so much, you’re like my best friend ever…”

You shush her gently. “You say that about everybody when you’re drunk, baby. I promise I’ll make you a fat breakfast in the morning but you gotta go to sleep now, OK?”

Patty nods. She snuggles into her pillow just as Ned is taking up position as the big spoon when she looks back up at you and asks, “can we go for a run together?”

You blink evenly. “Yes.” You already regret it as she smiles big and wide. It would be just your luck this is the one thing she doesn't forget in the morning.

Finally it's just you and Dewey in the hallway. It feels like you're standing between two choices: his open bedroom door and the living room. But it seems like only you can feel the weight of it.

"Are you sure you want to stay over?," Dewey asks, "you can use my bed."

You perk up out of your heavy mood. "Really?"

"Yeah, I'll take the couch tonight."

He can't possibly miss the way you instantly deflate but he's still not putting the pieces of the puzzle together. "Dewey. I'm not going to kick you out of your own room."

He shrugs. "Suit yourself. I'll grab a few blankets."

There's a storage closet in the main building with this one extra soft blanket that Dewey knows you'll love. You on the other hand have got no more patience left. Once the man leaves, you stomp your foot and decide to try one final act.

Dewey returns to the apartment to find an empty, quiet living room. Ned and Patty are in bed, but where are you? He wanders past the bathroom door because it's dark inside and checks his room. There you are reclining on his bed. He could have sworn you were wearing pants before but your legs are bare and his jacket hugs the tops of your thighs. He also could have sworn you were wearing a shirt. He finds both items folded neatly beside you with your underwear right on top.

Oh…

This cannot be happening right now. He just survived tonight by the skin of his teeth and now you were doing this to him. He’s going to pull his hair out, going to scream, it’s so frustrating because he can’t just ask you what you want– you’ll turn the question back on him and he’ll fuck it up. He lets the blanket fall from his grip and with a heavy sigh he whispers in a weak voice, “straight answers only. What are you doing to me? Why you doin’ this?”

You cock your head and answer leisurely, your eye drifting across the items in his room. “You know that’s not how I roll, but if you want me to address the elephant in the room: I'm naked in your bed right now."

Against his better judgement, Dewey moves closer. "I can see that."

One step closer and your eyes find him again. Like an invitation you lean back more, even uncross your legs but go no further. Dewey swallows his tongue and waits for you to elaborate and every second is agonizingly slow.

"You think you can just walk around here with your pretty face and cocky little attitude like it’s nothing,” you said accusingly.

Dewey glared at you. “That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”

“Well we're in agreement then,” you’re almost sneering at him, but he knows it’s because you’re really frustrated with yourself, “I look and I touch and I feel but I don’t know, you know?”

“Not a clue,” he sighs and sits himself beside you. He’s done trying to keep his distance. “Let’s go back to you being naked in my bed.”

“Do you like it?”

“Do I like it?,” he repeats incredulously. Dewey leans back on his elbow to look you over from top to bottom. You look damn good in nothing but his jacket. You’ve got the long ends of your red hair in braids that sweep down to your navel. The zipper rests tantalizingly right below your ribcage. Dewey dares to reach out a mollifying hand and give a tiny stroke to that silver keeper. He cannot bring himself to speak above a whisper as he nods, “yeah, I… I like it.”

The tension leaves your shoulders and you wear a small grin. “It’s not too late to take it back. Say no, and I’ll put my clothes back on and sleep on the couch like none of this ever happened. This,” you point between the two of you, “doesn’t change unless we want it to.”

… this was real. In answer, Dewey’s chin wrinkles and he watches his finger travel upwards, drawing a light line up the expanse of your chest between your breasts to feel you shiver at his touch. Thing is he doesn’t want to say no, but wouldn’t it be better? Safer? He asks the question he’s been dying to know all night. “What do you want from me?”

“Whatever I can get,” you answer truthfully. “Whatever you’ll allow. Don’t trouble yourself with labels and things ‘cause what we have has always been so much more than that.”

Dewey feels a weight lift off of his chest. His hand works around your waist and drags you closer, halfway under him and he rests his perspiring forehead on your breastbone. Whatever happens next happens, for better or for worse.

You’re not troubled when Dewey moves the jacket to expose one of your breasts, however you are taken aback when he bites you. You barely manage to stifle your yelp when you feel him growl against your flesh and the sound vibrates straight to your core. Dewey drags his head up and stares you dead in the eye as he kneads your savaged breast.

“All night,” he growls, “all fucking night for this? We could have done this ages ago. The salon, the drive in, Chloe’s cat’s birthday– grocery shopping last week. But no, instead you pick a party full of people and you’ve had me riled up for hours.”

Dewey pinches your hardened peak and you keen. “‘m sorry…”

“No you’re not, but don’t worry: you will be.”

AN: Check Out Part 2 @hoodoo12 @go-commander-kim @escape-your-grape @softbeej @imma-fucking-nerd @werwulfy

#Dewey Finn #Dewey Finn x reader #three bees writing #🐝🐝🐝✒#black reader insert #🖤❤💛#dewey finn x female reader

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gwoongi · 5 years ago

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wordless pt.1

jeon jeongguk / reader genre: hitman (john wick?) au, sugar daddy au, fluff, pining, angst rating: mature words: 4.1k warnings: mentions of blood and violence, unconventional relationship, angsty themes, smoking mention a/n: this is jeongguk as john wick because i’m trash and i cant finish one story at a time. these prompts r from here btw :) im gonna do all 50 but im too lazy rn so here’s the first 10 :D

Sometimes, saying “I love you” is inappropriate, and given your circumstances, you think it might send Jeongguk over the edge if he hears them again.

Parts: One, Two, Three, Four, Five

Now, it definitely was not a stretch to assume that everything in Jeongguk’s life was indeed unconventional. People didn’t need to understand that what Jeongguk did for work was something that, by the law, was considered unprofessional and inhumane, and so when asked, Jeongguk sufficed for “boss of a company”, and questions weren’t asked. If they were, Jeongguk came up with a slightly more conventional lie, to make up for the reality that was Jeongguk working on the clock, killing nobodies for a bit of cash.

Taehyung, his right-hand man, had expressed how unconventional Jeongguk seemed to be over a dinner in Venice, a little restaurant tucked away unconventionally in a street that did not belong to America. Jeongguk spoke four languages comfortably, and had parents retiring in the Canary Islands. Jeongguk donated money to women’s charities and mental health services, and helped bribe his cousins into Ivy Leagues when racism prevented them from entry. Jeongguk was a Joe-Exotic in the making and owned a rescue black panther named Elio, and had houses across the globe for use when working. And, Jeongguk was dipping his toes into playing house with a sugar baby who was only five years younger than him, of whom he had met in a stakeout which involved the hit being on your brother’s head. Unconventionally, you led him to his target, and afterwards, dined with him in a Thai restaurant.

Things in Jeongguk’s life were far from ordinary, but perhaps it was the denial of mundane comforts that kept Jeongguk going. If he went back to normality, to working a shitty customer service job like when he was seventeen, dumping trash into overflowing piles behind the off-license he worked at, things wouldn’t be the same. Jeongguk would feel alien, like he didn’t belong. At least here, amongst the pain and the bullets and the years worth of trauma packed in his wrinkles (which, yes, if he looks hard enough, he can see some cursing his twenty five year old skin), Jeongguk felt like he sort of belonged. In an unconventional way.

Having met Jeongguk during his line of work, there were difficulties in being Jeongguk’s sugar baby. For one, he always felt guilty for having murdered your brother, even though you heavily supported the hit. Your brother was a jerk, a bully with money, someone who had wronged your entire family, turned off your younger sister’s life support when there was a chance of her survival. Asshole, he deserved it. Secondly, Jeongguk was impractical and irrational and often acted selfishly, meaning he was often out of the country on work, only available in whispers for a few hours and then he was gone, compensating with a few sums of cash.

He tried his best. Jeongguk, despite technicalities including his work and his past and his occasional mean streak, genuinely cared about other people. When he could, he made the effort, otherwise not attempting to make promises to you that he could not keep. Jeongguk knows that he got really lucky when he found you. You didn’t ask questions. Nobody was better for him.

However, Jeongguk was selfish, and broken, and in refusal of fixing what was wrong with him. When it was of convenience, Jeongguk drew comparisons to the last girlfriend he tried to entertain. One who wronged him, and died when he tried to repair everything she had destroyed. Jeongguk carries that with him like the tattoos on his skin, a permanent memory, and something that often disturbs what could be and should be between the both of you.

Jeongguk is worthy of love, and capable of loving. On days where Jeongguk is free to lounge without the guilt of not working, you find it is so easy to love him. But, it can’t be that way. You couldn’t just tell him that. Telling him that you loved him would be inappropriately unconventional. Sometimes, saying “I love you” is inappropriate, and given your circumstances, you think it might send Jeongguk over the edge if he hears it again.

(1) Holding their hands when they are shaking.

Jeongguk is in his living room, his right leg bouncing like a spring as he cradles an infant glass of whiskey. His eyes are glazed, yet wide, staring at the Seoul city draped in darkness and neon, and without even looking inside, you know that his brain is spinning, thoughts chaotic and loud.

“Hey,” you call out to him, and his eyes stutter to the left to catch you in the doorway, “I heard you get up. What’s wrong?”

Jeongguk shakes his head gently. “Nothing, baby, go back to bed. I’ll be up in a minute.”

Jeongguk often makes comments without expectancies. You stand in the doorway that connects the living room to the long hall that stems into bedrooms and bathrooms, and watch him for a moment. His whole body vibrates like a speaker, his hands trembling as the glass drains and he reaches for a second, or a third, or maybe a tenth. You want to sigh, without being patronising, but you know that any sign of sympathy is mistaken for that whenever Jeongguk is around to make the judgement.

He looks back to the skyline and frowns, his attention panning from the window to his phone that buzzes blue, but he ignores. Stepping across the cool wooden floorboards, you approach him sleepily and take a seat next to him on the sofa. Neither of you move, but he recognises you’ve moved. He bristles slightly, like it was unexpected.

“You can take your time,” you suggest to him, and his hands ache in his lap as he sets the glass down on the coffee table with a careless thud. He scoffs, devoid of emotion, and dips his head so his chin is near his collarbones. In his lap, those hands shake. “Maybe don’t drink so much tonight.”

“I’m clearing my head,” he insists weakly. Those hands still shake.

Brows creased with a pinch, you swallow the unease and reach for his hands. Jeongguk doesn’t say anything as you do so, enveloping his hands in yours, and so suddenly the shaking ceases. Like trying to block the shakes from reaching his wrists, your hands keep his safe.

“I know,” you understand honestly, because you do know what he’s going through. “How about tea, or something? To calm down, calm down the mess that’s up in there.”

Your chin is on his shoulder, and he smiles softly. “Are you calling me messy?”

“Nah, I’m calling your brain messy,” you reply. “It’s a cruel fucking brain.”

“Hate my brain.”

“Today, we hate it.”

Jeongguk’s head turns slightly so that he can see you, and in his lap, his thumbs brush across your skin.

“Thank you,” Jeongguk says quietly, attempting a smile that doesn’t quite convince. It doesn’t necessarily have to, not tonight anyway. His phone continues to flash like a light show, Taehyung’s name in bold. “Fuck. I’ll take the call, and then I’ll come back to bed, okay?”

You nod, “Mm, okay. Want me to make a drink?”

“I don’t need it,” Jeongguk concludes. “Not today.”

(2) Tucking the sheets around them when they stir during the night.

Sometimes Jeongguk wakes up in the night due to nightmares, but tonight, it’s different.

Beside him, you stir uncomfortably and kick his leg for the fourth time. He huffs and looks over, trying to figure out if you’re awake and indignant, or lost in the dream. He settles on the latter when you strain out the name of your brother and his heart swoops with a dull ache.

“You’re just dreaming, baby, come on,” Jeongguk mutters quietly into your ear, holding you in place to calm the thrashing. “He’s not here anymore, I’m here. Y/N.”

It subsides after a few minutes, making it the longest you’ve gone on record. He looks into your sleepy, upset eyes as you break awake and brushes the hair out of your face. He tries to smile for you, and maybe you can’t see in the dark.

“I’ll get you some water,” Jeongguk suggests gently. “Hm? Sweet thing. It’s just a dream.” He says this into your hair in a hug, leaving a kiss on your temple as he breaks. “You’re fine.”

“I’m fine,” you breathe uneasily, and he separates to get a glass of water and returns to find you sleeping again. What relief Jeongguk might have is exhaled as he sets the glass on the bedside table, stroking your hair until he moves away with the sudden realisation that this is not a normal exchange.

Before Jeongguk decides to leave again, he makes sure the bed is made and that you are safe; he tucks the duvet in tightly and presses a kiss to your forehead before grabbing his coat by the front door and leaving your apartment, one tucked in the city so far that Jeongguk finds it a hassle to visit.

(3) Travelling long distances just to see them.

For three days now, you have been in Colmar, and Jeongguk is beginning to feel lonely. It had been his idea to send you away, when the heat on his long, long fued with a rival colleague threatened your safety. In return, you got a new apartment that Taehyung had found closer to Jeongguk’s own when your address got leaked, and Colmar could be considered a vacation if you pretended for long enough.

With tensions cool and the coast somewhat clear, Jeongguk picks the skin around his fingernails as a distraction before deciding that enough was enough. He missed you, and missed how you were always around for him when he needed you most. This is what drives him to jumping on a plane in his company’s name, and flying to France.

A small boat passes underneath the bridge you are standing on, and your hands dig into the barrier as you arch to smile at the tourists beneath. One catches a glimpse of your denim skirt and cherry print blouse in the sunshine and extends his hat with a wave, and you wave back. France is nothing like Seoul, and is indeed warm and fruitful and unique. The sun is hot, the sky is clear, and the streets are filled with an atmospheric buzz of friendliness, the smell of coffee and some food you don’t know yet entrapping your senses.

“Madame, je peux vous prendre en photo?”

Hearing the voice, you turn your body left and prepare to face the tourist, but instead you are welcomed with the sight of Jeongguk dressed in black, sunglasses sliding down his nose with a smile. He does hold a camera in his hands, although teasingly.

“Oui,” you quip, posing cutely and Jeongguk takes a photograph anyway, to humour the moment, to print when he gets back to Seoul. You join his laughter as he peers at the photograph and he walks without looking up towards you.

“When did you get here?” you ask him, a round of laughter from the little boat making you turn to stare at them with a giggle.

“Bout an hour ago,” Jeongguk replies, and he shuts off the camera and puts it in his coat pocket. It’s only a small camera, probably cost him a crumb to buy from a vintage store. He meets your eyes with a comfortable smile and rounds in, pressing your lower back against the bridge barrier and circling your arms around you. Carefully, then, he kisses you, tasting the suncream on your skin as his lips wander from yours to the skin around your face.

“Miss me?”

“Terribly,” Jeongguk responds. “I am so bored when you’re not around. You always have something to do, always have something to say.”

You hum in response. “I’m glad I’m of some entertainment for you.”

“Oh, for sure,” agrees Jeongguk. “I don’t think I’ve used my brain so often when I’m away from work as much as I do when I’m with you. Did you know that you’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met?”

“Wow,” you exclaim with a smile. “Hire me.”

“Ha!” he remarks, kissing you again and taking your hand in his. He moves, back in the way you came. “Over my dead body.”

(4) Making their favorite meal when they are having a hard day.

“You.”

“Not now, Y/N, I’m working,” Jeongguk replies non committedly. He fists his hair.

“Not up for discussion right now,” you huff, and he has the nerve to glare at you which only makes you uncomfortably angry. “You haven’t eaten in fourty eight hours, and I’m not about to be held responsible for your death when you die of hunger, so get your ass in the kitchen before I dump this food over your stupid head.”

He challenges you. “You’re brave talking to somebody who could destroy your life like that.”

“Do it, I literally have nothing to lose,” you answer. “Please eat something. I made it with love and care.”

Jeongguk relents, sighing at his paperwork but nonetheless moving away from his home office and following you like a child towards the direction of the kitchen. He feels bad, you know he feels bad, and he circles his arms around your body as you walk, stumbling into the space of the kitchen and smelling the familiar aroma of pork rice stew. Alas, he sees the bowl steaming in his spot at the table and his eyes follow you as you hum and set start to washing the dishes.

“Y/N-”

“No words, just eating,” you instruct. “Bone apple tit.”

He grins, then, and takes a seat. “You know that��s not the phrase, right?”

“Tell that to Twitter,” you sigh.

(5) Giving them a kiss before going to work and they are still in bed.

Jeongguk prefers to see you when he doesn’t have work the next day, because leaving when you’re asleep is an asshole move in any dictionary. So, when one of his men phones him at four in the morning and relays the horror that someone’s died on his property, Jeongguk has to fight the demons that almost convince him to hand the job over to somebody who gives a fuck about the intruder stuck on his barbed fence.

He gets up, anyway.

Next to him, in the bed that belongs to you because this is your new apartment, Jeongguk stares down at you and feels a tug in his stomach. Guilt, it follows him everywhere like a ghost.

Before he leaves, he likes to give you a little kiss for the morning, so the tingling sensation reminds you that despite being an asshole and leaving without properly saying goodbye, he still gives several shits about you, and will be back when he can be.

(6) Tucking your head into their neck during a hug.

Jeongguk wants to hang Taehyung for making him remember the reasons why you had to move across the city to a new apartment.

It had, of course, been Jeongguk’s fault, and when the notification came from an exhausted worker in his line of work that the alarm system in your apartment had been triggered for an intruder, Jeongguk remembers all he saw was red.

The front door was forced open, a body indent in the wood and the front porch ransacked and littered with shards of glass and bullets. Inside was no prettier, with mess scattered everywhere and photos smashed on the floors. The carpets were stained with red that Jeongguk prayed was just wine, the glass coffee table in two pieces and a knife covered in red on the floor. Jeongguk and his men, along with the few police officers Jeongguk could actually trust in this god-forsaken hellhole, noticed that the blood belonged to one of the intruders who lay dead on the stairs.

Nobody knows how Jeongguk got through the apartment so fast, and why, without any hesitation, he murdered the remaining intruders without suggesting questioning and torture. That was his go-to when it rarely concerned you. He wanted those stupid enough to even try and go after you to really fucking regret it as he picked off fingernails and made them suffer for hours or days. This time he just killed, and moved onwards, calling your name like a mantra.

Jeongguk could have cried when you emerged, petrified, from inside one of the closets. Upon seeing you, Jeongguk collapsed his gun on the floor and stepped towards you protectively, pulling you in tightly for a hug. Sobbing into his neck, you hugged him tighter, feeling finally safe when his hand held the back of your head, like you were a precious thing that was of value.

You were of the highest value to Jeongguk.

“Fuck you,” Jeongguk barks suddenly, and Taehyung shrugs and exits the office. All he had asked was if he loved you.

(7) Lightly kissing on top of a freshly formed bruise.

There might be the assumption that Jeongguk comes home with more bruises than you do. Which is true, technically, and there’s no hesitation from your end in nursing them to a comfortable recovery.

On rare occasion, Jeongguk comes home and finds you exhibiting a new purple blob on your skin. Like today.

Jeongguk hasn’t seen you in two days, and when he lets himself into your apartment with the key he has glued to him at all times, he follows the silence and light to the bathroom. You sit on the edge of your bathtub, gently rubbing cream on your knee in little circles.

“What happened here?” he asks quickly, and you continue rubbing with your tongue poking out between your lips.

“You’ll laugh, don’t ask,” you mutter.

“Hey, I won’t laugh,” Jeongguk says. He rests his weight against the doorframe, “You open the front door the wrong way again?”

Ha! You laugh humourlessly. “Worse!” You look up at him sadly, “I tripped in the parking lot carrying my groceries. It’s on camera and everything, I want to die.”

Jeongguk pokes the inside of his mouth to resist laughing. “Well, fuck. That’s your leg ruined.”

“I know,” you pout. “Good thing you’re my sugar daddy- wanna pay for cosmetic leg surgery?”

“I like your bruised up legs,” says Jeongguk.

“Me too, but not these ones.”

“Bruh, that’s enough cream on your skin,” Jeongguk exclaims, moving forward to snatch the cream from your hands. “More is not better. Come on, you’re okay.”

“It hurts.”

“Boohoo,” he sighs. You don’t move. “Ugh, whatever. Come’re.”

Jeongguk drops the cream tube onto the sink but it clatters into the bowl. He’ll move it later if he remembers to, and he pretends it’s hard to pick you up off the bathtub and carries you swiftly out of the bathroom and into the living room. Things have barely moved since he last came to visit; the swarms of paper still invade your coffee table and your laptop is on sleep mode by a half-empty coffee cup filled with hot chocolate, because he knows your standing on coffee. Everything is a lot messier now that you’ve decided you want to go back to school, but at least Jeongguk knows it keeps you busy when he’s away.

“Oh,” he says suddenly, as you’re sat down with one leg up around him still. He pokes at a spot on your leg and you squirm, “there’s another one.”

You peer to look, “Oh, yeah, that one’s you.”

“Oh.” He pauses, “Pretty, though.”

You huff like a little baby and he dares you with raised eyebrows. That keeps you silent and Jeongguk moves his body at an angle to the right, sweeping to kiss the bruise better, the bruise that he made a few nights ago with tender love and care.

“All better,” he assures.

“It feels better already.”

“Mm. Magic.”

(8) Buying them something unrequested because it made you think of them.

“So, I was at a school fayre today.”

“Really?” Jeongguk sits with his laptop on his legs, and your legs are tangled around his body like some sort of jungle maze. He rarely works on his bed, not unless the work is sudden and he can’t help it. You’ve just come in, dived on the bed and claimed his waist as something to squeeze your legs around.

“Yep. Like, one of those little craft things where students sell their shit and make money from it. You know, supporting local artists! It’s really cute, if I was good at something I’d have participated.”

Jeongguk thinks of things you’re good at, and there’s a lot. “Aw. There’s always next year.”

“Yeah,” you reason. “Anyway- point is, is that I got you something.”

Jeongguk stills for a second, glancing over his right shoulder to see you, “Me?”

“Yep. You.”

“What did you get?” he asks, and then he’s back to checking blueprints.

You untangle your legs and slide off the bed, retreating to your bag slung across the room by the bedroom door. From here, you take out a small little pin-badge and when you’re sat next to Jeongguk again, you fiddle with it until it catches his attention.

“What’s this?” asks Jeongguk.

“It’s a badge of honour,” you claim, and you slip it into his palms. He fingers the front when he examines it, reading the little words of “Number One Dad” and he stares up at you. “Like it?”

“It’s for me?” he asks again.

“Yeah. You can wear it and like, I don’t know, think of me,” you shrug.

Jeongguk thinks for a moment. Even though it’s stupid, and cliche and a little bit embarrassing, he still thinks it’s funny and thoughtful.

“Want me to wear it to work?” he asks you.

“Oh, absolutely,” you encourage. “I’ll get Taehyung an uncle badge if he gets pissy.”

“Hey, you’re mine and he’s not allowed a relationship to you, no matter what definition,” Jeongguk pouts. “He wants a sugar niece, well...he’ll have to look somewhere else.”

You gape. “Wow. Who thought you had it in you to be so possessive.”

“Please, with a pussy like that of course I’m possessive,” he teases. He’s joking.

“My power,” you sigh anyway, and jump off the bed claiming that you’re hungry. Jeongguk looks at the badge again and pops it in his breast pocket before he loses it and regrets it.

(9) Participating in their hobby even if it doesn’t personally interest you.

Jeongguk’s bored out of his brain.

He has no idea how you can be so fascinated by this stupid game where you’re essentially in debt, but he still sits and watches you tour him around this weird island that is inhabited by ducks and an ugly gorilla villager dressed in pink. And to think that he had a part to play in all of this, because his bank account definitely helped pay for this Nintendo Switch and game.

“Do you like my beach?” you ask him. It’s literally just sand and one coconut tree, and a few shells by the water. Oh, there’s a beach chair on there too, but it makes little difference. “I’m poor, I can’t afford furniture yet.”

“Can’t you just make it?”

“I can, but I’m sick of making axes to collect wood,” you explain with a grudge against the fact that tools now break in this Animal Crossing game. Jeongguk hums like he’s invested, and he tries to be, because he cares about you too much to unintentionally hurt your feelings by displaying his crippling disinterest.

“Oh. Makes sense.”

“Can I show you my hybrid flower garden?”

He sighs. “Yeah, you wanted to show me all of your island, right?”

You nod enthusiastically. “Once you’ve had a tour, I can make you a profile and you can play too. You can live next door to me!”

“Why can’t we share a house?” Jeongguk presses.

“Because I don’t think it works like that, babe,” you confess. “Anyway. Here’s my garden.”

(10) Sitting in comfortable silence while eating a meal.

He’s tired. You’re tired.

The radio plays quietly updating Seoul on the fires that spread across the city today, and Jeongguk smells like smoke and salt. He keeps his head down as he eats his meal, something he brought home with him to make up for the fact that he’s been absent for almost a week now. You have so many things to say and he has so many things he needs to say to make up for everything, but nothing is said tonight.

You know he’s having a hard time, because Jeongguk’s been smoking again. He smoked on the balcony earlier, and once again in the bedroom. There are now ashtrays around your own apartment, and you don’t even smoke. Jeongguk takes a drink of bourbon and swallows it dry.

You look up at him from across the table, not wanting to press the issue when you know it’ll end in an argument, and then sex to make up for it. You’re both too tired to fuck today, too tired to speak. Just being in each other's company is enough for tonight. The only words he says are goodnight and something you don’t catch as you’re drifting off to sleep. Jeongguk’s awake all night, the fires burn until early hours, and the smoke smell is still there in the morning even when he isn’t.

#im sick of myself and my brain making new fics instead of finishing current ones #oh well #jungkook scenario #bts scenario #jeongguk scenario #jungkook x reader #bts #bangtan #bts imagine #jungkook imagine #bts jungkook imagine #jeongguk x reader #jeon jeongguk #jeon jungkook #jjk #bts mafia au #sugar daddy au #wordless

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heathsbitch · 4 years ago

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Treat You Better ➳ PEAKY BLINDERS

xxviii. BROKEN PROMISES

Ivy and Michael were given clear instructions, "Wait in the car, but don't let me get killed." They waited in an empty warehouse, the giant grey walls loomed over the car. Another car approached from the opposite end. Tommo took a deep breath before getting out, leaving Ivy and Michael alone in the backseat. Through the front window, Ivy could see her father and an associate of his climb out of the other car that had entered the building.

Tommy and Alfie's voices were muffled, Ivy couldn't make out what they were saying exactly but she would be able to tell if things got aggressive. "Is Tommy sending you back to Alfie?" Michael questioned as he too looked on at the scene in front of them. "He would've said something if he was. Besides, I work for him, not my father and I'm 18, it's my choice who I live with."

"But he still sent you back last week." Ivy sighed, trying to keep her concentration on her father and Mickey's cousin. "That was for business. He can't send me back permanently." The girl thought about the choice she'd made. She'd have both of them. But she knew things wouldn't be easy. That was obvious by the confrontation in front of her.

Both men had started shouting at each other, and Tommy had pulled a gun. 'Didn't take long.' Ivy thought to herself. Without a second thought, Mickey had lept out of the car, his own gun in his hand. The girl had tried to grab his hand to stop him, they needed to be careful, but it was too late. He'd already got to the group and shot Alfie's associate. "Shit." Ivy breathed out. The realisation sunk in, that was Michael's first kill. And judging by the look on his face it would certainly not be the last. Rage was clear upon his face, droplets of blood scattered across the smooth skin. Tommo's face mirrored his, blood and all.

But Ivy didn't have long to process the scene, Tom had his gun pressed against Alfie's cheek. She followed in Michael's footsteps, rushing out of the car with her gun in her hand. She knew she wouldn't be heard if she shouted, Tom and her father were too loud with their own shouts so she fired her gun in the air. The sound reverberated through the whole building and the men jumped away from each other. The girl ran to her father, pushing him away from the Shelby man. Michael did the same with Tommy, "Tommy, I know this bastard deserves it. I know this bastard deserves it! I fucking know! But if you kill him now, the truce with the London outfits will be blown to fucking pieces, alright?" Mickey shouted at Tom, both men staring daggers into each others eyes.

"Fuck the truce, Tommo!" Ivy spat pulling away from her father but still made sure she was in front of him. "You kill him, you lose me! And you do not want that." It was a bold statement, she just hoped Michael would back her up. Alfie moved passed his daughter, completely dismissing her words and speaking straight to Michael, "Don't worry about that truce, kid, right, cause it fell apart. You got nothing to worry about when it comes to the old scary London boys." The girl's father taunted. She tried to push him back again. "Which fucking side are you on, Alfie?" Michael's shouted, his voice echoing through the whole building. Fear pooled in Ivy's stomach, she didn't know he could shout like that, and she was unsure of whether or not Tommo would actually kill Alfie. Michael was right, in a sense; he did deserve it to some degree but he was still her father. She'd forgiven him for what he'd done, so surely Tom could do the same.

"I do not give a fuck right now, kid, right? I do not want him to spare me because of some fucking peace pact! I want him to acknowledge that his anger is un-fucking-justified! I want him to acknowledge that he who fights by the sword, he fucking dies by it, Tommy. So, what they took your boy, did they, yeah? They got your boy? And what fucking line am I supposed to have crossed? How many fathers, right, how many sons, yeah, have you cut, killed, murdered, fucking butchered, innocent and guilty, to send straight to fucking hell, ain’t ya? Just like me! You fucking stand there, you judging me, stand there and talk to me about crossing some fucking line. If you pull that trigger, right, you pull that trigger for a fucking honourable reason. Like an honourable man, not like some fucking civilian that does not understand the wicked way of our world, mate." Alfie roared at the group, pacing around the building before landing in front of Tom, his face almost pressed against the man's.

"Enough!" Ivy screamed, wanting to put an end to the argument. "Listen, we’ve all done bad things, things we regret, things that will stain our hands forever. But the fact is, they’re in the past. This, this is the present. Dad, he’s lost his kid. Remember how you felt when you lost Joe, remember how you felt when you lost me. You got both of us back. But if we don’t work together, if you don’t work with Tom, then he’ll never get Charlie back. And I can’t let that happen." Her eyes darted between Tom and Alfie, she now stood between them in the hopes they wouldn't try anything with her stood there. She briefly glanced at Michael, hoping he would help her, and he did, "Look, Tommy, she's right and the killing of Alfie Solomons is not going to solve any problems. You need Ivy, you might not want to admit it but we fucking need her."

Silence blanketed the group, the men thought over the words that were said. Alfie grunted and began pacing again. Tommy looked at Ivy before sighing and turning to Michael, his face free of expression. "Michael, go and call Inspector Moss. Tell him it's Palmer," Mickey briefly looked at the girl before he walked away. His eyes burned through the corpse that lay on the floor, an unknown emotion brewing in his head. Ivy's heart pounded in her chest, too many emotions, too many thoughts were pushing through her brain. She wanted to make sure Mickey was alright, she wanted to make sure Tom and Alfie didn't murder each other and ruin the bond they all had in the process.

The Shelby man turned back to the Solomons girl, "Ivy. Choose."

"What?" She breathed out, confused by his words. "Me or Alfie. Choose." Ivy paused and thought over her words, she already knew her decision. "This isn't about me!" She complained, shaking her head slightly to calm herself down. "Tommo, Alfie's my father. But you're my family too. All of the Shelbys are. That’s why I choose both," She spun to face her father, "I promise I’ll come and see you more often, I’ll even bring Joe," A smile twitched upon the man's lips before his angry facade resumed. Ivy looked towards Tom once more, "I’ll work for you still, but if I say no to a job it is non-fucking-negotiable." Her words were firm, Tom had finally got the message.

"Well said, Ivy. Well said. You'll be the death of me someday, you Solomons'," Tommo sighed, taking a pause. His words were soft when he next spoke, "I'll think about what you said. Get in the car and make sure Michael hasn't done something stupid." Ivy breathed out a small laugh then spun to face her father, "Bye." She said meekly before walking back to the car. "I expect to be seeing you soon, muffin." Her father called out to her, "Of course." She replied before getting into the car, leaving Tom and Alfie to talk alone once more, but she still kept a keen eye on the pair.

After a brief stop for Mickey so he could call Moss and a private conversation with him and Tommy, the girl and her boss were carted off to Charlie's yard . Today was the day that Michael would kill Hughes, and Ivy knew there was nothing anybody could do to stop him. The man was silent, his expression barely changed, tears occasionally brewed in his eyes but were quickly dismissed. The girl wanted to talk to him, make sure he was okay, but she didn't know what to say. So she said nothing, in fear that if she said anything, she'd make him worse. She knew all too well how unpredictable Mickey could be.

John, Arthur, and two men Ivy wasn't familiar with all waited in Charlie's yard. Michael was the first to speak, much to Ivy's surprise, "I was, um...This morning I was out on the road with Tommy and Ivy. I killed a man," He confessed to the men. Shock was ridden across Arthur's face, John was filled with partial curiosity. "He needed cover. We were all he had." Arthur stood up and approached the pair, his eyes fixed on Michael. "What did he give you?" Michael reached into the front of his trousers to pull out a revolver. 'That's must be what Tommo and him were talking about earlier.' Ivy said to herself. The man stared at the gun in his hands, tears forming once more. But this time he let them fall. Ivy placed a singular hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly, sometimes actions worked better than words. "He said it's good for close range."

"You're better with my Smith & Wesson." Arthur declared, looking at the gun. Mickey shook his head, taking a brief look at Ivy before speaking, "No, no, this is mine now. Feels part of my hand." Darkness started to spread across the yard, the sun was beginning to set. John approached the trio, "Where'd you hit him?" He questioned Michael. The girl's boss lifted a hand up to brush away the tear that had fallen from his eye before he spoke, "I hit him in the side of the head." Arthur nodded and turned to the girl, "How was he went he went down?" He asked in reference to Mickey. The girl remembered watching the scene play out from her position in Tommo's car, "Didn't even flinch." She spoke. It was definite now that the darkness that once loomed deep within Michael was taking a hold on him, possibly even controlling him. He now had a taste for blood, and he didn't want to stop anytime soon.

The Shelby brothers pondered the girl's words for a moment, exchanging a few glances before John pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Michael, "This is where we think Charles is being held." The men spoke only to Michael, confusion rang through the girl. Tommo said she could help too. "They're not expecting nobody, so you should be alone. There's two good men there," Arthur pointed to the two men Ivy didn't recognise. She took her hand off of Mickey's shoulder. "You do what they say."

"But I fire the bullet, alright?" Anger rose in Michael once more. "Yes, you can be there. But it's better if they do it. See, these are experienced men, Michael." Ivy decided now was her time to speak up, "Tommo said I can go too," Another look was passed between Arthur and John, they knew she'd grown more sensitive to these types of jobs in recent times. They didn't want to see her get hurt. But Ivy wanted to make sure that didn't happen to Mickey either. "I'm experienced too. You know you can trust me." John shook his head slightly and Arthur sighed but eventually said, "Alright, but you stay together. When you're sure the kid's safe, you call Finn." Michael and Ivy nodded, accepting their instructions, "Alright, come on." Michael called to the men, eventually leaving the yard. John, Arthur, and Ivy exchanged another round of looks before the girl followed in Mickey's footsteps.

"I don't want you getting hurt." Michael said in a hushed voice to Ivy. They were in the back of a car, waiting for the right moment to burst into the building that John had told them about to save Charles. "You're more likely to get hurt than I am. You know I can handle myself." Ivy quipped, her hand resting on his thigh. He sighed and closed his eyes, he drew his gun. His blue eyes opened once more, taking a glance at Ivy and nodding at her. The time was now. He turned to the men in the front seat, his voice firm and dominating, "You two wait here. I'll do the killing. That's a fucking order." He hissed. The men put up no debate, allowing the Solomons girl and her boss to climb out of the car and enter the building. They rounded a few corners before stopping at the threshold to the main room. This was where Charlie was being held. Every other moment, his cries could be heard, along with the voice of the priest.

"Wait here. Cover me." Michael whispered before entering the room with his gun raised. She followed orders, not wanting to disobey him. Ivy watched from the shadows, her own gun in hand, her knives in her boots just in case she needed more firepower. "What do you think you're doing, boy?" She heard Hughes, the dirty fucking priest, say. Ivy peaked around the corner to be met with the sight of Michael pushing the gun into Hughes' eye, "Don't shoot. Please don't shoot." He begged. But Ivy didn't buy his act, something wasn't right. But Michael hesitated, allowing Hughes to get the better of him and smack the gun from Mickey's hand.

Ivy's inhibitions flew out of the window as she rushed over to Michael, kicking Hughes in the stomach. He lurched over and stumbled a few times, his breathing ragged. Mickey regained control as he approached the man, his fist coming to meet the priest's chin multiple times. But his actions were predictable and Hughes caught his fist, twisting it and pushing him away. Ivy pulled a knife from her boot and started to slash at Hughes. He dodged her first few attempts but as he reached for her throat, she nicked his thigh. He cried out in pain but still managed to grip onto the girl's throat, choking her, rendering her almost useless.

The men from the car burst through the doors of the building, guns pointed at Hughes, "I'll take him!" One of them shouted. "No," Michael whimpered from the floor, trying to push himself from it, "The bastard's mine, go call Finn." They rushed out of the room without another word.

Michael approached from behind, kicking the man, causing him to let go of the girl. Grunts echoed across the room, deep heaves came from Ivy as she tried to regain her breath. She watched as the priest pushed Michael to the floor and started choking him.

"No." She cried out. Ivy tried to move as fast as she could. Her legs were shaking underneath her but she tackled the priest. They tumbled with each other, but Hughes landed on top, his target becoming Ivy again. "Filthy slut." He hissed as his fist came down against her face, her bottom lip splitting from the impact. His hands came back to her throat, choking her once more. Her breath left her as she clawed at the priest, trying to get him off of her. He removed one of his hands from her throat so he could punch her again.

But his actions were cut short.

A squelching sound, spurts of hot bloom followed. The priest fell from his position on Ivy and to the floor, clutching at his own throat. Michael stood above the girl, her knife in his hand, blood splattered across his face. His breaths were heavy and deep, as were Ivy's. He collapsed to his knees, dropping the knife in the process. The girl sat up and slowly crawled over to him, tears falling from her eyes.

Ivy hugged Michael, her body was racked with sobs but he was just shaking from the adrenaline. Every part of him, his chest heaved and his hands were quivering. Carefully he brought them up to her waist and squeezed. A whimper left his throat and he quickly buried his head in the crook of the girl's neck. "You did so well, you did so well. It's alright." She whispered in his ear, placing soft kisses to his head.

They pulled away from the hug as a small silver spoon clattered to the floor next to their feet. Their heads turned to be met with Charlie who was sat in the doorway to a small room. Another sob left Ivy as Michael approached the kid, taking him into his arms as carefully as he could.

The car journey back to Tommy's house was completely silent. Ivy and Michael had tried to wipe as much blood off of their faces as they could with a cloth but stains still remained on their faces. Charles was sat on Ivy's lap, he was asleep before they'd even set off, the whole ordeal must've been exhausting and understandably so. Somewhere along the journey, the girl had taken one hand off of Charles to hold on to one of Mickey's. Every couple of minutes, he would glance over at Ivy and squeeze her hand to check that she was alright.

As they walked into Tommo's house, they were immediately met with Ada and Polly, their faces overrun with happiness. Ada immediately took Charles into her arms and Polly approached the pair. She placed her left hand on Ivy's cheek, her right one on Michael. She knew something had changed in them, between them. Pol's hands slipped from them as tears fell from Ivy's eyes again. She wasn't sad, she was just overwhelmed from everything. The woman engulfed the girl in a warm hug. They pulled away in time to see Michael turn away from them and walk to the door. "Mickey?" Ivy called out to him. "Charlotte." He muttered as he took a brief look at the girl before leaving the house. Ivy and Polly traded a look before turning back to Ada and Charles.

Ada left the room shortly after so she could put Charles to bed. Polly turned to the girl, "Tommy's called a meeting for tomorrow. He wants everyone to be there." Ivy nodded, sighing slightly, "Alright," Polly rubbed her shoulder lightly as they walked into Tom's living room and sat on one of the sofas.

"I should get some sleep, it’s been a long day." Ivy told the women once Ada had returned. "Stay with us Ivy, just for one drink. You can relax now." Polly encouraged the girl and eventually she agreed. "Actually, can I make a call first? I promise I’ll come back." Ada and Polly raised an eyebrow at each other but allowed her to make the call. Ivy wanted to call Finn, to make sure his job went well and he wasn’t hurt. She walked into the hallway where one of Tom’s many telephones were. She told the operator who she wanted to speak to and waited for him to pick up. It didn’t take long.

"Finn, are you okay?" Ivy’s words were rushed, eager to see if his job went well. "Yeah, I'm alright. Job went well, how did yours go? Michael give you any trouble?" She could almost feel the heat from Finn’s anger through the phone when the last sentence slipped from his lips. “I’m a little banged up, but I’m okay.” She decided to ignore the part about Michael, not wanting to speak about him with Finn for the time being. “That’s good, that’s good,” His last words were whispered, a long pause soon followed. “Doll, what’s going on with you and Michael? I’ve seen the way he looks at you, the way you look at him. The way you act around each other and talk to each other. It’s clear you’re not just friends.” Ivy was lost for words. This was a conversation to be had in person, not over the phone. It was too personal, too important. “Finn, we should talk about this tomorrow, before Tom’ mee-”

“Don’t you love me, Ivy?” His voice broke as he spoke. Pain shot through Ivy’s heart. She wanted nothing more than to hug the boy, to comfort him, to run her fingers through his hair and tell him everything’s going to be alright. “I do, Finn. It’s just...complicated. I’ll explain more tomorrow. I promise.” Only Finn’s heavy breaths were heard over the phone. “Fine.” He finally spoke. “Goodnight, Finn.” Ivy told the boy but he’d already hung up the phone. She sighed, tomorrow would be difficult.

Ivy spent the night drinking with Ada and Polly, wanting to forget about the conversation she would have to have with Finn the next day. She dreaded it and the day came all-too fast. Before long, everyone was piled into Tommo’s office. Arthur, Linda, John, Esme, Polly, Ada, Michael, Ivy, Finn, Isaiah, Johnny Dogs, Curly, Charlie, and Lizzie all waited in the office for Tom’s meeting. Both Michael and Finn had started to make their way over to Ivy, but Mickey had gotten there first, stopping Finn in his tracks.

"I ended it." His voice was quiet, he didn't want anyone else to hear. Ivy's eyes weren't focused on Michael though, she watched as the auburn haired boy rolled his eyes before moving to talk to Isaiah. The girl wanted to push past Michael to explain things in full to the teen but she couldn't. "What?" She questioned, turning back to the man in front of her. "Charlotte. She got rid of the baby, we're not together anymore."

"How do you feel about that?" Ivy asked, not wanting to offend him in her reaction. She was glad for him, she never liked Charlotte anyway. He was better off without her. "Relieved." He breathed out. Ivy pulled him in for a short hug anyway, still wanting to provide some comfort. She knew how tough the whole ordeal had been for him. But before she could say anything else, Tommo had entered the room, stacks of cash in his hands. Everyone began to take their seats and Tom layed the cash in separate piles on his desk. Ivy tried to move to sit next to Finn but the seats were taken before she could get there, the only spare one was between Ada and Michael. She sighed once more, hoping the meeting would go fast so she could explain things to Finn. The girl had gone from dreading her talk with the boy to hoping it would come sooner. Maybe things would be better, easier for them once he knew everything? But what would she even say to him?

Tommy sat down at his desk, his arms spread and placed upon it's surface. "Before I begin," He spoke, "I want to let you know I made a mistake," Polly shot a look at the man as he stood from his chair, "I made a mistake and I want to apologise to all of you," He turned to his eldest brother, "Arthur, you warned me against getting involved in Russian business. And you were right." The man hummed in agreement, choosing not to speak. "I doubted your wife. For that I'm sorry. Linda, I've added £3,000 here in the hope that you'll forgive me." Tommo reached forward and took one of the stacks of cash and threw it closer to Arthur and Linda. The woman took a glance at the money before standing up and approaching the desk. "Apology accepted." She took the money and returned to her seat.

Tommy took another deep breath before continuing to hand out the money, "Esme, I doubted you as well." Esme was not as easily pleased with the money as Linda was, "Now John's got innocent lives on his conscience. Ordinary working men..." Her words were cut off by John himself trying to shush her. "No, she's right," Tommy defended her. "And you and Arthur are gonna have to share that burden. But I hope the house that you can buy with this can become a place of contemplation. Perhaps redemption," It was John's turn to come up to the table and take his money.

Tommo turned to Charlie next, "Charlie, for lost tools, dangerous goods and Curly's wise words. Johnny, for board and lodgings," He threw the cash at the men. He then turned to Lizzie, "Lizzie," But before more words left his mouth, she'd pushed the money back towards him. Tom raised an eyebrow but continued nonetheless. It was Ivy's turn next. "Ivy, the Duchess, Tatiana, sends her regards, she said in reference to you, 'Her eyes will open before long. She'll find out what she really wants, what she's really missing out on.' That mean anything to you?" Ivy shook her head, what the fuck did that mean? She hadn't even spoken to the woman before, although she had seemed to have taken an interest in the girl for some reason. Tommo pushed a stack of cash towards her. From the corner of her eye, she could see Polly shake her head and roll her eyes. She clearly didn't agree with it.

Tom continued anyway, again. "£3,000 for helping Michael with Hughes and an added £5,000 for all the trouble with Alfie. I shouldn't have forced you against him," The girl stayed silent as she stood up and accepted her money. "Michael," Polly tutted once more, "For the killings, £5,000 for the cutting and £5,000 for the shooting." Polly lept from her chair and pushed the money away, her eyes burning into Tommy's. Ivy and Michael took a quick glance towards each other, mildly fearing what was about to come. Another lecture presumably. "No, Tommy."

"What? Tell me, eh! This is who I am! And this is all I can give you for what you’ve given me. Your hearts and your souls. Yesterday I nearly lost my son. You should fucking understand that. For what, eh? For what? For this? For this?" His arms gestured to the money that lay in front of him and his house. He scoffed before speaking again, "And I know you all want me to say that I’ll change. That this fucking business will change. But I’ve learnt something in the last few days. Those bastards, those bastards are worse than us!" He pointed to the window, anger fueling him further. "Politicians, fucking Judges, Lords and Ladies. They are worse than us. And they will never admit us to their palaces no matter how legitimate we become. Because of who we are. Because of who we fucking are, because of where we’re fucking from. Isn’t that right, Ada? Our Ada knows,"

Ivy looked towards the woman sat next to her. She crossed her arms and shook her head lightly. She was on the same page as Polly. "She got smart about the revolution. And she knows you have to get what you want your own way. Lizzie, I want it known that money was for you because some nights it was you who stopped my heart from breaking. No one else," Lizzie took a sharp intake of breath, trying to avoid eye contact with everyone else in the room. "And the rest of you, you took the King’s shilling. You took the King’s fucking shilling. When you take the King’s shilling, the King expects you to kill. Right, Arthur?"

Arthur was quiet with his words, "Yeah." He muttered. "That’s how it works. Right, John? Right, Ivy?" Both John and Ivy stayed silent, shame filling them both. The girl cast her eyes to the floor. Michael stood from his chair beside her and towards the desk, "That's right." He spat at his mum before returning to his chair. "That's right, Pol. That's fucking right." Tommo pointed at his aunt. She shook her head yet again, tears in her brown eyes. "Tommy, you've had a bad time. We understand. So at an alternative time..." She walked over to Michael and Ivy and snatched the money from their hands. Another glance was passed between them. "When we have all recovered, I would like to put before the family an alternative view of the future of the Shelby Company Limited. A more hopeful view."

"Which I, for one, would quite like to hear." Ada spoke up, Esme and Lizzie soon agreeing afterwards. Linda stood from her chair once more but placed her hands on Arthur's shoulders, "Come on, Arthur. The train for the dock leaves in one hour. Then we get the boat to New York and it'll all be in the past." Arthur and Tommy kept eye contact as Polly walked over to her nephew and hugged him. This was the first Ivy was hearing of the trip but it didn't surprise her. Linda was constantly trying to pry him from his family. Everyone in the room rose from their seats as Tommy sat back down in his. John patted Arthur on the back, a punch soon following from him. Ivy moved to give Arthur a hug, she squeezed him extra tight before she pulled away. She truly would miss him. He was family to her now, after all.

"I'll be off then, Tom. I'll see you, eh? I'll see you brother." Arthur began to leave the room, Linda close behind but they didn't get far before Tom spoke up again, "You can go but you won't get far, Arthur," He stopped in his tracks and turned to face his brother again. "I spoke to Moss last night. He told me that the Chief Constable of Birmingham has issued a warrant for your arrest. Murder, sedition conspiracy to cause explosion. John, they’re coming for you as well. Murder, conspiracy to cause explosion,"

Panic ensued across the room.

Arthur approached Tommy, anger filled in his veins. "Ivy, Michael," The girl's heart dropped, her hand immediately shooting to grab Mickey's. "For the murder of Hughes. Polly..." Fear, regret, anger, worry all pounded through Ivy's head. Tears spilled down her cheeks as nausea filled in her stomach. Her breaths became deep and heavy. Mickey turned to the girl, his hands on her shoulders. But he couldn't find the words to say.

"Polly, for the murder of Chief Inspector Chester Campbell," He continued to list off sentences as everyone started to scream and shout at each other. They struggled to believe what was actually happening. Finn ran to the girl, taking her in his arms, unsure of what else to do. Tears fell from his eyes also. "The people that we betrayed last night, they want to bring us down. They control the police,"

A knock at the door.

"They control the judges, they control the juries, they control the jails,"

A police whistle rang through the house. It was happening.

"But they do not control the elected government..." Tommo's words were drowned out by the panic taking over Ivy's mind and body. 'This can't be happening, this can't be happening.'

Everyone began to file out of the room. Shouts and screams becoming more frequent by the second. The police were in the house. Michael grabbed Ivy's hand, her hand shot out to Finn's. They all ran into the foyer of the house. Maybe they could make it out...

Police swamped the room, there was no hope. A policeman immediately came to the group, a baton raised above his head. He swung but Michael dodged it. Their hands disconnected. Ivy kicked the man but another police officer grabbed her. She was held to the floor, her cheek pressed against the cold marble as she was restrained, forced to watch the people she loved get arrested and beaten.

She was pulled to her feet. The coppers had caught everyone. Two vans were waiting outside. Ivy thrashed and fought as much as she could, but it was to no use. "Ivy!" Michael shouted as he was hit by one of the policemen before being shoved into one of the vans. "Michael!" She cried out, her throat becoming raw from the shouting. The girl was thrusted into a van. Her head was cloudy, her thoughts were cloudy, her vision was cloudy.

It was all too much, darkness consumed the girl, the void took over. The last thing she remembered was one thought...

'I'm going to fucking kill Thomas Shelby.'

xxix. NEW BEGINNINGS

MASTERLIST

TAG LIST:

@lemur46

#finn shelby #harry kirton #finn cole #michael gray #smut #fluff #angst #peaky blinders #alfie solomons #tommy shelby #treat you better

24 notes · View notes

rillabrooke · 4 years ago

Note

OC Asks: 1, 9, 15, 19, 25, 46, and 92 for Danny, Carolina, Caleb, and Anna (sorry I picked so many lol)!

Oooooh *cracks knuckles* let's do this thing (I put it under the cut if you want to skip it - it's a long one :D)

1. How do they present themselves to others?

♤ Carolina likes to look cheerful - she wears a lot of pastels and pinks - so she usually is very smiley and congenial. However, after you're around her for a while, she drops the act and becomes Sarcastic Carole.

♧ Danny is naturally gregarious, and he doesn't try to hide it. He'll walk up to a perfect stranger as if he's their long-lost friend. He also likes to play a game called "Let's Pretend I'm Perfectly Normal, And If Anyone Questions My Missing Arm, I Will Look At Them Like They've Lost Their Mind". So conversations usually go:

So what happened to your arm?

What about my arm?

You don't have one...?

I don't have an... omIGOSH I'M MISSING AN ARM. WHO TOOK MY ARM??

◇ When Caleb Met Carole is a prime example of how Caleb acts around others. He's rather shy and withdrawn around most people, but he a talkative doofus around family and close friends.

♡ Since Anna has a public image to uphold, she plays the role of sweet, innocent, beautiful, charming, demure maiden. She only acts 'naturally' in private.

9. Why is their name, their name?

♤ I have absolutely no idea how I picked Carolina Marbury. It just magically came to me. *confetti*

♧ Danny Kessler was originally Danny Kessinger, but I had to change that for... reasons. (I have a name curse lol) I dunno how I picked "Danny", but I chose "Kessler" cuz my dad suggested as an alternative to Kessinger.

◇ For Caleb, I needed a name that started with C and sounded good with Kessler. Originally, his name was Carson, but I have a classmate named Carson and it just felt weird.

♡ Pretty self-explanatory: Anne of Cleves -> Anna Cleves. I wanted her to have a last name.

15. Can you name five personality traits they have?

♤ Carolina - impatient, dedicated, hardworking, sarcastic, unstable

♧ Danny - outgoing, selfless, introspective, stubborn, charismatic

◇ Caleb - goofy, patient, unperturbed, charming, romantic

♡ Anna - hot-headed, manipulative, intelligent, cautious, posh (I'm really selling her, aren't I lol)

19. How do they influence the story?

♤ Carolina's road to fame is the main storyline, and most of the story is told through her perspective.

♧ If it weren't for Danny picking up the courage to call Carolina in the first place, Opposite Day wouldn't exist lol

◇ The love interessssssst. Thank you, Caleb, for getting rid of the CarolexDanny ship. Love ya 😘

♡ Uhhh TOTGA revolves around Anna's historical life, so uh... yeah. She's constantly throwing people's plans out the window which causes a lot of tension between characters.

25. If they were given the task to prank someone, who would it be, what would they do, and would the prank work?

♤ Carolina would prank Danny. That's not even a question. She's not that creative, so she'd probably do the ol' soap in the drink trick. Of course, Danny being Danny, he'd fall for it... again lol

♧ Danny would prank Cecilia or Caleb. I have no idea what he'd do (he's a lot more devious than I am), but it'd be something good-natured. It'd definitely work, especially if he recruits his cousins and/or Aunt.

◇ Caleb would prank Danny cuz they deserve each other lol. He'd definitely switch the salt and the sugar, but Danny would notice the difference and catch him :D

♡ Anna is a big meanie and would definitely pull a stunt on King Henry. She can't go too far cuz she likes her head attached, but she would replace the king's black tea with watered-down mud. And yes, she'd get away with it cuz the king's gullible as hekk lol

I mean, she plays tricks on him all the time: fluffs his pillow the wrong way, uses a salad fork to eat cake, sits in the king's chair, breaths too loud...

46. When is their birthday?

♤ Carolina - September 14

♧ Danny - December 3 (happy early birthday, Danny-boy!!)

◇ Caleb doesn't have a birthday :/

♡ Anna - September 22

92. If they were given minutes to live, what would they do? Who would they want to see or say?

♤ Carolina would want to be with the ones she loves: her mom, dad, sisters, Danny, Caleb, and (post-2022) kids. She'd reiterate how much she loves them and thank them for all they've done. I think she'd want to pass away while listening to music.

♧ Danny would want to be with Aunt Candice, Caleb, and Cecilia (and Carole, if possible). He almost died before, so I think he'd live life to the fullest and leave nothing to the last minute.

◇ Caleb would be with his parents, all of his siblings, Danny, Carole, and (post-2022) his kids. Like Danny, he'd leave nothing to the last minute cuz he knows life is fleeting.

♡ Anna would go out with a bang - that's for sure. First and foremost, she'd insult the king to his face (since she'd have no threat of beheading), then apologize for taking advantage of his stupidity kindness. If possible, she'd want to be with her brother William and her favorite maid Ivy.

Wooooooo that was long but I had so much fun writing about the OD gang :D Thank you for the ask!!

#oc ask game #original writing #writing #writing things #opposite day #opposite day: my post #i had to wait to come home and check their birthdays cuz i had them written down somewhere lol

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nightwingshero · 4 years ago

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Rosemary, abatina, dill, hollyhock, and sweet pear for whoever you feel like talking about! 💜

Thank you, hun!!! I did a mixture, because I’m missing some old OCs of mine, and some need serious development. Yeah, so it got really long, I am so sorry!

Rosemary: What's their fondest memory?

Blair: It would probably be laying out in the backyard with her dad while they watched the stars, or her dad buying her that nice telescope that he’d use with her. It meant a lot to her that her parents indulged when it came to her interests, they were always supportive. Most of her time was spent at aquariums, the observatory, zoos, and just doing a lot of stuff with her parents. Science fairs were always a blast, because her parents would help.

Emma: This would be either her and her brother Mark playing in the pond they had or playing football on the beach in the summer. Em would also work on an old Mustang, one she��s still helping him build, and Ash would come over most days and they would all just have a huge dinner in the backyard. Georgia gave decent weather for it. Most of her fondest memories are with her family or Ashton, because they grew up together and did a lot together when Emma’s family moved there. A beautiful, sunny day in Summer always takes her back.

Quinn: There were times where they would travel back to Russia to visit the remaining members of his mother’s family, and he would love it. Quinn absolutely adored his babushka, and the stories she would tell. His mother would tell the same tales, but it wasn’t the same as how his babushka would tell it. There was also sailing with his father. That was something Quinn thoroughly enjoyed, and it was something they continued on doing until his father died.

Wren: Definitely playing piano with her mother! That is probably the most precious moment for her. When she plays it now, she still feels as if her mother is there with her. Not only that, but her music teacher was her one good thing growing up. Mrs. Hall taught Wren how to actually play, and when Wren would sneak to lessons (under the guise of studying or going to the library), Mrs. Hall would often bake cookies and brownies for Wren, as if she were her own grandmother. Wren attended her funeral when she passed, and it actually felt like she had lost her grandmother when she heard. But those are memories she holds dear.

Abatina: Are they very picky or particular about anything?

Blair: Not really, no. Blair is rather easy going and goes with the flow. I think the one thing would be don’t touch her work station. It’s organized chaos with an actual system that only she knows, and she will absolutely lose it if you mess with anything because that’s her life’s work you’re messing with. I think that could be said for any scientist though, and she is very verbal about it. It’s a light reminder, or a happy request until you get too close and she becomes slightly frazzled and makes you keep your distance.

Emma: She can be an absolute control freak and has to have things a certain way (whether that’s because she was in the Marines or if she inherited it from her mother, who’s to say?) No eating in her cars, don’t touch her guns, and if you’re going along with her on something, you’re following her lead. Ashton, Nora, and even Roach give her hell for it, but honestly? Sometimes she can’t help it. Emma has a habit of taking control of a situation when it calls for it and she’s a super organized and neat person. Everything has it’s place, things are cleaned or done a certain way, and she would rather just do it herself.

Quinn: His hair and shoes. Listen, Quinn is very boyish in looks (there’s a reason Ryan Gosling is his faceclaim) and his hair is usually neat or done how he wants it. He’s not overbearing about it, he just takes his time with it because he does put care into his appearance. His shoes are shined, his clothes match and his outfit is sharp, he doesn’t go more than a few days without shaving. Once the Collapse happens, it’s one of the things he can control, so he does. Grayson often jokes he’s the prettiest guy of Armageddon, but Quinn laughs with him.

Wren: She doesn’t like it when other people drive. Having been in a traumatizing car accident, she prefers to be at the wheel for that sense of control. It’s honestly makes her so damn anxious when that’s not the case, and Quinn drives like a damn maniac from time to time in New Dawn. She will cling to something for dear life, and absolutely will backseat drive. It leads to a lot of spats between her and Jane, Quinn, and Ivy.

Dill: Do they have any rivals?

Blair: I would say that one of the biggest would be John Constantine. Blair is skeptical when it comes to the mystical and supernatural, needless to say, she absolutely does not believe in magic. However, when the Particle Accelerator went off, someone close to her was wearing a totem or a spiritual pendent that got mixed into her meta powers (it’s how she can cosmic project and do some of the things she can with energy manipulation...it also helps balance out her going supernova and such), so...some of her powers are part of the arcane. Johnny knew that the second he met her, so when she gave him grief and became skeptical when he was helping Ollie bring Sara’s soul back, he just smirked at her and went “hate to burst your little bubble, love--” and honestly, they’ve been at it from there.

Emma: Ha! Emma is competitive and very proud, so yeah, she has rivals, some more fun than others though. For example, her rivalry with Nikolai (and sometimes Price) is who can drink the other under the table. Yuri...well, they ended up in a fist fight on a misunderstanding when they first met, so while he’s working with her and the 141, there’s definitely some rivalry there with them trying to one up the other. She’ll spar with Ghost to see who is better too. Honestly, she’s always up for a challenge, and its something she shares with a lot of her fellow Marines back home--including her cousin and her teammates.

Quinn: John fucking Seed. Listen, they hate each other, full on loathing, because Quinn isn’t afraid to point out that he’s in a cult and we all know how John is when someone makes him feel insecure and inadequate...with Quinn he very much does, even if that isn’t his intention. It also doesn’t help that John notices how Quinn looks at his wife from time to time, and he doesn’t appreciate it, but the biggest thing is that Quinn openly challenges him on everything. To Quinn, he wants to poke holes in his logic and show that John isn’t at all what he thinks he is. Quinn is a natural leader, he had been in the Navy, he knows what that looks like and he’s quick to call John out on shit. Wren gives him a bit of a run, too, their rivalry just happens to uh...turn into something else.

Wren: Holly Pepper and Mary May Fairgrave. Those are the two that gives her the most trouble. In any other scenario (and in most AUs), Wren and Mary May get along just fine, but in canon? Wren straight up punches her in the face. There’s more to it, of course. Wren is being worn down by people wanting her to do this and that for the Resistance, her constantly being pulled in every direction and being forced to give to people without them giving in return. And Mary May wouldn’t shut up about the truck, while saying Wren was dragging her feet on what the Resistance needed done (mostly because Wren was sleeping around with John, but they didn’t know that yet), and Wren just gets overwhelmed with frustration and anger, and straight up punches her in the face and tells her “if you want the truck so damn bad, go get it yourself”, and storms out. Holly Pepper later becomes an issue because she knows John slept around with her, and Holly loves shoving it in Wren’s face. So...Holly ends up dying because she straight up attacks Wren, and Jane helps her with it because she knows that John has a soft spot for Wren. Plus there’s that little shit Quinn in New Dawn...they’re a lot of fun.

Hollyhock: What's their biggest goal right now?

Blair: Currently, it’s to find her place and stride with the team and her powers. She just wants to not have to lay awake at night and worry she’ll lose control again and hurt her friends and loved ones. Her whole life has changed, and there are still things that are throwing her off. She needs to find her footing again and feel more confident in what she’s become. Helping people, including herself and teammates/friends, is what’s most important to her.

Emma: As of right now, it’s to regroup and hunt down Makarov. She’s still healing from when Shepherd took out the 141 base and tried to kill her, Ashton, and Nora. The stitches are still healing a bit, but she’s pumped up and ready to take him down. Her goal, and focus, is doing whatever Price and Soap need her to do. It’s almost tunnel vision at this point.

Quinn: Take down the Highwaymen and fix whatever bullshit Whitney and Wren have going on. He won’t at all pretend he knows what fucking type of politics they have in New Eden, or what rules they’re going by, but it’s very damn clear that Ethan is no good and needs taken down. Him and Grayson came because Carmina asked Rush, and they were never ones to back down from a challenge, not when it comes to helping those in need. So, he’s gonna take down Mickey and Lou, allow Grayson to avenge Rush while protecting Prosperity, and then stand with Wren and Whitney as they take over New Eden.

Wren: That depends on if we’re talking Far Cry 5 or New Dawn, but she’s mostly taking out the head Seed and establishing peace. She’s trying to do what’s right, and whether that’s for herself (which is the eventuality of her changing sides) in Far Cry 5, or for their people and her family in New Dawn (overthrowing Ethan and opening New Eden to more freedoms.) It’s all revolved around Eden’s Gate though, and she agrees to help Quinn and Grayson because she still cares about Kim and Nick, and much of the others, so it’s just a pitstop on her plan.

Sweet pea: If you had to choose a favorite dessert for them, what would it be?

Blair: Crème Brule, strawberry shortcake, or chocolate lava cake. You could say all of the above, to be honest, she loves sweets. Blair is always snacking, and they’re usually little cakes, fruits, or something sweet. There’s a reason crepes are her favorite breakfast foods, fruit and sweet? Yes. Which I guess you could add porfait on the breakfast menu too, in that case...anyway, snacking is usually something her and Mick has in common, though she’s not constantly looking for it the way he is. Mick finds food in missions and randomly...Blair is more disciplined than that. She will grab stuff for him a lot of the times if they’re in the same room or if she’s working near him. Leonard just stares between them, he’s not sure what he thinks of their comrade (he also lost his more recent memories, so he can shut it.)

Emma: Dark chocolate cake or tarts. Anything that has a bitter or sour tinge to it, because she’s not really a sweets person. Not when it comes to that, at least. She loves her mom’s sweet tea (and homemade lemonade). But she just would have something like raspberry butter cookies, cherry pie, or even an old fashioned ice cream (yes, with bourbon). She loves dark chocolate though. And tiramisu.

Quinn: Oh, he loves the Russian desserts his mom would make, and honestly, Quinn has such a sweet tooth. Bird’s milk cake, Russian rugelach, waffle cakes, and especially kartoshka. He would help his mom (or babushka when they would visit Russia), and would eat them with Russian tea they would make. He also enjoys many flavors of gelato.

Wren: Cheesecake. Without a doubt. She has always been, and will forever be, in love with cheesecake. And all kinds, if we’re being totally honest. She will eat any flavor, she feels strongly about it. You wanna piss her off easily? Eat her cheesecake. Wanna get on her good side again? Bring her cheesecake. John does. Whenever he’s in trouble, he throws a cheesecake on it. She’s constantly eating it to the point Whitney and Rowan have both reminded her that it’s not a meal. Does she listen? No.

#oc: blair chambers #oc: emma miller #oc: quinn langdon #oc: wren blake #my ocs #asks #arrowverse #call of duty #far cry new dawn #far cry 5

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thefairefolk-rp · 4 years ago

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Welcome back, Eli! Your application for Ivy Stone has been accepted!

OOC INFORMATION:

Name/Nickname: Eli

Age: 23

Pronouns: They/Them

Timezone: PST

Activity and Availability: A few times a week

IC INFORMATION:

Desired Character: Ivy Stone

Second Choice Character: Raven Beedle

What made you choose this character?: I chose this character because a Halfling in an Unseelie court seems like a terrible contradiction. And yet… the Stones pull it off. How would Ivy Stone react to a court that loathes their existence? I imagine they have questions about why their mother chose the Unseelie court, knowing that leaving Ivy behind might be the cost of their alliance. I imagine that, given the war started when Ivy resembled an eighteen-year-old human, there would have been a lot of questions about what growing up in this new world would be like.

Are there any changes you would like to make?: This isn’t so much of a change as it is an interest in connections – but I’m thinking to have an established connection between Ivy Stone and Hyacinth Aven (of any kind, really). Also, I imagine Ivy Stone to be quite confused by the presence of Mikhael Thorson.

Questions/Comments: More just general comments, but I imagine the following connections with currently taken characters as possibilities (though there would be some plotting with these muns!):

Ivy Stone and Freya Briar as childhood friends, potentially.

Ivy Stone and Argos Caraway as enemies, with Argos dealing some damage while the King looks away.

Ivy Stone may fear being spied upon by Alekto Bone.

Ivy Stone and Aubrey Crane as unwitting accomplices, in a very “so who do you work for” kind of way.

Ivy Stone may pick up upon the fact that Rye Hawthorne is conflicted about his position.

Ivy Stone may feel some sympathy toward Rosemary, but mostly, toward baby Becan.

Writing Sample (Must be 300 words or more, third person limited, in the character you’re auditioning for’s point of view):

I attempted a few paras. The one below is complete, but I also want to show you a few incomplete drafts:

Attempt 1: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13K58ftVEiieEvi6CevvwmS96-UUd0SMvLWfimLFKLJ8/edit?usp=sharing

Attempt 2: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GUNO95_RR6GYfBnf7TDutEVxTPBpVG4obRJLL1k54BU/edit?usp=sharing

Ivy Stone could count the number of bridges that their dearest mother burned when she ultimately decided to back King Oberon Aven in the unholiest of wars.

The number of bridges could be counted by the number of families that ultimately remained loyal to Queen Mab Bloom, with new bridges built for every Unseelie family that Eris Stone ultimately befriended – if friendship were even an appropriate word for it. Friendship was a word to describe loyalty, but beyond that, a particular bond. Friend described a little Pooka boy Ivy had once fought for a prized necklace. The swiftness with which the Pooka boy had snatched the little locket made Ivy think he belonged to the Foxes. With that in mind, Ivy had gone after him, picking up a heavy fallen branch along the way, more out of impulse than anything else. To their own surprise, Ivy managed to catch up. They should have known better; the Pooka boy had not been running, but simply waiting, watching, grinning as he revealed a weapon of his own.

Another branch. That would have made Ivy laugh, if they even had the time to do so. But they didn’t; the Pooka boy committed to a low swing that made Ivy trip, and the little halfling knew they were up for a fight.

Fight was a laughable word. Scuffle would have been better. Upon landing on their ass, Ivy scurried backward to put distance, watching as they picked up upon the Pooka boy’s movements. In one hand, he held the stick. In the other, he held the necklace, which he tucked away in a pocket that – now that Ivy noticed – was far too big to be secure. Though the Pooka was swift with his stick, he failed to prevent Ivy from getting back on their own two feet, after which Ivy settled on making the Pooka move around enough to let the necklace slip out of his pocket.

He wasn’t quite Fox-like enough to make an effective thief, Ivy had decided. Nor was he an effective enough fighter to be fully wolven. It was then that Ivy had pinned him accurately as a half-breed between the two, though his halven nature was far different from their own.

The scuffle was their introduction. They were right; the Pooka boy was half-Fox, half-Wolf. His name was Odhran Heron, and Ivy had nicknamed him Mousebird.

The bridge that Ivy had maintained with Mousebird remained steady throughout the war, for a few reasons. Wolves had allied with the Unseelie King, and the Foxes followed suit, or so it seemed, but neither clan seemed to have a particular problem with humans – and by extension, those like Ivy. And what with the Stones’ estate settled atop the swamplands, the Wildlands were only a short trek away.

There, they would find Mousebird, and they would confide all of their worries.

The first worry: that with King Oberon Aven’s increased harshness toward humans, Eris Stone may dispose of Ivy and never let them come home. To which Mousebird replied, “You needn’t worry. I have plenty of space in my cave. You know the hidden paths here, in any case. But you may need to prove yourself. Don’t worry, though. I’ve seen you fight. You can’t carry a weapon for crap, but you’re sneaky. I think you can do it.”

Eris Stone never disposed of Ivy. But the treatment of humans became increasingly difficult to watch, with Ivy’s earliest inaction causing them to toss and turn in their sleep. They recalled first being welcomed to Roheim castle, sitting in a rocking carriage with Poppy to their left, and Eris Stone across from them, both family members holding handkerchiefs to their noses. Though Ivy Stone had coughed some, they hadn’t felt nearly as bothered by the thick Hemlock City air as their sister and mother.

Just outside their carriage window, enslaved humans had labored over iron metal, their backs struck by hard leather whenever they worked too slow. Ivy had a brief thought that these humans could touch this iron with their bare hands, and thus use it against their masters. Then, Ivy had the not-so-brief thought that they, themself, could wield a similar weapon, bare-handed.

It was these weapons that Ivy would later come to steal in the nighttime. The second worry that plagued Ivy Stone throughout the war was inaction – that is, doing nothing as their mother backed a tyrant, worrying that their own half-human existence was regarded as a subversive threat in and of itself. In thinking that, Ivy fretted that they would be watched everywhere they went. The first alleviation of this worry was the ease with which Ivy traveled from their swampy estate to the natural Wildlands.

The second was recruitment into the Nighthawks, where they could use their iron-immunity to an advantage.

Bridges fell, and the Stone family built new ones in their place. The Stones loved the Blooms once. They were cousins – family. Queen Mab was a dainty, but hardened ruler, and her uncle Cypress – by extension, Ivy’s distant cousin – a lover of art and music. And Henry Duffy, a human changeling lovely taken into Queen Mab’s care. Yet Eris could see no similarity between Mab’s love for her changeling and her own protectiveness of young Ivy, and declared there was nothing there for the Stones. Along with that, the Stones severed themselves from the Briars, the latter of whom became subject to the strangest of news after the war came to an end.

It was the strange half-clan Mousebird that told Ivy Stone of this. Not out of a want for gossip, not out of a fear for Ivy, or anything typical of what Ivy may expect from court talk or family talk. One night, Ivy had slipped out of the swamplands and into a den of Wolves, only to learn from Mousebird that a Wolf girl’s poor mother died. Some time after that death, a Seelie noble by the name of Harland Briar had come for the Wolf girl, acknowledging her as his daughter before she went off with him to live among Wisteria’s nobility.

The story itself was enough to make the halfling scream and screech and send rocks flying all around the cave, angry that this Wolf girl had better luck than Ivy Stone and their angry, unfortunate human kin.

#original rpg #fantasy rp #lsrpg #supernatural rp #rpg #accepted

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socialdistance · 5 years ago

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Lauren and Grams, Day 12

“What the hell – you might be right, you might be wrong – but don’t just avoid.”

– Katharine Hepburn, b. 1909

American actress

You’re right, Katharine!! And you were talking to me. I keep thinking I’d love to write – but should I? Could I? Can I?? That’s what I should say to myself when starting to debate the issue (with myself, of course). “What the hell, Sally – maybe you should, maybe you shouldn’t. But you’ll never know until you actually do it. So quit avoiding it!” Maybe I’ll finally sit down and “make a plan.” In fact, I’m not even going to “maybe” any more. If cousin Evie can forge ahead and do it, so can I. Of course, she’s been published. Don’t know if I’ll ever get that far, but there’s definitely going to be a real plan to write something every day – feel like it or not.

– Sally Collins, b. 1934

American grandma

It’s funny to think about the things we inherit.

Since Grams died, I’ve been reading my way through her journals. She was a beautiful, thoughtful writer. Pretty much everyone she ever met knew that already, because she was a prolific sender of letters and emails (from [email protected]). What I hadn’t realized was that, like me, she worked out how she felt about things by writing about them. Unlike me, she worked out those feelings by writing for herself rather than for other people.

As a speechwriter, a blank page doesn’t scare me (at least not anymore). I’ve even gotten over the terror of handing in a draft that’s so personal as to be incredibly presumptuous. (Teen Vogue wants to know about your most cherished friendship, so I’ve taken the liberty of writing 500 words on the subject. Feel free to edit as you see fit!) Through other, better-known people, I’ve dispensed life advice to Ivy League graduates, collaborated on New York Times bestsellers, reflected on the importance of the right makeup remover and our country’s relationship with other world powers, and offered a few thoughts on light topics like the role of free speech in the 21st century. At the risk of sounding too brag-y (what the hell, as Katharine Hepburn supposedly said), when I imagined my dream career five years ago, I imagined doing exactly what I do now, which is to say, writing for badass women.

But! But. Every single day for at least the past two years, when it comes to writing anything just for myself, I have asked myself the exact same questions Grams asked herself: Should I? Could I? Can I?? More often than not, I’ve decided no, I shouldn’t, I couldn’t, I can’t, at least not today, maybe tomorrow, who knows.

What is that, I wonder. Is it possible that two generations and many, many more opportunities later, women are still taught to question whether or not we actually have anything meaningful to say? Is it that Grams and I shared a fear of seeming small and insignificant in comparison to people who were doing big, important things? Is it that we just don’t know where to start? And who was cousin Evie, anyway, and what did she ever do?!

Grams was never published, unless you count the letter she wrote to Festival Foods store to thank a cashier for being kind to my Uncle Pat, which was so good that they asked her permission to run it in the local paper. The more I read her journals, the sadder that makes me. She had worthwhile, even profound, things to say about God, politics, her kids, Bombay gin, and plenty of other subjects, too. But the thing I really wish I could tell her is that, despite her hedging and self-doubt, she did the damn thing. As far as I can tell, she wrote, in some form or another, almost every day of her life. Maybe that didn’t feel like much to her, but to me, that’s extraordinary.

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daybreak-academy-fanfic · 4 years ago

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Daybreak Academy: Chapter 46

how’s life cuz? (cuz i’m missing u)

Summary: In which we intercept an email from two estranged cousins. Word Count: 1,252 First | Previous | Next ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆

To: Kieran (hellomynamemyoldfriend)

From: Anora (lightlovedbythesun)

Subject: RE: how's life cuz? (cuz i'm missing u)

Date: June 30, 2020 @ 7:15 pm

. . .

Kieran, I'm so sorry I wasn't able to respond to you sooner. Everything's been so crazy these past few months- formals, and plays, and a girl I knew accidentally poisoned herself with acetaminophen…

But anyway, I've been doing fine. My grades are fine too, I guess. Besides what's written on the tests when we get them back, I don't know what my actual grade is. I think it's good? I dunno, I feel like I'm not doing something right. Something has to be wrong with my grades. I've been at Daybreak for six months now and there's no way I should be caught up on all the right material. Is it that easy to fall into a routine? I don't know. I feel bad the more I think about it.

I…

I miss you.

A lot.

And Aunt Dawn too. I miss both of you so much. I want you guys to come visit Daybreak, but I know that traveling makes Aunt Dawn super sick after awhile. The town nearby is a tourist trap (you wouldn’t like it very much) but it's very pretty in the spring. I want you to meet Ephemer. You might like him. I think.

Have I told you about him yet? Let me know if I haven't, because I don't want to repeat myself, you know?

He invited me to come with him and some of his friends on summer break. Apparently it's a place that they've visited for years. I don't know if I actually have any summer clothes- I think Skuld (have I told you about Skuld yet too?) is going to take us shopping for summer stuff before we leave. Headmaster Ava has even offered to pay for it. It feels so weird. I don't really know any of them, and yet they're all so kind. I don't deserve it. I'm going to pay them back when I can. I feel bad owing them the very clothes on my back, you know?

But enough about school. How are you and Aunt Dawn doing? I really wish Aunt Dawn didn't have such bad motion sickness. I really want you guys to come visit. It's not that I feel lonely anymore, but I just… I just miss you guys. Is that weird? We haven't talked in years, but I miss you. I miss you so much.

Please answer soon (even when I'm bad at it); Anora.

---

To: Anora (lightlovedbythesun)

From: Kieran (hellomynamemyoldfriend)

Subject: RE: RE: how's life cuz? (cuz i'm missing u)

Date: July 1, 2020 @ 9:18 am

. . .

Razzie, seriously, stop apologizing! Ma and I really miss you too. Considering the stuff that happened to Auntie and Unco, and that you're still doing super well it seems, I'm surprised you're still standing! You're the strongest one of us all Razzie, and don't you forget it!

Ma's holding up. She keeps nagging at me to clear out the rose bushes by the front walkway. She wants to clean off all the ivy too. But I think it gives the farmhouse some character. It's not like Granddad ever made the effort to do it either. But of course Ma is concerned that the ivy could upset the ancient cement, or something. I think the ivy just dies off enough before it's actually able to get in any cracks though. Nights get so chilly here, I'm surprised anything in Ma's garden is growing. I'm starting to think that root vegetables can grow anywhere. Doesn't mean I want to eat them any time soon 'course.

Ma on the other hand is keeping busy. With her garden and with doing Ma things. She's been trying to work from home a lot more often too. She's not gonna tell me, but I think she's still scared about what happened to Auntie and Unco. And since Pops is still stationed out at sea… She's nervous. And when Ma's nervous she tends to do a lot more things by hand. (which is why i'm lowkey wishing she'll clear the rose bushes for me before i actually get to it) At least she's not a stress shopper. Small miracles.

And just what kind of summer clothes are you getting? If you're going to go around in a bikini all summer, you better let every guy know that one wrong ogle and I'll be summoned to beat him up to a pulp! See to it that I don't Razzie! Even if we haven't seen each other in awhile, cousins will protect their cousins if they love them, and you're the only one I got so…

That was a joke Razzie. I know you're making that face. Stop it. I said stop. RAZZIE I SWEAR…!

Any way.

I know it's a weird tangent, but do you remember back when you were six, and we came to visit you guys? Ma felt bad the entire time but Pops and I were able to play with you. I think you thought my old man was yours. You walked right up to Pops and told him that he promised to practice roller skating with you that afternoon. Of course Pops didn't promise you that when he last saw you at my graduation. You didn't even speak more than three words to him before then either. But he did it anyway. When Unco came to see what you were doing, you fell flat on your face in surprise. You cried 'course because you were hurt and super surprised.

It was super funny Razzie. It really was.

And then that one time when you came over when you were nine. It was the first time I had ever seen an actual thundersnow. And of course it knocked out the power. And of course you were scared out of your mind because the windows make the worst sounds against high winds. Pops started the fireplace down in the living room. Ma made you real hot chocolate using her tea kettle, some leftover chocolate from Halloween, and condensed milk. I collected every spare pillow and blanket we had to make you a little nest near the fire. I was the only one allowed to stay with you in that blanket nest. You went to sleep soon after. I bet you didn't even know the power came back on an hour after that. You didn't say anything at all that night but we all knew how happy you were.

I don't really have a point to this.

Maybe I just want to let you know that we're still thinking about you. Maybe I'm just rambling through our e-mails. Either way, don't forget to keep us updated from time to time. I can't wait to hear how your summer went.

From your best and only cousin, Kieran.

---

To: Kieran (hellomynamemyoldfriend)

From: Anora (lightlovedbythesun)

Subject: RE: RE: RE: how's life cuz? (cuz i'm missing u)

Date: August 1, 2020 @ 12:46 am

. . .

Kieran.

I…

I have a lot to say.

I…

I don't even know where to start.

This summer… This summer was so confusing…

I…

…

I guess I could start from the beginning.

Yeah.

I think I can start there.

It started back in July. I think it was that first Friday. We had to all get up really early because the trip was going to be super long…

#daybreak academy #chapter 46 #kingdom hearts fanfiction #Anora #Kieran #Season 1

2 notes · View notes

medea10 · 5 years ago

Text

My Review of Pokemon Sun & Moon

Hi all. Sorry for the delay on this one. I usually go all-out on my Pokemon reviews that I wanted to let out everything I wanted to. Plus I had real-life work and other stuff. With that said, here’s my final review of 2019 as well as the final review of the decade. See you in 2020!

As Ash mentioned at the end of XY, Ash said he was going back home to Pallet Town and “start at zero”. This means when he decides to go on his journey, he leaves all of his other pokemon at Oak’s lab and goes on a new journey with Pikachu. But unlike the start of other journeys, this one started with Ash’s mom, Delia and her pokemon Mimie winning a contest which resulted in a trip to the Alola region. And since they were heading that way, Professor Oak asks them to bring a pokemon egg to his cousin in Alola. So let’s begin with Ash’s adventure in the Alola region.

The Alola region is split into four different islands. Each of these islands contains trial captains, island challenges, pokemon of different forms, and pokemon guardians! But unlike the game, Ash ends up in the Alola region to go to school. That’s right, after being the envy of every child for the last 20 years, Ash must go to school. In this school, Ash will learn all he needs to when it comes to living in the Alola region. Along with new friends, a helpful professor, a Rotom Pokedex, an enthusiastic Oak that does impressions, and a special bracelet capable of unleashing powerful Z-moves, Ash’s journey is getting very interesting.

MEET THE CHARACTERS: This seriously has got to be the biggest ensemble for Ash’s posse. Each character has their own unique charm and their own speciality when it comes to their pokemon type preference (and their hairstyle will say so too). At the beginning, I was just okay on some of these characters, but I have definitely enjoyed watching them evolve. Here are all of Ash’s new classmates, professor, Pokedex and a brand-new Oak.

Mallow is a very cheerful girl with the love of grass-types and cooking specialty dishes for friends and pokemon. While some of her dishes can be a little surprising, even shocking, she has a knack for using only the freshest ingredients, mostly coming from wild pokemon.

Lana has a passion for the water and yes, even water-type pokemon. She’s quite soft spoken and spends a lot of her days fishing. She may even look into becoming a fisher like her father. But she does have an edge that makes her and her Popplio tough to beat. Not to mention, quite the sense of humor! She also takes care of her two younger sisters Sarah and Harper.

Kiawe is very handy in a battle with his fire-type pals. Unlike the other students in the class, he’s been given a Z-ring first as he has attempted the Island Challenge. Because of this, he’s rather high-strong about those who own a Z-ring. His days start early in the morning with delivering MooMoo Milk, then he goes to class, then comes home to take care of the farm pokemon, and let’s not forget all that training with Charizard and Turtenator!

Sophocles is what you’d call a computer nerd (yeah, we have another one). He’s able to handle any electrical error that comes his way with the help of either Togedamaru or Charjabug. The only thing he’s unable to challenge is sleeping in the dark!

Lillie is the mysterious girl with no pokemon (at first) and seems to get scared by them real easily. However, she knows quite a bit about pokemon without having physical contact with them. Luckily, Lillie lets her guard down later in the series when she gets the opportunity to take care of an egg. And when it hatched, she kept it. Other pokemon, it still takes her a while to open up to them, but when she does open up, it’s adorable!

Professor Six-Pack is too hot (hot damn)! Call the police and the fireman!

FINE, I’LL DO THE RIGHT THING!

Professor Kukui is the teacher to these fine pupils and has even allowed Ash to stay with him while Ash attends school. He seems a little laid back at first glance, but he does take special care into each and every lesson he gives his students.

Rotomdex is the talking Pokedex for Ash. Unlike all the other Pokedexes up to this point, this one can actually carry on a conversation with Ash. Not just that, but come up with strategies, watch detective shows on TV, and even write screenplays. It’s amazing how so much can come from a fushion between a Rotom and a regular pokedex!

Principal Oak…Okay, no, I can’t do that! Over 10 years ago, I wrote a fan fic called Romance 101. And I spent a good five years writing the words “Principal Oak” because that’s what I called Samuel Oak. This Principal Oak is just giving me vivid flashbacks.

…fine Principal SAMSON Oak is of course the principal to the Pokemon School. This Oak is a much tanner, buffer, and at times sillier man when you compare him to the original Professor Oak. He really loves doing pokemon impressions. And much like Professor Oak’s poems, Samson Oak’s jokes goes over a lot of people’s heads.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: With the exception of Kiawe, Rotomdex, and Samson Oak’s voice actors, this is literally a brand new experience for most of these new characters. And I gotta say, I hope these voice actors get more attention. I know Reina Ueda (Mallow) has been getting a lot more roles in the last three years and I love that. The Pokemon anime has had quite a history of either getting very prominent voice actors or voice actors who aren’t known for much else. But I do hope for more exposure for Lana, Sophocles, and Professor Kukui’s seiyuus. Extra points for having Nobuhiko Okamoto play Gladion!

I’ll mention more later in the review but due to the death of a very, very, VERY prominent voice actor, there was a major change. With the passing of Unshou Ishizuka, there were three important characters that had to be changed; Professor Oak, Samson Oak, and the Narrator. I started noticing the lack of these three (yes, even the narrator) in episodes prior to Ishizuka’s death. If we go several episodes without one of the Oak’s, it’s not a big deal. But the fact that the narrator wasn’t heard before the start of the show or at the end for several episodes at a time, it felt very weird. But after hearing about how Unshou Ishizuka died of Esophageal cancer, I can’t help but think he was doing treatments during the Aether Foundation arc. His replacement, Kenyu Horiuchi is not bad. But after listening to Ishizuka since…well at least two decades, it’s very noticeable.

The dub once again is putting hope in brand new voice actors and even a few veterans from the XY series. And so far, this is very promising since they casted Alsyon Leigh Rosenfield. However, one prominent voice actor who has been around for a LONG time has retired. Kayzie Rodgers, the replacement voice of Max and Wobbuffet (and long-time voice to Mr. Mime and Professor Ivy) has retired at the beginning of SM (2016). I can honestly say, I will miss hearing her voice. Out of all the dub changes, you were one of a few I accepted. That and I will always remember you as Professor Ivy and Mimie! With that said, here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Lana is played by Hitomi Kikuchi

*Mallow is played by Reina Ueda (known for Kisa on Fruits Basket 2019, Shiori on Sakura Quest, Jiro on Tokyo Ghoul, and Katra Paige on Inazuma Eleven GO: Galaxy)

*Kiawe is played by Kaito Ishikawa (known for Genos on One Punch Man, Naofumi in Shield Hero, Sakakibara on Assassination Classroom, Kaito on Tsurune, Mitsuo on Golden Time, and Urie on Tokyo Ghoul :re)

*Sophocles is played by Fumiko Takekuma

*Lillie is played by Kei Shindou (known for Carissa on Index III and Shijimi on Rosario to Vampire)

*Professor Kukui is played by Keiichi Nakagawa (known for Salamander on Beelzebub)

*Rotomdex is played by Daisuke Namikawa (known for Rock on Black Lagoon, Jellal on Fairy Tail, Italy on Hetalia, Kazehaya on Kimi ni Todoke, Fai on Tsubasa Chronicle, Yuu on Persona 4, and Arima on Tokyo Ghoul)

*Narrator & Samson/Samuel Oak (ep1-93) is played by Unshou Ishizuka (known for Mr. Satan on DBZ Kai, Jet on Cowboy Bebop, Hohenheim on FMA: Brotherhood, Dr. Gel on Space Dandy, and Grandpa Joestar on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Pt 3) [R.I.P.]

* Narrator & Samson/Samuel Oak (ep93-present) is played by Kenyuu Horiuchi (known for Pain on Naruto, Mako’s father on Kill la Kill, Sasaki on Bakuman, Hachiken’s father on Silver Spoon, and Takafumi on Sekaiichi Hatsukoi)

ENGLISH CAST: *Lana is played by Rosie Reyes

*Mallow is played by Rebecca Soler (known for Hart on YGO Zexal)

*Kiawe is played by Marc Swint

*Sophocles is played by Alyson Leigh Rosenfield (known for Rio on YGO Zexal, Aina on Promare, and Ally on YGO Arc-V)

*Lillie is played by Laurie Hymes (known for Prana on YGO: Dark Side of Dimensions)

*Professor Kukui is played by Abe Goldfarb

*Rotomdex is played by Roger Callagy

*Samson Oak is played by Marc Thompson (known for Chaz on YGO GX, Astral on YGO Zexal, and Kevin/Mr. O’Neill/Mr. Demartino on Daria)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Pokemon…why do you keep doing this to me? Do you want me to lose what little faith I hold onto?

With that said, this season has given me a “best girl”. Yes, the term “best girl” is given to the…well, you know, the best girl of the series. And ever since the creators decided to shake things up by giving Ash a new female companion every couple of years, fans have fought to the death on who is best girl of Pokemon. For me, my best girls of Pokemon were Prima, Zoey, Blue/Leaf Green, and Bonnie. But there are just a few problems there. None of them are Ash’s piece of arm candy! And there’s some unwritten law that it has to be the possible love interest like Misty, Dawn, or Blushy McIdiot. And my best girls have either been in only one episode of the anime, was just a rival to someone who isn’t Ash, a girl who was never in the anime, and too young. BUT…Sun and Moon did it! It friggin’ did it! It gave me a best girl! And that girl is…

LANAAAAAAAA!

I never tire of that Archer joke! But yes, Lana is best girl.

I knew I was going to like her when she first debuted, but I had no idea how awesome she was going to truly be. Is it her prankish nature? Maybe! Is it this creepy yandere vibe I get off from her every now and then? Possibly! Is it the way I’ve seen her grow as a trainer throughout this series. You fucking bet! Lana at one point seemed like the one character who wasn’t getting much growth when it came to catching and evolving pokemon. Then again, everyone (including Ash) gave me that impression compared to other arcs. But then she caught the shaggy Eevee! Serious wild card! No one expected Lana to catch Eevee. And then there’s Popplio. She and Popplio trained like crazy later in the series and it shows when it evolved into Brionne and eventually into Primarina. ESPECIALLY WHEN PRIMARINA EVOLVED! Did you see Lana and Brionne going toe-to-toe with that Kyogre? That was epically awesome!

Plus, she was like the only female in God-knows how long to reach the top 8 in the Pokemon League.

DISLIKED CHARACTER: My tolerance has taken a slight dip because there are three people I feel should be up here!

First, I would like to put up Cross from the 20th movie, I Choose You. I know that he isn’t in the actual SM series, but I’m putting him up here because I just downright hate him. He is on Damien levels of shit. That’s how much I hate the son of a bitch. He could cure cancer, kick Donald Trump in the crotch, and bring peace in the Middle East and I would still hate him. Cross was like a very bad combination of Damien and Paul. Abandons a pokemon the same way as Damien and shows this power assholeness that Paul has. But add to that, a bit of a cruel edge to him and sprinkle a bit of whiny little bitch on that. He has to hold a grudge against Ash in this movie because he was blessed with Ho-oh’s feather, but when he saw Ho-oh, he got nothing. Oh boo-freakin-hoo! Cry me a river!

Next…Faba! You fucking testicle! Heads up, I like calling Faba a testicle! When I first saw him, I thought that Lusamine was gonna be the one to hate because of the game setup. But this anime just proves how much Lusamine loves both of her children. The same can’t be said about Faba! At first, I thought Faba would be like Colress in a way…creepy how they almost look and act the same. But then his true side started to show. Oh, this guy wants them Ultra Beasts. And will not let anyone get in his way. Not little children, not birds suffering from Insomnia, not Team Rocket, not even his boss’s child! This greedy sonuvabitch is literally the reason why Lillie was afraid of pokemon and re-triggered it AGAIN thanks to UB Nihilgo. Yeah, fuck you Testicle!

Now after that incident, Testicle was demoted and serves under Wicke and Clefable (which is literally the best thing I could ever ask for). And in most scenarios where he’s shown, Faba was silly with his fanboy obsession with the Masked Royal or his stupid experiment shrinks the kids. So other than him being a dumbass nothing too damning! That was until the Pokemon League where he decided to play dirty by having his Hypno bring out Ash’s Meltan instead of going up against Pikachu. I’m glad he got beat within less than 2 minutes because this testicle needs to shrivel up now.

Who else?

Viren! I can’t help but think he’s this anime’s answer to Donald Trump. But I hate both of them so that’s a start! I could let things slide with him just being there for one episode where he’s trying to buy out Kiawe’s family’s farm and be done with it. BUT NO! This sonuvabitch has gotta wear out his welcome by showing up another three or four times doing that same shit! And even his very first episode where he uses illegal tactics to get Rango and Sima’s farm was warrant enough to hate this fucker. I just thought he would just be a one-and-done character much like the Mayor of Trovitopolis (OI episode). Aggrivating to say, this dickhead came back numerous times to do more shady-ass shit. And I hope to Arceus I never see him again!

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: Kiawe and Lana’s mothers are total milfs.

DON’T ACT LIKE I’M THE ONLY ONE HERE! Kiawe’s mama, hell yeah total milf! Lana’s mother, I ended up having a lesbian dream about her and she became a milf.

Hey, usually I’m straighter than a honeymoon dick. But sometimes I peak over and can easily say that Sima and Lana’s mother are Mothers I Like to Fantasize about. Again, in the words of Forky, “I’m Trash”!

SHIPPING: Okay…let’s have some fun with this one. This is less vomit inducing than XY. Just keep that bitch in Hoenn for as long as it takes. I don’t want to see her for a long time.

Ash x Lillie: I honestly think this is rather cute. Ash is one of the very few who’s been able to help Lillie with her poke-phobia. Though this ship isn’t heavily pushed on us like a certain OTHER ship that just won’t DIE. I swear Amour is like the herpes. I really can’t say there’s much romance here. Although her goodbye to Ash was just honest-to-God cute! Now if there was one Ash ship that caused some sort of blushing, it would have to go to…

Ash x Lana: Whenever she could, Lana would drag Ash along with her. Whether it’s looking for a missing pokemon or on the hunt for a legendary pokemon in the water, she would take Ash by the arm and take him by force. However, none of this was romantically motivated. The only thing worth mentioning was her tsundere way of blushing and brushing off romance when her sisters pester if Ash is her boyfriend.

Mallow x Lillie: This was my OTP to be perfectly honest. While Ash was the actual first person to nudge Lillie to help her with pokemon, Mallow was like the best friend of Lillie’s. She would always show concern for her. I know this is more big sister syndrome, but I’ll still ship it. I never thought anything would happen until the episode where the class puts on a play and I see Mallow and Lillie dressed like Utena and Anthy from Revolutionary Girl Utena. To which I said, “HOLY SHIT, THIS IS AWESOME-BALLS”! Pokemon, are you trying to tell us something with this? You trying to tell us something with this clear and direct reference to one of anime’s famous Yuri couples?

Kukui x Burnet: THIS SHIP HAS SAILED! I’m actually surprised how fast this ship was. I know they’re married in all four games, but in the anime it seemed like they didn’t know each other that well prior to Burnet’s first appearance. And anime wise, they only spent 11 episodes with each other. And on the 11th episode not only did Kukui propose to Burnet with a ring, but they freakin’ got married! I guess there are such things as love at first sight. Kukui wanted it and put a ring on it. There’s a real man, yo! Now, he does lose some points here as he does lead that double life as the Masked Royal where he keeps it a secret from everyone, including his fangirl of a wife. But once she knew, she let him off the hook. And you know how much this ship is cemented? Watch the last 30 seconds of the final episode! It’ll blow your socks off!

On a side note, the way Kukui proposed to Burnet…BEST FUCKING PROPOSAL!

Nurse Joy x Officer Jenny: Amazing, it has taken over 20 years for anyone to think this is even humanly possible. But in Alola, there’s a Nurse Joy and an Officer Jenny that are constantly together. Maybe it’s because I hang out on Tumblr a little too much that it gets implied a lot, but I can’t help but have a guilty pleasure for this.

Pokeshipping: AAAAAAH! Yeah, Medea has to bring this old war back. Okay, okay, I won’t be long here. Just to let you know that I’m a fan of this ship, especially back in the day. As for Sun & Moon, at least we don’t see that classic tsundere syndrome Misty is known for. But she still cutefully teases Ash about several things from the past including the broken bike and their past gym battle. To add to this, Misty (and to lesser extent Brock) were the only ones from Ash’s past companions to see him this region...much to my dismay!

Brock x Olivia: Holy crap! Did Brock seriously get lucky? Is this it? Is this the woman to finally fulfill this pervy breeder/doctor? To me, it just feels like just another day in the life of Brock’s love life. However he has done his research of Olivia that makes me think he’s dead serious about her…I just think it’s a creative way to say he’s in the early stages of stalking. But nothing else came from it after Brock (literally) proposed marriage to her and joined in doing a Z-move with her. Then again, Brock does get a lucky break with at least one lady in each region. Sadly, that’ll probably be the end of that much like Professor Ivy, Pike Queen Lucy, Holly, and Autumn.

Ash x Gladion: Guilty pleasure…is it wrong that I want these two to dress up like Yuri and Yurio from Yuri on Ice. No, didn’t think so! Not sorry for that image!

ANIMATION: I’m sorry, I can’t stay quiet about this like most of the other fans of the show. What the hell were they thinking? This is not supposed to be One Piece. This is not supposed to that Rock Lee spin-off. This is Pokemon. Poke-fucking-mon! Ash went backwards on the evolutionary chart. And people have nerve to go off on the BW series for giving him wider pupils and a mediocre outfit. You people owe the animators for BW a fucking apology for one! Ash’s design now looks like he’s cosplaying to be Monkey D. Luffy’s retarded cousin. Even my own mother, who watches one episode once every couple of months commented to say Ash looks stupid. Thank you!

SADDEST MOMENT: It’s been a good while since I’ve had a Pokemon episode touch me to a point of almost crying. Close, but the Misty/Togetic goodbye still has it beat (which was then beaten by an episode of Violet Evergarden…Dammit 2019!). And even then, the touching moments in Pokemon would be because someone of the main cast released their pokemon like Ash releasing Charizard, Jessie releasing Dustox, and OH MY GOD, NO! ENOUGH WITH THE SAD TOGETIC SCENE! But that was just it, at least no one died!

…Until now! That’s right, deaths were usually only a movie thing as we saw in the fifth movie with Latios. But in the last three years, Pokemon got a little dark in both the anime and the movie trilogies. The 20th movie we saw a Luxray freeze to death, the 21st movie we saw a Snubbull burn to death, and because the 22nd movie is a rehash of the very first movie, we’re going to relive Ash dying.

The SM anime did a few things we haven’t seen in the Pokemon anime before. In the early episodes of SM, we were introduced to Litten and watched a very sad episode dealing with death. Before Litten joined Ash, it lived on the streets with a very old Stoutland. Now think of every sad animal movie you’ve ever seen and you’ll have your answer of what happens to Stoutland by the end of the episode. They don’t show Stoutland’s death on screen, but we know. This episode was very clever at tackling the death topic on a kid’s anime. And up to this point I thought this episode was going to take the cake in the sad department. Boy was I wrong!

The 108th episode of SM gave us one hell of a tear-jerker and it almost got me. It almost got me! We learn in this episode that Mallow had a mother. And this is a first because no one in any of the main cast talked about a dead parent before this episode! We learn about Mallow’s mother being sick a lot and it caused a rift between the two. Especially when Mallow snaps at her mother because all she does is apologize for not being there. Unfortunately that exchange was the last time she ever spoke to her. Where does the sad part get heavy? Here!

While everyone was on Poni Island, we hear about how Tapu Fini is able to communicate with the dead. And among some of the dead we saw Hapu’s grandfather, Kiawe’s grandfather, and Stoutland. But in the mist, Mallow came across her mother. And that one moment where she finally can see her mother after so many years! She breaks down and cries. She apologizes for the horrible things she said as a kid to her. But those sorrys turn into thank yous. She thanks her mother for what she’s done, thanked her for being her mother! God damn it, this is now #2 in saddest Pokemon moments. The second I saw this I thought it was going to make me ugly cry and trounce all over the Misty/Togetic moment. To my surprise, it didn’t. But came super close!

In short, Mallow seeing her mother again…this moment! Feels! Fucking feels!

COMEBACK: I have pretty much given up on people from the previous series to pay Ash a visit in the newest region. After XY where we didn’t get a single sighting of Iris and Cilan getting shafted to an episode that they didn’t even bother giving an English dub, I just gave up. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t get characters who “came back”.

In SM, there were two times where we got a blast from the past. In two episodes we had Ash, Kukui, and the class make a trip to Kanto where (that’s right) we get to see Professor Oak, Delia, Misty, and Brock again. Not only that but we get two more episodes where Misty and Brock come to Alola!

As much as I love Misty…and toler…ate Brock, many other characters are overdue for a get-together with Ash. If you want me to be blunt, May, Iris, and Tracey are the only ones who should get attention and everyone else needs to FUCK OFF. That’s right, we don’t need to see Brock hit on more whores of the day. No more fishing competitions for Dento-fruit (much as I love him). Blushy McIdiot, Dingus, and Bonnie can go fuck off! And that goes double for Dawn!

Shit Medea, that was cruel.

Yeah it was cruel and I’ll continue to do so. It’s been 11 years since May was last seen/heard. Iris got royally butt-fucked by everything in the anime. And as for Tracey, I don’t owe you pissants a fucking explanation. Tracey deserves better! Speaking of…

AN UNFORTUNATE THEORY: With the comebacks of Misty and Brock, Tracey has just been NOT THERE! They go to Oak’s lab and he isn’t there. Not even mentioned. Not a word about him. When Ash calls Professor Oak randomly, Oak is there and even Muk, but no Tracey. When Ash asks Misty and Brock about back home, they don’t mention Tracey…which is to be expected since they have to talk about their siblings, but still.

Pokemon doing anything island adventure wise kinda comes with a mixed bag. The Orange Islands came with immediate hate because loyal Brock fans are ass-hurt about Tracey’s existence. The Sevii Islands were a bust during the FR/LG games. And the less mentioned about Decalore Island in the BW anime, the better. But when they decided to do Alola, fans caught on quite quickly with some comparisons to the Orange Island anime portion.

Unlike all the other gyms in other regions, Alola had four grand trials/leaders. Orange Islands had the Orange Crew, which was essentially four gym leaders. Both the trials and the crew had Ash do different tasks before an actual battle. Next, pokemon with different colors/forms! In the early episodes of the Orange Islands, we saw pokemon just a smide different from their normal looks. We saw Vileplume with a different flower pattern, other pokemon with a different shade of color to them, and interesting designs on Butterfree. In Alola, they expaneded on that by giving “Alolan forms” to pokemon like Meowth, Diglett, Exeggutor, Marowak, and even Raichu! I do love Alolan Raichu! However, the pokemon that had small changes in the Orange Islands were not brought to the Alolan table. So maybe Orange Islands and Alola are in far different parts of the world.

Where my theory goes from here is that I think Pokemon really wants to pretend the Orange Islands never happened. That means the gym battles, the special pokemon, and yes, even Tracey. That’s the only way to explain why no one has mentioned him even when we’re standing in Professor Oak’s fucking lab! I hate to be blunt and say something so horrible, but every time I watch SM, it really does feel like that. Yes, I admit it, the Orange Islands were just filler until Ash and crew could go to Johto. First of all, it exists. No matter how much you try to white-wash us with Alolan features, the Orange Islands was a thing. And it was a great thing! Ash was in his first six-on-six match (and won), Ash’s first double battle happened here, and stellar episodes like Pikachu Re-volts and Tracey Gets Bugged should not be cast aside. Those were all great! Pokemon, you cannot run from your past! You can improve upon it, yes. But never forget! These were a thing! These were great things!

Thankfully, my death theory was put to rest in the first episode of Pokemon 2019 when the Orange Island trophy was shown. That’s great, now where’s Tracey?

Another theory! They couldn’t get Tomokazu Seki. That could also be it!

RUNNING GAG: We got two running gags throughout the SM series! First, there’s the return of that singing ball of pink, Jigglypuff! This little singer has not been seen or heard from since AG. That’s well over a decade, people. Well…when Ash and crew visited Kanto, they ran into Jigglypuff and by sheer coincidence, wound up riding the airplane back to Alola. So now we see it every now and then in Alola, singing in a Karaoke bar.

And the other…Bewear! It hasn’t been officially caught by Team Rocket. They don’t use it in a battle. But Bewear has literally made it impossible for Team Rocket to BLAST OFF ever again. Their life-long running gag died the minute they fell into Bewear’s meaty arms.

Also it doesn’t help that I constantly scream “KUMA SHOCK” every time it comes to collect Team Rocket. Anyone who gets that reference deserves a high five!

BANNED IN THE USA: Welcome back, banishment! I knew you couldn’t stay away for long as we do live in a SJW/PC time. So what episode never got to see the light of day in the U.S.?

This one…yeah, I can totally agree with. So in the U.S. there is indeed ONE episode we were not given. In this episode, Ash decides to help a group of Passimian. And throughout the majority of the episode, Ash is dressed up like a Passimian from the pajamas to the…OH MY! I actually let it slide when I saw the Japanese viewing (because I’m half-awake at 2am), but I can definitely see why this one would ruffle a few feathers. Let’s just say Ash’s costume was a little too borderline blackface and that’s why it’ll never air in the states.

Anything else!? Not in terms of full episodes. Certain scenes, absolutely! Little baby things were edited due to being not kid-friendly. What’s in those drinks Kukui and Burnet are drinking out of at their own wedding? Champagne? Blasphemy! That’s Orange Juice now! What’s in Delia’s drink in the first episode? Oh we can’t have her pull a Miriam Pataki here! Turn that shit into Pinap Juice! Okay, besides the censorship of drinks, was there anything else? Why, yes, yes there was!

We all know how creepy Team Rocket’s Mimikyu can be. That’s why it’s placed in my top 10 list of characters that scare the shit outta me! Well one scene had Mimikyu’s shadow scare Meowth so horribly, the next scene had Meowth DEAD! Face down in the water! Don’t worry kids, Meowth comes back to life. The U.S. said “OH HELL NO WE CAN’T SHOW THIS! FUCK IS WRONG WITH JAPAN!” And so the face down scene was completely chopped from the dub. Add to that, there were several instances where Meowth almost dies and parts of those scenes are cut from American broadcast.

REFERENCES: If there was one thing this new animation has given us, it has open the doors to using references from other animes and even a few western media projects. And we haven’t really seen much of this since the original series and AG. And even back then, it was mostly just Rose of Versailles references with Team Rocket. I know I give the animation flack for it being a pile of shit compared to better animation shown in XY and DP. But I think the animators do have a little more fun when doing Sun and Moon. And I think it’s loosened them to using other animation styles seen in different and popular animes.

And boy did SM use a butt-load of anime references! Here’s a list of what I was able to remember!

*Facial expressions matching those scene in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure in several episodes *A Mr. Osomatsu reference tossed somewhere *Ping Pong the Animation being used when Illma entered in the Ping Pong competition *Kiawe doing the famous Gendo Ikari pose from Neon Genesis Evangelion in the same episode mentioned above. *Ash and Kiawe making the scary, demonic face Popuko makes when she’s mad on Pop Team Epic, when the two missed out on catching a UB Pokemon. *Transformation scenes with Ash and crew that match those of Power Rangers or every magical girl show. *The girl with many Pikachus has one Pikachu with hair like Boruto (Naruto Uzamaki’s son) *Ash and Pikachu looking like they’re doing the Kamehameha attack during their league match (DBZ, duh) *Rotomdex mentioning it wants to do a sci-fi feature and the image strikes a chord with Star Wars fans everywhere. *Lillie dressed like Utena. Mallow dressed like the rose princess, Anthy. HOLY SHIT, MY OTP IS DOING A REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA REFERENCE! Take my revolution!

And the mother of all references goes to Jessie! Or should I say, her seiyuu Megumi Hayashibara! Pokemon animated many of her iconic roles in one epic scene. Just to name a few of Hayashibara’s roles shown there was Ranma Saotome (Ranma ½) Rei Ayanami (Evangelion), White Kitty (Hello Kitty), Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop), and everyone’s favorite Lina Inverse (Slayers). At least in the English dub, Lisa Ortiz popped in for the Lina Inverse moment! Epic on epic on epicly God levels of YES!

MUSIC: Okay in recent years, the English openings have gotten tolerable and the same can be said about the opening themes used this time around. So I won’t bitch about that. So how about I bitch about the BGM?!

Background music, I know a lot of complaints are expressed by loyal Japanese version fans that the English version has completely changed the BGM throughout most of the episodes and even the motion pictures! Yeah, in the I Choose You movie only ONE original BGM was used. The BGM topic never really got to me. But if I remember correctly when 4Kids lost rights to Pokemon and went to the new company, they said that they were going to keep a lot of things true and the BGM was one of them. Yeah, that went to the waist-side real fast! I do believe that they listened to that complaint because in the following movie, the entire score was kept (with the exception of the ED theme by Porno Graffitti).

The Japanese openings…I used to like Alola by Rica Matsumoto. Yeah…used to. Okay, that’s too mean. I don’t hate it on the lengths of V(Volt) from the previous series. It’s just that they used this song in certain scenes that took me out of liking it fully. Now anytime I hear Alola, all I can think about is Ash, Litten, Pikachu, and Rockruff wiggling their asses. Some of the other openings were just okay, I wasn’t too thrilled about them. But there was another thing I feel I should bring up.

Just like the English dub to XY, they wanted to capture a nostalgic feel to the general audience watching, Sun and Moon gave us some of that here. Because of the release of the 20th movie, Rica Matsumoto ended up singing her signature Mezase Pokemon Master again. And as a result, it was the show’s opening for quite some time. Not only that but the last ending theme to Sun and Moon was a cover of Rica’s other hit song Type Wild (now sung by Shoko Nakagawa).

MOVIES: The movies have taken a different turn from what we’ve seen previously. Let’s face it folks, the 10 movies that came out prior to these last three were average AT BEST. And with many other series doing reboots to their old classics, I guess Pokemon decided to do it on a large scale when it came to the story of Ash and Pikachu. With all new animation and a new story, we follow Ash and Pikachu in a much different take on their journey. A much faster-paced story where Ash doesn’t have much of the filler stuff and doesn’t travel with Misty, Brock, or the rest! To which I say, good! I know it means the Sun & Moon gang will never be in a movie, but it also means that animation won’t be there either.

I Choose You was the first movie and from the get-go, fans were upset over seeing a reboot of Ash’s beginning journey with Pikachu and not seeing Misty or Brock. Instead we get a kind of condensed version of certain moments of Ash’s original journey, mixed with new material and get introduced to new characters (who come from Sinnoh of all places). The pokemon featured was Ho-oh, who after all this time was going to be featured in a film and Marshadow because it’s not a pokemon movie without featuring a brand-new pokemon from this era.

The Power of Us, Ash ends up on an island where he meets several new characters who each have their own story to tell including a high school girl, a shy scientist, a pathological liar, an old woman who hates pokemon, and the daughter of the mayor. And we are introduced to another new pokemon, Zeroroa. All five characters (plus Ash) are put through their own trials and tribulations in order to save their town during a festival.

Mewtwo Strikes Back EVOLUTION: It’s the first movie…in CGI/3D/Robot-Chicken-ized, whatever! There’s no need for a synopsis since everybody and their mother knows this story. It’s literally the same story as Mewtwo Strikes Back. Ash and company get invited to an island, Mewtwo causes storms and clones to mess with the people, Mew appears, Pokemon fight, Ash dies, Ash doesn’t die, Mewtwo says profound speech that even Jon Stewart praises, everyone’s minds are erased, and that’s all! They even got the original cast to come back and reused Unshou Ishizuka’s old footage as the narrator for this movie!

The thing about this last movie is that, The Pokemon Company dropped the ball on this. SEVERELY dropped the ball on this! They had the perfect setup, the perfect opportunity to get this in the theaters just in time for the 20th anniversary of the first movie’s release in the U.S. and they do jackshit with it! Not even on Disney XD. For shame!

I will say that these three are a SEVERE improvement on the Pokemon movies. Can anyone with full honesty say that any pokemon movie that came out after the Lucario movie that any of the others were even good? Be honest, almost every movie since AG was just essentially a long side-story with an annoying mythical/legendary that can talk. It got annoying! Plus it just felt like Ash and whoever he was with would just be dragged in the middle of some bullshit and have to save the day. It was fine in the first couple of movies, but the pattern got worn out.

Plus with this alternate timeline to the Pokemon story, it gave the Sun and Moon anime more to work with legendaries and mythical pokemon. Hell, all the main cast was able to catch (and later release) an Ultra Beast pokemon. Not only that, but Mallow got to take care of the mythical pokemon Shaymin for over 40 episodes. Don’t you wish we got that with May and Manaphy? Plus, Ash got to take care of Cosmog and Poipole for an extended amount of time. Okay, my favorite movie of the three.

I Choose You is my favorite out of the bunch. I loved the retelling of Ash and Pikachu starting out on their very first journey. I love the new path they took with this story. I love the new characters introduced, Verity and Sorrel. I love the pokemon that were shown as it gave us a bit of everything from every region up to this point. Yes it was a cluster-fuck in some portions as I had to see past characters shown way different. Cynthia’s Verity’s mother! I can’t unsee this shit! And I will never unsee the messed-up dream Ash had where he was in actual real-world with no pokemon and in a real school where I’m given vivid flashbacks of my fanfic. Regardless, I enjoyed this movie so much. And I got to see many things here that I would always imagine would happen in a final episode of Pokemon (where Ash dies, Pikachu speaks, and an epic fight with Ho-oh). It is now my 2nd favorite Pokemon movie.

+1000000000 points for showing Tracey in the ED credits! Medea screeched in the theaters. I apologize for nothing! Best five seconds I’ve had in years.

TEAM ROCKET UPDATE: As this region does not have Pokemon Contests or that tact on Princess crap from Kalos, we’ll find our favorite trio (+Wobbuffett) going after the twerps and wandering around the area. And while I do enjoy Jessie dipping her foot in the contest arena, this pace can be boring and a blessing at the same time. Unlike previous seasons, we will go episodes at a time where we don’t see Team Rocket. But the episodes where they do show up aren’t the most thrilling. Usually they’ll just be in the background serving treats to background characters.

However, one major improvement with Team Rocket this season is with their pokemon. In the past, Team Rocket has had some unique pokemon that they’ve captured (or stolen…still not letting the Yamnega thing go). In Kanto, James had Victreebel that would eat him. In Hoenn, James had Cacnea that would pinch him every time it came out. In Sinnoh, James had Carnevine that would eat him…Okay, a lot of it is James torture-porn! Regardless, they were entertaining to watch. And I felt a complete slump with their pokemon during BW and XY. This season, pretty much ALL of Team Rocket’s pokemon are entertaining.

Marenie loves James so much that she would blow off being with her own kind to be with James. Even hearing the sounds of wedding bells every time James asks a favor of her! It’s actually adorable to watch Marenie. Jessie’s Mimikyu…I’m almost convinced Mimikyu is the reincarnation of a serial killer. And the biggest pokemon to cause Team Rocket so much grief is one they didn’t even catch, but it sticks around to take care of them like they were children, Bewear! And trust me, they’ve tried catching Bewear. And Bewear smushed the pokeball into poke-dust! Bewear would just come right the fuck out of nowhere, defying logic, gravity, and absurdity to bring Team Rocket back to its cave! This, making it the longest period of time where Team Rocket went without blasting off!

Every time they had the twerps cornered, in comes Bewear to take them back! Whenever they were about to do their traditional blast off, Bewear would come in and take them back to the cave! Even when they’re in fucking Kanto, it managed to swoop in and take them back to the cave. Team Rocket even DEFEATED Ash in a battle and had the perfect opportunity to take the twerp’s Pikachu. But no, Bewear came in and swooped them up! These pokemon were fun to watch this entire series! This was definitely an improvement from the last few seasons. Seriously, I can’t even remember what pokemon Jessie and James had during BW!

BIG TEAM BATTLE: Just like in Unova, Team Rocket ended up getting more attention than the antagonists of Alola. Except here, it’s a little more accepting. It’s just that in Alola, was there really a big team to cause major havoc with world-shaking consequences? Technically, the Aether Foundation wasn’t the big bad team and Team Skull was just a bunch of angsty punks. Regardless, there were two arcs with something epic happening.

The first of course was opening the wormhole and discovering the Ultra Beasts. And in almost the same fashion as the game, Lillie and the rest have to go and rescue her mother from the Ultra Beasts (because Lusamine got taken over by one). Only difference is that game Lusamine wanted to use this power. Anime Lusamine pushed her children out of the way so they wouldn’t get taken away. We did get some great moments with Ash doing a new Z-move with Pikachu, Nebby evolving, and Lillie’s relationship with her mother become stronger.

The second big battle was with Necrozma. Now this one heavily involved Team Rocket as Giovanni disbatched several other members including his assistant Matori and some eye-patch gorilla to try and get this pokemon. However after this incident, we never see Giovanni try to get his hands on this pokemon again or talk about it again. Even when he makes a big foreshadowy deal when he dialed Nanu about it! But in this arc, a mysterious power throughout Alola was making all of the adults listless and lazy. And it was up to Ash and the other kids to get to the bottom of this strange phenomenom.

ENDING – POKEMON LEAGUE: Yeah, this league was going to be different. In the Alolan League, just about anyone can join this certain Pokemon League, as long as you have a Z-crystal, it’s all good. Well, Alola has never had a Pokemon League, which is sort of like what was in the game. So Professor Kukui decided to put this dream into an action and now Alola will hold its first ever Pokemon League! So expect to see the entire cast compete! I’m not kidding!

From the get-go I was worried since Ash’s team here in Alola is pitifully underdeveloped compared to past arcs. And if he were to fight, he’d probably lose to Gladion or Guzma! But since the first task was to knock 151 competitors down to 16, we all know Ash was going to survive this trial. Now in past league competitions and even Pokemon Contests, thinning a big number down would take some time like an episode or two. Here, IT’S A FUCKING FREE-FOR-ALL BATTLE! Trainers coming at you from all angles and you can only use one pokemon! It’s like a mini-game from Mario Party it was that crazy!

The 16 trainers that made the cut are all trainers we know! They all had at least 1 debut episode prior to this moment. So no surprise bastards like Tobias to muck things up! The sixteen competitors are Ash, Mallow, Lillie, Lana, Kiawe, Sophocles, Jessie, James, Faba, Aceorla, Mina, Ilima, Guzma, Hau, Gladion, and Samson Oak! Unbelievable! The entire main cast, Team Rocket, trial people in the games, the head of Team Skull, the island heartthrob, Ash’s two main rivals, and a freakin’ Oak! We could not make this up!

From the Top 8, we wind up with Ash, Guzma, Hau, Gladion, James, Sophocles, Kiawe, and Lana advancing. These next battles had some pretty decent moments including James trying to hold his own against Gladion, Lana and Primarina trying to survive a poisonous dick move from Guzma, and action-packed moments with Kiawe and Sophocles.

…

I don’t want to talk about it. NO, I DON’T! NO ONE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT ASH’S BATTLE WITH HAU! First of all, their rivalry only expands to like two episodes. One episode prior to the league and the rest during the league! You’re just butt-fucking us on this sweet little cinnamon roll. I know the anime really wants to stand out on its own by not giving us awesome rivals that we get in the games like Cheren or Brendan, but God-forbid if you give them some awesome moments before you have them get beaten by Ash and sent back to wherever the fuck they came from! And this battle is just an insult of every level!

I know Ash has been known to pull off some stupid moments in his day when it comes to pokemon battles. He’d put a clear type-disadvantage against a powerhouse pokemon. He’d put all his faith in one pokemon and if it failed, absolutely fuck all. And most common of all, have one of his non-evolved pokemon go up against a fully evolved pokemon. We get the latter when Ash’s insomniac-stricken bird, Rowlet, go up against Hau’s fully-evolved Decidueye. But before the battle, we get some last minute training in done by Toucannon and its bird-kin. You’ve got to be the stupidest mother fu…Forget it, you’re just wasting your breath! Well, it’s because Rowlet is DETERMINED so that gives the green flag to fight in Ash Ketchum’s book.

You stupid fucking idi…

During the fight, Ash and Hau did use their Z-moves early on and both did little to no damage to either one. But it’s freakin’ clear that Hau’s Decidueye is clearly more trained. That’s why the two birds duked it out to a point of both of them being close to knocked out. But in the end, Nanu calls the battle for Decidueye because it got up first. AND ASH LOST!

…Or did he?

No, upon further inspection, ROWLET WAS FUCKING ASLEEP! God, no! No! Good fucking God, what were you writers thinking? You’re trolling us again, aren’t you? Ever since the Sinnoh League, you thought it was a good idea to troll the fucking audience. Like Tobias having another legendary or Davey winning with a fucking Eevee or Ash losing to Alain. You people are fucking with us!

Long story short, Ash and Rowlet get a second chance. They win the battle. Hau cries. Moving on!

NO, WE’RE NOT MOVING ON FROM THIS SHIT! WHO THE FUCK DECIDED THIS TO HAPPEN?! A lot of us fans are still sore over that retarded call back in the Kanto League where Squirtle falling asleep was a K.O. I can’t accept this, not after all the league battles Ash has had before this. Especially the last league against Tierno, Sawyer, and Alain! They are probably watching you and facepalming. Bonnie is laughing at you! Lysandre is calling you a dickhead from beyond the grave! Serena tore up a picture of Ash and went lesbian! Okay, that didn’t really happen. But this episode got me so fucking twisted I find myself eating thunder and shitting out lightening.

And now with Lana’s defeat by Guzma, we’re now in the final four. So…huh…um, new category! I know this is where I’m supposed to talk about the ending with the league, but I feel like I should talk about this.

GENDER AND LEAGUE PLACEMENT: Is it just me or are most competitors and even winners of these things majority male? It’s unknown who won the Kanto League. Johto went to some douchebag no one remembers. Hoenn was won by Tyson. Sinnoh went to Trollbias. Unova went to Davey. And Kalos went to NOT ASH…Alain! And even in the top 4 and 8 sometimes, it’s all men. I really don’t want to put the pussy hat on and claim unfairness to a show I’ve been watching for over 20 years, but…putting Lana up against someone we all know is going to go to the semi-finals…come on man! I probably should have questioned some gender stuff especially with that princess crap in Kalos where it was most, if not all female. But Pokemon Leagues are usually coed! It’s just that prior to Lana, the only other girls I remember competiting in past leagues were Katie from AG and Astrid from XY. Maybe I’m making too much out of it.

BACK TO THE LEAGUE: Thankfully the semi-finals fights were great (compared to that bullshit Hau/Ash match I wish would die). Gladion and Kiawe bro-downed with their match! Guzma learned the hard way of being defeated in the semi-finals by a twerp. Guzma, you may be older than Ash, but Ashy-boy has been defeated so many times in this position it’s not even funny. So the finals were a three-on-three match between Ash and Gladion.

Ash got some good traction with his newly evolved pokemon Melmetal. Gladion was able to put his father’s pokemon, Zoroark into good use. And there was even a double knockout near the end. But somehow, we knew it would go back to a finale of Lycanroc vs. Lycanroc. And this was a nail-bitter. Who the heck knows who was going to end up victorious?

…Actually, a certain publication leaked the result three days before the episode aired…

I fucking hate the internet sometimes.

So Ash won…

*CRAZY-ASS APPLAUSE TIME*

You’d think Jesus “Tap Dancing” Christ rose from the dead with how crazy this was. The internet lost it because after the Kalos League’s close-call and Sinnoh’s B.S. match against the legendaries, they saw this as Ash’s staple in becoming a Pokemon Master. Whatever…

WHAT NEXT?!: Actually, much like what happened after Alain won the Pokemon League, the ceremony was quickly interrupted by the appearance of the gluttenous Ultra Beast, Guzzlord. And it took the power of everyone’s Z-Crystal to get rid of this beast. However, at the end of this powerful battle, Ash and everyone else learned a shocking secret of Professor Kukui.

Kukui is really Alola’s most famous battler, Masked Royal!

Well now that the Delcatty’s out of the bag, might as well have Kukui actually go up against Ash in a six-on-six match. NOW THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! This was one hell of a match, spanning over three episodes (it was that bad-ass). Kukui’s got one hell of a line-up featuring pokemon from nearly every region. Now because of a certain battle, seeing Rowlet take out one of Kukui’s finest kinda pisses me off. But the biggest fights came from Incenaroar and Torracat. Because they fought, not one, not two, but THREE times! And their bout ended with Ash’s Torracat evolving and a double knockout! OH MY GOD, HOW COULD THIS GET ANY BETTER?!

In comes Tapu-Koko! He said, “Fuck your sixth pokemon, Kukui. I wanna battle this boy I’ve been stalking since 2016!” Yeah, we get one major fight between one of the Tapus and Ash’s Naganadel and Pikachu (and whatever pokemon that isn’t dead) and believe it or not, Ash won! He defeated all of Kukui’s pokemon AND Tapu-Koko. He’s seriously out-doing everything he’s ever done from XYZ! Even going above and beyond with Pikachu by doing a solid reference to Dragon Ball Z…You all know what they referenced.

So Ash, you just won the Pokemon League, you defeated your mentor, you took out one of the island deities, what are you gonna do next?

I’M GOING TO DISNEYLA…PALLET TOWN!

Yeah, I would choose that too Ash. Only for different and hornier reasons! Actually, Ash gave a lot of thought to what was next. Not only him, but everybody in his class! The biggest one of course was Lillie as she has been reading up on her father’s old journals and trying to figure out that gift he left her as a baby before he disappeared. I still can’t believe he got her quite a rare pokemon like Magerna. But Magerna has been a husk until Lillie took care of it and now it’s freakin’ mobil. Back to Ash, it wasn’t really until he fought Kiawe in a post-match fight that he buckled down on what he wants to do next. And I think Olivia mentioning traveling kinda sparked Ash for his next journey.

And wouldn’t you know it, Team Rocket at the same time gets word from Giovanni to pack their shit up and return to Kanto. Mimikyu in its satanic fashion tries to take out Pikachu one last time. But it failed, almost drowned in the water, and was then SAVED by the very Pokemon it’s tried to kill the last 145 episodes. Okay, vendetta over, later bitches. Team Rocket ended up leaving Maernie and Mimikyu in the dead of night. And Bewear promised to watch after them in their absence and gave us something we haven’t seen since this show began…a proper blast off! Team Rocket blasted off once more. I’m feeling quite nostalgic because it’s been a while.

Hey, I just realized. What happened to Jigglypu-

WHO CARES!

Okay then, I’ll probably see it in another 10 years.

Lillie decided to go off with her mother and brother to travel. Lusamine handed over her responsibilities to Rotomdex. And on the day of Lillie’s departure, she ends up almost in the same fashion as Serena’s goodbye (but thankfully we’re on a boat and she can’t do any last-minute smooches). Lillie remembered all that Ash has done for her and how much she’s grown, so she gives him a very earnest “Thank You”. Now for Ash’s goodbye to his host family! Now I’ve pretty much heard and seen the internet cherish this cute bond between Kukui, Burnet, and Ash. And yeah, it’s pretty genuine! Whenever we get an opening scene of them in Kukui’s home, they’re usually doing something family-ish. And they’re definitely going to miss that! Poor Burnet was even crying!

On Ash’s flight back to Pallet Town, he looks out the window and sees his friends giving him one final farewell as they fly through the skies with their partner pokemon.

In the aftermath we see, Sophocles leaving to go with his cousin, Mallow’s older brother returning home, Shaymin transforming into its flying form (yes, flying away leaving Mallow), Kiawe is doing some training with Olivia, Lana traveling with her father to fish for a mythical pokemon, Hau taking on Nanu in a grand trial, Team Skull just hanging there, Bewear looking after Maernie and Mimikyu, Lusamine traveling with the kids, and something that shocked the shit out of me! Even though I called it in the back of my mind!

We close out the episode with Kukui and Burnet sitting together and...

WHAT THE WHAT?!

NANI?

NANI THE FUCK?

IS THAT A BABY BUMP?! It is. It freakin’ is! God I hope Ash didn’t walk in on them having sex. Don’t be silly Medea, they probably conceived this child when Ash was either training or having a sleepover. Truthfully, I say they did the nasty when Ash, Kiawe, and Sophocles spent the night in the woods training.

OOH, BETTER IMAGE! They did roleplaying during sex and Kukui wore the Masked Royal mask! Just let me have this moment guys. I really enjoy frolicking in my gutter mind!

Oh and closing message, “and your dreams!”

I seriously hope the English dub keeps the end credits to this. They have a lousy reputation of skimping on things like that. They even skipped the photo scene at the end of BW. Please for crap’s sake, keep the ending scenes!

Yes, in the back of my mind I thought Sun and Moon would be radical and give us a pregnant Burnet. I knew this would happen sometime after that wedding episode a year and a half ago. But then a few weeks before the Sun and Moon finale, I wound up dreaming about Kiawe’s mother pregnant and she was wearing the exact same dress Burnet is wearing in the final scene. Sometimes my dreams can be fucking spooky and spot-on at the same time.

WOW-EE-WOWEE-WOW-WOW! Okay, um. Some thoughts! This anime gave me such a huge slump during a lot of it. I cannot lie. There was a long period of time where I was just disinterested in Sun and Moon. And seeing how other people were (especially those who were staunch XYZ fans) yeah I can see that. One big, annoying factor was once again, the animation. Yeah, you whiny bitches complaining BW Ash was the worst? You owe that one an apology! Because this Ash looks nothing like the past 5 Ash’s! And they tried this comedic style that won on some parts and failed in other departments. Though, spot-on whenever we get a Jojo’s reference! There were episodes that were just absolute MEH. And this is coming from the same person who sat through all the fillers in Johto, MORE THAN ONCE! And I had some severe reservations about seeing a main cast this huge trying to get some character growth. I had absolutely no expectations for anyone and thought they were gonna serve as dead weight (except for Kiawe and Lana).

Once again, I’m glad to see my expectations are blown away. There has been massive character development and they managed to hit all the main characters and even some of the minor ones. Lillie especially has blossomed throughout the series. As a girl who was afraid of Pokemon, I am impressed at how far she’s come. She was able to overcome her fear of pokemon eventually, hatch a pokemon from an egg, excel the power of Z-moves, bring back to life a rare/mythical pokemon, and even make it to the top 16 of the Alolan League. While Lana is still my best girl of this season, Lillie is definitely a wonder to behold. Sophocles, I had the littlest of hope or care for him. I still am not a fan of him really, but when you see this boy overcome certain anxieties, hurdles, and one sad moment involving the meteorite pokemon, you see he’s a pretty solid character.

And then there’s Mallow…Dammit! So I just realized as I’m wrapping up Sun and Moon.

One of the biggest things I saw was “Family”. And seeing as Alola is a take on Hawaii and one of the biggest things people pride theirselves upon is family, this totally makes sense. In Sun and Moon, we saw a lot of different kinds of families. Small ones like Sophocles. Bigger ones like Kiawe and Lana. Families that have had their own share of heartache like Mallow and Lillie. Ones that end up starting like Kukui and Burnet! Hala and Hau’s little relationship. And even families that are reunited like Bewear and Stuffel! These particular moments and episodes were ones that touched me in a way only Miyazaki can reach. Particularly Mallow’s story! I already mentioned this in the saddest moment category, but Mallow with her deceased mother is one of the best character growth episodes in Pokemon history. Up until that point, we’ve seen Mallow pretty perky, a good cook, and a supportive friend, especially to Ash, Lana, and Lillie. But then we get hit with this one story that no one expected. And now, let’s discuss Ash in this part! We got to see Ash settle in with a second family life with Kukui and Burnet. I mean let’s face it, all the other places Ash traveled he would roam from town to town. Here in Alola, it’s like Kukui was the father he never had and Burnet was like a second mother. And I suppose they felt like Ash was a son to them. So quite fitting they wound up having a baby after his departure.

And it wasn’t just the humans that have grown, but their pokemon too! Many of Ash and his friends’s pokemon were able to grow and shatter all expectations. Two of Ash’s pokemon especially deserve that praise and that’s Lycanroc and Incenaroar. Back when Lycanroc was a Rockruff, he always strived to get stronger. And in later episodes, it looked up to other Lycanroc like Olivia’s and Gladion’s. Then it evolved and it’s been quite the journey to try and train this doggo to it’s full potential. And because this is one of Ash’s pokemon, this has gotta be a one-of-a-kind pokemon (dusk form). Well Lycanroc has overcome some tough obstacles (yes, including bearing through getting dirty) and went on to be one of Ash’s top pokemon.

Litten, THANKFULLY didn’t have a dickhead trainer abusing him like many of Ash’s other fire-type pokemon. But Litten’s story was far from perfect as it was a stray cat pokemon living on the streets with an old Stoutland. And Ash took in Litten after Stoutland passed away. Litten was a pretty decent member of Ash’s team, but definitely got the fire in his eyes when he saw Masked Royal and Incenaroar. That encouraged Litten throughout the series to get stronger. Even leading to one of the best fights during Kukui and Ash’s match! Good doggo, good kitty!

Oh yeah, probably should talk about the battles! Unlike the other gyms up to this point, Ash went through Grand Trials (just like you would in the game). Except Ash really didn’t do that many of those mini trials since Kiawe, Lana, Mallow, and Sophocles were his classmates and not giving out tests! But Ash still wound up battling the big kahunas like Hala, Olivia, Nanu, and Hapu. And in the old Ash fashion, there were battles he won like a champ, ones where he’d have to try again, and ones where he got supremely lucky. Yeah, that Ash vs. Hapu match was such bullshit. But I’d still take that match over Ash vs. Hau in the Alolan League!

I will NEVER get over that match. Yeah aside from that travesty, a lot of the Pokemon League matches were pretty stellar, even the ones not involving Ash. I really enjoyed Sophocles vs. Kiawe and the Lana vs. Mallow match.

LET’S LOOK BACK AT MY HIGH HOPES: At the end of Pokemon XY, I made a nice list of things I would like to see. Did any of my high hopes come to fruition? Let’s see…

First of all, NO, I DID NOT SEE MY ANIME HUSBAND! For fuck’s sake Pokemon! If Snorlax exists at the Oak lab, Tracey Sketchit should too. They both came from the same arc. But NO! He’s not at the lab and doesn’t even get a mention. That is messed up! I don’t know if this is because they couldn’t get Tomokazu Seki to stop playing Gilgamesh for a second to come back or they’re trying to distance themselves from the Orange Islands as much as possible, or if they just FORGOT his existence, but I’m not digging this. No, Medea hates this with a holy fucking passion.

Old characters returning under this new style! Yeah, it happened. I think I was only a fan of how the women looked, so Misty and Delia looked okay to me. I just wasn’t a fan of Professor Oak and Brock. Although, kudos to the anime for having Brock take his shirt off and show off his six-pack. DAMN BOY! The animation ended up staying the same throughout the series, but I managed to tolerate/muscle through it.

I know I forgot to write this part, but I really wanted Kukui to remain single for the series. Yeah, that fell at the waist-side! Kukui was single…but then he got married. Okay, I can accept it. That was the cutest proposal, I have to admit that. And I was howling when I saw pregnant Burnet at the end. So alls well that ends well!

Let’s see, Lusamine wasn’t voiced by Miki Itou like I wanted. Then again, this Lusamine wasn’t a psycho bitch. Although kudos for getting Nobuhiko Okamato voicing Gladion. I am forever happy with that outcome.

Did I get more Clefables? FUCK YEAH, I DID! Holy shit, I forgot Lusamine had a Clefable in the games and didn’t even think the anime was going to keep that, but HOLY SHIT THEY DID AND I’M SO HAPPY! Not only that but we were able to see Clefable every so often. It’s so adorable. I just wanna hug her!

Lillie’s egg of course wasn’t Cosmog, it was Alolan Vulpix. Cosmog can’t be hatched. It just magically appears. Hey, cute choice though!

Did Ash catch a psychic pokemon? Uhhhhhhh…no! Still no psychic type.

Did I see Wicke and Olivia, fuck yeah I did! Wicke is adorable especially when she bosses Faba around. My only thing with Olivia is that, I wish the anime didn’t make her into a clumsy oaf the whole time. My God, she tripped more times than Bianca did during Best Wishes. That’s sad! Now her being the object of Brock’s eye, that I wasn’t expecting. I’m wondering if Brock will keep in contact with Olivia or if he’s moved onto another booty-call of the day.

Overall, it was a bumpy start for me to get into Sun and Moon. But it wasn’t until we got to important things like the Aether Foundation, Mallow’s mother, and Guzma’s debut that got me back fully invested. I know it’s damn near impossible to convince staunch XYZ fans to watch this, but give it a shot for the stories. The animation is just so undoable after what XY has given us, but still.

Currently, most (if not all) episodes of Sun and Moon dubbed will be available on Hulu, Netflix, Pokemon TV, and Disney XD. Yeah, no one has gotten around to giving us legal subtitled episodes sad to say. Here’s hoping Disney XD will continue holding onto the Pokemon license as they happen to be the ONLY one that literally has all episodes available. On the channel, they still kinda restrict themselves to only playing the current season, but sometimes we get lucky with the movies.

MORE HIGH HOPES: Okay, new high hopes for the new Pokemon series, Pokemon…um, 2019? Seriously guys, what’s up with this cryptic-ass series?

*Signs that Tracey Sketchit exists. Just show him at Oak’s lab or somewhere in this series. That’s all I ask. I will even swallow my pride and allow him to be at the Waterflower Slut Brigade in Cerulean. Just please, for the love of Arceus, show him to me. That flash in the 20th movie does not settle me. Give him to me, now! Don’t care how, I WANT IT NOW! I am the Veruca Salt of seeing Tracey again.

*Aside from Tracey, and seriously show him to me already…If at possible, update on May and Iris. Everyone else can go fuck off! These two deserve an update if Ash is doing this around the world adventure with his new boy-toy Gou. I know it may be difficult to get their voice actors back as I’m sure Aoi Yuuki’s schedule is insane and Kaori has an illness preventing her from voicing. Still! Something from those two…AND ONLY THOSE TWO FEMALES! I’m sick of Misty popping in without giving us what we want. Dawn and Serena need to go to the Pokemon version of Antartica until 2030. And unless Mallow, Lana, and Lillie make a shocking discovery, I don’t want to see them for a few years.

*CLEFABLES! Okay, yeah, that goes without saying!

*YAMPER or as I call him, Winston Corgles Ein Handbanana the Breadloaf must be seen at least once every two episodes.The opening theme doesn’t count. I want to see Winston Corgles Ein Handbanana the Breadloaf.

*Eventually spend some time in Galar and fight gym battles there. I know the Pokemon anime wants to take a sharp left turn into WTF territory, but sometimes don’t mess with the status quo and have Ash take on some gyms. Mmkay?!

*If Team Rocket and Giovanni really have to show up again, could we PLEASE finally get Ariana, Archer, Petrel, and Proton to be in the anime? Or as my friend calls them, the Stupid Sexy Rocket Execs!

*And while we’re at it, could we get an arc in this series where Ash goes to the Battle Tower in Sinnoh?

*Give James a Galarian Weezing.

*Rica Matsumoto must eventually sing an OP theme for this series. Goes without saying!

*Give Ash a Psychic type.

*I know nobody ages in this show, but please don’t keep Burnet pregnant forever. Also, if Ash decides to visit Kukui and Burnet again, I wanna see their baby.

Final category (I promise)!

IN MEMORIUM: I would like to close my review to Pokemon: Sun & Moon to talk about a certain voice that has been at the center of the Pokemon anime from day one. That was Unshou Ishizuka. If you watched the Japanese version of Pokemon, chances are you have heard this man’s voice in any episode you watch. Whether as Professor Oak or the narrator! Not only those two, but voiced Alder in the Black/White series, Samson Oak in the Sun/Moon series, several versions of the Pokedex, Magikarp Salesman, and many notable pokemon including Misty’s Gyarados, Cilan’s Stunfisk, Dawn’s Mamoswine, Ash’s Muk, Brock’s Onix/Steelix, and even Tracey’s Scyther. In August 2018, he passed away from Esophagus Cancer. So losing someone of this caliber is a huge hit to Pokemon.

I didn’t start watching the Japanese version religiously until 2006 (right around the time the dub murdered eardrums). But I was able to hear him as Onix and Gyarados early on because they had the same voice throughout the entire series run in English. But I had a lot of fun listening to him as Professor Oak when I switched to the Japanese version. Not to mention his other roles outside the Pokemon series including Mr. Satan in the later Dragon Ball series and Grandpa Joestar on JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. I seriously miss him. May he rest in peace.

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thehoodsweetheart · 5 years ago

Text

Twin Flames.

A/N: This is something that popped up in my mind. I was feeling a little uninspired lately but knew I wanted to get some type of content out. Tell me what you guys think. Should this be something I continue? I hope it’s not total crap.

Summary: Sometimes you can’t shake a person, no matter how much you try to let go. However, you hand can be forced. This is the case with Isis and Erik. (I don’t want to give up too many details).

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: ??? There are none. I write for Black audiences, Black women in particular. My main characters are Black and that’s that on that. Isis is and will remain a Black woman.

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Isis sat perched up in the middle of her oxblood colored crushed velvet couch legs folded beneath her as she diligently clicked away on her MacBook Pro. Isis was dressed in a black mesh panel Ivy Park crop top with the matching leggings. Her wash and go was on day 2, which was honestly her favorite due to how much volume the fizziness gave her hair. Isis’s fluffy coils created a large halo like fro around her head almost like a crown. It hadn’t even been an hour since she landed in Los Angeles from her 21-hour flight from Johannesburg and she was getting straight to work. The soft murmur of Martin re-runs played on the wall of her condo from a projector and providing most of the light in the room. The projector was Isis’s idea after debating with her best friend, who also happened to be her roommate, over an obnoxiously sized flat screen TV.

She glanced up from her work on your laptop to give a soft laugh at Martin & Gina sneaking into Tommy’s apartment attempting to find out if he was apart of the CIA. It reminded Isis of how nosy her own best friend could be when she felt like Isis was hiding something from her. It was no offense to their friendship. Isis was an only child and somewhat of an introvert. She grew up with the struggle of overly sharing or not sharing herself at all with ‘close friends’. She learned fast it was best to be picky with who and what she shared of herself. Isis was private in nature and her current job only added to it. Isis was awarded the once in a lifetime opportunity of being part of the visual director team and personal photographer to Beyoncé. Yes, the one and only Queen Bey.

It was 11:11 PM, which Isis considered peak working hours. She knew that she’d be awake editing pictures until well after 3 AM. Isis wanted sort through all her captured footage from her last trip and edit the best images. Seemed like a simple task but any artist will tell you it’s the most challenging part. What if a photo she absolutely hates is one that her client loved? Or Vice versa? The longer Isis looked at the image the more flaws she could find, but wasn’t that the beauty in art, photography in particular?

Isis played around with the gradient and shadows of the picture trying to highlight its depth using Adobe Lightroom. She was so fixated on editing that she didn’t even hear the front door open, but the sounds of giggling and the door slamming sure caught her attention. Her best friend Brea was home and she were not alone. Brea was accompanied by a large male figure that towered over her petite frame. Isis gave them a quick glance before returning her attention back to the work before her. Despite not getting a clear view of Brea’s male ‘friend’, Isis felt an odd sensation of familiarity. Isis knew Brea hadn’t even noticed she was there yet because she was too focused on her male companion who was actively kissing and groping her.

“Aye, who is that?” His gruff voice questioned. Brea shot him a confused look before turning on her heels to face the couch. She let a loud gasp followed by a squeal.

“OH MY GODDD ISIS!!! YOU’RE HOMEEE!” She ran over to Isis giving her a bear hug, completely disregarding the laptop on her lap. Isis let out a small chuckle, fumbling with her MacBook Pro so it wouldn’t crash onto the floor, yet still trying to reciprocate Brea’s embrace.

“I know…finally right?” Isis’s light voice followed. She spent two weeks in South Africa, and she had only been home for four days prior to that after a trip to New York. During those four days, Brea was away on a business trip for the NPO she worked for, so it was safe to say they hadn’t had a chance to see each other in a solid four weeks.

“Soooo, how long do I have the pleasure of having my bestie back?” She nudged my elbow.

“We never know. Until duty calls again I guess.” Isis shrugged.

“Well you have to tell me about South Africa! Any fine niggas?” Brea attempted to whisper the last question. Isis couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh, which Brea soon joined in on. Leave it to Brea to be so bold in front of her male company.

Erik cleared his throat catching Isis and Brea’s attention silencing their laughter completely. Isis’s eyes locked with Erik’s. She finally zoned in on his face. This was Erik that Isis has heard Brea talk so much about in the past months, but nothing of substance. Brea just pretty much boasted on his good looks and sex drive but no concrete details of the ‘mystery man’. Not even a screenshot of a picture of the man had been offered from Brea. The three seconds that they held eye contact felt like nearly an eternity. Her heart began to pound in her chest so much so she could hear it in her ears. It was as if they could see through each other’s exterior and see straight to the core. Brea’s guest was indeed handsome…strikingly handsome yet familiar.

Erik’s face was one Isis would never forget. His face was etched in marble in her mind. Her mind worked like a camera, her favorite vice. Capturing faces in a moment, associating them with particular narratives. Every face held a different story; all worth discovering yet Isis wasn’t much of a storyteller. She was the observer obsessed with the details of stories in a calculating way. This one in particular was mysterious and how it intersected with Isis’s was less than complicated but not in the least bit simple.

*********

They met what seemed like a lifetime ago during one Isis’s summer visits to the Bay, on Isis’s father’s birthday. It was the summer before high school. She met Bria that same summer during Summer Bridge, a requirement for the private high school they attended. He was her favorite boy cousin’s best friend. Despite her introverted ways, Isis and Erik linked as if they knew each other their whole lives. It began as a platonic friendship. It soon became obvious that they had crushes on one another but they didn’t say anything about it in respect to her cousin. Then her cousin died and Erik moved away the same year causing them to lose contact. But before he moved he told her, “Don’t trip, I’ll find you one day. I feel like I’ll always find you. No matter what lifetime it is.”That was the summer before her senior year of high school. And find her is exactly what he did, multiple sporadic times.

It was actually puzzling to say they never kept consistent contact with one another. Like the summer after her first year of college when she landed an internship in New York at the Staley-Wise Gallery, and Erik casually sauntered through the crowd of the gallery on a busy afternoon. He was notably different. More mature in his looks and moved more guarded than the teenager Isis once new, nonetheless his magnetic pull drew her in almost immediately. It was that force that never allowed her to shy away when she was near him, even if she tried. Isis was uneasy with idea of being attached to Erik, because life had a way of showing her that her best bet was on herself. Despite this, he made her feel safe. He was there when the gallery closed. They chilled with each other like there was no time lost between the two. Any time she was free during his two week stay, Erik made sure he spent it with her sparking that old crush letting it fully ignite. When he asked her, “You saved yourself for me?” It wasn’t much of a question. He knew she did.

Years passed and after graduating from undergrad, Isis moved back to Los Angeles. Isis like every woman has experienced a fair share of cat calling and unwanted extra male attention. When she experienced it one particular night, the ‘I have a boyfriend’ and ‘your man don’t let you have friends’ debate was brought to an abrupt end with a ‘Nah’ from a male voice behind her. Isis wanted to roll her eyes because she knew she didn’t have a man but she didn’t necessarily want to entertain the new unknown voice because he played superhero. She was in luck to find it was Erik. Isis was stricken with awe. She was sure their last encounter would be the final one. Isis came to terms with that.

Erik and Isis practically bound. What else could explain their unexpected reconnections? Their most encounters recent were in Johannesburg. It seemed like a lifetime had passed since she’d seen or heard from him. She knew of him being in the navy and his plans for Wakanda. Part of her thought he was dead. When attending a museum on a much needed off day, pictures of South Africa’s neighboring country Wakanda acted as a friendly reminder of her old friend.

“What do you know about Wakanda? Almighty Isis.” The familiar predatory voice purred in her ear. Isis whipped around to see a vastly different appearance yet Erik in the flesh.

********

Isis raised an eyebrow as a sly smirk crept onto her face. The same smirk that Erik held, mirror-like with arrogance. She turned her attention to her best friend. Isis waited for what would be a proper introduction. After all, Brea was oblivious to Erik and Isis’s acquaintance. She had no clue that Isis and Erik’s once-in-a-blue moon meetings sparked a flame consuming the flesh and spread like wild fire only to be put out not long after it starts. Neither Erik nor Isis was accustomed to the immense connection they possessed, like a shared soul internalizing each other’s pain without explanation, knowing things about each other that never needed to be verbalized. Something about it always savoring the essence of its natural flow and it was still so foreign. Yet, Brea did not know that her Erik was Isis’s N’Jadaka.

“Sorry, I’m being rude! Ice, this is Erikkkk” Brea sang his name. Isis chewed her inner cheek to keep from cringing. She wasn’t sure if it was the way Brea said his name or the thought of Erik fucking her best friend.

“Wassup” Erik said with a nod. Isis coach herself mentally not to roll her eyes. Should she tell Brea? Would it even matter? Could she even be mad at Erik? They never had anything exclusive, ever.

“Hello.” Isis kept her response curt.

“Yo…You look hella familiar like I know you from somewhere.” Erik tilted his head dreads falling more into his face as his tongue ran over his gold fangs. If he wanted to be petty, Isis could match all energy.

“Doubt it…Probably Instagram.” Isis said with a shrug gaining an uneasy look from Brea. Brea was accustomed to Isis being more polite in general, after all she deemed Isis as the ‘nice’ friend.

If this situation couldn’t get anymore awkward, Isis phone began to ring illuminating with the name Aaron and a picture of her and a handsome chocolate man making goofy faces with the Snap Chat dog filter. Isis sucked in a deep breath breaking her gaze from her phone immediately locking eyes with Erik. She couldn’t believe the situation that was unfolding before her. Her secret on and off ‘fling’ was in her home with every intention on fucking her best friend, despite having a two-week long mind-blowing sexscapade with Isis in South Africa just days prior. Her best friend had no clue and her current situationship was hitting her up for the late night action.

“Don’t ignore my brother-in-law. You know the drill.” Brea laughed. It was too late. Isis missed the call. Isis could only let out a nervous chuckle while avoiding looking at Erik altogether.

“Whatever Bree. I’ll get out of you guys’ way.” Isis said fanning them off while quickly texting Aaron she was on her way.

She sat her laptop down to get ready to leave. Isis quickly gathered her tote, which was packed with her essentials since she had landed that night. It was no need for Aaron to leave the door unlocked she had a key. He was far more invested than she was but she did care for him.

“This picture is dope. These scars look so familiar.” Brea squinted as she studied Isis’s MacBook Pro.

“Ehhh, you know ritual practices…just something I saw in South Africa.” Isis said looking directly at Erik with a smirk. She took her laptop from Brea as she headed towards the door. “You two have fun!” Isis shot them a wink.

#erik killmonger x reader #erik killmonger x oc #erik killmonger imagine #erik killmonger x black!reader #erik killmonger #black panther rec #black panther imagine #black panther #erik killmonger rec #erik killmonger one shot

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bluboothalassophile · 5 years ago

Note

Love all of your jayrae fics! Was wondering if you would please be able to write a fix about raven and Roy's friendship or how they get along?

Hello,

I actually have a long story for them going, Yee Naaldlooshi, so I hope you enjoy Chapter 2!

Featuring a cross over with the Mystery Inc Gang!

The Ranch...

Raven stood in Durango, Colorado, the wind tugging on her braid as she felt ancient magic pulsing through the grounds she stood on. It was rather quaint, and beautiful here, they were at a gas station by the river, which was gently rolling on by. She leaned on the hood of the car, looking at the scenery around her, it wasn’t like anything she’d ever seen outside of old westerns.

Lian was giggling as she ran towards her, and Raven smiled as she caught the girl.

“Rae! Lookie!” she ordered holding up a keychain.

“It’s lovely sweetie,” Raven said. The pure innocent joy Lian had was infectious and soothing on Rae’s empathy.

“Daddy say I can give it to his…bwoder,” Lian said.

“Brother,” Raven corrected. “And it’ll be a lovely gift.”

“Think he’ll like me?” Lian whispered in a loud hushed tone.

“I think it’d be hard for him not to like you,” Raven said.

“Ready to hit the road ladies?” Roy appeared then.

“Yeah,” Lian giggled in delight as Raven loaded her up into the car. Twisting around Raven pulled up the buckles for the carseat and tapped Lian’s nose lightly when she was all secure; her keychain clutched firmly in her hands.

“We’re forty minutes out from Farmington, and I think twenty from your aunt’s farm,” Roy said.

Raven said nothing to that.

“Family’s not bad, Rae,” Roy pointed out starting up the car.

“I have a family,” she pointed out. “And I don’t, Roy I’ll never be able to live with myself if something happens to them because of me. At least Victor, Harley and Ivy can take care of themselves. Alice and them, they can’t.”

“Hey, I get it, but they’re your family, you’ll need to accept that one day.”

“I do accept it, which was why I was willing to stay away.”

“Family doesn’t do that, trust me, and Jason for that matter, on this. They don’t disappear just because it’d be easy or convenient for you.

“I could wish, right?” she sighed.

“No,” he chuckled. “It’ll be fine, Rae. It’ll be fun!”

Raven knew that she and Roy had drastically different opinions on what was and was not fun. She had a feeling that this was about as fun for her as Artemis and Wally’s wedding would be for Roy. Not that he had a bad relationship with his family, but rather he and Artemis butted heads all the time, and Wally was his best friend marrying a girl who was like his little sister. Rae saw the reasons for Roy’s discomfort about the wedding, but they were going.

Once they were on the road again Raven watched the scenery as Lian talked about everything she wanted to do. She was mostly fascinated with the idea of horses, she wanted to ride one. Roy thought it was amusing and said he’d look into if Bird still had the horses for her to ride.

“You never said how you were tied to the tribes,” Raven said when Lian had fallen asleep and they drew near the Reservations. She could feel Roy’s tensions building.

“My dad, my biological dad, not Ollie, he was a Game Warden, he and my biological mom had me kind of young, it didn’t work out well. His second wife was a part of the tribe, Catherine was a sweetheart,” Roy admitted.

“What happened?”

“She died, Dad stayed on the Res with her family, so did I, and then dad died, and well, you know, I’m a fuck up,” Roy muttered the last bit more to himself than her.

“You’re not,” Raven said softly. He turned to look at her, and she smiled a bit. “We all mess up, make mistakes, do things we regret,” she said softly.

“Yeah, but, black out drunk, I think I killed Bird’s dad,” he said.

“I don’t think so,” Raven said levelly. “You’re not a killer Roy.”

“You sure about that? I am an Outlaw,” he said roguishly.

“Positive, it takes a killer to know a killer,” Raven said levelly. Roy was safe, he wasn’t afraid to take lethal action if push came to shove, but he worked so hard on not doing that. He did hand out crippling injuries, but he had never killed a single person as far as the knew.

“I think Thea and Brave Bow would disagree with you,” he said levelly.

“I don’t think so.”

“Rae, you’re not always right,” he pointed out.

“Maybe not, but I am right about this, Roy Harper. You are no killer.” She stated.

They turned onto a dusty road and Raven blinked; not seeing a street sign.

“Are you sure this is the road?” she sputtered.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“There’s no name,” she started.

“A lot of the roads aren’t marked; it’s just… just pay attention to where we’re going and we’ll be good.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Mary-Beth was bored. She was very bored.

Not that she didn’t like visiting her mother’s ranch, but she preferred life on Long Island with all her friends, and schooling.

They had come out here though for a few months, because her mom’s right hand man, John Trujillo, who was in charge of the while they were in New York, had called about a problem. Apparently an oil company wanted to take mom’s family land, so the dispute wasn’t pretty.

However, Alice had also managed to invite Rachel here for a weekend; that was a massive feat apparently which had her mother reorganizing and redecorating the guest rooms repeatedly.

The house her family lived in was built by her grandfather Alan, when he had settled in New Mexico. Her grandmother, Oolijee had refused to leave her family lands, so her grandfather had asked to build her a house. It was a massive house, seven bedrooms, five washrooms, plumbing, electricity, a huge kitchen, open porch and massive windows around to see the mountains. It was a nice house, and there were huge stables, and a nice house for the ranch hands to live in too. She knew it was nice, very nice, and well maintained, her grandfather had operated the property into a solid ranch; much to her grandmother’s delight, and kept it prosperous. It was a beautiful property, even her great-grandfather who had held nothing but disdain at best for her grandfather, had been impressed.

Mary looked up from her phone when John appeared at the foot of the stairs leading towards the house.

“Miss Roth,” he said softly.

“Mom’s in the guestrooms preparing for cousin Rachel and her friends,” she said to him. He nodded.

John Trujillo was a very intimidating man, a hard face, with dark eyes. He looked like the warriors of old honestly, even with his long hair styled like a mohawk. She didn’t understand why her mother had hired him, but the man was terrifying. So soft spoken and good with animals. Mary looked out at the expanse of nothing for miles until the mountains and sighed.

She was bored and there was no cell service!

~~~*~*~*~~~

John Trujillo was walking out of the house when an old car pulled up in a cloud of dust. He had gone to Alice because one of the ranch hand’s son had gone missing; Shiye was a good young lad but he was missing all the same, which was something of a concern. Alice had said to take out search parties, but to keep it quiet in case the person who had done the abduction was watching. She had also suggested ramping up security, which he agreed with.

John watched as a young woman got out of the car first. She had many piercings on her ears, that he could see, large sunglasses perched on her nose, long loose black hair that seemed to fall however it pleased around her, and a face of contradictions. She looked like Angela, he thought, and she looked very familiar. He couldn’t place his finger on why she looked familiar but she did.

She walked next to a tall man with red hair and a lean build, who was holding a black hair toddler with bright green eyes.

“Are you sure this is the place Roy?” the woman asked, her voice was a voice meant for seduction. Smokey, graveled, and beautiful, now he recognized her.

The Raven.

It had been many decades since he had last seen her. She was a beautiful young woman, he didn’t need her to remove her glasses to know those dark eyes were raking over him, assessing him to be a threat or alley.

“Well, it’s the right place, cous,” Mary’s voice said behind him.

“It’s nice to see you again Mary-Beth,” the Raven’s voice said smoothly.

“Rachel,” Mary said tightly. “This is mom’s right hand, and the head of the Ranch, John Trujillo,” Mary introduced him. “John, this is Rachel Roth, my Aunt Angela’s daughter.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” the Raven said holding her hand out.

He didn’t touch the empath as he tilted his head a bit in acknowledgement before walking by her. She was a small, slight woman and he saw those dark eyes watch him as walked by.

If the Raven was here then whatever was taking the children wasn’t no damn coyote; he would bet her arrival to mean the supernatural was stirring once again.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Shaggy didn’t struggle under Daphne’s bags as they walked to the car she had rented them to meet up with Fred and Velma.

A lot had changed over the years, but the jobs for PIs never really did. Daphne ran her blog, built her name up as a reporter, while Velma was still into all sorts of science work that he didn’t understand, and Fred was a budding author.

And he… well, when he wasn’t a PI he actually was a chef, at a restaurant he had opened up back in Coolsville. He’d have stayed in Louisiana, but he just couldn’t. Besides, yearly visits to check in on Grimwood Academy were taken and he got to see everything going on down at the plantation. The school had decided to plant Moonscar Island Chili Peppers. He had acquired Moonscar Island after Simone Lenoir’s and Lena Dupree’s ‘disappearance. Special Agent Beau Neville had all but begged him to so no one else got drawn into the weir voodoo.

Shaggy had because his own family’s plantation was close enough that acquiring the island was just an expansion of his plantation.

Yes, he kept his family’s ancient money and plantations a secret from the gang but he didn’t know how they’d look at him if they knew. Daphne knew, but her family was insanely rich and Mayflower old in the states with their wealth. Shaggy’s family was mostly French and had settled in New Oreleans area, it was because his mom married a Yank that he had grown up in Coolsville rather than on the family plantation.

“You’re here!” Fred shouted in glee, Velma smiled.

“We figured we’d pick you up at the airport rather than making you drive all the way up,” Velma said as she got out of the Mystery van.

“RELMA!” Scooby bellowed as he pounced her in glee.

“Thanks!” Daphne said.

“Yeah, thanks!” Shaggy grinned as Fred took some of the bags that belonged to Daphne.

“Just like old times,” Fred said.

“She doesn’t pack less,” Shaggy muttered as they packed up the van. The gang took their normal seats, he was sitting with Scooby as they looked over the custom Scooby snacks Velma had picked up for them.

“It is a weird case, and no one’s digging into it,” Velma said.

“Why not?”

“Alice said they don’t look into reservation problems and there aren’t enough cops on the reservation to look into this, and all the leads are dead ends,” Fred said.

“That’s sad,” Daphne said.

“Yeah,” Shaggy agreed as Scooby’s head rested on his shoulder. He didn’t like solving mysteries, but they did make him feel like he was giving something back to life by solving them.

Despite the PTS, anxiety and his ADHD going off the wall when they worked them.

#bluboothalassophile #fanfic #yee naaldlooshii #hopes for a bastard universe #hopes for a bastard #hopes for a bastard: yee naaldlooshii #roy harper #raven #lian harper #alice roth #mary-beth williams #john trujillo #shaggy rogers #daphne blake #scooby doo #velma dinkley #fred jones #shaphne

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jentrevellan · 5 years ago

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Believe Again: Chapter 1

Rating: Mature Fandom: Dragon Age Inquisition Relationships: Cullen Rutherford x Female Trevelyan Tags: slow burn, slow build, slow romance, mage/templar dynamics, family drama, templars, mages, enemies to friends to lovers, angst, lyrium withdrawal, crisis of faith, loss of faith, The Chantry, sexual tension, innuendo MASTERPOST

A/N: Tags to be updated. Chapters posted on the 1st Thursday of the month.

NEXT CHAPTER ->

CHAPTER ONE - Elsie

The day the Ostwick Circle fell was one that firmed up the mage rebellion. Known throughout Thedas as one of the more ‘sedate’ circles, Ostwick was known for generally good relations between mages and templars. Perhaps because the circle was rather inbred with many noble families having sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, cousins and the like as both mages and templars within the walls. My time there was much the same - my sister was a templar along with an uncle on my mother’s side and I believe I had a few distant cousins scattered around too. I, like my fellow mages, was studious, well-behaved and cherished the circle as a place of learning and wisdom, and a refuge from my life before my magic quickened. It was not a place of confinement or punishment in my experience, and dare I say it, many who resided in the Ostwick Circle probably felt the same. Although we had little choice, I would say that most of us did want to be there and have fond memories of our lives behind its walls - until the circle fell, of course.

- Extract from ‘Torn Asunder’, the memoirs of Inquisitor Elsie Trevelyan

1. Elsie

When she woke up, she didn’t know where she was. Her eyes opened slowly and she reached out in the dark. Her fingers found silk sheets and warm blankets and she gazed up at a canopy above her; the Trevelyan family crest delicately weaved with gold thread in intricate patterns around stitched ivy and foliage.

Elsie Trevelyan sat up in the large four-poster bed and realised that she was in her old room, from when she used to live in this house. It hadn’t changed much since she had left almost fifteen years ago - her doll’s house sat in the corner; one of the books she must’ve been reading still lay open on a chaise by one of the large windows overlooking the formal gardens. To the unassuming eye, one might’ve thought that someone had died, the way nothing had been touched. But Elsie bitterly thought that leaving it thus had probably made things easier for her parents to pretend that their eldest daughter and heir had died, to escape the truth that she had been sent to the Circle. A soft knock on the chamber door pulled her out of her thoughts. She sat up in bed and croaked out an ‘enter’, her voice still husky from sleep.

The woman who walked in was taller than Elsie by a head and carried herself with elegance and grace, despite her height. Dark hair fell in tight ringlets down her back and her scarlet dress flowed around her as she strode over to Elsie’s windows and pulled the curtains back.

Elsie blinked rapidly at the sudden light but the woman ignored her discomfort and came to stand on the other side of the bed. “You can’t stay in here all day, you know,” she said in her clipped voice; her perfectly shaped eyebrows raised. “It’s almost noon.” Elsie shook her head. “You know me Etta - I’ve never been a morning person.” Her sister, Lucetta crossed her arms and despite her perfect appearance and her feigned annoyance she couldn’t help but smile, and Elsie offered the same in return She sat down on the edge of the bed, smoothing her skirts out. “I didn’t even know you were coming,” she said, reaching to take Elsie’s hand. They had been close sisters once, with all but a year between them in age, and Lucetta’s sudden familiarity surprised Elsie, but she did not pull her hand away. “I arrived in the early hours, before dawn,'' she replied, offering her sister a sympathetic smile. “It’s become a habit, moving under the cover of darkness as a fugitive.” Her face darkened. “Even though you’ve done nothing wrong,” she said. Elsie shrugged. “According to the Chantry, all mages are now apostates. I do what I must to survive.”

Lucetta’s shoulders sagged. “I know that. Look, Evie will be arriving this afternoon... will things be alright?” she asked tentatively. Ah yes, Evie, their younger sister. Elsie nodded slowly. “I’ll be on my best behaviour, I swear.” Lucetta squeezed Elsie’s hand. “Thank you. You know it means so much to us all if you two get along.” “We always used to, before I went to the Circle,” Elsie reminded her. “The four of us were all so close.” “I remember,” she said softly, getting up to stand by the window. “It seems only last week that I was sobbing in mother’s arms when you were taken away. And it feels like yesterday when Evie left to join the Templars.” There was a pause before Elsie said softly, “You know it wasn’t my choice to leave.” Lucetta nodded, her ringlets bouncing. “I know. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if you hadn’t been sent to the Circle, and stayed as heir apparent?” Elsie looked away. As the eldest of all of Bann Trevelyan’s children, she was always set to inherit. Indeed, all of her childhood had drilled that undisputed fact into her head. No expense was spared - she learnt to fight with training swords, speak eloquently and had even sat in on meetings their father had with visiting nobility, so she could learn Ostwick politics. It wasn’t fun in the slightest, but Elsie honestly thought at the time that it was where the Maker wanted her. So she was studious and complied. And was rather good at it. But then her magic had quickened, on the same day as her first moon’s blood. Elsie remembered running to the training yard, battling a straw dummy with her blunt sword, when she accidentally set the dummy on fire. By the end of the next day, she was in the Circle. “The Maker works in strange ways,” Elsie said eventually, looking back at her tall sister. Upon Elsie’s leaving, Lucetta had assumed the role as heir, and taken to the position in a better way than any of them ever could have imagined. She looked more like their father with her long face so there was no doubt who her predecessor was.

Lucetta smiled. “Indeed He does.” She turned to leave, pausing at the door. “Come now; lunch will be served shortly and Cecelia is dying to see you.” Elsie grinned at the prospect of seeing their youngest sister, who she absolutely doted upon, as did all of them. As Lucetta left, Elsie stretched luxuriously: she couldn’t remember the last time she woke up in a feather bed - not since before the war broke out, anyway. And the ones in the Circle were nowhere near as comfortable. Reluctantly she pulled herself out of bed. Her bare feet relished the softness of the thick Antivan rugs as she headed over to the privy, warming the pitcher of water with a touch of her hand, barely using a wisp of magic. She splashed it over her face and neck before dabbing her skin dry with a soft cloth that smelt faintly of lavender. Before the looking glass, a woman peered back at her who she hardly recognised - it had been many months since she had seen her appearance, with personal vanities a luxury of the past. Misty grey eyes stare back; ones that look older than their twenty seven years. Her tanned skin and chestnut hair had seen better days - her cheeks which were once full and rosy were now gaunt and her long hair was flat and lifeless, when it used to be soft and voluptuous. On her right cheek, she traced the burn scar with a finger, but it was numb under her touch. An ugly thing, to be sure, but she was grateful her injury from the war was nothing worse. When she stepped back into my chamber, the bed had been made and a fire recently lit. On the bed was a dark green dress, cut in the Ostwick style with a low curved neckline and long light skirts. She hesitated before running the material lightly through her fingers, the fabric so light it slid like water. A dress for a lady to wear, not an apostate, disowned by her family. Elsie turned away and spotted her pack in the corner of the room. Within moments she had found her old robes from the Circle - the faded red and gold of an Enchanter’s robe. It had seen better days and was rough around the edges, but after fifteen years of being informed that she was not Lady Trevelyan anymore, why should that change? Indeed, before the Circles fell, she had begun to carve her life out at the Circle as a teacher. Perhaps she could’ve become the First Enchanter... Elsie shook her head; there was little point thinking on what could have been. Everything changed in Kirkwall, and despite being the neighbouring Circle, it took a long time for the chaos to reach them. So she pushed aside all remorse, smoothed down her robes and pulled her long hair back into a simple ponytail. The corridors and hallways of the house were a maze, and she could only just about remember how to find the drawing room. Her route took her through the entrance hall, where on the landing by the large sweeping staircase, sat a gigantic painting. She paused and looked up, to see her family looking back at her, including a younger, prepubescent Elsie. She stood next to her father, his hand resting on their mother’s shoulder who sat on a stool, her long skirts smoothed neatly. At her feet sat her youngest sister Cecelia, who at the time of this painting was around three years old. This had been painted just weeks before Elsie’s magic had revealed itself. As far as she was aware when she stood for this painting, in her sweet periwinkle blue dress and her dirty boots, she was her parent’s heir and most prized child. Standing on the other side of her in the painting was her younger sister Evie, whose cropped hair and breeches made her look more like a boy than the daughter of a noble. Her eyes shifted to Lucetta who stood looking the most regal of all the Trevelyan sisters, in her dark emerald gown, looking as noble as their mother, but with the features of father.

“The happy family,” a deep voice behind Elsie said dryly. She glanced over her shoulder and then whipped her head around in disbelief.

“Henry?!”

A tall man with dark wavy hair brushing his shoulders stood looking up at the portrait with a grin on his face. Elsie threw her arms around his neck and he lifted her up, hugging her like he used to when they were children.

Finally he set her down chuckling and she stared at him, feeling a massive smile on her face - the first genuine one in a long time.

“What in the world are you doing here? I thought you were in Antiva?”

He shrugged his shoulders - an action that was just so characteristically Henry. “Hey, I may not be a favoured family member, but I’m still a member of this family, I think. Bann Trevelyan wanted everyone here.”

“Well I’m glad you’re here,” she grinned, elbowing him, but he was looking up at the painting again. After a moment she said “I still can’t believe you weren’t included in this portrait.”

“Lady Trevelyan would rather pretend I don’t exist, and, for most of the time, I’m content with that.” He shrugged again, brushing it off. “I’m pretty sure these official portraits are meant to show the family at their best, not their worst.”

“You’re not the worst by any means,” she shook her head. “Besides, if there was to be another portrait done today, I wouldn’t be included.”

“The mage and the bastard - what a scandal,” Henry took her hand and looped it into the crook of his elbow, and they walked slowly down the hall together. “Anyway, what’s it like being lawless, living on the run? Not knowing where your next meal is coming from?”

“Hmm, yes because you’re a complete stranger to that lifestyle choice,” she chuckled.

“Alright - in all seriousness, you know what I mean.”

“You? Serious? Henry, I don’t think I know you anymore. Antiva has changed you,” she said in mock disgust, wrinkling her nose for effect.

He threw his head back and laughed, his voice echoed down the corridor. “Indeed it has. But I have missed you, little sister.”

They walked down hallways and corridors until more voices could be heard. Elsie gently removed her hand from Henry’s arm as they approached the drawing room. An elven servant stood ready to open the door and announce them. Henry and Elsie exchanged a glance before the doors opened for them to enter.

“Announcing Enchanter Elsie Trevelyan of the Ostwick Circle of Magi and Henry FitzLeland Trevelyan.”

They stepped in together and the room fell silent. Large thin windows overlooked the gardens and immaculate Orlesian and Marcher items furnished the room. There were several sofas, chaises and armchairs positioned by the fireplace where the rest of her family were gathered. Not since before Elsie was sent to the Circle have so many Trevelyans been in one room. Half of them she didn’t recognise, but most wore Chantry robes. There were a few cousins, aunts and uncles, but she didn’t know their names - indeed, they probably only know her as the mage who lived in the Circle, and Henry as the troublesome bastard.

Elsie spotted Lucetta perched on the edge of a sofa, and made her way over to her, hoping to just slip into the group. But she didn't go unnoticed, when her youngest sister Cecilia bounced up to her and almost knocked Elsie over with a hug. “El! You’re here!” She squealed, squeezing her tightly. Elsie hugs her in return, feeling a room full of eyes upon them. “And Henry!” Cecelia gave him a brief hug too, her bright smile lighting the room.

But Cecelia was oblivious to any discomfort and took a step back, holding Elsie’s arms and looked up at her, as if memorising her face. Elsie did the same in return and for the first time in almost four years, looked down at her youngest sibling who was barely eighteen and already a Chantry Sister. The white and red robes suited her complexion and her light brown hair was tucked neatly under her hood. Elsie reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair away, feeling a warmth spread in her heart to have two of her sisters and her brother in the same room once more. It was fair to say that they all had a soft spot for Cecelia with her contagious and bubbly personality. She had obviously meant to do Andraste’s work in the Chantry for she shared the Holy Lady’s mantra with a kind and gentle heart as any could ask for. “We’ve all missed you so much!” She continued, holding Elsie’s hand and leading her over to the sofa where Lucetta was perched. But her chest thudded almost painfully when she saw her mother in the armchair next to Lucetta, sipping tea through her thinly drawn lips. Without a doubt Elsie had been her favourite. Lady Bette Trevelyan had high hopes for her and the family until her magic appeared. Indeed, she was pretty sure it is because of Bette Trevelyan that Elsie’s room remained the way it was. Although she was her mother, there was no doubt that she still resented Elsie for the little scandal her magic caused - the eldest child and heir to the Trevelyan estate, a mage? Her dear mother had never been so humiliated, even when the existence of Henry was made public. Elsie inclined her head. “My lady mother,” she said politely, remembering protocol she had not practiced for many years. Whenever she was allowed a short visit home, her mother was hardly ever around to see her, let alone talk to her. Always had another party or soiree to attend. “Enchanter Trevelyan,” Bette Trevelyan replied stiffly, placing emphasis on her title and looking at her dirty robes. “‘Enchanter’ of what now, I wonder?” “Mother, please…” Cecelia begged quietly and Lucetta looked away. Elsie placed a hand on her hip. “It’s alright Cece - if our lady mother has something to say, I would like to hear it.” Her chest thudded at her boldness, and the room around them hushed. Bette Trevelyan stood gracefully, teacup and saucer still in hand. “It is shameful how far the lowest of the Maker’s children have fallen, and now this - to think they could fall any lower.” Elsie visibly bristled, and clasped her hands before her to stop them shaking. “Yes, thank you mother. Lest we forget that I am one of your daughters.” “Something I pray for guidance on each and every single day,” she retorted. “The Maker-” Cecelia began but a warning look from Bette Trevelyan silenced her. Indeed, it was a look that could silence a Blight, if she so willed it. “To think,” her mother continued, “that those who are cursed with magic, who have been given good and kind shelter by the honest and faithful, dare rise up against their so-called ‘injustice’. You have no idea how fortunate you were, how lucky that you’re all not killed or instantly made Tranquil.” It was like a kick in the ribs for Elsie to hear her own mother speak so forthright about who she was - what she was. She took a steadying breath. “Magic exists to serve…” she began, with a few agreeable nods around the room from family members. “This is not serving!” She exclaimed and Elsie stared. Never had she seen her mother - the woman who is always so composed, eloquent and careful with her words - so unhinged. “That’s quite enough,” a deep voice cut through. They all turned to see Elsie’s father Bann Leland Trevelyan in the doorway, a younger woman at his side in full Templar armour. It took Elsie a few moments to recognise that the woman was her other sister, Evie. Elsie and Evie looked at each other from across the room, as if sizing one another up. Evie had cropped dark hair and a slight limp when she walked into the room. She also had a huge scar from her left brow, down to her cheek, which narrowly avoided her eye. They hadn’t seen one another since Ostwick fell almost eight months prior. Elsie looked at Evie uncertainty as her templar sister walked into the room with their father, who ushered the rest of the family out, so - for the first time almost fifteen years - it was the immediate Trevelyan family only. Bann Trevelyan, his wife and the four Trevelyan daughters. Even Henry was shown out, although Elsie dearly wished he could’ve stayed: mages were bastards in their parents eyes. Great Aunt Lucille lingered by the doorway, but with a polite nod from her nephew their father, the socialite aunt reluctantly took her leave also. The servants left the room also, closing the door behind them, and silence enveloped them. Their mother was the first to move, striding across the room to fold Evie into her arms. Evie barely returned the embrace, her eyes were still fixed solely on Elsie. When they broke apart, the rest of the family looked between Elsie and Evie, and it seemed as if they were collectively holding their breath. After a moment, Cecelia was finally the one to break the silence by hugging Evie just as tightly she did Elsie and Henry. ‘I’ve missed you so much! Look, Elsie is here too!” “Yes, I can see that,” Evie said quietly. Elsie took a step forward, wringing her hands together. “How have you been?” she asked softly. Evie pointed to her scar. “Could be better, but could’ve been worse,” she replied. Her voice was flat, devoid of emotion. Despite the circumstances, Elsie felt the corners of her mouth twitch as she pointed to her own scar. “Same here.” Before either of them could say another word, their father cleared his throat and ushered us to the table at the centre of the room. They each took a seat and Elsie carefully positioned herself next to her father and away from her mother. Lucetta sat on the other side of Elsie, folding her hands in her lap, her chin held high. It was more like a business meeting, not a catch up of family members. An elven servant entered with a tray of Antivan coffee and served us in silence. Elsie couldn’t help but watch how his hands trembled as he served their mother. She felt uncomfortable and shifted in her seat - Elsie had forgotten how the elves are second-class citizens and alienated in upper society. In the Circle, race and gender hadn’t mattered, and all were equal and judged purely on skill and talent. She couldn't help but think of her friends who were elves in the Circle. She wondered where they were now. But Bann Trevelan interrupted her musings before she could dwell further. “I’m not going to beat around the bush, let’s get straight to the point,” he said, clasping his hands together. It had been a long time since Elsie had seen her father in a meeting situation like this - not since before her magic appeared - and she’d forgotten how easily Bann Trevelyan could command a room. He had their undivided attention, although Elsie did find her mind wondering when she saw that his once auburn hair was now thinning and silver at the temples. Her father was aging well, but without a doubt, he was aging. And that fact made Elsie feel a little nostalgic from her life before the Circle. Despite not being part of one now, that life she had before could never come back - Lucetta had that privilege now. ‘We are in a unique position,” Leland was saying, and held up a letter. “I’ve received a message from the Divine, requesting our presence as she holds a conclave to end the war.” Evie and Elsie looked at each other across the table. “Are the mages willing to listen?” Evie says. Elsie bit her tongue and held off a retort and instead looked to Bann Trevelyan for an answer. “Both Grand Enchanter Fiona and Lord Seeker Lucius are requested to attend,” he said carefully, spreading his hands. Elsie cleared her throat. “I’ve already received word that a great number of mages will be attending,” she said, thinking of my contacts in the apostasy underworld. Who knew two years ago that I would know such people? She thought. Lady Bette Trevelyan narrowed her eyes. “Is that so?” she sniffed, taking a sip of coffee through pursed lips. “Bette,” Leland Trevelyan said quietly. She nodded and remained silent, but glared at Elsie over the rim of her cup. “So we need to decide who will attend on behalf of the Trevelyan family?” Lucetta confirmed. Bann Trevelyan nodded. “I believe that I should attend but my duties and my... health keep me here.” Elsie shota glance at Lucetta but she shook her head. Their father’s health? A question for another time, Elsie thought. “It’s a long way to where the Divine wants to hold the Conclave.” Lucetta glanced over the letter. “Haven? Where is that?” “It’s a remote village in Ferelden, in the Frostback mountains,” Leland replied. “The Temple of Sacred Ashes,” Cecelia said in an awed whisper. “That’s the village near the temple that was rediscovered during the Fifth Blight by the Hero of Ferelden.” “Ferelden is an awfully long way,” their mother sniffed. “But we must bid to Most Holy’s calling...” “I will attend,” Lucetta said, but Leland shook his head. “No, I need you here to help run the estate, as you well know.” “But father-” “Perhaps Lucetta should go, as she’s the heir?” Bette chipped in, but they all started talking over each other. Elsie watched them disagree and sargue, with even Cecelia saying her piece. Finally Elsie stood but was ignored. She waited another moment before summoning a small but powerful ball of fire into the palm of her hand. The crackling and heat of the flames halted their discussion immediately and they all looked at her, startled. “Let’s not forget what I am,” she said evenly. “Nor what this war is about. The solution is simple - before the Circle fell I was a respected teacher to apprentices and I wished for no part in the rebellion… but I won’t deny that after being on the run I am sympathetic to their cause.” She took a breath and extinguished the ball in her palm. “Evie is also a Templar, who, I believe is also respected within the Order, or what’s left of it. And we are sisters from a noble house - we must attend together.” “And show a united front - of course. Elsie, you’re brilliant,” Leland beamed. Evie looked at Elsie warily. “I see your point, but we’re not exactly best friends, are we?” she said cooly. We were once, she thought and tried to ignore the wrench in her gut at the thought. They had been so close - Evie becoming a Templar was mainly so they could stay close to one another. “It hardly matters now,” she said, more to herself than to anyone. “We need to be on the same level when at the Conclave to help with the talks. Perhaps that’s the best way we can find a solution... or a compromise at least.” “You’re right Elsie, of course you are. And Evie, are you willing?” Their father asked. They all looked over at her but she stared down at her cup of coffee which she hadn’t touched. “The Order is not what it was when I joined,” she said finally. “I daresay that I agree with Enchan- Elsie.” She said, meeting her gaze. “I suppose we should travel together?” To their surprise, Elsie shook her head before anyone could answer. “No, we should go separately by meeting at the Conclave, perhaps a day or two apart from one another. That way I can arrive with some of my contacts who will never know of the conversation that’s transpired here - the same for you too.” Evie nodded. “That makes sense.” “We also wouldn’t want to anger anyone by thinking that you’re my guard and I your prisoner.” “Oh come now, it was never that bad,” their mother interjected, rolling her eyes. “You were lucky to be in a place of study, to atone for your Maker-given sin in a safe environment provided by the diligent and brave Templars” Anger licks Elsie’s stomach and she glared at Bette across the table. “That’s rich, considering you’ve never stepped foot within a circle”, she retorted. “Not this again...” Lucetta mumbled. But Elsie ignored her and both Elsie and Bette opened their mouths but Cecelia stood, knocking the table and making all the cups clatter. “Stop it, both of you!” She exclaimed. Elsie looked away, ashamed to see the tears welled in the corner of her eyes. “For the first time we’re all together - can we not just get along for once?” “You’re absolutely right Cece,” Elsie said, sitting back down. “But I shan’t apologise for speaking truths.” “Alright now that’s enough,” Bann Trevelyan said in a tired voice. “Cecelia, you’ll be accompanying your sisters to the Conclave - Divine Justinia has requested your presence by name.” Lady Bette Trevelyan’s anger disappeared instantly as she clapped her gloved hands in delight. “Oh, how marvellous! Cecelia dear, this will work wonders for your progression within the Chantry.” Cecelia bit her lip and nodded humbly, but was Lucetta who spoke, “You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you mother?” An unbearably smug expression crossed Bette Trevelyan’s face. “I may have said the right words in the right ears…” “Thank you, mother,” Cecelia finally said. “I am most honoured to attend and see the Temple of Sacred Ashes for myself.” “Remember that it’s not just a pilgrimage my dear, but an opportunity for you and this family.” Elsie tried not to roll her eyes. Trust my mother to capitalise on the chaos. “Cece can travel with me and the Templars,” Evie said. “There’s no need - she can come with me,” Elsie replied quickly, not trusting her sister’s Templar contacts. If they were anything like some of the templars at the Ostwick Circle, then no one would be in their right mind to trust their little sister with them “What, and travel with your fellow rebel mages?” Evie snorted. “Any of them could be abominations or practice blood magic.” “I can protect her from other mages if needs be,” she replied calmly. “And I can move undercover much easier than you.” “Magic turned to a noble purpose indeed,” their mother sniffed. But Elsie ignored them and turned to her father. “I can protect her from renegade templars and mages alike,” she said. “How about we let Cecelia decide?” Lucetta said from beside her. So they all turned to look at the small buck-toothed little sister expectantly. She reddened under their gazes and avoided any eye contact. “I don’t want to be a problem...” she mumbled. Bette tutted impatiently. “Then choose, darling.” Cecelia nodded more to herself than to their mother’s words. She spread her hands. “I feel I ought to go with Elsie.” “As you wish,” Evie said stiffly. “Don’t take it personally,” Elsie said, trying to lighten the mood. But Evie just looked at her, her lips pursed in an expression that mirrored their mother’s. There was a pause before Leland stood. “Well then, that wasn’t too painful now, was it?” “Father, I’ll help make arrangements if you wish,” Lucetta said, also rising. “Thank you dear, yes that would be a good help. I shall reply to the Divine at once with our plan”. “Thank you, father,” Evie said, and Elsie echoed her words. The elven servant pushed open the doors and Bann Leland Trevelyan left with Lucetta in tow. Elsie looked around the room to see her remaining sisters talking to one another and her mother calling the rest of their relatives back into the room.

Henry lingered in the doorway and offered her a smile. As the family mingled and chatted, the two outcasts remained by the door and surveyed the room, like wallflowers.

“The mage and the bastard,” he sighed.

“The mage and the bastard,” Elsie repeated but smiled and turned to him. “So! Tell me all about Antiva…”

NEXT CHAPTER ->

#long post #my writing #Believe Again #Fic: Believe Again #fanfiction #dragon age #da:i #trevelyan #elsie trevelyan #female trevelyan #trevelyan family

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