#i am deeply unsettled by this for some reason

[squarming]

oh yeah? think your tuff?? *cybertronianizes your equestrian*

[agentcricket-art]

happy valentine's day!!! 😘😘😘

[oncloudten]

you inhale deeply, lightly patting your wound with a washcloth. there really shouldn't be any reason for mindy's voice to be ringing over in your head "be careful with him." she'd told you before you left to go back to your boyfriend's dorm, seeing as your apartment had turned into a crime scene. the drive there had been in complete silence, save for ethan occasionally checking in on you. it's been silent between the two of you since you'd seen him, truthfully.

it's silly, really. to even think about it. especially considering the implications of what it would mean to you. to your relationship. shrugging off whatever ill-intended thoughts that swarm your mind, you glance towards your boyfriend. and yet you can't help the worry and suspicion that settles like a weight in your chest.

ethan must have noticed the way you're staring at him, because the next thing he says takes you by surprise. "why are you looking at me like that?" he asks quietly. "do you think i'm the killer, too?"

you can't prevent the underlying tone of worry in your voice when you finally muster up the courage to reply, you don't even know what you've said until you hear the sound of your own voice ringing back in your ears. "i don't know what to think," you say, your voice barely above a whisper. "it's just- it's... you keep disappearing every time something happens. where were you, e? i needed you with me. and you weren't there. i was stabbed- i lost anika. my best friend died infront of me and you weren't there."

ethan's face is a mask of cold anger, though the softness you've been familiar to for the past year still glimmering in his eyes. "i told you angel, i was at econ. and i'm telling you again, i didn't do it. you have to believe me."

"after everything that's happened... after last year with sam- i'm just not sure what to think anymore. with everything that they're saying... i just-" you pause, cutting yourself off. this isn't even a conversation you want to be having right now.

a long beat passes before ethan speaks up. "they? who is they? mindy? anika? tara? i'm so tired of being accused of being the killer. what's to say those bitches aren't the killers themselves? huh?" although he keeps his composure, his tone is laced with venom. you've never heard him talk like this before.

"i just feel like i don't even know who you are anymore." you whisper, letting go of what you had held back from saying a moment before.

"that's a shame," he says, leaning in closer to you. his tone completely different, it's as if something had shifted in him within a few seconds. "because i feel like i know you better than anyone. in fact, i know everything about you. your fears, your desires, your weaknesses...all of it."

"that's...unsettling," you say, pulling away from him.

"oh, come on," a grin spreads over his face, his tone dripping with implication. "don't tell me you don't find it a little bit exciting. the idea that someone knows you so intimately, someone who's willing to do anything to be with you..." he trails off, his eyes darkening. "it's kind of romantic, don't you think?"

"no, it's not," you say, voice shaking. "it's sick. i don't like the way you're talking to me, ethan. you're scaring me."

"am i?" ethan says in a low scoff, barely audible. "you should be scared, sweetheart. you have no idea what i'm capable of."

you can barely register what he's saying. is this some sick twisted game to him? is he being his usual sarcastic self? surely not- not after what you just went through. your mind is drowning in endless vivid images of your boyfriend brutally murdering innocent people, your friends, your loved ones. this is the man who you've spent every sleepless night with for a year now, the man who you've devoted yourself to in every way possible, and in his own words, a man who knows you so intimately- in ways which you don't even know yourself. "what are you going to do?"

"nothing, as long as you behave." a twisted smile spreads across his face as he eyes your wound, his voice so low. "though that says otherwise, hmm?" he laughs. he actually laughs. "believe me, i never meant for it to happen, princess. but you just had to try and protect anika, and i thought you were mindy- god how i wish it had been that bitch. though i figure she got her warning."

you can't speak. it's as if every fiber of your being has shut down. ethan reaches out to tuck a piece of hair behind your ear, and you let him. you know you should be screaming, shoving him away, running even. but you don't do any of those things. instead, you stare at your boyfriend as he towers over you, accepting the fact that any second now he'd make a move to hurt you. but ethan let's out a soft chuckle when he takes in the expression plastered over your face. "oh my sweet dumb thing. i love you, remember? i'd never hurt you. don't worry, baby. i'd sooner die before i let anything happen to you ever again."

[rainynightmoonlight]

Can I request a Yandere Shinobu x Male reader where she discovers that you stayed at someone else’s healing estate because it was “closer” at the end of your last mission?

I could have helped | Yandere Shinobu x Male Reader

Characters: Shinobu

Summary: Getting help at another estate was not the best idea.

Warnings: Yandere behavior, Gore, Obsessive behavior, manipulation, death, kidnapping

A/n: Im so sorry this is so late! Also sorry if it feels rushed, I'm writing this so late!

The forest was dark, eerie sounds within the trees and sky, there stood a boy struggling to keep his stance. Blood dripped down his s/c skin, shining in the little moonlight that dispersed though the thick leaves. A demon was slowly decaying away in front of his e/c eyes that were slowly losing their shining life. Y/n turned away from the demon that was cursing at him. 

Just as Y/n walked out of the forest, blood trailing behind him, his body gave up on him. He collapsed on the trail that led to the village nearby. Luckily, Y/n was saved by the Kakushi of the Demon Slayer Corp. They sent him to a nearby estate to heal because sending him to a further one could have killed him. However, there was one person who didn’t like this. 

Shinobu’s crow had seen it all happen, as a request of its owner, and flew rabidly to the Butterfly estate. When the update on Y/n had been completed, Shinobu set out to get back her dearest darling. She had sent her crow first, with a message for the injured boy. 

“Go to him and tell him I’ll be there soon.”

With that, Shinobu’s crow swiftly flew into the veil of the night. It took until sunrise for the crow to reach the window of the room Y/n was staying in. Y/n noticed and opened the window, trying his best not to open up the wound he had bandaged. He held out a finger for the crow to jump onto, and guided the bird to where he laid to heal. 

Y/n looked at the crow curiously, not knowing why it was here. He knew it wasn’t his. Y/n gave the crow a look, urging it to share the message it had. The crow propped itself onto his bandaged knee, preparing to speak. 

“I have come from the Butterfly Estate. Ms. Shinobu has asked me to share this message to Y/n L/n. The following is what she instructed me to say. My dearest Y/n, I am so glad you’re safe. I am on my way to see you and make sure you’re healing well! It worries me that you aren’t within my healing care, but worry not, you will be soon.”

For some reason, the message unsettled Y/n, but he nodded to the crow, showing he registered what it just shared. He sent a few meaningless words with the crow. It flew out the window to find its owner. Once it did, it shared the message Y/n had, but Shinobu was too busy travelling as fast as she could. 

The sun had already set, and Shinobu stood in front of the estate that held her dearest love inside. 

Y/n couldn’t sleep, the message Shinobu had left him with stuck in his head. He closed his eyes, trying to decode what it could have meant. In an instant, Y/n shot up, feeling something was off. He heard screaming, and walked slowly to the door. 

Anxiety settled deeply into Y/n, his senses increasing tenfold. His ears picked up even more screaming as he walked out into the hall, calling out to the darkness. No one seemed to come to his calls. Until a figure came out of the shadows. 

Y/n tried to get into a position with his nichirin sword, but it wasn’t with him. He cursed to himself, regretting the negligence at this moment. He felt helpless, and he hated it. Y/n was eased when he noticed that it was a friend of his.  

“Shinobu?”

Y/n fell back, horror gracing every feature. As Shinobu came closer, she was covered in blood. The smell was so overwhelming, he didn’t know what to do. Y/n was just frozen on the floor, staring at his friend, who seemed so unbothered by everything around her. She only walked closer to Y/n. 

“Ah my dear! Did that garbage nurse hurt you more? You look worse than I thought. Here, let me take you to your rightful place and get you all healed up!”

Y/n tried to back away from Shinobu, but she was too quick. She injected Y/n with a sedative that caused the boy to feel so dizzy. Shinobu picked up the boy with ease and brought him to her estate. The only thing in her mind was how much of a bad job the nurse did with her dearest darling.

Do not repost or translate without my explicit permission! Reblogs are welcome!

[rampantram]

Was there a specific moment or event where Lenn realized they really cared about Helob?

“And you promise you didn’t put anything…weird in here?” Lenn questioned while eyeing the bowl of steaming hot stew Helob had passed to her, a brow raised, “No meat or bones or…”

Helob chuckled deeply as he stirred at the main pot of stew, which he now dropped some particularly red-looking additions into with Lenn’s portion being served. “No; I saves the good parts for myself~”

Lenn grimaced at him, then looked back down at her bowl, subconsciously licking her lips as the savory scent of broth and mixed vegetables wafted up to her nose. Giving in, she raised her spoon, scooping up a small amount of the mixture, and brought it to her lips. Taking in a cautious sip, she was astonished at just how good Helob had managed to make this. More eagerly, she ate that first spoonful, then another, then another, not noticing the wide smirk of pride that had spread on Helob’s face as he watched her from the corner of his eye.

It wasn’t long after when Lenn had her fill, sighing quietly to herself in content as she rested the now-empty bowl in her lap, hands cradling it loosely. It had been a while since she had such a hearty, delicious soup. The cult had better food than she’d managed to make for herself, but nothing like this; Helob truly was talented when it came to cooking, for better or worse depending on which side of the cast iron pot you were on. It kind of reminded her of…

“Thank you,” Lenn finally managed to mutter out, having to work herself up to it, though she didn’t make eye contact with the giant spider as she did so. “It was nice of you to cook for me.”

Helob hummed in his throat, sounding pleased. “Anything for my little bunny guest~” Lenn made a face, her mouth dropping to attest his favored nickname for her, then stopped when Helob suddenly visibly tensed, speaking up before she could. “You should goes home.”

Lenn blinked. “Wha - but I just got here!”

Helob’s smile thinned at the volume of her protest, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her, overall expression looking firm and impatient. “Another time, I’ll cook for you again,” he said, apparently not feeling in the mood for an explanation, “For now, goes back to your safe little cult grounds, hmm?”

Lenn’s shoulders slumped, frown drooping the expression of her face to one of annoyance. “Fine.” Her frustration showed as she stood from her spot, gathering her bag and making for the woods. The stew in her stomach may as well have turned sour. “I’ll see you later, I guess.”

Helob only hummed again, but she didn’t wait for him to say more, barging through the brush and into the woods, stomping across the forest ground back in the direction of the cult she’d only recently begun to call home.

“I can’t believe him…” she grumbled to herself while smacking a low branch out of her way, “I take the time to come out and see him - like he asked me to - and now he makes me leave for no reason! Hmph…” Then, Lenn had a realization, and she stopped. Staring down at the ground, she flexed her toes in the dirt, heart suddenly thumping in her chest as she mumbled. “Wh-Why do I even care? I mean, it’s better for me, so…” Heart racing now, she felt her face burn hot with embarrassment, despite being the only one around to experience her unsettling epiphany. “So what am I even mad about?” She rubbed at her forearm, shoulders hunching and her head held down low; what was this sensation making her suddenly feel so-

A distant crunching of leaves made her flinch, her highly attuned ears twisting to face the source, her head turning to see distant torchlight. Squinting, she saw several of them, all bouncing in the same direction. Standing in silence for a moment, she decided to investigate - safely, of course. Keeping low to the ground, she crouched into one gathering of brush to another, until she was near enough to see the small mob more clearly. Gulping, she wasn’t surprised to see a gathering of heretics, surely looking for their next set of victims to “bless” in the name of the Old Faith.

Most of them were lowly little scouts and swordsmen, with some archers and a healer, dressed in all white. It was the largest addition to their team that made her throat feel dry: a Guardian, dressed in black like a miniature reaper. The lamb had mentioned them in some of their stories recounting their crusades. They were especially strong and could apparently cast rings of fireballs - as if scythes and burning arrows weren’t bad enough. Thankfully, they weren’t as common as the lower underlings, but weren’t to be taken lightly regardless.

As she studied them, following them with her eyes as they tore their way through the woods, her face dropped with realization; intentionally or not, they were headed in the direction of Helob’s camp.

Without even thinking, she crawled back, quiet as she could manage until she was sure she was out of earshot. Then she sprang back, hurriedly pushing leaves and branches out of her way as she retraced her steps, desperate to reach Helob before they did. She had to warn him; there were so many - if he was caught off guard, he’d definitely be in trouble. Thankfully, she beat the heretics to him, and stumbled out into the clearing Helob had set up camp in, only for it to be…empty? Her heart dropped, wondering if another patrol had somehow made it there first, but as she looked around she saw no signs of a struggle. The pot of stew had been taken off the fire and sat steaming and uneaten. Lenn gulped.

“Helob?” she called out softly, not wanting to tip off the nearing group of heretics, “Helob! Where did you - ahhh!” She yelped as two long, spiny appendages pulled her into the bushes, and she instinctively fought their grasp, only to see Helob’s large head hovering over her. “Helob! You scared me!”

Helob’s eye twitched, that same thin smile from before straining his lips. “I tolds you to go home…”

She frowned. “I’m here to warn you about the - mf!” He covered her mouth with the bend of his arm, shushing her, the sound of rustling interrupting their squabble. Glancing back, she saw one heretic after another file into Helob’s camp, her heart dropping at the sight of white and black robes. The group of heretics had indeed made their way here. Gently moving his arm aside, Lenn pushed her hands into Helob’s fuzzy body, whispering frantically. “We need to go!”

Helob tilted his head, smiling down at her, somehow looking less irritated. “Things would have been easier if you’d left.”

Lenn paused, looking up at him, suddenly feeling even more embarrassed than before as she realized- “...that’s why you told me to leave?”

He sighed, still looking down at her with that “what am I going to do with you” look. With a careful nudge of his tarsal, he pushed her to sit low in the brush. “Stays here…”

She only gawked as he climbed up into the trees, disappearing from sight, her ear twitching as, soon after, a ruckus sounded from the camp. Peeking through the leaves, she saw each of the smaller heretics get snatched up into the air, vanishing one by one and leaving nothing but their swords and screams behind. Lenn blinked in awe as the archers were picked off cleanly, leaving only the two strongest left: the Healer and the Guardian. They’d caught on to Helob’s strategy, forcing him to come out into the open, though he stuck mostly to the trees as he sprung and scrambled around, still managing to give the two dangerous heretics a difficult time. At one point, the Guardian sent out a circle of fire blasts, Lenn’s eyes widening as one of the small spheres shot out towards her, only for Helob’s large, purple body to come crashing down, surprising her as he sent said projectile careening away with a well-placed swipe of his legs. Her eyes sparkled, unable to believe just how adept he was.

The three danced around each other, with the Guardian sending a more direct circle of projectiles after Helob, which he expertly dodged, taking the time to aim for the Healer. Meanwhile, though, the Guardian suddenly brought their hand back, and Lenn gasped as the ring of fireballs they’d thrown out came spinning back. She shot up out of the brush as they went spiraling in Helob’s direction.

“Helob, look out!”

Helob spared her a glance as he peered behind himself, quickly hopping up into the trees and out of the way, leaving the Healer to be burnt to ash by their own ally’s attack. Said ally’s attention was now on Lenn, however, and Lenn felt her breath shallow as the foreboding figure, dressed in their black, deathly robes, turned in her direction. Her knees gave, body helplessly falling back as the Guardian approached, leaving her to scoot back on her bottom as the heretic pulled back their arm, sword rising for a killing blow.

A flash of purple and a mess of angry legs dropped behind the Guardian, limbs gripping at their head and shoulders as sharp fangs made for their throat. Lenn winced, turning her head with eyes tightly shut as a wet sound ripped out into the night air. Peeking an eye open, the Guardian fell in a heap in front of her, dead and already growing cold. Looking up, Helob didn’t seem impressed by her, sporting a rare frown as he loomed over his recently fallen prey.

“I know,” Lenn said meekly, breaking their eye contact as she rubbed at a spot of sweat on her cheek, “You told me to ‘stays here’ - in the bush…” The silence he afforded her in response was making her nervous. “I just - I saw the heretics and I…” She gulped, green eyes glancing at him shyly. “I was…worried about you.”

Helob’s brows raised ever so slightly. She’d never seen him look surprised before. Then, his signature smile returned, spreading his lips wide and allowing the tips of his fangs to peek through, still smudged with fresh blood. Skittering over to her, he tenderly helped her to stand. She avoided his pleased gaze as she dusted herself off. “I appreciate you trying to get me out of here before they showed up, but I’d rather help out if I can.”

Helob hummed, the adoring look in his eyes as he smirked down at her making her quickly look away from him again. “My little bunny was worried about me~”

Lenn frowned. “Yeah, I said that myself. You don’t have to look so smug about it…”

Helob chuckled, moving back to lift up the limp body of the Guardian from the forest floor. “I cleans this up, then I’ll takes you home.” Grinning, he sent her a mischievous look. “Unless…my little bunny wants a more hearty stew?”

Lenn frowned, narrowing her eyes at him. “No thanks.”

Helob laughed, leaving her to grumble to herself as he shuffled up into the trees to store his next meal.

================================================

Y'all just keep giving me good reasons to write quick Bunlob one-offs, apparently.

Hopefully you enjoy the response~

[lizzyscribbles]

In honor of the Vengeance Saga's release tonight, I'm taking a break from my regularly scheduled MHA content to have a little ramble about something Epic related that I've had brewing for a while.

I want to talk about Eurylochus (who, for some reason, my brain desperately wants to call Eurydice, which is an ENTIRELY different greek myth inspired musical that I love but it REFUSES to remember that, but that's besides the point), specifically the hatred he seemed to get after the Thunder Saga.

Now, let me just say, I have not read the Odyssey, I don't plan to and I don't particularly want to. I am solely coming at this from the perspective of someone who has just listened to Epic and kept up with Jay. So, if you have read the myths, this is probably not the post for you. :)

I understand where the hatred of him comes from, I honestly do. At first glance it is kind of hard to understand why he had the right to be upset with Odysseus after everything he did, but I think just taking it at surface value is doing the story a huge disservice.

Let's start allllllll the way back in the Ocean Saga with the wind bag incident. Now, I'm absolutely not saying that Eurylochus should bear no fault for this, he DID disobey Odysseus's direct order and could some of that have to do with the fact that he wanted treasure?? Maybe? But I'm not convinced that was entirely it. That's mentioned at the beginning of the song, and then never really brought up again. (Yes, I am aware that the in the myth it is because of treasure, but again, I'm going off just Epic).

Jay tells us that every character in Epic has an instrument, those in the fandom know this, and we also know that Eurylochus's instrument is actually the crew. So, when he sings, he's usually singing for the combined opinions of the rest of the crew. In "Keep Your Friends Close", we hear Odysseus start to really deteriorate for the first time. You can hear the crew start to get a little weirded out by it, because until this point Odysseus has been pretty steadfast and strong and suddenly he's turned into this paranoid, tired mess. He doesn't talk to anyone after the beginning, he just sings to himself while the crew sings backup. The crew has never seen Odysseus like this before, as far as we can tell, and I think it worries them, especially since this whole bag situation seems to have started it. What I'm trying to get across here is that Odysseus is acting really suspicious in the crew's eyes. We know this because the crew actively tells us this in the line "Everything's changed since Polites." There has been a massive, unsettling change in Odysseus and I think it's deeply concerning them. I think they brought those concerns to Eurylochus, who I think was also being actively shut out, and Eurylochus got worried that there was something much worse than a storm in that bag. If you come from that perspective, it makes sense he waited until Ithaca was so close to try to open it, because with home so close, if there was something horrible then they were close to salvation. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and I guarantee Eurylochus tortured himself for that mistake for the rest of his, unfortunately short, life.

Again, I'm NOT saying that this was the right decision, but I am saying that I can kinda see why he did it.

Let's move onto the Circe Saga. I hear a lot about how it wasn't fair that Eurylochus was so mad about the Scylla incident when he wanted to leave the men who became pigs behind on Circe's island. However, think about it this way, Eurylochus didn't actively send those men into Circe's palace, nor did he choose to turn them into pigs to save himself. When they turned, he had no idea whether they COULD be brought back, he probably already considered them dead. He was not the one who condemned them, and I don't think he wanted to leave them behind, but he didn't know if they could be saved and trying to do so may have lost the rest of their feeble crew. Remember, they've just lost nearly their entire fleet, I wouldn't be surprised if Eurylochus was scared he'd lose even more if they tried to save the men that may have already been condemned.

Was this the right decision? No, I don't think so, but I understand why he thought it was.

That's why I think trying to compare the Scylla incident with the Circe one is like looking at apples and oranges, they're really not the same thing.

Next, the cow incident. The infamous "my father will hear about this". I don't have much to say here. It was stupid, yes. However, have y'all ever been so starved you'd do anything to get something to eat? I become a bitch if I wait a few too many hours between meals, going for days, your perception is going to be MASSIVELY screwed. Still, after all, not too surprised that Eurylochus didn't listen to Odysseus. Again, stupid ass move, Eurylochus, but I get it.

Finally, Mutiny, the song that brought this all about. I think a lot of people took this song as Eurylochus being a bit of a hypocrite, that Odysseus isn't allowed to do the things he, himself, did. I don't think that's the case here. I think Eurylochus is confused, because this is COMPLETELY out of character for Odysseus. This entire musical has been Odysseus trying to avoid death in any way he can. He's tried to protect his crew even when it puts himself in danger (see the Circe Saga) and then, seemingly out of nowhere, he sacrifices six men to Scylla without so much as a discussion with his crew. This is very, VERY unlike him at this point, and it scared Eurylochus. It scared all of them.

I don't think he's doing this because he's mad that Odysseus gets to do shit he didn't get to do. No, I think he's terrified because this is a complete 180 and now they're all at risk. He's confused as to why Odysseus is suddenly okay with everything he's told Eurylochus NOT to do up until this point. He's saying, "you told me not to do this, why are you now doing this? The whole time you fought for the crew and now you just killed them no warning, what the hell?? What's happened to you?? This isn't you??" He's not saying that he didn't do anything, he's saying this whole time you've protected us and now you're not, wtf? In simple terms, "you told me not to do something and then you did it"

The prophet said as much, "It's no longer you." This was no longer the Odysseus they knew, and when he willingly sacrificed his crew, they realized that they were no longer people in his eyes, they were tools to get back to his wife and child.

I'm saying this to bash Odysseus AT ALL. In fact, the scariest part of Thunder Bringer is that I fully understand why Odysseus did what he did, and in his shoes, I'm not sure I'd have done anything different. I think Odysseus is an excellent character and I LOVE HIM, we see that these decisions haunt him constantly throughout the rest of the Sagas, but we have to remember we get to hear a lot more about the situation than the crew did. We're inside Odysseus's head, they were not.

Again, was Eurylochus completely in the right? Absolutely not. But he also wasn't completely in the wrong. He was working with the information he had available to him, it just happened to be missing important pieces.

Eurylochus was trying to protect the crew and himself from a man he didn't recognize anymore, and I can't blame him for that.

...Plus, I think we can all agree that the real bitch here is Zeus who made Odysseus choose between himself and his crew and then immediately punted him to Calypso's island FULLY KNOWING that the only reason Odysseus made that decision was because he wanted to see his wife and son.

Screw you, Zeus.

[horsegirlwarcrimes]

what’s ur fav pairing involving sqh and please elaborate in as much detail as humanly possible 🙏🏽🙏🏽 personally im all for js abt anyone / sqh because i believe he’s just a guy and yet..every relationship he has is meaningful to me

omg a great question 👀👀👀

i have to admit i am a basic moshang lover at heart, they are just the perfect combo of angst/genuine emotions/beautiful themes and very funny that i love. shang qinghua is mr. boop and also mobei-jun's god and the jaken to his sesshomaru. mobei jun is his blorbo and his abuser and his annoying boss. they have a 20-30 year age difference. they dont even get together at the end of the moshang extras they just continue to have a weird boss/employee relationship and someday get their shit together off-screen. its everything to me

when writing moshang, i think the best things for me are the available tension of mobei jun's treatment of shang qinghua, contrasted against the genuine softness i think mobei jun feels for him and shang qinghua's deeply ingrained self worth issues. its just such a delicious cocktail for both drama and sweetness! and for some reason when together, they give me that very solid 'married couple who can basically psychically communicate' vibe, compared to bingqiu's messy freudian college girl energy (also beloved to me)

THAT SAID. i do think there are other very fun or funny pairings for sqh that i would love to see more of tbh.

A) SQH/YQY. this is mostly just because i love @tossawary's hey, share the weight a little, which is so cute and honestly mostly comes down to 'two great tastes that taste great together' for me. not my fav for either of them but deserves honorable mention for being the main non-moshang sqh pairing with a fic i love

B) SQH/LQG. i think that shang qinghua gets him. he COULD fix him, by which in this case i mean use his mildly conniving nature, excellent planning skills, and sneakiness to improve liu qingge's quality of life through trickery. and i think that shang qinghua could really benefit from a loving and devoted partner who doesn't have that much more emotional intelligence than him, but who would make him eat full meals, sleep, and get some fresh air.

C) SQH/TLJ - SQH/TLJ/SXY - SQH/SXY... its just so funny. i think they could be enchanted by his weird little man swag. his mildly evil heart and his big brown eyes. and i think he'd find them mildly unsettling which is also funny

D) MQF/SQH. i have never seen or written any content for this but i kind of want it very badly now that ive thought of it. sqh can get rare and weird information for him, mqf would be 'i can fix him' for sqh's crippling anxiety and tendency to get injured by demons, they are both workaholics... this would be a magical combo

i do sometimes read cumplane and think they can be very fun and/or cute, but its not really a fav sqh pairing of mine, nor is sqh/og!sqq, altho ik those are probably the other two most popular pairings for him. i just think he should be w someone who appreciates how smart he is and idk that either of them do that for me... they, in turn, seem to me like guys who want to be the smart one in a relationship 😂

anyways i really took 'in as much detail as possible' and ran with it so i hope this answers your question hahaha. many thoughts about this man that live in my brain 😌

[fae-scientist]

Something I've been thinking about for a while.

So I talk about being fae quite a bit (I mean it's in the name) but something I don't talk about quite as often is my archaic human identity. For the longest time, fae has been my primary species identity with Neanderthal* being in second place

*Just as a note, I may use the term Neanderthal for conveniences sake, but that doesn't mean it can't extend to other hominids as well

The reason this is the case is because it was difficult to determine exactly how to fit these two identities together. After all, they seem so different. What could fae and Neanderthals possibly have in common with each other?

Now this is going to get into noemata and personal belief territory, and there will be a lot of speculation from this point on.

I've been thinking a lot about the uncanny valley, the reason that humans are so unsettled by it, and also why we evolved to have it. Now to be clear, I'm not claiming there's one singular reason it became a thing. It's a complicated subject, and I feel it's more likely that multiple different factors came together to create the uncanny valley, but there's one theory in particular that really resonates with me.

It also led me to a question I hadn't considered: How far back do fae go?

Picture this:

You are an archaic human living with others of your kind, and the threat of danger is present at all times. You have to be prepared to take on anything that might harm you or the group, whether that be a predator, disease, etc.

But what you may not necessarily expect is that the monster you're afraid of is hidden in your very group, disguised as one of you. It may be someone you know. Maybe you even notice signs that they're a little off but can't place why. If they have malicious intentions, then that could spell danger for the whole group. The idea that the call is coming from inside the house is a frightening one.

It's my belief that this scenario did happen at points in prehistory (though I don't imagine it was necessarily common) even if I can't prove it, but I don't belive these nonhuman beings were all malevolent. I feel that some of them had to be benevolent and helpful.

Now here's the thing. I'm deeply terrified of the uncanny valley. But at the same time, I'm also fascinated and drawn to it. On the one hand, I feel the primal urge to be on edge just in case there's something lurking in the dark, and scenarios where creatures spawn into my house plague me often. But on the flip side, I am the creature who lurks in the dark. I do have the urge to be out in the forest at night.

It may be possible that in a past life, I was one of these benevolent beings who blended into a group of Neanderthals and helped them survive. I imagine that even if they knew there was something different about me, they still accepted me as their own. I was simultaneously one of them, yet not. Because having an ally like that in a world so dangerous can be very beneficial.

People tend to be wary of fae, and I understand why that is, but I think it's also important to acknowledge that humans and fae have had very positive relationships, including platonic, romantic, and sexual. It's not true that all fae seek to harm.

I consider myself human-aligned fae. There are plenty of stories of fairies who live among and/or help humans (changelings, brownies, etc.) It's one of the reasons I feel a bit disconnected from other fae, because I can't really divorce humanity from my fae identity. In fact, my human and fae species euphoria sometimes feeds into each other.

I feel like my fae instincts are pretty telling. A lot of people associate fae with tricksters who are only out to get humans, but my fae instincts actually include being nice to them. They also include politeness/manners and promoting fairness. These instincts can absolutely be experienced by humans, too, but they feel distinctly fae to me. And yes, tricking and playing jokes on humans is included in that, but nothing harmful (unless they're a politician I guess :/ I do have more "negative" fae urges, but those are for people who piss me off, not humans in general)

It's just difficult for me to believe that archaic humans had no interaction with nonhuman entities or that none ever tried blending in with them, when even today, we have plenty of nonhumans disguised as/living among humans, whether by choice or not (I mean, hello) and some of them are even human to varying degrees.

I imagine that once Neanderthals and other hominids all died out, I moved on to their closest living relatives who survived to the modern day, and thus, here I am. Playing Minecraft and typing out a Tumblr post or whatever (😐)

And that's where I'm at in piecing my identities together. Bonus noemata I have is that other hominids definitely did magic (though again, I can't prove it.) I also find it fascinating that part of the reason the uncanny valley developed may be due to existing near other hominid species. Literally people who are Like You But Not. (Also also day people/night owls exist because some hominids would watch for predators in shifts. I've always been a night owl and I'm literally night fae. I definitely would have worked the night shift)

[miguelswifey04]

Hi, could I perhaps request some Miguel angst/comfort where he has an argument with a soft and usually peaceful sunshine reader, in which reader actually becomes visibly angry, cuz some sensetive topic for them was brought up? But their anger isn't loud, more like quiet and ominous, and somehow it's surprises and terryfies others?

oh I LOVE ANGST/COMFORT SO MUCH <33

🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴

“what’s wrong with you??!!” miguel’s voice boomed loudly. he’s scolding you in front of everyone and you can’t help but feel so small and quite embarrassed. he’s treating you like a child, and you aren’t one but he’s making you seem like one. “can you stop acting like a damn child? you’re an adult.”

“i’m sorry miguel—i know it was my fault but i didn’t know what to do!”” you hold your face in your hands as you swallow that lump in your throat. you try so hard to bit back those tears that are threatening to burst. ‘please don’t cry and make yourself look pathetic.’ you pleaded to yourself—in your mind trying so hard to convince yourself not to make a damn fool of yourself. miguel is furious with you. you could see the way his chest rises and falls quickly as his nostrils flare. though, you feel anger unveil itself in a quiet and ominous manner. you quickly feel anger pool inside your heart—rage. it catches everyone including miguel off guard by the way your demeanor changes. one second you’re begging for forgiveness and now you’re clenching your hands in fists as you give miguel a cold glare.

“why am i the one who always have to beg for your forgiveness?” the argument escalates, fueled by the seething emotions that have been bottled up within you. your typically bright and radiant aura momentarily dims, an ominous cloud casting a shadow over your once cheerful disposition. miguel, who is accustomed to your sunny nature, is taken aback by the intensity of your anger as it materializes in a chillingly silent manner.

your voice falls to a low, steady tone, almost unnerving in its quiet determination. your eyes, usually warm and inviting, become sharp and piercing, sending shivers down miguel’s spine. the contrast between your usual personality and this unsettling display of anger leaves him unsettled and unsure of how to respond.

despite his initial surprise, miguel quickly recognizes that something deeply significant has been stirred within you. he registers the pain and turmoil behind your anger, understanding that this sensitive topic has touched a raw nerve. miguel, always perceptive, realizes that your quiet and ominous anger stems from a place of vulnerability, a wounded part of your soul that demands acknowledgement.

in a moment of empathy, miguel sets aside his own frustrations and approaches you cautiously, his eyes betraying concern rather than fear. he reaches out a tentative hand, seeking to bridge the emotional gap that has emerged between you. "i...i understand that this topic hurts you deeply," he murmurs softly, his voice filled with a genuine desire to ease your pain. "i want to help, to be there for you. please...i’m sorry let’s talk about this."

for some odd reason you nod while you began to realize you were crying. you were so damn tired of it all and you just needed someone’s shoulder to cry on. miguel took you away from the rest taking you to a safe and quiet place where you could vent your frustrations. he lets you do so as he holds you close to him as he cards your hair lovingly. miguel never stops apologizing to you and realizes how he’s hurt you. he’s deeply sorry but he’s to be a better person for you even if he isn’t good at being the one to apologize. “let me make this up to you, i’m sorry for putting you through this. you don’t deserve this at all.”

———

tags: @kairiscorner <3

[mercurianchild]

hi angel, how would you describe a lilith trine sun ,pluto and mars in a person?Is that a bad thing? Couse i read having lilith placements its not good - that it makes you a bad woman is that true ? Like i dont wanna steal any man like i have been blamed for that in the past and dude i was doing legit nothing . So i wonder does that play a part of woman just randomly giving me angry nasty looks for no reason ? or having the 8 house as your chart ruler just make people woman give ya da angry stare even if you are tryng to hide and not attract atention? And i also want to ask (sorry ) does sextiles count as placements ? For example : i have my asc sextile pluto and lilith sextile my moon and when i read descriptions about let say pluto ascendant aspects i relate to the description BUT i wonder am i allowed to relate to this orr sextiles are weak placements and it doesnt count and i should not feel includet couse another astro blog on this app told me its not about you it only counts with harsh aspects couse they are actually fighting the true battles and you just want attention. so i just wanted to know. Anyway thank you and i do understand if you cant anser to all anyway you are amazing ! have an amazing 20th of april i read its gonna be like a new 14 years of some good fortune events happening bla bla so i hope thats true :D lol anyway ok imma shut up now , bye

Lilith Trine Sun, Pluto, and Mars, and the role of sextiles

Hey love! I can tell you’ve been doing some deep thinking about your astrological chart, and it sounds like you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed and misunderstood. Let’s have a look at your placements 💜

🪻Lilith Trine Sun: This aspect means you have a strong, confident sense of self, and Lilith adds a layer of mystery and magnetism. You’re likely very authentic and true to yourself, which can be incredibly inspiring. This doesn’t make you a "bad woman" at all. Instead, it means you embody a fierce independence that some people might find intimidating.

🪻Lilith Trine Pluto: Pluto brings depth and transformation, making you very perceptive and capable of profound personal growth. This aspect can make you seem powerful and intense, which can sometimes be misunderstood by others.

🪻Lilith Trine Mars: Mars gives you drive and passion. With this trine, you’re likely assertive and have a strong will, which can be a great strength. This combination can also make you very dynamic and engaging, though some might misinterpret your intensity.

If you’ve experienced negative reactions from some women, it might be because your strong Lilith energy, combined with your 8th house influences, makes you appear very powerful. The 8th house is associated with deep psychological forces and transformation, which can be unsettling for some people. Remember, this is about their insecurities, not about you. You’re not doing anything wrong, and you definitely don’t deserve to be treated poorly for being your authentic self!

Now, let’s talk about sextiles.

🪻Ascendant Sextile Pluto: This aspect gives you a compelling presence and the ability to influence others deeply. It’s why you might relate to descriptions of Pluto-Ascendant aspects because it enhances your intensity and depth.

🪻Lilith Sextile Moon: This brings a harmonious blend of your emotions and your independent side, making you comfortable with expressing your true feelings and desires.

Sextiles should not be dismissed as weak or insignificant! They highlight areas where you can thrive and grow without the intense challenges of harsher aspects. It’s perfectly valid for you to feel connected to these descriptions!!

But to make it short, you have a powerful, magnetic personality shaped by these harmonious aspects. It’s understandable that this can sometimes lead to misunderstandings or negative reactions, but it’s also a source of great strength. Embrace who you are and use these insights to navigate your path with confidence! You can do it and I believe in you! I really hope this helps you feel more at ease with your chart. You have the power to shape your journey and use these insights for growth and positive change.

Wishing you all the best!!! 💜

[hoebiirama]

✑ Anonymous sent : "Hey, Anli! I hope you're doing well <3 if ok with you, can I request some hcs for Madara and Tobirama with a fem friend who has Kamado Tanjiro's personality (from Kimetsu no Yaiba tho if you haven't watch it yet then someone who's just really kind, innocent in some way and respectful) some friendship hcs would be interesting. Thank you in advance if you accept my request! Take care 💙" ✑ Anli's useless comment : I am indeed unfamiliar with Kimetsu no Yaiba so I went off of the description you gave me, so I apologize if I didn't go in depth enough ! 😭😖 Thank you so much for requesting though 💚

Masterpost | Rules | Send a request | Works in Progress

うちはマダラ • Uchiha Madara

SFW

↳ Madara would be concerned for you. I don't think he sees all types of kindness as weakness (showing mercy to your opponent is the type of "kindness" he considers weak), but in your case, it's different. The fact that you always assume the best in people deeply unsettles him, and he's always worried that someone will take advantage of you one day because you're too friendly. Your willingness to help others is both your strongest and weakest asset. He doesn't like that.

↳ I feel like he would scold you like a strict dad. A lot. Because he grew up being told to constantly hide his emotions, he never learned how to properly express them, so it often comes out as anger or frustration. Is the scolding annoying ? Yes. Do you understand why he's like this ? Also yes. You wouldn't have a problem telling him off, but this man invented the concept of being stubborn, so your words would have virtually no effect on him.

↳ It's a different story entirely when that kindness is directed towards him. Madara is used to people feeling extremely intimidated by him, never looking him in the eye, never approaching him unless it's absolutely necessary, and being overly polite out of cautiousness and fear of summoning his wrath. And I feel like your kindness and positive attitude towards life would both feel like a breath of fresh air and very unnerving (definitely at first). He probably wouldn't know how to deal with that.

↳ But that's also the reason he came to care about you, because no matter how much of an asshole he was to you at first, you never reciprocated the sentiment. You were always nice to him. You never took anything he said personally because you understood why he was so guarded all the time and that alone was enough to make you special in his eyes. Madara has never received any form of empathy from someone other than his brother.

↳ Your kindness is pure, and he would feel it. You're not nice to him out of caution. You don't show him respect because you fear him. It's genuine. It's something you can't fake. And while he'd definitely be thrown off at first, he'd warm up to you and eventually come to deeply care about you, even if he has strange ways of showing it.

↳ What I'm saying is, Madara is biased. Showing him kindness and openness is fine. Encouraged, even. But towards others ? Hell no. That won't pass. And yes, it is partly due to his possessiveness. Because if you think that's just something he'd display with his s/o, you'd be deadly wrong. Whether you're his friend or his lover, you're still his, period. He'd be able to put up with it without too much complaining if it's with Hashirama, but with strangers and Tobirama especially, he won't stop himself from making some kind of comment about how they (read : Tobirama) don't deserve you being nice to them.

↳ Pro tip : a good way to shut him up if he starts lecturing you again is to tease him a little and tell him "well, I have you to protect me, don't I ? Why should I worry about these things when you're there ?" and his brain might just stop working for a hot minute, lol.

千住扉間 • Senju Tobirama

SFW

↳ I feel like Tobirama would share some similarities with Madara, but not even nearly to the same degree. He'd also be a lot more comfortable expressing his feelings through words, so he wouldn't get frustrated the way Madara would. It's just that sometimes he thinks you're being too trusting with people you should absolutely be wary of, or going too soft on people who don't deserve it.

↳ Thankfully, Tobirama is always ready to defend you from anyone who tries to imply that you're naive or easy to manipulate, because he knows it's far from the truth. You're no pushover; unfortunately, in the world you live in, it is often seen as a bad thing to be kind. Tobirama would have no qualms telling people off for you if need be, and by that I mean that even if you can stand up for yourself, you're not as harsh on people as he thinks is necessary, so he takes it upon himself to finish the job, lol.

↳ This one is obvious but I still have to say it : he'd also absolutely hate seeing you being friendly with Madara. I feel like all of the concerns Madara has in general would apply to Tobirama in this specific scenario. He'd be worried sick that the man would end up hurting you in one way or another (he feels the same way about Hashirama's friendship with Madara). Tobirama knows better than to straight up just tell you to stop talking to him, but if he catches you with Madara, he'd probably find any excuse to pull you away from him.

↳ Your friendliness and kindness also reminds him of his brother, and he'd definitely have a soft spot for it. I feel like he'd ask you a lot of questions to try and figure out why you're this way and how the world you live in hasn't seemed to completely ruin your innocence. It would be such a wild concept to him, and as the curious mind he is, he'd definitely try to understand your point of view.

↳ He would definitely come to you for personal advice if you're close enough. You'd be easier to trust than most people and not as biased as Hashirama would be (and, let's face it, if Tobirama comes to you with a personal problem, 99% of the time Hashirama is somehow involved in it), and you'd likely be one of the few people who could make him genuinely laugh. (Making him smile is easy enough. Just look at any picture of him with his students when they were children. Or how he was looking at Sasuke while fighting alongside him during the war. Man's not as stoic as people think he is — but you have a better chance at beating him in a footrace than you have at making him laugh.)

↳ Tobirama would love having you around, tbh. You're not as blindly optimistic as his brother is, but you're still the kind of positive presence he desperately needs in his life. He wouldn't fear negative judgement from you, and he knows you always mean well. You're probably the only person he can talk to about his students who'll get just as hyped as he is and not make some comment about how it's "unlike him to be so soft" and ruin the moment.

↳ 12/10 friendship, would recommend. For his sake. Please. The poor man desperately needs a friend.

[apprenticestanheight]

Watch the World Burn- Mark Hoffman x fem! reader

all right! This account has been a little dry in terms of my ability to write and put out requests lately but that DOES have a reason--I'm dealing with some personal health concerns at the moment and I got a cold four days ago. Before that it was a combination of demotivation and studying nearly ten hours in a week to get my learners permit, but I do acknowledge I could've at least given writing a try in the midst of it all.

This was meant to be a fic but I realized part way through that I was writing it in the way that I tend to write headcanons, so thats what this came out as.

This fic was requested by the lovely @capan-deveraux2! If you're reading, I hope you like this one and I am SO SORRY about the delay!

Fic type- this is pretty fluffy!

Warnings- mentions of fire, this fic has been edited but the editing was somewhat a skim--I apologize for any grammatical mistakes as my thoughts can sometimes move faster than I can type! Also, this is my first ever mark centric fic so he might be a tad ooc (also haven't rewatched the saw films since I finished up with saw 3D last month so that could also contribute)

Mark is generally the type of person to be cool, level headed. He can admit that, on occasion, he's quicker to anger than most and his temper when angered is probably something worth working on, but when he's around you all of that kind of ceases to matter.

He keeps the cool natured, relaxed off-duty cop thing within himself as he goes about meeting your parents over dinner. He finds he likes their company well enough--your mother has retired and is happily living off a good pension, where your father has five years to go and talks excitedly about his and your mothers plan to move somewhere like Scotland when he's finally able to retire.

The only point where Mark lets the version of him that isn't the perfect gentleman slip is when your father gives him a compliment.

"I'm glad to see that my daughter has found someone so lovely," he says, and Mark has to give himself a second to process it because like...like...??

He's not a good person--being a disciple and apprentice of Jigsaw would inherently demerit such claims, wouldn't it? He acknowledges he's not good and that prompts his reaction.

"Well, not really," he says. "I mean--I would make a thousand mistakes if Y/N was put in harms way. I would do a thousand immoral things, I would watch the world burn, just to make sure she was okay in the end."

your parents have similar reactions to that

your mom is reaching across the table, taking your hands in hers and going "are you sure about him?" in the way that supportive, but concerned mothers usually do.

Your father is staring at Mark, mouth agape, and is thinking like:

well...that's...interesting.

In the end though, your mother speaks up for both of them.

"Good," she says. "It's good that our Y/N has found someone willing to do that much. You love her?"

"More than anything." Mark says, and the both of you know that he means it.

"And you love...him?" Your father asks.

You nod, because you do. You love him wholeheartedly, truly, and you would watch the world burn if it meant he emerged from the embers.

Your parents find themselves assured--albeit a little unsettled by the way in which such knowledge came about--by the knowledge that he loves you deeply and that you have found someone you can love just as much, and the dinner resumes as it had been before, laughter and joy enveloping the dining room.

[utilitycaster]

I haven't seen WBN, so I can't comment on the comparison, but on the subject of Liliana, one of my favorite parts of last night was how Matt anwsered Fearne's question about how Liliana got involved with Ludinus. The whole scene with Liliana was stellar, but that answer made it so clear that is she is in a cult. The way Ludinus found her while she was unsure and looking for answers, mentored her, and showed her the "truth" about Predathos is a classic cult recruitment story. And her reasonings for staying in the cult after having recognizing some of its faults also rang true. She needs to "protect the children", the methods are wrong but the "truth" at the heart of their mission is right, the us vs. them mentality and fear of the exandrian authorities, etc. And I can see how that can make her sympathetic. She was taken in and conditioned by a charismatic, powerful leader. But Matt and the others have also made it clear, including in that scene, that she is complicit, and that the pcs at least recognize that her guilt does not absolve her. The members of the Manson Family who committed the Tate Murders may have been indoctrinated by Charles Manson, but they still killed 5 people in an incredibly grusome manner. The fact that they were following orders doesn't absolve them of their crime. And historically, cult leadership (which Liliana seems to be) who attempt to "fix" a cult either don't make any meanful change, or actually make it worse. I, at least, am very curious to see what will have happened in that regard when she next shows up. In short, people need to learn about nuance, and maybe sociology, and the Liliana scene was fantastic.

Hello anon. Are you spying on my Discord messages. This is not an accusation but I literally brought up the Manson Family there in discussion of how a lot of the WBN fandom in that like, people see wizards of the citadel (rightfully) as The War-Mongering Establishment, but forget that actually, there exist plenty of counterculture groups that also suck and just bc the US Government does horrible things doesn't mean the Manson Family doesn't. What if the Citadel AND a lot of Witches fucking sucked.*

To get back to Critical Role though, YEAH the Vanguard has been hitting every single aspect of a cult, and look. I get that the best way to get people irl out of a cult is to just be present for them when they decide to leave and not cut them off (the same is true for how to help people in abusive relationships) but also once they start murdering I feel that is no longer the move. The Liliana scene made me deeply uncomfortable and unsettled in the best way, namely, I knew they were talking to a cult member who is in too deep for them to get her out right now, and who has done terrible things to innocent people in service to that cult. Which brings me back to the first paragraph: a very true twist on "what if both sides of a conflict sucked" is "what if the victim of a system can still perpetuate the harm of a system onto others". (Also, if we want to throw Midst into the list of things where people have no-nuance no-sociology takes, and talk more about Steel? "what if someone with power within a system can still be a victim thereof."

Like, that is a really consistent set of issues in media analysis, actually. There's a lot of "this is the good side, and this is the bad side," and "this is a victim, and this is a perpetrator" and no understanding of "both sides are bad (or even complicated)" and "wow it's almost like the way systems and especially cults keep running is because everyone except the very top is to an extent a victim, but also everyone is a perpetrator." Very few people are unfettered evildoers doing it just for kicks. You can have sympathy for Liliana and also acknowledge that it's pretty valid for Orym to have no room for that sympathy. Traumatized and manipulated people can still be shitty people.

*I'm neutral-to-faint-positive on Suvi/Ame as a ship but actually "wow both our establishments really suck, how can we make something better together" is a great basis for a ship and "oh my god no witches are perfect and right and wizards are Bad and Wrong you're so correct about everything" is a dogshit basis for a ship which I think is worth highlighting given that we are in fandom spaces here although I may come to regret this when I'm sober.

[tgmsunmontue]

Upon which our souls touch 5/?

Hangster Fantasy!AU

SUMMARY

Tradition and the stories have been the same for thousands of years. Until Bradley and Jake came along and broke all the rules without ever speaking a word to one another...

PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE PART FOUR

(Map of the world in my head can by found here...)

PART FIVE

                It delays them further, not that they have a time they need to be somewhere, or people waiting for them, but it still frustrates him. Now that he knows his father is alive the desire to meet him has rooted itself deep within him. He knows now, thinking back, that his mother had never said he had died, Bradley himself had just assumed and not wanted to hurt her by asking further. Her sadness had been rooted in being apart from him, not rooted in grief. Knowing this makes him feel foolish, but there is nothing he can do about it now. It does not stop himself from being annoyed at himself, the irritability he’s been feeling building a little more.

                He wants to ask so many questions, many popping up now that he has time to process the stories she has shared with him; but he can’t with Jake there. Doesn’t want him to know that Bradley has been unaware all these years of the mere existence of his father. Doesn’t want to him to know the fact that Bradley’s blood is mixed with something he cannot even imagine. It doesn’t bother Bradley at all, but he also doesn’t know Jake at all and either his customs are very different where he’s from or he is deliberately ignoring Bradley’s customary overtures of comradery.

                It doesn’t help that his mother has outfitted Jake in Bradley’s own gear for the journey, some of it too small or simply not his favorite or the most comfortable. Seeing Jake in his equipment and clothing unsettles him, and he doesn’t understand why. It is no different from leaving it for travelers to take it from his home if they need it. He walks toward his mother and Jake, and they’re both looking happy and he reminds himself that it’s a good thing.

                “I am going to take the message to Jake’s family. Let them know he is safe and travelling with us for a while. I will collect some of his belongings while I am there.”

                “As the water flows,” Bradley agrees, because nothing he says or does will change this course of events, even if he doesn’t want his mother to leave, and he doubly doesn’t want to be left alone to travel with Jake.

                “Travel to the river and then follow it down. And then follow it down further. I will see you in Solrin, from there you will be able to travel by boat to the sea. Then we can sail.”

                “Sail?” both he and Jake say simultaneously, and Bradley hates that Jake sounds as excited as he feels sick. He does not like the idea of being surrounded by water, has only ever heard tales of the massive expanse of water his mother calls the ocean.

                “Yes. Sail. We have to cross the ocean.”

                “Will Flurry fit on a boat?” Bradley asks, mind scrambling for reasons which would make them find an alternate route, although he fears it is futile, his mother is incredibly well travelled and knowledgeable about the world.

                “Of course. These boats are much bigger than you’re used to. Although I think he enjoys flying over the waves just as much.”

                Bradley smiles weakly. He’s been fine with rivers and lakes, will happily swim, however he knows, fears, that the ocean is a separate beast entirely. His mother pulls his head down, breathes in deeply, knows she’s breathing in his scent and memory so she can carry him with her. He returns the gesture, even though his gifts lay elsewhere, and he’s never been able to find her by scent.

                “I will be back with you quickly. Travel safe.”

…            …            …

                He loves his mother.

                He loves his mother.

                He loves his mother.

                He repeats it over and over in his head as he walks. Reminds himself that he does, in fact, love her. Even when she had extended the invitation to Jake to travel with them and said that maybe they might find something useful when they reached his father’s lands. The way she had phrased that had made him pause, like the land itself belongs to his father as opposed to merely being a guardian of it for future generations. Regardless, he now finds himself walking with Jake who simply seems to not stop talking.

…            …            …

                He follows after him, his own steps needing to be quicker to keep up with Bradley’s longer stride. He can still see Carole off in the distance in the sky when he looks back, follows Bradshaw’s gaze and wonders if he can sense her. He has heard a lot of rumors about him, and he cannot wait to find out which may be true. They continue to walk and Jake assumes Bradley knows where he is going. He had asked no questions of his mother, so Jake just has to trust his sense of direction. As he walks he talks, bringing up his family. That he has a newly birthed brother. How his tribe often have two children. That he has aunts and uncles and cousins. He knows he’s filling the silence, but he not used to the silence. It feels oppressive and he’s much too used to the sounds of many people around him.

                He keeps up a steady stream of chatter, determined to make Bradley give him something more than grunts or deep hums; hums Jake can’t determine whether they’re angry or simply just a sign that Bradley is listening. There is nothing they seem to connect on, or at least none that he gives an indication of. Then he’s very clearly not listening, starting to hunt out small game and collect particular plants. Jake supposes it is later in the afternoon, but when he asks if they’re going to stop and make camp all he gets in return is a sharp nod of the head. It’s like he cannot or will not even deign to talk to him. Jake uses his own throwing daggers to bring down a couple of hares, lets his own frustration bleed into the throws.

                Then they’re indeed setting up camp and again Bradley is laying wards. He doesn’t offer to help this time. Just settles out of the way and watches, quiet, knows at least to keep quiet even if his own mind is throwing dozens of questions he wants answers to. He’ll be able to speak them aloud eventually.

                At least he hopes so.

PART SIX

[problematicbots]

Winged Sentinel Au:

Snippet 1: The Idea

It was one crash then the next so many failed attempts on the training ground and this consistent line of failures was getting on Sentinel's last nerves that he could explode from pure frustration.

He tried everything he knew from his days as a boot camp sergeant to teach Jetfire and Jetstrom all the basics of being a member of the elite guard. He even doubled down on his serious attitude since he had zero clue how to train two jets yet so far nothing had worked sure when the two were out of vehicle mode it was pretty simple but when they were in vehicle mode it was somehow more difficult teaching these jets how to fly than driving in the stupid earth liquid falling from the sky.

He was so tired of all of this that he went inside Fort Maximus to sit down and grab some energy to clear his hard drive while muttering angrily to himself under his breath. Jazz who was nearby overhead his tiny mutters, so he went over to Sentinel to see what was up with the grumbling prime.

"Still struggling to get them in the air SP?" asked Jazz crossing his arms as he leaned against a nearby wall.

Sentinel didn't appreciate Jazz's comment and quickly went on the defensive, raising his voice to complain as smoke billowed from his pipes creating a layer of smoke above his helm that almost looked like one of those earth rain clouds.

"Well, jazz, how exactly I am supposed to TEACH two jets how to Fly when I am Grounded?!" complained Sentinel rolling his optics in annoyance " I mean seriously What does Ultra Mangus expect me to do weld wings to my back?"

With that one-off comment that wasn't even supposed to be that serious, Sentinel paused his complaining as an idea popped into his hard drive "Wait a Second.".

Sentinel's optics widened as he pondered the idea that popped into his hard drive just now, which surprised Jazz a bit since he had never seen Sentinel so deep in thought before. It was a bit unsettling.

"Huh, you okay there, Sp?" asked Jazz, concerned, as he watched the Prime put one of his servos under his chin, rubbing it lightly.

Sentinel was strangely quiet for a full minute before getting up and tossing his energon into an open garbage chute door. Then he ran off, saying, "Huh, I'll be right back Jazz, I need to do something real quick." Sentinel disappeared into a hallway without almost no explanation at all, leaving Jazz bewildered.

"Strange" Jazz thought to himself before shaking his helm wondering what in the all-spark Sentinel is up to now. Surely, he wasn't thinking what Jazz thought he was thinking after all what kind of crazy Autobot would willingly be modified into a jet? _________________________________________________________________________________

The Autobot council was in the middle of a meeting, discussing economic matters. The notable members present were Ultra Magnus, Perceptor, Longarms, and Alpha Trion, deeply engaged in the discussion. Meanwhile, Ironhide, not a part of the council, stood near the entrance, guarding it.

Everything was going well until Sentinel suddenly burst into the room with a determined look on his faceplate as he approached the council with a march of confidence.

Each of the council members slowly turned their attention to Sentinel Prime, their expressions a mix of confusion and irritation at the interruption of their meeting. Meanwhile, Ironhide still at his post observed the scene in intrigue wanting to know what Sentinel was up.

"Sentinel? This better be important," spoke Ultra Magnus in a professional yet slightly annoyed tone as he glanced up from the council table, his voice reverberating through the room.

Sentinel could see that all optics were on him. He made a quick fake cough before speaking, not wanting anybody to think he was a crazy mech who had entered the room for no good reason. He swallowed enough pride to come out with a quick but awkward apology, not wanting to look bad in front of Ultra Magnus.

"Huh sorry for interruption sir" spoke Sentinel in a lower timid voice than his usual loud confident smugness that came out from his glossa. "I just have one request "

Ultra Magnus was annoyed that Sentinel interrupted the meeting that he plans for cycles but was curious as to what this request that Sentinel asked for

"What exactly is this request?" asked Ultra Mangus in genuine interest despite his previous annoyance with the prime

"Well, Sir as we all know Jetfire and Jetstorm were modified to be jets from samples from Starscream so I was wondering, if possible, the same could be done to me "spoke Sentinel with his arms behind his back.

The council widens their optics at Sentinel's suggestions with some whispering behind each other since to them there had never been a jet subcommander in the ranks before, so the council begins discussing among themselves the implication of such a thing.

Perceptor instantly seems interested in the idea of modifying Sentinel already pulling out his tools from his desk ready for another experiment under his servos.

Longarms sees this as a possible advantage to take the Autobots out from the inside out since he knows how likely Sentinel is going to struggle with his new vehicle mode and perhaps even cause a risk in his career.

With Sentinel out of the way, he could be the next subcommander gaining him way more access to Autobot's resources than before with a perfect reason to be close to Ultra Mangus all the time.

All Longarms needs to do is sit and watch for Ultra Magnus to accept this proposal although he did plant a whisper here or there to approve Sentinel's idea to other council members.

Alpha Trion on the other hand immediately scoffed at the idea since to him they were slowly becoming exactly like their enemy which he hated since this wasn't the Autobot's way according to him after all they were meant to be on the ground not in the sky where Decepticons destroy lives of innocents

"And why exactly would you want like...these experiments..." asked Alpha Trion in a calm professional tone with a judgmental undertone.

Sentinel immediately caught this judgment undertone from Alpha Trion's voice squinting his optics at the old mech in clear annoyance

damn how badly Sentinel wanted to yell in that old clog face giving him a piece of his hard drive, unfortunately, he needs to do what Jazz referred to as "keeping it cool" otherwise Ultra Magnus may decline his proposal.

"Well, Alpha Trion I don't know if you know this but I had you know that those "experiments" prefer to be called Jetfire and Jetstorm" shot back Sentinel in a passive-aggressive tone refusing to let this old cog refer to his soldiers in that way.

I mean sure, Jetfire and Jetstrom were experiments but that doesn't give Alpha Trion the right to say it out loud.

"And I had you know isn't exactly all that easy to teach jets how to fly when you're on the ground and considering so far there have been three crushes in a role with the current training, I suggested we do something about it " Sentinel continued to the council.

Ironhide, who was still standing near the entrance, watched everything unfold in amusement. He put on 3D sunglasses and took out some popcorn that popped into his glossa.

"Ooh, this is going to be good," Ironhide whispered to himself, snickering with enjoyment as he ate his popcorn.

The council begins whispering and talking among themselves as they gather in a circle each of them considers Sentinel's words except for Alpha Trion who gives Sentinel a quick glare of annoyance before regaining his professional look when the rest of the council separates from the circle already making up their mind.

"Very well Sentinel from this moment onwards you shall gain wings" spoked Ultra Magnus standing from his seat before shifting his attention to Preceptor. "Preceptor you know what to do"

Preceptor nodded getting out of his seat with his tools in servos and walking up in front of Sentinel before gesturing for Sentinel to follow him out of the room which he does.

Preceptor leads him into the hallways of Fort Maximum to a dim laboratory, Inside the Laboratory were selves of data pads, a few mentors, and an examination table right in the middle next to a drawer.

Preceptor motioned for Sentinel to recline on the examination table, his expression devoid of any emotion or concern for what waited for the prime next.

Sentinel slurped a bit before reluctantly lying down on the examination table anxiously trying his best not to show it. At the same time, Preceptor flickered between his tools in his servos looking for the right one.

"So, huh out of curiosity this isn't going hurt right" asked Sentinel shaking a bit as he watched Preceptor stopping his servo on a syringe to prepare and use on the prime.

"Depends on your definition of pain" spoke Preceptor coldly lifting Sentinel's arm and inserting the syringe in his arm without any proper warning.

Sentinel yelped from the sharp pain from the sting of the syringe, he wanted to yell at this no-good scientist for not warning him first however he felt dizzy with his optics getting heavy before passing out.

Oh, by the whole spark, what has he gotten himself into??

[cerseimikaelson]

Pilot: The Disney Jar

It was raining, and for once, neither her father nor his wife were at fault.

And yes, Athena might be willing to admit their aggravation at being glared at by the Council whenever it so much as drizzled was somewhat justified.

After all, Zeus and Hera weren’t the only deities who domains related to weather, sky or air. It was somewhat unfair of the others to jump into conclusions without having all information.

But Athena also believed Zeus and Hera were reaping the consequences of the reputation they had built for themselves.

She didn’t get involved. A good strategist knew what battles were worth fighting.

Usually, Athena cherished this type of rainy days (the no fast news, no damage control, no decapitated statues days). Curling up in her favorite wicker chair with a mug of calming herbal, nectar-spiked tea and whatever thick tome had captured her interest was a perfectly acceptable pastime.

“Ouch! Quit yanking at my hair! I know you’re sulky there’s no sunlight, but there’s no need to take it out on my ringlets.”

Not for everyone, apparently.

Athena raised her head from the slightly yellow pages to see Viola scowling at the geranium pot. The flower, whose petals were white save for the pink centre, seemed to cower under her glare, properly chastened. The leaves trembled a little, and it seemed to retreat.

“You know these need full sun otherwise they get all broody.” Viola informed her.

“You know I am the goddess of wisdom. If you want to control the weather find yourself another deity.”

Viola looked suitably unimpressed. In fact, her glower rivalled that of the plant she had just been arguing with.

Athena probably should have seen this one coming. The girl was a tornado on a good day, all restless energy and hopping from one project to the next like a hyperactive hummingbird (it was kind of the reason why Athena was trying to get her to limit her caffeine intake).

Being cooped up inside with nothing to vent that enthusiasm on was probably- in her mind- worse torture than being forced to listen to Apollo’s haikus.

Athena turned the page. Viola was a grown woman, not a toddler. She could entertain herself.

Silently, for once.

Viola picked up one of the journals Athena kept seeing everywhere in the house, the green leather one with the dragon drawing. She had tried to figure out what made Viola pick one over the others, but if the girl’s selections had a system or a pattern, it wasn’t one Athena could identify.

Viola opened it at a blank page, drew her knees close to her chest and balanced the journal on her thighs, scribbling.

There was no order in that activity either, from what Athena could gauge. Sometimes she’d scribble for just a few minutes, others she’d stay in the same spot for hours, brow furrowed and pen flying over the pages, ink staining her fingers green.

Athena didn’t understand the significance of the green ink either. It must have been a Faerie thing. The girl had grown up in the Seelie Court after all. It was only natural she picked up some of their habits along the way.

For a moment, she thought about asking the girl- about the journals, the ink, any of it- but she couldn’t phrase the question correctly.

Mostly because she wasn’t sure why she wanted to know.

The lack of reasoning was deeply unsettling.

Athena’s gaze returned to her book.

It was about thirty minutes later, give or take, that Viola got up, leaving the journal face down in the armchair. She went toward the kitchen, and a moment later Athena heard the sound of clinking glasses.

Probably getting water. Or looking for a snack.

So long it wasn’t one of those infernal chocolate jam beetles that Athena kept finding absolutely everywhere, she was content.

She had gone through about five or six more pages when the tale-telling shuffling of feet signalled Viola’s return. The girl plopped down next to Athena on the couch, somehow making the move seem graceful.

Another Faerie thing Athena had taken note of.

She was about to ask what mischief she was up to now, when Viola beat her to it.

“I am making a Disney jar.” her daughter said with a completely straight face.

Because that was a normal way to start a conversation.

“A… Disney jar.” Athena repeated slowly, as though tasting the words on her tongue would make them less nonsensical.

“A Disney jar.”

Sure enough, the glass vase Viola produced from seemingly out of nowhere had the words ‘Disney Jar’ scribbled on one side in the girl’s cursive handwriting, all dramatic.

The dots above the is had dog ears for some reason.

Back to the task at hand.

“Dare I ask why you are doing that?”

“It’s raining.”

Athena waited for her to elaborate, but it seemed Viola had exhausted her reasoning in just two short little words.

“I fail to see the connection between the two.”

“I am bored.”

Three words. Progress.

Actually, no. That wasn’t progress at all. What was happening here?

“My point still stands.”

“I wrote the names of a dozen Disney movies on sticks. We’ll pick one out blindly, make something inspired by the movie’s theme or characters, and then watch the film.”

Never before had Athena met any individual- god, demigod, mortal or fae- with such an uncanny ability to make their answers raise even more questions than the question they originally answered.

The intellectual part of her was delighted.

The other parts wanted to throttle the girl.

Did parenting always raise such… conflicting emotions?

“I am going to start with addressing the falsest part of your statement.” Athena said. “The use of plural. There’s no we. We are not engaging in this nonsense.”

“We are not.” Viola agreed, which was…

Suspicious.

Athena narrowed her eyes.

“The founder of Disney, Walt Disney himself, came from humble beginnings, he lived in a farm, actually. Walt holds the record for most individual Oscar wins and nominations at 22 and 59 respectively. Today Disney’s net worth is over $200 Billion USD and the average number of daily visitors at the Californian park in 2022 was 24,658. I hardly think anyone could look at this list of accomplishments and in good conscience call it nonsense.”

Athena stared.

She had arguments. Fuck.

“In addition, you have literally lived long enough to have brought flowers to the funeral of Alfred the Ankylosaurus, and yet you have never watched a Disney movie. I am not okay with this.”

Athena felt the signs of a headache building behind her eyes. Trying to keep up with Viola’s way of thinking was like trying to coral a herd of unicorns into doing the hula. How did the girl manage to go through life with such minimal order Athena would never know.

“I am not watching a Disney movie with you, Viola.”

“Have you ever seen one?”

“Obviously not.”

“Then how do you know you don’t like it unless you try?” Viola sing songed in a falsely sweet voice that completely belied her cat-with-the-canary grin.

Athena couldn’t help the snort that escaped her.

“Oh, brilliant. How long have you been waiting for an opportunity to use that?”

“I might be a bit psyched about getting to boss you around for a change.” Viola’s tone was unrepentant.

“Dream on. That’s never going to happen.”

“First of all, never is like forever. Come on, Feathers, it’s gonna be fun, I promise!”

How was it possible Athena had spent the past ten minutes discussing this?

She opened her mouth to deliver a final, decisive denial, when Viola held up a hand and rolled her eyes as though this was a great inconvenience.

“If you play along now, I will attend all weekend lessons on Ancient Greek except the one on Sunday morning. And I promise I’ll actually do the reading.”

That was… huh. An interesting proposal, actually. Athena had been horrified to hear Viola didn’t speak a word of Ancient Greek despite being fluent in Gaelic, German, Polish and several Faerie tongues Athena had never had access to.

Naturally, the girl had resisted the lessons with all her might.

Well, if she wanted to negotiate Athena wasn’t making it easy on her.

“You will attend all the lessons, including the Sunday one. And I’ll be quizzing you personally.”

Viola considered it.

“Fine, but only if you make it ten am instead of eight. No use sitting through three hours of grammar if I can’t remember my own name. How you people get things done at such an ungodly hour I will never understand.”

That seemed reasonable enough. A good diplomat knew when to push and when to submit.

“Deal.”

They shook hands and Viola beamed.

“This is going to be so much fun!”

She gave the jar an experimental shake and practically thrust it right under Athena’s nose. The goddess peered dubiously at the 15 or so wooden sticks inside.

“Go ahead, Feathers, pick one!”

Half convinced the blasted thing would grow feathers and fly away, Athena reached into the jar and plucked out the first stick her fingers closed around.

TANGLED, it read in Viola’s handwriting.

“Tangled.” Athena said aloud for the girl’s benefit.

Viola almost buzzed with excitement.

“Oh, that’s a good one. I know just the thing! Come on Feathers!”

Before Athena could even blink, she was being dragged by the hand towards the kitchen, nearly upending the jar in process. Viola’s grip on her wrist was surprisingly strong for such a willowy frame.

“Why does this particular endeavour involves us putting our culinary skills to the test exactly?” Athena asked as she took in the spacious room with more than a little trepidation.

Viola had said numerous times the burnt bagels had been an accident, but Athena had seen no evidence to the contrary so far.

“You can’t have movie night without snacks!” Viola replied as though Athena had asked what the value of pi was up to 39 decimal places.

“Of course.” she said flatly, watching the girl move various appliances around the island counter as she made room for what Athena supposed were ingredients.

She had the distinct feeling the poor counter wouldn’t remain spotless for long.

“Sweet or savoury?” Viola asked.

Athena pondered the question.

“Sweet.”

She had skipped dessert earlier as she wasn’t a fan of the ambrosia custard they had served during lunch with the other gods.

“Good answer, Feathers.” Viola grinned. Of course. The girl had a sweet tooth the size of Typhoon’s fangs. “So, you know Rapunzel.”

Athena blinked at the abrupt change in topic.

“Not personally. Is she one of your acquaintances from Faerie?”

It was Viola’s turn to blink. The girl stared at her face very very intently as though trying to catch Athena in a lie.

“Yeah, we’re definitely doing this. You need an intervention.” she decided as though resigning herself to something.

Athena opened her mouth, but Viola waved a dismissive hand.

“Rapunzel is a fictional character and Disney princess. Fun fact, her hair is supposed to be 70 feet long.”

“70 feet?” Athena repeated incredulously. “Why in the world?”

“It has magic powers.” Viola said casually.

Oh, of course. How silly of her.

Athena did her best to track Viola’s movements as the girl pulled out the essentials. Sugar, butter, an egg, as well as several sheets of puff pastry that Athena honestly didn’t know they had in the kitchen. Must have been leftover from the last time Nike had craved cinnamon rolls.

“Okay, Feathers, we have to stick to the theme.”

Athena didn’t bother pointing out she had no idea what the theme was- or what they were even doing in the first place.

“Rapunzel’s braid is the most iconic feature of hers, so I am thinking braided pastries. Ooh, and we have fondant flowers, right? We could use them as décor!”

Viola heaved an obnoxiously large jar of Nutella on the counter and all but pushed it in Athena’s hands.

“Pour that in a mixing bowl, will you? We can add hazelnut powder for extra flavour. I’ll get started on the dough.”

It was a simple enough task, yet Athena hesitated.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” she asked dubiously.

Viola only rolled her eyes, the grey rimmed with dramatic white eyeliner that made them look like molten silver.

“Come on, let’s get to it!”

For such a mundane activity, it was surprisingly easy to get lost in it. Athena busied herself stirring the chocolate that would apparently act as filling in the pastries, while Viola made quick work of rolling out the puff pastry and cutting it in even sheets.

Athena didn’t know if the girl really did know what she was doing or she was just very skilled at pretending, but Viola’s fingers didn’t fumble once. She had removed all rings but the one on her pointer, the saltwater pearl one.

“You know any fun facts about Pascal?” Viola asked.

“The mathematician?”

“The chameleon.”

What the… You know what, never mind.

“Chameleons have eyes in the back of their heads.”

Viola paused at that.

“Not literally, but they can move their eyes separately, with each eye having a field of 180 degrees. This means they can see 360 degrees if they need to, which is useful because they can see predators coming from behind them, giving them a chance to scarper if they’re about to get caught.”

“Huh.” Viola made a noise of interest. “Imagine that. That would be a cool skill to have in battle. No monster could sneak up on you if you already knew they are there.”

“Indeed.”

“Not sure how I feel about having an extra pair of eyes though. That’s a lot of extra eyeshadow palettes.”

“Noted.” Athena said dryly.

Viola grinned cheekily and tried to put a finger in the bowl of chocolate. Athena slapped it away.

“That’s for the pastries, you heathen!”

Viola pouted.

“No need to call me out like that. Hold it steady as I pour, will ya?”

Viola made surprisingly quick work of crisscrossing the unbaked dough into a lattice pattern. Athena finally started to see where she was coming from as the result did look somewhat like a French braid.

“How did you do that so quickly?” she asked despite herself. “Have you made these before?”

“No, but I style my own hair. Trust me, this has nothing on crown or infinity braids.”

Athena took her word for it.

Viola put the tray of pastries in the oven. Athena immediately set multiple alarms to make sure they wouldn’t burn down the kitchen.

“Oops. I knew I was forgetting something.” Viola said sheepishly.

“I have too many priceless tomes in this palace and I am not sure I’d have the time to save them all if your antics burn it down.”

“You would remember to save yourself first if that happened, right?” Viola asked in disbelief. “Feathers, you need to sort out your priorities.”

Athena shrugged.

Half an hour later, the alarms dinged all at once and they took the pastries out of the oven. The scent of freshly baked dough and chocolate was rather enticing. Athena found herself inhaling deeply. The crust looked flaky and buttery.

“You want drizzle?” Viola asked distractedly.

“Sounds alright.”

After sprinkling some more chocolate, the girl pulled a tin of tiny fondant flowers seemingly out of nowhere.

Athena really needed to invest some time in finding out what else was in those cupboards.

“Pink, blue or green?” Viola extended the box to her.

Athena took a bright blue one and nibbled on it experimentally.

The braided pastry did look rather artistic covered in small edible blooms.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Viola put her hands on her hips as she surveyed her (their, Athena supposed) handiwork with a satisfied air.

“I suppose it could have turned out worse.” Athena said approvingly.

The girl shot her a look.

“Geez, Feathers, you are like the queen of backhanded compliments.” She shook her head. “Come on, we’ve got Disney to introduce you to.”

Viola left, platter of pastries in hand, before Athena could ask what was wrong with the compliment.

Whatever. The girl always liked to complain about something. If it wasn’t this, it would be Athena’s morning routine, or her clothes, or just her entire personality.

With little choice but to follow after her, Athena made her way to the living room, which had a TV installed only because it came with the palace when Hephaestus handed her the keys.

Viola had already settled on one side of the U-shaped couch, pressing buttons on the remote.

“Ready to get your mind blown, Feathers?” she asked as Athena claimed the seat on her right, so she could have easy access to the platter.

“I am only doing this to spare myself the torment of arguing with you over skipping your lessons again.” Athena reminded her, having learned by now the girl wasn’t immune to bribery. Athena was still ticked off over the obscene amount of drachmas she had to spend on the fancy coffees Viola drank like water, but if it got the demon out of bed before 9AM, it was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry, I am not backing out. I am a woman of my word.” Viola said that last part a little seriously.

There was likely a story there, Athena noted.

“In that case, let’s see what the fuss is all about. And if you breathe a word of this to anyone, I will confiscate all your heels.”

Viola didn’t even look cowed.

“Your secret is safe with me, Feathers.”

Athena reached for the closest pastry and took a bite. Chocolate, cream and fondant exploded across her tongue.

On the TV, the opening credits were already rolling, depicting a towering castle against a backdrop of a sky lit with fireworks.

Let’s see how this goes.

Catch you next week with Episode Two: Wakeup Call